july catch-all for desmond

[trickofthelight]

1. all of july: job hunting
Desmond might have a place to stay for now, but the little bit of money he was given isn't going to last forever, so that only means one thing: he needs to find a job. Keeping to Circle Daybreak and other witch-friendly territories, Desmond walks along the streets, keeping an eye out for any signs in windows that indicate a place might be looking to take on an extra pair of hands. Unfamiliarity with the city, though, means he has a hard time navigating, and it takes no time at all to get lost.

Meaning it's time to accost a stranger, giving them a sheepish grin. "Do you have a minute? I think I took a wrong turn somewhere."

Otherwise, you might see him come in to a bar or a shop, looking around for the owner or someone who looks like they might be in charge. If they're otherwise occupied, he might turn to you instead. "Sorry, but would you happen to know who I should talk to about getting a job here? I heard they're hiring."

2. all of july: bird's eye view
There's no better way to see the city than from the roofs, so Desmond can frequently be found hauling himself up along fire escapes and -- occasionally -- architecture, though he's careful to try and do it out of sight of main thoroughfares. Still that could mean you see someone scrambling up the side of a building,hear a scuffle of feet outside your window, or a soft thump and some low swearing from an alleyway when he doesn't quite stick his landing the way he's supposed to.

Once he does get to the rooftops, Desmond pulls out a pen and a map of London, turning it around in his hands and flipping through it until he gets to the page that corresponds to whatever he's looking at right now. Narrowing his eyes, he tries to match the skyline and the landmarks to the map.

"Guess who built this place never heard of urban planning, did they?" he says out loud, to no one in particular.

[ ooc; need me to write up a custom starter? want to tag in with something completely unrelated? just shoot me a pm! ]

Comments

early july: coven gathering [for mogget]

[trickofthelight]

Witches, much like Assassins, like sticking together. Most of the people here don't really know what Desmond can do, besides apparently 'suck at magic,' but with someone already in Circle Daybreak to vouch for him they don't seem to care much about where he comes from, either. Transients are common enough in London, and there are much more interesting things to talk about anyway.

Conversation ebbs and flows in the small yoga studio: the witches talk about the latest Night Council vote, speculate about what that might mean for Circle Daybreak, and talk about how they'll divide the work for preparing for the next full moon -- maybe find another coven to work with, to get the numbers they need for the spell.

Desmond listens without being able to make much sense of it, cross-legged on the wooden floor. This isn't much his mental image of what a coven meeting would look like -- the studio belongs to one of the other witches in this particular coven -- but in his opinion it's better than velvet curtains, blood rituals, and black candles. With the heat of the day, all the windows have been opened, and someone's got a bit of magic going to keep the air circulating through no matter how stuffy the rest of the city gets. (He should learn that spell, it would be useful when he gets back to his place.)

For now, he's sort of the odd one out. Now that introductions have been made, he's stuck with a book of basic spells until the grownups actually get their business finished and someone has time to teach him something. Unfortunately, it's taking so long he's starting to actually nod off.

[bellbound]

Meanwhile, a small cat nose nudges at Desmond's hand, whiskers brushing the skin. Assessing the scent and magic of a newcomer. This particular coven is dominated by health-conscious witches who actually choose to go on morning jogs, consume liquefied vegetables and run in marathons. Hence the yoga studio. Mogget despises the lot of them, but the newcomer seems different. It's likely he got told to go to the nearest coven in his area without considering its suitability. Whatever happened, he's not without power which leaves Mogget wondering why he's holding a very basic book of spells.

The cat rubs his head along the witch's hand, intending to wake him up. He doesn't say anything just yet. He's curious to know whether the stranger has any idea who or what he is first.

[trickofthelight]

"M'wake," Desmond mumbles, one eye opening to focus on the fuzzy form in front of him. He isn't entirely startled by the sudden touch of a small nose against his hand, since the other witches have familiars who've greeted him the same way. It is, however, slightly embarrassing, because he most definitely was dozing there.

"Hey there. Don't think we've met yet." He opens both eyes, coming properly awake with a jaw-splltting yawn. It's not one of the familiars here, is it? In a moment or two, he'll remember why he was warned to watch out for a white cat, but for now holds out his hand for a proper sniff-and-greet, giving the cat a careful scratch behind the base of one ear if he's allowed.

[bellbound]

"Don't think we have," Mogget agrees, sniffing delicately at the offered hand. He allows the witch to scratch his ear before moving away to circle around him, getting an all-round view. "Your name?"

[trickofthelight]

"Desmond," Lambert answers, distractedly, still trying to place the cat. When the realization clicks, it's practically visible, since he stiffens just a bit, head turning to watch Mogget as he circles.

"And you're..." He really should have been paying attention, but to be fair, it hadn't seemed important at the time. "... the top witch's familiar, right?" He hasn't sorted out how he feels about binding fae yet, but ... it's a concept that's a little odd to wrap his head around, to say the least. In his memories, it felt a lot more like the fae were more interested in binding humans.

slamming in here with a wildcard

[hurtcomfort]

Rhys left. He left a few days ago. And yes, Cole knows why and Cole knows that it's important and Cole knows that he and Evangeline couldn't stay but Rhys left and Cole couldn't leave and now Cole's alone. He's alone and he's terrified. He had a few people here who might be friends, might be people who could help, and one of them is Desmond. Desmond the spirit medium. Desmond...not his friend, not yet, Cole didn't really have friends, lost and lonely as he was. But Desmond could be one.

