[Liethell]

We may or may not be seeing crime, a bit of violence, and romance here. The warning is just to keep on the safe side.

It's a long known fact that cities don't sleep. Not anymore, at least. They may have had their rest in their youth, when criminals were fledgling and the law was powerful. Evil was not tolerated in those days. Today, the streets are slick with evil's residue. The alleys are not safe. Not every business is wholesome and law-abiding. Today, cities don't sleep, because the wicked never sleep. They stay awake, always watching, always waiting for their moment...

The night would have been darker had it not been for the towering buildings with lights all the way at the top, and it would have been colder had the alley not saved the small group from the winter wind. There, huddled around a trash can with a fire burning inside, was a group of homeless, huddled together to share warmth. They were two women, one man, one little girl resting in her mother's lap, and one young infant, wailing into the night with illness. They listened to the muffled radio sitting in the windowsill near them explain that it would be a cold one tonight folks, bundle up, and don't stay out too late at night.

Before the end of the broadcast, more showed up, and not all of them were homeless. It was no longer a small group, but a small flock that gathered around the fire and around a narrow and heavy iron door. They whispered and murmured to one another about the creature they were waiting to see. Some came from other cities to ask for guidance. Some thought it was simply a hoax and they came to prove it. Some said it was an angel behind that reinforced door. He healed the sick, after all, and that must make him good. Some said she was a devil, lying in wait to claim souls with her dark magic. The claims grew more and more fantastic, even though most could not agree on whether or not the creature was male or female, or really, what the creature even looked like. The crowd felt a hush come upon them as the door opened and a young man in a three piece suit ushered the first guest in.
"The good doctor will see you now..."

[Yokuutsu]

Vincent is not oblivious to the danger in the world, that's why he tends to keep to himself when he can. The less attention he gets, the better, especially after some things that have happened in his life.

Tonight, he's out with his trenchcoat like jacket, bought from a thrift store. See, he's heard of a rumor. And while he knows about the possible danger, if the person isn't just the basic scam artist, his curiousity demands that he checks out the rumor. It sounds interesting whether it's true or not. If it's true, maybe the person can help him. If not, well, he got outside today? He's standing off to the side, watching the growing group.



(Here's what I was thinking for my character http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lt...lnbyo1_500.jpg And I'm sorry it's bad...hopefully it'll get better as we go D: )

[Liethell]

(I think it looks just fine! Glasses, dark hair, blue eyes, right?)

The first to answer the doorman's beckoning is a mother. She's heavy set, and she's holding the sobbing baby from earlier. She herself has been crying. A man near Vincent gossips in whispers to another man near him, and apparently the child has pneumonia, and the mother can't afford conventional treatment.
"It's lucky the doc came by this week," They repeat to one another, "It's lucky, it's lucky indeed..."

The door closes behind her, to keep out the crowd as it presses closer and closer to the door. The murmuring kicks up once more, almost all of it speculation. Many seem to believe the child will come out as sick as he went in. There are bah humbugs and tut-tuts and tsk-tsking. It lasts for all of a few minutes, until the door opens again and a still silence overtakes them all.

The woman comes back out. The shadows hid her baby at first, but as she steps into the alley, the streetlights illuminate her and show her red cheeks, stained with tears, and a smile. The child in her arm fusses, but he breathes again, he doesn't howl.
"My baby, she healed my baby!" She sobs into the little bundle. There is silence, a few approach to examine the baby. An old man hobbles to her and looks the bundle over, and then he turns to the crowd and announces, "God is good! His angel healed the little one!" There is awe among the crowd. Before the excitement turns into a stampede, the door man booms,
"Line up! Queue up in order, now!"

The crowd shuffles into a line. Some run to the front. Line cutting seems to be very prevalent here.

[Yokuutsu]

Vincent thinks that if he really heals people, it might be more of a placebo effect. It's happened before, not that it is a bad thing. If people just need a certain someone to tell them they're better to get better, he isn't against that. It's better than them staying sick and dying. He curls up kind of on himself as he waits. Who knows? Maybe the man does actually help people instead of tricking them. Though, he does hope the child gets better. No child deserves to be miserable like that.

The child kind of disproves his idea of the placebo...at least somewhat. It definitely wasn't a placebo with the child. A baby wouldn't be like an adult like that. So he is surprised. Even medicine cannot work that fast. His curiousity is just growing by the moment. He frowns a bit though, he thinks God has nothing to do with this, but he's a bit bitter maybe on that subject.

