15[20:25] The vanquished Wyld beast causes quite a stir as the Four Fangs parade it into Abalone proper. Cultists and soldiers (an unusually large number of each on the streets) all turn and chair. The people who recognize members of the hearth - or recognize their obvious status - whoop and cheer at the sight of it. Children rush up to stroke the corpse's fur, as Sadako did, and are held at 15[20:25] bay just a bit too fiercely by Dryas's men. 15[20:25] So... where to? 15[20:26] *all turn and stare [20:26] 14Piu's going to have to kill Hedrin soon. No way around that. 15[20:27] She could always kill every single member of House Iselsi instead. 15[20:27] Maybe not practical, but you know. It's on the table. [20:27] 14That's not around; that's through. 15[20:27] Mmm. [20:30] 10Daizo could do with some time to reflect on the vision the Witch imparted on him. Although that is probably going to have to fit in the cracks between the hunt for Ted and Dryas' dirty business. More practically, they need to find a taxidermist. [20:31] 14She'll get Ted to help, because it's in Ted's best interests to help. Hedrin is hunting him, after all. [20:31] 14The kill is hers. [20:31] 07Dryas plays to the crowds, posing dramatically with the beast and playing a fierce song on her pipes to further inspire the crowd. [20:32] 4Publicly, Piu will support her brothers and sisters with genuine enthusiasm, until she can slip away and meet up with Caedus. [20:36] 07Through a combination of song, dance, and pure Panache, Dryas wows the crowd with her acrobatic, athletic, and musical display. Slayers of the fierce beast! [20:37] 6Zhangyu just scowls at that. Which, given his position in the pandering, fits the narrative. 15[20:38] If the hearth or any of its members winds their way toward the hostel where the crew of Daana'd's Defiance was quartered, they'll have to move past a retinue of guards and a work crew cleaning up the remnants of a building that has essentially burned to the ground. [20:38] 4...What did it used to be? [20:38] 6We didn't do it. [20:38] 07That is where we're going. We were going to show this thing off to the Commodore and the shipmates before sending it off to the taxidermist. [20:39] 10We absolutely need to show this off to our shipmates.  15[20:39] It used to be the hostel where the crew of Daana'd's Defiance was quartered. Apologies for the ambiguity. [20:39] Oh. [20:39] 6Hrm. [20:39] 4Ah. Well, fuck. [20:41] 07The music dies down somewhat as the crew approaches the scene. Dryas stops but at least one of the mercenaries in the back drumming away doesn't immediately get the message and the beat continues on for at least a few moments. Dryas doesn't bother waving him quiet but dismounts Diamond Weapon to approach the guards. [20:45] 10Daizo gawps in shock as they approach the burned-out hostel. Then there's a cold sick feeling creeping up from the pit of his stomach, and the shock turns to sudden fury. "All of my books were in there! They're irreplacable! My journals, my notes! Aaaaugh!! When I find out who did this, I'm going to break EVERY. SINGLE. BONE. IN. HIS. BODY." 15[20:45] The guards stand that slight bit more at attention you get from generally on-the-ball guards who realize someone important just walked into the room. "My lords and ladies!" [20:46] 07Dryas: "What happened here? Where is the Commodore?" 15[20:48] The guard: "The Commodore is with the Governor, my lady." [20:49] 14Piu doesn't bother jumping to 'oh no! My clothes!' because she barely wears any in this climate anyway. 4Instead Piu will flit about seeing if anyone's hurt. [20:50] 6Zhangyu freezes at the sight, then turns towards the guard with a murderous look. "How many dead." [20:50] 10Daizo: "Bastards! Cowardly pieces of shit! How DARE they—" 15[20:51] Dryas looks past the guard at the wreckage. Judging from how burned-down the fire is and how much it's been cleaned up, she surmises that the fire took place overnight, maybe twelve hours ago, and was extinguished quite quickly - the amount of sooty puddles the cleaners are tromping through suggest an enormous amount of water was the primary method of extinguishing the fire. 15[20:52] It doesn't look like it started in the kitchen, or a hearth, which is the place fires tend to start. This is more in line with her experience of buildings that haven't been properly safeguarded against anima flux. [20:52] 4Oh! Well then everyone's probably fine. Except whoever the fire aspect killed. [20:52] 10If it was THEM… [20:53] "Looks like anima flux. The twins?" 