new orleans ♔ you ain't been to heaven til you been down there

[postergirl]

♬ New Orleans - Louisiana Gator Boys

WHO || Mark, Dumage, Kat, Gar, Buffy, Spike, Myri, Martha, Arthur, Finnick, Des [closed]
WHAT || All work and no play make Knights stir crazy. Various downtime shenanigans.
WHERE || The hotel / all around New Orleans / at the bar / in an alleyway / ETC
WHEN || Various dates during the course of May
HOW || w/e you want, bb

[ This log covers any non-work related shenanigans the Knights have while staying in New Orleans. Because we haven't finished out the other two logs yet, assume some time has passed since then, in case anyone was injured, so that they've had sufficient time to get better.

As for work stuff, you can assume they've been busy with establishing Finnick's fake rock star cred, and investigating some of the intel they'll uncover in those other logs that we haven't quite gotten to yet. JUST DON'T TALK ABOUT WORK and all will be well.


Make your own threads, don't fuss about tag order, feel free to threadjack multiple people into one thread for hang-outs, ask me if you want a certain scene with an NPC, etc. forever whatever.]

Comments

wandering out and about [ buffy, anyone ]

[slay]

[ there's a lot of live music in the streets in new orleans, and the general liveliness of the city draws buffy out into the streets when the sun goes down and it's clear that there's no particular work to be done that night. it's no mardi gras, of course, but there's jazz and people mingling in the streets down on frenchman and bourbon street and she's hanging around, enjoying it with a smile. whoever's welcome to join her.

of course, eventually, she's bound to get overstimulated by the crowds and wind up ducking away into an alley for some peace, quiet and time alone that's lacking in bright, artificial light. it's also legit to come find her when she does this loner thing. ]

[bigbad]

[Spike is enjoying the New Orleans general liveliness, especially since so much of it happens at night. His days might be filled with boredom and wondering if the sewers and subways of the city connect up in some sort of useful way, but on nights when he doesn't have mission things to do, he can party.

He's already had a few drinks when he catches Buffy's scent, and a few moments later, he sees her going into an alley. Without thinking about how following girls into alleys is kind of sketchy, he... does that. Hey, she's been on a pretty good not punching Spike streak. Maybe it's okay.]

Wild out there.

[slay]

Huh? [ she whips her head around, surprised by the company, and then eases up a little, -- but not entirely -- nodding. ] Oh. Yeah. Party like that, it's no wonder Dumage is all about sticking around as long as possible. Maybe she thinks we can make Mardi Gras.

[bigbad]

I think we missed it. But if we're here another year... [He may like New Orleans better than England, but that sounds like an awfully long time to be stuck in one place doing one thing. Maybe it's because he can't even remember back a year.]

[slay]

Have you heard her? Somehow, I don't think a year would bug. [ her. but it would obviously bug buffy since she's anti-sticking around for months on end. ] Not that I'm exactly eager to get back to a steady diet of bangers and mash, myself. Just ... [ she shrugs. a beat passes. ] So. Big fun out on the street and you in a dark alley. Why the skulk?

[bigbad]

Oh, uh, I wasn't-- I just saw you turn in here. Thought I'd say hi. [If that's okay. He's not sure it is, but they've been on pretty good terms since that last fight on the airplane, and he's feeling optimistic.]

[slay]

Oh. Uh ... Well, hi. [ she blinks, a little surprised by that. ] I was just trying to get some air.

[bigbad]

Too much big fun? [He smirks at her.] Guess I can understand that. [Even if he'd been enjoying himself.]

[slay]

[ there's a hollow chuckle. ] Uh, yeah. Something like that. Lots of people, not lots of sleep. [ why is she telling him this??? ] It's no big.

[nothingsodivine]

[Duck into (1) one street and hear the dulcet sounds of someone playing a harmonica off-key. That counts as peace and quiet, right?

Yes, Buffy, it's Des. Here to annoy you more. At least he looks... happier than he did before he agreed to go on this trip. This city, man.] Not getting into the spirit, are you?

[slay]

What? No! [ she whips her head around at the sound of the harmonica and spots him. ] No, I'm ... I'm very spirited. Not harmonica levels of spirit, but ... [ she shrugs, then moves nearer to him, giving the harmonica a look of scrutiny. ] What's with that, anyway?

[nothingsodivine]

I have music in my heart and I'm tone deaf. [He shrugs] Also some urchin kid was selling them. They still have those. What a world, huh?

[slay]

Oh, how it amazes. Ever tried bongo drums? Possibly a tambourine?

[nothingsodivine]

What d'you have against the harmonica. [He plays a few notes. Awkwardly.]

[slay]

You mean other than the tinny, grating noise that comes out of it?

[nothingsodivine]

[Another terrible, tinny grating noise.] You know, Bruce Willis plays the harmonica. Are you really gonna insult John McClaine? That's terrible.

