Molly Toombs
Federal Boulevard wasn't any place that
Molly found herself wandering too often. She wasn't much of a foodie,
so she didn't come here frequently to buy ingredients (although it has
happened a few times before, when she's decided to tackle a very
specific recipe for the hell of it). She's come this way for pho every so often, but that was largely the only reason she's ever found to
visit.
Tonight just so happened to be one of those odd evenings,
where Molly just happened to be in the neighborhood that probably wasn't
the best place for her to be this night. She'd come from doing a favor
for one of the few nurses at work that didn't dislike her immediately.
His name was Jon, and she was watering his plants and gathering his
mail for him while he was gone for Labor Day Weekend on some
long-planned camping trip. He had an apartment in the neighborhood, and
Federal had a bus stop with a fairly direct line back to her own home.
So,
while waiting for the next bus to come, Molly stood half a block up
from the bus stop, peering in the window of a closed antiques shop. She
was dressed in a pair of high-waisted shorts, with a white tank top
worn under an unbuttoned and airy-looking dark turquoise blouse, whose
sleeves were rolled up and button-secured at elbow height. She had
sunglasses in her hair, stowed there now that the sun had gone down. It
was rounding close to midnight, and the streets had gone relatively
quiet even for a Friday night.
The next bus would be the last
one. Molly was keeping one ear out for the tell-tale rumble and creak
and hiss of the massive vehicle while inspecting a flapper-style gown
draped over a table in the window, lost somewhere in her own thoughts in
the meantime.
Flood
Flood appreciates the once-his-and-now-the-kine's culture.
The
Lasombra would not be caught dead saying it and there might even be a
lick or two who got caught finally dead making light of it. But the more
than dead man can be caught outside that vaulted old Victorian between
acts sucking down a cigarette. It's one of those bastions of civility in
a stretch of Federal like this.
They even hire out a valet
service, thought it only has one or two sets of hands driving the nicer
vehicles of those who ventured out to see the production to the private
parking lot, attendants who look like locals and maybe couldn't afford
tickets on their meager salary-and-tips, but watch over and attend to
the place nonetheless.
And just maybe one or two of those vehicles
goes home short some change, a pair of designer sunglasses, or maybe
even a digital camera. It has been known to happen. They pay their tax
for coming out this far into a neighborhood that isn't theirs. Not that
any of them would dare to it to...
No, let's not talk about
Flood's car, it's really ridiculous. Almost laughable. But let's just
say they wouldn't dare steel from a man who radiates that kind of menace
and gets out of that kind of vehicle and makes it much less of a joke.
Not the kind of man who, when you open up his glove compartment, you
find a German Luger next to a pair of gloves. No, both stay tucked away
and the car is parked and fled.
Anyway, his car and that old
Victorian and what might happen in the next act all gets forgotten when
he spots Molly across the road, turned around in a labyrinth of thoughts
during quiet contemplation of a beautiful gown.
The kind of gown
that might've been found on a woman who might've been found on the arm
of a man who might've been wearing a charcoal suit with windowpane
stripes in white and baby blue just like his. There's no refection in
the window when he steps up beside her. And if she doesn't hear him
coming, long and quiet strides and indeed appearing, behind her until
his voice pipes up...
Well, that's entirely a possibility.
"But
I've never seen you in a dress like that," like he's picking up a
conversation left off at. Not missing a beat. Not skipping a note in
that mix of mandolin tones that is his
spoke-Italian-first-but-learned-Irish-from-his-mother kind of voice, a
voice that might be more easily found on a record in that shop than
anywhere else.
[ Dexterity + Stealth ]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 4, 6, 6, 8) ( success x 3 )
Molly Toombs
[Perception 3 + Alertness 3]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 6, 6, 10) ( success x 3 )
Bo
[Per+Alert]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 3, 6, 10) ( success x 2 )
Bo
Another
day always lead onto another night, and for Bo, that usually mean't
another craving for some new and previously untried cuisine of some
sort. So tonight, by chance she had been in the Federal District, and by
pure delightful chance a new fusion food wagon had been parked just
down the street from that ill fated bus stop. It was just about closing
time, as the buses were running down but Bo had managed to snag the last
of some unusual concoction filled with noodles and spice and well who
knows what else.
She was starting away from the food cart as they
shuttered their windows and closed up shop for the night. The woman
walking along in her knee high military style boots. She was dressed in a
black pleated skirt tonight, thank the Denver weather for that one, the
skirt falling to just above the top of her leather boots. Her top was a
little more out there the majority of it done out in a dark purple
material which seemed to stretch and breath, with two stripes of blue
running up from her hips, cinching in at the stomach, and then flaring
out once more under her bust..the blue stripes matched the blue
extensions that intertwined with her raven black hair, and the sleeves
of the top cut away halfway down her bicep.
Her mind is on her
food as she wanders in the general direction of Molly and the unseen
Flood, a jaunty little tune on her lips as her legs carried her along
with a vital spring in her step, her body as energized and alive as
ever. But so far she has not seen the others, not spotted the meeting
before the antique store...but she would soon.
Molly Toombs
When
the words touched her ear from behind her shoulder, Molly startled.
Hard. When she was startled she didn't physically jump or dart away.
Her knees didn't buckle, her arms didn't go up and swing in immediate
self defense. Instead, a tremor ran through her from shoulders to feet
and caused her very skin to shiver. Her back went straight, her
shoulders tight, and her heart skipped a beat, then hammered wildly in
her chest to make up for it.
Adrenaline spiked her blood, and when
she sucked a breath of air back she turned her head to look to her
right. There she found a tall figure, and her heart jumped again. Then
she looked up, and when recognition set in she was not reassured.
She
took another deep breath, pressed her hand to the crazed patterns her
heart was beating out behind her chest plate, and shifted her expression
from scared and worried and surprised to something that was aggravated
instead. Her expression was meant to portray immediate calm and a
coming together of one's senses, but supernatural senses could probably
pick out her quickened pulse and shallow breaths anyways.
"God
damnit," she cursed at him and rubbed her chest tenderly, like he'd made
her heart ache when he caused it to jump, then crossed her arms across
her ribs so she could cradle her own elbows.
"I would ask how you keep doing that, but I get the feeling I already know."
Kali
The
Ravnos has been keeping her ears to the street, albeit mostly through
her dealers. The little Rroma drug lord is always looking for
information; she would have made a good Nosferatu if not for the fact
that she is WAY too vain. Because she understands that information is
power, and she is always looking for a way to improve her station (or,
more specifically, her security).
