[Kora] The block is familiar - a late-night sushi place that doesn't even open until 9:00 p.m. - a contemporary theater, a handful of boutiques scattered about like diamonds between the more conventional bars and restaurants, the coffee shops and florists. Simon spent a good two hours with a certain Fenrir Skald one day about a moon ago hanging out as the cold, dark night turned into a cold, dark morning, waiting for the police cars to pull away, waiting for an opening so they could slip back inside one particular boutique with [i]particular sorts of goods - designer fragrances, and killer (fucking killer) shoes.
--
The next week the place as closed, the big display windows - where the shoes were treated as singular works of art and no mention of price or commerce was permitted - darkened, papered over from inside, a hand-written UNDER RENOVATION sign slipped beneath the glass and brown paper. If he walked past the place, well - didn't it just feel like a job done well, and a job well done when UNDER RENOVATION changed to CLOSED written in red marker with backwards S the day before Thanksgiving.
--
Strange, then, that the place is open again just a few days after Christmas, a small "AFTER CHRISTMAS BLOW-OUT" sign slipped into the glass window, as if the small boutique had been open all season, along with the rest. Not even a nod to NEW OWNERSHIP or any of the usual things businesses due to lure back clientele after an abrupt setback, an unexpected change of hands or focus.
It's 8:30 on a Monday night; the air is arctic - in the teens, the temperature dropping fast. Steam billows from exhaust grates, smoke from the tailpipes of idling cars. The stores are open late tonight to take advantage of all that after-Christmas demand, but the frigid air, the promise of snow, the battered gray sky keep everyone moving quickly, heads down, faces shrouded by scarves, hurrying, conserving both energy and warmth.
And here's Simon, amidst all this consumerism, all these glad-tidings, on the hunt. He caught a glimpse of a familiar face - familiar enough to set all the hairs on his neck on end, the way it twisted -
- a familiar face, a sharp-faced man, broadshouldered but too thin under a down jacket, with greasy brown hair and watchful, deep-set eyes. Caught sight of it five blocks ago, and has followed him from a distance for five blocks full of Christmas shoppers and holiday revelers, busy city streets, not a single dark alley or hole-in-the-wall into which he could jump the familiar Spiral without attracting far too much of the wrong sort of attention, without bringing down all the mortal world on himself, without endangering the veil.
Now: four blocks later, the theater, the sushi restaurant, the boutique - open again, light shining through the windows.
--
Here is the last coincidence: Kora, familiar from a distance - it's her height, her pale hair, the sharp, animal familiarity of her presence, standing on the street like an island, frowning faintly as she studies the boutique, so still that the rat-faced man almost runs into her in his slowing trajectory toward the front door.
[Simon Zahradnik] Simon was smiling to himself, he was looking rather smug as he followed at a cautious distance. You see the thing about striking fear into the hearts of ones enemies is that you first have to find enemies to strike fear into the heart of. Up until this point the Garou have almost been ranked among the "Hunted" with a few lucky guesses where they have been sent deliberately into the fray. This is not how a war is best fought... The best defense is a good offense some might say and it was true. It was hard for the Garou to effectively muster a response to the hive so long as they are kept busy by these distractions. Simon, however, aimed to shift that... The more the Garou were on the attack the less the Hive would be able to keep them distracted and occupied.
Something inside him snapped with delight. The darkly clad full moon was easily able to keep himself hidden in the crowd. Cautious and distant and waiting his chance to strike. In the end you can talk as much as you like but it is your actions that show just how serious your words are.
Kora was noted and he took the time to gently glide his tongue around his chapped lips as he closed in on the pair and began to softly whistle the tune to Mack the Knife as he closed in on his prey.
