Weekend in the Windy City [Rurik / Adam]

[Jackie Mercer]

After a sigh and an eye roll, Jackie realized she was running low on cash. If she opened her wallet the cliche of moths would fly out, no surprise there. Arms folded and in a pout, she sat with her foster mother, Evelyn, at the dinner table. Once again she was being lectured about finances. She knew better than to back talk Evelyn, she wouldn't dare show her the disrespect. The winded speech came to an end. All sorts of ideas were thrown her way. "Go help Bobby at the shop for extra money... work at the local grocery store... volunteer at the shelter... blah blah blah." Nothing could get past Jackie's dream to be a rockstar. Why the hell would I do any of that shit? And show my face around Detroit like all the other losers around here. No thanks. I got that spare guitar from Jerry's, I got the skills... just gotta find that gig.

Like any good daughter, Jackie smiled greatly and kissed her mother on the forehead before she walked out the door. "What a bunch of bullshit." She laughed to herself as she ventured off into the dank streets of Detroit. Bar after bar shut her down for any weekend work. They were either booked or didn't want to take a chance on her. Already pissed off, she threw herself against the wall and placed the guitar case on the ground. What the hell am I going to do now? Her mind drifted back to Everett and all the insight he had given her about the new world. He told her of all the safe places she could go, Chicago being one of them. 

Before skipping town for the weekend, Jackie hit up Bobby for some extra cash. She knew it would be a stretch but wanted to try regardless. Lucky for her he coughed up enough money for her to take the bus and get a hotel while she was away. The favor in return wasn't too dismal; work a week at the shop free of charge. Yay a whole week of being Bobby's bitch. Better be worth it. Shoving the rest of the cash into her backpack, she gripped the guitar case, hopped on the bus and headed to Chicago.

The trip was surprisingly longer than her trip to Toronto. This time she didn't have to worry about being constantly hunted by vampires, although she'd admit she missed Ev. I have never traveled so much in my life. Between San Fran to Toronto and now to Chicago. I should have my own private tour. She day dreamed on as the bus stopped at the station. As she did in San Francisco, Jackie got off the bus and shoved a map into her jacket pocket. The night was late, but not too late for a drink. In her mind all she could think about was opportunity. Who knows, maybe they'll spot my guitar and need someone to go on last minute. Quick money for me.

Friday night in Chicago was a pretty bustling place. The streets were loaded with, what she assumed were, humans. It was refreshing not having to worry about shifters or vampires. She remembered that this place was human central, fine by her. In the back of her mind, she will always been looking for a little bit of trouble. A smile appeared on her face as she walked into the closest bar. For some reason she had a thing for shitty looking bars but this place wasn't like all the others. It was a different class of bar. Not that she wasn't used to the classy places, they were a little hard to find in Detroit. First off the place was actually lit very well and secondly it wasn't overly crowded. I could get used to this.

Jackie placed her guitar inside the booth before sliding in. She liked to get a feel for a place before she started to drink. Never know when you'll need your guard up, even against lame ass humans. In her gut, she never trusted anyone off the bat and tried to keep her distance. It's like they needed to prove themselves to her first in order for her to actually care about what they have to say. 

[Adam Wolfe]

Unfortunately for the surrounding area, Adam had gotten bored.

He wasn't feeling particularly destructive, but as was prone to happen, he was inclined toward mischief. On his way around, he'd spied someone new, someone unfamiliar. The result of these circumstances together was invisibly following said newcomer--with a guitar, no less--into a bar and phasing through the wall on the other side of her as she seated herself, putting the guitar between them. He unzipped the case, taking the guitar out and sitting on the other side of the booth from her. To any bystanders, it would appear that Jackie's guitar decided to float out of its case and take a seat across from her.

"Hey," he said, his voice low and wavery, "you should play me more." He was trying to sound like what he imagined the spirit of a guitar might, but he wasn't sure he was hitting his mark. Shaking his head, he plucked out the opening notes to Enter Sandman. "Ah, that's better. Makes me feel good to stretch my strings. That's all."

