undergrounds | Open; May 12-14

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Open; May 12-14

A. Caffeine Cold

A full week of a new school probably would have fried her nerves even if she wasn't still adjusting to her curse. The full moon, naturally, hadn't helped one bit. Coffee probably wouldn't help her relax, but she wasn't about to deny herself something sweet when her mood was already so sour.

So of course she trips rounding a street corner and spills the drink all over herself.

"Shit, shit, shit." Girl hops from foot to foot, trying to dislodge the icy mush from her shirt. She starts scooping it off her clothes, promptly flinging it away from her skin and, probably, right onto the poor souls passing by.

B. Into the ~~Wolf's~~ Lion's Den

The East End pack has far nicer digs than she's used to.

She saw some of the place on full moon, but hadn't had time for more than a quick peek around before other matter's took hold. With the night behind her, she's curious to explore; see what she'll be contending with for the foreseeable future. She's examining a broken down wall currently, running her fingers over the ragged edge of splintered stone.

"Ya'll been rough with this place," she says, though her tone is warm rather than accusing. She finds the chaos homey. "Looks like a hurricane came thrashin' through here."

C. Chalk Zone
She's not far from her apartment building, sitting cross legged in a parking lot of some run-down shops. It's well past working hours and the place is deserted. Girl's made herself comfortable, an honest to god boombox blaring loudly by her side, and a bag leaning against her back. She riffles through it every few moments, picking out new pieces of chalk.

She's drawing on the pavement, mushroom clouds and dragons mixed with lines from old rock songs. It's not very good, childish and more a mess than anything artistic. Still, she seems to be enjoying herself and the look she gives when anyone walks by says she has no plans on stopping any time soon.

D. Player's Choice; Leave your own prompt

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He can't help cracking a fleeting smile at her insistence that he could stay. In that moment, she looks and sounds much younger than what she is. It's good that she got out. She's too soft for that kind of life, as she ought to be. That's normal. Kids her age should be allowed to be that sort of normal.

Her question, unfortunately, won't produce many satisfying results. "Yeah, sorta." Katherine knows he's here on a job, but he doubts she knows all of the dirty details. Party knows pretty much all of it. Good luck getting a counterargument out of that one.

"You really don't gotta worry. I don't think I'm goin' anywhere for a while, for one." Ghoul sits back, wiping his palms off on his jeans. All he ends up doing is making more of a mess, smearing colorful dust all over himself. "And I bet after a few months you'll be itchin' to get rid'a me." He grins, attempting to make her feel better through humor. What's actually funny is how he assumes going back will be so easy. The longer he stays, the more attached he'll become to being part of a pack. The posse back home is a good group and all... but it's not a pack. They're all too different, too independent, too inconsistent in where they'll be and with who and for how long. It's a chaotic system that works, but it's not the same. Not even a little bit.

Sorta isn't a reassuring answer. Either they know or they don't, and Girl can guess which he's talking about. She doesn't press it. He's not the only one she's spoken to; she can try to scope out what other's know latter.

She makes a disbelieving noise, she hasn't stopped being worried in the past half decade, but again she lets it drop. A while can mean anything and that gives her plenty of opportunities to argue her point in the future. Maybe further familiarity will give her ammunition into making him see reason.

"I've put up with a lot worse than you," she says, making meaningless marks on the concrete. It's doubtful she'll want to get rid of anyone regardless of the chance to do so. "So you're stayin' at least a few months?"

She can work with that.

She's in it for the long haul. If he were aware of her plans, he might be impressed. Probably annoyed too, but some degree of impressed all the same.

But being dumb and clueless, he thinks nothing of the conversation and shrugs, drumming his fingers against his knees. "Yeah, I figure so. There's some stuff I gotta do here, and it's slow." Okay, maybe he'd have better progress if he'd stop getting distracted by local disasters. This stuff is important too, though.

And after a moment of contemplation, he gives Girl an offended look. "Who the hell d'you know that's worse than me?"

"Yeah? Would you be willin' to tell me what that stuff is?" She asks like she expects the answer to be a resounding no. Or at least that she'll get a non-answer.

She whips around to frown at him, confused. Was he actually offended she said he wasn't the worst? "You really can't take a compliment," she mutters. Talk about skewed priorities.

"I know lots of people." That's a lie. She's only met a handful since she's moved. But it's not like Ghoul has been anything but nice since she's met him. "Just people okay."

Listen... Skewed priorities are better than no priorities at all- probably. He's just a mess, that's all, and he likes to think he's more extreme than what he actually is. Typical stupid young adult.

He squints at her for a second, then shrugs again and looks back down at the ground. As he picks up a piece of chalk and begins scribbling out a row of cartoony dancing skeletons, he figures he might as well answer her question. "Supposed to find somebody who's around here somewhere. Or maybe used to be around here. I dunno, we don't know much about her." Which is why he's fine with sharing the information with Girl. He hardly has any himself, so what's the harm.

