Lost son, Found kitten

The weather outside is cold and yet beautiful. It's the sort of night that one might linger in if not for the chill. Instead people have gathered companionably inside, drinking and making merry as they do when the weather isn't working with them to do so out-of-doors. One particular man, dressed in black-laqured armor and settled at the bar is enjoying what is clearly not his first drink of the evening. His cheeks are rosy with the warmth offered by the whiskey he's downing, and the rest of the bar is in a good mood because he just bought a second round of drinks for everyone. Beer rather than the whiskey he's drinking but no one is really complaining the free booze whatever kind it is.

"Mere ma moobem, mah a ee ooken!" Mikilos calls from inside the pipe organ. Well, his head shoved inside, and one arm, the other arm fumbling a moment with a set of tools before reaching in as well. The elf seems to know what he's doing, but the workings are sorcery to those unfamiliar. Which his fair, he's pretty good at actual sorcery as well.

Shopping doesn't usually call for armor and weapons, and so Dolan has eschewed them today. Instead, warm woolens and layers are the order of the day, nondescript browns and grays his choice of the evening instead. His hands are wrapped in black leather swordsman's gloves, rather than the mittens of a worker, and a swirl of cold follows his bundled self inside.

The door closes behind him, and he pulls down his hood and surveys the room, the dim lights of the room falling on the furrowed and melted side of his face and the golden gem set into it.

Patch had sat through the second round of drinks at the bar. A corner of it, her first hardly finished before the second called. "I didn't even work tonight, someone's in a good mood." she muses, hunched there as she idly pushes the empty glass forward. "If someone's paying, I'll take another." the situation taken full advantage of.

Curious eyes then seek about the bar from her spot of laxing and lazing, Patch's glance not covert. As Dolan enters, she her attention settle there for a moment, his entrance reminding her the cold outside still loomed.

The door to the Fernwood opens, admitting a diminutive, shapeless bundle of wool, dyed in rough bands of pale blue and bright yellow-orange. Very much an amateur's work, with the space between the colors either raw homespun or uneven muddy blue-brown, but the moment the door closes, the 'cloak' is thrown open.

"PHWAAAAAGH," Magpie opines, pausing in the middle of the doorway to wrestle her covering off. "*Wow* it gets chilly here, gonna be awhile before I get used to *that.*"

Throwing the fabric over her shoulder, she totters toward an empty table, hucks her cloak onto the tabletop, then turns and hunts for a free step-stool. This, dragged back to her table, climbed... Which point she realizes she forgot the booster seat, so back down she goes, hunts up one of *those,* drags *it* back up to slap on the chair, and *finally* the sorceress plops down to sit.

"Everything's gotta be so complicated..."

The dark-haired man at the bar doesn't seem to much notice Mikilos' attempts to fix the piano, but his purple eyes look up at the sudden influx of people into the bar. They're a bit late for the free round of drinks that he offered, but he motions to the barkeep that they should be included when the barkeep sends a questioning eyebrow his way. The man flashes a warm grin at Patch, "Do you normally work here?" He asks curiously, and contrary to his own question sits up straight when he recognizes one of those entering the establishment. "Dolan!" He waves.

Funny that Aragos should recognize him, because Dolan fairly lights up as Magpie walks past him. "Magpie! Been far too long." He undoes the cloak and follows her in the direction of a table. Instead of alighting at her table, though, he finds a seat at the bar facing her table, tosses his cloak casually across it and the mantle beneath it. "Aragos, good to see you," he greets the other man heartily. "You're in a good mood. What's cooking?" His head turns to pan between the two, and he flashes a cheeky grin at Patch as well. "Hello."

He doesn't remove the gloves, though.

Mikilos extracts himself from the pipe organ with minimal struggle, fiddling a few moments before closing up the hatch and moving around to the front of the organ. Flipping the bellows on, the elf waits a few moments before playing a brief tune. "That did it. F is still a little flat, but good enough for now." Flipping the organ off again, Mikilos peers around at the recent arrivals. There's a smudge of grease or something on his face.

GAME: Mikilos rolls perform/keyboard: (20)+4: 24

"No. The Fernwood and I are only recently acquainted." the Dawn Elf muses, her drink refilled as the words draw her glance back to the dark-haired man. "My stomping grounds are more the TarRaCe." she admits, raising and sipping from her drink. "I played here once, but it was more unexpected. A dare."

