Vigilantes
 Smiley Specialist
he's big enough
Posts: 164
Preferred Name: Nama
Character Profile: ♦♦♦
Character Name: Levenin Refure
Main Account: Levenin
Status: On Hiatus
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Post by Levenin on Jul 31, 2015 0:19:53 GMT -5
Levenin was surprised that his plan had actually kind of worked. Tales from the various criminals and Vigilantes that’d graced his clinic usually made the police out to be absolute tyrants when it came to the law. Zero tolerance, brute force, a single phone call home if one was lucky (as if Mira would bail him out). He’d half expected to be shot as he continued to tower overhead on the railing, which he sort of hoped would happen. The bullet wound would be excruciating but escaping from the hospital didn’t seem too hard… except if they tracked his chip.
It was a confounding corner he’d weaseled his way into. However, Lev still wouldn’t comply with arrest. That option wasn’t acceptable, even if he was currently on the brink of a heart attack from such defiance of authority. ”I know none of you care about us but it’s important,” he said, not budging from his perch despite the kid having taken away his own advantage. ”Even if I told you why I need it, it wouldn’t change anything…”
Any moment he knew the others would show up here. When that happened, Levenin would lose for sure. Time was running slim. And yet the sincerity in this kid’s voice made him believe his intentions were pure. ”… It’s not for me. There’s people I know that need it, that’s all. I didn’t wanna do this but I had no choice. Money's tight and we don't have enough to go around...” Slowly, he stepped down to a more stable part of the fire escape. ”I know this isn’t easy for you either but…”
Lev perked up. Maybe there was a way they could work this out. It’d be of risk to him for a few hours but it was nothing Ellie and her expansive knowledge of dodging the government couldn’t assist him with later. Oh, how she’d yell at him for this. You totally gave yourself away to the enemy, you idiot! He could hear it now. But for once, he would place trust in this young stranger.
”I-I can’t let you take me, but maybe… I could give you something else. In exchange for getting me out of here and away from your squad, I give you my face and name… So you have something to report back to them.”
Yeah, she was definitely going to have his head for conspiring with the enemy.
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Civilians
Spear of Cerberus
Posts: 109
Preferred Name: Varmun
Pronouns: He/Him
Character Profile: Character List
Character Name: Dante Vasari
Main Account: Isaac
Status: Active
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Post by Dante on Jul 31, 2015 14:15:01 GMT -5
The man was still being pretty vague. Most officers wouldn't have listened to anything he had to say, and even fewer would have let a story like that stop them from arresting the man. Heck, maybe no one would have. The thought crossed Dante's mind, but he grimaced and curled his brow, conflicted.
"That's not true," said Dante finally. "About not caring, I mean. I do care, and I meant what I said. I'll consider letting you go." Dante just needed a way to make sure this wasn't a trick. He'd been told before that lots of thieves pulled this act. They stole whatever they wanted, but when they got caught they'd give some sad story and claim to be Robin Hood, stealing only for the poor and the needy. The cops said it was always a lie. Thieves didn't care about anyone but themselves.
Dante wondered what those cops would say about this man's offer, his willingness to give up his name and face.
"What?" asked Dante, shocked. "B-but wait, if I report your name, the cops will arrest you. You'd be in jail by tomorrow." Why would he offer to do that? What was the point? Dante couldn't figure it out. He couldn't tell what this man was up to, so instead, he came up with a plan of his own. "How about this: Tell me your name and tell me where you're going to use that medicine. I'll go there tomorrow, and if I see healthy people, I won't report you. Deal?"
His plan was stupid. It was full of holes and so easy to exploit. Dante wasn't even too sure of it himself, but it was the only plan he had.
