21:10 <Crion> The reign of Winter rolls on. In an outdoor seating section in Canton, Gaunt Rose inclines her chin at Stewart as he approaches, while at perhaps a slightly distinct temporal moment, Spring keys Melanie into an anonymous sublet in the basement of UMBC's godforsaken business-tech-innovation campus, where Gemma is awaiting her fate. Nels, meanwhile, has just been signed on as a guitar teacher, 21:10 <Crion> and exhorted to learn how to drive. 21:12 <Crion> What have Tony and/or Maggie been up to over the last couple weeks? There's some BEXR in the fridge from unknown hob brewmasters(?) and some stills to set up or get running, which might be related causes. 21:15 <banana> Melanie's experiencing trepidation. It took a while to get the human emotions sorted back out but this one was easy. 21:16 <banana> To what extent is Gemma not okay? To what extent should Gemma be okay? It's hard for Melanie to admit even to herself what her motivations for coming here are, but: she should try and help. She might not be able to, but: she should try. 21:18 <CBN> First, Tony made a sign. It said 'THANK YOU 4 BEER' and he hung it by the side door of the Wherehouse. But after the 4th hob came by (that he's aware of, at least) asking for beer while screeching 'thank you' at him, he took it down, added a piece along the side that said 'GIVING US', anchored it and put it on the lawn-equivalent. Gotta assume the lawn ate it, because it's not there anymore. So he's condering everyone thanks, for 21:18 <CBN> starters. 21:18 <CBN> and *considering everyone thanked, at that. 21:18 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart smiles at Rose, unwound from the instinct to second-guess every social gesture by the chance to do some work and the couple of drinks he had before he left. "Anything interesting?" he asks as he sits across from her. His gaze wanders over her shoulder, down the streetlit sidewalk behind her. 21:19 <Crion> The first thing Melanie can tell when Spring pops the door is someone's been smoking. That someone's Gemma, and she's pretty obviously smoking right now, though she'll stub it out in the ashtray as soon as soon as Melanie in particular comes through the door. Her eyes will tighten a bit and she'll glance over at Spring questioningly. It's a question that seems to be answered when Melanie 21:19 <Crion> steps through alone and Spring closes the door. Just the one motley-mate has come to see her in her oh-no-it's-not-jail. 21:20 <Crion> Gaunt Rose: "Three dollar PBRs." 21:20 <Crion> She's sipping one. 21:20 <Crion> Good thinking, Tony. These hobs are canny. 21:21 <banana> I mean, it's still jail if you agree you're meant to be there. 21:22 <Crion> Word will work its way around -- how much time does Tony spend out in the Wherehouse's near-Hedge? 21:22 <Crion> Just ballpark, how many days a week does he spend any amount of time out there? 21:22 <banana> Melanie's going to sort of.. wave a bit. A raised limb. 21:24 <dammitwho> Maggie'll get to work on her own stills, then. Presumably a Hedge-still is going to have some extra parts that don't 100% make sense from the perspective of the science of distillation, but that's expected. She'll just vibe her way through this. 21:24 <Crion> Spring walks over to a minifridge and pulls out a Diet Coke. "Well, I'm gonna be in the other room gaming. You kids have fun." 21:25 <VoxPVoxD> Outdoor seating, cheap PBR, weirdly intimidating girl - the only difference between this and college is that his belly doesn't squeeze into the table anymore. The limits of recycling one 20 year old's memory for scenarios. "Don't mind if I do," says Stewart before securing a beer of his own. 21:25 <Crion> Looks like it's a three-room set up, a main room and two private offices, both of which are bedroom converts. Obviously you're not supposed to be sleeping here -- the bathrooms are keycarded single-seaters out in the hall -- but changelings have their ways. 21:25 <banana> Only after Spring's left: "Okay, I'm glad fun is still an option." 21:25 <banana> Only after Spring's left: "Okay, I'm glad fun is still an option." 21:25 <Crion> Gemma laughs at that. There's not a lot of mirth in it. 21:25 <CBN> Tony generally tries to spend a good couple hours every couple days out in the Hedge, ballpark to about a day a week aggregate. He tried doing more at once for awhile, but he started getting itchy if he didn't come up for air and at least pop over to the plain-world for a coffee and a newspaper on the reg. But, for circulating in the Hedge, the policy's been good neighbors make...good neighbors, and it's always good for people to know 21:25 <CBN> that the best real estate on the block, as it were, is NOT abandoned and fair game to case or occupy. 