(IC III) San Francisco by Night: A Requiem in Fog

[Thundercracker]

Carlos looks over his shoulder to see the bar empty, his eyes lighting first with surprise, then with devilish excitement. "He must," Carlos says excitedly, eyes darting from the unattended bar to the kitchen doors, then back again. He gives Anna a wink, before leaning across the bar to grab the bottle of Grey Goose, and a pair of shot glasses and pour them each a dram of the toxic clear liquid. Passing the shot to Anna almost forcefully, Carlos says, "Cheers" pounding his shot if/when she does.



Carlos watches Anna walk off, eyes hungry, letting her see him scarfing her body with his eyes. When Anna calls him, Carlos comes dutifully sauntering to the bathroom. His face is now flush, his eyes glassy with intoxication. "Jeeze, you already a little tipsy," he says, attempting to neg his quarry, "Or is there something else I can help you with?" Almost reflexively, Carlos' hand slides down the front of his pants, patting his filling crotch.

Anna

Anna drank the extra liquor and felt it settle next to the other one in her stomach.
Then when he sauntered over, she only wanted to drink, and drink....
“gross,” she thought as he patted himself.

“Umm, help me lock the door first,” she said, giving him room to come into the restroom with her.

With him bent over and facing the door, it was almost too easy. As soon as the lock clicked, she was on him, wrapping her arms around his and whispering into his ear: “trust me.”

Then she went for the neck and the large blood vessels she knew were there.

Spoiler

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anna will take 4

[Daishain]

"We don't need to worry about being identified on camera. But a blurry man being seen on camera drinking someone's blood presents a different sort of issue, whether or not it can be traced back to us in particular."

Later, Karl nods in approval at the successful hunt, "How's her condition?"

As they depart the scene, Karl looks around, hoping against the odds that there's someone else that he can grab for himself available right away...

Spoiler: OOC

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wits+stealth again, probably need several successes to get this done in time (5d10)[5][10][9][7][5](36)
ten again (5d10)[8][10][5][5][8](36)

[Bennosuke]

Barely looking, Carlos reaches over and locks the door behind him, eyes glassy as he stares at Anna with his Cheshire cat's grin. Anna moves in and his hands immediately begin searching her body until his fangs sink in, then his arms spasm slightly and his body goes rigid against Anna. "Oh," he moans, eyes closing as he suddenly finds himself lost in the pleasure of The Kiss. The man's pulse thrums in Anna's ears and she can feel the oscillating blood pressure pushing into fingers and her toes as she begins to feed. Anna was hungry, and she drinks and drinks, pushing forward as the man's heart beat quickens and his breathing becomes shallow. His blood is sweet, strong and filled with confidence and hope. She gulps down her fill, closing the two puncture wounds with quick work of her tongue, lowering Carlos down as his body goes limp. She was nowhere near killing the man, but he would likely have more than a bad hang over the next day, having lost a significant quantity of blood. He's completely unconscious, and Anna is left laying him on the hard concrete floor of the dingy bathroom.

(OOC: Anna is back to 10/10; updated in her character box. She has done four lethal damage to Carlos. I've updated her character sheet. I assume we are ready to move on to meeting up with Katie, but I will let you post in case Anna wants to do anything, such as touch base with Newt or interact with Carlos' unconscious body before leaving.)

************************************************** ***********

"We don't need to worry about being identified on camera. But a blurry man being seen on camera drinking someone's blood presents a different sort of issue, whether or not it can be traced back to us in particular."

Gabe nods off Karl's concern, irritation flashing across his languid face momentarily. "Sure sure," he replies before stepping into the shop.

Later, Karl nods in approval at the successful hunt, "How's her condition?"

Gabe shrugs, trying his best to exude confidence in his still fanged smile, "Eh, she's fine... sleeping now. Didn't kill her, I swear... and I licked the wound clean and all that, just like you taught me." He looks back inside the bookstore momentarily before turning back to Karl and saying, "I'm uh, I'm ready to go whenever you are. Feeling much better."

As they depart the scene, Karl looks around, hoping against the odds that there's someone else that he can grab for himself available right away...

