11471/SKA: Well Now What

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SKA: Well Now What
Date of Scene: 30 May 2022
Location: The Midnight Mission
Synopsis: Jon and Cael and Lydia talk to Marc's associate, Frenchie, about what the heck to do about Jake Lockley.
Cast of Characters: Jonathan Sims, Cael Becker, Lydia Dietrich, Marc Spector




Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon was going to explain what's going on immediately, but when they get downstairs and Cael starts looking for food--and complaining that there's no /good/ meat--Jon sighs and says 'stay put' and pops out to go find some kebab and yakiniku. So it's a couple of hours while he's picking up food, because he overshoots the place by several blocks. Both times. Agnes takes the opportunity to go up and clean the temple, lighting incense and saying quiet prayers.

    Finally, though, he gets back to the Midnight Mission. By that time, Jake has left--leaving the soup bowl upstairs--and Jon grabs it and brings it down so they can all gather in the kitchen and eat and talk about what the /hell/ is going on with Marc. Or Jake. Or, you know, whoever this is.

    The Mission still has that eerie "empty" feeling to it, for those just arriving. It's a bit spooky.

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael spent the time on her phone - trying to distract herself from the hungry feeling in the pit of her stomach by reading through the research papers Jon had found for her. It's even harder, when she's half distacted by hunger, and she ends up on the floor with bear, using the pup as a pillow, and holding the phone up in front of her face as she reads slowly - adding highlights to the pdf files here and there as necessary.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia makes occasional trips to the Mission to pay homage to Khonshu. While it's not a god she explicitly follows, he /is/ the one that watches over Marc and those who might find themselves at the Mission, so it's good to show him thanks every once in a while.

    Tonight she brought some fresh baked sourdough bread. It was a good batch tonight, light and fluffy, and would do well with just a pat of butter or lightly toasted with some jam. When she walks into the mission to give her offering, she can't help but notice that feeling of emptiness.

    "Hello?" she calls out. "Mr. Knight? Marc?" She walks up to the statue of Khonshu and places the loaf at its feet with the other offerings. "Anybody?"

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "We're down here, Lydia!" Jon calls up the stairs. "There's been a... development." He offers a bag to Cael, full of meat on sticks, and then another to Agnes. This one has vegetables as well as meat.

    "Am I right?" Agnes asks Jon. "Is it Khonshu?"

    Jon waves a hand. "I'll explain once Lydia's down here. She should hear about it too." He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "I called Frenchie, too. He should be back over here shortly. We need to figure out what the hell to /do/."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Jon - what is the point of portals if take out takes so long?" Cael complains - but she takes her bag, pushing herself up and setting her bowl down. Bear sits up as well, a hopeful look on his features as he waits to see if he gets offered any of the food he can smell, his tail wagging slowly, as she crawls a few inches closer. Pulling out one of the sticks, Cael bites into it with obvious gusto - and she finishes an entire skewer before complaining, "They overcooked it."
    There's a brief pause before she then adds a bit sheepishly, "Thank you, Jon."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia makes her way down the stairs when she hears Jon call out to her. "Hey, you two," she says to Cael and Jon once she gets to where they are, and her grin widens when she sees Agnes. "Hey there, kiddo. Your parents treating you good?"

    She pulls out another loaf of sourdough bread and places it on the counter along with the rest of the food. "I just baked a couple of loaves," she explains as she rummages around the kitchen for a bread knife. "I left one upstairs for Khonshu, and I figured that if there was anybody else here, they could have the other."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "Look, I missed it by several blocks and then there was a /line/. At both places!" Jon shakes his head and grabs some of the sourdough, then sits down at a table with his own bag of meat and vegetable skewers.

    "Hi Lydia!" Agnes says brightly as she snags some bread for herself. "One of my parents is. The other decided to go dimension-hopping, but Dad still has Cael at least." She lowers her voice, conspiratorially. "She took me shooting and helped me dye my hair. She's the /fun/ one."

