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Post by Buck Chasseur on Feb 21, 2021 21:02:19 GMT -8
Buck had gone pale, but he still held the whiskey glass to his lips as he listened with uncharacteristic impassiveness.
"No one, to my knowledge. I think people like me too much, actually. And that frustrates them sometimes." There was only so much of the golden stag to go around, after all.
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Post by Kai Rose on Feb 21, 2021 23:51:06 GMT -8
Kai watches Buck with a polite smile on her face, close-lipped and thoughtful as she put great effort into reading him. He was pale. Obviously troubled. Now was the moment to show that they cared. There were two ways to look at what he said: as a dodge, or as a true indication of what he thought the problem might be. The uninitiated might think he was being coy, but she knew better. She eyed the painting, strange in the room's décor.
"Ah. If it's a private matter, I understand. However, to proceed further, I have to ask... do you suspect a former friend, or lover?"
Play it cool, play the game of offering the out, but really, he would not have tolerated them being here if he didn't want help.
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Ivory
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Pres 4 (Regal) - SL 1 (Noble) Fairest Hunterheart
Posts: 588
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Post by Ivory on Feb 22, 2021 17:13:35 GMT -8
Ivory stood to the side as the others provided their findings and asked Buck their questions. The paleness of the satyr prompted a soft look of concern from the dragon. As Kai asked her final question, Ivory felt compelled to attempt to help. Thus, her lips parted. "Mr. Chasseur, please," she said, her tone earnest and gentle, "We would be grateful for anything you can offer on a potential suspect. We are here to help." We are on the same side.It was an simple statement of unity, but sometimes it could help to be reminded that not everyone was an enemy. The team had been assembled to bring Buck the justice that had been denied to him. All he had to do was cooperate. StrayToday at 5:46 PM Assist Kai Rose in her Persuasion of Buck. Presence+Persuasion+Spring Mantle @dicecord-CoD roll 7 Dicecord-CoD BOT Today at 5:46 PM stray rolled 7 dice and got 3 successes. 7 7 8 7 9 8 6
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Post by Agrippa on Feb 23, 2021 8:09:14 GMT -8
In merely a handful of sentences, Kai managed to commit two atrocities- at once blocking any further talk of the mysteries lurking in the Twilight, and rendering Agrippa's services exponentially less valuable directly in front of the Spring Paragon. Worst of all, she was right, and completely justified in doing so. The loss of opportunity wrenched the beast from their joy, like a biker torn from a daydream by an unexpected date with the pavement. What were they to do? They couldn't answer Noir now, no matter how much they wished to, nor could they contribute anything useful to the current pivot in topic, nor could they even speak up to Buck without potentially sabotaging the others' efforts to get him to open up. So Agrippa simply deflated, gave Noir a look that apologized for their silence, and then turned their focus and attention on the one thing they could do. They turned to Buck and gave him the most sweet and kind and trustworthy smile they could. Big eyes, sunshine, lollipops and rainbows. If nothing they said could be of use, at least they knew they were talented at sitting quiet and looking pretty.
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Post by Buck Chasseur on Feb 24, 2021 0:11:30 GMT -8
He mouth twists, "Probably Cordelia."
There was a beat.
"She's the current monarch of the Silent Arrow of Los Angeles." He didn't seem to be willing to offer more details, refilling his glass and cursing quietly about what in God's name was taking Lancelot.
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Post by Buck Chasseur on Feb 24, 2021 9:28:33 GMT -8
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Post by Kai Rose on Feb 24, 2021 13:02:02 GMT -8
Well, shit. This was how powerful Fae did breakups. A flight of fancy fucking off to Vegas, and a Winter Courtier sending assassins after her former love. How... Changeling.
"...oh."
She slid her hands into her pockets, glancing at the others. They'd sorted out the ghosts. The gate had been discovered. The assassin was the last piece.
"I'm sorry, Buck. This piece sounds personal. Probably an agent, if you're right, but I get it. So... how do you want to handle this?"
Best to let him have a moment and think.
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Ivory
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Pres 4 (Regal) - SL 1 (Noble) Fairest Hunterheart
Posts: 588
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Post by Ivory on Feb 24, 2021 21:52:33 GMT -8
The Pale Dragon's brows raised in surprise at the admission. They had a name, potentially, but... it was a name she would have preferred to deal without.
The thing about the monarchs of Seasons is they were often resourceful and often quite powerful among their fellows in their freeholds. Crowns were not granted for nothing.
At any rate, Kai's approach was perhaps the wisest. Given the nature of the potential perpetrator and the personal connection she seemed to share with Buck, it was best to grant the satyr some time to think and help guide the final phase of the investigation. There could be no true solution otherwise. The satyr had to agree to a course of action.
Thus, Ivory looked to him attentively and awaited his answer.
