And by the happy hollow of a tree - Escaped the hunt

[rules_winter]

1. Closing the Gates

The Hunt had passed through a fresh gate the previous evening, riding wildly through several territories in Mortal London before slipping back into the Other Realm.  The two gates left open behind them had been large enough for several horses and riders to pass through side by side. In other words, enormous.  Mab wasn't all that concerned for the humans but it was in the middle of London and it would be more trouble than it was worth to have quite that many people disappearing and ending up in the other realm.  So she'd come back the next day to close them.  There was faerie drink sprinkled here and there, a dangerous thing for a human regardless of where it was found and dwarves glamoured as children were brought along to collect things, blending right in with the other children in the park. 

She might be found at the open gate in Dulwich Park earlier in the day, closing the door after allowing a sick looking sidhe slumped on his horse to pass back through and waiting on a nearby bench for the gathering of fae drinks to complete.  Later in the evening she is closing the gate in Epping Forest, where she hides less of her fae nature and the dwarves look like small, stocky men moving about and gathering detritus. 

((Feel free to meet her in either place or, she walked bold as you please through all the Vampire territory from Southwark up, to get to Waltham Forest possibly stopping on the way for a late lunch at one of the pubs along the way. Anywhere along that route will work just fine as well))


2. Final celebration of the end of the Hunt (made for Heiji but others can reply to it earlier in the evening)

Mab made her way among revelers, drinks were flowing and fae danced among the trees, fae lights glowed and floated and it was difficult to see which ones were tiny faeries and which ones were just lights.  It wouldn't surprise her if a few humans had accidentally found themselves among the celebrants in the other realm, fae had been a little lax about the doors while they hunted and it was always fun to play with mortals when you'd had too much to drink.  Mab was drinking in relative moderation, she had never really been the type to lose herself to the syrupy fae mead.  She did, join a dance occasionally or enjoy a conversation. The later it got the more the fae let go.  Unseelie functions tended to devolve after a certain amount of time, always more expressive of the ID than their more romantic counterparts which meant one was more likely to come across a fight or a couple (or trio, or well, you get the idea) in media res while here, you could find these things, mixed with wild dancing and faery circles, abrupt concerts and splashes of fireworks and color, stars appearing to fall from the sky and flowers bursting into bloom. 


3. Anything else!

Comments

2

[detectiveofthewest]

It was later in the evening when Heiji spotted Mab among the other revelers. He made his way toward her. It would have been easy even without the fae lights; his night vision was acute. But they did help.

"Have fun out there?" He himself had resisted the urge to join the hunt, but perhaps that had been a mistake. Participating might have dispelled some of the tension within him since the start of the month. The night called to him, a time of stealth and swiftness.

[rules_winter]

The Unseelie Lady turned, looking a little harried as a nymph skipped away, a daisy crown now hanging askew on Mab's head. The flowers were already starting to frost as a reflection of her irritation. Her eyes settled on Heiji and she puffed out a breath, getting her annoyance back under control. "The hunt was exhilirating." She looked at him curiously, the sense of tension just enough for her to notice he was a little on edge. "I did not see you out there." Perhaps he was worried the hunt would forget that a fox wasn't the target. Like a homicidal game of tag.

[detectiveofthewest]

"Yeah, well. Kinda hard to get in the mood when some drunk lout mistakes your cousin for game." Hunting and foxes, not really an ideal combination. Unless it was the fox doing the hunting, of course.

He looked at the daisy crown, then back down at Mab. His eyes were slightly darker than usual... or maybe it was just the light. "So tell me about it. Did you have a thrilling chase?"

[rules_winter]

Ahh, no wonder he was strung a little tightly. "It does seem an unfortunate time of year to be a kitsune." She replied, sipping from her glass and adjusting a little to avoid an elbow of someone passing by. "Your cousins are well though?"

She had not had the honor of meeting his playful brethren, which all told might be for the best. Her eyes focused on his for a moment, noting they were either dilated or the shade had shifted. She idly wondered how much faery drink he'd had. "Mmm." The hunt had been stirring. The white hart had given a merry chase. "I find I forget sometimes just how stimulating the hunt can be. It does take on a magic of it's own once it starts." Even Mab had trouble sometimes keeping her hind brain from taking over when hunting magic inflamed her predatory nature. She had rather indulged herself.

[detectiveofthewest]

"They're fine." And they were probably busy getting into trouble, but at least they had a few babysitters who could look after them.

"Did it run?" Generally speaking, Heiji did not stare into people's eyes. Both his upbringing and his fox nature told him that the polite thing was to avert one's gaze once in a while -- to show that no aggression was meant.

But now he seemed wrapped up in the question. Maybe in something else, as well. "Did you see it fall?"

[rules_winter]

"Well and done." She probably isn't all that concerned about his cousins but it is polite to be certain no lasting harm came to them.

His question made her focus on him completely. That was the kind of questions someone caught up in the hunt would ask. He'd never come across quite so bloodthirsty before. She was quiet for a moment, observing. It seemed quite obvious the Hart ran else the hunt would have been very short. So she ignored that question. Finally she tilted her head a fraction of an inch, a slow smile spreading across her face. "Yes. I was there when the great stag fell, it's heart's blood spilling into the soil."

