[Molly Quincannon] The exterior of Molly's place hasn't changed much since Kage's last visit, at least not visibly. It's a concrete block with windows and big vehicle bay doors on one side - the consummate auto repair garage in a not-too-salubrious area. There's a proper front door, though, and proper windows instead of the floor-to-ceiling shop windows one might ordinarily see, and there are also multi-coloured fairy lights in the windows and a wreath on the front door.
The wreath goes a little oddly with the "DANGER - HIGH VOLTAGE" sign (discreet but visible) on the front door and the vehicle bay doors on the other side of the building - the sign states that it is not a good idea to have direct contact with the front door, which examination will show has been reinforced with sheet steel. The doorbell is lit up brightly to call attention to it so no one has an excuse to do anything quite so stupid as knock, and underneath that is a number-keypad. And underneath the "DANGER - HIGH VOLTAGE" sign is another, smaller sign indicating that this place is under remote surveillance.
So basically, since Kage's last visit, Molly's place has turned into a cross between a derelict auto garage, a typical home and some kind of fortress. Whether Kage called or texted ahead to inform Molly of her impending visit, that's the situation - a conglomeration of creature comforts, eclecticism and paranoia, decorated for the holidays.
[K. R. J.] Kage did call ahead. Call, not text. Hello, Molly. I've a bit of freetime today. Mind if I come by? Her voice had sounded a touch husky, but nothing to worry about. The threatening cold has been fought back by Nyquil and Dayquil and other medicines of faith. That was in the morning, and it's only now that the great black truck (the blackest truck for while - a gleaming thing of darkness) pulls in front of Molly's unusual abode.
And it is cold. It is very cold. The air is full of snow, snow-flurries, snow-ghosts, snow-demons -- cold things, warmth-leeching. Kage has a particularly warm woollen coat on, dark in colour, and mossy green gloves that match a mossy green (and purple and turqoise) scarf, a hat that's purple with ear-flaps, concealing little rose-bud earrings (no winter themes, although bell earrings will come out soon).
She has a paper bag in her arms, which she hugs as if she's keeping it warm (or as if she's draining its warmth away [vampire]), and - after taking in the state of the door - she presses the doorbell.
[Molly Quincannon] Since Molly had expected company, the door opens almost immediately upon Kage's ringing the doorbell - she'd been keeping an eye on the monitors. She has her usual frantic bounce-bounce-bounce on and there's a certain sense of pride straightening her shoulders and adding a little extra sparkle to her eyes, though it's complicated with a weird sort of defiance (I took your stupid sterile clean-room code-of-niggly-crap, Mr Vdept Man, and I made it awesome; what else you got? is the line of thought, though someone'd have to know the history to read that; to the uninitiated it simply speaks of I did something in the face of icky niggly crap and I am awesome and slightly pissed off at someone not here. Molly's full of complicated facial expression at the best of times). But she smiles at Kage and ushers her in, saying, "Hey, Kage! C'mon in. I have gumbo on the stove. Ooh, you have a bag! What's in the bag? And I like your hat!"
The interior of Molly's place is, if anything, more eclectic than the exterior. Movie and band posters cover the concrete walls, and the ceiling is obscured by silk scarves of various colours, with the bare bulbs hanging from the ceiling now covered by pretty paper lampshades. Weaving over all this are Habitrail tubes leading into the other rooms of the house and making a veritable maze on the walls and ceiling. In one corner is a section screened off by rice paper screens painted with cherry trees and bamboo and suchlike, bearing a sign dubbing it 'ELLIE'S NOOK'; in another corner is a playpen of sorts, low but wide and made of chicken wire. In it, there's a ferret, which stops batting around its jingly plastic ball and climbs up the walls of its playpen to observe Kage as she comes in. There's another one; Kage can hear it rattling around in the Habitrail pipes, and sometimes get a glimpse of something dark and fast-moving overhead. There's more furniture - poofy red loveseat (mis)matching the beanbags and ratty blue armchair, two more desk chairs of brass and red velvet that match ill with the battered black office chair sitting at the customer service desk upon which her six computers hum. It's a home. For a certain sort of person, at least.
Molly's in typical-for-Molly clothes; purple jeans and a black T-shirt bearing a sniper's crosshairs and the words 'I see fragged people'. "There's a coatstand over there, if you want to hang your warm bundlies," she says, pointing out the coatstand laden with Molly's duffel coat, Kermit hat and red-stripey scarf with the rising phoenixes embroidered on it.
[K. R. J.] "Fixings for cookies and cupcakes," Kage says, of what's in the bag. They're certainly opposites, Molly and Kage. Molly, who seems irrepressible, all energy, an extra bit of shine to her eyes, sparkle to her step, something defiant; Molly, ecclectic, all pop-culture doom, all covert ops screens; Molly - here, in her silk-scarf vaulted lair, her ferret-tube Goldberg machine - and Kage, who, all told seems very (still) self-contained, all economy of movement and economy of expression.
"'Tis the season, after all. You can never decorate too many cupcakes, right? The gumbo smells good." Kage, after handing the bag off (one hopes) to Molly, looks around with interest. The interest is eloquent, too. "Actually ... The place looks really good, Molly. Far better," here, a hook of almost-but-not-quite mischief, "than I'd ever have thought it could look when you first moved in. Is Ellie one of your ferr--"
There is a half-a-second pause,
really, hardly a pause at all,
a word-caught-in-the-throat,
when something dark rattles through one of the pipes. Kage looks that way, before "--rets. Or... no, they're over here, right?" The chickenwire -- it seems a dead giveaway.
[Molly Quincannon] "Oooh, baking things!" Molly divests Kage of bag easily enough, at least because it allows her to peer inside better. Of course Molly has ferrets; they match each other for curious, bright-eyed energy. "You are entirely awesome! And no; the ferrets are Neal, who is looking at you and wants pettings, bee-tee-dubya, and Hardison, who is up in the--"
*rattlerattlechitterscrabble* *thump* of ferret body hitting the cedar shavings in the playpen.
