No time for better words

[lord_wizard]

Who: Felix Harrowgate and OPEN
What: A Chimera meeting turns into disaster when some people’s stains begin to manifest
When: Afternoon of today, 4/13
Where: Chimera HQ, room 1919 of Gaudium tower
Rating: Probably pg-13 for mild gore
Notes:Open mostly to Chimera members or any people with magic, though curious interlopers are welcome. Felix’s stains will manifest near the end. You may have your character do so around the same time, at your option. Threadjacking encouraged. Please wait for sections.

It’s noon and all the doors opening onto the Chimera lobby are thrown wide open to let in the sunlight. For those of those familiar with the space, the large chandelier that used to hang in the center is still missing, having not yet been replaced after the damage from the earthquake.
The adjacent office has been rearranged to seat multiple people, and a cursory attempt at hospitality has been made, in the form of a desk covered in drinks (juice, tea, and sparkling wine) and snacks.

Felix himself is near the back end of the room, like a king of a very small court, though he wouldn’t exactly encourage the comparison. He’s picked up a slightly unfamiliar shadow in the form of his brother, but otherwise everything appears to be business as usual.

MINGLING/ARRIVAL | MEETING | STAINS

Comments

MINGLING/ARRIVAL

[lord_wizard]

There’s enough time for eating and idle chatter while people make their way up to the tower. Perhaps time to get some unrelated business out of the way or maybe just get buzzed on wine. As tempting as the latter is, Felix isn’t partaking, if only to have a clear head for the rest of the meeting.

[lightbranded]

Will wanders into the room a little early and quickly takes up a station near the wall. He was the watcher, after all. So he would watch.

And then there was the fact that he felt a little awkward being so clearly one of the youngest there. Even if he also felt much older at the same time.

[radiantwingedone]

Well, if Duke's ears and magic is right, that would be Will right over there. He tilts his head a little, in acknowledgement, but he's just going to take a seat and settle.

Less people to watch him fumble to make sure he's in a seat the better.

[strangewonders]

Howl is nowhere near the first one to the room, but at least he's shown up before the actual meeting began, which for him is quite the accomplishment. Being early doesn't suit him--it's hard to make an impression if there's no one in the room after all.

He was there now, though, with nothing to do but putter around, poking at the refreshment table while waiting for the meeting to start, eying up the new faces in the crowd.

[delincuente]

One of those new faces has also been hanging around the refreshment table, watching the rest of the room from a distance as she shifts a still-full glass of wine between hands. When she catches sight of Howl, she makes the subtlest of amused faces (read: barely subtle at all, but A for effort) at his appearance. He reminds her quite a bit of Felix, actually. She leans against the table and halfway look up at him.

"Well, you look like the ye olde wizard type. Mind telling some fresh meat how these meetings usually pan out?" She tries to hide her awkwardness with the whole meeting situation by pouring sarcastic confidence into her speech.

[kungfuwitch]

Phoebe's an unfamiliar sight as she enters, a hood pulled up over her head. As soon as she's in the comfort of the familiar room she pulls it back, letting it fall to her shoulders and revealing the black marks streaked across her face. She looks like she's wearing black gloves, but upon further inspection it seems they're not gloves but her own flesh - as dark as shadows from the elbows down, slowly creeping upwards. The other stains don't exactly seep through her shirt, although they seem to peek through, despite there being no holes. Stains the color of fire on her back and stomach.

Wrapping her arms around her stomach she glances around a little nervously as she steps further into the room to find a seat.

[wishmadeinfire]

Phoebe could perhaps hide from others, but Ashura was more astute than that, and after quietly excusing himself from another conversation he was by her said, politely positioning himself so that he would block view of her from others as they spoke.

"Phoebe, what has happened?" he asked in a quiet voice, brows creased in concern, resisting the urge to reach up and touch the marks.

[lord_wizard]

Felix actually approaches her separately, intentionally steering clear until Ashura had moved away. The rift is almost visible to someone like Phoebe, who know the two of them well, but he doesn't comment on it.

Instead he steps close to speak in a low voice, "are you alright?"

[delincuente]

Ah finally, another girl, who looks like she's at least from this millennium. Alex starts over to where she's standing, but visibly recoils a bit when the hood drops. Not having any stains herself, Alex doesn't immediately recognize them for what they are, but she sees Phoebe's seeming discomfort with the situation and makes the (incorrect) assumption that maybe she's just as unfamiliar with the group. She takes a few more steps and casually takes a seat a few away.

"... So, you okay? You look kind of freaked." Great conversation starter, honey.

[kethedammit]

Mildmay will be standing just behind and to the left of Felix for the entire evening. If someone tries to approach him, he'll talk, or try, at least. But for the most part, he's Felix's living, breathing shadow.

[wishmadeinfire]

Ashura sees this, and he frowns. He knows the reason now, and it makes his gut twist. But he is not fool enough to bring up such a thing in public, leaving it for another time as he approaches his would be brother-in-law. Did Mildmay know of that yet? The reason Ashura wore the ruby ring?

Well, another time.

He smiled at Mildmay, dressed today in white silks edged in red and black and gold. "Mildmay, it is good to see you. Have you been well?"

[delincuente]

Alex admittedly feels a bit awkward as she enters the room, dragging her feet a bit and fiddling with the wand tucked in her back pocket. She doesn't want to care what these guys think of her, but she can't help feeling like some dumb teenager trying to help with something far bigger than herself. That's why she hangs back a bit after arriving, just working her way over to pick up a glass of wine that she barely sips at, and observe the rest of the attendees.

[lord_wizard]

Felix drifts over as soon as he spots her. It'd be rude to not say hello, being the host and all. The fact that she's here at all is a large improvement in how things had been in the past, and he's curious about what might have provoked that.

