Character Resort

"Uh, no, sorry," said Vincent, his wings twitching slightly. "Do you have a name for him? If I see someone, I could ask him, but don't get your hopes up."

"In the meantime," said Kat, "what's your name, and where're you from? See, we're currently doing a study on transuniversality, and we need a large control group of sorts for data collection." He pushed the camera a little closer to her. "And we haven't met anyone else yet, so-"

"Get out of her face, Kat," snapped Vincent. He yanked Kat back by his collar. "Sorry," he said to her, "but he can be a little assholish at times."

"You got that right," said Kat, grinning broadly.

edited 25th Oct '11 10:46:55 PM by TeraChimera

Beach

"Ah, yes, although it was my intention to be found out - that multiverse advertising special wasn't cheap." Kevin said to the suited man.

Then, in reply to Rachel he said, "That vulture? Good thing it's not a pigeon. We had a nasty infestation of those during construction, so be sure to tell one of us if you see any."

Seeing as everyone was fine, the maid walked around the beach.

Bar/Lounge/Reception

"No, I'm sorry I haven't seen anyone like that recently. We just opened. I'll be sure to send for you if we do." Miki said to Claude.

Asayu shook Ryan's hand and said, "I travel a lot on Earth, and know it well. But don't tell my niece that. The less she knows, the better. Trust me." Then she took a moment to consider him. Bluntly, he looked like a thick-headed hardass with some extra years attached. But the smile and demeanor belied more complexity then he let on. Maybe he couldn't afford to look weak where he came from? He could use a shave, sure. But... she looked him over like a predator considering its prey, though her subtle, secretive smile suggested her intents far from malevolent. Maybe he'd be worth her time. She'd see. "Quite a scar," she said. "How'd you get it?"

Rachel saw Asayu's expression, and, turning red, went back to her book. It was a ponderous tome, written in 2014, about the Arab Spring. She'd only just started it, but paused from time to time to consider what she read, and either slightly nod in agreement or shake her head in mild dismay.

The girl with dark skin shifted slightly away. He smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. They stayed hard and impassive as ever. Looking down, he spotted the title of the book she was reading printed in bold lettering down its spine. “The Fruitstand Revolution: A Historical Analysis of the Arab Spring? Not a bad choice, though hardly light reading. Don’t people normally come to resorts to relax? Or perhaps you work for Al-Jazeera?” He paused, his façade cracking for a moment, before saying, “Oh, please forgive me. Where are my manners? Jean Desmoulins Aristide.” He gave a short bow, looking slightly awkward behaving so formally on the beach. “And you are, Miss…?”

He pronounced his own name with a French accent as only a native could speak it, but then reverted to his usual distinctive lack of accent. He likewise pronounced "Al-Jazeera" in it's proper Arabic fashion, though with perceptibly less fluency.

His last name is pronounced "AH-ris-tide"

edited 23rd Oct '11 8:52:16 PM by Gault

Yuki left the bathroom to find Amaya pulling her brown hair into a ponytail. Her eyes wandered before settling on the window. She let out a slight chuckle as a thought occurred to her.

"What is it?" Amaya asked, now rubbing suntan lotion into her skin.

"Just wondering if I could shundo through the window and out into the water," Yuki saud. She shook her head. "But it's not the time for training."

"Well, if it's fun, why not?" Amaya's hands moved to her legs.

"I suppose." Yuki adjusted the straps of her blue one-piece suit nervously. "It was nice of the guys to let us get away for a while."

Amaya nodded. She turned around and untied the back of her bikini. "Get my back?" Yuki picked up the bottle of suntan lotion, but hesitated. "Please?" she added.

Red luminescence spread across Yuki's face as she spread the cold lotion across her friend's back. After several awkwardly silent minutes, she stepped back, rubbing the excess lotion into her own arms.

"Well," Amaya said, picking up a towel and donning a pair of dark sunglasses. "Let's go!"

I'll actually get to some interaction in my next post.

"Um," said Claude. This... was odd. The human-looking one was not blipping on Claude's radar as 'real.' The reptile creatures — who Claude had assumed must have been a part of Alex's fevered imaginations — were. Whatever. Go along with it. As long as they weren't scary monsters like the last place. This place looked almost... happy.

