[open] a friend in need is a friend indeed

[idontlikecake]

There is so much Lily Fuchizaki needs to do. There's the whole catching up on grad school after her ward went partially insane bit, but right now, she's on her way up to see Iris in the Kashtta. That doesn't mean she won't bump into a few other people on the way. If anything, it's pretty likely considering how overly polite she can get.

Sailor

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[sophicsulphur]

Iris' condition hasn't changed much. Or, well, has changed much, considering how she just spent a brief stint effectively birdbrained; but from her perspective, that's not the important change. She's broken. She isn't healing. Those things haven't changed, and as long as they don't, she's still stuck: she doesn't know what to do.

She looks up when Lily approaches, which is a good sign, and calls out her name, which is another. She's also out of bed, and kneeling on the ground: she appears to be fairly well-mired in paint, paper and tools, her wing trailing awkwardly around the explosion of craft supplies now littering the floor of isolation ward three. Her wing shifts position slightly, almost casually-- though to trained Fuchizaki eyes, the motion is, no doubt, anything but casual-- to shield the canvas from her visitor; but there's a smile on her face, if weak.

It doesn't really hide her unease, a slight restlessness that, in truth, has little to do with what she's painting and everything to do with waiting: waiting, interminably

[idontlikecake]

Unease. Hurt. Secrecy. Lily takes it all in, tucking her hair back into place. She shouldn't press. She's priming the canvas for Kaden to paint on. This isn't hers, no matter how hard it is for her to realize that he needs Iris back. That he needs Iris at all.

It's been a long time since she's worked with her brother. They were quite the team, a long time ago. Was she a different person back then? It's hard to tell. "Iris," Lily says with a big smile, looking for somewhere to sit. "Glad to see you're keeping busy."

Keep the conversation light at first. Figure out where the holes are and then which need to be seamed and which need to be ripped open further.

[sophicsulphur]

Her eyes still on Lily-- still wide and owlish, for for all that she's dropped the avian mindset at least most of the way, her body's still changed, and her mannerisms still hint-- she notes Lily's slight shuffle-dance of wanting to sit down, and gestures to a chair by the bed. She doesn't get to sit on the bed, not just yet: bed is nest, and she will defend it, those lingering instincts say, and while she doesn't feel the need to abide by them any longer, she sees no reason not to heed them, either.

She's had a lot of trusts betrayed, lately. Caution is, at the least, prudent now.

"Mm," she says, nodding noncommitally and setting her painting aside, its face to the wall. "Have you been okay? How're Kaden and Molly?"

She's keeping things light too, though less because she's testing the waters and more because she isn't sure what else to say.

[idontlikecake]

Lily sits down, seeming not to notice any of the changes in Iris -- how she stares at her, the changes in her body, her mannerisms. But she's glad to sit down. Her shoes hurt, and she doesn't really want to be here. Except for how much she does. That's the part of her that she tries to hide, the part that hurts.

At the mention of Kaden and Molly, Lily looks down, every move calculated. A strained smile crosses her face, and she shrugs. "I haven't really seen Molly in a while, to be honest, and Kaden's being kind of distant with me. All I know is that he's pretty hurt. Problem with being a Guardian, though -- you know they're hurting, but sometimes, you can't tell what, why, or what to do. From what I've heard from Kaden though, Molly's functioning. Alive."

She honestly doesn't know much about the situation with Molly, beyond the fact that she had an insane stint. Which isn't too surprising, considering her heritage.

"But enough about us. How have you been doing?"

[i_robert_capa]

As weird as Chicago can be sometimes, there are some things that Capa wonders if it's all down to sheer exhaustion. He stares a little unsure if he's imagining the girl walking down the halls in what could only be described a sailor suit meets some sort of science fiction show.

God, he should really get some sleep.

But whatever she's holding seems interesting. He listens to the crackling it makes as the girl moves it in the direction of people. He wants to know what it is. Well.

"Excuse me," he asks politely, still sure he's seeing things, "I was just wondering about the device you have there.."

[playingtetris]

Mercury pauses and looks at Capa, giving him a generous smile. "To be honest, I am wondering quite a bit about it myself," she says, her English accented, but well enunciated. She holds it up to him, and the crackling intensifies. Which brings out another small smile. Joy in little things. It is one way to survive in Chicago, when your entire purpose for existence has been ripped away.