Magpie's entrance has Patch grinning, slender features watching the gnome curiously from where she sits. "Well it seems that you two know each other. Argo. Dolan." each greeted with their name in turn. "You can have my seat." she says, standing and ushering Dolan towards the stool. "I see a friend too, and I am going to say hello." making it clear that it's not an imposition.

As for the tuning of keyboard, Patch cannot help but laugh. "Close enough? It sounds like an F."

"Ayyyyy!" Magpie calls, waving feverishly at Dolan. "How you been, buddy, it *has* been too long! Got buried in research and work, what's been up! And heyyyyy, Patch!"

The booster rocks dangerously under the force of Magpie's greeting, which point she looks to Aragos, grinning. "I don't know you, but hey! And hey, pianoman!"

...'Committed to the bit' seems to be one of Magpie's few dependable characteristics.

Aragos nods to Patch, letting her usher Dolan into her seat though he watches her an extra few seconds. Then he returns his attention to Dolan, noting that the other man seems well acquainted with several people in the bar. "Not sure what they've got for food, but I'm sure it's edible. Drinks are good though." He flashes another warm grin at this, one that incorporates a sort of grinned greeting to Magpie. "Got some good news recently, how about you?"

"Beats me," Dolan agrees cheerfully. "It sounds good to me, though, so whatever you say. Thanks," he adds to Patch, hopping up on the stool hands-free and signaling for a mug of whatever's on tap. "Not chasing you off, you know." He fishes a small coin pouch from the inside of his shirt to pay for it. The money is waved off, and the barkeep points at Aragos, leaving Dolan to turn fully towards the black-armored man, one eyebrow and one scarred and near-hairless ridge climbing towards his hairline. "Sounds like it. You know Patch?" He tilts his head at the woman who gave up her seat, but once his ale arrives, he picks it up, looking back at Magpie. "Been all right. Andie brought a kitten in the house, and she's a right terror."

Mikilos smiles, nodding to Patch. "Right, close enough. Can fiddle with the pipes some other day." Tucking tools in his pouch, the wizazrd heads for the bar proper. "So what have you been up to?"

The gnomish greeting brings a grin and a return wave. "Hey, Rainbow Lady, how are you?"

Patch dips out with her drink, a raised brow shot to Aragos as she makes her way towards Magpie. It's dropped, her focus then on the other woman with a grin as she weaved through the small crowd. "People knowing people in places." her words a tease as she reaches the table.. "What are you bringing in here with you?"

"I had thought to let the friends make merry, but a Magpie knows the lot." a small smile. "Hello." a more formal word being her last.

"New project!" Magpie says, heaving up a bit of the wadded-up cloak. "The dyes came out pretty good -- Arcanist kitchens are mad at me, I stole the pea flower and turmeric out of their tea cabinet to make em, but they were happy enough when I replaced it. It was just quicker to buy more later and use theirs now, before I forgot what I was do--" Fabric falls from her hand, and sloooooowly she turns to stare at Dolan.

"You. Have. A kitten." Uh-oh...

Aragos shakes his head at Dolan, sipping his own drink. "Can't say's that I've met her, but she seems nice enough." He flicks his purple eyes toward her as she heads to talk to Magpie. "If a cat's the most of your problems, then you're a lucky man." He chuckles and his eyes seem to darken slightly.

Patch snorts a laugh, this place seeming busier than she'd recalled. That or the drinks were working. She sips, standing near Magpie's table as she gestures to a seat. "I'll join and watch the mayhem, but... go visit with friends. Get a drink." she says, urging the small woman to indulge in kitten, and comrade.

Noticing Mikilos having been calling after her, she looks to him with a puzzled expression, a finger swirled before her as she imbues some bit of magic into a message for the man's ears. "I didn't hear you, Miki. What were you saying?" the drum of things inside making it hard to keep up.

Dolan chuckles freely, but the ease melts off of the mobile half of his features. "You won't thank me to talk about the rest here." He takes a long slug of his mug, and sets it down. "Still, it's a cute little bugger. It likes me for some reason. I'm more used to barn cats. So what's got you in a good mood?"

His head turns more fully towards Magpie. "Andie does. Not my cat."

Mikilos grins and waves vaguely to Patch. "Just asking what you've been up to." He glances around the conversation, gaze settling on Dolan. "Did barn cats not like you?"

