(Under Control) Here's Waldo!

[West]

Continued from [Under Control] Broken In Half

As Thao makes his way back to his car through the darkness, the rush of wind cutting down the path made by the highway begins to grow louder.

Silver moonlight gleams off his car, but there's a darkness in the middle which slowly resolves itself into a man leaning on it. Nearby is a motorcycle.

He's eating a hamburer; Whataburger, to be exact. That particular tang of old lettuce and mustard wars with the fresh, lush smell of the surrounding vegetation.

Salt and pepper hair gleam under the moonlight, and piercing eyes almost glow. He's good looking, in that older distinguished way. The burger lowers as Thao gets closer, and he waves it at the sock full of phones Thao carries.

"Please tell me that's not your jerking off sock," he says, the words lightly muffled as he finishes chewing and swallowing.

[TheMalkCat]

Right, that's th' sound o' th' freeway gettin' closer. Ah should be just 'bout where Ah parked. Almost outta th' woods. With the dark of night surrounding him, Thao follows his ears to the highway. His eye catches a pale glint off his Ford Ranger and he allows himself a wan smile. Then he makes out a figure leaning against his car and the smile fades as quickly as it came.

Thao stops a good seven feet away from his car and the stranger leaning against his vehicle. His nose catches the hint of lettuce and mustard and he immediately knows that this man is eating a Whataburger. In one strange moment of clarity, Thao remembers the crisp and oily taste of a Thick-and-Hearty with an order of fries with a soda on the side big enough to put a diabetic in shock. They were alright. But that one detail flicks a switch in Thao's noggin that flicks other switches telling him that something isn't right.

  3 Successes to Google Maps: Whataburger

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-05-20 20:05:29		Thao Dinh Ngoc rolls 4 to Intelligence+Streetwise (10 Again)		9, 7, 9, 9		3 successes

There isn't a single Whataburger in th' state o' California. Unless that motorcycle of his can fly, there's no way he could possibly grab one without it going stale. And nobody in their right minds eats one o' those things stale. How th' hell did he get here? The stranger's question yanks Thao out of his burger-musings and back into the land of faeries, bisected cadavers, and Chexican cuisine. He doesn't quite know what to say to that. So he goes for simplicity.

"No. No its not."

He tries to edge over to the other side of the truck as he speaks. "C-can Ah help you with somethin'?"

[West]

The remainder of the burger and it's wrapper crumpled into a ball in the man's hands, and he casually tossed it sideways into the bed of Thao's Ranger. Don't Trash California.

A thumb swiped his lower lip a hse focused on Thao with those eyes that looked as if they could see through walls.

"Well, I hope so. You're my guy, right? With the delivery?"

[TheMalkCat]

The Wizened watches him carefully, continuing to sneak his way around the hood towards the driver's door step by step. Those eyes of his feel just as sharp as cold needle pricks against his skin. His attention flicks from the tossed wrapper and the stranger and he gets the definite feeling that there is more to him that meets the eye. Try as he could, he couldn't see anything besides a An idea comes to mind. Perhaps Thao's being paranoid, his fear beginning to strain his sense. Or maybe fear is sharpening his wits.

He puts the heavy sock into one of the pockets of his jacket to leave both of his hands free. "Ah'm n-not ent-tirely sure. Ah'd like t' know who you are first." He blinks, once, twice, and thrice before turning a Wyrd eye on the man before him, focusing his fractured perception of all things paranatural into focus squarely on the stranger.

Thao expends another 1 WP to Kenning

[West]

"I'm Kordecki's partner."

The man mirrors Thao's movements, keeping is body between Thao and the truck. It's casual, but not particularly subtle. Thao's Wyrd-Sense tingles, but it doesn't focus his attention anywhere in particular. There's something weird going on, but, it's been a strange night.

"I'm here just in case you chickened out. So what have you got?"

He points to the pocket the sock is spilling out of*.

*

Four phones are a decent sized bundle

[TheMalkCat]

The mention of Kordecki makes the Wizened stop moving around to the driver's door. "Kord-decki's p-partner?" He turns on his heel and tries to search the man for any hint of deception. Did Kordecki ever mention sendin' a partner t' meet with me? All he told me was t' meet with Rifle-Breaker an' collect. Somethin'. Maybe these cellphones? At any rate Ah should be on my toes.

  2 Sux to Detecting Lies

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-05-22 22:43:40		Thao Dinh Ngoc rolls 4 to Wits+Empathy (10 Again)		1, 5, 9, 10, 6		2 successes

The jangling of the Wyrd against Thao's nerves continues. He brushes the fingers of his left hand against the pocket with the cellphone-sock-bag-thing. Then, he nods in response to the Partner. "Somethin went wrong b-back there. Very, very wrong. " He places both of his hands on the hood of the car engine, idly bending his fingers against the joint, one by one.

In Thao's eyes, they crackle and bend in ways human fingers should not. He wearily brings a hand to his forehead and then drags it down his face in a near universal gesture of 'fuck-its-late-and-I'm-tired'. "An' Christ, Ah j-just want this night t' b-be over." It was true. He meant every word of it.

