That really did happen [Howl ST]

Feral

Hello hello and welcome to tonight's scene! Things you can expect:

-Dice

-Combat

-Physical danger to your characters (with the possibility of death, though I do try not to off people in one-shots)

-Creepy stuff

Things you should probably not expect:

-Plot

I highly recommend making use of the Casting Guide, Combat and Healing Guide and Spheres Guide if you need any of them (links are on the Resources page.) Otherwise, I am totally here to answer questions, so don't worry if you feel unsure about how to do something.

(Also I really cannot stress enough how little plot is going to be involved in this scene.)

Rules:

-Please stick to the posting order once we establish one.

-Please try to be reasonably efficient with your posts and declares/dice rolls. It's possible this scene might be over very quickly if the dice are in your favor, but it also might prove a lot trickier than expected, so who knows. The dice are fickle beasts.

-Have fun! And if anyone gets uncomfortable at any point, please let me know.

(And now I will type you an intro.)

Feral

The evening was chilly and overcast - cold enough to remind the people of Denver that winter was never terribly far away. By the time the hour rolled over into dinner time, most of the tourists and locals alike had left Washington Park in favor of warmer, cheerier atmospheres. It was one of those evenings: when the very landscape seemed to presage something ominous. The park was eerily quiet when Jo and Lavinia arrived. A stray ball rolled around in the tennis courts, pushed back and forth by the wind. Otherwise things seemed mostly still (abandoned.) Even the lake was quiet.

Lavinia

It was a shit day to work, she could tell you that much. Lavinia made her money where there were people, camped out with a guitar or with some dude who happened to have a percussion instrument that needed the attentions of some blonde goddess to come by in order to draw attentions. Normally, she could make a good fifty bucks out where if she focused on it. At that juncture, however, she wasn't going to be making anything.

It was cold. It was cold and she was wearing a skirt, but at least this time had the decency to wear a pair of tickets underneath them with her combat boots. Her jacket was a men's coat, something that was just a little too big on her, something intended for someone who had broader shoulders, because Lavinia never had broad shoulders. She was always elfin in build, regardless of how strong she might have been.

Her attention goes to the tennis courts, eyes transfixed by movement. Her hands stay in her jacket pockets, though. Her blonde hair gently blew in the breeze. It was...

"Huh." she said.

This kind of day defied words.

Jo Hamilton

"Maaaaan guys!" She rolled her bike to a stop, backpack nicely placed on her back, and leaned back on her seat. "For reals? Dude. We were suppose to.." Her phone vibrated and Jo slipped it out of her pocket to scroll through the messages. Her brows fell in annoyance. "Tcht. Coulda like, told me we were like canceling ya know..like twenty minutes ago."

Jo shivered, because she wrongly had only worn a hoodie over her normal clothes and was not prepared for the colder weather. With the phone put away, Jo was focused on the uh..absence of people. Her brows furrowed slowly and she squinted her eyes, peering along the park. "Dude...it's like somethin out of Silent Hill. Minus the fog. "

"Dude if some like..weird monsters come scramblin out, I'm am like OUT of this city." But who is she to stay in one space regardless of the potential doominess. Jo, pushed forward on her bike casually. "Or zombies. Man I am NOT prepared for zombies."

Jo Hamilton

[awareness!]

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

Jo Hamilton

[Alert]

Dice: 5 d10 TN7 (2, 2, 3, 8, 9) ( success x 2 )

Lavinia

[Per3+awareness3, diff 6]

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

Lavinia

[Per3+alert2=5, diff 7)

Dice: 5 d10 TN7 (2, 3, 5, 7, 10) ( success x 2 )

Feral

They arrived separately, Jo and Lavinia. Both would unfortunately find themselves disappointed by the scene that greeted them. There would be no tips tonight; no friendly outing. Just this cold wind and empty stretch of manicured grass and trees and athletic courts. It had a kind of beauty, the empty park. But it also felt lonely.

Apart from the two of them, that is. Jo and Lavinia were close enough to spot each other. Close enough to feel each other's resonance - one bright note of warmth and familiarity within this somber scene. Would they approach each other? It seemed the obvious course of action.

Lavinia was closest to the tennis court. As she stood there looking at the yellow ball rolling across the ground, she felt something cold and feral prickling at her senses. Jo felt it too, even at a distance. It felt like being hunted.

