Welcome to the Trap [Rin/Astrid]

[RIN COOPER]

[atrb=style, width: 500px; height: 400px; background: #0a090b url(http://teaandheresy.com/moon/rin02back.jpg) no-repeat center bottom, bTable][atrb=valign,bottom][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,15,true][atrb=style, padding: 15px; color: #aa9a90; width: 280px; background-color: #0a090b; opacity: 0.7; filter:alpha(opacity=70); border: 1px solid #857266; -moz-box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;-webkit-box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;] You may have to travel for a while to understand just how many empty places there are in the world. Rin had grown up in a suburb of St. Louis, not too far from the big commercial farms and family horse ranches that were 'the country', but it wasn't until she got out on the road, and in fact not until this, her third criss-cross of the continental U.S., that she came to understand just how much of the United States is just...sitting there. Unused, unoccupied. Probably owned by somebody or another but nobody living there or working there or doing anything with the land. It blew her mind a little, going from the dense people-hives of the cities to the huge stretches of nothing-at-all that you don't see until you ditch the interstates and start winding your way on the secondary highways that spiderweb out across the country. Rin was traveling along the old Highway 64 in northern New Mexico, tracing the route that used to be the Santa Fe Trail. She was heading vaguely toward Taos, she'd passed through the arty little city a few months earlier and made a couple of friends there. Visiting them was as good a reason as any for this leg of her aimless trip, and so she'd plotted a route that took her there from Massachusets using only the back highways because she was getting sick of the interstates. Cimmaron, New Mexico isn't much of a town. Not even a thousand residents, and the town's only real industry is providing gas, food, and motel space to people traveling along the highways that cross right there, that and being the nearest town to the Philmont Scout Ranch and a handful of big cattle ranches. And in fact Rin only stopped there because she needed a tank of gas and a chance to stretch her legs. She had a personal rule when she was on the road of only one fast food or convenience store meal a day, and as she'd had a Croissandwich for breakfast she drove through town looking for a restaurant that looked good. On her first pass through town she didn't see anyplace that looked even remotely appealing, and she was about to just keep going and try to find a meal in the next town down the road when she saw the most ridiculously tumbledown building she could even imagine. The sign outside identified it as 'The Trap' and informed travelers in a disspirited crooked line of lettering that they served lunch and dinner seven days a week. There was an equally ramshackle motel stretching out behind it, with a handful of cars and trucks parked in the cracked parking lot, only maybe sixty percent of which probably even ran. The whole place was so perfectly Dive Bar that she had to at least stop and check it out. She doubted she'd be willing to eat anything that came out of the kitchen, but she could at least peek her head in, maybe sneak a few pictures on her phone. Already mentally framing the email she'd write to her Dad about it, Rin parked outside and headed into the Trap. The interior actually wasn't as bad as she'd been expecting. It was dim and cluttered, the woodwork more than a little battered, but at least it seemed to be clean and the air smelled pleasantly of beer and herbs and not stale smoke and sour whiskey like so many of these places seemed to. There were only four people in the entire place, a tiny squat older woman standing behind the bar and chatting with a grizzled guy with a knee brace who Rin pegged as a vet right off the top of her head without being entirely sure why. He just had that look. There was also a second man behind the bar, a Hispanic guy with a thin, discontented face and one of those see-through moustaches that's more fuzz than real stubble. And one other customer, a pretty blonde woman who looked way too clean and pulled-together for a place like this, but who was eating some sort of salad and looking perfectly calm and comfortable in her surroundings. Rin stepped up toward the bar and automatically offered a smile to the bartender who movd up toward her. "Hey," she said easily. "Can I get a--" and then she saw the elaborate symbol carved into the wall beside the bar-back mirror, the lines graven deep and filled with some brownish stain that was barely darker than the wood around it. Her eyes narrowed and she glanced around the bar again, this time really taking in the details. Like the curving lines of pale red paint that peeked out around the edges of the oversized rubber-lined doormat just inside the entrance. Like fact that the rough wooden shelving that was cluttered up with what looked like random kitschy junk just happened to have a box of rock salt right next to every door and window and now that she was looking more closely, some of those 'vintage' cooking utensils looked suspiciously silvery, and there was a lot of cold iron around. After her slow assessment, Rin finally turned back to face the bar with a question on her face. The bartender had moved away and the old woman was there instead. She was small, maybe four-ten or five feet, in her late sixties somewhere and with that flossy pale-orange hair that came of trying to disguise that her naturally cotton-white hair was thinning rapidly. "Welcome to the Trap, girl." The woman had a thick Scottish accent, maybe at some point long in her past her hair really had been red. "The Trap," Rin said slowly, still trying to reconcile this in her head. "Aye." The old woman smiled. "The Devil's Trap." There was so much mischief in that smile, the set of her wrinkled cheeks and cock of her head that Rin couldn't help but laugh. Shaking her head, the young telekinetic said, "It just about figures. I give up, I can't escape it any more." The old woman reached across the bar and patted the back of Rin's hand. "Better that way, lass. Once you're in, there's no getting back out." Rin went ahead and just sat down on a bar stool, knowing that she wouldn't be leaving this bar any time soon. "So this is a--a hunter's bar?" She dropped her voice a little, but she'd heard about there being a handful of places like this across the country. Nobody had been willing to tell her where they were, though, and what were the chances that she'd just stumble in to this one? "It is that. And you're not a hunter." The woman sounded very sure of that. "No," Rin had to smile again. "I'm not. I just keep finding hunters and what they hunt everywhere I turn" The woman nodded and drew Rin a beer without asking whether she wanted it or not, set it on the bar in front of her. "Wall, I'm Joan Muir and this is the Trap, and it's always open to those as are fighting the good fight." Her accent seemed to get thicker as she said it, Rin had the feeling that Joan had spoken that one sentence many, many times in her life. She smiled at Joan, "Rin Cooper, and it's very good to be here." It's entirely possible that Rin had more to say, but before she could get around to saying it a beat to hell mid-sixties Bronco came squealing to a halt outside the bar, braking so hard that it spun out a quarter turn and set up plumes of dust into the air. It hadn't even come to a full stop before the bartender who'd been totally silent until now was moving down to the end of the bar and throwing open the hinged passthrough. Somewhere in the six feet he moved down the length of the bar he'd acquired a shotgun, and the guy in the knee brace who Rin now figured had to be a hunter, not a vet, was moving toward the side door with a huge pistol in his left hand and remarkable agility for a man with a bum leg. The tall, aging black man who came bursting in was dressed in filthy, wrinkled fatigues with bloodstains down the right side and was limping visibly as he ran into the bar. "What?" Joan didn't seem to be asking the man what was going on, not exactly, not in the 'what the hell?' way a person would expect. "Rakshasa." At least that's what it sounded like he said. The new arrival had a thick island accent, and what the hell kind of word is 'rakshasa' anyway? "Shit." Joan was still behind the bar and now retrieved a battered rubbermaid-type shoebox and flipped it open to reveal what looked for all the world like a dozen or so brass letter openers that somebody had ground, filed, and polished until they had a real cutting edge and needle point. "You," Joan snapped out at Rin, "Behind the bar, duck down, don't move." She gathered up a handful of the letter openers and handed out two to the bartender, told the guy with the bad knee, "Wes, go get the flour," and called out to the pretty blonde woman who now was showing no interest whatsoever in her salad, "Astrid, luv, you think you could give us a little help?"

