The Rebournes (IC) -- Always Accepting

[Natsurra]

Sonny sat at her desk in the Organization, flipping through different editions of the yellow pages for a club called Unbridled Liquid and reading the small descriptions given under each of them. Tomorrow, she would stop by at the library and find out more information about the club, but for now she found herself forcing herself awake, sipping a cup of coffee that was already cold from the freezing, unheated air of the old factory. As she flipped open the last yellow pages on her desk, she found that the text before her eyes was blurry and soon the room was spinning around her. I need to get home.. it's not safe to stay here at night.. I'll freeze... she thought to herself, stumbling away from her desk and holding the chair for support. Why was she so tired? Then she remembered how she had been working late last night, and how there had been an emergency at the animal hospital the night before.. in fact, she hadn't gotten a good sleep all week.

Sonny stumbled out onto the streets, probably looking like a late night drunk. She glanced down at her watch, it was nearly 2AM and she had to walk twelve blocks to get home. Oh how she wished she had a car right now. Half way home, Sonny stopped back at the park she had been in earlier, lying down on a bench within sight of the large Christmas tree. It's dangerous to be out here Sonny.. get home quickly.. or get somewhere busy.. she thought, looking around her for a store or restaurant that was still open. She spotted one building that was lite up down the block, a large neon sign hanging over it reading Unbridled Liquid... this was the club that unbourne had given her the card to. In any other situation, Sonny wouldn't step foot in this possibly dangerous place without further research, but she was so exhausted, and sleeping outside on a bench where anyone could walk up to her was even more dangerous.

Half-consciously, Sonny walked into the loud club and sat down at one of tables in the far corner of the room, trying to make herself less obvious. All the girls here were wearing tight dresses and thick make-up.. Sonny wore jeans and a plain red sweater.. how out of place would she look? Sighing, she watched wannabe girls and lustful men flirt with each other endlessly, in a hope to keep herself awake.

[RideOnTechnology]

A familiar scent found its way to Ezekiel, making him jerk his head up and nearly sending the large headphones he only half-wore clattering to the floor. Narrowing his eyes, Ezekiel continued to scratch the record now playing but turned that particular sound way down, ensuring noone would notice if he became distracted and slipped up.
The smell came from the very back corner of the ground floor. The spot was a traslucently canvassed booth, usually for the late night's more intimate groups, but was now saved for one woman in a red sweater and jeans. Just as he thought, it was the woman from the cafe.
"Shit," Ezekiel hissed under his breath. His eyes darted around for the owner of the club, who seemed to be in her office at the time.

Stupid. Ezekiel though. Why do I have to be so stupid?
He'd offered the woman the information to the club, and even a job. She couldn't take a job here. Old dumb Tattoo had gone after her because she was somebody. And if the lackie knew who she was, it was almost surefire that the head honcho would.
I gave you that warning for a reason, Ezekiel thought to himself, having an argument with the woman inside his head. Suddenly the clicking of heels floated his way, and he turned his head to the side to see Charlie beaming at him.
"This has been quite a night, hmm?" She pushed her hair off her shoulders, looking out to the swarming of bodies that was her paying group. Her accent was almost unbearably thick, something Ezekiel had always guessed was Australian. Despite the noise of the speakers, she didn't need to yell. Both of them could hear conversations throughout the club, not to mention each other.
"Sure. Yeah." Ezekiel nodded, looking out to the crowd as well. Charlie cocked her head to the side, looking at him with a furrowed brow.
"What's your problem?"
"Nothing."
Charlie pouted, crossing her arms. "Fine" Then she smiled again. "You know, a friend of mine said he ran into you today."
Ezekiel glanced quickly back over at the woman from the cafe again, who seemed to be falling asleep on the dinner table. "Yeah. And I would greatly appreciate it if you told them all to stop inviting me to your little club." He shot a venemous side look at Charlie.
"Hmm." Charlie pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and stared at it for a moment. "I'm sorry, I just can't do that. You're too good of a catch."
"I decline," Ezekiel took the headphones from around his neck and placed them on the hook. "Again." Charlie flicked the phone shut and looked up at him.
"Hey, have you seen my friend since he talked to you?" Charlie crinkled her nose, looking off to the side. Ezekiel shook his head and waved her off, signaling that he was joining the crowd.

