[CENTER][h1]Ioan M. Foster

[/h1][/CENTER]

[u][b]The Hollow Tap[/b][/u]

[quote]“Mr. Ioan,” he greets, his voice deep and smooth.  He had a wide smile on his face as he looked towards the man, sizing him up as he did. “Welcome to the Hollow Tap. Come up to my office—we’ve got some things to discuss I presume.” Stepping aside, he gestured with a hand to invite Ioan to follow along before he spotted Marco running towards him.[/quote]

Physically, there wasn't much to Ioan Foster to size up. He was probably the shortest man in the whole room and quite a few a few of the women as well. On the other hand, the wait didn't seem to have bothered Foster at all. Nor the fact that he'd spent the time standing, leaning against the bar. In fact, for those that had been present, his stillness had been a little unsettling.

"Just waiting." He'd said when asked by the bartender if he wanted something, coming alive briefly to smile and make eye contact before resuming his inert waiting.  He didn't move, didn't fidget, didn't seem uncomfortable at all. He just waited in silence.

Gideon's arrival and voice, like a spell, seemed to have reanimated Mr Foster from his torpor. Even this was short lived though with Marcus' sudden arrival. The man's bulky frame literally cast Foster in his shadow. Foster himself made a casual glance over his shoulder at Marcus' arrival, noted his haste and stood wordlessly aside to let the man speak with his boss.

[quote]“Boss, the job went south.  They’re calling in help, Vin needs me,” Marco paused as he raised up a medic bag.

“Mr. Ioan, I know you have been waiting but I must reschedule.  If you wanted to wait I will be back before long,” Gideon paused as he looked over to Seren, “you too Seren.  Food and drinks are on the house if you wait.”[/quote]

Foster offered Gideon a sympathetic smile then checked his pocket watch while Gideon and Marcus ran out. His eyes flitted briefly to the medical bag Marcus raised up and for a time after the pair left, foster stood motionless. One could almost see him weighing staying or leaving. Finally he glanced at his pocket watch before folding it back inside the inside pocket of his suit jacket, and approached the bar to resume his waiting.

[quote]Seren walked up to the bar and sat down and grabbed a menu.  They looked it over before they pulled out their phone, and opened ticktok.  On the screen was one of the more recent ticktok trends, where two people would play rock, paper, scissors.  The winner would take a bite of food, while the loser would need to run laps around whatever area they were in.  When they got back from the laps, the two would play rock, paper, scissors once again. Seren looked towards Ioan, and smirked. They wanted to record the video later on, maybe rope Bryn or Elara or anyone else into it, but something drew her to Ioan.  Maybe he was willing to give a silly ticktok trend a chance.
 
“So.  You’re meeting Gideon today as well?  What skeletons in your closest is he taking care of today,” Seren[/quote]

Ioan Foster's head turned.

Cool blue eyes met Seren's, then they flicked briefly over the rest of her, then back to her eyes. "Skeletons? Oh no..." He spoke as though he found the idea of going to Gideon to have skeletons taken care of amusing. The man seemed to hardly be interested in anything, or anyone in the bar before; not the patrons, not the other girls floating around and he hadn't even looked at a drink the entire time he'd been there. Now though, in addressing him, Seren could feel she suddenly had this man's full and undivided attention. "You know." He began, his tone slow, deliberate, the ghost of a smile tugging at the edges of his lips. "Back when I knew Gideon a person could get themselves in real trouble in a place like this, asking questions of the wrong people."

There was a deliberate pause in which he refused to break eye contact. He seemed not at all concerned whether this made her uncomfortable or not. "Which makes you either very brave or..." There was another long pause in which Ioan Foster was watching her as though she were suddenly the most interesting thing in the world, or the way a cat watches a bird. "... interesting."