Who: Zach, Nico, Dante, Dione, and Adrienne
When: Early Evening
Where: A cave near the western edge of the haven.
What: Zach and Nico wander off from the search party and find trouble.

[save spot! writing up]

Who: Open to Everyone
When: All Day
Where: The edge of Elysium, near the mountains.
What: Some of the search party checks inside Elysium’s borders for Dante.
OOC: Post multiple threads, leave them open for others to join, or set your character up with someone in particular! Just have fun and use your imagination! Clues, discoveries, and more are up to you!

Despite their reasons for being at the edge of Elysium, the edge of the land was a beautiful place to behold. Mountains rose high into atmosphere, shadowy blue in the distance and snow-tipped at the peaks. Endless caves burrowed into the mountains, though most of them were occupied by the dwarves and their little kingdom apart from most of Elysium. Not only could Dante not hide with the dwarves, for they had been warned of his possible presence at the borders, but the search party could gleam information of local happenings from the dwarves.

It was unlikely they would find Dante today, but the werewolf had to have left a trail due to traveling. There was no way he could not be traced, not when he was being followed by trained guards, eager citizens, and other praeternaturals with senses to combat Dante’s own. Taking the two women with him had been a terrible mistake, and the search party was determined first and foremost to rescue Dante’s captives and to take Dante—dead or alive, the announcement said—back to Helicharis.

Now, it was simply up to them to pick up a trail and discover the location of Dante Donovan, Adrienne Conté, and Dione Castel.

Who: Hayate and Dante
When: Late Evening
Where: The dungeons in Town Hall.
What: One devil to another, and chaos is released.

Hayate ran his fingers against the bars as he passed them, humming a tune in the back of his throat. The guards were all away from the dungeon on a break. It wasn’t as if they had to watch the place for every hour of the day. Any prisoner within would be locked up tight away from the public, only open to visitors who chose to come by voluntarily, and would have very little chance to escape. Hayate escaped, of course, but he had also severely wounded himself in the process and endangered his life. Without proper medical care or blood to sustain him, he could have died.

Dante, on the other hand, was locked behind silver bars that even the strongest of werewolves couldn’t break past. Silver was deadly to werewolves. They had taken extra special precautions with their new prisoner. It was almost a shame they hadn’t thought to do the same with Hayate. Complaints were the last thing on Hayate’s mind, though. He had more pressing matters at hand.

Pausing in front of Dante’s cell, Hayate looked past the bars to the man inside them. Eventually, he leaned against the opposite wall and slouched with his hands in his pockets. “Hello,” Hayate said casually, as if he was greeting an old friend. They had never been friends, but they had always understood each other. Perhaps it came with the territory. “It looks like you’re the bad guy of the moment now.” Hayate brought one of his hands to his mouth, sitting three fingers atop his lips as his thumb rested against his chin. “And I seem to be the new good guy . . . ”

A scowl crossed over the vampire’s face, and he shook his head. “People are so fickle.”

Who: Dylan [Narrative]
When Morning
Where: His office in Town Hall.
What: Dylan is conflicted by Hayate’s heroic actions and Dante’s confession to the murders.
Note: Just have your character respond with a comment that is a letter to Dylan!

Dylan paced his office as the sun was rising, trying to make sense of the events from the past few days. He pulled back a curtain to reveal the early morning sky pink from the rainfall. Glad for the moment of silence away from people, Dylan simply studied the clouds and cleared his mind of other thoughts. The djinni needed some time to himself to rejuvenate his mind. He was more tired than usual from late nights and meeting after meeting. The Vice Council members attempted to collect evidence on Hayate, but they had all come up dry.

The victim would not have lied about such a thing, but at the same time Dylan wondered if maybe her encounter had distorted her perception. It was even possible someone tried to look like the man she accused and she confused the two . . . something had to explain it. Even though he was six-hundred-years old, Dylan was still just a man. He was not a god, and he couldn’t be sure of anything regarding this case. He had a particular perception like everything other person, and his perception was barraged with a lack of evidence. He wondered what the councilmen and women thought and decided a meeting would be called for or perhaps an exchange of letters. Dylan needed to know how far they had gotten by now.

