reiremington

[reiremington]

Rei certainly agreed, though she said it far nicer than he was thinking it. The whole point of dying his hair had been to further disconnect himself from his family, primarily his father, and the coven. "I'm happy with it, and it has no impact on my work, so I don't plan on changing it back any time soon." The other firefighters had questioned him about it, but eventually dropped the subject. "Maybe you'll be dying your hair next."

Daphne grimaced, attempting to figure out the best way to phrase it. She liked to remain politely optimistic. As much as she wished to say that Elijah would ultimately accept it as part of Rei, she couldn't flat out lie to him. "He probably would say that it doesn't look very professional." Which was sweeter than just saying that he didn't like the way it looked. "But it is hair. It's not all that important. What is important is that you like it."

[reiremington]

He should have expected he would have to explain his decision when he actively avoided anyone who knew his family and the history before he left the city previously. "Green hair was the least disruptive to my life," he replied, though he definitely agreed with her. His father deserved far worse, and Rei was sure karma would come around soon enough.

He was glad that she agreed instead of shutting him out. Their interaction seemed like more than enough of an indicator that they could both use a friend. "I'll make sure to keep you in the loop. I might also ask for assistance redying it when it starts to fade."

[reiremington]

They had gotten split up at some point along the way, but they'd find their way back to each other eventually. He'd made it all the way to the marketplace without crossing paths and no one seemed to recognise who he was asking about, so he turned back down the yellow brick road, determined to find his companion.

As a blade came shooting out of the brush, instinct took him a step back, enough to prevent the blade from connecting with his head and instead into the tree behind him. "Your aim is a little off," he replied as he moved into clear view. Even without her voice, Rei would have known who it was. "Have you been hiding in the bushes this whole time? There's a market up ahead, you know."

Hidden in the shadows of a covering of trees, Beck waits, eyes trained outward. She's not truly sure what's going on, but there's this new, undeniable instinct in her - to hunt. There's these odd memories, of a childhood being tormented by a witch - seemingly so vivid, but also just not seeimg... right. Her attention quickly flickers at the sound of movement ahead in the clearing, and without thinking she acts on an impulse of years of training - throwing a dagger directly towards the individual crossing her path. The blade misses them narrowly, swooping past the side of their head and slamming into the trunk of a tree behind.

Beck stares down at her hand, realising what the hell she's just done - the normal part of her mind panicking that she could have just killed someone, while the enchanted part assesses for friend or foe ahead. With widened eyes, she takes a small step out of her hiding, still partially covered by the foliage. "Who goes there?" Her hand reaches down to her belt, for her next weapon if needed, especially if a witch stands ahead.

[reiremington]

Rei's costume for Nightspire Vale → Hansel (witch hunter edition)

[reiremington]

He should have expected he would have to explain his decision when he actively avoided anyone who knew his family and the history before he left the city previously. "Green hair was the least disruptive to my life," he replied, though he definitely agreed with her. His father deserved far worse, and Rei was sure karma would come around soon enough.

He was glad that she agreed instead of shutting him out. Their interaction seemed like more than enough of an indicator that they could both use a friend. "I'll make sure to keep you in the loop. I might also ask for assistance redying it when it starts to fade."

[reiremington]

He should have expected he would have to explain his decision when he actively avoided anyone who knew his family and the history before he left the city previously. "Green hair was the least disruptive to my life," he replied, though he definitely agreed with her. His father deserved far worse, and Rei was sure karma would come around soon enough.

He was glad that she agreed instead of shutting him out. Their interaction seemed like more than enough of an indicator that they could both use a friend. "I'll make sure to keep you in the loop. I might also ask for assistance redying it when it starts to fade."

Beck notes the change in his expression, looking away a little awkwardly. "Sorry... it's really none of my business. I shouldn't have even asked." She sighs, biting her lip. "My opinion doesn't count for anything at all, but..." A subtle hint of a smirk appears, as she finally meets his eye again, "...Sounds like many people would say he deserves worse than some green hair."

She blinks as he asks for her number, an expression of outright confusion on her usually stoic face. She can't remember the last time someone wanted to socialise with her. She wasn't exactly known for being friendly, or having friends. Outside of work, or all of this werewolf business - interaction with anyone these days was... minimal. Perhaps it's only that thought that stops her from quickly declining, as she would usually do - instead she busies her hands with setting their items at the checkout, turning away from him. "Alright. But only because I'm invested in this hair drama now."

[reiremington]

Rei just rolled his eyes. If this guy was looking for a reaction, he was going to refrain from giving him any, especially in regards to his father. "Seems like you know more than enough about my family," he responded, managing to keep his tone flat and uninterested. "Again, what is it you want?"

"I doubt it'd stop your dad from hoping," Ayumu grinned as they watched Rei's reaction.

"Then why return? Is it because of your brother? The one they've kept locked away in a dungeon for his crimes against us?"