Walking up to the woman in the corner, Ezekiel narrowed his eyes. Slamming on the table to wake her up, he sat down.
"What the hell are you doing here?"

[Natsurra]

Sonny jumped up at the table, dazed, frazzled and half-conscious, and met the feral, animal-like eyes of the rebourne who she knew worked here. Her first response was fear, which she knew was a weakness, so sleepily, she smirked at him, thinning her deep brown eyes. "Hey, this is a public place, why should I have to explain my reasons behind being here?" She shot back at him, false anger and a slight amount of slap-happy amusement in her voice. "I don't think your boss would be pleased with how you're talking with a paying customer." She whispered to him, sipping the caffeine-laced coke she had ordered minutes ago to help keep her awake. Sonny took mental notes in her head of his reaction to finding her here: he obviously knows I'm more than just a normal human girl, or he wouldn't have reacted that way. I really shouldn't be here, this is foolish.. but not as foolish as being out there.. she reminded herself, arguing with her own logic while waiting for the man's response.

[RideOnTechnology]

"My boss is the least of my concerns," Ezekiel slumped in the booth, hands in his pockets, calculating her emotions. Fear spiked at first, as he noticed by the hair raised on her arms. "Believe me." He looked up at Charlie, who seemed to be smooth talking her way into a crowd of people. He then shot his gaxe back at the woman, who had relaxed considerably.

"I'm not sure that bartender spot's still open, dear," he covered himself, remembering he had said something before, just in case she wasn't anywhere near as important as he felt she was.

"You should go home." Scratching behind his ear, Ezekiel leaned forward, towards the table. "You're drooling all over this." He gestured towards it with his hand. "And it's not safe to leave a drink unattended to in a place like this." Narrowing his eyes, Ezekiel lifted his chin.

[Natsurra]

Sonny smiled at the rebourne with utter most amusement. He was concerned about her? She had underestimated him, he was a lot more clever than she thought, but not quite clever enough. Of course she knew not to leave a drink unattended, she never did anywhere, and always watched the waitresses as they brought drinks out to make sure no one touched her drink before she did. Still, even after all that, Sonny always tested her drink before each sip, even if her eyes had only left it for a split second. Her father had taught her this trick: you could tell a drink was laced with something by dipping the tip of your finger in it. She never explained to anyone how she could tell, but she was always right. Sonny tried to look disappointed as the man explained that the job might not be open anymore. "Oh darn.. already?" She said with somewhat obvious falseness, she was nearly laughing, but she didn't really care. She glanced over at the bar at the other end of the room, and noticed that it was closed, people were ordering drinks from waitresses, but the bar itself was empty. He wasn't very good at covering up his lies. "You're right, I should be heading home." She said, waving over the waitress who had given her the coke and handing her a five dollar bill. "Keep the change" she said with a smile to the young waitress, signaling to the half-empty glass of soda. She rose from her seat, somewhat wobbly and covered her mouth as she yawned. She hoped desperately that she would make it home...

[RideOnTechnology]

((I hope Charlie was approved; I don't want to double post in the OOC))

