Liars, Liars

[Ashley] The other man begins shuffling off, and as he does, Ashley merely shrugs and turns her attention back to the Orphan. "...I still don't think I'm ever going to get used to all of this random congregating," she tells her.



Emily is asking about Kaya, though, so Ashley glances over her shoulder in the direction of Kaya and Nathan, and her frown deepens. "She was the person in Chuck's apartment a couple of nights last week. The one that was pulling the shit with the chair and stuff," Ashley says, tapping her thumb against the side of the glass bottle.



[Nathan Spriggs] Nathan tilted his head for a moment in surprise, her reaction was unexpected, he could see she was taken aback by him. Now he understood a little better, whatever she was, she wasn't as evil as her Resonance made her out to be. Why had Henri avoided her? Did she not know her but felt the presence and got scared? He barely suppressed a chuckle at her reaction, which would probably seem obvious from the expression on his face.



"I'm sorry, I was just honestly worried you'd tell me off or something, I didn't expect you to react like you did," he was sort of amused but glad she wasn't all that bad, his usual demeanor came back, not the calm front he had before, he let himself be a bit friendlier this time. Why did she feel like she did though? What had happened? Those questions were nagging at the back of his mind like an unsolved puzzle but he suppressed them for now. "Name's Nathan, I'm relatively new. As for why I'm saying hello, isn't it natural to greet someone you don't know but will probably be getting acquainted with at some point anyway?"



[Emily] "Oh," Emily said, and the single syllable slid between her teeth in a way that mirrored the narrowing of her eyes and the slight wrinkle of her nose. "Well then," she added, in the same disapproving tone. Obviously, Emily was just as amused by the whole thing as Ashley.



"Is that... considered as poor in manners as I think it must be?" she asks the more experienced Mage. "Because I don't think I'd be as level-headed about it as Chuck was, were it my space."



Emily drew another long sip from her tea and watched Nathan interact with the woman from afar. Nathan either knew what he was doing, or the night would get a lot more interesting from here. After a little wait, she asked: "Should we warn him?"



[Kaya Talayesva] "Kaya." She said, cold yet soft. "As for getting acquainted, I don't think that would be wise." It grew a touch colder around her. And considering there was no breeze, her hair shifted and moved as if there was one.



Storm seemed to come from no where, and came to land on her shoulder once more. She straightened up, demeanor growing colder as well. "Why would you want to know me anyhow? I bing nothing but ...." She looked away. "Nevermind." She sighed softly and muttered. "Baruti...Dreamspeaker...Disciple."



[Ashley] "It's poor manners, yeah. And I can't say I'd have reacted well to it either," Ashley says, frowning. She leans her hip into the back of the bench she'd been standing at earlier this evening, and there's a brooding look down into the depths of the bottle. "I mean, I'm not a person to talk about social graces, but..."



There's a look over her shoulder toward Nathan. "I'll let him come to his own conclusions. I don't like drama," she says with a shrug. "So how are you?"



[Emily] She nods. Over the past few months, Emily had discovered a rather low threshhold within herself for unwanted drama as well. Merely being Awake (alive) brought enough on its own. Wantonly seeking it out was beyond a fool's errand.



"Rather well, thank you," Emily answered, perhaps to both of their surprise. "I've been working through a few things that, I think, have been standing between me and enlightenment -- or a sound night's sleep -- and it's getting better. Soon I'll even be better prepared for all of your questions."



There's a fondness to her smile; Ashley's challenges are appreciated and often deeply considered long after the conversation has faded.



"And you? I hope to hear that you've been well."



[Nathan Spriggs] Nathan nodded slightly, his eyes narrowing at the statement she cut short, bring nothing but what? Misery? Pain? Destruction? Death? None of the alternatives sounded particularly nice but he was experienced enough with people that he knew pushing her away was worse than getting involved at the moment. More chances of her snapping, doing something she couldn't take back and everyone would regret (assuming they lived). Baruti didn't ring a bell, but when she said the words Dreamspeaker, he reacted instinctively. "Ah, I see. So that's why..." A mutter into the air, to no one in particular.



Now he understood why he felt something reminiscent of spirits off of her, probably. He didn't know enough Dreamspeakers to know for sure, one of the things he avoided. Dreamspeakers meant spirits, and spirits were bad. But he fought down that impulse and trudged on, might as well try before giving up. Especially since the strange crow seemed to... intrigue him, his mind went places, one of those places was the name they'd given Dylan, but he quickly shook that thought off. "No particular group, Cult of Bad Reputation, I think my rank is Initiate, I'm not very good with this stuff, never been very involved with the whole... scene if you will until recently."

[Ashley] "I'm fine," Ashley says. "Working through some of my own stuff." Even this small admission is more than the Hermetic would make to...most people, really. It often takes an observant person to know when Ashley appreciates another's presence: her tone doesn't change when she speaks with Emily, she doesn't offer any smiles, and yet there's always a little more sharing with people she holds in high regard.

Or, perhaps, it isn't so much regard as it is a genuine liking, in Emily's case. That, too, is often a rare enough thing.

"Mind if I ask what those things are?" she asks, looking at Emily through the fringe of hair that is perpetually sliding between her eyes or two either side. "From what I can tell, you've been making a lot of progress. That speaks for you."

[Kaya Talayesva] She slipped her hand in her pocket and pulled out a bit of jerkey she gave to the crow. Storm was now content, eating as he looked upon the Cultist. "That's why what?" Her tone a bit emotionless.

Then suddenly, she frowned, as if she heard something upsetting. her hair quit moving breezelike now. She looked back to Nathan, softened a bit. "A Cultist. It's been some time since I met a Cultist. Why are you only now involved?"

