The Found Arcana - Seventh Interlude [IC] Options

[Beta]

Jawsey sends Red Coat Boy (a small spirit) to hang out near the front door, astrally, and let him know when anyone is arriving. The door has always been an awkward distance from the main living sections of the house, making for slow response some of the time.

Red Coat Boy tells Jawsey There is a lady approaching. And a moment later She's talking to me and asking how I'm doing. What do I do? Jawsey smiled, excused himself from Wylon -- he'd been talking to the man to try and slow down his early drinking momentum -- and told Red Coat Boy Say 'Hello Adeline' then introduce yourself and talk with her as much as you'd like. She's very nice.

By the time Jawsey got to the door, the KE Forensics Mage had Red Coat Boy discussing whether they could actually feel a difference in the mana where the explosion had occurred, or if they only felt something because they knew an explosion had happened, and if the latter whether that was an error in perception or whether their emotions around the subject had caused a disruption in the astral. Red Coat Boy handed her over with some relief, telling Jawsey She makes my thoughts hurt.

Jawsey offered Adeline their traditional astral handshake, flesh not quite touching but auras making contact, then led her inside, saying "You know he's only a little spirit, I'm afraid you were stretching his mental limits." Adeline brushed a stray lock of steel-colored hair out of her eyes and riposted "And how does a small spirit develop into a larger spirit? Some would argue through accumulated experience in our world. Intellectual challenge is as good an experience as any other, and no doubt a nice change from the rough-housing and spying and whatnot that so many people put their spirits through." She pointedly did not look as Jawsey as she said that.

Jawsey smiled and admitted "I'm glad that you came in the flesh. I forget how much I like your voice when I haven't heard it in a while."

She shot back "Are you sure you are glad? Not worried that half your other guests will run when they learn I'm a cop?"

"I was planning on introducing you as a 'Forensic Astral Investigator' and let their eyes glaze over. And then sing some classic '60s power ballads together after some wine, to give people something else to remember about you. Up to you if you want to tell people more about your employer. Other than the rest of SIS, I've told them who you are."

Despite being a couple of decades older than Jawsey, and human, she had to wait for him at the top of the stairs. She was wearing a slightly smug expression to go with her Maria Mercurial "Back in Business" tour t-shirt, classic navy jeans, and sneakers. "My knees haven't quite packed it in yet. One more thing before we join the party" she reached inside her jacket and pulled out a flask. "Keep it, I'm sure you're going to have some cold nights where this could help. And its full of good stuff, pass that around carefully tonight." Jawsey looked at the flask with care, and expressed his thanks with a careful astral emote. Adeline gave him a shove "Get off it. We're around the normies tonight, right? Use your meat voice."

Once inside Jawsey takes her around to introduce her to SIS, to make sure they all are aware that the police are in the room. From the ugly glances that Gau throws her way, Jawsey assumes that he already knows who she is.

[Gilga]

AM texts >>Personally, the second one is (fire emoji)x3. Though the dress is fine also, I am wearing one. she attaches Gaufie.

Seeing Gau's and Fenghuang with talking with Mato, who stumbles, she quickly asks "Wine or tea?" She knows very little about wine but says We grow the mint, sage, and lemongrass right here in my lodge under a grow light. .

AM begins to feel comfortable until Adeline arrives. She gives her little notice, a bit on edge as the woman is awakened. When Jawsey introduces Adeline AM shoots an empathetic look at Gau, and then a moment of terror hits her. A copper, and the kind that would get her in prison. Perhaps this is why Jawsey quickly erases any hint of astral trace in the middle of the Barrens? "I got to be more careful," she thinks, then she reminds herself that she talked to a dragon, and she forces herself to introduce herself. Her heart is beating strongly, and she wishes she asked for Iktomi's help in this social situation -- but she does not want to feel overly dependent on borrowed confidence. Besides - she realizes "I probably am not even aware as to what legal license I need to cast this spell."

"Amy" she says then panicking, decking is illegal and so is unlicensed magic, and her SIN is bullshit. "Did you find our place easily?" she asks trying to make conversation but uncertain what she can or cannot say.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby noticed the strong aura of their guest and moved over, leaving Lysander to amuse himself.
Upon learning she is a cop he grinned:
"So you are called to investigate magic related crimes? Like what? Magic aided assassinations or break ins? Sounds like a hell of a lot of work - especially when perps take the time to erase their signature. Do you have tricks around that?"

