(Heroes) Books and Barbedwire

[Coco]

Coco was not quite sure what to make of the grimoire that the cameraman had found. Certainly, it seemed a dire thing, one that was best not to be trifled with, but unfortunately that was all Coco could do without proper knowledge of just what the book contained, or those who had created it. Thus she had invited the daft photographer to join her at the library so that they might be able to properly study the grimoire and plan their next steps. She would have preferred to undertake such an activity with one that would actually be helpful (beyond being a mere witness), say one like Ava Campbell, but, because Coco knew not how dangerous the waters were in which she was currently treading, she did not dare draw in others who had not already been involved. Hence why she had even bothered to call the photographer at all. Hopefully he would at least be more punctual than he was intelligent.

[Star]

Some people have clock towers for Watchtowers; others, have... big... keys.

Gates of Heaven, yo. Or, at least Aether. Either way, no one ever used a key to tell time, unless they went all Egyptian MacGuyver and made a sundial from one.

As far as he knew? There was no Egyptian MacGuyver Masque.

Punctuality is a tool. True story. When you arrive says a lot about how much you care. Either about the person, or the topic at hand.

He arrived late.

Not super late, like Screw This Guy I'm Leaving late, but late enough to convey a certain amount of disinterest in The Book. Or, at least, that was the goal. Maybe he was just What A Jerk late. It's a fine line. Normally? It would be Phone A Friend time. Nous. Zoey. Then just Get The Book. But when you're playing heads up, sometimes you just have to slow play your stack.

"Hey."

A half wave slid out with the approach. Had there been introductions? Before? Who knows. It's hard to keep track of things when houses are burning and people are barfing.

"I mean, hey."

Because library.

[Yumyumcrow]

Soft white light filtered from the roof lending the library a sanctified air. The high ceiling and wide, rounded, windows furthered the impression that this place was a temple of learning. Books lined the walls, ensconced in shelves of darkly stained wood. Ranks of desks filled the space of the floor.

A quiet sense of industry prevailed: the other people they saw were doing quiet research of their own. Over by the rank of computers, a group of white haired retirees were taking lessons.

For the moment, the mop haired man and the flame haired woman were unnoticed and unremarked.

[Coco]

"Hello, there, cameraman! Tell me, how fares immortalizing my heroics in the minds of the populace?" Coco inquired with a joking grin.

"Hopefully well, otherwise I can see no excuse for you to be late. You do realize the potential scope of what we have stumbled upon, don't you? Perhaps the Mayor is a part of the cult," she expressed in a hushed, yet hopeful voice. "The groundhogs hole that we have discovered might go any number of ways, and the only possibility we have of truly discovering what those might be is to study the clues that we have before us. That means this book, a book which we could have been studying for near on 10 minutes now!" The scolding was mild, and delivered with a modicum of faux exasperation, but there was also an amount of true exasperation as well.

[Star]

Wasn't this a movie?

Whenever someone says 'Mayor' and 'cult' in the same sentence, that's a sign. Not a good sign.

"Uh, sure, okay. The Mayor." Oh no. He'd said it. Didn't mean to? Just. Slipped. Out. Now he was part of The Mayor Club. Fanta was contagious. Really, at this point, hitting over the head with his backpack, and grabbing the book was Totally An Option. "Yeah, you're totally immortalized." Sure. On 4Chan. "Didn't you see it? In the City section of the paper?" They really were good pictures. Just a little... odd. Austin Powers with a fire extinguisher and Xena carrying Uncle Fester.

Skip the late crack. Sure, he was. But this wasn't a date or job interview. He sat.

"Oh, but, you know I took other pictures, right? Of the room? Before it, like, burned down."

Fingers rummaged into his pack and produced...

...folders.

Folders, yo. Everything is better with folders. One was handed over; inside, glossy prints of the room and it's markings.

"Ummm. Those prints were, like, expensive."

[Coco]

"So are the holes the book's binding put in a very nice versace bag," Coco riposted, nodding towards the purse at her feet, which, indeed, had a few spikes poking through the leather. "Towels just aren't as effective against barbed wire, who knew?"

Still, she reached for the folder of photographs, her other hand reaching over to steady the cane which balanced next to her, the handle against the lip of the table. "Did you notice anything when you were going over them?"

[Star]

This is why some people have to wait for triple coupon day at the grocery store.

"Not a real Versace bag." The mop shifted and swayed as he straightened from leaning over to look. "Not that, you know, you'd front around with a fake, but, maybe you got swindled. I used to sell those things."

One of those statements was true. The other one might be, but that would require a Closer Look. If he was lucky? Someone was gonna get Yelled At. Stay outta peoples earlobes, yo. That's what you get.

"But, ummm. No. Not yet?" Long fingers spread a set of the pictures out. "I mean, like, should I? What would I look for?"

