Look at him - so cute, so playful. Now this is why Ash loved dogs. They were so genuine in their actions. So happy with life. "You adorable little..." Ash opened his mouth to speak, as the dog sniffed his hand. He always knew how to handle animals. It brought a smile of pride to his face. As he decided to pet the brown dog, Ash felt a sudden sting in his thigh. "Little goblin!"

The dog had actually bit him. And as he instinctively trying slightly pushing the dog away, he also thought about not doing anything too rash. After all, he didn't want to agitate the beast anymore than it already was. What did it have against his wonderful sweatpants anyways? Wasn't it a fan of army? Maybe the dog wasn't American? That would explain a lot. "Ow!" After the initial shock had subsided, Ash found out it wasn't too big of a bite anyways. If anything, the dog seemed to be playful in his intentions and Ash was not sure he should scold the dog for that. It was in his nature, nothing wrong with that.

Until he actually saw there was a slight rip in his sweatpants.

"NO WAY IN HELL.... I just bought them recently." Ash let out a disappointed roar as he fell down to the grass, the dog still fighting with his sweatpants. What a tragic end this will be for Ash Carson, he thought as he put a hand over his eyes, being overly dramatic as usual. But then the attack had subsided and the dog seemed to have left upon hearing the magic word. Toasty? So his name was Toasty.

"Hah, that's hella cute, how can I be mad at-" he mumbled to his chin as he got back to his knees, suddenly face to face with the boy from before. It indeed seemed to be his dog and was listening to his commands without a fault. Interestingly enough, the boy wasn't looking directly at him. Or maybe he was, there was something to the color of his eyes that confused Ash to a great extent. Intrigued him even. They looked like cake. Ash could go for some cake, the thought ran through his mind as his stomach rumbled in response.

As he inspected the boy, he noticed the walking stick the boy held in his hand. Some things clicked together, but not the entire picture. If nothing, the boy genuinely seemed apologetic about what had happened.

"I'm... I think my leg might be done for," Ash begun speaking, his voice hasty and dramatic, "He took out a huge chunk of my thigh, I think I'll need to- UGH!" He acted out as if he was hurt, but stopped himself before he took the joke too far. Especially seeing the expression on the boy's face. He seemed far far too apologetic.

"I'm kidding, man. Don't even sweat it, I approached your dog and he had something against my sweet sweatpants. Ripped them a bit, but that's all. Your dog's not American, by any chance?" What kind of a start to a conversation was that? He internally facepalmed himself as he beamed a wide grin at the boy. Ash got up to his feet, extending his hand out. "Name's Ash, I'm new to Sol. Was taking a... stroll around the park and heard you singing. You have a great voice, my man! Didn't understand the lyrics though, but ay, I'm not good with languages."

Paige Kennedy

Paige accepted her smoothie and made her way over to an open table closer to the lobby where the midday sun shined through the skylights on to the broad, well-kept entrance to the facility. The small café/bar area was fairly busy along with the rest of LSF, but Mondays were what brought in the truly committed no matter the location. She was accustomed to big gyms from her home back in Florida and didn’t mind the rush. A good gym atmosphere was important and along with the regular hustle and ambient noise, some Top 40/Pop station played through the speakers at a moderate volume. She tossed her bag on the raised table and pulled her phone out to go over a few work emails. One of her shoes bobbed steadily with the beat of the music.

There were a few email chains from the other Marshals working the city along with sometimes curt responses from their Chief Deputy, the system-generated BOLOs on various assholes on the loose along with bulletins from SCPD and other district notices. There was nothing out of the ordinary and the office slogan, “fucked up as usual” summarized the correspondence perfectly though her objective of taking her persistently-churning mind, just for a few moments, off her own case was quickly failing. She knew she was being set up: They were using her, which was the obvious part, but the end-around was what had her perplexed. If everything she read about Sammy was true, then Shannon was really the one running the show and at some level was working with Elvin, but it didn’t seem they were looking for a showdown with Nikki or they would have already done something. What was it they were really after?

The scenarios were playing in her head when another woman brushed past her and said something. She wasn’t paying a lot of attention and shifted in her chair a little to let her through. “It’s fine,” She said with a snap glance out of the corner of her eye only catching a flashy jacket and a pink bag as the stranger made her way. What she hadn’t expected, as she returned her attention to her phone and typed a few notes to herself, was for the woman to return and also be someone with whom she was familiar. At first the turning glance of her green eyes was sharp as ever from the second interruption, but seeing the older Olympus sister who had no idea who she was made her relent some. Much like her file, the girl presented a much less deviant persona than her trifling sister, more victim than troublemaker. She wondered briefly what that little snake had said about her and enjoyed the thought of it.

“I saw you at the club on Friday night,” She said with her own southern accent. Her words were pointed and confident and she looked the Englishwoman in eyes. “I was working… My name is Paige.” She knew as soon as she said the words that Marinalia would make the connection though it was about that moment that another girl called from across the way.

@PrinceAlexus@King Tai

Ambient Gym Lobby Music

---

---

Milo looked at his phone as the ringer went off, a message from Paige, she wanted to go to a gun range. Milo tilted his head a bit, Milo knows Paige is an excellent shot, but she knew that he was a gunsmith, and a hunter.... and competitive.... Milo sent the message back, of course he was willing to have a shootout, though, he may need to get a couple things from home, she would probably expect him to use the heavy cannon in his coat. Milo left some cash on the table as he stood and left the restaurant, he needed to go to a few locations and grab a few things that his jobs required.

Milo pulled up to a shop near Corona Park, one of his contacts had gotten hold of some lumber he needed and had better prices than buying online, he looked out at the park and saw many people, it was pretty cold around here, maybe that was just him, he did come from a more tropical climate, not to mention he worked with flames all day, however it was nice to see that not all of this town was a pit like what he had seen. Milo and his friend started to get the chunks of wood out of the shop and to his truck, they set the logs down with heavy thuds, it wasn't like Milo was trying to watch the paint or anything.