She adds more explosions to her mismatched art, fat mushroom clouds and boom written below in large letters. "Sounds like you came all this way on a rumor." Which either meant the group he was with were grasping at straws or were desperate enough to chase even the flimsiest lead. Girl frowns, coloring in her block lettering and pressing hard enough to snap her chalk.

"Who is she? Do you think she can really help?" She knows it's a lot of questions. But it's a chance at changing the power balance back home. She's curious, even if she doesn't believe it's possible.

"Sure fuckin' did." That's something he doesn't mind acknowledging, even if it does come across poorly. Chasing rumors halfway across the world makes them sound kind of foolhardy, but shit, that's what they are. And he needed the change of scenery anyway.

Or so he thought.

Ghoul arches a brow at the sound of Girl's chalk breaking, and rolls over one of his own pieces to replace it. "Not sure who it is, actually. Or if it's even a girl." Or a witch, for that matter. Or even a person. Maybe the name he's got is code for a weapon. "I think she'll... do some kind of somethin'. Maybe not help, but at least give us an idea of what's comin'."

Girl snorts, half surprised he's admitting to it. She's not surprised to hear following rumors hadn't panned out anything useful thus far. She doesn't bother to point out what she imagines is the obvious.

"Do you got a name for this person?" She reaches out for the chalk, nodding to him. She rolls it between her fingers, sighing. "If you're desperate- well, I dunno if anyone I know would be talkin' 'bout it, but I could pass it along if I heard anythin'."

Just because she doesn't agree doesn't mean she can't be helpful.

He hesitates. He probably shouldn't get her more involved than she already is... It seems safe enough, though. What kind of trouble could she get in to with just a name? She's clearly not about to jump back in to the fight, and besides, people gossip. Maybe she'll hear something somewhere.

"All I know t'look for is somethin' about a phoenix witch. Sounds kinda like some fairy tale shit."

"A witch?" The expression on her face is skeptical, all raised eyebrows and side glances. "I seem to remember you not bein' a fan of witches or thinkin' they were any fans of us."

And now, apparently, one would save everything back home. It sounds less like a fairy tale to her than just plain fanciful thinking.

"Like I said, I can ask 'round and tell ya if I hear somthin' like it."

Ghoul hums quietly, sounding unsure. He's certainly not a fan of witches at the moment... "No, they don't like us. 'Least not the Daybreak ones. I think this other one might be okay." Hopefully.

"They ain't all bad. I know a good one, but she ain't Daybreak either." But it's impossible to tell at a glance which faction or coven or whatever the hell a witch belongs to, so it's safer to avoid them altogether. His warnings still apply. "But, yeah. Wouldn't mind the help."

"So less 'bout not trustin' witches and all 'bout not trustin' Daybreak." A distinction that wouldn't mean much until she learned more about who was with who around here. Another thing to have to keep in the back of her mind, another thing to keep track of. Who knew being here would be so much work?

"I don't know how much help it'll be, but I'll keep my ears open."

"Right, exactly. 'Cept you dunno who's Daybreak, who's not, and who's lyin' about it, so don't you trust none of 'em for a minute." He can point out a couple safe ones to her, maybe, but for now? No. They're all banned. If Daybreak witches are willing to keep wild fae as pets, what's to stop one of them from snatching up a wolf pup?

He exhales slowly after that, tapping the tip of his chalk against the ground while he watches her for a short while. Then he straightens up, sitting back on his knees. "You're all right, kid. I gotta go do some shit though. You wanna come with, or stay here?"

"Yeah, yeah. You told me this before. I'm not gonna go cozy up to any witches, don't worry 'bout that." Girl's perfectly content to stick to their territory and people. For now, at least. "I'm not a trouble maker."

She stares up at him in surprise, feeling the statement came out of the blue. At least she has the sense not to try deflecting it, after arguing with him about taking compliments as they come. She has a feeling he'd tease her about it if she did. "Uh, thanks," she says quietly, stumbling up to her feet and stuffing her stuff in her bag. "Yeah. If you want the company. I wasn't doin' anythin' important here."

"And I'm gonna tell you again tomorrow," he warns under his breath while picking up the scattered chalk pieces near him.

Once he stands, he moves closer before holding them out to her, so neither of them has to overstretch all embarrassing-like. "Nah, markin' stuff up is always important. My shit's kinda the boring stuff. Just gotta do the rounds through a piece of ours, then check in on somebody. You any good with little kids?"

She heard that, taking the time between gathering the materials his outstretched arms to stick her tongue out at him. "It's like you adults think I don't listen."

