From a decorated shed, the faint hum of a large water filtration system drones out into the background, mixing with the many crisp gurgling flows of water in and out of the small, private pool. Flickering against the dimming evening sky, tropical themed torches gently illuminate the area, wisps of smoke trailing up into the air. Poolside tables and chairs surround the perimeter, empty in the gentle warm breezes filtering through the tall bamboo and leafy landscaping barriers. A pump spins up in a separate hot tub, secluded from view by a vine coated privacy screen. From the pool, soft splashes of water sound out, in contrast to the soft ambiance contained by wooden latticework fence around the area.

Modoran sighs and rests his head back, allowing his lower body to float in the gentle, calm water. Keeping anchored in place by his elbows upon the steps to the shallow end, he slowly relaxes himself with the occasional winces of dull pain. He squirms stiffly, stretching out annoying, stubborn sections of muscle. Gradually releasing a long breath, he opens his tired dark blue eyes, gazes up to the emerging stars above, and pulls an exhausted, hopeful smirk across his face. He grits his teeth and carefully rolls his dusky bluish gray body through a few general stretches. Surrendering with a grumble, he relaxes what he can of his thin, athletic form. He cinches up the drawstring on his blue swim trunks and sinks further down into the water. Bubbling out a long sigh, he resurfaces. His stare grows distant into the darkening evening sky.

Snapping back from inside his mind, Modoran blinks briefly in confusion, his eyes darting around with paranoia towards entrances and exits. He lifts his light gray haired head out of the water and curiously aims his long, pointed ear towards the familiar voices of Deedri and Tassilda. "Okay..."

Tassilda's relieved voice grows louder and clearer. "OH... Gods. Be. Praised. FINALLY, we get to enjoy this pool without those insufferable camera crews trying to capture our most revealing poses possible."

Deedri's apprehensive cadence colors her uncertain tone rising out of the background din of water and pool equipment. "I know. I didn't even want to wear shorts with them around yesterday. It's such a relief they're busy elsewhere..."

Pausing a moment, she lowers her volume slightly. "But... I'm really still not so sure about this swimsuit."

The gate doors swing open, and Tassilda struts through the archway built into the surrounding privacy latticework fence. Glancing back with a reassuring smirk, she smirks with encouragement hinting in her voice. "Oh, please. You have NOTHING to worry about. I'm actually so jealous you found that, AND it fits you so amazingly."

Motioning Deedri forward with a wave, Tassilda strides further towards the pool. "Now come on! We have to enjoy this while we can."

She stands up to the end of the pool in her bikini, gazes around with her hands on her hips, and notices Modoran idly relaxing nearby. "Oh. So, THIS is where you disappeared to?"

Modoran nonchalantly shrugs his bare shoulders, sinking himself to a seat upon the shallow end stairs. "Yeah. Oh. And, do not worry. The camera crews left a while ago. From what I overheard, it seems like they were off to do some last minute footage uploading, or something."

He rolls his eyes and snorts. "They were really persistent to get a last minute shot, though. I was practically in a staring contest with one camera guy."

Behind Tassilda, Deedri's furry, tufted tip ears flick momentarily towards Modoran's voice. Halting her progression briefly, she quickly inspects her modest, patterned two piece swimsuit. Awkwardly summoning her confidence, she steps up next to Tassilda and gazes over to Modoran with a wag of her long, fluffy tail. Modoran attempts to continue his story and trails off, his attention shifting elsewhere. "But, he gave up on me... Um, after I didn't do... Well, anything..."

His focus fumbles about, ambling around one particular direction. A few moments later, he resumes some semblance of his usual nonchalant demeanor and waves back to Deedri with a smile. "Oh, uh, hey. Uh, I see you found your swimsuit. It looks very nice on you."

Tassilda bounces her examining gaze between Modoran and Deedri and rolls her light blue on black eyes with a twisted smirk, stepping towards the diving board at the deep end of the pool. Pressing through her shyness, Deedri dons a goofy smirk and nods, glancing down "Oh. Thank you. Yes. Uh... It just happened to be under something else. I guess I must have put something on top of it when we were rushing around to events, or something..."

Wagging her tail, she smiles and slightly relaxes her shoulders. "I'm just really glad that I'm getting to use it before we have to leave."

The diving board audibly flexes and rattles. Tassilda dives into the water with barely a splash. Emerges up to the surface, she perks her brow at Deedri, guiding her raven hair off her bikini top. "Well? What are you waiting for? Get in the water."

Deedri blinks back to attention and glances over eagerly, pardoning herself from the stilted conversation. "OH. Yeah... One moment."

With a calm, relaxed exterior, Modoran nods understandingly. Sprinting up to the edge of the deep end, Deedri leaps into the pool. Touching the bottom with her feet, she springs herself upward and coasts up, breaking the surface meters away. She combs her hair out of her auburn eyes and laughs. "Wow! It's been too long since I swam in such a nice pool!"

Tassilda casually backstrokes and pries, lifting a curious eyebrow. "What do you mean a nice pool?"

Kicking through the water with her tail waving behind, Deedri calmly strokes through the water. "Well... Um, this is a really nice pool in comparison to the ponds and creeks I usually had when growing up."