[reiremington]

"I know," he murmured in response. Even if he knew the concept, he didn't fully believe it or think that he could. "Where did you go, when you left?" Rei still didn't know exactly where he wanted to go or how he would do it, he just knew he wanted to leave. He had to leave.

"You know. You might be right about that," Ayumu laughed. They had been trying to encourage all the younger residents of Phantom Creak to think about leaving and they were going to do the same with the Remington boy. "You don't need his approval to leave, you know? I left my family to see the world when I was much younger than you..."

[reiremington]

There was something that isolating about sitting on a cold and quiet roof alone, during the night or the day. The view itself was always nice, something like a bird's eye view of the city and the surrounding area. Though it was in the middle of Vievecor City, it also felt like the middle of nowhere, disconnected from the traffic and the people. Up here was simply better.

Or at least it would be if he didn't hear a thud and a curse from somewhere off to his left. He didn't think anyone else came up here normally and had expected to have some peace for once, but it would be just his luck for that to cease being the case. With a sigh, Rei shoved his hands back into his pocket, letting his feet carry him in the direction of the source.

He was surprised to find someone hanging off the side of the building. "I'm sure an axe murderer would use the stairs," he murmured in response, watching as the other got himself safely on top of the building. "Did you jump?" Rei glanced across at the building next door. "That's... parkour, right?" He'd heard of it when he was younger but never really did it himself.

for: open! (@vievecorcitystarters)

location: ... a roof your character is on! (open to interpretation)

✞ – "Never do parkour when you’re not feeling it, dummy. That’s when you make stupid mistakes.”

Davis could hear his brother’s smug remark clear as a cloudless night under a new moon. It was one of the places that Marcus might be, now, among the stars. Back into whatever dust human beings were created from, molded by deep umbral hands. Or, he was just rotting somewhere, food for strays and worms. All of the truths that could exist, ugly or beautiful, didn't really matter.

What mattered was, he wasn't here, and the echoes of Marcus Healy didn't get a say, no matter how much Davis' ears tried to play their tricks. Any more pissing around and he'd get rusty, so, it was time to go again.

The first few jumps were sloppy, fumbling things. Paint smeared converse old enough to drive skidded like the hooves of a newborn faun, clumsy and prone to twisting wrong. But, after failing upwards for a while, he started to get into the flow. After that, he decided to gain some altitude and get up on the roofs where it mattered. One, two, three, four, five. He was getting across buildings just fine, but he forgot just how much of a jump the last dive on his route was. 

Gravity's jaws snapped at his ankles like a great beast, scraped its jagged teeth along his skin. But it didn't eat today. Good, stay fucking hungry. 

"Shit!" Davis barked, then hissed as he hung over an alley, off the side of... some sort of building. Honestly he wasn't sure. He'd just always known it as The worst jump. All he knew is when he looked up, he was staring someone down. If it weren't for the pain shooting up his leg from where his knee collided with a wall, he'd have the mind to maybe be... embarrassed or something. 

"Uh, hi. Fuck," he said, breathless but starting to scramble up anyway. His lungs had fucking words. His mouth took a bit to catch up. 

"Please. Don't call- the cops. M'not an axe murderer-! Just an idiot."

[reiremington]

From the way this man was acting, he wasn't surprised that his father didn't like him. That didn't mean Rei had to dislike him, though he would still reserve his judgement for later. "Alright. I'll keep you in mind, I guess." Not that he was sure when he would need to call on Leon, but it didn't hurt to have an ally.

[reiremington]

He knew he couldn't exactly stand up to a vampire, but was would die sooner than back down and let someone walk all over him. They were in a crowd, someone would hopefully step in before it got too far. Just his luck, someone seemed to want to put an end to the scene Rei was making sure this turned in to. There was a spark of recognition, but not from Vievecor. No, it was from that strange dream world he'd been dragged in to. He had been hanging about Gabe a lot, hadn't he?

"I hope that isn't a shining example of how you all act," the young witch grumbled as the offending party stalked off. The faint familiarity, despite being from outside reality, was enough for Rei to offer him some grace, letting out one last huff before relaxing his tense muscles. "Sorry for causing a scene. I didn't really have much other choice, though."

Returning to work had been an easy transition. You could tell the blood shortage was over just by taking a look around. The size of the crowd, the noise, the boldness of some of their patrons when faced with the opportunity to sink their teeth into unsuspecting humans. Too bold, for Teddy's taste.

Walking out of his booth, the vampire turned his attention towards some disruption happening not too far from there. A young man in his twenties, by his judgement, who'd turned down one of those advances. Byrne knew better than to intervene, aware of how out of hand these things could get, but something compelled him to.

Giving his men a signal to stay out of it, Teddy came up behind the vampire and pulled him back by the back of his shirt. "That's enough, Benny." Fucking hell. "I told you to behave and this is how you do me? Get the fuck out, unless you want someone to show you the door. I doubt Vicente will be happy to hear about this."

