There's a wild wind blowing down the corner of my street

[cyfor]

Cy has been cornered by bullies. This time, bullies of the fluffy variety.

One of them just called her smelly.

Currently, she's tearing off his ear.

Ragnar is sitting on a bridge over the Chicago river, staring at the water. He's been doing this a lot, lately. He's gotten several odd looks from passerby, but no one wants to--or sees reason to

Comments

[worseforfears]

Becky hasn't heard back from Luke yet. It's worrying her, and she's not used to sitting around a lot anymore. It's amazing how active she is now, compared to how she was before.

To be fair, when she lived here before, she was a junkie, and recovering from serious trauma that STILL gives her nightmares to this day, and still an Angel, and... well, she was a mess. She's not much of a mess anymore.

But she's antsy, and worried, so clearly the best thing to do since there's no ocean or horses or guys on a dirt lot playing futbol to keep her busy is to go for a nice long walk. Which is when she passes by Cloud Gate, and catches sight of a girl curled in a very familiar position of broken-ness. And if she can't fuss over Luke...

"You know," she comments as she wanders closer, "next time, you might want to invest in a thinner pullover. All the cover and comfort of a sweatshirt, and significantly less chance of heatstroke."

[changingtheodds]

Ruvin flinches and looks up at Becky, her eyes feral with nerves. "Do I know you?"

It's an honest question, none of the sarcasm or defensiveness of someone dismissing advice. She doesn't think she knows this woman, but how can she really know when she's spent most of the day in a state of déjà vu? "I'm sorry, I just... I'm sorry."

[worseforfears]

Becky makes a sympathetic face and crouches down, still a safe distance away. "Nah. Just... someone who's spent a good chunk of her recent life broken and curled up in sweatshirts." She rubs the inside of her left elbow a bit self-consciously. The track marks are even more noticeable than they used to be, with her newly-tanned skin. Mostly she doesn't think about them, but...

She shrugs. "Anyway, I... well, you looked a little like how I used to feel almost all the time, so I thought I'd see if I could help at all."

[changingtheodds]

A flicker of a smile, its brevity matching the look in her eyes. "I don't think so. I don't know. I don't even know what's wrong with me."

Ruvin winces, unsure if she should even tell people that. Chicago isn't safe, never has been, but now there's an added level of fear to that fact that she can't explain.

[redmoons_best]

Surreal's been getting accustomed to walking around the city, and observing what was considered the 'norm' around here. Even if it meant a group of fluffies getting torn apart by a kitten.

As this was considered normal in her own world, she's been wondering if some of the animals in the area had a different level of sentience, much like the difference between animals and kindred in her world. If there was something extra that made them 'special' and 'more' than the plainer species. Being around and communicating with wolves, Sceltie puppies, and very large Arcenien cats help you understand a bit of how their kind lived.

Which is why Surreal wasn't going to get in-between the kitten's battle. After all, it was taking care of itself very well. Which might be a hint that this world does, indeed, have animals that were more than just that.

Really, Surreal is just curious as to how the fight would end up.

[cyfor]

Not well for Cy, in the long run. Even if being called smelly drives her up the wall and down again, she's not much of a fighter, and once the element of surprise is lost it doesn't take a whole lot for the other cats to gang up and trap her against the alley wall. She hisses and spits, her face smeared with blood, making little ugly bubbling sounds while the other cats circle and strike, biting her neck and slapping her, claws out.

[redmoons_best]

Well, that's not exactly what had been hoped for. While Surreal is curious as to how the fight would end up going, the idea of seeing animal corpses wasn't on the woman's list of things to do for the day. Tearing an ear off was a sign of spunk and promise, it wasn't the most fatal things.

After all, Cy looks like she's just a kitten. Women can't stand seeing something cute being killed.

Which is when a shield finally started to form around the small cat. Not very visible, until the other animals strike against it, but still effective. Giving a sharp whistle, it seems Surreal's curiosity finally stopped enough. "I really am turning soft."

[whysosexeh]

So Clint's been scarce, because being scarce is what you do when you're just so damn sexy and people can't resist you, but he can't just hide just because it's hot and the urge to walk around shirtless is somewhat unbearable.