[Emily] There's a pause here. A hitch. Though it's barely evident to most observers. Emily lifts her take away cup to her lips, inhales the delicate scent rising on the steam from her tea. Sips. Considers. She wets her lips just slightly, cants her head a little to the left. Remembers.

"When I was younger than Enid," she says, because it seems an appropriate yardstick by which to measure time. Her attention has fallen away from Nathan and Kaya now, and is entirely for Ashley. These words, though, are careful and delicately voiced. "I went missing for three days."

She does not tell Ashley she was taken. Does not let the story slip in alongside her Apprentice's too tightly.

Emily's expression pinches, slightly. The corners of her mouth and eyes are taut, but not overtly so. "Needless to say, there have been echoes lately. The violence, what happened with Enid, and it stirs up things I hadn't quite put to rest. Jarod is helping me with it," she says, which makes it sound so much more planned and orderly than it is in truth.

[Nathan Spriggs] Nathan wondered how to word his answer properly for a moment, left hand again unconsciously going up to his chin, it was a habit of his when he read or was thinking too much and not paying attention to the surrounding. "That's why it felt... lifeless around you, I guess. No offense meant." It didn't take a genius at reading people to notice he said something else wrong along the way, was it his admission of being fairly new at this whole schtick? "A lot of reasons, most owing to my training. And my recent arrival at the city, I hadn't come across a group as active as this in my many travels."

As he finished speaking, Nathan showed a brief relaxed smile, even if her tone got colder, he noticed she'd also gotten a bit nicer near the end, and he was sure it wasn't his imagination. "It's been a while since I met someone who doesn't judge by the Cultist stereotype and blow me off."

[K. R. Jakes] ooc: so where is everybody? PM me, PLZ!

[Ashley] Emily's admission takes Ashley a little aback. That she makes it, and that it parallels Enid's situation so closely - at least, from what Emily tells her. Emily leaves out quite a bit of detail, and that's evident: but what she -doesn't- say tells a lot.

"I see," Ashley says, brow furrowing as her eyes meet Emily's. And an "I'm sorry to hear that," is all she can find to say for a few seconds. But at least it sounds sincere (it is, however clumsy.)

She continues, though, after she's had time to process the admission, the unspoken nuances. "Well. Look at it this way: if you can confront this and deal with it successfully, you can confront and deal with anything," she says.

[Kaya Talayesva] "Lifeless." She whispered, hugging herself. "I feel lifeless sometimes." She suddenly reached down and grabbed his hand, her skin was ice cold, and she pulled him to follow. "We need to go." Her movements made Storm get pissy, fluttering about. Hold still dammit. He muttered. But Kaya pulled on Nathan to follow still. She seemed rather adament.

[Nathan Spriggs] Nathan was startled for a moment at the cold skin but buried it just as quickly as it came. Why did they have to leave? What was going on? Either way, he nodded and set off to follow her. It was a potentially suicidal move but he'd give her the benefit of the doubt, that and he still had a small pocket knife, his clock and a deck of cards in his back and front pockets which he was sure would be useless but made him feel safer. "Where to?"

[Emily] Ashley may catch Emily's eyes, but she cannot hold them. Not tonight with so much open and out under the moonlight. In a moment, that will pass and the Orphan will be more approachable. For now it is a secret admist a growing friendship. It is the past. And there it will remain.

"True," she says, to Ashley's comment. "And this is the first time I've had enough stability, or strong enough friendships, to try and deal with it. Perhaps that's why I Woke Up when I did. And if working through it helps me with the rest of this, then there'll be a blessing to it after all."

A silver lining. Finding them wasn't really Emily's style, not anymore, but this one was hard to miss. She sipped at her tea bit more, and waiting for the awkwardness of her admission to abate.

"Is Enid doing well? I enjoyed the conversation we three had that afternoon. Maybe we can have another like it sometime soon." A study group, or an exchange of very different viewpoints.

[Kaya Talayesva] She pulled him a few buildings up and then into an alley where she stopped and looked around. But he could tell she was looking beyond what the norm saw. Storm hopped off her shoulder to the side of a dumpster and started picking through the garbage. "It's quiet here. I don't see them here." She turned to Nathan. "Why are you being nice to me?"

[Nathan Spriggs] Nathan considered his answer for a moment. Even he wondered why, exactly. He was interested in her behavior, her personality too sort of, but that wasn't it. It was weird, behind all the hidden agendas he usually had for approaching people, he couldn't figure out today's. "Hm, I don't know. I approached you because as I said, I wanted to say hi to a fellow Awakened. After that it's... Weird, can't explain it," he paused, hand to his chin again as he considered an answer. "You didn't react as I expected, I thought it was something different from the Resonance, and yet... It was interesting, but now I guess it's just you seem lost? I don't know honestly. I'm not trying to use you for anything if that's what you're wondering."

Another moment's consideration, was that true? He couldn't figure it out himself, for all the good he was with people, this was turning out to be a weird turn of events. "I just wanted to know what made someone like you... end up like you are right now, maybe? I'm not asking you to trust me, I'm not even saying you have to like me. But yeah. I can't promise I won't betray you or be against you some day, something could happen tomorrow or the day after, or after that. I could turn, you could turn, some mind control of some kind, who knows. But right now, I don't have any ill intentions if that's what you mean. I don't plan to suddenly turn around and go 'just as planned!' and backstab you."

[Ashley] "Maybe you woke up because you were tired of not having any control," Ashley says. Emily avoids her eyes, and so the look she's giving her turns more into something of a stare. She's either not cognizant of Emily's discomfort or has decided to ignore it and speak anyway - and with Ashley, either of these things is equally likely. "Either way, a trial by fire is always a blessing if you let it be one. It just sucks to have to deal with at the time."

