Ian
Washington Park was alive with the deep, vibrant
green of late spring. Today the effect of it was somewhat incongruous
with the weather, as winter's icy breath gave one last exhale - a
reminder of nature's unpredictability. At 41 degrees, the air was cold
enough to warrant a coat. The breeze that gusted over the landscape had a
sharp bite to it. Most of the afternoon visitors cleared out when the
rain started, but the precipitation never exceeded more than a light
drizzle. Now it was more of a mist than anything - the kind that beaded
up and left little pin-drops of water on your skin and clothes.
Ian
rarely let things like cold or rain deter him from his daily routine.
Recently, even less so. He'd been running, but now he was pacing quietly
through the grass, hands in the pockets of his dark windbreaker as his
breath plumed little clouds in the mist. His hair was wet. So were his
shoes. The wetness made the cold more noticeable, but his core
temperature was still up from his run. Looking out over the sleepy
landscape, Ian pondered the way the deep green of the grass contrasted
against the grey and darkening sky. Someone else might have called it
dreary, but for him there was something meditative about it.
Elijah
[Per+alert, do I hear people?]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 8, 10) ( success x 5 ) Re-rolls: 1
Elijah
Elijah Poirot lived a very loud life.
When
he woke up, there was a warning. When he woke up and when he Woke Up he
had an imperative imparted to him. A command, a reminder- live, live- for tomorrow you die and all begins anew.
He heard the wisdom between the walls, of something that was restrained
because there was something between Elijah and a truer part of himself.
It was telling that, for a long time, he had no desire to see what
lived behind that wall. Any wall. There was a memory, a dream, something
that left the smell of sulfur in his nose and the feeling of something
ancient and terrible in his mind. There was a man like an ocean and a
woman who felt like the end of all things (a fact Elijah learned to take
as comfort- Elijah missed Eleanor.) There had been a warning he knew in
his heart- there were consequences for selling your soul. There were consequences for asking for eternity.
We digress.
Elijah lived a life that was loud, a warning from his avatar (a very different being living behind the walls and barriers and bullshit
that Elijah built) to the dead. To talking. To the constant sound and
hum of something that was just beyond his reach. Well, maybe not beyond
his reach anymore. He's learned that it's hard to push past those walls,
to touch the seemingly intangible spaces between the worlds. He tried
it anyway, but did not meddle. He learned that there were consequences,
and consequences that should not be ignored. But there were the dead.
They were always around, sometimes distraught. Sometimes wailing,
sometimes battling their inner demons for control and he heard all of
it. He heard every blessed moment of it, whether his ears were meant to
hear them or not. There was a reason people drank to forget; there are
things mortals aren't meant to here.
And still, he stayed
alert, awake, focused for now to pay attention to the physical instead
of the land between. He was moving to find that silence, that nice
moment where the world shuts down and he's nothing but a body because
there is no difference between him and the rest of the world. He doesn't
run often, but Jenn had harped on him about omniscience and perfection.
Perfect mind was nothing without paying attention to your body, and
vice versa. We are not parts, but a whole. So there he was, hands in a
beat up leather jacket and wearing a pair of hiking boots that were
intended to keep the water out. Jeans and a tee shirt, something white
and V necked that started to get a little wet in the front, like he was
going to be a last place finisher in a wet t-shirt contest if he wasn't
careful.
He did not smell sulfur in his nose, did not pick up
unmistakable, ageless evil. Just wet grass and cold air and a slow,
pounding pulse . His attention went to the distance, to nearby water and
the feeling that maybe... maybe it was time to be less afraid. Maybe it
was time to push past something, to move, to transcend. To be more because he could be more.
For
now, though, the young man was dressed comfortably and seemed to have
no problem reveling in cold and searching for silence, only to hear the
rhythmic pounding of someone's feet on a run. The water on a bench. [the quiet keening of something long dead by the lake, weeping into hands, breath useless but shuddering 'oh, Richard'. The taunting of something terrible. He doesn't approach the lake for a reason.]
He
turned, looking for the sound the running, the source. He waits, grin
on his face like he was the only spectator of a one man marathon.
