Calling By Sistine's

<> Demiurge says "So, Faber is in the kitchen, lying under a sink and messing with pipes and thinking, man, a welding torch would be fun under here..."

Marath deposits a plate of biscotti next to him, then goes back into the dining room to handle a couple of customers.

Faber swears mildly as there's a whooshing sound of water, but most of it seems to be hitting plastic instead of flannel, finally, "Ha. Gotcha, you plugged up bastard...." and a bit of banging...

Faber comes out for some air after a bit, hair damp, a nice wet splotch on the flannel shirt, hands completely filthy. He spots the biscotti plate, eyes his hands, thinks a bit and then just bends and grabs a cookie in his teeth and munches it like some cookie cigar as he thinks about how to fix the mess under the sink.

Shannen passes through the dining room, giving a great big smile and wave to Marath before making her way over to the kitchen, popping her head in first to check the crowd level.

Faber is oblivious, thinking.

Marath nods to Shannen across the crowd, though she's preoccupied with an elderly man and his grandson.

Faber hrms and then disappears under the sink again, clunkings resume.

Shannen eyes the oblivious one for a few moments before quietly moving over to a stool and sitting there, watching patiently.

Faber makes growling sounds and then a bit *clang* and then a *thunk*, probably a head hitting something, then muffled swearing and he pops out a thumb in his mouth and the other hand on his head. His eyes get a bit big when he sees her sitting there, and the muffled words stop, but he doesn't stop rubbing his head.

Shannen winces at the sounds, cringes at the swearing and oooohs softly when Faber begins rubbing his head. She hops off the stool and slowly approaches, brow furrowed and all worried looking "Hi..I'm sorry if I startled you. Are..you okay?"

Faber huffs out a hard breath, then pulls his thumb out of his mouth and growls mildly at himself, "Not your fault, doll. I jus' banged my thumb, then tried ta sit up with the pain and *wham*, and well..." His scowl suddenly breaks into laughter. "I was stupid. Sorry 'bout the... uhm... fireworks, ma'am. Anythin' I can help you with?"

Faber resonates on Shannen, if she meets his eyes, just mildly curious.

<> Faber rolls the d666 and gets 5 2 CHECK: 5.

<> Faber grins, "Greatest Virtue and Worst Sin, Shannen."

Shannen raises an eyebrow. Doll? and looks down at herself for a second before looking back to Faber "I..was just waiting for Marath. Is there anything I can do for you? An icepack or something?"

Faber hmms, "Ice pack. Used ta use steaks, but yeah, an ice pack'd probably be good for the head. Thanks."

<> Shannen ponders "Hmm..that's a toughie..how do we define those two? :)"

<> Faber says "By *her* moral standards."

Hitherbug #1, a tiny ladybug, flitters up to the window, crawls to the screen, and industriously bends the edges of a tiny hole outwards so she can squeeze through. If uninterrupted, another six small bugs will flit up and pass through the hole, the last carefully bending the edges back in to keep regular bugs from wandering in.

<> Shannen says "Greatest sin: inability to keep Eduardo from going off and killing :)"

<> Demiurge says "Are you sure that's your worst ever sin?"

<> Demiurge says "Is coveting forbidden Songs or priviledges more sinful?"

<> Shannen says "To Shannen, violence is the worst possible thing. Covetous isn't really that high on the Totem Pole of Evil. :) And, unfortunately, I can't think of many other violent situations."

<> Demiurge says "Okay, that's fair enough. What's her greatest virtue, then?"

<> Shannen says "Virtue: Getting the PseudoRedeemed out without any violence on her part, thanks to Novalis :)"

<> Demiurge says "Cool."

Shannen looks around the kitchen "Well..do you know where the ice packs are? Or maybe some plastic baggies and some ice?" She kneels down somewhat to peer closer "Oh, silly me..I'm being rude." She smiles brightly and holds out one hand "I'm Shannen."

