Just wanted to give a shout out to deltadream , Shane , and Saber Sloth for writing such wonderful reactions to the fun set-up by Cayce leading to Guru getting Monstrous Countenance'd. Too much goodness to gush over all the details, but I'm tickled that Mhairi was happy to Harvest the fallout. And of course, extra thanks to Shane for being a good sport. Thank you all for the fun


He’d been calm, cool, collected, like this whole thing had been a game to him that he wasn’t taking seriously. Him taking something seriously seemed like a stretch and that much was obvious, he was in party time mode and nothing could ruin his buzz.

Or so he had thought.

Just like that Avis had dipped on him, left him alone with a bunch of strangers with strange abilities that she’d asked to make him feel fear. That alone was enough to get his heart rate up, sweat on his brow turning cold or was that just him? Then Asa grabbed him, his brow furrowing at the sheer strength of that grip and the feel of his hand. His pupils slowly began to narrow as his mouth opened to respond, it was obvious by the demeanor that clearly, he was going to say something like, no problem at all, no worries, sure, it was just how he’d presented himself.

But he never got a chance too, as soon as his mouth opened he looked at Asa and saw fear, real fear. It wasn’t the drugs either, as soon as he pulled back and saw the fangs he could taste the blood in his mouth, feel his own heart beat spike and then drop as his heart clenched stopping for that one entirely painful moment before it was off to the races pumping adrenaline through his system telling the poor cattle to run from the wolf.

But he couldn’t, his feet were locked, body stiff, hands shaking uncontrollably as he did nothing but stare forward. He’d seen a gun shot at someone in front of him before, turned on him, he knew the fear of rampant violence and almost certain death. But this wasn’t that, this was a guarantee. He was food, waste to the ages.

There was nothing he had to reassure himself, no anchor there to hold onto. He was back in the Primal Wild but he was a rabbit and all a rabbit could do was run, he was trying to, trying to run so badly. His legs were shaking but there was a disconnect between his brain and the rest of his body. There’s a lot of thoughts about the moment before you think you’re going to die, about what it’s like. All Guru could do was stand there and pull a stupid face, unable to form any coherent words or sounds beyond a single high pitched squeak the poor little mouse.

Twist nods. Yes. Direct was often best in her opinion.

A pleased smile was granted toward Angel. Leaning in toward the model, they were an image of contrasts. The ice sculpted changeling, static and posed in front of the flushed Kindred, an image of life. Her petite form a liquid grace flowing against the harshly beautiful lines of their length.

"Will you be there to enjoy it with me?" She breathed, dark eyes searching Angel's for a teasing moment, before she chuckled and pulled away, the moment broken.

She wanted to see the show after all and she knew it would be quick.

An eyebrow quirked as the man's teacher? simply ... left. Leaving a neonate in their hands after having asked what she did? Dangerous. Or it was in her world. What were they that she felt such comfort in walking away?

Well. Maybe she would see. And turning back she watched, her dark eyes calm as her House mate showed him what hethey were. She may not be able to do what he did, but what he was revealing was not something unique to Asa. It was unique to their kind, to Kindred.

As she knew it would, it lasted only few seconds. For the observers at least. For the man Asa let go, let go to stand frozen in a way that matched neither the fey stillness of Angel or the dead absence of herself and Asa prior to their blushing, it likely lasted an eternity.

Tilting her head she observed him for a moment, before making a small humming noise as she came to a conclusion. "Not predators then," she said softly, to herself as she looked up to Asa. A check on him that she knew he didn't need. He was a Ventrue and had been a leader of the Invictus. If he wasn't comfortable with who he was, his power and strength, then he wasn't Asa.

And then to Mhairi. Mhairi who had been worried about how she tasted. And not about what it meant that Asa tasted, drank, survived off humanity the way humanity survived off cattle. Off prey. How had the woman with eyes that drew Twist's attention even as she didn't want to look into the flames take the display?

Did it bother her now?

Mhairi's lips pull into a sneer. It is fierce and immediate. "What is the purpose of Fear?" Her eyes, those vortexes of fell fire pin upon the Statue. "I've known many Onyx. What do you whisper to yourselves?" More rhetorical then anything, she wants this vapid, posing Winter to think. "You ask me what the purpose of Fear is? No, child." she says, feeling so much more. More tightly Wyrd bound, more entrenched, older, wearier. Her mantel flairs, wrapping more tightly around herself, Fears most blessed daughter... "Should I ask you what need does Sorrow fill?" she scoffs.

Quickly, however her attention is focused elsewhere, the women asking for her student's lesson leaves. Either trusting the Rules of the Nexus, her student, or perhaps Asa himself. As they seem to have met before. Though, with their quick words, she doubted that they knew each other.

She's leaning forward, her fell flames, flickering, motes drifting away. Was that the Mien of Baba Yaga? No, she saw the fangs and felt the presence but hadn't felt the presence. She wasn't the one cowering, and barely holding control over her bladder. Did the Wyrd offer Vampires different Clauses? Did the Wyrd offer Vampires Clauses at all? "Fascinating..." her mouth felt dry.

She was oh, so very tempted....and would anyone know...a buffet offered up, just for her. She savors it, her tongue meeting teeth, she feels the sharp points, oh but hers are not that sharp. She knows better now.

She basks in the Fear, quivering.

Her eyelids flutter, she consumes the Fear, and feels the Glamour sink into her skin, then upon her skin. Hardening around her. Containing the fire, the star and the moonglow skin. She's left with her other face. The Mask. A lie, and not.