2019-10-24 - Proper Party Composition

Kevin's house (Kevin's Dad's house) has a garage, so the searchers have reconvened there after hours of frustrating searching. But hey, at least Kevin got to haul the drone out of the water after sitting around worrying for several hours. Kevin brings out a case of Coke, a few other pop flavors... and a bottle of rum to mix with. It's been nerve-wracking and infuriating, he needs booze. "So. While we talk about how much that sucked, what should we order for food? Because you guys did all the hard work, and I feel all wrung out." His 'Greendale Community College' hoodie is wet from muscling the drone around, but he leaves it on, because he just turned the garage heat back on.

She loves the water, and while there was some indulgent amusement in watching Kevin handle the drone in the lake, the remains of the day and what had amounted to hours of fruitless searching has left Isabella not just frustrated, but worried. She hasn't stopped restlessly pacing since they arrived at Kevin's father's house, boots working the concrete as she attempts to wear down a small circle on the concrete corner she's secured for herself.

The man's provision of libations, however, lightens up her tense expression, and she is already wandering over there, to attempt to mix herself a proper cuba libre and after dropping a cube or two of ice in the red plastic cup she has procured for herself, she leans against the wall, taking a sip of her beverage in a contemplative fashion. Dark brows draw downward, already thinking of the possibilities, but she opens up the discussion with:

"Yeah, that definitely sucked."

She looks aggrieved - everyone in the party knows how dangerous the artifact actually is, not to mention the Collector's minion's directive as to what might happen to Kevin and Magnolia if they don't find it. Though talk of food does remind her, as always, that she hasn't had anything to eat today. The traitorous growling of her stomach makes itself known, and she rests a hand on it with a frown. "I could go for some Thai," she says. "I heard there's a new place that opened at the strip mall?"

Her attention returning to Kevin has her noticing, belatedly, what his hoodie says, and there's a quick grin at the reporter's direction. She understood that reference.

With how busy Byron tends to be, luckily for him, he wasn't there the entire time when the search was still in progress. He had calls to make, tenants to address and so forth. Unluckily for him, just as everyone knows now, their efforts were fruitless. Having had the time to change before meeting the others at the pond, the apartment owner and entrepreneur is dressed more casually for the work to be done. There was no need for a suit where he was going, so he just threw on a plain gray sweater, some jeans and boots. The leather jacket that he'd worn out at the pond was removed once they are comforted by the heating at Kevin's parents' place, thus it's now draped over the back of a chair.

The house was familiar. Byron spent much of his time here when not at Tobin's during his earlier years. With his own rum and Coke concoction in, he takes a much needed sip, enjoying that bit of kick. "Thai, eh? I've got nothing against it." Swinging his chair around so that he can straddle it, with his forearms resting against the chairback where his jacket is draped over, the Rum and Coke still in hand, he then asks, "So what does everyone think happened?" To the jewel, most likely. "Did we miss it? Would we need to attempt another scan?" His eyes to Isabella. However, another thought does come to mind and that's one that's a bit unnerving even if he doesn't come out and say it: Maybe someone took it already. Then again, in his mind, that's just someone else's problem!

Magnolia is not imbibing yet, but instead is sprawled out on a towel on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. She's exhausted, having done all she could with her Glimmer to try to find the fucking thing, and now feels like she's oozing out of her own skin despite the fact that she is still totally intact. She's staring at the rafters that are strangely immaculate, and she's wondering who gets up there to get the spider webs out. Has to be Kevin's dad. Kevin doesn't seem like the Spider Ravager, but maybe she's wrong. Maybe he gets all viking on their eight-legged asses, scaling a ladder with his mighty sword-like duster to extract vengeance on the creepy arachnids. Or maybe spiders just don't like hanging out in Kevin's dad's garage.

She hears the rumbles of possible takeout options, and distantly she mentions, "Only if we order from Thai One On, and we get the panang curry with extra chicken." Then Byron asks the really important question, and she chuffs out a breath. "Ten bucks said one of those stupid college kids over on Oak Street picked it up and now it's back on the loose and about to cause some whack-ass suicides." She closes her eyes, breathing out a sigh. "We took too long. We dragged our heels, trying to decide what the fuck to actually do, and now it's back out there."

