{Chapter 9} Planning.... (Open)

[Lennox Tyler]

[for_harmony][/for_harmony][no_confidence][/no_confidence]

Political Science was the first degree that she had received when she went to Harvard but that seemed an eternity ago when she was a human. It wasn't until after she had become a vampire that she had gone back to school for a Law degree even though she worked in her sire's medical lab and seeing his patients on the daily. None of her skills made sense for her job but a job was a job. Lennox had to admit that when she returned to Harper Rock from school that she was disgusted by the state of the city and how her kind was being treated by the human race. Who every thought it was a grand idea to treat vampires like animals were completely insane. Her first thought moved to their every so wonderful (but not really) mayor.

Mayor Bancroft was never good for the people and it was suspected by most of their kind that he was just a pawn to the administrator and the CROW. He was a man that should have been out of power ages ago but with his power and wealth....no one ever really took him on, however, this city needed to see a change. There might not every be a time when humans and vampires would get along but what the humans choose to forget is that vampires were human once. Not all of them are monsters and vampires often took care of their kind, killing off the bad seeds well before it would get to the human's attention but the Paladins were always sticking their noses in where she felt they didn't belong. Order of St. James at one point had been a big issue but they were gone but she would only assume that another group much like them had taken their place. The war between the Paladins and Vampires was a completely different issue and she wouldn't waste her time dwelling on that. Bancroft was her target and he needed a new career.

Once her shift was over at Genesis, payroll completed for the staff that was actually getting paid (which she wasn't one of them since her sire was missing), and the doors locked; Lennox set out to do her research. The library was going to be her first stop because she needed to check out books on the city history, politics, and everything that mattered to Harper Rock. She also would get her text books on political science out of storage as well as her notes when she was an intern for the Obama campaign. She was probably the least qualified person but she wasn't planning to run a country, just a city. It was a challenge she was willing to take if no one else was willing to get Bancroft out of office. Others had to see how awful he really was or at least she hoped.

With all of the needed materials, she found a large empty table in the back corner of Myth to occupy. Spreading out all of the books, a notepad and pen to her right and her laptop in the direct center of the chaos, it was time to start studying. She loved to study and learn so this was an easy past time for her and gave her a break from the mundane tasks of just working at the lab and killing asshole creations in various parts of town. Study would come first and a Pros and Cons list would come later to see if this was even a great idea. IF this was going to happen, she needed to know what she was getting into and if she would even have support but a change was needed and Lennox planned to do what she could to make things better even if both sides benefited from Bancroft leaving office.

[Kyrie]

Kyrie hummed to himself as he adjusted the leather jacket. He'd done a little. He'd heard about a library that would be opening with some rather useful tidbits. He'd be keeping that one in mind in the future. Checked the law enforcement network and gotten a few people a step closer to safety. Aside from that, not much had changed. Kyrie entered the Myth and ran his fingers through his hair as he took a seat at the bar, "Oyyy, can I get a, uhhh, Canadian club neat let's say." he said before handing over his ID, he glanced in the mirror behind the bartender seeing the 'reflection' for a moment before smiling as he was given his drink taking back his ID and handed over cash before getting up and walking by the tables as he sipped the drink slowly taking in every bit of flavor it had to offer before actually swallowing.

"Now that's good." He muttered. He loved that he could still taste things. He knew full well not everyone had that advantage. Even if he didn't get quite the same use out of actually eating or drinking, it still just felt good. He looked at some of the decorations set up, halloween was coming up. And there was literally no place on earth that felt more like halloween than Harper Rock did. Do not dress up as a zombie on halloween, you might actually get shot. He grimaced at the thought. Yeah, didn't want that happening again. He'd had enough of the shadow realm in his one go and he didn't want to repeat that.

His attention was directed to a corner of the Myth, a woman with a desktop, ah, a vampire woman with a desktop, and loads of books. "Good grief woman. Doctor, lawyer, programmer, or historian. Best guesses I got right now." he said, not to her, just to himself. Though the person in the table he was passing looked up at him as if he was weird, he waved a hand, "Sorry, talking to myself here. Excuse me."