Faber clasps the hand, mildly bemused, "John. I think the packs would be in the freezer?"

Shannen nods, still smiling, slowing rising and looking around for a freezer "It looks like your fight with the plumbing isn't going too well."

<> Demiurge says "Shannen, do you want to resonate him?"

Faber peers under the sink. "Well, it goes."

<> arcangel says "And he shall not surrender!"

There is a mournful gurgle from the pipes.

Faber pets the sink edge at the gurgle.

Faber says "I think I have the worst of the clog, but it's a bear making sure."

<> Shannen will Resonate, while she has skin contact. It's the only way she'll make it ;)

Hitherby finishes her entry, and hums pleasedly, "Shannen. Good day."

<> Shannen rolls the d666 and gets 4 2 CHECK: 2.

<> Demiurge says "Fail."

Faber touches his bump with the hum and then remembers, "Oh. Hi, Hitherby."

Hitherby says "Hi Faber!"

Faber hms mildly, "Hitherby, you could probably do this better than I, is there something you could send up the pipe for about an arm's span to see if I got most of the immediate clog free?"

Hitherby says "It's good to see you hanging around a Tether, Shannen. I half-expect to need to ship a healer to Paris in a bogglingly-fast hurry soon."

Hitherby floats thoughtfully. "How nasty is it in there?"

Hitherby says "It's a pain getting bug hosts clean again if I mess them up."

Shannen looks about at her name, focusing on any bugs and grinning "Hello Hitherby," blinking down at Faber and smiling to herself before frowning slightly at Hitherby "What..what's happening in Paris? Did someone get hurt?"

<> Demiurge says "Not yet."

Hitherby says "Not yet."

<> Demiurge whistles.

Shannen says "Not yet? What's happening there?"

Hitherby says "It's just, I figure one third odds that we'll be bumping into some personal-Symphony types in an entrenched position, if you know what I mean."

Faber listens to the conversation a bit, frowns, "Is Daimonique with you?"

Hitherby says "I'm not entirely certain, Shannen, but I think we're robbing the Louvre. Or the Smithsonian. Or, um, one of those things."

Shannen stares at the bugs for a few seconds before ohing slightly "Are..you there with them..in some form or another?"

Hitherby says "Yup!"

Hitherby says "The French one, anyway."

Faber hms at Hitherby's question and ducks under and carefully comes up this time, "Ugh. It's nasty. Don't do it. I'm just gonna have ta snake it... and just make sure, once and for all."

Shannen shakes her head "Not the Smithsonian I hope. Or else..who exactly is 'we'?..or else we took a wrong turn somewhere. Why are we robbing it?"

Faber says "The French Daimonique?"

Faber looks puzzled at Hitherby's answer.

Hitherby says "We're robbing it to save the world, of course. What else do we do around here?"

Hitherby bobs happily.

Hitherby says "Or maybe we're just looking at stuff."

Hitherby says "It's hard to keep track sometimes."

<> Daimon is just LOOKING, thanks.

Faber goes over to where there's a plumbing snake he's rented from a nearby agency when Marath first wanted him to do pipes, and tugs over a coil of metal and peers at Hitherby.

<> Faber tries to find buggy eyes and does his resonance...

<> Faber rolls the d666 and gets 3 2 CHECK: 4.

Shannen shakes her head at Faber "French museum. Very nice place." She frowns "It'll give me some practice with my French, I guess. Any..erm..idea what the personal-symphony people are like?"

<> Faber would be pleased to know the three most ignoble acts, then.

Hitherby has, this year, made a personal resolution to go into Hell to help save Prince Kobal on the possibly mistaken belief that this was her Destiny, engaged a huge demon in single combat while disguised as Dominic, and done some cool stuff involving an opera. She also killed a host out of sheer stupidity, made fun of a Seraph (possibly multiple times), and, um, willfully disregarded the fact that she's going to irritate every remaining ex-Servitor of Purity out there, including one friend, just to make a point.

