It's a new morning, and the loft is quiet. Dancer plugged into the old cyberdeck, Jake, DD, Mei and Pura asleep in the first bedroom, the sound of stormy weather echoing from the half-open door...the events of last night not quite gone, but dulled...another night in the shadows.

"Sonuva... I can't tell. Is that a face?" Dancer yawns and peers at the footage. He hums to himself. "Zooming in, zooming in... can't tell. Clean it up... Fuck. Undo, undo. No, I don't want to erase that part. Damnit, I just want to see that part...right... there! Perfect. What the hell..." Dancer keeps poking at the footage, wishing he had a soycaf.

<<01.30 PM, Tuesday, October 21st, 2070, Divine Comedy>>

DD gets up, rubbing her eyes and glaring at the light. She has slept off her eX aftereffects, and the short disorientation she feels comes from waking up, not the drug. Groaning at the cruel sun, and adjusting her cybereyes, she pulls on some shirt from the floor, and walks slowly out of the bedroom, AR windows popping up in her field of view with the latest news and gossip, looking for coffee. Her fiberoptic hair is bright red for starters.

<<01.30 PM, Tuesday, October 21st, 2070, Divine Comedy>>

Pura, rubs her eyes blearily as she blinks her wa back to consciousness, her violet hair billowed around her like a mane giving her the appearance of a debauched flower with her rumpled appearance. Rising up a bit, she looks around and doesn't recognize her surroundings...or the people she is snuggled up to, including the arm around her. Starting to panic last night slowly came back to her, flashes of drinks, and dancing, then later on stumbling back upstairs with Mei and Jake...and DD as well.

As more and more flashes return of the previous nights antics, adventures, and pleasures the changeling teen blushes turning a very bright shade of pink especially noticeable because of her light skin tone, and her hair. It also seems like rising so quickly wasn't the best dea as the previous night's wine starts pounding like a marching drum on her skull.

"Good...goodmorning. I think I had a bit much to drink? Can you see my clothes anywhere?" the changeling asks, hesitatingly, coming off all the more cute and innocent wrapped up in her glamor despite her undressed state, or maybe because of it.

"Fuck!" Dancer yells in frustration, then goes back to his mumblings. "How do I... oh. That makes sense... if you're a fragging schizo! Who designed this thing, anyway? Where was I? oh yeah... I guess that's probably not a face. Get someone else to check though... of course I'm not throwing it away... Wait! Is that a scar? hmm... might be important... go back... no, damnit. Go back. back, I say! stop going forward. Damnit! No! don't delete it... oh bloody hell... Things I do for you, Jess... better be damned appreciative when this is all over... Holy hell! what did I just do? I didn't touch anything! Oh, there it is... how'd it get over there?"

<<01.31 PM, Tuesday, October 21st, 2070, Divine Comedy>>

DD looks back at Pura from the door she is leaning at.

"I am not sure... I just grabbed something from the floor."

DD yawns again, then heads to the kitchen, in search of coffee.

Can't function without coffeine...

There she spots Dancer, and blinks.

He must have been up all night...

"'ave you slept at all?"

"Sleep? Sleep is for the weak." Dancer says distractedly. "Soycaf, on the other hand, is the drink of the Gods. Have ye any? I would make some, but I think I'm on...to...something... Damnit! I didn't want that to happen! Go back! No! Too far. fix it... fix it.... there we go." He pulls up an image. "Is that a reflection of someone's face, or have the halucinations started early this time?"

Mei grumbles as she's awakened, mostly by the sound of voices grumbling for coffee. Still 3/4 asleep she doesn't bother with clothes, sleepwalking more or less into the kitchenette in the main room and begins fixing a big pot of coffee, completely forgetting they have other guests...

Jake gets up, and tugs on a pair of house shorts, right past Pura, and wobbles out of the bedroom, still smelling like sex. "Um...what is going -on- in here?" He looks at Mei, buck naked, DD in one of his tshirts, and Dancer. He grins..."Someone's getting a show."

Dancer glances over for a moment and distracted calls out a "Hey, Mei, Jake." and motioning for them to come over. He then shows them the image he was showing DD. "Does this look like the reflection of a face to you?" He asks as his focus stays mostly on the files he was skimming.