[Kora] The Fenrir is a good fifteen feet from the entrance to the boutique, on the other side of the sidewalk, near a small bank of vending machines - USA TODAY and the Tribune, the free City Paper and so on - dressed in warm layers - heavy coat over a hoodie over a thermal undershirt and so on. The bulk of the winter gear makes her narrow figure seem larger, more ungainly, but there's the underlying grace evident when the rat-faced man nearly trips over her as he weaves through the late-night shoppers. She frowns neatly at him, but just steps back and looks up, then, over his shoulder as the cut of a whistled tune comes back to her from the crowd.
Dark eyes find Simon, and stay there. The frown remains - lingers at the corners of her generous mouth - before she lifts her chin in a sharp sweeping gesture up and cuts a look from Simon to the boutique.
The rat-faced man is looking back, then. Hands in the pockets of his down coat, he shoots a furtive look down the street, like he's seeing a ghost, then reaches for the door of the boutique, opening as a pair of gilded young women - the sort with more money and looks than sense - push out of the store, laden with packages. Rat-face reaches for the opening door, holds it form them, arm rising above eye level as he tucks himself back in the vestibule and lets them pass.
They don't even notice him.
[Simon Zahradnik] Simon doesn't really seem to care if he's been seen or not. Fear was the name of the game here... Fear caused people to panic and when people panic they make mistakes. So Simon continued to whistle the song ever so softly in his own little way magnifying the predatory side of the beast closing in on its prey.
When Kora looked at him he simply grinned and shifted his eyes towards the man and then back towards Kora, repeating this a few times in the hopes she'd notice he was pointing something out. Yet still that whistle continued as he made his way towards the door intent on following him into the Store. It was quite fortunate Kora was around because it would provide a hint of cover if he was in there with a woman.
[Kora] She has her hands in the front pockets of her jeans, her body hunched over at the shoulders as if she's cold - freezing - waiting for a ride, someone to meet her, a boyfriend, a cousin, an aunt, like a normal shopper. Her rage isn't so great as Simon's, and there's no breeding in her blood, so she blends with the crowd better than he does, looking nearly ordinary except for the sharpness of her dark gaze cutting through the glittering twilight of the busy street.
Simon doesn't need to make that gesture twice. The Skald's generous mouth curves, the look nearly soft except at the corners, and she steps away from the bank of newspaper machines and bumps against Simon in this familiar way, more human than animal, like they're old friends, like he's the one she's been waiting for all night.
"Hey big spender," she says with an irony that sets lie to whatever flirtatiousness a stranger might read into the words. They're both walking toward the boutique now, and can see the rat-faced man, a pair of browsers, and a clerk at the center island, surrounded by little pyramids of perfume (parfum) in glittering lead crystal bottles. " - what's up?" This before they get to the door, in a low, sharp undertone. Then, just before the door, she instructs, " - and open the door for me. Make it look real, yeah?"
[Simon Zahradnik] Normally Simon would be flustered to have the woman in so close. Instinct was a dangerous thing and had he not already been focused on something else he might be knocked off course. However, for the moment, there was nothing that could keep the Full Moon off his designated target. As she presses in he glides a hand around her shoulder and reaches out to pull the door open. His hand is quick to glide off her shoulder so she can slip in."After you..."He says politely. His grin was playful and flirtatious as well, though largely that was as a result of being on the trail of prey it tended to fill the young mans eyes with such delight.
The fortunate thing about Simon walking into any building where the clients were expected to lug around copious amounts of cash was the fact that Simon's dress, mannerisms, and even tattoo matched well with his youthful good looks. It was easy enough to pass the threatening young man off as anything from thug to some kind of musician who were pretty much thugs but thugs who oozed money out of their pores. So it wasn't hard to meld in with the other Clients. In fact one didn't usually come into a place like this with tattoos and facial piercings unless they intended to spend money. Shoes were hard to sell on the street after all.
He continued to softly whistle, that tune intended to keep his prey off guard and moving. Seeking somewhere dark and away from others to hide himself away... Somewhere away from people where he could be dealt with properly.
