4/16/2003
01:29
AM
Logfile
from Chase.
"I've
seen a lot of things, Chase, about her," Anana replies. "From having
her try to warn me to stay away from the current troubles when we first met, to
her holding a gun on me when I grew up, to her asking me to not allow Kai to
cut the ties that bind them, even if she doesn't seem to honour them." Her
voice is calm, as is her expression as she studies the teen across from her.
"She thinks she's in love with Kai, and there is something there, but it's
something that she knows she can't have. For the same reasons she shouldn't...
aah, this wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about." She was going to let
Namame and Hikitsu do the talking while she remained more or less blissfully
oblivious. "She's fun to be around. But would she keep the onisenshi from
taking, for example, Takiko if the opportunity presented itself? No, she
wouldn't, because it would further her cause."
Chase
sets the pop to the side and then is slumping back in the couch ever more.
"You guys are all reading much more into this then you really should be.
It's like you think this is the end of the world or something. I'm not Mina.
I'm not in love with her, and I /know/ about Kai, even if everyone seems to
interested in bringing the guy up. We discussed this. Lex and I. She mentioned
him. And also that she couldn't be with him and..." He sighs again,
"It's just different, and it is almost like trying to explain things to a
brick wall. You guys wouldn't understand, or don't want to. Oni and seishi business
is one thing, something we tend to avoid. We have /fun/ together, Anana. I'm...
she's like this amazing adreneline rush that I can't get elsewhere, and I know
I'm good for her, because she is /different/, and..." He trails off at the
ringing of his cell. "Of all times," he mutters, and then picks it
up. His face immediately pales, "Mina? Is that you... where? What's going
on?!"
Amefuri
calls Chase. As soon as he picks up the
phone, he can hear the sound of a struggle, and then her panicked voice on the
line. "Chase, Chase," she
gasps into the line. "Help, I'm at
Illuminations."
"Depends
on what you mean by reading too much into it, and I'm being a lot gentler
than-" Anana immediately stiffens at the paleness, and she spares a quick
glance towards the darkened hallway to her bedroom and where Travis is asleep
before turning back to the conversation, arching her eyebrows. "Mina's in
trouble, where?" she asks in an undertone. Of all the times, really.
Chase
hears Malachai's voice saying, "Now, now. That's not playing nice. But
since you insist, I'll have to reciprocate." And then there's the loud sound of flesh smacking flesh. Then the line goes dead.
Chase
waves a hand absently at Anana, as if trying to hush her. And then he is
startling at something on the other end. His eyes grow absolutely huge. The
phone is tucked into a pocket and he is already standing, reaching over to
shoulder his long pack, "Where's Illuminations?"
Anana
blinks, getting to her feet as well and darting into her bedroom, returning
with a first aid kit, which she tucks into a backpack. "DeCourtenay
Building. It's an oni's art gallery. Dylan's been there. It's warded, and
warded strongly. How did she wind up there?" she asks, clearly making
ready to go -- though she quickly scribbles a note and leaves it on the
countertop. "Dylan couldn't portal in, which makes me think that we won't
be able to use powers inside... which makes me useless in this case." She
looks frustrated at this. "I can't convince you to wait until we can get
ahold of those whose abilities aren't power-using?"
Chase
snorts, already moving for the door. "I've got a bow and a gun. You tell
me that my abilities don't just extend to flashing ice around and getting
buzzed by all the chi in this city..." He glances back at her, "You
can stay here if you want, or outside wherever it is, but I'll deal with it
then."
"Point.
And you /so/ did not just hint that I'm afraid of going into a magically-warded
room with a sorceror there and you know how much I just /love/ sorcerors,
without any hand-to-hand skills whatsoever... because I'm not, even though I
should be by rights," Anana replies dryly, glaring at him as she replaces
the simple hair tie in her hair with one with carefully-tuned bells and giving
her head a shake. "There. Now I can shield, at least, and that can't be
stopped. I'll replace it with the other one when we get there, but I /am/
calling people on the way. Understand?"
