Meg offered him her hand, the platter of red saran wrapped burgers floating onward toward a big brick grill as she said "Welcome to the Kattakara estate, Jared, I'm Megaira Kattakara.  What can I do for you today?"  As she asked, the grill turned itself on and the tongs began placing the non-red saran wrapped burgers on the grill one by one.

Jared answered, noting the levitating food, "That remains to be seen.  I got this," he held out the slip of paper, "from an old fortune telling machine in the arcade on the pier.  In the past, sometimes when I walked by, it spat those at me.  I got that today.  It was... specific."

  Meg accepted the little card, and waved one hand back and forth over it.  She said "Well, I definitely recognize one of my Aunts' handiwork here.  You apparently have a destiny here.  Hope you're hungry, we're grilling out with burgers now."

Jared raised an eyebrow, and asked, "One of your 'aunts' used a broken fortune-telling machine?  And who is your aunt, that would use a fortune to send me here?"

He did, however, take a burger, rare.

  Meg chuckled, and said "My aunts would be Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos.  The Fates.  They can do things like that.  So if they want you here, there's a reason."  She plopped a big ear of sweet corn on his plate as well, and waved a hand toward the several picnic tables and lawn tables she had in the back yard "Have a seat, make yourself at home, the house has plenty of space."

Jared's eyebrows went up even more, and he said, "The Fates.  I see."

He chuffed a laugh, and then said, "So... What do you do here, and who are your other guests?"

  Meg waved a hand around, and said "Well, I'm sort of a philanthropist, in a way.  I own the house and the property, and I keep everyone in food and whatnot, and we are the heroes of Weston.  We answer the call to help the people of this town, and other people too, if needed, and we are heroes.  Clearly, my Aunts think you belong here, so you can go ahead and move in.  There's a lot of us that live here, so you'll meet us all eventually."

Jared nodded, and said, "Thank you.  I don't have much.  Basically, the clothes on my back, and my backpack."

"But I'm anxious to get started."

  That got a laugh, and Megaira said "First thing to take note of:  Anything in RED saran wrap has been specially modified for Archeirae, she needs a LOT of arsenic as a nutrient in her diet, to the point where she gets hamburgers mixed with lethal levels of it for a human.  So don't eat the red saran wrap stuff."

Jared nodded.  "Archeirae.  Not human.  Red Saran Wrap equals arsenic.  Understood, ma'am.  Anything else?"

  Meg smiled, and said "Generally, until you get to know EVERYONE here, don't assume they're hostile until and unless they attack you.  Some of the others can look very strange when they wish."

Jared nodded, and then said, "I go by the code name 'Revenant', because I can sense evil.  Makes my decisions somewhat simpler.  Like the Shadow, I can know what evil lurks in the hearts of man."

  Meg grinned, and said "Good.  Now, just a fair warning:  If Andy comes over, he may BE a Demon, but he's one of the good guys."

Jared nodded.  "Archeirae, alien.  Andy, demon.  Megaira, related to the Fates.  Duly noted."

  Meg laughed, and said "Hang out, get comfortable, and relax."

He smiles easily as he sees Meg, though there is a bit of regret there as well.

"Too long.  Sorry about that.  Lost track of a lot while working with the..  government" just saying it leaves a bad taste in his mouth.  "I'm back in town now.  Probably for a while, if not the long term.  Do have a project that I'll be working with Iris on, though."

Which meant he'd probably be sleeping back at the lab again.

As Jared approaches he remains mostly silent, only speaking up to clarify something.

"I am not a hero.  Just wanting to put it out there."

Muttering something about the PJ squad and more Feds.

He does perk an eyebrow though when Archeirae is revealed to be an alien, but he doesn't make any comment about it, just giving a sidelong grin and making note about the arsenic in the burgers.  Something that is definitely good to know.

The hairs on the back of his neck bristle just a bit in the presence of Jared and Regina now, brushing a few fingers against the bridge of his nose.

"I would love to, but not really sure I should stay.  Machinesmith was getting in contact with Iris,  not sure when she will be coming by.  But since I invited her, I should probably be getting back to the lab."

Jared nodded to Meg.  A brief smile flickered over his face; she seemed to laugh easily, which was a trait he envied.

Then his smile faded as the man she was talking to made a special point to inform him that he was NOT a hero, and seemed to have an axe to grind about the government.

He said to the dude wearing military boots, "You have problems with the government?  Doesn't look like you ever served."

  Meg nodded, and said "I'll keep in mind that you're back in town.  Given that you definitely gave me no warning about leaving town, and I had to be informed by the news that you were out of town, I won't expect much.". Clearly, that had not earned him any points.  She headed on over to the grill, letting Hotwire come or go as he wished, and putting a grill-grate up that had dabs of red paint to grill Archeirae's burgers on.

  Archeirae had ambled over when Meg put the arsenic burgers on the grill, and cocked her ears forward as the meat seared, and said to Hotwire "Are you the like I, and truly guilty of 'crimes' that hurt none?"

There was the sound of steps coming from up stairs and a few minutes later a tall man with a muscular but not overly huge build and short blonde haircame outside dressed in a tank top and Jeans. He stepped over next to Meg with a smile taking her hand and kissing it lightly. "Sorry bout that, sometimes work doesn't want to let me off the line, whose this?"

  Meg smiled, and said "Harvey, this is Zeke.  Zeke, this is Harvey.  Zeke's also known as Hotwire, another member of The Legacy."  She flipped the arsenic burgers with her magnetics, then piled them onto a plate, and handed them to Archeirae, giving the big felinoid alien a wry smile.

He doesn't respond to Jared.  He had some words for him but he had enough respect for Meg to not make anymore of a scene than he already had.

It was a bad idea to come here.

Wanting to talk with a friend, finding out another of his friends had died, losing points in a situation that he didn't think friends needed to earn points.  Yeah, just a bad idea to come here.

Giving a bit of a grin over towards Archeirae.

"Pretty much.  Did my time for some.  Claiming the fifth on others.  If you don't have a place to call home, you have to do what you can within reason, to at least put a roof over your head and food in your body."

The exchange between Harvey and Meg does bring a bit of a broader smile to his face.  It was good to see her happy.  Giving a nod over towards him.

"Good to meet you, Harvey.  Like I said, should probably be going."

And with that, he takes his leave.  Heading back the way he had came.  Once within range of the power grid, he vanishes from sight.

Jared watched him not answer, and then vanish, and he chuckled and said, "I guess they don't teach manners where he's from."

Then he turned to Harvey, and extended his hand and said, "Good to meet you, Harvey.  I'm Jared Argent."

  Meg said, as she flipped a couple of the other burgers over "Zeke's always been a little abrupt.  He didn't wait around, as usual, long enough to hear everything."  She sent Zeke a private mindworm message.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:11, Wed 24 July 2013.

Jared looked back and forth, and then noted, "Yeah, I can tell there's subtext here.  Anything that I need to know, other than Zeke and Harvey are competing for your affection?  Anything actually actionable or relevant?"