2019-10-28 - Hercules and Meg (Minus the Agent of Hades Bit)

It's just another night in the apartment of Magnolia Jones. The kid is in bed after a hearty meal of stew and egg noodles and a rousing game of Sorry -- Lark won after taking Kevin off the board in a brutal, unforgiving slide. But, as an apology, she let him read the next chapter of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. By the time he's done, Magnolia is in bed with the covers pulled up to her chin and her eyes trying to see through her ceiling and into the void beyond. She's got her thinking face on -- brows furrowed slightly and mouth set into a hard line.

"I can't believe you skipped out on polyjuice hijinx, Lia." Kevin being allowed to tuck Lark in on her own is relatively new for Kevin -- and for Lark -- and he's still in the honeymoon period. He crosses to her bed, dropping down and pulling off his socks, "She went right down." Beat pause, "I mean, after one request for a glass of water. But otherwise," one hand starts off high and 'glides' down low, where he makes soft smashing noises, "Crash landing." But even as he's rattling on, he picks up on her somber expression and frown of concentration. He skips any further undressing, turning to sprawl out beside her, head propped up in one hand, "That's a mighty serious look, babe. Whatcha got cooking in there?"

"If you give a Lark a glass of water," Magnolia intones. But then she's turning toward Kevin as he suggests how fast six-year-old Lark crashed. She quirks a smile at that, and then she's back to squinting at the ceiling. "You know, I think I got this whole thing figured out. That fishing guy... caught a line, fell into the pond... all those bodies and the purple glow. That sounds like Otherside shirt." She's really trying to curb her bad language. Really. "I think that stupid fucking -- " But not every attempt is a success. " -- ring is back over there, and we're going to have to go into some deep, dark cave to go retrieve it." She flickers her eyes toward him.

"She's going to want to use the potty. Yeah, I know, rookie mistake." Kevin frowns thoughtfully as she explains her theory, and he's nodding by the time she's halfway through. "Yeah." He lets out a slow breath, dropping his brow to her shoulder and groaning a little into the covers, "Yeah. That sounds like it makes sense." Straightening up again, his brows knot up tightly, "All this Glimmer stuff just kind of freaks me out." Says the conspiracy theorist. "I really wish there was like... a forum somewhere where I could learn about it so I didn't feel like a total newb." Drawing in a deep breath to steady himself, he pauses, "So what you're saying is that we have to travel to a strange and dangerous realm, retrieve the enchanted jewelry, and return it to its owner before we're smote for daring to suggest that we were capable of something so fantastical?" He shakes his head slowly, "Sounds like a job for the Gray Harbor Adventurer's Guild to me." After another short pause, he reaches up to pull off his glasses, studying her carefully from close enough that his vision of her is still clear, "I know we started this, but if you don't want anything to do with the Otherside, especially so soon after..." two days ago, when she and Charlie got seriously drunk and Kevin played designated driver, "...we got this. I want you there with me," he hurries to add, "but I'm just saying..."

"Yeah, sorry, dude. I mean, I'm definitely smarter than your average bear, but I wasn't exactly given any formal training in Glimmer and that Otherside place. Dad talked about it a little, but it was more like those stories you tell your kids so they don't stay out late at night because wolves will eat them. He had things about being wary of things in your dreams, having ways to wake yourself up, and avoiding 'shining' too much." Then she chuffs out a light laugh at his assessment of her mission parameters. She snorts slightly. "Easy there, Nerd." Then she turns her expression more seriously toward him, blinking away her usual cavalier. "Kevin, I'm coming with you. So, you can just shut up right there, and get back to telling me how I'm going to tank this shirt."

"Way smarter," Kevin assures Magnolia with a grin, although it fades away into first a little mostly-faux huffiness at her snorted words, and then concern at her serious response to his half-hearted suggestion. "Lia... I do want you there with us, with me." Folding up the glasses, he squints at her just as seriously. "I know you're a tougher than me, Lia. I know you're gonna be more use than me down there as long as it's not some sort of nerd Valhalla, but I just want to make sure that you don't... I don't know, that you don't have to do something that's going to be really rough on you." Leaning back, he sets his glasses on the bedside table and then turns back to her, "So you want to be the tank? I figured you for DPS really. I mean, besides being a skillmonkey like me."

"Way smarter," Magnolia repeats. But then she's looking over at him, blinking sharply with a tilt of her head. "Kevin. What do you mean tougher than me? You're like freaking Hercules from Disney. You went from scrawny dude to muscle man, you have the biggest damn heart ever, and you have a smarmy girlfriend who is a bit jaded." She hesitates. "I mean, I'm not an agent of Hades, but... everything else applies." She reaches with her hand to clasp his, squeezing. "I would take you anywhere with me, Kevin, because I know you're not going to back down if things go to shit. There's no way to stat bravery, okay?" Her smile takes on a little brittle edge, and then she looks toward the bedroom door again. "Can't I be both DPS and a skillmonkey?"

Kevin has the good grace to blush when he's compared to Hercules, although he chokes a little at the last point, "You're not smarmy. You're sassy." Beat pause, "And yes, hopefully not an agent of Hades. Although Hades had style. Total dick apparently... James Woods, I mean, not Hades, because of course Hades is a total dick. I just meant..." he shakes it off though, squeezing back at her hand, "Never mind. We can totally stat bravery, depending on the system. Usually it's Wisdom or Willpower or something, with a modifier. Remember, your Fighter gets a bonus to resist fear?" He licks his lips, shaking his head and then tries again, "Well yeah. I'm pretty sure that most any of us besides like, cops or ex-military are really going to be DPS. I don't know, maybe hunters?" He's rambling and he knows it. Probably because he's already scared, and it shows in his eyes, "Thanks, Lia."