He walked off taking another sip and approaching the woman. If she wasn't a vampire, he might be a little less inclined. Or maybe not. Still, he walked up to the other end of the table, took a sip from the drink, cocked his head, and spoke, "So, you can tell me off if you want. Totally fair. I'll leave right away. Buuutt, if I could be the rubber duck I'd love to be. Unless this is about the digestive system...or eye surgery. Then yeah I'm so very much not the rubber duck."

Kyrie smiled as he took another sip and then gave his head a jerk to get his hair further behind his face. Not incredibly successfully.

[Bjorn]

[for_harmony][/for_harmony]

There was an exhaustive set of conditions required for the telepath to frequent a crowded space of his own volition, which explained why he seldom visited establishments such as this one unless he were there to do a gig.

Bjorn wasn’t performing at Myth tonight. Instead he sought to make quickwork of dropping off his gear for the upcoming Halloween gig he’d offered to deejay months ago, a decision he now regretted but wouldn’t go back on without an ironclad reason. The recent shift in his relationship with Caligrace wasn’t what dimmed his excitement, but rather the broader political shift in Harper Rock. It made him question whether it was wise to host an event on All Hallow’s Eve in a city that was under siege for harbouring the undead. Election day was a stone’s throw away, and the unrest throughout the city was giving rise to a bubble inevitably destined to burst. Would the opportunity to party provide people with much-needed release after months of quarantine and over a year of siege, or would it become the stage for an avoidable catastrophe?

These were the thoughts that weighed his mind as he distractedly emerged from the backroom, wearing a borrowed black shirt with the word STAFF in large white letters stretched across his chest and back. The music, dulled by the backroom’s thick walls, washed over him, rinsing his mind in the most uncomfortable way; it prickled his brain the same way seawater did when it dried across his skin. Static poured down his nervous system, spreading throughout his body in step with the bass, tingling from head to— His toes curled in his boots. Bjorn forced his limbs to cooperate and pushed off the ground, coaching himself to take one step and then the other.

Alcohol might not taste like much to him, but it would dull his senses should he manage to keep it down. It would ease the anxiety that fizzed throughout tensing muscles and made his skin feel too small of a sheath for his body. If only he could digest it.

Bjorn knew too well the danger of getting lost within himself at a moment like this and glanced around in search of a distraction: something rooted in the physical plane, external. He came to a stop at one end of the bar and impatiently tapped his keycard on the sticky countertop, eager for the bartender’s attention but knowing he’d be ignored in favour of the few patrons putting in their drink orders. He glanced around once more as he waited, and this time his new vantage point provided a direct sightline to the back of the room. There, he spotted a familiar face illuminated by a laptop screen.

Why was she familiar?

Tapping the keycard more fervently, Bjorn sucked air through his teeth, annoyed at his vibrating brain for not facilitating access to his memory. Defeated but determined, he pushed off the bar and pocketed the keycard, moving towards her and taking measure of the man who’d since approached her.

****. ****. ****. What’s your name again? he thought to himself. In his dazed condition he didn’t realise he’d not been the sole recipient of that thought.

****. ****. ****. What’s your name again?

Code: Select all

You send your telepathic message to Lennox Tyler.

[Caligrace]

[for_harmony][/for_harmony][no_confidence][/no_confidence]

The soft whir of her computer filled the silence as she glanced across the numerous numbers occupying her screen. It wasn’t often that she found quiet in her office when Every and Roman were present, but at some point, within the last hour, her frustration had bled through. Of course, she wasn’t any further into the report than when she had demanded they stop acting like children, earning herself a sharp – yet understanding – glare from Every that she had chosen to ignore for the time being. With a soft sigh, she slammed her fingers against the keys, closing the program without bothering to save anything. What was the point? It was going to change within the hour, and without someone to help her understand the new shipment requirements, she was operating at a major loss.