"Ugh, no thinking before coffee, shower and head. Not necessarily in that order." Jake looks for some leftovers in the fridge...

Seeing everyone tottering off into the main room naked, or mostly so makes Pura even more determined to be dressed. She needed to call in to Sam to tell him how things went...er most of how things went...err went with the job, not later, somethings just were not for big brothers to know about. Looking around blearily for a minute she finally finds her underwear, and the pair of shorts and t-shrt Mei had lent her and she pulls them on before heading out into the common room. studiously looking down and away from the naked or mostly naked forms.

"Whats this about a face...? Oh, hi Ronnie. I didn't know you stayed over...did you stay over?" she asked wondering if her memory had more holes in it than she was remembering.

"Eh... it's not that late. What're you all doing up, anyway? Thought you went to bed. Is this some sort of post-midnight-snack? While you're up, make me a soycaf, will you?" Dancer goes back to muttering, talking to himself, and playing with the files. "Oh, come on... I didn't tell you to do that! Damnit... back up... back up... wow, she's sorta cute... focus! Zoom... zoom... stop! no! stop. damnit..."

<<01.31 PM, Tuesday, October 21st, 2070, Divine Comedy>>

"It's afternoon now, Dancer."

should be collapsing any time now...

Mei is still trying to clear the cobwebs from her brain, she didn't get all *that* much sleep the previous night. As the scent begins to waft from the coffeepot one thing becomes abundantly clear. there's no soy at all in the contents. Meanwhile Mei digs out a carton of eggs, some potatoes, ham, sausage, and bacon and gets to work. "How ever'one want egg?"

Dancer's head starts to drop as he hears what time it is, then jerks back up as Mei mentions food. "I'll take mine with extra caffeine, Mei!" He grins tiredly and rubs his eyes. "Must o' lost track o'... holycrapyou'renaked!"

<<01.31 PM, Tuesday, October 21st, 2070, Divine Comedy>>

"Scrambled, please."

DD blinks at Dancer's reaction, surprised. She thought he was more used to those diplays.

What happened to the amoral runners of the screen? Although.. that would be very nice for the comic relief/innocent young man role. Usually a good way to corner some audience...

*Mei blinks blearily as she carries a steaming mug over and sets it down in front of Dancer, the steam wafting from the surface filling the air with the heavenly scent of real coffee. *good* real coffee.* "You right. Mei go get some'ting on." she mumbles before slipping into the bedroom long enough to put on a bathrobe before getting busy with the breakfast orders. "Someone wan' he'p by cut up potato?"

"You know me, baby. Dry scrambled. I want about five eggs myself...Somebody wore me out..." Jake has a seat, and stretches his arms out, taking up the couch. "So, Dancer, did I just catch you staring at my fiancee's tits?"

<<01.32 PM, Tuesday, October 21st, 2070, Divine Comedy>>

"Mhhh."

DD sips the coffee, and is lost to the world for a few minutes - although some of those she uses to skip through a matrix ads and news. She made a lot of nuyen last night, and it's time to spend some of that cash.

Dancer hold up his hand. "Before I answer, would you be more likely to kill a guy for being enraptured by her beauty or would you be more likely to kill him for deciding not to look at her... Hypothetically, of course?"

He grins, widely. "Smart boy. Neither, honestly, hell, she's a stripper part time downstairs. Keep your hands and come-on lines to yourself, and be glad she was nice enough to let you have a peek." With that, he gets up to help Mei with the potatoes...

Dancer grins back and reaches for his coffee, and misses it completely. He looks around wildly, then spots it in DD's hands. "Aww... Deees! That was mine!" Grumbling, he pads his way over to the kitchen and makes a cup for himself.

Mei seems to wake up quickly once she has a knife in her hand. She starts in on Jake's eggs right away, for herself and the others, she slices the peeled potatoes onto small cubes, then fries them along with the bacon. Once that's done she adds the scrambled eggs directly into the potato and bacon mix, folding them all together. If anyone bothers to watch, it's obvious she's a master of the spice rack, sliding portions onto plates with practiced skill and plonking them down in front of their orderers. "You wan' more lata, you jus' ask!" she says cheerfully.

