Encounterlogs
Rachels Odd Encounter Sr Lucas 240915
Rachel and Konstantin, operatives with hints of supernatural backstories, entrenched themselves in a seemingly mundane yet ultimately magical disturbance within a posh setting that was veiled in the trappings of normality. An enigmatic message diverted their attention to a local pool, triggering a deployment of their unique skills. Despite the offbeat veneer of township mundanity — manifested in complaints about pool defilement — they discovered an illusory sabotage, a slick of magical darkness fouling the waters, indicative of a hidden, desperate operative from The Golden Shadow. This opening act laid the groundwork for their task: to unearth the arcane menace lurking beneath surface-level trivialities, propelling them into action.
The chase led them through a forest towards the highway, a setting ripe for their contrasting yet complementing abilities to shine — Konstantin's demon-born speed and Rachel's blood magic working in synchrony to intercept a fugitive operative. Their quarry, momentarily disoriented by Rachel's magical intervention and physically bested by Konstantin's brute force, was apprehended in a chaotic yet skillful operation. An impromptu roadblock, the operative’s fall, and the immediate response to Rachel's call for extraction underscored a seamless blend of their tactical and supernatural prowess. Their actions were not without humor and banter, providing a humanizing foil to their otherwise extraordinary capabilities. Through a mix of determination, magical traces, and the occasional jest at each other's expense, Rachel and Konstantin managed to secure their target, showcasing their effectiveness as a duo against the backdrop of an ordinary world veiled with layers of magic and secrecy.
(Rachel's odd encounter(SRLucas):SRLucas)
[Sat Sep 14 2024]
In a Spacious, Suave Living Space with View of the Bay
This formal living room is spacious, a blend of modern luxury and historic tranquility. Dark wallpaper with swirling silver patterns adorns the walls, adding a touch of sophistication to the space, creating an illusion of expansiveness, serving as a central point in the penthouse, seamlessly connecting the hallways and foyer. Strategically placed indoor plants breathe life into the space, harmonizing with the abstract, refined decor.
Black, hard marble floors stretch elegantly throughout the apartment, lending an airy feel to the residence. The high ceiling, painted in a shadowy darkness, is adorned with clouded figures and warped shades blending seamlessly in a foreboding visual illuminated by a minimalist chandelier with cascading glass orbs that bathe the room in soft, ambient glow.
A glass balcony nestled between broad windows offers a scenic view towards the east, showcasing Haven's Bay framed by hazy blurs of old-growth forest. In the distance, the tempestuous Atlantic Ocean captivates with its restless waves, shifting from stony depths in colder seasons to coastal blues in warmer ones. Despite the open floor plan, the space exudes a sense of elevation, with steps on either side of the connecting hallway adding to its grandeur.
It is morning, about 71F(21C) degrees,
(A member of The Golden Shadow has been left behind in Haven after a failed operation. Scarred and paranoid, they hide in the shadows, causing disturbances as they steal supplies and attempt to evade capture. Your target is hired to find them, but the mercenary is desperate and dangerous. Will they bring them in or help them escape?)
Rachel's standing in front of the balcony, Konstantin a short distance away on the couches. It doesn't seem like there's been conversation in a while. The kind of silence between them is a weighty, comfortable blanket, without tension. The metaphorical clock hand is ticking toward 11 AM. "I promised you lunch," Rachel says eventually, over her shoulder. "What are you feeling? American? Russian?"
"Chinese", Konstantin replies back a little groggily. He woke from a nap fairly recently, and remains somewhat sluggish after the fact. He lifts a hand and runs his fingertips up and over his shaven scalp with a sigh. "I need to work on Vetr business. Have to use my laptop instead of phone.. that prick better not get into Hand intelligence data."
That kind of silence that can grow in comfort speaks to the kinship perhaps between the two folks in the room here, this morning. Things seem terribly normal this morning as well, at least for the time being. The sun is shining brightly without much in the way of cloud cover outside, and with the way things are going it's almost a given that any moment now .. something idiotic is going to befall.
"You haven't asked me for help with any of that." It's gently accusatory. "Or with covering you in the Hand, if you're going to be busy." This is an old argument, and carries no heat. "But yeah, fine. Chinese. Hm." Rachel starts wandering toward the kitchen, phone in hand. A little tip-tapping suggests she's doing research. Her head tilts left; it tilts right. "I'm thinking mapo tofu. I wanna try a vegan recipe."
"Didn't think you liked Eidolon", Konstantin replies with a stretch of his legs. He groans a little, back arching just a touch. "You want to be involved in Vetr?", Konstantin asks with genuine interest, looking over to Rachel. As ever though, he has to prod a little bit; "Have opening for secretary.."
Relaxing again after the stretch, Konstantin takes five seconds or so before he starts to push himself up to his feet. "Alright. Sounds good", he begins before coming to a realisation and looking at Rachel with just a touch of fear; "You are not going to cook vegan often, right?"
Are there even any decent places within town to get good Chinese? Or .. I suppose one could literally get take-out directly from the source. Still, as if on cue as the two of them converse on where and what to eat for their upcoming lunch plans though there comes that so-often annoying tell tale beep or notification from whatever various electronic devices come to mind. Ahh - the sound of menial duty calling? Always. Nothing special or major about it, but there usually never is at the start. A generic disturbance in the vicinity of Westhaven park.
