2020-04-28 - High and Low

Standing there still looking confounded, Lyric watches the bus before sending out that whole searching for the belt thing. When she gets a hit, she looks even more confused. "How could it be moving away still? Unless it's stuck on something. Or someone's taken it off on purpose. But it's near Bayside." She doesn't wait for any real responses, even though she's pretty certain the nearby Vyv heard her. Instead, she starts rushing off in that direction at a pretty good clip. She's not got a vehicle, so she's on foot, fully expecting anyone else interested to follow along!

If you have a handle on it, let's see if it hasn't left the area yet, shall we? Vyv had said less than a minute ago, so it's fair to assume he hears her remarks on the topic. The idea that someone took it off on purpose doesn't seem to surprise him, frankly, though the speed with which Lyric is heading off does a bit. He glances over his shoulder at the shop, sighs, and follows, long legs covering a fair bit of distance with each brisk stride. If he has a vehicle, he's either decided getting it would be too much delay... or he's not willing to risk it in the street the way things are going here. "In my experience things rarely go missing entirely on their own," he remarks when he catches up enough not to have to raise his voice.

"I noticed that a lot. Especially people. They go missin' a lot around here." Lyric adds in a sort of conversational manner as she walks. Vyv could probably easily close the distance and catch up the few strides she'd had on him when she took off towards the direction of the belt. As far as she can tell it's the right direction anyway! "Wanna jog?" Casting a half grin his way, she looks at his clothing, or more likely his shoes. "Or just power walk?" While she talks and asks her questions, she's still bee-lining it towards their destination.

"Well. People do manage it on their own rather more often than inanimate objects," Vyv replies, "...there are several I've not seen around in a while, but I expect they moved on." He's still dressed for the work he was doing when all this ruckus interrupted, so it's whites from head to t-- well, ankle, and the shoes may well be the most appropriate for running he owns, unless he actually owns something for working out in. They're very simple things, thick black leather with well-treaded rubber soles, simple, though as well-made as what he usually wears would suggest. A brow arches. "I have never wanted to jog in my life," he replies, "but I suppose if it's outpacing us..." He hasn't yet checked himself; he knows he can't reach Bayside from here.

Lyric is wearing converse with her jeans and hoodie, so as soon as he gives his go-head, she takes off at a quicker pace, wanting to catch up to it. "I can't believe we're chasin' a belt down." Chasing being the key word there. As she jogs, she doesn't really talk a whole lot, she's very much in shape since she walks everywhere she goes, but usually it's alone, so she's not so used to keeping up conversation. She does look over every now and then to make sure he was still with her, even giving an encouraging smile now and then as she follows the original location, checking again when she just can't wait any longer, curious as to their direction being the right one.

"Nor can I," and 'chasing' is probably the key word for Vyv as well. He's not inclined to be chatty once they've picked up the pace either, though he looks fairly determined to keep up and keep going. Also in perfectly good shape... but he's not a runner, and doesn't want to be. Curiosity wins, though. He catches the flicker of her next ping, and looks at her expectantly for the update.

"Wasn't there a cat there at the crash?" Lyric asks, glancing upwards when she gets the ping of the belt upwards. Pointing, she says, "Up there. The roof. We can follow without going up there maybe. Or do you think we should climb the fire escape or something?" Totally indecisive! "What do you think?"

Vyv follows the look upward, brow furrowing a touch. "Someone did say something about a cat," he says, "Though while I admit engines and the like aren't precisely my area of expertise, I have difficulty imagining a cat running off with part of one mid-bus route. Still, I suppose stranger things have happened..." His turn to reach out with the Arts, though in his case he's looking not for the belt but for what minds are in the vicinity, what consciousness he might find up in those rooftops. "Unless you've mastered unpowered flight, I say we follow from down here to begin with," he replies a touch distractedly as he does.

"I wish I could fly." Lyric says wistfully. "Do you mean people can do that? Use their shining to fly?" Curious about it, she continues her own tracking, following the building with the rooftop where she suspects the cat thing to be. Maybe it was a cat. "It looked like a shadow kinda, but a cat." Or small like one.

