4/8/2003
05:00
PM
Logfile
from Sebastian.
DeCourtenayB
- Illuminations
A mix
of Old World splendor and modern austerity, Illuminations is a gallery well
known for the eclectic choices of art that are on display here, some as private
pieces, while others of course are for sale if the price is right. The most prominent works are the 'wall
scrolls' hanging up under carefully placed lighting, each stamped in the lower
right hand corner with a red chop with the name Xin-Fong upon them. Sculptures
interspace the hangings, moving on towards more centered displays of rolled
scrolls contained behind glass paneling set upon elaborately carved cherry
mahogany tables.
Collections
of antiquities are shown behind glass stands, ranging from European jewelry to
Chinese jade carvings. Little display cards detail their origin and current
owner, most prominently belonging to a Robere De Courtenay. At each corner,
there are rather interesting 'paintings' that seem oddly placed. It's also
noted that those particular pieces tend to be moved around alot, or replaced
almost nightly.
Surprisingly
though, the counter near the front of the gallery offers several souvenir items
as well as simpler and less expensive ink paintings as well as some small
choices of jewelry. No photography is allowed in the gallery of course but it
seems that replicas are for sale at rather reasonable prices.
Higuchi
and Subaru are here.
Obvious
exits:
Doors Backwall-Scroll Studio
<Phone>
Kieran knows that tension. See, he remembers now. Remembers what a pain in the
ass Subaru could be. "I didn't do it, let me start by mentioning that
before you consider doing things to me with sharp objects. Look, Malachai
wanted Dylan to fix what he'd done, so he kidnapped Setsuna and put him in a painting.
With Mina, because she wandered here on her own trying to get Mal to give her
back the shinzaho. Anyway, Dylan did fix me but when Malachai tried to get the
others out of the painting of Sairou, it didn't work. Then he and Dylan got
sucked into it too."
<Phone>
Kieran makes a face at his phone, "I'm not the sorcerer who created it,
woman, how the hell am I supposed to know how it works? I've been in it.
Malachai took me once without realizing I would recognize the gods forsaken
desert. We went in and we went out. No, I can't get into it now. When Mal tried
to get the others out, he couldn't get it to work. He's never had that problem
before. No, I can't see what's happening. Look, are you coming here or what?
Because I know damn well you're not just sitting on your butt asking dumb
questions."
Sebastian
returns from whatever it was he was doing that caused him to be absent for the
morning. He slips quietly through the door, glancing over the area to look for
Kieran, only to hear him instead. He moves toward the sound of the other man's
voice, only to see him talking upon the phone. The man remains silent, watching
Kieran for a moment before flickering a glance to the wallscroll.
<Phone>
Kieran is rolling his eyes at his phone now. "As I said, I'm not a
sorcerer and Malachai and I don't even serve the same god. Oni powers aren't
mix and match, Catherine. I can't do what he can, so no, I can't make the
painting work. If I could, I probably wouldn't be standing her looking confused
and calling you. Anyway, we're at Malachai's gallery. Know where it is?"
Sebastian is caught sight of and Kieran gives him a smile.
Sebastian
quirks a glance at Kieran over the mention of the name. His pale eyebrows lift
in something of an unvoiced question, but he indeed remains quiet for the time
being. He moves over toward the picture once again, eyes narrowing as he peers
at it. But with a sigh of resignation, he takes a step back to lean against the
wall, watching Kier.
Subaru
comes in from the lobby.
Kieran
hangs up his phone and mutters something unflattering about white-haired women
with attitudes. Glancing up at Sebastian, he sighs, "I figured one of the
Byakko should know what was going on and well, Subaru and Kyoka were best
friends. Once upon a time. At least he wasn't sleeping with her. Though maybe
he he had been, he wouldn't have been hung up on Karasuki. Anyway, she'll be
wanting inside." The fire oni leans forward to give the other man a quick
kiss before moving toward the doors to let in the seishi.
Sebastian
crosses his arms over his chest as he listens to Kieran, frowning just the
slightest, "Possibly she will have a worthwhile opinion on this.
Hopefully." He sounds a little skeptical though, and his features don't
lend anything as well.
Catherine
managed to avoid odd looks, but winding up on the sidewalk after trying to get
in a quieter way than normal just resulted in her bouncing. Attitude she's got
in spades, indeed; even as she picks herself up off of the ground and dusts
herself off, she's muttering dire things about sorcerors, wards and insanity --
her own, that is. Kieran's arrival at the doors is greeted with a bit of a
smile in spite of that, though, for to do otherwise would indicate she's more
worried than she'll let on. "The information is appreciated," she
says to him, then catches sight of Sebastian. "Ah, Mr. Davis. How
interesting to see you again."
Kieran
glances between Catherine and Sebastian as he escorts the seishi to the
painting. "I guess I don't have to introduce you two then? You know
Bastian, I'm beginning to wonder if you know nearly all of the seishi."
He's amused by this actually. A hand sweeps toward the wall scroll depicting
Sairou. "There you have it. Wonder how they're doing in there?"
Sebastian
pushes away from the wall as Catherine enters, offering her a wan smile.
"Interesting? That is all, Catherine? I'd have expected something more
along the realm of your being charmed or pleased. But I suppose I'll just have
to be happy with what I can get, considering the circumstances." Kieran is
given a wry glance, "Not quite all of them, no. But I try." He draws
back a step, nodding to the wall scroll as well.
Catherine
immediately adopts a far sweeter smile, though it doesn't reach her eyes.
"Oh, I'm just /so/ pleased to see you again, Mr. Davis, it's what I always
dreamed of doing... especially when two of my fellow seishi are stuck in a
painting and my best friend stands opposite me." Deep breaths, Subaru.
Wait, that might not be such a good idea in this company -- too late.
"Looking up at the painting, she blinks in surprise, the false sweetness
falling away. "... it's home."
Kieran
is so very tempted to come around Catherine from behind and slip a hand over
her mouth. Instead he sighs and looks slightly embarrassed. "She always
was a pain in the ass, Bastian. Sharp witted and equally sharp of tongue.
Remind me to tell you of the time she got me to stand as a target for her
throwing dagger practice. Kyoka was an idiot." He turns back to the Byakko
seishi and narrows his gaze, "I don't have Kyoka's weaknesses anymore,
Catherine. Dylan restored my memories, but they don't haunt me. I don't feel
anything for that man anymore. I've found what it means to have someone return
my feelings. More than one. Anyway, I did you the courtesy of calling you. You
know, that Mina girl? She's rather dumb, isn't she?"
