2016.01.23: Phase 3
| Phase 3 | |
|---|---|
| Don't mess with Demons. [NSFW content] | |
| IC Time | Night |
| Players | Foster November Nikodin |
| Location | November's Other Apartment |
Begin Log
Nikodin texted November back that if he didn't hear an answer in ten, he'd head over. Welll, it's been ten minutes, and he's already here, because Nikodin had taken off right then and there. He rode like a maniac on his Ninja, parking the motorcycle in front of the house and pushing his sunglasses up. Fingerless gloved hands flex at his sides as he notices the state of the door. It's dark enough inside that mayhaps he can get in undetected. His hands criss-cross inside his leather jackets, guns are drawn as he enters the hallway of the apartments. And if someone sees him? Well, he's keeping the guns still inside his leather jacket as he pushes open the door with his shoulder, quiet like, and.... walks inside, drawing his weapons and hugging the wall.
Silence as the door is pushed open, and then, off to the side, a soft little shuffling sound.
Niko's guns snap to the direction of the sound - arms extended, both pistols pointed that way. If he doesn't see anything, he will move in that direction after covering all bases.
Blazing-Angel stalks through the apartment. Not very hard to do when you're invisble to the human mind. He stays out of the way and avoids touching anything that would alert anyone to his presence. The angel has rings on his fingers as well as a sword on his hip, sheathed. Can never be too careful.
Nikodin passes the angel, unseeing, guns drawn, senses tingling that something is not quite right here. Then, the squeak, and his eyes widening, both guns immediately sheathed. He approaches, cautiousely, voice a low comforting whisper. "Hey... hey, Nova, it's me. It's alright. It's alright. Are you hurt? Are they still here?" He crouches beside the form, reaching out his hand to touch her shoulder.
November pushes back, scuttling away a little bit and there's a click. Knife maybe. A shimmer of metal. "Don't... don't fucking touch me. I swear to god, I will cut your fucking guts out!" It's almost a shout, but it's hoarse, whispered.
Blazing-Angel folds his arms and wings, standing off in the opposite corner to watch coolly with an expressionless gaze. He stares intently at the pair.
His eyes widen at Nova's reaction. There's a knot in his throat then, jaw tight, a sense of anguish there that he'd come too late. He casts a haunted gaze about the dark apartment, slowly, and then brings his gaze back to her. "Baby ah'm so sorry... ah was too late." It's hard to say this and his voice is hoarse in return, choked. He doesn't make an attempt to touch Nova, but instead, raises, searching for a light switch, clicking it on, dreading to see... what's become of her.
November is huddled in the corner. When the light comes on, she lifts her hand to shield her face. She has SOME clothes on, but they look hastily put on. Sloppy. Torn. All along her arms are bruises, and her knuckles are scraped. There's blood under her fingernails. She didn't go down easily. Her hair is mostly over her face and when she turns away, what's revealed of her back is a sort of mottled, fresh, angry purple. "Turn it off," she says, without a whole lot of conviction. "Please."
Nikodin stares, no longer breathing, speechless with shock. His hands feel heavy as led, hanging down hopelessly and stupid, worthless hands that could not protect her. When he does take a breath it's audible, heavy, through flared nostrils. His has to look away, at the ceiling then, and his teeth grit so hard there's a sound of enamel crushing. He gives an angry scream, punching the wall so hard that if it's those cheap apartments he will go right through it making a hole to the bathroom. His knuckles swell and bleed and he is taking angry huffs of breath, fist trembling with rage. He flips the switch after a few more moments, and slides down the wall, palming his face.
There's a little squeak at all the yelling. November, always so strong, reduced to something not unlike a mouse. When the lights go off, though, there is movement. Another click, probably of a knife closing. November scoots over in the dark, breathing harshly. "You... can't tell anyone, Niko," she says softly. "You can't."
Blazing-Angel can't help but smirk faintly when he watches Nikodin's reaction. The silent, unseen audience to his blind rage, the angel continues to observe smugly and lets his fingers drum on his forearms with interest.
