The Universe's Mixer

It was her last day on this so-called 'vacation' -- and if she'd had any sense at all about how she'd asked for the time off, she'd have arranged for tomorrow to be counted within her allotment of vacation as well. It was her 20th birthday, though no one in the City knew it. Then again, Beauty could think of no other way she'd rather spend her birthday than at work, surrounded with the heady scent of old pages and book glue and brewed coffee.

But today -- today was her last free day, and she wanted to spend it in celebration. That's why she'd brought out a large, thick blanket into the City Commons, along with a basket full of fruit, cheese, croissant, and red wine, and finally a very large umbrella. (The umbrella hadn't been her idea, but it'd appeared for her at the door when she went back for her stack of books. With a word of thanks to the air above her, she'd snagged the whole entire thing and stuck the over-large umbrella into the ground right at the place where she was now sprawled, grapes in one hand, half-finished book in the other.

Lounging in the park, reading a book, munching leisurely on grapes -- Beauty was oblivious to everything around her.

Keeping busy agreed with Dinah. So did... whatever it was that she had started with Dean. She still had her rough days where the loss of Jake would hit her all over again, but it was no longer every single day.

She had pretty much thrown herself into crime fighting and the shop and trying to make sure that her roommate didn't rip out his stitches. She was trying to take care of him as much as he'd let her at least.

Today, she was busy with the shop. There weren't many customers, which meant that she had time to catch up on the books. She sat behind the counter, poring over the daily numbers and the ledgers.

This might not be her favorite part of owning a flower shop, but it was a release in itself. It was hard to think about much else when one was engrossed in the math required in bookkeeping. All the same, she still had her ears open for the bell that might tinkle to let her know that a customer had entered the store.

Rufio had come to a bit of a rut. The days were all starting to bleed together and leave him with little to nothing new or exciting to do, and he didn't see Megan or Red enough to fill in the hole the rest of the time fell into.

He'd taken to messing around on the streets, but found that as he looked older more people seemed to be intolerant of his presence. Maybe growing up meant you really couldn't be different looking. After trading foul words with an old man he'd been called a deli-something and told to "get a job", and that had made him think.

Megan had a job. Annie, the girl who'd given him Buzzer, had a job. Maybe Red had a job, he didn't know. But they didn't seem to be bad things, and they kept people busy.

So the rapidly-turning-not youth had set about the city on his skateboard, exploring and looking at what people did here. There was no end of really boring looking jobs, from working in stores to garbage men, guys who drove trucks and carried heavy things around all day.

There were the weird looking jobs he heard about, like the people who had super powers and weren't well liked by the City (though the Mayor seemed to like the one girl, Rufio hadn't missed noticing his arch enemy's picture in the paper). But Rufio didn't really think he should be in that, either. Not when he still couldn't fly or find Toot Toot.

There were doctors (boring) and repairmen (it was more fun to break stuff than fix it) and one guy who would stand by the fountain all day and fish out the garbage and leaves that fell in it. There were the guys who pushed hot dog and ice cream carts around, but Rufio would rather eat those things than sell them.

After a while, licking an ice cream cone and walking down the street, Rufio thought the only job that seemed like fun was already taken by the girl who walked other people's dogs around. They'd been great fun, but then he found out he'd have to pick up thier poop and the position lost most of its appeal.

Frustrated the spikey haired youth considered giving up when he heard sirens. He blinked, ready to run, but the cop car passed by him swiftly, heading to a small restaurant. Rufio dropped his cone and scrambled up onto a dumpster, jumping up onto a fire escape just to be sure they wouldn't come after him anyway, then crouched down to watch the officers as they ran in. The uniformed cops soon emerged, each holding two different men who were beaten up and trying to lunge at each other. Rufio let out a low whistle as the police threw them against the car and cuffed them, and a crowd filtered out of the restaurant to watch.

Then it struck Rufio. Maybe he could be a cop. He liked to fight, after all, and driving around looked like fun. Sure, most of the cops here were stupid and useless, but Rufio could be the first good one, maybe. It would definitely be fun to beat up bad guys all day.

He wondered how somebody became a cop, and pondered the matter as he continued to watch the two officers and their suspects.

The dress was the usual vamp vamp. She didn’t feel ridiculous in it; it was just another outfit. She’d get to wear her more comfortable clothes once her shift was done; plus, she had to things to do at the bar. Business. She had a mind for it, even if her father hadn’t thought that way so long ago. There were times she actually thought about him and how very odd he’d find her life, even if she weren’t a vampire. Then again, if she weren’t a vampire, she’d be dead, or deader than she already was.

