Gotta Respect That

[Molly Quincannon] There's a certain amount of effort required to get hold of Thomas these days, but Molly's willing to expend that effort. Besides, she has a few things besides that hold-all memory of hers going for her. The new tinge to her Resonance helps. So does an ashtray that only Thomas has used, which got chucked into a bag when she vacated Fort Quincannon. All of that means that at some point, Thomas gets hit upside the head by a paper plane. Not just any paper plane, either; examination of said paper plane shows that it's a note, laser-printed letters reading:

Thomas:

You are a hard man to get hold of! I'm pretty sure this'll get to where it needs to go, though. Can we meet up for a drink? Haven't heard from you for awhile and wanted to see if you were okay after the whole deal last month. I'll be at (bar) at (time) if you want to meet up.

Info-Slut.

PS: Sorry about the head shot.

The bar is ... average bordering on grotty. The time is now. And Molly probably stands out a little in her geek chic nerdbomb couture, though since it's jeans and a T-shirt ("Percussive Maintenance: The Art of Whacking the Crap out of an Electrical Device Until It Works Again"), it's not by much.

[Thomas Black] [Per & Awareness, because things have changed]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 5, 7, 8, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Molly Quincannon] [[Ooh, good idea.]]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 1, 4, 4, 8, 9 (Failure at target 6)

[Molly Quincannon] [[Oh, come on, Kasheeno. +1]]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 7 (Success x 1 at target 7)

[Thomas Black] He isn't there at the time she specified....

30 minutes go by and he still isn't there and Molly might be left wondering if he didn't receive it....but of course he did, Molly would have no doubts in that! She never has any doubts with anything she does. InfoSlut was persistent, InfoSlut was Frantic and now she was also Tenacious....she kept the ashtray that type of planning takes commitment to a cause....

An hour goes by after the time she gave and those without such drive would have left half an hour ago, but there she is showing that geek is sheik [Or so they say]. It might be grotty but even she has had a few men up wondering what a girl like her is doing out alone. Then the door opens, few notice it, fewer take notice of what walks in, but molly might a long tab 'wheeler & dealer' overcoat flaps in the wind, the lighting outside thundering down, it soaked to the bone. Wandering along and water dripping from him comes the cockney.

The tan was soaked to a dark brown, his skin still pale, his eyes still dark though not to the extent they were Thomas was nearly out of the Jhor, a journey he took on his own with no help [no help he knew of] While a man puts a pint down for a friend in the toilet and goes to talk to another one Thomas picks up the bottle and wanders towards Molly. He sniffs the air...

She has changed, in way he would imagine though, he sniffs again and looks around expecting to see Callista [Searchlight] but doesn't as he sits across from Molly. "You've changed." He taps the table and clicks his fingers as he then puts the hand to his mouth and places a cigarette there as he finishes around in his pocket cringing at the wetness as he pulls out a zippo and wipes it on his jeans.

"Evenin' pet, sorry am late." He wasn't "'ow tricks, long lemon no see." He then flicks open the zippo, taking two sparks before he can get it lit. Someone close by says something about smoking in here and Thomas gives them the two finger salute. They looks appalled, look away and then seems to shake off a bad memory and go back to talking to their friends like they really didn't notice it.

[Thomas Black] [tab=tan]

[Molly Quincannon] "So have you," is Molly's reply, noticing - it takes a bit of a squint at him to do it, but ... well, she had the note of tenacious to her resonance during the whole interlude with the Sending, though she didn't have the searching then ... or the power. It's more than just extra Resonance notes now. She's upgraded.