07She looks around to see if there is any sign of the others from the ship. [20:54] 10Daizo: "Where are they." [20:54] 4Piu: "I can't believe they'd be so..." 4She trails off. 15[20:54] ...but one oddity sticks out to her: working backwards from the surviving wreckage, she's able to roughly deduce where the fire started, and it was in the stairwell, which is where you'd start a fire if you wanted to split the building in half, upstairs patrons from downstairs workers and diners. [20:54] 14Of course she can believe they'd be so stupid. 15[20:55] Everyone can see the sails of the Defiance swollen by the bountiful sea breeze, down at the docks. Plenty of crew aboard, judging from the movement, though it's hard for even a Prince of the Earth to mark specific people at this distance. [20:55] 07Dryas: "Now that's strange. Look here, the fire started in the stairwell? Like if someone wanted to split the building in half or something?" [20:55] 10Yeah, fuck it, Daizo's marching off to the ship. Try and stop him. 15[20:56] Certainly none of the guards do. [20:56] 14Piu, to Dryas and Zhangyu: "I'm going to look after Daizo." [20:56] 14She'll follow, but not get in his way. [20:56] "Alright. Moke?" 07Dryas scans the crowd for any sign of her consigliere. "Was anyone killed?" 07she asks the guard. [20:56] 6Zhangyu, who was just about to follow him, just nods and turns back to Dryas. 15[20:57] From what Piu can gather, the casualties are relatively minimal - a couple sailors lost their lives, but quick work saved the people at the expense of the structure. 15[20:57] Dryas gets the same story. [20:57] 14Hhhhhh. Caedus won't be pleased. [20:57] 14She has dismissed the possibility he's among the dead out of hand. [20:57] 14But he wasn't hanging around the hostel, correct? That means the ship. [21:01] "What do you think, Zhangyu?" 07Dryas asks. "I need to find a taxidermist or something before this thing starts getting too nasty. I have another appointment later this evening. But what do we do about this?" 15[21:01] Daizo and Piu make their variably-furious way down to the docks, where another small contingent of Kou's personal guard are standing at the gangplank, and part immediately once the expression on Daizo's face is visible. [21:02] 4Piu gives them an apologetic smile and asks one, "Is Chief Samperson aboard?" 15[21:03] That gets a nod. "In the infirmary." [21:03] 4Her smile falters. "Oh." [21:03] "How bad?" 15[21:03] "He's fine," the guard beside her quickly clarifies, before looking askance at her partner. [21:03] "Phew!" [21:03] 10Daizo heads right up to the deck. Are the Cathak twins immediately visible? 15[21:04] Nope. [21:04] 14This is why you align your covers. No one's going to think twice about Piu being alarmed at Samperson's infirmiry. Or her rushing there, immediately. [21:04] *infirmity [21:05] 6Zhangyu: "We hunt them down." 6He says it like it's obvious. "Trying to split the building in half? The Cathak idiots wouldn't do that by accident, and I don't think they're the type to do it on purpose." [21:05] "...though they'd have access and the ability." [21:06] 10Well, time to bellow, then. "CATHAKS! GET YOUR ASSES UP HERE RIGHT NOW!" 15[21:06] One of the sailors, somewhat sheepishly: "They're not here, sir. They're with the Commodore." [21:07] 4She'll say something to Daizo about not rushing off before she checks in with Samperson. [21:07] 4(Then she'll rush off.) [21:08] "Well, in that case, let's take a look into all this." 07Dryas frowns again at the sight of things. Her stash was in there - her wine, her weed, her coke. What a mess. She takes a tentative step into the wreckage. "Between the two of us we can puzzle this out,"07 she concludes.  15[21:08] Piu makes her way belowdecks, to the small but surprisingly breathable part of the ship where sick and injured people are treated. There are three cots, and two are occupied by merchant sailors stripped nude beneath thin sheets and whose burn-wracked bodies are covered in a thin white foam. Sitting on the third is Samperson, who is filthy with soot but not visibly injured, and Caxi, 15[21:08] who is mixing something awful-smelling in a giant bowl with one hand while she clutches the other arm tight to her body, riddled with searing blisters and that same thin foam. [21:09] 14She'll gesture for space and greet him with a brief kiss on the lips, then, to both: "What happened?" [21:10] "Ah, Captain!" 07she calls to her mercenary captain. "See this creature to the taxidermist. Mount the heads, replace the fangs with something impressive-looking, and then have it skinned and the claws and anything else valuable removed. Ask the taxidermist to make a note of the stomach contents. Then, you and your men have R&R until morning." 