It doesn't have to be vegan. Rachel could add a little minced Konstantin to the tofu and find it perfectly palatable. "Not if I'm getting you coffee," she says. "I don't /know/ anything about i--." And that's when her phone beeps, the screen flashing white. She stares. "It's always when I'm about to cook. I swear, it's like they're watching." She slides a hand upward to the back of her neck, and then down again. "Your favorite. The /trailers/. Maybe we can stop by the pool." Kidding. Definitely kidding. The grin on her face tells all; Konstantin would never.
Amusement at Rachel's remarkably calm reception of his unserious suggestion sours to annoyance. "Intelligence? Alright.. let's handle it. Any information on what it is this time?", Konstantin asks with an upnod as he heads for the door. Fine. He was already standing up anyway.
He gives the kitchen one wistful glance, robbed of an opportunity to relish Rachel's cooking. How awful.
He heads to the door, stooping to pick up his go-bag. A ballistics vest, a blade, and a bone-needled compass. All a man needs to do destruction in the world of the supernatural. "Get your helmet."
Checking through the message a little more directly, it's not hard to determine that .. there's not a whole lot of information to be found! There's some, though. Generic disturbance, not a lot to be heard about there. Most importantly however, the mention of the Golden Shadow - a recent low-level operation in the area hasn't gone well for their forces, and it seems like there's a chance to apprehend one of theirs alive, or something close to it? A small notation in reminder to remain cognizant of the Moore's territory surrounding the Trailer park. (If that's still a thing?)
"Something something, Golden Shadow. Think we're kidnapping someone." Discreetly, if they're in public.
"I don't get why /I/ have to wear a helmet when /you/ never wear one," Rachel says. She walks toward the door, and without stopping, collects her bag from the coffee table. She shoves it into Konstantin's mid-section. If they're reverting to stereotypical gender roles, he can be the pack mule. "Be careful with that." But yes, she gets her helmet; some kind of pouch, which she straps to her waist; and a metal staff. If they encounter passerby, it'd look a little odd, but Konstantin and Rachel might pass as heading to some sort of costumed event.
Accepting the bag with a grunt, gripping it by the body while he turns for the door and opens it with a press of his thumb to the biometric pad, Konstantin calls out; "Because I wont fall off the back."
He lefts himself out, waits for Rachel, and then when the both of them are ready he heads for the ground floor west-side exit. He heads to a bike, mounts it, and with Rachel speeds away towards franklin bridge and the westhaven trailer park beyond. "I can't call Artyom and Simonov", Konstantin lets Rachel know as the pause at a stop light, "With my phone gone; I have not set up secure channels to them yet. We are alone this time."
There seems to be little else coming in on the information wire as it were for the time being while the pair of them prepare to get themselves out there. There's not a lot to be seen either as they both eventually find themselves speeding across the length of the bridge that bridges the watery gap between the northern and southern sections of the town. Pulling in closer to the entrance to the trailer park which sits at Stop 8 near the southern complex of town. The lodge sinks off to the right with the hotel attached and there appears to be some vague sense of commotion or sound coming from somewhere within the trailer complex. From the ... POOL perhaps?
"We don't need them," Rachel answers. "This doesn't look serious. Also, I'm mad at Artyom. I asked him to teach me Russian and I'm /pretty/ sure he wasn't nice about it." But not very sure, as that'd take a better command of the language that she doesn't know.
They stop; she disembarks. Her helmet comes right off, and she runs a hand through her hair, adjusting it. She only makes it a few steps before the noise starts up. Her attention slides toward the entrance of the park, and then to Konstantin again, with not a word passed between them. The tilt of her head, and then the point of her finger: 'Do you hear that?' she seems to say.
"Artyom? Really.. Well; he has been doing overtime much recently", Konstantin replies, "handling some minor things near Boston for me. Port officials poking nose in wrong place; this kind of thing." A bit of a shrug and then a twist of the handlebars and they're on their way.
Pulling up at the trailerpark, Konstantin heaves himself off alongside Rachel. He tucks his keys into the pocket of his suit and only a moment or so later the noise kicks up. He looks at Rachel and sighs heavily. While his expression remains as guardedly dead-eyed neutral as ever, the breath gives away everything. Exasperation.. further reinforced by his groan; "Pool."
Steeling himself for the oncoming quagmire of filth (in his mind) of the communal pool, Konstantin heads for the noise.
Hey, the thoughts that run through the mind of Konstantin aren't that far of. One might say that all that chemical and chlorine is more of an excuse to pretend rather than a true deterrant against the filth of milling masses of strangers sharing community bath water. But that's the way of things, and as the sun grows higher in the sky and the temperature rises, the pool is almost certain to see use. Rounding the edge of Cromwell, the pool comes into view and surprisingly enough? While there is a bit of a crowd of local residents around the pool, none of them are IN it. They all seem ot be talking and arguing loudly amongst themselves. The basic premise seems to be someone has done something unhygenic in the pool even by trailer trash standards, but nobody is fessing up, or nobody has an explanation. The collection of voices is hard to decipher!
"They shit in the pool", Konstantin whispers, staring straight ahead. He is shellshocked by this ?revelation?, frozen on the spot for a short while. Does not compute.
While Konstantin's the one who's armored, Rachel makes a point of walking alongside, rather than behind him. She's not - and for those who know her, this might be the understatement of the century - the most careful. The closer they get to the crowd, the more of the conversation they hear, the more amused Rachel gets. "Did they call us in to arbitrate neighborhood squabbles?" Rachel asks Konstantin. She's resumed conversational volume. None of this looks like a problem. "All you." She offers him a nudge.