Smiling with a humored snort, Tassilda shakes her head and glances over, shaking drips of water off her swirling, black horns. "I HAVE to visit your hometown someday."

Deedri and Tassilda enjoy the cool waters against the humid, hot night air. Upon the shallow end steps, Modoran relaxes and watches on. Deedri and Tassilda casually swim multiple laps and float lazily around, staring up at the night starry sky. Pulling away from staring at the moon above, Deedri glides over and sits on the shallow end steps next to Modoran. "Hey. How are you feeling tonight? Still sore?"

Trying to maintain a nonchalant attitude, Modoran smirks to Deedri, a hint of wince slipping out. "A little. But, I feel pretty good overall. Well, especially considering, I got my ass handed to me last night."

He glances away briefly and gazes at Deedri with an appreciative smile. "Which, um... Thanks for patching me up. And also, well, talking some sense into me."

Shrugging briefly, he chuckles softly. "Maybe some good will happen from all that drama."

Deedri's damped furry ears perk up and her tail wags through the water. With a happy smile, she nods some of her multi-colored, longer hair free. Smirking with a bit of embarrassment, she rests her hands on her knees. "You're welcome. I'm sorry if I poked a little too far into your family affairs. I, uh, may have gotten a little too righteous there."

Modoran rolls his dark blue eyes with a shake of his head and reassures Deedri with a genuine grin. "You did not. Honestly... Having that outside perspective kind of pointed out the really damn obvious."

Smiling and relieved, Deedri gazes over to Modoran. "By the way, your family is really nice. They weren't quite what I expected. But, maybe..."

She hides a soft bite of her lower lip and sighs. "I've been reading the wrong things about Evuukian houses."

Fighting off his embarrassment, Modoran chuckles lightly and shrugs his shoulders with a brief wince. "Yeah. There is a public face all the houses want to have. In reality... They are more typical and just as dysfunctional as any other family. Mine just happens to own a few choice businesses in the service industry."

Deedri agrees with a nod and darts her eyes around the subject with an awkward hint. "Yes. I also would never have guessed your sisters would be so..."

Modoran lifts a humored brow and chuckles lightly. "Different? Yeah. My parents and I have tried to figure that one out for years."

With a tight smile, Deedri averts her gaze briefly and grins partially. "I STILL can't believe your mother gave me THAT bottle of wine. I'm going to have to hide it and save it for some special occasion."

Modoran snorts, shaking his head with an amused smirk. "Don't worry. She was very happy you took care of me and patched my sorry ass up."

Shifting his weight around, he resettles into his seat upon the pool step at the shallow end and grits his teeth, rubbing his lower back. Deedri flicks a damp furry ear over towards Modoran's quiet complaints and leans close, investigating his pain. "If you are still sore, you might try soaking in the hot tub over there. A little heat couldn't hurt to relax the muscles."

Tassilda swims closer to the two. Modoran twists his mouth and grimaces in mild disgust, grumbling. "Normally, I would. And, really want to. But..."

He slides a side eye over to the tub within the privacy confines. "I am going to stay away from that thing. And, I recommend you two do the same."

Deedri furrows her curious brow, and Tassilda spins her stare over to Modoran expectantly. Averting his gaze, Modoran sighs and shakes his head. "Chad and Veevi were in there earlier. And, well..."

He contorts his dusky bluish gray face and shudders briefly. "The camera crews were VERY interested in something going on there, for some reason. So, I would just enjoy the cool waters of the pool... To be on the safe side."

The trio cringe in unison, the ramifications of such an encounter sinking into their minds. Tassilda closes her light blue on black eyes hard and shudders in the water with disgust blatant on her face. "OH. GODS. Thank you for the warning. I think I'll pass on soaking in slut soup."

Deedri's expression sours, and she tenses her shoulders. "No thank you, too."

Glancing over to Modoran, Tassilda lifts an inquisitive eyebrow and scans the surrounding area, focusing through the gaps in the wooden lattice fence. "By the way, do you have any idea where Trakenthin went off to?"

Modoran thinks for a moment, turning his head towards a section of the privacy barrier, and points in a rough direction. "Uh, yeah. Last I saw him, he had a bottle of some grath wine he ordered from room service and had a book in hand. If I remember right, I think he headed off towards the hammocks. I have not seen him come back. So, he is probably sleeping it off, right now."

He shrugs his shoulders and twists his mouth. "I figured if I didn't see him come back after I got out, I'd check over there. Though, I don't think I could move him by myself if I had to."

Tassilda stands up, combing her raven black hair back over her swirling horns, and rests her hands on her hips. "Well, I'm going walk around a bit before I get back in the water."

Wrestling a spark of concern on her gray, patterned face, she sighs. "Better check on him... You two want to join?"

Deedri glances over and up towards Tassilda, thinks a moment, and slowly rises out of the water. "Yeah. I better come along just in case. I do know a few ways to make someone sober enough to stumble into a proper bed."