Sebastian
is amused at Catherine's words, and shows it with both the grin and the nearly
feline slant to his eyes. "Sarcasm doesn't become you, Catherine," he
chides softly, and then is looking towards the scroll once more in clear sign
of dismissal. He comments softly, "Oh, I'm sure Mina meant well. Sweet
child, if a little... misguided."
"You
were the teacher, might I remind you, Kyoka, so you practically volunteered,"
Cat shoots back with a glance over her shoulder at Kieran, her attention drawn
away from the scroll. "And you were /not/ an idiot. You didn't trust me. I
/am/ glad that you've found those who will return your feelings. It's what
Karasuki told you to do. Find someone who /could/ love you the way you wanted
him to." Grey eyes flick to Sebastian, amusement in her eyes.
"Bluntness usually does. Sarcasm's a new thing, but you deserved it."
She's just not going to respond to the comments about Mina, though. "How
long have they been gone?"
"Since
last night," Kieran replies almost off-handedly, stepping up behind
Sebastian and giving that braid of his a slight tug. "Okay, so is it only
the seishi women you know, Bastian? I'm beginning to understand why Reese comes
after you with that blood whip." Sure the oni is teasing, but he does a
good job of pretending he's slightly jealous. "I'm obvious falling behind
in my duties if I haven't gotten to meet these people." Speaking of
/these/ people, one of them is still standing there. Glancing back at
Catherine, Kier shrugs. "It's not exactly that simple, you know. You want
it to be all about trust, but it wasn't."
Sebastian
watches Cat for a moment, smile slight, "I deserve quite a few things,
lady, but I've no doubt that you will not hesitate to give me by due." At
the tug, he looks around to Kieran, "I am only being friendly, Kieran. It
wouldn't do at all for the seishi to believe that we are nothing but a group of
heathens and savages bent on world domination. I'm a social beast? Can you
blame me?" He shoots a pointed glance to Catherine, but is sighing once
more, "Catherine? Do you have any idea how we can find the others? Do you
know of anyone who might have a chance to contact them? Or, as I'm beginning to
believe, this will just be a game of sit and wait?"
"I
told you, it's never that simple. I know that," Catherine replies,
sobering slightly as she studies Sebastian and Kieran. No, commenting about
lookalikes would be a very bad thing in this place with two-to-one odds, and
it'd just be mean, and in spite of everything, this is Kyoka. She turns back to
study the painting thoughtfully. "I can think of a few reasons why they
may have been drawn into the painting. If it's a gateway, then it might have
become something more than just a gateway to an artist's vision of Sairou,
especially with the fact that one with power attuned /to/ that land and god was
pushed into it. I hesitate to touch it, though." She really, really
doesn't want to wind up being old again if she gets drawn in and it's in
Sairou's future. It wasn't /that/ bad, but that was when she actually lived the
intervening years; she'd rather not get a taste of her own power and quick-age.
"I think it'll be sit and wait until whatever has to be done is resolved.
Much as I hate the idea."
Kieran
is unable to keep himself from laughing when Sebastian calls himself a social
beast. Releasing the hair, he rests his hands on the nape of the man's neck,
fingertips abnormally warm. Or normally for the fire oni. "No, I can't
blame you, my dear. Even if some of us are heathens and savages. That is my
last name after all. Anyway, I can't imagine Malachai's having much fun in
there. Damnit."
At
Catherine's mention of touching the wall scroll, Sebastian is immediately
flickering a sidling glance around to Kieran and behind the woman's back.
Calculation is already obvious in his eyes, and seems to darken at the other
man's heated touch. The oni is already slipping over and next to the woman,
voice drawling slowly, "As dreary as sitting and waiting is, I am in
agreement with you there, Catherine. I'd so much prefer to be able to do
something about this." He moves as if to touch the woman's elbow, sighing,
"You are sure there is nothing?"
Catherine
steps away from the painting, caught by surprise by Kieran's laughter. That
sounds the same, too. This isn't fair. "I can't imagine that he would be,
with him having kidnapped Setsuna, though do give us credit; if something
happens to him, the effect on this gateway of sorts might not be measurable,
and Karasuki knows that," she says, glancing up at Sebastian with a bit of
a taut smile as she steps away from him, as well. As much as Cat -- and Subaru
-- is never so much of a stickler for personal space, everyone has their
moments. "And what would you plan to do?"
Kieran
is sighing again, "You think we're all out to get you just because we're
oni, Catherine? I thought I had explained this to you already. In this room,
there is only one of us whose god directly opposes Byakko. Me. As for Dylan and
Malachai fighting? No one was fighting when it happened. Dylan only wanted
Setsuna back and Malachai was in the process of trying to return the boy. Hell,
Dylan even apologized to me. So no, I don't think it's a potential blood bath
in there. I was imagining that Mal wasn't much enjoying being stuck watching
Dylan and Setsuna suck face or dealing with a stupid little girl."
Sebastian
would really rather like to throw her at the painting and see what happens, yet
the man doesn't quite suggest that to her. If anything, it'd be fun to do no
matter the outcome, but instead he stands there, arms crossing over his chest
as he watches Catherine with a wry smile, "Other than keeping us company
while we wait, Catherine?" He flickers a glance back to Kieran as the man
speaks, watching him wryly, and then a look back to the woman afterwards.
"We
seem to be very good at misinterpreting each other, Kieran. Isn't /that/
familiar?" The slight sarcasm is back as Cat rolls her eyes at Kieran.
"If you're going to be blunt, so shall I: are you /sure/ that you've
gotten over Karasuki? You seemed almost jealous there, and Mr. Davis certainly
bears a passing resemblance. Take that as you will, it's not meant as an
insult."
"I'm
not in love with Sebastian. I love him, dearly, but the man I am in love with
is Malachai. What you mistake for jealousy, Subaru, is my concern for that man
being stuck in a painting. His own painting," Kieran replies calmly.
"As for the resemblance? You aren't the first one to mention it, and I
hadn't noticed it until then. However, they're very different men and one is a
lover and someone I care deeply about. The other, is not. Do I need to
distinguish which is which for you?" A hand lifts to rest on Sebastian's
shoulder then, fingers reaching out to brushing tips against the man's cheek.
