Game-Changers & Grudge Matches

Astarte noticed the look and furrowed her brow a little, but then smiled and opened her cupped hands to reveal a delicate butterfly made from ice. She had tried her best to put a pattern on the wings, but didn't do a very good job.
"That is a kind offer," Astarte replied, having the butterfly lift into the air. She made small fluttering motions with her hands in an attempt to have the ice construct imitate a real fluttering motion. It fluttered over to Roatha. "I might take you up on it, considering the current state of the city."

"Fine," Hector replied, trying to reign in his irritation. "When can I expect a conclusion to these proceedings?"

Dalia stood up, nodded to the cop, and walked out. She would find her parents at the entrance who would drive her home.

Mortal dives down to find out what the fuck that was that touched her stomach.

Two more butterflies joined Astarte's, with detailed wings, and even antennae. Noct, sitting with her knees pulled to her chest, and her chin in her knees, was waving a finger around in the air towards the butterflies.

*The rock tries to move again, but just becomes stuck against Mortal's chest. On the surface, it's getting darker out & Ven is getting mad.*

V"Why can't I pull any rocks up?!"

E"You'll get it eventually. Why don't we call it quits for today? I need to get home to get changed for a thing I'm doing tonight. Next time, you can show me some moves."

*Meanwhile, Roatha closes his hands & releases a puff of flame. Since a butterfly is kind of a hard thing to shape fire into, he opts instead for a small bird with its wings swept back. As it "flew," the fire would naturally rise, causing the wings to seem as though they were opening. As it rises into the sky, it hits one of Noctis's butterflies, & they both fall apart, before fading away into nothingness. Roatha looks disturbed by this sight.*
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<I couldn't say, Sir.>

Astarte's butterfly fluttered around his face and then landed on his shoulder. She spoke quietly, "I think they are finishing their training."

"Alright, then," Hector sighed. "Thank you for your time."

Noct put the other one on Roatha's shoulder, judging him for killing its kin. Noct then gets up and starts to head over towards where Ven is.

Gabe gets out of the river, and uses fire bending to dry herself off. Mortal does the same but as she is getting dressed she hands Ven the rock that kept hitting her, "You're doing better than you think."

* Venezuela stares at the rock in her hand, then Mortal, in puzzlement.*

V"I think you're confused. It's not that Earthbending if you just give me a rock."

*Euryale heads over & puts an arm around Mortal. Seeing this, Roatha realizes that he doesn't really want to go home & spend the evening alone.*

R"Hey, Astarte, why don't we stay here? We can grab something to eat at a vendor, watch the scenery, & then, I don't know, compare more Bending moves?"
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<You're welcome, Sir.>

*She hangs up.*

"You were pulling this rock, and it would have come, but it kept hitting me before it got to you," Mortal said. When Euryale put an arm around her she put an arm around her waist, "How is the shoulder feeling?"

"Oh, sure," Astarte nodded after a small hesitation.

"Could I get a cup of tea, Eduj?" Hector asked as he put down the phone. Eduj shook his head from the other side of the room.
"There is no more tea in the kitchen."
"Damn it," Hector sighed again. "Could you run and get some from Sid?"
Eduj nodded and left the house, heading over to the cafe and stepping inside.

*Roatha raises his eyebrow, but dismisses the hesitation. He smiles at her, before turning to Gabe.*

R"That's great. So, Gabe, what will you be doing tonight? Training for the game with the Mongoose Lizards?"

V"Oh...that's good, I guess, but...I wasn't aiming for this one, and it couldn't have been moving with much force...."

E"I don't even notice it, until I want to move it, then I remember that I can't, & I get mad."

V"Oh, we're allowed to ask about that? What happened to your shoulder?"

*Euryale laughs.*

E"Mortal & I are cops."

*Blank stare.*

E"It means our job is to fight bad guys who break the law. The other night, we had to fight, I guess you'd say a Big Bad, & he cut my shoulder pretty bad. Broke a bone."

V"Does this happen to you often?" And did you really have to say, "Bad guy"?

E"No. You have to be really powerful and really evil to hurt us. Fortunately, there aren't many people in the city who possess both qualities as much as Senthose does."

