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Dissonant Hearts (Degusaurusrex x AndrewS)

After a quick detour at the pet shop, Isen and Samara had left the mall entirely. He still wasn't sure what the witch had in mind for this supposed gift, but he was glad just to be away from all of those stores. It was overwhelming for him, to say the least, and he hadn't even wanted to go in the first place! He was holding a small gift bag with a paw print imprinted across the front as they crossed the street into an alley. When they were out of sight, she dropped the illusion spell on him, returning him back to normal, sword and all, then grabbed on to his arm and used a spell to teleport the two of them away.

~~~

Isen and Samara returned to her shop a couple of hours later. He had to hand it to her, it was a good idea, he knew for certain that Adelaide was going to love it when she found out. Satisfied, and not cranky anymore about having been dragged out into public, he hid the pet store bag in a place where Ember wouldn't find it, resisted the urge to taunt Ignas about it and then found Takami waiting for him.

"You're late."

"I had business to take care of."

"This is business. We're attacking that place tomorrow. The Lancaster is distracting you, isn't she?"

"What? No. She's just as focused on this as you are. She's been waiting months for a chance to get back at the DSTF."

"And you?"

"What do you mean?" Isen asked as Takami pulled his catalyst out of it's sheathe. Isen had missed the scheduled time for their sparring session and it seemed that Takami still insisted on getting their reps in even if it was later than anticipated.

"Why are you fighting them? You never told me why. You don't seem the hero type, are you really just doing all of this to impress a girl?"

Ignas snickered. Isen, once again, resisted the urge to remind him of the bag he had stashed away for Ignas just moments prior.

"I'm not trying to impress her. I...need her to separate me from Ignas."

"That was the reason why you started this journey but it is not your motivation for finishing it." Takami swung his sword forward, without warning, forcing Isen to react and block the blow. "You are being guided by your heart. You may not realize that yet, but you will." A second slash came and Isen parried it, throwing one of his own in frustration for the lack of warning and the lecture he was receiving.

"What's your point, Ora?"

"You heard the witch's vision. You know our potential future. we are still running head first towards it. We are one day away from the biggest fight of your lives." Takami crossed swords with Isen, letting them link together, straining back and forth for control as the magic in each weapon flared. Through the cross made by their blades, Takami was staring straight across at Isen. It wasn't a look of intimidation but rather, the way one would look at a friend in a time of need. "If you do not take the opportunity given to confront the truth about what's in your heart, you may never get another chance to do it."

Was he giving him...relationship advice? Why was everyone so damn insistent on this becoming a thing? And why did Isen feel like Takami's advice had struck a chord somewhere inside of his head? Isen pushed forward to break the interlocking of their weapons, rolling his wrist to brandish Onigoshi with a flourish. He could hear foot steps coming closer, Adelaide was probably home already. This conversation could not continue in the open like this. "She's coming. I will...consider your advice. But we aren't meeting up to talk, we're here to train."

"Ah. I see." Takami shook his head, it seemed like he had been a little disheartened by Isen's reaction. "You wish to remain comrades. I respect your decision. Let us cross blades again."

And so, they did.
 
"I guess you get to meet the bastard that helped us later. Maybe I'll finally learn his name." Otherwise, she was going to scream at the inconvenience of it all. He knew enough about what happened with her, the least the man could do was share his name with her! The annoyance of it all was enough to follow her into the store for just a moment before she became fixated on finding what she had come for, which took some minor browsing before she found a thick, abysmally black band that she thought would suit Isen. After that, finding earrings with the necessary stones was all too easy, and she breathed a near silent sigh of relief when she charmed the worker into letting her walk out with all of them neatly packaged in a bag with the store's name on it. That had gone a lot better than she'd expected, and she found herself smiling the entire way back to the point that Isabella had begun to tease her about it.

"Of course they're in the way." Adelaide made a noise of annoyance as they returned and found the men sparring in the alley, a noise that made Isabella laugh and take her arm gently.