He stays back from the line. He doesn't need any medical help, so he won't get in line and delay someone who actually needs help. Especially when this could be their only choice on getting help or getting nothing. He's just glad it didn't become a complete madhouse or anything after that.

(He's a good person even if he doesn't love people XD)

[Liethell]

The line is not so much a line as it is a chunky, informal gathering of people in an oblong shape. Vincent finds himself standing near a teenage girl, obviously under-dressed for the cold weather, shivering. Her eyeliner is streaked down her cheeks and she shivers with her arms crossed, glaring straight ahead. On his other side, he finds a middle aged woman with coke bottle glasses, her eyes wide in a sort of awe and her face lit up with a grin. She turns to him as they wait,
"Can you believe it? I've always known all my life magic is real--ever since I was a little girl, you know, I always knew--but here it is! There's another witch out there like me!"

Of course, standing in line takes time. Each person seems to take five minutes to twenty or thirty. Some are in and out quickly, some pitter-patter around inside the building and come out significantly longer. Vincent will have to wait...

(I know people like that :,D)

[Yokuutsu]

Vincent, after a bit, starts feeling a bit guilty watching the teen shiver. He takes off his coat, a sweater underneath, and holds it out to her. "Here." He says simply. He'll be fine, maybe a bit cold, but she has even less to keep her warm than he does.

He tilts his head at the woman's words. "You believe in magic?" He can't help but ask. To tell the truth, he's never met anyone who does believe in it...that he can remember at least. He does smile at her words. Even if it isn't true, at least it makes her happy.

[Liethell]

The teenager shakes her head, "I'll be fine, Jesus." She seems quiet adamant on ignoring Vincent's existence. Strangely enough, she takes the jacket and throws it over her shoulders. she refuses to look him in the eye...

"Well of course I do darling!" The woman brightens even more. Her smile could light up the whole alleyway. "I've been a practicing Wicca since I was twenty! Why, I first started out with burning candles when I was sixteen, but I hardly knew what I was doing back then--and it wasn't as popular as it is today either!-- but I burnt candles, you see, and I always made a wish over them, and soon enough, I got my wish! But even before then, I knew about magic! You see, my great auntie Marie..." As she yammers on, they move closer to the front. The teenager rolls her eyes and the older woman, who has somehow moved on from the topic of Wiccanism to the year her auntie set the roof on fire trying to revive the dead...

[Yokuutsu]

Vincent just lifts an eyebrow before rolling his eyes as the teenager takes his coat. She just reinforces the idea that some people just were not raised right....but he's hoping she's just having an ungodly bad day or something.

He can't help but smile as the woman does. It's infectious apparently. "I don't have a religion." It isn't that he's atheist, he just doesn't know at this point really know. He nods a bit as he listen. "I'm glad it worked for you." He's still skeptical about it all, but if it helps the woman, why shoot it down? "Oooh....I don't think I'd want to do that. If someone is dead, I think they should stay that way....it sounds like too many things can go wrong...like things catching on fire in this case...."

[Liethell]

The teenager remains sulking right near him. She watches as the older woman rambles on, only stopping to hear Vincent speak and then pick right on up where she left off. "Why, of course, that's what I told her at the time! But like I was saying, I was such a young child, she didn't listen to me, and she kept right on with her ritual, but of course her husband never came back to life and now she has a permanent fear of fire. Did you know the spell to ease anxiety about fire involves using fire? It's true, I saw it on the internet! We tried it several times but dear old Auntie never did go through with it..." As she babbles on and the line trudges closer, the teenager nudges Vincent, "I think she just likes to hear herself talk."

Those who needed healing were at the front of the line, and each of them came out singing the doctor's praises, but now that they're taken care of, those who came for advice walk in. They frequently come back out looking angry. Someone comes back out in tears. Many come out happy enough, but it's disconcerting to see the frail old man wave his cane around and tell the crowd that they're visiting a fraud, and an ugly one at that.

[Yokuutsu]

Vincent just smiles as the other talks. He shrugs a bit at the teenager. "She might, but there's no harm in listening to a story or two....not like I don't have some time." He says softly, still listening to the other as best as possible. Even if the story isn't true or is true, it's still more interesting than talking about the weather or other things. "The fire thing...it just kind of makes me think of just facing your fear..." Though if it works, it doesn't matter what it's called.

He sighs, seeing all the people angry. "If you don't want the advice, you don't have to go in....and you don't have to follow it. There's no point in anger." He shakes his head a bit. "If a fraud gives people hope, I'd rather visit a fraud than you." He can't help but say to the old man. He tries to be nice and polite...but there's only so much he can do.

