19:44 <banana> It's after work and after noon. The sun's going to set pretty soon, not that it's doing much good as-is. Snow tonight, starting late. 19:44 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's not, like, a Winter Person, but she is not looking forward to the nights getting shorter on the far side of the solstice. 19:45 <banana> Right now, the city outside is bustling with rush-hour traffic. Willie's phone starts ringing - then hangs up almost immediately. 19:45 <banana> Just a half-second of whatever jingle she's got set. 19:45 <VoxPVoxD> Noo. Caller ID? 19:46 <banana> Blocked... but a message appears on the screen as she picks it up. Sumiya V.V.T.: <Sorry I forgot we don't do that anymore> 19:47 <banana> <Don't get me wrong this is way better. U don't have to be interrupted at all hours of the day by someone just barging into your ear, except u just were in this case> 19:48 <VoxPVoxD> !!! <I would Delight to hear your voice. I spend all day on the phone with far dourer people. but either way! hello! how are You> 19:48 <banana> Sumi: <Trap sprung> 19:48 <banana> The phone starts ringing again. 19:49 <VoxPVoxD> Willie picks up immediately. "Sumi, darling!" 19:49 <banana> Sumi: "Hello, Willie. Doing okay?" 19:50 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: <Very well, I think! You?" 19:50 <VoxPVoxD> *" 19:51 <banana> "Yeah, and I've got plans to do even better. Wanna come out tonight? Quiz night at the New Bollocks, and they've got Five Damians!" 19:55 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "That sounds delightful! I've not heard Five Damians but I've seen their merch." Mari was wearing their shirt when she broke into my flat with faerie magic. "Are you....... Putting a Team Together?" 19:55 <VoxPVoxD> "I love teams." 19:56 <banana> Sumi: "YES I am. Having trouble finding enough couples at short notice.. Mari was waiting for something else, but my mind travelled, to you, for some reason." She cackles a little. 19:56 <banana> "I've got my, um, boo also, and another pair of ladies... we shouldn't be totally useless. I'm not claiming to know any trivia but I know how to keep score." 19:57 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "A couples pub quiz, you say... I'll bring Sergio, he knows some surprising odds and ends. Would you be interested in some outside assistance? Supposing I knew a couple of extremely powerful, broadly sociable middle-aged nerds? I can't promise them but I can temperature-take." 19:59 <banana> Sumi: "We'd have six nerds, you and me... it's a good balance. Want to call me back in a few?" 19:59 <VoxPVoxD> "Desperately. Ta!" 20:00 <VoxPVoxD> Aaron she will text. <hello aaron! this is a purely social call - are you and dr. blackfin interested in a couples pub quiz? Sumiya of the winter hill is Putting a Team Together and I thought of you two> 20:01 <banana> People don't usually call Sergio a nerd, but Sumi's met him... maybe she speaks in relative terms. He'll be easier to contact than Aster and Blackfin, as soon as those last rays vanish below the horizon. 20:01 <Crion> She will receive...a phone call. 20:02 <VoxPVoxD> It only just now, after several months, occurs to Willie to wonder how old Sumi is. 20:02 <VoxPVoxD> "Aaron!" 20:03 <Crion> "Willie. I'm on the bluetooth, so, best to call. Samantha is here. I was about to open a bottle of--" There's something that sounds like HELLO WILLIE! from off-microphone. "Yes. Well. We haven't actually started anything we can't put in the fridge or simply cease uncorking, and I've been informed our answer is yes." 20:04 <Crion> "No Bob or Mari?" 20:05 <VoxPVoxD> "No, it sounds like they're otherwise occupied. We're meeting at the New Bollocks at 8. That's the New Bollocks, not the Dog's Bollocks. Don't go there unless you a mouth full of trans fats and broken glass." 20:05 <VoxPVoxD> *unless you want 20:07 <Crion> Aster: "Ah, Rolf's pub. No, I don't think that's how that would end. For us, at least. Yes, we'll put it in the Google machine and find our way there. What's your sense of the dress code? You know me. I'll show up in a suit for anything and feel fine. Samantha--" More opining from off-mic. "--is simply being reasonable and thoughtful, yes." 20:08 <banana> Even for an upscale downtown bar, a suit might be a bit much. Their main business is still to sell and consume drinks. 20:08 <Crion> 'A bit much' is, as the younger generation says, the brand. 20:09 <banana> New Bollocks is a descendant of what passes for an avant-garde scene, though; rather than a meat market or a workingmens' outlet, their business is minor Events. Quizzes, sports commentary, shows and frequently a band. 20:09 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's grinning into her phone. "Fairly casual, I suspect. It's not court with auld King Henry. So show up in whatever you feel comfortable in. No need to iron the creases out of your best slacks, but also no need to show up dressed down to Steve-Buscemi-in-a-red-cap levels. Come as you are." 20:10 <Crion> Aster: "Jeans, turtleneck, and blazer it is. Will see you there." 20:10 <VoxPVoxD> "Splendid!" 20:15 <banana> New Bollocks Bar & Sports is quite a large venue built where a dockside warehouse used to stand. There are two main public rooms, placed at angles to each other around the kitchens and backstage; one's got a stage on which five diverse and coiffed young men are crooning when the couples arrive. Technically you've got a table booked on the other side, although the quiz won't have started yet. 20:16 <banana> They're not exactly Jonas Brothers, but they're okay - the crowd on that side of the bar has a lot more young women than any other demographic. 20:17 <Crion> Sigh. To Samantha: "I knew there was something the two of you weren't telling me." 20:17 <VoxPVoxD> The Jonas Brothers... sigh... 20:18 <banana> Blackfin: "Gosh, it completely slipped my mind. I was just so pleased that we've been invited somewhere already." 20:19 <banana> (The vibe: https://limits.thomascastiglione.com/media/5damiansvibe.jpg) 20:19 <Crion> Aster: "Well, they can hit the notes, and they're not too loud." 20:20 <Crion> "What do they call themselves? 'The Shoplifters?'" 20:20 <banana> Samantha takes out her phone and flicks to a tab she just happened to have open. "Ahem. That's Damian Chauncey, Damien Villanova, Damian Smith... Damian Border on the keyboard, and Damian Bryce Wayne." 20:20 <Crion> He doesn't wait for a response, as his eyes are already scanning the room for-- "Ah! There's Willie and Sergio." 20:21 <VoxPVoxD> Willie arrives on Sergio's arm, wearing a slightly sexy, slightly Christmasy outfit with a lacy green top through which you can see a smaller, tighter blood-red thing actually covering her body. Her hair's done up to show off her neck and the glittering studs in her ears. Her posture's done up to show off the glittering stud she's dragging around with her. 20:21 <Crion> "Bryce Wayne?" 20:21 <Crion> "Damian Batman is in attendance tonight?" 20:21 <banana> "No, that would be a copyright violation. He must eb Damian Bytman." 20:21 <banana> *be 20:22 <Crion> Ah, the Italian Stallion. 20:22 <banana> Sergio: "Ha. Looks like a nice bunch of kids, but.. we're in the other seating area, right?" 20:22 <Crion> Aster: "Good evening, Willie. Sergio. Yes, Sumi's around here--there." 20:23 <Crion> He'll recognize Sumi, at least. 20:23 <banana> She is - with another changeling, and two women you don't know. Probably. Something vaguely familiar about them, so maybe they're.. wizards or ghosts or whatever, who knows. 20:23 <banana> Maybe they're just thirtysomething professional-looking woman currently laughing at an extremely oversized jug of ale. 20:23 <VoxPVoxD> Is that what's his name? The Che guy? Ryan? 20:23 <banana> The Maraschine is present, and between him and Willie they make up Christmas colours. 20:24 <VoxPVoxD> Yes!!! The Maraschine!! 