ic I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper (IC)

[Brown Dynamite]

Salsa! Debarge

Bath, Somerset, England

Friday, March 27, 2020

21:15 PM local time

 

Bath is the largest city in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths.  The steam rising in the air paired well with the steamy entanglements of many a couple seeking a romantic destination.  Erick Sloane and Dawn Farrington had in fact sought such a weekend getaway.  The expectant parents, and currently longest serving active members of the current iteration UK's national superhero team the Vanguard, had left their English estate for a weekend in Bath.

Salsa! Debarge was a lively bar and dance club.  The posters plastered along the inside of the walls advertised daily dance classes.  But, the nights were dedicated to live music, drinks, and Latin food.  The second floor balcony overlooked the dance floor, with patrons of the restaurant treated to the show of the customers dancing below.    The dance floor itself was circular and spacious enough for a crowd to engage in.  With a stage set where a colorfully dressed band was currently playing their music loud enough for all to hear.

Erick was drinking a glass of water, his plate of food half eaten.  He was wearing a long sleeve button down cotton shirt with an alternating brown and orange stitch pattern.  Tight jeans covered his black Savate shoes that looked similar enough to loafers to pass as such.  "So, you call the dance Salsa still.  But, you guys call the sauce red sauce.  Were people worried that the public would think Salsa clubs would be places people bring chips and compare dips?"

[Thevshi]

Synpase

 

Dee Farrington was also drinking water, given her current expectancy, and unlike Erick, her food was mostly gone by now. The Englishwoman was dressed in a black off the shoulder crop top with half sleeves (arguing she might as well show off her abs while she still could), a black leather miniskirt and a pair of comfortable heels. She gave Erick a small smirk at his question. "Salsa is the Spanish word for sauce." She stated. "We just felt it was best to call it what it is, without needing to incorporate the Spanish word for an already existing word like you Americans seem to like to."

 

Dee then picked up her glass of water as she heled it out towards Erick. "Well, here is to just over six years. I imagine the next six will be wildly different."

[Brown Dynamite]

"Different but still wild I imagine.  We met stopping an assassination attempt on your brother by Soviet scientists attempting the wildest doping scandal in Olympic history.  Funny that they got banned for competing due to that.  But, our idea of different is still going to be fun."  Erick extended his own glass back to Dee.  Tapping it ever so slightly.  CLINK.   "We should do Tokyo this year.  I mean what are the chances that there's another international scandal?  Okay with us 50/50. "

 

It was only for a fleeting moment.  But, Dee felt something amiss.  It was hard to place.  As if someone's mental wavelength multiplied.  But, it was only for a moment.  It was so blink and you miss it quick that if not for the fact that the 'copy' disappeared just as abruptly as it appeared she might have missed it.

Edited April 2, 2020 by HGM

[Thevshi]

Synapse

 

"It had bloody well better be." Dee replied with a grin as Erick suggested the next six years were likely to still be wild, even if different. Taking a drink of her water after the toast, Dee seemed to give the suggestion of Tokyo consideration for a moment before smiling. "We could certainly go to Tokyo. Of course, by then I likely will have started to be slowed down. And if there is not international scandal brewing, we can always start one ourselves." She added the last with a mischievous grin.

 

But even as she was relaxing and enjoying the night there was the sudden feeling of something seeming amiss, causing the Englishwoman to turn and look out over the dance floor below and then scan more of the area in the restaurant, her expression becoming more serious. I just had the strangest sensation. She informed Erick over their mental link. It…was like someone's mind was copied, but only for a brief moment before disapearing.

[Brown Dynamite]

"I'm sure we can stir something up.  In fact, I know just the outfit you can w-"   Erick stopped talking the moment he noticed something caught Dee's attention.  Waiting to hear what had worried her, his attention turned to his meal.  As Dee looked around the restaurant.  She didn't feel the any unusual mental undulations anymore.  She did, however, find the original mind.  It was after all hard to shake strange s.  Especially with perfect recall.