It wasn't exactly clear if Bobby was pulling the tigers tale or if he was just pumping for information.

[Tecumseh]

Adeline smirks a bit at the question.

"The good ones erase their signatures. But not all criminals are good."

She seems amused about the double-meaning of the word 'good'.

"I didn't come here to talk about work," she says slyly, as if to suggest she might be doing exactly that. "Not tonight, at least. But nor am I ignorant of what I can do for you or what you can do for me."

She seems to be addressing both Bobby and AM.

"To answer your question more directly, think of me as a detective. I'm not a beat cop. I'm not going to slap your hand for a misdemeanor; I'm not going to write you up for some deepweed under your bed.

"K-E brings me in for felony-level crimes with a magical component. Murders, arson or wide-scale property destruction, kidnappings, mental manipulations." She says the last one with distinct venom in her voice. "As long as you don't turn anyone into a statue or a Teddy bear, you and I will get along just fine."

She laughs, although it's hard to say at what.

"I'm not going to tip my hand or reveal the tricks of my trade any more than you will. But I will say this: a leopard doesn't change its spots. Criminals usually have a toolbox, a bag of tricks, and they go back to the same ones over and over again. If we don't get them the first time, we will the second or the third when they repeat themselves over and over again."

Mato, overhearing, makes a mental note to see if Bobby changes his spots between transformations.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby shrugged: "Fair enough, this is a party after all.

Funny that you mention that: Have you heard about magic tarot cards that have been bought, stolen or otherwise obtained? Over the last year we've run into those during our cases a few times. Seemed like too much of a coincidence."

[Gilga]

Adeline examines Bobby for a brief moment and then comments "I'd rather not talk about my work, but I recommend you stay away from these cards." There is an awkward silence and the woman is clearly uncomfortable discussing the topic.

AM changes the subject to try and ease the atmosphere So tell me Adeline, how do you know Jawsey? AM asks changing the subject, everybody loves talking about Jawsey.

[Tecumseh]

Another knock on the door. Mato goes and gets it and comes back with the street doc.

"Hey everyone, this is Doc Painless."

She elbows him.

"I mean, Heather Huxley. She's got a clinic just down the road. She's my bonesaw." Another elbow in the ribs. "I mean, my surgeon."

She seems to like that title better.

A glance at the astral suggests that she might have been partying a little bit before the party. She looks loose and a little ... quirky.

"You look familiar," she tells Bobby, squinting. It's a little odd that she doesn't recognize him after all his visits to the clinic. Perhaps she's a bit more medicated than you thought. "Have I seen you naked? No, no, that wouldn't narrow it down much. Have you seen me naked?"

[Beta]

Adeline is distracted a bit by Doc Painless's entrance, but once that show is over she remembers her wine and pulls back a good amount of it, then finally replies to AM. "Jawsey? In the astral at first. Not really to know him but we were at some os the same events. You've probably seen how he's active in the astral, liking to move around, so he stood out a bit."

"A couple of months after I first noticed him, I was investigating a suspected spiritual possession of a ... well just a suspected spiritual possession. I noticed Jawsey lurking about and wondered if he was behind. I followed him to his body, because he is cocky and I'm good, and had a patrol bring him in. Turns out that Jawsey was following my suspect on behalf of his wife, who thought that he was having an affair. He cooperated, and I thought he had some basic skills. We stayed in touch after."

Jawsey added "turned out that her suspect was having an affair, and the lover was possessed by a Termite Spirit, a nymph that was manipulating him."

[Gilga]

When doc Huxley arrives she finds her attention back at Mato and with the interplay with Bobby she thinks to herself "Did he?". None of her colleagues seemed to have permanent lovers at the moment, and she was completely inexperienced in that department but Heather seemed so casual about it. AM was wondering why she complicates these matters so much. To be fair many many people see Bobby naked regardless of his romances.

Another spirit walker, AM comments to herself, spirit walking takes being at the wrong place at the wrong time to whole new levels. The woman must be good at her craft, possibly a spiritual explorer or even a full mage. Once the distraction is over she comments "The spirits have blessed you, Adeline." she hands her SIS card, and comments "Jawsey would not be around, but we are good detectives with magic, technology, and old fashion legwork. Give us a buzz if you need our help, but please no police cars." she grins They are embarrassing. she comments referring to their experience with Mayor Sonya.

