agentlelog | [open] as he climbs he dares to deliver the master stroke

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[open] as he climbs he dares to deliver the master stroke

Who: Mollymauk Tealeaf and whoever wants to join his shenanigans
When: Throughout March
Where: Various places
What: Influence threads!
Warnings: Self-harm if any threads get combative. I will warn accordingly.

a. baby light my fire

[So he's the wizard and the cleric now.

Molly doesn't enjoy doing things for free, even if he's one of the most generous persons around. There's a difference between throwing gold and silver at someone and then skipping off, and being asked (and a little bit expected to help with things for free, but he did agree to take up this bloody Jewel, and he supposes he should make good on an unspecified promise.

The heating spells are easy enough, as are the witchlights, which Molly has been inclined to play with to entertain the frightened and cold children. What he didn't expect was that due to a tiefling's natural body temperature, he is also a space heater in himself.

So there you are, minding your own business, checking on all these homes without power to see if anyone needs anything, and you find (1) tiefling in the dim light of the main room of a home with a pile of children using him as a pillow and the most unhappy look on his face. He mouths "help" very plaintively.]

b. shock it to me

[Molly has obtained more jobs in Draega than he has made up lies about his backstory and that's saying something. Admittedly, he took this one out of curiosity (Jon is that you??) and the hope for a possible fight, because between all of these odd jobs and stopping fires, he needs to do something with his restless hunter energy.

He's not a very smart person on a good day so giving someone who only seems to grasp Craft by accident a complicated task is a bad idea, but he is one hundred percent sure he has it down. Or at least assumes the person he's been partnered with does.]

Was it just me or did it seem like that Councilman could have explained this better? [He rubs his fingers together and then, very pointedly, presses his finger to the back of his partner's neck.

bzzt goes the tiny shock, because he just had to.]

c. dark knights

[Now this is about... half Molly's speed. Still a little more than he really wanted to be involved with, but the Council doing nothing rubs him raw and he's willing to help to be contrary at this point. If Fayura wasn't in a complicated position, she'd probably be fine with it.

Molly's set himself up on a corner, keeping an eye on people as they pass, his cards laid out in front of him as he tries to catch the eye of any passers-by, inviting them to have their fortunes told. Of course, it's all a distraction. The second he notices anything suspicious, he'll be on the prowl again, but for now hey evening Tarot readings.]

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[Molly looks up and his tail kind of twitches as he grins with recognition.] It's a good way to meet people. 'S how I met you, after all. Plus no one pays any mind to a humble street performer.

[Which is the real boon here.]

Street performer with no attention? 'M thinkin' you've a strange idea o' what performers do.

[Still, the Miqo'te crouches down onto his haunches, resting one elbow on his knee and propping his chin in one palm. He has no interest in getting his fortune told tonight, but... He is interested in why this man is out here.

Because he doubts it's simply for busking for coin.]

Or I have literally no faith in anyone having more than a passing interest at this hour.

[Molly steeples his fingers under his chin and rests his elbows on his knees.] And what precisely has you out this late?

[If he weren't trained to read between the lines at such a young age, Rhus would have taken Molly at face value, or merely thought his words strange. But as he thinks more on them...]

I've no faith in anyone who says they're not up to no good at this hour.

[Not unlike Molly's response, but at the same time, also delivering exactly what he's out here for.]

Edited 2019-03-13 11:11 (UTC)

That's fair. I've heard there's been some bad business afoot.

[Which gets him partially off his bullshit so he can admit that "yeah, okay, same" without saying as much. They're both here on watch, then. That's good. That's brilliant. He'd hate to have to approach this alone.]

Mmmn... Could say that-- but what have you heard?

[He does have to ask, because they could have heard entirely different things and are chasing different results. Or Molly could have come out here for a reason other than Rhus.

He needs to be sure.]

That there's been landens dying under mysterious circumstances.

[He glances around, but only vaguely surreptitiously. There's a reason he said "dying" instead of "being murdered." It makes it feel less personal if anyone happens to listening in.] Given the, ah, political situation? That strikes me as a bit weird.

Would it really. [Especially given recent circumstances. Acts of vengeance pretending to be justice are... well, utter shite.

But he's fairly sure Molly is fishing and at the same time being covert as possible about his motivations for being out here... But Rhus has no such inclinations, not when he's tired of constantly watching what he says. He's had to do it enough when interacting with the Queen and the other Blood. He feels no obligation to do the same around fellow Strangers.]

Strange as they are though, ain't changin' they're still off an' the Council's not fond of 'em.

Edited 2019-03-15 06:14 (UTC)

[Whelp. He said it on this street corner where eyes and ears could be everywhere. It could be worse. He's not yelling DODECAHEDRON WE STOLE FROM A CRICK ASSASSIN in the mafia bar.]

Yeah, I've noticed that. [He sticks his tongue in his cheek.] I'm fine with exacting a little justice on my own terms. There's no sense in a bunch of kids dying because one was a little shit.

[Bluntness, thy name is Rhus Bashe.]

Or a coerced one, depends on how it all actually bloody happened. But the shites now are entirely different, doncha think? [Despite having placed himself on a stool, the Miqo'te still manages to cross his legs, even if the slight movements of his body makes the blade on his back scrape against the ground.]

Wan' to come huntin' wi' me?

[Molly knows the answer to that, unfortunately, but he doesn't want that poor kid's business getting out, especially with his friend on the run. He has a theory that this is either a way to draw out the actual culprit from where Fayura is holding him or to lure out the accomplice. If he's wrong, then that's ideas he's put in someone's head.

He glances up, cocking his head to the side so that his jewelry jingles faintly and catches the torchlight.]

You wanna take up a more active pursuit, then?

