[open] He’s a good time cowboy casanova Leaning up against the record machine...

[godofcologne]

Characters:  Thomas and anyone wandering around Chicago
Time: Daytime, Valentine's Day
Location:  Bars, parks, bookstores, coffee shops, garages, his hotel room. Seriously, anywhere in Chicago
Content:  Hiding from Alice Valentine's Day. Birthday blues.
Format:  Prose or commentspam, poster's choice
Warnings: Beware of Thomas.

[OOC: Choose which of the

Comments

[plzpookie]

Maureen didn't care that she was alone here in Chicago. She didn't care that she had left Joanne on bad terms... That they weren't speaking even if she were back home. And she definitely didn't give a damn that today was Valentine's Day, that her engagement ring was still on a long chain, tucked in her shirt.

Except that it was now in her hand as she stared at it, walking into the bar without looking around to see who was there. She took heavy steps, her heels clinking against the floor, before slumping onto a barstool. She pulled the chain over her head and turned the ring over in her fingers a few times before setting it down and losing herself to the rum and coke that just showed up in front of her.

[godofcologne]

Playing pool was easy. Comforting in its own way, even. Unlike reading Machiavelli or expensive resort hotels, it had few associations with Justine, which meant he was perfectly capable of playing without the threat of sinking into sentimentality.

It didn't, however, keep him from noticing when someone real walked into the bar.

He watched as Maureen walked in, her hips swaying despite the leaden way her steps fell, and finished taking his shot, banking the cue ball along the right side of the table before it spun into the solid yellow ball, the spin making the cue ball stop just short of the pocket while sending the one ball in.

Setting the cue aside and taking a pull from his beer, Thomas leaned against the table and called over to Maureen. "Not your kind of day either, sweetheart?"

[plzpookie]

Maureen had been lost in her own thoughts, her glazed over gaze staring at the ring as she downed her first drink and started on her second. She paid no attention to the game of pool being played not too far from her.... Until she heard the voice.

Thomas. She took a sip of her drink and covered the necklace carefully with one hand, slipping it into the pocket of her jacket as inconspicuously as possible. "Didn't see this one coming. I would've thought this was your day, babe."

Just like one would assume it's hers. She slid off the barstool and walked towards him. Nothing special, she wasn't even trying today... Just a plain walk compared to her usual standards. She tried to pay as little attention to the pool table as possible... The last time she'd seen Joanne was at the Country Club, when they'd finished off their fight around that pool table.

[godofcologne]

Whether Thomas saw Maureen slip anything into her pocket was a tossup, and even if he had it wouldn't have changed his reaction. He shrugged with practiced carelessness. "I'm just full of surprises," he answered, raising the beer to her in a toast.

"I'd offer to buy you a couple rounds, but that doesn't sound as impressive here as back home, does it?"

[sailorkindness]

It was a clear day, for now, but Fluttershy recognized the signs of a storm on its way. She had never been one to keep inside while the weather permitted, though, and now she figured was the time to get a better look now that her stay was starting to really settle in. As much as she wanted to get used to this place, everything felt foreign, removed from the way things were back home. The park she'd arrived in was the closest to where she was comfortable.

With a park as forlorn and empty as this one, though, it was easy to notice the lone figure running by the lake. From overhead, she couldn't see clearly, and wondered if perhaps she should leave them be. But as she flew lower, it afforded her a closer look, and didn't he look familiar?

Still uncertain, she flew lower, behind the running man. "Ah, didn't I meet you over the screen the other day?"

[godofcologne]

At first Thomas thought he'd imagined it, the voice from the air, but the words were coherent, albeit soft, and the voice was familiar. He looked up and nearly tripped over his own two feet at the sight of the bright yellow pony hovering in the air behind him.

He managed to catch himself and not land flat on his ass, but he still stared in disbelief for a moment. Definitely a pony.

"Yeah," he answered after the moment passed and she did not disappear like some oxygen deprivation hallucination. "You're Fluttershy, right?"

[sailorkindness]

"Oh--oh dear, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." She really needed to be more careful, humans were apparently just as confused by her as she was by them. It was odd--they all seemed to know about ponies, but were still surprised to see her.

She hoped to cut down on his discomfort with a smile. "Y-yes, that's right. And your name was Thomas? Thank you again for helping me." It suddenly occurred to her that he'd told her not to go outside without someone else, and bit her lip. Oh dear, he wasn't mad to see her all by herself out here, was he? "Umm, are you out here all on your own?"

[godofcologne]

Fluttershy was almost as difficult to make out in person (in pony?) as she had been over the network, but supernatural hearing helped. Thomas couldn't help but laugh at her question, and the laughter helped get his mind over the whole 'It's a pony' mental hurdle.

Of course, it was now stuck on 'it's a talking technicolour pony', but it was progress.

He nodded in affirmation at the name. "No, I've got someone watching my back," he replied, one hand drifting over the small of his back, where the comforting weight of the Desert Eagle rested. "And you're welcome." He paused, uncertain exactly what one said to flying technicolour talking ponies. He gestured to her wings. "Aren't you getting tired of flying up there like that?"