Thankfully, as Rhys left a few days ago, Cole hasn't completely faded away to nothingness yet (but he's so scared, tense and terrified, worried that it would happen soon). He still had some of his powers. And he could still sort of feel Desmond, he could know where he was. So SURPRISE, DESMOND you've got a frantic ghost teleporting just right in front of you and Cole just honestly doesn't know and/or care what Desmond's doing right now, especially considering he's on the verge of a panic attack.

"Can you keep me whole?"

Might need to take this conversation slowly.

[trickofthelight]

Given that Desmond was in the middle of buying himself groceries for the week, yeah, Cole just about gives him a heart attack, since he manifests right in the middle of his shopping basket. He remembers the ghost from a bit ago, the one whose alley he'd never quite gotten around to visiting (and seeing in front of him now, he feels both guilty and worried -- can ghosts take things personally?). But when Cole immediately opens with that, his expression just turns to pure confusion.

"Wait -- what?" What's that supposed to mean? Also, they're in the middle of a store aisle, like the worst place to have this conversation ever.

[hurtcomfort]

Cole has not realized in the slightest that Desmond's busy. It's entirely possible that he's forgotten that people don't want to be bothered while grocery shopping. So, Cole just still manifests in the middle of the shopping basket, not even bothering to move, a bunch of tomatoes creepily hanging out in the middle of his body, while still looking so worried all the while.

"Rhys left. I can't feel him anymore. You have to help, make me whole, keep me from hurting!"

He's not going to go back to that. That anchorless state of him haunting the alleyway, confused, worried, not understanding anything, lashing out to try and get people to see him. He refuses to be that Cole again.

[trickofthelight]

Desmond glances up and down the aisle, quickly. Luckily for them, the only other people around right now are a frazzled-looking housewife trying to find the best bargain on the shelf, accompanied by her chocolate-smeared toddler -- who happens to be staring directly at them both, sucking on her thumb. Desmond leans forward, frowning at Cole.

"I don't understand what's happening," he'll admit that readily enough. "I'll help if I can. But I don't think I can do that here." The grocery is not a place for occult doings, generally speaking.

[hurtcomfort]

The problem with Cole is that even with Rhys's help, he still has a tenuous grasp on his powers. So, as he clenches his fists, can of baked beans telekinetically explodes at the end of the aisle. It's not out of malice or anger or anything: Cole's expression and Cole's tone of voice is one of pure fear. This is just him reaching out, reacting with his powers in ways he doesn't expect.

"Then where? We need to do this quick. I can't...I won't let it happen again."

2

[roddy_reinigen]

Desmond might notice discarded clothes on the corner of the rooftop. He also might notice that there was a rat running around on the roof, who froze when he showed up, watching him, seeming like he was unsure of what to make of this human who had just climbed the building he was on.

Roddy watched the man for a bit, wondering what it was he was looking for, or if this was simply a very unorthodox method of figuring out his way around the city. When he asked a question, however, Roddy squeaked, surprised. Was this guy talking to him?

[trickofthelight]

For the first little while, muttering over the map, Desmond didn't really happen to notice the clothes with him -- and there wasn't any further commentary that seemed to be directed to anyone in particular, so it was safe enough to figure out that he was probably talking to himself.

After a moment or two, though, when he looked up? He couldn't help frowning at the pile of clothes, something that made him take a look around more warily.

"... Is anyone there?" he wasn't really expecting an answer, admittedly. Even if someone was, what motivation would they have to give their position away?

[roddy_reinigen]

Clearly not talking to him, then. Although, Roddy decided, it wasn't as if though the man would have any reason to concern himself with a rat regardless. Roddy relaxed at that thought, and decided to act like a normal rat and scurried further away, until he was next to the wall of where the elevator let out on the roof (the way normal people got onto roofs), and started grooming himself.

[trickofthelight]

The scuffle of movement out of the corner of his eye made Desmond twitch, before he realized -- well, it's just a rat. Nothing to see there, right? He relaxed, but only slightly. The clothes, though, were still a mystery. This was an awfully high up place for them to be, and it wasn't like there was a water tank nearby to skinny dip into or anything...

Out of curiosity more than anything else, he took a break from scanning the skyline to examine the pile of clothes gingerly. He wasn't about to touch someone else's things, but if something had been left behind -- a wallet, some other personal possession -- he could at least figure out if its owner was planning to come back for it.

[roddy_reinigen]

That got a reaction out of Roddy. There was indeed a wallet in the pants pocket. It contained a five pound note, an ID and a tube pass, which in the grand scheme of things wasn't worth much, but he still didn't want this guy taking it.

Roddy squeaked angrily, then started to dart at the man, making it halfway to him, before he hesitated. Rushing to defend his things was not only suspicious behavior for a rat, he also didn't want to take the chance that the man might react to the sudden arrival of a rat by flinging him off the roof. And so Roddy decided to just stand there, watching him intently to see what this man was going to do with his things.

