Strength in numbers

Kalen Holliday

Kalen could use a friend right now. And thus, naturally, instead of calling his friends he has come to Washington Park.

There is no scarecrow by the lake. There is almost never a scarecrow by the lake, but Kalen has yet to give up hope of seeing The Message again. Washington Park is also where he runs into other friends and fascinating things happen. It is largely for that first thing that he has spread a wool blanket over the ground at the base of a tree and settled down to stay awhile. He's sprawled partly on the blanket and partly against the tree.

He's been in and out of Denver and he's running with no few projects simultaneously, so he is sipping at coffee. However much he loves Washington Park and however much he would like a nap, this is not the place for sleeping. At least not alone. There are books in the bad that he brought, but he is not reading through any of them in an attempt to cling to productivity. Instead, he watches the park through half-closed eyes. Both he and the park are calm enough for that, at least for the moment.

[And, how distracted by Resonance are we?]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8) ( success x 5 )

Alexander Brandt

[Awareapathy]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 2, 4) ( botch x 1 )

Alexander Brandt

[Ugh...]

Alexander Brandt

One thing that an observer might have noticed about Alexander since his ‘release’ was just how much time he was spending outdoors. He had always been an active person, preferring to be outside than stuck inside, but this was almost being taken to an extreme. Home was somewhere to store things, to sleep. He had some plans to change some things – those white walls needed painting, for one thing – but they were things that he was in no rush to get to.

The park calls to him for a similar reason to Kalen. It’s somewhere peaceful in the city, and it’s a place with memories tied to it. He comes here looking for the same scarecrow, although not really expecting to find it. There had been… maybe not a promise as such, but certainly an acknowledgement that travelling through the Umbra together was something that he and The Message could both get something from. Alex had no way to get through the Umbra – yet, anyway – and so he returned from time to time to see if The Message had decided that it was time. Not yet.

There is something he picks up on, though, close to the lake. There’s a presence close to the tree line, something that makes him tense up. He doesn’t turn to look, but it’s something he would always remember. Something Potent, Incisive and Reflective. He has a light jacket on, which he reaches into to check for something. He doesn’t close, doesn’t turn to look. He walks away.

Grace

Kalen, trusting in Fate, just brings another blanket as means to summon friends. If he were anyone else, if Denver wasn't what it is, this might not work. Fortunately for him, he is Kalen and Denver is Denver.

Denver sometimes likes to be a dick, though.

Grace is Grace. Taking straight lines through curving sidewalks, only moving for the trees, because the probably won't move for her.

She's in nature, yes, but distracted by her phone, because this is the kind of relaxation a Mercurial Elite enjoys. Get away from it all, and plug into the all.

Kalen Holliday

Kalen senses Resonance, but it isn't familiar. Interesting, but unfamiliar.

There was a time when he would have gone to chase down this new Mage. Evaluate them. Offer them things.

What does he have to offer now? Not Ginger. Not the library. He himself is hardly in a position to take on a student. Friends? He in't sure he's in much of a position for that either.

But then there is Grace, proceeding linearly through the park. And so, he chases nothing, at least for now. Instead he waits. Perhaps Grace will get this new Mage. Perhaps Grace will come alone. Regardless, he stays where he is.

Alexander Brandt

[Totally trying again, given the new Resonance!]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (7, 7, 8, 8, 9) ( success x 5 )

Alexander Brandt

[I AM NOT SERAFINE!! But at least we can get them talking now.]

Alexander Brandt

Alex walks around the edge of the lake, getting further from that unseen resonance. It brings him closer to another, though. Something familiar, someone who had come to see him out at the motel. This time, no awkward semi-nakedness to get in the way. He pats his jacket pocket again, reassuring himself that he has some kind of protection. Hopefully it won’t be needed, but you never can tell. He gets closer to her, skipping the niceties as he tells her, “I think I just felt a Technocrat.” He jerks his head in the direction of the treeline, still not turning to look.

Grace

[Awareness!]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 4, 6, 8) ( success x 2 )

Grace

Grace looks up, smiles at Alex, until his serious face and words sink in, and that's no longer the appropriate response. The seriousness in Alex's face gets reflected, then.

