2014.01.18:The Kids

The Kids
The Kids are alright. For now.
IC Date	January 18, 2014
IC Time	3:00 P.M.
Players	Velok (Storyteller) and November and Gwydion
Location	Maple Park Playground, Prospect, CA
Prp/Tp	And So It Begins
Spheres	Mage and Mortal+

Log

(Enter November and Velok)

---

School's out, and it's a lovely day when Velok and November arrive in the playground, hand in hand. He makes absolutely no effort to push her away when her hand interlocks with his, fingers enclosing around her. He turns slightly red, welcoming the happy embrace. They had stopped at Prospect Roasters on their way from Images and Dreams, Velok rushing in and then coming out with a bag of sunflower seeds. That clue mixed with the park could give a pretty decent interpretation of what he had planned. The park seems to be the first place elementary school kids went to after their classes let out, so the playground is full of little'uns running around, playing various games of tag and swings and slides and what not. There are a few parents lounging around at benches and what not, watching their spawn, but many of the kids go unattended, having stopped at the park on their way home to thankfully let out a lot of energy. It's peaceful, it's serene, and Velok leads November towards a part near the playground, but far enough so that the wooden table isn't occupied by kids.

November is content to stroll along with him, her fingers laced with his, moving along at a nice little leisurely pace. She doesn't ask questions. She's actually fairly certain that she will find out things in due course and it won't be some awful surprise like a herd of angry deer or something. She moves where she's guided and then looks up at him curiously, ready for her surprise.

Velok takes out the bag of sunflower seeds, laying it on the bench. It's decently sized, but Velok doesn't eat any himself. He's not opposed if November reaches over to take some. "I like seeing you out and about." He comments quietly. They're positioned on the same side of the bench so that he can sit next to her, his body resting lightly pressed up against her own. His eyes dart around, watching, finding what he's searching for and he stares. She might catch him looking towards the small animals playing at a nearby tree. "Being cooped up in that apartment...can't possibly be good for your sanity." The children are continuing to play, the raucous laughter and happy glee sounds filling the air with joy. One of the kids in a game of tag pushes a little too hard and a girl falls to the ground, resting there longer than she should before hopping back up. False alarm. "That was mean Billy!" She says as she chases back after Billy. Another observation of the park would note all the adults in attendence. Several mom's, of course, two dad's that all happily are attending to their children when the kids run back to them, then run back to the playground. The only thing that might cause some pause are two men sitting at a bench. They're both wearing winter jackets and hats, their eyes focusing on the playground. None of the kids seem to be running to them or seeking their approval like the other adults.

THOSE are the people that November looks out for. The ones with the heavy coats and the hats. THOSE are the monsters. She is happy to lean there against him, her hands resting in her lap, watching and waiting. The animals. Aw. Watch them chase each other. The kids... meh. She hasn't thought much about them either way for the most part. Some are cute. They're all noisy. But those men.... November still has her knife. She wouldn't leave the house without it. Ever. Never. She watches the men from the corner of her eye and nods, sipping at her drink. "It's nice to be outside when I'm not just using it to cross from one place to the other." Her gaze wanders again and lock on the men over there. She gives Velok a little nudge and dips her head ever so slightly in their direction

Velok seems to be pretty focused on looking at those adorable little critters. Aren't they so cute. They're squirrels! Velok's secret love. Well, not so secret. He starts to spread out the seeds a little bit, making nice neat little piles on the bench. November gets to do all the observations, all the watching, and she did note the right thing. Maybe. "Well, it's like you said. Getting better bit by bit." Velok seems extraordinarily pleased that she is. Only when she nudges him does he snap out of his trance, those blue eyes trailing down towards her. She motions towards the men and he turns, very casually looking in their direction. One of the most important things taught to people that watch other people is to note the clothing. Bikini's on a beach? Normal. Light clothing on a warm day? Normal. Heavy clothing on a warm day? Not normal, and these men are very much not normal. They don't move from the bench, their arms folded across their chest. Whether theygive any indication that November is watching, they don't tip it, continuing to focus their eyes on the playground. "That wasn't mean at all!" Little Billy yells back, the words barely able to be distinguished over the normal playcalling of the children. It's only because the kids are near enough to Velok and November's bench that they may be able to distinguish it at all. "Suzie you're just jealous because of how many people came to my birthday party." Billy and Suzie, little blonde girl and little blonde boy. Siblings? Maybe. There are a few other kids in the game, but those two seem to be the ringleaders of it. "I don't even care!" Suzie shouts back, increasing her efforts to tag Billy. "No one likes McDonalds anyway! Mom says for /my/ birthday we're going to SeaWorld!" The children might be noticed, but if November is watching the men instead, she might notice something else. Out of all the children in the park, Billy and Suzie seem to be where their eyes keep wandering.

