Goblin Town -- Logs

About four songs later, there's a pause for folks to catch their breath... and Cinnamon calls back over her shoulder, "Oh! Shane, I looked up cobblestones, like we were talking about! It's kinda cool... there's apparently two kinds! There's the naturally rounded cobblestones -- those are the true ones, and you can make building walls out of them as well as roads! Then there's the rectangular ones, which are actually correctly referred to as setts, or Belgian blocks -- did you know that? I didn't! I thought they were all kinda the same... anyways! So, turns out the rounded cobblestones allow horses to get a better grip -- especially shod horses -- even when wet or icy! Isn't that cool? Oh, and vehicles and horses are really noisy on them, which helps pedestrians to know when to move out of the way... so it sounds like cobblestones really would work well for horses, even if icy!"

Shane grins and calls back, "That's good information, acushla! Sounds like the square cobbles we're all used to now are bad, but the originals are good!"

Cinnamon replies, "Well, they don't allow as much, um, grab? But they have the same reaction to lots of wet -- it sluices away rather than either puddling or undermining into sinkholes, like happens with asphalt. So... it's not so much that the setts are bad... as they're not as good as true cobbles for horses and such, if that makes sense? I dunno... Aisling, Elias, what's your experience with them?"

Aisling calls back, "Well, they're definitely loud!" It makes her laugh, "But they are very good at keeping things from getting quite so slippery as asphalt!"

Elias calls forward, as well, "They bring back memories. They did help the horses, but they are hard sometimes for humans to walk on in modern shoes."

Cinnamon nods over her shoulder, "Yah, the readings did mention cobbles are hard on soft-footed bipeds like elves and humans and such -- and I know of at least one island with cobblestone streets where they simply outlawed stiletto heels -- since they'd always break! I imagine Iason or Nikos would be fine on them, though?" She grins as she adds, "Who wants to pick the next song?"

Marcus closes his eyes but manages not to put a hand over his face -- he doesn't know any of the Irish songs that seem to be what's being chosen for traveling so far. So, perhaps it's a bit of a surprise to him when the next song is actually a modern one: Ailing starts with, "Today, while the blossoms till cling to the vine...!" Cinnamon happily joins in -- with a surprisingly lovely version of the harmony to that tune. Thorn doesn't have much of a singing voice, but he understands cadences and calls, so he's happy to join in on the refrains. He has absolutely no idea what the songs are about, though!

When he realizes he does know the current song, Marcus raises his voice to join in. He's trying to show some gratitude because, if nothing else, he knows he is indebted -- and he is very much about what is proper! His voice is clear and beautiful, a tenor that rings sweetly through the air to join with Aisling's and Cinnamon's swirling harmonies. The young dragon beams into the night as she sings along -- this sounds really wonderful to her! Once that song is completed, Cinnamon happily calls back, "Marcus, that was really pretty! Can you share a song with us that we can learn from you, and sing along?"

Marcus chuckles quietly, "Most of the folk songs I know are in German, but..." He considers, then says, "I do know some of the human folk songs that are more modern." He thinks for a bit... then actually begins to sing "Both Sides Now."

Cinnamon brightens excitedly, "Oh! I know that one!" She happily joins in, amusement tinting her voice as she sings quite honestly, "I've looked at clouds from both sides now!" It's in such a cheerful, participatory manner that the three and a half hours quickly pass. Shane calls out when it's time for Cinnamon to drop down below where commercial jets ordinarily fly, and soon thereafter she cheerfully calls back that she sees Boston's lights ahead! Aisling calls forward to let Cinnamon know just where the 'invisibility' line is for Coblyn. That will be where she'll be the most safe to drop down into the sightline of anyone that could see her from the street.

Cinnamon nods as she carefully follows directions... and finally, with a heavy beating of wings, she lets slowly and carefully down, right outside Cafe Prague! It's one of the widest spots on Coblyn, though during the day it's packed with little stalls and vendors. Now, though, there's just enough room for a small dragon to squeeze in! Cinnamon beams delightedly as she neatly refolds her wings on landing, though she keeps her voice down for anyone sleeping nearby, "Okay, everyone -- the Dragon has landed!" She trills a draconic giggle, adding, "This was fun, but I'm starving! Can we get dinner first, and I'll shift back for unloading later? Or... oh! Do you suppose we could put the luggage into a corner of the cafe while we eat?"

There's barely a moment after Cinnamon's feet have touched down that the door of Cafe Prague opens and a small whirlwind comes bursting out. Spice practically hurls herself up Cinnamon's side and into Josie's arms before the wolf shifter can even start to unbuckle. Cinnamon laughs, her head turning to watch, "Hiya, Spicy! How're you? Did you miss us?" She grins, turning to tilt her head to peer at the doorway, "Is Jaeger here too?"

Spice laughs, "Jaeger's inside, yeah!"

Josie hugs Spice back, saying quietly, "Let us get everything unpacked so Cinnamon can change! She's going to be very hungry."

Cinnamon grins happily at Josie and Spice, cheerfully ignoring her loud tummy rumbles, "Awww, don't hurry because of me! It's so nice to see you two together!"

Josie laughs, "We can hug after! We have all the time in the world!" Thorn helps to unload everything from Cinnamon's... backpack? harness? aerial travois?... and get it set on the ground to wherever it's going to be placed while they have the late dinner in Cafe Prague. In fact, everyone pitches in to get Cinnamon unloaded so that everyone -- Cinnamon included! -- can get fed and watered after the trip.

Cinnamon happily helps where she can, and once all the luggage is unfastened and Josie raises the big sheet, Cinnamon concentrates... then gives a gleeful squeal of delight, "Did it!" She beams at everyone as she steps out, adding, "First try, again!" She grabs up an armload of luggage and heads indoors, adding, "-and now... fooood! Starrrvin'!" Cinnamon beams as she patters through the Cafe's front door, calling out a quiet, "Hello, everyone! Thank you so much for letting us arrive so late!" She settles the luggage down by the door, then turns and heads immediately for the table where hot food's delicious scent is making her stomach rumble even more! "Mmm, smells fantabulous!"

It's Vanya that greets them with his large smile, and Elias' special bottle -- he rumbles, "We all wanted to make sure you were safe and fed. I sent the others to sleep and I kept everything warm. They will be up to take care of the other customers in the morning." Indeed, there is a feast laid out for the humans and humanoids.

Cinnamon beams and cheerfully hugs the huge bear-man, "Thank you so much, Vanya!" -- after she's put her heavily laden plate on the table! She happily adds to Jaeger, "Hi there! Did you hire the Valkyrie yet for the French-Basque rogue trip?" and laughs as Spice and Josie cuddle, fondly adding, "You two are just the cutest!" Thorn sighs contentedly as he settles into a chair after greeting Vanya and Jaeger. He's more than happy to let Cinnamon regain her strength with a lion's share of the food! But it is very, very tasty; a wonderful capstone to an eventful -- and, with the food on the rez, equally tasty -- trip.

Jaeger is smiling in a mellow way -- he's already had a few of the dark beers one can get here! He nods, "Yes, I did hire them. They had a short cruise booked with some humans down the American coast -- some kind of history class. Arvid says the crew enjoys doing those. Apparently having children on board makes several of the Havvarger happy, for some reason."

Cinnamon nodnods cheerfully, speaking between bites of food, "Yeah, I think they'd like to have kids but don't have any females... and likely worry about raising kids on the ship!" She has a long drink of soda, then sighs happily and continues, "We had a really exciting meeting too!" She counts on her fingers for a moment... then grins, "Well, that -- and the next full moon is coming up in less than a week. Bet they want to wait until that's past, before having kids aboard!" Jaeger encourages them to tell him about the meeting, and agrees that waiting until after Fraser and Rafe have their enforced change, before having children on board, is likely a wise thing to do.

The dinner is full of good food and drink, and cheerful camaraderie -- as everyone chips in to tell the various parts of the story. Cinnamon is curious as to whether Jaeger has any ideas on how Jalil might wish to see the various terrains divided up, and she makes a point of highlighting Thorn's amazing medical work during the poisoning incident. Jaeger listens to everything. He compliments Thorn, telling the healer, "I shall ensure your lady knows how well you did. She'll be quite proud of you." He smiles in a way that makes the elder look almost impish, as he adds, "Of course, she always is." Then he takes a deep breath before replying to Cinnamon, "I am not certain. It's an interesting thought, though. I will have to think on what his strategy might be. He is not power hungry... I wonder if he wishes to have less territory, rather than more...?"

Thorn smiles almost shyly to Jaeger, "Thank you. I hope she is." Inwardly, he just has more questions for Iason.

Cinnamon thinks for a moment, "Well, he's currently got, what... all of North Africa and the middle East, right?" She blinks, "Whoa... okay, good point -- that is rather a lot!" She devours a roll slathered with butter and jam, then grins as she adds, "Lots of really diverse folks and cultures there too, right?" She considers for a bit, imagining the globe in her head... then curiously adds, "So Aoi has the biggest chunk of Earth? How'd that come about? Or no... I guess it is Jalil that has the biggest chunk!" Then she cheerfully adds, with the intellectual nimbleness of one who is comfortable soooper-leaping from subject to subject, "Also, we were very careful with Marcus -- he's all better now! So are the humans who were harmed, thank goodness."

Jaeger closes his eyes, "Isolationism. Look at us -- look at how many of us come from Europe and the Americas: Marcus, Aisling, Elias, Hilde... Sparrow, Josie, Killa... Jarek... you. That's nine of thirteen. For the entire rest of the world, there are but four! Aoi, Jalil, Nasteexo... and now, Snow." He sighs thoughtfully, "Asia was famously isolationist -- Aoi and Snow together represent almost sixty percent of the world's population. Jalil and Nasteexo represent seventeen percent. Between us, the other nine of us represent twenty-three percent. Nine of us hold the majority in the council and minority in the world." The ancient elf smiles, "However... I may be thinking wrong. Jalil... is sometimes quite subtle. I don't know that he trusts Aoi. Aoi is wise and lovely, and it may be good that she represents so many humans... but not so many supernaturals."

Cinnamon eats as she listens... with great fascination! A moment later she curiously inquires, "So... would it be fairer to divide the world up by population numbers? Or by, um... hmm. Spiritual realms? Or... maybe with geographically similar numbers? Also, would Aoi representing supernaturals cause different behavior?"

Jaeger shrugs slowly, "Perhaps we should be looking to break things down more..." he rubs his fingers together, "small. But there are very many disappeared cultures. Looking for representatives for each of them could become cumbersome and..." He's silent for a few moments before he sighs and shakes his head, "I cannot see the whole picture."

Cinnamon chews slowly as she considers... then she gives Jaeger another curious look, "So... do you trust Jalil to be truthful?"

Jaeger smiles almost lazily, "I trust Jalil to be wise... and cunning." Which, admittedly, is not necessarily the same! He smiles, "But I don't trust anyone to always be strictly truthful... even when they think they are being truthful-" he laughs quietly, "because sometimes we don't realize what's really in our minds and hearts."

Cinnamon considers that as she has several swallows of her soda... then nods, "That's fair. I know I've changed a lot from what I believed to be true about myself, after all, in just the past four months!" She grins, then adds, "So... I think I'll just ask Jalil! I'm not particularly cunning, after all, so I might as well be straightforward!" She giggles, adding, "Maybe it'll surprise him so much he'll tell me the truth!" A heartbeat later she brightens, "Oh! Also, Jaeger? I'm starting a sort of talent and needs database for supernaturals, so we can match up folks who need help with folks who want to give help. Can I come talk to you later about that, sometime?"

Jaeger looks intrigued, "Oh, most definitely. That could be quite useful."

The food is delicious and plentiful and Vanya is a good host. When people look like they're starting to get too drowsy to go on, he shoos them out and assures them that he can clean up. Cinnamon hugs the big bear-man again in thanks, tells him to just have the bill sent to John at the bank for her account... and then wanders sleepily out with everyone else, grabbing up several handfuls of luggage as she goes. She's happy to help her friends carry, after all! Thorn too helps with carting the luggage to their appropriate locations, but when everything is packed away, and all is said and done, he also goes to sleep.