"Agree with the curry," Isabella contributes, with a sympathetic glance at Magnolia and nudging Byron a little bit from where he sits, when his eyes fall on her. There's a rueful smile. "Don't think scanning's going to do much lick of good when we've done our best to comb through whatever areas we could."

She sighs. "As for what happened, anything could have happened from the moment it got dropped into the water. Could think of two possibilities, one, someone found out about it, looked for it and took it before we did..." Reflecting Byron's thoughts. "And two, someone accidentally fished it out, be it by an apparatus or caught something that swallowed it. I don't have much pull with the fishing and wildlife businesses here, but if there's any in the lake area, I was thinking of tagging August Roen to see if he could poke at his contacts and see if they've heard anything disturbing in the last few months, rumors about a found treasure, missing persons. He's well-known in that community, he might be able to hear or find out something we can't. And then we might be able to cross-reference whatever he gets with data you could get from your network, Mags."

Her last remarks has her expression filling with rue. "Did the...uh...mimics say whether you guys are on borrowed time or anything like that? Some kind of timetable?" she asks the investigator.

"I'm good with just the peanut satay skewers." It's a defense mechanism as old as Kevin can remember. You don't have a lot of money, you order something small, and then you try to talk your part of the bill down afterwards. He shrugs at Byron, "We could have missed it. But I don't think it's because we weren't searching hard enough. I think it's going to take more. Something else." The Spider Immigration Officer (look, he doesn't squash the things, just gets them outside) looks over to Magnolia, "College kids would've exploded by now, I think." Isabella's suggestions cause him to chuckle dryly, pouring the rest of his can of Coke into what was once a boozy rum and coke and is now pretty weak, "If only we knew someone who tracks down rumors of events in town and follows up on them. Like, say, an investigative reporter." His hands spread to his side for just a moment, then point back in toward his chest. But there's a nastier part there, and he grimaces and shakes his head, "No specific timetable. Just... you know... soon. And we got way too distracted by everything else going on."

"So two orders of panang curry with extra chicken and two orders of the peanut satay skewers as an appetizer. Got it. Anything else?" Looks like Byron's okay with ordering. Whether he expects them to split the bill or not, he doesn't say. "I'll order extra nan bread while we're at it." His glass is set down and he pulls out his phone. He then can't help but chuckle, "I wouldn't be surprised if it's those college kids. Either the property value in that area will start to drop or some of the long-time residents will start to complain. I figure they must be renting rather than owning right?" But who knows. One of those kids could be rich.

As an afterthought, he mentions, his eyes looking to Kevin, "James Hecker is back in town. Looks like the gang's all here." He's talking about the Gray Harbor Adventurer's Guild and that last statement is said in a more cautious tone than something more pleased that all of the old friends are back together again. His gaze lowering, he adds in, "Hate to say it, but we'll definitely need to be on the look out for anyone acting possessive about something or other. War between friends, things of that nature."

Magnolia tips a smile toward Kevin. "You feeling under-appreciated, baby?" She looks back to Isabella and Byron with a quick nod. "Alright, Kevin goes into looking into suspicious activity. He's right, he has the skills. And he promises not to write anything for the paper." Now she takes a breath, feeling her shoulders tighten. "Tobin wants to help, we should bring him in. Charlie, too. This might need the whole group." Charlie is not part of the Adventurer's Guild, but she's the kid of a cop. That makes her part of the other Guild. "We find out who has been acting weird, we track this down." She tightens her jaw. "I can try to locate it... with the Glimmer." Which isn't exactly an option she really enjoys entertaining -- the Glimmer bloodhound.

Then she looks to Isabella and she shakes her head. "No. I don't think so... but I don't know. I get the feeling that if we're running out of sand in the hourglass, they're going to let us know."

"Thanks, Ronnie," Isabella tells Byron quietly when he picks up the duty of ordering for everyone - drinks are covered, thanks to Kevin and the way he jabs a finger on his Greendale-emblazoned chest, emanating bravado and confidence, earns him a broad grin, lifting her hands in defense. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry Kevin. You're right."

