Realistic or Modern The Shadow People

[WolfSol]

Haloes Havana Grey
' There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so ,
-William Shakespeare, Hamlet
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Haloes

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Flaugmig the Beast

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​

Hal's gaze slipped, her brow furrowed, and her fingers absently crumpled the paper in her hand. Leave it to Jess to be able to pick out the small differences in behavior. Then again, she shouldn't be surprised. Jess had in odd ability to sense things in others. If anything, she should have expected it.

She heard the telltale tap of Jeevan's fancy shoe, and immediately realized that they were waiting. Waiting for what, she wasn't quite sure. Did Jess really expect her to spew out irrelevant thoughts and emotions that were both there and nonexistent? Now wasn't quite the time for telling them the events of today anyways, there were more important manners. People died every day. Perhaps it was her way of coping, thinking in such a manner, but she accepted it and went with it.

"I'm fine," she replied, meeting Jess' questioning gaze. It was a cliche answer and one she regretted, but in her own way, she was fine. There was already that hole, that feeling of nothing, taking over those meaningless emotions. There was no need for her to seek out justification, support, or whatever, especially with a situation like this. Someone was missing and the possibility of a Fading increasing on that someone seemed far worse than her thoughts and her emotions.

What if Cole turned into one of them? A Bedlam. They'd all likely have to move, or at least make the necessary preparations and precautions to prevent an encounter.

"Where's Skye?" She waved the paper in her hand, wanting to draw the attention away from herself and onto more important matters, "She likely has an opposing thought on this, it may help." Although she was not a fan of Skye, of which everyone knew, she did respect the flower child's opposing point of views. If anything, she found those views intriguing as well as irritating. "And Anthony, has anyone seen or head from him after that message? How does he know that Cole is missing and since when?"

KingofAesir WordArtist

 

[WordArtist]

Jevaan drew tall, his back stretching a bit for a moment, before relaxing into his usual impatient stance. Yes, that was his relaxed look. If Hal's mind was on Cole's disappearance, all was perfectly well in his world - nevermind hers. "We don't know where Skye is," he said with mild irritation. "Anthony said something about Selema being worried, so I assume he heard about Cole's disappearance from her. How she knows, I've no idea.

"Your idea about a song lyric could be a good one. I'd guess if either of you knew if such a song existed, you'd have already mentioned it." He brought his phone out, fully intending to tap out a search for the potential lyric and see if any songs matching it cropped up in the search results. Instead, he frowned at the notification on his lock screen for the text he'd ignored several minutes before. "Nico is on his way," he commented, his voice betraying some manner of concern. "He's bringing home a stray." Stray was the term he used for drifters who didn't have a clue - yet - exactly what sort of existence they were facing or what terrors might lurk in the shadows around every corner, in every nook, and behind every shelf. "And he's not alone. He, and whoever he's got with him, should be here shortly."

Jevaan unlocked his phone and performed his intended search, scrolling through the results for anything of unique interest or value to their current predicament. Nothing stood out to him, and he grew more and more frustrated the more he looked. Finally, he shoved his phone in front of Jess and demanded, "You look for it." He didn't explain, but the frustration obvious in his posture and expression were evidence enough that he didn't really understand what he was looking at, and he certainly had no idea whether what he found was useful or not.

In truth, Jevaan has lost the ability to comprehend human emotions long ago. Certain, strong things, such as anger, hatred, frustration, or even deep love, he could still understand... at least to a degree. He was grateful to still be able to experience those things, even if they weren't particularly pleasant. It meant he was still stable... at least remotely, and for a little while longer. Other emotions, however - things that did not carry such strong reactions - failed his understanding. As a result, a lot of the things that moved humans and young drifters were incomprehensible to him, and he found himself frustrated by his inability to link together the emotional attributes of certain phrases with the reactions they invoked.

This was one of those times. Jess, he thought, was better suited to making the link that might possibly reside in the lyrics of a song.

 

[KingofAesir]

J E S S.
"Oh honey, it's just a wave."

Despite not being entirely satisfied with Hal's answer she decided not to press any further, not wanting to anger the girl. Jess leaned back into the couch, picking at the frayed edges of her jeans. Jevaan's words barely registered as she retreated into her own thoughts. There had to be something significant about that note and she found it frustrating she couldn't come up with anything. Frustrating but not surprising, she'd never had much of a mind for riddles or the like.

Hal had pointed out that it might be a song lyric but the only one she could think of was a John Mayer song, "The Emoji of a Wave", but that didn't make any since. Besides, the lyric to that song was, "it's just a wave" not "it's a wave". Jess stopped picking at her jeans and instead drummed her fingers against her leg. There had to be something. Anything. A phone, in her face. Jess started and looked up to see Jevaan holding his phone in her face, a Google search pulled up. The blonde took it from his grasp carefully and scrolled through the results.

A dictionary definition caught her eye as well as an urban dictionary one. Jess pulled up the official dictionary one first. Skimming through the contents before lifting her head to speak.

"This says a wave is some kind kf physics things. There's a bunch of different kinds. Sinusoidal waves, Plane waves, Standing waves, Mechanical, Electromagnetic and Quantum mechanical waves." Jess scrolled down a little farther and spoke again, "Oh, also Gravity and Gravitational waves." None of that really helped to narrow their search any amount though. Jess went back to the Google page and instead opened the urban dictionary entries.

