Edge Town-City of Light

Alexander

In all honesty, Alexander was a little offended at the lack of visible reaction to his bad come-on to Tim. He'd put effort into it, and into the accompanying ego-poke. Sure, it deserved more than a raised eyebrow and a stare.

"You've gotten jaded. Complacent, in knowing you aren't my type." Alexander muttered, his own eyes narrowed. Not that "type" would stop him from making a move if feeding time came up. No, that would be the true love protection (and coming wedding) forming a burning, insurmountable wall.

Straight people

"As for the boy, it would be up to Ms Wagner. Do you think you're capable of detecting such subtle magic without harming him?" Alexander said, perhaps only sounding pettier from Tim's determination not to take the bait.

"Ms Wagner? David?" He called to the kitchen, where she and her son were lurking, barely visible behind the counter. "Let's be on with this."

A vein in Alexander's jaw pulsed at Jarl's jab. Had he been talking to Jesse in private? No.

Lilaine

"With that face? Not a tuxedo. Something more...rustic." Alexander said smoothly back to Melina, his face suddenly very composed. "Purple, to accent future bruises. And Jesse, my casinos were legitimate."

The last was said with great, long-suffering patience.

Gunmetal grey. I have other colors. Gold is a color.

Edited by DrTentacles on Oct 1st 2020 at 5:18:47 AM

"Ideally, no we won't get into a fight while wearing the fancy clothes. But pattern recognition says violence is apparently inevitable in this city no matter where we go." Not that Vegas was any better

He rubbed the side of his chest remembering the entire moose headbutting him situation even if Hephaestus patched it up and it didn't actually hurt anymore. He briefly glanced between Jarl and Alex, it didn't seem particularly heated yet, but he was certainly wary of escalation just based off Jarl's recent behavior.

Edited by Kosjurake on Sep 30th 2020 at 11:35:25 AM

Tim just continued to give Alex a level look before answering. Totally not because it seemed to irritate Alexander. No sir.

"I can run some simple tests without harming or inconviening the boy."

When her name was called, Annette flinched a little, dread weighing at her shoulders since she'd seen the set being put up and realized that this was going to be some sort of ordeal. Jesse already scared her (in a good and bad way but now wasn't the time to think about that) without them being in some kind of hyper-drive focus mode. She would much rather not be near the more mind-muddling of the Thornes. But they had to talk to the wizards.

But did all of them have to be here for it? Why not just drag one off to the side, to the other apartment? What was the problem with that?

It's totally because Bethany is there, isn't it.

She couldn't fault him for that, if that was the case, but she had to wonder if Alexander wasn't just doing this to mess wit her to some extent.

"C-C-Coming!" Annette called over her shoulder, and messed with the loose green shirt she'd put on. She felt underdressed, but she'd been too exhausted to put an effort past "wear clothing" this morning. At least the stupidly rich vampires had been too busy to comment. With a gentle hand on David's shoulder she stepped into view of the main room and all the very magical and absolutely dangerous people in the room. It was the first time she'd seen everyone in one place. And she felt even smaller than usual.

David, though, was even tinier than she was, clinging to her hip and not looking up past a brief flicker of his eyes towards Terry whom he offered the smallest of waves.

"Um. Hello." Annette smiled weakly, more anxious than her usual. Which was saying something. "I, uh, h-hope I'm not interrupting at all. If I am we c-c-can, um, wait..." She looked up at Tim—he looked even bigger in proper lighting, how was that possible—and then back at Alexander, and then down at her son. "This is David. Sag hallo, knuddelmaus?"

She paused, remembering that most of the room spoke German. Ah. There went David's (and hers, to some extent) private security language.

David apparently realized this, or was just embarrassed by her nickname, because his cheeks went slightly pinker and he stepped even more behind his mother. "....hi."

Tim looked down at David and then gave a crooked smile down at the boy.

"Knuddelmaus, eh? Geht doch noch. Meine Schwester war Honigspätzchen bis sie zehn war, für unsere Eltern jedenfalls."^note "Knuddelmaus, eh? Thats not that bad. My sister was Honey-Sparrowling until she was ten, for our parents at least"

Melina, with not even turning around, just flipped her brother the middle finger, but did not interfere with his attempt to defuse Davids anxiety. Tim went down a bit to not stare down at him like a giant and continued in German.

"David, wenn du ein paar Minute zeit hättest kannst du mir bei etwas helfen? Solange deine Mutter es erlaubt?"^note "David, if you have a few minutes, I could use your help with something. As long as your mother permits.