"That's no problem. You went to the trouble of finding me food while we were out," Something that had been incredibly strange for Adelaide to do, but it had been necessary to make sure that the vampire stayed strong. "I'll get us in." The speed with which they moved was enough to make Adelaide groan and clutch at her stomach, her vision rolling as they found themselves suddenly inside the shop and nearly stumbling over Ember.

"A little more warning next time, Isabella." It only took a moment for her to regain her balance as she leaned down to pet Ember briefly before going back to the spare bedroom, stashing the bag under the bed before coming back out with a sigh. She didn't like at all how Isabella seemed a bit off balance herself, which she quickly found out was from the vampire using her power so soon after finally having a proper meal.

Despite how conflicted it made her feel, and how she really didn't want those sharp teeth near her, a thought had occurred to Adelaide on how to properly feed the vampire and give herself a stronger ally for their upcoming raid. She had all of this magic inside of her, the vampire was hungry, what could go wrong? The ring gave her an endless source of magic, so it wasn't like she needed to give the woman too much blood to risk her own well being.

"Uh... Samara?" Five minutes later she was seeking out the witch while Ember jumped up on the bed in the guest room, nudging at the vampire laid out staring at the ceiling in a daze. The bite on her wrist hadn't been painful enough to last long once she'd used the healing spell she'd been taught, but Isabella's reaction had been the last thing she'd expected. It hadn't sent her bouncing around the room full of energy and power, and it hadn't made her vomit and stumble around either. No, it seemed like the vampire was high as a kite. "Let's say a vampire drinks blood with magic in it and gets stoned.. What would you do about that?"
 
Isen felt the air bend around him, a breeze rippling quickly past him and Takami as Isabella rushed Adelaide inside, safe and sound and away from their clashing of swords. He shook his head, though he had a slight smirk on his face, focusing back on the task at hand and the training session that was nearing it's end. It was during the fight that Isen had sensed something strange inside Samara's shop and Ignas had confirmed it as well.

"That's your girlfriend's magic, Isen. She was with the vampire."

There was no way Isabella would do anything to hurt Adelaide, she was not the type at all.

"Takami..." Isen began and the warrior simply shook his head as if he already knew.

"Go. We're done here anyways. Remember what I told you, Isen." He laughed as Isen sped off inside the house, repeating what he had said before. "Guided by his heart. Such a fool."

Isen's worrying was, of course, not at all necessary and he came in to the room with Adelaide having already healed the wound. She had...fed her?

"Do you think that's a good idea...?" He wondered, not sure whether he should still be worried or not. He had little experience with vampires and how their feeding worked. All of the stories in movies basically made it seem like a bite would turn you into a vampire but in truth, Isen had no idea how it actually worked in real life where Dissonants were real and not a character in a story or show.

"Of course it wasn't a good idea." Ignas told him, though he seemed to find amusement in the situation now that he had realized what it was.

Isen decided to stay with Adelaide, just in case she turned into a bat or anything weird. All he found, however, was Isabella with her head in the clouds, seemingly on a different world than they were after tasting the blood of a mage. And not just any mage.

Samara came into the room and couldn't contain her laughter as she looked upon poor Isabella. "You really should have asked me first before you did that, but I'm kind of glad you didn't." She giggled, walking over towards Isabella and waving her hand in front of the vampire's face to see if she would react. "She's going to be like this for a couple of hours. Next time your friend wants a snack, let me know." Still laughing, she walked past Isen and Adelaide and, as she did, she tucked a small metal key into Isen's hand. His fingers wrapped around it, keeping it safe and concealing it within his pocket.

"Make sure you never do anything like that to the furball, witch." Ignas warned Adelaide, suddenly.

Isen looked at Adelaide with a surprised look and Ignas, reading his thoughts, quickly backpedaled on that, defending what he had said.

"What? I don't know what that fleabag eats. I just know that we're going to need her help."

"Right. And you're going to need mine getting that gift down from that cupboard tomorrow."

"Isen, I can and will make you vomit. Do not test me."

The threat was well received but it was worth it. It wasn't every day he had something he could actually hold over the demon to shut him up. And now, the cat was out of the bag, figuratively, so Adelaide also had an idea of what Isen had picked up while he was out at the mall.

