forum Changes so Much // One on One // Closed

Started April 05, 2020 by @Knick

tune

Adrielle stood backstage, hands clenching the edges of her sleeves so hard it almost tore. Another show. Another crowd, waiting to see her magic. If this job didn't pay as well as it did, she would quit. She took a deep breath, trying to straighten her hands, and smoothed her expression into pleasant serenity.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, will you please welcome the one and only… Lorelai!"

"There's my cue." Adrielle summoned up her power and walked onto stage. To the audience, it would look like a small cat would wander onto the stage, sit down, and start licking itself, while the announcer would disappear. Then the cat would look up, its eyes would glow, and darkness would fall, and when it vanished, she would be there, in a circle of fire.

Louka hadn’t really planned to have stopped by the show originally. He had a bit of time to spare, though, and time he would use. When you had nothing to do, sometimes you just chose an activity and decided that you would be doing that.
He’d been watching in the crowd from his spot. In silence, alone. But calmly. He’d never been to one of these shows before, so he was quite stunned at the display before him. In all honesty, Louka never knew that Shio used their abilities for work like this. They looked like they had a better catalogue for jobs.. Much different from the Mono- of course, Louka forced himself to stop thinking about himself. This time wasn’t about himself. He just had some free time, that’s all.

As the darkness fell, Louka looked around the place, just as things lit back up again and..

It was her? Louka hadn’t seen the performer, gotten a good look at her. If he wasn’t wrong, that was the Shio from a while ago. His hand brushed absentmindedly at his side, where the bullet injury had been acquired.
Louka watched the stage. He didn’t do anything in particular to stand out or anything. She was just a person that Louka recognized, nothing more. Louka..recognized often. And that was that. He’d continue to watch, waiting to see what would happen next.

Adrielle waved her hand, and the microphone piece at her mouth, hidden with a simple illusion, turned on. It would seem like she had amplified her voice, but really, she wasn't. She was using technology. "Hey, guys. Today, I'm not the main focus of the show. There are many young men and women out there who want a chance to perform, like me. So today is the day when I choose some people to help me with the show." She smiled, but her eyes were cold and hard.

She really didn't want to be here.

Louka continued to watch. He couldn’t too many details from where he was. He could see over people, yes, but that was pretty much it.
His eyes looked to his left for a moment as he could’ve sworn someone was stalking up to him, but he dismissed it after a moments gaze at the spot. He looked back to the stage again.

Something seemed a bit off, to Louka. He couldn’t pick up what was off just yet though.

The show went on. It was boring, but Adrielle did her best to entertain the audience, most of them humans, or Shios with little power for themselves. She helped several young Shios with some small works of enchantment. It seemed to be a big hit.

It was nearing the end of the show when she saw him. The Mono. She locked eyes with him and blinked for a moment. Why was he here? She shook her head, giving him the tiniest of nods.

Louka barely catches the nod. He knows that she’s recognized him, just as he’s done to her. Thoughts spring into mind for a second or two, certainly regarding their last interaction. Would they meet up again?

There’s a tug on his arm and Louka barely tenses as he notices the person. She looks to be a woman, maybe young but still an adult. Shorter than him, though. Pale blonde hair. She makes brief eye contact and for a moment, Louka sees something, but barely catches it, and her blue eyes go back to looking more serious. The woman mouths something, motioning with her other hand to follow.

Louka watches her leave soon after. Looking back to the stage, Louka can tell the show is nearing its end. There isn’t too much left for him to observe. The main part of the show seems to be nearing its end. He turns, leaving the crowd; brushing past people who barely spare a glance. Time to see what this woman wanted.
The woman leads him off to a quieter area, where no one else is. Louka says nothing, waiting for the woman to speak. But she never does, facing the opposite direction, standing in silence.

The Mono is taken to the back, with a woman. Adrielle watched them leave out of the corner of her eye, then shrugged. It wasn't her business what this stranger did. They had only met once, and he proved to be a pushy busybody who wanted strangers to do everything for him. Also an attractive guy, but he was a Mono, and she was Adrielle.

