new orleans ♔ the man of a thousand voices talking perfectly loud | but nobody ever hears him

[shootfirst]

WHO || Thomas, Jack, Gar, Kat, Dumage, Mark, Myri, Buffy, Finnick, Spike, Rafael, Des, Elena [Closed]
WHAT || Various downtime shenanigans
WHERE || Various locations, New Orleans
WHEN || Tuesday Oct 16th - Oct 28th [Backdated]
HOW || Actionspam, don't sweat tag order!!

[[ Several of the Knights discovered a secret room hidden in Nova Headquarters, full of strange occultish paraphernalia and guarded by monstrous warriors. Amid this was direct evidence of an interest in the Talisman. They also took captive Chad Becksworth's personal assistant, Olean Gilbert, who has information about the location of the mysterious woman that Burt told Finnick about - the one whose presence has had a major effect on Chad's personality. Olean doesn't even know the woman's name, calling her the "Mind Master", and identifying her as Chad's 'advisor'.

The Knights also discovered that the other Dragon's Claw, Sir Jack Chessing, had followed his own secret mission to Nova Headquarters, and he'll be meeting back at the hotel with them to explain what brought him there...

This log covers any non-work related shenanigans the Knights have while staying in New Orleans, immediately following the last log and extending over the next two weeks.

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

open }{ hotel gym

[slay]

[ buffy's making liberal, enthusiastic use of the hotel gym's punching bag. in fact, it's been hard to catch her anywhere else for the most part - particularly when it comes to places that the knights are spending most of their time.

it's just ... strange. jack being here. and she's not sure how to cope with it, because she'd wanted him there for so long - for months - and now that he finally is, she doesn't know how to act about it. because she hasn't had a knight, she's had to make due on her own, she's had to rely on gar and kat and now she has oversight and she should be waiting for his suggestions and guidance and instead she's just barreling on like she always has.

the lack of addressing how long it's been or general, perpetual absence isn't helping things, either. and who is he anyway to just slide in and all of a sudden expect her to be squirely, where was he when she needed to be squirely? it isn't fair. and it's conflicting and uncomfortable and it's not like anyone can really blame her for being uncomfortable, after all -

the chain holding the heavy bag snaps and it flies into the mirror. she grimaces, shoulders hunching, and she looks around, sheepish. ]

Oops...

[notaroundme]

[Elena's been passing some of the time by exploring the hotel, and she couldn't help but pause when she saw Buffy in action through the gym window. There's a stirring of some faint memory, as if she were having some kind of strange feeling of deja vu, but then it passes. All she's left with is a kind of awe; she wishes she were in that good of shape.

If that's the kind of thing that being a knight is about, she's going to have a lot of work to do if she's ever going to fit in with them, though she can't really imagine Myri doing this same kind of thing. Hmm...

And then the chain of the punching bag splits apart, and the bag practically flies away. Her neck tenses at the impact, her eyes a little wide.

Okay, she's going to need more work than she can fit in an entire lifetime.

If Buffy turns to look at her, she's going to see one teenager with a the unmistakable deer-in-the-headlights look.]

[slay]

[ buffy's eyes catch elena's as she looks around and she casts a quick gaze back at the broken bag, then looks back at the latest addition to their entourage. she heads over reluctantly, one hand reaching up to rub the back of her neck. ]

I - Sorry ... Were you looking to use that?

[notaroundme]

[She shakes her head, and when she chuckles there's an edge of nervousness, like she thinks she's seen something she wasn't supposed to.]

No. I think my punch would need some work before I'm ready for one of those.

[She glances at the now broken punching bag.]

Remind me never to get on your bad side.

[slay]

My bad side's a very hard one to find, promise. [ she smiles. ] We're not all - What I mean is, not all knights are so ... [ she gestures back at the bag. ] Fight-y. There's other stuff, too. Myri's a healer. She's saved my life more than once.

[notaroundme]

[Her smile is friendly.]

I know a little self-defense, but based on the few people I remember, I think it was more out of necessity than anything else.

[Her head tilts slightly.]

Like, magic? Or just first aid?

[slay]

Very magic. She's got this spell, it's -- I think it takes a lot out of her, but she can use healing spells.

