We Float

Who: Matt Cavanaugh and Maxxie Delacourt
When: Wednesday, June 23
Where: Anhalt Building
What: Discussing what both have figured out about how to restructure the group and make it be something everyone wants to be in.
Status: Closed, Incomplete

It probably looked like Matt simply had his eyes closed. At least, it probably looked like that on first glance, but the two fingertips trailing into the coffee in the cup by his hand likely gave the impression he was actually asleep, but it wasn't like the coffee was hot, or something. He still hadn't entirely decided to do anything about that, because he was trying to figure out the answer to the first labour.

Because really, how did you make an everlasting brownie?

He'd considered and discarded LSD (flashbacks counted as everlasting, right?), genetic resequencing so that Ganesh simply thought he had always just eaten a brownie (too expensive), a really large brownie (ridiculous), and a knitted brownie. The last was the most promising, given that Ganesh had never said it had to be edible.

Not that Matt could knit, but that was a problem for later.

He heard Maxxie's distinctive footsteps - tap, silence, tap tap tap, silence - where the silences were her blinking, and dropped his chair back down to all four feet, managing to get coffee in his eye as he brushed his hair back.

It was sort of a greeting when he looked at her, his eyes unfocused, and said something that most closely approximated to "Blargh."

Who: Tom Sturbridge and Maxxie Delacourt
When: Sunday, June 20, 2096
Where: Anhalt Building
What: Just talking, as far as I know...
Status: Closed, Complete

Tom had had to get up early to meet his family for Father's Day breakfast. He didn't know why they couldn't do brunch like normal people, but apparently overachieving was so ingrained in his parents that they even had to be up before everyone else on a holiday Sunday. Although the line when they left had been long enough Tom had had to acknowledge there was a method behind their madness.

It had been good to see his family, even though he hadn't been able to say much about what he was up to. There was a part of him that, with his mother's research, hesitated to mention what he'd been hired to do. So it was a relief to be able to leave before they really started to dig at him with questions.

He knocked on Maxxie's door. "Maxxie, I brought you food!" he called cheerfully through the door.

Who: Matt Cavanaugh and Gabriel Wilder
What: A couple postponed meetings finally result in the real thing.
When: Monday, June 21, 8 pm (forward-dated, takes place after a yet-to-be-posted rp)
Where: Beth's Cafe, Seattle
Status: Open; in progress

What Gabe liked the most about Beth's was that it was one of the few places in the city that had gleefully embraced the lifting of the smoking ban. Most Seattle restaurants still clung to the idea that smoke tainted food or disdained the small pockets of ash that seemed to float to the bottom of Beth's floors but this cafe had gone as far as to place an ashtray on every table the moment the ban was lifted.

He ashed his cigarette in the one at his table, then slowly took a drag, staring at the ember at its tip.

He should have been home by now. Gabe knew it and yet he was sitting at a table, pulling out his notebook and sketching out the faces at a distant booth. Waiting for someone to come and tell him that the impossible was possible. His mind kept running over everything that had happened over the weekend. He wondered where his other self had gone after he'd locked him out. Wherever it had been, he was gone now.

Not for the first time, Gabriel felt guilty about leaving him in the cold. Them. He shuddered, wondering, and then went back to his idle sketching as the waitress set a second cup of coffee down in front of him. He smiled at her, ordered a piece of pie and went back to the drawing.

Who: Zadkiel Thrush and Gabe Wilder, with guest appearances by Julie Hade (NPC) and Avinoam (future Gabe)
When: Saturday, June 19, 2096
Where: Gabe's apartment
What: A rather personal conversation
Status: Log, Complete

( I'd tell him to grow a fucking spine. )

Who: Matt Cavanaugh, Zadkiel Thrush, and Alec Tremont (briefly)
When: Sunday, June 20, 2096
Where: Anhalt, then a flophouse in Ballard
What: A rescue mission
Status: Closed, Complete

"I have an address," Alec said. It was clear from the feverish, glazed look in his eyes that he hadn't yet slept. "They've been taunting me all night, electronic bread crumb trails that lead down digital dark alleys, but I finally have an address for where Barton is, and apparently not in very good shape. I expect it's a trap, so you should probably be prepared for that." He thrust the scrap of paper into the hands of the only person up and about. "I'm going to bed now. Ta."

Zadkiel stared at the information, uncertain what to do with it. A trap. Barton injured. He didn't even know who was home, or who would be of any help in this kind of situation. But one of them had a gun, and that would be a good thing to bring into a trap. He also seemed to be one of the more level-headed of the house's inhabitants, and that was good, too.

