Making A Comeback

"Uh, it is too late today, which makes sense, so she said to stop by tomorrow morning," Gabe said. She then put a hand on her chin and thought for a second, "Hm, since we have time maybe we can get Noctis to come along too. Would she do that, Ven?"

"Okay, thanks for your time," Hector said before putting the phone down and turning to Eduj and Stefan, who were sitting on the couch drinking. "We'll settle down and unwind here for the night. But tomorrow we start searching for the Purists again."
Stefan stood up, grumbling, and headed over to the fridge. Finding next to nothing inside, he put Hector and Eduj to work preparing their own bedding and went out to the closest general store to get some food and drink.

<Sounds awesome.>

*Ven shrugs.*

V"I don't know any more about her relationship to Keter than you do, but I suppose I could ask."

E"Alright, well, let me give you the grand tour before it's time to leave for the game. You've seen our kitchen, & living room...I purchased the painting of Toph when I joined the Force, & the dragon stuff is usually Mortal's, but I inherited the others from both sides of my family."

*She walks down the hall.*

E"Back here is the bathroom, & this room is mine."

*She opens the door, gesturing for them to follow. Once someone enters, they find that she has a red bedspread. On her walls are another pair of paintings, this time the respective capitols of the Earth Kingdom & Fire Nation, & a poster of the Dancing Dragons that was obviously bought recently. She has 2 dressers. On one is another radio & some books, bookended with little models of pagodas. On the other is a series of shaped candles, with an incense pot & a mirror behind it. She gestures to each thing in turn.*

E"More of my art...showing my support...& this, here, is my shrine to the spirits of my native lands. I like to give them periodic praise even if I'm not living in the area because, well, you've seen what the Spirits can be like when they're angry."
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*Not much happens, expect that he sees that tonight's Pro-Bending match is only a little over an hour away.*

"Yea..." Gabe said, remembering, but not really wanting to.

Mortal had come along and was lounging on Euryale's bed.

"So, are you going to show us your room, Mortal?" Gabe asked.

"You've already seen it."

"Not recently."

"Fine..." Mortal let out a small sigh, and got off the bed and began to head down to her room.

*Tirea goes up to look at the poster*

<I still can't believe these exist.>

Stefan bought his goods and went home.

"...Spirits or posters of you?"

*Euryale follows Mortal & Gabe.*

Mortal stops mid-hall and looks back, "Where did everyone go?"

Gabe shrugged.

"Do you guys want to go see that Pro-Bending match?" Stefan asked on his return, putting the bag of groceries down in the kitchen. "Might be fun."
"If you want to blow your money on that, go ahead," Hector said. "I plan on relaxing this evening, even if it is hardly more comfortable than the prison cell in here."

Dalia, sitting in her usual chair, turned the radio down and picked up the phone. She called one of the released Agni Kais.

<Both I guess, but I was talking about posters of us.>

<Hello?>
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*Euryale walks down the hall towards Mortal, presuming that Tirea is still following.*

"I guess some of them do turn out to be hoaxes, but for the most part, Spirits are all around us, & very important to the balance of the world. For instance, there's the story of a girl who turned into the moon spirit during the Hundred Years War. She had been born sick, so when the parents prayed to the Moon Spirit, it gave her some of its life. When a Fire Nation soldier killed the Spirit, looking for glory, first the Ocean Spirit went berserk and attacked the Fire Nation navy, & then the girl gave up her mortal life to revitalize the moon."

*Tirea is indeed following*

<And we got to meet one. Even if it was very upset.>

"Hello. This is Dalia Lao," Dalia said. "Congratulations on your release."

"All the same, I'd rather let the spirits mingle amongst themselves," Gabe said.

Mortal opened the door to a relatively spartan room. There was a small radio on a nightstand surrounded by loose change, and a random assortment of pens and quickly scrawled notes. There was a small family portrait on her dresser, as well as Mortal, slightly younger, in uniform from her graduation, and a mirror, but it was otherwise barren as well. The only things adorning her walls were a flimsy needle work dragon, and an old picture of Mortal and Euryale smiling next to each other, a squad car can be seen behind them.

"Yea, nothing special. Got a radio, old painting of my family, some dragon thingy I found, uh... oh, there I am at graduation, and that one is Euryale and I on our first day as partners."

"You looked so cute together," Gabe said, looking at the picture of the duo.

*Euryale comes to stand next to Mortal, & puts an arm around her shoulders.*

"I'd like to think that we still do."
=================================
<Yes, thank you. Are you calling to arrange a meeting?>

"I'm calling to ask about the future of the Agni Kais," Dalia said. "But such a loaded topic does call for a meeting, I suppose. Is there anything planned over the next few days? We should gather."

"I like to think that we always will," Mortal said, leaning into Euryale, and putting an arm around her waist. She also gives her a kiss on the cheek for good measure.

Gabe was too busy noticing that Mortal's bed was tidy to respond with a 'd'aww'. She turned around and said, "I'm shocked, your bed is usually a mess."

"Rude," Mortal said, "Besides, I didn't sleep in it yesterday. That is probably why it looks so neat."

*Tirea looks from Euryale to Mortal, a confused look on her face*

*Euryale moves her arm to Mortal's waist, because why not?*

E"Ven, is something wrong?"

V"No, why?"

E"It's just that...you're not saying anything?"

V"Your home is lovely...How is your sandbending going?"

E"Pretty good, I think. I've started Bending the contents of the vacuum cleaner into the trash instead of pouring it."

*Euryale leans over to look at a hall clock.*

E"Oh, we'd better go. Do you want us to drive you to the game?"
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<We could meet during the finals tomorrow. But we don't really have a hideout right now. Aside from your home, I suppose.>

<That'd be awesome, thanks!>

"That would be great, thanks!" Gabe said, "I'm not gonna say no to a police escort."

"If you're a good girl, we might let you turn the siren on too," Mortal said.

"The finals would be preferable," Dalia said. "How many should I expect to meet?"

<We're back up to around 20-25 by now. We might have a few more by then.>
=====================================
*And so Mortale drives them to the Arena.*

Did Gabe get to play with the siren?

Regardless of the answer, she bids Mortale farewell, and heads to go get ready for the game.