Ian
[Awareness]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9) ( success x 3 )
Ian
A
figure moved nearby. Ian surveyed the lake in the near distance, but
did not make any motion to approach. Instead his eyes fixed on Elijah's
profile. He watched him move for a time, the way that people sometimes
watched animals (or animals sometimes watched people,) finding a simple
fascination in the rhythm of his gait and the slope of his posture.
He
knew who it was. Even at a distance, with details obscured by mist and
low light. He felt Elijah in the air. Recognized him by the way he
moved. Almost imagined for a moment that he could smell him, but that
was probably a sense memory.
Gradually he closed the distance
between them, moving at a relaxed gait. His steps were fluid and quiet,
muffled against the wet grass. When he neared Elijah, he stopped and
tilted his head, a subtle expression of familiarity showing on his
features. He didn't speak just yet. Maybe he'd forgotten for a moment
that he was supposed to.
Elijah
[oh, who is this? Per+aware]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10) ( success x 3 )
Ian
Elijah
knew Ian. Had felt the presence of his resonance many times now. But
tonight there was something new there - deeper, stronger, more visceral.
It mingled with his cunning elegance and that ever-present echo of the
feline predator that lurked beneath his skin. He didn't so much feel
changed as more... himself, as though inhabiting his nature more fully.
He felt altogether more Primal now.
Arionna de la Babin
[per+aware -jesus you two]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 5, 7, 8) ( success x 2 )
Elijah
[WP: because we have impulse control]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 4, 7, 8) ( success x 2 )
Arionna de la Babin
[dex+stealth-I can totally not be seen or something]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 9) ( success x 1 )
Ian
[Per+Alertness oh-ho, is someone sneaking? ( -2 diff from acute senses)]
Dice: 6 d10 TN4 (1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 4) ( success x 2 )
Arionna de la Babin
The gods are warring.
This
is a simple truth that people like Arionna understand. The gods are
warring, and we know this to be true because the cycles are shifting.
Where once the gods of the night fought bravely, stealing more of mortal
time for themselves, now they are growing tired and those of the light
are pushing them back. It's a war that will go on until the end of time,
as neither can live without the other.
It is during this time
that those of the night feel most vulnerable. The cold has shifted away
from them, the nights grow shorter, and their strength...their strength
becomes difficult to maintain. It's hard to wander among people during
the time one is most vulnerable; you feel...like prey. Thus it is that
when these times come, those of the eve shall step forward and take what
little night they have available, and use it shamelessly. They will not
yield; they will endure.
She ought to be at home, certainly.
But this is her time, and she will not give it up. Her time. It is what
she has for herself, if only for a moment. While it is not entirely safe
for someone such as her to be wandering the dark park, she does it
anyway, utilizing what scorn she may have as a shield against the
suspicious.
She can feel them at the edges of her own wind; at
the edges of winter and sorrow. Elijah. Ian. Though there is a
difference amongst them, one she does not know, and she can only wonder
if there is someone new. Wonderful. It's all she needs. Another groupie.
Or perhaps she is mistaken. Thus enters curiosity.
Arionna
follows the sensation, her footsteps light and careful. She is no master
of the shadows or silence, but she has learned something of her time of
running and hiding. From the path she moves towards these feelings, her
boots sinking into the earth softly with each step.
Alexander
[Int+Med?]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 7) ( success x 1 )
Elijah
There was movement.
There
was a lake in the distance, crying on the other side, a wailing,
keening something but he wasn't listening to that. He was listening to
footsteps, feeling something altogether familiar but more. So
much more than what he was familiar with. It felt right. It opened up
questions and there he was, wet with the rain and feeling like...
like...
His attention turned, not quite prey but certainly not
a predator and awed by the grace of those who were with him. There was a
feeling about Ian, something Elijah always expected but what came to
life. His eyes are alight, green and amber and he bridges the gap.
Green
and amber and focused and there was a second when he was there, steps
away, there- but a breath away. His hands come up, cupping cheeks,
pulling in, coming closer and pressing his lips to Ian's like it was the
only thing he could have ever thought of doing. Not an impulse, but an
imperative- exactly what he intended for it to be. Lips against his,
heart beating loud and there is a reckless abandon in the movement.
Something fevered and intent and warm- even if his fingertips are cold.
He doesn't say a word.
