Northwest

Game Master Starlit

Going to start back up quietly, let's see what happens next! Good to be back!

"Mom, it's... It's Dad." Kyle could begin the hot tears welling up behind her eyes, spilling out as she forced herself to speak the words aloud. "Dad's gone, Mom. He's... he's dead."

Since they'd moved when she was young, Kyle had barely known her mother to ever mention her father. Knowing that Kyle and he still spoke, especially through her teenage years, was met with silence. It had never seemed that Marie didn't approve, since she certainly would have been likely to voice things like that, but it seemed more that she just wasn't interested.

It was as if she saw James as a closed chapter of her life. Or, perhaps more accurately, it seemed as though Marie might have remembered their time together from outside of it, as if it had been someone else, or something she saw in a film. She had a detachment about James that Kyle had never understood.

This fragmented relationship, that Kyle has never really understood, floods through her mind as she takes a deep breath, unsure of how her mother is going to react to the news. It had been more than a decade since Marie and James had seen each other, and Kyle couldn't be sure when they had last spoken, but she was certain it wasn't something they did often. Kyle realised, for the first time, that she had no idea if her parents had even spoken after Marie picked up and left with Kyle. And she still, and perhaps never would now, did not know what had driven them apart, and so severely.

Michael finds himself grinning at the man despite himself. I suppose its all the years of b!~+&+~#ting I've had to do. "Well sir, I can tell you that your vacation has finally started. Welcome to the Hunter's Bay Lodge, I am pleased to make your acquaintance Mr. Patrick. Thank you for choosing this establishment and I hope I can make your stay as comfortable as possible." All this is said with a mock enthusiasm that would put most telemarketers to shame. He gives a wink to the man and keeps the grin. "Don't worry sir, I'm sure you raised them well."

Upon the offer of beer Michael grabs the bags and fakes a laugh. "Perhaps I might take you up on that offer once I'm off from work. Here, let me show you to your rooms." With that, he lifts the bags Christ these are heavy and makes his way to the elevator.

Stepping out on the fourth floor, he struts to the door and puts the bags down right next to it. Stretching his arms, he waits for the others to catch up and then extends his hand to the father. "I certainly hope you enjoy your vacation, eh?"

Kyle sighs, feeling somewhat disappointed and relieved at the same time. She wasn't sure what she had been hoping for, but she wasn't in the mood to be treated like a child. She wasn't sure that she would ever feel like one again. "I'm fine, Mom, I'm staying at Dad's place. I know. Ye- I know, Mom."

She takes another deep breath and does her best to sound formidable. "The funeral is in the morning, and I'm not going to miss it." Even though her mother can't see her, Kyle shakes her head anyway. "I'm not sure I can take care of everything from there, but I'll be back soon, and I'll call you tomorrow, ok?"

'I'm not even sure I can take care of everything from here,' Kyle thinks to herself once they've hung up. She knows that she should have told her mother about the house, about the money, but she wasn't sure how to, and suspected it would be met with negativity anyway. "I'll tell her once I decide what to do." She mutters to herself, looking down as Copernicus rubs against her leg. Smiling despite everything, she reaches down to pet him, taking solace in his purring.

Something that Kyle's mother had said creeps back across her mind. 'Are you by yourself?' and Kyle remembers that her mother doesn't know how she had got here - and that she was't by herself. She may not know Michael enough to tell him about everything, but she should at least invite him to the funeral.

She picks up the phone to dial, but as she starts to do so, her eyes fall across her father's letter on the table where she had placed it the night before. Rereading the clause, she instead begins to dial a different number. "Yes, hello, I am looking for a Mr. Dennis Craw."

Michael takes a look at the list and shrugs. "Yup, yup, I should be able to do this in a jiffy." He gives Randall a smile and heads out to his car; once out of sight from his friend though, he gives a small scowl. Here I am, a trained businessman who could be making them an almost sinful amount of money, and they have me on shopping duty? He fishes through his pockets for his car keys and once he steps in, he looks over the list again. "So where do I have to go?" Michael mumbles before turning the car on.

Pulling out of the driveway, Michael could only shake his head. Ah well, I should be lucky they considered me at all for this job. It was a bit worrisome when the boss-man seemed to hint at the Jersey incident... ah well, if he were to know the details he'd know I didn't break any laws. It wasn't a pretty exit from the company, but it wasn't catastrophic. I can recover from this. While driving to his first destination, he takes a look at the Hunter's Bay Lodge in the rearview mirror. Who knows. If they give me enough of a leash, I might just have my own motel...