November is a watcher. She sees shit. She notices shit. She's good at her shit not being noticed that she's watching other people shit.. er... other people's shit. Her eyes pass beyond the men and she scoots over, resting her head on Velok's shoulder, then peers up at him, only her eyes go just past his nose, rather than up to his eyes. "Something hinky," she murmurs, reaching up to brush a little bit of nothing from his face. "Keep an eye on the kids. I'll watch the men, okay?" She leans up to kiss him lightly on the lips, just the most loving and caring of gestures.

November's urgency presses on Velok, making him confused, curious, and a tiny bit worried. It was supposed to be a nice day in the park, with a surprise, and now it's turned into this. Watching the people watching the children. Velok continues to sort out the seeds into tiny little fresh piles, though his eyes are now much more on the scene itself. "Kids? Like...all of them? That's a shit ton of kids." His eyes scan the playground as he tries to find out which specific ones, and they focus on Billy and Suzie again. "That's...weird." Velok whispers, nudging November back. "I swear I've seen those kids before..." His mind tries to remember, but seems to be failing. All kids look the same. Maybe they're one of Orlando's bajillion kids. Or maybe they're just a familiar face. Nothing seems to be happening for a couple minutes. The men don't move much, just watch, which means Velok and November don't move much, just watch. Suddenly the passiveness is broken, and Man-A reaches into his pocket, pulling out a cellphone. He flips it open and starts to talk to it, but is too far out of range to be heard over the raucous laughter of children. Man-B's head starts turning, looking at more than just the children now. He's scanning the park itself, his eyes dragging over the parents now. Those eyes linger over each person, each parent, seemingly searching to find out if they're being watched. Those eyes eventually fall on Velok and November's table, but thanks to November's stealthy ability to observe without being seen, they go unnoticed. Man-B stands up and starts to wander around the park a little, his destination becoming quite clear soon as he reaches a pair of backpacks, one light blue and one light pink. He takes one more glance around and kneels down next to them, casually unzipping one bag and sliding something into it, all while Man-A talks on that phone.

November watches all this go down. First, she's smooching on Velok, then she's nuzzling his ear, then when they move, she's got her back to him, curled up against him. It's all just a sweet little day in the park. That's all.. Soon as man B is putting those things in the backpacks, though, November goes a little tense. "Mmmmmmm," she purrs happily, nosing up against him, then her voice drops low. Low. LOW. "Can you tell what he just put in there?" It's a soft little whisper against his ear. MIGHt actually be a little bit distracting, to be honest.

Velok can't tell, not at all, but he does allow the casual subterfuge to keep themselves diguised go on. "I was watching the kids." Velok says flat out. The kids hadn't done anything beyond what they were doing, so Velok didn't pay much attention to it. His eyes do drag off the kids to look towards the two men now. "I do know them, though. They were at a birthday party, I saw them in McDonalds after..." Velok falls silent, and his posture tenses. He now pays much more attention to the men. Luckily, Velok's added attention to the men doesn't draw any notice from the pair, but their PDA does draw some attention from the parents; along with frowned looks. Man-B rotates around the pairing of backpacks, kneeling down again. This brings him perfectly facing November and Velok, and allows November to get a much, much better look. The man unzips the pink backpack, and slips in a small, circular object with a red, possibly blinking light on it. When his job is complete, Man-B shows the first amount of emotion from the two, a faint smile. He stands up and walks back towards the bench, just around the time that Billy and Suzie start getting closer to their backpacks. "Mom wants us to come home." Suzie can be heard saying, though Billy very obviously wants to stay. Suzie is having none of it though, reaching her backpack and lifting it up, at the same time as Man-B sits back down on the bench. Billy finally relents, lifting up his backpack too and slipping it on his back. The two start walking on the sidewalk path around the playground, taking them very close to November and Velok's bench. This also has the unfortunate negative of the two men now actively staring at their bench.

