Updating Doctor Martin
Starring: Bernard, Brey, Corinna, Khoi, Noah Martin and Alex Foster
What a cute Saturday morning in San Francisco. Alex Foster is making his rare appearance. He has with him a hardbody, wheeled travel suitcase in black plastic, and in his distracted state the security door and main door give the pillowy old man some trouble, but he manages it. He has in one hand a number of brilliantly colored, chromatic paint chips, hence the tango with the door and not dropping them. "Ah!" He speaks to himself, really, "There we go, finally." Alex has come here to fulfill a task, and so he moves straight for the kitchen with his rolling suitcase. He neglects to take off his shoes indoors, the animal, tracking in the microscopic filth of the Mission on his ... isotoner boat shoes, as he heads to the kitchen junk drawer to pull it open and make a deposit of tass.
The good Doctor Martin comes down from the second floor of the Chantry, where he's been living recently as he tries to rebuild his life from when he was last a part of this reality. He is dressed in the finest 1960s mod styles, a silk shirt and skinny pants. He nods to Foster as he takes a seat in the room and waits for the others to arrive.
Bernard edges into the Chantry carrying a pink pastry bow, a section of newspaper tucked neatly under his arm. The baby Sahajiya is dressed in a sleek indigo suit with a freshly sewn blue bird on his lapel. He moves toward the kitchen and startles at the Alex and then at the good Doctor before scrambling to gather some composure and offering each of the established mages a nervous smile. "Uh...sirs? I brought vegan doughnuts?" he holds them out unsure of how to act in their presence. The lanky mage in the sets the doughnuts down on the island, then the paper from 1985 right next to it. He takes a deep breath as if to summon some effort to ask, "Cool if I make some coffee?".
Corinna is looking more haggard of late, pillows under her eyes because she hasn't used any in a week or something. She's already in the Party Pad's too-quiet Party Room, brooding in the Egg Chair. Her blue hair is a bit greasy, and she's nursing a mug of coffee.
At first, Foster notices jack point shit. His pager buzzes. Yes, his pager. He moves to look down at the belt cinching his Levis and whips out the thing, frowning and muttering to himself about this and that as he squints at the various numbers that scroll across the little LED screen.
"Already?" A small noise of frustration, and he pokes at a button, which makes its little plasticky click.
'Uh, sirs? I brought vegan doughnuts?' ... Nope, not a word from Foster, who is ostensibly translating numbers into letters and making sense of the message in his head as he stares.
Then, finally, he turns. "What? Vegan doughnuts? No, we don't have anything vegan." A pause, and then he realizes the man had actually brought some. "OH! I see. Well, how nice. Thank you," he says, generically, "Thank you ..." The way he trails off asks for a name.
But then he sees Foster, and the man blinks. Owlishly. He even sputters. "Wuh, -- hello?" Disbelief colors his wrinkled features. "Don't I know you? Noah?"
Dr. Martin looks at the vegan doughnuts for a moment, considering what they are supposed to be, then shakes his head and decides not to take one. He responds to his name with, "I'm surprised you remembered me at all. I can assume from your general demeanor and manner of dress that you are Alex Foster, and based on that, I'm honestly surprised you are here. Your projects are almost obsession, are they not?"
Khoi comes on down the stairs. He's dressed nicely today! A sharp, fitted dress shirt, illustrated with a fetching, floral pattern of maraschino red roses. A slim-fit pair of black, cuffed chinos, some nice belt and wood bead bracelets to pair with a watch. He's been here for some amount of time this morning, his shoes at the door. He stops at the base of the stairs and he hears Dr. Martin's voice. Turning to look, his eyebrows raise in surprise. "Oh, wow, you're back! I was wondering where you went!" But then he realizes the tone of the room has shifted a little and so he clams up for now.
Bernard holds up a hand toward Corinna when he notices her posted in the egg chair. He points at the pastry box implying he'd bring one to her if she wanted. The Initiate in the sleek bespoke startles when Alex Foster eventually addresses him, his eyes widen a little before blurting out, "Bernard sir. I prefer the lard myself by I know Khoi gets down vegan so...". As the two older mages start to chop it up he edges away, looking relieved to have escaped the attention of the brass now focused on making a fresh pot of coffee. When his pseudo mentor descends the baby Sahajiya starts to wolf whistle but cuts it off pretty quickly looking between Mr.Foster and the good Doctor.
