The Hidden Door-A Role Play (AKA The Most Dangerous Coffee Shop II)

[Rose Quartz]

(Stupid notifs stopped.)

 

[HeavensHens88]

Ciro was awkwardly existing in the background, trying not to impose on anyone's space. Again.
Not only had he undergone an unexpected growth spurt over the last three months that definitely had him topping 6', he'd really filled out. Probably more so a result of the strenuous battle training that they'd all undergone through rather than natural processing, his shoulders had broadened significantly, he'd developed way more muscles than he could've dreamed of attaining from scaling walls and sweeping floors, and his skin had darkened to a much richer olive than it'd been back on Earth- it was weird how powerful, yet still cool the Borealan sun managed to be. Even his direwolf, whom he'd finally dubbed Taquikkar -a beautiful, but lethal, Borealan vine- was thriving. She hadn't recovered her vision entirely, and likely never would, but Ciro was almost certain she retained the ability to see out of a few select areas of her eyes. In addition, she'd come to trust him entirely and he'd been able to retrain her to near complete independence because of that radical blind faith. He couldn't get over the sheer grace that the compromised lupine was able to move with, even now. But, even though she could function on her own four paws again, she never did leave his side, and had saved his tail far more times than he deserved.
And when they weren't all preoccupied with perilous questing to save the multiverse, he'd allowed himself to really get used to wearing the luxurious elvish tunics that the Borealins had supplied them with, and the rich green one he was currently clad in had become the favorite of his entire overflowing wardrobe. But the attire was barely the beginning. The food, the customs, the creatures, the people...
Once the oppression of darkness had been relieved, how any society could run so perfectly and keep everyone so happy was something out of the old Ciro's imagination.
But at the thought of how well they'd all been treated here, the converse reality that his family had to be living made itself known for not the first time today. Truth be told, the perpetual shadows beneath his eyes weren't ever from the universal threat of Olim.
If they really were going home, there'd never been a better time.
He looked down at his shaking hands and the network of angry, necrotic scars, some fresher than others, that equally festooned them both swarmed before his eyes- the permanent results of all the fleeting times he'd impulsively grabbed Aella's hand before thinking to check for active flames.
He'd never known he was such an impulsive hand-grabber until he'd met her.
Speaking of her, the crowd of remainders was rapidly thinning, and he couldn't go through without going to her first.
Because that's just how it was now.
And there she was, on the exact opposite edge of the group.
He made his way to her, moving far more like an elite warrior than the hulking klutz he imagined himself as, and cocked his head toward the abandoned life that was miraculously offering itself to them once more- with all its hurts, pressures, and responsibilities, and yet still more inviting than any doorway he'd ever come to. "You ready?"


Nat stood just to the left of the portal. A scimitar hung high from her right hip, a falchion from her left. She wore an array of magnificent knives as a jangling belt and her twin bows were worn snugly over each shoulder. Who knew what lay in the soles of her boots. To top it off, her slingshot was tucked beneath the tail of her part braid and dangled amidst her hair that had grown out into near even two-tonedness.
Unlike the others, she'd stubbornly clung to every weapon she'd ever laid a hand on.
Unfortunately, she was in a dress.
Oh, she was SO DONE with the conservative and confining clothing of this place.
She thought about pitching another futile fit about how behind the times they were here, and then realized that probably wouldn't be the best last impression to leave on this world.
And, judging by the very real disappearances happening before her eyes, she really was about to leave it...and all of its inhabitants...and Kyle...and Take...and all of its inhabitants...Korim...Korim...okay, so she might've limited "inhabitants" to pretty much just Korim.
Yeah, she'd had a crush on him.
Which was hopeless and useless and obviously moribund, so, of course, she cut it all off immediately.
Okay, so she maybe she wasn't over him. Instead of eradicating her useless feelings entirely, she'd just kept her distance and addressed him as "bro" a few too many times.
Okay, so maybe make that a few feet and a million too many times.
She looked at the beckoning vortex.
And promptly whirled around and marched right up to Korim, jingling all the way.
"Yo, bro," she blurted, trying to remember how she resolved to keep her eyes off of his...awesome...bright...orange...ones... but somehow she ended up there anyway. "Keep on being lit, alright? If you don't, I'll have to find a way to get my butt back here and set you straight, which neither of us want." Ha. Hahaha h a.

