[IC] Ember Grove - Reboot

[FunnyGuy]

Time: Morning
Location: On the Road from Operation Humanity Base
Interaction with: @princess Angel, @Masterducky Remy, @Potter Shay

---

"FUCK! Remy, don't fucking do that!" Sean had to stop himself from slamming on the brakes and drawing on her. He sighed and remained silent for a moment to collect himself as the phone continued to ring for Angel. A visible vehicle further down the road pulled over onto the shoulder before the call was answered by Angel in a sour mood. "You know what, Remy? You can have the pizza. It was meant for you and Angel anyway. I can take you to the dump after I figure out what the hell Angel is doing."

Sean pulled his truck over behind Angel's car before getting out and walking over to the vehicle blaring music from within. He shook his head feeling as though this confrontation with Angel would be like prying his own teeth out. As he got closer he recognized the song playing. When the window rolled down to reveal Angel in shades, Sean raised an eyebrow at her as if he was a bit confused. Someone like Trotter might have shouted, Sean simply gave her a smirk as he reached for the volume down button on the steering wheel and held it down until the music could no longer be heard.

"Much better. Now as much as I would love for you to feel like a badass rebel… You need to tell me what you're doing heading into town." Sean hated this. He felt like he was someone's dad or something.

[Potter]

Nikolaus

Time: Night → Morning
Location: OH HQ --> Town
Interaction: N/A
Mention n/a

Nikolaus’ mood was dominantly joyful. His night had gone well. He’d been off and playing video games and eating leftovers from the kitchen. Though he desired more, he’d managed to charm one of the cooks into providing him with snacks; something he hadn’t been allowed to have. So Niko sat in his dorm room, accompanied by a copious amount of junk food. The doritos, chips and salsa, Twizzlers, ice-cream, and caramel-fudge donuts had been thoroughly enjoyed. Niko had hid all of it in a gym bag so that nobody would rat him out.

He’d been laughing as he thought of Angel’s envy; then remembered the art galleria and felt his mood shift. He’d been worried and tried to sneak out, but Trotter wouldn’t let him. He’d been pissed off the rest of the night and binged the rest of his food as a result. He’d hid and tossed all of it too, before anyone else had seen. Nikolaus had stayed up the rest of the night and began falling asleep around dawn when he’d awoken again. He sighed as he sat on the edge of his bed, wondering what tedious training he’d be up to today. He’d been working on his strength and amplifying it with weights. He’d even been lifting furniture and rope climbing with weights attached. Nikolaus hated it; but the stern, cold look in his eyes…

He scowled as he went to get ready. He turned the volume up on his music enough not to bother his sensitive hearing, but enough to block out noise. Once finished, he donned a t-shirt, jeans and boots. He sighed as he left and began walking down the hallway. One thing that brought him continual satisfaction was the scowl he wore that caused people to move out of his way. The Golden Boy, the Chosen One, whatever the hell people called him; he didn’t quite care. All he cared about was that people left him alone. He sighed as he started towards the gym. The training was brutal and he wasn’t in the mood for it. The tiredness and fatigue from eating the junk food had weighed him down. He didn’t need his dad breathing down his neck that he wasn’t doing well enough and to suck it up. Then an act of rebellion filled him - not showing up. He smirked to himself as he went to the check out area instead.

”Where you headed to?” The guard inquired as he signed his name out and the time.

”To Alexei’s, I feel like a shot of vodka would do me well right now.” The guard chuckled and shook his head disapprovingly. There was amusement in his eyes, nonetheless.

”Does your- “ The guard began to say, but Niko's cold glare cut him off. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, slightly disturbed at upsetting him.

”No, and I’ll give you 50 dollars to keep it to yourself.” Niko took out the wad of cash from his pocket and glared. The guard complied and allowed him out. Prior to doing so, Niko reminded him that would be back in two hours. It wasn’t much of a worry since there was a tracker embedded into his wrist. Still, they had to keep tabs on their assets. The pure thought of it caused his veins to boil and his muscles to tighten. Two hours: that was more than enough time to miss the excruciating parts of training. With a small smile, Nikolaus left the nightmare he’d been born into. Soon he was in his car, and heading towards town. The temporary escape was just what he needed.

[masterducky]

Time: Morning
Location: On the Road from Operation Humanity Base
Interaction: [@BracketGuy]Sean @Princess Angel
Mentions:

---

"You know what, Remy? You can have the pizza. It was meant for you and Angel anyway. I can take you to the dump after I figure out what the hell Angel is doing."

“Okay! I’m going to save some for Angel then! That woahman can eat! Also yay! Remy gets Dump time!”

Sean pulled up behind Angel’s car and walked over to it. She knew that was Angel’s car and Sean did say the pizza was meant for her too. It was her duty to supply Angel with the sweet sweet pizza Heh duty So Remy got out of the truck as well and climbed on top of Angel’s car.Hanging upside down looking into the front seat after what ever Sean was saying she told Angel with a mouth half full of a slice of cold pizza “It's-a me Remy, and I have a pizza for you, but I’m keeping the box” Remy threw the cold pizza slices onto Angel’s lap and headed off on her skateboard without even interacting with Angel since Sean is slow to take her to the dump, What more can you say other than pizza, pizza says enough!

