2019-07-08 - #Justautopsythings

Alexander is here, too, arriving shortly after Penny. He's not dressed for the weather - his long green army jacket is all sorts of too hot, really, but he seems used to that. He looks around, before focusing on the coroner and her burden. "Miss Faust." He offers her a smile. "How are you doing? Any difficulties with the," a wave at the bones, "target of tonight's examination?"

"These things really want to be buried. It's kind of alarming really...and makes me wish they hadn't been found." Penny sighs softly. "But we'll figure out what is going on and what is up. There's a few bones missing, I can already tell." she frowns.

When he'd initially contacted the appropriate parties to ensure that the bones weren't cremated before being examined, Byron had little idea of what he'd be dealing with. He had only heard stories from those who experienced that particular dream. Today, however, he's not coming in here completely blind. He's in his suit and tie which is the norm for him, for the most part. This might not be a professional, on the record task, but it was still serious business in his eyes.

"Miss Faust, thank you for putting all of this together. I'm just glad that we were able to reach out to Miss Allan before, well, to be honest, she said that she didn't have the authority to cremate them." Byron makes a point to bring up. "This is Vivian Glass." He'll make introductions, "She was there during that whole ordeal where they'd brought the bones back to our reality. And you may already know Isabella Reede?" Seeing as the majority of people here were born here."

It must be those inherited British sensibilities, after several years of living across the pond, for once the appointed hour arrives, Isabella Reede makes it to the coroner's office.

Curious green-gold eyes take in the interior as she moves, making note of the nooks and crannies that take up the space, giving her surroundings that intense, inquisitive scrutiny that she manages to carry wherever she goes. Dressed in her typical manner - that point between stylish and practical - she makes it to the bowels of the examination room dressed in a pair of fitted leather pants tucked under knee-high boots, a loose, sleeveless blouse with ruffles in the front, and a light, ash-gray blazer. Her hair is swept back in its typical artful disarray and she carries a bag and a kit with her, the latter made of steel and its grip encased in worn leather. She might not need it, but she comes prepared.

With Alexander and Byron already there, her smile lifts on the corners of her pliant mouth, slender fingers greeting them wordlessly by way of a slight wiggling. The other women around, however, are unfamiliar, and both equally striking in their own disparate ways - Penny with her phoenix-fire hair and haunted eyes, and Vivian with her Hollywood starlet looks. But it doesn't stop her from paying the mistress of this domain and her childhood friend's girlfriend their proper dues; her hand extends for a shake to both.

"How do you do?" she greets. "I'm Isabella Reede, an associate of Mr. Clayton's and a friend of Byron's. It's a pleasure to meet you both."

Perhaps because of knowing what she knows about the bones Vivian has dressed down for the adventure, in skinny jeans, an overly expensive t-shirt under a casual suit jacket and boots. She's fairly quiet upon arrival until she is introduced, a smile being offered to the group, "Mister Clayton." She then glances towards Penny and Isabella, offering the pair of them both a nod, "Pleased to meet you both, and thank you for allowing me to be present for this."

There is a little bit of a warming to her smile when Isabella offers a hand, and she reaches out to accept it, "Doctor Vivian Glass, very pleased to meet you Miss Reede." She then takes her hand back, only to slide it into the pocket of her jacket, letting her eyes wander in the direction of the bones, "I can explain what I experienced, if it'll help anyone. But I didn't get much of a look at them at the time beyond the cursory."

"Doctor Faust, finally finished the doctorate program." Penny offers a bit of a nod to Byron and to Vivian, "Doctor Glass, Miss Reede. It's nice to meet you." she gives a shake as well. Not too long though. "And it's alright. Miss Allan is probably like I am in the line of...'if this was found it needs to go to the police...but it's obviously weird shit." she sighs. "So basically need to get this done and see who or...what it is." she frowns.

