[h1][color=lavender]Eli[/color], [color=sienna]Kyle[/color], and [color=brown]Kayla[/color][/h1] [hr] [color=lavender]ELI: Hello, Foster. Its Eli. Give me a call whenever you need help.[/color] [color=sienna]KYLE: Sorry for late response.[/color] [color=sienna]KYLE: Currently working.[/color] [color=sienna]KYLE: Will keep you updated regarding help.[/color] [color=lavender]ELI: Vampires or the other case?[/color] [color=sienna]KYLE: Latter.[/color] [color=sienna]KYLE: Murderer is different from normal vampires.[/color] [color=lavender]ELI: Could it be another franken-vamp, or some other creature?[/color] [color=sienna]KYLE: Sister calls it an aswang.[/color] [color=sienna]KYLE: Awful name, I know.[/color] [color=sienna]KYLE: Shapeshifting vampiric crwature.[/color] [color=sienna]KYLE: *creature[/color] [color=lavender]ELI: I’m not even going to attempt to pronounce that.[/color] [color=lavender]ELI: Are you drinking on the job, Foster?[/color] [color=sienna]KYLE: Actually, yes.[/color] [color=sienna]KYLE: Sister believes the aswang primarily targrts drunk people.[/color] [color=sienna]KYLE: *targets[/color] [color=sienna]KYLE: So we are, as she puts it, ‘baiting the trap’.[/color] [color=lavender]ELI: I hope you can handle your liquor. What’s your choice of drink?[/color] [color=sienna]KYLE: Tonight, jagerbombs apparwntly.[/color] [color=sienna]KYLE: Taking a tpll you see.[/color] [color=lavender]ELI: Those are pretty lethal. I’m having a manhattan at the moment. Just taking the edge off.[/color] [color=lavender]ELI: Have you ever been to the Tír Na NÓg?[/color] [color=sienna]KYLE: That’w actually where we are right now.[/color] [color=lavender]ELI: Well, there’s a couple sitting to your left enjoying a hefty amount of jagerbombs. You might want to get on their level.[/color] There was no response after that. A moment passed as Eli sat and waited for Kyle to message something back, instead being met with the man himself, getting up and wandering over to her table after searching the bar for a moment. “So you [i]are[/i] here.” He said. [color=lavender] “I hadn’t realized either,”[/color] Eli explained, smiling up at Kyle. [color=lavender] “I just stopped in for some dinner and spirits.”[/color] “I feel I should-” Kyle began, covering his mouth as he coughed a bit due to his earlier consumptions, “A-hapologize, for… how unprofessional this looks. I will reiterate that it was… [i]not[/i] my idea.” He turned and pointed towards his sister, still talking with the bartender. Eli turned her head to follow his gesture, observing the two by the bar for a moment before she turned her attention back to him. [color=lavender] “So you’re supposed to fight off a monster in this condition?”[/color] She raised her eyebrow slightly, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. “It…” Kyle began, “Does sound pretty foolish, when you say it out loud.” After a brief pause and looking about the room, he turned back to Eli and said, “We might… we could actually use your help, maybe.” Eli glanced around as well, before gesturing for him to join her in the booth. [color=lavender] “Tell me what you know about this thing.”[/color] As he sat, Kyle began, “It’s a… well, a vampiric creature, as I said. Whip-tongue, mor-... morphing abilities. I’m sorry, I’m fumbling my words. I’m not the real expert on the monsters, my sis-” “Sister!” Kayla just about [i]materialized[/i] next to Kyle. She was instantly looking Eli over, before reaching her hand out to shake Eli’s hand. The alcohol, despite having had more than Kyle, had yet to hit her fully. While he was almost twice her size, Kyle was a lightweight. “Kayla Foster. I take it you’re Kyle’s special friend. How- uh-” Kayla said, catching a slur before it escaped her mouth. “How old are you anyway?” Kayla asks, “25, 26...?” Eli smiled as she shook Kayla’s hand, but it faded as she glanced between Kyle and Kayla. [color=lavender] “22?”[/color] Kayla gasped and then smacked Kyle’s shoulder, who himself also seemed a little surprised to hear the number. “Slummin’ it are we?” Kayla said. “Stop.” Kyle replied, shaking his head, “Just- stop.” Kayla gave him a huge grin that was all teeth, but didn’t say anything to him, instead turning to Eli. “It’s nice to put a face to a name.” Eli cleared her throat, smiling politely although clearly a little uncomfortable by Kayla’s assumption. [color=lavender] “It’s nice to meet you, as well. Kyle was just telling me about this creature you’re baiting.”[/color] She slid over in her seat. [color=lavender] “Would you like to sit?”