ArchivedLogs:Royal Hunt

Royal Hunt
Dramatis Personae Blink, Clint, Lucien, Spence
In Absentia	2016-08-05 "Am I to take it you have yet to be sucked in to the madness?"
Location <NYC> Washington Square Park - Greenwich Village
Behind a majestic white marble arch, a smaller cousin of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, this beautiful green space is a popular destination for the young, the hip, and the artistic. A huge circular wading fountain is the centerpiece, ringed by benches, playgrounds, dog runs, gaming tables, and lush green lawns. In fair weather, the park is almost always crowded with tourists, students, chess enthusiasts, and local families come to tire out their children and dogs. It's a pleasant evening, the day's heat dwindling to milder levels with the slowly setting sun. The park is bustling -- busy on most clear summer evenings but busier still these last few week. Three clusters of people talking animatedly with each other (while tapping rapidly at their phones) are lounging along benches near one edge of the large central fountain; dozens more drift in vague loop of one corner of the park, their paths punctuated by intermittent flocking to one area or another. Near-though-not-actually-in the dog run, Lucien (dressed casual but neat in pale blue jeans, a seafoam green seersucker button down) is wrangling a pair of dogs on a two-tailed leash. The smaller of the pair, a smallish long-eared one-eyed beagle, is currently attempting to worm himself under a bench -- perhaps in search of food? There doesn't seem to be any there. The larger, a sleek black-and-tan Shepherd-mix mutt with one ear pointed straight up and the other flopped over, is prancing eagerly after a wayward bubble that has just been blown by a young boy nearby. Or trying to chase it, anyway; she reaches the end of her tether, teeth clicking on empty air, and huffs (though her tail never stops wagging) as she looks back at where the other dog has now wrapped his half of the bifurcated leash around the leg of the bench. Lucien is just on the verge of crouching to aid in extricating the beagle when a small freckle-faced boy in an Ash Ketchum hat, black jean shorts, and a t-shirt reading 'On My Worst Behavior', /appears/ beside him, wide-eyed and excited: "{/Luci/, a /Charizard/! It's just on the other side of the fountain! Over there come /quick/!}" Blink has been among the knots of people wandering around the park, staring intently down at her phone. Her loose, bell-sleeved tunic is made of pink gauze so light that it shows the black camisole she wears underneath, and her long, voluminous purple skirt is similiarly near-transparent over a shorter, tighter black skirt. Her hair is braided pretty neatly and coiled up at the back of her head, showing only flashes of magenta here and there. She looks up from her phone abruptly when the boy flickers into being a little ways ahead of her. And then she disappears in a swirl of violet light, to reappear on the other side of the bench from man, dogs, and child. "Heeeey, did I hear 'Charizard'?" she asks brightly. Clint has just arrived, passing under the arch in the wake of a shaggy brown mutt with floppy ears. He could be any other dog owner out for an evening stroll, unremarkable in a black t-shirt with an inverted purple chevron printed across the chest, comfortable-looking blue jeans, white sneakers, and a black sling pack across his back. The dog's feathered tail wags faster as they begin making their way around the fountain, and he strains at the end of his neon purple leash toward Lucien and Spencer (or, more likely, toward their dogs). As he approaches, though, several groups of people with smartphones out and ready are looking up and shuffling closer, too. When he reaches them, he holds out his free hand toward the Sheherd mix and offers Lucien a small nod. "Evening. Need an extra hand?" Obie has not seemed to notice even once he's out from under the bench, still pressed belly-flat against the ground. Squirming his way towards the shaggy new dog, tail thwumping the ground as he wiggles over to sniff -- somewhere around the dog's hocks. Flèche, actually standing, /actually/ gets properly at butt-level with her snuffling introduction. Spence holds up his phone, looking up quickly at the question. He points with his thumb to a spot nearby one of several fluttering pink stops. "Right there," he tells Blink urgently. "Did you see the Kabutops that was just here? Mine had over 1400 CP!" Lucien is, carefully, detaching Obie's leash in order to unwind it and clip it to the beagle's collar again, then coax him back out from under the bench. He does look up, brows raising and eyes wider. "Charizard? /Really/? I might have to wander that way. I have a good many Charmanders to catch before I even had a chance." He shakes his head as Flèche noses -- then licks -- at Clint's palm, slowly