"You're an /expert/ at cleaning that stuff up," Rachel says to Konstantin. There's an inside joke here. She's dying of silent laughter.
Does it come to this? A Caddyshacking of the local pool? Is that what the tasks of idle operatives have devolved to in these coming final days of the world? Thankfully, as the pair of Rachel and Konstantin come a little closer the answer appears to be no. What's in the pool appears to be some kind of sticky, black tar-like mass that's kind of floating on the pool's surface with a greasy or oily kind of look to it. It's not in any shape or sense of ... visual cue that would imply THAT kind of filth, but definitely something wrong for sure. This close it seems there seems ot be a split between those who'd been in the pool freaking out about if they're going to be effected, and those trying to figure out what the hell is going on.
Turning to someone at Rachel with a frustrated wrinkling at the bridge of his nose, Konstantin gives her a thoroughly heartfelt look of 'are you serious?'. Fine. Whatever. It's on him, he guesses.
Spotting the mass, Konstantin squints a little bit. That.. is strange. If it starts sprouting tentacles like the pools in Hell, he might feel just a bit more accepting of his time being wasted by this call-out. He doesn't get to charge a minimum fee like a locksmith, afterall.
He gives Rachel a look and jerks his head towards it, muttering; "Figure out if it is arcane shit", before turning to walk towards the main mass of locals clad appropriately (or inappropriately) for a swim in the local cesspit. "Right. Someone tell me what the fuck this is; I am pool inspector called out for fixing of problem."
Turning to look at Rachel with a frustrated wrinkling at the bridge of his nose, Konstantin gives her a thoroughly heartfelt look of 'are you serious?'. Fine. Whatever. It's on him, he guesses.
Spotting the mass, Konstantin squints a little bit. That.. is strange. If it starts sprouting tentacles like the pools in Hell, he might feel just a bit more accepting of his time being wasted by this call-out. He doesn't get to charge a minimum fee like a locksmith, afterall.
He gives Rachel a look and jerks his head towards it, muttering; "Figure out if it is arcane shit", before turning to walk towards the main mass of locals clad appropriately (or inappropriately) for a swim in the local cesspit. "Right. Someone tell me what the fuck this is; I am pool inspector called out for fixing of problem."
"Bag," Rachel asks Konstantin. She asks, but she doesn't wait for a response. The second he begins to depart, she takes back her possessions.
If that's what Konstantin wants Rachel to do, she'll have to stay out of view. She slips away from him, toward the trailer across from the street. It has a 'For Sale' sign on it. No difficulty at all for her to crack the lock and slip in, the door left just slightly ajar. On the floor, she begins to line out candles, striking a match to light their wicks.
For the record, Rachel finds Konstantin's acting skills appalling. The look she gave him reflected a just as acerbic 'are you serious?'
The first impression that Rachel gets is that this doesn't appear to be something specific in the nature of ritualism or anything heavy-hitting like that. BUT - it does feel like some kind of magic going on around the scene. She sits down and begins to settle in to try and get off a quick trace. Meanwhile, Konstantin is busy trying to keep the attention of the people around the pool. As far as he can see, the mass in the pool appears to maintain its presence but not overall seeming to move or grow beyond seeming to shift along with the motion of the pool. In fact, staring at it long enough might even give the impression that it's ... two-dimensional.
Konstantin mostly ignores the disparate jabbering of the locals as he stares at the strange dark film atop the surface. Eventually, he realises that no eyes or other humanoid facial features are materialising in the puddle like some cthulian nightmare, so he starts to try and move onto the crowdwork portion of his set.
"Alright!", Konstantin bellows to begin as he raises up his arms, "Pool is closed by order of the city bureau of leisure!" He's clad in a black business suit so if he in an inspector he probably has ideas -far- above his station, but he -does- look quite formal and maybe even official if you were the kind of person that associates the two without question. Konstantin is banking on there being plenty of those here.
He murmurs under his breath, pressing a finger to the earpiece on his right side; "Any ideas, Rachel?" Then, Konstantin spreads his warms wide and waves towards the pool exit. "Come on! Out! Out! There has been STD outbreak. You want it, hm?!" A dangerous threat, delivered in a thick russian accent. Anyone brave enough to risk a tangle with theoretical herpes is given a hard stare; something the thug is a little more accustomed to than customer service.
"Revela vestigia magica." The flickering flames cast small, jittering shadows upon the floor and walls. They peel away, like stickers, or curling paint. If there /is/ someone to be found - an identity to be uncovered - they'd coalesce and form a silhouette, rough features, a face. "S--" Rachel almost dares to hush Konstantin over communications, and passes it off as something other. "S...econd. I need a few."
"...President." Formalities. Right.
Providing an announcment like that seems strange, but also these people aren't sticking around long enough to find out! At the mention of catching some vanarial disease, they begin to skee-daddle off like roaches scattering with the lights come on. Rachel doesn't take long to pick up a trace on the magic being used, and it's close by! Not in the park itself but to the west and south within visual range almost certainly. It feels like illusions and trickery more than anything dangerous over by the pool, b ut almost certainly the work of the fugitive Golden Shadow operative on the run! It will take a few minutes to try and pin-point that location, but the person couild move in the meantime. Will Rachel and Konstantin try to rush in and head them off or take the cautious approach and narrow down their target? (Rachel take your time! I'll try to wrap this up for ya'll as well, so it doesn't stretch out too bad)
Seeing off the rabble, Konstantin waves them on their way insistently. Once the crowd starts moving, he gets to herding, not wanting any of them to stop and break the inertia of groupthink.