Noct nodded, "Agreed. I'm glad you are alright. Putting away Senthose is a heroic feat. You should be proud."

"Tonight?" Gabe repeated, "No, I'm probably going to take a break tonight. Why?"

Astarte recalled the butterfly and started working on making it look better, while trying not to appear as though she was ignoring everybody.

E"Well, Mortal really did most of the work. He drugged me with Cactus Juice, she fought him and Voland by herself until...until reinforcements arrived."

R"Oh...well, I just assumed...I didn't mean to be rude, do you want to hang around with us?"

Gabe smiled, "Sure, I mean, if you don't mind. I don't want to be a third wheel."

"Oh really," Noct said, turning to Mortal, "To fight them both off by yourself, I'm really impressed, Mortal."

Mortal smiled, "Well, like Euryale said, I had help. And really, it isn't anything special. I was... Is saying, 'I was just doing my job' to cheesy?"

Noct chuckled, "Maybe a bit."

Astarte seemed surprised by the 'third wheel' statement, but didn't say anything. She looked from Gabe to Roatha.

<Yes, thank you.>
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*Monu yawns as heads outside for some sun*
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*Tirea dries herself off with waterbending, then turns to Gabe, speaking in the tiniest whisper*

Tirea:<(Do you want to hang out.....)>

*Tirea stops when she hears Roatha, and turns away, putting on her shoes and socks*

R"Of course, I'm sure we'd be glad to have you both."

E"Okay, Ven, before I go, if there's one thing I think you're doing wrong, that you need to work on, it's force. You can push through sand with ease. A boulder must be broken apart. So I want you to work on strikes that are more rigid, & powerful. You're obviously very strong. Let that rock know, & tell it that it will do as you command."

*Ven bows a little.*

V"Alright. I appreciate your kind words, & guidance."
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*Monu came at just the right time. It's dusk. He'll be lucky if it's still bright outside in another hour.*
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*He takes the Yuans, & hands her the packages.*

<Have a nice day, then.>

*Monu looks around to see if anything's going on*
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*Eve takes the packages, then exits*

<Thank you very much.>
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*Tirea stands up and stretches*

<I hope you feel better son Euryale, thanks for sponsoring us Noctis, thanks for being our earthbender Ven, Roatha, Astarte, Mortal, Gabe, it was great to see you all again!>

*Tirea' s smile probably doesn't look very happy*

Astarte stared at Tirea for a few moments before looking back at her butterfly, confused. Had some kind of silent faux pas occurred to upset this cheerful girl? She gave the butterfly antennae.

Monu would probably notice Eduj coming back out of the cafe with a handful of teabags and heading over to Sidon's house.

"You can come with us," Gabe said.

*Monu raises his eyebrow at Hector, but says nothing*
---
*Tirea shakes her head*

<Nah, I don't want to invite myself along. You guys have fun though!>

*Tirea looks slightly less than happy*

E"Thanks, Tirea, I'm sure I'll be fine. All of you take care."

V"I only hope that I might live up to your expectations."

*Euryale heads towards the car. Ven stays & looks at Noctis.*

R"But...I just said that you could come."
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*When Eve heads out in the street, she sees that it's sundown.*

Eduj* didn't see Monudon, and just went inside. He put the teabags away with the exception of one, which he used to make a cup of tea for Hector.

Dalia called a doctors surgery to make an appointment for her drug test.

Mortal waves to everyone, and heads off with Euryale.

Noct waves as well, then begins to head to her car, "Ready to go, Ven?"

*Venezuela follows Noctis.*
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<I think we can schedule one for tomorrow afternoon.>
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*At home, Euryale takes a quick shower, & then emerges from her room wearing a dress with elbow-length sleeves & a skirt that goes down to just below her knees. The dress itself is blue, but also features a waist tie, & a frill that comes out at the clavicle, covering the chest & shoulders, which are both white. For shoes, she's wearing simple slip-ons, also white. She has also applied perfume, scent of Fire Lilies, because I'm a bastard.*

Astarte, still holding the improved butterfly, looked to Roatha, "So, what shall we do?"

"Will 1:00 be suitable?"