Save who?

Nightmare

Our Scene Guidelines (like we do)

1. I feel like post time limits in one-on-one scenes are ridiculous. Post when you have a post done.

2. There is very low physical risk in this scene. (I expect zero, but IDK, maybe you'll fall into a ravine?) I can't imagine how you would die in this scene, but even if you somehow find a way to do serious bodily harm, this scene is non-lethal.

3. This scene might cause some psychological trauma.

4. If there are any things you really don't want to see in a scene, you should maybe tell me. [I don't recall you having much for concerns in that regard, but it's been awhile.]

5. If you would remind me about Merits/Flaws, that would be awesome. [Again, it's been awhile.]

Alexander

[The player doesn't have any particular squicks to avoid. Alexander has Concentration, Light Sleeper and Concentration.]

Alexander

To the east of Denver lie miles and miles of uninspiring, unimpressive landscape where only an occasional road or town or farm breaks up the monotony. There isn’t usually much in that direction, beyond the long, open roads and scarce highway patrols that allow him to push his motorbike to its limits, that attracts Alexander too far in that direction. No, there are far more interesting places to go and to be and to explore.

The mountains bring foothills, and the two of them together bring canyons and peaks and forests and lakes and... And the wilderness. Not the tamed and captive and safe parks that the city contains, for those city dwellers who don’t believe in getting their SUV muddy or getting too close to nature (i.e., bugs). The wild. Nature spreading and growing and dying and decaying as it will. The Rangers are there to protect the land and its occupants from people, rather than the other way around.

But Alex isn’t any great stranger to being here. This may not be the Cascade range that he’d grown to know before his old life ended and the new one began, but it makes it all the more interesting having new places to explore. So here he is, very much off the beaten track somewhere in Reynolds Park. Well-worn walking boots sink into the soft earth, still wet from the regular rains that the changing seasons bring to the area. Mud streaks the bottom of his trousers. A rucksack hangs off his shoulders, containing the bulk of his cold and wet weather gear because, right now, it’s actually quite pleasant out. There’s a breeze but it’s otherwise warm, with the sun beating down from a blue sky dotted with the occasional high-altitude cloud.

Where he’s going? Nowhere in particular. That way. That looks interesting.

Alexander

[Perr+Aware}

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (2, 5, 6, 7) ( success x 2 )

Alexander

[Per+Alert]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 7, 8, 9) ( success x 3 )

Nightmare

Alexander has grown accustomed to the sounds of these new mountains, and the forest he's walking through seems to have caught its breath. Birds are softer, there is the sound of fewer small feet in branches and in brush. The wind carries the scent of decay; not close to hand, not yet at least. And now Alexander begins to catch the feeling of magic, cold, dead magic. The imprint of fear, sharp and clawing at his stomach, as though whatever part of him can sense this would tear itself free of his body to run. And, overshadowed by that but not entirely hidden, there is a somewhat familiar sense of sunlight and oak and rich earth.

Alexander

Alexander shivers suddenly, unexpectedly, and skids and slips and slides to an abrupt halt. It’s almost as if someone had walked over his grave, only it’s not his. He doesn’t have one – not yet or that he knows of, at least – but there’s still that feeling of something having passed on. What happens to magic when it dies? Does it just fade away? Wait to be resurrected and reworked and reborn into something new? Or does it linger and slumber and see out eternity in stasis? Whatever it is, it’s possibly more that he’s starting to walk over the grave of something long dead.

And whatever it is, it’s out there somewhere. Something new (and old!) and strange, and something with a sense of the familiar but not yet clear enough to trigger any particular memory or reaction. There’s a fear pulling, tearing, bordering on the desperate to escape. It’s... a strange feeling, but a new one. As if the part of him that Awakened has a thing about graveyards and wants to steer well away.

But he’s dealt with the dead before. It hasn’t often been pleasant, but it has more often been rewarding. It’s also something that he’s wanted to learn more about. With the disappearance of Lucy and Alyssa, the number of people who he has to ask about that kind of thing has thinned out. And so it’s back to what works for him best: To do and to experience and to learn the hard, and sometimes painful, way. He holds still for a moment, one hand resting on the trunk of a tree as he freezes and tries to feel where this curious new thing is coming from. Before Alex heads off, though, he slips the bag off one shoulder so that he can dig around in one of the pockets for a mirror. He isn’t trying to see the other side of the Gauntlet – not yet, anyway – but he can at least see if his extra sense can focus on what’s going on and where it might be.

[Arete: sensing spirits, sensing decay. TN 4, -1 taking time, 2 succs to last the scene]

Dice: 1 d10 TN3 (8) ( success x 2 ) [WP]

Nightmare

Alexander can sense decay, off in the same direction from which he can smell it. He cannot see a ghost, but now he can hear crying. And the echoes of screams that do not fade away - terror and grief and rage commingled into one horrible scream that lingers in the memory of the shadows in another world not so far separated from his own.

Alexander

Alexander turns on the spot until he’s facing towards the smell of decay, the sense of things coming apart as the eternal wash of entropy grinds it to nothingness. He holds where he is, though, thinking. There are echoes in the wind now, screams and cries that weren’t there before he expanded his awareness beyond the merely physical. The screams mirror the sense of terror that the other, indefinable part of him fears. There’s something there and it’s something wrong and he really should be trying to get away from it before it notices that he’s there.

But amongst the fear and rage are... tears? Crying. Someone else, someone alone? There’s only the one voice crying buried in the screams. Alone, then. Alexander may not be the same as Lucy – there to guide the dead to their rest – but, then, he is what he is. And part of that is to try to help the weak and lonely and scared. Arionna had said that so many of them had hero complexes. Maybe that is what pushes him into walking towards whatever it is that so many things are screaming to run away from. Maybe it’s a desire – a need? – for that solo crying voice to stop feeling afraid and alone.

Whatever the reason, he moves towards it. He’s slow, though, and cautious. Because however stupid an idea it might turn out to be, especially given all the warnings Alyssa had tried to beat into him about spirits being dangerous, he isn’t inexperienced in approaching risk.

Nightmare

It isn't far. It isn't hard to find.

Alexander crests a slight rise and finds himself overlooking the remains of a campsite. There is -or at least was- a tent. Its wreckage is a roughly ten foot long tangle of shredded fabric and broken poles. In the trees and brush that ring the clearing, little scraps of fabric, no few blood-soaked, flutter in the breeze like the frantic wing beats of a bird that cannot take flight.

The campfire shows signs of disturbance, charred bits of wood lying apart from the ashes. Tiny flames quickly spent on the rocks and bare earth that surrounded the fire.

To one side of the clearing, not far from the remains of the tent, lies a large, misshapen feline creature. It is perfectly still; and, remarkable considering that Alexander can hear the steady drone of insects nearby, the air around it is nearly so still as the creature. Nearby that, a heavy section of wood, just shy of being called a log. One end charred to ash, signs of flame down much of the length. All around that spot, disturbed earth.

And a bit farther out, half-shadowed by trees is a human figure. Live, judging by how the form is crouched up on a rock in a way that suggests balance. The cold, dead magic and the fear that seems to have settled under his skin now and the sunlight are all strongest in that direction. Alexander only met Skye the one time, and that not for long, but the person he sees through the trees could be Skye.

The sound of the scream echoes all around the clearing, but the sobbing too is in that same direction through the trees.

Alexander

Alexander halts as he gets his first look at the camp before slowly stepping up to stand on the crest of the rise, taking in the destruction below him. Just looking, whatever happened had to have been bad. The mass of tent, the blood, the ash. Add to that the relentless screaming from across the Gauntlet, the tension that has taken hold of his body, and that fearful pull to get away. He really shouldn’t be here.

Or maybe he should. The urge to leave is tempered and controlled by the crying voice and his need to know what had happened here. Seeing a crouching figure through the trees – possibly Skye, from what he remembered of the man the only time they met in, thinking about it, not entirely dissimilar circumstances – only bring more chaos to his thoughts. Thoughts which fly back to another forest, another spirit...

No, enough. Alexander clamps down on the wild chains of thought and reclaims the discipline that has served him before. The focus and concentration that brought him face to face with Victoria. The chaotic thoughts are still there, but separated by that frozen focus. He slowly walks down towards the camp, careful not to slip or fall and careful of what may come next. The path he takes is towards the crouching figure but it isn’t direct. He passes near the log, the cat, the upturned earth on the way so that he can try to piece together what might have happened here. He looks but doesn’t touch, all the while listening for movement nearby

Alexander halts just outside the clearing, looking around at what else might be there before he thinks about entering. Looking and listening for the source of the crying. He calls out to the figure, gently and quietly given the situation, “Skye? What happened?”

Nightmare

[Go ahead and roll for me Perception + Investigation. (I'm going to assume that Alex has that. Enigmas/Alertness could also be substituted.)]

Alexander

[Per+Inv]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 5, 8, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )

Nightmare

[Perception+Awareness - Do you know Alex is coming?]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 5, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9) ( success x 5 )

Nightmare

There was quite the fight here. Someone fought. Hard. Pulled that branch from the fire and beat that feline thing with it until the great cat spilled not blood but decaying strips of cloth. Hit it so hard its head and part of one shoulder tore until only a few strips of hide hold the body in some semblance of shape. There are sigils of some kind on the rags and what Alexander thinks might be hieroglyphics. A few strips have been unfurled, perhaps by Skye.

The trail of the fighting leads toward where Skye is, brush broken here, blood spilled there. Singed twigs here, bits of fur and cotton there. Near the rock where Skye is perched, looking down into a ravine, there is more blood. So much blood it sprayed and soaked into the rock. There is more disturbed earth. Cotton rags and scraps of fur and a large glass eye.

There is a path of disturbed earth and brush to the ravine. And Skye, from up on the rock is looking down into it. Alexander though...Alexander can see what perhaps Skye has missed. There is another path, a much harder one to trace as it lacks the signs of struggle of the other, leading away.

Down in the ravine, pressed by sluggish waters against a muddy shoal on the opposite bank, is a tangled mess of a bear skin, cotton rags, and the body of a woman whom Alexander would guess to be older than twenty but younger than thirty-five. The spectral form of a woman with that same athletic form and long strawberry-blonde hair is standing in the ravine. Closer now, Alexander can tell that she is trying to get Skye's attention, screaming and crying.

Her voice sounds far away, hard to hear over her other echoing screams and the sound of sobbing that does not stop. Now though, closer, Alexander can make it out. The ghostly woman is begging Skye to save someone. But Skye is unmoved in a way that suggests he can see the body but not the ghost. His eyes though...his eyes are unfocused as though he is not really looking at the body below him at all.

"Something wrong," is all that Skye says at first. But then his attention comes back from wherever it was. "Ah." He can't seem to decide what to do here, with this moment. There is an uneasy pause. "I'm not sure about much more than that yet."

Alexander

Alexander is silent, beyond the noise of his boots on the ground, as he steps around the camp. There is a pattern in trail of destruction that he can pick out, but the thing that attracts his attention most is the cat. Initially he had thought it maybe a corruption of something natural – a wild cat twisted and deformed by whatever dead magic was nearby. Only maybe it was the magic that had created the thing, out of cloth and hide and... And that was something for later. Maybe he’d pick up one or two of the rags and show them to Kalen later.

The blood, though, wasn’t from the cat. It probably never had any blood inside it to spill, certainly not in such large quantities. Skye didn’t look – physically – in particularly bad shape. So there had been someone else here. Someone down... He closes his eyes for a moment. Had he been a religious man, there may have been a prayer for the woman. But such acts are meaningless to him, beyond the act of respect to the departed.

Alexander looks at Skye as his gives what little explanation as he has to offer, although it isn’t anything that Alex couldn’t have worked out on his own. Presumably Skye and his friend had been camping here when the cat had attacked them. Skye had managed to... maybe not kill – had the thing even been alive? – but certainly stop it. But not before the woman had been thrown into the ravine. Seconds pass as Alex debates what, how, to tell Skye. Would knowing that her ghost was there, desperate to talk to him help? It would help her, though, in her desperation to have someone saved.

“This will make sense in a minute,” he offers Skye gently. Then Alex turns back to the ravine and calls down to the woman, “He can’t hear you yet. Give me a minute to help him.” Alex turns back to Skye, stepping up to him so that he can see his own reflection in the other man’s eyes. He tells him, asks him, “trust me.” Then he pushes back at the universe again to let him see and hear his friend.

[Arete, giving Skye the ability to see and hear her. TN4, -1 for practiced. 3 succs to target Skye and have the effect last long enough for them to talk]

Dice: 1 d10 TN3 (10) ( success x 2 ) [WP]

Alexander

[Extending]

Dice: 1 d10 TN4 (4) ( success x 2 ) [WP]

Nightmare

[Oh. Damn. Things we were not hoping to look at with all our other effects running. Does this make us extra crazy?]

Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 9) ( success x 1 )

Nightmare

Skye blinks at Alexander, still a little distracted. Off balance. Not for the reason Alexander thinks, though that will become clear soon enough.

The woman stops screaming at Skye. Turns to Alexander, Alexander who can see her, and screams, "What are you waiting for, save her!"

There is a second where Skye realises what Alexander means to do and his eyes widen. But before Skye can quite wrap his mind around what is happening, it is done. He can see the woman, yes. She gets a glance from him before his eyes widen in horror. Not at the sight of the ghost herself, not for her terror or her pleading. But at the sight of the bear. At the sight of the world around them.

[Can you even understand what you see? Beyond that it is terrible?]

Dice: 6 d10 TN8 (5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )

Alexander

Having pushed a deeper sense of the universe onto Skye, Alexander moves back to the edge of the ravine. Between the fear and the shouting, his explanation is rather more abrupt that it would have been in better circumstances. “Your friend’s spirit is down there and she has something to tell you.”

He turns back and yells down to the woman’s spirit. Again, somewhat less kindly than he normally would have, but hell... Nothing about this whole situation is either normal or feeling anything remotely right. “Save who? What the fuck happened here? Was there someone else here with you?”

It takes a moment for Alexander’s mind to put a few things together, but then his eyes turn to the other path nearby. “Where did she go?”

Alexander

[Per+Alert]

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

Alexander

[Per+Aware]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 5, 7, 9) ( success x 2 )

Nightmare

Alexander is faintly aware that the world around them, or the reflection of it, is shifting. It was subtle at first, gradual enough that it isn't until now he's really aware of it as it starts to happen faster. The shadows are deepening. Tree branches growing skeletal and menacing. Bushes are sprouting thorns. The reflection of the water is starting to stir restlessly.

