Smol Gathering - OTA

[londoncallingmods]

The weather this weekend wasn't worth getting excited over, but it was fair enough to justify some time out and about. Stores were packed with new stock, cafes were brimming with life, and as always, London herself was buzzing with activity.

In South London Pop Brixton was celebrating its second birthday, offering up DJs and live performances, along side plenty of food and drink vendors. Though if your mouth's watering and that's a tube trip too far, you could always head on over to Westfield Shepherd's Bush, where you'd find a fun food truck festival. For those looking to fill up with girl power rather than pudding, you could always head over to the Powerpuff Girls pop up shop. As always, there was no shortage of things to do this weekend.

The news was still packed with election chatter, and talk of the concert for Manchester, but if you took a peek at twitter, you might find a little conspiracy brewing all about one Finlay Flynn- Who's management was currently fighting rumors about his disappearance. Little theories kept popping up, showing how his twitter feed seemed slightly off, or how filming for his BBC 3 show had been suspiciously delayed. There were youtube videos discussing it, threads on various online forums, all chattering about how the actor who was so often spotted on the tube or in pubs was suddenly absent. A silly little bit of internet crazy for most- But an unsettling reminder of his absence to those in the know.

Still, London stopped for nobody, and the city was in full bloom, just as it was every weekend.

(OTA! As always the GP will be open for at least a week, so tag in, tag others, and check back often!)

Comments

[faizel]

Faizel had spent the last week with his mother, off in the dark woods of The Other Side. He'd returned to London with a soft glow to his appearance that came from being among his own, and surrounded by the magic that made up half of who and what he was. Spending time with his mother was never a relaxing experience, upon his arrival she'd told him he 'reeked of mankind's mess', but he couldn't deny that being back on The Other Side had a way of soothing him. All that magic and power just floating around- It was calming somehow.

He was dressed in soft beige, a long tunic looking top over some wider legged trousers, with fine gold detailing on the collar and the hem. Over his shoulder a new bag hung, a gift from his mother. It looked like leather, snake maybe, but the scales were larger and the colours were like nothing of this world- Rich greens that flickered purple in some light. As always, it was stuffed with things like books and papers, as well as his laptop- But strapped to the top of it, secured tightly but within reach, was his wand. Something most might write off as a decoration, a powerful weapon hidden in plain sight.

He hadn't meant to attend a food festival today, but when the rich aroma had hit him on his way by, he'd found himself wandering closer. ...Half an hour later and he was still wandering from truck to truck, keeping an eye out for vegetarian options. Passing one truck, a man put a toothpick in his hand before he could object, leaving him staring at a bit of chicken on a stick, unsure of what to do with it.

Timed to Wednesday night

[prince_of_nymphs]

Pulsing- Pulsing light, pulsing sound, like being chained to the floor of London's shittiest night club with a bag over his head. Everything muffled and distorted from being too loud. That's all he remembered. He'd been walking home- No, running home, winding and dashing... Then he'd been somewhere else. Like a dream he couldn't wake up from.

...And then, just like that, he'd been back.

The alley reeked of booze and piss, and Fin's head was pounding as he slowly sat up. It was late and dark, but somehow everything felt too bright and loud. Ducking his head, he covered his ears with his hands and took slow breaths, only now realizing he was shirtless. What he couldn't see, however, was the large tattoo that now covered most of his back, a series of runes and symbols woven into pretty circles that spiralled outwards.

One more deep breath, and the world seemed to calm again, no longer an overstimulating mess of colour and noise. Like this he could focus, and Finlay pulled himself to his feet, patting himself down to find a broken phone, a crushed pack of cigarettes, and a very beaten up looking wallet.

Emerging from the alley, the actor forced himself to find that charming smile of his, and turned it on the first person to pass by.

"Sorry, mate, sorry, I know I look a mess, but- Well, my mates think they're hilarious..."

He wove a story about a drunk night out with the lads, and though the man had seemed startled at first, he was laughing by the end, accepting Fin's offer to buy his coat and offering a good prank for him to pull in return.

Covered enough to face the public, Finlay headed off to the nearest department store, smiling at the clerk and promising to let her get a selfie if she'd let him buy a new outfit and freshen up first. The young fae was oblivious to all the internet buzz currently going on, but it worked in his favour, and the young woman was more than willing to bend the rules for him if it meant getting a bit of attention for herself.

When he emerged from the shop he looked as if nothing had happened. A quick wash and new clothes, and Fin was as good as new- On the outside at least. Inside he was buzzing. A nervous wreck with a head that couldn't seem to stay on straight. A heavy fog hung over his brain, and while he knew he ought to head right home, he found himself walking towards the pub. A drink... A drink would fix this. Then maybe one more...