"--Who was up in the Deep Roads and is now vying for your attention. Be warned, he will attempt to find out if you haz a flavur." (Yes, we have established that Molly can speak LOLcat.) "He won't break skin or even hurt, but there will be omnomnom." She brings the bag towards her tiny, overstuffed kitchen as she goes on to say, "Ellie's my housemate. Unaffiliated, but she was trained by a Verbena for awhile. She was living on the streets when I met her and now she lives with me and goes to community college. Want anything to drink? I have pear cider and strawberry beer and the usual array of soda. And thanks for the compliment about the gumbo. Want any? There's a big pot; it's good for leftovers. So how're you? Your cold any better?"
[K. R. J.] [Man. Manip-Subt. I'm totally not wary of the ferrets the way some people are wary of big dogs.]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 3, 5, 5, 7, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Molly Quincannon] [Perc + Awareness - What's up with that face?]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 10 (Success x 1 at target 6)
[K. R. J.] Kage doesn't answer that last question immediately. Kage, who has just taken off her coat and hung it near the kermit hat on the coatrack, winds her hand around her scarf, and a certain tension knots itself at the base of her neck, works its way under her shoulders, at the rattlerattlechitterscrabble sound. She manages to stay as nonchalant as ever she is (and boy, Kage? Kage can do nonchalant), except for a couple telling tale signs that are really too subtle.
She keeps her scarf on and walks toward the chickenwire pen (murderous beasts [no, no]) and sort of peers in, then goes down to her knees, reaching a tentative hand in to let the ferrets -- ... please not omnomnom -- sniff. Then she seems to remember that an answer is required, and she says:
"Pear cider? Please." A pause. "Strawberry beer? Where'd you find that?" Another pause, and then, "Yep. I'm right as rain. As long as we're assuming the rain isn't flooding things or destroying ecosystems or acid, that is. Sounds like you've done right by Ellie. Does she have anything to do with The Look?"
[Molly Quincannon] [WP roll from Neal the Calm One]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 8, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Molly Quincannon] [WP roll for Hardison the Spaz]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 1 (Botch x 1 at target 6)
[Molly Quincannon] "It's Belgium," Molly replies about the beer. "It's really nice. And Ellie seems to think I'm doing right by her, so I can only hope I really am. But no, she doesn't have anything to do with the -- Look? Do I have Look? Well, I guess I always have Look but ... eh, I have been learning. Esoteric learning and giving the finger to various concepts and generally having a good time, so that might be the look. Or it could just be that this is the first Sunday in two months where I haven't had to go into the office to fix the server because someone mistook it for a microwave."
One ferret - the larger of the two and the lighter in colour (white and cream and tan, for the most part) - is a very well-behaved little ferret. It stretches up to sniff Kage's fingers in a polite sort of way. The one that just came down from the maze of Habitrail tubing, however (small and dark and with a raccoon-band of black across its eyes) is ... not so polite. It bounds over, uses the larger one as a springboard, lands on Kage's arm and proceeds to worm its way into her sleeve, tickly-snuffling all the way.
[K. R. J.] [Oh man, the horror. WP: Be cool, be cool.]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 3, 6, 8, 8, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Nathan Spriggs] Today, it's one of those unscheduled visits, the kind that no one expects because you decide not to call ahead or even explain yourself. You'd think that all this time in Chicago would teach someone not to show up, unexpected (unwelcome?) at another Mage's house (that? that's not a ray gun, I was just cleaning!), but it really hasn't.
There's no fanfare, no trumpets announcing his arrival, or screaming fans raging about. Just a simple doorbell buzz.
Meanwhile, he glances cautiously at the new additions in the way of stickers to the door. Just stickers... right...? Oh wait, this is Molly.
[K. R. J.] Kage's throat works when she swallows, and, once again, Molly does not get a reply immediately. There will be a reply; there would've been a reply. There would have been philosophizing on the propensity of Looks to be part of Molly's daily style, perhaps some commentary on the precise amount of smug sparkle necessary to be a Molly look, and how does one gauge smug sparkle versus esoteric learning -- what's the conversion rate, in terms of how much?
But there's a ferret suddenly flinging itself through the air (the chicken wire! it doesn't keep them inside! The pen is a failure! Oh god, oh god!) and before Kage can really react it starts to slink underneath her sweater, so its furry little sleek (coarse) ferret body is against her skin, and its hot little breath is, and Kage's shoulders get tenser, but she manages not to grab and yell or fall back on her ass.
"Uh, hey, bandit ferret, that is, uh, not a place for," and she closes her eyes and reaches down the front of her sweater (easier than the sleeve - oh god, it's in) to try and pull it out that-a-way.
[Molly Quincannon] This is happening around the same time as the doorbell ringing, and Molly ... well, Molly is what she is. Thus she steps over to Kage, pulls out the neck of her sweater, reaches in with the sort of manual dexterity one can expect of someone who puts together delicate pieces of electrical equipment for fun and profit, grabs the offending ferret, gently but quickly yanks him out of Kage's sweater and then heads for the door, still bearing the merrily chittering ferret. "Not bandit-ferret; Hardison. The polite one," she adds, tapping in the code to shut down the current on the front door long enough to open it to a visitor, "is Neal."
It's on that note that she opens the door, in her purple jeans and 'I see fragged people' T-shirt with a ferret in one hand, and blinks at Nathan before giving him a brilliant little smile. "Hey, Nathan! Glad I didn't spoil the surprise by looking at the screens. C'mon in! There's tea and coffee and the usual array of soda and gumbo on the stove and there may be baked goods later. Coat goes on the coatrack; how've you been? Long time no see!" With that, she shuts the door and hits a button. (Something goes *buzz*.)
[Nathan Spriggs] Molly's smile is returned with one of his own, before the final steps through the door and into The Twilight Zone are taken, steeling his resolve and preparing for that magical place where everything could, and probably would, happen. For one, it takes a small amount of control not to look back at the buzzing and the button, but he does a magnificent job at it.
Instead it's the ferrets and... oh look, is that Kage? Yeah, it is her. "Heya, Kage. How's life treating you?" Selectively blind to the struggle she's in, of course, she had some strange ideas and quirky moments. This was probably one of those. Instead, he throws a glance towards Molly and the ferret in her arms as he slowly paces around inside, looking for new and exotic changes. "So, that ferret yours or Kage's?"
[K. R. J.] "Tell Hardison," Kage says, relieved to no longer have Hardison exploring the underside of her clothing, "that your good friend Kage is a lady, and none of that funny business until the third date. And as I don't date out of species..."
