Mar 29 18:35:02 106 PA
From Chronicles
The current game time is: Tue Mar 29 18:35:02 106 PA.
A competent garage band on the stage pounds out a catchy song as Vixen moves into the Alibi, her few arms left behind as she wanders into the place. Her eyes scanning as she moves towards the bar quietly. But what she seeks isn't there. Thus she turns her attention to a bit of liquid refreshment. With a glass of tequila in hand minutes later, she moves herself near to one end of the bar nearest the door and settles, sipping lightly on the glass. Waiting.
In a midly rare departure from the norm, Leonard is not at the bar, but seated at a booth with a glass of wine. Perhaps his musical appreciation has grown, given that one foot taps in time with the band's playing. The Alibi has become a second home, at times, for him, it seems. Or perhaps third or fourth would be more approriate when one considers the library and the Happy Days. He has certainly found himself with more free time now that there are no random incursions of hungry creatures and ventures to forsaken worlds populated by the same.
Vixen lingers for several minutes before she seems to grow weary of.. well, whatever she's doing. The lounging at the bar and the conservative sipping at her glass left off from as she lays the glass down and straightens, fishing into her coat for her smokes. The ritual is the norm, extracting the lovely, then the lighter, lighting it and putting away the tools. She draws slowly on it, her expression calming slightly as she holds the smoke and retrieves her glass. Her eyes flicking once more towards the door area before she lets her attention wander some. Her attention coming across Leo nearby. She smirks faintly and starts to head over towards him slowly.
Leonard seems unaware of the fox's approach as he divides his attention between his own casual thoughts. his drink, and the band performing. Even the familiar sweet smoke doesn't register, or trails behind her advance.
Vixen smirks faintly as she approaches. Her smoke isn't the only sort and, thankfully, there is no wind to be down of. Insulated in the noise, she slips up right beside and behind where he sits, considering just a moment more before she leans forward and, without a lungful of smoke, lightly blows into his ear. Mischief lingering in her expression during and after.
Leonard likely gratifies her mischief by startling notable in his seat. The wineglass near his lips is jolted, sending a nice burgundy slosh upon his shirt. His head turns towards, the surprise morphing into a wry smirk as he realizes the source. "Evening. I should sit facing the rest of the room, shouldn't I? Or should I just remain ever by your side so that you can't sneak up on me... as easily?"
"You could. But I doubt you would," Vixen opines casually, stepping up a bit to stand next to him. "After all, if you did I couldn't do that sort of thing very often now, can I?" Her soft amusement lingering on as she lifts her glass for a light draw, the other hand bearing the cig braced against the table.
Leonard chuckles. "Both options sound quite interesting, and one would save my drink, I think." He looks up to Vixen from his seat in the booth next to which she stands. "I wouldn't want to hinder your fun, though. Better to have you amused by me than bored."
"Yes, you won't like me when I'm bored. I tend to try and find something to amuse myself," Vixen replies, her hips shifting a bit to nudge him. "Move over, might as well wait here a bit," she adds. The night is rocking at the Alibi as a garage band up on stage rips a competent beat. Vix has in hand her usual lit cig and a glass of her pink tinted tequila, favorite of the moment. "What've you been up to anyway?"
Tirzah is rocking as well. Being the spontaneous sort she came at the prospect of the competent band and was not disappointed. Now she's having fun on the floor, being spontaneous, teasing, humiliating, even devastating if she feels like it. No heart is safe from her alluring wit and sharp jabs of denial.
"Yes, dear," is Leonard's wryly obsequious reply as he slides himself over just enough to allow room for her. "and likely nothing as adventurous as what you've been up to, I'm sure. Very little, other than a few brief conversations with the venturing Vassago."
Vixen chuckles lowly. "Nah.. nothing so big.. yet." She glances towards the front again before she slides into the booth smoothly and glances towards Leo. Her glass gets settled and her cig is tapped against the ashtray as she wonders, "What's that guy have to say? He making plans or some such?" She takes another hit then, casual and languid about it.
After a while Tirzah gets her fill of having fun and the guys wonder why she even appealed to them as their gazes drift on to more glamorous if unresponsive portraits. Stepping out of the shifting masses she peruses the tables and notices Vixen and Leonard, getting to be a fairly regular feature here. Smiling she looks delighted and expectant from the find as she makes her way towards their table.
