World Tree MUSH

    The homestead has raised garden beds, filled with summer plants such as tomatoes, peppers, and squashes quietly wavering in the warm evening breeze. The deep red of the Midnight Sun peeks over the mountainous horizons as the colors of summer twilight settle upon the vault of the sky above. The house itself is constructed of hardwood beams and fitted stone foundations, with a flagstone patio that features a firepit (that probably doubles as an oven) with wooden benches. Syd's giving Dante a bit of a tour, telling the man about where he sourced this or that material.
    "That's from a mountain on the edge of Home. It sang with a chorus of raksha and gave me a token of appreciation from the stone near its heart."

    Dante's been a good enough guest, and he brought music and booze! A six-pack and Nevan specifically. While tuning the guitar, and trying to keep her from being incredibly inappropriate around Bea and Syd, Dante follows. "'s a nice place. I had to chase out some rats when I got mine. Bite your head off, man." He comments, before grabbing a seat near the firepit and lays out the drinks. He's a polite houseguest, for now.

     Is standing near the fire pit/oven, watching the contents. The tall woman's hair is pulled back, pinned in a bun. She's wearing loose trousers and a cropped top to reflect the warm seasonable weather. A shawl is draped over a chair away from the fire. She flexes her hand thinking before remembering and grabbing a stick to pull flat bread from the oven. It looks like naan. She seems pretty delighted. Dante is given a big wave as she takes a bowl of something and a brush to wash the bread generously - garlic and a butter of some sort. She takes a piece of bread over towards Syd and Dante, offering it up, generously to Dante. "May the hearth always be warm and friends always near." she offers as if reciting a small prayer. She then retreats, getting a piece of bread for Nevan, offering the same courtesies. "I made wine, should I bring a small cask?" she asks towards Syd.

    Syd glances at Dante. "Sure. We can try each other's drink."
    He blinks a bit. "What kind of rats were those? Some kind of chaos-spawned monster?" Syd takes a piece of the bread. "May the hearth always be lit and family always safe." A small prayer from the craftswman as well.

    Nevan purrs out ~~How considerate, dear, but I don't see that working.~~ as Bea offers her food and drink, tittering with amusement as electric sparks form in the guitar's body. "She's...special." Dante asides, before accepting bread and chowing down. "Think you guys might kick me out with what I got, I got a beer budget and beer tastes if you catch my drift." The devil hunter chuckles, before he waved a hand. "Demon rats. Can't swing a stick without hitting 'em in my neck of the woods."

    He does accept wine, sipping it. 's good.

     The pale woman blows a small puff of a kiss at Syd, moving to go gather a small item. "Syd made these previously and we held onto a box." She sets down a few very pretty, well crafted picks made of some sort of speciality rock. Probably not actually for guitars but close enough. "Of course I'm special, I'm a chosen of Luna. Please take these as a thanks for attending our hearth warming." she jokes, softly. "You should use fire on demon rats, or Earth aspected." she offers, voice gentle. She smiles, taking the beer from Syd to try a small sip, considering "Bitter. Like they used to serve in the bar Syd frequented before we married." she offers analytically. "It's fine." she offers to Dante, shrugging. "Syd and I are a lot less picky than many of our ilk." she admits, grinning, "I think we have some meat and cheese if you want to try it?" she murmurs.

    Dante takes the picks and toys with them, walking them across his fingers like coins. "Not bad, not bad." He starts strumming the guitar, a few familiar riffs begin to fill the room as he plays, elecricity from his fingers and the guitar itself. ~~Ooooh, that's one I haven't heard in a while. Not bad, dear.~~ Nevan croons. Dante just smirks, "It's coming back to me."

    "So how long have you guys been together anyway?" Dante asks Bea and Syd as he sets Nevan down, if the guitar could pout after being teased like that she would be. "Bring on the charcutarie, Bea."

    Syd regards the guitar. "Not really. I feel it's always useful to sample the food from other places." He points at the garden, where bamboo has been grown as a fence to keep local deer from nibbling the plants. "After all, my people have spent about 4,300 years on the run. A lot of that time was spent eating nutrient paste. I know I'm personally eager to try new foods. Sure, we get some stuff from planetary expeditions, but those stockpiles only last so long." 
    With that, Syd reaches for a beer. He fumbles a moment before figuring out how to open it. "To new worlds?" He offers a toast to Dante and Beatrix.

    The woman grins. "I'm better at making something of a polish or a medication than Syd. He can do it quicker though." she offers, calmly "Ah us? Gosh we've been married ten years dating since he exalted." she gestures. "Twelve years of dating?" she asks to Syd. "Eight children shared." she offers to Dante, glancing at Syd and lifting her wooden cup up to tap to the can. Her smile shows brilliantly. "To new worlds and a future worth living in." she offers back to Syd "And hope for all to dream in." she offers, eying Dante with a small smile. "I never learned but I have an academic understanding of how they work." she takes a long sip, gesturing at the guitar.

    Dante taps his cup to the drinks with a grin at Bea and Syd, "A better tomorrow? Yeah, I'll drink to that." He nods firmly before knocking back the wine, "And finding peace in a messed up existence." Dante adds, then listens to Bea and Syd with a genuine smile for once. God, they are adorable together. "My parents uh...they had a wild time together. Ages ago, my dad fought to help liberate humanity from his fellow demon lords. Dunno why, he didn't talk about it much. Maybe Mundus owed him money over poker or something. Point is, Sparda saw something in mankind, something worth protecting. And he found love. 's how he met my mom, a witch. Then you get me and my brother and things...happen."

