hazlogs | When Tarantula Took to the Hills (Reply)

It is currently 19:35 Pacific Time on Tue Nov 17 2015.

Currently in Saint Claire, it is raining lightly. The temperature is 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the west at 18 mph, with gusts up to 40 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 29.72 and rising, and the relative humidity is 77 percent. The dewpoint is 43 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius.) For more detail, see: http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=98501

Currently the moon is in the waxing Half (Philodox) Moon phase (42% full).

The Hub: Main Floor

The main floor of 'the Hub' is a spacious, almost sprawling room, with a two-story high ceiling and a large loft that looks out over the room itself, accessed via a winding metal staircase set at the opposite end from the heavy security door. One side of the floor is completely open, with a bank of windows facing north and offering a brilliant view of the city, especially at night. The other side contains a series of doors and doorways that lead into other rooms, large and small. One is clearly a kitchen (a very nice large kitchen with its own island and eating area), one is a bathroom, and one a repurposed conference room with a smaller central table than likely existed before, and comfortable rolling chairs that have clearly been reclaimed from various goodwill sources. Other rooms serve as storage, with one standing out as a well maintained server room, from which the local Walker server, various databases, and hardware responsible for the block's free wifi can be accessed.

The open floor itself sports several areas clearly designated for various purposes, though none have been walled off from the rest in any real fashion. One contains a comfortable, beat-up couch and armchairs arranged in a semi-circle around a large flatscreen TV and coffee table, another is a bank of multiple computers, each with their own desk and office chair, while a third is a modest exercise area mostly consisting of an open space of floor covered in a cushioned mat and several free weights. A number of monitors have been mounted on the wall next to the security door; the largest displays the area immediately on the other side of the door, with another showing the interior of the private elevator. The third and largest is split into sections, with one section dedicated to the sub-basement, another to the roof, and the others switching routinely between various parts of the interior and exterior of Maxwell Tower.

Kavi hasn't been around much in the last few days, though when he has, despite keeping to himself, he's seemed in better spirits. It's early evening, and though the air is warm, the wind makes the roof an uncomfortable place. The galliard shivers as he comes down the stairs, and one hand rubs at the short hair of his mohawk in response to the weather.

The lights are dim and there's a black and white horror movie on the television; a tarantula the size of a small building crawls menacingly toward two terrified, fleeing men. Salem's the only one watching, stretched his full not-so-impressive length on the couch, arms behind his head.

Kavi slows as he reaches the bottom of the stairs, watching the movie as he takes the last few steps.

One of the men stumbles, and his friend nobly runs back to grab him, help him back to his feet. It seems they might have a chance, but then the man stumbles again, and the giant spider is upon them both, alien and aggressive and ravenous.

Even recognizing it as a movie doesn't stop the small gasp from the man. He coughs, and heads on past the couch toward the kitchen.

Salem looks up at the sound, having not noticed Kavi until then. He sits up, then uses the remove to pause the movie. "You all right?"

"Yeah," Kavi says, halting when the movie stops. "Yeah, just. Maybe a little jumpy, still?" He nods toward the television. "Is it... Do you like watching those?"

Salem nods, his smile slanted, only a little self-conscious. "Black and white B-grade horror and sci-fi movies? Yes. A friend of mine introduced me to them years ago."

Kavi comes around to lean against one of the arm chairs where he can better see Salem. "I didn't mean to interrupt. I was going to get something to eat, but I can leave, if you'd rather?"

"You're fine," Salem says. "I've seen this one a few times before. Special effects are quite good for 1955." He unpauses the movie and partially sits up. "You're welcome to join me if you like."

"I--" Kavi says, and then breaks off with a slight shake of his head. "... Maybe," he says after a beat, and pushes off from the chair to head to the kitchen. He pulls out one of the trays of the many meals Rina's provided and serves a small portion, heating it in the microwave.