Leonard gives a slight shrug and takes a last sip before setting down his glass. Likely safer that way. "He has many grand plans. Some may be premature, as he has yet to find any clientele, but I've offered my assistance, anyhow. Maybe between the both of us we can launch his business venture. It should be interesting, regardless." He shifts himself towards to offer a much less wry smile. "Something to keep my attention away from boring you, earn some credits, and, if I'm really lucky, maybe you'll miss me every so often."
Vixen snorts softly in response to Leo's words, lightly breathing out her smoke. "I got the feeling that missing you is something I'd better not get used to, if you go flitting off to some other place," she returns idly. "As to that guy.. yeah, he's got dreams. Guess we'll see if he's got the will to do something with 'em. Me, I got my own dreams to push." She glances towards the door away again, a sweep that alerts her to Tirzah's approach. She lifts a hand in a casual motion towards the other woman, but leaves more for when she gets closer. She then lifts her glass to sip conservatively at her drink again. The Alibi is having a good Tuesday evening, with a competent garage band as the headliner. Thus the music is catchy and the people are lively.
Tirzah reaches out with her finger to give Leonard a firm prod for not noticing her approach while grinning at Vixen. "Hey guys, more drinking and bud?" She enquires, though the smell would be beyond question. "You know I'm a pretty skilled brewer Vixen, maybe you'd be interested in mixes more alleviating than the common grass?" She offers with a suggestive smile. "I'd try not to flit TOO far, even without your heartfelt..." Leonard's mirthful response is cut short by the prodding announcement of Tirzah's arrival. "Evening, Tirzah. Are you trying to get her inebriated or high? Well, moreso... How thoughtful of you."
"I got guys I go to for the weed. Dunno what brewing has to do with it, though. That's more for drinks, ain't it?" Vixen's casual reply as she lifts her cig for another light draw. "Depends what you mean by 'alleviating'. I'm particular about what I smoke," she adds after, letting hte smoke escape with her words. "Some people like to put bad things into the mix and past experience makes me wary."
Tirzah smirks at Leonard. "Why not both? I'm amazed how common people differentiate between the two, but inebriation is just another type of high, just more accepted." She points out before looking back to Vixen with a knowledgeable smile. "Yeah, lots of fools try everything with anything done to it once, looking for something no one else has had. I'm more of a traditional sort, black elder being my personal favorite. Mix it with a good gin and I guarantee a good time. Without nasty side effects. Though if your looking for those one day, look no further." She suggests, shinning the light on a less known side of herself.
"This plant has been with your kind for two thousand years, at least," comes a voice, impossibly deep. It sounds vaguely like kick-starting a Harley, if the Harley was a chain smoker. "But it was withheld for sacred ritual and medicine for more than half that time. Remarkable restraint for something that grows so freely, by tribes just discovering the value uses of metals." In the dark interior, one might attribute the voice to an empty suit perched nearby. A light sweeping over him from the stage catches his clothes, revealing only hints of dark skin above.
Leonard shakes his head in mild amusement. "I do enjoy a good drink, and too much more often than I'd admit, but not to escapist excess." A brow is lifted in Tirzah's direction. "Aren't there enough interests to occupy everyone?" The brow then turns to encompass Vixen as well. "Or am I just that boring?"
Vixen is about to respond to Tirzah when the dark one speaks, her head turning a bit more to regard him for a few moments before she gives a casual roll of her shoulder. "Thanks for the history lesson, but I don't see what that matters worth a damn," she comments casually before considering Tirzah. "I dunno about smoking what's been soaked in alcohol. This stuff can get heavy enough when I just drink a bit too much with it. Not looking to get knocked on my ass." She then smirks faintly at Leo and asks in return, "You ever have a hit?" Lifting the marijuana cig towards him in casual offer.
Leonard shakes his head in mild amusement. "I do enjoy a good drink, and too much more often than I'd admit, but not to escapist excess." A brow is lifted in Tirzah's direction. "Aren't there enough interests to occupy everyone?" The brow then turns to encompass Vixen as well. "Or am I just that boring?"
Vixen is about to respond to Tirzah when the dark one speaks, her head turning a bit more to regard him for a few moments before she gives a casual roll of her shoulder. "Thanks for the history lesson, but I don't see what that matters worth a damn," she comments casually before considering Tirzah. "I dunno about smoking what's been soaked in alcohol. This stuff can get heavy enough when I just drink a bit too much with it. Not looking to get knocked on my ass." She then smirks faintly at Leo and asks in return, "You ever have a hit?" Lifting the marijuana cig towards him in casual offer.
