Midnight Mayhem [Closed]

[defactodefector]

Warnings: Violence will occur.
Location: Near the apartments.
Characters: Rose Quartz, Casey Jones
When: 2 days after everyone want jogging.
Summary: Nox appear; people head out alone to fight it, end up not being alone.

Hearing that Greg had been attacked while out with his friends wasn't exactly the kind of news Rose had expected to receive when he came back from hanging out with his new friends. Fortunately, he hadn't seemed physically hurt at all- he just needed some rest, which Rose was making sure he got.

Which is what she was doing late at night, sitting in the room with Greg and deciding not to indulge in napping for the night, feeling just a bit paranoid that if she leaves or stops paying attention, that something could go wrong again, and he could end up hurt a lot more than he was last time. He'd only been gone for an hour or two, after all, and then that happened... even with all the other humans there backing him up, it seems like things had been just a bit too close. She really should've been there with him... She probably could've helped, and so far, she has yet to even SEE one of these shadow creatures.

And as if on cue, she happens to notice something out of the corner of her eye, crawling around outside. Something that, even in the middle of the night, seems to look entirely too dark.

Definitely one of those shadow creatures. Probably scouting around or... something, she's not entirely sure. But it probably means there's a rift nearby, and this close to their home, it's not something they can afford to just leave there, given what she's heard of them.

Rose gives a quick look to Greg, sleeping peacefully, and carefully steps around so as not to wake him, grabbing her sword, and heading outside. Maybe she should be getting someone else to help out, but they all seemed a bit worn out last time she checked. And even if they weren't... Rose doesn't feel quite right asking for their help. They're not as strong or as durable as her, and she's used to this kind of thing anyway- she feels confident that she can handle things on her own, as she moves towards the location where she last saw the Nox.

Comments

[jonesiseverywhere]

Casey was too used to his room being right next to the fire escape like in his old apartment. In this one, he has to climb out backwards, grab the window-ledge with both hands, plant his feet on the frame below, and then kind of shimmy around the corner, going window-to-window, to reach the stairs. Not the most elegant solution in the world, but better than going through the front door where he risked Bones or Wash catching him and stopping him.

He was as geared up for tonight as he was keyed up. A memory kept playing in his head: His best friend April at her family farm, standing with her hands on her hips, as exasperated with him as she'd ever been. And that was a LOT, he could make people pretty exasperated.

He got out of the party wagon, smelling the exhaust from the wreck of his patched-together hot rod, the one he tried, and failed, to stop a reckless and dangerous driving mutant from killing people with. She yelled at him, which he hated.

"Someone," he argued, "has to take that road freak down!"

"And that someone has to be Casey Jones?" That was her retort, and it rankled because she already knew the answer. He brushed past her on his way back to the barn to work on the car again, make it better, and tougher, all to keep the streets safe from a joy-rider, and answered:

"That's right, Red! 'Cause I'm the only one who can!"

He'd been wrong back then. He'd put together a plan with his friends back home and scored an awesome victory against the creep. Even when they were in trouble, he watched out for them and he'd done the same for them, and they won, just like always. It was the same in Freesia, only they didn't all come out of it completely intact. Nothing fatal, but something they'd need a lot of R'n'R to recover from.

And that left them vulnerable. And there was no guarantee that the Nox wouldn't attack again. What if they snuck in the apartment at night, caught them all off-guard? His friends needed him to watch their backs, and that was what he was going to do.

"'Cause I'm the only one who can!"

Saddle up, Jones, time for patrol.

He jumped off the fire-escape, eyes darting for darkness in the darkness. Nothing to his left, he turned cautiously, trying to keep the jingle of his equipment to a minimum, and met...Pink. Very pink.

"Rose?" He quietly called. Wait, this could be perfect.

[panspermia]

Waking up with Rose gone wasn't too far out of the ordinary. Waking up to the sound of nearby cracking, crashing, and other such noises of destruction... well, that wasn't entirely unfamiliar to Greg, either, but it sure didn't put him at ease. Between it being too dark to see anything outside and his still lingering exhaustion, options went between waiting alone, or waiting with someone else. Greg left a note in the apartment for Rose.

It wasn't a surprise to find he wasn't the only one up, but that he wasn't the only one with a missing flatmate. Though that shouldn't have really surprised him either, in hindsight.

"Hey, at least they're watching each others' backs," he kept saying, thumbs twiddling fast as he perched on the couch, glancing between window and door, peering out with each new rumble and crack in the distance. "Probably."