Night Life

[Exegesis Agarwal]

The lights are still up in the club, with almost no patrons having found their way in. There's something off about a jazz club without any shadows in the corners, like it is, thus far, only a jazz club in potential.
Wondering in too early for the early crowd, Exegesis is sitting at the bar, facing the stage, and slowly sipping at a gin and ginger ale. Tonight's apparel was a pair of knee-high black boots, and a black sari with a deep blue sash and belt of black coiled leather, mismatched to a blue-brimmed black fedora.

There's something off about a jazz club without any shadows in the corners, thought Exegesis, like it's only a jazz club in potential, or like it's just the corpse of last night's jazz club.
The more Exegesis thought about that, the more true it seemed, like the shadows might just be the blood of the nightclub. Or perhaps the people were the blood. That seemed like the better metaphor. The staff was flowing around at the moment, red button-downs and black pants, hemoglobin, flowing through the veins.
To be alive, or rather, to be a life, you needed more than the body, you needed motion, activity. A school with no students, a hive with no bees, a body with no motion, these were corpses.
Except this place comes back to motion every week, so that's not death. What's more analogs?... Hibernation? No, sleep. While the people come back the day is the club's sleep. When they stop coming that's the death.



So I wonder just who will show up to be the life of this party...

[Fawkes]

Smoke swirls around the mannequin as he flicks his cigarette into the ash tray after a long stare at the disapproving host. Metallic ozone before a lighting strike and the taste of iron leeches off of the man as he hands over his beaten leather jacket to the coat room, black sweater looking more appropriate in such a venue.

Fawkes is early to pick a spot to lose himself. A small flicker of surprise that there's another one of the Lost in the blush of verdant tidings. This one was new—to him at least. Never having spotted the individual in Winter's Court or have them mentioned by the others, he takes it on himself to assess.

"Evening." He sits himself next to them, pale face still as if carved from porcelain. Only the motion of his mouth reveals that it is indeed some form of enchanted flesh. His eyes are sharp, glass clicking as he takes in the numbers and exits.

I would have given a better acknowledgement, I'm just struggling to find their Mantle manifestation or Mien descriptor!

[Exegesis Agarwal]

Exegesis nods, and smiles briefly, a shift in skin of polished amber. Behind the glasses, too dark for the room, a star field can been seen in place of pupil or iris. A wisp of pollen, mild enough to potentially be perfume, hangs about the table.
"I'm Exegesis. I was hoping to run into someone tonight, and you made a point of greeting a newcomer. How congenial! What should I call you?"

Sorry, something is up with my minisheet details. They seem to come and go. I should start putting them in my signature.

[Fawkes]

The mannequin takes the Losts' hand,
joints locking into a handshake of carefully controlled pressure. He was getting more used to the gesture.

"Fawkes. Have you met anyone else that's pointed you in the right direction?" He remembered the headache of showing up at the very end of the Coronation. The man's tone is placid, barely shifting in tone beyond soft and direct.

[Exegesis Agarwal]

In an attempt to hide a sense of awkwardness at the gesture, Exegesis repeats the handshake motion too directly, and ends up drawing more attention to what was intended to be nonchalant.
"Ah, well, I've met almost no one else. How would you describe 'the right direction'? So far all I know is that there's been some tension between Winter and Spring."

[Fawkes]

The Crimson Soldier's eyes wander to the staff in the bar, though his body language doesn't shift from the casual lean in the chair.

"If you struggle with keeping corporate secrets, I'd advise you wait until the next meeting. Wouldn't want one of our department heads penalizing you over something trivial."

He coughs into his fist, smelling like heavy nicotine. The waitress tries to offer him a water, but he quietly orders an Americano; something to wrap his hands around before the rush. He nods to the newcomer so they would have a change to get something before the employee slipped away.

"You'd get a better feel with the company culture if you attended one of the office parties. Mingle a bit. Network.

You're in human resources, so you want to speak with Sera. I'm unfamiliar with your department—mostly focused on security." He takes out a notebook and offers a page stamped with his contact information, lacking any handwriting or signature. He did not know the Fairest, and did not care to give them something personal that could be later used in some magic rite.

"Who told you there's tension?" he cocks his head with interest. "From both parties I haven't seen it other than mild differences of opinion."

  2 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2019-03-06 22:31:25		Fawkes rolls 7 to ply Exegesis for information on a potential security leak (Manip + Persuade)		5, 2, 6, 10, 1, 10, 4		2 successes

[Exegesis Agarwal]

"Ah, well now that's just the thing with office culture. You always want to hear things from more than one side, just to make sure what you're hearing isn't idle gossip and personal conjecture. It could be that there is no tension at all and that's just one person's opinion. I spoke to Mr. Norton, Abraham, in HR, and he seemed to feel HR and Records had some issues, but I'd be glad to find that wasn't the case. He did point out to me it's best not cause a stir, and I did get the feeling he wasn't inclined to let slip anything proprietary. That's not what I'm looking for anyway, just opinions. Also, I thought HR was headed up by Ingrid. Was I wrong in that? Who's Sera?"

spending 1G on Kith blessing


Ingratiating myself to Fawks; Manipulation + Persuasion + Specialty: Deflecting Blame + 1G Seeming Blessing

3 successes, exceptional success (due to Kith) on trying to make a good impression

  3 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2019-03-07 09:45:31		Exegesis Agarwal rolls 7 to Ingratiating myself to Fawks; Manipulation + Persuasion + Specialty: Deflecting Blame + 1G Seeming Blessing (10 Again)		4, 10, 10, 1, 8, 3, 7, 7, 5		3 successes

[Fawkes]

Fawkes blinks, eyes bright. The Fairest picked up fast. "No. You're correct about Ingrid being the director of HR. I was pointing your towards someone worth talking to. She's connected and been here longer than most. Might as well be royalty." He had not met the Spring Sovreign personally.

"Why Sacramento? The culture?" he nods towards the stage as patrons trickle in for the opening band who started to set up their equipment; giving the Lost pair a wave. His deadpan was hard to read whether Fawkes was sarcastic or genuinely curious.

[Exegesis Agarwal]

"You could say 'the history', in that I was born here. Even went to Funderland as a child. After... finishing training, I went on something of a sabbatical. Needed to clear my head, even found myself thinking about leaving the company. I got over that by applying for a security position, but got turned down. Turned out HR was a better fit. Needless to say the temp was eager to stay on. We had to find a work-around."

You know, thought Exegesis, I'm starting to have fun with this metaphor.

"So how is corporate life treating you? What's security like?"

[Fawkes]

"Suits me just fine," the Elemental says, "I used to do research." He stops his fingers from creeping into his pocket where the cigarette case lies. "Before I found that I needed to get out of my head and focus on something practical."

A different waiter hands him the black watered down espresso, not sticking around long for such a boring topic. "You must have a pretty fleshed out resume for so much experience. Are you looking to bring on anything in particular to the company?"