getting to his feet. "Did you see? There is a Charizard across the park. I believe the situation may call for decisive action." "Whoa, cute dog party!" Blink smiles wide when a third dog joins them. Then, at the sight of Spence's phone screen, her eyes go so wide that their whites can be seen around the edges of her huge, emerald green pupils. "Sweet! And it stayed in your ball? Everything's been breaking out of mine today. Hope this one doesn't!" Purple light envelopes her again and then she's gone, reappearing in the same fashion on the other side of the fountain. Clint stares at Spence in utter noncomprehension. Then at Lucien with slightly less confusion. Then at Blink with considerably more. He turns his palm over, producing a small handful of treats as if by magic, dispensing them to each of the dogs in turn. "I know you're talking about Pokemon Go, but beyond that..." He shrugs, but starts wandering in the direction indicated all the same. "Who's the short one?" It's not entirely clear whether he means the beagle or the boy. Spence disappears, too, reappearing beside Blink near the fountain. "No I had to spend ten /million/ razz berries and ultra balls! It jumped so many times but now it stayed." He's casually tossing a ball at a preening yellow bird, bouncing on his toes as he chatters. Craning his neck to peek at Blink's phone. "Did you find it? Yesterday Joshua caught a Snorlax that was over two thousand." Lucien is slower to wander over -- certainly partially due to lack of teleporting, but partially because Obie is still worming his way along the ground as they go. "This is Possibly Oberon," he explains mildly as he slips his phone from his pocket, "though for ease he is generally called Obie. He comes with that other smallthing in tow." His head inclines towards Spence. "Spencer. I am his surrogate Pokemon companion. His siblings have a Friday night engagement and his father is indisposed. Am I to take it you have yet to be sucked in to the madness? I am sure you would throw Pokeballs with great accuracy." "Yep, wish me luck! 947 CP and...out it comes." Blink sounds remarkably cheerful about this. "Do your siblings play? I don't see them around..." Now her eyes go wide again when she catches Spence's throw out of the corner of her eye. "Whoa! Did you just throw an actual ball at an actual Pidgey?" "'Possibly' as in you're not sure if his name is Oberon? Or is his name in fact quote-Possibly-Oberon-unquote?" Clint walks alongside Lucien, while Arrow prances ahead of him happily, slowing only to sniff at a trash can near to overflowing with a busy afternoon of fast food leavings. "Tumblr's been losing its collective mind over this game, and I've seen plenty of people playing it, but I've never been into video games. I'd probably do alright at it, if it was fun enough to hold my attention." His eyes flick over to Blink and Spence and the rapidly growing cluster of other players around them, all chattering with excitedly. "Is the girl one of your party, too?" The ball has struck the Pidgey -- it's perched on the very edge of the trash can Arrow sniffs -- in the chest and bounced off, rolling a short distance away along the wet ground of the fountain before vanishing. There's another in Spence's hand, which he holds in his upturned palm wth a grin. "Yeah! Isn't it the /coolest/?" Many of the people around who have evidently been playing in this park a while already only give small glances, small smiles, to the bright yellow Pidgey, though every so often it draws the eye of a newcomer with a gasp or excited squeal. Spence lowers his arm, tossing the ball underhand toward the Pidgey. This time it hovers, Pidgey absorbed into the ball with a brief fluttering shower of stars glowing around it. "I am quite sure," Lucien replies with a small quirk of smile, "that his name is Possibly-Oberon. In quotes." Far less eye-catchingly than Spencer, he has opened up his app on his phone, flicking his thumb lightly at a Charizard on the screen. "I do not know the girl. Perhaps Spencer does. The game seems to foster a lot of friendly interaction, though. And he is nothing if not friendly." Obie has wormed his way over to the trash can, ignoring the trash and nosing at the glowing Pokeball. Batting at it with one paw. He yelps, jumping back when the ball breaks open and the Pidgey jumps back out. Flèche, meanwhile, is raring back onto her hind legs to plant her paws on the side of the can and sniff at it eagerly. "-- what does it take," the question is asked with a quietly thoughtful curiosity, "for Tumblr to lose its collective mind?" Blink manages to continue battling her wild Charizard while goggling at Spence's equally difficult Pidgey. "That is /amazing!