“Forget it. Carry on you two,” she muttered, leaning back in her chair and working her fingers through her hair. Everything seemed to be going wrong in one way or the other for her lately. It seemed that no matter what she did, she was operating at that loss. First Hudson, then Noah, then Bjorn, the unrest in the city in regards to Bancroft and the new vampire law, and now her business. It was piling on, one thing after the next, and the only thing keeping her from spiraling out of control was the woman across the room from her. Tightening her fingers in her hair, she closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath, only to hear Roman chuckle darkly from somewhere in the corner. “You don’t need to breathe, babe,” he reminded her quietly, and she didn’t bother to open her eyes as she reached for the nearest pen on her desk and chucked it at his head. “Don’t call me that.”

Slumping further in her chair, she tapped her heel against the edge of her desk as she finally opened her eyes to watch the security feed, a slender brow raising high as a familiar face – and then another – flashed on the screen alongside someone she’d never seen. “I wonder what that’s about. Lennox and Bjorn both are here,” she spoke, fighting to keep her tone neutral as she watched the interaction between her adopted childe and the stranger for a moment, before her attention drifted back to Bjorn, if only for a second. The shift in their relationship had dug itself deeper into her heart than she wanted to admit, the usual excitement she felt when she saw him long diminished by – well, she hadn’t quite put a name to it – yet. “Remember to shoot me in the face if I start to catch feelings again. Ever.” The words were directed to Every as she pushed herself from her desk.

“Should we go see what’s going on?”

[Every]

[for_harmony][/for_harmony][no_confidence][/no_confidence]

Bothering Roman was her favorite pastime, Every had learned. With a charming smirk, a disarming attitude, the man had been a good distraction when needed. “She’s still dealing with the fallout.” A frown crossed her lips once the glare subsided and she threw a final piece of paper at the man’s forehead. “Calm down, Caligrace.” Every drawled, stretching out in her usual seat and resting her heels on the thrall’s thigh only to feel them be brushed aside. With a dark look at Roman, she replaced her feet at his side and listened to the humming of the computer as she wordlessly connected to it. “Third column. October week 2 shipment. It looks like Fate replaced a three with a two on those papers you asked me to do.”

When Roman chuckled, Every rolled her eyes. “I’m not saving you the day she shoots you.” Her nails scratched at the side of her neck before saying, “And, we don’t need to breathe to survive, but it helps us hunt. For example, I can smell that cheap cologne you insist on wearing a mile away.” He glared at her and she smiled sweetly at him. She didn’t have to look to know that Caligrace rolled her eyes as the two began to bicker. It was only when Every noticed that the red head looked at the camera stream from her position that she held up her finger. The man gave that same dark chuckle and leaned back in his chair before she **** him a look.

“He isn’t on the schedule for tonight.”

She rubbed the back of her neck before she rolled her eyes. Every had never understood the allurist dramatics generalized, but she knew that Caligrace would get over it. Even if she had to beat her out of it. “I’ll be sure to use deadeye.” The man next to her snorted, causing the brunette to kick him as she climbed out of the leather affair with her hands sliding into the pockets of her jeans. As childish as it was, she claimed victory before heading towards the door. “Might as well grab Nishaa.” Every dug her phone out of her pocket and tapped her thumb against the device screen.

• Unglue yourself from the computer and come to Myth. It’s at the Bifrost transit. You’ll hear the music, first.

“Lennox, Bjorn.” She greeted once approaching the three, her hazel eyes focusing on the stranger a moment later, “Stranger.”

[Nishaa]

[no_confidence][/no_confidence]

There was the sound of Imagine Dragons playing as she sat at her desk within Pandemonium. She was strolling through the police systems - deleting evidence of anyone who was on the list. She knew relationships were tenuous at the moment between vampire and humans and that they wanted to put leashes on vampires essentially.

