August 29 2007

who: eury & ash/eury & aiden
when: evening
where: all over, including the phone

Who: melrose and eben
Where: outside mshs
When: afternoon

Another day, another boring six hours of school. Melrose couldn't turn the corner without hearing about those kids who'd disappeared or the ones who'd died and while it was really a sad thing, well... she didn't know any of them personally (or didn't think she did, at least, though one of the names had set off dim bulbs of recognition.) Without that personal connection, the information disappeared out of her ditz brain like a kid going down a greased-up slide. Until the next person reminded her of it, of course. Not that too many kids really talked to her - with her unusual style choices and bright colored hair and the septum piercing she had in whenever teachers weren't making her take it out, she wasn't exactly approached with good intentions all that often. Mostly they just laughed at her or mocked her, but half the time she was so preoccupied she didn't notice or care. Much like today - people were saying things, maybe to her, maybe to each other, maybe just the normal teenage chatter that happened whenever kids weren't in class - but Melrose wasn't hearing a word, whatever it was, as she wandered her way through the halls and, finally, to the blissful outdoors.

It was an unusual day for Eva, a day filled with irritation, short patience, and a steady stream of small annoyances that crept under her skin and stayed there like small insects clawing their way through her veins. The woman was normally the epitome of patience, able to handle the largest crises and smallest problems with the same calm finesse and quiet competence. Today, however, nothing was going right.

Who: Sammy and John
Where: A small grocery store well stocked with health food (Ugh!)
When: 6 p.m.

Sammy held the shopping list from his mom tight in his fist, the paper wrinkled and folded and the ink somewhat smudged from the damp outside as he pushed open the door to the small grocery store his mom had sent him off to. She had started making dinner only to find she was missing several somewhat vital ingredients, and Sammy had been unfortunate enough to be in the kitchen pilfering cookies from the teddy bear jar on the counter. Naturally she had designated him to go off to find the ingredients she needed, though Sammy didn't quite get it...he had to have an escort to school, but the rest of the day he could walk around by himself? Really it didn't make sense, but he wasn't going to worry about it now he decided as he wrinkled his nose just slightly at all the smells that surrounded him.

John Zabat was at the grocery store stocking up on the necessities. He didn't make it to the inner part of town too often, so the experience was already making him feel a little awkward. People were milling around everywhere in the store, all well-within spitting distance. It took a bit of effort to keep his gaze down and his eyes shut --a blind man who looked around him curiously would not be a very convincing blind man-- but his nerves did help keep him in check. So John hid behind his large dark black glasses, clutching the blind stick, a basket on his arm. And he squeezed tomato after tomato, every once in awhile sniffing at one, trying to find some ripe ones.

Domino was an attractive man, he was even an attractive animal. He got women, he got men (in both forms). He was quite a catch. But there was one time- and -only- one time where this wasn't true. From now until the end of time Domino will deny it fiercly. However there are a handful of people who have seen Dom at his horrendous moments (and over half of them were family).

Who: Corwin and Olivia
Where: Babylon
When: Around midnight

It didn't take long to chase the spiders away from his backpack and gnats away from his laptop, pack up what little of his things he'd actually unpacked in the mess of the orphanage during the day, and make sure his laptop was as well-wrapped-up as possible to keep it from getting wet. The lightning and thunder was coming on strong, now, and Corwin didn't quite beat the rain to Babylon to tell Eric the change in plans. The ghost didn't exactly condemn his checking up on people, but he didn't really like following him around while he did it, either, so he'd made himself scarce.

"Watch this for me," he told River as he slid his wet backpack onto the floor of the coat room and added his equally wet coat to one of the hangers. The rest of him wasn't too bad, though, thankfully. "Feel free to scratch up anyone who wants to touch it."

She looked pleased at the idea, and Corwin started inside. Maybe he'd grab some dinner in the process, just a little bit to tide him over a couple days, since he was staying with living people.

who: caleb and leija
where: mgh psych ward
when: evening

Leija's father had cried a lot when she came home. Cried and clung to her, and after a while she'd cried too. He called the police to tell them she was back and fed her and let her collapse into bed without too many questions. Just if she was all right, over and over again. She slept hard and dreamlessly and woke up fairly disoriented. She tearfully explained everything she could to him over a muffin and a cup of coffee. He didn't understand what had happened to them any better than she did, but he listened and believed her. Best of all, he didn't so much as chide her for going to the mine. Just hugged her some more and kissed her head.