Vyv squints upward at that rooftop as they go, which is a touch dangerous if they're still following their quarry but he is clearly a rebel who will never be any good. "I've never seen anyone do it. But--" he breaks off, head tilting a touch. "I think there's more than one, but the minds are so odd I can't be certain how many. Not people, definitely not a cat." He continues along the way he felt the minds going, adding, "...I've lifted someone by his clothing and moved him across a room, so in theory, I don't see why one couldn't do that to oneself." A step or so. "Wearing something sturdy and being careful about how one's holding it. Or perhaps moving something one's sitting on..." There's a hint of absentness to that, an interesting thought his mind wants to explore but can't reasonably focus on mid-pursuit.

"One time there was a sea witch that had a zombie woman from under the boardwalk. The zombie woman used to be homeless and lived there. But deep under the water there was a sunken ship and the sea witch was usin' the zombie woman to try an' hurt us. So I threw the zombie woman at the sea witch to hurt both of 'em at once. It was really super gross." So basically, in Lyric speak, she agreed. Maybe you can pick up and throw things to make them fly. His descriptions of what she called cats earns him a odd look. "I hope they aren't garden gnomes, cause those are bad."

"Mm," Vyv replies, which sounds like an agreement in return, even if he adds, "Throwing oneself might not be as advisable." There's a bit of a nose-wrinkle at the mention of gnomes. "That's what I hear. Hya's agitating for banning them from the city, but I somehow doubt they've much respect for laws." He picks up the pace for a few moments, trying to get a bit further into range to try to get a better mental 'look'. He's in no hurry to try to actually reclaim the belt, but identification is a definite goal.

"I don't want to throw myself. Not really. But flyin' would be super cool." Lyric waits, still tracking the belt and when it seems to go inside the building from the roof, she looks perplexed. Especially when she notices it's for lease. "Squatters?" So curious. Her lips twitch at the thought of banning gnomes and she bobs her head in agreement. No respect for the laws. When he increases speed, she does too, not talking when she's running faster. Only when they stop does she look to the building again. "Wanna go inside?"

"Could be, of a sort," Vyv replies distractedly as he works on trying to assess the group again, and from the added irritation that flows into his expression, it doesn't go as well as he's hoping. This may or may not have anything to do with why her question gets a dry, "Not particularly, no." A beat. "There are five of them, and I still can't tell what they are. Did you feel how one of them stayed still up there while the others moved around it, before they climbed down? It might be a leader, perhaps. And something about them wasn't letting me get a grip on any particular subset of them to read."

He purses his lips a moment, studying the building with his arms lightly crossed, just enough to drum his fingers against the other arm a few times. "We don't know their intentions or how they'd react to being confronted, and we do know there are more of them than us." Another tap, and he glances sideways to her. "Do you have your phone? You could, theoretically, try sneaking it over to where you could get some pictures or video."

"I can try!" Lyric does read some, probably not as good as most, but she'll try and read to find out emotion and maybe what exactly they are! That frustration from him gets a sympathetic look and she pats his arm, "Nothin' is ever easy." A kind smile towards him before she also focuses on the group and tries to get a read. "If I get the belt though, I can maybe read it some too, to see who or what or why they had it?" That mild psychometry with mental!

Patting her pocket, she bobs her head, "I have it. I'll try and read it then send my phone to take a video too." Why not? The shadow men had always been part of her life! Unfortunately.

Vyv may be a better reader in a technical sense, but he doesn't have the same raw power behind it as Lyric does, alas. Sometimes that's annoying. When one mind too many is getting in the way is one of those times. "Mn," he says in response to the volunteering to try, and then-- his arm is being patted? The glance she gets that time is more sidelong than the last, and comes with an arched brow and a tiny shift of his weight, though not quite an active drawing away.

"Rarely," he replies instead, and leaves it at that while she works. "If we do get it, I can give that a go too. Wouldn't expect there to be much, generally, but perhaps it somehow means quite a lot to them..." A pause. "Taking it is likely to get their attention our way, of course. And we may wish to avoid that if possible." And by 'may' he means 'definitely'.

"They move so weird!" Lyric tells Vyv, tipping her head a little to the side as she watches the movement in her minds eye. Then she gets a bit of a read on them and giggles, the excitement is a little contagious. Turning, eyes bright with amusement and that accomplishment, she offers, "They won! They did what they wanted to do. Chaos maybe? They're proud of it though, it feels like." Unaware she was exhibiting that same pride in her own demeanor and emanating it in her emotions. "Not human or animal. But maybe.. I think it's imps. Mischief makers." That's her guess.