Why not? [Nip a building issue in the bud is always good.] I've no fondness for bein' woken by someone armed in the middle o' the night again just 'cause someone decided to get brave.

[Or stupid with vengeance. Or both, really. One never knows what sort of shite youths tend to come up with or believe. They're infinitely more malleable as adults, which is why many of them are being used so much in nasty things.

Of course, Rhus is aware he's making such a huge leap in logic, but the way things are going currently... if they're not stopped, this could mean all-out war. Draega seems to be so slowly heading in that direction already, but the relentless killing of innocents would tip it over too fast, too soon, he's sure.]

That's fair. [Having been woken up with a gun in his face right after his last memory was being stabbed in the heart and killed made him less inclined to deal with bullshit than he already was. Molly unfolds his legs out from under him and stands, stretching casually.]

Let's go hunting before someone else decides to murder some poor landen kid for no reason, and starts something I don't want to be associated with.

Now you an' I, we're on the same page now. [Perhaps with entirely different languages speaking, if he takes Mollymauk at face value and his words as his true reasoning.

Ah, well. It's reason enough for him.

He stands, cricking his neck but refusing to stretch due to the greatsword on his back that would make that motion rather awkward.]

Alleyways first?

[Everything he says is precisely what he means. No bullshit here. Coughs.

Molly adjusts his belt from where he'd had to adjust the position of his two scimitars when he sat down.] I love a good alleyway. Nothing good ever happens there.

[Which is precisely what they need. With a spring in his step despite the fact that his legs are a little numb from sitting on them for so long, he starts off, selecting what looks like the darkest one to check first.]

[Rhus shrugs.]

Mrrrmn, I dunno-- I can think a few good things to happen in alleyways. 'Cept none are for innocent ears. [And only one of them is the most obvious, most expected answer out of an adult's mouth... Though making people think exactly that is what he was going for, because he's just like that.

But he really is not joking. The bent to his furry tail is not that of someone stringing another around for fun, but the amusement of going through old, fun memories.]

[Molly notes the telltale... tail and snorts a bit.] That's fair. I retract my statement.

[And keeping that in his back pocket, just in case. For right now, there's work to be done. His darkvision pierces most of the alley as it extends just beyond thirty feet into the next block and comes up short beyond a little bit of movement that's probably a cat of some sort.] This one's clear, unless you think Snowball the Shop Cat is a murderer.

[Rhus sniffs the air just to confirm-- and indeed, it is a cat. Slightly dusty from the streets and whatever else it stays in, so is definitely not a housepet but an animal that may just come and go as it pleases.]

If it were a shop cat, then it has a job-- keepin' vermin numbers low. [Molly can find whatever meaning he wants out of that.

But he pauses once more, sniffing the air. There's something else in the air... and he steps out into the street proper to seek it out.]

I smell some Blood wand'rin' about. [Spoken softly, just for Molly's ears.]

Edited 2019-03-28 12:05 (UTC)

[Molly sniffs the air, like he, too, can smell Blood wandering about, but he can't. Experimentally, he lifts the moonbow necklace his jewel is set into to his nose and sniffs it in kind.

Yeah, okay. This is a cat thing isn't it? Caleb's always saying that Frumpkin can smell really well even if he doesn't have darkvision for some stupid reason. Despite his confusion and comical experimentation, he does whisper back, casually:]

Out of curiosity, what exactly do Blood smell like?

[What? Unless they're Blood smelling like blood, it might just be folks out for a walk. Probably not, in this environment, but still not worth running directly towards fullspeed ahead. They need a plan.

And Molly apparently needs clarification on minor details.]

Different from landens. [Obviously. But by now Rhus is just fucking with Molly.]

But in all seriousness, describin' in words that I sense wont be simple.

Or quick, [is added when he looks away and notes some young Blood male walking on the other side of the street with a furtive look about him.]

Fair enough. [Molly lets the moonbow pendant thump against his chest as he eyes the Blood male off on his walk. For a moment, he meets the young man's eyes and grins, and the man looks away quickly, speeding up.

That's telling.]

Well, he's either up to something or freaked out by me- tends to go either way. Worth following for, though.

Mayhap =the look o' the guilty, [said loftily as he begins to move in the direction the boy is as well.

He couldn't see the expression on the Blood male's face, his terrible sight in the dark is unable to pick out those specific details beyond a certain distance, so he'll take Molly's word for it. And of course, the way the man moves... Definitely telling.]

Oh-- definitely guilty. [Because the Blood male has ducked around a corner, clearly a poor attempt at shaking two men off of his trail.] Unfortunately for him that's never worked.

It's adorable when people think it does. [Molly takes off at a sprint, coat flapping behind him. He's not Beau, so his skill at parkour isn't impressive, but he does take the turn at an angle so that he hits the side of the wall and flips, catching the Blood off-guard as he lands right beside him in the alley he'd tried to cut through for sanctuary, and sending him running back to Rhus.

The Blood falters and realizes he's now thoroughly trapped, which seems to mean it's time for him to play innocent. "What the hell are you two doing ganging up on a fella?"]

[Given his openly-displayed musculature and the greatsword on his back, Rhus decides to play the dumb muscle-- a ruse that would be helped along with his rough accent.]

I dunno-- maybe the dumb look on your face is just callin' for a beatin'. [This is emphasized by the cracking of his knuckles.]

[The Blood looks offended by this and Molly can see from his earring that he's boasting a paler Jewel of some sort. The sight of darker Jeweled blood cornering him is probably doing more for intimidating him than their words, but he seems to be a strong-willed one.

"Is that you lot do, then? Beat up on weaker Blood than you?" Molly's response is a toothy, sharp-fanged grin.] Where were you going?

[He shoots a glare at Molly. "Nowhere you need to know. Piss off."]

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