Downfall RPG

Who: Rowan and Liah
Where: The stairwell, then the suite. Aloooooone.
When: Early afternoon

After lunch, Rowan had left Juniper downstairs with Jasper and Verity, fascinated by all the cords and wires and things he was playing with and promising not to get in the way, and started climbing the stairs doggedly, looking for Liah and munching on an apple.

An apple! Someone had brought in a whole bowl full of fresh apples, and he'd already had one, plus Juniper had, had one, and been very excited about it. He was on his second, and had a third and a fourth in a pocket. One for later, he wasn't sure who for just for later, and one for Liah. Because your best-friend-slash-girlfriend definitely deserved fresh fruit.

( Let's get you naked! )

Who: Liah, Verity, Rowan and Jasper and Juniper (NPCs)
Where: their suites
When: late afternoon

Liah had never wished more fervently for a DVD player and some children's DVDs. Oh, yeah, having electricity to run it might be nice, too. She was just about out of ideas for trying to entertain two kids who were worried about their older siblings-- particularly Jasper, who'd been without Verity for days now. Because he didn't talk, she had no idea what he was thinking, but she figured his mind was probably on worst-case scenarios by now. She'd finally just sat down and let Jas and Juny do whatever without her intervention, which was probably a good thing since they seemed calmer now. Hell, they were probably tired of her, and she couldn't blame them. She was getting tired of herself.

She swung her foot, her gaze on nothing in particular as she tried not to wonder what would happen if they didn't come back. Either of them or both of them. It seemed as if Rowan had been gone forever, even though she knew he really hadn't. She so didn't wait well, and it was taking all she had to keep her butt parked on the couch. Maybe she should put another coat of that gold polish on her nails, even if the kiddos complained about how it smelled.

( Everyone's home. )

placeholder for the rescue stuff

Who: Taylor and Rowan
Where: The roof
When: Mid-afternoon

Taylor was more than a little winded by the time she made it up the stairs to the roof. She didn't know what she was thinking, coming all the way up here. All she knew was that between being sick and just generally being afraid of what was out there, she had to get out and get some fresh air. She hadn't been up here since her picnic with Mini a few days ago and was starting to get cabin fever.

The little meeting they'd had earlier didn't exactly make her feel any better. Four of their little group, including Tayne, were still missing from the other night, and 2 more people weren't doing too well at all. She didn't feel like she had much right to complain about her spider bite after she'd heard what had happened to them. There was talk of a rescue party, and while she wanted to help out, she wasn't entirely sure she was healthy enough to really be of much use, especially after getting worn out by climbing the stairs.

All that melted away, though once she opened the door. The air didn't feel like it used to, and while the smells of death were fading, they were still there. But feeling the light breeze on her skin and the sun on her face made her feel better than she had in days. She stepped out more fully into the sunlight and smiled, feeling alive.

( Like it was before we came in and messed it all up. )

Who: Liah and Rowan
Where: their suite
When: night

The bedroom where Liah slept most of the time looked relatively cozy tonight. She'd gone through and put some of her things up, as opposed to strewed around all over the dresser and in the corners, and there were candles lit on the dresser and one of the night-tables. For illumination, of course, since they didn't have anything else except flashlights. She'd brushed her teeth and changed into what she was wearing to bed-- a camisole top and a silky pair of what looked to be previously unworn men's boxers that she'd found in a box in the storage room-- and she was currently sitting on the side of the bed fretting over her leg, the one she'd scraped up when she'd laid down Verity's cycle earlier today. She thought it looked horrible, even after she'd cleaned it up, and she was mentally debating putting some kind of lotion or cream on it. Would it sting? Was there anything that would make it heal faster?

( toe jujitsu? )

Who: Rowan and Terry
Where: Wherever Terry might be!
When: Late afternoon

After checking in with Liah and the kids, getting his back rebandaged-- Liah was not very happy with him, though the hug he'd gotten from her had almost made up for the semi-panicked lecturing-- Rowan bounded back down the stairs on leftover adrenaline and the thrill of maybe-- maybe-- having a clue about the rest of their whereabouts. At least he could say his excursion had born a little fruit, even if they hadn't been able to find them, directly.

He wandered the fourth floor briefly, trying to remember the room number, but then gave up and headed down to the first floor, looking for Terry. He'd pretty much forgotten their not-quite-shouting-match from the night before, much more interested in what had happened since.