Pam gave a slightly fangy hiss at some silly human, then had to stop herself from rolling her eyes as the silly thing squealed and pointed. She would have been happier if the squeal wasn’t a sound of joy. Well, in this case anyway. She liked it when her food when it actually understood she could hurt it, or them.

She’d noticed that the bar felt a little strange; the humans were..docile. They felt off. She glanced around the main room. Something didn’t work. She hadn’t expected to see Eric at the throne, as it wasn’t his night, but she would have felt more comfortable to see him there, ( feeling just as bored as she. )

It was nice to have a moment to relax. Working and interning under Dr Brennan took much of his time. But he was in no way upset about that. Hannibal very much enjoyed being busy and having his mind stimulated so consistently. Brennan was a very good teacher, she held nothing back, and gave as much information at once as she thought he could handle. He only hoped that she was enjoying their time together as much as he was.

Still, sitting and watching the world go by gave him time to think of other things. To consider life and the things he had learned recently. To run through his lessons, to relive the moments outside of the wall. And to give attention to the lives going on outside of his own.

After all these years, the City still managed to surprise him. Throw new things in his direction, and he was glad for that. He never had a chance to be bored, or to have to seek out his own entertainment. Hannibal lived a very satisfying life here. He wondered how many others could say the same thing.

There was a full tea service in front of him. The coffee shop he was sitting in wasn't exactly a high class venue, but he had asked if they had this kind of thing, and they had said yes. Hannibal wondered if it was there because the City had known he was in the mood for it, or if it was there because it was there. Either way, he was quite pleased. The tray held a full pot of hot water, a silver box of assorted teas, steepers, small spoons, sugar, cream, and a small plate of biscuits. The other cups had gone untouched, and really it was a lot for one man, but that took none of the pleasure out for him.

There was calm in the bar. But not the kind of calm that says everybody is having a good time, and everyone is going to leave happy. It was the kind of peace that only comes before a big storm. Where every moment that goes by without words or laughter just makes everyone more tense. The only sounds that could be heard were the scraping of chairs across the floor and drinks being put down. The music in the background was loud, but it seemed to be faded out. As if it were a soundtrack being played over the top instead of coming from the jukebox.

People had been ill at ease lately. The City not moving, then suddenly starting again. The citizens were confused, they were ready to break.

All it took was one guy lightly bumping into another as he tried to get by, a drink spilling a small drop onto a shoe. Then the shouting match started. Soon, almost everyone in the bar was on their feet, taking sides, even if they had no personal quarrel. The noise became great, then. People turning to the person closest to them to start their own fight over more little slights that wouldn't have gotten more than a harsh look on any other day.

Nobody could have said later who did it. Who threw the first punch. But it happened.

Then, chaos.

( notes )

Fresh from her makeover with Pixie at the helm, Beauty bounded up to the door of the mansion she knew was Charlie's. And Ted's. And the Horse's! Her hair was streaked with pastel multicolors that managed not to clash with the wispy bit of pink and pattern that she liked the most of all the dresses she and her friend selected together. She wasn't completely sure of herself in this new look, but she was determined to try it. She lifted her hand and knocked, pleased with the jangling chiming sound the movement produced. Thin silver, bronze, black and gold bracelets settled back down against the delicate bones of her wrist when she dropped her hand again.

On that arm also hung a basket filled with fruit and croissants. Some of it was for Horse. Some of it was for her and Charlie (and Ted, if he happened to be a fruit eater...or croissant eater). The other arm was occupied with hugging Ted's stickered laptop against her side. She shifted her weight in the chunky platform heels she wore, then stared down at her toes. They'd been painted a candy pink. Wriggling her toes again, she speculated just how women had started the practice of painting their toenails. She would have laughed at the notion, back in Paris.

Then again, she'd never heard of bronzer before, either. Beauty sucked in her cheeks, wrinkled her nose, and stared at the door expectantly. Her lips felt sticky and heavy from the almost-clear, pinky gloss. The test, she thought, was how other people would react to what she looked like. If no one gasped, she was going to count it as a success.

Beauty realized she was a little nervous about how Ted and Charlie would react to her new look, under the buzzy excitement she'd felt with Megan. She shifted her weight again. Lifted a foot. Set it down carefully again. Platform shoes. She was getting used to them.

(Takes place right after this thread)

Lois let Lindsey lead her into Caritas, not quite sure what to expect. Whatever she might have been expecting, the array of colorful, horned demons was not it. She instinctively moved a little bit closer to Lindsey.