(New Scene Pose and Enter Gwydion)

---

It's around 3:30PM at the Maple Park Playground, on a rather warm, cloudless day. With elementary school being let out, the park is bristling with small children running around playing on the various equipment and various games. There are numerous parents dotting around on the various benches watching their kids, but many of the kids have simply stopped here on the way of walking home. One such pair is Billy and Suzie, who have just finished a wonderful game of tag and have picked up their backpacks, blue for him, pink for her. Billy/Suzie have started to walk along the sidewalk around the playground towards Velok and November. A quick observation of the park doesn't lead to much out of the ordinary, except for two couples. One such couple is Velok and November, sitting on a bench on one side of the playground. They seem to be close to each other, on the same side of the bench, staring towards the playground. On the bench is small piles of sunflower seeds. The other pair of interesting people are two men on the other side of the playground, sitting side by side on a bench. They're dressed in rather heavy winter coats and hats, and have eyes fixated on Billy and Suzie. Man-A has a cellphone raised and pressed to his ear, talking away at it, while Man-B is paying close attention to the two children.

November watches all this casually, snuggled up to Velok. Once things are dropped into the backpacks, November leans in and whispers in Velok's ear, "Chase me." And then she leans in and BITES him on the neck like.... REALLY hard and hops to her feet. She ends up smacking right into Man A. "Ooops... Sorry."

Gwydion has just finished a meeting elsewhere in the park, a 'consultant' often takes meetings at strange times in strange places and Maple Park and its playground are a block from his office and his favorite coffee shop so winding up here is not at all unusual. He pauses when he sees November and Velok together in motion and observes quietly for a moment, following the attention directed towards the coat and hat clad pair. Frowning slightly Gwydion begins to approach closer with his hands in his pockets.

"Chase you? I think you're taking the playground part of all of this way too seriously." Velok quips, though press up off the table he does. He doesn't seem to be putting much effort into chasing November though, not nearly enough to catch them, his attention much more focused on the two kids themselves. "McDonalds? No....yes?" Velok makes no notice of Gwydion at all, but he does come up closer to November as she collides with Man-A. Hooman! That's the wonderful nice way to describe what the two men are. Neither are shivering and only Man-A is sweating lightly. When November and Gwydion start to get closer the conversation from the cellphone can be heard a little more. "Are you sure?" Man-A says in a rather husky voice. "It's planted but if you really want we can deliver the package." November colliding with Man-A causes him to startle, and he drops the phone on his lap. Both of their eyes are dark, that familiar type of cold that says 'suspicious', but they're both just regular mortals. The hats seem to be concealing buzz-cuts. Man-B only glances at November and scowls, returning his gaze to the two kids. "Yea, yea, whatever." November gets a response, the man trying to push her back up off him and on her way. Billy and Suzie both are continuing to walk, deciding to cut off the path and start walking on the grass away from the playground.There's a little more! Now that the both of them are getting closer and actively looking, it's easier to tell the stature of the two men. They're /built/. Not like superstar weightlifters, but it's pretty obvious that they have potentially done some time in prison. Right below Man-B's eye is a teardrop shaped tattoo.

That's fine. That's great! HUMAN! November sees Gwydion and makes a point to look at him, then to the men, then to the kids and she runs RIGHT up to Gwydion, grinning her head off. "Hey you! How you been!" She reaches out and gives him a super hug, whether he likes it or not and whispers in his ear. "Those two big dudes just put trackers in those little kids' backpacks and I'm about to do SOMETHING. Put those witchy powers of yours to good use."

Gwydion has been fairly certain that November didn't like him much but maybe if it's because kids are in danger. He hugs her back and glances over at the mentioned backpacks and mutters "Omnis falsitas, qu?cunque ex voluntate." shaping the patterns of signal energy around the back packs into a shell of obscurement.

