"I will," Liam replied without protest. "Thank you, Moira. I'm going to get some sleep. We'll talk more tomorrow if you want."

"Count on it," Moira said without stopping.

Robyn and Kat halted a conversation as Liam approached. Judging from her body language, Kat wasn't very comfortable with the conversation. In fact, she looked positively cowed. When Liam got closer, he noticed her face was flushed as well. She avoided eye contact with Liam as he approached, pretending to be very interested in the treeline.

"Well, she's not barrelling over here to kill us so I'm guessing it went okay," Robyn quipped.

"It went... okay," Liam conceded with a slow nod. "She's not happy. With me. With Kat. But she's going to take some time to think things through, and I can expect some follow up grilling when I wake up tomorrow. The bottom line though is you can stay."

"Maybe just keep some distance for a few days," he cautioned. "Moira can let us know when she's ready for something more."

"Fine by me," Kat muttered. "I'm gonna go set up our sleeping bags. 'Scuse me." With that, she slunk off to the car.

"I gotta say, you sure do present lots of interesting distractions," Robyn said to Liam. "You're a procrastinator's best friend."

Liam watched Kat slink away for a moment before turning back to Robyn. "Yeah, well I've got another one for you," he said. "I made a new friend. Or rather, Pockets made me a new friend. My passport got flagged at the border."

Robyn's brow arched. "I was wondering when the Feds would step in to ruin everything," she said. "Tell me all about him. I'm assuming it's a dude."

Liam nodded, and smiled. He handed Robyn Jin's card. "As far as feds go he's about the best we could have asked for," Liam replied. "So naturally Rick was suspicious of him from the get go."

"I think he opens up some doors for us that were previously closed. But it comes with a level of oversight that I haven't been accustomed to for a long time."

"I wouldn't say this to anyone else but he's a Kitsune, so he's got some skin in this game too. He knows I want to blow the lid wide open on the Masquerade. Jin was slow to part with that particular piece of information, so maybe don't let on that you know should the two of you meet."

"I'll see what the Tome has to say about him before I agree to meet him," she replied, studying the card for a moment before handing it back. "I should be keeping an eye on things during the day today, but I'll go under tomorrow evening. Recovery is gonna be a little easier now that I've got an apprentice. And a poutine truck."

"Apprentice?" Liam asked, tucking the card away.

Robyn smiled slyly. "Maggie," she replied. "I think she was feeling a little left out when both her siblings turned out to have superpowers. She's been rubbernecking me hard, and I figured if she was going to be hanging over my shoulder while I worked, I might as well put her to use. Having an absolute beginner to train has been helping me write better instructions, too."

"I gather that Moira's a little unhappy with the arrangement. But she's also feeling guilty about nearly getting me killed so she's not saying boo about it."

"I'm happy for her," Liam remarked. "And you. And maybe a little sad for Alex. The two of them were getting on well together. I hope this doesn't put an end to it."

"And as for Moira." Liam shrugged. "The kids are safe. There could be worse things than raising a witch. None of them are vampires, for starters." He winked.

"Everything alright with Kat? I couldn't help but feel like I was interrupting something."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:38, Thu 01 Apr 2021.

Robyn chuckled. "Yeah, because nobody wants a magic girlfriend," she said. "I get the feeling she's teaching him everything she's learning in their off hours. Which is fine. I'm going to be starting magic classes just as soon as the book is finished, and it'll be nice to have at least one student that isn't a complete novice. These people have gotta be able to defend themselves. Which reminds me: any luck on getting some firepower?"

She waved her hand at Liam's second question. "Ah, just letting her know what's what. She's got no secrets from me."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:57, Fri 02 Apr 2021.

"I'll talk to Augusto now that I'm back," Liam replied. "This is going to be an adjustment for Kat. For everyone, really. But I think its for the best."

"Well see how things look come dusk tomorrow. I expect there are going to be a lot of suspicious glances across the compound during the day, but we'll get through this."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:18, Fri 02 Apr 2021.

"Well, if either side starts anything today, I'll finish it," Robyn said. "Don't worry about it. Get some sleep, you must be road-weary."

"I'm exhausted. And still not hungry. I keep hoping Hasan will have a breakthrough and this curse will be lifted, but not so again tonight."

"Maybe tomorrow," he said, smiling weakly. "I'm going to head inside. Take care, Robyn."

"Its good to be home."

As soon as Liam lay in his own bed, the stress and exhaustion of weeks on the road washed away. The troubles upstairs were forgotten, at least for one day, and he awoke refreshed and renewed. [+1 temp WP]

Pockets greeted him in the hall, just rising for the evening herself. The toll the years had taken on her was finally beginning to wear off, and she was starting to look more like how he remembered.

"Evening, Liam," Pockets said, rubbing her eyes. "I hear you've run afoul of the Feds."

"I've certainly engaged the attention of one in particular," he replied. "It could have gone worse. Also could have gone better," he said, thinking back to Rick's departure.

"How are you?"

"Worried that I'm about to have the federal government crawl all the way up my ass," Pockets said dryly, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "James Westfall collects a sizeable tax refund every year. That's how come I can afford to keep this op running. Just how much should I be burning?"

"I think you're okay," Liam remarked. "For now. They've got bigger fish to fry than tax fraud. And if we can make ourselves useful, well - they might just be willing to look the other way on that."

"I didn't get where I am by going on mights and maybes," Pockets said. "Especially if they're dependent on what kinda mood an elected body is in when the big reveal comes. And absolutely not when they rely on the clemency of cops. I'm going to see if the boys know any good lawyers. But if he's putting you to work, make sure you've got blanket pardons signed and in your hands before you get started. Or I guarantee they'll find a way to fuck us all over."

"I'll talk to Jin," Liam said with a nod. "And maybe James Westfall can siphon off some of the Tremere's accumulated wealth in Verdant Falls in the meantime so he doesn't have to rely on tax refunds going forward. Herb can help."

"Oh, I'm way ahead of you there," Pockets said. "When I hit them they're going to be left holding a big expensive bag that the government is gonna ask questions about. I don't know how that muddies your new buddy's plans but if it means he owes me a favour I'm willing to play by his schedule."

"I'll ask," Liam assured. "I'm supposed to check in tonight anyway. I was going to make sure tensions didn't boil over during the day before calling around though. I should probably talk to the boys as well. Its been a bit."

"Still tryin' to crack that nut, last I checked," Pockets remarked. "I'm gonna go, uh, double-check some investments. And maybe burn a few trails. Lemme know how your check-in goes."

"Will do," Liam replied. Leaving Pockets to her finances, he made his way upstairs.