Jake carts off a heavy plate of breakfast and sits to eat. "Okay, everyone, grab a plate, and let's talk."

"Thanks Mei." Pura says to the offer of food, she wasn't much of a cook, other than trail food on camping tripsin the Tir and in parts of Snohomish, and that just wasn't the same, you could actually pick up a lot from fantasy trids in that regard, though it was more back to basics cooking over fires. She was still more than qualfied to help with Potatoes though, and she handles the other half of the potatoes with a knife, rolling the blade absently through her incrediby destrous fingers absently until it started to blur once she'd done her share of the peeling.

While she waits for the eggs mixture to cook she sends a signal to her commlink to get into her start of the new day mode, even if it was an incrdibly late start for her. A window pops up letting her know what new fantasy trids have been released and are waiting for her in her queue for her to watch. In another window is a text from Sam asking her how it went, and flying around her is the cute toy dragon form of Pyre, her agent, virtual pet, social advisor, and confidant.

<<Pyre>>
<<Your stinky and you look a mess, P.>> the little dragon says, ruffling his nose at her. Pura got an indignant look on her face at the comment given that the little Dragon had only the senses that she gave him through her cyber, and she didn't have a nose for him. "Sorry, my virtual pet is looking to get virtually neutered." she says sheepishly to those who catch her reaction to Pyre's comment.

<<I do not...and you wouldn't smell me anyway you little...uh...whats an insulting word for Dragons?>>

<<Pyre>>
<<Why should I tell you? It'll only get you in trouble if you say it to a real dragon, or be an insult to me. our not really thinking very smart this afternoon. Besides, I can too smell, your wearing your simrig Pixie, I can sense everything you can, I just happen to be better at putting it to use than you are.>> the little red dragon said smugly, settling down onto Pura's arm with a realistic bit of weight and warmth thanks to the simrig.

<<Message to Sam>>
<<Hey, I'm fine things worked out better than I had hoped and I did a little too much celebrating. I should be home in a couple of hours. I ended up making 28K for my first run. Your sister is definitely hot stuff, and I even scored a P 2.0 account while I was celebrating. So go ahead and friend me. I could use the network subscriptions. I'll tell you all about everything when I see you. This'll get me completely out from under the loans from the Family, with a big chunk left over and we scored some major pay data that could lead to a lot of work in the future...a lot of lucrative work.>>

Pura grabs one of the plates, and slides it over in front of herself, pausing for a second as Pyre moved up her arm to sit on her shoulder in a more comfortable spot while she ate. "So what did you find out from the thing? And uhh...where is Portia? I mean she didn't have to join in the...uhh...fun, but I don't think she should be too far away, and she needs a new SIN so that Vassily's friends and relatives don't come here gunning for her...and us."

Portia is trying very hard to remain awake in the elevator, feeling as though she is being pulled into the floor. Her hands lace together behind her neck as she tries to keep herself alert enough to get through the ride to Jake's apartment. As the door slides open, she shakes her head slightly and forces her shoulders back and neck straight. She steps out into the living room, looking with wide, slightly bleary eyes at the group assembled there. She offers a weak little smile and a half-wave. "Good... afternoon, everyone..."

Her smooth, cultured voice is a bit husky, and there are dark circles under her blue eyes. She looks pale and close to ill, her movements slow as she finds a bit of space on the couch to seat herself. "That smells really rather nice."

Dancer calmly hands her his plate and gets up to procure a cup o' coffee for her, nodding off a little less now that he has significant quantities of caffeine flowing through his system. "Forgive the bluntness, but you look like you got less sleep than I did. What happened?"

Mei gives Portia a smile "You wan' some now, or you wan' get sleep firs'?" she asks her, tucking into her own plate of eggs, bacon, and potato in between working the four-slice toaster, buttering up some slices, leaving some for the others to adulterate to their taste.

Accepting the plate, Portia seems confused as to whether or not she is supposed to eat this... But she can't resist it too long, the delicious smell... She picks up the fork and then looks at Dancer for confirmation, hesitating before taking a bite.

