undergrounds | Street where the riches of ages are sold (OPEN)

Entry tags:

Street where the riches of ages are sold (OPEN)

A: Barnet

Kenzi and Jennifer weren't friends by any stretch of the word. Acquaintances was a closer definition but even then, they didn't run in the same circles. The only reason she even knew Jennifer was the girl found dead in Barnet was she might... be following police intel. For a friend.

It was weird for her to be doing something that wasn't outright for her own self interest but it was shockingly helpful. After all, once she heard the description of the Jane Doe it was only a matter of time before her research and connections (however small they might be) told her one thing.

Jennifer - a Circle Midnight witch - was dead, killed by someone invested in the Redbright takeover in Barnet. Kenzi hoped that nobody from Circle Daybreak, The Night Council, or any vampires would go where Jennifer lived and take things. She didn't think they'd be that stupid - or that smart.

So Kenzi went in the morning, when everyone was headed to work and acted as if she knew exactly what she was doing. Confidence would get you access to more things than fake badges. But she had one of those too just in case.

It would be a tough sell, though. Considering she was wearing stiletto leather boots that went all the way up to her thighs, and had green threaded through her very black hair. Not a cop, by any stretch.

But that didn't stop her from breaking the seal of tape and touching her little wooden key-chain to the door. There was the tell-tale click of locks being undone, by the sound of how many there were - it seemed like Jennifer either had something pretty valuable inside or was super paranoid.

Well, she did get murdered after all. Maybe she wasn't so paranoid.

Kenzi spends a good portion of her time frame that she allowed herself roaming around the apartment and stuffing things she wants into her backpack. Hey, Jennifer wasn't going to be using them anymore. Might as well make sure they stayed out of Redbright's hands in the meantime. A few books for magic, almost all her jewelry and her little black contact book that had all the phone numbers a witch could ask for.

Maybe there was something important in there?

Kenzi is leaving the apartment with her backpack filled to the brim and going straight for her car.

B: Portobello Road - Friday

It was a cheap gimmick, and something that usually only got the stupid people and tourists interested - but that was what she wanted. It was easy to fleece someone who was too busy listening to what she was saying about how fascinating their life line was to notice her lifting their watch or hand jewelry. And it didn't hurt that she asked for 16 quid before even speaking to them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, don't be shy. Come, see what the future has in store for you and your loved ones!"

She had a little stall on the market road, something her cousin had hooked her up with. It was all decked out in exactly what you would expect from a Russian fortune teller, except she was about fifty years too young to make it especially hokey.

Kenzi was dressed like a hippy. Not a scrap of black on her, and her make-up was done so as to look as natural and flower-child-y as possible. To top it off, she was wearing an ashy blonde wig with some stuff woven into the hair.

She might also be selling knockoff charms to normal people. They're in the approximation of the real charms that she makes, but they're completely useless. Still, a witch or someone who knows her work might recognize them.

C: Late Night Munchies

There was a plus to living in London. There was always something open and ready to serve you greasy, disgusting food. Which was exactly what Kenzi wanted late at night after working in her shop all day long. She might just be making Day and Moonlight Jewelry and other little charms and sundry items that she sells to people who want them, but she is only one witch. And that means constantly flexing her magical muscles for a whole day makes her exhausted, and starving too.

She's sitting inside a little pizza place, whose front of house is so small they only have room for a counter to order at and chairs along the walls and front windows to sit at while you wait for your food.

Kenzi is dicking around on her phone when suddenly, her nose starts to bleed. Yet another lovely side affect of not having a coven.

D: W-W-WILDCARD!!

Make your own up if you feel up to it!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He kind of doubted that Kenzi was telling the truth, but in the end... well, dead was dead. He already knew who'd killed her and had strong suspicions about the why. And now here was another witch at Jennifer's apartment, carting a bunch of things out of her apartment.

"Listen, I need to talk to one of you guys. You're not with Redbright, are ya? Wouldn't make much sense if ya were, I guess; them types are more interested in makin' sure people follow the rules when you're alive."

Kenzi stayed quiet as Heiji spoke. He didn't sound like a typical cop, but that didn't mean anything. After all, if she could lie someone else could, right? She didn't take into account that the guy might be fae. Fairies always seemed like they were above petty human or mortal shit.

"Okay...Who the hell are you?"

One thing was clear, she didn't like this.

Heiji made a wordless noise of indecision when presented with the question. On one hand, he really liked the whole anonymity thing. It was nice. It meant he could walk around and chat with people and not have them scrutinizing his words for lies or lugging iron around or trying to summon him or god knew what else.

...On the other hand, it did seem right to come clean? Especially if he was approaching a dark witch to ask about another dark witch and general witchy business.

"I'm Heiji. I'm fae. And if you knew this girl, then... I guess I'm lookin' for some answers."

