12:33 <banana> It's ten minutes to midnight. The once-mighty Medlock, tamed by industry and the Irwell's diversion, is little more than a stream, but it supports a long and narrow stand of trees that runs through Clayton Vale. 12:34 <banana> In the denser parts of the nature strip, it's like being out in the woods; only light pollution reveals the urban environment. 12:34 <tom> Perfect place for an ambush. But that goes without saying. 12:35 <banana> How are you setting it, then? 12:35 <VoxPVoxD> How cold is it tonight? 12:36 <banana> It's close to zero, and the late hour doesn't help. Agatha may be diffident and conflicted... but she's the kind of instinctively-stereotypical vampire who will give midnight as the time for a meeting without even thinking about it. 12:38 <tom> Bob gets out of the van in a heavy jacket- not quite heavy enough to hide the massive battery pack strapped to his person. He chucks the little drone aircraft straight up into the sky. The motor whines, the wings stall; the drone alights back down to almost scrape the wet grass with its belly before climbing, with great complaint, back up into the inky night. 12:38 <tom> Bob taps his headpiece. "Check, check. This shit working?" 12:38 <Crion> From the back of the van: "Step away more." 12:39 <tom> He swishes through the wet grass. "Yeah, yeah, okay." 12:40 <VoxPVoxD> Then Willie's fingers are cold as she feeds scraps of raw meat to her dog as inducement to wait quietly. Not getting rump on her calfskin gloves, no sir. 12:40 <Crion> Aster: "Good. Willie?" 12:41 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Copy." 12:41 <Crion> Aster: "Drone's online. Doing flyby...now." 12:43 <tom> Bob's visible ahead of Willie by the faint outline of lights bleeding over the frames of his visor. The angular weapon in his hands glows a faint cherenkov blue in the dim, distant lights of the city. 12:43 <VoxPVoxD> That's so cool. 12:43 <tom> Click: "Something must be wrong with the feed, I'm not getting much." 12:44 <banana> She's there already- Aster has her on the scan. Agatha Hursley-Apple, a woman with no body heat, up in a poplar tree. She's crouched in a position that would be uncomfortable for a living human, looking twitchily from side to side. 12:44 <Crion> Aster: "She's waiting for you. Up in a tree." 12:44 <Crion> "Seems to be alone." 12:44 <tom> Click: "Adorable. Everything she does." 12:45 <tom> Willie can see him shaking his head and smiling. 12:45 <Crion> "Going background here, at least until you've made contact. Will ping if necessary. Good luck." 12:45 <tom> "Same. Squeal if they jump you in the van." 12:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie shakes her head and smiles too, and then follows Bob on the heading Aaron marks. 12:45 <banana> The willows hunch beneath the poplars, clinging to the riverbank. It's not exactly quiet - you can hear insects as well as distant cars - but it's still, here. 12:46 <tom> The drone falls into a wide orbit overhead- Aster should get a good warning if things look about to go pear-shaped. 12:47 <tom> He taps his visor and proceeds to the waypoint. 12:48 <banana> Agatha sees you coming, too, and hisses a little. It's not a hostile noise - more like a grumbling under her breath. 12:48 <tom> "Well Willie, this looks like a good place to make camp," he's only barely containing his laughter. "Let's just cut down say, I don't know, this big ole tree here," He raps his hand on the bark. 12:49 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I'm counting on you to punch it down, like the minecraft man." 12:49 <Crion> Bold approach. 12:49 <tom> "Don't give me any ideas," he laughs. 12:49 <banana> You can just barely hear the rushing of the water, metres away, as the shrouded figure in the tree glares down at you. "You like to scare people, Bob Goreman. It's role-reversal." 12:49 <VoxPVoxD> No, you're right, I should just let you use your own ideas, Willie doesn't say. 12:50 <banana> "Why did you come here? I'm protected." 12:51 <tom> "Oh no, ma'am, you got me all wrong." Bob smiles, not quite prepared to look directly up at the vampire Agatha in her tree. "Not here to scare anybody." 12:51 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Good evening, ma'am." 12:52 <banana> Agatha: "Good evening." She relaxes a little, legs swinging and cape dangling. If you squint, she's clinging to a tree branch with both hands. I'm surprised to see you, too. You disavowed the covenant." 