I'll have more up tomorrow

Interlude
The rains do not stop.

Rather, a deep fog rolls in, smothering the town.

Michael, you drive slower, glancing frequently at your mirrors.

Kyle, you can no longer see from your window as you make the call.

A blanket of silence.

As the fog grows dense, Michael frowns, quickly closing his car windows to make sure it doesn't pour in and obscure his vision even more than it did already. Getting to the shop, he locks up tight, and puts his keys in his jacket pocket.

When he walks in the store and explains the request to the old man, he waits patiently while the man is in the back room... for perhaps a few seconds. Quickly growing bored -and perhaps a tad bit interested in the contents of the shop- he looks around the various shelves, looking to see if he finds something interesting while he waits for the old man to return.

Kyle hangs up the phone, thinking that it will be good to at least have something checked off her list of things to do. Focusing on taking care of things, rather than what had happened, was helping at least.

She thinks of the first time she had ridden in an ambulance with a patient, how she distracted herself from how horrible his wounds were by giving herself the tasks of checking and rechecking everything she could think of, and how it saved his life, because she caught something one of the other EMTs had missed.

That's what she would do, now. Make a list of all the things she had to deal with, and go through them one by one, and when there was nothing left, she'd go through them in her mind all over again, making sure she hadn't missed anything.

She looks into the living room, thinking that something she will have to do is go through the house. 'Especially if you're going to sell it,' She thinks, not surprised to found that she has already decided what to do. With her father gone, there was little left for her here, and staying felt in some way like intruding.

'First things first, though' she reminds herself. 'If you're going to meet with Mr. Craw in a couple of hours, you should probably shower.'

Michael grabs the chain and holds it in front of himself as to better take a look at the watch. Taking a quick moment to glance it over for any damage, he shrugs and takes it to the counter, pulling out his wallet and smoothing out a fresh five-dollar bill. He makes a gesture as to hand it to the man and points to thebox he got it from. "I found this over yonder. Do you know anything about it?"

The glint of the light against the chained watch was quite pleasing to his eye; an excellent souvenir for participating in such menial work. "As a matter of fact," Michael says before the man could say anything. "Don't tell me anything. I'll let my imagination run wild."

Kyle makes sure that Copernicus will be okay without her for a few hours, and hops into her father's car, heading over for the meeting.

Short post, leaving it open to see if I know if this is place that Michael works at, or even whether he's there.

Kyle and Michael

The man seems pleased with the sales and as Michael goes on the rest of his short shopping trip, the weather seems to lighten slightly.

As Michael pulls back into the hotel, he notices a familiar face stepping out of a car.

As Kyle and Michael spot each other, the rain simply stops.

The rain stops. Droplets hang in the air, frozen in time and space. Nothing moves.

The rain begins falling again, and the feeling passes.

Kyle breaks out into a smile, walking towards Michael's car as he parks. "Hey, stranger. How're you settling in?"

Michael looks up as he locks his car to find Kyle giving him a short wave. He returns the gesture and smiles. "Hello, hello. It certainly is a surprise to see you here." He leans against his car and smiles, checkimg the silver watch whih he set on the way back just to make sure he had some time to chat. "I think I'm doing fine here myself. The boss isn't too shabby and I have my own room here, so that's alright. What about you? I'm sure that your dad was happy to see you, eh?"

Kyle looks over at Michael, and then quickly away, not sure of what to say. "Yeah. I mean, no. He's, uh. He didn't make it." Somehow it was harder than it had been on the phone. With no degree of distance to separate her and Michael, she suddenly felt very exposed and uncomfortable. Brushing her bangs behind her ear, she glances uncomfortably between the lodge, the ground, and something in the distance. "I'm doing okay." she forces out, thinking that they'd probably both realise it was a lie.

Michael lets the watch drop to his side, hooking it onto his belt in one deft motion as Kyle seemed unsure of how to answer. As he was about to suggest dropping the subject, as it was clear she was uncomfortable, she said the words "He didn't make it." Michael stands there for a moment, not exactly sure as to how to respond. So the senior Delacroix is dead... I wonder if we would have made it if not for that flat tire... though it probably would be best if I not mention the theory to Kyle

Looking back up to Kyle, fidgets his hand somewhat awkwardly. Oh... I see... listen, I know you... probably want to get this out of your mind, but if you need to talk, we could sit down and... I don't know." Hell, what were you supposed to say in instances like this? Comforting others was not Micheal's strong suit. Usually he was gaining something when someone was left in a state of despair, but this... he had no idea how to deal with this.

