Avenger Assembled

Edge: Gather Information (this is common knowledge - almost everyone should know this!): DC 10 Mark Lucas, aka Edge, is one of the most famous 'unmasked' heroes in the world. A humanitarian who works for the United Nations, he travels the world from hot spot to hot spot, making food, shelter, and other necessities with a wave of his hand. He's only in his mid-twenties but is already widely considered one of the most broadly powerful super-beings on Earth. Knowledge (Arcane Lore) DC 25 The things Mark Lucas does with his powers, which seem to be magical in origin, should not be possible for a being native to this realm - but there he is! Knowledge (Cosmology) DC 30 Mark Lucas took part in the Dethroning of Omega, the Knight of Entropy, some years ago - this has given him powerful friends and terrible enemies. Monsoon: Gather Information DC 25 Monsoon, Edge's armored, hydrokinetic partner in adventuring and romance (based on the pictures some have taken) is Nina al-Darsah, daughter of Typhoon, the terrible monarch of Socotra.

"-while many worshipers of the Creator dwell in your nation," came a familiar, ever-patient voice from outside, "it is not particularly aligned with His word - indeed, avoiding this was a deliberate effort on the part of your nation's founders. The alignment between certain religious organizations and patriotic sentiment in your nation-state dates from the first great war of the industrial era, in which religious reactionaries sought to answer charges of unpatriotic sentiment by vigorously asserting their belief in your nation's divinely-chosen-" There were oaths, mostly scatalogical and sexual ones, from whoever Heyzel was speaking to outside - and a moment later, the Angel of Freedom stepped into the pub with an expression of faint disappointment. He brightened quickly at the sight of Phaedra, though, soon striding across the room and past the tourists there to embrace his niece with great warmth. "Phaedra! What a delight to see you here, in this place so close to His works. Thank you for calling me."