15[21:10] They both look up as Piu bursts in, and react precisely oppositely: Caedus's joy and relief is quickly flattened into more casual acknowledgement, and Caxi's icy affect is replaced with a warm smile after just a moment's hitch. [21:11] 10Daizo punches a mast. Thankfully for the sailors it doesn't split or crack. The next sound he makes is about one-third anger, one-third disgust, and one-third a sigh. "HHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhghgggghhhhhhhhhhhh. Were any of my personal effects salvaged from the hostel?" 15[21:11] The sailor: "I don't know, sir. You'd have to ask the Chief or Lady Caxi." [21:12] 14Mmmmm. [21:12] 10Daizo: "Right. Okay." [21:13] 07Dryas takes a few more halting steps amid the ashen debris. "Quite a mess, quite a mess," 07she observes as she picks through towards the stairwell. Once there, she continues her investigation through the wreckage. [21:14] "Why don't you think the twins did it?" 07she asks Zhangyu after a moment. 15[21:15] Samperson: "There was an altercation. The Cathak Ito twins and the assassin Salim antagonized each other. The argument got heated." [21:15] 6Zhangyu: "They're idiots, not arsonists. One would expect them to have control." [21:16] 10Daizo joins Piu belowdecks just in time to hear this bit of news. His scowl darkens. [21:16] 10It was already pretty dark. [21:16] 14Haha. 'Heated.' [21:17] 4Piu: "What was it about?" 15[21:19] Samperson: "I don't know for sure. The twins said Salim threatened them, Salim says the reverse is true and they were just spoiling for a fight. They're all with the Governor and Commodore right now." 15[21:20] Caxi, still stirring: "Maybe she'll have them flogged. Or shipped to the Nail. I hear Pneuma is lovely this time of year. There's a music festival on." 15[21:20] Samperson: "There's always a music festival on in Pneuma." 15[21:20] Caxi murmurs contemplatively. [21:21] 4Piu: "I know who I'm gonna default to blaming. The twins are idiots but Salim's a snake." [21:21] 4To Samperson: "Come see me when you're out of the infirmary?" 15[21:22] Samperson: "We had to rush upstairs through the fire to get people out. The people who were bunked right at the top of the stairwell, we didn't get to in time. We lost six." 15[21:22] Samperson looks at Caxi, who looks up belatedly. "Oh, you're free to go. Maybe don't do anything too strenuous for a few more hours. You inhaled a lot of smoke." [21:23] 4Mmmm. [21:23] 10Daizo: "Morons. Were they raised in a barn?" 10Due to the circumstances surroinding his own Second Breath, Daizo's always had a healthy respect for the destructive potential of anima flux. "Then I take it you weren't able to recover any of our belongings before the fire grew out of control." 15[21:23] Samperson will wedge his way past Daizo with Piu, leaving the two scholars alone with the injured. [21:25] 14Closest safe place to talk from here is probably...the cells? If Salim and the twins are with Ratel and the governor. [21:26] 14Brig. Whatever. Ships. 15[21:26] Dryas and Zhangyu poke around... The fire definitely spread uncontrollably in both directions from the stairwell, and there are the destroyed remnants of many of the hearth's personal effects among them - Zhangyu and Dryas both see the burned remnants of their own things, though Dryas notes that Daizo's are conspiciously absent. She is also able to spot, among the wreckage, a very 15[21:26] evenly distributed set of small pawprints, suggesting an intelligent or very well-trained dog that methodically combed the wreckage long after the fire had been extinguished. [21:27] 07Ah, our dear friend. What attracted his curiosity about all this? 15[21:27] Piu's intuition is correct, and that's where she and Caedus end up. 15[21:28] Caxi: "Almost no one's, I'm afraid. You're the only lucky one." [21:28] 6Zhangyu lost some personal effects and books of poetry, but nothing he's too upset over. And... yep. This was a fire. That's all he's getting. [21:28] 14Door closed and locked. She'll jump him for a few moments, but hey. Doctor's orders say nothing too strenuous, and fucking in the brig is just weird. [21:29] "I'm glad you're okay," 14when they part. [21:29] "See these paw prints?" 07Dryas points out. "Our four-legged friend." 