"So, he was a good fit for the part. James Woods, that is... as Hades." Magnolia smiles a quick, tight smile before she sinks back into the pillows again. Her hand tightens on Kevin's as he starts nerding out, and only when she gets him back on track does she settle her head against his shoulder, curling up against him a bit. "Hey. If this is some grand quest and we're the heroes, we're going to get through it, right? I mean, it would be a shirtty script if we all died." Then she considers Kevin's words, and her head drifts closer down against his shoulder. "Yeah. I know. You think I should ask Easton and Charlie to come as back-up?" She looks up at him with those worried blue eyes.

Kevin nods his acceptance of the tight-smiling words, but he closes his eyes as she tucks in close to him, "I know I'm the one who suggested the lead box because Kryptonite, but even I don't think that we're on a script, or we're going to have any protection from all dying." His brows furrow up tight, looking clearly, obviously worried, "I'd like to. I mean, it'd be great to have actual firepower." He shakes his head slowly, opening his eyes, "But I don't know. do you know how hard it is to get a group of like five or six together for gaming?" He reaches over to stroke her hair slowly, the covers still between them, "I say we ask everyone, and see who can actually make it when we go. I mean, if we have to actually dive down to the caves, that's going to limit who can go too. But if we're doing Otherside stuff? I don't know, maybe some people won't want to go? Or won't be able to? I don't know how this works."

"The lead box is still a good idea," Magnolia agrees as she remains curled up against him despite the blanket between them. She lifts her eyes to him briefly before she snuggles back down against his chest, and her eyes close for a long moment. She starts to chuckle softly at his casual note of organizing, and she glances up to him briefly. "Okay. I'll see what Easton thinks. I need to help him with something anyway, so I can see... if he wants to go with us." Then glances up toward him briefly before she says, quietly, "I don't know either. It isn't something I have ever wanted to try." Her cheek rubs gently against his chest.

Kevin's breathing slows as Magnolia curls up close to his waffle-knit henley and PJ pants -- comfortable enough around Magnolia and Lark to wear whatever's comfortable. "It's something that scares me shitless," he admits. "I mean, I've only seen like the two Dreams and whatever the heck that thing with the mimics was. I mean, I guess that was the Otherside, right?" He shakes his head slowly, and his hand tightens on hers in what he would love to be a comforting, protective gesture but has much more to do with needing that comfort himself. "I don't know if I'm more scared of going into the Otherside again or scuba-diving into some creepy caves under the pond. I mean, the first thing you learn in RPGs is never to go into the water."

"Shirtless," Magnolia corrects him. Then she chuckles against his chest with a shake of her head. "Oh, you sweet summer child." Then she nods slightly before she starts to wriggle her way out of the blankets because Kevin has decided not to go through the trouble yet. She sinks down against him now, curling up into his chest with her head nestled just at his heart. "So, we won't go into the water. Or, at least, I'll go into the water first." That's not reassuring. Now she nuzzles against his chest again before she murmurs, "It'll be okay, Kevin. I'll be there, and if I'm there, I'm going to get us all out because no way am I leaving Lark here alone."

"Okay," Kevin cheerfully misunderstands. As she starts to wriggle out of the covers, he sits up and pulls off his shirt, tossing it toward the overnight bag that he brought over. He flops back onto the bed, rolling onto his back to encourage the curl half-atop him, "Oh no you don't. I'm pretty sure Lark needs you a whole lot more than me. Which means that I go into any water first, no matter how much I really, really don't want to go in." He shrugs the shoulder not currently Magnolia'd, "Besides, I'm sure we'll just have to go through the Otherside and deal with more nonsensical dungeon design. Honestly, it's like they never read a Dungeonmaster's Guide in their life." Pausing then, he considers, "Uh... okay, maybe they haven't, since they're totally creatures from the Otherside. And yes, we'll carry each other out if we have to. You can totally carry me, right?"

"I can drag you," Magnolia says helpfully. Then she's curling up over his chest, her hand curling up against her lips and rubbing slightly at her chin. "I don't know what to expect except that this should be really shitty." Beat. "Shirtty." Then she presses a kiss to his chest, her lips trailing up to the corner of his neck and shoulder. There she nestles again. "I'll put the word out to Charlie and Easton. See if we can get some firepower back-up." Then she lifts her head to smile down at him. "You ready for sleep?"

"Just drag me by my arms so my head doesn't bonk on the ground," Kevin requests. One hand loops around her back, the other rising up to stroke her arm as she corrects her cursing, "Do you want negative reinforcement with a swear jar, or positive reinforcement with M&Ms when you don't curse when you could have?" There's a serious problem with the second idea. The press of her lips to his chest and neck draws a little sigh of pleasure, and he makes a pleased hum to match. "That feels nice." Rolling his head away to further encourage the touch, he completely skips over all the important stuff to slowly turn his head back to her, "I could sleep..." He flashes a little grin, "Or we could try to be sneaky under the covers in case Lark wakes up."

"Positive reinforcement all the way, but I only eat brown M&Ms." That's a Van Halen reference for you Millennials. Then Magnolia peeks her head up from his chest, glancing toward the door, and then back at Kevin. She presses up through her elbows toward the crook of his neck, and there she touches her lips softly to the edge of his skin. Then she begins a slow trail along his pulse to his ear before she whispers, "Get under the covers, Walters."