[doomedtheworld]

Vin was waiting for him when he got back to his car after completing his job and, like him, she was looking more than a little drowned when he got there. Outwardly she gave no sign of being bothered by the rain at all, inwardly she couldn't wait to get back to her hotel room and into something dry. She would have done as much already but it had taken a lot to convince herself to even come to see the vampire, if she left now because of a perfectly reasonable excuse she might not be able to do it again.

"We need to talk." She said, stepping away from her place leaning against the car when he came close.

[godofcologne]

Normally, the storms that rolled over Lake Michigan were an annoyance and an irritant, but today Thomas welcomed it despite the fact that the storm plastered his clothes to him like an unwieldy second skin. As he approached the car, rain dripping into his eyes, Thomas noticed a familiar, if not particularly welcome, figure waiting.

He swallowed down the instinct to reach for the gun at his back, instead approaching with a calm, deliberate swagger (how he managed that while squishing about in his shoes was probably yet another white court perk). "Must be important, if you're waiting in the rain for me," he answered.

[doomedtheworld]

Vin, of course, had both her knives on her as well as the improvised bits of metal she carried to use with Steelpushing. She had seen the speed and grace Thomas could move with when he fought and she never intended to go into this conversation unarmed, or off-guard.

"It was now or never." She said, edging around the side of the car as he approached. "You came to help when the others and I were kidnapped. Why?"

[godofcologne]

Running a hand through his hair didn't do much for keeping the water out of his eyes, but it gave Thomas an extra second to consider his words. Because family told him to. Because Skavis and Malvora were the enemy. Because somebody had to make sure nobody got themselves killed. Because he considered at least one of them a friend. Because he couldn't abide poachers. There were far too many answers to that question, and most of them held some small grain of truth.

He shrugged as he leaned against the hood, contemplating his answer.

"Because nobody else knew what to expect."

[sonof3lions]

Galahad had been to church. In the time where he was from, St. Valentine's Day hadn't gained its current popularity. It wasn't even an important saint's day, but attending the mass never hurt. It had been odd, to listen to the priest and realize how much had changed in that way since he'd served his king.

After church, he'd gone for a walk, finding one of the few open spaces in this area. The water was nice to watch. He'd been told it was a lake, but it was unlike any lake he had seen before.

And then the rain had come, sending him running for cover under a tree near a flat, blackened area. He recognized the odd, horseless wagons as 'cars', but only because he'd been told. Frowning up at the sky, he shook his head. "I suppose this is an example of the strangeness of weather I have been told about." He paused, then sighed. "I suppose I will need to replace my cloak sooner rather than later."

[godofcologne]

Running in the rain was refreshing for all of a minute as Thomas ran. After that, it was just plain cold, but it was the only real way to get back to his car. So Thomas kept going, ignoring the way the water was trickling down his spine. He was nearly there before he noticed the young man standing underneath a tree, frowning up at the sky.

"Or you could just carry an umbrella," he said as he approached, dropping down to a walk. "Need a hand?"

[sonof3lions]

Galahad pushed the hair back from his face as he turned to look at the man who had spoken. One he recognized from the rescue. "I must admit, I know not what an umbrella is." He supposed he should have felt uncomfortable, with the man being so tall. Or...well, there was something else about him that Galahad couldn't put his finger on, so he just brushed it aside. "A hand would be gratefully received, though I think there is naught to be done but wait the downpour out."

[godofcologne]

The way the other man spoke made Thomas frown inwardly, trying to figure out what it was that caught his attention. Maybe it was the fact he apparently didn't know what an umbrella was. Or maybe it was just the stilted, formal way he spoke. Thomas looked back over the lake, watching the storm roll in, hearing the rumble of distant thunder. "If you're waiting it out, I think you're going to be here all afternoon," he said. "Unless lightning hits this tree, which is always possible."

He was starting to get used to offering people rides; it was easy when he could tell at little more than a glance who was real and who wasn't, thanks to his Hunger's awareness. He jerked a thumb back at the white sports car in the parking lot. "I can at least give you a ride somewhere out of this rain."

[huntingmemory]

"I thought I was the only one who did book forts." Sam had a few books himself, though nothing too major. Certainly nothing for research, unless the copy of Dracula on top could be considered research.

[godofcologne]

As opposed to Thomas' piles, which included a copy Machiavelli tucked somewhere in the middle, a few Rick Castles, a Clive Cussler, and more pulpy murder mysteries. He looked up at Sam and washed the bite of blueberry muffin down with some coffee before answering, "They're surprisingly good for hiding from people."

[huntingmemory]

"Unless, of course, there are people around who can look over them." People like Sam who were stupidly tall. Sam tilted his head to read the titles and nodded. "You're a fan of murder mysteries?" He wasn't sure he'd expected that, honestly.

[godofcologne]

Fortunately, Thomas had had plenty of experience with the stupidly tall. "Yeah, but the only other person I know who can do that would be looking in a bar, not here," he replied with a grin. Where Thomas would probably find himself before the night was through, but hey, he wasn't there yet.

Thomas shrugged at the question. "Everything else these days is full of vampires."