21:26 <banana> "Dumb question, but how are you doing?" 21:27 <Crion> For those keeping track, Spring was pulling an undocked Nintendo Switch out of her bag as she closed the door. 21:30 <Crion> Gemma: "Not great, and not much." 21:31 <Crion> "I can leave at any time of course. As you do. But you leave and you don't get to come back." 21:32 <Crion> Rose: "You didn't bring Lauren." 21:32 <banana> Melanie: "We've talked a bit about overthinking, getting caught in spirals or fractals - if I was in your position I'd be wondering like.. is everything ruined now. Is this community, A, the only thing left to me and B, going to blame me for everything such that I'm hated forever." 21:33 <Crion> Turns out making stuff in the Hedge is like making stuff anywhere else for Maggie. Except with, uh. A bit more Hedgespinning. Gotta be your own parts catalog! 21:33 <banana> "That's just me, I don't know whether you get that type of catastrophisation. It's more like compulsive elaboration, even-upon-catastrophe." 21:35 <Crion> Gemma: "I don't think I'm really wondering on those points anymore. A's pretty squared away to yes. B's complicated but, like, a fixed position. Thing about B is I've got no way to tell what the answer is there until I look at it. Isn't that a philosophy thing?" 21:35 <Crion> "Some shit about a cat." 21:37 <Crion> How big is the setup Maggie's committing to? Are we talking a big chunk of the unused space from the Wherehouse's first floor...adding a second floor...some kind of kooky two floor setup? 21:38 <banana> Melanie: "That's quantum physics. The only thing I know about it is that a quantum is actually a small thing, not a huge one like you'd get from 'quantum leap'." 21:38 <banana> "Ehh." She leans on a wall. "So basically, is there anything you want to talk about or is there anything I can do to help? I'm not likely to figure out something like that from nuance. But if you tell me, and there's something, I'll do it." 21:41 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I don't think I successfully conveyed how much fun it was going to be." 21:43 <Crion> Gemma: "Fuckin'...physics." She pauses. "I'd like to say, yes, there's something you can do, and it's like, small and useful and meaningful and good, and it'll make me feel better. But I just got mindfucked by a wizard into thinking she was my mom for awhile, then tortured by me but crazy, got one--" she waves a hand "--comrade killed and two friends skinned alive and kept that way because 21:43 <Crion> I talked, and then killed myself." 21:43 <Crion> "So my uh." 21:44 <Crion> "My big questions right now are like, is Summer gonna kill me while I'm walking around outside, or am I gonna walk into the next meeting with the King and find a tarp on the room's floor." 21:45 <Crion> Rose: "...Right. We're not going to need cover for this, but if we do, I'm your step-sister. Not your friend or your date." 21:47 <Crion> She shifts in her chair. "He's never seen either of us so we don't need disguises." 21:47 <Crion> Rose pauses. "...That's still true, right?" 21:47 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Sorry?" 21:48 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's mind is lagging a half-step behind as he involuntarily constructs a backstory for step-siblings who get along well enough to go out for drinks together. 21:48 <Crion> Rose: "You didn't go freelancing, is what I'm asking." 21:48 <Crion> "Your motley gets up to shit." 21:48 <banana> Melanie: "Yeah, those are solid questions. You think really practically, I- admire it actually, though you've got to think around wounds instead of just away from them- um, isn't the second one obvious?" 21:49 <banana> "The Winter Court has your back. Haven't they told you? I wouldn't have picked you for Winter at all and maybe the wizard had something to do with it but they're really, really loyal." 21:51 <Crion> What Gaunt Rose is asking directly is whether or not Stewart has come into contact with The Boy during any of his other work for the Freehold since the last time they met up, but what's underneath it is some pretty clearly pointed anxiety: Surely you didn't happen to run into the guy while doing all your important work that our bosses gave you instead of me with your politically-loved friends? 