Since being elected to his position, Governor Driscol had adopted a routine that anyone who knew him well would have been hard-pressed to believe. Usually, he was a sleep in late sort of guy. His nights years previous were often filled with drunken and disorderly conduct and almost always ended in blacking out with one heck of a hangover to deal with the following morning. He was used to that sort of lifestyle, but took to this new one with an ease that was quite frankly out of character.

Every morning he woke at sunrise. He rolled over the man-sized dog that was sprawled and snoozing on one side of the bed, slid himself out between Gussie and his lover, and nudged the Irish wolfhound into rolling over to take his place. Icarus often didn't realize the difference until hours later whenever he woke up with his usual hangover himself.

He showered. He dressed. He kissed his snoozing lover good-bye for the day. Then he left the cottage and made his way into town. On his way to the Governor's Office — his office, he reflected with no small amount of maniacal glee — he stopped by Ariana's Divine Delights Bakery for a cherry pastry of some design and a cup of herbal tea. He took both of those with him, always with a spring in his step, and whistled all the way through the front doors of City Hall, up the flights of stairs and into his own personal office.

There, on his desk, every morning, awaited the latest editions of all of Rhy'Din's circulated newspapers. And he spent every morning perusing the headlines for anything relevant or interesting. He also often spent more time reading through the gossip columns than was generally deemed appropriate for a man of his position, but old habits died hard.

Friday the 28th of May was no different than any other morning before that since Dris had been elected Governor. He set aside his pastry, which he'd only likely nibble on periodically throughout the day, and his cup of tea. He kicked his heels up on the edge of his expensive, adopted desk, and shook open his own personal copy of The RhyDin Post. Cheerful as ever, he set himself to read the latest news, convinced that absolutely nothing was going to spoil his day whatsoever. Page one had different plans for him, however.

Justice, Judge, and Jury: A Look at RhyDin's Law Enforcement, he read with a roll of his eyes. Aloud, but quietly and to himself as he was wont to do, Dris said, "Oh gods. What's our boy Fenner got t'say 'bout Riley now?" He set aside a mental note to check in on her department later in the day to see how things were coming along. Then he read on.

The article began as what he expected to be little more than a long-winded anecdote full of hearsay and speculation. After all, that was typically Fenner's style. The conversation they'd had together before the election told Dris that the man was one of those narrow-minded and eye-shrouded sorts who still liked to compare Rhy'Din to other nations found on far distant other worlds. Though some other articles the man had printed since then had revealed that finally the journalist was starting to wake up to the reality of the situation.

Mentally, Dris was reciting to himself such childish phrases as "Blah, blah, blah" and beginning to wonder if this article had any point whatsoever. He picked up his cup of tea. He took a sip. The tea was warm and minty, a good wake-up brew, and he it soothed his tongue just as he was finishing up with paragraph eleven. Who decides what his punishment should be? Fenner's article asked him, accusingly.

Come paragraph twelve, he spewed that mouthful of herbal goodness all over the paper in front of him. He got so far as reading six words before everything became a blur of printing press smudge and hot water. In his mind's eye, four of those six words had capitalized themselves, leaped out of the page, and danced around in front of his face giggling maniacally at him.

SALVADOR DELAHADA, NOW INCARCERATED

Though his brain had yet to fully reconnect itself with the rest of reality, Dris was pretty sure he heard himself roaring a punctuated and utterly disbelieving....

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?"""

Out beyond the open door of his office, he also heard someone yelp in surprise shortly before a dozen other things tinkled and clanked and boomed, as whoever he had startled must have likely tripped over himself and the exterior office's furniture. There was the residual echo of rustling papers, which Dris figured was on account of stacks of paperwork suddenly sprouting wings in that equally beyond reasonable moment.

It took the Governor's brain a couple more minutes to come to some form of agreement with his eyes so that he could continue reading. At this point, he realized his feet were no longer comfortably propped up on the edge of the desk, and that his mouth was hanging as far open as his jaw would allow.

Paragraph thirteen had Dris making a completely unflattering noise that he was pretty certain mated a squeak with a hiccup. The offspring had not at all been audibly pretty when it popped out of his agape mouth and into the open air. He read those two specific paragraphs over and over again until they were fully engraved into each and every single brain cell connected with his memory.

Who decides what his punishment should be?

Is it Salvador Delahada, now incarcerated by the RhyDin Watch under charges of alleged manslaughter of Bishop"....

Or is it Neo Eternity, a callow member of the RhyDin Watch and supposed initiator for some crime-fighting subgroup called the Seraphim Knights"....

Then, for good measure, once he had those two names locked away in his head forever, along with their associated "crimes," he read the whole article from start to finish about three more times just to make sure he was completely comprehending what Fenner was saying. Eventually it came to pass that his eyes couldn't take the strain of staying popped out of his skull for so long anymore, so he gave up on reading, dropped the paper on his lap, and gaped at a blank patch of wall on one side of his office for a good five minutes.

By the time those five minutes were up, Basil, his favorite half-elven intern, had sorted himself and the flying paperwork out and come to poke his head into the office to make sure everything was all right. The skittish young thing knocked cautiously on the door frame, cleared his throat, and asked the obvious question. "Uh, um. Mr. Driscol" Governor" Sir" A-are you ....is everything okay?"

"NO, Basil, I'm NOT all right," Dris roared. He was instantly in furious motion, springing up from his chair like the Jack in the box, equally as thin and gangly but not quite so much motley and comical. Basil's face lost about five shades of color, and he may have even made a mess in his pants. This was probably the most frightening thing he had ever encountered in all his short semi-pointy-eared life. Sheridan Driscol was angry.

The Governor rounded the desk and marched across the room, arms flailing. This morning's edition of The RhyDin Post was flapping its newsprint wings as he bandied it about. "The world's in a right bloody mess now. Just when things were going so well, shite like this 'ad to go an' rear it's ugly 'ead!"

Basil stood there, slack-jawed and unmoving like a cute little bunny rabbit under the gaze of the rabid and snarling Big Bad Wolf. After a long and uncomfortable pause, Dris said, "Get me Neo Eternity. Now! Get him in my office as of yesterday! Hop to it, boy!"

Having no idea whatsoever where he was even going to begin looking, right away, Basil wheeled an about face with a squeak and scurried off to do a job he wasn't at all yet qualified or paid enough to do. It was going to be a long day, and he wondered where he was going to find the time to change his shorts before it was over.