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[ASTRID NIGHT]

Astrid did not fit in here, there were only a few people there including herself, but still it was different then places she had previously visited. Still despite the difference in scenery she felt more welcome here then she had felt in a long time. Though the fallen angel was not a big fan of beer she was sipping hers slowly, alternating between drinks of the alcohol and bites of her salad. It was not a combination she would have ever chosen on her own, but the woman named Joan had handed it to her with a genuine smile and Astrid could not find it in herself to refuse. She felt relaxed and it was a nice feeling that she relished in. She very much enjoyed being a hunter, and doing her part in saving as many lives as she could. Still she enjoyed moments where she could feel the tension seem to melt away and she felt able to breathe easier. Even if just for a moment.

She heard the bar door open behind her and at first she paid no attention, she was tired. It had been a long day of traveling and she was content just to sit in her own silence and enjoy her food. It wasn't until the girl next to her began to speak of hunting that Astrid turned her head. The girl sitting next to her was, the only word Astrid could think of to describe her was beautiful. Her hair was long, brown and wavy and her eyes were a shocking shade of blue. Astrid sensed something different about her. This girl was a human, there was no doubt about that, but there was something else, something special. Astrid was lost in thought, trying to figure her out when the doors of the bar sprung open and immediately she focused her attention elsewhere. Astrid could feel the tension rise in the room and the slight panic that seemed to shoot through each and everyone of them. The young brunette, however fearful she may have been was quick on her feet and had obeyed immediately and ducked behind the counter.

Astrid accepted the brass knife and prepared herself, ready for a fight. Astrid stepped back to the bar so that she could see Rin kneeling down and she kept her voice low and her head turned forward so she wouldn't give her location away.

"Whatever you do stay back there and let us take care of this. Focus on keeping your ears open, they have the ability to hide themselves through invisibility and you have to let us know if you hear him near you before we do"

Astrid stepped forward again and prepared herself. There was a loud crash and she crouched down, ready to defend herself if needed. This was not going to be an easy kill. The Rakshasa was a demon that was easy to kill once caught, but getting there was a difficult task. It was a human that walked through the door. His appearance was the first sign that he was not human. He was dressed in what seemed to be a get up to some sort of act, though Astrid was unsure of what it was, and he had a smile on his face that was downright disturbing and she could have sworn she felt a tingle run down her spine. He took a step forward and everyone sprang into action, Astrid being the fasted had lunged forward into the spot where he should have been, he had pulled his disappearing act though she she strained her ears trying to listen to where he may be. He had to have been remaining in place wherever he had moved to dodge her attack because she couldn't hear him fro now. All she could hear was the sound of everyone's heavy breathing and she prayed that he had not realized yet that there was a girl behind the bar. It was almost inevitable that he would, but for now they were trying to avoid that.

[RIN COOPER]

