venice/chicago ♔ i need a summer like a winter in my heart

[romanticidal]

♬ Winter In My Heart - VAST

WHO || Rafael Giovanni, Buffy, Myri, Dumage, Kat, Gar [closed]
WHAT || The Knights regroup and then go their separate ways
WHERE || Knight's hotel room in Venice > Flight to Chicago
WHEN || July 7th
HOW || Actionspam

And back to the hotel go the ladies, ready to say their goodbyes, with Myri & Buffy heading to Chicago to reunite Rafael with Jade, and Kat & Gar meeting the rest of the team back at the castle to try to convince Wynn to let them remain on their mission...

[ooc; see subthreads!]

Comments

[slay]

I think it's pretty self-explanatory, personally. And, maybe if you'd spent more time working with us and less time going off on your solo jaunts for who knows what, I wouldn't need to be here explaining it to you.

[slay]

I -- Well. Yeah. Yeah, we're knights. [ or, in her and myri's case -- no, wait, just her case. myri's a knight in all but name now -- squires. squire singular. she feels woefully underprepared suddenly, without the safety net of gar and kat around. ] Had the ... fancy armor, and the ceremony, and everything.

[romanticidal]

Knights who fight for Shadowkind.

So you are...?

[slay]

Still Buffy. But, from ... another world, yeah. [ she gives a nod. ] And not actually from New Orleans. I ... got to this world in California. And ... aside from that? [ she shakes her head. ]

I remember ... energy. Coming through. A-And, that's it. [ she slows her speech, glancing down at her hands fidgeting in her lap. ] I haven't really talked about it. At first I thought maybe it'd come back, but ... it's been months. [ she looks back up at him, a grim smile in place. ]

So, Shadowkind. Yeah. Not just Shadowkind, I mean, we sort of fight for everyone. Peace, I guess, between Shadowkind and humans.

[romanticidal]

A noble goal. To some people's eyes, one that will never be achieved, but I like to imagine it is not so...

[ he watches her for a moment ] Hiro is the same, you know. He arrived from the Shadow World several years ago, with no idea who he was.

[slay]

Do you know if he could ... ? I mean, all the fancy kung-fu. You, and Isabella, and Hiro, you all handled yourselves pretty well. Wicked well, actually. Did you guys train him, or could he already do it? [ it's a cautious sort of prying, seeking out some kind of solidarity. ]

[romanticidal]

He already knew how, though he had to train himself to remember. He does not know why he learned the skills, or what he used them for in the other world. [ his life is the bourne identity ]

[postergirl]

I was gathering intel. It's what I do.

[witchwoman]

[Myri comes back out with Amaranth trailing behind her. She returns just in time to hear that.]

Oh? We'd love to hear what you've learned.

[Is that... smugness?]

[slay]

[ omg soulbonding to hiro bourne twins. ]

Me too. I mean, I -- [ she takes a breath. ] I can do things that I ... shouldn't be able to do. Remember how I told you about someone getting hurt during job-training? [ she nods. ] Knight-training, but ... You get the gist.

[slay]

[ because buffy sure told them all it was just chilling with her sister. so she's just raising her eyebrows with a smug, expectant look. ]

[romanticidal]

[ he seems to mull something over a moment, then says: ] I meant to ask you ...

Why you came back. You could have made it safely to the cellar.

[slay]

Those guys came to your house looking for you. Not us. You were the ones in danger. I wasn't gonna just ... hide in some cellar while you were in danger. [ she looks sheepish as she admits; ] Not that you needed the help.

[postergirl]

Apparently it doesn't matter since you not only have such a promising lead, but the rest of us are being sent home.

[romanticidal]

[ the tiniest little smile at the last bit ] Ah yes, well... it is always good to have someone at your back.

I don't know what to say, beyond... grazie.

[witchwoman]

I thought so.

[She says quieter, dismissive, shrugging her shoulders and walking past to fix herself a glass of water.

The strange thing is that this trip has made Dumage seem FAR less terrifying. Myri is not certain how she feels about this, but for now, it feels good.]

[slay]

Don't mention it. [ she smiles, settling back. ] Have you heard of the, um. The Brotherhood of Enlightenment? They're being funded by NOVA, the record company that's getting a hold of Shadowkind DNA. They're some anti-Shadowkind organization -- I figure if anybody knows more about them ...

[slay]

You know, it's really too bad we might miss the briefing. I'd love to tell Wynn all about how dedicated and helpful you've been. [ her tongue presses against the inside of her cheek, and then she turns to follow myri and start packing up. ]

[romanticidal]

[ he shakes his head ] I have not. But there are so many such organizations, everywhere in the world, that it is not surprising.

[slay]

Not all of them connected to Jade. [ she says it grimly. ] I just ... I don't get it. I mean, Jade turns out to be a person, we follow the breadcrumbs to NOVA, which sends us looking for Angelo who just happens to be at your show? [ she deflates, cheeks puffing out. ] I don't like thinking the bad guys understand this running in circles thing better than we do.

[romanticidal]

This is why I must speak to Eterna. There may be things she did not wish to share with someone she did not know.

... She has her reasons for being distrustful.

[slay]

Mm. I don't blame her. Not all Shadowkind get the carpet rolled out and invitations to knighthood. [ she gives a nod. after a beat, she sits up suddenly, looking at him. ] Wait. You said NOVA tried to recruit you before, right? I know you said it was another guy, um, Dirk ... Dirk Smitland, right? But, does the name Chad Becksworth mean anything to you?

[rationalizes]

[ gar watches the girls walk by her, frowning disapprovingly ] I think the important thing is that we have a chance to move in the right direction. Let's try to focus on that, shall we?

[romanticidal]

One of the brothers, who owns the company. [ he shrugs ] This is something most people in the music world know.

But it was not him who met with Jade and I in Chicago. It was his brother, Burt Becksworth. He sat in on the meeting.

[slay]

[ buffy takes a moment, trying to digest this. why would burt take lead on a meeting with shadowkind when chad was the one so interested in donating money to anti-shadowkind organizations? ]

What was it that turned you off of signing with the company?