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Post by Kai Rose on Jul 9, 2021 19:30:58 GMT -8
Kai moved through the party like a pro, backing the Spring Courtier move for move. These were fucking college kids, and she was a supernatural being of pure emotion and motivation. This was amateur hour. She got to know the kids right quick, picking key details of gossip and their moods out. One question that popped to mind: why'd the girl say something personal when they came back suddenly? That was odd.
When she moved through the party and had a moment breezing by Anthony, she breathed two words into his ear.
"Hello, Anthony."
She was socially on her A-game. Nobody was going to know how fucked he was except him.
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Post by Anthony Cartwright on Jul 9, 2021 19:57:05 GMT -8
Anthony seemed dumbstruck for a moment, before flicking the blunt into the fire; shoulders sagging with relief as he chuckled and shook his head.
"Holy shit, it worked," he gasped, coughing into his forearm from the smoke.
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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 Jul 9, 2021 21:09:07 GMT -8
Ivory smiled as Anthony took notice, sliding near the two.
"Hey!" she offered by way of greeting, her tone bright as she flitted in her element, "Got a sec?"
The question was punctuated with a thumb behind, indicating the three of them take the conversation elsewhere.
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Post by Anthony Cartwright on Jul 10, 2021 14:39:40 GMT -8
"...Yeah," he said after a moment, tapping one of the camper's shoulders to signal for them to keep an eye. However, he put enough distance where the talking wouldn't be overheard.
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Post by Kai Rose on Jul 10, 2021 20:24:24 GMT -8
Kai glanced at the group, at the signal, at the kid. Once they were far enough away, the Polychromatic dropped her voice. Once her back was to the group of college kids, she gave Ivory's son a flat stare that communicated exactly how furious she was.
"Explain. What worked...?! Who did you tell, why did you tell them and... why the fuck are people giving weird signals and shouting out random personal shit about each other?"
They seemed like valid questions to ask.
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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 Jul 10, 2021 20:47:33 GMT -8
The smile lessened as Anthony tapped the shoulder of another student, signalling them to keep watch. It evidenced distrust in the eyes of the dragon, which contradicted the trust she had thought they were building. Once out of earshot with him, Ivory granted him a look of concern. His previous words worried her.
With Kai's back to the kids, Ivory positioned herself to her son's left, so as to keep the distant group in her periphery.
"A promise isn't something you get to experiment with, Anthony" she offered, her tone low and edging on serious, "Why did you do that?"
Not wanting to turn this into an interrogation and thus lead to Anthony's friends to seek to intervene if they saw him get too upset, Ivory was content to allow Kai to lead the talks. Still... Ivory needed to know one thing.
"Is there a reason you want your friend to keep tabs on us?"
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Post by Anthony Cartwright on Jul 11, 2021 11:16:58 GMT -8
As Kai radiated fairy vengeance and Ivory being a rock to get a read on as she let the other take point, Anthony froze.
"Umm." The timing was bad, decidedly. He rubbed an eye, delaying as he willed his head to clear. "I- J-just Serena. I thought it might like, set something off, or- I guess it worked." He chuckled again, coughing as he tried to stop himself. Ivory's adopted mundie continued to be a frustrating read, like he wasn't taking it seriously and more upset that he was getting reamed by an Amazon while Ivory Good-Cop'd for her. He moved away from the Fairest a bit, if unconsciously.
"They're... we're watching everyone so people don't need to get paranoid. I guess that sounds weird- The situation's weird, but most think it's fake and the rest don't and no one can agree, so...Did you bring your bow? It would be great if you brought your bow."
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Post by Kai Rose on Jul 11, 2021 15:51:06 GMT -8
Just Serena? Set something off? Watching everyone?
Kai's jaw dropped a little and she glanced to Ivory, genuinely confused as the kid asked her if she was armed. She hiked her thumb toward her backpack, which had the compound bow inside its case strapped to it. "I've got it, and we've got survival gear...? What is going on, Anthony? Where is Serena?"
In that moment, she didn't sound as furious. Rather, she sounded suddenly concerned, her eyes sweeping the area for anything amiss.
"Is there something dangerous about?"
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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 Jul 11, 2021 21:17:13 GMT -8
In the mounting tension, alongside the unconscious withdrawal of Anthony, Ivory adopted a newer strategy. Giving herself over to her practiced sense of stoicism, Ivory would listen and grant Anthony the entirety of her attention as her son stammered about a strange situation, mentioning Serena, who neither of the pair had spotted. Something had the kids on edge.
"We need you to focus, honey," she offered gently, "Take a moment and start from the top."
Ivory was no soldier, but if something had come for her son? She needed to know everything she could in order to appropriately support the offenders eradication. And she would do so to the best of her ability.
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Post by Anthony Cartwright on Jul 11, 2021 21:40:09 GMT -8
"Um, so...Not sure if either of you heard of the stories around here. I hadn't? But we got a warning from John how we needed to be on the lookout for this big animal, and then that's when the smell started." He blinked, trying to shuffle his thoughts in order, clearly elevated both by their surprise arrival and agitation around the situation he was trying to describe.
