2020-01-10 - GHPS Meeting: January 2020

Last time Everett found himself in the meeting room in the back where he would be the least obtrusive; if someone like him could be. Having arrived early, rather than on time, He spends his time regarding the surroundings, his large paws in his front pockets, black earbud laces tangle from his long, unrestrained hair and inside his biker’s style leather jacket. The welcome at his arrival is met with a half-hearted up nod, both an acknowledgement and agreement.

Eleanor arrives bundled up against the chill with a warm, wool coat and a warmer, woolier August on her arm. She moves them directly to the hot cocoa and coffee to get some to help them defrost for the meeting. "One thing I wish I had in my little SUV, one of those remote starters so I could make the heater run a bit before we get in," she grouses. The redhead tugs off her gloves to doctor her coffee, and stuffs the pair in her coat pocket.

A few moments after Eleanor walks in, Devlin is coming in after her. "Sounds like features my Rubicon has.." He does move towards the coffee and waits for others to get their drinks. "Good Evening Doc."

August is in a thick, black pea coat, heavy hiking boots, denim jeans, a vibrant pashmina scarf in blue, purple, and green, and black, leather gloves. He makes a noise of agreement, cuts an amused, sideways look at Devlin. "Yeah, kinda wish I could get that installed in the Outback." It's an older car, though, as such things go; he'd be better off upgrading. Which he refuses to do. He takes cocoa for himself, glances around at everyone else. He's come with because the commotion last time sure was a thing, and if there's going to be a repeat performance he'd like to be present. You know, just in case.

Stephanie steps into the room for the meeting as quietly as she can manage. She looks for familiar faces and finds a seat near Devlin. If there isn't one available next to him, she'll take the nearest one. She takes her jacket off and drapes it over her lap as she sits down, waiting for the meeting to start. She greets Devlin with a quiet hello. They hadn't really gotten the chance to talk, keeping work business as usual, and the meditation lessons kept being delayed, which was probably for the best.

Beth shows up, guarded against the cold by a navy blue peacoat and wide gray scarf with some silver sparkle in it, under that the somber blazer and matching skirt of a funeral director still in place. She sits down in a chair in the back to divest herself of her outerwear before taking a legal notepad and pen from her purse like she expects to take notes. One knee crosses over the other and she balances the legal pad on the top knee to write.

Diana is back tonight, wearing a pair of high-waisted pants, black flats, leggings beneath the pants, and a black 'ugly Christmas sweater' style top featuring Santa in outer space riding a red-maned and green-hooved unicorn. (Its horn is red and green striped, naturally.) She's got her handy dandy notebook at the ready, and she has a James at her side. As they walk in, she's saying, "Right, but I think you're giving Mork too much credit. He-- oh, hey there." That last is to Everett as she and James move to take their seat. She's determined to sit right in the front and center, or as close to it as she can get and still sit next to James, anyway.

James enters alongside Diana, dressed in his usual: jeans and a hoodie. Today's hoodie has the Ghostbusters logo on it, faded enough that this might actually be a vintage hoodie. Only his best for social occasions. His only concession to the cold is the very nice and expensive looking wool coat over this. It's about 4 sizes too big for him, so it looks more like a trenchcoat on his skinny frame, but it's unnaturally warm thanks to the Yule Cat so he wears it everywhere. "Look, I'm just saying he was far from home, and-", but then they've arrived. He nods a hello at Everett as well, and looks around, trying not to gawk, as they enter, and leans over to Diana to murmur, "So what are the chances chaos breaks out? I'm checking the exits." He's perhaps a touch on-edge, but being close to Diana keeps him overall chill. When Minerva calls out that greeting, he blinks a couple of times, then goes back to scoping the exits. Just in case- and realizes Diana is one of those 'sit at the front of the class's girls. He gives a longing little look back at the back of the room, then sighs and settles in, scooting s little closer to her. Hopefully teacher won't call on him.

"Good to see you too, Minerva. This is August, I asked him along tonight," Eleanor explains to the doctor. She takes up her cup of coffee and tips her chin towards seating to indicate to Roen they can go find a place to settle for the meeting.