With the witnesses to whatever the suspicious slick is atop the surface of the water gone, Konstantin presses a finget to his earpiece again; "What we have here, Rachel?". He steps over towards the edge of the pool near the sludge, peering down into it for a moment before kicking a towel from beside the pool into it.
The towel passes right through the mass! It doesn't seem to be stained in any fashion, sinking through it to be saturated by the pool water as it sinks.
"Witch," Rachel says, probably choosing the wrong terminology. As Konstantin knows, she came into her powers late - and without the right instruction in anything but execution. "Somewhere southwest of us." The shadows nip at her heels as she exits the door again and resumes her place by Konstantin's side. "Not sure they're very good. Didn't cover their tracks at all." As soon as she's relayed the information, she starts to walk, expecting for him to follow.
Konstantin doesn't walk, he jogs! He reaches aside, patting Rachel on the upper back to hurry her along and heading out of the park hastily, eyes sweeping the surrounds for anyone that might look out of place, suspicious, or be moving away just a liiiiittle too hastily. "Which one? Which one?", Konstantin asks of Rachel urgently.
Choosing the more expedient route might be a little bit of a gamble, but it's likely that in this case it'll pay off. Moving southward from the park, it's mostly woods from here that stretch out toward the highway. That could potentially be a problem, as the operative might be able to catch himself out of here if he reaches it, but the signs of his passing can be found. Someone's definitely come bull-rushing kind of through this area of the trees without a lot of woodscraft or steath, that much is clear! Still with the residuals of the trace, Rachel can vaguely still feel the sense of direction, leading them through and closer towar Mariner's. There up ahead of them, they can hear in earshot the sounds of occasional vehicles and the other ambiance of the highway ... and the sound of someone moving up ahead of them as well! Headlights can be seen in the far distance, and growing larger on their way toward them. It'll be a race between making it to intercept this person before they can potentially hi-jack this car.
A -race-? The sprinting kind of race, perhaps? Konstantin has you covered there, dear narrator. If he was wearing crocks, he'd set them to sports mode right now. Instead, he's wearing sharp business shoes.. which doesn't do much for his efforts but lucky for him, he's fast. Supernaturally fast, you might even say. He leaves Rachel's side suddenly and tears forwards at breakneck pace, teeth grit. For a moment, his breathing actually lowers, leaning on his demonic vitality to keep his body flush with oxygen while he focuses his entire being on putting as much of what is infront of him right now behind him instead, as fast as possible. He barrels towards our fleeing figure; intent on planting his entire bodyweight into their back through his shoulder at breakneck pace.
Rachel makes a fast assumption - a knee-jerk one. If this is an average Joe and not their target, it'd be unfortunate, but they could perhaps pass off what she does as an incident of poor health. "Caeca." From the pouch at her hip, something red zips out, almost viscous, and comes around the man's head, as if with the intent to blindfold. She doesn't run after Konstantin. This is his forte, the brute force. Hers is to incapacitate. Her advance is slow, nearly casual, in comparison. She doesn't expect him to get away.
As one of the pair begins to move with great speed, the other begins to call upon their ability to manipulate blood and together, the combination can provide a powerful package. Konstantin goes sprinting through the trees with a near blurring kind of speed at the start as his reflexes let him push well beyond the nature of normal human beings. The person they're trying to trail through the forest comes into view for them quickly, and that shoulder-style check will easily make its contact into the back of this person with ease because the mother fucker can't see! Even as he's crying out from his eyes suddenly going blurry and red he's getting flung forward from the strength of the blow and without any way of seeing what's coming he hits the asphalt of the roadway, skidding across it to come to a stop in the middle ...
Headlights come closer now, those lovely auto-lights that are always on in some fashion in the height of the daylight. The driver can see the body skidding into the road, the sound of brakes squealing out into the air. Luckily, it seems that Konstantin will be able to use the collection of his own talents to ensure a salvage of the situation and after a rather naster bit of swerving that car is soon speeding off into the distance, rather than trying to stop. The demonborn now has a road-rashed operative in his custody.
Konstantin's managed to wrap up by the time Rachel makes it to the road. She took her sweet, sweet time about it, not intending to exert herself. Call it utter faith in Konstantin. "I'll call it in," she says, already starting to communicate with operatives over the ether. "Can someone bring a v-- no, I don't want you to go find Artyom." Rachel's got a bone to pick. "Anyone else. Jesus, no. Why do you always assume it's /my/ fault?" Konstantin should jump in before she says something that they both regret.
Slamming into the operative and knocking them off their feet, Konstantin tumbles to the ground also but he has the benefit of not being taken by surprise and not being winded to the point of breathlessness. He shifts like a lizard on all fours onto them and plants a palm on their head, righting himself enough to plant his knee in the small of their back. He snatches up their wrists and gathers them behind the operative before zipcuffing them in place, together. Perfectly bundled for transport. "Don't let me hear you saying shit or I'm going to punch you so hard you forget which pool you pissed in, Golden Puddle", Konstantin tells the representative of the proud Golden Shadow.
Looking back over his shoulder to Rachel, he calls out; "Tell them is for me", simply. That usually solves and problems with hesistancy from dispatch.. he hopes. For now, he focuses on holding them down until the cleanup crew can send some goons to pick up this miscreant.
OOC: Thank you guys very much for participating! Do my best to try and hit the prompt without running a mile with it! If you have any teleport needs, please let me know otherwise you guys are great to head down at your leisure!
