What is this place?

[Nathan Spriggs] The Great Outdoors. The Woods. The Wild. Nature. As many names as any one person could come up with for the same thing, a place unmarred by human hand for the most part still, unfrequented by the masses and mostly set apart from ever day life for most people. It begged the question, what the hell was Nathan doing here?

It started earlier that day, in the morning when the sun was just coming up in the sky to bear down upon their side of the world. Curiosity and bad decision making were the catalysts here, the key. He'd needed a respite from the harrowing realities that were his life (the World), a break from it all and a quiet place where he could think. Be by himself, far away from the damned city after the past few weeks. And he'd been meaning to see what the Woods were all about, so it made perfect sense for him to take the trip. Take a hike or something and take his mind off the things occupying, bearing down on him, at every moment of every day in recent times (have you ever seen yourself die? seen the myriad ways every small decision can destroy you? he had, he knew, he'd felt it). Right?

The cab took him to the outskirts, just off the road enough that he didn't need to take long for his walk to the hiking trail. Just a gray t-shirt on his back and tight-fit jeans with sneakers today, no backpack for survival equipment or anything of the like. What was he gonna do with it? Just a quiet walk, that's all. Though the obligatory water bottle had been brought, just because.

See that? Two mistakes already. Two giant, fuckin' mistakes. Now he found himself stranded here, in the wilderness, with just a half-empty bottle of water, very sweat-soaked clothes and a very tired state. Been walking for hours now, and the sun had just gone down. Not by choice, no. He just didn't have a way out.

Because no cabs came by here at this hour, or even often before then... Great.[i] Just[\i] great.

[Kage Jakes] [Awareness!]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Kage Jakes] Nathan doesn't know where he is. Nathan's lost, and the dark is coming to get him. Maybe it's not the kind of dark with teeth (but isn't it, always, eventually?). Maybe it's not the kind of dark with doom (but isn't it, eventually, always?). Nonetheless, it's dark. The days are getting shorter and shorter, and the nights are getting longer and longer, and there's gloaming all caught up in the trees, the short Northern twilight lingering, turning branches into half-imagined things. There are hiking trails that bissect hiking trails, and things that look like they're hiking trails, but aren't really trails, are just little ribbons of could-be paths that tangle off into the poison ivy, then leave the unwary city person stranded. And poisoned; and itchy.

He doesn't know that he's been walking in circles. He doesn't know that his circular path has brought him, at long last, by happenstance, serendipity, close to a place where two paths kiss, where there is a felled oak-tree, something gigantic, gargantum, something lightning-charred, with life-growing out've its side; that he is close enough to a place that has gathered up its own resonance, Lonely (Sanctuary), and that there, tucked away in the oak, there is a red-haired Orphan, peeling an orange with her fingers, watching the lake reflect the twilighting sky and become black. And he definitely doesn't know, at least not yet, that the red-haired Orphan has felt the ache in her bones, the tiptoe of music along the nape of her neck, which means

subtle, manipulative,
Nathan Spriggs
nearby.

The last person she expects to be out around here. Maybe he's been dragged out here to die by some thugs? Kage listens for a long moment, and then prepares to find him. He could be being buried alive.

[Nathan Spriggs] [Where am I? Perc + Survival]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 1, 5, 8, 8 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] [Is anything out there? Perc + Awareness]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 3, 3, 5, 6, 6, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] (That was actually Alertness*; Same DP though)

There are stories that the Magi of the city don't know about. Little anecdotes and facts about this man here, that provide a contrast to the sweating, nauseously-tired and out of breath man that can't even handle a few hours in the Woods these days. It's not quite the same in experience but it helps, that knowledge of his surroundings and a basic A-B-C on how you survived against all odds and in places that were hostile to life let him grasp at his surroundings. No holes, no clearly dangerous objects, no cliffs. It was perfectly safe, for the most part.

The creeping darkness had him moving quietly and swiftly. Attuned to the quiet chirps of the birds and the hums, the slow melodies of nature, as the night set in. Every little snapping of a branch, a dry twig, the ruffling of grass, it all made him turn his head and look. Carefully look.

Even outside the city, in the night of this place, it was all the same. Night. Darkness. He knew it, and feared it, and hated it, and respected it. It's gentle embrace that whispered of dangers that have been, are and some day will be. A reminder of things he'd best leave at the corners of his mind if he couldn't forget. Couldn't unsee them.

So now he's carefully taking in this place, the strange atmosphere around it that echoes with him, makes him feel safe. At home in more than one way, more than one level. Maybe he'd never really noticed before, maybe he just didn't care, but he sympathized with it. That Loneliness that promises Sanctuary.

