(Sweet Dreams)

Oct 1st, 2017 07:05 PM

Seraphina is the first one to catch him. With every passing second the gap between them closed, the alleys and humans became one blur of color and the man's pathetic attempt to climb a chainlink fence is abruptly stopped by the Nix who now has her prey tackled, if squirming. Lev catches up soon after, with the power of his Wyrd too low to keep up with the woman. They've not made it very far - Mr. Cheng's shop is still visible in some distance.

"Fuck you, bitch, I'm not talking to no cops!" He exclaims, sounding desperate. Small beads of sweat form on his pale forehead. His fidgety eyes, looking like two droplets of glass run from Lev to Seraphina and back again. "Let me go! Motherfucker!" The man's breath suddenly becomes short. Not in the best of health, perhaps?

Meanwhile, Thomas and Ingrid remain inside the shop, in the presence of Mr. Cheng, his parrot and his guard, looking as bored as ever. Suddenly, the store owner clicks his tongue.

"Ah! I think they got him" There's no emotion in that statement, just information. "Where were we...? Ah, yes. I don't think there's anything 'wrong' with the Tower. He is not sick, if that's what you mean. I think he's just scared. And scared people do foolish things. Of the four, he's the only one with no knowledge of what he's getting into." Absent-mindedly, Cheng begins to move the beads of an abacus standing on his desk. He does so even as he continues speaking:

"Now I can ask two questions, can I not? So tell me sir, have you ever... been in love?" He moves swiftly to face the other Lost "Ms. Cartwright, what's the thing you want to do the most before you die?"

Cheng is not entirely right. There is something off with the guy you just caught right now. It'd take a Intelligence + Medicine or Streetwise to determine what

**Ingrid** · Oct 5th, 2017 06:57 AM

Her mind was whirling. Her heart was pumping. Breath laboured in her chest as the moment seemed to stretch out before her. And then something seemed to snap. First Seraphina, and then Lev, broke away from the group and gave to chase to their gun wielding assailant. Or rather the Fairest shot after the gangster like a blazing star and the Beast broke into a primordial lope, scenting prey.

That left Ingrid alone in the shop with the mole man. Alone with Cheng in his lair; and the store seemed suddenly so much larger. The Chinaman's voice called her attention and she turned back, fighting her own curiosity at first (the desire to run down the gangster herself and put him to the question).

She took a deep breath as Cheng continued, exhaled slowly. Her face ran through several emotions.

"The thing I want to do the most? Hum... Master my..." Contracts, she almost said. "My ancient lore. The lore of my traditions and my forebears." Well, thats an interesting way of putting it. It was also technically correct. The Contracts were the lore of her forebears and the traditions of her Court. Her mouth was forming a serious line once more. Flustered, she scratched absently at an ear.

"Speaking of questions. You say a lot about a Taiwanese remedy that you know would not work. So what was this remedy and why did you know it had no use for what ailed Mark and his friends."

Ingrid winced slightly. That was two questions.

**Thomas Land** · Oct 5th, 2017 09:40 AM

This Mr. Cheng knows quite a bit, including things he shouldn't. For instance, how can he be sure that Sera and Lev have caught up with the Tower? How can he say this so matter-of-factly?

The Mole-Man squints at their host, thinking: What, exactly, are you, Mr. Cheng? There's so much going unsaid here. So much to learn. But the game is still afoot, and Thomas doesn't want to interrupt Ingrid's exchange of questions.

Though he's brimming with his own: Why is The Tower scared? What, exactly, is this affliction that so needs a cure?

Still, all he does, for now, is answer the question posed to him. Simply, honestly: "No." It's a sad state of affairs, never to have known love. But it doesn't seem to bother the little Beast. It's just a fact.

**Seraphina** · Oct 5th, 2017 02:16 PM

Now that was a rush! The Nix feels many different emotions as she catches her target. Triumph…exhilaration being a few that came to mind.

There was a snort at the insult before she spoke, and she was tempted to use her voice on him. But not yet. It might be needed later.

“Oh sweetie, I’ve been called worse, so you might want to try again.” Comes the angelic voice, “And we’re not the cops, so why are you running? Have something to hide?” she asks, sapphires locking with his eyes. "And how do you know Mark?"

Looking over to Lev, who had chased with her. Smiling at him, “Thanks for helping.” She meant it. This guy had shown a gun and could have tried to use it, and she felt safer having Lev near. “Think we should bring him back?” cause she was probably gonna need him to do that. Him being a big strong guy and all.

Oct 5th, 2017 07:11 PM

Lev was out of breath.

“Gotta… gotta stop smoking two packs a day…” he muttered, acknowledging Sera’s words with a nod. Approaching, he quickly disarmed the fugitive. The Beast knew jack about firearms, but saw enough films to work the slide after removing the magazine to check if it was loaded, and unload it if it was the case. He also stowed the gun in an inner pocket of his jacket, and the ammo in the opposite pocket.

“Yeah, we could, but d’you want to interro… question him in front of the fat man? To be honest, the dude freaks me out a bit. Maybe out new friend would want to ease his consciousness right here right now, eh?”

The last was addressed to the fugitive, and accompanied by a menacing toothy grin. Lev did not know the guy, but he clearly got spooked by the Lion Man. Also, the proprietor of the shop was strange, his bird outright mutated, and the whole situation very weird, so the Beast came to a conclusion that “The Tower” was able to see through the glamour the Wyrd provided, potentially being ensorcelled.

If Lev could see himself in the mirror right now, even he would be impressed by the display.

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2017-10-05 19:10:40	Lev rolls 6 to Intimidating "Da Tower" with Presence + Intimidation (6 dice) (10 Again)	8, 2, 2, 10, 8, 2, 6	3 successes

Oct 6th, 2017 02:29 AM

Thomas and Ingrid

After the sudden explosion of emotions and movement the shop does indeed feel larger and... colder and more still. There's barely any life here, making Mr. Cheng's shop look more like a painting than an actual place. The owner nods at the Lost when they answer his questions. "Cheap imitations of dream-catchers. I keep things like that around for people who come here not knowing what they want. Here, take a look" he gestures to Cixi and the bird takes off, flying back with one of the catchers in her beak. The object lands on Cheng's desk and it's easy to tell it's identical to what was found in Mark's apartment. "They don't perform their designed function. Or any other function. Certainly no good for nightmares or butterflies in one's stomach. I understand The Hanged Man had a case of both" He smiles cynically.

The shop's stillness is broken with more creaks of Cheng's chair. "That was two questions. So there'll be two to match. How do you know each other, Ms. Cartwright?" He makes a slight turn towards Thomas "What's your most prized possession?"

Lev and Sera

"The fuck you ain't cops!" He doesn't sound convinced "If you ain't cops, what do you care? That whiny bitch Mark has no friends anyway!"

He's a little spooked by how fast he was caught, but apparently not enough to start talking. His body is shivering, but his gaze is intense and defiant, eyeing Seraphina with a mixture of fear and anger. It takes Lev's action of disarming the man, Lev's words but most importantly Lev's bestial presence to get him to talk.

"Okay, okay. Fuck. Mark's called me one day, said he wanted to buy drugs. Coke. Nightmares or some bullshit. I said no, because I thought he was a snitch. So he started to pester me about it. He is playing butler for my best clients, but no way I'm selling shit to people like him!"