Then she is willing to let the conversation be directed back to Enid. She's said similar things to her apprentice, of late.

It's odd how things change. A year ago she would never have seen herself as a teacher of any sort, and yet here they are. Sometimes the unexpected helps to bring out the best in people. "I've suggested that she talk with you more," Ashley says, moving so she can rest the soda bottle on the back of the bench. "It's...kind of strange, actually. You remind me of an old cabal mate of mine, in some ways?" This is almost a question, the tone in which she says it with, as though she's unsure of what Emily would think. A sidelong glance, and then, "You two are very different. I think you'd have a good tempering influence on each other."

[Emily] "How so?" Emily asks. For where it falls in their conversation it could be about the past cabalmate, or her and Enid tempering one another. She is curious, and no longer shirks Ashley's measurable attention (intention). She is not immediately offended or honored; Emily knows nothing of this previous associate.

Then there is a little cue, something remembered. "I found a Singer," she said, perhaps because this had come up at least once in conversation between them before. "Quite by happenstance, but we talked for a bit a week or so ago."

[Kaya Talayesva] Out of all the words he said, one stood out more than any. "Trust?" Suddenly, she was ice cold, and her eyes dead and emotionless. "I trust no one anymore. Not sleeping or Awakened. There is little good left of humanity in this city. As for you hurting me? I doubt it." As she spoke, that cold deathlike aura about her grew worse.

And then it grew to barely noticable. In that time, she had looked away, and she had calmed. "All I see is death, and betrayal. I fell in love fainlly, and he left me. He left us. And I lost. Lifeless. Yes, that is how I feel. Completely lifeless. So I stay with them now. Avenge them when humans upset them."

[Ashley] Emily says how so, and her meaning is not clear, and so Ashley blinks at her for a few seconds. Trying to gauge which question she meant to ask. Were it not for moments like these, one could believe Ashley's slow social skills are a cunning feint, at times. Finally, she finds a way to answer both.

"Justine's very quiet and kind of subdued, but she always spoke up when it mattered," Ashley says. "She talked a lot about a higher purpose. We ended up fighting a lot, but what it came down to was that she was strong where I was weak, and she taught me a lot of things. She's another Hermetic. House Flambeau." She tacks this on because it's so much a part of who Justine is, regardless of whether Emily will recognize and appreciate the detail.

She mentions that she met another Singer, and Ashley raises an eyebrow. "What did you think?"

[Nathan Spriggs] Nathan nodded slowly at her words, everything was getting clearer, and scared as he was, almost trembling at the sudden aura, really, he fought on. So that was it, she fell in love, got backstabbed and now she was one step short of going psychotic due to hanging around too many spirits, made him feel something he'd only felt for Dylan so far. Sympathy, and a bit of pity. Never been in love, so I wouldn't know, from the sounds of it though, haven't missed anything... It was supposed to be a musing to himself but he accidentally spoke it out loud, made him almost feel embarrassed. He could empathize with her on one point, he didn't trust anyone, not really.

"I... can't say I understand anything about what you just said, can't understand how you feel. Except for the trust part maybe... But I can see what that's doing to you. I'm no one to preach to you, or tell you what to do. But I can give you advice from what I see, make myself feel better since at least I can pretend I actually tried, your choice if you listen or not," he looked up at her eyes, still dead inside and emotionless. "They are consuming you, you're becoming one of them, maybe something less. Maybe a Nephandi? I wouldn't know, never met one, but it sounds like it. I can understand not trusting anyone, but think about it. Is trusting the dead really smarter than trusting the living? The dead have nothing to lose and everything to gain, the living will betray people but they do have things to lose, they have restraints. Ghosts are more likely to betray you than anyone alive ever could, if you aren't going to trust the living, don't trust the dead either. Rely on yourself, don't make an enemy out of the world, but don't lean on anyone for help either. S'how I live, sort of... I've had my ups and downs, even tried to lean on someone, stupid as it was. What I mean is, don't reject the world, don't isolate yourself from reality, face it alone if you have to and want to."

[Kaya Talayesva] ((Emotions are hell))

Electical Chaos

Arete 3 Diff 3 + Forces 2 - 1 Foci - 1 memorized = 3
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 4, 4, 10 (Success x 3 at target 3)

[Emily] She doesn't recognize the new word (Flambeau), but she can appreciate its root and useage. It is like a title, a self-categorization (something more [somehow more]). It seems to be used the way that others offer a Tradition name, which leads the Orphan to suspect -- along with the subtitle of House -- that it is a division within Ashley's Tradition. My aren't they an organized lot!

"I think that, in time, Enid and I will either balance each other or irritate each other. Perhaps both," she offered, by way of an agreement and a slight smirk. Emily sips at her tea again, then shakes the cup slightly (gone!) and pays considerably less attention from here on out to keeping it neatly upright. She'll find a bin at some point and discard it.

"And Owen?" she asks, as a segue but also to offer up the Choristor's name to see if Ashley recognizes it. "I think I want to believe again the way that he still does, but I don't know if I have the heart for it any more. If things had gone differently," and here's an allusion to earlier topics, "I imagine I would have fit quite nicely there. I plan to talk to him more, though, and see what comes of it."

I am not entirely ready to give myself back over to God. This she cannot say, but it is clear enough to anyone who has held to Faith in their lives. I am not ready to trust Him again. This she will not say, yet. Perhaps ever. And it is keeping her from asking her way into Owen's Tradition just yet.

