Lola Hawkes
It isn't often that Lola Hawkes finds her
way into the downtown district of Denver. The rare occasions that she
did, it was always on business. It was when she was patrolling while
the Spire Sept was crumbling within its conference rooms. It was when
she needed to have a conversation. Her cousin lived in the artsier
Sante Fe neighborhood, and Lola would travel straight there from the
freeway when she sometimes paid him visits.
That's not where she
was coming from today, though. Lola had been visiting 1999 Broadway.
She was looking for her mate. The last she'd seen him they were on the
Pacific coast on New Year's Eve. He was headed north to spread word of
the Pit to one last Sept, and he should have been back by January 2nd at
the latest.
That was five days ago. She hasn't had a text, a
phone call, or anything of that nature. Now, Lola wasn't new to this
world. She understood that he could be held up on some task, or he may
have gotten sidetracked upholding the Litany by chasing Wyrmlings where
they've sprung up before him. She knew better than to immediately
assume the worst.
But all the same, she was walking up the street,
away from the tall skyscraper that housed a Sept she still didn't know
Celduin had pledged loyalty to. Her hands were jammed into the pockets
of her canvas coat and her head was slightly down, eyes only
half-focused and barely paying attention to where she was going. No one
she'd found at the Sept had heard from Hector. Neither had Tamsin when
she'd texted her this morning. Lola's thoughts were in other places
than the world in which she walked.
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
Milton
was downtown... Posing. The secret to being a hero is to know how to
properly pose at the right moment. There's the "I ain't no hero!" pose,
in which our hero simply shrugs it off like whatever he just did, didn't
matter in the slightest! There's the "I got this" pose, where our Hero
leaps forward to place himself between the innocents and some potential
threat! There's the "Trust me, you don't wanna mess with me!" pose,
where the hero gazes warningly at the enemy in order to convince them
that whatever they are about to do is not in their best interest... And
of course, let's not forget the "I am way too fuckin' cool to look at
that explosion!" walk, which is less a pose and more a state of mind.
At
this point Milton has reached that state of mind wherein he gives
absolutely no fucks about the people on the street staring on in shock
at the strange man who has been standing around in strange positions on
the street for no apparent reason. Milton, however, is a professional
and he can't allow himself to be distracted by outsiders who cannot
possibly understand the pressures that come with being a fuckin' hero.
Like a zen master Milton must empty his mind of all distractions and
become the total fucking badass the world needs him to be!
He
doesn't seem to hear the honking behind him on the street as he struts
confidently away from the imagined explosion. The shock wave alone
shatters glass, and topples cars behind him, sends people flying, and
yet all it seems to do is lightly muss our hero's hair. The cape he
wears, yeah he's wearing a fuckin' cape, you got a problem with that?
The cape he wears whips about him, adding an air of mystery to the
masked man blocking traffic downtown, well... Thick glasses are like a
mask!
Of course, a hero's work is never done, and he finds himself
pausing to catch notice of the lovely Miss Hawkes, whose damp hair
whips about her face as she makes her way down the street. The sweat
upon her brow glistens in the moonlight, as she races towards (casually
walks in the direction of) our hero. No doubt she saw him in action and
has come to finally confess her love for him, and admit what a total ass
that other guy was, and ponder what she ever saw in him in the first
place!
Milton knows how this game is played, and his smile only
grows as his eyes look away, pretending not to even notice the kin,
after all us heroes can't be expected to just wait around for our love
interest to finally take notice! We've got people to save, and shit to
do!
The honking of car horns, and the stares he gets are doubtless
the fanfare of his adoring public. He can hear Beethoven's ode to joy
in the distance, growing louder, no doubt as a parade approaches to
celebrate his victory (he turns up the volume on his iPod)... Yes stand
proudly Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye for tonight is the night your hard work and
diligence finally pays off!
Keisha
Keisha has
aligned herself with Cold Crescent, even if she's not entirely
comfortable about it. And don't get me wrong; she's still not
comfortable with it. She kinda of hates the place, but kind of loves it
too. You get those complications when you have the kind of experiences
that the Child of Gaia has had in the confines of that building. And
either way, she knows that she is tied to the sept by something deeper
that love or hate. She knows (or at least believes) that she is tied to
the place by fate.
But that's not why she's here. She doesn't
need to be heading to or conducting Cold Crescent business to be in
downtown Denver. She is a student after all, and school is back in
session. And she does her best studying when she's not hungry. So it
was off to the vegetarian place around the corner from where she's just
leaving, one of the few places. Yes, vegetarian. That's just the way
it is.
And she is turning around the corner now, when she sees
Milton. He sticks out, what with the cape and all. And that's why
Keisha stops, and stares from her spot on the corner, taking a slight
lean on her staff.
"Fuckin' really?" It's mostly murmured to herself, but not entirely.
Lola Hawkes
No
matter how many worlds away Lola may have been in her mind, it was
impossible not to notice the chorus of car horns punctuated with angry
shouts up ahead. Lola's eyes came back into focus, and she lifted her
head. Eyes cast about for a second, but only that, for the scene up
ahead was impossible to miss.
The traffic stretched back for quite
a ways. Milton was walking along the direct middle of the street, all
but toeing the line between the two lanes. He seemed downright
oblivious to the scene behind him, caught up in his own world not unlike
Lola had been, but apparently determined to remain there himself.
Lola
didn't notice Keisha just yet. Instead, she glanced both directions
before cutting out into the street and walking up to Milton. She didn't
look angry or ready to seize or strike him. If anything, she looked
exasperated-- exhausted, even, but resolved and strong.
"Milton,"
she started, and her tone of voice matched her face. She reached for
him, but wasn't harsh enough to be 'seizing' when she took him by the
upper arm and steered him out of the street. If he hadn't started to
remove his earbuds when she approached him, she flipped one out of his
ear for him just before taking hold of him. "What the everloving fuck
are you doing?"
brick
Cold cloudy nights like this
give the city the impression of even the buildings huddling together
for warmth. Sidewalks hemmed in by unmelted snow and the sluicing of
passing car tires over salt and water do little to make the walk more
pleasant.
Capes help. Most people are not wearing capes though.
They are however giving the young man wearing the cape side-eye as he
holds up traffic strutting down the street like a movie camera is zoomed
in on him.