21:54 <Crion> The hobs of the Hedge have seen Tony around before, it's true, but never alone and never this regularly-and-irregularly -- never often enough to set a schedule by, meaning the hobs never start assuming he's here to sell them something (the only people who keep set schedules in the Hedge are fools or salesmen), but enough that the Clonkers and the Ivy Gang and Pepperwize and the Sock Dorks 21:54 <Crion> and so on and so forth each see him 2-3 times a week. 21:54 <Crion> How often does he bring the shotgun? 21:54 <Crion> Gemma, to Melanie: "Really loyal people tend not to take well to treason." 21:56 <dammitwho> Fortunately, the biggest part of this particular still arrangement is two large column tanks that don't quite, but almost, reach up to where the cond floor would be. Let's see, a good rule of thumb is that a full run will yield one to two fifths its capacity in alcohol... there'll be a few more tanks and tubs about for diluting some of the run, so Maggie will have to ask her motley whether 21:56 <dammitwho> they want the whole setup moved to the second floor, soon. 21:57 <banana> Melanie: "I mean I don't have the full picture of everything. Being magically mind controlled and interrogated by torture.. you're not saying that's treason. Please tell me?" 21:58 <Crion> Gemma: "I should've been tougher. I survived the Bleak House, after all. But I wasn't." 21:59 <dammitwho> In the meantime, Maggie is shaping a chunk of Hedge tree-limb into a wooden pipe with an adze, while Topper provides the music for an ancient working-song acknowledging the sanctioned types of tree, and praising the three that are friendliest to changelings and humanity in general. 21:59 <CBN> Tony tends not to bring the shotgun around at all---he's broadly anti-wizard and pro-hob in spirit, and recent experience has borne this out to be correct, and it's hard to make people believe you're not going to shoot them, if you're always carrying a gun. Besides, worst-case-scenario he's got a badge to flash. 22:00 <dammitwho> "Yew that is old in churchyard mold, he breedeth a mighty bow~ Alder for shoes do wise men choose, and beech for cups also~ But when you have killed and your bowl it has spilled and your shoes are clean outworn~ Back you must speed for all that you need to oak, and ash, and thorn..." 22:00 <VoxPVoxD> As is its nature, the beer intensifies Stewart's sadness, but it can't quite swim to the surface of his face. "I wish." 22:00 <Crion> That'll tend to lead the hobs to like Tony, but maybe not respect him as much as they might have. Big friendly guy walking around is of course a prime archetypical target for tricks. 22:02 <Crion> Rose kills her beer with a quick chug. "So how do you want to do this? Think we shouldn't split up." 22:05 <banana> Melanie: "No, come the HECK on. You're not the one you should be mad at here - sorry, I know it's useless to yell, but like - it's not going to convince any of us. Okay? Even if you think you've failed the Freehold, we don't. We don't think anyone has to meet arbitrary standards of toughness. I don't think surviving is a failure." 22:05 <trenchfoot> Nels has been keeping pretty busy, between teaching the kids, studying for her driver's license, finishing up studying for her GED, and actually preparing to take it for real. It's nice, having all of this taking up her time - she's still available for anything more magic-related, and splitting her time between the Wherehouse and her apartment makes her readily available should someone need to reach her, but this has been a nice, 22:05 <trenchfoot> mundane time after some of the worst and wildest nights of her life. 22:07 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Probably just make a circuit of the neighborhood. If he's going out, he's not going to be hard to spot. What do you want to do if it gets dangerous?" 22:07 <trenchfoot> She's also still concerned about the fact that her fetch had a child, but I don't believe has gotten any updates on that front just yet. So it's studying, teaching, and... getting involved in society again. Nice. 22:07 <Crion> Gemma, voice neutral: "My fetch made me watch as they skinned them. How do you have that conversation?" 22:07 <Crion> "Back in Arcadia, it wasn't people. It was you and a big...monster bitch thing. You don't have to have that conversation there. How do you talk about that here?" 22:08 <Crion> Rose: "Watch. If this dude's as good as his reputation, it won't be dangerous for long." 22:09 <Crion> Rose: "You said you did some augury?" 22:12 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah. He lives in the neighborhood, he's going out tonight, and we'll run into him if we check out the bars. One of those is false. Right now we're assuming the first one, that that was his girlfriend or whoever's place and not his, in the video." 