Breaking the Veil

((Constantin, Rufus, Adam, arguably but not completely Rush, Cyrus, and NPC police too))

Now, that's not how he remembers things happening at all, but he can't think all of these people would be helping, if there weren't maybe something a little more to it, so he'll not naysay them.

It seems a little harsh to throw it all on a guy who hadn't, at least, been involved when Constantin left. Perhaps something happened? He glances toward Adam, and tries to catch his eye, a question in his expression. He hardly knows the man, but from what little experience he has he doesn't seem the type to just let someone get hit with a murder rap for no reason.

The bigger question, however, is why the vampire isn't just defending himself.

What the hell happened? They, sadly, hardly had managed to escape for long.

[Oh look, interaction.]

Claire

Claire jolts at Coinstantin's question. "I--yes, I'm f-fine," she answers, sending him a strained smile; her own grip tightens in response--rather a lot, actually. As the conversation goes on, she tenses more and more--honestly, she doesn't know what happened before hand, but that shadowy man just looks mostly, well, a little barmy. And Cyrus...Cyrus is covered in blood. And the Tall blond guy is helping him. And everything is very, very unsettling right now. Feels...off, somehow.

It's not feel right--the situation and the blaming as well as the people involved. She eyes them both mistrustfully, the grip on her flesh handcuffs (Constantin and Rufus) tightening to a death grip.

Officer Thompson raises a dubious eyebrow. "You're saying that man over there attacked the waitress, and yet you're the one covered in blood?" Rhys eyes Cyrus' shirt; if the Caped Wonder muttering to himself were really the one at fault, wouldn't he have been the one tacky with the stuff? Unless he came from behind--though admittedly it's rather more complicated to inflict damage in such a position, not sure how gutting would factor in to that. Rhys finds it hard to believe the waitress wouldn't have fought back, as well--

He blinks and fixes both Cyrus and Rush with a glare that's disbelieving at best. "Morgan," he mutters. "Doesn't this seem a little...neat, to you?"

To be all Miss Clavel about it: something is not right.

((This is between Adam, Alexander, the cops, and some with Constantin, but mostly just within the Summer Wolves.))

Larry looks up, frozen like a deer in the headlights, when the cops approach him. He stammers something, then Alexander approaches and also asks for the phone.

That's about when Adam gets there. He interjects himself in front of Larry and says, "Excuse me, if you need something from my cousin, you can ask me first. He's a minor. Larry, give the phone back."

Larry nods, swipes the iPhone a with a few quick motions, and then hands it back to Alexander.

Adam puts his hand on Larry's shoulder and guides him back to join Sam and Kay at their table. Along the way, he catches Constantin's look and gives him a slight warning shake of the head. He glances at Rasputin after that, but there's more of fear than of concern in that glance. Then back at Cyrus, this time with both apprehension and concern.

Adam shivers. It's a London night and he is now without a shirt. He huddles down with the three other members of his pack and says, "Alright, kids, come on. Eve isn't going to try and wade in through all that." He glances at the cops. "Let's go home and wait for her there. Larry, can you open a Way for us?"

Larry looks kind of miserable, "I could... maybe... I don't know; Eve usually does that! And--"

"Come on, buddy, I know you can do it." Adam gives him an encouraging smile.

"I know, Adam, but--"

"Larry, this is no time for hesitating. Come on!"

"But a dragon fell on our house!" This last comes out in a loud wail, clearly audible to everyone in the room.

[Oh look, interaction.]

Claire

Claire's jaw drops. "Wait, what?"

((OOC: ack sorry, Claire, your post loaded late on my computer; rewriting))
((this is an interaction between Claire, Rufus, and Constantin, and a teensy tiny bit Adam))

Giving a brief nod of acknowledgement to Adam's look, Constantin consents to leaving off for now. None of this really has anything to do with him or Rufus at all, and he'd really just like to go home. Assuming theirs doesn't have a dragon on it, unlike those poor sods.

This night is absolutely insane.

"I don't know why we're surprised" Constantin laughs lightly, "Is a dragon any more ludicrous than a vampire?"He gives a reassuring stroke across her white knuckles, and smiles, hoping to distract her and draw her attention away from the grisly sights of this place. "I'm just waiting for the good ones to arrive," he jokes, before sobering a little and telling her seriously, "there's got to be good ones, too."
He hopes it sounds like the promise it is.

((Posting as the cops, talking to pretty much everyone present. Y'all know who you are!))

