The Bates were unable to contact their beacon hunting allies. It was safe to assume Umeko was put off by Regina's last outburst. Umeko bragged about her ability to track anyone, and two monster twins with a huge aura should have been an easy target. But Regina did not sleep on the streets that night. 

	In the morning, Regina was sitting in a lavish home, specifically the guest bedroom. She was sitting on the corner of a bed sketching pictures on a notepad. Elroy was completely reclined on an adjacent bed, lowering grapes into his mouth.

	Regina had persuaded an older woman to let two poor, homeless runaways take up residence in her house. This was one of the few times Regina didn't need to use her powers to persuade someone to help her. Any good samaritan would help a bruised and burnt pair of twins. They were welcome to stay until they recovered, which was going to be a very short time with Regina's healing artifact. 

	“Is there something you want to talk about Elroy? You've been awfully quiet.” Regina didn't look up from her drawing. As soon as she finished it, she just flipped the paper over and started drawing a new one.

	“You made me think you were dead.” Elroy didn't look away from the ceiling. “You manipulated me.” He looked unusually stern, not even a hint of a smile.

	Regina looked between Elroy and her artwork. “I... Was angry.” She continued to draw. “You haven't been very obedient recently. You were right to ignore my order about teasing Caroline, but you insisted on fighting Ilia and you nearly killed each other.”

	“So we did fight.” Elroy shifted his gaze onto Regina. “That's twice you toyed with my head. That I know about anyway.”

	Regina promptly stopped drawing, her lips curled inside her mouth. “Yes, he was going to divide himself up into a bunch of clones and severely injure you, if not kill you outright. You might have hurt him pretty badly, which wouldn't have helped our situation either.” She looked directly at him. “But I knew you were too proud to stop fighting, so I ended the fight.”

	“Thanks mom.” Elroy started to smile. “But then why did you put me in a far more precarious situation? I mean, Beacon actually would have killed me if I stuck around for it. And you know I would have after you died.”

	Her grip tightened on her pencil. “You weren't going with the plan, and you seemed like you were cooperating with that miserable beacon girl. Meanwhile, that disgraceful monster was preparing to attack one of us.” She scoffed. “I wanted so badly to fire first, but I trusted you would make the right choice in time. All you had to do was grab her and run. It would have been easy, she had no way to resist. But you waited too long, and that monster girl could have killed me.” 

	“You also told Umeko that you didn't want to confront Beacon because you didn't want to appear on their radar.”  Elroy sat up on his bed, looking straight across at Regina. “So what do I do in those situations?”

	“I was scared, okay?” Her voice cracked. “If that cyborg had chosen to fire on you instead of me, I would have been alone. There's no one else in this world that I can trust.” There was a shutter in her breath. “I'm not sorry for what I did. What you felt last night is exactly how I would feel if anything happened to you. Who am I going to go back to? My father? My mother? The beacon killers?” 

	Elroy's smile faded as his fellow twin went on. “Alright. So what should I do?”

	Regina's lower lip was trembling. “I want you to remember how horrible you felt.” She inhaled deeply. “Also, y-you should give me a hug.”

	“Excuse me?” Elroy raised an eyebrow. “You really want one, or is this your way of saying sorry?”

	Regina tossed her drawing pad off to the side and stood upright. “Stop antagonizing me and just do it!” Elroy was confused, but stood up in turn. He approached his sister and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Regina placed her hands on his back, pulling herself to him. “It was interesting though.” Regina spoke in a quiet voice. “Seeing you fight so hard to avenge me. That's definitely not something I’m going to forget either.” She looked at the side of Elroy's head. “A-and you can't say I never hugged you now.” 

	“I guess we both have something to remember then. I'll forgive you.” His smile was starting to return.

	“Well, I forgive you too.”

	[color=cfff04]”Hope I'm not intruding.”[/color] 

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/OuA3B6J.png[/img]

[hider=Tonya “Mac” Murphy]
[b]Age: 24/11 | Gender: Female/Female | Illusion, Gravity
Body | Power of Friendship, Regeneration | Moirai
Wings, Soul Jar, Martial Training, Familiar, Environmental Sealing, Gifted, Awareness, Mystic Artifact

Magical Overload, Paragon, Blessing, Gifted Item | Monster Form, Big Brother, Arrogance, Vendetta
Redirected Magic, Second Specialization | Non-Standard Limbs, Destroyer[/b]

STR: 05 | AGI: 04 |  VIT: 05 | MAG: 03 | LCK: 03

STR: 12 | AGI: 08 |  VIT: 10 | MAG: 16 | LCK: 05

Earnings this post: 
Complete mission:  2 Silver, 3 Bronze

Total: 0 Gold, 30 Silver, 35 Bronze
[/hider][/center]

	Tonya did not appear before the bates as herself. While she did assume a form that closely resembled her own, that of a wolf monater girl, everything else was different enough that no one would assume that the two were the same. 

	"Excuse me!" Regina shouted. "What do you think you're doing here?!"

	[color=cfff04]”I could say the same to you. But instead I'm going to comment on your amazing fashion sense!”[/color] Tonya spun in front of them. She still had a Bikini top on, specifically so that she could open with that line.

	"O-oh!" Regina looked away with a blush. "Y-you don't look so bad yourself."

	"Didn't answer the question, wolf girl." Elroy fret his brow, but kept his smile up. "You here to squat with us, or what?"

	[color=cfff04]”I'm here to give you some back up, actually.”[/color] She folded her arms. [color=cfff04]”You seem kind of lost. Wouldn't you like a patron to help look after you and teach you about this magical world you've found yourselves in?”[/color]

	The red haired woman folded her arms. ”I don't know. Those little things...”

	[color=cfff04]”Yea, the little rodent guys aren't my favorite thing to deal with either. To avoid that, you'll want to work with the Mint. Or more specifically, Veronica.”[/color]

	"Veronica?"

	[color=cfff04]”Yea, wanna meet her?”[/color]

	The look on their faces said it all. Her anonymity from the mint was hers. At least for now.