Sebastian
sighs softly, smirking down at Catherine. He doesn't speak though, this not
being his argument at all. Instead, the man moves a pair of steps away to wait
it out with an almost idle interest, or a deliberate appearance of aloofness.
Kieran's touch earns a glance to the other, and then a look on back to
Catherine, "Why do you mention these things, Catherine? To what
point?"
Catherine
simply smiles at Kieran, and there's honest feeling behind it. Somehow, his
being happy and open about things has made Subaru happy, too. "No, you
don't, Kieran. I'm just glad that you've found someone, as I said. I have as
much invested in getting my own people out of the painting, remember."
Sebastian gets a slightly different smile. "Because Kyoka was my friend,
and I didn't see what I should have, Mr. Davis, I may have lost him. But if it
makes him happy, having this duty as well as the love he deserved but could
never have in the past, then I'm happy. Even if I don't want to face him
someday, I'll have to. In the meantime..." She shrugs slightly. "I
will just be happy that he's found people who can love him in a way that
Karasuki could not, and that never truly came up between Dourin and Kyoka."
"We
really /could/ find something else to discuss, Catherine, besides every aspect
of my past and future personal life," says Kieran almost dourly.
"But, since you seem so interested in knowing, I should mention that I do
enjoy having sex with women in this life. Unlike Kyoka. I like to think of
myself as an improved version of that insane closet case. Now then." With
a casual flick of his wrist, Kieran reaches out to touch the painting.
"See, nothing. Nada. The door has been locked and bolted."
Sebastian
remains impassive for a moment, but it is Kieran's words that actually manage
to provoke an amused grin. His arms uncross though and he is reaching a hand
over to rest upon Kieran's shoulder, "At least from us, it seems. Again, I
have no doubt that Malachai will be well and able to take care of himself, but
I would be much more assured if he was /here/ instead of gone in there."
And with that last, he nods back to the wall scroll.
"I'm
hurt, Kieran," Catherine quips, fluttering her eyelashes at him briefly,
barely keeping a mischievous grin from taking over. "this sort of
discussion is interesting, though I never asked for the information you just
provided." She sobers, though, as she studies the painting again.
"Thank you for demonstrating. If he were here, though, we wouldn't be
having this problem. Waiting games. I can be patient, really I can..." ...
she /can/. She's just not good at it.
"No
you can't. Or if you can, Catherine, then patience is something you've learn in
this lifetime." Kieran is clearly teasing her and enjoying it. The hand at
his shoulder brings a smile to his face, a glance spared briefly for the other
oni. "So, where we all are. Shall we order take out?"
Sebastian
is shaking his head slowly from side to side, amusement showing once again as
he looks from one to the other. "Seeing as we have so much time here while
we wait, I think now would be the ideal time for the pair of you to tell me all
about this relationship that you seem to have. Curiosity demands that I ask."
Catherine
pulls a face at Kieran. "I lived a long time after you left, you
know," she says, "You learn patience in a hundred and seven years of
being a seishi. The problem is remembering what you've learned. If I'd known I
was going to be here for a long wait, I would have brought over food. Much
better than takeout." Sebastian's question gets a shrug. "Kieran can
explain if I wish."
Kieran
feels the need to be blunt now, though not unkind. "I didn't just leave,
Subaru. I went off after Karasuki. When he died, I buried his body and slit my
wrists. So, in other words, I /died/. Now then, what do you want to know
Bastian? The summary of it is that I was once Kyoka, a guard in the Sairou
army. I had rank, I helped this brat here learn how to be a seishi. I was a
closet gay that hated himself for that. I developed an unhealthy obsession with
Karasuki and when he rejected my love, I spent the remainder of short life
keeping others away from him to the point that I killed when I thought someone
had gotten too familiar. Somehow being some peon. I never hurt another seishi
or even considered it. They summoned, he left for Konan. I followed, he died.
Blah, blah, blah. I remember giving a shit about this all once and now I don't.
Blame Sebastian for that. He and Malachai."
Sebastian
flickers a glance to Catherine, but his next look is over to Kieran as he
begins to speak. The man's eyes narrow upon the other oni for a brief moment
before he looks almost resigned, "Sounds delightful." Guess it is his
turn to sound sarcastic.
"Tokaki
looked for news of you, Kyoka. There wasn't any," Cat says quietly,
"and I had to stay in Yaolan with my fellow seishi." In short, she
got tied down to one place in the end, in spite of everything. "I'm not a
brat, even if I was horribly immature and an awful flirt before." She
knows her flaws, and she accepts them, too. "Kyoka was my friend even
before that, and I trusted him with my life. Now..." She gestures at
Kieran vaguely. "I can't."
Kieran
gives Sebastian a wry smile, "Next time Bastian, you are welcome to the
past life. Believe me." And because the man was sarcastic, the fire oni is
going to kiss him. In front of the seishi. Seems a delightful way to get the
other back for asking the question in the first place. "So anyway, as you
said, Catherine, you can't trust me anymore. My goddess wants your god to go
away. I happen to feel the same way. That doesn't mean I plan on killing you at
this moment or the next. Or trying at least. It just means that we're not what
we once were. You shouldn't trust me. That doesn't mean we can't get together
and talk sometimes. In public places. Away from the hentai."
"The
gods seem to be very adept in twisting and using relationships from
before," Sebastian remarks softly, musingly. His hand reaches around and
behind Kieran, slipping away from the man's shoulder to instead draw the pads
of his fingers softly across the nape of the man's neck. After being kissed,
that is. "Kieran, I'd ask you to behave, but I know well I'd rather you do
anything but that." He nods back to Catherine with a slight smile.
If it's
intended to bother Catherine, it's not exactly going to work. The woman just
studies a painting until they speak again, whereupon she quirks an eyebrow at
Kieran. "Smart of you to say try, though I try not to be overconfident
these days. Tokaki will behave if I tell him to." There's a stubbornness
in her gaze as she says it that seems to hint that he'd best not ask.
But
they both know Kieran will. Or at least he'll comment someway, right? "You
know, I never did think you'd end up with that one, Subaru. Hell, if I had
known, I would have married you just to keep you out of his path. He wasn't
worth it, was he? I mean, did you love him and did he take care of you? Because
now I could use that as an excuse to burn his ass to a crisp. Don't like Byakko
much, so getting my desired thrills by bothering Tokaki has its merits. Then
again, you wouldn't want me hurting one of the other seishi, I'm sure. You
always were too nice."