It mattered more in these final moments because Dante confessed to the murders of Simon, Eliza, Faye, and Kaiya. All of them were murdered in a way to make it look as though a vampire had done it, but none of the bodies were drained of blood . . . a peculiar thing, and not the mark of a vampire. They had nothing to hold Hayate on anymore since Ms. Hart’s word was not currently enough to keep him behind bars without further evidence, and they had no legal right to hold him for the murders of anyone.

Hayate was free to go as soon as he healed, but Dante . . . a psychopath right under their noses. Dylan told himself they couldn’t have known, but he wished he could have. He wished he could have prevented it, stopped it somehow—but wasn’t that the wish of any good person? To know the bad before it happened, in order to prevent it? Not even a psychic could predict the entire future before them.

Dylan let the curtain fall over the window and moved to his desk, sitting down in his chair. He pulled out the envelopes and letters to prepare one for each of the Vice Council members. Today, they would each receive one.

( I see a storm bubbling up from the sea, and it's coming closer . . .  )

Who: Dante and (Open to many)
When: All day
Where: Dungeons
What: The crazed lycanthrope is finally behind bars

How had this happened? How had he ended up trapped behind silver-lined bars a prisoner instead of out in the wild a free man? How had he let that damn alchemist slip through his fingers alive, and well? The questions that plagued Dante's mind forced him into an almost fugue-like state of eerie silence. He no longer made any attempt to appear, or act normal. What was the point of it when everyone knew what he truly was? What they saw behind those bars was a stone cold killer. Someone who held human life in such small regard that he could squash it like a child squashed small bugs.

The look in his eyes revealed the emptiness of his soul - a dark abyss that could drown anyone who dared to look deep into them. His jaw was clenched tight, and his hands were balled into fists with his nails digging into his palms. Blood dripped onto the floor of his cell, and seeped in between the cracks in the stone. He sat on a chair in the corner of his cell partially hidden in darkness, and shadows. Dante's eyes glistened evilly even in his dim surroundings, and though he was behind fortified bars danger emanated throughout the dungeon as if he could reach beyond them to tear out your heart.

And so he sat in silence in the partial darkness. The guards and the rats were his only company, but at least he could catch the rats and snap their necks. It was the only release he had for his rage. There were at least a dozen on them on the floor - dead rats. Some were torn in half, others were lucky enough to just have broken necks. Some were missing their heads and limbs as if Dante plucked them off one by one. Like petals off a flower, Dante's victims were just as fragile, and just as expendable.

Who: Dante, Zach, and whoever else wants to join in
When: Evening, after this
Where: The Temple
What: The showdown finally comes to an end

Too many voices. There were just too many voices inside, and out for Dante to deal with. He had to run. Had to feel free even though he was anything but. There was no freedom in this place, and so his frustrations were showing themselves in the most violent of ways.

The lycanthrope carried Zach through the more deserted areas of the town. Back alleys that were nothing like the ones of New York or L.A., but still back alleys with little light, and places to hide. But Dante didn't stop to hide. He just ran, and ran, holding Zach tightly in his clutches. Without realizing it he ran all the way to the Elven temple, a place that would normally be a sanctuary would be the place where Zach would meet his end. It seemed fitting in the werewolf's mind even though it would effectively corner him in one place. Dante just wasn't thinking clearly, but every decision he made was backed-up with a fallacy he created in his mind.

Inside the temple Dante dropped Zach to the floor before he put a heavy foot on his back. He began to revert into a human form if only so he could talk to Zach. He was shirtless when he was done, and wearing a pair of tattered jeans. Dante knelt in front of Zach, and lifted his head by pulling on Zach's hair. "I don't usually kill men," he said with a smirk. "But I'll make an exception for you just like I made an exception for that other guy. What was his name—" He paused, and tapped his chin with his free hand. "Oh right, Simon. You remember Simon, don't you?"

Who: Hayate [Narrative]
When: Evening, during this.
Where: The dungeon in Town Hall.
What: Hayate breaks out of his cage. Oh boy.

Hayate heard the commotion down the corridor. The guards were talking about a serious situation in the market place. He rose from his bed and walked up to the bars, leaning against them as he listened carefully for the words of the conversation. His sensitive vampiric hearing caught onto what was being said. There was mention of a rabid werewolf, a kidnapped boy, townspeople crowding around the scene, the boy was Constance Alexie’s grandson . . . Zach Kitano.

