Edge Town-City of Light

edited 29th Sep '17 2:33:14 PM by DrTentacles

"Well, I'm not going to demonstrate, but I'll certainly describe them a bit. First batch was hmm a Picasso come to life? One with like five women in it. Jarl mostly took care of that batch. Second batch was Tintin and his dog. I handled that batch with help from Fortune. Though Tintin and his dog did end up being a bit of a hassle admittedly. Wizard De Normandie had to call in a doctor to get me patched up after those two were done with me. Though most of that was the getting rammed through a window rather then any more direct injury they caused."

Leon started plating the now completed breakfast as he shared a greatly trimmed down telling of the events at the museum. Probably wouldn't go over well if he mentioned the straight up kidnapping that ensued. He paused as Tim suggested a name. "Emess? oh MS. Really? MS Paint?"

"I still can't believe you've hurt Struppi." Tim sighed.

"If it makes you feel any better, Snowy almost suffocated me after I punted it so hard it exploded against a window. Also you know it was a paint monster and not like the actual fictional entity come to life."

Tim helped himself to another cup of coffee before eying the students. "Suffice to say, the situation has both been contained and, for now, resolved. If you have any further in depth questions I would ask you to address them to your professor."

Jarl

Unfortunately, stairs in old townhouses did tend to be on the creaky side. Even a ninja would be hard-pressed to make it up them completely silently. Jarl did his best—stair by stair, step by step, a painting of a greek woman lounging on a couch, dressed in wisps of silk staring down at him with judgemental grey eyes from the top of the stairs.

As he neared the top, he found himself in a hallway that wrapped back into the apartment, full of doors. Bedrooms, a library—and at the end of the hall, overlooking the street, what looked like the study.

Footsteps came from the doorway at his left, only a moment's warning before the figure of a man rounded the corner.

"Belanger?"

edited 2nd Oct '17 9:26:27 PM by DrTentacles

Jarl

Well, here was to hoping against hope the partner was at least a little bored on the job. Second verse, same as the first - as the officer rounded the corner, Jarl stuck out his hand to grab his wrist, muttering "Hǫfgi" again as he felt the tug on his mind, another sleeping spell applied courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Viking.

At least neither of them would have to wake up with a concussion this way. Otherwise, he might have to improvise, and he didn't like the thought of having to improvise even more.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Terry, Alex and Anne

Terry followed the scent of pancakes and young child and arrived at another hotel door.

...The hotel door that he was pretty sure belonged to the lady they'd met yesterday.

And that sure sounded like a pan on the other side of the door.

As soon as someone motioned to open the door, Freeloader charged inside, brave little kitty that he is.

Wizards Two

The roller-coaster of expressions Bruno's face went through was a journey to behold. Confusion, then concern, astonishment, and profound curiosity, and finally frustration, at the brevity of Tim's answer. It was clear that the boy very much wanted to know more about the world that they lived in. Magic was something strange and wonderful to him.

Leon's answer helped satisfy that. Even Michele let out a soft, astonished giggle when Leon revealed that one of the paint monsters had taken the form of Tintin. Some sort of shake in hand, she turned to him, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Tintin? Really?"

Bruno tossed her a quick glare.

"Why not? How is it any stranger than a Picasso?"

Michele snorted, picking up her drink, some sort of frothy, undoubtedly painfully healthy protein drink.

"Tintin." She repeated, voice dry.

Bruno sighed at her again, eyes still wide with excitement.

"You have one now? May I see it?"

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alexander

Muscles tense, thermos full of coffee held up as an impromptu weapon, Alexander moved to flank the doorway, anxiety dancing a merry jig with the batch of questions that had just arisen in his mind.

Why does her trail lead to Ms Wagner's room? Is the alchemist a plant? From whom?

And who made pancakes after just kidnapping a mob-bosses's child, the more rational part of his mind added. But after October...

Alexander sucked in a breath, reaching out a gloved hand for the door. He was a coiled spring. Ready to move.

The little freeloader dashed inside the moment he cracked it.

Motherfucker!

He threw open the door, a second behind the cat, then stopped in utter confusion when he saw the...calm breakfast inside. He was breathing fast, and had to still look like a bit of a hungover mess, dressed in a rumpled dress shirt and slacks, brandishing a coffee mug in one hand, eyes wide, hair a mess.