Faber blinks mildly at Hitherby in admiration, and then goes under the sink, satisfied that Daimonique and crew are doing what they need to do, with someone like that with them, and starts to feed the snake into the pipes, one bone rattling arm length after another.

Faber hrms when it hits something and rolls out from under the sink again. "Uhm... Hitherby? If they run into trouble, I'd be glad to help out. Just so you know."

Hitherby says "I will keep that in mind!"

Hitherby chrisks happily.

Faber says "Thank you.""

Faber then grabs the handle to the big metal wheel on the plumbing snake and starts to crank the big wheel, which turns the snake within the pipe with appropriate rattles and groans as well as clearing actions... after a few turns, he stuffs it in a little more, and turns it again...

Hitherby says "The sad truth is that, if I run into trouble, I will probably wind up dropping this host. Or it'll be over before I can get into Sistine's from wherever I am outside. However, if you dart into the Dominican section of the Council Spires yelling, "Servitors of Judgment under attack! Where is the Paris museum Tether?" it will probably get you there and, as a - you were Creation, yes? - Creationer, it'd probably be fun. In case I'm in here or with you and I suddenly, like, start swimming around independently in the air buzzing at random."

<> Daimon is all sorts of trouble.

Faber *laughs*.

Faber just starts laughing really hard. "Fun! That *would* be fun, bug, can you imagine the look on their faces?"

Faber sighs happily, keeps the slow, hard work of feeding the snake into the plugged up drain.

<> Faber says "Where is Shannen standing?"

Shannen blinks at Faber and Hitherby, mouth slightly opened "That.." she pauses "Should I just take a plane or something? It might be less trouble, I think. I can spend time in Paris while waiting for people to get hurt."

<> Shannen is by you, love!

Faber blinks as Shannen speaks, hms mildly, "Doll, this is probably about to spew nastiness all over the floor, it might be good for you ta perch on a stool or something, unless you want your shoes gunked."

Hitherby says, "Courage, Shannen. Have you ever known a dandelion to shy from a difficult task?"

Hitherby says "Er, I mean, getting to Paris, not the gunk."

Hitherby flutters high.

Shannen eeks and jumps for a stool, before looking to Hitherby, blushing "I haven't talked to any dandelions recently. Well, I'll be sure to be there anytime you guys need me.." she pauses for a second "..well, I hope so."

Faber cranks the wheel again and this time the snake moves freely... and he starts to wind the snake back on to it's wheel, and, as predicted, gunk starts to flow from under the sink, along with evil looking liquid and the like, all heading for the floor drain.

Hitherby says "If it seems like trouble is hours away, rather than not there or minutes away, I will ask you to take a plane."

Shannen grins "That's about nine hours away. Think you can predict ahead that far?"

Hitherby ponders.

Faber winds, standing in gunk flow and hrms, "Does Flowers have a Tether in Paris? I know of one from Creation that could, at least, get you to Paris more quickly than a plane."

Faber gets the snake wound up neatly on it's coil and then goes and finds a mop to mop up the worst under the sink into a bucket.

Hitherby flits this way and that. "Nine hours is a long time."

Hitherby says "Maybe you could go around the world the other way?"

Shannen uhhs softly to herself "I..don't..I can check, I guess." She blushes "But any help is greatly appreciated." and grins a Hitherby "That takes even longer. It's farther." She giggles "What'd say a lot of time is if we could go right through the earth somehow."

<> Demiurge says "Talk to a Servitor of Stone? :)"

Faber mops thoroughly, then gets under the sink and there is mild rattling and banging as he puts pipes back together, and he occasionally comes out from under for thread sealant before going back under to put things back together...

Hitherby considers.

Hitherby says "Well, there's burrowing."

Faber gets back out from under, and then frowns at the sink as he turns the water on, full-blast.

Shannen eeks at Faber before grinning back at Hitherby "I'm not very good at burrowing, unfortunately. I think a tether is the best choice."