Standing up, she tosses her hair back and shudders. She presses the water out of her tail fur, and Modoran's eyes sneak over, watching her attentively. Deedri glances over to Modoran, catching his gaze upon her, and observes him awkwardly trying to shift his focus smoothly elsewhere, obfuscating his previous peek. Secreting away her satisfaction, she calmly asks Modoran with a kind smile. "Are you going to come along?"

Modoran assumes a nonchalant facade with his typical smirk and shakes his head slowly. "Ah, no. I am going to soak for a little while longer. But, if you two need my help, just let me know."

Deedri nods and steps up the stairs to join Tassilda. The two walk out of the pool area through another archway built into the privacy fence. Tassilda walks a significant distance away from the pool with Deedri at her side. Smirking slyly, Tassilda leans over with a quieter tone. "So... How are you liking that swimsuit of yours, now?"

Quelling a flush of pink in her cheeks, Deedri averts her auburn eyes away,and calmly replies, tapping her clawed fingertips together. "Well. I think I'm warming up to it."

Over in the pool, Modoran stares up at the starry night sky and sighs, quietly pondering in the moment. He squirms around upon his seat on the shallow end step, straightens up his posture, and glances down at his lap through the waving reflection of the moon. Twisting the hints of embarrassment on his face, he glances around the area and mumbles to himself. "That was a... very nice swimsuit..."

----

The old humvee rolls down the long, winding two lane highway. Under the late afternoon sun, thinning forests pass by on either side of the ancient military vehicle, hints of civilization peeking through the gaps of bordering trees. Cideeda taps her claw tips on the steering wheel, steering down the road, and flicks her emerald eyes up at the rear view mirror inquisitively. "So, do we want to try to squeeze in one more place today? Might be able to fit just one more in. Just saying."

Sighing, Aristespha relaxes in her seat behind Cideeda, sinking into the worn cushions. She scrolls through a few notes on her tablet, shaking her head of silvery blue hair apprehensively. "We could try... But, I do not think we have enough time to give such anything close to a proper investigation."

Narrowing her violet eyes at the time showing in the corner of the display, she wrestles a grimace. "And, if I remember correctly, most offices or checkpoints for those sites close in an hour."

She taps through a few menus on the screen, contorting her face, and accepts unfortunate fact with a sigh. "It seems like anything else will take, at least, thirty minutes to get to."

Cideeda flicks her furry ear back, nodding her head, and rolls her shoulders with relief. "Yeah... I was figuring that would be the case. We'd be asking for trouble from someone official if we stayed for too long."

Crossing her arms, Sotalia rolls her golden eyes and snorts with a derisive tinge. "Yeah. That's the last fucking thing I'd really wanted to have to deal with today. Some security guard following us around and pestering us to leave, so they can go home."

She shrugs her shoulders and smirks with a faint amount of compassion. "Not that I don't blame them. But, STILL..."

Flipping through pages of a heavily annotated printout, Bach narrows his blue eyed gaze, scrutinizing sets of numbers next to location coordinates. "Well, the last few places didn't have anything much to speak of, to be honest. Just a bunch of little things with traces of elder energy remaining."

He scratches his head close to the white streak in his long brown hair and grimaces uncertainly. "So, I don't know if there's really anything significant left to find. Well, at least, nearby."

From her seat upon the back bench, Dretphi leans forward and peeks over Bach's shoulder, holding onto the back of his seat next to Aristespha. Furrowing her brow, she focuses her steely gray eyes and points out a line on the print out list. "There was the energy storage artifact."

Bach studies the entry, nods in agreement, squinting his eyes thoughtfully, and traces an entry row across to the furthest columns. "True. Very true. You know, I wouldn't be surprised if the number of items or strength of them was what these other numbers over here indicated. But..."

Closing his eyes , he grumbles with a slump of his shoulders. "Who the hell knows what scale they're even based on."

From her seat, Aristespha glances over at the list and brushes her silvery blue hair out of her violet eyes. "Yes. I was theorizing that, too. We will have to sit down and compile all the information we have found out. There HAS to be some significance to those numbers. At this point, we might just have enough information now to decipher the meaning."

Sebastian's ghostly form drifts over to the impromptu meeting, peeking over the group. "Well, we found two major targets and put monitors on them. If Noxian is going off the information indicating the amount of energy, those will probably be the most likely places he'll visit. Hopefully, those will also be the places he'll stick around the longest to investigate after tripping our traps."

A collective agreement spreads through the team, spirits rising up with the sparks of hope. Sotalia shifts her attention to the increasing signs of civilization in the world outside the vehicle and scans the road ahead with her golden eyes. "So... Is anyone else hungry?"

Settling back onto her bench seat, Dretphi gazes up towards the front of the humvee and nods, removing crimson armor plates off her suit. "Yes. Food would be nice."

Cideeda drums her claw tips on the steering wheel, searches out on the horizon, and narrows her stare to the emerging city scape. "Let's see here... Yeah, I think this is that part of town where we got sniped trying to capture that one fugitive at the motel. And..."

Scanning the horizon, she squints out into the distance and sorts through the emerging advertisement signs along the roadside. "If I remember right, there was this one place I wanted to try out when I got the chance..."

