fandomtownies | The Park

A tour through town was a bit wild. By the town hall, they were cleaning up feathers and it looked like ducks. Dead ducks. And the front doors to the building look like they had been blown inward.

It had to be Tex...or whoever she was.

Her shop was dark with no sign of even the ducks, although it was a mess in there.

Driving back by the park, he noticed the ducks there in the pond. He parked and walked to the water's edge and stared at them. These ducks seemed to take no notice to him. For all intents and purposes...they looked like they were just ducks.

Contemplative, Yazoo headed to a bench and sat down, his attention really no where as he tried to make sense of it all.

"Nice bench," said Jenny, having wandered over towards the duck pond. "Mind sharing it?"

The guy looked a little frazzled, kind of big and possibly intimidating, depending on attitude. But, hey, this looked like a good spot to sit.

Looking up, Yazoo shook his head. "Go ahead," he said absently, waving next to him. He spared her a glance and noticed her laptop. A lot of people had those around here.

"Thanks," said Jenny, sitting down and setting her coffee between the two of them. She pulled her laptop out and, as she went to open the file with her lesson plans, noticed the guy's look at her laptop. "Lesson plans for next term," she said. "Also, my laptop and I are pretty much inseparable. You a computer geek?"

"No," he smiled just a little. "They look useful, though. You teach at the school?"

"Totally useful," confirmed Jenny. "Depending on what you do with them, of course. Mine's pretty much an all-purpose tool." She smiled back. It was good to know the bruiser facade held a nice guy behind it.

Jenny closed up her laptop and picked up her coffee cup, holding it in one hand as she took a drink from it. She really needed to pick up a travel mug instead of using the paper cups from the Perk. "Yeah, last semester they brought me on mid-term to teach psych. This semester? Continuing with the psych, but I'm adding a course on magical theory. Should be fun."

If Yazoo believed in fate, then it might have been her hand that guided him to the park. Luck might have been closer to what he thought this meeting was and one he wasn't going to squander.

However, leaping on this woman and barraging her with a dozen questions didn't seem like a good idea. His time behind Spike's bar taught him that. "Psych? As in psychology? Or as in like...psychic things?"

"A little from column A, a little from column B," said Jenny. "I teach psychology, but parapsychology's a part of that, even if it's the bastard stepchild of the field. Psychic abilities are more prevalent than a lot of people thing." She studied the guy for a minute. He was looking a little intense. "You interested in parapsychology?"

She held out her hand. "Jenny Calendar, by the way."

He looked at her hand for a moment, as if thinking about whether to touch her before taking it. "Yazoo." Giving a firm shake, he shrugged, letting his hand fall away. "Yes and no. I have a ... friend," still a word that seemed awkward to him but yes, Tex he considered a friend, "who is having some issues and I'm trying to figure out what they are. But everything I've read so far hasn't really helped."

"Nice to meet you, Yazoo," said Jenny, not blinking an eye at the unusual name. "What've you read? Some of the books out there are absolute crap. And what're the issues? If I'm not prying. I might be able to lend a hand. I've got a fair amount of knowledge in that area."

"I'm not really sure," he said with a frustrated sigh. Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees, attention focused on his clasped fingers. "She's not herself, like...a switch was flipped in her brain and she was switched off or something and she's someone else now." He grimaced at how crazy he was sounding.

Jenny nodded slowly and held onto her coffee cup as she talked. "So what you've got is sounding like it's one of two things: A classic case of possession, or a body switch. Personally? I'd prefer the possession. They're a heck of a lot easier to deal with."

She smiled symapthetically. "Not so comfortable with magic?"

"In this town, it could be all three," Yazoo said, looking over his shoulder at her. "I don't think it's a body switch although it's not out of the question, I guess. There's still too much familiar about her."

He combed through his hair and shoved at it impatiently. "I thought it might be a ... " his hand waved, "like an electrical interface problem with her armor that's shorted out. Maybe it is possession and this interface problem has helped it along, although who could take possession through the interface in her helmet?"