Velok tries to stay away, the distraction working out flawlessly. November runs off towards Gwydion and Velok smiles. He doesn't wave, that would be weird, and instead he leaves November alone and walks back towards the original table with the sunflower seeds. It brings him closer towards the children, and nearly directly in the way between the two men and the children, should they end up choosing to get up. The cellphone isn't retrieved until Man-A is sure November is out of sight, but he does bring it back to his ear. His lips don't move, but his eyes follow November as she rushes off, falling on Gwydion. Sorry Gwydion, stealth doesn't work if someone runs right up to you. Gwydion apparently isn't an immediate threat, and only gets that glance. The phone is brought back down, and Man-A nods once to Man-B. That's apparently the signal, as the two men immediately stand up. They're human, so neither of them have any awareness of Gwydion's magical magic, nor do they actually reach into any pockets to pull out any device one might commonly associate with the tracker. The effect does work, however, and the trackers seem to be going through a tunnel. Or underwater, or are apparently on the moon, as no signal is being sent out. Whomever might be monitoring the devices is probably pretty upset right now, but it's apparently not the two men, who notice no difference. It's very obvious that their path is straight towards Billy and Suzie, but all the normal parents in the park don't seem to notice anything strange at all going on, so no one tries to stop them. Billy and Suzie are still walking away from the playground towards a little path in the trees. They seem to be happy and playing around, but Suzie kneels down to tie her shoe, and Billy hovers next to her waiting.

Dumb ass kids. Get your ass up and fucking pay ATTENTION. Little douchebags with their snotty noses and arguing back and forth about stupid shit. There are BAD PEOPLE in this world! GODDAMN! November isn't quite sure what to do about this. Back in the old days <A few weeks ago> She would have gone up to guard the kids while Whiskey wailed on one of them, then he would be knocked unconscious and she would magic them into oblivion. She wasn't QUITE sure how that would work with Gwydion. She looks up to him for guidance.

Gwydion narrows his eyes at the pursuit of the kids by the two pretty obvious thugs. Well obvious to him, but he does this sort of thing for a living. That includes moving to obstruct their approach and squaring off pretty obviously. Not raising alarm or making a scene but saying with body language, that he's guarding those kids from any shenanigans Sweaty or Chill might have in mind.

Oh! That works. Fo shizzle. If he's ready to back her, then November is totally on board with that. She places herself next to Gwydion - which is probably fucking hilarious, since neither one of them are very big, and November isn't much biggger than the kids themselves.

Velok isn't actually doing very much at all. He's not out of the loop, oh no. The situation is quite clear to him. He even has that pen out and placed gingerly on the table. He's watching the men more, but he does keep glancing to Gwydion and November. He's there though, totally, if shit hits the...sky. The kids though, oh the kids. They are dumb. So, so dumb. They're kids though, so expecting them to do much more than be dumb would be pretty ludicrous. Everything is fluffy clouds, adorable kittens, and pretty rainbows to them. There are bad, bad people in this world, and the two men now on their way are two of them. The men move past Velok's table and onto the grass when Gwydion and November are now standing in the way. To the rest of the playground, nothing out of the ordinary is happening. To Billy and Suzie, they either don't know or don't care about the current standoff happening. The two men notice though. November and Gwydion standing there, a really really lopsided and small wall, grab their full attention, and they stop 20 feet away. The laughter and merriment from the children frame this otherwise potentially violent scene. The two men don't say anything as they square up, though Man-B definitely looks to Man-A. They're both relatively the same 5'10 height, and a careful observation of their posture shows that they aren't just normal, regular street thugs. No, these are advanced thugs. "Oh look, it's Little Bitch and her Daddy." Man-A says, those dark eyes staring at November and Gwydion. They don't do anything hostile, nor do they open those coats, but they stand there and stare. Suzie's shoes are tied! And she did it all by herself! She stands back up and the two kids start wandering towards the path again.

Gwydion smirks at the comment of the advanced thugs (tm, now with snarky insult action) and shakes his head slowly as he says calmly, making solid eye contact with the one that spoke "I don't know what your boss has in mind, and I know neither of you 'teppisti' are callin this play, but I don't really care. Less you can convince me that you're their ham fisted security detail you're not gettin one step closer to those kids. Not. One."

Gwydion's threat seems to have worked, as the two men don't make any further movements towards the children. Finally, they each turn their heads to look at the other, then turn completely around and walk away. They're walking smooth and calm, but their pace gets quicker the farther away. There's a choice now, to do nothing, to follow the thugs, or to follow the children, and the group chooses the latter. November rushes forward and thinks of a clever way to stop the kids, while Gwydion and Velok sneakily extract the tracking devices from both of the kids backpacks. The kids smile and stroll away, safe. For now.