undergrounds | Small Town Celebrities party log for Sept17-Oct6

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Small Town Celebrities party log for Sept17-Oct6

The Redbright students clearly aren't getting enough homework if they have the time to start following their favorite members of supernatural society around for the chance at getting The Perfect Shot of them looking hot. It starts slow and small, for the first week, anyway. Just a random person pulling out their phone and taking a quick shot. Can't even be sure it was you they were photographing. By the five days in, though, they've started making a game of it. Groups of two and three going out together. Following people for a while. Having the audacity to wave when they're looked at. Some even invite their target to take a picture with them and their friends. (If you say yes to that, please do flex a little.)

Ratings on the website change on a day to day basis and currently both Redbright Professors and the Hillingdon Clan lists are the current most popular due to the territory change over and general familiarity with the groups.

Hans Estergaard had been reigning supreme as #1 in Hillingdon since he had the audacity to challenge Sylvia for her seat on the council. An unprecedented length of time! (It's like the students enjoy the idea of someone standing up to Sylvia, the person ultimately in charge of telling them what to do. Go figure.)

Most factions are getting more attention from these folks, though. They really have a lot of time on their hands.

[[ooc: post around like it's a party log. If you want an npc bothering you and want me to play them, put NPC request in the subject line.]]

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While returning from an in-home visit to one of the Redbright kids, her head filled with ideas for their next session, Guinevere paused to log a few notes into her phone. Stopped as she was in the middle of the pavement, she had to dodge quickly out of the way when a distracted pedestrian went rushing by.

Only after the woman passed did Gwen recognize her. Or, at least, she thought she did.

“Caroline? Is that you?” she called out while hurrying to catch up. “It is! How are you?”

They didn’t know each other well enough for hug, so Guinevere reached out to warmly grasp the other woman’s arm instead, leaning in slightly as she did.

As soon as she touched her, the gaggle of Redbright students across the street raised their phones in unison, excitedly snapping shots of the pair.

"Gwen!" Caroline knew so few people in the city so far that it was a treat to see a familiar face. "I'm doing great, how are you?"

She was aware of the group taking pictures but she didn't actually look at them. Running away hadn't worked, maybe just ignoring them would. And if not, at least she'd get to see one friendly face tonight.

“I’m doing well. Busy, as always.” That was a simplification of things, but now wasn’t the time for a deep discussion. “In fact, I've just finished up a late visit with a student. What about you? Do you live around here?”

The group of Redbright stalkers was growing more excited. Some of them even began to move closer, getting bold as they vied for the best shot.

"Oh, you're a teacher? That's pretty cool. I live in Hackney, so pretty close." Caroline paused, wondering if she'd just given out too much information. Oh well, if she had, there wasn't much she could do about it now.

"Do you have any idea what's going on with, uh ..?" She angled her head in the direction of her photographers slightly.

“Of a sort. More a specialized counsellor, really.”

Guinevere might have gone into a better explanation had Caroline not mentioned Hackney. That was vampire territory! A look of concern washed over her face as she tried to concoct the best way to warn the unsuspecting (so she believed) woman about the supernatural dangers lurking there.

But before words could form on her lips, Caroline asked about the group of kids across the way, which Gwen has been steadfastly ignoring.

“Um, what’s going on with…?” She turned to look in the direction indicated, trying to make sense of what was going on.

One of the young men, deciding to stand out by showing off, hollered at the women, “Now kiss!”

His two closest mates hooted and clapped. However, there was a notable shift in the three girls present, who were all now glaring at the loudmouth.

Caroline isn't quite what a specialized counsellor would do but it sounds important. She'd ask more, if the group follower her hadn't gotten even more distracting.

"Yeeeeah," she said in her best unimpressed voice. "This is the third night they've followed me around. It's pretty annoying."

“They’ve been following you?!” Guinevere sounded incredulous—and disturbed. Annoying was a seriously understated description for three nights of harassment!

“What on earth for?” Was this a new way for teens to amuse themselves: playing at being paparazzi by photographing strangers?

She stared in distaste at the group of gawkers. There was something familiar about some of the kids, but seeing them in this context was throwing her off.

At least one of the boys seemed to recognize her as well. As Gwen scrutinized the group, a guilty look came over him. Trying to subtly fade from view, he slowly backed away to stand behind his friends.

"I have no idea. The first time, there weren't as many of them but now, well ... just look at them." She glared at the group. She noticed one of the boys reacting to seeing Gwen. "Do you know them?" she asked, wondering if maybe they were some of the students she was counselling. She needed to find out what school they were from, what school Gwen worked at.

“I think I…might.”

And that was when it clicked. Yes! Yes, she did know them! Or, at least she recognized some of them. They weren’t students to whom she’d been assigned, but she had seen them around the institute grounds. All of them except…

“Dylan! Dylan Wright, is that you back there?”

Gwen moved toward the group, aiming to get a better look at the boy cowering behind it.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to hide from me.” Her voice was calm but tinged with concerned. “What are you doing out here? And on the night before your big test no less!”

Wide-eyed and heart pounding, Dylan opened his mouth but no sound came out. He really didn’t want to get in trouble with Miss Leodegrance (or worse, disappoint her). Finally, after a futile attempt to come up with a suitably workable excuse, he opted to follow the only reasonable course of action: run for it. Without bothering to say a word, Dylan Wright beat a hasty retreat, leaving his stunned companions behind.

If Caroline had known Gwen could scare the group away, she would definitely have tried to get in touch with her again. Of course, only one had gone running so far. Caroline decided to wait and see if the rest would follow suit.

