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Post by Rowan on Jan 14, 2021 16:24:08 GMT -8
Rowan had texted Firebringer with the time and place, saying they could use a little down time. It was a bar in Whitney, called the Aces & Ales. Like most things in Whitney, it had once been promised greatness but had fallen short. Seven - that was the greed upon time. So, naturally, like any good Darkling would do, he got there early. Or at least, that's what he told himself: that it was the normal, sensible thing to do, because nowhere was safe.
Nobody payed him much attention, because he had the exact same vibes as the establishment and its patrons. Just another man that was down on his luck. He looked around for any immediate sign of danger and noted both the entrance and the back door. He took a table that was nestled against the wall in one of the corners of the room and sat there. It was a good table, that allowed him to see the door and to survey most of the bar. The waitress came by, a young lady around Tanner's age that wore too much lipstick and smiled too widely. She had that Look, the one of a deer ready to bound at any sign of trouble. He thought she would get along with the Fall officer.
He told he was waiting for some people, but asked for a glass of water in the mean time. She nodded and walk off to the counter. Rowan waited.
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Post by Tanner on Jan 14, 2021 21:56:09 GMT -8
The jackelope arrived with a worn leather jacket, antlers noticeably absent while vaulted ears currently had stereo headphones covering the base. It didn't take a lot of observation to notice the haggard look of his reddened eyes and pronounced veins under the pale skin of his eyes. The natural curl of his hair looked nice at least, locking into place in neat spirals he had brushed aside in a swoop.
He unhitched his shoulders as he saw Rowan, fixing his posture to his full height as he adjusted the blasting music to rest around his neck before pausing the notes of Drinking in L.A. on his phone.
He sat down unceremoniously next to the Darkling before ordering a corona. "Well, glad to see you aren't strung up by some angry gang," he joked, spinning the paper coaster like a top.
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Firebringer
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Elemental Ifrit, Presence 3 (Intimidating)
Posts: 634
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Post by Firebringer on Jan 15, 2021 14:02:31 GMT -8
Danica arrived at the bar right on time, meaning she was technically late. She curses a little as she quickly gets out of the car, hurrying in. Tonight she is wearing a knee length, black dress with sleeves long enough to almost cover her fingers, but not quite, opaque, black leggings, and a pair of flats. Normally, she'd wear boots, but she was in a pretty mood. She's even braided her wiry, flaming hair loosely to the side, it surprisingly long enough to come down to well past her shoulders. Okay, maybe part of it is the nerve of meeting up with other people with her friend. She wasn't sure what to expect and didn't want to come off as overly aggressive as she usually does.
She walks inside, looking around for Rowan and his little frosty and clammy looking face. He wasn't too hard to spot, but with him was someone else. Clearling another Lost. That must be who we are meeting with. A little knot forms in her stomach. She'd hoped to arrive before the new dude, but it is what it is. Shouldn't have bothered with the hair. She sighs and makes her way over.
"Who's being strung up by what?" She asks, going ahead and just sitting across from Rowan, bringing with her a warm, crackling breeze of smoke. She orders herself a soda. Seeing the water in front of Rowan gave her a slight chill. Liquids are liquids, but water on its own always makes her uneasy. She doesn't let that all show on her face, at least, she tries to.
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Post by Rowan on Jan 16, 2021 16:39:01 GMT -8
Firebringer's arrival allowed him to dodge the question. Honestly, he didn't even understand what the question was.
"Tanner, this is Firebringer. Firebringer, this is Tanner - the Twilit Page."
He copied Tanner's order of a corona, if only because he didn't know what to order at all. His eyes went over the Beast, holding back the question that burned his lips. The young man had never been one to look cleaned up, but this was definitely new. Had it something to do with Golden and Aello? After Yule, Rowan didn't know what to think.
"I hope you guys found the place alright."