And there, as their eyes swept over the landscape, they landed on a line of neatly-manicured bushes lining the perimeter of one of the court's wooden walls. One of the bushes shivered slightly. It might have been the wind, or it might have been something moving behind it. It was difficult to tell from a distance, but the resonance seemed to be coming from that place.

Lavinia

Sometimes, she's off in her own little world. Sometimes, she sees people and gravitates their way and recognizes that, on nights like this, it's best that you stay in a group. She had brought the guitar with her, slung across her back in its case. No tips tonight, it would seem. No people, just... cold. Cold and...

"Huh," she said again, eyes narrowed at the tennis ball as she walked, slowly, to pick it up. It doesn't feel like anything in her hands, and across the distance at the bush line, something shivered. Lavinia whistled, the kind of whistle that one does to get a dog's attention. At that juncture, she threw te tennis ball in the direction of the bushes.

Lavinia was running through her head, going over list after list of encounters and experiences and now her thoughts had turned to zombies. She'd watched a few Romero films, but this... hmmn. She looked around, having to rely heavily on the fact that she was a visual creature. Generally speaking, if it was a zombie apocalypse situation, she was going to get picked off because they were noisy bastards and-

Shut up, Lavinia, this is not the zombie apocalypse.

She looks back just in time to see an almost, almost familiar figure.

"Double tap."

Because that's the best she can offer at that juncture. She approached the bushes slowly, wondering if she should rifle through her guitar case or not. Knives were hard to stick in jackets, but a guitar case was essentially a purse for your traveling arsenal (plus, you know, a guitar can fit in there.)

Jo Hamilton

"Yeah it's zombies." Jo has seen plenty of films and this is how it starts. Something innocuous. In the bushes. On a... tennis...thing. Ok maybe not the tennis but most certainly in a place that is quiet and normal seeming and..."Dude what are you doing?" Jo pushes forward on her bike, coasting in closer only to slide her leg over the seat so her feet are on one side. "Mann.." She eyed the bushes. "You're like.. like a bad horror movie blonde waiting to happen. You know the blondes go first right? The pretty ones? Everyone like..knows that." And who would want to see THAT pretty blonde go first?

Besides there is some major creepage coming from that area and Jo is a ...ok maybe not a cautious creature, but she's not a reckless one most of the time...or some of the time.. or.. well just not always.

Feral

Lavinia snagged the tennis ball from the court (did she go in or reach her hand under the fence?) before turning her attention to those bushes.  She'd have to walk around to the back in order to get a decent aim. When she threw the ball, it struck the painted plywood with a hollow noise and bounced off into the grass. A few stray needles fell from the shrub's pruned branches.

Then something growled.

By then Jo was standing next to her, bike leaning against her side. Neither of them were prepared for a fight, but it seemed they might not have a choice, because just then the bushes moved and the head of a large dog came into view. It was a mutt of some variety. Maybe part husky (it had a wild look to it,) but its fur was thicker and shaggy in places, and its teeth...

Its teeth were not right at all. It looked like there were too many of them, sticking out at odd angles (too long and too sharp and too... mangled.) And its eyes were solid black. As it left the safety of the bushes, Jo and Lavinia would see thick spikes protruding from its back. Its feet were clawed, and covered in some kind of black scales.

Not precisely a dog, as it turned out, but something else. Something that should not really have existed. When it looked at them, it pulled back its lips in a snarl of warning. Then it lunged.

[And it's time for Init rolls!]

Lavinia

her eyes narrow and she knows she has less than six seconds to get armed. Less than six. There were a number of things she could have done, slinging her case off her shoulder, trying to unzip, giong for a knife (two, three, four), she's thinking. She's thinking as fast as she can. There was something feral there, something that wasn't a dog, something...

Something that wasn't supposed to exist. Her eyes narrowed and her attention didn't go away from the animal but god damn if she wasn't pretty intent on getting armed.

[Action: take knife out of bag- arm yoself!]
[5+1d10]


Dice: 1 d10 TN7 (9) ( success x 1 )

Jo Hamilton

Yeaaaah...

Jo would rather have zombies.

But it looks like we're getting Silent Hill.

"What the-" She doesn't have much time to really notice anything except well.. she has entered into a horror movie and no one asked her if that was A-OK. Unlike Lavinia, she's never encountered something like this before, and she's not entirely sure how to act except to put space between her and IT. Bike maybe? Does a bike count?