"You should have heard him. It was adorable."
 
"It's fine, it didn't hurt that much." Adelaide tried to wave Isen's worry away, poking at her arm where the wound had previously been. How had he even known? Judging by the way he'd rushed into the room, he'd known something happened before he'd even laid eyes on her. "Shut up, Ignas, half the stuff you do is a bad idea, so who cares? At least I'm doing it to help someone." She huffed and rolled her eyes as Samara came into the room, seeming very amused once she realized what was going on.

"Why would I give Ember my blood?" Now she was just confused, eyeing Onigoshi strangely. Why did he almost sound concerned about Ember's well being? The wya that he quickly backpedaled only made her laugh, and after trying and failing to cover it up with a cough, she gave up and openly laughed.

"What gift are you talking about?" She fixed Isen with a suspicious look, her attention switching between him and the sword before she sighed in exasperation. "Do I even want to know what the two of you are planning? Ignas, don't make him vomit or Samara will find some weird spell to try out on you as revenge for dirtying her floors. Now, what about adorable? Demons aren't adorable."
 
"He made me go to the mall for him." Isen lied. Well, partly. He was at the mall, but it wasn't Ignas who made him go. Either way, she would have questioned where the gift came from so this was easier than trying to explain that he had been forced into shopping for her.

"Isen."

"To a pet store." Isen continued, raising a brow, hoping Adelaide would catch on to what was happening.

"Isen, stop."

"So, now there's a gift bag in one of Samara's cupboards for tomorrow, from a certain, annoying someone."

"I said stop."

"If only you could have heard him. 'Not that one. That one isn't nice enough.' 'Isn't there something more expensive?' 'We can just steal it.'" Isen continued, mocking Ignas, letting himself laugh afterwards. An honest laugh, not something he got to do very often.

The demon considered, in that moment, doing something to get back at him as he had threatened but he didn't want to face the wrath of whatever 'weird' spell Samara might come up with, so he opted against revenge this time. Besides, even he must have realized that he was more than a handful sometimes, this was a long time coming for Isen.

"You two deserve each other." Ignas grumbled, quieting down afterwards, potentially embarrassed or just straight up annoyed.

"...anyways, how about you? Did you and Isabella have a fun day together?"
 
So she had heard them at the mall, she wasn't crazy! Her eyebrows went up when he mentioned a pet store, and between that and the way that Ignas was reacting she was starting to put a mental picture together. They'd been at a mall, at a pet store at Ignas' request, and it had something to do with Ember. The demon had talked them into getting a gift for her familiar? Now that was very interesting. She knew they had been spending more time talking and bonding over their dislike for Priscilla, but this was something different altogether.

"You got Ember a gift, Ignas? How sweet." She wondered what it was but didn't push it quite that far, instead nudging Isen with an elbow and laughing until he suddenly questioned her day with the vampire.

"Oh. Um. Yeah, it was fine, we got some stuff done and just hung out, so it went well until she ended up stoned. I really didn't think that would happen." She managed to avert her eyes from the bottom of the bed where she'd stashed the bag to work on later. She was going to need to find a way to get away from Isen long enough later to work on the project, but that could hopefully be remedied easily enough by using Isabella or Samara as an excuse.

"Oh, that guy called. We're supposed to meet him tonight, he called to warn about the drones, but we already knew. I told him we can meet in public tonight, so we can just go to a diner or something and finally see him face to face."
 
They were finally going to meet this inside man of hers?

Isen was intrigued. He still didn't entirely trust him but that was to be expected. Whoever this was had close ties to the DSTF, after all, and Isen still wasn't sure that this person hadn't sent Adelaide into that situation with her grandmother on purpose. The memory of how hurt and upset she was still lingered consistently through his mind. It was a good thing they had already figured out about the drones, though. If this was to be their first warning, they would have never had the time to make any preparations. Maybe that was what happened in the failed future Samara had seen?

"It could be a trap."

There was always a chance that anything involving the DSTF could be. They were this close to achieving their goal and Isen thought it strange that the DSTF weren't coming after them, something peculiar was happening here. Takami had warned them that the DSTF had been keeping tabs on them, they've known that Isen and Adelaide were back in Cresthaven for at least a couple of days but they hadn't seen so much as a single guard wander around Samara's shop to check out the situation.

