[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/MJO2qSh.png[/img][/center] For anyone who had grown up with the horrifyingly-pastel CGI recreation of Alice in Wonderland, or perhaps the lovably murderous shark from Finding Nemo, Lauren Negasi's luminescent grin would be instantly recognizable. The look on her face grew positively gleeful as the last remaining member of Bastille agreed to tag along to the armory. [color=8882be]"Fuuuuck yeaaaaah, team bonding!"[/color] she crowed, balling her hands into fists and pumping them downwards. [color=8882be]"I'm not gonna be satisfied until we're all combined at the cellular level! Complete with fusion dances and funky earrings, nig-gaaaaa!"[/color] ... She gassed herself out quickly as something struck her. [color=8882be]"But we should leave a note for Sangue, in case, like,"[/color] Lauren thought aloud, [color=8882be]"she comes back or something. And then she can come hang with us and--"[/color] A deeper, more sinister thought crept into mind as the meaning of a team trip to the Armory - specifically, one fronted by their team leader, made itself clear to the lion-hearted car thief. [color=8882be]"Deeees[i]iiiiireeee[/i],"[/color] Lauren stretched out, famously ramrod pasture slacking as she began to pout, [color=8882be]"tell Cap we don't wanna work on a Saturday!"[/color] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/dBInTnK.png[/img][/center] [color=9e0b0f][i]I could still dive overboard.[/i][/color] Of course, he [i]couldn't[/i] - a mission depended on Jericho, and Jericho alone, to stand his ground and keep an eagle eye out for any signs of trouble for the weekend...until this lazy Atlesian ambassador he was guarding had gotten tired of endless massages...a complimentary minibar...[i]DJ KHALED'S KEYS FOR SUCCESS[/i] night every Thursday... ... [color=9e0b0f][i]If he's not off the boat by Sunday, [b]both[/b] of us are going overboard.[/i] [s][i]Man, I sound like such a Berserk fan right now.[/i][/s][/color] The low rings of a Scroll notification began to drone in his years, forcefully pausing the Lightnin' Hopkins standard he'd been playing to mellow out after his tense encounter with that girl at the piano. A well of displeasure bubbled up inside his chest at the stop to his music, and the Atlesian student let out an unbidden hiss like a cat being thrown into a tub. The displeasure must have shown on his face when he chose to answer the call with video, because [i]Sleipnir's[/i] head chef - his "boss" - visibly blinked in confusion at his gaze. Quickly, Jericho tried to reassert his normal composure. "Easy, tiger," the chef said, "you asked me to let you know on the chateaubriand for room 1001. It's done. Did you want the blackberry sauce?" [s][color=9e0b0f][i]Riiight, the blackberry sauce. The blackberry sauce for Bianca, the blackberry sauce chosen especially to kill Bianca, Bianca's blackberry sauce, that...[/i][/color][/s] [color=9e0b0f]"Blackberry sauce?"[/color] It would mean one less headache for him either way, but if he were just being paranoid...if she was just some girl... ... [color=9e0b0f][i]You're a knight, dickhead.[/i][/color] "No, man. Read the menu. Chateaubriand with [i]Hollandaise[/i], white wine with [i]blackberries.[/i] I want Hollandaise." This was going to suck. [color=9D36FF][i]JEEEEEER! No guy that's ever tried to poison me has backed out of it at the last second before! You must think we're soulmates too! Je t'aime je t'aime je t'aime~![/i][/color] His gloved hand twitched on the railing. [color=9e0b0f]"I'll be by to deliver it in a minute,"[/color] Jericho said, stomaching his irritation. [color=9e0b0f]"I'm only on the pool deck getting some air."[/color] A few seconds later (after he had finished the foot-tapping version of "Baby Please Don't Go" that had been so rudely interrupted by his vidcall) Jericho Piper left the railing he'd perched on at the pool deck. His route took him back to the kitchen, stationed behind the lounge where he'd first met Bianca an hour previously, and then, from the lounge, up to the deck of expensive penthouses that had originally been meant for his mission backup. Bianca and her fellow pair of peeping Faunus were on the forefront of his mind long enough for him to miss that he'd picked up a tail. ... [b]A loud clatter, like a china cabinet being flipped over, rang out in the vacant Room 1003 minutes later, loud enough to ring out throughout the penthouse deck. The muffled thuds that succeeded the crash were quieter. The low groan of pain was even quieter than that. And the growling noise, similarly pained, from inside the suite would be imperceptible to anyone who wasn't right in the room with it. ... Something splashed outside Bianca's balcony.[/b]