[Meyer doesn't always take a day off work. In fact, this is his first day off since the casino opened. That's why, on this lovely afternoon, he's wandering a little aimlessly now, cigarette in hand, looking for something to pass the time that isn't work.

For awhile, he wanders around the area by the fountain, occasionally stopping to sit down and write something down in a tiny spiral bound notebook, then standing up and wandering again. After awhile, though, he seems to get bored, and turns on the video to ask a question -- or rather, make a proposition.]

I'm going for drinks. Does anyone want to come?

[It may be a bit early in the day for drinking, but it's his day off -- this is what people do on their days off, right? With that question posed to the entire City, he strolls off in search of a bar that has relatively inexpensive and plentiful alcohol.]

( Closed Action to Merlin )

( Phone Call to Mercy Thompson )

( Phone call to Charlie )

[ Open Action ]

[ After laying Merlin to rest in his rooms, arms folded neatly, the blood washed from Merlin's body, Arthur had felt unease creep into his thoughts. What honor could he do Merlin by keeping vigil over his dead servant's body? What penance would it serve when it was Arthur's own hand that had done the deed? No, honor demanded he stay and stay he did, until Charlie had found him (and the black eye he sported showed how well that went). And now restlessness had taken him to the beach as dusk crept on the City.

Had it really been so long ago when Merlin tried to give his life to save Arthur's own? He'd been just as unworthy then as he was now. Maybe even less so. His pride had stood him in the way and it was always his pride that made Arthur a fool. The unicorn, the hunger of his people and the drought in the land.

All for the sake of a Unicorn's horn.

He snorted and shoved his hands into the pocket of his jacket, trying to warm the now friend-stained hands. He didn't even have a prize this time to hang on his wall, to put on display. No, just Merlin's dead body lying on a bed. And for what? An unmended shirt? A moment's ire at a man who had saved his life how many times? Magic or no, Merlin had been his servant, his friend and trusted companion.

Arthur didn't deserve him. He was starting to suspect he never had. ]

((ooc: Backdating the post to yesterday as I ended up crashing before I could get the post up. Action open to anyone who'd like to bother him at the beach or on the way there.))

[Michael's eyes are really wide as he stares at the camera.]

Um...I have a question...

[He turns the camera around to show Xi, the fire cat, with a bunch of baby fire cats around him. Raphael, the tabby cat is nearby and looks oddly proud of himself.]

Those things...

The kittens...

I don't...

WHERE THE HELL DID THE DAMN KITTENS COME FROM? I HAVE TWO BOY CATS!

(A blazing meteor streams down through the sky, brilliant white-gold; anything near it hears the roaring of fusion fire as it blasts down through the clouds. Utsuho has entered the City, and she hurtles to earth in a bright fireball...but before she can land, she suddenly sprawls in the air and heads straight for the wall of a building. If you happen to be really close, you'll hear the shouting as the meteor wobbles about and thrashes heavy black wings in an attempt to slow its trajectory. It manages to scoot aside from smacking headlong into the wall, as it blasts down an alleyway and leaves scorch marks across the ground, melting the sand into a strip of glass and igniting any trash or debris that happens to be there. Smoke billows up from the alleyway.

Utsuho stands up, dizzied, a 5'8" woman who looks around 20 years old, has large black wings, and carries a big gold cannon around her right arm. She shakes out her shaggy brown hair and looks around.)

"Uh...Orin? Miss Satori? Anyone?"

(She takes a few seconds before an utterly shocked expression crosses her face. Her brown eyes have an otherworldly red-orange shine to them as she glances around.)

"What...where..."

(She looks over her shoulder, as if expecting something, then furrows her brows, shrugs, and rearranges a couple feathers on her wings as she thinks.)

"....It's so cold up here. Is this the surface world? Hey, I made it! What's this thing?" (She's staring straight at the device now. The video is unclear what the object actually looks like, but her hands cover the view for a while as she pokes randomly at it.) "Looks magical, I guess. I'll give it to Orin later. She likes round things."

(Utsuho sets off out of the alley, only to realize she's standing near a window...so she rises into the air and peeks inside. Look, it's a hotel lobby! She's looking in the window of Oh Aces, in the lounge, right next to... a fireplace, which she fixates on almost immediately.)

"Fire!"

(She doesn't have a second thought as she bashes in the window with her arm cannon, sweeping the glass away haphazardly and climbing inside. There's no one in the lounge when she enters, so she scoots over to the fireplace, drops the screen aside so that it falls away from the fire, and climbs onto the wood. The fire seems to have no effect other than to put a pleased smile on her face, and in a moment's golden gleam, she transforms into a four-foot-high raven with a large red slitted eye in its chest. The raven pats at the burning wood for a few seconds, arranging it a little more nicely before nestling down for a nap.)




(OOC: Utsuho is snoozing in the Oh Aces fireplace, totally uninvited. Feel free to not have seen her coming in, or this video, and just walk in on her, or to reply via her device, which she has no idea how to work, but she'll totally talk to you!)