"Thanks a ton Claude, some of this is pretty hard to come by even online." Milo said as he wiped his brow.

Claude, an older black man leaned against the truck, "Yeah, well, you come by the next time I can't get that heater goin', yeah?" Milo grinned and nodded, "Oh, by the way, you gonna do a boil or anything soon?"

Milo laughed, "Don't worry, no more teasing, I will give you a call when the price on crayfish goes down a bit." Claude clapped him on the shoulder and went back in the shop. Milo stood outside his truck after shutting the bed, most of what he needed had been retrieved, he figured a few more minutes to enjoy the day couldn't hurt, it wasn't like Paige was expecting him at the range til later anyway, he reached into his shirts breast pocket and pulled out a cigarette, he had started to roll his own a while back, that way he didn't have to taste the tobacco massacre that is Marlboro.

---

---

Siobhan had apparently fallen asleep on the grass. She sat up and tilted her head as she heard a commotion farther behind her. What is that?

Getting up she stretched and looked around. There was some sort of scuffle involving a puppy, a blonde man and a little blonde boy? There were a few other people in the park as well. I keep getting lucky. My last name is Murphy how does that work?!? Wait is that Milo? He moves like Milo but I'm not sure. I'll ask Paige...Paige oh man!! I missed our workout!!!

Gathering up her paints and brushes she grumbled about not having set the alarm but thank goodness she wore sunscreen. Gingerly she touched the corner of her painting. If course it was dry she'd been asleep for about two hours. Packing everything away except for the watercolor painting she had started on. With her camera around her neck she grabbed her phone out of her pocket and shot Paige a text. <Sorry about this morning!! I got caught up with the start of a new collection. Love to make it up to you. You name it we'll do it!!>

Putting the phone in her pocket she picked up the case, which held her paints and collapsible easel, then her painting. She walked over to the trio that she had noticed earlier. “Not to be rude but does anyone need some help?”

---

Marinalia noticed Paige turn and her mind was running through various events she could have met her and people this woman Could be. Wait... Blonde hair, rather too intense expression maybe it was the cop Victoria claimed to have met when the nigh broke up with Milo. Though she had given a rather one sided argument, believing her sister about her however she was definitely going to be extremly prone to bias.

Drinking from her smoothie, Marinalia thought about the situation and decided to make her own judgement. Despite her emotional wreck status lately she was one of the more level headed of the sisters, much more like Maria was to Marla of her aunt and mother. It seemed a family trait that certain dynamics seemed to repeat. Her grandmother she was named after was meant to be the slightly intense one and wore her ring, that Maria had worn. Victoria had her sisters and then Marla. The pair where always worn by sisters I. A a little family tradition.

Then Paige revealed she was at the bar on Friday night, yeah that definitely was this Paige Victoria had seen but somehow she did not match up to the rather infamous figure of her description. Keeping her jacket close as breeze was a little cold for her liking. She had worked in Alaska, was abit used to it but by no way did she have to like it.

Mesuring her accent, not quite soft but not quite her full clipped and somewhat exaggerated tone she used on people who where annoying her or situations she disliked. Noting her rather intense green eyes and general demeanor, yeah somehow she could tell she was not some street cop. There eqas somthong alot more dangerous behind the green eyes as Marlins cool grey eyes remained calm though a small icey layer hid her feelings slightly.

oh that night. That was not exactly my best impression was it. I was trying to enjoy one quiet night. Trouble seems to keep catching me up, probbly should of stayed in Anchorage at this rate.

Marinalia Romus Olympus, should I be calling my lawyer about now? Unless your not on duty right now.

Her accent was definitely strong and she had to take a fraction of a second to translate the words Into English, most accents she could do but it took her a tiny delay to process them into words she understood. The woman definitely made as not quite matching her expectations but also she was giving very little away. She knew there some pretty intense cop types from living in US for 5 months, though they definitely where not beat cops. She knew Marshall had captured Bob, no real details but they had reported that he was still sat in a jail cell waiting for a trial and a nice long stay in a concrete box.

I must say, your description and in the flesh may not be a exactly true account of things. Though the words intense and super laser seem to be accurate.

Marinalia held off judgement hiding a neutral tone that gave away fairly little of her feeling, truth be told she was curious if she was the same as Vika described and how much bias and anger was mixed in with the facts of the matter. Maybe she would be offended maybe not. To be honest she did seem as worried as she thought. The sisters had met a few rather intense individuals over the years, though somthong about her eyes seemed to show she had metal to back up words.

While she was mid thought she hered someone approach and saw Coa approach In work out gear, with a rather dramatic tone to grab her attention. The woman certainly was not shy but hiding would of been rather impossible for the tall and athletic dark haired woman who must be 5 inches or more taller than Marlin. More sat down in her neat and rather well fitted office uniform, skirt and jacket. a leather flight jacket with wings and patches keeping her warm from the chill.

Well being her size and rather attractive, hiding was definitely not her option. Tall, statue esque and a rather bold sense in fashion. Raising a smoothie and giving a cheerful look, the endorfins of a 5.2km swim and natural buzz of smoothie kicking In.

Rather the suprise Xia. I'm glad the woman got home safe, though you probbly slept alot more comfortablely than me firday night!

We keep bumping Into each other, I probbly should say hello. And well, maybe easier than proving how tiny the woeld is.

Remembering she had a card from work, "Marinalia Romus Olympus" Deadalus airkines flight training programme. Helicopter instructor. With a airline logo on it mixed with a pilots wings. The cards all had different designs based o. Your role, from tools to wings, Sheilds and more besides. Handing over a spare she had in her pocket from earlier, they had only just arrived that Monday, most of time so students could let her know if they hit bad traffic.

