Edge Town-City of Light

Leon nodded his head half respectfully towards the jotun. He wasn't really happy about being dicked around while a necromancer was on the loose but no point actively antagonizing her now that they were chatting.

"Warden Lichtenberg, also of the White Council."

"I feel like there was a way to set up this meeting without me getting punched in the face," Terry said, not bothering to give his name.

Church Boys

"To settle a debt." Brynja shrugged. "You've made some interesting friends. One of them wants you gone." The Jotun narrowed her eyes and raised a hand, long spindly fingers glowing with a faint chill air, little beads of frost occasionally appearing on her fingertips.

And that seemed to be the end of the conversation for now. The room temperature immediately dropped as the very edges of the church, including windows and doors, were all of a sudden completely covered in a thick layer of ice. The floor, too, was starting to freeze underneath their feet. The giant tilted her head and grinned.

"And they were willing to call in a debt to make sure it was done. And now, here we are, nice and unable to be interrupted."

Alexander frowned, alarm bells going off in his head. He didn’t have any reason to be paranoid of Rodrigo, and yet…

Why in person?

Refusing would be unwise as well, though.

“Of course. I’m sure you know a good cafe or two.” Alexander replied smoothly. He could at least ensure they wouldn’t be meeting at the hotel. “I’ll be bringing my assistant along as well. Sadly, I’m at a loss who might have been at the Paris docks last night, other than smugglers. A shame.”

If that was that, he needed to speak with Delilah. Thirty-two hours was just about the limit on how long Alexander was willing to keep Samson’s enforcer prisoner. It was time to cut the bastard loose...which in this case, involved driving him a few blocks away, and dropping him off to walk home.

Creating a fresh corpse while his sister was under arrest would have been very, very stupid.

Edited by DrTentacles on Apr 7th 2019 at 7:48:44 AM

"How expansive is this 'you?'" Terry asked, stamping at the ice beneath his feet. Rough patches would be a bit easier to move on than smooth and unmarked ones. "Is this maybe just a Tim thing and not actually my problem?" If the jotun lady was willing to drop info in her overconfident villain speeches, far be it for him to discourage her.

Tim gave Terry a disapproving stare for a second before facing the Jotun.

"May I take a stab in the dark and assume the favor owed belongs to a certain red-headed gentlemen of disreputable birth and the general character disposition referred to in modern parliance as a 'Raging Jackass'?"

Edited by 3of4 on Apr 8th 2019 at 12:01:34 PM

Leon groaned, just annoyed at the whole situation, of course Loki called in a favor with a jotun to fuck with them, and of course it wasn't going to end with just a simple prank of a frozen fire ring. He dug his other focus out of his bag and started putting it on, assuming the jotun was content to talk for a few moments more before actually attacking them.

Alex

"Of course I do. Would you prefer to meet in a more public place, or a more secluded one? I understand if there is still a trust concern in this, so I'll leave it at your discretion. It's merely that I would rather not make sensitive conversations over the phone, for everyone's safety. And of course, your assistant is welcome."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Church Boys

Brynja was still grinning, the gesture quickly going from confident to unsettlingly feral. "You haven't earned that answer yet." With that, she started running toward Terry at full tilt. As she did, moving so fast as to be wholly inhuman, she leapt into the air. As she began to cross the distance in what felt like the span of a heartbeat or two, she was no longer a woman. Instead, a massive bald eagle dove directly at Terry, its wingspan many times the length of any 'natural' bird of prey, its talons akin to massive, gleaming knives.

Tim did not have time to do a spell, so fast was the Jotun-turned-Eagle. So instead he put his hand on the back of the iron bound tome peaking through the open bag at his side. The bookback which carries a series of silver circles on the inside, absorbing kinetic energy a little bit every time the heavy tome was moved. A enchanted item which he had, honestly kinda fallen out of use over the last year or so.

In other words, it was quite full a tank of raw kinetic power.

"Niras!" he thundered, not aiming for the eagle but just blanketing the entire spot in a straight line between her and Terry in a blast of magic energy transfer, turning the air itself into a very short lived wall.