When Magnolia brings up Glimmer use, she shakes her head. "If we can do this through more mundane means, the better, I think." There's a glance towards the reporter, practically soliciting his support there. "It's not as if we're lacking know-how and brains. Last resort only, especially since we don't know what exactly happened to the..." She waves a hand. "When Gohl was buried. We can't reach as far, to start, I don't know what else it's affected. This is dangerous enough, I think we need to play it as safe as we possibly can."

The Hanging Bridge Incident was harrowing enough - two people had already died, and that was when people familiar with the Ring were handling the situation. She shudders to think what would happen if it fell in the hands of people who didn't.

Byron's note has her attention turning to him. "Which one is James, again?" To Magnolia, she nods. "Detective Morgan? She's a good one. Smart, sharp."

The mention of James being back in town brightens Kevin's features, no matter Byron's wariness, "Hey, that's great." He looks over to Magnolia, explaining to her and Isabella, "James and I were both tiny in high school." Kevin changed that. James didn't. "He got me into D&D." There's no reserve there, not until Magnolia teases him, and he shrugs, glancing down and suddenly bashful, "I'm just saying..." He waves off Isabella's apology, nodding his agreement to the avoidance of Glimmer-hunting, "Yeah. I think we should totally try to do this by mundane means. Track the patterns. There's always a pattern." Even if some of the ones he tracks are probably random noise. "Like you always say, Lia, you don't want to use your glimmer, because it draws things in." That's more or less what she says. The suggestion of bringing others is causes him to grimace a little, but he nods, "Yeah. Now that we can't do this quite-like, we're going to have to get some help. As long as we make sure that they understand the dangers. Not to look at it, not to look at pictures of it, if we find any news of it, we go with the box and close it up all Theseus-style if we can."

Byron's on the phone right now, putting in their order, so he turns his head away from the chatter when everyone starts tossing out ideas on what to do next. Magnolia's bringing up Tobin has him nodding slowly, "He's always been like that." But aren't they all? Tending to want to help no matter how dangerous the situation.

"Hello, yes my number is ###-###-####. That's right, Elm."

At some point, he hears Charlie's name. Of course, he knows Charlie. The cop kids tended to know each other. They were probably all on the same team during GHPD family softball vs the GHFD's kids. "How is Charlie doing lately?"

He then speaks on his phone, "Two orders. Thank you."

Before continuing on, "You know it's hard for me to want to involve anyone else in this, knowing just how corruptible this jewel is, but if you believe we can keep them safe and untainted." He's not completely certain about this himself.

When Isabella asks about James, Byron murmurs, covering his phone with a hand, "He's around 5'3". Red hair. A few years older than all of us."

He then gets back to his phone conversation, "How much is it? Alright. Thanks. 45 minutes."

Returning to the conversation, he has to ask, "So what are we looking for in our help? Investigative skills seems like something we have in spades now, especially with Charlie being added to the roster. We're really just keeping an eye on our townsfolk to see if anyone starts acting like Gollum?"

"Charlie's Charlie," Magnolia says helpfully. "She's okay. We're going to do a playdate soon." Then she finally rolls off the floor with a groan, pulling herself upright as she rubs at her lower back. She's too old to actually be languishing on the floor. "James was a cutie." He probably still is, but Mags hasn't sighted him yet. Magnolia knows better than to ask about how much the order was, because she's expecting Byron to pay and she really is okay with that. At his more serious question, she slumps back against Kevin. "Unless there's something I'm missing here... Lover's Jewel shows up at Lilith's place, you two go bonkers, I fling ring into pond, Jewel no longer in the pond, so probably picked up by someone. We need to figure out who that someone is." She blinks. "Hey, we could poke around FriendZone?"

"I share Byron's concerns also," Isabella confesses when he brings up dragging other people into this. "But it's your case, I'm just an ideas person." It's a role she seems comfortable with in any case, or one that she undertakes by instinct.

The prospect of having some decent Thai food has her rising from her chair to start pacing again though, her mind floating elsewhere once the rest commiserate about Charlie and James. She was a year younger than them in school and while she has passing familiarity with the others outside of her class or those in the immediate ones above or below her own, she had less interest in them than her own peers unless she had a direct, competitive relationship with them. The fond way they speak of James is noted though, especially what Kevin says, though she double-takes at him and gives him a renewed assessing look. Small? No wonder she didn't recognize him!

