metafictions: <user name=raptorscribbles site=plurk.com> (Aʙᴏᴜᴛ ɴɪɢʜᴛʜᴀᴡᴋ)
ᴋᴀᴍᴜɪ ᴜᴇʜᴀʀᴀ ([personal profile] metafictions) wrote in [community profile] citylogs2023-08-19 09:55 pm

(open mingle) it's not the mall without a spencer's!

WHO: Kamui ([personal profile] metafictions), Wrench ([personal profile] wrenchedup), and you!
WHAT: A very silly mingle for hunkering down in the Spencer's.
WHERE: the city mall
WHEN: sometime during the August event
WARNINGS: Suggestively shaped bachelorette party items, will update for anything else.




After some hours of confusion in the dark, it becomes clear that they're all going to be stuck in the mall for a while. Naturally, the need for a safe home base arises next.

Enter: the Spencer's Gifts on the mall's second floor. It's near enough to emergency lighting to almost be visible, but more importantly, it's full of enough food and supplies to… sort of make it work, when it comes to hunkering down for a bit. Far preferable to sleeping on one of the mall benches, anyway.

The shop is stocked like pretty much any other Spencer's in the mall in 00's North America:

  • Cases and rows of alternative fashion, from spiked wristbands and chokers to body jewelry and gauges, line the shop. If you're especially enterprising they could be repurposed as a makeshift weapon. Orrrr you can just keep your cash in that chain wallet
  • Pop culture merch is also highly represented at the Spencer's. There's stacks and stacks of anime t-shirts, funny graphic tees, and novelty bobbleheads and other figures.
  • Careful going to the back of the shop, though: that's where all the adult items are kept though a whole lot of it might be already raided by Wrench, ask about that later.
  • Most importantly is the construction of what has been lovingly (oocly) dubbed as… ~ The Naruto Fort ~ or The Nort for short:

  • Welcome to The Nort.
    Whether you’re helping construct it, stock it full of goodies, protect it from things that aren’t actually there, or just paying a visit or coming to sleep for the night The Nort can be found occupying one of the aisles close to the entrance.

    The tent walls are crafted by strung together nondescript anime t-shirts and weird goth costumes and probably at least one tie dye pot leaf flag. There are tons of novelty pillows in all sorts of odd shapes (yes, there’s probably one that looks like a butt) for you to rest your weary head. There might even be a few throw blankets of everyone’s fav emo band, My Chemical Bromance.
    keepgodwaiting: (i will face god and walk backwards)

    [personal profile] keepgodwaiting 2023-09-04 01:29 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Dry: ] Never have been able to before.

    [ Wrench is around here somewhere, she's pretty sure -- thought she saw him coming in and out of the Spencer's, although she stayed out of his way. She sure the fuck couldn't protect either of them from herself. Though at least she hasn't killed him with her own selfishness, like Rachel.

    Not yet.

    She looks down at the sigils pensively for a moment before closing the notebook with a sigh. ]


    I don't know that Solomon is wise enough to do it for me.
    matermali: (098)

    [personal profile] matermali 2023-09-04 04:52 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Regret will always be close behind sin; if only that was punishment enough. It should be, for how it can burrow into the heart and eat away at it little by little. This woman speaks as if she is infested.

    Between them, then, absolution ought to be gilded. ]


    Then cast aside wisdom and borrow for spite.

    [ The smile is small, but still quite sobered. ]

    Your sigil ought to be of your own making.
    keepgodwaiting: (good time gal)

    [personal profile] keepgodwaiting 2023-09-04 04:58 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Johanna looks up at her, blinking, and then laughs quietly. ]

    Right, so you're always like this, are you, not just in graveyards.

    Do you do any magic, then?
    matermali: (251)

    [personal profile] matermali 2023-09-04 05:25 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Silence greets Johanna's inquiry, and Vanessa stares unblinkingly, glancing to what details of her expression that are visible enough in this light. She's close enough... There's no look or sound of mockery from the woman.

    But she has been fooled before.

    Breaking the gaze, she'll slowly shift to peer out into the darkness that has swallowed the world beyond the doors. ]


    I am no witch.
    keepgodwaiting: (silk cut)

    [personal profile] keepgodwaiting 2023-09-04 05:39 am (UTC)(link)
    [ No mockery, at least not about the magic question. Some light teasing about her propensity for Making Statements, yes. But she's curious, now; it's a very specific kind of denial. ]

    Me neither. Not my preferred term, anyway.
    matermali: (130)

    [personal profile] matermali 2023-09-04 06:28 am (UTC)(link)
    [ What a curious thing to say.

    Vanessa can't help but turn back, brow wrinkling in a slight curiosity. ]


    And what would be your preferred term?

    [ What would Vanessa's be? There are none that fit. Between every world that she touches, none could be called home. ]
    keepgodwaiting: (get in line bruv)

    [personal profile] keepgodwaiting 2023-09-04 04:40 pm (UTC)(link)
    Occultist is what I usually put on the business cards.