Faber lets the water go after seeing it go down the drain, then kneels on the newly mopped floor to peer under the sink to see if there are any drips.

<> Faber purrs. "Hm. Do I have to roll something ot see if it worked?"

<> Demiurge says "I'll assume he did a good job. ;)"

Shannen says "Oh Hitherby..do you know where Tania lives perchance? I want to check up on her and see how she's doing."

Hitherby flits down, delicately, to where she can see what Faber is looking at.

Hitherby says, having no idea what exactly Faber was doing, "Good job!"

Faber chuckles, "Thanks, Hive. I think it'll hold, drain, and work."

Hitherby says "It looks very ... sinky."

Faber says "Quite."

Hitherby says "Aces."

Hitherby hums happily.

Hitherby says "Sadly, Shannen, I do not."

Faber gets up, satisfied, and mops the rest of the floor thoroughly.

Faber says "Didn't want ta mop it if it was just gonna spill again... but it looks clear, now."

Hitherby frowns suddenly.

Hitherby says "Where do you know Daimonique from, Faber?"

Shannen nods to the bugs "I'll ask Marath, then." and looks to Faber inquisitively and sticks her tongue out "You're not John."

Faber raises an eyebrow at the question, "From Heaven, Hitherby."

Hitherby's frown is elegantly etched in the air by an upside-down U of bugs.

Faber says "I am, too, Shannen."

Faber says "John Faber Smith. Some people just call me Faber."

Faber shrugs, "You introduced yourself as Shannen, so I returned the appropriate name."

Hitherby reflects. "I suppose that makes sense. I didn't know she'd been in Heaven that much, though."

Shannen grins "JFS. That's cute. Shannen is my name. Isn't it cute? It's so..something or other. Soo..what do you do for a living? Surely you don't do plumbing everywhere?"

Faber blinks mildly, "Cute. Uhm... hm. I don't do much for a living, as I hm... don't need to. Presently, I'm doing wiring and plumbing and structural architechture for some additions Marath wants, if that's what you're asking."

Hitherby swirls thoughtfully.

Shannen nods, smiling and watches Hitherby curiously "That is what I'm asking. Are you going to be around long, or are you just visiting?"

Faber chuckles. "How long is long, doll?"

Shannen shrugs "Well, months, years, decades? That's what'd I say. Seeing Daimonique while in town?"

Faber makes sure he mops all the corners thoroughly as he thinks over the question.

Hitherby, aware of the observation, arranges her bugs in a snaky hovering strand, and then a sort of stick-figure equivalent of a quadruped, and then a neat circle, and then an stick figure man, and then a stick figure man with something long in its outstretched hand, and then a swarm, and then a stick figure with two dot-bugs above the shoulders.

<> Sarah giggles helplessly.

Faber says "As long as it takes. I doubt I'll be seeing too much of Daimonique during my stay down here. Don't want to be messing up what she's doing, or getting recognized."

Faber grins bemusedly at the display when he actually looks up to see it.

<> Daimon sniffs. "It's because I'd jump him. :)"

Shannen's brain begins to hurt as she watches Hitherbugs playing around "Wow. I need to be a Kyrio one day." and nods to Faber, tilting her head "Don't want to be recognized? Why not?"

Faber laughs, "Would you like being recognized by forces of Heaven or Hell?" and wanders off with his bucket of gook. There's the sound of splashing and flushing elsewhere, then he meanders back, hands mostly clean, but for under the fingernails.

Hitherby then gathers her bugs into a line. One swings out sideways and then flies back in. When it's right next to the next bug in line, the bug on the other side flies out, and then back in. This continues for a while and then stops. Next, two bugs at one end fly out and one on the other, in opposite directions away from the line, then turn and fly back. It proceeds to swap sides, two on the end one flew out from before and vice versa.

<> Sarah says "Hitherby? You are officially weird. In a *very very good* way. :)"

Faber eyes the last of the manuvers, "Very nice." he says.