12:52 <banana> Agatha: "Good evening." She relaxes a little, legs swinging and cape dangling. If you squint, she's clinging to a tree branch with both hands. "I'm surprised to see you, too. You disavowed the covenant." 12:53 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I have to live here, the same as you. I can't do my job only on one side of the Irwell." 12:53 <Crion> Quietly in the earpiece: "There's someone else out there. Not moving. Close." 12:54 <banana> Agatha: "The river that separates us from our kin." 12:54 <tom> Bob's slowly making a circuit around the tree, his stance relaxed, the Mjolnir dangling in his limp arms before him. He's casually swinging his ODIN around the bushes- just to make sure. 12:54 <banana> "Did you know most of us can cross running water?" 12:54 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Only by induction." 12:54 <tom> Bob doesn't answer Aster, but his eyes narrow behind his visor. 12:57 <banana> Agatha: "I don't know what you want. I don't know whether you're going to hurt me, or try. Isn't that your job?" 12:58 <tom> "No ma'am." 12:58 <VoxPVoxD> Willie, firmly: "No. It isn't." 12:58 <banana> Agatha: "Then why the absurd gun?" 12:58 <banana> With Aster's directions, Bob looks just the right way and sees what might have been a boulder. It's not. The O.D.I.N. filters his vision and highlights the silhouette. 12:58 <VoxPVoxD> That... is not a question Willie can answer. Well, no, she can. But Bob should get a chance not to invoke Freud. 12:59 <tom> Bob chooses now to look up at Agatha- she can see him make a stupid expression over the rims of his visor, and angle his head back to Willie. 12:59 <banana> The good news is, it's not Fortunato; the man blending into the treeline is far too large for that. 12:59 <tom> "Oh hey Carl." 13:00 <banana> The ex-Sheriff doesn't move, per se, but he... changes. Becomes evident, smiling in the moonlight. At least two full heads taller than Willie. 13:00 <tom> "What's up dog." 13:01 <banana> "You little daredevils again." The massive man shakes his head. "You'll get out of here alive." 13:01 <tom> "Ha! I love my job." 13:01 <tom> Bob rolls his shoulder. "Everyone's allowed to feel nice and secure." 13:02 <VoxPVoxD> Willie inhales sharply before saying, "Good evening, Lord Eccles." 13:02 <tom> Bob has, without trying to make too big a deal out of it, sauntered over to position himself between Willie and Baron Eccles. He's nodding. "Was wondering when we'd get to have a heart to heart." 13:03 <VoxPVoxD> Is he doing like a John Wayne thing? 13:03 <VoxPVoxD> This is a lot. 13:03 <tom> It's not clear what the hell he's doing precisely, but the weapon's still pointed at the wet ground. 13:04 <banana> Carl: "I'm not the man you asked to meet." He gestures at Agatha, empty-palmed - and starts strolling toward you, hilt visible over his shoulder despite how high up that is. 13:04 <Crion> Aster has muted his feed, so it's not possible to hear him making displeased noises at Bob's bravado. 13:04 <VoxPVoxD> The dog at Willie's side growls just a bit. 13:05 <banana> Agatha repeats: "I don't know what you want." 13:05 <VoxPVoxD> Does Bob want to take this or should Willie? 13:08 <tom> He glances over his shoulder at nods at Willie. Gives a thumbs-up. 13:08 <banana> Now that he's dropped the subtle illusion, it's the first time Aster's had a good luck at Baron Eccles. He shows up on the drone camera more clearly than Agatha - more so than essentially any vampire you've seen. 13:08 <banana> It's as if their Masquerade is struggling against the reality of such a physical titan - what's the point in concealment? 13:10 <Crion> Brain beats brawn most of the time. But this thing isn't all brawn. 13:11 <tom> Incidentally, the melting point of human bones is several thousand degrees cooler than the inside of the resonating cavity of the weapon hanging in Bob's arms. 13:12 <VoxPVoxD> Willie has to step a bit to Carl's side to get a clear look at Agatha. "I'm not happy with how abruptly the Gardener case resolved. We're not here to change or object to its outcome - this was the decision our House collectively took, and I stand by it - but there are many details I'm curious about. So we came here to learn. No more, no less. Just like last time. You're under no obligation 13:12 <VoxPVoxD> to cooperate, obviously, and if you like we can turn around right now." 13:12 <VoxPVoxD> "But there is so much I hoped to learn, and never got the chance to." 13:13 <banana> Agatha: "I'm- you want to ask me more questions? Is this for curiosity's sake, Willie?" 