She didn't like people.

After the show, she tried to escape her fans as quickly as possible, retreating to her dressing room as quickly as possible. Her thoughts whirred. What was the Mono doing here, anyway? She should probably check it out.

“So?” Louka says, after a moments worth of silence. His tone is not rushing. “What is it?” He can only assume this woman wanted something.

“My kin,” she says. “You came after them?” Something tells Louka that it wasn’t a question.
“Apart of my job..” He starts, taking a step away from her. Is she the sibling of that Shio from his last mission? Louka debated using the word hunt instead of mission..but no, thats not a good word. Bad place, Louka thinks. This woman took him to a place where no one was going to come into unless they’d seen the two go in or really needed something.
“Nobody goes after the Delafosse, without expecting them to fight back.” He can only assume that the Delafosse would be their family name. He’s not heard of them at all.
“Then you wouldn’t be seeking me, you’d be seeking the-“

It does not take a good eye for him to see the handgun aimed directly at him. Cold eyes upon Louka, the woman stays silent. She’s not looking for a fight, she’s looking for a quick revenge. A warning. But even Louka can see the hesitation, the slight shake in her hand.

Why does this always end with people aiming guns at me? Louka wonders, in silence. He does not step back anymore, instead opting to stand ground.

“-seeking the people who sent me on this mission in the first place. I can take you to them, if you want..”
“No.”

And of course he was getting into trouble again. Adrielle sighed and crossed her arms. There was a strange woman pointing a gun at the Mono, although he didn't seem to care. But with his weird staying-alive-after-being-shot power, she was pretty sure it would be useless. But she would have to chime in and help. She groaned in annoyance before stepping into view.

"I don't like violence in my theater," Adrielle said, in an off-handed manner, crossing her arms and looking faintly annoyed. "Outside, sure. Go ahead. But not in here."

She nodded to the gun in the woman's hands. "Also, word of advice, don't try to use that tiny thing on him. It won't work, unfortunately."

Wait… why was she helping him again?

The Delafosse woman doesn’t look towards Adrielle, perhaps briefly acknowledging her out of the corner of her eyes. “This man went after my kin. This business does not concern you.”

Louka was pretty sure the other Shio was right, the one he’d met before. What was she planning to get out of him, payment? Louka hadn’t taken out any weapons of his own, but a familiar, yet far away voice in his mind seemed to yell at him to do so right now. No, he wouldn’t do that.

“I believe,” Louka called to the Delafosse, “we can sort this out, away from here. Not in here, out of here.” He gestures away. The gun woman keeps a firm grasp on her handgun, not once removing her eyes off of him.

"It does, if you're going to shoot him here." Adrielle rolled her eyes, looking annoyed. "Because then the police will come, and they'll be swarming all over her like bugs, and I'll have to answer dumb questions over and over and over and over." She shrugged. "So yes, it would be my business then."

She raised an eyebrow at the Mono before looking back to the woman and jerking her head at him. "Listen to him. Or don't, I don't really care. But you need to leave here, before I call someone." Her voice was so mild, it would take a minute for them to realize that she was threatening them. She appeared so innocent…

"Also, that gun really won't work on him."

(Sorry for a delay in response, I had some medical stuff and I could possibly be a bit more spotty in the future as well.)

The Delafosse woman seems to fall silent from what she was about to say, as if there was a moment of hesitation. Especially at Adrielle’s words. But her expression hardened. “The Delafosse will not stand for endangerment of their kin.” It was clear that she would not listen to any sort of reasoning.

“And while the bullets may not work on him, they will work on..you.” Her aim quickly changed towards Adrielle and she shot, but the bullet never reached its target. Instead, there was that crackling noise again, and almost what seemed to be a long, shadowy limb, made of that ‘ash’, which seemed to have caught the bullet in its fist. The limb seemed to extend out of nowhere, it almost looked like it was attached to Louka, yet a careful eye could see that it was from behind him, yet there was no body for it to attach to.
Louka, a brief worry flashing in his eyes, glanced behind himself briefly, but nothing that anyone could see was there. He returned back to the scene again.

