Morning Coffee And Sweet Surprises (Closed to Poprockz)

Though she wasn’t sure why she needed to move, Sayori allowed herself to be ushered to the other side of the room. Surely the fight wouldn’t escalate to the point that they needed to get out of the-

“Shit!” Sabastian flinched as Cora pulled what almost seemed like an MMA move out of her ass and got Quint pinned. He hadn’t resisted when his lover had pulled him away from the two warring siblings, and now he was thankful for the man’s quick thinking. That being said, he wondered if he should break up the fight now that it had turned physical. He could feel some of the punches she was landing through their link, but it was nothing compared to the slices he had endured on his back, resilient as he was.

He gave Vin a concerned look and twitched his head toward them mouthing, “should I separate them?” While he didn’t want them to fight, he also didn’t want to stick his nose where it didn’t belong.
 
Vin shook his head vigorously for a brief moment before answering out loud.

"No, let them finish it themselves."

Cora was breathing hard, shouting profanities and throwing punches and jabs wherever she could land them. Meanwhile, Quint didn't seem to remember that he had extra arms. Or, perhaps because this was simply an old fight for them, felt as if they needed to go through the motions before ending it.

His arms were useless at the moment, so he started trying to pull his knees up under him. Cora, seeing it coming, reached down and physically shoved them back. This left her in a vulnerable position though, as she had to basically lay her cheek sideways on his ass in order to reach far enough to do it. She started to try to sit up again, but just as she began to lift up, Quint threw his ass up and slammed it into her face. It didn't really hurt, per-say, but it definitely knocked her a bit off balance and severely pissed her off even more.

She growled, trying to shove herself up, and once more was met with the ass crack of death.

"You fucking! Asshole!"

Pulling her arm back, trying desperately to regain her advantage, she didn't notice her ankles unlocking. And then, swiftly, Quint managed to yank his left arm down and get enough leverage to shove and roll them both over. Now he was laying on top of her with his butt sitting squarely on her chest, and her knees dangerously close to her face. He didn't have much time, as already she was fighting like a trapped cat, clawing, scratching, and trying to smack him with her knees. He wove his hands under, and then over, locking her legs down with an iron grip, and then scooted himself down enough to simply be sitting on her stomach. Then before she could squirm out from underneath him, he pinned shoulders down with his legs. Now that he was on top, he took his time, huffing and catching his own breath as he let her wear herself out, expending all her energy trying to fight him even though they both knew she had lost.

"YOU KNEW!" she yelled, giving one last thrash of violence before stopping and breathing hard, her face a smoldering storm of anger and defiance.

"I did" he huffed, finally feeling her settle down. Then he tensed up once more as he felt her move, but this time she was only lifting herself up enough to glare into his eyes.

"You should have told me, Quinton!"

"I didn't want to lie to you, Cora."

"You didn't need to lie!" she half yelled, half squeaked, as her hand slammed the sheets and she let her head drop down. Then her chest started to heave as she began to cry, and she heard her brother say "shit" just before she felt him let her go and get off of her.

She wanted to curl up in a ball and let it out, but instead she scooted to the edge of the bed and shoved his hands away when he tried to pull her into a hug.

"Get away from me! I'm so...fucking mad at you right now" she sobbed, turning her face away.

Quint couldn't help it. As much as he thought that mutt deserved whatever punishment he was getting, he didn't think his sister deserved this. Was she stupid? Yes. Ignorant? He thought so. But did she deserve to be having her heart torn apart for this? Well, one could make the argument that she did it to herself, but this was still his sister.

"I'm sorry. Cory, I'm sorry."

He tried again, reaching out to attempt to take her hand. And again, he was rebuked. Though this time she at least turned to look at him.

"You need to stop hiding things from me! You need to stop trying to protect my emotions Quinton! You're stronger than me, you could have stopped me from going out the door. You know that! So stop doing this shit to me! I..I shouldn't have had to learn it from a fucking bird of all things, I should have heard it from you!" she sobbed again, the tears coming hard.
 
How many times had they hidden things from each other in order to protect the other person? Would it ever become easier to open up? Sabastian had a somber look on his face, a tinge of sadness and pity in his eyes. He himself had been guilty of this several times: hiding his zombie status, distancing himself from Vin, running away... It was hard to know whether one was truly doing what was best for someone else, or whether one was just taking the choice away from the other person. It was a mistake born of love that ended in heartache more often than not.

