Scene Listing || Scene Schedule || Scene Schedule RSS
Owner Pose
Hellwarming Trio A silent alarm has been tripped following an attempted robbery at a store out by the docks of some small city. The store itself is barely a hole in the wall with even less security or police presence, but that makes it an easier target when said police are off doing something else in another region of the city.

In this case? They're off doing something else. That means the store owners' hopes rest entirely in the Elites that come to save them on such short notice! Judging by the raven-winged and cat-tailed women sitting on a rooftop across the street staring right at the bodega as it's being robbed by the lone assailant, though...

They might not have much hope right now. Not unless someone else shows up to intervene, anyway.
James Bond      It isn't quite right to say that an Elite has come, specifically to save the bodega. It's more accurate to say that one was already there, perhaps unbeknownst to the lone robber.

     One other customer is in the store. His whole life has been fabricated, his debit card, his ID parts of a disguise just as surely as his clothes. A jersey in the colors of a local pro sports team, unassuming boot cut jeans, tennis shoes. A basebal cap that conceals the upper portion of his face in the shade of its bill. Even this visit itself was a part of that disguise, intended to create a purchase or two for plausible deniability; to say that this man, who doesn't exist, was here at such a time.

     Hidden behind a rack of chips, he is keenly aware of what is happening. Under the baggy confines of that jersey, there's a Walther PPK should he need it. But to reach for it on camera is to break the carefully crafted disguise. The can of tea in his hand should serve the same purpose. And the man in disguise is beginning to grow weary of his work--of ignoring daily wounds like this in favor of perpetuating cascades of them with carefully selected targets.

     That man--the real one--is growing increasingly more accustomed to this. What is 'this?' He doesn't know, doesn't have the words for it, conditioned to think only a certain way. But it doesn't hurt like work does. The can is flung with superhuman strength at the throat of the assailant, as he jukes from behind the shelf.
Hellwarming Trio Out in this region of the city, Elites aren't a common occurrence. They're certainly known of as a vague cloud of entities, but only as far as doing things somewhere else in the world. Because of this, the assailant and the store owners are equally startled when someone that isn't a cop intervenes in this situation, the former getting throat-punched by the giant can of dollar tea and the latter getting some dollar tea sprayed on them with few other ill effects.

Even in their surprise, however, the store owners are quick to capitalize. The older man shouts in his native tongue for the woman to get the broom even as he picks up the stool he had been sitting on, the pair moving in to 'subdue' the robber with their improvised weapons rather violently.

From the outside looking in, meanwhile, the raven and the cat let out amused noises at the scene unfolding before them.

Utsuho: "Good arm on that one... Huh. Maybe that guy was right."
Rin: "Definitely. But you know what? If they go overboard, maybe..."
Utsuho: "... Oh, yeah. I'll try and distract 'em if they do that, then."

Hopping off their perch, Utsuho and Rin both take on their animals forms, not so subtly lingering by the glass windows at the entrance to see just how long the store owners will beat on this guy after that intercept by their unknown savior.
James Bond      Was this right? Maybe. It's hard to say, watching as the owners take out their anger on the would-be robber. The man behind the disguise isn't used to a scale this small, this personal. The longer things go on, the more out of his element he is. He stares, as if outside of himself, at the scene before him. An idea strikes him, after a second or so.

     He approaches the downed robber and kicks their weapon aside, sliding it across the store to the other end. Curiously, he ends up scooping it up with his jersey, silently striding to the trash can by the exit and dumping it in.

     "Call the police," says this man robotically, yet in a perfect replica of the local accent. The disguise doesn't know about the silent alarm. The man behind it isn't the type to respond to such calls, or even to receive them. Neither would know that the police are on their way. Neither wants to be here when they arrive.

     The man in the jersey and the baseball cap gets another canned tea, and places it on the counter, waiting patiently for the shopkeepers to notice. Signalling that he'd like to do his business, and leave.
Hellwarming Trio Fortunately for the robber and unfortunately for Utsuho and Rin, the shopkeepers don't go overboard with whacking this guy while he's down. They're certainly capable of it despite looking like they're in their fifties, but the adrenaline wears off soon enough before things can go too far. The man nods at the stranger, takinga  moment to calm himself before getting on the phone while the woman shakes her head as she takes the tea off counter.