"That's when I think Grayson came back shouting for us to get inside, and we thought it was like a prank but someone says they see something jerking around in the woods and enough were running inside that the rest of us just said 'fuck it'. Then Serena was all upset because she could see it patrolling the cabin and the smell was awful and a few of us were worried about the other group because some were visiting-" he inhaled, catching his breath, "So me, Serena, John and Takisha just fucking...go," he gestured towards the cabins the pair had seen on their way to the site, "And then Takisha says there's someone standing under the trees, and we see it but their back is turned and they ignore us. But then when we looked back they were on the trail with their back turned so we said 'fuuuuck that' and booked it. Then there was all this noise coming from the brush, and Serena stayed behind so I stayed with her but when we touched them it was like they just-" he blanched, like his mind stuttered and he kept powering through the story,
"Like, the rest were hollering for us and the person on the trail was gone. Then fucking- we holed up with the others trying to explain what was up and we apparently stunk really bad and someone mentioned a witch's curse? There were people standing outside, Serena mentioned, when we were keeping watch and I argued with her about looking into it. Because- She can do stuff I can't- it messed with us enough that we all just gathered here in the morning, and that's when I realized if I said something you guys might come."
He took the beer from Ivory, shot gunning it once he was done.
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Post by Kai Rose on Jul 12, 2021 11:01:05 GMT -8
Kai glanced back at the group of college students with a concerned frown as Anthony explained a wide variety of strange phenomenon. The smell. Someone in the woods with their back turned. Then someone on the trail with their back turned. Noise in the bush. Some weird outcome when Serena touched the person. And then the trail person, gone. A bunch of shit that didn't make any sense. Kai ran the numbers through her mind to try to think about what they might be dealing with here.
"Fuck."
It killed her on a Fae level, but it was possible Anthony had saved the lot of them. Or, perhaps, doomed Kai and Ivory. This sounded supernatural. They needed a nerd, bad, and information from Aello. Sweeping her eyeline along the woods, Kai said, "All right. Sounds like some Weird Shit, dude. We need to talk to Serena about what she saw. Got a few questions for you.
I smelled ozone over by their cars. Is that the smell you're referring to?
Was anyone attacked, or is it just harassment so far?
Any locations nearby where there might be some evidence of this phenomenon?
Do you or any other people here have weapons?"
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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 Jul 12, 2021 11:51:48 GMT -8
The Pale Dragon's lips press together as Anthony expanded on his reasoning for summoning them, though considering the subject it seemed clear he had only meant to bring Kai. Nonetheless, Ivory was glad she came to assist. As Kai sweeped the treeline with a glance, the golden eyes of her motleymate did the same as arms crossed.
Providing space for Anthony to answer the Polychromatic's questions, Ivory would speak once it seemed appropriate.
"You mentioned stories about the area," she said, "What stories? And where is Serena?"
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Post by Anthony Cartwright on Jul 13, 2021 21:57:01 GMT -8
"I don't know what ozone smells like," Anthony offered, mouth twisting, "...Burned hair? Metallic?"He got lost in the thought for a moment, "Um. Attacked? John mentioned that his dad's pigs were torn apart and was warning us about the animal, before he saw the weird shit."The group hollered if they were all right and food was going to be done soon, gesturing for them to rejoin the roaring fire keeping back the creeping dark. "Before we left camp, Jer found a horse head on a pole. A lot of us thought he was messing but then a few checked when the rest of us didn't want to and confirmed they saw it."
He blinked as the smoke from the pit blew in their direction, nodding for them to follow before everyone started to get antsy, "John's got his dad's rifle. I got a gun, and we brought a few bows from the center to mess with archery." He weakly pointed out Aello laughing with a group of the sorority girls. "She agreed getting help was a good idea, but she's been way too chill about this where I feel like I'm going crazy." Aello seemed to have her Mask hardened. Because of that, she had initially gone under the radar. "You can ask the group, Abi...I'm not an expert. I've mostly just been dealing with the problem that ghosts and witch curses are real." His laugh was noticeably forced, but immediately masked as he rejoined the others despite the sweat dampening shirt.
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Post by Kai Rose on Jul 14, 2021 12:40:00 GMT -8
Kai let out a little 'huh' as she thought about all the weird and unconnected things he had mentioned. A hob that could look like a person meant potential infiltration, but if hiding the face was important? And the horse head on the pole...
"All right. What I want to do here is keep people calm, and get them moving back toward Vegas in an organized way. That means you, too. We'll change the venue and get them a crazy good party. Once we're back toward town, I'm going to call some nerds who know about weird shit. Your plan about using personal information to prove your identity is a good idea, and I want to check everyone here if we can. That includes the three of us. We last hung out over jambalaya after you watched me doing some archery stunts in the back-yard. Aerials with shots. I missed the bull's eye."
She waved Aello over, inviting her to join us.
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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 Jul 15, 2021 20:47:29 GMT -8
As Anthony spoke of his possession, the Pale Dragon's eyes shoot to him.
"You have a what?" she asked, her surprise immediately apparent and her concern worsening.
However, Kai had little reaction to the fact and Ivory was unfamiliar with the situation they were in. Though concerned as to why her son was armed with a gun, perhaps right now was not a great time to discuss it.
"Nevermind," Ivory offered, an edge to her voice as she relented to the priority of seeing to whatever was harassing the college kids, "Another time."
Ivory listened as Kai dispensed her orders, nodding as the Polychromatic suggested sharing personal information to ensure those around them were indeed who they said they were.
Looking back to Anthony, Ivory thought for a moment.
"This last Christmas I gifted you an heirloom from your father's side of the family: his pocket watch," she said, "It's been in his family for generations."
To Kai, Ivory considered before offering a single phrase, "Kintsugi."
A reference to their first conversation at the Jewel when the pair discussed the metaphor the ceramic repair method had about fixing their shattered selves. Then, eyes fell to Aello, awaiting their arrival, arms still crossed as she bit her lip in thought.
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