2012 02 24 Forest Walkers

Log Title:
Forest Walkers

Characters:
Dajan Nightcrawler Topaz

IC Date:
2-24-2012

Location:
Various Locations, NYC

Brief log summary::
Dajan and Nightcrawler are attacked by possessed people, they seek answers.

Rating:
pg13

There is no TS in this log::
Yes

Post your log::
Upper East Side – Swindler’s Cover/George Washington High

Kurt made arrangements to meet Dajan somewhere in the Upper East Side, for training. He'd given directions to near George Washington Highschool's field. There being a little bit of parking along the sides of the road, most likely for faculty and students. Today he'd chosen to go image induced, and picks the familiar Errol Flynn for the now as he awaits near the outdoor basketball courts and practice field for baseball/softball/etc. It is right on the bank of the park itself, overlooking the river and the restored projects therein. Hands in pockets of a winter coat, he may be hoping he doesn't quite look like a pedophile being around the school grounds. Then again, its cold enough that there isn't much outdoor activities at this time of day. Kids are mostly in the school and away from the field area.

Dajan jogs up, floofy hair tied back with a scrunchie into some semblance of a ponytail. She has on a tracksuit and pops out of the morning crowds with a cheerful, "Mornin', Mr. Blue!"

"So, we meet again, my old nemesis," grins Kurt, perhaps enjoying the Mr. Blue monikor and perhaps referencing Quentin's film work, he offers a hug even, he's friendly like that. Then with one hand up he indicates the park, "I figure this will give us enough seclusion to really train, not to mention the view of the east side of the Harlem River is pleasant from the trees." He will lead into the trees if she follows, and as they leave the school area, his blue self will be revealed in X-Factor uniform even. Over his shoulder, "Sorry, I've been trying to avoid using the image inducer, but lately with Brotherhood activity in the city, I'd rather not be found."

Dajan flings a hug back in return. "Silly," she mock-chides, "as if I'm anybody's nemesis." She does follow him, and smiles as he turns off the image inducer to show his true face. "Really? I hadn't heard anythin' about the Brotherhood lately. But I been kinda keepin' to myself lately. What's goin' on?"

Exagerated sigh in response, Kurt grins over his shoulder to look at her as they walk. "Well, Magneto is now the political leader - iron authority - of Genosha. We've discovered an antimatter generator he'd had hidden in El Barrio. Pryo and Avalanche were on the scene and attacked X-Factor. Erik is demanding the return of the antimatter plant to help the rebuilding of Genosha - so yesterday we tracked down Pryo and Avalanche for questioning over all this. Not sure who else might be around, but both times Pryo got the jump on us. Better safe than sorry. Swindler's Cove here is out of the way, we should be safe." Under the image he also has a couple of practice swords (should of been said earlier). As they're halfway between Amsterdam Ave by the School and Harlem River Drive by the boathouse, they're in the 'forest' so to speak. He offers one up, "At least, I will be safe, there is no telling how you may fare in this endeavor mein Engel …" A playful grin there.

"…wow," is Dajan's response to the updates about the Brotherhood and what they've been up to. "I gotta spend more time watchin' the news." But watching kids is what keeps cash in her pocket and less money from Monet supporting her. "I have seen a couple You Tube videos, but you're prolly gonna mop the floor with me," she admits with a wry smile.

"The Brotherhood stuff shouldn't be too much on the news yet," responds Kurt regarding what the brotherhood has been up to. At most, there might of been stuff about Shield finding some hideout as they took over that operation and the fight at Coney Island was just yesterday afternoon. X-Factor was in and out before any real media would of noticed. Testing his sword, he grins, "I don't mop the floor, that lacks finesse." Then he holds it up and does a fencing bow, "Maybe we start with the basics - I mean, before we move to tree swashbuckling and the fun stuff?" Though his voice says, the tree swinging might be fun.

"Oh, well, that makes me feel a bit better," Dajan says, brightening. She didn't really miss anything, and Kurt is indeed sharing insider info with her — all the better reason to pay attention. She's being trusted. "Okay, what's the fancy fencin' term for knockin' me on my tail, then?"

