The Park, Friday Afternoon

[furnaceface]

Jonothon had awoken from a nightmare this morning. That much... that was nothing new. Of course he'd awoken from a nightmare. He rarely slept for the nightmares. That had been a constant for nearly as far back as he could remember, several lifetimes over. It was just... that particular nightmare had seemed all too real, the faces of people that he'

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[nuclear_snide]

What was research without a bit of reconnaissance? (What was the point of not being stuck in a room if you just stayed in a room all the time?)

Bob dodged a couple...things...and mostly just wafted along until he spotted Jono.

Then materialised just behind him. "Well, don't you look cheery!"

[furnaceface]

Congratulations, Bob. You were getting a full slice of bread thrown through you by a mutant who was on the edge of his seat waiting for the other shoe to drop.

And then Jono was squinting at you.

//... I'm not required to be chipper on demand, Bob.//

Jono... really didn't do chipper.

[nuclear_snide]

Bob blinked, then waved back toward the bread. "I'm not picking that up, you know."

[furnaceface]

...

...

//Th'birds will,// Jono settled on, and then turned back toward the water. //S'what it's there for anyway, after all. Ducks.//

The few stragglers who were still around, at any rate.

[rebelseekspizza]

The plan had been to make it to the dorms and figure shit out from there.

'Course, the plan had been ambushed by demons several times - some of them ones Dante didn't even recognize.

"Did we get hit by a fucking hive, or something," he growled-- not at Jono, really, but at the last of the Bathos that came tumbling down to Earth after he shot it. Just so happened it wasn't far from the guy, and he hadn't holstered his guns yet.

Coincidence.

Yeah, right.

[furnaceface]

See Jono. See Jono halfway to his feet with his hand reaching for the wrappings over his face at right about the same time the monster came crashing down to the ground nearby.

//What the bloody hell is--// He squinted at the dead thing. And then up at Dante. And then glanced down at his bag of bread, before emptying it out for the ducks. //Right, then. One of those days.//

[rebelseekspizza]

What the... Dante's focus whipped towards Jono instantly. "...Yeah, I never liked Fridays, either," he snarked, tucking Ebony and Ivory into their places at his belt.

[furnaceface]

//Fridays around here typically mean there's a good chance the day after is going to be much worse,// Jono noted, looking at the pair of weapons, and then raising an eyebrow. //Especially ones that start like this.//

You know. Typically.

[tigerundercover]

The grumbling would have reached Jono first, the likely familiar sound of an angry crowd just over the horizon, approaching faster than an angry mob had any right to move.

Then came the girl. Or sometimes boy. Raven sobbed as she ran, her shape fluctuating between her natural blue and any number of disguises she was too freaked out to hold onto. Behind her, the leaders of the mob, carrying flashlights and lamps and even actual torches along with their improvised weapons, approached like horror movie villains, appearing to walk but never losing ground as they chased her.

"You can't fool us anymore, demon!" the man at the front shouted. "We know your tricks!"

[furnaceface]

//What... what in the name of...?//

Jono's eyes went wide when the grumbling gave way into a visual, when the sound of an angry mob presented itself in the form of human bigots, and--

//Raven! Raven, get behind me, luv!//

He was already shooting to his feet, ripping off his wrappings in the same motion. They wanted a demon, Jonothon Starsmore would bloody well show them one.

[tigerundercover]

Raven changed direction so quickly she fell, skidding on the grass and ending up scrambling on all fours for a moment before she shifted into a rabbit and bounded around to sit, trembling, behind Jono.

"Move aside," the mob leader said, too focused on Raven -- and too much a part of Raven's terrified memories -- to notice anything odd about Jono yet. "We will cleanse this earth of evil!"

[furnaceface]

Well... that was... odd. Jono squinted a little, and then shifted his weight a bit, planting himself firmly between Raven and the crowd.

//You'll need to go through me to get to her, mate. I don't see any evil here but the rat-bastards who are chasing a terrified girl around with torches and bloody pitchforks.//

He tensed, looking perfectly ready to pick Raven up himself and bolt if it came down to it.

[glacial_queen]

There was perhaps one thing that might perk Jono's mood up? And that was the little colorful sunburst that was being sent to him on a proto-psychic thread.

[furnaceface]

That was exactly the thing Jono needed at right about that moment. The day had started bad and had gotten horrid pretty quickly, and so a quick breath of sunshine in the back of his mind...

//Sunshine? Kayla, Sunshine!//

He'd know that little sunburst anywhere, and was sending back a burst of psionic music in blues and purples and the smell of fresh laundry in return.

Or... how he imagined what fresh laundry smelled like. It had been a while, but it was a warm and comfortable smell all the same.

[glacial_queen]

After a few minutes of cheerful baby-babble, Karla and Kayla came into view, and with that, the gentle brush of Karla's mind against his in greeting. Karla carried Kayla in her arms, though the toddler was squirming to get down and run to her uncle. Strapped to Karla's back were her bladed sticks, polished and sharp.

[furnaceface]

It was Kayla that drew Jono's eyes first. Nothing personal, Karla, but the little girl was basically his whole entire world when she was nearby, and he'd missed that unconditional burst of affection from her terribly, lately.

He was already on his feet and making his way over to greet them both when the second thing to catch his eye gave him a moment's pause.

//Carrying your sticks around today, luv?//

Uh-oh.