Sam LaCroix (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
necroslacker) wrote2014-01-01 12:17 pm
necroslacker) wrote2014-01-01 12:17 pm
seattle ; wednesday ft
As the group all sat in Sam's kitchen, Sam was pretty sure they were all thinking about the same two things. One, that Sexy Gary, at least whilst under the glamour, was indeed worthy of his moniker. He was all thick-corded muscle, auburn hair, and dimples. Sam could easily imagine him in a hot firemen calendar or a sexy lumberjack photo shoot. Not that he spent a lot of time imagining those things.
Haley and Brid were eyeing him pretty openly, as was Sean, but in Sean’s case, it appeared speculative, like “should I start beefing up on the weights?” After about five seconds, Sam thought he reverted back to his status quo of believing that he was already perfect. There was no reverting with Brid and Haley—they just kept right on looking.
Sam made a sound at Brid's staring and she smiled over at him. San was a little worried about Haley until James stalked into the room, fully human and a little angry looking, and planted himself right between Haley and Brawny the Lumberjack.
Haley raised an eyebrow at James, but he refused to look at her, his eyes firmly on the second surprise in my kitchen. Sam relaxed, knowing that James would keep Haley from fainting like some lovesick teen at the feet of Gary the Bigfoot. Sam didn't always understand James, but he seemed fairly protective of Haley.
The second thing they were all thinking about was the guy tied to Sam's kitchen chair. The air in the kitchen was still and quiet while they all stared at him.
Ramon spoke first. “Strange things are afoot at the Circle K.”
Sam let his breath out in a whoosh. “Okay, so it’s not just me then?”
Ramon shook his head and leaned forward to poke him. “Weird, completely weird.”
Sam looked up at Sexy Gary, who seemed really pleased with himself as he grabbed another of Sean’s beers.
“Gary, can you please tell me why you've kidnapped Ted and brought him into my kitchen?”
The Bigfoot gestured at him with his beer hand. “Yeah, so, here’s the thing. Says his name is Minion, but it’s not, right? I mean, it’s totally him, or have I wandered into padded-room territory?”
“You’re not crazy.”
Gary looked relieved. “Good. So I was tracking, trying to find what was setting all the forest critters off, and I find this cabin. Now, it’s been empty for a few years, but it’s suddenly showing signs of life, and I see this one crawling around the bushes, making a huge racket.”
Sam peered closer at our kidnap victim. The resemblance was uncanny. Maybe it wasn't him, though. Maybe it was an impersonator?
“So you brought him here?” Sean asked. “Why? Is it a crime to rent a cabin or something?”
“Cabin’s not rented to him. I checked. And he doesn't smell right. He smells wrong—he smells like whatever I was tracking.”
Nick sidled up to me. “Sam, I think I know where he’s going with this. Have you looked at our new friend here? I mean, really looked?”
Sam did what he asked me to, even though he already knew what he was going to find. It was easier now, switching his vision over to his gift. Practice makes perfect, Sam guessed. Sure enough, the man in front of them wasn't alive. Sam was pretty sure he recognized the swirling mass of sickening blue inside of him, but just to make sure, he pulled the egg out of his pouch and held it up.
They matched. Shit.
Sam flipped back into regular sight and opened my eyes. “Okay, someone needs to tell me what the hell is going on around here.”
“What do you mean?” Ramon asked.
Sam held the egg up for him to see, realizing as he did that it wouldn't mean a whole lot to him. “This,” he said. “This matches him.” Sam jerked a finger toward the zombie. “Only it can’t, because that’s impossible. Because I saw his dead body. And dead bodies can’t raise other dead bodies. That’s just crazy.”
Ramon grabbed Sam by the shoulders and shook. “Slow down and explain to us plebeians. If you have to, use sock puppets.” Taco scuttled up Sam's leg onto his shoulder and hissed a warning at Ramon, who stared patiently at the little guy. “I’m not hurting him.”
“Douglas,” Sam said, holding up the egg so it was about an inch from Ramon’s eye.
Frank cleared his throat. “Why don’t we just ask him?”
They all turned to stare at Frank, and Sam thought they were all feeling a little stupid right then. Sam knew he was, at any rate. Ramon let go of Sam, and Sam turned around and pulled the gag off our house guest.
“What’s your name?” Sam asked.
“Minion.” He blinked at Sam slowly, considering. “Did I take the red pill or the blue pill?”
Sam smiled at him. “Let’s not get distracted, okay? Minion, who do you work for?”