Alexander
There
are others in the city who are regular visitors to the park, although
their reasons for being there vary. Some come for exercise. Some come
to be sociable. Others come because they just fucking feel like it
walking over the grass in heels. Others come to wait.
Alexander,
depending on the day, can slip into several of those categories. He
runs here, has played soccer and Frisbee here. But today the reason is
to wait, in the hope of meeting someone once again. Someone met here
twice before, so the hope is that there will be a third time here too.
And so he sits and he waits and he watches without really seeing. The
city moves along at its own pace around the park, and the park continues
in its own patterns around him. Alexander sits on a bench near the
lake, lost within himself. The pattern of the drizzle provided a base
for meditation and, so far, there hasn’t been much reason for it to come
to an end. He sits, frozen apart from the slow rise and fall of his
chest. His clothes – jackets, combats, boots – are wet, but that little
fact is either unnoticed or not really important.
And so it’s
easy for him to miss the not-so-familiar resonances moving around
nearby. Just as much as it’s easy for his own to fade into the cold of
the park.
Ian
The kiss probably shouldn't have
surprised him, but it did - a little. Maybe because neither of them had
ever kissed to say hello before. They hadn't really kissed all that
often, actually. And then... usually as a prelude or an accompaniment to
other kinds of physical intimacy. So Elijah kissed him, and he did not
immediately react apart from the instinctive softening of his lips. But
still, he gave no objection, and after a couple of heartbeats he let his
eyes close and exhaled gently against Elijah's mouth - kissed him back a
little more assertively, then pulled away with a little smile.
"Good time for a walk, hmm?"
It
wasn't, but they were out here anyway. Ian's eyes shifted toward the
nearby trees. The muted light in the sky was disappearing behind
Denver's horizon, drawing on toward night. Toward darkness. Soon the
park lights would switch on, but right now the trees were mostly in
shadow. It would be easy to slip through them unnoticed, but Arionna's
passage did not quite manage to escape Ian's attention. He caught her
movement in his gaze, hovering there a moment before his focus shifted
to the nearby lakeshore. The bench (Alexander.) And back to Elijah
again.
Arionna de la Babin
Another like her.
The end state of her process. She feels him too now. Three that she
knows. Three that she is familiar with. Thankfully, these are not three
that she greatly dislikes.
She walks through the trees,
curling her dark arms into her chest momentarily when a bit of cold
seeps through her sweater. Despite how it feels, she misses it already;
misses the deep cold and the dead trees. She sees them, their moment of
affection, and she knows all too well that what she feels is not the way
a person ought to. It's not Elijah or Ian's fault, and perhaps for once
she understands that. Still...
Arionna watches them for a
moment, pressing her palm against a tree as if it will provide some sort
of support. Then she steps away from it slowly, and moves from the
trunk. She tries to be quiet. Tries to go unnoticed, because there is
another. One she is likely to approach, and to feel comfortable with.
Elijah
[Do I notice Ari now? Per+alert]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (4, 4, 6, 6, 8, 9) ( success x 4 )
Elijah
There's that little smile, and Elijah can't get the grin off his face. Ever so pleased, like that was exactly
what he wanted to do, grinning like he had made some great discovery
(grinning like he stared down a tiger and lived to tell the tale). There
is a moment, a moment where that grin is both pleased and a little
cautious- aware that there is an edge he can ride and delighting in the
fact that there is something new.
Good time for a walk?
"No
kidding, right?" he said, hands go into his pockets (fiddle with the
pocket watch on his left) "would you think me too Beyonce if I called
you fierce? Because you feel fierce... like base instinct."
It
went without saying, indicated in tone and the look in his eyes that he
very heartily approved. He liked it, to say the least.
His
attentions do move, though, since his senses are awake and alert and the
cold keeps him sharp. Sees a man on the bench- Alexander, maybe? And
someone by the trees- Elijah smiles, takes a hand out of his pocket and
gives a little wave. All good natured, unaware that his actions may be
pushing on a bruise (or perhaps he does know, perhaps he is callous, but
it's hard to imagine.)