His vision turned red. Of all the things for the wolf to seek out, everything Dante sought to conquer just happened to be something that belonged to Hayate. The boy was his great nephew through many generations, the one tie Hayate still had to the world of the living, and this wolf just had to go after him. First, it was Chris. Now, it was Zach. Hayate felt the adrenaline pumping through his veins, red hot blood surging through his heart. The boy was his — his charge, his blood, and his . . . family.

Dante was mistaken if he thought he could get away with this.

Backing away from the bars, Hayate set his sights on them and steeled his muscles. He ran headlong into the bars, slamming the entire side of his body against them. They barely nudged. The vampire backed away and repeated the motion. Again. And again. Each time they shook harder — bent out of place. His side was searing from pain, but Hayate repeated the act. Again. And again.

Eventually, the bars would have to break.

Who: Dante, Zach, and open to others
When: Evening
Where: Beginning at Market Place
What: Dante's a shady mofo, fo'real, and he's mentally unstable.

The dark aura around Dante spread out like grotesque wings, slicing through the tranquil air in the haven and leaving behind a heaviness that hadn't been present before. Dante flew through the night on those dark wings with Zach in tow. One hand clasped tight around the boy's smaller wrists as he dragged him through the dusty trails of the cottages. The lycanthrope didn't know where he was going, or what he was going to do with the boy. No - he did know what he was going to do with Zach. He was going to kill him. Gut him from throat to groin, and let his innards spill to the earth. He'd display the empty shell in front of Adrienne's house as a final show of power. How could he resist her then if she saw how weak the alchemist truly was? Surely, she wouldn't.

He was only semi-shifted with sharp claws on his hands, and sharp teeth in his mouth. His shirt was torn with the protruding muscles of his arms, chest, and back. The vertebrae of his back was pushing upward, curving into the lumbering form of the werewolf. His muzzle had yet to form, but the madness in his eyes was already there. It had always been there. Lying in wait for the perfect moment that didn't exist. There was no perfection in this - only insanity and chaos. All of Dante's planning didn't mean a thing when it seemed violence was the only way to make things happen.

He should've known that the only way to get things in life was to take them.

All logic was gone from the man's mind, and he made his way toward the market place without another thought. Dante didn't think of the people he would encounter, or the fact that someone might recognize him. He was a rabid animal running wherever his feet took him. Instinct had taken over, as did madness. Madness must never be overlooked.

He was in the market place before he knew it, and there were eyes on him. Staring at him. Whispering about him. He heard them all, too. It was too much. He growled as loud as he could, a warning to everyone to stay back.

Who: Zach and his Kidnapper [Short Narrative]
When: Early evening
Where: Zach and Nico's cottage.
What: Someone isn't very happy with Zach . . .

Zach was coming back from another day at the alchemy labs with Elijah, wondering when they were supposed to do the binding ritual. No one had told him what was going on with Adam, but it was probably best that he didn't find out. He had enough on his mind already, and more worries to add to his list weren't going to help him clear his mind for the ceremony.

He reached home and trudged up the steps to the front door. It was quiet, which wasn't usual for the house if Nico was there, but Zach figured Nico must have left while he was away. He had been gone for a couple of hours. Zach turned the doorknob and opened the door, stepping inside the cottage with his messenger bag in tow.

Dante had been at Zach's cottage for the greater part of an hour. A feral animal with nothing to lose Dante had come to the final precipice in the entire situation surrounding Adrienne. He realized that the girl was far too attached to the alchemist, and that meant he had to get rid of him. It was the only way, and then Adrienne would be his.

The moment Zach stepped through the door Dante grabbed him from behind, a strong arm tight around the alchemist's neck. He breathed heavily into the boy's ear, and quickly placed an arm around Zach's middle. "Surprise, cupcake," he said with a low growl. "I've been waiting for you."

Who: Midori and Hayate
When: Evening
Where: Town Hall Dungeon
What: Silence of the Foxes-- Erm, Midori interviews Elysium's resident psycho vampire in custody

Italics = Japanese dialogue

Hayate.

It was the name that was on the lips of many citizens of Elysium. The man thought to have committed the string of maulings and murders over the past few months.

Midori wasn't sure what to think. She had no strong opinion on vampires herself. Oh, they were fairly vile creatures (most non-Kitsune were), but the drinking of blood was not an issue with her. It was simply a fact of their biology. She would have to meet the man-- to look him in the eye-- before she made judgments.