Her attention swings to the 'good' ferret. Neal. Kage reaches back in, this time to pet his head, then his long ferret body, to regard the way the tail tapers into a tip, the hand-like claws, and says, quietly, "I like you better. If I pick you up, will you drop the nice guy act and turn into a rogue?"
Enter, Nathan C. Spriggs. Kage leans away from the chickenwire (she doesn't look away from the ferret [that's when they strike!]), half-turns, and says,
"Well, well, well, if it isn't T. H. himself. How dark is your shadow today?"
[Molly Quincannon] "You hear that, Hardison?" The ferret chitters and then curls around Molly's wrist, happily omnomnoming. Molly rolls her eyes and sighs. "Apparently not. Don't make me use shiny new talents on you, you spaz."
Then she turns to Nathan with a grin. "They're mine. As you can see from the set-up." She gestures at the walls and the ceiling, where the Habitrail maze sprawls through, apparently, the entire house. "This little spaz is Hardison. The one who's soliciting Kage's attention is Neal." Neal nuzzles Kage's hand affectionately; he's apparently the calm one of the duo. "They say pets grow to resemble their owners, but mine just came that way. So ... you okay? I heard about the whole asylum thing. Dunno if Israel passed on all the stuff I dug up about the place when it was still a going concern ... or the other stuff, frankly. There's stuff. But there's good stuff too and I am a small and concentrated ball of pure undiluted awesome, so that's okay. So can I tempt you to anything? Gumbo, something to drink? And what's new with you? I mean, generally."
[Nathan Spriggs] Molly's words elicit a small grin, not the kind one might expect but still. Almost immediately, his head snaps back to Kage with that same smile, "Soliciting you, huh? I always did wonder how you earned money."
Then a beat, before he adds, "Nah, but seriously, my shadow's fine. I haven't seen him around in a while actually." This time, he says the 'him' with an emphasis that sounds like he really is a person, of some sort. "How about you? Still keeping upbeat and accident-prone?"
Attention's back to Molly for a moment, as he moves closer to the maze-complex and examines the ferret-habitat closer. "All is well, life's been nice. I've just spent a lot of time out of the city recently. Though yeah, I've been more or less kept in touch, sort of. Nothing for me, thanks, I've yet to eat breakfast or lunch so I might as well hit all three in one go instead of snacking."
[K. R. J.] Kage rests her chin on her knee for a moment. Then she uncurls, and lifts Neal out of the ferret pen. Yes, she is a touch wary; isn't she always? The wariness is in her gaze, behind obfuscation, a dark thing. But for all she's wary of the creature, she doesn't allow the wariness to translate to her hands, and she doesn't grab him too hard or too lightly. "I like this one," she tells Molly, and then offers a lopsided smirk (slanting [shadow]) toward Nathan, although she doesn't seem to think his first comment warrants a quip.
"Haven't fallen out of any trees lately, at least," is her eventual reply, coupled with a little shrug, "Or been the horrified witness to any of the same, so you might say I've been none too shabby." The way Kage says this, though: conversations have flow, and she's not going to stop Molly from being concerned about Nathan, or speaking of concerns, and her own remarks are very much shadow-of-this-conversation, very much on the sidelines, sort of offhand.
Attention to the ferret helps with this, of course, because Kage has something to do. And in truth, the ferrets have certainly distracted her.
[Molly Quincannon] For Kage, there's a grin as Neal nuzzles Kage's wrist and snuggles into the being picked up. "Neal's a little furry con artist. He'll be begging for any nibbles that are handy next, you watch. And when did you fall out of a tree? I used to fall out of trees all the time. Pissed my parents off no end. 'Climbing trees is boys' business'. Feh. And you," she adds to Nathan, watching him look at the maze of tubes along the walls and ceiling, "really ought to eat something. It's nearly dinnertime, and it's not like gumbo is exactly a snack thing. Look, I've been on the receiving end of so much nagging about not-eating-right that I've got very good at dishing it out, so you watch yourself." It's friendly teasing, mind you, but she means it well enough.
Then she sighs. "Well, I suppose we should let you have at least one more day of 'life is nice' before dumping the random nonsense going on, particularly on my end, but there's nice to share too. I get to go snooping the future and I've got the hang of Mind on an Initiate level now. Which will be useful. I think resonance masking is going to become a standard thing for when I want to snoop now. At least on the scrying thing." Then, with a thoughtful look, she adds, "So has this not-eating-today thing been about one of your book binges again?"
[Nathan Spriggs] Kage gets a look and a shake of his head in mock disappointment, "That's good to know but you really shouldn't climb trees. You're gonna get hurt. Worse yet, an idiot might follow and mess it up." It's Molly that gets the longest look, however, and it's a mix of amusement, wariness and just plain curiosity. "When did you gain a Mommy mode? Did I miss something along the way here?"
With a step closer to the two, though, he shrugs and smiles brightly. The kind of smile that he only managed to pull off in the rarest of instances, when his life wasn't plagued by disasters. "I'm glad you're both doing well and that you've come so far, Molly. I've recently learned a few tricks myself, but we can go over that bragging contest at another time. My not-eating just stems from a busy day, and lack of hunger. But if you insist so much, I'll take your offer and even do a better, how about dinner, on me?"
[K. R. J.] "Oh, no, no - don't put a bragging contest off on my account," Kage says, chucking Neal the ferret under the chin. "I can judge. Decide who earns the goldest star of all."
Beat. "And I'm pretty graceless, Molly," Kage says, although really: this is blatantly untrue. If there's anything Kage has, it's understated grace. Usually. "I mean, I think T. H. there just insulted your gumbo. How does he know anything he's going to treat will be better before he tastes it?" A pause, and then a glance -- sidelong,
finally looking away from Mister Neal the Ferret, "Unless he has had it before. In which case, uhm." Her gaze is (thoughtful [pensive]) on Molly, really: "Levelled up in Mind, huh? How do you enjoy it?"
[Molly Quincannon] [Straight WP roll for some semblance of self-control.]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 4, 7, 7, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Molly Quincannon] [Manip + Subterfuge = What, me? Flustered and pleased and probably reading way too much into this but what the hell, it's fun to dream? Nooooo.]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 (Failure at target 6)
[Molly Quincannon] "Um. Okay. Sure. Sounds ... great."
