[Sodium_noir] Hell is Other People

[FlameFlash]

>           Sodium Noir World of Darkness PbEM
>
> Aurora, JB, Jack
>
> [John]
> John watches the interaction and smiles sadly.  He
> raised his glass in a toast.  "To new friends, and the
> calm before the storm.  May it last."  He finished his
> drink and set the empty glass to the side.  He paused
> for a moment, as if engaging in some sort of internal
> debate.  "I don't mean to pry, and normally I'd
> respect your privacy and wouldn't ask, but did your
> need for salvation stem from forces . . ." he
> hesitated, trying to pick the right word.  Deomons was
> inappropriate.  Angels was stupid.  Finally, he
> settled on ". . . unknown to the mundane world."
>
> [Aurora]
> She coughs on a sip of beer, her eyes shifting to grey
> drastically and quickly, but she lets Jack speak.
>
> [Jack]
> Jack raises an eyebrow and mouths John's words,
> repeating them to himself for clarification. "Did my
> need for salvation stem from forces unknown to the
> mundane world? Uhm... no, I think people... knew him.
> D'you mean... he was...uhm..."
>
> Clearly having a hard time deciphering the question,
> Jack takes a deep breath and tries to access what few
> brain cells he has remaining that are unaffected by
> alcohol. That clarity of thought, however fleeting,
> finally arrives.
>
> "Oh, you mean magically speaking? Yeah. I wasn't
> looking for salvation. More like freedom. He owned me.
> He..." Jack almost says 'made me', but stops short of
> doing so.
>
> "Look. The bastard's dead now. Not by my hand, though
> I wouldn't have minded a bit of participation. You
> know, getting a few good kicks in an' all. But no one
> has to worry about him anymore." Jack smiles, and
> looks around for the current location of the nearest
> waiter. The mere thought of Akril and the horrors he
> inflicted were increasing his need for enough booze to
> suppress those memories for the rest of the night.
>
> [John]
> He frowned.  "So whatever it is that's come to Gotham
> is probably not related to you."  He rubbed his eyes,
> suddenly aware that he was starting to run out of
> steam.  He only needed a few hours of sleep each
> night, and his fund earlier with Abby had worn him
> out.  He smiled at the memory.
>
> [Aurora]
> "So whatever that's come to Gotham?" Her eyes border
> on black for just a moment, returning to their grey.
> "It's a storm out there, all right, Mr. Black, one
> that it might be better to outrun, if it wasn't for
> the fact that there's no place to go."  She sets her
> beer down disgustedly after starting to take a sip, as
> though it'd gone sour or warmed between then and now,
> or perhaps it was just her mood that had... she
> fondles the belt she was wearing distractedly.
>
> [Jack]
> Snagging a drink from a passing waiter, Jack wrinkles
> up his nose. "Why would anything be related to me? You
> mean - 'bad shit'? There's a whole lot of that in
> Gotham and I have nothing to do with it. Done with
> that now. Only good shit from now on."
>
> He takes a big gulp of whatever amber liquid is in his
> glass and takes notice of Aurora's change in demeanor.
> "Hey, cheer up, sweetie. The fun's just starting. Me
> and Christine are going on a pub crawl.  You are
> joining us, aren't you?"
>
> He nudges her playfully with his elbow.  "C'mon....you
> know you want to...."

[Aurora]
She tenses for only a moment and then sighs, even a drunk Jack was
right about this... no point in fighting what has already come to
pass, not to mention what you were already wrapped up in.

She smiles at Jack after a moment more, "I better come, if for no
other reason than to make sure you two don't get into any trouble."

She then looks to Mr. Black, giving a properly abashed look for losing
her temper for a moment, "Whatever it is, no one thing has caused it,
but I do know that the city itself... aches with the extra weight of
it."

Tag both, tag all