Then she grins. "Don't worry about it. The waiting was ... educational. I'm learning whole new ways to tell grabby assholes to go do anatomically improbable things to barnyard animals and still sound polite! And I'm okay. You know the drill. Job. Extracurricular paying things. Extracurricular not-paying things. Meeting new people. Building a coffee-bot. Watching said coffee-bot get jacked by my own avatar and going fucking nuts. Yadda yadda. Same old. How about you? You wandered off pretty quick after that thing last month. And you got the note, I see. I'm getting so much better at that." Okay, there she sounds smug. "So what's with the making yourself dim? I meant to ask before, but then Atlas was back and so was Israel and there was a whole lot of running around like a headless chicken making sure people were okay and I'm going to shut up now."

[Thomas Black] Molly does an blue screen of death info dump. The cigarette hangs lazily in his mouth as the smoke wanders upwards, his face quiet calm and passive he was use to this from Molly, hell Thomas could talk up a storm when he had to.

"You got better, robin for you pet, if I give ya anythin' that drive I'll get ya places fast." He nods to her putting the bottle to his lips as he pulls out the cigarette and then has a sip. [The real owner currently trying to find it] Molly has been up to a whole range of things, the coffee bot gets a raise of the brow a few lines there but still he takes it on the chin and says nothing.

Then there's questions about him. This was one of the reason he avoided Molly the reason he called her that name, he didn't like to give out information about himself, and Molly seemed just the type to be intrigued by those that didn't give out information. He could tell her about how he has been slaying monsters feeding on the homeless, how he has formed a 'Dark Cabal' and was building an underground sanctum for himself and Lara, or how his Jhor has caused him to consume the fear of those around him, to gorge like some parasite that cannot stop. How he has also met new people, new faces, made contact with the Hollow Railroad, gone and seen Ashley in Boston...

But he doesn't, he picks and chooses his topics from the menu molly offered him, while complimenting her as well. "A bot eh, I thought that was all up the Docs 'ave, still if yer crashin' at 'is pope makes sense you'd pick up a trick or too...does it do tea?" This would be a very important point for Thomas, because tea was the gentleman's drink, tea wins wars. "Far from the same old pet, you've cum far from that alleyway wen you fixed me knackered dog..." He puts the cigarette back in his mouth when the same person next to them makes a comment about smoking that she did a few moments ago. Thomas gives the two fingers again.

"I took off quick pet 'cos I wasn't meant to be there, I was only there to see the bitch off, she went I was done, am not one for the hero shit, if anythin' no doubt me an Sol wud 'ave been at each others Gregory....that bitch needed to go, she dropped a tornado on me ya know!" He might also have done it for Seer, trapped as she was but he wouldn't admit that.

[Molly Quincannon] "Zoing does, in fact, do tea," she tells him, smiling. "Well, hot water for tea, really. And picks up snacks and cold drinks and other stuff, when I ask; I programmed coordinates in for where I keep stuff keyed to a few phrases. He also quotes eighties movies; Wren had a field day with that one."

The compliment gets a blush. "Well, yeah, I guess I have. I like to think so. But it's still kind of the same old because everything I learn just shows me how much there still is to learn. It'd be frustrating as hell if it wasn't such an awesome thing, y'know. If I though I knew everything there was to know ... I'd be really depressed, I think. I mean, what would I strive for then?" A second later, she asks, "How is your phone, by the way? Does it need any more maintenance?"

The bit about the bitch dropping a tornado on him gets a nod. "I know. I heard. But I wouldn't necessarily say the hero thing isn't your bag, y'know. I mean, you were the one who got Brandon safe after that whole mess with the Horsemen. I think there's a lot more to you than even you know about. Just sayin'." Then she shrugs and sips her drink. "Anyway, for all that, just glad to see you're okay. I mean, those ... Solomon called them Fomor? That ... cannot have been easy." It wasn't particularly easy for her, either. When the lot of them had gone back to help beat back the demon-children, Molly had been in a state of more or less revulsion-fuelled flashback. Thomas has his reasons for having problems beating on kids. Demon-kids push a whole different set of buttons on Molly.

