"Welcome to the Vanguard," Demitri said dryly. "Where everyone tries to kill each other on a daily basis."
Carden stepped out from behind Runner. "I'll lend you some clothes. Be right back." He went upstairs to get some clothes for Runner to borrow.
He looked around the sitting room while he waited, rubbing his face as he did so.
In record timing, Carden thundered down the stairs with some decent clothes for Runner. "Here. These should be good." He pointed to the other side of the room. "There's a bathroom right there."
He followed the hand and walked into the bathroom, locking the door behind him and looking at the clothes with a frown.
((What would they be?
((Just a clean tee and some dark jeans. Carden's not really one for fancy stuff. I'm gonna have to go, though. I don't have school tomorrow, so I'm probably going to be available most of the time.))
((Alright! see you tommorrow!
((See ya!))
He sighed, quickly changing and tossing his old clothes in the trash, then walking out of the bathroom in search for Tess.
She was leaned against the stairwell, talking to Cinthia. They both were dressed up.
Cinthia finally managed to tame her unruly curls, braiding one side of her hair into cornrows and leaving the other as sleek as her tight curls would let her. She wore a black asymmetrical long sleeved shirt that stopped just below her chest–her burned arm was covered while the other was bare due to no sleeve–and black skin tight pants and boots.
Tessa was a little more flashy. Her golden waves laid neatly on her back and was partially pulled up, braids coming from the font of her head wrapping around the tie that held some of her hair. She wore the same outfit as Cinthia but her shirt was sparkly and gold–and the only sleeve was on the opposite side–and her pants and boots were a cream color with some bedazzling. Large hoops fell from her ears.
He felt a bit under dressed, but still approached, running a hand across his face.
Tess looked up and beamed at him. "Look at you! You clean up nicely." She looked to Cinthia for confirmation and Cin just rolled her eyes and said "yeah."
He shrugged. "So, like, is there anyone there who'll be able to tell who I am? Like, sense the demon in my and try to attack?"
Tessa flapped a hand. "The Isic are peaceful people–they just got out of captivity, so they likely won't start anything. You've met June, right? But I doubt they'd be able to sense your demonic side. Not their area of expertise."
He rubbed his face. "Since I'm an ambassador now, will I have to be introduced?"
Cinthia sighed and grabbed both of them. "You two can talk some other time. Right now, we got a concert to go to." Without warning, she brought them into absolute darkness. Within seconds, however, the found themselves on the outskirts of a large crowd next to a stage outside. "Here we are." She beckoned for Tess as she walked backstage, unnoticed.
Tess smiled at Runner and kissed his cheek. "I actually wanted you to see that I did this, so I guess good timing, right? I have to go, but feel free to wander around."
He blinked a couple times, then smiled. "Alright, I guess. Where should I go when it ends?"
She hooked a thumb to where Cinthia was hopping up the stairs to the stage behind the curtain. "Backstage. Or at least close to it. We'll meet with you there."
He nodded. "Alright. Try not to die."
She grinned and winked. "I'll try not to." She jogged over to the stairs and jumped up them just in time. On the loud speakers, a male voice announced their presence. The crowd cheered, and Tessa walked through the curtain with an exaggerated swagger and a wide smile. The crowd got even louder. She stopped at the edge and spread her arms. "Are you ready, ladies and gentlemen?!" The crowd cheered. "That's what I thought! Let's go!"
Music started playing, and Tessa did her opening solo, dancing with her whole body while she sang, never missing a beat and never running out of breath. Two backup dancers joined her, but she was center stage.
((I'm not actually going to make up songs, just briefly narrate what happens at the concert))
((Yeah, imao
Runner winced at how loud the noise was, inflaming his already horrible headaches to new heights. It didn't help that so many people were there with magic. He began to weave his way between the people, heading for an exit and some fresh air.
A small tap on his shoulder.
He turned around, wincing at a particularly loud strike on the snare drum.
It was tiny Junia. She jerked her head to the side and led him out of the crowd and towards the main road.
He sighed. "Thank you for that. Tess dragged me out here."
She smiled as she kept walking down the road, leading him to her jewelry shop. "She's proud of what she and Cinthia do. She loves it, and wanted to share that with you." She tapped her head and looked up at him. "I guess she didn't realize just how bad it'd get for you."
He rubbed his eyes. "Yeah. Just too much stuff going on at once."
She ushered him into her shop, pressing her palm against the wall to alter the building so he wouldn't hit his head. "I can probably make you some earpieces to help you with that. I studied the diagrams and made some prototypes in my free-type." She sat on a swivel stool and picked up a ring she had set down, picking back up from where she left off.
"I'd prefer to get used to it, but that doesn't seem like an option."
She stuck her tongue out as she fiddled with the ring. "I'm not perfect, so I could purposely make it less in quality so you can still get used to the magic while not harming your mind from the intensity of it."
"That would help." He sighed, shaking his head. "She guilt-tripped me into this, and I let her. Now I gotta go boss people around, and I'm not good at that."