"I have some theories, but they are far from complete, and it is not like this is proper, um. Proper... protocols for scientific testing. You might say that I am actually playing around with it, which I guess is not -- I am babbling. I am very sorry." She gives him a shy smile and straightens out her skirt, lowering the device.

[i_robert_capa]

Ahh, so the girl is real then. That's good, it probably wouldn't be very good if he'd been talking to thin air, or an inanimate object. He tilts his head to the side as she raises the device up to him and lifts an eyebrow curiously. It definitely has his attention now.

"Interesting.." he murmurs, "A life detector perhaps?" Or something more, the thought it both fascinating and terrifying at the same time. It makes him feel comfortable. "Where did you come across it?"

Capa is someone who can understand with it comes to babbling and the whole fascination to strange new objects. The strive for meaning, to discover. He knows that. He shakes his head and smiles, "No, no - don't apologize. It's quite alright, I know the feeling," he tells her with a tired laugh, gesturing to the device, "What ideas have you managed to come up with so far?"

[playingtetris]

"It has reactions to some objects that I am rather sure are not alive. This is, however, Chicago, so it is always possible that they are in fact alive. This whole tower, in a way of thinking is alive," Mercury says. "I found it near the Millennium Falcon crash site. No idea where it came from, but most of the technology we've managed to pick up here and there comes from somewhere unknown. Rift-dropped."

She shrugs, blushing slightly. Part of her wants to take it apart, but not until she's got a better idea of what it does. Her voice drops a bit as she says, "I think it may pick up rift signatures." She sounds almost excited at the prospect. "Which of course, would be something that could be dangerous in the right hands, but if I can fine tune it to ignore already recognized signatures could help us find rift junk as well as Wanderers that weren't lucky enough to have someone bring them here for shelter."

[fellfrommyheart]

Dylan is curled up in one of the booths, almost asleep. A music box sits on her table playing a pretty little lullaby along with half-empty bottle of whiskey. She came in, looking almost feral and was close to getting thrown out. But she slammed a wad of notes into the barman’s hand, asked for the bottle and a glass and said she wanted no trouble.

Fletcher’s gone. He’s gone, left the country. She went to his place, but found nothing but the note on his door. Gone. Gone. Gone. She curls up into herself, staring hard at the bottle. She feels so small.

And through the whiskey, she sees hair. “Pretty, pretty hair,” she growls, scratching at the table with her broken nails. “Ah, Francis, I.. just...” she shakes her head and pushes herself against the wall. “Gone, bye bye,”

[whatheytoldya]

"That's what happens when you drink a bottle alone," Francis says. He of all people should know.

"Oh come on, she looks like she can take a bit more than that," Sunshine argues, rolling her eyes.

"Did I really ask for your opinion?"

"Have I really stopped giving it all night?" Sunshine gives Francis a wicked grin and stretches, bothering the bartender for another drink.

Francis is silent for a moment, conceding the point.

[fellfrommyheart]

"I'm not drunk," comes the reply, agitated. Stupid everything. Just. She rubs at her eyes and sighs. She promised not to cause a fuss. Not to be annoyed at Francis. But it's just not fair. "No, sorry, Francis..."

The CLF are screwing everything up, Fletcher's gone. She never got to say goodbye. He's gone and she's not quite sure what to do. Why do people keep leaving?

"Chicago.... can't shut up... for.. for long enough," Dylan pours herself another drink and knocks it back with a shudder. "Isn't that annoying?"

[consumesflesh]

"I told you she wasn't drunk," Sunshine says, knocking back a shot of tequila and munching on a lime happily.

"Thank you for your input," Francis says, his words dripping with sarcasm. "And yes, it's quite annoying. Which is why I nip off to Boston every once in a while for a breath of fresh air. Although, staying there long enough's bound to drive any Throne Red, considering the lack of demon blood to be had."

He sips at his whiskey, ignoring Sunshine's stare. He really doesn't care if he's slipping into old patterns. He's drunk and he doesn't really want to be in Chicago. California would be so much nicer.

"Yes, hun, it is annoying," Sunshine says, glaring at Francis slightly. "Of course, it wouldn't be Chicago if it wasn't trying to wreck our every bit of happiness, now would it?"