[Kora] Strangers can stretch and find a reason for Simon to patronize a place like this. The rock star no one knows, the drug dealer with a girlfriend with expensive taste. The owner, maybe. Made his money in clubs, moved up to boutiques, designer fragrances and killer shoes.
There's nothing about Kora that makes her feel like she belongs here, though. She has clear, direct eyes and an expressive mouth, attractive enough features - except that, bare of make-up she looks far too ordinary for a place like this. Her long blond hair is pulled back from her features into a messy twist at the back of her neck, secured by a chopstick, and though the hair is glossy and healthy, it isn't artfully arranged to maximum her features, held in place by a bodifying spray and a ClearShine organic mousse. She has no obvious tattoos, none of the usual signifiers of clothes horse or rock star's girlfriend. Her shoes are Doc Marten's, not Christian Louboutin's.
But there's enough illusion there; their fake-intimate body language, his thuggish look.
"Anything I want, eh?" she says, turning around, walking backwards, trusting their rage to clear the room without much work - that human sense that something is wrong beneath their skins. Something ancient, something old - some terror made liminal by time, immediate by their presence.
Rat-face looks back, and frowns. He's away of Simon - Simon specifically - for the first time this evening and gives the Shadow Lord a flat, sneering sort of look. The exchange he has with the clerk is brief, then he's moving again, up the stairs to the couture collection. Not quite dark, but empty, to be sure.
The other patrons are already finding reasons to leave the store.
[Simon Zahradnik] "Anything you want..."He mutters as he watches her slip backwards away from him. His attention didn't linger on her for long, however. He honestly didn't much care for the well being of the people in the boutique one way or another. He was here for something far more important and those who know what is best for them would do good to vacate the building quickly.
A look shared between Simon and his prey only brought a smile to his face. His whistle was soft and playful as he kept up that tune. Wanting to drive home his point that the Rat Faced man would not survive the night. Do what he might, death was coming for him in the form of the Sept's Wyrmfoe. He wasn't about to show up at the next Moot without proof that he was worthy of the position. So as the man headed upstairs he flashed his attention back towards her.
"Let's start upstairs and work our way down?"He asks her before heading in the direction of the upstairs. He honestly didn't want to fight in the boutique if it was possible to avoid but he would fight wherever he had to. So he headed for the stairs fully prepared to be lept at or worse. That tune rising from the stairwell soon enough as footsteps began to carry him slowly upwards to the beat.
[Kora] The narrow stairs lead up past a bank of mirrors, rising over the dressing rooms. There's a little chain near the top still swinging from where the rat-faced man crossed it. The clerk tries to speak up as the two of them follow Rat-face. "That's not actually open?" - she says, her voice rising on the last word to turn it into a question. Kora ignores her, and one presumes Simon does too.
The downstairs is much the same, but upstairs has changed. The carpet is a new soft pink, but there are no clothes on the racks on the wall, just a certain stillness to the space. Three changing rooms line the far wall, the curtains drawn. And - nothing. No immediate sign of Rat-Face.
[Kora] Kora: Per + Alertness
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6) Re-rolls: 1
[Simon Zahradnik] They slip upstairs oblivious enough that one might imagine they simply didn't hear what was being said to them. He pushes the chain aside and soon enough they were headed up the stairs. A playful little smile as he glances around."Pretty empty up here... Not many places to hide..."He continues with a little chuckle as he begins looking around to see if he can't pinpoint where the man went.
[Per+Alertness]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 2, 2, 8, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Kora] Rat-Face: Dex + Stealth
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 3, 3, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Kora] Simon doesn't pick out rat-face hiding in the gloom of the empty upper salon, but Kora spots him as soon as her booted feet hit the top riser in the stairs. Simon's standing in front of her, looking around, searching the shadows in the dressing rooms for any sign of the stranger, and feels the Skald's fingertips beneath his elbow. They aren't pack, and have to rely on words, on human utterance. "There - " she says, quiet and unerring, close enough that he can feel her body heat, that he can hear the slither of nylon as she starts stripping off her winter coat lest it be destroyed in a shift.