"No, no charge." She states plainly while bagging up the tea and tossing in a few bags of chips before handing the whole thing over. She's calmer than before, but there's still a certain level of anxiety there as she peeks outside the bodega's door. "Of course they haven't come yet... Useless. Thank you, friend. But..."

She spares a glance at the pair of animals just loitering outside while watching the stranger closely, then heads back inside herself. "You should go before the police come. They'll want your name so this trash-" The woman jerks a thumb at the assailant. "-will know who to sue."

Thankfully, he's largely unconscious at this point. They really went hard at him, as though this has beeng oing for a while.
James Bond      "Thanks." The man takes the bag. Neither the disguise nor the one wearing it will argue with the shopkeeps. He's out the door before the 's' of that word has even left his lips. But there is still the integrity of the disguise to consider. An ATM is outside of the shop.

     The two animals will note that he keeps his head down, his face obscured, from the machine's integrated camera. A withdrawal is made; something that can justify the existence of this card and the account associated.

     There is, after the bills are collected, a glance into the bag. The man behind the disguise has never considered this sort of fare before. It's from a whole other world than he's used to, and not in the multiversal sense. There are a few. Nacho cheese, cool ranch. One that's meant to emulate onion rings, while having none of the substance.

     The cool ranch bag is opened, tossed towards the animals. Is it the man who did that, or the disguise? Neither is sure. Either way, they'll soon be gone, sticking to the sidewalk with 'purchases' in hand.
Hellwarming Trio Even if the stranger might not realize it, the shopkeeps certainly aren't going to forget what happened here. Although they don't know what he looks like beneath the cap and the jersey, they'll be able to sleep easier tonight knowing that for once, they've actually been protected. It'll take several more minutes before the cops even show up, so getting away before anyone else can identify him should be easy enough.

Anyone besides the two strange animals, anyway. The raven goes after the vaguely ranchy chips, wincing when she gets a few of the flavor dust in the weird eye on her chest, but she's soon carrying the whole bag in her beak as she hops along behind the stranger with the two-tailed cat scampering along. They might not know what's up yet, but they're definitely not subtle about following him.

Thankfully, the streets are fairly quiet at this time of night, likely from most people in this area getting ready to go home after a long day of work or already at home and getting ready for the start of the work week. Whatever the case is, there's plenty of street lamps around with most of them even working instead of flickering, and plenty of space in the smaller tree-lined areas designated specifically to make the area look less depressingly industrial.
James Bond      The next thing this unusual man does is catch a bus. It isn't dreadfully hard to follow him, nor does he seem to mind his unsubtle tails. They've given no indication that they're anything other than animals, after all. The bus is likewise, barring some manner of lunatic driver fast on their way to getting a pink slip, not terribly difficult to follow, either. He manages to pay with exact change.

     The destination is a grungy motel in this same part of town. A flawless fake ID is presented, a room is paid for with cash. He retrieves his key, steps out of the office, and makes his way to the room, when he hears the crinkle of the bag of cool ranch. For the first time tonight, this man smiles.

     "What," he says, maintaining that uncanny reflection of the local accent. "You want more?" The key jingles as he inserts it into the lock.
Hellwarming Trio Indeed, tailing this guy is done with all the subtlety of a brick, although the pair do have enough sense to stay on the roof of the bus instead of just hopping aboard normally. They've probably been chased off by various other people they've tried to stalk in the past, so this is surely the culmination of their efforts if they haven't been noticed yet!

Alas, the pair push their luck a bit too much as they're eventually caught in the act by the very target of their curiosity. They don't speak up right away, instead taking a moment to trade off on the bag of chips with the cat getting her turn at the salty powder goodness while the raven speaks up.

"Why'd you do it? It didn't sound like you worked there." It's not even speaking with a bird-like tone or whatever someone might imagine a bird talking like a human would sound like. No, Utsuho's just talking in her normal voice in her normal tone as though she wasn't presently a raven with a big ominous orange eye on her chest.

"Didn't even sound like you knew those people. What's the deal, bro?" The cat speaks up next, Rin's voice echoing somewhat oddly thanks to talking into the mostly empty bag of tortilla chip-shaped things. "Do ya hit people for fun?"
James Bond      "I'm not sure why I did it," says the man, evidently unfazed by the fact that the animals can talk. The cat has two tails, and the bird, that ominous eye. That they should talk, as well as have these unusual traits, is no great leap to imagine. "Not for fun."

     He steps inside, and considers closing the door. But...

