Cast: Ali, Nita, Conrad, Coco, Kusala, Dia
Location: Salon, Expo Park, South Central
Time: Early evening on May 18, 2016
Synopsis: Dia's tricked into pulling a knife in the Expo Park Elysium while telling a story.
Salon - Expo Park
This high-ceilinged room is a broad ellipse, about thirty by thirty five feet. There are two large white single doors on the south side of the room. Between the the doors is an information area featuring a pair of bookshelves, a map and a bulletin board. Near the door on the right is a guestbook on a wooden stand.
The curved wall of the room is dominated by a great mural. Its most striking feature is above the information area between the doors; there you see a depiction of a planet, pockmarked with glowing craters and shrouded by dust. Above the mural is gilded scrollwork, and above that, the high ecru ceiling of the room is gently arched. The ceiling seems to glow softly; it is subtly lit by lights hidden in recessed niches; the scattered light is entirely adequate for reading but gentle on even the most sensitive eyes.
The floor is done in green and black marble that counterpoints the dominant colors in the great mural, and the furniture in the room varies according to the occasion, but there are benches built into the walls as a permanent feature, and there is generally a black wooden desk directly opposite the bulletin board.
This room has +views and places.
Obvious exits:
Keeper's Chambers (E) Staff Only Areas (N)
Nita arrives from the white double-doors.
Using the tip of her ink pen as a ruler, Dia reads some of the latest posts on the bulletin at the far side of the room. "Devon as Sheriff? Holy hell…" she murmurs to herself. "And fuck if I know who this is…" she adds, narrowing her eyes on a name she doesn't seem to know. She lowers her pen off the board and places it neatly in her left breast pocket. Shaking her head slowly, she backs away from the board and turns around.
The door slams after Nita, who immediately looks embarassed by her indiscretion. Her brown skin is made darker and redder by the fine layer of dried mud and her short hair sticks out from under her cap in little matted dreadlocks. She's not tracking mud, at least, whatever's sticking to her seems determined to stick to her. Her hands, the palms and fingertips, are stained a dark red under the traces of mud. "Oops. Sorry about that. I never get it to shut quietly."
"S'alright…" Dia says with a smile, stopping in her tracks to place both hands on her hips and look upon Nita. Her smile fades to a warm, welcoming look as she tilts her head towards her left shoulder. She studies the muddy, dirty woman as she walks into the Elysium, but doesn't follow up her initial utterance for a few moments. "… it's dead in here if you didn't notice. Don't think it bothers anyone."
Nita crosses the floor towards Dia to glance at the bulletin board as though looking for anything new, "It is, but that's almost even worse," Nita admits quietly. "Then it seems even louder in all the quiet." She gives Dia a quick grin and hooks her thumbs in the front pockets of her jeans before assuming her usual tremendous stillness. "How's your evening? Which was the name you didn't recognize? I heard you say something just before the door slammed."
Conrad arrives from the white double-doors.
Nita, covered in the remnants of dried mud, with beet-stained palms and fingers, her short hair in matted dreads sticking out from under her cap, is standing with Dia near the bulletin board.
Dia pivots on her heels to turn her entire body as she follows Nita across the room without really changing her position. "Might have a point there…" she says simply in response to Nita's comment. Dia's eyes seem to fixate on Nita's stained hands. The girl murmurs out, her attention obviously else where, "Bells… Never heard of 'r before. Or if I have, not by that name…"
Conrad closes the white door behind him quietly and wanders toward the bulletins, greeting Nita with a quizzical nod. "Good evening."
"Father Holmes' adopted childe," Nita supplies. "I've met her once. Seemed pleasant." She turns her head to stare at Conrad and she smiles quickly and impulsively, "Conrad."
When she hears the name "Conrad", Dia immediately looks up and away from Nita's hands and towards the new arrival in the room. Giving the man a faint smile - and a quick study of the eyes - Dia says in response, "Good evening…" She lets her eyes remain on Conrad for a second or two before dwifting back towards Nita. "Holmes?" she asks. "Name seems to escape me as well… Care to fill me in?"