( An improvement. Nobody shouted. )

Who: Juan and Rowan
Where: Out and about the city
When: Late afternoon

Juan had decided that it would be fastest if he went out alone. His ability to teleport got him through many apartments from when he began in early afternoon, but yielded him very little in the way of supplies. The most of what he found were new vividly decaying mostly eaten corpses... a sight he was becoming all too comfortable with. In the last apartment he found a few cans of baked beans and one of corned beef, which he wasn't certain if it was still good, but he still was on the look out for more canned goods. One find made the trip almost worth it in and of itself. It was a backpack filled with camping equipment. It had a medium-sized machete, a small set of binoculars, a few army rations, and the most impressive of all an emergency radio. The addition of this device to their supplies would probably help a great deal. Juan hadn't tried to use the radio just yet, since he was still out and about, but he definitely wanted to share this find with at least Joyce if not Terry. He teleported out and up to the roof of the next building and pulled out said binoculars and began to scope out the next complex.

( The next complex had a pair of drooping, blue-gray wings )

Who: Rowan and Liah
Where: The mall, then escaping from the mall!
When: Early afternoon

It'd taken a while to get to the mall, what with stopping at every not-ransacked-looking house to see what they could find, and load up the backpacks slung onto the motorcycle with whatever useful shit they could find. They only had one brief scare with a monster en route, lunging out of a house they had been about to enter, but Rowan killed it with a well-placed shot between the eyes. His aim was improving, he thought, or maybe just his eyesight. Did that come with the territory of turning into half a bird? He couldn't even guess, but as long as it helped him get by, he didn't care, either.

The mall finally came in sight, and none too soon. Rowan was getting tired of the piecemeal flights. On their way back, they could just go straight, without bothering to stop anywhere. All the taking off and landing was straining his back-- he was pretty sure he hadn't broken anything open again, but it hurt like hell anyway-- and on the way back he could just glide when possible, and fly straight the rest of the time.

Once Liah could see the mall, too, he swooped down and glided only a few yards over her head, so he could land once she got there, herself.

( Incoming! )

Who: Jasper (NPC), Juniper (NPC) and Rowan
When: Bedtime
Where: Jasper and Verity's suite

Jasper was in the closet. Had been since sundown. It wasn't exactly comfortable. Hotel rooms had no need for deep, comfortable closets like at home, but at least the floor was carpeted and comfy, and there were no clothes hanging down to poke his face and shoulders. His long legs were folded up to his chest and his eyes were firmly fixed on middle space, way beyond the opposite wall.

Juniper was sitting outside the closet, curled up in a similar sort of position, for all her limbs were a lot more stubby and she had more of them. She'd followed him when he slunk away after Rowan went downstairs and Verity hadn't come back, though she'd run out of things to say a lot earlier in the day, while Verity was gone but not missing.

That was how Rowan found them, though, looking for one, the other, or both to put them to bed. "Hey, monkey," he said to Juniper, looking from her to the closet and making an educated guess as to just why she was sitting there, and why Jasper was nowhere to be seen. Maple loved the closet when she was unhappy.

Had loved. "And hello, Jas!" he added, raising his voice a little so the boy would know he was talking to him.

( More logical than expected. )

Who: Rowan and Liah
Where: Their suite
When: Night

It was even darker trudging up the stairs than it had been galloping down them half an hour ago, the sun now completely set and the sky dark instead of just dim. No light whatsoever filtered into the stairwell, and Rowan was cursing not bringing along a flashlight or candle or something by the time he had gone even a couple flights, and sorely considering finding a window to leap out of to fly the rest of the way by the time he had gone a few more.

But he at least made it up to the suites without giving in to the urge, mostly by reminding himself that he needed every bit of flying power he had for tomorrow. He might not be able to fly in the dark very well, but he sure as hell could get up at dawn....

He unlocked the suite door and came back inside. Juniper wasn't in the front room; she was probably over with Jasper on his side of the rooms, where she had been since dinner when they all realized Verity had been gone too long.

( you'd better be fine )

Who: Rowan and Terry
Where: The lobby
When: Shortly after sundown

It wasn't like Verity to be gone this long. He had a brother to worry about, dammit. And though he didn't know it, he was missing a date with some very lovely alcohol. Rowan had even waited, not wanting to get started on anything until after Verity got back from his search party gig.