Elsewhere in the country a polar vortex is sending
droves of citizens inside and keeping them there. Here in Denver the
night is no colder than it ever is in January. The day of the week has
the streets largely deserted though a few places are still open. A few
other places will stay open all night. Neon lights spill out onto the
sidewalk and the colors of the traffic signals stain the intersections
as they change.
Aside from Milton's one-man runway show tonight is a normal night. They always start out that way.
As Lola guides the Ragabash out of the road and Keisha watches a sound drifts out of a nearby alleyway.
[errybody roll perception + alertness!]
Keisha
[[Per+Alert Spec: Uncanny Instincts]]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (4, 4, 6, 6, 7, 9) ( success x 4 )
Lola Hawkes
[Perception 3 + Alertness 2]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 4, 5, 9) ( success x 1 )
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
[Per+Alertness]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 6, 8, 9) ( success x 3 )
brick
A baby is crying.
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
Somewhere
at this point Milton realizes it's really fucking cold. "Jesus Christ!
When did it get so cold?" He asks himself, as his arms slip around him
for warmth and he looks around at all the cars as if he was confused as
to what was going on. "What are you looking at?" He asks the old man
seated in the car behind him, honking away.
"What the fuck is
wrong with people?" He asks as he hops onto the sidewalk and his
attention goes back to Lola, who is speaking to him. "What?" He asks
loudly and his hand lifts to pull one of the earbuds out of his ear.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you?" He then pauses as he hears
something, it was a cloudy sound, it was something he couldn't entirely
make out but he caught it no less. "Did you see where I parked my car?"
He asks the question and looks around confused for a moment or two.
"You
hear that?" He asks Lola as his attention moves towards a nearby alley,
and his smile lifts. "Someone, somewhere, is in trouble!" He says with a
bright grin on his face.
He catches sight of Kiesha and he nods
his head in her direction. "S'up?" He asks, flashing what might have
been a gang sign in her direction, but might have been something he made
up just as easily. He didn't expect a non-Walker to truly get what it's
like out here on the street in the first place!
Lola Hawkes
Thankfully,
Milton was already making progress toward the sidewalk when Lola caught
up with him. She didn't need to actually haul him to get him to move,
and soon as he'd found the sidewalk he stopped shouting and tugged his
earbuds from his ears. He'd asked her to repeat herself, and she'd
started.
"I was askin' what the--."
But he cut her off to
ask if she'd heard something. A scowl creased between her eyebrows, and
for a second she looked ready to give him a shove at the shoulder and
give him hell. She was stopped from actually carrying out any of these
by the sounds that she was, apparently, hearing as well.
She
frowned again, but differently now than when she had before. She turned
about, toward the alley that lay between two sleepy, dirty, icy
buildings. Milton gestured to someone, and Lola turned to spy Keisha.
She didn't wave or gesture, but did catch the Child of Gaia's eye, hold
eye contact, and nod her head to show her greeting. Not out of dislike
or anything of that sort-- simply, respect and acknowledgement together.
True
to her own form and nature, Lola didn't wait to touch base with either
of the two Garou on the street. Instead, with her hands in her pockets
still, she stalked her way toward the alley.
Keisha
She
frowns a little bit as she hears the sounds, and she's already looking
over toward the alleyway when Milton comes over and says S'up?. She looks at him and gives him an expression that looks...beyond irritated.
"You're as gangsta as I am Navy Seal trained, Milton. Jesus." She shakes her head and looks ahead.
"Sounds
like a baby." And she steps forward to investigate, because Christ
forbid she's letting Milton get close to a baby. And she tries to get
in front of Lola as well.
brick
The alleyway is
dark and poorly lit and rather than cutting straight from one side of
the block to the other it winds along the backside of several businesses
before cutting back the direction they came and running up against an
eight-foot-high wrought-iron fence cluttered with garage totes and a
fire escape that goes up several stories.
If the three could see
the alleyway from overhead they would note that it has a lower-case n
formation. They do not need to go as far as the garbage totes and the
fire escape. The sound is coming from the longer stretch between the
alleyway's entrance and the non-exit.
None of the doors that lead
into the alleyway from the businesses' backsides are open and as the
trio follows the sound of the crying they cannot easily find a door
behind which the cries emanate.
Overhead the moon is a fattening half but they can barely see Her face through the winter clouds.
The
sound before was that of an unhappy infant. Something makes the infant
start to screech now. Its pain and terror cut through them like a cold
breeze.
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
He made his way
towards the Alley, having nothing to yet say to Lola, however he
couldn't help but respond to Lola. "Sheeeeiiiit... I've been listenin'
to Eminem since I was in grade school! It doesn't get more gangsta than
that! Though, if you ask me that guy needs to tone shit down a bit...
Women don't deserve to be talked like that, shit, they've got enough
problems as it is these days they don't need to get trash talked by
some..." He pauses and looks towards the alley.
"You were in the
Navy Seals?" He asks her with surprise on his face. "How'd you manage
that? I mean, gettin' into the military? They just let you in? Cause
normally those navy recruiters just sit there and beg me to leave until
they piss themselves in fear. I didn't know we could join the Navy!
Shit... Sign me up!"
He fiddles with his iPod once more and plugs his second earbud in and soon enough he's bobbing his head along.
™In the navy,
you can sail the seven seas,
in the navy
you can put your mind at ease...™
Though his voice it little more than a mumble as he joins both women in the investigation.
"We
should let Lola handle this!" He decides to suggest, besides she's
gonna need the practice right? Something tells him the two garou aren't
gonna be able to do all that much to help a crying baby!
Keisha
"Milton, shut the fuc--"
And
that is literally all that she gets out before she hears the screech
and she's taking off running toward the sound, keeping alert to see get a
sense of exactly where the sound is coming from.
[[Per+PU, Uncanny Inst]]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (3, 5, 8, 8, 8) ( success x 3 )
Lola Hawkes
When
the three converged at the mouth of the alley, Keisha moved to be out
in front of Milton and Lola both. Perhaps a year ago or so, Lola would
have seen a challenge in the gesture and fought against it. She would
have brought hellfire to the topic if not relented to immediately. The
Lola of today, though, had toned that down some. If a Garou wanted to
take the front, she would let them.
