Logs:In Which Some Candy Is Eaten, Some Curses Are Uttered, and Some Foolhardy Plans Are Laid

In Which Some Candy Is Eaten, Some Curses Are Uttered, and Some Foolhardy Plans Are Laid
Dramatis Personae B, Daiki, Taylor	2021-10-31 "This is terribly dangerous, my friend."
Location <PRV> B's House - Riverdale
This rowhome is not quite on the waterfront, but is an easy two block's walk away from the river through a lush and well-manicured greenspace. The building is three storeys high but narrow, topped with a small roof deck. Inside the space is neatly maintained, comfortably if blandly appointed. There are two bedrooms on the top floor, though one is functioning as a home office heavy in holographic displays and the other a workshop full of arcane high-tech equipment. Only the master bedroom on the second floor is actually furnished for sleeping in, and it is perhaps overshadowed in luxury by the immense adjoining bathroom with a large oval soaking tub. The first floor looks conspicuously un-lived-in, though the kitchen is state-of-the-art, the dining room small if perfectly serviceable, and the living room cozy with a convertible sofa, almost certainly nonfunctional fireplace, and a massive flatscreen. In the sense of "having a costume", Taylor is not yet ready for Halloween, but in the sense of "consuming copious amounts of candy" he stay ready, in jeans and his Mongrels cut over a beaten-up old Xavier's hoodie, currently lounging on B's sofa with one huge arm coiled round a massive bowl of Starbursts and Skittles, another around a bowl of assorted King-sized chocolates , a sour Skittles pack clutched in his hand that he's currently emptying into his mouth. There's enout candy spread out on the table that the lil trick-or-treaters of Riverdale are in no danger of being deprived by his pilfering, at least. "You should've," he's busily complaining to B, "gotten Airheads too." B is perched cross-legged on a cushion on the floor, paying little attention to the candy and a lot of attention to her laptop. She only barely glances up when Taylor speaks, huffing softly. "If you want Airheads there's still plenty of time to go out and get yourself some. You're just lucky there's candy here at all, the way this month's been going. I was this close to putting my lights off and skipping the whole day." Daiki is leaving the candy-consumption to Taylor while picking up his slack in the costume-having department. While it is not uncommon for him to sit seiza on the floor when there's perfectly serviceable seating available, today he is perhaps doing so less out of being maximally Japanese and more for the comfort of his tail. He is wearing an asymmetrical top, pumpkin orange on the larger side and dusty rose on the other, a row of royal purple accent buttons along the placket that visually continues along the waist of his burgundy skirt, spiraling down to the hem just above his knees, with pink tights beneath for modesty and warmth. Though the flamboyant outfit, distinctively Marinov in and of itself, should tip off anyone with an eye on up-and-coming designers to his identity tonight, he's thrown in a pair of soft (and mobile!) feline ears and tail in the rough pattern of an ocelot. Just in case. Presumably he is also resigned an evening of "so you're a catboy?" "I doubt if there are any Airheads left in the entire tri-state area," he laments quietly, "unless you are prepared to search on the black market." He looks up from his tablet at Taylor's cut, breaking into a sharply slanted smile, somehow both sardonic and warm. "You are well positioned to do so, at least." He glances over at B's computer, smile fading. "I wouldn't even bother this year if not for Luci's party. It's a prime networking opportunity." "Man, you ask Ion for anydamnthing I ain't even be surprised he pull it out his pocket." For now Taylor will content himself opening a second packet of Skittles, though. His frown probably has little to do with the candy he's pouring into his palm. "... been bad-bad this time, then? Thought you guys had a whole routine down by now." "Maybe it'll be nice to think of something different for a few hours." B is glaring at her screen as she says this. "And you know the food will be good, at least." She does finally look up at Taylor's question, her grimace only growing. "Half of our routine was Flicker and, well, that isn't really working for us these days. If I'm being honest, I think Skye and them better just get comfortable." "True enough, and I'll have to be on for all of it." This time when Daiki's mouth pulls to the side, it's not in bemusement. "It was dicey enough the first time, and they are almost assuredly expecting us to return." He looks down at his tablet, though the screen has gone dark. "The new new strategy has promise, but it's weak on offense and puts a support person -- with no combat training -- into the fray." He pulls in a deep breath and lets it out slow. "B is probably right, but I'm not sure how much longer the leads are willing to wait." "But you training 'em, right?" Several of Taylor's limbs coil sinuously behind him as he props himself up, giving the other two a dubious look. "Now I know Flicker was a huge loss but 'splain me how y'all weak on offense, you got Jax and Ryan and Ion any one of them alone could clear a building eyes-closed, hands-tied." "Hands tied is kind of the problem," B grumbles, leaning forward to prop elbow on knee and chin in hand. "They'd be heavy hitters if they were fighting as dirty as Prometheus does but we don't shoot to kill. In the conditions we're working under it's a pretty big handicap. And now that they've been throwing those mutant mercs into the mix the past couple years --" One of her shoulders lifts. "The idea this time is not to drop the fields so they don't have their heavy hitters either but that just leaves us with the -- well, actual heavy hitters, and with Dusk still off doing whatever we don't actually have that many people who just. Y'know. Punch hard. In a suppression field mostly all Shane and I do is, uh, a pretty good fish out of water impression." "Only so much crash in a crash course. Even the experienced people are learning new roles and new tactics." Daiki looks to B with a solemn nod, then back to Taylor, cat ears twitching somewhat incongruously. "Active powers are supposed keep the escape route clear from outside, which might work if the team inside commanded enough attention that the guards can't concentrate so much of their efforts outward." He spreads his hands out before him, helpless. "We're pretty sure those Company X traitors will flock to the exit where they can use their powers, unless that would leave them shorthanded in the cell block, which I fear we just don't have the numbers to do." "Shit." Taylor's forgotten about the candy, now. Two of his arms coil tightly around himself as he looks at the others. "I mean, shit. So -- you just -- gonna go for it and hope for the best? Fuck." The hand not currently full of Skittles skims up over the smooth surface of his head. "And if you, what, punch 'em harder, you think it might work?" Once more, B shrugs. Her gills flutter briefly, then subside. "Not exactly volunteers lining up for the job, for some reason. Why, you in the mood for punching?" "Might," Daiki hedges. "This will be a slog even if it works as intended. But it certainly won't work with the team we have right now." His brows furrow at Taylor. The change is hard to notice, but Daiki is growing just a touch more riveting. "This is terribly dangerous, my friend," he says, very softly. "Shit," comes again from Taylor. "Shit, shit, shit." His hand drags back down over his face, and he slumps back against the thick coils of his arms. "You think I'on know that? You think I'on think of that every time you all are running your damn fool selves off back into that hell? Fuck." He shakes his head, dropping his hand heavily to his lap. "Guess I'm finna be a damn fool too cuz what I'm *not* 'bout to do is watch all my friends rush off an' get themselfs dead." B's gills flutter again, her black eyes shifting to Daiki before she dips her head in a small nod. "I'd say my Ba'll be thrilled but let's face it, absolutely nobody's going to be happy about this." The ridge of her brows quirks up, and she looks back to Daiki, a little wider-eyed. "-- I hope Eli's going to be at the party tonight, cuz, uh --" Her hand flaps in Taylor's general direction. "We definitely don't have armor for all that."