============== Rafe plays with the Bad action figure ==============

Nexus Plaza
Ariene is sitting here.
Dev is resting here.
Ian is resting here.

Ariene cruises back into the plaza, making a beeline for a particular bench, diverting her course only minutely to avoid collisions with pedestrians.

You get a cheap plastic action figure from a nylon hockey bag.

You grab ahold of a cheap plastic action figure.

Rafe holds an action figure gingerly between two fingers and props it up on the bench next to him. He watches it intently, as if waiting for it to do something

Ariene flicks her eyes idly over the dancing (and static) advertisements and, finding nothing to hold her interest, begins to watch the young man she encountered briefly in the postal office.

Dev leaves down.

Ian sighs deeply, glancing around the Plaza for any sign of activity.

Rafe moves his mouth silently, tilting his head from one side to the other. He keeps his eyes fixed on the action figure.

You stop using a cheap plastic action figure.

Ariene attempts to fix on the figure from across the plaza, eyes narrowing as she attempts to make out any details of which one it might be.

Rafe gives his action figure a silly grin, then picks it up and holds it up to one ear.

Rafe nods in agreement with an action figure.

You tell Rob, 'Rafe's talking to his action figure, again...'
Rob tells you, 'May God have mercy on the souls and sanity of those around him. <grins>'

Rafe whispers quietly at an action figure, his expression stern and disapproving.

Ariene arches an eyebrow fractionally, and settles back into a more comfortable position. Occasionally her eyes do a sweep of the plaza.

Rafe gasps at an action figure. His eyebrows shoot up and his mouth falls open. He pauses, dumbstruck, then purses his lips in a frown and shakes the figure violently.

You exclaim, 'No! That's not true!'

Rafe looks at the action figure in his hand as if it is a live spider. He drops it suddenly and covers his eyes with his hands.

You stop using a cheap plastic action figure.

You drop a cheap plastic action figure.

You begin to cry.

Rafe sobs quietly, hiding his face behind his hands. His shoulders shake with each sob.

Ariene looks on, impassively, her attention more taken with the action figure than with its sobbing owner.

Rafe shakes his head back and forth, muttering, 'no...no...no...'

You sniff sadly.

Asphodel arrives from the north.

Ariene nods slightly, in recognition.

Ariene relaxes on her bench, hands resting at her sides.

Rafe sniffles quietly and lowers his hands from his face.

l asphodel
A rather short man stands before you, with long, silver hair tied into a ponytail,hanging down his back. He has a detatched look in his grey eyes, as if heweren't always inhabiting this world. He is rather pale and thin.

Asphodel drops down onto a bench near Rafe, he glances down at the ground a little, as though nervous, his eyes shift about the plaza, then he glances over at Rafe. "Hello.."

Rafe gives the action figure a suspicious look, then looks uncertainly at Asphodel.

Rafe wipes the tears from his eyes and stutters, 'h..hi"

Asphodel tilts his head slightly, sending a stream of silver-white hair over his shoulder, he responds by saying, "What happened? Why are you crying?"

Rafe purses his lips in a pout and points at the action figure laying on the ground.

Ariene smirks to herself as she overhears this, barely, above the noise and bustle of the traffic through the plaza.

Asphodel walks over and picks up the action figure. He smiles slightly and rests it on the bench next to Rafe, "There.. He's better now.."

Rafe starts to explain, 'Well, it... uh...' He pauses when the action figure is picked up, a look of horror spreading across his face. 'No!'

Rafe scoots away from the figure. 'Keep it away from me!'

Asphodel thinks for a moment. He picks up the action figure and throws it into the pool.

Rafe points at the figure accusingly. 'You never learn, do you!' he yells.

Asphodel grins, he says, "Who was that, that made you so upset?"

Rafe sighs with satisfaction when the figure plops into the water. He smiles smugly and relaxes against the bench.

Asphodel leans back against a bench and sighs to himself.

Rafe's lower lip quivers, and his eyes fill with water. 'It's what he said...'

Rafe shakes his head, shaking loose one tear which rolls down his cheek.

Rafe looks sadly at the silver-haired man, as if uncertain how his explanation will be received.

Asphodel glances over at you, "What he said? What did he say?"

Jasper walks into the plaza, tapping his stick with each step. The holographic reflections bounce off his shades, as he moves toward the pool.

Ariene glances over from her otherwise-vacant bench, eyes resting on the newly-entered figure for a few moments.

Rafe blinks and rubs his lower lip self-consciously. 'Well...'

