Rin POV
Given a score out of ten, I'd say I woke up to a seven. No one was actively trying to kill anyone else, and I was still (roughly) where I was when I fell asleep. But there were a few small things keeping it from a higher score, six to be exact. After all, waking up and seeing five new people/creatures and not knowing if they were friendly is a bit of a issue.
On the plus side, the weird skinny thing to the left had its back to me, and didn't seem to have any kind of spiked rear appendage(s), just a stubby tail and antlers, wait, nevermind. Those were some seriously gnarly heel-spurs. Still, it probably wasn't looking to turn me into lunch.
It turned its head to look at me. Grey scales plated the underside of the neck and wow, I wasn't aware it had that much neck. But hey, learn something new every day.
And now I had a good look at the thing from the side, I just gotta say, wow, what a rack. Those were some nice antlers. The thing had a head like a musk deer, if musk deer had no skin, shark's teeth intermittently sprinkled about their jaws, and a sprawling set of antlers sweeping down from their skull.
It turned towards me fully, and huh. That's all I really have to say, just: huh. It was furry, brown, and had incredibly lanky arms. They reached to the ground even as it half-rose to its clawed feet. Or were they paws? I couldn't tell. The upper limbs ended much the same way, in neither hands nor paws but something in between. Most of torso was incredibly humanoid, and would've been indistinguishable from any other lady had it not been the lower torso. And, you know, everything else. Like the long, digitigrade legs.
I would have considered it just another weird creature if it hadn't been for one specific thing: it was dressed pretty nice. I mean, it was obviously modified, but the outfit was actually good. Business casual, a set of beige khakis, a silky maize scarf, and red polo shirt tied at the bottom. The creature didn't seem to have anything in the way of a lower torso, if the vivid outlines of ribs and severe caving in at the stomach were to be believed. Not to mention it looked like the polo was tied directly around the spine at the bottom.
"Oh, looks like Mord sent a present," the creature purred, sauntering forward on all fours in an odd, uneven gait, and snatching the box from under my seat.
"Hey!" I snapped, "That's for Abigail!"
I'm not entirely sure how, but the creature managed to smirk without lips.
"Oh dearie," said the creature, reaching down to a small cylinder hanging at it's side. I hadn't noticed it before, being too focused on the- holy $#!& that thing has two eyeballs per socket! There's a new one.
The creature slit open the box with a claw longer than my hand and lifted the parcel within. Okay, now I'm confused… again. I was looking at a cylinder just like the one at Abigail's hip.
"I am Abigail."
A translucent tube snaked up from the side of the canister, running from its bottom up Abigail's side, over her shoulder and ending next to her chin. She switched the cylinders, and the moment the new one was in, began sipping on the end of the tube. A burst of sanguine liquid flowed up in, and Abigail's eyes shut in delight.
"Made with love," she sighed then threw me a smug look. I still don't know how that's possible with only a skull, but I'm going to stop questioning it, "we can actually taste that you know."
I took a page out of Kuro's book with my response, "No, I really don't know. What do you mean 'we've been expecting you'? Who is we? Don't answer that, I see you have horse-backup. What are you?"
"Oh. My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Abigail, and these fine folks," she gestured to the horsemen outside, "are Felix, Mela, Izak, and Gerek."
"That's nice," Tony chimed up, suit folding back into his… watch? Not gonna question it, "still doesn't answer the question though."
"I'm the current head of security, and they are some hired help. Does that answer your question?"
"Sort of. Head of security for what? And again, what are you? And how did you get behind us so quickly?" Tony asked. Guess he was taking over the asking questions job, not that I minded.
"In order, walk with me. I'll show you." She took another sip, then loped off the jet's lowered ramp, calling over her shoulder, "I'll tell you on the way."
Kuro, of course, figured it best not to let me walk on my own again. At least this time he let me ride him though, rather than scruffing like before.
We landed only a few hundred yards from the construction site, so the run wasn't long. However, that time wasn't spent in silence.
"Before we get to the housing area, would you please tell your people to leave us to work in peace?" Abigail turned her gaze to Thor, "I understand they're trying to help, but none of them are certified, know the safety procedures, or are even citizens of this &(*!ing planet yet*!"
"Didn't you put up a fence?" Yelled Tony from the other side where he and the other full-humans found themselves riding backsaddle with the horsemen.
She sighed, giving a nice view of jagged teeth lining her entire mouth all the way back to the throat, "Yes, we put in a fence. And an electric fence. And guard dogs. And a moat. And a sniper tower**. Heck, I even called in a favor from a sphinx my family knows!" She almost snapped, before lowering a few octaves and semi-muttering, "Do you have any idea how good children are at semantic puzzles?***"
Clint's deadpan answer of "Yes" was something I would have mulled over longer, had we not been almost at the site. I could make out the large figures at one side of the construction. One was a sphinx, the other a massive snake.
