[Social] Heavy Metal Thunder, Racing With the Wind

[Samantha McManus]

"Kidnapped themselves, ransomed themselves back, you know how it goes."

[Wyll Wyldclay]

"Hmm, is that what happened? Fascinating," the Wyldclay nodded. "I do so like to hear other perceptions of what went on."

[Robin Stanton]

"Kidnapped yourself, huh? I can't tell if that's clever or stupid."

[Samantha McManus]

"A bit from column A, something from column B."

[Wyll Wyldclay]

"Oh, bringing the other over was very clever, even if it was done in a very stupid way. If you want something properly, you have to do it yourself, apparently.

And ransom him back? Why, that is a momentous accusation! I believe I returned him on my own merits out of the goodness of my heart, with nothing expected in return. It is surely not my fault that your woman didn't communicate that with you during our later negotiations," the Wyldclay said, putting one hand to their chest in mock outrage.

[Robin Stanton]

Robin looks at Sam, back at Wyldclay, then seems to put two and two together on who 'Sam's woman' is and busts out laughing.

"Okay, I can see it now. Nice job, 'Dad'!" she laughs and holds her hand up towards Wylclay.

[Wyll Wyldclay]

The Wyldclay returned the high-five (hip and trendy!) and grinned.

"No hard feelings, of course. You're used to dealing with the other, and thinking does not appear to be his strongsuit."

[Samantha McManus]

"Respectfully, that's like dismissing a sampler after one bite."

[Wyll Wyldclay]

"Oh, believe me, Morrigan, I took more than one bite," the Wyldclay grinned, their eyes flashing.

"But I suppose it's possible that Ryn brought me a tainted apple, as it were. You're right; I only had the one."

[Samantha McManus]

"It might be amusing to see you try to drink the ocean, but I suppose that's not going to work out for anyone involved."

[Robin Stanton]

"Aww, weird mythological back and forth, you guys are making me homesick."

[Wyll Wyldclay]

"It might be amusing to see you try to drink the ocean, but I suppose that's not going to work out for anyone involved."

"And yet, I've been told I contain multitudes," the Wyldclay grinned.

[Wyll Wyldclay]

"So!" the Wyldclay said, clapping their hands together. "What strange new wonders shall we partake of first?"

[Robin Stanton]

"Well, for starters there's the dorms. Don't you want to see if you can merge with the rest of Dad?"

[Samantha McManus]

"They seemed a bit... apprehensive about that."

[Wyll Wyldclay]

"Well, I've never been one much for self-reflection, so a trip to the mirror seems like it would be out of character for me, would it not?"

"I admit, Morrigan, that I am wary of losing myself to...your friend," they said, finally giving some small concession. "If your theories are true and we are one and the same, it must happen eventually, I'm sure. But it would be a shame to lose all this in the name of safety or homogeneity."

[Robin Stanton]

"Yeah I don't think I'd call the ones who climb out of the cauldron homogenous. Oh and the mirror is out, he's a bubbling mudbath now. Which I realize now sounds even more homogenous but losing unique experiences and perspectives isn't really something he's about."

[Samantha McManus]

"Paradigm shift. The Fury rather did a number on the mirror."

[Wyll Wyldclay]

"She what?!. Honestly. You simply can not find good help these days,' the Wyldclay sputtered. "You were well within your rights to give her hide a good tanning," they decided, pinning all the blame on the whole set of shenanigans on Ryn.

[Robin Stanton]

"Well, it's all fixed up and blurbling away. I'm pretty sure he's popped the same flavor of Dad out before, but that kinda philosophical ship of Theseus stuff you're better off talking to Sam or her spooky girlfriend."

[Wyll Wyldclay]

"Well, I certainly understand the desire to add some actual flavor and spice to the gruel, as it were..."

[Samantha McManus]

"Well it's... it's a mistake to think of it purely as soup, as entirely one thing. I know it's bloody tempting, since it's clay, but up here," she taps her head for emphasis, "there's a lot going on."