Spoiler: OOC

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So Karl has a half hour left as we previously stated he had an hour and a half to get some hunting in. The core book recommends a -3 modifier if trying to hunt within 30 minutes. This drops Karl's pool to 2D10, but luckily you rolled really well and still got 2 successes. See below:

Gabe follows Karl down the street, but not a master of Obfuscate, stays behind when his master urges him to stay hidden. They only have to go a few blocks till Karl catches sight of a silver haired man in an expensive blue pinstripe suit, walking down the sidewalk alone distracted by his cellphone conversation. "Hi darling," the man says, putting on what is clearly a soothing honey sweet voice, "daddy is leaving work now. Please tell mommy he's sorry he's getting out late, but that daddy is coming home now." The man was grinning, his magnetic blue eyes and perfect smile lit by the voice on the other end of the phone. He was so unaware of Karl, so defenseless.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna poured the rest of her drink over Carlos’ shirt and left him on the floor of the bathroom.
“Newt?” Anna called as she left the bathroom, and Carlos.

Assuming nobody else is there: “he passed out in the bathroom,” she said. Then she pulled a few bills, $200, from her purse and slid them across the bar. From there, if she had time, she stopped by the supermarket to pick up some food and drinks for Katie, and headed to her house.

[Bennosuke]

There is no one else in the Temple Dragon when Anna comes out, but Newt appears quickly. The Ghoul gives her a curt bow of the head before giving her a yellowed grin and saying, "I'll take care of it Miss Anna." He slides a hand across the desk to rescue the bills that Anna left.

He follows Anna to the door, putting out a "Closed" sign and locking the door behind the vampire so that he can clean up.

Anna heads back to her car to finally meet Katie.

(OOC: Okay, we're going to move on to meeting up with Katie, but can I have a little descriptor of Anna's old haven? I am imagining a small studio apartment somewhere, but I don't want to speak for you since somehow we never really went into much detail about it.)

[Daishain]

Leaving Gabe to observe from a distance, Karl drifts over behind the man. If it seems he's just finishing up with the call, he'll wait for the man to hang up before moving in. If not he'll wait for "daddy" to stop talking and listen so there's no interruption in voice.

Either way, he'll slip up behind the man, gently folding into him as he brings his fangs to the man's neck. A heartbeat, two, and he's licking the wound closed and slipping away while the businessman is still dazed.

As he returns to Gabe he simply states, "Let us plan to hunt towards the end of this night as well. Aside from it being good practice, your hunger is more difficult to control because you are new to this existence. Sating it before sleep may help."

Spoiler: OOC

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Going easy and only taking 2 BP to bring myself up to 8/10. If he's still on the phone, there might be a decent chance the fellow simply has a long pause before resuming the conversation and going on his way.

[Bennosuke]

Karl is able to grab the man just as he is sliding his cellphone into the pocket of his fancy jacket. The man only startles for a moment before Karl's fangs sink in. Biting his prey from behind, it is easiest to go for the external jugular, a thready vessel that sits on top of the worm-like sternocleidomastoid. The sighs heavily, knees almost buckling, a hand going up to Karl's face instinctively. The sweet tang of blood fills Karl's mouth, The Beast cackling with delight. This man's blood was rich with this wealthy man's smug satisfaction and pride. Rarely was a Kine's blood so strongly flavored with a single powerful emotion, and The Beast begins to rale when Karl pulls away after only a short feed.

When Karl releases the man, he stumbles to his hands and knees, grime smearing the bright blue patterning of his suit trousers. He looks up in confusion, but of course Karl is behind the man. Drunkly he scrabbles to try to see who was behind him, mind still numb with the feed as he struggles to figure out what just happened.

When he finally turns, will Karl still be there?

Spoiler: OOC

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Karl's character sheet is updated to 8/10. Also, never got a final reply from you in the OOC thread. See the last page if you missed it.

[Bennosuke]

When the business man turns to identify his assailant, struggling to figure out what just happened to him, Karl has already receded into the shadows.

Minutes later a few blocks away...