"It really is you," Alex says, and for the first time in an age he actually sets down his pager, forgetting it on the counter. "Yes," he nods, awe clouding his voice, and maybe his judgement. A laugh loosens in his throat and he steps closer. He blows right past poor Bernard, and the vegan doughnuts. "Of -course- I remember you. My God, you haven't changed a -bit-, what happened?" Apparently, this entire time, he hadn't even noticed the letter on the fridge at all.
Corinna considers the dregs of her mug, face restingly bitchy. After a moment's consideration, she gets her feet on the ground under her and climbs up so that she can stalk over to the curtain of beads that separates the large main room from the kitchen. Time for another cup. Plus, everyone is kind of packed in there now. She walks like she belongs there, with a casual confidence. Though today tinged by whatever grumpytimes she's about.
She silently upnods to Bernard, before slipping a hand into the box and grabbing whatever random donut her fingers find. And then she goes over to lean her hip on the counter next to him, so she can cross her arms and watch the conversation between Foster and Martin. Also, so her coffee can get a refill. She sets her mostly-empty mug on the counter, and her eyes flick to Bernard's. And then to the machine. Just checking. The progress.
A look of disbelief crosses Dr. Martin's face as he says, "Well, in any case, I need information. I've been out of the loop for 50 or so years, and I assume a lot has changed in that duration. I'm caught up on what's going on in the world of the normal people, but what news is there of our world? I contacted some friends in the Sons.. er, the Society of Ether, and they've sent over some documents to read about the wider world after they stopped repeatedly questioning how I'm not dead, but I need information about the Awakened world of San Francisco."
Khoi doesn't get closer. He stays by the stairs for a moment, before he edges off towards the egg chair that Corinna had been in. He slides into that chair to watch from a distance.
Also, Corinna smells like she hasn't showered in a day or two, so perhaps she's a bit *too* close to Bernard.
Bernard puppy dog pouts at Corinna obviously a little worried. "Do you want me to make you something else? Some eggs or something?". As soon as the coffee finishes he gestures for Corinna to grab the first cup. His eyes narrow a little, distracted by the good doctor's words. He first looks to Alex almost as if he expects an immediate answer. Then to Khoi offering him an upnod as he closes distance. Bernie points at the fresh coffee if the other Time Mage is inclined. Body language and tone suggest Corinna's funk does not bother the amateur mage in the fly threads.
Alex just keeps staring at Dr. Martin in awe. "Right, right, information. Fifty years. Fifty! It's been that long? Where were you? I thought you were dead. We all did." Alex pats himself down for something, but whatever he seeks he doesn't find. He leaves the rolling suitcase behind to join a seat close to Dr. Martin. He looks to Bernard and to Corinna. "Have you two met this man? This is Adept Noah Martin, he made this house," he says, knocking heavy knuckles against the kitchen island. "And we've been keeping it maintained in his memory but, but..." He lets out a delighted laugh and looks his unexpected company over once again. "Gosh! You're not dead. You don't look a day older!"
Oh, yes. He nearly forgot. "Well, ah, fifty years. Wow." His large nose draws in a suck of air to think on it all, and then he picks the first thing to update him on. "I would first warn you that all the mapping of the umbra is horribly out of date, now. There was an incident, the Avatar Storm, it wrecked the Umbra like a tornado or a hurricane. We're nearly all at square one again trying to chart the Umbra, I think we easily know hundreds of times more about the deep ocean than the other realms, now, so don't do any traveling without being prepared."
Khoi settles into that egg chair. But then he realizes that Corinna has left a ... musk, behind, and he sits up suddenly. He gets up out of that chair post haste. He looks to Bernard and offers a quick look of acknowledgement.