Chuckling, Kurt offers up, "In fencing, that is winning the bout, but the fun is in the second intention." From his stance he offers a downward strike of the sword. This is only for the purpose of seeing if she'll lift to counter, an intended attack on he sword - meant as a croise. In which he slides his blade down hers then circles his wrist to tap at her side after going around her hand/guard. Whether or he succeeds or not, he explains mid action, "Usually called the feint, but second intention for official purposes - meaning the first intention is intended to miss a scoring opportunity but lead the opponent to open an opportunity for the second intention."

Dajan frowns in concentration, raising her foil. "Oh, I get it. A feint, isn't it? Make it look like i'm goin' for one, then go for a different one while you're tryin' to respond to the first one?" She blinks as he taps at her side. "Yeah, like that."

Smiling, Kurt responds, "Ja, like that. That is the heart of fencing and, I would say all fighting." Holding his blade up then, he takes a defensive stance, "Not how well you swing, attack, grapple … but leading. Not just anticipating what your opponent will do, but bringing them to a position that allows you favorable outcomes. Second Intention. The second intention leads to scoring strikes in fencing. Don't hope to get lucky, but shape your outcome. Then you two can save the day and kiss the damsels." Chuckling a little, he knows no equivilant term for males in distress, "Take some swings at me, we'll simply practice and work on form. Knowing what you can do with the sword will inform you of what your opponent is capable of."
Unbeknowst to the forest duellers, a pair of students forget what they are doing up at George Washington High - and leaving their books/backpacks and accourtements, they walk slowly towards the nearly abandoned park. They do not look like normal class ditching types, but rather upstanding students - perhaps a member of the football team and then a counterpart member of the debate team - they could be ideal for homecoming queen/king even, if one had to quess. Not quite normal fro them to even head into the park.

Dajan listens, and spends a second or two in contemplation, then moves in with her sword. It's amateurish, but she makes up in enthusiasm what she lacks in skill. "Like this, then?" she asks, stepping forward with the foil extended toward her trainer/opponent. "Am I doin' it right?"

Kurt will meet attacks with his blade, only withdrawing not advancing. "Ja, correct. You do not hesitate to make the first move. Second Inention is not meant for the defensive minded. In order to engage, you must be willing to strike first - take the lead. It is like a dance - if you want to enjoy yourself, you must set the terms of the dance." He likes the enthusiasm, the sword work will all come into play later - its almost secondary to everything he is saying. Its the medium for the message perhaps.
After they begin to engage, the students start to come down the hill. Eventually as the approach the perrying duo, they can be heard crunching old dead leaves and branches - fallen down last Autumn and during winter storms, revealed as the snow is mixed between lingering on the ground and melting in places.

Dajan is fairly quick, naturally, and she took Kurt's indication of training seriously. She is still very green with the foil, but she's a quick study. "Like a dance," she repeats, considering how best to apply that. But she stops, tilting her head and letting her blade down. "One sec," she says, then adds, "No really, one sec. I think I'm hearin' somethin'." The advantage to keeping her enhanced hearing active anytime she leaves the house. "An' not somethin' like a stray cat, I don' think."

She'll certainly see them first too, as Kurt stops talking to let her listen for the moment he keeps quiet. Not fully familiar with her powers and abilities, he trusts she is picking up on something. If she follows the trail of the sound, she'll notice somewhere between 50 to 100 yards out in the forest, the two students are coming for them. Its regular walking, but it seems a beeline for the two in the forest. Kurt does't see themjust yet, but after after a few moments he might begin to hear them, he whispers quietly, "What is it?"

Dajan has to turn around first one way, then the other, before she actually pins down where the footfalls are coming from. She shades her eyes reflexively; there are no leaves yet. In response to her trainer's whispered inquiry, she whispers back. "Somebody comin'. Too early for spring break, but they look kid-age. Like high school age," she narrows her eyes. "Mebbe nothin'?"

