Rue Judaique

The motorcycle rolls along the pavements leading up to their destination, and Miriel chuckles softly while considering Duncan's question, Heh, no. I should hope not, she's quick to add, But don't quote me on that.

'M afraid her sources remain mum, even to her. It seems Thomas is careful, especially in dealing with his interpreter. Probably rightly so—Not to stereotype Cathy as the threatening, undead mafioso type—Shame he died, despite his prudence. He does have interests to protect, so we will show up to collect some of his things, and lock up, all under his ghostly guidance. That's all we know to expect.

She pauses, and for a moment the sound of the wind rushing past their ears is all that can be heard. She speaks again, Here's hoping he doesn't resort to something especially creepy to get our attention. Duncan can feel her start slightly with a shiver from where she sits behind him.

The Brujah listens to Miriel's reply without comment, until she mentions possible creepiness. Then he chuckles a bit.

Expect rattling objects and ghostly writing. It's probably the only way he can point stuff out to us.

Duncan slows down and begins to look at the house numbers as they pass. About half a block from Number 62, he turns off the engine and coasts to a stop in front of the weathered stone building.

Hunh. Nicer than my place.

Perception+Alertness>5:

After he dismounts the motorcycle and replaces the helmet behind the seat, Duncan examines the building openly. He reads the name on the mailbox, and peers around the door area.

M. Prud'hom, if you're here, I don't suppose you had a spare key hidden somewhere? He waits a few seconds, not really long enough for a reply. I didn't think so.

Well, let's see. Since I seem to be without my lockpicks, I guess we'll have to break something. Front door's a little obvious to passersby. I could boost you up to the balcony. He's obviously talking to Miri, despite his attention being on the building. But if there's someone in there, you'd be on your own until you could let me in. The cellar door is less obvious, but still a problem if someone sees us breaking in. Hmm...

Duncan steps over to the unlabeled mailbox and takes out one of his blank business cards (the ones he writes his phone number on before handing it out). He tears it in half lengthwise, and then folds the pieces until they fit into the little slots by the mailbox and doorbell. The neonate takes out a pen; but he pauses a moment before writing anything, and glances at Miriel.

I was going to write down the name from my drivers license, in case any cops catch us breaking in. "See, officer, I just moved in and forgot my keys." Or would you rather use yours? A brief pause, and he adds: Do you have ID?

Miriel's only response to Duncan's teasing about ghostly antics is wholly heartfelt, audible groan of dread.

She disembarks when he does, and stands silently as he makes his assessments, gripping the strap of the Brujah's laptop bag while wearing a frown, possibly left over from her previous grumbling. Even her look of displeasure is curiously winsome.

She titters, raising an eyebrow in amused disbelief as he suggests boosting her into a window, Yeah, sure. I love the possibility of breaking into a stranger's boudoir as much as the next gal, but if you're suggesting so because of some delusion that my innate sense of grace also means I'm quiet as a cat--

She stops herself when he explains what he's fiddling with and asks whether she wants her name in the slot. She thinks on something as she replies absently, No, you go ahead...

She has an idea, it would seem, Yeah, fill that in, then we should actually try to get the police's attention, while breaking in. If you're up for talking our way into being believed we live here and locked ourselves out. If things get difficult or weird while working, the cops won't respond quickly to follow up calls from residents, having answered the first harmless "disturbance." Her raised brow and suggestive smirk ask, "Ehh??"

Duncan merely smiles at Miriel's discomfort over possible 'ghostly antics'.

The smile turns into a grin when she starts to express disapproval at the thought of being lifted up to the balcony; but he nods when she tells him to use his own (fake) name, and begins to write. As he pens the name from his license onto the fresh nametags, the Brujah listens to Miriel's plan concerning the police; although he frowns slightly before putting his pen away. Remind me to take these down when we leave, would you?

Miriel, Storyteller, plus anyone else who looks:

I'm not too worried about whether the cops show up, but flagging them down on purpose feels like asking for complications. Tell you what- stand there by the street looking bored, and we'll wing it. He grins suddenly, and adds: Like always.

You know, maybe it would help to be partially screened from the street.

It only takes a matter of seconds to move the motorcycle to the sidewalk in front of the cellar door. Duncan steps back and looks around again, to see if the coast is relatively clear.

