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 Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 6:44 am
Harrison got a slightly dazed look for his kiss before Rep blinked in confusion and gave Jordan a funny look. "I thought you meant a** monster." he said to Jordan "But aye you should be able to get hold of an artifact, they show up in the weirdest ******** places. Mine was in a cathedral for whatever reason."
Tracey spoke up.
"And aye." he also uncomfortably agreed, walking a few awkward steps before he seemed to sort himself out. "I bet its even hotter out there." he said grimly, eying the daylight. Air conditioning sounded good. "We should walk fast. I don't want the sun to come out, I have no ******** sun tan lotion on." And without waiting up, he briskly headed in the direction of the half-finished entrance lobby.
"I love this place, don't get me wrong." he said loudly, his voice echoing in the emptiness. "But its ******** hotter than satan's armpit."
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 7:18 am
Harrison patted Jordan's a** affectionately at the hug. Rep looked briefly stunned, then bulldozed forward, which meant they probably better get the mission going sooner rather than later.
"Last one I got was that book," Harrison admitted, "but I never figured out what it did. Had my- had the crown on it. The insides were nonsense and it disappeared after I got it back from the labs."
The building was expansive, and as they navigated the uncarpeted grounds even the lobby seemed to stretch on and on. After finding a working door and hopping some fences and cement blocks, they found themselves at the end of the strip. The sky, at least, was cloudy, and there was close to zero humidity, but the heat still blazed around them like an oven.
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 7:33 am
Jordan laughed. "No, I prefer to avoid a** monsters whenever possible." The grin faded into a more thoughtful expression as they made their way out of the building. "I thought I had a lead on an artifact, something to do with the rivers of the underworld, but I keep hitting dead ends when I try to connect it to any kind of location." He looked to Harrison, curious. "How'd the book disappear?"
Stepping out into the day felt like hitting a wall of heat, almost a tangible object. "Damn," Jordan said, and loosened the collar of his shirt. "I always did like evening better. Let's find somewhere to cool off a little and see if we can get any information."
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 8:12 am
Rep had totally forgotten the book, his memory wasn't really his strongest asset all considered. "That thing went missing? It couldnae just disappear, I didn't even move it." And most things that went missing tended to be to do with Rep relocating them or commandeering them.
Rep never thought he'd miss the humidity of the island, but over time he'd gotten used to it, this heat was uncomfortable and made him feel as if his lungs were burning with every inhalation. He was thirsty already as they made their way along the strip.
"Sounds like its worth still looking, sometimes people write s**t in the margins of the books that can be helpful, and if all else fails you could take your chances out in the portal forest, see if you end up there. I think some artifacts like, want to be found, kind of like weapons." he shrugged at Jordan. "If it's meant to be, you'll probably find it. Whit's fur ye will no go by ye."
They passed a few stores along the way until Rep spotted a McDonalds. "You know what sounds ******** good? A ******** milkshake as well as some AC"
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 11:18 am
"I'd have looked for it if like, I couldn't remember where I put it down or some s**t. I mean like. It was in my hands, and then it ******** evaporated."
Harrison nodded at Rep.
"We looked through a ton of magazines, showed up in the forest- but at the end of the day, it's just like. I don't know. Instinct. Psychic s**t. Fate. Whatever you want to call it. "
He opened the door to the McDonalds for them, eyeing the dollar menu.
"I might get a burger or two." Or 15.
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 12:17 pm
"Huh. There must be some way to get it back," Jordan mused. "Hell if I know how, though. I assume you tried summoning it already."
"Well ... maybe I'll try just looking for it, then." He shrugged one shoulder, but his expression was thoughtful, serious. "I wonder. If it wants to be found, but by a specific person, maybe that'd be why I can't find any concrete leads. It's concealed." There had been a time, he reflected, when he would have been sharply skeptical of an object having that much sentience and intent; even after he'd first come to the island, he might have doubted it. But it didn't seem at all unlikely any more. If it was meant to belong to him, it would let him find it.
The rush of cool air from the inside of the restaurant made him sigh happily as they stepped inside. "Jesus, it's like December in here. It's great. I want some fries."
Ferros, do you feel anything? he asked, half-reflexively.
To his surprise, the dragon answered slowly. I don't know. There's Fear traces everywhere here.
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 1:26 pm
"Maybe you haven't read enough ******** books to unlock your magic ******** book achievement." Rep mused as they entered the air conditioned restaurant. He let out a satisfied sigh that was almost sexual. He'd forgotten how ******** good it was to have an air conditioned environment. He could have just lay down there like a decadent feline, and even the thought spurred deeper memories which weren't his own.
His own floor of the casino, and he kept it cold. As cold as winter. It was partially decadence and partially intentional, he needed excuses to wear the resplendent and exotic furs he bought, but at the same time it paid to make people uncomfortable. Visitors quickly became unsettled and nervous in his presence and anything he could do to make it worse was a bonus. He liked the cold, and so did Tracey.
He shook his head and tried to focus on the menu.
"Maybe it's hiding from you." he agreed with Jordan, trying to wind back to the conversation of moments before.
"But aye I want... maybe a couple of combo meals. I've no had chips in way, way too ******** long. We can chill out here, see the sights, when it gets dark, we hit the strip."
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Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 9:20 am
"You sound like B0nez. I don't know where the ******** it is."