She then asks Jawsey and Adeline So did you discover an entire hive?

[Jack_Spade]

"You look familiar," she tells Bobby, squinting. It's a little odd that she doesn't recognize him after all his visits to the clinic. Perhaps she's a bit more medicated than you thought. "Have I seen you naked? No, no, that wouldn't narrow it down much. Have you seen me naked?"

Bobby squinted back: "Can't say for sure, it would help if you'd freshen up my memories. But you definitely saw me naked when I delivered Mato to your emergency care."

The talk about insect spirits caught his attention, so he stopped flirting and listened intently.

[Beta]

Jawsey realizes that he's said too much, and gives a panicked look at Adeline. She mutters something under her breath, then clears her throat and says "The target of my investigation was cleared of being possessed, and his extra-marital affairs are not my problem. He was an associate of a woman who is of ongoing interest to us. Unfortunately the attempts to bring her in for questioning were not successful, and the investigation is still open. We did trace the woman's recent movements and she had recently arrived from out-of-metroplex, and we have sufficient tracking of her movements between arrival and attempted apprehension that we do not believe that she was compromised while in the Seattle Metroplex. It is possible that she managed to leave the Metroplex using unofficial means, evading tracking of her departure. We have communicated with the relevant authorities in adjacent jurisdictions and in places where she had previously resided. Unfortunately the woman was operating under a fake SIN, and given her limited official history we suspect that prior to being allegedly compromised she may have been an undocumented citizen, operating on a series of faked credentials, likely for criminal purposes, and she may retain knowledge of such tactics, and may have been equipped with alternate identities."

In a message to the team, Jawsey translates <<Adeline never gave me all the details, but it sounds like KE tried to pick her up and she saw them coming and had a good escape plan in place. She flew here from Detroit, but as a bug she almost certainly didn't originate there, but they don't know where her nest was. Gutsy even to travel through there you'd think. They think that the body may have belonged to a ShadowRunner, but some KE see everyone living in the shadows as a ShadowRunner, so who knows? But she certainly had enough knowledge of human society to do a good job disappearing. Also, I probably shouldn't have mentioned this, sorry to have made you privy to something KE would rather nobody knows about.>>

Jawsey then bustles around to get Adeline a drink and start bringing around some appetizers, as a distraction from the discussion.

[Gilga]

AM did not expect more than a yes or no, but perhaps Adeline was either panicking or recruiting?

She listens to the story and is uncertain if to be horrified that the KE investigates and follows people across state lines or to be annoyed by the "unregistered citizen" euphemism. They are many things, but indeed not citizens. None of the votes, and by the KE's view of the world they are always guilty. She got that kind of wisdom with her mother's milk. It's a classic catch-22, either she does not buy a fake SIN, and then she cannot legally work and must support herself from illegal activity. If she does buy one, she can do legitimate work, but just buying a fake SIN makes her a criminal. For the SINless even walking the straight path is a privilege they do not have.

"Well, you sure have some stories under your belt. pausing she casually adds I'll pray to the great spirits to let you find the evil insect. . Trying to reduce the tension she comments "and, you have our card if you think that we can help." Indicating that the business card was more than a formality. It was refreshing to see a KE investigator stressed for just talking to them, AM believed that the Trickster wants her to experience that. She feels his blessing despite no sorcery being used.

>>I just read it as if being a big criminal is sometimes safer than being a little one. These fakes need changing all the time - but if you do something legitimate with them it is very difficult to change your identity.

[Jack_Spade]

"Have you ever wondered, why of all animals, it's only insects that those foreign spirits have chosen to emulate? I mean, what's the difference really between a jumping spider and a cicada from a spiritual standpoint?
Doesn't make much sense if you think about it. They seem to have certain aspects of specific insects - like Bee Spirits being able to produce gelee royal or Termites being able to dig incredibly well. But they are all parasites like certain kinds of wasps, requiring meta humans for their lifecycle. That suggests, that their form is somewhat dependent on meta human expectation. Especially since we have so far not encountered any insect spirit that doesn't resemble a currently existing insect species - despite the fact that humanity managed to make thousands of insect species go extinct since the last mana tide..."

Bobby stopped, seeing that he had lost his audience halfway down his train of thought.

