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The Upperdecks may be mostly full of the rich and important, but it also has the so-called Bar District.  There's no shortage of bars, ranging from the yeast-ale houses of the hoi polloi to the experimental gastro-alko-pubs frequented by upper-level gods.

Almost all of them are unimportant.

The only truly important one is The Callsign, for it is the bar of choice for the local Exalts.  Owned and operated by one Jolie Andersen, a friend of Lyla's, it specializes in keeping a low profile.  There's only one rule, here:  admission is only by acceptance from at least two other Exalts.  Of course, that has led to a small contingent of Dragon-Blooded almost always swarming the place, and that led to the need for her to expand her dance floor, and then the Red Queen needed a place for her band equipment...

Suffice to say, the Callsign isn't so much a bar as it is an eclectic hodge-podge of a club, gin mill, restaurant, and strip club (though there are no official strippers).  There's only three staffers:  Jolie herself, the Salt Elemental chef named Gris, and a sesseljae nicknamed "Puppy" who cleans up after the numerous messes.

It's a quiet night in a long sequence of quiet nights at the Callsign.  The Red Queen isn't there, which certainly helps with that sort of thing, and the hordes of Dragon-Blooded that usually occupy the place have gone on a bar crawl.  Jolie cleans glasses at the bar when Lyla arrives, just after the nonsense of ONYX SPIRE.

"Hey there girl, let me just spin up the jukebox for you."  Jolie waves at her, "How're you holding up?  Haven't seen you in a while."

After the mission in ONYX SPIRE, Lyla had voiced her need for a drink...or a few to Daniel, Arkady and Grunt. They'd arrive if they'd feel like it. Though to Daniel she had also emphasized that he would need it more than her, given his inability to relax.

Lyla arrives at Callsing shrouded by anonymity as always, but she drops her shadows quickly when she sees the bar relatively empty, at least for now, and takes a seat by the counter to face Jolie.

Her decision to have freetime can also be seen in her overall looks, having opened her curly shoulder lenght hair and made her usual makeup a bit more dramatic. Instead of her normal clothing, she's wearing quite high heels and a short black to blue sequin dress, with long sleeves and lowcut open back. The illusion of someone of high class is broken by the still visibly red and showing slash on her face from the previous mission. It was healing nicely and would probably disappear somewhat in due time. Not that Lyla actually cared.

"I've been busy as always. Im sorry. Things seem to turn up when I least expect them. But I'm here now. At least for a proper while," she announces with a small smile. "How are you? Anything new? Anyone new?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:27, Wed 30 May 2018.

Daniel arrives at the door, double-checking the location out of habit before entering. He'd had to make a few extra turns and change clothes on the fly to lose the flock of paparazzi and others who'd flocked to him along the way.

He enters the bar wearing a biker jacket with the zipper open and black, worn but comfortable jeans. Under the jacket is a form-fitting light grey t-shirt. For once, his hair is clean and his facial hair is trimmed into a stylish stubble.

He scans the place, eyes settling on Lyla as he starts heading their way.

Lyla gives Daniel a little wave as she notices the door swing open and him step inside. There is an ever so slight raise of a brow, probably related to his entire look and how he was not drenched in blood. She is also pleasantly surprised that none of the fans and paparazzi followed after him.

With an ever so light twirl of her bar stool, she has quickly turned to face the stool next to her and tilts her head at Daniel.

"..and WHO are you going to meet being so fancy and all that?" There is a hint of a joke in her tone.

"You, evidently", Daniel replies in the same tone as he walks over to the bar stool next to Lyla and takes a seat.

He nods to Jolie in greeting, then takes a look around the mostly quiet place with an understated satisfaction. He wasn't much into crowds.

"Nice scar. Feeling alright?"

"Sorry to put you through such an effort to end up just seeing me, at least for now," she flashes a small grin, but then seems hesitant as to how she should greet her fellow Solar and after that fleeting moment she apparently ditches the whole troubling thought.

She gives the scars lines a passing touch:"It does give me a more convincing flare, doesn't it? That type that I've actually participated in something."

"I'm good, just a bit frustrated," an obvious underestimate. "How about you?"

Figure pops in from the doorway and a scent of cheap aftershave creeps to the room.
Arkady walks in seeming to be equally amazed and cautious as this was probably the fanciest equivalent to a bar he'd ever been into.

"Zajebis! So this is the high life huh?" he said to himself and fixed the positioning of his shirt. He wasn't wearing his red hoodie, as it was torn to tatters, and is
instead wearing just a simple sleeveless Telnyashka. Also notably his right arm is missing, clearly detached of it's contact point at the shoulder.

It doesn't take long for him to notice the other Solars in the empty bar.
He walks to their table and raises his left arm for greeting.
His voice seems equally anxious and excited. These exalts were the big dogs after all.

"Privet! Do you... umm... you don't mind if I join you?"
He looks around the empty place once again as if he was afraid of debt collectors or something alike.
"You two come here often?"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:21, Fri 01 June 2018.

"I'm not exactly gutted at missing the crowd", Daniel retorts to Lyla with a small sigh. "It does make you look more like an assassin, I suppose. Should heal fine unless something real special inflicted it, though."

He taps the counter and raises a finger to order the regular, straight whiskey.

"Frustrated, huh. What an unfamiliar feeling", he remarks dryly, although his tone implies he's interested to hear more should she feel like it. "I'm fine. Manifest Destiny got dinged up pretty bad though. Was weird watching you guys from afar without being able to help."

He sniffs the air as Arkady's aftershave creeps up on him, turning to regard the newcomer over his shoulder.

"Suppose it is. Welcome aboard." He motions the young Solar over.

He takes a long look at the Twilight from head to toe and back, just barely restraining himself from commenting on the garish navy shirt.

"So... Arkady, was it? I see you made it through your first mission in..." his gaze drifts to the stump on the russian's right side. "one piece...passable condition."

”You should seriously consider some sort of cloaking or appearance altering device to get a breather. I know how annoying the paparazzi can be,” she shakes her head and takes a sip from whatever Jolie conjured up for her, she knew her taste better than anyone. ”Gimme a moment to enjoy being me and not Diamond Sky, then I can tell you lenghtly about how the mission went.”

At that she gives him a small smile:”Appreciate your concern. Besides had anything overwhelming turned up, you could’ve been there in a sec. Though hiding your identity and powers wouldve caused you to probably burst a vein.”

”Take a seat. Glad to see they didnt lock you up in Sanctuary for treatment,” Lyla continues to Arkady after he arrives in their company. ”If you consider maybe once in a month often, then yes...”
This message was last edited by the player at 19:38, Sat 02 June 2018.

"Oh this?" he points at his empty arm socket. "Yeah my arm got fucked, but hey, I'll just build another one. Don't fuck around with live wires, huh?" he let's out a chuckle and sits down.

He looks in Lyla's direction and continues:
"Yeah well the Jaw wasn't that bad after all. Just glued that shit back together and the burns were just second degree mostly. Damn good I'm fact on my feet blyat." at the mention of her idea of 'often' he lets out another chuckle. "Oh no. No no no. By often I meant like once a day. You gotta quench the thirst, you know what I mean? This place got vodka, right?"

Daniel thumbs his jaw thoughtfully after sipping his drink. "...Now that I think of it, I think I could adapt one of my defensive spells for the purpose. Just have to make it blend myself into the background rather than fill the background with my essence. And I can already shift my gear almost at will as is. People tend to find me anyways, though."

He nods with a slight chuckle. "Yeah, I probably would've spent the whole time frustratedly banging my head on the first armored door we came across. You were clearly the better choice for the job."

He looks to Arkady. "So you've got a knack for technology, huh? Any chance you could fix my gun?"

One command word and a flick of the wrist later, a massive device more reminiscent of heavy-duty construction equipment than a gun coalesces in his hand. Apparently its function is firing massive railroad spikes rapidly. It's in terrible condition after being subjected to Mournful Topaz Seraphim's essence disruption, Gardener of Screams's sonic assaults and Set Beckons's khopesh, though.

”Just admit it, you like people lookimg up to you to a certain degree, and then saving them as if no one else would,” her voice is a tad judgemental.”But at least try that. Its awfully calming to be able to walk freely without responsibilites thrown at you in every turn.”

She chuckles as well:”Well we had Arkady to open the doors so you wouldnt have needed to hit your head. I’m not sure about the better choice still, Battles or Kumiho could’ve delivered as well. At least it was a good lesson on how to cope with restricted capabilites. Not that it suited me either one bit in this case. At least I got to vent that out on Exhumes the Bodies when he arrived on the set.”

A small grimace spreads upon her face Upon seeing the condition of Manifest Destiny.

