Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

[Deadly]

Charlene followed Isabelle, lighting a cigarette once they were outside.

[the_druid_droid]

"Alright, I know what I'm saying sounds weird. Believe me, I do understand that. But I need you on my side, Jess. I can't do this alone." Jon glanced around, trying to find a spot that was a little out of the way of any other on-lookers.

"If this is what it takes, I'll show you that something's different. Just... promise not to hate me or run away, ok?"

Without waiting for an answer, Jon stepped back into the most secluded place he could find and closed his eyes, focusing on the illusion separating his true form from the eyes of his sister. At first, nothing seemed to happen, and Jon was worried he really was cursed, but he had to do this, and so he poured everything he could into the effort.

All at once, the world seemed to crack open, and for a horrified moment he could swear he heard the distant baying of the Hounds. Luckily for Jon, reality quickly reasserted itself and the terror faded, but even so he could tell something had changed.

Standing before Jessica was someone who certainly looked like he had been her brother, once. Now though, there were antlers sprouting from his head, and his eyes were both larger and more liquid than any human's ought to be. There were other changes too, most of them more subtle, but altogether they were enough - Jon who had been Mike was finally revealed as the Fae-touched stag he was...

[Thanqol]

Jessica screamed.

There were a few other screams from nearby as well. The students passing by were either staring, screaming, or backing rapidly away. The emotion, thick and bronze-black, rose above their heads, sweet as icy rain.

Broken fragments of gossamer hung in the air

This was not going well at all.

[You may roll Presence+Intimidate as a glamour harvest]

[BlasTech]

Isabelle froze as the scream echoed across the yard.

"Oh, that is not good." She observed, in a moment of stunning insight, before taking off, trying to find the source.

"C'mon!"

[Deadly]

Charlene closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Damn it.

She set off after Isabelle without a word.

[the_druid_droid]

[Question on the harvest roll - would this be to actually use the Mein to intimidate people and obtain Glamour, or would it just be how Jon accesses Glamour already released?]

Jon had more or less been expecting a bad reaction, but it still upset him. He had wanted things to go differently, but it felt like he'd run out of options. Now that he could see the fear in his sister's eyes, he honestly wasn't sure if he preferred this to the suspicion that he was an addict.

He had tried so hard...

"Jessica! Quiet!" His voice came out strained, and a little angry.

"I know how I look, but I was telling the truth! Please, I'm really the same Mike - I can prove it." Jon's voice softened a little, but inside his stomach still lurched, afraid he'd lost another chance at reaching his family.

[Thanqol]

[The latter]

"Is that - is that really -?" she started hesitantly, but was cut off.

"I KNEW YOU WERE A DEMON!" Roared the groundskeeper from earlier, stomping towards Jon with a rake in hand. "I knew it! And you done slipped up!"

He reached up with one hand and ripped his shirt clean off, in the same manner one would pull a tissue from a box. He had the body of a man too uncreative to do anything with his spare time except exercise.

[BlasTech]

Isabelle's shock at seeing Jon without his Mask on was second only to her confusion at seeing a shirtless man threatening Jon with a rake.

She skidded to a halt next to the duo, interposing herself between Jon and the groundskeeper and intending to make abs-solutely sure that nobody was going to muscle out on her frien ---

... It was going to be a hot scottish day in a place before -

Not even wild stallions could chisel stone cold six packs from super manly thing with the stuff guy ... it.

She realised she'd been staring for a good several seconds now. Glowering in a way that looked more like a stunned smile, she delivered her sternly worded pledge of protection on Jon's behalf.

"... Hiya!"

[the_druid_droid]

[Ok, Presence + Intimidation is 2 total. Rolled a 5 and 2. Oh well.]

Jon was desperately trying to convey his identity to his sister - to will her to see that it was him after all. "It is! I -"

The groundskeeper's roar startled him, but even so, he could feel his frustration growing into genuine anger. His sister - his family was what he had been trying to get back to, through ogres and wolves and everything else. He wasn't going to let this crazy man stop him.

"I am not a demon! I should know; I spent forever being chased by them! I'm just a person, trying to talk with my sister..."

[Deadly]

Charlene had seen highly toned, well-oiled, manly bodies many times, and enjoyed the show too. There weren't as many as there were of the opposite sex in the little bars and places of downtown Portland, but if you knew what to look for you could find them. Usually it was a bar full of men, but who said women couldn't enjoy the show too?

And perhaps you got a little bit used to it after a while. It rather ruined the mood that he was yelling angrily and waving a rake, too.

Charlene stopped next to Isabelle, facing the man. "Whoa now," she managed, not sure what else to do or say in the situation. "Let's just talk here. No need to get angry."

[Thanqol]

"A likely story, standing there with your devil's horns like knives! I'll have you -"

He stopped as two girls interposed themselves between him and his target, both of whom started checking him out.

"Away with you, both of you! I've got a monster to slay!" He yelled, but didn't look inclined to hit either of them.

[Deadly]

Charlene glanced back at Jon, then at the groundskeeper. "Horns? Monster? What are you talking about, sir?" she said, setting her face in a concerned expression. "Look, sir, perhaps you need a rest, maybe see a doctor if you aren't feeling too well."

[Wits+Subterfuge, right? Any penalties (or unlikely bonuses)?]

[Thanqol]

Charlene glanced back at Jon, then at the groundskeeper. "Horns? Monster? What are you talking about, sir?" she said, setting her face in a concerned expression. "Look, sir, perhaps you need a rest, maybe see a doctor if you aren't feeling too well."

[Wits+Subterfuge, right? Any penalties (or unlikely bonuses)?]

