Dren found his hand missing the yogurt cup as he, sight unseen, had started to reach for it. He didn't seem phased by this, his focus still on Raven. "Dinna worry about th'shirt." confirmation settled in him and Dren nodded, "Jus'... it's not really tha' important." He never stopped focusing on Raven as he spoke, clearly about something other than a shirt. No one was that adamant and heartfelt about how unimportant a shirt was. "Maybe ya can... 'elp me pick out another one later... after we're done 'ere?" To all, but possibly Iain, it might not have been fully clear that Dren was holding his breath at the end of that last question. This changed the moment he looked away from Raven, forcibly, and asked the others "Anyone else want coffee? I'm getting coffee." as if his full glass weren't there anymore either.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:40, Mon 25 Oct 2010.

Iain didn't have a full picture of what was going on, but the pieces of the puzzle he had convinced him that his best course of action right there and then was to blend into the surroundings. Dren's patience for vampires was a scarce resource at the best of times, and that was definitely not the best of times.

It was therefore with great economy of motions that he waved a vague thanks-but-no-thanks in Dren's general direction, resolving then to peer intently into his own, half-full cup of coffee rather than looking at someone specific.

He'd tried to talk to Raven the evening before, when she had gotten whatever reading she had off Dren, but he had apparently neglected the part where he thought about words before opening his mouth, so nothing had come out.

Raven, of course, had been a bit too distracted to notice.

He had avoided talking to Dren after they had come back from the stadium, judging it a hit-or-miss proposition - in that Dren's punch would have either hit or missed Iain, if he had tried to talk to him right then. Either way, nothing useful would have been accomplished.

It had also occurred to him that talking to Pieran could have been helpful - the man was a veritable fountain of wisdom... But it wasn't Iain's place to reveal Dren's secrets, so once again he had remained silent.

Looking in the half-filled cup, he wondered once again what good it was to be a superpowered undead hero when life had a habit of throwing things at you that you could neither punch nor stab nor bite...

Edwin emerged looking slightly disheveled despite his button-down shirt and vest that he wore. His hair, though clean and combed was clearly lacking the gel he had arrived with. Taking a seat next to the plate of bacon he shook his head, "Sorry, I'm late. Did you know dress shirts in stores come in packaging designed to leave an awful crease in the middle of the shirt? I think that is simply idiotic. Speaking of simply, ironing is not nearly as simple as they make it sound either. I don't know how Hobson does it." Edwin then looked around the table and leaned forward speaking in a lower voice, "I don't mean to intrude on your way of things but I must ask. If we are meant to be discreet so that they don't hear us, why aren't we secured in a room? We could order room-service and have our breakfast in privacy" Edwin asked quickly as he was clearly still flustered and not nearly as well-rested as he was accustomed.

Dren comes back to the table just in time to catch Edwin's last comments, "Ya ever try listen in on someone's conversation." He points to a couple sitting and talking casually. The other people taking, the plates at the buffet, knives and forks cutting food and dishes collected by bus boys. "Sometimes, actin' like yer up t'something gives people reasons t'figure out what yer up ta. Last thin' anyone's lookin' fer is a group o'people eatin' breakfast like they're on v'cation." Dren sits, pauses for a glance to Raven and then goes right back to dipping his bacon, egg, toast sandwich in syrup. He glances up at Iain, "W'ere's Alex?"

Raven opened her mouth to say something else to Dren, but stopped herself when he jumped up from the table. She chose instead to turn toward Pieran and give him a silent nod of thanks as she picked up the yogurt.

She returned her attention to Dren, watching him as he came back to the table. Clearly she had more she wanted to say, but knew this was not the time or place. Edwin's entrance was a welcome distraction. "Dren's right," she said to their newest house-mate. "People tend to be very self-involved, and not notice what's going on right under their noses." She shot a quick glance at Dren.

"Hide a stone among stones," came Pieran's two-cents worth.  "The best hiding is done in plain sight; the best secrets are those kept openly.  And yes, where is our little minx?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:09, Tue 26 Oct 2010.