[5 +1d10)

Dice: 1 d10 TN7 (2) ( fail )

Feral

[For the duration of this scene, I am going to nick-name this dog Cujo. Cujo rolls initiative at +5]

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

Feral

[And the Order is:

1: Cujo (15)

2: Lavinia (14)

3: Jo (7)

Declares will be in reverse order]

Jo Hamilton

[I guess throw the bike at Cujo]

Lavinia

[Ladidah Prime 2- make your regular ol' stabby knife a BLESSED DOOMY WEAPON THAT DOES AGG]

Feral

[Cujo splits action:

1a: Bite Lavinia

1b: Evade the bike]

Feral

[Bite! Dex 3 + Brawl 3 -2]

Dice: 4 d10 TN5 (4, 4, 6, 10) ( success x 2 )

Feral

[Damage Str 3 + 1 + 1 (L)]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (3, 5, 6, 7, 8) ( success x 3 )

Feral

[Lavinia takes 3L (ouch)]

Lavinia

[Prime 2- making a weapon do agg. 3+2 (prime) +1 (because OWWW)= 6 -1 (practiced) -2 quint= 3

Dice: 3 d10 TN3 (7, 9, 9) ( success x 4 ) [WP]

Feral

[Lavinia's knife now does Str+2 in agg damage]

Jo Hamilton

[str +ath - THROWN THE BIKE OMG KILL IT NOW - wp]

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2) ( success x 1 ) [WP]

Feral

[Cujo Evades Dex3+Ath3 -3]

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

Feral

[Alas, the bike misses]

Feral

The dog (had it ever been a normal dog, or was it always this hideous monstrosity?) lunged forward, and Lavinia scarcely had time to pull her knife free and begin singing before the beast plunged its teeth into her left arm, shredding skin and muscle as her life's blood poured from the wound. Despite the pain, Lavinia kept her focus, imbuing the blade in her hand with quintessence so that it might strike to the very core of its victim. Almost the dog made to bite her again, but that was when Jo did the only thing she could think to do...

She threw her bike. The thing was heavy, and she wasn't an athlete, but still she managed to heave the thing into the air. Unfortunately, it never hit its target. The dog darted out of the way, snarling in irritation, and the bike fell to the grass with a shivering clank and creak of metal, its wheels spinning uselessly. Still, she'd provided a distraction and given Lavinia a few more seconds to work her effect before it dove in for a second attack.

[Inits again (since Lavinia took damage) Cujo goes at +5]

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (5) ( fail )

Lavinia

[4+1d10]

Dice: 1 d10 TN3 (3) ( success x 1 )

Jo Hamilton

[5 +1d10]

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

Feral

[The Order:

1: Jo [Full Health] (11)

2: Cujo [Full Health] (10)

3: Lavinia [3L] (7)]

Lavinia

(action: keep self between Cujo and JO, and stab the crap outta him]

Feral

[Cujo bites Lavinia again]

Jo Hamilton

Jo, now between Cujo and Lavi, shifts to her left and puts her fingers between her lips, letting out a whistle. "YO UGLY. Hey! YEAH YOU. You're so ugly, you gotta sneak up on yo mirror! Hey! HEY! I'M TALKIN TA YOU!" Oh yeah she was turning herself into a target by whistling and waving her hands to get the things attention. Jo..you are MAD.

[wits + exp -dif 6 Wp SEEE MEEEEE I'M YUMMY]

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

Feral

[Cujo turns away from Lavinia, snarls and redirects his focus to Jo. This loses him his turn for the round.]

Lavinia

[Dex3+Melee3-1 (oww) +1 (flanking) = 6, diff 6]

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

Lavinia

[Fuck you, dice pool. That was not cool. Str3+2, agg damage]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 7, 8, 9) ( success x 3 )

Feral

[Cujo takes 3A]

Feral

Both Lavinia and Jo made to get in the way of the snarling, feral creature, but Jo was just a little bit faster. She waved her arms in the air, shouting as many insults as she could muster, and maybe the beast understood her or maybe it was just distracted by all the noise, but it hesitated in its attack on Lavinia, turning to snarl at Jo instead. Lavinia took her chance, sweeping in on the creature's flank with her enchanted blade. She plunged it into the creature's thick fur, burying the blade in its side. The wound looked painful, and the creature snapped its jaws in anger, but she missed striking any vital organs.

[Cujo's Init is now at +4]

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (5) ( fail )

Jo Hamilton

[+5]

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (2) ( fail )

Lavinia

[+4]

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (3) ( fail )

Feral

[The order:

1: Cujo [3A] (9)

2: Jo [Healthy] (7, base +5)

3: Lavinia [3L] (7, base +4)]

Lavinia

[action: Having NONE OF YOUR CRAP, CUJO
1a: stab the crap out of it
1b: dodge, because I suspect this is going to hurt me.]