Sebastian
remains silent as they once more begin to discuss things well beyond his own
knowledge. The man is content though to simply stand there, watching Catherine
while his hand continue to brush at the other man's neck.
Catherine
glances at Sebastian, a thoughtful look upon her face. "Out of curiosity,
Mr. Davis, don't you find that running a corporation as you do as well as the
necessity of bailing certain people out of trouble more often than not, or
finding trouble as the case may be, is difficult to split time between?"
she asks. Hey, she's not above learning time-management from onisenshi.
"That's not really... yes, I loved him. No, I don't want you hurting the
other seishi, but what I want doesn't particularly matter, does it?"
"Maybe,
maybe not, Catherine. I guess we'll have to see." Kieran glances between
her and Sebastian, one eyebrow arching at the question. "You know, I'd
like to hear that answer too. It's my opinion that Bastian spends too much time
doing his corporate raiding thing, but it's a fix for him. He's an onisenshi
with a more apparent mission, so to speak." Yeah, blow things up. Woo!
Sebastian
is quirking a wry grin over to Catherine, at her query, and then over to Kieran
at the sudden change of subject. "I suppose you both would rather that I
simply took my destructive ways out upon the world at large instead of keeping
it in the board room? I'd be more than happy to oblige, although I don't think
that will endear me to any one all that quickly. We all need our healthy outlets,
if you so believe. Never mind that a good bit of corporate destruction can
destroy the livelihood of entire towns when he finishes dismantling and ripping
apart another company. Casualties of business -and it keeps Lexie in
clothing."
That
was more of an answer from Kieran than Catherine had expected, really.
"You didn't really answer the question, though board room destruction is
usually far less messy and requires a lot less explanation than, oh, museums
being riddled with chi blasts and gunfire, wouldn't you say? That destroys
lives as much as livelihoods."
"He's
got a mean chi blast, Catherine. I ought to know, since one's put a hole in my
side before." Kieran actually looks rather proud of Sebastian when he
passes along that information. At least, the expression he wears is definitely
pleased. "And it's not that I would prefer you to be doing that kind of
physcial destruction, Bastian, it's that I don't like when you get so caught up
in the doldrums of your business life that you turn into a 'cold fish' as Lexie
is fond of calling you."
"As
I've told you before, Kieran. I haven't quite all of the versatility of some of
the rest of you. My... creativity as to the means to the end has to branch out
into other areas. Each sacrifice, however it might come about, is all for my
god." Religious fanatic oni makes an appearance once more. It was
inevitable considering the turn of the conversation. Don't get him started.
"The woman is just as quick to label me as she is to steal my credit
cards."
"I
never considered you quite so much of a masochist, Kieran, to brag about
getting holes put in your side, though it seems to have healed well,"
Catherine says, nonplussed. "Ah, so I take it that the Sebastian I met at
Starbucks was the 'cold fish' variety?" Well, not that she didn't play the
ditz, as usual, to try to be somewhat misleading. "Somehow, that about
Lexie really doesn't surprise me."
Yep,
Sebastian has gotten started. Though really, the man's piety doesn't bother
Kieran. Neither does the way his personality shifts to that more reserved,
emotionally constipated Sebastian that most others know better than any other.
Truth be told, Kieran is getting used to this about the man he cares deeply
for. Not to mention he enjoys luring the oni out of it. Most definitely.
"You support Lexie? I had no idea. Not after she moved out of the
penthouse. I'd chip in, but I'm taking care of someone already." Nope, not
going to mention names.
Sebastian
smiles faintly at Catherine, "Kieran was provoking me at the time. And he
was such a tempting target. I've since managed to find other ways to deal with
his provoking though." He glances back over to Kieran, "She hasn't
asked me to, but the woman knows I'll support her for whatever she needs. And,
one of my cards is showing an abnormal amount of activity in the realm of
stereo equipment, ammunition, and video games. Who else could that be?"
"Provocation,
a fun start to a relationship. Though normally, the provocation wouldn't lead
to chi-blasts to the body," Catherine says dryly. "Taking care of
someone, Kieran? Interesting. I hadn't thought you to be the sort this time
around."
Kieran
shrugs at that comment. "You hardly know me this time around, Catherine. I
take care of those that mean something to me. I did as Kyoka, I still do now.
It's the people who have changed is all."
Sebastian
smiles wryly over at Cat, "Well, the oni tend to be a different animal
that more others, Catherine, as I'm sure you have noticed. But everyone needs
to have something of a way to meet and greet others." As Kieran walks off,
the man looks back to her, "The man almost cares too much, to a fault. Do
not judge him or make assumptions on what happened when you knew him before. As
he just said, things have changed."
"I
shouldn't have said it, but it caught me by surprise," Catherine admits
quietly, leaning against a paintingless wall. "He cares, but only about
those he considers important. Not those who are uninvolved, or who do not catch
his interest. Things have changed, and they have not. I'm not so blind as I was
then -- or I hope I'm not." She looks at Sebastian solemnly for a moment.
"Thank you for caring for him."
Sebastian
watches Catherine for a long moment before speaking once more, "Yes, his
caring is conditional upon his own priorities, but it is there. He isn't out to
embrace and love the entire world for all of their foibles. Some might desire
that, he clearly does not." He crosses his arms before his chest,
replying, "I do not need your thanks for doing something that was
inevitable, but I appreciate the sentiment. He is an important man."
.oO(
Karasuki's gonna kill me. ) Yep, that's Subaru's opinion at the moment, but
somehow, it doesn't matter much. "Not love the entire world for its
foibles," she says, "It's flawed, but a perfect world would be
boring. What concerns me is how easily he regards killing those who weren't
really involved the last time, and possibly now. I don't know." She
studies the wall painting once again, grey eyes concerned. "He's always
been important."
3/28/2003
12:42 AM
Logfile from Tomite.
Mandarin Plaza - 1502
It looks like an average two bedroom apartment. The
furniture is second-hand, and the overall impression is somewhat shabby, with
the exception of the shotgun/rifle collection hanging up on the far wall. Pretty boring place, really, but there's a
TV and some game consoles, at least
Obvious exits:
Exit
When the two awaken, they'll be greeted with an interesting
sight -- the apartment, rather than being a complete disaster area, is actually
fairly tidy, most of the damage of the shots cleared up, the CDs tidied, and
there's actually something fairly appetizing cooking. If they have the stomach
for it, of course. Catherine, for her part, is just sitting upon the floor, her
back against the wall, and apparently asleep.
