[Game Thread] Interlude 1

[Starflier]

OOC Ash could use a friend, someone who knows the truth about her. I can also put an IC post up in a bit with that answer if that's okay.

[Starflier]

Ash Hot -1 Cold +2 Volatile -1 Dark +1 Exp 1/5, Harm 0/5, Conditions: TraumatizedAsh, the Ghost If only she had the flesh and blood to blush properly Ash would have been crimson after the compliment, but all she managed was a little color to her cheeks and an awkward laugh. That he even considered her in that way at all was flattering, but that wasn’t even on her mind at the moment. ”Daiyu,” she said, more statement than question, since it was the only name that made any kind of sense. Ash considered giving him an earful on how ‘free’ this country really was, how things really worked, but now didn’t seem the time for a rant and she wasn’t sure she had one in her. Instead she quietly watched as he smoked and began to speak, and deep inside of her she could feel the stirrings of the darkness; just as she had at the zoo. Almost out of reflex she looked down at herself, as though it was actually ‘inside’ of her and not something she felt beyond the edges of her unlife itself. When she looked back at Balvinder his eyes had changed into deep wells of whirling darkness and she knew hers had too. Perhaps that was only what she saw through her ‘eyes’ when she bore witness to the abyss, and she wondered what he saw. There was a pull out of that void drawing her towards him, a tugging at her soul like a child grabbing at their mother’s dress - soft, but insistent. She considered fighting it, resisting the pull of the elsewhere power and leaving the graveyard with her secrets intact. But Ash didn’t really want to fight it, not deep down, not after baring her soul to the night and to the dead. She knew what she really wanted, from Balvinder, from anyone really, and decided then and there to be honest with him. Ash stepped forward and took him by the hand, pointing back to where she had been when he first arrived, ”Let me show you.” It was not far, only a few feet or so, but it was momentous. She stopped in front of her headstone and nodded towards it, waiting for him to make the connection. Then she was moving away from him as though pushed by some unseen breeze, not having let go of his hand, but simply fading through it before she rose up into the night. Ash stayed there waiting for him to speak, or to run away screaming, but hoping for the former even as her anxiety verged on panic. ”I could use a friend.” Ash finally drifted back down, her boots landing softly on the grass a few feet away from him, ”Even the dead get lonely.” OOC I feel like this might call for a roll to Keep her Cool, but didn't want to presume since it's mostly just an RP response to Balvinder's roll in the first place.   Playbook Skin: The Ghost Look: Pained eyes Origin: Murdered in hot passion Stats: Hot -1, Cold 2, Volatile -1, Dark 1 Exp: 1/5 Harm: 0/4 Conditions: Traumatized Strings on others: Tommy - 1 Luke - 1 Bal - 1 Morgan - 2 You become invisible, unnoticeable. No one can see you, feel you, or hear your voice. You can still affect inanimate objects, but this is your only avenue of communication. You escape your Darkest Self when someone acknowledges your presence, and demonstrates how much they want you around.Darkest Self When you have sex with someone, you both get to ask a question of one another. This can be asked in character or player-to-player. They must answer honestly and directly.Sex Move Moves Whenever something brings to mind your death, you choke up and gain the Condition traumatized if you don’t have it already. Whenever someone helps you resolve this Condition, you both mark experience.Unresolved Trauma When you help someone resolve a Condition, gain a String on them.Helpful Spirit You can walk through walls and fly.Limitless

[NoizePollution]

Quinn Hot -1 Cold +1 Volatile +2 Dark -1 Exp 2/5; Harm 0/4; Trouble-makerQuinn, the Ghoul Dabbing at the corners of her eyes with her sleeve, Quinn laughs unintentionally loudly at Tommy's comment about rich people. She shoulders the backpack again and shoots him a look that speaks loudly of how weird the stuff he just said was. "Dude, seriously. Are you like some kind of secret ghostbuster or something?" It's like he has done stuff like this before. Like he's working from a manual or something. "I mean, what gives with the disclaimer?" There is no denying that his response, his approach to all this screams about some sort of experience. That or he's just blowing smoke and doing a damn good job. Either way, she isn't in a place to push it. If he's some kind of monster scientist in his free time it'll come out eventually. Especially if they're actually gonna pursue this. "Well, you help me with my problems and I help you with yours. That's half the problems right there." She starts toward the front doors of the school, keeping her pace as close to his as she can manage. "Don't worry about me. I already died once, remember. I can take whatever comes."

[Acathala]

"Busting makes me feel good." Tommy deadpanned some of the lyrics of the song. He frowns as she doesn’t take his warning seriously. His quoting from the song didn’t likely help either. He stops in front of her. "I don’t think I made it clear how dangerous it is. The supernatural is an exceptionally dangerous place if you’re just mucking about there, like you’re a tourist. Death could be the least of your worries. See you at the party." Tommy turns right for his first class of the day, hoping Quinn had taken heed.

[Crocodile]

Bal The smoke swirled all about him, dominating his vision. There was nothing at first, just an endless haze concealing his sought after knowledge, but eventually it began to disperse, the clouds in his vision swirling about Ash's figure until they coalesced beside her into a vaguely familiar looking humanoid shape, walking lock-step with the musician as she came forward, and then in the moment that she took the young thespian's hand, the smoky figure placed its own hand on top of the two, as if blessing a new bond, before dispersing in an explosive display into smaller, winged shapes that flitted into the night. A friend. And a... secret? Her secret. The visions had ended, and Balvinder was half-surprised to find that the part with Ash beckoning him forward, leading him by the hand, had been real. She wanted to show him something in truth, and likely that would be the springboard for the closer friendship she craved. Had the Abyss pulled at her somehow to encourage this turn of events? He was not opposed, especially if it would soothe the memory of a someone long gone, but then what truth about her was she hiding from- "Oh." Balvinder had been staring at the tombstone while his thoughts had considered the myriad possibilities, but when he'd finally come back down to the moment and really looked at what he was seeing, it all started to make some sense. Or less sense, as the fae touched boy looked between the name of the deceased and the girl holding his hand, either the most morbid coincidence in the universe or an impossibility revealing itself to him. When her hand passed through his own and her feet left the confines of the ground, there was no longer confusion. This was no trick, no illusion, no madness borne of his recent substance abuse. Everything was as it appeared, and more of the world had at last opened to him. "I have heard, but not believed, the spirits of the dead may walk again... I'm so sorry, Ash." All this time, it was as if nothing were the matter, but she had been through what many thought was supposed to be the end, and yet still lingered. Killed before her life could even really begin. Bal was overcome with emotion, of a sorrow he could not explain on the tail end of his surprise. Not even giving it a second thought, he closed the few feet between the two of them and wrapped Ash in a tight hug, a part of him glad that he had not just phased through her and tripped face first into grave dirt. "I hope I can do my part in easing that loneliness. I couldn't dream of a better role on any stage."