mission ♔ chicago

[shootfirst]

WHO || Gar, Kat, Mark, Dumage, Martha, Myri, Buffy, Sven, Spike [closed]
WHAT || Settling into the mission HQ
WHERE || Knights' hotel/various locales in the city(?), Chicago, IL
WHEN || Friday Feb 24th through Sunday Feb 26th
HOW || Actionspam

Arrival in the city involved picking up any weapons or equipment that they had sent to meet them here and moving into their oh-so-fancy hotel rooms on the top floor. It consists of four adjoining rooms with a shared living room space and kitchenette. Each bedroom has two separate beds and roomies are:

Kat & Gar
Buffy & Myri
Martha & Dumage
Spike & Sven

Mark's agreed to sleep on the couch, since there aren't any spaces with five separate adjoining rooms available.

Gar's new job will begin on Monday, which gives the Knights the weekend to explore the city if they like, do research on the Hoffman Institute, scope out the Institute's campus, set up surveillance plans, or otherwise unwind before the real work starts. Feel free to start threads for anything, and use subject lines to denote which day it occurs on! Also don't be afraid to jack multiple people into threads, as now is a great time for some TEAM BUILDING 8) ... Try not to kill each other, in other words.]

Comments

[bigbad]

I can ask. [It's said begrudgingly, and he's not sure he will. He wants help with this even less than he wanted help with his headaches. But it would be nice to go outside during the day.]

[witchwoman]

[Myri seems satisfied by this answer and sits back, more relaxed. She's also perfectly content to not bring up that she's also cooped up inside on a beautiful day.]

What else does the box... er tele...vision do?

[bigbad]

[Spike shrugs.] Not much. You can watch films on it too, but it looks about the same as this. Just longer, and without the commercial breaks.

[witchwoman]

[Not that she knows what a commercial is, but the shorter bursts are actually more fascinating for Myri, since they're designed to grab a person's attention so quickly.]

It's a fascinating device.

[bigbad]

[Spike shrugs. He usually takes it for granted. Modern bloke like he is.]

Yeah, I suppose. Mostly I just use it to kill time.

[witchwoman]

How does one... kill time?

[Oh these strange modern phrases that she's never heard.]

[bigbad]

Uh. Like, you know when you're waiting for something and you do something useless to pass the time until whatever it is you're waiting for? That's killing time.

[witchwoman]

Hmm. I've never heard it referred to in that way. Seems a violent choice of words.

[bigbad]

Yeah? I suppose. [Spike shrugs. He's never had much of a problem with violence.] Never really thought about it.

[witchwoman]

[She's quiet for a moment, almost as if she's working up the nerve. After a few seconds, she turns towards him.]

What's a vampire?

[She's been thinking about it ever since the plane ride. When she was talking about Spike to Buffy, the word was brought up, but she hadn't been able to sort out what it was.]

[bigbad]

[His head whips towards her, eyes narrowed suspiciously.]

Did Buffy put you up to this? Because you can tell her to fight her own bloody battles.

[witchwoman]

[She gulps and shakes her head.]

No one put me up to anything.

I- I mentioned you on the plane and she asked me if I knew what a vampire was. I think she assumed I was from the shadow world? Perhaps they have them there? But she wouldn't explain what it was... I thought you might know.

[bigbad]

Oh. [...he didn't mean to scare her, he's just been having a rough time with Buffy. He deflates a bit, then answers her. He doesn't bother hiding it.]

I'm a vampire, pet. It's why I've got my little sun issue.

[witchwoman]

So a vampire is a person who cannot be out in the sun. [She doesn't pose it as a question, but she's clearly looking for confirmation.]

Are there others like you here?

[bigbad]

Probably. I don't know any, though.

And yeah, that's part of it. But it's a bit more complicated than that. [He holds out a hand, offering her his wrist.] Here. Feel my pulse. [Spoiler: there is none.]

[witchwoman]

[Her finger tips lightly brush his wrist, settling on the proper spot to apply a slight pressure. She waits and as a second or two passes, her eyes grow larger and her face loses the little bit of color it has. Her gaze flies to his face, searching for the answers.]

B-but... but how?

[bigbad]

[He pulls his wrist back, not looking at her.] Vampire. I'm not really alive. Just undead.

[witchwoman]

[She's very quiet for a few moments. Whatever a vampire is, it isn't anything that she's ever experienced. But just because something is new, doesn't mean it's worthy of being feared.]

I've found that it's not always so simple. My status as witchwoman caused villagers to run me out many times. Being something does not necessarily make you one thing or another. Life is far more complicated.

[bigbad]

[She's sweet to say so, and he looks over at her.] Vampires have something of a reputation for being monsters. No idea how true it is for the rest of them, but for me... [He didn't feel like a monster. But for all he knew, he'd killed and eaten countless humans before coming here. But maybe he hadn't. Maybe he'd been a bloody saint of a vampire. He had no way of knowing.] I don't want to hurt anyone.

[witchwoman]

Before I came here, a man named Moncriith created a reputation for me, claiming I was a demon disguised as a woman and that Amaranth was a demon as well, come to steal the souls of the village children and to tempt the men into my bed to fuel my dark magic.

[She reaches out and touches his hand for emphasis that she isn't afraid.] I don't think you're a monster.

[bigbad]

[He gives her a very genuinely moved smile. He's spent so much time worrying about how people would think he's a monster and shun him, like Buffy had, he hadn't considered people being okay with it. Besides Dumage, but she didn't seem like the sort to take anything out of stride.

Of course, Myri doesn't know everything about vampires. He hasn't told her that he is a demon, and unholy by nature, or that he drinks blood. He hasn't shown her his other face. But for now, he won't. He's got an actual friend, who knows what he is and accepts that.

It feels... nice.]

Thanks, pet. And I don't see how anyone in their right minds could mistake you for one. You're one of the least-demonic people I've met.

[witchwoman]

If a person is loud enough, someone will begin to believe them. And once you're believed..? Well, it only continues from there. The priest made it his personal goal to find me bound and burning.

No matter. Thankfully, the mist that brought us here has left him far behind. No sense dredging up the past.

[bigbad]

Guess there's one good thing about the forced relocation. Just wish I had a clue what I'm escaping. [If anything.]

[witchwoman]

Good or bad, we aren't able to do much about our current state. [Myri shrugs through a smile.] I, for one, am enjoying this new direction my life has taken.

I've never had so many friends.

[bigbad]

That must be a nice feeling. [Excuse his bitterness. It's mostly Buffy-based. Also Lan based. And Christos based. Actually, that's most of his 'fan club.' He has more friends than he gives himself credit for.]