The man leaned against Vin and put his arm around the back of his waist, his hand resting on the opposite hip as he sought the comfort of the other man's warmth. His head rested on the top of Vin's tattooed arm and he simply remained silent as he watched the two siblings. The universe had conspired for him to reunite with Vin despite all the dumbass shit he had pulled to try to protect him, so he was one of the lucky ones. Still... he was still hiding a very big secret from the big man, and this troubled his heart.

It wasn't his secret to tell, he supposed, the information about Francisco being the inside man for the resistance. The knowledge he had wasn't being kept from him to protect him, it was being kept from him to protect the countless people who depended on Francisco's years and years of well-laid plans. It was for that reason that he would take that secret to his grave, regardless of how close he got to Vin. The less Vin knew about that, the better.

Sayori held her tongue, but she couldn't help but think to herself that the information that Damien was being sodomized behind closed doors was useless to them. Regardless of what was happening to Damien, it didn't alter their plans, nor did it change anything. The only thing to be gained by telling Cora would have been possibly putting her off her game. There was no way Quint would have had any foresight regarding the bird, not unless he was some sort of mystic. There was something to be said for trust, but she could sense that Quint really didn't want to see her sister hurt by this knowledge. Cora, for all her talents, could be brash and head-strong, just like Quint. She was smart too. Who was to say that after Quint restrained her that she wouldn't just bide her time until she was able to get away from them and try getting him out her own way?

She took a step forward though and said in a soft voice, “we’ll get him back one way or another- we can’t let her win the bet. Maybe if we can’t find Damien, we can take Angelique’s fiancé as a hostage.”

“She has a fiancé?” Sabastian questioned, wondering how exactly that worked when Angelique herself humped anything she could get her tentacles on.

“Yes,” Sayori nodded, “her name is Sophia. When we were with the egg-mothers, they told us that she keeps the lady away from everyone else on the highest floor because she’s too weak to be around people - she has a frail immune system and her mental health is fragile. I feel bad about involving someone like that in all this, but as long as we're careful with her, I think it would be okay..."
 
Last edited:
Delvin placed a comforting hand on Sabastians newly dyed hair, leaning back against him as well. While he wondered if his lover was perhaps feeling a tad guilty over the exchange of the two, he didn't hold any harsh feelings towards the way their relationship had progressed. At least, he thought he didn't. After all, he understood why Sabastian had done what he had done, even if Vin didn't agree.

As far as Cora and Quint went though, he simply felt bad for them both. None of this was easy, but they all needed to work together in order to leave with the same amount of people they had come in with.

Deeper, though, in the back of his heart, he felt a shiver of something worse than simple cold. Cora might have been crying for Damien on the outside but underneath his tattooed ego, Delvin was truly concerned for Damien.

He remained quiet, simply waiting for when his part in whatever plan they came up with would need to be played.

"we’ll get him back one way or another- we can’t let her win the bet. Maybe if we can’t find Damien, we can take Angelique’s fiancé as a hostage."

Quint hadn't said anything after the Las outburst, but there was a kind of look on his face that was difficult to read. Was it guilt? Sadness? A hint of anger behind those stormy eyes? It was really anyone's guess, but he was grateful when Sayori stepped in with her soft voice. It gave him something else to focus on.

Closing his eyes for a moment, he seemed to regain his composure and stood up to walk around Cora, leaving her to get herself under control. He came and stood with the group, placing his hands in his pockets as he gave a small shake of his head.

"No, she's not fragile. While you two were out, I fell asleep and got launched into a dream with her. She's been changed in the same way as me and Sabastian, and Angelique is keeping her here against her will..."

He proceeded to tell them every detail of the dream that he could clearly remember, leaving out only the most intimate details of Sophia's lost love. He didn't feel it necessary for them to know something that was as private as that, but they needed the description of the room that was provided, and how she was being given drugs.

When he was done, he took his hat off for a moment to give his head a good scratch before putting it back on.

"I believe we could get away with a partial kidnapping. I think she would be more than willing to cooperate with us, but jail breaking her is going to be difficult while she is in the state that she is. I would say that we could try to figure out how she is being drugged, to stop it from getting into her system, but the problem with that is that Angelique would likely be able to smell the lack of it on her..."

