[Nathan Spriggs] Chicago weather, that summed up the day. Cloud coverage that hid the sun but did nothing to ease the temperatures which while not quite hot were quite high, not to mention humidity. Today, the blond Cultist enjoyed another day of quiet reading under the shade of a tree. Something he hadn't done since a few days ago, when a certain incident occurred.
This city would be the end of him, no doubt. So normal looking on the surface, but deep down, fallen angels, spirits, Nephandi and other threats to humanity (and reality) ran amok. Still, somehow he managed to find time to himself once in a while, so relaxation was key at those times... Not that today was one of those days. He was waiting for someone.
[K. R. J.] [and do I feel you 'fore I see you?]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 2, 4, 6, 6, 8 (Success x 3 at target 6)
[K. R. J.] He'd called. He'd left a voicemail message. She'd called back. Maybe she'd managed to get him; maybe she'd left a voicemail message, too. Either way, they'd arranged to meet at X marks the spot in [location removed for security reasons] at about [time removed for security reasons], and it is cloudy, sunlight is an illusion, is spinning illusions where it breaks through the cloud-cover. Nathan turns a page in his book.
Cue the Orphan. Rather, cue her truck. Big, monster-thing, and black as the devil's heart, music on loud. Music goes off; Kage hops out [falls to earth (a long way to go, Angel-cakes)], locks it, keys afterward wedged deep in the bottom of her messenger bag. She's dressed casually, casually elegant. Looks taller than she is. Trick! And to find Mister Nathan Spriggs all Kage does is follow her eldritch senses, look this-a-way, look that-a-way, wander that-a-way too. A fall of shadow.
It's peaceful. Calm. Tranquil.
[Nathan Spriggs] [I'm not off tonight!]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 3, 5, 7, 7, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)
[Nathan Spriggs] Left thumb holding the pages in place against the wind, the Cultist continues his enlightening read into ancient Hebrew dialogues. When the Orphan arrives, his senses go off, that tingling sensation on his skin and something in the back of his head. Recognizes her immediately as she continues her approach, but he doesn't move.
A page turned, Nathan continues to read calmly and quietly in his little spot. It wasn't some master disguise, or an attempt at being mysterious, he was just too engrossed in the book to wanna bother.
Once she approaches though, the book's closed, thumb still in it to serve as a place marker, gaze shifting up and to whatever side or direction she approaches from. "Hey, we meet at last."
[K. R. J.]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 4, 5, 5, 5, 8, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)
to†K. R. J.
[K. R. J.] Kage approaches Nathan directly. Doesn't sidle around the tree, sit down, speak out've the corner of her mouth. Doesn't walk up on his blindspot. Doesn't try to sneak in on the perepheral. Just: approaches, directly; lifts her chin in acknowledgment. Mouth crooks, witch-thing, distantly sardonic. The red-haired Orphan seems a little tired [exhausted], not bone-weary, just: tired, like the coffee wasn't strong enough. "At last," she says. "After so many years." She lets her shoulder strap slide off her shoulder, catch in her elbow, hit the ground. Trail. She'll drop the strap right after.
[Nathan Spriggs] She arrives and his eyes are on her for a moment before sliding back down to the book, thumb sliding out from the middle, he finally closes it and places it back in a coat pocket. A cigarette taken out in it's place and placed in his mouth though not lit, yet. "I've heard so much about you, most bad but some good, and we finally meet! But seriously, information sharing. So it is said, so it shall be. Though first, any new news on your side?"
[K. R. J.] "I always have news, T. H.," Kage says, serious. Her expression has turned pensive; she watches the blonde Cultist take out a cigarette, put it between his lips, talk around it. "But you phoned for a reason: something about a lead, and now I hear the word 'sharing' coupled with 'information,' and I don't want to be rude. I'm listening." Serious that, too. Even grave. Kage takes things seriously. As she replies, she takes a seat on the grass in the shade, facing Nathan. Grass-stains in her palms. The bees are bumbling about the clover.
[Nathan Spriggs] A nod, he acknowledged how serious she was acting on this matter. Proved the extent of it. Though what she meant with her own words made him curious. He shakes his head, more to himself and to shake away the thoughts than anything else. "Andre Westford. Name mean anything to you?" A question there, tone casual but with the impression that this is, quite obviously, leading somewhere. For now he waits for her answer before speaking again.
[K. R. J.] "Isn't ringing a bell. Unless he deals in unusual antiquities?"