Jo Hamilton

[HEY I'M OVER HERE AND I'M TASTY - distraction]

Feral

[Cujo splits:

1a: Bite Jo

1b: Dodge Lavinia]

Feral

[Dex+Brawl -1 (wounds) -2 (split)]

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

Feral

[Str+1 (bite damage) + 2 (successes)]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9) ( success x 3 )

Feral

[Jo takes 3L]

Jo Hamilton

Ok.. that's.. that hurts. A lot. More than.. you know she's scraped her knee before... probably chocked herself, ya know, did stupid things but this takes the cake. So.. OW that hurts. But Jo Jo is a damn trooper. Even while in pain..

"Mother--Ugly -Son of a- YO so ugly - ah hell.. You make onions cry yo!" Don't cry Jo, don't cry, don't scream at how much it hurts. "UGLY BASTARD. YA MADE ME CURSE! SEE? SEE! AM I TASTY ENOUGH? CAUSE I'M NUTHIN BUT SUGARY CARBOS!"

[wits +exp -1]

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

Feral

[Dex+Ath to evade -1 -3]

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

Lavinia

She was bleeding. There was a lot of blood, she knew that there was a lot of blood, but she noticed Jo take a hit, winced but stood surprised that she was standing her ground, that she kept talking and, well, kept Lavinia from being rendered delicious. She inhaled sharply, calling out "If this gets worse, run."

[Dex3+melee3= 6 - 1 (oww) +1 (flank) - 2 (split) = 3]

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (3, 3, 4, 10) ( success x 2 ) [WP]

Feral

Jo's plan worked. The beast abandoned its attacks on Lavinia and lunged for Jo instead, burying its horrible fangs into the meat of her thigh. And yes, it did hurt. Probably worse than anything she'd felt before, if until this point she'd lived a fairly safe life. (Or maybe not. The Awakened seldom escaped their childhood without scars of one variety or another.) Thankfully, the animal released her when Lavinia attacked, but it dodged out of the way just in time for Lavinia's blade to slice uselessly through its fur.

[Init +4]

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (8) ( success x 1 )

Jo Hamilton

[+4]

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

Lavinia

[4+1d10]

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (7) ( success x 1 )

Feral

[The Order, once again:

1: Cujo [3A] (12)

2: Lavinia [3L] (11)

3: Jo [3L] (5)]

Jo Hamilton

This is real fucking stupid Jo... real Stupid... but she's going in to grab the snout and try and hold it shut while Lavi does her thing... oh she'll probably lose a hand..

Please be the left..Please be the left...

[Grapple - dog snout]

Lavinia

She doesn't know what to do. She's not accustomed to working with these people so all she does is sing. Sure, it's in Greek. Sure, it's a little odd to the ears, but it is a plea, a command, the kind of thing that says... well, now. That's for the divine to know and you not to, isn't it?

[Prime 2- calling divine death from above to hopefully smack Cujo in spectacular Prime Bolt fashion (vulgar as fuck, since there probably is no reason for lightning to come down from the sky right now)]

Feral

[Cujo splits again:

1a: Bite Jo

1b: Evade the grasping hands]

Feral

[Dex+Brawl -1 -2]

Dice: 3 d10 TN5 (2, 7, 10) ( success x 2 )

Feral

[Str+1+1]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 3, 7, 10) ( success x 2 )

Feral

[Jo is at 5L]

Lavinia

[Prime 2 (pewpew): diff 3 +2 (highest sphere) +1 (Vulgar without)= 6

-1 (actually is practiced) - 2 (appropriate resonance) = 3]

Dice: 3 d10 TN3 (3, 7, 9) ( success x 4 ) [WP]

Lavinia

[Paradox?]

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

Lavinia

[Soak?]

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

Feral

[Cujo takes 6A on top of 3A and is now DEAD]

Feral

Things were not looking good for them. Poor Jo, helpless as she was in a physical battle, put herself in the line of fire in order to give Lavinia time to wreak whatever damage upon the thing she could. And it worked, but at a price. The beast lunged for Jo again, teeth ripping into the flesh on her side. There was so much pain. Blood drenched her clothes and dripped down onto the grass beneath her feet. If it weren't for Lavinia, the thing might very well have killed her. But then, if it weren't for her, it might well have killed Lavinia. Instead Lavinia sang, and her voice was like that of a beautiful, avenging angel, bringing down a bolt of holy light from the sky. The air flashed a brilliant golden-white, and then the dog dropped to the ground, its body split in two and burned as though from a fire. The smell that rose up from the broken, charred remains was enough to make anyone gag.

