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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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?"

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."

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?

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.

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.

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.

"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.>>

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.

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?"

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.

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.

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.>>

"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.

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?"

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."

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.

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!"

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.>>

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.

She texts Bobby >>Don't feel like you need my blessing or anything., and truth be told she was pretty clueless in these matters.


AM says softly We can do it later... This event is a big deal for me." When Mato toasts she lifts her tea cup and sips from it. She wants to say a few words but her mind is blank there are so many conflicting emotions. She says "I am not sure how well you know Jawsey, but he charming and generous to the point where it is impossible to be mad at him... even when he leaves our firm, our family to pursue matters that I cannot understand. Jawsey, this half a year we shared together was the most memorable in my life. May the spirits bless you and keep you strong." she says, and then she decides to stop before she starts crying in public. She gives Jawsey a warm look, and then seats.

Bobby refrained from continuing the conversation in that direction, seeing AM wasn't in the best condition.

Before the party could turn morose, he hasted to add: "Memorable, exactly! So raise your glasses once more - I want to hear a cheer loud enough for the whole of Touristville to hear!"

After that he hit start for the playlist that he had cobbled together from the lists of his team colleagues - unknown artist 1 came from Mato's list and Bobby had done no curating at all...

The music starts off slowly before lurching into a rap-rock mixture of thrash metal with orxploitation hip hop. It's loud and aggressive and not terribly fitting for a dinner party. One could dance to it? Maybe? If by dancing you mean slamming around in a mosh pit.

Mato looks mildly embarrassed but also can't help involuntarily drumming his fingers on the table is a rapid-fire sync with the music. His metal fingers moving at a blur are almost a show in and of themselves. Luckily, he doesn't sing along.

When the music ('music'?) starts, Jawsey looks a question at Adeline, who quietly says "everyone is eating."

Jawsey stands up and strikes a ridiculous dance pose "Now not everyone is eating."

"Oh, fine then. It is so much less embarrassing in the astral though."

"Not enough crowd though, not with recorded music."

"I know, I know." Adeline pushes back her chair, and is she blushing a bit? But she joins Jawsey in an open area and they start thrashing to the music, soon laughing like kids at how ridiculous they must seem.

Jawse spares a thought to tell the team <<She just loves music and dancing, but nobody else in her life is that into it.>>

Being not overly interested in food at the moment, AM stands up and sends a hand to Kira to join her dancing. She moves her body to the music despite herself, she hasn't been to many physical parties but the hottest parties are in the Trix anyhow. How different can it be?

Bobby took a moment before joining the fray. His dancing wasn't the most graceful in human form - and he didn't want to turn into a panther on the dancefloor. As the last driving beats ebbed away, they were immediately replaced by the low bass of powerful drums, followed quickly by the growling voices of one of Bobby's Navaho Death Metal bands, singing of despoiled lands and slaughtered natives - luckily the lyrics were nearly incomprehensible and the beat fitted well enough to not let the momentum go away.

<<I really should have put a few minutes into setting the playlist up.>>

Kira stands up happily to dance - she did not exactly put on that dress to just seat and eat. When Bobby joins the fray, she tells her , "This is Bobby. He is perhaps the most intimidating bad boy in Redmond." she invites the man to dance with them. She feels too sober and aware of the music, but the beat is good, and Jawsey is leaving. Life is changing, and she feels like she needs some escapism. So allows herself to get carried away by the metal music and clear her mind of all inhibitions. If Kira and Bobby would hook up it would be a lonely night for her -- but if they don't she gets to drive the BMW at 200 km. That got to be better than hooking up, at least in the driving case she does not need to fake the passion.

Kira looks stunning in that dress, a head taller than AM the short elf wonders what it would feel like to be taller and have the legs to pull off a nightdress, or the tits for a low neckline for that matter. She was a woman radiating passion, sexuality, and confidence. AM is not exactly envious, but her mind wonders what it would feel like to have a more feminine figure. She is so slim and with her short hair, tiny tits, and athletic build she could pass as a teenager if she takes off her earrings and stopped wearing makeup. Not that she wants to appear as a boy but perhaps no woman is ever happy with the body she actually has...