By the time the sun was fully down, and dusk hanging heavily on the dark city outside the window, Rowan was done pacing and worrying the kids. He pocketed a suite key, asked Liah as nicely as he could manage to watch the kids for a bit, and stalked off towards the stairs. Navigating them in the dark was a little tricky, but he had wings, didn't he? And there was a handrail, so every time he tripped, he just grabbed it and flapped his wings a time or two-- to the mild aggravation of his back, though not quite as bad as he'd been afraid it might be-- and he was okay again.

He tripped probably a good dozen times, because he wasn't exactly going slow.

( What do you mean, so what? )

Who: Etienne and Rowan
Where: In front of the hotel
When: Afternoon

Who: John & Rowan
Where: The hallway and then the kitchen
When: Early morning, September 4th Day 14

He'd stayed in his room on Day 13 of the end of everything he'd known. Drake had managed to get him to this place, with two people who seemed friendly enough, and the man who'd met them, though a little pale and tired, had been a wonderful sight. Normal people. A hotel. Lots of rooms to explore. He was sorry there wasn't any power. John had always liked riding in the elevators and sneaking into rooms marked 'staff only'. 'Always' was a relative concept. Since his recovery from the accident, he'd reverted to a few activities he'd enjoyed when he was eight. Going where he wasn't supposed to go was one of them. He'd done that during his first week at the facility and Christina, his 'lifestyle coordinator' had been very upset with him. He and Mr. Squiggles had curled into a ball in his room and cried and refused to have dinner as a form of self-punishment.

Until dessert had been revealed: chocolate ice cream. John couldn't remember the last time he'd had ice cream.

He'd chosen a room on the twelfth floor, because he wanted to view and no one thumping above him. Drake had also wanted it for the view, but he was thinking strategies and stuff and that just made John bored. He hadn't unpacked his bag, afraid that at any moment, this safe zone would become a war zone and he'd have to flee. Well, Drake would get them out. He said he knew how to climb the outside walls. A part of John was terrified, but the other part was equally excited. he could be like Spiderman... Leaving Mr. Squiggles in charge on a pillow on the bed, John opened the door to the hall, thinking that with the sun up now, he should explore a little. He'd eaten one of his energy bars, but more food would be good, too.

( You got a weird way of freaking out, yo. )

Who: Rowan and Liah
Where: Their hotel suite
When: Late afternoon

Getting back to the hotel was awful. Rowan had two backpacks of collected stuff with him, dangling from his arms, and one was twice as heavy as the other since it had a shit-ton of paper in it. It made flying in a straight line actually take effort, trying to balance himself out. And trying to even the load didn't work very well: the books and other things didn't really shift well, and then still fit. So he just strained harder on one side than the other.

Then half the city, it seemed, was on fire, and he had to fly around the smoke so he didn't go through it. That added another half an hour to the trip back, because he just couldn't get enough height to get above the smoke.

And then there were bird-monsters who decided he looked tasty.
( And wounds. )

Who: Rowan
Where: His old house
When: Late morning

It hadn't really been a conscious decision to go back to his mother's house. He'd been off in the vague direction of the neighborhood, trying to go further afield and away from the more picked-over areas in the center of town, and he'd recognized Maple's old school. After that, he'd angled along a familiar street, and when he saw his own roof, he'd just found himself lofting downwards, keeping an eye on the ground for movement out of habit, and landing in his own backyard.

( Childhood lost. )

Who: Verity and Rowan
When: Morning
Where: The lobby

( So you're making an incubator type thing. For bird-monster eggs. )

Who: Rowan and Liah
Where: Their suite
When: Morning, early-ish

When Juniper crawled out from between Rowan and Liah, Rowan hardly noticed. He grunted a little when she accidentally pulled a feather, but when she whispered an apology and scrambled off the bed and hurried out, he just muttered something unintelligible and settled back down again. This time his arm fell around Liah, since she was right there and available, and he quite promptly fell asleep again once he'd gathered her up against him. His eyes hadn't even opened once.