Jo Hamilton

There isn't any way she could have described how she felt except agony. She was bleeding from her thigh and her side, and Jo's hands had moved quickly to the wound at her side. She was smart enough to know that major organs sat there and should be protected. She stumbles back, barely keeping herself afloat, though eventually finds herself at the very least, dropping to a knee to get the weight off her leg. Thankfully...something beautiful happens.

Lavinia sings, and if Jo may have been joking about her affections earlier, she's not entirely sure if she is now. But the thing is dead at least and Jo lifts the arm she isn't using to thrust in the air weakly. "Yeah!"

Lavinia

She gagged, forgetting about her guitar case for now. She went to Jo's side, and for a second, it's written across her face: panic. Jo's hurt. She's not just a little hurt, she's incredibly her and Lavinia? Has no idea what to do, it's on her face, in her trembling fingertips that all she can think about is Cameron would know how ot fix this. Again, and again and it was the most destructive, helpful thing she's done in a couple weeks but this was different. This was different because it wasn't just her hide on the line.

She does, however, put a hand on Jo's chest, just for a moment. There was blood everywhere, and it only served to make her halo more than a little battle-stained.

"Hang on, I'm gonna see if I know someone," she headed to her guitar case, ignoring her arm for the time being but god damn this hurt. Bloody fingertips slide over the gorilla glass and she looks someone up. Ian.

She hits the button to dial.

"Well, congratulations, you got your battle wings... or whatever the fuck people get when they survive shitty situations," her smile was reassuring. She couldn't feel her fingertips.

Feral

It was a lucky thing that Ian happened to be both downtown and near his phone at that precise moment. When the call went through, he glanced down at the screen and noted the name (Lavinia.) They'd scarcely even spoken, and exchanged numbers only on the assumption that they might get together for a sparring match some time, so there was a brief moment when Ian considered letting the call go to voicemail. He was at a sushi place nearby, already seated at the bar with a drink on the way.

Lavinia listened to the sound of the ringer once... twice... three times.

Then: "Hey Lavinia. What's up?"

Jo Hamilton

"Hey man, you're like..worried or something. Dude this is like.." She glances down to her side. "Just like a scratch ya know. A flesh wound." Jo laughed a bit at her own joke, letting out a few coughs as she did. "huh. So like...Grace wasn't lyin. I've got to learn how to shoot. Be like way more useful when dogs go wild or somethin." Then Jo blinks. "Ah man.my hoodie..." There's a frown that slides over her face, and when Lavi leaves her side, she collapses on the ground to just lay there. "Just give me a sec. I got like..my bike ya know? I can ride it.or..something," Jo wasn't riding anything anywhere even if she wanted to.

"GOD DOES THAT STINK." She yelled towards the corpse. "Ugh. Gross."

"Man what is this Top Gun? Pft...battle wings." She pressed into the wound again, then sat up and with one hand started to unzip her hoodie and wriggle out as she cringed, letting out growls of pain. "You serve me some ice cream in nuthin but an apron and I'll call it even right?" Jo tried to cast a tired, mischievous smile at Lavi, though it was obviously not an easy task.

Lavinia

"Hey," she sounds breathless, but confident. The kind of breathless that comes from either a very good workout or a very bad situation ended. Though, admittedly, in the background there was the sound of god does that stink!? And she started trying to shrug off her coat to see how deep the bite marks are.

"You wouldn't happen to know anyone who is good at patching people up, do you? Jo and I ran into this dog... thing... She's pretty messed up right now."

Jo tried to shoot a mischievous smile in her direction. She puts the receiver to her chest. "You get well and I'll serve you anything wearing anything else, sound good?"

She picked the phone back up and waited for some kind of answer.

"I'd be really grateful, and would seriously owe you."

Feral

For a beat, there was silence on the other end of the line. Ian frowned.

"Annie's a healer, but she's..." his voice trailed off before he could say, but she's all the way out in Morrison. Maybe Lavinia had already been out to Chantry, in which case she could fill that information in herself. Maybe she hadn't, and would have no idea what he was talking about. "She's probably not nearby." He sighed gently. "Where are you guys at? I'll meet you there."