Chase doesn't look like he wants to awaken any time soon.
Nope. He is all kinds of comfortable cuddled up with Lexie, the faint glimmer
of what could be drool at the corner of his mouth. Mmmmmm. Snuggly. Wonderful
pillows here.
Lexie is usually a tosser and a turner, but after fifteen
beers, it's amazing she isn't comatose.
Still, she has to wake up sometime, no matter how much she fights it,
her head starts pounding like a jackhammer as soon as she starts to regain
conciousness. Hm. Warm, soft.. No,
definitely not snuggled up to her dog, those are clothes.. Slowly, very slowly,
in the recesses of what part of her mind has started to function, she begins to
realize that something is very wrong here in Lexieland. "Mmph?" Maybe if you give her another half hour she'll brave opening her
eyes to the painful light and finding out what it is.
Catherine may seem like she's asleep, but at the first
motion from the comatose pair upon the couch, she gets smoothly to her feet,
running a hand through her hair and moving towards the couch. "Chase,
wakey-wakey," she says, reaching out to rest a hand upon the seishi's
shoulder. "I speak from years of knowledge when I say that you're going to
get smacked when your pillow wakes up." Her voice is quiet, given that
she's practically leaning over the young man in an attempt to whisper into his
ear.
No. See, the pillows are not supposed to move. They are
supposed to stay right there and let him sleep upon them. "Dun'move,"
Chase mumbles, just snuggling close to Lexie's side. Consciousness would he a
very bad thing for his head right about now, so we'll just stay retreated into
the quaint little place between being asleep and fully awake. The voice from
the other causes another bit of scattered mumbling, "Mom? Mom? I'm
up." Although his eyes are certainly squeezed shut. Shoulder touching
elicits a low mumble. "I'm up." He doesn't move.
Lexie is most unfortunately, now awake as well. And she looks.. Not angry, but confused as
all hell. Ever cautiously, she looks
sloooowly over to see just who she's clinging to.. And goes very wide-eyed
indeed. What in the five hells? But her
throat feels like cotton.. So she'll just keep her trap shut for the moment and
hold very still until this all makes sense. Which it should any moment. No,
really. O.O
Catherine restrains the urge to facepalm and leave Chase to
the possible tender mercies of Lexie with a hangover. It's been a very long
time since anyone's equated her with a mother. Oh well, roll with it. "I'm
going to get a bucket of ice water in thirty seconds, young man," she says
sternly, tossing Lexie a little bit of a wink as she spots the woman awakening.
"Unless you're up and ready to go in twenty, I'm going to get your
brother, and I assure you, /he's/ not going to be as nice as I am."
Okay, it is the mentioning of brother that actually gets the
boy's eyes to flicker open, only to immediately shut once more. "Aieeeee,
the light." Chase is wincing, a hand coming up to rub at his forehead and
over-shadow his eyes. Blearily blinking, he is squinting after
Catherine with obvious confusion. And then he is turning
ever so slowly to look up from his pillow and try his best to focus upon
Lexie's face. And that face is way, way too close for him to do so easily.
Lexie gives up on trying to remember, and releases Chase
once it looks like he's awake. She tries to stand, and instead falls almost
face-first onto the carpet.
"...Gods, my head."
She mumbles, along with some things in Italian which sound remarkably
like cuss words. She puts her hands
over her eyes, trying to block out that godawful light. "Yo, don't talk so
loud, wouldja, Cat?"
Catherine isn't completely without a sense of pity, really;
she pulls the shades on the windows, then fetches a mug of coffee, depositing
it upon the table beside Lexie. "Hold still," she warns Chase, an
impish grin overing about her lips as she leans forward to kiss his cheek. One
does have to feel sorry for Lexie at this point, most likely, as there's a
flash of bright white light. Chase gets to have the fun of one very
concentrated moment of hangover-ness, and then there's no more.
Chase slowly rolls up to sit, refraining from leaning
against the nearby sofa. He continues to rub at his forehead as if trying to
massage some sort of sense into his head, that and get rid of the throbbing,
throbbing pain. "I think I'm dead. I've got to be," he mumbles,
softly. Softly. His headache seems to grow in volume as his head turns, but
then he is being smooched. "Oooooohhhhh." He winces, and then is
reduced to blinking quite exaggeratedly. It takes him a moment to assess
things, namely the fact that his head doesn't feel as though it is going to
explode anymore. Slowly, green-irised gaze shifts to spy Catherine, "Oh,
you can do that again anytime."
Lexie winces and covers her eyes, making a face. "Damn
magic users." She mumbles, before managing to her feet, successfully this
time, and peering at Chase for just one long moment before staggering off to
the kitchen. Need.. Coffee. Need to not
look at the two seishi standing in living room. Need sanity. Need hand
grenades.
Catherine pulls back, arching an eyebrow. "Just for
that, Lexie, you're not getting the same treatment," she says in jest,
then offers Chase a hand up, jerking her head towards the door. "There's
coffee already made, and when you can stomach it, chicken soup, Lexie."
Someone was busy, apparently. "I /had/ thought about doing that earlier
and leaving you with the hangover, Chase, but I think that would've made you
even more miserable."
Chase is blinking after Lexie, and frowning quite
considerably. His gaze flickers away to look at the floor as he tries
desperately to put together what has happened the last couple of days, and is
failing miserably. He looks to the remains of the stereo, the gun cabinet, and
then is reaching around to rub at the back of his neck. "What the hell
happened? How did I...?" His gaze draws back over to Catherine, as if
seeking her help for the answers, only to take her hand as he moves smoothly
back to his feet. "Okay... where are my clothes?"
Lexie mumbles, pouring herself a coffee cup and sinking
against the counter. "I don't need a seishi to heal me. I'm a big girl. I
can deal with a hangover." She murmurs, taking a swig of the coffee. Well, if she said anything, it'd be admitting
she didn't remember either!
"That /would/ explain why that doesn't quite fit,"
Catherine says dryly, eyeing Chase's attire for the first time. "And it's
not healing anyway, Lexie. And you're growling, and I think that if you slump
anymore, you'll wind up falling onto the floor. And no beeper for 'I've fallen
and I can't get up', either. Now, what /is/ going on here?"