[Kaya Talayesva] One by one, the lightbulbs around where they were exploded, casting them in darkness. Storm looked up from the garbage and grumbled. "Uh oh" coming from the bird.

"Everything in this world will betray you one way or another. Your friends, or family, your lovers. Even your own body. I tried to make friends. They turned. I loved. He faultered. I conceived, and I failed. Maybe it is my destiny to become something more, or something less. But you don't know me well enough to say such things."

[Ashley] It's quick, but there's something of a twitch in Ashley's expression as Emily says that she and Enid will balance each other. Not necessarily an unpleasant expression; it has the look of someone struck by details (similarities) for the first time, a spark as a connection is formed. Conflict balances, two halves form a whole. Perhaps Kage wasn't that off the mark, when they were talking about her father.

The look fades as she moves on mentally, though: it's another look at what could have been. Like Emily, if things had been different.

She covers the pause by draining what remains of the bottle of soda, and then it is set on top of the bench to wait to be discarded later. "I understand what you mean," she says. "I think talking with him will be beneficial for you regardless of whether you go to his Tradition, though, so I'm glad to hear it."

[Emily] (( Awareness, again ))
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 9 (Failure at target 6)

[Ashley] [Perception + Awareness to notice those Forces flying around!]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 10 (Failure at target 6)

[K. R. Jakes] This will be the second time K. R. Jakes comes across Emily Littleton and Ashley McGowen by happenstance (chance [fortune]). If Nathan has yet to be whisked away, then it will be the second time, period, that she has seen the Cultist, but he and Kaya were on the move (it would be the umpteenth number of times she's seen the professor of anthropology, who has been fading herself out of flesh-and-blood life), and the first people the red-haired Orphan sees. "Hail, Emily," she calls, and, "Ashley," and she has a doggie bag, dangling from one wrist, and she just spilled out of a restaurant. One of those trendy places: lights so low and modern that it looks closed until you notice a certain radiance around the edges, glass so smoked and black that even in sunlight the restaurant looks closed. "I am approaching, and I have pastries."

[ALSO Perc + Awareness]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 2, 4, 8, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] Nathan freaked out for a moment, but in a matter of seconds he regained his composure, as soon as he noticed the lightbulbs were exploding, not him. Not yet anyway. But he knew he couldn't just walk away, what if that made things worse? Every cell in his body, every nerve, was telling him to run, but he steeled himself. What could he honestly say that would reach her at this point? But he had to at least try. No magic, no running, no defense, he couldn't give a hint of hostility or that'd probably send her over the edge once and for all. "I didn't say those things, I can't understand you and you can't understand me. That's what makes us human, that's what makes it so hard to trust. But hear me out at least, just give me a few more moments."

[Kaya Talayesva] ((Rolling Paradox Damage))
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Gregor] Crafted steps, measured not by courtesy but by caution. These days, fear was less. Less certain, powerful, patient, capable, childish, deciphering and deadly. It was a manageable thing, worthy of question. Worthy of designing a way out.

(See the Wretch for what he is. The man at the bottom of a deep deep hole, dug with years of toil carrying a sooty black spoon. He chips and scraps at the walls of his self-made prison, plucking out pebbles from their perch and calling it progress.)

The alleys were growing less comforting. No, that wasn't it. They grew less forgettable. He found himself picking his path more carefully, heeding dark stains and broad swathes of refuse while brushing aside the errant shadows too thick to decipher a name or a face that might be calling that shade home.

(The spoon is worn to an edge, the man a fine film of wrinkles, narrowed for the debris rusting his shoulders and bald pate. He does not glance up at the sun peeking down on him. Hope was for fools...)

Instead, he was the wandering man, wrapped in the bundled remains of old clothing bins. Shirts, sweaters and lengths of spare ribbon, mostly an assortment of blacks and grays, mingled with several strips of red beneath the arms and along the tail. Newly stitched, the coat of rags is as much insulation as it is comfortable. The hood is drawn up to obfuscate features. The hands, draped in those gloves, baring reflections on the palm's back, drift out to touch and brush against walls and-

(He scraps, heedless of the catcalling above. Cuts away another pebble and loosens a jagged slide of dirt. He shuffles it to one side among so much else, reveling in the progress of inches.)

The raggedy man stops, briefly, lifting his head amid the dark lanes. Familiar voices echoing. A world apart perhaps...

(Perception 4 (disturbances) + Awareness 3)
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 3, 3, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 10 (Success x 6 at target 6) Re-rolls: 1

[Emily] A few things happened at once. The sound of (snap [crackle]) popping streetlights from further down the block drew Emily's attention away from the converation. Knitted her brow. But her other senses did not pick up on anything untoward, so the Orphan was left to assume a power surge or an exceptionally poor lot of bulbs from the city's supplier.

"That's... odd," she says, hoping to subtly draw Ashley's attention to the occurence.

And Kage was approaching, not in their usual place (Court [fallen Kings] rowan-haired Other) but with their usual greeting. And so it is returned, somewhat distracted but whole-heartedly felt: "Hail, and well met. I... have just run across a shortage of tea."

A pause, then a look over from the darker-haired Orphan. And an odd look (Curiosity comes [do we follow]). "Something's afoot, or the maintenance has been particularly poor this month." Another pause, brief, a change of topic. "Are you well?"

[Ashley] Kage says 'pastries,' and it gets Ashley's attention so fast, and so much in the manner of the hound that is usually in her company, that it's almost comical. The Hermetic's appetite has been flagging after the first of this year, as evidenced by the weight she's lost, but of late it's been returning. With vengeance.

"Hi, Kage," she says, as the red-headed Orphan approaches. Emily asks whether Kage is well and Ashley's gaze wanders off while the Orphan responds, trying to catch some glimpse of whatever it was that Emily was trying to draw her attention to.

