1502/Skated By An Angel

Skated By An Angel
Date of Scene:	16 July 2017
Location:	Gotham City Skate Park
Synopsis:	Random fun at the Skate Park!
Thanks to:	Alice, Molly, and Luna for the intro scene!
Cast of Characters:	1175, Ahadiel, Molly Millions, Wu

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Luna (1175) has posed:
    Luna does a spin! Luna hops across a rail! Luna launches onto the halfpipe, only to let out a squeak of surprise as she goes crashing into a roll. At least silver lining? She's garbed in enough hand, elbow, knee, and head guards to keep her safe against even a rampaging brown bear. Groaning on the halfpipe with her rollerblade wheels spinning like they totally missed the fact of her fall, she decides to just lie there for a little bit and steal a breather.

    It's late afternoon to early evening, and the sun's just a short hour or two away from dipping behind the horizon. Many of the pro X-game sports people have long since left, opening the park up to amateurs and amateur daredevils alike. Luna included. While many of the vendors are just beginning to pack up their stalls or lock up their kiosks, the sound of street-side music advances where the clatter of wheels steadily retreats. Today, aside from her exaggerated safety accessories, she's garbed in heavily patched and somewhat distressed light denim jeans, paired with a white and black cold shoulder raglan top displaying a skull-kissing motif. Light brown hair strewn in a haphazard array behind her helmet, bright silver eyes peer up at the horizon, spotting her namesake peeking out from a couple of conveniently placed clouds in preparation for the oncoming dark.

Ahadiel has posed:
    It's not too often that Angela comes to the skate park. But, occasionally, she does do sales with people that want to meet in the park. In this case, it's a young man who was looking for a replica Viking broadsword, which Angela is currently showing off. She speaks, her voice pleasant, almost sounding like music, "... so yes, you can tell the pattern-weld here, so it looks much more authentic. Of course the edges are blunted, but still be careful with swinging this, alright? This can still be dangerous if you use it improperly." Specifically the sword is blunted with no tip, and close inspection reveals the edges dulled. Otherwise, it looks highly authentic, as she then sheathes the blade and offers it over...

    Just in time to see Luna wipe out there. Blinking in surprise, she makes her way over towards the fallen teenager and crouches down, "Hey, you alright there? Even with pads, that sounded like a nasty spill." Without even thinking about it, she offers Luna a hand, if she needs some assistance up.

Molly Millions has posed:
    The sedan that Molly drives to the park is nothing noteworthy, the woman herself a thin figure in black with black sunglasses on despite the current hour or gathering gloom. Too old for the typical crowd at such places, there's also that the woman prowls along the paths in search of her quarry with a confidence that might seem out of step with her general appearance. She doesn't really look like she's the skater sort, but perhaps that's why she chooses to be here. By weight of coincidence heading in the vague direction of Luna and Alice.

Wu has posed:
    For her part, Alice is in the park monitoring a group of skaters wearing odd-coloured livery going by the name of "Goblins". She has been manoeuvring around the park, finding a vantage point from which to spy on them. The kind of manoeuvring that gets her in earshot of them as they speak. She clutches a small book in her hands as they do so, listening with great attention to their loud chatter in an unidentifiable language.
    Luna's spill, however, attracts their attention. Right in the direction where Alice happens to be. Cursing quietly to herself she secrets the book and feigns a concerned interest in Luna. Almost simultanousely with Angela she asks, "Are you alright?"

Luna (1175) has posed:
    When Luna notices someone arrive at the periphery of her vision, her attention refocuses and she returns her rescuer a tiny smile. Though the hand guards might make it awkward and unwieldy to help her to her feet - nevermind the rollerblades attached to said feet - she unsteadily manages to make it up. "Thanks...I-I'm fine. Just a little shaky." She surreptitiously rubs a few fingers over her eyes to warn away any potential embarrassment. As Alice arrives too, she repeats, "I'm fine. Thanks. Really." Taking a deep breath, she frowns in the general direction the young man who was looking for a replica Viking broadsword. "Excuse me..." At first tentative, she skates towards the weapon enthusiast and crossly crosses her arms. "Really? Is -that- why we came here? For a dumb sword? I thought you were going to rollerblade with me!"

Ahadiel has posed:
    Angela looks about to say something, then blinks at Luna's reaction as she skates off to confront her former customer. Then she looks wryly at Alice, "You know, if I had a nickel every time that happened..." She pauses, then shrugs, "Actually, I might be able to pick up a Coke. Huh. You'd think men would learn not to be deceptive about such things." She then shakes her head, watching the brewing altercation with a bit of amusement.

