(Broceliandes Garden) Welcome Home!

[Cayce]

What place could be more fortuitous to those that had just been uprooted by unexpected tragedy then the heart of Sacramento's most beautiful neighborhood? True, it was also one of the newest, yet one could hardly tell, for not only were the homes all of a different design, but the landscaping was lush and full, with tall trees, gorgeous flower beds, and bountiful shrubbery, as though it had been cultivated for years. One could almost forget they were in California amongst all that green. Truly, this place was an oasis, an area of safe harbor, ready and willing to share the bounty of its aquifer and its community. Only a few houses still sported real estate signs, whereas the rest seemed to already shelter new inhabitants.

Inhabitants such as Evelynn East, who found her new home to be a two storied house with a covered porch and a tower, of all things! Not to mention a shed in the back, with power outlets! Perfect for...projects.

And, lo and behold, across the street was a nice bungalow that just happened to be hosting a new occupant as well: none other than Rick Pereg .

It was nearing 6 pm, and the flow of professionals was beginning to taper off as they returned home from work. Fancy sedans caught the day's fading light as they rolled on by, and neighbors called out greetings to neighbors before they retired inside for the night, or seized the evening to go on runs, or strolls, or what not.

Such is what Malcolm Green was able to amply witness as he finished up setting a gutter in place and packed up the for the day. He was down the block, but he had a clear view of both Evelynn and Rick as they unpacked. And, as if that weren't strange enough, along came another familiar face...

A certain messenger, Morgan Bellanar, was returning from delivering some legal documents to a lawyer at the end of the street when she realized that she wasn't the only Lost from Sacramento in the neighborhood. (@Origins)

[Lesingnon]

This was the same rent as that old apartment he'd only even kept for appearance's sake? That stretched credulity quite a bit. But as nervous as his landlord had seemed over the phone he supposed it would hardly be surprising for her to slash the price temporarily just because she was worried about having people get upset over the asbestos. So he could have accepted that as an explanation.

Until he saw Evelynn across the street.

Until he saw Malcolm packing up after a day of work.

Until he saw Morgan returning from a delivery.

He believed in coincidence, to an extent. Not as much as he had before he'd been taken, but to an extent. Not to this extent. He couldn't believe it was coincidence that had brought four Freeholders here. Not with the forces that every Changeling knew to be lurking about.

He offered a wave to both Changelings out and about on the street.

Hopefully they'd wander over.

[Morgan Bellanar]

Morgan was probably one of the few people in the idealistic neighborhood displeased with the decreased traffic. Oh she was glad the bicycle she was using had less cars to avoid. She just happened to like the noise. As she stopped for a drink of water from the bottle attached to her backpack, she couldn't help but eye the greenery. Not like some passersby who enjoyed it, no. The Scrivener didn't like the great outdoors.

Morgan offered a silent thanks to whomever planned the place that the shrubberies were not roses. Thick patches of thorny vegetation was something she'd prefer to avoid, thank you very much. Old instincts set her eyes and head moving around and she froze upon noticing a mountain man. Then she grinned whilst drinking the water bottle, spilling some of it without concern.

She secured the bottle and lightly pedaled over to say hello to Malcom Green. She set down the kickstand when she got close enough to not need to shout and got off the bicycle, right hand resting on the handle bars, left waving hello: "Salutations friend Green. Heh, how art ye today?"

[ct]ooc: Yup, Morgan is a foot and a bicycle courier, depending upon distance from her den--erm, apartment.[/ctl]

[Malcolm Green]

"Uh. Yeah? Hi..."

The mountain finished gathering his work materials. Guttering complete. And a few dabs of paint where a second coat had been badly needed. Not bad for a mornings work. He tried not to think about how the work had been left so late with people already moving into the estate.

His attention was drawn by Rick, waving. And by the sight of Evelyn appearing by another house.

Green frowned.

"Are you working? 'Cause. Like. I see Rick and Evelyn here... As in... living here. I was hired for some extra work. So...?"

He carried some of the excess materials over to a waiting skip. It was an action borne of habit rather than rudeness; Green was unwilling to draw attention to himself directly if he could help it.

"Now he's waving to us. Yeah - I get it. Funny how fate plays its hand, yeah?"

He passed by Morgan again, nodding over to the Autumn Airtouched.

[Evelynn East]

Evelynn herself was surrounded by boxes. How on earth had she fit this much stuff into such a small apartment so quickly? She eyed the new house suspiciously. At this rate, she was going to fill all the extra space in a matter of months, and then when she was asked to move back, her house was gonna look like it belonged on an episode of Hoarders.