Iain couldn't help but smirk at the archaeologist's words Indeed...

Out loud, he said: "Good question, I haven't seen her in a while. I guess she is taking full advantage of her bed, the one in the train isn't particularly comfortable..."

Dropping herself into the only remaining chair, Alex smiled (not entirely genuinely) and shook her head.

"She was taking full advantage of the hotel gym," she said, evidence of her eternal health kick also on display in the form of a virtuous breakfast.

"So what's up?"

Pieran eyed Alex as she took her seat.  Her whereabouts explained, he could only smile, as her fitness needed no commentary …at all.  His smile broke into a chuckle and with a helpless shake of his head he went back to his waffle: Alex: 1, Table: 0.  “Well, Dren, Raven, and Iain were just about to tell us how they got on the list of Chicago’s Ten Most Wanted.  Now that the gang’s all here ….and then some, who’d like to go first?”

"Based on the research Edwin and I did, we don't think it's a curse." Raven was happy to switch gears and focus on the case. "But there is something there. When I touched the vines I got the feeling that it was..." she shrugged. "The only way I can think to describe it is like some kind of animal burrow." She took a large sip of coffee, and frowned at the taste, but that didn't stop her from taking another drink. "Whatever it is, it's supernatural, and it didn't like us poking around it's 'nest'."

Dren held up a hand to add information, leaned in, chewed more and shifted his shoulders but chewed more and leaned back to finish his bite of food first. Drinking juice he leaned forward again, "If this thin's a creature, it controls plants. One o' th'vines tried t'stab me. I was saved b'a can o'paint. Brought some o'th'vines wit' meh. But I dinna think there's much t'them."

Pieran glanced over at Dren.  “You have a little …sss…” he stroked his own chin with his index finger… “on your…”

He next turned to Raven, eyeing her with a long, thoughtful pause.  “Not a curse.  That’s interesting.”  His eyes narrowed as if he were trying to squeeze forward the thoughts filling his head.  “So you intruded into its ...domain …and it …defended itself.  Hmm,” he nodded, becoming more inward.  “Do you think it’s intelligent, or that it has at least a rudimentary intelligence?  In other words, do you think that its attack was a logical response to invasion, or would you conclude that it was merely a reflex?  And can you say more about what you mean by ‘supernatural?’”

"Well I can certainly take a look at them" Edwin offered to Dren, "I don't know how much tests I'll be able to run without any of my equipment but I can try. I wonder if there's actually a creature there or if the field is simply haunted by something completely unrelated." Edwin said as he added on to Pieran's speculations.

"It was supernatural in the sense that ivy doesn't naturally behave that way," Raven said matter-of-factly. "It grabbed my hand. It didn't hurt me. It just wouldn't let me go. Everytime Iain or Dren would cut a vine away, another one would grow and grab ahold of me. There was also this voice. The leaves seemed to be saying, 'Leave, leave, leave' over and over again. And then this door opened up all on its own, as if showing us the way. That was about the time we heard police sirens arriving outside, and decided it would be in our best interest to get out of there."

“Curioser and curioser,” was Pieran’s studied reply.  Yet despite the oddness accompanying the fresh information, he wasn’t so nearly as tantalized as he’d hoped but in fact more possessed of the desire to do what he had been wanting from the start of the mission –to go home.

He sighed wearily.  “I’d like to know more about shirts, stabbings, paint cans, and ‘animal burrows’ because those parts of the story aren’t making much sense to me.  Can you make it clearer for me?”

"I don't think we have enough pieces of the puzzle to make sense of it yet," Raven answered. "We should probably go back to the ballpark." She glanced around the table. "All of us this time, and investigate it further."

"I'd also like to visit the internet; there are a couple of questions I want answered. I'd appreciate an assist from whichever one of you is the more computer savvy; I can do it alone but there are likely to be casualities."

Raven looked up at Pieran. "I'm afraid I can't help you. Computers and electronic gadgets seem to hate me. I was never able to figure out how to make my VCR stop blinking 12, and now I understand that those are out of date. Everyone's moved on to... what are they called, DDR's? That's the problem with computers, they become obsolete so quickly. They're cold and lifeless, but books have a soul and can last forever."

