[center] [h2]Phantasm[/h2] [/center] [u][url=https://goo.gl/maps/rCVuusY6QE7jrdXt7]Cloud Gate[/url][/u] [i]Loop, Tenebrae[/i] [i][color=lightgray]Time: Late Morning[/color][/i] [@Estylwen] Myriad tapped her fingers on her chin, looking at Gloria appraisingly. “Ah, so they really did cancel that class.” She skipped down the steps of the Gate, Gloria following after. Their strange costumes garnered more than a few stares from people walking by but no one said anything, no doubt assuming it was for some kind of street performance. Myriad turned back to Gloria, looking up at her from three stairs below. "You're my friend, I know that. As for us and the Valkyries, there's old history." She turned back, shrugging. "But I wasn't a Knight then. Nowadays, it's doubtful the two interact much. You may well be the first interaction we’ve had in, um.” Myriad counted the number out individually on her fingers till she had a full hand before saying. “Wow, in five years.” Gloria took a step back, up one stair. She didn't really have 'friends'. She had people who watched her back and she watched there's. Even that hadn't come easy to her. It had been a long time since she'd been able to just stroll up to someone and say 'you seem nice, let's be friends'. To have Myriad do it so casually when they'd spent less than a day together surprised her. She didn't know how to deal with that so she pushed it away, focusing on what Myriad had said about the Shadow Knights and the Valkyries. "I don't suppose you know what happened to the old queen, the one Lady Hel had an agreement with. Arc just said she was 'no longer fit for duty'." There was a very long and uncomfortable pause as Myriad's eyes shifted away from Gloria. "She uh, fell into a coma." She forced a smile, trying to laugh it off. "But I mean, it's better to talk about people's good times, not their bad, right? It's what she would've wanted." Gloria nodded. Myriad clearly didn't like dwelling on bad things. Meanwhile it felt like that's all Gloria ever did. "Thanks." She wasn't sure how much that helped her but it was something. She walked past Myriad and when she was a few step down she turned around. She lowered her hood, unclipped her mask and pulled out the hair tie holding her braid in place. Her blonde hair fell down around her shoulders in a frizzy mass that she knew was going to be a pain to run a brush through later. She looked up at Myriad so they could see each other's eyes. "My friends call me Katey. I'll see you around." "Katey," she mumbled, eyes turning up thoughtfully. With a small pull, she tugged her own mask to the side, revealing large eyes and a slender nose, but what grabbed Gloria's attention where Myriad's eyes. They were... four dimensional was the only way that Gloria could describe it. A tesseract shape that twisted in on itself over and over and over again even as she knew that it wasn't moving in the slightest. Gloria looked at them more closely trying to get a beat on exactly what they were. As she continued to stare, Myriad scrunched her eyes shut, a smile on her face. "Sure, Katey. Friendship names are cool. Tell you mine after your mission, 'kay?" she said. She slid the mask back over her eyes, clipping it into place under the wreath of flaming hair. "Alright," Gloria said "Till then." "Good luck, my friend." [center] [h2][color=black]Lady Hel[/color][/h2] [/center] [u][url=https://goo.gl/maps/FpH6B4XGad6hC8ic6]Love Street[/url][/u] [i]Lincoln Park, Tenebrae[/i] [i][color=lightgray]Time: Late Morning[/color][/i] [@Blizz] Oshus smiled. "Yeah. Homesickness. You could say that. Old town’s a piece of work, but she’s our piece of work. Well, yours, I guess. You get it, anyway, I’m getting old. People retire when they’re old, dunno how much I got left in me. Being out there so long and not here very long, it’ll make you realize where you went ain’t much far from where y’came from." Hel nodded. That's what she'd wanted to hear. That he'd returned out of a fondness for his roots, not to stir up trouble. She'd keep an eye on him just to make sure he wasn't feeding what she wanted but trust came a little easier to her with him than it did with almost anyone else. "Long as that's all you're looking for then the city's here for you. This place is a lot safer for us than it was back in the day but that saftey's still fragile. Stay as long you like, just don't make waves." He smiled. "Guess I couldn’t stay away from the place’s charm for another twenty..." As he ignored the subtle threat in her final words. He knocked back his drink and turned his stool to face her. "Say, you wouldn’t happen to know anything about Fade, would you?" It was Hel's turn to smile. "I wish I did. Her skill set is unmatched. She'd make a fearsome Valkyrie. But true to her name, she faded away after what happened to Fenrix." They talked for nearly an hour, recalling old memories, shared victories, shared failures, but mostly shared misery. It had been a very long time since Hel had had a real conversation with someone on equal footing to her. She did appreciate the comfort of it, even if she would never admit as much out loud. ”Well Sweetness. It’s been a pleasure talkin’ with ya, funny enough, but I’ve got other reunions worth seeing to.” He slipped a twenty into his empty glass and got up to leave. He was talking Sunrider. Though Hel supposed she called herself Ellie these days. Hel had approached her once or twice about joining the Valkyries but she refused. She was ashamed of what they'd had to do when they were younger and she thought punching jewellery store robbers and car jackers in the face would somehow atone for it. She was playing at being a superhero. It was a shame, her talents could be used for so much more. ”Grab me sometime, I’ll be in town a while. We can catch up some more anytime." Oshus said as he was walking towards the door. Then as though a sudden thought hit him he turned back towards her. "While you’re not busy, might wanna put those Shade Knights on a leash. Shade Knights... Shadow Knights, the guys in the dopey lookin’ hoods. The kook with the scar thought he was gonna spook me. I guess you know who I’m talking about, if you don’t, I don’t.” Hel's eyes widened every so slightly but her expression remained neutral. When she didn't respond he shrugged. ”Tell your girls I said hey." Hel nodded and watched him walk away. Shadow Knights... They were a band of tech thieves with some very unsavoury connections to metahuman hunter and trafficker groups. She'd driven them out of the city years ago. Not that she was foolish enough to think she'd disbanded their entire operation, but she'd gone to war with them and in the end they'd reached an armistice. Tenebrae belonged to Hel, the knights weren't welcome in this city. If they'd returned... well, that would be the end of their uneasy truce. She would need to deal with that. Hel stood up, and placed a crisp hundred dollar bill on the bar. "That's for you darling." she said before strolling out the door. When she returned to her car one of her entourage said. "My lady, you were dropped a line while you were inside. Siobhan wants to talk to you. She's..." Hel cut the woman off. "One of Phantasm's playmates. I know. I'll take the call in back." The woman nodded. "Very good Miss."