Nikodin is trembling with a rage and weakness. Really, he should pull himself together, and when November gets close he takes a breath through his nose, wiping at his eyes angrily, and looks to her. They are bloodshut, dark sockets, wells of guilt. "Baby girl. Ah'm so sorry." Hands on knees, he sits up, scooting closer to November in turn. The darkness is a good cover for pain, for both of them. "It's me, it's because of me. Ah don't know how to kill him... ah don't even know how to avenge ya... Ah'm a fucking failure, piece of shit. SHIT!" He yells the last bit, though quiets down as he sees her fragile state. "S... salright, s'alright. Baby we gota get you to a doctor. Ah know someone good, no hospital if ya don't wanna. You come 'long now, ya go with me, we'll get you all fixed up... ah'll find ya a place ta stay.. c'mon baby, we'll find a way, ah won't tell no one who will live ta know it." He shrugs out of his own jacket, kneeling beside Nova to put it around her. Underneath - he is fully strapped with weapons, a few smoke bombs, tazer, two heavy pistols, what seems to be some sort of underarmor peeking from beneath his shirt. He takes one of his heavy pistols, and hands it to Nova, barrel pointed to himself, handle to her.
November shakes her head. "No. I know someone who can fix it. Someone else who can make me forget. I just can't... Otto can't see this. It'll drive him crazy. I know a couple of people." She takes the coat and wraps it around her. She pushes the gun away. She doesn't want that. She takes a deep breath that cracks a little bit. "I let him do it, Niko. I wanted him to do it." Her voice cracks. "And he did. ANd the more it hurt, the more I wanted it. I..." She curls up under the jacket, actually pulling it up over her face, hiding beneath it. Not only is she short, but she's tiny. This works pretty well for hiding herself.
Niko just grits his teeth, listening to how he did it. His knuckles are pale from his fists churning so hard, blood trickling from one of the hands there. It seems like he doesn't mind the pain, if anything it gives him respite from that other kind of nagging pain. It's a bit like being violated *through* November. It would have been way easier if it was him. "God.. ah want him to dee." He breathes, words shaking with menace. He cautiousely puts a hand on November's shoulder. And if she won't flinch away, he'll hold her against his side, rocking a little while she hides beneath his already large jacket. He looks to the ceiling. "If there's a god, Nova, ah want him to dee too." And back to her. "No one will know, Nova, not from me. This all happened... because of me, it's not ma place ta tell anyone. Ya tell him yerself when yer ready. This..... this here is War, Nova. Ya know ah love you? Jus' hold on a little, forget the rest, but hold on ta that hatred. Hatred drowns out all pain. Yer in this too now."
November nods just a little, leaning over against Niko. She isn't crying. Not even a sniffle. She's shaking head to toe, though. "I need to take a shower. Will you just... will you just stay out here while I clean up? Please? I just need to get all this... stuff... off me. All of it."
"Baby ah'll be with ya till yer safe, an' that might be forever." Niko says, taking Nova's head and pressing his lips against her temple. He rises then, and helps her rise too since she's shaking so bad, takes her arm around his shoulder and slowly walks her to the said shower. He flips on the light inside, because it's safer that way, and looks at her again, trying real hard not to show how much it hurts to look at her. Well, there is always willpower for that. There's a thought there... he goes to open his mouth but shuts it, just shaking his head against it. Looking at the floor, he voices it however glumly "Ya could... we could get him the legal way, Nova. He'd be behind bars. The evidence.. if ya take a shower it'll be washed away. But ah know you don't wanna do that.. but that... that's a way." He says frowning. You lose one Willpower
Blazing-Angel has to suppress a laugh at that, lips pressed together with amusement as he shakes his head and facepalms.
