2021.05.23 - Council of Three
This log follows the story from: 2021.05.03 - Nice Night for a Fire
It's a rainy day in Port-Au-Feu, but Dean's not bothered by that. He sits at a table at the Hidden Grove, which has become one of his favorite places to hang out and spend time enjoying good food and drink. Sam sits at the same table, tapping away at the keyboard of his laptop, which has a variety of colorful and entertaining stickers on it.
"Looks like it's gonna just pour all day," Dean comments, before taking a sip of his apple...tea...coffee...whatever. It may be cider, he wasn't paying much attention. It has apples, it has spices, and it's delicious.
"Yep." Sam hits the enter key and glances over to the front window. "Bet it would suck to be a werewolf on days like this. Wet dog smell you can't get away from."
The brothers both grin.
As if on cue, the front door of the Hidden Grove opens and in walks a young man, dark skinned and wearing his regular attire of jeans, white tshirt and a black leather jacket over top. he shakes out his jacket and wipes a hand over his short cropped hair as he comes in from the rain. He wasn't expecting to see anyone he knows but when he spots Dean and Sam, the biker's smile grows on his face. There's a particular smirk when his gaze drifts over Sam but then he's headed up to get himself a coffee and some snacks, including a danish and a remade sandwich.
"Hey Dean. Hey Sam," he says, grinning slightly as he looks to the empty chair "What's up?"
"Hey, Nic! Sit down with us." Dean breaks into a grin, and Sam looks pretty happy to see the man too. It's been a while, but he's memorable. The brothers aren't too easy to forget either, as evidenced by all the people who never seem to shake the memory. Part of that may be because when they're involved, it's usually a dramatic and exciting situation.
Once they're joined by Nicholas, Sam motions to the screen of his laptop. "The Thule Society," he explains, with a site open on his browser about this bizarre band of Nazi necromancers.
Dean makes a face. "Yeah, they sent a goddamn zombie after Skitch. Even his golem had a hard time ripping the thing apart. We had to torch it in his garage."
Nic takes the offered seat, taking a sip of his coffee as he does. "What'cha working on? You got *case face* on," he says to Sam, resisting the urge to playfully nudge the brother here in the cafe but there's a look from those eyes of his that lingers just a second or two longer than needed.
"The Thule Society? You and Skitch were talking about them last time I saw you," he says to Dean across the table. "They're sending zombies to attack now? Why Skitch?" he asks curiously "Have you guys been fighting them then?"
Dean sets his cup down and sits back in his seat. "Well, we sure ain't givin' 'em a handy J." Sam half-laughs, half-scoffs, as his brother continues. "You ever fought a zombie? 'Cause I'll tell you for free, it ain't a picnic."
"We think it's because he was chosen to be Isaac's master." Sam chimes in. "The golem. We're pretty sure they're on his ass because they don't want a weapon like that to be used against them, and it's possible, with all of our contacts, that Skitch might learn enough to be a real danger to their operations."
"Well damn, I knew Skitch was good but didn't now he was that dangerous to them." There's a smile that crosses his lips as he thinks of how much one man would warrant such attention from the society. When he looks at Dean, Nic shrugs "Never fought one yet no, but I'm guessing I could myself. If you've ever seen a movie, you just need to take off their head or shoot them in it right? I mean that doesn't seem hard."
he leans forward to look at the laptop Sam is looking at. "So what do we have on them? I mean if I'm gonna put on my game face, I'm guessing there's a plan?"
Dean shakes his head emphatically at the question. "That's just one kinda zombie, and it's not the necromancer kind."
"These, you have to destroy. Whole body. It doesn't matter if their parts are attached or not, they'll keep going until they're basically reduced to ash." Sam makes a face, folding his hands and resting them over his stomach. "From what I've read, they're also hard to make, which is kind of a relief. But the fact that they were able to make one probably means they're gonna send another one, sooner or later."
While his brother's talking, Dean takes the opportunity to enjoy more of his applelicious drink, setting it down and gulping the mouthful once Sam's done for now. "They're probably good and hid in a city like this. They have to be pretty careful to have lasted this long.
Nic rolls his eyes and shakes his head "of course there'd be different kinds of zombies? I mean why not, right?" Then Sam explains the nature of the zombies and how they need to be killed. "So you're talking fire or acid or something right? I mean I can tear 'em up and scatter their body parts, but I'm not eating anything that's dead!" He doesn't seem concerned with talking like this in the cafe with the brothers. After all, they know what he is and his words aren't too revealing to anyone overhearing.
"Well, I'd ask if you had anything from the zombie I could use a tracking focus but if they were totally destroyed then I'm guessing not." Looking at Sam as he takes a bite of his sandwich, Nic asks, "I bet you got a plan though right?"
