[Joss Lehrer] Joss is a lot of things, and has been called almost all of them at one time or another. It never bothers her – and she never changes. Today, she’d be called weird, odd, and maybe a little insane. Why? Well..
There are a number of little parks around the Green, and most of them are in poor repair, and avoided by most, especially when the weather gains the crisp chill in the air that they feel today. The cold doesn’t seem to bother her though, as she’s dressed as she always is – her skirts caught and tugged by movement and the wind, her sweater dark and warm, her dreads hanging heavily down her back, her godi bag hanging on one hip, and one earbud in her ear, music blaring – heard by the one hanging around her neck as she…
…dances.
All alone in the park, she dances like no one is watching, breathless with the beat, with laughter, as she swirls and twirls and moves with the beat only she – and those close enough – can hear.
[Edwin Morr] ((Blur of the Milky Eye
Manipulation + Stealth + Fox, diff = 8))
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 6, 6, 6, 8 (Failure at target 8)
[Edwin Morr] ((Bein Sneaky
Dex + Stealth + Fox, diff = 6))
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 6 at target 6) Re-rolls: 2
[Edwin Morr] The fall daylight died behind a ceiling of thick, white clouds, giving birth to night… A truer night, if the cloud cover held, a night beyond the glare of the Moon, watching like some lidless eye fully opened hovering above the landscape. Shadows lengthened, darkness grew…
And those to whom such things were solace grew emboldened by their presence.
Wordlessly, silently, a thing that looks like a man skulks the park in Cabrini Green, its movements overly fluid and hard to follow… It’s nature seeming dangerous to what few catch even momentary glimpses of the thing.
It eventually stops, coming to rest in the shade of a tall and manicured pine tree, its hands in the pockets of a brown denim work coat as it watches Joss dance. Shaded eyes, perhaps blue or maybe gray, watch idly from the veil cast by the navy baseball cap. Its blue jeans faded to a duller shade in the darkness, their simple and heavily mass produced nature making them impossibly forgettable.
A lopsided and sly grin rests on sharp but exceedingly common features, while the figure waits for Joss to notice his presence the short distance away, as was only polite. Meanwhile, the steady thump of the bass beat from the blaring music drifts past his hearing…
[Joss Lehrer] (per+aware)
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 6, 8 (Failure at target 6)
[Joss Lehrer] Joss? Is completely oblivious.
She is lost to the music, to the dance, to the beat that thrums through her slender frame as she spins and twirls and gives herself the few moments to simply be. Here there is no pain. Here there is no loss. Here there is no longing. Here there is no sadness. There is only the beat, the movement, the complete release of everything holding her down, holding her back, holding her.
When she finally stops, she stands with her arms outstretched, her back arched, her head tipped back and her face to the sky, her eyes closed. Her skirts whip about her as the ever present Chicago breeze twists about her form, whipping her skirts into a frenzy, tugging at her dreads, buffeting her form in something like a caress, an embrace by an unseen presence.
And she screams. A deep primal yell of pure release as she lets it all go in a single vocal expression of pure, unadulterated release, grabbed by the wind and whisked away to the sky above. Only when it dies out does she open her eyes, straighten, and let her arms fall. The wind that played wildly with her before slides away, dissapating to the more expected Chicago breeze, and Joss returns to herself.
Still oblivious of the one that watches, of course.
[Edwin Morr] At this point, a time after in the dying embers of the scream, when it appears Joss isn’t in the middle of anything, Edwin’s mid-range drawl is heard… making his presence unmistakable to Joss.
“Somebody’s got quite th’set uh pipes on ‘er.”
He grins that sly grin, his hands still in his pockets.
[Joss Lehrer] She whips her head to the side as he speaks, gaze narrowing slightly, before she relaxes once she recognizes the voice, the form of the man watching her. She laughs softly, and shrugs her shoulders as she tucks her hands into the pockets of her skirt and moves to close the distance between them.
“Sometimes you just gotta let it all out, ya know? How are you this fine evening, Edwin?”
[Edwin Morr] “Oh, fair ta middlin’… Any night I’m still breathin’s uh good’ne so far’s I c’n reckon… How’re you? An’ ya really oughta give Hollywood uh try. Dem folks’d cast ya th’starrin’ role in uh slasher flick any day uh th’week if’n ya c’n holler like dat.”
He grins, nodding as she asks if he knows about letting it all out. He considers for a short time before continuing, still grinning that sly grin.
“‘Course, if’n ya did, it’d make findin’ ya uh neat trick, an’ I ain’t never been one fer workin’ any harder’n I hafta…”
[Joss Lehrer] She laughs at the thought that she should be in movies, and shakes her head. “Nah. Not my style. Not enough freedom of expression. I don’t take orders well, ya know…” There’s the sparkle of good humor, of mirth in her gaze as she grins at him.
“So you were lookin for me, were you? Something I can do for you?” The Shadowlords rarely seek her out, after all…
[Edwin Morr] “Oh, I might jes’ be able ta relate ta not followin’ orders so well, if’n I try real hard…”
Edwin chuckles at this, nodding.