"Haven't slept yet. Up thinking. Didn't want to come up and bother all of you, either..." She shrugs a little, with a half-smile. "Celeste wants me to go clothes shopping with him, I think, but I will have to call him and tell him I am too tired..." Momentarily perplexed by exactly how she would get a phone to work, she makes sure the slip of paper he gave her is still in her pocket.

Dancer grins at her as he sets her coffee down in front of her. It was a... troubling night, wasn't it?" He yawns and only stifles it about half way through. He grins sheepishly and shrugs. "I didn't get any sleep, either. Was too busy playing with the cyberdeck..." He grins and swipes a piece of toast off the plate he handed Portia. "Eat up! There's plenty more where that came from. Right, Mei?"

Portia seems quite thrilled to have been offered food, and her smile for Dancer is as bright as her exhaustion will allow. "Thank you, Dancer... " She spends a few minutes eating, delicately, but rather ravenous, before speaking again. "Did you find anything about your sister?" Her voice is soft, concerned, and she watches him with a slightly worried expression.

She settles the plate on the table before her, picking up the coffee mug in both hands and taking a sip. The caffeine is past the point of helping, but it tastes good nonetheless, and the warmth between her palms is soothing.

"We have a lead on her possible whereabouts, and we know that, at least semi-recently she was in good health." He munches on the toast thoughtfully for a moment, then swallows and grins. "She's alive, and I know where to go from here."

The girl's face lights up a little, a real, sincere happiness brightening through her tired eyes. "That's wonderful, Dancer. I want very badly to help, if you need me." She takes another sip of coffee, settling back into the couch for a moment, her hands slightly shaky with exhaustion and nerves. Portia forces herself to steady them, lowering her elbows to her lap and letting the coffee cup rest atop demurely crossed knees. Her mind fades out for a moment in a slightly disturbing thought, and she raises a brow in a questioning expression, though she says nothing.

Dancer smiles at Portia. "I appreciate that, m'dear. I truly do. I dunno why... but I suspect that, by the end of this chaotic time, your help will have proven invaluable." He sits back and contemplatively sips at his coffee before grinning. "Say, do you have somewhere to sleep? I know Jake offered you the couch... but seeing as there's a half-dozen people sitting around it, I imagine sleeping on it will be slightly difficult."

This is a compliment that she prizes, being thought of as useful. It makes her blush slightly. "Oh. I don't suppose I really do... It wasn't really something I have been thinking about." She pauses to consider where she should stay. As much as she likes Jake and Mei, sleeping on a couch in the middle of a high-traffic living room would be difficult. She is becoming desperate for sleep, though, and she ponders for a moment if it would be rude to commandeer Jake's bed.

Having resolved that it would, in fact, be a breach of etiquette to steal the bed out from under Jake and Mei, Portia shifts a little against the couch, working over the practical details of her life in her mind. She hasn't really thought about where she would go, now that she is in this country. There is still her family home, but who knows what or who she would find there. The idea is simultaneously tempting and upsetting.

<<01.35 PM, Tuesday, October 21st, 2070, Divine Comedy>>

"Clothes shopping?"

DD looks up from her coffee, and her AR feeds showing her what the other runners in L.A. did last night - professionals kept track on their competition, right? The girl is going shopping?

"You will need to visit Beck's, best Boutique for swimsuits in L.A., and then there's the Zoé-Outlet downtown, and Gucci of course..."

DD tries to find Portia's PAN to send her some adresses of good shops.

Is she running in hidden mode?

Scanning for her node would be a bit rude, so DD resorts to asking.

"'oney, what's your commlink's adress?"

"She doesn't have one yet. I gave her one of my throwaways to use till she could pick one, and she didn't even run the auto-setups. I'm going to train her in the basics once she gets up..." Jake polishes off his breakfast. "Glad you're up though, Portia. Wanted to kind of debrief everyone after last night and this morning..."

<<01.35 PM, Tuesday, October 21st, 2070, Divine Comedy>>

How can one live without a commlink? That's not living at all! That's like "Back to nature" season 1!