(( This storyline begins with events covered in Justice, Judge, and Jury, and will progress chapter/post to chapter/post. ))

The exterior rooms of the Governor's main Office of operations were in a flurry by the time Basil came back with his assignment. Many of his fellow interns were racing every which way gathering up stacks of papers, printing copies, packaging envelopes, making phone calls, and any number of other constantly in motion office-like activities they had been assigned to do. The majority were probably hyped up on pure injections of caffeine, or quite possibly any otherwordly alternative "illegal" substance known to man. Of course, "illegal" was a relative term when it came to anything at all in Rhy'Din, and that was part of the reason why Neo was here. Dris himself was pacing in front of his desk rapidly. The door to his office was open, as it almost always was. In long and furious strides he took to the left and then the right side of his office, chatting orders into a corded telephone, probably a secure line. In the time he had left to him while waiting for his intern to get back from his mission, the Governor had made arrangements to meet with both the Ministers of Defence and Justice at some point in the day. As far as Dris was concerned, with no small thanks in part to that bastard Darien Fenner, this was serious business. When Basil got to the door, with the Seraphim Knight in tow, he cleared his throat and knocked cautiously on the frame. The Governor turned to look, saw who it was, then just as quickly whirled around the other way to bend over his desk and hiss more quietly into the phone before hanging it up. Then he spun back around with his most illustriously charming smile firmly in place, spread his arms, and cheered, partly sing-song, "Neeeooo! Do come in!"

Did the angel shudder" Yes he did. He shuddered. It's not like he didn't see the state of all of his interns, and Dris himself, only for him to pretend that everything was rainbows and gumdrops. Something was obviously not right in his world, and it obviously had something to do with Neo. It was either something he had done, or something he could fix. But surely all of City Hall wouldn't be in such a tizzy just because Sal was arrested....would it' With faint apprehension, Neo stepped in and took a seat in front of Dris's desk.

Only the snake in the Garden of Eden had smiled that cheerily in all the history of creation. It was true that Dris could be frightening, but not often. The hustle and bustle of the exterior offices was not an every day thing, that was true. But today he had a reason to put his peo— er, interns, to work. "Thank you, Basil," he said sweetly to his number one intern, and then, "Shut the door." That right there was probably the clearest sign that the Apocalypse was nigh. Basil Finch gulped audibly right before he pulled the door shut behind him and left Neo alone with the Governor. Chances were the rest of the interns were going to have a field day with rumors concerning that bit of business for the rest of the month. Once they were alone and the door was shut, Governor Driscol's entire demeanor changed. He went from smiling sugar sweet to frowning like the face of Hades in under thirty seconds as he turned about and marched over to his own side of the desk. Dris grabbed up the tea-stained copy of The RhyDin Post and flung it at the Seraphim Knight without much warning. "What's this then?" he demanded, and dropped onto his seat.

The elven boy's gulp, and the sudden change in Dris's demeanor was a sure sign to Neo that sh*t was about to hit the fan. And suddenly, there was a newspaper flying at him. He caught it, and looked at what it was that he had caught. "The Rhy'Din Post...?" A moment of deliberation, and his pupils shrunk. The very same night that he had arrested Sal, he had gotten into it big time with Darien. The journo had displayed a flippant unwillingness to cooperate with him the night of the carnival explosion, and though he was able to get the information from his boss, Neo was still extremely unhappy with him. There was some arguing, and it ended up with Darien attempting to blackmail him, using the angel's deceased first lover Serena as an example to show much dirt he could dig up. So did Darien end up blasting him anyways" His brows knit in indignation, and he frantically searched for whatever article had Dris up in arms. He almost had to ask him, for the fervent quality of his search was reducing its effectiveness, but the tea-stain stuck out, as if to say, "read this one, idiot!" So he read it. Obviously, this was his first encounter with the article. He read it in much the same way that Dris had, but with the critical difference that he knew what had happened the night before. And he had a feeling he knew where this was going. Oh yeah. This article was blasting him alright. But particularly unnerving....was the fact that Darien somehow picked up his whisper to Salvador. He was furious; his teeth grit and his fists clenched around the article. Though the only bit of cool-headedness he had was telling him to reread the article. Information on Judah Bishop. "A known miscreant?" What the hell"! He certainly didn't know that much about the mystery man! Though since Darien knew about Serena, a highly guarded emotional secret of his....it wasn't all that surprising that he knew. He needed to keep this article. It might get Sal to talk. That knowledge was the only thing keeping him from destroying the publication much like he had his cell phone last time he had faced Darien's....it almost seemed like malice, toward him. Instead, he chucked the article at the nearest wall. His elbows went onto Dris's desk, and his head into his hands, as his thoughts and emotions raced with all the implications of the article.

Dris gave Neo all the time he needed to absorb the article, though not without a fair amount of fidgeting. To be fair, he had gone through his own spell of brain-shattering fury, disbelief, horror and aggravation before calming down enough to summon the Knight to his office. So he could wait while Neo read the article in full before badgering him with ....only one question. Now that some time had passed since his initial reaction, he had calmed down significantly. Never mind the fact that he was tapping his foot and just wanted to get right back up to resume pacing. He could see very clearly, however, that this news was new to Neo. So he restrained himself from letting the Irish out and going on a verbal tirade after releasing a long heavy sigh. The Governor steeled himself, and asked very simply, "Tell me what happened."

(( This post written in collaboration with Neo Eternity, with tremendous thanks! ))

He sighed softly, turning for the door. Now he had to go ruin someone else's day, too. He headed out and up the stairs to Mindy's apartment and knocked on the door. It was almost 7:30 now, and he hoped she'd at least be awake. Bad enough to have to dump this on her without having to wake her up, too.

The knock at the door was greeted with a feminine shout. "If you're selling a god, I have a shotgun and I know how to use it."

That was enough to get a laugh out of him, even considering the circumstances. "It's Daniel, Mindy," he called through the door.

"Okay, then you can come in. I won't shoot you."

He chuckled. "Thank you." He opened the door and stuck his head in. "I hope you're not involved in anything important, because Riley needs you ASAP."

"Does coffee and cereal count as important?" Mindy asked as she pointed at her half finished breakfast.

"I'm afraid not," he replied. "There's some food downstairs, though, if you're still hungry. You can probably have some while you listen to her rant."

