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[baedalites]

Who: EVERYONE.
What: Swap meet.
Where: The Apache and surrounding environs.
When: Sukkardi the 14th of Haneden
Notes:

• Swap Meet Spreadsheet: Pre-chosen swaps are green. Assigned are blue. There were a few characters that were selected more than once, so objects were assigned on a first-come first-serve basis. If you have any issues or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the mod team.
• For objects that might not be immediately apparent as belonging to their owners, there may be a picture or name attached, or players are welcome to have their characters ~just know~ it's for them. Drr drr drr, bb.
• Party post nights are a great time to come join the chatroom.
• The topic threads are just suggestions; if you've got somewhere else that your characters simply must be, make your own thread.

Warnings: None yet. Please put warnings up on individual threads.

The Apache is much the same as it always is: dimly lit, with the jukebox playing in the background, and the bartender serving whatever's on tap.

Comments

Side Alley:

[baedalites]

Outside is a good enough place to escape, even though it's quite cool in comparison to the Apache itself. Some kind soul has put out a bench and an ashtray. Good enough to have a quick smoke, be alone with your thoughts, and lurk in the shadows. 

[norea]

Hasibe hasn't ventured out much, besides work, since her little incident. She's got her mask perfectly in place, mind you; few people know what really happened, and she's effortless because she makes it seem effortless, greeting friends and buying drinks. After a certain point, however, she realizes she needs to pace herself, and eases out into the side alley where she assumes she runs the risk of other individuals feeling a bit overwhelmed, but that's fine.

She just wants a second, that's all.

So: one young woman with long black hair and a cigarette, wearing a dress that's white at the the shoulders, straps poised to fall over her shoulders, and scarlet at the skirt. Her heels pose no problem in the alleyway, not with her supernatural balance, but she's careful not to stray too far.

[fuckin_thirsty]

"What's it like in there?"

A familiar voice in response to a familiar silhouette. It's not so dark that it's difficult to see, but Deacon's appearance is made a little clearer as he meanders on closer, a hand tucked into leather jacket pocket, the other at his side and of course, trailing smoke from the cigarette wedged between knuckles. If he's going to go in there, then he's going to have a cigarette first.

He's also fed, which helps, even if his kind aren't actually the kind to go mad and glazed eyes at the presence of humans. More like attending a buffet on a full stomach. There is some shit he left behind, and he's half hopeful.

[norea]

Her smile is faint, but sincere. Hasi glances back over her shoulder at the building, and then returns her attention to Deacon, shrugging one shoulder just slightly. "Not terribly festive. I think most people are just looking for scraps of home, particularly if they can uncover something useful."

Not her, mind you; though there are a few people she misses, she's not terribly destroyed by lack of home, and place is not too important to her. Things are just that: things. Mind you, some of her things cost thousands of shekels and happen to be diamonds, judging by the necklace she's wearing tonight, but its price doesn't heighten her attachment too much.

[fuckin_thirsty]

Most of the things he pictures receiving are somewhat advanced in technology for Baedal, such as electronic archives, but where there's a will, there's a black market specialist who can crack advanced technology for a small fee. Or maybe something precious, like the serums Blade relied on, or whatever the fuck that chemical was that took Deacon's life, or the cure that Karen bluffed about, assuming perhaps it wasn't.

Knowing the gods, though, he'll get another fucking goldfish.

"Sounds better than fucking around and pretending we all wanna socialise," he says, with a breath out of smoke. "What about you?"

[norea]

There's a split second where she considers a more honest answer and discards the possibility. Hasi leans just a touch to the side, eyes playful-bright in a way that's edging on self-deprecating (she tends to mock her own mystique, or else it just becomes obnoxious to even her), tone light. "You know me. I go where the party is."

There's a pause.

"The item I've got to give to its rightful owner is around here somewhere, though--ah, there."

The crow pops up on the ledge of the building across from them, with its red and gold leg band just barely gleaming in the low light. Its arrival is accompanied by the rustle of feathers. She smiles at it, fond already. "He talks, a little. I think I'll be sorry to let him go."

You weirdo, Hasi.

[fuckin_thirsty]

The arrival of the bird has Deacon glancing up and around. Huh. The corner of his mouth turns up at her comment. "So keep him," he proposes, wryly, with zero investment in what Hasibe chooses to do with the raven, flicking ash off the end of his cigarette. "I got a book. It's a fascinating read, so far."

And considering he is not carrying a book, he obviously has no intention of handing it back. Tonight, anyway.

[norea]

Of course he isn't giving it back. She shakes her head, smile broadening despite herself; it's not a good idea to test the gods, she's sure, but he's going to do what he wants regardless, and it's not like he needs her advice on the matter. She holds her own cigarette between two fingers, fixing Deacon with a mildly curious look.

"Educational, huh?" Books are a weakness of hers (maybe it's a species thing), so she can't quite resist further inquiries. "What's it on?"

[martyrdomoption]

Mitchell wants two seconds: one for himself, and one to make sure how Hasi's doing. He's not surprised to find her in the alleyway because she always seems to sneak these quiet little moments to herself even when things are, generally, okay (it had been the courtyard last time). That's when he approaches her, when he can be sure he gets her all to himself.

He sidles up --no rota in his hands, but no item of his own either-- and kisses her cheek before leaning his back to the wall next to her.

"It would be good to have something like this without some sort of crisis going on beforehand," he reflects as he settles. "Everyone probably needs the cheering up but it'd be nice to do it when we all don't feel like shit."

There's an empty little chuckle at the tail end of that that's not completely at ease with the whole situation. He's well aware just how he contributed to how everyone feels, and he's not likely to forget it any time soon.