[atrb=style, width: 500px; height: 400px; background: #0a090b url(http://teaandheresy.com/moon/rin02back.jpg) no-repeat center bottom, bTable][atrb=valign,bottom][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,15,true][atrb=style, padding: 15px; color: #aa9a90; width: 280px; background-color: #0a090b; opacity: 0.7; filter:alpha(opacity=70); border: 1px solid #857266; -moz-box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;-webkit-box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;] Rin stayed ducked down behind the counter for as long as she could, listening to the scuffling going on and trying not to obey her own desire to leap up and join the fight. That was working okay until several things happened in such quick succession that it seemed simultaneous. The first was that Wes, the guy with the knee brace, returned carrying what looked for all the world (and, in fact, was) a perfectly ordinary two-pound sack of All Purpose flour. In what looked to be a practiced motion, he ripped the top off the oblong paper sack and swung it in a wide arc, sending flour floating through the room in choking clouds and, not at all incidentally, settling onto the figure of the invisible demon to give at least a rough outline of where he was. The moment that the form of the rakshasa could be detected, the silent bartender launched himself at it with a brass dagger in each hand. Unfortunately, no matter how quick and how silent he was, no matter the distraction of the flour floating through the room, it wasn't good enough and the thing whirled and caught him out of the air, throwing his body back against the side of the bar where it hit with a sickening crunching sound and then slumped over, not to move again. Ever. Barely, so close, Rin managed not to scream when the body of the bartender hit the front of the bar right next to where she was hiding around the back of it, but she used the cover of Wes emptying that big nickel-plated .45 into the spot where the rakshasa probably was to hiss to the blonde woman, "I need to be able to see." Apparently believing that just her saying it was enough that the other woman would agree, Rin crabwalked over to the passthrough, staying low and ending up on hands and knees, peering out around the edge of the wooden cubbyhole created by the passthrough with the hinged bartop section set down in place. The fight was going on, but with so much flour kicked into the air they'd lost the advantage of being able to see the rakshasa's outline. Joan wasn't in the fight, not properly, but she was standing with Wes, reloading the pistols he was using mostly to distract the thing while the man with the bloodied fatigues who'd brought the beastie in with him tried to get a good enough bead on the creature to stab it. Letting out a breath-quiet curse, Rin scrambled back again, still staying in the cover of the bar, and looked around at what was available to her. Just that one hard look around, then she was back on her hands and knees, peeking out into the battle from cover. Except... Except that a stack of folded bleached terry bar rags rose up out of their spot behind the bar and started flying through the air, batting back and forth through the space where the rakshasa probably was. When one flattened against a spot that seemed to be the shoulder, all the other rags swarmed in around it, blanketing the thing's head and upper torso, outlining it clearly enough that someone who was quick with one of those brass knives could probably get in a heart-shot while it was still thrashing and trying to tear the cloths away from its face.

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[ASTRID NIGHT]

The room seemed to be in complete chaos and Astrid felt blessed the she still had the ability to judge the feelings of everyone in her surroundings. When the bartender hit the bar, his body twisting into an impossible position, she was immediately able to feel the loss of his emotions. She did not have much time to dwell on it at the moment, but she felt a quick and sharp rush of sadness pass through her chest, it never seemed to get easier to watch these chain of events unfold. Astrid was a bit quicker and a bit stronger then the other hunters in the room and she used that to her advantage, she was trying to protect them all and she passed in front of them and behind them easily, trying to keep her eyes trained to each of them. Her eyes always lingered on the bar, ready to defend the girl if it was needed. Astrid made her way back over and stood to one side, trying to gain some kind of clue of the location of the Rakshasa. Astrid heard the brunette's voice speaking to her and she zeroed in on the sound just long enough to hear what she was saying.

"Stay low, he isn't aware of your presence, but one wrong move and he will be"

Astrid whispered back as a warning. The flour was flying through the air, but it was hardly having an effect on anything. She needed her wings, without them she was not nearly fast enough and she needed to get something done and she needed to do it quick. No one else was going to be hurt if she could help it. Astrid concentrated and zapped herself quickly to the other side of the room, knocking the bleach rags over was something that had happened completely by accident and Astrid was sure she had blown her cover. When the rags hit the target though she stopped and helped her breath, watching as the outline seemed to take shape before her eyes. This had worked to her advantage and she found herself praying that this was going to work. Though she was only going to be zapping herself halfway across the room she felt a bit anxious. Especially once the Rakshasa's seemed to lunge forward towards the bar. There was a human back there and that was exactly what he wanted.

In a motion quicker then Astrid would ever give herself credit for she sprang into action, flying across the room and into the demon. For a moment the two of them struggled, on impact she had knocked him to the ground and though she could not see him, she could feel it when he rolled them over and tried to pin her wrists to the floor. Astrid lifted her knee and thrust it hard into his stomach and he lost his grip on her and this was the only chance that she was going to have. Astrid grabbed onto the brass knife on the floor next to her, it had been knocked out of her hands, and she shoved the blade hard into his chest. The second that she had accomplished that his physical form reappeared before her eyes and he dropped his arms, falling on top of her. Astrid used what little energy she had left to shove him off of her so that he was lying on the ground next to her. Astrid looked back towards the bar, her eyes scanning for the young brunette.

"Are you alright?" She asked nervously. The thing had been going for her and though Astrid was almost positive she had got to him in time, she wanted to make sure.

[RIN COOPER]

[atrb=style, width: 500px; height: 400px; background: #0a090b url(http://teaandheresy.com/moon/rin02back.jpg) no-repeat center bottom, bTable][atrb=valign,bottom][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,15,true][atrb=style, padding: 15px; color: #aa9a90; width: 280px; background-color: #0a090b; opacity: 0.7; filter:alpha(opacity=70); border: 1px solid #857266; -moz-box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;-webkit-box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;] Rin stood up with her knees feeling wobbly and her hands shaking visibly, pale as one of the white cotton rags that were whizzing their way back over to her and folding themselves into tidy squares on the counter, then stacking themselves neatly beside her elbow. She totally ignored this incredibly strange way that the laundry was behaving, and in all truth she wasn't totally aware of making it all happen. She was still in the grip of adrenaline and shock and not being as cautious as she should. Still, she manage to say, "I'm fine." She didn't look fine, not even a little, but then when Joan snapped out, "Girl, stop starin' and get the first aid kit from the kitchen!" Rin started moving instantly, reacting to that voice of command as though it carried uncanny powers of its own. Rin actually wasn't good with medical stuff, so Joan and Wes ended up patching up the leg of the injured man while Rin stared down at the dead bartender for a long minute before stripping off the light cardigan she'd been wearing over her casual summer traveling clothes and draping it over him, then moved unerringly to the storage closet and found the push broom and standing dustpan. Whatever else was going to happen today, they couldn't be trying to explain to cops that there was flour all over the floor because they'd had to fight an invisible monster, and having some immediate work to do calmed her, comforted. Though now that she thought about it, Rin turned back to the blonde girl and asked, "What was that? Was that a rak--" she wasn't sure she remembered the word right. "A rakasha?"