"He sounds like a good guy," she says at last, taking another swallow of her drink. "As for Friendzone...we can try. But it's been possibly a month or more since the thing vanished - if someone does have it, I don't know how likely it is that they'd say so willingly, and if the current possessor is as covetous of its presence as Lil was, I don't know whether he would say something or show it to anyone else. It can't hurt to try though - and it will alert others that we're looking for it, including the one who might have it also, so we have to keep that in mind too if we do it."

She seems content to leave that decision to Magnolia and Kevin, green eyes falling on both.

Kevin shrugs a little helplessly at Byron and Isabella’s worry on adding more searchers, even as he grimaces. “I mean, if we’re not gathering together and everybody we bring in is smart enough to follow directions and not look at the thing or at a picture of it, any people we add only let us find the thing faster, right? I don’t really want it out there any longer than it has to be.”

“Might be some hints about it on FriendZone... maybe we could put up some post about some trial about dealing with jealousy issues in relationships?” That’s fraud, Kevin, “But I wouldn’t really want to post anything about lost jewels or anything. I worry about getting people who don’t know what’s going on interested. Social media’s powerful, but this is also a pretty small town.” Stepping over it Magnolia’s side a moment, he gives her shoulder a light shove, “Just cause he was shorter than you...” a grin flashes across his lips, but it fades away as he goes back to considering the harder problem, “I’d say that the biggest thing we need in people helping us is people who’ll take the precautions we suggest. It’d be good to get eyes in different groups in town, since we have nerds and cops pretty well staked out, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s all about the trust that they won’t go off and do anything dumb. What do you guys think?”

After a long moment of silence, having something else milling in his mind, Byron finally brings up, "There was someone else after the ring." He looks at the group as a whole (hopefully they are near the same area!) when he says this. "When I read the box that it was in, the very first box, I got a state of panic from it. The person who was in possession of the ring at the time, the one dropping it off at the Pawn shop that morning, in this memory attached the box, he was afraid that they would find him. No, he was afraid that they were there, where he was." Sitting upright in that still straddled position on the chair, he's trying to remember, "That's when I noticed that the room he was in was in my apartment building. I saw the interior of the place, I saw the box that he was placing all the other boxes into then shutting it closed. At the very end of that memory, there was a loud knocking at the door."

He continues, "Well, I found out exactly which apartment it was and who it belonged to and that's when I pulled Mags onto the case." His eyes flicker in her direction, "I'd only learned about it because of a complaint of flooding coming from a downstairs apartment. When I checked into the apartment in question, Michael's, it was ransacked. However!" He emphasizes this, "It wasn't ransacked, I don't think, until after he left to go to the pawn shop. I'll have to look at my notes again. Either way," He shakes his head in annoyance, "My security camera in that hallway did not pick up footage of anyone entering or exiting the apartment building who was not Michaels. The reading that I got from the apartment itself, it was one of... I don't know, childish glee? Happiness? Do I believe Michaels did it?" Here he frowns, his shoulders shrugging, "He could have. But I have my doubts, no matter what lack of evidence there is. Who was after Michaels at the time, I can't say I have very many good guesses." Though he arches a brow now, "That was around the time that Magnolia was... when I picked Magnolia up from off the side of the road leading out of town."

Byron mentions the guys who had been after the ring has Magnolia's eyes widening a moment. She had forgotten about that. She glances toward him slightly, and then takes a breath with a slow nod. The recap of the apartment has her rubbing slightly at her forehead as she considers that all, letting it filter into her brain as it starts planning and making decisions.

That's fraud, Kevin. Magnolia just slumps against some stacked up boxes that are labeled 'KEVIN, AGE 7-10.' She hasn't noticed the label yet, but she will. Oh yes, she will. She flashes Kevin a little smile at the shove, and then she loops her arm around his waist to lean into him briefly. Then she nods. "Get people onboard who are ready to follow the parameters of the quest? Yeah." Then she sighs. "I don't know... every time I think about it, I really think this is a case for the Adventurer's Guild. Quests, mimics, missing rings... yeah, I think it might be time to get the Nerd Fleet together. If we can figure out where to go, we can then take a group of us to do it." She cannot believe she is suggesting this. "So, um. What's the ideal party?" Stop getting excited, Kevin. "That's our goals: find out where it's gone, get a party together, go retrieve it. I think all the practice we did with the box is still important." She glances to Isabella. "So this whole thing wasn't a total loss."