"Rounds? They got you actin' as the watch dog?" She buckles down her bag after filling it, swinging the strap over her shoulder. She motions for him to lead the way. "As good as anyone is with 'em. Never really hung 'round anyone with lil' ones before. I guess you're vistin' some?"

Ghoul huffs. Of course she doesn't listen, she's a teenager. He knows how teenagers are. He never listened when he was one.

"Half a watchdog," he confirms. "Ain't my turn today, but when you been lookin' at the same shit all day it helps to get a new set of eyes on it." And that's where Ghoul comes in. Just a quick breeze through a section, nothing special or super time consuming. He waits until she's got her bag settled before he tugs upwards on the loop just for the sake of being irritating.

Then he starts walking, explaining more as he goes along. "Nah, not really. The motherfucker I'm talkin' about acts like one, though. Dumb shit forgets to eat so y'gotta feed him every couple days- and sometimes make sure he ain't broke himself or puked everywhere. But if you can handle brats that bite, you can handle him."

"You guys, uh we, really patrol everyday?" If it is a pack thing, she guesses she'll be asked to do so soon enough. The idea of the work doesn't faze her, but she thinks it implies there's something worry about with the borders of their territory. "Afraid the vampires are gonna sneak in?"

She follows along side him, hands stuck in her pockets. She makes a disgusted noise deep in her throat. "Puked?" Her nose wrinkles. "Who you hangin' out with that needs so much lookin' after? Sounds like you're talkin' 'bout a toddler."

He almost makes a joke about the pack being a bunch of professionals who take their jobs seriously (pppffftttt), but she's actually guessed it, so he instead confirms her suspicions. "They're pretty bad about movin' in outta nowhere, yeah. We already lost kind of a lot to 'em, so." Gotta hold on to what they've got left. And now they've got all that business with the witches, too...

That line of discussion is a bummer. Why continue that when he can make fun of Party instead? "He's more or less a giant toddler." Girl's good at this game, she's already got him laughing obnoxiously over this. "I dunno if you met him. You ran in to the loud, dirty redheaded one yet?"

She blows out a rush of air, scratching the back of her head. So their territory is under threat by their so called mortal enemies. Why did she ever think moving to London would be easier? "You guys keep a schedule for when we're supposed to switch off patrols or should I just pick a night?"

Might as well be practical about it.

Girl smiles at his obvious amusement, though it turns bemused a moment later. "Redhead? You don't mean Party, do ya?" Her first meeting with the man had left her awed, looking up to him as cool and confident and living out her dream life. Everything Ghoul's stay seems a comical contrast that she can't reconcile in her head. "The artist? I mean, you can't be."

"Kinda." Organizing it definitely is not his job, but... "I'll let 'em know you want in on rotation. Figure Joseph will be callin' you." Look at her, jumping right in and getting involved. She's a nice kid.

Such a shame Ghoul's here ruining her entire life with a bunch of dirty deets on her new idol. Her disbelief gets a whole new snort of laughter out of him, because wow, what has Party done to make her think he isn't a trainwreck on two (sometimes four!) legs? "Why can't I be talkin' about him?"

She nods, chewing on her lip. She'd argue it was less about being nice and more about accepting the inevitable. But she'd also argue about the use of kid, so she's not the person to ask. "Thanks."

Her nose wrinkles, mouth curled into a frown. "Because it can't be the same guy? He was talkin' about havin' paintings in galleries and showin' me his street stuff." Ghoul had to be talking about someone else. Even if Party wasn't exactly a common name. Girl's face turns unsure. "The Party I met was, ya know, cool."

"Oh, yeah, no- that's him. He's always workin' on some shit like that, his apartment looks kinda like a garage and a craft store exploded in it at the same time." Art, supplies, and random crap everywhere. It's like Party's own personal messy nerd kingdom. Ghoul has yet to understand any of it, but of course he doesn't. He doesn't really do art; he just looks at it sometimes and/or gets it stabbed in to his skin.

"So y'met him, huh? And you actually liked him?" How cute. And hilarious. And unfortunate for her.

She gawks at him, mouth hanging open for a second too long before snapping shut. That certainly sounds like the same guy. She frowns, arms crossing over her chest as she kicks the ground. "Yeah, I liked 'im," she says defensively, embarrassed. "Told ya, he seemed cool. You're probably tryin' to pull one over on me anyway."

"Fuck off, I wouldn't." Such a rude thing to say, but his grin is practically audible and there's no actual malice behind his words.

He would try to pull one over on her if he could get away with it, which goes without saying. He's not doing it now, though, and that's what matters. "It's fine if you like him, y'know, I ain't gonna judge you too real bad. Maybe give you a hard time a little, 'cause damn if you don't know how to pick'em."

But she likes Ghoul too, doesn't she? So maybe that's a bit of a self-burn.

Open; May 12-14

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