/ Best portable holoprojection I've ever seen. Didn't even know they made phones that could do that yet. Stay...stay..." She's bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet now, watching the black, yellow, and white ball on her screen rattle around on the virtual ground. Arrow follows the progress of Spence's Pokeball, but knows his priorities: he also hops up onto his hind legs to paw at the side of the trash can experimentally. "You'd think I never feed him," Clint says mildly, giving the leash a slight tug. "C'mon." He smiles at the gathered players. "So Charizard is a very good Pokemon, then?" Glancing at Lucien's screen. "Looks fierce. And Tumblr...loses its collective mind at the drop of a hat, really. But cute pixel critters count for a lot of hats. It would definitely lose its mind over /that./" He nods at Spence's projection system. Spencer lobs another ball, though mostly he's watching the ball shaking on Blink's screen. "They /don't/ make phones that do it," he says with some measure of glee, turning one arm outward to show a wristwatch-like band strapped on his arm. His own Pidgey stays put this time, reappearing just in front of him with its stats on display once it is in his roster. "My sister made it for me! She's the smartest /ever/," this explanation seems directed more to Clint than to Blink. "She can make /anything/. She could probably make /you/ anything!" This, back to Blink again. "Flèche is quite sure she's never had a meal in her life." The lop-eared dog is whining quietly at the trashcan as Lucien tugs gently on her leash. "Perhaps they can commisserate." Spencer's explanation draws a small twitch of smile from him. He seems rather unfazed when /his/ Charizard hops out of its Pokeball and immediately zips away. "Spence's gadgets would turn quite a few heads. They certainly keep Flèche entertained, when she isn't quite so keen on her poor neglected stomach." "Wow!" Blink looks and sounds suitably impressed, but then squees with delight when the ball on her screen sparkles. "Got it! On a terribly throw, too." She ducks her head and smiles sheepishly. "That's pretty awesome. Maybe I'll ask her, when I run into her next. Oh hey an Oddish!" She tilts her phone toward Spence (and, kind of incidentally, Lucien and Clint) and points out a tiny gray blob with green leaves for hair that has just materialized nearby. "Are you guys Commoners, too?" She glances up at the two men with mild curiosity. "Arrow isn't the type to quietly abide his hunger. He's got a history of breaking out of the house to go scavenging." Clint chews on her lower lip. "I hope Flèche never picks up that habit." His pronunciation of the name is not quite right--it comes out sounding more like the English word 'fletch.' He turns his gaze to Blink a little too late when she addresses him, and furrows his brows lightly at her. Then glances sidelong at Lucien. "Oddish! -- /Luci/." Spence stresses this, quiet and firm -- Luci was just about to put his phone away but keeps it out, taking a few steps forward until the tiny vegetable-creature appears. "My brother loves these..." His explanation is offered with a small furrow of brows. "... as if Flèche needs /more/ bad habits. At least with Obie she only..." He looks back up, brows lifting again as he looks from Blink to Clint. "Commoners? Us?" He glances to the chevron on Clint's shirt. "I am fairly sure purple is the colour of royalty." "Luci doesn't live there his house is /fancy/. Like a royalty," Spencer acknowledges after a moment. "/He's/ Matt's brother. He doesn't play games though." There's a touch of disappointment in this. "I play Scrabble," Lucien objects with a slight huff. "He doesn't play /Game Night/ games." Spencer sounds a little put out at having to make this correction. "I don't know who's brother that is." He's tossed a Pokeball toward Clint by way of indication -- it vanishes harmlessly upon intangible impact with the man's chest. "He has a good dog, though." "I don't know, the Commons is /pretty fancy/. I guess you can always be fancier." Blink was starting to look troubled, but the almost-frown on her face is replaced by a grin as she glances down at her skirt. "Guess that makes me royal, too. Who knew? I'm Blink. I mean, that's my name. I go to the Commons Game Night sometimes." "Odd...ish," Clint echoes this quietly, peering at the Pokemon on Lucien's screen. "It does look. A bit odd. But I am not a Commoner either, and my house is...fancy by some standards, I guess, but not in the real estate blog-worthy sense." He fishes a fistful of treats from a pocket and slips them one at a time to the three dogs and looks down with uplifted eyebrows at the ball when it bounces off of his chest. "/My/ brother...plays a lot of games, but I don't know if they're /Game Night/ games. And /this/ one is Arrow," he scratches behind the scruffy brown dog's ear. "We could be fancier," Spencer agrees cheerfully. "We could all dress like Shane and talk like Luci and maybe next Game Night well have /fancy/ Game Night! Ties only! Wait." His eye