Player Name: AvengerAssembled Character Name: Lady Horus Power Level: 10 (150/168) Trade-Offs: +2 Defense/-2 Toughness, -4 ATK/+4DMG [as Lady Horus] Unspent Power Points: 18 No More Statuses: 0/0 In Brief: Lo, the Sunhawk returns for a new generation! But there are secrets. Homebase: Bedlam City Songs: "True Colors," Kesha "Meant to Live," Switchfoot Alternate Identity: "Wouldn't you like to know?" Identity: Secret Birthplace: Bedlam City, Wisconsin Occupation: Adventurer Affiliations: Various Family: "Just look it up in the books!" Age: Stories of Horus go back around 4 millennia. Gender: Female Height: 5'9" Weight: 150 lbs Eyes: Blue Hair: Platinum blonde Description: It's clear Lady Horus is probably not Egyptian by birth - most Egyptian women of any generation have not been fair-skinned platinum blondes, for all that her hair hangs in the curly ringlets in fashion in the New Kingdom. But other that she certainly looks the part - her costume consists of a gold-beaded white linen kalasiri that hangs loosely on her frame and comes down just below her knees, white bodice, white shawl over that, the cloth reinforced with polished bronze pieces that sparkle like the sun, all adorned with the gold and jewels of an Egyptian noblewoman. On her head is the blue khepresh of a pharaoh at war. She should probably not be able to see! The upper part of her face is covered by a gold and blue half-mask of a hawk, decorated in the Egyptian style, the mask itself resting on the lower part of her nose. Yet she does seem to be able to see just fine, thank you. When not wearing the Helm, she looks like . History: Lo! The Sunhawk has returned to the World of Man - as a woman! Lady Horus appeared in Bedlam over the Christmas holiday but has already made herself notable as the city's loudest and toughest protector. In a town of grim avengers of evil, criminal vigilantes and vigilante criminals, she's the biggest action in the city. Before she donned the Helm, she . Personality and Motivation: Lady Horus has the charisma of her predecessor (and the habit of showboating in combat) but evidently a different personality - she's more inclined to mock and belittle the failings of her opponents rather than call them out as a fellow warrior. She's more close-mouthed than her predecessor as well, talking little about the origins of her powers and what has brought her to Bedlam, generally spinning the question around to one about the welfare of the person she's speaking to. She likes kids and pets - is tolerant of certain kinds of crime but despises those who exploit others, particularly those who are hostile towards women and children. When angry, her accent 'slips' and she shouts in a gutter argot unfamiliar to the average citizen of Bedlam, sounding more like a 1930s cartoon character than the sometimes-Shakespearean Sunhawk. Without the Helm, she . Powers and Tactics: Lady Horus is faster and more agile than her masculine counterpart, wielding the Ankh of Horus with a frenetic energy that speaks more to the kineticism of a young sunhawk at war rather than the brute strength of the Avenger of old. That said she seems to be less creative with her powers than her predecessor - generally striking with mighty blows of her ankh while weaving in and out of combat, occasionally blasting foes or pummeling them with great strength. She has manifested some abilities denied to her predecessor - in particular teleportation, self-healing, and invisibility. Without the Helm, she . Complications: Fake!: Lady Horus is not the same person as the old Horus - a source of resentment for many, both divine and otherwise. Help Me Out Here, Sister: Much of Lady Horus' knowledge of the gods of Egypt comes from the spirit of Nephthys, the Lady of the Mansion. But Nephthys, or rather the fragment of her embedded in the Helm, has her own agenda and often keeps her own counsel - and has her own feelings towards the woman who wears the Helm of Horus. Hey, That's Mine!: When deprived of her Helm, Lady Horus reverts back to her normal self within the space of 1 minute. Not So Tough: Lady Horus lacks much of the physical prowess of her illustrious predecessor. Who Are You?: The mystery of exactly who Lady Horus is remains just that. Complications relating to her life without the Helm are at the discretion of the GM. Abilities: 0 + 4 + 4 + 0 + 4 + 2 = 14PP STR 26/10 (+8/+0) DEX 14 (+2) CON 14 (+2) INT 10 (+0) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 20/12 (+5/+1) Combat: 8 + 8 = 16PP Init: +22/+2 ATK: +4 (+6 Ankh/+10) DEF: +12 (+8 Dodge Focus, +4 Base, +2 flat-footed) Grapple: +4/+17 Knockback: -7/-1 Saves: 3 + 6 + 3 = 12PP TOU +8/+2 (+2 Con, +6 Protection [8 Impervious]) FORT +5 (+2 Con, +3) REF +8 (+2 Wis, +6) WILL +5 (+2 Wis, +3) Skills: 44R=11PP Bluff 6 (+7/+11) Disable Device 5 (+5) Escape Artist 6 (+8) Knowledge (History) 5 (+5) Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) 2 (+2) Languages 2 (Ancient Egyptian, Arabic, Base: English) Notice 6 (+8) Sense Motive 6 (+8) Stealth 6 (+8) Feats: 15PP Dodge Focus 8 Eidetic Memory Evasion Fearless Move-By Action Taunt Ultimate Save (Will) Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 45 + 1 + 1 + 32 + 2 = 82PP Device 11 (Helm of Horus, Flaw: Hard to Lose, 55PP, PF: Restricted [Those Chosen By The Gods]) [45PP] Enhanced Charisma 8 (to CHA 20/+5) [8DP] Feature 1 (Advice from Nepthys) [1DP] Immunity 3 (aging, disease, poison) [3DP] Ankh Array 13 (26PP, PFs: Accurate, Alternate Powers 2) [29DP] BE: Flight 5 (250 MPH) {10} + Strike 14 (PFs: Improved Crit 1, Takedown Attack 1) {16} {10+16=26} AP: Blast 14 (Extra: Penetrating 10 [as DMG 24], Flaw: Action [Full], PFs: Improved Crit 1, Variable Descriptor 1 [any light]) {26/26} AP: Enhanced STR 16 (to STR 26/+8) {16} + Super-Strength 5 (Effective STR 50, Heavy Load 12 tons) {10} {16+10=26/26} Protection 6 (Extra: Impervious 8) [14DP] No peeking if you aren't a Ref! And no snitching! -AA costs Abilities (14) + Combat (16) + Saves (12) + Skills (11/44) + Feats (15) + Powers (82) = 150/168 pts