22:13 <banana> Melanie's voice is not neutral at all. "Spread out over years probably. Maybe we never really manage to talk it all the way out. You didn't do it though! It makes-" She stops, visibly thinking for a moment. 22:13 <banana> Melanie's voice is not neutral at all. "Spread out over years probably. Maybe we never really manage to talk it all the way out. You didn't do it though! It makes-" She stops, visibly thinking for a moment. 22:13 <banana> "Um, I think they've given you here is a place to hide. Not from what anyone else is going to do, just.. a place you don't have to leave until you're ready. I'm not going to force you out, I wish I could, I don't have enough friends out there." 22:13 <banana> Melanie: "What I'm saying is.. you don't have to have that conversation. Like, ever. But if and when you want to, the option is open." 22:23 <Crion> Rose orders another PBR. "How'd you word them, exactly?" 22:23 <Crion> "The questions." 22:23 <Crion> Gemma pauses for a long time, then smiles slightly. "It's sweet of you to come down here, Mel. Anie. Which do you prefer?" 22:25 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart matches her order. "First one was, 'Does the Boy live in Canton', second was 'Would I be able to run across him if I went barhopping in the neighborhood', third one was 'Is the Boy going out tonight'." 22:26 <banana> Melanie: "Um, Mel is fine, the other one sounds like a sex thing?" 22:28 <Crion> She laughs. "I was just finishing your---no it doesn't. No one calls anal 'anie.'" 22:29 <banana> Melanie: "I don't know, it's been like three hundred years. I can't remember all the dumb names we gave sex moves." 22:30 <Crion> Tony is a-wandering down a near-Hedgerow when the first sock hits him in the head. 22:31 <Crion> It's hard to tell that's what it is, at first, since it's rolled up. He hears a loud THWUMP and it happens again! It's like they're being shot out of an air cannon or a pneumatic tube or something. This one is flannel. 22:31 <Crion> Suddenly they begin flying in from all sides, all different deisgns, none matching, these sock snipers hiding out in the damn foxholes in the Wyld, perched up in vantage points, forcing him to either go back the way he came or power through, possibly with violence. 22:34 <Crion> Rose: "Sounds like a reasonable interpretation. You wanna begin at the college bars, or the ethnic food places owned by white people?" 22:37 <Crion> A strange look comes over Gemma's face. "You ever watched Degrassi?" 22:38 <CBN> Tony: "Aghflp! Bleh!" He tries to swat away the socks like they're large tartan-printed gnats. To the air at large: "C'mon guys! Let's talk about this!" He will trudge on. He takes a sock to the dome. "Gah! Fuck! We can talk about this while you're talking or while you're choking on these socks!" 22:39 <Crion> Maggie soon has the whole shebang up and...running? What waste products does this thing run off? What's it powered by? 22:39 <Crion> Do the barrels and pipes comically expand and contract when it's in operation? Etcetera. 22:40 <banana> Melanie: "Yeah, I think so. Various disconnected memories.. there were a whole bunch of slumber party episodes. It really humanised Canadians." 22:41 <Crion> Gemma: "Yes! I'm watcing through it again because it's on the streaming service they have here. Want to order food and watch some?" 22:41 <banana> Melanie: "Yep." 22:41 <Crion> Gemma: "HEY SPRING!" 22:42 <Crion> Spring, muffled, from the bedroom: "HEY GEMMA!" Then the door opens. "What." 22:42 <Crion> Gemma: "Lunch?" 22:42 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Cheap beer followed by inauthentic ethnic food is the logical progression." 22:42 <banana> Melanie: "We're near campus, there's a really good kebab place. They probably have a deal on threes." 22:42 <Crion> Spring: "Yeah whatever, put it on the card. Get me some samosas." 22:43 <Crion> She shuts the door and returns to Gaming. 22:45 <Crion> Rose: "All the kitchen staff are Mexican, Salvadorian, or Puerto Rican on poverty wages. So there's some of it that's authentic. And they're really good at making the rest." She drops her PBR into single-can brown paper sleeve. "Let's roll." 22:46 <Crion> After Tony shows he's not cowed, there's a loud whistle, the firing stops. A high-pitched, tremulous voice: "YOU MAY FLEE!! WITH OUR PERMISSION!!!! ...BUT!" 22:46 <Crion> "YOU MUST LEAVE THE SOCKS!!!" 22:46 <Crion> These, Tony surmises, would be the Sock Jerks. 