The Arrival

And so Grimm made toast.

And so Hector made toast.

*Aroma takes a seat by Sab, the bus being mostly empty, then shakes her head rapidly. She also shivers & wrings her hands in her lap.*

"No, no, no, that was...I don't know, not normal."
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"Alright."
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*Euryale jumps when she hears a loud ringing, then realizes it's her phone. She quickly digs it out & puts it on speaker.*

E"He-hello?"

R"...Euryale? Are you okay? Is Taiyo there?"

The two lie and wait.

{Great. Stay safe.}

*Eve hangs up, and places the phone beside her*

Noct peeks out the window trying to see if she can still see it, "Are you sure?"

Gabe nodded, "It... It was the thing from before, I know it was."

Warm and comforting toast was eaten.

OOC: Seems like as good a time as any to skip forward a week.

*RENT & presumably Taiyo are clustered around the TV in the central building study area. Thiera had called everyone together to discuss her findings.*

{With this front moving in, we're expecting we might get the first snow of the year soon.}

R"At least it's not as bad as it was last week."
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*Grimm's church is still standing mostly due to tax exempt status & the fact that he doesn't have any employees to pay. The only people who've shown up since it was vandalized are amateur ghost hunters & urban explorers.*

*Eve shows up*

Eve:<Hello all. Is everyone well?>

*She looks at the TV*

<Hm, snow. Wonderful.>
---
*Camero, Monu, and Tirea head to the meeting as well*

Astarte and Hector were heading to the arranged meeting.

Eduj was heading to the arranged meeting.

It had taken quite a lot for Gabe to go anywhere but straight to class, and straight back to her dorm. After a week of pressure, however, Mortal was finally able to drag Gabe off to the gym with the help of Noctis. They had just entered the gym when Mortal opened her arms, and gesturing towards the mundane surroundings, "See, we made it here in one piece. I told you nothing bad would happen, Chicky."

Gabe still didn't really feel all that secure, but after having nothing happen in the week, she could hardly continue to stay cooped up, "Yeah, yeah. And I told you to stop calling me a chicken."

"I think that is why she is calling you 'Chicky' instead," Noct said, "So much worse if you ask me."

"Good thing no one is asking," Mortal said. She then walked over and put an arm around Gabe, "C'mon, we'll put you on a treadmill, set the speed to 27kph (lol, Germany), and you'll forget all about your little monsters."

"I can't run 27kph, are you crazy?" Gabe said, "But... I guess you're right."

With that, the trio walked into the main workout area, and began heading towards the treadmills.

--

Sab is sleeping like a lamb.

N"Beats monsters."

R"Better than we were last week, at any rate."

*The people heading to the meeting show up.*

T"It looks like we're just missing Azuma & Mimiru."
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*There is a knock on Sabroma's door, so Aroma gets up to answer it.*
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*Everything's fairly normal, except there are a bunch of dudes grouped outside, talking loudly about something or other.*

*Cameron waves at Astarte when she arrives*

Cameron:<Afternoon! Long time no see.>

Eve:<I agree, I'd rather have snow than monsters.>

"Hey," Astarte gave a little wave back. 

Grimm was tending to the limited church grounds.

Sab stirs awake at the sound of the door knocking and watches as Aroma goes to answer.

--

Noct is sitting in a chair while Gabe and Mortal jog on their treadmills. "I thought you were going to work out, Noctis," Gabe said.

"No, I'm just here for moral support."

"Then why are you wearing yoga pants, and under armor?" Gabe asked.

"Well, I didn't want to wear casual clothes to a gym," Noct said, "That would have been weird."

"But not working out at a gym is perfectly fine?" Gabe countered with a chuckled.

Noct grumbled, and stood up, "Fine, whatever..." She walked a short distance to a more open area, and began to stretch.

