Danny
*Luckily for the world at large, it was still
warm during the day, well low 70s is warm isn't it? It's probably why
he was sat in the outside of a restaurant at a table with a book in one
hand and a glass resting on his leg being held by the other. He had on
his usual oakley shades, was dressed in a white shirt with the sleeves
rolled back, a black waistcoat (vest to you american types) and for a
change to mix things up a bit, he also had on a pair of dark grey faded
black skinny jeans. From the left hip of which a chain could be seen one
ankle rested on the top of his other knee as he read, on his feet
though were a pair of flip flops.*
Jennifer
*A
girl with long brown hair and a white shirt and white pants looks around
seemingly lost. Her eyes are wide trying to take everything in.*
Danny
(How aware is he today?)
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 4, 4, 5, 8) ( success x 1 )
Hannah
She
kept to the light areas. Whether the sun was sinking down or not, she
kept to the light. The shadows, and the dark were not welcoming places.
Her sneakers pressing into the sidewalk as she made her way through the
people. "No I don't think that's what he meant." She said, her head
tucked down a little as she walked. "I don't think he meant that the -"
She went quiet. "Oh."
Hannah hugged her messenger bag against
her hip, lifting her gaze up a little to see where she was going. The
girl wore a dark skirt with a pair of blue stockings and a thin hoodie
over a green shirt. A light green scarf was wrapped around her neck.
Danny
*Something
almost on the edge of his reasoning alerted him. She. He lifted his
head from the book he had in his hand and began to slowly take in the
drifts of those around him. Just a casual interest on first
appearances.*
Jennifer
*Perhaps it was Jennifer's purity that stood out from everyone else around her?*
Hannah
"Oh..."
She nodded her head softly. "I see it." Hannah lifted her head a little
to look at the door of the restaurant. Danny's presence hadn't been
noticed yet, nor Jennifer. It was only within the last few feet that she
seemd to realize Danny was even partly nearby. Hannah came to a stop. A
dead stop, no matter who was behind or in front of her. She let her
eyes slide towards him, using her hair to keep her vision partly
blocked.
Jennifer
*Jennifer takes out a bag with something in it. Is that a phone?*
Danny
*Purity...
He blinked from behind those shades, tilting his head a little as he
did so, seeing Jennifer he paused, paid attention, then moved his gaze
on to see someone else. Flickering, the pair of them were both new, both
something he'd find unexpected to say the least.*
Jennifer
*Jennifer is poking awkwardly at the bag and looking confused.* "Where is that googlemap website?!"
Serafíne
Perception + Awareness.
Dice: 7 d10 TN5 (1, 4, 7, 7, 7, 8, 9) ( success x 5 )
Hannah
One.
Two. Three steps to her left, away from Danny. Then a circle, half,
just around towards the door. Not having Victor with her made this even
more difficult.
Even at the door, she gave Danny a side look.
She reached for the handle, moving her gaze towards it as someone
decided they were going to come from the other side. With a small noise,
Hannah scurried three steps to the left to avoid them. Her hands
gripped the bag strap.
Danny
*And his eyes met
with Hannah's, just a pleasant smile on his face as he began to watch
her, then they moved to Jennifer, then back to Hannah, his drink was
lifted lazily to his lips, he took a small drink from it, there were
bubbles in it that broke the surface with tiny bursts of sensation on
his tongue, then it lowered again with a soft clink of ice melting on
top.*
Serafíne
"You lost?" There's a stranger
who just got out of a cab a few feet from Jennifer, lighting a
cigarette. Striking thing, with dark eyes rimmed in dark mark-up and a
half-shaven head. Blonde curls, deliberately dark roots in waves halo
the rest of her head all golden.
The cigarette has a
spicy-sweet scent to it and dark blue paper. Something direct about her
gaze, more direct than the rest of the strangers on the street who are
deliberately avoiding contact with Jennifer, who looks both innocent and
lost. Like most, they don't want to get involved.
Sera though. Oh Sera.
There is something about her. The way she bends the world.
Jennifer
*Jennifer
looks up from the phone in a bag startled* "umm. yes. I cannot get my
googlemap website to work. I need to figure out how to get to the
Library from here."
Hannah
She dropped her
eyes quickly, shifting her weight a little from one foot to the other.
Once the door was clear, She ushered herself in quickly. The inside
wasn't exactly an escape plan, as there were plenty of people there as
well, but it was an escape plan from him...for the moment.
But
now everyone was looking at her. Or at least, it felt that way. Hannah
stepped towards the counter slowly, shifting the weight of the bag.
"Um..a coffee. please. To go." It was the hardest thing to do, to order
something to drink. "No milk. No.. no milk." Her head shook slowly.
"Please."