Molly Millions has posed:
    Sword? That's something Molly doesn't see every day at least. She's distracted enough that she almost manages to walk into the back of Luna before she catches herself, gaze flicking to the sword enthusiast and back to the rollerblader with a grunted,"Careful there." as if it wasn't her own fault for not paying attention.

Wu has posed:
    Alice pinches the bridge of her nose, muttering something to herself in Cantonese. Why do people always have to do this?
    "Uh... look... I don't want to be That Person... but this is a public place and I'm pretty sure there's ordinances against carrying bladed weapons beyond a certain length." She briefly flashes her badge, careful to face away from her erstwhile targets who've since skated off somewhere else. "I really, really, really, REALLY don't want to get into this here and now, so could you pack that away so I don't have to? Pretty please?"
    And at this she spots Molly. "Ah. There you are. How have you been doing?"

Luna (1175) has posed:
    "You're unbelievable! You practically begged me to come here with you. I fell and you didn't even seem worried!" The boy stammers out a reply, "but it was a replica-" Luna cuts him off, "I don't care if it was a replica of fucking Excalibur. You should have told me! You totally -lied- to me. I thought you were putting on your rollerblades." The guy replies, "I was! I just needed to finish a little business first. Luna, you're not thinking clearly." Angrily, Luna retorts, "business, huh? Alex, how much did that cheap stick cost you? Ten, twenty dollars?" Alex turns away, murmuring something, and then Luna's eyes widen, "what? No way." They speak much more quietly for a few exchanges, and then Luna's attention swivels to the seller.

    Dragging a clearly miserable Alex by his shirt sleeve, him and Luna arrive beside Angela. Gritting her teeth, she says, "excuse me. Miss? My friend wants his money back."

Ahadiel has posed:
    Angela looks over at Alice, and tilts her head, "It's a replica, it doesn't /have/ a blade, though I suppose he could whack someone with it. Even the tip is dulled off and not a point." The weird part is, without thinking about it, Angela says that in perfect Cantonese to Alice.

    Then Angela turns and looks towards Luna and the boy, arching a brow as she says in English, fixing the boy with a bit of a pitiless gaze. "Oh bother, let me guess, you didn't tell her about the purchase, and you decided that instead of being responsible you would commission me to forge something that you couldn't really afford, is that it?" Angela then extends her hand, "Give it back, and I'll refund you the money." She passes a wry look to Alice, amending, "Minus any legal fees?"

Molly Millions has posed:
    Molly raises the black sunglasses a bare sliver, enough so that Alice at least might see that the left eye socket is covered in a second, silver lense, but the right one is not. She's distracted and watching Luna as she lowers them again, offering aside to Alice,"It's been an interesting day." drily,"Are you really going to arrest that kid? Over a sword?" she seems to find that amusing. She shoves her hands in her pockets, shoulders hunched nonchalantly, gaze going between the trio with a vague smile of amusement.

Wu has posed:
    Alice shrugs. Winces. Glares at her arm.
    "Restocking fees can be anywhere from zero to one hundred percent, as long as both parties knew in advance what they were. Knock yourself out. Also, I'm criminal division, not civil. Don't really care about commercial disputes unless they turn to assault or worse."
    That was all in Cantonese, replied reflexively in relief, almost, as if speaking English was a mild strain.
    In English, conversely, she addresses Molly. "No, the whole point of this was warning them that I didn't really want to arrest anybody so if they put things away I wouldn't have to." She indicates Angela. "And the vendor has just informed me it's a dulled replica so it doesn't even fall under ordinances so ... no. Nobody will be arrested over anything related to this unless there's escalation involved."

Luna (1175) has posed:
    Luna visibly calms when Angela appears immediately open to the refund, but Alex awkwardly rubs the back of his head when the redhead practically reads his mind. Sullenly, he states, "the Etsy reviews gave you four and a half stars. It's not that easy finding a serious replica Viking broadsword." He lifts it up, "it's even got a scabbard and an authentic pommel. I didn't want to miss such a good price..."

    Luna glares at him, "good price? Good price? YOu call two hundred and forty five dollars a 'good price'?" The boy bristles at this, and then glances to Angela's extended hand. After a brief moment, he embraces the precious replica and declares, "screw this. I paid for this with my own god damn money, and I'm keeping my own god damn replica Viking broadsword circa 1100 AD!"