- and that, in the end, is all the warning they have. Rat-face bursts from the shadows with a snarl. And -
[Simon Zahradnik] [+8]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 5
[Kora] Kora: +7
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 3
[Kora] Rat-Face +7
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 3
[Kora] Rat-Face AGAIN!
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 9
[Kora] Kora: AGAIN
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 5
[Kora] Order:
Simon: 13
Rat-Face: 10
Kora: 10
Kora: Reflexive - Resist Pain, rage-shift to hispo.
1a. reserved for defensive action.
1b. BITE Rat-face
Rage 1: again
Rage 2: and again.
Rat-Face: Rageshift to hispo.
1a. Bite Simon
1b. Bite Kora
Rage 1: Bite Simon
Rage 2: Bite
[Simon Zahradnik] [-1 Rage shift to Crinos -1 WP Resist Pain]
1a: Claw Ratface
1b: Claw Ratface
1R: Claw Ratface
2R: Claw Ratface
[Simon Zahradnik] [Dex+Totem+Crinos+Brawl = 9 -2 Dice for split actions Claw 1!]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6) Re-rolls: 1
[Simon Zahradnik] [Str+Totem+Crinos+1+2 = 11]
Dice Rolled:[ 11 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 4, 4, 5, 7, 9, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)
[Kora] Rat-face: soak!
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 6, 7, 8, 8, 8, 10 (Success x 6 at target 6)
[Simon Zahradnik] [Same as before -1 dice]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Simon Zahradnik] [Same as before -1]
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 1, 3, 3, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 4 at target 6)
[Kora] Soak!
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)
[Kora] 1a. -2 BITE Simon
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 (Success x 1 at target 5)
[Kora] Damage!
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 5, 5, 6, 6 (Success x 1 at target 6)
[Simon Zahradnik] [Shit soak!]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)
[Kora] 1b. BITE Kora
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 2, 3, 7, 10 (Success x 2 at target 5)
[Kora] Kora: dex + dodge -2
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 5, 6, 6, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Kora] Kora: 1b. BITE Rat-face -3
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 10, 10 (Success x 5 at target 5)
[Kora] Damage!
Dice Rolled:[ 12 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 3, 5, 5, 7, 7, 8, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)
[Kora] Rerolling 10s on initial roll b/c FORGOT
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 2, 4 (Failure at target 5)
[Kora] Rat-Face SOAK
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 3, 5, 5, 6, 8, 8 (Success x 3 at target 6)
[Simon Zahradnik] [Dex+Totem+Crinos+Brawl = 9 Dice Claw!]
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 5, 5, 7, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)
[Simon Zahradnik] [Str+Totem+Crinos+1+2 = 11]
Dice Rolled:[ 11 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 6 at target 6)
[Kora] Soak!
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 8 (Success x 3 at target 6)
[Kora] Rat-face. WHOA.
BITE! -1 (wounds)
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 (Success x 3 at target 5)
[Kora] Damage! (-1 wounds!)
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 3, 5, 8, 8, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Simon Zahradnik] Soak!
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 5, 6, 6, 7 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Kora] Kora: Rage 1: BITE
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 8, 8, 9 (Success x 6 at target 5) [WP]
[Kora] Damage!
Dice Rolled:[ 13 d10 ] 1, 3, 4, 4, 4, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 7 at target 6)
[Kora] Rat-face SOAK
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)
[Kora] The fight is brief and vicious. Humans watching would see - nothing more than a flurry of monstrous forms, something out of a horror movie, less than a handspan of heartbeats and then -
just blood, just the ozone of rage oozing in the air. The rat-faced man falls, not dead - not that, not yet - but nearly so, incapable of rising, unconscious - metis, he reverts to his breedform, the monstrous, misshapen crinos has dun-black fur covered in spiraling tattoos. Sorrow stands over him, flanks heaving, mouth peeled back from her teeth in a silent snarl.