[Liethell]

The old man lets out a sort of angry yell, and as he walks away with the gentle old woman he came here with, he seems to cry onto her. After a lot of chatting, the next woman in line is the one who had been talking to them for so long, the Wicca woman. She nearly skips in. The teenager crosses her arms. "She's going to be in for a big surprise. I saw him a few years back on the east coast and he's not some kind of Wicca priest or something. He's just some weird-ass mystic who stays in town for a night and then up and leaves."

(I know it didn't seem like they were out for long, but I didn't want to add too much filler to the rp, especially so close to it's start. I do apologize ;; )

[Yokuutsu]

Vincent sighs a bit, shaking his head. He can't know exactly what the advice was, but his words still stand. Life isn't always pleasant, neither is the advice you can get for it either. "Well, she might still be happy about it unless he's some demon or something like some said. Because sometimes....you have to take what you can get. If he does magic, well, they've got that in common no matter the religion." He says, shrugging a bit. "What are you here for? If you're willing to say that is..."

(It's all good :3)

[Liethell]

"Yeah, well, people like hearing what they already think out of someone else's mouth. Not everyone thinks like you, punk." She huffs and shivers and pulls his coat closer around her shoulders. "I'm here for substance abuse, okay? I broke up with my boyfriend and did a lot of drugs to get over it and I'm having withdrawal and I can't go to the hospital because I did illegal crap. Why are you so nosey?" She again refuses to look him in the eye. She shakes even with his coat over her shoulders, it may be she' not shaking from the cold. There's a loud yelling sound coming from inside the building, and the doorman has to run inside. It's then silent again...

[Yokuutsu]

Vincent shrugs a bit. "Well, we've all got to accept the truth sooner or later...and it is worse to decieve yourself." It'll just end up hurting more in the end really. "You could go to the hospital. To my knowledge...they wouldn't especially if you're trying to quit...or get through it and never do it again..." He's trying to help. "Though...I don't blame you for trying to go here either..." Here is free, and if he charges, it can't be as much as a hospital would. "I was just wondering. If you didn't want to tell me, you didn't have to." He says softly. He pads over to the door, opening it a bit once the yelling and the doorman runs in. "Everything alright in there?"

[Liethell]

The teenager grumps and harrumphs and, if she had feathers, they would be ruffled up. "Aren't you a peachy keen little optimist. You think joy and happiness is all there is to life and a little help goes a long way. Flash news for you, it isn't. Sometimes life hands you the short straw." She seems to bury herself in the jacket, and now she really does look like a chicken with her feathers fluffed up.

As he peers into the darkness, he sees a shabby-looking hallway. One of the rooms to the left is lit up, and the doorman has his arms under the Wicca woman's shoulders from earlier. "Demon!" she howls, "Demon scum, you've been tricking all these people! Demon!" She screeches. The doorman seems as if he'd rather be anywhere but here and his face makes that clear as he grumbles and drags her out of the hall. He shoves her outside and quickly ushers Vincent in, and to keep the Wicca woman from charging in and potentially hurting the doctor, the heavy door is shut behind him.

It's dark in here without the light from outside. The building smells like mildew and urine. There is one door open down the hall on the left, and it has a welcoming warm light spilling out from it. There's something peculiar about the light. It feels like it reaches out to greet him, as if the light itself moves to say 'welcome'. Of course, it can only be a trick of the light...can it?
He hears a voice call out to him from the room. He finds it sounds male, but it's oddly smooth for a male voice. "Please, come in. I apologize for the last woman to visit, but these things happen..."

[Yokuutsu]

"No, but by law, hospitals are supposed to take care of your health before they bother with the police. A person can't be punished if they die." Vincent isn't an optimist when it comes to himself, but for others? He can be a bit optimistic. "And sometimes...the short straw is used to decide who wins instead of loses."

He kind of whines when he hears the thing about the demon. The guy could be a demon for all he knows....or she could be flipping out. Neither is a pleasant option right now. He moves out of the way a bit for the doorman, looking a bit sad. The woman was excited for this. That's sad to him.

Once he's inside, he blinks a bit, trying to get used to the darkness and all compared to outside. He tilts his head at the light, maybe he's going crazy? He's wondered that one his entire life actually. He'll jsut asume it's a trick of the light for the sake of his sanity. When he hears the voice, he has to think for a second maybe he really is a demon. Demons are supposed to be smooth, aren't they? Either way, he's in here now so he might as well find out. "I think she was just disappointed...and it's easier to be angry than disappointed." He says as he heads for the room.

(Would one magic user be able to sense another?)