Dec 23 09:00:59 108 PA - Recruiting a Naked Girl and Her Bear
From Chronicles
Dec 23 09:00:59 108 PA.
PLAZA PARK
It's a winter wonderland! For some more so than for others, it would seem. The small Inuit woman is one of those who happens to utterly adore winter and all the snow and icy splendour of the season. Though this is no great surprise for those who know her well, or know her at all. A small pile of clothes sits on the bank of the lake, neatly folded, a pair of boots sitting next to it. The small Inuit woman who belongs /in/ the clothes, however, is nowhere to be seen. The great white beast of a polar bear is at the shore of the lake, settled comfortably and rather sphinx-like in his pose. Front paws tucked in, head up, dark eyes watchful. It's early in the morning -- earlier than most folks are out, let alone being in the park, and so there aren't too many people around.
Earlier than most folks, indeed. But Gabriel has spent his whole life getting up before the sun, for one reason or another. Usually survival, but for whatever ingrained lesson, he has already done his morning chores. Though last winter was spent in little more than everyday gear, he seems to have come up in the world, with genuinely warm clothing. Clothing that today is largely open - that strength that allowed him to live through last winter apparently still being there. His face is clean and recently shaven, possibly implying that he himself has already had something of a bath this morning. With a fur-lined hood hanging behind is head and a ski-mask piece of headgear wrapped around the base of his neck, he enters the Park. Entering the Park now that the sun has risen and chased out the dangerous people. At least in theory. He whistles while he walks inside, kicking at the snow in a childish manner every few steps. The bear, despite its white camouflage, is more obvious than he himself in his own white-and-cream clothing, and his path is thus bent toward it. Maybe Tornaq will let him rid him today!
There are always reasons to be awake early, and Monique has only ever slept past dawn's first light when sick, typically. Ripples rise to the surface of the water, quivering out from a central point, and there are bubbles to come to the slushy surface as well. Breaking free of the icy water, the small Inuit woman rises up a bit from momentum, then eases back into the water, and it's likely enough to give a glimpse of the bare skin across her shoulders. Expelling a breath that she'd been holding, she draws a fresh one as she opens her eyes, and she lifts her hands to lightly slick the water from her face, pulling her hair back and smoothing it. The barren branches of the trees rub eerily against one another as a breath of cold passes through them, though the sound doesn't bother either polar bear or lady of the lake. Tornaq does, however, note the movement that is Gabriel, but since he knows the man, he remains laying and comfortable, settled yet in his pose as the guardian.
Although he has certainly seen the nude female form before, the older Gabriel politely averts his eyes. Now wildly in a different direction, but politely. "Morning, Monique," he says in his drawl. The cold wind might not bother any of the three in the area, but it's quite sufficient to blow his hood around and kick snow into his face - something that only makes him chuckle. "You're looking spry." A few more steps take him nearer the lake and the pile of clothes, where he offers Tornaq a dip of his head in greeting. He doesn't speak bear.
Lowering her hands back beneath the water, Monique turns her attention towards the greeting. A smile comes to her features, and she lifts her left hand to offer a wave of greeting. "Good morning, Gabriel!" she calls out, her dark eyes reflecting a bit of sunlight in them. She starts, then, to swim towards the shore, moving gracefully as she does so. Tornaq rumbles a greeting, sounding somewhat amused, and he gives a nod towards Gabriel in his own version of a greeting. "I like to swim first thing in the morning. And usually later in the day as well," she says, quirking a smile. She reaches shallower water, coming to her feet as she wades out of the water. Naked, and not seeming to care, but such is the way she was raised -- to be comfortable in the skin that she was born in.
Gabriel allows Monique to remain demure - even if she isn't - by averting his eyes just barely enough to be polite. Not that the nude feminine form is anything new to him. "I wish that I could swim," he says in an honest tone. Something about it causes him to cross his arms, somewhat frustrated. This is explained, "Before I came here, I knew many things. Lots of things. But when I was brought here? I.. I forgot things." The grown man sounds angry, ashamed and embarrassed at the same time. "Swimming was one of those things, which really hurts if you knew more about my past. So... there is a good-sized stream that makes one boundary of my home. I don't mind the cold - spent years training to not even notice - but I have to stay in the shallows."
"Well... you could learn again?" she asks, raising an eyebrow slightly. Once she's out of the water, she starts to brush the water from her skin, 'drying' herself that way. She reaches the pile of her clothes, grabbing up her shirt and pulling it on before lifting her hair free. "I am sorry, that you forgot some things when you were brought here. Maybe they will come back," Monique offers, a small smile coming to her lips. "The cold, it does not bother me, either," she adds, giving a small nod.