”Rather that than you, I have to say though,” she nods to Daniel before turning to her Arkady."Vodka, you said? I'm most certain Jolie has almost anything you'd need," she refers to the lady on the other side of the bar.

She flips out a case and takes a cigarette, offering one to Arkady as well, before lighting her own and giving the counter  a small, perhaps slightly anxious, but thoughful drum.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:26, Mon 04 June 2018.

Arkady takes one cigarette and nods thankfully, he goes through his pouches and finally pulls out a gasoline lighter that looks self made, and light his cig. He seems to be very focused on Lucifer summoning his trusted armament.

His eyes light up like a small child that just found out something new, glowing with endless curiosity. "OI, TVOYA MAT'! Is that what I think it is?!?"

He takes a inspects the gun as tediously as he can without actually touching it.

"Woooow... this nailgun took a beating huh? I umm... I think I can fix it, Though I gotta do some research on it first."

He keeps on staring at the weapon but his gaze doesn't look aimless. His eyes scan the weapon affixing on certain parts in a certain order, as he in his mind figures out it's inner workings. "-This some essence tech stuff huh? Well I've got something on the works that could breathe some new life into it. Might as well give it a shot, Tho I'm probably gonna do some tests on my own hardware first. Ohh this is way more exciting than fixing Al Sayeigh's rust buckets."

While they go over Manifest Destiny, hopefully ending up in a solution that'd fix that vital part of Daniel, Lyla seems to be lost in thought for a moment while gazing at her cigarette and the smoke wafting in the air. The shadows of smoke create different shapes on the counter, most likely mimicing whatever is going through her head. Mostly it would seem to be something appearing to be caste marks and different celestial objects. She toys with the smoke by blowing it away, though the shadows still linger on the counter. Soon enough they retreat under her palm that was resting next to them.

"Sounds like all hope is not lost on Manifest Destiny."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:44, Mon 04 June 2018.

"Spiderweb? She's a good sort. Helped me out with a... condition after the raid on the Buchenwald", Daniel says while scratching the back of his head.

He spends a moment looking at the shadows playing on the counter next to Lyla, then just hands over the Manifest Destiny to Arkady.

"I entrust it to your care, then. Not much good to me till it's fixed anyway. It'd be embarrassing if Manifest Destiny didn't make it to the brave new world."

"Yeah Spiderweb is sorta my boss. She's tough but fair. Shit, you HAVE to be tough to keep that crew in check." Arkady says with a respectful tone.

He hesitates a moment before he gently takes the huge cannon in his hand, He finds it a bit on the hefty side.

"Wow! I mean, Awesome! I.. I am a bit of a fan actually. I saw you on the TV when I was a kid. This is a huge honor! Shit, your cannon is gonna be better than it ever was!"

He leaves the gun on counter and hollers to the bartender
"I'm feeling thirsty! Vodka! leave the bottle! A toast for inspiration and ingenuity that is, Blyat!"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:58, Wed 06 June 2018.

Upon hearing a certain notion Lyla took a deep drag and exhaled the smoke into the air. The smoke cloud took its sweet while wafting away up towards the ceiling. She tapped the cigarette against the edge of an ashtray, and turned to lay her cheek on her open palm, her elbow relaxedly resting on the counter.

Suprisingly it was not difficult to see through her veil of relaxedness, that her presence was all but relaxed. Maybe it was the current company that made her lower her guard that much.

"Condition?" She arched a brow to Daniel. "I thought something like that was going on judging from your behaviour. I even noted this upon debriefing about the mission with Five after the incident."

Was there a sudden shade of pink on her cheeks momentarily? In the darkly lit bar its hard to say. She downs her drink.

"I think that round will go to Daniel's tap as a thanks to you, Arkady."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:47, Wed 06 June 2018.

Daniel seems unsure how to take Arkady's confession, frowning and turning to face the counter again. "Didn't mean to become a TV personality, but I suppose it's not all bad. Don't get all starry-eyed though; in no time you'll be as strong as I was then. You're a hero of your own now, responsible for the continued survival of the Living with the rest of us."

He takes a big sip - more like a gulp - of his whiskey before glancing at Lyla and then Arkady.

"Too heavy? Sorry. But yeah, tonight's on me."

He puts the glass down on the counter with a clink, clearing his throat.

"Anyway... Turns out Thanatos left some sort of resonance or imbalance in my essence, which made me... lose my filter at a few junctures."

He picks up on something in Lyla's voice and composure, turning to look at her with a faintly amused, even teasing expression.

"Five, is it?"

Almost instantly he's serious once more though, tapping again on the counter.

"Looking back on it... I probably wouldn't have done things exactly the way I did, but saying I regret it would be an overstatement too. Brahe deserves much more than a punch in his smug face, and Five Days Darkness made a mistake not calling the fighters in sooner."

A deep shade of red flushes over Lylas face upon noticing her slip. She gives Daniel a partially annoyed push accompanied by a smirk. He struck a gold vein there with his comment.

"Yes. Five Days Darkness is too tedious a name to be said always in its long form. That aside I'm glad to hear that you found aid for that imbalance. It could've caused you worse troubles as well."

She adjusts her position on the bar stool, falling serious much like Daniel.

"I agree in both of those. No need to lament on it. The situation was just most unfortunate and devastating and perfectly timed for Brahe. Judging by the intel that I got what followed wouldve happened eventually. It just happened earlier than expected."

She sighs and tilts her head even more against her cheek when looking at Daniel.

"I'm just concerned of you. Of Five. Of this whole rust bucket and its people. I know what bad publicity does to a person and their life.Let alone what it does to the people who hold you dear or in high regard.

A trail of smoke passes by her as she taps her cigarette.

"But no need to brood it. Its all because Brahe is an asshole as expected from an Infernal. Hopefully we are not boring you to death, Arkady. We do this, apparently, too rarely and things build up," she turns to look at him with a small grin.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:58, Fri 08 June 2018.

Arkady froze just before he got to pour his first shot. What Lucifer said about him being part responsible for humanity's survival seemed to hit him so hard. He proceeded to turn his glass around neatly on a napkin, and proceeded to chug vodka straight out of the bottle, as if it was a bottle of water after a week on a desert, he easily destroyed a quarter of the bottle on one sip.

"Oi blin. this is some good shit..." he muttered whist exhaling slowly to keep his posture.

He shakes his head and focuses on his company whilst smoking his cigarette, once again like it was a top-tier cigar, enjoying it.

"To be honest, I have no real idea what's going on beyond the scenes. I don't know half the people you guys are talking about, but they gotta be important since... well... you're talking about 'em. Shit. I am... I used to be just a scav ma'am. This is quite a lot to take in, but I'm trying to follow."

"Letting stuff build up is like shit. The more you wait and let it build up, the bigger percentage of your existence is gonna be shit, and eventually you'll just feel like shit. Let it out early. Get together more often."

He leans back a bit as if this was the peak of philosophical debate and raises the bottle.

"na zdorov'ye"

"Well... I did also snap at Jess at her place. She was past due for a reality check, but part of me wonders if my outburst was too much for her to handle and caused her increased recklessness and... Whatever happened to her at Onyx Spire."

He shakes his head. His expression is less affected than one might think, however; much like with Brahe and Five Days Darkness, looking back he would've changed the method of delivery but not the core of his actions.

"Yeah, no doubt you're right. I'm a fish out of water with this public relations and personal brand management shit while Brahe is a cancer that only grows from anything I feed him. Only reason I haven't excised the tumor is because I prefer the devil I know to the one I don't. I'm not yet aware what shit this particular event sparked, though?"

He raises his refilled glass to his lips and takes a sip, raising a brow as Arkady guzzles his vodka down next to him.

"You're not wrong, but you'll find that the more you do, the more is required and expected of you. And that's how it should be, because gods know we need everything we can get. That said, plenty of people have tried to beat it into my head that taking care of yourself is included in taking care of the Living."

Lyla sips her vodka, and momentarily plays with her cigarette, flipping it between fingers, almost burning them in the process. Then she empties her refilled shot glass, flicking a glance to Jolie in order to get something else that'd last longer.

"-He's- resigned from his position," she emphasizes without adding the obvious name, its as if she was concerned that saying it all aloud would somehow make it even more real."And that Brahe is putting together an admiralty board to do the leading, naturally most playing to his pocket. Its absolutely repulsive as a thought that we would end up taking orders from the likes of him. Of course there'll be other in the board representing, such as elementals. But I don't know the details."

She recrosses her legs the other way and lets out a small chuckle.