"...''Buongiorno, Ms Wagner. Bethany, David." He managed, voice a breathless rush. "I was looking for you, sister."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jarl

The officer wasn't tall. He was, however, a big, stout man, balding under his uniform cap, muscle under a gut. When he saw Jarl, confusion, instead of anger rushed through his eyes, a hand drifting for his nightstick.

Jarl's spell want off, another surge of magic, and another rush of tiredness, and the officer practically fell on him as the man went out like he'd been chloroformed.

This police officer was considerably harder to lower to the ground gently than the woman downstairs.

The room felt a little colder when Jarl had finished, but De Goff's study lay open, a mess of correspondence all over the desk. At least the man's letters weren't covering the floor, as well. On the other hand, Jarl was going to have to sort through at least a dozen term-papers before he'd find the letter.

edited 5th Oct '17 8:35:30 PM by DrTentacles

Was that really it? Was this all it was? Was there not going to be some huge crisis this time? Terry peeked around Alex's side - my little vampire can't be this cute, a particularly inane part of his brain noted - to see for himself that Beth was there, safe and sound. "Hey kiddo," he said, doing his very best not to break into hysterical relief giggles. "If you're gonna vanish on us like that can you leave a note or something? We were worried."

edited 6th Oct '17 1:23:54 AM by rikalous

Jarl

Motherfucker, eat less croissants.

Jarl grumbled internally as he lowered the officer to the floor. Now that the place was mostly clear of interruptions, he sorted through the term papers to look for the letter with a degree of patience - after all, he didn't have any beef with de Goff's poor students. No need to make their lives any harder.

Though he got an icy feeling in his gut whenever his thoughts drifted back to the girl downstairs. This was some shit they'd put her in. The faster he found that document, the better.

____________________________________________________________________

Alex, Terry and Anne

Almost on cue, when Alex opened the door, Freeloader leapt onto the counter in front of Anne, in a feat of athleticism that seemed impossible for a kitty that tiny, then turned around and started looking at the alchemist, tilting its head slightly to the side.

"Mrow?"

It was a good thing Annette was without any of her potions right now, or her new employer might have started the morning with acid in his face. Seriously, who barged into somebody's hotel room unannounced like that?...the gunrunner, for one. And Annette last night amidst Alexander's little party, of which he still looked like he was suffering for slightly. Annette drew in a sharp breath and clutched her fork in surprise before her brain caught up with her eyes. "Mr. Thorne? Mr. Talbot? What—"

"Kitty!!" David's sullen mood shattered the instant he spotted Freeloader. He leaped out of his seat and went to pet the cute little kitten with a smile brighter than anything he'd worn on this trip so far. Annette, too, looked over at the kitten and her shoulders softened, a small "awww" escaping her before she remembered what was going on. She looked at Bethany instead with a raised brow.

"I thought you said y-you were invited, not that you'd r-run away."

So Alexander hadn't noticed she was here. Hm. What kind of person gets too high to take care of his sister...?

edited 6th Oct '17 4:54:08 AM by KeiranGold

Tim gave a quiet sigh. "If you let it out, please prepare a proper circle Leon. I do not wish to explain to Wizard Rollo on how we got paint all over his living room."

Jarl

The letter wasn't in the stack of papers. Jarl found it, instead, three drawers down into the desk, concealed in a thick, creme-colored envelope with "Professor Jules De Goff" written on the front in neat black ink. Quality paper, quality handwriting. It appeared Michu Hartmann (If he was the letter-writer) was a man of taste.

There was only a faint, muddled register of magic on touch. It had been in proximity to...something, probably bad, but it wasn't enchanted. It appeared no mind control had been required to launch De Goff on his path of theft, and manslaughter.

The letter itself was a tight black scrawl of french, though extremely formally written, with the same neat handwriting on the envelope.

Dear Professor De Goff

I write this as a stranger, though one with the best of intentions. While attending the symposium at the Musee De' Orsee yesterday evening, I happened to catch sight of you, and I knew within a moment you were gifted with powers beyond the human norm. As one also gifted, it is rare to find another with talent such as yourself, so you immediately caught my eye.

I trust you understand what I mean?

I intended to speak to you, but while attempting to catch you away from the crowd, I stumbled upon an unpleasant conversation between you, and a young lady—one of your former students, and did not wish to intrude. However, to my further shock, I noticed the young woman in question was carrying an artifact known as the Linthe Brush, a powerful and dangerous magic implement. As the reason that I came to Paris in the first place was to study such artifacts, I was elated, but I did not wish to cause a scene, so I retired to find your name.