Lights go on. November's still wrapped up in the coat. "No," she says simply. "No one, Niko. No one." She looks up at him. Her face is scratched all to hell. Not still bleeding, but that might explain the blood under her fingernails. She shrugs out of the jacket and turns toward the shower, just staring at it for a moment. She lifts her shirt over her head, making a little pained noise. She doesn't seem to care about her own modesty. That's kind of shot to hell. She just wants the shower. Her back, her sides, even her throat are covered in bruises. She carefully leans forward, one hand on the wall, to squirm out of a pair of shorts that hang on her. Not hers. Maybe one of Whiskey's old outfits. More bruises all along her back and legs. She flips on the water, doesn't check for hot or cold (it's cold) and steps in under the spray.
He nods, to the no-one part. Then, he blinks as November undresses. Though before he turns away, he notes the extent of damage dealt upon her. He does turn, however, eyes blazing, a savage expression on his face. He leaves the door open, and just slides down the frame, back to Nova, to stand guard, his weapon drawn. The door's open so she can see his back. But all Niko sees are her bruises, even without looking. He takes out his phone, and begins to write a text to that blocked number. Maybe it will go through, maybe it won't.
<Phone> (Text to Foster) What you did to her, I will do to you
The curtain is drawn closed and there are normal shower sounds. It seems to take forever, until every drop of the hot water is long gone, before the curtain finally opens. November grabs a towel and pulls it around her, squeezing her way out of the shower, clinging to the wall for support. She's still shivering. "I have clothes. Somewhere. I need them. And then we need to talk." Cold November. Too much time to think. She's grown angry. Which is probably good.
Niko looks back over his shoulder, then rises, sheaths his heavy pistol, and goes to rummage through her closet. He fetches out a pair of comfy sweats, a t-shirt of some sort, a hoody, socks and panties, and grabs her tennis shoes or anything comfortable and sporty looking. Returning, he places the clothes on the toilet lid and resumes his post, back to November, though standing now. He likes the sound of anger in her voice. His own expression is riddled with a now-contained fury, just bubbling at the pit of his stomach. "what's up?" Other than the... raped by a demon thing.
November pulls her clothes on, cursing, hissing with pain. Her face is a mess. She doesn't bother to even try to comb out her hair. It's all matted and tangled. She drops a towel over her head to half way dry it, then pulls it back into a ponytail. She makes the mistake of looking into the mirror and then there is glass shattering. That's seven years bad luck. And her hand is bleeding. Yeah. She's a little mad. "What did you do to him? What the FUCK? YOu tell me and you tell me RIGHT fucking now. I deserve to know." Believe it or not, her voice is calm, totally cool.
Niko looks back at the sound of glass shattering. He grunts, and goes inside, opening the mirror where medicines and utencils are usually kept. Or he starts rummaging for the usual... alcohol, bandages, guaze.. neosporin. "Sit down girl." He tells her, frowning, over to the couch or someplace outside the bathroom. Whether she does or not, he goes to tend her wounds, sitting near and dabbing cotton pads and running hydrogen peroxide over her knuckles, then, bandaging them. Nevermind his own puffy swollen bloodied hand. "Ah didnae do shit. He thought ah was a faggot of some sort or somethin' an ah didn't take kindly ta that. Jus' a few bad words. Come to think of it ah mentioned ah symbol in his ... book. T'wasn't even me job. Ah jus' looked into it out'a curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat, ah guess, but not this one. Now the fucker's wagin' war. Ah dun care what he does ta me Nova. He hit where it hurt. In the military this would be civilian bombin' an that means ah gota nuke him. Ah'm doin research in me free time. Fuckin... demons. Fuck. That's not my specialty at *all* an' the rest are in recovery or trainin. Now they got me looking into this Fuck an it's hard ta stay cool 'round him. Especially now, ya get? He made this personal an' this was all jus' a job." Usual stuff in the medicine cabinet. November's jaw twitches slightly, but other than that, there is no reaction from her as he speaks. "You clearly asked the wrong questions or made the wrong assuumptions and you pissed him off." She isn't bleeding too badly, but the knuckles are swollen. November hits HARD for such a little girl. "Who? Who's fucking THEY? I mean, I KNOW... but.. " SHe takes a breath and lets it out, her eyes blazing. Almost afire. "If he had told me to kill myself, I would have, Niko. Without hesitation. I WANTED this. Do you understand?"