Spying on the décor and keeping his hands to himself to somber and sober, thug gives a glance towards the refreshments, eyeing them with a particular resentment. They know what they did. When people come in, he takes a glower in their direction until Diana and her redheaded cuddle-monkey arrive. Diana’s greeting is returned with an up-nod of his head and a slight smirk on the right side of his mouth to them both.

“No snotty tissue fights?”, asks Everett sarcastically with his deep-tones. He pantomimes snapping his fingers, aw shucks, before taking his buds out of his ears.

"She and I, ah, met during the Murray House situation," August asides to Eleanor. He gives Minerva a smile and an upnod, lets Eleanor pick out their seats. He's brought his tablet for notetaking, if for no other reason than he and Eleanor can compare notes later. He also nods a greeting to Beth and James, even if their meeting wasn't under the best circumstances.

Devlin gets himself a cup of coffee and settles over in a chair. Mostly keeping to himself for the moment but watching the others. When Everett mentions the tissue fight, his eyes roll slightly. From within his jacket he pulls out a small note pad and a pen.

Stephanie sits quietly after quietly greeting Devlin with a quick hi, and she too takes notes in a black leather bound journal. Hopefully, she'll have some time to mention what she and Devlin had encountered, and maybe get some advice about her own abilities later on.

Beth nods back to August before her attention drifts to Minerva as she begins the meeting. Her nose wrinkles a touch when dirty tissues and throwing of said dirty tissues are mentioned and she turns a little to glance at Everett before she sits forward again to watch the presentation.

Eleanor settles in with her notepad and pen, taking her notes the old-fashioned way. She believes it helps her remember these things when she retypes them into her computer system at home.

Despite last time, Vyv is here again tonight, and not in a hazmat suit. He's in a navy blue herringbone three-piece suit with a crisp white shirt, a paisley tie in shades of gold and brown, and a pin-dotted pocket square in similar shades. He's on time, though unusually, barely so, and takes a glance around for anyone who looks likely to start a flu fight or otherwise be particularly objectionable company before he claims a seat with a good view and settles in. Several people get brief nods of greeting; Diana even gets a very faint smile. Devlin gets neither, exactly, though he does get a longer study than most, as if perhaps the chef were trying to place him. He is perhaps also aiming to take notes, though rather than pen and paper, he pulls out his phone, flipping the leather cover open and tapping a few times at the screen.

"Don't tell me the odds!" Diana quotes, and then shrugs more seriously to James' question. "Hard to say, honestly. I mean, at least if something does break out, this should be a pretty damn safe place to be in, given givens." She smiles and pecks his cheek, entirely missing his sad look at the back of the room. She's busy clicking and unclicking her pen excitedly. She sends a smile Minerva's way, and looks interested at the mention of the Veil, sitting up in her seat ram-rod straight. She takes notes, as well, though she pauses when she notices Vyv and that smile, and he gets a wave in return, PLUS a smile as interest.

James can't help smiling at seeing how excited Diana is for this- it's almost enough to completely cancel out his natural cynicism. He doesn't look ready to take notes, but that's mostly because Diana's there and boy oh boy, she's got the note-taking on lock. Reassured enough by her words (and that peck, ah, those pecks), he turns his full attention to Minerva as she begins to speak and discuss the ongoing situations. When she mentions the Veil intruding in other places, he wrinkles his nose, looking faintly worried.

August makes a low sound, murmurs to Eleanor, "We went to Gig Harbor a few times when I was a kid." He swipes away at his tablet, making notes. "Should see if I have anything from then sitting around in the house."

Drawing his smartphone from an inside pocket of his leather jacket, Everett fiddles with it for a second, thick thumb swiping, dabbing, then wrapping his earplugs around his phone to return everything back inside his jacket. A hefty shoulder lifts, shrugging while the large man is under the scrutiny of others, returning to the back of the room and leans his back against the wall, pushing his hands back into his front pockets and closes his eyes. Note taking is for nerds, and so is appearing to paying attention.

Devlin makes a few notes as he looks at the picture. Reflexively he asks, "What's the Grid?" not even realizing it.

Diana helpfully continues to take notes that she'll totally share with James later, but beyond that, she even notes down what a Haunting is and holds the notebook where he can easily read it. She ends up having to briefly shake her hand as it tries to cramp, but she is determined to take good notes! She glances over to Devlin briefly, but there's no emotion on her face other than her usual for tonight: interest and excitement.