Alexander
[Per+Aware?]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 5, 6) ( success x 1 )
Alexander
Frozen,
but not quite. Moisture had been building up all over Alexander and,
finally, was the cause for him to lose that long moment of focus. A
drop of cold water ran from the hairline at the back of his head and
down his spine, making him shiver. And that small recognition of his
body led to more. He’d been there for a while, as the temperature had
dropped. His muscles had stiffened up, joints complaining at moving
again. A crick in his neck needed release. So Alexander stands,
shrugging his shoulders up and rolling the knots that had formed between
his shoulder blades out.
He realises that, once again, the
creature that he still hoped to encounter – still hoped would take him
up on his request to travel the Umbra – hadn’t appeared. There isn’t so
much disappointment as… patience? It will happen when it happens.
Realisation also follows that he’s not alone in this part of the park.
Two familiar-but-different resonances linger with each other nearby, a
third – unchanged from the last time he’d encountered it at the station –
in the tree line. Running his hands over his hair to dislodge the
remaining moisture, he turns to look at the closest two. They could be
Elijah and Ian, they could be someone else. It does seem to be the
season for change though, in more than just the weather.
Ian
On
a different day, Ian probably would have made a joke of that. Today he
just smirked and gave a small roll of his eyes, glancing briefly
sideways. "It's... been an eventful month."
And yet he seemed uninclined to elaborate. Maybe it wasn't necessary.
"Should
we say hello, or leave them alone?" Ian indicated Arionna and Alexander
with a tilt of his head. The cold was beginning to creep into his
bones. His hands (and his lips where Elijah had kissed him) felt chilled
to the touch, though there was yet color in his skin. He shifted on his
feet to keep his blood moving, walking in a lazy circle around Elijah.
Arionna de la Babin
Elijah waved.
Knowing
him,she hasn't a clue. He can be dense sometimes, and other timse he's
far too empathic. If she could liken him to a creature she knows well,
it would certainly be a dog; loyal, friendly (far too much so), and yet
sometimes doesn't get it. But...people could say similar things about
her (minus the friendly).
But he waved, and despite that
feeling that is forming down in the pit of her stomach, she pauses.
Sometimes she even wonders if he realizes exactly how willing she is to
push against her own nature sometimes when he's around.
You're growing too attached Ari. You're becoming dependent.
And
now she is torn. Torn between the two that cling to each other's space,
and the other who, like Elijah, pushed a little further and gave her
something to go on...some bit of advice.
Does she move or doesn't she? For now she remains...still.
Elijah
"Let's
be sociable," he decides, concludes with a bright and chipper smile
(one that does not relay that he is cold and that his hands are cold and
that he might end up with a cold in the morning, but that is a problem for Tomorrow Elijah. Today Elijah feels just fine and is happy to roll around in the grass and-
He pauses, takes a second and takes a few steps towards Arionna.
"Hey,"
he starts, friendly enough, "I'm thinking about playing hide and seek.
Wanna play? Jenn's been riding my ass about needing to do more physical
things with people that don't involve doing things with other people."
And
then he turns, with no regard for personal space or the fact that
Alexander might have something he wants to do aside from listen to his
cabal mate's apprentice.
"Hey Alex-" a hitch, since he realizes something "-ander, wanna play hide and seek?"
HE
looks towards Ian, brows raised, glance inviting, words lacking but the
question quite clear. HIs word view is nothing but words and symbols,
and he knows when one does not need words at all.
Alexander
[Per+Alert - I see you, Ari?]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10) ( success x 3 )
Alexander
The
closest two certainly appear to be the people he was expecting them to
be, but it’s Elijah’s shout across the grass that makes him smile.
Definitely Elijah. He leans back, curving his spine and getting one
last crack out, before turning back to a patch of grass near the lake
that looks like any other. He says, to the air, “another time, then,”
before turning to Ian and Elijah.
Then he turns towards the
pair and starts walking, waiting until he’s a little closer before he
calls back. “I can’t remember the last time I played, but I’m game.”
Then, closer still when he doesn’t need to shout anymore, “But won’t it
be too easy if we can just feel where each other is? Although you both
don’t feel quite the same as you used to. Interesting times.”
He
nods up towards the trees and the figure standing partially obscured by
one trunk. “Speaking of interesting times, have you guys met Arionna,
yet?”
Ian
"And what things would
those be, exactly?" Ian couldn't quite resist the bait, dry amusement
evident in his tone. The question didn't necessarily require a response.