“Well, at least it’s clear who came here for violence for the sake of it,” Louka mumbled. He raised his voice, lifting his head. “Did you really need to drag her into it?”

But the Delafosse woman was silent, gun shaking in her hands.

(It’s totally fine, I’m barely on here anymore, anyways. I hope you’re okay!)

Adrielle snorted, raising an eyebrow. "Great. That's great, really, that you won't stand for the endangerment of kin. But can you do your shooting outside, if you're not going to listen to reason? I rather like this building, and don't want it getting ruined.

When the woman shot at her, she could only jump. Her heart went into her mouth, and she froze, unable to move. Was this how she was going to die? Those weird arm-things appeared, stopping the bullet, and she turned to look at the Mono guy, heart pounding fast and hard, an incredulous look on her face. Why did he stop the bullet? Didn't it hurt him when he did that?

She slowly looked back at the woman, and examined her. "Are you insane?" She asked, her voice cold and hard and sharp as a blade. "Why the living fuck would you try to shoot a bystander? And why are you even trying to kill this guy? It's like almost impossible!" She scowled.

He was deathly still and quiet, as the arm retracted, bullet still in fist. Louka looked at the bullet, displayed his hands, and it dropped into the palm of his own hands. The shadowy arm stayed for a moment then vanished.

“I..I didn’t know it was going to be that hard to kill a Mono, they just told me it would be easy!” The Delafosse stuttered. She backed up, looking for an escape. “No witnesses allowed..” she mumbled.

Louka remained silent, dropping the bullet to the ground with a clatter. He looked back up again.

(Really sorry for randomly vanishing with no warning, I had a surgery and recovery took longer than expected. It’s fine if you don’t want to continue this rp)

(It's totally fine! Real life is much more important than roleplays. I just hope you're doing okay! And if you'd like to continue it, I'm all for it!)

Adrielle, despite the adrenaline that was now rushing through her veins at the close miss, tried to act calm. After all, acting weak just put a target on her back. She was a Shio, not a Mono. She didn't have bulletproof skin… or whatever that weird shadow hand was.

She rubbed her forehead. "Well, the people who told you to kill him clearly sent you on a suicide mission," she said with a tired sigh. She shook her head at the woman, eyes mocking. "Should have thought this through more, huh?"

She waved her hand, summoning up her power - which was almost depleted, thanks to her recent show, and placed an illusion around the entire room, so that every bit of wall looked like a perfect example of a door. It would make the place seem like there was no way out. And although Adrielle acted calm, a bead of sweat trickled down her face. This illusion magic was taking a bigger toll on her than she'd like.

The Delafosse glanced around the room, clearly panicking. Maybe not so much on the outside but her eyes darted around the room, looking for a possible slip up.

Louka approached, moving past the other Shio and towards the Delafosse. Her hands shaky, she attempted for fire, but the only thing that exited her gun was a click. Her gun was jammed.
The Shio backed up as Louka approached, having remained silent all this time, his arms down. It was almost unnerving, like something observing its prey before it attacked.

“T-This Mono is insane!” The Delafosse whisper-yelled, continuing to back up.

"It's your own fault for trying to kill him without knowing exactly who you were going up against," Adrielle grunted, her energy rapidly depleting. She didn't let go of the illusion, though, until the Mono - she didn't remember his name - came close to the woman, close enough that Adrielle knew she wouldn't be able to escape easily.

She let the illusion fade away with a huff of breath, and had to lean against the nearest wall in order to keep her balance. She was exhausted.

She watched the confrontation between the two with a smirk. In the back of her mind, she wondered why the woman had attempted to kill the Mono, and who had sent her. Did they not know that it was foolish to try and kill a monster like this?