The next day, Thorn tracks down Iason in the infirmary. He's happy to give a synopsis of what happened at the meeting, and the events surrounding it, and to answer any questions Iason might have. But the reason he's coming to Iason is something that's been worrying him. A lot, "Iason... everyone is so amazed at the healing that I've done. They react like it's... miraculous, almost. Incredibly rare. But it doesn't feel like I'm doing anything remarkable, just... just visualizing how I want or need them to heal. It feels like this should be more common, to anyone with an iota of magical ability! Are... are healers who use magic really that rare? Why aren't there more healers even in the supernatural community?"

Iason listens to Thorn's rundown, his face serious. He blinks slowly at Thorn's query... and then he blinks again when Thorn explains that one of the things he helped with was leukemia. The big centaur rumbles thoughtfully, "People that can help a little... ones that can encourage a break to set a little more cleanly, or that can encourage a cut to mend a little more quickly... those are... not common, but you see them. Those that can intensify the efficacy of herbs or have a feel for what will do the best good -- they too exist. Those that can tell what will help... the seers, they're... mmm." He sighs, "Being able to tell what will help but not being able to help is almost a curse more than an ability. But what you're describing..."

Thorn lets out a breath, "I'm not complaining, honest! It's just... it doesn't feel like I'm doing anything particularly unusual...? -and I'm doing it with, basically, borrowed magic from Athala."

Iason nods gravely, "Healers that use magic, as you say, do exist. But ones that can do it a little bit, I am trying to say, are quite uncommon. They are prized. Ones that can keep a wound from going septic are a blessing on a battlefield. Ones that can do what you can?" He rubs the side of his face consideringly as he rumbles, "...are rare... and the fact that you can do it more than once? I worry there might be backlash at some point. Sometimes a thing like that comes because..." The centaur looks like he's trying to word something carefully, "I think Athala may not be the only source. I think she may be -- possibly unwittingly -- augmenting something that was already there."

Thorn blinks. "Oh. Ah... this is the part where I'm feeling that something ominous is hovering over me. I can understand about the backlash. I kept expecting to topple over or something. I felt all right at the time, but... what should I be worried about as far as possible backlash?" He frowns slightly at 'augmenting something that was already there.' "Uh... that might be.... I mean, I didn't know magical aptitude was something you were born with. But... I mean, I kinda stumbled into the trod where Athala lives accidentally, which... I've come to learn is not something that really happens....?"

Just outside the room, Cinnamon pauses, blinking. She'd been following the sonorous rumble of Iason's deep voice to tell him that she planned to work on the infirmary's accounting today, in order to catch up on her promise to him. The news she's just heard, though... is actually rather worrying! Hm... maybe she should talk to Thorn later about protection. For now, though, she steps up and raps lightly on the doorjamb, her voice soft, "Hello? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to overhear... but... well, I'm worried about Thorn too? What do you mean, please, about backlash and augmenting?" She wonders worriedly if her visualization suggestions to Thorn have exacerbated the situation, too!

Thorn glances over at the doorway and smiles warmly, "Hi, Cinnamon."

Iason's dark brows go up, "You... walked into a trod? On your own?" He's starting to look even more interested, "But: yes. Some humans, some rare humans, have some inborn ability. They were blessed. Or they had an ancestor that was. Or..." The big centaur smiles wryly, "Somehow they gained access or tapped into something. This tells me you definitely aren't getting it all from your lady." He holds up a hand, adding, "Whatever you have, it's a good thing -- healing always is. But healing like this? There is sometimes a price if it goes wrong. Or if..." He glances over at Cinnamon, "There are sometimes magicks which have repercussions. You draw on something powerful, but if it goes badly wrong, you take the brunt of it going wrong."

Cinnamon frowns worriedly, glancing at Thorn, then back at Iason. Thorn hmms thoughtfully, and nods slowly. Cinnamon frowns again, asking the obvious question, "So... how do we ward or help Thorn against this happening, please?"

Iason considers, replying, "Seers take the risk of their minds not coming back if they look too deeply, for instance. The question is: is what you do worth it? You saved a young man's life. If it had gone badly, you might have been injured yourself. Or something else might have happened. The next question is: what are the repercussions? Because we aren't sure what's being augmented... hmm. We'll need to do some research. Or someone will."

Cinnamon nods inquiringly, hoping Iason will continue with this fascinating discussion. "I'll be glad to research," Thorn says. "Do you have a suggestion as to where to start? Genealogy?"

Iason nods gravely, "That is exactly where I would begin: ancestry -- because somewhere along your bloodline, there's something you don't know. Something we don't know."

Cinnamon looks thoughtful, "So it's definitely ancestral? Not, say... someone or something else sort of dumping power on him?"

Iason shakes his head, "I did not say that. I think part is Athala augmenting something, yes... but I want to know what it is that she's augmenting. Researching his family could help with knowing that, since he would likely remember if something supernatural happened to him earlier in his life." He pauses consideringly, then adds, "Unless it was when he was very young, of course. If that were the case, he would need to ask his family."

Thorn nods slowly, "Would Athala know?"

Iason mms, "Perhaps? She may well believe it all comes from her."

Cinnamon nods, "Gotcha. Huh! Well, this is wonderfully strange!" She grins at Thorn, adding, "Have fun with the research, but do be careful, okay? We don't want a backlash to hit you -- whether inside you or outside!" She grins (unwittingly a little fiercely) as she adds, "Though if the backlash is someone wanting to harm you in some way, I think we can handle that!"

Thorn smiles to the little dragon, "Thank you, Cinnamon -- and I'll do my best to be careful! I'll do what digging I can into my ancestry... though if it's too distant I might never find it." He thinks a moment, then nods, "I should talk with Athala at some point as well."

Iason nods, "Yes, you should. Just... wandering into a trod is quite unusual. It sounds a bit like fate to me."

Cinnamon beams and pats Thorn companionably on the arm, then tells Iason her plan to work weekly on the infirmary accounts instead of biweekly, to make up for all her missed days. After that, barring someone needing her, she patters cheerfully off to settle into a good day's work.

At the end of the day Cinnamon sends off a quick text to Kestrel: did they ever ask why Jack and Belinda had quite so many really big guns? Kestrel's return answer is that apparently Jack and Belinda both thought they might need them in order to keep themselves safe against so many formidable people. Cinnamon shakes her head slowly when she reads that, texting back, Wowsers, they really didn't do their research, did they?!

She grins ruefully, then adds, Also: everyone home safe. Have (uninterrupted) fun with Sparrow! She's both giggling to herself, and blushing rather hotly, as she sends that one! Kestrel's return text to Cinnamon is mostly fruit and vegetables and a laughing emoji. Cinnamon blinks slowly, considering... fruits and vegetables? Hm... well, maybe it means they're sharing meals and having fun together? That's a good thing, if so. The little dragon beams happily to herself, and continues with her day.

Just before she leaves the infirmary that night, Cinnamon checks with Iason: how's the trust for the injured coming along? She knows he, Vanya, and Shane are the trustees, after all... so she's wondering if Shane will have a bunch of interviews already lined up for him and the other two! The big centaur replies that the trust is going well and hasn't had to arrange too many interviews yet. Just three or four.

Cinnamon also runs a few errands -- giving Maerlyn's 'mother' to Elias, and giving Muriel the seeds from the rez's herbalist/healer. She also checks with the nature spirit: does Muriel know any good freshwater spirits who could maybe help raise a water table? Muriel doesn't have much to say about raising water levels, but she's excited to hear that Cinnamon might be able to help Sparrow with it. She also lets Cinnamon know she'll check to see if there are any spirits that could work in Texas' climate well enough before that table actually starts to rise, though she warns the little dragon that water spirits actually suffer when the water table gets low.

Cinnamon hmms thoughtfully, "Okay, that's an important point to keep in mind, then -- we don't want to actually hurt anyone!" She explains what she's trying to accomplish -- both regarding the rez and regarding the magical talent database -- and thanks Muriel for her help! Also, does the nature spirit wish for Cinnamon to take any seeds to any of the council locations, for trade with any herbalists or nature spirits there? The two women have a nice chat, and end up with a good plan. Cinnamon also puts in an order, that night before bed, for some titanium glasses frames. She goes to sleep feeling rather pleased with herself -- it's been a good day's work! Tomorrow she'll start researching the people she's supposed to be representing, she decides. After all, hopefully no one will ask her to have less folks to represent!

Earlier that day, Thorn begins his research with what little he knows of his own family. A cousin kept more accurate genealogy records than he did, but it'll take time to reach them and get a copy of those notes. Thorn knows his parents, of course -- father passed away, mother still alive in New Jersey. He knows he has one uncle (with two boys and one girl) and one aunt with two girls. He doesn't have much knowledge about his grandparents, other than that he had them. He hopes his cousin -- who is his mother's brother's daughter -- can tell him more. For a family tree that's more like a family sapling, he doesn't know a whole lot about them!

Thorn's cousin is excited to help in the way that only people excited about genealogy can be, when asked to help research family. The cousin promises to get back with a couple of generations of info, "There's a little bit of murkiness on our great-grandfather's side... hard to trace, but that can sometimes happen when there's a war and bombs. But I'll get you what I have!"

Thorn straightens; he's on a cell phone with her, just outside Coblyn Street. "What time period was our great-grandfather in?" he asks curiously. "The First World War?" He wonders if that 'murkiness' could be some leftover trace of the 'otherness' that snuck into his family tree... that let him stumble into the trod.

The cousin nods and flips back some papers as she replies, "First World War, yeah. He was old. Our grandmother was a late-life child. Like... he was in his seventies when she was born."

Thorn blinks again. He wonders how the hell their great-grandfather -- well, no. That has to be where the supernatural touched his family. "That's pretty remarkable," he says. Do you have his name by any chance?"

"Hans Muller." The cousin laughs quietly, "Which might as well be John Smith, in a way. In the late 1800's and early 1900's, Hans, Heinrich, Hermann, Karl, and Ernst were all very popular boy's names in the Germanic parts of Europe."

Thorn rolls his eyes a bit. ['Hans Muller.' Of course the most common possible name.] "That sounds like it made it hard to trace far back past him, huh?"

The cousin smiles, "It was. There aren't a lot of paper records past that. Graveyard rubbings and family Bibles were how records were kept, then. Parish records, sometimes. Not a lot of birth certificates filed. I've got his death certificate and such. He died over here."

Thorn asks his cousin where, if she knows, where their great-grandfather died. He wonders if the man ever actually died, but of course he doesn't say that. The cousin replies that their great-grandfather died and was buried in Jersey. She's got a rubbing of the gravestone, if he wants to see it. Thorn thanks his cousin, and definitely wants to see the gravestone rubbing if she can send a picture of it! [Jersey? I wonder what he was doing in Jersey. Curiouser and curiouser....]

The cousin promises to email some photos and some scans of information she has, then gets off the call. When the email arrives, the grave rubbing is clearly of a rather elaborate gravestone... thought a lot of the early twentieth century stones were that way. The graphic shows one of the gravestones that has a small oval, inset with a black and white photo of the decedent, set in it. Hans was a handsome if stern-looking man, with small, round glasses and a thick mustache. His white hair is parted severely down the center and slicked against his head. The death date on the stone is in the mid-thirties; the birthdate is in the 1850's.

[So he died at about eighty, eighty-five years old or so,] Thorn thinks. [That's a pretty good age for that time period.] He studies the picture, musing, [So just what were you, great-grandpa? And what is it about you that came to rest on me?]

The next day, Cinnamon gets up early -- she's excited to start learning about her new people! She hopes they like her enough that they'll tell her what they need... but in order for them to do so, she feels she should try to learn some about them as well. So after an early breakfast, she happily heads off to the nearest public library. She browses contentedly through books on the various cultures, ending up with about ten books that she hopes will be a good start.

On her way home, and since it's been a few hours by then, Cinnamon decides to get a cup of tea and maybe a sandwich. She knows there's a Starbucks right on the nearest intersection to Coblyn, after all, and they have a very pleasant, shaded outdoor sitting area. That, she cheerfully decides to herself, is a primo place to start reading her first book while enjoying lunch!

Cinnamon has her sandwich, tea, and a tasty little dessert in hand, and her book bag slung over one shoulder, as she heads to the outdoor seating... though she pauses as she abruptly notices someone seated there already. Though they have their back to her, she could swear... is that Baird?! But if so... what's he doing here? She tilts her head as she wanders past, a short distance away... huh! Yep, she'd recognize that distinctive face just about anywhere! She grins, her voice a bit hesitant, "Baird? Is that you? What're you doing here, guy?"