While a lot can be done through
her underworld employees (and private eyes, but enough about that for
now), some things have to be done through legwork. If nothing else, she
has those dealers that she needs to collect from. And that's what the
woman (okay not woman, but still kinda) is doing out on Federal
tonight. She has dealers that occasionally peddle up here and she's on
her way back from one of those. The woman's thick heels on her docs
leave a distinctly non-stealthy thumb on the ground with each step;
she's definitely styled out tonight in leather pants that show off the
shapely legs and one of her favorite bustiers under a leather jacket.
She's got a cigarette burning between her lips as she walks along the
street, humming along with some obscure tune or another, occasionally
murmuring out the words.
"Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it, I guess every superhero need his theme music..."
…okay, this is Kali. It's not obscure; it's Kanye West. Because really, why not?
She
stops a moment as she sees her favorite (only, but still favorite)
ghoul across the street. She puts fingers to mouth and is about to
whistle when she notes Flood up ahead of Bo, apparently not having seen
the ghoul yet. Kali's eyes widen a bit and instead of whistling, her
cell phone comes out and she texts the ghoul.
Look to your left.
Bo
Her
fork dug around into that culinary monstrosity, seeking the next juicy
morsel. Anyone who was watching her could tell that Bo was distracted,
the happy, thoroughly self indulgent smile that stretched quietly from
ear to ear told them that she was lost in foodie heaven.
So it
should be no surprise whatsoever when she fails to notice Kali, and only
when she gets closer does she notice the bottom half of the two
individuals in front of her. It takes a moment for Bo to pause in her
movements, the fork stuck into the box of food more firmly so that it
might stand of its own accord as she takes in the scene around her. The
look on Molly's features tell her many things, from the closed off
stance to the mannerisms she wore on her face. It was obvious this was
not a meeting she was thrilled with.
So Bo had planned to do
something about it, had even started to stride forward with a mind to
interfere. Even if she sort of once met Flood. But her movements are
interrupted by Kali's text her hand digging about in a secret pocket in
her skirt. She dug around briefly, and then pulled it out. The text is
quickly scanned and Bo looks left, spotting her compatriot in crime and
texting back.
Sup Boss Lady?
The text comes just before she turns preparing to cross the street.
Flood
"He
may have, but I think it would have been polite to at least let me
know," his reaction to her curse as she tries to calm that thump, thump,
thump, thump, in her chest, but it might at well be in her ears. Must
be, the way it now drowns out Flood's words. He seems to expect this, or
have expected it, like maybe he doesn't want her to fully comprehend
his first response.
Matching her for the salt lick tongue lashing with wit.
And the Lasombra speaks a little louder next:
"But
as for how, I think it's the opposite problem. You don't no-" like he
might be saying 'know' before continuing "-tice," he answers, though his
eyes are still on the dress. He's straightened and crossed his arms
over his chest as he looks from it to her and back, that same way he had
looked her up and down the night before, but more expediently. A
perusal. A comparison.
"Or, your problem might be that I noticed -
you," a pause before his clarification, and that's when he takes a long
step back and away from the woman that Bo must think he's bearing down
on for the kill, his attention still focused on the shop. This predation
is different. Not its windows anymore. That's not his focus. There's an
alleyway around back he seems to be noticing and it looks like there
might be an apartment above, but there's a FOR RENT sign and they don't
seem connected directly. And that is enough for Flood as he looks at a
place filled with artifacts of a bygone age.
"That is a wonderful dress. Let's buy it," never mind the place is closed.
It
doesn't keep him from heading toward the door, one of the large metal
sliding security gates pulled down in front of it, and looking at the
lock, after a final glance at the rest of sparsely populated bus stop.
Not
noticing Kali. Not noticing Bo. Not noticing any of them, yet, as he
examines it and a sliver of metal comes out of his pocket.
Breaking and entering. And the night so young.
[ Dexterity + Larceny ]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 3, 4, 6, 9) ( success x 2 )
Bertram Kohl
It
was cloudy out tonight, warm and just a chance of rain. So Bertram kept
the jacket that went with his suit slung over his shoulder but he,
honestly, wasn't too concerned about whether or not he'd have to use it.
The
look he sported was classy, once it was simply expected of a man to
wear a proper suit but these days that requirement shifted into an
option and most men opted for something just a tad easier to slip into
in the morning. Old habits, however, died very very hard for Bertram and
the pants, and vest he wore matched the jacket he had slung over his
shoulder. The shirt and tie he wore underneath completed the outfit.
The
light rap of his shoes announced his presence when he faded into the
darkness only to emerge under the next light in his path. This little
dance continued as he whistled softly to himself.
Bertram wasn't a
sneaky guy. The shadows weren't exactly his friend. Bertram was the
kind of guy who liked to keep his presence hidden from view. It,
honestly, made little sense to him to hide away, to sneak, to slither
around on his belly like some kind of serpent. Confidence was all a part
of who he was!
Molly Toombs
Molly stayed standing
right where she was, with her arms crossed under her bust, fingers
curled around and up the backs of opposing elbows. Even as Flood
adjusted his position to be similar to hers while he played with words
-- she doesn't know-tice. He noticed-- her. She stayed put with the
same posture when his eyes raked down her front and up her sides, like
he was mentally fitting the dress he kept glancing back at to her like a
fleshy mannequin.
Yes, even when he said that they should buy it
and stepped forward to regard the security gate in front of the big
metal door, she still stayed put. Standing in front of that window,
fairly unaware of the women texting one another up the street, and thus
fair just as ignorant to the presence of one of several dead men whose
contact information she had on her dresser, in an uncertain stack that
she wasn't sure what to do with. Flood held her attention. He had that
effect, especially when he produced (of all fucking things) a lockpick
from his pocket and started to twiddle it around in the lock on the
security gate.
She shifted a little, weight moving from right leg to left, and glanced briefly toward the street to see if the bus was coming (not yet), then looked back to Flood and the door. Fingers tapped against her elbows.
"Really? Right out here on the street like that?"
Apparently so, Molly dear.
Kali
Kali
smiles at the text and—more specifically—at the fact that Bo's crossing
the street. From her vantage point she keeps a watch over the ghoul as
she moves to join her domitor. The look is not entirely unlike that of
a feral tiger looking out among a sea of predators as her cub
approaches. She's smiling pleasantly enough but there's an edge to the
way she's slightly curled over, a hint of her inhuman nature in the way
she moves slightly or her fingers twitch at the keyboard.
U have someone nearby who R not friends. Don't look, just come over. We're not starting a fight, but pays 2 B careful
When
Kali starts using shorthand in her texts, it's usually a serious
situation. She glances around, eyes passing briefly over Bertram—a
quick look, nothing more—and then she looks over at Flood, watching him
for a moment and studying his interaction with Molly as good as she can
at a distance. She's not silly enough to use Heightened Senses on a
city street corner except in absolutely must-use situations. Besides,
she's studying body language. Words lie. Body language is harder to
cover up.