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji stepped closer. He'd never really given it much thought earlier -- Mab was older than him, and also Unseelie. She was from a different era, a creature of her nature who did not particularly seem inclined to change. Ever.

But she was also quite beautiful. Like a flower encased in a sudden frost, pale and delicate of feature.

And her eyes were very green.

1 Epping Forest

[necromancynow]

As it so happened, Faust had been out in the forest looking for supplies -- not all of the ingredients for his spells involved raiding cemeteries, after all. It was late in the evening when he spotted a familiar face.

"Hello," he said to Mab. "I see that we're both out late."

[rules_winter]

Mab's hand was lifted, cold air frosting the trees nearby and the grass beneath her feet while she worked. She turned her head a little, the gate now the size of a person instead of an army, just barely a shimmer showing there's anything there at all. She allows her hand to fall to her side and pushes her hair back from where it's fallen out of the updo. "Doctor Faust. I had not expected to see you wandering the forests."

[necromancynow]

"Some of the best poisons grow here," said Faust, not at all creepily. "And the trees remind me of my home. I wonder, since you are here, if I might pose a problem to you."

Of course, he'd posed a similar question to other fae before... but none could help him.

[rules_winter]

"Poisons." She repeated, wondering what uses a doctor had for poisons. Well, some could help cure other issues when used in moderation. Perhaps that was his game. If he was a doctor, should he not be able to order the proper medication? She was under the impression that was what was done nowaday.

The dwarves were still tromping through the forest a way's behind them so she turned to fully face Faust and waited expectantly for what problem he might pose.

[necromancynow]

"My wife died some time ago," he said, keeping things like perhaps how many questionable things he'd done in the meantime unsaid.

"I've been trying to get her back. Yet it seems that no one can help me. Not even the fae."

[rules_winter]

Well, there's a lot of personal information from a stranger. People have been so close lipped around her she simply isn't accustomed to such forthrightness. But then again, need drives. Man can do terrible things for love.

She tilted her head a little, considering the man in front of her. Even Mab is no miracle worker. But that doesn't mean something is impossible. Several years ago, the Word of Kemmler had been unearthed. Not something she would voluntarily offer to any witch as it caused far too much trouble, armies of zombies and shades, practitioners becoming godlike beings. But there was a witch she had known of who specialized in transferring her soul from one body into another. Delusions of grandeur aside, it wasn't impossible to put a soul into another body, that witch had done so, surviving centuries by stealing other people's bodies.

"You search for eternity. It is a dangerous bargain to make." She murmured, almost to herself. "It would require heinous acts."

Timeskip!

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji didn't so much wake up as slowly slip into consciousness. The hunt was over, he remembered. He had gone to find someone, had found them. Now he was in a bed that was not his own, and he was not alone in it. In fact, it appeared that his fellow occupant was --

"Mab." His voice was a little hoarse. Apparently he'd overused it a little during the previous night.

[rules_winter]

It was more the movement on the bed that woke her, as opposed to the horse use of her name. But that definitely focused her. He stretched once, looking up at Heiji with a satisfied smile. She didn't try to cover up, nor did she pretend to give him a moment for modesty. Instead she took in the sight of bed mussed, post sex Heiji like she might enjoy licking honey off of every inch of his body. "Good morning."

[detectiveofthewest]

It was that look more than anything that brought the memories of the last night back. He'd approached her, he'd propositioned her, and he had definitely not been a gentleman about it once they'd gotten started. By all rights, he should apologize; he'd been out of control and either one of them could have been seriously wounded in the process.

And yet the way she was looking at him made it difficult to speak. Along with the memories came some of the feeling -- the raw, animal need. His gaze slipped downward to take in the long, silvery hair, the more-than-generous curves, and the languid, complete confidence. Damnably, part of him wanted another round, and then he really would have no excuse.

Curiosity killed the cat, he thought nonsensically. Satisfaction brought him back. Even more outlandishly, he thought of asking her if she was all right. When, of course, it would have been his fault if she wasn't.

Instead Heiji blinked slowly. He resisted actually getting up. "Morning."

And then, because the situation seemed to require something else: "It was my first Hunt."

[rules_winter]

So many things seemed to flit through Heiji's expression. She turned on her side, one leg sliding down so her knee touched the bed in front of the other, drawing the eye to her hips. They were not mortals, it took far more to damage her than a little rough and tumble. She let him stew in his own thoughts, lifting a hand to prop her head up and the other to trail a nail absently across his collar bone to the mark she'd left on his neck. It would likely fade soon but it made her smile at the memory of putting it there while they both cried out.

The announcement that it had been his first hunt seemed incongruous with the situation. She lifted those cool eyes to his and blinked once, as she attempted to determine what he was trying to say, her hand paused. "You took to it well." She finally offered, almost absently, licking her lips as her eyes traveled back down his chest and continued their trek.

[detectiveofthewest]

It was really difficult to regret his actions when the person he'd supposedly wronged was licking her lips at him as if contemplating her next meal.