He looked around the group, curious what ideas they might have for proceeding.

From the bed, Cora stood up and went to the sink to wash her face. She had been listening intently, and while she was slightly embarrassed about breaking down and crying like she had, she was feeling a bit more hopeful with what Sayori had proposed. She didn't like the idea of holding someone hostage...but at this point she was willing to do whatever it took.

...

Bowie, having gone largely ignored by the group, looked up into Cora's eyes, and for once, the snake didn't seek out to be with her.
 
Last edited:
"Why go through the trouble of stopping her drugs?" Sebastian responded with a shrug. "I mean, if she's weak and mentally out of it, that would actually work better for us, wouldn't it? I know you said she's willing and all, but the weaker she is, the more scared Angelique might be that she'd get hurt."

Sayori scrunched up her eyebrows in thought. "She said she wasn't drugged today, but why? I'm sure Angelique still gave her the drugs to keep her body weak, but she wanted her to be fully aware. Earlier, when Cora and I were outside, Bowie suddenly acted very agitated and I saw something being hurled out of the window at the top of the resort, probably the floor she's being kept on. I couldn't make it out, but it looked like a small ball or a box or something... Why did she do that?" It was a mystery, and try as she might, she couldn't make sense of it. It was as though she was missing a piece of the puzzle.

At that Sebastian's eyes widened. "I felt that too! I was watching a movie and I was just dozing off when I woke up pissed." He looked to Quint to see if the other man had felt the surge as well. It had been quite odd, waking up and instantly feeling like he wanted to kick the shit out of someone. Thankfully he hadn't been holding Vin's hand or anything, or he might have squeezed it too hard or something. As it was, the pillow he had been spooning had been scrunched rather roughly by his impromptu rage before it passed and left him feeling groggy and confused. He had chalked it up to a nightmare or something, but he honestly couldn't remember having a dream that would've caused that sort of reaction.
 
"Yea, I felt it" he confirmed the unspoken question.

"It felt almost similar to what happened at the mall, but the loss of control wasn't quite as bad...I did still react though."

Cora came to stand with them, her eyes now dry if a bit puffy and red.

"It affected Bowie too. He squeezed my shoulders pretty hard and hissed before he was able to stop."

Quint looked down at her, only just now noticing the new bruises forming on her upper arms. With a little sigh, he turned back.

"Well whatever it was, I'm not sure there's much we can do about it right now. But Sayori, you said you saw something being thrown out the window-do you think if we build a rough blueprint of the place you could show me which window? Or better yet, do you think you could point it out from outside?"
 
She nodded, "yes, I remember which window it was. When we search for Damien tomorrow, I could point it out to you." Sayori had a pretty decent memory, and it was enough of an odd occurrence that she had taken note of the whole thing.

"Oh, also. Before I forget, Cora and I did get some information from the egg-mothers. It was mostly gossip, but they mentioned that they're not allowed to go to the club due to party drugs, and that Angelique has two other zombie assistants that we haven't all seen: Frederick and Artemis. I don't really know anything about Frederick, but we saw Artemis in the gym and he looks to be a strong zombie like Sebastian. They said that he knew Angelique from the same school. He seems like he doesn't like taking orders as much, he's over-protective with his phone, and that he's possibly gay." Sayori counted the last facts on her fingers as she recounted them.

"Pft." Sebastian made a noise of disbelief and waived his hand dismissively. "No, he's definitely straight. I knew him in school too back in the day, and he had a girlfriend he liked making out with in the hallway. He was also raised in a really religious family." Anticipating further questions, Sabastian added, "I didn't go to the same school as the rest of them. I went to a regular public school with Artemis and at one point..." he shuffled uncomfortably, scrunching his eyebrows and crossing his arms. "Well, he got promoted to a private school by a sponsor."

"Angelique?" Sayori asked?

"No, Margaret," he answered quickly. "He used to bully me, and when she heard about it she took an interest in his education." More like forced him to switch schools under the guise of helping him out. He was sure that Margaret had probably made some pretty horrible threats against him and his family, as even though the guy had switched schools he had never called or texted him, and had deleted and blocked him on all social media platforms. Contact had been completely and utterly cut off. It was scary how effective Damien's mom could be sometimes.
 
