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Chantry Scene Continued [Attn: Anyone who wants to pounce a chantry forum scene?]
#1
[Our scene is as follows, Serafine, Kiara, Dan, and Kalen are in the kitchen at the Chantry. Dan is making reubens. Kalen thinks that Dan is secretly an alchemist, because those are complicated sandwiches, but alas there are discussions about what to do about vampires to have instead of investigating the elemental composition and transformation process of delicious foods. Reposting the last few posts (and adding one, Jacqui). Should anyone wish to pounce in, by all means do. I dunno that we'll manage a strict posting order, but let's try not to bury anyone.]

Serafíne
"Right but - " Dan exhales, softly. Takes the first of the reubens off the griddle, finally. Checks the second one, then goes back to the first, cutting it in half with the edge of his spatula. Some of the sauerkraut starts to ooze out.
"You understand what I'm saying, don't you? If the corporation is providing the structure and the means and engaging in the criminal behavior to which you object the most and you want to do something to disrupt their systems, that's smart. It makes sense. You do it in the most hands-off way possible. Then, you don't have to worry about firemen dying in a fire Grace set: just about figuring out how to create the sort of cybertrail that would entangle them in investigations and litigation for years to come.
"There, you've acted. You've acted in a way that brings a spotlight back to them and impedes their ability to function with the impunity they have come to count on."

--

Sera, quiet, shoots a glance at Dan. THIS IS ALL FUCKING GREEK TO HER, OR KUMQUATS, but her eyes are liquid, quiet, changeable, and they swing back to Kalen listening as he remarks with some passion that part of him wants to wrap his hands around a new and incomprehensible world in hopes that it will have more light.

"I'm sorry Kalen I don't - " pause, glance. "I don't really understand what she was proposing, except she wanted you to join her and act like her ally. Because you sound pretty fucking idealistic you know? Almost mournful, too. Like we're leaving something on the table that might make shit better and I just want to get that - understand it, you know?"


Kiara
Kiara's shoulders flex a little under the give of the jacket she's wearing; its leather but wholly newer; far less vintage than Kalen's own. Cinching in at her narrow waist; the boots Kiara is nearly always seen in offer her some scant few extra inches but she's still a slender thing; more lean lines carved through years of running than anything.
"It depends, when people pass on they don't always recognize it. They can't always - " Kiara's frowning down at the apple in her hands; wiping a thumb over a bruise near its base. She presses down on it, just enough to lacerate the skin. " - I talked to Alex - " this, with a look to Kalen; a beat; her eyes skirt back to Sera; Dan. "From what he says I'm not even sure trying to remove them is an option. They died violently, some of them maybe even willingly. Exsanguinated, a lot of them. Best case scenario?"

She straightens; setting the fruit down and crossing her arms over her chest. "We open a line of communication, ask them if they want to leave. They say they do, we try and get them beyond that threshold. Help them understand what's happened to them. Worst case scenario - " Her mouth twists into something thinner; a bittersweet, aware thing. Framed and molded by who knew what experiences.

"Well, it can't be worse than an eternity in the place you were murdered."

A beat, then. Tentative. "As for the vampires - " There's a hiss of breath; Kiara's focus cutting between Dan and Sera; Kalen. Back. "I think you probably already know my thoughts on that. I think, I feel as if, wedging ourselves into this is more trouble than it's worth. I'm not sure I'm the best to judge for anyone but myself, though. I don't trust them. Over and above what they are I just - can't see the benefits of putting our necks out there for them."

She sweeps a hand out; cutting through some unheard objection. "For the record, I don't dismiss anything you've said, Kalen. I agree there's a lot that we can learn from them, probably a lot we can also benefit from by agreeing but the long game - I just see so many ways this could fold back on us."

Kalen Holliday
"I think I want it to be good. But I wanted to save Lucia and Victoria too. And we saved a lot of people from them, in the end. I can live with what became of them. I can live with the people who came when I called and died fighting Victoria. I have done...a lot of things. They were not always the things I most wanted, but they were, all of them, things I can live with. I might do some of them differently now, but not because I know how they ended. I am...no longer the person who made some of those choices."
He smiles a little. Glances over at Kiara. "You'll note that when I acknowledge my unbridled optimism is generally unwarranted, I agree with that decision. I think that if we do this, it should not be so open. Boldness...I do enjoy it from time to time, but some sleeping dragons should probably never know who woke them. If we let them know we've made alternate shows of support, if not united as they offered, we may yet be able to learn from them. Possibly to get into that club to see what might be done about the ghosts. Derrick seemed not to have issue with that idea beyond his caution about what we might do beyond see to the ghosts."

