maskormenace | video : backdated to monday night

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video : backdated to monday night

[ Late at night even for the night owl crowd that populated the imPort numbers a woman with thick hair framing her pale, pinched face. Looking like a model for Kurt Cobain impersonators in an old olive drab jacket pulled over a plaid button down she looks comfortable and not at all sweating in spite of being bundled up on a June night in southern Florida. The scenario obscured by poor cellular reception and low pixels implied she was camped out in some wooded area. ]

Has there been any strange murders or unprecedented rise in runaways and drug addicts falling off the face of the Earth? [ That was one way to say hello. ]

Sorry, I know that's a grim opener but I figured someone had to ask. But has there been anything like that? We've got a colorful array of oddballs Washington seems hellbent on collecting, but I'm not looking to start a witch hunt. [ She smiles as if she made a joke. ] But I figured they're bound to bring in something they shouldn't have, right?

My name is Bader; I have sort of an...investment in weeding out these kinds of problems.

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You just missed them, looks like you'll have to play hero to the scum of the earth some other time. Not that you really could have stopped anything.

Yeah, I forgot my cape. [ Christ she didn't need the second guessing right now. She was too hungry to put up with smart asses. ] This little crusade? More it's less out of some altruism than it is self-interest.

Strange murders?

[ you have his attention, lady. ]

Strange how?

[ Yes, she unfortunately does and you have hers in kind. ]

Strange as in frequency and creativity.

Right, so you're looking for like... a serial killer?

If that wasn't already obvious. [ Masquerade violators seriously cramped her style, dude. ]

An investment in weeding out the problems... that isn't a witch hunt. Well, when you put it like that, why would we ever think it was a hunt.

Most people just say hello.

Hello. There.

[ My what big teeth you have. ]

[uh]

Hi. See, that was easy. [If a little weird.]

So what's the investment?

[ c: ]

Good will towards men- that sort of shit. You can considering a calling of mine to root out the weird shit.

Edited 2014-06-04 04:59 (UTC)

So are you a cop?

[ she seems kind of... unlikely to be a cop. ]

Ex-cop, actually.

[ Unorthodox, but what grimdark protagonist wasn't. Your suspicions aren't wholly unfounded thought, Stiles. ]

Cool.

[ and he seems to really mean it. ]

I'm kinda new here, but I can ask around. I mean, you're already asking around. But I can keep an ear to the ground.

That's nice. Is it more of a-- Scooby Doo sort of calling, than a holy orders sort of calling, or is that too much to hope for.

Friend of mine would call us smelling new like fabric softener on freshly mowed astroturf. [ Malkavians. ] Fresh as they come.

It's complicated, but best I can give you is keeping the streets clean is me covering my own ass. Think like a really pragmatic Scooby Doo without the burnout friend or any assholes in ascots.

Holy orders got such a t-shaped stick up their ass they're not worth the headache.

Edited 2014-06-05 00:09 (UTC)

Right...

[If he sounds unconvinced--well, it's more that he's trying to work out what the hell she could mean with any of that. After a beat, a little more amused--]

You're in the mafia, aren't you.

I'm interested in finding serial killers and you think that puts me in with the mob?

Nah, I just have my reasons. Convoluted, yes but I'm not looking to cause trouble.

Oh, come on. You're interested in cleaning up the streets to cover your own ass? Sounds like you're trying t' corner some market there. That's textbook mafia. Eliminate the competition.

If there's better reasons, I'll take them, but for now...

The one who said you missed them was probably being sarcastic, but he isn't incorrect. There was one thing we've sorted already. But that was more a demon than a witch.

Do you have a lot of problems with witches where you're from? Or whichever. [ witchever. ]

It's just an expression. [ Except maybe the Tremere; they might get their panties in a twist being called witches. ]

But yeah, I guess. Magic's a pain in the ass and not worth getting involved in.

Exactly what the hell kind of mafia have you run into lately?

One can never tell whether it's literal or not here, especially with newcomers. You can never tell what sort of world they've come from.

Magic is too much bother for me to do directly, but I've always known those who practice it. It's best left to someone who knows what they're doing.

You don't want to know.

[It's mostly a joke, with just a little weariness to suggest that there is some weird mafia somewhere, but let's not get into it.]

Anyone given you any leads?

Your friend sounds like a poetical kinda guy.

Having enough voices in your head that it's standing room only would turn anyone a little purple in their prose.

What if I do?

[ Hey man you piqued her interested, and it wasn't like there were any real of the old school Italian mafioso in southern California. So this sounded like a story to her. ]

Nah, but everyone was real eager to give me cheek.

Ok that's a pretty fair point. [ She had gotten the impression not everyone was from the same neck of woods, and by that she meant Earth. ]

How do even know if someone's an expert magician and not just blowing sunshine up your skirt?

Yeah, you probably don't. [But in the interest of not making that sound too interesting, more ridiculous than interesting--] And hey, even if I really knew anything about a mafia, I couldn't just tell anyone, right. That's like, a sleeping-with-the-fishes offense. Classic.

And that's what you get for askin' a weird question. Sorry.

Blowing...sunshine? [ that is such an odd phrase she's not even sure what to make of it. ]

I guess it would require confirmation from someone you're already certain is a skilled magician, though expertise is harder to confirm. Otherwise, uh, well I guess you just don't.

Usually I just take for granted that if someone says they do magic, they probably do. The actual distinction between displayed phenomena that is claimed to be magic and what it might otherwise be probably doesn't matter. It's considered magic as a convenience until it is discovered to be not.

[ jesus wept ] You're like really pedantic, aren't you?

Magic as a whole isn't something I think of as trustworthy or especially useful. I mean don't get me wrong I'm sure anyone who knows what they're doing does but I sure as hell don't know the difference between pyrotechnics and someone throwing an honest to god fireball at me. You can never tell but I just give self-identified wizards the benefit of the doubt.

And then avoid them.

That's what I just said, avoidance aside. [ she just said it in a way that just wouldn't get to the point already. because yes, she's really pedantic. ]

I mean, sure, for some that may be the better decision, but maybe you meet one that you just really enjoy the company of?

Ohhhh, so he's crazy. When you say friend, you don't actually mean "dude I put in the slammer", right?

Better self interest than fool notions of being able to help them. Those sort are little better than cattle, shames to their species really.

[ ...ah shit ]

That's some nice Social Darwinism you got there.

Edited 2014-06-17 18:40 (UTC)

Do I know you?

She's eccentric [ They're all crazy but even a world away she doesn't want to rub the Malks the wrong way. ] and no, I never met anyone that interesting when I was a beat cop. Unless you think arguing with drunk teenagers and irate drivers is interesting.

No, I do not.

[ this is exactly why he doesn't wanna be a small-town cop like his daddy. most of the job is snoozeworthy. ]

So does that mean you took down serial killers off-duty?

I wouldn't be surprised if you've heard of me.

[It's rather smug, the way he says it.]

There have been stories of monsters in the dark since the dawn of man.

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video : backdated to monday night

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