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Vincent:
Vincent was currently in Fairhill, a normal haunt to find him and was tagging a building, he was aiming for the Liberty Bell, but with some drops of blood tripping down the bottom.
"Still need to work on a sigil, but this will do for now." he muttered, he was wearing shorts and a Phillies shirt, "How come I never did this more before." he mused to himself
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Calamity:
A mere half a block over, the dark green tags of B+F make it clear where their territory is. But there's none around here - maybe by choice, maybe by way of folks spending time powerwashing walls - and anyone who's anyone (unless you're a Yellowjacket) knows that B+F are small-time, anyway. Not really worth noticing enough to fuck with.
This time of night, there's not a lot of heartbeats nearer than the slow, steady ones inside the buildings, most of the inhabitants of Fairhill sound asleep.
But here's one, loping up the block. Silent and unseen to mortal eyes, surely - there's no noise to herald their presence.
Until there's a small clink and a hiss, and flame from a lighter illuminates this person's face, and the acrid tang of cheap cigarettes fills the air.
Vincent:
Vincent hummed as he continued the work, then smelt the cig smoke and turned, squinting as the lighter lit, "Excuse me, ya got a spar cig?" he asked the person walking down the street
Calamity:
Their exhale sends a cloud of smoke up toward the dark sky, and their steps pause for a few moments, clearly considering the situation.
"Sure," they finally mutter, and pad forward on those silent feet.
This close, it's easy to see how scrawny they are - and about Vincent's age, and wearing a worn, baggy sweatshirt with the hood up, and just as worn jeans.
They've also got a dark bandanna tied loosely around their neck, and their metal lighter glints in the dim light from the streetlamps as they walk under one.
They eye him suspiciously, taking in the can of spray paint, and the tag behind him, their heartbeat thudding slightly faster in their chest as they hold out a fresh cigarette to him, keeping him at arms length.
Vincent:
Vincent smiled and took the cig, taking out his own lighter and took a long drag before exhaling, "Thanks," he nodded before going back to work, adding some red to the blood drips, "What do you think so far, I wanted to go with a classic city symbol and add my own spin on it," he looked at the blood drips and sighed, "I don't know what happened to me either, I think it might have been too much My Chemical Romance and Set it Off, what's your name friend?"
Calamity:
"I don't give my name to strangers in the dark. You...tagging for any particular reason?"
A beat pause, and they tug their hood off their head - easier to see threats coming, if for nothing else. Their curls are dark, and their sea-green eyes glimmer - almost catlike, the way they reflect light. The bandanna around their neck is dark green. Probably. It's dingy, and there's not a lot of light to see by.
Vincent:
he nodded, "I get that, need to be careful in this town, me, they call me Vincent and my friends call me Vinny." he said as he continued, "I got a soft spot for Fairhill, grew up on Hope Street, like to think there's always a piece of it in me, so this is the piece of me that's always going to be with it." he then looked towards the direction of the B+F turf, "Also was hoping to catch someone's attention," he shrugged, "You know, people just don't have proper sybols these days," he mused out of no where, "Like, if this was gotham, a gang would just have to tag a street with Umbrella's, Question Marks, and crossed out coins, here, why can't we have proper symbols like that?"
Calamity:
Their eyebrows fly upward at the suggestion that he's trying to get someone's attention.
"Maybe you're just not looking in the right places," they counter. "Or maybe this isn't a fucking comic book world?" They sound half annoyed, half bemused.
Vincent:
"No, it's not, but we can learn some things from them," he chuckled, "This is Philly after all, I wouldn't be surprised to see Gritty go around beating up criminals. . .or out of town sports fans, is their a difference, I can't tell anymore, what was the point I was making." he asks himself, "Oh yeah, Gotham, Jason Todd, he should have kept being a villain, Red Hood made no sense in the Batfamily, but when he was in Under the Red Hood, when he just came back, he was a fantastic villain and, his motives are completely relatable, a crime boss who enforced codes of conduct, that's a character whose story I'd follow."
Avery Frisk:
Speaking of Gotham, Vinny's very own bat-them elected to make themself known from the nearby alleyway.
The way they moved was uncanny, and their eyes moved right to where Calamity knew their knife was held, before flicking back to the lighter. It wasn't an aggressive move, more protective of the person they were talking to.