He put the guitar down next to him, realizing that she might be likely to break her instrument if she thought it was haunted, then turned himself visible. "How's it going? Sorry, just wanted to have a bit of fun with you. You can have this back." He held the guitar out to her carefully across the table. "I noticed you were new, and I wanted to give you my kind of welcome. That is, shake you up a bit and then introduce myself properly. I'm Adam. I'm, uh, I'm the spirit of Chicago. Love visitors. What are you here for? Looking to play?" He gestured at the guitar. "Not many people carry their instruments with them. But I think it's pretty neat that you do. I love music." Adam smiled. "But, um, yeah. Sorry about that."

word count [[ 313 ]]
notes [[ none ]]
tagged [[ Rurik Rudakov, Jackie Mercer ]]
mood [[ jovial ]]
credits [[ castaway by chasen ]]

[Jackie Mercer]

A small group of guys piled into the bar. The noise had caught her attention as she turned her head toward the bar. She wanted to make sure they weren't they type who would cause too much trouble. Looked like a bunch of college kids out for a good Friday night. As long as they aren't frat boys. Jackie rolled her eyes as she turned back to the booth. To her surprise the guitar that was sitting next to her appeared in the booth across from her. A wave of confusion struck her as her heart leapt into her throat. The guitar was talking to her and playing itself. "I've seen a lot of weird shit but this is beyond." 

Her legs were about to pounce her body right out of the booth, until the opening of "Enter Sandman" struck the guitar. A peculiar smile emerged as she sat back down. "No doubt I'm scared shitless right now, but good choice of song." She made sure to stay as close to her side of the booth as possible. After the guitar rested back on the seat across from her, a guy appeared next to it out of no where. He was a little nerdy looking with a set of glasses and t-shirt. An eyebrow perked as she remained quiet. Her hand slowly grabbed the guitar from him during the quick speech of what and who he was. Carefully the guitar made it back into the soft shell. 

It was a little hard for her to grasp the concept of "the spirit of Chicago" sitting in front of her. She had just accepted that there were other things in the world that she has met but spirit was one to add to the list. He's one with the questions, isn't he? Jackie was never too keen on telling people too much about herself and this trickster was no exception. "Well Adam. I'm Jackie. Some people call me Jax." She gave him a slight smile. Her eyes looked around the bar to see if anyone had noticed what transpired not even 5 minutes ago. Oblivious.

"I came to your lovely city to see if I can earn some cash." Her hand tapped the case sitting next to her. Still feeling a little standoffish, she put on a playful smile and asked, "I'm trying to wrap my head around this whole thing. And I don't mean to be blunt, that's just how I am. But what exactly are you? You're like a ghost or something? This doesn't happen to me everyday, or it didn't used to at least." She exhaled a small laugh as she looked back up at him.

[Adam Wolfe]

Adam chuckled. "Thank you." He nodded, pursing his lips a little. "Well, it's a respectable place to earn a buck or two, I think. I'll try and look into things, see if I know anywhere that's looking. Not quite this second, but in a bit." He didn't want to lose his company quite so fast, but he was also very much into the whole "helping people" schtick, especially when they were from outside his borders and were specifically seeking help they could only find in Chicago. It was like they were coming to him for help. He couldn't just... not help them.

"It's very good to meet you, Jax. I'm, well, I guess most people don't know about city spirits. So. We'll start from the top. I'm a bit like a ghost, but instead of the imprint that a person leaves behind on the plane with their energy, I'm... sort of like the imprint that the land and the people have made collectively. To put it simply, I'm the spirit of the land that Chicago was built on, and I've grown with the city and its inhabitants. People have an idea of what Chicago would be like if it were a person, and that person is me." He mulled this over for a little bit, trying to discern the best way to explain. "So when people came together and made Chicago a town, I came into being. When it burned, I got scars. When the city laughs, I laugh with them. When they mourn, so do I. It's a bit weird, I'm sure."

Adam looked around the bar, then sighed. "It used to be a bit different, when it wasn't the capital for humanity. I used to be able to do this more often. I could still do some fire tricks back then. Times change, though. People change. The people of Chicago don't want to see things they don't yet understand, so a lot of them aren't really keen on seeing me. But I can't do much about that, I guess. Just put up with it and keep moving along."

He shrugged, the smile returning to his face. "So. You seem pretty cool. Do you want me to stay and talk a while? I'm up for that, if you want me to. If not, I understand, and I can give you some space."

word count [[ 393 ]]
notes [[ none ]]
tagged [[ Jackie Mercer ]]
mood [[ still pretty good ]]
credits [[ castaway by chasen ]]

[Jackie Mercer]

Her mind tried to follow as much as she could. It was like he was talking a mile a minute but in reality he was just talking about things she was unfamiliar with. She shook her head. "I can understand. People would rather be cooped up in their pathetic lives then to be bothered with what is unknown in the world around them." In her gut a trickling feeling occurred as she gave some deep thought about Adam. She couldn't even begin to fathom what it would be like to be in his shoes. Does he enjoy it? It's like he's never been a real physical person. He said that as phases come and go with the city he feels them, but it seems to be out of his own control. She looked at him with concern as he trailed off a bit.