As he returns to Gabe he simply states, "Let us plan to hunt towards the end of this night as well. Aside from it being good practice, your hunger is more difficult to control because you are new to this existence. Sating it before sleep may help."

Gabe nods his head, a new life and intensity in his eyes. "I agree," he says with excessive animation, "the hunger is terrible! How do you not go through multiple feedings in a night? I'm already starting to feel hungry again... it's like it's never ending or something." Gabe walks with Karl, following his Sire back to their car.

************************************************** **

Anna departs Temple Dragon for her old haven in South San Francisco. When she turns her car down the quiet cul-de-sac, her headlights play across Katie's silhouette, the young woman wearing a baggy hoodie, and some jeans, a large backpack slung over one shoulder. She turns and waves at Anna as she pulls into the driveway, a tired smile playing on her face.

By the time Anna is stepping out of her car, Katie is already running over, catching her cousin in an embrace before she's managed to close the door. "Oh my god," Katie says, her warm vital flesh pressed against the vampire's, "it's so so good to see you." Though Katie's smile is ear to ear, there is a tired sad look in her eyes.

(OOC: Activate blush of life?)

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Spoiler

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Yes blush of life

"Oof," Anna said as Katie crashed into her.

"Wow, yeah, you too," Anna said as she patted her cousin's back, "this is going to be exactly what you need, I guarantee it. C'mon, let's get these groceries inside, and then you can tell me everything."

Anna led by example and grabbed a pair of bags and moved into the kitchen. It had been years since she'd had to prepare food or eat, but the old habits came right back as she started automatically stocking shelves and the fridge and freezer, each item going into its proper spot.

"Are you hungry? Do you want a drink?" Anna asked as she waved a bottle of red in her cousin's direction. Katie was under age but she figured the girl could use a glass of wine to take the edge off. If Katie accepts, Anna will pour a glass for both of them.

Once the groceries were away and the car was safely in the garage, Anna moved to the living room and flipped on the television, turning the volume low so it only provided some background noise.

"Okay, so, spill," Anna asked.

Spoiler

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She'll let Katie lead the conversation, but Anna would like to know:
1. What Katie remembers of the abduction.
2. How she feels about Jay's death.
3. How she's feeling in general.
4. What happened between her and Celestine that she wants to get away from her family for a while.
5. What she wants to do while she's staying at Anna's place.
6. Is she injured at all, or is she fully recovered?

[Daishain]

"It gets easier as time goes on, but no, it never truly ends. These next few days are crucial Gabriel, you must learn control. Soon I will need to present you to the court as my childe. Any perceived weakness at that time will hurt both of us."

"Have you had a chance to test your new abilities? We should identify what gifts you already have."

Karl continues heading for the car and then the airport, leaving it up to Gabe whether or not the ghoul follows.

[Bennosuke]

(OOC: Anna has Blush of Life active and is down to 9 bp)

As Anna begins to unpack, Katie does her best to help, carrying in bags and unloading them. Taking a gaze around Anna's empty kitchen she whistles and says playfully, "You weren't kidding when you said you needed to get groceries!"

"Are you hungry? Do you want a drink?" Anna asked as she waved a bottle of red in her cousin's direction. Katie was under age but she figured the girl could use a glass of wine to take the edge off. If Katie accepts, Anna will pour a glass for both of them.

Katie's eyes go wide at the offer. A mischievous grin spreads across Katie's tired face and she replies, "You know I'm only eighteen, right cous'," before adding, "but if you won't tell my parents I won't."

When Anna asks her to "spill", the dark sad shadow returns to her face and she casts her gaze down and away from her cousin. "It's... it's a lot," she says after a moment, "It's not easy to talk about."

(OOC: Would you give me a Presence + Socialize roll at +2 though you can get another +2 if you are going to get Katie drunk)'

************************************************** *******

Gabe shakes his head in the negative. "New abilities," he asks with curiosity, "no. You haven't shown me how. I'm all ears... I got to admit I've kinda been looking forward to learning how to lift a car, or turn into a shadow." He grins playfully at his sire.