But he followed along behind Elijah as they approached the others, his
gait long and fluid. Elijah's suggestion (that they play hide and seek,
of all things) didn't get an immediate response, but when he repeated it
to Alexander, Ian's breath gave an exhale of soft laughter.
"You're serious, aren't you?"
It
seemed like the kind of suggestion that Ian was likely to reject on
principle, but he didn't (yet.) Instead he turned to Alexander with a
thoughtful expression. "Probably. You'd have to get creative."
Have you guys met Arionna, yet?
To that, Ian just nodded.
Arionna de la Babin
"Play?"
It's a question of uncertainty because hide-and-seek has rarely been
about play. She cants her head to the side and regards Elijah, and now
the group with a bit more wariness than before. Of course this could
hardly be much fun in a park right? There are trees and other good
things, but it loses its fun when you lose the possibility of getting
lost; or getting people lost.
"They know who I am, Alexander."
Though Ian has already answered his portion of it. She steps forward
slowly, enough so that they can speak normally. "How do you play this
game?"
Yes. Ari hasn't a clue how to play child games. She might have more fun than she'd suspect.
Elijah
"I have a story for you, I'll have you know that Latin tutors aren't half
as boring as it sounds," who would have thought the young man to have
an interest in language (anyone who knows him would, actually, you don't
have a love affair with words without loving each blessed detail of
language, trying to piece it together to find where it may trace back to
something True. Kalen might be proud. Or he might not. The path was
still rocky there, but getting better.)
There's that grin,
though, the kind that is ready for anything, even if it was a little
childish. Was he serious? He blazes past the question in time to explain
to Arionna- "It's basically that someone is it? And they cover their
eyes and count to, like, sixty, and everyone runs off and hides and the
person who is it has to find them and the people who are hiding have to
find home base and get there to be save so the person who is it can't
actually tag them but if the person who is it is really slow you end up
being it for a long time and people end up tending the safe base because
they don't want to actually find people who are hiding which is against
the spirit of the game."
Wow. All that in one breath. He inhaled deeply.
"Basically,
it is what it sounds like. The people who aren't it hide. The person
who is it seeks. The people who aren't it go to home base to be safe
from predation."
And, to Alexander, "Yeah, I've met Ari, we're
friends." And just like that, he makes the assumption, runs with it,
doesn't think it could be to the contrary because... well... he was
fairly certain Arionna was his friend.
"Who wants to start?"
Alexander
“You’ve
never played before?” There isn’t judgement in the question to
Arionna, but there is surprise. It seems like one of those things that
all kids should play at some point, just like climbing trees, playing
tag, or pointing their bike down a big hill and regretting their
decision half way down when the line between getting down safely and
breaking something gets ever slimmer. “It’s fun, you’ll like it.”
As to the question of who’s starting? “I’m easy.”
Ian
Elijah
assumed that he and Arionna were friends because Elijah was the kind of
person who made friends with everyone. Ian... was not that kind of
person. Both Arionna and Alexander had expressed dislike towards him in
the past. Arionna's had been rather emphatic. That they were now all
considering playing a child's game together in the park at night
probably said something about the way people with common experiences
tended to band together.
"I'll start."
He hadn't
played hide and seek since his sister died. If anyone other than Elijah
had suggested it, he probably would have declined. But... for whatever
reason, he didn't. Perhaps there was a bit of nostalgia, there.
"We
can make the boathouse home base." A pause before he grinned. "I'll
count to 100. Better hurry." Then he paced over to the bench by the lake
and sat down.
Arionna de la Babin
"What is it?"
She asks, furrowing her brows just enough to indicate that all her
questions have not been answered. This game seems half put together
instead of well thought out; clearly a child's game. "Oh. You mean 'it'
is the predator and those you seek are the prey. I understand. Though it
does seem most intelligent to stay near this 'home base' if you know
that the prey will come. "
You've never played before?
"If
you wish to ask whether I have been chased, then your answer is yes. If
you want to ask whether I did it 'for fun' then the answer is no."
"How
far can we wander?" It made sense to her to have a sort of perimeter
that they could wander around in, otherwise they'd be searching until
dawn.
