Welcoming Party

"Well it is in his name..." Daniel said taking off his jacket, and thought about it for a second "I think mostly he'll just be happy to meet other people like himself... any of you want something to drink, is handsome over there going to break my shins if I go grab some off brand coke from the fridge?" He joked in a friendly way toward the ogre.

"Do you have any 7-Up?" The ogre's rumbling voice replied as he raised a stony brow.

Daniel went to the fridge and checked "We have nine up, and hey that's two more than seven... I got a twenty four pack  from from dollar tree, but I haven't been brave enough to try it..."

The ogre grinned, the expression surprisingly endearing as he beckoned for Daniel to hand it over "I've drunk worse, bet I can chug the whole pack in under two minutes." He wagered, just like that every head in the room was right on him, Changed were suckers for bets and challenges after all and soon a chant of 'Chug, chug, chug!' Filled the motel room, even the darkling in the corner getting in on it with a reluctant smile.

Daniel got into it as well as he drank his cheap but not quite that cheap cola, and also stood bye with healing magic in the highly possible event that the nine up ate a hole in the ogre's stomach or something. At some point he decided he he liked these people, at least they beat the Fae he'd met.

Like mighty thor in the legends of old the ogre downed one after another to the roaring cheers of his fellows , the chant growing faster and faster as can after can dropped empty to the floor. The ogre's gargantuan and stony form beginning to teeter back as he downed one after the other. Finally as the last can rattled to the floor there was a loud groan and the ogre fell onto his back with a loud thud! For a moment there was silence as the big lug lay there, chest moving up and down slowly, then suddenly a thunderous belch roared out and he stuck up a fist in triumph! Ecstatic in their comrade's triumph over a clearly suicidal challenge, the changed roared with laughter and praise, rushing to pick up their now rather woozy friend.....And that's exactly when Flynt walked in.

Daniel abstained  from rushing forward to celebrate, as that seemed like more of a moments between friends thing, but he gave an impressed thumbs up and waved to Flynt as he walked in the door that no longer closed right "Hey some friends of yours or something stopped by."  He explained the situation.

"Y'all should get the big guy in the car... it's not the getting it down that's hard with nine up... it's getting it back out again..." It didn't take a diplomat to know that a nine up aftermath in someone's bathroom was an ill advised recruitment opener The satyr said to her friends, before stepping forward and extending a hand to Flynt "Lyre, you must be Flynt, we're with the caravan..."

Flynt nodded, an amused if bewildered look on his face as he made space for the ogre and his buddies to get out "This normally how you say hello?" He questioned as he shook the hand firmly, then promptly gave a 'Wtf' look to Dani.

"They're like you, and a bit trigger happy, but seem pretty cool once they settle down a bit so..." Daniel gave a casual what are you gonna do? shrug.

"Our darkling friend made a somewhat... rash decision when we encountered your... brother here." Lyre brought a hand through her wild yet not uncontrolled hair, and actually looked a bit sheepish and apologetic "You must understand that fae have a habit of recapturing our people and leaving duplicates to try and infiltrate our caravans. Fortunately everything settled down, and no one was hurt... potential nine up poisoning excluded."

"Not my nine up." He bemoaned in faux despair "Right right, all is forgiven anyway...honestly it's just good seeing...meeting, other people like me...On Earth I mean... Are there more of you?" There was a sort of endearing dissonance in the kind of restrained almost childlike enthusiasm that could be heard in his voice. As though he wouldn't be surprised if she said no, but would be overjoyed if she said yes, the mark of someone who'd known true loneliness.

"You'll have to find  some way to muddle through without it I'm afraid, our ogre drank the whole pack..." She smiled a bit, clearly amused at the suggestion of "precious" nine up, she got to the meat of the question soon after "Yes there are, whole caravans of us. It's all a bit magic gypsie to be wholly honest." She had a changed accent when she spoke, but whether seelie or unseelie was hard to tell "We've actually come to bring you to one so you can have a look around if you're interested."

Flynt will never admit to the big white toothed grin he had in that moment as he heard the offer. He couldn't help it, just the idea of it, as though an old longing was finally being answered. Without hesitation he nodded in approval "Yes, hell yes I'll go." He declared, but immediately as he said it his mind turned to the scrawny brunette elephant in the room "Can Daniel come with me? He's trustworthy I know it, I'd put my life in his hands in an instant." Despite that he had to admit he'd understand if they refused, though he'd hate leaving his little brother behind.

