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Post by Shinko on Oct 30, 2018 7:24:20 GMT -5
Beech gives an angry snarl, moving swiftly around the room so as not to give the hunters a place to fire at by speaking.
"The shadow-sowers turned him against me, made him theirs, and he killed me. He was my friend."
She leaps out of hiding, right over their heads, and lands hard on the ground behind them with a noise like ice shards breaking. She gives a banshee-like, ear splitting wail.
"All will know that hurt! That injustice!"
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Post by Celestial on Oct 30, 2018 10:29:17 GMT -5
The vampire raptor hisses and recoils, bristling. They were sure that whisper had been most imperceptible! Ears like a hawk, this demon and this human. "I am human dezguized az vampire, dezguized az ze raptor. Rawr!" they insist, sidling a little closer to their companion. "But vampirez eez having good zozial event every year. I am zure you could acquire ze invite, they vould be glad to meet you." Their eyes widen, leaning harder into the thrall. "And zees raptor coztume eez much better zan ze one bezide me! You vill remember thiz." Tea is offered, a welcome gesture (especially since thralling people is really quite strenuous!), although they wave away the offer of a chair. Vampires like them only wish to loom from gothic thrones! Or sometimes wonky chairs at kitchen tables. But only in the safety of one's own flat, mind. "I am being partial to licorice tea, eef you have eet," they admit at long last. "Eef you do not, I am not minding. Eet iz all warming and mozt velcome beverage next to bl...err, blackcurrant cordial." Andie grins and shrugs. "Sure you are. I'll just call you "Not a Vampire" from now on, eh?" they flash their own pointed fangs at the vampire. "I would not mind attending your social. Perhaps it could be a lot of fun. I would especially enjoy dressing up," the demon folds their arms, still upside down and while they do not seem affected by the thrall, they nod eagerly. "Your costume is wonderful and I shall delight in saying that at every opportunity." From where she was boiling the kettle, Jackie digs through the box of teas. "No liquorice tea, I'm afraid. We have raspberry or rooibus. Or blackcurrant if you want. Unless someone in the office has liquorice stashed in their drawer..." "Don't look at me. I hate the stuff," the teenager at their computer shouts. They have a bowl of popcorn beside their desk and are eagerly watching the chase between Beech and Aeneas and Naomi. Meanwhile, Andie jumps down and lands dear one of the vampires. Their head suddenly turns into a raptor with a blue streak and their roar into their face before laughing madly. "I think I have the best raptor costume now." They return to hanging off the rafters by the mage. Jackie blinks and a tiny smile curls on her otherwise normally sour face. "You're a person after my own heart. I'll make you a good chamomile." Andie gives the mage the finger guns. "No problem, totally understand the incognito thing. Do it all the time myself. Part of the job. Well, I'm one of the few that does incognito missions but given that I can shapeshift, I'm the best at it. Even if Aeneas doesn't like to admit it. I do make a mean double agent though, you're right. Seen right through me," they give the mage the finger guns again and go slightly translucent for a second. At the question of rules and regulations, they fold their arms, thinking. "The health and safety stuff can be a pain in the arse. And all the stuff with purchasing and equipment sign out. And the procedures that we must go through in order to obtain permits." "Those are necessary!" Jackie shouts. "They help me do my my job, Andie. If you can tolerate being bound by whatever arcane spells the boss has cast on you, you can bear everything else I do that allows me to run things smoothly." "Chill, Jacks. Don't get your cute bun in a twist," the demon flicks Jackie's bun. They also hold out the magazine to the mage, in particular flipping open the page they were looking at: a zen garden. "I like geometry. And see this right here? this is not geometrical. Not perfect. It's bugging me and I want to go tell them off for it but urgh, can't," they shove the magazine into the mage's hands. "Here, you keep it. Maybe write them an angry letter on my behalf. Quote: Dear Better Homes and Gardens Editor, I am writing to complain- Jackie, you getting this?" Jackie rolls her eyes. "I am an administrator, not a secretary." "Same thing, right?" The woman looks like she is holding back a tirade that she never gets tired of. "Thank you," the mage says kindly to the offer of making a good chamomile. For the incognito question, the mage responds: "Ooh, shapeshifting is a good power for incognito missions! And also in general! And also I wish I had that sort of power. But I'm not that kind of mage, alas. Also, nice, nice touch with that pun there." They gesture with their own finger-guns. To the commentary on rules, the mage lets out a small chuckle. "Yeah, I hear you. And I hear you too, Jackie. They are important, but they can be difficult to deal with. Seems to be the truth of this world." The mage holds back a sigh at the brewing altercations between them, and tries to find words to speak with as quickly as possible to avoid the inevitable tirade. "Thank you for the magazine!" they say, staring at the zen garden. "You're right, it isn't symmetrical. You say you can't tell them off for it? Um..." They realize that maybe that's too personal a question to ask. "...Uh, that is. I wonder, maybe some people prefer it this way? I can't say I understand exactly how it works, what they're going for. Certainly it doesn't seem to be for everyone." "Thank you," Andie flicks their hair, a futile gesture since they are upside down. It simply flops back. "I love someone who appreciates a good pun." Jackie brings out teas for everyone, including handing the mage their own chamomile. Since the vampires earlier rejected the offer, she plonks down in her chair. "Procedure is important. I don't care if it's difficult for you, if you don't do it, it becomes a thousand times more difficult for me. Besides, I thought with your appreciation of geometry, you would know all about order, Mister Private Tutor." "Nothing slips past you, Jacks," Andie shrugs. They rest their elbows on the shoulders of the mage, looking over the Better Homes and Gardens magazine with them. "I just don't want to tell them because that would lead to too many questions about how I know this. Too much explaining to do," they grin. "What, you thought it was something sordid like I cannot go outside or there are arcane invocations that prevent me? I mean, there is some of that but nah, I'm otherwise free. Otherwise Jacks over there would have to go through the headache of figuring out my status for the purpose of salary and paperwork again." "Don't remind me," Jackie buries her head in her hands, groaning. "I cannot even remember what I classed you as." Beech gives an angry snarl, moving swiftly around the room so as not to give the hunters a place to fire at by speaking. " The shadow-sowers turned him against me, made him theirs, and he killed me. He was my friend." She leaps out of hiding, right over their heads, and lands hard on the ground behind them with a noise like ice shards breaking. She gives a banshee-like, ear splitting wail. " All will know that hurt! That injustice!" The two hunters stand back to back, trying to figure out where the voice is coming from. Aeneas is hawk-eyed, peering into the darkness while Naomi seems more hesitant, glancing in the mirror. Beech's words, however, make her hesitate, give her pause for thought. "I'm sorry this happened to you," she shouts into the darkness. "This is not our fault, however. Please, let us help." "Don't talk to it!" Aeneas hisses to her. "It is a trap. It is trying to make you drop your guard." Naomi bites her lip, her skin going crimson again and despite the chill, she feels a flush of embarrassment at being told off. "I still don't...think it's...it should not be hurting us." "It's a rogue demon! Of course it shall be!" Aeneas locks onto Beech's movement as soon as she leaps and aims for her. Naomi follows the trajectory but instead of drawing her weapon, she yells at the creature. "I'm sorry! Let us help! Please, stop! We'll help you find your ki-" She is cut off by a shot. A glowing blue bullet is fired from the pneumatic gun, its trajectory heading straight for where Aeneas thinks Beech is.
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Post by Liou on Oct 30, 2018 15:30:09 GMT -5
Celestial ThornThe first raptor-vampire shakes their head at their packmate. "Yes, you can be prettier than me, I can't help it that I won that one beauty pageant once! Ooh, digestives?" They accept the pack from Jackie. "These are things that help you digest, yes? Ah, being old just means they work better, right? Look, this will be good for us!" They wave the biscuits in front of their pack mate. "We are not good at digesting! Have a biscuit." They nibble on one themself and attempt to push one on the other vampire. "Mm, yummy! Healthy!" They nearly drop the biscuits when Andie shapeshifts, hisses angrily at the demon and retreats. "You cheat, it is not a real costume!" They peer at the screen that the teenager is watching and recognise Naomi and Aeneas. "Ooh! Your colleagues, they are film actors in an action film?"