 

[Rose Quartz]

Take went up to Kipp before the boy was able to walk through the portal and pulled him into a hug. It wasn’t exactly a a hug, instead Kipp was just standing up against Take as he put an arm around him, “See you later man.” was his solemn farewell to his winged friend. He let Kipp go and returned over to Blair, giving him a final salute and cheesy grin.

Kipp grinned at his words. That's right it wasnt good bye. Take had Mr. Portal-maker here. He could theorhetically kidnap him any time he wanted.

“Bye Kipp” Fred called before leaping happily through the portal and landing hard on his back. “Wait! Something went wrong I’m not in Sydney!” Fred cried “I’m stuck here”

Ellie jumped through expecting to be taken to her home. “What are you still doing here?”She hissed through her teeth. Eve tripped through landing directly on top of Ellie, “owww” Ellie moaned.

Aria stepped through, there wasn’t much difference to teleporting when travelling through a portal. But she didn’t land in her room on her soft carpet like she expected. No she landed hard on the floor next to two other girls who had obviously fallen through the portal too. “Wait. I’m still with the group??” Aria cried

His attention was quickly drawn to Fred, he couldn't possibly be planning to stay here too? No, he just meant he was going ahead.

He looked back at Take and Blair, wondering if she would stay with him. It wouldn't be surprising if that's what she decided to do. Maybe he should offer to take Emma home.

“Well?” Cam asked, gently laying her right hand on Kipp’s shoulder, clutching Noah’s hand with her left. “Should we go through?” The portal swayed before her, and the crowds around her seemed to disappear as her mind seemed to chant home home home home.
“Goodbye!” Kyle said. He shifted the weight of the quiver on his hip and leapt gracefully to Rylie’s back. He was clad in green now, with a weapon of the little people. A few peered in from the trees, watching and whispering.
Rylie meowed a mournful farewell.
“Adieu!” Korim called in return to Kipp. He stood in the crowd among his brothers and family. Finally they had been allowed permission to travel in the Laefeslay. Yes, it was still dangerous, but that was the nature of Borealis. Cruel and beautiful. And he loved it. He and his brother’s looked perhaps cleaner than they’d ever been, wearing clean blue. Timit no longer fluttered over head. He was “on duty” as he said. He and a spit fire golden she-dragon had built a nest together, determined to figure out a way to hatch Kevin’s eggs.
Elon and the elves watched from the trees, singing, clothed in white.

He turned back to Cam he hadn't realized most had gone through already. He wanted to go, but he also didn't want to leave. Even if it wasn't final it felt like it was.
"Yeah." He said quietly, "let's go home." As the three of them stepped toward the portal he heard Korim, and raised an arm and corresponding wing to wave to him before stepping through.

 

[Amer]

