Thrifting

[Rlyeh]

R'lyeh was walking her bike, frowning at the crowd, and looking for a place to lock her bike up. She finds it, eventually. Locks the lock and then double-triple checks to just make sure it's locked. She can't afford to get her bike stolen. She'd gotten paid. Saved tips, sure, but she'd already budgeted This was. This was for fun-and-clothes. Both of which she need-wanted. Which was strange-weird-awkward. Buying stuff. Between Before and After, she liked shopping Before. It was fun-easy-expected. Now though. Hard-anxiety-fears.

Glad to have found a flea market, open-air-wide-space-long-tables, instead of trudging along to another thrift store. All mothballs and judgement. Tugging a hand through her oil spill hair, a habitual motion that doesn't even work quite right anymore. Her fingers come away darker-oil-wet and her ear twitches as the flow of drip-drip-drops alters and spills behind her purple-fur-matted ear. It feels weird. She hates it.

Frowning and gnawing on her lip she wipes her already glamour-wyrd-mein clean hand on her pants she begins to wander around. Clothes and fun. What would she find first?

[Cleo]

Cleo locks her van and surveys the flea market. She didn't like crowds but... as long as she didn't bump anyone, it should be fine. Besides, these open spaces gave her plenty of avenues in and out, unlike stores. They gave her distractions, moments where she could take a thing or two if she needed. They were places where the people selling things didn't walk up to you and start talking... you had to walk up to them, meaning Cleo could pick and choose her conversations.

Dressed in a ratty, long-sleeved grey shirt and faded blue jeans, simple black gloves and a blue surgical mask, Cleo makes her way to the edges of the market. She adjust the strap of her computer bag (and just her... bag-bag also. It could fit many things in it), the changeling looks around to see what she could without engaging the crowd. Most of it is normal. White tents, wooden stalls, plastic tables... anything that could be thrown together quickly to make a place of business. Crowds of people, swimming along in small clusters like... well, Cleo doesn't know what kind of fish. But she's seen them on the computer.


Cleo enters the market, careful to keep her distance from the people around her so they wouldn't accidentally bump into her, and begins looking for things she can use, things to buy, things to take. Then she turns a corner and sees the other Lost. It was oily and dead, and animal with matted fur and toxic look. Cleo grimaces. She tries very hard not to show any disgust on her face.


What... was Cleo supposed to do again? Walking up and saying hello seemed... very rude. Running away seemed much worse. Cleo elects for a meek little wave. She doesn't know you, what are you doing? To prevent R'lyeh from feeling uneasy, Cleo smiles as if she isn't wearing a mask and waves her second hand even more timidly than the first.

[Rlyeh]

Public. Alone-in-a-crowd. Eyes casing, and scanning and taking in and learning and - oh. A wave.

Person-Lost. R'lyeh waits. Breath-baited for the safety-trust-home to appear. She wasn't the most social of the freeholders, so she could have missed a new Wyrdstone-approved, but. It didn't. The glow didn't. This wasn't a Wyrdstone-approved Lost. She was-could-be. Dangerous-fear-agent-of-the-gentry. R'lyeh hadn't noticed how much she relied on that safety-trust-home to calm her Fear-anxiety-terror. But she hadn't unlearned all her tricks. She sucks in a breath and breathes it out. Moves closer to the Lost.

If this was someone new-friendly-waiting, she could direct her to Funderland, and to the Monarchy for the Wyrdstone-approving-tithe, and if not. Well. She'd figure it out.

"...hi." she doesn't wave.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-08-30 18:52:08	Rlyeh rolls 4 to resolve + composure (10 Again)	1, 8, 3, 10, 6	2 successes

[Cleo]

Quiet. Like me. Unfortunate.


Cleo slips the computer bag off her shoulder and unzips it, slowly sliding out the laptop within. She tries not to think about the muck coating the other Lost's mien. Death, slime, disease... all things Cleo didn't like to be around. She takes one step back as R'lyeh approaches, but only to maintain a... a casual distance. Cleo does not want to find out if R'lyeh smells as bad as she looks. Cleo hopes she herself doesn't smell as bad a she looks.

Typing into the computer, a robotic voice reads out loud for Cleo, keeping pace with whatever she types in.

"Hello. My name is Cleo. What is yours? Do you work the local amusement park? I've been tempted to get a job there. Perhaps you could tell me about it."

[Rlyeh]

Tensing at the hand as the foreign-not-trusted-not-wyrdstone-approved-Lost reaches into a bag, only relaxing some, as what is grabbed happened to be a laptop. An ear perks, wonder why the Not-trust-not-safe-Lost would need - oh. It's speaking for her.

Interesting.

A covetous gleam appears in her oil-dark eyes. She has so many Questions

"Riley. 'least, here." eyes dart around looking at all the blessed-ignorant-iwishiwas-ihatethem-humans around. "Follow the signs," Lost tags, " And you'll find your way to Funderland." she says, in a sing-song way. Like it wasn't how she'd say it, but how she'd heard it. "If you want to stay-belong-find-a-home. You'll need to see-talk-interview with one of the club leaders." she says. It shouldn't be news. It's been "company" policy for years. "If you came-from-traveled-through another club, you should have the club leader's numbers." she says, testing.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-09-03 15:02:11	Rlyeh rolls 1 to HOw you feel? Wits+Empathy -1 untrained -1 mask (10 Again)	6	failure

[Jasper]

Open-air markets have always been a draw for Jasper. They tend to have a large variety of things, including clothes that sometimes fit his large frame, but a number of the merchants are like him, people of the street. He's looking through some of the stalls when his nostrils flare at the sharp and acrid scent of oil in the air. He's not sure what it is but he looks up and around for a moment, his black nosepad twitching as he tries to pinpoint the exact source of this scent. He stands up to his full height, stretching out his lanky form as he looks glances around the stalls of the market, his distinctive features towering every one around him.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-09-04 21:55:43	Jasper rolls 4 to Doing a sniff (Wits+Composure) (10 Again)	1, 5, 5, 7	failure

[Anatole]

Anatole prowls.