Woodsman rappelled down from the nearest tree that hadn't been infected by the hedge, landing just behind the other heroes with a noise like nothing at all. He held his bow half-cocked, eyes half on the hedge and half on the others. "Okay," he said. "You people know what this is." It was not a question - though it was hard to read tone in that quiet, composed voice with words picked with great, deliberate care. Matt knew that voice - it meant Riley was on edge, pulled tight like one of his bowstrings, but fighting off the accent he slipped into when he was genuinely agitated. "That's good. I don't know what this is. I need someone to tell me why the Forest is here."

Aquaria chewed and swallowed the meat, croaking "I am not from the Surface," before she went back to listening to the conversation. She was no mutant with strange powers, after all, when you removed her from her suit she was (she knew) a fairly typical female of her breed, though a better hunter and tracker than many of her less sea-wise sisters and brothers. When she thought she understood the words and deeds of her fellows, she croaked, "What if we divide? Some meet the Fanatic, others swim down to his lair and release his prisoners." She wasn't entirely sure yet what their enemy had taken hostage - but if he was holding creatures from the other realms, even from the creatures spawned by the small dreams of Surfacers, their freedom was especially paramount. Punchline's memories met with her approval, even if she had to think hard to summon images to go with his strange words. "I am no diplomat. But I know snares and traps."

Aquaria Dreams Of Electric Fish Sea Devil and Singularity’s Vignette Aquaria dreamed. In her dream, she was Queen of the Deep Ones - a powerful matriarch sitting on a throne of black orichalcum, her ruling grotto carved with the eldritch symbols of Dagon and Hydra. Her young played and writhed at her feet while males posed artfully around her, their muscles bulging, their masculine scent thick and cloying like the smell of rotting fish. It was a good dream. Jessie stared at the snow falling outside their window, thick and fast, gobby clumps instead of single flakes. She didn’t have too much experience with snow; Seattle occasionally got a storm, but she didn’t remember much about them except getting a snow day and getting really wet pants and mittens from trying to play in it. Snow in person was never as much fun as television made it look. This snow didn’t even look fun, it looked cold and unpleasant and was already shutting down the city. People were going to need help. But first she needed to fuel up and try to find some clothes a bit warmer than her usual uniform. Aquaria had pulled the curtains rather than look at the horrible sight outside - not much was visible with all the condensation on their small windows, anyway. Her head down on the table, she chewed slowly and disconsolately on the contents of a can of SPAM that she’d pried open for her breakfast. When she realized she’d fallen asleep, she bolted upright at the table and found herself looking right at Jessie! She swallowed, the meat in her mouth sliding down her gullet, and croaked, “I am very tired.” “Yeah, I see that,” Jessie answered with a faint smile. “I guess maybe the weather makes you want to hibernate or something. Might as well go with it.” She coaxed her friend into eating the rest of the canned meat, waste not, want not, and then nudged her into the bedroom that held her warm swimming pool. “I gotta go out for awhile, but I’ll check in on you when I get back.” Aquaria didn’t even answer, sliding almost bonelessly into the pool. Jessie figured it was probably nothing to worry about; Aquaria had done much stranger things. Aquaria dreamed. She lived in a cave at the edge of the sea with a few other males and females, a small colony growing beneath the watchful gaze of Dagon and Hydra. At the edge of their territory was a lighthouse, manned by Surfacers to keep their ships from crashing into the rocks. The Surfacers in the lighthouse traded things with the People in the cave, and that was good. The lighthouse keeper was a Surfacer with auburn hair and a smile she showed too rarely…. Jessie left from her bedroom window, carefully shutting it behind her to keep the warmth inside. She didn’t even want to try braving the streets right now. Leaping to the nearest rooftop, she made her way across the city, helping stranded motorists and beleaguered pedestrians, trying to get as many people out of the cold as possible. It wasn’t unnaturally cold outside, at least not enough to put her in any danger, but she couldn’t seem to convince her body of that. It started shivering whenever she stood still for more than a minute, so it was good to keep going. This was not dramatic hero work, but it was the kind she was much better at than saving the world.