"High school age," ponders Kurt in a whisper, "Shouldn't be too much of a worry." Only indicating he won't revert back to Errol, he'll stay his fuzzy blue self for the now. At least, its not like it would be high school age Brotherhood members - they take their recruitement seriously. Regardless, the two teen-aged kids continuing coming towards the pair in the forest. For a moment one pauses, the other walks forward. As if, once the sword fighting stopped, the kid regains his bearings. Then perhaps spotting something through the forest, unnatural colors in the natural world - he seems to spot the duo and comes in this direction. The girl had been wandering off slighty, he grabs her and they press on. In fact, the begin to move faster as if they really have spotted their targerts. Its a jog now, louder and hard to miss.

"Just kids, yeah," Dajan confirms, a little more sure of herself. But they're picking up speed now. "But …what the heck they out here for? Shouldn't they be in class?" Distracted and curious, plus no small amount worried for the well being of younger people, she hands her sword to Kurt. "Maybe they're lost." Wouldn't be the first time she's encountered a kid losing his bearings in the vast sprawl of New York. "I'mma go check."

When she moves, Kurt will follow, "Perhaps," agreement to being lost, taking the sword from her and holding one in each hand for the moment. His yellow eyes are sharp, but her's may be sharper if somehow enhanced through shifting abilities. Their eyes seem glossed over and its apparent they are going to close the distance. Now at about 25 yards distance, they move from jogging to a sprint. One could guess they are intending to truelly engage the mutants.

"Hey, you guys?" Dajan calls, but once they get close and break into a full run, Dajan decides it's not as innocent as she might've hoped. "I think we got a problem," she says, backing up one step, two steps, then turning and breaking into a rabbit run herself, back to Nightcrawler. "They ain't lookin' right."

Letting the swords go to the ground, Kurt follows her run, dropping to a mix of using all four limbs - pushing off the round with hands and feet, occasionally going up and through trees with all limbs working to match pace with Dajan. "If they do not look right, we meet them, but try to subdue them if they attack." The girl will head straight for Kurt, the boy towards Dajan. They way they move through the forest suggests slightly better than human and by the eyes, one would guess possessed. The girl easily breaks off a live branch from a smaller tree no problems, she intends to club Kurt. The boy clenches his hands into fists as he goes for Dajan. If she gets close, he'll attempt a haymaker punch at her. The girl is swining all out two - baseball bat style. They are wild attacks, but furious in their intensity.

"kay then, subdue it is," once it is clear the pair mean to attack them. Dajan lets the boy get close, and learning from what Kurt has already taught her, feints a dodge, only to sprout two additional arms and lunge toward the teen to tackle him amidships, while he's off balance from trying to throw the punch. The cajun girl has quit speaking, all her concentration on taking the young man down without doing a lot to hurt him.

For his part, Kurt looks ready to take the swing, but teleports behind the girl and begins to grapple with her. As Dajan does something the same, she'll find out they are slightly above average strength, fuelled by possession for the moment. He is caught in the tackle and topples over and, even as he falls in the forest taking light cuts and scrapes, he ignores that not even wincing. The punch having missed and the body before him, he attempts to grab and squeeze where he can - his arms a little eratic from the fall.

Dajan is actually not that bad a wrestler. Having six younger siblings, two of those male, she is familiar with the moves. And as the oldest, she had to be able to wail on any of the younger ones to keep her place as alpha. "Uh-uh, hon," she tells the kid trying to get free. "What do we /do/ with 'em?" she calls. Not like she expected more than a sparring match. She is trying to think quickly because she can't straddle this kid indefinitely, and hold his hands away from her with her extra arms all day.

"Uh, quick response, there is a nerve in the neck," Kurt offers, "Near the jugular, hold it and they should pass out - of course, cut off the jugular and they'll pass out too - just less of a headache …" He is about to go on when the girl manages to loose her stick and reach for her back where Kurt was going for said nerve. He has to bamf again, and takes her with him, possible going into a multi-port to disorient her. Certaily he could of said restrain them too, but who knows where the rope is.
Much more simple grappling and indeed the kid will be out, he's not giving up his struggle for the moment.

"Oh, duh, sleeper hold!" Dajan exclaims, remembering. It's a bit of moving to get off the boy because she cant get a sleeper hold on him from their current relative positions. He tries another swing at Dajan, but this time she's popped a set of claws on the fingernails of her two original hands, and slices the sleeves of his varsity jacket, to impede him. She sticks a foot out to trip him, then reaches for him as he goes by, and gets into that sleeper hold position. "Just conk out," she half-advises, half-pleads. Wrestling in fun is one thing, but this is something else — something serious.