Ciro was awkwardly existing in the background, trying not to impose on anyone's space. Again.
Not only had he undergone an unexpected growth spurt over the last three months that definitely had him topping 6', he'd really filled out. Probably more so a result of the strenuous battle training that they'd all undergone through rather than natural processing, his shoulders had broadened significantly, he'd developed way more muscles than he could've dreamed of attaining from scaling walls and sweeping floors, and his skin had darkened to a much richer olive than it'd been back on Earth- it was weird how powerful, yet still cool the Borealan sun managed to be. Even his direwolf, whom he'd finally dubbed Taquikkar -a beautiful, but lethal, Borealan vine- was thriving. She hadn't recovered her vision entirely, and likely never would, but Ciro was almost certain she retained the ability to see out of a few select areas of her eyes. In addition, she'd come to trust him entirely and he'd been able to retrain her to near complete independence because of that radical blind faith. He couldn't get over the sheer grace that the compromised lupine was able to move with, even now. But, even though she could function on her own four paws again, she never did leave his side, and had saved his tail far more times than he deserved.
And when they weren't all preoccupied with perilous questing to save the multiverse, he'd allowed himself to really get used to wearing the luxurious elvish tunics that the Borealins had supplied them with, and the rich green one he was currently clad in had become the favorite of his entire overflowing wardrobe. But the attire was barely the beginning. The food, the customs, the creatures, the people...
Once the oppression of darkness had been relieved, how any society could run so perfectly and keep everyone so happy was something out of the old Ciro's imagination.
But at the thought of how well they'd all been treated here, the converse reality that his family had to be living made itself known for not the first time today. Truth be told, the perpetual shadows beneath his eyes weren't ever from the universal threat of Olim.
If they really were going home, there'd never been a better time.
He looked down at his shaking hands and the network of angry, necrotic scars, some fresher than others, that equally festooned them both swarmed before his eyes- the permanent results of all the fleeting times he'd impulsively grabbed Aella's hand before thinking to check for active flames.
He'd never known he was such an impulsive hand-grabber until he'd met her.
Speaking of her, the crowd of remainders was rapidly thinning, and he couldn't go through without going to her first.
Because that's just how it was now.
And there she was, on the exact opposite edge of the group.
He made his way to her, moving far more like an elite warrior than the hulking klutz he imagined himself as, and cocked his head toward the abandoned life that was miraculously offering itself to them once more- with all its hurts, pressures, and responsibilities, and yet still more inviting than any doorway he'd ever come to. "You ready?"


Nat stood just to the left of the portal. A scimitar hung high from her right hip, a falchion from her left. She wore an array of magnificent knives as a jangling belt and her twin bows were worn snugly over each shoulder. Who knew what lay in the soles of her boots. To top it off, her slingshot was tucked beneath the tail of her part braid and dangled amidst her hair that had grown out into near even two-tonedness.
Unlike the others, she'd stubbornly clung to every weapon she'd ever laid a hand on.
Unfortunately, she was in a dress.
Oh, she was SO DONE with the conservative and confining clothing of this place.
She thought about pitching another futile fit about how behind the times they were here, and then realized that probably wouldn't be the best last impression to leave on this world.
And, judging by the very real disappearances happening before her eyes, she really was about to leave it...and all of its inhabitants...and Kyle...and Take...and all of its inhabitants...Korim...Korim...okay, so she might've limited "inhabitants" to pretty much just Korim.
Yeah, she'd had a crush on him.
Which was hopeless and useless and obviously moribund, so, of course, she cut it all off immediately.
Okay, so she maybe she wasn't over him. Instead of eradicating her useless feelings entirely, she'd just kept her distance and addressed him as "bro" a few too many times.
Okay, so maybe make that a few feet and a million too many times.
She looked at the beckoning vortex.
And promptly whirled around and marched right up to Korim, jingling all the way.
"Yo, bro," she blurted, trying to remember how she resolved to keep her eyes off of his...awesome...bright...orange...ones... but somehow she ended up there anyway. "Keep on being lit, alright? If you don't, I'll have to find a way to get my butt back here and set you straight, which neither of us want." Ha. Hahaha h a.

(lol)
“Keep on being lit,” Korim said, flashing those pearly whites. A phrase of slang, which took him a while to get used to, but these Americans used it all the time. He twanged one of the strings on her bows lightly. It was a gift from his family. “Bye, Nat,” he said.

Kipp grinned at his words. That's right it wasnt good bye. Take had Mr. Portal-maker here. He could theorhetically kidnap him any time he wanted.



His attention was quickly drawn to Fred, he couldn't possibly be planning to stay here too? No, he just meant he was going ahead.

He looked back at Take and Blair, wondering if she would stay with him. It wouldn't be surprising if that's what she decided to do. Maybe he should offer to take Emma home.



He turned back to Cam he hadn't realized most had gone through already. He wanted to go, but he also didn't want to leave. Even if it wasn't final it felt like it was.
"Yeah." He said quietly, "let's go home." As the three of them stepped toward the portal he heard Korim, and raised an arm and corresponding wing to wave to him before stepping through.

