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Perhaps Sloane was just a bit more hammered than she appeared. Once they teleported, she started mouthing off in Jack's direction about how he had been gone forever. Jack was, admittedly, caught off guard by that. A drunk person's words were a sober person's thoughts. Sloane held it against him for retreating into the Void and never leaving so much as a voicemail, didn't she? Of course she did, the entire coven had the right to do so. 

[i]"I got around just fine without you."[/i]

It didn't show, thanks to the shadows concealing Jack's face, but that comment didn't sit well with him. This whole time, she could've said something. She could've pulled him aside and asked, "why didn't you come back?" or, "What was so important that you never returned?" But it took four strong drinks for her to even imply she took offense to it. Jack would've admitted to the fact that he should've come home sooner. He would've taken the blame, she didn't have to hold onto it like that. Sloane didn't have to wait until [i]now[/i] to throw it in his face.

[quote][color=9966CC]"You go after Sloane, I'll catch up, I need to make sure she doesn't lose everything after offending the man who practically runs the city.”[/color][/quote]

[i]Who?[/i]

[color=6644ff]"Who...?"[/color] Jack didn't recognize that man. Why would he? He didn't seem like anything special.

[color=6644ff]"I'll be back,"[/color] he said, concealing his discomfort at Sloane's jab as Anya walked off.

Jack stepped into an alleyway, and teleported up to the rooftops, following Sloane in secret until she came to a stop. She was easy to spot, in that bright red trench coat of hers. Meanwhile, no one would be able to catch a glimpse of the ominous shade flickering in and out of the background as he kept up with her. Tonight was meant to be fun, and Sloane wasn't having any. Did he really get under her skin that much? Was coming back a mistake? Had she been waiting for an excuse to tell Jack that he should go back to the Void? Jack trailed Sloane long enough that, [i]hopefully[/i] she managed to cool down at least enough to be interacted with.

And then he stepped out into the open, pulling his hood off to reveal his face again. Not a trace of emotion was on it. [color=6644ff]Sloane, what is it that troubles you tonight? It isn't Drake, or [i]me,[/i] is it?"[/color]

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"Then don't."

Well, there it was. They didn't care enough to commit. There was no conviction, no [i]determination[/i] in what Meifeng was trying to pitch. The moment she met resistance, she bent. Stormy felt that he was being clinically objective in his dissecting of her excuses. And by all accounts, he felt Meifeng was genuinely sorry about the incident. But she wasn't sorry enough to dwell on it, and he couldn't expect her to. As one of her companions explained, Director Alcott simply didn't have the time to care, so it was up to the PRA to decide if keeping good relations with the paranormal scene was worth their time. Stormy wasn't sympathetic to her response, but he saw the point in it. And he saw the point in what Bianca provided. It was hard to be mad at Bianca in particular, she was a survivor of the old days, and blood like that ran deeper than most were willing to accept. If he were there, when the attack happened, Stormy would've gone to a maximum security paranormal holding facility for the bloodbath that he'd leave behind. Or, at the very least, for trying. He understood that protective streak, it was what made him who he was. 

He saw the look Lila gave him. Stormy accepted that. He'd accept every hateful, bitter word from every last member of the coven for this. Someone had to at least [i]try[/i] and make peace before things escalated into a cycle of revenge. Even if things would only be made worse in time by Stormy's actions, he could say that he handled things with dignity, that he tried to do the best he could; An error of compassion beat an error of malice. Stormy reached into his jacket and pulled his wallet out...

[quote][color=DA70D6]“A Moscow mule.”[/color][/quote]

[quote][color=F08080]“Make that two Moscow mules,”[/color][/quote]

[color=00ff98]"Make it three, and bottled water if you have it."[/color]

Stormy sat two $100 bills down on their table, in the center to pay for the drinks.

[color=00ff98]"Actions speak louder than words, that's true."[/color] he acknowledged. [color=00ff98]"So let me be a man of my word."[/color] Being a senior-level college professor, Stormy had plenty of cash to spare when he was in the mood. 

[color=00ff98]"I'm not going to patronize anybody here by implying that we are [i]destined[/i] to be able to make amends properly. But I want to, at the very least, [i]try[/i] to make that a possible future. We're [i]dying,[/i] you know this already. And the truth is we've got nothing to show for the investigations we've conducted,"[/color] to say nothing of the fact that their investigating amounted to a disaster thus far. [color=00ff98]"Bianca is in danger, no less than any of us. We both want to protect our people, Meifeng. That means protecting the ones we care about from [i]Father Wolf.[/i] If there is a chance that mine will live one more day by speaking like this, then I'll it my responsibility, and mine alone, so no one else has to sit through this. "[/color]

They could share information, and use apply it together to take the bastard down wherever he might be. Survival brought everyone together as kids, it could bring them together now, even if they were bound to divide again afterwards. [color=00ff98]"And if anyone holds it against me, just know that I'll respect that,"[/color] he said, looking to his fellow covenmates. He knew Lila was the most pissed, and Stormy wanted to acknowledge her feelings, since they were unquestionably justified.

[color=00ff98]"But for now, drink to your hearts content, everyone. I meant what I said, it's on me tonight."[/color]