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[ASTRID NIGHT]

Astrid was tired, though she still had some of her mojo after falling she was not what she used to be. Her neck hurt and she could practically feel the bruise forming on his wrists where he had tried to pin her. Despite the fact that she was aching in a few places she had come out of the battle for the most part unharmed and she was pleased at that. Seeing the others were taking care of the body she immediately took up the job of scrubbing the counters, there was blood staining the wood and dripping down on to the floor and she knew that everyone would appreciate that if it was taken care of. At first she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. She was focused on the task at hand and she was scrubbing the counter roughly, erasing the signs of what had happened. They needed to get this bar cleaned up as quickly as possible, they did not need people to ask questions if they were to stumble in. Astrid felt unsettled. It was not unusual to run into a demon on occasion, especially at a bar, but it was obvious that they were currently residing in a hunters bar. Rakshasas were powerful demons and she could not think of a single reason that they would just charge into a hunters bar without reason, especially when the creature was outnumbered.

It was then that she caught sight of the rags neatly arranging themselves back in their original location. She let her eyes wander to the young brunette who had been caught in the middle of all of this. Still she got the sense that there was something about her. She was so lost in thought that it took a moment to register that she had asked her a question. Astrid set her wash cloth down and took a few steps closer to her.

"It was a Rakshasa. They are demons, but a more powerful form of them. As you were probably able to tell they have the ability to make themselves invisible. It makes them very difficult to fight."

She paused for a moment with a frown.

"They can only be killed my brass knives, if one does not obtain the object they are impossible to kill."

Astrid stepped forward again and put her hand on the girl's shoulder, stopping her from sweeping. She examined her for just a moment, catching her blue eyes. She thought of the dish rags again and she tilted her head to the side. Maybe everything that had happened in that moment had not been entirely a coincidence. The angel had to wonder if she was aware of what had taken place or what may have caused it.

"I am Astrid, I am glad that you were not wounded. I was very concerned that he was going to catch on to the fact that you were here and attack. I apologize that you were caught in the crossfire."

[RIN COOPER]

[atrb=style, width: 500px; height: 400px; background: #0a090b url(http://teaandheresy.com/moon/rin02back.jpg) no-repeat center bottom, bTable][atrb=valign,bottom][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,15,true][atrb=style, padding: 15px; color: #aa9a90; width: 280px; background-color: #0a090b; opacity: 0.7; filter:alpha(opacity=70); border: 1px solid #857266; -moz-box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;-webkit-box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;] Even if she weren't still a little shocky from what had just happened Rin probably wouldn't have lied. Not here, not in a place she'd been informed was a hunter's bar, next to a woman she'd seen stab that thing, not with Wes and the injured hunter whose name she still hadn't caught carrying the corpse of the bartender out of the room, ceremonially slow under her blood-and-flour stained Forever 21 cardigan. She couldn't look away from that, the small procession both stately and pathetic as they carried the dead boy out of the room, and when she turned back to look at Astrid she didn't try to hide the tears that had slipped free any more than she tried to hide the truth of her name and nature. "Rin. I'm Rin Cooper. And I, uh," a wobbly, bad laugh, "am starting to think that I'm a magnet for things like this. Zombies in Oklahoma, a demon in Nebraska, pissed-off ghost in Colorado, a pagan god in Georgia." Her next laugh was better, the humor was real. "I should probably stop trying to convince myself that I'm not actually in the life." The corpse of the rakshasa was hissing, steaming slightly as it collapsed in on itself and became a sort of ashy red-black mess that, when Rin made the mistake of peeking at, turned out to be mostly the carapaces of long-dead insects suspended in some sort of dry, resiny ichor. Wow that was gross. To make herself stop thinking about it, Rin gave the blonde a smile that at least somewhat resembled her more usual expressions--there were hints there of the outgoing girl with a world of self-confidence that she usually was, and started sweeping again. The familiar task was surprisingly comforting; something she knew she could do, knew she was good at. And besides, for some reason Rin was harboring a lingering guilt about the dead bartender. It wasn't like he'd died protecting her, at least not directly, but she had the weird feeling that it was her fault or at least that she was in part responsible for what had happened to him. While she swept, steady controlled strokes of the push broom, and tried to figure out exactly why she was having to fight her own sense of guilt, Rin looked back over at Astrid and asked, "Brass knife, hm? Are they common? I mean, common enough that Joan had a box of brass knives right there waiting, but I hadn't heard of them before, do you run into them often? Or--" it had just occurred to her, "are you not a hunter?" She knew there were at least some people who were in the life but didn't hunt. Researchers, craftsmen, sometimes people like her who knew enough that they weren't comfortable in normal society but weren't suited to the endless battle of Us vs. Them.

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[ASTRID NIGHT]

Astrid could feel the spread of emotion, thick and heavy, flowing through the room but she did nothing to dim the radiation of feeling from everyone that was invading her. It was moments like this that she allowed herself to not feel so alone. As a fallen angel company did not come often, but she felt as if she was connecting herself with each and everyone of them as she watched them carry out the dead body that was covered in the girl's clothing. She did not know these people, at least not well but she felt herself admiring them for their strength and their courage through all of this. They were fighters and she felt herself feeling very much respect for this establishment that she had found herself wandering into just a few hours ago.