The sleeves was a good idea, as a normal trip might of not been so effective. He holds out from the sleeper hold, it gets to the point where the efficientcy of the the hold comes into question. Then he slacks some, a moment later he moves again though. It continues, longer than a normal person, but eventually the hold cuts off enough oxygen to his brain and the body goes limp. Kurt is back while this is happening, the girl seeming to be disoriented from her ride with him and while she staggers he finished the nerve pinch he was talking about. Setting her down, he's getting up to see how things are going with Dajan, getting his orientation again in the forest.

Dajan is fortunate enough to have the advantage of an extra set of arms at the moment, so struggling or not, she is able to hold on, with grim determination and no small amount of adrenaline until the kid finally stops flailing and goes limp. Even so, she's dubious about letting him go. Eventually, though, she lets him down to the ground as gently as she's able because he outweighs her. "What the heck is goin' on?" she asks, quite certain this was not an intentional part of Kurt's training exercise.

Shaking his head, Kurt responds, "I'm not sure. I think, maybe, we wake one of them cautiously, hopefully they're not posssessed, then we can ask some questions." Concentration on his face, he's probably going through mental database to see if he can think of anyone who could possess people and have them attack like this. By his continued thought, he's drawing blanks. "I wish we had something to tie them up with, no telling what state they'll come around in if we do manage to wake one up."

"Here you go." Dajan tosses Kurt the drawstring from her track pants. "Ain't much, but should at least be enough to keep her hands outta your face." She uses the drawstring from her jacket to tie the hands of her own charge behind him. The pants fall off her, but she's at least got something that looks like a unitard on underneath it. She steps out of the pants and uses them on her captive's feet, since they're pretty much worthless to her without the drawstring. "Did anybody besides your team know we'd be out here? Or were they just gonna attack the first two people they came across?!"

Kurt is male, he can't help but watch. Even if its a unitard underneath, something about the action itself maybe. He blinks himself away for the moment as he realizes what he was doing then takes the drawstring to the girl's hands. "No, only my team knew I was coming out here. Even then, they didn't know where I would be exactly. It doesn't add up," he confesses, even if it is the latter, attackig the first two people they came across. Carefully, he uses his tail to hold the girl up after her hands are tied and begins trying to wake her up. After several moments, she comes awake, blinking at her precarious situation, "Wha … where … help?!" At about that time she seems ready to panic - not only is she confused but there is a blue guy that has her bound up.

It is fortunate Dajan didn't catch Nightcrawler watching. She'd have blushed; a lot. She wasn't going for showing off, and had only worn the unitard underneath because it made sense and was warmer than the tracksuit alone. At Kurt's difficulty with his newly wakened victim, Dajan leaves her charge where he is, trussed on the ground by drawstring and track pants. "Allow me," she says to Kurt, with regret that some people don't respond well to his natural face. She then gets down on one knee. "Hey, shug," she says gently to the other girl. "You were kinda attackin' us, forcin' us to defend ourselves. Can you remember anythin' before now?"

At the moment of screaming some more, the girl blinks confusedly between the two of them. "No," she says, in a freightened voice - denying attacking, unsure of the situation or not knowing what she was doing. Trying to scooch back all the same, but held in place by the tail still, she shakes her head some more. "No, Sam and I were just going to class, we were walking outside the school to get their faster, then I wake up here, tied up and with him over me." She chins towards Kurt. He smiles softly, not showing his canines. She offers, "I don't feel so good, maybe I was drugged or something." Or her stomach is still reeling from the multiport.

Dajan listens. "It's okay. We not gonna hurt you none," she promises. "We just wanted to make sure you didn't hurt us or anybody else." She glances over at Sam to see if he's stirring on his own yet, then back to the girl. "Don't let him scare you. He's a pussycat," Dajan promises the other girl conspiratorily. Though she does look to Kurt both to see how he took being referred to as a pussycat, and if he has any ideas on what could've caused these two to end up as attack drones. "Seems like you two are the only ones who are like that just now, bebe," she adds for the girl's sake. Though the idea makes her glance around to see if there are any other zombie teens approaching.