Kiara
"Compromise is a beautiful thing." This, a wry addition from Kiara as she moves around the kitchen; claiming a bottle of water; uncapping it and taking a deep draught from it. It leaves lipstick stains around the rim and she wipes them off absently before recapping it and setting it on the counter; drawing her body up beside it in a stance not so dissimilar to Serafine's while she painted her nails.
She unzips the jacket; it folds open to reveal some white and black shirt beneath; the bold lettering denoting it belongs to some designer or other; half hidden as it is by the flaps of the jacket and the female's dark hair where it lays, wild and heavy against her shoulders beneath that cap. "Look, I think Dan has a point. I think doing nothing feels really not okay considering what's in the balance, but - " Kiara's fingertips rap against the counter; her legs, where she's crossed them, tap, one ankle against another.

The perpetual motion of Kiara Woolfe.

" - I like the quiet alternative. We don't have to walk away from everything, although obviously," a flex of her mouth; it brooks a smile; vaguely there and gone. "I'm not against doing that in principle. If we - you - take back the idea of something that doesn't give away our hand entirely, I could support that. I think it's the best option in a messy situation and at least it gives us a chance to do something for those poor people that are trapped in there."

A beat; Kiara sobers. "If there's anything to be done."

Kalen Holliday
Kalen nods. "I think that quiet alternative may still allow for that. And, if at some point we feel it is warranted, to cautiously explore what a cautious peace with creatures that may not be monsters looks like. But cautiously and carefully and not because we felt backed into a corner and responded.
"I also have trouble with the thought of doing absolutely nothing. Less than I could, perhaps. There are a lot of things we could do. The world needs a lot of things. There is no shortage of things that further that goal." There is a little shrug. "As to the ghosts...I know nothing of what will help them or how. I only know that they are there. That is all you and Alexander and Elijah...and anyone I don't know of offhand who can reach them."

Kiara
"I do think the idea of taking them down by subversive means has potential, too." Another sip of water; Kiara's legs swinging a little as she watches Dan with the sandwiches; silently admiring his culinary skills, no doubt. "Grace has the know how with technology, it wouldn't be much to start gnawing at their foundations. It could be done slowly, so there's no direct or obvious connection.
If you want to kill a weed, you have to find the roots or it will just keep coming back." The Verbena's focus shifts back to Kalen after a pause; she sets her eyes on his; scans and studies his features for a beat and then offers: "When - if - it comes to dealing with the ghosts, I could go in with both of them. Elijah would be useful for his ability to communicate even beyond ways I can. I can reach out, even get the attention of one or two if they're feeling charitable, keep us safe inside a circle while we try and work something out."

A beat; Kiara runs her tongue over her lips; shrugs. "Maybe we reach one or two. It would be one or two less stuck there. It would be something." Pause; the Verbena's expression shifts a touch; she sits straighter; lowers her voice. "If you go back to them with a compromise, I'm assuming this won't be in person but via other means, right? This Iris hasn't seemed volatile yet from what you say but hearing a less than total agreement might not be what brightens her night."

Kalen
"I'll leave that to you to figure out. All of you. But I will let them know." Kalen smiles. "I am glad that there are people who will help them."

He shifts. Resettles in the chair. Watches Kiara for a few seconds. "Iris? I will probably not tell her in person, but less for fear and more for expediency. My impression of her is not that one that indicates I would need to fear an immediate response if she were displeased. Iris...strikes me as much more controlled than that. If she was moved to lash out for our refusal, and I doubt that she will be, it would be cautious and calculated. I do not expect it would be instant. And I doubt that she desires two wars right now. She already is motivated to ask for our help with this one. As it stands, she'd likely just lose both."
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#2
Kiara's expression remains a somber thing after Kalen answers; she drops her chin forward; palms braced on the counter where she's taken up residence and frowns down at the floor. It's an expression of consideration; the line of her jaw; the fine shape of her brows; she's working over what's been offered.

"Some of that," Kiara looks up; over; her dark eyes more-so for the way she's sitting; framed back against the window. "is half the reason I'm so wary of getting close to anything with them. Endless time is a powerful tool to have at your disposal," she finishes quietly.