Eleanor glances up at the screen and frowns a bit. Her focus is on Grey Harbor itself. She takes a few notes, but it doesn't seem to catch the redhead's interest. She nods to August at his mention of going there as a kid. "It's a good two hours out from here. Would have to take a day off from the coffee shop to get out there. Might pass on this one."

Stephanie continues to listen and observe and take notes. She needs the information before she can consider getting involved, after all.

James just gives an infatuated little grin as Diana holds her notebook just so for him, and he nudges her shoulder lightly (when she's not writing of course) in appreciation. The talk about Hauntings, tho, causes him to pause. And the mention of strange creatures makes his breath catch. "... dang.", he mutters under his breath, but otherwise is content to watch and listen.

Beth furiously scribbles down notes on her legal pad, occasionally looking up at the slideshow to gain a sense of it all. "Sanatorium...as in tuberculous patients?" She wonders aloud. "What purpose does the building serve now? Is it a museum?"

"'Starvation Heights'," Vyv murmurs to no one in particular, "Ye-es, that sounds deeply salubrious. Who'd ever imagine something might be off with a sanitarium with a name like that." Tap, tap, tap. Either notes or someone's getting chatty texts. A flicker of a glance to Devil again at the question about a Grid, then at the image again, studying it more closely. Possibly for grids.

"Oh.. sorry, old habits..." Devlin flushes a little. Yeah, nothing like old habits. He continues to jot down notes as he looks and listens.

August glances at Devlin, sympathetic and amused at the same time. Oh, he's been there.

Stephanie is still taking notes but less so, paying more attention to Minerva as she speaks.

Diana sets her jaw at hearing about the 'treatment' used, frowning and continuing to jot down notes. She glances briefly at Vyv, smirking, and then she's back to scribbling quickly in her notebook. When she gets a moment in between information, she pats James' hand reassuringly. She pipes up to ask politely, "What sorts of troubles were and are the new owners having?"

Eleanor frowns deeply at further explanation of the treatment methods used on the patients. She shakes her head. "Well I can certainly understand why that would cause a haunting," she murmurs to August.

"... maybe the ghosts are just hungry?", James murmurs, more to himself than anything else. "Like, we can show up with a crate of cheeseburgers and that might solve it. That'd be nice." He blinks, distracted from his brilliant ghostbusting plan as Diana pipes up with the important questions, and he quickly looks over to see what Minerva might have to say.

Hearing the words starvation and treatment.. Devlin frowns with that as if to say Really?? with just his expression.

"I wonder if this has anything to with the Veil," she mumbles quietly to herself while writing notes. The real question was of course if she wanted to get involved with the investigation. Still she carried on taking notes.

"Seriously," August replies to Eleanor. He looks askance at Stephanie, frowns. "The...'Void'?" He makes it sound like a question.

Vyv quirks a brow at the reason for the name, then shakes his head, tapping at the screen again. "Even better. Logical, I suppose. One likely does have far fewer deaths from tuberculosis and the like if everyone's too busy dying of famine to get around to it." James's remark gets a faintly amused sidelong glance before he looks to Minerva again. "What sort of strange creatures and apparitions have been reported there?"

Glancing at August, all Stephanie says is, "Something I read about."

Diana has a smile in store for James' comments, and a peck on his cheek, besides. Still, she goes back to her note-jotting after that, especially as Minerva answers her question and Vyv's, plus some she hadn't even thought to ask yet. She leans over into James' space, but says nothing else for now.

Ellie pales a shade or two at even the mention of the Firefly. She's getting better about being in or around it, but it still makes her uncomfortable on an epic scale. She reaches for one of August's hands and squeezes it, just for support.

August watches Stephanie, apparently expecting elaboration. When there's none forthcoming, he tilts his head and says, "Okay," and resumes note-taking. He stops that to take Eleanor's hand and grip it firmly, chasing that with a reassuring look.

James blinks as he realizes Minerva heard him, and he nods and gives a little shrug at her response to him. "... first time for everything.", he murmurs, silently making a mental note to bring a crate of cheeseburgers if they decide to go ahead and do the horror movie protagonist thing and walk willingly into a haunted sanatorium. Or, apparently as she keeps talking, go traipsing through the haunted hell-woods into what is surely something out of Annihilation. The cheek-peck and lean from Diana do make him smile, and he leans back lightly, listening.