"Urban dictionary says a wave can be following in someones footsteps or a state of tranquility caused by.....drugs." Jess frowned, "I'm starting to think Skye will be a help more and more." ​

 

[Endgame]

"Lost my lungs long ago in the belly of the beast​

Yeah I got my gall from the boys back east."​

- The Donor Blues, Shakey Graves​

A N T H O N Y .

Out with the old, in with the new.

Anthony never quite understood how they were "chosen" to become a drifter, but it was something on every Drifter's mind. Why them? Why, out of the seven-billion other people, were they still walking the planet? It was only natural to assume that some sort of divine intervention had chosen them for grander purpose than it had in life, only to later come to the crushing realisation that their purpose on this planet was no more transparent in death than it had been in life. If they were going to be torn from their life prematurely, why torture them with the potential of "second chance" only to make it entirely unattainable? It was a cruel design, made even crueller by the thing that they'd all eventually turn into afterwards -- but only after every facade of their humanity was stripped from them one at a time.

To put it simply, the life of a drifter was just another existential crisis without the luxury of serotonin-re-uptake inhibitors to dull some of the pain.

Nevertheless, that didn't stop the drifters from looking for answers; after all, finding a purpose was the only way to delay the inevitable.

The prevailing theory amongst Jevaan's Zookeepers was that the grand cosmos simply maintained a balance. Centuries worth of documented evidence, though sparse and scattered across the globe, suggested that the Drifter population had remained stagnant. Never dropping, never increasing, always perfectly inline with global population of Earth. If it had been merely probability or chance or the whims of evolutionary design, they should have seen a boom in their population during the Bubonic plague, World War 1, World War 2, the Holocaust; etcetera, etcetera. But they didn't. Which lead to the next burning question: what was the purpose of this balance? And that was their "dark matter" question.

Anthony gave up searching for answers long ago, but it was hard not to draw a parallel line between Cole's disappearance and the sudden arrival of a new drifter all the same. And briefly he wondered if that very same question was on Nico's mind.

When they entered the hallway, lined with a brown-checkered carpet that had seen better days, they were accosted by the faint scent of mould and a quarter-century's worth of cigarette smoke. Only the walls had been changed in the present millennium with a yellow-beige paint that was now covered with a number of scuff marks and hand prints from the people that had occupied its space since its latest "renovation". The rest of it was original and likely just as unappealing as it was back then as it was now. There weren't many apartments to each floor and it didn't take them long to navigate from the west staircase to Cole's apartment; it was the only one with an open door.

Rather than announce his presence, Anthony simply flopped on whatever semi-clean spread of space he could find; which happened to be burgundy stripped arm chair next to an overturned floor lamp.

Having only caught the tail end of the conversation, he waved a hand at the room.

"I see you three have been busy," he said rather pointedly. "Through all your Google searching did you happen to come across anything that will lead you to our wayward drifter?"

If this was as far as they got, maybe Selema had a reason to be worried.

 

[WolfSol]

Haloes Havana Grey
' There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so ,
-William Shakespeare, Hamlet
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Haloes

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Flaugmig the Beast

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Haloes refrained a sigh as she visibly paced the room. It helped her feel grounded, to move, but when her speculations were answered with urban dictionary definitions she turned to swipe the cellphone from Jess. A brief thought had come to mind, and when she'd set to typing on the small keys, Anthony had made his spectacular and rather unannounced entrance. She only glanced up from the screen to eye him with brief acknowledgement, but when a sound of two other pairs of footsteps resonated from the open door, her gaze shifted.

The pull was immediate and it took her a moment to remember that there was a possible important issue at hand. Nevertheless, her gaze wandered over their newcomer in both sorrow and concern. It had been years since they'd received an addition to their circus family of cluster fucks... she frowned, doing little to hide the sudden expression as she returned her attention to the device.

The search result brought up little to nothing. Disheartening. "No," she finally spoke up, replying to Anthony's seemingly careless attitude. Then again, that was Anthony - blunt, nonchalant, and the epitome of a chimney. "And there has been nothing unnatural with the lively ones," she waved the note in her hand, "'it's a wave,' any ideas on that? It would make more sense if it was to do with an event that upset lives, but nothing major has happened. After a thought, I doubt Cole cared about music. He doesn't seem the type, and he isn't Skye either."

Hal turned, offering Jeevan's phone back, "And you? Have you talked with Selema? It's not entirely unnatural for our 'wayward Drifter' to be absent. In fact, I'd say it would be odder if he were present."

KingofAesir WordArtist Endgame Coyote Hart StoneWolf18

 

[WordArtist]

Jevaan grasped his phone and pressed the power button on its edge to darken the screen before dropping it in his pocket where it belonged. "Haven't seen her," he responded gruffly to Hal's query. Of course, he hadn't called her, either. Jevaan wasn't exactly the most... personable... sort of individual; most people didn't appreciate receiving phone calls from him. It didn't help that he was also a bit stubborn and prideful. Jess and Hal were one thing, but calling in people he didn't know quite as well - not that he knew either of these two particularly deeply - to assist was like begging, in his mind... shameful.