But look: Simon tracked him here, and Sorrow gives him the grace of the last, killing blow.
[Kora] (PAUSE PAUSE)
--
The next week the place as closed, the big display windows - where the shoes were treated as singular works of art and no mention of price or commerce was permitted - darkened, papered over from inside, a hand-written UNDER RENOVATION sign slipped beneath the glass and brown paper. If he walked past the place, well - didn't it just feel like a job done well, and a job well done when UNDER RENOVATION changed to CLOSED written in red marker with backwards S the day before Thanksgiving.
--
Strange, then, that the place is open again just a few days after Christmas, a small "AFTER CHRISTMAS BLOW-OUT" sign slipped into the glass window, as if the small boutique had been open all season, along with the rest. Not even a nod to NEW OWNERSHIP or any of the usual things businesses due to lure back clientele after an abrupt setback, an unexpected change of hands or focus.
It's 8:30 on a Monday night; the air is arctic - in the teens, the temperature dropping fast. Steam billows from exhaust grates, smoke from the tailpipes of idling cars. The stores are open late tonight to take advantage of all that after-Christmas demand, but the frigid air, the promise of snow, the battered gray sky keep everyone moving quickly, heads down, faces shrouded by scarves, hurrying, conserving both energy and warmth.
And here's Simon, amidst all this consumerism, all these glad-tidings, on the hunt. He caught a glimpse of a familiar face - familiar enough to set all the hairs on his neck on end, the way it twisted -
- a familiar face, a sharp-faced man, broadshouldered but too thin under a down jacket, with greasy brown hair and watchful, deep-set eyes. Caught sight of it five blocks ago, and has followed him from a distance for five blocks full of Christmas shoppers and holiday revelers, busy city streets, not a single dark alley or hole-in-the-wall into which he could jump the familiar Spiral without attracting far too much of the wrong sort of attention, without bringing down all the mortal world on himself, without endangering the veil.
Now: four blocks later, the theater, the sushi restaurant, the boutique - open again, light shining through the windows.
--
Here is the last coincidence: Kora, familiar from a distance - it's her height, her pale hair, the sharp, animal familiarity of her presence, standing on the street like an island, frowning faintly as she studies the boutique, so still that the rat-faced man almost runs into her in his slowing trajectory toward the front door.
[Simon Zahradnik] Simon was smiling to himself, he was looking rather smug as he followed at a cautious distance. You see the thing about striking fear into the hearts of ones enemies is that you first have to find enemies to strike fear into the heart of. Up until this point the Garou have almost been ranked among the "Hunted" with a few lucky guesses where they have been sent deliberately into the fray. This is not how a war is best fought... The best defense is a good offense some might say and it was true. It was hard for the Garou to effectively muster a response to the hive so long as they are kept busy by these distractions. Simon, however, aimed to shift that... The more the Garou were on the attack the less the Hive would be able to keep them distracted and occupied.
Something inside him snapped with delight. The darkly clad full moon was easily able to keep himself hidden in the crowd. Cautious and distant and waiting his chance to strike. In the end you can talk as much as you like but it is your actions that show just how serious your words are.
Kora was noted and he took the time to gently glide his tongue around his chapped lips as he closed in on the pair and began to softly whistle the tune to Mack the Knife as he closed in on his prey.
[Kora] The Fenrir is a good fifteen feet from the entrance to the boutique, on the other side of the sidewalk, near a small bank of vending machines - USA TODAY and the Tribune, the free City Paper and so on - dressed in warm layers - heavy coat over a hoodie over a thermal undershirt and so on. The bulk of the winter gear makes her narrow figure seem larger, more ungainly, but there's the underlying grace evident when the rat-faced man nearly trips over her as he weaves through the late-night shoppers. She frowns neatly at him, but just steps back and looks up, then, over his shoulder as the cut of a whistled tune comes back to her from the crowd.
