Scene #1534: Oh, I want a Questing Pheldagrif for Christmas...

Owner	Pose
Yunomi Stadler	NIVIX -- THE IZZET SECTOR There was quite a fuss going through the tower when the Simic tech had left -- apparently, there had been even more simic traffic through the spire than usual, leading of course to the Overgrown Lab, where Yunomi had secreted herself away and shirked a few duties to the Izzet on 'important personal business'. In the garden, Yunomi was hanging out on a blanket in the little grassy area before the koi pond. Umemaru was warbling happily in the pond, and the flowers and trees were all humming along with the abstract warbling of a singing fish from some moon or another. Yunomi has a book in her lap, and a large pile of apples next to her. She crunches on an apple merrily.
Rhapsody	Today has been a long day. You see, the new year has begun. This is the first new year that Rhapsody has been the guildmaster of the Izzet. At the start of the new year, taxes are due. The Izzet runs the utilities of all of Ravnica. There are taxes to be filed. Guess who prepares all the tax documentation for the guilds of Ravnica? .... The Azor. Guess who has been buried under a literal ton of paperwork since January 1st? A particular white dragon. She is tired. She is stressed. She is currently taking a break! Realizing she hadn't had a chance to visit the Izzet's #1 green-mana expert, Rhapsody has gotten herself a cold drink and is now, currently, giving a knock on the door to a particularly green lab within the spire.
Yunomi Stadler	It really is one of the only labs to use Green Mana -- the other being Yunomi's /other/ lab. The door opens, pulled by vines and flowers in shining reds and blues, and comes to the tranquil scene. THe flowers halt their humming, momentarily halted in their singing as the Guildmaster makes an entrance. BUt, once there's no danger, the trees start in with their low chanting, followed by the lighter tone of the flowers. Yunomi was wearing just jeans and a T-shirt, barefoot with a bandage wrapped around her left hand. She smiles, and gives a wave to the draconic master of the Izzet. "Evening, Rhaps. Welcome back to the land of the Not-Tax-Processing?"
Rhapsody	"Unfortunately I have to go back to that dull land of paperwork and mathmatics eventually." Shrug. Smile. A glance is given to all the plants as their chorus starts to resume. "... I should have some of these upstairs.. that is really relaxing..." Rhapsody muses before turning back to the Tanuki. "How have you been? I've been so busy I haven't had a lot of chances to see you recently.."
Yunomi Stadler	"It's all right. Processing paperwork is one of the things that my /dad/ is really good at. Me? I'm pretty sure I caused a Senator's head to explode once with my paperwork. Messy. Luckily he had two of them." Yunomi replies, and lays back. "I could hook you up with some, you know. Link them over the vine network so that they sing here and in your quarters. Just make sure no suitor plucks one to put behind a horn, because that can get /really/ messy." she adds, and purses her lips. "What's up?"
Rhapsody	That earns the tanuki a smile. "I think it wouldn't be a bad idea. Maybe not in the dragonsforge, but certainly in the main den would be nice. Consider it a project, Yunomi," Rhapsody says, happy at the thought of some music to go with all the work. . . It makes her recall a gift she received for her first christmas. "I should pick that up again," she muses idly before looking back up to Yunomi, "Up? Not a lot, really. I just wanted to visit since I hadn't seen you. I've heard there has been a lot of Simic traffic. Have they been in for the mana-vine order?"
Yunomi Stadler	"Well... yeesss... and no." she sits up. "A short while 'go, there was some unusual traffic through the Izzet sector." she explains, and she picks up one of the apples. Her gaze goes towards the pond. "I don't know if Sidonia picked up on it. Chuck, Steve Rogers and I went to check it out... and while I was asking them, one of them shot me in the head." And she embarrassedly produces a set of really busted up goggles. "I haven't had the heart to tell your brother yet."
Rhapsody	That gets a looooooooong stare out of Rhapsody. She's not angry, clearly concerned, but also a bit shocked considering she hadn't heard about it. "I .. how did this, when???"