[norea]

Hasibe is pleased he's there--it shows in the quiet display of warmth, how she sidles closer against his side. Still she's not quite sure where they stand with each other in terms of official titles, but that's not so important--they've been through quite a lot, and it's a bonding experience. One that means when he speaks, she listens, smile curving in sympathy.

"Maybe I'll have to throw something together at some point," she says, speculatively, "I keep looking at new houses--a sort of final one to settle in--and everyone likes house-warming parties, don't they?"

The beach house is nice, but it'll only do for a while. She'll fix it up a bit, sell it for a higher profit, and buy herself something that really suits her tastes for the long haul.

[martyrdomoption]

"Of course they do. How else are you meant to get a dusty bottle of cheap wine that never gets drunk but always sits at the back of your cupboard? Oh, and house plants." Treasures indeed.

"Seen anywhere in particular?" He leans his head in towards hers until they touch. "Or anywhere that needs exploring?"

There's a hopeful note to his voice that's only partially out of humour (considering how last time went).

[norea]

That gets a grin, the first real mega-kilowatt Hasibe smile of the evening that's completely true. It's hard to forget how things went last time they looked for 'real estate'--that was quite a revealing day, in multiple ways.

"I have a place in mind," she says, sounding just a touch mischievous, "although it's likely to make you tease me about being spoiled."

Deservedly.

[martyrdomoption]

"Smaller or bigger than Buckingham palace?" It begins. "And do I get my own guest wing?"

He's glad to see her smiling, though, and meets it with one of his own. It's accompanied by tactile little gestures --fingers reaching to trace and link with hers, thumb brushing the back of her hand, eyes full of mischief as he turns on his side to look at her more.

He's glad for moments like these.

open

[deservesadaisy]

Lurking in the shadows is a bit cliche, but the courtyard is a bit too festive for a quiet smoke. Ivan isn't averse to chat, but he's conspicuous enough at Ilde's side indoors. He prefers looking to being looked at.

[heardmermaids]

All evening there had been something bothering Sebastian; a vague sense of unease that reminded him of a sore tooth he couldn't stop worrying with his tongue. He'd tried to convince himself that it was just nerves from receiving Dumbledore's pensieve, but rationally, he couldn't discount that it might be something else.

After he'd found the appropriate recipients for both his object and Princess Nuala's, Sebastian choose to treat himself to a rare cigarette in an attempt to calm his nerves. The pensieve case comes along with him, balanced on a dolly he'd borrowed/rented from The Apache.

"D'you have a light?"

[deservesadaisy]

Ivan evaluates the newcomer, idly, but produces a lighter - as he's smoking a cigarette at the moment, it would be a bit of a statement to claim he didn't.

"Don't tell me you're waiting on the gods to send you a means of lighting cigarettes."

Being a vampire doesn't make you a smartass - that's just Ivan.

[heardmermaids]

"You'd think that I'd stop carrying a pack if I was trying to quit, wouldn't you?" Sebastian graciously accepts the lighter and looks moderately relieved when he's able to take a drag off his cigarette. For the sake of everyone's health and well-being, let's say that he's downwind of Ivan and there's a good breeze.

[deservesadaisy]

Ivan's fed earlier; he knew he'd be at a party full of living people, and he thinks it's better to behave unless he's trying to make a point. Still... probably best.

"I'd say I'd doubt you were actually trying to quit," Ivan observes, amused. "So is that what you got, or what you're giving away, then?" He indicates the dolly.

[heardmermaids]

"A box full of someone else's memories," he says with a touch of emotion colouring his words. All evening, he's had trouble with his temper and it's only been getting worse. "You?"

[fish]

So Fish has been at the Apache for a little while now, eyepatch and all, carrying this thing in his shoulder bag and making polite inquiries here and there. Thus far this tactic has yielded no success, so Plan B has been put into effect. Plan B, it turns out, involves mashing a button on the device, wandering around while it plays music under his arm, smoking casually, and probably being stared at. Whatever, people can stare, he's just getting tired of carrying this thing around. Already he has formulated a Plan C: leaving the device on a table so it becomes someone else's problem.

He exits the bar for one more try outside, accompanied by a song, and immediately addresses the first person who looks at him. "This yours?" Apparently not. Fine, he and Kate will just mosey on around the side of the building before he abandons her to her fate.

[deservesadaisy]

Ivan laughs, when he hears the music. In truth, he'd been worried it would be something else like McNair's necklace; an unwelcome reminder of Daisy, or even Helena.

"Has anyone claimed that yet?" he asks Fish as he gets close enough.

[fish]

"Oh, hey!" Fish makes his way over there and, ever so helpfully, turns the music down. It's nice and all, but he's not going to shout at Ivan in an alley, really, what do you take him for. "Nah, nobody recognizes it or anything... but this thing is pretty great. Look at it, it doesn't need batteries or anything." He holds it up for the taller gentleman to inspect, one hand trailing cigarette smoke. "If you open the little side panel there you can see the gears."

[deservesadaisy]

"I suspect that, if the gods' sense of humor remains what it was, it might be for me." Better than another war trophy.

[fish]

"No shit." This isn't sarcasm, mind, it's astonishment. "Really? The tape came with it and everything, it's not mine..."

[satrinah]

In the alley, there is one half-vampire, rummaging through the pockets of her leather jacket, searching for cigarettes and a little baggie with something extra-special inside. She just needs something to calm her nerves, she decides; she ends up taking more than almost anyone else due to her physiology, but six or seven pills really do just calm her down a touch. Of course, there are vastly better coping mechanisms...but she came out here so no one could point that out to her.

She's not oblivious. She knows people stare at her a little now, like she might flip out or break...and she's sick of it.

So. They're in here somewhere, and she just hopes no one from Hellsing follows her out.