Jackson, Mississippi, late late late Tuesday night
Alcide
Alcide parked the truck out in back of a small street, and pointed to a shop that looked like it specialized in biker leathers and possibly chlamydia. "Here," he said, holding out his American Express (and already feeling bad about that decision.) "You'll stick out like sore thumbs the way you're looking now. Go find something to wear in there. We'll meet back here in an hour."
Karla
"Does this remind anyone else of getting ready for the orgy?" Karla asked the air. She was glad she'd had a sight shield on her Sapphire since before they'd even left Fandom. There was no way in Hell she was letting someone take it away from her again. "If there's a meat-tree anywhere on the premises, I am going back to Fandom. We clear?"
Alcide
"The what now?" Alcide had been just about ready to drive off when he'd overheard that remark. Here he'd been feeling badly about leading a bunch of teenagers into a club like Lou Pine's; instead, he got to overhear things like -- "The orgy?" He looked somewhere between stern and confused. "Kids your age shouldn't even know that word."
Karla
Oh, no. This random male did not get to get all judgey on Karla. Especially when he didn't even know the full details of what had happened.
"First," she said, swinging around to glare at him, "you are not one of my males nor of my Court, so you have less than no right to tell me what I can and cannot do. Second, maybe you shouldn't be so damn hasty to insinuate yourself into other people's conversations. You make yourself look less like an idiot that way. Because, third, this orgy we went to was the only way for us to stop an evil creature from enslaving an entire town. Not only did we not go for whatever reasons you were entertaining, but we all nearly got killed trying to help out a bunch of people we didn't even know because it was the right thing to do."
He was hot, but he could keep his opinions to himself, thanks.
Alcide
Alcide held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Hey, hey, calm down. Look, I'm just sad you know what an orgy is. You can't be more'n sixteen or seventeen. I'm glad it was for a good cause and all, but can you fault a guy for being confused at hearing words like that from kids your age? I'm not trying to tell you what to do. I was just surprised, is all. But hey, this ain't your first rodeo. I get it."
Karla
Karla kept glaring at him for a moment more, then relented a bit. "I can see where it might be jarring," she admitted grudgingly. "You don't worry about any of us going back to one. It was one of the more unpleasant experiences of my life and that was before the bitch tried to sacrifice me on the meat-tree."
She gave him another sharp look in case he wanted to take issue with her vocabulary. But, really, she'd been stabbed and nearly killed. On a meat-tree. Bitch was completely appropriate.
Alcide
"Sacrifice?" He took issue with her vocabulary, but only in that sense. He gave her a long, sad look before shaking his head. "You're too young. I'm sorry you didn't get to be a teenager longer. Doesn't seem like most of y'all did."
Karla
"I never got to be a teenager," Karla said absently, still pawing through clothing. "It's been a long road. One that didn't bother to wait for my moontime to start."
Considering how underweight and exhausted she looked even now, that was saying a lot.
Raven
"If there is a meat tree, I will take you inside me before anyone can touch you," Raven said solemnly to Karla once she was done talking to Alcide.
Totally not dirty.
Karla
"I'd rather take my luck with the Godzilla and any remaining zombie piranhas," Karla said with a nod.
She picked through the available clothing. "Damn it. Not a single decent replacement for my catsuit, either."
Raven
"They are gone, Karla," Raven assured her. "I have made certain of it."
She pulled a scrap of denim that should have been embarrassed to call itself a skirt off a rack. "I do not think I can wear something like this."
Karla
Karla blinked at it. "Why not? I mean, it's kind of an ugly belt, but--oh." She took another look at it and shuddered. "Never mind. So you remember what I said, about leggings and a short skirt? At least then you'll be covered up?"
Raven
"I hope to one day visit Sookie's home without having to dress myself in such a way," Raven said, half to herself, as she picked up pair of fishnet stockings. "What do you think of these?"
She'd be able to better handle dressing skanky if Karla liked it, yes.
Karla
Karla frowned at Raven and shook her head. "Too Black Canary. And Little Miss Tap Pants," she said, wrinkling her nose. "Here, try instead. Same idea, but more...I dunno. Just more I guess."
Raven
"Is not the idea to look 'trashy'?" Raven said. "Like this?" Actually, she thought she'd seen something similar at 'Dite's shop.
Karla
Karla whistled. "Trashy, yes. But I don't know if we want to start a riot. Which is probably what will happen if you show up in that. Ummm. Wow."
And, as if we needed proof that sometimes her mouth ran about a pace and a half in front of her brain, "...You could always try it on and see?"
Wait, no. She wasn't supposed to say that one out loud. Dammit!
Raven
"If you think so," Raven said obligingly. She stepped into the dressing room (being very careful not to touch anything, ew) and changed into the denim skirt and the black leather bra thing. "What do you think?" she said, blushing as she opened the door and peeked out at Karla.
Karla
Karla's eyes widened a bit and she gulped. "Umm, good?" she said. "Really good. Leather looks good on you."
Which reminded her of someone else and made her laugh and the moment of tension was done. "Keep it," she suggested. "Surprise Jono and say you've picked up his habit of wearing leather."
Raven
Her cheeks turned even pinker, but Raven couldn't help but smile. "Perhaps I will," she said. Something to look forward to once they found Sookie and got her safely back to Fandom.
Emma
Shoooooooooopping! Yes, the store sucked. Yes, they were in hicksville, and Emma was careful about what she touched, but she was hoping to find a decent pair of jeans she could rip up, boots, and some sort of top. All of which had to be able to survive if she ended up shifting at some point during this adventure.
As pretty as her other form was, it was hell on clothing.