[Kage Jakes] [Hm. Academic question: Kage = Stealth Ninja? +1 diff, in the woods]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 3, 3, 5, 8, 10 (Success x 2 at target 7)

[Nathan Spriggs] [Oh really? Is Nathan aware of creepy red-haired stalkers tonight? +1 diff, night]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 7, 7, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 5 at target 7)

[Kage Jakes] The (other [temporarily an?]) Orphan comes into sight before Kage makes a line from the large oak tree [Fallen King] to Nathan's resonance [sly, secret]. He doesn't look like he's been buried alive. He does look tired, and emptyhanded, except for that half bottle of water. He isn't smoking; it surprises her that he isn't smoking. There's no reason to lie; Kage and Nathan aren't best friends. They don't know each other very well. They know each other just well enough.

The place Nathan's found is a place that has accrued a name, and there's a certain sanctity here; a certain specialness, which is not just the colour of the graying sky, not just the darkness, the tarnishing up, of the lake. The lake isn't far away at all; he can see it past the large tree. There is leaf-litter, because summer is finally bowing to autumn; because summer is finally, finally dying, and the leaves are turning to gold. There are bugs, singing in the leaf-litter, the leaf-rot, and the last of lightning bugs just beginning to blink down by the shore. There's a dark hole, a chasm, in the tree; something to reach into, and dredge out a box. He can't see that. There's also a bag, there on the floor, half-hidden, forgotten, discarded by some. Maybe he'll even get this: the hint of some other resonance, buried, burying now, something that isn't Magi, something that'll be revelry, that'll be senescence, abundance, something colding away into cool. That's the Court.

When Nathan comes into sight, Kage had already put aside her orange, wedged it in the fork of a branch, and begun to climb down. She stops; pauses. Quiet; very quiet. Listens, because he could be chased by thugs who wanted to bury him alive. He's looking around, carefully taking it all in, and Kage is loathe to interrupt; she's pretty quiet about not interrupting, too, just smoke on the water. Of course, if Kage is what one might call a stealth ninja, Nathan is what one might call an alertness god (pirate?), and he hears her anyway, trying to stay suspended before climbing all the way back down, give him a moment or three. There's a thunder storm brewing; it thunders, distantly. Not a good night for swimming.

Of course, she's not quiet for long. See? " - don't shoot, T. H. I'm not in season."

[Nathan Spriggs] [How awesome is my Fudd impression?]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 3, 5, 6, 6 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] [Re-roll on account of chat failure; diff +1]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9 (Success x 4 at target 7)

[Nathan Spriggs] The recent days have tempered his Will to an extent. Strengthened his resolve (if not his bravery). In what is an incredibly accomplishment, a truly Herculean feat, Nathan's neck twists as his head turns to the source of the sounds, but his hand doesn't move. Doesn't go for the gun that-doesn't-look-like-a-gun in his back pocket.

In fact, he arches a brow at the woman, making only an outline of her in the current dark and the dulcet sounds of her voice. Soon after, another expression etches itself in his face, a look of amused curiosity. "Is it rabbit scene or duck season?" His voice is turned into the closest he can come to an Elmer Fudd-esque sound, because that was another thing a lot of them didn't know about Nathan.

He was good at this kind of stuff.

[Kage Jakes] He does a damned good impression of Elmer Fudd. The stuttering, the stumbling; the whole nine yards. Hell: ten yards, and there are only nine yards to begin with. Kage raises her eyebrows at Nathan, and he's hyperalert just now (look! a frog! it just ker-plopped, over by the water's edge; and over there? A shadow, across the water; an owl's shadow. He's just that damned alert), but expressions are still difficult to read in the near-dark, the twilight.

Kage claps. Once. Twice. Three times. And then - " - you don't look bald from up here, but you're doing a damned good impression, Mister Spriggs." Kage sounds amused. Because, y'know, she is. And because, y'know, he didn't go for the gun that doesn't look like a gun in his back pocket. And he had ample opportunity, he was just that hyperalert. "Would you be terribly disappointed if I told you it was apple season?"

[Nathan Spriggs] With a wry smile, he boos slightly. Then a shrug. "Not terribly. At least I don't need to spend ammo or time in making those eatable." A grin then, undoubtedly lost in the dark to that place where lost expressions go, never to be seen again. Because they had to go somewhere, right?

"How are you?" He adds, with a swift step forward and a duck under a branch to close the distance. It grated on him though, the sound of the crumbling leaves and snapping twigs. Resounded in his ear like everything else in this quiet place where only the wind's howls through the trees and the sounds of animals seemed to disturb that serene peace. Until two humans came along and ruined it as was now occurring anyway.

[Kage Jakes] The moon is bright tonight. Were it not for the clouds, for the looming, roiling, paradise lost weight of them, the moon would provide enough illumination to make the transition from twilight (gray [all shades of]) to little light (night, at last) easy. As it is; somewhere, somebody is being tugged into another shape by the moon. "Says a man who has clearly never had applie pie; the only way to really enjoy an apple, and pretty damned time consuming." A beat; he's done the courteous thing, and Kage hasn't seen Nathan since before Operation: Labyrinth. The night she was Time-eaten, Time-swallowed. This sobers her, a touch. She says, "Climb on up, join me. There's an easy branch; just here, see?" The Orphan touches it with her foot; she's somewhat higher, in the tree beside the Fallen King.