20:24 <banana> Sumi spots the group trailing in the wake of Don't Call It Love. "Heeeere!" She's not actually yelling, but waving hard enough to make up for it. 20:25 <banana> You've got a table with very high chairs and a bunch of those electronic coasters. It's not really feasible to talk until you've got over there, given the crowds. 20:25 <Crion> Aster will pull out a chair for Samantha, presumably getting a Look for it that he'll ignore because they've done this many many times before, and then sit himself down next to her. 20:25 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's only greeting to Aaron and Samantha is a bright-eyed and dazzling (though slightly pale...) smile before they all convene with Sumi and company. 20:25 <Crion> Aster feels the prickles of irritation at that. But it's down to irritation instead of anger. 20:25 <Crion> Fucking vampires. 20:25 <banana> Sergio: "Ms. Tyagabrahmam. Another success." 20:26 <VoxPVoxD> And how. 20:26 <banana> Sumi: "You made it. Did we ever chat? I know who you are but I don't remember if we got to talk." She's talking to Samantha there, but moves on to introductions. 20:27 <banana> "Kim, and Megan. They're extremely medical. This is-" going clockwise- "Aaron Aster, Samantha Blackfin, Willie Wellesley, and Sergio..." 20:27 <banana> Bonasera: "Bonasera. Lovely night." 20:27 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "A pleasure." 20:28 <Crion> Aster: "Doctor Blackfin. A pleasure to meet you all." 20:29 <VoxPVoxD> Master Aster. 20:29 <Crion> If he's not an asshole about it, who will be? Samantha? Please. 20:29 <banana> Kim is a bit younger than Megan; they make appropriate noises and watch the newcomers curiously, particularly Aster for some reason. 20:30 <banana> Samantha: "Very nice. I haven't been in practice recently, so I might have to pick your brains... and your name, sir?" She really has gone native - that was a British miscellaneous-sir rather than the American cop version both she and Aster have had cause to use. 20:31 <banana> "Ah, I'm the Maraschine," says the man put on the spot. "How do we all feel about trivia?" 20:31 <banana> Sumi: "There's a gift basket in it." 20:32 <Crion> Aster: "That we'll be especially poor at it, or fantastic. Meaning the Americans at the table." 20:32 <banana> Megan: "Well, it can't all be local culture. We haven't got any." 20:33 <banana> The four Damians and Damien are going on break. Looks like there's a chance to get some orders in, including food if you like, before they start the main event. 20:33 <Crion> Aster: "Let's hope for the category 'Hard Sciences and the Philadelphia Eagles' then." 20:34 <Crion> Aster will get whatever their most expensive blended whiskey cocktail is and split something not-fried with Samantha. 20:34 <VoxPVoxD> Good! Good. Maybe there's hope for Aaron to become incrementally less American, as well. Willie seems very relaxed. "Trivia means the fundamentals of education, but it also means intersection." 20:34 <banana> All around you are chatting groups, some with paper pads - everyone's got a box on their table reading "PHONE DEPOSIT" which the waiters will use to cut you off from civilisation. 20:35 <banana> Kim turns out to be a junior specialist of some kind. She's full of tips for Samantha, though, if the latter's likely to be practising in British hospitals. (She isn't, but prefers not to mention it). 20:36 <Crion> Aster powers his off first before depositing it. 20:37 <VoxPVoxD> Willie checks some things on her phone before she turns it in. 20:37 <banana> The Maraschine: "We get pretty intersectional thesenights. Mr Bonasera, I don't suppose you know a guy called Riprock? Or perhaps Samwise?" 20:38 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's eyebrows go up a notch. 20:38 <Crion> Ah. Samwise. Starting the conversation out lighthearted. 20:38 <Crion> His face shows nothing, though. 20:38 <banana> Sergio raises his eyebrows. "I've heard of the latter. Small city?" He glances at the doctors, Sumi's friends. 20:38 <VoxPVoxD> Well it's not like they know or care about the vampire political context. 20:38 <banana> The Maraschine: "Ah, I guess not quite small enough. We've met now, so it's all good." 20:38 <VoxPVoxD> The vampire spymaster is probably one of the vampires non-vampires have to deal with the most. 20:39 <banana> Sumi: "Shop talk already? I'm going to have to get a job again." 20:39 <banana> Megan: "Come on, Sumiya, you know what happened last time..." 20:40 <Crion> Aster shrugs at her: Wasn't me. 20:40 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We'll get you on quiz shows to become independently wealthy. This will be your launching pad." 20:40 <Crion> Is the Kim woman still not-so-surreptitiously looking at him? 20:40 <VoxPVoxD> "Maybe you can marry one or two of the Damians. They seem young enough not to know about prenups." 20:40 <banana> There's definitely an occasional frown, as if they're trying to figure out something Aster-related. 20:41 <Crion> He'll wait until he gets his drink to look directly at her and say: "You should just ask." 20:41 <banana> Sumi: "Jesus and Buddha, they're cute, right? But probably washed-out or doing domestic abuse by thirty. It's a rough life, living by the chord." 20:42 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Yeah, I am never dating someone in a band again. Fool me three times," 20:42 <banana> Kim: "Eargh. I am sorry, but you're 'Aaron Aster', right? Megan, isn't that the guy you were talking about?" 20:42 <banana> Megan: "It's a guy that... Sarah was talking about. Maybe not the same guy, but if you are that guy: nice to meet you!" 20:43 <banana> Kim grimaces at Megan there, who knows why. 20:43 <Crion> Aster: "Ah. DS Sarah Walker, I suspect. And if I suspect correctly: I am he." 20:44 <banana> Sergio laughs, and says quietly to Willie: "The world is so, so small. Have you heard about the theory that there are five thousand real people who get copied?" 20:44 <banana> Samantha looks wary now - ready to do some defending if necessary. 20:45 <Crion> "Former police, current small business owner. I'm not going to infringe on the mood by putting my business card across the table but...DS Walker was satisfied with the consulting services of Aster Biologics, plainly." 20:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I haven't! It synergises with the theory that we're living in a simulation. Right? Just a bunch of narratively-connected but technically-discrete Zones. Like instances in a big online game." 20:46 <banana> Megan: "Megan Meadows. Yeah, Sarah's an old friend, and she says you're, let's see... magic American Poirot. An occult detective?" 20:46 <Crion> Aster: "I've heard far worse descriptions." 20:46 <VoxPVoxD> Oh no, does that make Samantha Inspector Japp? 20:46 <Crion> "But we also provide purely scientific forensic services." 20:47 <banana> Sergio: "Far-fetched, but it could be artistically true. Maybe you only get five thousand types of people." 20:47 <banana> Sumi: "There are like, three to six types of people." 20:47 <banana> Kim: "Ohh. I'm sorry to pry, but-" She looks kind of intense. "You're the consultant who my case got transferred to." 20:48 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "At that point it's a political thing, right? You're talking about the bureaucratic outlay in advance of a census. How many pieces do you slice the population into? You go into that project with a number in mind." 20:48 <banana> Megan: "Kim-" 20:48 <banana> Kim: "Resolved by external agency, with no attached report. I didn't even know that was a thing the police could do." 20:49 <banana> Sergio: "Sounds like a quiz question." 20:49 <banana> "Have you got a technique for it at work?" 20:49 <banana> Sumi, to the Maraschine: "We are in the presence of a powerful bureaucrat." 20:50 <banana> The short man in red looks suitably impressed, offering Willie a clink of his glass. 