Instead she found herself
walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Milton. She thanked herself for the
decision when he merrily yapped at the back of Keisha's head, for she
could cuff the Ragabash in his skull if he got too out of hand. He
hadn't crossed that line yet, in Lola's opinion, and probably wouldn't
truth be told. It was still fun, in the meantime, to just watch the
Child of Gaia play peace against Milton's well intentioned chatter.
The
baby's crying was growing more distinct, and the humor she was finding
in Milton and Keisha's interaction faded quick and was replaced with a
frown. Milton suggested Lola handle it, and she muttered: "Boy, I'm
about to," and hiked up the back of her coat to reach her holster.
Then
the crying turned to terrified, pained screaming, and Lola jerked into
action quick as a startled animal would flee a field. Seamless, she
raced off along after Keisha, nipping at the Coggie's heels if not
meeting and overcoming her in the charge.
Her revolver was drawn from where it rested under coat and (elastic) waistband.
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
He
watches Kiesha take off and he smiles just a bit. "Uh oh! Looks like
trouble! I should hide!" He says with a finger held up as the women
charge bravely off to their deaths.
Someone here has to be smart
enough not to blindly charge into battle. Milton, he'll keep to the
shadows, as as the others make their way towards the sound Milton slowly
shuffles his way behind them, part dancing and part concentrating...
Music helped him channel his gifts.
[Activating Blur of the Milky eye...
But I forget what I roll so one sec!]
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
[Man+Stealth!]
Dice: 5 d10 TN8 (2, 3, 6, 7, 9) ( success x 1 )
brick
Keisha's
ears lead her and Lola to the wall on their left. To their right sits
the darkened back alley with its garbage totes. Light comes in through
the wrought-iron fencing and they can hear rats skittering around but
the whole of their attention is taken up by the keening of an upset
baby.
Not enough light to find something small and subtle but
they're looking for the baby and a wall is in the way. They may be able
to find a weak spot but no door leads directly into the space from
whence the cries originate.
And then it stops.
Keisha
She has no possible idea what is going on so she extends her perception across the Gauntlet as she murmurs "Looking across."
Dice: 6 d10 TN7 (1, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 5 )
brick
[pay no attention to this roll]
Dice: 6 d10 TN7 (3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10) ( success x 2 )
Lola Hawkes
The
sound comes from behind a wall that offers no doors or easy access that
Lola can locate. For this, she scowled heavily and darted her eyes
around -- first hunting for windows or other accesses on the first
floor, and then looking to see what options there were for access on the
second floor.
Keisha mentioned that she would be looking across,
and Lola glanced to her briefly, nodded, and looked back the way that
they'd come from.
"Fuckin' Milton lost us," Lola informed the
Theurge, and stepped back a couple steps, up the path they hadn't gone
yet, toward the fence. This was to give herself a better vantage point
while searching for an entrance.
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
Milton
wanders, quietly now, behind the other garou. The Non-Urrah had this
silly way of charging blindly into whatever situation they were in
without the slightest hint of forethought! This was the city, this was
the realm of the Urrah, and Milton let them get a little distance and
attract whomever was luring them into the alley while he fell back a
little and casually begin to sneak up on the scene.
Milton removed
the earbuds and decided he would take his time as he began
investigating the alley. Looking up, and around, and beginning to
formulate the opinion that this was, in fact, a trap that they had just
allowed themselves to walk into.
Come on, a baby in an alley? Of
course the Garou were gonna respond to that shit! They're not gonna just
leave a baby to die in the cold! Of course that meant that any second
now a buncha dudes with assault rifles were gonna open fire or some shit
and so Milton moved into the shadows, who knows... Maybe he could catch
'em by surprise?
[I'ma stealth! Difficulty to find me is +1 Spending a WP cause we're gonna die unless I hide!]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 8, 8, 10) ( success x 4 ) [WP]
Keisha
She blinks, shakes it off and returns her vision back to this world. She takes a step back and readies her staff.
"Incoming...humanoid monster thing."
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
Here
is the fun part, the part where the Glasswalker gets to show off why
this is their domain! He heard Kiesha's comment, but he was already
pretty sure of what was up, it's part of why he was already keeping
hidden... But this also allowed him to have a little fun.
He
reached into his coat to pull out the weapon he intended to finally put
to use and his smile grew as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a
.44 Magnum round with strange markings upon it. He kissed the bullet
once, chambered it, and prepared to teach a monster a fuckin' lesson!
[-1 Gnosis to activate "The Slug" Mostly just keeping hidden otherwise!]
Lola Hawkes
Keisha
came back into this world swaying to move, and then falling back into a
readied position, grip tighter on her staff. Lola looked over to her
and furrowed her brow. She looked at the gun in her hand, to the iron
wrought fence to her left, to the alleyway they'd come from.
"Jesus
fuck," she growled to herself, and jammed the revolver back into its
holster. She then explained hastily to Keisha: "Gunfire'll draw too
much attention, especially after the shit Milton pulled backing traffic
up that bad, there's probably cops not too far off already.
"Wherever Milton's ass went," she said a little louder, "I'm sure he's got your back."
With
that, she started up the alley the way they'd come from. "I'm going
around to the other side to find a way in!" And, with that, the one
that no one thought they'd live to see flee from the promise of combat
turned and left those with claws to do the bloody work.
brick
Faster than they could have blinked their eyes the two incongruous Garou take down the oil-skinned creature.
The
first attack catches it upside the head and while it does not stun it
the creature does look momentarily confused. As if it cannot comprehend a
creature as large as the one before it using a staff to bean it so
soundly. The blow does more damage than she could bring herself to do
with her claws. The second strike from the staff misses entirely but it
does distract the creature long enough for Pokes the Mind's Eye to get
behind it.
And shoot it in the back of the head at point-blank range.
Ballistics
being what they are the bullet ricochets against the inside of the
creature's skull and goes veering up and off rather than going straight
through and lodging itself in Still Waters' stomach. She is however
covered in a fine spray of blood and brains despite not being the one to
deal the killing blow.
Close as he was stood to the creature the
spark from the weapon catches the fumes come off its skin. They cannot
smell anything rank but as it falls the headless body goes up in flames.
If they had not taken it down when they did they can assume and rightly
so that it would have immolated of its own accord.
That takes care of that.
Keisha
She
has no idea that Milton is there. And thus she has no idea that there
will be wounds popping up anywhere on the creature that she did not
inflict.