Hitherby says, puzzledly, "I'm not recognized by the *entire* forces of Heaven and Hell, but at least part of them I am and I don't mind *that* much!"

Faber says "Uhm. Hm."

<> Hitherby says "Thanks!"

Shannen umms "Well, I really hope that's not much of a problem. I don't suppose I go out of the way to make myself known, but I don't actively try to hide myself. Which is probably pretty stupid." She grins and peers at the bugs "You've got to teach me how to do that."

Hitherby says, "Of course, Shannen. The first step is to find seven to twenty flying insects, ideally pretty ones, and possess them."

Faber thinks a bit, frowns, "There are a few folks that are probably hunting the Bright. Folks that I'd likely scare off if they recognized me. I don't want to scare them off. I want to meet them."

Faber gives a grin that wouldn't look out of place on Eduardo.

Faber then dims it a bit to grin at what Hitherby says.

Hitherby says "I expect that's the step that'll take the most work."

Faber says "I'd expect."

Hitherby says "It took me billions of years to figure it out, myself. And then, one day, Jordi stuck my Forces together and I *got* it. It was great. Er."

Faber chuckles.

Faber says "As you were created, Hitherby. That's quite a gift you've been given."

Hitherby says, "Indeed!"

Faber sighs a bit as he cleans up the last of the mess he created.

Shannen stares at Hitherby thoughtfully and nods "Find bugs. Talk to Jordi. Got it." and frowns thinly at Faber, but says nothing, before grinning again "What we should do is get on a talk show - or some public access channel! But that would be rather exploitive."

Hitherby says, "No."

Faber shakes his head in agreement with Hitherby.

Hitherby says, "Not the Media. Not in general, and *definitely* not in specific."

Faber says "What are you thinkin' of, doll?"

Hitherby says "I still think they're *relatively* innocuous, but some of us are on their most wanted list, which isn't true of, say, um, er, um, Death?"

Shannen thinks for a second before nodding "I don't even know where I rate. But.." she frowns "..I'm a bit worried about Lilith for some reason. That's the only person I can think of being any serious trouble for me."

Hitherby swirls. "Or Lust. Or Fire. Or Gluttony. Or Theft. Or the War. We just need to avoid the Game, Nightmares, Fate, Dark Humor, Technology, the Media, and - that's it."

Faber laughs quietly, "That's about it."

Hitherby says "It's less than half!"

Hitherby says "And we're not *Most* Wanted by all of them. Just wanted."

Hitherby says "Although we may have to add Theft soon."

Faber hms mildly. "I didn't know you were involved with that many."

Hitherby says "We witnessed the bop-up of a big Nightmares, Tech, and Media project, see, and there's all this guilt by association."

Hitherby says "And Daimon was Redeemed, which would cover the Game right there, and we blew up a Fate stronghold, and, um, oh, the Redemption covers Dark Humor too."

Shannen shifts nervously "I..don't know anything about them. Yeah." She grins at Faber "We've been really really busy lately." She nods to Hitherby "That's where I met Lilith. She's kinda neat, actually."

Hitherby says "And, er, the guy who called the guy who bopped up the project hangs out with us sometimes."

Faber blinks. "Uhm. Guy who called what guy?"

Hitherby says "It's not that we're forefront runners. It's just that once you annoy Hell, you have to keep beating them or die until they get distracted."

Hitherby says "Phineas. He called Michael."

Shannen grins "Hopefully they get distracted easily." She nods and giggles "I remember that. I asked Novalis to come then."

Faber says "Ah."

Hitherby says "I sort of flopped about on the ground."

Hitherby says "It was fun."

Faber says "Fun. Hitherby, you have an interesting concept of fun."

Faber looks around the now clean kitchen with a working sink. "Then again, maybe I do, too."