Cam looked back one last time. Will I ever see this place again? Maybe not. Maybe this would be the last time they would see the blooming flowers and trees of Borealis. But Earth is beautiful too. Full of people who are remarkably brave and enduring, and really didn’t need our help to save them.
She hadn’t expected to see her home again either, but as much as she had longed for it, it was hard now saying goodbye. That’s the horrible thing about being given a choice. We act quick and need and slow at want.
But I took something with me this time.
Seeds hung in a pocket at her waist in little compartments along with some calendus dust which she hoped to never use again. Try and rid of that as quickly as possible. Who knows what the police would do about it.
The seeds, however, were for her garden. Borealan plants with useful properties. Won’t they be surprised when I make sweet-wheat pancakes?
“Goodbye,” she whispered.
Kipp and Noah on either side, she stepped through the portal. “Where are we?”
She asked, looking around. Missouri. Kyle’s apartment.
She let go of Noah and Kipp and dropped her arms to her sides. “Okay, it’s getting quickly crowded in here.”

 

[RiverStorm]

Kylan was, well, he was happy.
Here and on earth. But God, was he ready to go back to earth, to be with his parents.
This place had been a blessing in disguise, he'd met such great people like Aria, like Kevin, like Ciro, re-met Lilith and watched her learn how to live, and learned so, so much.
He really looked the part now, too. He wore a blood red shirt that was thin and loose on his body, orange trousers, and black leather boots. In his hands was a scythe that he'd been awarded as a weapon that was useful as both a blade and was designed for electrokinetics like him, so he could funnel his lightning through it. His backpack still hung on his back, now muddied, but carried so many valuables that he was bringing back from the land. His arms and legs were covered in scars, and his muscles had toned quite well. I really look like some adventurer from a storybook, eh?
Torin sat on his shoulders, peering down at all the others with happiness. The boy had grown shockingly close to all of them, even go as far as to call some of them "aunt" or "uncle" and then their names. He, now too, wore blue trousers, small boots, and a blue shirt.
Now Kylan stood before the portal, having said his goodbyes and practiced what he'd say to his parents. He threw one last look over his shoulder, eyes sparkling with joy. "Adios, mi amigos!"
With that, he took a dramatic step into the portal, into his home.
Except it wasn't his home.
And he had to swerve as to not hit Lilith who hadn't moved from the doorway, plus squeeze by Kevin and Aria.
"Uhh... Y'all get in the wrong portal?" He laughed, before glancing around. Well, great. "Hi? Again? Why're we here?"

Kevin nodded. “Yeah, they do. My parents don’t answer unknown calls though. Oh! My brother! He was visiting the US, he has been for a while now. Maybe he can help me.” Kevin said. He hadn’t seen his brother in a year or two, and the thought of seeing him again made him happy. Maybe being here wasn’t such a bad thing after all. “Does someone have phone I can borrow?” He asked. He used to have a phone, but after he had no use for it and it broke, he never replaced it.

Lilith nodded, reaching in her pant's back pocket and pulling out a black smartphone, clicking it onto the dial pad, and handing it to him. "Here, here you go."

 

[LoveMyChickenBabies]

(I missed a bunch of pages, so I hope I'm not too late)
Carson realized that they were about to go home. He felt a wave of relief go through him, then one of sadness. He turned to Ellie. "Well, I guess we can have that date now." He joked. He sighed. He wasn't sure if he actually wanted to go home yet. They had all been through so much together. Sure, most of the time he was just kind of chilling in the background, but he had gone through the same trials they had. This world was mysterious with so much to learn, but it was also dangerous, and that was probably the only reason why he was going to jump through that portal and go back home soon. And the fact that he missed his family and the zoo he worked at. Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he said, "Are you ready to go home?"
@Butterscotchbitesfinger

 

[HeavensHens88]

(lol)
“Keep on being lit,” Korim said, flashing those pearly whites. A phrase of slang, which took him a while to get used to, but these Americans used it all the time. He twanged one of the strings on her bows lightly. It was a gift from his family. “Bye, Nat,” he said.