He grunts in response. It's hard to get his head around. Foster's never made him do anything like that, but he certainly beleives her given his glum look. "He crossed the line with ya. Maybe before this could all have been resolved as an apology, but he's not a POI anymore. Ah'll be gatherin a team now. Ya know ah don't even know why 'they' still kep me. 'They' are very capable with their fuckin... instruments." He says, frowning. "If ah get out an don't remember shit, it's cuz ah got booted. Better not know, Nova, if ya know and they know ya know, yer' in. An if yer in, there's no way out. Ah seen these others with scrambled brains." There's no shudder, but there are ghosts in his eyes at that. "Don't wanna be one. Ah'll ask ta be a grunt on this one. Don't got the power, all I got is the guns. There's people who can do more, break the... whatever fuckin' spell he's usin. Honestly ah dunnae if ah'll be allowed. They're real careful. Might have ta do this under the radar, jus some folk ah know. Fuck, Nova, ah thought ya told me he was alroight? The Fuck?" He frowns. "That fuckin' rapist petty fuckin' criminal, probably can't get shit of their own free will... Fuckin... coward. Ah really wish he left ya out of this, woulda been a noble war, but he sullied it. Nae, what he did, Nova? It was jus' ta piss me off, ta rattle me. Well he did. An now it's not gonna be jus' me. Ah'ma take the entire fuckin' organization against him if ah can."
"He came over here to talk to me. About you. Asking questions. Then next thing I know, I'm begging for it. I'm all over him." She shudders. Because Ew. Foster. That hair. Blech. ".. You can't fight him. I don't think anyone can." She takes a deep breath and winces, putting her hand over her belly, leaning forward a little bit. Blazing-Angel's hair is immaculate. Fuck you guys.
Niko touches Nova's shoulder when she leans forward, frowning. He looks at her, leaning closer to make eye contact. "Don't ever think that. Don't give up. Ah know people who can. They can arm me with knowledge. They got gadgets. But those outside, my friends? Those on My side, on our side... let's jus say ah don't exactly see ah to ah with the Institute." He says, patting her shoulder bro-like. "We'll get him. An ah'll make him pay. Or hell maybe ah can give ya a field day with him, an a broom handle. Make a video, yea?" He grins though it's not exaclty a good grin. There's a sadist in there yet. "Now how bout ya get yer shit, an we go hit the store fer a mornin after pill and a beer or twelve on the way ta yer doc?"
November shakes off his hand and takes a couple of deep breaths, then sits up and leans back again. "I'm not going to remember any of this, Niko. I'm going to make goddamn sure of it. None of it. Not a bit. So anything you wanna get off your chest, now's the fucking time for it." She lays her hand over her belly and rubs lightly. There was a pretty awful bruise there. Kicked, punched? who the fuck knows.
Niko nods. "Ah hope ya can hang on to the hatred. Ya know, knowing is better than not. Ya'll be ready if it happens again. An if it happens again, ya need a fuckin Houdini." He says, looking at his busted knuckles. "Ya know.. there's more ta the world than vampires. There's fairies and sharktits an' demons an' werecreatures an' shit. There's also Houdinis. They're the... strongest little faggot bunch. Ah dun like em. Truth is, ah fear wha they can do. Ah dun fuck with em.. an' me people... contain em. Warp em, use em, or destroy em if they cannae. Well. Ah don't even *know* wha they can do, but they warp reality, sugar. So ah dun see wha they couldn't warp ah fuckin' demon. We wouldn't even kill him, if ah can convince em. Nae, it'd be worse, fer what he did. It'd be the lab station. Experiments. Gives me tha fuckin' shivers. Ah dun wanna say ah wouldn't wish that on an enemy but... nae, on this one? Ah don't care. Ah know ya won't remember but it doesn't make what he did like it didn't happen. He still committed ah crime, a petty one, usin' his powers. That's a breach of portocol, and we may initialize the process of containment." He quotes something very technocratic at the end there without his Scotish accent, sort of mocking, but sort of... really for real, his english so pure it might be scary. "Or who knows, I bring this up to them and they just put me in a cell for disobeying. Fuck. For all I know my boss might want Foster as an ally. Not on my watch, baby." He looks at her, wincing at the injuries. Then... reaches inside his jacket, taking out a... small vial full of red liquid. "Drink this. Jus' this once. It'll help the pain." He hands it over to her.