[Kaya Talayesva] She was going to answer, he was near to calming her down. But paradox has a way of coming back and biting you in the ass just when you don't want it to. She was close, so close to accepting him, his advice, when one of those exploding lightbulbs over them sent a surge (like lightning) at her feet and flying back into the wall. Alive, he knew that, and the exploding bulbs suddenly stopped, but she laying there against the wall, not moving.

[Gregor] "...Ashley."

The voice doesn't creep, though the alley that spawns the tall creature flickers at it's peripheral edges. He almost seems to climb into view, picking himself apart from the tucked space between two shops, with a scattered attention beneath the drooping sag of the hood that closes up over his skull. His breath is a quick set of intakes, followed by a long exhale that travels just barely in the cool evening air.

"...Where-" And he turns, finally, to regard the Trio of women not far down the block, jaw working past a moment's tension, muscles relaxing and movements ceasing their sharp stop and go movements to begin a slow yet growing pace toward the trio.

"...You...feel...that?" And Gregor's head lifts as he walks, pace slowing idly as the flash of lightning sparks from overhead and down the street. An almost feral play rushes over the Dreamspeaker's features, shadows carving masks where none had the right to be.

"What-" Lengthening his strides, eyes in the distance.

[Nathan Spriggs] Nathan could see it in her eyes for a moment, reasonm and then chaos. Reality had a way of screwing with everyone, betraying your expectations. It took him a moment, indecision, fear, all those nasty emotions that make up human beings and why she was so afraid of being betrayed. But he fought the impulse off, memories of Dylan's death, of his fate, and the reason in her eyes for that split second were all he needed. He went over to the woman, nodding to the owl to follow him. He'd carry her to a safe haven, after that attack, no doubt Ashley and the others were on their way. And if they were anything like Henri, this would take a turn for the worse.

He had to get her out, to a safe place to recover for now. To regain her reason, hopefully. He'd take her to his bar at Bronzeville, it was nearly renovated and no one knew where to find it just yet. They'd be safe until she could be reasoned with. It was stupid, it was illogical, it was everything he stood against. But goddammit, he already had Dylan on his conscious.

[Nathan Spriggs] ((Er, crow not owl.))

[K. R. Jakes] "That is someone," Kage says, and her [opaque (dark)] gaze tugged beyond Emily, beyond Ashley, down the street to the mouth of the alley into which Nathan and Kaya have disappeared. Then: Gregor. Kage gives him a (pensive) glance, which she shares with Emily and Ashley. "That is someone whose Will feels like leaf-rot and decay, cold and winter and old, doing something with the elements. Fairly odd, yeah."

[Ashley] Gregor says her name, and though his voice doesn't creep, it seems as though he does. To Ashley, at least, who didn't hear or see him coming - he's on her left. But the sound of his voice is instantly recognizable to her and not a cause for alarm, and she's already frowning as her head turns in his direction.

"Feel what?" she asks, only to have Kage talk about the resonance they all seem to have picked up on. Everyone but her, apparently...and she's usually so attentive to such things.

"Kaya walked off with Nathan earlier," she says, as she makes the connection. She hesitates, sighs, looks down at the empty soda bottle she's placed on the back of the bench and then reaches over to drop it into the nearby trash can, where it falls a few feet only to be cushioned by whatever is already lying on the bottom. "I suppose we should go see what's up, on the offchance it's something important."

[Kaya Talayesva] Storm watched, carefully, how Nathan went to Kaya. He made sure no one was around the alley entrance before he spoke. "Hurt her, buddy, and I will claw your eyes out." But he waited until Nathan picked her up and began to follow the strange Cultist.

As for Kaya, she was out cold for now. She was so pent up on vengence, she had also pent up so much dox. The throw into the wall hit her head, so she would be feeling that in the morning.

[Emily] A fourth. Their trio becomes a quartet, and Emily shifts so that they four can all be line-of-sight to one another. It is a subtle thing, thoughtless, unwanting to play monkey in the middle with a merry band of willworkers.

Gregor is unfamiliar, though she has seen him once before. The darker haired Orphan regards him cautiously, solemnly. She is distrustful, somewhat, and guarded. As well they should be, with what Kage is describing.

She takes a small step toward Kage, unbalancing their four square somewhat. Gregor does not get a hello, and it is not long before Emily turns her attention down the block toward where odd is becoming dangerous.

"Nathan went that way," she says, and here her eyes flick toward Ashley. "With her." There is no nicety hidden in how Emily says the pronoun.

[Gregor] "...Lightning."

It is a single word, but one of power. Forces was not a sphere of subtly and Chicago, despite it's fair share of rain, was not a realm of errant Olympian pyrotechnics. Or rather, Gregor was not an individual to know such patterns of weather with the sort of intonation and cadence that one word carried on his lips. The frown brushing his face is a common thing. Closed and harsher for the cut of dark the drooping hood provides.

His hands are flexing in fingerless gloves, head canting to one side, body following in it's wake a moment later. He doesn't stop, but he slows, eyes having trouble tearing themselves from the distant spark of blue that had erupted moments ago. They turn, eventually, snapping to regard Ashley first.

"I-" A beat. An interruption, turning to look at Emily. The frown deepens (See the Wretch blink in confusion as the spoon bends awkwardly a moment) and then the gaze travels to Kage and the determination resumes (See him pull back and change to a new patch of soil. Digging anew...)

"Who's Kaya?" Gaze finally traveling back to Ashley, even as footfalls pull him slowly from the group, turning to walk backward. Someplace to be, with courtesy keeping him a moment longer for an answer and/or a warning.