"Unless you want the President to know that you disobeyed orders--..." Rachel flashes a thumbs up at Konstantin. Thank you. "Yes, he's right here. Shall I put him on the line and tell him that you don't want to help? I'm happy to." In short order, a van rolls up - also, frankly, at nearly supernatural speeds - and proves how very, very effective people can be under pressure.
The chase led them through a forest towards the highway, a setting ripe for their contrasting yet complementing abilities to shine — Konstantin's demon-born speed and Rachel's blood magic working in synchrony to intercept a fugitive operative. Their quarry, momentarily disoriented by Rachel's magical intervention and physically bested by Konstantin's brute force, was apprehended in a chaotic yet skillful operation. An impromptu roadblock, the operative’s fall, and the immediate response to Rachel's call for extraction underscored a seamless blend of their tactical and supernatural prowess. Their actions were not without humor and banter, providing a humanizing foil to their otherwise extraordinary capabilities. Through a mix of determination, magical traces, and the occasional jest at each other's expense, Rachel and Konstantin managed to secure their target, showcasing their effectiveness as a duo against the backdrop of an ordinary world veiled with layers of magic and secrecy.
(Rachel's odd encounter(SRLucas):SRLucas)
[Sat Sep 14 2024]
In a Spacious, Suave Living Space with View of the Bay
This formal living room is spacious, a blend of modern luxury and historic tranquility. Dark wallpaper with swirling silver patterns adorns the walls, adding a touch of sophistication to the space, creating an illusion of expansiveness, serving as a central point in the penthouse, seamlessly connecting the hallways and foyer. Strategically placed indoor plants breathe life into the space, harmonizing with the abstract, refined decor.
Black, hard marble floors stretch elegantly throughout the apartment, lending an airy feel to the residence. The high ceiling, painted in a shadowy darkness, is adorned with clouded figures and warped shades blending seamlessly in a foreboding visual illuminated by a minimalist chandelier with cascading glass orbs that bathe the room in soft, ambient glow.
A glass balcony nestled between broad windows offers a scenic view towards the east, showcasing Haven's Bay framed by hazy blurs of old-growth forest. In the distance, the tempestuous Atlantic Ocean captivates with its restless waves, shifting from stony depths in colder seasons to coastal blues in warmer ones. Despite the open floor plan, the space exudes a sense of elevation, with steps on either side of the connecting hallway adding to its grandeur.
It is morning, about 71F(21C) degrees,
(A member of The Golden Shadow has been left behind in Haven after a failed operation. Scarred and paranoid, they hide in the shadows, causing disturbances as they steal supplies and attempt to evade capture. Your target is hired to find them, but the mercenary is desperate and dangerous. Will they bring them in or help them escape?)
Rachel's standing in front of the balcony, Konstantin a short distance away on the couches. It doesn't seem like there's been conversation in a while. The kind of silence between them is a weighty, comfortable blanket, without tension. The metaphorical clock hand is ticking toward 11 AM. "I promised you lunch," Rachel says eventually, over her shoulder. "What are you feeling? American? Russian?"
"Chinese", Konstantin replies back a little groggily. He woke from a nap fairly recently, and remains somewhat sluggish after the fact. He lifts a hand and runs his fingertips up and over his shaven scalp with a sigh. "I need to work on Vetr business. Have to use my laptop instead of phone.. that prick better not get into Hand intelligence data."
That kind of silence that can grow in comfort speaks to the kinship perhaps between the two folks in the room here, this morning. Things seem terribly normal this morning as well, at least for the time being. The sun is shining brightly without much in the way of cloud cover outside, and with the way things are going it's almost a given that any moment now .. something idiotic is going to befall.
"You haven't asked me for help with any of that." It's gently accusatory. "Or with covering you in the Hand, if you're going to be busy." This is an old argument, and carries no heat. "But yeah, fine. Chinese. Hm." Rachel starts wandering toward the kitchen, phone in hand. A little tip-tapping suggests she's doing research. Her head tilts left; it tilts right. "I'm thinking mapo tofu. I wanna try a vegan recipe."
"Didn't think you liked Eidolon", Konstantin replies with a stretch of his legs. He groans a little, back arching just a touch. "You want to be involved in Vetr?", Konstantin asks with genuine interest, looking over to Rachel. As ever though, he has to prod a little bit; "Have opening for secretary.."
Relaxing again after the stretch, Konstantin takes five seconds or so before he starts to push himself up to his feet. "Alright. Sounds good", he begins before coming to a realisation and looking at Rachel with just a touch of fear; "You are not going to cook vegan often, right?"
Are there even any decent places within town to get good Chinese? Or .. I suppose one could literally get take-out directly from the source. Still, as if on cue as the two of them converse on where and what to eat for their upcoming lunch plans though there comes that so-often annoying tell tale beep or notification from whatever various electronic devices come to mind. Ahh - the sound of menial duty calling? Always. Nothing special or major about it, but there usually never is at the start. A generic disturbance in the vicinity of Westhaven park.
It doesn't have to be vegan. Rachel could add a little minced Konstantin to the tofu and find it perfectly palatable. "Not if I'm getting you coffee," she says. "I don't /know/ anything about i--." And that's when her phone beeps, the screen flashing white. She stares. "It's always when I'm about to cook. I swear, it's like they're watching." She slides a hand upward to the back of her neck, and then down again. "Your favorite. The /trailers/. Maybe we can stop by the pool." Kidding. Definitely kidding. The grin on her face tells all; Konstantin would never.