    [ If this has the air of a practiced answer, it's because it is. She's had to give this spiel here more times than she ever did back home. ]

    Or exorcist. Warlock if you're nasty.
    matermali: (229)

    [personal profile] matermali 2023-09-04 06:31 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ Spiritualist may be a term that Vanessa considers harmless, but before she can even offer it, 'exorcist' is now being tossed into the ring of useless magical labels. An exorcist may be useless, it may be not. It depends on if they're a charlatan like most 'spiritualists'.

    What is this now about being nasty? Vanessa may very well be, but she thinks quite literally, and that can stay behind the curtain with the rest of her unknowns. Constantine really does throw her for a loop, and she sits back onto her heels to stare in puzzlement. For a moment she'll even forget about anything that could be creeping around out there. ]


    A priest? [ Squint. ] A nun?

    [ This woman is not a nun. ]
    keepgodwaiting: (flirting)

    [personal profile] keepgodwaiting 2023-09-04 06:35 pm (UTC)(link)
    Ha!

    [ It's a little loud in the dark of the mall. Constantine covers her mouth, though she's still smirking, and shakes her head. ]

    Not even slightly. But I do look good in a dog collar.
    matermali: (115)

    [personal profile] matermali 2023-09-04 06:44 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ Vanessa may struggle to catch up to the differences in time periods and worlds, but some things are universal and that is not a joke meant for the innocent. It absolutely is not about dogs, and Vanessa should be offended, but she isn't the usual woman wandering London's streets.

    Against her better judgment, a low chuckle escape while her gaze casts down and to the side, contemplating what manner of woman would claim herself something like an exorcist while making inappropriate jokes with reckless abandon. What gall. Men in London would hate her, right up until they had the chance to use that dog collar. ]


    Mm. I will keep that in mind.

    [ Already she's looking back to through the doors, leaving the joke where it is. Her little amusements are always fleeting. ]

    I am assuming that you have been unable to make much progress with exorcisms here.
    keepgodwaiting: (latin rites)

    [personal profile] keepgodwaiting 2023-09-04 06:55 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ It's a pleasant surprise to see this haunted Victorian painting of a woman look amused by the entendre instead of scandalized. Scandalized would have been fun, but probably only in the short term. ]

    Here in the City, or here in the mall? [ Constantine follows Vanessa's gaze. ] I haven't tried yet.
    matermali: (238)

    [personal profile] matermali 2023-09-04 07:12 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ She would like to know if it's possible, and the best way may be to simply stay perfectly silent and let the woman stumble through loss or victory on her own. Then again, if she's the sort of woman Vanessa has pinned her for, being told she can't do something may only encourage her. Not that Vanessa herself would relate to such behavior, of course.

    One is reluctant to share such as the things she had done. It took quite some time for Ethan to learn, and that had been for the sake of necessity. ...So what, then, do you call escaping this purgatory? She understands the benefit of working with others, but she has also seen how terribly it can go. No other is like her.

    No, she is no witch. What would an exorcist think of the nameless thing that she is? ]


    I would be interested to find out, if you happen to be successful in fending them off.

    [ Of course, ]

    Though my greatest hope is to escape before we need to make such discoveries.
    keepgodwaiting: (turn your collar to the wind)

    [personal profile] keepgodwaiting 2023-09-04 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ Quiet, pensive: ] Yeah, I would be interested too.

    Have you seen -- whatever is out there?
    matermali: (016)

    [personal profile] matermali 2023-09-04 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ On this matter, at least, she is not quite cruel enough to remain silent. ]

    Yes.

    [ There's a rustle of skirts as she shifts to sit more comfortably, leaning against a shelf of t-shirts jutting from the wall—which shouldn't be comfortable—and pulling her knees up to hug them. It could seem rather casual for the look of her.

    But then so very not, with her nails unconsciously scratching against lace. Back, forth, back—with a rasp as soft as her whisper. ]


    They are demons, yes. Whether they are our own, I cannot rightly say. [ Delicate fabric is dragged by dirty nails. ] The only thing that matters is that the one responsible is playing with our memories. They think to write our fates anew, as though we were their dolls.
    keepgodwaiting: (dirtbag occultist)

    [personal profile] keepgodwaiting 2023-09-05 04:16 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Johanna settles into an almost mirrored position, knees up, arms loosely folded over them. ]

    You think whatever's got power in this place wants us to come up with different endings?
    matermali: (243)

    [personal profile] matermali 2023-09-05 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
    [ The scoff is silent, but enough to rock her shoulders back. ]

    From what we desire. The ending that they crave will always be the same.

    [ What that has to do with the rest of these people, Vanessa still has no idea. ]
    keepgodwaiting: (i have nightmares)

    [personal profile] keepgodwaiting 2023-09-05 04:36 am (UTC)(link)
    Mm.