She slows the humvee to a stop at a stoplight intersection, glancing around the area, and spots a "Fval Spice" sign at the corner of a strip mall parking lot. "There it is."

Pointing out the location, she seeks out the rest of the team through the rear view mirror and perks a furry ear over her shoulder. "Should we give it a try?"

With no obvious objection or counter, the team agrees. Cideeda navigates through the intersection, finding a route into the parking lot. Pulling into a close spot, Sebastian's ethereal visage disappears into the sword at Aristespha's side with a smirk. "Just in case they don't serve ghosts."

The doors of the humvee open, and the team exits the vehicle, stretching out to near normal postures. Securing unneeded equipment inside, the group walks up to the store front of "Fval Spice". A chime rings out from the door bell above, and the team ventures through the front door of the restaurant and congregates near the counter of the dining area. Noyando appears from the back room and greets everyone. "Oh, hello! Welcome. Dine in, or take out?"

Aristespha glances around, confirming with the group overall, and smiles pleasantly to Noyando. "I believe it will be take out, today."

Nodding happily, Noyando picks up a few menus from a holder nearby and passes them out to everyone. The team flips through the pages, studying the choices, and arrive at decisions. Cideeda steps up to the counter and orders in fvalian. Noyando responds with a quick question in a similar dialect, and Cideeda answers with a toothy grin. Sotalia moves up next, and recites her order in fvalian to the delight of Noyando. Pointing to the menu, Bach shows the selection to Noyando. "I'll go with this."

Noyando nods, writing it down, and glances over to Bach, tilting his head curiously. "How spicy?"

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Thinking a moment, Bach motions with his hand indicating a middle amount. "Moderate. Just above two out of five? Maybe a three?"

Aristespha rests her menu back into the holder and waits for Noyando to glance over. "I will have the red curry. Pork. Four out of five with the heat."

Dretphi points to an item on the menu. "Steak stir fry."

Shakes her head, she solidly states. "No spice. Please."

Noyando finishes writing up the orders, taps the information into the register computer, and inquires towards the group. "Separate or together?"

Retrieving a card from her pocket, Aristespha hands over the plastic payment method to Noyando with a smile. "Together."

She smirks and peeks over her shoulder at everyone else. "I think this qualifies as a business expense today."

With few final key presses, the system processes the transaction. Noyando returns the card to Aristespha with a receipt and nods to the group. "Thank you. Please, have a seat. I will get your food out shortly."

Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia find a larger table, and each sits down. The minutes pass by. Flashes of cooking fires radiate from the back kitchen, and sizzles roar out. Faint clouds of smoke and steam unleash a delectable aroma into the air. Team members individually relax, idly talking about topics other than work. The discussion shifts over to "The Next Heroes of Nexus". Dretphi grimaces uncomfortably towards a cringe, shaking her head of platinum blonde braids. "That was NOT a proper sparring match. That was a FIGHT."

Bach nods in agreement, wincing slightly. "Yeah, that was something UGLY right there. Nothing felt good about that whole thing."

Smirking, Sotalia drums her long, black nails on the table top. "OH. There's some problems with that father-son relationship. If THAT is what a sparring match turns into, that's just the surface of a big, nasty ordeal."

Sighing thoughtfully, Dretphi twists her mouth, pondering out loud. "Strange. Disturbing. Sad."

The conversation wanders towards catching up on the latest episodes. The door chime rings, and Meredosia walks in. Counting out cash and receipts in her hand, she slips behind the register. She enters the signed receipts and cash into the drawer and writes down bookkeeping notes. Stepping through the entry into the back kitchen, she addresses Noyando. "I am done with the local orders. What do you have next?"

In between the different steps of the dishes he's cooking, Noyando glances over and points to a pair of handled paper bags on the back counter. "Those. Further out. The electric scooter is charged. So, go ahead, and use it to deliver."

A trace of an eager smile graces Meredosia's ivory face, and she grabs hold of the key hanging on the wall with one hand, picking up the bags with the other. "Will do."

She quickly crosses through the front area towards the door and past the team, when Noyando calls out. "Mera!"

Mera halts and spins around, blinking. "Yes?"

Noyando's voice rises out of the din of sizzling food. "Take the alley ways. They are faster, and you don't have to fight traffic."

Nodding, Mera resumes her exit, opening the front door. "Will do. Thank you."

A few minutes later, Mera rides off through the parking lot on a sit down electric scooter and zips over towards a nearby alley way. Bach glancing over, Mera disappearing from sight, and comments with a reminiscent smile. "Man. That reminds me of the one I had when I was in school."

With a hint of grin, he chuckles. "Damn. That really made getting around that campus SO much easier."

Cideeda's furry ears perk up, and she lifts an inquiring eyebrow towards Bach. "What do you have?"

Bach grits his teeth briefly in a mix of embarrassment and awkwardness. "Well, it might be best to say what it originally started out as. I mean, that scooter went through a number of..."

Darting his eyes around for explanation, he shrugs his shoulders. "Revisions? Yeah... We'll just say revisions."

He narrows a stale, irritated glare towards the sword at Aristespha's side and grumbles loudly. "Some that a particular person was responsible for."

