April

It was raining in Bedlam, because if it was going to be a relatively peaceful night then fate had to make the city miserable in some other fashion. Thus, rain. Nicola entered Calavera dripping wet and in a sour mood. Even a saint would find Bedlam trying, and the vampire was far from that. Stepping into the Cantina though, she left all of that behind and she visibly perked up since crossing the threshold. And then mad a beeline straight to the bar. Meeting a good friend or not, she needed a drink.

Phaedra, for her part, was also rather excited but if she understood the rules right she wasn't supposed to show it. At least not too much, to do otherwise would appear to be 'uncool' or something to that effect. The half-breed only partially understood the rules to teenage life on Prime, though Raina and Cathy had come a long way in explaining them. In their own unique ways. Her lips quirked up into a smile at her girlfriend's pun, and she gave her a kiss on the cheek as they made their way into the venue. The redhead took some time to dress up like the others, though her choice of lace choker and top, with leather pants and jacket was a little on the severe--and goth--side. "We'll behave, Raina," Phaedra demurred.

Nicola smirked at Lady Horus' statement, and she visibly struggled to keep from quipping about where else her tongue had been. But then things turned serious, and Nicola's expression became guarded. "I have a few reasons," she said, frowning. "The path of the one that made me comes through Bedlam, though I think they have since moved on." She shrugged and made a small throwing away gesture. "Were it just vengeance I would have moved on, but my... King," yep, still weird to say that, she thought, "has requested that I keep an eye on things here." Then she actually smiled, "Besides, I can do some good here, and the Church is always in need of a helping hand..."

Ardent Interceptors: Handclap Blue Fox Nightingale The Room Where it Happens Soul Food Willow Interceptors: Sounds of Silence

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The vampire leaned against the wall, one eyebrow raised. "Which answer would let you sleep better at night?" She let the question hang in the air, longer than she had to, simply watching Anna/Lady Horus while she finished the last of her drink and felt the warmth and life suffusing her. She looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged. "That was all your decision," Nicola said. "I flirted, you flirted back, and what happened after was between two consenting adults." Then she flashed Anna an impish grin. "Granted I may have kicked things up a notch afterwards," she parted her mouth a little, a hint of fang showing, "but by that time you already had your hands in my underwear." "So I will apologize for that little love bite, especially since I didn't ask first. But the rest of it? No, there's nothing to apologize for, from either of us. It was fun, don't ruin that."

Minerva looked at Klara and gave her a small nod of the head. She turned her attention back to her husband and wife and considered what Erik said. "There was a time where I wish I would die," she said without preamble. "It had seemed as though I could no longer fulfill my function, and with all of my siblings presumed dead I did not see a point in trying to continue." "Things are different now," she continued. "I have purpose and I might not be the last of my kind. It is because of your that I have this, and I thank you for it, dear heart."

The abandoned steel mill was fairly nondescript, which is par for the course for most of the rusted out reminders of better times that littered the rust belt. At least on the outside. Inside one of the main buildings, with surprisingly modern security systems, it was comfortably appointed and quite modern. Nicola made a faint 'make yourself comfortable' gesture to her guests and extricated herself from Anna and vanished deeper into the mill. She came back a few moments later with a drink that, for all intents and purposes looked like tomato juice but both Esperanza and Anna could assume was not. "Thank you," she murmured.

"Not off hand, going to have to do some research later," Nicola said, taking a picture of the glyphs with her own phone. She was just stalling though, what she really wanted to was get a little bit of Thomas' blood and see what she could learn. But she couldn't do that, not in front of all of these people and certainly not in front of people who would view cutting one of their wards, even if it was a small cut, as the opposite of the help they requested. It wasn't easy being a blood mage. Might as well throw it out there. "I need some of his blood."

Phaedra looked thoughtful for a moment as the water soaking her clothing was whisked away. Part of her was secretly looking forward to spending time with Cathy with soaked clothing, she found the feeling of ice against her skin rather intriguing and ultimately enjoyable. But it wasn't like she was married to the idea she just accepted what was. She nodded solemnly at Robin, accepting her advice at face value. The half-demon did that a lot, especially from the more serious or at least sincere students. She trusted their judgment of those in their cohort than some of the advice that she received from those that fancy themselves her elders. "I like the rain," Phaedra said after a moment. "And the cold and the wet. These are things that I have no truly experience prior to coming here. It is novel."

She actually shook her head. "No, only take from the willing." It was close to the truth. She did take some from Anna the night before without asking, but that was more of a sexual thing than a feeding thing. It felt very, very good when she fed and not just for her. But it was too easy to become addicted to that, and that was what Nicola was afraid of. "I have a cache, an "abandoned" steel mill..." she trailed off.

"Blood," the vampire murmured without thinking, still dazed from the violence of Stabbo's attack. But the shock was fading, and now she was aware of hands from the too bright woman on her skin. Was aware the the blood leaking out of her was not a healthy shade, too dark and too thick. Was acutely aware of the gnawing hunger that she felt too weak to fight, and of all of the life that flowed through veins around her. "You need to s-stay back," she said, staggering to her feat. She was trying to not look at Lady Horus, her brilliance was starting to give her a headache and she held up a forearm trying to shield her eyes, her wince of pain--from the light or from her wounds--inadvertently showed her fangs. "Please. Please run."

Toughness Save (DC 24): 1d20+8 15

Phae would back Raina up. What's better than one girl that can set all of the things on fire? Two. Min will be up for thread 2. Smashing the hell out of things.