Aquaria closed her eyes and thought of the teachings of the Gods Below in the hands of mad Surfacers. Aquaria had been many things in her life but she had spent much of her early life as a hunter - and so she took action as one now. She padded her way slowly up onto the walls and ceiling, careful not to betray her presence with the sound of a leap, and headed towards the sound of the voices. A clearer understanding of what they said would give her a better idea of what to tell Temperance - and a clearer idea of what these foul blasphemers were doing with words and stories that did not belong to them. At least they sing no songs of Dagon and Hydra, she told herself comfortingly. Surfacers rarely did - they did not like their place in that spiritual food web.

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Steve considered his options carefully before raising his hands to his mouth and shouting "TRIUMPH OVER YOUR ADVERSARY!" in Chris's general direction, his voice a surprisingly loud roar given how rarely he raised it. He wasn't sure how to respond to Erik's question, of all things remembering a children's cartoon about two mutated laboratory animals engaged in world conquest that he'd watched with Gina. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, giving a slightly embarrassed look to Talya and Erik. "Yes." He watched the fight with his gaze unblinking, his dark eyes narrowed as he stared directly at the two combatants. "What material goods did we wager?" he asked Talya.

"I wouldn't put too much stock into those movies," said Sharl with a smile. "They're just fears of a more primitive era being played out in fictional form, like, 'Oh no, if we're not careful, we might have to speak more than one language or eat food from another continent, spooky!'" He worked the room, shaking hands and making greetings, by accident giving Salmon and Temperance time to talk away from prying robotic ears. "What an interesting story!" Dr. Collins told Sun Walker with a bright smile. "I'm sure I'd love to hear more about your origins, but why don't you tell me more about yourself?" She proposed. "What does a demigod do roaming around the Emerald Cities these days?"