[Helo]

Time: Afternoon
Location: Alexei’s
Interaction with: Vivian @Pink Khione

Eli nodded towards Vivian as she came in, several hours too early for her shift, which seemed strange. He was going to guess that she’d read the schedule wrong and was showing up late to open but then she mentioned giving pool lessons to some rich guy from New Paeonia. That made more sense, she’d been on about New Paeonia a lot recently and he didn’t really get it, some gated community full of reclusive rich weirdos was definitely not his scene. She then nudged him in the shoulder and he tried to hide the wince as he remembered being tackled by a hungry vampire last night.

“Sure thing, and of course there’s the table rental fee, you know, if he’s gonna be hogging a pool table for a few hours, we’d have to charge for that.” He added as she mentioned adding a few extra shots to his tab. He heard the doors open and close as more patreons walked into the bar. Eli popped his head out of the breakroom to see who it was, spotting the two men who entered; an old regular and a familiar face from the night before.

“You didn’t mention your rich guy was acclaimed artist Alexander Drake.” He said as he easily picked out who in the bar most looked like a rich weirdo. Drake certainly gave him “bad vibes” after his convenient exit from the art showing just before everything went to shit. “Hey, be careful around that guy, he seems...shady.” He added leaving out the ‘and is probably a vampire’ part. Telling people about the supernatural rarely went well. It seemed better to let the majority of people go on believing the world wasn’t quite as dark as it really was, and knowing about the supernatural never really made anyone’s life better.

[Pink Khione]

---

Time: Noon
Location: Alexei's
Interaction with: Elias @Helo, the old guy next to Alexander @FunnyGuy

Vivian’s smile widened when Eli agreed to adding extra shots to her order. She figured this would make her slightly tipsy by the start of shift, but it wouldn’t be the first time. “You’re the best, Eli.”

Vivian took it as her cue to start heading out of the break room when Elias appeared to have spotted Alexander Drake outside. She quickly collected her things laid out on the table and stashed it away on a shelf by the door. “An acclaimed artist? No wonder he’s rich.” She found it a bit surprising that he was well-known around town, but then again, hard not to be when you were wealthy in a relatively small town. It was more surprising to hear that Elias seemed wary of the guy—she always got the impression that there was little that could scare him. He always seemed to deal with bar fights and rowdy patrons effortlessly.

“I’ll be careful, but I’m sure it’s no big deal.”

With her pool cue in hand, Vivian quickly emerged from the break room and headed towards the bar. Upon glancing at the patrons, she abruptly stopped in her tracks. Fuck. Two men were seated by the bar. She was told that Alexander Drake was some old, rich guy, but was not given any specific description to identify him by. One of two men was certainly old, the other appeared much wealthier—admittedly, Vivian also thought the latter could have stepped right out of the cover of a men’s magazine. Which one of them is Alexander?! After a brief moment of thought, she decided it was hard to judge someone’s wealth by appearance alone, but age was clear to see. It almost felt disappointing to come to the conclusion that Alexander might not have been the attractive guy in a button-down and tie.

Vivian walked up to the older patron. “Hey, I'm Vivian. Are you...Alexander Drake?”

[Ithradine]

Time: Morning
Location: Disciples of the Dark Pact's Manor -----> Ember Grove Mall
Interaction: None
Jams: "There days when these child eyes would overlook the ugliness and fantasize"

---

Last night had been far more eventful than Lucius had initially anticipated and his first impressions on the political climate were quite off. The entire climate was a ticking time-bomb that just needed the right sequence to detonate. The sounds of his footsteps echoed through the stone masonry of the manor's basement as he stepped down the stairs, accompanied by two of his more zealous underlings. He continued forward and opened the heavy, metal door that led into the main chamber using a simple, spoken spell to release the lock. The door opened to twenty, large cages with thirteen of them filled. Part test subjects, part weapons. The first of the vampires locked behind the bars snarled like animals, any sort of reason missing in their eyes. Others who had not yet lost their sanity to the blood-lust stared at him in either fear or contempt, but all of them understood who held the power here.

Madness was all that awaited them yet some held on to the fanciful notion that they may be saved "That one there. Prepare it for transit. You know the location. It better be in place by 5 O'clock or there WILL be consequences. The hour of our vengeance draws ever closer, brothers." He pointed to the cage with the pale-skinned, brunette female that was the first one of her kind to end up in these cages. Each one of the thirteen here had been captured by his hands. While the Disciples made for capable henchmen, they could not be trusted with the finer aspects of subterfuge. It had taken long enough to obtain their blind loyalty through indoctrination and various potions hidden in their meals. Slowly but surely, they would be ready to throw their lives away in the name of some fabricated crusade against the vampires that infested the town.

"It will be done." A man by the name of John replied, a quite bulky man with a slight limp in his right leg. He had been a close friend of the late Rachel and was a simple man, making it rather easy to convince him to follow and obey. John left to make the preparations leaving Lucius alone with a woman by the name of Trish, another fervent believer of his blasphemy. Her hatred of vampires had been established long before Lucius had stepped into the pictures. "Trish, take this letter and see it dropped off at City Hall. Ember Grove shall burn itself to the ground and we shall bask in its glow." He handed her a cream-colored envelope that read The First of Many written in human blood given by a eager volunteer. With luck, it would find its way to wherever Operation Humanity had stationed themselves "Right away." As her footsteps grew quiet, Lucius was left alone with his cages of monsters and those soon-to-be.