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Post by Tanner on Jan 16, 2021 17:47:16 GMT -8
Tanner took a sip from his drink before offering Firebringer his hand, eye twitching reflexively as he forced his hand near the intimidating fire. An eyebrow was cocked at Rowan, unsure how much he had chosen to share with the Elemental on his place having the door kicked in and smelling of panic and sick. "Yo. Just a joke- he tends to stick his face into trouble. Rowan's said good things about you... Glad your initial investigation didn't go too terribly," his tone was genuine, if struggling to sound upbeat.
"I know Whitney, s'fine. I think you met Cinder, like, briefly," he offered to Firebringer to give her a couple of faces to connect to him. "Aello's also in my motley. Dunno if Golden Boy was social at Yule, heard he popped out right at the start."
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Firebringer
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Elemental Ifrit, Presence 3 (Intimidating)
Posts: 634
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Post by Firebringer on Jan 16, 2021 18:16:13 GMT -8
Danica settles in her seat and offers a small smile to the Jackrabbit before taking and shaking his hand, not really considering any of the oddities of her hand. Hand. Such weird things. Shaking hands... why do we do that as a greeting? It takes her a millisecond too long to respond as her thoughts got to her and it comes out a little awkward when she says, "Nice to meet you." A simple phrase, but she could make just about anything awkward. Probably one of the things that makes one realize her intimidating presence is really in presence only. "Yeah, Rowan always seems to get himself in weird situations, not entirely convinced they aren't mostly self-inflicted, but he does his best."
She looks around the bar a moment, considering that Rowan had called her Firebringer, but then, she hadn't told him her mundane name, had she? "Oh, yeah, you can call me Fire if you want or, out at bars, I usually go by Dani." Was it the strict Winter of her previous Freehold that made her so cautious? Perhaps, but still.
She takes a sip of her soda and nods as Tanner helps her start connecting some names and faces again. Her memory was... not amazing. Aello, she definitely remembered. Rowan had done something and she was ready to blast him. Golden Boy... which one was he? She couldn't remember that one. "Yes. I met Cinder and Aello. Well, Aello, not entirely formally, but her presence was known at Yule," She chuckles a bit. "Will have to see Golden Boy's face again, I suppose. Good to know who all is in your circle."
"But oh, Rowan has said things about me? Good things?" She gives a semi-dramatic gasp, bringing a glowing, fiery hand to her mouth and after a moment, puts it down to laugh and smile a little teasingly at him, "We didn't get off to a fantastic start, but we got there."
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Post by Rowan on Jan 17, 2021 13:45:01 GMT -8
He took a sip of water at the mention of Golden ducking out of Yule. He didn't want to open with another motley's issues. He listened while Tanner and Firebr- Dani talked about his trouble-finding skills.
"Well, if Yule was anything to judge by, I never get off to a good start. Aello doesn't seem to like me much." His ears warmed up a little at the memory of Riley's limerick. It translate into the tip of his ears going slightly more lilac. He then turned to Tanner. "And this time, I wasn't looking for trouble. I was helping someone out and it..." He trailed off a little, not sure if Ivory overdosing would be a good conversation piece. "I had to call the ambulance," he said instead.
"But what about you, Tanner? How have you been?" He was trying to shift the attention to someone else, because he didn't know what else to do. He was scared that they would judge him for his actions, turn away from him. Beside, the Beast looked just as bad as Rowan felt. He knew the young man had his fair share of issues, but he was wondering if this time around, he would trust the Darkling enough to share. Or even see him as equal.
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Post by Tanner on Jan 17, 2021 17:23:53 GMT -8
Tanner shrugged at the comment on Aello, "She doesn't have to. You two could relate on needing time to warm up to people," he said absently. Brushing the hair out of his face, he nodded to Firebringer going over her list of acquaintances,
"I mean, one less soldier not being familiar with him is kind of a win, I guess." It took a beat for the Beast to recognize how that sounded without context, "Nothing to do with you. He's got a rough history with the community, if you're keeping score, Rowan, you aren't doing too bad." He tried a smile, but only got about half way. For Rowan, the lack of reassuring laughter was noticeable. The man just looked tired.