[Thomas Black] She called it Zoing....He blinks, the smoke blowing up concealing his face for a moment until he blows more out scattering it further into the bar. He listens to her, none of it a surprise it even brings a small smile to his face. She wants to know how his phone is, he shrugs "I 'ave a new dog, I 'ad to the last one got crushed by sum fuckers claws." Yes he said claws.

She blushes, doesn't rise too it too much, takes it in her stride, and then it's on to the kids. He frowns, his voice doesn't crack but he takes a moment too long to respond "I made a call before they became demon kids, she needed to go, wats that Spock crap...the needs of the many out weigh the needs of the few...? Or if I refer to Thomas Law 12 - 'Anyone that ain't helping us, is in the way.'" She tells him he has more hero in him than he lets on. Israel has called him a gentleman rogue, more true than he even admits to himself.

"It seemed like a very roundtable deal pet, the job was done, it was a robin result for us, no need to 'ang around afterwards, on either of them." He refers to the horsemen of course where he also left without a trace when Brandon was recovered. Thomas hasn't been seen with any of the known crowd for a few months, he only bumped into Riley by accident.

"But yeah, not sure wat you were wantin' from me pet?" He shrugs referring to the message, it was nice she thought of him and wanted to reach out and make contact but Thomas has been keeping his distance from most magi for some time. It impresses him that she remembers him enough to get in touch. But that's InfoSlut....free information and all that, and of course the task of hunting it down. "I don't mean that nastily, just...." He frowns not sure what he means, he has been so long with the Jhor, so dark for so long he will never be truly free but with them curtains being peeled back he is left raw. He raises his hands in a shrug.

[Molly Quincannon] Surprisingly, Molly doesn't look overly taken aback when it comes to mentions of things with claws. "Occupational hazard," she says, quite calm. "Still, glad to see you seem to have come out of that okay too. Better than your old phone, at least. It's going to be completely futile to ask what happened and how you took it out, isn't it?" She sounds surprisingly understanding about that ... though one supposes that if she gets curious, she has her own ways of finding out what happened. But that's all pushed by the wayside when he mentions the kids. She sighs, shakes her head and says, "I know what you mean. When we went to rescue Regina - the little girl that Elizabeth was with? I was on distraction detail and ended up having to more or less step on a teenaged girl. Her belief was feeding this ... this absolute shmuck and... Well, she didn't turn out to be anything more than a teenager who believed in something that wasn't worth it. So ... I probably don't understand as well as I could, but I get the gist, at least. It's not easy. You did well. And I'm sorry it was hard."

Then, he asks his question and she blinks, surprised. "Well ... apart from seeing how you were, not much of anything, really. A chat about nothing in particular. Company. Making sure you were okay. You're a friend. I get concerned. Oh! And also." She rummages around in her laptop bag and out comes a good-sized Tupperware container. Thomas doesn't know it, but she's made a habit of carrying home-made nibbles ... particularly when she's knowingly meeting up with certain people ... or at least, certain resonances. Ashley's Hunger, Thomas' Consumption ... she responds to that the only way she knows how - viscerally. "Home-made pizza," she says, sliding it over to him. "I always make too much, and Atlas' appetite has been on the fritz, so ... y'know, food, drink, company. I am what I am. It's what makes my world go round. So I wanted to share."

[Thomas Black] No surprise Molly has been on the other end of claws, no surprise there at all most of the time she has some injury, and besides he remembers her in the Chinatown drug den. She wants to know what happened and Thomas doesn't mind saying it just needs some re edits because it was important that some information is shared. "Two monsters, ugly fuckers one male an one female, 'ad the old chinese like chemical scents were makin' folk shag each other so the woman got pregnant and then used there long insect like things..." He clicks his fingers struggling for the word as he puts his fist to his mouth and draws it out like a long tube "You know like flies, they'd cut open the woman's belly and feed on the developing foetus." He pales a touch more, it wasn't pretty even for the iron stomachs....but it does lead on to her next point.