Deprive a person of food, water, companionship, and their identity and it is enough to make anyone a monster. Lucius felt neither contempt or pity for those in the cages. If they had been stronger, smarter than they wouldn't be there. It was as simple as that. The sharp, cold eyes of the ancient warlock locked eyes with the newest addition for just a moment. He once wondered what kind of look his sisters and parents had on their face as his brother cut them down. The thought did not last long as he turned his back on the cages and towards his room. He had to prepare for today's incursion into the town and a adopt a fitting personality for today's goals. It was necessary to see where the various factions of Ember Grove's supernatural community stood. Information about the Circle of Ancients would be his first target. He couldn't trust any of his lackeys with this mission as long as Sinclaire Foundation agents were in Ember Grove.

Lucius had one of the Disciples drive him into Ember Grove and drop him off at the mall, his physical appearance exactly like it was when he was a fresh legionnaire but with deep blue eyes and light blonde hair. It was true that he could easily keep himself younger like this all the time but he preferred the scars and wear that came later in his life. Those earned and those unwanted. His eyes looked around the vast expanse of the mall as he stepped inside with a mask of energy and enthusiasm. This was the spot where he would release a man turned monster, deprived of all that made them civilized. The old, young, weak, and strong alike will understand what it meant to be food, fuel for the creation of something greater. Now it was only time to set the stage.

[Ithradine]

Time: Morning
Location: Sorrel's Place
Interaction:@Tae - Sorrel, @Milkman - Finn
Mentions:
Jams: "No one can ever slow me down, I'll stay unbound."

---

Volfango sprung forward as if called to action, sitting upright with the sheets the only fabric covering him from the waist down. His muscles were tense and ready to spring at the first sign of a threat not recognizing the room he was in. The last thing he remembered was running through the forest feeling incredible amounts of power and aggression. The memory felt as though he was viewing it through the eyes of someone else entirely. Volfango fancied himself a lover, not a fighter. Speaking of which, he wondered where his lovely rose named Sorrel was. He hoped that this was indeed her apartment but he had woken up in stranger places a couple times before, though not without the faint taste of blood in his mouth.

His body felt slightly sore as he got out of bed with the scraps of his tailored suit long gone. Volfango casually walked out of the guest room buck-naked and into the familiar living room where he spotted Finn on the couch. A slight grin appeared on his lips as he walked towards the kitchen, spotting the note Sorrel had left behind. My, how sweet. He thought as the grin turned into a warm smile, usually it was him that left a note like this for someone else. A mindless beast out of control. The idea of a shower was especially appealing as Volfango took a whiff under his arm and assaulted by a horrible musk. Not wanting to wilt his new rose, he quickly walked back into the guest room and hopped into the shower to wash away the grime.

Volfango went into the kitchen after drying off and searched Sorrel's cabinets for a apron figuring the owner of a bakery must have at least one. He couldn't be completely indecent! The other reason is that he wanted to prepare a breakfast for Sorrel and Finn, after all if he didn't know a bit of cooking he would be eating takeout all the time. Volfango found exactly what he was looking along with a white chef hat, which he promptly put on. While he didn't know their particular tastes, Volfango decided on a continental breakfast and retrieved the necessary ingredients from the fridge pretending that everything was normal.

The smell of bacon and sausage filled the room as Sorrel entered, his keen ears listening to the conversation outside as he managed the stove. Volfango certainly liked the way she thought and wouldn't mind putting some truth to those words at some point. He had killed people last night. The front of Volfango was covered by the apron and the countertop blocked him just above the waist Ah, Sorrel! What perfect timing! How do you like your eggs? Voflango prefers them scrambled" He called out, turning his head towards her with a wide, bright smile. His teeth had torn flesh and shattered bone.

[FunnyGuy]

Time: Noon
Location: Alexei's, Ember Grove
Interactions: @Pink Khione Vivian

The older man looked longingly at Vivien. He was both confused and interested in the young woman that had approached him.

"I can be whoever you want me to be." He gave her a nod and a smirk.

"But not Alexander Drake." Alexander walked around the man to approach Vivien. Getting a better look upon her, he smiled. The expression appeared to be a part of a polite greeting that would soon slip through his teeth, but it was really him finding… opportunity in this woman.

"Greetings, you must be Vivien. I'm the... real Alexander Drake and I must say, it is a pleasure to meet you in person." Juxtaposing the older man, Alexander gave her a nod and a smirk.

[princess]

Time:Morning
Location:Ember Grove Diner
Mentions:@13org

Marius had left Millie with a question that had haunted her in her sleep that night a bit.

"...Since you’d been casting a spell on me for so long I think it’s only fair that if I need a spell cast at some point you’d do it for me with no questions asked. Not saying I need something like that right now or anything, but if I ever do. What do you say? Does that sound fair to you?”