20:51 <banana> Blackfin puts a hand on Aster's arm under the table, but she's calm. Sometimes this just happens. If anything, she's curious to see what you can and can't say, in this self-motivated freelance version of the job... 20:52 <Crion> Aster: "You didn't?" 20:53 <Crion> "How to put this delicately...it is very much a thing the police can do." 20:54 <banana> Kim is the youngest person at the table, Aster would estimate; maybe a couple of years younger than Willie? Now that he's looking for it, he can see fading scars and bruises, the still-healing signs of the attack. If this is Kim Yun Ha, he's been in an ersatz version of her head once. An evidentiary simulation. 20:54 <Crion> Aster: "However, Aster Biologics is not an 'external agency' of the Greater Manchester Police, unless there are some significant contracting dollars I haven't been seeing." 20:54 <Crion> "So your argument in the specific is likely elsewhere." 20:54 <VoxPVoxD> Willie clinks with the Maraschine. "At DCS we're mostly working with the boxes other departments file people into. Like there are nine socio-economic status groups, sort of... clusters of jobs, sorted by field, income, attrition, et cetera. There was quite some to-do about which jobs count as 'routine occupations' as opposed to 'semi-routine occupations'." 20:54 <banana> Dr. Meadows: "It could easily be a misunderstanding." 20:54 <Crion> "If it's not, I need to know who to be billing for on-call consultancy." 20:55 <Crion> In Aster's experience, someone always understands. He suspects in this instance, it's Dr. Megan Meadows." 20:56 <Crion> -" 20:56 <banana> Sumi and Sergio, almost at the same time: "Cripes." Sumi laughs, and turns to the other group. 20:56 <banana> "Hey, I know Aaron and Samantha- they won't have been involved in something that wasn't legit." 20:57 <Crion> "As a point of order, Dr. Blackfin wasn't involved in this at all." He defers on the question of himself. 20:57 <banana> Dr. Yun Ha: "Okay.. I guess so, but I've got a police report that totally fobs me off and uses your name to do it. Maybe you should look into who's billing." 20:57 <banana> Samantha: "Who's this friend of yours that's actually in Greater Manchester Police?" 20:58 <banana> Kim: "The appropriate person to talk to." She looks at Megan, whose turn it is to grimace. 20:58 <banana> Megan: "We'll work on that..." 20:58 <Crion> Aster sighs. "Doctor, you didn't want that report attached to your name anyway. For political reasons." 20:59 <VoxPVoxD> To Sumi: "Have you been to many of these? Any sense of the lay of the land? Who are we going to have to work the hardest to destroy?" 20:59 <banana> The Maraschine: "Socioeconomic lines aren't the ones you'd use to categorise a simulation, not if you wanted individual actors to be convincing. On the other hand, a night like this, all you need to do is assign broad stereotypes to each team." 21:00 <banana> He points at several tables in turn. "Church group, just happy to be here, will take the prize if any rounds are about Aramaic." 21:00 <banana> "Two feuding families, each with overlapping specialties. No threat." 21:00 <VoxPVoxD> Ah! So the vampires are here in spirit. 21:00 <banana> "Last month's winners. They have a Sports Guy, a Movies Guy and a Horse Girl. The rest are fillers." 21:01 <VoxPVoxD> Horse Girl... 21:01 <Crion> Don't underestimate the Horse Girls. 21:01 <banana> "Students... but some of them are history students, which could be a problem." 21:01 <banana> "We on the other hand appear to be... Team Medicolegal." 21:01 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "History students are less of a problem if you're not paying for their beer." 21:02 <banana> Sumi: "I'll put that on the registration form." She holds it up; they're being collected in a minute. "Any better ideas?" 21:03 <Crion> It's a start when he realizes where he knows these two women from, in a roundabout way. But there's no way to politely bring THAT up. 21:03 <banana> Samantha nudges Aaron. "Are you okay?" 21:04 <banana> Kim: "Medicolegal isn't really a name. We could be Cops & Docs." 21:04 <Crion> Aster: "Of course. Drink's a bit strong, but that's good." 21:04 <banana> Sumi: "What? No. Fuck the police." 21:04 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "The Procedurals." 21:04 <Crion> She will know this voice: it is the 'Later' voice. 21:05 <banana> Sergio: "The Procedural Generation." 21:05 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's negroni is awfully strong too... maybe that's just the romantic anaemia though. 21:05 <Crion> Aster: "Yes, I think that one will do." 21:05 <VoxPVoxD> "I like that!" 21:05 <banana> The Maraschine: "Although we are intergenerational. I've been told I was born yesterday." 21:06 <banana> Sumi: "'The Procedural Generation'. I have written it down, and lo: a chick in an orange uniform approaches." 21:06 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Then I'm even more jealous of your sense of style." 21:07 <banana> He's touched. "Thank you very much. I couldn't pull off the layering you've got going... all I do is make friends with tailors and musketeers." 21:09 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I would love to befriend your tailor friends." 21:09 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's full up on musketeers, though. 21:11 <banana> The bar staff arrive, trade your water for more water, solicit alcoholic purchases - and accept your registration form. Round 1 begins in five minutes, after the Damians return for the encore everyone's been waiting for, Your Soul (Our 2 Souls). 21:12 <Crion> Aster's read some pop-culture autopsies of bands like this and everyone in them is always much sadder and fucking so much less AND worse than you'd expect. 21:12 <banana> Sergio: "What are the odds." 21:13 <Crion> Obviously there are you expections at the top tier, but they're not doing quiz night at the pub. 21:13 <banana> "Maybe.. one in four. Sometimes you do get a producer who goes the extra mile." 21:13 <Crion> *your exceptions 21:13 <VoxPVoxD> They're not bad, honestly. She's not sure they have any reason to exist in a post-One Direction world, but like, 'Manchester's Own Boy Band' sounds like a really nasty comedy sketch. 21:13 <banana> Megan: "The odds of what? Although they are odd." She doesn't seem to care for the band at all. 21:13 <VoxPVoxD> They're not that bad! Vastly less homophobic as well. 21:14 <banana> Sergio: "That they're real Damians. Anyone can fake it, if you don't have a discerning audience - and we aren't." 21:14 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I don't think any of them have what it takes to be the child from The Omen." 21:15 <VoxPVoxD> "A proper Antichrist can get the same effect with much less hair product." 21:15 <VoxPVoxD> She says this with something like an air of authority. 21:15 <Crion> Aster: "There's a lot of media fabrication around Antichrist expectations." 21:15 <Crion> "But then, you are the subject matter expert." 21:15 <VoxPVoxD> Willie beams at him. 21:15 <banana> Megan: "Are you a demonologist, Willie?" 21:15 <banana> Kim: "Witch?" 21:16 <VoxPVoxD> Primly: "I'm a civil servant." 21:17 <VoxPVoxD> "I just think demons are neat." 21:17 <banana> Samantha raises a hand. "I was in the civil service until last week, and we only dealt with infernal matters about once a month." 21:17 <banana> Aster's pretty sure that's the actual stat. 21:18 <banana> Sumi: "Oh no, not December layoffs?" Samantha: "No, voluntary separation. It's all good- and look, they're setting up for the first round." 21:20 <banana> Quizmaster: "Your attention please, ladies and gents! Now that everyone's got their phones in boxes and their beers in stomachs... and if you want another round, hit the buzzer... it's time for our first topic. Four topics, eight questions each. We'll spend a couple of minutes on each question but you can keep answering old ones until the end of the topic, then our team will be round to smack 21:20 <banana> your hands." 