2021-12-04 - Randy's not alright
Alexander meets a man who had lost a friend and trips him off to something horrific.
IC Date: 2021-12-04
OOC Date: 2020-12-04
Location: Gray Harbor/Stone Bridge
Related Scenes: None
Plot: None
Scene Number: 6177
It's an absolutely abnormally beautiful day for December. One of those false summers where people can take off their coats and stroll about in light sweaters and jackets. The fine weather brings many people out - especially the homeless. They've congregated about the bridge - and under it - setting up their own little town of sorts. It's not a particularly cheerful affair, but no one is causing a ruckus either. Some people drift about talking, while others are settled in their own little worlds.
One man is settled right in the crack where the bridge meets the ground. He has his hands wrapped tightly about himself and he rocks slowly and rhythmically. The agitation that rolls off of him is as clear as daylight to any who might have the heart to hear it.
Alexander is...still wearing his heavy olive jacket, but at least he's sort of taking advantage of the warmth by wearing a thin, black t-shirt underneath with the emblem of a Norwegian metal band. He wasn't specifically coming out here, but upon seeing the conglomeration on the horizon, he changes his route to intercept the homeless population. He's not unknown to them; Alexander doesn't go around giving out sandwiches or shelter, but he pays for information, takes people seriously even when they're coked out of their minds, and will take on pro-bono cases from I don't remember where my stash is to that bastard rolled me and took my last photo of my kid, and generally brings some sort of resolution.
His eyes skim the gathering, and light on the man rocking on the ground. He heads in that direction, and settles down, just outside of arm's reach, staring at the guy, waiting to see if he's acknowledged.
This is what makes Alexander special - he sees the humanity in the insanity.
There is a reaction from the man - he scoots away from Alexander, further into the shady darkness under the bridge. There is a flash of something dark and wet on the sleeves of the tattered garment the man wears, but it is difficult to see the color of it
Another of the homeless calls out to the familiar Alexander. "No use talking to Randy. He went off his rocker and hasn't spoken for a week. "
Alexander lifts a hand, slowly, to acknowledge and thank the other homeless man. He keeps his eyes on Randy, but his question is as much for the other man as the traumatized fellow. "Any idea what happened?"
His gaze falls, briefly, to the man's sleeves, but he doesn't move forward yet to try and get a better look.
The other homeless man shoves his hands into his pocket and rambles over closer. There's some hard pity in the man's eyes for Randy. "No. Well Had a buddy for a while, Sal. But figure Sal decided to reconcile with his family or such, and Randy couldn't handle being alone. Ain't been the same since Sal left."
There's another shake of the man's head and he turns around and walks away from Alexander and Randy. He's got his own problems to deal with, Randy's are something he has to leave alone.
"Thanks," Alexander says as the other man rambles closer. He reaches into his pocket and offers a ten for the info, and waits until he and Randy are mostly alone again, before he studies Sal. He takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly, then asks, "Did something happen to," Sal is not a real name and it visibly pains him to use it, but he presses through, "Sal? Tell me about it. Maybe I can help."
As he talks, he's reaching out with his mind, very gently, to try and ease the other man's emotions to something more trusting and stable.
<FS3> Randy's Disquiet (a NPC) rolls 3 (8 5 3 3 2) vs Alexander's Mental (a NPC)'s 8 (6 5 5 4 4 4 4 2 2 2)
<FS3> DRAW! (Rolled by: Gail)
That money is taken and pocketed - no one here is too rich to just turn away what Alexander offered. Chances are this is exactly why the information was offered up anyway. Otherwise there would have been complete silence.
There's a shudder from Randy as Alexander says that name - and if nothing else - it causes the man rock faster. It's a very visual sign that whatever has sent Randy over the edge it DOES have to do with Sal. Something in the man's mind fights Alexander's calming influence. Drugs possibly? Or simple trauma? Something worse?
A small boon for Alexander, the rocking exposes more of Randy's sleeve and it becomes clear that the wet spot? It's blood. Wet where Randy has clutched it close to him, but drying about the edges.