Understand, it's not lack of enthusiasm that has elicited this somewhat brief response to the offer of dinner out. It's quite probably, to judge by the blush and the bitten lower lip and the sudden bashful, the fact that she doesn't trust herself to actually respond any other way. Given recent conversation with Ashley (and let's not forget the teasing she's taken from Natyana for months; oh, no, never forget that), it's a matter of supreme self-control that keeps her able to provide a response that remotely resembles English.
Thus it is that she responds to Kage's question. "It's interesting, Mind. I didn't realise how much of it was doing to one's own head. And being able to multi-task in a heavy way is beyond awesome, and the universal translation matrix is simply the bomb. Resonance masking ... survival tactic that's going to be seriously necessary. But it's ... my brain goes beyond, and it feels ... kind of like home, y'know? But ... um, no." She goes on, finally a little more calm. "No, Nathan's never had my gumbo. I don't even think I had a kitchen last you looked, did I? That was Natyana nagging at me. You know what she's like."
[Nathan Spriggs] [Perc + Awareness (as Empathy); diff +2 'cause I've got laser-guided ignorance to this type of situation]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 3 at target 8)
[Nathan Spriggs] [Manip + Subt; I NOTICE NOTHING, for I am blissfully ignorant of any feelings but my own (specialty: trickery)]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10 (Failure at target 6) Re-rolls: 1
[K. R. J.] [I am rolling for nothing, because you guys all suck at concealing your true nature, and when I mock you all, it shall be with style.]
[Nathan Spriggs] See his eyes narrow just that tiny bit as she's flustered? See that strange shift in posture that for a moment displays a rare instance for him: the loss of composure (surprise)? That's him diving through his situational awareness and trying to deflect this from going down RIGHT NOW. Kage's around, besides he's no good here, at this.
"Right," a beat, pausing, strangely placed like he's actually at a loss of words for a moment... for once... "So, uh, I guess I'll be having gumbo tonight then. How's Natyana doing, by the way?" Deflect the conversation, awkwardly? Me? Nah, you must be imagining things... Or am I that obviously lost?
Now as it turns to magic, that's his forte when it comes to evasion tactics (do a barrel roll!) and so he answers, actually calm, "Yeah, it's... weird. Puts stuff into perspective, really. It's a bit like Prime, actually, in that way. Correspondence too, speaking of which, I recently learned a bit on that."
[K. R. J.] [Okay, I am rolling one thing, just for my own reference]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[K. R. J.] Kage quirks an eyebrow at Molly when she blushes, bashful, replies all quiet and awwdorable to Nathan's invitation. That's all, though: just a quirk of an eyebrow, and, at Nathan's (naturally, not so secret - he is supposed to be good at hiding what he's thinking, right?) at-a-loss, HEY-good-thing-Kage-is-here reply, well, the corner of her mouth is kissed by an allllllmost smirk.
But she is a good Kage, and kind. She tucks a straying lock of redred hair back behind one ear, and places Neal the ferret on Nathan's shoulder, saying as she does, "I'm torn about the practice of resonance masking, honestly. I understand that it's good to be a secret, sometimes, but I don't know - as I say, I'm torn.
"And I think it speaks to something in human nature that, most people who haven't really gained any significant control of Mind, think the next step will involve a lot of hey now I'm swimming in other people's thoughts, now I'm touching another person where they aren't usually touched. It's a good way to confirm that, hey, I'm not the only thinking thing in the universe."
"Congratulations about Correspondence, Nathan. Figure it out yourself, or find a willing teacher? And... ah, so ... is that peach beer still on the table, Molly?"
[Molly Quincannon] "Pear cider," Molly says, still wearing that smile. She gives her lower lip another nibble and then says, "And gumbo for three. I'll ... just ... Nathan, want something to drink? Sing out while I'm serving, 'kay?"
With that, she's in the kitchen. There's a short pause (the water runs; Molly's giving her face a bit of a splash with cold water, hopefully killing the blush, but no one needs to know that) while she listens for Nathan to give a drink preference, and then she says, "Well, I don't mean for every day. I'm not going to roam around all masked up and invite a smack upside the head, y'know? But if I'm going to be scrying out what Mirrorshades are going to get up to, and I am ... well, hell, I'm not going to make of myself a great honking beacon. I look at it as like a firewall and IP scrambler - if you don't need 'em, great, but if you're hacking, you need 'em big sometimes. Like if I hadn't had some really good rerouters and IP scramblers, some dudes at some charity would have been looking for me here instead of in Tokyo or Guam or wherever I was sending people that week. And it's good to remember that we're not the only thinking beings in the universe. Most of the shit that goes down seems to go down because people think they're the only thinkers thinking ... or at least that they're the only ones whose thoughts are worth a shit."
She comes back out with a tray - three mismatched bowls of gumbo, Kage's bottle of cider, a can of Jolt for her and whatever Nathan wanted, as well as three spoons. "And yeah, kudos. Correspondence is an awesome one to have, particularly levelled up a bit. Not needing a line of sight on some stuff is crucial."
[Nathan Spriggs] [Still under the aftereffects of CONFUSION? Manip + Subt, +1 diff]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 3, 4, 4, 7, 7, 9, 9, 9 (Success x 5 at target 7)
[Nathan Spriggs] Whether he chooses to ignore Kage's almost smirk or he just doesn't SEE it, he's (trying to) calmly follow the conversation along. Without any more awkwardness. If only life was that simple. Fortunately, Molly walks away long enough to remove her blush and he has a breathing space that allows for a zen state of mind again, process the data slowly instead of all at once. His drink of choice? Mountain Dew for today.
With his gumbo bowl in hand, and the bottle set aside, he turns to them again and considers what Molly said before adding, "Not to twist the conversation down the Path of Darkness and all that is depressing, but did Israel brief you on our encounter with the Mirrorshades and Ambassadors a while back?" There's a pause then, as he's still (now almost completely gone) in uncertain grounds about where to draw the subtle lines of this conversation, but a certain art gallery was still in mind, "I'm still gonna add: that you should not Scry without at least three of us on back-up duty. With guns, and rifles, and God knows what else."