[Nathan Spriggs] Nathan put all his strength into carrying Kaya, he was never that strong since he didn't work out much, but pure will pushed him forward, the crow kept an eye on him and at his warning Nathan simply nodded, not wanting to speak in case Kaya woke up and freaked out again. If he hadn't been in such a rush to find a cab to take him to Bronzeville, he might have noticed the bits of blood that had dripped on the alley floor when he picked up Kaya, not a good sign to leave behind at a place filled with terrible Resonance. His object was to flag down a cab that would take him and an unconscious woman to Bronzeville, before they got found.

So far, it was no good. But he'd get there, dammit. And then, a miracle occurred, sort of, a cab actually stopped long enough for Nathan to make up some sob story and ask for help. The man looked unconvinced at first due to the scene, so it'd take a bit to convince him but he looked convinced enough by the time he was done.

[Kaya Talayesva] She remains quiet, but she's breathing. Good sign. Once Nathan had her in the cab, Storm would follow overhead.

[Emily] Ashley says they should move, and Gregor's feet are already taking him that way. So Emily shifts to follow, moving with the group as it starts to translate down the side walk. Here, a bin is found and her take away cup is discarded, leaving her hands free. She keeps to the back of the group, out of habit, and because she is less practiced in Lightening and other such pyrotechnics.

The Orphan has fallen quiet, but Gregor's curious glance is returned with a bit more attention (intention) as they try to size one another up.

[K. R. Jakes] Ashley suggests they check out the disturbance and Kage lifts her hand to flip the collar of her trenchcoat up, so that it protects her neck from cold, and says, "No reason not to."

And for once, Kage is not going to be the first one into a dubious situation; she will let Gregor, let Ashley, let even Emily (oh, Emily) trickle after, before bringing up the rear, hands sliding into her pockets. The doggie bag crackles against her thigh.

"Kaya is a professor of anthropology," Kage replies. "Don't you remember her, Gregor? From that restaurant. In the traditional garb of - I confess I don't remember the tribe." Her eyebrows draw together, cadence of her expression changing, finding a new rhythm, different beat, "Henri is looking for you."

[Ashley] Ashley starts after her much taller cabal mate, trying to keep stride with him as she swings her messenger bag over her shoulder. Easily the smallest of the group, she nearly has to jog to keep up with him. Ah, the indignities the short in stature must bear.

"She's...another Dreamspeaker," Ashley says, looking sidelong at Gregor as they walk. Kaya and Nathan can't have gone far, so she's already glancing at buildings and down alleys as they pass them, expecting to see either Kaya or Cultist present in one place or another. Or a crowd of screaming Sleepers, take your pick.

There's distaste in what Ashley says, something that causes her nose to wrinkle a little as she says those words to him. She says little else on the matter, at least not right now.

[Gregor] He snaps around again, halting in place. Quick enough for it to require a lurching step back so as not to collide with Ashley hurrying to catch up. His features twist and his gaze catches Ashley's own for a moment, something-

(See the Wretch. How he digs. Lifting spoon to carve the dirt and pebbles out. See him wipe the sweat from his brow, smearing dirt in wet streaks. See his ire grow as someone kicks a clod off the hole's edge and it lands about his shoulders and neck. Graimce-)

"...A dreamspeaker." The word isn't familiar sounding on his lips, the furrow of his brow threatening a scowl over a frown. His eyes lift almost reluctantly toward Kage, narrowing a sliver more.

"...I know. I found her. She said she'd...someone had found her and...threats...Others. Came back crying and wanting to know about being followed. Someone was lying to her." The scowl is there by the end of it. Hard lines and harder eyes. A fist of the right hand, unknowingly. A moment, something puzzling through on the tall man's face. Still puzzling as he turns again and begins the walk, eyes lost-

(-Patters of pebbles about shoulders and neck. Something growing in a furrowed brow. The spoon digs deeper, well up the handle...)

[Emily] The new words fly past, and Emily catches whatever she can to ask after later. Now is not the time. Her hands wrap around the strap of her messenger bag, now that they are free, and she's looking around for anything out of place. Because these four Wills were set in motion, toward one end, and she is learning (slowly [in fits and starts]) that such things can move mountains. Such things do not happen purely by coincidence or chance. There is meaning to the madness.

Their jaunt brings them to the mouth of a dark alley, and for a moment the Orphan pauses. Uneasy. She steels herself against something unseen (remembered) and if they others venture onward she goes with them.

(( Anything out of place? Per + Alertness ))
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 5, 5, 7, 10, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] As the adrenaline rush slowly ceased, Nathan felt the subdued panic rise to the surface again, what was he doing? If he messed up, it wasn't just about Kaya, he was making enemies with the Chantry if she turned out to be an even bigger danger like Dylan. Could he afford to help her? Indecision struck him as he pushed the unconscious woman through the taxi's doors, trying to put her in a comfortable position in the backseat, he'd be taking the front. It took all of his concentration just to suppress his thoughts on abandoning her, it'd just prove he was no better than all the other people who had betrayed her, it would be proving her right.

He hated himself for it, but helping her, even at the risk of making enemies, was the right thing to do. The right thing, it had a nice ring to it, something he rarely ever did, but tonight was not the night to be his usual self, he told her with honesty that he had no plans to betray her, and he wouldn't. She could still be reasoned with, she hadn't attacked him, she'd attacked herself in more than one way. "S State Street, Bronzeville, hurry it up. And you, whatever your name is, don't leave."