I swim here regularly, but somehow we never met. Maybe do a few laps together onw day?

Her accent somewhat softer than she was with Paige, though still fairly crisp and still remarkablely English despite years of traveling. Never hurt to makw a freind, might make trouble less of a thing of someone not cursed was there to be lance it out to a 50-50 percent chance! Laughing to her own thoughts internally as she dark from a rather vibrant smoothie to recharge her slightly aching muscles.

@King Tai@Pilatus

Capella's jaw proceeded to hit the floor as he couldn't help but take the man in front of him seriously. Like, all the pieces were falling into place, and coupled with the fact that he couldn't really get a grasp of what was in front of him, for all he knew this man was dying right in front of him!
"Wh-What?! S-Seriously?! Mister? ...MISTER?!" Capella could see it now: living in Sol City for a few days, only to have his dog kill a man in the park. He'd lose his scholarship, go to jail for life, and spend the rest of his times wallowing in self pity while Toasty got away scott free. Horror encompassed the blonde's face for a brief moment as he looked like he was about to scream for help, but fortunately, the other decided it was enough playing games and attempted to show that he was perfectly fine.

Instead of answering the other's question right away, Capella instead let out an exasperated sigh, placing his free hand on his chest in hopes of steadying his abnormal heart rate.
"Ah, y-you really scared me, you know? I thought you actually got hurt or something! You see..." Capella trailed as he reach down to grab the now silent pupper and proceeded to hold him out towards what he hoped was the man's face. "This..this face, is the face of pure evil! I'd believe everything you said earlier if you didn't say you were joking!" He whined as the little dog started at the other man, tail still wagging innocently and tongue hanging out proudly.

Once the little musician had calmed down a little bit, and also put Toasty down on the ground, he went on to answering the rather weird question he was given.
"Uhm...I don't think so? Back in China, we call his breed, 'Taidi'. I don't really know the English word for them though, sorry." He mumbled sheepishly as he was now balancing his walking stick on his knees before tilting his head. "I am really sorry about Toasty though. I guess he just really liked how your pants looked or something? I could repay you for the damages and buy you a new pair of sweatpants? O-Or if you just want money that's totally fine too I guess. Oh! I could maybe treat you to something else instead like lunch?" He couldn't lie that he was a bit hungry, but upon realizing that he was rambling on a little bit, Capella let out another sheepish laugh before noting the man in front of him shift a little. Was he standing up?

Unintentionally ignoring the other's hand, Capella unclasped his walking stick and fumbled into a standing position, his eyes becoming less green and more darker as his face was elevated from the grass. He gave a slight bow before smiling politely.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ash! My name is Capella and I'm also new to Sol too, for college!" He beamed before almost immediately shying away at the mention of his singing.

"Y-you really think so? O-Oh stop, you're making me blush...but thank you." He said, his face red with embarrassment. For some reason he didn't think anyone would really pay attention to him in a park like this. Before he could question Ash about anything else, a new, feminine voice, entered he conversation, causing Capella to turn in that direction. His eyes immediately changed to a more lighter pink shade in the process. Judging by where their voice was coming from, she was around the same height as Ash if not taller. "Sorry, we didn't mean to interrupt you miss! My dog was just being a little too playful..." He said with a small laugh, before looking to Ash to see if he had anything to say.

The interaction with the boy brought a smile to his face as he noticed there was no handshake extended back to him. Instead the boy did a slight bow before introducing himself. "Now, this is interesting," Ash thought to himself as he connected the information Capella gave him. Toasty was Chinese and he did use the phrase 'back in China', so there was reason for Ash to believe Capella to be of Chinese origin. The bow only made him more sure of his excellent Holmesian deduction. And proud as well.

And of course the dog wasn't American! Hah, I knew it. Couldn't be. Toasty was still hell of a cute dog though.

Ash retracted his hand and brushed his hair back instead. Playing it out like he didn't even extend it for a handshake in the first place. Playing it cool, in case anyone nearby noticed it. "Relax, Cap. No need to pay me for the damages. They're just sweatpants after all. But hey, I didn't get to eat out since I came to Sol, I still don't know the places around here. So, you know what..." Ash did a dramatic stop to the sentence, dragging it out a bit. His stomach rumbling was a cue to finish the sentence. "I'll take you up on the offer. You're on for lunch!"

The shy reply on Cappela's singing skills only further intrigued Ash, as the boy definitely looked flushed. "Just stating the obvious, man. From one artist to anot-," as he was about to finish, a female voice had entered the conversation, interrupting his line of speech. And a female she indeed was, the newcomer. Wavy red hair, same height as Ash and seemingly around his age. What an interesting twist this was.

"Not rude at all! The vicious beast here tackled me, like only a Cerberus could. Almost took my life, I tell ya!" Ash spoke, bursting in a chuckle after stealing a gaze at the cutest small dog ever; Cerberus Jr. "Now that you mention it... we are both new to the town, so would you know of any good places to eat around here? I could eat anything at this point. Unless you're new to the town as well, that seems to be the theme right now." Ash finished, sticking his tongue out a bit, before returning his expression to a playful grin.

---

---

Siobhan caught the tail end of the conversation between the two. Something about lunch. Then she laughed at the cute blonde man's description of the fluffy little puppy. He was the same height as her as well as age it seemed and very friendly. Her blue eyes twinkled as he asked where they could all get lunch and if she'd been here a while. She decided to be a bit cheeky.

“Oh I've been here since about eight this morning.” Siobhan grinned winningly. “But I've been in town a couple of months now. Old Starboard is pretty good but the only thing is that it's across the water. You could always get a taxi. I'm so rude!!! I haven't even introduced myself!!! I'm Siobhan Murphy. Pleased to meet you three.” She held out her hand to them first for them to shake.

