The instant his hand touches her wings, Nill goes completely rigid, her body locking in place, her hand frozen mid-motion.

Then, something breaks.

She twists out of his grasp in a sudden, reflexive motion and runs. The stool topples behind her with a sharp clatter, but she doesn’t so much as glance back. She cuts straight across the room, wings pulled tight against her back, every movement focused on getting away.

And then she’s out the door, gone.

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*Thrixel’s eyes follow the pixie the whole time, his eyes twinkling with excitement as the small creature takes off running. He sits up and squats, Duck-walking up behind Nill and gently holding the tops of her wings with his thumbs and forefingers* I like this little thing! Nill, was it? Have you ever spoken to Norid the toad? I met him in the street by some dead fellow in an alley. A riveting poet he is. Anyway, I am sure you two would get along. *he carefully flaps her small wings with his hands as he talks, seeming to be examining her wings thoroughly*

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Nill freezes for half a heartbeat at the overlapping shouts, then snaps into motion again.

She skitters along the tops of the cabinets before dropping down to the floor in a quick, flutter-assisted fall, rolling smoothing into the landing. She doesn’t pause. She darts across the room in sharp, erratic bursts, zigzagging, doubling back, circling Storm once before veering off towards the stairs.

Right as she does, Vesta is coming down to see what the commotion is.

“What is happen-”

She doesn’t get to finish. Nill scrambles straight up her back, rolls over her shoulder, and springs back to the floor in one fluid motion. Vesta just stands there, mouth still open mid-sentence for a beat, then slowly shakes her head.

“Nope. Not today.”

She turns and heads right back up the stairs.

Nill makes a few more darting passes before the energy burns out all at once. As if nothing happened, she climbs back onto her stool.

She goes perfectly still.

The die rolls again across the counter.

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As soon as Nill scrambles up onto the counter, the barkeep's head snaps in her direction. Storm tries to reach for her as she passes by. The barkeep stumbles over himself to race towards her as she leaps onto the cabinets. 

"No! NO NO NO! YOU!" He waves his rag at her and hops up and down. "You get down from there! NOW!"

Storm jumps up from her seat and barks. "NILL! DOWN!"

The barkeep turns to Storm. "Get her down!"

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Nill rolls the die once more, then abruptly springs from her chair. In a quick burst of motion, she darts over to the faerie, reaches out, and pokes him squarely in the forehead.

Just as quickly, she bolts.

She hops onto the counter and scrambles up the cabinets behind the bar with surprising speed. She disappears from sight, only to peek her head over the top a moment later, watching.

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*he smiles, tapping his foot in the air as he lays relaxed on the old tavern floors* something to do, someone to do, somewhere to do, somehow to do, *he chuckles* simply here to do. Do you know of a thing-one-where-how to do? *his wings twitch two quick times against the floor beneath him, sprawled out to his sides*

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Storm quirks an eyebrow. "Dance... Fatigue...?"

She shakes her head and sighs. "Sure. Sure. That's it exactly. Has nothing to do with the..."

She sighs again. Then lifts her mug to her lips and drinks. When she lowers it to the counter again, she stares into the mug. Then she takes in a sharp breath and turns back to look at Thrixel.

"So, you came for a dance? And something about seven squirrels?" She rubs her forehead with her thumb. "So..." She presses her lips together and hums for a second. "Nope. Can't say that." She blows out a breath. "So, are you looking for someone or something?"

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Jade leads the group to her office inside the Volaire embassy. Once the door is shut and the wards are raised Jade takes a seat at her desk and begins to talk.

"So why does Connor think I am trying to bring back Wolfrum's dad?"

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*he kicks his legs out straight, one crossed over the other as he folds his hands behind his head with a smile* of course I do! There’s a large organized dance-off I wasn’t invited to and these are the losers! *he motions to them* see the sad faces? The sunken cheeks and tired demeanors? *he nods, wagging a finger at you* ol’ Thrixel has been in enough dance battles to know exhausted dance fatigue when he sees it. 

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Sylvia quirks an eyebrow. "A theory huh? Well, if it's someone I should know about, let me know." She takes a drink and shrugs. Then speaks a little more loudly. "Don't need a customer who bad mouths my best smith."

She turns a grin at Zuiigri. "Let em spread that rumor."

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Zukar nods his head as he takes Vesta's hand. " Indeed. A change of scenery would be nice."

He smiles to Jade and then waits for her to lead the way.

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Nill takes one last glance at the faerie, then hops back onto her barstool. The die is already in her hand as she resumes her quiet game, feet kicking idly.

Now and then, she glances towards Storm before returning to the steady roll.

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Nill takes one last glance at the faerie, then hops back onto her barstool. The die is already in her hand as she resumes her quiet game, feet kicking idly.

Now and then, she glances towards Storm before returning to the steady roll.

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Vesta turns to look at Zukar, reaching for his hand. Her fingers curl around his, giving them a small squeeze. She looks back to Jade, offering a nod.

“Of course. We’re rather stuck here at the tavern while the fighting outside the city continues, so we don’t have any real plans.” She moves to stand. “A change of scenery might be… refreshing.”

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Jade lowers her voice.

"Well tensions were high last time and for what went down I am sorry. Would you both like to accompany me to the embassy office? There we can speak privately. "

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Looking around the tavern, there are a few other patrons though it is quiet for this time of day. The patrons in the tavern all show signs of malnutrition and their eyes droop with exhaustion. No one seems to be paying any attention to the three of them, however, as they are all involved in their own conversations or daydreams of a better life.

Storm looks around. "Yeah. People are dying. They're broke. Volaire is in a bad way right now, Thrixel. We can't even leave the city right now for all the fighting still raging around us." She looks at the chaos fae and sighs. "You... Have no idea what's going on around here, do you?"

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Vesta lets out a soft chuckle, then shakes her head.

“I really wouldn’t recommend a drink right now.” She waves a hand dismissively. “It’s mostly water at this point.”

Her lips curve into a smile again.

“But- hopefully not for much longer.”

She turns to exit the guild, her pace unhurried but purposeful as they make their way towards the tavern.

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He gives a nod and a quick shrug.

"I mean, that should probably work well enough, unless you expect people to try to listen in? Either way, I haven't gotten a chance to see the tavern much anyways since really getting swooped up into all these goings on, and it'd be nice to actually get a drink after all this. Shall we head on there then, miss Vesta?"

He gestures for her to lead the way to the tavern.

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Vesta exhales sharply, lifting a hand to her temples.

“Stars, why can’t anything be simple…” She mutters under her breath.

With a sigh, she straightens, drawing herself back into composure, arms crossing neatly over her chest.

“I suppose the tavern would suffice,” she says. “There aren’t many people hanging around because of the famine.”

She tilts her head and gives a small, dismissive shrug.

“Zukar and I are staying there. We could speak privately enough, I think.”
 

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