“I work for Master!” He said this excitedly, like he’d done something right and deserved a treat.
“Ooookay.” Sam glanced at Nick.
“Minion, who is Master?” Nick enunciated slowly, as if to a child.
“Master is my friend. He is good. I like Master.”
“This is getting us nowhere,” Sam mumbled.
Nick kept his eyes on Minion. “Patience is a virtue.” He rested a hand on the zombie’s shoulder. “Why did Master call you, Minion? Do you know?”
The creature looked at them, confused, like they weren't getting something. “Aren't you friends of Master? You must be.” He nodded to himself, though the rope impeded some of the movement.
“Otherwise, why would you have Master’s egg? Master told me all about it.” He had Ramon dig out a torn piece of paper, which showed a sketch of the jade egg. “See? Yes, you must know Master. You have the egg. And him. Hi, James.” He looked behind me and frowned. “Where did he go?” He tilted his head closer to Nick and me. “Did Master call him?” he whispered.
Nick and Sam looked at each other, then looked behind them. Everyone looked back, except for James, who was nowhere to be seen. Sam grabbed Haley’s shoulder, dragging her eyes off Gary and back onto me. “Haley, where is he? Where did James go?”
“Huh?” She stared at me stupidly.
Gary cursed and pulled a chain out of his pocket, slipping it over his head. “Sorry, forgot the other one.” He walked past us and levered the kitchen window open. “Blasted pheromones.”
Haley shook her head, her eyes clearing a little. “James? He was right here.”
Sam looked at Ramon. “Well, he’s not here now.” And Sam was betting he wasn't anywhere in the house. “Just how stupid should I feel right now?”
“Let’s not make any judgment calls on that until all the facts are in.” Ramon pulled a knife out of the drawer and started slicing the ropes around Minion.
“Do you think that’s wise?” Frank asked.
“I really don’t think he’s a danger. And besides, he’s going to want to help us, aren't you, Minion?” Ramon asked as he cut the zombie’s hands free.
“I am?” The zombie looked confused. Of course, he kind of always did, so that didn't tell them much.
“Yeah,” Sam said, catching on to Ramon’s thought process a little. “Because your master wants this, right?” Sam held up the egg. Minion’s eyes zeroed in on it.
“Yes,” Minion said. It was quite obvious that his master did want it. How badly? Had he come looking for it? And when he didn't find it, Sam wondered if he thought Sam had it. Knowing what he did of Douglas’s style, he might think it would be totally logical to threaten Haley in order to set me off guard or distract me from what he was up to. But that didn't make sense either. If Douglas had made it that far, he’d have stabbed Haley, not her door. The past had told him he had no problem killing with little or no provocation. James had told Sam's mom that she had to change her wards—they’d been set to only let in people who meant no harm. Douglas certainly lacked pure intentions, so he couldn't have done it. Maybe he’d sent Minion. Sam didn't think he had enough going on upstairs to actively mean harm to anyone.
“Then we’re going to take it to him, aren't we?”
“We most certainly are,” Ramon said, kneeling to cut the rope around Minion’s feet.
Nick cleared his throat. “Are you sure about this, Sam?”
Sam adjusted Taco on my shoulder. He’d been moving around excitedly, probably picking up on all the tension. “I don’t think we have a choice. I’m stuck between a pack and a hard place.” Sam grabbed Brid's hand. “We need permission to enter your territory.”
Her brow knitted, and she stuck her lower lip out in thought. “Why?”
“If Douglas is back somehow, we need to know. I think we can use the egg or even Minion here to call him out, but I don’t want to give him home-field advantage.” And Sam certainly didn't want to see his corpse again. He tucked the egg back into his pouch so he wouldn't lose it. “I think James has already gone back to him, and my hold here is too tenuous to expect everything else to choose me over him. And I’m certainly not going into some unknown wood to track him down.” He squeezed her hand. “And the pack needs to see this.”
She still had the “why?” look on her face. Sam could tell he hadn't quite gotten through. “They need to see justice. We've been looking for a necromancer, remember? If we can show them that Douglas has returned … They have to witness that it was Douglas, not me, or they will never trust me again.”
Brid's eyes squinted in thought. She glanced over at Sean, who merely gave her a one-shoulder shrug. “Couldn't make things any worse,” he said.
She squeezed Sam's hand back. “Okay.”
“You can get up now, Minion. We’re going to go for a ride.”
“Can I drive?” he asked hopefully. “I won’t go under fifty.”