Jasper's heavy boots clunk softly on the concrete, creating a slight thump with every step. Clad in leather, creaking noises come from his constant movement through the plaza..

Rafe flinches at the sound of the cane on the pavement. He looks sharply at Jasper, then relaxes.

Asphodel doesn't hear the clumping because it's the plaza, and there's too many people for footsteps to have an echo. He focuses his attention on Rafe, however he senses Jasper is near, not jasper himself, but that someone new had come into the plaza.

Ariene slides forward on the bench, into a more upright position; her arms glide forward, hands resting just above the knees of her BDU pants.

Rafe leans over towards Asphodel and whispers conspiratorially, 'He said I was a crazy faery, and I oughta be locked up! But that's just not true!'

Asphodel shakes his head, "No, of course that's not true."

Rafe smiles at Asphodel with relief and a bit of gratitude in his expression.

Rafe appears to think for a moment, then his face returns to a pout. 'I hate it when people say stuff like that. It's mean.'

Asphodel smiles slightly at Rafe, he pushes himself up from the bench and nods, then says, "I must be going, actually, however." He nods in agreement, "As do I, they should learn to keep quiet or someone is going to kill their parents."

Jasper stops at the pools edge, his open jacket revealing pale white skin. Resting a boot upon the wall of the pool, he looks around to the people gathered in the plaza.

Ariene smirks slightly to herself at the comment about parents, lifting one boot onto the bench. She begins to methodically work the laces, tightening them.

Rafe nods and smiles. 'Okay. Oh, I'm Rafe. Nice to meetcha.'

Asphodel glances over at Jasper, he sneers a little and turns back to Rafe. "I'm just called Asphodel." He says it as though it wasn't his real name, however he uses it as it were.

Jasper's mirrored shades distort the images of passers-by as he looks about the plaza. Reaching into a small pocket in his pants, he pulls out a flattened pack of cigarettes, and un-ruffles it a bit.

Ariene rapidly reties her bootlaces, wrapping them once around the top of the boot before double-knotting them. Lazily, she returns that boot to the ground and raises the other, watching the movement in the plaza from the corner of her eye.

Asphodel walks to the northern edge of the plaza, he sighs a little, slumping his shoulders, as his long, silver hair reached to the middle of his back. He glances back with his equally silver eyes, looking among the people, from Jasper to Ariene to Rafe and the others, then he walks away.

Asphodel leaves north.

Rafe walks over to the pool and peers into the water, looking for something.

Jasper turns his head to the side as he looks in the pack. Pulling out a bent cigarette, he slides it between his lips, and takes out a pack of matches. Lighting the cigarette quickly, he throws the used match in the ground, and takes a few short drags.

Ariene watches Asphodel leave with a barely-perceptible shake of her head, then returns her booted foot to the pavement, stamping it once or twice for good measure.

Rafe frowns and walks around the pool, slowly, looking into the water, his eyes searching.

Rafe stops and gasps happily, crawling up onto the pool ledge.

Jasper's shielded eyes follow Rafe around the plaza, displaying no hint that he is watching.

Rafe reaches into the water, up to his shirt sleeve, then frowns, pulling his arm out.

Ariene plucks languidly at the shins of her BDU pants, settling the cuffs back over the tops of the boots as she watches Rafe climbing onto the pool's edge.

Rafe pulls his shirt off over his head and sets it down carefully.

You stop using a glitter shirt.

Jasper pushes away from the pools ledge and turns toward the Hotel sign, a trail of smoke following him around and making other citizens glare at him.

Rafe lays over the pool's edge, his ass and legs hanging over the side towards the rest of the plaza. He takes a deep breath and plunges his torso into the water. His back end wriggles for several seconds, then he pops out of the water with a gasp.

Jasper moves from the plaza with a slow pace, tapping his stick rythmically with every step.

Jasper leaves north.

You get a cheap plastic action figure.

Rafe stands, dripping wet, clutching a wet action figure in his fist. He grins happily at it and puts it in his bag.

Ariene looks on, amused to see exactly what she expected clutched in Rafe's dripping hand.

Rafe shakes his head like a dog, sending droplets of water flying. He brushes water off his bare chest and picks up his shirt but does not put it on.

Ariene folds her arms over her chest, resting them there as she looks on.

Rafe sits on a nearby bench, smiling.

Rafe leans back on the bench, spreads his arms, and closes his eyes as if suntanning.

Ariene glances up at one of the time displays floating on a particularly garish advertisement, and her brows draw together slightly in a frown. Without a sound, she unfolds her arms and rises to her feet.

Ariene leaves east.