[Nathan Spriggs] Pretending Jess spent WP
[To the REROLL MACHINE!]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 7, 8 (Success x 1 at target 7)
[K. R. J.] age - takes a seat whereever it is they're going to be eating the gumbo, whether it be at a counter, ranged around a coffee table, on the floor, whatever. "Yes, I know, and it's certainly useful, but part of me says - if this is what happens to us when we perform Great Deeds, if this is what we feel like, this is how we shine in the world, should we really try to conceal that when we, well, perform more Great Deeds," and her tone of voice is very, very offhand, almost dismissive. She certainly doesn't sound too serious, although there's a hint of gravity to Kage, comes out at odd moments.
"Practically, certainly not necessarily the path to take." A beat. And, "Why don't you brief, T. H.? Different perspectives on dark paths," and see, a suggestive lift of both of her eyebrows. The first bite of gumbo is going to be a testing one, cautious. Homemade gumbo is not something Kage has had the best of luck with, and in fact is something she associates with the Cult of Ecstasy and New Orleans, with masquerades and bead-necklaces breaking.
The suggestive lift changes - now there's a line between both eyebrows, some thought pinned down, needled into place. Without at least three of us on back-up duty, that's when it arrived.
[K. R. J.] ooc: clearly, a 'K' belongs at the beginning.
[Molly Quincannon] "Oh, I've been briefed," Molly says, running her hands through her hair. When she reaches the back of her neck, she encounters Hardison, happily gnawing on her T-shirt collar, and sighs. "Back to Orzamarr with you, spaz," she says, and crosses the room to deposit him in the playpen.
Then she turns back to Kage. "So, actually, have you. This is that thing Ashley and I were talking about the other day at the Chantry, with the asylum and the node and later the FBI-ish types taking shots at her. And of course, on top of all this, I had to dump the intel that the platypus-fisting, goat-blowing, syphilitic-baboon-jizz-receptacle hypocrite hacker-asshole that I had up until recently been letting into my home and my life has not only been on Mirrorshade radar for fifteen years and never saw fit to warn anyone when he got full Chantry access or even so much as change his online handle while he hacks the Mirrorshades' databases as recently as a year ago, but knows that they have leverage on him via his family and was actually mundanely trained in a Mirrorshade-sponsored think tank who managed to get that leverage on him via his family when he turned down their recruitment offer. He also compiles dossiers on the people with whom he is involved without their permission on a relative whim. Well," she adds in the spirit of fairness, but still pissed off, "only one that I know about, but for all I know, he's done it to me too." She sighs and shakes her head. "So ... y'know, not that I don't think you would be anyway? But be careful what you say to Chuck. I don't want to start a witch-hunt, but ... well, leverage is a bitch."
The grumpy makes a return appearance as she points out, "Also? As for back-up? That could be a problem. It's hard enough to get four of us in the same room at any given time anyway. I have a crew, supposedly, but Nat only leaves Lara's bed to cook Lara's meals and clean the apartment these days, and Henri gives me the finger and tells me to go fuck myself if I ask her to do a damn thing. And Atlas might help but mostly he wants to turn my home into a mine field in case of Mirrorshade incursion since I mentioned the Chuck thing. So ... that's my backup, chilluns."
[Nathan Spriggs] [Why must you increase the awkward!? Manip + Subt]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 3, 3, 3, 5, 5, 5, 9, 9 (Success x 2 at target 7)
[Nathan Spriggs] A sigh escapes his lips as he's done, magic, and the gumbo is vanished into thin air. The bowl is empty, and not just empty, so very squeaky clean! Well, for the most part. There's still a sign or two that it once houses gumbo. "Hm, beautiful repertoire of words aside, that... sounds like one hell of a problem," and no, this wasn't just the Nathan who's methods were slowly coming to touch too close with those of Solomon, speaking. Nor was it the usual paranoia.
"But anyway, if you've heard it already, I'll just sum it up. First there's the Halloween gig with Mirrors involved too, which ended in my near-Gilgul by Node, saved only by the grace of the spirit of Halloween or whatever the hell it was. Then yeah, Ambassadors running into us and more Shades, who opened fire on us in the middle of the street." Beautifully succinct, and almost monotone, like it's not THAT big a deal anymore. To be expected? Nevermind he's still very much not fine with the Node bit, or the spirit ass-save, but less showy was best.
No need to worry anyone unduly.
"Hm, well... there's still the Guardians, we can help." Yes, we, and dammit why'd you have to go and act that way... Now I'm not sure what to do! Leg in my mouth in this? Or? Uncertainties that he buries. Nathan Spriggs: the man with the interpersonal relationships experience of... well, what experience? It was all still so new to him, like... friends! Israel and Solomon had walked into unexplored territories.
[K. R. J.] [HEE. I wanna be manip+subterfuge-y, too.]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 3, 3, 4, 5, 9 (Success x 1 at target 6)
[Molly Quincannon] [Well, if you're all rolling this shit... Is Molly empathy-aware of anything beyond her rant?]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 6, 6, 9, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)
[Nathan Spriggs] [What, Kage? My turn? Perc + Subt]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 2, 5, 5, 7 (Failure at target 6)
[Nathan Spriggs] [REROLL]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 1, 7, 8, 10 (Failure at target 7)
[Nathan Spriggs] [JESS WANTS IT -AGAIN-, for the botch]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 2, 3, 5, 7, 7, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 3 at target 8)
[K. R. J.] Molly's rant on Chuck causes the Orphan's gaze to widen, slightly, and then to darken (doe [fleet]) with interest. Her hair's the same colour as a fox's, after all. And while it isn't a thing everybody knows about Kage (really, now. What things would those be?), she is always, always interested in information, especially this kind of information (all information [any information]). But, well, leverage is a bitch, Molly says, and Kage smirks -- and, check it out. This? Is a pretty almost gorgeous thing, which means it's almost a smile, really, and it touches her eyes, illumines her features, or, or, or, almost does.
"I shall endeavour not to give too much away," she says, Hell, almost deadpans. And then -- Nathan. For once, Kage isn't even remotely self-contained. Kage, you see, is an ardent creature, a passionate thing, for all she behaves demurely, with control, and there are only fleeting glimpses of who-she-is, what-she-is, really. Her spine straightens like an exclamation, and she says, "Your near what by Node?"