"Enough about that lecture though, we are here relaxing now and that is already something note worthy. And please, Arkady, I'm not a Ma'am, I'm Lyla, She smiles that small smile of hers. "... Though I'll gladly be a Ma'am if that means it'll make you tone down that drinking of yours. During missions that is."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:38, Tue 12 June 2018.

Arkady takes a bit smalle, careful sip of the bottle. He starts to look a bit hazy.
"Well... I think I'll manage... somehow. 'tho the responsibility of trying to save everyone feels heavy as fuck... I'm more used to taking care of myself. I still wonder what the actual shit did the gods see in me to trust me with... this."

During Lyla's remark he takes another sip of his bottle in a defiant manner, but he freeses the moment the bottle touches his lips.
"It's under control! It calms my nerves and... wait. Who told you? you weren't..."

His eyes open wide as he gets a flashback of the mission. The later part where Diamond Sky did some crazy shadowy shit on that abyssal and connects the dots with the shadows playing on the counter just a moment ago.

"...YOU WERE THERE!?! YOU WERE THE REINFORCEMENTS, WERENT YOU?!? Iwas wondering who the fuck was 'Diamond Sky..."

Daniel gains a frown as Lyla tells of Five Days Darkness's resignation. Then she gets to Brahe's plans for an admiralty board, followed by the sound of shattering glass as Daniel's grip on his glass tightens a bit too much, turning the glass to shards and some of the shards further into dust.

"Shit. Sorry." He mutters under his breath as he opens his hand and tries to sweep the pieces and glass dust into a pile for easier clean-up.

"Yeah, that's bad. Bad enough that should it come to pass I might actually have to kill him, which would spark a whole other shitstorm. Gotta look into this board and see it doesn't get filled with shitstains from Brahe's pocket."

He throws a longing look at the whiskey now adorning his fingers and the bar. Then he turns to Arkady.

"That's the hardest part; It's not your responsibility to save everyone. It's your responsibility to save the Living, and sometimes that includes letting people die. That's some shit... But I wouldn't waste too much time with the "why me"s. The fact is you now have power that most don't, and you've got to put it to use for whatever you believe in or hold dear."

Lyla doesn't so much as flinch when the glass shatters. Shows that she was partially expecting that. Very much like with the wound that Arkady got on the previous mission, she reaches out over the counter to grab the first cloth she finds to deal with the matter of a broken glass. Luckily Daniel wasn't that fragile to get wounds from a plain glass. She takes his hand on hers and wipes it thoughtfully.

"No need to be sorry. It's not my personal loss. Besides he doesn't mind staying in the background, that's were he was intended to be. He isn't like Sol, " she notes calmly, though a bit somberly. "It'd seem to be about 45/55 currently. And before it's officially announced, I'm not sure any of us should meddle."

Arkady's comment breaks the piling darkness that their subject was circling, and Lyla can't help but to chuckle and lightens the mood.

"Well who else could it have been, really. Battles running around in a skintight suite? I was there, the whole arduous mission. Couldn't come as myself or be myself, so Diamond Sky it was...at least until the very end. I thought my mask was good, but given your face during the bandaging, I'm not so sure about it. How did I even look?" She directs at Arkady.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:11, Sun 17 June 2018.

Jolie knows when not to really engage a bunch of Exalts trying to get drunk, so she spends the time just slinging drinks of greater and greater potency.  In this case, though, she gets a little uppity.

"Hey, Daniel, ease up on the glassware, huh?  Some of these glasses are older than the Last Refuge, I stole a few from my old employer."

That says a lot about the whiskey... which probably started life as engine oil.  She mutters as she walks over to pick up a broom to get started.

Arkady snaps out of his minor existential crisis when Jolie starts cleaning up Lucifer's mess.

"Well shit. You're right about that tho'. Can't save everyone, right? Do I get to even choose? I owe some money you know." He spurts out with a mix of nervous laughter and drunken slavic bravado.
"Improvise, Adapt, Overcome. right?"

He looks at Lyla and his bravado breaks a bit.
"You... You looked like someone I think I knew. Someone I met in Tokyo... when... when shit went down. Someone brave who should be dead... I was just a kid back then."

He looks at his bottle, his eyes like glass, clearly remembering something he tried very hard to forget.

And proceeds to attempting to forget again by taking a long swig.

Lyla nods in response to Arkady.
"Im glad I got help from someone like that in such a case."

Kendal appears at the entrance, letting out a small sigh while fixing his tie.
As he sees Lyla, the well trained customer service smile switches to a genuine it's good to see you smile as he walks through the bar and sits next to her saying:
"Hey sis."

Then looking at Jolie with with just slightly different smile, narrowing his eyes as if challenging her "can I get a... REAL gin&tonic?" asking for the almost impossible as to see if Jolie remembers him after all these years.

He of course notices the other Exalts sitting right there, but seeing the broken glass and the tense looks on their faces, he waits for a response from Lyla before continuing.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:39, Thu 28 June 2018.

"Whoa.Wait. Am I seeing things," she appears as if she'd seen a ghost, then she checks her messages to see if she actually had missed something before turning to her brothers side and getting up to give him a hug. "Well hello my long lost brother who has graced our presence here below the Upper decks."

Its a rare case seeing Lyla with her brother. Given that most people didn't even know she had a brother, a twin brother for that matter. They do though look awfully alike. Especially now that she is dressed fancier than usual. She flicks a glance between Kendal and Jolie, ever so slightly narrowing her eyes.

After returning the hug he looks at Lyla "Hey, it's that rare for me to leave the upper decks, I have stuff to do all over the place, then again, you were in the first place I thought you could be."

Raising his head he looks at the other two Solars.

"Busy as usual Daniel? Taking good care of my sister I hope. Ah, Mr. Arkady my pleasure to meet you, I'm Kendal Raines and I must say like your choice of company." Offering his hand to both of them for proper greetings.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:09, Mon 02 July 2018.

Daniel glances to Jolie apologetically as he finishes piling up the shards on the table, then reaches for a napkin to dry his hand off.

"Yeah, sorry. Add it to my tab."

He gives Kendal a nod in greeting as he sits, then chuckles as he shakes his hand - unusually with his left, to avoid getting glass dust or shards in Kendal's hand.

"I wish. Chances for us to meet in circumstances other than immediate crisis are few and far between, and even then I'm usually the one that needs looking after. Good to see you anyway. I'd ask how things are in the political theatre but I'm not sure the bar's glassware could take it."

Arkady puts his bottle on the counter and turns to face Kendal. His tipsy eyes scan the man from head to toe, and not just generally. He seems to focus on very specific details. Both of his hands, his suit, his shoes. He isn't accustomed to formal greetings, even less from a man wearing a sharp suit. After a short evaluation he extends his left hand, as it is the only one he has with him and shakes his hand a bit awkwardly, as you'd expect when shaking right hand with left hand.

"I like my company too. These comrades aren't trying to steal my shit the second I let my eyes off them." he takes another short pause and speaks with a suspicious expression: "You have the demeanor of a law man. I haven't done anything. All my acquisitions are completely legal."

"Buchenwald, Pyongyang, Enterprise, Onyx Spire, Callsign. You, my dear brother, have a fantastic hunch given how much I've been off the Last refuge," she ponders out loud while waiting for Kendal to finish with the greetings.

"But do tell as Daniel already almost asked, how are you?"

When he shakes hands, he gives a firm grip, perfect for making good first impressions and always looking straight at your eyes when greeting.

Arkady sees a man over 6 feet tall, he has glasses and the suit looks custom tailored. Brown leather shoes and a metallic wristwatch, no rings or other accessories. He has the subtlest scent of cologne.
Kendal chuckles at Arkadys comment "Rest assured i'm not here on legal business, i'm here to greet my sister and I would like to think her companions as my companions as well, if there is any way i can help just give me a call" And gives Arkady his business card.

When he speaks, its just like any brother meeting his sister and friends, he doesn't ask them for anything or demand anything from them. Acting very casually and friendly.

"How about you Daniel, need help in sorting out paperwork?"

Turning his attention to Lyla "Well my dear sister, you aren't as elusive as you think you are, it was simple enough to keep tabs on Benisuzumes arrival and deduce where you might be."

Pausing for a moment just to mess her hair up. "Stressed, tired and very satisfied to make a difference, you?"
This message was last edited by the player at 08:34, Tue 03 July 2018.

Lyla genuinely chuckles when her dark brown hair is ruffled about. The lightlt curly locks settle back at their usual places after a moment, staying to cover her facial scar.

"You thought that I'd let just anyone see those flight tabs? Thats cute, little brother, but you are seeing what I let you see. If the flight info about Benisuzume was open to all public and all the suits in the Upperdeck, I'd be living in a nightmare," she takes a sip from her drink, the shadows momentarily masking her expression upon answering Kendal. "Sounds accurate, just add frustrated to the combination. And take off the part about drinking vodka and flirting with the secretary," she teases.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:13, Wed 04 July 2018.