He hadn't really considered two and two as a possibility until Anthony came in with Nico and the stray in tow. It was only when he saw her - the strange drifter they'd never seen before - that the thought clicked in his mind. Replacement. He immediately frowned.

The Project didn't have tabs on every single drifter in the world, of course, but their network of information was about as close as they were going to get. Oh, there were always the strays who couldn't cut it and ended up fading themselves right out of existence - from new drifter to vanished bedlam - in very short time... but when it came to those who stuck around for a while, they were likely to hear about significant changes pretty fast.

But he'd heard nothing of that kind... leastwise not about anyone but Cole. No significant disappearances had been reported. No new bedlam activity had been sighted or suspected. Everything had seemed, surprisingly, mundane lately. His frown deepened. Mundane was not the normal life of a drifter. Perhaps he'd become too complacent in the pseudo-peace they'd experienced for the last little while. It was dangerous for drifters to become complacent, and it wasn't like him.

It hit him like a truck, now, as he stared at the stray in front of him openly. His eyes were a bit too wide to seem natural, and his stare seemed blank and foreign. His attention was clearly directed inward, not outward, his gaze shooting right through her as though she wasn't there and yet locked on her as though she was a magnet whose field his attention could not escape.

Finally, he shook his head, drawing himself back to the surface of the muddle of thoughts that he had been drowning in. If Anthony had responded, during his silence, to Hal's question regarding Cole's note, Jevaan hadn't heard a word of it. "All right, if all we've got to go on is a trashed apartment, a forgotten wallet, and a strange note, I think our best bet is to hit the streets. The sooner we get moving, the better chance we'll have of finding Cole with reasonable difficulty. If we can't find him before nightfall, the difficulty of bringing him home will soon become unreasonable. Let's split up into groups. We'll cover more ground that way."

 

[KingofAesir]

J E S S.
"Nope. Not about to go alone."

Jess slid down on the couch, seeming to attempt to hide in the cushions. As much as she wanted to find Cole okay the thought of traversing off into the city had her considerably worried. Jess would rather not end up running into.... whatever had done this to Cole's apartment. Jevaan had suggested they go in groups so she figured she'd survive as long as she wasn't on her own. Still, the thought of something that had the power to do this without anyone noticing scared her to death.

Jess turned her eyes to the new presence Anthony and Nico had brought into the equation. She offered the girl a somewhat forced smile as she looked her over. Pretty. Jess found herself wondering if this girl looked anything like she had when she was alive. She herself couldn't quite remember what she looked like, save for chocolate locks instead of the blonde ones she had now. Jess liked to think that her eyes were the same, but their was really no way of knowing.

By this point, Jess had relaxed a bit and stopped trying to hide in the cushions. Her eyes strayed from the new arrival to Hal who, if they did end up splitting into groups, she'd prefer to travel with. Jess didn't feel like being nagged at by Jevaan for however long they were out there and Anthony didn't talk a whole lot and seemed to find her annoying. She wouldn't mind going with Nico, as he was a relatively good friend of hers, but then that would leave the new girl with Jevaan or Anthony and.... well.... they weren't the friendliest. Even Hal wasn't the most amiable of people when it came to strangers. So, naturally, she wanted to go with Hal.

"That's a good idea. But... what if we run into whatever the hell did this? I doubt Cole did this to his own apartment... if he is even still Cole." Jess voiced her approval and concern, eyebrows drawing together more and more as she spoke. ​

 

[Coyote Hart]

In his free time, when he wasn't poring over a textbook or performing, Nico had studied up on Drifters using the knowledge established by Jevaan's Zookeeper Project. What he learned was that the population count of Drifters stayed at exactly the same number. No population increase. No population decrease.
When he had learned this bit of knowledge, Nico, unable to perceive sorrow, had decided that it would really stink to have to be the one who turned into a Bedlam in order for Nico to become a Drifter. Additionally, he had mused over why the Drifter had to go and run themselves into trouble and force Nico into a new life.
Now Nico looked at Valorie, wondering which poor sap had to lose his or her sanity in order for Valorie to become a Drifter. Nico wondered dully whether or not Cole was the one lost.
They soon arrived at Cole's apartment where Jevaan, Jess, and Hal were evidently looking for clues on Cole's whereabouts. The apartment itself was a mess. Furniture overturned, marks on the walls, Anthony had plopped himself on an armchair and stated something about Google, and upon that, Nico's ears almost blew steam.
Google! Nico wanted to scream, Can someone just give Yahoo some god damn love!
Of course, he doesn't say this out loud due to the gravity of the situation.
"I think splitting into groups to find Cole is a good idea," Nico said to respond to Jevaan's proposal. "And we should carry around spears, hand mirrors, flashlights, and whatever anti-Bedlam tools we can find in case we find whoever did this." Nico reached down onto his belt and pulled out his heavy duty flashlight that he always carried around in case he ran into any Bedlams.
StoneWolf18 Endgame WolfSol WordArtist KingofAesir

 

[StoneWolf18]

Valoire had entered the apartment, though hovered near the entrance for two reasons. The first being, she didn't want to intrude. It was clear they were looking for someone and even though Anthony said she wasn't going to interrupt their search, she still he didn't seem like the one in charge here so how could he take his word to be true? The second was something she had less control of. Upon entering the appartment, it was akin to walking directly into a wall of the pull she was feeling. It was so concentrated she was having trouble focusing on much else. Though she tried, what Valoire heard didn't make much sense.. at all.