Holding back the tears in her eyes, Kyle forces a smile, finding it at least somewhat endearing of Michael to not have any idea of what to say. He seemed to always be so self-assured, and she had to admit that even in the circumstances, it was amusing to see him taken aback. "Thanks. I've got some things to take care of, but I'd like that. Do you think, I mean, ah nevermind." She shakes her head. Seeming to remember all of a sudden where they are, she snaps her attention back to the Lodge and then to Michael. "Hey, listen, do you know a Mr Crow?"

Glad for the shift in conversation, Michael nods. "Aye, that would be the boss man. He definitely seems quite friendly at first, but I personally think that's just a front. He's definitely more aware than he seems. Why, did you need to speak with him?" Michael paints on his confident aura once again and starts making his way to the hotel. "If you need to speak with him, I could definitely point him out for you."

Damnit I noticed I wrote Crow instead of Craw like 3 minutes after the window for post editing closed.

"Yeah, that would be great." Kyle says, falling into step with Michael even as she tenses up at his description of Mr. Craw. 'A front? More aware than he seems?' She thinks back to the mysterious package and frowns. "I'm not rightly sure what it's about," she admits. "My father's Will included a stipulation that I should meet with him. Just some unfinished business, I guess?"

With Michael's help, you both return to Mr. Craw's office. Knocking politely, you are both welcomed inside.

"A double visit! Surprises all around today."

Michael, you let him know that you've finished the shopping list, and you hand him back the silverware.

"Perfect! Thank you so much. You have no idea how much these are precious to our family."

As for Kyle, you inform him of why you're here.

"Ah yes, my secretary informed me I'd be having you over. What can I help you with? Oh and Michael, feel free to take the afternoon off... I don't know if your friend would like company or not however..."

Kyle smiles at Mr. Craw, and Michael. "Certainly I would. I mean, I'm not sure if you have other plans, or anything..."

"Then let's see what this is all about."

You begin telling your story Kyle, and as you reach the will and your father's death, he stops you.

"A package you say? For me? I hardly knew James..."

He seems to mull it over a bit, and asks to read the part of the will concerning him. You hand it to him as well as the package.

"Curious. I think I'll open this in private, if that's alright with everyone."

He looks at the both of you.

"My condolences again Miss Delacroix. Please inform me of when the funeral is so I may attend."

With that he swiftly moves you out of the office... unnervingly quickly.

How large was the package, since I didn't think to ask earlier?

As Mr. Craw takes the package from her and handles it, she eyes him with curiosity. 'Hardly knew him?' Before she can ask how they knew each other, the man speaks more quickly, seeming to attempt to speed things up. "Uh, yes. Thank you." She smiles at his condolences, but it falters slightly. "The funeral will be tomorrow."

She eyes Michael sidelong to see if he has any reaction to this bit of news. She had wanted to invite him, but wasn't quite sure how. It wasn't as if they had met. And it wasn't as if she really knew him.

Feeling the pressure of eyes on her, she turns her attention back to Mr. Craw and forces another smile. She mumbles something about how it was nice to meet him.

As the door closes quickly behind her and Michael, she frowns. "That was... odd." She frowns for a second, and looks at Michael as if to ask something, and then changes her mind. Breaking out in a smile, she looks up at him, "So, afternoon off, huh?" She asks, feeling her cheeks warm at how lame it comes out.

Michael's eyes remain eerily expressionless in regards to any mention of the funeral, giving him not so much of a bored gaze as a steely look. If Kyle had been particularly observant in the short time they had been together on the road, she might have noticed that this look in Michael's eyes doesn't change, no matter if he is smiling, frowning or so on. Upon being rushed out of the office, he indeed does frown and upon having the door close in his face he shakes his head.

"You're right. That was certainly strange." He turns to Kyle and chuckles. "Told you to be careful of that man. I still have no idea of what to make of him." He starts to stroll along, slipping his hands in his pockets. "You said it. Afternoon off. Say, would you know if there is anything to do in this town?" He remembers the passes he was given yesterday and strokes his beard. "Actually, I was thinking of exploring the museums here, seeing what I could learn about the town. Might as well, seeing as I'll be living here, eh?"

Kyle smiles. "Last time I was here, I wasn't old enough to go exploring, so I'm afraid I can't offer to many ideas. Museums are certainly worth visiting, though. There's a lot of history here." She pauses for a second and laughs at herself. "Not as much as New England, of course. But we have more legends." She pauses for a second to take in the skyline. "And why wouldn't we? So much of this area is still so... unclaimed."