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Vigilantes
Smiley Specialist
he's big enough
Posts: 164
Preferred Name: Nama
Character Profile: ♦♦♦
Character Name: Levenin Refure
Main Account: Levenin
Status: On Hiatus
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Post by Levenin on Jul 31, 2015 17:03:20 GMT -5
Levenin sighed heavily, partially out of relief but also from what he’d ended up walking into. From now on, no more solo heists, at least not till he wasn’t wet behind the ears anymore. Without another word after the kid’s counter proposal, he began a shaky descent back down (not at all helped by his ankle, which was now a mass of dull throbbing). He listened momentarily for any distant sounds of footsteps, just in case he was about to be jumped right as delicate information was going to be revealed.
”Go to Canaan in the slums, in the southeast on Still Hollow Avenue. The street will look deserted but just look for a building front with the dreamcatcher hanging over the door. When you come in, tell them you’re looking for Nineveh.”
One uneasy hand, and then another, as Lev grasped his hood and slowly pulled it down. There was something primal and exposing, and he couldn’t help but avoid eye contact with the boy. Probably a normal feeling when criminals and police faced off. He only hoped this wasn’t a horrible mistake.
”Also uh… Don’t let on about this whole thing to anyone else there. They don’t know about what I’m doing tonight and I don’t want them to.”
”Guys, it happened again!”
A woman ran out to the main room, pulling along two of her coworkers away from their opening duties. Levenin was one of the poor souls to be strung with her, his hand hanging on for dear life to the rest of his arm as they made their little field trip to the clinic storage room. A pitiful sight it was, but with one difference: it was just a little fuller today than it’d been at closing the night before.
”I dunno how this keeps happening but I’m not gonna complain!” she squealed again, happily going to rearrange the new gels in the manner she liked.
Levenin pretended to be surprised as he saw it, forcefully laughing. ”Yeah, it’s like we have some sort of guardian angel or something...”
”I wish we could afford some security cams so we can see who it is. How about some of us do a secret stake out and catch them one of these nights?”
”O-Oh no no no, let’s not do that…”
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Civilians
Spear of Cerberus
Posts: 109
Preferred Name: Varmun
Pronouns: He/Him
Character Profile: Character List
Character Name: Dante Vasari
Main Account: Isaac
Status: Active
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Post by Dante on Aug 1, 2015 12:59:38 GMT -5
Dante put a hand to his chest and sighed with relief when the thief came down from the fire escape. He took a quick look around to make sure Officer Damon hadn’t caught up and would tackle the thief, thus ruining this entire plan. Thankfully, he still wasn’t around, and everything went smoothly.
“Canaan in the slums, southeast on Still Hollow Avenue,” Dante repeated, trying to make sure he had it all memorized. He nodded along to each detail the thief gave, until finally, he got the man’s name. “Nineveh, got it.” The name didn’t sound quite right—most likely an alias—but Dante had met people with some pretty strange names before, and if it really was a code name, then it was probably an honest one. If the man wanted to lie, he would have given a more normal sounding name, right? Dante wasn’t sure, but he put his trust in Nineveh.
“I promise, so long as you keep your word.” Dante gave the man a faint smile and nodded once more, watching as the man took off running, leaving him alone in the back lot.
Explaining things to Officer Damon had been surprisingly easy. Dante wasn’t sure if that was an insult against him or not, but Damon really didn’t question the fact that Dante had “lost” the thief in the alleys. Maybe he didn’t push it because he himself had gotten lost and winded during the chase. Whatever the case, Dante wasn’t in trouble, and nothing stood in his way of seeing Nineveh.
In his normal t-shirt, sleeveless vest, and long black jacket, Dante made his way through the slums on a rather cool morning. The bridges and highways overhead blocked out the sun, and Dante walked through the shade, heading down Still Hollow Avenue. Under his breath, he muttered, “Southeast on Still Hollow. Building with the dreamcatcher. Ask for Nineveh.” He repeated this over and over so he wouldn’t forget it.
Just as Nineveh had explained, the street looked empty and deserted. The sight was eerie, but not to Dante. He actually recognized the street, and he made his way without fear. When he reached the building with the dreamcatcher, he knocked on the door, and then stepped inside.