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Calamity:
Calamity shifts away from the new person, a hand moving up to pluck the cigarette of their mouth. Making sure any and all escape routes are clear.
Their other hand opens and closes their lighter with a soft clink, clink. Not lighting it, just fidgeting as they give the newcomer a onceover. A clear threat assessment, flicking to where Avery keeps more than one of their knives.
"Who the fuck're you?"
Avery Frisk:
Avery steps out, letting Vinny talk for them, and not going for their knives. Making sure Calamity can see their hands. Not that it mattered but people tend to like that.
Vincent:
"Like I said, I'm Vincent, Vinny to my friends and I sure hope you'll be one of them." he smiled, a genuine one, "That's the Theyfriend, don't worry, they're only for self-defense, dangerous streets and all." he smiled, "I know I know, romanced the bodygaurd, how stereotypical," he then looked the stranger over, "Pronouns?, I'm he/him."
Calamity:
"You have a fucking bodyguard?" Their expression moves from extreme suspicion to mild disgust. "Who the fuck are you, dude? Tagging with a fucking bodyguard, jesus christ." The last is muttered under their breath.
Avery Frisk:
Avery steps forward. Voice soft.
"I wouldn't let him go alone."
Vincent:
he actually laughed out load, "Sorry, I'm sorry that," he giggled a bit, "Self proclaimed bodyguard, like I said, actually my Theyfriend, just, really really protective, love you sweetie." he waved at Avery, "I'm just a proud son of this city who wants to do right by her, and that means doing right with her other children," he gestures to the B+F turf, "You Bristoll & Fairhill?" he asked with that smile of his, "I've been wanting to talk with ya guys if ya are."
Calamity:
Their hand comes up to fiddle with that dark green bandanna they've got on. Their eyes are properly narrowed now, hands sunk deep into the pockets of their hoodie. Muffling the noise their lighter is making.
"Dangerous way to get someone like that's attention, isn't it? If you just wanna talk to 'em?"
Avery Frisk:
Avery seems to twitch every time the lighter makes a noise. Then, their head tilts, looking into Cal's eyes.
"Do you... go to Maddy's?"
Vincent:
"Dangerous yes, but it can honestly come off with water," he then crosses it with an x with his paint, "See, no harm meant not foul, I just wanted to talk to you guys," he pulls out his pockets, "Nothing in my pockets, and to be completly honest, they are protecting me from something they have beef with, third party that has nothing to do you, I'm only hear to talk and to try to make friends with my niehbors." he put a hand forward, "If I've been annoying, I apologize and let's do over, I'm Vincent Drake and I'm the new boss of the Hunting Park Night Howlers." he said, up front and forward, honesty is best policy and all that
Guy:
That’s when a big ‘ol tomcat comes padding over to the assembled people, black as the night and never skipped a day at the gym, by the way he Carrie’s himself. Calamity recognizes the cat, most likely, and Vinny can tell he has a gnarly Beast inside.
“Mao.”
Calamity:
Calamity looks at Vinne's outstretched hand, then into his eyes with their weird, cat-like ones...and starts to laugh.
It's a short, sharp laugh that resolves into a cough - someone needs to stop smoking - and they don't bother to cover their mouth.
"What?" they say once they've stopped talking. "Dude, that's like saying 'Hi, I am definitely a drug dealer and totally not a cop,' like...fucking what?"
The cat gets a glance and a tiny smile - Cal certainly does know that cat - but the majority of their attention is on Vinnie.
Vincent:
Vincent nodded to the cat, trying to remember which vamp turned into a cat, please don't be Titania.
"Listen, beating around the bush seemed to be spooking ya and I'm not here to spook ya, I'm not even here to wave my dick around trying to intimidate ya, cause that's what people do when they're being try hards," he shrugs, "I'm here, because I want one thing for these streets, peace." he nodded, his words seemed genuine, "I said no lies, I grew up here, my parents where pricks so the streets raised me, even more so when I ran away, this city, I love it and I don't want to hurt it with needless violence, and they got robo-cops now so if anything, stand together or die separately, ya know, I want to work with ya."
Avery Frisk:
Avery watches the cat, brow furrowing, then watches the conversation.