Frozen to the most possible extent of the word, Nat just kept looking down at him, then moved her eyes to her hovering fist.
After everything, she was going to go for the fistbump.
Again.
Nat was literally living her dream. With the guidance of Borealan warriors and encouragement of all the Earth girls she'd grown so close to, she'd wholly become someone that she'd formerly only been able to play as with a joystick in her hand. She shared her normal day with mythical beasts and so many different intelligent species that she was hardly able to keep them all in order. She was appreciated, uplifted, and surrounded by a living, breathing, existent world full of wild harmony and lacking the discordant normalcy of hers.
If it weren't for Colby and the parental mess she'd be leaving him to navigate alone, there was no doubt in Natalie's mind that she would be staying in Borealis.
So, this time, she unfurled her closed hand, and instead extended both of them.
Did she know what she was doing? Nope.
So it came as a complete shock when she actually managed to comfortably fix her trembling arms around Korim's broad shoulders and pull him into an easy hug.

Colby watched from a polite distance, a knowing smile comfortably etched into his muzzle. He'd met so many wonderful characters in this fantastical land -even an entire community of anthropomorphics- and had grown so close to every single one of the Earthen comrades in the meanwhile. But, of course, Nat remained his exclusive best friend through it all, and he found her awkward dancing around Korim to be the greatest thing ever. Despite his personal reluctance to be dragged into sticky, mushy stuff, he was surprised by how much he -oh, what was it called again?- shipped these two. Not the least bit jealous, for Colby knew that what he and Nat had was something pretty near unbreakable, he'd counseled her to get closer to Korim, but, time and time again, she'd failed to advance any farther than that fistbump.
Oh, that fistbump.
Since it was practically the bane of Colby's entire existence at this point, he couldn't even begin to comprehend what is was for Korim.
She had no choice to do better than that now, because the infinitely long-suffering Colby was actually running out of patience. Three months of missing his baby sister's early milestones, three months of not being lovingly tucked in at bedtime as only his parents could, three months of missing the premieres of new Adventures of Paddington episodes, three months without Fuzzles the harbor seal, and what did he get? A ship that wouldn't even allow itself to be moved off of dry land.
But did he expect Nat to actually overcome the fistbump? Not at all.
So when she hugged Korim right before Colby's eyes, he all but erupted and gave the most vigorous round of applause known to foxkind.

When Colby started clapping, Nat let go before Korim even had a chance to hug her back.
But her lips might've brushed his cheek as she hastily pulled away.
Who would ever really know?
Eyes fixed to the ground, she threw Korim a parting shaka sign before hurrying over to Colby, who understood her expeditious intentions immediately. "Hey, wait, I gotta say 'bye to Mr. Beck and Mr. Laurel and--- NAT!" Without giving him a chance at resistance, she'd already swung the cheeky brat onto her back, snug between the bows.
With Colby yelping desperate partings from her shoulders, Nat launched a running start and leapt the two of them out of Borealis, uncannily similar to how they'd first come all that time ago.

...except they didn't land in Colby's living room.

While the flushed Nat stumbled to even right herself with minimal impaling, Colby immediately bounced up with glee at seeing the majority of his beloved friends assembled once more.
"Hey, it's not over after all!"

 

[Cluckcluck1215]

He waved tothe others as they disappeared into the portal, the numbers depleting until there would only be three left. It felt like they were truly fading out of Take’s life, never to be seen again unless he sought them out.
Take rested a hand against Blair’s cheek caressingly, his thumb rubbing it affectionately. He sighed softly to her desperate words, “Listen, I need you too, but you gotta think of who needs you even more.” he said with sincerity, gazing into her yellow eyes “Emma. She needs her aunt to get her home safely, she’ll be lost without you.”