For once being on eye level with Alex, he gave the vampire a glance.

"Do you have a spare room? I'd figure doing this with privacy would be better."

Edited by 3of4 on Oct 5th 2020 at 8:12:30 PM

She has a kid? Why, thank you very much for that stupid impulse earlier, brain. Now I feel even worse about it.

Although the guilt was at least distracting him from the fact that Loki was here for sure. Okay, honestly, that revelation shook him about as much as the Sun rising in the morning. It just made everything more complicated. Loki was very good at that.

"Have you ever thought about just a navy-blue coat and a white dress shirt? Worked for Napoleon, and you're about the same height..."

"Also, Honigspätzchen? Is this a German thing I'm not getting or did your parents just really enjoy ornithology?"

Edited by math792d on Oct 8th 2020 at 3:09:27 AM

Melina glanced at Jarl, then at David and then at Jarl again and said not out loud what she thought. Though the glare she directed at Jarl looked very, very familiar somehow.

Some things apparently run in the family.

Edited by 3of4 on Oct 9th 2020 at 3:44:21 PM

Alexander

Alexander grinned back at Jarl wolfishly, not missing the fact that something had rattled the man. Something more related to Annette than himself, but...

"There are worse people to be compared to. I share Le Petite Corperal's taste for a number of things..."

Muscle-bound bodyguards, conquest of Europe...take your pick.

"My room is clean." Alexander said smoothly to Tim. Mostly, clean because he'd barely had a chance to do anything but sleep in it. "I assume Ms Wagner will want to be with you all the same, but..."

Alexander's wolfish grin returned.

"I can stay outside. I assume you wouldn't be so rude as to hide information on Loki from me, dear friend?"

"Like being vexed by irate Russians?" Tim couldn't stop himself to point out to Alexander with a deadpan tone, hoping fervently he wasn't about to summon Nadja with that line.

Still his need to needle Alexander sated, he sobered up.

"That will suffice." He eyed Anne. "I shall share anything with you Miss Anne feels comfortable being shared."

David's eyes flickered up to Tim and down again, before he buried himself more into Annette's side so that his face wasn't even visible. Annette didn't looked worried about this though. David had always been shy, and had never been good at talking to strangers without using her as a wall. That he had been so calm and comfortable around Alexander and Terry had been a surprise. She had no idea how they'd won his trust, especially since she'd been unconscious at the time.

This was more the norm than anything else. Annette smiled a little softer at Tim's snippet of family history—and the look he got from his sister (oh wow, tall blonde stunner, why was every woman she met lately so distracting??) was pretty priceless. Gently Annette tried to rub David's shoulder with her hand, even if the angle hurt her shoulder. "Das ist ok für mich. I'll b-be right with you the whole time, okay?"

He mumbled very softly, but not so much so that she couldn't hear him. "Why are you so sad?"

Annette's lips twitched down, then froze into a line. Who did he mean? Herself? She wasn't sad, she was just concerned for his wellbeing, and weary of all the wizards in the room. Why would he think she was sad...?

Unless he meant Tim?

But he didn't know Tim, he wouldn't have any reason to think he was one way or the other. They were strangers. It was so unlike David to even—

"Ms Wagner, if you p-please," Annette had checked out of the conversation for a moment as her thoughts muddled, but she came back hearing her name. Her lips pursed a little. "Nobody calls m-me 'Anne'. And. There's n-nothing I can think of that I wouldn't b-be telling my employer, if it's an, um, c-concern."

The amount of distrust was palpable. What did Alexander even do to piss so many people off? He was a bit of a rich twat and had a horrible sense of humor but he wasn't mean. Certainly no more than Jarl had been on first meeting. Or her, for that matter, having thrown "acid" into Tim's face. Yet she got off pretty easily for that one. Maybe it was because she looked so "innocent", like Alexander said.

Or was it just because he's a vampire?

...

"I'll...lead th-the way then." Annette started walking towards where she knew Alexander's bedroom to be, and as she moved David repositioned himself so that she was between her and Tim, wherever he chose to stand relatively to them. He did throw a small glance back at the other wizards as he passed, eyes wide, and slightly unfocused. Then he looked sharply away again, holding tighter to Annette's wrist.

"Of course, Miss Wagner. I apologize, I did not want to impose." Tim answered politely and picked up his bag before he followed her into the bedroom. In there, he stripped out of his coat and jacket, down to waistcoat before considering his tools in his bag.