Tonight though, none of that matters. Looking at Adeline and Jawsey she realizes that Jawsey must be very fond of the woman. He was putting on a brave face, and he danced. Doing physical things was just not his thing with the bad back and tormented approach toward life. Perhaps Jawsey preferred to dance on the astral rather than with his actual body. It felt like a strange choice for her considering how unpleasant the astral has been in Redmond but being able to travel away from his body has made it more pleasant. I mean, he could just go to nice places he did not have to feel all the desperation and misery of his neighbors. Perhaps astral travel gave him the freedom to not worry about his bad back and bad memories and just be himself, the ability to move at the speed of thoughts with almost limitless speed must feel amazing.

Maybe it was similar to the allure of hot simulation for her -- a world where she can be taller and more feminine do whatever she wanted hitch up with anyone and still wake up in her own room, without risking unwanted STDs, pregnancies, or violent partners. So she just imagines that this entire night is some strange simulation and that for once she can do anything she desires.

After a couple of songs Jawsey grimaces at his back and sits down for a bit, picking up his previous conversation with Waylon. "So, punch death in the throat, eh? I guess you have to get up in the morning ready to do that, and go to sleep at night ready to do that. Maybe that is my problem, I'm too lazy to want to keep up that attitude. But I may need to learn how to do so anyway. Did it come naturally to you, or was it just a matter of good fortune to survive long enough to develop that mindset, or was there something that accelerated it?"

Bobby didn't hesitate to flirt with Kira - albeit in his typical, rather hands on fashion, whispering something in her ear over the noise of the current drum solo.
Kira didn't seem to take it serious at first, then looked scandalized followed by a thoughtful and measuring gaze. Someone able to lip read might have been able to read the word "Stallion?" from her lips.

AM dances with Kira and is happy to welcome Bobby; when Jawsey seats, she moves to Adeline to dance with her leaving the two friends some breathing room. From her thirty years of experience, she understands that the two are adults, and her role as a friend may be to help Kira ditch Bobby if she is not interested, but otherwise, she would not interfere. Despite herself, she observes that the two seem to be enjoying themselves. She hates goodbyes, yet she is dancing, and the music provides escapism from overly thinking about that. Adeline also seems to be enjoying herself perhaps she genuinely likes dancing.

In the meanwhile, Trouble decides to finish her plate. AM is vaguely aware of it but she approves. They were born from the same spirit and have only recently-separated. She needed some template to create Trouble out, and after many considerations, she decided to use her own form to start with. So despite being shaped like a cat, Trouble was her they shared their history and experiences but at the same time, he was not her. He was immortal, and a spirit and that means that there would eventually be many goodbyes for him. Yet, the cat eats her well-prepped dinner without a worry in the world and does not appear to be even mildly sad about Jawsey departing.

Then she realizes, that Trouble is smart enough to know that all mortals would leave him. He is very young, but he understands and if something is bound to happen then does it matter if it happens now or a couple of years down the road? He would spend the end of time with nothing but memories of her and their friends. She has made him smart enough to realize that and perhaps it explains how with her experiences, and emotions the cat can be so tranquil about it.

"You seem to know what you are doing, do you dance a lot?" she'll ask a few songs down the line.

Kira gives a coquettish grin but then twists away from Bobby. She seems to like playing hard-to-get.

~

"It's not as simple as that," Waylon tells Jawsey. "It's not an action, it's a mindset. You can punch Death in the throat by fighting like hell, or by not fighting at all. Sometimes giving up is the best survival technique." He holds his hands out, palms down, like he's surfing. "It's like riding a wave. You take what's given to you by forces outside of your control and you deal with it. Sometimes that's going with the flow, sometimes that's a sharp cutback. You read the situation - you feel the wave's energy - and then you respond accordingly."