    Luna stares at him, "Alex. Alex!" The boy stomps away, not even deigning to regard Luna with a response. Fuming, she shakes her head and breathes out an aggravated sigh, audibly grinding her teeth. "I can't believe him. This was supposed to be...supposed to be..." Her eyes redden, and she stares despondently at the ground. "I can't believe him."

Ahadiel has posed:
    Angela blinks, and doesn't point out that, well, it is a good price for the quality of work that she did. Because she wasn't... well, she wasn't expecting that. She looks over at Luna, and says, simply, "I... I didn't know. I'm so sorry, miss." And she looks rather pained by the experience, in truth, eyes a bit wide as the boy stomps away.

    Then she blinks and looks at Luna, her voice soft and almost comforting in a way, "What was it supposed to be for?" Her eyes mostly gaze at Luna, though occasionally she glances back towards the departing boy, the eyes far colder as she fixes on him. As if marking him for later.

Molly Millions has posed:
    "You really ought to get something done about that arm." Molly opines for Alice. Unabashedly watching the exchange between Luna, Alex and Angela. The departing boy barely gets a glance from her as she offers in what might be a concillatory tone,"You're better off without him." at least in her opinion.
    She's belated about responding to Alice,"I'm just entertained that given the weight of odd in this place that they'd be concerned about children carrying swords. Did you receive my message?"

Wu has posed:
    Edgar Allen Poe talks of "The Imp of the Perverse". That inner voice we all have that calls us to do ... inappropriate (often wildly so!) ... things. And most times we keep the Imp under lock and key. We hear his voice, but we do not obey. Sometimes, though, in a moment of weakness, the Imp's voice is not only heard. It is listened to.
    This is one of those times.
    Alice, already annoyed at the interruption of her surveillance, glares after the obviously weak-charactered boy who has made his girlfriend lose face publicly. Twice. This will not stand. From her pocket she surreptitiously pulls a piece of rice paper, Chinese characters of some form scribbled on them. This gets crumpled into a pea-sized ball which she casually flicks in the direction of hapless Alex as he storms off, hitting the back of his head and bouncing to the ground.
    That is, of course, at least what the mundanes would see if they even noticed. The mystic world, however, sees something different. It sees Alex covered in what looks like baleful red electrical discharges. It sees these discharges coursing through his body and into the ground. It then, too, sees nothing. Or rather it sees the same thing the mundane world sees: Alex, after two or three steps, stumbles and falls, his oh-so-precious "replica Viking broadsword" spilling across the sidewalk before him, falling partially out into the street where it lies, blade tip on the pavement, hilt on the curb.
    As a white panel van drives over it.
    The ruined blade is beyond recovery.
    "Yes," Alice says to Molly pleasantly, not even bothering to look as Alex shrieks like his soul has been stolen. "I did. I wanted to talk to you about that."

Luna (1175) has posed:
    Silvery eyes even redder now, Luna looks up at Angela, and then reluctantly shakes her head, "it...it's not your fault. It was supposed to be..." Her cheeks briefly flush, "i-it's nothing. It's...maybe it's my fault." She bites her lip, "maybe I let it get out of control. Maybe he's right. It's his money, not mine. He can do what he wants with it." She shifts nervously, "I was just trying to help, but...maybe he doesn't want my help." She lets out an annoyred groan, "I don't know..." She frowns lightly towards Molly at the suggestion she's better off, but does not otherwise respond.

    Unbuckling the chin strap to her helmet, she turns it around to use as a makeshift bag for her hand guards, and deposits the items on the ground at her feet. Breathing out a heavy sigh, she frees her ponytail and smooths it out after her earlier collision with the half-pipe, rubbing at her eyes to will away the tears.

    It's during this time that she hears a terrible clatter, followed by a shrill shriek. Turning in the direction of the noise, her eyes widen and her mouth gapes open. She seems frozen in place, half of her wanting to comfort Alex while the other half feels awfully pleased to observe her so-called boyfriend's despair. The conflict clearly shows upon her face, especially after voicing her regrets.

Ahadiel has posed:
    Angela blinks, then looks over at Alice with a sly grin, eyes widening in a mixture of emotions. Approval, however, is the primary one on her face as she whispers in Cantonese, "Much nicer than I would have been. Thank you." The fact that a sword was ruined... well, in Angela's mind, it was likely ruined anyway being in the hands of one such as he.