"Thorne. Dr. Glass." Alexander nods to greet both of them as they come in. He stares at Byron for a moment, and there's a flash of mischief on his face. "Here I thought you didn't like autopsies." It's light and teasing, although his expression softens as he turns back to Penny. "If they wanted that badly to be found, better those that did find them than some lost child or wanderer." He drifts closer towards the bones, one hand twitching, slightly. "Do you have any initial--" he stops as Isabella arrives, turning to greet her with another faint smile. "Miss Reede. Good to see you." The bag gets an intrigued study but he doesn't ask just yet. Instead, he takes up a position out of the way and the light. Penny's words bring an actual grin, bright and brief like summer lightning. "Congratulations, Dr. Faust."

A smile given to Isabella, Byron nods in greeting in the woman's direction, before his attention is brought back to Penny now. "Ah. Wonderful news then. But yes, a Congratulations is in order." Alexander's teasing statement does get this 'look'. Byron's not staring daggers out at the other man and in fact, there's even a lift to his brows when he murmurs, "This is not my idea of a good time, Clayton. There are so many other places that I'd rather be. What this is is important."

He has absolutely no expertise in any of this and is here as a mere observer. So he'll let the other take over as he watches and adds commentary or give out information if he has any to share. He does have a question though, "Are the bones still as chatty as I'd heard they were originally?"

Both doctors. Isabella can't help but grin, bright enough to blind the unwary. "I'm in the middle of my phD candidacy," she tells the other women. "Hopefully it won't be long before I join your august company." Vivian's hand is given a warm shake, before releasing her grip, though she continues to address her: "If you could explain what you experienced, I would very much like to hear it. No detail is too small."

Alexander's greeting has her reflecting his expression at Penny's news. "Good to see me, huh? Night's young yet, Mr. Clayton. I wouldn't count your chickens just yet." Her satchel and the kit she brought are set on a nearby table, though she will clearly let the coroner perform her examination first while she listens to Vivian's story, while listening in to the interaction between the investigator and the investor. Overt amusement ripples over her sunkissed mien, tempering only slightly when Byron alludes to the bones being chatty.

She swings a wary stare over at the bones. "Well, if the tibia starts talking to me, that's definitely going to be one for the ages," she drawls.

Penny starts setting out the bones and there's one of those stares of concentration over them as she handles them with gloves. Not wanting to touch them directly. "They feel...like they don't want to be buried. They kind of project that to people. Or...that's what I felt." she mutters. "If Doctor Glass and Miss Reede want to give them a look over first?" she gives a smile.

"Psychiatrist." Vivian offers in clarification of her own addition of the title doctor. The question about if they are still chatty causes her attention to shift up towards Penny, expression briefly curious before she answers the matter of what she experienced with the bones.

"We found them....there was this very intense impression of wanting to be buried, the bones really wanted it. But there was no place to do that there, so we brought them back over, and then when in the library they got very, very excited about the idea of some mysterious them coming in and finding everyone. At the time I thought it was the police and firemen that were entering the building..." Vivian shrugs her shoulders just a moment, pulling a piece of candy from her pocket, carefully unwrapping it to pop into her mouth, the trash being tucked back into her pocket. "I was telling Byron about how you might be able to tell how long ago they were...fleshy, maybe."

Alexander cocks his head to one side, and stares at Byron for a long moment. Finally he sighs, and shakes his head, turning his attention to Isabella. His eyebrows go back. "Miss Reede. Are you planning to upset my night? That would be a shame. It's going so well." When Penny starts setting out the bones, he moves closer, expression lively and animated as he studies the skeleton as it emerges. "Fascinating. This is remarkable. And anything you can tell us, Dr. Faust, would be appreciated. Sex, age, time of death," a nod to Vivian, "possible causes of death." His hand twitches outward towards the table. "I've never felt anything quite like this from something inanimate." Kid in a candy store. Really. Assuming the candy were made of death.

