Picking up Spares [Closed]

[has_a_horn]

Gabriel arrives a little early outside of the bowling alley slash dance club slash restaurant that he'd suggested to Johnny as the place they should meet up. He hadn't actually mentioned the bowling alley part or the dance club part to Johnny, but he's sure that both him and whoever it is that he's bringing along will appreciate the options. If things go well, maybe he can get both of them to have some fun.

He's not one to just stand around waiting, so he pulls out a set of playing cards. Soon enough, he's gathered a small crowd watching his improvised magic routine.

The Morning After [closed]

[stronglikebear]

Yuri has had a very long night. No one knew about the body in the alley by the rebel apartments until a local spotted it and called the cops, and the rebel leaders hadn't known until a paranoid resident called in thinking the sirens and flashing lights meant their cover had been blown and the building was being raided. There had always the chance that it had been a random human-on-human murder and therefor none of their concern beyond the unfortunate location…except for the part where the victim's heart had literally been torn from his chest.

In a way it's good that the person who found it isn't connected with the underground, if only because none of their rifties were at the scene of the crime when the investigation started. If the rebels had got to it first they could have hidden the body, but that kind of thing is probably easier said than done. Yuri's been trying really hard not to think longingly of things like hiding the body when some guy has lost his life, but it's hard not to be just a little self-centered about all this when it hits so close to home -- not his home, not literally, but the home of a lot of his friends. Rumors have already started circulating that the dead man must have been a rifty, that there was something wrong with his eyes, but just because someone isn't human doesn't mean they deserve that. Not by far.

While NYPD conducts its investigation (and won't it be great if ROMAC manages to horn in on that?), the rebels quietly conduct one of their own. Staff on duty last night have been questioned, spatters of blood have been discovered in the lobby and very thoroughly expunged, and Blythe spent the hours before dawn digging through case files in search of someone who might be capable of doing that, or who matches the janitor's description of the handful of people he ran into over the course of his shift. Nothing totally matches up -- no one listed ripping people's hearts out as a power or pastime on their 'immigration' form -- but there are a couple rifties who might be capable of it and/or who professed vigilantism at some point. While Kuiv and other less expendable more tactical members and enforcers of the upper echelon are busy tying up loose ends that might snag the cops' attention and draw it to the apartment building, Yuri is dispatched to the building to conduct an informal investigation.

After the night he's had and Blythe's failure to turn up a likely suspect, Yuri's finally starting to feel a little hopeful that it really was just a coincidence, even if the guy was a rifty. It could have been a ROMAC hit, or the rifties involved might be among the ones in the city who haven't been scooped up by either organization. His visit is less a raid, then, than checking in on Spike and a few others to find out if anyone's heard anything suspicious…or fallen off the wagon. He's been to a few apartments already this morning, so maybe he's not looking as close as he should for any more signs of that blood trail that left off at the elevator. Phone in one pocket, pepper spray in another and a small iron bar concealed in his hand --

Hang on, no, that's the next one. Yuri consults his notepad, pockets the iron, and digs out a cross instead. He'd put the cord around his neck, but it seems kind of rude to show up looking like he's expecting trouble. Instead he just curls his fingers around the wooden form and lets that hand hang by his side as he knocks on the door.