15[21:29] She explains: "Retrieving the stone seemed most important and it would've been much too obviously petty to leave all your other work to burn." [21:30] 10All the air goes out of Daizo at once.  15[21:30] Caxi holds up her injured arm. "It retains heat phenomenally well, if you haven't already written that down." [21:30] "…it seems I am in your debt once again." [21:30] 6Zhangyu didn't, but pretends he did. "So. How, then?" 15[21:31] Caxi waves him off with the same injured hand. "Debt is like the tide, it moves back and forth. I'm sure the moment will come when I am in your debt." [21:31] 07Dryas: "He came afterwards, after the fire. Sniffed around nicely, looked through everything. Maybe we should pay him a visit?" [21:33] 6Zhangyu: "Fetch the others, or just us?" 15[21:33] Samperson lets his breath out slowly when the kiss breaks, and by way of reply repeats, "We lost six." [21:33] 14Piu: "Who's to blame?" [21:34] 10Damn it all. How can she be this 10gracious10? "I was about ready to wring the twins' necks, so they owe you one as well." [21:35] 07Dryas: "I think we can handle it in the amount of time it takes Daizo to flip out about his notes and make it back. Although actually, now that I mention it, I don't see any trace of his belongings in all this." 15[21:35] Caedus: "How can it not be Salim? The twins are cleverer than they act but it's still harder to get a dog to do what you want." [21:35] 07Dryas: "Besides, we can take the excuse to get something else to eat." 15[21:36] Caedus: "The question is, why?" [21:36] 14Piu frowns. "So we don't have eyes on the altercation? Or is he just that smooth." [21:36] "Fucking Salim." [21:36] 6Zhangyu takes another look and raises an eyebrow. "We should tell him, then. He'll be - upset. About losing them. Whether to fire or theft." 15[21:36] Caedus: "No witnesses but the belligerents." [21:37] 07Dryas: "In good time. Let's find this dog first though, alright?" 15[21:37] Caxi: "They may yet prefer that to what the Governor intends. I mentioned Pneuma only half-jokingly. D'you know before Kou was a Governor she was in the Magistracy?" [21:38] 6Zhangyu frowns, then nods. One of them is a detective and it isn't him. 15[21:38] The sorceress continues with some distaste. "Easier to make a raksha see reason than a judge." [21:39] 07Dryas will attempt to follow the tracks, then - sending Diamond Weapon back to the stables with one of Ten Eels' boys and proceeding on foot. She'll divert with Zhangyu to the first butcher's shop or fast-service tea house on the way. [21:39] 14Piu: "Urgh." [21:39] "There's the matter of the other business, too. We're behind schedule...and this is chaos we can use." [21:40] 14Pause. "Sorry, but...we have to use it." 15[21:40] Caedus: "No, you're right. Have you settled on an approach?" [21:41] 07As they walk, Dryas will try to slink her arm into Zhangyu's, to speak more quietly into his ear about other matters. Does he rebuff her? [21:42] 10Despite himself, Daizo has to laugh at this one. "Don't I know it. My birth family were rural circuit magistrates for six generations. I've probably inherited more than a little of that attitude." [21:43] 6He'll shrug his way out of the linked arms, but he will lean down to hear her out. [21:44] 14Piu: "Get Ted to add to the chaos however he sees fit, slip in, do it myself. Could use the polymorph potion to disguise myself but my only mark would be Salim and that seems like more trouble than it's worth." [21:44] 07Dryas: "Do you know anything about Hearth-Sister Piu's family? I don't mean House V'Neef, but the family she was adopted from? I think some sort of cadet house in the Threshold? Patricians or something?" 15[21:44] Caxi: "You wear it well. A little stubbornness is the root of principle." [21:46] 6Zhangyu: "She doesn't want to talk about it. Never pried." [21:48] 07Dryas: "She never speaks of them, but did you see the look on her face in the Witch's house? After the visions? She would do anything for them. There is more to her than meets the eye, don't you think?" 15[21:48] Caedus: "You think he's reliable?" [21:48] 14Piu: "For certain things. Causing mayhem is one of those." [21:50] 6Zhangyu: "More to anyone than meets the eye, generally. But if she doesn't want to talk, she doesn't want to talk. I can respect that." [21:52] 07Dryas: "You were also adopted into House Tepet, isn't that right?" [21:53] 6The proper phrasing that Zhangyu learned in the House of Bells is "don't judge a warrior by their scars, because maybe they're just a shitty warrior who got lucky." But most people don't like hearing that, for one reason or another. [21:53] 6Zhangyu, shortly: "Yes." [21:53] 07Dryas: "And what is your relationship like, with your birth family? I'm genuinely curious." [21:54] 6Zhangyu, again, shortly: "None." 15[21:55] Caedus: "Alright. That's a go, then." [21:55] 14She nods. "I'll try to take care of it tonight, then. See you soon." [21:56] 07Dryas: "I don't mean to pry." 07A white lie. "But you don't think it's a little strange that Piu's family - presumably, a bunch of Thresholders who put her up for adoption in V'Neef, would command such absolute obedience from her? Maybe she's afraid of them, or maybe they're desperately poor and we could help them?" [21:57] 6Zhangyu: "It's her business. If she wanted it to be our business, she would tell us. So." [21:57] 14Thank you, Zhangyu. 