He padded upstairs and knocked on Matt's door.

Who: Alec Tremont and Jimmy Banks
When: Sunday, June 13, 2096
Where: Jimmy's room
What: Alec has something to give Jimmy
Status: Closed, Complete

Alec went to Jimmy's room and knocked on the door. He'd seen him, and hid from him, earlier in the day. He'd spent the day trying to decide whether he wanted to see him, and whether he was drunk enough, or sober enough (he couldn't decide which was better), to face him.

He'd finally settled on sober, and showered and changed to make himself presentable. He waited for the door to open and thrust a small box at the other man. "I made you something," he said. "I've been drunk for two days."

Who: Alistair Icenhour and Bart Allen
When: Sunday afternoon June 13
Where: Bart and Katherine's home
What: Alistair and Bart discuss how events will proceed
Status: log/complete

( I don't want to be married to the joker senator. )

Who: Matt Cavanaugh and Ganesh Surendar
When: Saturday, June 12, evening
Where: Ganesh's room, Anhalt Building
What: It's a mystery.
Status: Closed; complete

It was a loud clatter when he dropped the metal band that he was trying to fasten around the second tunnel that led to the drop that would trigger the lever below. Ganesh groaned as it hit his toe, stumbling before he kicked it. The Rube Goldberg machine was almost completed, a ball placed neatly in a socket just over the door. Any motion of the handle would roll the ball down, beginning a series of mechanical events that would end in a simple flick of the light switch.

He hadn't yet thought it through completely--it was simply something to do, to take his mind off of all the things that he'd seen over the past week. Picking up his wrench, he gave up on the band for a moment, leaning over to turn a bolt near his window.

Who: Maxxie Delacour and Matt Cavanaugh
When: Wednesday, June 9, 2096
Where: Matt's room
What: Matt tries to convince Maxxie to completely chick out with him.
Status: Closed, Incomplete

He opened the door to her knock, slightly surprised - he didn't remember anyone even knocking on the door before - but took the offered note calmly. As he read it, one eyebrow rose, and he looked up at her. "Come on in, then, princess."

He completely assumed, turning away to let her in, that she would follow; it never even occurred to him that she wouldn't, nor that she might be at all disturbed when he carefully set his cigarette into an ashtray and pulled his shirt off. "You can't just, like, look in the closet," he added, his voice slightly muffled. "Dresses are worn." But hey, she'd been in gymnastics for-fucking-ever, and TKD or whatever the hell else she did, she'd seen skin.

"As for the rest of it," he added, toeing his shoes off and using the opportunity to take a drag, "I haven't called a meeting because that's rather a statement of being the fucking leader, and I'm not even convinced I want to stay in this fucking country. I mean, that's not a fucking threat, I told you that already, it's just that going from christ I don't want this to yay, I will lead us all, is just a bit fucking weird, you know?"

Who: Andy and Alec
When: Friday, June 11
Where: Andy's room
What: Andy's got something Alec might want
Rating: PG-13 for use of weed
Status: private/incomplete

( sitting in the window, watching the world go by )

Who: Del Ethier and Open
When: Tuesday evening, June 8th
Where: Anhalt kitchen
What: oh, conversation I presume
Status: open/incomplete

Dinner tonight was the apple in front of him and the pasta he was waiting to dump into boiling water... just as soon as it started its furious bubbling. Impatient, he took another peek under the top. Sighing, he closed it again.

It was impossible for him to stay still, so he tried to release some of the bouncy energy out of himself by stretching in little ways. He pressed one palm to the counter and spun it around till his elbow protested, then the other. Roll one ankle, then the other. Check the pot. Bend backwards, hands gripping under the countertop. Shake out his shoulders. Check the pot.

Santa B it took a long time to boil water. Del tried to distance himself by sitting at the breakfast nook and play catch with the apple.

Who: Alec and Mickey
When: Tuesday, June 1
What: the morning after, which doesn't go so well
Rating: PG-13 for language
Status: completed log

( Don't panic. )

Who: Alec and Jimmy
When: May 31, immediately following the last conversation
Where: Jimmy's room
What: the logical continuance of the previous, cut out into a separate log
Rating: this is NC-17. We wanted to know how it worked out.
Status: completed log

( Alec wouldn't let it be that easy. )

[coming soon, the morning after... with Mickey... who is so thrilled...]