Baird had used old information he had on hand to contact Veles. It had taken some wrangling to convince the former mercenary to even consider helping him reach the people he wants, since Veles (being quite loyal) refuses to turn over any phone numbers. He's still in Bulgaria, so he tells Baird that the Scotsman should start making his way toward Boston, and find his way to a particular intersection. Once he was there, if any of the people Baird wanted to contact wanted to reach him, they would find him. Veles did warn it may take a few weeks, however.

That warning was partially to give Veles time to let Cinnamon and the others know, and partially because he figured it would take Baird time to wrap up whatever he currently had going and make his way to Coblyn's vicinity. What Veles had not counted on was that Baird had already been doing a little research, tracking down some general information about where the man formerly known as Dmitry was last seen -- so Baird is already in the US! It doesn't take long for him to get from New York to Boston, so he was in Boston just a day later, to be sitting relaxedly at a Starbucks while sipping quite mediocre coffee and pretending to read a mediocre novel. As it turned out later, too, Veles hadn't yet had a chance to check in because Cinnamon hadn't called him in the day or so since he'd last spoken with Baird.

Baird looks up from the novel and blinks. Well. That was a lot faster than he expected! He closes the book and puts it down, "Waiting for you to wander by, actually. Veles said it would likely take a couple of weeks. He must have called you the moment I got off the phone with him."

Cinnamon blinks startledly at Baird, pushing her glasses up, "Uhh... what?!" She thinks for a moment... then smiles uncertainly, "Can I sit down? I'd like to check my phone, and hear why you're waiting for me, please?"

Baird looks surprised, but politely motions to a chair at the table, "Of course, lass. Sit. I take it you haven't spoken to him, then."

Cinnamon shakes her head, starting to look intrigued, "No! Wait, give me a moment..." She sets down her food, settles her purse and book bag by her feet, and fishes out her phone, checking both voicemail and texts... then looks bemusedly back up at Baird, "Um... so how long ago did you call him, please?" She rattles off a quick text to Veles asking about him talking to Baird, though she knows it's unlikely it'll be seen any time soon. Then she tucks her phone away and unwraps her sandwich as she tilts her head curiously at the Scotsman, "So... what's this all about, then?"

Baird checks his watch, "About... twenty-one hours ago. I don't think he realized I was already in the States." He chuckles, "It'll be about dinner time there." Cinnamon nods, having a sip of her tea and continuing to eat her sandwich. She figures he'll explain it all in his own time... and this gives Veles a chance to respond too, if he sees her text. Baird smiles and sips his coffee, "I actually was wanting to hire you for a job. I need someone with somewhat extraordinary strength -- which, obviously, you have -- and that strength would be something unexpected." He knows she's waiting to hear back from Veles, so he adds, "Of course, it's not something we could discuss here." He makes a motion to include the very public nature of their surroundings.

Cinnamon nods thoughtfully, considering carefully as she continues to eat... then grins as she comes up with a great solution! She likes Baird, after all, but she's not sure she knows him well enough to lead him onto Coblyn... so she says cheerfully, "Sounds interesting! I'd be willing to listen, if you're willing to hire Shane too?" She also knows, after all, that she's just not the suspicious or sneaky type... and that might be what's really needed to organize some sort of job with Baird. She's mentally crossing her fingers, of course, that Shane will be willing to help her with this! Hmm... maybe if she makes sure he gets a cut of whatever the salary is, too? Ooh, she could offer to buy him dinner too maybe! That'd be a nice way to get to spend some time with him! Just for planning purposes, of course....

Baird's brows go up -- that's a good idea! He's seen the lad move. In fact, it might be a way to start nudging the boy into more jobs... and that might be an excellent thing, "I could definitely consider that. I've seen him in action; he could be an asset. We could meet somewhere more private later, if you'd like... after you've had a chance to hear back from Veles? He's likely to take some time to get your message and contact you in return."

Cinnamon grins and shakes her head, "Oh, no worries there -- I'm willing to at least listen, after all. Oh! Also, there's a guy I know who'd like to meet you. His name is Jaeger. Would you be willing to talk to him too?" She figures Veles will update her when he can, after all... but not only is she curious as to what Baird wants, but she also wants to get him and Jaeger together, like she promised Jaeger.

Baird chuckles, "I'd be curious to meet someone you told about me, that finds me intriguing enough to seek an introduction!"

Cinnamon laughs! "Okay! In that case, let me finish my tea, and I'll go see if I can find either of them." She blinks as she realizes he's likely to wonder why she doesn't just call, and hastily adds, "They, ahhh... ah! Neither of them carry phones while they're, umm... at work." She beams sunnily at Baird, finishing off her tea.

Baird nods and arches a brow, "I'll be here."

Cinnamon grins happily, "Okay! Perfect. Hopefully I won't be more than an hour or three, okay?" She hops up, gathers up her things, tosses her trash, and waves to Baird before heading for the crosswalk. She needs to cross the road so she's on the Coblyn side of this 'mundane' street.

The walk light for the crossing which is parallel to the street she needs to cross changes first, so she takes that one... then grins and waves again at Baird when she notices he's watching. Moments later, the other crossing light changes, and she patters across to the Coblyn side of the road... then laughs as she realizes Baird is still watching! She waves again, then heads off for Coblyn Street. She's quite confident, after all, that Baird won't be able to see her turn onto Coblyn.

Baird waves and smiles and then glances away, letting her see he's not staring. He waits until Cinnamon is out of sight before he raises his phone and glances down at the screen... to watch the small tracking signal follow her down the road. He does, after all, have the... he blinks. The tracking device he dropped in her bag was minuscule -- almost undetectable! The best available without some serious government clearance... and it is currently telling him she's in Peru, Siberia, and Liberia.

As Baird watches, the tracker continues moving. It's jumping all over the place -- literally all over the globe! Estonia. The Aleutian Islands. New Zealand. Ghana. Mongolia. Peoria. Glasgow. Cancun. Three, four, even five places at once.

Cinnamon, of course, has no idea she's been bugged -- she's trotting happily down Coblyn, waving to friends and calling, "Have you seen Shane or Jaeger today?" People call back cheerfully and wave, letting her know that Jaeger is at the manse like usual. Also, while people have seen Shane, he's been all over the street, also as usual. Cinnamon thanks people for their responses, and decides she'll drop her books off, then swing back past the Trod of the Elm mansion. Maybe she'll see Shane on the way! -and she can ask Jaeger what he'd like too, of course.

Outside Coblyn, at the Starbucks, Baird is still rather bewildered. At one point, the tracker tells him that Cinnamon is simultaneously on Everest, K2, Lhotse, Makalu, and Kangchenjunga! Only for about five minutes does it tell Baird she's in anyplace sane, and that's about five miles from where he's at -- but then it fuzzes out and goes back to its crazy multi-coordinate shenanigans. The thing is, even that location is... not really there?!

On Coblyn, Cinnamon lets herself into her little house, setting her books on the table and scooping her purse up. A moment to fluff her hair a bit -- she really thinks that reddish hue looks kind of pretty! She giggles to herself as she remembers: Shane seems to like it too! She locks her door carefully as she leaves, of course. As she's starting down the street, she sees Shane trotting across Coblyn, smiling and waving as he calls out, "Cinnamon! Everything OK? Grapevine says you're looking for me?"

Cinnamon brightens happily, "Shane! Hi! Got a moment to meet someone?" She patters over and beams up at the young beansidhe, "Guess who I met outside, at the Starbucks kitty-corner from Coblyn's entrance? Baird! He wants to hire me for some job, and I was hoping maybe you'd come along... if you have some time? I'm going to ask Jaeger too if he wants to meet Baird, since I know he wanted to."

Shane looks immediately worried, "Wait... Baird? Was that close to Coblyn?"

Cinnamon nods, "Yeah! Like I said, at the Starbucks that's kitty-corner from Coblyn's entrance!" She pulls out her phone to check if Veles has replied yet, as she absently adds, "Apparently he called Veles to try and reach us, but Veles just told him to hang out there and we'd contact him if we wanted... and warned him it might be a week or two. But I think Baird was already in the States or something? -'cause when he saw me he said Veles must've called me as soon as he got off the phone with Baird... but I haven't gotten any calls yet from Veles! Have you? I even texted him just now, asking what was up."

Shane immediately relaxes upon hearing that Baird was told to go there by someone trusted, "I'd say, given what time it is, that phones aren't allowed at the dinner table." He puts an arm around her shoulder and gives her a squeeze, "Give him thirty minutes and you'll hear back."

Cinnamon giggles! "Yeah, I can totally see his Auntie Olga scolding him for that!" She checks, then nods -- no reply yet! -- and tucks her phone back into her purse, "Well, want to come along while I check with Jaeger, then come see Baird too? I mean, he's a nice-seeming guy, but if I learned one thing about Europe," she rolls her eyes amusedly at herself, "it's that I'm just not suspicious enough around soldiers and, um... whatever you call men like him, and the guys that attacked, and what Veles used to be!"

Shane isn't a snoop, but he glances as Cinnamon is putting her phone away -- then says, "Acushla... there's something caught on your zipper...?"

Cinnamon blinks, opening her purse again, "Huh? Oh, dear... did I break something?" The tracking device really is quite small and it should have dropped to the bottom of her bag, but it got snagged on a small inner zipper on the way down. A moment later she pulls out the bug, holding it up and murmuring confusedly, "What is this? I don't remember putting anything like this in my bag...?"

Shane holds out his hand, "May I?"

Cinnamon smiles uncertainly as she drops the little thing into Shane's hand, "Sure! Um, do you know what it is? Wow, I hope there's not someone desperately searching for this -- I'd feel bad if I accidentally swiped... hmm... though I don't know how I could have?"

Shane snorts as he studies the tiny thing, his voice dryly amused, "It was Baird's attempt to follow you, which isn't going to work. Trackers won't follow you onto Coblyn, and most of them will give some really freaky GPS information. I once saw one tell someone that the person they were following was 87 miles underground!"

Cinnamon's eyes widen, "That... it's a bug?" A moment later she almost squeaks with indignation, "He bugged me?! That little... ooh! He is so going to have to double whatever he offers me, if he did this!" She clenches her fists, fuming as she nearly stomps off towards Elm mansion, muttering under her breath about ungrateful jerkfaces!

Shane snorts, "Now, c'mon, acushla, he's a spy. He bugs people like other people breathe!" He grins, his amber eyes twinkling -- he thinks Cinnamon's kind of adorable when she stomps like that!

Cinnamon hmfs over her shoulder at Shane, "He could have asked first!" She pauses as the incongruence of her statement registers... and that breaks her grump! She giggles, slightly pink as she admits to Shane, "Okay, that was silly. But still!" Moments later she's still grinning, and even more pink at Shane's gentle teasing, as she knocks on the Elm manor door.

Butler answers the door and Cinnamon and Shane both get the feeling he's pleased to see them and would like to know the cause of their visit. Cinnamon beams, "Hi there, Mr. Butler! It's nice to see you again too! May we speak with Jaeger, please?" Butler steps aside and motions them inside, letting them feel that they should wait in the reception room -- the one that's like a nicely decorated parlor -- while he lets Jaeger know they're there. Cinnamon cheerfully thanks Butler again, and heads on in with Shane.

It's only a few minutes later that Butler returns, to bring Shane and Cinnamon to the room with Jaeger, Marcus, and Thorn. The healer is actually present at the manor today to confer with Jaeger regarding sending a missive to Athala. First, Thorn would like to know if she wants him to send a report about the council meeting in Texas. Second, does she want him to go to the next Council meeting as well? And finally: did she happen to notice anything... 'supernatural' in him when she loaned him her magic? He figures if anyone would know, it would be her. And... while he saw it in Sparrow's son, he's not been able to notice it in himself. He's not sure he'd even be able to see it (if it was there) -- maybe for the same reason that diagnosing one's self is so fraught and not recommended. But he isn't certain. He guesses that it can't hurt to ask his Lady, can it?

Jaeger, upon hearing Thorn's questions, is intrigued. He agrees that a human simply wandering into the trod had been unusual, but he himself had wondered if Thorn's color-blindness had played a part. The fact that the healer-mage can see color inside the trod, but not outside, for instance, had made Jaeger wonder if it had made the place stand out somehow. "Now, however," Jaeger muses, "I wonder if you being able to see color inside the trod has something to with being able to perceive magic. It is an intriguing thought... I shall be interested to hear Athala's answer to what she saw in you when she took you... under her wing." Thorn thinks over what Jaeger has said. He hadn't thought to link his color-blindness outside the trod to his sensitivity to magic, but it makes a certain amount of sense, actually. If there is a link, he wonders -- idly -- if his great-grandfather was also color-blind.

