061 ± [visual / location: the black friar] done with all the circlin' round

[aintnoconvict]

"All right, I'll try and make this quick:"

Glitch? Getting to the point in a reasonable amount of time? Is it possible?

"For those who don't know me: my name's Glitch, I'm that guy who's been here since forever and kinda know the most about all the...stuff that goes on here. Sorta."

No, no it is not.

"Anyway, ah...I've been studying the lighthouse and found some peculiarities with the light-beam thingy which I wanna discuss with everyone. Or most of you, if you can make it. Plus there was that whole hanging out and having drinks thing which I mentioned before all the stuff north of the river happened-- hey we can talk about that too."

Yeah he is taking notes now, all frowny and confuzzled.

"Right! Unless you've got something drastic going on, let's meet at the Black Friar after sundown for the...sunlight-avoidant. First round of drinks is on me. See you later."


ooc: Gathering of the citizens! This is a mingle log so tag in, tag each other, frolic away. I will be adding a tag of Glitch discussing his Very Scientific Observations and there will e a Q&A to follow which I hope will e full of threadjacking. And here havesome pub details. Go go go!

Comments

[imperial_long]

Long slinks in wearing an air of discontent like he wears his coat. Normally he is an amiable attendee of any of Taxon's social gatherings-- if nothing else they provide ample opportunity to people-watch-- but in truth he would rather be in his hotel room having a fine sulk contemplating the fickle nature of their captors and/or the universe, which gives with the right hand and taketh away with the left. This contemplation would be best eased and lubricated by a fine Scotch.

However, Glitch has asked, and because it is Glitch asking, Long has bestirred himself and donned layers of clothes against the winter and is now sidling on inside and wondering to what extent it would be poor form were he to visit that rather attractive and gleaming bar first (and what lovely long lines of bottles, also gleaming), before settling in to listen to the Talking.

Either way, he is here. To be cornered, greeted, or anything else.

[video]

[infinitelystranger]

Not much later, Long receives a video call.

It's his loudmouthed boy sidekick, Sherlock Holmes, too preoccupied with his new book and his usual pursuits to have remembered that there was a party on at all until about ten minutes before it was going to start. Of course, this was time enough to put on clothing and drop in, particularly with such a relaxed timetable, but never mind that--Sherlock has come up with a much more efficient plan. At least in his opinion.

He shows up on Long's tablet sitting at his own cluttered desk with his dressing-gown on and an unusually polite smile on his face. That is almost never a good sign with Sherlock. "Would you mind orienting your tablet a little further to the left?" he says.

[video]

[imperial_long]

Long favors Sherlock's abrupt appearance on his tablet with a slightly jaundiced eye and something that half-qualifies as a scowl.

(80% of this is jealousy. Sherlock Holmes is in his own home, obviously comfortable, and did not have to come out into the cold. How dare he flaunt that in Mayland Long's face. And why the devil didn't he think of it?)

Long huffs, and rotates the tablet slightly so that Sherlock can see. "Will that be adequate, Mr. Holmes?"

[whyfearthedark]

Once Nuada has settled into the proceedings, his back to the rounded, polished edge of the bar top, he spies Mister Long. He inclines his head, and raises a steaming cup of something presumably very hot in greeting.

[hasaheart]

Cain elbows the front door open, gets his foot hooked 'round the edge of it, and pulls it open far enough that he can slip into the warm indoors. Why elbows and heels of boots, you ask: he comes bearing goods. He carries a picnic style basket in one hand (from which the unmistakable aromas of bread and cheese and ham and is that sun dried tomatoes(?) come wafting). He promised he'd bring something, and he did.

In the other hand is a small, neatly wrapped parcel (green wrapping, and an even brighter green bow) with his best friend's name on it. Figuratively and literally speaking.

Once he's found a place to leave his basketful of tasty treats and seen his Annual's End gift safely to his friend, well, there's only one thing left to do, which he's notoriously bad exactly good at.

Mingle.

[aintnoconvict]

Yeah Glitch is going to come sauntering over to investigate and say hi.

"Hi," he says with a smile, one arm out to take the basket from his friend. "I...kinda forgot the whole potluck aspect, but again I'm buying the first round." Then he eyes the package and grimaces a little. "Okay I kinda forgot a few things but there was science. Sorry."

[untoldtale]

Mingle, sure, that's what this gal's trying to do in her own pattented awkward way. Ugly duckling's trying to fit in among the swans and peacocks and majestic/scary eagles, and she's doing so by...hovering by the door to the other dining room.

Go give her some pointers, tin man.