To further demonstrate the point, Kurt removes his tail. He'd undo the shoestrings, but that would involve intruding between Dajan and the girl. He holds back, going to check on Sam as well. He has stirred some, but is still out. The girl takes it all in, "Him - pussycat … I was more worried he was gonna, you know," Her eyes travel down - as in take advantage of her. She is off in the woods, a park in NYC, and was tied up by a strange guy. Shaking her head, "I don't know why we would attack you. Sam's about to go down to state track meets, doing something like that could ruin scholarships opportunities for him. I could get kicked off the debate team for this …" She fishes for examples of why she wouldn't outright attack anyone.

"I understand," Dajan assures the girl. "He's a pussycat, yup," she reiterates. "But like I said, we were just workin' on our fencin'. He's teachin' me, see. An' you two came up outta nowhere. Not a word, just started swingin' on us. So we hadda do somethin'." She reaches to undo the drawstrings, careful with her claws — though they're easily mistaken for just one of Those manicures you can get done with acrylics in the mall. "Sounds like she's sincere, Nightcrawler," Dajan says, careful to use the codename under the circumstances. "Whatcha think? Is it over or do we need to get them to somebody who knows like — gris-gris stuff?"

Kurt is smirking a little, perhaps enjoying being called a pussycat, but trying not to seem flirtatious infront of the kids even. He double takes his smile and looks more serious. "Gris-gris stuff," he ponders, not sure what that is - or perhaps not familiar with the term at least. "I say yes, if they could provide some answers. Or a telepath that could read their minds to find out what happened since the blacked out." Stumbling in the brush, Sam call's out, "I didn't black out, … uh, where am I?" Doesn't help his case, "Hey, let me out of this …. pants …. ?" Kurt goes to help him, the boy seems less fearful of Nightcrawler, or more macho in not showing any feelings he has.

"Um, gris-gris," Dajan repeats, then tries to find another word to descrie it. "Magic-like stuff. Because it look like somebody put a hex on them. Or hypnotized. Or …" She stops, shaking her head. There are way too many possibilities. "Lookie here, bebe," Dajan says to the other girl, who has introduced Sam but not herself. "We're not gonna report you to anybody so it'd mess up your schoolin'. We know that's super-important for your futures." Well, she does. She has no idea Kurt's feelings on the subject. "Still, don't wanna have this happen again, with you wakin' up not knowin' where you are, or what happened. So we do gotta get you checked out. That makes sense to you?"

Ah, the expression in Kurt's face agrees with that sentiment. "I think you're right, if you know someone close by …" He isn't familiar with all the shops and magic like people near at hand. Despite his familial connections (foster family at least), they're probably not close. The girl nods, "Well, if you think so, but we're gonna miss classes." Sam lets the girl do all the talking as Kurt gets him out and he stands and stretches. Still, he chimes in, "I don't have anything important until 5th period …. you just have English to worry about," as if he knows her schedule well. Shaking his head, "We could talk to the school about this, or I could. Whatever few classes you miss could be made up, they'll understand its for safety reasons." The girl looks shocked, "No, they can't know something like this happened to us," as if other students might give them a hard time - associating with mutant(s) and magic stuff.

Dajan watches the two kids discuss how to handle this. "Ain't much of a way around it, chere," she tells the girl. "We gonna have to either have y'all busted for ditchin', or tell the school so they know you're not, or tell your parents, so they can tell the school." Her expression indicates she's sympathetic, but out of ideas on that angle.

"My roomie, she's a telepath," Dajan tells Kurt. "But she just got back from outta town an' I'm not sure where she is right this second. I know a doctor, but he's a regular doctor. Um… lemme think…" she stands, using the second pair of hands to help lever her to her feet. She then withdraws them back into her body. "I mean, when this happened to me, it wore off after one go, but who knows if it was the same thing." She looks down at the other girl and offers her a hand up now that she's untied. "You din' come into contact with any weird lookin' swords lately, didja?"

