O I'm Sorry.......Part Deux

[Marcus Evan]

Marcus raises an eyebrow at Xerxia as well. He appreciates her enthusiasm, but having already faced manifestations of the Ear on two occasions, he was not looking forward to a third.

"I agree with Fu that we should concentrate on the more immediate Loyalist threat..."

Marcus is about to ask the stone dog for more details about the attack on Autumn when he falls silent as Fu answers his phone. Marcus certainly would have heard of an attack on HAL, so he assumes it must have been on either Rick or Terri. Pulling out his phone, he sends off a text to each of them.

[Lesingnon]

After a quick stop at the Hollow to equip himself properly Rick arrived at Harry's. At least it was still cool enough that one could easily justify wearing the sweatshirt he used to conceal his kevlar vest, for now. He'd just have to hope that any shotgun blasts were directed at his torso instead of his face.

He paused briefly as he entered the establishment, his head swiveling in a manner that must have been a result of the feral influences that had been pressed upon him in Arcadia as he scanned the bar. As soon as he spotted Marcus he made his way over to his fellow Elemental and the other Summers he was with, allowing a bit of a relieved smile to spread across his face. "It's good to hear that you took care of that thing," the smile dimmed slightly, "Were you able to find out anything about the sewer worker lost down there?"

[Xerxia]

Xerxia raises her bottle to Rick when he sees him approach the group. "Hail, Legate!" she says enthusiastically, though her tone also droops as the topic of the construction workers comes up. "All we were able to find was a partially digested hardhat in the beast's stomach like the ones we wore down there."

[Terri Nutkins]

Terri arrived straight from work, and ensured that she had her damn slingshot in one pocket and some stones in the other, ready for any eventuality. However, her new handbag swung from her arm as she entered Harry's, looking around the bar for the first time as a sudden feeling of disappointment fell upon her.

This is Barkley's place and we're using it for planning freehold tasks? That's fucked.

Spotting several fae, she pushes away the thoughts of her estranged friend and walks up beside Rick, a smile on her face.

"Hey," she said, not really finding the words yet but making sure her hand found his, giving it a squeeze. To those who know her, it seems that her fur looks a little more faded under the lights of the building.

[CyledyrWyllt]

Marcus turns and nods, acknowledging Rick as the Legate of Mists joins them at the bar. He confirms Xerxia's words with the grim look on his face, showing his agreement with what must have been the remains of the missing sewer worker.

"It seems we were too late to help the poor sod, but we made sure that the nasty thing won't be hurting anyone else."

Marcus raises a hand to the Twilit Page when she walks in the door. He gives her a nod as she joins their little group before he indicates each of the new Girls of Summer.

"Glad you could join us, Terri. Do you know Faith and Xerxia?"

The Metalflesh glances at Fu to see if he is still on the phone, before turning back to the Autumn Courtiers.

"I didn't get any details about the attack. Who or what, exactly, are we looking for at this address?"

[Lesingnon]

Rick nodded slightly at Marcus's statement, "At least there's that." The words rang unmistakably hollow though. Sure, it was a lesson of his Court that everything died eventually. And sure, he knew that he couldn't save everyone who had the misfortune of attracting the attention of beings tied to the accursed realm of Arcadia. But that didn't make it any easier when he heard of someone meeting their death in the Hedge, or carried to its deep recesses. Not even in the slightest.

He turned as Terri approached, greeting her with a (slightly troubled) smile. She coudl undoubtedly see him relax a bit, though, taking both comfort and solace in her presence as her hand found his. He returned the squeeze, leaning in towards her slightly before answering Marcus's question.

"We don't know exactly. Terri stumbled across one of the Ear's agents, I'm sure you've seen the posters about him up on the bulletin boards, he took a shot at her before getting away." He grimaced slightly, that was hardly something he needed to be reminded of now. He hadn't been able to help her there either, or help Barkley when Alice and Nightfall seemed content to place the entirety of the blame for what had happened at his feet. It had not been a good month.

"This was back before all hell broke loose, she called Nightfall and myself to help her investigate after the guy got away. And he was a twisted bastard, if I never have to see a scene like that again I'll be relieved. And he even called the answering machine while we were there. But anyway, we found a stack of invoices there. Most of them were addressed to the bookstore we were in, but there was one addressed somewhere else." He shrugged, "It's the only other lead we have to go on at the moment. Nightfall was going to get a laptop that Derek had, might have had more information. But then..." Yeah, he really didn't need to elaborate on what had happened next.

[ParanoidAndroid]

((Sorry about staying quiet. Was in a phase where non-mandatory replies were... difficult, at best))

Faith listens to the others speak, staying quiet for once, enjoying the fruits of her hard labor. Or rather, the alcohol of her labor. Doesn't have the same ring, does it?
Her only comment as the conversation goes on is "Well, that oughta be f**king fun," though it's spoken quietly. It'd be even more fun with Treeboy around, she thinks sullenly. She liked Treebeard; He was fun.

The two Autumns' arrivals get her out of the gloom somewhat. "Hey Birdie, Chippie." She listens to the story, gathering what she can from it. She was out of the loop about that particular problem, but that didn't stop her from having wonderful insights. "Well, that guy needs a f**king ass-kicking." All right, maybe 'wonderful insights' was an exaggeration.

[Fu]

"Sort of? I hope things didn't hit the fan. You like to play in the Sun?"

...

"Aight, come by Harry's it's a bar, we are having some drinks"

...

Fu looks down at his phone then puts it away.

"New guy, hopefully he can drink" As he gets and downs a beer.

[Terri Nutkins]

Terri says "Hi" to all, recongnizing Xerxia by name. To Faith, she gives a little chuckle, not bothering to reply.

At mention of the laptop, Terri says nothing. Some things were best kept secret.

"I know that Nightfall mentioned he was going to investigate the address also," she said looking around to gauge reactions.

[Marcus Evan]

The Metalflesh heartily nods in agreement to Faith pronouncement and raises an eyebrow at Fu's declaration. However, Rick's words and apparent reaction causes a seed of doubt in Marcus' head to germinate. The Metalflesh begins to think that he had quite possibly misjudged the Legate of Mists. While he had originally thought that the Autumn Courtier was mostly a pompous ass, he now recognizes that Rick keenly feels the weight of his responsibilities, and Marcus had misinterpreted that as a superior attitude. Of course, if the Metalflesh was completely honest with himself, he would have to admit that he had been a bit jealous that Rick had pulled as fit a bird as Terri... bastard. However, while Marcus isn't quite capable of that much personal insight, his demeanor is noticeable friendlier toward Rick Pereg than it ever had been before.

"Sounds like a good lead. We should call the Hunt... er, get hunting, then."

Marcus stands as he lamely covers his slip. His gut reaction had been to call Sam, the Hunter of the Longest Day, to help them track down the Loyalist scum. But, unfortunately, that was not really an option... especially if Nightfall was going to be involved.

"Right. Someone should let Nightfall know that we are also investigating this address. We don't want any more misunderstandings with Winter... or anyone to get stabbed in the back for no reason. Besides, he might be able to tell us if there was anything on that laptop."