15[21:59] Caedus pulls her in for one last kiss before they part. "Sàbhailte agus glan." [21:59] 6No problem! I won't ask what you're thanking me for because you would tell us if necessary. [21:59] 14She winks and smiles, then she's gone. [22:00] 07Dryas: "As her Hearth-siblings, it isn't our duty to look after her if she could be in trouble?" [22:00] 6Zhangyu: "If I was in trouble, I would tell you. I assume the same is true for all of us." [22:02] 10Daizo collects himself and his thoughts. "At any rate… thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Say what you will about debt, but I really do owe you for this one." 10He's even smiling a little. "When we have some time, I have some theories I'd like to discuss…" 15[22:03] Caxi: "That'd be delightful. There are so few people to talk to about these things. The Commodore can keep up but she has so little interest... how was your trip into the Wyld zone?" [22:04] "Is it your experience that people in trouble are so forthcoming? Ah - here we have it - let's duck in here for some meats for our four-legged information source. Seems a bit scarcer than when we arrived. Do you want anything?" 07Dryas will get herself a pork bun and a decent size slab of smoked pork -- fortunately you can still get good pork buns out here until you hit Wu Jian, to the north. [22:05] "It is my experience that people are often quite tight-lipped about their families," 07Dryas pointedly observes as she takes a bite of the pork bun. Good stuff. [22:06] "Rice bowl with as much pork they can add." 6As they sit: "And usually for good reasons. As I said: if she wants us to help, she'll ask us. If she doesn't, it's a personal issue that she can handle." 15[22:08] Zhangyu gets a bowl that might as well be the portal to the Meat Dimension. He remembers when other boys in secondary school would test themselves again and again on overflowing meat bowls like this, usually as a way to spend time on rainy days when there was nothing else to do. [22:09] 10Daizo: "Simply fascinating. I collected quite a few interesting samples, and let me tell you about the beast we bagged…" 10Really, does he need to keep all his cards so close to his chest all the time? [22:10] 6This was his usual order at one point. The nostalgia is overwhelming -- but he just eats away at it while presenting a good front for Dryas. [22:10] 07Dryas just places the smoked pork on the side of the table, close to the edge, and digs into the pork bun. "So what does drive your curiosity, then, O imposing student of Grandmaster Mushi?" 15[22:12] Caxi's eyes go wide. "Goodness." [22:15] 6Zhangyu chews for a bit before answering. "New battlefields, new opponents, new ways to prove myself. Someday training new students. Leading an army. Securing an armbar on someone who never saw it coming." 6He does not bring up his vision. [22:16] 07Dryas takes another bite. "Mmm. Fascinating. And of all the Realm's insidious enemies, whom do you most long to defeat?" [22:17] 6Without hesitation: "Whoever they put in front of me." 15[22:21] Where does Piu go after leaving Caedus behind? [22:21] 07Dryas nods. "And Son-of-Sabers?" [22:21] 6Zhangyu goes back to his meal. [22:22] 07Dryas laughs her beautiful laugh and looks around the street for any mangy yellow dogs. [22:24] 14Time to find Ted. [22:24] 10Daizo will chat a little more about this and that and then prepare to head out. He's not saying anything about his experience in the witch house just yet, though. 15[22:25] Caxi seems a bit crestfallen when he gets up to leave, but doesn't stop him. Where does he go? 15[22:26] After the two of them have been out in public view for a while, Dryas eventually spots the dog she knows to look for, playing as he so often is with the neighborhood children, goading them to chase him, tiring them out bit by bit as they never quite catch him. [22:28] "Ah, excellent," 07she notes, looking in its direction. "Let's go have a conversation." [22:28] 6Zhangyu unconsciously cracks his knuckles. [22:30] 10Piu's nowhere to be found, which means she probably doesn't care to be found. Daizo'll stop in at his cabin long enough to confirm the condition of his belongings, and then… 15[22:31] His journals are a bit singed, but all seem to be there. [22:32] 07Dryas stands, speaks with the man at the tea-house counter for a moment and then approaches Zhangyu again. "Can you tell the children that we've just bought them some treats?" 