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Post by June Scarlet on Oct 30, 2018 18:02:08 GMT -5
A girl dressed as a witch enters DEACON, and is alarmed by all the hubbub their caused, as everyone treats her as an intruder. Luckily the women introduced as Jaqueline smooths things over. "Thank you Jackie," she says. "It's nice to meet you all." She goes to the slight woman with the braid. "I'm June, comic artist extraordinaire. And who are you?" The woman smiles broadly at being addressed. She strolls over and speaks in a pleasant lilting accent. "My name is Erika Owens. I'm DEACON's resident psychic," she smiles knowingly at June. "I know everyone says psychics don't exist and I must be some kind of phony but I am actually psychic." "Gives us heck with the privacy concerns, I'll tell you that," Jackie calls over. Erika laughs. "Oh Jackie, you're almost as much of a buzzkill as Aeneas there. No offence," she flutters her eyelashes at Aeneas, who scoffs. Slightly dejected, Erika turns back to June. "Go ahead. Ask me anything. Or give me an object and I can get a reading off it. That's what I do here: I help with tracking or interrogations using my powers." The girl dressed as a witch nods thoughtfully. "Let's see how this works, then." She pulls out a pencil. "Can you do a reading off of this?"
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Post by Thorn on Oct 30, 2018 19:25:25 GMT -5
Celestial LiouThe second vampire takes two biscuits and pushes their companion away with one clawed hand. "Yez, heckity, I vill be eating the bizcuit! Ztop viz the inzizting. You are not even my zire." It takes them a moment to realise that Andie is speaking to them, but when they do their eyes (bright red for those immune to thrall), immediately snap towards the demon. They grin, displaying their fangs, and give Andie a very small bow. "Fank you. Ze zocial eez alvayz a lot of fun, or zo I have heard," they wink. "Zey eez alvayz drezzing up and looking zeir bezt. Ballgovnz and tailcoatz and a very great many zequinz." Glancing over at Jackie: "I do not knov vhat iz rooibuz, but razpberry iz zounding mozt pleazant, fangkz." A blur of blue takes them off guard, and they barely manage to turn in time before a weird dinosaur roars in their face. They hiss in unison with the other vampire, retreating behind them and muttering a string of low lisping curses. "Yikes! Do not be zhowing off, eet eez mozt unprofezzional. Eez not real coztume, az my friend haz been zaying- you are a cheater!" Their attention snaps to their companion as they speak. They accept the mug of tea with a murmured thanks, warming their deathly-cold hands and squinting at the distant screen, slowly getting their breathing back under control. "I need better eyeglazzez," they grumble, scuttling closer. "I vould alzo very much like to zee theze film actorz. Ve tried to make a film once! Eet vaz almozt very good."
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Post by Moni on Oct 31, 2018 0:15:44 GMT -5
Well, Aeneas is either playing a character really well or he is just naturally very very... unpleasant. This trick-or-treater does not care for him. Besides, how do you kill anybody in a prolonged, horrible way, but in a flash? The phrase brings the image of a nuclear bomb detonating in slow-motion--on a small scale, of course. "Well, uh, 'Andie,'" says the trick-or-treater, "your presence probably means that not *all* 'demons' are bad... I mean, would you appreciate being called a"--she thought of a slur to call him--"smurf, or a fermented human, or something like that?" "Oh, he's normally like that. He is nice once you get to know him though," Erika chimes in. "Oops, sorry. I did that again. Don't tell Jackie please," she winks and goes back to her conversation. Andie cackles. A small white cap grows from their head. "Smurf I'd have questions about, same with fermented human. Though fermented human is quite tasty," they lick their lips. You're not sure if they're joking or serious. "Most demons are...complicated. We don't see things the way humans do. Which is why some of us will happily hunt our own kind: we've got ways of justifying that to ourselves." She smiles gratefully at Erika. Most people would have been intimidated by Andie. This trick-or-treater was more worried she'd said something incomprehensible, so she wrote off the white cap and the "tasty fermented humans" comments and instead tried to explain herself: "It's a biology joke. Your skin is blue... so you look deoxygenated... and fermentation is one way to renew your source of NAD+ after glycolysis anaerobically... forget it, it's no big deal." She shrugs. "I think you might be underestimating human complexity a tad--I don't know what you mean by 'seeing things the way humans do.' I happen to vehemently disagree with a lot of, 'my kind.'" She supposes she should get in character and points to the faded "S" shape on her chest. "But as you see here, I'm actually dressed as Superman for tonight, so for the moment, I'm pretending not to be a human... dress for the job you want to get, am I right?"