The person in question was a rather portentous looking man with a receding hairline on the dance floor.  The man's attire spoke to wealth, Dee having seen more than her fair share of expensive suits growing up.  Let alone in her fiance's wardrobe.  If that wasn't clue, there was the gold.  The man's hands were decked out to the gills in jewelry.  Multiple gold chains.  The top row of his teeth clearly studded with diamonds.   And then there were the rings.  His hands were filled with rings, one of which gave Dee a strange feeling.

How does mental xeroxing work?  Erick asked as he continued his meal.  Not drawing attention to himself as his date looked around.  The last thing they needed was to look like dine and dashers.

Edited April 3, 2020 by HGM
specified that the man was on the dance floor.

[Thevshi]

Synapse

 

Having identified the man whose mind she had sensed the unusual reading from, Dee focused back on Erick with a faked smile as if nothing were amiss. Taking a drink of her water, she continued their mental conversation. I am not sure that if that was what was happening, just it seemed like multiple copies of the same mental pattern.

 

In any event, it was Mr. Bling down there on the dance floor. Everything seems normal about him at the moment…..but I get a strange feeling from the gem on one of his rings.

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

The couple didn't have much of a chance to ponder the question.  As suddenly things quieted down.  Not just the music.  But everything quieted down.  Dee and Erick could hear each other mentally.  But, the moment either opened the mouths to speak no sound would come out.

Looking around it seemed that whatever was going on was not limited to them.  A waiter dropped a glass in surprise and not so much as a peep exited his open mouth.  The entire dance floor was bewildered.  No one moved to leave.  But, there was a clear progression of events down below.

First, came the realization that the music stopped.  Followed by the attempts to complain.  When no sound came the panic would follow.  Everyone was frantically trying to figure something out.  Yelling out in silence.   The salsa scene came to a complete and abrupt stop replaced with the country's largest game of charades..
 

[Thevshi]

Synapse

 

A frown came to Dee's face as suddenly the entire restaurant was engulfed in a unnatural silence. The Englishwoman looked around, noting the shock that was quickly spreading among the other patrons, which was quickly replaced by either fear or anger or some combination of the two. Well, this is bloody wonderful. She mentally stated to Erick over their shared mental connection. We need to do something before the entire place goes crazy with panic She added

 

While keeping the connection with Erick open, Dee activated another of her mental powers, reaching out to cover the entire restaurant. Everyone calm the bloody hell down! She mentally shouted, limiting the communication to one way. This is Synapse of Vanguard. We are trying to determine what is going on, but in the meantime, please move calmly towards the exits and outside.

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

Most of the hectic crowd stopped in their tracks.  There were still a few people who were too caught in their flight response to listen to reason.  But, most were reassured by hearing the voice of one of UK's premier superheroes in their head.  Some people began looking around for where she was but mostly they began falling in line with the given instructions.

But the club had attracted quite the crowd beforehand.  It would take some time for everyone to file out in anything resembling an orderly matter.  It only took a few seconds for the Erick's signature foresight to hit.  Through their shared connection Dee was given a direct view of Erick's precognitive vision.  The man she had spotted earlier was about to be forcibly dragged into the kitchen area by one of the women accompanying him. On its own the vision didn't seem to imply impeding peril but it was strange.  

[Brown Dynamite]

Foreshadow II

 

I guess not everyone's good at following instructions.  Erick mused as he took a sip from his glass.  Ideally he knew he should use the crowd to find somewhere to sneak off to and change to his work clothes.  But, if someone was potentially in trouble.  He's never had any reservations about fighting out of costume.  As long as he stuck to traditional boxing it was enough to fool most eyes.  Hm, I'm tempted to just jump down to the floor below and follow them.  But, I'm not exactly dressed to impress.

 

As he telepathically messaged his fiancé, Erick reached for the table cloth off a nearby table and in a smooth motion pulled it off without even taking care to prevent anything from falling to the ground.  The lack of auditory clue was an adjustment, but it also provided the perfect cover to avoid making a sound when breaking glass and dishware.

Edited March 20, 2021 by Brown Dynamite