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When Sledge reached out to meet with Saagochque, the Sakima was quick enough to agree to the meeting and suggested that Sledge come join her at 2am at Eastern State Penitentiary, which is a creepy-ass supposedly haunted old prison that is now a tourist trap and popular destination for various ghost-hunter style shows.
That's where tonight's story opens. The front entrance to Eastern State is on an otherwise pretty ordinary road, with a bar across the street which is slowly emptying out, with last call at the same time as the meeting is supposed to take place.
There's a tremendous commotion - as so often precedes Sledge's arrival - from a motorcycle engine. When she comes into view, she's speeding (of course) like a motherfucker (though at a mundane speed) up the road.
She kills the engine of her incredibly gaudy bike, pocketing her keys with a flourish and shifting her helmet to the crook of her elbow on her way into the meeting.
"Yyyyyyoooooooooooo," her voice is probably about two notches too louder than what is generally considered socially acceptable. All the better to hear her from a distance before she's within eyesight.
As Sledge is approaching the penitentiary the door to the bar across the street opens and Saagochque fades out of Obfuscate, heading toward the prison and Sledge alike. "Good evening, Sledge," she says as she comes up from behind, her tone sounding amused. "You and Darling sure do know how to announce an entrance, don't you? I'm pretty sure they heard you in New York."
"Jesus f-UCK," there's a little catch in her voice when she curses - on account of jumping at the Sakima's appearance. Between the raging tinnitus from constant loud music and engines - and the fact that she's a bit of a dink - it's not hard to get the drop on Sledge (even without the aid of Obfuscate.) "I thought I was supposed to be dropping in on you, not the other way around." She rubs the back of her head awkwardly. "So. Yeah, I wanted you to hear me coming. So you could, uhh, prepare."
She breaks into a toothy grin.
Saagochque laughs at the startled reaction she gets from Sledge, but not unkindly. "I didn't actually intend to surprise you," she admits as she finishes crossing the street and steps up onto the sidewalk, continuing her way toward the front door of the penitentiary. "It's just more entertaining to hang out inside watching people than out front watching a largely empty street. How are you doing?" She makes her way right into the alcove in front of the prison, up to the door, and opens it like it was just sitting unlocked and waiting for her while she talks. When she finishes, she gestures for Sledge to go in first.
"I guess I'm doin' alright," her brow furrows. "Settling back into things - not that I gave much of an attempt to really get settled the first time around - after finishing a pretty lengthy tour." She steps inside first, looking back at Saagochque the way Lorraine Bracco's character looks at Jimmy towards the end of Goodfellas - though it's mostly for comedic effect, rather than actual fear. "Uhh. You? Is that what I'm supposed to ask in response?"
"You do what you have to do. You can't disappoint your fans," Saagochque says with faint amusement, probably to make it clear that she wasn't annoyed by Sledge's disappearance shortly after their last visit. "I hope the tour went well." When Sledge steps inside she follows, and the door gets closed behind her and latched, but not locked. It should keep other people from wandering in off the streets, but doesn't lock Sledge inside or anything. If someone snuck in before, well, they might just end up dinner. "Oh, things here have been a little irritating. Nereids, someone claiming to be Rihat. You were there when Clayton showed back up at Elysium, weren't you?"
"Hell yeah, we kicked a bunch of asses. Had to get a biiiit too close to Houston for my taste, but..." She shrugs, hovering awkwardly as she prepares to let Saagochque take the lead towards wherever this chat is going to take place. "Yeah, I was there when he came through - and someone filled me in on the Nerds bit afterwards. I wouldn't have had any fuckin' idea what was going on there, otherwise."
"I've never been to Houston, so I don't know what's wrong with it exactly," Saagochque admits with a shrug, like she also doesn't really care. It's Texas, so it doesn't concern her much. "Except," she continues after a short pause. "Maybe that it's close to that fucked up racist piece of shit Cade," she adds like there's some kind of personal beef there. She just starts walking through the penitentiary, which is creepy as fuck in the middle of the night when nobody is around. "Anyway, thank you for trying to help with the situation. I assume that's not what you came to talk to me about tonight, though?"
"There're a lot of fucked up racist pieces of shit in Texas, unfortunately." Sledge nods sagely - as if this was somehow a thing other people didn't know. "Naw, I actually came to ask for your help in figuring out how to pitch in around here? I figure, if I'm going to be sticking around, I might maybe kinda sorta wanna pitch in a bit?" Beat. "Which is to say, I wasn't sure how exactly I fit into the... odd structure of things in Philadelphia. Family-wise - though, I could maybe use some advice about a thing I learned. Or at the least your common sense ruling on how I oughta apply said thing."
