Chance Encounter

Chance Encounter
Date of Scene:	27 November 2012
Location:	Manhattan
Synopsis:	Will wondering the streets after the aftermath of the encounter with Leida, meets Belle and is found by his friends who want him to come back
Cast of Characters:	Deidra, Will Sherman, Belle, Mercade Alexander, Rhyme
Tinyplot:	In A New York Minute

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Will Sherman has posed:
Manhattan was quite a large place to get lost. Will has had a few bad days recently...but that day last night. He wasn't sure where to go or do...something had stirred in is heart, something powerful and scarry. Something so bad that it tramatized a friend of his, it had taken it's toll on himself too. He was done shaking, thank god...but now..? He wonders...it's stopped raining, thank goodness...but now. Now what does he go or do? He's for the first time in his long life afraid. Himself, the shadows...hurting people. He feels something in his heart shaking his very core in a way it's never been touched before. The exhausted seventeen year old guy kinda finally sits down on a bench on the road. He's exhausted...maybe it's time to sleep out on the street. He's done it before, hell...he's not called King of the Hobos for nothing. The boy...though, is in ill mood for humor.

His heart is litterally still shaking from what happened.

Belle has posed:
Belle was always grateful for the propensity of the world to shift clothing to something more world-appropriate. Because she would have had no idea what to wear, besides. Even so, Belle was dressed in a modern fashion, if simple. Closed-toed dance shoes with white socks, a white button-down blouse with puff sleeves, a modest blue skirt, and a blue headband with a little bow was her fashion today, a light brown jacket - warm in appearance, and thankfully with a hood against the rain - worn over the rest of her ensemble. And this place! The closest she had ever been to it was Balamb, but even Balamb was not so busy. It did not have so many people, so much action, and noise...!

Part of her was fond for this, it helped her feel as though she could blend in, be part of the crowd more often than not. But it would be far harder to tell here, if the heartless were here.

Hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket, Belle sighs as she steps down the sidewalk, her fascination with the 'cars' having faded after an incident of stepping into the road, proper. Right now, she was looking for a quick place to eat, perhaps to sleep, if this place was still safe...

When she spots the boy. Belle had a certain sense about people, and while she did not know the details, she did feel her heart quiver in sympathy for Will. She pauses, momentarily warring with herself about stepping into the cafe a few more steps down the walk, or going to Will.

And in the end, her heart wins out.

Pulling her hands from her jacket, Belle approaches the bench, albiet with a tentative little step, her eyes going to the road briefly, before they return to him. He could no doubt feel the weight of her gaze upon him, but she was sure that if he turned his eyes to look, he would be greeted with a smile. Regardless of what he did, however, Belle's gentle voice would say, "Hello, my name is Belle. But, are you alright?"

Will Sherman has posed:
Slowly, Will looks up...and he squints. It is like looking at the sun, the strings are completely obscured by a PURE radience coming from Belle...but it's also something...warm. Nestalgic. For a moment he about says someone else's name...but then he stops. He places shades over his eyes, trying to block out the images he see's. Unfortinately...he can't turn off the mystic eyes of fate perception.

He blinks at her for a moment...

"Uh...I.." he looks away. "No. Not really." he says, sighing. "It's hard to explain, and I don't...really think I can explain it in a way that won't make you think I'm either a weirdo, or a horrble monster and send you running away from me." he says, shifting his hat on his head.

"I'm Will though...Will Sherman. They call me the King of the Hobos." he says, with a weak smile. Even when he's down, he's trying to get a laugh.

Deidra has posed:
Monsters yes there are not monsters really. Gargyoles are a perfectly natural species to exist on this world as mucha s humans. But well things happen with humans and other species at times let alone their own kind. Either way Deidra's been out and about trying to find Will she's been a bit concerned for her friend after last night and is out flying about. The rain's brothersome but she can learn to deal with it it feels kinda of nice in a way now where is he? It seems Mercade is not the only one seeking him tonight.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILL!"