21:21 <VoxPVoxD> Eee! 21:21 <banana> The Maraschine slips a hand into his pleated red jacket, wordlessly extracts several pencils and two pads of paper, and slides them along the table. 21:23 <banana> Sumi: "Thank you. We got time limits, so if someone knows the answer, get it down right away and we can avoid a discussion..." 21:23 <banana> Quizmaster: "Our first topic, to make things fair for the older crowd who might be slipping a little... The 90s!" 21:23 <VoxPVoxD> Oh god. 21:24 <Crion> Aster sighs, out loud this time. "Fantastic." 21:24 <banana> Sumi: "Ah shit." 21:24 <banana> Megan Meadows grins beatifically as only a 90s Kid can. 21:24 <VoxPVoxD> Willie glances in Sumi's direction, which is also Sergio's direction. 21:25 <banana> Sergio spreads his hands and looks terribly amused. 21:30 <banana> It's not the best starting round. You get questions about music, world events and sporting finals; all very general-knowledge stuff, but the sort of thing that doesn't make an impression if you didn't live through it. 21:30 <VoxPVoxD> Who even remembers the 90s?? Christ. No one actually listened to Blur, fuck off. 21:31 <banana> Megan seems to be completely in tune with the questions, but her actual interests are eclectic; the Maraschine also seems to have a good grasp of the period, but his memory is spotty. Samantha gets a question about the Pope right, and then has no idea for the next three. "I was in the lab," she claims, presumably for ten years. 21:32 <Crion> Aster did live through it, but christ, he didn't care about the World Cup. 21:32 <banana> Kim: "I thought the Berlin Wall was like... 1960..." 21:33 <banana> "Wasn't it a crisis because they had missile silos on the other side?" 21:33 <Crion> Aster is already on thin ice with her. Dr. Meadows can handle that. 21:34 <banana> Sumi: "All of you have failed me. We've still got five minutes, someone must know who sung... what was it?" 21:34 <banana> Sergio reads off his pad: "Everything's made to be broken, and I just want you to know who I am." 21:34 <Crion> "Goo Goo Dolls." 21:34 <Crion> "Iris." 21:34 <banana> Sumi: "Brilliant." 21:35 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Which is the band and which is the song?" 21:35 <banana> You make guesses, but some of them aren't very confident, and the scoring sheet gets picked up with a bunch of scribbles on it. 21:35 <Crion> "Iris is the song." 21:35 <banana> The Maraschine: "We're going to own the next one. I can feel it." 21:35 <Crion> "The band is from Buffalo, New York." This is said as if explanatory. 21:36 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Ah yes, that's... close to Ohio, right?" 21:36 <banana> Megan: "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." 21:36 <Crion> Aster: "Spiritually." 21:36 <banana> Sumi: "Beg your pardon?" 21:37 <Crion> To Sumi: "It's a grammar joke-slash-thought exercise." 21:37 <banana> Megan: "Yep. Sarah did languages at uni." 21:37 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Grammar, alongside rhetoric and formal logic, were part of the original trivium, the fundamentals of education." 21:37 <banana> The Maraschine: "We should be writing this down." 21:37 <Crion> "You can diagram the sentence she just said and produce a perfectly legible English sentence that fits all rules. It has to do with how many parts of speech the word 'buffalo' can occupy, including as a proper noun used as a place-of-origin adjective." 21:38 <banana> Samantha: "The bison can also occupy an extraordinary volume of space." 21:38 <Crion> Aster: "Well." 21:38 <Crion> "They did." 21:38 <banana> "Yeah... we messed up a bit there. Did you know they've been reintroduced to Yellowstone?" 21:39 <banana> Sergio: "The state with the geysers?" 21:39 <banana> Blackfin: "It's a wilderness park, lovely place I assume. Far out west." 21:39 <Crion> Aster: "Just the big one. And when it explodes it'll take the west coast with it." 21:40 <Crion> "One of the benefits of living out here." 21:40 <Crion> Why couldn't THESE have been trivia questions? 21:40 <VoxPVoxD> Maybe there'll be a category for Things You Can Say To Suck All The Oxygen Out Of A Room. 21:41 <banana> The quizmaster's listed off several also-rans. "And in equal fourth place... Team With Rocks In, and The Procedural Generation!" 21:41 <VoxPVoxD> We are not worthy of Sergio's incredible name. 21:41 <Crion> Not ideal. 21:42 <banana> "Now, Vidkun here will draw our next topic from the Guinness box, Guinness black lager on tap and half-off..." 21:43 <banana> Sumi: "I have this dream. A basket filled with nougat, lemon crumbles, Cadbury's and Lindt." 21:45 <banana> Quizmaster: "Our next topic is for everyone who's been stuck indoors... Reality TV! Just kidding folks, it's current TV generally, although we have questions about I'm A Celebrity and Strictly Come Dancing that I'm sure several of you wll enjoy." 21:46 <VoxPVoxD> Yes!!! 21:46 <Crion> But not Aster. 21:46 <banana> Samantha: "Non-reality TV... I can do. There's quite enough reality in reality." 21:47 <banana> Sumi: "Nobody's going to point out that they don't even own a TV?" 21:48 <Crion> Aster, annoyed: "Of course I own a television. What else am I going to stream the services to when I'm doing my daily run when it's sleeting?" This city. 21:48 <Crion> Samantha will know he has a very expensive treadmill. 21:48 <VoxPVoxD> At least it's not a Peloton. 21:49 <banana> Kim: "Of course I don't, you think they pay FY2s? I have Netflix and iPlayer." 21:49 <Crion> Hmm... 21:49 <Crion> Put a pin in that. 21:49 <banana> Quizmaster: "If you're all ready.. who was the first deaf actor to, while suffering from jaundice," 21:49 <Crion> Aster could use a laboratory collaborator and the private sector does pay much better. 21:50 <banana> Sergio: "I think I'm about to learn a lot from all of you." 21:50 <banana> Although there are a couple of shows he's been watching with Willie... 21:53 <banana> Sumi: "I know this one. I've never seen the show, but there was a lawsuit-" 21:54 <VoxPVoxD> Willie watches a lot of TV. 21:54 <Crion> Aster doesn't...but it's always fucking on, everywhere, and he pays scrupulous attention. 21:54 <VoxPVoxD> While working, while working out, while doing chores, while trying to fall asleep, snuggling with her vampire boyfriend... 21:55 <banana> Some of the other groups only have six people, and the church team doesn't watch free-to-air stuff. You have a feeling you're filling in the answers faster and better than most people this time around. 21:56 <banana> Samantha: "A prequel? That's got to be Endeavour. It's about... I mean, I'm ashamed to know what it's about, just write it down." 21:56 <banana> The Maraschine hands her a pen. "Your blind call, your signature on the order." 21:56 <VoxPVoxD> "Roger Allam is so good in that." 21:56 <banana> Samantha: "No problem, I'm right." 21:57 <Crion> Aster: "I wouldn't know." 21:58 <Crion> He was able to answer the one about the Good Omens sequel, however. Picked that up somewhere. 21:58 <banana> The Guinness Black flows like water. By the final round, average performance levels will be dropping. 21:59 <banana> The quizmaster and bartender, a black guy with huge ears, toggles on the mic once again. "...and tied for second place, we have The Procedural Generation and Will's Cool Friends." This is good, but not good enough - last round, someone came first unencumbered, so an equal first/second means you probably aren't in the overall lead... 22:00 <banana> The Maraschine: "Alright, Sumi. We're getting you one-quarter of that chocolate. Guys, it's time to get serious." 22:00 <banana> Sergio: "Do we have any leverage on the staff? We need a round on.. medicine, sport or art." 22:00 <Crion> Aster is still on his first drink. Still a strong one, though. 22:00 <banana> Kim: "I have no idea whether you're joking about leverage." 22:01 <Crion> Aster: "Ehhhhh." 