[[Per+Emp: Is Molly a friend or otherwise of Flood's?]]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 3, 9, 10) ( success x 2 )
Flood
"Like
I said: I'm going to buy it. But the prospect of getting back here
during business hours has certain difficulties," dropping that veiled
revelation with a casual shrug. He had promised her he might answer a
few questions, hadn't he? And this seems like a freebie.
And revise that. Not breaking; just entering.
The
first lock gives with a metallic click of release. He slides up the
first gate and starts working on the deadbolt to the actual door next,
though he does slip his hand into his pocket and this time precise
fingers summon up a different tool to match the one in his other hand. A
thinner sliver of metal to fit the next and less hefty layer of
security.
"Now, there may be an alarm, so we'll have to be quick," he says we without hesitation, and with an altogether strange muddling of steely professionalism and devilish mischief-making.
"You are going to come inside, aren't you?"
Even
as he speaks the entirety of his attention remains on the task at hand
and the trouble he seems intent on getting the both of them into. He
begins to work on the second lock, his fingers gripping the metal bits
lightly, almost like making a fly for fishing he's so delicate about it,
until his wrist finally gives a strong turn to see if the deadbolt will
finally slide free and give them access.
[ Another Dexterity + Larceny. ]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (3, 6, 6, 7, 10, 10) ( success x 5 )
Bo
Bo
pauses only briefly at the curb of the street, making sure no car's are
speeding her way with the intention of fusing her legs with the bumper.
That would be the last thing she needed tonight. She pauses to read the
text, a gentle furrow appearing on her brow as she fights the desire to
look around and see who it might be. Instead she just raises her face
to look at Kali with a confused, questioning look on her face as she
started to cross the road.
Who's the big bad wolt?
This text comes through before being briefly followed by.
Guh...wolf.
She's
across the street then, striding up to Kali and smiling up at her
favorite person in the undead world only now taking a moment to look
around as she leaned in and whispered conspiratorially.
"So whats the sitch boss lady? Something going on we should or should not know about?"
Molly Toombs
Penciled
eyebrows climbed up on her freckled face with a muted look of one who
was impressed by what they'd seen when the first lock click-popped free
and the security gate came open. Flood drew himself closer to the door
to work on the deadbolt next, and Molly couldn't help but edge just a
little closer, scooting the flat bottoms of her strappy brown sandals on
the sidewalk when she leaned to peer around his shoulder and watch what
he was doing.
He had her interest, and he might even have caused
her dense barrier of sarcasm and caution to ebb away some, but then he
used the 'we' word and, without waiting for protest, asked her
directly if she would come inside with him. The way it was phrased was
structured like a boy convincing his friends that he had the best idea
and portraying that he would be downright wounded emotionally if she
refused to come play.
As good as he was at picking these locks,
she still moved her hands in front of her, fingers splayed in refusal,
and shook her head some. She didn't make a lot of noise or any large
gestures about it, though. She was already guilty by association, for
just standing there with him while he made his way through not just one
but two locks. To draw attention to him would be doing herself no
favors either.
"Why on earth would I do that? I don't want the
thing, and I'm sure as shit not playing dress-up for you either. Come
on, let it be."
Kali
[[Per+Aware+Auspex]]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 5, 5, 6, 7, 10) ( success x 3 )
Lux
Molly
and Flood are in front of a window with one reflection and one
flapper-era dress [Great Gatsby, Thank You] which also just so happens
to be next to a busstop, and then just over there, right on that corner,
there is a Bo who is on the same side of the street as Molly and Flood
who are engaging in mischief, or are until they disappear
inside, and there is a Kali who isn't walking and has her phone out, or
is until Bo joins her, smiling, and then there is a Bertram just gilded
by the noir-circle of a street-light burning the midnight oil, and the
Victorian playhouse is right over there, and some pho place is right
over there, and right over there-there-there is a little 24-hour mart
that manages to look both classy and seedy (aged like wine that's
turning to vinegar), and over there is Lux.
Over where?
There! There. What, you don't see her?
Love is blindness.
Here,
a better picture. Most shops are closed, but not all. The pho places
and taco places and Vietnamese places the bike chopshops and the
red-painted drycleaners squished next to some neon-lit-up Neo-Tokyan bar
beside a falling down fence and an old old old house with hand-painted
signs telling you No Parking Please: yeah, most of these places are
off-limits. But lo, there is a tiny, tiny alley between two of these
buildings, and Lux who - like Bertram - is not really a creature that
often sneaks or slithers or sticks to the edges of things -
well
she comes pouring out've that alley like a fall of light through shade;
easy as a drink of water; easy as a damned breath of air after the
heart-clutch fear of drowning. Lux, in ridiculous shoes that are gold
and low-heeled but snake up her legs kiss up her ankles to her knees,
lace shorts that're cream and set off the even pallor of her skin, a
tweed jacket with professorial patches on the elbows and beneath that a
thin tshirt that looks in the midnight oil light to be of some
indeterminate color and perhaps to have a print on it. Her hair is
loose; loose, loose, loose.
By sheerest chance, the alley or
narrow path or whatever lets her loose near-ish Kali and Bo, but on the
opposite side of the street and between Flood and Molly and Kali and Bo.
So.
[You
know: maybe Lux is just so pleased with whatever she was doing that she
doesn't notice that people she knows and probably wants to avoid being
around at the same time happen to be around yeeeah! Percept + Alert.
Because I love rolling this.]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 10) ( success x 1 )
Kali
It's
comical, the variance of expressions that is about to make their way in
succession across Kali's face. No, really it is...I promise you. Just
wait; you'll see.
First off is a furrowing of her brow and a look
of honest confusion as she looks at the body language Flood shows
toward Molly. Maybe it's not what she expected--okay, clearly it's not
what she expected. There's a moment of disbelief akin to the look you
probably got on your face when you first saw Miley twerking it and
grinding on a 36 year old. If you haven't seen it then bless your lucky
stars; the expression screams "I don't even know what I'm looking at."
Then
she shakes it off and smiles to Bo as the ghoul comes up to her. The
protective look eases to something that's more relaxed, though still
bewildered. "I don't know yet. You know that guy over there?" She
looks over at Flood and Molly. "He's one of the bad guys. Kinda. He's
like a bad guy in Hannibal Lector way. Which isn't that much different
then most of the good guys in our world, really. But still, he's a bad
guy."
Yeah, THAT made sense.
And comes the look where she
stiffens. Kali had certain gifts as a mortal that are long since gone.
But they pop up from time to time, like now. And her eyes widen as she
gets a sense that something isn't right.