Quint remembered the dream in which Damien's mother had taken Sabastians phone, and the wild eyed look of madness that had come over her. In a lot of ways, it was seared into his mind. It wasn't quite the same of Kuznet's personal burning gaze, but the two twisted minds were not far off from each other. He decided not to pursue that particular topic any further at the moment, as it seemed like it made Sabastian too uncomfortable to talk about, and he was sure if there was some information of use there he would inform them all. Instead he turned his gaze to Cora, letting her take a turn on what she had learned.

"Frederick seems like a very kind man..." She started, before getting a bit of an odd pinch to her brows.

"But I'm pretty sure he has a true split personality. I witnessed it while we were in his office. I was trying to...get info from him, and at one point he just slumped over passed out, bu5 then quickly came too and literally acted like a whole different person."

She looked around at the group before her eyes wandered to the wall and she very discreetly swallowed before continuing.

"He introduced himself as Rick, and made it pretty clear he knew what I was trying to do. We had a bit of back and forth, and he basically threatened me into not causing trouble for Frederick, but he also didn't let Nathaniel know what we had been up to in there. He um...made a cover story, and I'm pretty sure Nathaniel bought it. But anyway," she said, trying to clear her throat.

"It sounds as if he is one of the people that was allowed to carry Damien about, and was part of his one on one care...whatever that means...so he might be someone to keep an eye on. All I know is that he is very smart, and seems much more ruthless than the others. Out of all of them, besides Angelique, he's honestly one of the one's that I would rather not have to try and outsmart..."

Delvin listened to all of them, not offering much but a soft hand on Sabastians back when he felt like he was getting uncomfortable. It was something that he would like to try to talk with his partner about at a later time, but that for now needed to be sat aside. He did decide to speak up though, once he felt like everyone was done talking.

"So we know a bit about them now. How can we use that? It seems like we will have to split up to cover more ground at one point, but depending on who we come across, what groups should we be in if that happens? And Cora, what about that other bird-do you think it's going to be a problem?"

She thought about that for a few seconds before responding.

"It could...I definitely want to get some treats for it, to shut it up, but I feel like maybe if we are smart about it, we might also be able to bribe the animal. She seems very prideful and spoiled, like a child. I'm sure we could use that to our advantage somehow if we had to."
 
The bit about Frederick/Rick was interesting but concerning at the same time. Both Sayori and Sabastian couldn't recant a time where they had met someone like that, so they weren't sure how to use that info.

Sayori shuddered, "it was really creepy, honestly. When Truffle talks, she uses her own voice, but the other one seems to know how to replicate voices almost perfectly. She said something to each of us to make us uncomfortable as a "punishment" for not having treats for her. Cora ended up promising her double the treats if we come across her again, and apparently she really likes dates."

Her eyebrows scrunched into a look of slight concern. "Maybe we should split into groups we're not normally in? Just to make us more unrecognizable if someone describes us?"

Sabastian shrugged and glanced at Cora before asking, "so wait, why did you and the zombie guy need a cover story? Wouldn't it just be easier to report you to the others? What was the cover story?"
 
It suddenly clicked for Quint just why the bird had upset his sister so much. If the raven was able to perfectly imitate Damien's voice...no wonder she had started beating him.

He wasn't able to look into her eyes for a moment, until Sabastian asked more about what happened between her and Rick.

Coras cheeks started to grow red, but not from embarrassment alone. She knew that she was going to have to explain herself to give them all the best shot at this, even if it was painful to admit what she had done.

"I...t-tried to seduce Frederick, originally" She started, the stammer in her tone a bit heavy though it quickly calmed down.

"It seemed to be w-working, and I thought, if I could find his office, I might be able to find some hidden files that could help us. Well when he passed out, and Rick came up, I had to start over. I didn't start with trying to seduce him, I actually told him a small mix of the truth-that I didn't believe that we were safe from Kuznet here.

"I'll be honest, I can't remember exactly every word of the conversation that was said, but I know that at one point he suggested that Angelique might be willing to hide all of us here-even Damien, from Kuznet. I...got hopeful, you know. If we really can't find him, and she really can hide us, it might give us enough time to recover and throw Kuznet off our trail. And then I thought we might be able to all sneak out later, when it was safer, and after Damien wasn't being held prisoner. But I also wanted to know that these people following Angelique weren't just going to give up information, because I know Kuznet would likely send in a spy instead of an outright attack which he possibly might not win."