"My brother's name is Alex. He's been quite lost. I've been looking for him for a while. And I'm," she paused for a moment, wondering if she should give her real name. "I'm Claude. From Minneapolis."

Ryan's grin evaporated momentarily, then returned. He realized that she had no idea of the nasty history surrounding his many, many injuries, and decided to play it as cool as he could. If what he'd heard about Asayu was true, then judging by the look on her face, things might get pretty interesting soon. "That would be telling," he said with a smirk.

"So," Ryan said, "you've been to Earth? Avea didn't seem to have heard of it. Your world's getting more and more intriguing with everything I learn about it. Care to enlighten me further?"

edited 23rd Oct '11 8:50:49 PM by KyleJacobs

I had assumed that I'd be ninjaed, hence the existence of this post. I wasn't, so ignore this.

edited 23rd Oct '11 8:51:22 PM by KyleJacobs

"Just Claude?" said Kat. He pushed the camera closer into her face again. "Or do you have a last name?"

"Stop that," said Vincent. He yanked the camera away from Kat and pushed him to the ground, careful not to touch any of his scales. "Sorry about that," said Vincent, holding the camera up to his eye. "But if he's going to keep doing that... yeah.

"So, Minneapolis? I guess that means you're from Earth, right? What year is it? We're actually from Earth, somewhere within the multiverse. Probably very different from yours, though."

Beach

Well, it looks like everyone's getting along nicely. Kevin thought. "If you need me for anything, I'll be around, enjoy your stay!" he said, and walked away, disappearing through a locked door on the side of the beach bar.

Saves me the trouble of thinking of a name.

Rachel shook her head and said, "no, I'm an actuary. Rachel Hosseini." She eyed him, still a tad suspicious, but seeing no reason to be rude. "It's kind of a family thing, though. My mother was a religious scholar. When the hardliners in Iran took over, they didn't agree with what she wrote. As her scars will attest. Needless to say," she said, darkly, "I'm rather interested in anything that well help those bastards get their comeuppance."

Asayu, meanwhile, still had her eye on Ryan. "Oh, come on," she said, "can't you tell me a little story?" Leaning in close, she said, "don't worry. I'm not some little girl who's scared of the world. I know there's all sorts of nasty things out there..." Mentally, she added to herself, ...and I need to make sure you're fighting them, not one of them.

edited 23rd Oct '11 9:16:43 PM by KillerClowns

Sobek got up from his beach spot and simply walked toward the lobby when he saw the two dragon beings, "Oh cool, more reptiles." He walked toward the two draconic creatures and greeted them, "So, it seems that I'm not the only reptile here."

edited 23rd Oct '11 9:04:26 PM by draconiansuperior

Claude took a step back from the camera. "Yes, Minneapolis. Um." This was one of her brother's stranger imaginings, that's for sure. "It's 2010 — the year that those glasses the sold at new years couldn't be made any more. And I have a last name. Why do you need it?" She frowned.

"I am pretty sure my brother is somewhere in here. Are you sure you didn't see him walk through the door?" And, from the looks of this place, he was probably enjoying himself.

"Your last name doesn't matter to me," said Vincent. "Ignore Kat for now. Like I s-"

"Gimme," said Kat. He grabbed the camera back from Vincent and pointed it at the swarthy man who had just walked up and began talking.

Vincent blinked at Kat for a few seconds. "Like I said, he can be a bit of an asshole. But once you get to know him, he's at least the somewhat-enjoyable kind of asshole.

"But getting back to your brother, I can't say I saw him. I might've missed him, but I can't say for certain."

"You're not the only reptile?" said Kat, filming the man. "You certainly don't look like one. Shapeshifter? What's your name? I'm Katshal, as you can see from my tag." He pointed at it with his free hand. "But most everyone just calls me Kat. Especially humans."

Ryan let the grin drop again, and considered. Asayu also suffered under the Mages so she'd probably be sympathetic, but...

