surelenore

[surelenore]

It was a pleasant surprise, to see such a sleaze go through her records as gently as he did. If anything were to rip, if anything were to get the smudge of this painfully human's thumb on it... she'd stay calm and composed, but she would be ripping his throat out in her mind's eye! Of course, the slight admiration (hm... not quite the word) was cast aside nearly as quickly as it came. "If only it were that easy." As cool as her mutation made her seem, it was rather annoying that, for the most part, she needed to perform honest-to-god rituals. Were there a few things she could do without? Oh, of course! But were the most important things confined to practices and ingredients? Unfortunately, yes -- and what would protection be if not one of the most important things? She let out an exasperated sigh when he insinuated that she was referring to sex. Not with him, at least! Of course that would be the first thing that crossed a pimp's mind. If he weren't there on behalf of the mutants who worked for him, that certainly would have been crossing a line -- he certainly would have been kicked to the curb. But she would deal with the immaturity and assumption that he was a treat for the greater good. "You're far too presumptuous for your own good, Van Meter. If you weren't here for your mutant employees..." Again, to the curb he would go! "But I'm willing to pretend you did not just insinuate that sex with you would be sufficient payment for my protection." Sex would never be an acceptable form of payment, but... especially not with him! "What I ask for from you, Seth, is to bring one human client ofThe Bearded Lady to me once a month."

Understanding more as she explains (go figure), Seth takes the journal from her and cracks it open to the middle, treating it with a surprising amount of respect - it'd be too embarrassing to make a powerful enemy just by accidentally ripping one of their monster manuals. He mostly goes by images, thumbing through chunks at a time until the illustrations grow increasingly wolfish... it'd also be too embarrassing to let anyone see him using an appendix.

"Dang... I was really hoping more for the 'ta-da' route," Seth muses, a bit distracted as he holds the book out and squints at an illustration of a monstrous wolf with the face of a woman. Now there's a thinker. Though, once he's able to process Lenore's proposal a little more, Seth lowers the book and quirks an eyebrow at her. "Something in return, huh?... Well, you drive a hard bargain, but hey, anything for my employees, right? So what, you hop up on that desk there and I get down in between, or...?"

[surelenore]

"Yes, I hate to stop you, but the closest 'meeting' I could schedule was weeks out." If she hadn't seen Kiran, she figured she'd just try to do it herself! "I had a break-in a few days ago -- apparently there's a problem with my house's infrastructure. I assume you know who I should go to to mend that, yes?" Luckily, the trespasser had been very helpful! She was actually quite fond of him! But she didn't want to risk any unhelpful trespassers. Maybe the protection spell could stop some kind of assault, but it wouldn't stop a robbery!

Kiran's been on the Council long enough to become use to being approached in public. He still can't help but feel like he's being cornered when it happens, though. Still, he turns, and greets with a smile. "At your service. How can I help you?" If he even can.

[surelenore]

"Yes, they do." Lenore remembered it all very well. So many of her loved ones, massacred by people who didn't understand that they were not in control of themselves when the scientists arrived. So many people who believed they had the right to take the lives of mutants. "Don't get me wrong, Santiago, I would love for mutants to be the dominant species, but this isn't the way to go about it." It would be the simplest way... "If I reversed the cure permanently, it wouldn't just be the humans who were in danger. I'm not sure what your experience with the 'virus' was, but I know that we would also be back at each others' throats within a matter of days. Do you really miss the mindless bloodshed?" Perhaps she could try to find a practice that would reverse the cure, save for the mindless part, but that was not one that she inherently knew -- ergo, it was not one she knew could ever exist.

"i remember," he growled, not particularly in her direction. "i remember that they tore away our brothers and sisters and forced our hand. i remember them taking our perfect unity and shattering it in the hopes they could keep control of their pitiful world. wake up, lenore," he turned on her again, stare like molten gold; "they want to keep us all apart. they want us afraid, cast out, stomped on. if we reverse their cure, our kind would never have to fear our rightful place again."

[surelenore]

"Oh?" The one that found him -- that certainly checked out. 'He' -- it couldn't be Sable, Valeria, or Leizu. 'Found him' pointed her toward Ngelah, what with the time he certainly had to spend in the wastelands... but she could never be too sure. Might as well ask, right? Worse that happens is he doesn't answer. "Which one found you? "You can stop now, if you'd like. Just rest it in there," she said, gesturing towards a hollow cylinder. "If you'd like something else to do, I have some liquid that needs stirring." He really was the most helpful trespasser a woman could ask for! If he agreed to stir the tar/molasses mix, she'd have half a mind to tip him once she ( possibly they ) were finished.