Corinna takes Bernard up, pouring herself a cup of JOE. She puts the 60's era percolator's pot back under the drip, and then reaches out to pinch Bernard's ear under his curls. Softly, like you might squeeze a puppy's ear. RBF replaced, for a moment, with a thin smile. Not much of an explanation, there. Does it mean, sure? Thanks? You're cute? De nada?
She turns her back to the counter and lifts herself up to just sit on it, grabbing her mug from behind her and sipping.
"How you doing, Doc?" she offers at last, voice quiet but low. "You've been busy since we pulled you out with that machine. I've been here for... 8? Years? My Mentor, Royce, was never much one for the city, so for the first few of those I'd only been to 28 once or twice a year." She pauses to sip more coffee. It loosens her tongue, one supposes. "I'm told that the Trads and Union both sort of abandoned the city in the late 80s, before I was even born. Foster," she upnods at Foster, "Made a Thing that makes it more difficult to see into the far. So even less of a Union presence since then. That was before I came to the city. And then... only recently we've been seeing more Union activity. I've wondered to myself if this city is a place of Stasis, of being stuck. I left for a year but found myself drawn back like a moth. Maybe you being unstuck is a reflection of that changing?"
Bernard looks similarly awestruck when Alex explains who the good doctor is. He offers a little wave to the Etherite mouthing, "Holy shit." as the information soaks. When Corinna puppy squeezes his ear he blushes a little and gives a ticklish giggle. After the Verbena gets her coffee he collects a cup himself before flopping into the nearest available seat. By his expression alot of this is new information for the initiate.
"I've only been here for about a year and so, I'm from Denver." The Vietnamese Cultist moves in a little closer, tentatively joining in the conversation instead of just wallflowering. "The past year I've lived here, it's been very aloof and low-key. I liked it because I needed some time in my life without a bunch of chaos... But yeah, there's this big spell blanketing the city now that strengthens the illusion of space."
As people begin to talk and explain the changes in the Awakened World, Dr. Martin pulls a pen and a small notepad out of his pocket, and proceeds to take notes. He nods and says, "Well, I guess it's for the best that all of my work was lost with the house I was working on when the accident happened. My maps of the Umbra were in that house, but it seems they're worthless now. As far as my return indicating an escape from Stasis for the City of San Francisco, I disagree. A place is only as static as the people residing in it allow it to become. Moving away from apathy will break the hold stasis has on the city, but in the same breath will bring the Union down on us all faster. What else has been going on? Did anyone find a way to destroy all the vampires? I can only assume they're still leeching the people dry."
Alex is still operating against the inertia of his disbelief in Dr. Martin's presence. He watches the man write with close attention, like he's trying to suss out whether this is all a dream. He's just short of pinching himself. The man, obsessed with his projects indeed, falls immediately for the subject of the 'thing that makes it more difficul tto see into the far'. He does allow Corinna to finish speaking, as well as Bernard and Noah, but the look on his face that already lit up there is a clear indicator of an incoming impassioned ear-beating about his work.
"Ah! I made it twenty two years ago. Can you believe that? Back then, it was experimental. I was attempting to find a way to intercept network traffic..."
What follows is an eye-glazingingly unhelpful, dry-as-sawdust technical explanation of his baby of the past two decades. What can be sorted out of the blather that could put someone to sleep is that Alex is married to this work now, constantly in the act of maintaining it, although it's now displayed some 'eccentricities' that he comments very passingly on before going off about more techno-babble that reveals little more than how much of an insufferable turbo-nerd he is. As he talks, the situation seems to melt away from his thoughts, singularly focused on the Signal Jammer.
Corinna... kind of just interrupts Foster after a minute or two.
"Honestly, there hasn't been much active teaching about vampires for newcomers. What were they like 50 years ago? Most of what I've learned about them has been in the last few months. Before that I was aware they existed but it was hard to find information. Now, it's still hard to find information but I've had to dig for it myself. And it's one of those things where, like. Once you know what to look for, it feels like they're everywhere," Corinna replies with her rounded Californian accent, taking another drink of dark bean nectar.
"It's actually an agenda item for the next Advocate Council meeting. To establish some formal guidance when encountering them. Was that how you governed back then? Doing a miniature Horizon Council covering the whole peninsula?" She pauses again, and leans back a little, where she sits there on the counter. "For you it's only been a few weeks, right? Months? Why _did_ you make it so that time moved so slowly in that realm?"