"Well, lets start with something simple." He said in German and pulled out a transparent slim cylinder filled with a clear solution and copper flakes flowing inside.

"I do not know how expansive your magic education is, but I assume you know the conducitivity of copper extends to magic in a kinetic way?" He proffered the cylinder to Anne to inspect before he would offer it to David. "If he would hold it in his palm for a few moments, it would be a helpful indicator of magic being still in effect."

And its less of a headache than to start with the Sight.

—-

Meanwhile on the outside, Melina subtly walked up to Jesse and spoke some quiet words.

Edited by 3of4 on Oct 17th 2020 at 1:38:09 PM

Alexander

Alexander shot Tim a long, level look, trying to communicate that withholding information on Loki would, professionally speaking, a very bad idea. He didn't get to keep it long. Ms Wagner's unexpected support cracked his icy stare, replacing it with stunned, wide-eyed surprise.

I hardly deserve that level of trust. Especially after Jacqueline.

Alexander cleared his throat, taking back control of his face, as Ms Wagner, Tim, and David retreated to Alexander's room—(which was, as promised, spotlessly clean, aside from a rumpled bed, and yesterday's outfit in a pile in the corner). He took up position by the door, crossing his arms, and watching the dressing, fighting back the urge to use his Hunger to eavesdrop. Now wasn't the time to be pulling up his "passenger."

"So, who is the lucky man you're meeting? Or woman? I don't want to assume?" Alexander said idly, trying to make small talk. He wasn't actually great at small talk when he wasn't trying to seduce someone, so it felt a little forced. "Oh, and speaking of the wealthy and pretensious, either of you know a...Sir Arthur Long-Name-Cobb-Something?"

Terry shook off the distraction of worrying about what might be up with Annette's kid to register that Jesse had asked him a question. "I'm not a part of whatever lead these guys are chasing so I don't actually need a suit right now.

"Buuut I'm not sure I could actually stop you from fitting me once you get going, so yeah. Probably safe to assume that occasion that puts me in fancy dress is one that I have to wolf out at before the end. Damn rich people, all vampires and Bond villains."

Melina looked up from her quiet words to Jesse and wagged her head at Terry. "Everyone should wear something fancy once in a while, its good for the soul."

"And that is why Jesse is the greatest force for good we will ever meet."

Alexander

Alexander wasn't too miffed at his question not getting answered. It was a long-shot that all of their problems would be that closely related.

"My soul must be very good, then." He replied with a grin. They'd set that one right up

Edited by DrTentacles on Oct 24th 2020 at 3:17:47 PM

"Arthur... something something Cobham? British guy, waltzes around like he owns the place?"

"I know of him. He tried to hire Monoc to kill a dragon for him so he could bathe in its blood like Siegfried. Before my time, but I remember the Einherjar talking about him."

Melina gave Jarl a raised eyebrow not unreminiscent of Tim. "Wow. I know exactly what you just old me of the guy but he sounds like a major douche."

Jesse

Jesse, appearing to have taken the measurements from Jarl that they needed, had switched the tape for color swatches, each swatch matched to a particular suit on the nearby rack. To both Melinda and Leon there was a very, very small sigh. "It would not be the first time I needed to take such things into account. You know my brother, after all..."

They held up an off-gray wool patch to Jarl's face—closer to steel than to white—ignoring Alexander's color suggestions. Decision made, they moved back to the rack, mumbling quietly. "I will need to adjust the shoulders, but," Jesse held up a double-breasted, steel-gray jacket to Jarl's torso, one hand keeping the hanger up while the other smoothed out the arm so it met Jarl's wrist. "Hm. That will do. Minor adjustments to the shoulders and upper arms, will be better with a blue button up than a white one...do you even own a tie?"

Melinda's approach didn't break their focus, their eyes only flickering to her when she started to speak, and a faint smirk appeared on their lips. They turned to look her over from head to toe like they were assessing her, eyes paling just slightly, before nodding. Jarl would hear them speak: "For yourself? Absolutely. After I fulfil my end of the deal with them, of course."

They waved a hand, dismissing Jarl from the set. "You're done. I'll have corrections done within an hour, once everyone else is finished." Jesse looked to Leon and Terry again. "Flattery will not get you a better deal. Who's next?"

Annette

David made sure even once they were alone with Tim to have his mother between the two of them, but at least he wasn't cowering as much. He held tight to her side and stared between Tim and the floor every couple of seconds. Annette gently ran her hand over his back.