[Nathan Spriggs] [Climbing? At night? HOW DARING! +1 diff]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 2, 6, 7 (Success x 1 at target 7)

[Nathan Spriggs] With the moon at his back, halting the progression to pitch black darkness (and earning his thanks for it), Nathan slowly progresses his way up the tree. Step by careful step. Until he's reached a point just below and to the left of where Kage is, the place he's most comfortable with instead of going higher. "Had it, never made it." If his mind dwells on the Labyrinth for even a moment, he doesn't show it now in his tone, in his face, in the way his body language speaks out.

Maybe he's just trying not to think about it. Loss of memory, forgetting... If only such things were possible for him.

[Kage Jakes] [Hrm. How am -I- doing with all this climbing around?]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 4, 4, 5, 6, 7 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Kage Jakes] "Technically, I haven't either," Kage says, the edge of a smirk in her voice. Kage's version of self-deprication isn't very modest; still, she turns the edge toward her own throat, sometimes, like now. "My apple pie was black as a devil's asshole," and she sounds serene, too, making that comparison, "and all the cinnamon ice cream in the world couldn't disguise the fact." Demure, cool-eyed Kage. In the dark, her hair only gleams red now and again; Nathan's hair is a pale smudge. Kage doesn't climb down to his branch, but she does climb further on her own branch, so that she can look Nathan in the eye [or the bald spot (is there a bald spot, or does he just really channel Fudd that well?)]. She crosses her legs at the ankle. She could kick him in the face. She probably won't.

The smirk's edge is still in her voice; kicks up into something half-radiant. The edge is still - mostly - directed toward her own throat; see? " - and now that I have company, I am perfectly content. The night is less - " here, a particularly loud (albeit still distant) crack of thunder " - less ominous. My heart is steadied, and steadying; I am no longer afraid of the swan who likes to attack people down by that bend of water, who," and her voice drops, to one of confession, "by the by, I recommend you never accidentally disturb, because the swan will eat out your eyes - and I'm happy." A beat, and then a grin, without smirk; easy, crooked - " - I'm glad to see you well, anyway." Sincere; sounds sincere, anyway. And Kage, well - she believes in honesty.

"Are you out here to practice your sense of direction?"


[Nathan Spriggs] "But if it's devil's asshole... wouldn't stereotype assume it'd be red?" Nathan quips, with the kind of tone that suggests 'am I right or am I right'. Still, he shifts on the branch slightly as his left foot steps on one below and his hands hold the trunk. The less in position to be kicked, the better. Even if it wasn't likely to happen. Kage can see it in the full moon, though, no bald spot here. No, siree.

Doesn't look like a toupee either.

What he does have is a question. A very real, maybe even actually concerned, question. "How're you holding up?" Nathan didn't know why she couldn't make it that night, not that he blames her if it was just fear. If it was, she wasn't a coward. Just smart. Smarter than all of them. Oh how he pined for days of looser morals and less empathy, through the looking glass of retrospect and hindsight they were the easier days.

Days when he could... Just. Say. No. Say 'fuck you' and 'I'm out'.

[Kage Jakes] [*squint* Percept/Awareness-as-Empathy. Why do you ask, Spriggs.]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 3, 4, 4, 6, 8, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] [Haha, you think I'm ever straight forward about my feelings? Manip + Subt]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 2, 2, 4, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 (Success x 3 at target 7)

[Kage Jakes] [Why not?]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 6, 6, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 5 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] [C-C-C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 2, 5, 5, 7, 8 (Failure at target 7)

[Kage Jakes] Kage studies Nathan for a moment. And this is one of those rare, enlightening moments; a moment when someone else is easy to read; a moment when someone else is as good as a book in her favorite language. Her lashes touch, almost a squint, and then she shrugs, reaches over for the orange she'd wedged in the fork of a higher-than-she-is-branch, begins to finish unpeeling it, dig in with her thumbnail, pull, peel, peel.

"A. I'm holding up; I'm as good as star-shine and moon-dust. Hell. Better: you don't get to be dust 'til you're ground to nothing, right? B. I suspect I'm holding up better than you are, T. H. You - uhm. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you guys - " and here, Kage does her very best to be inscrutable " - so don't go getting jealous of my sharp wits and keen intelligence. It's not very fair to you. And C, you didn't answer my question. What's a guy like you doing in a place like this?"

"D. Slice of orange? Is sweet."

[Nathan Spriggs] [Do I fall off the tree?]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 1, 3, 5 (Botch x 1 at target 8)

[Nathan Spriggs] [OUCH]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 5, 7, 8, 8 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] [...am I good with impacts?]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 8, 8 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] It's a quick turn of his head up to Kage's direction that does it, the momentary movement causes his body to shift too much and balance is lost. Next thing he knows, the scenery's flowing and coming out of focus for a split second. Doesn't even realize why or what's happened until his body hits the floor side-first and a groan of fairly excruciating pain escapes his lips. It wasn't the fall that did it so much as the branches he snagged along the way, even if they luckily sped him down, exacerbated by the roots at the bottom against which he smashed the side of his head.