Once relative privacy is assured, Duncan winks at Miri and crouches down in front of the cellar door. It looks to be metal, although not as thick as a fire door. The young Brujah works his fingers into the edges of the door, and begins to exert pressure.

Perception>3:

Storyteller:

She smiles, but the smile is quite tight lipped, Stand around looking bored and disinterested? Gee, can't say I've done it before, but hey, I'll give it a shot... In the spirit of "wingin' it."

She seems a little disappointed in not getting to deliberately tempt the law, but is still in good spirits about the current plan. At least, enough to joke about her acting chops and stay cooperative. She walks off a bit, crossing her arms.

She finds her place while Duncan repositions the bike, just where she can keep an eye on the street or on the Brujah, who now approaches the cellar door with a wink. She smiles curiously to him, and watches him begin to work with interest . She nods, impressed with the Brujah's decided plan: "break/bend/maim something!" How novel.

Hey, if it works, it works. She resumes her bored housecat demeanor, but a smile begins to play on her lips the longer she watches him attempt to bend metal in a paradoxical show of carefully applied brute strength.

Miriel's boredom is obvious, since she's making no attempt at all to hide it -- quite the opposite. Duncan rolls his eyes, and he briefly pauses his burglary efforts to speak.

Fine, flag one down and have some fun. Just be careful what you tell him. As he resumes working on the door, he adds softly: I don't want to have to kill a cop.

As the lock on the cellar door breaks free, Duncan cringes a bit at the noise; but when it doesn't seem to draw any attention, he looks inside to scan the interior. The floor seems to be unobstructed, so he hops down easily.

Once Miri is inside, Duncan reaches up and closes the door as much as possible with the lock broken. Then he follows the Toreador through the wooden door, and into the corridor beyond.

As they move upstairs to the ground floor, Duncan pauses for a moment. Then he leans in close to Miriel, and speaks in a whisper.

Heat's on... building's probably occupied.

While he two Kindred look around the ground floor hallway, the Brujah whispers to the room in general, instead of to Miriel:
Thomas, now would be a good time to lead us to your apartment.

Storyteller:

Miriel watches Duncan work, her smile now looking quite obvious. It blinks out of existence when he mutters about accidental cop killing, That escalated quickly.

She shakes her head, calmly declining his suggestion to stave off boredom, smirking, Neh. Enjoying the view just fine, here.

Auspex 4:

Duncan:

The lock breaking snaps her out of it. She glances around with Duncan, surveying. She turns in time to see him disappear into the cellar, so she moves quickly to follow, hopping down when he clears the space below.

Her irises look enormous as she glances around, passing the Brujah and walking out of the room, then slowly down the store room corridor. She pauses at each store room door, waiting on something before leading on the next, down to the stairs leading up to the ground level.

Storyteller:

Miriel nods to Duncan's whisper, glancing around for any points of interest.

She was especially concentrated until Duncan talks vaguely to the room, trying to get Thomas' attention; she tries not to snicker, biting her lip. She mutters something affectionately, amused, but barely audible, Dorkus.

Duncan snorts quietly -- barely a whisper of breath from his nostrils -- in amusement at Miriel's one-word comment.

His smile turns serious when they start to feel the effects of Thomas' 'touch'. However, after a few seconds, as the wraith leads them up the stairs, Duncan glances over at Miri and betrays a hint of delight at her reaction. The Toreador doesn't seem to like this ghostly guidance; yet this is no surprise, as her earlier words hinted as much. His only comment is a barely audible phrase.
Told you so.

Auspex 4:

The guidance ends at the stairway leading up from the ground floor hallway. Duncan continues to follow Miri's lead, as he's done before when her senses are guiding them.

When they reach the first floor landing, though, he steps past her and takes a few silent steps up toward the top of the stairs, peering up past the next flight to the trapdoor above. The Brujah then looks back down at Miriel with a puzzled expression. He mouths a few words silently as he points between the first and second floors:
"Here or up there?"

When Duncan looks her way, Miriel's eyes are screaming in silent alarm.

Still, she follows obediently, shooting a piercing, but pitiful look his way at hearing , "told ya so." She makes no comment. When they arrive at first floor landing, Miriel staggers on for a few more paces after Thomas has stopped guiding them before slowing to a halt.