She had researched what the Head Council and Elven guards had on the man, on his alleged attack on Sanura Hart. She had not consulted her fellow Council members on the matter yet. Midori had no need to discuss things as a committee. It would just be a waste of her time. She had dealt with this sort of thing before.

For the past few hours, she'd simply observed the man. She'd kept her distance, stood with the guards. She saw the young blonde girl visit him. Chris Jung. She was in the reports on Hayate. Injured recently while Hayate was in custody. She was quite devoted to him, it seemed.

The time for observations had passed. She had no idea if her fellow Vice Council members had visited him, but she did not care. She needed to speak to the man.

Dressed in a primp green kimono, her dark hair swept up, she strode down the stone corridor to the vampire's cell. "Hayate-san." Midori bowed her head slightly in greeting, but kept a careful eye on him. "I apologize for the familiar greeting. I'm unaware of your family name. You are a man of some mystery. In fact, the only thing really known about you is what you allegedly did."

She pulled herself back up to full height-- while still short, her air of superiority made her seemed taller. "My name is Kamiyama Midori. I am from the Vice Council." She paused momentarily, cocking her head slightly. "Are you more comfortable with Japanese or English? Japanese is my personal preference." She glanced down the corridor. "It has the advantage of keeping the conversation between just us."

The language she used was incredibly proper, formal, almost old-fashioned. While conveying her authority, it also gave the illusion of respect for Hayate. It was simply an illusion, but there was nothing to be gained by treating the man with hostility from the outset.

Who: Adrienne and Danté
When: A little past midnight
Where: A path toward the freshwater lake
What: Danté follows through on a threat

The full moon was waning, and despite the chill in the air it was enough to make Adrienne go out for a walk. It was a beautiful night; blissfully quiet, and peaceful. Adrienne felt as if she were in a wonderland, something that wasn’t too far off from the reality of Elysium. There were times the lycanthrope still couldn’t believe that the haven was real even though she had been there for almost a year. She took a deep breath, and felt the clean air filling her lungs completely. Was the air ever this fresh in Chicago?

Her feet took her toward the freshwater lake, and though it wasn’t her intended destination (she really wasn’t headed anywhere in particular) she didn’t mind it at all. Adrienne was reminded of Lake Michigan every time she went there, and it always brought back good memories.

But that wouldn’t be the case tonight.

Bad memories were just around the corner, and they would rear their ugly head sooner than Adrienne ever expected.

( If I can't have you, no one can. )

ooc: If anyone wants to write a narrative (in the form of a comment to this thread) of their character finding Adrienne, and taking her to the medical pavilion, then please do!

Who: Dante, Zach, Nico
When: Afternoon
Where: Around the cottages
What: It's not smart pissing off a werewolf

He had been watching Zach ever since their last confrontation. The alchemist's activities were of particular interest to the lycanthrope since they involved Adrienne. Adrienne was his only concern. She was the goal, the only thing that mattered in this situation. Dante had been waiting for Zach to follow through with their agreement, but so far he hadn't seen a sign of it. Day in and day out Dante watched, and waited for the alchemist to break up with Adrienne; but all he saw was the two of them growing closer. This wasn't how it was supposed to work; this was all wrong.

Zach hadn't broken up with Adrienne, and it was obvious that he hadn't taken Dante's threat seriously. It was an annoyance that grated Dante like nails on a chalkboard, and all he could do now was deliver the message again. It was a waste of time, time that he could be spending watching Adrienne, being with Adrienne. Adrienne, Adrienne - she was the only thing on his mind right now. He could have been with her now if Zach had followed through, but the little chicken shit decided to grow a pair and defy him. He'd learn that that was a mistake.

He stalked the two boys for a few minutes until he emerged from some nearby bushes like a bat out of hell. Dante went straight for Zach, and grabbed the boy by the collar. "I thought I told you to stay away from her!" He pushed Zach away from Nico violently. "Listen here, boy, she's mine and you don't belong near her. Got it?" He pointed his finger toward him in a menacing manner, ignoring Nico all the while. He didn't care about the other man, though maybe he should have considered the fact that a witness was not something he should overlook.

Who: Chris, Hayate, and eventually Elven guards
When: Late Morning
Where: Hayate's cottage
What: Time to pay the piper

"Hayate?" Chris's voice was clear in the quiet air of Hayate's cottage. She looked up at the vampire from her position on his lap. She had laid her head on his leg while she flipped through one of her old manga. For all intents and purposes it was an innocent scene between the girl and the vampire. "What's this say?" She held the book high above her, and pointed to an advertisement inside of the front cover. It was in Japanese, and the young girl still didn't know how to read the language.