Danny
*He raised one eyebrow,
watching the quirky one go off into the building, then turned his
attention back to Jennifer, ahhh... Sera had found her... that made him
smile a little, almost a bit too much to be honest. So he swallowed it
and rose from his seat to head over towards them, leaving his drink for a
moment on the table. Probably not the wisest of things for him to do,
but he did it anyhow and stood just on the periphery of their pairing,
upnodding to Sera as he did.*
Serafíne
"I'm shit with phones, man."
Still
that direct look, which is broken just once as she turns her golden
head to catch the movement of Danny's upnod in her periphery. And
perhaps to follow/feel the flicker of Hannah's resonance as the other
young woman heads inside, up to the counter.
There's a note of interest in her eyes, though. For all the profanity, a note of concern, slightly banked, attenuated somehow, wrapped up in her skin.
"What do you need at the library?"
Hannah
Coffee.
It's all she needed. She was content with soymilk, even if it wasn't
her preference, and plenty of sugar. Hannah wrapped her hands
comfortingly around the cup and made her way out slowly, dodging to
either side as people slipped in, and waiting, trying her best to hide
in a little spot and yet...failing.
When she finally made it
out of the building, she paused, taking in deep breaths. Light was
fading and she was confined mostly to the street lights, and the lights
from the buildings. This made her move a little, doing her best to avoid
even the smallest of shadows.
Jennifer
" I
was going to meet a friend there later." her voice is clear, but also
quiet as if she is afraid of something about to get her.
Danny
*There
was nothing here to be afraid of, well, that was partly true... if only
because the biggest thing to be afraid of right now was fear itself.
But wasn't it written some place that the only thing to fear, was fear
itself, and it's the wise man that knows his fear.
He
frowned just a little then turned partially to glance at Hannah, then to
his table.* Come and sit down, I'm good with phones.
Jennifer
"oh, okay. can you teach me to use googlemaps website?"
*One would think she would say the Google Map app, but it was clear she was running it together and calling it a website*
Jennifer
tentatively went closer to the table and handed over the bag with the
phone. Upon closer inspection Danny could clearly see it was not just a
ziplock bag, but some kind of bag a scientist or doctor might use to
block radiation
Danny
That depends... *He eyed
that bag with suspicion.* I'm not going to end up with radioactive...
things... am I? *He didn't get much closer, just went back to his seat
to sit down, putting his right foot onto his left knee again, what
looked like musical notes had been tattooed onto the top of his right
foot, perhaps that would explain the flipflops he wore.
His hand came out, waiting for the phone to be presented to him.*
Jennifer
Jennifer
cocked her head to the side and looked a bit confused. "This is to keep
you safer. If you use phones all the time it gives off radiation." She
blushed "I was raised not being allowed to have a phone because it might
hurt my brain development..... I haven't quite gotten over the
teachings I guess. So that keeps me from getting any trace radiation or
anything else from the phone that would normally come from it. So my
phone is the safest one!"
Danny
*Well that got
a reaction from Danny... Firstly, his eyebrows rose up slowly. Then one
hand rose to run through those long dark tresses and then he tilted his
head to study the girl. Then his hand moved down to his shades, to pull
them down his nose slightly, he tilted his head again to peer at
Jennifer over the tops of them levelly, there was the trace of a smile
on his face as she finished going on about background radiation and
phone signals, then not being allowed to grow up with such things...
When he'd listened, she'd finished he lifted his head again and pushed
his shades back up his nose.*
You're shitting me... right?
Serafíne
Sera
flashes a half-lashed glance at Danny as he speaks up and remarks upon
his expertise with phones. Then that look slides back to Jennifer, as
if she were drawing a line between them. The tension between Jennifer's
evident fear and innocence and her equally evident and immediate trust
of complete and utter strangers ticks some half-open box somewhere
inside Sera's head. The weirdness about Google Maps ticks nothing,
though. It is absolutely nothing she herself would notice. There are
times she's been too fucked up to remember how to use her iPhone.
--
But, for now, she sort of ambles over toward Danny as if she were - you know - ushering
Jennifer. Keeping an eye on her, even as her attention is snagged,
pulled out, drawn down the street again by Hannah's flickering
resonance.
And Sera, like Danny, is impossible to ignore -
it's not just her sharp features, the half-shaved head, the
extraordinary eyes - it's the way she's dressed. Which has nothing to
do with the current style and everything to do with her own: a black,
French lace bra beneath an unbuttoned flannel over tiny leather skirt
that barely covers her ass and seems to be made of safety pins and
leather and nothing else. Fishnets, with visible garters, torn,
naturally, and spike-heeled Giuseppe Zanotti shoes, with silver serpents
just crawling up heels.
Ink visible on her arms, on her hands, the strangest assortment of random jewelry, and on and on.