She took a moment to rub her face, and then quickly finished with what she had to say.

"So I tried to test Rick, to see if he would give in. I tried to seduce him, and that's when he made it very clear that if I fuck anything up for Frederick, he'll make sure I pay for that. Either by slipping something to Damien, or outright just...using me... Um, but anyway, he was still talking to me when Nathaniel came in without knocking, and I wasn't supposed to be in there. And instead of getting in trouble for breaking the rules, Rick said that he had brought me back there to have sex, because it was a private area. So he convinced Nathaniel to step out for a minute, and then we had to, uh...put our smell on each other so that Nathaniel didn't suspect him of bullshitting."

While Quint was looking at her with a bit of disappointment, there was also a huge dose of relief that took over his posture. So nothing too physical had happened, even if it was obviously very stressful on her.

"I'm sorry Cora" Delvin said, giving her a sympathetic look. He knew she was embarrassed, but more than that, likely ashamed. After all, she had been willing to cheat on Damien over a simple chance to gather a bit more information.

She looked up at him before shrugging and glancing away.

"It's fine. I learned a bit at least. Rick let it slip that they already moved him for the game, and they put a scented bag on his head so that you two", she said, looking at the two half zombies of the group.

"Would be thrown off. You might be able to find him by that smell...unless they went back and scrubbed everything down."
 
For his part, Sabastian felt a bit silly for having forgotten the scent that had been clinging to Cora when she first came it. It made him feel a bit guilty that he had made her have to recount an uncomfortable situation because of something that had slipped his mind. He cringed slightly at his own carelessness and thought about the prospect of staying at the hotel. Honestly, it sounded like a shit option. Now that they all knew what had happened to Damien, it wasn't as though they could stay among such people.

There was silence as Cora spoke, and Sayori now realized why Cora had come down in the elevator with Nathaniel. It seemed very odd to her that Rick didn't just fuck Cora outright. He could have taken her, especially since he would need to do so to fool the butler. The guy had no obligation to treat Cora nicely, and yet he hadn't seemed to have taken advantage of the situation. It made her wonder whether the guy was as ruthless as Cora thought he was.

"So that's why Nathaniel escorted you down..." she murmured toward the floor before looking up. "Hopefully he is none-the-wiser to what truly happened as well. Perhaps we can use this information to blackmail Rick later. While it may slightly reflect poorly on you, it's much more important to him to keep it hush-hush if he doesn't want the others to make life difficult for him."
 
Cora felt an immense sense of comrade and affection for Sayori in that moment. Not only did not she push for more details, but she also offered a valuable insight.

"Yea, that's a really good point. I definitely think if push came to shove, I can definitely pull that card. Especially if I had the right timing."
 
Sabastian nodded in agreement and sighed, "okay, we'll put that in our back-pocket. How about we split up tomorrow so that Sayori comes with me, and the three of you go together." He gestured at Vin, Cora, and Quint. In the meantime, Bowie can go searching himself."

This caused Sayori to shuffle nervously on her feet, "but what if the birds pick on him? The bird we saw outside didn't like him, and I'm not sure if Truffle likes him that much either... If they really go at him, the two of them might actually kill him."

"Nah, Bowie can take care of himself," Sabastian responded confidently. Snakes are still a natural predator for birds, so it's not like he's going to let them push him around..." his eyes looked around for Bowie but instead caught on the bulge in Cora's pocket. "What's in your pocket, by the way, Cora?"
 
Cora had started looking around for Bowie as well, the last time she had seen him having been when he was near the kitchen. She thought she had saw him go towards the bathroom, and had started to make her way over when Sabastian asked his question. She stopped, looked down a bit confused, having forgotten about it, and then seemed to get a bit sheepish.

"Oh, it was a present from the other bird, Truffle. She uh...got me a 'shiny'. Ahem, you know I think you're right about Bowie holding his own, I caught Bowie and Truffle in the hallway before I came back and they seemed to have been communicating with each other. I think they like each other, but even if not, I'm sure we'll know if he's about to be in trouble. Right?"

Quint nodded and seemed like he was about to tr and say something, when Cora very quickly cut him off.

"Well, that settles it I think. Why don't we all try to get some rest so we're ready tomorrow?"
 