Jackie gave him a half smile as he proposed keeping her company. "Well Adam, I appreciate the offer to looking around the city for me. You don't seem like a bad seed to me. Why don't you stay a while?" She folded her hands on the table and looked toward the bar. "Before we chat I'm going to grab myself a drink real quick." It wasn't her intention to be rude, but she assumed that he didn't partake in beverages therefore she didn't ask if he wanted anything. She walked over to the bar and grabbed a Jack and coke. Before returning she gave the bar a good look up and down, taking in her surroundings. The establishment didn't seem to have a stage for her to preform but she did notice that both the bartenders were women, which she took as a good sign for her. 

She made it back to the table with her drink and placed it on the coaster after taking the first initial sip. The first sip was always the best. The sweet taste of the coke intertwined with the rich scent of the whiskey. Match made in heaven. "So you obviously pegged me as not from around here. I'm actually from Detroit. All my local watering holes were booked up for the weekend and I really want to try to get my career off the ground." Her hands gestured to her outfit; leather jacket, Guns 'N Roses cropped ripped tee, black skinny jeans tucked into a pair of very worn leather boots. "As you can very well see I haven't gotten there yet."

[word count]:[412]

[notes]:[none]

[tagged]:[Adam Wolfe]

[Adam Wolfe]

Adam nodded as Jackie went to go get a drink. This was good. It had been a while since he'd stuck around and had a long conversation with someone he wasn't protecting, and Jackie seemed interesting. He always loved talking to artists, no matter what their art was. He'd gone to some coffee shops to chat up writers about their latest novels in the past, but musicians were hard to identify--at least, when they weren't carrying their instruments with them.

The city spirit listened attentively as Jackie told him a bit about herself. "Yeah. I mean, I'm the spirit of the city, so I can kind of tell who's from here and who isn't... it's just a weird thing I can do. Comes in handy more often than you'd think, actually." He shrugged. "I find music to be a worthwhile pursuit. I think it's really cool that you're trying to achieve your dreams, actually, even if you're not there yet. I'd like to help you if I can, and if I can't, I'll try to set you up with someone who can. I do some voice acting work, so I know some performance-related people. And if I can't get ahold of anybody, I can always scare the shit out of some producer in the middle of the night, shake some ethereal chains at him, get him to give you a chance."

Adam laughed a little at the notion. "It sounds kind of silly, but I like helping people out, especially when they come to Chicago to see if they can get something done. I can be pretty scary if I want, even when you look past the whole 'spirit and can therefore move stuff around without being seen' thing. That tends to freak people out pretty well at first, but... I can pull out the big guns. And it's kinda funny, anyway. I'd take you along if you wanted to see, if we have to resort to that." He gave Jackie a mischievous grin. "But that's just my take on it."

word count [[ 341 ]]
notes [[ none ]]
tagged [[ Jackie Mercer ]]
mood [[ good-natured, but a bit tricksy ]]
credits [[ castaway by chasen ]]

[Jackie Mercer]

He really is Adam, the friendly ghost. 

Jackie let out a small laugh to herself. She enjoyed another sip from her glass as he carried on. Her head nodded as he started to talk about artists. "A voice actor, huh? I wonder if I've heard any of your stuff before." A finger traced the rim of the glass as she kept listening. She really appreciated his genuine kindness. It was somewhat unfamiliar to her but having that leg up would be more than helpful. "I've been writing songs and such since I was young. I guess it's my coping mechanism for the shit life hands me." She sat back and placed her arm on the guitar. "Ever since I could remember I had a guitar in my hand. Eventually I taught myself how to play and that was that." 

She knew that even though she was rather quiet at times and skeptical about others, the stage was a whole different setting. She could feel a fire inside would build up and fuel this other side of her. Jackie's fingers would race across the guitar as she would pump up the audience for a good time. Whether or not the audience was on the same page as Jackie, there was not a care in the world inside her as long as she was in the moment. 