Pondering this, Kurt responds, "We could google the nearest magic shop or whatever," the voodoo stuff might get a quicker hit - magic would probably lead to mundane illusion oriented magic or stage magic. "I'd hate to intrude on your roomate like this." Though if she's a telepath that would help.
The school students ponder, looking at each other for sympathy, then Sam offers, "Maybe call coach, he'll know what to do and say - tell him what really happened, he'll sort it out?" They're willing to give whatever happens a try.

Dajan pulls out her cellphone from the pocket of her track jacket and thumbs a quick text. "I'll see if she's around."

"The coach might work, sure," Dajan agrees. Coaches have to deal with teenage aggression, steroid use, and suchlike. He might even be familiar with the 'mutant issue'. "Lead on."

Getting his own phone, Sam offers it over to Kurt after bringing up his coach's number. "Allright, lets see where this goes," say Nightcrawler as Dajan thumbs a quick text. Helping the two students up, he remains in the trees for now - in his natural form. It takes a few moments of him explaining to the coach what happened, what might of happened and what could happen. Short silences as the coach speaks and when he clicks the phone off to hand it back, "You're covered, lets get you both checked out … he wants to make sure you'll be able to compete at State."

Dajan frowns pensively. "Looks like Monet is either not in the mood to answer, or her phone's off, which amounts to the same thing. No handy telepath, sorry." She shrugs. "I'm still new in this town, so it's not like I got a whole phone book fulla people to look up on a subject like this."

"Worth a shot, let me try a few people," says Kurt getting his own phone out just the same. He starts with Amenda Sefton, out of town, leads through a friend of hers and before long ends up with a tip to the Voodoo Lounge and a Topaz. The kids remain quiet, still in some shock, hoping they're not possessed or cursed to fail now. Eventually Kurt is done with calls and says, "A place called the Voodoo Lounge, supposedly we might be able to find someone there who might know something. Just, don't know a fast way there and I can't get us all there," yellow eyes to Dajan meaning he can't teleport that many people and even if he could, no telling how much everyone could take before the situation got sticky.

"Well, then, tell you what," Dajan suggests. "I'mma go take Sam here to see his coach, so he's sure Sam's a'ight. And you take our friend here to see your magic lady friend." She shrugs off the track jacket and sticks the cellphone in a pocket. Turns out it's not so much a unitard as a full heroing getup — but in simple black, with no special adornments. She folds up her tracksuit, which she can't wear until she threads the drawstring back, and tucks that in with the swords Kurt brought. "You gimme a call when you're all set, cool?"

"Sounds good, and like the suit," he says, as jacket and everything is taken off. No shame there, he compliments where do. "As soon as I have an answer, I'll get back with you."

<OOC> Nightcrawler is being summoned away.
Voodoo Lounge - Greenwich Village
Contents:
Topaz

It's a Friday afternoon, so the Voodoo Lounge is very quiet. You have one or two yuppie business types trying to unwind before diving back into the corporate meat grinder, but mainly it's Topaz, a couple of employees, and blessed quiet. Topaz herself is sitting by the fountain, relaxing, though she glances expectantly at the door, having heard from Wong that she is to expect people seeking help.

Following direction, Kurt gets himself and the girl (Jen) to the Voodoo Lounge. He only knows that he's looking for a Topaz. Likewise, this much in public he's back to Errol Flynn induced image. Leading the high school girl into the establishment and informs whoever might stop them (the girl at least) who it is he is looking for. Eventually he and the young girl are directed towards the Fountain, or the woman there stands up to great them. Eitehr the case, when they are approacing one another and make eye contact, Kurt smiles warmly, suggesting, "You must be Topaz?"

"I am Topaz. I understand you wish to see if this child were tampered with?" The woman speaks in a soft contralto, voice timbred with a faint accent that will sound like India to most. "Please, come, step into my office." She leads the pair past the fountain to the staircase, up one flight to a room comfortably appointed with pillows and sofas. "Make yourselves comfortable, the both of you. I will bring some juice for the young lady" who is too young to drink. "And for you?" She tilts her head enquiringly at Kurt.

Following into the office, Kurt comes in to get cozy, but only after Jen finds a seat herself, removing the image of Errol Flynn in private settings and being blue once more. As she offers the drink, Kurt considers that for a moment. "House draft," he says then, either they have one or work with a local micro brewery he assumes and goes with it. Then, "And yes, Jen here, along with her friend Sam, attacked myself and another today. We're curious what happened to them and why they attacked. We think they may have been possessed."