"Life 'ard pet, we can either moan like mutherfuckers or just take the 'ard knocks or keep calm an carry on, don't need yer sympathy, Jesus yer gettin' like Seer guilt by compassion." A little harsher than he meant as he drops the cigarette on the floor and stamps on it. "Soz, that was outta order, am....recoverin' from jhor." It was obvious what he carried to those that knew such things and enough had heard about it that it wasn't so much common knowledge anymore. "So am an arsehole isle now, got an issue get a tissue." In truth he was relearning how to process emotions, it was hard and made him very temperamental.

She puts the box down as he puts a hand on it, that consuming nature flaring, making him seem like a black hole. a primal force of consumption and Molly was skirting the event horizon frantically trying not to get pulled in. He opens the box and looks at it sniffing it...he looks back to her and feels a little harsh for his words. But they were said and he wasn't one to go back on things.

Thomas Law 28 - 'What's done is done.'

"Thanks." He puts besides him taking it, with a statement like that you'd imagine he hands it back over but he doesn't. "'ow is the Doc, 'eard 'e was with Seer trapped in the....place." He waves his hand. He hasn't seen Atlas sine the Asylum break in and he hasn't seen Seer since not long after that.

He had 'dimmed' himself quite well indeed.

[Molly Quincannon] She, too, goes pale at the story of the thing, but she's dealt with similar in Undertown, and she just nods. The 'next point', however, gets a tilt of her head and an expression that suggests that she's taking it in, analysing it next to the things that she knows, has learned, has grown from. Recent explorations of the truth behind the universe do tend to take their toll. Thus she says, "...I'm glad you're recovering. And you're not an asshole. I can't have been a whole lot better after my stay with that fuck Riveira and his bunch. Let's just say that I'm not so much encouraging moaning like motherfuckers as ... acknowledging that venting is healthy. Weren't you the one who told me that sometimes you need to sit down and chill and deal with what's been thrown at you instead of just carrying on like everything's fine when it isn't and risk having some kind of psychotic break?" She gives him a little smile - certainly not taking him to task for hypocrisy; just... "Everyone's got their own way of coping. If you need to snap at people when they're stepping on territory you're not ready to have them walk on yet, go for it. At least you explained, which you didn't have to and was nice of you to do so."

Then, Atlas is mentioned, and Molly's face goes compassionate and worried (frantic) and determined (tenacious) all at once. "He's ... getting better. How he looked when he came out ... great Google, I was glad I'd learned to cook. It's a slow process, getting himself back together physically and mentally, but I'm helping where I can and being back aboard the Lafette seems to help a lot. He's better than he was, and he'll be okay in the end. It's a process."

After which: "How's Lara doing these days, by the way? She's as hard to get hold of as you are. I may have to pull the paper plane stunt on her soon." So apparently she's been getting information from other sources, to know that Thomas has been hanging out with Lara.

[Thomas Black] Did he say that, it seems so long ago, then again Jhor changes a man, it changed him all the people he knew him the world could not help, but Sloane and Ava gave him so harsh truths about fundamentals things that he had forgotten so far he had fallen. She feeds it back to him and he looks away perhaps not wanting to face another reminder of the fall he took. He clicks his fingers and puts another cigarette in his mouth eyes half closing and looking to Molly "Yer memory is far too robin."

Atlas is getting better and he nods, not showing either way if he really cared or not, he is better which in turn suggests Seer is also but by asking directly would give an indication he cared and the Hollow One doesn't care.....of course he doesn't...

She wants to know how Lara is doing, Info has hers sources, he smiles. "She is robin, not bad at all, knew you'd be in touch with the Italian Stallion." He takes a guess "Wat can I say, two chicks one house, Tommy 'ad to go 'ave a gander." He lights his cigarette "But no, Succ is calvin, doin' real robin." It is all he offers to her as he blows smoke away from the table.

"So you got yer 'andle on one of them clubhouse chairs yet?"