Jo Hamilton

"Not just an apron? A flowered one? 50s style?" Jo almost whines at her. "I'M DYIN. GRANT A DYIN WOMAN'S WISH. Ok that's.." She coughs a bit. "A little dramatic. Sorry. "With her hoodie stripped off, she tried to tie it around her side and the wound there, rolling to the other side slowly to try and push herself to her feet.  "Cruel world...cruel world.."

Lavinia

"We're at Washington Park, by the tennis courts. There's the smell of charred dead thing, so... uh... if you could... like... make sure Jo is okay, I can go get trashbags and clean it up, this... it's pretty gross. I'm going to call my sister after this and have her help clean this up," she's planning out loud, trying to find what resources she had and didn't have. Her arm was starting to do a lot more than ache. She winced.

"Jo's not dying," she clarified, "she's just being dramatic-" she looks at Jo "-which is probably a little bad for you, so you should try and be calm, cool? And yes, if thoughts of me in a housewife apron feeding you ice cream keeps you from drawing the entire world over here to look at the dead dog thing? Make it ruffled and gingham."

Feral

"Alright, I'll be there in like ten minutes."

The line went dead, and Jo and Lavinia would have approximately eight minutes to assess their wounds, call whoever they wanted to call, and think about starting to clean up the horrendous mess they'd made of the dog's corpse.

When Ian arrived, he was (rather unfortunately) wearing an extremely nice suit, though he'd left the jacket in the car. The pants where dark grey, and the shirt was a deep shade of indigo. As he walked toward them, he unbuttoned the cuffs and rolled them up to his elbows. When he saw what was left of the mess on the ground, he wrinkled his nose in disgust. Then his eyes darted from Lavinia to Jo, and he crouched down in the grass beside the latter.

He'd only ever done this once before with another person (with Jae-shin, and that was mostly for practice.) Ian didn't tell them that though. It wouldn't have helped.

"Hey, I'm going to take a look at your wounds, okay? I need you to hold still and be quiet."

Jo Hamilton

She can't help but huff. "No one's comin." She pulled her arm up to her mouth to cough as she staggered to her feet. "Got.. got attacked by some weirdo monster...callin stuff down from the heavens.. screaming my lungs out... ain't no one comin. No one at all. Clear as a bell. Though bells.. not so clear really." She staggered her way around the damn thing and towards Lavi to get a look at her arm. "Alright parmaq. rIQ vIleghjaj." Not that it mattered much because Jo's strength was not so great, and eventually she dropped back down into the grass.

When Ian arrived she squinted her eyes at him. "Why can't you be a... beautiful woman? Would be so much better... if you had boobs." She let out a sigh and a cough before laying her bead back on the grass. "Yeah. Do it up big man."

Lavinia

She had things to do.

First thing was first, she called her sister. Addison was doing.. whatever it was that she did on Wednesday nights, probably hope that her kid would go down easy or that her husband would stop being an asshole for five minutes and actually help with household duties because it shouldn't matter if he worked and she stayed at home, they were both parents and needed to be equally involved in their child's life god damn it-

The phone call was terse, and entirely in Spanish.

"Addie'll be here in fifteen, we'll get this cleaned up by then," she told Jo. The rest of the time was waiting for Ian. And that wasn't terribly long, either. Lavinia had started a pretty disgusting task of trying to stuff what little parts of the dog she could cut up and fit into walmart sacks. The smell was atrocious, but Wal Mart bags were all that she had shoved in her guitar case.

It was not a pretty task, and it sure as shit wasn't a smell Lavinia seemed terribly pleased about.

"Five more minutes," she reminded herself, "and Addison gets here with real trash bags."

Lavinia

She then stopped, blinked, then?

"Did you just speak Klingon earlier?"

Feral

[First thing's first. Life 1 to scan Jo's wounds (1 diff for focus: blood)]

Dice: 3 d10 TN3 (1, 3, 4) ( success x 2 )

Feral

[Int+Medicine (hopefully to make the healing effect easier)]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (3, 3, 6, 9) ( success x 3 ) [WP]

Feral

[Life 3 / Prime 2 (Healing) Vulgar base diff 7 -1 (focus) -1 (from medicine roll) -1 (going slow)]

Dice: 3 d10 TN4 (6, 7, 10) ( success x 4 ) [WP]

Feral

[Paradox]

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

Feral

Why can't you be a beautiful woman?

