The suite was luxurious, without the spartan decor featuring chrome and glass upon which so many hotels relied to justify the expense necessary to sleep under sheets that had covered hundreds of others. Adrian had been quite specific as to what he expected for an extended stay off base, and save the company with which the space was currently being shared, he was pleased, over all. The suite was spacious, with a panoramic view of San Jose; its furnishings antiques of excellent quality and the bedding crisp and new, as was the mattress. Thick walls ensured privacy, and no ambient noise told of the presence of other guests in the small, exclusive hotel.
All in all, the only sign of agitation could be found in the absence of his suit jacket, which was folded precisely across the back of the chair on his left, his shirtsleeves folded back twice to expose forearms that flexed with the suppressed desire to slap the junior agent stammering his way through a sitrep. The three senior agents had fared some better, and they sat on the opposite side of the large dining cum conference table, eyes carefully blank whilst the younger agent stuttered over the term 'masterbation' for the fifth time, as if the video that played silently on Adrian's tablet didn't speak for itself.
That Amaya had remained in their sights seemed wholly due to the fact that the woman rarely left her apartment, and that they'd had no idea she had been involved with Dionysus' son was a stark reminder of how the god had circumvented their intelligence efforts in Las Vegas. That reminder combined with the news regarding the most recent attacks on those Society outposts that lay at the outermost fringes had left Adrian's temper short, and his silent expectation that the agents fill in all the gaps filled the air with a palpable tension.
When the senior agent stood take the junior's place, his eyes widened slightly, and Adrian, for the first time that afternoon, smiled. There was no need to turn and confirm Alison's arrival, for the entire room sang with her presence, and the seat on his right had been left for her and her alone. There was no need to stop and fill her in on what had transpired before her arrival, as the entire meeeting had been streamed to her earpiece and tablet, and so without taking his eyes off the agent, who stood like a dullard with his mouth slightly open, Adrian sighed, allowing Alison's presence bolster his patience even as it soothed his spirit.
"What do we know about Hephaestus' sudden absence and the attack on Aphrodite's home in Las Angeles?"