13:14 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Yes, ma'am. And yes, ma'am." 13:14 <banana> Carl steps obligingly out of the path. He paces a little, examining Bob from whatever angles the latter will present to him. 13:14 <banana> You feel a bit like the tree did earlier. 13:15 <banana> Agatha's still nervous. About what exactly you don't know, and it might not matter. "What do you want to know?" 13:16 <VoxPVoxD> Willie realises how ridiculous this might feel, but all she can do is tell the truth and let them decide what to do with it. "First, I want to know: how are you? I understand there is quite a furore at Inchcape." 13:17 <tom> Bob's chewing some gum, his absurd rectangular weapon slung in an easy carry position. There's just the smallest blue light bleeding out the barrel. Does he remind the Baron Eccles of Damani with those lenses, maybe? Is that part of this? 13:17 <banana> Agatha: "...I'm alright. Ruth hasn't come after me for vengeance or anything like that." 13:18 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "What kind of mood has she been in?" 13:20 <banana> Carl: "Lady Gardener is resting, and hopes to recover her reason. She's been through it, and thought she had nobody to turn to." 13:20 <banana> "Not good company yet." 13:20 <banana> Agatha defers to Carl on this point. "We haven't seen each other, so." 13:21 <tom> "I can't even imagine. It's been almost forty years." Bob is trying to work his eyebrows into something resembling genuine sympathy. 13:22 <banana> Agatha: "Most of it in torpor - the sleep of death. But they woke up in some sort of Carthian base and got captured. Chained, starved. We've all heard the story." 13:23 <banana> "Are you taking sides?" She sounds sad. 13:23 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "No. We're staying out of it, as a matter of policy." 13:23 <banana> Carl: "That's a good choice. Now, Bob- I don't like the look of your gun." 13:24 <banana> "Well, I do, but the way you carry it, as if you know how... would you mind defanging the device?" 13:24 <VoxPVoxD> "Hence the disavowal of future employment. I would dispute that this constitutes disavowal of the covenant on a personal level. That would be... very impractical for me." 13:25 <tom> Bob groans and flips a switch. The little whine fades with the indigo light. "You should know it won't give you any extra time if things go bad." 13:25 <tom> "But I'm not about to be a dick about it." 13:25 <banana> "Neutrality," says the smiling Baron Eccles, "is an option. Which reminds me." 13:26 <banana> "You can reach me on 0161, 9496, 0508. Any time of the night. If Agecroft encroaches, I will be there." 13:26 <tom> Bob beams over to Willie and gives her another thumbs-up. 13:28 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I'm flattered, Lord Eccles, that you would put yourself at risk for me. I'll make a note of the number. I can't promise yours would be the first number I'd call, though. My House would take umbrage, and I'm trying to be more judicious about the umbrage I cause them to take." 13:28 <VoxPVoxD> "Such is the curse of having peers." 13:28 <tom> He couches the lifeless weapon with his elbow; the barrel is pointed skyward, away from Agatha in her poplar. 13:29 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks up at Agatha. "What became of the Count?" 13:29 <Crion> Interesting, that offer. 13:30 <Crion> Unacceptable, but interesting. They can't really invite the VI over the river. 13:30 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's thinking, like, maybe if Fortunato goes crazy enough to attack her while she's at Sergio's. That's the only tenable use case. 13:31 <banana> Carl: "Whatever most reduces the the world umbrage." 13:31 <banana> Agatha: "He's dead, final death. Ruth fought it, but he'd become an unreasoning thing. Not the man we knew or the tyrant they hated, just a chained thirsty ape. Not your fault." 13:31 <banana> Carl: "No. And not your business anymore." 13:31 <banana> "I'll reiterate, you get to walk out of here when you wake up. So don't struggle, and the worst you'll have is a sore neck." 13:31 <banana> He cracks his knuckles; Agatha shifts uneasily on her branch. 