DD takes a few seconds to deal with this concept. Then she reacts to Jake's words.

"Ah, do you split the debriefing for the run and the night? I got a full recording of the 'ole night."

DD's only semi-joking - this is L.A., after all.

Such scenes would help with a pay-per-view run...

Dancer hums and shrugs. "Well, you're welcome to crash at my place, if you'd like. I have a spare bed that's rather comfortable, and I can promise that it'll be quiet for several hours, since I'll be sleepin' too... In a separate bed, Jake. Don't give me that look."

Portia seems ever so slightly overwhelmed, and mildly confused that Jake thinks she's "up". However, she understands that there is more work to do, and so she straightens her back and takes another sip of coffee.

Dancer's offer catches her off-guard, but she smiles at him, and seems to consider it. "Well, that would be very kind of you, Dancer, if you really wouldn't mind. I'm very quiet, and I will stay out of your way. Just until I can figure out where I can live, myself." This reminds her of a question she had, for Jake. "Oh, I believe I have some money, as well... a little stick, that my mother put in the bag... something about credits." Commlinks and credits and the very concept of having something stuck into her head as Jake does... the whole mess makes her nervous, honestly, and on top of her exhaustion she's starting to drift in and out of focus.

Dancer grins and shakes his head. "Don't mind a'tall, hun. It'll be nice to get some new life into the ol' place. I'll take you by there after we get done being ranted at by Jake." He winks at her and drains the last of his coffee before turning to Jake. "So, Boss, rant away."

"I'd offer to let you stay with me Portia, but I'm staying with my brother, and no offense meant, but given how high profile Vassily is...was, the name Portia Opfenmeier is just way too hot to be around. You are going to need a fake ID or your going to start drawing in everyone that is looking for Vasily. Given your capabilities and theirs, it could be deadly for you and everyone around you, better to just use another name and avoid all of that." the changeling tells Portia, with a shrug saying she was sorry, but there wasn't anything she could do about it.

"If its a credstick, than it could be, and probably is, full of money. Your going to need it to get yourself set up with a place to live, food, clothes, all the usual. I can spot you some if you need it, but I'd need it back, money doesn't just grow on trees...though I'd guess that there are going to be more jobs in the offing thanks to the cyberdeck, between finding Dancer's sister and taking on the rest of Vassily's organization we could get very rich...which is what I think Jake wants us to talk about."

"Okay, I have to say, Dancer, Pura, you really came through, despite a little friction, you got the job done with no -real- screwups. DD, great job as always. Okay, as for what you actually accomplished...we saved Portia from slavery, and Vasily, and gave her the chance to start a real life. We took, with very few snags, a high-powered fixer and cleanup man for the European organ-legging and slave trade scene. We got Portia some answers, however distasteful, as to the loss of her family, and who's responsible. We also stumbled across Vasily's cyberterminal, where he was storing his paperwork offline. In which is enough data to put a real hurting on Vasily's clients, and a lead on Ronnie's, what, sister?" He waits for Dancer's nod and continues. "As for now, I recommend we let everyone take a breather today, let Portia get some sleep. Me and Mei's bed's empty for the rest of the day, or Dancer's convinced me he can be trustworthy for a short enough period of time not to argue if she goes ov---christ, I sound like your fucking dad." He looks at Portia. "Look, get some sleep, come back and see me, I'll train you how to use your commlink, and see about giving you some work around here...I was thinking about letting you play the keyboard in the restaurant...give the place some atmosphere. Easy work, and up your alley, I'd think, since you don't strike me as someone who'd make a good stripper without a serious chemload. And frankly, I'm not a fan of my girls being on drugs. Makes the more susceptible to assholes."

"Back to the point...we have alot of data, and alot of opportunity for wealth, good karma, and serious heat in our hands. I want everyone here's opinion about what to do with that."