22:01 <VoxPVoxD> "That was also quite a good show. Shame about the lead." 22:01 <Crion> Part of the reason he told himself he was coming out here tonight was to get a better gauge on Sergio...but Dr. Yun Ha has been far more interesting. 22:02 <banana> Megan: "Oh, what happened to him?" She reaches for her phone but it isn't there. 22:02 <Crion> She has resentment (which is fine, even good, especially of him), and she has experience. He'd take someone who's nearly been murdered by a vampire and has come to face to face with that monstrosity over someone with three times the grades. 22:02 <Crion> And she's a striver. 22:02 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It was a MeToo thing." 22:03 <Crion> To Megan: "Violent rapist." 22:03 <banana> Megan: "Oh, fucking hell. Damn it, I wanted to watch- yeah, thanks." 22:03 <banana> "I got the implication." 22:04 <banana> Sumi: "If it's some old show, you could still watch. The masks people wear aren't a projection of their true selves." 22:04 <banana> "I mean, not necessarily." 22:04 <banana> The Maraschine: "Don't you think that the face someone puts on has to have some basis inside of them?" 22:05 <banana> Sumi: "Sorry, I guess.. that's true. Forget I said anything." 22:05 <VoxPVoxD> Oh, this is... non-trivial. 22:06 <banana> Quizmaster: "Our third AND PENULTIMATE topic... the answer sheet for which will be served with a complementary bowl of cashews, please inform the staff of any allergies..." 22:08 <banana> Megan: "They had 'Manchester history' one time, and if they have it again..." She looks around. "I've lived here all my life and I know nothing about it. Good luck, all." 22:08 <Crion> Well. Christ. 22:08 <banana> Quizmaster: "Foreign Relations!" 22:09 <banana> A murmur goes up from several tables. 22:09 <Crion> Hmm. He knows about Tony Blair. 22:09 <VoxPVoxD> Depending on how you define relations, this could be a good topic for Willie too. 22:09 <Crion> Italy is technically foreign now, one supposes. 22:10 <banana> The Maraschine: "...right. Let's get this out of the way so we know how to operate. Completely without judgement, going round the table, stop me if I'm wrong..." 22:11 <VoxPVoxD> Willie quite likes The Maraschine, but she's not sure if he's Sumi's type. He's so buttoned-up and serious. They are such lovely buttons, though. 22:12 <Crion> Perhaps there's another side of him not quite so evident at quiz night. 22:12 <banana> He points smoothly at Sumi and then sweeps his finger around, reciting. "Didn't vote". Sergio. "Remainer." Willie. "Remainer." Samantha. "Remainer." Aster. "No-vote." Megan. "Leaver." Kim. "No vote? Or maybe remainer." And himself. "Leaver, but I regret it." 22:13 <Crion> Aster: "Well obviously I didn't vote as an American on a work visa. But you were fucking idiots to pass that referendum." 22:13 <banana> Most people have no objection to their characterisation. Kim looks at Megan with a hopefully put-on appalled expression. 22:14 <banana> The Maraschine: "Yes, but we live in idiotic times. As long as everyone knows where everyone's coming from... we work as one during this round. A smooth diplomatic unit." 22:14 <Crion> "As a Briton, I'd obviously vote Remain. As an American, I'm glad you voted Leave. You've opened yourselves up to vicious predation by capital in my country, securing gains lost elsewhere." He signals for another drink. 22:15 <VoxPVoxD> Willie makes a face at both the exercise and the revelation that the Maraschine voted Leave, but she does not object to any of it. 22:15 <banana> Sumi: "Very good optimism." To Aster: "Very good sowing of confusion. I think internal tension improves diplomatic unit functioning, myself." And the questions begin. 22:15 <banana> Samantha: "Not that vicious predation is entirely good all the time." 22:16 <Crion> Aster: "Not even for the predator. But Americans are given over to that sort of thing." 22:17 <banana> Sergio: "Still- while you're on top, try to enjoy it." 22:18 <banana> Kim turns out to be a politics buff, although she has more opinions than facts. Sumi knows odd tidbits, her date at least seems to read the FT. 22:20 <banana> But the real stars of the show this time are the local hunters - or not so-local; they've travelled and done the research. 22:21 <banana> Megan: "...I wonder whether round four will be on Five Damians." 22:22 <banana> Kim: "Or a selection of ales that matches the bar." 22:22 <Crion> International news. RSS feeds. And a paid proprietary subscription-based information service that collates and delivers the news that the diplomats and the executives get. Aster is quite well-informed about all of this, from a certain perspective -- and it's one that a quizmaster trying to fool drunk people will honor. 22:23 <VoxPVoxD> This is in some sense Willie's job, it's what she trained on in Cambridge, in Whitehall, and in Milan... but she doesn't hold an enormous number of facts at her disposal. What she has instead is an intuitive understanding of the relations and the context, and an ability to backsolve for the specifics from that. It works pretty well! 22:24 <banana> "And our final question... What is the most recent former British colony to become an independent republic?" 22:24 <banana> Sumi: "Scotland? Not yet?" 22:24 <VoxPVoxD> Barbados! 22:24 <VoxPVoxD> "Barbados!" 22:26 <Crion> Aster had his mouth open but letting the posh bureaucrat deliver it is probably more diplomatic. 22:28 <VoxPVoxD> "They made Rihanna a national hero and they're going to trial UBI. Which are the first two things I would do if you put me in charge of a country as well." 22:28 <banana> Megan: "That does seem worthwhile. Was the Commonwealth stopping them, or is it more of a celebratory thing?" 22:29 <Crion> Aster's feeling a slight buzz. Thankfully no one's engaged him on whether he thinks the Queen's dead. 22:30 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "The latter, I think. They've been independent since the 60s, but they just became a republic this year. It's been in the works for a while." 22:31 <banana> Kim: "I'm not sure about UBI. It's an American idea, which makes sense there because they cut people off the dole after some period... but we've got universal welfare systems here already, if they worked properly. I think it's useful to have a distinction between income you work for and a fallback provided by the government." 22:32 <banana> The round's done and they're collecting the paperwork. Sumi side-eyes Kim and cuts her off deliberately: "It was foreign relations, not finance." She turns to the Maraschine. 22:32 <banana> "Alright, cutie. Explain to Willie... it's bothering her." 22:32 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It's a question of infrastructure, I think. Here in the UK, scaling up the UC infrastructure makes the most sense from an analytical perspective." 22:32 <VoxPVoxD> Then she looks up. "Mmm?" 22:32 <Crion> Now Aster's interested. 22:33 <banana> The Maraschine: "Damn. Okay, let me know what I've done, I'll try to do it over." 22:33 <banana> Sergio: "Smooth, man." 22:34 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Have I given offence in some way?" 22:34 <banana> Quizmaster: "In second place... Third Unitarian of Smedley." 22:35 <banana> The Maraschine: "Not to... me?" He looks at Sumi. "Come on, give us something less subtle. We're just poor quizsmiths." 22:36 <banana> Quizmaster: "And in first, going into the FINAL ROUND, we have The Procedural Generation... it's still anybody's night." 22:36 <Crion> Aster: "Interesting." 22:37 <VoxPVoxD> It takes Willie's antennae a moment to adjust to the new vibrations. "No no, it's fine. I must have... come off nosier than I intended. Do forgive me." 22:37 <banana> Megan: "Stop trying to start a fight, Sumi." The other woman cackles. Megan continues: "She's saying you should explain your referendum vote, because Ms. Wellesley here looked for a moment like you'd stabbed her." 22:37 <banana> The Maraschine runs a hand through his hair. "So much for diplomacy. The answer's, er, very simple though." 