"What about Isabella's friends? They've been keeping an eye out for us, have they noticed anything happening lately in the city? It's just strange to me that they've left us alone for so long and now, this guy suddenly wants to meet up with us?"
 
"Of course it could be a trap. Anything could be a trap. What do we really have to lose at this point?" She took a seat on the bed beside Isabella, checking on the dazed vampire briefly before turning back to face Isen. "I don't think it is, though. It's weird, but I don't get the feeling it's a trap. I think they're just over confident. As far as I'm aware, Lorelei doesn't know we have this guy, and Isabella said the DSTF has still been in the area patrolling as usual, but the presence doesn't seem to have been upped. I think they're probably so busy focusing on preparing all of those drones to fill the city, and they've decided we're not enough of a threat to worry about right now. After all, they're assuming we don't know how many they have, so even if we attacked, they could just take us down with them and that would be the end of it." She took a deep breath after spewing all of that information out and then smiled at him.

"Besides, I know you'll keep me safe." Ember made a gagging noise in the background, loud enough Adelaide actually turned to see if she was going to hack up a hairball just to spite them.

"The two of them really are disgusting, demon. I knew I should have stayed out of the room. Now, what's this about a gift for me?"
 
She seemed to trust this situation and so, he had no choice but to do the same. She was right, however; regardless of what happened, he would be there with her and he would do whatever he could to keep her safe if things went sideways. He had promised Samara that he would but, more importantly, he had practically promised himself at this point that nobody else he cared about would die while he was still alive and breathing.

Isen, unable to hear the voice of Ember, only heard the cat making hacking noises behind them. He turned his head, slowly, towards Ember, a brow raised. "...is she okay?" He asked, confused. And right after Ignas had warned Adelaide not to feed anything weird to her familiar!

"Finally, somebody else sees it." Ignas groaned, his tune changing immediately when the gift was mentioned. "Didn't you hear? They're going to let you eat the bird."

"No, nobody is eating the bird." Isen interjected, hearing Ignas say that. He didn't have full context for the conversation but he could presume, based off of previous encounters, that Ignas and Ember were plotting Priscilla's demise once again.

"We'll see about that." Ignas responded. Isen was certain that Ember had probably said the exact same thing.
 
"They are?!" Ember perked up immediately only to deflate when Isen corrected the demon. The entire thing made Adelaide shake her head.

"I still have some stuff I need to take care of before we go out tonight. You think you can keep an eye on the stoned vampire for a bit? I don't think she's really going to do much other than lay here and stare at the ceiling, maybe mumble a bit." If she could get Isen to watch Isabella now, she could work on the ring and maybe have it done before they went on the raid tomorrow. If not, well there was still time before Christmas if she sacrificed a little sleep. The fact that Isen didn't need to sleep had made it more difficult to do anything in regards to him, but now she had the excuse of a vampire needing watched over.

"Just for like.. An hour? Thanks." She didn't give him a chance to deny her request before she was off the bed and digging out the bag, tucking it under her arm before anyone could see the name on it. Ember trekked after her mistress as she left the room, finding Samara and explaining that she needed somewhere to work on a little "project." The witch gave her a sly look and tried to peek at the bag she held, but Adelaide held firm and kept it hidden until she was safely in the back room they'd worked in before. Now all she had to do was essentially work a bit of alchemy and combine the metal and stones.. No big deal, right?
 
"Wait, I don't wa-" He protested but she was already gone, exiting before he could even argue against her request. Something told him that even if he had argued, she would have found a way to make him agree to do it anyways, but at least he would have had the chance to grumble about it for a bit first.

"Is she even alive?" Ignas asked, prompting Isen to get a bit closer to the stoned vampire. He reached out to poke her shoulder and she barely responded, her eyes glazed as she stared towards the ceiling.

"I think so?"

"Well, isn't this is just lovely?"

"What's wrong? Missing the cat already?"

"Isen, there is no one here to save you. Keep talking." He warned. Isen, again, found laughter at the expense of his passenger's annoyance.