Kevin's last question has Isabella nodding. "You're the journalist," she says with a grin. "If there's any writing involved, I think it ought to be you. But I agree about the trust issue, though...we have to remember that this thing has some serious and powerful compulsory methods attached to it. In the end, trust might not matter once any of them is in the vicinity of the Ring. I don't know James, and I don't really know Tobin." A glance at Byron at that. "But I've had run-ins with Detective Morgan before and she's used to asking difficult questions and pursuing dangerous answers. If you absolutely have to bring someone else in, I think she's a good choice."

Byron's information causes the archaeologist to frown faintly in consideration. "So he lived in your apartment building," she summarizes carefully. "Or was staying there at least, and people who were after the Ring were looking for him, but nothing showed up in the security feed, and when you read the apartment, it was definitely touched by a presence that wasn't the tenant, even though the cameras didn't catch anything?" She exhales a breath. "Might be that Michael's pursuer isn't...from around here, then. Either said pursuer has it and we have to look for them, or we have competition to find it." Her expression looks resigned. "Which means whoever it is, we're going to have to probably face sooner or later." And the fact that they might not even be human doesn't sit well with her. Fantastic.

Magnolia's remarks has her tilting her head back and thinking some more. "Ideally the right party would be comprised of members with the necessary skills to get the job done and I think you and Kevin would have a better idea than I would since the only people I know in the present endeavor are Byron and Lil, but I think we can table that assessment until we get some idea as to where it ended up." A smile to the private investigator. "I'm all up for information gathering and experimentation anytime, it's the field researcher in me, so while it's frustrating, I agree that it's not a total loss. Better we know what our limitations now in the event we do need to use it than be caught with our pants down when we have to use it and not be aware that it's borked in some way."

Her stomach makes a noise, and she groans, settling her hand on her stomach.

"...this rate I'm likely to eat the delivery guy when he finally gets here."

Kevin listens to Byron's story with a frown, pacing back and forth in front of the group and then stopping alongside Magnolia, a frown gathering behind his glasses. He finishes the description of Magnolia's problems for him with a glance down to her as she loops an arm around his waist, "When she was kidnapped and got ringfluenza?" His eyes widen just a little when he sees she's standing right next to the box filled with his history (and junk) -- and labeled in his own high school-era handwriting. He shifts at the description of the thing as a question, a much more intent, interested frown building on his brow, "Nerd Herd," he suggests distractedly, "The ideal party's a healer, DPS, a tank, a utility magic user, a skill-monkey, and a face. Roles can overlap." That much is just common (D&D) sense. He nods slightly at Isabella's description of the dangers, "Yeah. I just want to make sure that everyone will take all the precautions we can think of. Her worry about Michael's attacker causes him to wave off the concern, "There's plenty of ways to mess with video surveillance if you've got the resources or the skills. Just because someone doesn't show up on a video doesn't mean they were all supernatural or anything."

Save for basic computer and electronic research skills, Isabella doesn't have much by way of experience when it comes to the nuances of surveillance technology, so when Kevin points it out, she smiles gratefully at the reality check. That does beg the question: "Bayside's a secured building though. Not anyone can just go in and out, or have access to the feed." There's a glance towards Byron. "Is there a way to ask your people if you got hacked or anything at that time, just to make sure? I know nothing about electronic surveillance tampering."

Byron's grins widely when he's being roped in with the rest of the nerds, he even manages to laugh at it all. Leaning forward in his seat again, his arms crossed over the back of his chair, he looks between them all, "From what I'm hearing, people with a certain type of power might be able to find a way in. From what I can tell, that ain't me or those like myself." He then adds on, his voice quieting some, "And I don't think the healers can do it either." So that leaves one group. Well, besides the fact that Byron doesn't really know what each type of... people who shine, or as Magnolia calls it Glimmer, can do. He only knows what he can do and he's still learning.