This means that she is completely surprised by the spray
of living being that spatters her and blinks as if falls down. Moments
later, she's back down into homid form, still shocked and bloody.
"What...the..."
She blinks twice, spits the nasty shit out of her mouth. "Oh. Oh,
HELL no. You did NOT just make me swallow brains. Do you KNOW the last
time I had anything remotely close to living being in my stomach?"
She
doesn't quite realize what she just left herself wide open for. And
bless her for it, but she's in angry attitude mode. Patent pending, her
mother.
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
He gets a smile on his face, proud
little thing that he was, and he takes the time to put the weapon away.
This was, well... It was Milton's first real Kill since he came to this
place, and it was a rather impressive one, at least that's how he saw
it.
Once the firearm was away he approached Keisha curiously, she
was bloody, he wanted to be sure she was alright, wasn't dying. "You
alright?" He asks her calmly as he looks down at the thing with a sigh.
There was a frown as he looks at the thing.
"You see that?" He
asks as he kneels by the burning shit. "That was some pretty gangsta
shit if I say so myself!' He says with just a little hint of pride and
just as much teasing in his voice. No he might not be a gangsta, he was a
middle class white boy but he was Garou, and Garou deal with some shit
that would make your average gangsta, your average soldier, piss his
pants!
He sighs. "Shit, we gotta get you cleaned up." He says to Kiesha. "Hopefully... That was the only one!"
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
"We
all break the litany a little now and again! It's cool! So you ate a
little human! I won't tell if you don't tell!" He says back, a charming
little wink is even presented to the Child-of-Gaia.
brick
In
the silence punctuated only by the crackling of weak fire and Keisha
and Milton's bickering they cannot hear the infant-voice winding itself
up again. Fallen silent as it had moments earlier they have not heard it
during the last several minutes. Aside from the weak spot in the wall
and the hole torn in the Gauntlet they have found no way to the other
side of the dirty brick wall through which they heard the noise.
Lola
has managed to return to the sidewalk with the intent to swing around
the block to try and find the source of the noise. She has reached the
corner and turned north by the time the fight has ended. She may have
registered the subsonic boom that came from Milton's weapon discharging.
She may not have. She is listening intently for the crying to come
again.
Navigating in a city is not the same as orienteering
through the woods but the principles are the same. Use the sky and
ambient landmarks. Keep track of your cardinal directions. Listen for
water and other animals.
While the Garou decide what their next
move is going to be Lola comes upon what appears to be a pawn shop. Or
was a pawn shop. Its display windows have been reinforced with boards
and no wares or hours of operation grace them. A metal security door is
drawn and padlocked in front of the glass front door.
Nearly three
minutes after the Wretched pushed through the Gauntlet to attack them
they hear the crying again. Low and mournful in its insistence. Like it
knows they're still there and can't sort out why they haven't rescued it
yet.
Lola Hawkes
The Kinswoman had taken off
running just before the beast, whatever it may be, ripped its way
through the space between worlds to hurl itself at Keisha. Lola would
have felt a little guilty leaving the Child of Gaia Theurge there to
fight for herself, but she was a Garou and could turn to claws and teeth
to save her life if she needed to. Plus, Lola had seen her in action
with her staff and found her to be capable enough.
There's also
the fact that Lola was pretty sure that wherever Milton had gone off to,
it couldn't be far. He was a Ragabash, they got lost track of all the
time. That was their job, after all.
She goes out the way they
came and back onto the sidewalk, then out and around on the sidewalk to
find the other walls to the building that she and Keisha were positive
they'd heard the squalling of an infant coming from. She'd heard the
gunshot and figured that Milton must have been lurking nearby after
all. So much for her plan not to draw attention. But, at least they
were Garou. They could sidestep if they had to. Lola kept on, around
the corner, until she found the front of the building.
The mewling
sounds of a miserable infant had started up again, now a sound in her
ears like a radio in the distance after being lost in the woods -- soft,
consistent, and honed in upon. It didn't tear her up inside or drive
her mad like some may expect would be the reaction from a woman carrying
life-- that whe would be rendered particularly wounded by the sound of
an infant in distress thanks to the hormones adjusting and fluxuating
through her bloodstream.
Rather than rattling at the security door
and padlock, Lola instead just put her hands on her hips and stepped
back from the front of the pawn shop to look the front of the building
over. Maybe she could climb in through a window if she got decent
leverage standing on something, like that security gate?
Keisha Ballard
Three
minutes from Milton's jokes, they'll be hearing crying again. There's
still three minutes to go, and the pacifist vegetarian who was
essentially used as bait and them sprayed with blood from someone who is
joking about her eating human flesh is not pleased. Which is to say
that her Rage, weak as it is, spikes considerably as she bristles at the
Ragabash.
"You know what, Milton? Fuck you. You can deal with
this clean-up. You killed it, it isn't my fucking problem. And if you
even joke that I ate human again, I'm going to beat you into god-damned
coma. That's not against my vow, you wannabe wigger."
And yes,
she was in the process of walking off and leaving him there when the
sound of the infant wailing pops up again. Which makes her stop, set
her jaw.
"Goddess. Dammit."
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
"Victory
has been achieved! Gaia's champions stood against the darkness and once
more emerged... Uhm... Victorious! If not for the quick thinking of the
handsome, charming, and brilliant new moon known to the nation as
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye this victory could have just as easily been a
crushing defeat, but our hero refuses to allow the Wyrm even one single
victory, not so long as blood still flows in his veins!" Milton says as
he stands proudly over the corpse, his cape wasn't flowing but it was
clearly pushed out for emphasis as he shows off his best side.
Yes
ladies and... Ladies, this right here is what it's all about for Milton
Kegler, saving a damsel in distress, waiting patiently for her to admit
her undying love for him. Of course, he will have to turn her down,
because he knows in his heart of hearts that it can never truly be!
Keisha and Milton's children would be abominations, pariah's among the
garou whose only saving grace was knowing they were the children of the
nation's most important and powerful ragabash!
"Besides, his heart
already belongs to another! That sassy uktena kin just doesn't realize
what her heart is really feeling. Clearly it's conflicted, this is why
she lashes out at him, he understands quite well, she insults him
because deep down inside she is afraid to admit what she truly feels but
one..." He breaks his pose and looks around with a confused look on his
face. "Wait... Was I just saying that last part out loud?"
