Cephalopod Lothario
Alexander
Alexander had never been great at being calm when his siblings needed help. Blame it on a long childhood as the eldest brother, standing between them and Giovanni. Sure, Lilaine and Jesse were adults now, and pretty damn capable of solving their own problems. That’s what kept him from storming off in an overprotective frenzy, like he would have done if it was Aiden, or heaven forbid, Bethany.
But it had suddenly gotten really hard to focus on keeping Edmond out of his brain.
Lilaine had been with Sofie. Had she gotten picked up in the middle of crime, or had there been a fight? His sister shouldn’t have had trouble feeding in Paris, so it couldn’t have been a Hunger Frenzy, right?
“Mierde. I thought you had heard, Alex.” Edmond said, talking across Ms Wagner, his voice regretful. “It’s still very recent. I did hear they somehow got their hands on a history of her criminal record in Italy, though.”
Italy? But she was a minor. Or is he talking about later? Charges were dropped.
Alexander blinked. His mouth was oddly dry. Jesse should have said something. Why was his sibling silent?
“Relax. I have friends in the Department of Justice. I can have her released, and brought to my family’s apartment. It would be safer for you all there.” Edmond said. He still sounded painfully sincere. Painfully generous. “I’ll just need you to give her a call, so she knows what’s going on.”
“She's strong, a-and, um, she's been in worse places before I'm sure." ” Ms Wagner said. She was asking…
Alexander bit his lip, taking a deep breath. He felt strange. Light-headed. Hot. He needed to—needed to—
“Mr Thorne?” Ms Wagner asked.
“What was that?” Alexander muttered, trying to hear her past the buzzing in his ears. It was like she was talking through water—all he could hear was Edmond. “Just a moment—Edmond.”
Edmond frowned, then took a step closer—he was almost up against Alexander now. He could smell cologne, something masculine and earthy.
“You should call your sister first. I’m sure she’d like to hear from you.” He said flatly, Ms Wagner’s voice cutting off again. The other white court reached in his pocket, pulling out a smartphone and pressing it into Alexander’s hand, his skin brushing against Alexander’s own. “Here, use my—”
Hsssssh.
A hatred-filled hiss came from Alexander’s chest. Edmond let out a sharp noise of confusion.
“Ow! Quoi?”
The buzzing stopped, and Alexander could suddenly breathe.
Hssssshroooowr
The zipper of Alexander’s jacket had came loose, and Freeloader was hanging halfway out, a paw dangling in the air, claws exposed from where it had just swiped at Edmond’s hand. The kitten’s fur was fluffed out, and its mouth was twisted into a furious snarl.
Alexander took a step back at Edmond, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Jesse. His sibling seemed to have snapped out of the Hunger-charm as well. They were glaring daggers at Edmond, holding their coffee like a weapon again.
“—I’m afraid I need to talk to my assistant, Ed.” Alexander murmured, teeth clenched. “Just stand there and look pretty for a bit, please.”
Edited by DrTentacles on Jan 25th 2019 at 4:31:36 AM
Of all the times she was actually trying to get somebody's attention rather than hiding behind somebody else, it was when she was up against a goddamn incubus. Even though Alexander looked like he was trying to listen to her—struggling, rather, in a way that might have been funny in any other situation than this one—Edward or whatever kept talking. Finally the jerk pushed her to the side to step even closer. Annette only managed a small "H-Hey!" before he tried to push something into Alexander's hand.
And he got a very rude introduction to the coat cat for his rudeness. This time she couldn't help it. The relief that welled up in her chest escaped as a sharp laugh that she slapped her hands over her mouth to smother. Oh thank goodness. If Freeloader hadn't been there...
Her relief was short-lived.
If Freeloader hadn't been there, what would she have been able to do? Would she have had to physically push Edmond back? Slap his hand away? Scream something to get the crowd's attention—hell, even just to get Alexander's attention off of him? She'd been useless without her potions, and trying to talk hadn't done anything. If Freeloader hadn't teleported in, or had teleported back earlier, or, hell, even if they'd just left him in the car...
...this would have gone a lot, lot worse.
I can't just hope somebody else will deal with this. Not if I'm trying to keep up with all these dangerous monsters and Wizards and vampires. There's going to be a next time. There's not always going to be a pissed off cat stuffed into Alexander's coat. Next time. Next time.