Professor De Goff, your former student in grave danger. The Linthe Brush is possessed by a manipulative and evil spirit, able to cause obessions and madness in the weak minded. It is the source of her artistic talent, and she will not part with it willingly. To be honest, I myself would be hard-pressed to master such an object. However, I have a plan. If it were to fall into your custody, with my knowledge, and your natural talent, together we may be able to tame the spirit within the brush.

I understand I am asking a great deal. As a token of good faith, I have enclosed two things—a reciept, for the Hamburg on auction I noticed you admiring, and the contact information of a group of professionals who specialize in recovering dangerous artifacts I have dealt with in the past. Please act quickly. If this former student of yours will part with the brush willingly, then that is for the best, but her life is in grave danger. I look forward to learning from you—and teaching what I have to offer.

Best wishes

Michu Hartman.

And below his name, what looked like a PO box number.

edited 9th Oct '17 5:01:23 PM by DrTentacles

Alexander

The stupid, animal side of his brain was still in full fight-or-flight mode, demanding he grab Bethany this instant and take her somewhere safe.

She came her herself? Even after...of course she did.

Alexander forced himself to make that part of his head shut up, unwilling to further embarrass himself in front of Ms Wagner, who was looking at him like some sort of dangerous maniac. Deservedly, of course.

Next to David at the table, Bethany's bright blue eyes went wide with guilt, looking between Ms Wagner and Alexander, explanations tumbling from her mouth.

"The party was too loud, and I couldn't sleep, Fratello! I went looking for Aiden, but he wasn't in his room, and then I accidentally walked into David's room, but it was quiet in there, and he woke up, and said I could sleep over if I wanted and we talked. It was like a sleepover! I was invited, really, right David?"

She swallowed, looking at David expediently, batting her lashes. Her show of innocent only made her look more guilty, to the adults, at least.

Alexander felt short of breath. He stepped forward, placing a hand on his sister's shoulder. The frustration in his voice was only restrained by the presence of Terry and Annette.

"Bethany. You scared me. Badly. You snuck out of your room."

He turned to Annette, forcing a grin. It wasn't easy.

"I'm sorry about all this, Ms Wagner."

edited 9th Oct '17 8:20:01 PM by DrTentacles

Annette kept her eyes on Bethany because it was easier to respond to the excuse-making child than her paranoid, rightfully upset big brother. It took a lot of effort from snorting at her reasoning. Yeah, she'd accidentally walked from one hotel room to the other, through an empty living room, and into the one bedroom that happened to have David in it instead of any of the other rooms. Amazing. David in the meanwhile was entirely distracted by the kitten on the counter and only responded to Bethany's tale with a short: "Uh-huh, right."

Give that boy a cat and all his attention goes out the window. He's mine alright.

Annette sighed softly, her eyes soft and forgiving to Bethany before she looked up at Alexander again. That was a shitty excuse for a smile if she'd ever seen one right there. Rather than respond to him right away she stood up from her chair and gave him a little 'come here' wave. David blinked and tried to pick the kitty up and move her out of his mother's way as she came over to the counter. Annette gave his head a fond, gentle ruffle as they passed each other, .

"I'm a m-mother, Mr. Thorne. I've h-had my share of scares and panic attacks. It's alright. Now, s-since she's already eating and I...don't think either of you h-have yet, why don't you just join us? I have plenty of pancakes to spare and, um, b-batter left if you need more."

If I can distract them from the adrenaline, maybe it will help.

"Maybe we can talk more about my...contract?" she looked at Alexander over her shoulder, "If that's still, mm, v-valid."

edited 9th Oct '17 9:51:08 PM by KeiranGold

Terry gave a half-chuckle, half-sigh. "Alex, did you sign a contract mid-bacchanalia? Look, if there are going to be any other surprises from last night I'd appreciate having them come out as soon as possible. I'm gonna fortify myself with pancakes, thank you oh most gracious hostess."

Annette gave Terry a little smile and took one of the plates out of the shelves. They were still so boring compared to hers at home, but they held pancakes all the same. She piled three onto the plate and handed it over to Terry. "You're very welcome. Coffee is in the pot, syrup and b-butter is on the table, and whipped cream is somewhere, but you'll need to f-fight David for it."

David was still busy with Freeloader, ignoring his food altogether.

Annette snickered. "Or just do it n-now while he's catatonic."