Gabriel smiles, a happy smile that becomes a serious and sad one. "Perhaps you can teach me to re-learn sometime. But now? I must admit that I've come her hoping to catch you for more than pleasantries." His arms remain crossed, and the wind tussles with his salt-and-pepper hair. "There are problems in the city, and I think that you and Tornaq may be the only real solution to make my solution work." He's forced to sniffle slightly as the nipping cold gets to his sinuses momentarily. He's no longer looking away. Half-naked women - at this point, even completely naked women - are of a secondary concern.
"Perhaps I can. I can, at least, try to," Monique says, a smile coming to her features. She squeezes the water out of her hair, tilting her head to one side so that the water will land on the ground rather than on her again. She reaches to her clothes, working on finishing up with redressing herself. "Many cities have problems," she says softly, raising an eyebrow slightly as she watches him for a long moment. Shifting her weight slightly, she steps up next to the great white bear, reaching out to ruffle his fur a bit. "What can we do to help?" she asks, a thoughtful cast to her voice.
Gabriel nods his head, though blinking as another suddenly brisk breeze blows past. "You can fill in one piece of a puzzle to which I need... the piece. You're the most powerful mage that I know, and importantly you - and Tornaq - care for Sebastien. I don't know exactly what your relationship is, but you're... quite close, correct? Because this concerns him, and I don't want to see harm come to him."
Monique's brow furrows a little bit, and she tilts her head slightly to one side. "'The piece'?" she asks, sounding a little puzzled and confused. She didn't realize there was only one piece left to place in the puzzle. "Mmm... I am not a mage, exactly. But, I use magic," she says, a bit of colour coming to her cheeks. She makes a distinction even though most would view anyone who uses magic as a mage. It's a logical deduction. "We do, as you say, care for Sebastien. What is it that concerns him, that we can help you with?"
"You know about the troubles down the Ivory Lady, I'm sure? Vampires trading merchandise for blood, and so on? There's much more that I could brief you on, but it's really more my type of information than general knowledge." Gabriel explains himself a little, not wanting to expound on things that are unnecessary. "I had an attack set up that would have eliminated the vast majority of the problem almost exactly a week ago today. The city would be in much better shape, if it had gone off. But it couldn't; I was very lucky in finding out at the last minute that - Sebastien is under the control, or influence, however you want to call it, of a vampire." He allows for a brief pause before adding, "I know that Bella screwed with him in the past, and that was wrong on many levels, but she is not the vampire causing the current problem. It's a master vampire, and I can't act without taking care of Sebastien." That may be an ominous sentence to end with, but again, it's better than a speech. He shifts his weight on the snow as the wind picks up into a constant strength.
"Yes. I am aware that there are problems at the Ivory Lady. Problems of the evil sort. I do not know much in the way of details, but I do know there is evil there... vampires, as you say," Monique says, giving a small nod. She listens, and she tilts her head faintly to one side as she considers his words, and then she gives a small nod. "Yes. This, I knew. That Sebastien was under the control of one of the vampires. If she commanded him to do something, he would have no choice but to obey. Even if it meant fighting friends, killing them. Even if it meant fighting me, killing me. Bella is a vampire, and that makes her a problem. She claims to fight for the good, to attack only the Dreg gangs, but... she lies. She bit Sebastien, I know this. And Sebastien is no gang member. I do not trust Bella, and I will not lie about this," she says, giving a small nod. "How is it that you intend to take care of Sebastien?" she asks, curiosity in her voice. Tornaq is listening as well, but he remains quiet and settled.
Gabriel waves a hand. "No, don't get me wrong. Bella's no perfect little innocent girl, and I know that she bit Sebastien. Even if it wasn't obvious, it's because she told me as much. What I need is to *not* hurt Sebastien. What I need is to subdue him, which I should be able to do, with one other person assisting. But what I *can't* do is keep him somewhere locked up and out of the way until I can finish the job. Once the vampire's dead, he'll be free." He shrugs slightly in the wind. "What I was hoping is that if I could surprise and subdue him - with help I already have - then I could bring him to your place, where you and Tornaq could keep him in one place and out of the way. I don't want anything to happen to anyone, but he is admittedly a major problem at this point - she *can* make him do anything, including attack my team."
"I do not need for her to tell me for me to know that she bit Sebastien. He told me that she did, and I saw the bite," Monique says, giving a small nod. "I do not know that I would be able to keep him locked anywhere either. I do not know what commands the vampire may have given him that would prevent such, or make him fight me," she says, then softly shakes her head. "We can try, but I do not know if it will work," she muses, frowning slightly. "As you say, he can be made to do anything. I will do what I can to help, to keep him in one place and out of the way," she says quietly, giving a small nod. She is, naturally enough, troubled, but it's more than one thing that causes this to be the case. And none of it is easily resolved, alas. Monique falls quiet then, and she shifts her weight, leaning against the great white bear. Tornaq lowers his head, touching his nose to one of her shoulders, and he rumbles softly, an attempt at reassurance.