Amusement at Rachel's remarkably calm reception of his unserious suggestion sours to annoyance. "Intelligence? Alright.. let's handle it. Any information on what it is this time?", Konstantin asks with an upnod as he heads for the door. Fine. He was already standing up anyway.
He gives the kitchen one wistful glance, robbed of an opportunity to relish Rachel's cooking. How awful.
He heads to the door, stooping to pick up his go-bag. A ballistics vest, a blade, and a bone-needled compass. All a man needs to do destruction in the world of the supernatural. "Get your helmet."
Checking through the message a little more directly, it's not hard to determine that .. there's not a whole lot of information to be found! There's some, though. Generic disturbance, not a lot to be heard about there. Most importantly however, the mention of the Golden Shadow - a recent low-level operation in the area hasn't gone well for their forces, and it seems like there's a chance to apprehend one of theirs alive, or something close to it? A small notation in reminder to remain cognizant of the Moore's territory surrounding the Trailer park. (If that's still a thing?)
"Something something, Golden Shadow. Think we're kidnapping someone." Discreetly, if they're in public.
"I don't get why /I/ have to wear a helmet when /you/ never wear one," Rachel says. She walks toward the door, and without stopping, collects her bag from the coffee table. She shoves it into Konstantin's mid-section. If they're reverting to stereotypical gender roles, he can be the pack mule. "Be careful with that." But yes, she gets her helmet; some kind of pouch, which she straps to her waist; and a metal staff. If they encounter passerby, it'd look a little odd, but Konstantin and Rachel might pass as heading to some sort of costumed event.
Accepting the bag with a grunt, gripping it by the body while he turns for the door and opens it with a press of his thumb to the biometric pad, Konstantin calls out; "Because I wont fall off the back."
He lefts himself out, waits for Rachel, and then when the both of them are ready he heads for the ground floor west-side exit. He heads to a bike, mounts it, and with Rachel speeds away towards franklin bridge and the westhaven trailer park beyond. "I can't call Artyom and Simonov", Konstantin lets Rachel know as the pause at a stop light, "With my phone gone; I have not set up secure channels to them yet. We are alone this time."
There seems to be little else coming in on the information wire as it were for the time being while the pair of them prepare to get themselves out there. There's not a lot to be seen either as they both eventually find themselves speeding across the length of the bridge that bridges the watery gap between the northern and southern sections of the town. Pulling in closer to the entrance to the trailer park which sits at Stop 8 near the southern complex of town. The lodge sinks off to the right with the hotel attached and there appears to be some vague sense of commotion or sound coming from somewhere within the trailer complex. From the ... POOL perhaps?
"We don't need them," Rachel answers. "This doesn't look serious. Also, I'm mad at Artyom. I asked him to teach me Russian and I'm /pretty/ sure he wasn't nice about it." But not very sure, as that'd take a better command of the language that she doesn't know.
They stop; she disembarks. Her helmet comes right off, and she runs a hand through her hair, adjusting it. She only makes it a few steps before the noise starts up. Her attention slides toward the entrance of the park, and then to Konstantin again, with not a word passed between them. The tilt of her head, and then the point of her finger: 'Do you hear that?' she seems to say.
"Artyom? Really.. Well; he has been doing overtime much recently", Konstantin replies, "handling some minor things near Boston for me. Port officials poking nose in wrong place; this kind of thing." A bit of a shrug and then a twist of the handlebars and they're on their way.
Pulling up at the trailerpark, Konstantin heaves himself off alongside Rachel. He tucks his keys into the pocket of his suit and only a moment or so later the noise kicks up. He looks at Rachel and sighs heavily. While his expression remains as guardedly dead-eyed neutral as ever, the breath gives away everything. Exasperation.. further reinforced by his groan; "Pool."
Steeling himself for the oncoming quagmire of filth (in his mind) of the communal pool, Konstantin heads for the noise.
Hey, the thoughts that run through the mind of Konstantin aren't that far of. One might say that all that chemical and chlorine is more of an excuse to pretend rather than a true deterrant against the filth of milling masses of strangers sharing community bath water. But that's the way of things, and as the sun grows higher in the sky and the temperature rises, the pool is almost certain to see use. Rounding the edge of Cromwell, the pool comes into view and surprisingly enough? While there is a bit of a crowd of local residents around the pool, none of them are IN it. They all seem ot be talking and arguing loudly amongst themselves. The basic premise seems to be someone has done something unhygenic in the pool even by trailer trash standards, but nobody is fessing up, or nobody has an explanation. The collection of voices is hard to decipher!
"They shit in the pool", Konstantin whispers, staring straight ahead. He is shellshocked by this ?revelation?, frozen on the spot for a short while. Does not compute.
While Konstantin's the one who's armored, Rachel makes a point of walking alongside, rather than behind him. She's not - and for those who know her, this might be the understatement of the century - the most careful. The closer they get to the crowd, the more of the conversation they hear, the more amused Rachel gets. "Did they call us in to arbitrate neighborhood squabbles?" Rachel asks Konstantin. She's resumed conversational volume. None of this looks like a problem. "All you." She offers him a nudge.
"You're an /expert/ at cleaning that stuff up," Rachel says to Konstantin. There's an inside joke here. She's dying of silent laughter.