Bobby
Yeah, this time Bobby was gonna forgo skintight pants and go for ripped-up jeans instead. A leather jacket, though, wasn't entirely out of the question. Definitely made him less self-conscious than the mesh thing he'd worn to the orgy.
Kennedy
Kennedy didn't waste any time heading into the shop (wow, so not as posh as she was used to) and browsing through the racks.
"God, if I'd known, I would've gone shopping beforehand," she grumbled, as if that would've even been possible.
She did manage to find a pair of black jeans that she really liked, though, a kickass new pair of biker boots, and a pretty cool jacket that she could just put on over her own tank top. Oooh, and a wide metal-studded leather bracelet. She could totally rock that look any day.
Alcide
When Alcide led the now-transformed group from Fandom into the smoky, dingy bar, they turned a few heads. No one seemed too suspicious, though Alcide tossed off a few waves to allay any fears. "Split up," he said in an undertone. "Try and listen in where you can, but stay in pairs, at least. We just can't stay in a big...pack."
Raven
This place didn't make feel Raven any better than the vampire bar. In some ways it was even worse, because the people here were entirely ruled by their emotions and showed absolutely no restraint when it came to expressing violence or lust. She could feel it all leaking through her shields but did her best to keep it from affecting her as she drifted through the bar, trying to find any sign that someone knew where Sookie was.
Emma
Emma's pre-Fandom exploits after leaving home weren't exactly common knowledge, but she'd spent time in more than a few crappy bars, mostly to pick pockets or cheat at pool so she could get a few dollars.
She looked completely at home as she ordered a beer, produced an ID, and then proceeded to claim a spot by the jukebox, theoretically fascinated by a game of pool and occasionally asking a guy to dance.
In her head, however, it was rather noisy and chaotic as she sorted through all the mental chatter, searching for any thoughts remotely related to Sookie.
Bobby
Discreet wasn't really part of Bobby's usual repertoire, but he wasn't entirely incompetent at surveillance. He grabbed a drink and moved around the bar under the guise of trying to find someplace to sit.
Kennedy
It was a freaking werewolf bar. Like a vampire bar wasn't tripped out enough. What was next, a demon bar?
Kennedy had spent enough time in bars, illicitly, that she was pretty confident about not sticking out like a sore thumb; she got herself a drink and-- after a moment's deliberation-- a seat in a corner booth, where she could keep an eye on people but not act like she was here to socialize.
She'd leave the actual searching to the telepathic/empathic types; her style of interrogation was none too subtle, and wouldn't do them any good, but it left her feeling a bit at loose ends, drumming her fingers irritatedly against the tabletop as she just... tried to keep her ears open.
Russell
Russell, donned in a leather jacket and sunglasses, looked extremely out of place in the bar, looking frail compared to the other men. But when he stepped on stage all focus was turned to him and all the people in the bar greeted him with enthusiastic cheers. After a moment he lifted up his hands and the crowd fell silent, bowing their heads in respect.
"Jetzt, trinken sie den dunklen wein unserer vorfahren," Russell said in German. The crowd cheered as Russell rolled up his shirt sleeve.
Fangs erupted from Russell's mouth and he viciously bit into his own arm, causing it to bleed. A man carrying a tray of shot glasses came onto the stage and Russell ran his arm over the tray, filling the glasses with blood. The men in the bar accepted the glasses gratefully, looking at Russell with nothing but respect in their eyes.
After the last glass was filled, Russell pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbed the sides of his mouth before addressing the crowd.
"It is so good to see our pack together, continuing our grand tradition. My contribution is nothing but a small token of gratitude for our collaboration throughout the ages," Russell said. He lifted up his hand and the people in the bar raised their glasses in return. "Drink!"
The people in the bar knocked back the shots with enthusiasm while Russell looked on with a smile on his face. "And now I leave you to your own kind to celebrate!"
Karla
Karla looked around uneasily as the psychic scents in the room changed. Got harsher. More intense. Rowdier.
"Uh, guys," she said, backing up a little towards her friends. "I'm not liking the look of this."
Raven
Raven felt the shift in emotions as well and tensed as they grew darker, making her stomach twist. "We must leave now," she murmured. "It is not safe for us to remain here."
Her eyes darted to the vampire. "He said collaboration. If these werewolves work with him, perhaps he will know where Sookie is."
Bobby
"Then we follow him," Bobby decided. "Can you cloak us, if we need it?" he asked Karla.
Karla
Karla nodded. "Aural and visual shields. He'll neither hear us or see us."
Kennedy
"Which is a bonus," Kennedy said under her breath, "'cause I'm thinking we should head wherever he's headed."
Oh, holy shit, this was insane. But then again, so was he.
Karla
They didn't even know the half of it!
"Vampire?" Karla muttered. "With a pack of weres at his beck and call? Yeah, I bet that's our guy."
She glanced around to make sure no one was looking, then raised her shields around the group. Immediately, she could feel the Craft in her Sapphire ebbing, drop by precious drop. She still had plenty, but she still needed to take care. She didn't have any reserves to draw on when it ran out.
"Ready?" she asked.
Emma
"Let's go," Emma replied quietly, edging over to her friends from where she'd been watching the proceedings. "I have a hunch that the atmosphere in here is going to get a lot less friendly to strangers very quickly."
Raven
Oh, Raven was quite certain of that. She could feel hungers growing as emotions turned animalistic. Sex, violence, a need to prove dominance? Any second now the werewolves would be consumed with all three. "Yes, we must leave," she said. "Now."
Karla
Karla nodded and started heading for the door. "We should all stick together because of the shield," she said, dodging around a male howling with his head arched backwards. Fur was sprouting. "But fast. They'll be able to smell us, shield or not. And that bastard's getting away."
[ooc: Follows this. NFI, NFB, OOC = <3.]