Hitherby says, "Well, I believe strongly in enjoyment relativity, and as a Kyriotate I must experience multiple perspectives, and I might as well experience the perspective that what I'm doing is fun when I'm doing it rather than experiencing the perspective that what I'm not doing just then is fun."

Hitherby says "For example, it would be silly to decide right now that it's no fun to hang out with people in a restaurant."

Faber grins.

Shannen blinks at Hitherby "That made....I didn't make sense--ah, okay, I understand now." she grins "I feel so boring. All I like to do is walk in the park and swing and play with the kids and drink coffee."

Hitherby says, "I did stuff like that when I was young."

Faber shrugs mildly, "At it's basics, I like putting things together."

Hitherby ponders. "Ah, youth. Hard to believe it's been a whole three weeks."

Shannen pouts "I'm not -that- young."

Faber grins crookedly at the pout.

Faber says "You are, sweet angel, you are young. Treasure it."

Shannen blushes and looks away, hiding her face with one hand "I try, I try, but it's hard.. thank you, John."

Faber grins mildly.

Faber spots the biscotti dish under a different counter and with some trepidation pulls it out from under. By chance or choice, it seems to be untouched by sink ook. He peers, picks one and offers a cookie to Shannen.

Hitherby swirls into an O.

Shannen peeks out through a slit in her eyes and stares at the cookie before taking it with her free hand. She munches it quietly behind her hand before giving up and revealing herself, blowing a kiss to Faber, giggling, "Thank you."

Faber makes to catch the kiss and tucks it in his pocket before eating his cookie thoughtfully.

<> Hitherby rolls the d666 and gets 2 6 CHECK: 4.

<> Hitherby was just curious if she'd remember something. :)

Faber says "Well, I oughta get onta the next job."

<> Faber grins, "I take it you didn't?"

Shannen grins and munches. "We need *munch* coffee. *munch* Or milk?" She pauses "These -are- good cookies, I need to get the recipe from Marath. What's the next job for you? Oh..if you're hireable and I need anything, would you drop by my place?"

<> Hitherby says "Nope!"

Faber says "Probably not. I wanted to stake out this area and the places around where Daimonique frequents as I want to see who is following her."

Faber hrms, "Coffee. Black would be good with these."

Faber says "And I gotta clean up and probably do architectural drawings for her addition, if anything."

Shannen ahhs and grins "Good idea. I don't think I've ever seen Daimonique around my place." She frowns for a second "I run a coffee shop, it's great - lots of people and everything. Ohhhhh.. Sistine's is going to be growing? Cool!"

Faber says "Well, at least out the back, here."

Hitherby hums thoughtfully.

Shannen ohs and nods "You do plumbing, architecture..is there anything you don't do?"

Faber laughs, "Quite a lot."

Faber says "Most of it I wouldn't like anyway. So it's no loss."

Shannen grins "Still quite a bit more than me. I'm rather specialized. Okay, to narrow things down, what do you like to do?"

Faber says "Put things together."

Faber says "Create, of course."

Faber thinks a bit then grins mildly. "Fight. Play. Paint. Fly. Hrm. I don't think this is narrowing down much, doll."

Shannen nods and coughs politely, blushing "Creating." and frowns "Fighting.", nodding to each other thing in the list "Okay. How about swinging on swingsets? And do I remind you of Barbie or something?"

Faber relaxes like a cat against the counter. "Swinging on swingsets... hm. I don't think I've done that for a long, long time." He eyes Shannen thoroughly. "Barbie? You certainly don't have her proportions, thank God. Why should you remind me of Barbie?"

Hitherby chrisks neutrally.

Shannen grins "Thank God indeed. Well, you keep calling me doll. I was wondering if I remind you of a doll or something, and Barbie was the first one that came to mind. And you should swing more often! It's good for you. Brings out the child and everything. And, you can get into contests with little kids who like to swing and they'll think you're keen and everything and it's realy cool."

Hitherby says, "I have found that if I swing my legs really really hard I can sometimes move the seat."

