[How awake are we?]
Dice: 7 d10 TN7 (3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 9, 10) ( success x 2 )
Kalen Holliday[And how distracted by Resonance are we?]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10) ( success x 3 )
Alexander[Awareapathy. Hopefully botch-free this time.]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (5, 6, 6, 7) ( success x 3 )
AlexanderAutumn in the city is a changeable thing. It can change from a temperate ideal for the retirees who move to the city without reading around the marketing literature to torrential downpours that have ducks reaching for their umbrellas. The climate is kind at the moment, though. It’s late afternoon and the sun is starting its slow slide towards the horizon, towards dusk, towards the night. The sky is blue but cloudy. There’s potential there.
In Washington Park is a lake. It’s a lake a few of the Awakened are familiar with because of a visitor, maybe even a friend, who has made its appearance close to it a couple of times now. There is no scarecrow. There is an Alexander, sat right be the edge of the lake. He’s lying on his front on the bank, feet dipping into the water. His boots and socks sit on the grass next to him. His attention appears to be elsewhere. He’s trying to do what Sera said he should, and he is trying. Even after meeting the joy of Paradox for the first time, he’s still trying.
[Arete. Spirit + Entropy, looking at the Gaunlet. Looking for the patterns in it, where it might be stronger or weaker. TN4, no rush so -1 for taking time. Trying to save WP, he's not got a lot at the moment.]
Dice: 1 d10 TN3 (6) ( success x 1 )
Kalen Holliday[Are we going to get close to that lake?]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10) ( success x 2 )
Kalen HollidayKalen approaches the edge of the lake slowly. Warily. But he does draw close to the edge, close enough that he could reach out and touch the water. He sinks to the ground in a crouch, facing Alexander rather than the direction Alexander is facing so that he can keep an eye on the water. There are no waves, no banks a rushing current would overflow, no real danger of the water coming to get him, but still he can't quite not watch it.
He can sense what Alexander is doing, even if he cannot quite grasp how spirit magic works. He can taste fate and something like shadows and mist. Something else. But Kalen, for all he's been pulled through the Gauntlet, for all he cannot quite leave the dead, has never learned spirit magic. There would be people who claim that is for the best.
He waits. Silent. Patient. Alexander will stop his working eventually. There is no need to startle him or stop him.
AlexanderHe tries and he Looks and he sees. Looking is all he can do, all he knows how to do, and it’s something he should probably have tried to do more of. But when you don’t like some of the things that you see, when others try to show you things and they scare you off by getting a little too close, when you see more of the sadness, the pain, the suffering that goes with this wonderful life of theirs? Maybe it’s not so unexpected that he’s been a little slow to explore his abilities.
He does have some, little knowledge about their life though. He does know how powerless simply being able to see things makes him. He does wonder if that’s enough to be able to survive it all. And so he’s trying.
The effect doesn’t last long, though. His ability isn’t great, and he’s tired. Not so tired that he couldn’t push harder and Will the effect into lasting a little longer. But maybe it’s easier not to try at the moment, to trust in chance and reality to allow what it allows.
“Hey.” He’s known that Kalen’s been there, that Kalen was approaching, that Kalen risked coming to the edge of the water. The man doesn’t look like he’s about to run away from the edge – hell, he even tries to touch it – so Alexander stays put for the moment. They can always move later, if Kalen wants to.
Kalen Holliday"Hey, Alce." Kalen does reach out now to squeeze Alexander's shoulder. "How are you?" There is, perhaps, a slight increase in the weight of the question. Alexander looks tired. Which...pot...kettle, except that Kalen is always tired.
He stays there, ready to spring because the water puts him a bit on edge. And Kalen on edge knows that if nothing else there are monsters to menace them. A good few of them won't emerge until the sun finishes her slow arc though the sky and past the lip of the horizon. Not all.
Still, he stays and his breathing is steady and he is content to watch the water in sideways glances. He's probably not offering his fingertips to any minnows today, even if there were minnows not chased away by the cold. Alexander missed that particular moment, that was Kalen and Ian and Serafine. Before mindscapes and a nephandus in a place of the dead. That was a softer version of Kalen. Lighter.
AlexanderKalen gets a smile, as Alexander turns his head away from the part of the park where he’d been gazing to face him. “I’m…” He takes a minute to think. It’s been a busy week, after all, what with murders and spirits and Paradox and whatever the hell happened with Delilah. He settles on, “…tired. But good, I think.
“How are you doing?” And there’s maybe a little more meaning behind the question, given not-quite-so-recent events, than the purely sociable. Although given his willingness to get this close to the lake, the question is partially answered already.
This world of theirs, it changes them. They can only hope it’s for the better. But isn’t that what friends are for?
