Chapter 22: When In Rome

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

Peter turned to accept the snow cone from Bambi, greatful, when she suddenly tripped. He probably should have seen that coming. No problem though, he'd just focused a little to increase his field and melt the cone before it hit him. As the icy cold treat half splashed half crunched against the back of his neck, the syrup running down his pale skin, sticking his black v-neck to him like wallpaper, he recalled, vaguely, that he didn't have his powers at the moment.

So, there he was, hand out to take the cone with the paper holder hanging comicly in the 'v' of his v-neck while ice and cherry flavor ran down the shirt. He felt like he should get mad... but he didn't feel it. Something felt like it was missing. Maybe it was snow cone, he did want to try it.

"You missed," he said with a smirk, "But thanks." He plucked the paper cone from his shirt, lowered it to his waist, and used his freehand to pull his shirt and untuck it, letting the slurry slide back into the cup. That done he grasped the edge of the paper with his teeth and pulled his shirt over his head, leaving him barechested with his shirt over his shoulder.

The coloring of red syrup down his skin was striking. He was pale, though not so much as he was before, and the blood colored cherry flavoring matched the red of his eyes almost perfectly.

He dropped the cone back into his hand, throw his head back, and poured what remained of the snow cone down his throat. It was badly mixed and made his head hurt right away from the cold but he didn't seem to care. He tossed the paper cone away and started using his shirt to wipe at the syrup on his chest.

"Good snow cone."

[Bambi Engel]

Bambi catches her footing before she falls to the ground, snapping her head up to watch the snow cone hit his neck. She's too speechless to really bother answering, even more so at what he proceeds to do. She watches him pull his shirt off, down the cone, and then begin to wipe the syrup with his shirt.

Absentmindedly, she thinks on how he was lucky enough to have a black shirt. A person would have to be blind not to notice the red stains on her own white one. She also noted the matching colors of the syrup and his eyes. Had his skin always been that pale-

Her eyes shoot down and her face turns red, turning away from him as she crosses her arms uneasily. She had been bluntly staring at him. What if he thought she had been ogling him? Had it looked like that? Not to mention the others. "Uh, sorry, you're, welcome?"

Today was not her day.

[Émilie LaFramboise]

Émilie giggles tiredly at his rush, mistaking it as excitement. "Okay." She nibbles a little before thanking him. At his jumping and mention of Manala gun fire, she finally seems to notice how nervous he really was. "Alright, I'll hurry. Sorry I can be slow in the morning." She begins moving quicker for him, wondering what the rush was for if not excitement. Had something spooked him?

[††Venice "Cephrien" Ashgrove††]

Cephrien listened to Horacio and quietly thumbed his chin in thought. He had already thought that he could interfere during the gladiator fights. It would be easy to slip in through the crowd and then jump into the arena when the captured rebels were brought out. But perhaps there could be a way to quietly save them sooner before anyone got hurt..

At that moment, he felt something land on his hair. He reached up to grab it, maybe even crush it.. but there was a voice. A small voice, so he held back his hand. It was that fairy that accompanied one of the rebels at the meeting. When she cartwheeled down his arm, he held out his hand to hold her in his palm.

"Could you take me to the Temple of Terror?" He asked the fairy as she flew over to examine Akira. He wasn't too thrilled on letting Akira come with him. But he was sure that Ophelia would be more than happy to have him leave her flower shop.

"If we could just get inside, I'll find a way to rescue them."

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

"No problem, needed a wash anyway, now I don't have a choice. Plus, I got snow cone. Besides," he reached out and tugged on some of the loose material of her own syrup stained shirt, "Looks like you'll be needing a wash yourself so I'm just par for the course right now."

He chuckled, and looked around, "So when's the dancing? I know some really cool moves I'd love to show off."

[Akira 69]

"Ack! Get it off! Stop wind-ing-ing my ear! It makes my voice go HIGHER!" Akira exclaimed freaking out again as the fairy messed with one of his ears; his voice rising higher in pitch then it already was as he managed to gently pry the little fairy from his ear. "And yes. I can be very- BZZT! Sneaky. I'm a Creditor afterall." Akira added setting her on his shoulder as he turned his ear the other way to get his voice back to it's normal pitch.

[Malak Al-Dabaran]

Malak heads downstairs for the meeting and takes a seat next to Hilja. He is tired. His headaches have been keeping him up late. He knows he should try to go to the doctor, but since they have been outlawed...and the price is too steep, there is little he can do.

"Maybe Hilja can meet with workers from M TV and Intelligent Design and Armin can meet with workers from Allmart. I suppose I could go to Rome and try to find out answers about Kasper and the others." Malak suggests.