Hopefully, he wasn't getting himself into trouble here.

Kenzi went silent for a few seconds again, sort of gobsmacked that he just...up and said it. She didn't think that would work.

But he could be lying. Someone could lie about being fae couldn't they? It was actually smarter than it sounded at first. To her at least.

"Wha- is that whole 'fae can't lie' thing seriously legit?"

Off track Kenzi.

Apparently, this was just a first all around.

"Huh?" Well, goddammit, he couldn't lie about that, could he? "Well, yeah. Although I'd still watch it if I was talkin' to an Unseelie. They ain't so bad when you get to know 'em, most of them. But they ain't like answering to anyone, either. Makes 'em crabby."

"Oh, holy shit dude."

Suddenly Kenzi seems like she lost five shades of serious. It makes her feel a lot more comfortable, being pretty sure that the guy was what he said he was.

"I...," well just cause he couldn't lie didn't mean she had to tell the truth. "Like I said, I'm just a friend of the family's. Our moms hung out when we were kids."

Yeah, good vague excuse without it sounding like too much bullshit. Or so she thinks.

"Yeah, that's fine, I'm not..." He scrubbed a hand through his bangs briefly.

"I haven't been around these parts long. But I work in Barnet, and I was nearby when Jennifer died. I think I know what happened; that's why I was planning on sniffing around here. But since you're here, and you're a family friend and all..."

You were a family friend, weren't you Kenzi. A dark, witchy family friend. "I thought I could ask you. I heard Redbright's been pushing hard on non-Daybreak witches. So how hard are they pushing?" Enough to off a girl and pin it all on a random mugging?

If there was a bit more levity in the air, Kenzi might make a joke about exactly how hard things were. As it was, she was feeling a little more serious than that. She shrugs unhelpfully, still a little wary but at ease enough to tell him what she did know. Honestly.

"Hard enough for some good Samaritan to be running a No-Daybreak's allowed underground railroad."

Besides, if someone was asking her to complain about Redbright she would oblige.

"At least that's what the gossip tells me."

She didn't know who was doing it or if it was even real. All she could say was she was glad she didn't need to use it. Yet.

She did have a card though.

From his pocket, Heiji produced a card with a message about leaving Barnet on it. "You mean this? From what I hear, you guys are pretty scattered right now. Which'd make sense, given what I been hearing about Redbright's policies. That kinda makes my job a little tough."

He looked at her for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision. "I'd like to make you an offer. Or your coven, if you belong to one." Though it seemed like Midnight's membership was a little sparse at the moment. "I can't speak on behalf of all of us. But I do know the fae ain't fans of Redbright. 'Specially not the Unseelie. Circle Daybreak's been eating up the southwest territories, and that means no one gets in or out... least not the normal way. I'm gonna advocate that we work together on this. Or make a trade, I guess." Since the people around here didn't trust the fae, maybe that term would be more comfortable.

Edited 2015-06-08 19:16 (UTC)

"Your job?"

The question is sort of swept under the rug of her train of thought as he continues to explain. She always did have a limited amount of patience. But she is, at the very least, hooked now.

"Wait you .. I'm not in on this...whole 'we're all one big happy family' thing. Free agent."

That was ... an honest mistake. She was here after all. And a dark witch. And if he was really fae, he already knew that. He could probably see the years of black magic fucking with her aura or however fae knew what folks were without asking.

Guess it was a fair trade for not being able to lie outright.

"I'm not out of the broom closet yet, get it?"

She didn't want to be outed before she was good and ready, and it sounded like Heiji wanted to talk to the person who made those cards.

...A card exactly like Abigail gave her. But that was given to her in an exercise of trust. She couldn't just give the chick away.

"Call the number, man. You'll get some answers. Just uh...tell the ch-perrrrson who answers that Jennifer sent you?"

Kenzi stumbled over revealing the gender of the good Samaritan behind the cards and the cover up of 'person' sounded more like a question. The Jennifer thing was something she just made up, that she'd have to remind herself to use later when she texted Abigail so Heiji could actually talk to her.

"They spook easy."

Heiji gave Kenzi a bit of a funny look, then glanced in the direction of Jennifer's place. "...You sure that's a good idea, usin' her name? 'Specially if they spook easy. I mean, I'll do it... but they might not be too crazy about me usin' a dead witch's name to call up their witches-only hotline."

He paused. "Anyhow. Free agent or not, you are one of the people I came to talk to. So here's my number. I dunno, it might come in useful." A moment's digging produced a business card for a local bookstore with a phone number scribbled onto the back of it.

"...And would you mind not spreading the fae bit around? It's not exactly top secret, but it's a pain in the butt tryin' to get around without getting shot at."