Byron's dark brown eyes observe Faust's gloved hands as the woman carefully handles the bones, setting them out for everyone to look upon. As Thorne, himself, had never seen them, he takes a few steps closer to get a better idea of what everyone was talking about last weekend. His stance is tall, hands clasped behind him, having no urge to come into contact with these remains. "Once we're done here, everyone knows that a decision should be made with what happens to the bones? When I'd spoken to Allan on the phone, she told me what her decision would be. And that is to honor the wants and desires of the deceased. I suppose as if they dead had written a will?"

"You're an investigator, Mr. Clayton," Isabella replies, her tone light and laden with obvious good humor, mischief returning to the line of her mouth. "I'm just saying, it might be a little too early to rule anything out as far as I'm concerned."

That sense of dark desire, of finding the earth and entering some deep, endless sleep, emanates so strongly from the pile of bones that her earlier levity fades almost instantly, her lips pressing in a faint line as she watches Penny handle them. She can't help but notice Alexander's reaction to them either, and perhaps out of some reflex or defensive instinct, or both, her hands tuck into the pockets of her leather pants, taking up an easy lean against the table behind her. One ankle crosses into the other. She is in no hurry to venture close to the vortex of strangeness the remains present and would rather stay out of the way while the coroner uses the full measure of her expertise in the hunt for answers.

That isn't to say that the skeleton itself frightens her - she has made a career out of studying what is left of bodies and societies long gone. But this is different. This is...

"I'm glad you got out of the encounter safely," she tells Vivian once she finishes telling her story, but the tension on her fine-boned face suggests that she hates that it happened in the first place, that whatever cursed inheritance bequeathed to Gray Harbor's children has started to affect even those who have nothing to do with it. To her, it was untenable.

Byron's remarks about the bones has her turning her head towards him. "I'll defer to what Doctor Allan wants," she says. "Save a piece to pay the piper, if that's still the plan."

"For me that'd depend...why it doesn't want to be burned, for instance. But buried..." Vivian offers, but she doesn't sound like she feels strongly one way or another. She glances at Alexander when his hand twitches out towards the table, and she pulls out another piece of candy from her pocket, holding it out towards anyone that might want something to do with their hands. Or needs a sugar kick. "I'm rather glad I did as well. It was...truly a different experience than any I'd had before."

Penny gives a look over things and then down to Isabella, "What do you think?" she asks her. Not wanting to be the star of the show. Classic Penny. "I can tell you that these things want to be buried over burned. And they are definitely not all here. Some have went missing." she frowns.

"I think we should probably burn them," Alexander says. "After we keep one for the other arrangement." He doesn't touch the bones, but it's clear that he wants to. Curiosity brightens his eyes, but he limits himself to touching the edge of the table. He shakes his head a little at Vivian's offer of candy. "But as I've said, the decision is not mine to make." He hums thoughtfully. "Which bones are missing, Dr. Faust? Some bones have ritual significance to some occult societies."

"What I would like to know is what happens if we bury them opposed to what happens if we burn them?" This is followed by a brief pause, before Byron says in a lower tone, "What I'd like to know is whether these bones are the bones of a particular person. If they are, we've got plans for at least one of them." As he talks, Thorne's expression remains placid, his eyes staring down at these remains with mild interest. This inquiry to Faust regarding rituals and the like only gets a lift of his brow.

Since Byron isn't doing anything of importance, he'll reach out for a bit of candy which he unwraps and pops into his mouth. "Thanks." He says with an appreciative smile to Vivian. "I'm also curious about what connection these bones have to the shadow men. That's what sparked an outcry towards having these burned. The shadow men are bad news."

Vivian's offer of candy is one she declines also with a shake of her head, given her lack of fondness towards things that are too sweet. "No, it's alright. Thank you, though," Isabella says in acknowledgment, smiling over at the psychiatrist, though her attention is diverted immediately by Penny's invitation to give her opinion. Taking several steps towards the table, a hand reaches out to the box of latex gloves on the side, familiar enough with the protocol of handling such things that her following gestures are almost second nature. She snaps them over her knuckles, and then starts right at the skull.