At the very least, the attention was firmly off the worlds squickiest honey-trap and back on her, and she gently put a hand on Alexander's arm to direct him—meekly, as ever, she barely put any real force into it—to turn towards her so she could speak as quietly as she could. She had a sinking suspicion that Edmond hearing anything about what they'd been up to in Paris asides from what he clearly already knew would be bad.
"A...are you okay, Mr. Thorne?" Annette started, half-aware she was even asking that before she continued, "L-Listen, um, remember what the Poisoners said a-about the local police force at their meeting...th-they said they were going to p-pull some strings, give us some more leeway with what we w-were doing. If they have enough ties t-to do something like that, they m-may have enough pull to get Lilaine out of this without needing his help. It...it probably won't be free but it's..."
She swallowed, eyes flickering back to Edmond from around Alexander, and they narrowed.
Slime. He's slime. That's what he is. The Thornes have been a lot of things since I met them but they've been nothing like that. Are all the others like him? The ones at the restaurant, too, were just as bad...what makes Alexander and his siblings different...?
"...it's a whole lots less disgusting than the offered alternative."
She may have said that last sentence a bit louder than the rest.
Sorry not sorry.
Jarl
"I mean, all I did was cuss out a police officer for almost getting me shot."
"And then bail out a bunch of low-level street criminals in exchange for information.
"And then get attacked by murderghosts which is somehow my fault?"
"Either way, what I'm saying is I'm an unjust victim of police profiling."
Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
Tim quietly refilled his coffee cup. "Well, I hope our activities last night did bring us into Protieu's good graces." He glanced at Leon. "I didn't say 'back', because we never were before, yes."
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The Wildest of Ronins
"Oh no. We got shot at, by a criminal, after we agreed to work with the cop on a sting. How terrible. What an awful police officer, clearly deserving of being cussed at and insulted. Don't forget you hexed his precinct's coffee machine too."
Leon's tone was quite dry for most of that comment, but he refrained from going further.
"We had at least been in neutral graces," he grumbles.
Edited by Kosjurake on Jan 29th 2019 at 4:27:05 AM
Click Click Boom Boom
Jarl
"Hey, I consider making his Keurig machine explode an entirely fair and reasonable exchange for getting thrown in a cell for a night purely because he could. First meeting we have and he threatens us in the name of not tainting his precious investigation that, apparently, didn't manage to find any trail of the old wizard Nazi that we managed to get on the trail of within the span of a couple of days. It's not my fault the dude's got his head stuck so far up his ass all he can taste is stomach acid."
Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.
World's Cutest Direwolf
"Uh huh," Terry said, nodding slowly. "This all sounds super reasonable and justified and shit and if he asks we're not affiliated in any way shape or form, okay?
"See normally this is the part where I'd ask what you think winning this pissing match looks like. Like if you're just going to overwhelm him with your rightness until he falls on his knees and begs for forgiveness instead of getting increasingly pissed off and still having the power to screw you. But I'm thinking you're actually doing some Viking shit where you pick an impossible battle to get yourself a glorious doom. Is that what's going on? Are we setting up the Twilight of the Jarl here?"
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
Tim gave Jarl a considering look as if to say 'Maybe?'.
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"I'm not going anywhere, my dude."
Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
"Outside of work, today." Tim put in and looked at Terry "You want to come with us or return to the Critical Mass of Sexual Harrassment that is the Thorne Family."
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World's Cutest Direwolf
"Rude. Bethany's a nice girl.
Terry shrugged. "Well, you're the guys I'm officially supposed to be working with, so I might as well stick around." He leaned back and gave Jarl a dry glance. "Besides, it sounds like y'all might need my vast reserves of caution and prudence to keep you out of trouble."
Edited by rikalous on Jan 30th 2019 at 1:30:50 AM
Cephalopod Lothario
Alexander
Alexander bit down on his cheek until he tasted blood. Fucking hell. He should have just punched Edmond. Fucking hell. It had been a textbook approach. Win the Hunger battle. Get them isolated, alone, vulnerable. Then...break them, and kill them, or eat them, or own them. Like following a script. Edmond wouldn’t have even needed to get Alexander back to his house—the moment he was alone with his “cousin,” he probably would have been attacked.