"Fine," she grabbed the coffee cup and slipped on her shoes. "Good thing I didn't have plans or anything." It was a good-natured grumble, delivered as she headed for the door. "I take it something disasterific happened?"

"You could say that," he said, once again displaying his talent for understatement. "Disaster enough that our plans for that camping trip are out the door." He held the door open for her, then headed down the stairs and back to their loft.

"Great. Just great. You know I'm billing her extra for this right. I was supposed to be building a tree house today."

He nodded. A day off was a rare thing for any of them, and losing out on one was an unpleasant surprise.

Riley was sitting at the kitchen counter as they entered, a mug of coffee in one hand and the offending front page in the other." Without a word, she thrust the article out to Mindy, her expression one of extreme distaste, annoyance, and general pissed-offness. While Daniel had been fetching Mindy, she'd finished her shower and had stood for a long time in front of her Closet of Holding, fingers trailing over a variety of clothing options." What she really wanted to wear was cut-offs, a snarky t-shirt, and flip-flops." She knew, however, that she needed to find an outfit that screamed no-nonsense efficiency and a certain amount of "I will not, under any circumstances, deal with any bullsh*t today." She finally settled on a navy blue, pinstriped pantsuit, a creamy linen shirt and sensible - for her, at least - three-inch, navy blue Louboutin court shoes." After dressing quickly, she headed into the bathroom and finished getting ready - blow-drying her hair and sweeping it back into a severe bun and applying subtle, understated make-up.

Mindy took the paper, and read it over quickly, while sipping her coffee. "So, basically we have a member of the watch picking up a suspected murderer, who may or may not have been a baddy to rival Mojo Jojo, and a reporter who's up in arms because the system isn't fixed yet?"

"Well, not exactly," Riley replied." "Neo isn't a member of the Watch." Sal isn't a bad guy.?" She paused and shrugged a little." "Well, not really, anyway." I mean, he did kill someone which makes him technically a bad guy, but he's not really bad. Maybe just...misguided. Or confused, perhaps.?" She trailed off and shook her head, not really wanting or needing to get into Sal's guilt or innocence at this point." "I'll deal with Fenner," and the way she said it made it extremely obvious that not only would she deal with him, but he'd know that he'd been dealt with." "What I need you to do is track down Sal, Lucien Mallorek, and Neo, and get me in to see Dris."

"Right so three impossible deeds and a minor miracle." Mindy nodded a little and pulled a notebook from her pocket. "You owe me a week off once this is settled. I had a date today that I'm going to have to cancel." She looked down at the article again before throwing it back to the kitchen counter. "I'd assume from this that Reporter Man understands at least a little about government and politics and how nothing gets accomplished over night without some sort of hinky back alley dealings. And about the fact that until recently there really wasn't such a thing as law and justice in Rhydin."

Riley just shook her head and threw her hands up in the air." "Fenner's stuck on Earth and somehow thinks that Earth justice not only makes sense in Rhy'Din, but also is possible." Which, clearly...it's not and can't be."

Mindy sighed. "I'll get the calls from the office routed to my cell, and get on the line to the Gov. I'll bet he's just as anxious to talk to you as you are him."

"Poor guy," Riley answered. "Bet he never thought his first month on the job would be anything like this."

"That's the drawback of world-shaking reforms," Mindy said. "When you shake the world, all the crazy people fall out of their trees."

Daniel and Riley both laughed at this. Then she slipped off her stool, kissed Danny one last time before picking up her briefcase and heading to the door." She opened it and waited for Mindy to go through." She looked back at Danny and gave him an apologetic smile." "I'll call you, okay?"

He kissed her back and nodded. "I'll probably go downstairs and help Anisha, if she'll let me." Riley nodded and the two women headed out of the building and into town.

((Adapted from live play. GIANT THANK YOU to Daniel Tej and Mindy McKnight. I <3 you both!))

The Governor listened to Neo's story with all the attentiveness of a kindergartner sitting on a carpet square at snack time. In his younger years, he would have even been bouncing eagerly in his seat and lamenting the fact that he had missed such an eventful night of chaotic bar-brawl catastrophes. Though now that he was in a position of authority, and had grown up, in a sense — not to mention somewhat related to the culprit — Dris realized all he was getting out of this now was a headache and quite possibly a few gray hairs.

So when Neo was finished telling his story, there sat Dris with his hand against his face and fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. He sighed dismally, and groaned, before his hand fell away. "Is minic a bhris b"al duine a shr"n*," he muttered bitterly, and then he fashioned up a wry smile for the angel sitting across from him. "Fat load a trouble we've got ourselves in now, innit' That boy's nothin' but a heap o' trouble. Always 'as been, an' always will be. Where's 'e now?"

There was a bit of a pause. Neo was expecting something like, "what the hell were you thinking, saying something like that?" Maybe it would come later. So he answered the question. "Right now, he's in a holding cell in Precinct 1. He hasn't been cooperative at all. Completely silent. I came in at around sunrise to talk to him, and I've just been waiting with him in the interrogation room for him to give up on the silent treatment. He hasn't done so yet." An exasperated sigh came from just even thinking about that situation. How long had it even been" He looked around for a clock.

Oh, there was a clock. A rather intricately designed and decorative piece wrought of bronze and shaped to a miniature harp. Resting on the strings was the clock face itself. There atop one of the filing cabinets it sat, ticking away the seconds, and was also so kind as to tell Neo how much time he wasted in his interrogation attempts with Salvador. It brought kind of a cringe to his face.

Dris snorted, a suggestion that he wasn't the least bit surprised by this information. "Typical," he said, fishing a notepad out of a drawer. He had to jot down some names real quick before he forgot them: Kate, Collie, Fury, Fenner — that one made him grimace distastefully when he added the name to the list — and of course Salvador. Next to that last name he also wrote in "good luck with that." These were all people, according to Neo's story, who needed to be questioned for eye witness testimony. Neo had already given his side, and here he muttered another Gaelic phrase. "B"onn dh' insint ar sc"al agus dh' leagan d"ag ar amhr"n."**

It was a short list, but for now it would do. He planned on passing it on to Wolvinator and Riley when he got a chance to sit down with them about this mess. "Given what ye've told me," the Governor said, tapping his pen on the notepad, "there's no question about it. That hot-headed fool of a boy did murder someone. It's right y'did t'bring 'im in, but if 'e's not talkin' we've gotta find someone who will. Otherwise all we've got is yer testimony against ....nothin'." Dris frowned.