Jawsey nodded to Waylon "A bit like trying to get information from someone then, don't have too set of a plan, have to adapt to the situation, always focused on the goal. Sounds so simple!" he laughed, to make it clear how difficult her realized it must actually be.

========================================

Adeline spins, then replies to AM "I like dancing, but more importantly because I like it, it is a way to cleanse my aura. My job, well, you can imagine I'm sure. What I have to SEE. It can seep into you, darkening you, driving you to drink or drugs or darkness. But magical energy is also life energy. This might sound airy-fairy coming from a hermetic mage, but I believe that doing fundamentally life affirming activities, things that engage body and emotions and mind and that you enjoy, it helps generate new magical energy within you, from a purer source. So I dance to drive out the darkness. A lot of my coworkers don't understand, so I take my dancing opportunities when I get them."

Bobby took the rejection in stride, finished the current song, before fetching himself a drink and offering one to Kira as well. But all to soon, Bobby moved back into the kitchen taking out the second round of food - or rather course - and started to serve the other, still seated guests.
Now that there was food to be eaten again, he turned the music down as well. With that another change came over Bobby. Where before he had been more or less good humored and detached then even exuberant and happy he now looked positively morose. With very little enthusiasm he sat down in front of his plate.

Lysander sitting next to him, asked: "Have you taken Sobertime or what's going on with you?"
Lysander managed to sound absolutely sincere and empathetic - the perfect confession priest - but Bobby only shrugged: "Nah. Just realization setting in. He really is leaving. No last minute inspiration or revelation to be expected. Pass the salt, would you?"

Lysander did so and stopped engaging Bobby.

AM makes a layman remark "Well, most people I know got into drugs and drinking by dancing. Somehow you dance to avoid them." typical to her somewhat cynical and bitter-sweet sense of humor.
You actually speak kind of like a Shaman; We see life as a series of interactions between equal entities.
Now, if you wash in the river you get wet and the river takes your dirt. Both sides change but if your force of personality is big enough then you only change a little bit. Considering that you interact with dark entities, you do need to use all the tools you have to keep your identity and stay strong. "

Adeline nods back to AM "Yah, you get it. My training was in the Hermetic tradition, of course, but I study other traditions in both a professional capacity and out of interest. There are things to learn from all of them." then she hastens to add "not that I mix other traditions into my magic in the course of duty."

Jawsey, meanwhile, is sitting and spinning his empty wineglass between his fingers while staring somewhere much farther than the walls of their room. Frag, I'm really doing this.

Cutty seems to grab on to Walon mentioning that he was in jail. "Where did you do your time?" Cutty asks.

"Hollywood Correctional Facility," Walon says without reservation. "Right here in Redmond. It's as overcrowded as they say, especially after mass raids or roundups, although some say that it’s still better than living in the Barrens."

Walon's eyes get a faraway look. "I guess that's where I really learned it. Survival, I mean. If there's space they'll segregate the metas to try to keep the violence to a minimum, but there usually isn't the space. Some of the guards like mixing metas and watching what happens. They try different combos to see what works. Maybe two elves against an ork, four dwarves against a troll. Sometimes they'd introduce a handicap, like handcuffing one of the troll's arms to the cell bars, or chaining their leg to the latrine.

"The guards record 'em and post 'em online. They make a bit of nuyen on the side, maybe boost their P2.0 ratings, and the result usually thins out the prison population a bit. A win-win as far as the guards are concerned."

"Did you fight?" Cutty asks, curious.

"No, I learned how to talk," Walon answers. "You get paired up with a troll, you're not going to win."

_{"I would win,"} Cutty mutters under his breath.

"So you talk your way out of trouble. Flattery is good. Humor is good. Works better than begging. Pleading doesn't work unless you mix it with flattery. It's a delicate mix, that push-pull. Doesn't always work though, so you take your beatings and move on."