He
fumbles around for his ear buds, slipping one into his ear, and getting a
glowing smile on his face as his head begins bobbing.
Keisha
begins yelling and he looks back at her and nods his head as he listens
to her. He didn't understand what the problem was, the battle was won...
Blood was everywhere. This was, and always has been, the life of the
Garou.
However, the best part of his song comes up so he gives a
little grin. "Wait up wait up... This is the best part!" He says as he
slides the other earbud into place.
™ The rythm of love,
keeps me dancing on the road,
the rythm of love,
got the groove that hits the bone,
the rythm of love,
Is the something something oooh,
the rythm of love,
It's the heartbeat of my soul! ™
He
notices, however, that Kiesha is looking annoyed about something else,
and he pulls the buds out of his ear. "What now?" He pauses to look
around. Goddamn it, he's missing the song!
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
[How was his performance? Cha+Performance!]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 4, 9) ( success x 1 )
Lola Hawkes
[Dexterity 3 + Larceny 0: +1 diff for lack of ability]
Dice: 3 d10 TN7 (2, 2, 9) ( success x 1 )
Keisha Ballard
"Go home, Milton. Let the adults do their job. Call someone who has value to me if you really want."
It's about all she can say without getting in a physical fight with him. And she starts walking around.
Lola Hawkes
Her
hopes to locate a window that she could easily open on the second story
were scattered, but to be fair they weren't up too high in the first
place. After her brief survey of the building front, Lola stepped back
up to the building's front and peered at the set up with the security
gate and the padlock that kept it in place.
She had to break the
padlock to get in, and Lola's first thought was to find a tool to do
this with. Unfortunately, all she had for a tool that could pass was
her revolver, and she took too good care of her weapons to mistreat them
in such a way.
So, she stepped back again and cast her gaze up and down the sidewalk.
When
she was sure it was clear enough, she squared her balance, lifted a
foot, and stomped her foot against the padlock hard as she could,
throwing her weight into the kick and angling it to try and snap the
latch itself.
Her foot smarted and her ankle stung a little from
the maneuver, but she didn't break anything and the padlock was damaged
enough that she could finish the job unhooking it with her fingers. The
padlock itself was tucked into her coat pocket, so not to be left
obvious on the sidewalk, and she pushed the security gate open just
enough for her to get through and test the door behind it.
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
He
nods his head. "Anger management would really help." He says as he
moves to follow the Theurge, and he pulls out his iPhone to begin
looking up a number. "You might also wanna think carefully about using
the w word here in Colorado! Lot of hate associated with that word,
well... Hate's not the right word. Lot of entitled white people who
don't know the difference between racism and not being happy with their
lives! But still! I'd be careful throwin' w-bombs around like that!
Could get you sued by a pack of rich white boys!"
He does his best
to keep up with her, wondering, quite curiously, where they are going
and precisely why. Though he wasn't too worried about it at the moment.
Wherever they were going it would be fun!
brick
This
side of the block has significantly less foot traffic than the other
side but that doesn't mean Lola can't feel the eyes of the world upon
her as she starts fiddling with the padlock and then decides to use
brute force instead of patience to get the thing to relinquish its grasp
over the rusted metal door.
Keisha's voice lifts up out of the
alleyway but the phonemes are lost to distance and architecture. Muffled
by the impatient wailing of an infant. If she is heading towards the
opposite side of the block with Milton in tow the Uktena kinswoman can
hear him talking a mile a minute behind her. Refusing to do as Keisha
suggests and leave them to finish this.
No one else seems
concerned by the wailing. Kids cry. That's just a thing that they do.
It's annoying but it's not their kid. They can turn up their stereos and
drink more and it will stop being annoying.
Someone in the
distance turns up their stereo. Some blue-eyed soul song comes wafting
down the street as Lola pockets the padlock and hauls aside a metal
security door that shrieks its rusted discontent.
The crying morphs into a surprised hiccough.
Keisha Ballard
"If
you want to stay within ten feet of me and not get assaulted, shut the
fuck up. I'm not telling you again, I'll just start attacking you."
And
that is literally all she says as she is hopefully going in the same
direction as Lola is going. Her tone suggests that she isn't joking.
Seeing the kinfolk ahead she picks up the pace to catch up with her.
Lola Hawkes
Lola
can hear a stereo turn up somewhere else on the street. She vaguely
recognizes the tune that's playing but pays it no mind. She also feels
the suspicious eyes on the back of her neck and shoulders. She can hear
Keisha and Milton's voices around the corner, but Lola doesn't wait up
for them.
Time could be of the essence, for all she knew.
Or,
at least, that was the excuse she'd give if anyone tried to set her
down and lecture her about charging off into the unknown on her own. So
she didn't wait for the voices to catch up, but instead was quick about
opening the door that existed behind the security gate. The gate
itself was slid back shut, but with no lock to secure it the Garou could
follow after her with ease. Hopefully they'd figure out that they
should close the gate behind them so as not to draw so much attention,
too.
Inside, Lola pulled her revolver from her holster once more.
She was only worried about people out on the street seeing her running
about with a gun in her hand. In here, anyone that would see her she
figured would be too young to remember or old enough to understand how
not to get a bullet in their head.
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
His
eyes light up. "Right!" He says, counting the steps between Kiesha and
himself. Each stride should be at least a foot, so he uses that as a
measurement and once she is ten strides away he continues moving with
her.
The sight of Lola makes him tilt his head, he wasn't sure
what all was going on, so he uses his iPhone to start taking pictures.
Memories are important and one day they would all look back at this day
and laugh and laugh and laugh! Because...
He caught sight of Lola
pulling her weapon, and this is when he took the time to look around to
see precisely what was going on. Was there danger around? He was pretty
sure he already saved everyone!
brick
[a little present for lola
-1WP and rolling WP]
Dice: 5 d10 TN8 (4, 4, 6, 8, 10) ( success x 2 )
Keisha Ballard
She hears that digital Click-Click-Click once she gets inside and turns around, blinking at Milton with a dumbfounded expression.
"Are...are
you taking pictures of me soaked in blood as we go to investigate a
mysterious baby crying that went silent when the Wyrm attacked, then
started back up again? Like, seriously? Unbelievable. Delete all of
those. Can't wait for the next moot."
And with that, she is moving to pull the gate open and follow Lola.