There's no way for him to see it, but he can feel the tinkle of warm liquid down from his forehead where the largest of the roots got him and soon there'll be swelling. But at least he's fine, and his shoulder hurts like he's twisted something but it doesn't feel dislocated or broken. Still, he doesn't dare move for now, maybe he was in shock.

"Mm, that hurt," is all he gets out for now between Kage's multiple choice comment (or was it many different subjects? he wasn't sure now).

[Kage Jakes] [Whoa. Dex + Wits! Am I like O.O or am I like lalalala - wait, dude, did you fall?]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 5 at target 6)

[Kage Jakes] [And oh shit - do I descend with ninja-grace to use my nonexistent medical skills?]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 6, 6, 6, 9 (Failure at target 7)

[Kage Jakes] [Dude. I am not a cat stuck in a tree.]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 2, 5, 7, 10 (Success x 1 at target 8)

[Kage Jakes] Alas. Kage never gets to point C. Because as she says my sharp wits and keen intelligence and it's not very fair to you, Nathan is disconcerted by her movement, and he falls. Kage sees the whole thing happen, practically in slow motion; watches it happen like some kind of Cosmic Joke - like maybe she accidentally jinxed Mr. Spriggs, or he's taking the no, I shall not answer questions route just a little too far. Worse, though. Worse. She can hear the squelch when his head hits the roots, and she knows that's a bad squelch. That's the kind of squelch one beats a wet teeshirt with brocoli to make back in Hollywood.

There's not a lot of grace in how swiftly she climbs down the oak; for a second, in fact, she's trapped - can't figure out where to put her foot; what way she came up. Then: right, that way. The ground quakes beneath her when she jumps down. The orange, well; she tossed it all flamboyantly over her shoulder before the descent. "Jesus Christ, Nathan. Are you alive?"

[Nathan Spriggs] [I'm such a badass, I don't feel pain. Or at least I can pretend?]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6) Re-rolls: 2

[Kage Jakes] [Pfffft. Really?]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] Nathan had just fallen off a tree (not the ugly tree). Nathan had just taken every branch down from that tree with him (not the ugly tree). So, naturally, when Kage's question comes... His answer is: "'Life' is such a subjective thing. Are any of us alive? Truly alive?" Okay, maybe he wasn't that bad. But the tone he used, whilst almost natural, almost successful in hiding the pain, was almost transparent to her. The slight undercurrent of pain as his comment hides a slight groan, damn shoulder was hurting right about now. His forehead was swelling too, gonna be the size of a golf-ball soon.

Because you don't fall off a tree and walk away fine. Not where he's from. Solomon could probably do it.

[Kage Jakes] [pretend like you buy it, man. +1]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 (Success x 2 at target 7)

[Nathan Spriggs] [You totally aren't buying this, are you?]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 4, 4, 5, 8, 8, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] [Man, we go back and forth a lot]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 6, 8, 8, 9 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Kage Jakes] [Well since some of us are weakwilled. I am a white lyin' machiiiine. +1]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 3, 3, 6, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] [Reroll, because Jess is nicer than Kahseeno]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 3, 6, 6, 10 (Failure at target 7)

[Kage Jakes] [Does Kahseeno just hate it when DA rolls from DAs account? JESS ROLLS +1 FOR HIM.]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 3, 5, 6, 8, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 4 at target 8)

[Kage Jakes] Nathan - now. Nathan is a perceptive creature. At least, he is when it comes to the motives of others. Just now, Nathan? He perceives that Kage totally buys his act. Maybe it's in the way her eyebrows both prick up for half a second. Maybe it's just the expression in her oh so (inscrutable [seriously]) expressive eyes. Expressive of, after a moment's doubt, a cautious sort've 'belief.' Er: belief. No quotation marks. Kage says, "Jesus," adrenline spiked, diminishing, again, and then -- rough humor; smoke again. "With a mouth like that, T. H., you're definitely alive. If you didn't want to answer my questions, you could have just said so." There's a pause; Kage is crouched near the injured once-Cultist. Her hands are clasped, and she rests her chin on them. "But - hey, if you start to feel sleepy, let me know, and I'll sing something rousing." The almost-smirk in her voice - Nathan will perceive - says that she thinks he's just fine, but it's always best to be safe. Isn't she so gullible?