"not all of them. just one. he was the one that found me." or at least ordered around the people that had. they had known all the right words to say to get his cooperation, although it had taken a lot of tranquilizing and electroshock for that to mean much of anything. now he's just shy of obedient... even if he really doesn't want to be. the power of a few hundred volts is hard for him to counteract. he waves around the plant a little more, but quickly bores with the task. "how long do i have to do this for?" he asks, hoping that he can just set it down and do something else. like whatever she's doing, for example. maybe that would be more fun, even if it doesn't particularly smell like anything he would be interested in.

[surelenore]

"You'll have to tell me." She probably did not have documentation of 'this guy,' but the chance that she had documentation of someone with his mutation or similar? Very good chance. "What I have is documentation of different mutants under the canidae umbrella." Dog, wolf, coyote, fox... The cats were in that journal, too -- people always did love pairing them. "This contains 40 years of it." She tentatively held the journal out to Seth to paw through, see if any of the illustrated mutants looked familiar. As loath as she was to let him get his grubby little hands on it, she knew that desperate times called for desperate measures. And it sounded like he was experiencing some desperate times! "As for policy..." Would she love to help the mutants he employed? Absolutely. Would she love to help him in his concern to keep lining his pockets? Well... "I don't offer my protection to just anybody, darling. It's not as simple 'ta-da, your employees are protected' -- there's a practice to it." With the whole 'desperate times' thing, had one of his employees come to her... perhaps she would have made an exception (perhaps she would have recruited them!), but she saw a desperate scumbag and she saw an opportunity. "If you want more than just some advice on how to deal with whatever you're up against - " - possibly to be found in the documentation - " - I'm going to need something in return."

Her dismissive tone when it comes to his Lady is not a shred of skin off his back... she's heard of it, and that's half the battle. Even his club's most outspoken adversaries can't help but find solace in that warm neon glow when the world plays a little too rough.

Lenore gets up, whisks out of the room right in the middle of their conversation and motions for Seth to do the same. His mouth falls open in an argument but decides it isn't worth it, letting his head fall against the back of the chair with a lazy sigh before he hauls himself back onto his feet to follow. "Journals? What, you have fuckin' documentation of this guy?" Sure enough, Lenore leads the way to a wall full of journals, and even in their impressive number she's able to pinpoint and pull open the exact one relevant to their conversation.

Seth invites himself to the rest of the shelf, squinting and tipping his head to the side to read more of the labels. "So what, do you have a pretty forgiving policy on maulings, or were you just waiting on someone to notice, huh?"

[surelenore]

"Yes, I've heard of it." For better or for worse, that is. It had always come across as rather... exploitative to Lenore. Full of mutants, most of whom had something that set them apart from the rest. Perhaps a tail or a pair of wings or patches of fur... In any case, she had done her very best to withhold judgment, but now? learning that the man who runs it is a human? Dear god, could he be any more pathetically human now? "Rampaging, murderous wolfman?" It should have been a 'brand new sentence' moment, but it was not! In fact, it found her standing up and waving for the pimp to do the same. "I may have some information you'll find useful. There's decent documentation on different canis mutants among some journals in the back." She had dealt with mutants like that before, hence the journals, and she had noticed that the wolf division tended to be more prone to unprovoked violence than the dog/fox division -- not unlike how nature once was, she supposed. In any case, hearing that a group of mutants was being targeted by one -- and that the pimp of this group at least cared enough to try to find a solution (bar in hell) -- certainly warranted thumbing through some notes to see if the man would be able to identify which exact type of mutant he believed was targeting his staff. Reaching the back of the building, she traced her fingers over the spine of each journal until she found the one labeled 'FELIDAE/CANIS 2110-2150.' Pulling it out, she finally turned around to address the real reason he was there. "Now what, exactly, are you looking for?" Protection seemed to be the implication, but for a human man who profited off of mutants? "I can give you tips on how to deal with whoever may be targeting your staff, but actual protection will come at a price."

There's something in the way that Lenore looks at him that makes Seth feel like a rat, but it does little to deter him... he's well accustomed to beautiful, powerful women looking at him like that. "Well, I do appreciate the audience, sweetheart," he says with only a touch of sarcasm, inviting himself further into the room and easing down into a chair across from Lenore with an aching grunt.

"I don't know if you're familiar with my nightclub, the Bearded Lady, but we seem to be in a little bit of a pickle, huh? A rampaging, murderous wolfman kinda pickle. The damn thing keeps fucking up my staff, especially the mutant ones." Maybe it's a bad idea to spill his guts to a woman as difficult to pin as Lenore, but though he may not sound it, Seth is toeing the line of desperation.