Kenzi shoots Heiji a Very Serious look, one that she hopes conveys: You keep my secret I'll keep yours. before she breaks into a confused sort of grin. The stage lost an adequate actress with Kenzi Malikov.

"Fae? Whose fae?"

She spreads her palms wide and starts walking to her car, turning around to keep looking at him as she talks.

"I was just helping a friend."

It's not an outright invitation to follow if he feels like it, but she is still engaging him.

He could never really help it when people gave him Very Serious Looks; he snorted a little despite himself and followed her over to her car. "Well, thanks. Guess I never really asked for your name, did I? I don't usually just launch into the whole cloak and dagger thing."

Even if she wasn't really a family friend, he supposed it didn't matter much. Better that Jennifer's things should be in the hands of another witch than in a Redbright vault somewhere.

Well. Probably. Maybe Kenzi was planning something terrible with them, involving the tears of little fluffy kittens.

She didn't mind the snorting. It was kind of refreshing, to be honest. Someone not taking everything so seriously. But that always came with a limit, like so many other things, didn't it?

Kenzi considered giving him a fake name. Like Toni Soprano. It was her favorite alias after all, why not use it on this fella?

"Kenzi."

No last names.

Because everyone would recognize the name as fake... unless they supposedly spent all their time in some fairy realm, not watching television. So point.

"Okay. Kenzi it is, then." He could have left at that point; certainly he'd gotten across the point that he'd wanted to. But ultimately, his curiosity won out.

"So... guess I haven't met a lot of dark witches. But it seems like you ain't really talked to any fae before, either. That normal around here?"

Kenzi gets to her car and smiles - this time a little bitterly. The thing about not having a coven was you didn't get the power benefits associated with it.

She's a little slow to say it, as if she can't quite make up her mind whether or not this is important. But then the thought occurs to her that this is pretty much public knowledge. At least in the witchier portions of the social climate as it was now.

"Witches need numbers to do hardcore shit. Especially if we aren't anything special. That includes summoning fae."

Hence why lots of dark witches will not have experience with fae.

"Well, I mean. Wasn't talking about summoning, just havin' a conversation or something." But Kenzi seemed to have answered his question one way or the other. The other fae he'd met so far didn't seem inclined to show up in London without a reason in mind. Or if they did, they didn't particularly want to reveal themselves.

There was also this: if summoning and contracting was the first thing the other dark witches thought of when it came to fae, he had been right to be cautious with his name. Ending up scooped up out of the ether and made to play the world's worst game of Simon Says did not sound like a good time.

But.

"...so hey. If you do end up havin' trouble like there was in Barnet, gimme a call. I mean it. I might be able to help."

Kenzi was, at the end of the day, a practical creature. Sure she had her excesses, but in terms of relationships there were only two kinds to her: those that helped and those that hindered. Her knowledge of fae was that they were all Puck-types. The kind of ... creature that only wanted to cause mischief and see what happened to the stupid mortal people who believed them.

Dark witches didn't want to be friends with fae, they wanted to use them to their own ends. Kenzi didn't think she was any different.

"So you said that the southwest was going to be cut off from normal access. Why do you care? Can't you just --," Kenzi made a poofing noise and gestured with her hands. "-- y'know, do your thing?"

Well, to be fair, Heiji was plenty mischievous. Just not generally malicious about it.

"We can still get in and out of the area if that's what ya mean. But it's like... I dunno, say you lived in this one house forever, and then one day it turns out someone boarded up the front door. You can still get out, but it's a pain in the butt. ...It's not a perfect analogy, but I guess it's good enough.

"Settin' aside the insult, I don't really think it's gonna stop anyone who's really determined. If you make a rule that something ain't allowed, the people that want it will still find ways to get it."

It's odd to her, to think that someone was interested in stopping something from happening just because it was 'the right thing to do'. She doesn't tend to hang with those righteous types.

Still, it might be useful to make friends with a fae instead of making business out of one.

"I don't usually do this."

She makes a point of saying it.

"Give me the card you got."

She's fishing for a pen, now.

Heiji gave her a bit of a curious look, but handed the card over without protest. It seemed there were quite a few people these days doing things a bit outside their comfort zone.

Kenzi flipped the card over and wrote down a number. Whether or not it was really hers was up for debate, but she didn't seem to be faking it as she handed it back with some reverence.

This was putting herself out there. A lot more than ever before since she moved here a few years ago.

"Don't make me regret that."

"So no askin' if the refrigerator's running, got it." Heiji took the card and put it away again. Then, because the situation seemed a bit serious for jokes:

"...Don't worry, I'll be careful with it."

Since there didn't seem to be much else to say, he walked on over to his motorcycle, which was parked a little ways down the street from Kenzi's car. As he pulled his helmet on, he glanced back at her. "Take care of yourself!"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Street where the riches of ages are sold (OPEN)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject