chapter five ♔ it'll be a day like this one when the sky falls down

[eldritchweaver]

the blues - switchfoot

WHO || The Knights
WHAT || Failboat returns from the disaster in LA as the Knighthood goes on lockdown
WHERE || The castle, London
WHEN || Directly after this, Fall 2017
HOW || Actionspam

Hasmed's announcement does not brook any rebuttal: all Knights are recalled to the Castle, where they must remain until the Section Heads and Jack Chessing have spoken about the events in Los Angeles that have left the Knighthood without their usual leader.  

The entire Los Angeles area is now covered with a dark miasma that has interfered with any signals that might be sent out from phones, etc., leaving the whole world wondering what exactly is happening down there.  Final images showed horrendous monsters, a panic of citizens, looting and violence from humans and Shadowkind alike.  

Hasmed has warned of extra magical wards on the castle, and anyone arriving will immediately take notice of one very prominent one: above the entire roof of the excessively large building hovers a black and red sigil in the air, a pentagram in a circle surrounded by runes or words in an unknown language, stretching for miles.  

[ This is the social log for post-LA lockdown.  Failboat must complete the top log before being allowed to tag outside of it. ]

Comments

martin riggs | open

[cowboy]

[Things weren't easy to manage in LA. They weren't going to get any easier, either, but he knew that when everyone got the call -- he had to go. He reported to San Francisco and they had a flight ready for him within the week. He stuck close to the department, trying not to get himself killed as he gave people whatever answers he could. There were too many questions and he knew that there were answers to be had, but nothing that would help ease the public.

As horrible as it felt, he almost wanted to go to London just to be around people that knew the same things he did. He gave his partner his contact info, just in case, and said that he'd be back as soon as he could. He had to trust that would be enough for now and that he'd be able to help more once he knew more. He made sure to bring whatever files he could with him, just to make sure they had any info that they couldn't get because of the interference. It was bound to just make things more complicated, but he knew that it was the best option they had for getting real info from the ground.

Walking up to the front desk, he glanced around, trying to find any familiar faces.]

[trigeminalheadache]

[ It's a front desk that is oddly unmanned at the moment. Though if the approaching click-clack of heels is anything to judge by, the squire who's supposed to be sitting there is hurrying back. ] Sorry!

[ This hasn't been Caitlin's day so far. She'd slept through her alarm and started her shift at the desk late. And of course, the moment she decides to sneak in a small break for something that she can't do while seated there, someone comes in. ]

I hope you haven't been waiting long. I-I know we're not supposed to leave the desk and the phone unattended, but - [ She stops short of oversharing because he probably doesn't need or want to hear why she slipped away. ] Anyway. Sorry. Hi.

[cowboy]

[He offers a polite smile, nodding.] Nah, it's no trouble. I'm used to the unmanned desk. Cheryl isn't the most reliable receptionist.

[His brow furrows, because there isn't the usual stack of trash magazines. Maybe Cheryl isn't around.]

Sorry, I'm Martin Riggs. I was in LA out of the San Francisco branch. Just coming in for the big wagon circling session.

[trigeminalheadache]

[ No trashy magazines. Just a large stack of various academic journals and several pages of handwritten notes. She's making up for lost time. ]

I... don't know Cheryl. It's been squires since I started here which, granted, wasn't very long ago. I'm Caitlin Snow.

[ She leans down and types a few things in. ]

Martin Riggs. Freelancer?

[cowboy]

[He nods. Cheryl is definitely memorable. For all the wrong reasons, but anyway.]

Yeah, good to meet you Caitlin. [He scratches the back of his head, his hair getting messed up in the back in the process. He makes zero effort to fix that.]

[trigeminalheadache]

It's nice to meet you as well, Sir Riggs.

[ Polite to a fault, as always. Which means she hesitates a moment, trying to decide whether or not to tell him that his hair is messed up. ]

Um. Sir Koraith has been coordinating the rooming arrangements since we're all here for the foreseeable future. Which mostly has meant putting Knights within the wings for their divisions but...

[ Her lips twist, her expression half-amused. Hopefully, he catches her drift. Freelancers, divisions, etc etc. ]

There's some padding for those who don't belong to one division or another. Do you have a preference?

[cowboy]

Riggs is fine. [He tries to brush off the formal title. He knows that he's earned it, but it just isn't him most days.]