The Wizened Smith doesn't need to frequent flea markets anymore - not now, at least. However, that doesn't mean he can't browse when the desire gets hold of him. Something about haggling over the price or bargaining over the worth of a cast aside, cheap, or broken thing still attracts him. Not to mention the personal thrill of acquiring a lost thing appeals on a personal level.

He is also an Autumn Courtier and one never knows what kinds of trinkets touched by the Hedge might slip into the mundane world when the muggles aren't looking.

The burned dwarf is waring a brown suit and shoes. The suit is decent, if several years out of fashion. His effusive curls spill down his barrel chest and to add a little further whimsy (or character) to his appearance he has taken up his gnarled walking stick. It is obvious from his gait that he does not need it as a crutch.

It is Jasper who catches the Paladin of Shadow's eye first. How could he not - the Beast kith is huge, easily towering over everyone - and everything - else at the Flea Market. Anatole doesn't recognise the newcomer and with a mix of interest and wariness, he begins to slowly intercept the giant.

Anatole was definitely not expecting to see Rlyeh interacting with another unknown Lost Cleo and for a moment the Wizened is struck by a sense of cognitive dissonance - he did know the Lost of the Freehold, right? Were there other's he had never seen? Others, who like R'lyeh lived on the fringes of both Mortal society and the Freehold? He makes an abrupt stop, nearly causing another shopper to careen into him. He ignores the look of pure venom from the mortal - and indeed, completely misses the hopeful interest of the stall owner.

Everyone can see him now.

He is no longer prowling.

[Flickerwhisp]

Unnoticed by most the large Beast has a shadow, albeit much smaller and far fleshier than most shadows. The Darkling follows behind Jasper wearing a hoodie that was several sizes too big with a hood pulled up to cover his eyes from any unwanted light. The hood did very little to hide the long blood red hair that framed the man's pale face.

Occasionally a hand would slip out from the front pocket of the hoodie to touch and inspect certain objects among the stalls before putting them back. Flickerwhisp seemed to be looking for something but he hadn't found it yet. He stops when his giant companion sniffs about, waiting to see if it was a sniff of encroaching danger or something very tasty his nose had caught on the wind... He hoped for the latter.

Dark eyes look around the market, snapping over to the commotion not far from them as the dwarf stands still looking in their direction. Flick was immediately nervous, putting Jasper between himself and the person who seemed to be looking at them. Well at JASPER with interest.

[Jasper]

Jasper's nostrils flare again as he spots the approaching Wizened Smith. His eyes widen for only a brief moment before he feels suddenly calmer at the sight of the man as that feeling of belonging swells within the Beast. It's still a new feeling, a new sensation and it's a bit odd at times to feel it. When it's just his motley mates around, it feels normal.. They've been a motley for a good time now so it feels normal to feel at home around them. With a relative stranger, it's a bit disconcerting at first but then a smile cracks the corners of his canid snout and he lifts his chin in a gesture of greeting. He shifts his hand down to brush against Flick's shoulder, a motion to try to comfort the anxious man.

His gaze follows where the Wizened's eyes had been looking before and spots the Elemental. He knows neither of their names but the feeling of camaraderie that he senses puts him at ease, at least until he spots the other Darkling and that feeling is absent. The sensation is new to him, yes, but the absence of it is still noticeable and disconcerting. His nostrils flare as he takes a cautious sniff of his surroundings. His eyes dart to the side for a moment, searching to see if there's a dog amongst the stalls that he can see. There usually is at least one dog in an open-aired market like this, either one from a shopper, walking their dog while they browse the tables, or one of the stall owners will have one. He searches quickly in hopes of meeting the catch for the clause he's about to perform either way.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-09-07 22:46:36	Jasper rolls 4 to Beast's Keen Senses (Wits + Wyrd) (10 Again)	4, 9, 4, 6	1 success

[Anatole]

Anatole moves first. He has to. One mundane muggle has almost crashed into him already and he can feel the press of bodies trying to move around his stocky form. There is also the stall owner, now looking at him as a prospective buyer. He has to move now to extricate himself before conversation breaks out.

The burned dwarf moves across the way to Jasper and Flicker; his head tilts slightly as he catches the giant's motion - and his bushy brows rise as he realises that there is another person there, lurking in the rugged Beast's shadow. Another Lost. Anatole doesn't catch much of the lurker's face beyond the red hair but he does detect the touch of the Hedge.

As he draws near, the Wizened cracks a smile: a show of teeth in his effusive curls that could be taken as either friendly or neutral.

"You seem a little Lost. Are you looking for something? Or someone?"

That could have been aimed at Jasper, given the burned dwarf is craning his neck so he can peer up, into the Beast's face.

"I see you've already found good company."

Anatole tilted his head. It could be a motion indicating that he is acknowledging Flick's presence; and it could also be a silent nod to Ry'leh and her new friend across the market.

"How about a coffee? Get out of this thoroughfare. Its a bit too tight for chatting. Call me Anatole. I'll pay..."

He stops to glare at one of the mundane's who has gotten too close and is gawking at Jasper as well.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-09-08 03:55:27	Anatole has a venomous stare rolls 5 to Manipulation + Intimidation (10 Again)	5, 6, 8, 6, 4	1 success

He turns back to the pair, completely uncaring of the blustered outrage from the retreating mundane. Instead he eyes the pair, one eyebrow arching and his smile returning as a wry, curving, line that crawled up one side of his face.