His eyes then look between Isabella and Kevin, considering, "I'm really not sure. I had my security tech guy look over the footage again and again and he got nothing. I could hire another guy, see if anything was hacked. Check over the one guy who I already hired's work." He then takes another sip from his glass, though there's also an impatient look at his watch. He's probably hungry by now.

"Hecker shines." He then says, "Not as brilliantly as some of you do." He doesn't include himself in this, because he knows. "From what I gather, he's more like me I think. But either way." He's looking at Kevin now, "Look, he's new in town and I don't think it's fair dragging him into this mess, but if you're really looking to putting together a part-- a team, I'd expect him to be a master at that."

Magnolia's arms cross at her chest. "I mean, I've been able to locate things on a small level." Then again, Magnolia is notorious for not using her abilities to their maximum power. Her strengths as a mover and mentalist just haven't been fully tapped, and when she does? Oh boy. She takes a breath as she settles back into the boxes again beside Kevin. "Easton, too. I think he could be used to help with this, and he owes me anyway." Or will owe her once she gets in his head -- literally. She starts to rub at the bridge of her nose, pinching through some of the starts of a headache. Then she takes a breath and nods. "Alright, let's get a team together then. Because at this point, we might need some new perspectives."

"I met a cybersecurity expert recently by the name of Blake Cooper," Isabella supplies to Byron. "Though I don't know how good he is. He's a freelancer and there's some legal trouble attached to him - some kind of assault charge they're not sure he actually committed. That's either a good or a bad thing - might either inspire to keep him on the straight and narrow since he's already in the law's radar or it might be indicative of deeper problems. Let me know if you'd like his information, unless he's already the guy you hired in which case you're way ahead of me."

Mention of Easton has the archaeologist nodding to the blonde investigator. "He's good," she confirms. But with the other woman's exhaustion becoming more apparent, she smiles. "I think we should stop working for the day and have some eats. I'll let you guys know if I find anything out from August."

Everyone ignores Kevin's party composition suggestion, which is probably for the best, but he doesn't let them go, "Okay, so we've got a couple of skill-monkeys," he gestures to himself, Magnolia, and Isabella in turn, "and the face," Byron, clearly. "I don't know, unless you wanna be the tank, Lia?" He's probably teasing, if his crooked grin has anything to say about it. "Easton'd be DPS. Sounds like any of us can fill in as utility magic user, except you all are better at it than me. James is probably a skill-monkey too. So we need a healer and a tank, right? Or at least a healer." Byron gets a little nod, "And yeah, might be good to have someone check the first guy, in case he's in on it. Probably not, but... you know."

Just like that, there's a knock on the door beside the garage door, and Kevin goes to open it, revealing the delivery driver. He starts taking bags of delicious-smelling calories and handing them off, then digs out his wallet, "How much do we owe you?" Just because he's poor doesn't mean he isn't proud.

Despite the history of bullying between Easton and Byron as youngsters, Byron nods when the man is brought up. Perhaps, he'd forgiven the other guy or had dismissed that whole thing completely. Thorne is difficult to figure out at times. His attention then turns to Isabella when she lets him know of a cyber security guy, which is great! Until the legal trouble is brought up. "The last thing I need is someone with possible legal troubles surrounding them working on my building-- for my tenant's sakes." And his own reputation. He looks as if he'd dismiss the whole idea, but eventually says, "If you give me their number, I'll give them a call, though I may do some research on him beforehand." Byron's eyes automatically look to Magnolia when he says this!

When all the pieces are coming together and Kevin is assigning everyone their roles, the mention of Healer seems to catch his attention, though he's not entirely forthcoming at first about it. Lilith, of course, is a Healer." But when he says 'Healer', he means someone with those skill sets. "She's more comfortable using her powers to do other things. Like fixing things." And destruction, but he doesn't say that! "If necessary, she could heal. She's not comfortable with it and recently, she was pulled into a dream where these things blamed her healing others for their pain and misery. So they demanded she heal them because, I guess, she caused their injuries. I don't know. She was rattled by it, so I've been warning other Healers of that exact possible threat to them."

With that knock at the door, he immediately rises in time with Kevin, a hand already reaching for his wallet. "Don't worry about it. My treat." He says all smiles, "I'll let you all pay for dinner when we get the party together and there's more mouths to feed." He joins Kevin at the door to hand the delivery guy a few bills.