“Hello?” he called out, looking around for signs of people. “Hello? I’m here to see Nineveh.”
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Vigilantes
Smiley Specialist
he's big enough
Posts: 164
Preferred Name: Nama
Character Profile: ♦♦♦
Character Name: Levenin Refure
Main Account: Levenin
Status: On Hiatus
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Post by Levenin on Aug 1, 2015 16:10:00 GMT -5
The woman, better known as Carcassonne in this area of town (though not her actual name), continued shuffling items to her leisure before glancing behind her at the two other men. Her happy smile turned into disapproval. ”You guys have duties to attend to, you know,” she scolded. ”Lucca, go finish setting up those extra curtains, we’re getting a bit cramped already. Nineveh, make sure the patients upstairs are still situated. Bring extra water, it's hot today.”
Levenin nodded, thankful to be given an excuse to leave the scene of his handiwork. He wasn’t ashamed of what he’d done last night, even if the secondhand embarrassment of how horribly he’d botched it continued to haunt him even now. There was no way he could let the others know about it. Carcassonne would beat him blue for sinking to underhanded tactics, for starters. The risk of him being seen as a harbored Vigilante was too great otherwise.
”What’d you do to your leg? Looks pretty nasty,” said Lucca, looking down at the offending ankle that stood neatly wrapped in an old bandage.
”Oh uhh…” Lev’s attempt to shuffle his foot behind him did nothing to hide what’d already been seen. It was an innocent enough wound to lie about but it felt like evidence of his extracurricular activities. ”I tripped over something on the way home last night…”
Literally leaving the conversation to head up the stairs, his fake name was called for by Lucca barely a moment later. ”Nineveh, there’s someone out here looking for you!”
As promised, there was the kid from last night waiting for him expectantly among the people waiting for check ups. Levenin’s heart skipped a beat, not helped by Carcassonne popping up behind him with a wicked smile. ”Is he here for an appointment? Doesn’t look like he needs one. Is he your boyfriend?”
”L-L-Let’s g-go out back, please. T-This way,” Lev ushered, face turning bright red. Once they were in a more private area, he began again. ”So uh… Here I am, like I said. Hopefully, it wasn’t too hard to find this place, ummm… What’s your name…?”
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Civilians
Spear of Cerberus
Posts: 109
Preferred Name: Varmun
Pronouns: He/Him
Character Profile: Character List
Character Name: Dante Vasari
Main Account: Isaac
Status: Active
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Post by Dante on Aug 1, 2015 19:06:53 GMT -5
A person soon came out into the front room, and Dante waved to him, but the boy ran back and called for Nineveh. Dante stood there, chewing on his lip and tapping his foot while he waited, really wishing he had brought his headphones with him.
Luckily, he didn’t have to wait long. Nineveh came out to meet him, along with a young woman who quickly shattered any semblances of composure Dante or Nineveh might have had with her question. Dante’s cheeks turned a little pink, and he said, “N-no. No, nothing like that. We’re just uh… business partners? Or something?”
Luckily, Nineveh ushered Dante away, and the two moved to a back room, away from the girl and her awkward questions. Once they were alone, Dante answered, “Oh, no, it was super easy. I mean, I almost forgot the address a couple times, but I know these streets really well. I actually grew up in the slums.” When it came to his name, Dante hesitated for just a moment. Isaac had been telling him for a while not to give his name to anyone in the slums. Now that he was a police officer—or at least a junior officer—he couldn’t risk people knowing his name and coming after him. But Dante didn’t really get that. People would know his name eventually. He’d have a big badge with “Officer Vasari” etched on it. How could anyone not know him by then? Besides, cops couldn’t lie about that stuff… or at least he was pretty sure they couldn’t.
“I’m Dante,” he finally said, settling on only using his first name. Hopefully that would make Isaac happy. Dante held out his hand to Nineveh, offering a friendly shake. “Nice to meet you.”
