Mini GP

[hollow_moon]

It was that time of the year, a time that used to fill Valentine with joy. Christmas was so wonderful usually, after all, but not so much this year. He simply wasn't in the holiday spirit. However, he'd planned this charity event months ago, and there was no cancelling it now. 

It wasn't as flash as ones he'd held in prior years, his museum open to the public with collection buckets all over for people to give what they could to ensure a better holiday for those in need. Music filled the space, and there were performers all throughout the space. Yes, he'd had to up security for the evening to keep his many occult related items safe, but- Well, it was worth it, he supposed. If nothing else, it seemed to be enough to stop his mother from worrying so much about him for a bit.

All were welcome and admission was free. The bar was reasonably priced, and there were a few free nibbles donated by a local restaurant. All and all, not a bad night for the bored and the generously inclined.

(Use this like you'd use any GP! OTA)

Comments

[miss_ives]

The vision swirled into a flash of images, rushing through Vanessa too quickly for her to make much sense of them, but they left a vile, dark aftertaste, and she gasped, stepping back as her hand dropped from the glass. Her breath was short, and she turned a confused gaze on the owner of the voice that had so shaped what she had seen.

A young face, stubbled jaw, something dark just behind the eyes. Vanessa gazed into them, searching, frowning slightly. Then she asked, with no regard for what he might think if she was wrong, "Is it you?"

[pecked_by_birds]

"Hello Vanessa," he said, answering the question without actually offering an answer.

[miss_ives]

A small sigh escaped her, barely audible, and she laid her hand on his arm, finding a small smile for him. "When did you come back?"

[pecked_by_birds]

"Only this week," he admitted. "New York lost its shimmer, so I've returned to London for now."

[miss_ives]

Vanessa glanced at the vase beside them, and her fingers tightened slightly on the Titan's arm, wrinkling the fabric a little. "Shall we get a drink?"

[pecked_by_birds]

Prometheus lingered a beat longer, then nodded. He supposed he couldn't take the vase right this moment after all. At least now he knew where it was for certain.

"Yes, of course, let's."

[miss_ives]

Some small amount of tension left Vanessa as he agreed, and she shifted her hand to the crook of his elbow as they headed off towards the bar, each step away from the vase much like a step away from the edge of a precipice. "I've opened the shop as much as I could," she told him as they walked, using the conversation to anchor herself in who she was. "Started an inventory, even."

She would ask about New York in a minute. For now, she was still off centre.

[pecked_by_birds]

"Hmm? Really?" the titan asked, looking surprised. "I've never done an inventory," he admitted. "Hell of a task to take on. ...Why do it?"

[miss_ives]

"A purely selfish motive," Vanessa assured him. "I was wondering whether you had anything else of the same sort as the talisman you gave me. It..." She faltered, but went on, forcing herself not to reach for its absence at her throat. "It broke."

[pecked_by_birds]

"It...Wait, it broke?" the titan asked, looking puzzled as he came to a stop. "You mean the chain snapped, right? I can fix that..."

[miss_ives]

Vanessa gave him a chiding look. "I could fix as simple a matter as a broken chain." Her expression turned grave again. "The stone at its heart dissolved. On Halloween. It is a story best told over a glass of something strong. What will you have?" she asked, pulling her wallet out of her purse.

[pecked_by_birds]

"Whatever you're having," he replied, clearly more interested in the story than the drink.

[miss_ives]

A short while later, they stepped away from the bar with glasses of brandy, and Vanessa kept her voice quiet, her words only for him. "On the night of Halloween, a strange fog swept through the streets. It brought out people's demons." She glanced at him. "Thankfully, it left mine alone. But a friend of mine was not quite so fortunate, and his nightmare was formidable. I had to resort to... dark magic, to help him. Verbis Diablo."

Prometheus was the first person she told that she even knew any Verbis Diablo, and she was both anxious and curious about his reaction.

"The talisman seemed to take issue with that."

[pecked_by_birds]

The titan seemed to consider that, frowning slightly as his mind, old and full of knowledge as it was, mulled over this.

"As it would, I suppose," he said after a moment, sipping his drink. "I might have something else, though I'm not sure it'll be as effective. Given time, however, I might be able to uncover something strong enough."

[miss_ives]

"Any help you might be able to provide," Vanessa said earnestly, long, pale fingers tense around her glass. "I've been rather... restless, feeling quite so vulnerable."

It was only discreetly applied make-up that hid the bags under her eyes.

[pecked_by_birds]

Prometheus watched her, eyes narrowing slightly as he observed her.

"...Voices?" he guessed.

[miss_ives]

It was an effort to hold his gaze right then, when it generally wasn't much of one to hold anyone's. "One might call them that."

[pecked_by_birds]

"How loud? How often?" he asked, speaking not like a doctor or any sort of aid, but like someone with experience. Someone understanding- Sympathetic even.

[miss_ives]

"Too often," Vanessa replied, a raised eyebrow seeming to ask whether there was another possible answer. "But they're not loud, my demons. They're insidious. They sow their seeds, and come to water them. They don't stomp in demanding my attention. They whisper in the shell of my ear, wearing the faces of everyone I've loved."

[pecked_by_birds]

"Your voices are unique, they're... Old, I imagine, not that I'm an expert," he confessed. "They're not figments either, not if what you're telling me is true. They are... Inside you. The most you can hope to do is bind them. Trap them."

[miss_ives]

"Will that stop them from drawing in... other forces?" Vanessa asked. She could deal with the ghosts that haunted her. If they were inside her, a part of her, then she ought to. It was what came in their wake that terrified her.

[pecked_by_birds]

"I don't have a clue," The titan admitted, offering a shrug that wasn't really fitting for such a heavy conversation. "It's not something I've ever encountered before. ...Well, no, I suppose that's not true, but it's been a while, and it seems naive to assume one case is like another simply because they share elements. Also, it's not my family you'd be dealing with, raven. Hades or Persephone may have thoughts on the matter, but neither have ties to that sort of thing. What's haunting you is a different beast altogether."

[miss_ives]

"Beast," Vanessa echoed the word he had chosen thoughtfully, then forced herself out of her thoughts and gave him a small smile. "Thank you. For your help. But enough of grave subjects. Tell me about New York. Was it everything you hoped?"

[pecked_by_birds]

"Yes- And no, though to be honest, I'm still not sure what I'd hoped to find there. When I changed, however, it seemed fitting to leave," The titan admitted.

[miss_ives]

"Is this very recent, then?" Vanessa asked, leaning back slightly to better take him in, in this new form.