Hitherby says "Using my wings, however, feels like it's cheating somehow."

Hitherby hums.

Faber laughs! "Ah. A holdover from the Broadway days. When guys and dolls and molls and Falls were citizens of the finest establishments where gin and rock candy might be served, though sometimes without the rock candy..."

Hitherby says "Gin! I played that once. I got a flush."

Shannen grins at Hitherby "That IS cheating." and giggles before ohhing at Faber "Before my time, I think." She blushes and shifts a bit "Now I feel young."

Faber chuckles.

<> Daimon mmmms and remembers the 20's. The winding down days of the great vaudeville stages before the talkies took over and made them obsolete.

Faber says "It's a dangerous habit, one that sometimes dates me."

Shannen grins "It's cute. It's like..umm..opening doors for ladies or something..yeah, that's it." She giggles "Okay, not quite, but it makes you a bit more elegant. I can almost see you in those kind of clothes." She pauses and shivers, still giggling, sticking her tongue out "Not necessarily a good sight."

Faber raises an eyebrow, eyes himself in his jeans and t-shirt.

Faber says "Hey, I enjoyed Zoot suits in their day."

<> Hitherby thinks dreamily back to the 1300s, before the eumenidae wasps went bad.

<> Daimon knows of SOME people who STILL enjoy Zoot suits. :)

Shannen nods slowly "I'm sure you did. And anyways, I was just kidding. I'm supposed to make fun of other peoples' fashion ideals, it's part of being a Mercurian after all." She sticks her tongue out again.

<> Shannen comforts Hitherby "There there, the eumenidae will Redeem themselves."

Faber says "It is?"

Faber says "Ah. You're a Mercurian."

Hitherby hums, faintly surprised, "You couldn't tell?"

Hitherby says, "You do know I'm a Kyriotate, right?"

Faber shrugs. "I don't usually guess. But, yes, Hitherby, you are quite distinctive."

Hitherby says "Good."

Shannen winks "Actually, I'm umm..a Seraph. Yeah. A Seraph. Wait, no, that doesn't make sense. I'm a....a..something else. It's secret. So secret I don't even know. Yup."

Hitherby says "Laurence has chosen to walk among us in disguise."

Faber just *laughs*.

Shannen laughs and sticks her tongue out at Hitherby "You're not supposed to upstage me like that. There's other ways to do that."

<> Daimon says "This is why Hitherby is one of my muses. :)"

<> Faber grins. "Totally."

Faber offers Shannen a hug, "Well, I gotta go get clean and draw pictures. Glad to meet you."

Hitherby says "Have fun, Faber! If you should happen across a wounded lion while drawing pictures, be sure and help it!"

Shannen ponders the offer for a second and leaps into Faber's arm in a nice giant hug, grinning "Okay, meet you again one day."

Hitherby asides, in a murmur, "I have to speak up for my Word."

Faber blinks mildly, "Certainly, Domination. Tell me if there's any trouble I can help with."

Faber hugs Shannen back as well as a Creationer can. "Yeah. Probably."

Hitherby says, "Fare well, Faber. Clean as purely as your heart."

Shannen grins "Good luck. And there's always trouble around here. It's one of the things I find endearing."

Faber grins, gives Hitherby a small salute, and wanders up to his room and a shower and the drawing board.

Hitherby flutters to the plate of cookies.

Shannen grins "They're really good cookies. So, why is everyone in Paris, Hitherby? Or at least 'we' are?"

Hitherby says "Everyone should visit Paris at least once in their life."

Hitherby says, "Um, Judgment investigation."

Hitherby says "There's a potential connection between a subject of investigation and certain high-powered demons."

Shannen grins "That's true. I've heard it's as romantic.." she lets out a wistful sigh and frowns "Demons? Can you be a bit more specific, or is it like 'Name them not, lest they visit death upon you'?"

Hitherby says, "I feel uncomfortable bending Judgment confidentiality too much. I would not like Daimon and Pat ordered to not have Sephar and myself along on the next investigation."