That's right. No one here knows anything. About magic. Nothing.

  Legit Fake Peeped 4 Suxx to Liez

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-04-02 19:12:43		Star rolls 9 to Girl u so Fake (Manip + Sub + Spec) (10 Again)		5, 10, 9, 8, 6, 5, 9, 4, 6, 2		4 successes

[Coco]

Could he be correct? Could it truly be a fake? Had she been cheated? Horribly deprived of both her hard earned and pledge won money? The spikes protruding through the sides of the bag seemed to give credence to his words, and the desire to scream in impotent rage at the injustice of the theft, but indeed, that would be most unbecoming, not to mention unproductive and disruptive, which wouldn't do. Instead she kept her eyes upon the photographs, and replied with a flippant, "Good thing it was a gift then, isn't it?"

She studied the photos for a moment longer, and then pushed them off to the side. "Perhaps we'll only know what we're looking for if we examine all the evidence we have. Let's crack open the tome we've recovered and see what we can find. As luck would have it, we're in a library, so if you need a dictionary to help you understand those big, big words, like 'composition', 'hermeticism', or 'punctuality'," she sniped, reaching done to pick up the traitorous purse and then carefully remove the spiked book it contained.

Investigation rolls? Academics? Occult? All three?

   QQ, she believe it

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-04-03 01:03:05		Coco! rolls 8 to Spot dat lie! (wits4+subter4) (10 Again)		3, 5, 8, 5, 4, 7, 5, 10, 3		2 successes

   2 successes to give him his own medicine

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-04-03 01:03:58		Coco! rolls 6 to fine, have another lie! (manip2+subter4) (10 Again)		5, 4, 1, 9, 5, 8		2 successes

[Yumyumcrow]

@Coco Cayce Any or all three skills can be used. They will only take time - lets say 1 hour per roll of careful study and investigation. I will be good and say that the pair have around 5 hours till closing time (so up to 5 rolls). If Star wishes to assist (or take the lead) he may do so West . But be warned! The longer ye take, the more obvious it will become!

[Star]

Sorry about your luck.

"Oh, wow really? That sucks." Was that genuine sympathy? Sure. Of. Course. "I mean, wow. You think they knew? That they gave you a fake. Because, like, if they knew, then they're a pretty terrible friend, right?"

But wait, there's more.

"Or, maybe they didn't know? Then you have to tell them, in case they still shop wherever they got it, right? And, you know... awwwwwwk-waaaaaaard," the last word warbled out. "Because then you kind of have that whole elephant in the room thing. You know. The whole," finger quotes, "Yes I'm so shallow I checked out the gift you gave me elephant."

Of course Fanta wasn't shallow. Nobody who's shallow wears blue velvet, right? Right.

Eyes flickered to the book as it emerged. Okay, kids. Fun time is over. Nobody needs to pull the car over, everyone stay on their own sides.

OOC

I've made all the possible rolls that Star could make, to expedite things. Cayce can pick whichever Skill Coco would use, and then apply Star's rolls as teamwork rolls.

  All The Rolls

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-04-03 19:53:50		[03] Star rolls 3 to Teamwork! (Secondary Actor) Int + Occ (10 Again)		1, 10, 5, 5		1 success
2015-04-03 19:53:50		[02] Star rolls 3 to Teamwork! (Secondary Actor) Int + Occ (10 Again)		2, 1, 9		1 success
2015-04-03 19:53:50		[01] Star rolls 3 to Teamwork! (Secondary Actor) Int + Occ (10 Again)		1, 2, 7		failure
2015-04-03 19:53:36		[03] Star rolls 3 to Teamwork! (Secondary Actor) Int + Aca (10 Again)		10, 6, 1, 4		1 success
2015-04-03 19:53:36		[02] Star rolls 3 to Teamwork! (Secondary Actor) Int + Aca (10 Again)		7, 8, 9		2 successes
2015-04-03 19:53:36		[01] Star rolls 3 to Teamwork! (Secondary Actor) Int + Aca (10 Again)		3, 5, 10, 7		1 success
2015-04-03 19:53:21		[04] Star rolls 4 to Teamwork! (Secondary Actor) Int + Inv (10 Again)		4, 3, 4, 10, 10, 2		2 successes
2015-04-03 19:53:21		[03] Star rolls 4 to Teamwork! (Secondary Actor) Int + Inv (10 Again)		5, 7, 4, 4		failure
2015-04-03 19:53:21		[02] Star rolls 4 to Teamwork! (Secondary Actor) Int + Inv (10 Again)		10, 9, 2, 1, 7		2 successes
2015-04-03 19:53:21		[01] Star rolls 4 to Teamwork! (Secondary Actor) Int + Inv (10 Again)		2, 8, 7, 1		1 success