"I mean I don't know if I can really put it into words in any way that's satisfying, but in the cauldron Will is both nothing at all for awhile, and ready to be anything, even everything."

[Wyll Wyldclay]

"Being nothing isn't particularly appealing," Wyldclay said, wrinkling their nose. "I have no idea how ~this~....person decided that nothingness was a virtue. Sitting there, slack-jawed and gormless, with their metaphorical thumb up their theoretical ass. Zen and the art of slow cooking."

Rolling their shoulders, they stretched for the sky some as they walked-and-talked. "It's potential energy versus kinetic, when you come down to it. The way this...version...is, if you simply never prodded them, never asked anything of them, never suggested anything, they'd sit there forever and do nothing. A lump. And that, to me, sounds like an eternal curse of the highest order.

[Robin Stanton]

"Might not have been the best example you met. For a slack-jawed sloth there sure are a lot of them out and about all the time. I dunno how often they come back to the Pot but I think there's a lot of them that just... pop in to share what they did with the rest of 'em before scampering off again."

[Samantha McManus]

"Aye, they come and go as they please, reinventing themselves when the mood strikes."

[Wyll Wyldclay]

"Mmm. Their moods, from my experience, appear to be naught but melancholic and repetitive. 'Oh, today I shall be a different sort of paver stone, and perhaps someone new will trod on my face,'" they scoffed. "But I suppose you should know better than I..."

[Robin Stanton]

"Maybe..." Robin hedges. It's not the Dad she knows, but she has to admit that he seems to have certainly settled more into that kind of thing from what she can tell.

"Or maybe you're a part of what he's been missing. He's done that before, been split into doormat and jerk. No offense."

[Wyll Wyldclay]

"None taken, naturally. And I did get something from him, and hoped to give him something from me in return, hence the little...shall we say, prearranged visit to my home?"

[Samantha McManus]

"Aye, the incident where you sent a primal force of vengeance on a milk run. Clearly that's the can-do attitude that Will is missing," she says dryly.

[Wyll Wyldclay]

"It's called delegation, and it's healthy. When was the last time your boy got a Goddess of War to do him a favor, rather than the other way around, hrm?" the Wyldclay said, raising an eyebrow.

[Samantha McManus]

"Will doesn't have to bargain with me," she says simply.

[Wyll Wyldclay]

The Wyldclay stopped in their tracks, as if they had just been shot.

"And where's the fun in that??" Wyldclay protested, hands on hips and frowning. "Honestly. A good deal is what makes the world go 'round."

[Samantha McManus]

Sam gives an incredulous look to Robin that might be familiar from another Morrigan, if with a bit less experience backing it.

[Robin Stanton]

Robin gives a somewhat helpless shrug in response.

"So, like, what, you don't want people to help you for free? As if it's unearned or something?"

[Wyll Wyldclay]

"That's simply not how things work," Wyldclay said, as if they were explaining it to a small child. "A good bargain is the bread and butter of any day. You exchange favor for favor, skillfully navigate the loopholes and hidden meanings, parry and riposte. The truly skilled and wise go far; the foolish and mop-headed find themselves very much in debt, and the cycle spins on and on.

If people just do things for one another without getting anything in return...why, that's madness. That's how people get advantage taken of them. That's how you get in serious trouble..."

[Samantha McManus]

"This isn't something for nothing. It's something Will earned."

[Wyll Wyldclay]

"Mmmm," the Wyldclay said, seemingly unimpressed. "It sounds to me like you're saying he's old, retired and out of the game. Resting on one's laurels; on past deals and deeds. Well, perhaps one must hurry and fix that, then, before he learns to take the divine favor of the Morrigan for granted."

[Robin Stanton]

"I guess it is true... He's downright ancient, in desperate need of de-cobwebbing." Robin nods and winks at Sam.

[Samantha McManus]

"...of course you want to be an... internal stiffening rod."

[Wyll Wyldclay]

"That is, indeed, a service I can provide," the Wyldclay grinned, lasciviously. "References available upon request, although if you'd prefer an in-person interview..."