He motioned towards the car's roof with his head, a message to the 'nameless crow' to get on it as best he could. He was freaking out and he needed someone to talk to. Someone who understood the situation, and the crow seemed smart enough. Natha took out a phone and made it seem like a conference call, he'd open the window a bit and talk to it as though he was talking on the phone.

[Nathan Spriggs] The air contained an obvious reek of dreadful Resonance that could be felt even if you had weak senses to it.
to Ashley, Gregor, K. R. Jakes

[Emily] All of the lightbulbs in the alley had been shattered, leaving behind the reek of resonance and the crunch of fallen glass beneath their feet. It is not entirely dissimilar to the crunch of fallen snow, save that it is even less yielding and more fatal. She tries not to think about it.

At the margin of where the light from the street begins to fade, Emily notices something on the wall of the alley and moves toward it. She reaches out and touches the wall with her fingertips, bringing them back toward her and rubbing them against one another. They are damp, smeared with something dark. She sniffs at them and pulls her head back instinctually.

"I found blood," she says, with a surety that is grim and unwavering. Emily holds her hand away from her, somewhat, as it is dirty now. "Do you want me to try and follow it?" she asks, and it is the first time that she has offered to do any rote or effect in front of Ashley.

[K. R. Jakes] "I know. She called me, crying. I told her that it was ridiculous to think that fireworks would have that affect on the otherside," Kage sounds (discontent [unhappy]) wry, "but I think she wanted to hear it from you."

Kage stays (poised [careless]) on the threshold of alley, sidewalk. It's dark in there now, after all, and that resonance was unpleasant, was cold. Her gaze wanders upwards, toward the roof-tops, as if she half-expected to see some figure blotting out the (lightning storm, brewing) stars, the clouds. The air tastes like rain, and she is inclined to be (yearning [thoughtful]) attentive to it.

Then Emily says she found blood and that changes things. "Jesus. Does anyone have that Nathan guys cellphone?"

[Gregor] (Arete 2: Taint Reflection. Diff 4 - 1 for Foci use)
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 3, 9 (Success x 2 at target 3)

[Ashley] I found blood, says Emily, and they can almost hear Ashley's jaw grind from where they are standing. The Hermetic sighs, raises both hands to her temples, and glances down at the blood trail that Emily is standing in front of.

"I could call Nathan first and make sure he isn't hurt," Ashley says. "If that doesn't work, I guess we'll be following it."

During her interactions with Emily, she has generally been fairly pleasant and friendly - as pleasant and friendly as she gets - and Emily has not yet had occasion to view a show of temper from her. It's present now, as she lets out a slow, irritated exhale and draws her phone out of its case. Then she dials Nathan's number, puts it to her ear, and waits.

[Gregor] The Dreamspeaker's hand lifts, separating himself from the trio of women who cleave to the blood. Kaya's resonance smears the area however and Gregor's own senses flit and dance about the alley with a careful consideration. His breath sucks in slowly but loudly and that outstretched hand, the vaguest gleam of reflection caught in a well distant streetlight, rises infront of his mouth where hot breath scours the surface of the mirror shard to opaque.

The Towering man stares down at that shard on the back of his palm, free hand moving to wipe it clean with slow and effortless ease. His breathing remains regulated and willful, even as he raises that 'window' before him to regard their surroundings. The hood has hidden much of his face until the last moment or two, when he's turned his hand and consequently, his gaze, 'round to follow the movement of the women.

The frown is deeper yet. Lines, crash about mouth and eyes and that same odd creeping sensation begins to flutter at the edges of the alley mouth, warring with the cold stillness of Kaya's resonance.

"She's carrying the End touch." A beat. "Not a lot but it's there...fringe of her wake..." Murmured, as the hand drops, gaze traveling the entirety of the alley. Lightbulb shards crush beneath booted feet as he pushes deeper into the alley.

[Nathan Spriggs] Had Nathan not been pretending to be talking through conference call, Ashley's phone call would have been missed, as he always set it to silent, he generally made calls rather than receive them after all. Instead, when the screen lit up, Nathan look down. A wave of dread washing over him as he thought about what to do. Considering the alternatives, they were already on their way, they'd be hard-pressed to catch up. And yet in his nervous, and more than slightly terrified state, his mind became clear again. He had a plan at last, if he didn't answer, they'd discover he was fine and it would be an even bigger problem, so he would answer. And he'd lie, he'd make an alibi as they would undoubtedly find the scene of the crime.

He pressed a button and picked up, putting the phone to his ear. "Long story, I was freaked out and planning to get to safety before I called in, sorry. I was with Kaya when... I don't know, she felt something. Some... thing, I don't know what it was, I didn't see it clearly, it attacked us in the alley, Kaya managed to scare it off by setting off the lightbulb with magic, or maybe disperse it, I don't know. But the backlash got her, she's injured, I'm taking her to a safe place. I'll call you again when we get there."

The terror he felt right now was so natural that he didn't even have to pretend he was shaken up and scared over something. It was hard to tell what, but if one considered the situations they'd been in, the Shallow at Cabrini, old man Fung, it wasn't hard to imagine another bad situation had shaken him up. And this way, maybe Kaya would at least not be as shunned anymore, it was win-win either way as long as they kept the pretense.

[Ashley] Nathan picks up on the other end, and Ashley opens her mouth, preparing to speak. To greet him, inquire as to whether he's all right, when he begins to tell her what happened. 'Long story,' he says, and to the impatient Hermetic, it is indeed.

She listens as he explains, though the pause at her end of the phone is heavy: as though she's lurking, waiting for the right moment to interject or argue or ask questions. But in the end, he tells her what she needs to know. Kaya is hurt. Paradox. Ashley doesn't probe too deeply into his story; Nathan is all right.