Does it come to this? A Caddyshacking of the local pool? Is that what the tasks of idle operatives have devolved to in these coming final days of the world? Thankfully, as the pair of Rachel and Konstantin come a little closer the answer appears to be no. What's in the pool appears to be some kind of sticky, black tar-like mass that's kind of floating on the pool's surface with a greasy or oily kind of look to it. It's not in any shape or sense of ... visual cue that would imply THAT kind of filth, but definitely something wrong for sure. This close it seems there seems ot be a split between those who'd been in the pool freaking out about if they're going to be effected, and those trying to figure out what the hell is going on.
Turning to someone at Rachel with a frustrated wrinkling at the bridge of his nose, Konstantin gives her a thoroughly heartfelt look of 'are you serious?'. Fine. Whatever. It's on him, he guesses.
Spotting the mass, Konstantin squints a little bit. That.. is strange. If it starts sprouting tentacles like the pools in Hell, he might feel just a bit more accepting of his time being wasted by this call-out. He doesn't get to charge a minimum fee like a locksmith, afterall.
He gives Rachel a look and jerks his head towards it, muttering; "Figure out if it is arcane shit", before turning to walk towards the main mass of locals clad appropriately (or inappropriately) for a swim in the local cesspit. "Right. Someone tell me what the fuck this is; I am pool inspector called out for fixing of problem."
Turning to look at Rachel with a frustrated wrinkling at the bridge of his nose, Konstantin gives her a thoroughly heartfelt look of 'are you serious?'. Fine. Whatever. It's on him, he guesses.
Spotting the mass, Konstantin squints a little bit. That.. is strange. If it starts sprouting tentacles like the pools in Hell, he might feel just a bit more accepting of his time being wasted by this call-out. He doesn't get to charge a minimum fee like a locksmith, afterall.
He gives Rachel a look and jerks his head towards it, muttering; "Figure out if it is arcane shit", before turning to walk towards the main mass of locals clad appropriately (or inappropriately) for a swim in the local cesspit. "Right. Someone tell me what the fuck this is; I am pool inspector called out for fixing of problem."
"Bag," Rachel asks Konstantin. She asks, but she doesn't wait for a response. The second he begins to depart, she takes back her possessions.
If that's what Konstantin wants Rachel to do, she'll have to stay out of view. She slips away from him, toward the trailer across from the street. It has a 'For Sale' sign on it. No difficulty at all for her to crack the lock and slip in, the door left just slightly ajar. On the floor, she begins to line out candles, striking a match to light their wicks.
For the record, Rachel finds Konstantin's acting skills appalling. The look she gave him reflected a just as acerbic 'are you serious?'
The first impression that Rachel gets is that this doesn't appear to be something specific in the nature of ritualism or anything heavy-hitting like that. BUT - it does feel like some kind of magic going on around the scene. She sits down and begins to settle in to try and get off a quick trace. Meanwhile, Konstantin is busy trying to keep the attention of the people around the pool. As far as he can see, the mass in the pool appears to maintain its presence but not overall seeming to move or grow beyond seeming to shift along with the motion of the pool. In fact, staring at it long enough might even give the impression that it's ... two-dimensional.
Konstantin mostly ignores the disparate jabbering of the locals as he stares at the strange dark film atop the surface. Eventually, he realises that no eyes or other humanoid facial features are materialising in the puddle like some cthulian nightmare, so he starts to try and move onto the crowdwork portion of his set.
"Alright!", Konstantin bellows to begin as he raises up his arms, "Pool is closed by order of the city bureau of leisure!" He's clad in a black business suit so if he in an inspector he probably has ideas -far- above his station, but he -does- look quite formal and maybe even official if you were the kind of person that associates the two without question. Konstantin is banking on there being plenty of those here.
He murmurs under his breath, pressing a finger to the earpiece on his right side; "Any ideas, Rachel?" Then, Konstantin spreads his warms wide and waves towards the pool exit. "Come on! Out! Out! There has been STD outbreak. You want it, hm?!" A dangerous threat, delivered in a thick russian accent. Anyone brave enough to risk a tangle with theoretical herpes is given a hard stare; something the thug is a little more accustomed to than customer service.
"Revela vestigia magica." The flickering flames cast small, jittering shadows upon the floor and walls. They peel away, like stickers, or curling paint. If there /is/ someone to be found - an identity to be uncovered - they'd coalesce and form a silhouette, rough features, a face. "S--" Rachel almost dares to hush Konstantin over communications, and passes it off as something other. "S...econd. I need a few."
"...President." Formalities. Right.
Providing an announcment like that seems strange, but also these people aren't sticking around long enough to find out! At the mention of catching some vanarial disease, they begin to skee-daddle off like roaches scattering with the lights come on. Rachel doesn't take long to pick up a trace on the magic being used, and it's close by! Not in the park itself but to the west and south within visual range almost certainly. It feels like illusions and trickery more than anything dangerous over by the pool, b ut almost certainly the work of the fugitive Golden Shadow operative on the run! It will take a few minutes to try and pin-point that location, but the person couild move in the meantime. Will Rachel and Konstantin try to rush in and head them off or take the cautious approach and narrow down their target? (Rachel take your time! I'll try to wrap this up for ya'll as well, so it doesn't stretch out too bad)
Seeing off the rabble, Konstantin waves them on their way insistently. Once the crowd starts moving, he gets to herding, not wanting any of them to stop and break the inertia of groupthink.
With the witnesses to whatever the suspicious slick is atop the surface of the water gone, Konstantin presses a finget to his earpiece again; "What we have here, Rachel?". He steps over towards the edge of the pool near the sludge, peering down into it for a moment before kicking a towel from beside the pool into it.
