Mitch stood at the ticket station in Heuston station in the heart of Dublin city. While Lara printed off her ticket he said “Tell Jasper to call me later, I’ll get an answer tonight.”

“I get it, be safe.” She nodded, pulling her ticket from the mouth of the machine pressed tightly into the wall.

“I got this nerd, I think I’m safe.” He teased, trying to act casual as he pointed to Joel who was ordering a coffee from the stall in the middle of the open hall with a few stores scattered around the walls that were separated from the platform by sliding doors.

He struggled to stay as casual as he would like, he knew that Lara had noticed something was off with him but he didn’t want to get into it and she was far too polite to ask.

“I hope you find what you are looking for.” She said, attempting to place a hand on his shoulder but she stopped briefly before gently grasping him. “I’m sure Jasper will be waiting eagerly for some good news.”

It was new to see her make physical contact like that, but he slapped on a dumb grin and nodded, giving her a thumbs up “No worries, I’m confident Joel's family can help us with what I need.”

She removed her hand and nodded, looking up to the large board that hung above the shopping area which had the times for each train. “Galway.” she said, pointing up “Platform 3, ready for boarding.”

“Keep yourself safe.” He said as he picked up his bag that was leaning against his leg as they got tickets. “You know the way back?”

“Hey.” She said with a laugh, slipping her ticket into a pocket “I’m far older than you, I’ve been coming to and from Dublin for years.”

While Mitch often wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to make a sarcastic comment or some sly remark he said “Alright good, just don’t want you feeling out of place.”

She seemed to have been waiting for the smart ass comment as her face changed from jubilant to briefly confused before she smiled. “I’m fine, thank you for the concern.”

“I’ll talk later.” he said, waving her off as he walked back over to Joel. “Hey, our train is ready for boarding, nerd!”

“One second!” He called out, meticulously laying out the packs of sugar he had, along with the tub of milk. At first he added about half the milk cup and a full sugar packet. He stirred and then ripped the other sugar pack slightly, pouring about half of it out in the most precise manner Mitch had ever seen someone deal with coffee. Lastly the rest of the milk was added, swirling around from the edge to the centre.

“Do you do this with every coffee?” He asked, watching as he threw the packages away and stirred before tossing the wooden stick and placing the lid on top.

“I got how I like coffee to be an exact science.” He said. Taking the cup he followed Mitch down the tracks, scanning their tickets on one of the many machines lined up to stop people from even being able to get to the train.

Since it was Sunday the train was far more packed than usual, along with heading towards Galway rather than Carlow. They got a seat on cart B, two seats lined up in rows without that large table between them Mitch usually used to catch up on his studies when he was conscious enough to do so.

“I could have got my dad to drive us up.” Joel said, holding the cup with both hands after he sat on the outer seat.

“I don’t wanna be a bother. ‘Sides, this gives us some time to chat. Don’t get it much these days.” He responded, rubbing his hair out of his eyes a few times until it stayed out of his face.

“Well I always appreciate a chat.” Joel smiled, finally taking a sip of his coffee though his reaction made it clear that it was still too soon.

“Have you been training?” Mitch asked “For the sports festival, that is.” knowing that it was such an ambiguous thing that he could talk about it as long as he didn’t go into too many details.

“I do most of my training over the weekend. Got a lot on my plate on the weekdays.” He responded, pulling down the small plastic table that was connected to the back of the seat in front of them so he could rest the cup atop “You?”

He nodded and said “Been training hard, but I still lack in a lot of areas.”

“That’s what the training is for.” Joel mocked, tapping his finger on the side of the cup in rhythm to some song Mitch didn’t recognise.

By the end of the near two and a half hour long train journey to Galway where Joel called home they stepped off the crowded train and took a nice, needed stretch on the platform. They didn’t have to worry about being in the way as people just moved around them, those in a rush would have done it even if they were already walking.

“I’d love to be shown around town, but I need to see your dad as fast as possible.” Mitch stressed, knowing now who would care to listen in to some random kids conversation.