[surelenore]

What Moonscar was once for, what it once was, may have been in ruins. She had had no choice but to either let it morph into something else entirely, or to abandon it... and she could not abandon it. Kill what was left of the good days? Kill what was left of her friend who still deserves a name since she plays such an important part in Lenore's backstory wtf may? Kill what was left of herself? She couldn't bring herself to do that -- she'd sooner let it be a shell than she would lay it to rest. Wasn't that the story of her life? But that was what had made Nova such an important part of her life. She was the only line left to the way it once was, to the way it was meant to be. She had Moonscar's blood running through her veins -- the last one left, save for herself -- and that made Lenore's status as her great-great-great-whatever-aunt feel much less distant than it should have. "Max is the boy with the tail and horns, correct?" So many names, such little time! "Oh, I'm sure he's not avoiding you. And if he is, get a lock of his hair for me and I'll take care of it." While presented as a joke, she would totally go a step further and use him as the next sacrifice if he were being a coward and avoiding Nova for... some reason. "But you know Sol City -- there's always something. "Well, I can't say I have many interesting stories to share since we last spoke. You cannot begin to imagine how many people crave some philosophizing around the holidays."

@surelenore

Nova didn't have much to go off of when it came to her family. Her Father, ever concerned with perception, kept her under lock and key most days. She had no contact with her Mother, she didn't even really know who she was. When she was old enough to leave home and go out on her own, it felt like a no brainer, though the world was much more intimidating than she ever thought it would be. Lucky for her, a family member, while not her Mother, came out of the woodwork. Lenore, Aunt Lenore if Nova was getting specific, had appeared a few years ago when Nova was still fairly fresh out in the world, and had taken Nova under her wing. It had been hard to grasp at first, though the concept got more and more comfortable as time went on. It was nice having an adult in her life who accepted her and her mutation for all it was worth. Now Nova found herself going to Lenore for most things. Even just a chat once in a while. "I haven't seen Max in forever, either. If I didn't know any better I'd say he's been avoiding me, but he's probably just busy. He'll round me up for his next hair-brained scheme, I'm sure," She laughs fondly, "But, I feel like I've been talking forever. You should take over so I stop rambling."

[surelenore]

While visitors were not necessarily uncommon, they were still just uncommon enough to warrant keeping a keen ear out. Before the man began speaking, her eyes drifted up to him. Human. Painfully human -- even outside of his appearance, it was the way he carried himself, the way he talked, that certain aura of unspoken smugness... "Yes, I can tell that much, darling." He was so human... so painfully human... Nonetheless, he wasn't wrong. Ever since the meteor, everything had been about the protection of mutants. Everything. And if he knew that... "I suppose I'll be the judge of that." It tended to be a quick swoosh out the door humans, the grand majority coming to her under the false pretense that they could also get protection, but if he had known to specify mutants... Leaning back in her chair, she figured she'd chance it! "Lay it out."

starter for @surelenore

"Miss Turei-Delacroix, I hear you're in the business of protecting mutants," Seth begins, leans heavy on a shoulder in her doorway. He's faintly aware of the power that drifts around Moonscar's dusty little libraries and can't imagine that a lack of manners will do him any favors here, but he's fuckin' exhausted, and he doesn't have time to wait for a tarot reading to get this business sorted. "Now, I'm not one myself, but I think I've got a damn good reason to be here if you'll hear me out."

[surelenore]

"I have seen it before and that's exactly why I can't justify permanence." She understood his frustration -- what had humans ever done for them? In another life, she may have had a goal like that of The Damned. In another life, she may have agreed that humans needed to be stomped out -- and she wasn't saying they didn't -- but... "Do you not remember all of the bloodshed it caused between mutants? It wasn't just humans that we were all targeting, we were killing our kin. There's no way to ensure that wouldn't happen again." For as much confidence as she had in herself... was it enough to risk more bloodshed?

"a temporary fix isn't going to fix anything," he protested, wild-eyed and raking a six fingered hand through his hair. "if we keep letting them take the upper hand, they're going to stomp us out like insects. i've seen it before. you've seen it before. you don't really think that just because they've forced their cure on everyone that they're done, do you? because that," he shook his head; "would be incredibly naive. the lenore i know is not naive."

[surelenore]

@buriedwithit ( max )

Oh, what a pitiful sight -- a young mutant, so beaten and bloodied and bruised. Short, scarred horns. A cross between his eyes. Lenore knew what was missing from this picture, the implication clear as day. Was it selfish or selfless? Perhaps there had been a time that it was for the betterment of the other party, but now that they were somewhere safe? She had never cared to determine why it was still only the visible, only the vulnerable, only the meek that she cared to recruit. "Oh, darling -- what got to you?"

[surelenore]

"Yes, well, I've also gotten plenty of compliments on my fashion sense." Although a statement of fact because May loves those 'fits so, what a thing to say to a fashion designer! Ah, the confidence. "Darling, ask and you shall receive." Strangely? Also a statement of fact, although certainly presented in a more playful tone than a 'yes, I can give you stripes if you want, I know how to do it, just let me know and I can get my supplies.'