Dark eyes find Simon, and stay there. The frown remains - lingers at the corners of her generous mouth - before she lifts her chin in a sharp sweeping gesture up and cuts a look from Simon to the boutique.
The rat-faced man is looking back, then. Hands in the pockets of his down coat, he shoots a furtive look down the street, like he's seeing a ghost, then reaches for the door of the boutique, opening as a pair of gilded young women - the sort with more money and looks than sense - push out of the store, laden with packages. Rat-face reaches for the opening door, holds it form them, arm rising above eye level as he tucks himself back in the vestibule and lets them pass.
They don't even notice him.
[Simon Zahradnik] Simon doesn't really seem to care if he's been seen or not. Fear was the name of the game here... Fear caused people to panic and when people panic they make mistakes. So Simon continued to whistle the song ever so softly in his own little way magnifying the predatory side of the beast closing in on its prey.
When Kora looked at him he simply grinned and shifted his eyes towards the man and then back towards Kora, repeating this a few times in the hopes she'd notice he was pointing something out. Yet still that whistle continued as he made his way towards the door intent on following him into the Store. It was quite fortunate Kora was around because it would provide a hint of cover if he was in there with a woman.
[Kora] She has her hands in the front pockets of her jeans, her body hunched over at the shoulders as if she's cold - freezing - waiting for a ride, someone to meet her, a boyfriend, a cousin, an aunt, like a normal shopper. Her rage isn't so great as Simon's, and there's no breeding in her blood, so she blends with the crowd better than he does, looking nearly ordinary except for the sharpness of her dark gaze cutting through the glittering twilight of the busy street.
Simon doesn't need to make that gesture twice. The Skald's generous mouth curves, the look nearly soft except at the corners, and she steps away from the bank of newspaper machines and bumps against Simon in this familiar way, more human than animal, like they're old friends, like he's the one she's been waiting for all night.
"Hey big spender," she says with an irony that sets lie to whatever flirtatiousness a stranger might read into the words. They're both walking toward the boutique now, and can see the rat-faced man, a pair of browsers, and a clerk at the center island, surrounded by little pyramids of perfume (parfum) in glittering lead crystal bottles. " - what's up?" This before they get to the door, in a low, sharp undertone. Then, just before the door, she instructs, " - and open the door for me. Make it look real, yeah?"
[Simon Zahradnik] Normally Simon would be flustered to have the woman in so close. Instinct was a dangerous thing and had he not already been focused on something else he might be knocked off course. However, for the moment, there was nothing that could keep the Full Moon off his designated target. As she presses in he glides a hand around her shoulder and reaches out to pull the door open. His hand is quick to glide off her shoulder so she can slip in."After you..."He says politely. His grin was playful and flirtatious as well, though largely that was as a result of being on the trail of prey it tended to fill the young mans eyes with such delight.
The fortunate thing about Simon walking into any building where the clients were expected to lug around copious amounts of cash was the fact that Simon's dress, mannerisms, and even tattoo matched well with his youthful good looks. It was easy enough to pass the threatening young man off as anything from thug to some kind of musician who were pretty much thugs but thugs who oozed money out of their pores. So it wasn't hard to meld in with the other Clients. In fact one didn't usually come into a place like this with tattoos and facial piercings unless they intended to spend money. Shoes were hard to sell on the street after all.
He continued to softly whistle, that tune intended to keep his prey off guard and moving. Seeking somewhere dark and away from others to hide himself away... Somewhere away from people where he could be dealt with properly.
[Kora] Strangers can stretch and find a reason for Simon to patronize a place like this. The rock star no one knows, the drug dealer with a girlfriend with expensive taste. The owner, maybe. Made his money in clubs, moved up to boutiques, designer fragrances and killer shoes.