Tirzah's expression grows curious at the dark man's interruption. "An interesting abstract analysis. Fancy yourself immortal do you?" She teases in return before looking to vixen with a similarly curious expression. "Smoking alchohol soaked herbs?" She asks, with a hinting smile. "Oh that would be flamboyant, great for a gag when it flares up and burns out their nose hairs. No I'm not talking about smoking, but brewing remember? Distilling substances of impurities and then mixing diluting them with more pleasant additives." She clarifies for Vixen. Then her curiosity still abound she looks to Leonard. "What makes you think you're boring?" She asks as she stand before their table on the lively tuesday night.
"You don't see..." Ahriman replies, blinking. His dark eyes lighten, silver bleeding in about the edges in eddies resembling storm clouds blown across the night sky. He's silent a long moment, head ducking. "Your tribe faces annihilation. You sit on the edge of human civilization, barely scraping from one threat to the next. When this city falls, in a decade or a century, what will be left? Who will remember you?" Ahriman's focus is on Tirzah and Leonard as he speaks. "This one," he nods towards Vixen, his eyes nearly all silver by now, "she has made a bid for immortality in film. It is not a megalith, but it may last. She does you a disservice by distracting you from legacy."
Leonard shakes his head as he answers Vixen's inquiry first. "No, I haven't. Never had the credit before, or much reason to, after." A mild roll of his shoulders is given to Tirzah's as he turns towards the prophetic voice of dark, asthmatic motorcycles. "The harshness of reality aside, your opinion is rather ...pessimistic, isn't it?"
Vixen casually waves the cig at Leo. "Then go on, pop your cherry, man." she prompts with a sly edge to her voice. Her head turning as she considers Tirzah, then Ahriman. After a moment she tells guy, "Look, I dunno who you are, but you need to relax. Dunno about anyone else, but I don 't have my eyes on immortality. It'll happen or it won't, no skin off my nose either way." She then looks to Tirzah. "I know what brewing is, I was just wondering how that mixed with my smoking. I've mixed it with all sorts of drink, though I like to keep it light usually."
Tirzah raises her eyebrow at the dark one. "What a peculiar way to dodge your shadow. It is you who doesn't see. Heck I think I've got the majority coverage in Vixens videos from the recognition I've been getting. If that's immortality, I'll pass. But I know its not, true immortality is not just getting noticed and remembered, its making actions that ripple through the eons with noticeable cause. And well such feats are not done lightly." She notes before turning back to Vixen. "No relation I guess if you like smoking for smoking. I don't, but I like being able to keep the world past atrms length now and again."
"It is joyous," the voice rumbles to Leonard. "All things end. Your kind lives the blink of an eye before the turn of this globe. That is not pessimism. That is fact." He falls silent, the silver of his eyes darkening a touch in the middle. "But the things you create can last four thousand, six thousand years, if enough of you cooperate. No mean feat for such fragile things. Perhaps one of you will be remembered." Small white teeth flash at Tirzah, shocking across the black expanse. "True immortality is to never die. To be recalled beyond living memory is rare enough for your kind." The dark shape slips towards Tirzah, from the stool to feet in a slick motion that doesn't seem aided by feet. "I have questions." And like that, it's as if the others have fallen beneath his notice.
"I'll need not worry about immortality, at least," Leonard notes as he takes the offered collection of burning weed. "Somehow, I think I enjoyed the other much more, but why not..." Proverbial virtue is lost as he takes a hit, and even knows enough to inhale. The intake is held for all of a few seconds before he coughs and sputters, mellow or not. "...Definitely."
"I prefer my highs to be light. Sometimes I overdo it, but I like to keep my wits mostly about me since they're one of the things that keep me alive," Vixen notes idly to Tirzah. She slants a glance towards the darkness that is Ahriman, but doesn't seem to mind his focus shifting away from her. Creepy. Instead, she gives Leo a sly little grin as he takes his first hit. Unsurprised. "Hand that back over before you drop it, babe," she tells him, hand extended to obtain the brown cig. "You get used to it, though only if you work at it. Up to you if you wanna do that." She'll lean her shoulder into him lightly afterward.