Looking up for a moment, "Well, time for the patented ... feels stupid but probably not.. so how do you deal with an angry ghost when the source of the anger is not available? Some how dig up the good Doctor and Wife to toss their bones to the spirits does not sound like an ethical or practical concept... And I assume by reactions, there are some issues with the afore mentioned Fire Fly woods?" Devlin then takes a sip of his cooling coffee.

"Though," August adds, "you want to leave bone burning as a last resort." He makes a face. "A few of us found that out the really hard way." He gives Minerva a wry smile for that particular experience.

Ellie sips her coffee and jots down a few more notes. "I supposed we could drive around to the other side, right?" she murmurs to August.

Diana glances interestedly his way at August's talk about bone burning, and then looks back to Minerva, nodding at what she hears. She dutifully makes notes about it all, of course. She has just one more question: "When do we start?"

James was afraid Diana would say something like that. To be fair, though, James is afraid of many things. He just looks resigned, but sits up a little straighter, reaching to take her hand in the universal sign of 'you're insane but I love you and so I guess I'm going to follow you into hell', and then squeezes it in the universal add-on of '... and hopefully back again'. And mouths a silent prayer to whatever trickster deity watches over this damn town that Minerva's answer won't be 'right now!'.

Devlin nods to what Minerva says. "Fair enough, Doc. Just so long as people give me an idea what to look or listen for. Other than that.. guess I get a good kit together for the fun, assuming my work schedule is open for when you go." He then ohs to himself.. "Sixty Eight Whiskey... I mean.. paramedic."

"Perhaps we could redirect their interests to working in the ghostly fashion industry," Vyv remarks, sounding rather less likely to actually consider bringing a runway along than James might be pondering his burgers. Hey, at least if the burgers didn't help, other people could eat 'em. "Bipedal hairy beings. Surprised that isn't simply defaulting to 'bigfoot', around here." The PNW, that is.

August's remark on bone-burning gets an eyeroll of what looks more like an 'agreeing' sort than any other. "If we were going to start disinterring and otherwise rolling the bones, I'd vote the theoretically-good doctor and husband before the patients. But I do think some of us have had more than enough of that. I suppose one might as well check whether things could be satisfied with the ghost of a good meal and a decent shave." A few more notes. "Are there any town records for those stone buildings?"

At this point in the meeting, Stephanie stands up and decides to step out. She has enough information to consider her involvement in not only the particular investigations but the organization in general. She puts her jacket on and her journal in her pocket before leaving quietly.

August raises his eyebrows at Vyv. "Maybe Hyacinth could find them? Or the city archivist." He nods at Minerva. "Thanks for that. You can count me in for sure."

Eleanor bundles herself back up to prep for the cold outside. "Let me know what's happening with the stone buildings. I should be able to swing a trip or two out there without worrying about being away from the business too long," she tells Minerva with a small smile.

Diana squeezes James' hand right back, both times. She's having trouble keeping her excitement in check, but she's at least attempting not to squirm in her seat, or tap her pen on the edge of her notebook repeatedly. She nods to Minerva's information, jotting a bit more down, and then gives a double-nod to Vyv's question about town records. Seems she thinks that one's a good idea. She smiles to Minerva then, saying, "Thanks for the debriefing, and keeping this whole group organized." She kisses James' cheek outta NOWHERE, and then closes her notebook, though she does keep it at the ready.

Devlin finishes his cold coffee and puts his notepad away. "If any one needs a jump, I do have cables." He puts his heavy jacket back on and puts on his gloves.

August never really unbundled, so it's a relatively quick thing for him to wrap back up. "I'd never make you drive through anyways," he asides to Eleanor. Even if it's a lovely drive, as far as he's concerned.

James is a little less excited than Diana at the prospect of getting up close and personal with this stuff, but to his credit he seems willing enough to do it. Maybe it's because of the random smooches. And then the meeting is wrapping up, and he's standing up, helping Diana to her feet if needed, then gives her a lopsided grin. "Alright- let's get you out of here before you vibrate through the walls, yeah?"