It was going on seven in the evening by the time she convinced him to let her go to the hospital to see Caleb. She knew that Dorian had called him to let him know that she was back, but ... she had to go and see. Showered and changed and with her cell tucked into her pocket for her daddy's sake, she walked up to the front door and turned to give him a wave as he pulled away. Two hours, that was all he wanted her gone, and she couldn't really blame him. Taking a deep breath, she made her way to the psych ward and got buzzed in.

Caleb, for his part, had been agitated all day. He'd spent a lot of it pacing around, until the nurses finally sent him to his room, since his pacing and general air was agitating the other patients. That, and they kept yelling at him for not using his crutch. He just didn't have the patience for the stupid fucking thing. After Dorian had been there and explained things, he'd been wired. Which was exhausting, and he was getting worried again later. He understood she needed sleep and everything, and that maybe she'd run into trouble with her dad or something, and wouldn't come at all, but that didn't stop him from waiting for her. His entire day was killed doing that. He had tried to distract himself, but it hadn't worked out at all.

Who: Brian and Anton
Where: Anton's place
When: A little after six

Though Brian was usually pretty on-time-- not early, usually, but certainly not late-- rain had a way of fucking with his schedule. He'd gotten out the door in plenty of time to find Anton's, but another of those brief, sudden rainshowers had sent him back in the door for a good ten minutes before he actually got on the road. He just hoped Anton wasn't a horribly punctual sort of person.

Finding the place wasn't hard-- it looked very Anton-y, and the sign was, indeed, hard to miss-- and he came up the walk thankfully during a lasting dry spell, shifted the grocery bags he'd brought onto the same arm, and knocked lightly.

Who: Geo and Sammy
Where: The Williams' Domicile
When: After moonrise.

It was raining, again. Supposedly going to storm - supposedly. Given the weather now, though, it was kind of a sure thing, yeah?

Rain and threats of rain didn't stop the moon.

Nothing could stop the moon.

...so why fight what you can't change?

Who: Fallon and Katrina
Where: The old orphanage
When: After midnight, before moonset

Perhaps one of the most ironic things about Katrina was that she really didn't like cats. Domesticated cats really pissed her off, they were like half-assed felines, terrible hunters and to top it off they whine too much. That being said, on nights of the full moon she made a trend out of chasing the poor things whenever she came across one. This was just one tiny part of the mischief she intended to cause tonight.

Who: Sabiel Carter
Where: Marquette Golf Club
When: Around 10:00 p.m.

Well, it had seemed like a good idea at the time. Fly into her new home to get a good look at it from the air. Claim it as her territory under her own power. Drop down onto some secluded piece of greenery, slip into her human skin, stroll over to her reservation at the Ramada downtown, and spend the evening in quiet research on the sleepy little town of twenty thousand.

Sometimes, Sabiel thought that Water took a special delight in confounding her good ideas.

Who: Harper and Shannon
When: around 1:30pm
Where: Mya's Diner

The day had started out so nicely. After the failed meditation attempt Harper had awoken on the couch to a single ray of sun shining through her blinds right in her eyes. She'd gotten up and showered, dressed and decided not to stay couped up inside on her day off. Instead she went out. Book in hand, she'd stopped by the convince store to buy some coffee, a soda and pre-made sandwich for her day, then headed to the park. It was a little gloomy outside, but she was enjoying the atmosphere- until the rain.

Who: Herbert and Fallon
Where: The ranch, and then the woods and beyond
When: Shortly before moonrise to morning

The prospect of company for the full moon both worried and relieved Herbert. He'd biked out to the ranch where Fallon lived, planning to meet the werefox-- er, kitsune-- just at the edge, well before moonrise, locked his bicycle to a tree for safekeeping, and settled down to wait and try not to fret.

Who: Alejandro and Jocelyn
Where: Babylon
When: Early afternoon

The second day back behind a bar again wasn't quite as shiny and exciting as the first, but Alejandro was okay with that. It was work, it was bringing in money, and it was safe, and he was perfectly happy with that for a while. He didn't have a lot of customers, so early in the day, but that meant he could get to know the bar a little better, make sure he had everything's place memorized.

Right then, though, he was just leaning absently on the bartop, wondering when he ought to go back to visit Melia, trying not to think about that stupid toy block he'd bought that morning-- and subsequently and pointedly left at home before work-- and waiting for someone to call for another drink.

Who: Regan and Jericho
Where: The Landmark Inn, 230 N. Front Street
When: Wednesday, August 29, late night

A brief parting of the clouds exposed the full moon, and Jericho could have sworn he'd heard something howl.

Welcome to Marquette.