So many questions... so little answers...

And each supposed answer forming more questions, only making the little cycle seemingly endless.

And so she remained silent. A generally neutral expression that seemed to waver if one was paying close enough attention.

Coyote Hart Endgame WolfSol WordArtist KingofAesir

 

[WordArtist]

Jevaan looked around the room briefly at the small gathering they had acquired, doing a silent headcount. Six. Perfect. He pointed at Valorie. "You're with me. You've got a lot to learn, and you've got just a few hours to learn the important stuff." Nodding vaguely in the direction of the rest of the group, he said, "You all have your Moonshades?"

The Moonshade Jevaan spoke of was a concept developed by researchers at The Zookeeper Project several years prior in an attempt to provide drifters with a safe method for night-time movement among the public. The umbrella was nearly as bright as a street lamp, and its broad design made the light's footprint nearly as large as one. As such, it provided ample light to prevent the drifter beneath it from being affected by the darkness surrounding them. The Moonshade was lit by strips of LED lights that lined the underside of each bridge. The handle contained two C-batteries, from which the lights were powered, and a switch to turn the lights on and off.

The Moonshade was available in two models - a quadra-fold travel model (which was just a bit bulky due to its overall size), and an umbrella-cane model. Both could be manually retracted for storage, much like a normal umbrella, due to the highly-flexible nature of the plastic tubing that surrounded the light strips. While it was available both in plastic and waterproof fabric, the Moonshade's unusual shape, akin more to a parasol than an umbrella, made it less than ideal for walking in the rain, as the rain was not as effectively directed to the ground as it would have been with a normal umbrella.

While the attempt was originally made to market the Moonshade to the masses as a practical, every-day item, it was purchased and used by the living more as a festive novelty for night-time events, such as carnivals, fairs, concerts, and festivals. Though one could still usually see a few of them hanging around those venues, the Moonshade never became common enough to take them off the radar of the general night-time public, making them more of an attention-grabber than most drifters would like. In an effort to avoid being stopped with awkward questions about their strange, hand-held street lamp, many drifters dispensed with the idea of using the Moonshades altogether.

When the Moonshade had originally been developed, Jevaan had made it a point of rather forcibly pushing one into the hands of each drifter in the complex. Whether they still had them, or even remembered them, at this point was anyone's guess, but he clearly assumed that they not only still remembered - and had - them but that they also regularly used them. For safety, why would they do anything else? In his mind, it was the logical thing. It only made sense.

His inquiring, and rather pointed, gaze landed on each of them as he waited for an answer.

 

[Kennedy]

Skye &
Logan​

“Nuh uh--this way!”

Before Logan could plant his feet at the street corner, Skye had firmly grabbed him by the hand and pulled him east instead of west--the opposite way of the apartment complex. She had been following a step behind him for the first few blocks, but an idea had come to mind.

“What the hell, Skye?!”

She glanced over her shoulder at her friend, green eyes clear and determined. “If Cole’s missing, he’s not going to be at the apartment.”

“But--” Logan stammered, somewhat taken aback.

“If we go back to the apartment, we lose more time.”

“--where--”

“There’s a hideaway just a few blocks from here. Our friends may know if he had been around recently.”

“Skye! Wait!”

This time Logan tugged himself free of her hand to keep her from pulling him along again.

Skye right up into Logan’s eyes, still levelheaded. “Logan, you know my deepest, darkest secrets.” Her voice was steady and quiet--almost unrecognizable without the sing-song flutter often in her tone. “The apartment is not where we should be going right now.”

She took Logan’s hand again while he seemed to muddle over her reasoning. Even though her head was more often than not clouded in the hippie lifestyle, Skye had moments of clarity that often took everyone by surprise. When she had moved to the drifter apartment complex back in 2012, she naturally attempted to befriend everyone despite the high turnover rates of apartment availability. She found a kindred spirit in Cole, another Flower Child like herself. She loved his radicalization; his paranoia. It reminded her of the more exciting times--of when they were both still alive… In the literal sense.

Logan didn't resist any further. The Skye he knew, his friend, was all clouds, and kittens, rainbows, and unconditional love and understanding. This woman, whom he had only met once or twice since her arrival in the commune, was a lioness. Still his friend, but motherly and stern, with steel in her bones, and an underlying air of “not to be trifled with”. So Logan let her lead him, by the hand, down the street like a toddler. He understood how she felt, how close she'd been with Cole. But Logan expected the worst. He always expected the worst.

Skye didn’t let go of his hand until they were another few blocks down, stopping in front of a well-hidden, dilapidated looking building that probably had been abandoned years ago due to some sort of infestation. She didn’t go inside right away, her hands fidgeting with the hem of her tank top.

It seemed like she was about to take a step forward towards the door when a fairly well-dressed man in an untucked polo shirt and wrinkled khakis abruptly exited the building, grabbing Skye’s upper arms. “The sky is falling! Did you hear?”

“Whoa!” Logan hesitated, startled by the sudden appearance of the stranger. “Who have we here?”