"Sorry to disappoint you." Ian might have offered a cleverer response, but he was focused on what he was doing. Jo lay still in the grass as requested, and Ian crouched over her, knees on either side of her hips. There was already blood on his pants. He tried not to think about it.

"I have to lift up your shirt, I'm sorry." But he was careful as he did it, pulling the fabric up just to the top of her stomach so that he could get a good look at the angry wound in her side. The one on her leg was worse, but this one lay closer to vital organs. He traced his fingers through the blood, leaving a swirl of it on her stomach as he lifted his hand to his mouth to breath in the scent. To taste it (her blood, her life, her pattern.)

(To someone of Jo's paradigm, the ritual probably seemed a bit barbaric.)

Then he pressed his hand to her skin and closed his eyes and just breathed, focusing on her body - letting it tell him how it needed to heal. The feeling when the effect began was one of slow-spreading warmth, and of an odd kind of itching as her body knitted itself back together. First her side, and then her leg. And then there was no more pain at all.

Ian exhaled and opened his eyes, standing up to give her space. He turned to Lavinia, eying the torn flesh on her arm. "Here, I can get that too."

Feral

[And in case it wasn't clear, Jo is at full health now.]

Lavinia

The jacket was since discarded, and her arm... looked pretty gross, if we were going to be specific. If we were going to get blunt and describe precisely what it looked like. Torn muscle, a fair bit of blood. A few missteps and she could have been missing her arm from halfway up the bicep down. It was as disconcerting concept, but to her credit, she seemed too focused to complain. (Or at least too prideful to make it clear how badly this hurt. Her prowess as a hunter, called into question. Her ability to protect, equally so. It was a fact that helped hammer the situation home. She couldn't do this alone. Not for long, not if she wanted to go somewhere.)

"Is it going to be too much for you?" doesn't stop her from holding her arm out, teeth gritted, so he could get a better look.

Jo Hamilton

"HIja'!" Jo replied, lifting a hand up with her thumb in the air, bloodied and all. "Am I like..sexy now?"

But she went quiet and Ian was...practically straddling her. "Woah dawg. Don't get fresh. I may be hurt, but I can still kick." He lifted up her shirt and honestly she didn't care. She might threaten him but Jo saw herself as less of a girl and more of a guy, besides...there wasn't must there anyway. Not like she was sporting much of a chest. Her brows furrowed and then widened as she watched Ian do.. DID HE LICK HER BLOOD? She'd have to hork later. That's just... unsanitary. Forget the pain..he LICKED HER BLOOD.

When the warmth started, she eyed him a little and then tried to look at the wound (not easy to do without moving), and what was making the warmth and the.. OMG that itches! She wiggled a little under him. "That... why does it.. oh.. wha?"

Did he just. "Nuh uh. NO WAY. You didn't!" She sat up. "Woah, thanks dude! Wooooah." Is Jo poking and prodding at her own body? Yes she is!

Feral

[And let's repeat those steps. Life 1]

Dice: 3 d10 TN3 (2, 7, 10) ( success x 2 )

Feral

[Int+Medicine]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (3, 5, 5, 7) ( success x 1 )

Feral

[Ehhh not enough for a diff reduction this time. Life 3 / Prime 2  diff 7 -1 (focus) -1 (going slow)]

Dice: 3 d10 TN5 (5, 9, 9) ( success x 4 ) [WP]

Feral

[Well that was overkill]

Feral

[Paradox]

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

Feral

[Soak?]

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

Lavinia

There is something that happens when Ian checks the specifics with Lavinia. There's a lot of information there, things that go beyond the fact that she is, very clearly, injured. He knows the basics, knows how much blood she's lost and how much damage has been done to what tendons, but that was neither here nor there. Some of the more interesting things about Lavinia do come up.

Like the damages that have already healed. Broken ribs, a cracked femur. Shattered scapula, a broken arm, any number of traumatic head injuries. She's lived life like a warrior, or at the very least has been on the receiving end of a couple very good beatings before she acquired friends who could fix the damage.

The second thing that comes to mind is small by comparison. Lavinia is, genetically speaking, chromosomally male.

What goes beyond that, of course, is something that is a little harder to put a finger on. Her pattern is bright and vibrant, boundless and infinite and smoldering and radiant and too much for her body to handle. It's flawed, chipping at the edges, and there is the most interesting revelation there: Lavinia Cervantes isn't human. Not entirely, anyway.

Feral

"You can thank me by getting me a new suit," Ian replied (with more humor than he actually felt.) Neither of these two were likely to have the cash lying around to pay for something like that, and he didn't actually expect it.