1

[thelastjoy]

She's loafing around, leaning against a building and watching people walk by like, well,a bored teenager. Bored enough that when she realizes she's being called out, she actually looks relieved for a few moments.

"Sure I do," Girl says, rolling her shoulders. She smiles quickly, sticking her hands in her pockets. "I'm not best at navigatin' this place, but I might be able to tell ya how to get 'round. Where were ya supposed to be?"

hope this is all right! assumed tdm thread was game canon but didn't get around to names

[trickofthelight]

"Uh..." Desmond takes a moment to consult the scrap of paper he has in hand. This is the fourth place he's tried to find today, so to be fair, all the weird names -- of places and streets alike -- are starting to get mixed up in his head.

"A pub called the Lucky Duck," he reports back. With a name like that, he figures she'd remember it easily enough, whether she's actually been to the place or not. Then he pauses, doing a double take to squint at her. Wait, hasn't he met her before...?

Works for me!

[thelastjoy]

"Lucky Duck," she repeats, tone making it clear she's resisting laughter. He's right it's a hard thing to forget and she wracks her mind a moment before snapping her fingers. "Lucky you I think I've heard of that one. Uh, that way? I think. And a right hand turn when ya see the shop with the big dress display in the window."

Girl points the opposite way from where he came, leaving the directions off with a shrug. There are plenty of adults hanging around the pack and she overhears enough that she's somewhat sure she's right.

"Or I could look it up on my phone. The least I could do for someone who helped me out before." It's not hard for her to remember a moment of embarrassment in detail and, being a wolf, easy to catch on when a scent was familiar.

[trickofthelight]

Someone who helped her out before? Desmond squints, unable to place her at first, before recognition hits and his expression clears with relief.

"The one who likes the idea of boys in skirts, right?" As soon as the words are out of his mouth, he winces and rubs at his neck, giving an embarrassed cough. "Wow, sorry, that sounded really bad out of context. But uh, if you could look it up, that'd help. My phone's a brick."

Purposefully so. But it does make things like this a little tricky as a result.

[thelastjoy]

She pulls her phone from her pocket but has to take a moment to laugh. "That was me. Don't worry. It probably sounded just as stupid in context."

There will be plenty of time to look back on things she's said and cringe when she's an adult.

"Not into gettin' the new versions? They're kinda worth it." She taps on her phone for a few moments then holds it up to him. There's a map on the screen. "Think I was pretty much on the money. Just a few shops down from where I said."

YOGA TIME!

[freelife]

There's always been something that Evie loves about meditation. Focusing on your breathing and looking inside of yourself- Henry Green had been quite fond of it, and his fondness had worn off on her. Even now, over a hundred years later, she always sought to meditate, and one of her favorite ways to do so was through yoga. Besides, it kept her spry, and this health kick that the world seemed to be on was pretty great.

Dressed in her athleisure best, Evie arrived at the yoga studio before her class. She shrugs off her light jacket, revealing her sports bra and black workout leggings. Sliding out of her shoes, her feet are bare. Contrary to all the black she wears, her yoga mat is a bright pink, tucked under her arm. Hot yoga, today. And after that, well, you can't go wrong adding a bit of blood to her usual after-yoga smoothie.

aw yeah yoga

[trickofthelight]

Desmond has a routine, now -- or something close enough to pass for one, at any rate. So far, his efforts at finding a job mean that he's taken up working part-time at the yoga studio owned by one of the coven witches, filling in as a cashier and a back-up instructor. Today, though, he's just a student along with the rest. Yet despite the heat of the room, he's still wearing a sleeveless hoodie rather than a tank top or even going shirtless. content to deal with the extra layer as he warms up.

What he's not expecting to see, when he looks up, is the vampire he met on one of his earliest wanderings in London strolling into this particular studio. He freezes, mid-stretch, before he forces himself to relax. It's a free city, he reminds himself. There isn't some kind of international treaty being broken if a vampire does some yoga.

"Hey," he greets, before he can think better of it.

[freelife]

Evie's already started to lay down her mat, bottle of water set out in front of her when she hears Desmond call.

She turns around smoothly and smiles at him, her fangs well-hidden. "Hello-" they never exchanged names. But she remembers him. "Glad to see you didn't fall and break your legs."

[trickofthelight]

No, they definitely didn't exchange names, and Desmond hadn't completely let go of his wariness -- but it is, admittedly, quite a different thing to be meeting someone in the shadows of a rooftop and a well-lit (if already-sweltering) yoga studio.

"You too," he says, automatically, then winces at how that sounds. "I mean -- I didn't know you come here?" It comes out more of a question than a definitive statement. He really is out of his element here.

[freelife]

Evie takes a moment to smile at him. "Yes- though admittedly it takes considerably more for me to break my legs than you." And she was not about to fall and break her legs any time soon.

"I do, from time to time. Sometimes it's nice to get out of my flat and into a classroom. Make sure my forms are right, maybe learn something new." She looks at him carefully. "You don't much seen the yoga type."