Participants:
| Scene Title | <First Date> |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | <Marius and Scrivner have thier first date, and it is not just a walk in the park.> |
Simone's Apartment & a local Park
It's fairly early in the evening when Simone calls the others. Her local research has finally paid off, and she's got a lead that she's ready to check out. She greets them all at the door, dressed in comfortable trousers and wearing a flak vest under her coat. There's a satchel hanging close by the door. Well, she -did- say to come dressed for trouble.
Marius uses the front door, call the press, he is in his usualy three piece suit and looks dressed for a night out on the time, except for the tennis shoes. He smiles as Simone answers.
When one says come dressed for trouble, Rufus Scrivner decides that means wearing the most casual set of clothing he owns. A pair of black jeans, a black turtleneck sweater and a bomber leather jacket with steel-toed boots; all of this while he carries the black, nylon case with his sword sheathed inside over his shoulder. He escorts Miss Vette Adams up to the door, having offered the lady his elbow to take, and he smiles upon seeing the doctor. "Good evening, Simone."
When one says come dressed for trouble…
Vette had looked over the all of five summer outfits she owns. One is her little white shorts and poodle t-shirt for work. Two work-out outfits. One somewhat casual outfit—jeans, white shirt, beads, and a little jacket, and one job-interview outfit. The nice ones she doesn't want to mess up, nor the work ones, so for Vette, "come dressed for trouble," meant: put on the older pair of work out clothes. Soft gray pants swish as she walks on Rufus' elbow. She's got on a baby blue camisole tee and soft tennis shoes, her puzzle boxes clinking as she walks. She then decided, since they were dressing for trouble and all, that she'd better put her hair in a ponytail too. Now she's prepared for anything! "Evenin' you guys," she says. Little Bronx accent in there as usual.
Simone smiles as the group begins to arrive, first greeting Marius with a kiss on the cheek and then showing the other two inside as well. They make it as far as the sitting room, where she offers seating and a tray of refreshments is set out. "Thanks for coming, everyone." she begins. "I've been checking and cross-checking my sources, and I think I've found one place in particular where harpies seem to be fond of hunting. So tonight, I thought that we'd turn things around a bit, and do some hunting of our own."
Marius settles into a seat, "So you think you know thier hunting grounds and want to do a little preening of the flock? Do you think we might be able to find out where they are coming from? That is brilliant btw
Inclining his head, Rufus steps into the flat, glancing all about. Then he takes up a rather unobtrusive position by a wall, settling in to listen silently.
Intrigued, Vette comes to sit down and leans forward thoughtfully. "What did you find out?" That intense focus is there—the one that says she's paying total attention to this group and its purpose right now.
Simone looks around the room, meeting everyone's eyes and standing where everyone can see her. "Not exactly -hunting- grounds, but I've found a little park that's seen more than it's fair share of unexplained disappearances. All involving men, which is really unusual." She pauses, then adds. "Harpies steal men to mate with, then kill and eat them. It's not far from here, actually. Oh, and I have -these- for everyone as well." She pulls four sets of noseplugs out of her coat pocket and passes them out.
Marius says, "Do Harpies smell bad?" He frowns, taking the nose plugs. "And….how are you going to draw them out?""
"Harpies pong so unbelievably badly that you will want to vomit into your sinuses just to drown it out," Rufus solemnly says as he takes those noseplugs from the lady. "Cheers, Doctor." He holds them in his palm, studying them, before he slips them into his pocket.
Vette nods her head emphatically and slips her own noseplugs into her pocket, cause she certainly doesn't need to wear them /now/. "They didn't seem to need much drawing out before," she says. "They just kind of attacked."
Simone smiles crookedly, looking at Marcus and Rufus especially now. "Oh, I'm thinking that we might use a couple of handsome studs as bait." she replies evenly. "If you two gentlemen wouldn't mind, of course. Vette and I will watch and wait until they attack. Hopefully we'll be lucking and find that they're out tonight."
Marius says, "Well then, what exactly should our cover be? Jogging in the park maybe?"
Rufus just stares at Simone for a moment or two, a touch of heat and colour brightening his cheeks. He roughly clears his throat and sucks in a breath through his teeth, muttering, "How jolly. At this hour, Forest, it wouldn't be entirely out of place to be out for an evening stroll. Neither you nor I are dressed for jogging, unless you're squirrelling away brightly-coloured spandex pyjamas under that suit."