Chase reaches a hand up to rub at his hair now, and then
patting his head. "Damn. Where'd my hat go?" He starts away from
Catherine to begin the process of trying to find it. As he does so, he passes
by the stereo once more, and the memory is jogged. "You stole my
stuff." Okay, so that is a beginning. "And I tried to get it
back." He is frowning once more, blinking over to Catherine, "I think
I got married last night. Did we get married?" No ring. Hrm.
Lexie pales.
"Sweet mary moses, we didn't, did we? My aunt Antonia would kill me if I got married to someone and
didn't invite the family.." She trails off a moment, looking sheepish.
"To be honest, I don't remember a damn thing. But I do remember that you
left the stereo and I appropriated it fair and square!" She gestures to the bullet-riddled
equipment. "I'm not in much shape to argue, so you can have it back.. If
you can carry it out." See, she
has some good humor left.
"No, you didn't get married, and what other things were
stolen? I'll help you carry it back, but believe me, I can't fix the
stereo," Catherine says, resigning herself to the need to be the
responsible one again. "And /why/ are you younger than... I'm not asking,
I'm not asking, can we just go? And before you ask, no, I'm not fixing whatever
time-witchery happened to you, Chase, because it wouldn't last."
"Bondage was involved. I remember being tied up."
And now Chase is squinting over at Lexie, his mind going places that it really
should not be going. "Did the Yin no miko tie me up, have her way with me,
and then actually marry me?" He /is/ wearing her clothes. "Oh sweet
Genbu." And he doesn't fully remember any of it. Stereo is eyed. "Uh.
No. You can keep that." Catherine is peered at once more as she speaks,
"She took some of my CDs and... I don't remember what else. How long have
I been here? Brice is going to shoot me." Oh, shooting. That provokes
another memory.
Lexie looks up at Chase, opens her mouth, then shrugs.
"...You know, if I did, I can't recall. Sorry, it's just one big
blur." She thinks better of her
hangover, and adds some brandy to her coffee.
Now that'll help a bit.
"Um. You can keep the sweats too, then." She comments, almost
meekly. Well, some of the CDs might
have survived, but.. Well, jeez. Now she's wondering if she tied Chase to the
bed and had her way with him. But he looks awfully young, which isn't usually
her taste and.. She's going to try to erase the mental images. >.>
"Bondage, marriage, sometimes it's all the same,"
Catherine says, rolling her eyes. "Believe me. Are you sure you just
weren't wandering the Village last night or something? I can tell you that
unless you somehow managed to coherently say vows in front of a priest or a Justice
of Peace who was also drunk last night before I came over -- and from what I'm
hearing, I doubt that would have been possible -- you're definitely not
married. For another thing, Chase, I'll deal with Brice."
Chase is smirking over at Lexie, still wondering. "A
blur," he echoes as well, frowning. He is squinting about the expanse of
the room, before peering back at Catherine. "I'll have to take your word
for that." At the mention of Brice again he is frowning, possibly looking
a little worried, "No, I'll figure out something. Maybe he doesn't even
know I've been gone." He'll hope. Yep.
Lexie takes another swig of her spiked coffee, rubbing at
the rings under her eyes with her free hand.
"Well, if I find any prenups, I'll let you know. Musta been one
hell of a honeymoon." She comments fuzzily. "What I can remember doesn' make much sense
anyways." At least, she doesn't
/want/ it to!
Catherine rubs at her temples tiredly. "Look, Chase,
the longer you stay, the more likely it is that you'll be caught later and be
/really/ screwed. I thought you were in trouble, not getting drunk," she
says with a weary little laugh. "Work it out later, Lexie. Or I can make
up some stuff, I'm sure."
Chase just plain gives up looking for his hat, scowling. He
glances back up, looking to Lexie once more, sharing a glance with her.
"Yeah... no sense at all." He is glancing away though to peer at
Catherine, "Best to get going then. Anyone know you are here?"
Lexie flops down on the couch, wearily. "I think he
was. I won." She states,
stubbornly. "Well, until I got
drunk. I think. I'm not sure." She
draws up her knees, huddling over her coffee cup. The headache at least keeps her from making too much
trouble. "Seeya, kids." She
mumbles.
"Nope. Lexie tried to prank-call my cellphone, which I
have no idea how you got the number for, but all the same, enjoy the remainder
of the beer in the fridge, Lexie. Come on, Chase." Cat's not one for
dramatic entrances or exits unless the situation calls for them, and this one
really doesn't. "Later, Lexie." Let's see if Lexie ever finds the
aspirin again after Catherine hid it. It's a favorite prank, really.
Chase is scampering after Catherine, but not before snapping
up a few of his CDs, hesitating, and then nabbing a few more to cradle in his
arm. He shoots the miko another odd glance, narrowing just the slightest as if
trying to focus a few more things in his mind. Declarations of love? Naaaaaah.
"Get ya later, Yin." He flashes her his trademark puckish grin, and
then leaves off with Catherine.
Lexie just fishes out her cellphone, noth bothering to say
goodbye to the seishi-- She's a little too confused, here. Hell, she can't remember right. Declarations
of love, phaugh. Time to call the oni
and get a hold of some tylenol.
"...."
The Berkley Apartments - 202
Really nothing more than a college dorm come to life in an
apartment building, 202 has a distinct hand done feel about nearly everything
in the room - from the blue-and-white walls to the reupholstery on the couch
and armchair. The perfect example of working on a budget. Electronics are
limited to the computer propped on the desk, a small radio, and a tiny
televison, while the kitchen is little more than a niche in the wall. A second
doorway leads to the bedroom, even smaller than a dorm room because it has to
share space with the bathroom as well. Posters and photgraphs decorate the
walls, and books are scattered on every surface imaginable, often three or four
deep, and all on sujects that do not typically involve numbers: history,
philosophy, psychology, world religions, literature, politics and various
languages - even some /in/ a couple of those languages.
Hikitsu is here.
Obvious exits:
Exit
Subaru comes into the area from elsewhere.
Chase at least had the good sense to sneak upstairs and get
on some clothes that actually belong to him before leading Cat back down here.
"You really don't need to hang around, you know? He probably didn't even
know I was gone." And then he is rapping upon the door.