She examines it with a look of diamond sharp focus, her dark-haired head bent to the task, and when she is done there, she situates it right at the precise angle and position she found it. She makes her way down - over the shoulders, the forearms, the bones of the sternum, the ribs. She pays extra attention to the pelvic bone - the surest indicator of sex in a case such as this. Methodical, meticulous, those emerald irises miss nothing as she works her way down the list, fingers brushing over the length of the first femur, then the other, all the way down to the toes. By the mild look of confusion over her features, something about her examination doesn't sit well, or makes sense.

When she sets down the last toe, she rests both of her palms on the edge of the table, exhaling a breath. "Alright, from what I can gather, what we're looking at was once a Caucasian male in the later end of his life...maybe around his fifties or so," she begins. "Whoever he was, he's had a rough go at it. See the fissures here, here, and here? They're consistent with fractures...healed over time by the look of these calcium deposits. The skull, too." She gestures with a pinky finger, but without touching it, over the skeleton's cranium. "He's had a few head injuries. But what I didn't expect was this - while there are signs of injuries sustained throughout his life, none of them could possibly be fatal. He died some other way - I didn't find any irregular marks that would suggest a blade, so my three possibilities are a gunshot wound that hit a vital organ, an illness, or poisoning - we'd have to get down to the marrow to rule out the latter. And that's not even going into supernatural causes." There's a glance towards Penny. "What do you think, doctor?"

"I believe Mister Clayton seems to be the expert on why or why not they should be buried versus burned." Vivian glances towards Alexander, tucking her empty hand back into her pocket after Byron picks up the piece of candy from it. "I know that there are.." She pauses, "Certain personality types that will take trophies of their kills, as well. If they were indeed the victims of that and not just boxed up and hidden out of fear."

By Vivian's tone she does not seem to feel this was something done just out of fear. When Isabella asks Penny for her opinion she glances towards the woman, brows lifting upwards a bit in curiosity, a half smile crossing her lips before she takes a step closer to Byron, voice lowering, "Is there a local dentist everyone favors?"

Penny gives a look over the bones as she listens to Isabella and there's a nodding of her head, "You've actually covered everything I saw." she tells them softly. "My DNA and dental records haven't been done yet. I would need to take them in to get that done and I don't think everyone agrees on that yet." she adds.

Alexander shakes his head at Vivian. "Flattery. But no. I don't know which one would be better - if what you've said is true, and the bones want to be found by the Shadows, then them not being found by the shadows seems to be the best idea. I'm curious about whether we could even destroy them at all." He listens carefully to the recitation by the archaeologist. "Maybe he was a lumberjack or a millworker. Manual labor, lots of opportunity to get into damaging situations, a culture conducive to fighting." He considers the bones. "I think I would like to touch the bones. Attempt to read them. We might get more information." A pause, and a shiftyeyed look at Penny.

Penny gives a look to Alexander, "Come on, you know what happened the last time you touched a dead body." she murmurs to him. "Is everyone else okay with it?" she looks around. "He's going to freak out more than likely." she adds quietly.

Still trying to put the pieces together, Byron's arms cross over his chest, one hand lifting to rub at the bristles of his facial hair. Taking in parts of what Alexander says, his gaze lifts, directed towards Vivian, "Were the shadow men there in your dreams? Were they looking for the bones? Or did the bones just want the shadows to take care of all of you? I just want to make that clear. Not that either case would mean that these bones belonged to a good person." In fact, he already has a feeling that they don't.

He'll settle down as Isabella gives her report. It's a male. The one bone that they needed belonged to a male. So this was looking good. "If these are the bones of William, I'm wondering how beneficial or dangerous it truly is if we separated one from the others. If the shadow people are looking for them? It's good to know that that's an option." Moving the candy from one side of his mouth to the other in an idle manner, he looks to Penny as well now. First to day, "If that's the way to determine who this person is? Then sure, I have no problem with it." This is in regards to dental records and the like. But Alexander's suggestion and Penny's response to him makes him blink. His eyes on Clayton now. "Go right on ahead" Someone obviously doesn't care whether Alexander freaks out or not.