~~~

"So, what exactly is this 'project' of yours?" Samara asked, brow raised, leaning forward over the edge of the table counter. "Is it a special something for a special you know who? Or does it have something to do with the upcoming raid?"
 
"It's a personal problem, you nosy witch. Out! Go laugh over the stoned vampire or take notes on how magic blood affects them. I don't care. Besides, I know you were up to something earlier too, I just don't know what." She rolled her eyes and got the table set up before shooing Samara out of the room, the witch had a good laugh over being shooed out of her own room but went to check on the state of the vampire and ensure Isen wasn't in there doing something that would inevitably make it worse, somehow.

Adelaide, meanwhile, had barely learned anything about tweaking objects past allowing them to create an illusion, and found herself at a loss on what to do. All she needed to do was get the stones out of the earrings, which proved easy enough once she'd found a tool to bend the prongs and get them out of the posts, but getting them into the ring was another story entirely. She wasn't going to drill any types of hole in the ring, that would just damage it, but she also couldn't just press the stones in and have them mold into the metal.

Nearly forty five minutes had passed before she realized there was no way she was going to do this on her own. She had warped metal, broken bones, thrown an entire vehicle at someone, even if it had been more by pushing it across the ground, but she couldn't do this. It was with great reluctance that she sought out the witch, purposely avoiding speaking to Isen as she all but drug Samara back into the room.

"...And I need those," She pointed to the amethyst and diamond laid on the table beside the ring, "In the band and I can't figure out how to. No laughing at me!"
 
Isen found Samara's company as peculiar as ever. She mostly kept herself occupied but not without the occasional comment towards him about Adelaide, or their upcoming Christmas-gift exchange. Samara seemed more excited than Isen was for Adelaide to see what it was they had prepared, constantly bringing it up and trying to remind him of how the key she gave him would work.

"I understand." He reminded her, shaking his head. "I've understood for the last seven times you've told me."

"You're a little dense sometimes, Isen. I need to make sure!"

He turned his head as he heard Adelaide coming back in to the room. He expected her to say something to him but, instead, she remained silent as she marched straight up to Samara, grabbed her and pulled her off into the other room without saying a single word. Isen thought to follow, to check on them, but he glanced back towards Isabella, who was muttering something about seeing rainbows, and he sighed, sitting himself back down on the couch.

"It's probably just a girl problem."

"When has she ever had a girl problem?"

"When have you ever seen a vampire high off their rockers from magic blood?"

Well, he had a point there.

"You realize what you're getting yourself into, don't you?"

"I'm only watching her for a little while."

"...not the vampire, idiot. With your witch. The gift that you've gotten for her, once you give that to her, you're making a commitment. There is no turning back."

"It's not that big of a deal."

"And I'm not trapped in a sword."

"You are."

"Exactly."

Isen groaned.
 
"Seriously? That's what I was doing wrong?" Adelaide stared at the completed product in annoyance. Ignas was going to taunt her mercilessly for it when he saw it, but it was finally done. Did she give it to Isen now? No, that wasn't logical to do right before they went to a meeting. Did she do it tonight, or tomorrow? When was the current biggest question, and it took Samara to snap her out of the momentary anxiety attack and remind her they had a meeting to go to.

With the ring back in the back and stashed securely behind one of Samara's counters, she went back with the witch to check on their intoxicated vampire friend. She was definitely still feeling the effects of the blood she'd gotten from Adelaide, but she was at least sitting up and mostly conscious by the time the women entered the room.

"Oh, good, no one died while I was busy." Adelaide's cheeks were pink when she glanced at Isen and then hurriedly looked away, going around the room to get her coat before patting a sleepy Isabella gently on the shoulder. "Time to go, girly. We've got a meeting here shortly, so we need to get down to the diner." Despite the fact that she was getting tired of meeting in diners, it seemed the best course of action to be in a public place, and it was far too cold to be meeting anywhere outside, even in public.

"Dare I even ask what you both were arguing about in here? I thought I heard you a couple times."
 
Isabella reacted, though barely, simply going through the motions while mumbling nonsense in return. It was the same as she had been doing for the past hour while Isen was tortured by Ignas' constant commentary and attempts at making conversation. He seemed as bored as Isen was and without Ember to keep his attention, it meant Isen was the sole target of the demon's boredom.