And I'll find Sir Koraith and figure out where he's got the most room or the smallest room. I mean, really I'm good with a chair in a corner if there's an empty one.

[killmypatience]

[Kate is not exactly feeling all that comfortable with how the world is shaking out either. It's a whole lot of tension and bringing in unknown faces, and while she generally trusts Hasmed (and that's a very big "generally") she's not really sure if this is the course of action they should be taking.

But when she rounds a corner and sees a familiar face, she can't help the small smile that crosses her lips.]

Welcome back, Riggs. I'm surprised you got back this fast.

[cowboy]

Beckett, hey! [He smiles, nodding in her direction.]

Yeah, they say get here and then arrange the flight -- so you can't exactly say no. I was surprised they had flights going out, but they have those good connections.

[killmypatience]

Yeah, they do. This whole thing is kind of insane, really.

[She's still processing that this whole thing could be he end of the world.]

Still, glad you made it back safe.

[cowboy]

[He nods, rubbing the back of his head.]

I still feel like I should've stayed behind. [His partner is back there and he already left one partner behind when he ended up here. He doesn't like thinking about how unprepared they are in LA right now.]

[killmypatience]

[Her face softens a bit at that, reaching out and placing a hand on his arm gently.]

You'll be going back in there soon enough. We just need to take a chance to regroup.

[cowboy]

Yeah, it just feels like I could be doing more than taking a tour of the place if I'd been allowed to stay there. Organize things from the inside. Make sure our guys have the right access.

[withasouvenir]

[ thea doesn't stick around to watch hellsing wander into the castle, she doesn't stick around anywhere that long honestly. she goes to the training room, leaves the training room. no one tells her to get back to work because she's grieving and that would be cruel.

she finds herself in the kitchen, nursing a mug of steaming coffee that might have something a little extra in it, but she's not going to tell anyone that. she looks up when riggs walks in, hmphs a hello, looks back a her mug. ]

Didn't come back to anything decent, did you?

[ it's not like they're letting new squires in, he has to be from one of the other branches. ]

[cowboy]

[He's looking for something unhealthy. He's not sure how their imports are of those illegal substances these days, but he really wishes that the UK wasn't so strict on those unnatural food colors. He could really go for something that would stain his fingertips a bright color right now. He glances over to the girl, more like a quick nod over his shoulder as he starts to rummage through cabinets.]

Didn't exactly leave anything decent, either. [He pauses his search and turns to her.] I was working in LA.

[withasouvenir]

[ oh. la. thea frowns into her mug. ]

American junk food is the cabinet over the fridge.

[ he's rifling like he's looking for something and pushing right past the chocolate biscuits and jaffa cakes so she makes an educated guess based on what she would want. ]

[cowboy]

[He stops his search and turns to face her, grinning. He snaps his fingers and heads over toward the fridge to reach above it.] Why would anyone put the good stuff... [He finds the junk food.] All the way up there.

[withasouvenir]

So no one else will eat it all. [ presumably. thea just keeps her junk food in her room, it's not like junk is ever perishable. her cheese balls are like three years old. ]

[cowboy]

Well, that just means y'all need to keep more of it around. [He intones, leaning against the counter and starting to pop a few of the junky bits into his mouth, crunching kind of loudly.] Spread the love around.

[felidity]

Riggs!

[ he is free to enjoy that warning for all the time it takes for him to turn around because then suddenly his arms are full of a kali shaped koala. hopefully he brought candy. ]

[cowboy]

[There's an oof of sorts at the sudden onset of hurricane Kali. He manages, though.]

Kali - Well, hey, doll. I see you are still mostly limbs and static cling.

[felidity]

[ luckily! kali pretty much does all the work of holding herself up all cling wrapped around him, muscles barely straining. ]

I'm dependable, [ she chirps, muffled by the way her face is smooshed around her own arms curled around his neck. ]

[cowboy]

Glad one of us is. [He pets the top of her head. He's probably looking for the release button.]

You been handling everything while I've been gone?

[felidity]

[ he might... need to politely ask her to let go. ]

Except for that time I died, it's been good.

[cowboy]

Woah, woah, woah. [He pries Kali off of him, holding her shoulders as he crouches down a bit to look her in the eyes.]

You know, I should've gotten a postcard or something with that sort'f news.