At the prospect of Alexander possibly losing more of his marbles if he touches the bones and tries to read them, the archaeologist frowns visibly, casting a skeptical eye towards the investigator, tacked onto the tail-end of Penny's observation that this wouldn't be the first time he would do so. "If he does, can we count on Doctor Glass to sedate him while we hold him down?" Isabella wonders, and she sounds perfectly serious when she asks this.

But she doesn't discourage the man from doing it either - something expected from the green-eyed academic. After all, just a few days ago, she was offering a possibly deaf, squishy head-blob three of her teeth as tribute to the Collector in the event that people decide not to part with the bones on the table. "That's what I tried to tell the two of you when we fielded it to one another initially," she remarks. "We should take serious consideration as to why one bone of his is somehow comparable to having three from the three of us." And if the Dark Men were looking for them, then...

"It also doesn't discount the possibility that the one who's demanding one is one of them, also," she murmurs. "There's a lot we don't know. In the end, all we can do is figure out just how much we're willing to gamble."

"You can rely on me to do what needs to be done so that Mister Clayton does not harm himself or others." Vivian assures Isabella, glancing towards the man in question, expression curious about what exactly he's planning to do. Strangely, though, she doesn't look like she's walking around with a syringe of thorazine in her pocket, but she doesn't look like she's expecting to have trouble doing that whatever thing that needs doing in the end.

"I think knowing who the bones are, and how they died...hopefully, might give an idea as to why they are after these particular remains. Something about this body is clearly different than another, but I certainly can't tell you why." She literally has zero idea where to even being. "But I'd second the questioning of why one of it is more valued than three of another." Us Isabella said. Which causes Vivian to give Byron a look for a moment, filing away the twenty questions for the future, "If keeping them out of the hands of...whoever them is is that important, I suggest burning them in the end."

Alexander frowns at Penny. "You didn't have to say that." But he notably doesn't deny it. Or look at the others. He just says, "If I do have an episode, just don't touch me. It will pass." He grimaces at Isabella. "Don't try to restrain me unless I become violent, please. It won't end well for anyone." He steps forward, and lays his hand on the cranium of the skeleton. His eyes close. He frowns. There isn't any freaking out! Instead, he just looks confused. He steps back, his eyes opening. "There's nothing there. How very odd."

"I don't have to say a lot of things. But I've been there when you've done this." Penny grumps at him. Then there's a look to him as he touches the bones. She's bracing for it. But nothing happens. "Oh sweet Christ." she breathes out. "But...alright...should I try?" she frowns.

Penny peels off one of her gloves and closes her eyes as she settles her hands over the bones. She's much paler than she had been before, maybe because Alexander is usually the crazy one. But she doesn't flinch...nothing really happens. "There's..." she starts in a whisper. "These bones have been cleansed of psychic residue." she opens her eyes. Looking perplexed. "I really want to find out whose they are. I have a feeling it's bad." she admits.

With that bit of candy lodged against the inside of his right cheek, Byron has no real answers for Isabella. "I saw it as some sort of sacrifice? As we didn't have any of William's bones on us, they would still give us what we asked if we each contributed one bone a piece. Which, to be honest, is a lot to ask for of anyone. That's what I thought at the time, so really, it was fuck that noise, we're giving it William's bone." A pause, before he adds, "If we really need the information that they were, supposedly, willing to part with. Whether we can find that out on our own? If we could, then we wouldn't need to go back down there."

He quiets down enough now, knowing just how taxing taking a mental reading is on a person, especially if the memory attached to an object had witnessed trauma of any sort. With Alexander's admission that there was nothing to be found, Byron had considered taking a reading himself, but from what Faust now says, he realizes that it's not necessary. "Interesting. By who? And in the dream world.? Or before it was taken to the dream world? I mean, I'm assuming these bones were in our reality originally."

