Iron Station Savage Masks IC III

[mmdeforrest]

“He’s always been my favorite,” Emi replies before she watches the vampire descend the stairs and make his way over to the bar and then take the other dark haired woman to a table. She shakes her head ever so slightly before she returns her attention to John.

I’m deciding to enjoy our date for now, Emi projects to John. We have some more to talk about after though.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, John thought to himself as he rubbed the triangle on the back of his left hand. He would have to ask Raphael why he had recommended this place to him as a safe date location rather than warning him away from it sometime later this evening.

After Emi got to ask him her questions.

He could all but predict them. After all, she would be able to recognize the elder vampire who descended the stairs for what he is — if not directly than based on what she knew of Raphael from this evening and from the encounter at Amity Court and their discussion of Darkwatch. If she had been curious enough to work out the language he spoke, she certainly would have thought through the scene they had seen.

At least, he hoped that she would say that it was Emi asking and not Siren, provisional hero of Myriad, or Emilia, daughter of Mr. Shaw.

He wanted to avoid that disaster.

I don’t suppose you would care to offer any hints on how to make it more enjoyable for you? John projected back carefully. I had not anticipated having to navigate a lair with you this evening — especially while I am trying to make sure Harbinger has a good night’s sleep — so I’m open to suggestions. The grilling I would get from Kate, Jefferey, and Mom as to how I messed things up is not an encounter I would relish.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as he projected, searching for any hint of a reaction. He was observant — his parents and his own inclinations had sharpened those skills. He had already determined, however, that Emi’s poker face was incredibly good and he doubted she would reveal anything.

Spoiler: Okoros decides to play with John.

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A panicked Notice Roll to pick up any tells from Emi: 1d10o10+4 20 1d6o6+4 5

“We can do the same characters if someone wants to,” she says. “They’ll just be palette swaps is all.”

“It there one of the Kaiju that has a more defensive profile than the others?” John asked.

Stella returns to the table with a tall glass full of dark liquid. “Thaddeus says hi,” she tells Raphael before she quickly glances up at where the vampire and Cassie have sat down. “That was… odd. He knew my name.”

Thaddeus, John noted. Name changes over the years might be something vampires do but it is the kind of thing that requires practice and training — a point Montcrieff pointed out when discussing undercover work with him. “Always choose a name close to your own at the beginning,” she had warned him. “At least, that is, until you have developed the habits of mind that are part of undercover work. “Even when I used ‘Gretta’ during training, I was close to being too slow in my reactions. In life or death situations, you need to react instinctually.”

The scene she showed him from the end of The Great Escape illustrated the point well enough for him to decide he would avoid such work, if he could.

Still, it was enough to begin an investigation.

He glanced back at the table where the vampire and the young woman, who appeared just a few years older than Stella, sat talking quietly. She appeared nervous, glancing down and not meeting the vampire’s eyes. He, in contrast, held himself in a relaxed manner — not one that carried a sense of threat or condemnation. It was more as if she were recognizing some failing in herself — one she felt worse about than he did.

Her profile struck him as she looked up and spoke. She hesitated a moment before speaking, closing her eyes and preparing herself to speak. Where had he seen that befoo-o-o-ohno.

Spoiler: Just when you thought things could not get more dramatic.

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Noticing the two ladies who were, until recently, at the bar: 1d10o10+4 9 1d6o6+4 7

Oh, no.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph: Please no.

Spoiler: Flashback!

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He remembered: They stood on the roof of their base. They had just returned from Amity Court.

“Merde,” John recalled Stella whispering to herself, squeezing her eyes shut. He recalled her letting out a shuddering breath before taking another. “Yes John, tell me. I need to know.”

He felt his eyes go wide for a split second and he glanced back and forth between Stella and the mystery woman before the surprise was replaced by the mask he wore as Dee.

Their profiles were too close to ignore. Their hair color was the same. Their movements harmonized.

Stella eyes were blue while the other’s were dark.

Like Matteo’s.

Her mother used to visit here when they were younger.

Thaddeus knew her name.

Sisters? Half-sisters?

John observed himself lifting a shell out of the ice. As he deliberately spooned some horseradish onto the oyster, he projected steadily to Emi as the higher order parts of his mind suppressed the part that was scattered at the thought of her.

This evening appears to be one of more surprises than either of us anticipated and that only appears to be accelerating. However things turn out, I want you to know that the last few days have been the most wonderful of my life — even when it was just the thought of of you accompanying me, I have been happier and lighter than I have ever been. Even if it all spirals out of control as the evening progresses, I want you to know how much than has meant to me.

He tipped the oyster up, consuming it. The less steady parts of his mind were concerned about the old advice about only ordering neat food early on in dating. That advice seemed a distant concern now.

He swallowed.

I had planned to ask you later — when we got to your questions — who I was speaking with: Siren, Provisional Hero of Myriad, or Emi Shaw? I will respect it if it is the former, but I…”

John turned and looked.

He faltered at the sight of her eyes. The nervous kid from Providence returned.

I…I really hope it is Emi I will be speaking to — then and now. Because I may need some help in figuring out what to do and say and I could use a partner in this.