Topaz takes the order, and keys it into a keypad. "Your drinks will be up shortly," she says, before padding over to settle bonelessly amongst a pile of pillows. "Dear girl, you are in a place of peace and safety. There is no need to look so frightened." Kurt's change of appearance is unremarked upon, but neither does Topaz seem even remotely discomfited by the sight of a blue-skinned, fuzzy elf X-person in her office.

She listens, and frowns with concern. "Possessed, you say. That is serious. I would be happy to assist you in whatever way I might." She is an empath, and is already gesturing as she speaks. It looks to the casual observer like she talks with her hands, but what she's actually doing is calming Jen's fears, quelling her anxieties, and replacing that with the sense of safety Topaz already invoked aloud. "Come sit by me, dear girl." The drinks are brought as she invites Jen to come sit down.

Taking his drink, Kurt lets the woman do her thing as he takes a comfie sofa and watches the going-ons. Jen is nervous but does as asked, when her hands work Jen reacts and follows to the aforementioned seat. She offers up, "I really don't know what happened. One minute we were going to class and the next moment I was in the park. He," head nod to Kurt, "Was att… er, holding me … they said we attacked them. I felt sick when I woke up, maybe I was drugged." She stabs again at possibilities. Kurt shrugs, he can't confirm or deny the story - but he is in agreement with the outcome of it all.

"I see," Topaz says thoughtfully. "Well, let us have a look. This will not hurt a bit." She takes the child's face in her hands and meets her eyes for a long moment. "I promise." She removes her hands and places Jen's in her lap. "Take deep breaths, and try to count backward from 100 slowly."

As Jen obeys the request, Topaz begins making more elaborate and obvious gestures, obviously invoking magic. She endeavours to delve into Jen's thoughts, and find the memories of what actually happened, all while holding the girl's fears at a distance, gently shoving them away — including her apprehension at Kurt — until they are so inconsequential they no longer matter.

Kurt remains silent as Jen counts backward from 100 slowly. At some point she'll probably zone out and just stop counting. Probing into her mind and memories reveals the school though can be easily found as she's clinging onto their last memories. There's probably some smooching and stuff, not simply walking to class, hiding to kiss more, nothing beyond PG-13 there. Then as they go off for class, they travel outside the school and pass a strange man of African decent. Strange in that the memory isn't registered in a recollective state so much as it was almost gone from her mind but he seems to be more prominent to the telepathic mage. As he passes, he couches and nearly unnoticeable, a powder is blown from his cupped hand at the two students.
Following this, is the memory they do not recall. They seem ordered by a strange entity, perhaps the man, to head into the park and make an attack. The powder and the presence in their minds almost speaks of the Lao, but no in a typical possession/ridden manner.

Since Kurt is right here, Topaz glances up at him while leafing through the thoughts from Jen and her boyfriend. "You are correct," she says, still keeping the girl entranced. "Someone drugged them. It is not my type of practice, more voudoun, if what I see is correct. May I share the images with you, that you may better recognize them?" A luminous little sphere appears in front of her forehead, waiting for permission as she continues to try and pluck details from those hidden and drug-addled memories.

Holding his drink, letting a large finger roll around the rim, Kurt's yellow eyes look up and he nods. "Certainly, share the images, I'll see what I make of them." And as the images come to him, he watches the same events unfold, up to the attack if it goes that far - but at the least the passing man, making note of his features but not recollecting anything from there. When it is finished, "You are saying this is Voudoun in origin?" Familiar perhaps at a rudimentary level, this was his sister and mother's domain (foster).

The little luminous floating sphere vanished into Kurt's forehead when he gave permission. "That is how it appears to me, yes," Topaz confirms. "I have seen its like before. Though why would some voudoun practitioner ensnare two children to attack you, is the queston?"

Topaz regards Nightcrawler curiously as she lets Jen slowly waken, holding her glass of juice at the ready for when the girl returns to consciousness. Between pulling the bad memories, having an answer for what happened to her, and Topaz' empathic ministrations to take away her fear, the girl should be feeling almost back to normal. "There," she says gently to Jen as she opens her eyes. "That was not so bad, hmm?"

