{OPEN}

[absolute_npc]

Who: Everyone/Anyone!
What: Exploring the Casino, Take 1
Where: The Entertainment District
When: after this and this

Comments

THE CASINO: Bottom Floor

[absolute_npc]

[cryptdeify]

[The more time Max and Heine wasted trying to get their bearings straight, the better it was for Lawfer. He wasted no time departing from where he had set off the explosion, pivoting his heel to make a turn and sliding to a halt.

A four-way intersection. Great timing, life.

Letting out a sharp breath, he placed his handgun back in his holster which hung off his belt and took out his shotgun from behind him with a swift movement of his right hand. Left? Right? Straight?

If anything, it gives the two of them some time to catch up to him.]

[nebenmond]

[He felt her catch his sleeve and lets her hold on (normal circumstances he'd probably be freaking) as he shields his face from the fire and debris with his other arm. When it cleared, he growled and slowly got to his feet, either dragging Max along or she'd have to let go herself.

He's kind of pissed off, and the bullet hurt more than it should, but after a few seconds Heine seemed well enough to at least walk, still.]

Asshole...

[He looked back at Max, silent a moment as if he didn't know what to say before he sighed, trying to calm himself to speak with her. She wasn't the one who shot him, after all. (But he could have said nothing, didn't have to talk to her at all, just stalked off in pursuit of Lawfer. So why was he--?)]

...You okay?

[lolwhatfuture]

[He'd pulled her along halfway to her feet before she released his shirt, tugged easily both by his strength and her lightweight build. She didn't bother hiding her unhappiness, the way she eyed his injured leg and irritably swiped the dust from the explosion away from her eyes.

When Heine hesitated before speaking she stopped, hand still brushing blond hair from her face, but she recovered quickly and shrugged light-heartedly. She'd had worse explosions erupt in her face. But that brief moment; was Giovanni not entirely full of crap? She should have confronted him before Albedo appeared-]

Peachy. Can you walk? Actually, nevermind--can you run? [It's said with a snarl, because she wouldn't mind going asshole hunting either, Heine.]

[nebenmond]

[He didn't even give a second thought to how he should answer that, pulling himself up to a standing position.]

Yeah, let's go.

[He only stopped to grab at one of his guns and pull it out before moving forward into a run. Despite the bullet in his leg, his run is actually pretty fast. Pain tolerance was something a person like Heine had learned whether wanting to or not. And Heine's? His pain tolerance was like no other.]

[cryptdeify]

[Woah! Good thing Lawfer didn't stall much longer, because it's going to take them a while to catch up to him!

Kind of. Depending on what turns you make.

Skidding to a halt, Lawfer looks down one corridor and glances over at the other. Time for a little test of his luck-thing is, when things really matter, lady luck always seem to be giving him the finger. Right now? He doesn't necessarily have to run away from Max and Heine and instead, face them head on-put a bullet through the girl's head and a blow that dog up with a fucking bomb, and that's the end of it.

But right now, he doesn't want to do anything unnecessary.

Dashing forward into the path further away from him, he taps the wall as he passes by, and eventually-

-there's a door!]

[lolwhatfuture]

[Max only nodded in response. Heine was quick on his feet, which surprised her considering the damage his leg had taken, but maybe it shouldn't. Maybe here, like home, nothing should surprise her. She ran alongside him with ease in keeping pace and forced herself to tuck away any concern into the back of her head, only keeping a watchful eye.

Recovering from the explosion had taken too long. She ran almost blindly with only instinct as a guide, hardly pausing at any turn, save for the occasional jerky halt to quickly employ superacute hearing, trying to differentiate Lawfer's path from the echoes that bounced off the passage walls. But the sound of his running was no longer fresh, the maze too misleading, and at some point it became a best guess rather than a predator's keen hunt.]

[absolute_npc]

[Well, the minotaur does not very much like that two out of now four people are leaving. And of course it'll take its frustration out on the closed, which would be Albedo.

It stomped forward, the entire ground shaking about them once within in distance of Albedo took a large swing with the long-handled axe it was carrying.]

[purpletaint]

[ If Albedo knew of the other's presence, he would have been charmed; if fact, would have shown off all the more for it. As things stood, his audience had left, and for that, the only one left to be amused was himself. At this point in time, with this in front of him, it wasn't already hard

[absolute_npc]

[Well the minotaur doesn't seem all that amused by this display. One minute its crushing some little insect in its small brain and watching it break its bones and split itself open in a satisfactory sickening victory.

