[Changeling] A Gathering of Mists IC

[Thanqol]

It was over. Time to go.

Stephanie snuck up behind Marchy, jumping up on her back and wrapping her arms around her necks. "I - got - presents!" she said, dangling the gold watch in front of Marchy's eyes.

[Raz_Fox]

Marchande pauses at the very edge to watch. While not as still as Charlotte, she remains stiff as the two Roses embrace, and it's hammered in that she failed.

Bad dog. No treat.

She'd fully expected Rose to get arrested, to be dragged off by security, and all she could think was: not me. And look what Rose had done, just because she had chosen to be human, to take a risk.

Being beautiful and angelic probably helped. No one ever lets a dog get away with that.

You failed, she says to herself, and that twists in her heart. So she hops down off the stage, nearly lands on all fours, straightens up hastily, shoulders stiff and expression fixed. "I think we're done," she says, tautly, before being ambushed from behind by a sneaky cat!

Woof.

"I mean," she says, flustered again, "Where'd you get that, Steph- urk- Stephanie?"

[SiuiS]

Charlotte shakes herself, shakes her fugue away, and begins to climb delicately up on the edge of the stage delicately, almost awkwardly.

"Stephanie, Marchande. Have we succeeded? We could ask to talk to miss Speaker, see if she will work with the freehold, non?"

[Thanqol]

Originally Posted by Raz_Fox

Marchande pauses at the very edge to watch. While not as still as Charlotte, she remains stiff as the two Roses embrace, and it's hammered in that she failed.

Bad dog. No treat.

She'd fully expected Rose to get arrested, to be dragged off by security, and all she could think was: not me. And look what Rose had done, just because she had chosen to be human, to take a risk.

Being beautiful and angelic probably helped. No one ever lets a dog get away with that.

You failed, she says to herself, and that twists in her heart. So she hops down off the stage, nearly lands on all fours, straightens up hastily, shoulders stiff and expression fixed. "I think we're done," she says, tautly, before being ambushed from behind by a sneaky cat!

Woof.

"I mean," she says, flustered again, "Where'd you get that, Steph- urk- Stephanie?"

"The whims of opportunity," said Stephanie mysteriously/drunkly. "Carry me." She said, not giving up her piggyback position.

On the plus side, she weighed virtually nothing.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Charlotte shakes herself, shakes her fugue away, and begins to climb delicately up on the edge of the stage delicately, almost awkwardly.

"Stephanie, Marchande. Have we succeeded? We could ask to talk to miss Speaker, see if she will work with the freehold, non?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure our mission was to ruin Speaker lady's political career via the thingy of the speech thing. So we totally won." Stephanie said.

[Anarion]

Originally Posted by Thanqol

"The whims of opportunity," said Stephanie mysteriously/drunkly. "Carry me." She said, not giving up her piggyback position.

Since this is a large outdoor party in San Francisco and she's overage, nobody even gives Stephanie a second look while riding piggy-back on another woman.

[Raz_Fox]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Charlotte shakes herself, shakes her fugue away, and begins to climb delicately up on the edge of the stage delicately, almost awkwardly.

"Stephanie, Marchande. Have we succeeded? We could ask to talk to miss Speaker, see if she will work with the freehold, non?"

And it is at this moment that an idea strikes Marchande. A horrible, wonderful idea. Her eyes practically light up with glee.

"Charlotte," she says, "You're a genius. The only thing better than an enemy fallen is a friend on your side." Wheels begin spinning as she glances back at the stage: how rich is the Speaker? Does she need aides?

This could be very, very good.

[Thanqol]

Originally Posted by Raz_Fox

And it is at this moment that an idea strikes Marchande. A horrible, wonderful idea. Her eyes practically light up with glee.

"Charlotte," she says, "You're a genius. The only thing better than an enemy fallen is a friend on your side." Wheels begin spinning as she glances back at the stage: how rich is the Speaker? Does she need aides?

This could be very, very good.

"If you're going back to talk to her, I need to take that watch back," said Stephanie, removing the golden watch from Marchy's field of view. She hadn't appreciated it anyway.

[Anarion]

None of you are aware of state politicians being known for being especially wealthy. Well, except for the ones that were movie stars, first. Those ones were really wealthy. But Kalina wasn't that.