Tirzah gives the dark one a considering look as he summons a stool for himself. "Yes, we all have questions. Questions are free, its the answers that hold the price. I think I may indulge you but we'll give these two some space to do their own thing if you're not involving them." She proposes candidly, giving brief glances to Leonard and Vixen to gauge approval.
"If that is most appropriate." Ahriman's rumble is a deep, rough sound, nearly monotone and felt as much as heard. The dark being's back turns, a long stride marking an easy glide off through the crowd as if they were lost bits of confetti drifting in the wind. There's something vaguely alien about the way he moves, an unusual feel to his aura. Those nearest shiver as he passes, as if they'd walked through a spiderweb or stepped on a grave. He passes through a part in the crowd in a direct line to a dark nook off the dance floor, buffeted by noise and lost in shadow. Tirzah might earn a few odd looks following him there. As she comes near, Ahriman beckons with a crooked finger her just a touch closer, chin dipping as his mane fans behind him. The lights about the redheaded one fade a touch, as if someone hit a dimmer switch, and anyone watching from beyond would see Ahriman vanish. Tirzah becomes a vague outline from afar, barely a silhouette herself where light dares not tread. "Better?" he rumbles, voice coming from beside the woman.
Leonard hands the prized brown paper scepter back to Vixen, attempting to stifle a subsequent cough. "I'll consider it..." He manages a noncommittal and vague wave to Tirzah at her implied request concerning her comings and goings. Eyes follow both her and the dark one briefly before they return to Vixen. "That was unusual."
"Hardly necessary," Vixen shrugs at Tir, not seeming bothered by the two being near them. Thus leave or go, she glances at Leo and shakes his head. "For here? Not really. But I suppose it isn't common." She glances towards the door again and frowns faintly. "I'm wondering if maybe I got stood up," she notes then. "Supposed to meet someone here.. the timeframe was a bit garbled, but I'm sure it was today."
Tirzah smirks at Vixen, "No its not necessary, but my instincts say its advised. He has an indifference about him, kind of akin to my aides with is odd. Don't trust him lightly." She suggests before following the dark being off to the side. Though she frowns when he dims the area. "If I wanted to sit in darkness I'd summon it myself. Let it up, i do have friends who might wish to say hello." She orders, her tone firm.
Quietly, the light auburn haired woman slips into the Alibi and clears the security check. As Sage wanders further into the place, she ends up settling on heading towards the bar.
"Afraid of the dark?" comes a bemused reply, and the malaise shrouding Tirzah evaporates. Ahriman doesn't return, the thud of the end of the garage band's first set falling on empty space. His voice sounds unnaturally loud as the cheering throng dims, awaiting the next song, "How many of your kind can channel magic?" comes the voice, rumbling from beside Tirzah. He's moving. "Do you learn it from one another, or is someone tutoring you?"
Leonard's brow arches to Vixen with curious interest at her hypothesis and their relative return to their own company. "Oh? He is either a complete idiot, or was run over by a large truck en route. Whether business or pleasure, I can't think of many reasons why anyone would avoid you."
Tirzah smirks at Ahriman as she takes a seat. "If I was would I be talking to you alone?" She asks in return before raising her brow at his next questions. "How would I know? You seem to think you've observed us since we came out of our ancestral caves, surely you have a better idea." She counters before her look gets firm again. "And I fail to see how the origins to my link are relevant at this point."
Vixen shakes her head s lightly, grinning at Leo. "You just do it as a reflex, don't you"?" Amused as she tells him, "I'm hoping to get a meet with those refugees that came rolling in here earlier. Get a sense for what's going on with 'em. Heard about it on the news, but those idiots don't know shit about how to talk to people."
Wandering over to the bar, Sage gives a small smile to the bartender as she produces a piece of paper from her pocket. "Make me one of these..." She says with a mild hint of a challenge in her tone. Afterwards, she turns to look for people she recognizes.
Ahriman is silent for a while, that darkened nook revealing nothing. "I can't remember if Ohrmazd brought magic to your kind, or if you stumbled upon it on your own," that voice finally speaks. "I spoke of your city in general, the people here. Is it that humans still search the heavens for a messenger to grant them a spark of the divine, or have they begun teaching one another?"
"I could start stepping up stealthily beside you to breathe in your ear, if you prefer," Leonard retorts with a grin of his own, "but I doubt I'm nearly as good at that. You make it rather easy, Vix." His brow lifts once more. "Refugees from where? I must have missed that news brief."