"Not like you have much on you to steal", Daniel shoots at Arkady. "Do you have a dedicated workshop yet? That's what you should focus on worrying about."

He chortles at Kendal's mention of paperwork.

"More than you have time for. You'd have to ask Smoker for the details. But thanks for offering."

Arkady looks at Lucifer and grumbles "Man, fuck you." plays offended, grabs the business card, and grips the vodka bottle tighter.

"Yeah, I apparently gained the attention of some folks at Pandora Bay. Apparently my new engine design is a bit more than just an idea I had whist blackout smashed." and takes a proud swig.

"Well very few even know what you look like and lets try and keep it that way" he says back to Lyla as he also listens what the others are saying.

When Lyla says her last comment about the secretary, he makes a short "wut" face and then facepalms to hide it, letting out a chuckle. "Oh yes i'm not the only one with eyes and ears running around, those things happen, yes, however..."

Kendal narrows his eyes as he focuses at Lylas wound, making a somewhat worried face.

"...Did you hurt your pretty face? oh no...  you are ruining your only redeeming quality as a woman, now you will never get a boyfriend! Unless you found one already?" He teases back.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:07, Thu 05 July 2018.

"Yeah, I was stupid and took a souvenir," she brushes a lock of hair behind her ear before remarking."I have eyes and ears everywhere."

With Kendals latter comment, a wave of blush runs over her, settling to turn her ears bright red. She gives his face a small shove with her palm, not caring about the glasses, before reaching to ruffle his hair in return. Or more to ruin its perfect lines.

"Oh fuck you. My ONLY redeeming quality. Some would beg to differ..Bah!" she waves a hand dismissively and being still bright red, as always when embarrased, does an attempt at the subject presented by Arkady. "What kind of an engine?"

Arkady smiles at the siblings shenanigans and answers to Lylas question
"I call it 'The dragomirov engine'. It's what powers this thingy." And snaps his metallic fingers.

"these are the testing prototypes that used to run on a battery... but apparently 'Drunk me' decided it sucks and made a dynamo that runs on... well.. perpetual motion."

he waves the vodka bottle a bit and watches the clear(ish) liquid spiral in the bottle, and a slightly smug smile widens on his face.

"When I first mentioned it, the scientists in pandora bay laughed me out. I showed them this and was like 'fuck yooooouuuuuuuuu'... and they went fucking ballistic."

He keeps the "ha, got you" smirk on his face even when inflicted violence upon. After that he fixes his hair with a single brush of his hand. Knowing that teasing her a bit more might change her embarrassment into annoyance, he didn't want to push that far. He stops the teasing with a last remark.
"Oh sis, i'm just worried that if you just sneak around too much, the man of your dreams just might slip past you"

Now that the usual sibling teasing is done, he fixes his glasses and takes a sip of whatever drink was given to him, be it an actual gin&tonic or not, focusing his attention to Arkadys words.
"I'd also like to call BS on that, but you have the bearing of a man who doesn't joke about these things" he says as he leans his back on the counter.

Being the older of the two, there is no way that Lyla would let Kendal have the last words or an upper hand in this battle, or any sort of battle for that matter.

"Hmph. Even without Sols guiding light to shine upon us solars, I'm sure that the man for me will find me even if I'm wrapped in a pitch black Darkness for days," she emphasizes her cheeks getting redder by the minute, which she tries to soothe by emptying her glass.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:16, Thu 05 July 2018.

There is a moment as Daniel visibly stifles a groan. Maybe even an eyeroll.

”For  at least Five Days, I’ll bet.”

He reaches for his glass but then remembers he just broke it, gaining a momentary frown before turning to Arkady.

”Perpetual motion, huh? What’s the catch? I’m assuming there’s a reason we haven’t switched to it entirely by now.”

When hearing Lucifer's and Lyla's remarks, Arkady almost chokes on the vodka he's chugging, and manages barely to turn away before some of it leaves his mouth in a surprised spray.

"What?!? Ah fuck I got some of it on my eye, shit aaaaargh!!" he tries to wipe it off with his metal arm, and realise it doesn't work. "fuck this burns... What a waste. Shit shit shit.." he the proceeds to find a dry part of his shirt and dries his eyes on it. I'd doesn't take an exalts perception to see he is smashed.

He manages to focus on Lucifer's question and turns his red, squinted eyes in his direction.

"Well... The catch is that it's still very unstable... Aww blyat... Any misalignment or deviation makes it grind to a halt or potentially overload. The bigger the engine the more the risk, ranging from inconvenience to a potentially catastrophic meltdown. All the prototypes are small scale, but the geeks at PB want to power ships with it, and maybe eventyally the last refuge itself."

She turns to give Daniel a peculiarly angry glare, and for a moment the shadows seem to gather around when something resembling a blade slides out of her hand. It soon resembles a raised middle finger though. Even her features get masked by the shade thrown about.

"What. Do my references pain your ears, master of dramatic monologues Or was it the detour and you feel I should just shout this to the whole world?" she mutters, obviously annoyed.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:55, Thu 05 July 2018.

Daniel gives a guilty smile.

“Maybe I felt you were encroaching on my turf with the mysticism. Maybe I’m just a bit jealous to see you so giddy.”

As Arkady flails around after getting vodka in his eye, he reaches over to secure his bottle from the counter and takes a gulp.

“Really though, you already gave it away. I’m happy it’s working out. For once it’s someone who won’t get a significantly larger target on his back due to it either.”

As Arkady settles down he gives him a nod.

“Sounds exactly like what I’d expect a Twilight to be doing. Feel free to call if there’s something I can help with regarding it.”

"Ooooooooh, so THAT was your mission on the Enterprise..." Taking a long slow gulp from his drink, nodding to himself "...Nice going sis"

"thanks. I'll keep that in mind" Arkady nods whilst still drying his eyes.

Once he's about done, he reaches out for his bottle and realizes it is not where its supposed to be. Seeing the bottle in Lucifer's hands and the situation escalating, the usually laid back russian starts to get a bit tense. "Hey what the... OI! THE FUCK IS THIS?!? this shit escalates just like on the paddy wagon! Calm the fuck down and gimme the bottle Blyat! "

”I think you’ve had enough spirits for the time being. I’d rather you maintain coherence for a bit longer”, Daniel replies to Arkady in an almost fatherly tone... while eyeing him casually from head to toe. ”Get something longer to drink. We’re not in a hurry and I’m paying.”

He turns back to the counter and takes another sip from the bottle.

”Besides, vodka is made to be shared, y’know?”

"Ahem. Yes," she blushes some more and reaches for the Vodka bottle that Daniel is holding."I was also on Enterprise because of the rescue of Swan Dragon...but yes, I'm happy...just nervous like always.. I dont do these sort of things much. You know. They dont work out most of the time."

She flicks a glance between Daniel and Kendal, and sips from the bottle, handing it over then.

Kendal takes a turn with the vodka bottle, first trying to look if there is anything alive inside of it. "Now I have to be careful or i'll catch some of those exalted love bugs" He said with a wide smile on his face "But really though, i'm happy if you have someone to open your heart to even just a little, I think everyone needs someone like that."

Arkady raises his finger for an objection but Lucifer had a point, and instead he presses his forehead on the counter in a defeated manner. "Aww man... I don't like being sober... what are these long drinks you refer to? Water? sheesh..."
He turns his head on the counter towards the other two, his face with a grin.
"Aww yeee... congrats. maybe I'll find someone some day, and hopefully I don't have to build her myself."

Lyla snickers, and shakes her head with a partial facepalm.

"Now now, lets not get ahead of ourselves here with such a talk. Call me sceptic but its too early to define this to anything lasting longer, especially with the lingering targets on our heads. But, when I agreed on this, I also promised not to give up without trying first."

Leaving her alone for now was probably the best choice as she might melt away into sludge any second now. Focusing his attention back to Arkady passing the vodka back to him.
"How come I haven't heard more about this project of yours? It would make sense for hordes of engineers to flock around a twilights project, especially to something like this"

He spares a glance at the rest of the bar, looking if they have got any attention from other customers.

"Because the Pandora Bay isn't exactly the communal type. It's more of a mixed batch of scientists and engineers that fight over the space and resources to complete their projects..." He replies to Kendal.

He then takes something that crudely resembles a cigarette from his pocket and lights it with a self made gasoline lighter.

"People like to keep their research to themselves because the less people involved, the more resources you get. Apparently there isn't too many Twilight exalted around either, so rolling over the less successful projects should be easy-peasy."

