[I know you love me, Denver. But how about that Perception/Awareness?]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (5, 6, 8, 8, 9) ( success x 4 )
Annie
Annie had contacted Grace to have coffee. In the city.
She didn't say why she wanted to have coffee with Grace, just that she wanted to get out of the house and actually spend some time in the city proper. Annie had been something of a hermit as of late. Or, well, for the entirety of the time that any of the current mages knew her. If she wasn't spending time with her cabal it would seem that she was completely out of touch with the rest of the world.
Not. Today.
So, there she was at some place that had just popped up with mismatched coffee cups and free trade coffee. There was a Verbena on the patio, soaking in sunlight like some great wildflower, waiting for some winged being to come visit.
Grace
If it had been an order from the Deacon of the Chantry to have a talk, Grace might just have given serious consideration to refusing on sheer principle. But Annie's no dictator, and this is not like that.
At least, Grace doesn't assume it to be, because coffee shops in the art district just aren't the right venue to wave your
She lets Google tell her where to go, to this new joint she's never heard of, but promises goodness along with its wildness. Or is that just the sensation of Annie on the periphery of the universe's bend? There, in a window, a painting of untamed horses -- or an impression of them -- takes on new life. It must be the Verbena, right? And so, Grace's head appears from behind her phone, a querying expression on her face, as if trying to filter out the people...
Aha. Yes. That direction over there.
Watch out, Annie, here comes the earth-shaking winged being.
Annie
Annie sees Grace coming, or feels her before she sees her and she stands up. Annie has always been the sort of reserved type around the other mages. When people have seen her she has been pleasant but a little distant, a little unavailable and her lips upturn and it's supposed to be the sort of grimness that people are accustomed and it just... isn't.
No, when she smiles it is sunlight and with that reserved expression there is a look of genuine happiness to see Grace.
"I forgot how vibrant this place was," she says.
Grace
"Um.." Grace looks around, trying to find the vibrance in what she'd previously ignored. Let's just say, for as many art galleries as she's been dragged through, she hasn't really been keen on them. Santa Fe is just... that. Vibrant in comparison to what?
"Oh, yeah. Heh."
She says those words, but doesn't really understand it. There is, however, a genuine smile to greet Annie in return.
"So, ah, how've you been?" she asks, as she scuttles over in the general direction of the opposite chair. No going for a handshake. Not her style.
Annie
"Not bad, not bad," she says, looks back at her cup as she settles back down into her rather comfortable patio chair. Her hair ius a mess of wild curls and windswept tangles that seems to do what it damned well pleases and it wouldn't be Annie any other way. All honey and blue and sunkissed.
"Leah and Henry are off adventuring so... it's just me and Sasha," she starts, "and Sasha's been working some late hours so I realized I needed hobbies that aren't mowing the lawn."
You're supposed to laugh here, Grace. "How are you? What's new in town?"
Grace
Grace doesn't laugh where she's supposed to, and she winces a bit at the question of what's new in town. "Oh, you know. The usual."
Murders foul and sundry...
"Strangely enough, the usual isn't in Denver this time, but apparently Colorado Springs is heating up, almost like the evil hotspot has moved and another volcano of grossness erupted over there."
She rolls her eyes, like she does at evil. And then sits down at her claimed chair.
Annie
"Colorado Springs has always had its fair share of troubles, and so has Denver," she said, almost laughs because there is a degree of fondness there. She shakes her head, "but if there's one thing I know, it's that James and Melissa will be able to handle it. They've done wonders for that city for years."
The woman seems keen on laughing, but the lack of confidence there seems to ring with her. Makes Annie pause, makes her knit her brows together, "what's going on there?"
Grace
"Apprentices disappearing. Murders, looks like," she says, and yeah -- no laughs. Nor much confidence in James or Melissa, neither of whom she's ever heard of.
"They're saying it's Tech-related, and not much we can do. But I have a sneaking suspicion it's not."
But, yeah, look at that sky between the buildings, isn't it nice?
"I'm going poking around where I shouldn't again. Soon as I can get Doctor Sepúlveda to stop dousing me with alcohol. I can't hack drunk." That, she laughs about. The idea of it, and where it would lead her? Hilarious.
Annie
"Funny, I thought information was free?"
Cocks a brow, almost saucy, almost challenging, giving the kind of approval that comes with knowing Mercurial Elite and knowing just a little bit about the mindset.
"How many of their apprentices have gone missing, who were they?" she looks genuinely concerned by this, "why did nobody tell me?"
Grace
"Dude. I try to do my shit drunk, and an ex of mine will wake up tomorrow with twenty Facebook messages from himself saying how awesome I am. No."
Another huff at the sky. But then, Annie re-changes the subject again.
"Six missing. Three found dead. All newcomers to the area. And I don't know why nobody told you, but here I am -- telling you."
Annie
"Who were they?" she insists again, eyes pleading and attention focused. Her hands go from her lap to the table, as though keeping them there would keep her grounded.
Grace
Who were they. "I didn't know any of them. I can't say who they were, but the names of the dead? I can give you. Jacqueline Paix, Chet LaCroix, and Laura Fairbanks. All found, and the crime scenes wiped squeaky clean, with the police not inclined to investigate. Not exactly random."
She pauses, clears her throat, thinks. There were others. The missing.