"No, *you* have a kitten," Magpie shouts, raising a hand and waving it to accompany her speech. "If he likes you, then he's yours! I don't make the rules!" she says around a laugh. "But I am *totally* gonna come visit and say hi to him, later! For now though... I need food."

Turning to Patch, the gnome chuckles. "Lots. And this place does *amazing* things with a pork roast. Small beer's pretty good, too!"

Aragos clasps Dolan on the shoulder, his eyes bright. There's an expression on his face suddenly that's hopeful and perhaps a little desperate. "My son!" He doesn't try to keep his voice down. "He's alive!"

"People drink small beer? It's more a morning thing." Patch eh's at Magpie, another chortle, but this one coming as she sits the the table. Magpie's project and description has her amused. "I can see you bursting into the kitchens, knocking and hopping."

"And I am alright, Miki. Surviving." Patch's hand roaming through her short hair. "Trying new things."

"And I never was allowed a pet. Is that really a rule? A cat must choose you?" The Dawn Elf asks, puzzled.

"The kitten has him." Mikilos corrects with a smile, nodding to Patch. "People don't own cats, they are adopted by them. But you can streamline the adoption process by bringing the cat into your house and blocking the exits." The elf falls quiet as Aragos makes his announcement. Not sure the details, but that sounds important.

Dolan visibly brightens at Aragos' news. "That _is_ good news. Any idea where?" Another long drink, and the mug hits the bar top once again. "We don't block her, but she likes coming inside. I don't blame her, it's too damned cold."

"See, he gets it!" Magpie says, jabbing a finger at Mikilos... Then Aragos' announcement rings out over the Fernwood's din, and she falls silent, tilting her head faintly. Blinking a bit, she tips her head the other way, then looks to Patch, lips pursed. "...Gimme a few seconds," she says, beginning the laborious process of coming down from her perch, collecting stool and booster, and dragging both to the bar.

• chunk*

• chunk*

Stool is shoved against the bar, booster stacked atop, and after a few grunts of effort, Magpie slips onto the stool on the other side of Aragos from Dolan, so she can keep both in few. "Hey," she says, her tone much less loud, and much more gentle. "What's going on, buddy?"

Patch nods slowly to Mikilos and Magpie. "Right. So a cat 'chooses'." this seeming more logical to her, grinning. "Sorry about all the ands, and buts." her drink hoisted and then set aside. "It's like my mind is a list, and the tallies and notes ."

"A son is found. Yes." Patch looking at everyone celebrating this announcement, hers eyes curiously going back to Aragos as Magpie heads that way. "Friends of friends in places." she muses, watching from her newly acquired seat. "Stories abound, just crossing at the Fernwood." talking to herself.

"Here, in Alexandria!" Aragos sounds almost as if he doesn't belive it, but he finishes his drink and it clinks on the bar. Proof of how many he's had. Still, he's wistfully pleased. "Vardama."

The goddesses name is a soft exclamation, and he blinks as Magpie joins them, her soft question bringing a storm to his brow. His purple eyes are mercurial things, shifting from brightness to shadow as easily as the sun playing with clouds. Now, they darken until they're almost black though the rest of his expression doesn't change. It makes the smile on his lips seem sardonic. "I thought my wife and son taken by Vardama, but by her grace the boy still lives."

"You gonna go find him?" Dolan seems content and relaxed, working his way through his first mug.

Mikilos nods seriously to Aragos. "A reason to celebrate indeed. Sounds as if there's more to the tale, but is the end bit that matters now." The elf has no drink, but motions to the waitstaff to correct that.

"That's great," Magpie says quietly, and though her huge green eyes are sad, there's a weighty sincerity in her voice. "I hope he gets to come home to you soon." Blinking, she clears her throat of a sudden lump that seems to have hit it, and turns to the bartender. "Half a pint and the pork? Over at the table with the awful cloak on it, there, thanks!"

At least she *knows* she did a terrible dye job...

Turning back to Aragos, she smiles. "Sorry if I'm intruding, just... Y'know. Worried."

And she starts to clamber down from her seating architecture, slowly dragging the works back to their place at her table.

"It's complicated." Aragos explains without really explaining, both to Dolan and to Magpie. He looks at his empty glass, nodding half-thoughtfully to Mikilos. "But there's time now, and we can make things work." He smiles a small thin smile and lifts his glass to get it refilled once again.