He exhales a cloud of bitter smoke and turns to the rest of the crew.

"Oh and guys and gals, please don't go blabbering about this. The last thing I fucking need is a rush oh industrial espionage..."

Daniel has a faint smile as Kendal speaks about opening one's heart. He says nothing about it, though, turning toward Jolie (or another barkeep, should she still be preoccupied with cleaning his mess).

"Two Long Island Iced Teas, please."

Then he looks to Arkady. "Longer as in including mixers rather than just alcohol. Lets you enjoy the taste longer and not get black-out drunk within the first hour of the meeting. And don't worry, your secret's safe with us. Look out with rolling over those lesser projects, though - you look like someone who knows that the most useful inventions often start small, tricky and ugly. And the higher you get, the more eyes you'll have on you, not all of them in a positive sense. You'll catch the eye of the likes of Shun Xiao sooner or later."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:27, Mon 09 July 2018.

Jolie had stepped out to deal with something, sending one of her newer bartenders forward.  But now she returns out at just the wrong time, "And here I thought you were a man of culture, Daniel.  And don't say that woman's name out loud here.  Speak of the Devil and she'll surely come."

But then she brightens up!

"Oh, holy shit, it's Little K!  How're you doing kiddo!"  She hops the bar to give him a hug, "Mr. Big Shot finally makes it to the Callsign while I'm on shift!  And here I thought the girls were messing with me."

Being bombarded with nostalgia after a long workday is never a bad thing. As she leaps over the bar he catches her to return the hug and lowers her on the floor, then gently tries to push her towards Lyla as to say bug her not me.

"Fighting at the home front as usual, it's good to see you" He smirks and rolls his eyes at the kiddo comment, but lets it slide.

"Just managed to postpone some meetings to get a moment with sis here, it's been too long since last time."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:06, Mon 23 July 2018.

Lyla nods at Arkady in agreement.

"Espionage you say. Tell me if it'll turn into a proper problem, and I'm sure I can do some countermeasures with Ombra."

She recrosses her legs the other way and chuckles at Jolies amazement at her brother, before continuing.

"As Daniel said, don't trample over everything you witness. But pushing away the competition isn't anything new either. You could get valuable assistants that way, though."

"Shieeet... Well at least those fuck nuts can't steal any schematics blyat, Coz there isn't any. it's all here" and taps the side of his head.

"tho I think I gotta write it down at some point. even I can't do everything myself if this shit goes big."

He turns towards Kendal and gives him a questioning expression

"Are patents still a thing?"

"Yes patents are a thing they just got a little more... complicated after the exodus." He frowns a bit, remembering the shitfest that the political situation was back then.

"Nowadays instead of a government licensed patenting office, you need to convince influential people to recognize your efforts and make them sign a few papers for it to be valid through the entire fleet. Simply because there is not a thing called government these days, just factions fighting over power and status just like mobs and mafias... from a politicians point of view."

He clearly is not pleased with the current status quo.

"If you need help with that I will happily help."

"Patents and projects aside. Enlighten us Arkady. Your exaltation. What did you do? You didnt meet him, did you?" Lyla inquires from Arkady, raising a curious but cautious brow.

She fiddles with her glass for a while, just enjoying the athmosphere.

"I didn't meet him."

Arkady takes another weird looking sigarette off his pocket and lights it up with the last one. It smells a bit like burning oil.

"And I don't really even know what I did to be honest. We were tasked to capture an abyssal frigate, but our intel was shit, and instead of just one Bataan class we were against two upgraded frigates with railguns and shit."

He takes another long drag from his cigarette and blows out a thick cloud of bitter smoke. His expression looks saddened, even tough he tries to hide it with a casual voice.

"They tore Paddy Wagon to pieces in seconds... I was the ole survivor and somehow managed to board the frigate, sabotage the engines and I was making my way towards the bridge when I ran into the first mate of that ship. During my battle with her I was exalted."

He looks at Lyla and a faint smile drags across his face.

"Was it luck? Maybe. Did my action attract this gift? Who knows. All I know that Sol gave me the strenght to show the finger to the dead and avenge my comrades, And I swear on my mother, I not done yet. Not many have this gift and I plan to give the living a fighting chance with it. Being exalted is a great boon, but a big enough gun designed by a divine craftsman in the hands of anyone makes a difference too."

There's a peculiar moment of contemplation on Daniel's face as Arkady mentions not seeing Sol upon Exaltation. That was to be expected... Now that Sol Invictus was no more. But he was still uncertain why Ignis Divine had never shown himself to him even when he was still alive.

He elects to say nothing about the subject, though. But he did have his views on other aspects of Exaltation.

"Luck is always a factor in Exaltation due to the finite amount of Exaltations available at any given time - but luck alone is never enough to earn one. Exaltations seek out hosts worthy of them, for better or worse; for us Solars, that means people capable of dreaming big and possessing the mindset to make those dreams into reality. We are movers and shakers gifted with the power to make our mark on Creation on a different scale, but the drive and aptitude for wielding that power is something we hold find within. The Exaltation is a divine toolset that makes what was impossible possible, but the people we were, are and will be define how those tools get used. That's why we must both realize the imperative to put our power to use and to remember being more powerful doesn't make us any better."

He reaches for the vodka bottle and takes another swig.

"I'm sorry for the tragedy that sparked your Exaltation, Arkady. Carry that hatred but don't let it consume you and you'll do great. We could certainly use some new tech to even the odds between mortals and the thralls of the Neverborn."

Lyla smiles and raises her glass as a salute to their speeches before taking a long sip.

"Daniel exalted while fighting zombie bears. Its about overcoming something thought to be nearly impossible even if you didnt feel it to be so at the moment. That being said: you fared amazingly, Arky. Glad to have you on board."

Uh oh, too many sips and too quickly, a small blush lurks to her ears.

Good thing that Arkady didn't go all gloomy when asked about his Exaltation.

"It's not surprising that most Exaltations include violence in some way, but there have been non-violent ones too right? I wonder if I could get one if I asked the God of Exaltation nicely?"

He smiles and then continues as he types the air with his fingers, as if he was writing.
"Good and Wise God of Exaltation, I seek the power to aid those above me and shield those below me. I ask this so I can make the citizens of this fleet look upon each other not as neighbors or rivals, but as brothers and friends.
-Kendal Raines"
He finishes as like he pressed Enter and looks at the others. "I just hope there are enough Exaltations to go around for the task at hand."

Arkady listens to Daniel's lesson with thought and nod at times. Even though he is a young turk, he had a certain respect for his elders. Not necessarily a merit of age alone, but the knowledge learned during that time between them. A head start of sorts, And Arkady is the kind to learn from the mistakes of others, the effect known as experience.

"Well yeah... I don't believe I'm better, just more capable at certain things. I don't really talk about deep shit like this... I..I mean, that's something I don't have previous experience for too much. At the paddy wagon that kinda talk was by those who didn't have better things to do, Or did but avoided it."

He puts the "cigarette" on his lips, only to realize it had gone out. He dumps it in the ashtray to make room in his only hand for rhe long island ice tea.

"Don't say sorry if you haven't done anything wrong, and you haven't. You weren't there, and we all knew the risk. That's why we lived like it was the last day every day, cause it might be. Saying sorry when it's not needed makes it lose it's meaning... but anyway, thanks for sparing the thought.

he takes a sip of his drink and an expression of surprise made its way on his face. It was sweet. Really sweet. He takes a large gulp of the stuff and lets out a content sigh.

"What the shit? Zombie bears? That's pretty fucking badass!!"

He looks at Daniel in awe and turns back towards Lyla

"Thanks. It means a lot for me to accepted... well... at least tolerated, but I'll make my self usefull. I just do what I have to." he answers with a smile.

Kendal's speech just amde him confused, and he waves his hand and points his finger as he tries to grasp a point how that might actually work, or not, but he clearly can't grasp his thoughts.

"Wha... What the-? It doesn't work like that! Or well... It might but... ah shit."

The numbing effect of alcohol finally got to him, and he's left to ponder, while continuing his drink.

Daniel takes his own long island iced tea and sips it. He was finally starting to get buzzed as well.

"To be more precise, I didn't Exalt while fighting zombie bears. I Exalted fighting the Nephwrack that had created those bears. But yeah, looks like you've got your head on straight Arkady. If you need help for something important don't hesitate to call."

He sips again from his drink, gaining a thoughtful frown.

"Anyway, I've been told I should talk about work less so I suppose we should find something lighter to talk about."

He doesn't actually have a clue as to what that something might be, but at least he's trying.

A flat and confused expression spreads on Lylas face when Daniel mentions the possibilty of another subject.