Edmond had just had the faux-sincerity down pretty fucking well. Add in Alexander’s own need to feed, and the sucker-punch of Lilaine’s arrest...
Fuck.
“I recall.” Alexander replied to Annette, his voice soft. It didn’t tremble. Not quite. But it took effort. “And agree. And if not them, the Duchesse may be willing.”
Jesse stepped up to them. His sibling’s face was composed, but Alexander felt the cold waves of anger washing off of his sibling. Jesse’s Hunger had never been strong. Being reminded of that weakness so casually was guaranteed to earn his sibling’s undying hate.
“I am willing to distract him while you find his car.” Jesse said softly. “Cutting his brake-lines won’t kill him, but if we tail him..”
Alexander shook his head.
“He’ll have a driver. Tonight is a draw.” He replied tersely, half-suspecting that Edmond could hear them. He reached down, gently petting the kitten peeking out of his jacket, absurdly grateful to Freya’s little jest. Had she intended to save him with it, or was it an accident? She’d intended the cat to mock him, but...
Now wasn’t the time. He hesitated, then, after a second, turned back to Ms Wagner.
“Thank you.” He muttered. It didn’t sound grudging, but it was hard for him to say.
Finally, he turned back to Edmond. The other White Court was flipping through his phone with polite disinterest, but put it away, giving Alexander a concerned smile. Again, Alex felt the tug of Edmond’s hunger. It was weaker now—Edmond knew the game was over, and wasn’t really trying.
It was just a reminder.
“I’ll consider your offer, Edmond. I think I have some better options right now, but I’m...grateful.” Alexander said, not taking a step closer, his voice far, far more flippant than implied by the business-talk. “Thanks for the introduction. See you around.”
He didn’t offer a farewell handshake, or wait to hear Edmond’s reply. Instead, Alexander turned to walk to the door.
Annette returned her attention from shaming Edmond to Alexander, the disdain replaced with knitted brow and pursed lips. He was absolutely not okay. He needed to rest, and then they needed to help Lilaine. He was so worried about his sister...despite what she'd said before about her being strong, Annette understood entirely why he was still shaken. Family was family, whether or not you were a vampire. And if the rest of his extended family was full of slimy creeps like Edmond, then it made all the more sense that he was so close to his siblings.
But if they're so close, Annette's train of thought hitched, Then where are their parents?
She hadn't even realized it, given Alexander's age, but he was only here with his siblings. Jesse, Lilaine, Aiden, Bethany...but not a single mention of a mother or father in their lives. They'd all been born from another one of their kind, right? Or two, maybe? He said they were born like normal humans...so then where were they? Home? Detached? Dead?
Would asking about it open her up to the same question...?
Well. Filing that away for later. Much, much later. Possibly never.
She smiled weakly, just enough to curl her lips up instead of down, at his tiny thanks. "You're w-welcome." While he gave Edmond a goodbye that he quite frankly didn't deserve, Annette stood besides him still, glaring at the slime-ball from over her glasses. Would flipping him the bird while they left be really, really stupid? She knew better than to antagonize vampires. Or, well, should have, given the conversation she and Alexander had had moments ago.
On that note, as Alexander turned to go and she followed quickly after him, her mind decided to, again, get away from her, this time taking her voice along for the ride. At least it waited until they were out of the airport and into the open air. "M-Mr. Thorne...I...I'm sorry for...for...," she stalled in her steps a second, her hands fidgeting at her chest and eyes downcast, "For shouting at you, and f-for saying something...unwarranted. That. W-Was out of line. I. I c-can't explain it right now but. I'll try to tomorrow. I just...I'm sorry."
Cephalopod Lothario
Alexander
A face stood out on a sports magazine stand as Alexander walked out the airport door. There he was; Edmond Beaux, “Paris-Saint-Germain's uncrowned prince,” tousle-haired and sweaty in the aftermath of a game.
Alexander slide the magazine off the rack, without breaking stride, and tore it in half, then tossed the halves in the trash.
He could only be polite for so long.
“You know.” He mused, savoring the cold shock of winter air on his skin. “That was actually subdued, by Raith standards. If I was alone, it would have been more...Caligula.”