Chase
is finally going to have a chance to put his new skills in hotwiring a car into
use. If it wasn't for Mina getting into a bit of trouble here, the teenager
would be positively beaming. "I never said you weren't afraid. But Travis
will be pissed if you disappear on him, and I know you're tired, and... Oh, whatever.
Come with if you want."
4/16/2003
03:19
PM
Logfile
from Chase.
The
task that Anana's set for herself is to stall or stop Chase, really -- that's
why she's taking time to do things like packing up a backpack with various
other things, such as first aid supplies, some water, her cellphone and such.
Stall, stall, yep. "Hang on just a minute. I forgot something." Is
this akin to Namame saying 'stay, pup!'? No, not exactly. She's just going to
go into the kitchen for the moment now.
[Cowboy]
Amefuri snugs... so it works out well then ;> *nodnods* Today's my
early class day, so I have the afternoon free, but I hate logging in late
because of the time difference for a lot of the others. If I'm scene-locked, I feel really guilty
about keeping their chars tied up that way.
Chase
growls, quite literally. "Come /on/, Hatsui," he sing-songs, one hand
tightening upon the doornob. He moves to start to turn it, only to watch as she
goes into the kitchen? "What are you doing now? You don't need snack
crackers or anything. I heard a /hit/ on that phone. That oni is probably
beating her silly about now. Lets go." He is turning back to the door,
beginning to pull it open.
Weaponry,
weaponry... kitchen knives are good, but would do more damage than Anana'd like
to inflict on Chase at this point. There's a clatter of pans and a yelp, and
then she tucks a frying pan in her backpack within easy reach. "I'm
coming, I'm coming, and I'm /not/ getting food, Tomite." No, she's getting
a weapon that Subaru would approve of, really. Sneaking is nearly impossible,
really, but she's going to try anyway. Knowing Chase's speed, she waits until
he's almost outside the door before letting the cast-iron frying pan head
towards his head. Maybe it'll jar a few braincells loose.
*CLANG*
That would be metal striking Chase's skull. Too bad he wasn't wearing his lost
cap, or it would have cushioned some of the blow. The seishi rocks forward with
the force of the blow, and then promptly slumps forward and halfway through the
doorward, falling flat on his face.
Anana
looks at the frying pan, then at Chase, then at the frying pan again. "I'm
sorry." Now, was that to the frying pan or to the prone seishi? "Oh,
great, he's stuck through the door. Why me? Why do I have to do this?" That's
all the whining she's going to do at the moment. Now, whether to get Brice to
come over and take charge of Chase, or wake Namame... the former's a better
idea at this point.
Chase
will just lay here now, be a doorstop. Hey, he has a use for once. And
something not all that many people will bitch about.
<Phone>
"Brice?" Anana sounds a little bit resigned at this point.
"Could you come over? Chase got into a bit of trouble." There's a
clank as she tosses the frying pan back into its drawer. "He's too heavy
for me to move, really."
Actually,
maybe people trying to get in and out of the place might have something to
gripe about. I mean really, a Genbu lying across the threshold? You'd have to
step over him and everything. Give Chase a moment and he'll start drooling.
Then the griping can really begin.
Anana
has managed to drag Chase inside the apartment, at least, and she's sitting
upon the step into the living room proper with her chin in her hands, keeping a
wary eye on Chase for any motion. The door's left open a crack, though, as
invitation for Brice to come in when he wishes.
Brice
takes the invitation for what it is and pushes open the door, glancing around
to take in the situation. "All right chibi, what happened?" he asks
as he steps inside and closes the door. "And I fully expect the
explanation to be long and complicated, as it involves both you /and/
Chase." And that's a combination that just boggles the mind in some ways.
Anana
looks up at Brice with an utterly innocent expression upon her face. "It's
not that complicated. We just went back to Hokkan in spirit form to deal with
the Kutou army again, and when that was done, we came back. I called Chase to
come over here so that I could make sure he was all right, and Mina called
saying she was in trouble and that someone had to rescue her at Illuminations.