"He seems trustworthy... far more than any fae I've met, and he's been honest with us so far"  Lyre admitted agreeing with him in earnest, before giving them both an apologetic look that dashed his hopes "Unfortunately despite my personal assessment bringing a fae into a caravan is nearly unheard of, and frankly I wouldn't dare without the permission of our elders, but I'll be sure to request it."

"I understand." Daniel said without hesitation or malice. He liked these people, but they weren't his people. His people were parasitic monsters who kidnapped babies and sold drugs to unsuspecting humans. His people were something he had no interest in being a part of, yet in a way always would be even though they looked at him like trash. Daniel didn't show any of his inner turmoil. Daniel didn't want to worry his brother with this on the big day when he finally got to meet his fellow changed, and fortunately one of the perks of being a fae was being a good liar. on top oh his natural lying he'd given Flynt only the smallest of glimpses into these inner conflicts of his in the past. So with a smile on his face he bid his brother farewell "Have fun man, I was going out tonight anyway, pick me up some 9 up on the way back would ya?"

Immediately he found himself wrapped up in a big old, lung suffocating bear hug, a big grin on Flynt's face "Yeah course man, I'll be back soon...maybe, make sure not to break anymore windows okay?" He requested as he set Daniel down.

"No promises" Daniel joked and waved as he set about readying his things for his own trip out somewhere in ghost town, that land of terror and lurking death that to him was a favored camping spot.

"Don't get killed either alright?...Or I'll kill you." He insisted with a smirk as he patted him on the shoulder then turned to the satyr "I'll be out soon, gotta grab some stuff." He explained and with that walked off to his small bedroom.

"Wasn't planning on it."  Daniel chuckled

The Satyr nodded "Yeah of course, just don't take too long eh?" she said with a smile and showed herself out.

A bit later Flynt made his way back out, locked the door and piled into the car.

Lyre was not in the Driver's seat, quite obviously, the hooves beneath her glamour made driving more than a bit tricky, but she had claimed shotgun both figuratively and quite literally as she had a double barrel leaning against her seat "We're going through what  you locals call ghost town." She explained quickly, given they were all prone to a bit of paranoia. "The caravan was going to set up there but... well we still plan to go in eventually, bu a couple scouts didn't return so we've set up in the desert on its outskirts first." She explained as presumably the darkling drove them given the gnome's stature, and the Ogres 9 up poisoning.

"Yeah, it's almost more dangerous that the wilderness, these abandoned alleys and streets." He replied with sympathy as the darkling ferried them through with urgency, out out towards the stillness of the desert.

"Yeah I heard one of our teams found you in some serious trouble here, with a wounded Djinn of all things... " Lyre recalled as they drove through, her eyes scanned the dark side streets and alleys where mishapen figures could always  just be made out, out of the range  of the car's lights; she kept a hand on the gun at are times, and looked admittedly rather unnerved

But gradually the skeletal ruins and deep alleys faded from view, and with it a sense of relief as they reached the ourskirts. There was no sign, no indication of where the caravan's territory began. But there was a feeling, a sort of warmth under the skin, hopping about as they entered, a sort of strange security. As though one had escaped from a chilly night into the warmth of their home. It was accompanied by a certain sharpness of the senses, like one's head had been clouded and was now clear. All this was a bit strange to Flynt as they drove towards the sizeable outpost, a mass of tents of varying colors and appearances, some small, some massive, each hanging with lanterns glowing with magical light. As they drove in they passed tent after tent, each glowing with camp fire and the warm burble of conversation, as well as the loud din of argument. Regardless of all that though, of the trolls carrying firewood, and the boggan tending to small hearths and cooking, or even the darklings reporting in from missions, it felt very much like..well..home.

"It's something huh?" Lyre asked with a broad grin as the car slowed to a halt, she knew that look well as did they all, it was a look of one of their brethren, once lost and alone in the world now seeing a welcoming home for the first time in their life, it was a hell of a sight for even the most jaded of souls. "Come on, let me show you around the camp." She offered as she climbed out of the vehicle.

Flynt followed silently, drawing knowing smiles from the other Changed as he drifted about, something like an enchantment laid over him by it all. The camp was separated by a general residence area, small market, and barracks, centered around a great bonfire.

Lyre eagerly pointed all this out as they walked through the camp, and went into a bit of detail on how things worked around here in between pointing things out "Everyone here has a path and a job from cooks to recruiters to monster hunters; every changed is welcome here, but they have to pull their weight, and they all learn how to use a rifle at the very least even if they aren't much of a fighter. Sometimes a big enough group of fae will take a shot at a caravan even with so many of us. Numbers help of course, but that's not always enough."