”Eh. Isnt everything we talk about related to work somewhat since Last Refuge is our workplace..?” she chuckles and shrugs. ”You guys dance ever? Favorite songs?”

She glances toward the jukebox playing  something generic currently.

As Lyla is confused, Kendal is amused in equal measure because the greatest struggle of one of the most influential and inspiring men in the fleet is small talk.

He turns to Daniel. "I take it that you don't partake in casual small talk much these days? You do have something to do in your free time right? assuming you have any."

He scratches the back of his head when Lyla mentions dancing and turns to her. "Does waltz count?"
With his luck the moment he starts dancing, one of his subordinates would arrive and then have proof that Kendal is capable of having fun... unacceptable.

Daniel regards Kendal matter-of-factly.

"Never really did. Even when working the soup kitchen I tended to either leave the talking to the more sociable volunteers or to dive deep enough to make a real change or cause a confrontation. As for free time..."

He takes a sip. A long sip. A gulp... more like a guzzle. Possibly because he doesn't know how to approach the subject of free time and his severe lack of it as well as recharging activities to fill it with.

Then he coughs faintly.

"I'm kind of with your brother on this one. Never did much dancing beside the traditional stuff."

Lyla chuckles at their responses and shakes her head.

"How painful. Dancing is essential...and classics work on any lady anytime. I couldnt even imagine you two dancing any other way. Actually I think my brain just hurt to imagine you partying down," she almost laughs.

Her gaze wanders to the drink as she mixes it, a wistful smile decorating her lips.

"It was nice spending time like this. When there is no need for fronts. We should do this other time as well. Especially after my lil brother breaks through and applies for Exaltation succesfully."

A teasing grin there. Her tone of voice conveys that she wasnt completely joking.

"I can't say I've ever danced really. just jumped around." Arkady adds in thought. "Yeeah drinking in company is a lot more fun than drinking alone... So I'd better enjoy whilst I can!"

He takes a long sip off his drink and keeps an eye on the door every now and then.

"Oh yeah, I'm not in a hurry coz I like booze Blyat. I'm in a hurry coz I probably should be in quarantine at sanctuary. The battle orderlies are gonna come in and kick my ass pretty soon I suppose. Totally worth it though, HA oi pizec..."

"I cant remember a time when I'd have patiently waited at the Sanctuary for the official papers."

With a sigh she gets up from her barstool and finishes what was left of her drink.

"Talk to you another time more Jolie," she wishes to her friend behind the counter."And you I hope to catch up on with time in our hands. Come by and visit, or I have to come to your office, dear brother,"Lyla turns to Kendall for a departing hug.

"Daniel, walk with me will you? I can try to help you sneak past some paparazzi."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:55, Tue 09 Oct 2018.

As he returns the hug, his phone vibrates and he checks it. First he raises an eyebrow, followed by an oh shit! look on his face.

"Yeah I better be going as well unless I want to risk my secretary hanging me. Was good seeing you all after so long and it was good to meet you Mr. Arkady, I hope to see you all again soon."

He gives a nod to everyone, puts a business card on the table for Arkady and leaves, typing something on his phone as he walks out the door.

"Yeah, always a pleasure to be able to drop the facades or just speak without stopping to consider the butterfly effects you might create by holding your drink a particular way."

He pours his iced tea down the hatch as the group starts dispersing before getting up to say goodbye. He nods to Lyla as she offers to sneak him past the vultures.

"Thanks for the company. See you guys around. Don't die or slack off."

"Dont drink yourself to death. See you later. Same place, different time," Lyla wishes to Arkady before slipping out of the bar, through the backdoor ofcourse.

"I'm a tough cyka. I can't be killed by booze." Arkady hollers back at Lyla

"I'll stay here and wait for my ride. I think I can still destroy a bottle before sanctuary goons find me and drag me out. 'ey barkeep! Another one of them long teas!"

He waves his hand one last time to the leaving crew, and now sits alone on the counter. Something he had gotten used to. But this time he had a genuine smile on his face.

[TIME PASSES]

Having a taste for style and the will to show it off somewhat, Kendall is wearing a red slim fit long sleeve collared shirt with his sleeves rolled and a black vest. Also one of those Merovingian tie knots he likes so much. Black straight pants and matching shoes.

This time he isn't out of breath or running away from work, instead just having a jolly good time in Callsign, hopefully running into some friends to talk with.

He orders two drinks for himself, one for consumption, one for enjoyment. He scouts out if there is a better place to sit than at the bar itself. Just taking a breather from the hectic everyday life.

Between missions and other stuff to accomplish, Lyla has somehow managed to escape from her duties to the refuge of the Callsign. She had not really planned on presenting, as one can notice from her open and messy hair to her torn jeans and cropped loose hoodie. Not that she actually looked disheveled, she just looked casual. There had been one discussion between her and Jolie of how Lyla should always put in some effort when visiting her club, mostly to humor Jolie.

She lets her essence shroud drop when ordering drinks...a shot of vodka to down and something vaguely resembling GT to tag along. After that it doesn't take long for her to spot Kendall, and her smirk gets a bit wider when she heads his way.

"Do you want to fight here or take it outside?" she jests.

After absentmindedly sipping his drink, he turns to face the very familiar voice of Lyla, he puts his drink on the table with a pleased 'ahh' sigh, It was some good stuff.

"I will choose... option C, not at all." He replies with a smirk. "Good to see you too, what did I do this time to warrant such hostilities?" He asks like he had no idea as to why.

She reaches to tussle his hair instead of whooping his ass...at least for now.

"You know well enough why. I know I said last time that maybe the next time we'll see each other here is after you've applied for your exaltation but I didn't really mean it. And then you go and exalt like it had been an order," she rants.

He knows well enough that she is not really mad about it, just concerned.

"Glad to see you, happy to see you are still alive."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:59, Fri 17 Apr 2020.

After she is done messing up his hairdo, he attempts to fix it fully expecting her to mess it up again.

"Well... it's not like I put myself in life threatening situations on purpose all the time. Anyway all in all this has been great! I am the center of attention, got much stuff to do, got a load of stuff from Battles and a bunch of advise from other exalted." He says confidently, maybe some of that little brother sass mixed in as well.

"This what I get as a thanks for trying to preserve your life through these years. You go and put yourself on their list like a bait as if life would be too easy," she sighs and takes a looooooong sip."Geez, I'm exhilarated to hear that. All the attention and all the gear so you can get yourseld killed easier."

She sighs and digs out a cigarette from a metalcase, indication of the subject actually being touchy to her.

"Well it's out of my system now. At least you have better coping mechanisms now. How are you otherwise?" she lights her cigarette, giving a passing pat to his shoulder.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:19, Sat 18 Apr 2020.

Knowing she is still worried about him makes him happy, but doesn't stop him from teasing her... within reason.

"How am I? Well, there is not much to tell outside of work really, or at least nothing of spectacular significance comes to mind." Lyla would probably know if he would be hiding anyhing big, but it doesn't really seem like he is. Of course he doesn't tell about details unless asked about directly. "If anything major would happen to me, the news would probably tell all about it. How about you?"

Even he doesn't know what the press knows.

She gives him a dumbstruck face, before pulling from her cigarette.

"I would kind of hope that if something...anything happens.. I'd hear of it from you, and not my agents or the press," she sighs, giving a rub to her forehead with her thumb."Well, I guess no news is good news. Heard you've been stirring up the political pot quite a lot with your newly acquired celestial form."

A small moment passes as she thinks.

"Me? Oh, nothing new...ah, wait, something new. A scar on my shoulder. Had a quite the unpleasant mission from the Core that involved our opposition and the sidereals. Come on, lets take a seat somewhere more secluded than the counter, and I'll talk of it more."

She strides to a nearby booth, that Kendall probably had managed to spot earlier but had not quite yet made it there, before she verbally assaulted him.

*Cough* "O-Blyat..."
Those fateful words were uttered, as Arkady wobbles in through the door of The Callsign, stopping for a moment to lean on the door frame to scan the area and catch his breath.

He's wearing... A suit-ish? Black slacks with a black shirt, a bright red vest with a pair of suspenders, and a bit off shade red tie. On top of it all is a makeshifty holster harness for his silver 1911 and a few spare mags.
The holster actually doesn't look too shabby.

"Oh shit! It's the siblings, out of which now both are sun's chosen, holy shit!" *Cough* "Who would have guessed!" *Cough* "Just a second... Blyat."

He walks to the counter and orders three shots of Vodka-ish alcohol, and downs them one by one, grimacing after each one. Then he orders three more and brings them to the booth where Lyla is sitting. "Wow, Kendal our suit getups almost match. Hah! What are the odds!"