"Maybe you can teach me sometime," Chris suggested once Hayate gave her the translation. "If you have the time," she said as she looked up at him. Her book was closed, and lying on her tummy now. "If you do I can teach you German." There was a silly grin on her face as she tried to imagine Hayate speaking German. "Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" She asked with a small laugh. "That means 'do you speak German?'."

There were times when she felt more at home with Hayate than she did at the water bungalow with Riley. Not that Riley wasn't nice! She really was, and Charlie liked her a lot, but Chris spent more time with Hayate than anyone else. It was probably detrimental to the girl seeing as she was at an impressionable age, but she was blinded by her feelings for the man. She knew of the evils he could commit, and she had little doubt that he had done so over and over again in the past. He had even shown her the darkness of his character once, and still she forgave him.

She was perfectly happy with him, and she didn't want to be anywhere else than lying on his lap for the rest of the day.

Who: Hayate & Sanura
When: Late Evening/Night
Where: The outskirts of town, and then to a shack in the woods.
What: Hayate is not a happy camper.
WARNING(S): Physical and psychological torture, which may not be suitable or stomach-able for some. There will be blood!

Hayate’s nerves were on edge. They had been on edge for weeks. The cigarette twitched in his hand as he brought it to his lips and sucked in the smoke. The vampire never smoked because of the nicotine or the calming effect it sometimes had on humans. In fact, tobacco was too weak to have any sort of effect on him or any other vampire. Newly turned ones might have still done it out of habit, but Hayate never knew cigarettes in his time as a human and therefore could not recall any memories of its effects to use it as a placebo. He only knew the effects of opium, and there was no opium in Elysium that he knew of. He would not touch it even if it existed here.

He did it to occupy his hands, to give them something to do. Even that feeling did not last long, and he threw the rolled up paper to the ground, crushing it beneath his boot on the wet grass. The burning tip extinguished quickly, little trails of smoke trying to reach up from the ground before vanishing into the cold, damp air. The rain from this morning still lingered across the land, and Hayate could smell it as if it had fallen only minutes ago.

Pulling his coat around himself, he scowled at the darkening sky and took off towards the forest’s border. The trees were tall and ominous here, looming over the edge of the land like sentinels of nature. There was nothing frightening about the forest to Hayate, though. The animals had better reason to fear him, for the vampire knew how to hunt them down and kill them with only a knife in his hand or less. He had the learned reflexes of hunting from years and years of stalking animals when he could not get human prey. Plenty of animals in Elysium were slaughtered in the forest by his hands alone, even the large felines of the mountains.

Hayate growled in the back of his throat, livid with the thoughts of murder inside of his head, and ran headlong for a tree. His feet touched the base, and he kicked up, leaping high enough to catch a low branch and swing his body up into the sturdy branches. Immediately, his finely tuned eyes were scanning the lower grounds for movement, his stillness going unnoticed by any passersby.

Though he knew the one who poisoned him, he wanted to exact punishment on whoever he could just because he was capable of it. Hayate did not care who he hurt at this point, as long as he got his revenge in one way or another.

Who: Hayate [Narrative]
When: Early Morning
Where: Hayate's Cottage
What: Someone has a vendetta, and has poisoned Hayate . . .

The morning began like any other morning as he woke up from his slumber. He drank in the daylight from his window and cleaned up for the day, getting dressed in clothing suitable for the weather outside. He toned down his appearance today, looking normal with somewhat haggard hair. There were days when he did not feel like putting on a show, and today was one of those days.

When he made his way downstairs, he entered the kitchen and reached for his stored blood. He took care to warm it and poured some into a cup. The blood from storage never had quite the same taste as fresh blood, but sometimes it was all he had to drink. Chris was not around him twenty-four seven, even though he had personally considered her his blood donor — with or without parental permission. Luckily for him, her parents were nowhere around in order to bother with protest.

He drank slowly from the cup, but he noticed immediately something did not taste right. It was not until it breached the back of his tongue and he swallowed it, though. The flavor was off, unnatural; the liquid was watery instead of thick. Something was not right. Hayate put down the glass and leaned forward to smell the inside of the bottle. The scent, it was wrong as well. His blood was tainted, tampered. Accidental? The vampire whirled his head to look around, trying to smell the air of his kitchen, but it seemed normal. He had not been in his kitchen for a while, and no one else had been traveling through it. Vampiric senses tuned in and caught the scent — animal.