Ice Floe Nowhere To Go Wharton State Forest Woodsman and Nighthawk The wind woke Riley. Disengaging from Robin inside the sleeping bag wasn’t easy, at least not without waking her, but he could be very quiet when he wanted to be, especially with that howling outside that bespoke a change in the weather. Sure enough, a quick partial unzipping of the tree tent’s door revealed he’d been right to be suspicious. “Damn,” he whispered softly as he studied the thick, heavy snowfall outside. There was already a solid inch out there, maybe more, and the blizzard was one of the thickest he’d seen in this version of Freedom City. The woods he’d grown up with had hotter summers and colder winters than this version of Freedom City. Typically. “Goddamn satellite weather forecast,” he muttered as he dug around for his binder and shirt. “Not gonna snow this weekend my ass.” They were a good ten feet up - they weren’t in any risk of being snowed into the tent proper, but their cooking spot was about to be overrun - not to mention his plans to take Robin hunting the next morning. The hike out had been fun - setting the tent up together had been _very_ fun, but now what? Robin never slept all that soundly but, truth be told, she slept better next to Riley than she ever did alone. That part of her brain that never fully relaxed was able to know that the burden of vigilance was at least shared. The lack of body warmth finally stirred her from the cocoon she’d slept in and the sleeping bag rustled as she rolled to a sitting position. With the bag clutched over her torso more for warmth than any real modesty, she blinked sleepy grey eyes at the snow beyond with a blank expression on her features that faded to dismay. “Ugh,” Robin muttered with feeling. Uncharacteristically she flopped back down to scooch under the blankets deeper. The words that followed were muffled but heartfelt. “I hate the snow.” “Not supposed t’be snowin’,” Riley muttered loud enough for Robin to hear. “Supers prolly having a fight with Frosty the Snowman or somethin’” He thought about their options as he dressed, automatically preparing to go out there with his gear. “I can get the deer easy enough,” he promised Robin. “Can field butcher it, bring some back here. We can dig out a kitchen down there and cook it up.” Truth be told climbing back into the sleeping bag with Robin was a very appealing idea - but he couldn’t let her think a little weather would put him off. Robin groaned as it became clearer that Riley was bound and determined to go out into the snow. She remerged from the sleeping bag to reach for her own clothing. “And I used to think the snow was so pretty,” Robin sighed as she shoved limbs into clothing in the sort of hurry one has when the temperature outside was too cold to be naked. “Are you sure we can’t just hide until it's over?” She arched brows at Riley but her expression didn’t hold much hope. This was Riley’s world after all and if he said that they needed to get food now rather than later, well. She’d just roll with it but she was already not looking forward to the inevitable soaked clothes and numb fingers and toes that would come with it. Riley gave Robin an uncertain look, his hatchet held unconsciously loose in one hand. “You sure you don’t mind just staying in?” They had ample enough supplies to get them through the rest of the day, of course, he’d seen to that. “I can go out there and handle the whole thing…” It was at that moment that his cellphone rang. “Ah, dang it…” He sat down and picked it up - he was careful never to be out of communication with Peyton, especially after the last year. “Hey, Peyton. Yeah, it’s snowing a lot. No, we’re okay. No, you don’t need to pick us up.” He reached up and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “We’re gonna stick it out here and walk out tomorrow. It’s just a couple miles back to the road. We’ll be fine.” Robin’s half-smile was bemused as she folded her leg up to pull on her boots one at a time carefully. Those had been a present as the duct tape on her sneakers had grown steadily worse over the last few months and she was very careful when putting them on to not strain or crease them. “It’s safer than driving in it,” she agreed with Riley, her voice low. “Remind her that we can go through the trees if we need to. Close enough together to make it with jumps no problem.” She finished lacing up her boot and dangled her legs over the edge of the tent to take in the snow below. “Not gonna make her feel better if you point out that you’ve seen worse. Tell Payton that I think we’re fine. Probably help more?” She added with a quirk of her lips and a bemused smile as Riley’s not-mother was certainly aware that Robin was a city-kid. Riley reassured Peyton that they had food and water, and that between the two of them the two miles back to the road was no problem. “I’ll see you tomorrow ‘t noon. Love you too.” He hung up and sighed softly, then moved to sit next to Robin at the edge of the tent, feet dangling out over the rapidly falling snow below. “You know,” he said reflectively. “You came real far yesterday. Even just being here, I know, is…we don’t hafta get the deer. I already know you like me pretty well.” He gave her a crooked grin. Robin leaned her shoulder against Riley’s, giving a small shrug of her shoulders, “Once you’ve eaten outta a few dumpsters, hunting isn’t too big a hurdle. I just don’t like the snow, well, being out in it. We don’t get all that much snow but it always means being cold and wet or risking a shelter for the night… at least, s’what it used to mean.” She watched the snowflakes gather on the toes of her boots, and rested her chin against Riley’s shoulder. “It's not so bad like this though. Kinda pretty.”