Khoi listens to Alex. Does he have a choice? His sense of courtesy to not interrupt a man of greater knowledge renders him mute. He tries to follow along, and for a while there, the man's electrical engineering education actually does help him keep pace for ... As long as his attention span allows. Corinna's subject change is a glass of water in a desert. His attention span recussitated, Khoi looks to Dr. Martin. "Or _did_ you make it that way? I would imagine it was a side-effect of the overall situation you were in versus the one we were in. Like, in Contact, but backwards."
Dr. Martin sets his pen down on the arm of his chair and answers the question, saying, "Unfortunately, I didn't do that on purpose. I was able to create the little pocket realm using a device I had acquired from a fellow Etherite, but even he couldn't explain why the Realm had such slow moving Time. The device, unfortunately, was only meant to maintain a single realm, and when I attempted to do it a second time to give us multiple safehouses with similar abilities, it backfired, and in the process of creating the second house, I was ripped into the pocket realm maintaining the first house. The device melted to slag, so it's just dumb luck that this pocket realm continued to exist."
Bernard nods slowly at the Dr.Martin's words, "That's real.". And is immediately swallowed up and lost by Alex's techno babble. Throughout the explaination he looks to Khoi like a man clinging to driftwood in the sea. When Corinna interupts he looks a little relieved stifling a sigh. Blinding he paws for a doughnut not seeming inclined to take his eyes off the older mages. He is about to take a bite but Corinna's last question about the duration of the doctor's trip grips his attention, his mouth hovering agape over the tasty cruelty free treat. When Khoi follows up Bernie just points at him finally taking a nibble.
Khoi leans in to Bernard mid techno-babble when he's looked at like that. He can't just leave this confused, irritatingly beautiful puppy abandoned on the side of the road. So he says to him, in quiet tones, "It's like, imagine you're listening to your favorite radio station, then you drive into a long tunnel. The radio station can't reach you really well anymore because you're in the tunnel and the song gets garbled. He basically made a big tunnel over the city that bounces certain types of magic."
"How did you get out? How did you get back?" Foster manages to pull his head out of his project long enough to ask at least that. "When did you get back?"
Dr. Martin nods and says, "Well, I was running out of space in the pocket realm, and managed to cobble together a small device that let me get some kind of message out to the people out here. Some of the newer folks out here managed to put together a rescue party involving a giant cockroach spirit." He picks his pen back up and asks, "How are we on nodes? I hope at least that the one outside is still ours."
Corinna had other questions that went unanswered, but. Such is the often way when speaking with other Mages. She drinks her coffee, eats her donut in respite.
"Lauren got the message and asked Many to help." She stares at Alex Foster for a moment, considering. Right. He wouldn't have paid enough attention to even realize the spirit is there, likely. "Many-Legs-Trash-Thief is an aspect of Cockroach that we've made a small alliance with." Pause, as she redirects her gaze to Martin. "I studied your cleaning spell, a bit. Interesting craft. I had originally guessed brownies were creeping in at night to clean up. I've thought, though, why not just melt down the trash for drams or juice?" Another pause. She looks to Foster and Bernard, "Then Khoi and I used a machine to get him out." She looks to Martin again. "For Nodes, well, there's the one in the alley, yes. Coda, an investigator, he's found evidence that the Union was trying to change its vibes to violence and anger. We've kind of run them off for now, though, but need to do better. Add alarms, guardians, something. The Sutro Baths node was taken over by a monster at some point, and then recently by the Union. Karina's working on a way to take it back." She stops there, but gives the impression from her body language that those are all she knows about.
Bernard "Ah"s when Khoi breaks it down for him then almost immediately snaps back to the more experienced Sahajiya with a very concerned expression. He casts a wary look toward the Virtual Adept before getting lost in the good doctor's talk of the umbral realm. The mention of nodes draws Bernie's attention back toward Khoi shrugging apologetically. Corinna's explaination draws him back from silently clinging to the other Cultist. His eyes narrow a little looking less lost and more fascinated.