Cinnamon happily thanks Butler as she patters into the pretty little garden room -- then pauses and blinks as she sees everyone there, "Oh! Jaeger, I'm sorry -- I d-didn't mean to interrupt anything...?" Cinnamon's smile is friendly as she adds, "Hi, Thorn! Hi, Marcus!" before her inquiring gaze flicks back to the elder elf. She greets Thorn first, of course, because she knows him better. It doesn't occur to her that "proper hierarchy" dictates that she should greet the nobility first.

Jaeger rises (as does Marcus), as is polite when greeting visitors -- and smiles, "No, please. Welcome. If you were imposing, I've had Butler ask you to come back later." The younger elf looks quite grave.

Cinnamon relaxes and beams, "Oh, okay! Well, in that case, I have some hopefully good news for you -- guess who I found outside Coblyn? Baird! Want to come see him?" She pauses, then hastily adds, "He didn't figure it out on his own, though, so no worries! Veles told him to hang out there and if we wanted, we would contact him!" She thinks a heartbeat more, then adds, "Though... would it be more comfortable for you to have us bring him here? That way you don't have to worry about being seen, or metal, or anything like that?" She grins sunnily, "We can blindfold him to bring him in and out!" She adds in explanation, "He wants to hire me for some job or something that requires strength, he said, though he added that he couldn't talk about it more out in public... so I told him I'd only listen if he hired Shane too. I figure Shane can tell if he's being... like, duplicitous or anything, you know?"

Jaeger laughs warmly and smiles, "That is indeed interesting. Let's bring him here, though I think perhaps we may want to take some pains to ensure that he cannot locate the place again. Fortunately no GPS will bring him here again. It will become quite confused if he tries to follow it."

Cinnamon nods a bit grimly, "Yeah, he already tried bugging me!" She holds up the little bug, adding proudly, "Shane spotted it!" Then she glances curiously at Thorn, "So, no go on detecting the supernatural in yourself, like I suggested, I take it, Thorny?"

Marcus scowls and holds out a hand, "May I see that? I like to try to keep up on what the humans are using for this kind of thing. The magicks that keep Coblyn safe tend to make GPS devices think the person using them are in several places at once."

Cinnamon glances at Marcus, then focuses on the bug for a moment, checking it for steel or other metals that might be dangerous to the elf. She can't see any steel on the outside, though. Mostly it seems to be plastic. So she smiles a moment later, offering the bug to Marcus, "Sure! There's no steel in it, that I can tell."

Marcus takes the bug, turning it carefully this way and that, "It's likely ridiculously advanced, then. Some of these little things are steel-free and use some extremely rare metals instead."

Cinnamon smiles ruefully, "Well, I intend to ask him just what he thought he was doing, bugging me like that! So if you want, I can ask what results he got from it too?"

Jaeger chuckles, "I'd suspect he does it almost reflexively... but yes, please, bring him in... blindfolded, if you will. Once he's on the street, you can take the blindfold off. Anyone on Coblyn could find this residence once they're here."

Cinnamon nods to Jaeger, "Okay!" She starts to turn away, then pauses and cautiously asks, "Should we make sure he has no weapons on him? Or just steel, or what? Also..." she glances between Jaeger and Shane, "is it better to remove the blindfold on Coblyn after you can't see the exit onto the Boston street? Or does it not matter?" She grins and holds out a hand to Marcus for the bug as well.

Marcus hands the bug back with a smile, "It's a sort I haven't seen before."

Shane replies, "Once we're out of sight of it, I think. Though even if he can see what's outside the entrance, his brain won't hold onto it."

Jaeger smiles, "Once he's here, Butler will pat him down... and I'm sure Shane will help."

Shane nods firmly, "Happy to."

Cinnamon beams as she accepts the bug again, "Thank you!" She nods to Jaeger, then grins at everyone else, "Okay! We'll see you all in just a bit then!" She patters out with Shane, her voice trailing over her shoulder as she goes, "Shane, could I ask you to verify truth while we're talking to Baird, please?"

It doesn't take long for Shane and Cinnamon to return to the Starbucks, though as they approach, Cinnamon stops her cheerful chattering with the beansidhe, and instead focuses on Baird. She's (trying to) look rather stern as she approaches the table, in fact, folding her arms and inquiring firmly, "Do you have anything you'd like to share with me, Baird, before we start this discussion?"

Baird arches a brow, "Is there something you'd like me to share with you?"

Cinnamon glowers as much as a small, not particularly intimidating young woman can. Her voice is indignant, "You bugged me! That's not very friendly!" She drops the bug on his paperback, sitting down with a huff, and adds sternly, "This is not how you hire someone, you know!" She frowns, remembering Marcus' concern, and adds, "You need to tell me if you got anything that wasn't nonsense, please... right now!"

The mercenary looks down at the bug and blinks, then 'huh's and chuckles, "Someone is quite sharp-eyed! That's good!" Then Baird looks up at the little dragon, "In my line of work, Cinnamon, bugging one another is actually looked upon as par for the course. So, it is part of how you hire someone." He pockets the little gizmo and closes the book, "No. I got a lot of rather unusual bullshite. At one point it told me you standing atop the five highest peaks in the world. Simultaneously. Which would have been impossible even if you didn't start off with no oxygen tanks. The only time it made any sense was for about three seconds -- and even then, it told me you were about eight miles that way." He points in literally the opposite direction she could have been, "Which is utter bullshite."

Cinnamon nods at that, only slightly mollified... then glances inquiringly at Shane as he moves next to her -- was that true? Shane nods and actually laughs when Baird mentions Cinnamon being atop five mountains at once. He moves to stand behind her and puts a hand on her shoulder; he wants to be able to move fast if he has to. He's still dressed mostly as he usually does on Coblyn, only sans his visible blades. He stashed those with one of the vendors he knows quite close to the entrance, because wandering the streets in a kilt is one thing. Wandering the streets in a kilt with some very obvious deadly cutlery is another thing entirely.

Baird leans back in his chair, "So... have you thought on my offer, lass?"

Cinnamon smiles and relaxes as Shane gives the equivalent of a thumbs-up, then turns and nods to Baird, "Yup! So, you need a private place to talk about it, and Jaeger says you're welcome to come meet him at his place... so my thought is: let's blindfold you and lead you there, okay? Then you can meet Jaeger, talk about the, um... mission... thingie? -and Shane and I can decide if we want to do it or not. Sound like a plan?" She tilts her head inquiringly at the Scotsman... then adds, "Oh! Also, are you carrying any weapons or steel, please?" She figures it can't hurt to try and help Mr. Butler out a bit as well with this guy, after all.

Baird chuckles and makes sure they aren't going to be easily overheard, "Of course I'm armed. I'm always armed... and yes, I'm carrying steel. As, I suspect, is the lad there." He tips his head toward Shane, "He doesn't strike me as one to go about unprotected. But if we're going into someone's house, I'm willing to let meself be patted down and divested of any weapons you can find." He leans back in his seat, adding, "You can blindfold me, if you like." He seems utterly sanguine as he adds, "-and I suspect that the imbedded tracker will do me exactly as much good as the one I planted on you did, so..."

Cinnamon nods and rises, "Okay! Would you stand, please?" She sets her big purse on the table, open to receive any weaponry they find. She pulls out the big scarf she intends to use as a blindfold and hands that to Shane, however -- then grins at Shane, "I'll go first, for steel... and then you can go next, for weapons. Sound good?" Admittedly, she wants to try practicing her ability too -- it's not all about helping out Mr. Butler!

Baird looks around and murmurs, "This... is not the place to start pulling out weapons, lass." It's true: they're on a public Boston street.

Shane nods, "He's right, you know. Let's at least get him... a little closer. Somewhere people won't be startled if he pulls out a big damn knife." By which Shane means at least a block or two onto Coblyn.

Cinnamon grins at Shane, "What, you've never seen college kids playing those dress-up games?" She laughs, shouldering her purse again and letting Shane do the blindfolding, so it's really secure and well-concealing. "That's fine, then." She's slightly amused at Baird's confidence that they won't find all his weaponry, too -- he hasn't even thought to ask if the dragon and the swordsman will ensure he's safe, wherever they're going! Baird clearly doesn't have the same concerns about being blindfolded as about being frisked.

Shane chuckles, "Oh, I have. But fake swords are one thing; people react differently to guns. Especially in the last few years, acushla." He puts a hand on Baird's elbow after triple-checking the blindfold. They start walking, and Shane actually makes the Scotsman purposefully stumble and get turned around a couple of times before they get to the entrance. They walk a block or two past the entrance and out of sight of it before Shane jogs back to get his swords, leaving Baird with Cinnamon.

Cinnamon smiles ruefully and pads silently along next to Baird and Shane... though she brightens when Shane leaves her with Baird. Awesome! This means Shane probably doesn't think she's a complete waste! She removes the blindfold and tucks it away into her purse, then grins up at Baird, "If it helps any, I was scared spitless the first time I came here! But no one hurt me." She sets her purse down, then briskly adds, "Okay! Let's check for steel now..." She starts at Baird's feet, crouching next to him and slowly waving a hand over (almost) all his body surface, but about 3" away from him, to see if she can detect any metals on him.

As it turns out, Baird has a lot of metal on him! He also seems to have some metal in him... though given who and what he is, that's kind of to be expected. The first thing Cinnamon comes across seems to be a titanium rod in Baird's shin -- but that seems to be actually in the shin. Next she finds a pair of steel daggers in his boots... then another knife in a sheath at the small of his back. A knife that's a belt buckle... a gun in a shoulder holster... and there are other bits of metal here and there: zippers, buttons, more surgical implants... something buried deep in his thigh, with bits of platinum and gold in it -- even lead here and there.

Cinnamon blinks startledly, talking aloud as she searches, "Wow, why would you put metal in your... oh! Wait, let me guess: old war wound, or something like that?" She tugs on his pants leg, adding, "Sorry, I need to get to those daggers in your boots, please...?" She keeps stacking the weapons in her purse as she retrieves them... she knows Shane will be back soon, and even if Baird is shocked by what he's seeing around him, and/or what she's doing... he's not the type to tamely allow a pickpocket to swing up next to them!

Shane does, indeed, trust Cinnamon to take care of herself, especially here on Coblyn, where she doesn't have to act human. For a few moments Baird simply stares around with his jaw dropped. He knew they'd be coming somewhere strange... he just didn't know quite how strange! He even knew Cinnamon was a dragon, but Coblyn is... Coblyn. It takes a moment for him to register that he's being spoken to, but he lifts his feet to let the dragon get at the daggers in his boots, replying, "Yes. Old war wound, in a way."

Later, Cinnamon is both intrigued and slightly repulsed by the object in his thigh, "Okay, seriously, dude -- why would you allow someone to stick a bug in your leg? I mean, I assume that's what the thingie with gold and platinum in it is, right?" She grins bewilderedly up at him, wrinkling up her small nose, "Didn't that hurt?!"

Shane comes back just then, and chuckles, "It's a tracker, I'm sure, acushla. I'd say it's more for safe exfil than anything. So his people can find him, right?"

Baird nods, "Aye... and it hurts less than getting shot or getting tortured."

Cinnamon winces slightly, muttering, "Ew! What a yucky job!" Her smile at Baird is dubious as she adds, "Well, if it's what you really want to do, I guess...?" She has to ask Baird to bend over so she can check all the way to the top of his head, though there doesn't seem to be any metal weaponry she can find that far up. Once she's done, she beams at Shane, "Okay! He's still got things like zippers and buttons, but I figured those were okay... yes/no? But you'll have to check for any non-steel weapons, please?"

Shane steps in and smiles in his friendly way, "You know they're going to do this all over again when we get to Jaeger's residence, right?"

Baird laughs quietly, "I had suspected, but by all means..." He holds his arms out.

Shane is quite thorough, and comes up with three more knives, surprising Baird in the process. "These are nice," Shane remarks. "Really good ceramic blades are hard to find." Then he looks straight at Baird and concentrates, "Are you hiding any more?"

Baird looks back evenly, "No more blades on me."

Shane scowls, "What other weapons have I missed?"

Baird blinks as if in surprise, "Nothing."