[dragonsclaw]

[ it's that first evening, after everyone's settled down and plans have been laid, that jack comes seeking buffy out. and just so happens to find her beating up the poor punching bag. :(

he stands in the doorway, watching this unfold before saying gently: ]

I do hope I'm not interrupting.

[slay]

Jack. [ it's said in a flat, hollow tone of surprise, and she drops her hands to her sides from ready position. ] I - No. No, it's fine. Did you ... I mean, do you need something, or ... ?

[chessing]

Actually, I was here to ask you the same. [ he walks in, skirting the edge of the room to come around to her other side ] It's been some time since we had occasion to speak, after all.

[slay]

You've been busy. [ she provides his excuse for him, making it clear she thinks he needs one. ] Evil prime minister and all. B-But, we've been managing. Uh, obviously, seeing as we're here and running into you. [ which he obviously knew. a beat. her brow furrows, lips purse. ] I'm okay. I'm - I've been okay. Some ... might even say eight months of okay. [ SINCE HE'S NEVER BEEN IN PERSON DURING ANY OF THAT TIME. ]

[chessing]

So I've heard. Quite impressive, as always, what Sir Gar has to say about you.

[ a pause and then he says ] I'm quite glad the two of you have got on so well.

[slay]

Well, I'm not. [ it's bratty and indignant and she can't help but let it slip out, no matter how much she regrets it because now she has to explain and go down the road of talking about what she'd been really good at avoiding. ] I'd be glad if I'd got on so well with the knight I was actually squired to. Oh, but that's right - he wasn't around.

[romanticidal]

[ rafael saunters in while she's knocking down her 3rd bag, i guess. it's like captain america all over again. ]

Remind me never to get on your bad side.

[slay]

You're one to talk. [ she's less sheepish about it since she's just been KNOCKING DOWN ALL THE HEAVY BAGS, and shoots him an amused look out of the corner of her eye, a smirk tugging at her lips. ] I saw you in Venice - you've got some moves, yourself.

[ she'll crouch to pick up another bag since apparently this is captain america. she reaches up to hang it but she's ... definitely too short to. she grumbles a little and just stands it upright and leans it against the wall, dusting her hands off and pacing over to rafael. ]

What's up?

[romanticidal]

[ he chuckles at the jab, folding his arms across his chest. ]

I needed to get away from Burt and his many phone calls. Is it so bad for Finnick, as well?

[slay]

The way he paints the whole thing, Burt might as well be his clingy girlfriend. [ based on like one conversation yep. ] He doesn't have you booked for anything today, does he? Recordings, photo ops, conveniently staged baby-rescue?

[romanticidal]

He said something about a Kardashian and I took that to mean it was a good day to not go to 'work.'

[slay]

You know what I think? I think that means it's time for me to give you the tour. [ she abandons her attempts at punching bag time and heads over to loop one of her arms through his. ] What do you say? Explore New Orleans with a gal like me?

[bigbad]

[Continuing the chain of Buffy's broken punching bags heralding the arrival of someone new, Spike shows up just in time to see the bag go flying away. He moves with his usual vampire quietness as he comes up behind her, though he's not making much of an effort at it (move silently 14).]

Careful. That's seven years bad luck.

[slay]

[ listen 21 means she hears him creeping up and thereby doesn't jump when he speaks, despite his lack of reflection. hearing him and not seeing him makes it obvious he's spike. ]

With as many of these as I've busted by now, I'm beginning to think the cheap-o quality is my bad luck.

[bigbad]

Might not be the bag's fault. You're bloody strong. [He moves next to her and glances over at the bags.] You need a more durable work-out partner.

[slay]

For coming from a guy who spent a good two months complaining every time I hit him, that sounded suspiciously like an offer.

[bigbad]

[He shrugs.] That's just because I can't hit back. But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to work on defence. [He starts circling her. Even when he's planning on simply blocking her attacks, he can't help but act like a predator.]

[slay]

[ she raises her eyebrows at him, but then shrugs and nods, spinning and aiming a backwards roundhouse for the side of his face, but the pomp and circumstance that goes into getting her body into position for it means it's easy to pick out what she's going for, and the placement of the kick makes it all the easier to catch or deflect (atk 13). ]