We were soon close enough to hear the racket of the construction site, then make out what the two figures were saying. They were in the middle of what I could only describe as a riddle-battle. Ya know those rap battles ya sometimes hear about? Yeah, it was kind of like that, but with riddles.
"Oy! Brother, get over here!"
I jumped at the sudden bellow from next to me, a few dozen feet away the snake's head whipped around. Its tongue flickered once, and it approached us. A shiver ran down my spine, ending in an uncomfortable tail spasm. It wasn't the same overwhelming fear I'd felt when first meeting Thor, but I knew this wasn't someone/thing to be messed with lightly.
"...brother?" breathed a voice beside me.
"Oh, please don't tell me…" another said, exasperation coating her words.
I was too fixated on the sidewalk sized serpent to pinpoint who spoke. As it came closer it's color became clear: forest green, patterned with duller, darker green freckles.
*Smack*
Or pinpoint who facepalmed. I'm pretty sure it wasn't the snake. That thing's boxy snout didn't seem suited to the activity. Nevermind the lack of palms.
"Do not worry-" Thor assured.
"I'm worrying." Someone replied.
"I'm that, and a lot of other things." Another chimed in.
I didn't say anything, too focused on tamping down on my unease. Instincts are good for alerting ya of danger, but once ya've acknowledged them there are times it would be nice to have some kind of off button. Okay, sure people technically do have one, but I mean one not involving being knocked out.
I could feel Thor rolling his eyes beside me, but the deity left it that. Instead, he addressed the giant snake.
"Stop harassing the poor woman and shift to your true form. You are making these gentleman," he gestured to Kuro and I. Admittedly, I hadn't taken my eyes off the snake since we showed up. Or, rather, I hadn't until Kuro's hackles got in the way. Yeah, we weren't exactly comfortable.
The speckled titan curled in on itself, wrapping tightly before growing smaller, smaller, furrier, and smaller, until a large furry house cat sat where the snake once lay.
Thor sighed, and while the unease hadn't faded -if anything it had gotten stronger- I was no longer staring down the snout of something who could swallow me whole. This lack of imminent nomming left me feeling safe enough to glance at my employer and company. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but their combat-ready stances -excluding the doctor, They who Shred, and Thor- weren't it. The latter was preoccupied turning his face to the sky and, yep, I recognise that look. The "give me strength" look.
Something scuttled at the corner of my vision, but before I could focus on it Thor spoke up, turning to the cat with a sigh.
"Well, I am unable to argue with that."
I was already aware a cat could make a fake-affronted face, and this one was an excellent example of one. I think. It's hard to tell with a sample size of two.
The uneasy feeling still had me on edge, and bells were starting to ring in the back of my head. Almost like… had I experienced something like this before?
No one moved from their positions. The cat looked around and sniggered, shifting again.
Soon I was looking at a lithe, black haired man dressed entirely in green. The feeling grew even stronger, and I finally managed to figure out what the feeling reminded me of: Mephisto.
This was a trickster.
But -my gaze flitted to Thor- there was something different about this one. I sniggered as the thunder g-d tackled his brother and wrestled him into a headlock. We have someone who knows how to deal with this trickster.
"Ack! Get off you over enthusiastic puppy of an aesir!" The trickster protested, squirming in a partially successful attempt to dislodge himself from a headlock.
No one but the squirming man moved for a few moments, before Clint spoke up.
"I'm hesitant to ask, but: what's happened since we last met?" Trepidation soaked every word.
The deity gave a puzzled look to the the group, minus the trickster trying to wiggle out from a solid headlock, "Did Bruce not explain things?"
"Yes, but honestly I didn't believe a fifth of it." Someone -Tony I think- remarked. Everyone -trickster included- turned to look at him for a second.
Only for a second though, because at that point the trickster shapeshifted into some kind of long fish/eel thing, and slipped his brother's grasp. It looked like fun, and I was tempted to jump in, but something -be it instincts opposed to getting in any kind of fight with a deity, a still healing arm, or a protective friend the size of an eighteen wheeler- held me back.
"Hey! Hagfish are cheating!" Griped the g-d. He shook his arms in a futile attempt to rid them of the slime now coating them.
"Your point?" The trickster snarked, shifting back to a man just in time to be cuffed in the back of the head by Abigail.
"Now children, how about we go in and get people some dinner. I don't know about you, but I'm hungry." She burst into a fit of giggles at some inside joke and gestured for us to follow.
The trip to the living quarters was short, and filled with friendly banter between the two deities.
"What did I tell you about hiring these kind of folk?" Asked the thunder g-d.
"Let someone know." Drawled the trickster, "And I did!"