“No,” Ramon said, patting him on the back. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
“Yeah,” Sam said, “and Ramon would make a terrible Sandra Bullock.”
[NFB but open for phone calls since there's finally time for him to get a phone call or text, if wanted. Taken from Necromancing the Stone. Warning for: talk of corpses and insults directed towards Keanu Reeves. ]
Haley and Brid were eyeing him pretty openly, as was Sean, but in Sean’s case, it appeared speculative, like “should I start beefing up on the weights?” After about five seconds, Sam thought he reverted back to his status quo of believing that he was already perfect. There was no reverting with Brid and Haley—they just kept right on looking.
Sam made a sound at Brid's staring and she smiled over at him. San was a little worried about Haley until James stalked into the room, fully human and a little angry looking, and planted himself right between Haley and Brawny the Lumberjack.
Haley raised an eyebrow at James, but he refused to look at her, his eyes firmly on the second surprise in my kitchen. Sam relaxed, knowing that James would keep Haley from fainting like some lovesick teen at the feet of Gary the Bigfoot. Sam didn't always understand James, but he seemed fairly protective of Haley.
The second thing they were all thinking about was the guy tied to Sam's kitchen chair. The air in the kitchen was still and quiet while they all stared at him.
Ramon spoke first. “Strange things are afoot at the Circle K.”
Sam let his breath out in a whoosh. “Okay, so it’s not just me then?”
Ramon shook his head and leaned forward to poke him. “Weird, completely weird.”
Sam looked up at Sexy Gary, who seemed really pleased with himself as he grabbed another of Sean’s beers.
“Gary, can you please tell me why you've kidnapped Ted and brought him into my kitchen?”
The Bigfoot gestured at him with his beer hand. “Yeah, so, here’s the thing. Says his name is Minion, but it’s not, right? I mean, it’s totally him, or have I wandered into padded-room territory?”
“You’re not crazy.”
Gary looked relieved. “Good. So I was tracking, trying to find what was setting all the forest critters off, and I find this cabin. Now, it’s been empty for a few years, but it’s suddenly showing signs of life, and I see this one crawling around the bushes, making a huge racket.”
Sam peered closer at our kidnap victim. The resemblance was uncanny. Maybe it wasn't him, though. Maybe it was an impersonator?
“So you brought him here?” Sean asked. “Why? Is it a crime to rent a cabin or something?”
“Cabin’s not rented to him. I checked. And he doesn't smell right. He smells wrong—he smells like whatever I was tracking.”
Nick sidled up to me. “Sam, I think I know where he’s going with this. Have you looked at our new friend here? I mean, really looked?”
Sam did what he asked me to, even though he already knew what he was going to find. It was easier now, switching his vision over to his gift. Practice makes perfect, Sam guessed. Sure enough, the man in front of them wasn't alive. Sam was pretty sure he recognized the swirling mass of sickening blue inside of him, but just to make sure, he pulled the egg out of his pouch and held it up.
They matched. Shit.
Sam flipped back into regular sight and opened my eyes. “Okay, someone needs to tell me what the hell is going on around here.”
“What do you mean?” Ramon asked.
Sam held the egg up for him to see, realizing as he did that it wouldn't mean a whole lot to him. “This,” he said. “This matches him.” Sam jerked a finger toward the zombie. “Only it can’t, because that’s impossible. Because I saw his dead body. And dead bodies can’t raise other dead bodies. That’s just crazy.”
Ramon grabbed Sam by the shoulders and shook. “Slow down and explain to us plebeians. If you have to, use sock puppets.” Taco scuttled up Sam's leg onto his shoulder and hissed a warning at Ramon, who stared patiently at the little guy. “I’m not hurting him.”
“Douglas,” Sam said, holding up the egg so it was about an inch from Ramon’s eye.
Frank cleared his throat. “Why don’t we just ask him?”
They all turned to stare at Frank, and Sam thought they were all feeling a little stupid right then. Sam knew he was, at any rate. Ramon let go of Sam, and Sam turned around and pulled the gag off our house guest.
“What’s your name?” Sam asked.
“Minion.” He blinked at Sam slowly, considering. “Did I take the red pill or the blue pill?”
Sam smiled at him. “Let’s not get distracted, okay? Minion, who do you work for?”
“I work for Master!” He said this excitedly, like he’d done something right and deserved a treat.
“Ooookay.” Sam glanced at Nick.
“Minion, who is Master?” Nick enunciated slowly, as if to a child.
“Master is my friend. He is good. I like Master.”
“This is getting us nowhere,” Sam mumbled.
