Bay Window Blues [Event/Hayden] (Read 182 times)

[greyson rooks]

Forsake Your Halo I got a real bad feelin' they'll be nothin' to say Whole world's goin' crazy, know the end is on the way words: 880-ish tagged: Hayden notes: Zombies~! ♜ "Well, I wouldn't say it looks good..." The response, which was something of a sarcastic understatement, coincided with the uncomfortable thud of a body slamming into the ground after a two-story fall facilitated by a well-placed kick from the man that uttered the phrase. Leaning over the edge and adjusting his sunglasses, Greyson Rooks managed a small frown. This was the third fall for the pale-skinned person, but already the individual below was stirring. A choking gasp and growl floated up as the walking corpse pushed itself up and immediately renewed its seemingly futile effort to gain access to the roof by way of wall climbing. But Greyson's attention turned elsewhere, as the frantic pounding and clawing on the doorway to the rooftop took precedence over the former human below - the ground walker, seemingly lacking in sense, found his footholds for climbing by serendipity, so, for the moment, the "wall assault" was safe enough. "But I guess it's safe to say that this is what you were talking about, eh, Richard? Not what I'd call a pleasant situation." As he strode back over to the rooftop group, Greyson seemed rather unconcerned, and this was as much a presentation of his usual demeanor as it was for the benefit of the kids that made up over half of the collective. With a bit of a sigh, he pulled out his cigarette case, opened it, removed one slightly crooked, hand-rolled smoke and clamped it between his teeth. Once a match was struck, the case was cooly deposited back into an inner pocket of his long black coat and, taking a drag, he regarded his current "charges." The man identified as 'Richard', who was giving the Man in Black an agitated glare, was an older gentleman in his early 60s and was the owner of the farmhouse and its surroundings. There were five children - 3 girls, 2 boys - ranging in ages from 6 to 11 and they were huddled in the dead center of the roof with two other ladies. Greta, the elder lady and wife of Richard, was the primary caretaker of the children and the operator of the orphanage aspect of this property. The other lady, a spriteful lass of 17 named Rachel, was hired help from the nearby city of Magnolia. "Rooks, what the hell are you doing? You've a blade; use it! This is no time to be playing around! Those things are deadly!" Greyson frowned, but took another drag from the cigarette, using the smoke to blow smoke rings before replying. "Dangerous, perhaps, but they don't seem so smart. As for what I'm doing? Considering. Observing. Wondering. Not... jumping to any rash conclusions or shootin' from the hip, as they say." He offered a shrug and a grin. "I thought that was being responsible?" Another pause, another drag. No smoke rings this time. "But in all seriousness, I admire their constitution, you know? That is, the difficult thing is figuring out why those repeated falls haven't killed the one. I appreciate their persistence, too, don't you? This door-knocker is quite determined to get at us, isn't she? Good thing your attic door is so reinforced. However-" And now the one clad in trenchcoat and wide-brimmed hat turned his back on the huddled group and returned to the edge. He flicked the ashes from his cigarette, letting them flutter down towards the yard, and his gaze followed. Aside from the wall-climber, four other shambling corpses were visible in the front yard below. Evidently, they were far enough away from the commotion that they had momentarily lost interest in the group above. "- it's true enough that standing up here on the roof is getting us nowhere, fast. Rachel, you said these things were seen in Magnolia, right? That they... eat... people?" "Yeah," came the subdued response from the pretty little blonde. Though she looked up at Greyson, all she saw was his back and his own blonde ponytail. "A guy was killed by one right in the middle of the market." "And what happened after that?" "A blacksmith... crushed the thing's head." "And that stopped it?" He took another drag, the fingers of his right hand gripping the scabbard of his sword a bit more tightly. "You said the dead guy turned into one after that, right?" "Mm hmm." "Lovely. Well, I guess that means it'd be in our best interest not to get bit by one, I think. And..." He discarded the cigarette and slowly pulled his sword from the scabbard, his focus on the zombie that was nearly within striking distance now that it had once again climbed the wall of the house. "...I suppose a new experiment is in order. They're apparently quite stupid, but if smashing the head ended the one in the market, the brain must be precious, ya think?" SNNNNNNTK! A sharp downward thrust plunged Greyson's sword through the forehead of the wall-climber. Its grip on the wall immediately loosened and when it fell this time it stayed down, silent and still. Casually, Grey slung the gunk off of his blade and slipped it back into Aurora, then he offered the group behind him a thumbs up. "Bingo! Looks like we got ourselves a winner, folks." "That doesn't get us out of this situation, Rooks!" "One step at a time, old man. One step at a time." made by aeon of fl

[Hayden]

TIME IS A VALUABLE THING

Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch it count down to the end of the day
The clock ticks life away
It's so unreal.