The ghost seems, at first, to understand only that Alexander can hear her. She is, as no few of them are, only an echo of her last moments. Terror. Desperation. But there is a tiny flicker of understanding. For a second the water stills. For a second there is the sound of birds.

And she stops screaming. Only for a few precious seconds. And points in the direction of the trail that Alexander saw.

Skye is still mostly focused on the bear. Though he is, almost certainly, at least peripherally aware of what Alexander is doing.

Alexander

Alexander shivers, although it’s not down to the temperature. The shifting world, the ever-present tension hanging in the air, the question not so much of what happened here as why – and who... The world suddenly seems like a much darker and less hospitable place. Nature had never been kind, but the creeping changes seemed to be turning it... malicious.

There are blessed moments when whatever hangs over them clears, but they are only seconds. Are the changes going on around them because of her? Is her calm because of that fleeting moment without them? Or is Skye’s focus more on holding it all back than the simple, assumed reason that the death of the woman has left him shocked.

What the fuck is going on here...

The answers don’t seem to be forthcoming in the clearing. Maybe along that path, then? ‘She’ – whoever she is – went that way and would seem to need help. He looks down at the woman and nods before stepping towards the path. Arms up, ready to fend off an attacker, and with his heart in his throat, he moves forwards. Quietly, though. Carefully.

[Dex+Stealth]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 3, 4, 4) ( botch x 1 )

Nightmare

Alexander sneaks.

Well. More accurately, Alexander does not sneak. Reconciling the nightmarish landscape with the physical landscape is not easy.

He follows the trail and the direction of the trail. Reaches one of the main trails. There is no sign of the woman he is chasing now, not really. One might guess that she made it out? But for the lack of any sign of park officials or police approaching. Unless he passed them as he cut through the woods.

Alexander

Alexander gets to the end of the trail and there’s nothing. Nothing? The woman had been so adamant that someone needing saving had come this way, but there’s nothing here. He stands at the junction, turning to look each way with a hand on his forehead and confusion on his face. Maybe she had hidden somewhere, scared by his completely screwed up attempt to hide his presence from whatever nasty might have been lurking? Or had she passed and was already long gone?

He turns back to the path, looking for more clues about whether she had made it this far. Someone running away was pretty likely to have broken branches, kicked up mud, and generally left big obvious clues that they had been there.

[Per+Survival]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (3, 6, 7, 7, 9) ( success x 4 )

Nightmare

Focusing on the physical world Alexander discovers two things:

First, the woman did make it so far as the main trail.

Second, she was, shortly before that point, joined by another person who crossed that last distance with her. Where they went after they reach that main trail though, Alexander cannot tell. Maybe if there was some sign that they had veered off of it, back into the woods. But there is not.

Alexander

He spends seconds trying to work out where the footprints lead once they hit the main trail, but it’s just not possible to tell. The main trail seems to be a busy one and any individual tracks are lost amongst the dozens of vague prints in the hard, packed ground. So no clue, even, which way they headed.

He sighs, frustrated in his chase. There’s no clue as to whether the person meeting her had good or bad intentions, but he’d guess bad given the dead woman’s desperation for her to be saved. But perhaps there are other ways of working out where they went.

Alexander concentrates on that extra sense of awareness that waking up blesses their kind with. Maybe magic was involved in the disappearance somehow.

[Per+Aware]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (6, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )

Nightmare

There is no lingering sense of Resonance here. If there was magic here, it wasn't anything that left any trace.

Nightmare

[Le pause. Alas.]

Alexander

Alexander is limited. His knowledge of magic isn’t enough to reach out and sense the patterns of life, or look back in time to watch what had happened. Chance could be manipulated to nudge a coin into sending him in the right direction. With more ability with Spirit, maybe he could have even spoken to the spirits of the forest to find them.

But he can’t. At least, not yet. Some time in the future, there is always the potential for those things to happen. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. Nothing is laid down and tied down by fate. For the moment, though, he’s at a figurative dead end. With no clue where the woman went Alexander turns back onto the small trail to find his way back to Skye and the spirit.

Nightmare

Alexander searched, but could find no sign that the woman had left the trail with her new companion anywhere but at one of the parking lots. There are a handful of cars in the lots, but whether one of those could be her car is difficult to guess.

As he approaches the ruined campsite, he can see that Skye has dropped down into the ravine, is near both the bear-thing and the body of the woman. He is speaking softly, presumably to the ghost. He seems...distant from the signs of violence so close at hand. Has he, like so many of them do, acclimated to these horrors? Perhaps.

"We should clean up this place," Skye says as he senses Alexander's approach. "And then get out of here. Quickly. It isn't safe to stay here." He could mean because of authorities and questions. But there is an underlying tension to his voice, a wariness to the way that his eyes flick into the woods at the sound of anything that could be approaching footsteps, that seems to indicate he is expecting a different kind of threat.

Alexander

She’s gone. This unknown woman who needed saving has vanished. Saving from what? From whatever had wrecked the campsite? That seemed to have been the cat and the bear, now... dead? How can they be dead if they were never alive? Broken, then. Stopped. Who had sent them, though? The owner of the second set of tracks that had been left along the trail? Had there been any sign of a fight where they had met, or had it seemed that they had met without incident?

There were many questions hanging over this camping trip of their, and no answers to be found standing where the trails meet. So Alexander returns. To check on Skye and his now-spiritual friend. To work out what the hell had happened.

Alexander stays silent when he returns, seeing Skye talking with the woman. He doesn’t know the woman, so it’s perhaps best to give them whatever time they want together before he intrudes. He thinks to go back to the cat, maybe take some of the sheets to show others later. Others who might have more of an idea what they mean and what they’re used for. But he’s noticed before he steps away again.

That something so violent and strange had happened would already have turned up Alex’s wariness a notch or two, but it had seemed like it was all over. Skye’s tension is contagious, though, and Alexander turns to scan the treeline and the parts of the paths that he can see.

He spares a glance for the two – the physical and the spiritual – in the ravine. “She’s gone. I’m sorry, I lost her tracks when she hit the main trail. There was someone with her, though.” The glance lingers on the bear skin and the body before returning to the trees.

“What the hell happened here?”

Nightmare

"Magic," Skye says. "But not like ours, quite. This was something else. Out here, that might be werewolves. Those...are generally not at all friendly and very dangerous. Also rarely alone, so if this was their doing, and they find us here, I doubt that will go at all well."

He rises from beside the body of the woman and the bear. "At least these look like animals that actually could have been here, if not in their condition. We should-" Should what? Burn the bodies? Hide them?

"What did you find?"

Alexander

Vampires, and now werewolves? Well, there had already been spirits and boatmen and Sendings and all sorts of other strangeness that, even just a year ago, would have seemed like it belonged in bad fantasy literature more than it would ever occur in reality. But then that just goes to show how fickle reality can be.

“Werewolves? Get bitten and you become one? Why would they be here? And...” His attention returns to the bear, with its spilled contents, at the bottom of the ravine. “If they’re that dangerous, why would they send these things?” He considers jumping down to take a closer look at the bear, but the remains of the cat by destroyed tent is much easier to get to.

“There’s a cat, back by the camp, with... I’d say its guts spread out, but it was stuffed with cloth. Whoever that other woman was, and whoever it was that joined her, they’ve both disappeared. I lost them when they hit the main trail, and it didn’t feel like they’d used magic to get away.” He considers for a moment that the magic that had happened here hadn’t been, quite, like their own. Would that have meant that the lingering resonance that their bending of reality leaves wouldn’t have been there? The sense of old magic lingered here, so perhaps it still would? Who knows?

Alexander’s attention returns to the tree line, scanning and listening for anything unpleasant approaching. If they are in more danger, finding a decent branch to swing probably isn’t a bad idea. “If we’re going to clear up here, I want to grab some of those bits of cloth to show some others.” His gaze swings back down into the ravine, but to the woman this time. “And I’m sorry. For what happened. I wish I had some advice for you about what comes next.”

Skye

Skye shakes his head a little. "I think it's their nature, just as magic is ours. I don't think that being bitten by a werewolf makes a werewolf thing is true. I know you can be bitten and not turn. But that is also true for vampires, and those can turn. In my experience though, and everything I've heard, the few of us who survive werewolf bites never turn.

"But there are more things under the heavens, no?" Skye sighs as he listens to Alexander speaking. The ghostly woman near him doesn't really seem to much notice them now.

"I don't know. This doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe there was something they wanted here. Maybe. I don't know though. I don't know much about them, but what I do know...it doesn't make sense with this. Except...there's something about this energy. It's like whatever took Claire. Twisted. Wrong.

"You find this in some of the places I've worked to reclaim. It's like a spiritual corruption. It twists everything around it. Maybe them too." He looks up at Alexander's apology, seeming more confused than anything. "About Claire? I haven't found her yet, but she's still alive. I can sense that much. All hope is not lost."

Alexander

More things under the heavens... Alexander snorts, with what would pass for amusement in better circumstances, and mutters quietly, “no shit.”

“Maybe they wanted you. Or they wanted you gone, if they get territorial. Do you think this is related to Claire, then? If this all feels the same, then maybe it’s her that they wanted gone.” He shrugs, not really sure of any of this. It sometimes seems so easy for the others to dig up answers when the weirdness hits the fan. But is there really going to be much of a paper trail to find for dead animals stuffed with sheets? Hell, who knows?

“So were you here clearing up after Claire, or whatever it is using her? What’s it been doing out here? And who was she? The woman who’s missing.” Alexander nods his head towards the trail.

It takes a moment to realise that Skye’s confusion comes from thinking that Alex is still talking with him. Skye gets a glance before he looks back at the fading woman. “Sorry, I was talking to your friend there. I think I know where she’s headed to eventually, but I don’t know how she gets there. My knowledge of spirits is patchy at best.” His attention switches back to Skye again. “I’m glad she’s still alive, though. I don’t really know what happened to her – or to you – but maybe she can be helped in the same way?”

Skye

"This is like what had Claire, I thought...I was looking for her. If this thing wanted me, I have no idea why it would attack these girls. Maybe those things were meant for me, but this was over before I got here. If these girls were like us, I see no sign of that. Nor of them being like werewolves. Maybe they knew to attack with fire but...it looks like they just fought. And hard.

"But if they were successful in killing these creatures, I suspect these creatures weren't meant to kill me." Successful, Skye says. As though there is not a ghost only feet from him and one girl missing. He seems disconnected from any emotions about either of them.

The ghostly woman looks up at Alexander. Slowly. She seems almost as disconnected from herself as Skye. And she is fading. More and more translucent. More and more a wisp of fog than a woman. But she smiles at Alexander. Just for a second.

"Claire isn't here. This is...similar. But different. I...maybe I will go back to California. I know some people there. I can get to some books. I've just been chasing anything that seemed like it might be her. Or out looking for it. I'm not sure that's really working. I'm just afraid if I leave she'll know. I don't want her to think I've abandoned her."

Skye rises, starts for the creature that hasn't been soaking in a bloody creek bed. He pauses as he draws closer to Alexander. And there is a second where he seems to really, properly register his existence. Not as some abstract thing. "She's not so trapped in her death now. She knows you went to help her friend. I think she just lets go." He reaches out, a little warily, to squeeze Alexander's shoulder. He isn't used to touching other people now. Isn't even used to talking to them, really.

And, whether or not Alexander lets him touch him, he adds, quietly. "As much as she can be saved, I think you've done it. But, if you want to, she might like it if you stay with her." He glances at the nearly faded ghost. "I don't think it will be very long now."

Alexander

“You mean..?” Alex looks to Skye before closing and rubbing his eyes. “Sorry, I thought you were camping with her.” He lowers his hand and nods to the fading spirit below. “That’s why I thought she was trying to tell you something when I saw her shouting.” Alex shifts to the rock where Skye had been crouched, leaning against it.

“Maybe they just used whatever was to hand. If they had a campfire going, a flaming branch sounds like a good weapon to use.” Alex shrugs, offering the best theory he has. One person dead, another missing with an unknown third person. Success is debatable. “There was someone else out there, though. Maybe the plan was to kidnap one of them? I don’t suppose you can look back and see what went on..?” He’d seen Sera and Kalen both do similar, so it doesn’t seem like an unreasonable expectation. Hell, maybe one day he’d be the one looking.

“I don’t know how close you guys were, but maybe she’ll trust that you’ll come back for her? If going is your best chance to get her back... There are some other Awakened around Denver, you could try asking around before you go. Someone might be able to help. Ian?”

Alex doesn’t pull away from the touch, but doesn’t do anything to reinforce it. He simply takes the contact that is offered as comfort for his lack of education. He does nod, though, confirming that he’d heard Skye. He crouched by the edge of the ravine, giving the woman what little comfort he can. “I don’t even know her name,” he says without looking round. Then, quietly, he speaks to the ghost.

“Sleep well. You’ll be well cared for.”

Skye

Skye shakes his head. "No. I'm-" He makes a soft sound, more just tired than either bitter or amused. "Well...was is probably more the word now, a healer. I think I might qualify as more of a hermit, these days. Ghosts and mysteries and whatever kind of magic this is, get torn up when you find it, and I can help you." His eyes track to the ravine. The dead woman. "Hell, if you need it torn up when you find it, I can help you. But finding it...no. I'm sorry."

There is a silence after Ian's name. "No," Skye says quietly. "He's done enough. And I don't really know any of the others here. I assume they have their own problems, and don't need mine. It's alright. One way or another, I'll find her."

The woman looks up at Alexander. Then at where Skye is walking away. Back to Alexander. Meets his eyes with her hazy ones. After a moment she opens her mouth and her lips move, but even with his effect up, Alexander cannot really hear her. He thinks, maybe, that what she tried to say was 'thank you.'

Alexander

[Per+Emp - what's going on with you?]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (4, 6, 6, 6, 9) ( success x 4 )

Skye

[Skye is...broken might be the best term. He was, barely having survived, warm the night Alexander met him. He'd reached out to heal him the same way he'd reached out to kiss Ian's hand, easily and readily and with a kind of sense of connection. Whatever happened between then and today, that connection is shuttered now. This newer version of Skye could barely keep his hand on Alexander's shoulder for a few seconds and barely meets his eyes. Even this offer of help is barely there, not in his intentions or willingness to follow through, but that like everything else it seems practically mechanical. There was a moment where he was willing to reach out to Alexander, and judging by the ghost's changed demeanor and the way Skye was speaking to her when Alexander arrived (and the way she looked after him leaving) he did connect with her a little after all. But even when he mentions Claire, there's not much of anything in his voice. It's as though all the warmth and emotion have been either bled out or shut away.]