"Fuck it," he muttered. "OK, but this might take a little while. You know the United States, right? Basically, around 2012, we got ourselves in a second civil war between the right wing, the left wing, and the government. The feds ended up suspending pretty much all our civil liberties and taking out anyone who doesn't agree with the crackdown. Politicians, judges, myself, et cetera. Don't ask how I made the list, I'd really rather not go there - all you need to know is I did the right thing at the wrong time and nearly got blown to hell for it, hence the scar."

Ryan looked almost regretful as he continued. "The war ended 17 years ago. Since then, the government's started rigging elections, pulling false flag ops, and expanding the CIA beyond anything that you'd think would be plausible in any kind of reality. I've spent that time on the run selling guns to the Resistance, but I'm thinking about stepping things up a bit."

He chuckled, then added on, "just in case you're getting the wrong idea, they're basically your mages minus the mind burrowing, and I'm sure they'd do that if they could."

edited 23rd Oct '11 9:13:25 PM by KyleJacobs

Sobek pulled his face away from the camera,"Dude, kind of close and I see your name tag." He straightened himself out, "My name's Sobek, you might have an better of idea of how reptilian I am if you know the myth."

Yuki had never really understood the importance of sunglasses. All they did was impair your vision and tailor your pointless appearance to better appeal to certain people. However, she had never experienced direct sunlight on a beach before. She managed a glare between squinting with her hand over her eyes.

"Sorry," Amaya said, grinning with excitement. "Forgot you didn't want a pair."

"I'll live," Yuki deadpanned. "Let's find a spot." She noticed a tall woman with purple hair... there was time for her later. "Over there," she said, pointing to a patch of sand a few feet from where the waves were reaching. She slid her towel off of her shoulder and spread it out, watching as Amaya laid hers out beside it.

She kicked off her flip flops, squishing the sand between her toes. Interesting surface... shundo would be difficult here, she thought, before shaking her head. No thinking about training! she admonished. Or fighting, or ki, or even exercise! Just relax and have fun!

She looked down at Amaya, lying on her stomach on her towel. She had untied her bikini to eliminate any tan lines. "I thought you wanted to swim?" Yuki asked.

"I'll dip in the water in a bit to cool off," Amaya answered, folding her arms under her head. "No point in being at the beach without a tan."

Yuki nodded and walked off, down the beach. The purple haired woman was talking to someone. She didn't recognize any of the people around her. What was her name again? she wondered. Alice was the child-looking one, Bianca had the metal arm... wasn't it Asau or Asayu or something?

Well, a familiar face was better than nothing, so she swallowed nervously and walked up. "What are the odds," she started, "of running into you here of all places?" She gave a nod to the man she was speaking to.

edited 23rd Oct '11 9:25:48 PM by animemetalhead

"Well," Asayu said, clearly disturbed. "Sounds like you've been through a lot. Seen a few too many terrible things..." then an approving smile came to her lips, as she tapped her chin thoughtfully. "And yet you still haven't turned into a miserable, grumbling cliche. Yes, I think I'm starting to like you..." then, recalling Ryan's question from earlier, she said, "but, as you asked. Knowledge of travel between the worlds is... rare. I only got to Earth following Kokabiel."

She pointed to the vulture. "The harvester of souls. He's not evil..." Rachel scoffed at this, clearly disagreeing, but Asayu continued, "but, he goes to places where he expects mages to die soon. So he can collect their souls." With a wicked grin, she explained, "this was something I wanted a part of. The mage was hunting Rachel here. I got a nasty wound, and her family helped care for me."

Rachel shook her head, wondering how long Asayu would play with her new found toy, and if it would end amicably or... not. He seemed like the sort that would understand how Asayu worked, but it was hard to tell. She'd hate to see his heart broken.

Asayu looked at Yuki, a bit confused. She seemed familiar, and she got good vibes from her. But she couldn't quite recall exactly where she'd met her. Carefully, Asayu said, "...Yuki, was it? Right. We met..." she trailed off, then said, "ah, never mind. How are you?"