It's a cute Saturday morning and the usual suspects are sat at a table! Alex Foster has made a very rare appearance, having left his rolling suitcase in the kitchen, and Khoi, Corinna and Bernard are none too far on the kitchen side of the bead curtain. But there's a new face at the kitchen island, sitting next to Alex Foster's poofy-paunched, saggy and bearded melty-candle-faced countenance. The new face is dressed in a silk shirt and skinny pants that scream OH, BE-HAVE in their kitschy mod style.
Foster hears the subject of nodes and pushes up the thick frame of his dated, acetate glasses, letting Corinna explain it all. He is, in fact, comically out of the loop himself. In fact, he nearly remains out of the loop because his pager buzzes. He takes a moment as Corinna speaks to fetch and check it, then clips it onto his belt, another opportunity to hear about Many Legs and digest the fact of his presence probably missed entirely.
"We assumed you were dead after a while," Foster says after a pause, as he finds himself still gawking at the ghost of his past. "We called you, we visited, but you weren't home. Zoe called in a wellness check with SFPD but got nothing. Alice thought you went to..." The name of the place has been lost to time. Those azalea bushes that Foster calls eyebrows tangle together as his brow draws to recall it. "... She thought you went somewhere off in London? Anyway, but she asked around. We tried to ping you. I never would have thought, fifty years ago, to check in other -realms- for someone. And so when I kept finding nothing, after a few days of searching, we just ... Assumed you were dead. We left the Chantry in your name, and I've kept up the records since, which ... Oh!" Foster just brushes along into a jarringly mundane detail of life immediately after his admission of assuming Martin was just dead: "That reminds me, there is a P.O. box we have routed mail to your address to, I will have to get you a key. We use it for deliveries and catalogs."
Oh hey, a casual moment of Brey arriving, dressed in one of those top tier Brey outfits: a dark tiered skirt with a few old bleach splashes on one side, a brown knit sweater that's partially unraveled in a few places and only prevented from unraveling further thanks to a few safety pins, and some sort of bluish-green shirt visible through said unravelled portions. As for her hair... coffee stirrer-pinned bun. Always a classic. Her coat, scarf, and hat she seems to have taken off in the short entryway, so when she steps inside, it's to remove her shoes and put those to the side, glancing towards the room...looking again, both brows raised at the sight of Alex, before she readjusts the tote on her shoulder to exchange for slippers (from said tote) before she wanders inside. "Hello again, Alex." A look towards HERR DOKTOR, "And the doctor, I presume? Welcome back."
The doctor ignores Brey's greeting, and with a rather disapproving look on his face, responds to Alex with, "Oh, so you mean to tell me that you didn't bother to investigate my disappearance with Magick at any point? I'm so grateful that my fellows sent the SFPD to investigate whether I had killed myself. Obviously, if the SFPD can't find a lost Mage in the city, nobody, not even people possessed of senses beyond the scope of reality, would be able to find me. That's really a lot to process."
Corinna is sitting on the counter next to the coffee pot, next to Bernard. She's a bit greasy and bag-eyed. But the Nectar of the awakened coffee machine has animated her somewhat.
"Hey," she greets the other witch.
Then the conversation turns stormy, and though the coffee is good it's not good enough for her to get up in that. Her brows lift in an unimpressed look, and her eyes flit down to check the level of liquid in her mug.
"Hey, Brey," Khoi smiles, but then he hears what Alex says. He pauses, and his lips part in some unformed thought, double-blinking. He blurts a soft, impressed, "Woah. What? Wait, we found you. Corinna and Lauren and I found you..." The volume of his voice tapers off when he realizes the scope of what's being discussed here. "...Oh."
Bernard is doing his best to keep up but obviously there are several obvious moments the initiate gets lost in the exchanges. When Brey comes in his rises up to wave at her seeming relieved at another familiar face. "Hey I brought some vegan doughtnuts if you're hungry." he calls to her when conversation allows. He shrinks back down to his seat frowning a little bit hearing Khoi. Both hands wrap around his coffee cup and he starts to chew his bottom lip looking between the two older mages.
