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xp_logsThe search parties have some luck.
There was the usual group of taxi drivers out the front of the guest house, and, after a few days in Mailuu-Suu, Monet had come to recognise the most familiar faces. Wandering over to them, she held out a pair of photos. "You see them yesterday?"
Rahne was very quietly prowling around the cars, looking as friendly and nonthreatening as ever a wolf had managed. And sniffing door-handles. She wasn't sure anything would really have lingered strongly enough to pick it up after multiple other customers and the
intervening hours, but at least it hadn't rained.
She caught the slightest whiff of a familiar odor, and her ears swiveled forward even though there was nothing to listen to. She went around to try the other handles, found the second, and looked over at her companions, wagging her tail and woofing slightly.
The soft noise drew Jane away from Monet. "You have something?" she asked, her voice hopeful.
Rahne wagged her tail again, thumping it lightly against the side of the taxi, and nodded. She couldn't talk without shifting, but she thought that should get the message across.
Monet hurried across and showed the photos to the driver. "Have you seen them?" She sent it as well as speaking it out loud, just to make sure he understood and heard the man's recognition. She pulled out a fifty. "Take us where you dropped them off. If you lie about it, the dog eats you." She paused and added ~Sorry, Rahne. But you're the scary one.~ Monet climbed into the front seat of the taxi and waited expectantly.
Rahne hopped into the back seat as soon as the door was opened. ~Only in looks,~ she replied wryly, settling down and making a point of not shedding on the seat. While she obviously came nowhere near matching Queen Medusa's abilities, her particular shapeshift did
come with a few odd advantages in terms of hair control. ~Mind, I've been trying to look innocuous enough to avoid making people think of leash laws, but I'm not sure how well that ever works.~
Personally, Jane though the pair of them were fairly high on the scary-o-meter when they wanted to be. ~Um. Love you guys,~ she added for Monet's benefit as the cab got rolling. Drat her lack of telepathy!
Monet bit down a brief laugh. A few moments later, the cabbie pulled up on one of the roads skirting the town's outskirts, faced on one side with an abandoned dump (complete with what Monet had come to realise were the standard scavengers picking it over). "Here? For fuck's sake. This is a crap hole." And it was going to be a long walk back, too. "You, $200 American and you wait here until we come back. Understand?" At the driver's irritated nod, she climbed out, trying to ignore her growing sense of anxiety. "Rahne? You're up again, eh."
Rahne hopped down out of the car, sniffing around each of the passenger doors and then, finding little, further around and then off the side of the road. The dump made her wrinkle her muzzle; some of the mix of smells were appealing, at least to a canine nose, but some
were not and the overall strength (and the traffic to and from it) were not helping her track.
Up or down... or... the opposite side of the road?
She crossed, sniffed -- there. She cast about a bit for the direction, then tossed up her head to beckon the others.
Following Rahne's lead, Jane wove through the traffic to the opposite side of the street, narrowly avoiding an oncoming motorbike. She could feel the anxiety she'd been tamping down for the last few days struggling to break free, distracting her and making it difficult to
focus. Worry later, Jane, there will be time enough later. She dropped to a crouch beside Rahne. "Do you know if they were alone?" she asked. "were there people with them?"
Monet shook her head helplessly. This was so far beyond anything her training had covered, since, so far, her training had consisted of learning to jump when she was told to and not much else.She didn't have a clue where to go from here or even if there was anything they'd
be able to do. After all, it was Nate and Angelo, not oh, Jay and Tommy. "I reckon we call Dom now, eh, and see what she thinks." Monet pulled her phone out and hit the speed dial. "Hey, Domino?"
Meanwhile, amazingly, Domino and Yvette aren't having so much luck.
"You all right?" Domino asked the girl beside her. She really hadn't wanted to bring Yvette along, but the only other option would have
been to leave her and one of the others both at the hotel. She hadn't known quite what to make of the hunch that had nudged her away from
doing that, but she knew well enough at this point to listen to that little voice when it came. Besides, the safest place for Yvette right now, barring any sudden catastrophe, was probably right beside her. "You know, you can tell how dispirited these people are when they don't look twice at a girl with red skin."
"They are losing the hope," Yvette said quietly, eyes glowing softly as she looked around. It was stirring memories from her earliest childhood, Kosovo under siege. She'd seen the same look in the eyes of family and neighbours. In response, her skin had hardened, her hair extending into long spikes as she bent slightly to use her hands to keep up with the tall woman. "Do you think we will find Mr. Dayspring and Mr. Angelo soon, Miss Domino?"