November looks at the vial and frowns. She takes it in hand and rolls it around in her fingers, then pops the top and upends the stuff. Can't hurt, right? She's already pretty fucked up and this shit HURTS. She licks her lips and smacks a couple of times, then burps. Classy. Real classy. She's pretty numb right now, emotionally. "Mages. You work with mages. Is that what you're telling me? Like the reality police. I know what they are."
Niko's eyes widen when November starts to talk about it so openly. He brings his hands up and gestures down with his palms. Quiet. "Jesus woman.. keep it down yea? I don't like... ah don't like ta mention it so openly. Ya never know when they're watchin." When November drinks the blood so easily, his lip quirks a little. "You been huntin' all these years an ya never.. tried it? Fuck, missy, ah sure am glad ya won't remember this." He says, pulling out another vial and... upending it himself. He takes the empty bottles and stores them in a compartment inside his leather jacket made just for those. A third vial, labeled 'P' is handed over to her. "That one is from a strong one... see? P is fer potence. Ya drink enough o' that shit ya can become their fuckin' servant. Builds a bond. Don't worry, yer never gonna meet em. Always drink from a different source, ah say." It dilates his eyes and it's as if he's had a deep puff of a painkiller. And he likes it, though he'd limited himself enough for all this not to be too obvious. "Drugs are bad, mmkay?"
November shakes her head. "Fuck them. Let them watch. If they're fucking watching then they know what the fuck just happened to me." She runs her tongue along the roof of her mouth and shudders. Good shudder or bad shudder, it's hard to tell. "No, I've never. Fucking ever. And I won't do it again. And I've never even been curious." Guilty eyeball to Nikodin. SHame. But she isn't going to remember this, so she can get it out. " She pushes the drink away and shakes her head. "You should stop. You REALLY should. I could make you disappear, Niko. LIke POOF. Just gone and they wold never find you."
Niko just laughs at that, a merry chuckle, a little high, nevermind that November is all bruised up to hell and back. But the idea tickles him. Just disappear like that. "Ahh shit lady yer great." He says, grinning, palming his cheek and splaying his fingers over his mouth and jaw. "Ya don't know the half of it do ya? How the hell can ya hunt em an' not know? Damn, Whiskey shoulda done a better job thar. Lazy bastard." He says with a grin. When she declines the second vial... oh what the hell. He takes that too. And then... "Watch this..." He says, and moves, *fast* - to the fridge, and back, with a.. well, whatever alcohol she may have had in there, handing them beer or tequila or whatever she had. "Cool huh? Now check this out..." He says, and he gets off the couch, and begins to lift it, one handed, with November on it, till it's about halfway off the ground on one side.
Niko just laughs at that, a merry chuckle, a little high, nevermind that November is all bruised up to hell and back. But the idea tickles him. Just disappear like that. "Ahh shit lady yer great." He says, grinning, palming his cheek and splaying his fingers over his mouth and jaw. "Ya don't know the half of it do ya? How the hell can ya hunt em an' not know? Damn, Whiskey shoulda done a better job thar. Lazy bastard." He says with a grin. When she declines the second vial... oh what the hell. He takes that too. And then... "Watch this..." He says, and moves, *fast* - to the fridge, and back, with a.. well, whatever alcohol she may have had in there, handing them beer or tequila or whatever she had. "Cool huh? Now check this out..." He says, and he gets off the couch, and begins to lift it, one handed, with November on it, till it's about halfway off the ground on one side. And by the time he's back at the couch, that knife is there, in her hand and she's balancing precariously on that couch, back into full alert mode. "Did he send you? Oh, my fucking god! What did he do to you?" Panic, real panic, and she's scrambling over the back of the couch, moving toward a wall, sliding her back up against it. "What the FUCK, NIKO?"