Dancer shrugs and stretches. "I don't think there's much question as to what I'm gonna be doing. I'd be more than happy to have any of you along for the ride, but I have a feeling I'm going to be hitting some high profile, high risk targets while tracking down my sister, so I certainly don't blame any of you for opting out. 'Specially since any money that will be used as pay will be coming out of the Targets' pockets..." He laughs sheepishly and scratches his head. "Dees, Jake, even if you choose not to participate, I'm sure you can expect some calls asking for favors... at least until I can pick up some skills as a hacker myself. Oh! before I forget! Jake, do you know of any weapons dealers in the area? I think I'll need a new gun or two for this..."

"Well, don't forget Portia is a mage, she could also put her magic to use if she is willing, patching people up and such...she couuld make a good living doing that if its what she wanted to do." Pura pointed out, it seemed silly to waste her magical talents, talents that Pura more than envied the woman for.

"Honestly, the reason I came looking for a run was because I owed 15,000 to the mob for all of my medical bills after my accident, and the run already almost doubled that amount. Money is definitely welcome...but it wouldn't be the reason I'd be staying on with this." the violet haired changeling says.

"I'm all for going after the Organ Leggers operating in LA if we do it smart. There is a lot of room to make money and it'd be doing an awful lot of good, but we'd really have to be careful since these aren't the nicest people...which is why we'd be doing it."

Portia, unfortunately, is not really in the mood for discussion about changing her name. She counts to ten internally, and then speaks, in a low, level voice, keeping her anger in check for now.

"Pura has a point, which I accept and acknowledge. It is dangerous for any of you to be associated with Portia Opfenmeier. However, I am absolutely not going to change my name, or do anything of the sort. I appreciate everything you have done for me, all of you. But I am not going to get rid of the last thing I have of my family." This is not hysterical, or angry, but rather a simple series of statements, delivered as facts. Her blue eyes move first to Jake, whom she gives a nod, and a gentle smile. "You do sound a bit like my father, Jake. And I value your opinion on this subject. What you and your family here have done for me is not something I could begin to repay. But my name is not something I am willing to walk away from. If you can understand that, and accept it, you would have a most loyal employee."

Then she casts her gaze to Dancer. "And you, Dancer. If you are willing to work with a girl who has yet to understand the concept of ... what is it, comm-links?... I would be most willing to help you as well. I have a limited set of skills, but they are useful, and I would be more than happy to put them in your service."

With all she has to say said, the girl stands quickly, setting her coffee-cup down and retrieving her backpack. "I suppose we all have quite a bit to think about, and a lot more to do. Dancer, if you're ready, I would like to go find that spare bed."

Jake nods. "I'm still a SINner myself, born in Alabama, and got my citizenship moved to CalFree. Jacob Sauron Hall. It's the name I work and shop, and manage this bar under. Nothing wrong with keeping it. But when you're ready to come out with us, doing illegal shit, or helping and healing us while -we- do illegal shit, you're going to want a pirated identity. But as far as here in the bar, I'm talking about a legal, above board job as entertainer. Plus, I know a cyberdoc who could use some magical backup on the operating table."

Dancer grins and shrugs as he gets up and stretches. "Well, you know what the two of us think of the matter. We'll leave you guys to discuss it amongst yourselves and get some sleep for ourselves. Leave me a message when you guys figure out what you want to do, alright?" He moves over to the corner containing his pile of gear and begins sorting it out, before getting frustrated and just shoving it all into his backpack. "Well, I think that's everything. If I haven't heard from you by tonight, I'll drop by, ok?" He turns to Portia. "Think you're up for a bit of a walk?" When she answers, he grins and waves to the others. "Ciao!"

Portia settles her backpack over her shoulders, and moves over toward Dancer. Hesitating a moment, she turns, finds Jake, and gives him a tight hug. Nothing sexual about it, just an expression of her gratitude, her much smaller frame pressing close to his for just a moment as her arms wrap around his shoulders. She is gone in less than a minute, startled by her own expressiveness. "That sounds wonderful, Jake. I shall have to learn what exactly your patrons would like to listen to. But you have a deal."

She moves over toward Dancer, stretching out her arms and shaking her hands. "Yes, I think I can handle it." The slip of a girl looks over her shoulder at everyone, and nods deeply. "I shall see you again soon, DD, Mei, and Pura. Thank you so much for being so kind to me. I will report back soon, I promise." With that, she follows Dancer out.