She had just bank transferred $200k to Marty’s account. She had a large amount of dough, and nothing to do with it. So she was trying to be a better sire by providing him with as much as she could. Money, weapons - money for weapons. Next on her agenda was to find him relics she was looking to kit him out, set him up like a mother does to her child for life. She had very recently become more involved in that aspect - of being more involved - looking out for him, asking him questions. She was very indifferent before. Didn’t give a flying **** about anyone.

Now she was being a sire to Marty. Trying to be a good childe for Every and protecting vampires from the angry hate mob of humans.

The phone vibed on the desk. The woman slid her eyes to the phone and noticed it was a text from Every asking her to come Myth? Never heard of it. She shrugged and replied back with a ‘On my way!’

She got up from the desk, and slightly brushed her hair to remove the knots within the raven black hair that had been unkept for days, as she had been unmoving from the desktop for nights - she often slept at the desk.

She checked her attire - a black and white polka dot jumper and black skinnies it was oddly quite feminine for Nishaa.

She left Pand and followed the instructions that Every had given and had soon found herself at the entrance to Myth. She slipped inside and noticed Every straight away. She came up behind her and slouched against her pressing her chest to Every’s back. Laying a lazy arm around her front over the shoulder. Whilst she laid her head upon her sire’s shoulder in a form of greeting.

“Did you know they have porn on the internet?” She casually said as her chin rolled on her sire’s shoulder - the head rolled in such a way that it innocently looked upon her sire's face. “I found it whilst.. trolling.” She grinned. Fangs on show.

She then turned her gaze upon the people in front of her. Caligrace she knew - however had abandoned in her own disappearance - she had fucked up and burnt a lot of bridges in her own stupidity. If anything she was almost ashamed to look upon Caligrace.

She didn’t say anything but pointed at the other two she didn’t know “Who are they sirepatrol?” She asked. Onyx orbs looking at the other vampires.

[Luca]

[for_harmony][/for_harmony]

Little more sign of effort than a sigh of irritation left Luca’s lips as he nearly tossed a squirrely man out of the emergency exit of Myth, the man hitting the bricks of the shop next door before he jumped to his feet and brushed himself off. “I wasn’t doing a damn thing! You need to talk to that damn waitress. Do you even know who I am? You’ll be hearing from my lawyers about this, tossing me out into the night like some… some…” the man searched for a word, blustering as a thick brow rose on Luca’s face and his arms crossed over his chest. “Trash?”

The man opened his mouth before shutting it again, his eyes narrowed dangerously as he pushed the round spectacles up the bridge of his nose and opened his mouth again. The motion made him look more like a gasping fish out of water than an actual threat to the vampire moonlighting as club security. As the stranger began to speak, Luca didn’t wait to hear what he had to say, instead slamming the door in his face where the security exit locked shut, denying him access back into the club without going up front, where the bouncer had already seen him being dragged out.

He shook his head and stopped at the end of the back room access, pausing a beat to check with the waitress that the other man had mentioned. A mousy waif of a girl, she hadn’t worked there terribly long, and had already had to deal with a piece of trash trying to feel her up like that. Running a hand back through his dark hair, he gave her a shake of his head. “Sorry you had to deal with that, Chel. If you see that guy in here again, you let me or Ramone know, and we’ll make sure he doesn’t bother you again, alright?”

The freckled cheeks of the woman crinkled with her nose as she gave a little nod. “Sure thing, Luc. Does this happen… often?” Her lips twitched, the corners of her mouth bowing into a frown as a hand moved to toy at one of her chocolate curls and the man just gave her a broad smile. “Don’t worry about it, okay? You have some of the best people in the business watching out for you, and if we have to, some of us aren’t above breaking a few fingers to get the lesson through.”

She smiled at that, and pat his shoulder before she turned to head back to her work. She paused, and turned to look back at him with a grin. “I told my dad he was wrong. Some of you are really nice.” She preened and made her way back to the floor to see to her customers. He let out a long, strained sigh and rubbed at his jaw as he looked over the rest of the floor, seeing to it that there wasn’t anything else needing his attention for the time being, only to notice that there was a small crowd of familiar and not-so-familiar faces growing around one of the tables in the back corner of the dining area.

