Hel and Hyde arrive at the Rape street park, strolling easily.  Hel will be nothing less than completely attentive as Hyde explains the hierarchy of a system she's just beginning to comprehend.

Continued from: To Gather the Legions


[[Reina: Feel free to have this scene occur whenever is convenient for your purposes, it is the continuation of a scene that stagnated for far too long.]]

2008-11-29 10:42:58 Mister Hyde rolls 8 dice to Mask (Diff 7) 7,10,2,9,9, 9,8,4,5 (6 successes)

As the two left the Rock-Crusher behind, Hyde will have slipped into something which would both disguise his grotesque form and still be recognizable to Reina, adopting the appearance of the large, bald blind man he wore when first they met.

As the two enter the Park, Hyde will seek out the same bench where he sat before and wait, gesturing for Hel to do likewise and keep his eyes out for the energetic boy which spotted him last time.

In the interim, he will continue to dole out useful information.

"You see, while it is ordinarily bad form to show up at somebody's place unannounced like this, your ilk are not well known for carrying cellphones. So in a situation such as this, it is best to put yourself out in the open and make sure the party you are visiting does not get the impression that you are sneaking about. It's just good manners."

((Oh, I suppose it might be somewhere in the time between Elysium and the lovely little scene with Lenor?))

After a few moments, enough to assure herself that that is, in fact, Hyde, Reina will leave the spot where she was sitting in the shade of a tree and walk towards the bench.

"Mister Hyde, my favorite hulking Brit, what can I do for you?" she asks, smiling as she sits down next to him, on the opposite side of where Hel is sitting.

She is not, for once, wearing the mask that obscures the lower half of her face; she wasn't expecting company. Hyde can now note why it is she has been wearing it, as she seems unable to retract her fangs.

"And who's your guest?

[[That'll do nicely.]]

Eyebrows raise well above the illusion of his ridiculously large blind-man shades as he takes note of Reina's protruding fangs. For a moment, he wonders if he hasn't interrupted a meal, but her body language seems amicable enough.

"Beggin' yer pardon luv, I 'ate ta jus' pop in unannounced an' all, but well, this here is Hel." He says, jabbing a thumb toward the Slavic-looking woman to his left. "Despite appearances, it would seem that you two 'ave a common ancestor, if ya follow my meanin'."

"I tried ta get th' ever-gracious Zaine on th' blower, but 'e mus' be out charming th' pants off'a someone else tonight. Any'ow, iss prolly better I bring 'er ta you first, seein' as 'ow you got more of a vested interest in 'er. More'n the Sherrif that is. I mean, if one'a my kin were to stumble inna town, I'd rather they run inna me a'fore they run inna 'im."

Hel's body language is somewhat relaxed, but she is very obviously not comfortable in the city.

An amicable "Hello," followed by an awkward "pleased to make your acquaintance" is followed by the characteristic tug on a couple of her dreadlocks.

"Thanks for the introduction, Hyde."

She'll smile at fanged woman next to her, "Like he said, I'm Hel. What's your name?"

Reina notes Hyde's raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, this would be why I wear that mask nowadays, you took me by surprise. Clan's curse, don't you know. Let myself get just a little too hungry and lost my cool. Whoops. I'm wondering what comes the next time...at least I'll probably have figured out how to disguise myself like you by the time I get a tail." She smiles a toothy grin at Hyde.

She looks Hel up and down, noting that she still has dirt under her nails and a bit scattered about her person.

"You're probably right, she's probably of the same family. Hi, Hel, I'm Reina. Pleasure to meet you. I'm much more pleasant than Zaine, though I don't have a direct line to the Prince."

She ponders the conversation Hel and Hyde were having as she walked up...seems like this one is pretty new.

"So, I take it you haven't been one of us too long. Did you just wake up? Buried somewhere perhaps?"

Reina's thoughts naturally turn to her own embrace, and the horror of digging herself out of her own grave. If this one's sire moved on, it could just be natural Gangrel wanderlust, or it could be something more. Whatever it is, Reina's glad Hyde found her first.

"Well, I've been sleeping for quite some time.  Honestly I'm not sure how long I would have stayed down there if I hadn't been woken up by some explosion."

Hel's reluctant to share much more, she always seems to be getting chased out of places, and usually the less people know about her the better.  

"I think I was down for about 20 years, but I hadn't been a vampire for very long before that.  Do you have a place outside of the city too?"  

Hyde takes note of the awkwardness of the situation and decides this would be as good a time as any to make his departure. Family business is family business.

"I only wish that th' prospect of a tail were the worst of me countenance..."

He says at last, standing.

"You'll do fine luv. The gifts'll come as ya need 'em. You need any pointers on makin' yerself look pretty, ya jus' come and see Ol' Mister 'Ide."

He looks out over the park, getting back into character by waving the white stick he holds around, tapping it on the foot of the bench. When he speaks again his voice is no longer his own, deep grumble.