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"I think we must have been cast ashore here somehow," Aquaria croaked in reply. "centuries before our birth. The Sea of Stars has many mysteries." Aquaria's emotions were akin to Jessie's, but with a less alien cast - a familiar situation for the two friends, the Deep One briefly moved. "The walls around this world must be mighty indeed, if a Dark Mother of three centuries cannot break them." That the armor had grown with that other Aquaria was an interesting discovery, though truthfully she had never expected to live until that stage of her life. She did not ask with what Surfacers the other Aquaria had mated to produce her hybrids, whether it was someone from the Voidrunner or someone from the Lor ship (which would surely land soon - were they so incurious?) - such things might be necessary in an emergency but they were nothing she would consider now. But the blood of Dagon and Hydra is strong in them - and they sing the song of the Gods Below. Should I judge them so harshly for their faces and their ancestry? She looked around, swiveling her entire upper torso as they entered the city. I could build nothing like this on the Surface World - not with Atlanteans and Surfacers all against us. "What happened to Jessie?" "I bear one of the names of Erin Keeley White," croaked Kee'lee in response, "as do many of the Dark Mother's children, and many above. In the catacombs of the Dark Mother, there are coral statues of the Whitespawn to the third generation. It was with her passing into the, ah, afterworld that the Dark Mother went to commune with the Gods Below."

Eliza got a warm kiss from her cybernetic boyfriend (not a common thing for him in public) - the snowflakes catching in his artfully-tousled hair. "Beautiful, just like you. Everyone, my awesome girlfriend came all the way from Freedom City for Christmas. Let's make sure she has a great one!" He really had learned a lot from working with Miss Americana. "That's interesting," Sharl lied to Spellsmith. More truthfully, he added, "Welcome to the party! Enjoy yourself - eat all you want, there's plenty more where it came from." Somewhat excitedly, he began explaining how Archtech West supported itself through cooperative arrangements with local farmers. "We use our processed water to help hydrate their crops, our processed biowaste helps fertilize them, and their domestic animals eat Archetech GMO animal feed. Of course, eventually we'll want to move to fully vat-grown food, both for plants and animals, but that's decades away at this point given the local technology." He greeted Asad as well. "Mr. al-Misri! Welcome to Emerald City and Archetech West. Our house is your house."

Skill Mastered 27 w/Notice.

Yes, that's an excellent idea, Ari. Do we have volunteers to run it?

"Hey, Grim." Matt's presence reassured Riley that things were normal, things were sane, that an eruption of dark woods in the middle of an innocent park didn't mean the arrival of the end of the world. The moment was still too familiar, a group of young men about to go into the Forest together, except that from all he could see Woodsman was the only one in the party without powers. The only one that wouldn't turn if-"Gonna take the trees," he grunted. "Thick enough to move branch-t'-branch. Better there." He headed for the nearest trunk and ascended it with the staccato grace of one well-trained at rapid arboreal ascent, his feet finding purchase at every step on knots, roots, and branches. His crossbow didn't so much as rattle as he made his ascent, strapped securely as it was to his back. In a few moments, he'd all but vanished into the dark, as if he'd been born there.