Murder" Neo wasn't so sure about that, at least not at first. But considering the details he had now about Sal's victim, it wouldn't have been enough to declare it a vigilante homicide on the scene, which was the possibility he had alluded to before the arrest. The victim usually had to be someone on the most wanted list, or someone of equal malice, for that. But Judah would not have fit that bill. Right now, it pretty much was murder. Not to mention that Fury took the body. Sal did a good job of making himself look like a filthy criminal this time, no doubt. And Fury, too.

The smile Dris donned then was one worn more frequently by the devil himself. There was a wickedness glinting deep in his blue eyes. "Fenner's a sodding, mouthy son of a b***h, even in print," said the Governor. "There's no doubt about that." Tossing aside the notepad and letting it flop to rest on his desk, he pushed up out of his chair.

"He's good at rilin' up a crowd, I'll give 'im that too, but I'm better." Those ocean blue eyes of his narrowed with some sort of secretive malice, backed by a conspiratorial little grin. Tucking his arms behind his back, he rocked a little on his heels, giddy about some master plan he had yet to impart upon Neo. "You leave Fenner t'me," he decided, turning to smile sweetly at the angel, "an jus' do yer job."

So Dris intended on handling the public part of the fiasco. It would probably be just as well. Neo didn't have a way with words like Dris did. So that left him to do his job. "...which is...?" Presumably, that would be to get Sal to talk....which meant his next several days would be out the window. Hopefully Dris would have something more productive for Neo to do than to wait in a concrete room with Sal.

"Under normal circumstances, I'd say get the boy t' talk." Neo could breathe a sigh of relief, though, because that unspoken 'but' swirled around in the air rather clearly between them. "'Course I know better'n t'expect Sal t' talk when 'e ain't of mind t'do so. Lad's more stubborn than 'is da e'er was, that's fer sure. I don't think either you or me's gon' get 'im t'spill a peep. Best bet there's Sin." And the thought of just how ticked off the sinner was going to be about all this only made him weary.

Deflating on an exhale, the Governor dropped back onto his chair and fairly slouched in dismay. Again he lifted a hand to his head, but this time to rub his fingers into his temple. "There's other things y'can spend yer time on than tryin' t'pry the teeth out of an alligator, m'boy. One—" He extended one finger off his temple. "—there's the matter of a missing body. That's evidence we need fer this t'go anywhere beyond lettin' Sal go free." He couldn't believe he was actually condoning all this. Salvador was practically family. They had finally recently come to terms with each other. And here he was agreeing that, should it come down to it, Salvador, his dead lover's son, be put on the chopping block where he belonged. That left him with an uncomfortableness he wasn't too keen on feeling.

Neo blinked a bit as he processed what Dris was saying, and the way he was saying it. It seemed almost like he wanted Neo to find evidence to prove Sal guilty of murder. "Wait a second....are you trying to get Sal kept behind bars?" he asked, incredulously.

And there Neo gone and did it. Dris slammed his palm down on his desk so hard that it shook his pencil holder off the corner and sent all of his writing utensils skittering across the floor. There was a fury on his face that did not at all flatter him when he leaned forward, shouting. "Do you think that's what I want' That boy's the last tie I've got t'my dead lover of twen'y years! Y'think I really wanna see 'im swayin' from the 'ang-man's noose?"

Dris pushed back from the desk and pointed a thin finger at Neo sternly. "But what do y'think's gon' 'appen if I march in there an' pardon 'im without a proper investigation, Neo' What do y'think that says to the people o' this city?"

"Find out what really 'appened that night," he commanded, leaning forward again to plant both hands plam flat on his desk. "Y'get me testimonies. Y'get me that body! Get me what I need t'shove Fenner's words straight back up 'is arse sharp end sideways! And by all the gods on 'igh, 'opefully get that boy outta prison!"

The explosion took Neo off guard, causing him to flinch back a bit, eyes widening slightly. He didn't expect such a caustic reaction. On the other hand, though, now he knew what Dris's relationship with Sal was. ...And how old Dris was. Better not let that hand tip. Both of Neo's hands were raised apologetically. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry." He sighed and brought one of those hands to his forehead, the other dropping to the armrest of the chair he occupied. His mind was still tangling with the fury incited by the fact that Darien set out to make him look like a proper scumbag, and for now, succeeded. Thanks to that, he wasn't really a champion of thinking, and did not have the capacity to engage his brain before speaking. "I wasn't suggesting to pardon him. Not at all. But I wouldn't be thrilled to find evidence that he committed murder out of malice either. He's my friend too. I don't want to see him go down that road." Another sigh as he rose from his seat. "I'll get started right away." He then turned and started for the door.

"Good lad," the Governor grumbled, pushing upright again and turning about. Exploding on people like that was not typical of him. That's how riled up this entire situation had got him deep under the skin. Of course, there was another thought that had him partly turning and opening his mouth. The words died off the second he remembered who was marching out his door, however.

Still, he couldn't let Neo off feeling as if he just got berated and sent to his room like a foolish child. "For what it's worth, Neo, m'lad," Dris said before the angel could make quick his complete escape. "Fenner probably did us both a favor by quotin' ye like 'e did." Plots within plots and plans within plans. "Sure it jumps the gun a little, but there's no sense denyin' any longer what I plan on doin' 'bout the slavery bus'ness 'round 'ere now is there?" He fashioned up a sharp and charming grin that would have fit well in one of those Orbit commercials as an added bonus.

Neo stopped and turned to face him, offering a small smile. "I only used the two of them in that whisper for the sake of example..." Until investigating the carnival incident, he had nothing to get Veighn on. And Anubis....well, slavery was legal, at the moment. He was hoping to catch him in the act of....acquiring his merchandise. "...That's good to hear, though. I look forward to that." A small smile at the new governor.

"Y'know," started Dris with a small smirk, "There's somethin' t'be said 'bout Sal lettin' ye arrest 'im in the first place, now ain't there?"

Neo actually contemplated that a little bit, tapping a finger to his chin. "I guess there is, huh..." As to exactly what it was to be said....hell if he knew. "Well, I'll get to work, then." A nod, then he started for the door again.

Dris didn't stop him this time. There was much to do, much to think on, and he had to do it in a mighty hurry. Curse that Fenner. He was going to have that man's balls pickled and preserved by the time this storm blew itself out. "An t' nach mb"onn l"idir n" foll"ir d? bheith glic***," he muttered to himself, settling in to plot.