"You sure this is the right place?" she said in a low voice.

She was open minded enough that if he said that these people weren't going to eat them for dinner, then she'd trust that for now.

She was also still curious to hear the answer to her question about the owner of this place. She'd heard rumors that people could go in and sing and have their fortunes read, or something along those lines. Of course, the last fortune teller she'd gone to had told her that she was destined to end up with a guy who wore tights and liked to fly. She might have previously joked about waiting for her crossdressing pilot, but after seeing those comics, she had a feeling that that fortune teller hadn't simply been some hack making up a laughable story. Maybe.

Is the Mayor in Bed with the Justice League?
by Lois Lane

(below the headline is a picture of Jack and Zatanna kissing in the street)

Recently, Mayor Heart has spotted around town with a certain fishnet-sporting mystic who just happens to be a member of the Justice League. Previously, the mayor has been outspoken about his views in opposition of the Justice League operating in our fair City. With this latest development, one might wonder if the mayor is starting to change his tune? While it's possible that the mayor has been attempting to form some sort of allegiance or peace treaty with the League, the hero in question is not the official leader of the League. Moreover, sources say that he appears to have spent at least one entire night in her company.

The above picture also suggests a very different kind of allegiance between the mayor and Ms. Zatanna Zatara, the league's resident spellcaster.

So where does this leave the mayor's official position regarding the Justice League and other similar heroes? A spokesperson for the mayor declined a comment on this article. However, according to Ted Earley, who is in charge of finance for the City, it would seem that those in the Mayor's office may not agree with the official position on costumed heroes as well. According to Ted: "His position is his alone... I can't even say for sure that his official statement on the matter matches what he really believes."

Ted also goes on to say that "I think the superheroes do good. I was personally saved by Batman just recently. I don't think that they would hurt anybody on purpose, and from what I read about the King Kong thing, they made sure to have people on hand to help any bystanders who did get hurt."

It would seem that there might be a change of heart (no pun intended) in the works for the mayor and, one would hope, for City legislation regarding superheroes.

Jo wasn't usually the type to wear a dress, except for when she was going undercover for something or other. In fact, she very rarely wore anything other than jeans. Which was why she was a little frustrated with the City (or whomever might have broken into her apartment and left clothes in her closet) for filling her closet with dresses and dressy pants and shirts.

Not that she would have shown up for dinner in jeans and a ratty flannel shirt, but she resented that the choice was being taken out of her hands. She finally grudgingly settled on a flowered sundress that was cute but not overly formal.

She didn't really know what to make of her dinner plans for the night. Ted was sweet, if not her normal type in many ways. All the same, there was something sort of refreshing about that. He wasn't a hunter, which was extremely appealing actually. Most hunters seemed to be loners who didn't do all that well with relationships. Or they just went off and... well, she wasn't going to think about what had happened to her first boyfriend.

While it was all she knew, and there was a part of her that was definitely drawn to those types, the idea of getting out of her wheelhouse sounded kind of nice.

She was more nervous than she'd expected so by the time she pulled her truck into the parking lot of the building that housed the mayor's office, Jo's mind was a bit blank. She had kept the shotgun as well as a few other hunting supplies in a lockbox in the back of her truck. It never did hurt to be prepared and Ted had seemed more than willing to have that extra protection around. There was also a small vial of holy water, a knife, and some salt in her purse.

Once a hunter, always a hunter. She might look like a normal twenty-something woman, but she never really left the hunter side of her personality at home.

Fred felt a little more relaxed. She did her best to avoid the theater, hoping to keep from bumping into the second Eric or Erik or Erich...that name really wasn't her friend at the moment, even if she'd only met two in the City so far. She was curious, which was certainly her downfall; she knew curiosity did kill this particular Fred shaped kitty, and she had to work to keep from letting it do so again. She was curious about the dancing, yet she knew that she could find the truth some other way.

She hadn't any real direction for this particular jaunt. She had considered going to see Annie to show off the tablet she'd been allowed to keep, but the City didn't seem that interested in letting her. Then again, she wasn't trying too hard to get there. She held the tablet close to her, much like she had her clipboard before it. Now, she just walked along, smiling to herself.

Now if she could avoid the crazy. Maybe something a little more comforting?

( ---- )

The City was back to it's old self. That made Brennan feel a little better. She still needed to get in touch with a couple of detectives to really get the ball rolling on the murders that were occuring and see what she could do to get them solved. She really had no doubt that she could do it. She couldn't think of a single case that she had failed to crack. She'd had help, though... She could only hope the City had competent people who could assist her.

