Cast: Dia, Ali
Location: La Fuerza Warehouse, Florence South Central
Time: Early evening on March 19, 2016
Synopsis: Ali Santiago receives a surprise visit from her childe, Dia Reina Chavez, after some time apart.
Warehouse - Florence - South Central
The interior of the warehouse is huge. High overhead rusted steel beams stretch across the roof. Once they might have provided home for city birds to roost, but now the only signs of former life are abandoned nests. The floor is concrete; stained with oil and other, unidentifiable, markings. At night, the light is weak. The overhead lights are huge, circular orange things that barely throw enough light to reach the floor between the fifteen foot rows that hold box upon box of unlabeled inventory. There is a small, obviously makeshift seating area in the middle of the warehouse, off to one side, and a metal walkway overhead leads to an office of some kind.
This room has +views and places.
Contents:
Ali
Obvious exits:
Office (NE) exit (SW)
The Brujah has just entered herself - - from the swimming pool? Maybe water skiing? Who knows. Her pants are sopping wet from mid-thigh down and she's dirty, like she's just trod through a swamp, with tears in her pants and short. Her bat is nowhere to be found. Her clothes are martyrs to the cause.
In the center of the warehouse, with two of Ali's "associates" wandering about it perplexed, stands a giant wooden crate. The crate stands about six feet tall, four feet across and four feet deep. The wooden box has been stamped with red Asian lettering - Chinese if Ali recognizes the script - and has a few frayed parts where the box has been scuffed or dropped. The smaller of the two goons hears Ali enter and looks back towards the Colombian. Holding both hands out on either side of him, his palms up towards the ceiling, he says, "Just arrived half an hour ago… Guy said he didn't need your signature, but we figured it needed to be brought any. You expecting anything? Or you want us to throw it in a wood chipper?"
"Uh, no?" Ali strides in and grabs the hem of her shirt, then strips the garment off fluidly with the smooth raise of her arms. She squints at the box; paces around it, eyes it, steps closer to it and then backs away as if were a live mine. "What guy?" she asks, a brow upraised. She walks over and deposits the wet shirt on the back of one of the couches. "What'd he look like? What fuckin' language is that, gook? Pig fucking latin? Dios. Ain't even a fuckin' letter there - gotta be gooks."
"Some chinky-poo…" the large guy says as he begins to rock the box back and forth, as if attempting to guess what's inside - much like a child the night before Christmas. "Yeah… Some oriental who worked for DHL. He looked legit and everything. He had all the paper work, the uniform, the truck and shit…" the little goon chimes in. The large thug then reels back his right hand, clenches it into a fist and then smacks the front of the box - making the whole thing shudder. Almost instantly, from inside the box, a young /familiar/ female's voice echos out, "Owww! Fuckin' idiot…"
Into her phone, Ali says "Santiago."
Ali squints again and flips out her phone. She tugs her lower lip in between her teeth for a moment and backs away as she answers. Whatever is in the box, she doesn't look like she wants to be near it. Until it talks. Then she stops, leans, /peers/. "What in the fuck?" she asks the larger thug. "Wait, /Dia/?! Open that fucking box." She snaps at both the men. "OPEN IT."
Into her phone, Ali says "I'm good. Was a surprise visit, for sure. Listen, I'mma call you back. I got .. a second surprise visit."
Into her phone, Ali says "Claro. Adios."
Ali closes her cell phone.
The two men set about prying the box open as quickly as possible - both of them already having brought out crowbars in anticipation of having to do a little work. After getting all the nails popped out, the front of the box falls forward and an avalanche of white foam peanuts spills out across the floor of the warehouse. Standing inside the box stands the pixie-like childe of Ali Santiago herself - Dia Reina Chavez. Spitting out a foam peanut, Dia looks a little worn (possibly hungry), but no different than the day Ali sired the girl. Stepping out of the box, she rolls her shoulders back and her neck in a circle, letting out a slightly-sickening cracking noise. Refocusing her eyes on Ali, she says, "Good thing I don't have to drill holes…"
For lack of a better word; Ali stares. "Holy fucking shit." she says after a minute. "What in the hell - where the .. " She looks from the box, to the girl, then repeats the entire process as she walks forward. "I thought you were dead. Dios, Dia.. what.. where.. " It's been that night - it really has. Abruptly the woman's expression cracks into a broad grin, as if it had to fight to do so, and she moves to scoop Dia up in both arms. "Why didn't you just bash your way out?" she asks, laughing as she turns in a lazy circle.
Dia can only grin as she watches Ali react to the surprise. Her small frame begins to jitter with contained laughter as the two are reunited after a good deal of time apart. Feeling her legs come out from underneath her, she immediately wraps her arms around the Colombian's neck and shoulders while pressing her ear closest to Ali firmly against the woman's chest. "… cause you raised me better than that…" Dia answers softly to the Brujah's question. "What if it were light out or something? Had to make sure we were good before I went opening my only shelter."
"Aw, yer gonna be the smart one.." Ali laughs and cups the back of Dia's head, holding her close as her heartbeat thumps away - sure, steady, absolutely unchanging despite the emotional roller coaster. Her fingers work their way into the girl's thick dark hair, tangling streaks of blue amidst brown as the circle comes to a slow halt and she sets Dia gently back down. "Where have you been? You picked a good time to leave, at least, kept your head out of the way." Her fingertips graze Dia's jaw. "I'm .. glad t'see you, guapa. Even if you came wrapped in gook language." She laughs.