[XD All right. A bold faced, straight-up lie like this is Presence+Subterfuge, I'm afraid, but the good news is that he's so used to having this happen to him you get a +2 bonus]

[Deadly]

[Cool

Presence+Subterfuge+2=5 : 1, 4, 10, 6, 2, ten again 6, one success]

[Thanqol]

"What? You don't see it? You don't -" the janitor fumed for a moment, chewing furiously on his beard.

[Wrath regain from him if anyone wants it. Harvest with Presence+Subterfuge.]

"- Phah!" he spat. "I'm either too drunk or not drunk enough to work in this damn madhouse."

He turned to stomp off.

[the_druid_droid]

[Sure, I'll roll for that! Presence + Subterfuge is 4, rolled: 8, 6, 7, 5. Yay, not completely empty anymore]

Jon's eyes widened at Charlene's bluff, and they opened wider still when the man turned away in a rage. That anger and disbelief was a relief, but it was also refreshing - his body was starved for Glamour and it lapped up a bit of the groundskeeper's fury greedily.

"Thank you." It was only a whisper, but it was heartfelt; Charlene had really saved him this time.

When the keeper had finally departed, Jon tried again to explain himself. "I promise, Jess, it really is me. I mean, if you want I can do the thing they always do in movies where I tell you something only the real Mike would know, or whatever will make you belive me. Just please try to understand..."

[BlasTech]

With the threat retreating, Isabelle forced herself to get back to the task at hand.

Back to the ... back ... to the back ... that was a very fine back too.

[No luck with the glamour roll, I guess Isabelle is too distracted]

[Deadly]

Charlene watched the janitor with concern as he walked away, just in case he should look back. When he was gone she gave Isabelle a friendly dash to break her out of it and smiled at Jon. "We'll just leave you two alone again," she said and turned to walk a bit away, unless Jon stopped her

[Thanqol]

Even with the janitor gone, there were still a lot of people standing and staring in a mixture of horror and fascination. Some were whispering to each other, asking if this was real, or looking around for the cameras. Jessica was still staring.

And then, someone pushed her way through the crowd, using more than two limbs to do so.

Spoiler

Show

She had a faint aura of dryness, like a fire about to start. Isabelle would find it added a certain weight to her words and generally add to a positive opinion of her.

"Hey, asshat," said the girl, "Some of us are trying not to draw attention to ourselves."

"You know my brother?" said Jessica.

"Scram, prep," snapped the shadow punk girl and Jessica shut her mouth and stepped back.

[Deadly]

As she turned and saw all the spectators that she had missed in the haste, Charlene couldn't help but curse a little. "Damn!" When the punk girl pushed her way through, rightfully upset, Charlene cursed again and thought quickly. "Can you three perhaps argue this elsewhere?" Charlene said, her tone suggesting she would stay and deal with the audience. She had a plan, it involved more lying and she wasn't liking that, but sometimes even a massive white lie was preferable and would be forgiven.

[the_druid_droid]

Jon's spirits lifted, or more properly soared to hear Jessica use the words 'my brother'. His momentary good mood took a sharp turn however, when it dawned on him how upset the girl was, and how majorly he might have screwed up by revealing himself so openly.

[BlasTech]

"Yeah ..." Isabelle muttered, shaking off the last vestages of her scottish stupor and shucking off her jacket. "Yeah, c'mon. Let's get somewhere a bit more private before we continue this discussion. I'd still like to hear just when this became a good idea."

Tossing the jacket to Jon so that he had something to cover himself up with, she looked around for a convenient escape route.

[the_druid_droid]

Jon pulled on the jacket quickly, although he wasn't sure it would help with the worst of his non-human features, and then joined Isabelle in searching for a more private spot to sort things out.

[Thanqol]

The shadow girl glared, then turned to face the gawkers. "Nothing to see here, preps. Just an idiot who can't keep his costume in his pants for ten goddamn minutes," she said.

She seemed really angry. Maybe it was some glamour effect, or maybe she was just scary, but people started to move along.

"Idiots. With me," said the shadow girl, heading towards an empty lecture hall.

[Deadly]

Well, that saved her some work, then. Charlene followed, trying to give Jon a little bit of extra cover from curious eyes.

[the_druid_droid]

Without being entirely sure why, Jon followed the new arrival, his face burning a little as he caught a few people still staring at him. He hoped Jess would come along, but it didn't seem like the shadow girl would be pleased by that. At the very least, he hoped that he and his sister would have another chance to talk before Felix arrived; there was still a lot to work out.

[BlasTech]

Isabelle rolled her eyes. Giving the jacket a not-ungentle tug to cover up more of Jon's head she followed as they headed for the lecture hall.

[Thanqol]

When they entered the lecture hall, the janitor was there, drinking straight from the bottle. When he saw them come in, he cursed incomprehensibly, hurtled the bottle against the wall, where it shattered, and left through the other exit. The shadow girl did not seem remotely to care about this.

"Hey, if you're new in town, welcome back or whatever, but in case the past three decades of pop culture didn't make it clear to you letting people know that there's goddamn monsters everywhere isn't in the monster's best interests."

[the_druid_droid]

Jon flinched a little at the older man's exit, then flushed and scratched at the back of his head nervously. "I... yeah, I guess I know that. It's just that I wasn't sure what else to do; I've only had a couple of days to get adjusted. I can, uh, leave if it's a problem."

[Thanqol]

"Urgh. Hate doing this. You've spoken to Talmage, right? He's an idiot but he'll show you the ropes. I'm Ash. You can stay here if you want but I don't know why you would. The dean's possessed, there's a pack of Hedge Wolves playing human, and I don't even want to talk about the drama the other Lost have managed to get themselves into."