Sera overhears Jennifer's explanation regarding the phone, and mutters,
"Oh my fuck."
beneath her breath.
Breathes out a cloud of smoke.
"I went to Catholic boarding school and not even the nuns were that batty."
Hannah
It's
the warmth that makes her feel at ease, even in a place where people
come and go so easily. They're flashes in her vision. Movement from one
side to the other. Feet, voices, all moving as individual units, and yet
becoming one. Too much noise, too much movement. Hannah finds a seat
and she plops right down in it, trying to breath slowly.
Her
knees press against one another as she tries to take up as little space
as possible, and yet remains visible to all. "I know." Her voice came in
a whisper. "I know it is. But...but I'm scared." There's a beat as
Hannah hangs her head, her long hair sliding around her face. Then she
nods softly. "Ok."
The coffee is set on the pavement at her feet.
Jennifer
"
I was raised in the mountains. It was just a few families and my mom
was like a mayor and my dad was the preacher. I know I'm not like
everyone around here. That is why I'm meeting my friend at the Library.
He said he would help me out."
She allows Sera to lead her towards Danny. She needs someone to help with her phone so she can meet Elijah.
Jennifer
Percept + Aware
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9) ( success x 2 )
Danny
Okay
Princess. *he nods soothing his voice down to a comforting sound, not
understanding in the slightest, but it took all sorts to make the world
work.* Let me see. *he holds his hand out again for the phone.*
Jennifer
As
Jennifer hands Danny the phone she glances over and sees a girl trying
to make a waif of herself. This girl seemed more afraid than she was.
Jennifer felt bad for the girl and wondered how she could help her.
Danny
*He looked at the phone, then nodded and went to work on it.* Ahh okay, pretty basic when you come right down to it. Okay...
*He
pulled up the wifi and opened that up to log into the roaming networks
that were around and free.* Firstly, you see this? *he turns the screen
back to her.* This allows you to connect to the internet. If you don't
have this symbol up on the screen at the top here? No hapla anglais. It
don't work. *Then he turned the phone back to himself again and began
to bring up google, then showed it up to her.* Google. The almighty
search engine for funny videos of cats to all manner of erm...
information...
*he glanced at Sera for a moment, then his eyes
flashed to Hannah, then back to Sera. Then he spoke to Jennifer again.*
You need to forget about google maps though, if you go into your menu
bar, you can see this icon. *he tapped the map..* This'll show you where
you are, then if you type in the zip code of where you want to go,
it'll direct you. Give it go? Go on, it won't bite you none.
Serafíne
There's
this subtle flash from Sera. The briefest lilt upwards as Danny meets
her eyes. The cigarette is less than half-finished but she stubs it out
in a convenient ashtray and exhales another breath of spicy smoke.
More or less meeting Danny's gaze over Jennifer's head.
"Might want to find out a bit about her friend, too."
Jennifer didn't seem like the sort who should be out wandering alone in this world.
--
Then
Sera turnss, pivots on those ridiculous shoes. And she's not the sort
you'd expect to see talking to street people but the truth is Sera talks
to all kinds. Down near the Church of the Good Shepherd the abuelitas
all think that she is a prostitute trying to seduce their beloved
priest. That is: well, not really precisely half-true, but comes close
to some distorted mirror image of the truth.
So, Hannah,
bunched up on the sidewalk, sparking, muttering to herself, wary as all
hell, whom strangers are avoiding because who knows what the fuck
someone talking to herself might do - what she might fling, what she
might mean to them, what it might cost them to acknowledge her humanity -
there she is.
Seraf ne just ambles right up to her. Not too
close, mind, but close enough to reach out and pick up the coffee cup
and set it down again, closer to the girl.
More out of the ordinary path of foot traffic.
"Hey." Half-humming beneath her breath, Sera. "You okay?"
Jennifer
Jennifer
finger pecked at the keyboard and typed in Denver Library. She then
looked critically at the screen and pushed the enter button. The map
zoomed out and she saw the path to the Library.
"YAY! Thanks!!"
Kiara
For
all the tentative, unsure steps into the unknown being made tonight,
there's one step, or a set of such, that are anything but. In fact, they
resound with a surprising degree of assurance as they round a corner,
coming upon the scene.
Enter, stage right, perhaps?
The
footsteps belong to a female. Tall (at least in her heels she's
something teetering on it), with dark hair, loose around her face
tonight, lips painted fire engine red and dramatic eye makeup. There's a
bundle of flyers tucked under an arm and her jacket licks at the heel
of her boots. They too, are red, but worn out, faded. The leather
tenderized by constant wear. She passes by the Caf , her footsteps
slowing only briefly, before she carries on past it to a streetlight
just beyond.