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Post by Shinko on Oct 31, 2018 9:25:17 GMT -5
Beech gives a screech of pain as the bullet impacts her- growing up on an island devoid of humans she has no experience with firearms and didn't know to expect a ranged attack. It tears a gaping hole in her essence, and her body becomes less of a solid shape and more of a mass of ectoplasmic flame.
Spires of ice shoot up from the floor underneath her, ringing the room all the way around. Through the darkened gloom, images can be seen reflected in the ice, fleeting traces of old memories of a happy, simple life as a wild animal on a distant island. The thylacine ghost manages to pull together enough to charge straight for Aeneas, eyes flashing and mouth gaping in a furious snarl.
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Post by Celestial on Oct 31, 2018 13:23:43 GMT -5
The woman smiles broadly at being addressed. She strolls over and speaks in a pleasant lilting accent. "My name is Erika Owens. I'm DEACON's resident psychic," she smiles knowingly at June. "I know everyone says psychics don't exist and I must be some kind of phony but I am actually psychic." "Gives us heck with the privacy concerns, I'll tell you that," Jackie calls over. Erika laughs. "Oh Jackie, you're almost as much of a buzzkill as Aeneas there. No offence," she flutters her eyelashes at Aeneas, who scoffs. Slightly dejected, Erika turns back to June. "Go ahead. Ask me anything. Or give me an object and I can get a reading off it. That's what I do here: I help with tracking or interrogations using my powers." The girl dressed as a witch nods thoughtfully. "Let's see how this works, then." She pulls out a pencil. "Can you do a reading off of this?" "Sure!" Erika takes the pencil in her hands and sits down, gazing at it intently. "This is a well-used object, one you are quite fond of. You have drawn quite a few things with it, not just comics but also sketches. You prefer this type of pencil: it's got the most comfortable grip and provides the best thickness of line for your use, since your style is not very detail heavy. You also got this as part of a set for your birthday, though you don't use the rest of the set as much as this," she smiels brightly and hands the pencil back to the witch. "I think that's it? It's a pencil so it does not have as interesting a history as I'm used to but that was nice. Lots of fuzzy feelings." "Oh, he's normally like that. He is nice once you get to know him though," Erika chimes in. "Oops, sorry. I did that again. Don't tell Jackie please," she winks and goes back to her conversation. Andie cackles. A small white cap grows from their head. "Smurf I'd have questions about, same with fermented human. Though fermented human is quite tasty," they lick their lips. You're not sure if they're joking or serious. "Most demons are...complicated. We don't see things the way humans do. Which is why some of us will happily hunt our own kind: we've got ways of justifying that to ourselves." She smiles gratefully at Erika. Most people would have been intimidated by Andie. This trick-or-treater was more worried she'd said something incomprehensible, so she wrote off the white cap and the "tasty fermented humans" comments and instead tried to explain herself: "It's a biology joke. Your skin is blue... so you look deoxygenated... and fermentation is one way to renew your source of NAD+ after glycolysis anaerobically... forget it, it's no big deal." She shrugs. "I think you might be underestimating human complexity a tad--I don't know what you mean by 'seeing things the way humans do.' I happen to vehemently disagree with a lot of, 'my kind.'" She supposes she should get in character and points to the faded "S" shape on her chest. "But as you see here, I'm actually dressed as Superman for tonight, so for the moment, I'm pretending not to be a human... dress for the job you want to get, am I right?" After amusing themselves by spooking the two "raptors", the demon returned to hanging from their rafter, although this time only by one foot. They would have looked like a yogi if they had been standing. "Oh, right," Andie cackles. "Excuse me but human biology is not my strong suit. Us demons only study as much as we need for posessing and torturing humans. But thanks for the concern. I definitely have enough oxygen in my system. I'm just blue because it's a good colour. Also peacocks. They're kind of my thing," they tilt their