[Molly Quincannon] The mention of the 'clubhouse' gets a sigh. "Oh, don't get me started. I mean, it's going kind of okay, so long as I stick to my guns and try to keep polite, but ... let's just say I get why a lot of people avoid the place like the plague. Which is sort of why I'm establishing Plan B, though Solomon thinks the whole idea is a crock of shit. Basically I'm working on a spot where we can go in a 'leave your politics at the door' kind of thing. No ... Duracell is the term you use, if I remember right - just ... someplace to go when things go to hell, or can touch base with each other and talk without worrying about who's overhearing what, without having to worry about the kinds of rules and regs the House has. Solomon says it's unnecessary because the House doesn't really have all that many rules, but ... well, I don't think he gets how other Trads work, to think that. But when he told me that he thought the idea was about fifty-six degrees of wrong, and gave me a bunch of blah-blah-blah bullshit about how ... well." She shakes her head; clearly the Info-Slut has some limitations about what she will and will not tell. "Suffice to say that he got a bit up himself and I told him not to treat me like I was stupid and we agreed to disagree and Plan B is going ahead anyway." She shrugs. "We've got premises now, and a lot of the extracurricular work I'm doing is on the electrics. The wiring in that place looks like a game of cat's-cradle played by a giant with Parkinson's disease. But it should be done by July, if I keep working like the proverbial dog. I'll let you know when it's properly set up, if you want; never hurts to have another safehouse, especially one where the one two rules are 'leave your politics at the door' and 'don't fuck with anyone's head by magic' ... which is only just polite anyway."

Then she goes back to the bit about Riley; her nickname gets a laugh. "Yeah, I figured you'd like Riley. She's one of the first people I met in Chicago, and it's great to see her back. And I'm glad to hear that Lara's doing well. And that you and she both have some company." She tilts her head, considering, then makes a guess of her own. "Cabalmates, bedmates or both?"

[Thomas Black] He listens to her, consuming what she is saying, Molly wants to set up a safe house, something different from the chantry and that sparks an interest in the Hollow One. He would never go it as if anything the walls will have ears [This is Molly after all] but still it was better than nothing, something different.

He doesn't really know Solomon, just what he has seen and heard and Israel constant defending of the man, he can imagine what he makes of Thomas though. "Sounds different....robin luck with it, thanks for the offer but I won't be turnin' up but robin for you for takin' yer own imitative and damnin' the man. Gotta respect that!" He raises his drink in a toast and drinks it most of slamming it back on the table.

He blinks a little bit perplexed. Molly was reading into things, he could either completely lie and take a chance she might see through it, admit or avoid. "None of yer business pet, an to be Frank an yes you can be Jane a gentleman never tells." He doesn't deny anything, nor does he admit anything he stays very neutral on the matter. "Me an Succ do some business, she 'elped me get something to stop the Sendin', but she is even less of a glory hound than me. She got a cut from Lucian, so paid for fair an square" A half smile, giving Molly something to work with, it was better than nothing if he gave her nothing that curiosity would spike.

"Seer seems to 'ave taken ya under the wing, spoke highly of ya last few lemons we spoke, 'specially wen I called ya gobby." He comes out with it, he saw molly as someone who was great at ferreting out information but just as quick to spread it along, goes with that policy of free information which is the same reason she was so open about plan B. He respects that, he doesn't like it, no way but respects it. Hence he just avoids her, he rather not he doesn't mind her just what she does unsettles him.

Creatures of darkness hate the light being shined on them.

[Molly Quincannon] That gets a giggle. "I wouldn't say so much 'damning' the man as ... well, politely telling him that things don't work the way he wants them to just because he wants them to so much. We may make the world in our own image, but we have to do the making first, or else we're just making noise. But thanks ... and I'll pass along the details anyway, once it's done. I mean, obviously it's up to you whether you want to make use of the place or not, but things change. It's not even really going to be my place when it's done; I don't want it to be 'mine'. I just want people to have a place to go." It's impossible to explain to him that the place isn't going to be bugged, that she's not going to be keeping tabs, or that she's received a very solid boot to the head about how loose lips can sink ships ... because he hasn't said a word about that being an issue. She just tells it like it is, and then shrugs it off. (And if he knew some of the secrets she was actually keeping, right now? Well.)