“Let’s go then, this is official business.” Joel replied stoically, having held onto his cup which he carried with them while they walked out of the station.

Leaving the station itself led out onto a long stretch of roads where buses lined up that led down to a large open park known as the Eyre Square which was close to the city centre.

“Where to from here?” Mitch asked, covering his eyes from the sun above which seemed hell bent on blinding him.

“Along Grattan Road, it’s a bit of a walk from here.” He warned, heading into the city where Mitch struggled to keep up at times from watching off into the distance, examining all forms of stores and people.

The walk itself was rather long, having to cross over a large bridge when they were getting close that had the river Corrib running under it.

“Must be nice, living this close to the ocean.” Mitch quipped, walking down a long stretch of road which had a view out into the waters of the river connecting to the ocean.

“It becomes less special after some time. When you see it every day it loses some of its magic, but there are mornings when I wake up and just stare out at it.” Joel responded, flipping the cup into the air, having washed it on the train for some reason that he was still yet to tell Mitch.

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He nodded along until it was his turn to talk and asked “is there anything I should know coming in?” soon realising how rude it sounded and tried to fix it with “Like taking shoes off at the door, or stuff like that.”

Joel seemed amused by his panic “I imagined you weren’t trying to be rude” he assured, laughing at him at the same time “My dad will always want a firm handshake when you get in, but that's about it.”

“Good to know.” Mitch mumbled, his embarrassment plastered across his face.

“See that house all the way down there?” Joel asked as they came up to the residential district, pointing down at a home with a yellow coating, cracked windows, and a garden so overrun it could be used as a backdrop for a survival movie.

“Yeah?” Mitch asked, perplexed by the idea he stayed in such a run down looking home.

“We live in this one.” He said, quickly turning on his heel to point to the home they were now right next to.

It took Mitch a moment to respond, blinking before he looked to the far cleaner house that had a gravel like texture and cream paint all over and a garden that was well cut and a vibrant green colour.

Joel wound up laughing at him once again, slapping a part of the wall that sectioned off the garden from the street “Gets em every time!”

“You are nothing but weird.” Mitch replied, stepping through the gates and approaching the front door. “That’s the kinda joke my grandpa would make.”

Ian would be there to greet them once Joel tried to open the door. “About time you two showed up” He exclaimed, a thick five o’clock shadow encroaching across his face and bags under his eyes that were more like suitcases at this point.

“Nice to see you again, sir.” Mitch said, offering a hand to him.

Ian wiped some dark powder off of his hands into his long coat which was covered in similar stains. “No need to be so formal.” He smiled, taking a firm grip of Mitch’s hand and shaking it. “Call me Ian, sir makes me feel old.”

“You are old, dad.” Joel mocked as he slipped past him.

“I’ll be sure to remember.” Mitch replied, taking as firm a grip of his hand to reciprocate the shake.

After letting go of Mitch he turned to face and gave the same firm shake to Joel, noting the cup “She’ll be ecstatic you brought one back.”

While Mitch assumed this was some form of in joke, they were allowed inside. Waiting in the hall a young girl with long blonde hair would come from upstairs “Finally!” she said before Joel tossed the cup up to her. She seemed rather excited when she caught it and swiftly ran back to where she came from.

“Should I ask?” Mitch asked, spreading his attention between Joel and the staircase that hugged the right hand wall.

“She likes to make sculptures, uses my coffee cups for one of them.” He said, taking the first step “Come on.”

“Take him to the workspace first.” Ian said as he walked past the staircase into the kitchen.

“Workspace? Sure.” he replied, coming back down the stairs “This way then.” he corrected, going to the kitchen behind his father.

Mitch promptly followed, taking in the scenery of the house that was surprisingly void of any paintings or family photographs along the walls. In the Kitchen they had the usual sink, fridge, and general cooking stations on one side and a dinner table on the other that had a sliding glass door leading out to the back garden.