Niko's playful grin dies at November's reactiona and he quicklly sets down the couch. He lifts both hands defensively, looking at her with worry in his eyes. "Jesus NO! Christ, Nova I fucking hate his guts! It's jus' the blood! Don't ya get it? Ah was just showin' what it can do. It's the blood!" He says, taking both of his pistols from their sheaths, and placing them to the floor. "Here, jus' feel safer or somethin', Fuck Nova that fuckin' hurts that you'd even consider that kinda shite." He kicks the pistol to her, one at a time, the safety is on so it won't just blow.
November wipes at her mouth and spits a couple of times. Too late now. Maybe just a bad reaction. "It hurts? It hurts that I would consider that kind of shit? LOOK AT ME, NIKO." SHe reaches up and slaps her swollen face. HARD. "Look what he did to me. He seemed like an okay guy. ANd he DID THIS." SLAP SLAP SLAP! It breaks open a scabbed over scratch and the last slap sounds a little wet. She kicks the pistol away. Not like she REALLY believes that he's on HIS side. "How do I know? How do I KNOW. Fuckin'... we're supposed to be FIGHTING the monsters, not BECOMING them." SHe knew about his little secret of course, but the blame has to go somewhere. Somewhere tangible. November has partially disconnected.
"Stop!" Niko growls when November slaps her face, approaching her in a driven stride. "Stop that!" He goes to grab her bloodied wrist, looking at her with a mixture of fierceness, confusion and guilt. Then he brings her into an embrace, however forced, cradling her head and holding her till she is no longer kicking if she does. Her blood on his shoulder. "Hey...." quiet, gentle. "Hey. Ah know. Ah know. This is on me, Nova. You'll forget, but ah'll always remember. Yer my light, baby, ya remind me what ah should strive for. Keep me in check. Ah've fallen, but yer' still standin' strong, no matter what he put you through. Yer my hero."
Blazing-Angel wrinkles his nose and shakes his head as he observes, face an expression of distaste. He gives November an expression while thumbing towards Nikodin, silently saying, 'This guy? What a rube, am I right?'
November stops pretty quickly once she's forced into a hug and she just sort of slumps against him. There's some blood. Not much. "Not anyone's fucking hero," she grumps, taking a deep breath. "Go on. Get out of here. I just. I need a minute. Then I'm going to call my friend and he's going to fix my fucking face."
Nikodin nods, squeezing Nova's shoulders lightly. He's careful with her, since she's all bruised up. He looks her in the eyes and gives her a little 'reassuring shake,' because he's very good at situations like this... Not. "It's gonna be alroight, yea? Jus... remember. Ya never know if it could happen again. An if it does... ya gotta be ready. Ah don't wanna bring up the possibility of it but... if yer friend wipes ya, ya need ta have some kinda proof it's happened before. So... write me a note. Yer handwritin an all. Sign it, what happened to ya. Give it here now or send it ta me, but ya gotta do it. Precautions an shit. This happens again, ah show ya the letter, an' we both go to war. Otherwise ah'm leavin ya out'a this. Ah won't risk ya twice." He says. "I'll write something out. Before the memory thing. If he'll even do it." SHe takes a breath and shakes her head jut a little bit. "It won't happen again. I'll make sure I've got a trigger or something. SOMETHING. They can do that kind of thing. But yeah..." She gives him a push. "GO."
He nods, gathering his... guns first before he leaves. "Yer a trooper." He calls out to Nova, eyeing her like a fellow soldier, eyes narrowed, no pity, just respect. And then he goes, closing the door after himself. The door leading outside of the apartments he kicks open in a rage, gets on his bike, and rides off.
End Log