Gathers items out of a pocket and begins to tape something to it. She feels
like the first gust of breeze after the storm; vital, full of earth and
rain and the remnants of the storm. A myriad of bracelets rattle around
her wrists as she works. Bites the length of tape with her teeth and
affixes it with nothing short of satisfaction.
Up close the
flyer is familiar. They've been appearing in recent days. REIKI HEALING,
bold letters proclaim at the world and if a poster could arguably shout
its praises to the heavens, this one likely would.
Danny
Yeah
you're welcome Princess. *he nodded, then moved his foot and nudged out
a chair.* You seem to be new... this your first time in the smokes?
*He picked up his drink again to take a long sip of the fizzy bubbled
clear liquid and set it back down again before reaching into his pocket
to pull out a cigarette and a zippo, then casually runs it down his
thigh to light it, then blazes up the end of the cigarette in his mouth,
a puff of blue grey smoke comes out.* What's your name?
Hannah
She
begins to slide her hand in her messenger bag to pull out a small
notebook anda green colored pencil. "I know." She said softly. "I
forgot." Hannah, sitting in a place where there was at least light,
began to draw in her green colored pencil, just as Sera made her way up.
Hannah slipped her eyes to look at Sera's feet, then turned them
quickly back to her notebook. She curled in tighter.
"Yes.
Yes. If I make the color go, it'll be ok. If the light stays. It'll be
ok." She lifted her head up slowly to give Sera a smile, even if she
avoided her eyes.
Jennifer
"yeah, I just came down a few weeks ago. Look I don't want to be late for Elijah. I'll see you around I guess!"
Jennifer skirted away not knowing that Danny had lifted her phone number while he was helping her with her phone.
She waved and slipped into the crowd and off towards the Library.
Ian
[Awareness]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (4, 4, 4, 4, 8, 8) ( success x 2 )
Serafíne
Seraf ne is crouched, balancing on the most fucking incredible
pair of studded black leather peep-toe booties, and truth, she has one
hand braced on the sidewalk so she doesn't fall on her ass.
The fringe of her sidecut is canted toward Hannah. The rest of her hair shadows her sharp features.
She's
still humming, and she's a little bit drunk and a little bit stoned and
aware of things the way she is aware of things, with her
skin-and-bones.
Her mouth is rather small and it is seamed now.
Thoughtful.
"Are you trying to get somewhere? Are you in trouble?"
Hannah
Hannah
shook her head, hair tossing around her face as she did. "No. No place
yet. I had to leave. They wanted a place of theirs. Victor couldn't
come." She doodled nothing in particular, just lines for the moment,
staring at the color on the paper. "Now the darkness makes it hard. If
we want to go, the darkness is there. It's where they hide. Hard to
dance in the light when the sun goes away,"
Hannah lifted her
eyes again, never making eye contact. Her attention dropped to Sera's
shoes and her drawing stopped. Her lips tightened. "Don't you hear them
cry?"
Kiara
[Hm. Are we paying attention, Kiara?]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 6, 10) ( success x 2 )
Danny
*He
nodded, watching Jennifer go, then turned his attention partially back
to Sera and where Hannah could just about be seen with a soft shake of
his head at how she managed to stay up on those damned heels.
How,
well, it would be more difficult if she ate less like a sparrow he
guessed, but with the cigarette taking his attention away periodically,
he kept his eyes drifting along. Take a pull on the smoke, hold it for a
few seconds, then let it go and let the smoke drift casually as he did
so. Then take another pull on the smoke, rinse and repeat.
His
eyes moved to pick up Kiara, tilting his head as he watched her hang up
and bind some sign to a post, then back to Sera and Hannah for a short
while.
Smoking, it was really that simple; inhale, hold it
breath it out. His other hand reached for the drink again to take
another sip.*
Ian
Sometimes one could go days
wandering the city and not run into another Awakened will. Other times?
It was like someone stuck a giant flashing beacon down on the street
corner.
Ian was focused on his phone as he walked, so he
didn't immediately sense the presence of the other mages up ahead. As he
moved, he slid nimbly between passing pedestrians, not bothering to
look up as he stepped out of the way. His index finger swiped quickly
across the screen as he typed.
And then.
As he drew
near the outdoor cafe, Ian stopped and looked up. His eyes searched the
area and found faces he recognized (Sera, Danny) as well as some he did
not. After a moment, he pocketed his phone. Sera looked as though she
was occupied with the dark-haired girl on the sidewalk, while Danny was
seated alone at one of the tables. Ian shot a lingering glance in
Kiara's direction (she was something new and curious) as he walked up to
Danny's table.
"Busy night," he commented dryly.