Shane sighs, "Baird, we're not going to get very far if you keep on lying. Butler will find it. Or Jaeger... or Marcus. But I'm not letting you in the house if we don't find it."

Cinnamon nods quietly, tucking the ceramic knives into her purse, "Yeah, I figured there had to be more. He wasn't nervous at all." She adds to Baird, "You really don't want Jaeger finding it, dude. He's a really nice older guy... and really dangerous when he's annoyed." Then she grins encouragingly as she adds, "Besides, you won't be the only person there with no weapons on you. I don't have any! Thorn doesn't either."

Baird looks curiously at Shane, "How do you do that?"

Shane says, "It's a knack. Just... tell me what I've missed and give it to me."

"This." Baird slides something out of the seam of his jacket sleeve and hands it to Shane, who blinks and then grins, "Wow. Old school, low-tech, silent, and effective." The thing is a nylon cord of heavy-gauge fishing wire with a couple of braided loops in the end -- a garrotte. Shane loops it up and hands it to Cinnamon. Then he looks at Baird, concentrating, "Is that all."

Baird says, "Other than my own body, that's all the weapons I'm carrying."

Shane nods, "I believe you."

Cinnamon frowns consideringly as she muses aloud, "I wonder if Marcus carries a weapon..." as she neatly tucks the garrotte into her purse.

Shane says almost flatly, "Yes. He does." He doesn't elaborate, instead adding, "Butler will definitely pat you down again, even after I tell them we found everything." Cinnamon grins at Shane, at that comment about Marcus... and cheerfully makes a mental note to herself to see if she can detect it without Marcus noticing -- just for fun!

Baird nods and chuckles, "Trust but verify, aye. I understand."

Cinnamon hoists the now significantly heavier and bulkier purse up onto her shoulder again, muttering, "Good thing I went for the leather instead of canvas!" She grins at the two men as she adds, "Okay, let's go!" then turns and starts pattering down the street again towards the Elm mansion.

Baird's head is on a swivel as they walk down Coblyn, and he's occasionally swearing. Sometimes it's in English; sometimes it's not. At one point he stops dead in his tracks and turns completely around to stare at someone that walks past him, whispering, "Is that...?"

Shane turns to see who just went past, then nods, "A satyr, yes -- and not a very friendly one. Don't stare." Baird turns back around and starts walking again.

Cinnamon glances over her shoulder... then rolls her eyes and nods, "He's a grumpasaur!" She grins up at Baird as they walk, adding, "Someday I hope to get to introduce you to Fraser -- he's Scots too!"

Shane snorts, "Fraser is indeed Scots -- and not someone to get on the bad side of, either."

As they turn onto the walk up to the residence, Baird interestedly asks, "Oh? Does he live here?"

Shane shakes his head, "No. He's a sailor. He lives on a ship," and rings the bell.

Cinnamon adds enthusiastically, "It's a really beautiful ship, too!" -- then beams when the door opens, "Hello again, Mr. Butler! Here's Baird, to meet Jaeger!"

Baird mutters under his breath again when Butler answers the door, making Shane chuckle, then says, "This is Baird. We got all his weapons, but he knows you're going to pat him down again."

Butler steps aside and motions them in, and Baird mutters not quite testily, "Yes, I'm sure they got everything..." -- then blinks and asks Cinnamon, "How did I know what...?!" He holds his arms out as Butler starts to pat him down.

Cinnamon grins at Baird, "Mr. Butler's people are pretty spiffy! My guess is it's a mild form of... telepathy, maybe?"

Shane nods, "Something like that, I think. I mean, they don't have mouths or larynxes, so they have to communicate somehow." Baird just nods, eyes wide. Butler finishes his inspection and nods, motioning for them to follow him to the atrium.

Cinnamon nods to Shane, then patters cheerfully after Butler, talking to him as she goes, "So is it okay if I give you my purse, please, while we're here? It's got all Baird's weaponry in it, and I know you'll keep it safe?" Butler lets her know that he'll keep her bag quite safe while they're here and give it back when she leaves -- then takes the heavy purse with apparently no strain at all. Cinnamon beams and thanks him, then trots after Shane and Baird into the lovely atrium, "Hello, everyone! We're back with Baird. Baird, this is Jaeger, his son Marcus, and you already know Thorn."

Baird whistles through his teeth when they're shown into the atrium where Marcus, Jaeger, and Thorn are waiting. Jaeger once again stands, smiling as he offers his hand to Baird, who takes it with an inclination of his head. Jaeger's warm, Teutonic voice murmurs, "A pleasure. I do hope our little enclave wasn't too much of a shock to the system."

Thorn too stands as Baird enters, smiling and nodding politely. Cinnamon giggles quietly as she settles into a chair -- she still remembers her initial shock and horror! Baird offers his hand to Marcus as well, who shakes it, frowning. Then the mercenary offers his hand to Thorn, saying, "Well, I knew Cinnamon is a dragon, but there's knowing one thing, and then there's seeing a satyr and..." he tips his head and examines Jaeger's ears, then looks around, "Well... a bloke might start to wonder if he's been dosed."

Thorn shakes Baird's hand when offered, and sits with the others, listening quietly and attentively. He's curious as to the mercenary's reasoning for looking for Cinnamon specifically. Cinnamon laughs! "If I hadn't seen myself breath fire before I first came here, Baird, I'd have thought the same thing, honestly!" She still hasn't quite registered how odd that might sound.

Jaeger motions for everyone to sit in the available comfortable chairs, all gathered around a low table on which sits a coffee service, "I've been told it can be somewhat disconcerting." Cinnamon has to cover her mouth at that -- because she would otherwise burst out laughing! 'Somewhat disconcerting' really doesn't encompass the immense shock and fear she'd initially felt, really!

Baird is good at being concise when he needs to; it's a skill one has to have when one sometimes has to literally brief people. He gives a short explanation of what he needs Cinnamon for and why he thinks having her precisely would be perfect. He admits that he hadn't thought of Shane, but that the beansidhe too would be excellent for the mission. He then glances at Thorn, adding, "You'd be welcome too, lad. The three of you work together well."

Thorn smiles uncertainly, "I'm afraid I'm a healer, Baird. I was a pill-pusher in the National Guard, no more." He pauses, "But if you think a healer would be helpful, I can come along."

Cinnamon tilts her head consideringly... then glances at Baird, "Can you promise to keep Thorn safe? No being shoved into combat, or anything like that?"

Baird nods, "Non-combatant. I have a part of the team that never sees a bullet or a blade. Comms and such."

Cinnamon nods, "Okay!" She glances at Thorn and smiles, "Do you want to go, Thorny? It's up to you, guy."

Thorn smiles, "Well, I'll be glad to help. So, certainly, count me in."

"Cool!" Cinnamon looks back at Baird, her voice curious, "So when and where is this thingie you want me to pick up?" She glances at Shane as she asks her questions -- she wants to be sure Baird's being up front about what he wants! She's not interested in either kidnapping or being a sacrificial goat, after all.

Baird smiles, "That's the kind of information that comes in precise terms much closer to when it happens... but in broad terms, it'll be about this time..." He gives them a span of about two weeks for the mission's potential timeframe. He's telling the truth, too -- the kind of precision one has on this kind of thing varies, because times can change according to circumstances.

Cinnamon nods thoughtfully... then smiles, "And Thorn, Shane, and I will all get paid the same as all the rest of your team, right?" She grins as she adds, "After all, Shane's doing double duty, in a way! I trust him... and I suspect you really don't want a confused or flustered dragon floundering through your people, right?" She thinks for a moment, then adds, "Also... how do you know I'll be strong enough for whatever this thing is that you want me to pick up? Be kind of frustrating if it turned out to be too much?"

Baird considers, "True. How much can you lift?"

Cinnamon blinks at the man, completely taken-aback, "Uhh... I have no idea!"

Shane grins wryly, "I know she can pick up an old Willys Jeep with people in it without even losing breath."

Baird nods, "That's a pretty heavy hunk of metal. You'll do fine, lass."

Cinnamon blinks at Shane, then turns back to Baird and slowly nods her head... though it's clear from her expression she's still worried about whatever it is Baird wants her to lift. Still... she sighs, taking a deep breath, then firmly says, "So, you didn't say! We three get paid as good as you or your men do, right? Whichever is higher?" She nibbles absently on her lower lip as she considers... then grins and adds, "Also, I want you to teach me that hostage- or under-pressure style negotiation you said you knew how to do, too, please!" She glances at Jaeger, "Did you want to add anything?" then blinks again, "Oh! Also -- Baird, you really should apologize to your grandmother!"

Baird's voice is dry, "I'd rather not have a dragon of any sort floundering through my people -- floundering is never good. You'll all be paid the same as my men, yes. I wouldn't contract you out any lower." Shane snorts at that last part and Baird chuckles, "I don't take a higher cut than my men most of the time. I don't consider that I do anything any more special than them. I have one skill set, they have different ones. I'll do what I can to teach you negotiation, too... but it's not something you learn overnight."

Cinnamon smiles calmly, "Oh, no worries there -- I figured as much! But as long as you don't get sick of me, I want to keep learning."

Baird adds even more wryly, "Oh, I have apologized to me granddam. She laughed at me... thought I was joshing her." He smiles lopsidedly... well, more lopsidedly.

Cinnamon blinks startledly at that... then grins, "Well, good for you, then!" She glances at the other men in the room, adding, "Okay, I've asked all my questions. Anybody else got anything to add or ask?"

Thorn shakes his head, "Nothing from me! It sounds interesting!" The meeting eventually concludes, and Baird (and all his weaponry) are successfully exited from Coblyn with the merc none the wiser regarding its location.

Once everyone is safely back from Ireland, Jaeger finds himself rather curious as to how precisely Cinnamon figured out Qadan's decades-long conspiracy... and he's almost mischievously interested in seeing how his son behaves around the increasingly intriguing little dragon! However, he's also heard (on the sly) about how badly poor Cinnamon freezes up when frightened or spooked. Consequently he decides the easiest way to both satisfy his curiosity and simultaneously keep Cinnamon calm is to invite all of House Elgan -- as well as Shane and Thorn, of course! -- to a nice celebratory dinner at the Elm mansion. The dinner will be exquisitely catered, though Jaeger makes sure to let Cinnamon know that the food will be amazing but the manners will not be too stiff.

Cinnamon has never had a meal at the Elm residence, though she's had people tell her they're amazing. On the other hand, if the meal is catered... is that a different chef? She's not sure how to politely ask that, though... and heck, Jaeger's being really nice simply by inviting them all! She's happy to attend, even if it isn't the amazing chef that makes people talk about their food in hushed tones... so she cheerfully accepts, then asks if it's okay if Thorn and Shane come too? After all, while they're not actual Elgan members, they were of critical importance in figuring everything out! Jaeger smiles with absolutely apparent sincerity, "You have a plus-one, dear. Why not ask Shane to come with you?" He also adds, "I'll ask Thorn, and give him his own plus-one."

Cinnamon blushes hotly, "Oh, I -- I couldn't! I, uh, he likely, um... be busy? -uhh... oh, ahh... o-okay?" She wonders a bit desperately how on earth she can possibly ask Shane... then sighs in relief as she realizes: make it sound like they're all invited together! That'll do it. Shane won't be potentially embarrassed if he thinks everyone is coming, rather than him being asked specifically by the fat girl. So she nods firmly, "That's fine! Thorny absolutely should be there too, after all."

The canny elder elf makes sure he just happens to have Thorn's invitation with him when he stops by the infirmary to visit with Iason. Having the big centaur there while inviting Thorn means the new young healer can receive immediate encouragement to attend. Also, since the invitations are all '[name] plus one,' Jaeger can quietly inquire as to who Thorn might wish to invite... and (since he suspects Thorn won't have anyone in mind) to then smilingly suggest that perhaps Hilde might enjoy coming? She does appear to deeply appreciate the mansion's chef, after all, and Jaeger's heard that she was instrumental in assisting Thorn in settling in when he'd just arrived...?

Thorn is surprised at the invitation -- he hadn't expected anything of the sort, but it is a pleasant surprise, and one he is glad to accept. He expresses his intrigued thanks to Jaeger, though he's absolutely at a loss at the 'plus one' part... until Jaeger suggests he ask Hilde. Thorn's first thought is to wonder why Hilde herself wasn't invited, but as he learns the guest list consists only of those who participated in cracking Qadan's treasonous plan, it becomes a bit more clear to him. So he later asks -- unsuspecting of any sort of shenanigans -- Hilde if she would like to go to the dinner at Elm with him?