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
He
smiles when he hears what she says. "Yes Sir! Right away!" He says with
a Salute, waiting until Keisha is inside and moving to follow her,
putting his iPhone away for the moment!
brick
Keisha
steps over the threshold and Milton puts away the fucking iPhone and
steps over the threshold and slides the metal gate shut behind them.
These things happen shortly after Lola steps inside the darkened and
emptied commercial building and takes a look around.
Anyone whose
eyes were not cloaked behind the Veil would see a toddler sat in its
diaper on the floor. Smeared in god knows what and left here to fend for
itself. A healthy toddler with cornsilk-blond hair and ocean-blue eyes
just so cute and helpless and coughing and crying away because no one is
coming to pick it up. All babies look the same before their parents get
ahold of them. Hard to tell its sex with Pampers maintaining its
modesty.
As soon as they're inside and can see what it is they're
dealing with those the Garou realize it isn't a human baby sitting on
the floor. It isn't a tiny cute drooling infant that needs to be picked
up and consoled and taken to a Safe Place so the police can start
finding its parents.
Keisha and Milton and Charlotte when she pops
out of the Umbra because the spirits are careening out of there fast as
they can to find someone who can come do something about this
abomination parked inside the store see something entirely different. It
doesn't serve as an immediate affront to their mental stability but no
one would blame them if they have to take a moment to absorb what it is
they're looking at.
The building's ceiling is only ten feet high
and the creature's head is nearly smashed up against it. Its arms and
legs are disproportionately short and it does not appear to be able to
walk with its swollen and glistening feet stuck straight out in front of
it. It is grotesque in its mass. Covered in boils and blisters. A
sideways mouth cut into its midsection flaps as it babbles in a language
they can't understand. That they don't want to understand.
As
they stand there the auditory distortion disappears along with the
visual. The creature is making an ululating and guttural noise that
rides the line between agony and ecstasy.
Lola, meanwhile. She
doesn't fear much. No one has ever known her to scream or cry or exhibit
anything other than determination or annoyance. But she saw something
in the seconds between pulling her revolver and Keisha coming in behind
her.
brick
That mouth in its belly opened as you
stand with your revolver drawn. Opened and opened until the entire room
disappeared inside its gullet. You can't look away or back away from it.
Hector
has been gone for almost two weeks now. No one has heard from him. His
pack assured you just this week that he was fine. He's still connected
to Fog. He'll be back. Hector's just an idiot.
Somewhere far away
and cold and dark he's alone. Lain in blood-black snow with his throat
gone and his innards spilled. One arm gone. As you watch something grabs
hold of his human ankles. They snap in its grip. And then it starts to
drag him off.
Lola Hawkes
[Willpower Check]
Dice: 6 d10 TN8 (1, 3, 4, 4, 6, 9) ( success x 1 )
Charlotte
The
gauntlet thins and then separates and then bulges, and how of the
remarkable immediacy of the half-broken world comes a girl with eyes
nearly the color of the toddler that the sightless would see, and flaxen
hair tipped in pin. The familiar pop of the gauntlet distended and
then rearranging itself into something whole, the barrier returned.
Breathing
sharp and deep, already reaching into a the messenger bag slung across
her narrowing frame, the creature takes a half-second to orient and then
reorient herself to their immediate surroundings.
The other Garou can scent her breeding in the air; it is as sharp and pungent as the promise of her madness behind it.
Lola Hawkes
Whatever it was that Lola saw inside the building, it was hard to say.
Well,
of course she saw the giant mockery of a baby, with its grotesque head
smashed up against the ceiling, with it's swollen feet and useless
little arms and filthing, rotting boils. She saw the gash in the
stomach that made a second mouth, and she heard the terrible noises that
came from it, cadenced and structured like language but nothing that
she could know of.
But when the Garou came into the room Lola was
standing still and stiff with her eyes wide and half-focused on the
wailing infant abomination in front of her. Her nostrils were flared,
her cheeks were flushing red, and tears had gone from forming in her
eyes to rolling down her cheeks, down her neck and into the collar of
her coat.
She didn't seem to notice or care about the Garou that
came in along with her. She didn't say a word to them, or to the thing
before her as she raised her revolver. Instead, she choked out a
horrible sobbing noise, bared teeth that clenched hard enough to hurt,
and lined up a shot.
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
He looks
at the monster with a puzzled look on his face and a slow grin takes
shape. "Weeping woods..." Is all he says as he looks towards Kiesha and
then moves his attention towards the creature. Something told him that
this problem was best solved in another form! Something told him this
was only the beginning!
Keisha Ballard
She looks at the thing. And then suddenly Charlotte is there. And Milton is grinning and taking another form.
And so she grips her staff and changes into Crinos, holding her staff.
brick
gerbie
+6
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (5) ( fail )
Keisha Ballard
[[Init +7]]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (4) ( fail )
Lola Hawkes
+6
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (4) ( fail )
Charlotte
Init +8 (homid)
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (2) ( fail )
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
[3+3+2=+8]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (5) ( fail )
Charlotte
Sense Wyrm
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 3, 7, 8) ( success x 2 )
brick
SPOILER ALERT: IT IS IN FACT OF THE WYRM
brick
ROUND ONE - FIGHT
milton: 13
keisha: 11
gerbie: 11
charlotte: 10
lola: 10
declare in reverse order, you maniacs
Lola Hawkes
[Splitting Actions1A. Shoot1B. Shoot again!]
Charlotte
Charlotte: Reflexive: rageshift. 1a. Bite. 1b. Bite. Rage 1. Claw.
brick
gerbie
1: HAZARDOUS HEAVE @ charlotte
Keisha Ballard
[[Rage spent]]
1a. Push Charlotte out of way of the Heave
1b: That double staff-whack thing I don't remember the name of right now from Iskakku
2: Staff thrust.
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
[2 Rage! Ima Tank this bitch! You all kill it! Shit... Don't let me die!
1a. Bite!
1R Bite!
2R Bite!]
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
[Biteybite!]
Dice: 7 d10 TN5 (3, 5, 5, 7, 8, 8, 8) ( success x 6 )
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
[Str+Hispo+2+5=12!]