The girl's name was Rin, she now knew that much and as she continued to speak Astrid felt her own concerns about the girl continue to grow. She was a bit uneasy and she couldn't help but wonder if this girl really was a target. It was of course not Rin's fault, but if she possessed abilities beyond the normal human capacity then it would make her a target fo the supernatural, and that would lead to a lot of difficulties for the poor girl. Astrid was convinced that at this point she remained unaware of anything different about herself. At the sight of the tears spilling from her eyes she felt something in her chest clench, she was unsure of what to do in these situations. She wanted of course, to comfort her but she was not entirely sure of how to do it. Not only did she not know this girl, but she also was still learning what the appropriate responses amongst humans were. Each day she found herself observing something new that she tried to apply, and she was at a loss of how to ease her tears. When Rin continued to question, angel pulled up a chair and placed it near where the girl was currently sweeping and situated herself so that she could look at her as she spoke.

"As a hunter we try and remain prepared for everything. The brass knives I am assuming were kept here as a precaution. As hunters were have researched all we can about the supernatural and what we are defending ourselves against."

Astrid paused for a moment to catch her breath before continuing.

"Amongst demons they are not common, this is the first time that I have encountered a Rakshasa, however I know that many other hunters have had an experience with them."

Astrid paused again however, she was unsure how to approach the question of whether or not she was a hunter. Of course she did spend her time on Earth hunting, and taking cases in order to help people. But she was so much more then that. At least that was the belief that she was trying to hold on to. Still, there were many people that would not take well to being told that they were speaking to someone who had previously held the position of an angel of the lord. She wanted to be honest with her though, after all, she deserved the truth. Astrid bit her lip and shifted in her seat a little bit.

"I am a hunter, I am not just a hunter, though. I used to hold a higher position that I have recently lost. I am not from around here"

[RIN COOPER]

[atrb=style, width: 500px; height: 400px; background: #0a090b url(http://teaandheresy.com/moon/rin02back.jpg) no-repeat center bottom, bTable][atrb=valign,bottom][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,15,true][atrb=style, padding: 15px; color: #aa9a90; width: 280px; background-color: #0a090b; opacity: 0.7; filter:alpha(opacity=70); border: 1px solid #857266; -moz-box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;-webkit-box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;] Rin nodded, still working to get the flour up off the floor as she listened to what Astrid had to say. Flour was a bitch to deal with, too fine to sweep easily but if you tried to mop it up you got library paste stuck to the floor. "I've been trying to learn how things work." She didn't quite sound defensive, but nearly so. "I've started carrying some silver, um, self-defense tools." Roofing nails, actually, that she'd silvered by melting down a very ugly silver salt and pepper shaker she'd bought at a Goodwill over a propane burner and then dipping the nails in with a pair of needle-nose pliers. "Iron, too. And I have salt I can lay down across doors and stuff if I need to. But it's like--" she shook her head, wisps of hair sticking to her cheeks where they were damp from light sweat and the quiet tears she'd shed for the dead boy and, more, for the quiet and dignified acceptance of the ones who had actually known him. "Every time I think I've got a grip on it, I learn that there's only more and more to learn. Sometimes I think I ought to find somebody who's willing to spend a couple of months teaching me." She thought vaguely and in passing of Bobby, but didn't let herself get too caught up. Bobby Singer was exactly the kind of man that Rin tended to fixate on: older, smarter than any three other people in an average crowd, cranky, and totally incapable of taking care of himself. At least incapable from her perspective: she thought he needed someone to clean his house and make sure he ate something that wasn't fried eggs and sausage and buy him a new hat. She didn't particularly want to sleep with Bobby, but she'd rather wished that she could have adopted him. She wanted to spend time with him, get to know him past the cranky competence and air of harassed good nature. But she also wasn't a big believer in forcing people's hands, so she let it go and returned her attention to Astrid. Rin smiled when Astrid explained that she'd held a 'higher position' and admitted, "I didn't even know that there were ranks among hunters. Unless--were you with the government or something? Military?" It made sense, now that she thought about it. With all this going on, you'd think the army or the Marines or somebody would want to have a group that specialized in dealing with this kind of mess. Some kind of secret SEAL team or whatever. Logic said it almost had to be so. "What happened to change your rank, if you don't mind me asking? Early retirement?" She had to imagine that the burnout rate of being a government-sponsored monster hunter would be phenomenal. Six, eight years tops and they'd rotate you out one way or another. The last thing you want is PTSD-wracked humans with access to a tank trying to take out the demon that killed their best friend. Recipe for disaster right there.

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[ASTRID NIGHT]

Astrid shifted in her seat, the room was almost uncomfortably hot and she shifted nervously in her seat. Being completely human was still very new to her, but she was slowly getting used to both the perks and the downfalls of mortality. As a human it seemed as if everything she felt, whether that be physical or emotional, was intensified in ways that she had never felt before. As an angel she had hardly felt things such as being too hot, or being too cold and it was uncomfortable as much as it was enjoyable at times. The feeling of heat right now was not one she enjoyed, everything felt stiff and her shirt seemed to be sticking to her back. It was nothing like the pleasant sensation of stepping out into the sun after being in a cold building, or feeling the heat above during a nice walk through town. Astrid twisted her hair up into a bun, pushing all of her hair away from her face and shrugged out of the shirt she was wearing over a tank-top.

"What you have now will be sufficient for the majority of demons you may encounter, but there is more out there that you should be informed of. I can help you if you wish for assistance."