Dia bounces a little when she's placed back down on her feet - as if making sure she had use of both legs before fully committing to standing. Dia turns her head to the side slightly as she feels Ali's touch on her jaw. She softly kisses the palm of the woman's hand as it passes in front of her lips. She doesn't say a word yet. Seemingly, she doesn't want to let go of the feeling of being in Ali's arms and immediately presses herself up against the woman in a loving hug. "Yeah… got the sense you didn't need me around her complicating things so I took a little boat trip… Sorry about not leaving a note or anything, but figured it was the best for both of us… Didn't need you keeping tabs on me."
"Nah, you don't complicate things, amiga. Never think that; it ain't like I'd rather not have you around. I'd rather they stop shootin', sure, but if the choice is 'tween gettin' shot at an' not havin' you - - then they can shoot all day." While wordy, Ali is quick to comply - quick to wrap her arms around Dia and hold her there, exhaling as she rests her cheek atop the other girl's head. "..s'aight. Not like I can have a heart attack. Y'go somewhere fun, at least? Party like a rock star?"
Dia shrugs her shoulders, trying to play the trip off as if it were no big concern to her. "Spent some time up in Washington and then worked my way back down here. Spent a lot of time in my last stop: San Francisco… especially Chinatown. Lived off rich college kids throwin' their money around at night and kind of just blended in…" Dia drifts off for a moment as she sways back and forth in Ali's arms, content to just remain there for the time being. "… the students, not the slanty-eyed mother fuckers screaming at me to buy something…" she interjects quickly.
Another laugh, followed by, "You buy! Two dollah! You buy now!" Ali nuzzles the top of Dia's head, then offers an unconcerned nod. "San Francisco is nice- good people up there, some nut bags, but some freemen too. The Gangrel up north are'a little weird like Maine, but .. you gotta be with all that space. You get the wanderlust out f'now or you just stoppin' in t'make sure we're aight?" she asks. Her tone suggests she hopes the stay is long term, even if she tries to sound nonchalant.
"Got it all out of me, mi amor…" Dia says, pulling herself back to look up into the Brujah's eyes while still keeping her hands clutched to the woman's backside. "After a couple of nights of sleeping in the dirt, I'm kinda ready to be back in the city… Kind of miss trying to make you use up dinner to blush." With that the petite woman gives Ali a playful pat on the rear before starting to pull away and head back towards the box.
Ali tilts her head back and laughs. "No more, guapa - I mastered that trick a while ago. The thing that's a little screwy now, is sometimes I things actually hurt." She looks a little aghast at this - as if she can't quite figure out how this betrayal occurred. "I was actually tired last week." Tired? Er? Her hand chases Dia's rear - trying to return the swat, but she's a bit late and her hand drifts lazily back to her pocket and hooks there, thumb in crook. "Sleepin' in dirt? Lucky you didn't ash, amiga. Dirt isn't real sun proof. How long y'been in the box?"
"I met a couple of Gangrel in Washington who showed me how to do it without killing myself… Slept mostly in the woods and used old stop signs and what not for extra protection. Really only had to use that when I was moving town to town…" Dia says as she skips a foot or two to the box. Bending over as she reaches the entrance to her previous confinement, she ruffles through the foam peanuts to retrieve a dufflebag she had behind her feet or was standing on. Brushing off a few loose peanuts, she turns about with the bag clutched in her left hand and hanging down near her knee. She adds, "But just been in the box the past three days. Not too long… Now what's this about you getting 'tired'? Is Alexa back?" She grins sheepishly.
"Alexa comes back an' forth - she's like you, prolly. Hot feet. I can't blame her much, really.." says Ali as she takes a seat on the back of the couch and brings her feet up, balancing there. "When I picked'r up I was as much prone to it as she is." Quietly she watches Dia, tilting her head at the box, then wrinkling her nose at the thought of it. "Tired - like I used to back when it mattered. I jumped a roof a few weeks ago an' I swear I pulled a muscle. Insane, ain't it. I even bruised once." She spreads her hands, unable to offer an explanation for that one.
"Sounds like you're revertin' or something…" Dia says as she casually walks towards the couches. She tosses her dufflebag onto one of the empty seats, the bag making a 'plopping' sound and subtly indicating that there isn't much in there but clothes. "Maybe you need to lay off the red sauce…" she says quietly as she makes her way to in front of Ali. Pulling her left knee up onto the couch first, she begins to straddle the taller woman. Sitting neatly on Ali's lap, Dia rests her hands on her knees and flicks her hair over her right shoulder - but eventually has to blow a loose strand or two out of her face. "That or you're gettin' old missy… Older than I thought. We gonna have to get you some Depends soon?"
"Naw, still dead." Ali winks at her amante. "Might just be gettin' too good at fakin' it. Worse things've happened. She leans forward casually and laces her hands around Dia's waist, helping the girl stay seated where she is. "What about you - get rid'a that pacifier? Learn any new tricks? Comin' t'sleep with me t'night? If I'd known you were comin', I would've ordered dinner in. Would'a got all cold waitin' on Rachael to empty my insides, but still woulda made it in time."
"Pacifier?" Dia asks, drawing her head back slightly and looking a little confused by the reference. "Haven't used that thing since drugs stopped wor— oh… Ha ha ha…" Dia shakes her head with a slight smirk as she gets the mean of her sire's words. "You know me… I don't ever want to grow up… But nah… I don't think I learned anything new. Honestly, I think I've gotten worse. Forgot a bunch of shit maybe. Guess we'll just have to see…" She then leans forward and places a gentle kiss on the center of Ali's forehead, her cold, dry lips living only a momentary sensation on the other woman's skin perhaps. "But of course I'm coming to bed with you… Wouldn't have it any other way."
"Worse?" Ali rears back, shaking her head as she scoops Dia up into her arms. "I doubt it; you're dead, there's a sort of natural progression I haven't really figured out. Either way, I won't mind teaching you how to get your blood going again." She winks at her childe, then bounds up the stairs toward the sleeping quarters.