---

---

Ethan grinned at Victoria after she kissed his cheek and told him not to check his pocket till later. Still holding out his hand for the wheelchair bound man he whispered in Victoria’s ear. “I'd rather like to know you more Victoria. Plus I have some important information for you. I'll call you and set up a time to get together.”

Ethan looked up and Giovanni raised one finger. One minute. “Till then I'll be thinking about you. Not all of them as pure as you skin but most of them involving it. And my tongue. Think on that for a bit.” He reached out and shook Thomas’ hand. “A pleasure to see you again no worse for the ware but I must be off. Duty calls and all that. Good day.” With that Ethan winked at Victoria and headed out to meet up with Giovanni.

“You waited too long. Had them bring a car round.” Giovanni informed him as Ethan just nodded. He felt the pocket and felt the card grinning.

“Worth it.”

Walking over with her phone in hand, Xia smiled when Marin noticed her but at the same time, Xia noticed another woman who was with Marin. Blond hair and having a serious vibe to her but Xia was going to approach both of them regardless. Was this other woman a friend of Marin? Or just an acquaintance? Seems the two was having an important conversation while Xia came over to the two.

Xia gave a quick glance at the other woman first before responding to Marin. Yeah she got home fine. I even walked her in and she offered me a bed to sleep on but she didn't remember me when she woke up on Saturday. I told her all that happened and after, we parted ways on good terms. So...who knows...may contact each other again. Cute cats. And I heard-....well....saw what happened. I was worried if you all were okay?

Xia noticed the card Marin had, having it handed to her, taking it and looking at the design on it remembering her mention something about her profession. Wouldn't hurt to stop by her work place. Xia looked back up with smirk I believe that there's a purpose behind us bumping into each other continuously like this. But it is good to see you again. I'm usually in the machine and equipment area where most work out and sometimes on the track but we could go a few laps. Just be careful, I am competitive....and... Looking at the other woman, Xia quickly had her eyes scan the up and down the the woman. I'm sorry...I didn't mean to be rude interrupting the conversation you two were having. I just noticed Marin after a few run-ins and wanted to make small talk.

Xia gave an upward nod to the other woman announcing herself. My name is Xia. Are you friends with Marinalia? She asked the woman with a friendly expression on her face.

Capella let out a faint sigh of relief to hear that Ash wasn't too upset about his sweatpants. Maybe it was just a small rip...or he was lying for the sake of calming the lighter blonde's nerves. Before he could even question it further, Capella arched his eyebrows in suspense as to what the other had in mind to relieve the situation they found themselves in, only to bust into a large grin. This was perfect! If he went with someone else, he wouldn't be as paranoid to go in! It's a win-win situation!
"Awesome! That sounds great!" Capella smiled happily.

With the new inclusion of the woman, Siobhan Murphy, shooting a few dirty looks at what Ash referred to Toasty, and hints of a good place to go and get food, it seemed like they were all set! Ignored the hand he couldn't see once again, Capella bow slightly before standing straight with a happy smile. "Oh thanks for the recommendation! My name is Capella Xing. And this is my demon dog, Toasty." He played along, said dog barking at the sound of his name. But feeling the need to be somewhat of a gentleman, Capella spoke up once again. "If you're not busy, would you like to join us? I'm paying. And I don't think this guy'll mind, right?" He questioned, looking over to Ash as he spoke. The more the merrier right? Not to mention how nice she was to make sure everything was okay with him and Ash despite not having anything to do with it...

Marcus Ainsworth

---

Marcus walked into the club prepared for the worst. He didn’t know what to expect, really. Was it going to be a regular, formal interview? Would it be more laid back due to it being a bar? Marcus’ mind worked like Doctor Strange, looking through 14 million possible outcomes for the interview, all of which ending in him walking away still jobless. Despite his pessimism however, he was determined to still give it a shot.

As a man he recognised as the bar’s owner, who gave a great performance opening up the open mic night the previous Friday, introduced himself as Leo, Marcus stretched out his hand for a shake, offering him a nervous but genuine smile. It was obvious the young man was nervous, but his handshake was still firm, attempting to give off the illusion of confidence. It’s something his dad always taught him. Expecting to get straight to business, Marcus was caught off guard, and pleasantly surprised by Leo’s next words.

"Look, we could go do a full on formal interview but I much prefer to get to know my guys and understand who they are. So if you're ok with that, how about we go to the bar and get a drink? Don't worry this isn't going to devolve into a free for all drinking sesh, just the one to help take the edge off cause I know interviews can be pretty uncomfortable. Don't feel like you have to hand a drink mind, it isn't some sort of test."

Best. Interviewer. Ever. “Oh, uh sure. I’ll have a beer, then.” He replied, unable to help letting out a soft sigh of relief as he followed Leo to the bar. That definitely relieved a lot of the pressure. Marcus found it much easier to open up in a more relaxed environment, so with the interview being a lot more casual, his confidence definitely went up slightly.

@CaptainSully

THOMAS LANCASTER

Coffee Pot

---

"It is my profound pleasure." Thomas returned this young Rockstar the handshake. He recognized the guy as the flirty one acting at the bar the other day. He is still the same as ever. Thomas had a mixed feeling upon watching the two having a lovebird moment with each other. It was a little weird seeing how she kissed him in the cheek right next to the wheelchair-bound man, but this is twenty-first century already. Expressions and emotions are so public now apparently.

"Anyway, it is great talking to you two. If you don't mind, my food is getting cold." He said before turning his wheelchair around to his lunch. "If you want to discuss anything, or just want a nice chat, feel free to show up at the university at any time. Most instructors would know me. I'll see you around."

Just as he turned around, the young man in the suit acted like he was reading through his student, winking twice while grinning. "You must have been disappointed."