But that place is warded six ways from Sunday, according to Dylan, so I was
trying to stall until I could get ahold of someone, but Chase wanted to go now,
so I hit him with a frying pan." She gives Chase a rather dubious look.
"I don't think he has a concussion, because I didn't hit him that hard,
but I hope he's not /too/ mad at me."
Unfortunately,
Chase won't be doing any talking any time soon. Draped out upon the floor and
not moving a muscle. That's pretty much well it.
Brice
looks from her, to him, to her, to him again - and just shakes his head.
"That's not the worst I've heard from you, but it's bad enough for you
two. And I'm not surprised Mina's involved." Nope, not at all. That girl's
worse than Anana in some ways. "You hit him with a frying pan? I think
you've been hanging around Cat too much. Fortunately he's got a hard
head." Brice drops to his knees beside Chase, reaching out and gingerly
feeling around his skull for any abnormalities. After a minute he sits up
again, gives a heavy sigh, shaking his head again. "Chase, you're one
lucky bastard, you know. I'm gonna put him on the loveseat, it's gotta be more
comfortable than the floor." It takes a bit of straining (Brice isn't the
strongest guy in the world, although he's gotten a little better since
past-life regression time), but Brice drags Chase up by his arm and his shirt
and carries/pulls him to the loveseat, pretty much toppling him on it in a
more-or-less lying down position.
Chase
really isn't in any state to comment upon his currently sleeping arrangements.
And having a crick in his back is going to be nothing compared to the headache
he'll more than likely wake up to in a few hours. And it is really doubtful
that he'll give anyone their thanks for being put on a couch, when he'll be too
busy bitching about being clunked on the head. So, he flops on the loveseat,
one arm flopping off to the floor.
"Hey,
at least I wasn't actually going to go with him?" Anana says, blinking.
"And at least he's not staying in John's apartment anymore. Oh... um, he's
dead. He... the bugs that drain chi? Those were being used to give him a false
Genbu power signature. He had enough of our chi to be drawn back to the past as
well. Do you have a clear memory of the real Inami, though? I don't anymore, so
things are bad." She brushes Chase's hair out of his eyes and kisses his
forehead apologetically. "I couldn't think of any other way to keep Chase
from going anywhere."
Brice
blinks, looking at the chibi. It's the first time he's heard the news, but...
"...So that's what happened. The big guy showed up at my place often
enough so I was starting to worry when he didn't come in the past couple days.
I tried going to his, but he didn't answer. I thought he was just at work,
but... I guess not." Brice sighs again, picking up Chase's arm and laying
it across the boy's chest. "We're dropping like flies, now... First
Rainey, then John... who's next? Who else are the Yin using to get to us?"
He hasn't heard anything about Lexie or Aun yet. Brice puts his arm around
Anana's shoulders in big-brother fashion, as much for his comfort as for hers
(though he won't say so). "At least he can be with Emily now." Yes,
Brice is going to believe John's story - it's the one good thing that could
possibly come with this. "But no, now... I don't remember the real
Inami." He bends and kisses the top of her head. "Things are getting
more complicated than I could have thought. But somehow that doesn't surprise
me either."
Never
mind that John's place probably has quite a bit of smoke damage to it at the
moment. Chase really can't seem to find a steady place to live at, it seems.
Although this loveseat will apparently do for the time being. Unfortunately, he
also doesn't get the chance to rag at Brice for grunting over carrying around a
sixteen year old kid. You miss quite a lot when unconscious, he is coming to
find out.
Anana
leans against Brice for the comfort he provides, a quiet sigh escaping her.
"I hope Chase doesn't... no, never mind, he'll be mad at me. We need to
figure out how to get Mina back, though. I need to call Dylan about it, too.
There's too much to do to focus on this for now. Another oni is dead, too;
Namame came back with bad burns as a result of that. In the meantime... do you
think you could take care of Chase for a while, and maybe call the Byakko that
you know about Mina?"