Tirzah snickers at the creature she's talking to, who may very well be crazier than definition. "Either or? Is everything black and white to you?" She asks in turn, showing her continuing interest in the odd man. "If so you're going to find this city of limitless grey, complicated. From what I've seen all paths to the arcane are well explored if one is resourceful or lucky enough to find them."
"Be careful with that. I've been known to punch when startled," Vixen warns, the lightness of the comment contrasting as she gets a bit more serious in answering the question. "Well.. if they got ground under by the Coalition like I heard, then probably out near Tolkeen. Since that's where the deadboys are stamping around. But the devil is in the details. Not sure what they might know, but worth a shot to see if I can dig some of it out."
The suit bleeds from the shadows, dark skin resolving last. Almost reluctantly, the little strands of grey trail back into their corner to leave Ahriman in the muted light. "You are not good at answering questions," he notes, placing inky hands on the table between himself and Tirzah. "Perhaps you misunderstood. I will forgive you that." His hands rise, and the being speaks again, "My name is Ahriman. Knock on the red door if you want to try again." Turning, the dark creature begins striding off into the crowd again. Apparently having lost interest in the small redhead. For now.
Leonard chuckles. "Fortunately for both of us, you'd notice me coming. Not that I wouldn't still be hit, of course." His mirth then fades at the reminder of the CS and Tolkeen. "How wonderful..." He then falls to momentary musing. "You don't suppose that we might handle two concerns at once, do you? If a rift were to open at Chi-Town to that world we last visited..."
Tirzah blinks, she didn't appear to expect to get snubbed by Ahriman. And in a cryptic manner? Rising herself she strides after him and reaches out to pull back lightly on his shoulder and give him pause. "Maybe you're asking the wrong questions." She poses to him. "I'm Tirzah, and I'm not the gullible sort of human who plays well with others. As fun as they are to play with." She explains. "Do you really expect me to care about some abstract red door somewhere mentioned by an apparent loonatic dbee? I think you need a moment to consider my perspective." She offers, gesturing back to the table.
"Yeah, don't even joke about that shit, man." Vixen prodding him twice in the shoulder before she lifts her cig for a moment before murmuring, "If he shows and you come with me, just mind yourself. When it comes to talking to people, looking to get some info out of them, there's a certain way to go about it. Mouthing off about the wrong crap can get the door slammed in your face. But that's what makes it exciting.. never was a science, its all about gut and intuition."
The dark dbee turns, chin ducking as his mane fans up behind his ears, cresting over his head. "Yes," Ahriman replies simply. He takes a short step towards Tirzah, his eyes black once again, as shrouded as the rest of him. It's hard to discern from his voice, monotone as it is, but he sounds vaguely amused. "I think when you go home and find a red door beside yours, you will care more than you do now."
Leonard exhales a sigh, along with most of his initial ire. "Sorry. It simply seemed ...poetic." A smile is turned to Vixen. "I won't interfere with the master investigator at work. Loitering to observe is very tempting, though."
Various emotions flicker across Tirzah's face in response to that statement. Confusion conclusion fear and then resolve has the expression hardens. "Spying on me? How peculiar. I don't know what you want from me, you clearly have no intention of telling me here. At this point I see no reason to care. But I do feel threatened by the details of your attention. I don't like feeling threatened. So I would suggest you go about being less creepy if you can." She suggests before stalking off herself.
"Never hurts to have another pair of ears hearing the same thing. Again, the details are the thing," Vixen notes, leaving the other thing alone. About this time, a guy comes into the Alibi, moving past the doorguard without much preamble. He starts to move through the place, looking around. For her part, Vixen continues to talk to Leo. "I figure maybe they might have a little something the people should know. At the very least, a real story to tell. Hopefully they won't get upset at the camera, but I'm not betting money they won't."
Ahriman just turns, unmoved by the outburst, and resumes that even glide for the door. Those around him part once again, perhaps not completely realizing why, as they cast glances towards the dark alien with hushed whispers between themselves. Something about him calls to the animal part of the human brain, built for a time before reason. Run, run away!
As the guy comes along and spots Vixen, he turns to approach the two. Just near enough to get her attention and give her a nod. She responds to the nod with one of her own. He goes and she looks to Leo. "Actually, I think I might go alone this time, man. Just to be on the safe side. But I'll come looking for you later, we can review what I find out." She grins lightly at Leo and gets up, taking another swallow of her drink before she turns to head out after the guy.