Blair searched his gaze, waiting for the moment he would say it was just a joke to freak her out. But she knew he wouldn't. It wasn't a joke; he wanted to stay. But what about us?
She pulled him into a hug, wrapping her arms around him tightly, as if it would make him stay. "Nothing I say or do is going to make you change your mind, is it?" She murmured softly. "I love you, and I won't argue with you because I don't want to fight..." she paused, her eyes shutting tightly. "Come see me soon."

 

[Amer]

Frozen to the most possible extent of the word, Nat just kept looking down at him, then moved her eyes to her hovering fist.
After everything, she was going to go for the fistbump.
Again.
Nat was literally living her dream. With the guidance of Borealan warriors and encouragement of all the Earth girls she'd grown so close to, she'd wholly become someone that she'd formerly only been able to play as with a joystick in her hand. She shared her normal day with mythical beasts and so many different intelligent species that she was hardly able to keep them all in order. She was appreciated, uplifted, and surrounded by a living, breathing, existent world full of wild harmony and lacking the discordant normalcy of hers.
If it weren't for Colby and the parental mess she'd be leaving him to navigate alone, there was no doubt in Natalie's mind that she would be staying in Borealis.
So, this time, she unfurled her closed hand, and instead extended both of them.
Did she know what she was doing? Nope.
So it came as a complete shock when she actually managed to comfortably fix her trembling arms around Korim's broad shoulders and pull him into an easy hug.

Colby watched from a polite distance, a knowing smile comfortably etched into his muzzle. He'd met so many wonderful characters in this fantastical land -even an entire community of anthropomorphics- and had grown so close to every single one of the Earthen comrades in the meanwhile. But, of course, Nat remained his exclusive best friend through it all, and he found her awkward dancing around Korim to be the greatest thing ever. Despite his personal reluctance to be dragged into sticky, mushy stuff, he was surprised by how much he -oh, what was it called again?- shipped these two. Not the least bit jealous, for Colby knew that what he and Nat had was something pretty near unbreakable, he'd counseled her to get closer to Korim, but, time and time again, she'd failed to advance any farther than that fistbump.
Oh, that fistbump.
Since it was practically the bane of Colby's entire existence at this point, he couldn't even begin to comprehend what is was for Korim.
She had no choice to do better than that now, because the infinitely long-suffering Colby was actually running out of patience. Three months of missing his baby sister's early milestones, three months of not being lovingly tucked in at bedtime as only his parents could, three months of missing the premieres of new Adventures of Paddington episodes, three months without Fuzzles the harbor seal, and what did he get? A ship that wouldn't even allow itself to be moved off of dry land.
But did he expect Nat to actually overcome the fistbump? Not at all.
So when she hugged Korim right before Colby's eyes, he all but erupted and gave the most vigorous round of applause known to foxkind.

When Colby started clapping, Nat let go before Korim even had a chance to hug her back.
But her lips might've brushed his cheek as she hastily pulled away.
Who would ever really know?
Eyes fixed to the ground, she threw Korim a parting shaka sign before hurrying over to Colby, who understood her expeditious intentions immediately. "Hey, wait, I gotta say 'bye to Mr. Beck and Mr. Laurel and--- NAT!" Without giving him a chance at resistance, she'd already swung the cheeky brat onto her back, snug between the bows.
With Colby yelping desperate partings from her shoulders, Nat launched a running start and leapt the two of them out of Borealis, uncannily similar to how they'd first come all that time ago.

...except they didn't land in Colby's living room.

While the flushed Nat stumbled to even right herself with minimal impaling, Colby immediately bounced up with glee at seeing the majority of his beloved friends assembled once more.
"Hey, it's not over after all!"

(I love this. I love this too much.)
“Well, how are we going to get home this time?” Cam asked. Unsurprisingly, 100 square feet of space was not enough space for a dozen people, even when some of them were short like her. “Shall we go out?”

 

[Rose Quartz]

Kipp looked around trying to decide which end was supposed to be the exit. The walls all looked the same.

"Don't these thing generally open from the outside? There's probably a Kyle sized door around here somewhere. But i'm not sure any of us are small enough to fit through."