13:33 <Crion> Aster is out of the van. 13:34 <Crion> Aster: "Let me know the play." 13:35 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I warn you, Lord Eccles, my blood is quite flammable." 13:35 <tom> Click: "Listen for thunder." 13:36 <banana> Carl: "It's more about the price than the profit." 13:36 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "And insisting on a tithe of blood is not an act that respects the choice of neutrality." 13:37 <VoxPVoxD> "Are we permitted to be neutral or not?" 13:39 <Crion> Walking turns to jogging. 13:39 <tom> The Mjolnir falls level to the Baron, leaping alive in Bob's hands as a snarling animal, tasting the air with tongues of static. 13:41 <banana> Carl, Baron Eccles | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlLKVYPblos 13:49 <tom> "You may feel a sting." 13:49 <tom> KRAK-THOOOOOM 13:50 <tom> The trees cast fingerlike shadows across the wood around Aster. 13:53 <Crion> He should have walked in with them. If he's too late-- 13:55 <tom> The dark woods are lit for a single static frame; Bob's connected to the Baron Eccles by a forking stream of blue plasma that dives into the leaves and branches to ground itself around the vampire. 13:55 <banana> The Nosferatu, his sword and his coat are outlined in a high-coronal electric crackle. He's lit up to the point where you can see his skeleton and smell smoke. Agatha screeches, the blinding light fades... Carl looks a little dazed. 13:56 <banana> He reaches up to his mouth to wipe away a drop of blood. 13:56 <tom> So fucking cool! 13:56 <tom> Anyway, Bob's already turning, raising his palm to shout something at either Willie or Agatha, it's not really clear. 13:57 <tom> "Don't do it, kid!" 14:00 <banana> They're moving, but Agatha's not really into it and the lightning gun hits hard. Bob's the one who's been expecting this since Inchcape. 14:01 <tom> The batteries along the weapon's spine are clicking into position, forming another circuit. His visor chimes and Bob pulls the trigger. 14:02 <tom> He's kneeling on the damp leaves, one eye flush with the Mjolnir's rail. 14:11 <banana> The huge man staggers forward, outlined in another discharge. It looks like it should send him flying or leave a pile of ash - the Horned Hound went down under this same pressure - but he actually moves fast enough, one hand coming around his back to take the sword from it's clip, that he's on Bob, swinging. The flat of the blade swings with considerable power. 14:13 <tom> The Valkyrie man makes some sort of pained growl as the huge steel weight comes crashing down on him; he doesn't stumble, though; the Baron's face is now lit up close by the glowing barrel, which is already starting to squeal with sparking molten metal. 14:18 <banana> Ms. Hursley-Apple doesn't fall far from the tree. She leaps, landing on Willie, clutching at her with spidery limbs, fangs extending as she whispers: "I'm sorry, milady." 14:19 <VoxPVoxD> Willie whispers back, "I don't blame you." 14:20 <tom> "FUCK!" Is what Bob screams, wheeling. 14:22 <tom> Well, I guess Settlers of Catan is out. 14:25 <VoxPVoxD> The great hound is about to rear up, but the next two words Willie speaks cause him to back off with a whine. 14:25 <VoxPVoxD> "Forgive me." 14:25 <VoxPVoxD> fwooosh 14:26 <banana> D I S C O 14:27 <Crion> The night lights up ahead of him. Different spectrum this time. Good god. 14:27 <tom> The river is right there, thankfully. 14:27 <VoxPVoxD> No gods here. 14:33 <Crion> Aster arrives at the edge of conflagration. He takes off his glasses, even though he doesn't need to look the big man in the eyes. "Enough." 14:33 <Crion> He drives a spike through the burning air and into the great monster's dead mind. 14:34 <banana> Despite their water content, the willows go up in steam and the poplars in flames. It's everywhere, instant, leaping from branch to branch and to your clothing. Agatha screams. 14:34 <tom> The blue glow of Bob's weapon falls on Agatha's back. 14:34 <banana> Carl has barely noticed the fire, still shaking off the effects of the electric blasts - almost entirely gone, and the smile's just starting to form on his face again when the third hunter, unexpected, looks at him. 14:35 <tom> "Cut your FUCKING losses already!" Bob shouts as the capacitors on his weapon snap into place. 