The Sakima stops meandering to pause and look at Sledge, her dark eyes briefly regarding the woman from the stillness of her gaunt face. "How do you want to fit in?" she finally asks. "I won't say there are no right or wrong answers, since in this case there are wrong ones, but since you phrased the question the way you did I assume your answer isn't 'kill the Sakima and try to take over' or something equally foolish."
"I mean, wouldn't it be wild if that was my answer!" Maybe don't joke about this, Sledge. She offers a nervous chuckle before continuing. "What a dumbass I'd be to schedule a meeting for a coup attempt." Oof, too late. She's already off to the races. "... but, uhh, no I'm not - err. That." She hooks her thumbs into her pockets. "I guess what I mean to say is that - while My Guy and Cory are both hanging with the Mac Laughin' folks - I'm not sure whether playing guard dog really bee-hooves my particular skillset."
Saagochque seems to take it as a joke, in the spirit it was mentioned, because she's not a humorless tyrant like some people might expect from the ruler of a city. In fact, she jokes back, instead. "I'll arm wrestle you for the job," she replies with a smile on her razor-sharp features. An almost skeletal hand makes a wave. "I doubt you'd be very happy if you got the job, though. It's nothing but headaches. I'd be tempted to lose on purpose."
She pauses a beat before she continues. "Is there something in particular that you're looking for in a family? How do you feel about hockey?"
"Well, before I moved up this way, the only place I'd ever seen ice was inside of a freezer - so as you might imagine the idea of being strapped to ice skates fills me with existential dread." Sledge sticks out her tongue, rolling up her sleeves to show off her guns. They're moderately impressive, and she might be able to go somewhere in that arm wrestling competition.
"... but I like being tied to mortal affairs, being able to play music, and keep my shop... and mostly be left alone to my own devices. Those sorts of things make me feel good - normal - much moreso than political bullshit and killer mermaids." Beat. "So maybe folks who would be cool with me living mostly in that world while only being connected to this one sometimes."
"Inside of a freezer?" Saagochque asks with a sudden chill in her tone, and a shift in the way that she presents herself that makes her seem much more dangerous than she did a moment earlier. That doesn't seem directed at Sledge, though. Rather, it's a lot like the tone someone's mom might use if they came home from school with a black eye and got told someone punched them on the playground.
The sudden shift between joke-y Sakima and murder-y Sakima is a pretty jarring one, and - even though it seems like she's about to launch into another explanation - causes Sledge to pause with her mouth hanging open. "Yeah, a freezer. On accounta I'm from Texas and it doesn't really snow down there very often?" Beat. "Not like anybody ever tried to shove me into one - though I bet there's few folks who'd've tried to if they had the chance..."
Clearly the Sakima had misunderstood, and when Sledge's explanation comes she returns to her previous casual demeanor, though not nearly as quickly as she seemed to shift to being ready to tear someone's head off on her behalf. "Oh, that makes much more sense." There's a soft laugh from her. "Sorry, I get protective of my people, and more than enough of them have had terrible things done to them by people they should have been able to rely upon."
She lifts a hand to make a little circular moving on gesture. "There are a few families that might interest you, given what you've just said. What sort of shop do you have?"
"Oh, well don't get me wrong. There's definitely a couple bastards I could point you towards if you wanna go all Terminator on the people who've done wrong by me," there's a flicker of a genuine smile for a moment before it's overtaken by a cheesy smirk. "... but it's a long drive between there and here."
Sledge nods, and she hooks a thumb out in the direction of her sweet Darling. "Technically it isn't a public business right now, but I work on bikes and cars and shit. I have the tools and the setup to do custom work on basically anything that has - or needs - a motor." Her eyebrow goes up. "Why, you want me to build you a motorcycle, Sakima?"
"Maybe if any of them show up in Philadelphia we can drop in on them and say hi," Saagochque says as she starts walking again. "I've never actually learned to drive a motorcycle," she continues to say. "I've been on one, as a passenger either on the back or in a sidecar, but never learned to drive. Is it difficult?"
"That depends on how fast you're going," Sledge shrugs, chuckling a bit at the picture of Saagochque on a chopper. "I could teach you if you wanted to learn to ride - but honestly I know a lot more about doing the thing than I do about teaching the thing, so I think taking a course would be the best move." Beat. "A sidecar is a completely different story, but the good news about being a passenger is that a lot of the basic stuff translates to actually piloting the thing."