Sabastian gave her a somewhat confused look before deciding that he probably didn't want to know what sort of "shiny" she was given. He shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets before glancing at Vin and shrugging. He then left the room with his lover in-tow.

When they got back to their own room, there was a brief period of snuggling and low-murmurs of affection and reassurance before they went to sleep. Again, it was a sexless night, but Sabastian didn't mind if it meant Vin would eventually forgive him. He had to admit that he was starting to get really pent-up though. One of these days he was going to have to have a talk with the big man about how sorry he was and about how the horny zombie needed him to "lick every inch of him" like he had promised to do when they first confessed to each other in the rebels' storage building.

....

The next day, an alarm clock went off as soon as the first rays of dawn came over the landscape. It was Sayori’s doing of course, the woman having meticulously planned to be up at the very earliest. Normally she wouldn’t have wasted a wink of sleep on Damien, but this concerned Quint as well, not to mention the rest of the group. She had slept pretty well, considering the circumstances. Before lights-out, she had requested some melatonin supplements when Prochette when she had come to deliver their dinner.

She practically jumped out of bed and started the coffee pot in their room, the aromatic beverage filling the room with promises of caffeine. Warm clothes were put on in the bathroom before she brushed her hair and teeth. It was going to be cold out there until later in the morning, and she didn't want to have to come back for a coat. Today was serious business, and she was prepared to search every inch of this resort until that rich playboy was retrieved.
 
Delvin lie awake for a brief period after he had felt Sabastians breathing lull into the familiar rhythm. There was a strange feeling on his heart that he wasn’t quite sure how to put into words, but everytime that he reached out and moved Sabastians now brown hair back away from his face, so that it stopped itching his nose, it would quiet into a low murmur. He was not sure when exactly he fell asleep, but sleep did finally come. And when it came, it was peaceful and blessedly lacking in memories.
__________

Neither Cora nor Quint thought that they would simply be able to fall asleep, but to both of their surprises, they were out hard almost as soon as they curled up against their pillows.

For once, Quint wasn’t a tornado throughout the night, and it was actually Cora who first got up. The simple sound of the alarm was enough to rise her, and while Sayori was in the bathroom, she used a toothbrush in the kitchen sink. Coffee was had, and then she went to gently wake her brother, only giving him the most soft touch on his leg and waiting until his jeweled blue eyes found hers. They shared a soft, fond, smile before reality settled in.

It was time for business.
 
It wasn’t long before there was a polite knock at the door. Sayori went to answer it, seeing as the knock had sounded similar to Prochette’s knock. However, upon opening the door, she would find a slightly disheveled looking man in glasses. She almost did a double-take when she realized that he was a zombie from his eyes.

He gave her a very tired smile and said, “sorry to bother you, but I’m here to supervise your group as you look around. My name is Frederick.” The man glanced past Sayori and saw Cora, his eyes widening and his cheeks immediately going a soft pink before he looked away as though trying to make sure that he didn’t stare at her. It was obvious to Sayori (and likely anyone else in the near vicinity) that the man fancied this new woman named “Crystal.”

"Anyway," he continued, clearing his throat and glancing down at his watch. "Artemis is also supposed to be here in case your group decides to split, but I'm not sure where he is. He should be here... soon." He didn't sound entirely sure of that statement, the man casting another glance down the hallway expectantly.

So this was the man Cora had tried to seduce... Sayori thought to herself that she had seen men like him before in her bar. They were always drinking themselves into a stupor, moaning about how they never seemed to reach the end of their workload.
 
Vin came out into he hall, dressed and ready, and saw the man across the way. He didn't know what to make of him until he turned around and they made eye contact, only then realizing that he was another half zombie.

Delvin didn't say anything, having caught part of the conversation and deciding to step to the side and wait for Sabastian, as it had been his lovers idea of how they would split the group. He thought it was smart-having a half zombie on each team, and unlike when they had been outside the resort he was not too concerned for Bastian's safety. No one's life was being threatened at the moment. They were simply playing a bet in the hopes of winning, and he was sure that Quinton would alert them if there was any danger to their partner.
_________

Quint had been leaning down near the side of the bed, having found Bowie curled beneath. They had been having a conversation which seemed mostly one sided, with Quint doing the talking about what the plan would be for the day, and to obviously alert them if there was any danger. But the moment he felt the other Zombie near, he scooped Bowie up and then stood, glancing between both Frederick and Cora before coming over towards the door and letting Bowie climb down his leg to the floor.