Her lips tightened a little, and Ari looked to both
Alex and Elijah. Well then, it seemed they were about to play hide and
seek....for fun.
Elijah
[stop running and don't fall over! +2 diff because slick grass is not your friend]
Dice: 3 d10 TN8 (6, 8, 10) ( success x 2 )
Elijah
"OhshitrunIan'sfast," it's the most warning he gives anyone.
There
is a simple rule in survival: you don't have to be faster than a bear.
You just have to be faster than the slowest person there. Elijah
realized, of course, that he was the weakest link. His eyes darted to a
nearby tree and he sprinted for it, knowing that he was going to
need a run up if he was going to be able to reach a low hanging tree
branch, momentum to help pull himself up because he wasn't exactly
strong but damned if he wasn't determined.
But Arionna had a question and it made him skid to a halt, successfully managing to not fall flat on his face while doing so.
"Ian
is the one doing the chasing. If he makes physical contact with you
then you're it and he's not. Then you count and we all hide again. No
perimeter, just as far as you can get while he's counting."
Elijah stopped and listened realizing he's talked too much and lost a good thirty seconds of time.
"Shit."
And off to try and get to that tree again!
Alexander
There’s
a moment where the fun of the bizarre situation threatens to vanish, as
Arionna doesn’t seem to quite get the point and bring their thoughts
crashing back to reality. But there’s Elijah, dashing off and, with two
quick U-turns, gets things back on track again.
Then
Alexander is laughing and rushing off towards the trees too, calling
back, “Just get away first, then worry about how you’re going to get
back to the boathouse. We can go find jello and ice cream somewhere
after!” He takes a path to the right of Elijah’s, aiming for a lighter
patch of trees where he’d be able to make better time through the spaces
and get further away.
Ian
When Ian sat down,
he began counting, his voice raised to a loud enough pitch that the
others would be able to hear if they kept within a reasonable radius. He
closed his eyes as he did so, leaning back with his face tilted toward
the sky and his arms draped over the back of the bench. The wooden slats
felt cold, despite Alexander's recent presence there. Cold and wet,
apart from the drier patch that Ian now occupied.
He could cheat, if he wanted to. Though they hadn't really laid out any specific rules about magic use. He could cheat, but he didn't. Why make the game easier?
So
he counted, and the others ran for their respective hiding spots. For
Ian, time seemed to pass slowly, drifting by with the monotonous rhythm
of his voice.
"98... 99... 100."
When he reached the
end, he opened his eyes and stood up, surveying the darkened landscape.
Some time during the count, the lamps came on, filling the space around
the bench with a soft glow of yellow light. There were others too,
lining the path and the boathouse. But the trees remained in shadow.
Ian moved quietly, his gait different now than it had been earlier. Stealthy, predatory (hunting.)
[Alright let's see. I'll start with another Awareness roll to see how sensitive he is to resonance right now.]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 6) ( success x 1 )
Ian
[And Per+Alertness]
Dice: 6 d10 TN4 (1, 1, 4, 5, 7, 8) ( success x 4 )
Ian
[Wits+Survival (tracking)]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 5, 8, 10, 10) ( success x 3 )
Ian
[And Dex+Stealth - being quiet]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 4, 7, 8, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )
Elijah
(Elijah: did I get into the tree? dex+athletics)
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (4, 5, 9) ( success x 1 )
Elijah
[Shhhhh, i'm being quiet! +1 diff because no stealth}
Dice: 2 d10 TN7 (5, 10) ( success x 2 ) [WP]
Arionna de la Babin
[stealth]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 7) ( success x 1 )
Alexander
[Dex+Ath for some distance]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 5, 5, 9, 9) ( success x 2 )
Arionna de la Babin
He's
already counting when Elijah tries to explain her questions. She's
never felt this sort of uncertainty before. She's never stood there for a
moment, considering what's happening before letting her feet carry her
off. But that's what she does. The two of them run, clearly enjoying the
game at hand, and she stands there for a moment, listening to the
counting...
Ari finally forces her feet to push her off and
she's running down the middle of where the other two had wandered,
sliding to the right as she tries to spot herself some place to hide.
Parks are different. Manicured. Perfect. Not as many hiding spots when
you're accustom to the wild sort of space.