Once she was healed, Jo was mostly left to her own devices. Ian glanced at her once before focusing his attention on Lavinia. Her arm was a torn, bloodied mess, but she at least was able to stand. Ian took her arm carefully in his hands, making a trail through the blood on her skin as he'd done with Jo. And once again, he breathed her in and brought his blood-soaked fingertips to his lips. Then he closed his eyed and focused on her pattern. (And what he found there... he didn't remark upon. At least not now.)

Time passed in stillness as he concentrated. And then... there was that warmth, and the bright spark of itching flesh as her wound knitted itself back together. Lavinia would be left with a lingering feeling of primal vitality and rejuvenation.

When he was done, Ian stepped back and exhaled, relaxing. "What the hell was that thing?"

Lavinia

[Life 1 scan: WTF were you?]

Dice: 3 d10 TN4 (2, 2, 3) ( fail )

Lavinia

[Ugh, Wits+occult, seriously?]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 5, 7) ( success x 1 )

Lavinia

[try magic again, but make it more difficult?]

Dice: 3 d10 TN5 (4, 4, 6) ( success x 1 )

Feral

[Lavinia honestly isn't sure what that thing was. All she can really gather is that it was dog-like and probably corrupted in some way.]

Lavinia

"I'll figure something out," she said, like she meant it. She took a look at the suit, had a feeling that she didn't exactly have enough money to buy him a suit. Or really even to hit his dry cleaning bill, but there he was- this relative stranger getting completely bloody for another couple of strangers. Oh no, she continues, she is most assuredly doing something to make it up to Ian.

"As for this?" she gestured, running a bloodied hand through her hair. She felt fine, but her motion left a little red streaking across her halo.

"All I know is it's not a dog. It's probably something that got warped out of its original form."

Jo Hamilton

"Tcht. New suit he says. Like for realsies? Nah. Getcha better clothes sure. Like ya know, better suited. Lookin too stuffy there homes." But he wasn't really talking to her so much as he was talking to Lavinia. Jo left the two of them to get her bike, rolling it back over as they talked. "So like, I'm not like hallucinating? There was some weird like gnarly dog thing that ya know.. bit me and it wasn't like just some feral dog and someone like spiked my cupcakes or something? Cause... that is ya know.. I mean it's fucked dude."

Feral

"Hm." Ian pressed his lips together. "Something to look into, maybe." He glanced at Jo for a silent moment, and there may have been a hint of haughty disagreement in his gaze. As though to imply that he knew damn well he looked fucking amazing.

(Aside from the blood.)

He didn't humor the comment with a reply, though. To her other question, he just said quietly, "You were not hallucinating." Then he glanced over his shoulder toward the building that housed the public restrooms. "I'm going to get cleaned up. Are you guys okay to deal with this mess?"

(He meant: without him.)

Lavinia

"That really did happen," she said, "but it's okay now, it's been taken care of."

She then turned and told Ian carefully, intent and putting her words together like someone who has done this sort of clean up before, or at least was confident in her crisis clean up skills that she could be largely unsupervised when cleaning up twisted corrupted animal parts, "my sister is going to be here soon, we're going to load up our stuff into the car, quick spiritual cleansing of the area because who knows what it brought along-" because she had to be concerned there "-but Addie and I can handle that to. Basically, you two are golden."

A thumbs up there.

"Thanks again, for all of this."

Jo Hamilton

Jo lifted a hand to slide behind her head. "I'm not leavin ya know. I figure I can help out. Not like my guts are spilin out anymore. Not in pain or nuthin. So here I am! At your disposal and all. Besides..." She winked at Lavi. "Can't let the waifu due all the work can I?"

"Thanks man." She grinned at Ian. "Even if you are like, a weirdo and all. You're like a cool weirdo with bad fashion sense. It's cool. I'll like, get you a chocobo hoodie or somethin..spice up that wardrobe." Her grin only grew in size. "Maybe get you a Brony hoodie. Can totes see you as a Brony."

Feral

"If you call me a Brony one more time, I will put those wounds right the fuck back on you," Ian replied offhandedly to Jo, and although it was fairly likely that he was joking, something about the tone was just ambiguous enough to make the threat seem possible.

To Lavinia he just nodded, and offered a reserved smile. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you're okay. Try not to get attacked by anything else on your way home."

And with that? He took his leave of them. First: to go clean off the blood. And then: back to the restaurant to grab his food.

7:00 PM