@PrinceAlexus@Almalthia

"Yeah that fight was pretty intense. I know Ash was hit pretty hard with that bottle, I hope she's okay. I haven't heard from her since it happened. In jail twice? You don't look like you could hurt a fly," he said with a grin. She made comments about shopping and he wasn't sure. He had fully planned on making it a total him day and just wandering around take photos. Looking down at the camera in his hands and back to his bike his bit his lip in thought. Completely caught off guard at the fact that someone actually willingly wanted to spend time with him was a new concept to him.

Turning his camera off, Alex walked over to his bike, picked up the bag, slung it over his shoulders and picked his bike up. Walking back to Karishma he gave a soft smile. "You do indeed owe me a drink and I could go for some food, I skipped breakfast to catch the sunrise here. It's truly beautiful of you've never seen it here. Highly recommend you do it at some point. I bet it's beautiful after a snow. Fresh, only animal tracks. I'm new around here, does it snow a lot? I hope so, I love the snow. Makes for some great backgrounds," he babbled nervously as the trio walked out of the park. As they made it back to Karishma and Gabe's car Alex grew even more nervous and slightly embarrassed that he doesn't own a car. "It across the Costa Bridge, right? I'll meet you guys there, yeah?" he said, cheeks pink as it climbed onto his bike.

---

Paige Kennedy

“No, no lawyers, I just bring you in. Judge takes care of the rest.” Paige said using her regular line as she smirked a little at the thought of Friday night and how accustomed she was to her profession being the first subject anyone brought up in conversation, even people that didn’t know her. The words rolled off her tongue without a thought. As she listened to Marinalia speak however, she quickly picked up on the younger blonde’s attempts at measuring the tone of her English accent towards her at somewhere between Kim Cattrall and the GPS in her BMW like some sort of masking defense. To her credit though, the girl seemed to hold some level of class for the time-being, unlike her sister, and didn’t seem to want any sort of confrontation. Conversely, she only presented an aura of wrecked nerves and some timid curiosity. “I’ve been called a lot worse,” Paige admitted thinking about the descriptions recalled. “And I usually shoot pretty straight, literally and figuratively, so I guess that fits.”

She somewhat liked the super-laser idea and being intense was something for which she was often accused though not for trying. Being “complimented” on the natural fire of her gaze was nothing new to her. It was haunting, piercing and near physical in its contact; a natural talent that she was keenly aware of and used often. Even some of the hardest of criminals and degenerates, she discovered early on, crumbled under the weight of it. In some ways, she knew it made her unapproachable, but at the same time she loved the power behind it. Seeing the Romus sister in person interjected some lost humanity behind Bob’s file that she’d long since put away and had only been previously connected by Victoria. She knew people dealt with things in different ways and that Marinalia was clearly not over it. Oftentimes in the past, many of the women she helped, both as friends and in her job, liked the idea of the swift hand of a woman taking care of business, but she wasn’t going to bring it up unless the subject came naturally.

Seeing the other woman approach didn’t bother Paige. She calmly returned to her own smoothie, at first noting the scanning glances that came from Xia as she spoke to Marlin, but then the Caribbean vibe she carried… It was a welcome surprise and the sound of her voice felt close to home. She listened carefully before Xia introduced herself.

“It’s fine,” Paige said with a small wave. “No, we just sort of know each other through other people, but hadn’t ever actually met.” She continued. She’d been to Luna enough times that she thought she had seen her before, but only in passing. “I’m Paige,” She said slightly narrowing her glance in a somewhat playful study of the other woman, “And you’re from… Jamaica? Or Barbados maybe?” Being from Mid/South Florida, she had a pretty good measure of people from South America and the Caribbean and travelled there several times. Some of her best friends and contacts back home were from Jamaica, Columbia, Belize and others in the south. She loved the culture and was genuinely curious about Xia.

@King Tai@PrinceAlexus

Ash went through his hair with his hand as he listened to Siobhan and Capella talk. At one point he wanted to make a little joke about the girl being here from 8 in the morning, as he was in deep sleep at that point in the day, but decided against bringing his sleepyhead side to the surface. At least not yet. Instead, he took Siobhan's hand and shook it. A strong, yet not too firm of a shake. Capella once again disregarded the hand, not even flinching at it. "Siobhan, another one with an interesting name! I'm Ash, boring I know," he laughed at his own statement, "Like Ash Ketchum. But I'm Ash Carson."

So Cap's last name was Xing. That totally proved Ash was right in his assumption. Internally, he clenched his fist in a victorious manner. Apparently, this Old Starboard was their destination and it seemed that Capella wanted Siobhan to come along. Ash didn't mind a bit, he'll be able to meet two people in one day and that was always a welcome circumstance. Besides, she did seem polite and sweet, will be interesting to see how the conversation will develop. "I only mind the fact that I didn't get to ask her that myself," Ash smiled as he shot them both thumbs up, before fiddling around in the pocket of his sweatpants and taking out his cellphone. Samsung. What a mainstream addict he indeed was. And a Marshmello mask to keep the phone safe.

"How about I fetch us an uber then? I-, he stopped in his tracks as he unlocked the phone, a couple of messages popping up, one particular from his sister.

[KIDDO] "You didn't exercise again, right? >.< GET. A. GRIP. I'll tell mom."

With an exaggerated sigh, Ash opened up his phone camera, snapping a quick selfie to show off himself in a tracksuit. He made sure the two were not in the frame, not to offend them for taking a picture without asking. Although... Ash coughed as he slowly approached Toasty. "Sorry, Cap, can I take a quick selfie with the demon? My sis is gonna love this." He waited for a couple of seconds, to get a good pose mostly. Hah, the pup had his tongue sticking out, so Ash mimicked it and before anyone knew it, the selfie was taken and sent to his sister.