As he proposed a little bit of fun mischief, she lit up like a light bulb. A grin appeared as she took another sip. She assumed by what he was saying that Adam was the type who wouldn't want harm to come to anyone but understands a good time. Jackie isn't known to pull pranks or jokes but she did enjoy doing things that she wouldn't normally be doing, including hanging out with a mischievous spirit. "Count me in. I'm always down for a bit of fun." 

She was sick of being responsible all the time and just needed these few moments to let herself act her own age. It had always been a constant battle for her. Her mind didn't want to let her act out, at times she would believe it wasn't right to go out and have fun. Especially when there were other pressing issues at hand, such as her career or her money issues. But that fire inside was burning a little brighter and all she could think was fuck it.

[word count]:[401]

[notes]:[none]

[tagged]:[Adam Wolfe / Rurik Rudakov]

[Adam Wolfe]

Adam shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know. A lot of the stuff I've done has been really low-key, but it's possible." He understood what it was like to move to art to cope. He'd picked up the whole voice acting thing not long after one of his close friends had died, and it had helped him to cope quite a bit. "Yeah, I get that. That's a big part of why I'm really happy to help you. Well, that and I just love helping people."

When he heard Jackie's willingness to accompany him, Adam's mouth split into a grin. "Wonderful!" He stood up, walking over to the bar immediately and gesturing for Jackie to follow him. He leaned over the bar, then asked quietly, "May I speak to the person in charge of scheduling musical guests?" The bartender nodded, ducking back into the employee area for a short while before coming out with a short man with a pinched face.

"I'm sorry, sir," he said as soon as he saw Adam, in a tone of voice that said exactly the opposite of his words, "we don't do new talent."

Adam smiled in a way that didn't reach his eyes. "I don't think you're quite sorry," he said. "Not yet, anyway."

A pair of dark red tentacles shot out of his back, wrapping around the man's arms and yanking him forward into close proximity with Adam. The spirit's teeth had grown very sharp, cleanly displayed by a too-wide grin. "You're going to help out my friend here," Adam hissed, a hand reaching up to brush back the man's hair as the other summoned up colorful flames. "I won't hurt you, I promise. But I don't think I need to. Write her down in your books for sometime soon. Tonight would be best, though tomorrow would also be acceptable, I think."

"Um. Alright," the man replied, shaking slightly. "We've, uh, we've got some people coming in soon, but she can follow them up. If that's okay."

The tentacles disappeared with the fire and the fangs, Adam's smile returning to a pleasant one without showing teeth. "Good. Thank you."

He turned back to Jackie with a grin as the man scurried backstage. "So! That's that." He seemed completely oblivious to the fact that he'd just done something very strange in a very public place, but few if any people seemed to have noticed.

word count [[ 399 ]]
notes [[ none ]]
tagged [[ Rurik Rudakov, Jackie Mercer ]]
mood [[ pretty good ]]
credits [[ castaway by chasen ]]

[Jackie Mercer]

Jackie nodded at his comments. She appreciated all he could do for her, especially knowing little to nothing about her. She grabbed her drink and followed Adam over to the bar. Her eyes watched as her mind couldn't fathom what was actually happening in front of her. Not that it was a surprise, but this was something she had never been a witness to. She looked around the bar, just to confirm that she wasn't the only one watching. Everyone else seemed too involved in their own business to draw their attention away. From her point of view she couldn't see much of what he looked like in the front but she saw a few barbs grow from his back and grab the petite man behind the bar. 

Unsure of what Adam was telling him, Jackie gave a small wave and a half-assed smile as the scared man looked over to her. She slowly took a sip of her drink as the confrontation ended and Adam turned to her with a bright, chipper smile. Her eyebrows raised as she caught the contagiousness of his smile. "Well that was different." She placed her empty glass on the bar before she walked back over to the booth with Adam. A rush of thoughts came to her mind but none found their way to her mouth. She sat there with the smile plastered on her face. One reason being that she was going to preform tonight and she loved that feeling. Second reason was he had just done this huge favor for her, for no particular reason at all. "Thank you so much." She extended her hand for a shake across the table.

Her eyes wandered all over the booth, from Adam to her guitar to her bag. She wildly searched her bag for her lucky pick, hoping she made sure to pack it on her way out. "I can't even believe this right now." Once she found her pick she unzipped the guitar case and stuck the pick in the strings of the guitar. Now that she had settled that, she turned back to Adam. "What was all of that?" Curiosity got the better of her as she asked him with a positive tone in her voice. 

[word count]:[375]

[notes]:[none]

[tagged]:[Adam Wolfe / Rurik Rudakov]