Conrad leans forward to inspect the bulletins over his glasses, his left eyebrow arching as he reads. He glances up at Dia's attention, offering a soft smile. "Thanks." He jabs a thumb at the boards, "Cute cat. What's become of Mr. Melciah?"
"He was the Keeper here, as I understand it," Nita answers. "Although all of this came second-hand at best to me. So this way the duty stays among the Nosferatu, which seems good. Even if she's young, she'll have good support." Her head turns only much as is necessary to politely address the others, but in Nita's case 'politely' includes that stare of hers and may be open to interpretation. "I haven't heard a word about Melciah since the incident with Cora, and I got that second-hand, too."
"Thanks…" Dia replies, mimicing Conrad's earlier words. She gives a brief, toothy smile in addition to the simple response before looking to Nita. She watches the woman tell all she knows - or is willing to tell people she knows - about Bells and Melicah. She turns to look back at Conrad and nods her head in agreement. "Yeah… Pretty much the same story here…" she begins with. "… All I know is he got the equivalent of a dishonorable discharge from Big C's service."
Conrad frowns and shakes his head, "I'd like to know what's become of him, missing South Central residents tend to wind up Downtown, I've noticed. Miss Torres must be thrilled, her clan retain the Expo and gain a Sheriff."
"I doubt it," Nita says. "I mean, yes on the one hand, but on the other hand, she speaks very defensively of Melciah. She decries what he did, but supports the man, himself." Her expression remains unchanged, her posture still and straight. Her assessment was delivered passionlessly.
"I'm sure Izzy is loving it…" Dia says in response to Conrad's mention of the two new Nosferatu appointees. "But they got a lot of responsibility - so I'm sure she's going to be just as concerned that nothing fishy happens while they got the spotlight on them." Dia lifts her hands up off her hips and proceeds to wrap her arms about herself just below her bustline. "And as far as Melciah… He'll turn up somewhere. Isn't that the best you can ask for?"
Conrad casts a long glance at Dia before speaking. "I suppose that would entirely depend on where it is he turns up."
Nita gives a bleak little short-lived bark of laughter. "It does."
Dia quirks her right eyebrow before looking between Conrad and Nita. "What is that supposed to mean?" she asks curiously.
"Conrad was the person Melciah shot here in the Elysium," Nita offers. "For one reason or another, he seems to dislike Conrad rather immensely. I can't decide if he'd like to shoot me or help me, myself, or even if the two are mutually exclusive."
"Well, no doubt…" Dia says, looking as if the idea doesn't surprise her in the least. "But the way you two were talking, it seemed like Downtown had some ominous draw on those who misbehaved in South Central. Was trying to figure out if you were cluing me into some conspiracy or something…" Dia gives off a weak chuckle, her eyes rolling up towards the ceiling and looking around aimlessly before resettling on the pair before her.
"No, that's Conrad's speculation, not mine," Nita answers with a very brief shake of her head.
"Alright… Alright…" Dia answers, nodding her head quickly and then looking down at her feet as she shuffles them for a moment. "As I said… just trying to make heads and tails of it." Dia releases her arms from about her body, letting her hands dangle down at her sides. She lets her right knee extend outwards, the girl relaxing her leg. "But anyways… You been doin' alright since we spoke, Nita? Findin' your way about town and all that good stuff?"
"I imagine he's just laying low a while. He seems bright, that way," Nita says with a hint of reassurance. "And yes, thanks. I've been much less lost in the last couple of weeks. Sooner or later, the map book had to help, although I've been lucky not to get my ass kicked getting lost around our borders. I came back from a couple nights in the desert a few days back and got so lost on my way in it wasn't even funny, but that's the story of my life. I don't know how you do it."