Nicola glanced toward the kitchen where 'Stabbo' went. Sure, he moved too fast to track but she could still smell the blood in him. She could smell it in all of them as she smiled, turning toward the punks that were moving into the apartment. It wasn't a nice smile, not the one she shared with Anna earlier, but predatory and her fangs were showing. "Well, well, well," she purred taking a step toward them, "I thought I would have to go out to eat. But here you little morsels are, delivered right to the doorstep." She laughed. It was a cruel, mocking laugh, and then she was upon them. Nightingale weighed in with brutal savagery, no fancy martial arts just pure street brawler and in moments she was done. With no biting. So she lied a little. Of course, the bigger threat was further in, but it always helps to keep your back clear. She headed off in that direction, fixing her hat.

OK. Nicola is going to opt to take 10 on those attacks, approaching one. If she takes one down she'll use takedown attack and go after another. I'll write up the post after we resolve this.

Are the thugs Minions?

Nightingale: Initiative: 1d20+9 28

The typical response to most things in Bedlam was to ignore it, and it wasn't possible to ignore it then you run away from it. Failing that you hunker down in once place and hope it all passes you by. Nicola did none of these things, and she was up from the couch and moving toward the sound of the explosion on reflex. She was by Anna's side in a faction of a second, far faster than a human had any right to be and she clenched her fist around the bag of ice still in her hand.

Nicola's eyes narrowed behind her sunglasses. "Such questions would go nowhere nice," she said quietly, but softened the warning with a smile. It seemed that Anna already knew this, but Nicola wasn't one to leave things to chance or ambiguity. At least where aspects of her past were concerned; her present she was more than happy to keep plenty vague. Of course she could have been talking about anyone asking her questions about Anna. She leaned back into the couch, tilting her head to regard Anna with a look that was only vaguely predatory considering her obscuring eye wear. "I would not begrudge anyone leaving Bedlam," she said after a moment. "I am only here because it was requested of me. Where I permitted to leave I would." Her attention shifted to the door where Hope went. "You should keep your food," she said. "Not that I do not appreciate the offer, but I have certain dietary requirements and at the moment I am quite sated."

Nicola shook her head, both to Hope's question and to give herself time to think. "I don't get high," she murmured. "Probably something I ate, throwing me off. I'll be fine." She very carefully did not look at Anna when she spoke, but accepted the icepack graciously. Probably figured it was better to not draw too much attention to the accidental innuendo. "Thank you," she said after a moment, giving Anna and Hope a close lipped smile. She realized she should start to get a move on, at the very least to check back in on an abandoned steel mill she was thinking of purchasing with the stipend her King gave her. But she decided to stay, at least for the moment. She had time.

Nicola looked thoughtful for a moment then shrugged. She finished pulling on her trousers, fished her bra off the lamp and worked on getting dressed. She was in no hurry now, the foster kid already saw nearly as much as Anna did and they were on the other side of the door now, so she took her time. She paused to listen, it wasn't that hard the walls were thin enough. And what she heard made her frown. She wore her own criminal past on her skin--the stars, the spider, the cat and the cross--and while she wasn't particularly ashamed it was a path she wouldn't recommend. It was unkind. The tall brunette opened the door quietly and moved to slip past Anna and Espy. Except she opened the door too fast, realized what was happening and then reached out to stop it and ended up overcompensating. She missed, and crashed into the door frame, knocking her hat off and dislodging her sunglasses. "OK," Nicola murmured, pushing her shades back up the bridge of her nose.

Nicola sat up, the bedsheets pooling around her waist, and stretched languidly. She was feeling quite sated, on multiple levels, and with a slight shrug of her pale shoulder she slipped out from under the covers and started gathering her own things. The vampire didn't really expect to end up in someones bed when she went to that bar. I just wanted a quick snack, she thought. But I guess Bedlam is making me lonely. She was squeezing herself back into her trousers when she paused. "Wait," she said. "Your sorta foster kid?" I shouldn't be prying, why am I prying?

Ardent Limber Up Blue Fox Nightingale The Room Where it Happens And All the Devils Here Willow Dance Me to the End

In order to make sure the Refs accurately count all your IC posts and award you the due amount of power points, please post with a list of all the threads in which your player character, NPC or sidekick posted IC this month (including the News forum). This topic will automatically close on the seventh day of the following month at Midnight EST. Also list any threads which you are GMing. GM posts count as double and can be assigned to whichever of your characters needs a 'push'. 1-14 IC posts = 1PP 15-24 IC posts = 2PP 25-49 IC posts = 3PP 50-99 IC posts = 4PP 100+ IC posts = 5PP When you make your list, post a link to your first post for the month for each IC thread so we can jump right to it. When you start a thread, make sure IC is the first tag and topic prefix of the In Character thread, and OOC is in the first tag and topic prefix of the Out Of Character thread. It's not required, but additional tags including the major players and locations are viewed as a courtesy. Please list your threads in alphabetical order. Please clearly note any threads in which you are both player and GM/running an NPC. Please list your threads in a timely manner. Extending the deadline one week into the following month is already a grace period. If you've done any "extracurriculars" -- artwork, HellQ, 20 Questions, NPC, vignettes, guidebook pages, etc. -- please be sure to list them along with your active threads. For more information on ways to earn power points, see Character Advancement and Awards in the House Rules section of the Guide. Failure to comply with these guidelines may result in your post counts being postponed or skipped completely. If you missed the deadline, see this thread.