(( This story was written in collaboration with Neo Eternity, once again with tremendous and gleeful thanks!

*Irish Gaelic translation: "Many a time a man's mouth broke his nose."

**Irish Gaelic translation: "There are two sides to every story and at least twelve versions of every song."

***Irish Gaelic translation: "He who is not strong must needs be cunning!" ))

Nearly a month after moving into her new office suite in the the Courthouse, Riley had slipped into a comfortable routine " yoga at dawn, lunch with Danny and Mindy on the Courthouse steps, after-work drinks at the Red Dragon before walking home after midnight. She'd had some very productive days in the office, settling at last on a vague and short, though extremely serviceable, Codex of Laws, revamping the Watch, and organising her thoughts for over-hauling the rest of her justice system.

Such thoughts occupied her brain as she walked to work a week after Neo had arrested Salvador Delahada for the alleged murder of Will, Judah, whomever. The first step in this over-haul was getting her Watchmen new kits and new training. She was hoping that the coup she'd scored in hiring an actual former police officer would help with that. She really liked David Lo " maybe even a little too much for her own good. He was smart and no-nonsense, dedicated and loyal to his job, and as she'd seen a few nights ago, loyal to her. It also didn't hurt that he was very easy on the eyes. The corner of her mouth tugged up in a begrudging smile as she thought about the way he'd refused to back down while she was facing off with Sal, how he'd insisted on being there while she tried to bring Sal in, even after she had assured him that she had things under control. Even after he'd seen her handle herself in a fight with the Makos. It had taken another threat " that of a crossbowman across from the roof of the Red Dragon " to get him to focus that singular attention elsewhere.

That begrudging smile quickly became a frown when she thought about Sal and his alleged victim. If Sal could be believed " and really, she had no reason to doubt him; he just felt trustworthy " then he was no longer a murderer. His alleged victim wasn't dead. He'd been standing in the street Friday night, seemingly completely unaware that he was being hunted by the Fae. Riley felt a tiny amount of sympathy with him; she knew from personal experience what it was like to be hunted by a Faerie, how single-minded they were, how utterly dedicated to their own peculiar brand of justice.

Should she rescind the APB and BOLO on Sal" The worst she could charge him with now was assault with a deadly weapon, and honestly, if she pursued that charge, she'd have to haul in half the city " including herself and Danny. How many times had they gone out on the night of the full moon, hunting the gang members" How many times had they broken her own bare-bones laws" And where the hell did that crossbowman come from' Was he a concerned citizen who had spotted Sal" Was he working with Sal to try and kill Judah, Will, whomever" Or was there someone else gunning for him"

She shook her head to try and clear away her confusing thoughts, and looked up, realising that she'd just walked all the way from the Zen Gardens to the Courthouse while on auto-pilot. She pounded up the steps, went in through the huge, stately front doors, and nodded to secretaries and assistants as she walked down the hallway to the MoJ's suite of four offices behind the actual courtrooms. Half the suite stood empty, awaiting the appointment of a Deputy Minister. "Crap," she sighed as she fished the keys to her half of the suite out of her suit jacket pocket. "One of these damned days, I will find someone." It was a mantra that she ran through every morning.

After opening the door that led into Mindy's office, she went through and opened all the blinds, turned on all the machines " including a real Italian espresso maker that Mindy had somehow come up with. Then she moved into her own office...and stopped dead in her tracks, her body frozen in shock and no small amount of fright.

Riley went inside the Red Dragon. She had an appointment with Colleen MacLeod to discuss what Collie had seen the night Sal killed Judah...the first time. Taking a large step to the left, putting herself out the way of the door and scanned the faces for Collie's. She wasn't hard to find since she was behind the bar talking and fixing coffee Riley moved to the bar and settled down near Colleen. "Evening, Ms MacLeod. Could I have a moment of your time"

"So formal?" Collie eyed Riley. "That mean I should be calling you Minister?" she asked, smiling just a touch.

Riley nodded, though it pained her to do so, and pulled a small notebook and pencil stub out of her bag, setting them in front of her. "I'd like to ask you some questions about the occurrences on the night of the 27th of May?"

Collie held up a finger to Riley. "Let's take this to a table, shall we?" She came around to the patrons' side of the counter. She moved to table that would afford some privacy, but in the inn privacy was nearly impossible to have.

Riley grabbed her things and unhooked her boot heels from the bottom rung of the stool she was currently settled on. Sliding off said stool, she tugged at the black leather that encased her hips, settling a thumb into a belt loop. Then she followed Collie to the table of her choosing.

Collie smoothed her skirt as she sat. "So, you mean the night Judah Bishop was supposedly killed"

Riley settled in a chair, notebook and pencil in hand, and nodded. "Yes, that's the one."

"What would you like to know?" Collie cleared her throat.

"Everything you saw, everything you heard, everything you felt." No, Riley was not aware of Collie's empathic abilities, but being a Cat, she put a lot of stock into one's feelings. "Take me through what you were doing that night."

"I was with Darien Fenner. I had just shown him the fortune the machine had spit out. Something about everything you read in the paper isn't true. I could feel irritation in the air, maybe a bit of fear. Fellow was calling himself Will, later we learned he was Bishop, was gawking at the card in his hand. I think it told him something that was true."

"Okay. And who else was present that night' Where were you seated?"

"Mostly at the bar, but I had gone back and forth to the fortune telling machine. Darien, Sal," she paused, tried to recall. "Fury, I think that's what they call her. And Icer's daughter, I remember them all being here. Katie was here, too. When Bishop started smashing up the machine, Darien started guiding me out to the door.

Riley nodded encouragingly. "Did Mr Delahada and Mr Bishop have any sort of interaction during the night, before the stabbing" Did either of them interact with anyone else present that night?"

"Yes. Darien talked to Bishop as did Kate. She called him Will."

She nodded to this as well, her hand flying over the notepad in front of her, easily keeping up with Collie's words. Good luck to the poor, hapless clerk who had to transcribe these notes. "So. Mr Bishop received an unsatisfactory fortune and attacked the machine?"

"I don't think Sal and Bishop said anything to each other. I could feel a fire in the air from Bishop, Sal's not readable by empaths. He," Colleen shook her head and then answered Riley's last question. "At least two from what I saw in the mirror. Like the story of the man whose fortune cookies kept coming true and he didn't believe them until it was bad news."