Oof, that was bad. Bad, Annie.

edited 9th Oct '17 9:54:38 PM by KeiranGold

Terry chortled. "I'd hate to make him caterwaul when be notices." He frowned as he started liberally slathering syrup on his pancakes. "Ugh, that was a clumsy one. Off my game. I blame hunger." And oh look, the solution to that problem was right in front of him. How convenient.

Leon gestures at the miniature paint version of himself in a jar on the table a second time, since Bruno had apparently missed it the first time he had pointed it out, before he shared the greatly trimmed down story of yesterday's events.

"If you have any ideas on names for it that aren't a MS paint joke, that would be nice."

Leon plopped himself down at the table with his plate of food, though refrained from starting to eat just yet, in case the duo wanted to ask more questions.

Wizards Two

Bruno cautiously moved over to the table, looking wide-eyed at the tiny little paint monstrosity in a jar. His hand reached out for a moment, then he stopped, realizing, perhaps, that poking the magical thing, even with glass between them, was a bad idea.

"It's so strange looking. Um. Name it..." His brow furrowed, deep in thought for a moment. "Manet? Dufy?"

Michele put her place down next to Leon, taking a seat and studying the paint monster as well.

"How about "Little Leon?" It looks slightly like you. Or "Le Spot" if you want to be boring."

Alexander

Bethany gave David a satisfied nod, looking at Alexander as though that should settle the issue. Alexander met her look with a stern, unsmiling stare, his heart still hammering in his chest, ignoring Ms Wagner's words for a moment.

Bethany shifted uncomfortably, avoiding his stare and picking at her food, her pale cheeks flushing with embarrassment at her lie.

Alexander fought the urge to smile, even though his heart was still racing from his earlier fears. His voice was soft, and very stern.

"Bethany. I know a lie when I hear one. You are in trouble after breakfast. For running off, and for trying to lie. A lot of trouble."

Tears welled up in Bethany's eyes, and she shoved her plate away, crossing her arms on her chest, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I didn't mean—"

Alexander's cool stare didn't waver, he cut her off.

"We'll talk about this later. Right now, enjoy Ms Wagner's breakfast."

He patted her shoulder gently, then tried to decipher what had been going on in the rest of the room. Annette and Terry had been chatting about something. She's offered him food. And had mentioned...

Alexander blinked, head snapping around to look at Ms Wagner.

"Contract?"

edited 11th Oct '17 8:07:13 PM by DrTentacles

"You..." Annette paused as she was piling pancakes onto a plate for Alexander. If he really didn't remember, then this might be her last chance out of this insanity. It would have been null and void, right? But she still needed his help, and his protection from Samson. Instead, she passed the plate over to Alexander and put on as bright a smile as early morning and receding tensions allowed and responded, frankly, "You offered t-to hire me as a maid. Or was it your man-servant? You were v-very, very preoccupied. You might have come around t-to alchemist at some point but I simply c-can't remember. Contact high, I suppose. But I accepted. The alchemist position, not th-the other two."

David, of course, took that exact moment to come back into the conversation. "What is a contact high?"

Annette flushed dark red, her grin falling off her face as she scrambled to come up with words again. Great time to develop a sense of humor, Annie.

edited 11th Oct '17 8:30:17 PM by KeiranGold

"Mm," Terry said through a bite of pancake, gesturing with his fork to indicate that he'd be fielding this question. He swallowed his mouthful and said, "It's when someone's smoking around you and you breathe in the some of the smoke they breathed out and it messes with your head because breathing in smoke is bad for you and you shouldn't do it. Like a lot of the things people were doing at Alex's party, which is why I was over here not doing them."

Tim gave the little paint...thing a glance. "Or maybe don't name it at all. Name's have power and you giving it one could have...consequences." He pointed out in a wary tone, having images of Leon having a little blob of paint acting like an corgy on a sugar rush to get the attention of its owner.

Alexander

Well. That does sound like something I'd do.

It looked like party Alexander kept sober Alexander's business instincts. An Alchemist on staff could be useful as hell. Ms Wagner needed help with her crime problem, and he needed competent, reasonably sane, preferably attractive staff. And Bethany needed friends.

He'd spent money on worse things than friends for his baby sister. Like everything he'd put into his system last night.

Alexander took a sip of coffee, looking at Annette levelly.

"Shame. You'd look great in a maid outfit."

The moment the worst left his mouth, he coughed, realizing her son was in the room.

Well, I've said worse around kids.

"Do you happen to recall if there was any signing of paperwork? Or did we just shake on it?"

edited 13th Oct '17 1:34:22 PM by DrTentacles