Guinevere was as shocked as anyone at the turn of events. She had only wanted to speak with Dylan, reason with him, not frighten him away. Their next session was definitely going to be an interesting one.

In the meantime…

She turned to look at the remaining Redbright students, who were now a bit uneasy, no longer confident in what they were doing.

The notable exception to this was the mouthpiece from earlier. Unmoved by his friend’s departure, he decided this would be a perfect time to make a play for Caroline.

“You’re right fit! You got a boyfriend, yeah?”

Caroline rolled her eyes. "I only date men," she told him. "Boys aren't worth my time." She took a step forward, a predatory gleam in her eyes. She was still in control but it was time to take off the kid gloves - no pun intended. "Why don't you run along now. I'm sure it's past your bedtime."

Most of the Redbright kids have decided now was the time to call it a night.

One of them, a descendant of the fae, gripped the two girls next to her and started dragging them away with some urgency. Unlike the others, she knew exactly what Caroline was and didn’t want to risk becoming a snack.

And yet, as before, the cheese stood alone. (That would be Maxwell, the cheeky one.) He didn’t seem daunted in the least. In fact, he looked downright ecstatic. And why shouldn’t he be? The gorgeous American was actually paying attention to him!

“Nah, bedtime’s a ways off. But I’d be happy to let you tuck me in later if you like!” This was said with a grin and what Maxie assumed was a saucy wink.

The wink may have been intended as saucy but to Caroline, it just made it clear how out of his league this guy was. She took another step closer, then reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Listen to me closely," she said, tightening her grip. "I am not in the mood to be chased by schoolboys tonight, or any night for that matter. So learn your lesson and leave." She squeezed harder for a moment - he'd definitely have bruises in the morning - then let go.

That finally drove the message home.

Pale-faced and starting to break out in a cold sweat, Maxwell stared at Caroline with terrified eyes while rubbing his throbbing arm. When the only other remaining Redbright student touched his shoulder, he nearly jumped out of his skin. The two boys locked eyes for a moment, each silently sharing his desire to be anywhere but there. Then, in an almost synchronised motion, both boys fled along the same path as their departed schoolmates.

The confrontation between Caroline and Maxwell had escalated quickly—and ended just as fast. Before Guinevere could use her power to diffuse the situation, it was already over.

Now alone with Caroline, she was left feeling uneasy. There had been a flash of something dark and dangerous in the other woman that made the hairs on the back of Gwen’s neck stand up.

“Caroline…” she asked warily. “Are you all right?”

Caroline watched them go, taking several deep breaths as she did. She was glad they were gone but not exactly happy at what she'd had to do to make that happen. Usually she was better at not letting things get under her skin, though after three nights, she hadn't had much patience left, apparently.

She waited until she felt calm again before turning around to face Gwen. "Yeah," she said finally, "I'm okay now. Sorry, that was ... pretty crazy."

“Yes, it was.”

Guinevere smiled wanly. Nothing about this felt right. She knew the kids were completely in the wrong for harassing Caroline. And yet, her handling of the situation did not sit well with Gwen. The lead boy had been rude and absolutely deserving of harsh words, but the way Caroline had put her hands on him was not something she could condone.

“Hopefully this will be the end of…whatever has been going on.”

She truly meant that—for everyone’s sake.

Caroline could tell Gwen felt uneasy about what had just happened and couldn't blame her. At the same time, she knew plenty of vampires who would have done a lot worse to the kids than give one of them a bruised arm.

"That would be nice." She took another slow breath, trying to let the rest of the tension out. "I could really use a ..." she almost said drink, then decided maybe that wasn't the best plan for once, "tea or something, if you have time to join me?"

“Abso-bloody-lutely!”

If she cared at all for alcohol, a stiff drink would honestly be great right now. Unfortunately, she’s barely even a social drinker. Tea, on the other hand, is always something for which she’ll make time.

“Do you have somewhere in mind?”

Caroline laughed at Gwen's enthusiasm. "No, but this is London, there must be a place to serves tea somewhere nearby, right?" she asked with a grin.

Gwen laughed at that, the uneasiness from before fading as they talked.

“True! But I think you might be a bit more familiar with this area than I am. I’ll let you lead the way this time.”

"Oh dear, blind leading the blind then," Caroline admitted. "Tonight's really the first time I've been in the neighbourhood. But hopefully we'll get lucky."

“Well, in that case, if we get lost, perhaps you can charm someone into helping us out? I’m sure that wouldn’t be too hard.” She gave her a mock appraising look. “What with you being ‘right fit’ and all.”

Joking about what had happened earlier made it easier for Gwen to rationalize away the events as no big deal.

Caroline laughed. "I think my charm might be a bit rusty but if it comes to that, I will take one for the team." She started walking, keeping her eyes peeled for some place to get tea. She'd been joking a bit before, but really, it shouldn't be too hard to find a coffee and tea shop here, should it?

Gwen had no desire to traipse around Barnet until her feet hurt. The moment she spotted a Caffè Nero, she headed straight for it, dragging Caroline with her. This wasn’t a place that could satisfy her tea needs, but there were other things on the menu that were perfectly acceptable alternatives over which the two of them could have a little chat.

“Calories be damned, I’m getting a Hot Chocolate Milano. Pick whatever you want. It’ll be my treat.”

Edited (just realized they're in Barnet, not Haringey! Let's pretend there's a Caffe Nero there as well (not sure, didn't look that up.)) 2016-10-11 18:08 (UTC)

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