Finally comes an
irritated look as she realizes where it is. The irritation is because
if she were a little more of a bitch, she'd just let it happen. But she
can't, so she puts her fingers to her mouth and whistles loudly then
shouts.
"HEY, DON'T OPEN THAT DOOR! TRUST ME!"
She hates that she's not a bitch.
Bertram Kohl
The
world is a simple place, especially when you take the time to see it
through Bertram's eyes. Life is conflict, a constant struggle for
resources, energy, or whatever might make one's life better. So he
wasn't exactly the kind of man who was going to pay too much attention
to two people seeking to acquire goods by whatever means they deemed
necessary. In fact, attempting to stop them when doing so did not
directly benefit Bertram was, in every way, against his personal "Code
of Ethics" or however one wanted to put it.
So his approach upon
the pair was simply one of random happenstance. The man came upon two
individuals in the course of his brisk walk. He wasn't immediately
present, mind you, he was a short ways away from the pair and slowly
closing the distance between them. It wasn't even likely that he
realized much, if anything, was happening...
He did, however,
notice as a group began to gather up ahead of him. These kinds of things
were always important to note. This drew his attention, and with it his
focus. Bertram lived a life where walking into a trap was a very real
possibility so it behooved him to take notice of such possibilities and
let the wheels in his mind go to work, however, that didn't necessitate
shifting or altering his course, oh no! You see certain things were
important, especially in a new city. Paranoia and cowardice were hardly
befitting a man who wished to establish himself in a new city. So he
makes his way in their direction, whistling all the while.
Flood
The
door swings open because that's what happens when you pick a lock
right, as Flood has done, and no amount of screaming seems like it will
change that...
Only a brass bell rings out as it bobs in a stately
curved swirl of wrought iron nailed to it. Finally wiggling to a
vibrating silence and there is no explosion of alarms.
Which
doesn't necessarily mean the place isn't rigged to go off, but when
Flood looks around the frame of the door and still finds no sign of a
security system past that gate, he smiles and nods, pleased with
himself.
"We're good," again with that we.
There
had been a reason he had looked for lines other than the telephone and
electrical ones leading away from the building. But he couldn't be sure
until now. As surely as the bolt had slid free from the lock at his
finger's command. He tucks away those slivers of metal and looks into
the darkness past what the streetlights illuminate.
Hangs his head back and into their illumination.
"Don't be such a wet blanket. If I were trying to get you in the buff it wouldn't be in a place like this. The dress is for
a place like that," shaking his head with all those words he seems so
sure will be charming, though they are so dated in their very nature.
From another time and all the sweeter for its aging. Almost to the point
of cloying, some might say.
Oh, if body language could talk - it
does - anyone who has noticed Flood at that opened door and Molly near
by might wonder if the former is going to disappear inside at any
moment. Explore. Indulge his curiosity and his complete lack of
discipline when it comes to bridging obstacles between wanting a thing
and having it.
He finds a light. Or at least one of them. The rest
must be in the back, because the one he flicks on is a low hanging
green fixture that only dimly illuminates the trails between piles.
And piles.
And piles.
Of
all the things an antique shop has. Bookcases that once held
philosophical tomes and law books and medical treatises and who knows
what else in great manors they were salvaged from, stuffed with curio
and knickknacks and look at that chair? Upholstered in green velvet.
What about that lamp? Or that vase as tall as a little person. Dancing
dwarfs are painted on it. A piano and a harp and...
Please get the picture.
Because look at all the pictures and paintings and statues.
It's
all there and more, even that counter stuffed with costume jewelry and
old knives and flasks and buttons and this and that, it's stuffed with
this and that too! Did you see that one?
That's what's illuminated
through that front window, visible even from the street, and even as
Kali screams there is something tempting about it.
Not in a mundane way.
Something
that draws the very soul to the place. A promise of nostalgia and
memories forgotten and all the good things connected to these places
from that one place you use to go, maybe that your grandmother use to
take you.
That must be why Flood turns back and spots her. See the
twitch? Did you see that twitch in his face? It isn't a full-brown
snarl, no, he controls it and even if he hadn't it might have turned
into this same amusement and a tinge of bemusement coupled together.
"Trust her, she says," he says under his breath.
Because nothing bad has happened. At least not yet.
How could anything bad happen in a wondrous place like this.
Which must be why he turns to walk inside with a final and encouraging glance at Molly.
Bo
Bo
has come to her Domitor's side, and this is where she seems happy to
stay. She listens and watches as Kali....explains the situation with
Flood and her gaze slide toward the man in the middle of picking the
lock. She remembers him vaguely, a figure she had met a month or so ago
and who had been as slick and debonaire as the finest snake oil
salesman.
She looks back to Kali then and looks dubious.
"Seriously? The guy's kinda big on life and by life I mean himself...but
he didn't really come off as a fava beans and brains sorta fella." She
inquires.
Further conversation isn't really pertinent when
suddenly Kali is yelling loud enough to wake everyone in the block, and
Bo looks at her with surprise etched across her features. She looked
across the street to Molly and Flood and then looks around, seeing who
else was attracted to the spot.
Here she spots Lux, and here she
offers the woman a quick wave and a hurried, and slowly growing smile.
She then turned her gaze back to Kali and said.
"Time to save the
day!" At that she starts forward, heading to intercept Molly's entrance
to the store, crossing the street yet again.
Lux
So.
Lux sluices a glance -- enshadowed, lashes low (coy, dreamy) -- from the [Sabbat] Lasombra to the [Camarilla]
Ravnos. The glance is a sharp one; it contains brilliance; and casually
it is she slips her hands into pockets on the interior of her jacket,
jacket lined in some dark moth-heart silk, though her body cheats
directly toward Kali when she yells, weight lilting onto her back leg.
The line of her shoulders is startled; the exclamation of her spine is too:
"Kali?" - she calls - as Flood opens the door. As Flood disappears inside. And:
"What? Why?"
[Rolling WP is fun!]
Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 8, 8, 10) ( success x 6 )
Molly Toombs
[Willpower]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )
Bertram Kohl
[Willpower... Cuz everyone is!]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 10) ( success x 2 )
Molly Toombs
When
those little picks of metal eased back from their work, the big metal
door swung open. Molly jumped a little, the motion a quick jerk of the
shoulders that relaxed when she realized the sudden noise she heard was
just a bell, and that there were no sirens or blaring horns or lights
going off inside. The place didn't seem to have a classic alarm system,
or at least not the sort that shops like this tended to have-- loud
bright and brilliant alarms scared people away, which was more effective
than having a silent alarm go off and praying the police showed up in
time to rescue some of your stolen goods.
Flood made a comment,
encouraged her to join him by calling her a wet blanket, a rain on his
parade. Besides, he'd advised, this wasn't the kind of place to be
seduced. They were here procuring a dress that was made for the kind of
place where she could be seduced. This comment earned him a low
hissing sound of disapprovement. If Molly weren't so uncertain of the
line she walked with Flood, still so cautious with him, she probably
would have reached out and cuffed the back of his head in retaliation to
what she perceived to be an incredibly presumptuous comment, though he
might have been intending to deliver it as old-timey and suave.
"Oh,
if that's what you--," but then there was a sharp whistle and a loud,
clear shout from the other side of the street. Surprised, Molly turned
about and looked over to the two-- no, three women that gathered there.
All pretty, all in very different ways. A firey red-head, a punky
looking girl with black hair and blue extensions, and a gorgeous woman
that looked like she belonged in an entirely different city than one so
dull as Denver.
"Flood, she said not--...," but he was looking
back at her, encouraging her to follow and stepping inside already. She
looked back again, and now the woman in the skirt was running toward
her, crossing the street on heavy boots and looking like she had some
important information to share. Molly looked worried, conflicted, and
on the spot.
Inside this antiques shop there was a monster that
promised adventure, but danced a razor's edge of mystery when it came to
his motivation at the end of the day and where she would find the end
of the day herself. Outside were women, unfamiliar and pretty all of
them (weird sisters?), one of whom was running to reach her-- to catch her? Stop her? Turn her in? She had no idea.
The
antiques shop called to her. The way the soft green light hit the
books, how it pulled shadows and called out the dust that swirled in the
air-- it made her want to go inside. She was willing to bet that it
smelled wonderful and comforting and that the temperature and humidity
were just right, and that there were so many more wonders to be found
than the pretty dress in the window and that vase over there and those
pictures and...
Thump-thump went the boots, and Molly turned and
put her back to the entrance of the store to Bo in the face as she came
near. The older of the two women frowned, but not in anger or distaste,
and instead in curiosity, when Bo stopped and was near enough to say
her piece.
"What's your deal?"Asked the woman who was about to participate in breaking and entering.
Kali
Flood
ignores her warning and walks inside with Molly behind him. Kali looks
like she's about to punch something (though Bo is of course safe), or
at least say "fuck it" and leave them to their fate. But Bo starts
heading that way…of course, because Kali tried to warn them. It makes
complete sense that Bo would, even if Kali didn't know the girl's love
of experiences.
Now she REALLY looks like she wants to punch
something, and she makes a sound like she's physically holding back a
spew of profanity strong enough to strip a building down to the drywall.
She
snaps her attention over to Lux. "There's dead shit in there. And not
our kind of dead shit…well, kind of but not really. But it's still
dead and bloody and still dangerous all the fuckin' same. Wanna come?"
She pulls out her gun as she starts stalking across the street next to Bo.
"I have a fuckin' taste of nasty-ass years-old shit in my mouth now. That stupid fucking cockknocker son of a anal leaking poponar nenorocit pula muist..." It all degenerates into Romany curse words. Now the drywall is showing...
Bo
[WP cause i wanna]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 5) ( fail )
Molly Toombs
Or,
well, Molly was curious as to what Bo's deal was until her red-headed
counterpart came across the street looking aggravated and drawing a
gun. Molly's eyes hopped from Bo's face to look past her shoulder, to
the woman in tight leather pants and a bustier with a gun drawn from
god-knows-where in her hand, and then they widened.
She looked at
Bo again, quickly, then took a surprisingly quick leap back in through
the antiques shop door and reached for the big metal door to shove it
closed in the faces of those who were approaching.
"Flood!" She called in a harsh whisper.
Molly Toombs
[Dexterity 3 + Athletics 2: Bitch Got a Piece!]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 5, 5, 7, 7) ( success x 2 )
Bo
[Dex+Ath]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 5, 9, 9) ( success x 2 )
Bertram Kohl
Bertram's
whistle ended when he found himself recognizing the features of one of
the figures up ahead. Curiosity immediately takes hold and he finds
himself assessing the situation he was walking into.
Footsteps
never miss a beat, he doesn't even slow as he continues on his way
towards the group. Eyes moving from Molly to the woman who was crossing
the street to speak to Molly, and then, finally, to another woman who
was crossing the street with a firearm in her hand.
"Well now...
Things are getting interesting this evening aren't they Bertram?" He
asks himself as he continues his casual approach. It's about time things
got just a little more lively, he had to admit they had been damn
boring as of late!
Then he hears Molly call out, and the name hit
him instantly. Flood was the name of the one she had mentioned the other
day. This certainly drew his attention and Bertram found himself
glancing around at the others present as he did his best to assess the
situation he was walking into!
Kali
[[Dex+Ath: Trust me, Girly Girl. You want my piece in here.]]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 5, 10, 10) ( success x 2 )
Bo
Bo
was heading across the street at a good clip, the look on her face one
that was both worried and excited at the same time, worried for the
woman who might be about to put herself in danger, but excited for all
the possibilities that were opening up in this night. All the things
people..all the things.
She makes it to the sidewalk without being
turned into street pizza, and she goes to open her mouth, goes to speak
a warning, let her know that when Kali say's not to do something, its
generally for the best.
She probably should have told Bo to stay
put...but that is something in the past. She makes it to the sidewalk,
but before she can get any words out, before she can focus on the woman
in danger....her gaze is drawn, dragged infact towards the store.
But
then Molly is wigging out, and instead of heeding the warning, she
shoots into the store and slams the door. Bo blinks at that and steps up
to the door, trying to pull it open. "Girlfriend you gotta get outta
there! And while your at it? You really gotta let me IN there! I have
gotta see whats up with this place." She says heaving on the door.
"Come on! Stop being a door Nazi!" She says as she pulls on the door, but fails to gain any ground.
Lux
There
is a tug. This sharp hook under her collar-bone: like the first time
she ever wanted something, or someone, like the first time she ever had
something taken away. This hook: it tastes like dirt under her nails,
like turpentine and flame. This tug that says c'mere and something in
her wants to say of course, of course, and is, indeed, saying it, but
Lux is nothing at all if not contrary, if not widdershins to what she
should be. The lovely creature's eyes widen at Kali's answer: There's
dead shit in there. And not our kind of dead shit. Well, kind of but
not really. But it's still dead and bloody and still dangerous all the
fuckin' same. Wanna come?
Her pupils are pinpricks, dark as
anything. How did Kali know? She wants to know. Lux's answer isn't
verbal, partly because Molly is attempting to slam the metal grate shut
on the sudden rush of Ravnos and Ravnos-ghoul, partly because some other
gentleman is sauntering casually in on the scene, and partly because
she's scoping out the place.
[Uh. Hey, antique store. Do you look
full of wickedness? Are there creepy things staring down from above like
a warning to any blonde -- not that Lux is blonde, but still -- ready
to 'rush' the gate? Are there other ways in? Sparkle, sparkle.
Perception + Investigation. Because why not?]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (4, 4, 6) ( success x 1 )
Flood
Flood
has a cane in his hand when he looks back. Black lacquer on ebony wood
that leaves it a thing of darkness. The kind of thing that definitely
looks like it belongs in a man like Flood's hand. He has already walked
over to that dress and is using the tip of that cane to lift the back of
its hem and get a look at the old cloth and steel skeletoned
mannequin's nether regions.
And then he hears that hiss. Hears and sees Kali advancing at a clip with a gun in her hand alongside Bo.
Alongside
bow. His eyebrows pop up at this development. An interesting
revelation. Even more interesting than the gun. But probably not to
Molly, who he glances over at him and hisses. Because Kali and Bo have
managed to get to that door and she probably knows she won't have time
to figure out the foreign lock before they're pressing their way inside.
"Run. Out the back. Now," he says to Flood. It's not so much a suggestion as a command.
An
index and thumb pinches the neckline of that dress and the way he yanks
it of it is with the force and precision of a man taking a tablecloth
from beneath a full dinner setting. He's striding through the paths
between the packed walls of things when he throws a fat money clip that
lands squarely on the counter.
He had promised to buy the dress. And he'd gotten a cane out of the deal.
[ Running toward the back. Pulling Molly along if he has to. Dexterity + Athletics. ]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (5, 8, 8, 8, 10, 10) ( success x 5 )
Flood
[ Perception + Alertness ]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 6, 8, 10) ( success x 3 )
Molly Toombs
[Run: Dex 3 + Athl 2]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 5, 9, 10) ( success x 2 )
Molly Toombs
[Perception + Alertness]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7) ( success x 2 )
Kali
The
Ranvos squeezes in the door and the incredible stream of curses is
still ongoing, switching between English, Spanish and Romany at various
times. "Shitkicking futai titlicking felching puta..."
She falls quiet a moment to check and and make sure Bo's okay, taking a
breath. The Ravnos is angry and a little scared...the latter a new
look on the vampire's face as far as her ghoul is concerned. Then she
looks over and shouts again.
"FLOOD! JESUS FUCKING A LEPER, DUDE, THERE'S FUCKING DEAD THINGS IN HERE THAT AREN'T US!"
Hey, even if she's a Masquerade breach she's gonna be a dead one soon if she isn't made aware.
Lux
Lux
can hear Kali shouting, even outside; can see, perhaps, the shadows of
those inside flickering among all the things that want-to-lure,
that-cast-their-hooks; and Lux can see light [of course she can],
so she does cross the street - drifts across it - but enters the other
alley, on the other side of that building, special mind to the lone
otherman Everyman in a suit out tonight. But once inside the alley, she
pulls out her blade, readies it by her thigh and - investigates. Peeks.
Soaks in the ambiance. Is it an entrance? Is it just a window, to
give her another perspective on these alleged
dead-but-not-dead-but-dangerous things that would make Kali so wild?
Bo
Bo
is almost lost in the moment, when the door finally opens as Molly no
longer blocks the door she pushes inside, only to stop before the racks
of old clothes and other vintage treasures. Bo has a thing for just
about anything. But old vintage stylings have never really been her
thing. That does not stop her from stepping into an aisle and examining a
dress, her hand sliding fondly down the seam of the skirt even as Flood
and Molly make a break for it out the back.
It is when Kali
screams, not in fear or panic, but in concern and exasperation that Bo
snaps out of it and finds herself holding a dress up off the rack,
setting it against her own frame.
"Blagh! Yeah..no." She says
shoving it back into the rack. "Fushia is definitely not my colour." She
turns then, looking over the racks to where Molly and Flood are
running, and she looks to Kali...THIS time she waits.
Bo
[Per+alert seein stuff!]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 5, 6, 7) ( success x 2 )
Lux
[Percept + Alert]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (2, 7, 9) ( success x 2 )
Bo
[Init +5]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (7) ( success x 1 )
Lux
[Initiative +9]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (4) ( fail )
Kali
[[Per+Alert]]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 4, 6, 10) ( success x 2 )
Kali
Init+6
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (8) ( success x 1 )
Flood
[ Init + 7 ]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (2) ( fail )
Bertram Kohl
Bertram
hears the woman shout out something that causes his brow to quirk just a
hint. Dead things that aren't us could mean anything... Zombies, or
Ghosts, or Banshees, or Mummies or... Hmm come to think of it Bertram
hasn't the slightest clue what it could possibly be other than vampires.
Perhaps she meant a different group? Perhaps she meant enemies of...
Us?
It was really difficult for Bertram to pinpoint exactly what
she was trying to say without asking her, and since he was close enough
as it stood. He saw no reason to hold back. So his footsteps pulled him
closer to the group and he took the time to prepare himself, just in
case [Spending 1 Blood point to increase strength for the scene!].
When
his footsteps stopped he gave a smile to Kali and then his attention
turned towards the door. "Doors can be quite pesky things can't they?"
He asks the woman curiously, as his attention shifts towards the door
and he stares at it with a puzzled, even dumbfounded, look upon his
face.
Bertram Kohl
[Per+Alertness!]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 6, 7, 8) ( success x 3 )
Molly Toombs
[Init + 7]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (7) ( success x 1 )
Bertram Kohl
[Init! +Uhm... 6!]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (5) ( fail )
Flood
The
dress is going to be ruined. The cane might be splintered. And Molly?
She might be bruised and battered by the time they come out the other
side of these increasingly confining bookcases and confined paths. But
Flood doesn't seem to care. Armoires thrown open and stuffed with
clothing and larger statues atop pedestals covered in stone.
They
almost manage to get there way through to that dimly lit back door of
the place. A back room was better than nothing and hopefully had a way
out.
But all is for naught.
It is a straight shot from the
front to the back of that building and when he throws open that door and
he does indeed shoot them through as the Ravnos and her ghoul enter
Well, that's what Kali must have been shouting about.
Kali
and Bo and perhaps even Bertrand who have squeezed through that front
door Molly had tried, but failed, to throw shut before Flood had swept
her of and away.
Away to this fate, which they can see, which even
Lux can see from that window she'd had the presence of mind to creep
around the alleyway and spy through.
Their is another light. A lone candle. What it shows is nothing any could have expected in a place like this.
Except of course for Kali. She'd tried to warn them.
It's not the man that's dead.