This time, on Hoarders, Evelynn East is addicted to collecting gears and wires. The inside of her apartment smells like metal and looks like the insides of a broken clockwork monster...

Either way, she missed Rick's wave, and the sight of Morgan biking down the road. She took a precariously high stack of boxes into the house, and only then, on the way back out again, huffing and puffing, did she spot Rick. And Morgan. And Green too?

She couldn't have known it, but she was with Rick on this one. This was not a coincidence. Brushing off her hands, she crossed the street to Rick and waved. "Hiya!" Her greeting was bright, but she bore enough nervous ticks that it was clear enough she was uncertain about the situation. She was wringing her wrists when she stepped up onto the curb in front of Rick's place. "Um. So what brings you here? Is this weird or what?"

[Lesingnon]

"Well, they found asbestos in the building where I had an apartment. So, since that obviously needs to be fixed the landlady sent me here instead...at a price I'm fairly certain she's losing money on." Well, very certain really. He glances about the place again, half expecting to see another Freeholder wandering by. But apparently the coincidences weren't quite that crazy. So he simply returned Green's nod, and turned back to the other Onyx courtier.

An Onyx courtier that even he could tell was distinctly nervous about this entire situation. Good to know he wasn't th eonly paranoid one, he supposed. "But yeah, it's definitely weird. I was not expecting to see this many friendly faces around. Especially with some of them just apparently happening to have reason to wander by on our first day here."

[Morgan Bellanar]

Morgan shook her head in the negative to Green's question, "Nay, mine tasks are finished for the day, heh." Her head titled inquisitively at the mention of Rick and Evelyn, "They reside, heh, here? I twas ignorant of this...and verily fate doth seem to have a sense of humor," she followed Green, walking her bike along with her grumbling:"sadly fate favors practical jokes."

And then Evelyn made herself more known to Morgan, "Salutations! Neither weird nor Wyrd, hehheh, to me. Twas avoidance of traffic at work's end that hath brought me, heh, here. Just traveling,"

"Asbestos?" Morgan remembered that was...bad stuff right? "Fell stuff for normans, doubt tis safe for, heh, anyone. Least ye art winning on this Rick, heh...um," Morgan recalled some quote at Rick's paranoia, her own rekindled. She tried to phrase the quote: "Twice chance, thrice tis...something else and fourth tis enemy...reaction?" she actually sounded confused as she spoke. She shook her head, "Sorry, heh, nary able to recall the phrase right, heh. Suppose tis unlikely to by chance, heh, we art all here." She too a moment to turn back around, head moving slowly but her eyes darted everywhere.

After doing her surveillance she turned back around, "Tis a nice place, heh, though...uh, verdant maybe tis the word?"

[Malcolm Green]

"Yeah..." Green rumbled. His eyes moved slowly from one end of the street to another. He plodded slightly behind Morgan as she moved to join up with Rick.

"Rick." He inclined his head at last, acknowledging the Autumn Courtier.

"This ain't weird. Its too weird, yeah. There's not enough of us on the ground to make this a coincidence. Let me ask you - these places are plush, right? Nice. Your old apartment. Now, was that up to this kind of standard? You'd have thought if a land lord had to move tenants out to temporary digs, they'd shove 'em in whatever cheap shit they could find. 'Cause its temporary. New place like this goes direct to rental - at top dollar I bet."

He sighed.

"Whats the catch? They gotta be a catch here I swear..."

He was already turning his big head about, sniffing while he stretched forth a Kenning.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2016-09-13 04:31:27		Green to Kenning rolls 7 to Wyrd (10 Again)		3, 5, 9, 7, 3, 2, 7		1 success

[Lesingnon]

Rick found himself nodding along with both Morgan and Green as they approached. Morgan may have been a bit rambling about how she addressed it, but the words both of them spoke echoed the suspicions tumbling through his own mind. "It definitely wasn't up to this kind of standard. Never saw a need to rent a place that nice." Because it would just be sitting empty most of the time, after all. "But yeah, I definitely agree with the two of you. This does seem weird, very weird."

And then what Morgan said really clicked. "You're right...this place really is verdant. Despite the drought." And hour ago that was an oddity that he might have dismissed. But now, with the four of them gathered here? Now any oddity might be a clue as to why.

[Evelynn East]

Wait, asbestos? That's not even more coincidental...

"That's... that's strange. I'm in almost exactly the same situation, Rick. Except it was a fire, not asbestos. But my landlord put me up here, no increased rent or anything, even though it's a much bigger place. I mean, it's a detached house! And I'm paying the rent for an old apartment!" She looks back at the house, folding her arms and quieting again. "Um. Not that I'm complaining or anything. Unless this is... I dunno. A trap. Then I'm complaining."