I made them myself. Leizu actually laughs at that, a rare and silvery sound that comes in soft little bursts like champagne bubbles. "I'm sure there's plenty about you that's exquisite beyond your stripes." She leans a little closer, scrutinising the woman's face. "And if I were to want such markings for myself, do you suppose you'd be the one to give them to me?" Not scathing as Leizu is so prone to being; rather, there's something playful and challenging in her tone.

[surelenore]

"Well, when something has a history as extensive as that of Christmas, it's bound to get warped until only history knows what the truth is." Millennia upon millennia since there had allegedly been three wise men, millennia upon millennia since Pagans had first celebrated the rebirth of the sun, millennia upon millennia... "Opinions will arise and they'll either taint or improve the truth until there simply no longer is truth."

"Wow," was all she said, wondering how else to describe what she felt but felt that one work encapsulated it perfectly. She had so many questions, mainly with her wondering why she never got to know this holiday before - oh, right, because she was a prisoner... Good things weren't allowed for the wicked, according to them. "Why so many different definitions?"

[surelenore]

@kiranxturner

"Kiran Turner?" As loath as Lenore was to go to the Council for help... "You're the person I come to if I have requests regarding Sector Three, yes?"

[surelenore]

who: @buriedwithit ( santi ) when: some years back, not sure how many !

"It's intended to be a temporary fix, Santiago." Did she know how to make it permanent? She'd be able to figure it out with incredible ease. Did she want to make it permanent? "What do you think would be achieved out of permanence, anyway? More in-fighting and blood on the streets?"

[surelenore]

Whatever he wants? With the blatant shock collar around his neck, Lenore had to wonder just how true that was... and had to assume that the aforementioned shock collar had everything to do with him doing whatever he wants. Nonetheless, who would she be to judge? She had known more than a few mutants who could've used a shock collar of their own... "Good to hear -- not everyone gets that." And, again, she had to assume that he didn't actually get to do whatever he wanted. Whoever that shock collar belonged to ( probably the person whose 'bodyguard' he was ) would probably shock him if they knew he had decided to walk into Lenore's home, completely uninvited. "Do you guard for the Council?" There weren't many others Lenore could think of who would need guarding...

ed wrinkles his nose, chewing on the idea. how would stinking up a place like this purify it? the things people do—the civilized, sociable sort—are strange to him. questioning them all would be a waste of time. "i do whatever i want," he declares, straightening his back like that makes him important. like his shock collar isn't clearly visible around his neck. truthfully, he forgets it's there unless it's being used. "sometimes i'm a body guard, too."

[surelenore]

Great! No need to get the broom yet! "It cleanses, purifies." And what was more important for protection? Rid the air of any malevolent energy, strip away any malice that begged to return. Two decades. It could not happen again. Ed. Short, simple. It fit, she supposed. This bare bones name given to a man who seemed more... ignorant than malicious ( and even 'ignorant' didn't quite feel like the right word ) -- a bare bones name given to a man who she had been likening to a stray dog. "So what do you do around here, Ed?" Although she was not usually one for small talk ( and she assumed he wasn't either )... this was one interesting man.

ed is content enough to follow instruction, waving it around a little as instructed. it makes it smell more... albeit differently. "what is this supposed to do?" he assumes that he's not just doing it for the scent's sake, if only because he has met few people who appreciate things like that. maybe it's just because all the scents he like are so... unbearable to everyone else. who's to say? since there's no smell coming from the mortar and pestle, ed doesn't inquire as to what she's doing there. it's not interesting to him yet. "i'm ed," he answers, not bothering to follow up with a similar inquiry as to her own. that matters to him even less—and he's always found that if someone wants him to know something, they'll just tell him.

[surelenore]

Ah, don't you love it when a B&E'er winds up being a blessing in disguise? (She still kept in mind where the broom was if she wound up needing to shoo him out... but she'd make use of him as long as she could!) "Sage. Rosemary, if you want to get into the specifics," she answered, accepting that he deserved that sniff. He really was like a stray dog, wasn't he? "Wave it around a bit, will you?" She returned to the mortar and pestle, dropping the very normal ingredient of baby teeth inside the mortar and atop the already ground up moonstone. Reaching for the pestle, she began grinding them up, mixing them in with the moonstone. "Do you have a name?" -- wait, she had a feeling he would say 'yes' and nothing else -- "Assuming you do, I'd love to know what it is."

then why'd you say it? comes to mind, but ed has been thoroughly discouraged from asking questions of his own, and ultimately doesn't care enough about the answer to disregard that. "okay," he answers instead, taking the sage offered to him, albeit not without leaning in for what he believes is a well-earned sniff. she's right—that is the source of the weird smell. "what is it?"