22:50 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart finishes his and leaves it in the recycling before they move on. 22:50 <CBN> Tony scowls and mutters under his breath, "These little, swear to fuckin', " Clears his throat. "I come in peace and will hold fire in kind! What is your deal!?" 22:54 <Crion> "YOUUUUUU!! HAVE WORN OUR SOCKS!!!" 22:54 <Crion> "THIS GIVES US POWEEERRRRRRR OVER YOU!!!!" 22:54 <dammitwho> Well, a still can run off anything you can ferment, from corn to carrots to beets to maple sap. Maggie's inclined to change things up every run, on the principle that changeling hooch should be different every time but always good. Plus, that might leave a cool residue on the non-copper parts of the setup. 22:57 <dammitwho> As for the still itself... there are parts there Maggie doesn't really remember putting in, like a pinwheel that starts spinning madly once the boiler is up to temperature, and steam belches from hidden valves and hollow tree branches every once in a while, which would actually be really bad because a still is supposed to be a sealed environment, but it doesn't appear to be steam coming from 22:57 <dammitwho> the *inside*. It's just, you know, decorative or something. Damndest thing. 22:59 <CBN> Tony looks down at his feet. In the Hedge, they're dirt. He sighs, thinks for a minute. "And I hold sway over the ground on which your socks walk. So how about we call it even?" 23:03 <Crion> ...You know, it's difficult to tell if these socks have strange powers or not. Might be best to avoid them? 23:03 <Crion> "FINE!!!" shouts the tremulous footwear guerilla. "BUT LEEEEEAVE THE SOCKS!!!!!" 23:04 <CBN> Tony hollers back, "It's legal to be barefoot! You keep your socks to yourself!" 23:05 <Crion> "THAT IS NOT OUR WAY!!!" 23:05 <Crion> Tony can, however, hear other Sock Jerks tittering from the eaves. 23:05 <Crion> He is not wrong. 23:13 <CBN> Tony: "Okay! So we're agreed then: You can keep the socks that you shot at me, even the ones that hit me, and in return I will let you go, on good terms. Sound good?" 23:16 <Crion> "AGREEMENT...SIGNED!!!" One final sock bops him in the shoulder. "SO LET IT BE DONE!!" 23:17 <Crion> A bunch of little shitheads wearing all manner of sock-dress descend to gather up their ammunition/clothing/religious paraphrenelia. 23:18 <CBN> Tony throws up his arms. "Great! Before you go, tell me, is this your territory, specifically?" 23:18 <Crion> Most will give him a workmanlike "hey" or "how ya doing" or similar grunt and nod, like they weren't launching socks at him from the very same tubelaunchers across their backs minutes ago. 23:20 <Crion> The leader, who is wearing a very stylish red sock like a cap and has a santa beard, speaks in more reasonable tones as he oversees this process: "It is...today! But now you are known to us as Good-Lad and Strong-Talk, and most importantly, not as Sock-Thief." 23:21 <CBN> Tony nods."I am proud to be known as such. And what's your name?" He fights so hard not to say, 'lil' guy?' at the end there. He fights, and wins, this time. 23:24 <Crion> Stewart and Rose's bar hop is more or less fruitless, though Rose does warm up a bit to him -- part of it is familiarity not yet breeding contempt (that's kind of like a horseshoe, and Stewart's still in the getting-to-know-you period) -- and he can tell that the other part of it is her realizing that he's just...always like this, and it's not just her. Whether that's good or bad is up to 23:24 <Crion> Stewart. 23:24 <VoxPVoxD> Like what? What is Stewart always like?? 23:26 <Crion> You'll probably have brushed off a half-dozen or more drunken frat kids looking for anything from cigarettes to a one-night stand and have eaten at least two tacos from the taco trunk on Linwood Avenue when Rose looks north across the street into Patterson Park and drops her bottled water. 23:26 <Crion> She makes good on it though, sort of redirecting it into a nearby trash can in midair. 23:26 <Crion> Rose: "Across the street but don't stare." 23:27 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart looks over at Rose in alarm but soon he's sneaking a discreet peek across the street. 23:27 <Crion> The leader, to Tony: "I'm Mayor Sock. These are Gruff Sock, Nerd Sock, Grumpy Sock, Pithy Sock..." He will go through all couple dozen of them if permitted. 23:30 <Crion> Across the street, walking a dog, is a tall boy with silver hair in a black tanktop and jeans, variably enjoying the night and arguing with a girl in daisy dukes, a flannel shirt, low-cut boots, glasses, and tattoos covering basically all of her except her neck and face. 23:30 <VoxPVoxD> Damn. 23:32 <CBN> Tony happily permits Mayor Sock to go on, and on. 23:33 <Crion> Well, your narrator won't, but Mayor Sock appreciates it. When he's finished, Mayor Sock will nod at a job well-done (his own; reciting names) and the Sock Jerks will have collected all their socks. "So! You're from around here now?" the Mayor asks. 23:35 <Crion> Rose, staring pointedly up the street: "That's gotta be him and the girl with the videolog." 