As Arkady is chugging down the shots, Kendall walks to the booth and sits down next to Lyla and says, "Well, you were the first one I called when I exalted, so nothing of the same caliber of importance has happened at least." He pauses, "Sidereals? Sounds stressful enough in itself, I also ran into troublemakers and politicians with bad intentions."

He greets Arkady with a friendly wave as he sits down, "If it isn't my favorite Russian friend, how is live treating you?"

*Cough* "Like shit to be honest." *cough* "Imma need more booze to fix this cough though. Also Wearing ties fucking sucks. How do you stand it?"

He shuffles through his pockets for a cigarette and lights one. A bitter smoke with slight touch of motor oil lingers in the air.

"Sorry people, I need to get comfortable. I've had a terible day, consisting of business lunches, Infernals and void demons... And the worst of it is wearing a tie. Fuck this tie."

He pulls off his tie and opens the top button of his shirt, and pulls his 1911 off it's holster and places it on the table like some mafia boss and leans back against the seat.

Another smoky exhale of satisfaction.

"That's better. *cough* Suka.. So how's your end Kendal? You stirred quite the bit of a shit show. Pretty sure your campaign manager had a stroke when you exalted."

When Kendal sits down, she notes:"Our Sidereals are fine, this one was...something between the lines. I even surprised myself that I managed to track her down from that wild goose chase....ah, politicians with bad intentions. really?"

She smirks a bit.

"Yeah, do tell what that was all about. I got a report concerning that whole event on my desk."

As Arkady appears by the table, she tilts her head subtly to the side:"Hi Arkady. Quite the look. Suits you though... You look like Kendal and your day sounds like a typical day for him. Have you decided to take the same route, climbing the political ladder?"

For a moment she eyes the gun he just placed on the table. Then while tapping some ash from her cigarette to the tray, she adjust its position a bit so that the essence pumped shadow hides the gun away from sight.

"Lets not be rude to Jolie with open weaponry."

Ignoring the metallic knob extension Arkady put on the table, "Tie is a part of formal wear so if you don't want to look formal, don't have one, but if you do, wear it with confidence" He says to him, afterwards taking a sip of his tasty drink.

Then he turns back towards his sister saying, "Well, they had... or still have this elaborate plan of making the demons hate everyone else and everyone hate demons even more to instill chaos and revolution, all in the name of 'fuck the living fleet' and maybe either fuck everything up or consolidate more power to themselves."

And then Back to Arkady, "High octane action, partying and murder mysteries with beautiful women, you know, basic solar stuff." He jests.

"Oh shit, sorry." He grabs the pistol off the table from around where he though he put it and tucks it back to it's holster. "In my circles the guns on table is pretty standard. That means they're on the table and not in someones hands when a fight breaks out... And no Lyla, being a researcher attracts some politics, and those politics steal time from my actual work and that kinda sucks..."

Listening to Kendal's description on formality of wear and his recent solar exploits, and continuing to Lyla's compliment on his attire, he looks almost jealous.

"Man, I'm only wearing this due to my regular clothes being abso-fucking-lutely shredded and soaked on some flesh eating void acid. *Cough* Of which some still resides in my fucking lungs..."

He takes a sip of his turpentine

"And even that's better than the lovely business lunch with Shun Xiao, and the fact that we agreed on an intern exchange... Oh BOY ain't that gonna be something, blyat... I've got nothing against infernals in general, but her showin up on my shop door with a legion of yes men seemed like such a bitchy show of power I KNOW she'll try to rush patent my stuff or some shit..."

"True, if this place would be in the Underdecks then it'd be a standard. Lets hope nobody starts a fight, even though it'd be interesting to see one dry out immediately," she sips her drink before snickering: "Politics always suck, if you ask me. Most of the politicians also suck. So you can't except much political correctness from me."

When Arkady opens up about Shun Xiao, she seems to be in agreement with a sigh.

"I had a run in with her as well during my last mission. Wasn't a pretty one, and I'm sure she'll be bitter of it for long. Can't blame her, I was too aggressive, but I'm not buying it when any infernal tells me that they are doing this solely for the good of the people...and not trying to benefit from it as much as they can themselves. Anyway, I'm derailing," she puffs some smoke into the air."Well Arkady, sounds like they wasted no moment with you. Interns from her? I'd totally expect espionage. Much like with brother here... Wanting to pull him through the mud immediately with the demon case. I understand all the dirt they want to throw on us, older Solars, but I wish they'd give you newbies a moment to process it all instead of playing the game. If I was petty, I should go after the next new Infernal should one appear to give them hard time, but I like to think we are above that part..."

She empties her drink and orders a new one.

"Relax about the patent, this isn't the US where everything you do or make will be turned against you and besides, I don't think anyone, not even an Infernal would have the balls to publicly say 'I made this' to a Solars face with something they tried to steal." He comforts Arkady, to his knowledge the patenting goes more like in the former EU where everything you say or make is straight away copyrighted.

He listens to them talk about Shun Xiao while sipping his drink. "Haven't met her myself, but as far as I know the Infernals are just as quirky as Solars are." He remarks from the sidelines. "And besides, Arkady. I heard that reality itself is just another tool in a Twilights toolbox, there is stuff ONLY you can make I believe."

"Quirky is not quite it. There are some fundamental differences, of which Daniel could probably talk all day...so ask him next time," she points out. "Also...flesh eating void acid? Where? In your ship? I heard some issue being with some ship."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:59, Mon 27 Apr 2020.

"Haha.. yeah. It's totally espionage, but I'm sure they'll have their hands full with the crew. It's gonna be tough for some clean lab rats I tell you..."

Another sip off his drink, like he's savoring it but not for the taste. He's just not ready to get more yet.

"Reality being one of the tools of the Twilight? I guess there's some truth to it, but I'm pretty sure I should start with creating and inventing conventional shit with existing laws of reality... Well at least until I get bored with existing reality. Then I'll start poking it. Though I think I might have already broken some rules in a drunken holistic fit, since As I recall perpetual motion is... well.. is supposed to be impossible. Though Kendal, I'm still waiting my letter to Hogwarts! You're a Wizard Arky!"

He spins the murky contents of his glass in thought, grins and replies to Lyla: "Yeah we had a small Demjen incident at the Bogatyr. Prolly crawled in through the void docks from the outer shell of the ship. A REAL bitch that one was, but I managed to get my hands on... like... The most prominent combat epidemiologist on the refuge and we managed to cleanse that bitch of a tumor off my ship. Didn't even need to call the Sanc's... One of the laws of reality I'm never gonna change is the principle of Kill it with fire before it lays eggs." He lets out a hearthy laugh, and a hacking cough afterwards.

"Impossible as a concept is rather lenient these days. Glad to hear you are pushing the limits. If there are even any. I guess that is what it is when you Exalt to a world that you already know that is filled with wonders like demons and elementals and the stuff. Geez, it was a pain 10 years ago to accept these things as reality," she facepalms with a small chuckle. "Sounds like its been quite the ride so far...At least you got to keep your ship...even if its a bit singed. You need to make your tri poloski out of some more durable material, so you can actually use them on missions. Purge with fire? So...whats next, shots with fire to purge that out of your lungs?"

Its hard to tell if she is joking or serious in her suggestion.

Looks Lyla in the eyes with a perplexed look and a short silence broken by another hearty laugh.

"A firey drink sounds like a good idea, though it sure as fuck wont fix my lungs! Ha! and tactical tailored tripoloski? It kinda defeats the idea of wearing one if it ain't a cheap knockoff. And If you find me a pristine set of original Adidas tripoloski, I'm pretty sure it would be more expensive than that suit your brother's wearing! Ha!"

He drags another cloud of bitter smoke off his cigarette and empties his shot glass, placing it top down on the table. And returns to Kendal's topic:

"Well, If getting my ass ahnded to me by Patent schemers, then I'm sure as hell some influential people will try to fuck me over with business and politics and shit. Unfortunately, Science and innovation requires money, and with the scale I'm planning, a lot of it. I will be offered that money in troves eventually, but with a fine print. Scrapping and prospecting Ain't bad income, but it ain't enough to feed my ambition."

He looks at the smoke drifting towards the ceiling and seems to be somewhere else for a moment.

"I should get a cruiser."

She empties her current drink, and orders another one along with a set of 8 flaming shots.

Lyla shrugs:"It might clean it. Just ask the elemental or god in the flame to do it for you. Also hells, I can't comment on vanity for originalitys sakes or price as long as I keep smoking these."

She inclines to her cigarette, and taps it against the ashtray.

"hey as long as there is armor beneath and you won't find yourself fighting naked with an Abyssal, it's all good. "

She waits for no speeches or anything, before downing two shots in row.

