16480/So What Did I Miss

So What Did I Miss
Date of Scene:	14 August 2024
Location:	Private Office, the Blue Lady
Synopsis:	Thomas Raith gave the Hellspawn some good leads on the Dark Willow plot!
Cast of Characters:	Thomas Raith, Spawn

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Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith had created the Blue Lady as a personal hunting ground. After all it is easier to have your prey come to you and lower their own inhibitions. Of course he never considered back then that it would come with so much paper work, taxes, medical insurance..." He sighs standing to get himself a drink and look out at the club where people are dancing and listening to a gorgious black woman sing about love lost in the big city...

Spawn has posed:
Spawn doesn't arrive or appear so much as he fades into view. Whether Thomas is looking that direction, at that moment, that's still what happens. If a person had to judge how long he's been there, in a corner of the room near the staircase, they might judge it to be "not very long" since the sense of impending doom that follows the Hellspawn around only really begins to creep in a second before he appears, and doesn't become intense until he's standing there in full view.

In the well-lit room, the cape on Spawn's back looks more alive than in the dark. Where metallic skulls affix to his collarbones the redness seems to gush upward before pitching over his shoulders and cascading down his back like a river of flowing blood. It flutters even here, indoors, as if in a slight breeze. The glowing green eyes stare in silence at the vampire who owns the place.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith takes a sip of amber colored drink and says without turning around, "You know I keep a werebear on as a bouncer so I don't have people just barging into my office." the-Man-In-White turns around taking in the messure of the intuder slowly. "Normally I'd offer you a drink, but since you are are already breaking the laws of hospitality, why don't you tell me who you are and what it is you want?" His voice not wavering. Well you are what you eat, and he's been feeding almost exclusively on Slayers for the last several years. He's got plenty o Snark and backbone.

Spawn has posed:
To say that Spawn is a powerful telepath is an understatement. His transmission is selective, and right now it's only for Thomas Raith. Flashbacks to two meetings when both Thomas and Spawn were in the entourage of Buffy Summers are given as full-sensory hallucinations. It's like being there, all over again, but only for a split second. The memories are Spawn's own, so they're from his seven foot tall point of view, and the monster is kind enough not to include the feeling of burning in the Hellfire that the monster is made of.

The next image is of Spawn walking right past that bouncer as if the creature was unaware of Spawn's existence, then passing across the dancefloor while walking directly through the tightly packed crowd of people as if they were made of mist, then moving up the stairs. It's a total replay of his own memory of his own arrival, ending with Thomas Raith's spoken question.

Finally returning to physical reality, Spawn's answer is given as an auditory hallucination of a deep, smooth voice: "Been away awhile. Talked to Nick Drago. He said you could clue me in about new business."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith takes a moment then gestures to the wetbar in the universal "Help yourself." motion. "The decanter that's open is Iced tea." he adds, holding up his own glass. "I have to look like I am part of the party while keeping a clear head." He sips his own drink considering "You looking for any sort of specific work, or just to be looped in?"

Spawn has posed:
Spawn just stands there, statuesque. There isn't any movement except for the burning of the green eyes, the constant crawling of what look like bugs making up his armor, the constant flowing of that red cape from its clasps, and the little sway of the red "material" as if it was subject to a breeze that just isn't real. He doesn't bother to decline the drink or explain why.

"Been in Hell since around the last time we met. Need to know what's going on, and what needs done about it. I have plenty of 'work' of my own, apart from paying these union dues."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith considers a bit, "First Lucifer, and now you? They must have install a revolving door down there." He comments dryly, considering. "There was something crazy at the Magic Box the other night. Something that shouldn't have gotten in, did. Something that shouldn't have been able to be stolen, was. My girlfriend and I were attacked, but she'd know more about it then I do."

Spawn has posed:
"Why do you think something shouldn't have gotten in, or something shouldn't have been stolen?" Spawn's hallucinatory voice wants to know while the monster itself just stands there with its eyes literally smoldering at the other creature of the night. "You already said the same thing about my presence here."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith shrugs slightly. "The Magic Box is a fortress, magically speaking. It's protected by Wizards, Witches, Watchers, a werewolf, and other things that don't even start with W. Something breaks in there and takes something it takes power and effort. Appearing uninvited in my office? That's just...rude."

Spawn has posed:
Spawn stands there for a long time. If Thomas Raith had a heartbeat, it would thud five or six times while the monster stares implacably at him. "Spells, then," the voice is still transmitted directly into Thomas Raith's head. If anyone else was in the room, it would seem like Thomas was talking to himself while the Hellspawn just glared at him. "Can you tell me about the spells, or who cast them?"

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith is almost human. In fact aside from the fact his blood is bright pink he'd be almost indistinguishable from one by mortal means. "I'm not sure. It ambushed us. I was there to talk to someone on an unrelated matter. It hit hard. It hit fast. It didn't much like being set on fire, but to be fair that covers most things."

Spawn has posed:
"That's goooooood," the hallucinationatory voice to go with the very real monster made of darkness, malevolence, and Hellfire purrs. "You saw it? Did you hit it? Did it leave anything I can take a scent from?"

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith considers and stands opening a drawer in his desk, withdrawing a Kukri knife from the drawer. He leaves it on the desk and says "I take care of my tools, so it's been cleaned and sharpened since it was used. No idea if you'll be able to get anything from it....

Spawn has posed:
Barely short enough to keep his head from brushing the ceiling, tall enough that the high, Dracula-esque collar of his cape has to curl itself down and inward to avoid brushing that ceiling, the Hellspawn finally moves. Long strides bring him from where he stands, near the stairs, to where he can reach out his left hand to place one fingertip on that weapon's blade. He isn't swabbing it for DNA so much as interrogating its energy for information about the last thing it bit into. He isn't psychic, exactly, but everything leaves a trace.

While he remains in contact with the blade he asks, "Did you get a look at it? Male, female, human, what is it?"

Thomas Raith has posed:
He sips his tea, "Shadowy. Asexual, or at least as far as I could tell. Could have been a demon or some sort of magical construct. My brother is the Wizard. My girlfriend is the Slayer. I am just a humble club owner who keeps his ear to the ground." Well that is a lie, but it's hardly polite to point things like that out.

Spawn has posed:
Almost the instant the lie is told, Spawn's auditory hallucination retorts, "Logic suggests that statement is inaccurate, and my bullshit meter agrees." The "gloved" fingertip strokes the length of the blade, then slips down to the edge to give it a light twang as if he was testing the sharpness.

"Anything else?" the voice in Thomas Raith's head wants to know.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith nods. "Faith." He says simply, "She's a Slayer and she is about as friendly as a wet cat in a room full of rottweilers with people she doesn't trust... and to be fair I've been sleeping with her for the better part of three years and I don't think she fully trusts me. That said anytime there is trouble she's usually near the center of it. You can usually find her either here, the Bronze, or her flea bag hotel. Just word of warning she /is/ the Slayer, so watch yourself."

Spawn has posed:
The voice lets out a low, dark chuckle. That laughter is simultaneously suggestive and contemptful, or maybe that's just a deliberate content injection into the telepathic broadcast that creates the hallucination. If Thomas was watching, he could see Spawn fade back into invisibility. If not then he only feels that sense of foreboding begin to dissipate as the Hellspawn navigates back down the stairs and out of the club.