"Just remember, no matter what the curse does to you over the years, 'pretty' is just a social construct. Today's definition of beauty is tomorrow's descrïption of a social pariah."

With that, he will leave the two strangers to sort things however it is that their kind sort things, wandering off awkwardly as he waves and taps his cane on things as he passes them. When he is some twenty or thirty feet away, he will shout back towards the two.

"And stay the hell out of my trash!"

In case his earlier non-verbal reprimand had not driven the point home.

"See you soon, Hyde!" Reina waves as the hulking Nos leaves, under the same disguise as usual. "If I got any problems hiding, I'll be sure to come find ya. Sewers, right?"

She then turns to Hel. "Stay out of his trash? Is that how he found you?"
Reina barks a short laugh.
"He's something else, that one...So. Been asleep for twenty years, then? Remember how you got this way? And what exactly do you know how to do? I can teach you some things, but if I'm right, you and I are a little more distantly related than normal. Let's just say some of us have adapted to city life, while some of us stayed the country way. I'm an urban Gangrel, as it were, and depending on what you can do, I can probably tell you if you're rural or urban. Now, I'm pretty new in this whole being a nice person who obeys the rules kind of thing, as I lived in lawless Mexico for the past 60 years, but I can teach you what I know. I know it's rough when you've just woken up or come back to...reality and everything has changed around you, I don't mind the company and I don't mind helping. If you're one who sleeps in the dirt like I do, just avoid that tree over there," she says, pointing out the same large oak she pointed out to Daniel just a few days ago, "or we'll get uncomfortably close. But, if you wanna stick around and pick up a few things about city life, you're welcome to stay here. You might run into Daniel, he's one of us and has a great dog..."

Hel watches Hyde leave with a bemused smile on her face.

"Yeah, it was his trash apparently, I didn't know that at the time, of course, I was just looking for some clue as to where the explosion came from that woke me up, and you know, everytime I find one of those huge companies out in the middle of the forest they're up to no good. Wreaking havoc on the ecosystem with no regard at all to the sleeping habits of the indigenous life.."  

Hel trails off..

"Sorry, I am.. uh.. was an ecologist, and that's how I wound up here.  We released 4 red wolves into the forest here, and I was hanging around trying to help them get acclimated, but it seems like everywhere I go someone eventually finds me.. so I just went to sleep this time.  I hadn't really meant to sleep that long, but once you get down there it's hard to convince yourself to get back up."

"I would assume that I was a rural Gangrel if not just because I spend most of my time by myself, in the middle of nowhere.. I can't really handle all of this noise. Although you've managed to find yourself a bit of a quiet spot here.  I know what you mean about the whole 'rules' thing. Hyde was telling me on the way over here that apparently we have a prince, and I have to go ask him if I can stay here?  It seems a bit silly because I've been here for so long... but, I guess it'd be easier in the long run for me to get equipment that way.  Is there a University around here? "

"Explosion? That must have been either before I arrived or when I wasn't paying attention. Yeesh."

"Now, I don't know too much about ecosystems and all that, but I'm one of the family who's adapted to urban life, you know? Just got some different abilities than you do, though the main ones stay the same, seeing in the dark, growing claws, sleeping in the dirt, then eventually some more weird shit."

Reina thinks for a minute, then figures why the fuck not.
"Now, the only ones who make the distinction between City and Country Gangrel are the Sabbat, who are considered bad guys in these parts, as this city is a Camarilla stronghold. I came here because I was fed up with the idiotic MOOHOOHAHA evil of the Sabbat, and the Prince was nice enough to give me a chance, though I know he's always watching for me to betray him. Most of our clan are independent, not getting involved with anything or anyone, which is what it sounds you've been like. If you want to move freely through the city, though, you've got to meet the Prince and let him know you're here, so he doesn't have you killed on sight."

Reina stops for a moment. "There's a meeting every month or so, where all the Kindred...that's us, by the way, and people like Hyde, and many more different kinds of people, but all of the...not eating food anymore variety. Anyway, there's a meeting about every month where the new arrivals can introduce themselves to the Prince. It's probably easier for you to come meet him then, since I don't exactly have a direct line to the crazy fucker. I can let you know when it is as soon as I find out by leaving a message out here somewhere, if you want."

Hel considers for a moment, and then smiles.  

"You know, I can find him myself, I'm not quite sure what I'd say to him anyway if I had to talk to him at this point.  I think I'll head back out for a few days an familiarize myself with the city a bit more before I ask for leave to stay around."

"I'll let you know if I'm going to be around long enough to have to sleep in your park here.  Thanks for all of your help."

"It was a pleasure. As I said, you're welcome here, just let me know you'll be around."

Reina smiles back at Hel.

"Also, if you need to feed, the area around here's the easiest. You know how it goes, the poor, the downtrodden, the unnoticed."

"Good to know, thanks again."

With that Hel will turn and start off in the direction of the forest, happy to be leaving the din of the city.