Oh god, is that

"WIIIIIIIIIIILL!" Oh, yeah, it's Mercade. He comes running out of an alleyway, looking around through the area. His eyes alight upon Will, and he blinks, nodding, walking towards him and Belle with purpose. "God Will, where have you been? You're scaring me!" He calls. He turns to Belle, smiling as he gives a small bow. "Hello there. I hope he didn't scare you or anything. Names's Mercade Alexander, detective with the Twilight Detective Agency." He flicks a hand and offers a business card to Belle. He studies her for a momnent, his eyes intent... But he simply gets back to smiling, nodding. "I've just been looking for Will here over the last day. What the heck, I haven't seen you or Riku in a while!"

Belle has posed:
Belle was patient; she waits for him to don his glasses and look at her. There - when he did look, she did have a smile on her face, one that grows brighter in spite of the fact that he probably couldn't even see her. And when he starts to speak, he had a dutiful listener in Belle, that smile fading to something more concerned as she nods her head a handful of times. The last thing said, though? Belle cannot help but laugh a bit like that.

"King of the Hobos?" she says, a bit incredulously. She could tell by his tone and smile that it was a joke, and she was going to be a bit playful alongside it. Plucking up the edges of her skirt, she sketches a curtsey, then, and while she had a playful gait to it, there was still that underlying concern in her eyes and expression. "Then what troubles you, your grace?" she asks, canting her head just so to one side. "I've heard, and seen a fair number of odd things these past few days; so I really don't think you'd be a weirdo. As for a horrible monster, are you one? Do you feel like one?" asks Belle.

Of course, that was when the other two come in. While Belle does not quite see Deidra, Mercade is quite effective at drawing her eyes up from Will, looking up towards him. "Hello, but, um, no, it's fine!" she says, glancing from Mercade, to Will, then back again. The offer of the card was odd to her, and her mannerisms reflected that. Glancing to the card, then up to his eyes, Belle tentatively reaches out a hand to grasp the card - not to take it, just hold it, waiting for him to either release it, or draw it back out of her hands. Although a name spoken by him catches her attention: "Riku? Have you seen Riku? Um. The silver-haired young man one?"

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade Alexander lets her keep the card. "Oh God, Will. King of the Hobos is an /honorary/ title. Don't go confusing people!" He sighs. "Sorry ma'am, you must be new to Manhattan.. But it looks like you know how to handle him with the best of them." He laughs.

He gives a two-finger tap to his brow in salute for a moment, and he nods. "Yes. Riku... You know him? He's a friend of mine. He's been missing for the last day ever since we had some trouble with a person that was sort of..." He scratches the back of his head. "Well, it's complicated. He's missing right now, I have no idea where he went."

Will Sherman has posed:
...

Will lowers his head...

"Yeah." he says to Belle and Mercade's question. The tone is...sad, very sad, and he shakes again. Those shakes, Mercade would rememeber. It was all he did when was taken in the other day. "A shadow lord appeared in our office..." he says, his voice raspy, "I tried to drag her away, away from Riku and Mercade." he says, "Then...something.." he says. "SOmething happened. I don't remember anything. Nothing...just darkness." he stands up.

"Dreams...god the dreams. Dreams of destruction...of blood...of carnage..." he says, "Then it all faded...I woke up, in the bed, and I went to eat something. Riku looked...catatonic, I went to try and see what was wrong...and then.."

"Then he just fell out of the bed, curled into a ball and just...he was afraid of me. No...He was terrified of me. He didn't want me near him."

Deidra has posed:
Deidra sees Will, sees Mercade and sighs well she's going to do something dumb but hopefully Belle isn't going to freak the hell out she seemed to be the kind sort from how she was treating Will. She swoops in trying to keep out of siht as she lands and wraps her wings about her before creeping towards the others. "Will, hey, we been looking for you. GOod to see your all right." She then hears what happened with Riku. This is so not good.

Belle has posed:
Belle does take the card, but still uncertain of what to do with it, she flips it in her hand to check the back, before just holding it, brow furrowing at the news of Riku. Belle opens her mouth as if to respond to Mercade, when Will begins to speak, and she turns her eyes in his direction.