"Are you /sure/ you want to do this?" Catherine
asks as they stand outside the door, pale eyebrows arched at Chase. "A
phonecall tends to be a lot safer and less physically damaging." Her voice
is amused in spite of herself, though.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yes he did. This is
Brice right now: *worrygrowlfumeworryfumecursefumeworryangerfume* The otouto is
/so/ dead meat. But thankfully, Brice isn't expecting the otouto to show up on
his doorstep. So when he opens the door, the Hikitsu-mask of calm is carefully
applied. "Yes?" Then he recognizes the visitor. Well, visitors, but
he's only concerned with one at the moment. Run Chase. "/YOU!!!/"
Yep, the mask is gone. He grabs Chase by the front of his shirt and hauls him
bodily into the apartment in a couple blinks of the eye. "DO YOU HAVE ANY
IDEA HOW WORRIED I WAS?! ANANA CALLED AND SAID YOU DISAPPEARED TWO DAYS AGO, I
WAS WORRIED SICK-" and so on and so forth, except with lots more cursing.
Chase is still under the premise that nobody knows he was
even gone, and so Cat's words simply receive a shrug of his shoulders,
"Why not? It'll be fine. And I have no clue what happened to my cell
anyway." Along with his hat, clothes, most of his memories of the last day
or two. "John doesn't have a phone anyway. So this'll work." And as
the door opens, the teenager turns to offer Brice a cautious smile... and then
get yanked right off of his feet and dragged within. "Aaaaah!"
Ohhhhhh durn. He knows. There goes the whole plan. "Uh, hey Brice."
He'll just wait out the yelling and cursing, working to come up with some
explanation. Something.
Catherine just follows right along after Chase is hauled
into the apartment, letting Brice rant for a moment before she takes a step
forward and takes ahold of Brice's wrist, just letting her hand close about it
and no more than that. "One, Brice, breathe," she says in a calm
voice, "Two, he's back now and none the worse for wear. Three, he would
have been back before if I hadn't wound up being a bit late. Blame me. Do you
really want to try to kick /my/ ass?" Sweet smile.
"No, but I'm sure as hell gonna kick /his/," Brice
growls, still watching Chase and not seeming to take in who's restraining him,
just someone he doesn't wanna beat up (which means no Namame. Drat.)
"Chase," he starts again, visibly restraining himself, "/what
happened./" Not a question. "John called Anana and said you didn't
come back, and she called me and said you weren't answering your cell."
Which of course makes Brice immediately jump to the worst conclusion - which
isn't that far off. "You've gotta /tell/ someone when you just go running
off, I don't wanna have to put you under the same guard Nick's got on
Anana!" He really /was/ worried. Chase is the only otouto he's got.
Chase is looking rather uncomfortable, extremely
uncomfortable, and mostly at Brice's displeasure. Yes, he even hangs in head in
shame, hand reaching up to rub at his bangs. "Sorry. Sorry. I didn't... I
didn't plan on stuff happening. It just did, and I was hoping nobody would have
noticed, I think..." He sighs, now transferring the rubbing to his
forehead. "I was just-" Wait. "What?! I sure as hell don't need
to be babysat? It's bad enough I've gotta stay with John, but I don't need
someone keeping an eye on me all the time." Anana. That sparks another
fuzzy memory, leaving him frowning.
Even if hitting Brice upside the back of the head isn't
going to a whit of good, Catherine's going to do just that with her free hand
-- the other one's still remaining upon Brice's wrist. "As I recall,"
she says with determined cheer, "Chase, no matter how old he might look
now, is actually over eighteen." It might be the false ID that gave her
that impression, but who knows? "I don't know what happened to make him
look younger, save to tell you that /I/ didn't do it, but the point remains
that one, he's over his majority here, and two, in the past, I'm sure that he
would have /also/ been considered old enough to deal."
The whack makes hism glare at his attacker, and he finally
realizes it's Cat. "I have news for you later." But that can wait
'til later. "Chase, stuff /just happens/ to you a lot, and it did last
time too! Even if you really /are/ eighteen, I'll do what I have to do to keep
you safe!" Brice may not be expressing it in the best way, but he really
/is/ concerned, not angry. "I pulled you out of too many situations last
time to know that you can't /help/ it. I /don't/ want to have to do it, but I
don't want to lose my little brother either!
Even if it's just calling me and saying 'I'm going to the dojo' or
wherever, it'd make a lot of us-" especially him "-feel better to
know!"
Chase shoots Cat a glance, gaze at first pleading and then
thankful to her. And then it is back to Brice, and the teenager is once more
looking a little uncomfortable at what he has to say. "I wasn't planning
on what was going to happen. Just went to the
old place, found some stuff that I needed to return to a couple of
people in the building and..." A moment of thought and then he resumes,
"And I saw that the yin no miko had my stolen stuff in her place. So I
went in to get it and..." Another moment. "She shot at me." That
last part seems to bring a bit of understanding to his eyes. "Ahhhhh, that
explains my back. But we got into something of a tussle, and there was this
spirit, and she was shooting and... I woke up tied up the next day, I think,
tied up." He is looking rather pleased now, actually remembering a few
things, finally. Such a smile.
Catherine gives him a smile for his glare, though it's a
little bit of a smirk at this point due to the fact that this is worse than
being caught in her siblings' arguments at home. "He's still a seishi, and
can take care of himself," she comments, "News? And a spirit, and she
/shot/ you? I didn't see any wounds..."
Brice groans. "See, that's the kind of thing I'm
talking about." But after that he drops the subject - it's a better thing
to talk about when the brothers are alone and he's in slight more control. No,
no, not saying anything about guns, no no no... With another visible struggle,
he wills himself to change the subject. "Yes," he said to Cat,
"news. Chase, you should hear this too." As nerve-wracking as Chase's
disappearance was/is, this is in some ways even more frightening.
"Chiriko's convinced Trevor isn't Hotohori, and he has Chichiri doubting
it as well, along with me mostly siding with him. APparently Trevor's stars
don't match Hotohori's, and he's been giving a lot of valuable information to
the Yin no Miko that he would normally have the discretion to keep
private."
Chase is simply moderately pleased he is remembering a few
things, and shows it with his grin. Now if he can just figure out that marriage
part. He blinks over at Catherine and grins faintly. "She's a pretty good
shot. I'll give her that. It'll be okay. Just stings a little. I don't need you
kissing away anything else." But his attention is back to Brice, and then
comes the frown. "Wait. Trevor? The /singer/." He rather liked him.
"What's Anana think about that? Does she know?"