"Hey hey, look who's exercising! I also found a new friend! :P :P :P Love ya~"

That distraction aside, Ash went on to open up his Uber app and deploy a taxi to their location. Five minutes? Fair enough. The driver's name is Jack. "Hah, like that character from Tekken." Ash thought to himself as he put the phone away, giving all of his attention to the two.

"So the food is on Cap, I'm handling Uber, so I guess... Siobhan, your job is to make a fun atmosphere! Food, here we come!"

---

Victoria smiled and gave Ethen a slight smirk, important information, that was strange unless he was just being some strange kind of flirty nature that seemed to be making very little sense or reason. Unless he meant the firday night fight night situation. That would make more sense.

A time sure, they could work somthing out, she worked but he also had his bad stuff and whatever else he did but hey, where there was a will there's a way round the situation. Returning barely a whisper with her normal accent of English with Russian tinge.

Then its a date Ethen.

Sure, I've got a reroute and all set up. Don, t make me wait too long.

Adding with a small smile, she did kind of enjoy thr novalty of being somewhat considered worth chasing after and to the trollop, somewhat a object of jealously. That was definitely very diffrent to her previous life being seen as some weak or disabled victim. Flushing a little pink but her eyes glittered at his response. She definitely could have fun with this one and she was not quite as innocent as her skin tone seemed to display. Her darkside had a slightly more healthier release than anger, and one that would be alot more fun to boot. Playing with her long highlighted black hair, she twisted a strand round her finger with its glittering diamond acompiment. It was not deliberate as it seemed and was just a a little almost tick she had depevloped.

Never judge a book by its cover. I might suprise you.

I may want to know more...

Laughing quietly with a slightly teasing edge to her voice and seemed rather happy with herself about how things where going. She could break out her shell somewhat and be herself. Not hidden behind the mask of ice and snow, the Raven haired woman was much closer to her true nature.

Noticing a slightly uncomfortable Thomas with her who she seemed to have got caught up in her flirtatious response to Ethen, who was rather intresting. He was nice though and it was good to know someone whom you had a shared intrest and so. His look told her, wait... He had intrest in that situation a a little more than he let on. Well they where still friends, or the start of it more accurately.

of course. I'd not let someones bacon go cold.

Not so sorry. Its first time in years I've been able to be myself. It's nice to be free again.

I might take you up on that. Plus Im intrigued by your AI defense research programme. Personly and professional, your work

Seeming genuinely more happy as she was open about who she was, the ice princess was not her, sue had been a fun Raven haired and sporty teanager before she became a slight ghost of the old Victoria, weaker and was glad to be able to be true to her nature again as she was regaining her strengh and balence slowly. Even if she be forever slight, pale and remain 4'9 and alot smaller than everyone else unless you Marlas son! She could be taller! And he would be taller in a few years no doubt.

Relaxing as he went back, she texted her sister a rather excited message about things. She was excited by things and would have to gauage he response and caution but she wanted to enjoy life, and you had to takw some calculated risks.

Finishing off her drink and heading out paying the bill and putting down a tip, why did they always have to tip? Could they not just pay the bill as the bill in US. Like sensible people.

With a blip she unlocked the mini convertible parked outside and climbed in with a a little care as she was still not quite fully fit or balenced, well by a fair margin compared to some people. Checking the GPS and headed back via a round about road home, stopping by a shop for some make up, another for a few things for the fridge and a quick stop to fill up.

Turning onto the Old Harbour Road about lunch time and headed up to home, the traffic jam was fairly busy switching to a local rock station playing some Beyond Temptation whole she waited for traffic to begin to move again so she could sit back with a mug of tea in and a maybe finish watching what left of the trashy movie she started the previous night.

As she waited, she looked across to see a tall person working on a vacant lot to be building dome kind of cottage and caught a view of a taller figure hammering away at some timber. Glancing across she saw the place was odd for park view, smaller and not grand like the nearby homes. It was cute though, and the grass was wild and the gates and walls needed some care and repairs.

Her thoughts where soon brought back to the present as she hered cars moving again and turned a minute or so later Into Hesphestus Manor.

@Almalthia@Conscripts@Silver Fox

... BREAK ...

---

Marinalia calmed slightly to her rather direct response, she definitely was a Cop, but of a kind she was not sure of what or so, rather not like anything she had met before, most where not as intense and also "Bring you in" was not quite a reponse like the police she chatted to at the airport. They where definitely Deadicated but of a diffrent shade.

Remind me not have you after me. Might not end well.

Sounds pleasant, I know from experience about idiots and assumptions. Learned to shoot, not my thing despite my dad's best efforts. I always enjoyed fencing back at school, though we could use full swords in final years. Was fun, if a little dangerous.

Admiting abit about herself, that was a strange perk to going to a full private academy, they where rather good for the perks, sports facilities. It was located on a large country estate that had been converted centuries before and it was joked you inherited a place there not got one. The family tradition was to go there, alot of family had been educated there. She had swam for the team there, and taken her first helicopter lesson as part of there little extra programmes that where possible if you wanted to engage in extra curriculum things. Sometimes having a rich family did have perks.

Reacting to her, well Paige was strange she gave little away but then she gave out what she wanted. Her whole personality and demeanor was definitely rather prickly and defensively layered. Her eyes where a diffrent story, she definitely was little miss deathstar as Victoria had referred. Realising she made a slightly nervous reaction to things and so but they had rather difficult subjects behind those. They where very definitely going to takw along time to fully heal. She still was slightly conchous of her scar she had from 9 years ago, Marinalia was not one who could easily let somthing go, especially the hurts, well the ones that ran deeply anyway.

Sorry. Just a bad memory. Sol shining reputation has a few shadows.