Duncan breezes by, and Miriel takes a deep breath. He checks the next stair before asking Miriel where to start, at which point, she can only announce, I think I'm going to cry, in the softest, most pitiable voice Duncan has heard her utter yet.

She makes a small fanning motion with her hands, presumably to dry her eyes; she takes another breath and dons a hysterical smile, whispering, Fuck it, let's check out the attic; shit's gotten about as spooky as it can, already. Either she's thorough, tempted to loot, or is a glutton for punishment, regarding being creeped.

We'll work top, down, her composure is returning, So we don't miss anything, and have to repeat tonight's events on a revisit. She's of course referring to the supernatural chill they voluntarily followed.

When Duncan turns back to face Miri and asks his silent question, he seems to notice for the first time that her reaction to Thomas' icy touch has left her truly shaken, rather than briefly creeped out. Even after the touch has ended, her terror persists for a while. It takes Miri several seconds to compose herself, and whisper her mournful reply. Her attempts to show that she's okay now are almost more piteous than her first response.

Long before she has finished speaking, Duncan's amusement has disappeared completely, to be replaced by concern. He steps back down to the landing, and puts a hand on her shoulder before whispering to her softly.

Hey, it's okay. When he went through me in Elysium, I almost lost it. That would've been great... trying to convince Gosuin that a ghost made me frenzy.

But we're badass vampires now... we're a part of the shit that goes bump in the night. We can take a little spooky stuff, right? The corner of his mouth curls upward, in the hint of a smile. Or at least, we can fake it well enough that the other monsters know not to fuck with us.

After a few seconds he adds, almost inaudibly: Sorry I made fun of you.

Auspex 4:

The Brujah takes his hand from her shoulder, and points a thumb behind him, up the stairs. He mouths another few words.
"I'll go first, okay?"

Duncan:

As Duncan approaches Miriel, she looks to him from under lowered eyelashes, tilting her head as he whispers. The angle gives her gaze a sullen, withdrawn look as he puts a hand on her shoulder.

Still, she smirks to what he says; a soft laugh denoting a palpable loss of stress escapes when he tries to make her feel better about being badass monsters, Goodness...

She glances away while he apologizes, as if deflecting the heart-to-heart tone. Despite this, she looks back to him in a softer, better mood than just before, I can take being made fun of. There's no need to apologize. She smiles sweetly, then wryly, attempting to further lighten the mood as he motions to the stairs, whispering back, What, and leave me all alone for a second? After all this?? She nods, second guessing something, Yeah, you go first. I could use a head start.

She follows quietly after him as he starts climbing steps.

Miri, Auspex 2:

The Toreador's soft laugh makes Duncan smile a bit in satisfaction; like he's accomplished a mission. This smile turns into an eye roll, as Miri talks about a 'head start'. He whispers a brief reply.

Oh sure-- leave me all alone with the spookiness.

Yet as the Brujah turns back to the stairs, his mouth twitches a bit, as though he's repressing a smile.

Duncan continues up the stairway to the top floor, hugging the wall to minimize squeaking noises from the old steps.

As the door closes at ground level, Duncan's brows furrow together in annoyance, and he mutters a few words under his breath.
Great. As if things weren't complicated enough.

The annoyance seems to disappear as something about the first floor doorway catches his attention. The Brujah looks at Miri and shrugs, and then quietly retraces his steps back down to the landing, still hugging the wall.

Duncan kneels down and lifts up a loose wooden slat by the door, and finds a key resting underneath. With another glance at Miriel, he takes the key and replaces the floorboard. He stands and does a little pantomime to Miri, the raised eyebrow turning the gestures into a question.

Storyteller, Anyone:

He holds up the key and points to the first floor door ("Do we go in here?"); then he points down toward the ground floor, and cups a hand to his ear ("Or do we listen down there?")

Miriel's posture relaxes as the men are heard entering another room. She watches Duncan mime before also carefully and quietly returning to the first floor landing.

She gives the key a look, eyes downstairs, but ultimately approaches the first floor's door. She presses her ear softly to it to see if she can hear disturbances or rustling on the other side of the apartment door before they try it.

storyteller:

If the door checks out, Miriel will gesture to the lock to indicate they should proceed.

Satisfied with the relative silence on the other side of the door, Miriel moves to allow Duncan to open it up.

She steps in and out of the Brujah's way, motioning that they should quietly shut the door behind them if all remains still.