((2 post cooldown on Ace of swords))

Hayden was a little frustrated with the train that was supposed to take him back to Magnolia from Kou. First that murderer had just ruined his vacation, and now the town was under some sort of quarantine. That just wouldn't do at all. Hayden had to get back to Fairy Tail.


That brought him out to the countryside, walking towards the location of Fairy Tail's guild hall, wondering what this bloody quarantine was about. He saw a farmhouse, smelled rotting flesh, and got curious. He moved closer, and could pick out indistinct shapes on the roof and... climbing up the side? One of the rooftop figures kicked the wall-climbing person off the wall for a bone-shattering fall.


Then the man got up off the ground and tried again.


Woah, wait a minute! He shouldn't be moving! And why does everyone smell so bad? The situation looked grim for the people on the roof. Now that the Fairy Tail mage had gotten closer, he saw the attackers and noticed that they were all already dead. Flesh was falling off in chunks, and they just ignored injuries. At least, until the wall-climbing one got stabbed in the head and collapsed. The zombies hadn't noticed the Fairy Tail mage yet, and he took that advantage, combined with the fact that the head was weak, and charged in the door, drawing the Ace of Swords and firing a blue blade at one undead's face, impaling it against the wall and causing it to cease moving.

Hayden yanked the semi-solid blade free and rushed up the stairs to confront a second zombie banging on the door to the roof. He threw the energy blade like a spear, stabbing it through the chest and sticking it to the door. The mage advanced and drew his bowie knife, stabbing the undead menace in the face and dismissing the blade. The blue energy fractured harmlessly, and Hayden rapped on the door. "Hey! I'm a mage from Fairy Tail. You guys look like you could use some help."

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF BACK TO NEVERLAND

[greyson rooks]

Forsake Your Halo ------ words: 700-something? tagged: Hayden notes: None, really. ♜ "The hell...?" Greyson's not-so-eloquent question was elicited by the sudden approach of a young male. Certainly, given the situation, the lackadaisical swordsman was not expecting an appearance by anyone save, perhaps, more shambling corpses, and Hayden's determined dash towards the house caught him, a bit, by surprise. The young man's rush was all that could be seen, of course, and none of the others on the roof were aware of their "new guest" until the sounds of battle drifted up from below. On the one hand, the arrival of a potential ally was certainly a welcome sight. On the other hand, this arrival - and the subsequent skirmish in the house - caught the attention of the remaining corpses milling about in the yard below and the dead gave (,as) quick (as they could,) pursuit of the mage. In the interim, Greyson turned his attention back to the "survivors" on the roof. "Best mind your manners, good companions, as it seems we have ourselves a guest," he said, giving a smirk and, once again, retrieving his cigarette case from his coat. "That is, I suspect the neighborly thing to do, Richard, would be to loosen up the barricade a bit. If our friend makes it, I imagine he'd rather not be left alone with the walking dead that just followed him into the house." "What?" "Ugh... never mind. Just stay back. I'll do it." Plucking another hand-rolled smoke from the case, sticking it between his teeth and dropping the case back into a pocket, Greyson meandered over to the rooftop door. At this point, the zombie behind that door was still banging away, but Grey was unconcerned. Or, at least, he didn't look concerned. Lazily, he pulled the heavy bar reinforcing the door into its upright, unlocked position and, as a replacement, leaned back against the door, using his weight as the barricade replacement. He struck a match, lit his cigarette, took in a long, slow drag and waited. A beat. A second. A third. The banging stopped with a new kind of thunk and this was followed by the faint, but recognizable to one accustomed to battle, sound of a blade entering flesh. At this, Greyson took another drag and blew a few smoke rings. Meanwhile, the others on the roof were staring at him like he was crazy. Then, along with the sound of a lighter, much less dead hand on the door: "Hey! I'm a mage from Fairy Tail. You guys look like you could use some help." "A Fairy? Huh..." Despite his muttered musing, Greyson's intentions did not change and almost as soon as Hayden's final word left his lips, the black-clad rogue pulled open the door. Then, with a sweeping gesture and a bow, he ushered the young man onto the roof. He did not yet offer Hayden a greeting, however, as his focus remained on the staircase below. The dead were in pursuit and not even a count of three passed Hayden's rooftop arrival before the fastest of the corpses appeared in view. At this, Greyson stood up, cigarette in his mouth, sword and scabbard in his left hand and the heavy door gripped tightly in his right. "Um, Grey?" Rachel's worries, while as strong as those held by the other "survivors", did not silence her. "Just give it a second." Closer and closer still came the corpse. Its two fellows appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Greyson took a single step back, still holding the door. "Greyson, shut the door!" "Oh, I will..." "Like, now?!" The first zombie was nearly upon them. "Patience is a virtue? I think I heard that once. Eh... maybe not." And then: BAM! Just as the zombie reached the top of the stairs, Greyson acted. He swung the door shut, full force, smashing it into the form of the shambling corpse. As the cacophony of the dead-one-turned-bowling-ball crashing down the stairs (and subsequently knocking over its "friends") echoed up, Grey casually dropped the reinforcing bar back into place. Taking another drag from his smoke, he turned and offered the group a shrug. "Probably didn't do any real damage, but it buys us a little bit of time, at least. Ah... and I thought it was funny. Anyhow..." Stepping away from the door, Greyson flashed Hayden a grin. "Welcome to the party, sunshine." Then he paused a moment, flicking the ashes from his cigarette and touching the brim of his hat, as if in consideration. "Or, maybe I should say... 'Yo, Fairy?' Ha, what brings you to this lovely neck o' the woods? We've a bit of a problem, as I think you've seen, and I think the presence of a mage might help ease the tension some, but, ah, I'm not so sure we have the funds available for rewarding anything resembling a guild mission. Not that one was posted, of course. I dunno if you guild folks make things up on the fly all impromptu-like or not, though." made by aeon of fl