Astrid surprised herself with the offer, she had never spent any more time with a human then was completely necessary, but she was not opposed to the idea. Plus, she wanted to be able to help this girl. If Astrid was correct on her hunch then she most likely had abilities that she would be able to work with and use to protect herself. There was also the issue of Astrid having not yet had the time to research where she would be heading next. It was likely she would be in this town for at least a few nights. She would start looking tomorrow, for tonight she wished to remain close to the bar, just in case something else were to happen.

Astrid frowned once again with the following questions. There was on thing she hated and that was lying, she wasn't ashamed that she had fought for what she believed in, but being a fallen angel was a part of her identity that she still had a tendency to struggle with. Heaven was her home and while she was confident that standing up for man-kind had been a good decision, she couldn't help but feel as if she had disappointed someone. She chose her words carefully, trying to find a way to approach the topic.

"I was not a hunter before, it was a position that I worked my way into. I was once very powerful, I held a high status. I was a warrior, though not in the typical sense."

Astrid was pleased with that response, she figured it would bring more questions but it gave her just a little bit more time to think and decide whether she wanted to be straight forward with this or keep her true identity a secret. So far she had never trusted a human with what she really was, but she wanted to be honest. Astrid wanted to help her if she could, and for that there would have to be trust between both of them.

"The reason I lost my ranking was because I rebelled. I was given orders that I believed to be wrong, people around me were speaking of going forward with actions that I did not agree with and I fell, I lost my position entirely"

That was the truth, it was entirely the truth even if she did leave out the details of her being an angel. She hoped that she would understand, humans seemed to understand free-will and the gray areas of right and wrong in a way that angels did not seem to have the ability too.

[RIN COOPER]

[atrb=style, width: 500px; height: 400px; background: #0a090b url(http://teaandheresy.com/moon/rin02back.jpg) no-repeat center bottom, bTable][atrb=valign,bottom][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,15,true][atrb=style, padding: 15px; color: #aa9a90; width: 280px; background-color: #0a090b; opacity: 0.7; filter:alpha(opacity=70); border: 1px solid #857266; -moz-box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;-webkit-box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;] The way Astrid explained her situation, especially the way she avoided explaining some things, added up to 'secret army monster hunter' in Rin's head. The irony was that the very ignorance that the TK was complaining about, in combination with having met Gwen a few months before, would have led to her accepting 'I'm a fallen angel' with barely a 'Srsly?' She just didn't know enough about the supernatural world to know what was and wasn't possible, and so she had to take certain things on, well, faith. So instead of concentrating on what she assumed was Astrid's court martial, Rin concentrated on the first thing she'd said. "Would you really be willing to let me pick your brain? Because I would really, really, really appreciate it. I've bumped into a couple of Hunters, but the first thing they all say is 'don't get involved', and when I go through the huge long process of pointing out to them that given that I run into something supernatural every couple of months and most and that knowledge will keep me alive better than ignorance, they mostly try to give me a really broad overview. Salt, iron, silver. Demons are real, vampires are real, ghosts are real, monsters are real. And then when I ask what to do about all those things it's always 'Run. And call me on your way out of town.' Which is lovely and chivalrous and all, but not necessarily helpful." There was a crack of laughter from over by the door that led into the kitchen, Joan walked back into the room with clean, damp hands and wearing a different (though equally ugly) flowered poly/cotton blouse. "Men always try to pull that scunner. I say a woman has to learn for herself in this world. Men's unreliable, aye been so. Learn to fight fer yourself." Rin smiled over at the old woman as she scooped the last of the flour into the dustpan and dumped it into the trash. She'd swept carefully around the mess that had been the rakshasa because she wasn't sure it didn't need to be handled in some special way, but the rest of the floor was spotless. "That's my feeling on the matter. Are you--" she caught the bare narrowing of Joan's eyes and redirected quickly. "Is the man who came in with his leg hurt all right?" "Lee. He'll be all right. Dino's patching him up." Seeing the look of confusion, and interpreting it best she could, Joan explained, "The cook." "Oh." And then Rin glanced over at Astrid before looking back at Joan and asking, "The boy who--" her voice trailed off, not sure how to ask it. The old woman's face fell, she looked every one of her nearly-seventy years. "Oso. We'll send him off like a hunter." Rin had zero idea what that meant, but she didn't push it. "I'm sorry for...what happened. Is there anything I can do to help?" Joan laughed, but gave the girl a sharp look as well. "I'm thinkin' you helped already, girl." A shrug, a blush, and Rin looked away.

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[ASTRID NIGHT]

"I can answer whatever questions you need to know" Astrid paused and glanced back at Joan. "I agree, you should be able to take care of yourself, especially if you have had encounters. You don't want to be caught off guard if there is no one there to defend you. I wish to help you in any way that I can"

She was being completely honest, she was intrigued by the girl and she believed that she held a lot of potential. Astrid also let herself feel the girl's emotions and Rin was obviously genuine about her feelings and there was a real fear that she seemed to hold that the angel guessed was not just from the occurrences that had taken place. The fact that she had taken on as many attacks as she had, without being involved in the business was shocking to Astrid and she strongly felt that Rin deserved answers, and as many as she needed.

Astrid felt her chest clench again at the look on Joan's face when the dead hunter's name was mentioned again. Astrid could only hope that he would be accepted into the fields of the Lord and his sacrifices would be acknowledged. Of course she had no way of knowing if that would be the case or not, but he was obviously a hunter who was loved and who lived his life for a good cause. Astrid walked across the room slowly, her steps echoing to loudly in the bar and she reached her hand out and placed it gently on Joan's shoulder.

"I am very sorry"

Her voice was soft, just above a whisper and she meant it. The poor woman was taking on more than she should have to handle and squeezed her shoulder and tried to offer comfort in a way that was familiar. She was not well trained in dealing with tears, but this small gesture, just the comfort of letting someone know that she understood she could handle.