"I think he's grumpy with us for making fun of him about you know who." Isen replied.

"I am not grumpy and I do not care." Ignas responded though, noting how Isen made an attempt not to name Ember or the gift, had another comment on the tip of his tongue. "You have gotten much better at keeping secrets, Isen."

Isen wanted to distract from that topic before it got started, so he shifted back to the meeting at the diner. Of course it would be a diner. It was always a diner.

"Are we bringing everybody with us?" He asked, wondering if this would be a group meeting since she seemed to be taking Isabella. He would have felt much better about this entire thing potentially being a trap if Samara and Takami were with them though, in turn, that would mean they were all grouping up in one place for said trap. There was no winning in his head, this was either going to be a disaster or a surprising reprieve from the misery they were used to with the DSTF.
 
"Yes, we're bringing everyone. Isabella's good enough to go, and she should hear whatever he has to say, too, even if he just wants to meet us." She wondered what he would say when he saw that Takami was with them, but they would find out soon enough. "Come on, Isabella." The vampire yawned and got herself up, rubbing at her eyes and giving Adelaide a slightly drowsy look.

"That'll teach me to drink magic blood." Adelaide gave her a slightly apologetic look, making sure the vampire was steady on her feet and that everyone had their watches and assorted pieces that would give them the illusion of someone else. Adelaide couldn't say she was overly fond of having black hair, or the fact that it just barely brushed her shoulders, but at least it was just an illusion and nothing else. With everything set she sent the description of their current appearance as a follow up to the address she had sent earlier, and they were off to meet this mystery man of hers.

She was grateful that at least the snow wasn't coming down heavily even though the sky had gotten darker with the onset of evening, and keeping herself close to Isen's side allowed her to sap at some of the heat emanating from him as they made their way to the diner. Isabella had no need for warmth like that, and Samara seemed cozy enough in her coat and wasn't complaining.

"That's him." No sooner had they entered the diner had she spotted the tired looking man sitting with a cup of coffee in a back booth. He fiddled with his glasses, cleaning them and putting them back on as they approached the booth and then took a seat.

"Adelaide, I presume?" She nodded her head and settled in, waiting for everyone else to enter the booth before she spoke.

"Do I finally get to learn your name?"

"Ah, I had a feeling you would start with that. My name is Roland. I didn't expect you to bring so many people with you."
 
Isen, of course, brought Onigoshi with him, though like before he had stashed him in the alley outside to prevent anyone from seeing him walking into a diner carrying a weapon. It wasn't so easy for Takami, he needed to keep the sword with him, but he did so by having it on the inside of the jacket Samara had given to him, just enough to keep them in contact without showing the weapon itself. His sword was naturally smaller than Isen's katan, making it easier to conceal.

Adelaide pointed out the man they were meeting and Isen's eyes never left him from the moment they walked across the diner, to when they sat down, and further through the conversation while he introduced himself. He seemed tired, like he hadn't slept more than an hour or two in a week. He wasn't like Isen, clearly. This man was a human, through and through, unimmune to the rigors of life's stress and the exhaustion that comes with sleeplessness.

"I don't sense any immediate danger around us." Ignas told Isen as their group began to settle into the booth. They had brought quite the crew, there was hardly enough room to fit everybody in. Isen nearly needed to pull Adelaide onto his lap to even get Isabella and Samara in. Isen began to wonder if this Roland character would recognize Takami as well. Surely he wouldn't report anything to the DSTF, he was Adelaide's informant after all, not the other way around.

"What is the reason for this meeting?" Isen asked, bluntly.

"Excuse our resident edge-lord here. What he means to ask is why you've decided to suddenly meet us on the eve of such a huge moment for the DSTF." To Isen's relief, Samara seemed inquisitive as well, trying to get more information out of Roland, attempting to see where his allegiances actually lay before they engaged in any further conversation.
 