[reiremington]

"Exactly," he agreed. "Besides, can't be any worse than my dye job. I couldn't see what I was doing half the time." It was a miracle his neck and forehead weren't stained green, or at least they weren't anymore. His expression dropped slightly, though it wasn't directed at her, just at the thoughts the question brought up. "Tried to force me to follow in his footsteps after being a deadbeat my entire childhood."

"Deal, but on one condition. You give me your number." There was something about Beck that made her feel like a kindred spirit, and as much as he argued about it, and she likely did too, they both needed someone on their side.

The smirk on her face almost threatens to reach a grin - almost. Still, it was nice to talk to someone about something so... normal. "I'm not sure you want me helping you out. As you can tell from this whole apple situation, dexterity is not my strongest feature at the moment - I worry I'd dye more of your ear lobes than your hair. But, I suppose that may add to the desired effect." She tilts her head slightly. "What did your dad do to earn such rebellion?"

She cringes slightly at the invasiveness of her question, quickly turning her attention back to their groceries and taking a nearing step towards the tills, to change the subject. "I should probably pay for my stuff. I'll get yours, too - to make up for almost crushing you with a cereal display."

[reiremington]

As much as he may have wanted to be annoyed, she was being far too sweet. He would have felt guilty raining on her parade. He could keep the rain to himself, for now. "Well, I'm glad somebody thinks so." Rei had been treading uncharted waters for years now, coming back to Vievecor City wasn't exactly unexplored. "Any idea what my dad might think of it?" he asked, wagering she was one of the few who might have a good idea how the older Remington might respond.

"Rebel with a cause is cool." At least that was her belief. Rei might not embrace his powers for family, but he did use his gifts for the good of others. She didn't want to dig into what must be a painful issue given that she hadn't even heard Eli speaking of Rei being back. She did wonder if he knew. "Besides it shows individuality. Shows you are ready to tread in uncharted waters."

[reiremington]

Location: The Shard

With: @teddy-byrne

Normally, he wouldn't have gone to a place like the Shard, but he found himself experiencing some curiosity. He was an adult now, he could find out how people acted in the city instead of hearing about it. The place was filled with people, most he suspected to be vampires. Those were the ones he was curious about.

One such vampire approached him, and perhaps it was Rei's fault for not feeling like prey when he was one here, but he turned down the vampire's advances immediately, not interested in whatever they wanted. They didn't take no for an answer, though, and he soon escalated, yelling at them to fuck off. What a scene he was causing. Luckily for him, the head of security wasn't too far away.

[reiremington]

"There's never a bad time for it." It had been his first time trying an unusual hair color but he was finding he didn't mind it too much. It definitely emphasized his individuality. "Like a frog warning predators that it's poisonous," he added, liking the idea and wishing he had thought of it before hand. "I'm Rei, it's nice to meet you." It seemed like she was ready to go off on her own and finish her own shopping. Rei gave her a smile, a genuine one after enjoying their conversation. "Feel free to hit me up for more music recommendations whenever you want, I'm happy to share my playlists with you."

Eyes narrowing in thought, Elena tilted her head to the side. "Maybe it's time for a revival." She was far enough away from where she used to live back when she was still, well, alive, no one would recognize her either way. "Don't knock it until you've tried it. Though this really suits you. The poisonous, toxic waste vibe. Not many could pull that off," she told him with a smile, "I'm Elena by the way." Shuffling out of the way of yet another customer, she indicated her head in the general direction of the shelves behind him. "I should let you get back to doing your thing. Thanks again for the music recommendation."

[reiremington]

"Since you seem to know so much, you also know I did not join the coven, and am not the next-in-line anymore." At this point, it was clear the guy was purposefully pressing his buttons and Rei did his best to remain neutral, not wanting to fire up his emotions, or his anger specifically. "I have my reasons for coming back, but it's not to take a position I don't want. There are more qualified witches who can take over."

"I just wanted to sound you out, dear boy," Ayumu chuckled. "But it seems like I've already hit a nerve. Or many... It wouldn't do well to let your emotions show so easily... Especially the supposed next-in-line to your father's coven."

[reiremington]

The idea of seeing his mother and brother again was uplifting. It was clear in the smile that spread across his face. "I'd like that, too." Still, he could see how much this was paining his father. "This place hasn't been home since they left. Home is with our family, wherever they are," he said, hoping to make things a little easier for him.

He sighed and leaned into Rei, glad that he was being gentle about it rather than crowing about being right. "I was thinking that we could join Kyoko and Eiji." It was probably born out of Elijah wanting at least have at least some familiarity leaving the town he'd grown up in. "I'm not under any illusions that we'll be a perfect happy family, but I know they miss you, and I'd like to see them again. They can help you figure out where you want to go from there." He still couldn't help a crestfallen expression thinking about leaving, though he still gave Rei a weak smile.