[slay]

I think Bruce Willis is probably less tone deaf.

[behindcloseddoors]

[ And what a dirty, narrow alley it is. Void of any people, except for some passed out bum. And rats.

MAKE A SPOT CHECK. ]

[slay]

[ buffy is looking around, shoulders hunched and arms crossed over her chest. SPOT CHECK 25. ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ damn girl that is some spot check.

as buffy glances over the alleyway, some movement would catch her eye, particularly because there's something remarkably unnatural about it. at first, it's easy to mistake as the bum rustling in his alcohol-coma, but at second glance, she would see that there's something crawling on him. Something of a medium-dog size, with sickly maggot-colored flesh that's ridged and pockmarked by scars, carrying itself on an immense number of small, spindly legs. It slithers over him from where it apparently had hidden on his far side, and settles on his chest, rearing up to reveal a disgusting sucker-like mouth with a number of teeth that looks like the sarlacc pit looked before george lucas fucked everything up. As it does this, a venomous looking green stuff leaks out of its mouth and onto the man's face, and he stirs slightly, twitching his nose, and then opens his mouth enough for some of it to end up dribbling in. ]

[slay]

[ her eyes skim over the hobo at first and then she glances away, but at the shifting and rustling she glances back. what a creepy fuck maybe she should find another all--

wait. that's not him. her brow furrows immediately and her arms drop. there's something crawling on him. something -- not human. and apparently dripping unidentifiable fluid and could this possibly be more eww?

she doesn't hesitate. ] Hey! [ she hurries to his side, crouching to grab the -- the whatever it is and try to fling it off of him and into the opposite wall (melee atk 20, dmg 12). because seriously what the fuck else is she going to do. ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ ♬ The Devil's Rejects She succeeds in gripping it, but its sticky and disgusting, leaving ooze coating her hand that burns in the wake (1 dmg). It hits the far wall of the alley with a sick schlep noise as it squelches down onto the ground. Chunks of what look like its actual torso fly off, and there's a disgusting stain on the wall where it hit as well.

It writhes momentarily before turning its head and spraying another trail of that green bile-like substance in a gross stream towards Buffy. (attack 15) It misses her entirely but... lands on the guy, and in an almost impressive testament to his drunkenness, he doesn't even seem to notice whatsoever. ]

[slays]

[ she takes the time to make an ick face at the burning ooze on her hands, and -- okay, no, make that ick face at all of this. how is she the one who winds up in the dark alley fighting giant nasty bugs off of homeless guys who don't even care? and slime? ugh!

it shoots some green stuff at her that looks like what it already dribbled into the hobo's mouth and she dodges it, grimacing as it gets on the poor homeless guy. she grabs one of the metal trashcans in the alley and hoists it up to cover the dog-sized bug with it (nat 20 melee atk), because like hell was she going to ruin these boots with slime by squishing it.

well, that, and she's never seen anything like it before and something tells her that someone is gonna want a decent unsquashed idea of what it looks like, and it's already apparently lost parts of its -- oh, eww. were those torso bits? she makes a yeugh face and shakes her head, looking back the homeless guy and hesitating to make sure the bug isn't going to like ... fling the trash can off if she steps away from it. ]

[selfrevelation]

[ ♬ Ghost As she steps back, the can rocks slightly in place, but doesn't fall over, and then finally settles into not moving at all.

It takes Buffy a moment with that spot check to realize she's not alone in the alley anymore not counting the passed out hobo. It isn't as if the guy suddenly sneaks in behind her so much as it feels like he was always standing there, and she somehow didn't notice until now. It's an unsettling feeling, particularly given that he's standing several yards away from her, one hand casually in the pocket of his crisp suit jacket, not looking at all put out by what just occurred. In fact, his expression is remarkably neutral - casually interested, curious maybe, but not surprised in the least. And he's definitely watching her, sparing not even a glance at the trash can and the creature that might still be banging around beneath it.

The man is of slender build, with features that make it difficult to pinpoint his age. There is something remarkably youthful about his face, but at the same time, there's a weight in his eyes that seems to speak of long experience.

As strangely innocuous as his first sudden appearance was, his presence seems to cast something of a large, indefinable shadow. When he finally speaks, his tone seems to be of no accent in particular, without being American either. The miracles of writing, I can say things that don't seem to make any sense and force you to come to grips with them.

Anyways. ]

Surely, you don't intend to leave it there.

[slay]

[ she feels him more than she sees him enter the alley, and it's not just the way serious presence he's got going on. still, she moves to crouch briefly and check on the hobo to see if he's alive, glancing up at him when he speaks. ]

Surely you don't expect me to tell you what I am gonna do with it. [ her eyebrow arches. ] Who're you? Pest control? 'Cause if so, something tells me you've been slacking. [ while she snarks, she sizes him up. he doesn't look like much, but at the same time, she doesn't trust that. he's way too calm in way too shady of a place being way too lurky to not be somebody. ]