Yunomi Stadler	"... ah... almost... a week ago." Yunomi rubs the back of her head. "The were a bunch of golden-eyed lizard-tongued men. I thought maybe they were weirdly Golgari -- they all had black robes on -- but they're nothing that I could remembering encountering in Ravnica /or/ Namamura." Yunomi embarrassedly answers. "I... didn't make a big fuss about it... I knew you were busy with the paperwork thing and I didn't want to stress you out on it. The men themselves were handed over to the Boros for reckless driving and endangering innocent people... but we recovered their cargo."
Rhapsody	A slow nod is given, and at the same time the Guildmaster holds her hands out for the goggles, "Well, I'm glad you're alright and I'm glad you were able to handle the situation, I would have liked to have heard about it, but, considering it's handled, its ok. I'll have him repair those if you like. As for the lizards... that doesn't sound familiar. Did you hear anything from the Boros since then?" Pause. She said cargo. "Wait, what did they have with them?"
Yunomi Stadler	"AH! Back in a circle, as to the reason the Simic have been in and out... other than the manavine order, which is half filled by the way --" Yunomi hops to her feet, and takes a couple of strides towards the pond. She brings her fingers to her mouth, and gives a long shrill whistle. And from the leaves of one of the massive trees that form a pillar-like support for the roof overhead, there pokes a face, with dusky purplish skin and dark eyes, a large, round snout, and two nostrils perched high on its nose. And it's followed, with a heavy, awkward flap, and then a SPLOOSH as the tree-born hippopotamus falls into the water, and then grunts happily as it makes its way to shore. Yunomi offers it an apple, which it happily slurps up, flapping its wet wings to dry them. "I have no idea how long they'd had him. He was scared, and had a broken wing, and had been sitting in his own /waste/ for at least a day and a half, long enough to start burning from the urine." Yunomi reaches to scritch between his ears. "... I named him Albert."
Rhapsody	At first, Rhapsody's head tilts in a sort of curious way, wondering what just is going on, but to see this very ... rotund... creature drop out of the tree, and the fact it has wings... "I... what is..." surprised? Yes. "Is... it a Krasis of some sort?" Protip: That is the simic word for a chimera basically. "What is it even? I don't think I've ever seen anything like it!"
Yunomi Stadler	"The Simic said that they don't have one of these on record among their krasis, and I even wrote to the Speaker herself." Yunomi replies, and frowns. ALbert seems happy enough, and flops down to his stomach for scritches, and wriggles his ears. "I asked Toph, she had no idea, but it's pretty useless to try and describe a large animal with wings because... well. She wouldn't have seen it, so it /might/ be from her world but I'm not sure... but... he was injured, and frightened, and they were transporting him in a little truck." she states. "I couldn't leave him in there, or with the Boros... or the Simic."
Rhapsody	More curiousity strikes her, "Why not the Simic? And I'm not saying i'm mad, far from it, in fact I think it's great you've adpoted him and nursed him back to health. I'm just.. wondering why that thought occured to you."
Yunomi Stadler	"... I was concerned that if he /wasn't/ a krasis... they'd make him one." Yunomi takes a breath. "Don't... tell them I said that. I know that sometimes experiments have to be done, but... he's gone through enough already. And he's just a baby. Whatever he is, he was born like this." she offers him another apple, and ALbert eagerly takes it up. Omnomnomnom.
Rhapsody	"That's reasonable. Though with the way they treat Helix, I have to wonder how badly they would treat this one, but, it's fine. I think he's cute," Rhapsody finally admits, smirking, reaching out slowly to offer her hand. If permitted, she'd pet him a little too.
Yunomi Stadler	Albert snuffs, his little nostrils wriggling a moment before he stomps right over to Rhapsody, and attempts to flop into her lap. Whether or not she's standing is entirely irrelevant to a hippo with wings. Yunomi gives an embarrassed smile, and rubs the back of her head. "Keep in mind who my dad is. I saw some of Umbrella's handiwork with animals, as bedtime stories, when I was seven."
Rhapsody	Well, when a hippo marches over to you and wants to take a seat, it gets to take the seat. "Oh, well, hi there, Albert," she muses before petting him a fair bit more. "That's ... true. I've heard a few things about Umbrella, so, I can see where you're coming from. It's fine! I'll see if I can put in an order for some .. um. apples? I guess? Heh."
