Circe's Manor THE NEXT

[AmbushCat]

Echo: To explain the whole thing would strain my throat, so I'll keep it short: it was a combination of magic and my mother's complex genetics. *takes another look at Ellen and the others* The four of us here in the room would be quadruplets if we were born the same species.

[xGoggles]

"That's pretty interesting" The goggled boy starts writing it down on his notepad. "Say what were your names again, and how old are you?" Asking Echo about himself and his siblings.

[AmbushCat]

Echo: The four of us are 9, with our physical ages adjusted a little to account for some circumstances. I'm Echo, of course. *turns to each sibling one after the other* The card player over there's Ellen. The felinoid there is Eebon, spelled E-e-b-o-n. The nutcase catboy is Elk.

Elk: Aloha, hombre!

Echo: And the last one is Ezekiel, younger at 6 years.

[xGoggles]

Dan hums as he takes notes, "Hm, age adjusted, like age magic?"
Noting down the names, "Funny how you all start with 'E', interesting theme going on there" he chuckles. "So is Ezekiel also cat related?"

[AmbushCat]

Echo: In my case, yes. Nine years is... middle-aged for a cat, for the lack of a better term. My godfather solved that problem by slowing down my aging once I was full-grown, so that I could live as long as my siblings. *takes a moment to rest his voice* For the other three, well... they inherited my mom's weird genes. After they were born, they aged physically and mentally by 5 years in... about five months, then slowed down to a normal rate after that.

*tail twitches in mild amusement at Dan's observation* Yes, he is. You've seen how varied the four of us are when it comes to species, correct?

[xGoggles]

Dan nods, writing some of it down, "Yes, I kinda noticed, guess it has to do with a different dose of magic, or was it more genetic-related?" Noticing the cat taking pauses in speaking, he did mention earlier about possible strain to his throat... maybe better to not ask too many questions then, don't want to force anything, "Hmm, one more question, how is your mother like, with her complex genetics and all?

[AmbushCat]

Echo: The answer is a bit complex, and it ties into what you just asked about our species variance. Let me get Eebon to field this one.

*Echo turns towards Eebon and meows several times, his call both loud enough to be heard over the music and vaguely reminiscent of a bird's chirping. The felinoid looks up distractedly, brightens when she sees who's calling her, and walks on over. Verbal tic, sharp teeth and figure aside, she seems personable enough.*

Eebon: What's up? You need me for something? Gaw.

[xGoggles]

Oh dear, more people.. well cats... "Umm, h-hi... Your brother and I were talking about... your genetic match-up and what your mother is like..." When saying it out loud it does seem like a strange topic to talk about to strangers... oh well wouldn't be the weirdest thing people here would talk about anyway, he guesses.
"Echo mentioned you could tell me more about it, is that so?"

[AmbushCat]

Eebon: *chuckles* Yeah, I know it sounds weird, and to be fair it kind of is. Brace yourself. Gaw. See, Mom started out male and looking like me. Then, he went through a portal to another world and came out looking like Echo. Then, he ate something that let him absorb stuff, and went on some strange adventures and learned how to use magic. Then he went to another world, he got locked as a human woman temporarily while in love with a lifeguard, and magic happened. By the time she was pregnant with us, her species percentages were all over the place. Gaw. ... *pauses a moment* Did you get all of that?

[xGoggles]

Writing it down, well trying to, trying to form it in a way that made sense to him at least... cat hybrids, portals, transformations, absorption and even pregnancy.... This story wasn't even just strange but close to unbelievable, though if he were in any other place he'd doubt that this was anything more than a made-up-kids story.
"That's... hmmm, not what I expected... that's quite an adventure there..." he stares a bit perplexed at the felinoid.

"I guess, I got lucky nothing that extreme happened to me when I switched worlds, hehe~" chuckling at it.

[AmbushCat]

*The background music switches over to a new song as Eebon replies.*

Eebon: Yeah. There anything else you're curious about?

[xGoggles]

Getting a bit more comfortable talking, he smiles, "Well... hmmm... I was wondering, why is there a party going on, what's the occasion?".

[AmbushCat]

Eebon: *excitedly* Well, Mom's boss had a huge 10th anniversary party within the past day, and even with all the guests they had a ton of food left over. So, we decided to take the rest of it on over here and throw a party of our own. Word got around, and... *gestures at the hall as a whole* ...here we are. Food! Music! Games! Gaw.

[xGoggles]

"Ummm... did they overspend on food, or was that party so much bigger than this one?... What kind of business were they running?"

After finishing his dessert, he gets up, "I'm going to get something to drink, do you need any?" he politely gestures toward Echo, Eebon and Circe.

[Ookalf]

After finishing his dessert, he gets up, "I'm going to get something to drink, do you need any?" he politely gestures toward Echo, Eebon and Circe.

*Circe shakes her head.* I don't need anything.