However much Karl wanted to take the time now to mentor his childe, he knew he had to get to the airport or he would risk being late to pick up his grandson. A sick anxiety in the back of Karl's brain (was it the Beast), even dared to wonder if Gabe knew about this and was trying to delay or distract him.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Yeah, I don't stay here much anymore," Anna replied, explaining away the lack of food.

When it came to the wine:
"You're not going anywhere tonight, and probably not tomorrow either, and you look like you need a drink," Anna replied.

"Start with why you can't stay with your parents for the time being," Anna said, "and we'll take it from there. It should help to talk, but you don't have to if you don't want to."

Anna keeps the wine flowing as long as Katie keeps drinking, until the bottle is empty if she gets that far.

Spoiler

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presence + socilaize +4 (9d10)[9][2][8][7][5][5][6][10][3](55)
10 again: (9d10)[5][9][6][7][10][2][8][7][10](64)

[Daishain]

"Sorry to disappoint, but lifting a car is probably not in your future. We are Mekhets, not Gangrels or Brujah. Obfuscation, Celerity, and Auspex are our clan's main talents. Stealth, speed, and detection essentially. Chances are you were reborn with some level of talent in those three. It is possible to develop others, but it is considerably more difficult to do so."

Karl keeps moving towards the car, if Gabriel wants to hear more he'll just have to come.

If the ghoul does decide to join him, he continues. "I suggest that we start with obfuscation. At its most basic level it does not burn noticeable amounts of the energy you glean from mortals, so it makes for a good one to work with without triggering the hunger pains you struggle with. Our destination also makes for a good place to practice."

"That most basic ability is called Face in the Crowd. It is a matter of making yourself blend in. It doesn't actually render you into a shadow, but rather a part of the background, something to be ignored in any place were observers expect to see strangers. Done well, and you could carry a corpse through a crowded area and the people will simply part around you without actually seeing."

[Bennosuke]

When it came to the wine:
"You're not going anywhere tonight, and probably not tomorrow either, and you look like you need a drink," Anna replied.

Katie allows Anna to pour her a healthy glass of red wine. Even though Anna was abusing the tricks of her blood to allow her to tolerate mortal food, the draught stunk of saccharine sweet fruit and stinging alcohol. However, Katie practically wolfed her first glass down, tilting the glass to take gulp after gulp, her eyes almost misting over when she finished.

(OOC: Three successes... will answer questions 1-4)

At first Katie is very hesitant to begin talking. Her face tightens tight and loses all color as she fights with herself to find the words, or perhaps with the concentration of trying to push out the bad memories. But as she talks, the words come more and more freely, eventually pouring out of her almost as quickly as she takes down her second glass of red wine. Katie describes finding Jay's gun, then finding out about his ties to the MS-13. His threats to keep her quiet, not to go to the police. How he scared her. How he apologized. How she was stupid enough to go see him at a bar. How he got her drunk, maybe drugged her. Him beating her. Him bringing her to the bike shop and chaining her to the garage. How she starved. How she was beaten... and threatened with worse. Gunshots and the smell of acrid smoke, then the smell of death. The police coming and freeing her, and after what seemed like torturous questioning eventually brought her home. Between all this, she finishes her third glass of wine.

Katie talks about her shame; shame for allowing herself to trust someone so evil, and shame for somehow still loving him. She describes how much she hates herself, and her fear of how much her mother and father must hate her, must be disappointed, must be revolted. She hates Jay. She hates MS-13, but in between choking sobs and snot smeared tears she describes how she hates herself more.

************************************************** *********************

If he is invited, Gabe will come with his sire to the airport, getting into the car to join him.

If the ghoul does decide to join him, he continues. "I suggest that we start with obfuscation. At its most basic level it does not burn noticeable amounts of the energy you glean from mortals, so it makes for a good one to work with without triggering the hunger pains you struggle with. Our destination also makes for a good place to practice."

"That most basic ability is called Face in the Crowd. It is a matter of making yourself blend in. It doesn't actually render you into a shadow, but rather a part of the background, something to be ignored in any place were observers expect to see strangers. Done well, and you could carry a corpse through a crowded area and the people will simply part around you without actually seeing."