Then: "But good. I think the less face to face time, the better." There's the slightest shift, then. A subtle stirring. This careful smile, both curious and - perhaps, to some extent - sympathetic. "And what about your Wesley? Are you going to see him again?"
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#3
(Sorry guys! I've been busy the last two evenings and can't do more than check the site from my phone during the day. I will post tomorrow - but in the meantime if anyone else wants to join in and talk about what to do (unless what to do is pointless because the storyline has moved on from there) that would be cool. )
But my heart is wild and my bones are steel
And I could kill you with my bare hands if I was free.

- Phosphorescent, Song for Zula
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#4
[Sorry sorry sorry. I asked to move it to the forums in hopes that other folks might think about Joining in and then the cats spilled water on my laptop (which, by the way, means that the J key has shorted out so you will only get Js from me as capitals when I cut and paste until I figure out where to find a replacement keyboard. Anyway: I am Busy. Also going away this weekend. ON TO YOUR REPLY.]

Sera breathes out rather sharply when Kiara refers to Wesley as Kalen's Wesley. Through her nose not her mouth, just this emphatic little something that she pulls back into her body, subsumes into her skin. Lives within. This glance, which is quiet and banked and shadowed and oh-so-aware, at the Hermetic, his profile, whatever strange shadow passes over his features. Then gone.

Dan has served up the reubens to whoever wants them. Sera is: picking at her half a bit, on a neat little stoneware plate with a sunflower at its center, bright spokes of color radiating out like the corona framing the sun. Pulls away the crust and eats the thing in pieces, otherwise quiet, while Kiara moves about the kitchen and she and Kalen discuss - well - everything.

"Be careful what you tell them, Kalen. If you tell them anything. I don't want them - any of them - to think that you're a tool that they can manipulate on a whim. I don't think that we should burn down their hidey holes, but I also don't think we should get too close.

"And I know fuck-all about ghosts, but I can watch your backs when you go in to reach out, you know? I don't know that we even need their help getting in for that. Do it in daylight. I mean, do the walls even matter to fucking ghosts? Slimer oozes right through them."

Ghostbusters, y'all. Everyone should watch it while high. And while assuming that it is a fucking documentary.

The only way to go.

"Find a place that's close enough to chat. See if they need help setting themselves free. I'm not up for exorcising someone who is married to whatever is trapping them, you know? But give them a chance, and maybe a choice to pass on? I'm down with that."
But my heart is wild and my bones are steel
And I could kill you with my bare hands if I was free.

- Phosphorescent, Song for Zula
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#5
[Eeek. I hope you get a new keyboard soon.]

Kalen blinks when Kiara refers to Wesley as his. And then laughs, though it is not entirely a happy sound. "Not in this world. Maybe, maybe there is a world where that could be, but not in this one. I will likely see him again. He has access to rare books and probably can tell in at least some cases what occult books are worth our time. That's not a bad skill to have.

"But in the sense I suspect you may be thinking...no. Whatever he might be, even if we go with the most optimistic of every possible interpretation and he has a soul and he is an uncomplicated kind of good and all of those things - it's still irrelevant here. And I'm not even saying he's good. I don't think that he is evil, but that...that is not precisely the same thing."

There is a soft little huff at Serafine's statement, but it's not so much protest. He remembers when he came here. When he attacked Derrick in an alley because he was there. He knows how ridiculous it must seem to be examining the degree to which monsters might be human. "I'm not planning to bring him by the Chantry. Or propose marriage. I'm just curious. He seems...different. And I want to understand why. Because I want to know if he's just really, really good at playing a part he wants to or if the things I'm reading in him are right. Which is kind of like like trying to figure out if you've actually made friends with a tiger, in that it having not turned on you yet is hardly concrete evidence it won't tomorrow.

"I'll be careful."
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#6
[That sucks, Liz! I hope you can find a fix soon. Cats, man. Menaces since forever. Wink ]

"Only as much as they, " the ghosts, the spirits, Kiara's expression is at once thoughtful and considering; names meant something, after all, to name a thing is to give it purpose; to give it meaning; carefully groomed eyebrows arching as she speaks, "think they do. If they died in there and that's the only reality they know or choose to acknowledge, going beyond it might be something they aren't capable of processing."

She leans back; breathes out in a controlled manner that speaks of the weightiness of their discussion. Looks at Kalen; that trace of a smile flitting there still, teasing the edge of her mouth.

"I saw a picture or two while I was looking things up." A beat. "He was cute." Was. Deliberate, that. Of course. Then, a little gentler: "Caution's good. He might not be the same kind of monster but - " But, her eyes speak the unspoken. Kiara slides off the bench; stretches in a rattle of silver and who knew what else she was adorned in.

"Who knows, one of these days, we might even get to hang out, all of us, when it's not about death or ghosts."
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