Hilde beams at Thorn when he invites her, "I'd adore it. Jaeger's a dear, and he always puts on the best parties. Marcus has carried on in fine style, but Jaeger's had centuries to refine his skills in that area. The food will be absolutely divine!" Her eyes are twinkling a little; she has her suspicions about whose idea it was for Thorn to ask her. Still, she quite likes the human healer! She lays a hand on his arm, "What's the dress code? I want to make sure I match you."

Thorn blinks a bit, and hurriedly looks over the invitation to find the dress code, "Oh! Jaeger told me it was to be casual -- less than formal, but most likely better than street wear."

Hilde grins, "Oh, wonderful. That gives me a whole range to choose from." She looks Thorn up and down, "Let's go for, hmm� dark blue, I think. Yes. Blue's good." She brushes fingertips across his forehead like she's brushing hair out of his eyes, "It's a cheerful color, and us wintry types look good in it. Thank you for asking me. We'll have a blast."

Unsurprisingly, Spice and Josie want to bring each other, while Veles is still absent from Coblyn -- he's enjoying his time in Bulgaria, with his family. Cinnamon blinks thoughtfully, later, as she considers a 'plus one.' Hmm... the only person she might ask, though, that helped in the uncovering of the treasonous plot, would be Shane... and Jaeger mentioned that Shane's getting his own invite! Well, then again... it's not like she has to bring another person, right? She'll just go on her own!

Cinnamon sternly swallows down the tiny stab of unhappiness that Shane will be bringing someone, and tries to turn it into a positive thing: maybe whoever Shane brings will be a potential new friend too? Oh! Or maybe it'll be Aisling? After that the little dragon firmly puts the thought out of her mind, instead focusing with determination on planning out her day... as well as what to wear to the party. Hmm... who to ask about what's proper attire, though... would Josie know? Or... maybe Aisling? Shane would likely know, but it'd be for a guy's clothing, unfortunately... though the little dragon does sigh and smile a bit at how much easier -- and nicer! -- that'd be to do.

Elsewhere, when his father brings up the idea for the planned dinner party, Marcus indignantly asks why he wasn't invited -- since he didn't actually receive an invitation. Jaeger arches an elegant brow, "Why would you receive an invitation? You live here. Of course you're invited. You're almost more along the lines of co-host. I thought you knew that. Haven't you asked anyone to be your dinner companion yet?" Marcus doesn't snap at his father. He's not impudent -- or idiotic -- enough for that. He does, however, say that he will, of course, be asking Hilde. Jaeger looks amused again and suggests that Marcus might want to do that rather quickly, since the dinner will be soon -- and Hilde is a very lovely woman.

When Marcus shows up much later at Hilde's house, with flowers and a bottle of her favorite wine to ask her, the ljosaelfar laughs warmly and kisses him on the cheek, "It's sweet of you to ask, dearling, but I've already got an escort for the dinner -- Thorn asked me! I couldn't break those plans." She absolutely knows that her teasing tone of voice isn't enough to be truly rude, but it's one hundred percent enough to get under Marcus' skin and make him irritated that a mere human is Hilde's date. Not just any old human, either -- but rather, one that's deeply in thrall to one of his own kinswomen!

Still, he laughs warmly and kisses Hilde's hand with an impish smile, "Ah, he's a lucky man, then. That will teach me to take beauty for granted." Anyone that didn't know him would even think he actually meant it.

Elsewhere, Cinnamon angsts a bit over what to wear... then finally trots on over to Josie's place to ask. The little dragon is nervously determined not to embarrass poor Jaeger by turning up in wildly inappropriate clothing, after all! She's crossing her mental fingers that it's not a deeply formal dinner, though -- wearing the lovely court dress gifted to her by Aisling still makes her feel like she's about to trip and once again become much like a bull in a china shop!

When Cinnamon shows up, Josie wags happily and hugs her little friend with a big, beaming smile -- which, as usual, causes Cinnamon to first squeak startledly, then giggle and hug back warmly. Josie, like Elias, has a smile that would be alarming to anyone that didn't know that a wolf-shifter showing their teeth like that isn't upset at you. Fortunately, by now Cinnamon knows that the lolling tongue gives it away! Josie cheerfully informs her much smaller friend, "The dress code says casual. But that's not like� torn jeans and stuff. It's more like: pretty but not formal. Something that makes you feel nice and confident! Like� I wouldn't wear my full buckskins, but I might wear something with fringe and beads. Betcha Shane'll wear his kilt and a nice shirt. Might even wear that silver torc�"

Cinnamon thinks a moment, then nods enthusiastically, "So like a pretty, flowy skirt, like for dancing, and one of my nice blouses that Liane made? Or... oh, I know! I'll wear the nice shirt that had to be repaired at Elm. Their seamstress was so skilled, you can't even see the repair -- and she was sweet enough to embroider a little elm leaf on the shirt too!" Cinnamon grins shyly, "Wearing their symbol would be nice, not appropriative, right? Er... I hope?" A heartbeat later she blinks, pushing up her glasses as she curiously inquires, "What silver torc?"

Josie smiles, "Quinn gave Shane a silver torc for a coming-of-age present. It looks really nice on him." She makes a motion around her neck to indicate she means a piece of jewelry worn around the neck, "Like, even I notice how nice it looks on him. It's fashioned to look like branches of a Rowan tree, with little red amber clusters of berries at the ends. He sometimes wears it for dress-up."

Cinnamon oooohs softly as she considers that... then grins even more shyly, "Well, cool! I, umm... I'd wear nice, meaningful jewelry if I had any? But... that's not required, I'm sure, or Jaeger would have said." She falls silent for a moment, feeling unaccountably... bashful, maybe? -for a moment. Shane's going to look so gorgeous! ...and Josie too, really. Her buckskins are so lovely�

Josie smiles, "You don't have to wear any. I just like the silver. I'm not like some werewolves. Silver isn't bad for me. I like the way it looks like the moon. I think you could wear some flowers in your hair. They would look beautiful. Roses! Or, hm� Maybe lilies?" Cinnamon thinks about that... then decides she'll ask Muriel, the nature spirit who maintains both the pocket park -- and also the little dragon's cheerfully bright and very full window boxes! Muriel will steer her right on what flowers to wear... even if they're potentially not as glittery-bright as jewelry, they're still lovely and sweet-scented!

After a moment more of thought and internal planning, Cinnamon sighs a bit wistfully -- then grins ruefully at herself. She knew the job was dangerous when she took it! Being a plain-jane amongst the usually gorgeous or breathtakingly striking supernaturals is just the way it is. Besides, she comforts herself -- she gets to be a dragon too! With that, she cheerfully thanks Josie, then heads off. She's going to be fine -- absolutely, totally, uh-huh, without a doubt! -- and this way, she'll hardly show at all, compared to all the pretty people there... which means there won't be any pressure on her to be chatty or entertaining! That, she knows, will be a relief. She'd been forced to go to a few cocktail parties when she still lived with her parents. She shudders at the memory of those vacuous, often-mocking people babbling about nothing -- then grins ruefully at herself again. Thank goodness that part of her life is over and done with!

Cinnamon turns up at the Elm mansion on the evening of the dinner party, with a guest gift of some sweet-smelling late-autumn flowers, courtesy of Muriel, the pocket park's nature spirit. The little dragon is in the nice clothing she mentioned to Josie, and more nervous than she realized she'd be: is she too early? Hopefully Jaeger won't be offended that she didn't bring a plus-one... and hopefully Thorn's and Shane's plus ones won't be people that dislike her... and are the pretty little flowers Muriel tucked into her French braid still there -- or did they all fall out on the way here? Is she still neat and tidy? Should she-

Fortunately her increasingly worried thoughts are cut off by Butler opening the door -- which causes her to gasp, take a deep breath, and then smile a bit shakily up at him, "H-hello...? I, um... I th-think I'm expected?"

Butler radiates a pleased welcome to her and ushers her into the mansion, letting her know in his own peculiar way that people have begun to arrive. She manages to stammer only a little as she thanks him, then hastily apologizes if her thoughts are... are distracting and all over the place! Shyly she whispers to him, "Th-this is my very first d-dinner party where I'm a guest! S-so... I don't wanna mess up, y'know?" He escorts her to the little reception room where people customarily gather before dinner. It's not as comfy-cozy as Josie's little living room or Cinnamon's little den, but it's also not a huge ballroom. It's got some settees and some chairs, but most people are standing around and chatting.

When she spots Shane, Cinnamon unwittingly blinks and just stares for a few seconds! Shane is, indeed, wearing the silver torc that Josie mentioned. He's also wearing his best kilt and a shining white shirt, and his hair is braided in a meticulous French braid. In fact, he looks as put-together as Cinnamon has ever seen him� and as unarmed. She knows from what he's told her that there is likely a blade somewhere about his person, but his normal sword is missing. Wow! The little dragon thinks he sure looks nice! Josie is wearing her buckskins, but not her most fancy ones. The fringe on these doesn't sweep the floor when she holds her arms out parallel to the ground. Instead, it's only about eighteen inches long. Spice is wearing a sharply-tailored men's suit, and looking quite fetching in it.

Spice grins and almost bounces over to Cinnamon, "Heeeey, bosslady! Lookin' nice tonight!"

Cinnamon jumps slightly in startlement at the sudden approach -- then blushes and laughs softly at herself! She grins and hugs Spice, "You do too, Spicy -- and thank you!" She whispers as she glances around, "Wow, I... I almost feel underdressed compared to all the gorgeous people! I mean... look at Shane! And you, and Hilde, a-and Josie -- wow!" She pushes up her glasses, wondering where Jaeger and Marcus are. Well, at least she knows to expect them to look devastatingly attractive! That thought makes her giggle a little... which helps her relax some. She already knows she's not gorgeous, so... might as well simply stay calm and enjoy the show, right?

Cinnamon blinks at another thought, glancing around more carefully as she leans to whisper to Spice, "So, umm... Thorn came with Hilde, and you and Josie came together, sooo... uh, d-did you happen to notice who Shane came with, by any chance?"

Spice looks around, "Shane didn't come with anyone but his own sweet self. Brought what looked like a really fuckin' old bottle of wine, though. The label was tied on with some kinda twine. Bottle looked like it was made outta goddamn clay or somethin'."

Cinnamon finds herself blushing, though she's not sure why, at Spice's comment! The little dragon looks down uncertainly at her flower-offering, and worriedly hopes it's not too... too plain? Too un-special? Too... too boring? She sighs with faint amusement at herself, at the thought that immediately follows: [Just like me...] -- then firmly cheers herself up with the realization that at least she doesn't have to worry about yet another gorgeous person here! She's almost not consciously aware of the small happy thrill she'd felt, at hearing Shane didn't bring anyone else. Maybe that means he's not got any, um... any lovers or sweeties or... or whatever they're called here? Not (she hastily reminds herself) that it matters in the least to her, of course!

Shane (as is his sometimes-appalling habit) seems to appear out of nowhere just as she's starting to work herself up into a tizzy about him. He smiles down at her, "I'm glad you could make it, acushla." He gently touches one of the flowers in her braid, "These look wonderful on you. Did you get them from Muriel? They look like something from her garden."

Cinnamon startles slightly at Shane's sudden appearance next to her -- then blushes as he touches her hair, eeeee! While she feels utterly tongue-tied, she still grins shyly up at him. It's so nice how he acts around her sometimes -- like he maybe actually likes being there! She continues beaming up at him for a few seconds... then blushes again, realizing he asked her a question! She hastily runs through her memory to figure out what it was... ah! She nods several times, though she has to clear her throat before her voice comes out normal, "Ye- *cough* Uh-huh! Ah, I mean yes the flowers were from Muriel!" She glances down at the gifting flowers she's still holding, then hopefully adds, "D-do you know who to give guest gifts to? Spice said you brought some wine, after all...?" Glancing around, she puzzledly adds, "Also... is it just me... or is it odd that neither Jaeger nor Marcus seem to be here yet?"

Just then there's a small burst of laughter that causes everyone in the room to turn that way... right in time to see Jaeger stroll into the room. He's laughing at something Hilde just said, where she's flanked by both Thorn and the elder elf -- and there's a glint of mischief in the ljossaelfar's eyes! Behind them walks Marcus, wearing what he believes is an entirely impassive expression -- but which betrays his mood in the slight tightening around his eyes, and the hint of a frown on his lips. Jaeger too seems enormously amused, though he straightens and turns on the hosting charm as he sees all his guests have arrived. Arms outspread, he smilingly greets everyone, "Welcome! Our thanks for your attendance at this small dinner we've planned in your honor!"