"I would have met sooner, but things have been a little crazy there since little miss spitfire decided to attack Lorelei and then.. Wait," He stopped and squinted at Takami in confusion before fixing his glasses. "Are you that dude they took with them? Is that Takami? Why didn't you--I thought you killed him when he went with you." For a moment Adelaide considered lying to him, but there seemed to be no point in lying when he had gone out of his way to help them out so far. Instead, she simply made no comment on it and left that to Takami to decide. Instead, she turned her attention back to the larger part of the conversation.

"We already know about all the drones, we know there isn't just a handful of them still as prototypes. Everyone's been busy making sure it's ready for the summit, right?"

"Lorelei told them it wasn't worth pursuing you until after, if you came for them during the summit, you'd probably just end up dead." Her grandmother had been the one to tell them to leave the group alone? Either she had an ulterior motive, or she was just over confident that the DSTF would come out on top again. Either way, it was working to their benefit.

"There's no way you're going to be able to stop hundreds of drones, you know. You should just leave before it happens. Come for them later when you're better prepared."
 
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Lorelei had told the DSTF not to come after them? That didn't sound right. The more Roland spoke, the more confused it made Isen as he tried to piece together what was happening. Ignas seemed equally perplexed.

"They definitely seem confident. But they think that the Ora is dead."

Which meant their plan might still work.

"We'll take our chances. We're not going to let those drones get released into the city."

Isen wasn't exactly friendly to Roland, even now. He remained skeptical but had no idea if he was annoying Adelaide with that or not.

"If the only reason you called us here was to warn us not to try, you're too late. We're not backing down."

"You heard him." Samara doubled down with Isen, still weary.

"Are you going to help us or was this a waste of time?
 
"I don't really know why it matters whether or not they think he's dead. That doesn't change the fact that they have all of those drones." Roland rubbed at his face, motioning for the passing waitress to pour him some more coffee.

"What can I get the rest y'all?"

"Whatever the unhealthiest burger you have is. Just water for this one, she's recovering from a medical procedure," Adelaide patted Isabella gently on the shoulder and the vampire only grunted in response, eyeballing Roland and trying to determine what she thought about him. It kept her silent as Adelaide ordered food and a drink, why not eat when they were already there and she was hungry? Once any orders had been put in and the waitress had disappeared again, Roland sipped his coffee and leaned back in the seat again.

"It just so happens that I'll need to be there that night to drop off whatever files I conveniently forgot while working overtime at home. Have your boyfriend," He pointed at Isen with a small amount of disgust but managed to be polite enough, "Give me a few nice bruises, no broken bones or this will be the last help you ever get from me. Anyway, you can have this and be on your merry way right inside the fucking building." He tugged a lanyard from inside his shirt, dangling his keycard that allowed him access to just about every part of the building they were going to. "Good enough help for you?"
 
A keycard? That seemed like it would be handy. Adelaide had been able to get in to these facilities before but it would definitely raise more suspicion if she were to try that, this was a safer option. What was he risking by giving that to them? Maybe he could be trusted.

"...thank you."

He wanted it to look like it was an accident, like he had gotten jumped. Isen wasn't exactly comfortable with that, he feared that he wouldn't be able to pull his punches enough not to seriously hurt the man. Takami noticed his hesitation and stepped up to do it instead. As a warrior, he had much more control over his own physical abilities and Isen felt a little more at ease knowing that he wouldn't need to do this.

"Wait, shouldn't we do this outside? I mean, there are people everywhere and..." Samara tried to reason but Takami had already buried his fist into Roland's stomach, knocking the wind out of him with the force.

Isen noticed the commotion that was beginning to cause and looked towards Adelaide for resolution but no words were coming out.

"The mind control spell." Ignas answered, filling in the blank.

"Yes. Mind control spell, now."

"Mind control what, now?"
 
"Wait, I don't think he meant--" Adelaide winced as she watched the blow land, already looking around the diner at the hushed whispers and people that were beginning to stare after hearing Roland's pained grunt and sputtered curses.

"Oh, right." Adelaide sighed in slight annoyance and pushed her way out of the booth, looking around and watching as people either tried to hide their interest or began edging their way toward the exit as they finished eating. Of course they'd managed to do something to draw more attention to themselves, even in disguise!