Danny
Its
becoming that way. *He nods and finally it was getting dark enough to
remove the shades, so he did the next best thing, he slide them up into
his hair on top of his head.* How's it going. *he stubbed out the
cigarette onto the ashtray and looked at the guy.*
Serafíne
This
noise in the back of her throat, a quiet hum. Sera is - well -
wobbling somewhat but still steady beneath it. Her mouth curls into
this half-edged smile though, because she has diagnosed, absolutely
diagnosed, Hannah's problem.
"I think you're having a bad trip. You'll be okay, though."
--
The vibrant edge of her magic in the air, wreathing around her. That humming noise again.
--
"I gotta go, though. Promised Dan I'd meet him and he'll get worried if I don't show up."
Danny
He
had on his usual oakley shades, was dressed in a white shirt with the
sleeves rolled back, a black waistcoat (vest to you american types) and
for a change to mix things up a bit, he also had on a pair of dark grey
faded black skinny jeans. From the left hip of which a chain could be
seen one ankle rested on the top of his other knee as he read, on his
feet though were a pair of flipflops, there looked like fresh ink on his
right foot in the shape of a rolling musical bar with notes on it going
across the top of his foot.*
Kiara
It's a
delicate thing sometimes, playing coy to the world when the world is
speaking right back to you. Kiara, for her part, feels her brows knit
in, what would it be -- consternation, consideration -- her eyes
journeying away from her task across the street, flitting, feeling with
as much focus as as she can before she resumes her task, pressing her
flyer firmly to the cool surface of the street light before stepping
back to admire her work.
She rolls her shoulders, tilts her
neck to one side, then another and after a beat turns and walks directly
toward the table with the assembled awakened. Toward, and, after
catching the eye of perhaps all at least in passing with a suggestive
little smile banking there in the corner of her mouth passes by them and sweeps toward the counter.
There's
a hint of something vaguely like incense that follows her; it's hard to
put a finger on exactly. Like spices and flowers, left to their own
devices for days. Decay and reformation, perhaps.
Serafíne
And: Sera hails a cab. Maybe the same one she just climbed out of. She has somewhere to be.
Hannah
She
use to having someone look at her strangely. She's use to people
passing off what she says. It's because she thinks differently, Maria
use to say to her. It's hard for others to really understand. So she
tries. Her lips curl into a small smile as she looks towards Sera's
face, and yet still never fully. It's only when Sera leaves that Hanna
reaches for her cup of coffee again, pressing her hands around it.
Yes. She felt better.
The
notebook was closed, the pencil still in it, and Hannah stuffed it in
her bag. Hannah pushed to her feet, feeling better about where she was,
and slipped her bag at her hip. When she picked up her coffee again,
between both hands and pressed against her chest, she started to walk.
It
was only when a light flickered, by a passing car or just circumstance
that she added a small jump and a little speed to her feet, enough to
move her into a more reliable light source, and nearer to the
restaurant.
Ian
Ian wore the same leather
jacket that Danny had seen him in previously: black lambskin with a
turned up collar and zippers on the sleeves. The shirt underneath was a
simple white t-shirt, and his jeans were dark blue (almost black) -
skinny with a tapered leg. On his feet he wore black dress boots.
His
posture was still, but alert. Like a tiger surveying the landscape. He
looked as though he hadn't yet decided whether he wanted to remain there
or continue on his way. Danny stubbed out his cigarette, and Ian turned
his nose away from the curl of smoke that rose up beside him.
How's it going?
The musician asked. He had a new tattoo. Ian glanced at it. "Could be
worse, all things considered." He slid the tip of his finger along the
edge of the table and tapped once, lightly. "Mind if I sit?"
Danny
By
all means. *He nods to the pushed out chair.* It's a free enough
country... *Then his attention was drawn back to the little thing that'd
sat huddled by herself til Sera had gone over, the soft curl of a smile
coming to his lips as he picked up his drink again and spoke quietly
but calmly in that smooth voice of his.* Incoming. Don't look. You'll
spook her.
Hannah
She at least feels less
anxious as she had before. The lady, whose name she didn't know as of
yet, had somehow made that sort of thing happen, despite her shoes.
Hannah pulled her coffee cup closer to her as she approached the men.
Lovely men, with sparkling appearances. She squinted her eyes as if they
were too bright to glance at, then dropped her vision to the ground.
Her
feet shifted and she stepped further into the light, pausing several
feet from Danny and the table. Hannah thrust out her cup of coffee. "Put
your words? For a girl?"
Ian
Ian wasn't
exactly the sort of person one would consider ideal for welcoming new
mages to the city (or to Awakened life in general.) Like Sera, his
resonance was sharp-edged. Colder, perhaps. More controlled (Elegant.)
And there was a predatory nature lurking beneath it: animal, primordial
and feline. Even the bones of his face seemed catlike.
Ian was human. He had human skin. A human heart. But he was marked
by something that wasn't. Something that lived within him. And it was
impossible not to notice. So when Danny warned him not to spook the
girl, Ian just smirked and pulled out a chair. He sat down and leaned
back, letting his dark eyes come to rest on Hannah.