[thepersianyouth]

Ever wonder why you didn't notice a certain braceleted person of very Mediterranean looks walk through the door? He sits very near the center of proceedings, with glossy waves aspiring to be curls atop his head, and dangling green earrings, and a bright blue kaftan and pants, and intricately painted hands. He should be hard to miss.

The answer is simple: he got here early. Very early indeed.

[aintnoconvict]

And by being there very early he's the first person Glitch sees when he arrives, and is greeted with a sigh and a smile. It's comforting and just nice and that blue is always perfect ad he can't help reaching out to gently tug one of those curls.

Glitch is dressed conservatively (for him), black trousers, green shirt, and a black vest with white embroidery. There might be some red henna stains on his fingertips, and his eyes might be a bit lined so they "pop" more, but he's otherwise unadorned.

"You're very on time," he remarks and glances to the light still streaming through the stained glass windows before looking back. "Hello."

consider all mine placeholder tags, busy weekend coming up

[whyfearthedark]

Nuada arrives at the Black Friar as he does every other place he goes: with as little pomp and ceremony as possible. That he is visually striking is not something he'll make excuse for, and should one or two of the Extra patrons at the bar cower in his presence, well, that is hardly his problem.

As little as he cherishes the thought of associating with humans, as intrigued is he by Glitch's findings. As far as he's concerned, this is more a matter of business than anything else.

SOME TIME LATER

[aintnoconvict]

Once everyone he assumes is coming is gathered, Glitch makes his way to stand beside the hearth, drink (an Old Fashioned, his second of the evening) in hand.

"Everyone, can I have your attention? Just a few moments, please." Once he's decided that's happened he does a quick, jerky nod and continues. "I wanna start by saying thank you for coming, it's...not often we get together like this but I think it's important, and maybe we should do it more often."

He looks around and nods again, more certainly this time. "As many of you know the city's rearranged itself. I can tell you this is at least the second time it's done this, though this is the most drastic. For one thing, the size is considerably smaller. Dunno what this means, other than getting around is easier, but that's not my main concern.

"What is my main concern is the lighthouse. That is also new, and very...we can't get into it, as far as I can tell. But more importantly: the light-beacon thing, there's more to it. I looked at it through ultraviolet lenses and noticed a fluctuation when the beam went out to sea, and when I tried through ruby quartz lenses the same fluctuations were evident but had different properties. I don't no any more than that, I'll need to go up there and get a better look but...that'll take doing. If anyone wants to help out, I'd appreciate it."

There, that's the sciencing out of the way.

"The other major change in the city is the whole...thing in the north. I didn't spend much time there, so if you want to share your experiences with everyone now'd be a good time to do it."

jeremy is useless.

[kings_fool]

Jeremy lifts a hand and waves it around like this is class and Glitch is the teacher. If Glitch makes any indication that he can talk, he'll take it.

"This, uh, lighthouse beam thing, is it possible it is gamma-radiated energy and it'll turn you into the Impossible Bulk?"

Re: SOME TIME LATER

[somelittleinfamy]

"Are we really talking about a lighthouse?" pipes up one of the two newest newcomers, in German and ostensibly to his brother, except that there are five or six people between Johannes and Horst. So Johannes leans back on the bar by his elbows, squints at the ceiling, and ends up asking the whole room this. The whole German-speaking room, anyway. "Why?"

His shirtcollar is undone and reveals a bright red flush that travels down from the tips of his cheekbones straight down to his collarbone, along with a cotton bandage taped to his neck. If that wasn't bad enough, he frowns and adds, "Leuchttürme. Light-houses. We're talking about a lighthouse. Horst. You dragged me here to listen to some fellow with train tracks stapled into his head talk about lighthouses."

Occam's razor seems to point to the array of empty shot glasses behind him.

[video]

[infinitelystranger]

A familiar, British voice pipes up from the speakers of Mayland Long's tablet. Sherlock Holmes ignores the burgeoning squabble happening just over his televised head, not being a speaker of the German language himself and not really caring besides, and cuts to: "Is there some reason to think the light's more than some manner of Frank Lloyd Wright art installation?"

OH HEY I JUST REMEMBERED THIS THING

[hasaheart]

Once the New Guy #1 (Fischer) is done referencing things Cain really has no idea what to even imagine they mean, and once the most docile man (Long, aka Muddy Waters, Much?) in the city nearly throttles New Guy #3 (Loud One), Cain catches Glitch's eye.

It's not that difficult, being one of the tallest (and broadest) guys in town (and, yeah, best bud with the genius, that helps too).