But she finds a bush, something big enough that she's certain she can crawl half in it, and tuck herself away.
This is not the best place to hide Arionna.
She knows that. She really does. But she's pressed for time.
Alexander
[Dex+Stealth for sneakiness]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 4, 6, 9) ( success x 2 )
Alexander
[And Wit+Survival, because I know some of the tricks you're going to try]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 4, 7) ( success x 1 )
Elijah
He's not good at climbing.
He
knows what he needs to do, spends a good five seconds just hanging
there, not quite having the upper body strength to pull himself up and
it's through willpower alone that he gets his skinny butt into the
foliage. The tree creaked uncomfortably, and he nestled himself
somewhere high in the branches.
He might not be hidden terribly well, but he was going to make it difficult for Ian to actually reach him. Now, all he could do was hope that he doesn't get driven higher.
Alexander
Elijah
runs towards the trees, hoping that he just isn’t the slowest one to
get away. Alexander just gets the edge and disappears into the tree
line before him. But they’re both leaving Arionna behind as they look
for their respective hiding places.
Once out of view, Alex
slows down a little and gets a little more careful about how he’s
moving. He has no idea if Ian knows much about tracking, but leaving
dirty great footprints and lots of broken twigs and branches in his wake
wouldn’t be hard for anyone to spot. So he tries to make it harder to
be followed as he works out a way to curve back to the boathouse.
Arionna de la Babin
[Do I see the big bad wolf? per+alert]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 6, 6, 7, 8) ( success x 4 )
Ian
The
odds were stacked in Ian's favor. Most of them likely knew that. But
that wasn't really why they were playing (to win.) Alexander made an
attempt to hide his tracks, anticipating the ways in which Ian might try
to find him. And he was successful to a point, but the ground was soft
(easily marked) and Ian was a good tracker. That month he'd spent
surviving in a wasted landscape had been good for something, at least.
And
there were other clues as well. Soft sounds (the creak of a tree
branch,) a flicker of movement, a faint spot of color through shadowed
leaves. His eyes followed the trail of tracks, leading his gaze toward
three potential hiding places. Even before that, he had a rough idea of
the directions they'd gone (closing his eyes did not mean he stopped
being able to hear - even while counting.) But he wouldn't know for sure
until he followed one of the trails, so he did.
Arionna,
being the closest, was the easiest target. Elijah the next easiest.
Alexander would likely be safe this round. After a short pause of
consideration, Ian made for the bushes where Arionna was crouched,
sliding quickly through the shadows. His feet were silent in the damp
grass, and his dark athletic clothes blended easily into the landscape.
She wouldn't notice him coming until he was close. Likely by then she'd
feel his resonance before she actually spotted him.
Closer. Closer.
If she didn't run, he'd duck under the bush and reach out to grasp her ankle (gently.)
Arionna de la Babin
[running! I think]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 4) ( fail )
Arionna de la Babin
The rule has always been thus for the prey...
If
the predator is far away and you've noticed him, you are safe enough to
freeze and give a signal that says 'Hey I spotted you and I can outrun
you.' If the predator is smart, he will stop. Why waste energy if you're
more likely to lose?
If the predator is close, running is
usually a bad idea. He might miss you if you're careful, but he's also
likely to get you if you run. It's hard being prey, it really is.
So she waits, and she can feel his approach before she sees him. The trouble that she has is this:
Is
he coming for her or one of the others? She could cheat, though she'd
hardly consider it so. There were no explicit rules against magic. But
that takes time, and right now..being still is better.
That is until he's closing in. Arionna presses her right boot into the ground to propel herself up and out except...
She
doesn't quite make it. She pushes, sliding up and out of the bush only
to feel her left foot, the one to give her a bit more leverage, slip
under her. Her leg curls and Arionna plummets to the softer ground with
an obvious crunch of sticks, and a thud.
Curse you Ian.
Elijah
[dex+athletics- go higher!]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (5, 8, 10) ( success x 2 )
Elijah
There was relief, yes relief, when he...
No,
no he didn't see Ari. He didn't see Ian either. After all, he was
actually just pretty well content to be in a tree and not getting rained
on, but it was enough to remind him precisely how cold he was and what
time it was and he took a quick second to check his pocketwatch- still
only accurate twice a day, save for the times that he can keep time to
the precise second.