And the next is... well, the insect suddenly being able to put himself back together again. And in that time he'd realized that after the first two that departed, another individual had run on by without even hesitating or stop to assess the situation

[purpletaint]

[ There was the nature of strategy to consider, and then wholly set aside. Here, again, was the contradiction of Albedo: he could strategize to his heart's content, set up pieces to play the game, but when it came to himself, his own machinations with his own hands, he was far too chaotic. Far too willing to allow his opponents to play as well to gauge the ferocity of their will

[absolute_npc]

[And that's a successful hit for you, right there. The minotaur is sent flying back, crushing rubble underneath it as it landed on its back, creating a new rise of dust.

When the dust cleared, however? The monster was back on its feet, giving a ferocious snort. It stood still before its hooves one after the other started to scrape against the floor in a gesture that it was about to make a charge.

However, it paused then, giving another snort as it took its eyes off Albedo, noticing what was behind him.

A Magister. Not just any one, either, one of hers. It wasn't very smart but it did manage to have enough intelligence to identify things that weren't safe or that it wasn't supposed to touch.

The Fire Magister was one of these.

It stopped its aggression then, noticing that Dai seemed fixated on Albedo and his doings. It tilts its head to the side now, bull tail whipping about furiously in indecision.

Did this mean that Albedo, too, was off limits?]

this icon is his expression, kay.............

[purpletaint]

[ As much as any other, in the end, and the creature sailed backwards, the sound of its mass hitting rubble satisfying. --Not as satisfying, perhaps, as the sound of soft flesh tearing apart to drop to the ground, but ah-- Another time maybe.

Too soon, too slow, does the dust settle revealing the creature already rose, and Albedo took a step forward with a smile. He wondered vaguely what it would do if it caught him. If he didn't blast energy into it. Would it rend him to pieces? Tear into his flesh with its teeth to devour? Crush his skull to leak brain matter and gore? It was delightful to consider! To contemplate and judge. Which would it be, in the end? Man or beast

what a sweet young lad.

[redeify]

Of course.

[ he spoke without restraint, as though he were never hiding from him in the first place. as he approached the minotaur shied away, its eyes as watery and benign as any normal, docile cow.

what an adoring face. dai smiled back with unrestrained pleasure when albedo spotted him, those eyes that would make anyone's blood run colder. or hotter, in some very special case, like his own. ]

Having promised I'd do my best, and being who I am... I hoped to give you no reason to doubt me.

[ he approached, took albedo's cheek in his large palm, curving around his jaw - admiring him like one might admire some delicately crafted work. ]

You've done nicely. More than nicely. But our time is running out, I'm afraid; though it's not a particularly grave concern, I thought it pertinent to warn you. I wouldn't want you to feel let down by what happened here.

[ he glances past him to the great hulking beast, standing still and silent. ]

... You've more than proven yourself. Even with this.

...and sorry for length.

[purpletaint]

[ A farce or a play, Albedo didn't truly care. His being was still in the euphoria that death brought, adrenaline filling his system in a reaction to a threat that needn't be heeded, for it had never been one, not when a blade cleaved and left nothing in return but a passing moment. So to Dai, Albedo only smiled, even as what had gained his attention shuffled backwards.

A lost opportunity, yes, but it was pleasing to see, wasn't it? The creature moving nervously away from another that reeked of predatory aura. When Dai moved to touch Albedo, it was allowed easily; more and more, less and less, he was prone to allowing this, for the sheer combination of risk and pleasure that gave itself in the moment.

Oh, no, he didn't want to fight Dai, and wouldn't dream of comparing them, but it remained that murder was as intimate as bodies entangled, and the thought remained above all else. That the one in front of him was interesting, enticing, and Albedo liked him

<3 I'm so sorry for the long wait.

[redeify]

Lovely? ... I think you're giving me far too much credit, you know. [ and it seemed dai was not the only one who knew how to charm and flatter his way to a goal. he wasn't about to resist temptation, not when it came in this form, in these quiet, intimate still moments. the beast's obnoxious presence, its shallow, heaving breaths were lost on him when albedo stared up at him. his eyes always seemed loaded with long-lost, pleasant ideas.

and such a question to ask. as interesting for the fact that it warranted asking as that albedo desired the answer to it. and dai looked down in the narrow space between them, down at the blood-spattered ground. ]

Power... is an idea I've had, for a very long time. If I had power, I would be the panacea to a broken world that nobody else can bear the burden of repairing, and I would fear nothing but what I can do.

.... I wonder if that's true. [ he smiled, thinly. ] The idea of power may not match reality. But if power is really that - in a true, absolute form - the reality will be what I say,