Before she'd met Booth, she had been trained in several types of martial arts, had a hunting license and had the ability to carry a gun. But that was five years ago. Her judo and karate were rusty and she didn't have a gun. She'd let Booth protect her for too long, and now she just wasn't up to par.

She wasn't thinking about that, at least not until she took a turn down a dark alley and a shady looking man stepped out in front of her. It was dark, and she knew better than to walk alone in dark places like this. But with the streets moving again, she was just trying to find her way home from the Lab.

She paused and thought about going back when he rushed her and grabbed her arms, pinning her against the building she was closest to. She gasped and anger instantly washed over her features. She struggled, but he was strong and he was close enough, leaning against her, that she couldn't use her knee as a weapon.

"LET ME GO!" She yelled, hoping that someone near by would hear her and distract him enough that she could nail him in the nuts.

Oliver had followed the headlines surrounding the appearance of the genius loci of The City. Thomas. He'd never heard of such a being before, but if the City was sentient, why shouldn't it be able to manifest a human personification for itself? Like a space ship's holographic AI, or enchanted castles in science fiction and fantasy. It explained some things, and stirred up plenty of additional questions--but the whys and wherefores of The City weren't really the foremost question on his mind.

The question that was front and center for him was how to keep the League united, so that they could work together to protect the people of the city. How not to cripple themselves by putting themselves at odds with the local law enforcement. How to pull in people that would strengthen the group as a whole. How to cover for each others' weaknesses. It was a lot like overseeing the HR department of Queen Indistries.

Whenever Ollie found himself puzzling over a particular challenge, whether it was League or business related, he always found that he thought more clearly when he put in a little target practice. It was like meditation for him. Helped him focus, and stay on target--in more ways than one. So come noonish, he called it a half-day and clocked out early to hit the range.

Or at least that's what he intended to do, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Dinah was extremely glad for that fact that they had painkillers in the apartment, especially because her head felt like it was about three sizes too big by the time they’d arrived at the Sherwood Florist. Ordinarily, she would have argued that Dean shouldn’t be driving when he was bleeding like that, but she’d been a little too dizzy to drive herself.

She made it to the door first and let the two of them in. As soon as they were inside, Dinah went into action mode. She was in her element with this sort of thing. Having problems to solve-having someone to take care of, even if Dean was just as focused on taking care of her-that was easy. Being on a sort of double date with her closest friend and not knowing how things were going to work out? Not nearly as easy.

The painkillers were in the oversized toolbox that she’d converted into a first aid kit. She brought it back to the living room, along with bottles of water for each of them to drink with the Tylenol 3 that she had in the first aid kit.

She took two for herself and then held out the bottle to Dean.

“You should take these and then you need to shower. The sooner you wash that wound out, the better.”

Dinah would want to shower herself. She might not have spent as much time on the ground, but she had gotten covered in vampire dust and had been knocked to the ground a few times as well. But cleaning out his wound came first. She was going to have to keep an eye on that and make sure it didn’t get infected.

“Think we might have some leftover pie and ice cream in the freezer if we still wanted dessert after all of this,” she said with a small smile.

It might have been a bribe to get him in the shower, or possibly making up for the date that had been cut short.

( Read more... )

The dinner had been strange, but a little bit fun too. The more Dinah got to know Zoe, the more she liked the woman. And the more curious she was about her as well. There was more to her, Dinah was sure. Though that was a mystery to be solved another time.

Things were still a shade on the awkward side with Dean, but she supposed that was to be expected. She was ready to work on getting back to normal, which meant that she tried to keep up a steady stream of chitchat on the way out. It wasn’t perfect, but she was trying. She stopped once they got out to their vehicles.

“Thank you for coming along tonight,” she said, putting a hand on his arm.

She hadn’t really gone out of her way to touch him over the past few days. It wasn’t that she was angry, but she just didn’t want to seem like she was trying to push things. Of course, they usually did hug and touch, so her lack of touching might have seemed strange. Or he might have been oblivious or relieved. She had no idea, really.

“It would have been a lot more awkward to be the third wheel,” she said with a small smile.

( Read more... )

The crone had found the conference very interesting, but that reporter had asked questions later in her paper she didn't care for. The fact that the City was now...normal hadn't been missed either. How could she not know that her spell had been broken by someone with a good deal of power? She didn't have to think long or hard on who that someone was either. The god was a being she'd have to handle; she'd noticed the woman with him, but for the moment, she'd decided to take up a bit of distraction.