22:38 <VoxPVoxD> "It's really none of my business." 22:38 <banana> "But! It makes a good cautionary tale!" 22:39 <VoxPVoxD> Well if he's going, he's going. Willie won't object further. 22:39 <banana> He leans forward dramatically, bumping a half-full mug with one elbow and then catching it rapidly with the opposite hand before disaster. 22:39 <banana> "When it came to the referendum.... I didn't think about it very carefully or consider the details." 22:40 <banana> Samantha: "As is your democratic right." 22:40 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Oh! Well, I think hardly anybody did. People vote in rather more a gut-forward way." 22:40 <banana> Sumi: "Yes, what else is the point in the system?" 22:41 <banana> It's late and the band's packed up. The crowd who came for Damian, Damien or Damon are moving on to clubs or the bus home. But the quiz gang, fourteen tables strong and a gift basket on the line, remains. 22:41 <VoxPVoxD> "I think that's why these disagreements can feel so personal, because whatever our considered ideologies we are primarily motivated by these sort of pre-articulate instincts which often feel quite personal." 22:42 <VoxPVoxD> "Particularly among friends!" 22:42 <Crion> Aster: "So you're an idiot." 22:42 <Crion> "Good to know." 22:42 <banana> The Maraschine: "I agree. With Willie, not Aaron - it can be hard enough to get in touch with yourself in the first place, so when you feel something matters, letting go of it doesn't come easy." 22:42 <Crion> Aster: "It would be even more infuriating if you did agree. So. Fair enough." 22:43 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I was just surprised. I've never met such a well-dressed Leave voter." 22:43 <banana> To Aster: "I may not be a detective, sir, but send me a crossword and I'll race you any day." 22:43 <VoxPVoxD> Although now she wonders what Simpson thinks about Brexit. 22:44 <VoxPVoxD> Maybe nothing. 22:44 <banana> Quizmaster: "The topic you've all been waiting for." 22:44 <Crion> Aster: "I didn't say you were uneducated. " 22:44 <banana> "Or... the topic number you've all been waiting for. The fourth." 22:44 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Ssh ssh ssh!" 22:44 <banana> Samantha: "C'mon. Voting leave was a dumb enough mistake without having to rub it in." 22:45 <banana> Megan rests her chin on her hands and looks benignly around at the enemy(?). 22:46 <banana> Quizmaster: "Our eight last questions are on a topic that's made amateur experts of us all... Modern Medicine!" 22:46 <banana> Sumi: "Oh my god" 22:46 <VoxPVoxD> Willie literally balls up her fists like a happy baby. 22:46 <banana> The Maraschine: "You've been rewarded for trolling us. I love it." 22:47 <banana> Most tables look interested. Only a couple look particularly confident, and it's not ones that have placed before... 22:47 <banana> Kim Yun Ha: "If we do disagree on anything here, someone can get a paper out of it. 22:47 <Crion> Aster: "Well. I'm not a doctor." 22:48 <banana> Sergio: "Here's the other good news: I spent a year and a half in hospital." 22:48 <VoxPVoxD> Dryly: "What luck." 22:49 <VoxPVoxD> "I'm completely useless here, I'm afraid. Everything I know about science I learned from Hugh Laurie and Erowid." 22:50 <banana> Even the Maraschine has a surprising amount of medical knowledge. Sumi's not as baffled as Willie, since so many of her friends are doctors - but she doesn't know anything they don't know. The two of them end up shifting to sit together as everyone else picks off answers like a rush to the canapes. 22:51 <banana> Sumi: "I'm going to be real with you: I have an enhanced immune system and didn't want to think about the epidemic. I've deliberately learned nothing about it." 22:52 <Crion> Aster's merely incidentally helpful. As he said: not a doctor. 22:52 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "That's fine, I read thousands of words about it for nearly two years and it's primarily made me more confused and alarmed." 22:52 <banana> Megan, to Willie: "If these guys were a little less family-friendly, Erowid would come in handy." 22:52 <banana> Kim: "Don't tell me it's some journal of.. erotic things." 22:53 <banana> Megan laughs into her cup and does not clarify. 22:53 <banana> Which gets her a look. 22:54 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Drugs, actually. Run by people who give talks under the names Fire and Earth. It's quite an expansive directory of information, pharmacology, probably the internet's largest archive of trip reports, and so on." 22:55 <banana> Kim: "Urgh. Well, it's better than getting tips from a dealer." 22:55 <banana> The group answers questions about R-values, elective surgeries, aerosol transmission and the difference between myopia and hyperopia. It's general enough stuff that people will get many of them from trivia and doomscrolling... but the doctors at the table are confident you've got all the questions right. 22:57 <VoxPVoxD> Everyone knows an elective surgery is both the place where and a moment when an MP gets stabbed. 22:57 <banana> Quizmaster: "...which was our final question. And on that note- current advice is still being updated, but it's looking like we'll require masks next month, or sooner if you want to come back for the Beautiful Game special on Friday, or at any weekend private booking." 22:57 <banana> Sumi: "We've got this. We've got this." 22:58 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's not looking forward to going back to masking. It's another thing to colour-coordinate. Although it is nice not to have to smile at anyone. 22:58 <banana> "..but while they're working out we've got this... I wanted to thank everyone for coming. I've had a really nice night, helped a little, and drunk as much as I felt like." 22:58 <VoxPVoxD> "I feel the same. Thank you for thinking of us!" 22:59 <banana> Megan: "It's lovely to meet new people and get out of a routine." 23:01 <banana> Dr. Blackfin: "Battered chips, interesting people and even professional contacts... I'm just in the process of a move up to this city, and you've all helped to reassure me of... something." 23:01 <banana> The Maraschine: "The presence of higher-order life in the petri dish?" 23:02 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "The company is really what's made the move up here from London worthwhile for me." 23:03 <Crion> Aster: "Same." Then he realizes he means a different definition of company. Then he realizes he doesn;t. 23:07 <banana> Quizmaster: "Taking first place in the round and first place overall... the winners of our largest chocolate gift basket and exclusive tickets to the Damians' next gig... the Procedural Generation!" 23:07 <banana> Good natured groans come from some tables; applause from others. For example, from the people who got the second-largest gift basket. 23:07 <VoxPVoxD> Willie hugs Sergio triumphantly. 23:08 <VoxPVoxD> When the embrace breaks: "I'm going to step outside for a cigarette. Keep me company, Sumi?" 23:08 <banana> He puts one arm around her and holds up a glass with the other - although the beer in it's gone cold. "To victory!" 23:09 <banana> Others join in, for various degrees of celebration. Sumi says: "Apologies to all our fitness and medical professionals..." 23:10 <banana> She follows Willie, colourful shawls moving through the dwindling crowd. There's another canal here for some reason, which means safety railings to lean on. 23:10 <banana> "Do you really smoke?" 23:10 <Crion> Ah. A job well done. 23:11 <banana> Samantha: "I'm going to pass my phone around now that we've been released. Numbers, please, and just put in a fake one if you want to soften the blow of rejection." 23:11 <Crion> Aster glances at them. He would...but Samantha hates smoke breath, and they seem to have a reason for it that doesn't involve an old American. 