"Anyway, I really hate that the real insects all got a bad name from those fraggers. It's really no fun anymore to be a bee is all I'm saying."

to the team channel he added:
<<Don't worry about it. That will just get us an NDA and some jobs at best. At worst she'll keep her distance and do her best to keep the world from finding out that she blabbed. And seeing that we are quite reasonable, I'm sure she won't resort to a hitsquad immediately. Easier and cheaper to just intimidate us.>>

[Gilga]

With her spiderweb earrings, and the dream catchers decorating their house AM does not wish to develop a discussion of insect spirits too much. Spiders are mistaken as insects and she is tired of explaining that they aren't and that in fact, they hunt insects. She shoots Bobby a quick response with her DNI, but otherwise pays no significant response to his train of thought.

>> Nice observation, but let's discuss it afterward. ... but if I dare risk a theory, then think they appear like that because of the widespread cultural view of insects as pests. So it is easier for these spirits to manifest as insects than as unicorns. It feels very similar to the way the same spirits vary in appearance between magical traditions.


Then when he mentions the detective she shoots >>> Yes, at this point I expect everyone to be bullies. KE just bullies people in a different manner than gangers. Underneath it is the same: yield or survive a power play. The mayor, the dragon, the police, organized crime, gangers, and cooperations... They are all bullies.

[Beta]

Jawsey replied <<Definitely no hit squad danger. Forensics is way off on the edge of the KE org chart from she has told me, with chunks of it actually contracted out. Which makes sense I guess, how much does KE usually care about evidence? Anyway she isn't in charge of a whole lot, my impression is that she holds more informal influence than formal power, so she has to ration that influence.>>

Addressing Bobby's thoughts about bug spirits he says "I never thought about it much, but that probably makes sense. Our worldview impacts how we even perceive the astral, so much is it a realm of spirit. So beings from beyond the astral are probably shaped by simply having to exist in that meta-human-centric astral background. I'm sure there are people who have studied it, but drek are academic papers about magic ever hard to make sense of. They have their whole own vocabulary, eh?"

[Gilga]

She responds to Jawsey >> My mentors were very much against forcing magic into logical patterns so they would look favorably at not studying UMT. Though I strongly suggest you do. It allows us to carry knowledge across traditions, and understand logically some aspects of magic. We just have to remember that Wakan Tanaka teaches us that magic is not logical, but they never say that logic cannot approximate or explain some aspects of it. Just because magic is not bounded by our logic, does not mean that it does not follow a certain set of rules most of the time. By the way, Fenghuang is my mentor in these matters, but there is a cultural barrier to overcome.

[Tecumseh]

There's another knock. Cutty is ushered in by Red Coat Boy.

He looks different than you've seen him. Gone are the athletic sweats and t-shirts he wears around the gym. He's wearing a pair of black denim jeans and a dark button-up shirt that has a collar. A close eye would detect that the clothes are not from the most fashionable brand - Wellington Bros, perhaps - but he would not look terribly out-of-place while clubbing or out for a night on the town. One might be reasonably surprised that Cutty even owns clothes like this. They are relatively tight and show off his athletic build.

"Oh, my!" Doc Painless gasps, involuntarily raising a hand to her décolletage. "Introduce me! Introduce me!" she whispers loudly enough for everyone to hear, elbowing Mato repeatedly.

The irony is that Mato doesn't know Cutty as well as the rest of you do. But Mato has been to the gym a few times - pre-explosion - to see if Cutty could teach him some new martial arts techniques. Mato's Okichitaw is decent and now he wants to learn 52 Blocks. Cutty, as it happens, is an expert.

"Ms. Huxley, I would like to introduce, um, Cutty." Mato falters for a moment, realizing too late that he doesn't know Cutty's real name. "Cutty, this is Ms. Heather Huxley, my surgeon. Cutty runs the new gym that just opened."

"Miss Huxley, I assure you," she says, seizing Cutty's hand and shaking it vigorously. "I would love it if you worked me out sometime."

Then, fueled by chemicals unknown, she holds up Cutty's hand and begins to examine it closely. "Remarkable!" she says, although who knows exactly what she's referring to.

Cutty seems bemused but also unsure about what to do next. The Doc isn't giving his hand back.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby used the opportunity to extricate himself from the discussion - not before giving Cutty a fist bump to his free hand - and instead set about to get the buffet going, since by now most of the guests had arrived.

The smell of the roast as well as the bread and pasta quickly filled the room.
Bobby took on the chef role, handing out portions of all the delicious dishes - and made sure everyone also had their plates full with veggies.