Trying to brush it off as nothing more than a bad date or somthing., her accent a more forced neutral English that kicked into a more cut glass queen's English than before. She was not very good at hiding her issues from sneaking through. They always managed to to, even when she tried to keep them more suproessed than normal. She could bottle the up totally but she had tried that one and ended up a worse emotional wreck than before.

Thrn Xia replied and her accent calmed a a little going softer than the more strictly English she had used before, forcing a calm and a softer side back. Breathe Marlin. Its over, the jerks in jail and will be for a very long time. Keeping the fact from a cop she may have used pepperpray and a rather forceful elbow strike to keep them off, sadly that Ashton caught the bulk of what she was using. But 16-2 or so odds. Cheating was mandatory.

We where OK. Lucky for us, with had a a little advantage to play in the bar. Our lawyer had us out by morning. Good lawyer worth weight in gold... Cost that much to.

Purpose... Not sure I'm quite important ernough for divine purpose!

Oh. That's why. I Don, t always like the machines. Mums a doctor, aunts a trauma surgeon, I prefer lower impact exercises anyway. Lectures got detailed...

More relaxed. She got a... Posetive vibe from Xia, paige was a wall... Not quite cold but it gave away little, it was harsher. Xia was more open for sure. But somthing deeper about her more than being aprachable. Competive? Well yeah she definitely was in pool and... What the cut off... Questions... Sipping her smoothie and moving her long blonde hair out the way of one of her eyes, it was pretty but had disadvantages. She loved it, but she could bear the disadvantages quite happily.

oh, I'm definitely Competive, im a fish to water.

Help out at university a few times on there swim programme as I used to be Competive... Long story.... I had to quit early.

Oh, Paige. How can you say my sister ringed your car and gouged it up, and so. That's not awkward at all...

Oh, we kinda... Yeah, we know each other through someone. Somehow never met despite everything that happened..

London. Nothing as exotic. Sunshine was a luxury!

Adding with a small laugh. Growing up near London sun, warmth and beeches would hardly describe the weather that they had as bikini ready. Well the private times she wore one, not public pools.

She had a good feeling about things at the momment and so, a few. Laps and a challenge, Xia might make her have to work hard to beat her, she was rather fit and definitely looked athletic. Taller, she had a runners build more than a swimmer perhaps so advantage might be hard to calculate.

It would be a rather even compation of they did..

@Pilatus@King Tai

Xia's eyes switched between both Paige and mali, listening to their claims of mostly knowing each other in passing. Sort of same situation between Xia and Mali. Hearing the Southern Accent of Paige when she introduced herself, Xia's first impression was that Paige could easily be a no nonsense hard ass who'd readily put you in your place and wouldn't bat and eye when, in Xia's way of saying, "droppin' yo ass". It's funny because Xia is sort of like that herself but she herself have learned to not make an enemy out of the world and chilled a bit. Still though, Paige came off as someone Xia wouldn't mind getting to know. This reason is because of the question Paige asked her. She must've been familiar with the Caribbean scene despite being hella ways from it. This piqued her curiosity since she named a place her family is from and grew up around. yes her accent was a dead give away that she was from there but to be that spot on? Nice to meet you Paige...and...well...Barbados. I was born in Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands and been back and forth in Barbados. My mama and family are from there. That was a hell of a guess. You know some people from Jamaica or Barbados? Or just familiar with the Caribbean in general? She asked her. She definitely had her attention now. Talking about back home was like expressing her emotions.

Not to be rude, she answered Mali back whens he mentioned that they were okay and the reason why they've never ran into each other in the facility. With a slight chuckle, Xia responds Oh that's good but if you have yourself a great lawyer expensive and willing to do what it takes to help you in the end, you'll get away with murder......wait I hope you never murdered anyone in the past... Xia gave a sideways look at Mali.

But you don't look like you'll do some shit like that. She said while wiggling her index finger in a nah-uh fashion. Ah! Everyone has a purpose and importance. We as human just tend to do stupid stuff that hinders us from greatness and harm our own chances to peace in life. Xia nodded feeling good dropping some knowledge. I see...yeah I'm always around machines. They'll probably rule over us someday but for right now, I'm going to rule them. BUT I don't always use them myself. Thanks to my daddy and his military style workouts, I get better results using my very own body and it's attributes to get me in better shape.

Oh Don't get Xia started on workouts and exercises and sports or anything of that nature, she'd talk about it for hours. Xia smirked when Mali was speaking about her swimming skills. Xia wasn't a bad swimmer but when it came to competition, she may try harder. She crossed her arms and nodded with a smile. Oh? Alright...alright, I hear your confidence. We can go at it anytime you we both have some extra time to spare, sweetheart. She winked.

Still looking between the two, the slight relationship between the two didn't look very pleasant. Not that it made Xia feel awkward but she could feel the tension between the two. Whatever was going on between them was their business but Xia could see herself making friends and workout/sports/sparring friendly rivals out of them. She looked at their smoothies. What kind of smoothies did you two ladies get? my favorite is one of the Protein power smoothies...the one with the Peanut butter, chocolate, and banana in it. keeping the conversation in a good light...at least...try to for now...

Friday night had been an absolute blast, but it had ended in mostly disaster. The police coming to Club Aether was not the best publicity for the bar, but it didn't seem to effect the incoming flux of people. Dustynn, despite Leo telling her she could take the time off; continued to work into the weekend, spending some of it speaking to interviewers now and again about what had exactly happened. Due to Dustynn being upstairs during the incident most of what she told them was hearsay and sprinkled in lies now and there. If they wanted an entertaining story she was going to give it to them.