From the sword, Sebastian's voice softly emanates in an accusatory tone. "Fuck you, bro. At least I didn't run headlong into a vending machine."

Minutes pass on by, the team bouncing between one idle topic and another. With a grand entrance, Noyando appears from the back kitchen with paper bags stuffed with food containers. "Your orders are ready. My apologies for the wait."

The team stands up, excitement and eagerness very apparent on all their faces towards the awaiting meals. Dretphi lifts up the hefty bags off the counter with a thankful nod towards Noyando. Noticing a small stand with business cards, Cideeda plucks one up and examines it. "So, how far out do you deliver?"

Thinking for a moment, Noyando taps his claw tips on the counter and shrugs with an entrepreneurial smirk. "Within a few kilometers. But... If the order is big enough, and we're not too busy, I can make exceptions. Just expect a longer wait and a larger delivery fee."

Cideeda bows slightly with a smile. "I think we might make it worth your while."

She catches up to the rest of the team, starting to filter out through the front door. Watching the group leave, Noyando takes a seat behind the counter and relaxes with a long sigh, staring out the front windows. The late afternoon sky shifts through a spectrum of orange hues. Minutes pass, and Mera zips through the parking lot to a side alley, parks the scooter, and walks in through the door. Her crimson eyes sort through the signed receipts, and she hands them over to the sedate Noyando. Moments later, Noyando snaps back to awareness and graciously takes the receipts from Mera. Studying the table the group was at, Mera combs her long gray hair back into order and lifts an intrigued eyebrow at Noyando. "Who were those people?"

Pondering a moment, Noyando shrugs his shoulders and glances over to Meredosia. "New customers. I think they are adventurers. They certainly look the part. But, I've never seen them before. Might be new in town? I hope they come back. Adventurers usually tip nice."

Mera returns her gaze to the table and grimaces thoughtfully, puzzling uncertainly. Noyando stands up from the chair behind the counter and stretches his back, walking over to the back kitchen. From beyond the folding screen, he calls out. "Mera, what do you want to eat tonight? We have some time now to cook."

Mera's long, pointed ears perk up slightly, and she excitedly wanders in the back, eyes hungrily wide open.

----

Sitting around the dining table in the ranch style house, Aristespha, Cideeda, Bach, Dretphi, and Sotalia dig into their take out orders, thorough enjoyment blatant. Sebastian hovers next to Aristespha, enjoying the aromas pass by and through his ethereal form. With a piece of chicken pincered between her chopsticks, Sotalia pauses feasting and points the wooden utensils over to a small set of light armor plating in progress on the coffee table. "So, Cideeda, how much more needs to be done on that?"

Cideeda perks her furry ears, glances over with her emerald green eyes, and mentally deliberates, contorting her light brown face. "Well... It's close. Really close. I just need to do a few more adjustments to get it just right, for my preferences."

Thinking for a moment, Dretphi studies Cideeda, nodding. "We are close. Need to reinforce seams. Test to find hidden issues."

She shakes head with a sigh. "There always are."

Bach swallows a large bit of his basil stir fry, sniffing from the building heat upon his faintly reddened face, and gazes over to Cideeda. "Speaking of which, um, do you want to cut any more plating? Think I've figured out how to tweak the magic flows a little better after that last batch. Shouldn't take as long as before, I think."

Resting her head on the palm of her propped hand, Cideeda hums indecisively, idly stirring her pepper and spice loaded beef and coconut cream curry. "I think I got the major pieces cut. Any fine detail work, I'll take care of myself. It'll probably just be a little angle grinder and rotary tool work."

She shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly, singling out a morsel from the meal with her chopstick. "Nothing too demanding..."

Flashing an eager, toothy grin towards Bach, she wags her long fluffy tail. "Just be ready when I ask for those armor enchantments."

The split unit air conditioner kicks on in the living area, and a gust of air breezes through the room towards the dining table. The gentle wind wafts the spicy vapors off of Cideeda's meal down the table. Bach waves the potent smell away with a chuckle. The heated wind graces Dretphi, splashing over her. She unknowingly draws a long breath in through her nose. She reflexively coughs, squirms, and winces, covering her nose with curses in grath. Bach glances over at Dretphi with a bit of concern. "You okay?"

Dretphi settles down and nods to Bach with a warm smile. "Yes. Caught me off guard."

Sliding his curious gaze over to Cideeda, Bach lowers his attention upon the potent, spicy dish in front of her. "Okay... I have to know. How the hell can you eat that with your sense of smell? I mean, that just seems like it'd be pure, fucking torment to your senses."

Cideeda blinks blankly, nods down at her food, and shrugs her shoulders towards Bach indifferently. "I don't know. You just, well, get used to it when growing up. Heat and spice was just always a traditional thing with everything my mom and dad cooked. Never thought it was anything special, until I started eating with other people."

She widens a smug, toothy grin. "Then, I just considered it one of my talents. I won a lot of leftover lunch money in school with all the bets."

Barely hiding her sneer, Dretphi narrows an incredulous glare at the toxic dish in front of Cideeda and quietly quips. "Excessive spice hides poor quality. Proper main ingredients should carry the dish with minimal assistance."