"Two fortunes?" Also' Riley's brow arched at the 'readable by empaths' comment. "Do you notice any sort of interaction between them' A look exchanged, maybe?"

"No, I didn't. Bishop started smashing the machine, Darien and I were about halfway to the door, and that was when I heard Sal screaming. Blood splattered on us."

Inwardly, Riley cringed at Collie's words. "Screaming" How" Wordlessly or...?"

"Sal was saying that Bishop had hurt Ali, Fio, and Bekah." She ticked those off on her fingers. "I don't recall any other names. You must understand," she looked up to meet Riley's eyes, "when Sal refers to people as having been hurt, he tends to mean in a fatal or nearly fatal manner."

She nodded, still scribbling away like mad. "Okay. And then?" Yeah, she kinda had that feeling about the half-Fae.

"We, Darien and I, were standing in the front doorway, when Bishop was finally dead. Darien asked the victim's name and got no answer. I told him he was asking the wrong question. You have to speak to Sal in his own language. I asked who the murdering bastard was and Sal said his name is Judah Bishop. Not was, is. I suppose it's hard to get justice or revenge when the responsible being never stays dead."

Riley nodded. She'd heard that bit of info, too. "Okay, Ms MacLeod. Is there anything else you can think of?"

"I don't recall if Sal actually said it or not, but I think he said Bishop was killed at least once before." She studied Riley a moment. "Have you ever been in a war, Minister O'Rourke?"

Riley gave Collie an odd look. It was an odd question after all. "No, Miss MacLeod, I have not had the dubious distinction."

"I've been in a war with Sal, Minister, he would never purposely take an innocent life. From what I saw, what he did was purposeful." She cleared her throat. "And what happens if Bishop isn't dead" How do you place a man on trial for killing someone that isn't dead?"

Riley chuckled ruefully and closed the notebook, slipping it back into her bag, a sure signal that the former portion of their conversation was over. "Yeah. There's the rub, huh?"

"Quite so, Riley," Colleen nodded. "Just as a heads up, I'll be sending a formal petition to your office regarding Sal. We, his family, would like to see him."

She sighed deeply and shook her head. "Oh, Christ, Collie." She folded her arms loosely over her stomach and shook her head. "Can I be blunt with you? And will you swear to me that this does not make it to Fenner's pencil?"

That night, the fugitive murder suspect, Salvador Delahada, had killed again. Riley, Neo, and David confronted him outside of the Red Dragon Inn. However, it wasn't quite as simple as it looked. When the victim's face was illuminated, the case became much more complicated. Salvador had killed Judah Bishop again. There were many new questions, none of which had a readily apparent answer. But Sal was still a fugitive, and he had still killed again. He had to go back to prison. However, he had been broken out once before. Obviously, the precincts' jails wouldn't hack it. Perhaps a high-security facility' Possibly, but he wouldn't be surprised if he was broken out of there too. They needed somewhere where he could be watched at all times. Somewhere that only the people who were allowed to get in could enter. Neo had just the place: the Tower of Water. It was not perfectly impenetrable, as a man named Manamar proved with the Towers of Fire and Earth many years ago, but getting in was definitely no easy task. And even if you did get in, you had the elementals to contend with, and depending on the time, the Keeper himself. They were all much harder to deal with than security guards. The tower also didn't have any actual prison or dungeon rooms, but a guest bedroom with the door and windows iced over would suffice. Riley had planned to visit Sal later that night, and Neo would be there to let her in.

It would be impossible to tell what time it was if you lived in the pocket dimension of Twilight Isle unless you had a watch. For the isle was given its name for a reason: the sky was caught in eternal twilight, the sun suspended at the horizon, never to budge. The portal with its swirling oval purple light would deposit anyone going through it onto the beach, near the lagoon. To the north were the tables, the bar, and the caller couch. Further north, the rings. North of there was the volcano whose mouth concealed the Tower of Fire. To the east, the mountains where the Tower of Air hid, invisible at the highest peak. And to the west, forests and more mountains, that concealed the Tower of Earth in one of the cliff sides. But none of those were our heroine's destination today. Her destination was the only plainly visible tower in the Isle: The Tower of Water, a tall building made of coral, out in the center of the lagoon.

Riley O'Rourke was mad. She was frustrated, vexed, bebothered, annoyed...and not a tiny bit flustered when the swirling portal of doom deposited her on the beach of the freaky-looking lagoon. After staggering sideways a step or two and clutching at her stomach - "F*cking magic" - she looked around, taking her bearings. She soon caught sight of her destination.

Getting to it looked more complicated than it actually was. There was no path leading to it, but if one stood at the shore and was one of those permitted entry, a path of blue energy would appear, leading to the external spiral staircase that wrapped around to the front door. Riley was one of those people, so when she stepped over to the shore, the energy bridge appeared. She started across it, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up at attention. Soon, she was climbing stairs, one hand trailing along the wall of the tower as she went higher.

She soon arrived at the from door and cast around, looking for a doorbell or a knocker in the sape of a man with a large brass ring through his nose or ears or mouth or something. There was a nice big blue button to the left of the door. She mashed on that button and then took a step back, running a hand over her hair and trying to tame it.

There was hell being raised in one of the Tower of Water's guest bedrooms. Neo's new "guest" had no idea where he was except that he was inside a very blue room with a frozen door and frozen windows. And lots of expensive furniture. So once he had woken up, soon after arriving, he decided to express his massive displeasure by breaking freaking everything, very loudly. Except the waterbed; he didn't want to get wet. However, when an elegant-sounding ding-dong resounded through the whole tower, he immediately stopped. The silence drew itself out, wrapping ominously around coral spires and hugging the tower close. Some little synapse in the base of an enraged brain had snapped on, and upstairs the prisoner was now pressing his ear to the floor, Indian scout style, as if he could hear through the very foundations. Doorbells meant visitors. Meant doors. Meant there was a way out somewhere, because someone had very likely come in.

Well, not quite yet. Sal would likely hear his captor descending the spiral staircase that wrapped around the inside of the tower wall. Neo wore a blue t-shirt, light black pants, and a pair of socks. He was going to try and have a comfortable night despite the sound of perpetual furniture breaking, but instead he just had a headache. He stopped briefly at the guest bedroom floor, a hand on his head, and peered down the hallway to Sal's door, which had been throughly frozen over on both sides. A sigh, then he continued his way down the stairs to the next floor down, where the living room and front door were.