Alexander

Alex’s attention shifts to Skye for some moments, trying to get a better idea of the man. He’s been searching for months now for Claire, and whatever he’d been through in that hunt it something he could only guess at. But he’s different. They all change – it would be impossible not to be touched by what they see and do. But where Alex had finally started to see the wonder in this life, Skye seems to be pulling away from it all. Walking away.

Alex floats between wanting to stay with the woman until she completely fades and wanting to reach out to Skye, to try to give him some kind of connection to hang on to. He stays where he is, leaning on the rock, but turns to look at Skye as he walks away. “Wait. Please.” Whether he slows or stops, Alex continues. “Like you said, it won’t be long before she leaves completely. Her body might be beyond healing, but we can still help her spirit heal.” A glance back again. “Right?”

It may not be much of a connection to what Skye used to be, but it’s something.

Skye

Skye does stop. At first, that's all he does, stops and stills and waits. But after a few seconds he turns and comes back, so that he and Alexander and the fading ghostly presence have a moment together. The ghost is quiet because she's barely there, and Skye...well...much the same. But at least, for that last moment of hers, they are all present.

And then she is gone.

But Skye, leaning on a tree not far from Alexander, is a little bit more present. Present enough that he seems at a loss for what to say, now that he isn't mechanically moving on to the next thing.

Alexander

Skye stopping is something that Alex had hoped would happen, but hadn’t necessarily expected. That it had? Well...

The woman finally having passed on, Alex pushes up from the rock and walks towards Skye. “Did she ask you to climb down and talk to her while I was gone?” His tone is gently, quiet, but enough to be heard across the distance between them as he takes the first steps towards bridging the gap.

Skye

Skye shakes his head. "I was...examining her body. And the bear. I was talking to her because she was there."

Alexander

“Because she was there? Or because she was hurt, and scared, and all alone?” Alexander gets closer to Skye, but not so close that Skye might feel his personal space being intruded on. If the man is already feeling separate, disconnected and isolated, then pushing him away wouldn’t do much to help. Alex crouches on the ground nearby - making himself small and unthreatening.

“I don’t think that part of you is as lost as you think it is. Hell, you’re still trying to help Claire after all this time. If you weren’t a healer still, I think you’d have given up long ago.”

Skye

Skye watches Alex, and if it registers to him that Alex is taking an approach that might also be taken with an unknown dog, it seems not to bother him. He watches Alex approaching, definitely, but not with any real wariness. He is a lot of things, Skye. But even now he is not so much jealous of his space. Hesitant to reach out and touch someone, yes. Concerned about someone being close to him, not particularly.

He also crouches down, because he has no real desire to loom. "You are very invested in my mental state for a practical stranger," Skye says. "Though I suppose I understand the impulse well enough.

"I am looking for Claire because I got her into this. She's...just a girl. I showed her a beautiful, impossible world. And she followed me right into it. And then right into a trap she had no defenses against. I'm not doing that because I want to fix it, I'm doing that because it's my fault. Tracking missing people and...doing whatever I'll need to do to get her back is...probably not so much like healing as fighting with whatever spirit took her. There's a certain balance in it, sure. Setting something back into its natural state. And yeah, that is kind of what healing is, broadly speaking. But that's not the kind I'm really much good at.

"Unless you substitute evil corporations for corrupting spirits and virgin forest for girls. Even then, my real work was setting to right a whole different kind of corruption. What's happened to Claire. She'll need a different kind of healer than me, probably. The same way different people operate on people and rabbits. Same theories. But they're not the same on application."

Alexander

Whether or not Skye considered Alex’s approach as appropriate for dealing with a dog, he’s simply sticking with what he knows. As some of the others have found out by reaching out when Alex has been in a bad place, he pushes them away and withdraws. It’s just the way he defends and protects himself when there are... less physical things to battle with. It’s not that he’s necessarily against touch itself. Context plays a bit part in it too and, well... it’s just complicated.

“I guess we don’t really know each other, but I came to help rescue you from the spirit. Ian, Alyssa and me. Two strangers and an acquaintance, all with their own issues that they had to look after. I bet you don’t even know how new I was to this whole Awakened world when I was there. Now there are some issues that needed to be taken care of. Then there were others who helped track you down and work out what was happening.” He smiles, amused as he remembers an accusation throw offhandedly by one of the other Awakened in the city at the moment. “Maybe we do all have massive hero complexes. But I prefer to think that I’m making things better for people where I can, even if I don’t know them.” He shrugs. It may sound corny, but it is essentially true. “So it might not hurt to ask the guys in town before you jet off. The worst they can do is say no, right?”

Alexander sighs as Skye tries to blame himself for everything that’s happened. He’d been the one to drag Claire into this world, he hadn’t been able to save her yet. He’d survived... Alexander’s voice is a little less soft when he responds to that part, but only because the conviction behind the words makes him sound harder. “It. Wasn’t. Your. Fault. You didn’t know that spirit was out there, or what it was capable of, or what it would do. You were just trying to get evidence that some company or other was illegally dumping stuff in the reservoir. And anyway, for all you know she would have Awakened herself and ended up in deeper trouble, trying to work these things out by herself. Or she might have been hit by a bus leaving college. There’s no point in running over and over what might have happened and what you would have done differently. You can’t. You’re stuck with what’s happened and you have to deal with it.”

His voice softens again as he carries on, hoping that he’s t least gotten Skye to at least consider that he wasn’t to blame. “I’m impressed – really – by how much and how long you’ve been doing that. Hell, you’re still going for it, even if it means you have to trek across states to do it. And who the hell cares if you don’t think you’re any good at trying to chase away spirits and set things right. You’ll only get good at it if you keep on trying. Or you give up on it all. But you don’t seem like the kind of guy who’d do that.”

Skye

There is a soft sound that doesn't quite become a laugh.

And then a pause.

"Right." It is less agreement, and more acknowledgement that Skye actually noticed Alexander was using words, but it's something at least. "And as much as discussing our motivations and coming to a moment of perfect clarity appeals to me, I'd prefer to do that while I am both much more stoned and much less concerned about werewolves."

Alexander

It’s a start, and that’s all that Alex can really hope for. It sounded like the guy had been alone, chasing his demons, for months. When you shut yourself away, it can be hard to remember that there are other people out there who might want to make a connection, to offer a hand, or a shoulder, or a couch and large quantities of mind-altering substances.

Alexander stand, reaching out a hand to help Skye up. Another connection.

“I’m going to grab some of the rags out of the cat to show around, see if anyone can figure out what they are and who made them. You think we should burn everything else when we’re done?”

Skye

Skye takes Alexander's hand, with significantly less hesitation than he reached out to touch him with earlier. He rises with little enough assistance that he clearly took Alexander's hand more because he was accepting the offer than because he had any real desire for the help standing.

"Yeah. This isn't our magic, but we still don't anyone finding it and getting curious. We might get werewolf hunters. We might get witch hunters. We might get the Technocracy. We might get those kids who got way too into Twilight looking for dates. The possibilities for this getting found going badly are generally not great for us."

He looks at the cat thing. "Maybe take pictures too, if you have a phone that does that? Be careful with anything you take from here. If we can trace our magic, they might be able to trace theirs. Like a sympathetic bond.

"Not that you shouldn't do it. Just...be careful where you take it."

Alexander

“All of those sound great. As if there aren’t enough things out there already out to get us. Did you know there are vampires in the city, by the way?” Because of all the things Skye needs right now is something else to worry about. But better to be forewarned, right?

“I’ve got somewhere in mind to leave the parts, somewhere out of the way where they shouldn’t get stumbled over.” Alexander kneels down by the remains of the cat, taking a closer look before he starts handling it. He may not be able to actively look for the threads of magic yet, but there’s still that sixth sense that comes with the opening of their eyes. And there are still other ways to open your eyes that he hasn’t tried yet. He shrugs out of his pack and pulls out a bottle of water, rolling it around in one hand while gripping something in a pocket with the other hand.

Alexander

[Awareness specifically on the cat]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (3, 5, 9, 10) ( success x 2 )

Alexander

[Arete - Sensing Entropy and Time. Just a quicky this time. TN4. 1 WP left after this.]

Dice: 1 d10 TN4 (5) ( success x 2 ) [WP]

Skye

The cat feels like something from which something liquid and cold and a little oily is seeping, like those rags were immersed in that first slick of oil and water on a highway when it starts to rain. That sense is strongest on the cat, but the sense of it is starting to seep into the ground around it. There is a similarity to whatever took Claire, but that was more corruption by decay. This is...corruption by contamination.

There is, strictly speaking, no Entropy magic here. But something did manipulate decay to create this cat and there is a heightened decay in this place as whatever magic created that thing oozes out of it, and so Alexander can sense the disruption in the force there, if not precisely the nature of the effect as he might with Sphere magic. There is no similar sense that time has been disrupted around the cat.

Skye

The effect of this was, more than entropy, manipulating the spiritual nature of it. There is that spiritual corruption oozing out of the creature, and at the center of the essence of the thing a sort of negative space where a spirit used to be, similar to the negative impressions that remain in Pompeii, nothing but hollows after the flesh decays. This is fuzzier, fuzzy enough Alexander can't be sure if the spirit of the original animal or another spirit altogether was bound inside it. Whatever it was, he can feel the fading echoes of its hunger.

Alexander

Alexander visibly shudders when he looks closer at the remains, suddenly less keen on the idea of picking up pieces of it to take away. “I... have no idea what happened to this thing. There used to be a spirit in this, but it’s... not there any more. It didn’t leave. I think it might have been consumed by something. And something strange has been done to Entropy here, too. It’s been messed around with, and it’s spreading.”

“That’s about as much of it as I can sense. Can you see any more?”

He stands, leaving the pieces well alone for now. One of the bent and broken tent poles will do to try to rearrange some of the pieces so that they can be looked at. Alex isn’t expecting to recognise any of the symbols, but you never know. Stranger things have happened.

Skye

"Vampires?" Skye asks. "I would assume so. They are in most cities, at least. Some more than others. You know their hunting grounds here, I take it?"

"No. But I have seen things like this before. I may be able to help you stop what caused it. Burning that thing may stop or slow the spread of that...energy. But fixing what's already done will take someone with more ability to work with spirits than I have." Skye looks around. "Anywhere you leave parts of that thing will become...like it. It's a contagion. Like a mold. It colonizes what it comes in contact with.

"Unless you know someone who can treat that, it might be better to get rid of it entirely. Or at least bring it to a place with enough strong energy to counteract its effects."

Alexander

“That’s... complicated. There was something of a fight between a couple of factions, and I think the dust might still be settling. Best to avoid the Black Orchid, though. Just in case.”

Alexander sighs as he drags back a piece of pole. Tupperware may well protect from bad odours, but probably not bad spirits – it probably is best to burn the lot. Maybe keep one piece to one side and see how pernicious the contagion seems to be, though. “I’m not sure who’s around who can deal with spirits these days. We haven’t been able to get hold of the woman who helped free you in a while, and the only other person I can think of has vanished too. There have been some new faces in town, though. I’ll ask around.”

“What kind of energy would counteract it? I can think of one place that might work, but there’s no way I’m getting that spiritual crap anywhere near its guardian.”

Alexander starts using the pole to pull parts of the cat’s stuffing out, trying to unfold it to see what might be written on it.

Skye

"I might be able to counteract it, at least for a few days. I don't know how to render it permanently harmless without destroying it, but I can create something it cannot destroy that will last long enough for you to ask around. It might alter the nature of the thing a little, but, honestly, that may not matter.

"How are you for people who can read minds? We both saw this for what it was, which means we can share our memories. Like pictures, only more intimate. But then we could destroy it without much concern. Maybe a small sample, if you think its chemical composition will tell you something the symbols themselves won't. It might.

"But I doubt it won't be anything you couldn't guess or would need to know."

Alexander

“Containing it might not be a bad idea. That way I can try to get it to more people who might have more of an idea about this stuff that I do. Especially when it comes to Life, Mind, and Prime. Or anything particularly in depth about Spirit. This is just way beyond anything I’ve picked up so far.

“We...” He pauses, thinking about the time that Sera tried creating a telepathic link with him to show him the wonder of her universe. “If you’re happy, I can probably get you in touch with someone who can take a look at your memories. But it’s not something I want to do.” For a man trying to encourage connection not so long ago, it might seem odd that he pulls away from this way of doing it.

“Or there are a few of us who can look through Time. Any idea if this stuff would stick to someone doing that?”

Skye

"Hey," Skye says. "It's fine. I used to do that kind of thing a lot. Not everyone likes having people in their head. I...mostly didn't look at thoughts so much as emotions under very different circumstances, but having someone else inside my head isn't going to freak me out." He looks at the symbols. "So I won't understand those, but I could let someone see them.

"Time magic...for as long as they would need to be here, probably would be fine." Skye watches as Alex unspools lengths of cloth covered in sigils that look to be hieroglyphics, or something similar. At the center of some of the tangles of cloth are bits of mostly decayed flesh. That gets a little wince from Skye the first time, but Skye has never shied away from blood magic. Corrupted blood magic and corrupted magic are, in no few ways, almost the same thing to the Verbena.

Alexander

“I’ll see what I can sort out. We can swap numbers once we’re done here.”

With a decent sample of cloth unfurled and flattened out, displaying their runes or hieroglyphs or whatever the hell those things are, Alex fishes around in his bag for a phone. Not the nice one he uses for his normal life, the cheap brick that could easily be thrown in a fire or under a wheel if needed. He turns off all of the synching and backups and data connections and anything else that might leak photos to unwanted places and unexpected eyes.

Grace would be so proud!

He asks, while taking photos of what’s laying on the ground, “any idea what they might have been?” He nods at the decayed flesh.

Skye

"Assuming that those are hieroglyphics," Skye says quietly, "My guess would be organs. But they could have been prime cuts of lamb as offerings to the spirits. Magic is...personal. Their magic...is usually spirit magic. So some kind of offering, I'm sure. But whether it relied on removing the organs of the body that housed the spirit, or organs as an offering to attract a spirit, or if it was about the blood or flesh or death of a thing-" Skye sighs.

"There is power for the taking in all of those things, if you're willing. It could have been any of them. And it could be more than one of them." Skye does not take pictures. He was hardly looking until the subject of sharing memories came up.

"And I suppose, since it looks like I'll be here awhile, numbers would be good. If I'm going to be much good for anything, I'll probably need to visit a chantry." He waves a dismissive hand. "Which I'm not asking for now. Hell, considering the company we may have any moment, please don't tell me now. Regardless, I don't expect an invitation yet. You hardly know me.

"By the time we're ready to fight this thing, that may have changed. Particularly if anyone does go for that mind reading offer."