“Amen to that.  Infernal things those machines: you can’t reason with them.  But I know how to break them.  ‘Come not between the dragon and his wrath!’  he smiled, devilishly King Lear.  “Wait, I have an idea!  I'll use the ringer-thing.”  He retrieved his cell phone and made a quick call.  "Let's put the boy to work."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:17, Thu 02 Dec 2010.

Edwin put his hand up in an effort to stop Pieran before starting the call, "Uh that is really not neccesary, I have computer skills and I happen to have just bought a decent laptop that we'd have access to here." Edwin explained quickly.

Pieran froze just before tapping the final number into his handset.  Good thing, too.  He hated cell phones as much as he hated computers.  ‘Can you hear me now?’ wasn’t very much different from ‘Bad Command or Filename;’ both elevated Pieran’s blood pressure and temper to dangerously violent levels.

“Perfect,” he said, quickly snapping shut the odious little instrument.  “This may be a wild goose chase but I have a few questions I’d like answered before going on much more.”

He closed his eyes, concentrating on his questions and concerns, asking them one at a time, slowly and with great deliberation, like an extruding metal.

“One:  The curse went into effect in 1945.  Are there any former Chicago Cubs baseball players alive today who left their club after 1945, joined another team, and won a World Series championship?

“Two:  Since the curse went into effect, have there been any post season championship games with the Chicago Cubs and if so, have they lost in any field other than Wrigley?

“Three:  Have the Chicago Cubs ever played a deciding World Series game (the seventh game in a 3-3 tie) since 1945?  If so, did they lose in a field other than Wrigley?

“Four:  Have the Chicago Cubs ever won a World Series title?

“And finally:  Are there any portable, handheld, electronic games (such as Gameboy, etc) with World Series Baseball software featuring the Chicago Cubs as one of the teams?  If so, is such a game available for purchase, preferably at a local store?  And if there is, can the game be set to play itself?”

His eyes opened and exhaled, relaxing once again, as if a weight had been removed from his chest.  “Sorry, I didn’t think there were that many questions.  Do you think you can find out for me?”

Although Edwin was slightly surprised by Pieran suddenly rattling off questions he responded quickly, "Actually, I think I can answer most of that for you already. Raven and I simply summed up what we found but I assure you my research was rather thorough." He took a moment to think as he recalled everything Pieran had asked, "Okay, so first off, yes, I found a few cases of former Cubs players that were able to go on and win a World Series. That's what led Raven to the conclusion that it was most likely not a family curse. Secondly, yes and yes, overall their scores appear to be kind of hit and miss, it never seemed as though they were better everywhere other than Wrigley Field. They haven't played a deciding World Series game since the curse, no. However, they did win the World Series in 1907 and 1908. And as far as the game component goes, I'm afraid I cannot help you there. That was certainly not something I included in my research"

As he listened to Edwin's answers Pieran's eyes narrowed and his nead nodded, reflecting his absorption of the information.



He paused, his eyes still narrow, compressing his thoughts through their tiny aperatures.  "No," he spoke at last, his voice far away and mild.  "it wouldn't likely be.  Thank you, Doc," he smiled.

"Well," he concluded, his volume rising from one set of ears to a table, "I assume that if we're going to the Field, it won't be in the middle of the day.  So unless anyone has anything more to add, I'm going to head out for awhile. I don't expect to be far; you can get me on the 'ringer-thing;" he said, slipping his cell phone back into his pocket, and rising to make his exit.  "Good morning."

Dren just watched the exchanges going on around him, not really having anything to add. He certainly seemed to avoid anything that would draw attention to him that was short of his abomination of nutrition. One could probably thank Liquor laws that he wasn't washing it down with a Guinness either.

Edwin nodded his goodbyes as Pieran left the table. "If that's all there is to this morning meeting I should be going too. I'm going to try to find a lab of some sort so I can examine the vines that Dren brought back. I should be back in time for us all to head out to the field tonight though" Edwin said as he stood up from the table.