Talk about a rescue! Because look, look, A THUG, to the rescue, cometh.
Johnny was on his way to the basement, where he's trying to fix the bar again (it came back, but needs work, a lot of work), when he hears the snarky comment.
"Bent paperclip? Dude, you realize you're talking to the wall, right?"
This looks like a cop. In handcuffs. Or maybe some white-collar swindler. Oh, hilarity. If Johnny weren't moody due to people being dead, he'd be highly amused. As it is, he's darkly amused, which might be the same thing.
Here he is! And now I'm off to work! :-) (I think you need the HTML for re-intros, btw...)
He really does, and he has posed as a detective on a number of occasions. "Been here before, a few months ago. Got myself into a tight spot, back in my world, and the house had good timing, pulling me in," Reese replies, looking over his shoulder. "Just wish I'd lost the cuffs on the way down."
I knew I was forgetting something. That'll teach me to post a reintro at one a.m. :: Laughing at self::
He'll emit a soft, dry as dust chuckle deep in his throat, then says, "Come to think of it, the place did crumple all over my sorry self, or at least it rolled a staircase around me. Which is how I got what I thought was a one-way ticket back home. Don't remember signing up for a return ticket, but at least it had better timing than the first time I got here. Helped me get the slip from the same guys who gave me these nice bracelets." And he'll glance down at the damn cuffs.
There are always hungry people in the house, so Alcuin has made himself at home in the one place he feels most needed. If John is hungry, he will find Alcuin hard at work in the kitchen--there's a roast in the oven, the rich smell of meat and spices filling the room, and Alcuin's just putting final decorative touches on a white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake. There is more than enough to share, and it will serve as some comfort to Alcuin to be the welcoming committee for someone else.
Once Reese is free of the handcuffs (and perhaps once he's checked to see the room he last used is still open), he's in need of a good cup of coffee, and so he heads for the kitchen.
The rich aromas catch his attention on the way and he'll enter the kitchen, smiling a bit. "Someone preparing a welcome banquet? Wasn't expecting that," he says, pausing inside the door.
"A welcome banquet?" Alcuin looks up in surprise, thinking that the stranger is talking about Alcuin's welcome to the mansion. But that doesn't seem to be what he means, and Alcuin's mind is quick to supply the next logical premise: this person is as new (or newly returned) to the place as he is.
"Welcome," he says, with a warm smile, not bothering to mention that on his second day here he's hardly qualified to be an official welcoming committee. "The roast will be a few minutes yet, but I have cheesecake and tea if you're hungry."
Going up on tip-toe to reach plates off of a higher shelf, he sets out two of them with a smile. "My name is Alcuin no Delaunay." While he prefers the informality of being just 'Alcuin', the full name declares his affiliation with Phedre to anyone who knows her, and Alcuin is too proud of it to pass up the opportunity.
Well, that's an unusual name, particularly for a young man, but there doesn't seem to be anything that one would call usual here. Reese might blink at first, but he'll manage his usual hint of a smirk. "Well, Alcuin, you can call me Reese," he says, perching himself against the edge of a dresser. "I'm more of a coffee man, but tea will do just as well, and a slice of that cake would be perfect.
"Just came back from...a short trip away from this place. You new here? Don't remember your face, but I wasn't here for long."
Here's someone who certainly needs to see Reese again, if only for the drama the inferences his return may cause. But then again, who doesn't want to meet the person who euthanized them? And who bit them so delightfully? Of course Reese wants to see Pandora again, doesn't he?
Either way, there she is - she's inspecting the Mansion, still - partially hoping the departed will return, yes, even Curufin, because it weighs on Celebrimbor.
And so when she feels this mind - and she can tell its distinct signature like few others, given the intimate contact she's had with his mind in his last living moments - Pandora comes.
She needs to see this with her own eyes - though she already knows.
And so a possibly familiar figure will stand in the doorway - the angel of death, perhaps, hair in the wind, her robes a shimmering halo.
He might have been heading out for a breath of fresh air, when he sees her, framed in the doorway. And he might pause, staring at her, blinking a bit, recognizing her. That pale angel of death who took compassion on him, during that wild night, so long ago in his mind: months have passed in his world, and he's wondering if years have passed by here. Unless the house has fixed itself. Or it is just a dream. Or some parallel world.
He might put a foot back, just a little cautious. "You... you were really there that night?" he asks.
He breathes a bit easier. "I guess I owe you one, for letting me go like that," he says. "I'm John Reese." Though if she peers into his head, she'll notice that's not the name he was given by his family, and it's one of dozens of aliases and handles he's used over the years. And she might sense a bit of puzzlement and canniness: he's not sure what to make of something like her, but experience has shown him that there's more to this world than meets the eye, and, at least at the Mansion, even more than what's called 'normal'.
And here is someone perhaps a bit less annoying than the thug and unearthly than the vampire. Someone friendly with whom Reese had a pleasant connection. And Helen will be found reading quietly in the library, her broken ankle presumably in a cast, thanks to some kind some (Muraki, maybe?)