Sotalia snorts into a snicker and points the chopsticks at Dretphi, smiles slyly. "OH! It has been a long while since I heard from your inner food snob."

Lifting an intrigued brow, she briefly grimaces. "Now, I know exactly where you get it from."

Rolling her golden eyes, she picks up another piece of chicken, motions with the wooden utensils, and playfully mocks. "So... Would this dish best be improved if it was cooked in a stone bowl upon an open flame?"

Dretphi grumbles to herself, eating her cooler food. Halting a moment, she smirks and snarks. "I do not expect one who requests well done steaks to understand."

Bach shakes his head with lighthearted laugh at the debate between Dretphi and Sotalia and turns his attention over to Aristespha calmly eating her red curry. "Huh. You're handling that pretty well, Aristespha."

Nonchalantly shrugging, Aristespha pours another hefty spoon load of curry upon her bowl of rice. "There was a fvalian restaurant across the street from my dorm at the Grand Library. Quite a few of us were competitive about handling the heat. So, I have built my tolerance up over time. It is certainly not what it used to be. But, I do my best to maintain my tolerance."

Nodding understandingly, Bach shrugs with a reassuring smile over to Dretphi. "I mean, hate that you're missing out on the experience. But, if the heat is not for you, that's fine, too."

Sotalia grins smugly and bites into another piece of chicken, lifting a mocking eyebrow directly at Dretphi. "Yeah. Just not for you, huh?"

Furrowing his translucent brow at Sotalia, Sebastian shakes his head slowly and mouths out. "Leave it alone-"

A defiant wave bubbles up through Dretphi and crests, twisting her face. Reaching over the table, she plunges her fork into a chunk of chicken and spicy vegetables on Sotalia's plate and brings it close to her mouth. Sebastian snaps his surprise over to Dretphi and dons a calm, polite tone, drifting over into her view. "Okay. There's no need to prove anything so drastically. So long as you enjoy your food that's all that matters, right?"

He chuckles encouragingly. "And, you can work up to it if you want-"

Dretphi deliberately places the spicy food into her mouth, staring right at Sotalia. Gawking in shock at Dretphi, Sotalia watches her close her mouth. Dretphi pridefully chews and tilts her head to the side. "Did you order this hot?"

A flush of red colors Dretphi's tan cheeks, she struggles keeping the stoic facade up. Bach glances around the table and spots the anticipating stares of Aristespha, Cideeda, and Sebastian, and Sotalia's disbelief. Summoning up her defiant pride, Dretphi breathes out words with hesitation sneaking in. "Not... bad. It has its... Unique flavor."

Sotalia slides back from the table, studies everyone briefly, standing up, and walks towards the refrigerator. "I need a refill on my drink. Anyone want anything? Water? Ice cold water? Milk, maybe?"

Harshly swallowing a mix of pride and spice, Dretphi raises her finger and points to her glass with a nod. Bach nudges over his egg soaked rice and whispers over to Dretphi. "It helps."

Mustering an appreciative smile to Bach through a nearly reflexive grimace, Dretphi scoops some of the yellow coated rice onto her plate and nods thankfully to Sotalia placing down a fresh glass of ice water next to her plate.

----

Down the walkway between furniture in the small upstairs bedroom, Samantha paces back and forth. Near the double doors to the balcony, she pauses and gazes out. Humming in thought, she glances over to Gerald sorting through data cartridges. "Okay. We SHOULD be able to stretch out the scenes from the resort, for another episode. But..."

She narrows her hazel eyes. "We NEED something MORE."

Typing a few commands on his laptop, Gerald settles back into the chair and idly watches a message prompt appear on screen, a progress bar slowly filling. "Well, with a bit of editing, we almost have a whole episode's worth of stuff. It might get a little repetitive towards the end, but it could still work. A well-timed ad break should hide how repetitive it is."

Howard sounds out from the speaker of the phone on the desk, verbally sorting through his thoughts. "True. But, it wouldn't be bad to have some contrasting segments to break up any possible monotony. The editing crew is good... But I don't want to push it too much. You only get so many of those episodes before people start complaining."

He pauses a moment, the sounds of keyboard typing mixing with paper shuffling from the other side of the call. "By the way, is Trakenthin's father still around? Got a copy of the invoice from that cheap motel we booked him in."

Rolling her eyes with a sneer of the upper lip, Samantha brushes back her brown hair and slowly shakes her head with a hint of annoyed disgust. "YES. He's making sure to milk every bit of the deal we offered him. Do you want me to... STRONGLY ENCOURAGE him to leave?"

Gerald blinks a few times and sits up, an idea popping into his mind, and pivots his chair towards Samantha. "Wait. What if we did another segment with Trakenthin and his dad? Something like a bookend bit and farewell for now type of thing?"

Howard's plotting tone leaks through the aetherphone speaker and drifts into the room. "Yeah... I like that line of thinking. But, I don't want to run another training or sparring segment. It's too soon. Need something else to differentiate it. Something to set it apart from the rest..."