Internally swearing, Terry was already diving back and to the side when he saw Tim get the spell off. "I take it from your prompt action there we're all very clear on the level on insincerity in my little comment?" he said with a sheepish grin.

Jarl

Geri’s eyes narrowed into yellow slits, weathered face scrunching in a way that didn’t really seem to fit a human face. Jarl had the faint feeling that his story wasn’t new information to the wolf. Parts were, though—Geri’s nostrils flared, scenting the air again.

“Hrmph.” The wolf grunted. “Did it work?”

Behind Jarl, Bruno shifted, and Jarl could almost feel the boy’s curiosity starting to flare.

Alexander

It was a bold man who offered to meet a Vampire in private. Then again, Rodrigo had protection.

Protection that only worked against a Raith, but better than nothing. It still surprised Alexander. He paused for a moment, considering.

A public spot would delay Samson’s counter-swing, along with a lot of over overt hostility. But Sophia Raith was on his tail now. If he knew the playbook, she’s be looking for ways to sink his reputation, rather than kill him directly.

“Private. Believe me when I say it’s safer.” Alexander responded. “Send me a place.”

Edited by DrTentacles on Apr 10th 2019 at 5:16:35 AM

Jarl

"Nope. After I scoured the spell clean and Terry managed to shank the ghost who was trying to set the ritual up, the whole thing fell apart like a house of cards. But it's not the only instance of necromancy going on, and we're still resolving that."

"As for the other thing: I posted bail for some low-level criminals in exchange for some important information. It's nothing conclusive, but it gave me some vital intel on the...supernatural-adjacent underworld here, so to speak."

_____________________________________________________

Alex

"Certainly. I will put my affairs in order and send you a location some time in the next hour. I'm sorry it cannot be sooner, but I have business I must attend to, still."

_____________________________________________________

Church Boys

The eagle flinched as it registered the sudden presence of a wall...and then it flew right through it, sinking its claws into Terry...

...Doing absolutely stone nothing, because there had never been an eagle in the first place. It dissolved into thin air the minute it made contact with his skin, nothing but a hastily-woven illusion.

What wasn't an illusion was when Leon suddenly felt a sudden and abrupt lack of contact with the ground, and a sharp pain in his ribcage, probably caused by the antler of a particularly large and ornery moose that had slammed its horns into his side with enough force to make him briefly sail through the air.

Edited by math792d on Apr 10th 2019 at 10:35:37 AM

Alexander

Earlier, he said it would take some time to get the information. Slip of the tongue?

Alexander didn’t comment on the conflicting stories, though.

“Until then.” He replied, then hung up the call.

What was he going to do now? Ah. Right. Get rid of Alain. Yes, that was probably the polite thing to do.

Jarl

Geri bared his teeth—it could have indicated amusement, or challenge. Or both.

“I see.” He growled in reply. “That was not a gauntlet throw to the law?”

The wolf’s eyes were still narrowed. Glittering like gold.

“Hrpmh.” Geri sniffed again. “Careful. I will be watching.”

For a moment, he loomed there, a debt collector in the shape of a wildman stuffed in rumpled tweed. Then he looked to the side, yawning, as though he’d just lost attention.

“Mr Vadderrung requests the severed head you found. He may consider it repayment.”

Edited by DrTentacles on Apr 10th 2019 at 9:11:40 AM

Leon would have screamed in pain after being hit by the moose but it was bit hard to yell when all the air just kind of left because your rib cage got hit by a goddamn moose. Instead he settled for shouting a few seconds after impacting the ground after managing to inhale again, which really only made the pain worse.

"FUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCK"

Fortunately he had finished putting his combat focus glove on and it hadn't been knocked loose by the impact. He struggled back to his feet, eyes on the moose even if he wasn't sure the jotunn was still a moose and hadn't thrown up another illusion and shifted into something else. His left arm cradled his all but shattered ribs, as he continued to quietly curse under his breath at the pain.