It's
everything else. Everything in that back room. It has all the tinkering
and restoration equipment that they might've expected in a place like
this. Along with stretching skin in frames like tanning leather. Along
with the bone saws and hanging dead bodies, still and slowly being
drained of blood onto books and vases and basins, all manner of vessel,
on the floor. The lines drawn on the floor, not in chalk, but in bits of
burnt finger on the cement. His mouth is moving and moving and he's not
whispering, he looks to be shouting.
Except for there is no sound.
He must be talking to himself.
Or someplace else.
The place shudders. The very bookcases to. The door closes and he looks up and smiles.
"You are not the guests that I expected," he says in a thick Eastern European accent. Maybe it's Czech? Or Romanian?
The smile goes away.
It's impossible.
Well, they've probably all learned that many things are possible.
The
statue, a nude woman posing with grapes they'd just run past, lunges
for Flood. A chair - yes, a wingback - is enlivened like some sickening
Fantasia. It goes for Kali. One of the armoires tips forward, its doors
snapping forward even as it spits forth clothes and jackets to try and
stifle Bertram.
And Lux?
Well, she'd had the good sense to
stay outside, but she's at that promised land turned Hell's back door.
At its window, with its drawn curtain, and through a sliver she can see
the same foul magic this man - this man who seems to breathe, seems to
live even as he harnesses and unleashes the power of others' death -
conjures forth.
Bo
Theres a creepy dude, theres a
creepy dude whos muttering crap, worse, theres a creepy dude whos making
the furniture come to life and attack the others. Worst of all? He is
insane enough to make a wingback, a wingback of all things come to life
and attack Kali.
Bo is fairly certain Kali will be ok on her own,
but it won't be long before the whole place is alive...and then they
were screwed. Pulling a flip blade knife from that hidden pocket in her
skirt Bo dashes into the back...shes not even really thinking about it
when she goes to stab the guy. Its about saving Kali, and everyone else.
Blood on her hands would be something she thought about afterwards.
[Bo Declare: Close and Stabbity]
[Dex+Melee]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10) ( success x 2 )
Bo
[Damage]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 6, 7) ( success x 2 )
Kali
Kali
hates blood wizards. Really, her opinion of the Tremere is nearly as
low as the Sabbat. Fucking wizards and their oogly-boogly magic;
usurpers of power that supposedly ate their way into the Camarilla and
yet somehow always manage to get more respect than she does no matter
what she tries. And Giovanni aren't much better.
Fucking magic.
It's just another way for monsters to cheat their way into the power
that should be hers. This guy may not be any of those, but he's still
something foul and sick and it's not quite them. It's death magic, and
it's left the taste of a corpse's taint in her mouth. And by taint, she
means that part of the body. And no, she doesn't know what a corpse
tastes like there, but she imagines it's about this taste.
It's a fucking chair. Sure, it can stake her, but she has a better idea.
She
takes aim at the Necromancer's noggin. (Necromancer's Noggin is the
name of my Black Sabbath cover band.) And the gun roars to life.
[[1 BP to Dex. Dex+Firearms, diff 8 for headshot. Spec: Heavy Handguns]]
Dice: 8 d10 TN8 (5, 5, 5, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9) ( success x 5 ) [WP]
Molly Toombs
Her
shoulder bumped heavily into the jutting corner of a new bookshelf that
they passed as they ran, and her ankle spasmed a moment's worth of
white pain when she threatened to rolled it but managed to prevent a
sprain anyways, this done in one particular moment where Flood had
jerked her forward faster than her feet could manage to keep up.
They
made it into the back, but stopped all at once, Molly stumbling into
Flood's back to do so. She made an effort to right herself, peel
herself away, but was halted when her eyes finally registered what was
in the room they now stood within.
Skin was stretched on tanning
racks, blood was everywhere, draining into and all over things. What
color had worked its way back into her cheeks drained out once more, and
she nearly fainted on the spot. Her eyes threatened to roll, to reject
the image, but the cold body in front of her, the rush of bodies behind
her, and the strange man speaking in the room (what the hell kind of a
monster is this--) all forced her to clamp back down on the bit of
reality and refocus.
She grasped Flood's suit jacket, kept herself
near. He was staring hard at the man, and didn't quite seem to notice
soon enough that the statue of the woman was charging them full speed.
Molly could have bailed alone, could have pushed herself away from Flood
and used that moment as an escape from everything happening.
But, instead, she dragged Flood out of the charging statue's way along with her.
[Dodge, I suppose?]
Kali
[[Damage]]
Dice: 10 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 8 )
Bertram Kohl
Bertram
sighs when he catches sight of the strange situation they've gotten
themselves into. What, precisely does this gain anyone to begin with?
Why were they in here? What did they hope to accomplish? What were they
hoping to gain from walking into this strange place? In the end there
probably would be no answer. Bertram, however, did decide to follow
these strangers into a building not knowing what he might find inside.
So
when what he finds inside is this strange dead thing and his menagerie
of assault furniture, he shakes his head and sighs to himself. "You did
ask for this Bertram..." He says as the Armoire comes at him like a
rabid jackal vomiting forth clothing in an attempt at distracting him.
Unfortunately for that Armoire... It was only made of wood, and that
meant it was easily broken!
[-1 Blood into Potence, I guess Punching the damn Armoire in the... Armoire! Dex+Celerity+Brawl]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 4, 10) ( success x 1 )
Bertram Kohl
[Str (Currently +1 +2 Auto Successes from Potence]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (1, 6, 9) ( success x 2 )
Lux
Lux is a creature of passion and
calculation; for instance, here are things she is calculating. 1.
Whether or not there's anything valuable in the shop, or pretty, or
useful, worth stealing now. 2. Whether or not this is something that
connects to those Warlocks. 3. What in the fuck what in the fuck what in
the fuck! Lux is not inured to the sight of bodies, bleeding out like
that; of sinew stretched and skin tautened, of a grotesque abbattoir
surrounding some occult center, 4. Oh, if Kali is aiming her gun at the
-- mortal? -- creature's head, look at him and all his mess illumined
like a Vermeer painting -- and if Lux is standing here, oh! Yes, all
right: press to the side right there, but still look inside as certain
members of the motley crew get attacked by furnishings. 5. Do not
attempt to steal that statue or that armoire.
Molly Toombs
[Dexterity 3 + Athletics 2]
Dice: 5 d10 TN7 (1, 2, 4, 6, 10) ( success x 2 ) [WP]
Flood
[ Statue's attack ]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (2, 10, 10) ( success x 2 )
Flood
If
that armoire were an inexplicably floating brick filled with coins and
Bertram with a brother by the surname of Mario this would make a lot
more sense, but it wouldn't be as impressive, the way his hand punches
through the back of that still-snapping armoire that swallows him only
to emerge with it quieted and still from its back end.