Alexander

Pictures taken and, hopefully, secure, Alex tucks the phone back where it was and starts prodding and poking things back into a pile. He looks back at the tent. “How about all that? If we can clean out the spiritual crud, I’d like to try to leave the place so that things can be found and the woman given a decent burial by her family. If you think we can do that without risking the stuff from spreading on her..?” He looks questioningly at Skye – he really does want to offer the closure to the family as much as he’s already given it to the girl, but the idea of the contamination spreading through a cemetery? That’s not a great thought

There’s also the other remains at the bottom of the ravine to be fetched and checked and disposed of. There might be differences between the two, they might be important. Or there might be nothing. There’s only one way to find out.

“I’ll see what I can arrange.”

Skye

"Honestly. Leave her where she is, give it a few good rains, maybe only one...track down stream. She can have her burial regardless. It might not be pretty. But there's nothing to prevent that. So long as we don't leave her with that thing much longer, there shouldn't be enough of that to really render her dangerous to be around."

[And lo, there was a bonfire without marshmallows and information gathered and at least one person needing to go to bed.]

Kindly stay the fuck down

Lavinia

[Performance at said dive bar.]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 8, 8, 10, 10) ( success x 5 ) Re-rolls: 2

Lavinia

East Colfax is home to a number of things, like the world's slowest busses, the world's friendliest hookers, and the most crappy bars per capita in all of Colorado.

This bar had a name at one point, a name that was printed on the outside sign like it was a tavern and somewhere a little classier than where it was right now. The paint had since peeled off and the bar was only distinguished by the abundance of off-brand beer signs thrown up in the window. They had a little stage at the front of the bar by some window, so if you wanted to pass the bar while someone was playing you got a good look at the back half of whoever was singing.

In this instance, the back half that someone could stare at belonged to a tall blonde in a mini skirt. Well, it was probably just a regular skirt, but you see she was very tall. Everything was a miniskirt. That and she had a personal vendetta against pants. You couldn't be a woman over six feet tall and have an abundance of pants that fit properly. They were finishing up the set. Started off with some original stuff, a cover here and there was the obligatory Joan Jett and Cyndi Lauper the obligatory Amanda Fucking Palmer (because Lavinia liked Amanda Palmer, so people could shove it and let her play). It was a forty-five minute set, and it was the kind of set that didn't always come to a place like this. And when it did, it was the stuff of barfly legend?

Did you hear the time that Clear Hearts, Gray Flowers played?

"Thank you, good night!" was how it ended. the blonde took a step off the tiny stage, and got on to helping the band pack up.

Alexander

[Awareness?]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (4, 5, 6, 9) ( success x 2 )

Alexander

There are times where you want to be someone where everyone knows your name. Where your feet don’t stick to the floor, where there isn’t a selection of hooker’s phone numbers written on the site of the bathroom stall walls, where the health inspectors see more than a hefty bribe to sign off another certificate.

Yeah, this isn’t one of those places. There’s a quietening of conversation when somebody new walks in, until they work out if it’s trouble arriving. Groups of people take care of business between themselves with little crossover between them. Some kind of unspoken truce keeps the peace – you stay on your side of the bar and we’ll stay on ours.

Somewhere along the side, tucked away in a booth, Alexander sits nursing a beer. He’d been here for long enough, been trouble-free for long enough, to fade into the background and be generally ignored. Which suits him fine. He’s not here for the drink or the company. Not even for the music, although that was an unexpected pleasure. He’s just here to watch the people. He doesn’t plan on walking the beat for his entire career, so doing a little… extra-curricular study seems like a good idea. If only to get a better idea about how things work – who works for who – in this part of the city.

The singer on stage seems familiar, and there’s a familiar sense of something more about her. From the park? The one who came across as an Awakened elementary school teacher? Small world. He doesn’t try to get her attention – they tend to attract each other without effort anyway – but he will raise the glass in greeting if she happens to make eye contact.

Otherwise he watches people.

Lavinia

[Do I notice people? Awareness]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 9) ( success x 3 )

Lavinia

She makes eye contact while she's getting off-stage. He doesn't have to try to get her attention because something feels cold and wintry and it feels familiar. She tried to place where she'd seen him before. Something about parks and oh, right, I thought you were dead. something pings at the back of her attention.

She's talkative enough. Makes conversation with the bartender easily, cuts through the crowd like she belongs here, even if she doesn't… quite belong here. Isn't afraid to throw an elbow to get where she needed to go. She ordered a Blue Moon, ended up with a PBR because it's a cheap beer people think is sophisticated. She drinks it without irony, mostly because she could get a few easily enough and not break the bank.

Lavinia was getting paid in beer for this gig (provided she didn't go over fifty bucks). She was going to try and get the most out of it. The lady swings by the booth, "hey, do you play pool?"

Alexander

He nurses the beer a little more, taking a couple of sips while Lavinia does her thing at the bar. He watches her, just as he watches the small group in the corner talking in hushed tones and try not to be too obvious when they glance at a couple of people in another booth. There might be trouble ahead, or there might not be. It’s too early to tell. But this looks like a bar where the furnishings are cheap and easily replaced if anything does happen.

Lavinia does walk over and she is watched. There’s a touch of caution in Alex – she’s still very much unknown to him. Who she is, what she is, what she wants. All mysteries. But there’s only really one way to work out those mysteries – get stuck in and start taking them apart.

Not literally. That would be messy.

“It’s been a while, but I have played. You think they have a full set of balls?”

Lavinia

[Number of rounds until a legit fight]

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (9) ( success x 1 )

Lavinia

She took a drink, and when she stood there she spend more time watching Alex's mouth than really listening to him. Perhaps it was the volume of the place, or perhaps it was something else. It didn't seem to be a flirtatious glance, but rather, one born of necessity. she doesn't invade his space, not unless she is invited and she seems pretty pleased to just stay where she was and not invite herself somewhere.

The bar is made up of circles of people. Some that seemed to overlap and some that did not. Things that mixed like oil and water, others that mix like water and magnesium. They didn't get to see those explosions, not yet. Not sure if they were going to see such a raucous interaction.

"Probably not," she tells him, tightens her stomach muscles so she can be heard over the general hum of people. She's got the voice of a herald, "but I figure we could omit the same number of balls so no one's at an advantage."

Alexander

Lavinia doesn’t flirt, but neither does he. Here, at least he isn’t trying to push her away before he can wind down and relax and try to work out what the hell has happened to his friend. Here, ignoring the exchange of a beautiful day in an open park for a complete dive with a slowly ratcheting level of tension between what might pass for its regulars, he’s more at ease. Wary still – still the unknown – but at least open and approachable without any fear of whether or not anyone will be reduced to a smear on the floor. By him, at least.

There’s smile – friendly if not wide – and a shrug. “Sure, why not.” He shuffles across the seat to where he can stand from the booth, leaving the now-warm beer behind. “I’d ask if you wanted a drink first, but I see you have your own.”

Lavinia

"You gotta take care of your needs," she said, "but if you want you can buy me the next one. I'll cover you, we can be egalitarian about our beer exchange."

She smiled, friendly but not flirtatious. The kind of friendly that was just born of finding a person interesting and enjoying the conversation. There wasn't a giant disaster brewing (though there was a raise in the sound of voices in another corner. Not raucous, not yet at least). She started to meander over to the pool table- the kind that was operated by putting in a hand full of quarters and hoping for the best.

"What should I call you?"

Alexander

“Sure, that works.” Alexander heads over to the bar for a minute or two, sorting out a new drink. It’s another beer he comes back with. Something bottled – who knows when the pipes in the pumps were last cleared out, and he didn’t fancy finding out what new and interesting stomach complaints could be picked up from them. He comes to the pool table with a bottle – no, the bottle’s find, don’t need a glass – and a stack of quarters from his change.

“I get called a lot of things, but Alexander is what I usually respond to.” Alex? Maybe later. For now, definitely Alexander. Sorry Grace, there are little things that he does get a bit strung up about. Alex from a stranger is just a little too familiar. “I’m sorry, but I think you told me your name in the park but I cannot remember what it was.” He wipes the rim of the bottle before taking a sip, not really bothered if the bartender is insulted or not. In a place like this, it’s probably expected.

“Come here often?” He smiles, a little more relaxed than before. There hasn’t been any disasters or potential ends of the world yet, but the night is young.

Lavinia

"Alexander," she repeats, as if to be sure that she heard him correctly. She'd turned wrong, lost sight of his mouth for a moment. They aren't familiar with one another, but she logs it away for future reference. this is Alexander. Alexander feels like winter, drinks from a bottle, and seemed pretty intent on keeping an eye on his surroundings. She could respect that. "And it's okay, things were kind of crazy… It's Lavinia."

Like the character from Titus Andronicus, but she hadn't lost her hands and nothing horrible seems to have happened as of yet.

He asks if she comes here often and she laughs- if that doesn't insult the bartender there isn't much that could ruffle the man. She shakes her head, "is it bad that the answer is yes?" she puts a hand up, sets her beer on the side of the pool table, "I'm in a band and we play here a lot. Mack sometimes wants to run on credit so I may or may not have been paid in PBR. What about you? What's your watering hole of choice?"

Alexander

“Yeah, it was…” he thinks for a few moments, searching for a good way to describe how things had been. Crazy certainly fit. “Awkward.” Awkward is multiple ways. Awkward because someone Alexander knew didn’t seem to be that man any more. Not on first impressions, anyway. But those impressions had been far enough from the normal to get him on edge. Awkward, because walking into what had the potential to turn into a fight between complete strangers isn’t the way to make a first impression.

Or maybe it is, depending on the impression you wanted to make. Who knew what Lavinia thought of him, apart from Lavinia. Although, given the invitation to play pool, it didn’t seem to be an impression that couldn’t be redeemed.

“Nice name. Old? Passed down through the family?” Naah, he really doesn’t get the reference to missing hands and classical literature. Not his thing? Possibly not. He feeds a few quarters into the table and pushes the lever, a loud clattering audible over the noise of conversation, jukebox music, clinking of glassware, and whatever other noises are filling the bar since the band finished their set. He puts them on the top of the table, checking if there’s enough.

“You played well. You could easily get work in better places than this.” He laughs behind the neck of his bottle. “I prefer places where you don’t have to queue behind the roaches to use the bathroom. But I’m pretty easy, really.”

Lavinia

"Nah, I hit a point awhile back that I could change my name and I figured I wasn't much of a Chelsea anymore. I was super weird about names for awhile," because that was totally normal, but she continues along before she has to answer too many questions as to whether or not she seemed like a chelsea and if he was allowed to call her Chelsea, names brought up a whole new can of worms that she wasn't quite ready to deal with now.

The tension somewhere is starting to grow, but it's slight, the kind of conflict that came when someone was having a heated discussion about bar trivia. It becomes pretty intense.

He says they're pretty good, says they played well even, "be careful, keep it up and you'll wake up my inner prima donna."

She laughed at the comment about the roaches. She's getting pool cues and once the balls are laid out on the table she passes a stick to Alexander. "Well, y'know, Mack hasn't had the cops called on the place for awhile so I guess it has that going or it."

Alexander

Alexander considers her for a moment, rolling the names around in his mind. Lavinia. He isn’t sure what form a Lavinia would take – she’s the first that he’s met, so there’s no real basis of comparison for whether she fits the mould or not. Chelsea, though? Definitely not a Chelsea. Chelsea would be hanging around with her girlfriends, somewhere with grass and a pool and, maybe, a butler. Who the hell has butlers these days. He shrugs, pulling himself back from his wool gathering.

“If she does wake up, she can pick out her own green M&Ms. I’m not doing it for her.” He can’t even remember which diva had picked up that reputation, but then it’s not really all that important. It’s just a throw-away comment.

Alexander looks over the bar, picking up on the rising tension. It’s nothing to worry about – not yet, at least – but it’s something to keep an eye on. Things can escalate quickly.

“Heads or tails?” He flips a coin to decide who goes first.

Lavinia

"Tails," she tells him. It's all she has to say. Or, rather, all she gets out before the corner erupts into a disaster.

There is a large man with barbed wire-style tattoos around both biceps and he stood up. He stood up and shoved a table out of the way. It's how these sorts of things start. These sorts of things start when someone throws a chair of flips a table and there is something like entropy, like fate, like a chain of events that starts these kinds of fights.

The table gets shoved, you see, and it gets shoved into a man who is standing and tall and thin and he turns around, barks something angry at the other man. He steps in and shoves the man with the large man throws a punch. Because someone always throw a punch, but he misses, throw his punch and it hits someone in a different group.

This is how these things start, like some terrible chain reaction. Where a chair gets thrown out of the way, near the pool table, and while Lavinia can't distinguish what's going on over in the corner she knows enough to duck.

Alexander

The coin spins in mid-air, reaching the peak of its journey as Lavinia makes her choice. Probability balanced on that moment – heads or tails. Only there was more hanging on the cusp of chance. Of fate? Maybe, if you believe in that kind of thing. Who knows what really led to the fight breaking out. A butterfly on the other side of the world seems a little implausible, but problems with money, drugs, family, the cops… Each piece plays a part and the point where all those seemingly insignificant actions and reactions come together? Start with a table getting shoved.

The coin begins its descent, but it’s already been forgotten about. Alex glances at the birth of the brawl and realises what’s coming. Leaving, right now, would be good. Only there wasn’t anywhere to leave through apart from the fight. It would be too much to hope that it doesn’t suck them in. These things are indiscriminate. Almost the embodiment of chance. The likelihood of a single bottle of beer remaining standing in the middle of it all? Probably higher than you’d think.

“This is bad.” He picks up a cue from the table, weighing it in his hand. It’ll have to do. “I think the number of days since the cops were last here’s about to get wiped.” He doesn’t know whether or not Lavinia is used to this kind of thing. If she hangs around this kind of place a lot, she might know how to swing a punch or a bottle. But maybe not. He takes a step to the side, placing himself between her and the oncoming brawl.

Lavinia

General Disarray: +5

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (4) ( fail )

Lavinia

Captain Obvious: +5

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (6) ( success x 1 )

Lavinia

Swing McCrappy Aim: +6

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (1) ( botch x 1 )

Lavinia

Lavinia: +5

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (5) ( fail )

Alexander

Alex init +6

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (4) ( fail )

Lavinia

Swing McCrappy Aim: 6 +1= 7
General Disarray: 5 + 4= 9
Lavinia: 5 + 5 = 10
Alex(ander): 6 +4 = 10
Captain Obvious: 5 +6 = 11

Lavinia

There were things to be done here, you see. While other people were content to make things expand and some people with some sense left while others took it as an excuse to try and swipe a couple purses or maybe a drink off the table. People seemed content to run or cause problems or uses excuses.