Millie had, of course, insisted she'd do anything he ever wanted whenever wherever at that moment but that night the idea had marinated in her mind and cursed her with a nightmare or two. What would he want her to do exactly? He was a vampire inside a mafia after all. Millie had done him so wrong and she was ashamed, not just of her actions but for even doubting him. Marius was the man she loved. The least she could do was dedicate all to him and do whatever he asked.

She had been up late with her thoughts, having quite the internal battle. Millie ended up sleeping in later than usual this morning. Marius had been missing from his spot in the bed and the spot lacked his warmth, so it was clear he had woken up early. It did not take long to figure out he was not home and probably had to get affairs in order after being out of commission for so long. She had simply shot him a text checking on him and then prepared herself for the day. Being a bit on the groggy side, she decided that she'd go get breakfast today instead of putting the effort into prepping it herself.

It was not long before Millie approached the Ember Grove diner. Dressed in a long, floral dress with a red cardigan over it, she moved through the alleyway, coming up from behind the diner to get around to the entrance when a gun clicked audibly in her ear. She glanced in the direction of the noise to see a masked fellow in black staring at her.

"Cough up the cash, lady."He ordered, gesturing to her purse with his other hand.

Millie's eyes widened and she stared with fear. She could use a spell on him easily, however, the more she considered the situation, the more she found it very tragic. It was very sad that he had to resort to such an action. She was sure he needed the money more than her. Millie rummaged through her purse and took out a fifty dollar bill and handed it to him with a nervous smile. He raised a brow but took off running with it. She tried to awkwardly wave to him but his back had already been turned. She hoped she'd have enough to get some pancakes still.

Bells tingled as Millie entered the diner finally. She was seated and given a menu, to which she opened with passionate delight. Movement out of the corner of her eye made her eyes divert from the selection of wonderful pancakes and towards a waiter passing over to the table across from her. There was a young woman across from her receiving a nice big sandwich. It looked so good. Millie licked her lips, hiding the action behind the menu as she stared at it. She firmly reminded herself she was here for pancakes and returned her eyes to the menu only momentarily before she found herself looking over once more as the waiter left. The girl did not look too much older than Millie and she was cool looking. She wondered if they could be friends.

But people did not just start talking at diners? Or did they? Millie needed to get out of her comfort zone but at the same bothering this woman while she ate a sandwich was childish. A distressed expression overtook her face and she found herself getting anxious about the difficult decision to talk to the woman or not and began to rummage through her purse again. Millie did not want the woman to see her freaking out so she needed to look down at something. She did have to count the money she had after all. Clumsily, she dropped the purse with her shaking hands and change fell all over the floor, loudly jingling and disturbing the others in the diner.

"Sorry.. Sorry..."Millie softly apologized, climbing on the floor to hurriedly begin collecting all her change.

[13org]

Time: Morning
Location: Ember Grove Diner
Interaction with: Millie @princess

---

Ylva was in starting to eat the second half of her sandwich when she heard the front door opening with it's bells jingling as someone entered the diner. Looking over her shoulder for a moment, Ylva saw just as the short, pink haired girl closed the door, heading inside. The floral dress coupled with the red cardigan she was wearing only further accentuated the 'cute' appearance the girl had. Honestly, the girl and Ylva couldn't be more different, both regarding appearance and style. That said, Ylva didn't give much attention when the girl sat down and grabbed the menu, that was, until she caught her looking at her sandwich at least twice when their eyes met, which made her give a small chuckle. Interestingly enough, the fact that their eyes met seemed to make the girl a bit nervous as she started to look down and rummage through her purse, trying to find something. It was then that, due to her shaking hands, the girl dropped her purse, making the coins that were inside roll all over the floor. Immediately starting to grab the coins, the girl started to apologize herself, almost as if she did something wrong.

When one of those coins rolled towards Ylva, hitting the chair she was sitting on with a clink, she sighed audibly as she put down her sandwich on the plate, grabbing the coin and getting up as she walked towards the girl.

"I won't bite... At least not without a very good reason, you know?" she said with a chuckle, raising an eyebrow as she took out one of her earphones and extended her hand towards the girl, handing her the coin she got from the ground.

Even though normally Ylva would be a bit more careful, especially knowing that there were other werewolf in that town, That said, the girl not only didn't smell like one but it was painfully obvious that she was just one hundred percent harmless. Besides, Ylva was starting to feel bad to see her so nervous after looking at her. The girl was acting almost like a frightened bunny in the presence of a wolf... It wasn't like she was trying to intimidate anyone or anything.

"I do recommend the pulled pork sandwich, if that was what you were wondering about. It's my favoritt." she said with a half smile, speaking with a strong Norwegian accent. If her appearance wasn't already a good indication, her accent was a dead giveaway that she wasn't from around these parts.

"So... What is the reason for your interested in my sandwich? I'm Ylva by the way." she finished with a chuckle as she looked at the girl, with her hand still extended even after she got the coin in order to help her to stand up.