The sound of squabbling cats attracts his attention and suddenly there is a muscular, shirtless guy standing in the alley and flailing. "Hey, hey, kitties! Stop that!"

...He can't help it. He's an animal lover. An animal lover who is irresistibly sexy to everyone.

[cyfor]

The kitties do stop, if only to stare at him. Cy dangles from the side of the offending tomcat's head, staring with the best of them. It doesn't help that she's more or less all eyes, and that those eyes are an irregular goldenrod hue. She plops to the ground and licks the blood off her nose.

"You're shiny."

[whysosexeh]

Well crap. Clint kinda forgot about the part where cats like him... You know, and most animals. And he'd be more shocked about the OMGTALKING cat if there hadn't been one wanting his breakfast meats several months ago.

"How many talking cats are there in Chicago?" He says, addressing the heavens and not so much Cy. "I feel like I'm in a Disney cartoon and everyone's going to start singing."

This is clearly the appropriate response to this situation.

[cyfor]

Cy sidles toward him, caterwauling and tripping over her own feet.

"There's a calm surrenderrrrrr to the rush of daaaaay
When the heat of the rollllling world can be turned awaaaaaaay
An enchanted mooooooooment, and it sees me throooooough
It's enough for this restless warrior just to be with yoooooooooooou~!"

And yes, she somehow manages to add a flourish to the end of the line.

[nosparkofhope]

Ruvin happens to be quite popular amongst the Prophet's followers, specifically one vampire who is taking advantage of the cloudy and relatively doomfree day to take a walk around the park. He came to listen to her speak, hoping to, perhaps, speak to her today, but she never showed.

...And then he caught sight of her watching the people gather, but never showing up to speak and followed here to Cloud Gate. This is not as creepy as it sounds, really.

And she... Appears to be upset. "Child, is there something wrong?" He asks, kneeling down to be on her level.

[changingtheodds]

She hugs herself in a little closer, watching Eli like he might be dangerous. For all she knows, he is. "No, I'm fine."

Politeness kicks in the way it always does, and she adds, "Thank you." There's even a little smile to go with it.

[nosparkofhope]

Eli backs away a bit and sits down on the grass in front of her, giving her a nod that's more like a reserved bow. "My apologies. I don't mean to pry, child, but you are the girl from the pavilion, are you not?"

[changingtheodds]

It's comforting, the formality. It puts her at ease. "I am," she says. It occurs to her that she probably shouldn't say so, but when everything else is uncertain, lying about herself seems like it would be the last step down the road to losing everything. Ruvin draws herself up, trying to remember the confidence, the thrill of having people look up to her and listen and sometimes actually smile. Even that, in places, feels like putty in her head.

If you're not there to see it fall, did ever fall at all? She clamps down on the nerves and the nausea and tries to just breathe. "I'm sorry I wasn't there today."

[duology]

Dev is out wandering between Millennium Park and Grant Park, mostly because he's hoping to run into a monster again. It's been a few months now, and the bloodlust is getting to him again.

He heads for the Cloud Gate, because it is a very curious piece of architecture and he could use a two-minute distraction. And there he finds Ruvin.

"Ah, I remember you. Ruvin, yes? Hello again! You've been doing important things, I hear."

There is blood on her clothes.

Dev tilts his head, slowly.

"Are you alright?"

[changingtheodds]

"Everyone keeps asking me that." She hugs her arms against her chest and folds in on herself again. "I don't know. I don't know! Something... Happened. And I don't know what it was, and something is missing and everything is wrong. So, no. No, I'm not all right!"

[duology]

Well, wow, that was not the reaction Dev was expecting at all. He blinks at her a little, and then decides that he probably deserved that for asking a rather inane question. A question she's probably been getting for awhile, considering the reaction.

Of course, this realization doesn't really change the fact that Dev utterly fails at being comforting. Mostly because he doesn't see the point.

"Oh, okay then. Sorry about that." He studies her a moment, staring rather hard at the blood. "Amnesia, then?"

[changingtheodds]

"Amnesia?" She might have heard the word before, but it doesn't mean much to her. "What does that mean?"

She sits up a little, staring at him with the desperate expression of someone who's stumbled on hope after almost forgetting what it looks like. "What happens with... amnesia?"