"Don't worry, we don't bite."

MEETING

[lord_wizard]

Once everyone is assembled and settled, Felix calls the room to order with a slight clearing of his throat, and a warm smile that grew as eyes turned to him, comfortable as always in spotlights of his own making.

“If I may have your attention, we can get started. Firstly, I’d like to thank you all for coming, with a particular nod to the new faces here. Whether or not you decide to join us in the long run is up to you, though the invitation will always remain open.

Now, the first order of business, I think, will be what it is we might be able to do to assist after the earthquake this week, if anything. Given our combined talents, I’d be surprised if there isn’t anything. Also I have a concern about that tunnel that opened up on the grounds being possibly an point of entry for something unwanted. I was considering some kind of ward on the area that might alert us to any danger from that direction.

Thoughts on any of that?”

[kungfuwitch]

"The mouth of the tunnel is small enough that I could use crystals to let us know if anyone passes through it."

Phoebe smiles a little tiredly. She'd already been using her powers to help locate missing townspeople as well as trying to work on revamping Code Blair.

"I don't really have much that could help with the clean up... I might be able to whip up a few spells but I've never rebuilt buildings before so I don't know how well they'd work."

[radiantwingedone]

"I have a small variety of levitation spells. If things are a little.. hard, to bring into place, can aid with that, but would need direction. Preferably, again, from someone who knows how to build."

Anything beyond a tent is a little beyond him. "... and if anyone gets hurt in reconstruction, could aid with that as well."

[legacydeck]

Clow drums him fingers idly on the table. "I can't heal, so I'm no help with any people - but material creation is something of a specialty for me. I could probably raise the whole town in one or two goes - though I'd probably be sleeping it off for the next month. Spot repairs take less energy, but more time. I've already done a bit - we didn't have too many problems with the shop structurally, but some of the street wasn't so lucky."

[lord_wizard]

"It would be better to have you up and about in case something else happens, I think, but perhaps if you concentrated on it in sections? I'm not sure how detailed or complete you can make the changes. I don't want to put the whole thing on your shoulders, of course, but it would save the town valuable time in getting back on it's feet."

STAINS

[lord_wizard]

It starts slowly at first - the slight bloom of blood seeping through the back of his jacket, hard to spot through the dark purple fabric. So too are the dark marks on his wrist, more shadow than anything terribly noticeable, especially given how much he gestures as he speaks. It only becomes easy to notice when the stains, swirled into links of chain, start to inch over the floor towards his brother.

Felix doesn’t see it yet; his eyes on his audience.

“As a final bit of business, for my existing members, I was hoping some of you might share any personal projects or research you might be working on right now. Howl’s spell, for instance, worked out admirably, and I’m looking forward to possible future applications of that splendid piece of magic…and you all should go see it for yourself if you haven’t already…the workroom is right across the lobby…”

[kungfuwitch]

Phoebe nods, combing her fingers through her hair, "Well my most recent project isn't entirely magic related but once I get things better organized I was hoping to see if there was anything I could do to make things easier and work faster. Of course any help I could get would be..."

Her voice trails off as she sees the blood. Oh. Oh that's not good. Having come to terms with her own stains and what they mean it makes it even harder to watch new ones appear on someone else.

"Felix..."

[kethedammit]

It's slow for Mildmay, too. He feels a tiny drip of blood fall from his chin, run down his neck, but, when he was fourteen, his scar used to reopen all the time. On instinct, he turns to the side, face covered by a curtain of hair. He doesn't think it's been years since this happened. He's too concerned with not being seen.

He stands, over in a corner, ignored by the assembled parties, listening faintly to Felix's speech.

[strangewonders]

"I'd be happy to give everyone the grand tour once we're done here," he replied. He should have been rather smug about getting that level of praise in public, but he's not really even looking at Felix, utterly distracted with what seems to be an ink-stain in the middle of his otherwise pristine white shirt.

No matter how many times he pinches the fabric and lets the stain slide between his fingers, it doesn't budge, which is more than a little maddening. it was such a simple piece of magic, he cannot begin to comprehend why it's suddenly failing him.

[radiantwingedone]

"Have been working on two things, one a little less small than the other. Magic of own world is available through an aid, and have managed to roughly recreate it." Duke doesn't notice that he's going ashen, like the life was draining out of him, or the odd blue hexagons that appear and disappear like ripples, ignoring his clothing.

"Second project is attempting to... freeze? spells. Not sure how well that is ..."

Duke makes a face as he realizes that his hands are sticking to themselves and the table, and the smell of blood that goes with how sticky he is all along one side. So he confusedly opens and closes both hands, not sure when the tackiness got there.

".. working..."

[wishmadeinfire]

It comes suddenly, so fast indeed that the sudden tingle of pain makes him gasp. The white of his robe is dyed red, as if thrust into a vat of the color, spreading from his chest, appearing on his arms and down his legs. His face begins to take on the stains of blood splatter, his lips turned red as the stuff, dark. His hair was matted with blood and dirt, and he gave a cry as a pain in his chest flared.

He tore open the blood soaked robe to expose a gaping hole in his chest where his heart would have been, the skin simmering, stinking of burned flesh, blackened.

"What...?"

[legacydeck]

Clow is actually listening, so it takes him a moment to notice that his hands are leaving smudgy, sooty prints on the table top. When he glances down, he can see marks like ink underneath, running up his wrists and smoothly onto the sleeve of his shirt. He undoes a cuff, attention still half on what Felix is saying and half on what he's doing. The marks - symbols and words - continue up his arms, mirrored on his clothing.

"Oh dear," he murmurs, almost to himself. He rather hopes nobody here reads Chinese or Sanksrit, because he's not really sure he wants to sit and explain why he has curse-marks written all over his arms.