"I hope so." Domino sighed softly, part of her concentrating very hard on the... lack of any sense of rapidly shifting variables, damn it. "I was hoping we'd turn up someone who'd seen them in the market. That'd be the logical place to start looking for more information about this group Nate's concerned about... of course, his is not always a linear mind," she conceded wryly. "It's just very damned strange that he and Angelo could have vanished so quietly."
"Without the explosions, you are meaning?" Despite their environment and the worry about their missing companions, there was a small core
of excitement fizzing in Yvette's stomach - they trusted her to be able to look after herself. "Perhaps they wished to go?"
"Much as I love Angelo, I think someone could probably snatch him off the street without drawing too much attention to themselves. If they played their cards right. Taking Nate down without causing mass chaos and property damage means being very, very sneaky, though." She really hoped that wasn't the case here. Really. Because if this was that bitch Trask or her pet Chechen playing games again... "Don't get me wrong," she said quickly, realizing she hadn't answered Yvette's question. Definitely not on, to ignore her. She'd always hated when Nate or GW had done that to her. "I'm really hoping that they did do the typical male thing and hare off somewhere without telling us anything. I mean, then we could just smack them upside the head a few times and make them promise never to do it again."
"They would not leave without the word - Dr. Moira has been very... how you say? Particularly? Mr. Dayspring would not make her angry, I do not think." Yvette looked around, biting her lip a little. "I am hoping the others are having the better luck. I do not think there is anyone here who is knowing where they are. Or wanting to talk to us." Indeed, there was a certain wariness in the expressions of those few people who would actually meet their eyes.
"No, and I've never been good at getting people to talk using any of the socially acceptable methods," Domino said without thinking, and then laughed under her breath, shooting a semi-apologetic look at Yvette. "Sorry. I get anxious and I start making jokes of very
questionable taste."
Personally Yvette didn't think it was a matter for any kind of joking, let alone questionable ones, but Domino was the adult here, and more experienced with things. She was just about to make some kind of non-inflammatory comment when Domino's cell phone rang.
"Hey. No... oh, really? Where are you?" Domino asked after a moment's pause. Her eyes lit up abruptly, fierce with relief. "Good. I'll-" She eyed Yvette for a second. "We'll be right there."
There was the usual group of taxi drivers out the front of the guest house, and, after a few days in Mailuu-Suu, Monet had come to recognise the most familiar faces. Wandering over to them, she held out a pair of photos. "You see them yesterday?"
Rahne was very quietly prowling around the cars, looking as friendly and nonthreatening as ever a wolf had managed. And sniffing door-handles. She wasn't sure anything would really have lingered strongly enough to pick it up after multiple other customers and the
intervening hours, but at least it hadn't rained.
She caught the slightest whiff of a familiar odor, and her ears swiveled forward even though there was nothing to listen to. She went around to try the other handles, found the second, and looked over at her companions, wagging her tail and woofing slightly.
The soft noise drew Jane away from Monet. "You have something?" she asked, her voice hopeful.
Rahne wagged her tail again, thumping it lightly against the side of the taxi, and nodded. She couldn't talk without shifting, but she thought that should get the message across.
Monet hurried across and showed the photos to the driver. "Have you seen them?" She sent it as well as speaking it out loud, just to make sure he understood and heard the man's recognition. She pulled out a fifty. "Take us where you dropped them off. If you lie about it, the dog eats you." She paused and added ~Sorry, Rahne. But you're the scary one.~ Monet climbed into the front seat of the taxi and waited expectantly.
Rahne hopped into the back seat as soon as the door was opened. ~Only in looks,~ she replied wryly, settling down and making a point of not shedding on the seat. While she obviously came nowhere near matching Queen Medusa's abilities, her particular shapeshift did
come with a few odd advantages in terms of hair control. ~Mind, I've been trying to look innocuous enough to avoid making people think of leash laws, but I'm not sure how well that ever works.~
Personally, Jane though the pair of them were fairly high on the scary-o-meter when they wanted to be. ~Um. Love you guys,~ she added for Monet's benefit as the cab got rolling. Drat her lack of telepathy!
Monet bit down a brief laugh. A few moments later, the cabbie pulled up on one of the roads skirting the town's outskirts, faced on one side with an abandoned dump (complete with what Monet had come to realise were the standard scavengers picking it over). "Here? For fuck's sake. This is a crap hole." And it was going to be a long walk back, too. "You, $200 American and you wait here until we come back. Understand?" At the driver's irritated nod, she climbed out, trying to ignore her growing sense of anxiety. "Rahne? You're up again, eh."