"Wow, I'm...really sorry to hear that. They okay?" his ear flicked, taking a pull from his drink. The Fall courtier took the hint that Rowan was leaving out precisely why, not looking to dig in front of his new social tie.
With the question on his own health, he leaned back in his chair, "Yeah. I'm fine, just been busy with courses. An issue came up with my insurance, so my last medication bill is through the roof so I need to hold off for a bit. Do you know anyone who sells under the table?" The question was blatant, but most of the Lost weren't strangers to street dealers.
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Firebringer
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Elemental Ifrit, Presence 3 (Intimidating)
Posts: 634
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Post by Firebringer on Jan 17, 2021 20:18:20 GMT -8
She gives a smile and a shrug at Tanner's comment about Golden Boy. A Winter is a Winter and being slightly elusive to the mind is almost always a good thing for them. "I'm just barely in and crap with names, but I also haven't had time to really see too much of the tension. Need to actually get out more." That was beyond factual. She's invested quite a bit into her mundane life here now. She needs to spend more of her time focusing on her ties to other Lost. Well, she's getting there now.
Danica offers a faint smile at Rowan's statement, though takes notice of his slight change in color. Well, notices it, but doesn't exactly know how to translate it. She sits back and listens mostly. Her eyes widen a bit, however, at the mention of someone in the freehold having something happen that required an ambulance. What the hell did I miss? She tries not to let her surprise show in her face, but her orange eyes tell a slightly different story.
Though, based on the look on Rowan's face and the way he shifts attention, she gets the feeling he doesn't want to give more details in the first place. She wouldn't press... at least for now. She didn't want to be out of the loop. Though, it's never like she's been the person to be in the know in the first place 99.9% of the time anyway. Maybe that's something I should fix. She gives Rowan a look like 'We should talk later', though it may just translate as general concern.
When Tanner asks about dealers, Danica perks up a little bit, but instead of speaking, takes a long sip of her soda. Was that code speak or was he being serious about the actual cause of need for a dealer? Maybe it was the way her previous Freehold's Winter Court operated, but it put her on slight edge. No... think about it in a different way. He looks exhausted.
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Post by Rowan on Jan 20, 2021 0:02:13 GMT -8
"I could hook you up with Rose Water, and that's pretty much it. And you don't want Rose Water." A memory crossed his mind as he squinted at Tanner.
"Why don't you ask Cinder? if she could pay for my concussion, surely she could get you the meds."
She kept his eyes on the Beast a while longer, before turning to the Elemental. There was curiosity on her face, but Rowan didn't feel like indulging it. "Yeah, they're fine. The ambulance got there in time."
He turned back to the Page, taking a sip of beer. The taste of alcohol and lime helped wash away the bad taste of hospital memories.
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Post by Tanner on Jan 20, 2021 15:52:02 GMT -8
Tanner blushed, embarrassed as he gave Rowan a quick nod, silently asking for a second as the Embodiment of Prey let his heart rate stabilize. "You're fine, Danica," he said, "This community is huge, and staying out of old grudges isn't a bad position to stay in."
"I'm not making light of what happened," the Runnwerswift said to Rowan, "I just figured you would know where to start. We're broth from Whitney, but I guess you paid more attention; you know your way around the block. It's fine I can just look into it myself, it isn't like anyone can try and stab me before I have time to react." He flashed a bit of a cocky grin before it faded to the same quiet stress. "If the prescription turns out to be tainted, I can tap Callahan for a Fruit or something." The coaster was meticulously shredded as he bit his tongue.
"Cinder's not excited about breaking the law, so, yeah she would just want to tap her parents again. I'm going to be straight that I'm super uncomfortable squeezing her family for something that isn't an emergency. I'm not really casual about asking my motley to lie and steal for me because I fucked up some paperwork submissions."