23:11 <VoxPVoxD> Willie demonstrates she does, lighting one by staring at it a moment. She's downwind from Sumi. "Do you?" 23:12 <Crion> Aster will pass two business cards to Doctors Hua Ya and Megan Meadows. "In case there are anymore procedural issues in our shared work. Or you want to contemplate a move to the private sector." 23:12 <banana> Sumiya: "Seelie immunity or no, I'm pretty sure I could - but will not - get lung cancer. How are things then?" 23:12 <Crion> Is Sergio still here? 23:13 <banana> Sergio knows Willie's moods pretty well. He's still at the table, scribbling something on the back of a coaster for the Maraschine. 23:13 <banana> Megan: "Oh- thank you, and here's mine, but I'm pretty set where I am." 23:13 <banana> Kim: "...yeah. Hey, how well do you know Sarah Walker?" 23:14 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Good! Quite good. Work's... you know. I'm thinking about taking Sergio to Sicily after Christmas, while the nights are still long. No one's trying terribly hard to kill me." 23:14 <VoxPVoxD> "How are you?" 23:14 <Crion> Aster: "We've met once and spoken on the phone twice." 23:15 <banana> Sumi: "I.. am good. There are ongoing issues, in the Underground, but that's life or otherwise. Mari's mostly not upset, now, and there's exciting new stuff going on... um." 23:15 <Crion> He will accept cards in return. Then, to Sergio: "Let's step outside, on the other side from Willie and Sumi. We need to talk." 23:16 <banana> Samantha: "I'll fend off the creditors here." 23:16 <Crion> A smile. "Thank you." 23:16 <banana> Sergio: "If you say so." He rises from the table; he's quite a tall man, slightly above Aster, particularly with the volume of hair. There's a meaningless polite expression on the vampire's face as he walks alongside the hunter. 23:16 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's attentive, but she doesn't press any hesitation. It's nice just to be out here on a chilly night with a cigarette and some company. 23:17 <banana> Sumi: "Since you ask." 23:17 <banana> "I have probably fallen in love, which I usually do not do, and yet- there is a problem." 23:18 <banana> "I guess I could use a third opinion." 23:19 <Crion> Once they're out in the cold. "So." 23:19 <Crion> "Willie's told you who I am and what I do, in the specific context of the current Manchester Night Court." 23:19 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Love and opinions are two of my top three favourite things." 23:19 <banana> Bonasera: "Ah... she has. You might know more about their workings than I do, honestly." 23:20 <banana> "The society I was brought into is kept deliberately separate." 23:22 <banana> Sumiya: "Willie, things have been getting really serious with this guy... I mean the Maraschine, obviously. Which is not the strangest name any of us have chosen. The way he looks at things and treats me is exactly what I like. And he likes all of me, not just the convenient bits." 23:22 <banana> "He dresses so well, and knows how to keep me safe, too. I always have fun when we're together, or- can talk about tough things when not having fun." 23:23 <VoxPVoxD> Pointedly not thinking about Bob: "That does sound lovely." 23:24 <Crion> Aster: "I'm aware. The service I provide here, specifically, is the one I provided Willie. In effect, I would be a shepherd. A liaison, biased in your favor, between you and the Ordo Dracul of Ultim Vados. A combination advocate-agent-gladhander-bodyguard. I even take care of the paperwork. I had no issue providing that service -- being in that role -- for Willie. I have thresholds and 23:24 <Crion> redlines with you. If this is something you want." 23:24 <Crion> "We're also going to be hanging out more...socially." 23:24 <banana> Sumi must know. But she doesn't say anything about that. "So rather than being casual with different guys over time, I've found I want to basically spend all of my boyfriend budget on this... dude. Okay, fine, it's a biological clock or something, or just feelings. Nice feelings!" 23:25 <banana> "What I don't know..." She actually wrings her hands, lifting them one by one from the railing to shake them with a clashing noise of bangles. 23:25 <banana> "I can't talk about the details, it's not my secret. But I don't know if we're sufficiently... compatible." 23:26 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Is this about sex?" 23:27 <banana> Sergio pushes off the wall he's been leaning on to look at Aster more carefully. "Huh. That's generous... there's at least one thing I'd like to consult the Order about. And you're just- I was expecting a cautionary talk about blood and control." 23:28 <banana> Sumiya: "It is about sex. That's why I'd been seeing guys casually, to have sex with 'em. When whatever god or gods made the world they did that bit right." 23:29 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Right, and for all the Maraschine's qualities that bit's not effortless here." 23:29 <Crion> Aster: "Please. We're beyond that. She's an adult who gets to make her own choices. And if you compromise the integrity of my cell, there will be consequences. Those two things are going to rub up against each other with jagged edges. You know the easiest way for you not to get cut on them." 23:29 <banana> Sumi: "So yeah, I don't know if we are fully compatible... physically, or if we would always be enough for each other that way, and I don't know if that's a dealbreaker. It's doing my head in. What really matters?" 23:29 <banana> "What do you mean by effort?" 23:30 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Being enough, basically, without having to hold yourself back or force yourself out of a comfort zone." 23:30 <Crion> "But I'm not going to stand here and give a lecture or threats about things that have already happened." 23:30 <VoxPVoxD> "Have you talked to him about this?" 23:31 <banana> Sumi: "Yeah, I just don't know. It's not- it's not like it isn't a thing, what we've done so far has been good on one level. But there are things we haven't done which.. I don't know, would I like it? Is it wrong if I don't? Is it weird if I do, does that change something..." she trails off. 23:31 <banana> "Not in detail, because... I really don't want to hurt him." 23:31 <Crion> Aster: "We both agree you need to stop taking so much blood from her, and we both at least vaguely understand the best path forward in resolving that. So I suggest we work in that direction first." 23:32 <banana> Sergio laughs, suddenly. "You haven't talked to Willie about this, I see. You're right though, obviously you're right." 23:33 <Crion> He waves a hand. "This is about a medical procedure being done to you, isn't it?" 23:33 <Crion> "If so, then you're the first consult." 23:33 <banana> Sergio: "Setting that aside. I'd be very pleased with an invitation to the Order of Dracula, who apparently have skills in the manipulation of hunger... what are your redlines and conditions like?" 23:35 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Yeah. So, here's what I think: first, I think he enjoys your company very much, in both the obvious and non-obvious ways. A lot of men would wilt if you put them on the spot the way you did him over the referendum, but he was more than up for it. So I don't think you're near the precipice of failure. There's something in there to lean on." 23:35 <banana> Sumi: "We get each other, which I've found is very rare." 23:35 <Crion> Aster: "First: I won't be party to you feeding. You don't do it around me. You don't talk to me about it. You don't mention it in passing conversation. I don't need or want to hear you swear up and down on monogamy -- I don't want it to be a part of my life. Second: I do the talking and I am in charge when we are inside Vados's structure. You can't pull rank on me but I don't need the 23:35 <Crion> inconvenience of you trying. Third: Use your mental Disciplines on me and I'll kill you." 23:36 <Crion> "This isn't going to be like Bob." 23:37 <Crion> "I don't play around with this stuff." 