She held out her cup, and Ian tipped his head a fraction to the side, as though in question. He waited for her to elaborate.
Danny
*He
took the cup and then reached into a pocket to pull out a pen, then
frowned thinking about it as he looked at Hannah, then he smiled and it
was a kind one, his left hand held the pen while he carefully held the
cup in his right and nodded after another moments thought.*
Be a red light forever. Drothe x
*Simple
enough words that he wrote down then signed it and put a kiss at the
end.* That okay for you? *He held the cup back for Hannah and nodded to
the other chair at the table.* If you want to sit down, it's okay. It's
more comfortable than the floor.
Kiara
Kiara,
on the other hand didn't feel quite so sharp edged. Her resonance was a
subtler thing, a gradual degradation and decay, rebuilt with a
startling sense of rebirth, the ebb and flow of life. The final gasp, or
the first. She approaches again with the click of heavy boots and
stands, a solid presence by Ian's elbow.
"Room for another, boys?"
A warm voice asks. Pauses and then flicks over Hannah. "And girls." There's a hint of laughter buried in there.
Hannah
She
cast a quick glance to Ian, keeping him within her field of vision, but
putting more space between her and Ian and she and Danny. When he took
the cup, she pulled her hands back in, holding one in the other as she
waited.
Danny had good intentions, certainly, but when Hannah
reached for it, and bothered to look at what he had written, she coiled
her hands back quickly and shook her head. "No. No. Not that color. " She won't touch it now. "I can't. No no no. It's wrong."
Hannah
shifts to the side as Kiara approaches, casting her eyes back to her,
then down to the ground. "I'll have to get another."
Ian
Ian
didn't make any motion to follow along in Danny's suit. Whatever the
girl was looking for, she'd have to fish a little harder if she wanted
it from him.
And then Kiara was there, asking if there was
room for another, and Ian glanced up at her with a curling smile and
said, "It's not my table, but I suspect there is." He let his gaze
linger on her for a moment, then leaned back and reached out an arm to
snag one of the empty chairs at the next table. He pulled it over and
set it down between his chair and Danny's.
Apparently he could
be accommodating when it suited him. He didn't say anything to Hannah,
but he shot her another glance, and that smile he'd offered to Kiara
still lingered.
Danny
*Wrong colour?
He didn't say the words out loud but her outburst clearly startled him
for a moment, then he pursed his lips in thought for a little longer,
finally asking.* The pen or the colour in the words? If you want another
cup that's fine, perhaps if we put this in a bag or something you could
give it to someone else?
*His eyes flickered to take in Kiara's entrance and he nodded to her.*
Sure, take a seat. It's all good. Everything's copasetic.
Kiara
Kiara's
eyes haunt Hannah for a moment, curious perhaps. Her smile lingers,
then grows when Ian presents a chair for her taking. A set of dimples
flash into life in each cheek in a beguiling manner and she settles
herself -- and her flyers -- comfortably between the two strangers as if
they'd been pals for months. Or maybe years.
She sets her
coffee cup atop her papers to prevent the sly wind from stealing a few
and jiggles off her coat; a myriad of bracelets on her wrists contribute
to this in a quiet jangling rhythm. "So," there's a beat where she's
adjusting her shirt and then she's crossing her legs and beginning with
-- "I'm Kiara. Woolfe." She flashes teeth, perhaps that's deliberate.
"Who
do I have the pleasure of usurping the table of," a side long gleam at
Ian with his sharp edged presence, eyes dancing. To Danny, then. "Yours,
perhaps?"
Hannah
"Words." She said, closing
her eyes a moment in concentration. "The. word. is wrong. It speaks
wrong colors. Color of things that suffer." She stiffened, shaking her
head as Drothe recommended even putting it in a bag. "No!" She flexed
her fingers at her chest, then curled them up again. "Wrong. I can't.
Cries in warmth now. I hear it cry. I can't." It's always the hardest
part, just talking. But she's doing better than she use to. She can
sometimes make sense, if she tries.
Ian
Kiara offered her name, and Ian offered his own in return, offering a hand to her with a relaxed gesture. "Ian."
Almost,
he said more, but then Hannah resumed speaking, and Ian grew silent. He
looked at her with a serious cast to his eyes. Less aloof than he had
been.
"Red is the color of blood. Blood is life. Birth. Sex.
Pain, yes, but also joy. Pleasure. Power. Creation. You can't box it
into a simple category like that."