head at the dentist. "I mean humans literally do not see the same spectrum of colour that us demons do, allegedly. At least, nobody ever reacts when I point stuff out in ultraviolet. Which is just as well," they whisper conspiratorially. "Humans are gross." Looking down at the S, they raise an eyebrow and ponder for a second. "I suppose so. I think I would like to be a professional panda cuddler. They look soft and relatively grub-like. Very interesting. Except I do not know what such professionals would dress as." Thorn, Liou (replying to you both at once) Jackie pushes the packet towards the two. "Help yourselves. Nobody in the office likes these things. They're too old person, even for me and the boss. If you two are old, they will be perfect for you. Even if you don't look that old," she gives them a skeptical eyeing before shrugging. "None of my business." She presented the mug of raspberry tea, conveniently poured into a cup shaped like a ghost, to the other vampire. "Enjoy. I hope this is all to your taste," she peers over their shoulders to the screen around which everyone was gahtered and sighs deeply. "That's...not an action movie. This is actually happening. We are demon hunters. We have a demon in our HQ. This is just procotocol. I don't care if you treat it like a film but don't let Aeneas or the boss catch you doing this," she groans. "Jeez, they are both being so dramatic," the admin glances back at the vampire who made the remark about eyeglasses. "I can recommend you a place. They did mine and they're alright so far," she tilts her head to the side. "Those costumes must be annoying with glasses though, given that they cover your faces." Beech gives a screech of pain as the bullet impacts her- growing up on an island devoid of humans she has no experience with firearms and didn't know to expect a ranged attack. It tears a gaping hole in her essence, and her body becomes less of a solid shape and more of a mass of ectoplasmic flame. Spires of ice shoot up from the floor underneath her, ringing the room all the way around. Through the darkened gloom, images can be seen reflected in the ice, fleeting traces of old memories of a happy, simple life as a wild animal on a distant island. The thylacine ghost manages to pull together enough to charge straight for Aeneas, eyes flashing and mouth gaping in a furious snarl. Aeneas' mouth curls into a grimace of concentration and he leaps back, doing a highly dramatic but unnecessarily leap. Pulling out a silver chain, he wraps it around his free palm, swatting at the ghost in an attempt to knock it away while spinning around and aiming for another shot. Naomi rushes to his aid but she notices the images in the ice. She watches them, piecing together this life that his creature lead in a place completely alien to her. "It's lost. It doesn't mean to hurt us. It's just hurting." Swallowing her fear, she fires off to the side of Aeneas to get the creature's attention. This earns her a glare from her superior. "Are we going to have to get you firing lessons, rookie?" She lowers her head but remains focused on the task ahead. "Don't hurt him! Please! Whoever you are, whatever your naem is, we are not your enemy!" she walks forward, one hand on her firearm but another held out in friendship. "We do not want to hurt you. Well, I don't. But you are clearly lost and hurt. The life you lead must have been a good one and the betrayal you felt must have been a terrible one. I am sorry. Let us help you get home, or at least rest. We are not the ones who hurt you, and we do not want to be the ones hurting you-" "This is literally our job, rookie," Aeneas growls. That stings and Naomi tries to hide it, not looking at Aeneas but right at Beech. "So please. Please stop this. It's not helping anybody."
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Post by Thorn on Nov 1, 2018 6:25:15 GMT -5
Celestial Liou"Eez very zpooky mug," the better crafted raptor admires their companion's new drinking vessel. "I like eet." At Jackie's comment about it all being real they shift in place awkwardly, murmuring to their companion. "Friend, look at ze time, zhould ve be moving on to next houze?" At her next comment, they brighten up very slightly. "I vould be zo glad for ze recommendation! I be keeping leetle notepad in pocket for zuch occazions...uh, ze mazk eez very good, made custom, fit very vell...ah! Here!" They produce a notepad and pen from some hidden pocket and look at her eagerly.