With greetings out of the way, Dante soon asked, “So, that girl said something about appointments, right? Could I maybe see the patients you have? I just want to make sure you really needed to—uh—borrow that stuff, you know?” Dante had made sure to lower his voice there, remembering that Nineveh wanted this to be a secret.
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Vigilantes
Smiley Specialist
he's big enough
Posts: 164
Preferred Name: Nama
Character Profile: ♦♦♦
Character Name: Levenin Refure
Main Account: Levenin
Status: On Hiatus
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Post by Levenin on Aug 2, 2015 17:30:13 GMT -5
”You grew up here? I thought you were…”
Such a sweet kid didn’t seem like the type to have his roots in an area like this. Most slum types were wary and worn by nature, such as one needed to be to survive in the bottom of society. Even Lev hadn’t been completely broken in yet after being around for so long. ”You don’t see too many from here that are like you… I mean uh… That’s not meant to be bad! It’s kinda… Police aren’t looked at too fondly around here.”
Levenin stopped right there. Yes, anger the one who’d let him go and now knew where to send the entire force if he so desired. And yet when he tried again, he someone made his choice of words twice as worse. ”I-I don’t think you’re like the rest of them, you seem… kind. Uh, not that your boss is a bad guy! I’m sure he’s nice and…”
He was thankful for the opportunity to shut up and move onto a subject he could actually talk about without screwing it up. Levenin shook Dante’s hand, his grip weak in comparison. ”Yeah… Nice to meet you, too…”
Lev nodded at the mention of appointments. They’d been a bit slower today so a quick tour couldn’t hurt as promised, right? He led the way back inside, luckily without Carcassonne nearby to harass them upon return. Gesturing up the creaking old stairs, the second floor greeted them with a view of the infirmary- beds lined up against each wall, some occupied but most empty and neatly kept for the next user. Another nurse, Cyrene, attended to a patient on the far side, turning around and raising a quizzical eyebrow at the both of them.
”It’s okay, he’s just here to look."
”This isn’t a zoo. If he doesn’t need anything, send him out,” she scolded before pulling back a privacy curtain in a huff.
Levenin winced. If only she knew. He continued in a whisper so as to not invite her added wrath. ”Sorry, she's a bit rough around the edges... But this is where we keep patients that need bedside assistance. We’re luckily not swamped right now. It’s mostly heat illness this time of the year. Cyrene over there has someone with some kind of infection, which the Novi-gel helps with.”
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Civilians
Spear of Cerberus
Posts: 109
Preferred Name: Varmun
Pronouns: He/Him
Character Profile: Character List
Character Name: Dante Vasari
Main Account: Isaac
Status: Active
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Post by Dante on Aug 4, 2015 12:10:12 GMT -5
Dante gave a wry smile and scratched the side of his face, saying, “Yeah, I know. My brother keeps telling me that. But, you know, maybe one day that’ll change.” His smile steadily grew more optimistic as time went on, and he stood up to follow Nineveh back into the clinic and up to the infirmary.
A lot of the beds were empty, and Dante felt a little unsure at first, wondering if this was just a setup, a ruse to make it seem like they were really a clinic. But that thought wasn’t his own. The pessimism of the other officers put that idea in his head, and he shook it away when he saw the men and women in the few occupied beds, when he heard their coughing.
Just like with the last couple nurses, Dante waved to this new one, hoping to make a better impression with her. But she told him to leave and drew the curtain shut around her, and Dante said, “Sorry. I’ll be out of here soon, I promise.” Man, he couldn’t imagine how she’d react if she knew he was a cop.
When Nineveh apologized, Dante held up his hands and said, “No, no, it’s fine. I understand. It’s gotta be hard running a place down here.” Dante then rolled his eyes back to the patients, watching as Cyrene tended to an infected man. Nineveh didn’t even seem to know what kind of infection it was, and Dante grimaced at the thought of that.