[/color] Kayla pulled a chair out and sat down, suddenly all business. “I take it my brother has er-” she caught herself again. She’d had too many jagerbombs. “Has uh, mentioned what we’re up against?” Eli nodded. [color=lavender] “How do you plan to fight it? I’m sure Kyle has mentioned my… skills.”[/color] Kayla gave Kyle a pointed look. “He hasn’t told me much, to be honest. He said you disoriented the vampires he went for. Don’t know how, though.” she answered. “At the end of the day this a vampire, just of a more monstrous variety. It’s got claws and teeth. Combating it is like a game of tag except we have a gun. Just don’t get touched, ya feel me?” “I have a question.” Kyle said to Eli, “What can you do beyond disorienting a-” He slurred again, “A-a person’s mind?” Eli lifted her glass, taking a long sip before setting it down. [color=lavender] “Well, I’m not exactly sure how I do it, but I can access people’s perceptions and alter them. It’s all really an illusion, but their mind thinks that it's real.”[/color] She glanced between them. “Could you…” Kyle began to ask, “Alter them in a… more beneficial manner? Say…” He waved his finger between himself and his sister. “[i]Alleviate[/i] the effects of a few shots on someone’s mind?” Eli pursed her lips, thinking for a moment before nodding. [color=lavender] “Yes. I’ll need to stay within a certain distance, and I’ll only be able to hold it for about thirty minutes for the both of you.”[/color] She looked at them both. [color=lavender] “Will that give you enough time?”[/color] “Yes.” Kyle replied, “If, we actually [i]do[/i] get found by this thing of course, i-it’s a gamble. You’ll follow as far beside as you can to still have us in your range. If and... [i]when[/i] things get messy, that’s when you act.” Kayla simply nodded in response to her brother’s plan. “One, uh… one more thing.” He said, “Do you have any way to defend yourself, physically? If, the aswang comes after you?” Eli blinked. [color=lavender] “Well, I have a police baton I usually carry with me… but as of this moment no. I know how to use a pistol or shotgun, if you have a spare.”[/color] Without a word, Kyle reached into his coat, fumbling around with an inner pocket. He pulled out a small felt pouch with an elastic string holding it closed. Awfully small to hold any sort of weapon. Eli looked somewhat confused as she watched Kyle subtly open the pouch, just barely lifting the grip-end of a handgun out of it, and then dropping it back into the pouch and closing it up. He handed the pouch to her. “You can borrow this one. It’s already- loaded with silver bullets.” With a nod, Eli took the pouch. She pulled the string, curiously looking inside before tucking it into her jacket pocket. [color=lavender] “It must pay off to have a bit of magic everywhere you go,”[/color] she said, smiling at Kayla. She picked her glass up one last time and finished the whiskey, feeling that it would give her some liquid courage. [color=lavender] “Alright. Let’s test this out somewhere private before we jump into anything.”[/color] “What do you mean by test it?” Kayla questioned. “As in firing the g-un? Mighta- um, might spook our target.” Eli chuckled, looking at the drunk Tourists. [color=lavender] “I meant-uh, I want to make sure that I can alleviate the jagerbombs’ effects.”[/color] “Oh.” Kayla said dumbly, pinching the bridge of her nose and smiling. “I guess go for it?” Eli smiled before sitting back in her seat, relaxing her shoulders. She glanced at the other patrons in the bar before closing her eyes. [color=lavender] “You might feel a little strange at first, but tap my hand when you feel sober. I’ve cured quite a few of my own hangovers with this.”[/color] In a few moments, Eli was already affecting their brain’s receptors - reducing the slowing effects of alcohol on their systems. Kyle reared his head back a bit, raising his brows slightly. He inhaled through his nose and exhaled through his mouth. “That is…” He said, nodding, “Very good.” “Seconded,” Kayla said, tapping Eli’s hand. “I’m feeling a lot better about this.” “Alright, but…” Kyle said, waving his finger for a moment, “Gotta stay drunk though. To lure this thing out in the first place. Do you just…” He turned to Eli. “Let it go, then?” Eli opened her eyes and looked up at Kyle, releasing her hold on their minds as she blinked. They both looked somewhat visibly hit by the return of their inebriation, but promptly recovered. [color=lavender] “Basically. It’s like a muscle. I can stretch it, but there is a breaking point.”[/color] She smirked. [color=lavender] “Should I get you two another round of shots?”[/color] Kyle and Kayla passed each other rather questionable looks at the sound of Eli’s offer. And Kayla smiled.