[Nathan Spriggs] [More lies and half-truths? Because I'm also completely fine after the Labyrinth]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (Success x 3 at target 7) [WP]

[Kage Jakes] [Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeah. Because I don't suspect you're going to lie to me again about something. At all. 'cause you are totally known for your honesty, T. H.]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 8 (Success x 4 at target 6) [WP]

[Nathan Spriggs] "Rousing with an A? For some reasons, I can't picture that." He says, figuring she'd bought it. Completely and utterly fine, he was. Short of the sweat, the being lost in the woods, the fact he was out of his habitat and he knew it, and she knew it. Yup, completely 100% A-OKAY. "Why say it when I can be dramatic about it, huh?" A laughter that's very nearly stifled by pain is what she'll see next, not that he knows she knows that he's in pain (such a tangle web).

"As for why. The great outdoors, the sun shining up in the sky today with no signs of rain. It was just perfect for a hike. I've been meaning to take a walk around here anyway, check out the landscape."

Translation: "I wanted get the fuck out of Chicago and into a place where I didn't have to listen to people, didn't have to think about every goddamn thing happening and the fact my life is shit. Not to mention it's perfectly isolated."

[Kage Jakes] [I totally look like I'm buying that, too. +1]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 3, 6, 6, 6 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] [Haha, are you?]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Kage Jakes] "Darling. You don't spell 'rousing' with an 'A.' There's an owe and a you. There might even be a you owe me tucked away there," Kage says, smirking; she goes so far as to (very lightly [because she knows]) chuck Nathan under the chin. Kage: naive, and innocent, and also gullible; she has totally fallen for his lines. He babbles some stuff about the sun shining and no thought of rain, and Kage gives Nathan a flatly disbelieving look. Then she reaches up, folds her arms behind her head, pillowing it, well-balanced, poised, back arced just enough to pop, and then! She stands, all graceful. Offers Nathan her hand. "Right. Well. That makes sense; I'm a little surprised, but still - it makes sense."

By which Nathan is given to understand that she doesn't believe him. More: she sees through him; she just doesn't want to call him on it (too courteous [too polite]).

[Nathan Spriggs] With the realization of her flat disbelief, he doesn't shrink back, instead he chuckles. Ah, Kage, how it was hard to get stuff past you. You red-headed daughter of some hard-to-spell-demon-who-wasn't-quite-the-devil-but-close. When she offers a hand, he's allowing himself not suppress the tiny wince that flashes across his features as he moves just enough to grab her hand. Contrary to what might or might not expectations, he doesn't try to pull her down with him like in the usual Romantic Comedy.

Instead, he genuinely does get up with her hand's support, assuming she's not gonna remove it mid-way. "I'm being honest. Really. Boyscout promise. I said what I meant and I meant what I said, an Orphan is honest one-hundred percent." A grin slides across his features at the words and a small quirk of his brows that might not be lost in the dark after all as their vision had no doubt adjusted. "I'll offer you honesty if you offer me the same. Quid pro quo."

"Me first. Just wanted to get my head in place and get a perspective on things in peace. Now your turn, what is this place?" Because even when he'd fallen off a tree, he hadn't forgotten the Loneliness. The Sanctuary.

[Kage Jakes] [.... Strength of Ra! -1 diff 'cause Nathan's scrawny!]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 1, 6 (Failure at target 5)

[Kage Jakes] [Oh come on!]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 3, 10 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Kage Jakes] Kage doesn't suspect Nathan of any devious underhanded plans to hurt her or humiliate her. Not just now. And Kage has no devious underhanded plans to hurt or humiliate Nathan. Not just now (and, in all honesty, probably not ever; it isn't her style). For a second, she can't manage his weight; almost falls; it isn't much, for a guy, but Kage - while athletic - is a slender woman, and not particularly strong. Just a second, and then - well; the Orphan is all aid, all helpfulness, doesn't dip or falter when Nathan genuinely uses her help.

And Nathan's rhyme earns him a brief, radiant smile; something that touches Kage's eyes with gorgeousness, transmutes her, transforms her, something half-laughing, and then: flicks off. It's like a light; there one second, [ardent - understand? Luminous, lovely] and then nada zip zero, replaced by the edge of a smirk, something slanting lopsided. "Wow. I didn't know there were Orphan rhymes. I applaud you," and she does, clap, clap, clap, slow-like. Then her hands find her pockets, and she rests her weight on her right leg. Listens.

Listens. Says, "Thank you. Have you gained it -- perspective; peace?" A beat. And he wants to know what this place is. Because it's become some Thing, because it's become a place -- and Kage, she looks away from Nathan, and reaches out to touch the fallen oak-tree, the Fallen King, lay her hand flat against the bark. She says, "It's a secret, but not a very good secret. We call it the Court." This is strange; awkward, telling Nathan. He wasn't brought here, like the others were. "And this is the King. It's a place I found last November, when the nameless 'crow was living with me. There's a place to leave notes and little - things. It's just a good place to come to - "

Here, a slanting glance, to see what Nathan thinks of all this

" - be safe for a little while."

[Nathan Spriggs] A step around the side, circling the King and watching intently. Searching for a sign, pondering the meanings. Why The Court? Why the King? Those were the questions he wanted to ask. How was it found? To her smile though, and the applause, he takes a small bow. "I'll be here... well, for a while."