    Doesn't make much sense to me, though. When the bank opened, last month, did it have something of yours?
    matermali: (230)

    [personal profile] matermali 2023-09-05 04:45 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Strange how easy it is to compel her to even mention it... Perhaps she should have burned it, but she still keeps it folded in her pocket. ]

    Yes. ...A letter that I once wrote to a dear friend.

    [ 'Dear friend', with a drop in her whisper and such a pang that Vanessa can only swallow back any breath following it. There's only a few moments of delay before she adds, so there are no misunderstandings about why it's painful, ]

    She has since passed.
    keepgodwaiting: (i will face god and walk backwards)

    [personal profile] keepgodwaiting 2023-09-05 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
    Ah. Right.

    [ Well, shit, asking "is it connected to someone you're haunted by guilt over" and continuing to theorize about what the City wants from them seems a bit tasteless now. ]

    'm sorry to hear it.
    matermali: (144)

    [personal profile] matermali 2023-09-05 05:12 am (UTC)(link)
    [ The shake of her head is gentle in its understanding. These are natural connections to make.

    Vanessa doubts she will ever again enter a newly discovered building until it has been properly vetted. The question is who could take on the risk for her? Currency here was reduced to favors, as far as Vanessa has discovered. Coin would be so much simpler. ]


    And yourself? Did you discover anything?
    keepgodwaiting: (i will face god and walk backwards)

    [personal profile] keepgodwaiting 2023-09-12 04:37 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ She shakes her head no. ]

    At the time I thought -- fuck, I don't know. I figured it was 'cause I didn't leave much behind. Now I don't know.

    [ She closes her eyes for a moment, rubbing her forehead, and looks back out to the mall. Theorizing. She just keeps trying to fit it into a theory, because if there's a theory there's a solution, and ...

    Did something move, across the atrium? ]
    matermali: (251)

    [personal profile] matermali 2023-09-14 09:26 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ 'Leave much behind'? It's such a particular phrase, and something Vanessa would think to ponder more on if she didn't first catch the shadow that moved between the others.

    She doesn't speak to it, instead continuing to scan beyond the doors and shifting onto her knees with fingertips against the ground. Ready to bolt. At it or away, there's no telling, but she's already lost sight of it so there's no rush to decide.

    Vanessa can't sense these things directly, but that can be what gives them away, that empty omen which walks through the oppressive air that fills the entirety of the building. Figments of nothingness. They bring no threat beside one's own fear. She knows it, and she is still afraid, though that fear has been stifled by a predatory resentment.

    These things waste her time. ]
    keepgodwaiting: (ghosts come home)

    [personal profile] keepgodwaiting 2023-09-15 09:59 pm (UTC)(link)
    "Jo?"

    [ A plaintive, childish call. Johanna tenses visibly, her eyes widening. ]

    "You said you'd help, Jo."

    [ The figure comes into view: a girl, maybe twelve, maybe younger. The few lights paint her skin shades of red and gray, and make deep holes of her eyes. Her arms are stretched out in front of her, as if to help guide her through the dimness.

    Arms? Her left arm at first looks oddly foreshortened. When she stretches it out, the reason becomes clear. It's sliced off below the elbow. Dim embers burn along the edges of the stump, and around the marrow bones at its center. ]


    Fuck fuck fuck fuck. [ Johanna ducks down, almost flattening herself to the floor. Her gaze flicks to Vanessa, but she doesn't really see the other woman, if her expression of panic is anything to go by. ] Shit.

    "Jo, please--!"

    [ Johanna flinches and focuses on Vanessa. Hissed: ] Get to the back.

    "You let go, Johanna." [ The thin voice seems to get thicker with pain, and building anger. ] "Do you know what they've done to me?"
    matermali: (270)

    [personal profile] matermali 2023-09-16 07:07 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Now, that is quite a sight, but Vanessa doesn't look away, nor get to the back. She stays crouched, still as a statue, she could be a mannequin herself if not for how her gaze is darting across the gruesome details of this girl's sorry existence. Even Vanessa has never witnessed something quite like this, and for a moment she thinks her heart may break. For the girl or for Constantine, perhaps both, remains to be seen. The cries are damning, but who is she to say?

    Remaining still, finding no need to look down, she whispers. ]


    If it finds you here, the others will suffer what you do.

    [ Even the back of the room may not be far enough to escape the vision, but it isn't as if she's tested those limitations. ]

    I will go. You must run while I have its attention, and you may stand a chance. It cannot hurt me.
    keepgodwaiting: (no you listen to me)

    [personal profile] keepgodwaiting 2023-09-16 08:15 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Johanna stares at Vanessa, incredulous. ]

    What?

    [ The girl-thing in the atrium jerks her head towards them and starts moving faster. ]

    "Constantine!"

    [ Practically on instinct, Constantine spits out: ] Exorcizámus te, Astra Logue, in nómini Jesu--

    [ Astra's remaining hand slaps against the window glass as she reaches the shop. Constantine lets out a startled scream and tries to scramble to her feet. ]

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