    It's definitely a long and ugly tale, and Dante steels himself for the rest of it.

    Syd smiles. "Sounds like some stories repeat. Autochthon and Gaia turning on their fellow Titans. Your father deciding to turn on his fellow demon lords."
    Syd goes to retrieve some venison to cook over the fire pit, humming as he sets it up to cook.

The tall woman doesn't press. "Or perhaps he just wanted to fight?" she offers calmly. "My parents and my world are dead, I can say nothing of value was lost." she offers, reaching to gently rest a hand on Syd's shoulder. "Hey. You don't have to push, we all carry sadness and discomfort in our hearts. "Everything in the universe is a pattern, some repeat mightily."

    "Maybe." Dante smirks, "He did like a fight, didn't he Nevan?"

    ~~Oh certainly, your father never passed up a change to test his skills. Mmmm, he was magnificent. But you...well, you're getting up there fast.~~ Nevan offered.

    Dante just watched Syd cook, "I got a brother, but things between us...well, you know how brothers can be."

    Syd sits down, letting the venison roast. The spit slowly turns via a foot pedal that Syd's operating. "It's what we fight for that defines us, I think..." He looks quietly at Beatrix. "We fought for humanity and a new home. Something other than an endless war." Then at Dante. "What do you fight for?"

     The lady chuckles, reaching to toussle Syd's curls. "He must be handsome too then. You know, if you get hurt Dante, even if you heal quick, you are welcome to come to me. I'm actually known as a healer and am regarded as a sloppy fighter without any talent in it. I'm decent at protecting though." she smiles watching Dante. "That's true. I fight for a future worthy of the next generation, a day when I am not needed and can just be Syd's wife. Not Beatrix with her endless sobriquettes" she admits, blushing slightly when Syd looks at her before glancing at Dante "What do you fight for?" she repeats, curious.

    "Mankind, really. I don't like the idea of seeing good people being cattle." Dante admits, before grinning at Beatrix. "That's pretty generous, thanks. Just know I'm gonna be about as subtle as a thunderbolt." He regularly risked getting jabbed and stabbed by all manner of things, Beatrix would be collecting said sharp things on the regular.

    "My brother is the 'power-at-all-costs' type and it's bitten him in the ass hard. I dunno where he is, Hell probably, but I get the feeling next time I see him it's gonna be bad for everyone."

    Syd grumps. "There's people like that among our own number." There's the creak of the spit for a moment. 
    "The Magus is imprisoned back in Autochthon for such things. He is only consulted when things are dire, for supposedly even his advice contains subtle manipulations that advances his agenda." The smell of roasting meat, seasoned well, wafts over the patio as night settles in. The sky is quite stark in its starlessness, though a bright moon permanently shrouded in glittering fog has risen, bringing with it a celestial hum.

Bea is just nodding. "Syd and I heal fast but, medical assistance gets us back to work faster, with less suffering." Bea looks at him "Given your looks I'm a little shocked you haven't moon silver on you sometimes." she confesses, softly. "Power at all costs is dangerous and there is a real danger of letting every bit of humanity leaving you. I.. There is a cost to power. It can be very ugly." she admits, frowning slightly, rubbing at her ribs under her top before realizing what she's doing and stopping the rubbing. "He probably has very good intentions but can't see the forest through the trees." she gets quiet "It is a very painful thing I am reminded of frequently." she admits, twisting her ring on her pointer finger, as if self soothing. "Dante if you are offered a bargain for a little more strength think it through." she admits, voice careful. Her face tries to stay stoney but belies memories she'd prefer to have not remembered.

    "Lotta those going around." Dante says bitterly, "I've seen people do sick things for it. I guess that's partly why I still fight, because they treat everyone else like sheep to slaughter." Bea was right about that much. "No argument there, Bea."

    ~~When Dante met me, it was within a tower that was being unsealed by a warlock seeking such things. He even killed his own wife to learn the black arts.~~ Nevan offers with a solemn tone, ~~Arkham was scum by his kind's standards. I sure don't mind seeing his soul in Hell.~~

    Syd shifts, the spit pausing a moment. "Sorcery, the capital 'S' kind, in our world requires... sacrifice. Because it isn't an art meant for gods or mortals; it's the kind of magic that the Titans work. I'm not sure what cost I paid to learn the first circle of sorcery. I'm told it was the memories of my past selves." Another shift.
    He nods toward Beatrix. "Based on what she has told me about them, that was too high a price." He looks appraisingly at Nevan, considering the fact that he has never encountered a sentient marvel, and wonders if the Scarlet Empress speaks to its pilot.

     For once Beatrix is quiet "I've watched versions of Syd die. I'm glad you cannot remember being the hero everyone looks to when even hope is beyond our grasp. I know what I paid to learn Sorcery. It was quite a sacrifice, I think of it each day at the first light of dawn." She admits, thinking. "The cost, the sacrifice differs person to person. It is intended to limit the will to learn the arts being bargained for. I.. It terrifies me that I may have to pay more to learn more in the future." she admits, shifting to press lightly to Syd's side. "If I pay a cost I've weighed it. I have thought it through." she murmurs, more to Syd than Dante, as if promising.