"Who?" The thunder g-d asked, tone of one knowing they were in for a smart alec answer.
"Myself." The trickster smirked.
"We've been over this time and time again. You do not count as someone when you are the one telling someone."
"What about-" The trickster protested
"Illusions do not count either."
"You're no fun." The trickster said, "Anyways, we're here."
We were definitely somewhere. To the right were large tanks of water, and in front of us was a massive camper. Behind it was a sea of other, smaller, campers of various models and colors, and what looked like laundry lines hanging sporadically between vehicles. People wandered in the pathways between the trucks. Chatter and -oddly enough- disembodied flying hands filled the air.
One landed on my arm. I barely managed to catch myself before I swatted it like a bug. It scuttled up to my shoulder, and upon closer inspection I could see not only was it not attached to anything, it was completely covered in bandages, safety pins, and bits of cloth attached via those pins. It launched itself like a jumping spider and soon was lost in the maze of campers and laundry.
The -hopefully- benign weirdness left me more at ease. It wasn't my home, but the positive air about this place got rid of the last clinging bits of earlier tension.
I didn't have long to soak it in as we swiftly ducked into the big camper. They that Crushes elected to remain outside, while everyone else entered.
Everyone took a seat -or a perch on the back of a chair in TwS' case- around a fold-out table. And more tension. What had happened between the trickster and the human crew? I mean, I'm not blaming anyone for being wary of a trickster g-d, but the amount here? It seemed a bit excessive.
I tried to distract myself and focused on the camper's interior. It wasn't too shabby, with red-brown walls and enough windows for the place to be lit entirely by natural light. What drew my attention though, were the bizarre, foot long, padded structures bolted to the walls just below cat flaps. For a moment I wondered what they could be. Only for that moment though, as another of those hands jumped through the flap and settled down on the armrest for the hand equivalent of a nap****.
Abigail took another route in dealing with the animosity and carefully ignored it entirely, clearing her throat and getting down to business, "Now, let's get started. Is this a neighborly visit, or do you need something?"
"While I would absolutely love it if this were just a friendly visit, we do have an ulterior motive as well." Thor said, "We need to speak with Heimdall."
Abigail blinked. "I see."
"Well then," the trickster clasped his hands, "let's get going then -ack!"
"Not so fast," Clint warned, hand on the trickster's collar, "First, I believe we need to go over a. what exactly happened since we last saw each other, and b. what are exactly are you?" The latter question was aimed at Abigail.
"The first one's easy to answer." Thor grumbled, "Doctor Banner already told you."
"Okay, fine. I meant any details you left out, but let's go with that for now." The scary redhead snapped, "and the second question?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I totally forgot, didn't I? I always get so caught up in the moment… anyway, I'm a wendigo. These little guys," she snapped her fingers twice and a hand landed on the table, "are oniate. They're a big help with keeping everyone on the same page. And on that note…"
She unpinned one of the bits of cloth attached to the oniate, grabbed a pen from her shirt pocket, and wrote something. She pinned it back on the hand, directed it to "Heimdall", and the nightmarish carrier pigeon was off.
"They're so dang cute." She said, eyes lit with not only their normal sulfurous glow, but joy comparable to one who just played with a beloved pet. It was short lived, as someone -see: Tony- coughed and reminded her of the other people she had yet to explain.
"Oh, right… who?... oh! Yes, right, the other help are dullahan."
Clint -someone who managed to maintain quite a respectable "wait, what did you just say?" look since the "I'm a wendigo" line, finally managed to get enough oxygen to speak up.
"I'm sorry, did you just say 'wendigo'? As in: ever hungry, cannibalistic spirits? That kind of wendigo?"
Abigail's shoulders slumped and she rolled her eyes, "Yes. That kind of wendigo. And yes, I am good to work." She patted her canister and took another sip.
All was quiet for a moment. Clint shot up, visibly shook.
"I'm sorry, I need a minute." he said and walked out.
Abigail frowned. "I better go with him. It's a real labyrinth out there." And like Clint, she left before anyone could protest.
It only took a record 0.3 seconds after she left for it to get impressively awkward. The full humans were giving the trickster these looks, and I wanted no part of it.
"Ya know what, I just realized I need to go… uh… use the restroom. Bye!"
And without bothering to get a reply, Kuro and I rushed out the door.
*Yes, yet. The vetting process is a # ^! ^&*$#!.
**The dude wasn't using lethal rounds of course
***Look on the bright side Alice: now you've got blackmail of your friend being outwitted by children!
****Please insert hand falling asleep joke here
Here's a picture of Abigail and Mordechai: www. deviantart burnerseven /art/Abigail -and-Mord-756550993
Here's a picture of the serpent: https: burnerseven/art/ Loki-Wyrm-756551241