Grimacing, he shook his head. "She wasn't complaining about any technical problems before. I just don't know enough about her technology. Maybe a spell caused a malfunction or something." Yazoo snorted in frustration. "I just don't know."

"There was a demon loose in the internet once," said Jenny. She shook her head. "Don't worry. He's gone. Trust me, this guy wasn't so much into possession."

She frowned, searching her memory for connections between technology and possessions. There wasn't so much. "Sounds like maybe a spirit used the interface as a conduit to take possession of her. Rare, but possible. Possessions, though? Generally not a random occurrence. Your friend get anyone mad recently?"

She opened her laptop back up. "Maybe I can dig something up to help. Any way we can get info on her technology?"

"Probably not," Yazoo said with a shake of his head. "She's not from this time era." He leaned back and looked up at the sky. "And I can't think of anyone she pissed off recently..."

He started to laugh. "Actually, she's rather rude, so she probably pissed off a lot of people just from sheer force of personality but lately?"

Laughter dying off, his face drew into a scowl. "There was one lady in the pub one night...I didn't hear all the conversation though."

"Not from this time era doesn't mean 'not searchable,'" said Jenny. "Just means it might take longer." She shrugged. "But dealing with the here and now? More of a priority."

"Spike's Pub?" asked Jenny. She gave Yazoo a hesitant look. Anything having to do with Spike was bad news. "What lady? Did your friend give her a piece of her mind or something?"

Yazoo shook his head. "No, actually it was a business deal. Thing is, last I heard, it was mutually beneficial, although Tex was rather reluctant to trust a lawyer."

"People trust lawyers?" asked Jenny, her eyes wide. "I don't think so. So the last person you really know Tex--" Jenny paused, then tilted her head. "Wait, that name sounds familiar. I think I've met her. Runs the arms shop?" She shook her head and went on. It didn't matter who she was; it mattered that she was in trouble. "She had a business deal with one of the local lawyers and you think it might have gone bad?"

"Yeah. They sort of got tense there for a bit in the conversation. But what could the lawyer do other than threaten to sue?" Yazoo looked over at her.

"Depends on the lawyer," said Jenny. "Not all those evil lawyer jokes are unfounded. Did you happen to hear what this lawyer said?"

"No, but if it was business it had to do with guns and I know it was business."

"So maybe the lawyer found a way to have an entity possess Tex," said Jenny. "There are spells that can do that."

Yazoo shook his head. "I'll take your word for it, I don't know about spells but I wouldn't discount it at this point."

[ooc- Yazoo is reluctant to ask for help and he doesn't know how.]

"I can see what I can track down," said Jenny. "If I can't find anything online, there are a few books back at my place that I can check. Got a phone number? I can call you if I can figure anything out."

OOC: That's fine. Luckily, Jenny's the type to offer anyway. Been working out a way to simplify Jenny's part in the plot with Tex on IM anyway. :)

He frowned and looked at her skeptically. "You'd help someone you don't know?" Shaking his head, Yazoo gave her his cell phone number. He supposed any help was better than nothing.

Why Yazoo felt it necessary to even think to help a woman he really didn't know well...it wasn't something he dwelled on for long.

"Well, sure," said Jenny, shrugging and looking matter-of-fact. "Someone gets possessed, doesn't matter they're my best friend or a random person. Gotta do something about that."

She hadn't exactly been raised to be altruistic. But then again, she'd always been the misfit anyway.

He nodded and smiled ever so slightly. "Anything would be good," Yazoo said. "She'll probably kick my ass if she found out I was doing this."

[ooc- and I have to drop into bed. It's been a long several days and they'll be even longer until the middle of next week. bleh. Thanks for your patience with me]

"Let's not tell her, then," said Jenny, grinning. "And here's my phone number," she said, writing it down on a piece of scrap paper from her laptop case. "My e-mail address too, if you ever get a chance to use a computer. Give me a holler if something comes up, or if you need advice on magic."

OOC: Totally not a problem. I understand how RL works. :) Besides, I've been having fun with the scene, and I wouldn't mind getting them together another time to chat. Happy New Year!

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OOC: Off to go home from work, but I'll probably be online a while tonight.

The Park

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