Dice: 12 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 6 )
brick
[SOAK]
Dice: 6 d10 TN8 (1, 3, 6, 6, 7, 8) ( success x 1 )
Keisha Ballard
[[Attack #1: -3 for second action and then halved]]
Dice: 2 d10 TN6 (5, 9) ( success x 1 )
Keisha Ballard
[[Damage: +1 staff, -1 maneuver]]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (3, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 5 )
brick
[OW]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9) ( success x 3 )
Keisha Ballard
[[Attack #2, -3 for second action, halved]]
Dice: 2 d10 TN6 (2, 10) ( success x 2 ) [WP]
Keisha Ballard
[[Damage: +1 staff, -1 maneuver, +1 succ]]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 5, 5, 7, 7, 8, 9) ( success x 4 )
brick
[OWWW]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )
brick
[changing actions
dex + brawl: hazard breath @ MILTON +1 diff thanks a lot keisha you're so mean]
Dice: 6 d10 TN8 (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10) ( success x 1 )
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
[Soak!]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (4, 4, 5, 6, 6) ( success x 2 )
Charlotte
1a. Bite. -2
Dice: 5 d10 TN5 (1, 3, 6, 8, 10) ( success x 3 )
Charlotte
1a. Damanananananange
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 7) ( success x 1 )
brick
[that is adorable]
Dice: 6 d10 TN8 (4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 9) ( success x 1 )
Charlotte
1b. Bite
Dice: 6 d10 TN5 (1, 4, 6, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )
Charlotte
dAMAMNANANANANANANGE
Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (3, 5, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 10) ( success x 6 )
brick
[OWWWW]
Dice: 6 d10 TN8 (3, 3, 6, 7, 7, 10) ( success x 1 )
Lola Hawkes
[Shot 1: Dexterity 3 + Firearms 3, -2 dice for split, -2 diff for point blank range rules due to opponent's size]
Dice: 4 d10 TN4 (1, 4, 4, 10) ( success x 3 )
Lola Hawkes
[Damage: 5 Base + 2 Suxx]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 5, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )
brick
[OWWWWW]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 5, 6, 6, 8) ( success x 3 )
Lola Hawkes
[Shot 2: Dex 3 + Firearms 3, -3 dice for split, -2 diff for point blank range / massive opponent]
Dice: 3 d10 TN4 (1, 8, 9) ( success x 2 )
Lola Hawkes
[Damage: 5 Base + 1 Suxx]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (4, 4, 7, 7, 7, 7) ( success x 4 )
brick
[OWWWW]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9) ( success x 3 )
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
[Ima bite again!]
Dice: 7 d10 TN5 (2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 7) ( success x 3 )
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
[Damage! 2+3+2+2=9]
Dice: 9 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 7, 7) ( success x 2 )
brick
[did a window fly open?]
Dice: 6 d10 TN8 (2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 8) ( success x 2 )
Charlotte
Per + ze enigmas.
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5) ( fail )
Keisha Ballard
[[Thrust attack! Dex+Iskakku, normal diff]]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8) ( success x 5 )
Charlotte
Oer + enigmas + ancestors
Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10) ( success x 3 )
Keisha Ballard
[[Damage +1 Staff, +2 maneuver, +4 successes]]
Dice: 13 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 1, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 8, 8, 9) ( success x 4 )
brick
[AIIIYEEE]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 5, 7, 9, 10) ( success x 3 )
brick
[EVERYBODY SOAK THIS]
Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 7, 8) ( success x 2 )
Charlotte
Rage: shielding Lola
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10) ( success x 3 )
Keisha Ballard
[[Soak]]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 5, 7, 8, 9) ( success x 3 )
brick
[Actually fuck it. Everybody soak 8A.]
Charlotte
Soak.
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 4, 7, 7) ( success x 2 )
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
[Soak!]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 1, 3, 10) ( success x 1 )
brick
DAMAGE TALLY
milton: 7A, incapped
keisha: 5A
gerbie: 10A/2L/3B, dead and exploded
charlotte: 5A
lola: OK, freaking out
Lola Hawkes
Around
her the world erupted into violence. All at once three Garou-- two
Wolf Beasts and a Wolf-Man beast with its staff all attacking the
squalling, babbling, tongue-twisting abomination before them. Lola
didn't cringe or flinch back with the sudden furious movement of her
Cousins, nor did she recoil from any sort of ichor or blood that would
spray from the carnage before her.
She pulled her trigger and shot
two bullets into the massive body in the center of the room. They
landed, but were like stones thrown from a sling against a creature of
this size and endurance.
For Lola, the world was in slow motion
and clouded. Tears still ran hot down the trails the first few had made
on her cheeks, and before she had the chance to fire another shot the
circumstances changed. When there were enough tears and rends in the
flesh of the grotesque mutant baby it started to bulge and distend and
make a terrible noise. The Garou knew what was coming, and it took Lola
a half a second more to register that the thing was about to explode.
She
was slow to defend herself, but fortunately for her the valiant Silver
Fang dashed in front of her and gave her something to hunker down
behind. So Lola ducked her head and shoulders and wrapped her arms over
her head and waited for the terrible ringing in her ears to stop and
the world to stop its flurry around her.
There was injury. She
smelled the burnt fur and the blood and the cooked meat flesh, but Lola
didn't unfurl to check the damage around her. Instead, slowly, she sank
down into a crouch with her knees apart and her arms still over her
head.
She's still, quiet save for the muffled sobs coming from behind the shield her arms and elbows made.
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
"Tell
my family... I... Hate... Them... So... Much..." and with that Milton
is dead, with a little grin on his face. Well, not really dead, just
laying, lingering on the brink of death. Helpless. A pile of
cheeseburger on the floor. Delicious cheeseburger.
Keisha Ballard
She begins the process of healing people.
[Starting with Milton. Mother's Touch. -2 for Wound Penalties]]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 6) ( success x 1 )
Charlotte
The
world peels itsef apart and reforms. What happens happens to them in
seconds; in fractional seconds, in secondary splits and the wolves are
in the midst of it, torn apart and stitched together again. The Thing
is a Thing is a monstrous Thing and the taste in the back of her throat
is sharp and foul and oleaginous and the remnant sulferous promise of
what is to come. One wolf - monstrous, massive, prehistory - throws
itself in front of the human-with-the-guns and the blast takes her off
her feet, massive whitefurred body shielding the softers, slighter body
beneath.
The world is still ringing.
The first few moments after the explosion, she can do nothing more than begin to find her feet.