“I can promise that I will protect my life. That I will take no unnecessary risks - and that neither Caradoc nor Harrier will not court danger. And that I will do this because I want to live - and because I want to see you again.” Steve looked at Gina, not trying to catch her eyes as she looked down at her work. She would look at him when she was ready, and that was that. “I appreciate the thought, but I’m unconvinced that you can understand the difference between necessary and unnecessary risks right now, nor evaluate danger in a rational and logical fashion,” Gina pointed out. “I mean… you didn’t feel suicidal when you were talking about going after the Hounds, right?” She glanced up at him, one quick, uncertain flick of her gaze. “You weren’t looking for a way out?” “No. I have considered suicide more than once,” he went on, his tone frank as he discussed something Gina already knew. “But rarely since I became Caradoc. And since you and I…” He shook his head. “The Terminus is a special case. I know that.” “The Terminus is personal to you, and that’s dangerous,” Gina summarized. “You don’t always think rationally when it comes to dealing with it or strategizing about it.” She was quiet for a minute, giving her newest invention a poke so that it came to life, emitting soft blue light and humming. “Can you give up that much? Will you stay away from that until we’re both sure that you’re better?” “If the call comes, I will tell them to call another. Not Tarva the Black, though, she is...terrible.” He shook his head, wondering what Erik would think of the joke. With Gina’s intelligence, he knew he need not promise not to fight the Terminus if it showed up on their doorstep. “And I will leave the planning to others.” He had, if he was truthful with himself, done a great deal of that. “Okay,” she finally said, still toying with her invention. “Okay.” It was rarely easy to get a bead on what Gina was feeling, especially as years spent inside the Miss A robot perfected her conscious control over her facial muscles. When she wanted to project a blank face, she really could do it. “GIve me your hand.” Steve gave her his hand, thinking bizarrely of Earth-Prime weddings. Blank face or not, he never would have done anything else. Gina set the device on the back of his hand, letting it rest there while she pressed a series of buttons. It hummed louder and began to move a little, small extensions moving as though giving him a hand massage, an odd but not unpleasant sensation. The machine made a small pop noise and Steve felt a quick pinch, then the machine beeped and folded in on itself, quiescent again. Gina took it back, looked it over, and stuck it in her pocket. “So what do you want for dinner?” It was not the first time this had happened. Steve knew what it meant. “Hot wings,” he told her. “I will cook them - you take a bath.” Sometimes Gina forgot about these things when she had been working. “They will be done when you are out.” Gina looked surprised for a moment, then sniffed herself and grimaced. “Fine,” she allowed with only slightly ill grace. “Don’t use that sauce you like, it destroys the delicate lining of my everything,” she reminded him as she rose. “There’s some normal hot sauce in the door of the refrigerator, and some ranch dressing too.” She headed out of the kitchen, but before she left, she dropped a quick kiss on the top of his head. It was a start.

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Sorry for the delay! Attack Focus what? And can you add his Leaping distance and Strength Heavy Load?

"Yeah, I heard about that robot thing!" The idea of people being replaced by machines was threatening, he supposed, but not particularly compared to the things he'd seen with his own eyes. It was more like some exotic novelty. "We still have to get full body scans every time we get a physical." Teachers had to do the same thing in the wake of what had happened to Mr. Archer - but that was a different story. "Yeah, we've had Christmases before, but never with her over at, uh, our place. It'll be pretty cool. Peyton, uh," he coughed and said, "she really likes Robin." He'd been about to tell the story of how Peyton had declared how glad she was that neither of her sons could get a girl pregnant, but that really wasn't a memory he wanted to dwell on when he thought about it.

"Probably. Peyton's not my mom - but when she's happy, it's like I'm making my mom happy." Riley's voice got a little shaky at that, but he was doing his best to be strong in front of Erin. "I'll probably bring Robin too, get everybody together." It would make sure Robin wasn't trying to sleep in an alley in the Fens, at least for the night, which made Riley happy too. "Why, are you guys doing anything?" he asked her, dipping sugar cookies in cocoa as they spoke.

Riley did indeed want both cocoa and cookies - though he promised himself he would make up for it by jogging back to Claremont that night rather than taking the bus. (He wasn't confident enough to take his motorcycle out on potentially icy roads - not when he'd spent most of a year working on it!) That thought reminded him of the job he'd left in the garage, though, so when he had a cup of one and a plate of the other, he said "I'm just gonna eat this then get back to work. Wanna make sure that old Model A's workin' when that guy comes to pick it up again. Thanks, Erin," he said after a minute. "You'd be a good ethics teacher."

They'd already hashed out his worries about what had happened at Claremont - he had the idea that Midnight and Wander had launched their own investigation, even if it hadn't turned up much more than Raven's. "The Forest, a little," he said quietly. "But not even that much lately." The spectre of trees erupting through the world and maddening it would haunt him until he was old - but it wasn't something that woke him up much at night after a year on Prime. "I just keep thinkin' how easily things break. Some bad stuff happened at Claremont and people starting shootin' at each other, and I know they were just kids, but..." He made a little gesture in the air. "It's like you cut enough rope, eventually the whole house falls down."