open ♔ valentine's day

[romanticidal]

♬ Careless Whisper - George Michael

WHO || Anyone and their special someone [Closed]
WHAT || Various Valentine's Day activities
WHERE ||Anywhere
WHEN || Feb 14th, 2016
HOW || Actionspam or Prose

[ It's Valentine's Day! ( aka Singles Awareness Day )  Assume that all missions that are posted already are going out after this. ♥ ]

Comments

[somepagesturn]

[This is actually Paige's first mission that wasn't IN FUCKING BAROVIA, so she's pretty grateful to be dealing with something small in a beautiful place... and also staying close to Sweets. He's squishy. :(] I just hope we find them before someone else does.

[shadowmind]

[ risa has been having a bad day. no, actually, she's been having a bad year. all she really wants in the world is to be left alone. what does she get instead?

a thousand people yelling at her, more prejudice that she can enjoy, and laughter. it's just perfect.

what it came down to was an attempt to escape. this country has been hell for her since she turned up here and she just wants to live and let live. she'd be happy to ignore everyone if they would just ignore her. the crystals were supposed to be a warning, a barrier and a distraction so she could escape. she had.

now she's trying to make her way through the streets so she can actually hide. it's far too open out here. her cloak can't help her be quiet, even with her hood up as she goes, but she still manages to not completely trip over herself (move silently 15).

that's gotta be a first. whatever, she'll take it. she just hopes she can shake off anyone who might be tailing her. ]

[slay]

[ Buffy's here mostly as a bodyguard, truth be told, and she has no qualms with that, but she also has a hard time turning off the Slayer thing, so she doesn't entirely tune out into silent muscle-ville. It's hard to hide from a Slayer's ears, no matter how quiet, and she glances sharply around the streets as Risa draws closer (listen 26). She reaches out to quiet them, then ushers them to move up faster to the alley between narrow houses that she can hear footsteps thudding down. It's a good hiding place, carrying her away from the city center. ]

[fistpump]

[Felicity is tech support. Mostly. She's also available for awkward commentary, but mostly she's here if anyone needs to be told to turn it off and turn it back on again. She'll follow Buffy's lead and keep as alert as she can. ( spot 13 | listen 24 )]

[likeababyduck]

[Sweets and Felicity also pick up on the sound of Risa's footsteps and Sweets follows Buffy's lead through the city and into the alleyways. He's also keeping an eye out for their Shadowkind friend, but he doesn't exactly know what to look for (spot 12). Hide check for Risa please!]

[shadowmind]

[ risa is reasonably sure that she's being followed. perfect. perfect. deciding that this is as good a place as any, she ducks close to the nearest building (move silently 17) where she can tuck herself into a corner (hide 29). ]

[slay]

[ Well, Buffy crit failed. SO she had her, and she lost her. She stops short. ]

... Huh. Must've been rats or something.

[somepagesturn]

[Paige didn't do much better. (spot 13), but she definitely hears something (listen 21)

She'll just... try the diplomatic approach and start shouting into the ether.] Hello? If you're not a rat, could you answer us! And I mean literal rat, not a horrible person. I don't presume to know the sort of person you are. But we want to help you! We're not with the Italian government! [(Diplomacy 29) she's just so earnest...]

[shadowmind]

[ it's probably a good thing that paige takes that risk because it's pretty much just what risa wanted to hear. she can't really get a read on anything (sense motive 15) but this woman really is so earnest. it's been a long time since risa has seen or heard that. it actually might have been herself last time...

"help" her? since when do people want to help her? though it does sound like a very good idea.

so she pauses for a second and then calls back, hesitantly, like she wants this to be real. ] How do I know you won't just lock me up?

[ of course, yelling back and shifting some in her place probably blows her cover a little bit (hide 27), but whatever. ]

[likeababyduck]

[Sweets will hold up his hands as he moves to stand next to Paige trying to add to her diplomacy with a roll of his own (diplomacy 24).]

You don't, and that's a very valid concern. But we want to help you, not keep you prisoner. Once we get you out of Italy, we will help you get wherever you want to go, but right now you're not safe here. We want to help you get somewhere where you will be.

[Though he's also ... equally earnest. They are a very earnest pair, Sweets and Paige.]

[slay]

But the "getting out of Italy" part is really key to that, because this? Not a Shadowkind-friendly kinda place. It's a real work-in-progress. But we can help you.

[shadowmind]

[ wow that sure is a lot of diplomacy there! it's more than she ever would have expected, that's for sure, and it goes a long way towards calming her down. so, after a moment's deliberation -- in which she silently agrees with buffy because yeah her year here has not been fun -- she finally stands from her hiding place. a second later, she lowers her hood. may as well go all the way with this.

if "wherever you want to go" means away from here and then maybe left alone, risa is all on board. ]

Okay. I'll... [ she glances from one person to the next. that's a lot of people. if they decide to betray her, she's screwed. but they had very effective diplomacy so she's going to assume they will not. ] I'll go with you.

[somepagesturn]

[Paige claps her hands enthusiastically.] Oh, wonderful. See that wasn't so hard, was it?

[she steps forward.] I'm Paige, this is Lance. [she gestures to Sweets.] And that's Buffy and Felicity. [she gestures to the other girls in turn.]

[shadowmind]

[ oh gods, she's going to be one of those types, isn't she? risa's uncomfortable meter just shot upwards. ]

Risa. Risa Eamon.

[ she wants to ask what will happen, where will they go, and all of that. but honestly? just getting the heck out of dodge will work for her right now. ]

If you really aren't working for the government, who do you work for? Or did you just see the disagreement and decide to chase me down?

[slay]

We work for the Karthur Institute. We help rehabilitate Shadowkind who get disoriented coming through the Veil. Is that what happened to you?

[shadowmind]

I've never heard of that.

[ duh, risa. that's why they're here.

she still feels uncertain, but not as much as earlier. she does have to fight the urge to fidget (will save 21). ]

I think so, if that's what you call that mist I saw. Guess I stepped through it. I don't... I don't really remember much before this year.

[ and this year has been bad enough that she would like to forget it. ]

[somepagesturn]

That... Definitely sounds like the Veil. [Paige steps forward.] It's very rough on the memory, but the Institute has all kinds who've crossed over just like you and needed some help adjusting.

[shadowmind]

[ she is so very hesitant, so very concerned. but the idea of getting out of here is... not as overwhelming as she would have thought (will save 24) but still a very nice idea. practical. ]

Okay. Okay I'll go. [ for now, she'll trust the enthusiastic diplomacy team and see where it leads her. if they stab her in the back, well, at least she's out of italy and she can defend herself. ]

Anything has to be better than this.

[fistpump]

[Felicity offers her a kind smile, trying to maintain their 'We are totally the good guys' vibe, as she will glance at her phone (clearly the same device she used to hack into CCTV) and double check that they are still all-clear. (computer use 47 w/careful progress)]

We probably shouldn't linger... [Even if the coast is clear, it's still good advice.]

[likeababyduck]

[Sweets glances back to Felicity and nods. They're still clear for now, but they shouldn't stay still for too long.]

Felicity's right. We can help fill Risa in on our way back to London.

[slay]

The streets are clear this way. [ She points back the way they came. ] They already swept it in their perimeter. It'll be a while before any law enforcement officials come back through. Come on. [ And she'll start off back towards the car. ]

[likeababyduck]

[And with that, they will all climb back into the car and off to London they will go! /scene?]