After organizing the transformers Michael led Shawn to the window, where they climbed out. He made sure that Shawn knew there were exactly twelves steps to getting outside of the window and where the best footholds were.  Soon, they were on a trail in the small shrubs behind the house--undeveloped land--and moving quickly.

It was still broad daylight, but clearly past noon, the sun shining down on the boys' backs, heat of summer dry and harsh.  Michael and Shawn got the destination:  bushes that overlooked the back of what looked like a restaurant of some kind. Only it wasn't a restaurant.  There was loud music coming from inside, the sound of throbbing base probably vibrating the exterior of the building.

Looking at the back of the building, Shawn could see a dumpster and a large, gray van.  There was one door to the back of the building,  closed, but clearly ajar, the sound of the loud music escaping through it.

"This is the back of Moe's Restaurant." Michael explained. "It isn't really a normal restaurant. It is a place were Dads go to see woman take off their clothes."

There was a pause before Michael continued. "Last week I waited here for thirty three minutes, and then a fat guy with a gray beard opened the door. He usually carries a large back of garbage with him. He puts the garbage in the dumpster, but he leaves the door open."

Michael waited for the implications of this statement to sink into Shawn.

"It means that when the door is open, you can see everything." He said, emphasizing the word everything in a way that broke the normal spell of monotamy in his voice.

"Oh?" Shawn had a vague understanding of this kind of thing - filtered down vaguely third and forth hand from kids who had older siblings - that apparently this was something grown-ups and older kids enjoyed. Personally, he'd seen naked women occasionally before, generally by accident on the smaller and busier movie sets where the change rooms were more chaotic, and mostly he'd felt embarrassed and apologetic for disturbing their privacy.

"Is that something you want to see?" His tone was genuinely curious here.

Michael gave Shawn a dull, expressionless glance.

"No." He said. "Not really."

"I'm really not interested in that. I'm more interested in counting the women that I can see before the door shuts. I honestly don't understand what is really important about a woman being naked. It's not something that is interesting to me. But since the door only opens for a while and then it shuts, whatever you can count as fast as possible, is what you get. That's how this is." He said spreading his arms out, a gesture Shawn interpreted as that being how the world was, or how the world worked, according to Michael's point of view.

Shawn shrugged, on some level glad that Michael hadn't already figured out something he was still confused about. "Do you want me to count the women too, or maybe you count the women and I count the men?"

Michael thought for a moment. His face had no expression, but Shawn could see the wheels turning.

"Maybe if you knocked on the door and then ran, I could start counting."  thinking of ways to work together on the task.

Shawn considered how they could use teamwork to aid Michael in counting. "Maybe I could distract the man when he comes out, so the door stays open longer?"

"Ok." Michael said, not seeming to care one way or the other.  He turned from Shawn to stare at the back entrance of the strip club. It was a response that was short and bereft of any feedback. He sat there like a skinny gargoyle, hunched over in a fixed position, looking over the building below and ready to let the time tick away until the moment was right. After a few seconds, Shawn could see Michael's lips move, the sign he was counting as he waited.

Shawn dutifully walked over to the back of the building, leaning against the wall by the dumpster. The height differential meant that he could see when the door opened, but a regular sized adult wouldn't be able to see him through the dumpster.

It seemed to take forever for that door to open. Shawn sat behind the dumpster, the smell of garbage strong with the heat, the sweat building on the back of his neck, sticking the front of his shirt to his chest. Finally the door opened...

It was a huge man. Maybe the biggest adult Shawn had ever seen. A huge fat man, with a bulging gut, cigarrete dangling from his mouth, black garbage bag dragging along the dirt behind him.

15:05, Today: Old Guy - Moe's Restaurant rolled 1 success using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((8,1,7,3,4)).


OOC: Shawn rolls - Composure + Resolve with the following results

0 Successes: Yikes! This fat man is scary. Shawn is intimidated. -2 to all rolls this scene when he is around.

1-3 Successes: Gulp....Yes it's scary, but Shawn musters his resolve. No affect

4+ Successes: Shawn manages to muster his inner actor and pretends that is just an acting scene. +1 to all rolls this scene when The old man is around.

Shawn was a little frightened of the fat man, but by now he was good enough at managing his fear that he didn't let it affect his outward appearance. He waited until the door was fully opened, and then walked out from behind the dumpster,casually, like he'd been wandering around rather than hiding behind the dumpster. "Excuse me mister, have you seen my uncle? He said he was only going to be ten minutes but it's been way way way longer." He was playing younger than his age - he was small enough to make it believable, and he found it made strange adults more forgiving.

OOC: 15:17, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 2 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 4,2,9,3,8.  Composure + Resolve .

The man stopped in his tracks and then smiled at Shawn to reveal two bands of shit-brown teeth; cigarette dangling from his cracked lips. His shirt was too small for his fat stomach, it rose above his belly button-- an out-ee, Shan noticed--thick tufts of body hair, black and coarse covered his pale skin.

"You alone kid? You know where you are?" Smokers voice asked

Shawn was a little weirded out by this old guy, but they were talking with the door open, hopefully giving Michael plenty of time to count. He continued to play dumb. "It's Moe's restaurant, right? My uncle's been in there for a while."

The man gave Shawn a greasy smile.

"I bet kid. I bet." Voice filled with gravel.

"Somethin' I can do fo ya' kid? I mean, there's a lot a guys in there. What's he look like?"

He lifted up both arms, raising the black garbage bag and pushing it into the dumpster, glass cans rattling against metal.

Shawn mentally counted off the extra time he was buying Michael as he stalled for time. "Hmmm...well, he's got dark hair? And he's really tall. And green eyes? And a beard, but not like a big one. A little one!"

02:17, Today: Old Guy - Moe's Restaurant failed (no successes) using 4d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((4,4,7,4)).


The man listened intently as he squared a cigarrete under his foot, cupped his hands to prevent the wind from extinguishing the flame of the lighter he was using to light another.

"OK. Lemme see what I can do for ya' kid." And he started back to the door which, was still open. Shawn caught a glance from Michael up high, where the boy gave him a silent, dull, nod.

Shawn took Michael's nod as a signal everything was good. He made a show of looking back towards the street and suddenly called out to the old guy. "Oh wait! There he is now! Thank you anyway mister, you're really nice!" Then he sprinted off towards the street. Ideally he'd break sight lines and then take the long way back to see Michael.

Shawn Joins Thread: Shawn: The Count