Alexander makes a frustrated sound in the back of his throat; the mind is sometimes a dangerous sort of place, and resistant to even well-meaning tampering. He retreats for now, on that front, and instead edges forward a little, his nostrils flaring as he picks up on the blood. "Was...Sal hurt? Did you see him being hurt?" he asks, keeping his voice low and soothing, and watching Randy with that flat, reptilian stare of concentration.
<FS3> Randy (Gail) rolls 3: Good Success (8 8 6 3 1) (Rolled by: Gail)
At least it didn't bite Alexander - just resisted him.
Alexander hits a sore point with his words, possibly being too close to a possible truth for comfort. He jerks his head up when Alexander says that, the fear in his eyes as clear as daylight. Something has him spooked because he shakes his head violently. No no, he didn't see anything. Don't ask him what he saw, not that Randy SAYS that aloud. It's all feeling rolling off of him.
Yes. Sal was hurt. Yes, Randy saw it. Randy is also much much much too afraid to say anything.
Alexander has seen that look before. On a hundred different faces over the years. It hurts every time, and his shoulders hunch here. He could, possibly, reach out and seize the other man's mind, take away the fear. But Randy has already experienced violence and helplessness, and Alexander has no desire to add to that, if he doesn't have to. So, instead, his mind reaches out for the bloodstain on his sleeve, trying to read the memory that put it there in the fabric of the cloth, rather from the man himself.
<FS3> Alexander rolls Mental: Great Success (7 7 6 6 6 5 3 3 3 3 2 1) (Rolled by: Gail)
Poor Alexander. Poor, poor, poor Alexander. Hopefully he's stronger in mind than poor Randy here, because the memory is nothing short of horrific. A body - staked to the ground, and blood pouring out of it. Deliberately done and with extreme violence - there's no bit of empathy there. No sight of WHO or WHAT did this, but there's a knife nearby that's similar to what a butcher or cook to might use on meat. There's no sense of where Sal might be now - a clear indication that he's dead.
What's worse? This coat wasn't Randy's. It was Sal's. It came into Randy's hands after Sal met his end.
<FS3> Alexander rolls Composure: Success (8 4 1 1 1) (Rolled by: Alexander)
<FS3> Alexander rolls Alertness-3: Good Success (8 7 6 5 4) (Rolled by: Alexander)
Alexander has seen a lot of death in his life. Both in person and, like now, in his mind's eye. So he doesn't lose his cool as the vision explodes into his mind, although his hands tighten into fists, his fingernails biting into his palm. Which is good; the small pain helps ground him, remind him that this has already happened. Nothing can be done about it now to change it. Only to avenge it. He closes his eyes, breath ragged as he tries to glean information from the vision. Most particularly: where. Looking for any clues that might say where the horrific scene took place.
It's dark, with only a single light above. It's the curly kind, florescent. The walls themselves seem unfinished, through the ground is concrete. Probably not a good idea to murder someone on concrete - it is just porous enough that where Sal died will always carry the stain. Maybe this wasn't a super experienced killer. There is a faint feeling of a draft right at floor level. A trained eye might seem a small ripple in the pooling blood to show it comes from a single direction. The location is enclosed, but at least one direction is open to the air.
Alexander opens his eyes, then rubs his face with both hands, exhaustion and sorrow briefly settling over his body like a blanket. He looks at Randy. "I'll find your friend. Make sure he gets buried, if I can. And find the person who did this." He reaches into his pockets, rifles through them for a bit until he finds the thing he needs. He sets a small business card down before Randy. "This is a good place," he says, of the HOPE center. "If you go there, they'll get you set up with somewhere you can rest, safely."
Randy is too afrad- shaken - well, crazy, to move while Alexander is still there and such a presence. Maybe he'll pick up the card - maybe not. Maybe later he'd be more able to take in that someone is trying to care for him, rather than hurt him for being crazy.
Either way, Alexander has a mystery on his hands. Someone's dead, nobody seems to care except for one deranged homeless man - and now Alexander.
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