That could be trouble.

He hoped it was just about anything else.

He dropped his hand to his side and made his way quietly into the little knot of people, wordlessly inserting himself into the group to see what it was that had pulled them all into a corner together. Rather than ask, he silently assessed, and let the situation make itself plain as he gave a nod of acknowledgement to the faces he knew, and a twitch of a brow to the ones he didn’t.

[Lennox Tyler]

[for_harmony][/for_harmony][no_confidence][/no_confidence]

A man that looked familiar was maybe setting up the stage for some performance, though she wasn't sure if there was supposed to be band or not that night, it didn't bother her much as she worked better with music. That or he was dropping things off, she could only speculate if she didn't want to be a creeper and watch his every move. Though the music, live or not, seemed like a perfect alternative since she forgot her AirPods on her desk at Genesis. Giving him a single nod as she noticed that he looked her way. She pulled her attention away from the man to let him do his thing without her eyes constantly watching and began her research in this dark and twisted town.

Time had gone by and she hand flipped through a couple books and looked up a few sites based off her search in Google. From what she could see but had already known, vampires had been in Harper Rock for as long as historians could recall. There was about a two-hundred year stint where vampires had vanished and that concerned her. Grabbing another book and starting to flip through a few pages, she landed on a section that dated to about the time that vampires disappeared. Just as she was about to start reading and make a few notes, she was interrupted by stranger that wanted to talk about rubber ducks.

Looking up from the book, her eyebrow perked as she looked at the male and then back down at her stack of books followed by the shake of her head. "I have no idea what you are talking about. I'm not studying the human body despite my career but this is, as I assume you are referring to the books, about Harper Rock. Mainly city history including political views and patterns." She looked him over and put her pen down as she sat back in the booth. There was a reason why she went to study in a corner. She had hoped that it would give her a sense of privacy instead of some random John that was trying to pick her up. "Is there something that I can help you with?"

Just as she thought that this man before her would be the only one to distract her from her goal, the abrasive words hit her mind. They were yelling nor rude but like trying to remember but one thing she wasn't used to were random messages flittering across her mind. The voice didn't sound like Deadpool who she was the only one that she knew who had that ability though she couldn't recall if he had used it on her. With a sigh, she yelled out as the voice caught her off guard. Her voice wasn't rude but did have a slight hint of annoyance as they could have simply asked her, her name. "FOR FUCKS SAKE....MISTER WITH THE MIND VOODOO, MY NAME IS LENNOX." She didn't know if the person invading her mind was even in the club or not but if he was, he knew her name now. Lennox was fully aware that this suddenly made her look like a crazy woman but if it helped the man that had spoke upon her mind, then looking crazy was the least of her worries.

As the man she had been looking at after she had settled in, who was vaguely familiar now approached the table, she was sure that she wasn't going to get any work done but in the off chance that she would be able to get back to her research, she left the books and laptop open in front of her. Once the man reached her, she wouldn't admit that she couldn't remember his name but she knew that she had done a raid or two with him in the past. Tossing her head up once in a single nod, she smiled. "Hey what's up?" Her plans had changed and there was no sense in being rude to either of them because of it, it was her fault for thinking the club was a good place to study. She thought to offer him a seat but she wasn't sure how the stranger with his mind on rubber ducks and anatomy might take it if it wasn't extended to him or he might think the offer was for the both of them. Either way, she wasn't taking the chance unless the stranger got weird. Might have to play it off that the guy she sort of knew was an over-protective boyfriend and apologize to him when she got the chance. She cared for Deadpool but he wasn't here to ward off the random weirdos that she seemed to encounter on a daily basis.