“Well, dere’s dis a’here li’l matter whut concerns one uh yer packmates whut I got goin’… An’ I gits dis a’here feelin’ I’m uh hafta call in uh bit uh help ta see’t through. Help whut I’m willin’ ta repay if’n I’m in uh spot ta lend uh han’ fer sum’in’ yer needin’ done.”
He seems to consider for a few, scratching an unshaved cheek errantly in thought.
“How well ya know Andrew… Dances On Fir’?”
[Joss Lehrer] She arches a brow, slightly, and lifts a hand to push her dreads back over her shoulder as she studies him. She nods her head over toward the swings, and makes her way there, to settle into one of the seats. She starts it moving, just a little, with the toe of her boot.
“He’s my packmate, as you know, but well. He and I don’t much get along. Some, but not as much as I probably should. What’s on your mind?”
[Edwin Morr] Edwin moves to the angled vertical support column beside the swing Joss picks, and leans against it… The grin never wavers as he stands, but he perhaps takes a moment, two… before speaking.
Like a chess player considering his next move.
“Well, dere’s dis kin whut’s fallen un’er ‘is control… A kin whut don’t like ‘im none, unlessin’ I’m way off th’mark. Dis a’here kin does seem ta think I’m uh right nice guy ta have ‘roun’, so… I been tryin’ ta fig’re how ta git ‘er out from un’er ‘is thumb, so’s ta speak.
An’ me bein’ me, I cain’t reckon ‘im lettin’ ‘er run off like dat ‘thout him raisin’ some Cain uh his own. S’pose I’m wrong fer reckonin’ dat?”
[Joss Lehrer] She snorts. “He killed the last guy who tried to poach his kin – what do you think he’d do to you?” She looks up at him, and arches a brow… then groans.
“Oh god, you mean Lonna, don’t you.”
She scrubs her face with her hand, and shakes her head. “Does this girl have a golden vagina or something?!” A breath. “Ok – well, I should let you know that Curata will be joining the ranks of the Eagles soon, and he too is interested in keeping Lonna from under Andrew’s thumb.”
[Edwin Morr] Edwin chuckles darkly…
“If’n ’twere dat simple, reckon I’d settle fer somebody easier ta git. But, seein’s how she was once’n item wit’ m’brother… Reckon I’s made’t m’point ta keep in touch.
An’ I never could leave well ‘nough alone…
‘Sides… I reckon th’scen’ry could use some livenin’ up.”
Something about how Edwin says the word brother implies more than a familial tie… As though he meant someone he had fought the Wyrm with… a packmate. Edwin scratches his cheek again, considering.
“Be dat’s it may, reckon thangs’s already in motion whut cain’t be stopped… An’ I s’pose I’d be uh fool ta think dey’ll all go off slicker’n snot. There’s always uh hitch…
So, dat said, I fig’re’s time ta hedge m’bets.”
[Joss Lehrer] She chuckles softly, as she listens, keeping the swing in motion with the toe of her boot, leaning back to stretch after wrapping her hands around the chains, before she sits back up and looks up at him.
“Always wise when dealing with Andrew. Alright, what is it you think I can do for you?”
[Edwin Morr] “Well… If’n push comes ta shove, reckon ‘t may jes’ come down ta uh fight ta settle th’matter. Now, whutever m’own skills in dat r’gard, I reckon I’m always lookin’ ta git’n edge.
So… Dat said, I reckon gettin’ some help from somebody whut keeps congress wit’ spirits’s jes’ th’person ta see.”
He grins wider, humor and malice glinting momentarily in his eyes.
“I need uh doppelganger. Some critter willin’ ta play like it’s me, git Andrew’s attention, mebbe take uh hit’r two.
I fig’red mebbe ya’d have some idea uh whut critter’d be willin’ ta make dat kinda deal wit’ me.”
[Joss Lehrer] A puzzle. He presents the Godi with the undying curiosity and unlimited determinatin with a puzzle. He can almost see the wheels start clicking, the thoughts start boiling, the concentration in the marring her brow as she considers the possibilities.
“…I’ll have to think on it, Edwin. I’m not sure exactly how to make that work, but I’ll do some research and see if I can come up with anything for you. No promises – other than I promise to see if I can figure something out. I’m afraid it’s the best I can do until I do some research.”
[Edwin Morr] “Fair ‘nough. Reckon I cain’t ask fer more.
Anywho… If’n ya do git an idear uh how ta make dat happen, lemme know. An’ like I said, I’d be willin’ ta return th’favor, down th’road.”
With that, Edwin grins and nods, low enough to almost be a bow.
“Other’n dat, I reckon I taken up ‘nough uh yer time, Goss’mer Wing-rhya… Thanks fer th’talk.”
[Joss Lehrer] She is distracted now. She’s got her teeth in a puzzle and he’s the one who put it there – there’s little more she loves than being able to figure out something no one else has thought up yet. She chews her lower lip, and then shakes herself, and grins up at him. “I’ll do my best.” she always does.
“G’night, Edwin.”