Catherine releases Brice's wrist, moving quickly towards the
door and making sure it's closed before she returns to the two, her face paler
than normal. "If his stars don't match, then it's true, he's not
Hotohori," she says softly, then glances at Chase, the tension that was
written in her frame broken. "I don't normally do that. Didn't even need
physical contact, but it makes it easier." When she glances back to Brice,
her expression is serious, but no longer with that freaked-out edge. "Has
there been any news on how they plan to deal with this?"
"Yes, Trevor, the singer. Anana doesn't know - we had
other things to talk about when she called." Like disappearing Chases.
Brice shakes his head at Cat's question. "No, I haven't been able to call
either of them, or any of the others." Then again, the only one he knew to
start with (aside from the miko and Hiroshi) was Trevor. "Hiroshi's
certain of this, and even Johnston agrees that he's got some traits that just
don't match. Hiroshi thought they might have gotten to him, or he turned - but
I just can't imagine the emperor doing something like that. Everything I've
heard about him said he was more loyal than any of us even! It's one bad choice
or another, or willful blindness. I don't know what they're going to do."
Chase ducks his hands into the pockets of his pants,
frowning. "He gave me a signed CD and everything. But considering Hiroshi
knows his stuff, I'm sure he'd have the right of it. Well, if Trevor isn't one
of those Suzaku, then who is he?" But Brice's continued explanation causes
the boy to nod once more. "Want me to follow him? I could keep an eye on
the guy and he'll never know I was there." Even if it is the Suzaku, that
sort of situation still sucks.
"If Hiroshi knows, it's likely that Anana does; they
always seemed close," Catherine comments, shrugging a little bit. Of
course, she tends to have little clue of what's going on aside from her own
factional insanity these days, even if she has been around since the beginning.
"We'll see, we'll see. And we'll deal with it as a whole if it comes to
that."
"It's likely, but I don't know how much time they've
been spending together recently. I definitely ran into them just as Chiriko
broke the news; if he's told her since then, I don't know about it." Brice
glances at Chase, seriously considering his suggestion. "...I'm not about
to tell you what to do, but if you do, just don't get caught. He could be a Yin
plant - which is really the only explanation I can think of - and that means
we'd have no idea of his real powers, or he could have Yin following him. I was
actually thinking 'Miya could, since he has the illusion and movement
abilities... But I still haven't properly met him." Brice shrugs. Life is
weird lately. "I told them to call me if they needed anything and gave
them my number; they haven't, so I /assume/ they're okay for the moment."
Chase is shrugging his shoulders once more, flickering a
glance to Catherine. "Well, if the Suzaku have their suspicions, I'm sure
they'll figure something out and how to deal with it. Sounds like he has been
around awhile though and considered to be their Hotohori... that's got to be
weird." Understatement. "We'll have to pop by Suna's again some time
so you can see him."
"Definitely weird," Catherine agrees, "but
you haven't seen weird until... oh, Byakko's ass, /please/ tell me it isn't
Miboshi. The Suzaku had enough hell with him last time." Her hands go up
to her temples, and she sighs. "Far better to think of him as a Yin plant
rather than a Seiryuu seishi that I think even his /own/ seishi want to
kill."
"He was, until he started passing information to Lexie
and sympathizing with her too much. Apparently Hiroshi sees things, and he told
Trevor about it, and Trevor told Lexie. He also told her about the
same-time-summonings and bonding idea, but fortunately she seems to think it's
impossible and impractical. And actually Chase, I've only been to the penthouse
once, and that was before Dylan and Minai got turned back." Brice gets
that startled look on his face as Cat curses - wow, wasn't expecting that.
"Miboshi? Who - or what's - that?" He'd ask more, but suddenly a wide
yawn escapes him, and he can't muffle it. "Sorry," he says when he's
finally done. "I should probably go to bed; I was up early." Not to
mention that worrying takes a lot out of you.
Chase is blinking at Cat as well, his attention upon her
quizzical. "Miboshi... this sounds like a a whole other tale that would be
great to hear about." And something that'll get him out of telling Brice
about other adventures with the yin no miko. At aniki's yawn, the teenager nods
his head. "Yeah, head to sleep. Sorry about... stuff." He offers
Brice a warm, though wry, grin, then moves as if to give him a pat on the back.
And the looks that follows is definitely one that means they'll be talking
later. Head bobs and he moves as if to lead Cat towards the door, "Give
Ash my best."
Time to beat a strategic retreat -- even Byakko know
something of strategy, after all. Brice's surprise at Cat's cursing goes
unnoticed; after all, she's had Matt in her apartment for a while, and she's
gotten used to it. "Oh, I'm full of stories," she says dryly to
Chase. "Miboshi's a Seiryuu seishi who had the ability to possess people's
bodies. More, I'll have to explain later. Sleep well, Brice. Shall we go, then,
Chase? Need me to buffer you against John's wrath?"
"I wanna hear this one Cat; sounds like it'll be
interesting." To say the least. A possessor? You /sure/ he's not a Yin? He
returns Chase's look, promising a discussion session, before beating down
another yawn and nodding. "I will Chase, don't worry. Night you two."
And he leaves them to let themselves out and stumbles into the bedroom,
shutting the door to change.
Chase is wincing. Ack. "Dammit. I'm going to catch hell
from all of them for this now, aren't I? Sometimes that Yin no miko can be just
as bad as all of the rest of the oni." For a moment there, he briefly
considered just sacking out on the couch here, and not have to deal with John,
but... "Sure, lets get going."
"I'd offer you a refuge, but I think I still have some
of the Seiryuu crashing out at my apartment," Catherine says, heading for
the door whether or not Chase follows or not. She might as well help with
ensuring that Chase remains in one piece. Mediation, oy.
Chase blinks at Catherine, and then smiles to her, "As
tempting as that sounds, I think you have already done more than enough for me,
Catherine. And I don't think that I thanked you properly before. But... what I
said before I mean, you can do /that/ to me any time." He flashes her a
wink, flickers a glance towards the ceiling, and licking his lips, "I don't
think John is home anyway. I might just crash here, and deal with everyone else
tomorrow. Again, thank you, Cat. I'll tell you about the age thing another
time."
Being flirted with by a sixteen-year-old. Isn't this a
flashback? Catherine just reaches out and rumples Chase's hair. "I think I
can guess, actually," she comments, returning the wink. "Hope it does
you some good to have to grow up a bit again. You're still cute, but just a
little young for me." And she's out the door.