Relief had instantly filled her as she caught Every leaving the office and making her way towards them. 'Thank God!' The office wasn't that far away especially given the speed that vampires was capable of having. As she reached the table she greeted both the man and herself. 'Bjorn!! HA! I'll remember that now.' "Hey Eve! Glad you're here, where's Cali?. Oh! This is....ummm..." She looked at the rubber duckie guy. "I didn't catch your name..."

The group was growing and now it was more than she had anticipated for the evening. It was probably something she was going to have to get used to if she went through with her plan because it would put her on center stage since she was a vampire that was running for the seat of Mayor in Harper Rock. That wouldn't bode well for some and might cause excitement in others that she supported change. She couldn't help but snort as she held back a chuckle with the newcomers recent discovery of porn on the internet. It was random but a perfect break from any sort of tense friction that might be in the air with the mix of strangers and familiar faces that now surrounded her table. Though the creeper of the hour was the guy that slipped in and stood at the edge of the group without saying a word. He looked slightly familiar but with raids, she had met a few new faces that she now seemed to struggle to remember if they were introduced or not.

[Kyrie]

Kyrie chuckled about her reaction to his question, "Well I was close. History and politics. Lawyer and historian were two of the options." he shrugged. He thought about the history of harper rock for a moment. He only knew so much, he wasn't so much the historian type. That, and it seemed a lot of Harper Rock's history was somewhat shrouded. And he hadn't fully gotten into the culture of vampires, didn't know quite enough people to just...tell him.

She talked to him again and he lifted his eyes realizing he was staring into the void of the books as he thought about it, "Ah sorry. Guess I was just curious." must be tired. He took a sip of his drink staring at the wall and blinking. Then he stepped back as he heard her shout, carefully turning his cup to avoid spilling. Then smiling slightly nervously and chuckling, "Well...that one wasn't my fault at least." he was familiar with the telepath power by now, though he didn't use it so much. Well, not to talk to people. He used the ability to connect to the web all the time.

He thought about stepping away, until another person stepped in talking to her, another vampire, and him. Though she seemed familiar with the names of the others. The group just kept growing person by person. Notably, a horde of vampires that just kept on growing. He looked at his glass taking a quick swallow and responding, in kind to Every's greeting with a smile, "Stranger." more people...well, this was an outright crowd at this table at this point.

He smiled as Lennox greeted one of them and was gonna introduce 'duckie guy,' he nodded his head, "Ah, names Kyrie. Still...fresh." he cocked his head at his own wordings, "That's not the way I'd normally put it. If I'd have known you had a party going on I probably should have brought a gift before interrupting. At this point I'm not sure if I'm supposed to leave or stay." he said looked at the gathering of vampires.

[Caligrace]

[for_harmony][/for_harmony][no_confidence][/no_confidence]
A brow lifted as she swept her gaze across the small crowd, her fingers deftly brushing a lock of red from her eyes. Interesting, she mused to herself, her arms crossing across her stomach. The stranger was -- well, just that. A stranger, someone of no consequence (which was proven by a quick appraisal of the man), and he seemed harmless enough. She didn't give him a second thought as she smiled to her adopted childe, before her attention shifted towards Bjorn. It wasn't exactly strange to see him here, but she knew he wouldn't stay too long. Either it was her presence (no, it wasn't that, that was just her emotions toying with her thoughts), or the crowd, she watched as he merely lifted his fingers in a brief wave and slipped out the exit without a word. Bjorn left. The thought was woven into Every's mind before she turned and cast a charming smile towards Luca as he made his way through the crowd, his hulking frame intimidating enough to send a few patrons scurrying out of his path.

With a sigh, she finished her own trek towards Lennox and dropped down at her side with graceful movements, the only sign of her anxiety and emotions being the tap of her heel against the leg of the table. With a quiet hum, the allurist reached over and casually flipped a page of Lennox's book, eyes quickly scouring the words before she plucked a pen up and circled a few key lines for the woman. "Having fun, girl?" she questioned casually, her attention on the work, though it was clear she was watching the movements of everyone around them.

[ooc: permission given to write Bjorn out.]