Monday morning came and went, as Dustynn happily slept through it. Monday's were her usual day off so she tended to get up early so she could run all her errands, but because of such a busy weekend she decided to treat herself to a few more hours of the snooze button. A familiar voice woke her up, as hands shook her arm until she opened her eyes. "Huh?" a groggy and raspy voice slipped from the girl's lips as she came face to face with her own mother. "Your car won't start." Kimberly; Dustynn's mother said, as she stood still along side the couch. Kimberly's hand rested still on Dusty's arm as the words began to register. "What do you mean it won't start?" Dustynn said as she started to get up, her heavy comforter slipping down into her lap as she sat up. The trailer was freezing, quickly being apparent that the weather was dropping finally. A shiver ran up Dustynn's spine as she stood up, revealing her pajamas as just an overly large band tee shirt. "I was going to get groceries." Kimberly's said to Dustynn as the girl walked over to her pile of clothes. She slipped on some heavier pajama bottoms and her ankle height house slippers. She didn't acknowledge her mother's comment, knowing damn well that she was not using the car to "buy groceries". Dustynn hadn't felt like fighting with the woman though, so she let the comment fall on deaf ears.

The door closed with a dull thud as Dustynn quickly walked over to her car, and opened the unlocked driver's side. Climbing in she realized her mother had left the keys in the ignition. They were lucky it was too cold for people to be outside watching what was going on, or the car may have been lifted off them completely. Dustynn fiddled with the keys, trying to get the car to start with no luck. She angrily got out, lifting the hood and looked inside. Dusty had no idea what she was looking for, but she felt like the action itself might help the car's integrity. "Fuck!" Dustynn growled as she shut the hood. She would have to make some phone calls to see if anyone could her a favor and come out to see the car. Walking back into the trailer, she looked to see her mother sitting on the couch smoking a cigarette. "Did you fix it?" Kimberly asked, the ashes of her cigarette falling delicately to the poorly carpeted floor without much care. "No, I'm going to have to call someone." Dusty replied, searching the blankets for her phone. She had been texting Leo all weekend, just small comments here and there and some photos. Nothing too risque, just some fun.

Location the cellphone she picked it up and slid her finger over the unlock screen to see that she had received a new message from Leo. After reading it, she sat down on the couch and made her own reply:

My car is fucking BUSTED dude. Going to try to fix it myself?? Hopefully can get it done by tomorrow or I might have to find another way into work. Was it that Marcus guy? Saw his message on the business account. Seemed nice enough LOL. Hope he's a keeper. I'll train him in ;)

Dustynn pressed send as she read over Leo's text again. Leo and her were having a wonderful night, but the chaos of the ending kind of cut it short. She was happy to see he wanted to try going out again, or at least meeting up for something. She started another text message:

Ya. Let's get together soon.. Hopefully we can talk tomorrow if I can make it to work :( !! xox

She sent the text, as she looked over to her mother who was peering over and reading the whole conversation. "Boyfriend?" she asked, a devious smile spread across her lips. Dustynn returned a gaze, a slight smile but mostly annoyed that the woman was so nosy. "Get out of my business woman!" she said loudly, but with a smile. Kimberly released a dry laugh as she coughed, the sound of phlegm lingering in the back of her throat. The woman put out the cigarette into the ashtray that sat full on the coffee table, before getting up and going to the kitchen to find something to snack on.

Dustynn took the time to began calling around to see if anyone could give her a hand with her car.

---

---

Siobhan was caught off guard by Capella’s invitation but smiled brightly. “I'd love to but I wouldn't want you to pay for me. I can pay my own way. You can call me Vaughn.” She shook Ash’s hand firmly and flashing him a grin. He was sweet and very easy to get along with.

Then she looked back at Capella. “Toasty is a very appropriate name for your toy poodle. He's the color of well toast. My mother has standards; a red, a black and a white. She named them Gimli, Fili and Kili, respectfully. They like to take them hunting. We should probably move toward the street so that we can get picked up. Ash is a fine name. Is it short for anything?”

Siobhan realized that Capella was blind and put his hand on her arm as she started the conversation heading to the street. “Capella I noticed your last name sounds Chinese, is it? If you know the language I'd love to brush up on it.”

Siobhan’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She fished it out and stared at the unknown number. Who is this? It's a local number. Who did I give my number to? She patted Capella’s hand and stepped away murmuring excuses.

Siobhan picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Well, well, well someone does know how to pick up a phone. You've missed the last two races hot stuff. How am I supposed to show you my moves if you're not there. I'm disappointed.”

“Well you can just stay disappointed, Bradley. I have a name stop calling me pet names. I am not your girlfriend.”

“Not yet. You'll come around. Don't go giving what is mine to that mechanic or the blonde with you now, kitten. I'd probably snap if I found out that I had to share you. No telling what would happen to them.”

“Before or after you think to lay hands on me?”

“Watch your pretty mouth kitten. I don't beat women. I'd leave you so satisfied that you wouldn't know your name. Then I'd take care of whoever it was. If you're not at Club 501 on Wednesday night I'll take it as a challenge. You don't want that kitten.”

“I don't have a car. Can't this wait?”

“No. If you don't have a car you forfeit. But I don't want the money anymore kitten. I'll settle for you.”

“Wait a minute that wasn't the deal.”

“You don't care about the money. And seeing you fall asleep in the grass all sweet and innocent...Huge turn on and I know you need a keeper. Besides my mom saw you in the paper the other week and said what a fine young woman you were. She suggested I get to know you. I intend to know you. Very well. Besides I'm, what did you call me? Oh yes a mama's boy. Wednesday Club 501. Remember I'm watching.”

There was a click on the end of the line. This was getting out of hand. She thought she was seeing things the few times she thought she saw his car. Or him in a crowd. Looking around she saw him standing in the exact spot that her easel had been in this morning. He blew a kiss at her and she shuddered. She turned around pasting on a smile and walked back over to Capella and Ash putting Capella’s hand back on her arm as the Uber pulled up to them. She let Toasty and Capella in first.