((OOC: Both Cyrus and Rush succeed on their rolls, so...NPC cops have totally bought it! Thompson seems a little suspicious, though, but since he's a semi-PC, there's really not much to be done about that.))

"Rhys is right. This all seems more than a little suspect," says Morgan, tearing his eyes - reluctantly - away from Alexander, with whom he's been locked in yet another glare-off. "Especially since the only visible blade in the room doesn't have anyone's blood on it. And now kids are yelling about dragons..." He shakes his head dubiously, staring at Larry. "I've never heard anything about dragons before. Vampires, okay, I can believe, and God knows I'd be the last one to doubt you, son but...really?"

"And incidentally," he throws over his shoulder as he walks toward the Summer Wolves, "I and my fellow officers would greatly appreciate it if you refrained from calling your 'wife' until after the higher-ups get their act together and grant me my warrant request. I'm sure that after they examine the site at Heathrow, they won't be able to deny the truth any longer." He pauses, and glances at Jacob, who is beginning to stir. "I think that guy is going to be ok - sir? Sir with the sword? If you could put it down for a second and let Sara examine him - she's trained as an EMT - we'd be able to make sure your friend was all right. Don't worry, we won't let the vampires hurt him."

"Now," he says, turning back to Larry. "What's all this talk about dragons?"

[Oh look, interaction.]

Claire

She does actually relax a bit, tilting her head back to watch him with a small smile that's part humor, part something else. Wistfulness, maybe? "Good vampires?" she asks, eyeing him with that ever-perceptive, reflective dark gaze. "Like you?"

(((OOC: It's chill, bro. Muffins do I wish this forum had a thumbs-up smiley...)))

((This interaction involves Claire and Constantin, who are busy with a hallmark movie while everyone else tries to get their plot on))


He hesitates, for a fraction of a moment, before nodding with a soft smile, that's maybe just a little sad.
"Like me."

He hopes.




((OOC: Caped wonder had me cackling, by the way. Also, 'muffins' is the best expletive.))

[Oh look, interaction. Gettin' this Hallmark on like a greeting card, yo.]

Claire

She nods back, glancing once around the room before turning back to Constantin. "How are you...how do vampires be 'good'?"

Awkward wording is the best thing.

(((OOC: SUCCESS. 8D Unintentional, but nonetheless success. And I thank you. **bows**)))

((the hilllllls are aliiiiiiive with the sound of schmooooooop. A.K.A. this continues to be the lovefest between Constantin and Claire [and Rufus]))

He shrugs a little, and for a moment actually looks like the teenager he is, before putting all that uncertainty back away behind an easily faked confidence and assurance.
"Same way people do: get by as best they can, while hurting other people as little as they can. I... er," he falters for a moment, before soldiering on. He always hated being talked down to at her age; he'll do her that courtesy. "I need to... drink... to live, not kill to live. So... I don't. Simple, really."

[Oh look, interaction. Gonna get high off this Oxygen, guys.]

Claire

She's quiet for several moments, speculating, apparently. "Do you ea--drink from, well, people?"

((Constantin and Rufus being big brothers/parents for Claire.))

Rufus smiles down at Claire and squeezes her hand. "He doesn't like to. I usually buy donated blood that's about to expire." He's glad Claire is coming out of her shell a bit. If something happens he and Constantin will run with her and never look back. This is already somewhere she shouldn't be under any circumstances.

((Constantin has crossed oceans of Lifetime Channels to be here in this interaction with Claire and Rufus))

Constantin shoots Rufus a grateful glance, for trying to explain for him. "And..." he begins, a little guiltily, "...when I do, I never hurt them. Not even temporarily: the worst I've ever done is made someone a little dizzy. Is that so terrible? When I'd die if I didn't?" He asks her, not angrily, just soft and prompting. She's being far more reasonable about this than he had any right to expect, and he hates that she's here and having to deal with all of this. She shouldn't have to. He wants to take her away from all of this too, just like Rufus. Away from a family she'd so much like to avoid that two strangers in an alley seemed almost preferable. Away from mad wizards and dragons on houses and gutted waitresses who were already dead.

((Cyrus and Rush, dealing with Cops. Anyone else around will probably be able to listen in.))

Well, you can't win everybody's trust, can you? Though the lack of blood on Rasputin is a good point..."Look, I don't know how he did it either, though he certainly didn't get a gutted waitress on his shirt." He puts his hands up and smiles, trying to look innocent and confused. "And okay, I won't call my wife, but can I at least grab my phone from where I left it at the table, so I don't forget it?"