Salem snorts, looking not even a little bit surprised. On the big-screen TV, the handsome male protagonist (played by John Agar) visits the sites of mysterious deaths -- nothing left but bones and large pools of spider venom -- to try and help the sheriff and his men figure out what's going on, while Mara Corday, in the role of young science student Stephanie Clayton, becomes increasingly worried about the fast-developing acromegaly and erratic behavior of her boss, Professor Deemer (Leo G. Carroll in the role that got him a line in the opening musical number of The Rocky Horror Picture Show).

Kavi returns after a few minutes with a plate full of Italian pasta and sausage. At first he leans against the arm of the chair again, but then slides into the seat, the better to eat his meal. For a little while he watches the film and eats in silence, not wanting to bother the philodox again.

"Been meaning to ask you how your date went," Salem says after a while, without looking away from the screen.

The fork rests against the plate, Kavi's gaze solidly on that point of contact for a long second. Then he swallows, and looks over at Salem. "It... It went well. It was. It was awkward? It was hard, and we were both struggling? But. But at the end, I think... I think we're okay. She knows I'm not the same, that I might never be the way I was. And. It doesn't-- That isn't what she wants, but she's accepted it? And she still... We've spent enough time together that she can know that she still wants me, even if I never remember, even if I'm never the way I was."

Salem nods. "What about you? How do you feel about her?"

Kavi's gaze ducks back down to his meal, and he toys with a stay bit of sausage. "I don't remember her. I don't remember... us. I mean-- I had a flash, when she was hurt and I... When I healed her, I had a flash of us, before, and how it felt? But that's all. All that I remember, at least." He stabs the bit of sausage and brings it to his mouth. "But whever I'm with her?" he says as he swallows. "Whenever I see her? I know what it must have been like, because... It's not a memory, it's now. I feel... everything."

Salem looks away from the screen -- the giant spider is attacking the home of the mutated scientist and his female assistant -- and peers at Kavi. "You healed her. With the Gift you wanted to learn?"

Kavi straightens, setting the plate on one knee and holding it with just one hand. "I-- I healed her. I... It must have been? I didn't think about it. I was trying to stitch the wound, and. I was nervous and I think I was feeling the moon. I cut myself, and I just. I just wished I could take all her pain. I didn't even feel it, at first, but then I was bleeding, and her wound was-- It didn't need stitches."

Salem looks steadily at the Galliard for almost a minute before flopping back against the couch cushions with a grunt. "Well, /that's/ something, at least."

Kavi draws in a breath and lets it out slowly. He rises to bring the plate back to the kitchen, though he only goes so far as to set it on the counter before he returns to the chair. "It's why we went," he says, as though the notion were revelation. You said, but I'd forgotten or. I hadn't connected it. But that's why we went, what all of this was for..."

Salem nods, his gaze back on the television. "You wanted that Gift, and I wanted you to have it. You've been very good for her."

Kavi's gaze sharpens on Salem at the last, surprise, perhaps, not quite reaching disbelief. "I've been-- Good. I-- It's what I want. It... Wanting her to be happy was-- It made it harder, when I didn't know. Knowing what she thought she wanted, but not knowing if... if that even existed, anymore? I'm glad to know that it, that I can be that."

The tarantula is getting bigger by the moment. The scientist who created it is dead. The town is being evacuated and explosives are being set in its path. Salem nods again, not saying anything in response.

Kavi settles back into his seat, and his gaze slides from the philodox to the television. "Is... Is this... What draws you to these stories?"

The Philodox shrugs, mouth thinning. "There are lots of reasons. The history behind them, their difference from anything made in the modern day. They exist before the age of blockbusters, when genre films like this were usually cheaply made because they weren't expected to bring in a lot of money. I think they tend to have a lot more heart than modern genre films."

The explanation doesn't seem to mean much to the galliard, but he nods, nonetheless.

"I like old things, I suppose," says the (physically) very young halfmoon, with another shrug. He doesn't seem to have anything to add to this.