"Don't...eat the dead." Sam's face is an evocative statement of extreme distaste. "Not even the super disposable kind."
"Half-ass zombies." Dean clarifies. Fortunately, the cafe is largely empty, aside from Mr. Sunshine manning the counter and whatever barista in the back. They don't have to worry too much about their volume level.
Sam goes thoughtful, though, looking to Nic, then the laptop, and he sits up straighter. "We could probably find some remains of the clothing," he offers. "I don't know how useful it would be, since it was torched, but that's probably the most we could do. Otherwise, I thought we could do some looking around and asking questions. This city has a lot of secrets, but I'd be willing to bet that evil Nazis are not a secret anyone wants to keep too hard."
Nic shares Sam's rather repulsed expression "Yeah, not eating anything already dead." Then he takes another bite of his sandwich to make the point before he sets it back on the small plate in front of him. "So we do it the old fashioned way huh? I'm not great talking to folks or anything, but I'm happy to tag along, maybe help with anyone who's lying or picking up the scent of anyone who's been around them.
He reaches for his cup of coffee, bringing it to his lips for a sip. "Guess this means we're teaming up for a while. It'll be good to get out and do something for a change. Just been spending my time working any odd jobs I could find. Guessing this doesn't pay though right?" he asks with a half-hearted chuckle.
"I mean, I dunno. Maybe, if we hook up with the right people." Dean shrugs his shoulder, idly playing with the big cup on the table in front of him. "All I know is we gotta at least chase 'em out of this city for a while. Nazis are a blast from the past that shoulda stayed there."
"Agreed." Sam props his cheek on his hand, looking over to Nic as he enjoys his refreshment. It's a good place for food and drink, but that's not surprising. The Fair Folk are known for exceptional excellence in that area. "We'd really benefit from having you along, though. There's every chance that we could find clues you can follow that we can't even detect. We're just humans, really."
Nic listens to both brothers as he finishes off his sandwich. He takes a sip from his coffee before resting his arm along the table and his hand hanging off the edge. "Hey I'm happy to come along. I mean any chance to kick a Nazi ass is good with me, and getting to spend some time with you guys is good with me." His gaze turns to Sam for a moment as a smile tugs, then he looks back. "Just humans, huh? Ain't that like saying Starbucks is just coffee? Or Ambrosia is just something to drink?"
After that, he sits back a bit in his chair and taps fingers against the top of it idly, "So then, we got a place to start? I mean if we were Nazi's where would be hiding in this town? Everything's so close knit really at least here."
Both the Winchesters look happy to have Nic along and in their corner. Though they're often riding all over the country, the two have come to regard Port-Au-Feu as their most consistent base of operations in a long while. They always come back, in part because they know they have a solid place they can always come back to. Plus free meals, which doesn't hurt.
"My visions aren't exactly the most reliable things," Sam answers. "And I can't manage much with the telekinesis aspect of my powers."
"I just got my two fists and whatever I can carry in 'em." Dean leans his arms on the table, leaning on them. "I guess it don't hurt that we both know a lot about what to do if we come up against a lotta things, but we gotta be way more careful in a throwdown, drag-out fight."
Sam pulls his laptop closer again, to face him after turning it to be more visible for Nic. "Apparently, there are lots of secrets in this city. There have been several books written about the subject. There are plenty of places we might be able to find some links we can pick up, though. They've got to get supplies somewhere, and there aren't many sources of the things like they'd use. Most merchants who know about that stuff would know enough to know the Thule have some bad mojo."
"You'd mentioned your visions before, man. I remember you saying they weren't always accurate or at least they could be seen in a couple different ways." Nic leans in on the table as well as Sam starts looking for things on the computer. Dean's comments get a laugh from him, "Hey all I got is my fits too," he starts then in a lower voice adds with a bit of a cheeky grin, "I mean the claws are an nice extra touch too."
Sam's information gets a nod from the teen, "Well, if we know why they're here or what they're looking for that would be good. Do the books talk about some old kinda magic or something they'd want?" Nic shrugs, "I mean this research stuff ain't my strong point, I'm more a point and claw kinda guy when it comes down to it. So I'll just be following your lead until we get somewhere there might be danger."
"They're challenging at best, inscrutable at worst." Sam runs his tongue over his lips, then nibbles his lower lip a bit, before he's done looking up that particular piece of information. "I think we should hit all the magic shops in town, real or just...'new age' stuff. Can't tell where it's gonna be, until we make sure what each one is."
Dean just laughs. "Yeah! You got a whole lot more in the way of built-in weaponry than me or Sammy do. Probably a lot tougher too."