"It's easy when you've lived your entire life in the center of South Central…" Dia says with a subtle wink in Nita's direction. "So don't worry about it. You'll get your bearings soon enough… And people are willing to be a little more forgiving if you're a new face and aren't representin' or flyin' colors or some shit. May tax ya a little, but nothin' serious."
"I'll admit to a little illicit wandering on account of the urge I came by honest," Nita allows with a quick grin. "But in this case, I was just damn lost. What's keeping you busy, these nights?"
"Nothing…" Dia says with a mischievous smile on her face. "… nothing that already has been spread around like wildfire. Been dealing with the recent incident between Ali, Luna and Luke. Can't figure out which one is the bigger idiot out of the two L's. Other than that, things have been fairly quiet. Just been keepin' to myself."
Nita's eyes narrow faintly with interest, "What /can/ you tell me about that? It's hard to tell if Luke's teasing or serious, sometimes, and I haven't managed to keep him in one place long enough to figure out what's really happened."
Conrad's attentions perk up at the mention, "I've heard so much about the incident as well, any light you can shed would be appreciated."
"Well, what's he telling you? That may help me help you figure out what's true and what's not…" Dia says, grinning from ear to ear now and looking quite excited that she might be on the giving end of information for once.
"Something happened that caused him to shoot the place up," Nita answers, "But I can't figure out what it was. I can tell that it definitely happened and that it was in reaction to something, not his idea. And that's as much as I can guess."
Conrad says, "I know he's had some problematic entanglements with people in the past, but I am certain he at good reason." He adds after a moment, "Or, at least thought he did.""
"Ah… Well, let me fill you in…" Dia says as she rubs her hands together giddily. "Luna - at least that's what I understand her name to be - came in with Apolo. Ali greeted them, all friendly like, but that Luna gets her panties in a bunch about why Ali seems to 'not like her'. Some bullsh*t question you expect out of a middle schooler or something…" Dia rolls her eyes up briefly, showing her disgust with the whole topic. "Ali told her how it was, and then Luna goes and insults South Central and calls all the people here uncivilized idiots or some sh*t like that…" Dia raises her right hand up to her forehead and quickly scratches her eyebrow with her fingernails. "Ali doesn't take kindly to this and lashes out at Luna… Smacks the crap out of her with a baseball bat. Knocks her the f*ck out. And that's when Luke jumps out of the shadows like some batsh*t crazy sum'a'b*tch…" Dia jumps forward about a foot into a crouched position, her hands extended out and her hands in the form of an imaginary gun. "BOW BOW BOW BOW!" she shouts as she pretends she's shooting up the room. "He fires a full clip or somethin' at Ali… F*cker tells Apolo to grab his sister and head for the hills… And that's the last thing he said before Ali smacked him around too."
Coco steps out of the shadows.
It's funny there should be mention of people jumping out of shadows. The tall lithe form of Coco stands right in front of Dia where in her crouch, his bending from the waist has leveled his eyes with hers. They do not blink but they stare. Oh do they stare. White gloves are crossed behind his back.
Nita jumps faintly with Coco's arrival. The shock never wears off for her and she shivers, before she throws off that little fit of nerves and grins, "Hi, Coco!"
Conrad blinks rapidly as the mime appears before the focus of his attentions, taking two steps to the left and speaking in a flat, restrained tone. "Hello again."
Coco's actions almost draw parallels to Dia's story as his jumping out of the shadows nearly leads to an altercation. When Dia sees the eyes appear directly in front of hers, the white face paint taking up her entire peripheral view, the girl lets out an ear splitting shriek. Almost instantly, she reaches her right hand back to her pant pocket and withdraws a three-inch switchblade knife. Pressing a button on the handle of the blade, she unsheaths the blade and takes a defensive step back. "WHAT THE F*CK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" she shouts, trying to hold the man at bay.
Kusala arrives from the white double-doors.