As the cops are distracted by talk of dragons and hallmark moments ensue, Cyrus keeps edging back toward the table, one hand now on Rush's shoulder to keep him moving as well. He lowers his voice and mutters, "I have an idea on how to get out. Just stay calm."

((OOC: Amelia, when you get online, I have some rolls I'd like/need to make. I'll be on Skype.))

[Oh look, interaction. "We have to find our OWN paths."]

Claire

Claire looks between the two then slowly shakes her head. "...No, I guess not." She hesitates before offering, "Daddy's told me that a lot of the time the right thing to do is often the hardest and that sometimes, even if it's 'wrong', people do or have to do things they ordinarily wouldn't want to in order to do what's best for themselves." She pauses, watching the back of her father's head where he's standing guard a dozen feet ahead of them, expression unreadable.

"Is it...sort of like that?"

[Oh look, interaction.]

Officer Rhys Thompson

Unfortunately, Officer Thompson has been keeping more than a watchful eye on Cyrus and Rush; the movement doesn't go unnoticed. "I don't think so," he remarks coolly and firmly, disbelief clear in both tone and face; one hand settles on his gun holster. "I need you to stop right there, sir. I don't know why you're trying to get to that table, but you need to stay right where you are."

Not everyone wears wedding rings, but enough do to make the lack of one suspicious in and of itself even if the situation weren't such that it were.

Adam all but facepalms when Larry bursts out with that, and then with hissed words he returns the Summer Wolves discussion among themselves to a quiet one.

[Grief and shock about their house abridged because it involves no one but me. Suffice to say, they are crushed. So to speak.]

Suddenly Adam looks up, his brow furrowed in thought, he looks around and examines each of the cops closely in turn. Then his gaze falls once more on Claire. His eyes are a deep, clear blue, narrowed not unkindly, but puzzled, as though trying to match two things which don't quite match.

((GM dearest! I have questions for you!))

((silly people, trying to continue the adventure. I'll be over here, with Claire and Rufus, holding hands and skipping through meadows of no-plot))

"It's sort of like that," Constantin admits, a trifle reluctantly. "But there's a difference between 'best' for oneself and necessary. We all do what we must to survive, we just, well, try not to become monsters in the process." He smiles, and tries not to show too many teeth.

((Cyrus and Officer Thompson over here, yo. With Rush in the middle of it.))

"I just told you, sir," Cyrus says with a sigh. "I left my phone at the table when I got up, since I was expecting, y'know, that I could go back to my table and finish my dinner instead of having guts and cops everywhere. I wanted to go grab it so I didn't forget it, because...well, that happens more often than I'd like."

He doesn't move any further, though. His eyes flicker to the officer's hand on the holster. "...Sir, I'm pretty sure there's no need for violence here, right? I understand that we're all a bit confused and stressed here, but... With a nervous laugh, Cyrus gestures to his shirt. "Holly's going to have enough of a fit about me getting blood on my shirt, anyway. I'd prefer to keep my own blood off the shirt, if that's alright?"

[Rush to Thompson, plus Cyrus.]

RUSH:
Rush exhales, partly to calm himself, crossing his arms and looking sourly at the gun.

"Wow, I feel like I'm back in Occupy Berkeley." He holds out his fins and gives the Officer Thompson a pleading look, again seeming younger than ever. "Listen, officer. We don't want to make your job harder, but don't forget that a bomb just went off and we have no idea how many people got killed or if there are more going off or what. We just want to call our families and make sure they're okay, and reassure them we're still alive 'cause they're probably flipping out. We're not trying to cause trouble."

((Ms. GM-- Is it possible to roll to convince Thompson? Would it also be possible to try and use my Fleeting Spring contract, Growth of Ivy to make Officer Thompson want to know more about Rasputin? If it's okay, I'd like to spend a willpower to increase the dice pool.))

[Oh look, interaction. I'm in a glass case of d'awww.]

Claire

Claire nods again, this time blinking at his teeth. Wow. Now that's white. Before she can answer she, yet again, feels eyes on her. She slowly looks up and meets the Burly Shirtless Bloke's stare. It doesn't feel accusatory, but it's still unnerving to have such a calculating stare directed on you--like she's some puzzle to solve.