He notices, he notices Ari move and
faceplant and he winces. The young man inhaled quickly, hoping at least
that Arionna didn't know where he was so he didn't have to try getting
out of the tree. Instead, he went upward, content to entrench himself
further like he had the time that he got stuck in a tree at the park.
Hmmn.
This appeared to be a theme with Elijah. He patted himself down for his
cell phone, realizing that this time he didn't have the ability to call
Dan for moral support to get out of a tree.
"Oh, shit."
Alexander
Alexander
slowly, carefully works his way through the trees, unaware of what’s
happened with Arionna’s attempt to run. It seems like a decent plan –
keep in the trees until he’s close enough to make a break for the
boathouse. Hope that Ian is busy with one of the others so that he
doesn’t notice. There’s a smile on his face as he takes another step…
And
steps awkwardly on a stone, twisting his ankle. There’s a muffled
crash as he hits the ground and a not-so-muffled curse as the pain
hits. He leans against a tree to get up again but isn’t doing anything
strenuous with that sprained ankle for a few days. He starts to hobble
towards open ground.
Ian
There
was a moment, after Arionna fell, that Ian's instincts wanted to
pounce. He felt an uptick in his heart-rate and a prickle of hot tension
in his coiled muscles that practically screamed: now.
But
Arionna was sensitive about her physical space, and he remembered
things like that. So he didn't. Instead he dropped into a crouch next to
her and let his fingers graze her arm, making just enough contact to
call the catch official. If she didn't pull away, he'd grasp her elbow
gently and help her to her feet. If she did, he'd leave her be.
"Got you." His voice was low and honeyed with amusement. As they stood up, he called out to the others. "Round's over!"
As
it happened, Arionna wasn't the only one whose escape plan was foiled
by the hazardous landscape. After noting Alex's condition, Ian walked
over to the tree where Elijah had gotten himself stuck. "I think maybe
we should call it a night and try again when the ground isn't so
slippery."
A beat later he asked, "Do you need any help?"
Elijah
[I can totally jump down. It's like falling, right?]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (1, 7, 9) ( success x 3 ) [WP]
Arionna de la Babin
She's embarrassed. Not necessarily because she fell, but that she fell around them.
Well, at least it wasn't Grace and Kalen, right? She'd nearly want to
drown herself if that happened; Ari would never live it down...at least
in her own head.
There's a touch on her arm, apparently the
motion of 'tag' and Ari is now the predator. She pushes herself up on
her feet, avoiding the assistance that's even remotely offered. She can
feel the wet earth on her clothes, soaking in against her legs and she
sighs. It really isn't any trouble, but at least it helps to hide the
embarrassment.
Ari looks over towards the limping Alex, and
now Elijah as well, following Ian slowly. "In a better location I'd
suggest. With more holes and less concrete."
Elijah
He thinks that they should call it a night-
"Yeah,
it's a little unkind right now-" he said as he looked down. He was a
good midway up the tree, high enough that he had a good view but not so
far that he would break an uneasy branch. It feels a little like Peter
Pan, but the young man started the tentative approach downward. A little
careful, shaking water out of the branches if he chose a wrong step-
"Uh..."
He
looks down, hand on a branch and painfully aware that he's kind of high
up and it made his stomach turn but something is alight and pleased in
his eyes as a terrible thought crosses his mind. Not quite like jumping
out of a plane, but close enough.
Does he need any help?
He
jumps, possibly in the middle of the statement, probably in the middle
of the statement, doesn't topple, but does bend his knees and take the
impact softly. It's through sheer wanting that he doesn't fall all over
himself. That he doesn't make a total mess while coming down the maple,
but he does just stand there for a minute while he reorients himself
with the ground, then the ground top the air, standing up, being tall
and exhaling like this was the most centering thing he'd do all day.
He looks a little surprised, though. He clearly didn't expect to not fall on his ass.
"Sounds like a plan," he announces, "if you guys are game I'd love to play again. Had a blast."
All
sincerity, this one. With that in mind, he doesn't say much but his
goodbyes- no kisses or touches but definitely bright, beaming, pleased
grins as he meanders- soggy but content- back to his means of
conveyance.