    With that, Angela then approaches Luna, "Hey, it's not your fault. You were trying to be helpful. That's never a bad thing. And he lied to you, deceived you about what the money was going towards." She sighs, and if allowed, places a hand on Luna's shoulder. A warm and comforting touch, really, as Angela tilts her head, "What were you going to do with it?" She seems to be doing some thinking of her own, with this.

Molly Millions has posed:
    "Nice shot." Molly totally only saw the paper flick, blind as a bat mystically, but the resulting tragedy? That makes her bark a laugh, clearing her throat as she turns her back on Alex,"I thought you might." she nods Alice's way. Only the really foolish might think there's any kind of 'accident' in the way the thin woman with the sunglasses steps into Luna's line of sight to the distraught boy.
    "You're better off without him." Molly repeats firmly, for all that she seems quite content to limit any kind of empathy in that regard to her words.
    It's while standing there she says to Alice,"Stills only. Limited information available. Location next time, but I don't know you."

Wu has posed:
    Alice's head turns sharply toward Angela, eyes narrowing, the same hand that just pulled out the paper returning to that same pocket ... but stopping there for now. A certain wariness and readiness of stance is evidenced now, however.
    If Angela wanted to catch Alice's attention, she's succeeded. In a big way.
    "Uh ... yes," she amplifies in response to what the others have been saying. "The boy was inexcusable filth in the way he made you lose face so publicly. I would not recommend taking him back without a lot of very public, very self-effacing gestures, exposing him to at least ten times the loss of face he afforded you."
    She's speaking English yet ... it's an alien language.
    The Imp strikes again, albeit in much less vicious form.
    "Listen to what the drug addict says. You're better off without him."
    There's a certain amused malevolance in her eyes as she stares at Molly while saying that.

Luna (1175) has posed:
    Luna flinches at the hand upon her shoulder, but only slightly. Turning around, she sorrowfully admits, "we were going to...to take an all-around city tour. We...or maybe just I...thought it would be neat to see the Big Apple as if we were simple tourists. You know, visiting the Statue of Liberty, the Hall of Heroes, go to a few museums and parks. Maybe ride a ferry at night." A shrug of her shoulders. "That kind of thing." A small pause, and then she shakes her head despondently, letting out a miserable laugh, "I have the worst luck in the world."

    Silver eyes flicker up to Molly at the repeated reassurance, only to uncertainly look down, "I don't know. Maybe it never would've worked out..." Hearing Alice' much more severe judgement of the boy causes her to shyly rub a shoulder, "he...he's not filth. He just..." She winces, "he apparently cares more about his medieval collections than anything or anyone else..." Then she blinks, furrowing her brow in confusion and turning towards Molly questioningly, "drug...addict?"

Molly Millions has posed:
    Drug addict. Molly lofts a brow at Alice's naming her so but doesn't seem to find the need to actually defend her reputation one way or another... or, given that Alice had already exposed her badge, to run either,"One has nothing to do with the other." she opts for,"We weren't talking about /me/." with perhaps just the slightest edge on the last word,"Everything's temporary, honey. Something's more than others. In this case... better you find out sooner that he's worthless." no confirmation, no denial. The latter is as good as a confession, isn't it..?

Ahadiel has posed:
    Angela smiles a little towards Luna, and says, "Well, you know... I think you can use that for your own personal tour of the city." She gets a bit of a sly expression. "And you definitely don't need him along." With that, she pulls out a purse, and then her wallet, counting out the money for Luna, since... well, the artist won't refund HIM. He doesn't deserve it. But Luna does, at least in Angela's mind. Though she adds, with a hint of a stern note, "This is for you. Not for him. Understood?"

    And then, feeling the look from Alice, and well... her wallet is out anyway, Angela fetches out a business card, giving it over to the police officer. Angela Davis, Blacksmith, along with an address, phone number, business email, all the sundry details one would expect on a business card.

Wu has posed:
    Alice, given her own knowledge of what paper can do, and her demonstration of same, clutches the jade pendant of Guanyin around her neck and stares at the business card for a bit before pasting on a smile and accepting it with both hands. "Thank you," she says, replying then with her own business cards, one with the Gotham City Police Department's logo on it, the other with a different one. (Hong Kong Police). Then in Cantonese, "Would it be too much if I arrested him for littering right now?"