"Thank you"

Joan said back to her just as quietly. She had been very welcoming to Astrid when she had first stepped in and Astrid would forever be grateful for that. She found she enjoyed her company and that was the reason she had been content to stay as long as she had. For that she was also grateful because it meant that she had been able to help in the Rakshasa situation that had presented itself and though she knew the hunters probably would have been able to hold their own, she also knew that she had been able to be a big help to them and that was what she fell for, to save humanity and fight the good fight with them. After another meaningful glance Astrid wandered back to her seat and sat quietly for a few moments, just thinking to herself and wondering about all the wonderful people that she had encountered here at this bar throughout the day. She would very much like to visit again, she felt very comforted by the people around her and found that even if the bar was not a place that she would usually fit in with, she genuinely enjoyed it here.

[RIN COOPER]

[atrb=style, width: 500px; height: 400px; background: #0a090b url(http://teaandheresy.com/moon/rin02back.jpg) no-repeat center bottom, bTable][atrb=valign,bottom][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,15,true][atrb=style, padding: 15px; color: #aa9a90; width: 280px; background-color: #0a090b; opacity: 0.7; filter:alpha(opacity=70); border: 1px solid #857266; -moz-box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;-webkit-box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;] Rin gave Astrid a cheerfully crooked smile. "I really don't. The first zombie I ran into almost ended me. And the second demon I met chased me through the Nebraska suburbs like it was a game of Eat-Your-Soul Tag. I really want to learn enough about this to be able to see what's coming at me and hopefully avoid it. Slaying being way, way, way down the list of acceptable responses." When the conversation turned to the current situation, Rin watched Astrid move over to touch Joan's shoulder but didn't move to touch the older woman as well. It wasn't that she wasn't a physically affectionate person, she was, but she didn't want to overwhelm Joan, especially when the older woman was carrying that brittle dignity in her grief. It seemed cruel to shatter it, and there was something about the way that Joan was holding herself that told Rin that it wouldn't take much to break down her walls. And so instead Rin packed away the broom and dustpan and then leaned back against the bar and asked Joan, "What can we do?" She didn't know why she felt entitled to volunteer Astrid to help, but there was something about the blonde that made Rin feel comfortable with her, like they could band together against the world, at least in this way and in this moment. But Joan shook her head. "Nothin', girl. Dino's got to take his cousin home and burn the body, so without a cook I'll have to close down tonight. If you girls want, I'll give you rooms without a charge, but I'll have to close down the Trap." Rin looked over at Astrid for a long minute, then back at Joan. "I can head a line. You have any preps?" Joan looked a little dubious. "I could call one in. But you don't have to do that." The tone of the demurral had more to do with doubting that Rin could handle a restaurant kitchen with just a single helper than an unwillingness to impose. Which just made Rin laugh. "I was born to this, Joan. My Mom owns a restaurant, I know more about running a dinner rush than I do about current politics or pop culture references. You might end up with an all-specials night since I don't know any of your recipes, but I can make it work. In fact," she looked over at Astrid and smiled broadly at her, something enthusiastic and challenging at the same time in the expression, like she was setting up some slightly dangerous game, "Astrid? You ever slung drinks?" She was already planning it out in her head, how they could run a dinner with just the two of them and one prep cook, maybe a waitress if Joan could call one in. Limited menu, pare it down to just a couple of different burgers and hot sandwiches, with a good mess of hot appetizers and one or two desserts. They'd do beer and shots only, call it a special, make life easier on Astrid. But it was Saturday afternoon, a place like this it was setting up to be the biggest night of the week. If Joan had to close down she'd lose up to half her week's take, possibly more if she lost customers to people being pissed off at finding it closed down. Rin could spare a night or even a couple of them to helping keep this place running, especially if that offer of a free motel room held.

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[ASTRID NIGHT]

The air in the bar felt a little lighter, even if it was only slightly, Astrid could almost feel just a little bit of tension drift out of the room. She could still feel pulses of grief flowing off of Joan but that was something that only time and healing would be able to fix. Still, though it may have been just a small and water smile, Joan was making an effort to converse with everyone and take care of things and Astrid felt a pleasant sting in her chest knowing that there were people on this Earth like this women. The fate of a fallen angel always seemed a little bit less terrible when Astrid had the opportunity to encounter people who had such genuine goodness in their hearts. She vowed to do whatever she could to help out before she found another case, and she also made a promise that she would be here when she could. She enjoyed these people's company and she found herself grinning back at the easy smiles that Rin had offered her.

"I will teach you everything I know. I will want to cover more then just the basics of demons and ghosts. There are beings that exist that are more powerful than what you have encountered, and I can help you with that. I want you to be prepared."

Astrid nodded her head, almost to herself pleased with her offer. This would mean a lot of things for her, it would mean revealing herself as a fallen angel and it would mean explaining many things to Rin that may be difficult for her to hear. If she truly did have abilities however, it was important that the girl knew these things because it was without a doubt what had made her such a target as of recent. Plus, she found herself warming up to her very quickly. She had shown little fear in when things had been scary and in motion and she had remained strong even after the event. There were a few tears but other than that she had remained composed and Astrid found herself admiring that greatly. Humans did not often have the capacity to deal with issues such as the one that had a risen today and it was a very unique quality to see someone remain in control of themselves as she had.

Astrid was pulled out of her thoughts when Rin offered up their help. She nodded her head in agreement hoping that Joan knew she was on board with whatever needed to be done and would do her best to accomplish the task. When Rin asked her a question Astrid turned her head to look at her and tilted her head to the side, biting her lip slightly in confusion.