In the time Alexander spent setting up a date with a married man, Annette was collecting herself in her room. She didn't feel tired. That was the point. Still, she moved about getting showered and dressed and eating with more care than usual. She wouldn't pass out just from menial tasks—not until much later in the day, at least—but there was a numbness in her that wasn't yet dispersed. Feeling emotionally drained was not pleasant. The coffee could keep her on her feet well and good but it couldn't replace all that she'd taken from herself.

Trying to take any more for anything could seriously screw her up.

So she was careful, lest she forget that very important limit, and do something stupid again.

Dressed in a knee-long gray dress with a brown knit sweater atop it, she entered Alexander's apartment and found him sitting in the window hanging up a call. "W-Was that the Poisoners?" Annette frowned a little. His expression wasn't one of relief; had they not been able to help, or was it delayed? Asking if everything was alright was pointless, though, in these circumstances. And she didn't want to ask that broad a question regardless. "What's, um, our n-next move, Mr. Thorne?"

Jarl

"Right, it's with-"

He stopped. No, that wasn't information that Geri - or Vadderung - needed to have. He wasn't going to involve his sister in any more of this shit than he had to.

"It's with a trusted ally. Where should I deliver it?"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alex

Almost as if on cue, as soon as Alex hung up the call, Delilah materialized in the doorframe, her arms folded. "You were about to call, boss?"

Alexander

A wan smile crept onto Alexander's face at the arrival of Delilah and Ms Wagner. It was good that to have competent help. At last. The difference between his employees in Las Vegas and Paris was night and day.

Then again, perhaps his mistake had been expecting competence from anyone who lived in Las Vegas.

"Yes. That was Rodrigo. We've arranged to meet." Alexander explained. "But first, it's time to take care of our friend Alain."

Jarl

There was no mistaking Geri’s displeasure at Jarl’s verbal dodge. Nothing about the twitch in the wolfman’s face or the snarl low in his throat was subtle. But surprisingly, Geri didn’t press the point, instead reaching into his pocket and pulling out a business card and a pen then scrawling an address on the back.

“Safe deposit box. Try to keep it away from the council.” He growled, then reached out to press the card in Jarl’s hand. “Good hunting.”

Edited by DrTentacles on Apr 11th 2019 at 4:25:15 AM

"A...hah. Take care? Do you w-want me to take the children out shopping for a while? Or c-call a cleaning crew preemptively?"

She was kidding.

Mostly.

Being two apex predators meant that Terry going up against a prey animal like a moose put him at a severe disadvantage. Ideally you'd want to have a whole pack with you, for the moose to already be sick or injured, and to not be too married to the idea of killing the terrifying slab of muscle and keratin.

Also ideally the fucking thing would not be illusion bullshit, but Terry'd come to terms with how non-ideal his life got.

Not that he had time to consider all this, after all. His actual thoughts were more along the lines of "oh shit, Leon!" followed by "fuck you then", which coincided with wolfing out and lunging fang-first for the nearest leg. This also brought his face closer to the nearest hoof, but on the bright side if it was an illusion that meant he wasn't about to get his skull kicked in.

Alexander

Alexander's eyebrows twitched higher, the only sign of his surprise. Damn. Ms Wagner was catching on quick. He'd been hoping for at least a few more days of being able to mess with her.

"...Cold." He murmered, keeping a straight face anyway. "Fine. Keep the kids out of sight. This won't take long."

She was kidding. She wasn't sure if he was.

"Um. Okay. Let me j-just get Bethany back to...my room," Annette swallowed and started to move towards the youngest Thorne's bedroom. Whether or not Alexander was going to take care of or "take care of" their guest, keeping the children in the other room was still probably a good idea. "D-Don't stain the carpet or c-couches, um, since they're both white."

Hahah, covering for dread with bad humor. I'm getting back in my head already.

Tim silently cursed as Leon was hit and switched gears. Figuring the Jotun was probably wholly a creature of the Nevernever, he went for the obvious tactic.

"Eglain Rinde!"

And with those words, light coalesced into a brilliant shining, complex nine-pointed diagram surrounding a thick circle and Tim's will slammed into it to contain the Moose.