Kalen Holliday"I'm starting to think I need to get over this water thing, because I hear Jacuzzis are amazing." Kalen smiles resettles, now facing away from Alexander and sprawled over the gravel, propped up on his elbows. None of this sprawling facedown though. He arches backward, regarding Alexander half upside-down with eyes that look serious, and he forces the smiling to stop happening to his face. "I do need some way to relax and the rate of crisis in Denver is really cutting into the time I would normal devote to drinking and one-night stands. Horribly inconvenient, that."
He manages to be faux-serious for another few seconds and then laughs. "I'm good. Tired, yeah. But good. We're going to set up things and I have a cabal and the half of the people I know in Denver who are speaking to me are very insistent that I am not in anything alone. It's...really strange to be in a place like this again." Again. But he does not say that with the usual attendant dose of crushingly depressing reality that probably this will also end badly.
Alexander“I’m sure there’s someone in town with the ability to create a hot air Jacuzzi, if you didn’t want to get your feet wet.” Because, let’s face it, there probably is. Although adding another random idea of something fun and interesting to Kalen’s list of things that need to be done might not be the best of ideas of actually getting any of them into existence. On the other hand, it does sound fun and interesting and fun and interesting things can be good for getting away from everything else that goes on around them.
“I imagine facing death together can make the whole one-night stand thing a harder too. It’s hard to avoid strings when there’s already a rope holding you together.” Or holding you apart, given how arctic Kalen’s relations are with Sid are these days.
“What would you like to do? If you could? And which is in the reasonable ability of either of us to make happen?”
The part about being in a strange place? There isn’t really anything to say to that. Alexander does nudge whichever part of Kalen he can reach, though. Probably a shoulder.
Kalen HollidayKalen laughs again. "As I have already explained to Serafine, somewhat unsurprisingly, and to Danny, somewhat surprisingly but because Serafine got me to agree to go on a date with him and then he wanted to know if I wanted to go on a date with him which was kind of ironic considering I think he normally has groupies or something and not noncommittal potential dates...I have no idea what I want.
"I mean, you know, the usual. World peace. Vanquish monsters. Save damsels. Look cool while doing it." He shrugs. "But things that are more for me? I don't even really get how to want them. With one notable exception but you cannot help me with it and it about made Serafine cry, so we'll just skip that.
"It's alright, Alce. I'm not unhappy. I do have people and I'm a little less terrified about it. There's no shortage of things to be horrified about right now, yeah. But...that's always been my world. This full of really incredible awesome things...it's nice.
"Maybe I just fail at expressing that I'm happy? I don't know. It's this weird new thing I'm trying, and I probably am somehow doing it wrong."
AliciaSeconds before one of Kalen's favorite people comes careening down the hill towards the lake on the bicycle she still isn't 100% sure she's riding the right way a bell calls out:
chin chin!
AlexanderAlexander rolls onto his side, propping his head up with a hand. “Have you been on the date yet?” The question is accompanied by a smile. A curious smile.
“You forgot about opening a donkey sanctuary and teach orphans. Although I guess you’re already doing that second part. What’s your opinion on donkeys? Orphan donkeys?” Someone obviously doesn’t take the spectacle that is Miss World seriously. At least he hasn’t asked about the swimsuit competition.
“I’m not asking because I think you’re unhappy. You’re probably as happy as I’ve seen you, short of seeing the birth of The Message. I’m asking because it would be good to do something fun, and I want to know what you like doing. Camping out and telling ghost stories? Hiking? Breaking the speed limit? What does Mr Adrenaline Junkie like?”
He shakes his head at the last part. “I can tell you’re happy, and the people who care about you can too. And I refer you back to Alyssa’s lesson about telling people what to do if they tell you you’re doing it wrong. Which, I guess, could be fun for some people. They might get dizzy, though.”
Kalen Holliday"So, I explained that I didn't not want to go on a date but I didn't really want things. And, you know, I thought that would be about the end of that, which would have been kind of sad actually. I was kind of sad I guess, when I did it. I ran into him here, or, I guess more right over there-" Kalen nods toward one of the nearby benches. "And we took a drive so we could talk about things away from people and ended up in the mountains and there were stars and he has this ridiculously amazing old convertible that...."
Kalen smiles and is that a tiny little blush? I might even be. "Anyway, we did not go on a date. He pointed out that there was no time limit on that date and if I ever wanted we could go on a date. We've hung out since and all, and he made roast chicken at the library which is the only time that oven has ever even really gotten used. It was...other than Kharisma no one has ever cooked things for me since...." Since his sister died. "Since I was really young."