14:35 <Crion> Aster: "Let her up. Let her make the choice." 14:35 <banana> Agatha: "Yes, run, they're not worth it, what's the point?" 14:40 <banana> Carl runs - from the flames, toward the psychic, swinging as he goes. There's madness burgeoning in his eyes but he's holding onto it. Still accurate. 14:44 <Crion> Aster: "Ah f--" 14:44 <Crion> He's almost quick enough. 14:45 <banana> Incredibly, the Baron uses the blade as a bludgeon again. It hurts - you may have broken bones - but there's no more blood than there was at Reading. 14:45 <tom> Bob: "FUCK OFF WITH THIS SHIT!" He's rounding on the huge man with his glowing weapon. 14:45 <banana> Aster can feel the Talon module working, just... not yet. 14:46 <Crion> Aster: "NO!" 14:46 <banana> Carl: "INVICTUS!" 14:46 <Crion> "SAVE WILLIE!" 14:46 <Crion> "LET HIM FLAIL!" 14:46 <Crion> He's spitting blood as he shouts. 14:50 <banana> The fires leap and rise through the trees. They're emanating from Willie, even though she herself is merely red-hot. The Mekhet clinging to her wails once more, her voice rising to an inhuman pitch, as her eyes roll up in her head - and she's gone. Socially, physically. It's a wild animal that thrusts Willie away and flees, scrambling at incredible speed between patches of flame to jump in 14:50 <banana> the River Medlock. 14:51 <VoxPVoxD> To the hellhound: "Cover them." 14:51 <VoxPVoxD> The hellhound: "My lady." 14:51 <tom> Bob's eyes are sliding off the rapidly retreating red box around Agatha on his visor. He breathes in the smoke, and now he's grinning as he goes to wedge himself between Aster and the sword-wielding elder. 14:52 <Crion> As the woman vampire runs for the river, Aster bounces on his feet and spits out some more blood -- and then here's Bob. 14:52 <VoxPVoxD> Then Willie's off towards the van. 14:53 <banana> Carl looks completely unhurt, physically; the soot has fallen away and his wounds close in instants. He's growing wilder, but- holding it together. 14:53 <banana> "If we fall- it's only the precursor to our rise." 14:53 <Crion> Aster: "Yeah. I'm beginning to get that, about all you." 14:54 <tom> Bob: "You aren't the only fucking sicko in this city anymore, dude." 14:57 <tom> Bob slaps his visor. Cherub is descending back toward the van, where it'll ditch into the soft grass just before Willie gets there. 14:58 <Crion> Aster is still planning his defense when...he slumps over. 14:59 <banana> A blow that hard to the head, it doesn't matter in the short term that it was from the hilt. 15:01 <Crion> Let's be honest: it absolutely does. 15:03 <tom> Bob catches Aaron before he hits the ground, and wraps his free arm around him to keep him upright, if not conscious. 15:03 <tom> "Stay away from my girlfriend also bro," he tells Carl. 15:04 <banana> Carl's almost conversational. "Your colleague put something awful in my mind. I can feel the nightmares growing, and I know nightmares. My duty is to drag you down into it; the girl in the kebab shop doesn't feature." 15:04 <tom> "Awesome my dude, good talk." 15:04 <banana> He takes a step back, fighting the Process with all his might; he can't focus on Willie or activate his dread powers. But he can swing the sword. 15:07 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's got like no upper body strength, but this is not the first time she's had to pull a friend from a fire she started. She wants to scream at Carl, but she doesn't have the breath to do both. 15:08 <tom> He lets her take him. Everyone's moving away from the flames. 15:08 <tom> Bob sucks in smoke. "Whaddaya gonna do with that big sword? Gonna hit me?" 15:09 <tom> "Better make it count!" 15:12 <banana> He hits you with the big sword. It's got more force behind it than the tractor. 15:12 <tom> Something breaks. "Better kill me in-" his laughter is pained, wheezing,"-in one shot!" 15:16 <banana> Carl: "I'm not trying to kill you. Incredible that you're standing, though- damn, it hurts. Whose pain is this?" 15:17 <tom> "God, I wish I knew." 15:18 <tom> He is far more hurt than he's letting on. But he's not about to yield in his moment of triumph. 15:20 <tom> Bob's Mjolnir is pressed against the vampire's chest as the two are being surrounded by the hungry flames consuming the stand of trees. 