23:36 <CBN> Tony thinks for a second. "I suppose I am, yes. Tony Fewhands." He gives the Mayor a thumbs-up. "We moved in awhile ago over the way, mostly help out where we can, save the world from wizards with giant orb monsters, you know. Just things people do." 23:36 <Crion> The Mayor nods again. "...You're not the new Baron, are ya?" 23:38 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's looking at his phone. "You're right." Which way are they heading? 23:39 <Crion> Round the block, then north -- according to the Maps app, there's a dog park up there. 23:40 <CBN> Tony: "The new...what?" 23:40 <VoxPVoxD> "Dog park that way," he notes. 23:41 <Crion> The Mayor, quickly: "So no, then! Well! Goodly met and good day!" He begins whistling and the Sock Jerks begin following him off. Tony is released from his oath. 23:42 <Crion> Rose: "We gotta figure out where he...they?...are sleeping." 23:43 <Crion> It's getting a bit late -- probably around 11 PM now, so every part of the dog park that isn't "place a dog can take a shit" is certainly closed -- so might even be able to get that. 23:45 <CBN> Tony shrugs. "Alright, another one to ask Stewart about then. If you guys ever need help come find me, I'll see if I can lend a hand. Thanks for the neighborly welcome!" He calls sincerely, as they leave. 23:46 <Crion> Mayor Sock remains, uh. Imperiously reserved? But a number of the other Sock Jerks will wave, nod, return his farewell, etc. 23:47 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Can't be far, we can tail them." 23:48 <CBN> Tony continues his wandering. "Love those lil' guys." 23:50 <Crion> Steve is going to be waiting for Tony back home at the Wherehouse; he's probably bothering Maggie, though he's probably not fool enough to be giving her advice on the still. 23:50 <Crion> Probably! 23:56 <Crion> Rose: "Yeah. Good thing it's night." 23:57 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods. 00:00 <CBN> Tony eventually completes the day's meander and ends up back at the Wherehouse. He grabs a two beers, on account of assuming Steve will come over as soon as he sees it's drinking o'clock. He'll be ready with a question when Steve comes. 00:02 <Crion> honk HOOONK 00:02 <Crion> This male goose wants to get FUCKED UP on that hooch. 00:02 <Crion> So far he has been denied. 00:05 <CBN> Tony offers Steve a Coors as a compromise for not getting into the BEXR. It is, after all, The Banquet Beer. 00:06 <Crion> He will accept, but right now he's more focused on Maggie's still. What's she building in there? What's she building in there?? 00:07 <Crion> Anyway Steve calms down after a couple glugs of Coors. What's up? 00:07 <CBN> Tony: "You ever met Sock Jerks? Mayor Sock? Weird lil' guy, 'bout, yea high? Shoots first, demands later?" 00:07 <Crion> Rose scarfs down the rest of her taco and steps off into an alley. They don't really have time for the loophole... 00:08 <Crion> Steve honks proudly. He apparently was at war with them for awhile because they shot a sock at him big enough to wear on his butt, so he kept it. 00:08 <Crion> Not a great idea, all told. 00:09 <Crion> Though clearly HE'S fine. 00:09 <VoxPVoxD> That's fine, fear is cheap. 00:09 <CBN> Tony: "Nice. Nice. Anyway they asked me if I was the new Baron? So what's that? Did I become that? What's up with that." 00:09 <Crion> ...That gives Steve pause. A bit more terse of a honk: Baron of what? 00:10 <dammitwho> Maggie's filling a jug with corn mash. After long thought, she's decided the first run should be a small one of ordinary corn whiskey, to make sure it all works properly and to see how being in the Hedge affects it. 00:10 <dammitwho> "Hey there, Tony!" 00:11 <CBN> Tony: "They didn't say!" He turns and waves. "Hey Maggie! I got shot with socks today!" 00:12 <dammitwho> "What?" 00:13 <CBN> Tony: "Yeah, I met these lil' guys, Mayor Sock, some other guys named Sock, like the Seven Dwarves only a lot more of them, and with sock launchers. It's cool I'm fine. What're you up to in there?" 00:16 <Crion> Rose and Stewart follow the couple up the street to the dog park, then. They continue bickering with each other, though both seem relaxed and unsuspicious. Their dog is adorable and very stupid. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EavNfluXsAEhi5U?format=jpg 00:16 <dammitwho> "Oh, just getting the still ready for its inaugural batch. Nothing special this time." 00:16 <VoxPVoxD> Aww! 00:18 <Crion> Steve looks pensive, which most involves narrowing his eyes and reading the Coors label. 00:20 <CBN> Tony: "I know what you're thinking, but you don't have to be at a banquet to drink it." 00:20 <Crion> The dog wanders around yapping stupidly and eventually poops, but there's a moment where they're badgering over something -- and obviously getting extremely horny -- where he leans in and draws her close and sort of brings two fingers up suggestively-- 00:20 <Crion> And she, with genuine annoyance, bats his hand away and looks around. 00:20 <Crion> And starts lecturing him. 00:20 <Crion> Before she did that, though, you could see his fingers turned silver and started shifting their shape. 00:21 <VoxPVoxD> ...huh. 00:23 <Crion> From there, they head back to what is clearly the walk-up from those unmarked videos Stewart uncovered. She's got the keys, as you suspected, but he's not giving her a good night kiss or anything -- looks like he's coming in. ...There's a weird van in the alley parking space. 00:23 <VoxPVoxD> Weird how? 00:25 <Crion> Well, one, it's clearly an extended cab and almost too-wide to be street-legal -- it's not QUITE an RV, but it gets close. Two, it seems to have a neon light-up sign on the side? It's not lit up now, of course, but... 00:26 <VoxPVoxD> What does it say? 00:27 <Crion> Since you're invisible, it's trivial to sneak up and trace out THE ABSOLUTE EDGE in loopy, cursive script. 00:28 <VoxPVoxD> Man Stewart hopes this guy isn't secretly a child-murdering psychopath or something, cause this owns. 00:29 <Crion> Anyway they're heading inside; you're about to lose them for the night unless you go snooping. 00:29 <Crion> Or if you want to fight them while they're making out on the steps. 00:30 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's inclined to give them some privacy. They've got an address, they've got tags on the van. We don't need to watch them bone. 00:30 <VoxPVoxD> He does give them one last searching look, though. 00:32 <Crion> The Absolute Boy -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WpnPSChVRQ Move fast baby, don't be slow; / step aside, reload, time to go. / I can't seem to control / all this rage that's inside me. 00:33 <Crion> The Absolute Girl -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpsbPGCxScc I'm not winning / But I'm having a very good time. 00:35 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart lets the contract lapse after they've gone inside and he's gotten out of windowshot. Any sign of Rose? 00:36 <Crion> Well, someone's just slid out from under that van while softly grumbling. 00:37 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Did you stick a tracer or something?" 00:44 <Crion> Reappearing as they get away from the apartment. "The old standby, witch's twig and twine. Hopefully it doesn't break." 00:45 <VoxPVoxD> "Did you see that thing he did with his fingers?" 00:45 <Crion> She snorts. "Yeah. She did too. Guy's got not chill." 00:45 <Crion> *no 00:50 <VoxPVoxD> "What kind of person can do that...? Have you ever seen anything like that before?" 00:50 <Crion> Rose shakes her head. "Probably not a vampire." 00:51 <Crion> "That's usually my first guess when a weird one shows up. Vampires." 00:51 <Crion> "They've always had the most thaumadiversity as a population. But metal Protean? That's new." 00:52 <Crion> "You don't get mineral vampires. Least I've never heard of any." 00:53 <VoxPVoxD> "Famously difficult to get blood from a stone, yeah. We could try plugging some search terms into the Book..." 00:54 <Crion> This time, she doesn't bristle at the mention that Stewart has access to more resources than she does. "That sounds like a good idea. 'Absolute Edge'? What is that, I wonder." 00:54 <Crion> "Anodyne enough to put on the side of a van." 00:54 <VoxPVoxD> "Maybe he named his sword." 00:57 <VoxPVoxD> "What's your tolerance for the dudes in the Belvedere, anyway? If you can deal with their whole deal, I can get you access to the Book. It runs on Glamour, so either of us can use it fine." 01:00 <Crion> She blinks at that, clearly shocked. "You'd...I can handle them fine." 01:00 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Cool. I'll set that up." 01:01 <Crion> "Um. Okay. Cool." 01:01 <Crion> "Cool." She stops at a street corner. "I think this is me." 01:01 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Good night. I'll let you know if I come up with anything." 01:02 <Crion> "Yeah, thanks. ...Good night."