[Nathan Spriggs] He smiles for a moment, just a fleeting instant. Then right back to the good ol' serious demeanor he rarely seemed to carry unless disasters were afoot. "That he does. I figured you've been around a while, and you might have been searching for something at some point? Ah well, worth a try. Anyway... We heard Edom was searching for something called the Twilight Star, right? So I looked up antique collectors in or around Chicago that have been around here lately. Got a list, did some... divining, and bam, his name was it. Lives in Toronto, apparently stole some hefty stuff from some billionaire named Algernon VanBuren recently. The eccentric, strange kind."
[K. R. J.] [TEST]
[Nathan Spriggs] "I know he was in contact with Edom, for certain. I also know it seems Edom killed him, or so I heard. No one reports him missing some I'm not sure. What he had to say, I don't know. But he recognize what Edom was after. I also have the address to where he was staying, so me and Solomon will be going to do a Time scrying soon. Really soon. See if we can find out what happened and things on this."
[K. R. J.] Kage: quiet for a long time. Then: an exhale. "You say 'what happened.' Be specific. Do you want to see how he died? Do you want to see what 'Edom' took? Because I think I can tell you."
[K. R. J.] Kage doesn't interrupt Nathan's spiel. He says the eccentric, strange kind -- and her mouth crooks. "Yeah. I know a little about him. I'm still listening." Because: Nathan's still talking. Presumably, he has more than a name; more than the name of the guy who stole from Algernon VanBuren, although there's something: Kage's pensive gaze sparks, thoughtful.
[Nathan Spriggs] "I want to see what he said on what he's searching for. What he's found. The maps he had. Maybe information on exactly who he is in the whole Angel/Demon dynasty. Most of all? I want to see the information he seemed to have."
[K. R. J.] "And you think he had a conversation about it? Something you can look at?" Kage pauses, again. Then: "What's the address?" And if Nathan gives her a Look, she'll hold up her hands, say, "I'm not going to try and slip in before you. I just want to know."
[Nathan Spriggs] He does give her a look, just not the 'don't backstab' kind. More of a wary 'be careful' one. Then he tells her the address Ophelia gave them, to her house (not that he mentions). "I found he had some scroll of some kind. Old as all hell. Solomon thinks he might be able to get info off it." More than he'd let others know so far.
[K. R. J.] Kage commits the address to memory. He can see her do it: the way she mouths the street afterward. Tries to place it, in terms of neighborhoods -- safe, unsafe, what. "Do you know what name the house, apartment, whatever, is held under?" A beat. And, "Let me make certain I'm hearing this plainly. This is an address to where Edom was staying. Not when he killed VanBurgen, just: where he was staying. You want to go and part the Veils of Time to see what he was up to. If he left any notes. Talked to himself." She sounds flippant, but she doesn't mean to. "Can you Look from a distance? Have you tried yet, or perhaps Solomon -- through him, Israel? Scope out any wards that might be in place before you go on in, guns blazing?" Another beat, and: "I may know something."
[Nathan Spriggs] Nathan responds: "He killed VanBurgen? All I knew is he killed Andre, or at least that's what I heard. Unfortunately, I don't understand Correspondence as you should know, so I -can't- do it at a distance. But preferably? No, no guns blazing. Neither Solomon nor Israel know Time that they've told me, so that's all we got right now. If you know something, please tell me." That's right, he actually sounded like he was asking her nicely, like he -needed- it rather than just 'gimme info in exchange plz'.
[K. R. J.] "See, that's why I play Echo. No, no. As far as I know, VanBuren died of natural causes." Another pause, also brief. Nathan doesn't know Correspondence, Israel and Solomon don't know Time, and Kage opens her mouth to make a suggestion: pauses, and realizes that maybe they just can't carry his psyche like that, all the way there. Realizes that, hey, maybe Time is just delicate: Nathan needs to be there.
"All right," she says. "I believe I traced the 'Twilight Star' to a many-named object. One of its names: the Ever Thirsting, belonging to the indigenous people of Central America. Blood sacrifices were made. Another name: Danaergeschenk Seula. The Poisoned Chalice of Souls. That's what VanBuren had; that's what the Demon wanted."
"And that's what he has. Now. Already." A fact. Kage presents it so, anyway: he isn't looking, isn't wanting. He has it. "Still with me?"
[Nathan Spriggs] Nathan looks... stunned. Afraid. Fuckin' terrified even. He HAS it? HE -HAS- IT! Shaky, he speaks again. "...With you, what more is there?"
[K. R. J.] He looks terrified. Kage takes a quiet breath. She stays steady, though; steadying. Doesn't reach over to touch him, say it'll be okay. Knowledge is an ardent thing, for Kage. Part of the truth is this: she was interested, following this object's trail through history, hunting out its names, trying to find mention -- interested, and good at her job.