"No Wallon, you can have a second helping after you finished that one. You are getting leftovers - we butchered a whole deer for crow's sake."

Bobby was under no illusion that the squatter wouldn't immediately start hoarding a portion of his food - survival habits died hard after all, but he wanted to make sure everyone got a portion of the first batch.

<<Get people to sit as best as you can. I need the kitchen clear for the second round.>>

[Gilga]

"Please sit, we have real meat, multiple servings with complex names, and pasta!" she says in one of the rare cases when she tries to get attention rather than avoid it. She looks at Fenghuang and Gau. Did you ever have deer, Gau? she asks. The man laughs Can't be where I am from and not have it. Many times sweetie, many times. So, which is your favorite part? Gau seems to struggle a bit, looking at his wife for help and then comments Liver... haven't had one in twenty years.
"With what we did to this world, perhaps it's for the better. Gau responds It is mainly the big ones, they bleed the earth dry collecting all the reagents and tapping all the lay lines. When we collect a few scraps here and there, they send their lawyers with their bullshit lawsuits. She shrugs Well, you have the best reagents in Redmond lawyers or not. Gau comments ... and you have such a low bar. she is uncertain if he mocks her or not, but then the man adds which is part of your charm. the Gau family seats and AM plans to follow, but then gets distracted looking at Jawsey.

She gives Jawsey a longing look, suddenly realizing that she would rarely see the man again. "perhaps by astral" she thinks but since she could only perceive it was more of a functional place to her rather than an alternative plane of existence like the matrix was. Astral meetings would not cut it. In all ways, that matter. They will lose Jawsey after an intense half a year filled with experiences. "perhaps I could say a few words?" but she is unsure what to say; most of the fun stuff was illegal.

Huxley and Cutty seem to engage in a conversation, well Huxley does most of the talking. "Lucky bastard" she comments to herself.

Looking at Trouble she comments "one should not put a cat to watch milk" realizing just how intoxicated the woman is, and Trouble meows in disagreement. She feels he is saying "Milk is not that pretty, take a picture and let the cats enjoy themselves." A unique sense of humor - AM realizes that part of their emotional connection covers some deeper meaning, she gets a vibe that her familiar is planning to start feeding cats in the near future. "I'll be an old woman with no husband and tens of cats," she thinks at him, but Trouble's response is not verbal he moves his head in an expression that AM interprets as "Nothing wrong with being old, or having cats."

Then she realizes she stares at a small cat for a while so she finally takes a seat herself, Trouble quickly follows and joins her on her lap leaving his very realistic cat hair on her expensive (and praise Iktomi durable) fabric. AM strokes the cat fondly and looks expectedly at the door. Hoping that her friend would join them before the seat to her left would be taken.

[Tecumseh]

The invitation to sit distracts Dr. Huxley for a moment, giving Cutty an opportunity to exfiltrate his hand from her grasp. He moves to the table while Dr. Huxley looks momentarily perplexed at her empty hand. She blindly reaches around for a hand to hold, any hand, before grabbing Mato's because he's standing right next to her.

"Ew, no," she says, dropping the metal appendage. Mato raises an eyebrow but doesn't say anything.

There's a screech of tires out on the street - not necessarily unusual in Redmond - and, a few moments later, some rapid knocking at the door. Kira Benson stumbles in, having opted for the little black dress and a pair of gorgeous but impractical black stiletto heels.

"I'm here!" she gasps, breathless as if she had run from Downtown. She adjusts one of her shoes, which has gone askew from running up the stairs. It's unscripted and charming and gives a flash of her plunging neckline.

"Oh my!" Doc Painless gasps when she sees Kira, involuntarily raising a hand to her décolletage. "Introduce me! Introduce me!" she whispers loudly enough for everyone to hear, elbowing Mato repeatedly.

"I don't know her," Mato hisses back.

Kira races over and gives AM a hug. "Hi! Is this seat for me?"

She sits to AM's left and introduces herself. "Hi, everyone, I'm Kira!" Then to AM in a lower tone, "It's okay to park the BMW out front, right?"

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby prepared another plate, serving Kira, before getting his own.
<<AM, you never told us that you keep such hot company. Is she as deranged as I suspect she is?>>

By now it's time to get the second portion out of the oven and another round of side dishes from the portable ice box, since the party preparations required much more space than the little freezer of their flat could provide.