"The others, nobody can even trace, which considering our abilities? Is even weirder. They are Pam Patel, Garrett Murray, and Taylor Fletcher."
Annie
She furrows her brows, looks intent and focused for the time being. Annie leans forward and brings herself to a point of resting contemplation, like a puma trying to determine when she should strike. "Sasha might be able to help, she's got some ties at other departments and maybe could cross reference with similar cases in Denver."
"Garrett is Evelyn Murray's boy, she's one of James and Melissa's cabalmates. You could always lose that boy in a crowd, I'm so surprised he awakened," she mused before continuing, "I never knew Pam and Taylor, though. They might not be local."
Grace
"That would be helpful, but I think the one Apprentice we've got here that I know of, Sera's hiding. If any of our other newbies were to show up dead, our good Doctor would both immediately know about it, and probably throw a shit fit."
They'd have to have been hiding out. Or, the murderers were quicker on the uptake than everyone else.
"Well. Ned and Margot are newbies. To me, anyway. Despite the fact that they're not, you know, new."
Annie
"WHo is that? Who are we hiding here?" she perked her eyebrows up, as though all of this is complete news to her.
She has been an isolated creature, despite the fact that she's been almost thirty miles away from the city it may as well have ben an eternity. She mentions Ned and Margot and who else seems to have some through.
"I don't know the doctor. Or Ned. Or Margot. Has anyone given them my address? They're more than welcome to come by," not to sound like she desperately wants friends and some company. Oh no, not Annie.
Grace
"That is something I found out recently. So you're not too out of the loop. Sera's hosting a Grant Kherrington the Third at a place I'm not allowed to know about yet," Grace smiles a little knowing grin, because if she needed to find out, she very well could. It's just the matter of courtesy, eh?
"Doctor Sepúlveda is the county medical examiner, and an Etherite. He would know if there's anything suspicious going on here, and he's the one who let me in on what's going down in Colorado Springs. Ned and Margot are in his cabal, so."
So, he'd immediately know, and throw a shit fit. Stands to reason.
"I'll have to invite them."
Annie
"Good. Because I'm thinking of having a barbecue. Calypso I think gets lonely sometimes, and what's the point in having a nice place if you don't have anyone to enjoy it with?" She smiles, perks up like that wildflower that she is and she brushes her hair over her shoulder.
She does pause, though.
"... is it rude to ask if Etherites can fix garbage disposals?"
Grace
"I am so not the person to ask whether something is rude or not, man. I can take a look at that garbage disposal though, no problem."
Whatever can't be solved with basic machinery, can be solved by just forcing the universe to make the damn thing work, right? Right.
"Barbecue would be cool. Maybe we could get somebody to... I don't know, spiritify the food so Calypso can join in? She wouldn't be so lonely then, I bet."
Grace has no clue about the spirits or what they'd even eat. The idea of smoked sausage? The essence? Smoked sausage's soul? Calypso is a polar bear, so maybe she'd like it raw, but would that even translate well to a being without a body? Who knows. Grace sure doesn't.
Annie
"We... should be writing this down. And you and I can sit down and discuss all the particulars of your life and party planning that aren't horrible," she says.
Annie, it would seem, was keen on getting the ball rolling. In getting people back to the chantry, in getting people to where they can be connected and helped and not floating around the universe feeling like... like, what?
Whatever it was, it would seem that Annie Pierce is feeling quite social.
Grace
Grace smiles, happier to be off the subject that she's going to have to inevitably return to. "I... have a boyfriend." Just, you know, throwing that out there, all nonchalant, like it's no big thing really, everybody does this right? Totally normal.
"And, I'm looking to buy a new place in the city. I'll have to learn how to fix my own garbage disposal here soon enough, I think. It'll be training."
Annie
"Look at you," she reaches forward and gives her a bit of a push, playful, "finally, someone me and Sasha can double date with."
"And tell me about this new place? You are more than welcome to help with some home improvement projects. I need ot do a little renovation on the deck. If you have any carpentry issues I'd love to help. The house is in good working order aside from our terrible garbage disposal."
Grace
Oh, the color comes to her face at that push. Look at you? No. Do not look at me, no no no. She laughs a bit to stifle the embarrassment, and then continuing on, continuing...
"River and I have been scouting out apartment buildings," she says, "But I think she is rather drawn to the decaying. I mean, well. It's hard to find abandoned buildings that haven't been abandoned for reasons. River loves it though. And I have plans, oh... Like, I want a whole apartment just dedicated to VR setups, because why not?"
Annie
"This is what happens when you apartment hunt with Chakravanti. If Sasha had her way e'd sell the Morrison house to one of you and pack up to the world's biggest fixer upper, but we just got things the way we like them. Who all are you moving in? Maybe we could put part of the library there."
Grace
Of all the things she'd expected Annie to say, sharing the Chantry's library was not one of them. That has Grace's eyes widening a fraction. "Really? I was planning on having a library, of course. I have mine and Kalen's all digitized. Sorry, Elliot's. I'll never get that right... But I mean, if you want to put part of the Library library there, I won't stop you."
"I haven't actually got anybody moving in yet, except for River, of course. But Elliot will probably want some space, and... you know, whoever."
Whoever else wants to live in Grace's technologically-enhanced wonderland, that is. For free, because that's just how she rolls.
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