To being told to mind her own business, she just gives a little wry smile and shrugs. "That's fair. Just curious. Sorry; nature of the beast. I get real casual about the 'bedmates' thing and as to the cabal thing ... well. I dunno. Either way, you seem to work well together, seeing as how the Sending thing came off so well. And man. People got mercenary about the Sending thing, didn't they? Poor Lucien must have paid through the nose." This seems to amuse her more than anything else.

The amusement heightens when he mentions how Lucien spoke up for her; she laughs, delighted and definitely tickled. "Oh, man. Irony. When he and I first met, he gave me a talking to about how free I was with information. Though at that point it was only intel about myself, and that ... well. I like him. We're keeping in touch. I don't know about 'under the wing', but I think he likes having someone to argue with. I dunno." There's a delighted little beam, though - she'd known he was fond of her, but not to the point of taking up for her when she was being slated by others. Knowing such things is always good for a dose of the warm-and-fuzzies.

And so the Info-Slut gets some new information that she hadn't even known to look for without even trying.

One thing has her curious, though, and after a moment, she asks. "So ... the yoinking people's barely-touched beer is less a hard-up-for-money thing than a not-wanting-to-interact-with-the-barman-or-indeed-people-in-general thing? 'Cos ... I mean, what with the people ignoring the smoking and everything, I figure you've got that 'remember-me-not' thing and your number was deleted from my phone, which should not happen, and I needed a scrying object to track you properly for the airplane thing."

[Thomas Black] What Thomas believes and what Molly are intends are two different things, like what he believes about the clubhouse and what actually happens are two different things. But he is stubborn once his mind it made up it is hard to change. "As I said, robin idea, 'ope it works." He offers her that reassurance and he hopes it does, but perhaps not for the same reasons Molly does, she wants a safe house he wants it to become more popular than the clubhouse. She wants it to be a place to go, he wants the clubhouse to be left out in the cold.

People became mercenary. he blinks then furrows his brow "In the quiet words of the virgin mary cum 'gain, Lucian found me, hired me, I didn't know 'bout 'im till 'e came to me with a job....I take offense." It was hard to see if he did or he didn't "That reminds me, you need a solid theif, me services are available." He offers it out there, he was no internet savvy thief like molly, his skills were based solely in meatspace [as she put it] but they were proven now, he felt confident offering his services even to her.

She gets all warm and fuzzy and he just shrugs, he and Lucian had there own deal, and Lucian had an outstanding tab, just when do you call in a favour from a master? "'e was solid in the end, knew wat 'e wanted, wat 'e needed an did it, gotta respect that."

He meets her eyes, blue orbs of wandering consumption, dark consumption barely restrained meet frantic, searching, tenacious. She wants to know, she needs to know this is Molly after all. "I'd 'ave taken 'is beer without it, Thomas Law 4 - 'Never forget, possession is 9/10ths'." He plucks out his cigarette, he looks to her and tilts his head "Am gonna ask you sumthin', am you 'ave every isle to say no, yer call, but I want that scried object destroyed, get rid of it, if I wanted to be found I wud be, but then again yer a bit too robin for all that ain't ya, I sud be a faded memory wen you think of me but am not." He looks to her like he was seeing something new for the first time. "I made a mistake bein' visable, a big mistake, am 'appy not bein' noticed, not bein' called on, bein' me. Too many folks were startin' to stick there firemans in me business, true ot was mainly Jhor related, but I like it, am the formless man of smoke."