She clears her throat awkwardly. "... but you probably don't want me talkin' your ear off about bullshit, I bet."
"I don't know that there's a course that it would be feasible for me to attend," Saagochque points out, without any irritation. "I don't interact with the mortal world very well any more, except through the application of blunt force. Socially or physically. It's a common difficulty for us older Nosferatu." She makes a quick wave of the hand. "I've gotten us off topic, haven't I? You were asking about families." She glances at Sledge and asks, "hold are you?" She pauses and corrects, "how long since your Embrace?"
"Oh, I'm relatively young." Sledge scratches at her chin with a pinky nail. "I'm not great about, uhh, paying attention to the passage of time. Mid-80's? So. Thirty-something years ago?"
That seems to be close enough, since Saagochque just shrugs. "Young enough for the union. Are you a member of it?"
"Not currently, no. I didn't really stick around the first time for long enough to get a feel for any of that shit - but I gather that I probably oughta be...?"
"That depends on whether you're willing to follow the union's regulations," Saagochque answers, turning a corner to head into one of the penitentiary's buildings from the yard where they'd been strolling. It doesn't get less creepy inside. "If you are, then it means that you can all band together to make sure that people like me can't lash out at one without confronting you all. Something most elders would actually think twice about, given what has happened in previous cases." Where elders got themselves put to sleep involuntarily. "But it's not required. If that kind of thing interests you, then you could talk with Washington. If not, you might consider talking to Esme, or asking to join my family."
Sledge's brow furrows a bit, and she goes uncharacteristically quiet as she paces after Saagochque through the yard, and then back inside. She clicks her tongue a couple of times - probably just to hear the echo - weighing the options with a very obvious "I'm thinking right now" face. Absolutely zero subtlty. "... and if I did want to join your family?"
"Then I would simply say welcome to the family," Saagochque says with a shrug. "I'd expect you to support the other members of your family if they asked you, and generally treat them like they were family. Healthy family, not the poor excuses for family so many of us seem to have had growing up. But you should also be able to rely on them like they're your family. Or upon me, like I am."
"... and it's seriously that easy?" Sledge scrunches up her face. "Honestly I put this shit off for so long because I figured I was gonna have to actually do something. Y'know, beyond just agreeing to treat folx right." She tilts her head from left to right in a rather wishy-washy sort of way, and then turns back to the Sakima. "Okay, now. If I do join your family, I can leave, right?" Beat. "Like. Philly?"
Saagochque stops in the corridor outside one of the actual cell blocks and leans against the wall. "Sure," she says with a rasping laugh. "I'm pretty sure that my family would get insufferable if I kept trying to prevent people from even leaving town. If you go on another tour, just bring me back some souvenirs or something. It's nice to know that people are thinking about you when they're away, after all."
"Look, I'm just saying that I would pay money to see you walking around in a dumb novelty t-shirt that says "Everything is bigger in Texas," but also I'm just saying we have plenty of merch leftover. I'm sure there's probably something in your size that got left behind or misplaced." She wiggles an eyebrow.
"... yeah, though. Uhh. Jokes aside, I think that's what I'd like to do. Especially considering rumor has it that you're somewhat of a closet troll, so. Game recognizes game."
"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about, Sledge," Saagochque says in dry amusement. "Are you implying that I like to sit under bridges and menace passing billy goats, or something? But if you want to join my family, then consider it a done deal. I'll let everyone else know. If you decide at some point that another family fits you better, then I'll wish you the best and let you go with no hard feelings. Do you need help from me with anything?"
She sticks out her tongue in response to the snarky comment, but otherwise just lets it hang out there. Under the bridge. Menacing billy goats. "Hell yeah," Sledge's hands disappear into her jacket pockets - and then one reappears with her keys, which jangle as she spins them on her fingers. "... actually, there is one thing I'd love some help with. That is, if you don't mind me asking you for something so ridiculous."
Saagochque looks at the keys, then at Sledge, and slowly one of her brows starts to rise. "Do you want me to crash your motorcycle for you?" she asks. "I'm worried about what the keys coming out might mean."
"Mrrrh? W-wha? " Sledge balks, nearly dropping the keys in the process. "No I absolutely do not want you to crash Darling - I just figured we were wrapping up and I get kinda antsy when I sit still for too long and please do not wreck my motorcycle, or I will Blush just to cry about it and it'll be really embarrassing for both of us."
"Good, good, because I have no desire to be in an automobile crash again. I've done it before, and it's not pleasant. Even worse now that they go so fast." Saagochque answers with another soft laugh. "So what is that you'd like my help with?"
