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[@Punished GN][@Atrophy][@FernStone][@Blizz][@AtomicEmperor][@NoriWasHere]@everyone
[code]Kari Wilson's House[/code]
[hr]

Of all of them to answer his question, it was the scruffy latino that [i]reeked[/i] of a decay that wasn't entirely represented by appearance, outside of their abnormally tattered clothing. [i]Luca.[/i] He was slowly cataloguing their names, both because he was getting tired of using vague descriptors to match to faces, and because it was the courteous thing that he'd been [i]raised[/i] to do, once upon a time.

The boy seemed benign enough, but that [i]rot[/i] was needling at Clancy's senses as he spoke. He couldn't figrue out why.

[color=6B8E23]”... yeah, she is an asshole. She was an asshole then too. But someone here forcefully adjoined her to an apparition, so you could say there’s more bad blood because of that.”[/color]

Something gave him pause, distracting from the assault on his senses. A moment ago, he'd been ready to consider [i]dealing[/i] with the girl and her friends in a coven that sounded more like some of the gangbanger crews he'd ran into back in Detroit. That was an option still on the cards, but he considered whether she was acting of her own accord or because [i]other[/i] motives were at the wheel. That they wanted to [i]fix[/i] some of the curses that had been inflicted upon them was itself a goal he could understood, but it invoked another thought - [i]who[/i] here had forcefuly 'adjoined' her?

He had heard the term before, alongside others, and while the exact meaning seemed vague, he could make an educated guess on what it meant. He thought back to what Ashley had told him. How 'Britney' had crossed a line, done what was [i]necessary[/i] - and finally made the connection.

[i]We're all monsters,[/i] he recalled.

For a moment, his eyes fixated on Britney and crinkled, the few flakes of broken plaster in his hand crunched further into dust as fingers clenched and released. It wasn't his grudge to hold, but that did nothing to improve his view of the girl.

[i]Focus.[/i] Luca had mentioned a book. He was thinking back to the waking dream, [b]"Where is the book now?"[/b]

If this book had the answers, his line of thinking was that they would [i]take[/i] the book, whether or not that meant fighting for it. Maybe it could answer [i]other[/i] questions too, such as-

He paused that thought for a moment; over Luca's shoulder, he could see some others approaching. One of them was another familiar face - 'Lynn', was it? He recognised her as the one who'd said she was [i]glad[/i] Linqian's brother had been murdered. It had been a [i]vile[/i] thing to say, one that had briefly disturbed the mental equilibrium within him as he'd watched from afar - it was too close to home when Clancy was the last one standing out of his own siblings.

And now, here she was again, almost scowling at the same woman she'd needled with the [i]brother[/i] comment.

[b]"Mention [i]anything[/i] about a brother..."[/b] he muttered - barely loud enough that only those stood closest might have heard, [i]'and I'll remove your jaw'[/i] is what he [i]almost[/i] wanted to say, but he didn't bother trying to continue the point. It would've been wasted anyway, even if he [i]had[/i] been heard; she'd walked past them into another room, and the taller, leaner speaker, [i]Jasper[/i], introduced himsef and the other girl - Lila - before returning to painting something he coudn't make out from this angle.

Outside, a commotion was breaking out - or a drunken display, it wasn't clear. A few had droped in, then moved back onto the lawn. Linqian and Sloane were at each other's throats, talking about the latter's supposed [i]business[/i] with Eighth Street, and what he could only assume was bad blood between them. [b][i]"Idiots,"[/i][/b] he growled, barely loud enough to be heard, [b]"You can kill each other later."[/b] 

Luckily, Britney had interceded to nip it in the bud - yet again mentioning this 'Vashti' - and they were back on track. [i]For now[/i].  
She tilted her head to look back over her shoulder at Britney, still speaking quietly. The plan, it seeemed, was to look for whatever this Kari had left in the basement - clues to who Father Wolf was, hopefully. 

He considered whether it was worth bringing the [i]other[/i] things he knew to the table. The encounter with Shayton at the Halloween Festival. The business with Dollhouse. The fact that [i]they[/i] claimed to be just as interested in dealing with Father Wolf. 

[i]Later.[/i] They were too distracted to focus beyond a select few workstreams, and had shown little interest when he'd first told them at the Church. 

[b]"The book Luca mentioned, have you seen it? Do [i]you[/i] know where it is?"[/b] He directed the question towards Sloane, and then - thinking back to something Linqian had said to Britney - closed the gap so he was but a few paces away.

[b]"She [i]won't[/i] say anything, again-[/b] his voice was barely above a whisper, spoken in a hushed tone for what could've only been privacy's sake, [b]"-about your brother."[/b] Neither smile nor scowl creased his features as they approached the basement.