He clears his throat, addressing the entire room. "I can't be the only one who'd feel better about the Northern District if there was someone keeping an eye out for whatever might slip on over on this side of the river. I've been acting lookout since the beginning of last month, but I'm just one guy, and all I got goin' for me is I don't bruise easy.

"You want to help out, just let me know after this, alright?"

Re: SOME TIME LATER

[skinandbone]

Light, light, you could do a lot with light, and things that looked like light. You could communicate. You could power. You could even summon.

"What do you see when you look in the direction the light change is pointed at? And does it change the same way every time?"

"I haven't been up to the north - I don't like the sounds - but I can tell you that the animals are digging in. Suddenly, everything is gorging and hoarding food."

[skinandbone]

It's his very first gathering in Taxon, and he's late. But Metody has a good reason; he was at a bath house, cleaning himself and the inside of his suit. The humid air in the bath house extended the drying process, and he may have fallen asleep at some point, but look, here he is, scrubbed clean and..still smelling of steel mills. But at least he tried.

He hesitates at the doorway, startled by the dark, heavy interior, then slips up to the back of the group.

[smecker]

Paul Smecker gives pale-but-brightly-dressed a little nod from over the rim of his coffee cup.

"We don't bite," he says at Metody lurking at the edges. "...well, most of us don't. Hi."

Vaguely familiar-- memories from the high school glitch-- but Paul knows he was pretty far from himself during that so it stands to reason other people might not have been either. "It's Metody, right?"

[trojanhorst]

Two men show up together: one dressed fashionably, the other more conservative. The first one through the door is dark-haired, all smiles: Horst Brauer, to those who know him. The man following just after him is a shade shorter, fair-haired, and evincing no smiles whatsoever, but for all their dissimilarities, Horst and Johannes Cabal share enough features in common that the outside observer might recognize them as relations. At the door, they briefly exchange words, but with a few glances around them that say neither of them considers this the place for a lengthy discussion -- after that, they part ways, going to their separate pursuits.

Horst mingles in among the little crowd, offering brief, warm hellos to people he knows enough to smile at, glancing back to check on his brother between conversations. Here and there, he stops in a corner to watch the people around him, nursing a drink from the bar and studying the little social groups and details of relationships that crop up in the conversations in front of him. These two are close, those two are avoiding each other, that one is alone... This is his first opportunity to see a gathering of this many of the city's captive residents. He'd best make the most of it.

[skinandbone]

Metody's head snaps back and forth as she looks between the two men. She's terrible at recognizing details in pictures - what with the lack of bones, they look fundamentally artificial to her - but in person, she can see the similarities between the two.

And the difference. Only one of them looks dead.

Perhaps it's something Horst did to himself, then, as a kind of disguise or camouflage, and Johannes didn't feel the need? Or maybe it's a natural variation, like blue eyes or red hair, and one brother just didn't get it?

Finally, she realizes how obvious she's being, and sheepishly lifts a hand to give them a little wave of greeting.

[personaldemon]

Jason Blood didn't particularly want to come; what else is new. But there's only so much staying at home one can do, and besides, he might see Remus Lupin, and he has something in the Gladstone bag that he wishes Lupin to see, so...

He takes a seat in a corner, listening to Glitch talk with his usual neutral anti-socializing face in place.

[skinandbone]

It takes Metody a long time to recognize Jason. The man is older, his body language is different - less sullen teenage sneer, more adult blankness - and, of course, now he can see what people actually look like, instead of just gazing at an ever-changing surface.

But, in time, he makes the connection. His face brightens up, and he heads in that direction.

"Hello!"

[untoldtale]

The problem with corners is that there's always two sides to them, you need two walls to make one so even if you're trying to be isolated there will be a spot right there for someone else to take.

So yeah against every better judgement (we'll blame further application of alcohol) Emma finds herself gravitating towards people. Well, a person. A Jason person. He's seemed the most knowledgeable about her situation so why not? Plus there's an open half to the corner so she can just barge herself right in there.

"Hey," she says and settles in the opposite seat. "Guess this is how we're supposed to meet folks off the phone, huh?"

[threelivesdown]

Selina is here. She's at the bar a little further away from the others, with a bit of a frown on her face. There don't seem to be many glasses indicating that she's been drinking but the way she's looking at the bottles behind the bar, she must be thinking about it.

[untoldtale]

Science, right. Lighthouse, okay. People yelling in...Emma will guess German, whatever. She has other concerns, ones she feels safest asking Selina about. So she settles down next to her, beer in hand, and nods to the little gathering.

"So. Any idea why this place is such a sausagefest?"