Gabe nods his head, doing his best to follow Karl's words. As Karl starts the car and begins to pull onto Divisadero, he asks, "But... how do you do it?" His eyes are wide, focused on Karl, excited and hungry to learn.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna encouraged her cousin to open up, figuring that talking would help relieve some of the burden she carried. As the college student spoke though, Anna felt dispassionate. She'd warned her about Jay, shown her incontrovertible proof of what he was, and she'd walked straight into his arms anyway.
Even when she was a mortal, Anna would never have been so naive or helpless. She'd always known self-defense, and by the time she was Katie's age, she'd already participated in several juniors tournaments. A another year or two and Katie would be the age Anna was when she swore her oaths as a police officer, a lifetime ago.

As the girl blubbered in front of her, the predator within her stirred. Anna saw not her cousin, but wounded and distracted prey.
So weak.
So vulnerable.
It would be a simple matter to take a sip, just a little. The Kiss would bring ecstasy to her, and she'd forget all about her pain, for a little while at least.

The fact Katie had so willingly subjected herself to this ordeal, in spite of Anna's warnings, disgusted her. How could she be related to something so pathetic? But Anna recognized the thoughts for what they were, the dispassionate machinations of a Kindred, stepping to the danse macabre. She forced herself to focus on her cousin. Katie, her cousin. Her birth. The first time she'd held her as a baby when Anna was still a pre-teen. The memories of their family gatherings when they were younger. She was family. She was blood. It was partially Anna's responsibility to help her grow and strengthen. The predator understood that much, at least.

She brought a box of tissues and handed the top one to her cousin.
"You didn't know; if anything it's my fault, I should have been more insistent. What's important is you're okay now; you're safe," Anna said as she put a hand on Katie's shoulder, "we get to learn from our mistakes."

"You can stay here as long as you like," Anna said, "there's Netflix, and you can read some books during the day, or just sleep, or whatever. You need to recover first, and then... well, then maybe I'll show you how you can protect yourself, if you're interested. Do you have classes?"

[Daishain]

Karl tries to describe it as best he can, "There's an... energy to a crowd, and an energy to your own being. You can sense this energy, your instincts will tell you all about it if you listen. If you focus, you can shift this sense of yourself to match everyone around you."

"Humans have instincts too. They are not well attuned, but they rely on them to filter what they need to know out of the chaos. What this method does is trick those instincts into treating you as so thoroughly average that they'll pay attention to anything and everything else in the area."

"That's the big part of why its use is limited to crowds, it doesn't help much to read as the most average person in an area where there are no other people."

Karl turns onto the highway towards the airport, "When we get there, just stick by me and focus on using your senses other than your eyes, feel the people moving past you."

[Bennosuke]

Katie takes a tissue from Anna when offered, crumpling it reflexively before bringing it to her face. But when Anna places a "artificially warmed" hand on her shoulder, her cousin rushes into her arms, face still not appropriately cleaned of snot and tears. Face smushed into the shoulder of Anna's jacket she says, "Thank you, thank you so much cousin. I... I really don't know what to do." She throws her arms around Anna's neck, sobbing a few more times for good measure, and Anna can feel the warm wet spot starting to build on her shirt. After a few long moments of crying, Katie manages to regain some composure. She pulls herself away from her cousin, and runs an arm across her face to push away more tears. Katie's eyes are puffy, her lids flushed and her face is red , and her makeup starting to smear. "I'm sorry," she says, almost falling into another fit of sobs, "I don't mean to burden you like this, and you can kick me out anytime Anna. Thank you for being so understanding."

The hand not holding the wrecked tissue drops to Anna's and squeezes it tightly.

************************************************** *******

Gabe listens raptly to his sire, though there is still a lingering confusion that makes him look partly like a bovine staring at a UFO. Never the less, he nods his head vigorously in understanding every time Karl pauses. As Karl pontificates, educating his fledgeling on the intricacies of Obfuscation, he drives down 19th ave, past rows of residential houses until he hits the 208, a wide open freeway that leads them back towards Daly City and the previous night's events.