[Helo]

Time: Afternoon
Location: Alexei’s
Interaction with: Vivian @Pink Khione, Alexander @FunnyGuy

“Yeah, the best.” Eli muttered under his breath as she walked away. If he was the best he’d have found a better way to warn her about his gut feeling towards Drake that was a little more convincing than ‘he seems shady.’ Of course saying he was pretty sure the guy was a dangerous vampire would only make him look like the crazy one and he didn’t actually have any concrete proof that Drake had anything to do with last night. There was only the fact that the art Drake had chosen to place at the forefront of his exhibit was all of beautiful people with perfectly encapsulated expressions of pain and despair. It was an all too familiar expression, one worn in the eyes of every witch he had killed. The paintings from last night were not celebrations of beauty and life like the works of art he’d seen decorating churches or museums, but one’s that celebrated another's pain. Upon approaching the bar, shortly after Vivian, his gut feeling about the man was only confirmed by seeing him up close, there was certainly something predatory in Drake’s eyes.

“Mr. Drake glad to see you looking well after last night. I still can’t believe someone dosed the wine and attacked your big exhibit, pretty crazy huh? I hope they didn’t destroy too many priceless works of art. Anyways, can I get you anything to drink?” Eli said, and while his tone and the words themselves could come off as friendly his expression was cold and he did not offer up his usual friendly smile. He studied the man’s reaction upon bringing last night’s catastrophe, deciding to keep a close eye on the probable vampire, wanting to know the man’s true intentions for being at Alexei’s. He wasn’t sure if Vivian had heard about last night but perhaps hearing about it would plant some seeds of doubt about the man.

[Ithradine]

Time: Morning
Location: Ember Grove Mall > Ember Grove Diner
Interaction:@13org = Ylva, @princess - Emelie
Jams: "Let it burn, under my skin"

---

Lucius examined the various stores as he made his way to an abandoned department store on the other side of the mall. They offered possible escape routes for when the first act of his grand play began. He hoped the visitors to the mall would be competent enough to use them instead of congesting the main entrances like trapped cattle. One might think we wanted a complete massacre here but that was completely against his goals. He needed witnesses. Panic. Chaos. Confusion. Operation Humanity would have their hands tied cleaning up the mess at the University. It was easy enough to blame a deranged shooter, a maniac that had some kind of agenda. It was unlikely any of the victims had time to pull out their phones and record what happened. Even if they did, it was more than likely they were a rotting corpse.

Here there were more bodies, more untrained minds that might try to document the horror instead of fleeing for their lives. At last, He arrived at the derelict entrance to the department store. Signs dotted the windows about some new store that was to take its place. They wouldn't mind if he borrowed the shipping area for just one night, but they might not want the space back. Lucius slipped through a plain-looking door that was marked for staff only. It had been simple to bribe the guard that patrolled the area to ignore his duties. He found that magic and spells were hardly needed when it came to dealing with cases of human greed. The bare-bones of the interior hallways provided a stark contrast to the public area of the mall.

John was waiting for him when he made it to the shipping area, the cage had already been unloaded from the back of the cargo truck "I trust there were no complications moving the subject?" Lucius asked, running his hand along the flat top of the cage inspecting for any faults that could result in a premature release "Everything went according to plan. The others are in place and ready to fulfill their roles." John said in his gruff voice, mistakenly proud in his part in all of this. Lucius was satisfied with his inspection and went about setting up the cage's timed release on its lock "Your eagerness is greatly appreciated. However, take the time to enjoy the down-time. The end of this timer marks the beginning of our victory. There." He stepped back from the caged "I shall be heading out now for something to eat as even the likes of myself need food. Guard the cage well. I shall be back later to watch."

Lucius exited through the back of the shipping area to an empty parking lot, where his driver was waiting to take him into town "The diner." He uttered the words and driver nodded, accelerating to his next destination. Empty, tired-looking blue eyes looked out the window at the passing scenery, though he wasn't really interested in it in the slightest. He had seen plenty of cities and towns with just as if not more character than this one. Like many American towns, there was a diner decorated in the late fashion of the mid 50s. The height of American industry and culture built upon the bones of foreigners overseas. He rather admired America during that period. The tired look in his features quickly shifted as the car arrived at the diner, perking up to match his physical youth and the character he was to play "Pick me up at the library thirty minutes to five." He stated dryly before exiting the car.

The iconic chime echoed in his ears as he entered the door to the sight of some poor girl losing a bit of her change. A couple of coins rolled their way towards him, to which he casually stepped on them before picking them up. What especially caught his attention was the heavy foreign accent of the other individual "Must be a pretty good sandwich to start dropping money like that." Lucius said cheerfully as he walked up to the two girls, and specifically Emelie "Sorry to interrupt, I got two of your runaways right here." He smiled brightly as he handed over the two coins. The hunt for the Circle of Ancients was on and this was as good a start as any. While he didn't have any of his typical artifacts on his person, he had to be careful an experienced witch didn't simply sense the permanent mark his centuries of dark spell use had put on him.

Lucius looked over the distraught face of Emelie and managed to use her expressions and movements to suspect what she wanted "Why don't we sit together? I'm new to town and I'd like to hear more about this magic sandwich!" He lightly chuckled. It didn't take telepathy to known what people are thinking when you can read the right signs and context clues. The painful part was acting upon them. He rather detested these upbeat, young personalities but wearing his own face around here was far too much a risk. A rogue agent in a world of super-powers had to plan their moves twenty steps ahead and avoid showing their hand too early.