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Post by Buck Chasseur on Feb 26, 2021 16:10:04 GMT -8
He honestly seemed at a loss, the confidence shaken for the first time. If the theory was correct, Ivory and Agrippa had witnessed active gaslighting from both of them during the phone call. One was asking after someone's health and possibly attempting to off them, while the other made positive sounds about coming back soon with no obvious intent to do so.
"For someone from LA to be operating here, you either had a collapse of security, or someone has permission. I also don't..." his head tilted, "According to you, Archivist, someone local despises me."
His chuckle held anger, "I suppose asking for outside help is one way to circumnavigate a Freehold Oath."
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Post by Krakenbox on Feb 26, 2021 16:11:45 GMT -8
Lancelot emerged, empty handed. There was an annoyed curve to the edge of his mouth,
"It appears the weapon has gone missing. Apologies for the inconvenience."
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Post by Kai Rose on Feb 27, 2021 11:24:18 GMT -8
"I think we've got the gist of what we're dealing with, Mr. Lancelot. Mr. Chasseur suspects an agent of Queen Cordelia of Los Angeles, assisted by a local. It explains the infiltration, the skill with which the man was manipulated, the ability to gather the information so effectively and quietly, the knowledge of Buck's patterns and behaviors, the lack of traces of evidence beyond the circumstantial... we're dealing with a pro. The ghosts are unrelated and Noir's got that covered. The gate to wherever in the Twilight is unrelated."
Good times. Hunting a spook was never easy.
"The matter with the Winter Queen of LA is personal. The matter of someone internal helping with an assassination attempt of a Freehold member, though... that's fair game. I could call that in, if you want, unless you want Winter to take point and make this an in-house thing."
At the mention of Winter, she glanced to Lancelot. If he wanted to Deal With the Problem, that was his call. His motley member was the one being attacked. In any event, his help would be required.
"How do you two want to play it? Want a minute to chat?"
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Post by Krakenbox on Feb 27, 2021 22:20:53 GMT -8
Lie detection is a pseudo-science.
But, to a Polychromatic, emotion was an energy that radiated from the universe of mankind — as tangible as the light and heat from the sun.
As Kai spoke to the Wizened, the tempest ringing from her core started to meld with the Winter, like a tuning fork harmonizing a pitch. His attention spiked, with the slightest dilation of the pupil, adrenaline surging as she explained the theory with LA, her own heart rate thundering in response.
The silent intake of air, irregular and prolonged after a gap in even breathing for just a second. She found herself forgetting to breathe.
He considered, calculated, stretching out the milliseconds to compile an appropriate response, eyes twitching to look away for a moment unseen to the human eye. But she felt it, as her own vision flickered.
"We should speak on this," he said to Buck, noting the man's troubled disposition. "I am afraid my connection with the local Court is not as strong as I would like. However, if one of our own are suspect in stretching the faith of the Pledge-"
The corner of his eye crinkled as he considered the Runnerswift.
Contempt.
"-I will have to take this up with the Knighthood."
The tension that never existed let go in the Wizened, like the softest pinprick.
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Post by Kai Rose on Feb 27, 2021 23:14:35 GMT -8
Time was everything.
Milliseconds passing could mean the difference between life and death, certainty and uncertainty, and reality and falsehood. She wasn't going to explain it. She couldn't. Time would reveal the fact that she'd had a revelation, that a switch had been flipped, that she'd clocked the time between a genuine reaction and a brilliant falsehood.
She interrupted the false Lancelot.
"That's an impostor, Buck."
A blazing bow of pure light formed in her hand.
"Come peacefully before Sir Solomon. You've nothing to fear if I'm wrong."
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Ivory
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Pres 4 (Regal) - SL 1 (Noble) Fairest Hunterheart
Posts: 588
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Post by Ivory on Feb 27, 2021 23:51:59 GMT -8
So a plot by the Winter Queen of Los Angeles - with a resourceful local. Couple that with the fact that such a figure clearly had some understanding of the grounds and would have had to be close to Buck to gain the information they possessed. And apparently Kai was sniffing out an impostor. Weighing what she knew and whom she trusted, choosing sides was elementary for the dragon.
"A shame," she offered, taking off her blazer and tossing it aside, "I liked this suit."
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Post by Agrippa on Feb 28, 2021 5:19:54 GMT -8
Agrippa blinked. The dismissal of the things in Twilight, Kai's theory, Cordelia, the local suspect, the missing murder weapon, and Lancelot being accused of impersonation. Six major twists to this plot that had all happened in less than half as many minutes. This was a roller coaster that the unicorn hadn't signed up for. Unlike Kai or Ivory, they didn't have anything they could really pull out of their proverbial sleeves to intimidate Lancelot, and honestly they weren't sure they would have wanted to even if they could. With the everyone useful likely training their eyes on suspect #1, Agrippa figured it was the least they could do to pay attention to Buck's reaction to this all.
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