Then the pacing again, a tenseness to his shoulders now as his hands slowly slide into the jean pockets. "Hm, nope." Flicker of a somber smile, one that's gone as fast as her earlier radiant smile was. What it meant, or means, is left to her imagination. She was the so-called wits. The question though, his question, in accordance to the deal. It escapes his lips without him realizing until it's too late, one of those thoughts that just seems to materialize by itself, and it's nothing like his original thoughts. Maybe just a remnant of whatever weighs him down now. "Have you ever thought of death? Really thought of, I mean. Not the casual sophistry. How it feels like? How you see yourself dying?"

[Kage Jakes] Her right hand stays on the bark. The bark is good; real. Her left hand leaves her back pocket and (unconscious gesture) finds her heart. Presses against her chest; her fingers curl over her collarbone. Then flatten, the tips of her fingers touch her pulse. A pause. A silence, a heartbeat. Drum-da, drum-da. And then:

"Yes," she says. A beat, and then, "Well. I don't know what the 'casual sophistry of death' is, but I believe my answer is still yes." Her eyebrows lift, suggestive. Go on. "Is that what you've been thinking about?"

[Nathan Spriggs] He paces around for a moment more, between the branches and over the roots carefully. His head's beating now, he can feel it, thumping and thumping and the headache on it's way soon. No doubt if Kage saw him up close now, she'd notice the massive bump on his head. Hopefully it wasn't a ride on the concussion express.

When finally pacing around in thought, quiet and with the tension as a constant now, won't buy him any more time... Nathan turns slowly, with a smile and a shrug. His eyes shift to the King for a moment, a brief instant. To Sanctuary. To Loneliness. It's a telling look, filled with equal parts understanding and longing, along with a hint of fear.

"Not quite. I haven't been imagining it, wondering what it must feel like. Just, y'know, realizing the frailty of life." The answer. The words, they're honest to an extent. Keeping in line with their deal. But it's not everything either, there's a hint here in the 'not quite. In the lack of imagination. "Bit of a strange question, but I figured you might give me a curious, if not cryptic answer." A mischievous grin to her, it'd been a while since she had left down the completely cryptic messages. Keyword here: completely

[Kage Jakes] [*squint* reeeeeeally. I'ma ask my question anyway, but inevitable perception+awareness you gonna lie to me/misdirect again? roll.]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 3, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Kage Jakes] Kage is clever. Kage is also honest. They've talked about this before: about honesty. The theme of their conversations; set it to music and have done (sing [sing]). Kage is clever, and honest, and Kage has often used honesty to misdirect. Which is why she listens to Nathan, watches him pace, hand against her heart, and leans her hip against the Fallen King. Nathan's on the other side of the oak, now; the lake is at his back, down a slope, through a brief wood-patch. "Not quite imagining it, huh? Then, what? You've been trying to see what happens to you? Scrying for it?"

To Nathan's mischievous grin, Kage twists her mouth, says - " - tch, if you really wish, I suppose I can give you something more riddling by way of answer. Something less clear than 'Yes.'"

[Nathan Spriggs] [It's only omission, not a lie!]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 5, 6, 6, 6, 8, 8, 9 (Success x 2 at target 7)

[Nathan Spriggs] Nathan is different from Kage, and they've touched on this. He doesn't believe in honesty, not really. People always fell back on what was best for them. What the situation required, that's how far telling the truth went. So it's natural that she'd think him to have reservations right now. And she's right. There aren't whole truths here, not that they're lies either.

Omission. That's all. "Nah, I haven't been trying to do that. It's just something I've fallen back on these days, especially..." Cuts off here, the Labyrinth's still too fresh in his memory and on his skin, the little markings, wounds and scarring left behind. Even if he'd been the least affected through it all, there was still so much. Kept ripe by memory. His already limited sleep habits had been suffering even further. "I think it's just... amazing. The small miracle that is us being alive at this very moment. Having this very conversation. All the odds in the average life, let alone ours, are against it. So many variables that could," a snap of his fingers here, "end it all just like that. No more 'Kage'. Or no more 'Nathan'."

[Kage Jakes] [Subterfuge! I'm hiding something!]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] [Oh no, you're not]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 4, 5, 5, 7, 7 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Kage Jakes] [I tooootally am hiding like hidingness.]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 3, 7, 7, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] [FUCK YOU, KAHSEENO. Also, Kage]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 4, 4, 5, 6, 10, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Kage Jakes] [hiding like hidingness, I said!]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 4, 5, 5, 6, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] [Fuck you. Says I]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] [Just for the 1?]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 9 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Kage Jakes] [Oh! and intelligence + academics, for something! motherfuckin' right, i'm rolling academics]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 1, 3, 3, 3, 7, 7, 10 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Kage Jakes] "You're right. Life is - "

