Stacia Novik

[credit_not_blame]

● Stacia Novik
Between wrath and mercy
[video | audio | text]

Comments

sent on the secure network

[wheyoftheadept]

hey i got my head back on straight enough and there's something that came up with Guts i could use a consult on. your guys do spirit magic, right?

Re: sent on the secure network

[credit_not_blame]

Spirit stuff isn't my specialty (I'm mostly team guns & sarcasm), but I might be able to help. What happened?

Re: sent on the secure network

[wheyoftheadept]

well okay idk how stuff works in his or your world exactly but put in terms i'd understand

that spooky armor of his has some kind of astral parasite or spirit attached. its real nasty; that powers the armor but the more he uses it the stronger the spirit gets and he's said it can take over once he's activated the armor?

back home he has a witchy friend who can control it, but she's not here

i checked it out cause he was rightly worried about that and i'm like 85% certain I can take that thing if shit goes sideways but i want a second opinion

and frankly the spook i saw is something every magic person here should be aware of cause that is not a friend.

Re: sent on the secure network

[credit_not_blame]

...

I miss my phone. I have a perfect table-flipping gif for my feelings about this saved to it.

I'm limited to shapeshifting and healing right now, so unless you want me to grapple him/it/them while you work, I don't know how much help I'll be. Can he recover control if it takes over, or are we looking at a "we might have to kill him" situation?

Re: sent on the secure network

[wheyoftheadept]

i'm not sure. i don't think he's sure? i dont think whoever gave it to him gave him an instruction manual.

he thinks it only works if he's wearing it, so if push comes to shove, knock him down and strip him?

i was also kinda hoping like, maybe you knew something i don't about spirits, something I could try. it looked like a big fucked up mean monster dog so i played who's alpha with it and it retreated without submitting

don't really want to do that again bc it scared guts.

Re: sent on the secure network

[credit_not_blame]

Of course it doesn't. That would make our lives easier, and that's not allowed.

I've never attempted to strip a struggling person out of armor like his before, who else are you considering recruiting into this?

I don't know a lot about spirits, tbh. Mostly 1) they exist, 2) bad ones need to be destroyed, and 3) etiquette 101. Most of my interactions with them are transactions, and I don't even do those without assistance from someone with more training  than me.

Can you tell me more about the spirit? What it wanted? Did it want destruction for destruction's sake, or did it have another goal it was trying to reach? Did it try to hurt/possess you? How did it scare Guts?

[Action - Very Belated X-Mas Gift]

[monkey_wrench]

[Late Christmas night Jack comes shuffling into the room, wordlessly shoving a covered bowl and a plain brown package at Stacia before flopping into his own bed. The bowl is filled with spicy sichuan chicken in chilly oil sauce, and in the package is a black t-shirt with "I'm Not Bossy, I Just Have Better Ideas", printed on it.]

Re: [Action - Very Belated X-Mas Gift]

[credit_not_blame]

[Awwww!]

Oh, is that how we're doing this? Fine.

[Stacia lobs a package wrapped in sparkly holographic paper at Jack's back. Inside is a black, zippered makeup bag with "Evil Genius" printed on the side in silver letters. The bag itself is packed with sample-size eyeliners, lip balms, and skincare products. Stacia makes a show of not watching him open it up, focusing her eyes instead on unwrapping her own present.]

Normally, I wouldn't dream of picking out makeup for someone without their permission, but I didn't think they were going to let us out again to use gift cards.

[sent by text]

[wheyoftheadept]

mackenzie playing hardest motherhubbard in the room is not de-escalating this. shes from your neck of the woods, can you call her in? i got my hands full with wrath

Re: [sent by text]

[credit_not_blame]

i gotchu, girl. she'll fall in line with the practicalities, but i'll get her to quit feeding the fight.

ugh, this is not the discussion i wanted to have on this topic.

Re: [sent by text]

[wheyoftheadept]

god i know this is so hucking dumb, jeepers creepers. and i cant even cusss people out for it.

Re: [sent by text]

[wheyoftheadept]

also what the heydiddleho is an ahroon and how does that factor in

Re: [sent by text]

[credit_not_blame]

at least no one is going to fly into an uncontrollable cannibalistic rage?

[oh for pete's--]

sooooo much context. short version is that she's sort of a berserker and not many learn how to moderate that.

[action] 3 days after the birthday announcement

[pain_train]

[ Dropped off on Stacia's bed, wrapped up in some fliers since that's the best she could do for wrapping paper: a loosely-knitted infinity scarf made from bright pink sparkle yarn. It's fairly basic and obviously handmade. There's a note with absolutely terrible handwriting that says, "Happy birthday! ♥ Wrath" ]

Re: [action] 3 days after the birthday announcement

[credit_not_blame]

[Everyone here is so nice sometimes! Stacia fires a message off to Wrath.]

Thank you for the scarf! I'll save it for when the weather changes from "uncomfortably moist" to "uncomfortably cold" again <3

private text and thought-speech like an inconsiderate alien.

[takenalive]

Stacia. A word with you.

[Whenever she responds, because he doesn't trust the networks that much, he has something to say in thought-speak, which is fainter if he's not close by.]

<I've picked up on some of the planning and feel obligated to tell you that if I can touch someone in my own body I can copy their DNA and morph into a duplicate of them. Biometrics included, though I must note I'm not a spy and scars and other ottalithe elements may be absent even if I know of them. Any implants are absent entirely.>

Re: private text and thought-speech like an inconsiderate alien.

[credit_not_blame]

I'll give you several even.

[The thought-speech gives her a bit of a jolt; she wasn't expecting the response from that direction. But it's a very interesting response all the same.]

Where are you? I imagine you want to have the words in person rather than digitally.]