23:37 <VoxPVoxD> She sits a bit on the guard rail, as if to demonstrate. "It's so rare. And here's the second thing I think: compatibility is overblown. It's a trait that matters far more in casual relationships than serious ones. Like if you just want a bit of fun, then yeah, that being easy and only-appropriately-frictional is the whole game." 23:39 <Crion> Aster: "Within that structure, I think this can be a fruitful...relationship." 23:39 <VoxPVoxD> "But like every part of a relationship, sex is collaborative, it's a team effort. The only limit to people's ability to make it work is... whether they want to, basically. Whether they're willing to put in the effort, which here is mainly the effort of talking and being honest." 23:40 <VoxPVoxD> "I almost everyone is compatible with almost everyone else, if they want to be. It's not always easy to know if we want to be." 23:40 <VoxPVoxD> *I think 23:40 <banana> Sergio considers. There's an edge to his voice when he says, "None of that is unreasonable. Let me be frank with you, Aaron, it makes me angry - angry with myself, that I'm a danger people have to watch for and that I accept this price for immortality. Angry with you, not on any conscious level but because there is a demonic entity attached to my basal stem which says, don't let him get 23:40 <banana> away with the disrespect." 23:40 <banana> "There are ways of relating to people which mean that I don't feel that guilt or that fury; not logistically difficult." 23:43 <banana> Sumi: "You make it sound sooo tempting. Having an open and honest conversation about my needs and feelings. And what a bloody fantastic reward there would be for the effort." 23:43 <banana> "Did Bob or Mari tell you why I got kicked out of the Spring Hill?" 23:43 <Crion> Aster: "The Ordo claims the ability to help with that, too. I'm unsure their practices are worth the risk, but that's not my determination to make." 23:44 <banana> Sergio: "Depends on what dimension of risk. There's... no moral case for doing anything else. So." 23:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "No! I had no idea." 23:45 <VoxPVoxD> She sounds faintly incredulous at the idea that a club wouldn't want Sumi as a member. 23:46 <banana> Sergio bows with a little flourish. "I would like to live, and be social, and minimise danger or pain. More importantly, I want to be with Willie. For those things I'll follow rules; you may set them." 23:47 <banana> "Will it work, forever? Who fuckin' knows, man?" 23:47 <Crion> Irritatingly, Aster likes this guy despite himself. "Well, then that settles the unpleasant, blustery parts of this conversation." Aster hands him a card. "Willie can give you my cell number, obviously, but here's an alternative vector with better voicemail. I check it religiously." 23:48 <Crion> "I suspect there will be more double dates in our future, since Samantha is now in town. So we'll have ample opportunities to check in between whatever we get up to in the labs." 23:49 <banana> Sumiya sighs; she's retreading old ground here, which has lost much of its power to inspire emotion. "So Spring cares about people being happy, a way to fight back against what they did to us by overcoming it... they have both casual and organised means to that end. There are specialists, therapists, everything's provided." 23:50 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's expression changes. But she doesn't interrupt. 23:51 <banana> "Apparently they help a lot of people. Lensburg helped me at first, I think... but there's only one actual rule and it is so bloody ill-conceived it undoes all the rest." 23:51 <banana> "In the Tor of Spring, it's okay to not yet be okay. Getting better can take the rest of your life. But if you aren't better... you have to be trying." 23:52 <banana> "You don't give up. You can't stop. It's not okay to say, I'm a bit broken, and that's how I'll.. be in the world." 23:52 <banana> Sumi: "I think the Regent would be the one who breaks if someone convinced him otherwise." 23:53 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "That sounds totally unenforceable, or even possible to detect. Like it's just a test of whether you'll say the feel-good mantra back." 23:54 <banana> Sumi: "I agree! It is exactly a test, except you have to pretend things about your own esteem and mental state to pass it." 23:54 <banana> "Most of them in Spring are fine, just nice people trying to make each other happy... but it's a cult. Leadership are cultists, and I wouldn't stop telling them so, because they are." 23:54 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "A commitment to sparkle motion." 23:55 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Maybe if they didn't want to be called a cult they shouldn't have call-and-response shibboleths they exile people for speaking with insufficient vigour." 23:55 <banana> Sumi: "More concretely a commitment to permanent therapy when it's not bloody helping and you hate each other." 23:55 <VoxPVoxD> "Ugh. Therapy." 23:55 <Crion> Aster leans back: "I'd smoke, but I can't, and a lit flame would be rude...do you want to try to go find Willie? Samantha should be done settling the bill any moment." 23:56 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Is this the same guy they have now? The Mediator? Mister Restorative Justice?" 23:57 <banana> Sumi: "Yes it is. Mister superficially helpful guy who will drag you into his own fucking vortex of broken because you won't admit that your own has to cured. And how do you get rid of him? He's never dropped the crown." 23:57 <banana> "We've spent too much time out here, Willie... I only wanted to point out, I am maybe more resistant to talking things out openly with my partner than I should be? And I could take into account that this situation is different?" 23:59 <VoxPVoxD> Willie pulls herself out of the reverie of getting steaming mad at a guy she met exactly once for thirty seconds. "Yeah. I mean, your worry's not irrational. Hurting people you care about is fucking terrible, and so is realising you can't have what you want. But... sometimes it's worth the risk, I think." 23:59 <VoxPVoxD> "Reasonable people can disagree on the where and the when." 00:00 <banana> Sergio: "Sure, let's do it. The fire phobia isn't universal, you know.. well, sort of. It's scary stuff, and it makes that demon stand up a little, but if you aren't an elder from Clan Mekhet you can probablty take it. Tips of the trade." He grins. 00:01 <VoxPVoxD> She puts out the cigarette and drops it in the bin on the way back. 00:02 <banana> Sumi waits for Willie to hop down... then gives her a quick hug. She's tall, wears a bunch of shawls, and it's kind of enveloping. "Thank youuu. I need to go ponder some more 'cos this is important, but there's every chance I'll try some of the shit you said and... who knows. Learn some more sexy secrets." 00:02 <Crion> Aster: "Hmmm. Noted." 00:02 <VoxPVoxD> Willie returns the hug with gusto. "I endorse this thoroughly." 00:03 <banana> Megan and Kim have gone home and left numbers behind. They aren't any kind of supernatural, but medical attention is something you find yourselves needing way too often. Samantha Blackfin and the Maraschine are holding the one un-cleared table, batting coasters back and forth in an improvised form of beer pong; Samantha is quite bad at it. 00:04 <banana> Swap everyone around a bit and you can all call it a night. 00:04 <VoxPVoxD> Ah, Aaron and Sergio coming in from the cold together. And Aaron's nose isn't bleeding. That's good, right? 00:05 <Crion> Aster ensures they tip well. He is not willing to concede this point to Europe. And this isn't Europe anymore. 00:18 <banana> The tip doesn't feel onerous given how much chocolate they each get to bring home. 00:21 <banana> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL2ASpJiRMQ -- "There are things they can never take away from you -- places to hide a heart that become its home -- and that's all you get."