[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/cXxrzFd.png[/img][/center]

Jericho Piper, never one to give a shit about Grat's happiness, had continued drifting around the room like a restless phantom while the rest of her team - all those assembled who had known her longer and better than he had - was standing transfixed at her show of affection. Something about Gratia's tone of voice had drawn him over to the object of her ire, and as Jericho stared down at it, he felt [i]his[/i] disgust with the trinket in question beginning to roil, too.

It was stupid, on one level. An objectively pointless little thing to have a screw loose over - a little doll with straw-colored hair, wrapped in a beat-up looking caricature of a leather jacket and a faded patch of denim, with two black, soulless button eyes and a single fabric strand for a smile. It was practically featureless; yet, like all good voodoo dolls, he recognized who it was fashioned for immediately.

The damn family all looked alike.

[color=9e0b0f][i]You Fiordilattes disgust me,[/i][/color] the message was written clearly on Jericho's grouchy snarl. [color=9e0b0f][i]Your puns suck dick and you breed like roaches.[/i][/color]

The straw-haired doll seemed to smile back. Stupidly. Smugly.

[color=aba000][i]Then I guess that makes our dad the cock-roach![/i][/color] the ornament replied with glee.

A low growl rumbled in Jericho's throat. He impatiently shoved the doll in one pocket of his leather jacket and resolved to mail it to Atlas for evidence later.

He wanted to toss the room over in a hunt for any more evidence of a vampire-harboring little brother, and normally this would have been the perfect time; Grat's damn giggles were sucking all the oxygen right out of the room. Unfortunately, there was an impending time bomb on his Scroll that he'd been putting off answering - and it looked like Beryl, at least, had noticed.

[code]
Sender: Bianca N. [GREENLIT (?)]
Recipient: Group - [s]Hunter in the streets, Grimm in the sheets[/s] Vale Asset Group [CLEARANCE LEVEL: N/A] (Gratia M., Lucas S., Beryl H., Jericho P.)
Message: Hey all!! Just popping in to see if anyone is free for some coffee in about an hour. Hope everyone is having a good family day ~~[/code]


[code]
Sender: Beryl H.
Recipient: Group - [s]Hunter in the streets, Grimm in the sheets[/s] Vale Asset Group [CLEARANCE LEVEL: N/A] (Bianca N. [GREENLIT(?)], Gratia M., Lucas S., Jericho P.)
Message: Sounds great. I need an excuse to get Lasai out of the dorm an[/code]

The thought of a coffee date - between Gratia, Bianca, and Luke "I'm Too Slow" Schwarz, of all people, made Jericho want to give the medicinal properties of hot tar a whirl. He pulled out his Scroll and read over the messages over again.

He supposed that, if Grat was going, her parents would be too. There was no way he was gonna be able to make a clean break that fast - especially not with Bianca keeping an eagle eye out for him.

The doll in his jacket pocket smirked. Jericho resisted the urge to crush it in his fist and began to type:

[code]
Sender: Jericho P. 
Recipient: Group - [s]Hunter in the streets, Grimm in the sheets[/s] Vale Asset Group [CLEARANCE LEVEL: N/A] (Beryl H., Bianca N. [GREENLIT(?)], Gratia M., Lucas S.)
Message: Coffee. Fine. Delete my number.[/code]

At least now they wouldn't be able to call him standoffish.

Jericho, uncomfortably aware that everyone else in the room was gawking at the Mindaros, drifted back over to Grat's guitar and inspected it again, eyes inscrutable.