[Hayden]

TIME IS A VALUABLE THING

Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch it count down to the end of the day
The clock ticks life away
It's so unreal.

((1 post cooldown on ace of swords))

Hayden tried to keep his cool. He didn't need to use all his magic at once on a bunch of zombies. Thankfully, the door opened rather promptly, and he was ushered onto the roof. He backed out of the stairwell, knife drawn as the people behind him said that the man, Greyson, should shut the door. A zombie shambled up the steps, and Hayden saw the plan. He smirked a bit as the man, Greyson, slammed the door on the undead, sending it tumbling back down the stairs.


"I thought it was funny."

Hayden could learn to like this guy. Taking time during an undead assault to go bowling for zombies. "I'm not 'sunshine'. The name's Hayden." He heard the man talking about missions and payment, and he just shook his head. He took out his tarot cards and counted his steps, placing a charged Six of Wands on the ground in front of the door where its activation wouldn't trap anyone they didn't want trapped, or destroy parts of the building.


He stood and backed away from the door, knife relaxed in his hand. "Don't worry about anything like missions. I'm on vacation. Even if I wasn't, I have standards. These things just ruin the equity of a neighborhood. It's a public service to remove them, wouldn't you say?"

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF BACK TO NEVERLAND

[greyson rooks]

Forsake Your Halo All we wanna do is eat your brains... We're not unreasonable; I mean, no one's gonna eat your eyes words: 550-ish tagged: Hayden notes: N/A for this one ♜ "Oh? So, a bit of pro bono work, then, eh? Not... always my style, but to each his own, I guess. I imagine it's certainly appreciated in the here and now. And whaddaya know, Rachel? Maybe we just found you a boyfriend?" Greyson's words, coming so soon after the door slamming stunt, ushered forth a variety of responses from the rooftop survivors. The children, who previously had been huddled in certain terror by the animated dead, seemed to share in Grey's casual attitude about what was going on - now that quite a few had been dispatched and, of course, with the antics of "bowling" being the most recent. The door slamming was met with a bit of a cheer and, for the moment, all tears had dried up. For the elder pair, however, there was less appreciation. Richard had returned to glaring at the swordsman, his gaze occasionally flickering towards Hayden - but the mage was given more of the 'benefit of the doubt' than was the FREELANCER, simply because he'd identified himself as guilded. The woman, Greta, appeared more worried than before - both from the reaction of the children and from Hayden's magic trap setting move, but did not yet make to interfere or engage in any conversation; instead, she set about trying to calm the children down and quiet them, suspecting (and probably rightly so) that their noise might attract more of the unhappy creatures that were besieging them. And the girl, Rachel? Although she'd made as if to enter the mix, at least in words, between the two that had proven themselves capable of dealing with the ghouls, Greyson's teasing shot had crimsoned her cheeks and stunned her into silence. At first, her stare had been forced onto Hayden, but once she realized it, she could do nothing except avert her gaze entirely. "So, Hayden, is it? Mmm, that's difficult." Greyson paused, taking another drag from his cigarette as he meandered away from the door and just to the side of Hayden's Tarot Trap. "Calling you 'Hay' would be the same as calling you straw, which is silly, unless we're strictly talking hair color, which certainly doesn't match, and/or disposition, the second of which has no real observation for merit. And then, with 'Den', it's what? A family of foxes? Of wolves? Won't do at all." With the cigarette all but burned out, Greyson tossed it aside and watched it fall over the edge of the roof. He gave a bit of a shrug. "And it seems you're unhappy with 'Sunshine.' Whatever shall we do? A knife and cards? That sounds like a 'Jack'... but I guess time'll tell on that one. Ah, but a name is a name, and one given requires one in return, I reckon. So, then." He tipped his hat back a bit while giving Hayden a somewhat courteous nod. "Name's Greyson Rooks, though I tend to answer to whatever sort of shortening you might favor on those. Got a few other nicknames here and there, too. But-" A thunk at the door announced that at least one zombie had recovered enough to re-start the rooftop assault. "All of that's idle chatter for a later time. As you might have gathered, I have a bit of experience with a blade, and as I have gathered, you have, at least, a small tendency towards the laying of traps. I'm guessing you do a bit of stabbing with that little blade, too, hm? So..." The beating on the door began again, in earnest. "That's about the long and short of the available skill set, yes? How'd'ya wanna play it, Hayden? Since you're holding the deck, I'll let you deal the cards." made by aeon of fl