[hauntinyourass]

Katja doesn't remember this bar being here when she was alive, which is precisely why she went to it. One always has to check out the new establishments in a town one's living in, no matter if they'll gain her patronage or not. So far, this one is not impressing her much. They don't have very good beer, and they keep turning the TV from her station to some other one even if she's asked the bartender fifteen times already to quit doing that. She was watching a very important show on the Discovery Channel, and tearing every part of their science apart whether it really deserved it or not. After all, one can't be expected to sit by and let science be imparted into the minds of the plebians, can one

[consumesflesh]

Sunshine has noticed Katja, not just because of her ramblings but because it's kind of hard not to notice a very, very nice looking woman in a bar full of ... people who are also nice looking. Right now, she's going to use her vantage point to stare at Katja's chest. Because she can.

"It's true," she says to the bartender. "My life literally had no meaning up until now. I was uninformed and unaware."

Francis, on the other hand, hadn't noticed Katja and is rather confused at her sudden appearance. She doesn't feel right either. She felt like a human before -- except for the part where she was a demon -- but now she feels more like a--

"You're dead," he deadpans at Katja. Not that he hasn't been dead in the last hundred years or so, but she doesn't know that. "And you are the last person I think I'd hallucinate."

[hauntinyourass]

"See? She agrees with me!" Katja says, gesturing at Sunshine with her glass, then taking another swig and noticing that Sunshine's staring at her and not the stupid bartender. Well, she's not the most attractive person on the planet, but at least she's showing some interest. Not that Katja's going to take home anyone who merely shows interest, but she can at least have someone to flirt with for the rest of the night before she goes home to pass out. Or back to her labs to pass out. Same thing, really. "This one," she continues with a grin, "has her head screwed on straight. I bet she needs to know about tentacles. Change the channel, man, post-haste

1/2

[consumesflesh]

"Indeed," Sunshine says, turning to the bartender with a set of puppy dog eyes. "There's so much about tentacles I need to learn."

Then she's back to focusing on Katja, but the woman is now talking to her current drinking buddy person. Rambling, even. Sunshine likes this woman. Where is more tequila when she needs it? This looks like beautiful drama, just about to start.

[ripsouthearts]

Ran rarely explores Chicago. Not that he's scared to or anything, of course not, but he still doesn't really feel comfortable being away from Molly for too long. He's not too proud of his dependency either, but after she tried to paint the walls with her brains, he's decided that better safe than sorry.

He does have to go to school though, at least for a month or two more, and on his way home he notices the Tower. Basically the home base of wanderers, or so he's told. Being a native to this universe, he's never really thought about the Tower, but he has a good half hour before he really needs to be home, so he walks inside and looks around.

He's not paying attention, and he accidentally collides with a slightly smaller form. He glances down, shakes his head, and mumbles an apology to Lily. He didn't meant to knock into her, after all, and he can admit when he's wrong.

"You all right?" he asks, because he did come around that corner a little fast and hard.

[idontlikecake]

Honestly, Lily didn't even notice. Well, she noticed, but the pain didn't register. It takes a lot more for her to actually hurt. She's had a long time to build up a pain tolerance.

"Fine," she says, fixing her hair. Because that's the real problem here. He might have gotten a few stands out of place. Molly's Guardian. An interesting situation to be in, to say the least. She wonders if he recognizes her. She was rather quiet when she last saw him. It's easier that way, mostly. So for now, she'll pretend like she doesn't know who he is.

"And you?" she asks, actually looking concerned.

[ripsouthearts]

"Fine, I'm good," he waves it off, because she's pretty tiny and he's an angel, after all. It takes more than an accidental run-in a hallway to hurt him. Normally he might whine and try to get some sympathy out of it, but she doesn't look like she's carrying food or substantial amounts of money on her, so there's really no point.

He narrows his eyes and stares at her for a moment, concentrating. She does look familiar, and although his memory is notoriously bad, a lightblub flips on inside that dim-witted head of his.

"Lily, right?" he asks, pointing at her. They didn't talk much the last time. He was too busy sulking and she was too busy with... whatever she was doing. He wasn't really paying attention to her. "How's the fuc-Kaden?"

[idontlikecake]

Ah, so he does remember her. She tilts her head to the side, as if it takes a long time to place him.

"Ran," she says, his name poised on the tip of her tongue. It's neutral. Velvety. "And Kaden's doing well enough."

The twinge in her wings is slightly noticeable, if he's looking. Usually she's a better liar, but right now, things are too close to her heart. Kaden would say that things are always too close to her heart.

"I keep him out of trouble at least. Although, he seems to do a better job taking care of me." There's an ingenuine smile, though it's hard to tell the difference. "I guess our dynamic is probably rather different than yours and Molly's. Would have to be."