Luna (1175) has posed:
    Luna peers suspiciously at Molly, but she eventually relents with the inquisition. Sourly, she lifts her hands in a sort of shrug, "well, the summer's ruined. And now I'm probably going to have to avoid him when we go back to Gotham. Or..." She purses her lips, "I don't know." A sigh, only for her eyes to widen when Angela actually withdraws a collection of bills and promptly moves to hand them over. Her mouth moves a couple times before she finds her voice. "B-but...but it's broken." She glances towards where Alex was, but one can barely see him clutching his bent sword as he walks off into the distance. Either way, her hand already drifts to cradle the cash refund, and her face flushes in embarrassment at the sternly voiced rule, "C-crystal. Err, yes. Thanks." She smiles warmly, looking only briefly at Alice before noting. "Lynette. But everyone calls me Luna. Like the moon." If Alice has a very good grasp of the identities of problem kids in New York, a certain juvie graduate named Lynette Amelia Fulham might ring a bell.

Ahadiel has posed:
    Angela smiles, and says in Cantonese, "No magic. Just a card. Honest." She takes the cards from Alice without hesitation, and adds, still speaking in Cantonese, "I must confess I admire your style greatly. And I do hope you come visit sometime. It's... rare to see someone with a true appreciation for karma." Her eyes dance a bit, as she then looks back towards Luna.

    Angela then looks at Luna, and smiles warmly, "It's broken. You aren't. Go and use that money wisely... or have fun with it. Do what you want to do. Don't be tied to those that would use you for their own gain." She nods, "Just remember what I said, okay?"

Molly Millions has posed:
Molly Millions's been stared at alot, and apparently isn't about to wither under Luna's regard, though her attention seems to drift off. The attentive might notice her throat moving as if she's talking to someone, but her mouth doesn't open and there's no noise emergent until she offers aloud,"Excuse me." and seems to decide to turn around and head off. Maybe it just occurred to her that she shouldn't be standing near a cop given her supposed drug addiction, or maybe they're just kicking in.

Wu has posed:
    "I probably shouldn't have done that," Alice says to Angela in her native tongue, running her fingers through her flaming red hair. "His kind is beneath me. Sometimes, though, I just need to let loose."
    "Gotham?" she asks Luna. "That's technically my beat right now. If there's any trouble from your once ... uh ... friend, call me. I will end it."
    There's something very final in the way she said that. And the paired business cards extended Luna's way don't make it any less chilling, especially when combined with the expression Alice wears at the moment, her black eyes practically penetrating Luna's soul, pinning her to a metaphorical board for inspection.
    She may have to learn to take that down a notch or ten when dealing with children.

Luna (1175) has posed:
    Luna nods her head, looking down in shy gratitude at the bills resting on her palm. After a brief moment, she pockets the cash and repeats, "thanks." Another nod, "I'll remember." Watching Molly depart, she soon half-lifts a rollerblade-clad foot and states, "I...should probably bring these back to the rental kiosk. I don't really feel like rollerskating anymore."

    Hearing Alice, she blinks and quickly shakes her head, lifting her hands in a placatory motion, "oh, he wouldn't hurt a fly!" A roll of her eyes, "his family would never allow it. I meant the Academy there. We're both seniors. Or...soon to be." Still, the way Alice states she will 'end it' makes her nervous, not least of which because it's followed by that dark expression. So, after picking her helmet up off the ground and pocketing the business cards, she turns to the much warmer expression of the two and says, "thanks again." With that, she begins rollerblading away, off in the general direction where she might trade back her gear for her running shoes.

Ahadiel has posed:
    Angela smiles and waves to Luna as she heads off, then glances sideways towards Alice, switching back to Cantonese and staying there, "I suppose you have a bunch of questions for me, don't you?" She gets a bit of an impish look at that, "Though, I wouldn't want to interrupt your... whatever you were doing. Since you seem to be police officering something or other around here in the first place, yes?"

Wu has posed:
    Alice pinches the bridge of her nose again and shakes her head. "I really don't communicate well with children," she announces as Luna speeds off. "They seem to fear me."
    Switching to Cantonese, "I have a few questions, yes, and my goals for the evening have been thoroughly disrupted already. We could find a Los Pollos Hernandos around here and have a chat, perhaps?"
    Sheepish grin.
    "I've kind of become addicted to their contribution to world cuisine."

Ahadiel has posed:
    Angela laughs a little, "Well, Los Pollos Hernandos? I'd be alright with that." She continues chatting in that perfectly accented Cantonese with Alice, saying after that, "If you don't mind leading the way? Admittedly, I took the bus here." Well, not exactly... but it's easier to say that than the real explanation.