     "I have a job somewhere else. That job is what I'm good at. I've worked that job for a long time." The cap is still pulled down over his face. "But sometimes you get curious."

     Standing in the doorway, there is an awkward silence. "What would you have done?"
Hellwarming Trio Utsuho: "You did it without knowing why? That's..."
Rin: "That's super weird, bro. You sure you didn't get hit on the head or something?"

Strange as the whole situation is, they do nod in unison when the stranger mentions getting curious. "Yeah, that's true.  Humans can be so weird sometimes, but it's fun. Trying to figure out how you think and all." Utsuho replies, making a sound as though she was furrowing her brow at the man.

Perhaps noticing the awkwardness, she decides to make things a little less awkward: She transforms, now looking distinctly more human in her usual white and green getup with the big black wings, the giant orange eye still on her chest, and a cape over her wings with the starry pattern on the inside that seems to be moving independently of the cape's actual movements.

Rin, meanwhile, is content to stay in her cat form. It makes the chips last longer.

Utsuho: "What would I do? Hmm... Probably just watch, yeah. Last time I got involved in stopping someone from stealing stuff, I got yelled and shot at."
Rin: "Not like it woulda stopped us anyway, but it doesn't make sense, right?"
Utsuho: "But then you did it here and they gave you free stuff."
Rin: "I want free stuff."
Utsuho: "And the weapons the humans had here weren't even big weapons."
Rin: "Nothing like those big... Whatevers the other ones had on them."
James Bond      Their answer is considered silently. Then, "I thought about just watching," says the man. "It's what I'd usually do, in that situation. Things like that don't involve me. And getting involved is all risk and no benefit." Speaking of risks, standing out here talking to a pair of animals--or rather, a pair of shapeshifters, in the dead of night, is not good for his cover.

     "Come inside if you're going to talk. Just close the door behind you." He steps out of the way. The motel is as cheap as this part of town is depressingly industrial. Two beds with gaudy comforters, an end table, two arm chairs, and a lamp upon the endtable. A dresser, a TV ten or more years out of date atop it. One more end table, to rest between the beds, with an identical lamp.

     There are no further words from the man until they're both inside, or until they leave. Strangely, he doesn't remove his cap. The remaining two bags of chips are removed from the plastic bag, put on the end table between the armchairs. "Help yourselves, if you want free stuff. The tea, too."

     He is careful, once they're inside, to check the blinds, closing them. Anyone who is sensible would think they're about to be murdered, he realizes. He doesn't much care to attempt convincing them otherwise, mainly because neither of these shapeshifters seem particularly sensible.

     "The police don't come to places like this. Not quickly enough for it to matter. That's why they gave me 'free stuff.'"
Hellwarming Trio For better or for worse, the pair do indeed follow the man in, safety and potential warning signs be damned. Utsuho even remembers to close the door a few seconds after heading in, and then they take some time to look around their new surroundings. Rin, meanwhile, finally shifts into her humanoid form, complete with cat and human ears simultaneously.

Rin also starts rummaging through the dressers to see if any past visitors left their stuff inside.

"Humans do such weird stuff stuff sometimes..." Utsuho speaks up again, rubbing her forehead as though she's trying to figure out something exceedingly difficult. "Why'd you get involved at all if you weren't getting anything out of it? The place didn't even look super fancy."

She's tempted to go after the bag, but she'll behave for now. "If you wanted to get free stuff for helping out, wouldn't it make more sense to go somewhere fancier?" A beat, and then she strokes her chin. "No, wait... Before that. Why wouldn't the police come out here? You'd think they'd get loads more free stuff if they came somewhere here where more of that kinda stuff happens, right?"

"But the fancy places would have better free stuff!" Rin finally speaks up, likely missing the point entirely just as much as the bird has. She also helps herself to another bag of chips.
James Bond      "You don't tend to get free stuff for doing what's expected of you," says the man, dragging a chair beneath a vent in the ceiling. Out from his pocket, he pulls a pack of cigarettes. "But that isn't why the police won't come." Lucky Strikes. He lights up. "The police keep the peace. Protecting people and keeping the peace aren't the same thing." There's a pull on the cigarette. He exhales away from Rin and Utsuoho.

     As Rin begins rummaging through the dressers, she does find a book, and the remote for the TV. The book is a phonebook. The TV is a few local stations, should she bother to turn it on. Everything else is PPV. "They want to protect the places where the fancy stuff is. Not necessarily the people there. They're going to arrest that robber because they have to. Not because they want to," he says, gently ashing the smoldering thing in a plastic tray.