For my characters, the Heist was All Just a Dream, but they recall the generalities enough. Just don't ask about specifics.

edited 23rd Oct '11 9:26:02 PM by KillerClowns

Jean’s expression turned serious, his mouth a parsed line, nodding at Rachel’s short-form family history. Then he laughed briefly. A clear, dry sound. His smile was fuller, more genuine this time, and lit all his features. “That’s inspiring drive, Miss Hosseni. I have what you might call more than a passing interest in the politics of the Middle-East myself.” He lowered himself down next to her, still clad in his formal attire. Despite the heat of the sun beating down on the beach, Jean didn’t seem to be perspiring at all.

“In the real world I’m a,” he paused briefly “… rather prominent politician, but here I suppose I’m just another sojourner.” He thought for a split second, then corrected himself. “Oh, I really shouldn’t call it the ‘real world’ should I? Terribly sorry. As far as I know, this place is as real as anywhere- Actually, if you are as you say dedicated to seeing dictators fall and the will of the people triumph, then our aims might well coincide. I could, would my superiors allow it, have a job proposal for you.”

Ryan looked genuinely interested. "Huh," he said. "From what Avea told me, I'm surprised there's anything to collect."

Good night.

"A god? Sweet." Kat adjusted the focus on the camera a little. "So what brings you here? Vincent over there-" He jabbed a quick finger at Vincent. "-and I are studying effects of cross-universal travel. Vincent got some ticket in the mail about the opening of this, so we made the necessary arrangements and whammo." He snapped his fingers, and a small explosion of color burst from his fingertips. "We were here."

Kat took a few steps back. "Vincent's actually done this twice before. Once by accident, once partially by accident. But this time, we knew something was happening, so he could plan ahead a little. It doesn't look it, but he's pretty much got a lab in those pockets." He zoomed in on Vincent's pockets for a few seconds. "Hammerspace is a wonderful thing."

"Okay, well, thank you," said Claude, pausing for a few seconds before heading out to the pool, thinking about what she had just seen. Nothing scary had jumped out at her. Really, very uneventful. Perhaps Alex was not here after all.

There seemed to be a lot more people at the pool, and the sun was bright and the water looked inviting. She had not expected to need a swimsuit when coming in here. Then again, she had not known what to expect. There seemed to be a lot of other people around here, and none of them looked familiar. None of them looked quite right, either, but not in the way that would make them unreal.

Rachel examined Jean suspiciously. "No," she said simply. "No offense, but you haven't given me any reason to trust you yet. I am dedicated to the fall of dictators, and the will of people as you say... and you say it very nicely. But I don't know if you are." She watched him carefully, seeing how he'd respond to that. For all she knew, it could be Tamiel making an attempt on her soul. Damn you and your brothers, she thought, glancing at the vulture, before returning her attentions to Jean. It was never easy, was it?

To Ryan, Asayu said, "well, they can't exactly function without a soul, can they? It's just that they agree to turn over their souls at time of death. Theoretically, it's impossible for a mage to escape the contract, though it's made to make them think they have a chance. Though one did escape... but he wasn't like most mages." She glanced at Rachel and said, "and she's his many-greats granddaughter."

Yuki lowered herself to sit on the sand. "I've been worse," she said. "You're just the only familiar face I saw here, I just, uh, didn't want to intrude on anyone I didn't at least recognize." She rubbed the back of her head nervously. She decided against bringing up the debacle in Vegas. Gotta keep it friendly, she reminded herself.

"So, you here on vacation, too?" she asked, playing with a bit of sand between her fingers. Why is small talk so damn hard? she thought.

"Hold on," Asayu said. "Ryan, this is Yuki. Yuki, this is Ryan. Sorry, Yuki, I can't quite remember where we met, but Ryan here's new. Met my niece at the Cosmic Cantina. Ryan's a revolutionary, apparently, of the sort that doesn't have a stick up his ass, and Yuki... did I ever ask what you did? I remember you were with Alice, but you don't seem as... disturbed as she is." She looked him over once more. Still considering. She wouldn't shoo Yuki quite yet. Then she said, "yeah, we're here on vacation. Some place nobody's tried to kill us..."

"...yet..." Rachel cut in. She was standing, and had surreptitiously moved to where she could keep both a close eye on that damn vulture, Kokabiel, and Jean.

Asayu continued, "true, but until then, we might as well enjoy it."

edited 23rd Oct '11 9:48:50 PM by KillerClowns