He'd decided to try something new tonight, a place he'd not yet visited. The vampire had considered Babylon, but had ultimately decided against it. Jocelyn might be there, and at this stage he wanted her to make the next move if there were to be one. Not playing hard-to-get, Jericho simply wanted her to decide on her own whether his company was desirable. There was also, of course, the practicality of feeding. While Babylon had been good for the occasional meal, he preferred to leave that venue as a more purely social arena.

Jericho nodded pleasantly at the doorman as he entered the Landmark Inn. While middle-class bars and college frat parties had served him well, their clientele really were the vampire equivalent of human fast food: fills the belly, but terribly satisfying. Tonight, the physician was on the prowl for something considerably more upscale.

First opened in the 1930s, the Landmark Inn was a stately hotel, opulent, built in the grand tradition of expensive Manhattan hotels of the same era. Impossibly high ceilings, priceless tapestries, and more expensive wood and gilt trim than you could shake a stick at. Gorgeous, sumptuous, the ambiance simply oozed high-class decadence. The place had first caught his notice when he'd seen an advertisement for the 'authentic English pub' the hotel housed, the Northland Pub. That was his destination.

Who: Dessicant and Manhattan
Where: The Ice Arena, then Venture Motel
When: Just after sundown

Again, Dessicant was early, very very early. He stood in the drizzle of the evening and watched the carnival slowly putting itself together-- it was almost done-- and occasionally, when someone passed close enough, amused himself by cursing something of theirs. Nothing too damaging or life-changing, unfortunately; he'd lost that talent a long time ago. But small, annoying things. A hammer dangling from a tool belt would, for the next few hours, hit thumbs more than nails. A drill bit would miss the head of the screw two times out of three. The button to activate and shut down a ride, for testing sequences, would stick in one position or the other.

Hey, it passed the time.

who: isaac and lullaby
where: the phone!
when: late night

Who: Anton and Eury
Where: Stone Eye Antiquities
When: noon-ish

It had been a while since Anton had wandered around this part of town. He’d left the house to peek around where the tents were being set up for the carnival—out of part curiosity, part romantic hope that he would recognize something from his own days in his troupe—and now he had nothing better to do than to go back and finish repairs and tackle paperwork and deal with griping clients. Business had been all but exciting this morning; what a lure that was. What a joy. What a thrill. He could hardly stand it.

Demons are ridiculously different. David is one of them. Better leave the damn things alone, I think I hate them all already.
Dryads are half-human half-plant beings. Probably unedible. They are apparently supposed to be hippies.
Vampires are dead and suck blood. Also, they can't stand the sun. Given they have to be bipedal blood bags, they must be edible.
Fairies are the demons equivalent from another dimension: they are absurdly varied. May or may not have insect wings, may or may not be edible, must give a shot.

Who: Peyton and Isaac
When: afternoonish
Where: phones, then the St. James house

Who: Mya/OTA
When: 5:30pm
Where: The park

Mya finished her shift at the diner and instead of going straight home decided to go on a walk through the park. She worried slightly about the staff not having her or Brian around tonight, but they knew what to do and she always worried. They had both their numbers in case anything happened anyhow so she knew in her heart all would be ok.

Who: Jace and Konnor
Where: Their house
When: Wednesday, August 29, a few minutes before midnight

Corwin had left to collect his things, and a promise was a promise.

Konnor headed directly upstairs, somewhat elated at having done something actually nice for someone, a wide departure from his recent behavior. His broad smile stuck right up until he entered the bedroom, saw Jace sprawled naked on his belly with the covers kicked mostly off, and got another very clear shot of the scratches on his back. Brambles, briars, and the broader, deeper, distinctive marks of manicured fingernails.

Who: Corwin and Konnor, and an understandably exhausted Jace
Where: The Barton Residence
When: A little after 11:00 p.m., Wednesday night, August 29

Though Corwin hadn't actually visited Konnor in days, wanting to respect his desire for distance and privacy so he could think, that didn't mean he hadn't come by. The cats greeted him as he approached, and of course he stopped to pet them both and tell them both how good they were being and how well they were doing. Then he circled the house, peering into windows nosily and looking for the brothers. Of course they'd probably be in bed, asleep, but it never hurt to check the other windows first, so he wouldn't have to do any climbing.

The past couple nights, all he'd seen was Jace, from a distance. The scratch marks on his face made him much easier to identify. Maybe Konnor had been out hunting both nights when he'd happened to come by, or maybe he'd left his brother behind, too, to do his thinking. Corwin didn't know, but it didn't stop him from coming by again tonight. He'd missed the night before, too busy relocating from Arcadia to the old orphanage to come by, but it just made him all the more determined to come by tonight.