"What is the layout of this place, Simone?" Vette asks carefully. "And how are we going to get into a hiding spot without the harpies seeing us too? Assuming they pay some sort of attention to their claimed territory…"
Simone grins broadly, watching the men's reactions first. "I think an evening stroll is quite appropriate, Rufus. And the layout is, Vette, a picnic area. Appropriately enough. A couple of tables with benches, a small grilling grate or two. I figured that we'd wait there, and let the harpies stalk their prey to the picnic. Does that work for everyone? We can keep a cell-phone connection open as well, just in case the attack comes sooner."
Marius nods, "We can do that" He smiles and offers Rufus an arm, "Want to go out on a romantic walk in the park? Just you and me and the stars." He gives him his best bedroom come hither eyes.
"Forest," Scrivner says solemnly, looking deep into Marius' eyes. He takes the slightest step towards the man, leaning in. "Mate. I just threw up into my mouth a little." He calmly arches an eyebrow, and then he turns towards the door, heaving a long-suffering sigh. "Shall we get going, children? The sooner we begin, the sooner we can finish."
Vette staaaares. She opens her mouth. She closes her mouth. She stands up. "Yep!" She starts ambling towards the door as well, shaking her head a little, ponytail bobbing. She can just pretend she missed that exchange entirely while she tries to burn the image it just gave her out of her head with lye. That's the benefit, you know. Of being the dotty one.
Simone laughs softly, giving Marius and Rufus each an amused look. "Come on, then, Vette. Looks like we're leading the way for this charming couple." She gives quick directions to the men, and with that she links arms with the redhead. Heading out of the house, Simone snags her satchel along the way. "Give us about two minutes, and call my cell phone when you leave."
The park is, indeed, close to Simone's brownstone. The girls' two minute lead gives them plenty of time to find the picnic area and stake out the clearing. Three tables in a loose circle, with grill stands in between. Simone puts her nose plugs on, giving Vette a knowing look. Touching her medallion, her hand comes away with a large, semi-auto pistol. "Still with us, gentlemen?" she asks into her cell phone.
Marius walks close to his date, his hand doesn't actually reach out to settle on his bum, but he is close enough it could if needed. "Yeah all clear so far" He smiles over at Rufus with a mischevious grin "Looks like a full moon, very romantic."
Looking at Rufus, one might think he's about to reach out and punch someone. That someone's looking more and more like Marius. He's got his own cellphone up to his ear, and every time the bloke next to him steps in close, he edges off a few more steps. "No means no, Forest," he softly growls at one point. "Ah. Doctor. Yes. We're still here, unfortunately, with no sign of the ladies yet." He has his free hand in his jacket pocket, fingering the nose plugs.
Vette puts her own plugs in and looks around, perhaps a little uneasily, perhaps not. She takes a deep breath, the fact that nothing's shown making her tenser than if something had. Unarmed, she mutters thoughtfully, "You know, they may not all come at once. We might want to try to figure out where the nest is and destroy it, while we're about it…"
Simone barely manages to stifle a giggle from what she hears over the other end of the connection. She's had her nose plugs in for some time, dividing her attention between the phone and Vette. "If we can find it." she replies softly. "You two boys stay sharp, now. I don't want you to be easy prey. Watch the sky…" And really, they don't have much longer to wait. The harpies are cunning, sticking to the treetops and gliding as they follow their prey. The first whiff of the sickly stench is a good tip-off, and still gives the guys plenty of time to put their plugs on before feeling the full effects. Perhaps because the hunters are keeping their distance for now.
Marius moves to cough into his hand in actuality putting the plugs in, "Show timehot stuff, want me to push you up against a tree and snog you really good to throw them off the scent?
"I've already tasted my dinner a second time tonight, Forest," Rufus says with another sigh, rolling his eyes. "Let's not try for a third." He too pulls out the nose plugs at the first whiff of Eau de Skank, and he slips them into place up his nostrils. Then he reaches slowly up and around, adjust the weight of the sword case across his back as he eaaaaases it open and readies his weapon.
Vette tenses at the words "Show time," but she's following everyone else's lead right now. With nothing to add at the moment she remains silent, keeping her focus on what they're doing and willing herself not to miss anything important.
Simone clicks the safety off of her automatic and nods to Marius' words. "Noseplugs in, everyone." she offers softly over the phone. Giving Vette a look, she motions the redhead back under the trees where they can have a good view of the picnic area. "You ready?" she asks the redhead quietly. The harpies may not be the brightest creatures but they're cunning. Winging low, they glide until the men reach the picnic area.
There are three harpies following the two men, though whether they intend to share or split one remains to be seen.
Marius just keep walking, fat dumb and happy, pretending like he doesn't see them. /ACTING/ It is what those people on tv do. He leans his head toward Rupert's shoulder, not actually touching it, but looking awww so sweet.