How often did he have a partner that liked it rough? That was not only vocal about it, but demanded it? He liked the way she dug her nails into him, the way she felt with her thighs wrapped around his hips, the way she'd bitten him in her own frenzy.

The hell with it. Heiji reached almost absently to the mark she'd left on his neck. "It's been a long time since anyone's dared to put a mark on me." His own blue-green eyes were half closed; there was invitation in them.

Or maybe a challenge.

[rules_winter]

She chuckled at that, the sound low and still rolling with some of her leftover desire. It wasn't as immediate as last night, she was fully satisfied this morning. "Perhaps I was also influenced by the hunt somewhat." Her hand settled on his hip and it sounded like she was fairly certain it wasn't the hunt that had made her do that. "It was certainly enjoyable in the making." The smile she gave him was full of wicked intent to counter his challenge and she slung a leg over him, pressing him to his back so that she was laying on top of him, her lips going to the hollow of his neck opposite the side she'd left a mark.

ooc

[damnyank]

Would Mab have any reason to wander into a shop that sells objects/curses/spell ingredients used for darker shades of magic?

If so, would you be up for having the two of them encounter each other there? 8D

I'll find a reason :)

[rules_winter]

The door jangled, the dented little bell announcing another arrival and the interior smelling heavily of incense, cooled a little. When Mab moved into the darkened interior she looked cleaner than the store itself. Which wasn't saying much if the expression on her face was anything to judge. Her eyes scanned shelves of arcane objects and bottles of powders and liquids, pale fingers lifting one object, staring at the hunk of useless plaster and setting it back down before she turned toward the shelves of books at the back. Not everything in the store was fake, from what she could tell, but it would take someone with a touch of magic to tell the difference between tourist knickknacks and valuable dark magic artifacts.

Overall, the store seemed to be going more for performance than substance from what she could see. But you never really know what you might find so she started on one side of the bookshelves and began scanning the bindings for something useful or unique.

[damnyank]

And just why is a light witch perusing a shop of darker magical inclinations?

Well, a light witch, Jackson may be, at least by official classification, but he's never been discriminating in his pursuit of knowledge. He's spent years outside the boundaries and censure of covens, wandering across the Middle East, Europe, and American backwaters, picking up all sorts of odds and ends of magical knowledge in the process. As such, he's of the mind that restricting knowledge is some real censorship bullshit, and anyone who'd cause great harm with dark magic, would've discovered it regardless of the rules.

Jackson's nevertheless concerned about getting caught by someone of Daybreak. Hence why he's lowered the brim of his hat, obscuring his profile as he lurks amongst the dusty bookshelves at the back of the shop. As he moves to pull a book from the shelf -- A Delineation on the Curative and Magical Properties of Human Blood-- he brushes against Mab's smaller fingers. A chill zips up his back. A sensation of magic, but not of a human witchy sort.

Thankfully.

He peers to the side, tilting his head so that the golden-dim light of the old wall sconces illuminates his face. A familiar face.

"We gotta stop meeting like this,"he declares, with a wry smile.

At least there aren't any damn cellphones this time.

[rules_winter]

Mab pauses in her reach as he brushes her, then her fingers close on the spine of the book she'd been reaching for. She pulled it out and turned her head to Jackson. Ah yes, the rude man. Wonderful. He was lurking in the backs of spell shops now as though he was looking at girly magazines and didn't want to get caught. But he pastes that confidence back on and manages to sound like he thinks she'll be entertained by meeting him again.

They are alone in the back, which doesn't particularly concern Mab but might encourage him to get handsy again. Finally she speaks, though it seems like she doesn't particularly want to do so. "Meeting generally involves introductions, does it not?"

[damnyank]

"Introductions-- in this day and age? Aren't we supposed to go straight to the insults and innuendos?" Jackson questions, not in the least bit serious. Wearing a casual, easy smile, he seems to be in a lighter mood compared to their last encounter. Being dark, dour and derisive amongst black magic might be a little too cliched for the Captain. Or maybe it's his way of distracting them from the dark magic around them.

He doesn't want to explain why he's here.

"Homer Jackson, at your service," he introduces himself with a polite tip of his hat. Notably old fashioned. "And who do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

[rules_winter]

"I have found myself to be rather old fashioned in some respects." She replied dryly, trying to figure out his game. This man had nearly come to blows with her when she was going about buying a cellular phone, and he was joking with her now? Smiling as though they ought to be friends. And apparently giving her his real name. She stared at him for a while longer than was strictly comfortable. Did he expect her to give her real name? To someone who had already had the audacity to manhandle her in public? He had witchy magic which meant he could summon her and she certainly did not want to give this man that much control over her. Even if she could handle him on her own he had hit her as the type to summon her just to be contrary and waste her time.

"You may call me Ms. Sommerset, Homer Jackson." Yep he probably should have expected that.

She's actually not that surprised to see him in a dark magic shop. After all, he'd thought nothing of destroying a store display as a distraction. A certain disregard for others was a heavy ingredient in many darker magic spells. "I find myself ... confused. I was under the impression my presence offended you in general."