"...Why do people keep staring at me?" she whispers, not sure if she's actually asking the question of someone else or just herself.

[Oh look, interaction.]

Officer Rhys Thompson

Rhys sighs. "Be that as it may, this is also the scene of a crime at the moment. What's happened won't unhappen. The faster we sort this out, the faster we can all go home."

He spares a sideways glance at his daughter, a worried frown line forming in the space between his eyebrows. He never wanted her to know that the world is like this--not all the time or everywhere, but that it's not all kind strangers and being taken care of. Like any good parent, he wanted to protect her from hurts, even knowing it wasn't possible. And yet...this was the sort of shite he faced on a somewhat regular basis. How does someone grow to learn to accept cold-blooded murder and terrorist attacks and both the greater and lesser evils of even those?

Growing and maturing is one thing. Traumatizing is another.

"It really would be in your best interest to just cooperate, son," he continues, a kind-yet-firm, almost parenting tone to his voice. "And that goes for you too, Mr..." Rhys pauses. "I don't believe you gave your full name, sir."

((Rufus, Constantin, and Claire: we will not rest until we've given everyone in this bar diabetes))

"I... don't know," he admits. "Everyone's pretty on edge at the moment; because a mage's cat found you fascinating is as good a reason as any to be suspicious, I suppose." He smiles a little ruefully. "I only met him tonight," she follows her gaze to Adam, before coming back to her. "But you see those lost looking teens around him? From what I've seen, he's mostly been trying to keep those guys safe. So, making the assumption that you aren't a threat to that, I think you're more the type he tries to save, than hurt."

"Besides," he continues gently, "you kind of spaced on us for a minute there, and right now everything's a little scary to everyone. Even something as small as that."


He'd been hoping she could answer that question.

(((OOC: I was totally going to respond...but I just took some Zzzquil that is currently doing its job very well and trying to pull me to Morpheus with all the force of a rampaging fangirl. I think that dubiously thought-out analogy kind of proves my unstated point that I should not yet write a RP response.

Ahem--will respond in the mornign, goodnight everyone! :) )))

((OOC: lol, no problem. I'm completely out of timezone, I keep dropping out on you guys like the mayflys y'all are to me since that dark night a thousand lifetimes ago.... *cough* Goodnight, my US friends))

((OOC GM move: Yes! I hope it's not too late for this, but I have rolled for Rush, and Thompson is convinced!))

((The following is an interaction between Thompson, Cyrus, and Rufus))

"Well...here, tell you what," Thompson says, with a glance over at Claire - she seems to be talking an awful lot to those two suspicious rich teenagers, and he's not sure he likes it. "Cyrus, and Mr...whatever-your-name-is, you can use my phone to make a few calls. I understand wanting to make sure that family's ok. But I'll be keeping an eye on you, just in case you're thinking of getting in touch with any of those terrorists."

With that, he goes to drag his daughter away from her newfound best friends.

When Claire looks back at Adam, it seems to draw his attention the fact that he's staring. He looks away, a little embarrassed, and for a few moments looks everywhere but at her.

But he's still looking around the room like there's something he's missing. Claire may be a piece of the puzzle, but she's not the only one.

((Also OOC, to Ashton: Questions? AWESOME! I will answer all and any questions sent to me via email, and I'll also be online today, starting from around 7AM Cali time, if you want to Skype :D))

Adam's gaze falls on Sasha. He narrows his eyes in intense concentration, and then sways back. He glances back over at Claire, then clenches one fist, trembling slightly. He turns away and slams his fist into the table, then sinks his head in his hands.

Kay looks very alarmed and tries to reach out to him. As soon as her hand touches his shoulder he jumps, then takes a deep breath and says some things to her, pointing around the room. He points at Rush, Cyrus, Rufus, Constantin and himself, then looks around the room one more time and nods thoughtfully.

Kay nods, a worried look on her face, then settles back and closes her eyes, concentrating.

Adam gestures to Sam, who takes off his hoodie and hands it to Adam. Sam is now in a muscle shirt, while Adam shrugs on the oversize, grey hoodie and throws the hood back.

He turns and threads a path through the landmine that is this room over to Constantin, Rufus, and Claire.

"You two didn't make it very far," he opens.

((this interaction involves Adam, Claire, Constantin, and Rufus))

"Sadly not," Constantin agrees, with a rueful smile. "But at least we were able to do something useful," the smile actualizes, as he glances down at Claire, before turning back to Adam.