(Grey Hoods) Coffee and Doughnuts

[Saber Sloth]

"Just 'cause us and you are against the - fuckin - A.D.B don't mean - "

"Colin, shut. up." Baseball Bat tries and fails to head off Colin.

"Fuck that! You ain't human." Collin hisses, standing. Trying to puff himself up. Make himself look bigger. "Just cause you wanna fuck up a scarier monster then you freaks, don't mean you don't need to be put. down."

"Sit. The. Fuck. Down. Collin." rumbles a voice they hadn't heard yet. Shutgun, was finally making noise. "You and Matty - " who's looking much better after a quick clean up, grimaces, looking down, while sliding down in his seat. " - brought us all into the Dark. We are not going to commit suicide because you are a fucking idiot." he rolls his shoulders, keeping his stare on Colin, until the OG Grey Hood sits, metaphorical tail between his legs.

"Yes. Giant. Blood. Sucking. Leaches." he says, eyes now on Gun Lady before turning to the Lost, and returning to his silence.

"A non-aggression treaty would be good." a nod from Baseball Bat, picking back up the conversation, "...and we definately want to keep more people from being kidnapped. We want to rescue our friends, but...how many people is this," an eye roll, "A.B.D, taking? What do we look out for? How...." he trails off, the single word encompassing so many questions. Questions the Lost can see dancing in his eyes.

[Sonnie Wu]

Sonnie eyed Colin with something akin to pity. Pity mixed with annoyance. Like when you see someone post something stupid on social media and you wish there was a dislike button. She felt as though Colin needed a wake up call, and she promptly forgot her own decision to stay quiet during this parley.

"You... Union guys... you say you wanna save the kidnapped people. Then this one," she nods at Colin, "says we're monsters needing to be killed."

She paused to wipe some pink icing off the corner of her mouth. "You're not putting two and two together here, Colin. You think we volunteered to be like this? What do you think will happen to those kidnapped people?" She tapped her index fingers against her temples. "Think, Mark, think!"

Giant leeches? Some sort of hedgebeasts, probably. Was there a swamp in the local Hedge? Sounds like a place best avoided. Wait, don't get distracted, Sonnie.

She turned her attention to Baseball Bat, who seemed the most reasonable. "A.D.B. isn't the only one of it's kind. It's just the one that's here in Sac. Close and present danger, you know?" The Beast finally picked up the mug of coffee that was meant for her and she gestured with it. "Wanna be honest? I'm not sure finding your friends is possible. They may be... shipped out of town, by now. We could look for them, locally. I'm sorry, but it's a matter of luck at this point. But, I don't want what happened to us to happen to anyone else, so I'm willing to look." Her eyes edged back to Colin, "Provided I don't get shot in the back or something."

Sonnie then sampled her coffee... and instantly wished she hadn't. She drooled it back into her mug and shoved it away, making a sour face. It was rare for her to reject food of any sort, but that wasn't fit for simian consumption.

[Circe]

Circe just patiently sipped her coffee, is as the room got warmer at the excitement. Oh, wait. That was her Mantle at the threat of violence from the idiot. She reeled it back in. Giant leeches then? Well, that was better then the stories she'd heard from the Boston Gristlegrinder.

No, wait, worse. Poodle sized lobsters were a I need lots of butter issue. Colin however was getting one helluva glare from the Fairest. What an idiot. Boy needed to be put in his place.

Sonja just said what?! Circe gave her a side look that screamed dafuq is wrong with you? Well, "So much for secrecy." Because the monkey didn't let the cat out of the bag until she'd attached it to a rocket first. Sonja was going to have quite the talk with the monarchs later for just coming out like that.

Sigh. "Well, seems peace and peanuts were the price fer some," she quips while shooting a glare at Sonja. "Whilst I'd prefer more operational security," she turns back to the Union, "Fuck it. Her points are valid. We hide, we fight, we try ta save others from the same. But it ain't an even match. A.D.B. and ilk are very durable." Loyalists can go down to gunfire but a Keeper? That was a final boss battle. Then she focuses on Mr. Baseball Bat, "Non-aggression is fully acceptable. We eat and shit the same way as everybody else anyway." A glare shot at Colin again, "Nor do we kill just because we don't like how people look."

The Summer Queen is back to Mr Baseball, "A.D.B. I compared ta that literature because it fancies itself a big game hunter," Circe doubted she'd have to explain what that meant. "But it has lost territory and its hounds. So, that does improve chances of finding the taken. I ain't sure we can actually slay A.D.B., unless ya have some trap that'd destroy a literal tank. These things are broken as fuck in a fight. Just if we do find yer friends, they ain't gonna try ta stab us while we rescue them, are they?"

Kit

Laptop Carrying Case, 2 flash drives, smart phone, LED flashlight, Grey hooded coat, leather gloves, Thin Kevlar Vest, Hedgespun Multitool, shoulder holster Colt pistol (fiber optics) with 2 spare clips and a box of ammo (20 rounds), boot holster with knife, 4 Ertwen Healing Fruits and 1 Jarmyn Fruit, 1 roll of duct tape, water bottle, $200 cash

Status

HP 7, WP 5, Def 3, Armor 1/2-BP

[Titania]

Even she can tell that those people are big fucking idiots.
Language please.
Either way, it's a matter of balancing between morality and the comfort of having a couple of meatshields.
"You're going to be hurt and possibly much worse", she states as a matter of fact, "Indeed your friends might be gone already".