"I know m-magic makes electronics break. Hence why I've never, um, t-tried to get a smartphone." Annette tried to make small-talk, her nervous little smile not helping. She knew why she was so anxious—Tim was a wizard, a real wizard with wizardy powers and a mysterious "council" behind him that she knew almost nothing about. And he was going to be checking her son to be sure he wasn't left with any curse or something like that from the..."person" who had driven them from Jaqueline's house. Both of those ideas were very scary.

But something else about it was making her stomach twist up. The little voice in her head that liked to scream out the worst possible outcome, even when she had no reason to listen to it.

What if he can't do anything to fix it?

What if he doesn't even know what's wrong with him?

What if he has to take him somewhere to help? Would I be able to go with them?

What if there isn't anything wrong, and David really is—

Annette bit her tongue gently and accepted the odd cylinder. Once she touched it, the copper inside did, in fact, start to move toward the liquid towards her hand, albeit slowly. She blinked. Well, she was magic herself, so that just proved Tim was telling the truth, right?

He didn't have a reason to lie, anyway.

"Here, maus—erm, Davey," she changed her word mid-way through when David shot her a little glare, which despite herself she found funny and adorable. Alright, no cute nicknames around the wizard. She handed the cylinder to her son, and watched—

The copper moved again, but this time, it was not slow at all. The copper went from suspended in the liquid to rushing towards the side of the cylinder his palm was touching, and David let out a small surprised sound and nearly dropped the thing. By the time he was holding it back to Tim all of the copper had come to rest at the bottom, besides his palm.

Annette felt her heart skip. She looked back to Tim, wide eyed and smile dashed.

"...what—wh-what did that mean, Herr von Hochberg?"

Edited by KeiranGold on Oct 25th 2020 at 9:50:50 AM

Alexander

"Bathe in...that's something you can pay money for?" Alexander said with an icy calm, suddenly furious at Sophia about the diminished size of his bank account.

He cleared his throat, trying not to look envious. If he was going to bathe in Dragon blood, he'd damn well kill the beast himself, not pay someone for the privilege.

"I've met worse."

Edited by DrTentacles on Oct 24th 2020 at 8:02:00 AM

Tim's eyebrows raised sharply as he noted how energetic the copper flakes were moving toward David. Without saying much, he took the crystal rod back while he thought.

A reaction this strong would mean he'd have a flood light of an enchantment on him, but at that strength the room of Wizards and associated spellcaster next door would have picked that up. That makes no sense

Unless.

He gave David a long muster and flipped the crystal rod in his hand so the flakes were on the opposite end of where he pointed it at himself. The flakes moved quickly, just as before.

Okay. Don't get wild. Its a Litmus test not Cerebro and you're not Patrick Stewart. Its in no way conclusive.

But it provided evidence. Evidence that deserved follow up. So a test was necessary.

And there was one thing...a spell he had written for Melina when she was young, just as a game but it would be much more telling.

Kneeling before David he spoke softly as he cupped his hands before himself and muttered a quiet word.

"Okay, David, we're going to do another test. For that, I need you to put your hands in mine and imagine any small animal you like, a squirrel, a sparrow, really hard. Can you do that for me?"

"I mean, someone paying to get the rewards of an epic feat of heroism sounds very much like peak Capitalist Douche to me." Melina countered while subtly slipping Jesse a hastily written note.

Edited by 3of4 on Oct 25th 2020 at 10:00:32 AM

"I mean, you can buy almost anything. One guy in Chicago had a fucking European castle moved over to serve as a base of operations for his hired Einherjar."

"But we don't do monster hunts for other peoples' sport, so the boss said no."

"Elther way it's a scrub move, everyone knows you go for eating the heart."

Edited by math792d on Oct 25th 2020 at 2:37:04 AM

Terry's eyes lit up. "Paying to have an entire castle moved to an American city? Did it have gargoyles that never seem to be around at night?

"Wait, you said they moved it into Chicago? But that's Wizard Dresden's town, and no way you could turn moving a castle into a profitable fire insurance scam."

"Oi, careful with that name, I don't want to deal with the Queen of Air and Darkness' hatchet man on top of everything else!"

"Yeah we have enough to handle with Santa's Hatchet Elf on a Shelf." Melina said before sticking out a tongue at Jarl.

Edited by 3of4 on Oct 25th 2020 at 12:16:58 PM