He opened it up and smiled to Riley. Only a little bit forced. Pardon him, he was a little frustrated with his new guest. "Hi there, Riley," he said quietly, "Come on in." A gesture to the inside, which was lavishly decorated with oceany decor, and kept in pristine shape. A bachelor like Neo wouldn't have the kind of taste that the interior of the tower seemed to suggest. None of it was his; it came with the territory. Well, except for the big TV and the entertainment system. That was typical bachelor fare. And he wasn't the hyper-pristine cleaning type, either. The elementals took care of that for him. "Sal's upstairs....and being suspiciously quiet. He was breaking stuff up until you came in. Do you want something to drink or eat before we go talk to him?"

Riley stepped inside and shrugged a little. "I'll go see him." She paused a bit and chewed her lower lip. Then she turned scared eyes on Neo. "He can't...uh...leave, right' I mean....He's stuck up there?"

The Keeper smiled reassuringly at her. "Right now, he can't even leave the bedroom. The door and windows are completely frozen over. Of course, that means I have to unfreeze the door to get in." Or maybe use Ghost Form, but he wasn't sure he could bring others with him, and even if he could, that's probably an experience Riley wouldn't want. "Let's go."

Neo led Riley up the stairs to the guest bedroom floor, and went down the hallway to the conspicuous door that was frozen over. Not just the door, but the doorway, and a foot or so of the surrounding wall, too. And it was thick ice. He was still concerned with the fact that Sal was suddenly being so quiet. A meaningful look to Riley before he waved a hand, causing the ice to evaporate away. Both on the outside, and on the inside. Riley arched a brow and let him do his magicky stuff, which by the way, she absolutely hated. In case it wasn't clear by now.

Salvador heard an echo here, a muffled sound there. Dirt and wood and stone. Whatever floors are made of. All things are connected. He could hear them coming. He could just as well taste the stink of magic in the atmosphere. Made his skin crawl and itch, and the nearby activation of even more tipped him off. Salvador did a push-up off the floor and paced side-to-side like a lion in a cage, fingers twitching. He was, quite frankly, still pissed off. Rusty eyes were trained on the disappearing ice as he paced.

Neo's left hand reached out for the doorknob, his right hand at a ready position at his side. He twisted the knob, waited just a little bit, and then slowly opened the door. Riley, for her part, was sort of lurking behind Neo, using his body as a shield. Yep, she'd let him take one for the team if it came to it.

Add into Salvador's bad mood not knowing where he was or how he got here, and that there was ice on the freaking windows still— Well. Salvador had yet to flip back on the rational side of his brain. So when that door opened, he lunged, spitting and snarling and fingers raised like cat-claws ready to rip the angel's face to shreds.

"Christ," she muttered and shook her head at the angry ball of Salvador Delahada that was suddenly lunging at poor, innocent, put-upon Neo. She took a big step back, wary of that freaky sword and those wings she'd seen earlier when the angel had knocked out the fugitive.

"Tsk..." Neo frowned. The sword and wings actually would not be necessary here. He was, after all, inside his own tower, where his water powers were at their very strongest. So he waved a hand, summoning a large ball of ice to drop out of the air onto the lunging Spaniard. And all of that momentum was redirected straight down to the floor.

"Sal!" Riley shouted. "Don't you people -" meaning the Fae, of course, "have some sort of rules about hospitality' You're a guest in Neo's home!"

An exagerrated sweatdrop ran down Neo's forehead. "I wouldn't call him a guest..."

There was a lot of swearing and snarling coming out from under that giant ball of ice. Most of it was Spanish. And he was rocking to roll the blasted thing off him. The common language struck a translation fuse a couple seconds later. "F*ck your f*cking rules and f*ckign hospitality you f*cking—" Pause. "Neo?"

The angel gave a little wave. "Hiya." Though with a deadpan expression.

"And Riley." Who, it should be known, was wearing The Dress. The Bomb Dress, which was quickly becoming a favourite.

And then Sal was instantly back into it. "I'm going to f*cking chip this f*cking boulder up and shove it up your f*cking ass you—" And back to Spanish. He may be just about getting up off the floor at this point.

Crap. Should have learned Spanish before I came to Rhy'Din, thought Neo. Not that knowing what Sal was cussing about would have been a particularly useful piece of info. "Yeah, yeah, sure, sure." He crossed his arms. "Do you want to calm down long enough to talk to Riley?" Sharply, the Spaniard turned his head, looked narrow-eyed and furious over Neo's shoulder. The instant reaction was to bare his teeth at the Minister, which he did. If he were a few degrees less pissed off, he may have cut a sharp grin at her for wearing that dress. But instead of leaping for her throat, he gave the giant ball of ice an angst-ridden kick and snapped his attention back on Neo to snarl one single word at him. That word was predictably: "No."

"Aw, Sal," said Riley as she stepped around Neo, moving to stand next to him, in plain view. "I'm sad. I was looking forward to a conversation with you."

"Yeah, she came all the way here to talk to you," said Neo, backing up his boss. "Took the portal to the Isle, even walked across the energy bridge to the tower. She hates magic. She hates it a lot." Sage nodding.

"She hates it, precious. Hates it forever," Riley muttered quietly and then nodded. "Yes, Sal knows that I hate magic. He knows what a big ....sacrifice I'm making to come out here and see him."

By pure reflex of savage rage, Sal growled when Riley moved. The animal side of him showing too strongly, like the wolf warning her off from his fresh kill. Which reminded him that his fresh kill wasn't in the vicinity and just kept him angry. His fists clenched at his sides, but he stayed his ground. He said nothing. Only stared at her, the edges of his teeth showing, tightly clenched together.

Oh, puh-leeze. He's trying to intimidate a predator by being predatory' Hogwash. The seasoned warrior standing in the threshold of his own elemental tower next to said predator was unintimidated as well. Actually, he was rather irritated as he caught sight of all the damage Sal had already done. Riley stepped into the room then, just a foot or so over the threshold. "Please, Sal. You...sent me this dress," she glanced down at it, holding out the skirt of it. "You sent me that drawing of Judah. You sent me a note. I want to help you. But I can't if you won't talk to me."

Salvador Delahada was a different kind of predator altogether. She had no idea. The growl rose again as she moved closer. His nails dug into his palms, letting loose the faintly and barely detectable scent of tainted copper. There was something off-putting about the tang of his blood. Something that made most animals uneasy. Rusty eyes ticked down, then up, to take in the sight of her. Dress: check. Note: mental check. "Talking is not helping," he growled.