"Nothing to see here people. Go back to enjoying your meals, everything's fine." Feeling the magic pulse from the ring and infect the surrounding area was a feeling she hadn't gotten used to yet. Manipulating people and their emotions was a lot different than outright wrecking things with her magic, and by the time she returned to the booth and bumped back against Isen's side she had a weary look on her face.

"No, no I did not mean right now." Roland was still wheezing a bit as Isabella kept distance between him and Takami. "I meant meet me at the facility and do it there so it looks like you did it and then went right inside.. But I guess this works." He pulled the lanyard from around his neck and held it out to Adelaide, who took it and tucked it into her pocket with a sigh.

"That.. Well, okay then. Little trigger happy, Takami?"
 
Isen had misinterpreted the situation, clearly, but at least he wasn't the only one.

None of the blame really rested on his shoulders, though he was on the same wave length Takami was about just decking the poor guy and getting it over with then and there. Adelaide's magic, invigorated by her ring, seemed to twist the minds of all the other people in the diner and they simply turned a blind eye to what was happening, enjoying their lunch and, for the wait staff, working away, as though there weren't any interruptions. It was a handy trick to have in their back pocket but a look towards Adelaide after she had finished made it obvious that she wasn't really happy about using it or that it had been difficult for her.

"Huh...fascinating." Samara mused, seeing the spell in action for the first time. "Told you she was special."

"I did what had to be done." Takami responded, sitting back down calmly in his seat, no worse for wear about what he had done.

"...and now, we have our 'in'."

Isen looked across towards Roland. He wasn't angry about what had happened. The opposite, in fact. He seemed to take it in stride. This man was a mystery to Isen, he couldn't wrap his head around his motivations. Was he after something? Was he trying to get on Adelaide's good side? The thought caused him to lean against her, absentmindedly, almost protectively, though he wasn't aware of the change in his body language the way she would have been.

"Works for me. Are we done here?"

"...you really don't like him, do you?"

Isen didn't verbally respond, he didn't need to. Ignas could read his thoughts on the matter.
 
"Don't think I trust you lot enough to do anything more, so I'll manage." Roland was still wincing as Adelaide noticed Isen shifting. They were already pressed rather close together due to the amount of people being crammed into a booth, but it seemed that he was moving even closer to her. Ignas' comment that went unanswered left her perplexed, and she tilted her head slightly to try and get a read on Isen's expression. She wasn't surprised that he didn't like Roland, but the man had and was still helping them, so his behavior seemed a bit off.

"We'll be in touch, I guess. As far as I'm aware, Takami's dead, and the lot of you are dumber than a bag of rocks when it comes to the drones." He pulled himself from the booth slowly and with a pained grunt just in time for the waitress to return with some of the food, the sight of the burger making Adelaide light up with glee as she snatched up the plate and took a big bite.

"..What? I'm fucking starving!"
 
Isen's demeanor seemed to change once Roland had left them. With more room in the booth, they were able to spread out a little more, with Takami, Isabella and Samara sharing one side while he and Adelaide remained on the other. She was, as always, hungry and working to demolish her burger while the rest of them watched in both awe and terror from the way she devoured the greasy mess she had ordered.

"We still need to discuss the game plan for tomorrow night."

"You do not need to worry, I will play my part."

"I know you will, warrior boy." Samara was practically patting him on the head as if to jokingly say she was proud of him like he were a child. "...but that doesn't mean we can go in without a proper plan in place."

"Takami and I will go." Isen interjected, glancing over at Adelaide and then back to Samara. "None of you need to put yourselves in harm's way. We can take care of the drones. Set up the EMP and let me take it in."

Isen clearly didn't want Adelaide involved or put at any risk here and that was the angle he was playing from. Samara had been through enough and Isabella wasn't a fighter, it made sense that the two boys would go in and handle the heavy lifting for this part.

"Why do the two of you get to have all the fun, hm? I would love to watch all of their hard work go down the drain!"

"You and Adelaide are too important. We can't risk the two of you getting captured or taken."

"But you're going to risk yourself? You've lost your mind if you think that she's going to let you go by yourself. She may be too busy stuffing her face right now to pay attention but once she hears of this 'plan' of yours, she's going to set your hair on fire."
 
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