“Chill, Roger,” Skye replied rather calmly, though her entire body seemed tense from the sudden grab. “We’ll live to see the sun tomorrow.”

The man named Roger still gripped Skye tightly, glaring at her with panicked, bloodshot eyes, before he took notice of Logan. “He doesn’t know,” he muttered bitterly.

Logan scoffed quietly, now wearing a somewhat bemused look. “He's got me pegged.”

“Shush,” Skye whispered in Logan’s direction as she raised her hands, gently touching Roger’s forearms. “Roger,” she repeated. “Roger--look up.” He looked up at the sky obediently. “Who told you the sky is falling?”

“When death walks the Earth…”

Skye glanced at Logan out of the corner of her eye before looking back at Roger, her fingers gently caressing his arms to try and calm him as he continued to mumble.

“Cole… Cole was RIGHT, Skye!” Roger stated, his voice quivering. “They have come and they are going to take everyone!”

As abruptly as Roger had exited the building, he just as suddenly let go of Skye’s arms and scurried back inside, ducking his head as if to defend against something falling on him. Skye let out a nervous chuckle as she looked around. No one had even stopped to stare at the crazies having a discussion.

“I think Cole overshared, which means…” She trailed off, a chill running down her spine. She crossed her arms to protect herself from the imaginary cold.

“We should probably stay indoors for the next few nights…”

“You're probably right.” Logan said. He was looking past her, trying to peer into the entrance where Roger had disappeared inside. “But I just don't see the point in it.”

Then, gesturing to the door, he added, “Shall we?”

 

[KingofAesir]

J E S S.
"I should probably clean my apartment, huh?"

Jevaan and, by this point, firmly stated that the new chick was to go with him. Jess grimaces slightly but figured it was better Jevaan teach her than anyone else, in fact, Jevaan was actually the best person to teach her in such a short time span. She relaxed a bit at that realization, maybe he wouldn't be as cold to her. Jess shook her head. These are not things she needed to be worrying about so why was she? Didn't matter. She needed to focus on the issue at hand and not the feelings of this random Drifter.

Moonshade? It took a few seconds for the word to register in Jess' brain. Right, the weird umbrella thing that lit up bright enough to possibly blind someone. Jess tried to remember where the hell she had put the thing. A slightly messy apartment came to mind, a cane looking thing leaned against some corner hidden behind a... chest? What did she have a chest for? Well, at least she knew she had it.

"Yea." She answered Jevaan's question, "Mine's in my apartment, I think." Jess now turned her attention to the fact of who she was traversing off with. Despite the newbie being claimed by Jevaan and leaving Nico open, she still found herself leaning toward Hal. "Um..." Jess looked over at the dark haired girl with a bright grin, "Can I go with you, Hal?" Jess' normal confidence dropped momentarily, leaving her scratching nervously at the back of her neck but it was only for a moment before it came back up.

Tags​

WolfSol WordArtist

 

[Endgame]

"Tell me what you think are we in trouble?
Feelin' sorry's never really been my struggle
Pickin' up the pieces siftin' through the rubble."
- Freeze Me, Death From Above 1979​

A N T H O N Y .

"Well, you guys have fun with that."

At the mention of grouping up and moonshades, Anthony began lifting himself out of the armchair and prepared himself for a quick exit. He had already wasted the better part of his morning assembling a search party, the last thing he wanted to spend his limited lifespan on was hunting down some crazed Drifter in Seattle's urban streets and contemplating the meaning of "It's a wave" like it had some sort of grander importance. It wasn't like Cole was known for being the sane one of the group; he had a few screws loose long before he joined their little combine. Cole was gone, and it was in everyone's best interest that they just accepted that and cut their loses. Which was exactly what Anthony was going to do -- after possibly eating a few more tacos, drinking some expensive scotch he couldn't really afford, and streaming Game of Thrones with the hope that the Fading would wait long enough for him to catch the eighth and final season.

As Anthony carefully maneuvered his way back towards the door, he began shoving another cigarette between his lips, seemingly ignorant of Seattle's smoking ban and Washinton State's Landlord-Tenant act. "When you get bored of combing the city, you know where to find me."

In retrospect, maybe he didn't want to say that. He didn't want to be found. In fact, it was in his best interest that no one found him.

Maybe Cole had the right idea after all.

He should make sure he turned off his phone; nip that one in the butt before anyone got the idea to call him. Or text him. Or IM him on some social media App he didn't remember downloading.

 

[Coyote Hart]

Nico sighs as he realizes that everyone had picked a partner and that he was left with Anthony. However, as he turned to the man to ask if he wanted to be partners, Anthony got up and excused himself, likely going to buy another burrito or get high.

"Well, looks like I'm going to go solo," Nico sighed turning back to the rest of the group in resignation, "And as for Moonshades, I'll pass. Sorry Khayri, but I've never really seen them as useful."

In his opinion, the glowing umbrellas were more of a danger than an aid. The bright LED lights blinded the user, causing them to stumble around in the dark unable to see where they were going, likely resulting them getting run over by an oncoming car or crash into a fire hydrant like they were wearing one of those silly x-ray goggles. Therefore, Nico thought of the Moonshades as inconvenient to carry around, not very helpful, and potentially dangerous.