The tall man, the one that is lean and thin and generally built fast turned out to be built drunker than fast and maybe Alexander looked like someone who who screwed his girlfriend once, or maybe he decided he'd rather have the guy's wallet, or maybe he's just wanting to expand into the fight. Whatever the case, he takes his time and throws a punch at the guy.
(action, punching Alexander- sorry bro)

The other guy, the one with the bicep tattoos, was more interested in his fight with the rather nondescript bald man who had a bit too many tattoos who looked like he had probably been to prison a couple times.
(Engage Captain Obvious)

Lavinia, for her part, groaned and looked up. It was as if she was waiting for the highest of heavens to give her an answer. For her part, though, she took the pool cue in hand and seemed more intent on making sure someone didn't hurt her current companion than anything else
(Action: smack at Swing McCrappy Aim with a pool cue)

Alexander

There’s a resigned sigh as it became obvious that they – or, at least he – was going to get dragged into it all. Alex spots the tall man coming towards him with a mission and swings out with the pool cue. [Action: Sweep at punchy man]

Lavinia

The other man, the one who seemed to be bald and probably fresh out of prison, was distracted when it came to dealing with other people.

Alexander

[Sweep: Dex+Melee +1 diff]

Dice: 5 d10 TN7 (3, 3, 6, 6, 8) ( success x 1 )

Lavinia

[Do I fall over? Dex+athletics, diff 8]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (4, 6, 6, 7) ( success x 3 )

Lavinia

(that's supposed to be 8, so 0 successes. Holmes is down)

Alexander

[So yep. Shame. Going with club for damage? Str+1]

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (3, 5, 8) ( success x 1 )

Lavinia

[Oww. Stamina]

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (3, 8, 9) ( success x 2 )

Lavinia

Well, she was going to take a swing. The two men who were equally large and burly and generally imposing were content to fight with each other. They were content to try and pummel each other to bits, the barbed wire man holding the other man by the lapels. Perhaps he was going to throw him over a table, perhaps they were exchanging some very intense words, but it didn't matter.

One man lunged, was ready to take a punch at Alexander but, as it turns out, the man was fast. He was fast and he was sharp and the sweep came like a dream, perhaps not the cleanest execution, but it would appear that this didn't matter. Lavinia was almost ready to take a swing at the guy but then he was on the ground and she made a little eee noise and dropped her pool cue. Hands up, not aiming for someone who was flat on their back on the ground.

"C'mon, we should bounce," she tells Alexander. Best thing to do in a fight is to not be there, "is someone calling the cops?"

Alexander

Alexander finishes his spin – messy, but the guy had been half-drunk and not really paying attention. He was down, the punch evaded for now, but he wasn’t out.

“Lady, I am the cops.” And the fight, it seems, wasn’t over. Hopefully the bartender had the thought to call 911. Tempting as it was to let them fight out whatever anger and energy had kicked everything off in the first place, it didn’t guarantee that nobody else would get dragged in. Looks like the fight isn’t over yet.

Lavinia

The man on the floor was starting to stand up, feeling a little woozy, maybe a little drunk, but he wasn't done fighting, at least not yet. It was, of course, not the fastest of movements. More like he was trying to get himself back in the ring.

(action: stand up!)

---

The man with the barbed wire tattoos shoved the other man into the duo of reality breakers, he wasn't so much concerned about where he went. He wasn't so much concerned about anything, really, except that he got shoved in the general direction of someone who just said that he was a cop. With little fanfare, with gritted teeth and even eyes, he took a swing at the man. Muttered something about pigs under his breath

)action: Slug Alex)

-

Lavinia wasn't having much of that. The young woman wasn't a fan of getting Alexander into too much trouble, and being a cop in a crappy bar was occasionally a painted target so… she had to intercept.

[Actions:
1a: interpose between dude and Alexander
1b: knee the dude in the gut]

Alexander

Sometimes the smart thing is to know to keep your mouth shut. And maybe leave a bar fight while you still can.

It’s a shame that ‘smart’ isn’t something that Alex has been called an amazing amount during his life.

The cue is dropped so Alex can get up a little more close and personal with Barb Wire.

[Action: Tackle Barb]

Lavinia

Sometimes, you see an opportunity. Sometimes, you have to act on said opportunity when it presented itself and, for now, there happened to be a rather attractive woman in a mini skirt that was close. She wouldn't notice if he copped a feel right? Of course right.

[Bald Guy's action: be a perv.]

Alexander

[Tackle: Dex+Brawl+1 diff]

Dice: 6 d10 TN7 (5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )

Lavinia

[Do I stay up?]

Dice: 4 d10 TN7 (1, 5, 6, 9) ( success x 1 )

Alexander

[Alex stays up?]

Dice: 6 d10 TN7 (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10) ( success x 2 )

Alexander

[Bashing damage: Str +1 + 3 from the attack roll]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (4, 5, 6, 6, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 5 )

Lavinia

[Oww!]

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (5, 5, 8) ( success x 1 )

Lavinia

[Action: 1a: No need to interpose

1b: Dex3+Brawl3=6-3=3. Boot to the head?]

Dice: 3 d10 TN7 (1, 3, 8) ( success x 2 ) [WP]

Lavinia

[And damage: Str3+2+1 (because kicking things is a Thing]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 7, 7, 8, 8) ( success x 4 )

Lavinia

[Barby: SERIOUS. OW.]

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (3, 3, 10) ( success x 1 )

Lavinia

{Barby is KOed!]

Lavinia

Now, things could have gone better. The lanky man is getting up, looking at the people who happened to be handling themselves pretty well in a fight, and trying to figure out whether or not this was something he wanted to deal with. The bald man, ever the opportunist, happened to time it out perfectly, got a hand halfway up the blonde woman's skirt while she was busy kicking the ever-loving-crap out of the man that Alexander had just tackled.

And he had most assuredly made contact. It was poetry in motion compared to what everyone else was doing. It was poetry in motion because he pounced, lunged like he was aware of his body and knew precisely how to move, what he needed to do, and Alexander? It was suddenly clear he was a force to be contended with.

Alexander

It probably wouldn’t have made much difference if the brawler had known exactlywhat they were getting themselves into. Enough alcohol and you become very short-sighted to the consequences of your actions. Hopping over the rail lines seems like a great short cut home, right until you’re sober in the ED with less of you that there was at the start of the night.

Alex’s admission that he was a cop gained the man with the barbed wire tattoo’s attention. It might have been better for him if he’d thought that would be a good reason to leave. But no – it was too good an opportunity to get a boot in to miss. His mistake. Alex tackles him and the pair of them spin, landing heavily on the bar which dazes the man with the tattoo. They stay standing, but not for long. Lavinia gets her boot in and… well, he’ll be waking up in a cell in the morning.

One down, two to go. Assuming they didn’t realise what had just happened to their ‘friend’ and decide that discretion was the better option.

Lavinia

The skinny guy had a moment to think, feeling particularly irate that Alexander had taken him to the ground so easily, and he reached on to grab a bottle. To arm himself in the event that he wanted to kick things up a notch. He reached for a bottle and hurled it at Alexander. He didn't have to get close now

[action: throw a bottle!]

Lavinia wasn't too happy about this. She could have cared less about a number of things but she spun around quickly, eyes narrowed, fists clenched, and she took a swing at the man who had the forethought to decide to put his hands on the woman. She clenched her jaw, didn't say a word, but most assuredly radiated the sort of wrath that one only felt in the old testament.

[action: punch Baldy]

Alexander

“Oh, fine!” So the skinny guy didn’t have the brains his pet dog was born with. Or maybe it seemed like a good idea at the time. Either way, he wasn’t backing down. Well, neither was Alex.

[Split action:
Sweep skinny
Kick skinny]

Lavinia

Bless Baldy, he didn't much care for a lady coming at him with the intention of decking him. And sure, he might have gotten a hand full of something pleasant but he also wasn't above backhanding a woman if she got too uppity.

[Action: Backhanding Lavinia]

Lavinia

[Smack: Dex+brawl]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 6, 7, 7, 10) ( success x 4 )

Lavinia

{oww, jesus.]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 9) ( success x 4 )

Lavinia

[WTF OWWW: Lavinia soak[

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 7) ( success x 1 )

Alexander

[Sweeping skinny: Dex+Brawl-2, +1 diff]

Dice: 4 d10 TN7 (1, 2, 4, 8) ( success x 1 )

Alexander

[Damage?]

Dice: 2 d10 TN7 (1, 3) ( botch x 1 )

Alexander

[Erk, misclick. ]

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (1, 8, 10) ( success x 2 )

Lavinia

[Do I stay up?]

Dice: 4 d10 TN7 (5, 6, 7, 10) ( success x 2 )

Lavinia

[Soak?]

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 8) ( success x 1 )

Alexander

[Kick! Dex+Brawl -3, +1 diff]

Dice: 3 d10 TN7 (3, 3, 4) ( fail )

Lavinia

[Lavinia: Dude. That hurt. -1 (OWW)]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 4, 9, 10) ( success x 3 ) [WP]

Lavinia

[Damage]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 4, 8, 8, 9) ( success x 3 )

Lavinia

[Soak?]

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (9, 9, 10) ( success x 3 )

Lavinia

[Dex+athletics: Throwing (Skinny)]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (4, 6, 6, 8, 9, 10, 10, 10) ( success x 7 ) Re-rolls: 3

Lavinia

[What the actual fuck. Damage?]

Dice: 9 d10 TN6 (4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9) ( success x 5 )

Alexander

[Oh god, please soak!!]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (2, 7, 7, 8) ( success x 3 )

Lavinia

This didn't go particularly well.

The man on the ground was most assuredly knocked out. And the bald man knew what it was that he was doing, he knew that something was coming so he took his time to beat the blonde woman to the punch (no pun intended.) He reared back, hit her hard across the face and enough that it made Lavinia's world spin, left her sporting a bloody lip. She looked to the side and spit, tasting copper and iron on her tongue. Alexander was having none of the skinny man, huffing and only moving in defense, taking his feet out from underneath him, or at least trying. Moving enough that he left the man staggering.

He staggered back to a table, hand resting on an unopened can of beer. Lavinia turned to throw a punch, retaliatory and fueled by venom and she hit him. She leaned in and she made contact with the man's jaw and… all he did was stare at her. He cocked his head to the side, neck popping and jaw clenched. Lavinia heaved a sigh, eyes wide and surprise on her features.

"Oh fuck, really?" she said to no one in particular.

The can of beer went flying, nailed Alexander hard at the place where his neck and head met his shoulders and it could have been bad. It was a shot that was aimed true and it may have left Alexander's ears ringing, but it could have been so much worse.

Alexander

No, there had definitely been better days. He might have gotten a little over-confident after the guy with the barbed wire tattoo was knocked out cold. He might have expected this skinny guy to go down as easily. But no, it’s not easy. Alex tries to knock his legs out from under him again, but it just isn’t happening. The man’s staggering took him away from Alex’s attempt to kick out at him, to keep him down. But it just wasn’t happening.

The can hurt, but it really could have been so much worse. Oh, he felt it now and he’d feel it more later. But it wasn’t anything that wouldn’t get better with a little time.

He looks over to Lavinia, checking how she was faring. She was still upright, but spitting blood and she’d have some impressive bruising of her own in the morning.

It wasn’t over, though. Not yet. Alex and Lavinia weren’t going to be allowed to walk out, so there’s really only one way: through.

Alexander

Recap, I think:

Lavinia: 3B

Skinny: 1B

Alex: 2B

Perve: unhurt]

Lavinia

The scrawny guy seemed to think he had a good thing going on there, and he went to look for another weapon of some kind. Finding no nearby cans, he lunged back into the fray, thinking himself capable of taking out a guy who probably had sixty pounds on him. He headed in, feeling like a king, and he took a swing at Alexander.

(Action: Punching out cop friend)

--

Lavinia was not pleased. Her natural inclination was to have things escalate but she wasn't there yet. She didn't think anything bad on these unfortunate souls, but she's been in this situation before and she knows damn good and well that she's either leaving through the front door or she's leaving on a gurney and she prefers the former. The woman threw a elbow into the man's ribs, throwing whatever lack of bodyweight she had into it

(Action: elbow Baldy!]

Alexander

Lavinia seemed to be handling herself well, even with the sucker punch she’d just taken. Alex contemplated helping, but that would leave the skinny little bastard to do whatever he wanted. And having both of them against either him or Lavinia? Not great. So he keeps it simple this time and just hits the man.

[Splitting:
Punch!
Punch!]

Lavinia

Well, you know, there was something to be said about being able to fight with a woman while continuing to be a reprehensible human being, and she'd yet to actually do any real damage to him, so... why not enjoy one's self. He leans in, plants a kiss on a woman who is probably more likely to actually bite him than reciprocate.

1a: continue being a perv

1b: possibly rip out a chunk of hair

Lavinia

[1b: Pulling hair- calling it a brawl thing, -3]

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (3, 7, 8) ( success x 2 )

Lavinia

[And damage?]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 8, 10, 10) ( success x 3 )

Lavinia

[Lavinia: God. Damn. It. OW]

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (4, 7, 9) ( success x 2 )

Alexander

[Punch the first: Dex+Brawl, -2, -1 for wounds. WP, because this is getting personal?]

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (3, 6, 8) ( success x 3 ) [WP]

Alexander

[Damage str +2]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 6, 8, 10) ( success x 3 )

Lavinia

[Oww? Soak]

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (7, 9, 10) ( success x 3 )

Alexander

[Punch the second: as before, -1, WP again]

Dice: 2 d10 TN6 (3, 8) ( success x 2 ) [WP]

Alexander

[Damage str+1]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 3, 5) ( fail )

Lavinia

[Lavinia: Elbow? -2 because OWW]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (9, 10, 10, 10) ( success x 5 ) [WP]

Lavinia

[Ha. Damage]

Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 3, 3, 6, 7, 7, 10) ( success x 4 )

Lavinia

[Soak?]

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 5) ( botch x 1 )

Lavinia

[Skinny- OMG I'm going to punch a cop]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 5, 5, 8, 9) ( success x 2 )

Lavinia

[Damage?]

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

Alexander

[Soak]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (6, 8, 8, 10) ( success x 4 )

Lavinia

It was a rallying moment. A moment of a great resounding I will not. The bald man pulled in, shoved his hand into Lavinia's hair, took liberties that he should not have been allowed and when he pulled back, he yanked out a fairly decent chunk of golden halo waves. She didn't make a sound, except for a low and simmering growl. Alexander, for his part, had enough of this. Threw blow after blow and the scrawny little man seemed to feel pretty damn good about himself. Their opponents cocky and pleased-

Which was about when Lavinia, having none of the bald man's advances, threw an elbow to his ribs hard enough that she could feel something crack. She grit her teeth, buckled down, didn't say a word.