The blonde ex-Cultist has not been on what one might call his A-game tonight. He's been lost. He's been sweaty, and gross. He's fallen out of a tree. The tree didn't even move. Kage has seen through practically every smokescreen lie he's put up, and he hasn't seen through all of hers. He sees through this one, though. There's a moment of clarity, for Nathan C. Spriggs, when - well. He can read the texture of her eyes, dark by moonlight; he can read the way her eyelashes sweep down, rest against her cheekbones for a long moment. Even the way she leans, that-a-way, adjusts her weight. What's he read in it? A sudden revelation; the uncovering of some old bitterness, something that tastes sour, that touches her also with wonder, disbelief turned toward herself. He's also well aware that she - this is Kage, after all; she isn't known for being upfront - doesn't mean this to be obvious. That's in the way she holds herself, too. Poised, but glass.

" - pretty amazing. The things that happen. The fact that - you know; you can see. You can speak; sing; you've got thoughts. You're awake. I'm awake. That's the really amazing part. But - but an end; it isn't such a final thing, you know. Not always. Hold on; I'll give you something."

And on that note, Kage reaches intothe depression [dark hole] she'd pointed out earlier -- a place to leave things. There's a box there, no lock, and she opens it, takes out a crumpled paper, smooths it, then a stubby little pencil.

[Nathan Spriggs] [I'm officially lawyering you. That's right. WITS + LAW]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 4, 6, 7, 9, 9 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] [Am I broadcasting it clearly? How curious I am?]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6) Re-rolls: 1

[Nathan Spriggs] Nathan was never on his A-game these days. Not since he grew a conscience. It just didn't fit with his lying, bastard self. The feng-shui and balance of bastardry was upset and suddenly he found himself unable to lie at even the smallest things. A sad state, this. But he made do. It's a curious glance that he gives Kage, curious about many things. Her opinion, her behavior, but that's hidden beneath the surface. As far as anyone's concerned, he's just curious and attentive to what she's gonna say about Life.

Because Life was so many different things. Both good and bad. Seen the ancient machinery of the world, blah blah blah. But the trunk, the tree trunk with the depression where she's reaching her hand in and his natural reflexes and experiences make him wince. You never, ever, put your hand into a dark hole inside something. Especially not at night.

Patience then, waiting for whatever it is she's about to do.

[Kage Jakes] [Char + Expression?]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 4, 5, 5, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Kage Jakes] Kage writes. And writes, writes. And turns the paper over, and writes more. Kage also feels the weight of Nathan's curiousity, bearing down on her head; she flicks her glance up at him, both eyebrows lifted, inquisitive, a mischievous, charming sort've guileless who-me what'cha-looking-at-me-for-all-eloquent-and-shit sort of look. Then: Kage writes, writes, writes writes writes, writes. Writes. Flourish! And she gives Mister Nathan the piece of paper, and the little, tiny keychain flashlight someone had left in the box. The box rattles. She puts it back into the hole, careful-like.

[Kage Jakes] Alive Together
Lisel Mueller

Speaking of marvels, I am alive
together with you, when I might have been
alive with anyone under the sun,
when I might have been Abelard's woman
or the whore of a Renaissance pope
or a peasant wife with not enough food
and not enough love, with my children
dead of the plague. I might have slept
in an alcove next to the man
with the golden nose, who poked it
into the business of stars,
or sewn into a starry flag
for a general with wooden teeth.
I might have been the exemplary Pocahontas
or a woman without a name
weeping in Master's bed
for my husband, exchanged for a mule,
my daughter, lost in a drunken bet.
I might have been stretched on a totem pole
to appease a vindictive god
or left, a useless girl-child,
to die on a cliff. I like to think
I might have been Mary Shelley
in love with a wrongheaded angel,
or Mary's friend. I might have been you.
This poem is endless, the odds against us are endless,
our chances of being alive together
statistically nonexistent;
still we have made it, alive in a time
when rationalists in square hats
and hatless Jehovah's Witnesses
agree it is almost over,
alive with our lively children
who -- but for endless ifs --
might have missed out on being alive
together with marvels and follies
and longings and lies and wishes
and error and humor and mercy
and journeys and voices and faces
and colors and summers and mornings
and knowledge and tears and chance.
to†Nathan Spriggs

[Nathan Spriggs] Nathan watches her write, and write, and wonders what she's doing and what she's writing. Watches the cycle repeat itself over and over again until finally she's finished, and she's putting it all away except the paper. The paper he gets. The paper he reads through with a wry smile and a small chuckle. "Gimme a second. And your pen, please."

That's all he says while he rummages through his pockets for a scrap of paper, himself. Something to write on as he focuses on the message in the poem. He doesn't have a flashlight though, so might have to compensate by trying to become error proof in his writing. No errors allowed. His sight was relatively good enough to see the paper, which as he found in his pocket was a small receipt from his grocery shopping yesterday.