The winter weather is intense in these few minutes before sunrise. A stiff breeze blows in from the west, though all it is doing at the moment is kicking up snow that has already collected on the ground over the past few weeks. The trio of Gabriel, Tornaq and Monique are standing on the shores of the Park's lake, Monique's long black hair wet, suggesting that she was recently doused in some way. Tornaq is nearby, while Gabriel is in his own winter gear, hood and ski-mask headgear down. They're in close, quiet discussions. He nods, not trying to argue the young woman's point about accusations. "The way that I understand it, she has to call him, and give him instructions face-to-face. So if I can catch him now, before he may have been given any violent instructions, then simply keeping him isolated shouldn't be a problem, what with you and Tornaq there to keep an eye on him. I can hold him enough to transport him, but I don't have a cell, and the cellar that I know of was declined. From what I understand, he may not have been given those violent orders yet. Therefore - we can save Sebastien's life. I say this because there are others who wouldn't hesitate to kill him, solving the problem that way."
Maybe that's why Bella's cuttin through the park. Cause it's late. Or early. Or whatever people wanna call it. She's stompin along pretty good. Even with alla wind 'n blowin snow. Least it ain't rainin.
Monique tilts her head slightly to one side as she considers Gabriel's words, and she gives a small nod, weighing the minimal options that are available. "This is true, there are those who would prefer that method. But, he would not die easily by any who sought to seek such an answer to the problem," she says, a thoughtful cast to her words. She certainly doesn't want that sort of end to come about. "What I can do to save Sebastien's life, I will do. This, I give you my word," Monique says, giving a serious nod to Gabriel.
The older man smiles and nods. "I came to you because I knew that you would, and I hope that you can see that you and Tornaq are the best option. At least, better than anything else that I can think of. Vampires can be trouble. Even when some people give their word to them freely." Gabriel shifts his stance and scratches at something inside of his jacket between his left arm and torso. "If you have any ideas on how to make it happen, I'd love to hear them. I was actually hoping that you could be a decoy. To bring him somewhere that he can't just try to run off. I'm going to have Jaxain help me, but I promise that I can make him unconscious with no harm done, save for two little stings that he'll never remember. It's interesting that I never saw those bite marks that you said that you saw." Out of the corner of his eye is caught movement. "Speak of the devil."
Bella ain't the devil. Just Bella. 'N just walkin. Trudge. Trudge. Lean inta the wind a li'l. Stomp s'more. Even witha snow people in white ain't so hard ta spot. Or maybe it'sa big fuzzy bear. She smirks. Sorta. Turns her stompin thattaways.
"Vampires are evil, so it is natural that they are trouble. I trust none of them," Monique says softly, a spark showing in her dark eyes. Raising an eyebrow slightly, a frown touches at the corners of her lips as she considers a part of what he shared. "This, I do not know. Your method. He has... some resistances, to things. This thing you will use, I do not know that it will work for certain," she says softly. As he mentions the devil, Monique raises an eyebrow slightly and looks in the direction of Bella's approach, then decidedly falls quiet on the matter. She does, though, stay leaning against Tornaq -- and the bear seems more alert now than what he had been.
"Unless he's built up a resistance to an eighty-thousand volt potential, I think that he'll be knocked unconscious long enough to slap some 'cuffs on him and have Jax drag him to your place. If he doesn't go down right away, it'll scramble his brain enough that all it means is a slightly longer length of time. All I need is bare skin," Gabriel says, obviously confident in whatever technology it is in his possession. He doesn't say anything against the young woman's declaration of a blanket evil of a certain type of creature. He waves in Bella's direction, but doesn't actually attempt to raise his voice over the wind - probably a losing battle anyway.
"Havin fun standin out ina cold?" Bella can be louder 'n the wind. Barely. Course she waits til she's pretty close to 'em too. Brow perks up at Monique. Maybe even a li'l nod. Then smirkin. "Least she's gotta big furry blanket ta keep 'er warm."
"I do not need him to keep me warm. The cold, it does not bother me," Monique says, giving a look to Bella. Which is true, on both counts. She's dressed after her dunking, but only in her typical tank top sort of shirt and the leather pants and boots that are her custom of wearing. Her fur parka is still laying on the snow, having not been retrieved yet. No sign of goosebumps on her bare arms, either. Looking to Gabriel, she gives a small nod to accept his words but chooses not to out-rightly comment and thus continue that line of conversation.
"Morning, Bella. It's out late for you, isn't it?" Gabriel asks, keeping an eye on both women. "I think that I should be off, Monique. Leave you to finish up your bathing. Leave Bella to get home." He nods politely and starts to back up, the rest of the conversation allowed to drop for now. There's more to discuss later, when she's in a better mood.