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Post by June Scarlet on Nov 1, 2018 18:12:25 GMT -5
The girl dressed as a witch nods thoughtfully. "Let's see how this works, then." She pulls out a pencil. "Can you do a reading off of this?" "Sure!" Erika takes the pencil in her hands and sits down, gazing at it intently. "This is a well-used object, one you are quite fond of. You have drawn quite a few things with it, not just comics but also sketches. You prefer this type of pencil: it's got the most comfortable grip and provides the best thickness of line for your use, since your style is not very detail heavy. You also got this as part of a set for your birthday, though you don't use the rest of the set as much as this," she smiels brightly and hands the pencil back to the witch. "I think that's it? It's a pencil so it does not have as interesting a history as I'm used to but that was nice. Lots of fuzzy feelings." "That's all correct," says the girl dressed as a witch, "even the part about it being a birthday present. Thank you, that was fun. I'd better be on my way, however, as the night is getting late. Thanks again!"
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Post by Gelquie on Nov 2, 2018 4:54:04 GMT -5
"Thank you," the mage says kindly to the offer of making a good chamomile. For the incognito question, the mage responds: "Ooh, shapeshifting is a good power for incognito missions! And also in general! And also I wish I had that sort of power. But I'm not that kind of mage, alas. Also, nice, nice touch with that pun there." They gesture with their own finger-guns. To the commentary on rules, the mage lets out a small chuckle. "Yeah, I hear you. And I hear you too, Jackie. They are important, but they can be difficult to deal with. Seems to be the truth of this world." The mage holds back a sigh at the brewing altercations between them, and tries to find words to speak with as quickly as possible to avoid the inevitable tirade. "Thank you for the magazine!" they say, staring at the zen garden. "You're right, it isn't symmetrical. You say you can't tell them off for it? Um..." They realize that maybe that's too personal a question to ask. "...Uh, that is. I wonder, maybe some people prefer it this way? I can't say I understand exactly how it works, what they're going for. Certainly it doesn't seem to be for everyone." "Thank you," Andie flicks their hair, a futile gesture since they are upside down. It simply flops back. "I love someone who appreciates a good pun." Jackie brings out teas for everyone, including handing the mage their own chamomile. Since the vampires earlier rejected the offer, she plonks down in her chair. "Procedure is important. I don't care if it's difficult for you, if you don't do it, it becomes a thousand times more difficult for me. Besides, I thought with your appreciation of geometry, you would know all about order, Mister Private Tutor." "Nothing slips past you, Jacks," Andie shrugs. They rest their elbows on the shoulders of the mage, looking over the Better Homes and Gardens magazine with them. "I just don't want to tell them because that would lead to too many questions about how I know this. Too much explaining to do," they grin. "What, you thought it was something sordid like I cannot go outside or there are arcane invocations that prevent me? I mean, there is some of that but nah, I'm otherwise free. Otherwise Jacks over there would have to go through the headache of figuring out my status for the purpose of salary and paperwork again." "Don't remind me," Jackie buries her head in her hands, groaning. "I cannot even remember what I classed you as." The mage listens with awe. "Ah, I... I'll admit I did kind of assume that, to some degree. But honestly, that makes a lot more sense. It can be difficult to explain as it. Which can make it really difficult for them to see your point of view. ...I'm not sure if I would be much better at this, to be honest. Anyway, it's good that you're free; probably better this way. Procedure's important, sure, but sounds like a mountain of paperwork." They pick up their mug of tea and take a sip. "Thank you! You did make a lovely mug." They take a moment to relax into their tea. "This is all so much to take in. I might just sit and watch and take a breather, if you don't mind? I've been to a lot of places, and none like this. Besides, I can take in a lot just by watching. Don't worry, I won't eavesdrop on any secrets or anything. I'm just taking a break." They take their seat and scan the office for whatever may occur.
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