[princess]

Time:Morning
Location:Ember Grove Diner
Interactions:@13org@Ithradine@Tae

"Oh t-thank you." Millie told the girl as she handed her the coin. She had such an interesting accent that she had never heard before. She straightened back up on her feet with Ylva's help as she spoke. "My name is Emelie but you can just call me Millie. " Ylva continued to talk about her sandwich, asking Millie about her interest in it.

Millie giggled nervously, feeling a bit embarrassed. It had been weird at her to be staring at Ylva's food the way she did. Perhaps she had just been too hungry. "It does look good but I came here deadset on some pancakes. I am thinking of getting the blueberry ones." Maybe it was good her coins fell; now she had an excuse to talk to the wonderful girl.

A cheerful voice joined and Emelie glanced up as an older gentleman joined, handing her the coins. She thanked him as he offered to sit together. Emelie knew it was nice to give older folk company and immediately smiled at him, "Sure. All three of us can sit. It's always nice to eat a meal together with others." She excitedly took out her phone and texted Marius. She would sit down at Ylva's table as long as Ylva had not protested the idea. Millie quickly put her phone down as to not be rude.

(◕‿◕✿) Good morning my lovely Marius! I hope you are well and had a great breakfast. I am at the diner getting pancakes and I actually think I'm making some friends.

[Pink Khione]

---

Time: Noon
Location: Alexei's
Interaction with: Elias @Helo, Alexander @FunnyGuy

Vivian’s skin crawled when the older man nodded and smirked at her, prompting an immediate wave of nausea in reaction, though years of working in the service industry trained her to keep a neutral expression regardless of what she felt underneath. A slight panic set in proceeding the discomfort when she thought about how to respond, but the man seated next to him intervened.

His interruption was both a benefit and a burden. While it took attention away from the oldster, Vivian realized her mistake in identifying Alexander and a warmth flushed over her cheeks in embarrassment. She instinctively darted her head around to check the door to the break room—it would’ve been more mortifying if Elias witnessed the entire thing. Thankfully, he was nowhere in sight. It wasn't a solid guarantee but it was assuring enough for Vivian to breathe a sigh of relief as she returned her attention to the real Alexander. Elias’ warning about him completely escaped her mind as he approached, introducing himself with a smirk that washed away the memory of the previous one.

“The pleasure’s mine,” Vivian replied with a smile, stepping out from behind the bar. “Do me a favour and punch Devin on my behalf the next time you see him. He gave me the impression you were some wealthy retiree.”

Elias appeared behind Vivian shortly after, joining the conversation with a cold expression she was unfamiliar with. As he spoke, it began to make sense why Elias was wary of Alexander from the onset. He spoke about an incident from the night before, but his aloof tone sounded juxtaposed to the serious content of his words. From Vivian’s perspective, it just seemed like the two were previously acquainted and that Elias had some suspicions about the attack. In contrast, Vivian was excited to hear more about it.

“An art exhibit attack is news to me—probably the most interesting thing I’ve heard about Ember Grove since moving here.”

Well, that and Alissa’s disappearance, but no one else seems to have noticed. Vivian quickly parked the thought in the back of her mind to bring up to Alexander later. “Please tell me some dumbass tried to pull an Ocean's Eleven and this was some kind of art heist or other-” Vivian stopped herself, realizing the potential victim of art thievery and her employer was standing in front of her. She managed a nervous laugh, “I mean, I hope it was an unsuccessful art heist. Of course.”

[Helo]

Thrift Shop?

Time: Morning
Location: Through the alley and into a thrift store
Interaction with: Adrian@role model

Noah stopped in the alleyways halfway between the Witch’s Brew and Alexei’s, not out of exhaustion, but disgust. He would not become the kind of vampire that drank his blood from a cup, he would not set foot in that accursed place unless it was to wreak destruction. When he ate it would be because he earned it; because he killed his prey and earned his place on top of the food chain. Noah would not allow his momentary weakness to take away what he had been taught, he would not seek aid from lesser creatures. Instead he paused to gather his strength, regain his sense of who and what he was; a killer. He rested against the side of the building, sliding down the wall and trying to remember what was nearby that could be of use to him.

Noah also checked his phone and saw a message from Adrian that reminded him to watch his back. He chuckled slightly, and the slight movement of his face caused him to wince. He took a quick selfie of his bloodied face and sent it to Adrian with a text that read, thanks for the tip, might be a bit harder now but I’ll try and keep my eye out for anything, and a winking emoji. He slid the phone back into his pocket. He would not ask Adrian for help either, this was his problem to solve, and he would not let the others of his clan see him as weak. He took off his shirt and held it against the oozing void where his eye had been until the bleeding eventually stopped, by then he had a new idea.

In order to further motivate himself he used his thumb to press around his eye socket, a raw wave of pain gave him that motivation. He snarled as he stood tossing the bloodied shirt to the ground and made his way through the alleyways and keeping himself near the back entrances of buildings. He reached a small building and lingered by the back entrance taking a deep breath to catch the scent of the place, mothballs and age. Noah had come to a small shop that was a sort of thrift store for vintage clothing and costumes, a real go to spot amongst his kind. Force was not needed to open the door, it was left unlocked, people always seemed to think they were somehow safer in the daylight.