The girl nods and relaxes, "Is that all, can we get back to class." There probably will be little getting back to class today, betweent the attack, driving around to find the lounge and getting back. Kurt doesn't consider that for the moment, "Almost done here Jen, promise." Though he turns to the expert in this matter, from his perspective, offering, "I'm not sure myself, I mean, my mother and sister - adopted family, they were heavily influenced by magic, its what they did. Amanda was the Mistress of Limbo for a while, my body was the host for the Soulsword, and my mother Guardian of the Winding Way. But I don't see that as having relation to Voudoun in any aspect. Maybe it had something to do with the Dajan, the other person that was attacked? We'll have to look more into this matter. If we have questions, can I contact you again?" He finishes off his drink as he watches Topaz.

"So impatient," Topaz says with a smile. "Drink your juice, Jennifer, and do not worry about class for the day. You will need time to recover from the effects of what you were given. I would say tomorrow is soon enough. " Telepathically, she adds to Kurt, <It is likely she may have some remaining suggestibility until this time tomorrow.>

She rises. "I am familiar with the Daytripper and with Margali," Topaz says, her expression brightening. "Any family of theirs is welcome here anytime." She settles down beside Kurt and listens to the rest of his thoughts. "This Dajan is some manner of voudoun priestess, or in service to the loa?"

"And yes, of course, you may contact me again. I should like to know if this is some one-time thing or if I need to be concerned for the children of the city. Allow me to make it simple." With that, and no further warning, she leans over to kiss Kurt on the lips. It's gentle, but not precisely chaste, though it apparently is something magical related, as her fingers do the arcane gesturing again.

Instinct takes over Kurt when she comes to kiss him and, as she gives more than simply chaste kiss, he can't help but oblige. A hand comes up to her chin, sensually, as she the link is forged and he is aware of this. Even though she is giving him the information, he is still taking wholly of whatever she offers from her lips as well. If this is magic, he could get used to it - maybe he did, with Amanda. When the kiss is finally broken, by whomever, he sits a moment as if savoring and then shakes his head. "She's not a priestess that I know of, I'd have to ask her that. I'm not one to press about one's past, so I haven't asked her much about hers."

Topaz allows the kiss to end once she is certain Kurt understands the nature of the link she has forged between them. He will now be able to call her name, telepathically speaking, and get her attention. The link will cover at least the island of Manhattan, and as they grow to know each oher better, the distance the link permits will grow as well.

Jennifer is finishing her juice, smiling like she has a secret at having watched the two grown-ups kiss.

"Then I would ask her, and get back to me with what she tells you. And I will consult some of my resources to see what is going on with this lurker." She returns to Jennifer's side, and touches her forehead. "This one is a temporary contact. Should you see anyone again who makes you feel frightened, or if your thoughts stop being your own — I will know."

Finally, Kurt stands then, contact established. "My thanks Topaz, hopefully Jen will not need your assistance after this, hopefully we will discover something to prevent this from happening again." He seems concluded, Jen responds the same, "Thanks Ms. Topaz, like he said, hopefully not." She still has the secretive smile. As they make ready to leave the office, Kurt offers out, "I will be in touch." Almost suggesting regardless of need or not, a grin and a bow from the blue elf/monk.

Topaz inclines her head, and leads them both back to the door leading to the main bar. "You both are welcome. It is my pleasure." She winks to Jen. "That Sam, he is a keeper." Her expression goes all serene and mysterious for Jen's sake, as she tells Kurt, "Certainly. You may leave a message with any of my staff if you don't feel like using … the other method." She taps her own temple with her right forefinger.

"Oh, I will try the other method, it intrigues me," responds Kurt, having been on pyshic wavelenghts before, just not so long term a one it would seem. "I'll have to watch myself though, no telling what you might get out of me." A laugh, mischevious, no telling indeed, no telling how she might even take it and it is something in that unknown that has him amused as the leave to return to the school. Kurt will call Dajan to notify her that they're done and en route to her location, along with the other information received from Topaz about being out of school until tomorrow - he'll save the voodoo questioning until in person though.

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