The scrawny little man tried to throw a punch at Alexander, and while the bald man was reeling the thin man realized that he was probably not in the best condition since Alexander hadn't gone down yet.

Alexander

Alexander and the skinny guy keep exchanging blows, but they seem to be pretty evenly matched. They connect, but it’s just glancing blow after glancing blow – neither getting much advantage over the other. Something’s got to give eventually, though.

He glances back again, seeing Lavinia’s assailant stagger away clutching his chest. Seems she’s having better luck than he is. But it still isn’t over.

Although it’s looking more and more as if Lavinia will be the one coming to the rescue.

Alexander

[Aaand... Lavinia and Perve are both on 4B, Perve is dazed. Alex 2B, Skinny 1B]

Lavinia

The skinny man reached for a nearby bottle, half empty, and he made a run for Alex. He made a swing for the man with a bottle in hand, the violence escalating quickly and the man wanted to end it promptly.

(action: take a swing at Alexander with a bottle)

---

Lavinia wasn't having much of the staggering man, she turned around and took a quick survey of what was going on and she picked up a chair. Yes, a chair. It wasn't terribly difficult to do, and she took a swing at the retreating man. Well, he might not have been retreating, but she wasn't going to take any chances.

(action: smack a dude with a chair)

----

The bald man was just a tad too out of it to notice that a blonde celestine was about to smack him with a hair. He's seen enough pro wrestling to know how this works.

Alexander

At the end of the day, Alex isn’t proud. He’s worked with enough women to know that they are just as capable of kicking the stuffing out of someone as anyone else. So? He’ll give her that opportunity, if he can.

[Action: Hold skinny]

Alexander

[Str+Brawl, -1 for hurts, +1 diff]

Dice: 5 d10 TN7 (1, 4, 5, 8, 10) ( success x 2 )

Alexander

[No damage, but he's got hold]

Lavinia

[Nyehhhh! Skinny's attempt to get free]

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

Lavinia

[1b: hitting a dude with a chair. Dex3+melee3= 6 -3 (split) - 2 (oww)]

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (3) ( success x 1 ) [WP]

Lavinia

[Str3+1 (succ) +2 (because it's a chair)

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 5, 6, 6, 9) ( success x 3 )

Alexander

[Keeping hold? Str+Brawl -1 for hurts]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (5, 6, 8, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )

Lavinia

Soak?

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (3, 5, 9) ( success x 1 )

Lavinia

Skinny: already rolled for the contest aaaaand failed because Alexander is a beast

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 4, 6) ( success x 1 )

Lavinia

The fight could have gone a lot differently. The blonde woman picked up a chair and, in spectacularly dramatic fashion, took a swing at the man who had decided that he had the right to get a little too familiar with the daughter of the Western Wind. She dropped the chair, looking at the plastic bits as if she had expected it to crack. The scrawny man reared back and seemed ready to throw something at Alexander again, but he was soon enough intercepted by Alexander. Who was fast and strong and generally not terribly injured enough to feel like he couldn't do much. He knew what he was doing, and it would seem that people were going to walk away from this without needing sittches.

The blonde woman looked at the bald man, pushing her skirt down into a position she liked a little better.

"Kindly stay the fuck down," she told him.

Lavinia

(fit it!)

Alexander

At least nobody had thought to bring a knife along to the fight, or things really could have turned out worse. Or a gun. Or maybe had their friends think that it would be a good idea to join in too. But with one man out for the count, another just about managing to moan gently on the floor, and the third one held down with a really quite painful arm lock, it would seem to be over for the moment. The other people who had been in the bar earlier had either left at the first signs of trouble, or simply contented themselves with staying out of the way and seeing what happened. The band earlier had been good and all, but this was real entertainment.

Somewhere in the distance, there’s the sound of police sirens. The patrols around here aren’t as numerous as they should be, and those that there are tend to be occupied. But there are only limited resources, and the wealthier citizens in the nicer areas of town tend to complain a lot more loudly when there’s trouble. They have the governor’s number, and don’t you know who I am. Still, at least they’re coming.

So Alexander is content to stay put, with the skinny man’s arm held in a slightly unnatural angle and his knee in the man’s back until more official backup arrives. He does look up at Lavinia, though. “You ok?”

Lavinia

She ran her tongue across her teeth, trying to figure out precisely where the blood was coming from. She rubbed her jaw, aware that she was going to have a bruise the size of Texas along her cheekbone. The woman took a few steps closer to Alexander, not quite walking into flailing or kicking range, but it would seem that the skinny guy that happened to be apprehended wasn't having much of a good time breaking away or tempting fate or whatever it was that people did when they were in right and proper trouble.

"I'm not missing any teeth, am I?" she looked around, "like, nothing got knocked out and I just didn't notice?"

A beat.

"Can I get you a piece of pie or something later?"

Alexander

“Not that I can see. You might need a hat for a while to avoid awkward questions, though.” Even after the fight, he still has a little of the usual sense of humour showing. Maybe it’s just a way of letting some of the tension out, now that it looks like they won’t be waking up or being found in a dumpster somewhere even less pleasant.

“Don’t you know the stereotype that we run on donuts and coffee? There’s a place down the road that does decent pie and rubbish coffee, though. Once we’re done here.” Alexander checks the man he’s kneeling on shifting position just a little when it’s not entirely obvious whether or not he’s breathing. Ahh, there we go!

Lavinia

She does laugh, though. Her face lights up, but she doesn't laugh or long, because it makes her cheek hurt. But she does let out something a little smaller and possibly a tad more demure on account of still being amused but her face hurting like a sonofabitch.

"Is there anywhere that does good donuts here? Because if your cop sense knows where to find good donuts, I'm signing up for the force tomorrow," she said with a shrug. Sirens were coming, maybe a few more minutes. People doing anything too terribly illegal were heading off lest someone find them doing whatever it was they did.

I think there's been a misunderstanding here

Alexander

[Before we start writing, Arete. Sensing stuff so TN4, -1 for taking time, aiming for 2 successes]

Dice: 1 d10 TN3 (5) ( success x 2 ) [WP]

Alexander

[And Int+Med?]

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (2, 9, 10) ( success x 2 )

Alexander

They say that the city boasts 300 days of sun a year. Many of those days may include sun at some point, but the climate has a tendency to the wildly variable. Today? Today is not one of those days. Today has been peaceful and calm. There hasn’t been much more than a breeze to slowly push what cloud there is over the city. Maybe, to those who pay attention to such things, the hovering calm had muted the wailing horns and sirens of traffic forcing its way along crowded roads.

So the sky is mostly blue, with a few high, wispy clouds overhead. And here, in the park, the grass is green and flourishing in the warmth of the sun. The water of the lake laps gently at its shore nearby. There’s the sound of activity carrying on the air from the sports pitched not so far away and an occasional, rhythmic pounding marks a jogger running through their laps.

And Alexander? Alexander is lying on that grass, by that lake, with eyes closed and breathing slow. He almost seems immobile – frozen – until you watch him long enough to see his chest rise and fall. Next to him is a small rucksack, a discarded tshirt, and a bottle of water. Boots and socks are paired up, sitting by the rucksack. He could be asleep? Only he isn’t, quite. It started out with wanting to feel the flow of the breeze around and over him, so that’s what he pushed his will against reality to do. Then the mix of the warmth, the calmness, and the hypnotic beauty of sensing the currents of air... It’s easy to wait for thought to slow and stop and freeze in its tracks and simply be.

Lavinia

It's a beautiful eighty-one degrees fahrenheit today, and she is out running. She has a pretty easy schedule, one that doesn't demand that she actually be doing much any given day. Lavinia was running, because running felt fantastic, because the air felt fantastic, and most importantly she had recently acquired tennis shoes and she needed to actually wear them in. She now had four pairs of shoes. It was starting to get to the point of ridiculous, she had decided. Since coming to Denver she has all but doubled the number of shoes she owned after coming to Denver.

The sky was blue, with some wispy clouds overhead. She had her hair pulled back in a high ponytail, curls bouncing when she moved, choice in clothing made it abundantly clear that Lavinia Cervantes had legs that went on forever and, whilst running, she was content to just be in the zone. That is, of course, until she saw a person. It's telling that the things that come to the tall blonde's mind when she saw a person laying in the grass that she wasn't entirely certain if they were alive or not. She missed a lot of the big cues, like the sound of someone breathing and it was just a little bright for her to possibly catch the rhythmic rise and fall of someone's chest.

Now, there were things that crossed her mind- if she was wrong and this wasn't a dead body, it was for the best that she not disturb said person because saying sorry, I thought you were a recently made corpse doesn't seem to set well with most people. If she woke the person up, they wouldn't be so forgiving.

So, Lavinia started her approach. Slow and steady and cautious. There is a feeling that comes with her, and it is that feeling that signals her arrival more than anything. It is that feeling of something beyond walls, beyond definitions, something that would be and always had been. Something that was larger than the mortal frame carrying it. So, there she was, approaching Alexander to make certain he wasn't a dead body. Because that's a normal concern. Totally.

Kalen

[How distracted by Resonance are we today?]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (3, 7, 9, 9, 10, 10, 10) ( success x 6 )

Kalen

Kalen adores Washington Park. It has been some time since he's seen one of the friends he met there, because, at this point he considers a spirit a friend without so much as the batting of an eyelash. He senses, for the first time in a long time, something angelic in the park. He remembers Lavinia, mostly from the art gallery.

He has a green tea smoothie, because he has just discovered the glory of green tea smoothies. Through perhaps slightly distressing circumstances, but it is hardly as though his tongue did not heal.

Healing, after all, is what they do. Sometimes more quickly than others, perhaps. But. As a rule.

He approaches Lavinia and Alexander, though, really, more Alexander. Lavinia may feel like an angel, but she is hardly the first being Kalen met who has had that kind of resonance. Certainly not the first with whom he has associated divinity. Alexander gets the most of his focus for now.

Alexander

[Int+Med still?]

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 8) ( success x 1 )

Alexander

He can feel it. Oh, he can feel the way the breeze drifts over his body. But he can really feel it. The way that the warmth of the sun heats the ground, creating tiny thermals as the air warms and rises. The way that the air sinks as it passes over the lake. The occasional eddy as some nearby object or other blocks and redirects the flow. The swirling currents as he inhales and exhales.

Something tugs at the edge of his awareness – or maybe his Awareness – but it’s something subtle and far distant for now. Unimportant for the moment, really. Whatever happens, happens. Much like the hopelessness of trying to stop the wind in its tracks, or the flow of water downhill; It can be done, but at the moment it’s far too much effort to try.

There’s a slightly quickening of his breathing, but otherwise Alexander lies still on the grass and lets the flow of air and time and the universe wash over him.

In another world, maybe someone could make an Ecstatic out of him in the end.

Lavinia

She finally got close enough to recognize that the person in the grass wasn't probably in need of medical attention, but rather, said person in said grass was probably having a good moment just communing with nature and, therefore, should probably be left alone, but then there's movement and then there's people and she suddenly becomes aware of the fact that, oh, shit, I'm not alone and this is now awkward. She clears her throat, carefully starts to steer herself along her way. Wiggles her fingers and gives a little half audible "Hi," to whichever of the people- either Kalen (whose name she vaguely remembered) or Alexander (whose name she had no idea of, but she had been making sure he wasn't dead because nobody can be that sort of serene without pushing up daisies).

Abort mission, abort mission!

Serafíne

(Awareness.)

Dice: 7 d10 TN5 (1, 4, 4, 5, 5, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 5 ) Re-rolls: 1

Kalen

Kalen gives Lavinia a little nod. "Hey," he says quietly. And then he drops onto the blanket to sprawl beside Alexander, not touching him him but not far from it. It is, in some ways, a thing might more expect from a cat, the intent watching and the silence and the being only inches away.

No. We lie.

It is not quite like a cat. Because Kalen is not impatiently pawing at Alexander and meowing insistently for attention. At least not yet.

Alexander

[Awareness]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (3, 5, 6, 7) ( success x 2 )

Alexander

[Dex+Ath]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (5, 6, 6, 8, 8, 10) ( success x 5 )

Serafíne

"This is fucking good enough - " Rick is grumbling, though his grumble has a fond edge to it that excises the immediate meaning from the words and changes them incrementally into something ever-so-slightly else. He and Dan and Dee have the heaviest loads, Sera the lightest. A picnic blanket slung over one arm and a kale-pineapple smoothie in the other hand. The quartet tramp through the park to a small knoll with a view of the water and the soon-to-be setting sun: picnic basket and reuseable grocery bags and a pair of guitars and a giant tub of CheezBallz (TM) and there is other conversation, backwards and forwards and forwards and backwards, which we will not take long to relate as it is offscreen for most of the principals tonight. Low and laughing, familiar, sure.

They are an attractive quartet: Dee is a tall girl with deep dark hair and skin so fine and pale and clarified that strangers call it creamy. Summertime, in a mile-high city, she must be well-committed to sunscreen to keep it that way. Dee is wearing a knee-length, flouncy skirt in a fine dark navy with two rows of white brick-brack trimming the bottom hem. Dark hair piled and perfectly pin-curled atop her head. Rick and Dan have the requisite hipster-garb: skinny eans and band t-shirts, beards in varying lengths (short, dark - Rick; longer, blond - Dan) and Vans or in Dan's case schlubby Birkenstocks he picked up at Buffalo Exchange. Dan (or someone) has painted his toenails a lovely metallic teal.

When they arrive at the picnic site, he offloads his guitar case and leans it against a convenient tree, sets down: cooler and reuseable shopping bag and gives Sera a hand unfurling the picnic blanket.

Alexander

That something at the edge of being noticed, it turns out that there is more than one something. Sleepers had passed by completely unnoticed, lost as he was in... not exactly pulling the world apart and putting it back together, but figuring out how it lies. Where the edges are, the strong points and the weak ones. Maybe – with luck – where he might be able to push a little harder in the future to do more than simply sense. To change.

His breathing speeds a little more, not far from normal, when Lavinia approaches. She had been slow and unthreatening, her distance kept as she closed and watched for signs of life. Had that been the only presence, Alexander’s return to wakefulness and alertness might have been rather more gentle.

The second presence, though. The one that gets closer and closer and drops down and almost touches. Now that is rather more threatening. The resonance is new and unfamiliar and... powerful? A danger. A threat. It takes a little while for conscious thought to fire up, for the image of Kalen to register and be recognised. But even then, this doesn’t feel like Kalen. This isn’t the approaching storm. This is something else.