The shaking did concern her: Belle reaches out a hand and rests it upon Will's shoulder, if he doesn't fight, the woman giving his shoulder a squeeze that she would hope was reassuring, her eyes fixed upon his features, her frown troubled. "So, are we afraid that he is here? That he ran away, and is still in Manhattan?" she asks, her eyes on Will's face, her expression pinching a bit around the edges.

"Are you still getting them? These dreams, Will?" she asks, quietly. That was when Deidra swoops in like that. Her voice does tear Belle's eyes away from Will to glance towards Deidra - she had seen more terrifying things in the past few days, and Deidra did not seem heartless and evil, so. Belle gives her a little smile that did not have her heart in it, before she glances back towards Will. "You have a lot of friends!" she says with a subtle uplifting tone, pulling her hand away from his shoulder.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"Seriously? That's what happened?" Mercade frowns. "But that makes no sense. You're just a..." He pauses. "300-year-old kid with weird powers. All right." He sighs. "Whatever, we'll deal with it when it happens." He scratches the back of his head again, thinking. "I'm more afraid he's out there, somewhere." Mercade says, gesturing in the direction of the Portal. "He's got some... heavy burdens and I'm worried about that kind of reaction. He's a strong kid, so if something makes him break down he's got to be going through something really rough."

Deidra has posed:
Deidra relaxes a bit at Belle not freaking out at her presnce, her tail flicks a little bit however as she moves over to join her friends. She'll shift her wings to provide some cover from the rain ig anyone wants it. She nods a little bit to Belle "Hello, I'm Deidra and..." She stares at Mercade, then at Will and then back to Mercade. "300 years old?!" She manages to pull her jaw off the grtound as she can ask Will later about this. Greeze, she's not one to pry given her own origins but what the heck.

Will Sherman has posed:
"I didn't know he left.." Will mutters... "That's why I left." He continues. He looks out of it, suddenly very tired and then there is a comforting grip on his shoulder. He looks up at Belle for a moment as she speaks to him. "The darkness...has a hold in him." he says. "I saw it...when he was resting...it went down deep." he finally mutters.

Will takes a breath, "I haven't slept. Not sense I woke up. I don't want to..." he says, then... "I do. Which is why I should leave. Riku was right, I should go where I can't hurt anyone." he says. It was very self depreciating. The look at Mercade is pained, "You were there...What happened. What did she do? Why is Riku afraid of me Mercade?"

Belle has posed:
Belle does purse her lips tighter at what Will says. There was a long moment of silence, of something unsaid from the woman, her eyes turning downwards and glancing to one side, Belle drawing in a long breath, before she releases it. "I know," is what she tells Will, her voice quiet. "But there is hope for him. And for all of us," she says, looking back towards Will with a smile on her lips. Finally, she tucks the business card away in her jacket that she wears, and turns back towards Deidra. "Hello, Deidra, how do you do? I'm Belle," she says, giving the gargoyle a smile.

Belle does turn back towards Will, though, pursing her lips as if she were coming to a decision. "I'm... very hungry, I'm afraid. If you'd like to catch up with your friends, I'm going to go get lunch at that bakery there," Belle says, lifting up a hand to point at one of the McDonalds that filled Manhattan. "But; it was lovely to meet you. To meet you all," Belle says with a smile. Turning towards that resteraunt, then, she spares one last worried glance for the lengthening shadows around her, before tucking her hands away in her jacket and shivering in spite of herself, resolutely trudging forward.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"I don't understand what happened." Mercade shrugs. "I was pretty far away. I saw the darkness shoot into the sky, and then a horrible feeling. Something said something about not being strong enough?"

He kneels next to Will. "But you're still our friend, Will. No matter what happens, okay? This isn't going to be something you should deal with alone. We'll find him and get this straightened out."

He nods to Belle. "You're right. We have to have hope." He smiles. "If you ever need help, go to the address on that card. We'll give you a hand. Good luck, all right?"