"I've never been camping and telling ghost stories, but it sounds cool. It's getting cold for hiking. I just...I never...I don't even know what I like. It's weird. I know. But it's kind of true."
He looks toward the sound of the bell less because of the sound - there are a lot of bikes and a lot of bells - and more because he can sense Alicia. And a little bit because Kalen is also trying out strange new things like honesty and that is also weird for him. A little.
AliciaAlicia is wearing black mid-calf boots and leggings and a long-sleeved black babydoll dress with lace sleeves. With her hair flying wild behind her and a cigarette dangling from her lips she looks like she escaped from an '80s music video.
The bike is blue and looks like it's older than she is even though it's in near-pristine condition. She must have bought it the same place she buys her clothing.
"Whoa!" she says in a muffled voice as she steps down hard on the pedal to brake the thing and nearly topples into the grass. Takes the cigarette out of her mouth to unmuffle herself. She has her massive handbag crammed into the bike's basket and it's clear she's new to the mechanics of bicycle riding by the way she wobbles to a stop. She keeps one foot on the pedal while the other braces the contraption and the hand not responsible for the cigarette stays on the handle. "Hey. What's up." A beat. "Oh, shit. You guys aren't on a date, are you? Am I interrupting?"
Alexander“Are you sure? Because that whole going out to the mountains definitely sounds like it could have been a date. And being cooked for? Are these pre-date dates?” He grins and pokes a tongue out, gently teasing Kalen. He catches the pause in what Kale was saying, but leaves it be. Not the place, not the time.
“Well, then. That’s something to add to the list of things to try. We could pitch a tent out the back of the House, make a little campfire. Take a little booze. Tell really corny, clichéd stories. Drag some of the others along, it’ll be a blast.” He wonders if Sera would be up for it. Probably. “Maybe I need to take you out for a ride some time, if you’ve not been on a bike before? What’re your thoughts on karaoke?”
Alexander would make a few more suggestions, but there’s a frenzied ball of chaos arriving on a bike. And being rather chaotic, running a fairly high risk of falling off, crashing into at least one of them, before spiralling into the lake. Which would be unfortunate. Alexander rolls up onto his knees, though, as the barely-controlled machine gets closer. Just in case he needs to dodge. Thankfully, he doesn’t.
“Hey! Alicia, right?” Because he really should remember her name after the way they were introduced. Trying to kick the shit out of a vampire is the way to make a first impression, after all. “Naah, you’re not interrupting at all. This isn’t a date. Unless hanging out and talking crap in the park counts as a date.” He looks to Kalen, mock-serious. “Oh, crap. Is this a date?”
Kalen HollidayKalen starts laughing at Alicia's question and then laughs harder at Alexander's response and it's a minute before he says, "One, I am trying not to date my cabalmates and two I would be shocked to find I was even remotely your type."
He clears his throat and looks up at Alicia, still smiling. "You're not interrupting a conversation about how I'm not dating to hilarious effect. You have...no idea how perfect your timing was. It totally spared me explaining things with statements like, 'how would I even know what being on a date is like?'"
Alicia"I've never been on a date before either."
She says it so nonchalant just before she blows out a lungful of smoke it's almost like she's joking. Thanks to Ginger they both know better. Crazy time traveling father with a Technocratic crosshair between his eyes doesn't leave a girl much time to date.
"My friend TV makes it sound like you'd know if you were on one, though. Who are you not dating?"
Danny*Speak of the Devil and he's bound to appear. The wonder machine, the 67 convertible blue soft top drives down towards the carpark for the park itself, then pulls in where the engine purrs as she crawls around looking for a place to park. Then with another final growl of perfection the engine falls silent, music could be heard up til that point, something about being Thunderstruck was blasting until that too fell silent.
The young man getting out of it was in his usual black jacket, a pair of shades on his face and jeans with not the usual pair of scruffy boots, no, instead today he had on his brothel creepers black and red to go with the red t'shirt he wore with a slogan on it. His hair was tied back from his face but tied into a long thick neat plait.
After locking up the car he made his way onto the park, pulling out a cigarette, tapping it thoughtfully onto the box before he used his zippo to light it. Then began to wander.*
Alexander“The cynic’s opinion is it’s when you buy someone lots of food and drink with the vague intention of getting into their knickers and continuing the species. But I guess it’s more spending time with someone you care about. And no, so not my type. And I’m pretty sure I’m not yours, either.”
No, still not the prettiest.
“You could always ask.”
Kalen Holliday"You're lucky Serafine isn't here or the next thing you know there will be a bottle of tequila and you will have agreed to go on a date with Alexander. Who is one of my favorite people in the universe, but you know...probably not your type either."