15:21 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's voice is firm: "Look around you, Baron! Look within. The madness scours your mind. Hell scours the wood. How long do you think you have? You've expressed your opinion. Have you fought so hard for so long to let yourself die for it?" 15:21 <VoxPVoxD> "Or can you be the bigger man?" 15:23 <banana> Carl rears up, holding the nine-foot sword in one hand and clenching the other into a fist. His eyes whirl with whatever's been set off in his mind, and he looks about - the burning wood, the collapsed man, the other on the verge, Willie glowing with heat. 15:23 <banana> His clothes are a little singed; he's physically fine, and still well-fed. Apart from recent expenditures of effort which he'd sorely like to recoup. 15:24 <banana> He's also a very old man, who's survived terrible things. 15:24 <tom> Yeah, well. Find someone without a fucking particle rifle if you wanna try that out. 15:25 <banana> Carl plunges the sword into the earth and leans on it for a moment - saluting. Then he whirls and lopes away, extremely fast. 15:25 <VoxPVoxD> Good man. 15:26 <banana> There are sirens in the distance. Fire engines. 15:27 <tom> Bob gives the man a sloppy salute before turning to beat a hasty retreat to the van with the others. 15:27 <tom> "Fuck fuck fuck fuck-" Inhale. "Fuck fuck fuck-" 15:27 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Take him." 15:27 <VoxPVoxD> "I'll get the sword." 15:28 <tom> Bob's eyes are so fucking big under the visor as he takes Aaron out of her arms. 15:28 <VoxPVoxD> She'll be taking that. 15:28 <tom> He hauls the veteran detective up onto his shoulder and books it straight for the van. 15:31 <tom> He's strapping the unconscious man into the seat and jogging around the van to retrieve the drone. 15:31 <VoxPVoxD> The sword digs an awful furrow in the earth for a few metres before Willie's confident she can heft it over her shoulder without decapitating herself. She goes just slow enough walking with the sword in her hands and the flames turning her and it into a silhouette against the night to make sure Bob sees. 15:31 <tom> Bob hauls himself up into the driver seat and revs up the engine before going for the little medical kit in the glovebox. 15:35 <tom> He's just sitting there, slack jaw, watching as she hauls the sword up to the open backdoors of the van. 15:35 <VoxPVoxD> Willie gets in the back with Kaga. The sword scrapes the interior something fierce. 15:36 <VoxPVoxD> She'll make sure Aaron's as comfortable as possible while she raises the temperature in here a dozen or more degrees. 15:36 <tom> "Jesus fucking christ," he murmurs to the unconscious Aster. "You seein' this?" He is not. 15:36 <banana> Clayton Vale is in flames. The fire's spread is checked a little now that Willie's leaving - the burning wood is simply not as hot as Hell, and it takes a long time to ignite other trees in the wet conditions. 15:37 <VoxPVoxD> Kaga: "I began to fear I would be consigned to playdates for my entire tenure." 15:37 <VoxPVoxD> "I absolve you of that, half-breed." 15:38 <tom> He sets the little medical kit down on the divider between the seats and shifts into reverse. 15:38 <banana> You come out past a school onto Vale street, join the traffic just in time, and when the fire engines roar past there's no reason to believe the Manchester Pest Control van is anything to do with the emergency. 15:40 <tom> The van peels out onto the street and falls into line. When Aster comes to in a few minutes, Bob is turning up the air conditioning to blow cool air onto his face. It's actually kind of fucking hot in here? 15:41 <Crion> Aster, groggily: "W...indows." 15:41 <Crion> "Roll down the...windows. Don't blast...the AC." 15:41 <VoxPVoxD> Willie opens the windows, letting cold air rush in. 15:41 <Crion> "Fuck." 15:41 <Crion> He immediately feels both sides of his neck. 15:42 <tom> "You okay man? You took that hit like a fucking champion." 15:42 <Crion> Aster: "I feel like shit. But I don't feel like I've been fed on." 15:43 <VoxPVoxD> Then she gets out her phone, and sends a text to the number she got earlier that evening. <Thank you for the respect and candour with which you stated your opinion, Lord Eccles. I want to reiterate that violence was not my intention, and that I wish to maintain amicable relations with the covenant. I take no personal offence, but I do urge you to reconsider the sense of seeing me or my 15:43 <VoxPVoxD> House as prey.