_{"If you're alive to move on,"} Cutty whispers. He has a bit of a distant look. On the astral, he looks haunted.

~~~

"So, Jawsey, you're going to come back and manifest here often, right?" Mato asks. In truth, he has no idea if he's being rude or not, being oblivious to the etiquette of the Awakened.

"You zip back here and hang out. You scratch Trouble behind the ears, you and Bobby and AM can all hang out in the astral, like you never left.

"I mean, that's what I would do if I were an astral wanderer. If I could just zip across the globe at the speed of thought? Man, I'd be watching sunsets in Hawai'i.

"Say, what's a sunset look like on the astral anyway? Can you see the change? Do insects and plants power down, go to sleep? Tell us mundanes."

She says , "Why is the emphasis on duty? Are you only allowed to practice Hermeticism for the police?

I try to mix some form of science through UMT, but it is challenging to mesh up pseudoscience knowledge with the concepts of Shamanism. Chaos mages seem to find it easier, Gregordini has a nice vlog about it. I usually find his views of Shamanism to be offensive and superficial but he knows how to ape many different traditions. So it is fascinating. "

She then texts Kira >> If you want to get out of here, I am game unless you prefer to go horseback riding... In that case, I'll make other afterparty plans. She has no strong feelings about Bobby and Kira hooking up, not when Jawsey is leaving, no running away from them. Change is necessary. All thing changes, but it does not mean that she needs to like changes. Mornings happen every day, and she still hates them.

Bobby seemed to have overcome his sudden soberness, because he dug into the food on his plate as if it was his last meal. The air in the room was warm - warmer actually than the heater at any given time had managed to bring up the temperature. Moisture was condensing on the window panes and by now it felt as if the party was slowing down with all the guests being pretty full.
If he was honest Bobby felt already fed up with the many guests here. What he really wanted to do, was to transform himself into a house cat and curl up on the sofa. He wouldn't have minded getting a bit of petting from Kira either. But this was Jawsey's party and he didn't want to ruin it for his friend.
So he stayed put and desperately thought what he could say for small talk. But all topics concerned either work, magic or random animal facts.

He decided for the latter, judging it to be the most harmless topic of the three.

He turned to Lysander: "Did you know that little owlings the first few weeks after hatching are not yet strong enough to keep upright during sleep and therefore sleep on their face? Funniest thing ever."

Lysander only returned a blank face, waiting for a punchline that never came.

Bobby took a deep gulp from his cup and then went for a hail marry: "Not into ornithology, are you? Alright another fun fact. The wombat is the only animal on this planet that shits cubes."

For a moment Lysander looked absolut incredulous before collapsing into helpless laughter.

Adeline responds to AM "spoken like someone who has never had to defend her magical techniques under cross-examination.". She dances with intensity for a minute then comes back to AM and puts on a nasal voice "Tell me MISS Peters, isn't it true that astral experiences are influenced by emotions? So if you were in a particularity emotional state it might have affected your perceptions?". She drops that voice and continues " when convincing mundanes of astral phenomenon, make sure you are using rigorously standard techniques "

AM chuckles "The Trickster sure has a unique sense of humor for you." pausing she adds No experiences there as I normally avoid the inside of a courtroom... I can do evil spirits occasionally but lawyers are too much. Though if you do courtrooms, I bet you hold a ThD from a proper establishment or they would never listen to you. So what did you write your thesis on?"

Adeline pauses her dancing and says "Yah.". Then she resumes in a more aggressive style, perhaps partially based on some martial art? She punctuates her comments with jabs.

"Magic degrees are a crock. Do you have the mojo? Do you have the connections? Did you serve your time and lick the right asses? I was part of a group supporting Professor Andrew Del Zotto, you may have trained on Del Zotto Trays if you were taught a standardized way to describe health based on auras. My mighty part of this worthy endeavour was analyzing which lichen gave the most consistent readings between people and some preliminary statistical clustering of terms used to describe auras. And because he was a well connected professor his minions neve had trouble getting their ThD, me included."