Long pause. More-in-line with her usual reaction: "And ... Who the hell are the Ambassadors? I'm a little hazy on that." Her gaze goes sidelong to Molly, and she looks as if she's going to say something, and - naturally - she is. But Kage is a creature of rhythm, of cadence, and she'll add her own thoughts (whatever they are) after
well, after. She does say, "Well, what's a cabal for, if not back-up? Henri can be... Surely, it's not all 'fuck off' all the time."
[Molly Quincannon] Molly is a frantic creature. Molly also cares; she's no caregiver like Israel, but she's a Cultist. She cares, and she cares deeply. She and Nathan have had conversations that touched on the concept of Gilgul before; she knows how he feels about it. She also knows that he's nowhere near as calm as he sounds. She gets up, puts her Jolt down, walks over to where Nathan is, looking at him quite seriously--
And hugs him. It's brief, but it's meant. Whatever is involved in the blushing over dinner invitations and the rest of it has nothing to do with this - or at least, not only. She considers him a friend, cares about him in many senses, and thus the hug is necessary. Its brevity is necessary too, and she returns to her seat with no fanfare. She does, however, say, "I'm glad you made it out. And like I said to Israel ... I wish I could've been there to help."
To the bit about the Guardians, she says, "Thanks. If the Guardians are available, I'll take you up on that, provided our availability goes well with Ashley's ... though I guess I don't need her to mask my resonance anymore. Anyway, I get the feeling we'd work a lot better together than we would when it's just me on my own with you guys as a rescue mission anyway. I mean, at least you guys weren't happy to leave me there for however long it took to come up with a plan that wouldn't have involved actual contact with the enemy, unlike some aforementioned platypus-fisting hypocrites." That last sentence was more a grumble, actually - she's saying it mostly to herself, because if she keeps saying it, maybe she'll get past the I stayed with this fuckwad and kind of hate myself for it problem.
To Kage, she gives a rueful, unhappy little twist of the lips. "Yes, it is. Cabal meetings? 'Fuck off'. Sentry duty? 'Fuck them all twice'. Anything outside her laboratory? 'Fuck you' and throwing things at the door. Don't even get me started on Nat, either. She's supposed to be my second, eff-eff-ess."
[Nathan Spriggs] These are the days. Days when coming to Chicago seems almost worth it in a retrospect-y kind of view, so much learned, so much experienced. Changes. It's funny, that it's almost the eve of his year in this God-forsaken shithole. It isn't just Molly's reaction, or Kage's reaction, it's his amusement at the whole mishmash clusterfuck situation.
Biting back a flail when he's hugged, he takes a moment to compose himself. Same ol' poker face, not taken by surprise at all. But he is, hells yeah, and even he doesn't hide it in time. It's the amusing realization of Kage's state of mind at the news, and that rarely seen side of her.
"Yeah, it was... uh, well, let's just say I never want to be in the very same place as a forming Node ever again. I didn't manage to get out so much as a spirit-possessed fatally-injured Technocratic agent dragged me out in time before expiring." There's less cavalier here, but still... he has a hard time admitting the sheer levels of anxiety involved in the risking of your immortal soul. Also, a spirit saved his life.
"But moving on, if it's that bad a situation then just ditch 'em. Don't let it weigh you down. Or, y'know, smack someone in the face." Okay, recovering jackass, not recovered. "How about you, Kage, how come I've never heard you mention a Cabal? I've always wondered, if that's not touching places."
[K. R. J.] [Uhm. Whut? Manip + Subt +1 diff, touchy.]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 3, 4, 5, 8, 10 (Success x 2 at target 7)
[K. R. J.] "What the fuck is wrong with the Nodes in this city?" Kage says, still angry (passionate [restless (worried)]). And she leans back, finding balance in the strange position, in the newly ordered pressure of air. No more explanation. Now it's an offhanded slouch, debutante careless. Then it's a brief arc-of-her-back, spine-pop: all better now. "What spirit was possessing the agent? Did you talk to it after?"
To Molly, she says, having regained her perspective - "I doubt anyone who knew where you were could have been happy to leave you there." The corners of her eyes tighten in an almost-smile, although it's not really a smile; just the gesture toward one. An expression. Nathan suggests ditching Molly's cabal, and Kage echoes this, more-or-less, with: "It's true. If it doesn't work, if you're never really there for each other, then it doesn't really seem like something you should keep forcing yourself to be a part of. On the other hand, sometimes these things go in cycles, and it's not broken, just off-course."
Nathan gets a half-(almost)smile, and both eyebrows raised. "I was in a cabal. And I have fairly oldfashioned views on what caballing up entails, at least insofar as I'm willing to commit myself."
[Molly Quincannon] Molly gives Kage a bit of a look when she asks about the spirit and whether Nathan talked to it after. She knows how Nathan feels about spirits, too - well, sort of; well enough, at any rate - but she also doesn't want to go blabbing out how he feels about same, and why he might have issues with spirits and the possessed. That's for him to tell people if he wants them to know. See? The Info-Slut does have some discretion, after all.
To the rest, she raises an eyebrow at Kage. "He said it to my face, Kage. He knew where I was. Okay, 'happy' isn't the word, but his view on it is that it doesn't matter how long it takes to come to a safe, non-contact plan on these things so long as that's the plan that happens. I brought up the people who were spared even a moment's suffering because the Guardians rushed in where he feared to tread - not just me - and that didn't faze him. It ... didn't matter to him. So maybe he wasn't happy about it, but ... well, rescue action and all that were ... ill-advised, in his opinion."
That's all she can really say about that, though there's a lot more turning her expression melancholy. She moves on as Nathan takes a phone call and wanders into the other room for privacy. "I honestly don't know. I mean, Nat and I work together fine when she's working, but right now she's Lara's, body and soul, and I can't say that thrills me much. As to Henri ... well, I explained to her what being in a cabal entails before she joined but she only hears what she wants to, and is acting like someone who signed up for debate club to be with her friends and is now peeved that people expect her to ... y'know, turn up to debates. It could just be a cycle, and Nat at least keeps in touch, but on the whole ... I'm just holding on until I can find a good way to rebond. There's so much else going on right now, y'know?"
