01-24-2020, 04:17 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-24-2020, 05:44 PM by Jay Carpenter.)
Mindless cartoons that once occupied a child's utmost deadpan concentration again numbed Jay's consciousness. A couple episodes of ridiculous violence between two animated, eternal enemies, scrubbed away at least 45 minutes of time. Until a knock at the door jolted him awake. The song-song catchyness of the show's theme blared unacknowledged while Jay sprang from bed, towel billowing with melodramatic motion. In seconds his back was pressed to the wall, carefully listening for indicators of attack. When none came, he realized his wallet had spewed an alert.
Package delivered, it read.
A glance through the peephole confirmed it. The drone was almost out of sight by the time he opened the door, discovering a box on their doorstep.
His heart rate returned to normal a few minutes later as he ripped apart the box, upending its contents on the bed. A spare change of clothes, generic and without even so much as a brand label on the tag. A grey v-neck shirt was slipped on. It didn't fit the best, particularly around the shoulders, but it obscured the veiny remnants of Placaso's devices (and Jay's failure to resist them).
His previously worn jeans and boots completed the basics. Despite the aesthetic, the most important was a soft-shell all terrain jacket, the kind not out of place among hikers or ranchers. It certainly wouldn't stand out where they were going. The muted green was a loose-fit and had a variety of pocket options. Most importantly, it would obscure the sidearm and blades he intended to carry like a straight up ninja.
Something about being dressed, clean, and armed was re-invigorating. He was working at the mini-table in the corner of the hotel room, tapping commands into the wallet, by the time Natalie returned. His glance hovered as though he was about to say something, but whatever was on the tip of his mind was banished from immediate thought.
He was blunt with his plans: "I'm going to chat with every single scumbag between here and the end of the continent until one of them gives up Amengual. I have no real plan. No powers. We're essentially cut off from both our empires, and my main source of information is dead." A flicker touched his eyes as he mentioned Axel, "So the odds are definitely in our favor." He grinned thoughtfully, "What do you want to do first?" he asked Natalie.
Package delivered, it read.
A glance through the peephole confirmed it. The drone was almost out of sight by the time he opened the door, discovering a box on their doorstep.
His heart rate returned to normal a few minutes later as he ripped apart the box, upending its contents on the bed. A spare change of clothes, generic and without even so much as a brand label on the tag. A grey v-neck shirt was slipped on. It didn't fit the best, particularly around the shoulders, but it obscured the veiny remnants of Placaso's devices (and Jay's failure to resist them).
His previously worn jeans and boots completed the basics. Despite the aesthetic, the most important was a soft-shell all terrain jacket, the kind not out of place among hikers or ranchers. It certainly wouldn't stand out where they were going. The muted green was a loose-fit and had a variety of pocket options. Most importantly, it would obscure the sidearm and blades he intended to carry like a straight up ninja.
Something about being dressed, clean, and armed was re-invigorating. He was working at the mini-table in the corner of the hotel room, tapping commands into the wallet, by the time Natalie returned. His glance hovered as though he was about to say something, but whatever was on the tip of his mind was banished from immediate thought.
He was blunt with his plans: "I'm going to chat with every single scumbag between here and the end of the continent until one of them gives up Amengual. I have no real plan. No powers. We're essentially cut off from both our empires, and my main source of information is dead." A flicker touched his eyes as he mentioned Axel, "So the odds are definitely in our favor." He grinned thoughtfully, "What do you want to do first?" he asked Natalie.
Only darkness shows you the light.