"I can send the camera now, but maybe only if there are windows for the basement. They went to the bottom of the buildin' and then lower." With her own impish look, she adds, "Or I can unlock the door and we can go inside." Though since he seems adverse to both that and her touching him, she just grins, "How about I try and bring it to me, the belt I mean, while you do something to their head to make them not notice I get it?"

Vyv takes a moment to mull over Lyric's suggestion. "Depends on quite a bit going our way," he says then, "but most importantly, requires the same work as trying to get a look, which is... at least less likely to draw attention, and doesn't rely on us hoping they imprinted the belt with more information than you just already got. If we find a usable window to look, we can perhaps use it afterward to reclaim the belt, if we feel it's worth the risk." He eyes the building. "I might be able to assist with moving things."

"We can do it," Lyric tells Vyv with confidence, we can go and try to find a window to see what they are doing and what they are." Or use the phone to record it, she's not sure yet. Eyeing the windows dubiously, she readies her phone to record though, prepared to float it over if Vyv can open the window for it to slip through. "Ready?"

Teamwork! Vyv gives Lyric a confirming nod, and lets his mind reach out to map the building's lower levels, hunting down a suitable window and looking quietly pleased when the latch and then window obligingly open sufficiently for him. "There," he murmurs, "It's open."

Lyric guides the phone through the opening and grins at Vyv that he had created the opening. Finally, she floats the phone inside and directs it towards the creatures she'd detected before. She lets it record for a good minute before bringing it back through the window and to them, another grin flashed to Vyv as the phone gets nearer. She'll of course check the video with Vyv as soon as she has it in hand. "You're the best teammate ever," she tells him.

Vyv is not a grinner, but Lyric does get a small smile in return for hers, and the breath of a laugh for that declaration. "Do you know, for some reason I don't often get told that?" He leans in over her shoulder a little to watch the video as well, brows lifting at what it shows. "Well. I think we can rule out the cat theory." He tilts his head, watching them head down that drain. "Not gnomes, then, I think," he says less dryly, "We'll have to figure out who might be able to identify them. But," he glances from the phone to Lyric, a corner of his mouth curving up, "yes, we seem to have made a reasonable team."

"Oh but you are." Lyric reassures again, letting him see the whole of the video with her so they can come up with something together. "Yeahh don't look like cats to me, but they're kinda cool lookin, even if a little scary and they sure aren't gnomes!" Completely agreeing. "So do we chase after them or report back to others?" She's not adverse to continuing though. "Can't you find them easier now that you've seen them now?"

The video is, if oddly animated-looking, kind of fascinating, and Vyv watches all of it carefully to the end. At her question, he tilts his head slightly, eyes closing, then shakes it as they reopen. "They move fast. They're out of reach already. But... we know what they look like, now, and what they feel like, mentally. We'll likely recognize them in future. Perhaps all they wanted was an engine belt and we'll not see them again, but maybe not. I..." he pauses, brow furrowing. "I'm not entirely sure whom to share this with. Hm. Well, Mr. Roen for starters, perhaps, since he was there." So were several other people, granted, but he's definitely not talking to at least one of them on purpose! "Will you send it to me, please?" He dips a hand into a pocket, coming up with his phone and swiftly flipping open the leather cover to set things to accept a new contact before he turns it toward her.

Lyric will put in her information before sending him the video once she has the means to do so. The things had gotten out of range for now and she looks disappointed not to have gotten the reason behind it all. " Her number is also given to Vyv. "If you share it with someone can ya let me know if you find out anything new? I will let you know too."

Vyv sends a text back once she's entered the info, simply sending the number along with 'Vyvyan Vydal'. Never assume anyone's going to spell your name correctly when your parents are fans of less usual spellings. Once the video arrives, he gives it a quick glance to make sure it seems to have come across as it looked on hers, and smiles faintly. "Ta. And yes, deal. If I learn anything, I'll let you now, and vice versa." Lifting his head, he looks toward the building. "...a reasonable start, I think. But," glancing to her again, "I had probably ought to get back to the kitchen before David manages to find a way to burn it down with a sliced apple, somehow. Shall we?"