[K. R. J.] "Hmm," is all that Kage says, really, when Molly expands on Chuck's reaction to Molly's imprisonment. Her expression, if anything, is kind of reflective.
"I honestly thought Lara'd moved on to greener pastures," Kage says, after listening to Molly talk about her cabal. The red-haired Orphan, whose eyes have watered, gone all luminous rain-puddle shine, blink away, at the last bite of gumbo [delicious], and who has pulled her pear beer closer [just looking out for you, my dear delectable drink], "Athough that relationship doesn't sound very healthy."
The corners of her mouth turn upward with what might be sympathy. "I hear what you're saying. Thing is, Molly, I don't think we ever get downtime -- not in real life. You left Atlas out of that little catalogue, I notice. Is he at least there right now?"
[K. R. J.] ooc: BEER, CIDER, PISHAW, she's an American, same thing >.>
[Molly Quincannon] "Hmm?" That with a raise of the eyebrows. The reflective look is met with curiosity, though no direct questions are asked. They don't have to be. The face says it all.
Maybe there's a smile at the notice that the gumbo has been so comprehensively devoured; that it has turned out well. It gets a bit squished at the mention of Lara and unhealthy relationships, but the comment gets a nod. "It isn't. There are ... issues there. On both sides. It's a thing. I understand it from the point of view of knowing why it's gone down the way it has, but ... no. It's not healthy. But trying to go into it with a crowbar will only make things worse, and I don't want to do that. I just need to lure her out of bed occasionally and remind her that there's more in the world than sex. Man," she adds with a little huff of breath that's half exasperation, half amusement. "I sorta see why my Trad gets the rep it has now."
To the rest of it, the bit about Atlas, she grins. "Atlas is there. Atlas is the one who actually listens and cares and actually suggests doing shit. He's not real big on the combat angle, but he's a storehouse of intel and my biggest issue with him is trying to keep him from turning my place into a demilitarised zone for my own protection if the big nasties come in the night to bend my brains or whatever. Like I said, he's just not overly hands-on. Guess he's seen about enough of that in his time. He's battle-tactics-guy, not ... y'know, backup-with-guns-guy."
[K. R. J.] "But Molly, the world is sex," after all, Kage's resonance is amorous (burning) isn't it? Wanton thing, Kage, and wild. Or her magick is (tastes that way [sometimes]), anyway. Her voice is about as dry as it's possible for a voice to be, and still have sound, even as she widens her eyes in faux 'innocence.'
"Thank you for the gumbo. Was delicious." Then - far more seriously: "What was your initiation like?" A beat, a pause, and then, "If that isn't too personal a question, I mean. I've known a number of Cultists of Ecstasy, and only half of them really see to play up or live to the stereotype. I'm curious about who made it sound like The Way."
And, with a faint quirk of her mouth, "Well, maybe if he's clever enough, he can come up with a way to be just as effective, sans the bullets and mayhem."
[Nathan Spriggs] [Sneak, diff +1, -1 Arcane, +1 dice from Arcane too!]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 1, 3, 6, 10 (Success x 1 at target 6)
[Molly Quincannon] [[There's sneaking? Perc + Alert]]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 3, 3, 6, 6, 6 (Success x 3 at target 6)
[K. R. J.] [Say what? Alertness dicepool activate!]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)
[K. R. J.] [The word for this is: Owned.]
[Nathan Spriggs] It is then that he wanders back from the phone conversation from nowhere. Can you say timing that can only be God's providence? Still, quietly sneaking back in, lest, oh God, it turn to him, Nathan tries to edge in towards a wall before turning to speak. "Idiots, that's who."
One-liner wonders.
Of course, he'd already been noticed by then so much impact was undoubtedly lost and scattered in the winds. "Also, going back for a moment, Chuck's an asshole and an idiot, and spirit guy I had talked to. In fact, we helped each other out a good bit. I didn't know what he or who he was until after."
[Molly Quincannon] Molly wasn't going to pretend surprise at Nathan's stealth, but she wasn't going to let on that she'd noticed him long before he spoke up, either. She grins at the one-liner and lets out a cross between a sigh and a tiny, slightly sad snort of laughter when he says that about Chuck (but nods a little, all the same). Then, perhaps to help distract from further questions, she turns to Kage.
After a roll of her eyes at the comment about the world [b]being[/i] sex and a smile and an, "Any time; well, any time I'm making it, anyway. You're welcome, I mean to say" for the compliment, Molly tucks a lock of hair behind her ear (many, many piercings in that ear, and the other, it must be said; right the way up the lobe) and stares off into the middle distance, considering. "A crew found me; wacky bunch, saw some potential in me. They sent me some bits of code to break. I was curious, and what they were sending pushed me to my limits when I tried to break the code ... and I broke through. It's all a bit of a blur, the two days after that, but it ended up with a pesticide company that was illegally dumping their waste and polluting the local water supply getting busted by every agency with a badge and jurisdiction because someone posted proof of their dirty dealings on a few message boards and alerted the media." She shrugs. "Only one of them wasn't Dissonance Society, and she was ... closer to the stereotype, put it that way. Most of the rest of it comes," she adds, this time with a sheepish sort of grin, "from having been part of another crew, later, in Texas. A couple of VDepts, one leftover from my first crew and a really rough-and-tumble Hermetic from the days when Thig wasn't just an offshoot of some other House. Real old veteran. Didn't believe that Zoot and I were Cultists at first. Well, Zoot he believed before me. This from a man named Skank Fetish. Seriously."
[K. R. J.] Nathan is not as sneaky as -- okay, he's just not sneaky. Kage feigns a startle when he delivers his one-liner, hand to her chest, all, heavens! She gives him a direct glance and a nod, after he goes back to give his opinon on Chuck and somewhat expand on his interaction with the spirit, and then her gaze returns to Molly. "A Hermetic named Skank Fetish?" - she sounds absolutely charmed. And she also stands up, holding her bowl and spoon, clearly intent on bringing it over to the kitchen. Which is what she does. Good guest, Kage.
[Nathan Spriggs] Tiny wry smile at the individual responses later, Nathan's crossing his arms and leaning against the wall with an amused smile. His glance shifts to Molly as well when Kage asks her question, before wandering off to kitchens unknown and unexplored (what mysteries lay there?). "Beautiful name, and I mean, who can blame him, they need some lovin' too." He says, with a grin.