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
Milton's
eyes open and he looks around slowly and then he lets out a sharp.
"Ow!" He says sharply as he begins patting himself down and checking out
his wounds. "You're supposed to warn me before you blow shit up!" He
says to the other trueborns.
The sound of sobs brought his
attention towards Lola and he blinked several times. What the fuck? Lola
doesn't Cry! This is backwards, HE is supposed to be crying! Lola
doesn't cry over anything!
This must be a dream! Er... He'd pinch
himself, but he doesn't need to, simply breathing sends pain shooting
through his body. Yep, hes awake.
"Shit... You alright?" He asks,
even managing to partly forget his pain as his eyes wander in Lola's
direction. This is supposed to be a happy time, so he didn't quite
understand what had the woman responding like this.
Keisha Ballard
When
Milton is at least conscious, the Theurge moves on over to Charlotte.
She's in agony of course herself; she's dropped back into Homid and is
using her staff to support herself as she moves along, wincing along the
way. But other people need her healing, and so she offers it.
Milton's
initial comment draws a narrowing of the eyes, but it goes away when he
realizes something is wrong and actually acts like a person for once.
She lowers herself very carefully (luckily it doesn't have to be very
far), enough that she can reach out and rest a hand on Charlotte.
[[Mother's Touch on Charlotte. Going for Diff 2 'cause there's no such thing as Diff 1]]
Dice: 3 d10 TN3 (3, 5, 6) ( success x 4 ) [WP]
Lola Hawkes
Milton inquired after Lola's well-being.
He
meant well, truely, bless his heart he did. But Lola must not have
heard him. She stayed crouched down like she was and adjusted only a
little, enough that her elbows were on her elevated knees and her hands
were clasped to the back and sides of her head, so her face was pressed
into her forearms and tucked under her elbows into the progressively
shrinking space between her legs and abdomen in this position.
She
continued quietly to cry, shoulders and ribs jerking under her coat a
little with the shuddering breaths that accompanied the act.
Charlotte
The
Silver Fang - shining, astonishing, even in extremis - is breathing
deeply, sides heaving, skin sloughing off her frame, singed fur sharp in
the noise. Keisha heals her - hands on - and quite abruptly the beast
is improved. the injuries are knit over and closed, the suppurating
wounds reknit.
The gesture is returned.
- then the hispo starts sniffing through the pawn shop for additional threads, ready, stark, alert.
Charlotte
Mother's touch: [Keisha's current rage]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 5, 5) ( success x 1 ) [WP]
Charlotte
Sense Wyrm
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 4, 8, 9) ( success x 2 )
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
Milton
struggled still. He was fucked up to all hell and back, but he could
move. So he began towards the woman with a curious look on his face.
"Hey... Hey... Lola... You alright?" He asks as he moves to hands and
feet and wanders closer, crawling the best he can. Walking would be
difficult in his state, would take a little more work, so he simply
crawled up to her, and reached out his hand to touch her shoulder.
"It's
alright... We won... It's cool, really." He says softly to her, he
didn't deal with emotions like this all that well. Normally he'd try to
cheer her up, but he wasn't sure exactly what was wrong. "We killed it!
We won..." He sighs. "Shit... Uhm... Here..." He says as he pulls his
iPod (yeah he has an iEVERYTHING! Fuck off!), and tried to switch it
around to find something cheerful for her to listen to. Some J-pop
oughta do the trick!
Keisha Ballard
"Milton, even though you haven't listened to me all night, listen to me now. Shut up right now and turn that shit off."
She
doesn't wrap her arms around Lola, doesn't talk to her. She doesn't
try to tell Lola it's okay. She's just staying there, and Lola can draw
comfort from her and lean on her and talk or she can not. The point
is, she is only there to provide what Lola needs, and if the kin tells
her to go then she'll do that too. (Albeit stay nearby.)
Pokes-the-Mind's-Eye
His eyes narrow at Keisha, and for the first time... Ever, the others see the flash of rage within the Ragabashe's eyes. Ever...
He simply stands and turns his back, and leaves saying nothing more to the Theurge.
Lola Hawkes
Thankfully,
two of the three present were Theurges, and knew how to heal. So, they
laid hands on one another and on the Ragabash as well, enough to keep
him from slipping over the brink into death's waiting arms. Though he
wasn't quite well enough to comfortably walk on his own, Milton kept
vested interest in the condition of the Kinfolk. He'd seen her hold a
belt around her own thigh to prevent herself from bleeding out while
keeping a cool head. He'd watched her shoot twisted monsters to their
deaths with teeth bared and no flinches for the blood that sprayed her
face. That this strange and quick-to-die monster reduced her to tears
was a curiosity indeed.
He'd pulled himself across the floor and
braced a hand on her shoulder. Keisha hovered nearby, available without
pressing her presence onto anyone. Charlotte had gone off to
investigate the rest of the scene.
Lola moved her arm down from
her face to look at Milton when he'd touched her, and the Ragabash will
see her eyes are red and puffy and her face tear streaked. She looked
at him for a second with her lips pressed closed and trembling with
efforts to be kept still, but it didn't hold up very well. "It... It
showed Hector," she'd started to explain, but Keisha warned the Ragabash
to keep his mouth shut and iPod silence, and the Glass Walker rewarded
her by forcing himself up to his feet and limp his proud way out the
door-- all in the name of the cold shoulder.
So Lola stayed with
Keisha for another minute instead while struggling to compose herself.
She didn't lean on the Child of Gaia for support, but any hands that
might have found her back, arm, shoulder, or what-have-you were accepted
and covered briefly with her own hand before nodding and swallowing.
It didn't take more than another 90 seconds or so after Milton left for
Lola to pull herself together enough that she managed to get the tears
to stop rolling down her face and her breathing level enough to stop
shuddering like it was.
Beyond explaining that she saw Hector, she
didn't say anything more from there. The ordinarily stoic Kinfolk
needed to process on her own, apparently.
Oh, sure, she would stay
behind for any clean-up or hiding that needed to be done. But her time
spent behind was quiet with clenched jaws and occasional solitary tears
being angrily, hastily swiped away from her cheeks. When there wasn't
anything left for her to do, she'd leave without much beyond a solemn
thank-you to Charlotte for shielding her from the blast that nearly tore
three Garou apart.
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