Who: Alec Tremont and Jimmy Banks
When: Monday, May 31, 2096, late evening
Where: Anhalt Building
What: Alec goes to let Jimmy know just how not thrilled with him he is.
Status: Private, Complete

Alec closed his laptop and stalked down the hall to Mickey's room. He didn't bother to knock, just twisted the doorknob and stepped inside, shutting it behind him. He leaned back against it, crossing his arms over his chest, and glared at Jimmy.

"You youthened," he said blandly, not allowing his surprise to show. "It's an improvement. You didn't age well."

Who: Del Ethier and Maxxie Delacourt
When: Saturday, early evening
Where: Walking On Sunshine dance studio.
What: Del and Maxxie go dancing
Status: closed, incomplete

Del had figured on this location for two reasons - the first was that he knew the receptionist would let them in and the second was that the two of them were together fairly discrete when it came to being Wild Cards. He led Maxxie past the desk after she'd paid with all into the rather plain dance hall. There was the ubiquitous disco ball and the music coming from the rather impressive set up was a rather ordinary waltz. It wasn't the most happening of places - they were easily the youngest people there - but there was a nice crowd.

He grinned behind his shades and offered her a hand. "Shall we?" he asked. He felt comfortable here and it showed, almost glowed from him.

Who: Alec Tremont and Katherine Athena.
What: Alec's been recruited to the cause... possibly.
When: Saturday, May 29, 2096
Where: How to Cook a Wolf, Queen Anne, Seattle
Status: Closed; complete


Another meeting, this time with someone that she hadn't recruited.

A wry smile cracking her lips, Katherine wondered how that would go. She studied the menu casually. Italian food was something that she loved, particularly for first meetings. It was so often messy.

She glanced down at her watch, tapping the newsfeed so that she could watch the headlines scroll by. Another murder, this one of a young girl who'd been unfortunate enough to bear a joker that gave her horns on her forehead. Katherine shuddered slightly, tapping through to the next story. Another series of gun laws was being proposed and she sighed. It was likely that her constituents were flooding the office lines even as she glanced at the scrolling text.

Who: JT Cole, Maxxie Delacourt, and Tom Sturbridge
When: Saturday night, May 22, 2096
Where: Club Tar (it only uses light beyond the normal spectrum, tonight is ultraviolet night)
What: Celebrating moving in
Status: Closed, incomplete

JT shuffled forward when the crowd moved a bit, followed by Maxxie and Tom. "I usually only have to wait in line for half and hour before I get in, so it won't be much longer. We can get your glasses at the door. I hope you guys like it," he says, directing the last comment mostly at Maxxie.

Who: Alistair Icenhour and Katherine Athena.
What: Conversations and further strategy.
When: Saturday, May 22, 2096
Where: Waiting for the Interurban, Fremont, Seattle
Status: Closed; in progress

"Well." Katherine said as she came to a full stop in front of the four statues. "That's something, isn't it?" Her arms, still clutching the notes from a brief meeting with the mayor, pressed her notebook up against her chest without even thinking about it. To protect her heart.

"Waiting for the Interurban" was what someone had titled the work of public art so many years ago that even Katherine, who studied her city's history carefully, knew little about it. It had become an institution--four stone figures standing, on which the public draped clothing and changed outfits at will. However the figures had changed. Someone had sewn on extra limbs into some of the outfits, added lumps of stone to the heads... in short, they were jokers.

"You don't have to stare," a teenage girl stopped and told them, plucking a headphone out of her ear for a moment. "It's been like that since Wednesday." She snapped a piece of gum and rolled her eyes. "I think they shoulda added something more dramatic. Like maybe the Troll." Before Katherine could get more words out of her mouth, the girl had stepped back on a board and let the air hover her down the street.

"Wednesday," Katherine repeated, stepping a little closer.

Who: Zadkiel Thrush and Ganesh Surendar
When: Friday, May 21, 2096, evening
Where: Anhalt Building
What: Zadkiel has been avoiding social interaction, but Ganesh won't let him.
Status: Closed, Complete

After the disastrous meeting with Gabe on Monday, Zadkiel had mostly been avoiding everyone in the house. He got up early to go to work, and came home late. When he was in the house, he stayed in his room. The last thing he wanted was to upset or offend anyone else, and it wasn't as if he wasn't used to feeling isolated from the people who surrounded him.

In a way, this self-imposed exile felt more like home than anything had since he'd arrived in Seattle.

Who: JT Cole and Pamela Maki
When: Thursday, May 20, 2096
Where: JT's old apartment
What: Talk of moving out and rash actions
Status: Closed, complete

( JT is hanging out in the kitchenette )