"This chalice," she says. Then, wry: "Well, what's a King without his Holy Grail?" No longer wry: serious. "He wants to fill it. He wants to fill it with -- Shadow. The Shadow of the Red Star. I don't know what precisely that means, but I do know that it comes donw to timing. That there seems to be a narrow window of opportunity. That, now he has it, he just needs to fill it. And I think it's going to happen on July 4th."
A beat. "I don't just think. I'm trying to convince my family to go on a roadtrip before the 4th hits. That's the day."
[K. R. J.] ooc: (edits) "I don't know precisely what that means, but I'm guessing it means nothing good, given the folks who are interested. I also know that it comes down to timing." etc.
[Nathan Spriggs] Nathan still looks shaky but he seems slightly more collected now. Resolved, maybe. He understands this very well. "Well, fuck. I knew he was waiting on something. But this is bad. Very bad. At least we know. But that just makes it even more important to investigate the house. The scroll. I'll tell you everything I know, the fallen angel, he was an angel of death from what Solomon found. That's why there's problems with unresolved fallen souls and reanimated bodies. Makes you reexamine your beliefs in religion, doesn't it? I always figured there was a God. Just wasn't sure which religion had it right."
[Nathan Spriggs] "If we die or some bad stuff happens, make sure that all gets out. If not, I'll give you a call later tonight probably. Don't share this all with anyone just yet unless the call doesn't come. I'm sorry to ask that but we need to be careful right now? Make a plan first before we start chaos." A plea there, Nathan was showing oh-so many sides of himself. Though a calculating edge remained to his plea.
[K. R. J.] "Yeah," Kage says, and, "Maybe." A beat. "Maybe you can just go into the house, grab something for focus, then get your ass elsewhere and do the actual Working from inside. If at all possible - I seriously suggest trying to at least scan the joint for Wards before wandering in." They could be two normal people. In fact, that's what the parkgoers think who wonder by. Nothing unusual. Kage squints, examining the daylight, the edge of it where shadow falls.
He says: makes you reexamine your beliefs on religion. Kage looks at Nathan instead of the shadow, the light. She offers him a smile. She hasn't really said much about her own beliefs, hasn't given any indication one way or another, although she's spoken to Ashley about Belief.
"There are a lot of strange things," she says, and that seems to the extent of her comment on that. And, "At the very least, although it probably won't solve the problem, making certain he doesn't have it, that they don't have it, his cult, whatever, on the 4th is probably priority number one."
Then Nathan asks -- pleads, calculating -- Kage to keep this all on the down low. Keep it quiet. Don't say a thing, until. I'll tell you what I know, but. And Kage, she listens to him, expression neutral, inquisitive, maybe a shade disturbed. When he's made his case, she says, "A. Don't give me the 'if I die tonight' speech. That is a bad speech to make. B. I appreciate it. Do call tonight, or I'll go looking. C. T.H. Nathan. Do you really look at me and think, Ah, yes. Kage: she's the one who's going to unwittingly foil our plan with her crazy, headstrong urge to act without thinking?"
[Nathan Spriggs] A shrug there, small smile on his face even though he didn't very much feel like smiling today. "I dunno, some people prefer to be straight with everyone on this kind of information. And I understand that, it's just... well, I was just being careful? Better safe than sorry." He leans back on the chair, eyes wandering to the sky as he sits there, pensive. Deep in thought.
"As for 'the speech', shit happens. Besides, I'm 110% determined to not let it happen, but between you and me? I've always found it amusing and wanted to say that. Just 'cause. I never imagined a situation that actually merited it."
[K. R. J.] "I see," Kage says, when Nathan explains away the mention of his (very real [potentially imminent]) mortality. And then, "It's good to be prepared." A beat. "It's just bad to make the speech." A smile, crooked; a shadow of a smile. More of an almost thing, than an actuality. Kage is poised -- see how poised?
"And I should go. And let you prepare yourself. Anything else you've got to say before I go on my way?"
[Nathan Spriggs] "Not really. Be careful? Don't trust Demons? Nasty things await? Wait my call? And I don't mean that in a pick-up kind of way. I'll be in contact, expect as much." With that, he goes back to his own thoughts. Planning in his head. Preparing himself.
[K. R. J.] "I'm glad," Kage says, sober, deadpan, "you're not trying to be James Bond. Have a good night, T.H." With that, Kage collects her bag, nods to the Cultist of Ecstasy, and heads out. Death angels, doom, Crimson Kings, chalices: all dancing in her head.
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