Patch listens, watching as Aragos shares news. Her glass played with, a finger tracing rim. A teeter one edge, but not enough to cause a spill. Okay, it's a juicy tale, her pierced ear twitching with a small grin on her face. "Always a complication." Every story needs one. She's okay to just listen in and chime, sipping from her glass as it's taken up again.

Mikilos accepts the arrival of his mug, rasing the drink in toast of celebration before taking a long pull. Having nothing productive to add, the magus follows Magpie's progress back to the table. "I take it you're a fan of felines. Have one yourself?"

"Nope!" the gnome says, clambering back into her seat. "But if it's soft and adorable, I love it to pieces. Sometimes only if it's one of the two. Or neither! But usually at least one. Anyway! How's things? I don't think I know you yet?" This last, asked of Mikilos, because by now she *definitely* knows Patch. A last, worried look is thrown over her shoulder at Aragos, but there's a real smile that follows shortly. Whatever else, he definitely has something to be happy about.

Admittedly Aragos isn't much following the conversation about felines, but he's happy to drink companionably while others around him discuss whatever they want. He gets his refill and drinks. Nodding once to Patch when she comments about complications, but he doesn't seem inclined right away to explain.

Patch sips her drink at Magpie's table, a grin as she's caught looking their way by Aragos. The nod causing a bit of flush and her glance to fall away. For the moment, she'll stare at Magpie's cloak, a hand reaching to poke at it and feel the fabric.

"It was a bit rude. I shouldn't chime in." Patch finally admits to Aragos her thoughts. "I do not know you, but the tale sparks interest. Know, I wasn't poking fun. More, musing to Vaire." The Dawn Elf tries to explain, offering a halfhearted shrug. "The good news is good indeed." a nod back to Aragos given.

"And don't mind Mikilos, Magpie. He's a semi-famous academic. Or so I'm told." Patch teases, a wink shot to Mikilos after. "He's got a cool shop." letting some topics die.

Mikilos nods. "Alright, knew we'd met in passing before, but wasn't sure if we'd been properly introduced." The elf takes his pewter mug of ale down to his lap, murmuring spidery phrases as his hands grab components from his pouches. "I am Archmage Mikilostravia Abrioudelanarchie Mithralla, Lord of Estranillia, Builder Arcane. And this, you can call Fluffy." In his hands is a small fluffy kitten, with lead grey fur, and yellow eyes, and ears far far too large for such a tiny kitty. "It should last about an hour before turning back."

GAME: Mikilos casts Polymorph Any Object. Caster Level: 18 DC: 29

"...Welp, now I have mage goals," Magpie says softly, eyes going wide and perhaps a bit sparkly at the sight of the kitten. For a few moments, she simply gets herself lost in petting the adorable faux-kitten, then stops, blinking up at Mikilos. "Oh. *Oh.* Oh *that's* a name I know!" She opens her mouth to go on, then flushes, snapping it shut and holding out a hand. "Magpie. Research aide at the Arcanist's. Nice to meet you!"

"It's... not a problem." Aragos murmurs to Patch, dismissing her worries with a slight wave of his hand. He doesn't seem a terribly talkative fellow really. But he observes the fawning over the faux kitten with distant interest and Mikilos himself with considerably more.

"Wait, does it just 'know' to be a kitten?" Patch says, the display of magic leaving her a bit thoughtful and perplexed. Perhaps also the drink. "If it was reagents, and a mug, and you just 'willed' it to be a kitten. How does this 'beer kitten' know how to be a cat?" this being why she doesn't understand some magics as a bard. She's not the 'deep' thinker. Not like that. "Do you know what it's like to be a 'cat' Mikilos?"

Mikilos offers the kitten to the held out hand. "I can guess. Anyway, pleasure to meet you Magpie." He looks to Fluffy and frowns mildly. "Far too many spells are about fighting, conjuring something to kill or rend. None for just, petting a kitten." He grins, glancing to Patch. "Well, yes. I've been a cat before, but that's not actually important for the spell. The spell knows what a cat is, and gives options on details. Part of why it's a difficult spell, getting all the details sorted."

Magpie's dinner comes, and between bites she jabbers on about what she knows about the theory of polymorphing magics. She *tries* to use terms a non-academic can understand, but she slips into jargon every time she tries to tempt the ale-cat with a shred of roast pork.

And she will continue on in this vein, until somebody stops her.

Please, *somebody* stop her.

-End