Sledge just peers at Saagochque for a moment - as if trying to figure out whether or not she was being trolled. "... Can confirm, though. It is much worse when they're go fast. Even if you're nigh-indestructible." She pinches a particularly ratty and ancient-looking rabbit's foot keychain between her thumb and forefinger. "Okay, so. Brace yourself, 'cause this might be a bit of a wild ride." Beat. "So, Anna-Mary Corduroy basically offered me whatever I wanted in exchange for helping her do... something. I don't know what it was exactly, but I think she wanted to bang but I wasn't really paying much attention because I was too busy thinking about Cats at the time - you know, Cats? Like, Cats the musical?" She pauses to take a deep breath, as that whole thing was basically expelled in a single breath. "Well anyway, I don't want to help that bougie lady do anything in this city - but I do really want to play Rum Tum Tugger on stage, 'cause I think I could definitely pull that off."
She wiggles to emphasize that fact, ending the ridiculous gesture by pelvic thrusting the air in front of her. "Y'know?"
Saagochque rolls her eyes at the mention of Anna-Marie Cordray, and looks like she's prepared for this discussion to go in a wildly different direction than it does. The conversational whiplash that she experiences leaves her staring for a few moments, while she tries to figure out what the fuck Sledge is even talking about.
And a few moments longer.
"I honestly have no idea what you just said," she says before adding, possibly a little too quickly, "I don't know anything about musicals at all."
"Well," Sledge's tone is very dramatic as she continues. "So it's about Cats, right - but they're like people-cats, and they all get together at this crazy party called the Jellicle Ball so that they can perform musical numbers and ritually select one of their fellows to be delivered to the sky and euthanized." Beat. "It's also... really horny for reasons I could not possibly explain to you, and I'd suggest that you should watch it but there is a very real possibility that you'd come away from the experience knowing even less about musicals than you currently know."
She clears her throat again. "Anyway. You could help by pointing me in the direction of whoever does art shit." Beat. "Also by watching Cats - but that one's optional."
"I...see..." Saagochque says. Then she decides she's just going to take this particular hot potato and do with it what people in charge everywhere do with hot potatoes they really don't want. Delegate it to someone else. "If you want to get involved in a play, then you might want to talk with Shiri Touati. They actually own a theater."
"Fuck yeah!" Sledge makes a fist around her lucky keychain, and pumps it into the air. "I will talk to Shiri Touati, and I will be the Rum Tum Tugger that I want to see in the world." Then she clears her throat, and attempts to put on her best serious face. "Okay, that's all I really needed. Business-wise. So. We cool then, Sakima?"
"Yeah, we cool fam," Saagochque says the most absolutely dry voice, but with a smile on her lips, before she pushes off the wall and raises her arms. "You wanna bring it in, now that we're family?"
"Uhhh, duh." Hopefully that wasn't snark, because Saagochque is absolutely getting a hug now. Sledge flings her arms wide, and moves to wrap the Sakima in a bear hug. Or whatever passes for a bear hug when you're an itty bitty little stick like Sledge. "I... didn't think about the possibility that someone important might wear my band's merch when I named it, but." Squeeze. "Expect a t-shirt in a few days!"
Saagochque is almost delicate in the way she hugs Sledge, but she does offer a hug. She just does it like she thinks that Sledge is a delicate thing made of glass that might shatter if she's not careful. Just as she looks like she's nothing but dry skin stretched over bones, with little to muscle at all, she feels like it as well. She steps back from it after a moment. "I look forward to it," she says. "Should we head out of here?"
"Fuck yeah, I'm tired of sitting still. You want a ride to wherever you're heading?"
"Thank you, but I'm just going to go a few blocks," Saagochque says as she starts walking. "How fast can that bike of yours go, anyway? 140? 150?"
Sledge's laugh echoes in the hallway as she follows behind. "140 is baby shit. I could probably push upwards toward 200. If I cheat."
"200? Bullshit," Saagochque says. "Prove it. What do you mean by cheating, anyway?"
"Oh, it's totally bullshit - like, it probably shouldn't be allowed to exist, but it is true." She jangles her keys. "You mix a bit of vitae into the gas tank - it's a bloodline trick I picked up from my sire back in Houston - and effectively it... ghouls the bike until you run out of gas. Makes it go faster - and more likely to survive a crash. It's pretty dope."
She sticks out her tongue. "... and if you want me to prove it, I'll need to drive you more than a few blocks."
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