His Moonshade was likely in the closet of his apartment, lost and forgotten.

Instead, Nico relied on his flashlight, dagger, and guitar for defense. The flashlight was bright enough to stop any Bedlam in its tracks. Nico carried around a long dagger fashioned completely out of birch wood that could be used to stake a Bedlam. Finally, his guitar was made of birch, which could be used as a last resort weapon.

"Well, I wish you luck," Nico whispered to Valorie with a joking tone as he realized that she was going to have to be with Jevaan, "Khayri is a beast. But in all honesty, I think you'll learn something from him."

"I'll take over the street south of the apartment complex," Nico said addressing the rest of the group, "If nobody has an objection, I'll get started. I want to find Cole quickly. If he Faded, then..." he paused, as he realized that he didn't know what he would have felt. Sad? But he never felt that emotion anymore. It had disappeared with Nico's fading. "... I'd be really sad." he finished unconvincingly.
KingofAesir StoneWolf18 WordArtist WolfSol

 

[WordArtist]

Jevaan reached for Anthony as he rose, aiming to stop him before he could head for the door; he'd be satisfied by dragging Anthony backward by the shirt collar if he missed the first time, however. "Oh no you don't." Jevaan's grip wasn't kind. The man had little sense for grip control, having already lost a lot of his tactile sensation to the fading, and it resulted in a grip that was all-too-often painful or damaging. "You know good and well that we can't have a drifter out there by himself. You want to sit around the apartment? That's fine, but you'll do it leashed to the stray to make sure she stays safe while the rest of us aren't here to protect her. You don't want to be stuck with the new kid on the block? You hit the streets with Nico. Take your pick. You aren't going to skip out on this and end up causing the loss of someone else because you're too lazy or uninterested to help your neighbors when it's most important."

Jevaan's words were coldly matter-of-fact. Rather than being spoken in the heat of the moment, they stemmed from a very real possibility and logical conclusion. They might have been easier to take - easily dismissible - if they'd been rashly said in anger. Instead, his frigid attitude only made the words more piercing. He was serious, and he wasn't pulling punches.

Turning to the new drifter that he rudely referred to as 'stray', Jevaan suddenly demanded, "You have a name?" Whether he'd realized he was being rude or simply figured a name was a better title to differentiate someone from another was unclear, but if Jevaan's normal attitude was any indication, it was probably the latter. He took the opportunity, while he was waiting for her answer, to look her over carefully. She seemed like the type who wore her age well, and her dark eyes added a sensation that there was a lot of life experience behind that pretty face. It was an unusual combination, and it made, in Jevaan's mind, for a singularly-memorable appearance. He would not soon be forgetting her face... he hoped.

Jevaan's memory wasn't what it used to be. New drifters often escaped him now, despite his every intention to protect them, to guide them, to ensure that they received a thorough education about the new un-life they'd be existing in. He was developing a slow appreciation for the people around him who remembered better than he did, and he tended to keep his associates closer, now, than he used to as a result. When he forgot, they remembered.

In truth, Jevaan silently hoped that Anthony would choose to protect the stray rather than accompany Nico. Jevaan no longer trusted himself as much as he once did, and the more he watched himself fading in the reflection of the mirror, the more he realized that it wouldn't be long before he would be more of a threat than a help to the drifters around him. Nico, at least, had the knowledge to arm himself; the new girl didn't. Anthony was better equipped, in his mind, to protect an inexperienced drifter than Jevaan himself was.

On the other hand, he wasn't too keen on being out with Nico either. The boy was capable, but if worst came to worst, Jevaan wasn't at all certain of his capability to keep the kid safe. Tricks of the trade only did so much for a man who was already mostly gone himself, and if a bedlam got its proverbial fangs in him, there would be no chance for escape, no possibility for salvation, and not a whole lot left of his humanity to keep the bedlam occupied for long enough to let anyone else escape either.

There were no good options on the table, but if all they had were bad ones, Jevaan was going to make certain that they were choosing from the two options that were the lesser of three evils. One wayward drifter was too many; two was out of the question.

 

[WolfSol]

Haloes Havana Grey
' There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so ,
-William Shakespeare, Hamlet
■■■■■■■■■
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Haloes

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Flaugmig the Beast

​

​

Haloes did as she usually did, drew back and listened quietly. At the mention of a Moonshade, she gently shook her head, but the action was so minute that she doubted Jeevan caught it. If he did, he likely didn't care. The decision was made, rather abruptly but fairly. Standing here wandering over a piece of paper wasn't proving or helping anything, after all. Leave it to Jeevan to get the ball rolling. The sudden shift of seating arrangements, Jess siding her with that famous, hopeful grin of hers, startled her. She'd been too intent on observing the others that she hadn't quite realized that she hadn't come to a conclusion on a temporary search partner. "Of course." She nodded stoically, wondering why Jess had asked her only to draw back like a cat with water. Who else would she go with, if not Jess?

It was only natural to follow after Jess in these situations. Even if she didn't share her feelings with the fellow Drifter, she would rather have her back and vice versa than anyone else's in the room. It wasn't quite a trust thing, as she did trust most of them as far as she could throw them. However, when she tried to reach for the right explanation, the right words, she found nothing. Emotion, right. Made sense. The reason was likely to emotive for her level of understanding right now.