As the presence gets closer and lowers to the ground, Alexander rolls and kicks up. Instinct pushes his up and away from the newcomers, turning to face the threat. His breathing, calm and peaceful just a few moments before, is now faster and deeper. His bare feet dig into the soft, grassy ground. He’s up and ready to fight, turned a little and arms up ready to fend off what might physically come.

His gaze switches between Kalen and Lavinia. “Who the fuck are you?”

Kalen

Kalen tilts his head, then realizes what the fuck that is about.

"Mmmmmmmm...Grace said she thought I might be a clone. I'm relatively certain that is not true." There is a hint of a smile. "I suppose I should just be glad you didn't throw me onto the ground this time, Alce."

And he waits. Patient. Calm. If anything seems off other than the Resonance it's that calm. The lack of shadows under his eyes. Peace and Kalen were not so much things that got on.

Lavinia

She doesn't jump.

Things change very quickly and she doesn't take a step back, doesn't hesitate, doesn't seem like she is making a reach for anything because where the Hell would she keep it? She's not got a lot in the way of fabric on her personage. If she managed to hide a lethal weapon on her then she has very much created a pocket that exists outside of space and time and the last thing one has to worry about is the fact that she might be carrying a knife and more about the fact that she made a bag of fucking holding. There was no bag of holding, therefore, nothing to fear. We digress.

She takes in the tension, takes in the way that Alex rolls up, practiced and comfortable and ready for something Very Bad to happen and she puts her hands up, just enough to not be a threat. Just enough to indicate that she isn't going to snap and that this? This isn't a dangerous situation.

"Hey," she says, "just passing through, I'm Lavinia-" she then looks between the two males, "-I think there's been a misunderstanding here, let's just breathe and talk it out… okay?"

She wasn't going to walk away now, she was pretty sure that this guy could render the dude she met at the art gallery (Kalen, right? He looked like a Kalen) into a fine powder and she couldn't exactly walk away and let that happen, right? Of course right. Though she does try very hard not to wince when Kalen says something about maybe being a clone but probably not.

Serafíne

The blanket is old and worn, and plaid of course, fringed at the edges with a few strands of dried grass stuck in the nap of the flannel from the last time it was dragged outdoors for this particular purpose. Dan and Sera open it up until it covers an area of grass nearly as large as a queen-sized bed. Dan slips off his sandals to step onto the blanket and trample it down. Dee follows suit while Rick anchors one end of the blanket with the cooler and starts digging around for the bottle of Malbec and stemless red-wine glasses they brought with them for the party.

Sera is still at the edge: alert, aware, a vision in a little white sundress so fine as to be translucent, worn over crisp black lingerie. It is harder for her to slip off her combat boots, so Dee wades over to give her a hand. Takes the smoothie in her right and holds up her left while Sera balances and tries to make the laces come up almost by magic or - you know - fingertips. Some combination of the two.

Alexander

It’s not the first time that one of the Awakened in the city has surprised Alex. It’s not even the first time that Kalen has managed to do it, not so far and not so long ago from the here and now. At least this time hasn’t – yet – ended up with bruising, or worse.

Alexander takes a longer look at Lavinia when she tries to reassure him that she isn’t a threat. His gaze lingers for a moment longer before it returns to Kalen and stays there. She’s still in his peripheral vision – he’s not ignoring her – but she’s not seen at the threat right now.

Kalen – or the man who looks like Kalen, sounds like Kalen, but just feels so damned wrong for Kalen – is the one getting his the focus of his attention. He’s the unknown. Given the strange stuff that he’d seen, and the even stranger things he’d heard about, it doesn’t seem unreasonable that someone could look and sound like another person. He’d felt the change in Grace recently as she had ‘upgraded’, but that was a broadening and deepening of what was already there. This? This is different.

“No way are you Kalen. You might look and sound like him, but there’s no fucking way. So who. The fuck. Are you?”

Kalen

Kalen rolls his eyes. "Exactly who are are so very sure I am not. Which is an interesting enough situation, I admit."

He pulls out his phone and taps on a few keys. Then a few more.

"Check your messages sometime," he says, rising to his feet. "Get back to me. I'll be at home. Call and warn Grace if you must."

Lavinia

(skip me, please!)

Serafíne

(also no reason to wait for me since: my screen froze and I had no idea anyone had posted. and am not really interacting with folks!)

Alexander

Alexander’s eyes narrow a little,watchful and wary as “Kalen” stands and offers his words. There’s no attempt at explanation, but then standing in the middle of a wide-open public space possibly isn’t the best of places to discuss things that a certain group of well-dressed individuals with their towncars and mirrored glasses would just love to know about.

There are times when he wonders if he’s a little too paranoid about thing. And then there are times when he thinks he’s not paranoid enough. Having his friend possibly snagged by some kind of... B-movie baddie and cloned, or whatever? Or maybe this was a spiritual thing – it wouldn’t be the first time, and wouldn’t be the last time, that something from the other side of the Umbra had interfered with things in this world.

He pauses before replying, watching. This is going to be hard, but it’s worth a shot...

[Arete, sensing spirits. Base TN4, +3 for no focus, -1 for practiced. So very much spending the WP.]

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (2) ( success x 1 ) [WP]

Lavinia

[Do I notice this? Per+aware]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 5, 8, 10, 10) ( success x 3 )

Kalen

Kalen sighs. "Really. I commend your vigilance." Even if it doesn't exactly please him right this moment.

But then he turns to leave. He does not run. He does not seem terribly concerned Alexander will shoot him while he isn't looking. He heads away with the same easy pace he approached with. There are conversations that could be had and there are things he might try to say, but here, with an audience...no.

Serafíne

(going to go, actually. night folks!)

Lavinia

She looks confused. She looks unabashedly confused, actually. She hadn't ever really interacted with Kalen, save for the moment that they had exchanged numbers. Truth be told she mostly remembered hearing a circle jerk joke from a guy who was a foot shorter than she was and laughing hard enough that her ribs hurt. She looked back at Alex, hands still up, and she knows she should keep her mouth shut, but she blurts it out anyway.

"If you know how to look a little closer at people, like, the metal they're mode of, you might have a little more luck assuaging your concerns?"

No, this is not a teachable moment, Lavinia. Walk away.

Alexander

Alex watches Kalen turn and leave, forcing – really forcing this time – his will against the universe. It’s only that force of will that gives him the fleeting sense of the spirits. There’s the sense of crying coming from the lake, but that’s ignored. Kalen is the focus – his focus – and... It doesn’t feel like he’s been infested with a spirit. Not unless it’s very different to that man in the broken window, or the other in the forest or...

There’s a sighing growl deep in his throat as he watches and waits until the figure disappears, frustration at – once again – not knowing what the hell is going on. The tension drops a notch or two, the arms come down and he doesn’t seem quite so ready to leap into a fight. But he’s hardly what anyone would call relaxed now. In other, better circumstances he might be more approachable, more amenable to meeting up with another Awakened. These aren’t exactly better circumstances, though.

So he looks at Lavinia, considering her for some moments, considering his words. “You have no idea what just happened, do you. That isn’t the man he appears to be. I don’t know who or what he is, but that is not the Kalen I know.”

He stands, watchful. He doesn’t close, doesn’t offer a hand in greeting. Doesn’t even offer his name, although more from having other concerns .

Kalen

[Thank you for scenes!]

Lavinia

She doesn't come any closer, but she is watching him. The way that she's watching him has shifted. There is a tension in her shoulders, a readiness in her core, a balance in the way that she carries her weight. She's looking at Alex, ready and waiting, like she needs to know whether she needs to defend herself. She looks at him like she's sizing him up, that if push came to shove- could she take him?

Lavinia isn't sure. That seems to account for the tension.

"I don't have a standing relationship with… Kalen?" she asks herself more than anyone else, "Kalen. So I don't have a basis for comparison. He doesn't exhibit any of the things that I would look for when trying to determine whether or not someone is possessed or no longer in control of their faculties, though. But, again, I don't have a basis for comparison."

She doesn't ask his name, but she does continue with caution, "do you need some kind of assistance? Are you doing this on your own?"

A beat.

"I'm being really pushy, I'm sorry. you just seem really spooked and I need to know whether or not this is something I need to be concerned about."

Alexander

“I do. That doesn’t feel like Kalen, his resonance isn’t right and he’s too different. He’s just...” he shrugs, “wrong. Right now, I don’t trust him.” A phrase that won’t mean a lot to someone who doesn’t know him, but might give a clue about how wrong he really did feel.

He still isn’t relaxing, but the tension seems to be more down to the strange situation and that he doesn’t know Lavinia than any kind of hostility or expectation that there will be the need to fight. He takes a deep breath, trying to force his shoulders down to their usual position and to work the nerves from facing something unknown out of his body.

His head cocks to the side, a puzzled expression passing over his face as she asks if he needs help. “Do I look like I need assistance? And if I do, wouldn’t you expect me to ask the people I know for it?” He’s just not giving right now. But then he has just found that his friend might have been the victim of... something.

“I’m fine.” Liar. “But I think you should get back to your run, and be very careful if you meet him again.” Again, he stands and watches and waits. He isn’t threatening, but he’s not backing down and not relaxing any further. Not, at least, while Lavinia is here.

Alexander

[Man+Sub - Totes ok!]

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 10) ( success x 1 )

Lavinia

[Are you really okay?]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 7, 7, 10) ( success x 3 )

Alexander

[Alex is shaken and he's trying not to show it, especially to a stranger. Her being a complete unknown isn't helping. He just doesn't want her here right now.]

Lavinia

"You do look like you need assistance," she tells him, nods like this is a matter of fact, "but you don't look like someone who is stupid, so… yeah, I don't know what I was-" she stumbles with that, shrugs because she doesn't quite know what to say, "anyway, didn't think you'd take it because that would be dumb. Anyway."

She takes a step back, reaches up to retighten her ponytail, which didn't really need it but we digress.

"Just… take care of yourself, okay?" She takes another step back, turns, and the tall blonde turns to get back on the road. And, with little ado, she turned slowly to go back on her run.

Alexander

As with Kalen turning to leave, Alex stays quiet and watches. There isn’t really anything he feels the need to add. She’s turning to leave and, at the moment, that’s really all he wants. Another time, another place, another disaster and he might have been amused at her awkwardness, thanked her for her concern. But this isn’t any of those things and he just stands and watches as she retreats.

Only then does he take a deep, sighing breath and really, physically, relax. He steps into his boots, scooping the bottle and other pieces of clothing into the pack before that gets slung over a shoulder. He makes his way out of the park, in a different direction that the others had taken.

If the elephant could talk

Alexander

[Arete, sensing time. Diff 4, -1 for taking time. Aiming for 2 succs to last the scene.]

Dice: 1 d10 TN3 (4) ( success x 1 )

Kalen Holliday

[How awake are we?]

Dice: 7 d10 TN7 (1, 4, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7) ( success x 1 )

Alexander

[Extending]

Dice: 1 d10 TN4 (7) ( success x 1 )

Kalen Holliday

[And how distracted by Resonance are we?]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 6, 6, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )

Alexander

As winter passes into spring, so day turns into night. The sun has long set below the horizon and the stars above the city are visible in the clear sky. Points of brightness shine against the black, like metaphors for… well, there have been countless times in history that a few points of light stand against the darkness. The sky isn’t as studded as it would be further away from the city, light pollution drowns out the weaker points in the sky. But there’s still plenty to see.

The park is pretty quiet this late. An occasional person walks through on their way home, or out clubbing, or just for the pleasure of walking on a clear night. Somewhere near the shore of the lake, a thick blanket has been laid out and is currently occupied by Alexander. He’s on his back, staring up at the sky. One arm lies across his chest, the other is bent and used to prop up his head. His senses have been extended, reaching out to feel time as it flows by. The constant tick of minutes and seconds make their presence known as he just lies there feeling it flow.

A large rucksack also sits on the blanket, most of its contents already removed. A flask of soup lies nearby, the cup long unscrewed, filled and finished. A half-filled (half-empty?) bottle of water sits next to it, discarded.

Kalen Holliday

Kalen drifts through the park, sipping gingerly at a cup of coffee that is too hot to be a comfortable temperature for drinking. He had a fascinating night last night, but it was a fascinating night that led to dreaming. Still. It was a night he would keep. Dreams or no dreams.

He comes here, to the lake, where he thinks of meeting the Message. He finds Alexander, who he also met here, though he associates the House with Alexander more than this place. Still, he has found Alexander here more than the Message, and has stopped being surprised by things so mundane as chance meetings.

There is no hesitation as he approaches Alexander, he just comes up to him and lays wordlessly on the blanket beside him, on his side and a bit to one edge of the blanket. The color in his eyes is drowned out by shadows, both the kind that came with dusk and the ones that darken the skin beneath his eyes. The dusk-shadows might hide those a bit, but he's still ghost-pale, and in what little light there is that is only more apparent.

He watches Alexander, silent and intent. Patient. It's a greeting perhaps more suited a cat than a person.

Alexander

[Awareness?}

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 5, 6) ( success x 1 )

Alexander

A storm approaches Alexander and his small spread of stuff. It’s a familiar storm, though. One that he knows and trusts enough to stay where he is as it nears, attention more focussed on the sky and the passing of time than on Kalen lying next to him.

“Hey. There’s soup, if you want some. It should still be warm.” Alexander’s tone is thoughtful, maybe a little distracted, when he greets Kalen without initially turning to look. “Chicken.” He does look, though, after some moments pass and sees him in the glow of the moon and the radiant glow of the city lights.

“You ok?”

Kalen Holliday

"Mmmmmmmmmmm...I have coffee. But thank you."

He is quiet again, until the question. "I'm fine. I had an interesting night. Involving actually getting into the pool at the House. Which, while it went as well as it could, was not exactly an experience that led to the most peaceful of nights. But, never fear. I have coffee. And a fantastic wine cellar. I so have this."

He smiles a little. "How are you?"

Alexander

[Per+Emp - you really ok?]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (5, 5, 6, 7, 9) ( success x 3 )

Kalen Holliday

[By Kalen standards: well, he'd probably maintain that everything was fine while he was bleeding to death. Kalen standards aren't terribly useful. By normal human standards: not precisely, but mostly on account of being exhausted and not terribly intent on sleeping. He doesn't seem particularly upset, no evidence he's hurt, nothing to indicate really any issues beyond not sleeping.]