[Molly Quincannon] There's a blink of confusion, and then a laugh. "No, no; I meant that you and Lara seem to work well together, because you both got the job done and got whatever bit it was you got. As to the thief thing ... I'll keep it in mind. Thanks. I'd offer you the same, and the offer is there, obviously, but ... I figure there are other people you'd call on, so I'm just one among many." And not the first, she knows. She might not know particularly why - Riley, for the moment, is just more convenient, after all - but she knows.

That last gets a frown - not displeased, but thoughtful. "Well ... I'm not going to destroy it because it's a household object; even if no one else has used it doesn't mean that no one else will. And come to that, it's hard to call a 'formless man of smoke' if there's a thieving job that needs doing if I can't get hold of his formless, smoky ass, isn't it? So if you're going to make the offer ... mean it. I'm not going to butt in on your business if you don't want; I'm not going to meddle or interfere. I might call you for a drink and a chat, or if I need a job done, same as you would me, but that's it. I consider you a friend. If you don't want that, I'll respect it. But I'm not going to destroy what's mine just because you want to vanish away from people who actually give a shit about you. Sorry, but ... that's how it is. I won't call you for drinks or whatever if you don't want - no more paper planes to the head, if you really want to not deal with me anymore. I'm just ... I think you're worth knowing. Remembering."

She shrugs and swigs down the rest of her drink. The hurt isn't the point, since she's respecting Thomas' wishes as much as she can, but she's going to feel it anyway, even if she's not going to turn it Thomas' way. "Look, we can call this little confab short, if you want. I'm glad you're doing well. That's ... all I really wanted to know. I'll leave you alone, if you want it that way. But I'm still going to consider you a friend. So there." Small, slightly sad grin.

[Thomas Black] He snarls, it was primal, basic it sounded more animal than man and he dips his head one hand running through his short cropped blonde hair "I swear more an more like Seer ever bloody day..." He grits his teeth and clenches his hands but after a second or two it passes he puts them flat on the table. He did have Riley to go to now, or potentially. Molly was always someone he knew could do a job but he was afraid to ask, for her to tell others, Thomas Law 49 - 'Loose lips sink ships' was added because of her. Then here she was being noble, being compassionate and just like Seer he consumed it and just like Seer it tasted like sour milk.

He reaches into his overcoat and pulls out a wet pen, he takes her hand and writes a number on it "Pointless puttin' it in yer dog, it won't stick but sumthing tell me you won't forget." He pauses. "I 'member wen you just got hat from bein' captured, wen you avoided everyone an we 'ad a robin natter, I 'member that first meetin', an the one where we saved those folks from Chinatown, the Horsemen, the Sending...I 'member usin' that ashtray." There's a short sigh as he reaches out and pats the hand he just wrote on. "Information is a free thing, thats yer goal isle, thats wat you fight for, am not gonna get in the way of that, but me business is just that an in the end Info I don't want it messed with, an we 'ave been outta the loop for a long lemon but you were passionate e'nuff where you'd take things to the next level on yer todd, as in you'd get info then you'd take whatever action you wanna take, regardless of the actual intention, 'member the police officer, you never called me that was me info, you took it made it yer own then went off solo an I can do with out that crap. Thomas Law 33 - 'Wen yer business messes with my business it becomes my business.'"

Molly has grown as a person he can sense that but Tenacious and Searching do little to ease his concerns. "You know I don't do mates Info, yer solid but yer just somethin' am not. If you need a job done as long as you give me wat I need then wat ever you want is yers, no questions asked, but thats 'ow I roll." A good thief doesn't ask questions, gets given a target important information about how to get to it and off they go. "Don't take me tones for anything but wat they are, if I didn't want to meet with ya I wudn't 'ave shown up." He smirks, he laughs slightly it was a funny sound, it was covered in darkness and felt new in his throat.