It was normal for Anthony to shrug things off, but right now was no exception for his smart ass mannerisms. Quite frankly, it was growing old. "Really, Anthony?" She finally spoke, as she grabbed Jess's hand in hers and dragged her to the door. They passed Jeevan and Anthony, but Haloes didn't leave the room before saying something rather uncharacteristically of her, "Stop being a dick." He'd likely have something smart to say in response, but she left him no room for reply as she quickly left the apartment with Jess in tow.

"You got any weapons you can grab from your apartment?" She asked as she made a beeline to hers, intent on grabbing her flashlight and metal bat - just for precaution.

KingofAesir WordArtist Endgame Coyote Hart StoneWolf18

 

[KingofAesir]

J E S S.
"I'm the shell of a girl that I used to know well."

Jess frowned openly as Anthony moved to leave. As much as she disliked this whole thing she wasn't about to give up on a fellow Drifter, especially with the way this particular disappearance had played out. So no, she didn't like that Anthony was trying to leave, but she definately didn't have the right to be straightening him out herself. They didn't talk much. Anthony held some old grudge against her, something about a grilled cheese? Jess drew her eyebrows together as her thoughts drifted to what exactly he'd offered her that one time.

Jess had concluded it was a grilled cheese, and that the only reason she'd denied it was because she wasn't the biggest cheese lover, Jevaan was in the middle of scolding the man. Jess tuned back in to the world around her and listened to Jevaan's words. He was right. Anthony had to know that. Jevaan was almost always right. When Jevaan's speech ended and he was looking at Anthony with that cold gaze if his, Jess returned to trying to bury herself in the couch again.

Hal's voice answering her question paused her burrowing. Jess turned to smile and thank her but was already being pulled off the couch before she could do so. The thank you she was in tge middle of saying turned into a muddled gasp and she laughed. "And, I'm being dragged." Jess muttered light heartedly as Hal dragged her across the room. They stopped just before Anthony, as it seemed Hal had her own words to had to Jevaan's. Jess's eyes widened and a smile, that could be called the goofiest one ever, crept onto her face. Before she had time to react further she was being dragged again. Jess offered a salute to the rest of them as Hal pulled her away.

"Well, fuck, that was funny as hell." Jess laughed as soon as they were in the hall. She let herself snicker a little as Hal stalked down the hall, Jess in tow. Hal was suddenly a woman in a mission as she promptly asked Jess if she had anything in her apartment. The blonde fumbled over her words as she tried to answer while being pulled.

"Uh, I mean, yeah. My flashlight is in my jacket that I left there.... and I think I have a little sage too." Jess managed, "Thanks, by the way, I hate this stuff. Makes me feel better when I'm not alone."

Tags​

WolfSol StoneWolf18 WordArtist Endgame Coyote Hart

 

[StoneWolf18]

Apparently she was being swept up in it all, despite her lack of knowledge on pretty much everything that was currently taking place. One of men within the room had looked her in the eye and abruptly tossed her in with their group as they continued to bluntly organize the rest even going as far as to drop Anthony in his tracks and demand he assist them. Valoire assumed he was the leader of sorts... if they even had one. She didn't even know who (or what...) they even were, hersled included! But just giving a short nod without protest from her place near the doorway was enough for her to convince herself that they might have some answers she was looking for.

Then the same man asked (or more accurately, rudely demanded) for her name. It took her a moment to process this, his words hitting her like a rough blow to the side of her head. Would it hurt to be a bit more tolerable? Getting over this fact, she have a quick, somewhat quiet reply. "Valoire..." Her eyes shifting from different points around the makeshift apartment, not staying in once place for long, and clearly not focusing on anyone.

WordArtist KingofAesir WolfSol Coyote Hart Endgame

 

[Endgame]

“So why do I think I'm any different?
I've been making money off my indifference.
We all pass the hat around
This is my body, this is the blood I found.”
– Some Red-handed Sleight of Hand, CURSIVE​

A N T H O N Y .

Well that wasn't how he imagined things going. He hoped they'd just shrug off and dismiss his usual demeanour and leave him to whatever he did best -- napping, eating, feigning disinterest -- instead they called him out and dragged him back by the literal collar.

Shrugging off Jevaan's hold with a feral snarl, Anthony held his tongue long enough for Hal to get a jab in and scowl at him disapprovingly before leaving as Jess trotted after her into the hallway like a loyal and overeager pup.

Right, he's an asshole because he didn't want to risk life and limb for a guy that was probably already too far gone for them to do anything about it.

It wasn't self-perseverance when the risk was potential suicide.

While Anthony managed to break Jevaan's physical hold he wasn't entirely free of it from a verbal standpoint. For an old guy he sure could give a good verbal lashing when he wanted to. The only thing missing from his repertoire was a shaking stick.

Jevaan gave him two options: option A, watch over the newbie, or option B, take to the streets with Neko.

From Jevaan's sharp tone, Anthony was pretty certain that option C, do absolutely nothing, was off the table.