She's reading a Thriller called The Mysteries of Djeddah, and is absolutely enthralled with it.
She won't mind being disturbed by a potential friend, though.
Oddly enough, the thug is more amusing than genuinely annoying, though the vampire is o.o-inducing. And most definitely, Muraki would have set her ankle: they may not be dating any more, but she's still his friend, and in her pain, in greater need of his care than ever.
She might hear a soft footstep, the movement of a man used to moving quickly and quietly, then a husky voice that sounds like 6's speaks, "Hey... You all right there?" He can't help wondering if her injuries are something since the earthquake...or something caused by it, which would mean that not much time has passed since the disaster...
"I came back: had a bit of an adventure with a staircase that decided to fold during that earthquake," he says, coming closer and perching on the arm of a nearby armchair. "Went back to where I came from for several months, then the house decided to bring me back for a second tour of duty."
He'll glance at her foot. "New injury or did that happen to you when the house turned into an avalanche?" Simple way of finding out how much time has passed since the earthquake.
If Reese happens to be walking down a particular corridor, he'll see a two-year-old boy running in the other direction. When he gets closer, Tyan will stop and look up at him.
Lystra's following her son and will arrive in a moment, but for now there's just a toddler staring at you, Reese.
Reese likes kids a lot: their innocence reminds him of a better time in his life and their antics just make him happy (we get the feeling that, when he was in Iraq, he was the kind of guy who kept chocolate bars in the side pockets of his utility trousers, for any kids who came along when he was off-duty). He'll smile warmly down at the little guy, then scooch down to Tyan's level. "Hey, little man, you keepin' watch on the hallway?" he asks, softening his voice even more than it already is.
Reese will give the little guy a reassuring smile, before straightening up. "Lystra... this little fellow your son? Don't think we'd been introduced before," he says, playfully.
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Johnny was on his way to the basement, where he's trying to fix the bar again (it came back, but needs work, a lot of work), when he hears the snarky comment.
"Bent paperclip? Dude, you realize you're talking to the wall, right?"
This looks like a cop. In handcuffs. Or maybe some white-collar swindler. Oh, hilarity. If Johnny weren't moody due to people being dead, he'd be highly amused. As it is, he's darkly amused, which might be the same thing.
Here he is! And now I'm off to work! :-) (I think you need the HTML for re-intros, btw...)
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I knew I was forgetting something. That'll teach me to post a reintro at one a.m. :: Laughing at self::
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He's still looking at the guy, probably enjoying this more than he should.
Oh, he'll help Reese eventually, he will. But there shall be trolling involved, first, because he can.
And because Johnny is a sorry little man who will exert what control he can, when he has some. Not that he ever has much, these days.
Now worries ♥
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The rich aromas catch his attention on the way and he'll enter the kitchen, smiling a bit. "Someone preparing a welcome banquet? Wasn't expecting that," he says, pausing inside the door.
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"Welcome," he says, with a warm smile, not bothering to mention that on his second day here he's hardly qualified to be an official welcoming committee. "The roast will be a few minutes yet, but I have cheesecake and tea if you're hungry."
Going up on tip-toe to reach plates off of a higher shelf, he sets out two of them with a smile. "My name is Alcuin no Delaunay." While he prefers the informality of being just 'Alcuin', the full name declares his affiliation with Phedre to anyone who knows her, and Alcuin is too proud of it to pass up the opportunity.
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"Just came back from...a short trip away from this place. You new here? Don't remember your face, but I wasn't here for long."
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Either way, there she is - she's inspecting the Mansion, still - partially hoping the departed will return, yes, even Curufin, because it weighs on Celebrimbor.
And so when she feels this mind - and she can tell its distinct signature like few others, given the intimate contact she's had with his mind in his last living moments - Pandora comes.
She needs to see this with her own eyes - though she already knows.
And so a possibly familiar figure will stand in the doorway - the angel of death, perhaps, hair in the wind, her robes a shimmering halo.
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He might put a foot back, just a little cautious. "You... you were really there that night?" he asks.
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"I was," she replies.
A pause, and she does not move to come closer.
"I am Pandora."
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She's reading a Thriller called The Mysteries of Djeddah, and is absolutely enthralled with it.
She won't mind being disturbed by a potential friend, though.
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She might hear a soft footstep, the movement of a man used to moving quickly and quietly, then a husky voice that sounds like 6's speaks, "Hey... You all right there?" He can't help wondering if her injuries are something since the earthquake...or something caused by it, which would mean that not much time has passed since the disaster...
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Blink, and again, he really does look like him. But no, not 6, but rather... "Mr. Reese?" Oh, she's happy to see him, and that he looks so well.
At least here's one person who's safe and sound. Oh, how wrong she is.
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He'll glance at her foot. "New injury or did that happen to you when the house turned into an avalanche?" Simple way of finding out how much time has passed since the earthquake.
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Lystra's following her son and will arrive in a moment, but for now there's just a toddler staring at you, Reese.
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Lystra appears from around the corner. "Reese?"
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