On stage, fetch Kalina looks like she's staring off at nothing at the moment. The fireworks are playing over the bridge. Red's, greens, blues, yellows. Some kind of double color ones that go up as white light and then turn green as they come down, and what looks to be gigantic sparklers on the side of the bridge itself. It's quite a show.

[SiuiS]

Charlotte nods slowly, and plucks the watch from Stephanie's hand, Secreting it beneath her jacket. Names had weight, even if they didn't have money. Marchande could use such a name to get places, even if she used the weight like a brick to smash the glass before reaching through to the latch.

"Yes, miss. But walk gently? This other rose is wilted, her roots are weak. If you are too eager you will be like the dog in the garden, digging it up, non?" Charlotte tilts her head as the fireworks bloom, flowers in the sky. She is completely certain that the emphasis on 'walk gently' is enough to avoid any incidents over calling Marchande a dog, even obliquely.

[Thanqol]

Stephanie objected to Charlotte taking the watch without asking, but was too drunk to argue the point with anything more than a vague grumble. She leaned backwards, put her hands on the ground, and flipped around up to a perfect vertical. Even drunk, Stephanie's balance never faltered.

She was glad she'd done this because that was the moment Charlotte called her a dog. She rolled her eyes and got out of the way because she didn't want to be in Marchy's way when she went on the warpath.

Instead she started paying attention to the fireworks.

[Is there another Harvest roll here for the joy of the fireworks? I'd argue that it's sufficiently different from the earlier party to merit another Harvest]

[Raz_Fox]

Dog in the garden.

Suddenly, her long nails are digging into her palms. How surprising. She tries to snap back, but her teeth don't seem to want to unclench. She very, very carefully smooths down her suit, trembling with the anger, and then stalks away from Stephanie and Charlotte.

She glances up at the sky as she loops around the stage, towards the back stairs up. Fireworks. Loud, noisy, and senseless; fun and mindless until the sky is black and dancing with the aftershock, and your ears begin ringing with the silence.

She slips into a seat next to the Speaker, using those brash fireworks to hide her passage, and says simply, "Rough day. Can I help?" Her palms throb where she dug in too deep, but she smiles cryptically anyway.

[Anarion]

Originally Posted by Thanqol

[Is there another Harvest roll here for the joy of the fireworks? I'd argue that it's sufficiently different from the earlier party to merit another Harvest]

[Hmm, yes, I agree, it's different enough for everyone to harvest again.]


Fetch Kalina turns to look at Marchande, her eyes hollow and wet with tears. "Leave me be, dog. Have you not done enough for today?"

[Raz_Fox]

Originally Posted by Anarion

Fetch Kalina turns to look at Marchande, her eyes hollow and wet with tears. "Leave me be, dog. Have you not done enough for today?"

"Firstly," Marchande says, showing her teeth in a moment of rashness, "I am a person." The next sentence comes tumbling out instinctively, based on some words and a mind that's actually letting itself stretch for once. "Like you. Maybe a little odd, but is there anyone around here who isn't? And I haven't done much at all today, really. Just came because I heard there was a job that needed doing, and when you're new in town and two days ago you were running for your life from horrible things, jobs are good things. Although I suppose bringing Rose along was my fault, so you can pin that one on me."

She keeps her voice as low as she can, given the crack and hiss of fireworks. "I've only known her for a few days now, but she - you - seem to be the best bloody person I've met, so I thought I'd give you a bit of honesty. And that honesty is that I'm luck, and I'm for hire, if you aren't out to trample the lost ones who managed to stumble back home." She pats her pocket and then says, wistfully, "I need a business card."

[Manipulation+Persuasion(+Trust Me Specialty) to warm fake Speaker up to the idea of having an aide.]

[Anarion]

[-2 overall to the check. You gained a point by complimenting the speaker by complimenting Rose, but admitting that you did bring her and that this was kinda your fault and the fact that she doesn't want to deal with you end up in a penalty.]

[Raz_Fox]

[On four dice, one success.]

[Anarion]

Originally Posted by Raz_Fox

[On four dice, one success.]

Very guardedly, Fetch Kalina turns her head away from staring into nothing and turns to Marchande. "You're luck? What kind of luck are we talking about?"