He started arranging the paper to make a new circle, "After what happened with Golden, Dame Chunhua's letting me fast track my exams with the order," he twitched a smile, knowing he should seem more excited about the prospect, "My grades will take a hit and then no longer qualify for my bursary applications, or else I'd just eat the year and say fuck it. I'll add Dealer Acquisition to the list."
Tanner ordered another drink, stewing on the list of garbage that had been foisted on his motley's lap and being largely leaned on as the responsible one.
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Firebringer
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Elemental Ifrit, Presence 3 (Intimidating)
Posts: 634
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Post by Firebringer on Jan 22, 2021 1:08:25 GMT -8
Danica nods with a slight sense of relief that whoever had gotten in trouble received the help they needed. She still couldn't help but wonder the circumstances, but she did her best to keep those wonderings off of her face. She was here and needed to focus in the now.
There was something weird to her in the way Tanner was speaking about this medication. Was it one that would cause withdrawal symptoms if he missed a dose? Did it really have that much of an effect on his academics? Well, probably. She still couldn't help but wonder.
Finally, she asks, "What's the med?" Yeah, let's start there. More information means they will know what they are looking for if they have to go digging. Maybe her brain is just back to the person who supposedly ODed in the Freehold. "You don't have to answer that, of course, if you find that too prying."
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Post by Rowan on Jan 22, 2021 18:33:48 GMT -8
"Right. That makes sense," he nodded back. He looked back to Danica. "I don't know, actually. Do you have like, the label or something, Tanner? I'll poke the few Springs I know."
"How is Golden, by the way. He make a quick exit by the end of Yule. He good?" He had had to wear sunglasses for several days after because of how sensitive his eyes had gotten after the Twilight flash. He took another sip. He didn't understand what all the fuss about beer was. It tasted acrid and the bubbles did nothing for his tongue.
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Post by Tanner on Jan 22, 2021 19:34:37 GMT -8
The student blinked, "Uh- Adderall," he said simply. It was common enough, but without insurance and dosage, a month of medication was over 200$. "All right, thanks." Tanner coloured a bit, "If they're mundane that's better, I'm kind of embarrassed...even though we get into money issues all the time. I think it just reflects poorly on my position, I guess?" There was a nervous chuckle, as he was glad for Rowan to dangle to topic change.
"Not...great. I mean, he came back, at least." Tanner's brow pinched as he got a far away look, considering the nightmare their motley had skirted. They only knew he was alive from the Oath not snapping, but the danger sense had not alleviated in the slightest. Smoothing his hair as he sighed, he ordered another round.
"From...wherever he was. From his guess he was pulled into Twilight. He's not super-" his laugh had an edge of frustration in its helplessness, "...Forthcoming. You know, Onyx. But he needs help, and he's asked for it. So I'm joining the Echoes."
He offered a small, heavy shrug as he looked to the pair, "Y'all have been active. Got any political prospects or just happy to help...?"
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Firebringer
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Elemental Ifrit, Presence 3 (Intimidating)
Posts: 634
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Post by Firebringer on Jan 22, 2021 20:16:11 GMT -8
There was something about the way Tanner said his medication that just made Danica... wonder. Adderall huh? And a university student? No, stop letting your brain go there. People take Adderall for legitimate reasons... Even if she did know more people who bought pills for school than she did people who took them legitimately. She wasn't trying to look suspicious, but she did have a tendency to look that way regardless. Resting rude face and all.
"Medication is medication. Not having what you need to function best is worse than however it may reflect in the politics."
She listens to Tanner describe the situation with Golden Boy and it opens up a whole other world of questions, but she wasn't the most knowledgeable about the different plane things in the first place. When Tanner mentions 'The Echoes' she does make a rather confused face, assuming it was a kind of order or something.
She glances over at Rowan then and shrugs before she looks back at Tanner, "I personally just like helping people, especially friends of friends. Plus, the stronger we are, the less likely we are to get screwed over by the Good Neighbors in the long run." Always a little blunt. |
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