"I could always ask what being on a date is like or ask someone out?" He drops a whole six inches to be sprawled flat on the ground so he can playfully bat at Alexander. And it is definitely playing, but where most people would barely touch with a bat like that Kalen still uses enough force it's less delicate brush and more noticeable tap. "Also we may have to go with the cynical version. Because we spend time together and I care about you and if I make you explain how that would be a totally different relationship if we were going to start sleeping together I think we may both be traumatized."
He looks back to Alicia. "I am totally not dating that guy, actually." He waves at where he can sense, if not see Danny. "Because the cosmos has the best sense of humor today."
Danny(Awareness)
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 3, 4, 6, 8) ( success x 2 )
AliciaBut, you know. Probably not your type either.
Alicia actually cants a glance over at him and doesn't do a damned thing to hide the fact that she's appraising him for her type or lack of type and how the hell would she even know what her type was Kalen. She takes a drag off her cigarette and squints back at the Hermetic.
Then she starts scowling as he tells Alexander he cares about him. Like she is actually interrupting something.
"Ugh," she says and adjusts her weight like she's about to pedal the fuck away from this conversation.
Danny*OH there they were... his not date not sure what he was Kalen, Alex and Alicia or at least the swirling mass of chaos that was Alicia. It was quite amusing if you thought about it... a frozen chaotic storm was in that direction.
Changing direction he cut across the grass with those shoes and even lifted a hand to wave as he made his way across, for once he wasn't listening to music, instead he was actually just listening to the sounds of the city as he looked around him. He still couldn't shake that memory of what Grace had shown him, so it was no surprise he had a grin on his face when he got over to them.* Hey... How are things?
AlexanderAlexander rolls his eyes. “I’m not playing the dating game at the moment, anyway. And I meant you could ask whether something is a date or not if you’re not sure. Or ask someone out. I think either would help clear up confusion about what the thing was. Communication being good, and all that jazz.” Alexander’s face softens, though, as Kalen explains to Alicia how much he thinks of him.
“Flatter me all you like, you’re still not getting into my boxers.” He pokes his tongue out at Kalen. “Other than the whole biologically impossible thing, I dread to think what our kids would come out like. Troubled, most likely.”
“Hey.” He returns the greeting as Danny arrives by the lakeside. “At the risk of turning this into something romantic by sunset, you know what we need? Hot dogs. There’s a stand over the other side of the park, you guys want some bringing back?” Because this spot’s a good one, they should keep it. And keep watch in it for scarecrows.
Kalen Holliday"We did communicate that it was totally not a date, for what that's worth. I just wouldn't know, but will continue in my attempts to force people to explain normal human things to me. If nothing else, I get some hilarious shocked expressions."
Kalen laughs. "Because genetics or because they'd have to hang out with us?"
He looks up at Alicia then, puzzled. "What? Am I not supposed to be nice? I thought everyone wanted me to stop being a jerk all the time."
And, back to Alexander. "Wait? Hot dogs are romantic? Now I'm really confused."
"Hey, Star."
AliciaWait? Hot dogs are romantic?
"Oh my god," she says. Now she is definitely peddling the fuck away from this conversation. She pitches the cigarette butt into the grass and blows out a terminal stream of smoke. Not to be entirely rude she lifts the now-empty hand to wave to the black-clad man and then focuses on getting the bike moving again without falling over. "Have fun being weird."
She chimes the bike bell twice again and then she's off.
DannyActually a hot dog sounds good, thanks.. *he reaches for his wallet to hand over enough to cover it.* Oh, onions, mustard, just... the whole thing. Thanks!!
*Hot dogs were not romantic? He just stared at Kalen.* How the fuck have you never seen Lady and the Tramp? *Then he had to admit that no, he probably hadn't... So out comes his mobile and he finds the video of That's Amore to show it to Kalen. There's an upnod to Alicia, but then she's gone and he's brandishing his phone at Kalen.* Take it and watch... Food is not just romantic, food is sexy..... Food in the right place.... *he grins roguishly.* Icecream.... chocolate sauce..... *He rolls his Rrr's and purrs at Kalen.* Messy is good... *the nod comes avidly.*
Alexander“A little of both, maybe? They’d be subjected to some really bizarre conversations, if nothing else.”
Alexander looks a little confused as Alicia vanishes on her bike. “She’ll bring a knife to a fight with a vampire, but gets scared off by a perfectly sensible conversation about dating and hot sausage? She’s weird.”
Then again, aren’t they all?
“But you may be right. Ketchup-and-mustard-covered reclaimed meat products could be the anti-date. But I’ve had at least one date where they were involved, so your mileage may vary. Either way, want one?”
He makes the offer to Kalen and nods to Danny before pulling his boots on and wandering over to where he last saw the stand.
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