[This is a conversation she'd prefer to have in person, too.]

[takenalive]

<Preferably, yes.>

I'm at the showers. Would you prefer to meet somewhere else?

[He doesn't actually get that that can be a weird place to meet someone.]

[credit_not_blame]

The showers are fine! Be there shortly!

[Is it kind of weird? Yes. Is it weirder than other stuff she's ended up doing in the last year, the last four years? Not even close.

It doesn't take her long to find Alloran.]

Thanks for reaching out. That seems like a very useful ability, even if you're not a spy. Am I to assume you let me know because you think I should make use of it, or did you have questions?

[takenalive]

[He's got a large-handled comb from somewhere clasped with his tail and going through his fur, which is wet and consequently has him looking smaller and more raggedy than usual. With the latest change to Rig conditions he's been taking a lot more icy showers.]

<I'm sure it does. Unless I have an, you could say an 'allergy' to a particular pattern of DNA, it's with me for life. But it's always very bad when I'm allergic to a sentient being's DNA. You don't want this.>

[He gestures with a subtle, sardonic Andalite smile, which fades.]

<There's one other thing that has an even more morally dubious element. No, that's too mild a way to put it. I don't trust my own sense of right and wrong, but it is repugnant even to me, yet it could be useful.>

action (some days after the Pride Party)

[myagents]

Normally Price would make sure to get assigned to chores in the kitchen, because he likes making a nice little tray to bring Dan breakfast. It's not much, but it's his way to show appreciation. In the last few days, however, Dan has been very withdrawn from everyone - including him. The last time he saw him was when they hooked up the evening of the Pride Party - perhaps he did something wrong? It was Dan who pushed to make that happen, but who knows...

Either way, since he's being avoided, Price believes that it could be refreshing to do chores somewhere else, and gladly accepts to do his work in the library. He patiently dusts and riorganizes the shelves, when he notices there's someone else tasked with doing chores in this area: it's Stacia.

He's not quite sure how to feel about her, she seems to want to provoke him but hasn't gone out of her way to hurt him. She apparently cares about the well-being of his agents, so that's a good thing, if she wanted to mess with them Price would absolutely make her pay. He loves them. In his own special way, yes, but he does.

"Greetings." he speaks to her flatly. He doesn't want any trouble (yet), but she might decide to bring it anyway.

Re: action (some days after the Pride Party)

[credit_not_blame]

Stacia has never gone out of her way to avoid Price, but she's been quite good at finding reasons to absent herself from his company. His big, public, quote-apology-unquote to the Freelancers had sent up plenty of red flags; but she'd bit her tongue and dissected it in private rather than throwing it back in his face. As an amateur social scientist and self-admitted manipulative bitch, it had been fascinating. As a person -- well, as a Garou person -- it had made her itch to wrap her fingers around his throat and make it very clear where he stood in the pecking order of things.

She doesn't like him. She'd put money down that, were he from her world, he'd be crawling with Wyrm taint. Forget the vampires that had come and gone, Price is her bet for where forces of destruction and corruption breed and dwell among the New Hires. And he's thoughtful enough to be dangerous in the same subtle, backbiting ways she is. Naturally, the dangers he presented hadn't stopped her from inserting herself between him and the Freelancers because she's too damn opinionated to bite her tongue all the time. That and she's never met a leadership position she didn't want to jump on and people she didn't want to boss around at least a little.

Still, when Price approaches her, Stacia's wary. Someone with a keen eye could read a tension in the way she holds herself, not fear necessarily, but an anticipation of conflict. She blinks at him and smiles, polite and bland.

"Hello Dr. Price."

Let the games fucking begin.

[myagents]

Of course Price perceives the tension, but he's quite tense himself, so he gives her one of those smiles that retract immediately and look more like a grimace than anything. He puts a couple of books back onto the shelf he just dusted, tries to talk in a way that sounds distracted and nonchalant.

"Have you seen Daniel, lately?"

This conversation might end really badly, but at least she called him Dr. Price. Although it could have been a mockery, he doesn't mind, he wants to be recognized as someone who does his questionable job perfectly, as that certain role. If she or anyone called him Aiden he would almost spontaneously combust.
Thankfully she doesn't know that, but she'll probably try to get under his skin with her 'adopting the agents' silliness.

[credit_not_blame]

Stacia always defaults to being polite first; it's much easier to start there and be vicious later than it is to go the other way. So she makes every effort to address him as "Doctor" any hint of disdain or mockery coming through in her voice.

"Danie-- oh, you mean Dan?" She laughs, almost to herself. "Some people wear their nicknames so well, I almost forget they have formal names." Almost untrue, but it is weird to think of Dan as being a 'Daniel'. But most people here would probably be surprised to see 'Anastacia' on her legal paperwork back home.

"Unfortunately, no, I haven't seen him. Not outside of group training anyway." She'd known Dan was a wily bastard, but seeing it -- or not seeing it, as it were -- in action is still impressive. "He's not in trouble, is he?"

[myagents]

"Well, I hope not, although he might be, for all we know. He likes to get himself in trouble on purpose."

Ah, another thing they have in common. It's not as wholesome as it could have been.

"I simply haven't seen him lately, that is all."

Not that he can trust Stacia with telling him the truth. He can see her lying or omitting important parts just to 'protect' Dan from him. Which is funny, because Price was the one who pushed him away all the time to avoid further issues. Maybe Dan finally understood that he's not worth keeping around. Does Price hate it? Of course he does, but the fact that he was pushing him away gives him an excuse to think that it's him who did it, and purpose too. Dan is not avoiding him because he's repulsive, he's simply listening to warnings for once. Yes, it's fine. It's fine, it's fine...