Filling the
room with a familiar scent. The rich cherry of its finish is not as
natural as it seems upon first inspection - because, let's face it,
Bertram is not here to shop. But the reason it is so rich is plain. The
scent of dried blood rubbed into the grain.
If that wingback chair
were on Pee-Wee Herman's show it probably wouldn't... Oh, yes, closer
it's visible there that the upholstery is held fast with human teeth,
revealing itself as it claps and bites toward her.
And that
statue? Well, the plaster cracks as it moves and lunges at them, and
Molly for one gets a familiar scene. The reason it is such an ivory
white. Similar to when she'd smelled a bone saw used while assisting a
surgeon.
But Kali raises her gun with singular purpose and Bo advances with as much deliberate lethality.
They
might have thought this a work of infernalist vampires, those undead
amongst them at least, but he falls with the ease of a human and when
Flood stands up and brushes himself off...
Well, at least the cane
isn't broken and at least the dress isn't torn. He looks to Molly,
having really done nothing to contribute to this settling of conflict.
And then he notices...
Touches his cuff...
"You tore off one of my buttons," raising it to inspect the threads before looking up at her.
"Was that really necessary?" Turning to grab his money from the counter, and then up at Kali.
"I
think next time I'll trust you," though he's staring at that gun,
wondering if it's going to be leveled on him next, cane still in hand,
the dress now as much as he has for a shield to ward off the fierce
beast that is Ravnos, only taking in Bertram in his periphery.
Kali
Vampires
have scoffed at Kali walking around with a gun. They say that it's
silly for her to rely on a firearm in the middle of a war between two
sects of the undead. Kali always just smiles and is
uncharacteristically silent. Let them think she carries a useless toy.
She knows the truth...and tonight, so do the others in the room.
Sure, the man was human and alive (emphasis: WAS). But a bullet to the brain fells anything.
She
smirks a little bit at Flood when he says he'll trust her next time.
"Can you say that into a recording advice for future reference?" The
gun hasn't pointed at Flood, but neither has it entirely lowered because
at the moment, he's closer to her ghoul than she is. "Oh Sister
Switchblade...come on over here, babe."
She's aware of Bertram, of course. She's keeping him in her periphery, but her attention's on Flood.
"We
may be on opposite sides, but some shit goes beyond the war, Flood.
You and I both know that." She cocks her head to the side, observing
him with a curious expression. There's a bit of enigma in her eyes and a
touch of a hard edge she doesn't normally show. Her expression...it's
not quite human as she lets the monster out just a touch.
"I'm not gonna say you owe me. That wouldn't be fair. Just don't forget this, sweetie. Cool?"
Bo
Bo
had moved forward so fast she hadn't even noticed. She'd wielded that
blade inelegantly, it not being her normal sort of blade, but she'd
managed to sink it into the man none the less....but then the man's
head...well his head is cored out by Kali's singular bullet, and such
actions never leave those nearby spotless. So the man's head gives way
to the bullet, and particulate sprays behind him, and some infront...so
Bo, in her bravery gets a face full of gore for her efforts.
That
blast of blood and bone and flesh snaps her out of it, snaps her out of
that immediate need to protect and save Kali. She looks about then,
really getting a moment to examine the stretched skins and dead bodies,
the ground bone. She also gets her first upclose and personal look at a
dead person, not undead..but dead, with a pulped head no less. This in
of itself makes her gorge rise...and when at last she pulls that knife
from his body and what colour that might have existed in her face drains
away completely.
But she hear's Kali's words, and so she staggers
to her feet, and makes her way to Kali, not even being careful when
bypassing Molly or Flood, the gore splattered woman isn't in shock...but
at this moment, she's certainly close.
"I think I need to go home
and burn this outfit...and bleach my skin, yep definitely the best move
right now." She asks as she starts to move for the door.
Molly Toombs
There's
a succession of loud noises, bangs and cracks and gunshots, and Molly
and Flood stumbled away from the statue that came after them. She
recognized the material it was crafted from with a sudden horrible
dread. But then, all at once, everything was still. The bookshelves
that had swayed and trembled were stationary, the furniture that had
come to attack had stopped as well.
The man was dead, and all was quiet.
Flood
pulled his arm away and commented, simply, on the fact that she'd
popped one of the buttons off his jacket when she'd tugged him out of
the way. The expression of sheer exasperation on her face collided
clumsily with horror, and she held her hands out and open in his
direction in a clear 'what the fuck, man?' gesture.
But
she said nothing. She wasn't sure she could summon words in this moment
if she tried. She looked to the two women in the room, and from them
to Bertram, and.... Oh. She stared at the other familiar face here for a
few long moments, then dropped her eyes to the floor. She didn't have
the calm to keep examining the terrible collection this place had to
share.
She would be this way, or something like it, for a time.
Quiet, pale, shaken, and just waiting for the opportunity to find a way
home since she's definitely missed the bus by now.
Bertram Kohl
Bertram
was rather annoyed by the entire thing. The way the thing engulfs him,
the way his hand simply punches through the back, the smell of blood in
the paint causing him to draw in the scent slowly as he takes the time
to smash the thing apart with startling ease, despite his otherwise
slender frame.
A sigh pushes past his lips and he glances down at
the remnants of his former nemesis, crumbled and splintered before him.
"There's not much of a point in making a lesson out of an Armoire now is
there?" He asks with a look of annoyance on his face. He wasn't really
speaking to anyone in general, but he turns soon enough to look in the
direction of Kali, and Bo, and Molly, and Flood...
Quite a
collection of interesting people gathered here isn't there? "Bertram..."
He notes as his hand moves outwards in the direction of all the others
gathered here. "And you've no need to thank me. That Armoire got what
was coming to it." He adds in a dry tone that hinted at an attempt at
making a joke.
He took the time to straighten his tie and smile to
the others present before offering a smile and a nod of his head in
Molly's direction when he finally spots the woman. A greeting, though he
says nothing more in her direction. Simply a smile and a nod.
Flood
Bertram's
name is familiar to Flood. He can probably tell in the way he nods and
smiles, having a distant brother on his team, while the whole time he's
still staring down Kali and that gun.
Even as Bo slips past, even as Molly is beside him and things are sinking in and all she can manage is a gesticulation.
And
finally it's like that smile is also meant for Kali. It's a subtle, but
discernible shift, and he nods again. This time that's meant for Kali
too.
"Yeah. Grab your 35 mm and I'll put on a Hell of a show,"
beginning with a joke, but then more serious again. "I'll remember it,
doll face," and he looks to Molly, an arm out to usher her forward if
she will allow it, finally a glance back up at Bertram as he does so.
"Let's meet at midnight mass," because the other Cainite would know what that means. "I'm getting this one home."
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