[SiuiS]

Seeing te speaker distracted, Charlotte pulls the watch out from hiding, and gives it a smooth polish before handing it wordlessly back to Stephanie. When the umbral waif goes to take it back, she tugs on it lightly while nodding her head towards the Speaker, and then looks pointedly at the ... Well, at the cloak she suspects hides the cash. Stephanie is Bette at this than she, so the lucre is well hidden.

The subtle prompt is possibly more likely to get Stephanie's attention, being an act of slow, still deliberate movement in an otherwise hectic affair. which is better? The money, or the favor?

[Thanqol]

Stephanie saw clearly that Charlotte had the right of it. She did not like having to show her face to a mark but she had to back Marchy up.

"Hey, Marchy! I found this awesome watch on the ground, what do you think it's worth?" said Stephanie, slightly drunkenly swaying up onto the stage and waving the Rolex.

[Anarion]

Fetch Kalina looks at the watch, then quickly down to her wrist, then back up again. "That's mine! How in the world? Is this what you meant by luck...young lady?"

Marchande still detects a note of hesitation before Fetch Kalina says young lady, like she might have been planning to say "dog" or "beast" and thought better of it.

[Thanqol]

"... is there a reward?" said Stephanie blankly, playing the part.

[Anarion]

Originally Posted by Thanqol

"... is there a reward?" said Stephanie blankly, playing the part.

Fetch Kalina stares at Stephanie, then smiles and says "yes, the feeling of happiness you obtain by doing the morally correct thing." She then turns back to Marchande, awaiting some explanation of the luck that just occurred.

[Thanqol]

Stephanie gave her the watch, muttered 'cheapskate', and stomped off.

Then she dropped the act and went to watch the fireworks.

[Manipulation+Socialise for harvest?]

[Anarion]

Originally Posted by Thanqol

[Manipulation+Socialise for harvest?]

[Sounds good to me]

[Raz_Fox]

"You see," Marchande says, consciously ignoring the question of whether that was her doing or not, "Luck is a thing that likes bargains, if you know how to talk to it. Little moments can be tweaked," she says, neglecting to add that she's assembling most of what she knows from half-recalled memories and experimentation, "In your favor, or against. It's the difference between the close call and the accident. And that's a good card to have, no?"

[Anarion]

Fetch Kalina seems to be considering. "A question. Would your services mean I need to frequently see that..." she spits "that angel?"

[Thanqol]

Stephanie wandered through the crowds, looking up at the fireworks. The moment seemed strangely perfect, sight and sound, sky on fire with light that was beautiful rather than baneful. It was wonderful.

[Harvest: 2 succeses+1 court, 3G brings me to 10/10]

She showed up by Wikky. "Hey. That all counts as a win, right?"

[Anarion]

The wicker man shifts the cloth around his face in what is, to Stephanie, an utterly unreadable expression.

"It would at the moment, yes. Though I do wonder why your friends are still speaking with it, if you believe you've already won."

[Thanqol]

Originally Posted by Anarion

The wicker man shifts the cloth around his face in what is, to Stephanie, an utterly unreadable expression.

"It would at the moment, yes. Though I do wonder why your friends are still speaking with it, if you believe you've already won."

"Hey, we've done our side of the job. We get to decide what we want to do next," said Stephanie defiantly. "Unless you want to hire us again."

[Anarion]

"You have, at that." The cloth around his face shifts again. "If you are interested in more work, I would be happy to take you up. Either with, or without your friends. Here's my card."

He produces a black business card, made of thick, sturdy paper, and hands it to Stephanie.

The front of the card has white numbers written on it in two lines.
37° 46' 7"
-122° 28' 31"

[Thanqol]

Originally Posted by Anarion

"You have, at that." The cloth around his face shifts again. "If you are interested in more work, I would be happy to take you up. Either with, or without your friends. Here's my card."

He produces a black business card, made of thick, sturdy paper, and hands it to Stephanie.

The front of the card has white numbers written on it in two lines.
37° 46' 7"
-122° 28' 31"

Stephanie looked at it for a second, drunk mind being unhelpful. Then Adventure Game logic kicked in "Oh! GPS co-ordinates!" she said brightly. "Awesome. So you owe us a favour we can call in whenever? Can we trade it to someone else?"