Thorn is sharply aware of Marcus behind him; he doesn't want to think of what the young elf's irk and ire may be directed at, except to hope that it's not him! Though... whom did Marcus ask to come to the party with him, if anyone? Thorn was surprised when Hilde said 'yes' -- he was certain Marcus would have asked her. Even so, it feels so very good to be in a trod again, to be able to experience colors again! He finds it surprisingly calming and steadying -- much more suitable to his mental and emotional balance, and he's more social and sociable for it.

The elder elf moves gracefully through the room, pausing to chat with this person, to exclaim with pleasure over that one's gift, to beamingly greet another... in short, as he gently and surreptitiously causes everyone to start turning towards the dining hall, he leaves everyone he's spoken to feeling subtly... nicer, more charming -- happier. Behind him, Marcus is doing the same... though the discerning eye can easily pick out the advantage of the centuries of training which Jaeger possesses. Though the younger elf would likely hotly deny it, he's still but a pale shadow of his father's enchanting charm.

Thorn's gift of Scandinavian geitost -- given to him by Hilde as a good guesting gift for the party, since he's thoroughly unfamiliar with these sorts of customs -- is presented solemnly and gratefully to Jaeger. It will speed its way to the kitchen, where it will be made available as part of... well, Thorn isn't sure. Sweet-cheese is something that's unusual to him, so he's not sure if it's a dessert or appetizer. Consequently its exact place in the menu is still to be determined -- but at least he didn't bring the only other Scandinavian food he knows about: lutefisk. He's pretty sure that would be a declaration of vendetta of some kind!

As everyone enters the dining room, they find the table nicely (though not ostentatiously) laid out for them. Since she is seated on his right, Jaeger holds Cinnamon's chair for her, causing the little dragon to flush with surprise and delight. Next to her are Spice, then Josie, with Marcus holding down the other end of the table. Shane is seated on Marcus' other side, with Hilde and then Thorn -- the healer is on Jaeger's left. Butler is neatly arranging the sweet-smelling flowers Cinnamon brought, tucking them attractively into the table's centerpiece, while Ingrid is pouring water for everyone.

The meal is, indeed, extraordinary! The food and drink are a feast for all the senses: each course is brought in with a burst of delicious scent, temptingly arrayed before the diners, and with flavors which are both delicate and complementary. Initially, dinner consists of quiet eating, in homage to the skill of the chef... though after the edge of everyone's appetite has been blunted, there are several sincere compliments and admiration paid to Jaeger's cook. Thorn has never been to a dinner quite like this! The National Guard didn't have 'Dining-In,' per se -- at least for the on-again-off-again enlisted folk like him. It amazes him to experience such tastes and smells, in such a variety and in such short order. He feels very much like he's in a trod, what with the riot of colors and sensations, all in food and drink form. It settles him immensely and eases his mind a great deal; he's quite happy to chat amiably with the people around him.

As quiet talking starts to replace the former dedicated eating, different conversations murmur around the table. Thorn is well-seated, in that both Hilde and Jaeger are excellent conversationalists, and happy to see him comfortable. The discussion isn't particularly deep, but it is pleasant, interesting, and relaxing to the healer. Across the table from Thorn, Cinnamon is beaming and relaxed as well, as she chats with them. Jaeger smoothly and easily includes her in their conversations, making them all feel welcome and interesting. The story of how Cinnamon realized there was a plot comes out effortlessly in the course of their talking, though it's only Marcus, Hilde, and Jaeger who've yet to hear that particular tale. Thorn is more than happy for Cinnamon to explain the lead-up to the plot, and likewise more than happy to see her get the accolades she deserves for it! He provides what details he can when asked -- some things he might have noticed, for example, or elaboration on something. But again, he wants Cinnamon to get the well-deserved lion's share of kudos for her quick thinking and realizations. While she talks, he occasionally lets his attention flit to the others in the room, curious as to their reactions. He's naturally not expecting anyone to be sympathetic to the plotters, of course, but he is curious as to how people might be re-assessing the shy little dragon.

Thorn can tell that Josie, Spice, and Shane have, unsurprisingly, already heard the story -- Josie, in fact, was present when the idea first hit Cinnamon! Hilde, however, is obviously fascinated, listening with a smile on her lovely face -- she seems almost as proud of Cinnamon as she is of Thorn! Jaeger too listens attentively, only occasionally having a sip of wine as the little dragon tells her story. With a few thoughtful queries, he clearly ascertains the... sort of lightning-strike moment when realization hit Cinnamon, and she began her ferociously intent research -- assisted by all her wonderful friends -- to either verify or refute her understanding of what was going on. Marcus too is listening, though he appears somewhat distracted, as he stretches out in his chair and idly twirls his wine goblet between his pale fingers. He hasn't been contributing much to the dinner conversation so far, which might have something to do with both Shane and Josie turning their interest towards the other end of the table. Marcus seems, in fact, almost a bit puzzled as to Hilde's bright-eyed, cheerful attentiveness to the party's events.

At the end of her story, Cinnamon flushes with pleasure when Jaeger sincerely compliments her on her cleverness and perspicacity. His small smile at Marcus is wry, "Alas, I fear we were all too close, in a way, to the various incidents... and so we missed the forest for the trees!"

The younger elf blinks and straightens slightly, his voice solemn, "Indeed." Hilde has to cover a smile at that; she knows Marcus well enough to realize he was caught out there -- and quite possibly had no real idea as to what he was agreeing to!

By that point in the dinner party, of course, dessert has been served, deeply appreciated, and consumed, and people are sipping various after-dinner digestif and other drinks, as they relax and chat easily together. The conversation meanders organically to the subject of the various human and supernatural standards of physical beauty. When the 'classic' pale-skinned, slender, blue-eyed, blonde archetype comes up, Cinnamon laughs and exclaims, "Oh, I know the perfect embodiment of what you're describing!" Marcus smiles faintly as he straightens a bit expectantly... then blinks as the little dragon adds, "My younger sister is a perfect example of that!"

Shane, unsurprisingly, snorts and mutters, "Including the brainless part..."

Cinnamon gives Shane a wry glance, "Hey, now. She's not... dumb, really? She's just never... well... never really needed to use her brains?" Hastily she adds, "But yes, she's very pretty. Sort of, um...." As her gaze travels down the table, she smiles and nods, "Yeah, sort of a female version of Marcus' pretty looks, you know?"

Marcus blinks... then raises an eyebrow as Hilde laughs and teasingly asks, "So they'd both get along just fine?"

Cinnamon laughs again, her eyes sparkling, "Oh, yeah -- like a house on fire -- at least for the first two weeks!" Some mischief must have seized Cinnamon at that point -- or perhaps the tiny goblet of digestif she (and everyone else) has is sweet and complex enough that she doesn't realize its alcohol content. Either way, her delivery is enormously entertaining! "The first two or three weeks? That'd be the honeymoon period. But after that," Cinnamon's eyes widen dramatically as she leans forward, and her voice lowers almost warningly, "-slo-oowly but surely... comes the dawning realization that the other hasn't yet recognized-" She sits up and beams brightly, her voice squeaky-excited, "-this is all... about ME!"

There are a couple of giggles at that, and an amused snort from Shane! Cinnamon grins and continues, "After that there's, ohh... one or two weeks of trying to get the other to realize that critical truth..." she pauses and sighs heavily, "-but then... come the arguments." Tossing her head, she places the back of one wrist against her forehead, "The tears! The yelling! The breaking of things!" She straightens with a faux soulful stare around the table, her hands clasped before her, "The throwing gifts out the window to return them, the storming off in a huff!"

There's more laughter around the table -- even Jaeger is looking quite amused! Cinnamon playfully imitates her little sister's dramatic eye rolls and huffy hair flipping as she goes on, "Then come the deeply heartfelt, hours-long discussions with besties... about how mean and thoughtless the other lover is..." Her voice deepens dramatically again, and she clutches her hands together in faux angst, "...followed eventually by the gravely serious letter or text to End The Relationship -- and in that, the solemnly delivered confession: it's not the other person's fault; ohh, nonononono. You understand their 'issue'!" Cinnamon tilts her head to the side and flutters her eyelashes like a demented butterfly, clasped hands held just below her chin, "It's just that they're clearly not yet ready... to settle down! To be dedicated to another person! To be a mature adult, like you are... which can all be condensed down into..." At that point Cinnamon almost bounces upright in her chair again, her entire demeanor abruptly shifting into squeaky brightness, "-you still haven't realized: this is all about ME!"

That causes another burst of laughter, and some applause from Spice, Josie, Hilde, and Shane -- along with a teasing call of, "Brava!" from Spice. In fact, Hilde's almost crying, she's laughing so hard! By the end, Thorn too is laughing at the thoroughly hilarious presentation! He does find himself wonder later, though, just how far the apple must have fallen from the tree for Cinnamon to have somehow ended up in the same family as... well, as such a person as this walking stereotype? They seem as far removed from Cinnamon as... anything, really. He wouldn't be able to imagine two such as them sharing genetics. Another part of him wonders as well: how is Marcus taking this? It did all start with a description of the 'classic' stereotype of human beauty -- a standard which Marcus matches rather exactly, after all! Further, since the young elf was actually mentioned during the discussion, Thorn hopes Marcus doesn't take this a bit too much to heart, or see this as laughing at him. Thorn has no idea how to defuse such thoughts on Marcus's part, however; perhaps Jaeger or Hilde can. Besides... Cinnamon was hilarious!

Indeed, the sole exception to the table's delighted laughter is Marcus; he feels very uncomfortable throughout Cinnamon's storytelling, without really understanding why. Further, he's starting to really irritatedly wish it was the pretty younger sister who was the dragon, rather than this dumpy, boring, plain-jane little woman that people seem to like so much -- and Marcus cannot figure out why they do! He forces a smile, however, even as he decides he's just going to have to make a plan to figure this woman out -- so she doesn't surprise him any more, or disrupt any more of his plans.

Naturally, Marcus is also quite sure he's sufficiently hidden his true feelings. At the far end of the table, however... is that a wicked glint of mischief in Jaeger's eyes, as he glances amusedly at his son? Maybe, the elder elf thinks amusedly, this surprising little dragon will cause his son to finally take a fresher, more mature look at the world.

While still at the rez, Cinnamon and Hilde made plans to get together for lunch and a nice chat. Today's the day! Hilde offers to treat Cinnamon to lunch at a little place on Coblyn that the dragon hasn't been to yet. There are a lot of small places here and there, and so many little nooks and crannies. The little dragon is happy to accept Hilde's invitation -- she loves discovering and experiencing all these fascinatingly new places! She'll check to see if she should bring anything, of course -- she wants to be a good guest as well, after all. Hilde smiles, "Not a thing but yourself. It's a little tea shop -- tiny sandwiches and cakes and tea and delicacies. My treat." The tall, slender ljosaelf is wearing her bell-bottoms and Docs with a tie-dyed T-shirt today.

Cinnamon brightens, "Oh, I love those little teashop kind of places! Sure, let's do it!" She takes a quick glance down at herself, then nods -- she should be okay! She's not specially dressed, but she does have on one of her pretty tops that was special-made for her. She feels... she turns slightly self-consciously pink at the thought, but firmly makes herself finish it: she actually feels... a little... well, pretty! Not like Hilde or Aisling, of course -- they're utterly gorgeous without even trying! -- but... but, yeah -- she feels nice! She patters along next to Hilde on the way to the shop, looking around with interest. She likes nice, new experiences!

The little shop is in the front courtyard and garden of what seems to be someone's house. There are five tables with little umbrellas over them; two of them are already occupied by small parties. In the center of each table is a ring burner meant to keep pots of tea warm. On the porch of the house are little display cases of cakes and dainties, and a counter behind which is a little woman with a cat's ears and a flittery little cat tail. She perks up when she sees Hilde approach, "Hilde! And a new friend!"

Cinnamon beams excitedly at the little cat-woman, giving a shy wave -- then blinks, distracted by the beautiful display case contents. She ooohs as she studies them, impressed by how lovely they all are. Hilde smiles in return, "Libby, this is Cinnamon. She's a good friend of mine. We came to have lunch with you. What's good today?"