"That is the plan I believe. Although if This Artemis person is going to be late, do we get to take that extra few moments to search?"

Cora glanced at Frederick when he looked in, but knowing full well that Rick was likely keeping tabs, did little more then give a polite nod. There was no need to manipulate the man any further, and she felt it cruel to continue to try anyway. If given the chance, really, she would back off and give him more clear, but gentle, signs that she was not interested.
 
Frederick seemed taken off-guard by that question, the man blinking and trying to respond as best as he could. "Oh, um. I'm not sure I have the authority to grant that to you, but I'll certainly inquire on your behalf. It seems only fair that you receive extra time if time is wasted." It gave almost customer service vibes, though it was clear that Frederick was trying to be helpful and meant what he said. Sayori thought to herself that he had a somewhat earnest naivety about him, though she wasn't sure if she was reading him right. He did work for Angelique, after all.

Meanwhile, a very grumpy zombie shuffled out of the room Vin had just exited. He too had gotten a chance to have a cup of coffee, but it wasn't enough. He was fucking tired and it was fucking stupid that Angelique had specified that they could search "from dawn until dusk." Didn't she know that dawn was at like 6 in the morning? They could use all the time they could get, and he understood the rationality of it all, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Frankly, he just wanted to go back to bed so he could sleep until ten with his human-sized furnace. Was that too much to ask?

He wore a dark-grey hoodie with the hood pulled up, and he yawned widely as he glared at Frederick. The other zombie looked at him nervously, seemingly feeling the animosity and general fuck-all attitude emanating from the shorter guy. His eyes then flicked away from Sabastian and back to the end of the hallway where the sound of footsteps could be heard.

Artemis emerged, stalking forward with an annoyed look on his face.

From the moment Sabastian laid eyes on him, he felt his heart quicken. He really didn't want to see him again, but there they were, and he wasn't going to have Vin by his side soon. It was going to be okay though. In all likelihood, the dude wouldn't recognize him after all this time and with his cosmetic changes. Regardless, he pulled down his hood a bit to hide his face more. The side of his body pressed against Vin's as he sought the comfort of knowing that he was right there.

"One group or two?" He asked Frederick without even greeting him.

"Uh, two."

"Huh." This didn't seem to be the answer Artemis was hoping for, as he crossed his arms and leaned against the hallway wall with his shoulder. "Pity."
 
Delvin wrapped his arm around Sabastian's waist and pulled him in while he gave Artemis a once over look. So this was the fuckface who had hurt his man? Well, it had been a long time ago that it happened but it was obvious that it was still affecting Sabastian. If anything happened to his lover while they were separated Vin made a silent vow to get back at this over compensating, dickwad, lazy sounding fuck.

"I'll make sure to hold you close to me all night, tonight" he whispered, having leaned down where only Bastion could hear him. He then looked into his eyes and gave him a little smile, trying to assure him it would all be alright.

"Well, were on the clock and I'm sure you got better things you want to be doing" Quint said as he stepped out into the hall, followed by Cora and Bowie close behind.
 
Vin got an appreciate, albeit nervous smile in response to his reassurance. Though he wasn’t sure if Vin would be able to make good on that promise. The unfortunate thing was that if they were successful (and he hoped to god they were), they would be grabbing Damien and jetting out of here as fast as possible, leaving little time for private cuddles. If they failed… well, he supposed he would really need those cuddles in that case.

“Perhaps I have things I ought to be doing, but I’m grateful for a break from the monotony.” Frederick replied with a grateful look on his face. “The paperwork is… neverending.” He grimaced as though the very mention of such things was an unwelcome topic of conversation.

He began to walk with them, the man standing near the middle of the group while Artemis stalked behind them.

“Speak for yourself,” Artemis replied with a frown. “I’d rather be sleeping right now.”

They continued on until they reached the entrance doors of the place, each of their zombie chaperones looking at them expectantly. “So? Who’s going where?” Artemis asked impatiently.”
 