Harrison ordered about two sackfulls of cheap burgers, and started systematically downing them, ignoring looks from other fast food patrons. He guzzled and periodically refilled a large coke, relishing the cheap syrup. He had also intimidated the counter guy into giving him a free cone, with ice cream piled up to his forehead.
Harrison didn't spend any money at Casinos, but he liked to stand in the middle of the machines and watch others play. He got more solemn as the day went on, and as one by one the neons lit up outside.
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Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 10:22 am
As the day wore on, the employees gave them increasingly confused looks, but most of the workers didn't really care enough to get irritated about the trio. Jordan sat in the corner of the booth and meditatively ate fries, watching the ebb and flow of people coming in and out, observing the way they were dressed and the way they talked, and listening to whatever snippets and tidbits of conversation he could catch. Most of it was standard gossip and everyday life, but interesting phrases and exchanges popped up here and there.
Restaurants were good for gathering information. What kind of information you wanted dictated where you went, how you dressed, and how long you hung out there. Even once he'd started to become known, he could still be next to invisible in ratty clothes, a hoodie, a ball cap with the sticker left on, a pair of sunglasses. Nobody looked twice, and he could hear for himself what was really going on.
Dusk began to gather, and neon flickered on outside, and Jordan grinned at Harrison, sly and understanding.
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Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 1:59 pm
Rep enjoyed being off the island. He always wondered if this was how prisoners felt when they finally got back to the outside world. Every conversation was too loud, any number of people were too many. Even traffic seemed overwhelming to his senses, the cars along the streets loud and smelly compared to the humid but clean air of the island. But the longer he spent awash in the atmosphere of Vegas, the more he seemed to lose the anxiety, relaxing, standing a little taller and being a little bolder.
When the sun finally left the sky and first brilliant red and then darkness crept in, it was satisfying. The lights along the strip came one by one and people began to mill around properly, well fed and ready to gamble. Rep himself was well fed (he'd eaten so many burgers and chips and had loved every ******** second of non-ration s**t) and was ready for their task ahead. He stretched, cracking his shoulders as he flexed them.
"Right. Lets hit the strip and see what we can ******** turn up." he said, and headed onto the main stretch of casinos and dazzling neon lights. "We don't have an exact location, so just follow your instincts. Or someone's instincts."
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Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 2:05 pm
"Don't guess there were any landmarks in that dream of yours either?" Harrison asked, for once not minding a little meander.
Having a snack did wonders for his energy levels. He felt ready to go. And especially ready to shoot- or stab- something.
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Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 2:15 pm
The heat of day had faded down to a pleasant evening warmth; it would be chilly as the night wound on toward morning, but now it was very comfortable. Air conditioning breathed out of doorways as they passed, accompanied by spills of competing music and voices; the smells of various types of cuisine came and went above the asphalt-and-exhaust-and-humanity smell that inhabited every big city. It was sensory overload, and Jordan liked it at the same time as it made him tense.
"Ferros says he gets little traces of Fear everywhere here," he said, not bothering to try to conceal what he was talking about. Anyone who overheard would miss the significance of what he was saying.
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Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 2:44 pm
Tracey replied to Jordan, indifferent that he could not hear him.
"Tracey agrees." Rep said matter-of-factly. "I guess we are in the right place." Apparently they weren't the only supernatural creatures who could use the eclectic crowds of the place as a disguise. But it ultimately wasn't their business if Halloween creatures were here minding their own business, it was the ones who stepped out of line and ******** over the rules of their society who were fair game.
He tried to think of the dreams, to remember what he'd seen. There had been an alleyway, that much he could recall. "An alley." he recounted "There was like. Writing. Like one of those stickers people use to promote bands and s**t. It said. Erm." he looked thoughtful. "Tuebor. "
Tracey translated unbidden.
"So er, I guess if we see that anywhere, we are on the right track?"
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Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 4:41 pm
"So we're looking between places. That figures." Harrison couldn't have been paid to ******** around with dark, creepy s**t or anything that felt like The Strip did pre-Deus. He had been jumpy and superstitious when it came to his natural alert system.
But now that he was armed, hell. They had to watch out for him. He'd only have been happier with B0nez in both fists.
He could probably get away with it, with all the whacky magic sideshow neon props people were carrying around.
This would be easier with a Quest Tracker.
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Posted: Fri May 30, 2014 4:06 am
"Tuebor," Jordan repeated, nodding. "Blue stickers?" It was an assumption, but one he felt safe enough making. If it resembled the casino, it would be marked with that distinctive pure-blue color he remembered, a color that would never be associated with anything else in his mind. Royal blue, the color of the jewel and the neon and little bottles of pills.
"Makes sense," he agreed, and redirected his attention from the facades and the signs to the spaces between, literal alleyways and streets and less literal places and people that seemed too easy to overlook, places where his eyes wanted to slide right off and look at something else, something flashier and more attention-grabbing. It took more willpower than they expected, and he fell silent as they walked, looking consciously for flashes of blue.
Even so, he almost missed the first sign. A poster had been taped to a window over the sticker, behind twisted iron bars that pretended to be decorative, leaving only half of it visible. It was possible that the store staffer in charge of advertisement hadn't even seen what they were covering up. Jordan noticed the color in the same moment that Ferros noticed the trace of Fear; they stopped and leaned in for a better look. "I think we got something."
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