[Mind 1 effect]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 2, 9 (Success x 2 at target 3) [WP]

[Nathan Spriggs] Then he's writing fast and furious like Kage did, on the back of a receipt once and if he's given the pen. It's an old thing, something he'd read years ago and seemed a bit childish. And yet...

[Char + Expression all the way]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] [Fuck you, Kahseeno. Reroll]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 4, 7 (Failure at target 7) [WP]

[Kage Jakes] [Go higher! Go higher!]

[Nathan Spriggs] [Let's do this shit, +2]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10 (Success x 1 at target 8) Re-rolls: 1
to†Kage Jakes

[Nathan Spriggs] Life Doesn't Frighten Me.
Maya Angelou

Shadows on the wall
Noises down the hall
Life doesn't frighten me at all
Bad dogs barking loud
Big ghosts in a cloud
Life doesn't frighten me at all
Mean old Mother Goose
Lions on the loose
They don't frighten me at all
Dragons breathing flame
On my counterpane
That doesn't frighten me at all.
I go boo
Make them shoo
I make fun
Way they run
I won't cry
So they fly
I just smile
They go wild
Life doesn't frighten me at all.
Tough guys fight
All alone at night
Life doesn't frighten me at all.
Panthers in the park
Strangers in the dark
No, they don't frighten me at all.
That new classroom where
Boys all pull my hair
(Kissy little girls
With their hair in curls)
They don't frighten me at all.
Don't show me frogs and snakes
And listen for my scream,
If I'm afraid at all
It's only in my dreams.
I've got a magic charm
That I keep up my sleeve
I can walk the ocean floor
And never have to breathe.
Life doesn't frighten me at all
Not at all
Not at all.
Life doesn't frighten me at all
to†Kage Jakes

[Kage Jakes] [Char + Exp, again! AGAIN!]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Kage Jakes] Kage gives Nathan the pencil with a be my guest flourish. The diminished flamboyance bleeding out; something strong, dramatical. Kage gives him the box to use as a flat surface, too, if he needs to brace it against his thigh or the Fallen King, and it should be said: gloaming is gone; the full moon is all; it's good that the full moon is slanting through the thunder clouds, making the lonely sanctuary [court] bright. The animals are singing, down by the lake. While he writes, Kage folds her arms across the trunk of the tree, and rests her chin on her forearm, and gazes out beyond him at the water, stlill and silent herself.

And when Nathan gives her the receipt, she turns the flashlight back on, and reads, forming the words with her lips. He can see that she is surprised; at least, surprised for a moment. And then Kage is smiling that smile, again. The why don't you smile, too, the gorgeousness is dark, gorgeousness is here, in my eyes, all luminous with don't you see, burning, bright, brilliant, lovely. And, sure, it closes up like a switchblade -- revealed, dazzle, danger, closed again -- but echoes remain.

"Well, well, well, T.H.," she says, "The boys pulled your hair? You were afraid of kissy little girls?"

[Nathan Spriggs] When she's finished reading, he watches her smile again and his expression shifts to a proud sort of smile. Then the mocking, and it's slowly fading away before coming back again in full force. "You know how it is. When you're as amazing as I am, all the girls flock and all the guys get jealous." A step forward to close the distance a bit more then whilst the nightlife of the woods continued in the background. What was crawling through the dried leaves and making them crumble behind them?

"And don't bother with the receipt, it doesn't have any personal information you can steal."

[Kage Jakes] "No. I don't know," Kage says, wry. "But then, the girls have never flocked to me." Kage rolls the receipt up, and puts it back into the box. The box goes into the hole for the third - and final - time tonight. A beat. "You know - " she says, and then combs her fingers through her hair. Considers. Shakes her head, and says, clear-ly changing her mind about whatever it is she was going to say (suggest [ask]) " - it's late. Do you need a ride back to the city, or do you want to stick around and get some more perspective?"

[Nathan Spriggs] "Oh no. I think I like my perspective a lot more from a building's height. Not that this wasn't... nice and all. Quaint's the word." With that, he'll follow Kage to the car or whatever. Journey to the ends of the woods. Into the concrete jungle. To the cradle of humanity. All those little sayings.

[Kage Jakes] [Jerkness!]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 2, 3, 5, 10 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Nathan Spriggs] [What?! Stam straight, +1]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 5, 5, 6 (Failure at target 7)

[Kage Jakes] [Str + Athletics, I drag you]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 3, 5, 7, 7, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Kage Jakes] [I mean, help.]

[Kage Jakes] Nathan is - not in good shape. This becomes very clear to Kage when he needs to stop and rest for the fifth time. Kage doesn't mock him for the wheezing, doesn't mock him for the panting, doesn't say anything pointed, clever or quippy when he stumbles. Eventually, however, she gets behind Nathan, plants her two hands on his shoulders, and pushes him. It's just a joke; really. But hey, he got further down the trail, didn't he? And so it'll go, until, a good forty minutes later, they're at the parking lot, and there's a familiar black truck,

and then a familiar city.

[The End]