Danny
*He
nodded with another smile.* Yeah, Danny. *Again he lifted that glass
that was now half full and took another sip just in time to have Hannah
almost go into that hyper state of anguish.* Uh.... *He blinked a bit
and frowned then something seemed to just twig.* Ahhhh.. * he said it
like he had a light bulb moment all of his own. His other hand came up
in a placating gesture, but he didn't try to touch Hannah.*
Okay,
It's fine... Look, I'll take the cup away with me, you won't need to
see it again. Do you have some paper or something instead? *He knew she
did, she'd had it when she was talking to Sera. Looking at Hannah
frankly made his heart hurt, some people were just too fragile for their
own sanity.
Then he brought a brief smile to bear for Kiara.*
Yeah, but it's okay. I mean, it's not like I don't like the company.
So what do you do Kiara? *He leaned slightly to see the fliers she
had.*
Kiara
She takes his hand, closes her
fingers around it for a minute. There's a rather impressive ring
dominating her middle finger, silver and blue. The press of the metal a
shock of cool amidst the relative heat of the exchange. She releases his
hand when Hannah begins to babble about the color.
Kiara's
attention is rapt on the girl. She makes some subvocal noise after Ian
speaks of the interpretations and inclinations of the color. It's no
coincidence perhaps, that its the exact color of her lipstick. She picks
her coffee up, mouth at the brim and takes a sip. Sets it back.
"I've
always liked it myself. It's potent." She liberates a flyer after that,
passes it over to Danny. "I'm a healer, of sorts." There's a flash of
something there, a smile, a suggestion of mirth. "My friend and I, we're
both healers. Energy work. Crystals." The bracelets on her wrists
jingle and flash. There's some with stones, some silver. Tiny adornments
shiver and move on another. "Yadda. So if you feel like rejuvenating
your soul," she laughs, palms her coffee.
"Make an appointment. I'm also a trained massage therapist so, I'm not a crack." Her eyebrow rises. "Not just, at any rate."
Hannah
She
shook her head vigorously, sending her brown hair tossing. "No. No no
no. I hear them cry. They cry. Cry all the time." She lifted her hands
to put them towards her ears. "I don't want to hear them." She tightened
her hands at her ears. "Stop making fun of me. "
Her hands
slid from her ears, one sliding to her mouth, pressing there with her
fingertips as she looked towards Danny. Hannah nodded slowly and reached
into her bag for her notebook, handing it to him, the green pencil
sliding out from between its pages.
There's a flash, a
sparkle, and Hannah shifts her gaze towards Kiara and down to her
bracelet. She doesn't think, merely leans over to fondle the stones and
silver of it.
Danny
*Taking the flier he
nods, turning it to actually read it then nods again, but still he was
distracted by Hannah and Ian as well, interested in seeing how this
conversation was going to round itself out. Who would back down first,
who would be the first to crack? Then he turned his attention to Kiara,
was about to speak when Hannah spoke again.* Easy.... easy.... *he kept
his voice calm and smooth. Then he took the pencil and the pad of paper,
another smile coming into place as he settled it onto his leg briefly
then his eyes went to the middle distance of thought.*
Be happy, settle for nothing less than the best. Enjoy life, enjoy love. Simply, Be...
*Then he paused, thinking then wrote again.*
Drothe x
*And
this time he simpy ended it with a few musical notes, just two a blend
of a harmony. Then he passed the pad back to Hannah for her to decide
over and turned his attention back to Kiara.* Do you do hot stone
massage?
Ian
One couldn't argue their way
past mental illness. Ian knew that. And for what it was worth, his tone
hadn't been condescending when he'd spoken to Hannah, even if the words
were probably less than helpful. She shook her head, and he let it go.
Left her to Danny, who seemed to have a greater capacity for gentleness
than he did - at least towards strangers.
Kiara handed a flyer
to Danny, introducing herself as a healer (of sorts.) Ian glanced at
the flyer. His expression shifted subtly when he read it.
"Don't
think my soul is in any particular need of rejuvenation at the moment."
There was a coolness to his tone that might have verged on disdain,
though he at least had the courtesy to (mostly) keep it in check.
Kiara
Hannah
reaches over, taken with one of her bracelets. The brunette glances
down, then up, the corner of her mouth twitching. "You like that one,
babe?" She unlatches it and lets Hannah examine it closer still. It's a
mixture of crystals (mostly Amethyst by appearances) and silver baubles.
Tiny glyphs and what could pass for a human, hands outstretched as if
in supplication.
"I do Reiki, primarily. Though I could
probably muster a little something." Ian's coolness snags her attention,
she weighs his expression over her shoulder, eyes skimming him top to
bottom. If there's judgement inherent in her for his response, she
houses it fairly well. Though she does smile.
"Famous last words." She murmurs, meets his eyes and then turns back to the others.
Hannah
"Three."
She said to Danny now, holding the bracelet in her hands as she rolled
it over, taken with the glimmer of it. "The sun plays in it." Her lips
curled into a warm smile. "When the sun plays, there is no darkness, and
the monsters go away." She lets a small noise rise in her throat, one
of delight.