Deidra has posed:
Deidra will worry about Will being 300 years old later, she's seen so much strange things since that one night long ago she's more just suprised she'd not heard abotu this. Riku's problems are far more imporant than her concern. She listens intlty now more concerned with the mention of the Darkness taken hold of will's friend. "Will, you shouldn't talk like that will. You were one of the first humans to treat me as a person..." She frowns clearlyc ocnerned for her friend. She looks to Belle for a moment "Be safe miss this city's become more dangerous than it has been in the past as fo late."

She looks back to will and Mercade at this point. She looks to Mercade "I was coser there was something there something powerful and it was almost as if it was mumbling in it's sleep."

Will Sherman has posed:
Belle moves off to the McDonalds...

He feels guilty about that. Really really guilty. I mean, a McDonalds....

Then Mercade kneels infront of him he tries to look up at the leaving Belle...but well, it's too late. He looks back at Mercade... "You just let her willingly go eat at McDonalds. We're dead men. YOu know who is going to kill us." he says, slightly afraid...

Then he lowers his head, the moment serious again.

Thanks D.

"...Something is sleeping inside me?" he pauses... "Are you guys sure? I mean...I'm afraid I'll hurt you guys too..."

Rhyme has posed:
The Darkness does horrible things to people. Steals their Hearts, devours worlds...

Haunts poor souls.

Tonight, the non-capital D darkness is inhabited by a different sort. A confused sort. Rolling onto her back from being curled up in a cold Manhattan Alleyway, Rhyme immediately wonders where the heck she is.

"Where the heck am I?" She asks herself redundantly to this narrative, patting herself lightly. She still had her wallet, and that strange Player(?) pin... She didn't feel mugged, and there wasn't any funny tastes in her mouth. Her clothes felt a little off, but the only real symtom of... anything the blond japanese girl feels is a terrible itching all over.

Dragging herself woozily to her feet, she starts rubbing her hands on her arms, half from the night chill and half from how fsking itchy she was.

And then she started wandering the city... Which certainly didn't /look/ like traverse. What the heck? Where was she? What happened to her? Why did she /itch/ so badly/?

It takes her a few moments to wander out of the alleyway, into eyeshot of Mercade, Will and the gang."

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"Look, it's not Burger King." Mercade replies. "MAybe she'll get a salad."

One can hope.

He looks back at Will. "People hurt each other sometimes, Will. That's life. We can't go through life with others without it. But the upside is that you get to share in the good times too. We'll figure out what it is, and you'll be safe."

He looks up, blinking, as he sees Rhyme appear. "Hey! Hats!" He calls, waving. "Over here!" He doesn't remember her real name at the moment for some reason. "Where did you come from?"

Deidra has posed:
Deidra pauses at the girl b eing called hats she looks at her offering her a spot under one of her large bat like wings to keep out of the rain. "You can get out of the rain if you like." Well if she's a monster she's friendly right? Mercade and Will have not punched her blood out. Will's stolen her pizza sure but that's about it. Hopefully Belle is indeed getting the salad

Will Sherman has posed:
Will sighs...he's right, of course.

He wipes his eyes, he is feeling slightly better, but not much. He takes a breath and then...

Rhyme.. He stares at her for a moment, just really stares at her. The strings...are both there...but then there are other strings twisting on themselves. He blinks, just really blinks at what he sees...this...

No Noise...the Heartless are worse...the Noise are just like them, but this too is...

He holds his head for a moment, the sunglasses slipping back into his pockets. "Ow. What in the hell are you?" he says non ironically. "It's like your strings are all twisted on themselves...but others are not twisted yet...it's like you're...both a heartless and a human..."

Rhyme has posed:
Oh man it's Narration Guy, let's hobble over to him that seems safe and not creepy at all okay good plan.

Rhyme sort of brightens, smiling oddly as she keeps rubbing at her arms. She manages to spare a few seconds of itching time with a hand to wave at Mercade. "Hey, Narrator Guy." She grins for a moment, before heading over to Will, Mercade, and Deidra. She barely seems to bat an eye at Deidra at the moment, more inwardly focused about things at the moment. "Where did I...?" She looks empty-eyed for a moment. "I have... no idea. I remember falling asleep at WildKat, and then I woke up... In that alley." She shrugs. "But I'm okay, so no problems!" She forces a smile, itching all over now, on her head and stomach at the moment.