It wasn’t long before Dante politely waved Nineveh back toward the stairs. He kept his voice low as he said, “Thanks for showing me this. I really appreciate it. And uh… you really shouldn’t do what you did again, but I’m not gonna turn you in. Not this time, okay? Cause, like, even if I say nothing, if you get caught and anyone finds out who you are, your friends will get in trouble, too. So I’m thinking maybe once a week or once every two weeks, I could come by with some Novi-gel for you. And maybe you and I can try to think of better ways to get supplies. I know it’s not much, but think about it, okay?”
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Vigilantes
Smiley Specialist
he's big enough
Posts: 164
Preferred Name: Nama
Character Profile: ♦♦♦
Character Name: Levenin Refure
Main Account: Levenin
Status: On Hiatus
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Post by Levenin on Aug 5, 2015 3:06:51 GMT -5
He should’ve expected this would’ve been next in their hushed conversation. How funny, a lecture from a kid. If anything, Levenin should’ve been the positive older role model here and yet he was the one getting bribed to stop stealing. He almost felt a slight twinge of embarrassment for being on the “wrong” side of the coin. ”You’re… really strange,” he commented, laughing out loud (and hoping none of the others could listen in too closely).
Hearing the telltale groaning of an imminent meltdown (and a sure to be stern talking-to) Cyrene from behind the curtain, Lev gulped audibly and ushered out his guest after one last look through of the floor. By the time he noticed how slow he was on the evacuation, Dante was already down the stairs without him. The air hung heavy with murderous intent from the woman, so who could blame him for escaping under pressure?
”Y-Yeah,” came a sheepish reply to Dante’s scolding, as soft as it was. Levenin didn’t know why he felt so ashamed while listening to the kid speak to him. Probably the age difference, but mostly because, of course, he already knew it was wrong. If the other doctors here ever found out, he’d be thrown out in a heart beat, even if they did appreciate the efforts so long as it was from a “stranger.”
”…You don’t realize the risk here, do you?” he whispered, letting a frown escape through the facade. ”With more than just me and you, I mean. Because I can’t promise I’ll stop.”
Why did he say that? Lev was still in earshot of eavesdroppers in this very room. Whispering in the lobby wasn’t exactly conspicuous. It was better to lie and never get caught doing something as idiotic as running solo ever again. Dante would’ve believed him, he just knew it. ”Stop, uhhh… Stop right away! It’s a, uh, sort of habit by now, you know?”
Now there was an actual lie- last night was his first test run. Dante was likely the only person on Novus who would believe he was a seasoned criminal. ”Your idea, though… That’d be great. The others will appreciate it too.”
Levenin hoped the sad forced smile on his face didn’t give away his true intentions.
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Civilians
Spear of Cerberus
Posts: 109
Preferred Name: Varmun
Pronouns: He/Him
Character Profile: Character List
Character Name: Dante Vasari
Main Account: Isaac
Status: Active
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Post by Dante on Aug 5, 2015 10:30:42 GMT -5
Nineveh's question made Dante's chest tighten, and he felt his legs shake. Then, Nineveh said what he'd feared: he wouldn't stop. Dante grimaced, his brow curling up with worry that he had truly made a mistake, that he would have to turn Nineveh in, that the other officers had been right all along.
But Nineveh explained what he meant. It still wasn't comforting to hear, but it was better than having him flat-out refuse to cooperate. Dante tried to smile at the little joke about stealing being a habit, and he said, "Well, just think about it, okay? You seem like a nice guy, Nineveh, so keep looking out for people."
There wasn't much left for Dante to say, and he wasn't sure if Nineveh's partners would let him stick around any longer. So with just a faint wave and a silent goodbye, Dante headed for the front door, making his way out into the street. And as he walked away, he thought over what Nineveh had said, and he put his faith that the man would change his ways.
Nineveh's question, however, still eluded him. Dante had no idea how big of a risk he was taking. He had no idea just how foolish he had been, how much of his life he'd gambled today.
END
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