[CENTER][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjE0Mi42ZjBiYjcuUzJGc2FTQk5ZV2hsYm1SeVlRLjE/crash-bang-zipdap.regular.webp[/img][/CENTER] Interactions: Mainly Edict, a bit with Britney at the end [hr][color=bc8dbf]Dairy Queen Late Evening[/color] [hr] Dairy Queen? Seriously...? Come on I had perfectly good home cooked food already- [color=#D01417]Enough with the curry![/color] I let out a sigh soft enough so no one else would hear it. Hopefully. Well, a Dairy Queen wasn't the worst. Ruinous for your health but [color=#D01417]we don't really care about that right now do we?[/color] Yeah. And there's never a [i]bad time[/i] for ice cream. [color=#D01417]That's going to be six more sets when we get back before heading to bed.[/color] Yeah. Not the worst. I walk over towards the counter at the end of the line. To think, after all these years I'm just in a line at a [i]dairy queen[/i] with these people like nothing ever happened. It's surreal. Like some kind of fucked up high-school reunion. Or well, at least what I think one of those would be like. Hah... I wish I knew what high-school was like. [color=#D01417]Probably terrible.[/color] You think everything is terrible. [color=#D01417]That is factually incorrect. Violence is GREAT![/color] Right... Eventually it's my turn to order. I look at the menu, a menu that I haven't actually taken a proper look at in... Have I ever ordered from a Dairy Queen before? Orange Julius? [color=#D01417]Who the [b]fuck[/b] is Julius?[/color] Okay, slow down. Let's look for something [i]vaguely familiar[/i]. [color=#8670AD]"A strawberry shake."[/color] is what I eventually end up saying to the person behind the register. Whoever that was. As per usual I just go on autopilot handing over my card and completing the entire interaction without even properly registering that there's a [i]person[/i] in front of me. It just makes life easier that way... [i]for the both of us.[/i] Eventually, in my hand is a nice plastic cup of [i]pink[/i]. Very very bright [i]pink[/i]. Probably loaded with artificial strawberry flavorings and one sip basically confirmed the obvious. I shouldn't like this. [color=#D01417]But you do.[/color] Why...? [color=#D01417]Nostalgia is a poison that rots your tongue with the taste of a corporate synthesized pedestrian pallet.[/color] Ugh... I mean it'll do. It's no Hagen D- [quote=Sloane]“Kali, I believe I owe you an explanation for abstaining earlier.”[/quote] Hm? My head turns over to Sloane as she starts. I see. She wants to be the one to lead the conversation. I don't say anything at first, choosing to just listen and gauge where exactly she's going with this and before long I get my answers. So they're willing to cooperate, and from I'm hearing from Luca he's just here to [i]figure things out[/i] the best he can. Not bad. It's the minimum level of mutual self-interest needed to form an agreement. I look off towards the vague direction of Flowers and Canvases for a moment. Whoever's with us now is probably the most reasonable of the bunch. I can't tell what the rest of them are doing but maybe I can at least get these people out of the way from any more scrutiny... No, maybe that's a bit too pessimistic of me. [color=#D01417]They're going to fuck [i]something[/i] up and you know it.[/color] Shut up. Regardless, it's time for me to break my own silence. [color=#8670AD]"Honestly,"[/color] I say as I take a seat entering a more relaxed position [color=#8670AD]"Getting the Coven back together as a [i]structure[/i] isn't a bad idea... But... Auri isn't a leader.[/color] I say letting a small pause take hold so that information can sink in before continuing. [color=#8670AD]"She's nice, which is good, but she's too nice to actually properly enforce anything when push comes to shove. And most of all, as you're all [i]very nicely demonstrating[/i], not enough people respect her."[/color] I say before adding with a sigh, [color=#8670AD]"Or anyone else really. Nobody here's fit to take charge of everyone in this situation so I'm not even going to bother suggesting anything like that."[/color] I then take out from my pocket pen as I begin to draw on one of the napkins we have as I say, [color=#8670AD]"Instead, I'd rather us have a [i]system[/i] because I want you to keep this in mind. The [i]town[/i] isn't in any [i]real danger[/i]. It's all of [b][i]you[/i][/b] who are the potential[/color][color=#D01417] [b]targets[/b][/color][color=#8670AD]"[/color] Once again, I give them a moment to process that before explaining further as I draw little impromptu stick figures of people on the napkin connecting them together in a circle. [color=#8670AD]"So I'd say we should at least set up a line of communication with each other. None of us here trusts everyone but I can imagine we can all at least figure out one or two people who we trust [i]enough[/i] to have our backs. Having a [i]chain[/i] where one person checks up on the next in a loop like this during a daily designated time will at least minimize some of the risk of getting caught out alone for whoever this [i]father wolf[/i] figure is to pick us off. Alternatively making small groups that can wander around together might also be fine though it will interfere with any of your daily lives if you choose that route but once again, it's your own lives we're talking about here."[/color] I say before deciding the ditch the whole plan on a napkin thing altogether as I scrunch it up into a ball and toss it in the trash bin. [color=#8670AD]"The main point is that there's [i]safety in numbers.[/i] Father wolf's an unknown quantity. Could be a severely powerful individual or a whole organization and we don't even know what they want aside from all of us dead. I'm not saying we need to organize into a proper coven again but I do heavily recommend we at least try to lay low for a bit and stick together until we have more information on the situation. After all, St. Portwell's already a powder keg waiting to burst. I'd rather not stir the pot and start a war whilst we're in the middle of this mess just because we have a few tenuous leads that might be red-herrings all-together."[/color]