Before adding, "So whatever happened to this crew? Always interests me to hear everyone's wonderous pre-Chicago stories." It reminded him of how good life was on him before this city.
[Molly Quincannon] The kitchen can barely fit two people, it must be said. It started life as a kitchenette, and has since been somewhat remodelled. It has a sink, a fridge, a stove upon which a pot of gumbo is sitting, still at least half-full, and a coffee machine and microwave on a counter. That, some metal shelves holding canned and dried goods and enough counter space for a cutting board is all the space in that kitchen beyond maybe nine or ten square feet of floor.
There's laughter about the name, and a start of "I know, right?" And then he asked what happened to this crew. Molly's not always big on hiding her emotions; depends on the day. This one ... maybe she's just too tired to act calm and cool about it, or maybe she trusts the company. Either way, she curls up a little tighter in her chair and looks sad. "The guy from my first crew got ... well, they did a run while I was otherwise engaged. It turned bad. Zoot ... well, he moved on to the next great adventure. We all scattered, quiet-like, so as not to arouse suspicion ... after the funeral. I was the first to go. I moved on alone for a couple of years after that, and a year with a quasi-crew in Des Moines, but they all just freaked out and left after that, so ... I was looking for a change of pace and came here." She shrugs, though she's clearly anything but easy and casual about this. "I never got on radar, but I never saw any of them again after that, either."
[K. R. J.] Kage rinses the bowl out and, if there isn't a handy little dishrack, heistates, then just sets it (neatly) off to the side. She doesn't sit down again -- perhaps because she's so full, it seems like indulging in an exercise (drumroll, please) of sloth. Instead, she leans her shoulder against the wall, listening to Molly recount What Happened.
"I'm really sorry, Molly," she says. "That's tough."
[Nathan Spriggs] [For effect; Cha + Exp]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 8, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6) Re-rolls: 2
[Nathan Spriggs] He bites his lip gently for a moment, hesitance and maybe a tiny bit of guilt. The answer had almost been expected, given most of the other Magi's histories, but it still made him feel bad for asking. "I see..." That's all the answer he can give, wanting not to sound too sympathetic (not everyone wanted sympathy).
After a moment, he takes a step forward towards the center of the room and closer to them again. "Turning to you, my dear red-haired friend," he says with an oh-so innocent and friendly veneer of curiosity, the kind of soulful look she turned on him some times in joke (or maybe not), "I'm curious as to what you meant with old-fashioned views on Caballing."
[Molly Quincannon] Molly smiles a little. "Thanks," she tells both Kage and Nathan; different sentiments, but same basic feeling. "It happens." She doesn't say Maybe you know that one, but maybe she thinks it. It's at least obvious that Kage knows what it's like to lose friends. She's heard about Dylan Willis, after all.
She looks over at Kage curiously when Nathan asks his question. She doesn't want to push, but she's curious too.
[K. R. J.] [Hah! Can we Charisma Expression this?]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 5, 5, 7, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)
[K. R. J.] No, Nathan. That's not how you do a look expressive of soulfulness, a look on the shadow's edge of interested mischief and inquiry. That's not a soulful look at all. This? This is how you take a soulful look, and magnify it. "Oh, my, my," she says, hand on her chest again, just below her collarbone. "Dear red-haired friend? Be honest, T. H. I'm your only red-haired friend, aren't I?"
Then - a wink. Although it's almost certainly true - it must be true - that she's lost friends in the past (Dylan Willis? An anniversary just came up, although not the anniversary of the nameless 'crow's death -- that's for New Years), right now she doesn't wear it on her sleeve. There's not a lot that Kage wears on her sleeves, really, except for whatever clothing dye made them the colour they happen to be.
"And, hm." As the redhead gathers her thoughts, gazing drawn off-to-the-side, over-there, nothing-there, but ... over-there, her pocket beeps, and she reaches in, drags out her phone and flips it open to read whatever text is there. "What I mean is ..."
"... going to have to be explained another time. Ask me again." A flourish, and a grin, "I know an exit line when I hear it. And apparently, I'm not going to be paid if I don't get some stuff e-mailed out post-haste. Molly, we can bake later, I hope. I like decorating cupcakes. And... thanks for having me over."
She's texting a reply to whoever it is that texted her (boss, must be) all rapidfire while she says her farewell, sketches a(n ironic) brief bow, and crosses to the coatrack.
"Bye, ferrets."
[Molly Quincannon] That gets Molly a-blinking, and she frowns a little in that way that most people would look at a watch. "Oh, shazbat," she mutters. "Ashley's going to be here any minute. Okay, later, Kage!"
The ferrets chitter as Kage crosses to the coat rack and Molly crosses to one of her computers. There's a rapid-fire of typing and a click-buzz, and Molly says, "You can open the door now. Actually, Nathan, I'm going to have to take a rain check on that dinner, if that's okay. Biiiiiig project and I need to start setting up. But I will take you up on it," she adds, smiling just a tiny bit bashfully again. "And there'll be shiny new info for you. Thanks, both of you, and drop in whenever, y'know?"
[Nathan Spriggs] [Totally not escaping; Manip + Subt]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 3, 7, 8, 8, 8, 8, 9 (Success x 5 at target 7)
[Nathan Spriggs] For a moment, he's actually believing that Kage will answer legitimately for once. A hope which is, not unexpectedly, dashed away moments away and turned into one of the more impressive and dramatic exits he's seen or will see. Props where props are due, honestly. It also opens up a hole in the defenses, like the Death Star exhaust, it took the Force and all his concentration to make use of it.
With a bright smile, that is actually not faked, to Molly, he gives her a nod and a wave as he himself's turning towards Kage and the door. "Kage's departure actually reminds me of the hour, so I need to be off too. A raincheck's perfectly fine with me though, so call me or something when your project's done?" See that? Perfectly unawkward and blase, calm as can be. No indications of, y'know, all the complicated thoughts in his head at this very moment or the fact that he was riding that Kage-escape wave all the way to the beach (hopefully not 1940's Normandy landing zone) and making away like a bandit until he figured this stuff out.
Though he wasn't gonna be a dick about the raincheck thing.
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