Baba Yaga'd sent a woman dressed in the crone's clothes to the Tower, given the woman instructions, and set her loose. The woman would definitely smell like the crone as she stood waiting for the beast to come out and play. She was built much like the crone, or Red, was, and she held a small basket with pieces of tasty meat inside. On the basket was a small envelope, inside, a note:

You may enjoy this one, or you may come play in the park. Bring the food. We could have so much fun, my darling.

It was unsigned, but the scent alone should be enough to tell the blue furred genius who sent him his little present.

The crone sat on a park bench and watched the world move around her. She had picked a spot that seemed more wooded than normal. Quite possibly her cabin was close by. Perhaps Eric would feel the strong hint of mischief, anticipation, and lust from the small woman. She was certainly in the mood for a distraction with so much possibility.

It felt odd to say that he had his job back when Errol felt as if he'd never left. The layout of the store had changed enough so that it didn't feel as seamless as returning to his apartment, but books were books and it was easy enough to turn on the coffee pot, make sure that the sign in the door said "Open," and he began to browse himself for a book to settle behind the counter with.

Or he would have, if curiosity hadn't gotten the better of him and he picked up one of the City newspapers left out near the coffeepot instead. Since arriving in the City Errol did his best to avoid the news. After Libria, he preferred to live in an insulated bubble. But a long absence meant that the City had possibly changed around him. That bubble could have changed without him knowing. It was safer for him to know than to exist in happy ignorance right now.

He sat back behind the counter, a paper unfolded in front of him, and soon began making notes of back issues to find in the library. Apparently things had been very interesting since he had been here last.

Wash was accustomed to having vivid dreams, but they were usually weird, wild and wacky adventures that sometimes involved goslings or dinosaurs. Vivid nightmares, too, though he didn’t like to dwell on those - nightmares too close to life, nightmares of very real potential dangers and deaths. This, though... this was different.

He had been dozing off behind the wheel. Not while piloting, of course - just waiting. It happened, sometimes; he’d slip into dreamland and be jolted awake by Mal’s or Zoe’s voice over the comm system. And now he was dreaming. He had to be dreaming. There was no way this city around him, these unknown streets, were real. Unless he’d been kidnapped by some random group of miscreants, dragged off of Serenity, and dropped off here. Stranger things could happen.

It was clearly a city. That much he could be sure of. It was dusk in some nameless city, and Wash stood somewhere on a sidewalk in the middle of it, gazing at the things around him with a puzzled expression and slightly narrowed eyebrows. It was old here. Weirdly old. There were actual cars driving by on the street - not land-speeders, but cars, mythical things of legend that he’d only ever heard of or seen in pictures. Everything around him was in English; not a bit of Chinese in sight. Everything was antiquated, ridiculously so; it didn’t make any sense.

He tried the pinching thing. Pinch your arm, wake yourself up. Classic and simple. But not working. Head quirked to one side, he touched the side of the nearest building. It felt real. It felt like it was really there. After a moment’s hesitation and fully aware that, if the whole kidnapping thing had actually happened, he was being incredibly stupid, Wash clenched his hand into a fist and slammed it against the wall.

“Liou coe shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze duh ur-tze!*” he swore loudly, causing a few heads to turn in his direction. He was a bit too busy being confused, disoriented, and, after punching a wall, in a decent amount of pain. This was real. This was very painful and very real. Wash flexed his fingers experimentally, hoping to God he hadn’t broken anything. Wherever he was, however he’d gotten here, the last thing he needed was a trip to the local hospital. All he could hope was that the rest of the crew was around here... somewhere... somehow.

*Stupid son of a drooling whore and a monkey.

His encounter with Lestat had left him wondering. He had not seen the other vampire since to ask him if there had been changes in his own life. Eric had not discovered any new powers himself yet. It would make him very angry if he'd done all that and gone through the pathetic and annoying moments of lust for nothing.

He supposed he was going to have to test things.

If he was going to test things, he would need Baba there, just in case. Not to mention, she would probably have better ideas of what to test.

For now, though, he was taking another day just for the sun. Things were back to normal, it seemed. As normal as normal could get in this place, anyway. There had been no threats to his person, despite what Baba had told him, and he hadn't been able to happen upon Hank himself to ask or explore other options.

In his stroll through the park, Eric discovered a strange thing. There seemed to be a celebration going on, complete with a temporary pizza cart. There was a big, but portable oven, and a counter on wheels. The crowd seemed to be excited by this, as there were many of them crushed up in a haphazard line. Pizza in the park. It was amazing the things that humans found fun.

He began to turn toward it, to get closer to the crowd to observe them.