Four shots later and Fin was leaning hard against the bar, drunk and warm and- Confused. Like he was lost in his own head.

[willysilver]

It was Saturday morning and the week was wearing on Willy. That was putting it kindly. As he walked the streets it was clear he had not slept, perhaps for many days. His hair was unkempt and his emerald eyes weary, but he walked. For many days now he had been looking for Fin. There was something within him that felt stretched, drawn tight. It pulled uncomfortably as if a thread bound them across great distance, but Will had no luck getting any closer, had no luck making that tension lessen.

The last time he was apart from Fin he faded. Shadow had crept into him and made him a ghost of himself. This was...not the same. This time he was driven to find Fin.

He had spent time on the Other Side searching, but that only made the tension grow stronger. So he had returned to London and stalked the streets. Every person who seemed to be a familiar face he questioned, anyone who was looking at one of the papers that told a lurid story about Fin's sudden disappearance got interrogated.

And then he saw someone he hoped beyond hope would have some kind of answer.

Hair wild and eyes wide, Will stopped abruptly and said in a frantic voice,

"Have you seen Finlay?"

Re: Timed to Wednesday night

[pippa_flynn]

Pip had a certain intuition when it came to Fin. She always had had it and to her it was as natural as breathing. It wasn't as if she knew where he was, or anything like that. But she knew within ten minutes when he'd be knocking on her door. She knew when he was in danger by some sickening twist of her gut she'd learned not to dismiss.

And of late, with him gone, she'd been a bit of a mess, really. A bit, because for the first time in as long as she could recall she'd had no intuition about him at all. It was a void where once there had been something. Though she couldn't name it or even describe it with any sense it had been there...and then it was gone.

But today she'd woken up and it was back. Back with a bang. She knew Fin wasn't in danger, that felt different. But she knew something was afoot.

She'd set out at once, trusting to fate. Well, fate and a bit of simply knowing Fin. She got into a cab and paid him to drive round. Round and round til things just felt right. The fare had been hefty but she wasn't fussed. She simply paid it and got out and began to walk. Into shops, into cafes, into an office building. And then she walked into a shop where a girl was on her mobile, showing photos to her mate.

"It was really him! I tweeted it right off. And he did a snapchat with me, too. Lovely. What the papers say is all wrong."

"Can I see?" Pippa asked, all wide eyed innocence.

"Here! Look!" the shop girl said excitedly, showing Pip a face she'd been desperate to see for a week now.

"Bang on," she grinned. "Where did he go?"

"That way. Probably the tube," the girl shrugged. And Pip left, turning to follow her nose. The tube was likely, but something told her as she walked past the bar she should go in. Her gut. Just intuition.

And there she saw her baby brother against the bar. Pippa let go a breath of relief and walked in, her Jimmy Choos clocking across the hardwood floor.

"Buy a girl a drink?" she asked, as if they might be long lost lovers instead of the closest siblings.

[prince_of_nymphs]

It took a moment for it to click, but when he looked up he knew exactly who he'd see. He'd felt her even before he'd heard her, that blood connection of theirs stronger than ever now.

"As many as you want," Fin said with a tired looking smile. "She's on my tab," he told the bartender. "Whatever she wants..."

He looked unsteady, and he rubbed his face a bit before taking his drink and staggering over to an empty table in the corner.

[pippa_flynn]

Pippa ordered a vodka soda for herself and then wandered over to sit with Fin. Everything was slow and practiced, no sense of urgency, no outward trace of the rush she felt at seeing him after she'd thought he might be lost.

Though when she sat, it was close, and she laid her hand lightly on his leg.

"A couple more drinks and we'll get you home, I think."

[prince_of_nymphs]

Fin drew away slightly, hunching over his drink.

"I don't want to go home, Pip," he insisted quietly, pushing his shaggy hair back and out of his face. "I want to be here."

[pippa_flynn]

"You want to sit in a dodgy bar in a part of town you never go to? Alright...but then I must insist you tell me where you've been. You look like you've been on a bender, but if you'd been in the clubs it would have been on Twitter and there's been no sign of you," she said, calm and even as she stirred her drink with the straw but did not sip it.

[prince_of_nymphs]

Fin was quiet for a long moment, staring deep into his glass as though trying to see the future in a pint of beer- But eventually he looked over at Pippa.

"I don't know where I've been," he said honestly. "Don't know how long I was gone, or what happened, I just- I feel like something happened. I remember vibrations and light, but it's all muffled, and when I try and focus on it, I feel this pit of dread in my gut."

He shifted in his seat a little, slumping into the corner, his head resting against the wall.

"I don't know if I've blocked it out or someone's blocked it out for me- But if those memories are hiding inside me somewhere, I'm not sure I want to dig them up, Pip."

[pippa_flynn]

Pippa frowned and huffed a small sigh.