Nick kept his eyes on Minion. “Patience is a virtue.” He rested a hand on the zombie’s shoulder. “Why did Master call you, Minion? Do you know?”
The creature looked at them, confused, like they weren't getting something. “Aren't you friends of Master? You must be.” He nodded to himself, though the rope impeded some of the movement.
“Otherwise, why would you have Master’s egg? Master told me all about it.” He had Ramon dig out a torn piece of paper, which showed a sketch of the jade egg. “See? Yes, you must know Master. You have the egg. And him. Hi, James.” He looked behind me and frowned. “Where did he go?” He tilted his head closer to Nick and me. “Did Master call him?” he whispered.
Nick and Sam looked at each other, then looked behind them. Everyone looked back, except for James, who was nowhere to be seen. Sam grabbed Haley’s shoulder, dragging her eyes off Gary and back onto me. “Haley, where is he? Where did James go?”
“Huh?” She stared at me stupidly.
Gary cursed and pulled a chain out of his pocket, slipping it over his head. “Sorry, forgot the other one.” He walked past us and levered the kitchen window open. “Blasted pheromones.”
Haley shook her head, her eyes clearing a little. “James? He was right here.”
Sam looked at Ramon. “Well, he’s not here now.” And Sam was betting he wasn't anywhere in the house. “Just how stupid should I feel right now?”
“Let’s not make any judgment calls on that until all the facts are in.” Ramon pulled a knife out of the drawer and started slicing the ropes around Minion.
“Do you think that’s wise?” Frank asked.
“I really don’t think he’s a danger. And besides, he’s going to want to help us, aren't you, Minion?” Ramon asked as he cut the zombie’s hands free.
“I am?” The zombie looked confused. Of course, he kind of always did, so that didn't tell them much.
“Yeah,” Sam said, catching on to Ramon’s thought process a little. “Because your master wants this, right?” Sam held up the egg. Minion’s eyes zeroed in on it.
“Yes,” Minion said. It was quite obvious that his master did want it. How badly? Had he come looking for it? And when he didn't find it, Sam wondered if he thought Sam had it. Knowing what he did of Douglas’s style, he might think it would be totally logical to threaten Haley in order to set me off guard or distract me from what he was up to. But that didn't make sense either. If Douglas had made it that far, he’d have stabbed Haley, not her door. The past had told him he had no problem killing with little or no provocation. James had told Sam's mom that she had to change her wards—they’d been set to only let in people who meant no harm. Douglas certainly lacked pure intentions, so he couldn't have done it. Maybe he’d sent Minion. Sam didn't think he had enough going on upstairs to actively mean harm to anyone.
“Then we’re going to take it to him, aren't we?”
“We most certainly are,” Ramon said, kneeling to cut the rope around Minion’s feet.
Nick cleared his throat. “Are you sure about this, Sam?”
Sam adjusted Taco on my shoulder. He’d been moving around excitedly, probably picking up on all the tension. “I don’t think we have a choice. I’m stuck between a pack and a hard place.” Sam grabbed Brid's hand. “We need permission to enter your territory.”
Her brow knitted, and she stuck her lower lip out in thought. “Why?”
“If Douglas is back somehow, we need to know. I think we can use the egg or even Minion here to call him out, but I don’t want to give him home-field advantage.” And Sam certainly didn't want to see his corpse again. He tucked the egg back into his pouch so he wouldn't lose it. “I think James has already gone back to him, and my hold here is too tenuous to expect everything else to choose me over him. And I’m certainly not going into some unknown wood to track him down.” He squeezed her hand. “And the pack needs to see this.”
She still had the “why?” look on her face. Sam could tell he hadn't quite gotten through. “They need to see justice. We've been looking for a necromancer, remember? If we can show them that Douglas has returned … They have to witness that it was Douglas, not me, or they will never trust me again.”
Brid's eyes squinted in thought. She glanced over at Sean, who merely gave her a one-shoulder shrug. “Couldn't make things any worse,” he said.
She squeezed Sam's hand back. “Okay.”
“You can get up now, Minion. We’re going to go for a ride.”
“Can I drive?” he asked hopefully. “I won’t go under fifty.”
“No,” Ramon said, patting him on the back. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
“Yeah,” Sam said, “and Ramon would make a terrible Sandra Bullock.”
[NFB but open for phone calls since there's finally time for him to get a phone call or text, if wanted. Taken from Necromancing the Stone. Warning for: talk of corpses and insults directed towards Keanu Reeves. ]