Ernie just gaped at Miles's back for a minute. While he wasn't looking for a shoulder to cry on, this was his best mate, he didn't think a little sympathy in his hour of need was asking too much. They had been through hell and back together and Miles knew how he felt about Hannah. He wasn't sure that Miles thought about things like that, about loving one woman alone, but he knew that Ernie had to feel deeply for Hannah if he was always going out with her alone instead of trying to balance ten women at a time as Miles himself did. The bastard had to know that this wasn't easy for him, and he was poking fun. "Go to hell," He growled, lunging himself at Stebbin's back so that they went flying toward the ground. Once they made contact with the hard, unyielding earth, Ernie thought for a moment that this wasn't the wisest course of action, but he aimed a good punch to Stebbin's nose none the less.
It wasn't the best course of action, or the most reasonable one, but it was the only one that Ernie saw in that moment. He was hurting and Miles had been and arse so he was going to make Miles hurt.
The owl swooped in, dropping a note beside them, and Ernie reached for it, not even bothering to defend himself for a moment.
Dominic opened his own note the same time that Hestia opened hers, and he gasped when he saw what was inside. Her hair...his Hannah's hair, and not just a small clipping but a piece the entire length of her hair. He pulled Hestia tightly to him. God knew what Hannah was going through, what these things were supposed to mean. Perhaps they had shaved Hannah's hair and had beaten her with the shoes, or, hopefully, these were just signs to authenticate the claim that she had been taken. Dominic just couldn't help but think the worse, because this was the worst possible situation imaginable, and if there ever was a time to become a pessimist, this was certainly it.