widens, and he drops the ball that has been in his hand without actually throwing it at the small grey turnip-creature nearby. He bounces cloesr to Clint's dog, delighted as he drops into a crouch to pet at him. Peering up at Clint: "/Arrow/? /Really/?" There's a bit of a laugh in his voice. "You've almost got a quiver." Lucien's fingertips lift, pressing lightly against his lips as /his/ hand drops lightly to Flèche's head. "Mmm. We could rename Obie. He barely responds to his name as-is." He takes a half-step forward, extening his hand to Blink. "Do you? I'm sure we'll meet again, then. Perhaps on a fancier day." Though his brows have quirked up slightly as he studies Blink's expression: "-- Unless fanciness disturbs you. Just as likely on a regular game-day. My brother enjoys them greatly." Blink had started to bow, but then shakes Lucien's hand instead. "Oh, it does not disturb me, but I'm...well...not very fancy." She blushes just a little. "Despite being royalty. But I'm sure my sister will rise to the challenge of /fancy/ Game Night. Might encourage her to actually come with me. She's also in the Scrabble-and-Uno camp." But then she tilts her head at Spencer. "What do you mean he almost has a quiver? It's only one arrow." "There's more than one way to be fancy. Doesn't have to be all black ties and white spats." Clint spares a sideways glance at the turnip-like creature that Spence is no longer bothering to catch. "Oh, he means on account of 'flèche' means arrow, in French." Arrow had been staring intently at the Pokeball Spence dropped, snuffling at it with some confusion, but is quickly distracted by Attention and Pettings, his tail wagging wildly as he licks at the boy's hands, arms, face--whatever he can get at. "Funny story: Arrow is also buddies with a rottie named 'Saeta.' Maybe Obie can become 'strela,' or..." Here he stops speaking and signs instead, the index finger of one hand curling as it pulls from back from the other as if drawing a bow, then straightening and shooting past it again: 'arrow.' "Well. As royalty it's your prerogative to be whatever you /like/." A very faint whisper of pleasantly happy warmth trickles, subtle and barely noticeably, through Blink in time with the handshake and a quick-warm curl of smile from Lucien. "Lucien. And yes. Flèche is mine. Do you mean we could /have/ enough for a quiver?" Brows slightly raised, there's a slightly wider uptick in Lucien's smile, a slightly more delighted uptick in his tone. "They wouldn't fly quite so true as my usual." "Obie'll answer to," Spence draws back his hand, finger curling in mimicry of Clint's, "just as well as 'Obie.'." The beagle doesn't look up at the sound of his name, licking at the moment at a patch of pavement. Spence has returned to lobbing his ball -- with one hand, from his sitting position -- at the Oddish, his other scritching at Arrow. Somewhere across the park someone's called something out, bright and excited -- a near stampede follows. Spence squints, frowns, vanishes shortly after. Returns a moment later: "There's an /Electabuzz/ over there!" -- then vanishes again. "Wow, this sounds like the setup for a comic book about canine superheroes." Blink blinks rapidly at the introduction. "Lucien? Are you Desi's brother?" It might have been nominally a question, but she follows it up with a much more confident. "I'm Alice's sister!" Although she's blushing harder anyway. "I probably could have put that together before now..." She looks over at the commotion, then at Spence when he reappears. "Whoa Electabuzz? Excuse me!" And she's gone a split second after the boy, in a swirling vortex of purple light. "We should set up a play date for them," Clint suggests mildly. "Not sure what kind of superheroing they'd get up to, though if Arrow's got any say, it'll probably involve pizza." He's kneeling to pet Obie--Strela-ARROW. "Maybe not surprisingly, Saeta's human is also an archer." The shadow of a smile passes over his face. "Sometimes it can be a real small world for such a big city." He straightens up, watches first one, then then other teleporter disappear. Frowns slightly. "I don't reckon they're getting that excited to 'elect a bus' so that must be another Pokemon." He sweeps his free hand toward the clustered players on the other side of the park. "Shall we?" "Escape artistry and pizza. No doubt he has much to teach Flèche about the ways of the world." Lucien glances down at his phone, though only briefly before dropping his hand to his side. His other adjusts his grip on his leash handle, tugging gently at the dogs. "... Sometimes." The laugh he exhales is -- very small. "Well. Spencer's father would be somewhat put out if I lost him to the ravaging hordes of Pokemon. It is probably my /duty/ to hunt down that Electabuzz." Though it takes a click of the tongue and a firm bit more tugging to get the dogs to follow on the hunt.