The disapproving look solicits some blinking. "Now that is an assumption." Foster's voice finds a stern note to match the steely tone that reproaches him from the recently returned Doctor Martin. "That is absolutely an assumption. Again, we tried to ping you. I connected to several base stations, and I tried multiple frequencies to find something that would pair with your own. I simply did not think to check in other -realms- in my search, I was not capable." This, of course, says nothing of the fact that the man said 'a few days' of searching for him. "We looked for you. What, do you think that we didn't look for you -enough-? Who is the judge of that?"
Vegan doughnuts. Khoi looks to the vegan doughnuts when Bernard re-mentions them, but it feels a little ... rude ... to go reaching for them now. He steps back once as Corinna's Eau De Actual Toilet reaches his delicate sensibilities.
The doctor shakes his head and says, "We live in a world that the normal boundaries for even mundane tasks aren't enough. If someone like us vanishes, there's more to consider than just what's in front of your eyes. I mean, I'd at least want to make sure, make sure they were dead for sure, find some evidence to prove it. It's dangerous for someone to disappear and not get any confirmation of what happened to them. But I'm sure you needed to get back to your Great Work, so a couple days of mundane stuff is enough, and a cursory 'Is he in the vicinity' check with some extended vision routines. Let's remember that should Mr. Foster ever vanish in the future."
"Doc, I, uh," Corinna throws out there, "I get it. You feel betrayed. And for you it's fresh, it's only been a few weeks. Your life's been interrupted. Nobody you know from back then is here still, except..." she gestures toward Alex. "It doesn't sound like Foster did you intentionally. He just is who he is." She pauses. "What do you want to do here? Join the Council, tribunal him for betraying you? Not sure it plays out that way. Forge new connections with us, now that _we_ found you? Help us make changes here, get out of stasis? Let Foster make amends, keep that throughline to your time? We can't change that past." I mean, maybe *someone* could. But not the we in this room.
Brey tilts her head, considering for a moment as she rather quickly builds a mental checklist and/or timeline of events, then sighs softly as she heads towards where there (hopefully) remains coffee - and, at minimum, donuts. Those watching from the sidelines get a smile as Brey joins in, Corinna getting a sympathetic pat on the shoulder in solidarity - or a request to move. The smell does catch Brey off-guard, but. Well. Brey did grow up on a farm! Besides. Tired witches seeking coffee, it's an eternal bond. "Thank you, Bernard. Would you mind getting me a plate for the donuts?" She asks the baby Sahajiya, before her attention goes to Corinna, tone mild and dry in that very Brey way, "Now now, Corinna. Some people find it of paramount importance to decide who is most to blame for something long after nothing can be done about what's happened." She looks towards the two men, her tone no less dry, mild, but not perhaps a touch demure, "So then. Adepts Foster and Martin, coffee? Tea? Water? I can only imagine you'll need something to wet your throats. Can't have either of you having a coughing fit before you get tired of the soudn of your own voices." Even as she speaks, she's opening the fridge to find...yes, some leftover grapes, and an apple, heading to the sink to rinse them off.
Bernard sucks some air through his teeth as the two technomages go back and forth. Without looking away from the Chantry founders he produces a flask from his coat pocket and gently taps it against the rim of his coffee cup. He shifts in his seat away from the Virual Adept who clearly make him uncomfortable trying to focus on the good doctor as he adds a little bourbon the freshly brewed coffee. He sighs a little pulling his phone from the opposite coat pocket but just sets in front of him on the table. It's not immediately clear whether he is looking for something or just emptying his pockets.
He stops fidgeting when Corinna speaks nodding a little turning his concerned puppy dog eyes toward the Etherite. The lilest Cultist relaxes even more when Brey speaks up taking relief in his irish coffee before hopping up to grab the plate for her.