"Yes,
he'll be mad at you. But he can't stay mad at you, just like I can't, or like
any of us. You've got us all wrapped around your finger, you know." Brice
is deliberately taking the conversation away from the area of the not-Inami,
not because he doesn't want to break down but because he's not sure how he
feels yet. It's all one mass of confusion. He nods. "You call the
penthouse, I'll call Cat and Lee, let them know about Mina. Oh, speaking of
Lee, I'll be working with him now." Let's just get all the news out now.
Chase
will be mad. Sure. He'll rant and yell and complain about the injustice of it
all. That's what he does. He'll whine about never getting to do anything fun,
like rescue people or beat up on oni. He has yet to shoot an oni, be it bullet
or arrow, and it rankles.
Anana's
lips twitch in amusement at mention of having everyone wrapped around her
little finger. "Not likely," she replies, then gives him a kiss on
the cheek. "You're right that he can be with his Emily now, and that means
that whatever hold the Yin gods had on him is gone. Don't let it bother you so."
She's still going to feel bad about Chase, of course. "Thanks. Working
with Lee? That'll be interesting; you'll be able to rein him in, I hope.
Anyway... do you need my help getting him outside? Or should we wait until he
wakes up?"
Ahhhh,
Chase can rankle when he's awake. No time - nor brain - for it now. "Very
likely. It's just a fact. Even Darren can't stay mad at you, no matter how much
cause you give each other." Brice gives a half-smile at her kiss, hugging
her a little tighter. "I'm just glad that he can be with her. He was so
sad without her, it was almost painful to see him live. And it doesn't really
bother me... Not like you're thinking. But he was a good person, at least the
way I knew him, and I don't know now whether I knew the real John or not. I
guess that's what bothers me." Yes, Brice is a philosopher and
psychologist. He analyzes himself. "Hopefully I will, although... I
suspect he won't be quite as outgoing now. But it'll be interesting, although
Lee doesn't think they'll issue me a weapon." Brice has a li'l secret - he
knows they have to. Officers and detectives have to protect themselves, after
all; it just screams lawsuit if they don't have one. "I can stay here
another couple minutes. Now that he's off the floor he'll be easier to pick up.
I can grab us a tax back to the Berk."
Chase
can't really say anything at the moment, but does get a flicker, reminding him
to ask about this thing with Lee, that he /wasn't/ told about and had to hear
through Mina. Bad aniki. Although, he really shouldn't be complaining,
considering what he has managed to omit lately. Ah well. Blissful
unconsciousness.
"Hmmf.
Darren is Darren, and /him/, I've had loads of practice dealing with. In the
meantime, though, Brice, think of it this way: to separate us and make us doubt
makes us weaker," Anana says quietly, reaching up to tug teasingly on a
strand of Brice's hair. "Not quite as outgoing? Why's that?" /She/
doesn't know about the fire in Namame's old apartment, nope.
"I
know chibi, I know." Brice rolls his eyes at the hair-tug, but is still
half-smiling. "But that doesn't mean we have to lose all human feeling in
the process." He taps her nose. "I'm not doubting; I'm just sorry
that it had to happen to a nice guy who was probably just grieving for his wife
and daughter's death. The Yin gods take human emotions and twist them in the
way they choose to make their servants, and I'm willing to wager that more than
one Yin became a Yin because of that." But anyway, enough of the
philosopher-izing. "I don't think I'm at liberty to discuss Lee's
problems, kid. It'll be okay though." At least he's hoping so. "But
now I do need to go." Brice kisses Anana's head one more time, then pulls
away and picks up Chase by the arm, half-slinging him over his back. "I'll
take him home and put him in my room until he wakes up. I'll make the calls to
Lee and Cat, and when he's awake I'll call you and let you know. You take care
of yourself, all right?"
Chase
is slung over Brice's back. Again, he can't exactly grump about the situation.
What a bummer. But boy won't he be surprised when he wakes up on Brice's couch
later, and with one hell of a headache.
"I
know, I know. Take care of him, and yourself, Brice." She's not getting
into much trouble these days, really, at least, not the sort that can be
avoided. "Bye. I'll keep in touch with whatever info we can find."