"I do not understand anything to do with the drinks really, I only know that I enjoy the taste of many of them. I would be willing to help however, if you would be willing to teach me?"

She formed her words as a question, not wanting to seem demanding or wanting to get in the way if her lack of experience would cause any problems. True to her word though Astrid was eager to help and she was a fast learner. Especially with tasks such as these where she could learn more about the ways of humanity and the tasks that she often saw people throwing themselves into. It would be a good experience for her and it would also give her a chance to get to know Rin a little better, in an environment that was not dependent on survival and erasing the traces of a rough battle.

[RIN COOPER]

[atrb=style, width: 500px; height: 400px; background: #0a090b url(http://teaandheresy.com/moon/rin02back.jpg) no-repeat center bottom, bTable][atrb=valign,bottom][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,15,true][atrb=style, padding: 15px; color: #aa9a90; width: 280px; background-color: #0a090b; opacity: 0.7; filter:alpha(opacity=70); border: 1px solid #857266; -moz-box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;-webkit-box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;box-shadow: 3px 3px 12px #000;] Rin beamed at Astrid, wide and honestly grateful. "That would be incredible, if you're really willing. I need to learn this stuff, it's starting to stretch the boundaries of coincidence and I think it's past time I learned how to spot things that aren't people and figure out how to defend myself from them." She laid a hand on Astrid's shoulder, just an gentle friendly touch. Touch was easy for Rin, she had no particular hangups about it and was perfectly willing to couch other people casually and with no great meaning behind it except goodwill and comfort. Which she proved again by leaving Astrid's side and moving over to Joan, saying, "We've got this. You go take care of your people, we'll call in a waitress and a prep cook and keep the Trap running tonight." Joan looked incredibly dubious. "You girls don't have to..." But Rin interrupted, leaning down and kissing the older woman's cheek, getting an arm around her shoulders. "Go bury your dead," she said, far more gentle than her usual exuberance. "Look to your injured. Take a night to heal. You welcomed us in here, gave us the protection of your home. We can handle one shift of Friday-night drunks and hungry cowboys." She tightened her arm around Joan. "It's all right. I promise." The old woman didn't look entirely convinced, but she also looked tired. Grief hits some people like that, they don't so much look sad as that you can see every bad, sad, lonely day they've ever lived on them and they look so weary they oughtn't be able to hold their head up straight. "All right," she finally conceded. "Thank you, girls. I'll get Wes to bring you what you'll need." There were tears in her voice, a few escaped her when Rin bent and kissed her cheek again, and she turned and shuffled out of the room with no further argument. After she left, Rin stood watching the door Joan had exited through for a long moment, then turned her head toward Astrid. "Women that strong just kill me, you know? You look at that and think, 'Am I ever going to be able to be her when I grow up?'" She was quiet another second and then visibly shook off the mood as she moved over to the bar, tossed open the passthrough, and went to the sink. "C'mon, wash your hands and I'll teach you how to draw beers and measure shots." It took Rin about twenty minutes to run Astrid through the extreme basics of tending bar. Measuring shots, drawing a pint, which liquors counted as 'top shelf' and which were the house brands. How and when to marry off bottles, how to take payment and what kind of tipping to expect, how to keep track of credit card tabs. When Wes came out with a set of keys and the news that a prep cook named Mike and a server named Yesenia were on their way in, Rin pumped him for a bit of information, then she and Astrid searched the storage closet to come up with four good-sized blackboards. Two of them went at the bar: DRINK LIKE A REAL MAN $2 Beer $3 Shot $5 Top Shelf Shot $7 Pitcher ANYONE ASKING FOR A MIXED DRINK OR IMPORTED BEER WILL BE LAUGHED AT FOR BEING A PUSSY And the others went at the front door and against the wall next to the kitchen passthrough: MENUS ARE FOR WIMPS Wings: Mild, Hot, or Ludicrous - Nachos: Beef or Chicken - Potato Skins - Sliders (4) - Chili Cheese Fries - Batter Fried Bacon (you heard us) $6 Burger - as many add-ons as you can handle - $9 Cheddar, Swiss, American, Tomato, Lettuce, Avocado, Raw Onion, Caramelized Onion, Mushrooms, Jalapenos, Bacon. Comes with Fries. Cobb Salad - $9 Bleu Cheese, Bacon, Hard Boiled Egg, Tomato, Chopped Chicken, Avocado, Green Onions, Shredded Lettuce. Choice of Dressing. Can be made Vegetarian. BBQ Chicken Sandwich - $8 Mild or Hot, with American cheese and fried onions. Comes with Fries. BLTAB - $7 Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, Avocado, more Bacon on toasted white bread. Comes with Fries. Bowl of Chili - $6 Mild, Hot, or Ludicrous. Comes with crackers. Finish a bowl of Ludicrous and you get a free beer. NO DESSERTS. WHAT ARE YOU, A GIRL? The makeshift menu that Rin created resembled the Trap's usual fare only in the very broadest strokes. But they had all the ingredients for it, or would as soon as Mike got back from the run down to the Whole Foods in Ravado, and Rin knew she could cook it all even in a strange kitchen with an unfamiliar helper. Plus it would keep bookkeeping easy, and she'd snuck a few more interesting foods in there to hopefully get people's attention. With the flattop cleaned and oil and the fryer coming up to heat, Rin pulled Astrid in with her both to help with the making of the sauces and other pre-work and because Wes was cleaning the dead Rakshasa out of the bar area and who needed to see that? "So what brought you by here today?" The question was idle-ish, but friendly too. Rin liked Astrid, wanted to get to know her better. Even as she talked, though, her hands moved swiftly and competently to break down canned tomatoes and black beans to go into the massive pot of chili she was building.

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