Charlie Walker flipped her long, blonde hair from her shoulder, holding her cell phone to her ear. The music and obnoxious crowd were hardly a problem for her as someone told her the results of the latest attempt.
"Really?" Her eyes widened and she lowered her head, as to not attract attention. "Yes. Poisoned?"
"With the substance you gave him."
"Really."
Charlie heaved a great sigh, slumping against the wall behind her. The vibrations of the speakers around her traveled through the brick and massaged her back.
"Alright." She closed her eyes. "Dispose of him as usual. Good night." Without waiting for the man's reply, she closed her phone and ended the call.
What was she to do with this piece of news? Her latest lackie was found dead, with a bloodied nose, not far from a local restaraunt.
Jan was not an easy person to overpower. It was highly unlikely that the woman had anything to do with his sudden incapacitation. Then again, though he was tough, he was far from bright. It wouldn't be hard if anyone paid enough attention to notice someone like him stalking a young woman.
Noticing that the scratching of records had stopped for quite a while, Charlie looked up at Ezekiel's station. He was gone, of course. Growling under her breath, she searched the crowd and spotted him standing at a closed booth. Then, suddenly, she noticed a rather plainly-dressed woman stumbling toward the door.
"What's this, now?" She pushed herself from the wall and walked their way, making sure that she had her contacts in. She'd be sure, as she always had, that 'rebourne' was merely an afterthought. Appearing human was her art.

"Jesus, get some sleep." Ezekiel narrowed his eyes and stood up as the woman walked towards the door. He follwed after her craftily, weaving through the people who seemed to dance no matter what music was playing. It was late after all; the club closed in little more than an hour.
As she approached the door Ezekiel let out a sigh of relief.
"Hi!" A woman's voice yelled from behind him. He turned his head slightly as Charlie passed him, walking up to the woman from the restaraunt. She held out her hand and beamed brightly at the young woman.
"I hope you enjoyed your time here?" She glanced icily at Ezekiel, who was merely a foot away from the two of them.

[talcar69]

The only way he was going to get sleep was boring himself. Will clicked rhythmically on the remote, sifting through late-night television until he ran aground on the 24-hour news.

“Venezuela has been racked by violence for the past months. As you can see, Deborah,” the reporter swept his hand over a poorly lit cityscape, “the city is dark and quiet for now, but this month alone has seen violence between the Venezuelan authorities and the M.V.L., the Venezuelan Militia for Freedom. Many were hoping that even a temporary truce could be achieved, as a stepping stone to a later agreement between the authorities and the M.V.L.”

“And do you have any word on the British hostages?”

The awkward pause grew longer, longer than the transmission should have taken. The newscaster stared blankly, then turned to the side slightly. “The M.V.L. has claimed no responsibility for the scientists, Deborah. They claim innocence, telling our sources that their interests don’t involve ‘individuals with links to the rebourne outbreak.’”

“Like hell, Antonio,” Will muttered, muting the TV so he could read the tickers in peace. He checked his phone again; he hadn’t received a personal call in ages, a view that he tempered with the opinion that his whole life straddled the line between public and private, business and personal. He set the phone down, turning back to the TV before turning it off listlessly.

You quit laughing, he told himself dully. He flicked through the collection of albums he’d collected, then scanning over the spines of the books in his library. Something turn-of-the-millennium, or something older than that. His fingers ran over the worn canvas binding of Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Frankenstein and the Monster, humans and rebournes weren’t different – just rational animals. Both used tools. Both were aware of their surroundings, exhibited creativity and free determination. Oh yes, Will smiled out of instinct, I can fall asleep to paper and ink. It’ll be morning soon.

[Natsurra]

Sighing tiredly, Sonny turned to meet the gaze of a bubbly blonde-haired woman. The lighting was quite inefficient in the club, but at the entrance a large fluorescent light was hung and as she turned to face the woman, she noticed how her eyes seemed to reflect the light in an odd way. She's wearing contacts. Sonny noted, she always closely observed a person before speaking to them. Okay, sure, any normal human could wear contacts simply because the didn't want to wear glasses, but in the world Sonny was living in, she had to find alternative answers to this observation as well. She could be wearing contacts because she was trying to hide something. The club was swarming with humans and rebournes alike, but it seemed as if all the employees here were rebournes, or so Sonny had observed. The woman greeted her as if she worked here, or held some authority over the club, so who's to say she wasn't a rebourne herself?