Liah hadn't moved a hair when Juny'd made her early exit from the bed. When the three of them slept together, or even when it was just her and Juny, she'd noticed that the girl liked to get up very early. Way too early in her opinion, but as long as she didn't have to get up then, too, what did she care? She'd slipped out of bed around 4 a.m. for a potty break, and once she'd gotten settled back in, she likely wouldn't wake up until there was more light in the sky. She didn't wake up when Ro got close to her, either. She was probably less likely to now that there was a warm body fully pressed against hers.

( Fine, no touching. Maybe she just needed to get laid. )

Who: Juan, Pepper, Rowan
When: Late afternoon, 5ish
Where: The hotel, then a neighborhood a little ways away from the hotel

Juan was loitering in the Lobby. After playing in the dining hall for a little while, he was getting antsy. Teleportation made the act of putting his violin away and grab his empty backpack on the seventh floor feel like an afterthought and Juan was ready to go. His talk with Terry the day before about helping with outings really got him excited and any chance that he had to leave the hotel would be taken at a moments notice. SO what better way to go about this goal than by hanging out in the lobby. It was the only main exit to the building that he knew of so someone was bound to happen by with the intent on going out. He'd just be patient.

Pepper had gone out earlier in the day - on super-secret business, of course. But spending so much time inside with nothing to do but bother Dhaval and scribble on her walls left her rather restless. She'd initially wandered to the first floor in search of food, but on her way out of the kitchen, touting a rather impressive sandwich, she spotted Juan popping back into existence.

"Oh, wow! Can you do that again?" She bounded forward and crouched down to peer at him, grinning in what she presumed was a friendly fashion.

( The actual monsters. )

Who: Josh and Rowan
When: mid-afternoon, day 9
Where: the roof

It had just stopped raining, and Josh wasn't sure he was pleased about that. He'd been standing out in the open during the downpour, and his jeans, t-shirt and hair were soaked; he brushed longish dark-blond hair that dripped with water out of his eyes as he looked up at the sky. Dark-grey clouds roiled, although he couldn't tell if there would be more precipitation to come or if the rest of the day would simply be gloomy. Whether it would rain again or not didn't matter that much. He felt better up here than he did in the stuffy and dark confines of the hotel.

It might seem strange that he'd been standing out here getting drenched, but it was a behavior that now felt as instinctive as breathing. The showers he'd taken since he'd gotten to the hotel were icy cold, and it wasn't from any impulse to try to save the hot water. It cooled him, energized him, even sometimes made him feel a strange sort of arousal that he wasn't sure what to do with. Beyond the obvious, of course. His skin felt so hot all the time now, and the cold water provided relief. The rain did, too, when it was a cool rain like this one had been. Josh stood as if in a daze as the wind blew all around him, chilling him further, and his fingers rubbed idly at one bare elbow. Was the whole world like this? he wondered. Small ports of refuge, but other than that chaos?

He squinted toward the distant horizon, taking a couple of steps closer to the edge of the roof. Not close enough to fall off but close enough to feel as if he was standing in the middle of nothingness, waiting for it to sweep him away.

Who: Verity and Rowan, and Jasper of course
Where:
When: Late morning

Verity was hard at work. Well, he had been hard at work. His eyes had begun to go a little screwy from all the intent staring at tiny wires he was doing. But his eyes were used to it, and he was actually comfortable for the first time since it all began. With Jasper on hand to assist, he couldn't quite forget he was missing his second little apprentice, and working in natural light and on an ugly table rather than his nicely contained workbench made it all a little awkward, but he was in his element. This was where the world made sense, and the power he'd finally admitted he had was beginning to feel perfectly natural. The machine parts before him formed into perfect pictures in his mind, the bits yet to be affixed only a little harder to see. Jasper had been playing with Juny, or as close as the boy got to playing, and the doors were standing wide open. Verity barely noticed, though the movement of air that allowed was welcome. The August air was bad enough without being on the top floor where every atom of hot air seemed to collect.

Thankfully, it wasn't as hot today as it could of been. Less thankfully, that was because it'd been raining on an off all morning. Rowan had been waiting for a period of non-raininess-- he hated getting rained on, and thankfully hadn't been up early enough for the first little mini-storm-- that seemed to have finally come. He pushed up from the couch in his and Liah's side of the currently double-suite, where he'd been altering-- painstakingly slowly-- more shirts with buttons and zippers and things, for working around the wings, and moved over to the door between the two suites. "Hey. Ver'."

( Along with a little almost-family bonding. )