There's nothing about Kora that makes her feel like she belongs here, though. She has clear, direct eyes and an expressive mouth, attractive enough features - except that, bare of make-up she looks far too ordinary for a place like this. Her long blond hair is pulled back from her features into a messy twist at the back of her neck, secured by a chopstick, and though the hair is glossy and healthy, it isn't artfully arranged to maximum her features, held in place by a bodifying spray and a ClearShine organic mousse. She has no obvious tattoos, none of the usual signifiers of clothes horse or rock star's girlfriend. Her shoes are Doc Marten's, not Christian Louboutin's.
But there's enough illusion there; their fake-intimate body language, his thuggish look.
"Anything I want, eh?" she says, turning around, walking backwards, trusting their rage to clear the room without much work - that human sense that something is wrong beneath their skins. Something ancient, something old - some terror made liminal by time, immediate by their presence.
Rat-face looks back, and frowns. He's away of Simon - Simon specifically - for the first time this evening and gives the Shadow Lord a flat, sneering sort of look. The exchange he has with the clerk is brief, then he's moving again, up the stairs to the couture collection. Not quite dark, but empty, to be sure.
The other patrons are already finding reasons to leave the store.
[Simon Zahradnik] "Anything you want..."He mutters as he watches her slip backwards away from him. His attention didn't linger on her for long, however. He honestly didn't much care for the well being of the people in the boutique one way or another. He was here for something far more important and those who know what is best for them would do good to vacate the building quickly.
A look shared between Simon and his prey only brought a smile to his face. His whistle was soft and playful as he kept up that tune. Wanting to drive home his point that the Rat Faced man would not survive the night. Do what he might, death was coming for him in the form of the Sept's Wyrmfoe. He wasn't about to show up at the next Moot without proof that he was worthy of the position. So as the man headed upstairs he flashed his attention back towards her.
"Let's start upstairs and work our way down?"He asks her before heading in the direction of the upstairs. He honestly didn't want to fight in the boutique if it was possible to avoid but he would fight wherever he had to. So he headed for the stairs fully prepared to be lept at or worse. That tune rising from the stairwell soon enough as footsteps began to carry him slowly upwards to the beat.
[Kora] The narrow stairs lead up past a bank of mirrors, rising over the dressing rooms. There's a little chain near the top still swinging from where the rat-faced man crossed it. The clerk tries to speak up as the two of them follow Rat-face. "That's not actually open?" - she says, her voice rising on the last word to turn it into a question. Kora ignores her, and one presumes Simon does too.
The downstairs is much the same, but upstairs has changed. The carpet is a new soft pink, but there are no clothes on the racks on the wall, just a certain stillness to the space. Three changing rooms line the far wall, the curtains drawn. And - nothing. No immediate sign of Rat-Face.
[Kora] Kora: Per + Alertness
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6) Re-rolls: 1
[Simon Zahradnik] They slip upstairs oblivious enough that one might imagine they simply didn't hear what was being said to them. He pushes the chain aside and soon enough they were headed up the stairs. A playful little smile as he glances around."Pretty empty up here... Not many places to hide..."He continues with a little chuckle as he begins looking around to see if he can't pinpoint where the man went.
[Per+Alertness]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 2, 2, 8, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Kora] Rat-Face: Dex + Stealth
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 3, 3, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Kora] Simon doesn't pick out rat-face hiding in the gloom of the empty upper salon, but Kora spots him as soon as her booted feet hit the top riser in the stairs. Simon's standing in front of her, looking around, searching the shadows in the dressing rooms for any sign of the stranger, and feels the Skald's fingertips beneath his elbow. They aren't pack, and have to rely on words, on human utterance. "There - " she says, quiet and unerring, close enough that he can feel her body heat, that he can hear the slither of nylon as she starts stripping off her winter coat lest it be destroyed in a shift.