Neo stepped into the room as well, pushing the door closed behind them with a foot. Maybe a sort of trust in Sal, that he wouldn't try to kill them again? Perhaps. Could also be a trust in his own abilities if he were to try it again. Could be both.

"Sal," started Riley, "I can't...kill him if I don't know why I'm killing him. I'm not..." She trailed off and shook her head. "I have a duty now. I have rules and laws I have to follow. I'm not...I'm not free to go off on a bender and kill everyone who slights me."

One of Neo's dark eyebrows ticked up, and he looked over to Riley. Kill him' What's she talking about' Is she actually going to do an act of vigilantism, the one who said she would arrest every vigilante working in the town" Or is that just a sort of euphenism for a trial and execution" Come to think of it....he hadn't known a thing about the deal that she was talking about just before he brought Sal to the tower.

That stare of Sal's could bore holes into a person's skull, and he kept it going. He had no comment to what Riley said just then. None whatsoever. Riley leaned against the wall, tucking her hands behind her in the small of her back. She crossed those obscenely long legs at the ankles casually and returned Sal's stare.

Not moving, not smashing the room to bits and pieces — which by the way was already a mess of splinters and shredded fineries — was like a slow meditation for Sal. Easing the rage away and letting the calm slip in under the radar. So long as Riley stayed on her side of the room, all was well. And much like a cat wary and eventually getting bored with the game, he was the first to blink, slowly. He tipped his chin just marginally to regard Neo, looked back at Riley, and then turned aside. His fingers were starting to unfurl, but ticking silent calculations tipped in blood along the air as he searched. Nothing to sit on save the water bed. Stupid water bed. And stupid chair he'd smashed to smithereens.

Riley watched him silently. The scent of his tainted blood made the Jaguar's hackles raise up and the Cat began pacing back and forth inside her mental cage. A big paw came out and swung at the door, testing Riley's control, testing the Human's resolve to solve this with Words, instead of Blood. Neo had smelled that blood many times before, from all the times he and Sal had dueled. He noticed the way Hyperion always glowed where it made contact with Sal's blood, to burn it away, and protect itself from being eaten away by it.

Anyone with any sort of aura reading abilities would now definitely sense that there was something a little...off about Riley. She had two auras, two very distinct and separate auras, which were currently causing quite a distraction. She took a deep breath and briefly closed her eyes, shoring up the defenses and adding mental silver to the mental cage. Stay, Kitty! Neo could sense energies, though only vaguely without using an arte to increase his energy sense precision. He could vaguely discern signatures, locations, and magnitudes. And he did glance to Riley, feeling like there were two people standing next to him rather than one. But he saw only the one person. He could feel the tension in the air, too. The silence only served to magnify it.

Sal had seen the duplicity of Riley's aura, if not now then certainly before. Fae eyes see so many interesting things that normal eyes just don't. But like a lot of things, he said nothing of it. He was still searching for somewhere to sit. The desk was broken at least in half. That wasn't going to do any good. Turning his back on the pair of them, he kicked a few bits of refuse out of the way until there was a clear path to the wall across from the door. As far away from them as he could get. There he turned to put his back against the wall, cross his arms and legs at the ankles, prop himself there and bow his head, eyes closed. The last time Salvador had taken up this stance, he had been sitting down. And instead of his arms being crossed, his hands had been resting on a table, fingers laced together.

Neo remained resolute, arms crossed as he leaned against the door. ...Until he recognized Sal's pose. Oh, balls. An irritated grimace. "Tsk....he's entered Ass M'de. He's not gonna talk."

When Riley opened her eyes, the Jaguar had gone back to sleep, curling up and leaving control to the Human...who was exhausted and really, really freaking angry. "F*ck this." She pushed off the wall. "And f*ck you, you arrogant, stubborn fool," she growled at Sal. "You can f*cking stay here until you f*cking rot, for all I care. I tried to be reasonable. I tried to work with you. But you're gonna stand there and stare at me. You're gonna stand there and waste my god damned time."

One might have to wonder which of the two was more vicious and snarly: the cat or the woman. Any lesser man would have flinched or jumped back with an equally snappish retort full of piss and vinegar. Salvador Delahada, however, did nothing. Said nothing. Didn't even so much as twitch up a smirk. In that moment, he was Zen.

Well, Neo took that as a pretty sure sign that this visit was over. He removed himself from the door, and turned around to open it. He left Riley room to exit, but kept himself between Sal and the door.

Riley turned to Neo. "No one gets in to see him unless I say so. Not even you. Slip him meals through a slot in the door."

Neo blinked at her "But I don't have a slot..." Sigh. He should have thought of that before deciding to imprison Sal in his tower. At least he hasn't been there long enough to have to worry about the meals issue yet. "Guess I have to make one."

Riley walked out the door without a further comment, without a further look back. Sal was pretty much dead to her at the moment. She moved through Neo's tower, muttering blackly under her breath in Japanese the entire way. When she fetched up against the front door, she turned and looked back for Neo. Apparently, she'd forgotten how a door worked in her utter, blind rage.

Neo walked out after Riley, keeping an eye on Sal as he went. As soon as the door was closed, he waved a hand, causing ice to build back up over it, both on the inside, and outside. Before long, it was just as iced over as it was before. And now to make that slot. His arcane longsword, Hyperion, appeared in his right hand, and he squatted down. The blade's golden glow intensified, and he aimed a quick slash at the bottom of the door. The slot created was actually quite a bit wider than the blade, so that would work for the time being. More stuff for the goblins to fix, though. And Undine probably wouldn't appreciate him wrecking the architecture. He stood upright, dismissing the sun blade in a small flash of gold light, and looked around for Riley. He couldn't see her in the hallway, so he took the stairs back down to the living room floor to find her pacing in front of the front door like a caged cat. He blinked a bit, then walked on over, opening up the door. "Um....you want I should walk you to the portal?"

"No!" The word spat out of Riley's human mouth sounded like the scream of a jungle cat. And then she shot out into the weird twilight and practically ran down the stairs.

Neo actually flinched back a bit, taken aback by the weirdness of that 'no.' He knew of Riley's powers, but he expected her to snap at him with her human voice. He then blinked a bit and shut the door behind her. A sigh. He rubbed his forehead as he made for the kitchen, in search of a soda and some ibuprofen.

((Adapted from live play with Riley and Sal. Thank you~!))