[Hayden]

TIME IS A VALUABLE THING

Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch it count down to the end of the day
The clock ticks life away
It's so unreal.

Hayden had to bite back a laugh at the girl's, Rachel's, expense. He had noticed her eyes on him, but Greyson had beaten him to the teasing shot. She seemed about Hayden's age, but he wasn't exactly looking for romance. Fairy Tail wasn't the safest place for nonmages, mainly because of the missions earning multiple enemies. The Fairy Tail mage stifled a moan as Grey started musing on his name before finally introducing himself properly.

He smirked as the zombies started pounding on the door again. "That's about it, yeah. The trap doesn't injure anything, but it can contain them. If we get lucky and they're all stuck, we can get off this roof. If we're not so lucky, I have a few other spells. What about you?" Hayden drew out his three remaining active cards. The Ace of Cups wouldn't be much use here, hopefully; the zombies seemed dumb enough that they could get everyone past them scot-free. That left the Ace of Pentacles, which would be very useful, and the Ace of Swords, which seemed to have regained enough energy to be cast again. He put the two cards in the inside of his jacket, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice. He'd probably be casting them together. "So, what about you? Any skills besides that sword?"

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF BACK TO NEVERLAND

[greyson rooks]

Forsake Your Halo I'm useless, but not for long... The future is comin' on... words: I dunno. 300 or something. tagged: Hayden notes: Short. Had to work over. So dead. ♜ "Eh? Other skills? Ah, I can be quite the functional slush-" Greyson replied, plucking his flask out from an inner pocket and raising it, as if to toast, towards the Fairy Tail mage. "-if you get what I'm sayin'. Speaking of, I guess a touch of liquid courage wouldn't hurt in this situation, eh?" He slipped the sword and scabbard combination into his belt and opened the flask, taking a swig. Then he flashed Hayden a grin. "I'd toss the flask over, sir Mage, but I don't think we got time for ID checking. As for the rest," And now he set about closing the flask and returning it to its resting place in his coat. All the while, the banging on the door was becoming more frantic. "I've few tricks, but plenty of treats - for the ladies, mind. Though, I will say I have something besides a sword in my scabbard. Maybe it will come to use, maybe it won't. I imagine one thing'd be useful and the other a total bust." He shrugged. "Come what may, we'll make do. That's my attitude, anyway." Having offered a reply for Hayden's question, Greyson returned his attention towards the door and Hayden's waiting trap. A fingerless gloved hand moved to his chin as he considered the situation and, after a moment, he once again removed his sword and scabbard from his belt and re-positioned himself next to the door. The banging on the door, now apparently in triplicate, had reached a furious crescendo - at least, when compared to the previous cacophony of dead flesh hitting wood - and, as if to expedite a decision, a hole burst into existence at the top of the door. This sent the children scurrying back and pulled a shocked gasp out of the previously stunned Rachel. If it bothered the swordsman, though, no one could tell. He barely glanced over his shoulder. "I guess they want out, huh? If it were up to me, I think I'd be most interested in making these undead... dead again. I wonder if your trap will cause such... or merely facilitate it? Doesn't really matter. We'll make it work. So, you want me to let the lions loose, or let 'em break their way out? S'yer call, mage-y." made by aeon of fl