"Okay. Just wanted to check up on you, there's some blood and a lot of resonance here that could be followed. Be careful with her," she says. And her tone makes it sound much more like he should be cautious of Kaya rather than careful. Regardless, Ashley hangs up without a goodbye (he didn't bother with a greeting) and glances toward the others.

"He said Kaya scared something off and got hit with backlash, so he's taking her to his place. He's not hurt. End of story."

[Emily] Ashley concluded her phonecall and Emily nodded to her, stepped back toward the brighter light at the mouth of the alley.

"So I take it we don't need to follow up on this then?" she asked, holding up the bloody fingertips just enough to accent her query. Once confirmed, Emily would use her clean hand to rifle through her messenger bag for something to clean of her hand with. A Kleenex or something.

[Gregor] "...Scared...What?"

Gregor's features narrow again, turning to regard Ashley. Confusion is written there, followed swiftly by a secondary glance around the area. The Dreamspeaker seemed troubled, if doubting. Yet his own knowledge was not impressive enough to rule out the arrival and departure of something.

(See the Wretch, creature in it's hovel, gaze almost accusingly back up at the sun. A light by which to dig, a light by which to see but a tease and a taunt all at once. Work and plod in it's timetable and sleep when it lost interest only to return again for another day. Hope with a workload. He bends the spoon back to the wall, digging out a circle that when night falls...

...there is a border by which he can find soft places of weakness. To continue digging. To keep the pace defiant.)

He is the last to extract from the alleyway, back peddling slowly with each step, hesitant at the end of the mouth. He turns then to look at Ashley, brow still furrowed in that helpless manner of concern. Normal.

"...Nathan?" Another unknown apparently. Or maybe just a distant memory he couldn't reach for.

[Nathan Spriggs] Nathan arrived at his bar about an hour later, taking the still-unconscious woman up to where his apartment was located, the renovation had cleaned up the place and instead of a vermin-infested dump like it had been, it looked fairly good and was clean so at least he didn't have to worry about cockroaches and rats. He placed her on the bed, told the crow to watch her (as he knew he would) and wake him up when she showed signs of life, no matter what. Then he went back downstairs and tried to sleep on the floor, a sleeping bag would be his bed tonight.

[Nathan Spriggs] ((G'night and thanks for everything))

[Ashley] "No, we don't need to follow up," Ashley says with a shrug, turning so she can step out of the alley. There's a crackle of irritation about her for a few minutes as she regards the blood trail one last time, tucking her hands into the pockets of her jeans.

"He didn't say, Gregor. Said she startled when she saw something. From what I've seen of Kaya, that really isn't very surprising," Ashley says. "Nathan's a Cultist I know." Once out of the alleyway, she turns to face the Dreamspeaker primarily, though the other two are within her field of vision. "I wouldn't worry about her. From what I've seen she's a liability, and she'll probably get herself killed."

That assurance given, she exhales, doing her best to release tension with it. Has been taking advice from her father on how to stay calm, perhaps. Then, "So, complete fucking wastes of time aside, you guys are welcome to come to my place if we're going to keep talking."

[K. R. Jakes] The red-haired Orphan had listened quietly to Ashley's end of the conversation (to the echoes of another voice [slippery, silvertongued] on the other end), and she had watched Gregor, like a bloodhound, edging further into the alley, before giving it a careful look over. Emily rifles through her messenger bag, and Kage opens her doggie bag. The scent of something delicious wafts out, and she pulls out a napkin, only slightly bestarred with crumbs, hands it over to the (other [for now]) Orphan.

"It wasn't a waste of time just because it looks to have easily resolved itself." A pause. "She does seem unwise. But then, so does Nathan. In fact, we should probably wander on, in case someone looking into her finds this collection of people," a gesture, which encompasses Emily, Ashley, Gregor, herself, "instead." Neutral. Then: "My truck's that-a-way. If you're going to your apartment, I can meet you there in a few."

[Gregor] "...I'm not." Worried about her. His gaze is in the alley still, jaw clenching around some hidden tension, chewing idly. A murmur drifts over his lips-

"I'm going to stay here. If they did run into something here on this side of things, then there might be another Shallow close by that it escaped from." He's already stepping back into the alley from whence they'd emerged, murmuring quietly under his breath.

"...Safe then sorry." An after-thought as Gregor goes from something solid, to an outline moving through the darkness, nothing but crackling bulbs as his herald and wake.

[Emily] "Thank you," she says to Kage, and uses the proferred napkin to wipe her fingertips clean in a fastidious manner.

"I've got to pass, but thank you," Emily said, and there was nothing in her tone that sounded as frustrated or irritated as Ashley's. There was a tinge of tiredness, perhaps, a little edge of something unspoken that lightly burred her tone. But it wasn't enough to worry about, and it was hardly enough to notice.

She is tempted, though. Sorely tempted to wile the evening away with the other mages. Kage, who she has not seen often enough, and Gregor, who she barely knows from Adam, and Ashley, for whom she has an ever growing respect. "I'll catch you all another night?"

The little smile is somewhat worn, but just as genuine.

[Ashley] "Sure," Ashley says to Emily. "Take care. We'll talk soon." Then there's a look to Gregor, a thinning of her mouth, a slow nod as he says that they're better to be safe than sorry. She hadn't considered that a 'thing' might actually be there, that it might have come through a Shallowing. She has Gregor to think of these things.

"All right," she says. "If you need anything, my apartment isn't far. Come and get me."

Then, finally, to Kage. "I'll meet you back there, sure." A sigh and a stretch, and then she begins moving off in the direction of her apartment - the one from whence they came - in order to clear out the area in case anything or anyone else has sensed that burst of resonance.