"Kalen's here. We should get with him. Strength in numbers," she says, though she doesn't sense anything more than friendlies, herself.

She then sets off, quicker now, more alert now, in the direction she had already been taking.

Alexander Brandt

Grace starts to head off again, but Alex grabs her arm to stop her. “If it’s who I think it is, he’s powerful. More powerful than Sera is, or Victoria was.” Now he starts scanning the treeline, looking for some sign of movement. His hand goes pack into his jacket and stays there this time, a faint click of something metallic following.

“With you on the safety in numbers, though.” He walks along side Grace when she sets off again, although does slow down if their route seems to be heading towards that feeling of resonance he picked up on moments before.

Grace

Their route is heading toward Kalen, if that is where Alex is afraid to go. But look, it's him, on a blanket, and Grace is undisturbed.

Well, maybe a little disturbed by the noises coming from behind her.

"Let's try using diplomancy first? If it comes to that. But I'm glad you're prepared."

Kalen Holliday

Kalen looks up to see Grace approaching with the new Mage, who appears not to be new at all.

Different. Everything is different because of things that happened and Alexander feels different. Kalen is used to reaching out and breathing in the solidity of Alexander's Resonance, but now Alexander is closer to the kind of infinite possibility that Kalen has always seen. Closer to what he should be, perhaps.

Grace is with him though. And Grace wouldn't bring him here if he was angry. If she knew. Would she know?

He sets down his coffee, rises from his sprawl, and heads slowly out to meet them. They are wary of potential Technocrats. Kalen is wary because abandoning him, one way or another, is basically what people do.

"Hey," he says quietly as he reaches them. Just that. And then he studies them, more Alexander than Grace, as he waits.

Alexander Brandt

Let’s try using diplomacy first?

“Right. Sure.” Because that’s totally what got him into the whole pile of shit two months ago. Nothing to do with being shot in the leg with a tranquiliser, nothing to do with blacking out after having his knee destroyed by gunfire. Either way, he isn’t planning on shooting the floor if circumstances ever repeat themselves.

He still slows as they close with Kalen’s rug, expecting… something. “Oh, I’m the proverbial boy scout, right?”

It isn’t Kalen that he’s expecting to see. He doesn’t immediately react to seeing him, instead turning to check the other parts of the park that are visible from where they are. The bastard must have gone somewhere. He is still a little paranoid in some ways, but now he knows that the bad guys really are out there. He finds… nothing. Nobody. There’s a deep growl, followed by another faint click and Alex’s hand coming out from his jacket.

“Hey.” The distraction fades and Kalen’s presence is registered more. That much is obvious, as Alex closes the distance between them and pulls Kalen into a bear hug. “I’ve missed you.”

Grace

Grace watches them hug, but more importantly, watches the people, keeps her senses open. And then, takes her phone out again.

"Alex thought he sensed a Technocrat. I'm going to set up some protection," she says, all business and focus.

[Corr 2: Stiffening space against Corr manipulation. Diff 5, -1 = taking time]

Dice: 3 d10 TN4 (1, 2, 4) ( success x 1 )

Kalen Holliday

Infinite possibility is a thing with which Kalen has at least a passing acquaintance. And he has, on occasion, been accused of unchecked optimism and completely foundless hope.

Hell, he has tried to make peace with vampires and wants to make peace with the Technocracy. He loves to live in the edges of the world where improbability and reality and faith and hope collide into something transcendent.

And Kalen Holliday, despite all of these things, never considered this possibility for his reunion with Alexander. He does not, at all, fight with being hugged. Kalen fighting against hugs is not a common occurrence, particularly from people he is close to. It takes a second for him to process exactly what this moment is, because he expected something so very different.

"Missed you too."

Grace mentions a potential Technocrat, but Kalen stays where he is. Grace with get them some kind of protection. Alexander is there. And most of what Kalen can do about the Technocracy he could do without stepping away from Alexander anyway. And, from here, no one is taking Alexander without taking him. There is, also, that.

"Welcome home," he says softly.