If it was between spending the day with an attractive woman or Nico, the choice should have been obvious. Unfortunately, whatever option seemed enticing at first, came with a mixed bag of complications. From the bemused expression on Valoire's face, he'd likely have to explain their current dilemma and what it meant to be a drifter and thereafter answer every question that spontaneously arose inside that pretty little head of hers. And to Anthony, being someone's afterlife sponsor sounded about as exciting as a root canal.

"Why don't you send the newbie to follow after the spinster and..." he presently couldn't think of a moniker to call Jess at that moment so he chose instead, "whatsherface, and you go with Nico."

From the look on Jevaan's face it was pretty evident that Anthony's reply wasn't the answer he was looking for.

"Fine, I'll help look for the schizophrenic." Anthony submitted, coming to realization that he wasn't getting out of it no matter what argument he threw at the group.

Just because he agreed to go along with the search party didn't mean he had to be helpful.

He started towards the door, and meeting Nico's stare with little enthusiasm or mirth, he tilted his chin towards the hallway. "Let's go, then."

 

[WordArtist]

Jevaan hadn't expected an enthusiastic, gung-ho response from Anthony. In fact, he'd quite expected a bit more push-back than the man gave. Of course, Jevaan's expression was probably enough to say exactly what he was thinking - there is no third option - but it still surprised him when Anthony agreed to pair up with Nico after only one snide remark and without requiring another word to be said. He wasn't, however, about to question it. This was not the place, and now was most certainly not the time.

The rush for the door had already begun with Hal and Jess. He knew that Anthony would be in no hurry to run off, but Nico most certainly was... and he was thankful. Quite frankly, Jevaan agreed with Anthony on one point: Cole was already pretty far gone. Valorie may have been a hint in the right direction for them, but what didn't add up was the fact that Cole didn't stick around. This was the perfect place for a brand new bedlam to feed.

On the other hand...

Jevaan's thoughts wandered in a different direction. Cole's lights had been out when he'd entered, but what if that was entirely accidental? A drifter who felt himself fading in his own apartment might instinctively throw the lights on in a last-ditch effort to stave off the process for even moments longer. Whether it would do any good or not, he didn't know. As often as they'd observed drifters fading, they'd discovered only two certainties: they always turned into bedlam, and the timing was entirely unpredictable. Some drifters faded entirely unexpectedly... lucid one moment, raving shadow the next. Others went entirely mad before finally succumbing to the void.

Of course, all of the drifters who'd been observed had offered to be confined and recorded for research purposes. Most of them had been researchers themselves. Some of them had been students with the passion - but not the ability - to assist in the process of understanding more about what they were and how this strange second life worked. A few had been family members of people on the Project team. They'd never delved so deep into the heart of research as to have unwilling captives... at least not yet... and they'd never been willing to take the risk involved with observing the change in someone who was not carefully contained. Setting a bedlam loose on the world was just too dangerous to take that risk.

But that was immaterial. What held Jevaan's thoughts for the moment was what happened after the change took place. If the lights were on, would the bedlam not go crazy? It would make sense. From their observations, bedlam worked entirely on instinct, not from any sense of local memory. If Cole had turned the lights on in the room before fading entirely, his bedlam self may have ransacked the place in its frantic efforts to escape the light. It may very well have accidentally bumped the light switch off in the process. Regardless, it would have felt that the area was a bad place to be after such an experience, and as a result, decided to leave rather than hang around for the free meal.

That didn't explain the locked door and windows, though. A bedlam wouldn't have the good sense to shut the door - much less lock it - as it left. In fact, it was much more likely that they'd have found a window broken out.

Jevaan frowned. The situation was getting more and more confusing, and standing there thinking about it wasn't doing Cole - or any of them - any good. They needed to get moving.

Jevaan gave Nico a friendly - if a bit too rough - slap on the back and said, "Be careful," before putting a hand on Valorie's shoulder. "Time to drink from a fire hydrant, Valorie," he said, calling her by her name for the first time as he guided her toward the door. He wasn't being literal, of course, but she had no way of knowing that. Still, the lessons she was about to learn in the thick of things would be akin to attempting exactly that. Despite the sheer volume of information that would be thrown at her in the next few hours, she'd be expected to retain all of the important details... and everything he was about to teach her was extremely important.

 

[Coyote Hart]

Nico observed the situation between Anthony and Jevaan with a slightly amused expression. It was obvious the rest of the group were not as happy with letting Anthony go crack some pot than he was.
In the end, after attempting fruitlessly to put himself out of the action, Anthony agreed to go with him, which caused for Nico to frown internally with displeasure. He had no doubt that Anthony would be close to -- if not -- useless, with his hesitancy to help out on the search.
Nico nodded to Jevaan, knowing that Valorie was in good hands. "Have fun," he joked with a wink to Valorie as he walked towards the door with Anthony.
As they headed down the hallway of the apartment building, Nico sighed, "Look, Anthony, I know that this may seem like a waste of your time, and I know, the chances of Cole being alive are slim. But as soon as we find him or the Bedlam he has become, the sooner we can go and do something else." He said this almost emotionlessly.
"Say, when this is all done, could you recommend a cafe? I feel like I could use a coffee after all this," Nico said brightly as he opened the door to the side stairwell, holding the door open for Anthony to pass through.
Endgame WordArtist StoneWolf18
((Phone post. Autocorrect corrected 'crack some pot' to 'crack some potatoes' smh))