Anger flashes in Foster's eyes, and the pillowy man's knees pop as he rises to his feet. Brey's 'now now' rolls right off of the elderly Virtual Adept like rain on a mallard. "I was not the only one who thought you were dead, Noah. It's not a crime for me to trust in the word of my cabal mates!" In Foster's race to make a defensive point, of course, his next words potentially cut like a pure insult: "Who, I must point out, ALL assumed you were dead. Is it Hotel Cecil's fault they didn't think to look for that dead girl in the -water tank- on the -roof-?" He throws up a heavy-knuckled hand, and then finally notices Brey's presence. He remains flustered. "No, thank you. I was only here to deposit tass and check the grounds." He looks at Martin and the unwelcome note his tone takes on is as if he's doing the guy a favor: "And despite being swamped in my work, I only stopped because Noah is back. I'm not sure I would have, if I knew you were going to be so ungrateful for your own return."
The doctor says, "Well, I'm so glad you're so up on what's going on locally that you were able to attend today's gathering." He takes a moment to calm himself, and continues, "None the less, you have given me a lot to think about and process. I think I need to get out of the building for a bit. I'm going to go grab some dim sum or something. Please give me space while I deal with my internal turmoil." He stands up and walks out of the house.
"Uh, Doctor Martin," Khoi reaches up a hand, a discouraged look on his face, but he tries to intercept him. Alas! He is too late, and he winces as the door shuts behind the Etherite. "Shit."
Corinna lifts her harm and sniffs. She slide-hops off the counter, pours a little more coffee in her mug, and heads toward the beads. "Whatever. I'm going to go take a shower."
- bye
Corinna drinks her coffee while in the shower, btw fyi.
"Stop by whenever you think is safe, Alex. I'll give you a new potted plant." She probably tries to do that every time, just to remind the virtual adept trees exist. She shakes her head at Alex's outburst, opening her mouth to say more, before her attention turns to the already-departing Doctor, "Try Mama Ji's, Doctor Martin. The coffee and refreshments will be here waiting for you." Brey calls out, before shaking her head and murmuring something in spanish and pouring herself a mug of coffee.
Bernard cocks his head reassuringly at Khoi then flashes a peace sign to Corinna and she starts away. Another sigh and another sip before he too slides out of his seat. "Uhh I think I'm gonna go too..."
"Assumptions, assumptions," Alex mutters in his frustration. He looks to Brey when he hears her voice. "A what?" Surely, the Virtual Adept just didn't hear her properly. He knows what a potted plant is. "OH. Yes. Of course." He moves off to fetch his rolling suitcase, pauses, finds himself a vegan donut and plucks one from the box with a paper towel. "Who brought these, again? You did." He lifts his chin toward Bernard. "You did. Thank you. They're very nice." He doesn't actually know what they taste like yet, but apparently has seen fit to compliment them. "Ugh, give Doctor Martin your support, but it's not my fault that he disappeared so thoroughly."
Khoi drops his hand. He makes brief eye contact with Bernard and gives him a worried smile. "That's uh, that's a lot to take in, man, I didn't know he was gone THAT long."
Brey gives a smile towards Bernard as she takes her knife and chop, chops the apple into wedges, putting them on the plate, along with a handful of freshly washed grapes. "Thanks again for the donuts, Bernard. You don't have to go if you don't want to. But...this is a very weird situation." Brey says, sighing and shaking her head, before looking towards Alex, "We'll help Doctor Martin as we can, but you should remember he HAS just been in some other realm for who knows how long. He likely has a lot of very intense emotions as well. Of course he might be frustrated." Brey's voice is mild as ever.
"He hasn't aged a -day-," the mage whose years are clear to see in his wizard beard says. Sure, his wand might be an antennae and his eye of newt is lines of LISP, but still, that salt and pepper would fit Merlin all the same. He really should cut it. Or shape it. He might look 15 years younger if he participated in the world of 'looking presentable'. As it is, though, the Virtual Adept moves to grab his rolling suitcase, stuffs the vegan donut in his mouth, and heads for the door, with donut in his mouth: "Goof bye you fwo."
Bernard smiles warmly at Brey, "I just need to run some errands." his warmth shrinks a little as the Virtual Adept begins to depart. He looks at the older mage with his hands full and holds the door open for him. It's obvious he wants to avoid being on Alex's radar so he turns his attention back to Brey, "I'll be back tonight." when Alex passes he makes sure to nod in acknowledgement. "I'll see you guys." and finally takes off.