Speeding through the hills, then out of the valley of Daly city, Karl's vehicle cuts through the night. It is mercifully after rush hour, though there is still plenty of traffic to share the road with. Karl pulls the car off of the freeway as he hits San Bruno, heading towards the massive structure of light and glass and metal. Karl follows the signs for short term parking, pulling into the first spot he can find.

Inside, as Karl and Gabe are walking down the tunnel from the parking lot to the airport, a heavyset man in a black SF Giants jacket catches site of them from his position pretending to look at his cellphone. Slight stench of blood... Ghoul... Invictus Ghoul. The Invictus run the airport. He leaves his post, crossing directly to Karl and Gabe and says, "Can I help you?"

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Well, hmm," Anna said, "you can stay as long as you like; I don't sleep here anymore. I'm going to be busy during the day but I'll drop by in the evenings if I can."

She wiped away some of the tears from her cousins' face.
"Let's go make up your bed and get you settled," Anna said.

She gave her cousin a tour of the place and laid out sheets on the bed in the second bedroom.

"By the way, there's a few guns and vests in the cellar, don't touch them unless it's an emergency," she said, "same thing with the jains."

[Daishain]

To Gabe Karl states, "Don't think about it too much, this is more a matter of instinct and reflex than knowledge. Focus, and it should come to you."

As they are approached, Karl looks briefly at the ghoul before simply stating, "Karl Bauer, Hound. I will not be requiring assistance."

[Bennosuke]

"Well, hmm," Anna said, "you can stay as long as you like; I don't sleep here anymore. I'm going to be busy during the day but I'll drop by in the evenings if I can."

"Sure, sure," Katie says, nodding her head and trying to give her cousin a smile. "Thank you."

Later, sitting on her "new" bed, Katie's eyes widen when Anna mentions the cellar. She pauses for a long moment before replying, then shrugs her shoulders and says, "Sure. Mom told me you used to be a cop." She hesitates a moment longer before saying, "Any chance you'd show me how to... fire one?" Her eyes lock on Anna's, big brown eyes; eyes filled with terrible fear, desperation, and anger.

(OOC: Even if the scene is not fully over, I'm giving Anna a WP for interacting with and working to protect her new Touchstone)

************************************************** *********************

The ghoul remains in front of Karl, refusing to step aside, though he gives Karl a polite grin. "Tito," he says with a nod of his head before asking, "Picking up or dropping off. Just doing my job sir."

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna smiled and managed to keep her fangs in check, barely.

"Yes, of course I'll show you how to shoot, and about firearm safety," Anna replied, "I'll even show you some martial arts too, if you want. But not tonight. Tonight, you get to drink some water so you're not stupidly hung over, and then you get to go to bed. Take it easy tomorrow and lounge around, order a pizza if you don't feel like cooking, and I'll stop by in the evening and we can talk about what you want to do or need to do while you're staying here."

[Bennosuke]

Katie nods her head a little drunkenly, then a thought occurs to her, "I thought we were cooking dinner tonight? You already ate?"

[Thundercracker]

Anna stopped.

“That much wine would have knocked me on my ass,” Anna said with a smirk as she implied Katie had been doing more drinking at college than she'd let on.

“Okay, let’s cook,” she said.

[Daishain]

Karl blinks, then nods, "Picking up, one mortal coming in on British Airways 287"

[Bennosuke]

Katie smirks, her face flush and eyes red, seeming to take Anna's statement as some sort of compliment. If Anna lets her, she will help with the cooking. Despite her inebriated state, she had clearly spent a fair amount of time in the kitchen with her mother, and seemed to know what she was doing on autopilot. With everything about her capture out in the open, Katie seemed more open to talking, and as she was chopping some napa cabbage, she began to ask questions of Anna, "Thank you again. I've been so rude. How have you been. What have you been up to lately. My mom seems to be very preoccupied with you these days... like she's always trying to stop herself from calling you or something."