Realization settled like a thick knife in his esophagus. Poison. He had been poisoned. No, it was no accident; and he, too paranoid leading the life of a killer to assume this was not done on purpose. It could have very well been an accident, but he did not believe that. This was a vendetta, or vengeance.

Hayate staggered quickly out of the kitchen, knocking over the porcelain cup of blood. It splashed all over the floor in a mess of thin red, porcelain cracking, breaking upon impact. The poison had not set in, but his fear of what was happening did; as quickly as he could, he left his home, and hurried in the direction of the medical pavilion.

Who: Mitsuko (Narrative)
When: Late Night
Where: Hayate's cottage
What: Dastardly plans put into effect

The small white fox waited outside behind a snowdrift, looking up at the small cottage. She had followed Chris to the vampire's home. While it was dangerous to break in while she knew he was home, it was the only way she was going to be able to find him. She couldn't wait now. She had to do this.

She walked to the backdoor and transformed into her human form. She was dressed in black, her hair up in a braid-- her normal thievery clothing. She decided to brave hiding her ears and tail. She needed to practice and not leaving behind white fur would be a plus in these sorts of situations. Her feet were cold outside, in her ballet slippers. But she needed to walk softly in the house of a vampire.

Getting into the cottages was not much trouble. Mitsuko had no difficulty getting into the kitchen. She padded in, keeping quiet. She started towards the refrigerator, but she heard something. Very quietly, she went into the hall. She wasn't going to risk going any further, but she could hear well enough anyway. Moans of distinct pleasure.

Mitsuko wanted to wretch. She didn't know what Hayate and Chris were doing in there, but she had a pretty good idea based on the sounds. The knowledge that Hayate was so low as to do... things with a fourteen-year-old girl made her punishment all the more just. He needed to be stopped.

Quickly and carefully, Mitsuko made her way back into the kitchen. With gloved hands, she opened the refrigerator. It was filled with bottles of blood. Mitsuko unscrewed the top of one, before reaching into her pocket and drawing out a vial. She uncorked it and dumped the blood thinners in. She resealed the bottle and closed the refrigerator.

With a dark look towards the sitting room, Mitsuko headed back outside. She carefully shut the door up and reached into her pants, pulling out a small whisk broom. She used it to brush away her footsteps as she walked away from the cottage.

Finally far enough away, Mitsuko transformed back into her animal form and took off into the night.

Who: Zane and Theora
When: Evening
Where: Medical Pavilion / Lab
What: Discussing current research

There had been very little progress in the homicide investigation that the Head Council was conducting. The only witness to the crime had passed out before he could see anything, and the only thing that was left behind was a gold necklace. Several strands of blonde hair were caught in between the fine, gold weaving. It was their only clue, and while it didn't provide any immediate answers it was better than nothing.

The Head Council had employed the help of the medical staff at the pavilion. Their experience in biology and chemistry was the key to gleaning some information from those wayward strands of hair. It was a difficult endeavor especially since they lacked any equipment that could test and compare the DNA found in the hair. DNA was the only concrete thing they could count on.

( But the medical team knew... )

Who: Devin, Constance, Theora and Dylan
When: Afternoon
Where: Town Hall
What: Devin tells some important information

Oh the world was fucking ending. Usually Devin just let things be, but he found himself cursing quite a few times while he headed to the Town Hall. He never really said hello to anyone as per usual while he made his way down Helicharis and to the area. He figured he better smoke as many cigarettes as he could because he had gotten in trouble for smoking in the area before and he had no idea how long it was going to take once at the Town Hall.

When he arrived he let his voice ring out. “Hello?” He was so out of there if no one was there and he was letting his conscious fall back to the pits of hell. “Hello?” Christ, there were people there. He cleared his throat as he began to speak to the three people he encountered. He wasn’t one for being intimidated, so he spoke up.

“Listen. I have something important to say. You make appointments? If you do, then I’ll probably not want to talk to you. But if you have time now, you’d be making my day. Oh! And thank you for nominating me. I still need to get my ass moving on that.” He smiled quite normally and found a seat nearby to make himself comfortable.