15[22:33] Piu's best bet is the Hinokuni, but when she checks there she finds he's not around. [22:33] 6Zhangyu: "I can, but... are you sure you want me for that?" [22:33] 14Hmmm... [22:36] 07Dryas: "Sure, why not? Then we'll have him to ourselves. I doubt they'd understand High Realm." [22:37] 6He is... smiling? It's kind of unnerving, seeing it on his face, but he does indeed tell the children that we've bought them treats. We have bought them, right? Otherwise he's going to have to haggle and that's upsetting for everyone. 15[22:38] The kids have about the reaction to Zhangyu that he expects, but the treats speak for themselves. Urchins or not, the kids seem savvy enough to know that scary isn't the same thing as sinister. [22:38] 14Ted usually hangs out with Son-of-Sabers and company, but directly asking him for help seems gauche, to say nothing of bad tradecraft. 15[22:38] The second most obvious lead is that Piu knows where he lives. [22:38] 10Daizo'll change in his cabin and have a couple of Kou's guards fetch him a ride to the Governor's mansion. Maybe he can make it in time to catch some of the bawling-out. [22:39] 07As they walk towards the dog, Dryas gives Zhangyu a slight smile. "Do you feel a little more respected, now?" [22:40] 14She'll check there next. 15[22:40] The dog spots them and his tail stops wagging immediately. But he turns and trots down an alley, slow enough that he's clearly not trying to flee. [22:40] 6Zhangyu: "They were terrified of me until I said 'sweets.' No." 6He scowls. "But... maybe someday." [22:42] "Generosity is key to these relationships. But it doesn't come overnight..." 07Dryas walks a few paces behind the dog. 15[22:43] Piu's in luck, there's a light on inside the fine little house Ted's staying in. Belongs to a friend, he said the first time Piu was here. [22:44] 14What's the best way to approach without being seen? Is there a window to knock on? 15[22:44] Several! Real glass, too - this really is a fine little house. 15[22:45] The dog walks behind a low-hanging clothesline like it's a changing screen and then the shaggy, querulous man they know to be Makita of Etua pokes his head out from between a pair of bedsheets. "There are four of you. Where are the others?" [22:46] 14He'll get a little knock, then. Piu's changed into the gray underwraps she wears beneath Silk Shadow, plus a shawl. 15[22:48] There's a small commotion inside and then a lengthy pause before Ted leans, less than half-dressed, out of the door that leads to his bedroom, hands still hidden behind the door frame. When he sees Piu his shoulders relax and he reveals his hands, glancing through the door and giving a little half-nod before approaching the window. [22:48] 14Piu doesn't pry. "Thinking of taking care of a mutual problem tonight. Poking out an Eye." [22:49] 07Dryas: "Last I saw, they were on their way back to the ship to chew out some of our mates. You can take this as a sign of trust on our part. And you can take this-" 07she offers the slab of smoked, salted, marinated pork - "as a sign of our continued good faith." 15[22:49] Ted: "Good timing. What do you need?" [22:50] 14Piu: "Just a little chaos. With the hostel already burned down, you don't even need to be the main event." 15[22:50] Ted: "Where do you need people not to be?" [22:52] "Governor's residence and adjoining streets. Work and home." 15[22:53] Ted whistles low. "You really do get right after it, don't you?" 15[22:53] "What's your damage tolerance?" 15[22:53] "In the collateral sense." [22:53] 14Piu: "No working people." 15[22:54] Ted smirks a bit at that. "When?" [22:54] "Give it an hour, give it a little bit more than that, then go." 15[22:55] Ted's pale brow furrows in thought for just a moment before he says, "Consider it done. Is it bad form where you're from to wish an assassin good luck?" [22:56] 14Piu: "I'm not from anywhere." [22:56] 14Then she's gone. 15[22:56] The window closes quietly and the lights inside go out. 15[22:57] Daizo gets an emas-pulled carriage to himself, largely by necessity, en route to the Governor's residence. How cleaned-up is he? [22:57] 14 <'S e ùine ullachadh.> Time to tool up. [22:57] 14 'S e ùine ullachadh.