(Sweet Dreams) I Had a Bad Dream Once...

[Seraphina]

Smiling, “Nice to meet you Catherine, I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances.” She hoped being friendly would pay off. “Ah, his sister! Then you must know him better than anyone.” If what’s she’s heard of siblings is true. Sera wasn’t sure what Ingrids angle was here, she hadn’t mentioned the park, so the Nix wasn’t sure if she was going a different angle or not. Looking to Thomas, “He’s with the park as well. And while we do have people for things like this, your parents have raised concerns and after hearing that, and with what a great worker Mark is, we wanted to look into it personally. Plus, if you want things done right and quickly, you do them yourself. Our employees are like family to us.” Plus there was other stuff going on that mundane eyes and ear shouldn’t handle.

There was a frown and concern on her face now, “This is very concerning.” A shake of her head, “When was the last time you heard from him? Like Ingrid said, this isn’t right and it’s not like him. I mean, he’s always been on time for work and been a hard worker. Has he been feeling sick or anything?” the concern seeped into her tone.

[Thomas Land]

Thomas tries his best to nod along and look concerned. This sort of interaction is not his forte, after all. He's a fish out of water, or a mole out of dirt as it were.

All the while, his beady eyes stay on this strange, jumpy woman. He's trying to figure her out, get a read on her emotional state. She's concerned, that he understands. But there's something else here, something more.

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-08-09 19:34:01		Thomas Land rolls 4 to Wits2 + Empathy2 (10 Again)		7, 5, 10, 1, 6		1 success

Finally, he pipes up again, trying to take a different tack: "Um, excuse me ladies. But, uh, perhaps it's best if we speak inside?" He says it in his politest, most concerned tone.

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-08-09 19:36:14		Thomas Land rolls 1 to Manip2 + Persuasion0 -1 unskilled (10 Again)		8		1 success

...And somehow, he comes off as earnest, truly focused on working out this problem with Mark. Even if there's still the hint of a quaver to his voice.

[Ingrid]

Ingrid explodes into awkward motion and hurries into the house in search of Catherine. The Darkling's face is collapsing into a mix of concern, hunger and fury.

By the time she finds Catherine she has ironed most of the emotion away. She is digging for her phone but, crucially, she hasn't called the emergency responders just yet.

[Seraphina]

Thomas made an excellent point, and she nods, “That’s a wonderful idea.” Cause being out here could draw attention.

Avoiding her? Interesting way to phrase it.

“A week ago?” she repeats, then looks thoughtful, “Come to think of it, I believe that’s when he stopped showing up for work.” A week sounded right to her. Did his disappearance have anything to do with the blog? Did he stumble upon something that caught the attention of an enemy? If so, were they and the Freehold at risk?

Taking her sunglasses off her head and tucking them into her bag she nods, “Oh, sure.” While she’d rather just go in with her, she also didn’t want to make a scene and risk her not talking to them anymore. Cause that would make things difficult, more difficult than they already were.

Sapphire eyes look around the area, looking for anything out of place or anyone standing around.
But the scream, that snapped her attention back to the apartment and she is quickly following behind the Darkling. Her face a mixture of concern and fear. A scream like that can only mean something bad happened.

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-08-10 14:12:17		Seraphina rolls 4 to Looking Around(Wits+Comp) (10 Again)		1, 6, 6, 9		1 success

[Thomas Land]

This woman's determination is admirable. And makes the Mole-Man nervous. She might prove to be an ally or an obstacle. For now, though, he and his companions are stuck with her. So Thomas nods, trying to appear sympathetic, though the effect is more pathetic than anything else.

"Yes, certainly. Go right ahead," he replies when Catherine asks them to wait while she enters the apartment. There's no rush, after all.

But then comes the scream and the little man's whole body seems to quake at the sound. Ingrid enters, and Sera behind her. For a moment, Thomas is rooted in place, but then he follows the lead of his fellow Lost. Trying to prepare himself for what they might find within.

[Ingrid]

Ingrid is a Darkling. Her Durance in a dim and lightless city saw to that. She still remembers what it was to be human; she can still feel in the same way. When she chooses. And when she does not.

She can feel Catherine's hate. No. Not hate. Shock. Horror. Anger. The woman with the phone is an interruption of her grief. Ingrid forgives the woman her anger; accepts it.

The phone slips awkwardly into a pocket even as her face, likewise, collapses into shock and grief. The Darkling moves forward, hoping to embrace the woman, to draw her away from the horrible scene and offer what little comfort she could. After all, it is what a human would do.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-08-11 05:36:23		Ingrid to empathise with Catherine rolls 6 to Manipulation + Empathy (10 Again)		7, 1, 4, 10, 7, 4, 5		1 success

[Seraphina]

And there it was. A body.

Marks body.

Not the outcome Sera was hoping for.

While she sees and understands the hatred on the young womans face, she was not one that could comfort. They were here to find Mark, which they did. Now they had to know if he was murdered or simply died. Young people can do that for various reasons. But she has a feeling this was murder, and that it could very well be tied to that blog.

But her hand does go to her mouth as her eyes widen in surprise. Then compassion takes hold as she looks to the distraught sister. She knew about sadness and loss, but she didn’t like how it felt and typically pushed those feelings away.

She watches her Queen pocket her phone and move to embrace Catherine. Maybe pull her away from the body. Pocketing the phone was good, they didn’t want cops here yet. There could be evidence that only stood out to them, the Lost.

If Ingrid is able to embrace and lead her away, Sera will move closer to the body and look at it. Look for signs of trauma, signs that would tell them he was murdered. Or anything near or around the body.

  2 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-08-11 17:33:47		Seraphina rolls 4 to Murder? (Wits+Comp) (10 Again)		1, 8, 10, 3, 7		2 successes

[Thomas Land]

The scene is grim. But the bouquet of fear coming off their new acquaintance is heady. Thomas is conflicted, caught between shock at Mark's fate compounded by compassion for his sister, and curiosity as to their discovery, flavored by the mortal's palpable terror.

A confusing moment, indeed. So the Mole-Man simply hangs his head and mumbles out his condolences until Ingrid bustles Catherine away, "Oh...oh no. How, um, horrible..."

Seeing that Sera has taken it upon herself to examine the body and that Catherine is busy with her own grief (along with Ingrid's ministrations), Thomas takes advantage of everyone's distraction to silently call on his contract with Autumn, in order to feel the presence of anything supernatural in their immediate vicinity.

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-08-11 18:59:33		Thomas Land rolls 4 to Warlock's Gaze Wyrd1 + Occult3 (10 Again)		9, 4, 1, 4		1 success