The new kid just watches this all with curiosity, fascination, really. It's clear that half what is being done and said doesn't have any real context for Vivian, yet. But some things she does have an opinion on, and she offers that opinion up, "If your...reading is unable to come up with anything then it's down to science to see if anything gets returned. I'd hesitate to try and exchange a bone..." She glances at everyone when she says this, "Playing it off as William until you have confirmation, because they might be able to tell some other way and might get angry thinking you tried to give them a fake bone."

Fuck that noise, Byron says, ever the most pragmatic of all of them.

The corner of Isabella's mouth lifts, the slanted quality of her half-smile imbued with subtle affection - she has no answers either and it's really not in her to speculate when there's so little information available. All she gives him in the end, however, is a slight lift of her shoulders. "It could be that, too," she allows. "It's frustrating, really - in the end, we really don't know enough."

Emphasized by the fact that not only do they not know enough, but someone is out there actively preventing them from knowing enough, when Alexander declares he found nothing, and Penny informs them that someone actually bothered to cleanse the bones of all traces, negating whatever psychic trump cards any of them might have. She can't help it; her face at the moment is equal parts frustration and exasperation. Really??

There's a glance at Vivian when she encourages the more cautious route; in the end, she can't blame her. "I think Doctor Glass' suggestion is sound, but I think we should risk it even if Doctor Allan's test results might take a while. Because from what I'm hearing, every second these bones remain unburied or unburned, they're going to look for them, and whoever's got them is going to be a target. If there's a trap either way, I'd rather spring it on my own terms."

Alexander looks at Penny, clearly impressed. "Nice catch, Dr. Faust. I couldn't feel anything at all - I've never seen, knowingly, an object cleansed of memories before, except those I've cleansed myself." He steps back a little, studying each of them in turn. "I don't think we should cheat. If no one else wishes to exchange one of these bones for the Collector's knowledge, I would like to. It...suggested that it knew something I would find interesting. It only has to be a small bone. And the skeleton is already missing some, so it's likely that a full body is not required for /whichever/ of the options that are chosen from there." He nods to the nearest hand. "A single finger bone should do it, and not interfere with further investigation."

Penny's cheeks redden a bit and there's a look down to the bones, "I'll see if we can expedite a dental and dna workup for this guy." she tells them. "I can take one of the bones or keep them all. Where...exactly did you guys find these bones?" she asks. "That might be a start of...who it was." she sighs.

"I'm not planning on giving them a fake anything." Byron makes clear. "If these are William's bones, then we're giving the pink blob one of them." That's when he looks to Isabella, because despite how this all started out, this really was her quest. And now Alexander's quest, as well, seeing as Clayton was offered something too. "That makes me wonder if I'd be able to learn something of my own, but in truth." His shoulders shrug, "I'm not sure if I care enough." At least, not when it comes to family matters.

There's a quick nod given to Isabella, "Right. The longer we take, it gives Them more time to come find these bones. And us." Turning to Penny, he looks pleased by her response, "Thank you. Though I don't know whether our William had dental records of any sort, but here's hoping." However, when it's brought up by Penny that she'd like to know where they were found, the only person who was there was Vivian. Shifting on his feet, he looks to the blonde now, giving her the floor.

"I just suggest being cautious, it's not my call." Vivian has no horse in this race, afterall. She doesn't even have a clear idea why any of this is terrible and bad beyond snippets.

What she does have, though, is the matter of where they found them. "I'm not sure that will help much, Doctor Faust." She pulls a candy wrapper from her pocket, absently folding it, "During the explosion in downtown, caused by the hit gas main I believe it was...during construction, several of us ended up somewhere else. The buildings seemed made of jelly, with windows that were eyes, and doors that were mouths...the ground was soft, like walking on flesh. The bones were found there, in this other downtown."