Alexander

Alexander remembers. He remembers meeting Kalen at the House one time, resting his legs in the water of the Node, and how wary he had been. He remembers a black river of souls – how could he forget that when he still woke sweating from an occasional nightmare about it – and the same guard that came up as Alex had approached the water. And so he looks closer at Kalen, seeing if he was fine or ‘fine’. A state he was no stranger to himself. It seems to be the former, to the relief of Alex. Nothing more sinister than exhaustion, so coffee probably is the better option compared to soup.

“I’m good. I’ve just been thinking, I guess. Always a dangerous thing to be doing.” He turns back to staring at the sky. “Wondering where we came from. Where we’re going.”

Contemplating the light stuff.

Kalen Holliday

"I used to think that I wanted to pull apart all of that. Sometimes I still do. I'm not sure that's the important part anymore." He takes a drink of the coffee which only slightly singes his tongue, then sets the coffee on the grass beside the blanket and rolls onto his back so he can look up at the stars.

"I'm starting to suspect seeing knowledge and experience as simply a means to some final resolution is robbing them of their own intrinsic beauty." He sighs. "Maybe where we go matters less than how we feel about it when we get there."

Alexander

“Or how we get there. There’s the whole thing about the journey being more important than actually arriving at the destination. I think that’s important. But that’s only part of it.” He turns to glance at Kalen’s form on the blanket next to him, all washed out colours. “I think I envy you sometimes. You at least have an idea of how everything came to be.”

Alexander sighs, a lengthy thing followed by more moments of silence, as he shifts position to cross his arms behind his head to prop it up a little more. “I don’t buy into the whole word of God creating everything in a week thing. Nothing exploding? Not convinced either. So.” He shrugs, shoulders rubbing against the coarse weave of the blanket.

Grace

[Awareness!]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 7, 8, 9) ( success x 3 )

Kalen Holliday

Kalen's eyes drift closed, though he is still listening. "I see what I see. There are as many interpretations of the dawn of Creation as there are people in it, at least. More than that, if you count revised opinions.

"But they are, all of them, interpretations. Whatever the answer is, I'm not sure that we will ever explain it with science or with magic. I don't know that we really need to. There are mysteries, and I want to know their answers. I want search out greater truths and absolute knowledge, I cannot help that.

"But...for some things, I don't think knowledge will serve better than acceptance. And for when some explanation would be welcome...I wish that I could share my faith. Alas, that is not the kind of thing one can borrow." He opens his eyes halfway so he can rest a hand on Alexander's shoulder without worrying about hitting him in the nose. "I hope that you find your answers. Until then, I am here."

"And after. That too."

Grace

There was a night when Grace came to this park and a vampire shoved living shadows down her throat and (temporarily) turned her into a screaming, terrorized thing. Well, that's almost to be expected, right? Temporarily. Said vampire is now deader than she was previously. A remarkable improvement. Also, likely a warning to vampires everywhere that fucking with random people in Washington Park at night is a bad idea because this is Mage territory.

And if they don't have that idea? Well. Grace isn't afraid enough to back down anyway. It's not her thing.

So, it's with a bit of self-assured nonchalance that she returns to this place even now, to join Kalen. Maybe she doesn't have an exact location, but she knows he's here. And she can sense the presence of rain in a desert, the lightning striking hot sand. That's enough. If it weren't, she could always force the issue.

She walks up, likely as yet unseen, even though Kalen will surely feel her. Night makes it even easier to hide, and she is so good at that already.

"Pff. Please. We all know that the universe is a holographic simulation whose data is encoded two-dimensionally. There, I totally explained it."

For the record, the sarcasm just rolls off of those sentences. She's totally serious and not at the same time.

Alexander

“A shame, it would make answering questions like these a whole lot easier. But I guess this is just one of those things where the journey is just as important.” Just then, the train of the conversation gets a little side-tracked with the arrival of Grace.

“Who created the simulation? Or whatever it’s running on. Who created them? The same as the whole work of God thing, whatever side you look at it. How was it created? Where did it all start?”

Alexander takes a breath, a second, a moment. “Unless the whole thing was always here?” He rests his hand on Kalen’s, making the contact a little stronger, before returning his hand to its position behind his head.

“Thinking is hard.” He is joking and the humour in his voice is obvious, as it comes through his smile.

Kalen Holliday

Kalen leaves his hand on Alexander's shoulder and allows his eyes to drift closed again. Both Grace's explanation of the universe and Alexander's observation that thinking is hard get little amused huffs of sound that he doesn't summon enough energy to turn into a real laugh.

"The Buddha generally refused to answer questions about the nature of the moment of Creation," he says, because of course he knows this. Kalen could probably recite at least half a dozen creation stories. "On account of it not serving any great purpose, that knowledge. You might like Buddhism, Alce.

"Some versions more than others. But there are parts of the philosophy that might suit you."

There is another sound that would be a laugh. "You could also try Socrates, but the legacy of Socrates is partly that those who seek the truth and encourage others to cast aside their illusions are condemned and killed. So if you go that route, do try to avoid the tragic death death by people who refuse enlightenment ending.

"Fucking brilliant though, Socrates."

Jo Hamilton

It's that time of year.

That time of year when students pile into places of learning, shove their noses in books, and hope for osmosis. It never happens, and many saddened hearts walk away with letter grades that are meant to indicate how much a failure they really were.

It's the end of that time in that the week has left them and now they are left with their sadness. Most of them will drink it away anyway, so it doesn't matter that much does it? Jo doesn't drink (yet), mostly because she doesn't have any friends who have that much dedication to alcohol to skirt the rules...and everyone knows her gaming skillz will drop and she'll lose a round of LoL and lose her entire reputation. Duh. Instead she seeks out carbs, and sugar, or sugary carbs, or sugar drenched in carbs or.. wait..carbs drenched in sugar? That's more like it.

That means she's on her bike. Somewhere. With her cellphone. At that's really all she needs to make it in the world. Especially when one considers that sugar carbs are best enjoyed with company. So it's a very simple thing to send a message to Grace, who has so far shown herself to be something of a waffle fairy.

Dude.

Comes the first text.

Sugar?

Comes the second text.

4 realsies?

Comes the third. Because Jo never does things half-assed. One must annoy the shit out of someone.

Grace

"Personally, since I've seen people in this universe write their own universes which then go on to be separate things in their own right? It might just be universes all the way down," Grace says, shrugs. "Or maybe universes evolve. Successful universes give rise to intelligent beings which allow them to reproduce."

Grace slips down onto the blanket and leans back on her arms to appraise the sky. Looking up into the stars is appropriate for discussions like this.

And then, her phone's text notification goes off.

Three times.

It gets pulled out, and then, oh -- she is stuck inside it.

Jo, do you have some or do you want some? I imagine yes and yes. Am I right?

Alexander

“I guess… If everything is just a continuous cycle, then how it starts isn’t really as important as the cycle continuing. But then isn’t there the whole thing in Buddhism about trying to escape the cycle and stop coming back? Which… admittedly is about the limit of my knowledge of it. Well, that and not swatting bugs.”

Alexander twists his head to look at Grace once she settles and gives another version of The Way Things Are. “What happens if the… parent? Or whatever you want to call it ends. Do all the children just wink out of existence?” Another thought suddenly catches his attention.

“We create our own universes? Do you think that’s an Awakened thing?”

Kalen Holliday

"Well, if nothing else we create our futures and shape the futures of others. Perhaps to a greater degree than others might because of our nature, but really, all things do that. Sentient beings most demonstrably and dramatically, but really all the parts of the whole of Creation, or existence, or this universe, or this reality, or whatever the fuck we can agree on calling it-" And here he sounds only amused, because their inability to come to a consensus on the nature of reality does not really bother Kalen at all. These discussions he enjoys.

"Have some effect on the greater whole. Some are more marked than others, but it's like that rocks into a pond thing. By contrast to our views of the truth of the world, which seems more like the blind men and elephants thing." He says this as though he has forgotten not all people spent years in formal training that included philosophy and little parables for discussion.

Jo Hamilton

It's as simple as....

Yup. Both. ;)

Because Grace knows her too well. Jo never travels without some form of sugar on her person, should starvation set in and she be required to revive herself. This is a viable possibility, Really. Maybe?

Buuuuuut. Jolly ranchers not cuttin it. XD

Though she might have twizzlers still in her bag. Sometimes...sometimes...she found candy in the secret universe that is her backpack. Sometimes things would magically appear...like one big bag of holding for sugary goods.

Where u at?

Grace

Washpark With some cool people.

Even with her face in her texts, Grace is paying attention. Obviously, because as she types out the latest one, she replies: "You know what I wish? I wish the blind men could have just talked to the elephant and asked her who she was."

Type tap type tap...

Bring your own sugar. I am sadly sugar free.

"I suppose it is a possibility that all the worlds could wink out of existence, but so many things are possible I find it difficult to worry about them all until they show up."

Alexander

“I get that what we do – everyone not just us – can change more than we think. I know it’s a simple view of things, but good things generally create good things and bad create bad. I.. think that’s part of why I do what I do. Although I probably didn’t really think of it that way before you guys landed in my life.” He shrugs again, lying back and tracing out a constellation in his mind.

And then Alexander starts getting a little lost in the conversation. “A talking elephant?” He nods, though, when Grace says it’s hard to worry about the multitude of things that are possible. “I’d drink to that one, if there was anything more than water. Unless you can toast with chicken soup?”

Alexander looks over at Grace again. “Did you want some, by the way? Soup, I mean. It’s more than possible that there’s some here, although it might be on the cool side by now.”

Kalen Holliday

"You could steal some of my coffee, but it is tragically non-alcoholic." He manages something resembling an actual laugh. "I'll tell you the elephant story one day when I'm more awake, Alce. It's the best representation of the madness of trying to fight over whose worldview is the right one when we're all just trying to figure it out based on an incomplete knowledge of truth and circumstance.

"If the elephant could talk...it would be a really different story. Though, admittedly, probably pretty cool too."

Jo Hamilton

OMW.

It's a sad state when someone is sugar free. Mostly people are sugar free when they are trying to diet, a point at which Jo finds complete despair. Diet?! Why? All the glories of the universe resides in the magnificence that is sugar! How else are people meant to survive?

She shall remedy this.

The bike has shifted its course. The USS Enterprise is on route to the Galactic Federation of Grace and Co. Captain Jo is confident they shall encounter no alien life, especially not The Q. Oh god..not the Q. Please not the Q.

Thus does she move, the static hum of the modern world gliding its way towards the trio, though she has no immediate knowledge of their where abouts. Sure she could probably do something like...follow a GPS route, but Jo...Jo isn't that kind of person...sometimes. Instead, her search for said trio begins in the most unconventional way (unless you're in a Disney movie).

"I'm wishing...for the one I love...to find me..."

Grace

"Super condensed version? One blind guy says, 'It's a rope, obviously'. He's holding the elephant's tail. Another guy says 'No no no, it's a tree' because he's feeling up a leg. The third guy says 'Dudes, I'm wigged out, it's a snake!' because he's got the trunk and the elephant is probably thinking, 'How about you guys keep your mitts off my trunk please? That's sensitive...' because nobody can talk to the elephant."

She puts her phone back in her jean pocket and resumes staring up at the sky again. "Is there sugar in the soup?"

Probably not.

"Also, we have company coming. Jo. She's cool."

Alexander

“Buddhism’s the reincarnation one, isn’t it? It would be quite cool if they could remember what it was like to be an elephant. Or, you know, talk to the elephant. Assuming they didn’t have their own version of the Union back then. But I guess a talking elephant is possibly more likely to kick of a religion than a hippy guy talking about peace with everything.”

Is there sugar? “Not a clue, I didn’t read the label on the cans. Probably, though. Does chicken have sugar in it?” And suddenly the reason for needing sugar becomes clearer. “I think it would need to be sugar and water to keep her fuelled.” Alexander shakes his head, remembering her preferred foods.

Jo Hamilton

[All the feeeels perc+aware]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 3, 6, 7) ( success x 2 )

Kalen Holliday

"I would just like to observe one of the Order observing you teaching a philosophy seminar," Kalen says in response to Grace's retelling of the story. As though he had not casually proclaimed that Socrates was fucking brilliant like that was all one really needed to know just a few moments before.

"One of the reincarnation ones, yeah. It's a sort of evolution of Hinduism, which is an endless cycle of reincarnation one. Buddhist teachings present a way to achieve enlightenment and thus reach Nirvana, which frees you from the endless cycle of rebirth." There is a slight pause. "Well. Generally. There are bodhisattvas. But I suspect you are not looking for a terribly detailed description of all that at this time."

"There is an all night donut place like...." Kalen waves in a direction. "Like ten blocks that way on Louisiana."

Jo Hamilton

"To find me... today. I'm hoooooping... and I'm dreaming of... the right things...to saaaaay." And ever, ever closer as she feels out the shift and flow of the sensations, like playing hot and cold, only without anyone respond back. Though Kalen... now that's a new one. She's never met Kalen before, and the prospect of meeting another... uh what did they call themselves? Whatever.. another person who -isn't-like-the-others. Mage. Wizard. Sorceror. She can't recall the exact term. Personally, she'd rather be called a lich, just because liches are cool...but that has a completely different meaning entirely.

Anyhow.

The bike comes ever closer, and Jo has no shame about her terrible singing, because she's not trying to win an award or attract her one true love.

"Danger Will Robinson! The Jo-inator is here!" Hot.. hot ... hot.. yup that's them! "Cause like seriously, you're in like some serious need of like ER treatment. No sugar?!"

Grace

"Oh! You know Jo!" Grace exclaims in response to Alex, because yes -- whoever knows Jo knows about her... addiction.

"I'd like to observe one of the Order observing me teaching a philosophy seminar. Do you I think I could make smoke come out somebody's ears?" Grace grins, and it's a little scary.

Speak of liches, and they will appear, apparently. Because Jo takes this moment to show up, singing on her bike.

"I can go without it for like, a while, Jo. Not forever. I think people need small amounts of sugars in their diet anyway to avoid malnutrition. But that's why God invented astronaut ice cream."

Alexander

“We met. There were tacos. She seems nice, if even more caffeinated than Elijah.”

Alexander laughs at Grace’s wanting to make a member of the Order’s head implode. “If you ever give that lesson, please invite me. It sounds so much more entertaining than just telling them to…” there’s a glance to Kalen, although he probably knows exactly where the line of thought was headed. After all, they both knew Alyssa. “Find somewhere else to be.”

“Hey Jo. Donuts actually sound good right now. And more coffee. If you guys want to stay put, I’ll ride over and grab some. It won’t take long.” He rolls over and pushes himself up to standing, happy to leave the blanket and other bits where they are until he returns.

[And, because it’s half 6 in the morning and I kinda need to sleep, this seems like a good time to slip Alex out. Thanks for the scene!]