He listened them talk about the Bogatyr, leaning back and sipping his drink. "Well, I think that as long as you are proactive and go talk with the right people yourself, you should get sufficient backing in anything you do, it's only if you sit idly, then the vultures start to appear. Usually people would demand prior accomplishments, merits etc. But being an Exalted will most probably bypass all that doubt."

He pokes Lylas cheek with his finger for no real reason.

"Yeah, it was hard to get used to... It's still hard to get used to."

Puffs her cheek a bit when its poked.

"Its a bit concerning though, how often there are these accidents with the Void these days. Daniel had the run in with the Gunzosha, Kendal has this issue with oppressing demons which most certainly comes from somebody in the opposition pulling the strings, Arkady had this Void demon infestation, and I had to look into the murder of our Endings...only to find out that out his exaltation had somehow been directed to the worst possible person...who wrecked havoc," she runs her fingers through her hair. "Managed to stop her after she'd destroyed a flight deck and killed numerous people so yay. Why does it always feel like fucking up when we succeed..."

She downs another two shots, leaving nicely 4 for Arkady and Kendall to share.

"That was the thing I was supposed to mention earlier but couldn't out in the open really talk of it," she notes to Kendal. "The incident still grinds my gears."

"Oh fuck, yeah..." let's out a slightly awkward laugh.

"I should get some armor. Why hasn't the thought crossed my mind before?"

He grabs a shot off the table and downs it immediately, slamming the glass down on the table and without waiting he picks up another one and downs it too.

"Ooooh blin, this is good stuff. For being heavy drinkers, we Russians are also the most un-imaginative drinkers. It's like beer or vodka straight 90% of the time."

He reaches for a third one straight afterwards. I mean, It's alcohol, he didn't pay for it, and it's just there... all alone. Fast ones eat the slow ones.

"Whoa Lyla, can I call you Lyla? Well, anyways, yeah it all sounds like a clusterfuck every time. Like, the sole survivors guilt and all that shit... Well, trying to to get stuck on that though. Always been a survivor."

He blasts down the third before anyone gets a word, like a rat that scurries away with scraps.

"Still I feel like there's some shit going on, like, we're fixing problems as they appear without knowing what causes them. This shit seems too frequent to be just random. I got that gut feeling you know."

"Lyla is fine, at least when not working. What else would you use...miss Raines? Ewh. Anyway, I've toiled ten years to keep my face and name hidden from the opposition, so I'd like to try to keep it like that. Might be harder now, but hey at least I might get the ranking and reputation I should have," she returns the poke to Kendal's cheek.

"Yeaah...random? Ah, hardly. They have Agent Orange prodding around for these sorts of loopholes to abuse the parts they can of the Loom. Hmh, anybody talk to you guys about Yama or her in general? Do they give any sort of debrief to these things?" she inquires curiously.

Finally finishing her stress-cigarette she dumps it on the ashtray, and shoves the shot towards Kendall:"Come one then, don't wuss out now. If it makes you feel better, we can toast for your Exaltation."

It'd seem that the usual half-smirk of hers has by now turned to a grin with the assistance of alcohol and an opportunity to drop her usual mask.

He has an identical reaction as Lyla when she pokes his cheek.

He looks at the shot offered and returns the smirk to his sister, "Oh, don't worry." He downs the shot "Ahh, as they say all politicians are alcoholics but not all alcoholics are politicians... hmm... Although they say that about a lot of professions."

Being lazy, he uses the Callsign app on his phone to order more shots.

He looks at Lyla with a curious look, "Yama? is that something having to do with the yakuza or something?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:14, Fri 01 May 2020.

"Yeah, Yama sounds like some moon speach or something... To be honest I wasn't really briefed beyond Good luck and don't fuck it up." he to Lyla as he tries to poke his finger on Kendal's phone to order a little extra.

"Tell me Lyla, What kinda shit do you get yourself into usually? I always thought that you original 1st class exalts were like... I dunno, Drinking martinis or sleeping in cryostasis until called into action like some super heroes. I thought you guys get paid enough so you don't need to do basic legwork... Or is this some Need to know basis Special agent shit?" He looks genuinely curious as he keeps on trying to poke more random drinks to Kendal's order.

Lyla cringes at the mention of Yakuza:"No, its not about Yakuza, even though I still personally consider them a shady bunch. Its quite worse."

She fiddles with her cigarette case and takes a sip from her drink.

"I personally didn't realise how they just throw you in this all. I have had Sayeed, an ifrit, with me since the beginning to whom I could direct my stupid questions. Personally haven't met Yama or Agent Orange, but I consider that as a good thing. Daniel has had run ins with both so he can say what things from his own perspective..." she ponders for a moment."I feel like talking about them is like summoning a boogeyman. I can send you a list of things you can read from the records. But to put it bluntly we have the opposition with Deathlords, and then they have Yama and Agent Orange. Yama is much like...if you'd take the concept of Lucifer and just make it want to destroy and torment the world. Agent Orange was a Sidereal like the rest, but took to their side, which means they also have access to the loom and they have the capability of doing things without us knowing."

As said she types a list of records the two could look into in their own time.

"Huh. Me? What do I do? Hmmh. Oh damn, it would be so cool to just wait in cryostasis for when the occasion calls but unfortunately the occasion never ends," she snickers a bit, trying to form a proper answer."Yeah, if you were normal citizens, we'd not be here talking of this sort of things. But fellow exalts get a bit of priviledge. When I'm not on official missions, I have my own Ombra agency to look into the troubles beneath the surface. Spying and information gathering. Most of them are actually from Underdecks, utter crooks who still want something good for this home of ours. Wouldn't be surprised if you'd already bumped into some of them by accident without knowing."

"Yeah, my type of shit is usually infiltration and tracking and information gathering...and ridiculous flight stunts. As already mentioned my previous mission was hunting an Endings gone awry through the ship. Then there was the battle of Onyx Spire, where I took part as Diamond Sky... Had to disguise my essence and self, because otherwise they would've blown the ship in an instant in an attempt to rid us of a Pre-exodite. And before that I infiltrated the Abyssal prison ship Pyongyang, so if you want to know how lovely its to be alone inside a working and fully operational ship, I'm your go-to-gal. Sorry, I can't remember when was the last time I actually got to talk about what Lyla and Blue Fox do in a same sentence so it's a bit of mishmash."

"Admittedly, we get paid enough not to do the basic legwork, but neither myself nor Daniel are unable to sit still. So my salary goes to Ombra and charity mostly..."

After letting Arkady order some extra stuff, he finishes the order and puts his phone away to lean back again.

He snickers a bit, "Heh, that sounds not at all intimidating." He comments sarcastically under his breath when she compares Lucifer to Yama.

"Can confirm what she said about sitting still, workaholism runs in the family." He jests, "Speaking of ships, I wonder if Battles found that interceptor for me..." He thinks out loud.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:30, Mon 11 May 2020.

"... Whaddaya mean Found an interceptor for me? Aren't you supposed to pay for it yourself? If I could have just gotten a ship I would have sold it and got something else than a broken ass tub..."

He waits eagerly for the drinks to arrive and takes a sip of... whatever he managed to order.

"We really should get like a proper briefing and a manual... Or if we got one i've... I wouldn't have missed it. I guess it was just really boring then, Blyat..."

"Yeah, it'd be useful... Then again getting more Solars was highly unexpected so maybe they weren't prepared for it," Lyla agrees with Arkady.

It takes a moment to sink in, but when it does she turns to look at Kendal with a tilted head.

"Excuse me what. An interceptor? To you? Are you kidding me. Ugh. I..." she glances at Arkady. "Sorry you have to witness this Arkady."

She turns back to Kendal with a deep frown:"Yeah, I get it exalting as a Solar is cool and all and you totally deserve it, but do you really have a deathwish? Do you not realize how dangerous this all is? Being an exalt doesn't make you impervious to damage! You get a fancy shining target mark on your forehead. An interceptor? To you? You can't even fight properly! I've spent my previous ten years trying to shield you from the Void, the Abyssals, Agent Orange, from whoever would benefit from destroying me mentally by getting to those close to me. They've already gotten Jess, and Daniel has lost everything before he even had an opportunity of having. You are the reason why I'm Blue Fox and not Lyla Raines, and I'd choose that route any day to keep loved ones safe. And then you get an interceptor for fun and games to join the front like it was nothing. Like you'd not even realized how many die there. And now I can't even protect you anymore... I'm not going to start a ruckus here, but you better come to the training hall with me so I can hand your ass to you..."

She is genuinely angry at him as she digs for another cigarette from her case, mumbling to herself:"Battles will hear about this."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:32, Wed 13 May 2020.