Rahne hopped down out of the car, sniffing around each of the passenger doors and then, finding little, further around and then off the side of the road. The dump made her wrinkle her muzzle; some of the mix of smells were appealing, at least to a canine nose, but some
were not and the overall strength (and the traffic to and from it) were not helping her track.
Up or down... or... the opposite side of the road?
She crossed, sniffed -- there. She cast about a bit for the direction, then tossed up her head to beckon the others.
Following Rahne's lead, Jane wove through the traffic to the opposite side of the street, narrowly avoiding an oncoming motorbike. She could feel the anxiety she'd been tamping down for the last few days struggling to break free, distracting her and making it difficult to
focus. Worry later, Jane, there will be time enough later. She dropped to a crouch beside Rahne. "Do you know if they were alone?" she asked. "were there people with them?"
Monet shook her head helplessly. This was so far beyond anything her training had covered, since, so far, her training had consisted of learning to jump when she was told to and not much else.She didn't have a clue where to go from here or even if there was anything they'd
be able to do. After all, it was Nate and Angelo, not oh, Jay and Tommy. "I reckon we call Dom now, eh, and see what she thinks." Monet pulled her phone out and hit the speed dial. "Hey, Domino?"
Meanwhile, amazingly, Domino and Yvette aren't having so much luck.
"You all right?" Domino asked the girl beside her. She really hadn't wanted to bring Yvette along, but the only other option would have
been to leave her and one of the others both at the hotel. She hadn't known quite what to make of the hunch that had nudged her away from
doing that, but she knew well enough at this point to listen to that little voice when it came. Besides, the safest place for Yvette right now, barring any sudden catastrophe, was probably right beside her. "You know, you can tell how dispirited these people are when they don't look twice at a girl with red skin."
"They are losing the hope," Yvette said quietly, eyes glowing softly as she looked around. It was stirring memories from her earliest childhood, Kosovo under siege. She'd seen the same look in the eyes of family and neighbours. In response, her skin had hardened, her hair extending into long spikes as she bent slightly to use her hands to keep up with the tall woman. "Do you think we will find Mr. Dayspring and Mr. Angelo soon, Miss Domino?"
"I hope so." Domino sighed softly, part of her concentrating very hard on the... lack of any sense of rapidly shifting variables, damn it. "I was hoping we'd turn up someone who'd seen them in the market. That'd be the logical place to start looking for more information about this group Nate's concerned about... of course, his is not always a linear mind," she conceded wryly. "It's just very damned strange that he and Angelo could have vanished so quietly."
"Without the explosions, you are meaning?" Despite their environment and the worry about their missing companions, there was a small core
of excitement fizzing in Yvette's stomach - they trusted her to be able to look after herself. "Perhaps they wished to go?"
"Much as I love Angelo, I think someone could probably snatch him off the street without drawing too much attention to themselves. If they played their cards right. Taking Nate down without causing mass chaos and property damage means being very, very sneaky, though." She really hoped that wasn't the case here. Really. Because if this was that bitch Trask or her pet Chechen playing games again... "Don't get me wrong," she said quickly, realizing she hadn't answered Yvette's question. Definitely not on, to ignore her. She'd always hated when Nate or GW had done that to her. "I'm really hoping that they did do the typical male thing and hare off somewhere without telling us anything. I mean, then we could just smack them upside the head a few times and make them promise never to do it again."
"They would not leave without the word - Dr. Moira has been very... how you say? Particularly? Mr. Dayspring would not make her angry, I do not think." Yvette looked around, biting her lip a little. "I am hoping the others are having the better luck. I do not think there is anyone here who is knowing where they are. Or wanting to talk to us." Indeed, there was a certain wariness in the expressions of those few people who would actually meet their eyes.
"No, and I've never been good at getting people to talk using any of the socially acceptable methods," Domino said without thinking, and then laughed under her breath, shooting a semi-apologetic look at Yvette. "Sorry. I get anxious and I start making jokes of very
questionable taste."
Personally Yvette didn't think it was a matter for any kind of joking, let alone questionable ones, but Domino was the adult here, and more experienced with things. She was just about to make some kind of non-inflammatory comment when Domino's cell phone rang.
"Hey. No... oh, really? Where are you?" Domino asked after a moment's pause. Her eyes lit up abruptly, fierce with relief. "Good. I'll-" She eyed Yvette for a second. "We'll be right there."
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