Penny gives a nod to that, "I wonder if they wanted them to be found..." she murmurs as she looks down to them. "I've seen weirder stuff in this town." she admits. "William?" she looks to Byron. "And are the dark men looking for them or someone else?" she asks.

Byron might not care, and it's at that assertion that Isabella shakes her head when he looks over at her. "I do, if not just to seek some reassurance that you're not touched by whatever the hell this is, or what this all means." These are the words that she's willing to say on the subject, unwilling to say the rest; that she didn't like it when the body-less entity had turned its beady eyes his way and said he was interesting with that low, hissing inflection. The word, most of the time, is a compliment, but coming from the Archivist, it sounded like a curse.

She is reminded of a broken door, and an empty room, and before her fingers could clench into fists, she busies them by turning away from the rest, stripping off her latex gloves and tossing them to the trash, the sudden flash of temper making itself known by tension winding up the graceful arch of her spine - it is subtle, nothing overt, but the room is suddenly suffocating. Her silence enables her to listen, at least, to focus on the few bits of what they do know disseminated to the rest.

To Penny, she manages to focus. "Thank you for letting me assist, Doctor Allan. Are you keeping them with you? The bones, I mean."

Since no one seems to object in so many words, Alexander steps forward and reaches out to claim the smallest fingerbone from its companions on the nearest hand. "It sounded like the Archivist planned to explain the nattering about your family tree, Thorne. Which isn't nothing. It feels as if the matter of genetics and heritage is rather deeply bound to the mystery of Gray Harbor and its peculiarities. Our peculiarities," he adds, voice going low and soft. "We have a bit more information to go by, though. His age, that he had a rough life. He might have shown up in police records if he was the type to get into fights - if we could narrow down the age of the bones to a decade, we might be able to access those, get some prospective mugshots." He turns the bone around in his fingers, staring at it. "Terribly interesting."

Byron didn't mean much when he dismissed this idea of finding more about his own family line. In fact, his mind already left that topic until Isabella speaks out. He knows how much that this means to /her/, but to hear her tell it the way she does, it makes him feel a little bad about it all. It very well looks as if he's about to say something, that serious cast can be seen in his eyes, but he thinks better of this now. Then Alexander chimes in. It's not difficult to see the skepticism in his eyes, but he nods for their benefit. It's to Isabella who he speaks out to now, "You know how I feel about my family. That's all that I meant." He'll leave it there. It's a personal matter.

"Oh right, you were there when we were swept down into the sewers." He then says to Penny. "Remember that croaking voice that called out for Bill? This Bill, I believe, is the William whose bones that the archivist at City Hall wants... for the Collector. In exchange for that," He now looks between Isabella and Alexader, "Some information will be granted us. Information that we've been researching." He doesn't have an answer to the question fo the Dark Men, however. "The only thing that I was told is that the bones want the Dark Men.." He'd been calling them shadow men and a variety of other things, "to find those within the dream at that time. They were in possession of the bones, so it really could mean anything."

Penny gives a nod to that, "Sounds like breaking the bones up and keeping them apart might be a good idea. Not leaving them all with one person in case the dark men do try to come for them." she sighs. "I wish I could offer more help with things. Lucian and I can take some if we want to keep them from being together. If we think that will help?" she looks to everyone. "Because anything that /wants/ to get to the Dark Men are either suicidal or has a major issue." she shakes her head. "That's just my guess." she adds.

"Yes, thank you for allowing me to be here." Vivian offers to Penny, but then she glances towards the others as well, offering them a faint smile of gratitude. It seems like she has little to nothing, though, to add to the rest. Mostly, she then offers, "If we think breaking them up is helpful I would be willing to baby sit one of the bones."