As quickly as he can, Thao hardens his Mortal Mask while his hands slip down over his face, so that to anyone or anything that could distinguish the Mask and the Mein would be in for a jolt. He keeps his eyes firmly fixed on the Partner.

Thao expends 1 Glamour to Harden the Mask

Then, Thao searches for any twitch of emotion on the man's face, shock, confusion, or fear. Anything at all that would hint at him being able to register the switch between Thao's Mein and his Mask. Thao's fingers straighten into slender, yet human proportions before his eyes and feels the scalpel wounds and crooked stitches recede into smooth, pink flesh. What the Partner could see with those strange eyes of his is anyone's guess. He hopes it's just nerves and paranoia.

  2 Successes to Do you see what I see?

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-05-22 22:49:32		Thao Dinh Ngoc rolls 4 to Wits+Empathy (10 Again)		7, 10, 6, 1, 8		2 successes

[West]

Those piercing eyes stare back at Thao, shining bits of onyx in the silver moonlight.

Eyes like that don't lie. They don't bat, either, at Thao's Mask shenanigans.

"Come on, then," he says, holding a hand out and pointing at the sock pocket.

"It's almost over. Tell me about whatever went wrong?"

The words come across as sympathetic, and reassuring at the same time. This guy would probably make a hell of a lawyer. His head tilts, and he looks past Thao, from the direction he came, looking for some indication of whatever it is the Chirurgeon refers to.

[TheMalkCat]

It has been a long night. Unable to tell whether or not this man can see his Wyrd-warped form (or lack there of), Thao lets out a wheezing sigh that whistles at the back of his throat. "There's a d-d-dead man in that forest." The Changeling makes a cutting motion across his torso with a strangely unmarred forefinger. "C-cut right 'cross th' b-belly. C-cauterized. Like someone p-put him through a man-sized sheet c-cutter an' took a welder's t-torch t' th' midsection." He looks past the Partner into the woods behind him. Into the woods and out of the woods but not safe at home just yet. "Worst p-part 'bout it was, th' other p-part o' him was j-just gone. No b-blood trail, 'r at least none that Ah c-could've seen in that d-dark. All Ah c-could find were cellphones lots o' 'em. That's what's in th' sock. Shitty cellphones. "

Thao looks back to the Partner with fatigue clearly showing in the bags under his eyes. "Yes. Ah'm Dr. Khue Hoang. N-no Ah d-didn't chicken out, Ah had no choice." His shoulders visibly slump and he reaches for the sock holding the cellphones. "An' yes, you'll g-get th' g-goddamn sock an' whatever's in it." Thao pulls out the sock and rests it on the engine of the car. "There 're more b-back there if you want t'...Ah dunno, set up p-police t-tape 're whatever th' hell you d-do with t-taxp-payer money. Ah d-don't c-care Ah j-just want t' go home."

Only one question left before he can get in his truck and drive off, forgetting about this hole mess provided the Whataburger Wonder doesn't try to cuff him or pull a piece on him or something crazy like that. "J-just. P-please. Show m-me your license. J-just so Ah know whether 'r not this is all j-just some b-bullshit t-trick 'r somethin' an' Ah'm not g-gonna end up in a d-ditch b-by th' side o' th' road soon as you t-take it."

A minuscule, malignant voice at the back of Thao's head says by this point he wouldn't even care.

[West]

"Listen," the man moves forward, taking the sock.

Another hand slides around Thao's shoulders. They're buddies, right?

"Just walk me back to this... whatever, and you're done. Show me what you're talking about, and you can head home. We'll call it a night. Job done. I'll let Kordecki know."

He's so reasonable.

[TheMalkCat]

"DON'TYOUFUCKIN'TOUCHME!"

Thao violently tears himself away from the man who is now in possession of the sock. His entire slender frame shakes in a mixture of indignity, shock, and fury. Even with his Mask, the Chirurgeon is a thin man. He quivers like a dead branch in a spring gust.A strand of black hair has slipped out of place, falling over his wide, dull brown eyes.

He points a single finger at the man across from him. "Y-you!" His hand trembles in the air. Thao reaches out with his other hand to bring the shaking hand down and hold it against his gut. It won't stop shaking. "You d-d-d-d-on't...g-g-get t' t-t-tou..." It begins to get hard to see through the wetness welling in his eyes.

His teeth chatter even though the night air's in the upper seventies. He roughly rubs a sleeve across his eyes. "L-l-license. Wannit...g-g-give m-m-m-me m-m-mah..." He could feel the wounds underneath his false flesh. Even under the Mask, he could feel the man brushing up against old scars, tearing sutures, and needles under the skin.

Even under false flesh, that seam hadn't healed. The one below the base of his neck, right in between his shoulders. That one never healed.

Lies. This stranger holding whatever what little bargaining power he has left. This man doesn't have a license. Neither does he. Both of them. Liars. All of it lies on lies on lies.

"L-l-icen...."