> 15:43 <VoxPVoxD> <I am very sorry for the pain and the fear. This is not what I wanted.> 15:44 <Crion> He turns and looks into the back. "And you took his sword." 15:44 <Crion> "So it was some sort of win, then." 15:45 <tom> "No sir, they didn't get a single drop." Bob pats him very gently on the shoulder and offers him a bottle of water from the medical kit. 15:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie lets the phone drop on the seat beside her and rubs her neck. It doesn't ache, it just feels really good right now. 15:45 <VoxPVoxD> This is the worst possible night and condition to show up at Sergio's. 15:45 <Crion> He'll take the water. 15:45 <tom> "Fuck around and find out, is what I'm saying." 15:45 <tom> He looks a little pained. "Sad that Hursley had to get caught up in that. But hey, now they know." 15:47 <Crion> Aster: "Don't like showing off Talon like that. He'll be ready for it next time. Unavoidable." 15:47 <Crion> "I think...I'm going to sleep this one off at the Greybox." 15:47 <Crion> "Just in case." 15:47 <VoxPVoxD> Christ. "I'm so glad you were here, Aaron." 15:47 <tom> "Do you want me to get you something? I don't- you know, whatever you want. We can stop at Mcdonalds if you want." 15:47 <Crion> "So am I, provisionally." 15:47 <Crion> "I do not want...McDonalds." 15:48 <Crion> "Thank you for the offer." 15:48 <VoxPVoxD> "Where will we hang the sword?" 15:48 <VoxPVoxD> "What's our position on giving it back?" 15:48 <VoxPVoxD> "He's going to ask." 15:48 <Crion> Aster: "Somewhere you don't mind him breaking in to take it from." 15:48 <tom> Bob's just now realizing that he is fucking drenched with sweat. He relaxes his grip on the steering wheel. He's coming down. 15:48 <Crion> "I would have left it." 15:48 <tom> "Hoooooooo." 15:48 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Hmm. In that case it will make a suitable peace offering." 15:49 <VoxPVoxD> "I think." 15:49 <VoxPVoxD> "He made his point. We made ours." 15:49 <Crion> Aster: "Sounds fair. Now if you'll excuse me...lights and sound are very...loud, right now." 15:49 <VoxPVoxD> "Oh, you poor dear." 15:49 <tom> Bob doesn't turn on the radio then. "Willie, in the back of my seat pouch is a bag of bacon treats for Kaga." 15:50 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Do you think he's earned them?" 15:50 <tom> "How's the hand?" He's nodding to her knife wound. "I think we all have." 15:50 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Oh, I didn't cut myself. I couldn't." 15:50 <VoxPVoxD> "She was on top of me." 15:50 <VoxPVoxD> "Came out of my tear ducts." 15:50 <VoxPVoxD> "Hurts like a bitch." 15:50 <tom> "Ah fuck, that's a thing?" 15:51 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "If it isn't, I don't look forward to getting the note from whatever prick runs the TrackCheck writer's room that we have to go back out for reshoots." 15:51 <VoxPVoxD> She does give Kaga a handful of treats, though. "I want you to appreciate that these are from Bob, who values you despite how mean you were to him." 15:52 <VoxPVoxD> With the most viscous, sizzling scorn a voice can manage: "He's a nice man." 15:52 <tom> "He doesn't have to like me, he just has to like me more than you." Bob suppresses his hyena laugh and eases over into the next lane. 15:53 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "So! On balance, if you knew this was how it was going to go... would you do it again?" 15:56 <tom> "If I'd gone alone, like I wanted to, I think we'd'a been better off." He wrinkles his nose. "Not sure I'm down with letting Carl bite me though. I could get sold on Agatha." 15:57 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Well, it would've been the two of us. I think we could've sold them on pairing off heterosexually." 15:57 <VoxPVoxD> "Still. I continue to think this was a good idea." 15:57 <VoxPVoxD> "Perhaps don't tell Aaron I said as much." 15:58 <tom> "Pfff- pfff." Bob is trying not to snort too hard into his water bottle. "I don't think there's a problem. Not too different from what we did with the Mensa pricks in the canal." 15:58 <tom> "Motherfucka's betta know." 15:58 <VoxPVoxD> She leans out from her seat to squeeze high on Bob's shoulder, near his neck. "Thank you." 15:59 <tom> Shit, that stupid grin's going to plastered all over his face for the rest of the night.