Cinnamon straightens, adjusting her glasses as she grins shyly and comments, "Wow, they all look fabulous!" Then she offers her hand to the little cat lady, adding, "Hello! Yes, I'm Cinnamon. Nice to meet you, Libby!"

Libby takes Cinnamon's hand and giggles, then nuzzles the hand and, with a happy smile, gives it a little lick with her sandpapery tongue. She giggles again, adding, "Oh! We have watercress sandwiches! With cream cheese! And the little ones with ham and Swiss! Get those! And Esm� will bring you some Earl gray!" She points at some tiny little cream cakes, "And those are soooo good!"

Hilde stage-whispers, "They're Libby's favorite. They are very good. Get one of those, but when Esm� brings us the tea she'll tell you some other good things to get." That makes the little cat-woman giggle again.

Cinnamon is a bit wide-eyed -- what an extremely unique greeting that was! Oh, dear... is she supposed to return it?! She blinks at Hilde's whisper, listening and nodding, and follows directions... and decides to check with Hilde regarding proper greeting responses only after they're both seated and Libby's off getting whatever. Cinnamon doesn't want to embarrass either herself or Libby, after all, with her lack of knowledge!

Hilde smiles and leads Cinnamon over to an empty table under a lovely, spreading shade tree, adding, "I am so sorry. I should have warned you: Libby is still learning how to be somewhat human." She puts a hand over her mouth and giggles. "She's a phouka and has spent most of her life in cat-form. I seriously forget because I'm so used to her."

Cinnamon relaxes and sighs happily as they seat themselves in the flower-bordered flagstone courtyard, looking up into the big old tree with appreciation. It's a lovely fall day, but the tree still has most of its leaves, even if they've mostly changed color. There are multiple pretty lanterns hung up in the tree, hinting at a gorgeously intimate nighttime experience here as well... especially for those within the charming old Victorian-style house that fronts the courtyard. The little dragon grins ruefully at Hilde, "Well, I don't think you really need to apologize... I'm just glad it was okay to not reciprocate that greeting, you know?" She laughs quietly as well, then shakes her head once, "How'd she live most of her life in cat form? Was she not here, or something? Or in an area where it was safer to be a cat?" About then, Cinnamon remembers one of the things she wanted to ask Hilde was regarding the ljosaelf's possible immunity to iron and steel... so she idly checks the metal content of the table and chairs at which they're seated.

The chairs they're sitting in are wooden, as is the table. Most of what's on the table is linen or ceramic -- even the little burner ring in the middle of the table to keep the teapot warm -- and there are no utensils on the table yet. Hilde smiles, "She lived in a trod, is how she did it. Then she came here with Esm� and still stayed mostly a cat until she decided she wanted to help with the shop. It's been fun watching her mature."

Cinnamon listens with interest, and grins, "Oh, I can certainly sympathize with that!" She laughs softly as she adds, "Sometimes I feel, here, like I'm only now learning how to be human myself, as well!" She hesitates, then grins shyly at Hilde as she adds, "Can I... would it be okay if I asked you a few questions while we ate, too?"

Hilde smiles, "You had a family that didn't understand how to be humans, so of course you're just now learning." Cinnamon blinks, frowning in thought as she considers that weird and intriguing statement... huh! That... actually makes a lot of sense to her! She brightens as it hits her: that also means not being good at being a good human isn't all due to her being a dope or something else like that, like she was often accused of as a child. She grins again, pleased... then pauses along with Hilde, as Esm� arrives with a pot of Earl gray and a tray with small, delicate sandwiches, and little plates with bites of fruit on them, and a pot of jam with fresh-baked bread.

Esm� turns out to be gealsidhe, so it's no surprise that the utensils she brings are silver. She greets Hilde warmly, adding, "I'll bring you some cream cakes because of course I will, but I also suggest you get some of the nut bread today... and perhaps some of the petit fours and the profiteroles."

Cinnamon ooohs softly, her eyes sparkling as she asks, "What kind of nut bread, please? I love nut bread -- and if I'm remembering what profiteroles are correctly, they're absolutely yum as well!"

Esm� says, "It's a banana walnut bread today. Yesterday it was a sort of pecan spice bread."

Cinnamon's eyes widen, "Ooooh! Can we have some, please? Maybe..." She blinks a little self-consciously, glancing at Hilde as she hopefully adds, "Would... maybe a few of each, so we can try all the delicious flavors?"

Hilde smiles, "She's suggesting just that: a bit of each." The ljosaelf nods to the proprietoress, "Sounds wonderful, Esm�. A little of everything, please... and cream and sugar for the tea?" Esm� nods and bustles off. It's perhaps odd to see someone like a gealsidhe bustle, but somehow she manages!

Cinnamon beams at Hilde, "Oh, this is so nice -- thank you so much, Hilde, for bringing me here!" She carefully pours for both of them, then considers the tiny sandwiches... then selects one and has a thoughtful nibble. "Mmm... chicken salad with cucumber -- yummy!" She happily finishes it off, then glances around, making sure no one else is nearby before she quietly adds, "Also, I, um... I wanted to apologize? I... may have blurted something out that I shouldn't have, at the rez, due to being tired." A bit sheepishly she meets Hilde's gaze as she adds, "I kinda mentioned to Marcus and Shane that I wasn't sure you were truly allergic to steel, but rather that I thought you were simply considerate of others, in replacing all the possible steel in your goods." She absently nibbles on her lower lip, then shyly adds, "Though... that thought also inspired me to order titanium frames for my glasses!"

Hilde's brows go up and her pale blue eyes twinkle a little as she asks in a playfully teasing voice, "Now, whatever would make you think I don't get ironsick?"

Cinnamon grins as she promptly replies, "I was told you stepped fearlessly between Josie and Qadan while they were arguing -- and Qadan wears -- er, wore -- a lot of iron!" She adds, "When I figured it out, though, I thought maybe best for me to hush up! I'm just sorry that I said as much as I did... so I wanted to apologize for that, and let you know."

Hilde mms and nods, "He did. He wore iron bands around his wrists and ankles and an iron ring around his throat." She glances around as if to make sure no one is looking and her voice lowers quietly, "The ljosaelfar don't fear iron, it's true -- and yes, I do have everything iron replaced partially out of consideration. But it is also partially camouflage, so I would appreciate it if you didn't let that information out in the wild too much. I don't precisely lie about it most of the time, but I do go to some pains to conceal it."

Cinnamon nods, still looking embarrassed, "Yeah, that was the other thing -- all the old Norse myths about the dwarves and such all working with steel and metal and stuff... and I'm happy to keep my mouth shut about it, Hilde. If I hadn't been so tired and hungry at that point, I probably wouldn't have blurted out as much as I did." She sighs and smiles, adding apologetically, "I'll try to be more careful when I've just been flying a bunch, in the future." She goes silent, smiling her thanks as Esm� places cream and sugar on the table, along with several savories on a pretty little 3-tiered cake display... then generously doctors her tea with the cream and sugar. After that she has a sip, then grins a bit excitedly at Hilde, "So, um... I was also wondering...? Like... have you been to Iceland at all?"

Hilde smiles, "Oh, ja. I love it there. It's gorgeous. I've traveled around most of the Norse settlements: Iceland, a lot of the American northern Midwest, the actual Nordic countries in Europe."

Cinnamon leans forward, her expression fascinated, "Oh, good -- 'cause I wanted to ask you about Iceland! See, a friend of mine's family has been linked to a dragon for, like, centuries? -and recently he died -- he was very, very old -- and according to my friend, he left a message for me -- he said I needed to go to Iceland! So..." she settles back, pushing up her glasses as she grins uncertainly, "do you, um... have any idea why he'd say that?"

Hilde's brows go up, "Other than it being one of the most naturally beautiful places on the planet?" Cinnamon simply nods, still waiting with breathless fascination for what it might be about Iceland that's so important to dragons. Something to do with fire and ice and volcanoes, maybe? Hilde considers, then says, "There are extremes there. For one, there are volcanoes under glaciers. It's one of the few places you can find new land being created -- literal new islands coming up from under the oceans. He may have meant you to go there and test yourself. Dragons thrive in places of extremes, you know. Asian dragons are elemental creatures. Well... so are European ones. You're a creature of fire, aren't you?"

Cinnamon's reply is uncertain, "Um, I... think so? Or... at least, people have told me I am?"

Hilde laughs softly, "Go. If for nothing else than to see the volcanoes... and the glaciers!" Her eyes twinkle, "Take friends. Take Shane and Thorn."

Cinnamon smiles and perks up, "Okay? So, um... well, I was wondering... if there's no, ahh, planned location yet for the next council meeting... is there maybe an enclave or something in Iceland that might be willing to have you host us there?" Her small grin is shy as she leans forward to murmur softly, "You know Daniella, Killa's head of security, right? So she mentioned to me that she really wanted to get Killa to send a... a factor or a representative to the next council meeting, but she was worried he wouldn't... so, um, do you think maybe he might -- and consequently take more healing time, which I think he probably badly needs -- if the next meeting was someplace as cold as Iceland?" She grins and nervously nibbles her lower lip, then adds, "Plus, umm... well, it'd be nice to go there with all my friends? What, um... what do you think?" She hasn't quite got the nerve to mention that she's half-hoping that Marcus will be nicer there, as well!

Hilde grins, "Oh yeah, there's an enclave there -- of ljosaelfar! Well, of Norse folk in general. There are some dokkaelfar, too. A half-giant. There's... well... a few folks." She looks thoughtful, "Hm... be easier to get to Iceland than trying to cart everybody over to Sweden, too. Or Norway." She grins, "That could be fun! And it would definitely keep Killa home and trying to heal -- because no snake in the world wants to be up there."

Cinnamon brightens, beaming as she nearly bounces in her chair, "Oh, yay! I'm glad you like the idea!" She laughs happily, and just chatters cheerfully for a bit with Hilde as they consume and deeply appreciate the delicious savories and tiny sandwiches... and then at some point, once they're finishing off the desserts, Cinnamon looks up curiously at her companion and asks, "Hilde? Why, umm... why are you 'hide' faction, please? If... if it's okay to ask that? I'm trying to learn all I can about this issue, so I thought maybe beginning with checking everyone's reasoning might be a good place to start, you know?"

Hilde sighs, "Because have you seen how the humans treat each other? I mean... the ones that they see as different -- the LGBTQIA+ people? People that just have different skin colors? People whose bodies are different because their limbs are different or they had a genetic difference in the womb? How do you think they're going to treat someone like Butler? Or Libby? Or Vanya?"

Cinnamon nods gravely, her expression serious, "Oh, yes... I completely get that -- and I'm not really that different, and I hated it." She sighs, having a calming sip of tea before she adds, "I thought it might be something like that, but I wanted to be sure, you know? Didn't want to assume... though thank you for telling me."

Hilde shakes her head and sighs, "Some of us could protect ourselves pretty well... or blend in. But some couldn't. Butler couldn't hide. Vanya could. Some of the various elves could. I could basically just disappear and live my life as a female human. But Aisling couldn't. The iron sickness would make it impossible."

Cinnamon winces at that -- she really doesn't want to see her sidhe and elven friends suffer like that! She nods a bit grimly... then tilts her head curiously and smiles, "Though... if you're willing to step between two such fierce fighters as Josie and Qadan, I suspect you too have some way to well-protect yourself..." She considers that thought, then firmly adds, "Which, now that I think about it, is totally none of my business too, isn't it! So we'll just forget I said that..." she beams more genuinely at the ljosaelfar, "and enjoy this truly wonderful tea -- which I haven't yet thanked you enough for!"

Hilde laughs, "That day? I had a dagger in a sheath at the small of my back, and the confidence to use it. Not to mention the confidence that people would back me if it came to blows." She smiles serenely, "You don't have to thank me for that. Coming here with me is thanks enough. If I bring people here, they tend to come back, which means Esm� gets more customers, which means a place I love stays open."

Cinnamon laughs, "Okay, that's clever!" She grins, enjoying another sip of tea before she adds, "Is it okay to ask how Vanya would hide? He told me once he couldn't change shape, after all... or do you mean more that he'd just vanish into the wilderness and live comfortably there?"

"He'd just vanish." Hilde smiles, "From a distance, he can basically look like a bear." Cinnamon nods, unsurprised... and after that the two young women simply chat relaxedly together, increasing their friendship and enjoying each other's company.

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Last modified: 2019-Jun-12 19:53:32

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