Yankee — Roleplayer Guild

Front Office, Silverside
Earlier
Mentions: Ezra, Poppy, Vincent, Khor (in passing) || Interactions: Matthias (@ERode), Leon (@Herald)

He'd learned about Omakase's fate before he'd even crossed the border back into Silverside. A chill far colder than the weather swept down his spine and lingered as anxiety crept in. He'd told Poppy that the Dark Aces were in Pennystakes and making themselves comfortable. He'd warned her they were up to something and still it had turned out like this. They'd moved right in and hadn't even been sneaky about it. Flaunting their takeover. It unnerved Adel for plenty of reasons, but the primary one was-

He hadn't heard from Poppy.

When he walked into his own home base he had no idea if she was alive or dead. 

It shook him. But he feigned indifference even in front of his own people. Especially in front of them. He'd kept his connection to Poppy, to Pennystakes, hidden for this long and he wasn't about to let it slip now. There was a storm of emotions going on in his head, but none of it was so much as hinted at when he made a quick round of the office and spoke to everyone. He wanted to call her, find her, but there was other business that needed his attention. He had to be patient. Business first.

The comms equipment had made it back to the office intact. Alright, he'd deal with that tomorrow. Gonzalez... Eagle had apparently picked a codename, and insisted on being present when they used the equipment. Sure, whatever. Webb had been given his assignment. Fine, as long as he wasn't around the office. Someone complained to him about moths in the building and - next. Swift had not yet returned. Not surprising. Various updates on situations across Nocturnia were given to him, and after hearing everything he nodded, turned around, and walked stiffly to his private office. As he left he heard Griffon's complaints about his lack of reaction to Eagle's codename follow behind him. 

As soon as the door closed Adel whipped out his cellphone, punching in a number memorized long ago and dialing. 

Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.

The voicemail of the number you have dialed is–

He had enough self control that he didn't chuck the phone at the wall, just snapped it shut harder than necessary. An unanswered phone didn't mean anything. It might still be alright. He'd try again later; there was still other business to attend to.

Adel rounded his desk and prepared two succinct emails to two very different people, though the body of the emails related to the same information. He'd told Captain MacAoidh that he'd send over anything else he learned about Vincent - and when he'd spoken with Vincent earlier, the Lion hadn't come up at all, so it was likely the man didn't know anything about their connection. Good. The message he sent to Leon was in-depth but to the point, going over anything he thought might help the detective's investigation: the organization of Vincent's men and the equipment they had access to, Vincent's elite that he may want to look out for, and the powerful 'Solaris Eye' that would prevent nearly any undercover work.

And, though it was the information Matthias had wanted in the first place, the message to the Lodestar was but a simple: Got it. Send a time and place.

He was still fishing for in person meetings after all.

Next on the agenda, looking up The Eel's identity since he'd seen her - oh, that was quick. She didn't seem like the type to keep her name confidential in the first place. Khor Kosavić. Interesting.

...

He picked up his phone again, hit redial and pressed it to his ear. It rang, then hit voicemail again. Come on, Pops.

He reached over to his ashtray and pulled an old half-smoked cigarette from it. He'd gotten plenty of ribbing about this kind of behavior before but with the way he went through these things? He wasn't about to drop any more of his fortune into the habit than he already had to. And he did have to. When he died from lung cancer it would at least be that which killed him and not a mafiaoso's bullet. He'd probably only get one puff out of it, but regardless he carefully snipped the end and re-lit it. 

A few minutes later he called again, with the same result. He was beginning to plan routes in his brain to take through Pennystakes to find her. Half-secret passages they'd used as kids, the Magna's old shortcuts. Would she have stayed in the Stakes or run? Whatever was best for the children she looked after, he assumed. If she had gone into hiding it would take time to suss her out, which meant it could be a while until he knew if she was even alright. He didn't know if he could stay focused without at least knowing. 

Adel took several measured breaths, redialed, and called once more.

Pick up.

Realizing his eyes were squeezed shut Adel opened them, his gaze flickering rapidly across the various items on his desk until it landed on a small common house spider.

Pick up.

He watched it crawl across the wood, and almost without conscious thought he reached out, the lit end of his cigarette hovering over it. 

Pick up...

He brought the stick down sharply, crushing the arachnid among the ashes on the lacquer. 

Poppy if you don't pick up the fucking phone...!

The voicemail of the number you have di–

This time he did throw his phone, the hardy little thing pinging off the side wall and landing unharmed on his sofa. Adel dragged a hand through his hair, pulling at a few tangles that had formed throughout the day. If Blackheart had hurt Pops he didn't know what he'd do. 

When the small screen on the phone's front lit up Adel raced over to snatch it up and answer. As soon as he heard the familiar voice say Addy he let out a sigh of relief. Better late than never. 

"I'm glad you're alright."

She was alright, but wasn't exactly safe. She'd been pushed into Iron Gate, which is where she currently was after having done the latest round of headcounts. She had her men but not her resources; as fast as the takeover had been she hadn't had time to grab anything but the cars and kids for the most part. And on top of it all Vincent still had a hostage of hers. Her stress was at an all time high, and the question of whether she could complete her mission and rescue him was at the top of her worries.

The situation sucked. But since she was alive, it was salvageable. 

"Come here," he told her. "To Silverside."

Poppy had been trying to stay out of the game for a while, but he knew she was still street smart enough to make it through Elysium and Brewery with little issue. "We have the space. If we don't I'll make it."

There was residual anger from the other end of the line. Obviously she was upset over the takeover. Pennystakes had been her home far longer than it had been Adel's. Poppy prided herself on being able to look after her own, and she saw Adel as a little brother. She didn't want to accept his help, especially when she knew he had a lot of his own issues to deal with.

"What other options do you even have?"

He'd said it a little harshly, but it was true. Iron Gate was a small, broke area. How long would it take her to stabilize it? How much would it cost her? And in the mean time, how was she going to feed and and protect the people that depended on her? If she let him help then she had a lot more options. He made sure she knew that, and the conversation moved to pushing back against each other. Unfortunately for her she'd almost never won an argument against him, and it only took a little more pushing to convince her to accept the invitation. Silverside was a bastion in Nocturnia, and it was far safer for everyone if she took shelter there.

"Yeah. ...don't worry about th- ...I know. ...he will be. I'm meeting with Vi- no it didn't have anything to do wi- It's fine. ...yes. ...look, we'll put our heads together when you get here. So get here."

She agreed, lapsed into talking about next steps, very obviously started to be sucked back into her own head. So Adel interrupted her.

"What do you want to eat right now? I'll order a hundred of it and have it delivered."

Poppy let out a breathy chuckle on the other end of the call. Adel didn't smile (the offer was serious), but he felt a little better knowing that she could still find her humor. She declined though, and ended with a promise to take Omakase and head to Silverside.

"Alright. See you."

He waited until she disconnected before he closed his phone. That was one less thing he had to worry about, but he knew he still wouldn't rest easy until she'd actually made it here. Not that his rest ever really came easily. Once she arrived they could talk more. Maybe he could get Vincent to return the kid, now that he wouldn't be able to get much use out of them. 

After a moment Adel stood, poking out of his office and grabbing the nearest employee he could find.

"We're taking in Omakase. Tell Griffon." He would do it himself, but the sooner he arranged lodging for Poppy's kids the better. "They'll integrate into our organization until further notice."

The woman he spoke with nodded. Before she headed out toward the front Adel called one last thing after her. "And put in a catering order."
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