Samantha dons a sly smile, sits down in another chair near Gerald, and ponders out loud. "We got to stir things up. There's GOT to be some bit of drama we could amp up and ignite. But..."

She curls up an eyebrow and glances around her head, drumming her fingers on her clipboard. "What exactly?"

Grumbling to himself, Howard's cadence slides towards frustration. "Unfortunately, Trakenthin isn't the easiest to genuinely antagonize. Save a few things... And, it seems Veevi only has Chad's and Tassilda's buttons figured out."

His voice trails off, and Samantha twists her face in contemplation. With both idling on their thoughts, Gerald crosses his arms and smirks unsatisfied. "If there was a way to get a rematch between Trakenthin and Dretphi. THAT would get viewer attention. But, I really doubt you'd be able to convince either to go for it at this point."

Nodding her head in agreement, Samantha flips through her clipboard of older notes, halts, and gazes at a guild quick physical identification guide, closely studying a line. "Dretphi Prakkenten Reti Veranattin... Reti... Where have I heard that before?"

Gerald perks up, cocks his head to the side, and puzzles at Samantha. "Trenannin got on a really hateful rant about a Commander Reti. Blaming him for being a coward and fucking up the progress in fighting against the Red Gears..."

With an annoyed frown, he reaches over to a pile of data cartridges. "Gods. He just kept going on and on. I know I got the clip around here somewhere, but I didn't think some war vet's angry rant would be useful."

Samantha eyes spring open with recognition and a devious grin grows on her light face. "THAT'S RIGHT! Dretphi is Commander Reti's daughter!"

Narrowing her aimless stare, she rests her chin on her hand, pondering out loud. "Trakenthin knows that... He figured that out from the info we gave the team a while back. But... He hasn't mentioned any of it to his father... I wonder if it's because he knows it'll set his father off?"

A dark chuckle oozes into the room from the aetherphone speaker, and Howard's evil scheming tone fills the space with his mischievous eagerness. "I DO wonder if that's the case. I think it might be worth trying to inform him of certain details, such as the fact that Commander Reti's daughter is right next door..."

Howard's laugh infiltrates the soundscape of the bedroom, and he plots with devious glee. "And... Make sure that he knows that she's the one that beat his son publicly in a sparring match at that convention."

Cringing slightly, Gerald alternates his gaze between the aetherphone and Samantha, squirming uneasily. "Uh. Are you sure about THAT? I mean, I'm all for mixing things up, but that sounds like it might actually detonate. You two might want to watch that clip of his rant first before you go with this plan."

Samantha switches to another clipboard of paper and starts excitedly writing down an outline of notes. "That just might WORK, Howie! Trenannin might challenge Dretphi. BUT, more than likely, he'll push Trakenthin to demand a rematch!"

Howard's satisfaction radiates from the speakerphone, and he sighs in anticipation. "And, I'm quite certain that Trakenthin's father will spout off plenty to CONVINCE Dretphi to accept the rematch."

Uncomfortably witnessing the scheme forming before him, Gerald shifts his attention to the progress bar on his laptop and grimaces uneasily, mumbling to himself. "Sounds like you two have that covered. Uh, I'll figure out a backup plan to deal with the small war that might happen."

----

In the messy academic office, large wall monitors scroll through endless status messages and system information prompts. Nash reluctantly eyes a tall stack of paperwork upon his desk, curling an upper lip into a sneer of defiance at the task before him. Slowly easing back into his squeaky office chair with a long metallic groan, he runs his fingers through his long, graying hair. "Gods... Dammit..."

He gradually allows the spring loaded back of the chair to lift him upright to his desk and rests his arms to either side of the imposing pile of paper. Slowly shaking his head, he stares at the stack in disbelief, groaning. "How... Just... How can there be THIS much budget paperwork?"

With building suspicion, he narrows his pale blue eyes, facetiousness bordering on seriousness. "They have to be making up policies to justify their jobs... Yeah... That's it... That explains it..."

Reaching out hesitantly, his hand close to lifting the first form on the pile of bureaucratic doom. The door opens quickly, and he freezes. A graduate assistant steps in first with an irritated Vetra entering immediately afterwards. The young evuukian man grimaces uncomfortably, eying over to Vetra, and apologetically stares at Nash. "Uh, sorry to interrupt."

Nash drops the top form back onto the pile and slides the mass off to the side of his desk. With a mixture of confusion and relief, he addresses the graduate assistant and Vetra. "Not a problem. Really."

Furrowing his brow curiously, he tilts his head to the side and puzzles at Vetra. "So... Uh... What ever do I owe the honor your visit?"

Vetra tosses a sealed plastic bag onto Nash's desk and points a sharp, dark fingernail at Nash's desk, gritting her sharp teeth. "THAT."

The young evuukian man stiffens his posture, struggling for anything beyond an awkward explanation. "Uh, well... We checked out that server on that work order finally. And well... Found... uh..."

Picking up the plastic bag with his finger and thumb, Nash lifts it up into his view, revealing the bewilderment plainly on his face. "Okay?..."