Guy:
The cat moseys over to Calamity and daintily rubs his face on Calamity’s leg, purring.
Calamity:
Calamity reaches down absently to give the cat some head scritches, keeping their still burning cigarette well clear of his fur.
"That's real fuckin' noble, dude. You gettin' a lotta people who give a shit?" Their tone implies that they very much don't.
Vincent:
he sighed and shrug, "A few, I'm just trying to be friendly, I got no beef with you and yours and just want to show that I want to be an ally, was this the best way to go about it," he looks to the crossed out Liberty Bell, "No, no it was not, but it was not directly on your turf either and this, this is not a turf mark, this was just me practicing." he leaned against the wall, "so, you cool when the robo-cops come barging in here, mechanized police brutality, you can handle that all alone?"
Guy:
Cat!Guy rubs his head against the scritches, purring more and sitting down. He sneaks in a raspy little lick on Calamity’s wrist, and then simply vibes.
Calamity:
"I'm gonna pretend you're not threatening me - but fuckin' watch it." They take a drag of their cigarette. "We're fine. 'F you knew much of anything you'd know how small-time we are, 'f the cops wanted to deal with us they already would've."
Vincent:
he blinked, "Wait, how did I threaten ya?" he asked, he didn't mean to threaten and is unsure how he did, "I'm not the cops, I was just pointing out that," he sighed, "ok, sure whatever." he tapped his foot as if thinking, "Can I ask you something, why do you folxs do it, the Bristol & Fairhill, why do you do what ya do?" he asked, "Just the money or do you actually care about the streets?"
Guy:
The cat chuckles—well, he makes a kekekek sound and then one of those “how so?” sounds, before looking up at Calamity and swishing his tail lightly.
Calamity:
Calamity narrows their eyes at the cat before returning their attention to Vinny.
"Why? Why d'you care?"
Vincent:
"Because I love this neighborhood and I love this city, and every night, every fucking night, I see the shootings, I see the needless loss and it fucking tears my heart out," he says, it's. . .real, for lack of a better word, genuine pain and emotion pouring from his voice, "You know what I want, I want clean product that won't poison ya to be given, I want sex workers to be treated with respect because it's fucking real work, I want dealers to fucking stay away from school and play yards and to keep kids safe." his eyes have a passion in them and his words drip poison ad the idea of children harmed, "The first duty to any gang should be the neighborhood, to protect it and not exploit it, so let me ask you, why do you do this?"
Guy:
The cat rolls it’s eyes at Calamity, then rests it’s head against their leg, after Vincent’s explanation.
Calamity:
"Like I said, 's real fuckin' noble of you, Vinnie." Their voice drips with derision.
"I'm here 'cause no one else would have me, 'cause cities don't fuckin' care about shit like me, 'cause you gotta band together or die. I've found my people, I don't need any more of 'em. Good luck cleanin' up the place, you don't need my fuckin' help." They pull away from the cat, and the other two, ready to get the fuck out of here.
Avery Frisk:
Avery frowns, looking to Vinny to see if she should stop them.
Vincent:
Vincent just shakes his head and sighs, "I don't know you and don't claim to know you, I'm just trying to bring everyone to the table, B&F included." he picked up his paint, "You guys run Fairhill, it's your turf, take care of her, I'm just trying to be diplomat is all." he packed them all in a bag, "And if you see a guy named Nick Drake, lives on Hope street, beat the shit out of him for me." he motioned to Avery to follow him as he went the other way, "You ever do want to diplo, to keep shit from escalating to needless crap, find me in Hunting Park, cause like it or not, we seem to share an area." and at that, he walked off the opposite direction
Guy:
Cat!Guy looks between the two folks starting to depart, winks at Avery, and saunters off after Calamity.
Calamity:
Calamity watches Vincent leave, and then looks down at the cat. "Don't you fuckin' dare say anything about this shit," they mutter to it, like it can understand, and give Avery one last, withering look before stalking away, lighting up another cigarette as they do.
Avery Frisk:
Avery blinks at the wink, and their head tilts, then back up to Calamity. They look...unhealthily calm. No emotion at all. Calamity may find themselves a bit more tired after that encounter, but the Lost slips off after their boyfriend.
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