The towel passes right through the mass! It doesn't seem to be stained in any fashion, sinking through it to be saturated by the pool water as it sinks.
"Witch," Rachel says, probably choosing the wrong terminology. As Konstantin knows, she came into her powers late - and without the right instruction in anything but execution. "Somewhere southwest of us." The shadows nip at her heels as she exits the door again and resumes her place by Konstantin's side. "Not sure they're very good. Didn't cover their tracks at all." As soon as she's relayed the information, she starts to walk, expecting for him to follow.
Konstantin doesn't walk, he jogs! He reaches aside, patting Rachel on the upper back to hurry her along and heading out of the park hastily, eyes sweeping the surrounds for anyone that might look out of place, suspicious, or be moving away just a liiiiittle too hastily. "Which one? Which one?", Konstantin asks of Rachel urgently.
Choosing the more expedient route might be a little bit of a gamble, but it's likely that in this case it'll pay off. Moving southward from the park, it's mostly woods from here that stretch out toward the highway. That could potentially be a problem, as the operative might be able to catch himself out of here if he reaches it, but the signs of his passing can be found. Someone's definitely come bull-rushing kind of through this area of the trees without a lot of woodscraft or steath, that much is clear! Still with the residuals of the trace, Rachel can vaguely still feel the sense of direction, leading them through and closer towar Mariner's. There up ahead of them, they can hear in earshot the sounds of occasional vehicles and the other ambiance of the highway ... and the sound of someone moving up ahead of them as well! Headlights can be seen in the far distance, and growing larger on their way toward them. It'll be a race between making it to intercept this person before they can potentially hi-jack this car.
A -race-? The sprinting kind of race, perhaps? Konstantin has you covered there, dear narrator. If he was wearing crocks, he'd set them to sports mode right now. Instead, he's wearing sharp business shoes.. which doesn't do much for his efforts but lucky for him, he's fast. Supernaturally fast, you might even say. He leaves Rachel's side suddenly and tears forwards at breakneck pace, teeth grit. For a moment, his breathing actually lowers, leaning on his demonic vitality to keep his body flush with oxygen while he focuses his entire being on putting as much of what is infront of him right now behind him instead, as fast as possible. He barrels towards our fleeing figure; intent on planting his entire bodyweight into their back through his shoulder at breakneck pace.
Rachel makes a fast assumption - a knee-jerk one. If this is an average Joe and not their target, it'd be unfortunate, but they could perhaps pass off what she does as an incident of poor health. "Caeca." From the pouch at her hip, something red zips out, almost viscous, and comes around the man's head, as if with the intent to blindfold. She doesn't run after Konstantin. This is his forte, the brute force. Hers is to incapacitate. Her advance is slow, nearly casual, in comparison. She doesn't expect him to get away.
As one of the pair begins to move with great speed, the other begins to call upon their ability to manipulate blood and together, the combination can provide a powerful package. Konstantin goes sprinting through the trees with a near blurring kind of speed at the start as his reflexes let him push well beyond the nature of normal human beings. The person they're trying to trail through the forest comes into view for them quickly, and that shoulder-style check will easily make its contact into the back of this person with ease because the mother fucker can't see! Even as he's crying out from his eyes suddenly going blurry and red he's getting flung forward from the strength of the blow and without any way of seeing what's coming he hits the asphalt of the roadway, skidding across it to come to a stop in the middle ...
Headlights come closer now, those lovely auto-lights that are always on in some fashion in the height of the daylight. The driver can see the body skidding into the road, the sound of brakes squealing out into the air. Luckily, it seems that Konstantin will be able to use the collection of his own talents to ensure a salvage of the situation and after a rather naster bit of swerving that car is soon speeding off into the distance, rather than trying to stop. The demonborn now has a road-rashed operative in his custody.
Konstantin's managed to wrap up by the time Rachel makes it to the road. She took her sweet, sweet time about it, not intending to exert herself. Call it utter faith in Konstantin. "I'll call it in," she says, already starting to communicate with operatives over the ether. "Can someone bring a v-- no, I don't want you to go find Artyom." Rachel's got a bone to pick. "Anyone else. Jesus, no. Why do you always assume it's /my/ fault?" Konstantin should jump in before she says something that they both regret.
Slamming into the operative and knocking them off their feet, Konstantin tumbles to the ground also but he has the benefit of not being taken by surprise and not being winded to the point of breathlessness. He shifts like a lizard on all fours onto them and plants a palm on their head, righting himself enough to plant his knee in the small of their back. He snatches up their wrists and gathers them behind the operative before zipcuffing them in place, together. Perfectly bundled for transport. "Don't let me hear you saying shit or I'm going to punch you so hard you forget which pool you pissed in, Golden Puddle", Konstantin tells the representative of the proud Golden Shadow.
Looking back over his shoulder to Rachel, he calls out; "Tell them is for me", simply. That usually solves and problems with hesistancy from dispatch.. he hopes. For now, he focuses on holding them down until the cleanup crew can send some goons to pick up this miscreant.
OOC: Thank you guys very much for participating! Do my best to try and hit the prompt without running a mile with it! If you have any teleport needs, please let me know otherwise you guys are great to head down at your leisure!
"Unless you want the President to know that you disobeyed orders--..." Rachel flashes a thumbs up at Konstantin. Thank you. "Yes, he's right here. Shall I put him on the line and tell him that you don't want to help? I'm happy to." In short order, a van rolls up - also, frankly, at nearly supernatural speeds - and proves how very, very effective people can be under pressure.