He slowly rotates the container to different angles and quietly examines the pair of panties and used condom. Seconds of perplexed and substantially disgusted expressions later, he gently drops the bag on his deck and quietly shudders. "Ewwww."

Searching for a reason between the graduate assistant and Vetra, Nash holds his hands up and out to his sides, absolutely baffled. "I REALLY don't know what to make of this. Explanation? Please?"

Noticing Vetra's constant, darkened orange eyed glare at Nash, the graduate assistant chimes in sheepishly. "Um... Well, the good news is the server is just fine. But... We think a possible cause for it momentarily being off the network was due to... uh..."

He coughs and meekly mumbles. "Unanticipated physical contact?"

Rolling her eyes in disgust, Vetra's pointed ears droop, and she growls out. "Someone was LITERALLY FUCKING AROUND in the server room, AND left a gods damned MESS!"

Nash smirks towards a frown, lifts an uneasy brow, and attempts to vent off his discomfort with a chuckle. "Well, how much of a mess are we talking about really-"

The graduate assistant interrupts in a plain tone. "We cleaned the ceiling."

With wide eyes, Nash blinks blankly and shakes the mental imagery out his head, focusing upon Vetra. "So, how did you get involved?"

Vetra crosses her arms unamused, furrowing her brow, and explains. "I found it strange for a graduate assistant to be asking for a ladder, mop, bucket, scrub brushes, gloves, and the strongest cleaner for biological mishaps to clean up a server room."

She pauses a moment and slides a suspecting stare upon Nash. "And, I'm just generally suspicious when any of your graduate students request supplies."

Releasing a long sigh, Nash shakes his head, glances over to the graduate student, and mercifully waves them off. "Thank you for handling it. Get out of here while you can. You've done plenty. We'll talk later."

Nodding in agreement, the graduate student slinks off, relief for his freedom obvious, and escapes the overwhelming pressure of opposing authorities. Nash gazes at Vetra and relaxes back in his seat with a long metal squeak. "So... What do you want me to do?"

Vetra taps her sharp, dark nailed fingers on her arm, and narrows her stare at Nash. "Well, find out who did it, of course."

Rubbing his temples, Nash grimaces in thought and rocks his head side to side, sorting through the options out loud. "Okay. Right. Yeah. I think there's an old camera that watches that particular door to that area. It's mostly to watch that hallway more than anything. BUT, it does get a decent view of that door."

He turns to a monitor on his desk, slides his keyboard over, and types out a series of commands. "Well, let's get the camera system up and check the recording."

The large monitors overhead on the wall flick over to a new layout showing multiple, current camera feeds. Nash retrieves his aetherphone from his pants pocket, sorts through the interface, and scrolls through a list of alerts. He settles upon a familiar series of entries and studies the time stamps. Quickly entering the data into the camera system interface, a large monitor switches to a full screen view of a long hallway leading to an intersection and a single plain door. Vetra pivots in place, lifts her stare up to the screen, and watches expectantly. Nash sorts through the controls on screen and fast forwards to the next nearest motion detection indicated. "Okay, let's see what this motion trip was for."

On the big screen, the door opens slowly and a young emin man peeks out into the hallway. He peers both ways down the hall, steps out, and motions for someone else to come through the door. Moments later, a young fvalian woman hops out into the hallway, the two laughing and giggling together. They quickly rush down the long hallway closer to the camera, soon out of view. With satisfaction, Vetra slowly turns around towards the begrudging groan of Nash. His face securely in his palm, Nash loudly sighs out his sheer frustration and annoyance, gritting his teeth briefly. "Gods fucking dammit... YES. I know exactly who they are. AND, I will personally berate them for you, to spare you the trouble."

Dragging his hand down his face to a grip the chin hairs of his beard, he draws in a long breath and slowly shakes his head. "Well, I apologize for their... Sloppy antics. Uh, would assigning them to you for a week or two of work make up for this incident?"

Vetra ponders the offer a moment and nods slowly, perking her brow. "Yes. But, separately."

Nash widens his eyes in agreement and grumbles. "OH. Yeah. If just to be on the safe side."

He snorts and shakes his head in disbelief. "What the fuck? Kids these days, man. What ever happened to bribing your roommate to find somewhere else to be for an hour?"

Vetra glances over her shoulder to the wall monitor with the camera playback, focusing her attention upon another mark on the motion detection tracker. "Huh. There's another ping on the motion detection system just a few minutes later."

Squinting up at the screen, Nash glances over to his monitor and taps a few keys curiously. "Great fucking gods... I really hope they didn't go for round two."

Turning to face the overhead screen fully, Vetra smirks with a roll of her bright orange eyes. "I highly doubt THAT. But... It might explain the size of the mess."

The video playback skips to the marked time code on the bar. The same door gradually opens. A thin man with wispy white hair and a blue scarf wrapped around his face peeks out into the hallway, and carefully scans the vicinity. Vetra's eyes open wide, her jaw drops open, and she fumbles over her words. "Who is that? Wait... He matches the... Good fucking gods. That isn't-"

Terror floods Nash's face. The man quickly walks down the hallway on the screen. Nash pauses the playback, recognizing the person on screen. "Oh. Shit."