Alexander Brandt

Alexander has changed. More than the simple (or not so simple) changing of his resonance, he had been given something of a wake-up call over the past couple of months. Part of that is that he needs other people. He’d pushed others away before, when things were going badly. He might return to old ways later, but for now? For now he doesn’t push, but pulls them closer. Kiara had been the first, now Kalen. Others, too, who are close to Alex may well get the same reaction when he meets them. Other who may be equally surprised.

Welcome home.

“Funny that. It finally does feel like home.” He releases Kalen, turning back to scan the park. “But, yeah. I felt…” A pause. “Someone.” There’s the flow of Grace’s resonance around them as she does something that Alex can’t, yet, comprehend. With more experience, a greater connection with reality, he might be able to do something more to help. His connection had strengthened, but it was something that he was barely beginning to scratch the surface of: that being able to make a change, rather than standing and watching. But he’s never been one to sit and watch others do all the work. So he looks around, concentrating on finding that familiar resonance again.

[Per+Awareness, WP because we’re really blood trying to find him]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (7, 9, 10, 10, 10) ( success x 6 ) [WP]

Alexander Brandt

[Third eye: well-squeegeed. Bill Hicks would be pleased.]

Grace

Grace is still hard at Work. She clunks her phone hard across the side, because sometimes you need to do a bit of manual debugging, right? Not everything is going smoothly with this. But if she tries, really hard...

Oblivious to the rest of the world, she continues trying to weave the connections of the world in on themselves so that they cannot be used...

[Extending, with wp, because the code is being dumb]

Dice: 3 d10 TN5 (1, 7, 8) ( success x 3 ) [WP]

Kalen Holliday

Alexander releases Kalen and Kalen takes a half step away. He stays close. He has sensed nothing. There is, even if there are Technocrats present, some chance that there may be no cause to fight. No need to get aggressive and provoke anyone. He tries to remember Ms. Grey and that Technocrat from the coffeehouse more than any of his other experiences with them.

Years of coming to the conclusion that more blood is not the way to the world he wants war against a decade of training that his enemies are clear and his responses are equally clear.

Grace is still working, so, for now, he waits. Alert enough, but not quite concerned enough to be spooked. His eyes scan over the park

"Once you're ready, Kit," he says quietly. "I suggest a change of location."

Alexander Brandt

“Dammit.” It’s a mild curse, quietly spoken. Maybe the guy had moved on, or used some way to hide himself.

Experience shapes actions, and recent experience has perhaps made Alexander a little less tolerant in some ways. Blood is, mostly, not the first option unless it can’t be helped. But there are now certain circumstances where he is more likely to fight before talking. More than standing between an Apprentice and her potential abductor, this is something more targeted. Something that comes from fear that it could happen again. And a very certain attitude that he wouldn’t be caught again.

Alex nods, though, at the suggestion of changing location. “Being somewhere else seems like a great idea right now.” He hasn’t completely shifted the idea that he’s still being watched, but there doesn’t seem to be an immediate danger now.

Grace

"Yeah," she says to Kalen. "I was making it harder for them to track us on the way to said location."

She sighs and lets her eyes scan the park again, a little upset at how weak her shield was, but what can you do?

"Let's go."

Go where? That's something she leaves unsaid, because there's more than one way to find out where people are going to go.

Kalen Holliday

Kalen glances between the two of them. It takes him less than ten seconds to come up with a workable plan and then an alternate plan. He takes the few steps to pick up his coffee and his blanket, then looks back to them and smiles.

"My car?" Apparently he isn't interested in broadcasting their destination, or potential destinations, either.

Alexander Brandt

“Works for me.” Alex would normally offer to help Kalen carry something, but he doesn’t want to get his arms tied up with anything right at the moment. He lets Kalen lead, knowing where the car is currently parked. “I can drive.” It seems sensible: he assumes that he’s had the most experience behind a wheel, and the others can do more if they’re not distracted by patty issues like not driving under an 18-wheeler. Still, there’s no talk of location until they’re safely away from this one.

cricket

(My vote is they all rock up to Kiara's apartment at 10PM without warning.)

Alexander Brandt

[Partay!]