Smiling tiredly, Sonny nodded to the woman, refusing to make physical contact with her despite how rude it may have seemed. "Yes, yes I did." She said in a cheery voice, but she was unable to cover up her exhaustion. As Sonny's phone buzzed in her pocket, signaling she had low battery, she nearly slapped herself. Why hadn't she just called a cab? Her exhaustion was turning her into a fool. "I must be going now, have a nice night." She said curtly to the woman, darting from the door before any further conversation could take place and before she could realize where she was going, in case she thought of following her. As she rounded the corner, Sonny slowed her pace and took out her phone, which had one blinking bar of power left, and called for a cab to bring her home.

[RideOnTechnology]

As soon as the woman left, Charlie face transformed from happy hostess to suspicious. She turned around, smiling again and crossing her arms.
"Who was that?" Her voice dripped honey, which was never as sweet as it sounded. Ezekiel, who had turned around to tiptoe back to his station, stopped ad turned towards her. He shrugged lazily, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"I dunno." He sighed, making it a point to make complete eye contact. Charlie tilted her head to the left, eyes distant as if she were thinking deeply to herself. She then shrugged as well and walked in his direction. Stopping for a split second to place her hand on his shoulder, she nodded upward towards the music control.
"Get back to work." Plastering on a large smile, she walked off into the crowd. Ezekiel let out a sigh of relief, though he wasn't entirely sure it was time for relief.

[talcar69]

The phone vibrated against the wood headboard, skipping lightly in a circle with the rhythmic pulses. Its display clearly showed the time: 10:23 a. He wasn’t used to waking up this late, but there were perks when he had to be in touch with the nightclub crowd. Will scraped the phone from his headboard and blinked several times. Unknown number.

“Will Clarion.”

A woman’s voice responded. “Charlie, from Unbridled Liquid. I was supposed to call you when I received the shipment.”

Will stretched one arm out and silently yawned. “Give me one second and I can run through the checklist.” He stood up and made his way to the desk where a notepad and pen lay resting. “Have you received all the packages?”

“Yes, we have. Everything is in good shape. Really,” she said too nicely, “there’s no problem.”

“Then I’ll skip a little.” Will hurriedly made marks in a dozen boxes. “Just a few questions more. Were there any problems with the process that should have been handled better?”

“Nope.”

“Last one. I’m contractually obligated to help assemble the sculpture if you need the help. Would you like me to stop by sometime this morning or later this afternoon to help set up?”

There was dead space on the other end of the phone. Seconds ticked by as he listened to the background noise as she thought.

[Natsurra]

An ear-piercing siren blared outside, and Sonny jolted out of bed. Her head spun as she attempted to adjust to the sudden rude awakening. When the world was once again still, Sonny peered out her bedroom window to see three police cars speeding by in the rain, but she did not know who the cars were chasing. Sonny wondered: were the men in the cars on her side.. or against her? It seemed more likely that they were against her.

Yawning and stretching, Sonny slowly went through the routine of waking herself up. She was thankful it was a Thursday, the day she had off from work. Glancing at the clock, Sonny was shocked to see it was already 10:30 A.M., it was rare that she got up later than 9 A.M., she must have been really tired last night. Dragging herself to the bathroom, Sonny washed her face in the sink and looked up at herself: what a mess she was! Her short brown hair was sticking straight up and there were deep black circles under her eyes. Quickly, Sonny showered and did her hair and make-up, so she wouldn't frighten people and then took a Tylenol for her headache. She slipped on a knee-length gray dress and made her way downstairs, where Biscuit was whining for his breakfast. Sighing, Sonny patted the three-legged dog on the head and poured out his food. She decided to go to the local diner and grab some breakfast, and then head down to the Organization to get some work done. She had the strange gut feeling that today was going to be a long day.