Then Will says some stuff. Rhyme's brain just doesn't process it. "Huh?"

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"It's okay, don't worry about it, kid." He looks to Rhyme, and holds out a hand. "What's your name? Mine's Mercade Alexander. I'm from the Twilight Detective Agency. So you were in Traverse Town... And then you ended up here." Huh. "Are you hungry or anything? What's your story?" He jabs Will with an elbow.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will sighs...

"I'm going over there." he doesn't even argue, he just walks towards the McDonalds. "Just give me some space, okay?"

Rhyme has posed:
Rhyme blinks at the exchange between Will and Mercade, then looks back to Will, then smiles at Mercade. "I'm Rhyme. It's nice to meet you, Mercade. Well... Meet you again."

She grits her teeth a bit, and manages to get her hands crossed behind her back, and not itching incessantly. It didn't even feel good like scratching an itch usually did. It just itched more.

"Fancy seeing you here... Do you live around here, or did you wake up in an alley too?" She wonders, trying not to press on the 'who is that guy and why did he walk off' question.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"Nice to meet you Rhyme." He chuckles. "I actually live here. This is Manhattan, a big city. Don't worry about it, you should be safe here." He pauses. "Relatively." He shrugs. "Don't worry about Will, he's had some tough times recently and he needs a little time to get sorted out. He'll be fine."

Rhyme has posed:
"Oh. That's good! It's always dark before the dawn." Rhyme offers, rocking back and forth on her feet antsily as she looks between the Gargoyle and Mercade. "Oh. You live here. Hey, could you point me towards Traverse Town? I sort of want to get back to sleeping and not doing it in alleys and maybe stop itching so much."

"Oh, sorry... I hope your friend starts feeling better." She tries to give Mercade a nice big happy smile and it sort of works but that infernal itching throws it off.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"You're itchy? Have you taken a bath lately?" Mercade asks, blinking. She doesn't LOOK all that dirty, but that might be skewed by comparison to the Hobo King. "The portal to Traverse Town? It's over there in that park." He points at Central Park. "It's got a sign and everything. Can't miss it. Or if that's too far, you can always stay overnight at the Agency. we've got room." Or had it...

Rhyme has posed:
Rhyme thinks. She's been living in a cafe. She's even been wearing the same clothes for as long as she can remember. Somehow, washing up sort of left her head in all the chaos. That must be it. The DaVinci Code is broken, she's just ultra dirty. That's fixable. Yes, this is her problem.

The bright, happy girl who seems to be slipping smiles apologetically, rubbing a hand on her beanie and adjusting it. "I guess it's that... Thanks. I was freaking out there for a second, but I guess my hygiene has slipped. I found my Partner, though! Maybe I'll just head back that way and see if I can get a shower in the morning..."

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"Sure, that works." Mercade grins. "Let us know if you need anything, all right?" He waves, wishing Rhyme well on her mysterious wandering back to the closest thing she likely has for a home.

Deidra has posed:
Deidra holds back for the moment and just shifts her wings about to get a bit mroe comfortable. The Gargyole seems to be keeping back not wanting to crash on Mercade and Rhyme's converstion or prehaps her slightly better than average sense of smell is going oh what is that. Who knows. She watches the girl head on her way. Interesting girl...

Rhyme has posed:
Rhyme nods solemnly. "I will!" She replies, before turning her back to Mercade, her hands finally being allowed to itch again. She swore she was washing up... She just couldn't remember the last time she did it.

Wobbily, but with a bit more sureness of step and determination then she had when she stumbled out of a Manhattan alleyway, she heads back for home.

As she does so, the briefest shimmer of dark, jagged wings appears behind her, more a haze then a direct 'thing' connected to her.

The backks of her scratching hands, however, have complex and intricate tattoos simply flicker, there and gone in the blink of an eye.

But trust me, a shower will solve this. Yep.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade Alexander says, "I didn't think they were visible to normal signt based on your desc.""