Alexander shook his head, still hungry, but the haze was fading away. He really wanted a hot shower. It had been a night.
“The movie.” He clarified. “Not the roman emperor. Though he may have been our fault as well.”
Jesse snorted, then replied in a cool tone, as though the past few minutes hadn’t happened.
“You are aware that he was a victim of propaganda?”
Alexander pressed his lips together, fighting a smile. It was good to see his sibling was bouncing back.
“And the horse consul…?”
Jesse sniffed dismissively, but before they could reply, Alexander waved him off, and slid into the car. Jesse shook their head, then followed suit, taking a seat next to him in the passenger side.
Before Alexander started the engine, though, he hesitated. He still wasn’t at all comfortable with the way that Ms Wagner had cut him off...but she had apologized. Even if it wasn’t an explanation, it was a start.
And it was a lot more honesty than he was used to getting to people.
“Tomorrow.” He murmured, looking at her in the rear-view mirror, and giving her a nod of acknowledgement. “Take the morning off, though. You’ve earned it.”
And they both needed a little break.
Edited by DrTentacles on Feb 7th 2019 at 4:18:42 AM
Cephalopod Lothario
A Merry Bunch of Fools
Around the wizards and the werewolf, Rollo’s household began to buzz back to life. In truth, it had probably awakened before them—Michele, at least, was one of the abominations known as “morning people,” and had probably left the house long before even Tim had dragged himself out of bed.
The first disturbance from the world at large, however, came from the front door—a brisk knock, after which the door cracked opened and Fortune’s voice called out “Puis je entrer?” note before abruptly cutting off, as though realizing she’d already been invited. A moment later, the slender Changeling strode into the living room, dressed in one of Leon’s stolen outfits, her grey knit cap, and a new-looking white scarf. She had a small paper bag of food in her hands—mostly vegetables. She paused in the doorway, blinking large black eyes in distinctly avian surprise at the gathering.
“I see the Pentecostal Knights have awoken at last. Morning, though it is nearly afternoon.” She lilted—haughty as ever, but pleased, despite that. In good spirits, even, or perhaps relieved.
“I thought to wake you, but even I wasn’t certain when you returned. Manners, though—who is your newest captive?” Fortune added, waving a long-nailed hand at Terrence. Under the confidence, she seemed wary of him—it was written in the hunch of her shoulders, and the way she hadn’t moved from the doorway.
World's Cutest Direwolf
"Hi, I'm Terry," said a certain individual whose identification by the narrative is frankly redundant, accompanying the introduction with a wave and a friendly grin. "I'm pretty sure I'm not a captive, though granted I haven't tried to leave yet."
He turned to Tim with an expression of mock condemnation. "Is this what you get up to when I'm not around to rein you in? Starting up some kind of serial kidnapping ring?"
Edited by rikalous on Feb 14th 2019 at 12:20:08 PM
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
Tim gave Terry the faintest of smiles. "No, when you are not around to rein him in, Leon gets into fights with beloved childhood figures."
He then turned to Fortune. "You can be at ease. He's eminently trustworthy...outside of street traffic."
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World's Cutest Direwolf
Terry gave a haughty sniff. "I follow the spirit of driving rules by not having any accidents. It's not my fault the laws are calibrated to deal with lousier drivers."
His honor defended, he sternly jabbed his fork at Leon. "And you. Childhood icons. In France. Leon, though you are my friend I must ask this of you: Did you start shit with Asterix?"
"I, uh, d-don't get that reference, but...I can make an educated guess," Annette mumbled as she seated herself into the back of the car again, though this time not pressed into the leather like she was hoping it would swallow her up. Tomorrow. Okay. By tomorrow she would need to come up with some way to explain everything. Which meant sorting out what everything was in the first place. How much did Alexander need to know?
Did he need to know about how she'd abandoned Jacqueline the first time? Yes. That was the core of the problem...or, rather, David's response to it was. She could lie and said she felt guilty personally about it.
But a lie wasn't going to help things if he learned the truth somehow.
She could tell him that it was for David's sake—that he cared about Jacqueline, and she wanted to help her to help him be at ease. It was much more truthful and, through omission of her own feelings towards Jacqueline, it painted her in a better light. He'd understand, wouldn't he? Doing something, anything, to help a family member feel happy?