"You've been gone a week, Fin," she said. "I can understand not wanting to remember, but be real...you can't hide here forever. If nothing else that bastard fae is really worried about you. He came to see me. He's a fright."

[prince_of_nymphs]

"He'll only panic more when I tell him I don't even know where I've been," Fin replied, squirming again as though his back was sore.

"God, I feel like I've been sleeping on a bed of thorns or something," he complained.

[pippa_flynn]

"Maybe a doctor first wouldn't be beyond reason..." she suggested gently. "At least that Hex boy."

[prince_of_nymphs]

Fin looked unsure, then sighed.

"Yeah, I guess. ...I dunno. Hex sometimes has a hard time being around my magic," he admitted.

[pippa_flynn]

"I'll be with you. I'll wring his neck if need be," she said with confidence. Every day her power grew stronger and she gained more control. But her true strength came from her position as big sister, not queen.

"Do you know his number? I'll ring him."

[harrowgate]

"For the love of cats, not this again."

It was Felix, of course, an impatient stab of color in the gray light of the London morning. While he hadn't actively tried to avoid the Hobo Version of Will Silver lurching down the pavement, he had watched the Fae's approach with an active sense of dread. Felix was supposed to be fetching coffee and croissant for breakfast with Shannon -- not dealing with another Fae crisis.

"Will," he said sharply, snapping his fingers in an attempt to get the Prince to focus on him. Will had said they were kin (much to Felix's chagrin), so the wizard felt he had some standing here. "Look at me. How long have you been outside?"

[prince_of_nymphs]

Without thinking, Fin fished his phone from his pocket, forgetting for a moment that it was broken.

"I... I don't, actually. Not off the top of my head, Pip," the young fae admitted, rubbing his face with both hands and pushing his hair back. He could fix this, he could make it so everything was at it had been, and let this experience scab right over. With any luck it would fade, rather than scar.

Brave face in place, he knocked back the rest of his beer and found a smile good enough to pass as genuine.

"You're right, you know? I should just go home. Let's just... Let's keep this between us for now, alright? I'll think of something to tell Will, to tell everyone, okay? No one needs to know what happened- I mean, I don't, right?"

[pippa_flynn]

"You can't make it go away that easily," she said. Pippa sat her drink down untested and reached over to push a shaggy lock behind Fin's ear. She tried very hard to keep any impulse to boss him round tamped down tight.

"Let's get you home. A shower and your own clothes, your own bed, and a strong cup of tea and you'll feel better. Shall we go?"

[prince_of_nymphs]

Fin was silent for a beat, but eventually nodded as he pulled out some cash to cover his tab.

"Yeah. ...Yeah, I should go home," he agreed quietly, leaning into Pip slightly and closing his eyes for just a moment.

[pippa_flynn]

Her magic reached out to him, wispy little tendrils that caressed and soothed him. Pippa put her arm around him to hold him close and after a moment she pressed a tender kiss to his temple.

"Then that's sorted. Let's go get a taxi before the paps show up and start barking questions," she said as she rose to her feet and coaxed him up. The bartender came over and snatched up the notes Fin had left and took away their glasses. For her part, Pip gently but surely steered Fin out of the bar and onto the street. In one hand she was already on her mobile. Uber was faster most of the time, but as luck would have it a taxi was rolling by and she waved at the driver who came to a slow stop.

"In you go, little brother," she said, feeling more and more confident that getting him out of the public and away from people in general was the right thing to do.

[willysilver]

Willy stopped and blinked a few times, then reached out to lay a hand on Felix's shoulder. It grounded him, steadied him.

"I do not know," he answered honestly. "Many days. I must find Fin...something is terribly wrong," he insisted.

[prince_of_nymphs]

Fin muttered in protest at being called 'little brother', but slumped easily into the soft seats.

"Let me see your phone," he insisted once Pippa was in as well. "I want to check my twitter."

[pippa_flynn]

Pippa gave the address to the driver while she fished out her phone and handed it over.

"Here you go," she said. "I hope you don't find anything to upset you. You don't need that right now."

[prince_of_nymphs]

Fin shrugged, already logged in and combing through the conspiracy theories and the odd tweets sent from his account.

"Has... Has Winter been tweeting from my account? I'll murder the little glitter coated wanker."

[pippa_flynn]

"I don't know. Probably. It's kept the rumour mills busy. Less focused on you being entirely absent from this world," she replied. "I don't spend a lot of time looking at Twitter so I can't say for sure."

[harrowgate]

Felix steeled his shoulders so he did not try to shrug Will off. What was every Fae's obsession with touching him? Felix would never understand it.

"Will, did you quarrel again? Did he leave in an emotional state? If he doesn't want to be found, then you oughtn't be looking for him."