Alexander slips the fingerbone into his jacket pocket, but adds, "I can take a few more bones with me, if it would help. I have a safe." And a murder room, and a few human bones would be JUST the thing to tie the place together. He smiles at them, looking genuinely happy. "Thank you, all, for allowing me to participate in this. It's fascinating, really. Dr. Faust, you remain my /favorite/ coroner."

Those serious dark eyes draws a faint furrow of her brows, directed Byron's way at his quiet aside. "What? No, it's-- " It hadn't really been about what she personally feels about her family, or even his own, but more about him and his safety - the collateral damage all of this could present. The tension in her fine-boned features gentles; it's subtle, soft in a way that is increasingly rare for her, but difficult to interpret, and even moreso without an explanation. She was never the best at conveying her feelings, having often joked in the past that she was probably slightly allergic to them...but like every good quip, there's always a nugget of truth buried within.

Now isn't the time, however. Her attention falls on Vivian at her warmth, Isabella returning her smile, and when Penny suggests the brilliant plan of separating the set to make the bones more difficult for Them to track, some of her easy, casual bravado returns. "Sure," she tells them, leaning against the table behind her. "It wouldn't be the first time I brought someone's ribcage home."

"I've got bags in the car to store the bones in properly for now. Might be easier for preservation and in case they need to be picked up and moved quickly." Penny states. "I should go get those. I'll take whatever bones are left home with me. My fiancee has seen worse." she muses.

If Vivian is offering to babysit a few bones, Byron doesn't need to. They live in the same apartment. So he doesn't come out to volunteer. He does step close to the table to take out a pair of those gloves to slip on. "I'll carry them." He says to Vivian, but he'll let her select which bones she wants. Which is an odd sort of freedom to give someone. As if this were a bone market place. As he does this, following Vivian around and collecting choice bones to place into a bag, he'll quietly observe Isabella. Though he breaks out into a grin now, "The ribcage? You always did think big."

Isn't it romantic? She gets to pick and choose which bones they take home. The humor is not lost on Vivian and amusement creeps into her expression as she steps closer towards the table, pointing out a few bones that she believes they should take. She doesn't spend too much time thinking it over, but she takes a cue from Alexander and opts for a few finger bones, but then she also points towards a scapula as well. Go big or go home, right?

"We really get to take bones?" Surprise, then something very like joy, flits over Alexander's features. He waits patiently for his bone bag, but once he gets it, studies the remaining bones with keen interest, choosing several long bones of the legs and arms. He lifts each one up, studying it carefully and thoughtfully, before slipping it into its bag with the utmost of care.

You always did think big.

"That's because you always thought big," Isabella says, ever quick with her returned fire, flashing Byron a quick wink with a single green eye. "I wasn't about to let you conquer the entire world without posing a worthy challenge."

Some things never change; or rather the more things change, the more they stay the same.

She does get to work, however, opening up her metallic case, and relieving it of some of its contents so she can place the tools within the satchel she brought, leaving the cushioned interior dark and vacant, and it's only then that she uses one of the bone bags to line the emptied space within, and place the sternum and what remains of the shattered ribcage inside. Her careful, steady hands speak of the experience she's managed to accumulate in the wider world, the sternum and the separated ribs lying perfectly flat on the cushioned and plasticked surface before adding another protective layer on top, tucking the ends carefully to secure her choice of remains over, before shutting the steel cover and locking it with a click.

She definitely does not miss the look of joy on Alexander's face when he's told he gets to have custody of some of the set. "If you ever buy a house," she begins, slinging her satchel on her shoulder and picking up her steel case. "I'm getting you an urn as a housewarming present."

Bone bags are brought in and all of them get one. Penny takes whatever is left and shoves them delicately into a bag. She's a pro with bagging bones. "If anyone comes across anything strange or is attacked, please let me know. If you start having bad dreams, let me know." she tells the gathered. "And even if these have been cleaned, keep them in a safe place and you might want to keep salt handy." she admits.

With that, the autopsy of 'William' is brought to an end and everyone heads off with bones. Because they want to make life difficult for whoever is coming after them!