************************************************** *******

"All good," Tito says with a grin, stepping aside for Karl and Gabe. Security like this was the norm at SFO, in fact in Karl's memory, this was pretty lax compared to when Gorman had been Prince; the Ghoul would have wanted names, and would probably had insisted on escorting them through the airport. Prince Gorman had been very paranoid, and had made it all but impossible to leave the city without close totalitarian monitoring.

Karl and his Childe made their way to families could meet arriving passengers as they passed through security. This early there was a good number of people waiting; families, the odd boyfriend with a bouquet ect. Fortunately, Karl had timed it well and Fred's plane had already arrived by the time they made it to the waiting station. Within about fifteen minutes Karl's grandson was walking through the security checkpoint. He was a thin man, with greying blonde hair and a square jaw. His face was haggard, and heavy bags hung under his ice blue eyes. He had his grey tweed jacket slung over one shoulder and was carrying a patched up leather weekender bag in with his other hand. Fred smiled wearily when he found Karl, and began walking to him quickly. "Thank you for picking me up," he said, pausing for a moment, starting to go in for a hug and then stopping himself, "I, uh, thank you for everything." He turned to Gabe, who was grinning triumphantly and said, "Uh, Gabe... good to see you too."

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"It's fine, this is about you, anyway, but thank you for asking," Anna said.

"Work," Anna replied, "lots of work, like eighty plus hours a week."
"Enjoy college, because this is what you have to look forward to after you graduate and get a job," Anna said.

Anna paused when Katie mentioned Celestine. Truth be told, she'd held out longer than Anna had expected she would. Apparently she could be stubborn. In the end, it wouldn't matter though; Celestine needed Anna to continue living, and all Anna wanted was a simple apology. It wasn't much to ask, and sooner the ghoul figured that out, the easier it would be on everyone.

"Well, I'm sure she'll call," Anna said, "you're going to be living here, after all, it's an unavoidable axiom of the universe that your mom is going to check on you."

[Daishain]

Karl smiles for his grandson, and its only partly forced. "Yes, well, we have a lot to talk about I think, shall we get your bags and get moving?"

[Bennosuke]

Katie does not seem to notice as Anna deflects her questions, simply giving a shy grin and thanking Anna for her kindness. Following Anna's comment about Celestine, Katie replies, "Oh trust me. I'm going to be lucky if I can go an hour without her bothering... I mean trying to reach me. Even at UC Berkley she was calling me like every day, and that was before... everything." The girl's face goes hard, the color leaving her cheeks, and for a second it looks like she might keel over and vomit. After regaining composure, she gives Anna a brave empty smile and shrugs. Looking down at the meal they had cooked, Katie says, "Well, looks like dinner is ready. Hope you're hungry, I think we made a lot!"

************************************************** *********

"I... uh am sure we do," Fred says with a slightly self-conscious chuckle. He nods his head and lets Karl take the lead in directing him downstairs to the baggage claim area.

The conveyor belt has not even begun to move and already there is an uncomfortable air hanging between the man and the two vampires escorting him. No longer able to feign interest in his cellphone, Fred looks up and fumbles with, "So, uh, how are you doing? What's new in your, uh, world?" He looks about nervously, as if not sure if he has broken some sort of secret rule with the question.

Karl catches another ghoul sentry standing by the doors at the baggage check level. This one is wearing a black beanie and hoodie, and pretends to be interested in his phone as he sneaks glances at Karl. His job was likely to watch for any vampires or ghouls trying to step outside and pick up a cab.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

“And that’s exactly why she kept things hidden from you, Celestine,”Anna thought

“Well, she loves you, and she wants to make sure you’re okay,” Anna said.

She paused as they continued cooking for a minute.

“Just so you know, you can always tell me anything,” Anna said, “I won’t judge. I will tell you if you’re being an idiot, but I won’t stop you from making your own decisions.”

Anna didn’t think she needed to mention that decisions had consequences; recent events had hammered that home enough.

“Eh, leftovers are a good thing,” she said as they started.

[Daishain]

Karl simply states, hoping that the bags come soon so they could get out of here and finally speak freely, "Well, we're thinking of growing our little private eye agency. We think there's room to expand it into a security firm, hire on some people to help out with that. Its a good field these days, especially with some of the recent troubles."