Shannen ohs and nods "I understand. If..umm..I am needed, could someone tell me then. I would like to be a bit more informed about what form of suicide I'm walking into." She grins.

Hitherby says "Well, here's the kicker."

Hitherby says "We're going to be within foraying radius of an Infernal Tether. The Tether is to Theft, and Theft isn't *involved*, I think."

Shannen coughs a bit "We're going into an infernal tether that isn't involved? We want more enemies today, don't we?"

Hitherby says "Not *into*."

Hitherby says "Just, well, near."

Hitherby says "So if demons decide they want to make enemies of *us*, they can do it really easily."

Shannen ohs "Well, that's better. But..if there's any tether nearby, they can dump people unto us really really easily." She nods "Maybe we should mark the borders of the tether with a thick red line and put up lots of 'Do Not Cross' signs."

Hitherby says "That is an excellent suggestion."

Shannen blinks, grinning "Well, I was just kidding. But I'd really really like to hear what Pat says about it."

Hitherby says "There's also the danger that icky demons who don't like us will bribe Theft."

Hitherby says "I mean, they've got to be among the most for-sale demons."

Hitherby says "That would give them Tether access."

Hitherby says "I don't really know what we're going to find. It's just -"

Hitherby says "There's important stuff going on at the edges that I don't really understand fully, and I don't trust big lumps of sugar sitting out in a glade in the middle of the forest."

Shannen giggles "Maybe we should bribe them back. Start a bidding war or something. Liz could get involved. It'll be fun for everyone!"

Hitherby holds still in the air for a moment.

Hitherby says, thoughtfully, "If we could do that without tipping our hand -"

Shannen nods "We might be able to. Maybe if we got to the Thefties first?"

Hitherby swirls.

Hitherby says, "We can't tell Hell, 'Hey, we're going to be doing something important here today,' though."

Shannen frowns "Well, maybe bribe some other tethers? Or bribe the thefties to keep some other place busy?"

Hitherby says "What we *could* do is have a message ready to be sent to the Theft Seneschal with an offer, in case things go against us and we need them to - not - do whatever they're doing that's getting in our way."

Shannen nods "Yeah. Something that intrigues them, gets them interested, but doesn't make promises?"

Hitherby says, "Regrettably, the extent of my personal resources is an ant."

Hitherby says "Moreover, I can't even safely give them my ant, in case it turns out Eli did something weird to it."

Hitherby says "It would be cool if it came to life and turned giant and terrorized Hell, but bad if it turned out to be the storage container for Eli's copy of the Seraphim Council's strategic plans for the decade."

Shannen giggles "I should keep my stuff away from Eli, just so I know what I can get rid of and such." As Hitherby talks she giggles more, covering her mouth and singing "The Blob got me really scared, Frankenstein made me run for my momma, but the movie that really really frightened me was the Cockroach That Ate Tijuana".

Hitherby circles thoughtfully.

Hitherby says, "I should continue my patrol."

Hitherby says, "It would be nice if you would wait in Sistine's, perhaps?"

Hitherby says "In case of events, as I described."

Shannen nods "Okay, I'll wait here. I'm sure Marath can set me up with something, just in case."

Hitherby says, "That is for her to say; at the least, she can advise you on what meals are best today."

Shannen laughs "I hope so. She did make them. Oh..maybe I should get some clo--well, I can pick some stuff up in Paris."

Hitherby says, "You may not need to travel at all. But I appreciate your willingness."

Hitherby flits most of herself to the window and one bug, a pretty ladybug, off into the restaurant itself.

Hitherby wiggles her larger swarm outside.

Shannen waves "Well, perhaps I'll travel anyway, just to get the latest Paris fashions." She waves "Byebye!"

Hitherby hums, "Walk in grace."

Shannen says "Buzz in happiness?"

Hitherby says no more.

---

Fiat Justitia