chicago ♔ we are building a religion | a limited edition

[borrowedheaven]

♬ Comfort Eagle - Cake

WHO || Finnick, Myri, Buffy, Spike, Elena, Dawn, Des, Rafael, Gar, Kat, Mark, Jade, Burt, Violet, Archer
WHAT || Pre-concert shenanigans
WHERE || Chicago, IL
WHEN || July 1st [forward dated]
HOW || Actionspam

It's been a long time since Team Failboat's been all together, but that doesn't mean the team members have been idle. Rafael & Finnick have been working hard to refine their show and record their albums - and if they don't pull off the show of a century, NOVA records will fall entirely into the hands of the sinister Chad Becksworth and his evil Shadow-hating cabal. In the meantime, Myri & Elena have acted as members of their ensemble to keep an eye on the villains' movement at NOVA's New Orleans Headquarters - but there's been suspiciously little to indicate that they're doing anything but gearing up for their own "Back to the Fans" tour, which will be launching concurrently in Miami on the same night of Raf & Finnick's concert in Chicago. Myri & Kat attempted to interfere with the recruitment of Nadia Reichenov by Keijen Blade and Decker Greenwall, and while Myri seemed to have made some impact on the girl, she still chose to join them, and where her allegiance lies remains unknown. The other members of the team have been intermittently set out on missions to destroy the other labs across America where Chad's scientists have been conducting hideous experiments on Shadowkind, splicing their DNA with that of humans. Gar has been hard at work in the lab, unraveling the mysteries of the mind control chip they'd created. Jack and Thomas have been probing the defenses of Andres Isle, where the Talisman is rumored to have been taken by the sinister Dimitris Sarandis, Prime Minister of the Isle and member of the dark cabal. Meanwhile, Des has been babysitting Jade after her club was destroyed by Chad's forces, so that she can join Rafael and Finnick onstage at the concert.

Now everyone is en route to Chicago, where the impending concert is tied in with the opening of the brand new Chicago skyscraper office of NOVA Records, where Burt is planning to move his end of operations, further symbolizing the growing divide between the feuding brothers. Tensions mount in these last few days as final preparations are made.

Comments

[romanticidal]

[ her searches pull up plenty: the internet is rife with people claiming to be able to see demons, from mailmen to organizations that claim to be demon hunters. she would even discover message boards dedicated to seemingly freelance individuals who roam around hunting monsters, or in some cases claiming to focus on monsters. several groups a few months ago were actually going on about some prophecy about the ultimate monster and planning road trips to... right here in chicago 8| weird. good thing the other group had that one covered

rafael walks in just in time to see her failure, and raises an eyebrow, smiling ] I will not tell a soul.

[slay]

Yeah, thanks.

[ her remark comes with sharp sarcasm, but she rolls her eyes and sets kat's laptop aside. it's probably for the best - kat might murder her if she'd even seen it almost taking a dive. ]

I blame boredom. If we were keeping busy, I'd be top of my game.

[romanticidal]

Well, I have something to occupy five minutes or so, if you can spare the time.

[slay]

I can spare ten. [ she says it with a decisive, broad smile and she gets to her feet. ] So what are we doin'?

[romanticidal]

There's something for you in your room.

[slay]

[ she perks up, heading that way. ] Is it a present? [ in a tone like she's catching him out; ] Did you get me a pony?

[romanticidal]

Well now you are going to be disappointed. [ when she opens the door, there's a bag hanging on the closet door... containing dis ]

[slay]

Well, then, what's - [ she moves to unzip the bag, and when she does, her eyes widen and her breath fails her. she stops a moment. without looking away, she notes; ] Ohhh, I don't think you have to worry about that. [ as less of an aside, she looks pointedly over at him, confusion written all over her face. ] What is this for?

[romanticidal]

[ he takes a few steps in her direction, training his attention on the dress with an admiring smile ] For the concert.

You like it?

[slay]

Very much. [ she answers with a glowing smile. ] I-I don't know what to say.

[romanticidal]

Grazie would be more than enough, I think.

[slay]

How about "thank you"? [ she says it with a chuckle and a smile. which hopefully clarifies that ... she's just not going to try and pronounce grazie rather than not knowing it means the same thing. ]

[romanticidal]

You are very welcome. [ he smiles wider than she's seen him manage since she met him ] It is the least I can do.

[slay]

The least you could do for ... what? You make it sound like you're paying me back for something, 'cept as far as I can remember, I didn't do anything.

[romanticidal]

You have been my friend, helped me to find what I wanted most in this world, never failed to offer advice, even when you know it is not what I would want to hear...

And you have protected my secret. Over all this time.

[slay]

Guess that's ... kind of what I do. Protect. Especially the people I care about. [ she gives him a weary smile, because it's exhausting - this one-sidedness. she's his friend. the way spike is hers. and it kills her, and it's why she's worked so damn hard to try and get spike to give it up and move on at any cost because no one deserves this feeling. ]

[romanticidal]

I only hope I can do the same for you. [ he moves towards the dress, and reaches up to rub gently at the sleeve of it ] I missed you very much, over these many months.

[slay]

I missed you, too. [ she says it softly, like it's hard for her to admit even in the face of him sharing the sentiment. she looks up at him. ] I kinda hoped it'd be easier. [ she says it forlornly. ]

[romanticidal]

Perhaps things can be different after we help Burt maintain NOVA. I would like to be able to help more, with stopping his brother once and for all.

[slay]

You ... Really? I just - I thought you wanted to get out. Of this, this ... life.

[romanticidal]

When I spoke of wishing I could have such a change, I did not mean I thought it would be soon. Do you think I could leave this business unfinished?

[slay]

I just ... I thought you'd want to.

[romanticidal]

After what we have seen them capable of? You should know better than any that I cannot stand for it.

[slay]

I can't say I'm sorry to hear that. Seeing more of you's always a good thing.

[romanticidal]

Do not fear: you will not get rid of me so easily.