Her eyes shift to Danny then and she points to
the name. "Three. Give three. One is bad. Bad. Very bad. Unlucky. I
don't want luck to take her. Not from me. She's nice. Three please."
Danny
*He
snorted a small sound from his nose at Kiara's words after Ian's then
settled a bit more watching Kiara and Hannah, curious as to how she'd
react to the bracelet. Then his phone buzzed, again with a lightning
riff of music that played through his jeans pocket. He shifted again in
his seat and struggled with his phone briefly before he got it out and
looked at it then took the call.*
Yeah? *there was a pause.*
Oh, yeah.. I remember you, yeah... *he listened again to some words then
nodded slightly, his eyes narrowing just a bit.*
Okay... whe.... Now? *his eyebrows shot up in surprise and he smiled.* Yeah, okay. I'll see you in a few.
*He
hung up and looked around the table making ready to go. Then nodded to
Hannah's words, reaching over to put another two kisses on the note,
then slowly got to his feet.*
Sorry. I have to go interview a
few musicians. *he smiles apologetically. Then looks to them all.* Tell
a stranger they're beautiful, even if they're not to you, to someone
else they're the sun, the moon and the stars.
*And with that
cryptic message he was walking off with a wave of his hand.* (Sorry
peeps, it's ultra late here. Or really really early. I need sleeps.)
Ian
Famous last words.
Ian met Kiara's gaze, and for a moment it looked very much as though
the two were sizing each other up. They were both students of Life. Both
(seemingly) confident and attractive. Likely, they were both possessed
of strong opinions. (Most members of the Awakened community were.)
Ian's
cool expression melted into a soft grin, and maybe that was a challenge
or maybe it was an acknowledgment of respect (maybe both.)
Kiara
gave her bracelet to Hannah to play with, and it seemed to calm Hannah
some. Danny, on the other hand, had to go. Ian watched him with a nod
and said, "Later."
Although they might very well not run into
each other again, but given the circles they moved in, it was likely
that they would. When Danny was gone, Ian turned to Kiara and said, "I'm
guessing you're pretty new to the city."
Kiara
Danny
had to leave and Kiara watches his departure with nothing less than
open amusement, especially at his parting instruction. It's not every
day that a relative stranger tells you to bless the masses with
complimentary prose, after all. She salutes him as he goes and laughs,
once.
Shaking her head as she reaches for her coffee and swirls it. "I like him, he's out there."
Speaking of -- Hannah is toying with her bracelet and mentioning the
sun chasing away the monsters. There's a touch of something considering,
perhaps even sympathetic in the way Kiara watches her. She indicates
the now vacant seat.
"Why don't you sit with us." She gestures
at the bracelet. "You can hold onto that if you want. I have a few.
Consider it protection, against the monsters. Amethyst will keep you
calm." She smooths a line in the air with both her hands, lining them
up. "Balances your chi." Then, turning to Ian she nods, her eyes
lingering on Hannah another minute.
"You could say that. Moved in a few weeks ago. Had some interesting run ins so far." Her gaze resettles on him. "Denver's active, I'll give it that much."
Hannah
She
has her words, and Hannah stuffs the notebook in her messenger bag,
making certain it's nice and secure. To Danny's words, she gives a look
of confusion. If someone isn't pretty, why would you tell them they are?
That doesn't make sense. But he's off, and she's left with Kiara and
Ian.
Hannah keeps a hold of the bracelet, smiling brightly at
the gift. She turned, skipped a few steps and then came to a halt. "Sh! I
forgot! I for-GOT. I'm sorry." She turned around to where she had been.
Hannah dropped her head forward. "I'm to give words of thank you. "
Hannah shakes her head again vigorously. "Words to learn. Many. "
Besides, she gave a glance to Ian, and had kept her distance from him.
"I hear their cries here. Don't want to hear their cries. It hurts. But I
remember gift."
Ian
"It's pretty calm
compared to the last place I lived. I guess perspective is relative."
(To be fair, pretty much anywhere would seem calm compared to New
York.)
Hannah kept her distance from him, which Ian didn't
seem to take offense to. He watched the girl as she began to skip away,
then turn back to offer Kiara thanks for the bracelet. It was a sweet
picture, really. Ian didn't ruin it with an interruption. Instead he sat
back and took in the exchange, watching Hannah like he was piecing her
together in his head. After a long moment, he pushed back his chair and
stood up.
"I hope your encounters continue to be interesting.
In a good way." Ian smiled and pulled one of the flyers off the table.
He folded it up and slid it into the inside pocket of his jacket. "Have a
good evening." This he directed to both Kiara and Hannah. Then he set
off down the street.