     "I did it because I knew they would take too long to get there. There's lots of other reasons why that's the case." He seems perfectly still in that chair. "I'm not sure it was the right thing to do. People in places like this don't steal for no reason. Things aren't 'fancy' for no reason."

     "If you can both keep a secret, I can explain more."
Hellwarming Trio Utsuho: "No free stuff for doing your job?"
Rin: "No, no. Didn'tcha hear? He said it's for what's 'expected'."
Utsuho: "Oh! So it's one of those double meaning things like the police thing."
Rin: "Yeah! Wait, what?"

It takes a bit for them to comprehend what it is the man means. They're clearly trying, though, the raven sitting cross-legged on the floor of the motel while the cat stops digging around in the dressers (after she finds those crappy treasures, but the effort is being put in). It becomes apparent rather quickly that the more subtle meaning behind his words isn't something they're familiar with, but they do come to a conclusion about it at roughly the same time.

... Eventually.

Rin: "So lemme get this straight. They just do the least they gotta to keep their jobs instead of doing it better?"
Rin: "Sounds half-assed to me. If that's their job, they should at least do it better... Hell, looks like you would even do it better than them."

Utsuho looks towards the man at her last comment, stroking her chin a bit more before getting up onto her feet. "The thief, though... Might've been another person without enough money or food or whatever. They looked kinda scrawny, anyway, so... Bad luck for them I guess." She shrugs, then flaps her wings once as she and Rin perk up at the mention of SECRETS.

Utsuho: "Yeah! Yeah yeah yeah."
Rin: "Oh yeah. Lay it on us, bro!"
James Bond      "That's right," says the cigarette smoking man, nodding. The man wearing the disguise never imagined that he would be a teacher. Allowing them to come to the conclusion on their own was really more of an accident, than anything, caused by his tendency for silence on assignment. But there's more to learn. "At least, about the thief. The police... you've got a piece of it, but not the whole picture."

     Another pull on the cigarette. "The secret is that I'm not from around here. I'm like you." He smiles, visible even when his eyes and upper face aren't. "Maybe not exactly like you." He changes his apperance easily enough--but never into an animal. And he's nothing but human, if, he suspects, a cut above most of them in terms of training and physical capacity.

     "But I came from somewhere else." That last sentence, he deliberately drops his accent. English, baritone, smooth as silk. Just as quickly as his real accent appeared, it's replaced by the local, more nasal, closed variety.

     "This won't be the last time you both see me. Remember how my voice sounded. If you recognize it, and don't let anyone know that you saw me here, then I can teach you more about humans."

     "How we live," he says, exhaling away from them. "Why the things we do don't seem to make sense." The cigarette smoking man checks his watch.

     He rises from his chair, leaving the cigarette to smolder in the ashtray. "For now, you'd better leave." He reaches under that jersey. The PPK is procured, as someone in the neighboring motel room appears to be unlocking their door. A long metal tube is affixed to the barrel, screwed on in practiced motions.

     "I have to go to work."
Hellwarming Trio Utsuho: "Only part of it?"
Rin: "Heh. That's better than nothing!"

Indeed, there's a lot they don't quite understand, and the revelation that the man is not a local only answers a few of the questions floating around in their heads. They even let out awed 'oooh' noises when he shifts his accent back and forth seemingly effortlessly. The pair even try to imitate it themselves to extremely limited...

It sounds like they're choking minus the part where they actually need to be eating something. It's certainly easier to remember his prior accent, though, as they nod following his offer to teach them in exchange for secrecy.

Utsuho: "You got it. Even this doesn't make a lot of sense, but I'll take it if you're offering."
Rin: "Yeah, then we can show that we're not complete idiots!"

Their spirits are high, at least. Watching him as he withdraws that pistol from inside that jersey, there's a  suspicious glance cast towards the door when they hear the unlocking noises. Rin stops Utsuho from approaching following him to the door, however, instead gesturing towards the window while transforming into her animal form. The hell raven nods and gets to work opening the window with something resembling silence and subtlety, climbing out of it and lingering by it as they get ready to bail.

Utsuho: "Got it, teacher. We'll see you again later!"
Rin: "And don't worry about cleaning up the bodies. We'll take care of all that once you're all done."