As hey walked, they split up into the two search parties. Vin went to stand next to Cora, not quite feeling comfortable with Quint yet, and Sayori went to stand with Sabastian. At some point during their walk, Bowie had slipped away from the group and into the shadows, going ahead of the team and making it to the exit outside before they reached it. While the mental connection wasn't as strong between the animal and the humans, he was giving off a distinct feeling of hunger, so it could be presumed that he had merely slipped off to go hunt down a large rat.

Once at the entrance, Quint looked down at Sabastian.

"We go low, you go high?" he asked, checking to see if this was something Sabastian would be okay with. Quinton had the feeling that their trump card might be in the upper rooms, but was concerned that Angelique would take notice if he was the one searching for her while also searching for Damien. Which, of course, was their main goal. Angelique's lover was just going to have to be insurance...
 
Sabastian gave him a thumbs-up and nodded silently. He wasn't going to speak out loud if he could help it, not wanting to risk it on the off-chance that Artemis would recognize his voice. His hood was pulled down a bit to obscure his face while he took more of a slouched stance. This was going to be a fucking hassle, but hopefully he would only have to keep this up until they found Damien.

"Alright, I'll go with-"

"I'll go outside!" Frederick piped up quickly, cutting off Artemis and giving the man a look that was part apologetic, part hopeful.

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "You sure you can handle three people all by yourself? I think the shorter two are more your speed."

The mind-zombie's eyes darted to the Sabastian and Sayori and then back to Artemis. "I uh, well. I can handle myself just fine!" He replied, trying to sound confident while fooling no one. He pushed his glasses up his nose and crossed his arms. "Besides!" He added, as if the thought had just occurred to him. "It's not a matter of quantity, but quality. The one in the hoodie is much stronger than I am, while you two are equally matched." He gestured at Sabastian.

Sayori had to admit that it was a decent argument. If Frederick went with the two of them, he risked Sabastian folding him up like a pretzel and keeping him in a sack until this was all over. Though she had to wonder if that was why he was vying to go with the other three. Cora had mentioned trying to seduce him, so perhaps he felt jilted and wanted to get back at her.

Meanwhile, while seeing the logic in it all, Sabastian knew first-hand that the mind-zombies were not to be taken lightly. He still shuddered when he thought about the time that Robert had knocked him out with some kind of psychic bullshit. He wasn't about to say that though. As much as he didn't want Artemis coming with his party, he didn't want to give them any ideas either.

There was a moment of contemplation as Artemis looked over at Sabastian before he shrugged. "Sure. Makes no difference to me. I'll be closer to the coffee, anyway. Just be sure not to let anybody into any off-limits areas again." Artemis said with a smirk."

Frederick cringed for a moment before nodding and shuffling toward the door.
 
Delvin cracked his knuckles in an impatient manner as the two zombies chatted, simply wanting to get the search started already. He didn't really care himself who went with who, so long as they had adequate time to move. As if his thoughts couldn't quite contain themselves, he stepped into the cold morning air and simply looked past Frederick and around, wondering which way they would be searching first. Would they be starting out in the open? Or was Quint going to want to search the hotel first?

Cora looked between Artemis and Frederick, and then followed Vin out. She also gave a slight cringe at the mention of unauthorized areas, and she couldn't stop herself from looking over to the mind zombie, her face betraying her guilt and shame. Quickly looking away to hide it, she looked up at Delvin.

"I think it's going to get pretty warm today; probably be best if we search outside first before the sun is high."

"Yea, you're right" he said, his brown eyes scanning the horizon. They then both looked back at Quint, who was doing some arm stretches as he came out the door.

"Sounds like a plan, let's go. Hey," he said, looking back over his shoulder at Sayori.

"Let's plan to meet back here in two hours and update each other. And we'll go from there."
 
"Okay, sounds good." she answered, pausing before cupping her hands near her mouth and calling out to them, "good luck!" Sayori hoped that everything would be fine. Even if they didn't find Damien and they had to resort to plan B, she didn't want any harm to come to Quint. Well, to any of them, for that matter. She and Sabastian turned away with Artemis in tow, the resort door closing behind them.

Frederick cleared his thought and clasped his hands together, clearly trying to shake off that previous conversation. "So! Where would you like to go first? I can take you to the orchard, the garden, the hot springs area, the well, the cemetery, the rock slides, the vineyard... the list goes on. It's quite an expansive place, so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me." He addressed them in a helpful manner, though he didn't meet Cora's eyes.
 
Back
Top