Since the guests are all there now, Bobby picked up his bottle and said in a loud and booming voice:

"A toast! We have come here to wish Jawsey farewell and the best possible future when he gets back to his native lands to teach the people there what's what."

[Gilga]

AM's eyes light up when the door opens, and she thinks that Kira looks gorgeous. Some women can just pull off classy and sexy and whatnot, and she admires these women. She warmly hugs Kira as she seats next to her, but when Kira mentions her BMW AM becomes all business.
Let's park your BMW in our garage, you would not enjoy the attention it will get in this hood. "May the Trickster find some other amusement" she prays quietly heading to the car.

On the way back to the car she texts Bobby >> I did not know you'll find her hot, your taste in women was not something you ever shared with me. Kira is a lot of fun to hang out with I assure you. She never referred to Kira as hot before, but she did kill in that dress and heels.

When Bobby proposes a Toast she realizes that she cannot leave the car in the street, and skips it politely (or impolitely but she does whisper "sorry") to the car for a few moments. AM seats in the Ford and drives it manually, skillfully putting it out of the way and then reverse parking it in front of the closed garage door. Kira does not move to move the car, she lets the autopilot handle it - and it is a fine autopilot. Once AM is back, she feels uncomfortable to be the one everyone is waiting for and is quickly moving Trouble from her seat next to Kira where she can feel hidden again. You can thank me by letting me drive that beauty manually. she says quietly as she gets comfortable. The black cat also gets comfortable on her lap.

[Beta]

Seeing the Doc out of her clinic, and then seeing Kira, and tossing a glance at Adeline, Jawsey murmurs to Bobby "It seems the rest of us brought fascinating women to the party, no colourful dames you have hidden away?" Then he heads over to Wylon to keep the man company, to distract his mind off the food a bit if possible, and to try and understand his mindset on survival. There will be people on Haida Gwaii who can tell him plenty of details of how to survive in harsh conditions, but at this late hour it has occurred to him that it is likely more about how one approaches survival that matters more than if one knows the details of how to survive.

To Bobby's toast he blushes a bit, but then raises his own glass back "to what's what!"

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby answered Jawsey with one of his typical shrugs: "There's Livewire, but she never goes out. And to be fair, she realy isn't my type. Between AM and the kids I have little work for her these days anyway. Lysander isn't bad looking, but I just don't swing that way."

To AM he sent: <<My lifestyle isn't really suited for any longterm relationships. But I do enjoy the occasional fling.>>

[Tecumseh]

Kira's BMW X89 is black and sleek. It's not an entry-level model like the 400GT, but rather a luxury model like the S-K Bentley Concordat or the GMC Cadillac Nocturne.

"Let's go racing!" Kira says, her eyes lighting up. "The bridges across the lake are straight, and there aren't any drones in the Mount Baker tunnel. You can get it up to 200 in there!" Kira, being a hot-sim decker, likes things fast and that extends to her vehicles. "Gotta go fast," is her motto. "It's not the size of the bullet; it's the speed."

~

Waylon can actually be quite fascinating once you get him talking. He's open with personal details, sometimes disarming in his transparency. He's in his mid-40s, but with all the grey in his hair and his beard he could pass for 10 years older. He used to be married 20 years ago until an addiction to Bliss derailed his life and dumped him on the streets. He got clean during a stint in jail and is now a drug rehabilitation counselor. It doesn't pay well - no job for a Criminal SIN really does - but its enough to meet his basic needs. So why does he spend most of the time on the streets?

"Easier," he says, shrugging. "Less complicated. Fewer attachments. That's where my clients live, so I live there with them." So he's a squatter by choice? He shrugs again, then nods. "I was always stubborn, always had to do things my way. My mother said I should have been born a dwarf." He has a dwarven beard and a dwarven gut, that's for sure, but he's 180cm tall. "That's the key to survival, really: being too stubborn to die. You don't greet Death; you punch her in the throat repeatedly as she tries to drag you away."

~

Mato toasts Jawsey. "'The pain of parting,' said Charles Dickens, 'is nothing to the joy of meeting again.'"

Presumably this came from one of the British trid miniseries that Mato got into after the business at Pike Hall.

"To goodbyes: that they never be spoken!

"To friendships: may they never be broken!

"To Jawsey!"

He raises his glass in salute.