- and that, in the end, is all the warning they have. Rat-face bursts from the shadows with a snarl. And -
[Simon Zahradnik] [+8]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 5
[Kora] Kora: +7
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 3
[Kora] Rat-Face +7
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 3
[Kora] Rat-Face AGAIN!
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 9
[Kora] Kora: AGAIN
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 5
[Kora] Order:
Simon: 13
Rat-Face: 10
Kora: 10
Kora: Reflexive - Resist Pain, rage-shift to hispo.
1a. reserved for defensive action.
1b. BITE Rat-face
Rage 1: again
Rage 2: and again.
Rat-Face: Rageshift to hispo.
1a. Bite Simon
1b. Bite Kora
Rage 1: Bite Simon
Rage 2: Bite
[Simon Zahradnik] [-1 Rage shift to Crinos -1 WP Resist Pain]
1a: Claw Ratface
1b: Claw Ratface
1R: Claw Ratface
2R: Claw Ratface
[Simon Zahradnik] [Dex+Totem+Crinos+Brawl = 9 -2 Dice for split actions Claw 1!]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6) Re-rolls: 1
[Simon Zahradnik] [Str+Totem+Crinos+1+2 = 11]
Dice Rolled:[ 11 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 4, 4, 5, 7, 9, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)
[Kora] Rat-face: soak!
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 6, 7, 8, 8, 8, 10 (Success x 6 at target 6)
[Simon Zahradnik] [Same as before -1 dice]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Simon Zahradnik] [Same as before -1]
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 1, 3, 3, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 4 at target 6)
[Kora] Soak!
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)
[Kora] 1a. -2 BITE Simon
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 (Success x 1 at target 5)
[Kora] Damage!
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 5, 5, 6, 6 (Success x 1 at target 6)
[Simon Zahradnik] [Shit soak!]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)
[Kora] 1b. BITE Kora
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 2, 3, 7, 10 (Success x 2 at target 5)
[Kora] Kora: dex + dodge -2
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 5, 6, 6, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Kora] Kora: 1b. BITE Rat-face -3
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 10, 10 (Success x 5 at target 5)
[Kora] Damage!
Dice Rolled:[ 12 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 3, 5, 5, 7, 7, 8, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)
[Kora] Rerolling 10s on initial roll b/c FORGOT
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 2, 4 (Failure at target 5)
[Kora] Rat-Face SOAK
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 3, 5, 5, 6, 8, 8 (Success x 3 at target 6)
[Simon Zahradnik] [Dex+Totem+Crinos+Brawl = 9 Dice Claw!]
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 5, 5, 7, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)
[Simon Zahradnik] [Str+Totem+Crinos+1+2 = 11]
Dice Rolled:[ 11 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 6 at target 6)
[Kora] Soak!
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 8 (Success x 3 at target 6)
[Kora] Rat-face. WHOA.
BITE! -1 (wounds)
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 (Success x 3 at target 5)
[Kora] Damage! (-1 wounds!)
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 3, 5, 8, 8, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Simon Zahradnik] Soak!
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 5, 6, 6, 7 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Kora] Kora: Rage 1: BITE
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 8, 8, 9 (Success x 6 at target 5) [WP]
[Kora] Damage!
Dice Rolled:[ 13 d10 ] 1, 3, 4, 4, 4, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 7 at target 6)
[Kora] Rat-face SOAK
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)
[Kora] The fight is brief and vicious. Humans watching would see - nothing more than a flurry of monstrous forms, something out of a horror movie, less than a handspan of heartbeats and then -
just blood, just the ozone of rage oozing in the air. The rat-faced man falls, not dead - not that, not yet - but nearly so, incapable of rising, unconscious - metis, he reverts to his breedform, the monstrous, misshapen crinos has dun-black fur covered in spiraling tattoos. Sorrow stands over him, flanks heaving, mouth peeled back from her teeth in a silent snarl.
But look: Simon tracked him here, and Sorrow gives him the grace of the last, killing blow.
[Kora] (PAUSE PAUSE)
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