[technically closed, but if you can think of a reason to be at LSR next Wednesday, tag in]

[elfstoned]

Who: LSR staff + anyone who responded to this plotting thread!
When: Forward-dated to this Wednesday, Dec. 11
Where: LSR Clinic
What: Not only is LSR treating numbers-club patients with injuries from fighting the Blood Keys, it's also smack in the middle of where they're operating, on the fringes of the Dead District. At this point, there's no reason for the Blood Keys not to cause trouble here.

OOC NOTE: thanks to the number of volunteers for this plot, this log will be PARTY-STYLE, with subthreads for treating patients, the attack itself, and the aftermath. I know some of you have plans for specific events; feel free to make closed threads for those, just put who's involved in the subject line. Also put in the subject line if you want a Blood Keys NPC; you're free to run them themselves if you like. All you really need to know is that they're about twice as strong/fast/durable as a normal human, and their sight is sci-fi good.

Actionspam and prose are both fine. OK LET'S DO THIS.



The patients from the earthquake were almost gone by now: LSR clinic wasn't equipped to care for many people at a time. The only ones in critical condition were those who had been caught in the collapsed building, but their conditions were stable and they could either be sent home or transferred to a true hospital. The clinic was still fully staffed, though, with Aaron and Mordin both putting in full days.

It looked like things were going back to normal around here, which Aaron for one was grateful for. The increased gang activity made him a little nervous, though; the Blood Keys were getting bolder, and gang negotiations were harrowing at the best of times. Keeping the clinic neutral had never been easy, but it was definitely worth it in the long term.

Comments

[espigeonage]

Suited the agent fine. He followed, establishing several steps' distance between himself and the other two. When it seemed like they would be secure he was going to fade back further and try investigating further on his own. Ravi had other things to worry about, it should work.

The jacket was waterproof and showed no blemish. But the cuff of Julien's pant leg was stained now, and he left a partial footprint with each step. Blood was wicking through his shirt, too, just barely hinting on the right side, under the zipper. Traces of sweat beaded his face. The agent made sure not to walk like someone injured, though - it was foolish to show pain if he could help it.

Paging Dr Strider

[healspec]

Ravi escorted the teen, who was shaken but trying to act tough, down the hallway toward the office. He glanced back to see if Julien/notJulien was following, and did a double-take at the dark stain that seemed to be spreading beneath the jacket. It didn't look like much, but it definitely had not been there when they were speaking in the supply room. And, looking again, there seemed to be more blood trailing on the floor with every step, not less.

"Oh, no," Ravi said, with a sigh. "Are you hiding an injury?"

Yup, straight-up, just asking it outright. He knew plenty of guys in the Army who pulled the same shit and he was not here to humour that.

He rounded the corner, urging the teen to go ahead to where Dr Strider waited, guarding the office door at the other end of the hall. Then he turned back to face Julien, giving him a look that managed to be both concerned and admonishing at the same time.

[espigeonage]

'Humans aren't very observant' was a stereotype like all the others (resort quickly to violence, learn slowly, struggle with perspective, etc) and the agent was embarrassed to realize he'd bought into this one. Limited eyesight or not, he hadn't been careful enough.

He met Ravi's gaze openly, frowning, and shrugged as if he had wings. The movement pulled unpleasantly. He ignored that and twitch-tilted his head as if puzzled. "Should I be? I feel fine." He was good at it, but the denial was as instinctive and unthinking as taking the jacket had been. It was coded in - illness and injury were not to be shown, otherwise allies would leave or be burdened and enemies would attack.

If this turned bad it had already been demonstrated who was better with human weapons at a distance, and who was the more ruthless. The agent couldn't fly like this, either.

He didn't let that on. The agent's stance seemed relaxed. His eyes were still very wide, he only blinked with his inner eyelids, and his pupils were pinned, but that had held true this entire time.

[I see his eyes as looking a little like these guys with their color contacts - pale and a little unreal.]

[elfstoned]

Aaron certainly heard. He was standing in the hallway, a pistol in one hand and half a sword in the other. He was wearing clothes he hadn't been in when Ravi left him: dirty, medieval, all leather and greens and grays. His eyes widened when they turned the corner -- thank god they were both all right -- and then narrowed as he took in the blood on Julien's coat.

"Julien!" he said sharply. He'd also seen this pulled in the army, and Aaron was about as tolerant of it as Ravi was. "If you're hurt, get in there and let Ravi take a look at it." He gestured with the broken sword to the examining-room across the hall, the one with Mrs. Ryan and Killian in it. Aaron would provide cover fire -- he could defend this hall.

[healspec]

Ravi glanced over at Aaron when he spoke up, and then did a double-take at the clothes. He was...just going to assume that was an Echo and worry about it later. If Julien was dripping blood down his leg from a chest wound, he didn't have time to question anything else.

"No, you should not be hiding it," Ravi answered, turning back to Julien, "because that would be stupid." He holstered his pistol--he had it set up so it hid neatly under his scrubs top--and motioned for Julien to follow him.

Rather than heading directly into the room, however, he stopped by Aaron and leaned in to whisper, "He has been strange since I found him."

[espigeonage]

When he saw the newcomer something flickered across the agent's face. He twitched or winced, pupils expanding, and then it was over and they had contracted to near-invisibility again. He pressed his lips together for a moment, and his expression eased.

Finally a human with halfway normal clothing and a weapon that didn't look like something from a museum! He even smelled right. Even if he'd been shaving and kept his hair very short, and carried a gun. It was a strange contrast. And why would the other human find it at all odd?

"Hello! Sorry, sorry. Like I told him-" he pointed with his chin, kind of an inverse nod "-it's not Julien." He knew his name, or part of it, and this wasn't the time to share it. The agent's attitude was one of easy, alert confidence. "And I'm just fine, thanks for the concern."

They could both become a threat very quickly. The agent did something that Julien was capable of but never would have thought to try - he decoupled his eyes, pointing each at a different face. He assumed that his eyes were still such that humans, and most other people, couldn't tell he'd done that.