The scream does not seem to phase Coco, infact he still doesn't blink. As it subsides, one gloved hand moves around to press a pinkie to Coco's ear, there is cartoonish twisting as he continues to stare right at her. Whispering soon follows.
Coco whispers to Dia, "See to the Keeper of this Elysium before tomorrow night. Tell her that you have drawn a weapon on sacrosanct ground."
Conrad's hands curl into fists, his voice rises to a shout. "God DAMMIT. I am sick and fucking tired of this shit!" He stares at Coco, teeth bared. "First, I get shot in Elysium. Then this dipshit mime tries to stick someone with a pin Downtown, and now this. What is wrong with you people? Seriously, didn't your sires teach you how to act?"
Nita accepts both the presence of the mime and the scream as perfectly natural and sensible, after her own initial surprise. Both of her eyebrows raise at Conrad's shouting and she stands entirely still and watches, staring passionlessly.
Perhaps she didn't hear it, perhaps she just doesn't care. Whatever the situation may be, Kusala gives no sign of it. She comes in, stands by the door and looks around before negotiating around the chairs to the bulletin board.
Dia narrows her eyes at Coco, the girl turning her head slightly while watching him like hawk. Slowly, her eyes begin to drift from the painted face to the tip of her blade. She then flicks her eyes back to the mime and flubbers her lips, a breath of forced air running up her face and pushing a few loose strands of hair into the air. Carefully, she rolls her fingers to turn the point of the knife inward, the blade running along the bottom of her arm now. Lowering her extended arm, she positions the point of the blade into her upper right thigh. Pressing down on the button of the knife, she gently pushes the blade back into its sheath until there is an audible 'CLICK'. Standing erect, she puts the knife back in her pocket and says unsurely, "I'll be sure to tell her that…"
Coco straightens up in exact mimicry with Dia, his black painted lips drawing to a smile which would make a crocodile green. It is unclear if this is with envy or because all crocodiles are green in well drawn cartoons. An affirmative nod is made, and Coco's hand moves from wiggling his pinkie against his ear to wave at Nita. It does this without any eye movement to guide it too her, and it does not stop after what is considered polite.
"Can't ask people to be what they're not," Nita murmurs. She waves back at Coco, but only for so long as would be considered polite, although she stares at him for much longer, even as she says, "Hi, Miss Kusala."
Conrad shakes his head, his expression filled with disgust. "Kill each other for all I care, but for god's sake have the decency to do it somewhere else, I've no wish to become involved again." He spins on his heel and moves quickly towards the exit.
"Evenin' t'yas Mizz Nita," Kusala makes the shuffling sojourn to the board and stands there reading. That deadpan face seems bored with the contents.
"He's smarter than I am," Nita admits to Kusala as Conrad turns to go. "Goodnight, Conrad. I've got to drop by a bit later. See you then if you're around."
"F*ck it… I'm out of here too…" Dia says, seeming to take Conrad's retreat as an excuse to leave the Elysium herself. "Don't need any more sh*t comin' down on my head as it is…" she murmurs as she she takes a step to her right, and then another, and another - the girl turning a hundred and eight degrees and making her way towards the exit a few steps behind Conrad.
Dia puts away her Switchblade.
Conrad reaches the door and glances behind him, holding it for Dia. "Have a safe evening, Miss."
Coco's head turns ninety degrees, but along the horizontal and not rotational axis. This places it parallel with the floor. Or with the ceiling whichever is your preference. The eyes follow Dia even though the rest of Coco does not, until she has turned away and moved off for the door. Then the mime wheels upon on his heel, very much like Conrad, bringing him to face Nita who receives a bigger smile, and the hand is allowed to continue it's waving.
"Thank you…" Dia says, trying to be civil with Conrad, but the words coming out more like a growl than anything else. She nods her head once to the man as she makes her way across the threshold of the door and out into the hallway.
You leave the Salon through the white double-doors, go past the guard, and take the private elevator up.