"Info, we walk in different frogs, it 'appens, yer everywhere am not, yer wantin' to know everythin' I don't, yer robin mates with the clubhouse I ain't. I know 'ow close you are with 'im, Israel pretty much luves yer ass. I 'ear yer tight with Trench, ask 'im 'ow 'is balls are by the way nest lemon." A wicked grin "An so you 'ad a fallin' out with Daddy, tenner says yer still in 'is special circle. I 'ate the clubhouse, I 'ate the roundtable, but the idea of it. 'Ave got no issue lending a german like the sendin', if there 'eavy liftin' Tommy will 'elp but the relics, the old guard, the standard institutionalised bullshit can kiss my arse. 'ave made sum calls there an you can thrown 'im hat on me if you like but thats wat I see, thats wat I 'ear an if you ask me, if they let the new kids run it you'd 'ave a bigger charter an be attractin' new blood....but thats the thing with power, with shit like that it corrupts an those that 'ave it don't wanna give it up." He drops his cigarette on the floor

"An before you say wat power, there sat on a duracell, Ash 'as been gone for a month or two, I ain't 'eard of anyone pickin' up the slack, the clubhouse 'as gone members only, an the relics are locked up inside."

[Molly Quincannon] Molly listens to this tirade, fishes out the salient bits, and then just slaps her forehead with the heel of her hand. "Oh, eff-eff-ess, how out of the loop are you? Of course you haven't heard of anyone picking up the slack; because you haven't been paying attention to anything going on outside whatever your current business is. There's a lot of stuff going on that probably no one tells you because the people you've been talking to either are too recently arrived to know or know you well enough to know - or at least think they know - that you don't care. People are picking up the slack, thanks. More, they are making some actual changes so that it's less 'members only' than it was since Ashley resigned her position. There's a lot of changes being made from the inside. I'm not going to go into the litany of them here and now because there's not enough privacy, for one thing, and I don't think I have to justify the whole thing anyway, but they're there."

She pushes her chair back. "As to the rest of it ... a lot of my goals have changed. Not ... entirely? But they've changed. You're not as curious as I am, so I don't figure that's going to be any kind of draw, but it's not all about spreading the information and making it free. People aren't ready for that, always. Like I said, I've learned things. But I'm not really sure you care. You're taking this conversation to some really weird places, and I kind of get that? But don't assume I'm the same person I was nearly a year ago now. A lot can happen in ten months. Particularly where we're concerned. But one thing's not going to change. You may not do friends, but I do. I respect you, and I like you, and whatever else you say or do, that's not going to change. Not unless you seriously do me wrong. And I don't think you will. Not enough profit in it for you." No judgement there - just telling it as she sees it. "Overall? I'm not 'just a Council bod'. Nor am I 'that reckless freak' anymore, exactly, either. So there it is. And I'm still keeping that damned ashtray," she finishes with a little grin.

[Thomas Black] They butt heads, it was going to happen, she tells him things have changed, she assumes him out of the loop but he had contacts with more than she knew, and the clubhouse had gone on silent running. He just nods accepting her response, expecting it and consuming it.

She tell him ten months has changed a lot of things, perhaps it has, her resonance certainly marks that yet it marks other things as well, he takes it on the chin he doesn't say anything back, he doesn't make a face or stop or superimpose his voice over hers Molly gets her say, he gives her that.

"Yer robin pet, I never said otherwise." He means it "You just 'ave a gob" He stands before she can as he chucks a note down for her drink. "Don't rush on my account, was a flyin' visit." He reaches out and touches her cheek lightly, he wanted to like Molly, to be more in touch with Molly such passion was admirable it was attractive. Alas Thomas Law 38 - 'Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.'. Until proven otherwise the past was his record.

She says she has changed, he would need to see it, they don't run in the same circles so he may never, a vicious cycle. "Yer adorable pet, it was nice to see ya, stay safe an don't let the man get ya down." He winks to her as he turns and makes his way for the door that overcoat flapping as the door opens the windy city greeting him before he steps outside.