Once inside Noah waited and listened until he could only hear one person inside the shop, one set of footsteps, one faint heartbeat that called to him as it pumped blood through his prey. Noah walked towards the front, his fangs exposed, his throat burning with expectation of its next meal. He spotted the store’s lone cleric, the scent of fear rolling off of them as he told them not to move. He locked the front door, drew shades down over the windows, and flipped the sign on the door to read ‘Closed’, His prey offered him money, begged for life, promised not to call the police; all things that were of no concern to Noah.

“I’m looking for an eyepatch.” He said, his voice hazy. A shaky hand pointed him towards a display of expensive pirate costumes. Noah grinned and tilted his head. “Were any of them worn by a real pirate?” He asked, but his question was met with stunned silence and the intoxicating aroma of fear. Since the shopkeeper was no longer helpful they became his meal. Noah launched himself across the counter and tore into the neck of his prey, their blood replacing what he had lost. Then he felt much better, he wandered around the store and made his way to the employee bathroom where he cleaned the dried blood from himself. He stared for a moment at the red hole that held no eye, and thought about how cool he would look with an eyepatch, like a proper villain.

He found himself another shirt, black and with some logo far too faded to really read. Though not exactly clean, as it smelled old and human just as the rest of the shop did, but it was not covered in blood and that was good enough. Near the display set up of various pirate themed costumes he found himself a black coat with big shiny silver buttons and a black leather eyepatch. He flipped the sign back on the front door to again read ‘Open’ and headed out the front door unconcerned with the body left behind the counter. He fiddled with the eyepatch as he walked until he was satisfied with how it sat, and wondered what he should do next. Where exactly did witches hang around? Noah had no idea but he knew he couldn’t expect every place with witches to have it labeled on the sign.

[13org]

Time: Morning
Location: Ember Grove Diner
Interaction with: Millie @princess, Lucius @Ithradine

---

Ylva gave an amicable smile as the girl thanked her, standing up before she introduced herself as Emelie or Millie as she said Ylva could call her. The moment she spoke though, Ylva couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, surprised, realizing that somehow, her voice was exactly how she expected it would be. Soft, mellow and calming. It did fit with her personality incredibly well.

When Millie mentioned that she came here with the intent of eating blueberry pancakes, the mental image Ylva had of the girl only became closer to a small rabbit than it was before. It was interesting how even the food she was going to eat seemed to fit her almost perfectly.

"Blueberry pancakes... Somehow, I couldn't have imagined an order that would fit you more than this one." Ylva said with an amused chuckle.

"Never ate anything other than the pulled pork or the ham sandwich they have here, but I suppose I heard people saying how good their pancakes are too." Ylva said in a very matter-of-fact way. Indeed, she did hear a few times some other customers mentioning the pancakes they served but since Ylva was more than happy with their pulled pork sandwich, she never even bothered to try them.

Just as she finished saying that though, another customer who entered the diner just as Millie dropped her change came walking towards them as he interrupted their conversation, mentioning how good the sandwich must be for Millie to drop her change all over the floor like she did and handing over two coins that had rolled away from her. Even though the man's interruption did earn him a rather sharp stare from Ylva, it disappeared the moment she gave a better look at the man and heard his voice. The bright smile and cheerful tone in his voice were far from threatening and he honestly did seem only to want some conversation, although he seemed to be specifically interested on Millie, which honestly wasn't a surprise seeing how the girl had 'harmless' and 'naive' written all over her, which coupled with her voice and appearance, would make almost any man want to protect her.

"I don't know how much help I will be able to give you other than what I know about the sandwich, since I arrived in this country just a few weeks ago. Been in this town for one week and a half." Ylva said as she walked back to where she was sitting down, grabbing the other half of her sandwich and walking back towards Millie and the newcomer were.

"But free time seems to be one of the few things I have plenty right now. The place where I worked closed down due to the stupid incident that happened the last night." Ylva said, giving another big bite on her sandwich.

[Potter]

Time: Morning
Location: On the Road from Operation Humanity Base
Interactions: @princess - Angel, @FunnyGuy - Sean
Mentions:

Shay smirked at her ‘dont drool’ comment and held back her laugh. She was about to relax more when the sudden blasting music caused her to jump and nearly smack her head. She scowled in pain but bit her tongue. Angel’s phone rang, and suddenly Shay was being ordered to become invisible. Clearly Angel was being followed like a dog who had run away. Shay quickly whispered the spell under her breath as not to waste time. It rendered Shay and her painting invisible. The vehicle stopped, but Angel didn’t lower the music. She couldn’t help but crack a smile. They were way too alike; it was something she would have done too. Angel’s tension was tangible and Shay wondered if she’d lose her temper. Shay bit her lip and felt a pit of guilt rise inside of her….

It didn’t take long for the follower to interrogate Angel. As she spoke, Shay had to stifle a laugh. Who was this dude? She bit her tongue to remain silent and waited for Angel’s response. Oh, Shay was definitely looking forward to it.

[FunnyGuy]

Time: Noon
Location: Alexei's, Ember Grove
Interactions: @Pink Khione Vivian and @Helo Elias

Vivian's request to punch Devin caused Alexander to wear a sly smirk.