[Gerrit]

Sonnie's outburst - and even parts of Circe's answer - made Gerrit take a look around the room. Yes, this wasn't the most upscale café and they had the backroom for themselves (plus, the Grey Hoods seemed to be mostly in the know) but he wanted to make sure that no curious customers or waiters got the wrong impression by the words thrown around the table. The Stonebones cleared his throat with a wet sound before addressing the Beast and the Queen of Wrath. "Phrasing, everyone."

Besides Collin - who understandably went swinging against everything he didn't understand - they were doing good progress in working out an agreement. Luckily the others were trying to dissuade the Union from starting a rescue mission into the Hedge. Hopefully they haven't found out a way to get in there already..
As for ways to deal with this? "Frankly there isn't all that much to look out for. It'd be best if you didn't take any chances once you noticed something strange going on." Another glance at Circe. "Maybe you could get in touch with us somehow for backup." That way they could protect these Humans from being taken - and if they were absolutely dead-set on going all vigilante the Lost could share only what the Hoods needed to know on a case-by-case basis.

It wasn't the best solution, but it seemed to boil down to this or letting them go in blindly.

Equipment: Backpack - Hammer and screwdriver (wrapped in a piece of cloth/rag), first aid kit, notepad and pens. Yamiyo's Mace.

[Saber Sloth]

The over share was swallowed by a cup falling to the table, spilling whatever was left inside. The Grey Hoods, the Union humans, all go silent, and as still as humans could before a small voice, Matty's voice, says, "...You mean there's more of Them?" undisguised horror etched onto his face, as Colin scowls harder, his complexion looking distinctly green. The other three look concerned, but not as viscerally effected as Colin and Matty.

"That's not fuckin' possible. It can't be" hisses out Colin. As Gun Lady reaches over to clean up Matty's spilled coffee. "One of 'em. Fuck. A.D.B was a force of nature. Just fuckin' riding by it...he. They - " Colin stares off into the middle distance. "Destroyed a street..." "Killed people." "Put more in the hospital." "Our friends in the hospital."

[Sonnie Wu]

Sonnie honestly didn't know what Circe looked so angry about. Did she say something wrong? The Beast mentally reviewed her little speech. She was certain she didn't give away anything important. She named no names. Said nothing about the freehold. No compromise there.

She eyed the Hunters and witnessed their shocked reactions.

What? The fact that the Gentry isn't a one-of-a-kind thing? Is that the sticking point?

Well, maybe that's a good thing, if it gets them to back off and not do anything stupid.

In any case, the Monkey decided not to follow up her previous statement. Back to being quiet. No need to annoy the Summer Queen any further. So, she focused on trying to build some sort of little structure out of artificial sweetener packets.

[Circe]

"Hmph," Circe gives the hunters a bitter smile at their reaction to learning the Gentry existed in plural. That was what they hung up on? Not that their friends could be Lost, not that they'd prepared to attack victims, but how out classed they were?


Welcome to the club ya idiots.


"Yes," was her blunt response to Matty's question as the others trailed off, "Which is why we hide more then I'd like. I'm not stupid. And am VERY familiar with what yer feeling right now about chances. Secrecy is the key ta standing a chance against such foes. My suggest fer right now?" She sips her coffee and taps the menu, "Ask fer the whiskey with coffee. Needing a [fucking]cazzo[/tip] drink is a valid response. Even if ya have an army ta call on."


On the plus side, Sonja wasn't spilling more secrets of what they were, even if she did manage to leave out the who.

Kit

Laptop Carrying Case, 2 flash drives, smart phone, LED flashlight, Grey hooded coat, leather gloves, Thin Kevlar Vest, Hedgespun Multitool, shoulder holster Colt pistol (fiber optics) with 2 spare clips and a box of ammo (20 rounds), boot holster with knife, 4 Ertwen Healing Fruits and 1 Jarmyn Fruit, 1 roll of duct tape, water bottle, $200 cash

Status

HP 7, WP 5, Def 3, Armor 1/2-BP

Sorry for not posting sooner, lack of internet this weekend.

[Titania]

Ok, they had definitely shared too much.
"Let's just say that they come from far away, Mexico right. There's a multitude of them, and they like to play... gruesome games", she gives an apologetic smile, "the best way of dealing with uhm... the Cartel is by staying away. But if you really can't, then you need to fight smart"

[Gerrit]

Seeing the former tough boys and girls lose their bravado like that made Gerrit feel terrible. They were clearly out of their depth, clearly lost and afraid. He knew all too well how that felt. He nodded after Titania's suggestion. "She is right. It is very commendable that you want to protect those close to you, but the best course of action is to be vigilant and careful. You can't fight them." He hoped he got through their defiant pride, that he could appeal to their fear and common sense instead. "I think you are doing a good job about keeping your neighbourhood safe from.. leeches and other things, but you won't help anybody by poking that hornets' nest and going missing."

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-06-01 08:46:53	Gerrit rolls 6 to talk some sense into the Hoods (Man 2 + Pers 1) (10 Again, WillPower)	6, 7, 9, 1, 4, 3	1 success

He knew he wasn't the best speaker out of the Lost present, but this was a personal matter for him. Had he known that there were things preying upon his friends and family back then, wouldn't he have tried to protect them as well? Of course, but after what he had been through he knew that caution was the better part of valor. "Just believe us that we don't mean you any harm, that we're on the same side here."
Looking in the Hoods faces Gerrit realized how exhausted he was himself. It has been a long day - but the most important thing was that there wasn't any unnecessary bloodshed.

Equipment: Backpack - Hammer and screwdriver (wrapped in a piece of cloth/rag), first aid kit, notepad and pens. Yamiyo's Mace.

WP: 0