And Rufus grits his teeth tightly enough to grind them. "Forest," he softly mutters, his lips barely moving. "You seem to be confused. It's a limp wrist, not a limp head." Of course Simone can hear this over the phone. His very pale eyes flicker back and forth over the path ahead of him, and he waits, ever so tensely.
"Ready," Vette says. As ready as she'll ever be, anyway. She stares up at the harpies, noting them, watching them follow the men and marking the direction they've come from. She fixes that in her memory for later—it's information they might need.
The Harpies follow their prey to the picnic area, a natural hunting place for them. It's open to aerial creatures with plenty of room to maneuver, giving them a definite advantage. Of course the downside is that, under a full moon, they're easily seen as they swoop in to attack.
No sooner do the three Harpies begin their attack than Simone takes a shot at one.
Marius turns as the swoop in his gun coming up at the sound of simones, he opens fire on the lead harpy, glowing golden bolts spitting from his muzzle.
Whirling around, Scrivner bares his teeth in a silent snarl, drawing his heavy sword from its sheath with a hiss of metal. He jams his cell phone deep into the pocket of his jacket, and as he backs off and away from Marius, he brings his blade up to bear and charges forward. Light gleams off of its edge as he takes a hard swing towards the head of the second harpy, intent on a quick decapitation.
Vette isn't real keen on trying to kick a harpie in the face. And she all too well remembers how stupid she looked trying to poke the harpy with a stick. She instead reaches out towards a metal lamp post near where the harpies are flying. One of her puzzle boxes begins to glow as she attempts to re-Shape the lightpost, attempts to send it out to wrap around the third harpy's nasty, scaly leg and hold it fast, preventing it from attacking and leaving it as easy meat for her friends.
The first harpy screams when Simone's slug tears into it's scaled hide, screaming louder when the follow-up slash from the sword draws blood as well. Marius shoots the second one squarely in the chest, knocking it off its flight path with an angry cry. The third is caught fast by the lamp post, twisting to tug and claw at the thing that has its leg. In vain. The first injured harpy makes a slash at Scrivner as it passes, the second trying for Marius. Forget mating now, it's hurt and it wants blood.
As the harpy slashes at Rufus and rises slowly to make another pass, Simone draws a bead on it. She takes a shot when it turns in the moonlight.
Marius pops his shield after the near miss from the last one, he aims for the Most hurt harpy and fires off another shot while yelling, "So are we just killing them or trying to catch one to interrogate?
When the lady's shot takes the harpy and finishes it, Scrivner does not complain. He backs off quickly and looks around to see Marius taking fine care of himself, and he goes striding for the third ensnared by the warped lamp post. "Finish them!" he calls out sharply. "The bitch wants to shag you to death, Forest. Not talk." He's not even sure it /can/ talk. Oh well. He draws back his arm and his sword, sharply swinging the weapon in an arc and aiming to slice at the throat.
With her hand still on the light post, Vette liquifies one of the lower portions while leaving one of the higher portions intact. She's going for a long limb to wrap around the harpy
With her hand still on the light post, Vette liquifies one of the lower portions while leaving one of the higher portions intact. She's going for a long limb to wrap around the harpy's throat with full intent of choking the life out of the thing.
With two harpies spilling blood on the grass, the third just wants to get away right now. It struggles against the lamp post that's holding its leg fast, and in the process ends up with a wrap of metal around its neck as well. Wings fluttering, the creature screams and screams.
Simone turns towards it calmly, lowering her silver pistol. "They're unintelligent, Marius. You'd get better conversation from a dog." Looking to Vette, she nods once… giving her assent to kill the thing.
Marius sighs and frowns, "It was worth a try, do you think we could tag her like they do wild animals and see if she leads us back to her nest?
For a second or two, Rufus backs off from the harpy, and he looks over his shoulder at Marius with a flat expression. Like he thinks the man's just said something that makes the Englishman want to walk over to the man and slap him upside the head with the flat of his blade. Perhaps wisely, Scrivner doesn't say anything. He saves his snarling for the harpy as he rushes the screaming thing, driving his sword up at her in an attempt to lunge through her heart.
Marius shakes his head as Scrivner hacks at it, he then pulls his gun out and puts it to the harpys head, pulling the trigger
"So we can fight it again?" Vette points out, shaking her head at Marius. "Anyway I took note of which way they were coming from. We just have to reason it out by what they need. They need a nest high enough out of the way that nobody can just walk up and find it. They need one close enough to their hunting groundsthis parkto be able to get in and get out quickly, sometimes carrying still living male prey." All the while, as she's talking, she's tightening the metal on the thing's throat, helping Rufus kill it. "A little thought and deduction and we should be able to narrow it down to a few possible locations, and then its just a matter of searching."
Any additional notes fall to the bottom.