He keeps his voice low, since he doesn't want the nihilists to overhear them...for some reason, though, he doubts they would care. Do they care about anything really?

[Charon Dejardins/Asphodel]

"Weeeee....that's fun! You're funny!" Asphodel says to Akira after his voice becomes high pitched. She jumps off his shoulder and flies around merrily. "I want some candy! If you give me some candy, I will show you into the Temple of Terror! I saw...where they load things and take out the garbage. I bet you can get in there..." Asphodel suggests. She does a few flips through the air. "Can I have some candy? I promise...all I need is just one little piece." She flits off around the Flower Shop and lands on a pink lily. She pauses there to catch her breath.

[Heikki Toivonen]

Heikki wakes up the next morning feeling mildly congested, but okay as a whole. He hops into the shower, which helps him feel a little better. Still, his head feels heavy. Maybe volunteering to give himself cat flu was not the good idea he thought it was. After getting ready for the day, he went downstairs to join the socialists. He sat down on the couch, so he could be by Hilja and Malak, even thoug the recliner was free. He figured there was a better chance they would get sick if he was closer to them. So, he sat there quietly, listening to them meet.

"I hope I can sit in. It's just...I wanted to maybe help you out.." Heikki says to the socialists, and, it isn't entirely untrue.

[Hilja Kukkanen/Sasha Pisarev]

"That sounds like a good idea Malak. I will talk to M TV first...I guess..." I say,but notice that Heikki has joined us. I scoot over to make room for him.

"Sure, you can help us. We've just decided that Malak might go to Rome to find out answers about our missing friends. Armin will meet with Allmart workers and I will meet with Intelligent Design and M TV workers to try to stall the process of creating the Eyes of God."

[Tristan Tuzanic]

The fortune telling seems to distract Dinari and the others, so now Tristan feels that he can talk privately to Jester and Pine Eyes. He eyes Calithin and the group with a frown. It makes him feel sick to his stomach to watch them...the Blessed. He crosses his arms and leans over to the Red Jester."It makes me sick. They think they're so great. I wish something bad would happen to them." Tristan whispers, speaking of Dinari and Calithin in particular.

[Kasper Schultz]

Kasper spots his bicycle, not far ahead of them. The trees are thinning. Suddenly, in front of them lands a giant spider...a spider twice the size of both of them. It is gray...and looks hungry. Kasper falls backwards and starts screaming at the top of his lungs. He even cries a little before he gets up and starts running the opposite direction...away from the giant spider...and away from his bicycle.
"Aahhhh, it's just what I feared Em...this forest is owned by Genetech..." Kasper calls out to Em. He runs as fast as he can. Luckily, despite being a nerd, he is in pretty good shape since he likes to keep himself in good health.

[Horacio Hatfield]

Horacio watches the fairy, and at this point, mostly just listens to Akira and Cephrien start to plan things. He stands around...feeling that he wants to help, but feeling unable to do anything. He isn't able to fight..and his appearance makes him stand out.
He sighs as he watches the fairy on the lily.
"If there is anything I can do to help...please let me know, though, I regret I am not a stealthy person." He says, looking down at his feet.

[Dinari Dollar]

"Shheeeyeaaah! I want to see Peter's new dance moves!" Dinari says zealously. He isn't sure why he said Shheyeah, but, it doesn't matter. The carnival is getting old, but Dinari does wish that he would have gone on one of the rides or gotten another corn dog or something. Dinari quickly gets a corn dog and starts nomming on it as he tries to cow the others into leaving for the concert and street dance.

Dinari leads the way, figuring others will follow him to the concert. When he gets there, he is mildly annoyed to see that it is a Finnish hybrid classical music/metal band.....he groans. The band is called Manala Katu.

"Well...this sucks."

[Bambi Engel]

Bambi wasn't too surprised by the fact Peter could dance, he seemed to do well at anything social. Him tugging on her shirt didn't bother her much, though she did scoot back an inch or so. Personally, she has no idea when or where it was- so she waits for Dinari or one of the others to answer. As she waits, she glances over at the Manalist soldier who was speaking with Jester.

She felt like he was talking about them, but her paranoia made her think that of most people who even glanced in her direction while speaking. She's a little relieved when Dinari answers and they begin moving out of the carnival. It was still pretty crowded, knocking her relief off. She crosses her arms over her stomach while trying to keep her own space in the crowd.

Despite the fact she had meant to leave after the carnival, she was as always curious about Peter's dancing. Her curiosity kept her in many situations she'd rather not be in. The music was pretty much what she had been expecting.