"I'm interested in you telling me how that's wrong? I would consider myself very wealthy and... very retired." Alexander crossed his arms over his chest before his eyes darted towards the male bartender that was vaguely familiar. His mention of the art exhibit caused him to scowl at Elias. One of the unlucky that missed a chance to bask in the supremacy of vampirism. So unfortunate to see Maeve has doomed you. He shook his head at Elias, visibly angered.

"Paintings? Do you think I care about meaningless art when lives were lost last night? To think that someone would take advantage of the little bit of good I was doing for the university's youth. With the property damage and such a messy criminal investigation, the fall semester might as well be canceled…" Alexander's expression went solemn as his gaze dropped from Elias before looking up with what seemed like hope in his eyes. In actuality, it was ambition that filled him. The art exhibition had resulted in failure, but even failure birthed new opportunities and Alexander took advantage of any and all opportunities.

"...but I believe I'm on the verge of developing a sure way to keep things going. It will take time and resources, but a wealthy retiree has nothing but both of those things. Anyway, no drinks for me, but I would like to open a tab… For everyone. Vivian, yourself, and even the other Alexander Drake."

[Ithradine]

Time: Morning
Location: Ember Grove Diner
Interaction:@13org = Ylva, @princess - Emelie
Jams:

---

Lucius took a seat at the same table as Emelie and Ylva, listening carefully to their words and watching their expressions to gauge their personalities. It would likely take the extent of their conversation to fully narrow it down. He sat relaxed against the back of the chair, taking the paper menu in front of him into his hands "Momma used to say food always tastes better with company." Before Lucius headed off to war, his mother would always sit the family down for dinner at the same time every night. It had been a constant comfort, which just leaves one vulnerable when its no longer there. If Ylva had only been in Ember Grove for little over a wekk, it likely meant she was not involved with any of the major forces at play. She mentioned the incident last night rather casually, which gave him a reason to suspect she was a supernatural. It would be impossible to know which kind without further investigation "Well, might as well enjoy it. Now that I'm out on my own, I certainly am!" He smiled brightly before returning his gaze to the menu.

Out of everything on the menu, Lucius felt the most hungry for some scrambled eggs, sausage, and toast with some coffee to wash it down. While he figured Ylva to be a supernatural, there was something about the soft-spoken Emelie that he couldn't quite figure out. She reminded him greatly of his youngest sister but these tired, over-worked hands have seen to the end of many such individuals before. It wasn't long before a waitress came over to take Emeilie and Lucius's orders "I'll have scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, and coffee. Black..please." His fabricated demeanor snapped for just a moment, uttering his choice of coffee just a bit harsher than he had been speaking. It wasn't like him to make even small mistakes like that, he thought he was pass such minor things.

Once the waitress left with their orders, Lucius would turn to Emelie "Wow, I just realized I said my name yet. It's Luke, pleased to meet both of ya!" He swore the next personality he was going to mimic would be one of a goth, or some similar group just to avoid this constant energy and pleasantness. Perhaps he missed being, well, himself. When he had mastered illusions and transformations, it was quite exciting to live so many different lives. Now it was simply another part of his mission to push the world towards their next evolution. Years of practicing the dark arts and he had learned to negate some of the worse effects, but there were parts of himself he just couldn't recall. The feelings, the emotion to some of his memories were just vacant. Empty.

[Helo]

Time: Afternoon
Location: Alexei’s
Interaction with: Vivian @Pink Khione, Alexander @FunnyGuy

“I’d say it was a little less Ocean’s Eleven and a bit more Die Hard, police are saying it was a terrorist attack, supposedly a bunch of people there were dosed with LSD too.” Eli was a bit surprised that Vivian didn’t seem to know anything about the attack last night, it was the biggest news story in town after all. Ember Grove wasn’t exactly a choice target for a terrorist attack but it certainly wasn’t the worst cover story he’d even heard.

Though the vampire briefly mentioned the tragedy of lives lost last night Alexander was quick to turn the conversation to himself. The vampire immediately went on about the good he was trying to do for the university and then on to how he was developing something to keep things going. Alexander Drake certainly held a high opinion of himself and Eli hoped whatever he was planning never reached fruition.

“And how fortunate we all are that you weren’t there for the attack, can’t imagine what Ember Grove would be like without your resources to help us through.” He said a slight hint of sarcasm in his tone now. He wondered what the vampire who employed last night’s attackers was developing that was supposed to help Ember Grove. No doubt that it wasn’t anything good for anyone who actually possessed a sense of humanity, but by the man’s own admission he was up to something. This seemed like the kind of tip he should pass on to Operation Humanity, the only organization he could think of that had the resources to rival a bored, rich, retiree vampire. Of course that would also require him to track down one of Operation Humanity’s elusive agents, and hopefully next time he found some it wasn't through being shocked unconscious.

“A generous offer Mr. Drake, if you change your mind I do make a mean bloody mary. He added with a grin, now amused with his own bad joke. He turned his attention to the other man at the bar, who Alexander had strangely referred to as ‘the other Alexander Drake’, and noted that his drink was almost empty. ”Let me guess, if it’s going on someone else’s tab you’d like a double? He asked and went to make the other customer another drink, leaving Vivian to her strange side job of teaching a vampire to play pool.