“Well hello there.” who Mitch could only assume to be Joel’s mother said “A pleasure to meet you in person.”

“I didn’t get to see you at the family ball.” Mitch said as he offered her a hand as well.

“Oh don’t give me that.” the kind lady said as she slapped his hand away and gave him a hug “we’re all family here.”

He was rather shocked at the sudden hug and spent a moment thinking whether he should reciprocate, but he eventually decided it might be best to.

“Now I hear you all have work to do, so get to it.” She said as she let go and pushed him away gently.

Ian nodded as he was pouring himself a cup of coffee. It seemed like this side of the family ran entirely on it. “Do you not use the energy potions?” He asked, watching him spoon a large amount of grounds three times into the boiled water.

“They can only do so much. Besides, coffee tastes good.” He responded with a chuckle.

Once he was done preparing what could have been the strongest coffee in the world he picked up his mug and walked to a door on the back end of the kitchen. “Ever see a basement?” He asked with a wide, rather proud grin.

“Can’t say I have seen one that wasn’t haunted. Thought that was more an American thing.” Mitch responded, though curious to what a basement of a family like this would even look like.

“Well now you will.” he said, taking a keycard from his pocket and placing it against a small machine that sat on the left side of the doorframe. With a little beep and green light it sounded like the lock clunked out of place and Ian pulled the door open.

Once they had followed him below for what felt like a full minute of stairs there was a very large room that was sectioned off using curtains like those he saw at the hospital for patients. In the centre of the room was a large table that had all forms of scraps and gadgets laying on top with a placard on the wall he could see housing what he could only assume to be “finished products” and boxes below labelled “parts.”

“So, what kind of help do you need?” Ian asked as he wandered to the centre desk and placed his mug down by one of the half finished inventions that looked like some form of thermal reader.

“Well, I’m sure you know by now the case I am working on.” Mitch responded, walking up and examining the desk as he talked. He could hear others down here, mumbling and grumbling on the other side of the curtains with shadows of about 3 people who seemed to be so lost in their own work they had no time to acknowledge his presence here.

“I do know the case. I know that it is also a rather time sensitive case, so tell me what we can do.” He replied with another goofy grin.

“Well.” Mitch began, pulling up a foldable chair to sit opposite him, Joel doing the same. “We have a plan to call the media in, get a big press conference going where he tries to show on live TV how he used the rune.”

“What do you need for that, flash bangs, smoke bombs… real bombs?” Ian asked. He sounded rather excited about the idea. His excitement was hard to reciprocate. It made sense why Joel was so chipper all the time with a father this childish.

He paused a moment to consider what was just said, rather confused at the escalation. As nice as real life spy tools would be cool to have he shook his head and decided to explain what he actually needed. “We want to have someone plant evidence, or even switch out the rune with a fake we are going to make. We were wondering if you guys could help us come up with a convincing real world phenomenon that would explain the rune's glowing properties.”

“Oh is that all?” Ian asked with a hearty laugh, almost sounding disappointed as he added “And here I was thinking it was going to be something difficult.”

Mitch wasn’t sure how to take his laughter, but just waited for him to finish. “Go spend some time hanging around and I’ll get to it.” Ian responded once he was done. “It shouldn’t take me too long so go upstairs and relax.”

“Want my help?” Joel asked as Mitch stood up.

“No, no, you two go have some fun and I’ll call you when I’m ready.” He responded, excitedly pulling himself from the table to head into one of the sectioned off areas where Mitch got a brief glance of a mini library on the other side before the curtain swung shut on him.

“Don’t mind him, he’s always giddy to work on something new.” Joel explained.

“I heard that!” Ian called out from inside the section.

“It’s true!” Joel shouted back before walking over to the stairs to take Mitch back up to the kitchen.

Mitch followed him until they were back in the main hall. “I need to step out and make a call first.”

With a nod Joel opened the door for him, allowing him to step out and dial up Jasper. “I have a plan.” He said, cutting off Jasper's attempt to make his first joke.