[RideOnTechnology]

"You know," Charlie silenced someone with a finger over her mouth at the other end of the conversation. "I'm not too good at that sort of thing." Swatting her hand towards the man that showed up at the door, she shooed him from the room. "But I do have a few hands around here that could be of use.." Her Australian accent, extremely hard to miss, was one that she herself scowled at.
Turning a half-circle in her swivel chair, Charlie tapped the pen she held in her hand on the desk in front of her. She held her phone to her ear with her shoulder and, with a rustle of papers, she checked her planner book for her appointments today. With nothing she couldn't delay, Charlie closed brought her pen to her teeth and leaned back in her chair.
"I would be honored if you could come by and help set up. Say around six-ish? Or is that too late?" With a nod at the man's reply and a jot on today's date in her thick planner, Charlie snapped her phone shut and turned back towards the door, crossing one knee over the other.
"Come in." She tossed a handful of hair over her shoulder as the man who she'd shooed tiptoed back in. "News?" Her face was one of expectance, her eyebrows raised high and her jaw clenched.
"Yes, Ms. Walker. Talman," he shifted his weight, looking down at his feet, "followed that woman you had a hunch about. There was no evidence of anything. From there she looked like a normal human with a normal life." Looking down at his papers in his hand, he reached them out towards Charlie, who grabbed them.
"Anything else?" Charlie's eyes were scanning over the information brought to her. A job at a local vet's clinic, a dog under the name of "Buscuit", and a decently average day-to-day. There was nothing out of the ordinary on this paper.
"Yes.." The man looked up and titled his head to the side. "Talman.. is in the hospital."
"What?" Charlie narrowed her eyes. "How?"
"How do you think?" Bitterness flowed from the question, and the man folded his hands behind his back. Charlie leaned back in her chair and rolled her eyes.
"Damn."

It was way too early to be waking up. Ezekiel pulled his pillow over his head as the sunshine pierced through the open window and into his eyes. It was no use, however.
Pulling himself out of bed, he could actually feel the static electricity from the pillow making his hair stand up. Checking his phone, the time read 10:43 and he groaned. Waking up before eleven was an absolute abomination.
Rubbing his head and yawning, Ezekiel stumbled toward the bathroom. He widened his eyes at the mirror, which showed him with blood spattered on his white t-shirt and up his arms.
"Shit." He hissed through clenched teeth, quickly pulling the shirt over his head and throwing it to the bathroom floor. As he remebered the night before, he went to the tub and turned on the hot water.
Just like being reborn, he thought to himself, this girl was turning out to be more trouble than she was worth.

[talcar69]

“Six o’clock,” Will repeated aloud, setting his notepad back down. “No, I don’t think that’s too late. I’ll plan on being there. Thank you for your business.”

Before the thought left his mind, he punched it into his schedule and then settled back into the bed. He relished the days when he could lounge around the house until whenever he was needed. His schedule was ultimately flexible, made of soft deadlines and casual events. He ran his fingers around the back of his neck, twisting his fingers in the hair. Six o’clock. He had time to do most anything he wanted, except get out of town. Out of boredom, he checked what his next job was; Ashley jokingly called the jobs ‘missions,’ as if Will were some rebel bush-pilot outlaw.

Will sighed. It was a small art haul, moving a private collection from a corporate office to the company’s new headquarters. Soft deadlines at their best. He just over a week to meet the contract, give or take a few days based on any number of unforeseen delays. He’d call the packing company in a few days, to check if they’d finished wrapping and storing everything in flight-approved containers.

Despite the open schedule, Will had started to become more and more restless. As he worked his way into the small kitchen, his ankle started to give. He held off on grabbing another vara while he waited; instead, he simply adopted the slight limp and tried to keep himself from wincing. The tether hadn’t been properly stretched before he’d gone to fastrope into the clearing that day; that had been the summer before his last year at the Academy, rescuing a stranded hiker from an uncommon trail in the state park. He hadn’t looked for help for the injury – it was just a sprain, it’ll fix itself. He could overlook it; he could still run, jump, walk, and fly…

…and make myself omelets, Will thought, staring into the refrigerator. He checked the dates on everything he pulled out for his breakfast – it seemed like he never made two breakfasts in a row, instead snagging something from courtesy tables at hotels or buying a meal at a small-town restaurant… It isn’t like you to think about settling down. Keep your wings, flyboy. Don’t lose what you’ve got.