Is that using Lilaine's arrest as a guilt trip...?
No, the two things are entirely unrelated.
Maybe if she explained why he cared so much about-
...
Okay, plan D. What was plan D. She was so bad at explaining things with words, especially when they had to do with her feelings. If she just had a way to explain it somehow without words, in a way that couldn't possibly be misconstrued...
Annette looked out the window and upward at the sky. The moon was close to full but not quite. It wouldn't be perfect, and it would be the opposite of "taking the morning off". In fact with the last few days she'd had, taking much more from herself—literally—could hurt her.
But it was a way to explain, a way to apologize, without screwing up.
...she could make super coffee tomorrow. And just drink the whole pot.
It would be worth it.
Edited by KeiranGold on Feb 15th 2019 at 9:08:18 AM
The Wildest of Ronins
"No, but Tintin and his stupid dog started shit with me. Well at least magical paint based simulacrums of them did."
Leon rubs his chin thinking back to the events of only a few days past. Man that had felt like it had been well over a year ago.
Edited by Kosjurake on Feb 16th 2019 at 3:32:43 PM
Click Click Boom Boom
World's Cutest Direwolf
Terry considered this, giving a sharp nod and returning to his food. "Tintin is an imperialist menace to the Congolese ecosystem. I'll allow it."
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
"Now that ethics in art violence are decided..." Tim sighed.
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Cephalopod Lothario
Wizards Three
“Trustworthy?” Fortune echoed, a slight twitch of her lips a sign that she was amused, at least, by the banter, though it was doubtful that she understood any of the references. “Perhaps. He looks like a predator, which explains his presence. Though he doesn’t quite have the right eyes…”
Fortune raised a finger to her lips, head still tilted in avian curiosity, as though Terry were puzzle to be solved. It wasn’t a hostile stare, though—it was somewhere nearer to bafflement.
A heavy clunk on the stairs interrupted her study, the scarred and grizzled shape of Rollo De Normandie emerging from above. The old Warden greeted the gathering with a cursory nod, trudging past them into the kitchen. There was a series of loud bangs as cupboards opened and closed, and a coupled muttered curses in french.
“It was quite an exciting chain of events.” Fortune added, her curiosity set aside, at least for the moment. “I feel like I missed another such melee last night.”
“Not wrong.” Rollo grunted, standing in the door of the kitchen an old-fashioned 1920’s style radio cradled in his hands. “Wizard De Normandie.” He muttered, giving Terry a sharp nod “You’d be our missing forth.”
He thumped the radio down on an end table next to the wizards, fiddling with the knobs.
“Heard you had one last place to check out today. Might want to be on it sharpish.” He grumbled, as the radio spat out a couple different types of static. “Council wants to check in this evening. I can play messenger, save you time.”
Another burst of pops from the radio coalesced into a brusque female voice, reading off what sounded like a news report:
"-L'accident d'hier à Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais a été suivi d'une série d'autres troubles au cœur de Paris, y compris une urgence médicale au Café La Huchette, un club de jazz de premier plan, et un attentat policier sur un réseau de contrebande qui s'est accumulée lors d'une confrontation sur un yacht volé dans la Seine-" note
Edited by DrTentacles on Feb 24th 2019 at 4:53:13 AM
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
Tim nodded politely in greeting to the elder Wizard, listening to the radio report. Well, maybe Tolkien was not quite on the money with 'subtle' in regards to Wizards. he sighed internally. On the other hand, we're still far short of riding an exanimate Therapoda through the inner city quite yet, so in these day and age this probably still falls within the definition of 'subtle'.
He then looked at Rolo. "Well, this would probably safe a modicum of time, though I am not sure what to report to the Council yet beside 'We are working on it'. Beside the obvious presence of Warlocks but I have an idea what Warden Luccio would tell us about that." He added and gave Leon an almost whimsical look.
"The point about being on our way is well made, though."
Edited by 3of4 on Feb 24th 2019 at 10:56:51 AM
"You can reply to this Message!"
Terry gave Jarl a sidelong glance. "Cops hanging around mean you might get into an altercation with someone? Jarl, tell me you haven't been getting into it with the law. Not when we might need to B&E or fight more zombies or any of those other things that might draw the police."