"If I never see another half dead lichen I'll die a less salty woman."

It's a curious gathering - a dinner party where a dance party broke out - but any tension between strangers is gone and people chat more freely... when they can hear each other over the music.

That said, there's not always a lot of eating going on. A rich red sauce is not traditionally paired with vigorous cardiovascular exercise. Mato looks a little put out that some of the food is getting cold.

Then Bobby's uncurated playlist changes directions entirely. Another one of Mato's selections comes up, but this time it's a sacred motet from 400 years ago, and it's in German no less.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFHig0Lgfm8

"Lord, if I only have you," Lysander translates, evidently understanding the language. "I do not care for heaven and earth here. If life and limb shall pass away, still You will always be, o Lord, comforting my heart... comforting my heart and soul."

"Psalm 73," Waylon says with an approving nod.

"I never knew what it meant," Mato says, not looking particularly embarrassed. "I just like it. It's... elegant simplicity."

The music is not particularly danceable, but it is rather more fitting for dinnertime conversation.

She watches the angry woman and is awed at the absurdity of the situation, that privileged woman has no idea just how privileged she is. Yet, it is not enough for her... A formal degree, Thd non-the-less a freaking doctorate with an actual professor, without giving up her core beliefs and half her personality it was just tedious and boring. No need to pay respect to absurd rituals, experience mind-altering drugs, and talk to spirits that never talked back. University life would have been a lot easier, without the need to stop surrendering to the tyranny of logic - and perhaps studying something else as a minor like psychology or god forbids taking a few programming courses. One woman's dream is another nightmare. Perhaps the great spider has wanted her to see that for her own eyes, there is no greener grass not here and not there - the only truly fulfilling part of life is to be part of the spiderweb.

"You are alright Adeline" she comments, What can I say, got to play nice with everyone if you want to stay in the game. and then seats down joining Trouble with her dinner. She feels a bit alien, distant as if there is no place in the world she belongs to. Looking at Jawsey she says with a hint of acceptance "So it really happens. For what its worth, I shared rooms with worst people."

Bobby seemed to be content to listen and not engage in conversation for the moment - though in any case he had cleaned his plate with great efficiency, leaving not even a trace of sauce through the application of quite a bit of soft bread.
The music certainly was soothing, so it came a bit as a surprise when Bobby spoke to Mato: "Do you have an album of that composer? I really like that flow. Even though I am not particularly moved by the Christian motive. But it has a really interesting effect on everyone's aura here. Reduces the BGC somewhat fierce."

When AM joined he replied to her quip: "Hey, that was one time and I said I was sorry. The water was out or I would have showered right away. And to be fair, I replaced your towel directly the next day. But yes, I probably shouldn't have put it back on the shelf..."

Jawsey smiled fondly at AM and quipped "At least now I know that I don't snore. I'm pretty sure you would have let me know. And if you are going to have a roomate with a cat, Trouble is less trouble than could ever be expected" He emoted affection at Trouble to make sure that the spirit knew that this was fond teasing, and wandered close to give the spirit a stroke.

He gets briefly quiet as he changes topic and says to AM "I know Adeline is odd in her own way, but while we never did storm a bug hive together we have hunted down a couple of real nasty free spirits. Any time you know someone at KE who cares about doing the right thing, I think that is worth encouraging."

At more normal volume he says "I strongly recommend that none of you vacation in Tsimshian -- the weather can be a bit toxic and the residents hostile. If you do so anyway, feel free to call for a visit. And I may come by astrally, and hopefully physically although that may depend on my ability to make any money up there. Well, there are people who would love to have me in their debt again so if I really need to get out I'm sure they'll loan me the fare. I'm not leaving because I don't value you, but because I think I've found my reason to do more than survive. I'll try to find ways to show my appreciation for you all."