*Turns out it's that guy who harassed them when they first got together. He snickers a bit.*

<Hey, uh...I was just wondering if I could borrow a cup of sugar?>
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*The doors open & the chatter of the annoying drunk dudes gets louder as they head in. The receptionist being away as usual, they can hear that someone has sat down at her desk & is banging at her computer keys like a smartass.*
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*He can see movement behind the stained glass window.*
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R"Hey, anyone know what ever happened to Vanessa? Is she still living like a hobo? Did she drop out?"

T"I'm not sure, I didn't think to ask anyone."

Sab gets out of bed and folds her arm, "What makes you think we're going to give you anything?"

--

Mortal peeks to see what the hell was going on at the same time that Noct hops onto the treadmill next to Gabe. Seeing that it was just a bunch of assholes, Mortal goes back to her workout, which called for her to switch from the treadmill to curling weights.

Taiyo: "Snow's kind of nice. I'd prefer rain though."

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Azuma & Mimiru are at the cafeteria for whatever meal the time indicates is close to.

"She is apparently moving around to various hotels," Hector said. "At least that is what she told me in our last brief encounter. Could be anywhere."

*He pushes the door open & strides in, closing it behind him. Aroma backs up until she falls on her ass.*

<What makes you think you have a choice?>
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*After a while, someone snaps a picture from around the corner.*
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N"Can we just get started without those assholes? I don't have all day."

T"I really think we should wait."

R"Okay, but for how long?"

T"I don't know...."

Taiyo: "I'm sure we can fill them in later."

===================================

Azuma: "Snow would he nice."

Mimiru: "Not really, no."

Sab dove for her backpack behind her bed and began digging around for her first aid kit. When she turned around she had a little medical scissor in her hand aimed menacingly, or as menacingly as it can get, at the man, "Get out of here!"

--

Gabe was dripping in sweat when she finally hopped off the treadmill. Mortal was laying across the bench press, equally exhausted. Noct on the other hand was bent in some awkward position, though she looked completely unfazed. Gabe and Mortal shared a quick glance before they both mumbled something about yoga.

When the flash came on Mortal saw it, "Did you guys see that?"

"See what?" Gabe asked, far too panicked.

"Uh, nothing, don't worry about it," Mortal said, annoyed at herself for even bringing it up.

"They might be a while yet, we could at least get started," Hector said.

Grimm went inside.

*Aroma screams. Following this, there's a loud crack & a black blur sweeping into the room. There's a relatively short struggle in which they spin a few times, before Senthose lets go & the guy smashes against the wall, putting a quarter-sized hole in it.*

S"Wow, cheap wall."

A"You said he was harmless! And you're wrecking up the place!"

S"Ordinarily, he is. But he's also a tool. This must have been someone else's idea, can you think of anyone who might want to hurt you?"

*Seeing the man try to slink out, Senthose once again grabs him by the collar with both hands, forcing him up off the ground & against the wall.*
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*By the time he gets around to the front door & into the building, he doesn't see anyone.*
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*For a while, they don't see or hear anything else in the gym.*
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T"Alright, alright."

*She digs in her backpack & begins spreading the books they got & various pages of notes along the table.*

T"So, the first thing I found was that this Grimm guy was 10 when the orphanage burned down. There are some reports that put our tall & dark friend at the scene of the charred remains, but honestly, that could just be high school kids scaring themselves."

*She points to some photographs of empty, burned-out rooms, & then to a map with a few buildings circled in various parts of Pforzheim.*

Sab ignored the girly shriek of terror that escaped her when Senthose came barreling in and got closer to the guy Senthose now had pressed up against the wall. She waved her scissors around aggressively, "Y-yeah, tell us who put you up to this! Or else, um, Senthose will throw you out the window or something!"

--

Since all three lovely ladies are done with their workout, they begin to head the showers. "Wait, so the change of clothes you brought with you was just more gym clothes?" Mortal asked.

"I honestly thought they were regular clothes," Noct said, "I wasn't paying attention I guess."

Gabe just giggled at the discourse.

Taiyo: "What are those circled places?"