Yunomi Stadler	Albert gives a grunt, a very happy sounding grunt, and just contentedly sits and enjoys getting attention from the guildmaster. Yunomi plops back down on the blanket. "Apples, grains, waterplants... I mean, hippos eat a lot, and they're omnivorous. I'd just hate to have him flying around and eating everything though..."
Rhapsody	More scritches! He is kinda cute... "Mm.. Alright. If that's one thing about Ravnica that's nice, you can find basically anything here, so, finding enough food for him shouldn't be a problem. . . I wouldn't want him to try eating your snapdragons...
Yunomi Stadler	"... or leaving droppings on some poor Tin Street marketplace..." Yunomi reaches over, grabs one of the apples, and bites into it. She considers a few moments. "... wonder if my dad could use a flying hippo."
Rhapsody	That gets a shrug, "I would think we can give him a better home here then in a military installation.. Yunomi. Up to you, of course. I could see about getting an addition built near your lab so he can have a nice space of his own."
Yunomi Stadler	"Well... at least until he's at the fledgeling state, he can hang out here. The water plants aren't... singing plants. So it should be fine for him to nom them." Yunomi gives a smile, reaches up, and rubs his belly. And Albert rolls onto the dragon, and belly-ups, grunting happily. "Awww... he's like Chuck!"
Rhapsody	"He really is adorable," Rhapsody says, her official side cracking and giving way as she helps the Tanuki show the winged-hippo a little niceness. "I can't imagine how big he'll get, but if he's a .. what is it, hippo? That sounds like it should be pretty big.."
Yunomi Stadler	"Hippos?" Yunomi states, and she leans back "Ah... big. Bigger than horses. Bigger than some of the weirds that we employ. Not quite as big as dragons, and tend to be very aggressive and protective of their pod." Yunomi recollects. DEfinately doesn't sound like the adorable lump of winged pudge that's rolling in happiness, his little feet kicking up in the air.
Rhapsody	"May need to look into it a little, I can make sure we get some of the right stuff for him, then," she muses, content to just watch the little guy enjoy the attention. "Strange for something that lives on land, though. This'll end up being really interesting, I think!" pause. "No experiments. Promise."
Yunomi Stadler	"Good... while you're here, I have another thing..." she ventures, and she hops up, letting her arms up to stretch, her back arching and popping before she turns to make for the door.
Rhapsody	A final pat is given Albert before Rhapsody climbs to her feet and follows after. She never knew Yunomi to make an odd or ridiculous request (By izzet standards, its hard to be odd or ridiculous anyway), so, she follows! "Hmm?"
Yunomi Stadler	"... after the greenhouse goes up and is taken care of in DUn Realti... I'm going to be devoting my full attention to the generator array. I had a couple ideas, I want to get them pinned down. Maybe we can find a way to power your telescopes more efficiently." Yunomi takes a hairtie from a twig, and pulls her hair into a low ponytail. "... but I think after that, I'll be done with Bedivere... he didn't seem to thrilled at my show of magic. And I am never. /Ever/. Going to hide myself again."
Rhapsody	That gets Rhapsody to smile, "You've been doing a lot of great work for a while Yunomi. I have faith in any project you put your mind to. IF you need anything, just come to me, and I'll see what I can do about getting it for you. And don't let other people's feelings about you make you act any different. You are you, just like I'm me. Not what the Azor, or any other gulid want me to be."
Yunomi Stadler	Yunomi pauses, and just gives a smile at Rhapsody. She nods, once, then gives a small salute as she exits the overgrown lab. Albert happily grunts, then stands, shakes off, and goes to investigate the pile of apples... ... but there is just one thing about the garden... all the plants went silent. And it's only hesitantly, after Yunomi's left, that a few begin to hum again, in quiet tones.
Rhapsody	For her part, Rhapsody didn't notice the fade of the music as they left. "But, as I said, I can take your goggles to Ryxinel if you want. I don't think he'll be mad. In fact I bet he'll try to improve them while he repairs them."