Who: Corwin and Delilah
Where: Dreams
When: Very early morning

It was very rare that Corwin dreamed. After fifteen years and then some without it, it took the ability a long time to come back. It usually only happened when he was more tired than usual, or sleeping at a strange time or in a strange place. Tonight, throw together strange place, strange time, general ache all over, and emotional exhaustion, and oooooh yes, was he dreaming.

Corwin was huddled in a small mausoleum in a cemetery he'd visited a few times with Keith, his best friend back home, waiting. Keith and Jared were hunting, and he didn't want to be part of it. He hurt, though he wasn't sure why, and he was afraid of being seen. It'd only been a few months since he'd been turned-- which, if he were awake, wouldn't have made any sense at all since he had been in New York a few months after he was turned, and this was in a suburb of Detroit, but he was asleep, so it made perfect sense-- and he wasn't used to it all, yet. Happy, oh god, yes, but used to it? Never.

At least the cemetery was peaceful and quiet, right then. It might not stay that way, one never knew, but it was safe for the moment.

Who: Olivia and Domino
When: Around Noon
Where: Via cell phones

To: Olivia
From: Domino
Time: 11:48

Hey, remember what we were talking about the other night? Well no need to fear loss of my job. I've got a date!

Who: Jordan and Chance
When: Starting at 10:14am
Where: Via cell phone at MSHS

Jordan sat in her desk, listening to the teacher drone on and was pretending to take notes, but -as she had been all week- she was really working on a different kind of notes. Quietly pressing out the music on her thigh, mentally singing the song and fixing a part here or there she got to the end of the pages and stopped. It took her a moment to realize why she'd stopped, then it hit her.

Who: Jace and Regan
When: Wednesday evening pre-storm
Where: Dark twisting road leading out of Marquette
Warning: Very NSFW

Unsuccessful in locating Jericho that evening and having sensed that the were-creatures of the world were out and about, Jace moved away from Marquette when his belly told him he needed to hunt. The dead meat sitting in the freezer wouldn’t hack it tonight. The demon was roused enough that he needed the thrill of a true hunt. Tonight he wanted to feel bones crush in his jaws and the heart cease to beat under his fingertips. For that, he needed someone who wouldn’t be missed, and it needed to be human because his genetics wouldn’t allow him to feed on any other sort of meat. He'd changed into his seven foot natural form of horns, claws and wings, then begun patrolling the darker highways to the west of Marquette.

The roads were vacant of unfortunate drivers of cars with blown tires, and after an hour the demon was rapidly growing impatient. He decided since there were no stranded vehicles, he'd take it upon himself to make one, and when the bright headlights of the next car came streaming down a barren stretch of forest road, Jace made sure his demon form was sitting in the middle of it. The car swerved, and hit several trees, coming to rest in a ditch.

Starved, Jace was on the dazed driver in an instant, pulling him from the wreckage by one arm. His massive jaws closed over the screaming human's head, biting down until it squashed like a grape. Moments later what was once a human looked more like something one might find in a meat grinder, and the demon was feeding sloppily, and with great gusto. He was nearly finished when something caught his attention and silver and blue eyes looked up, scanning the tree line defensively.

Who: Brian and Hunt
Where: The phone, man
When: Around 5PM

After getting off the phone with Manhattan, Brian figured it really did seem about time to start calling around and actually telling people he was back. He had another hour to kill before heading to Anton's, it was raining a little again, he'd gotten the worst phone call out of the way already, and he could use something hopefully positive before heading out. He just hoped people weren't too curious where he'd been and why, but maybe answering would be easier after another week.

Who: Brian and Manhattan
Where: The phone
When: 4PMish

There were still two hours before Brian had to be at Anton's, and the silent phone was staring at him. It'd been going on three days now since he'd told Manhattan he'd call her, and he still hadn't. But it was raining outside again, so he couldn't kill time by going out. Torziel was sleeping and refused to be disturbed to help out with his new forays into spirits and trying to peek into the spirit realm. And he was tired of puttering around the house "getting ready". You could only "get ready" for so long.

Who: Kurt and Natalya
When: Late morning/early afternoon
Where: Their place

Natalya still couldn't half believe that they'd made it out of wherever they'd been. Moreover, that someone had known how to come looking for them. Once they were clear of the strange, twisting, mirror-filled hallways and had made sure that the children were taken care of, she'd been more than happy to hail a cab to go home. And never had a homecoming been so sweet as it was to walk in the door of her small little cottage, everything clean and neat and where it should be. With barely enough energy to change into something resembling pajamas, Natalya had fallen straight into bed for a long awaited and much-needed nap.