    Jon rolls his eyes. "Yes, yes. /Anyway/ we were coming to relieve Frenchie--Jean-Paul, have you met him?--from duty... well... Marc was in a coma for two weeks, /someone/ had to tend the Mission."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "The fun one, huh?" Cael remarks with amusement. "Well. We're starting with the motorcycle lessons over summer. //Then// I'll be the fun one." She nods to Lydia, starting in on another skewer - while Bear lets out a quiet, hopeful whine. "No," she suddenly tells the dog in an unusually firm voice. "Down." Apparently she has no patience for begging behaviors today as Bear abruptly puts his head down on the ground, leaving Cael to eat her skewers with a sad look on his face. What did he do wrong?!
    "I'm sorry it was such an ordeal," she adds, giving Jon a wry smile.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia arches an eyebrow at Agnes. "She took you shooting?" She looks up at Cael and narrows her eyes. "I suppose she would." Not her child, she has to remind herself. Not her child. "Well. I like how your hair turned out. It's very pretty."

    "I haven't met Jean-Paul," she says, shifting her attention to Jon. "I heard about Marc but..." she shakes her head, "I never really got a chance to swing by. How is he doing?"

Marc Spector has posed:
    "That's what I want to know as well" comes a heavily accented Frenchman's voice from the door. The man is tall, lean, and handsome. He's swapped out the white buisness suit of the Mission's 'uniform' for jeans and a white turtleneck. He's tugging off a pair of black riding gloves as he steps into the room.

    "I did not anticipate you letting him walk unsupervised after his ordeal... even if he was entirely healthy" he says to Jon. He looks very tired and a bit stretched but he's alert enough.

    He notices Lydia and frowns a bit. "Hello. I'm Jean-Paul... M--Moon Knight and I are very old friends. You must be Lydia, if I'm not mistaken, yes?" he asks approaching the woman and offering a hand in greeting.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon blinks slowly at Cael for a moment, then beckons Bear over. Lady is there, too; she raises her head to stare at Lydia but a soft 'leave it' from Jon gets her to put her head down and focus on the offering of meat he gave her. Jon gives Bear some of the meat too, filing away that... oddity.

    "They know Marc's Moon Knight," Jon says to Jean-Paul, and offers over another bag of food. A thank-you for coming by when he was resting. "It wasn't Marc that woke up," he goes on. "It was Jake. And Marc was /talking/ to him." He sighs and shakes his head.

    He glances to Lydia. "D'you want any? Kebab, yakiniku, and I got vegetables as well as beef. Cael's on this 'meat' kick lately. Sometimes it even wins out over noodles."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "She lives with multiple SHIELD agents," Cael points out bluntly. "We keep our weapons secure, but she ought to learn some basic gun safety and responsible handling rules. And how's it fair to teach her all that - and not let her try a little target practice?" She shrugs her shoulders, adding, "Target practice is a safe hobby if you follow the rules." She gives the teen a stern look. "And Agnes is not dumb enough to ignore safety rules. Right?" She softens her expression with a smile after a few moments of the stern look.
    "Hey, I usually get noodles on the side." ...yup. On the side.
    "So what the hell is going on with the 'waking up at Jake' thing?" she asks bluntly, between bites of liver off one of her skewers. "It didn't seem to surprise you all that much. Or at least - you knew who Jake was. And how the hell is he talking to a 'ghost' of Marc? That's- ...not how ghosts work."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia turns her charming smile to Jean-Paul, and takes his hand into her own. "It seems my reputation precedes me," she says, idly wondering what it is about her that's so recognizable. "It's good to meet you, Jean-Paul. Jon and Cael, here, was just talking about you."

    She scowls a bit at Jon. "Who's Jake?" she asks, confused. "If Marc was in a coma, why did you let him just walk out? We... we can't be sure that he's alright after that."

    "Oh!" she says when offered kebab, holding up a hand. "No thank you. I've already fe- ate today. It /does/ smell wonderful, though." She gives Cael a questioning look. "Meat? Over /noodles/? Who are you and what did you do with Cael?"

    She looks a little mollified when Cael explains about gun safety. "Ah. That makes sense, then. Even though I don't really like guns, I'm glad for Raven's insistence in training in them."

Marc Spector has posed:
    Jean-Paul, Frenchie, inclines his head to Lydia. "Marc told me about most of his associates and Marc is good with descriptions of people. Part of what made him such a good spy... in the past." He listens to Jon and his expression sours some.

    He sighs long sufferingly. "Jake..., pfah, wonderful" his displeasure with the man couldn't be clearer. "I had thought we would be rid of him after his little stunt..." He pauses and frowns. "Wait... Marc was talking to him and he didn't... recognize him?" he asks. "I think... you should start from the beginning. Explain what happened when Jake emerged from the infirmary."

    He moves to take a seat on one of the chairs around the small dining table and gestures for the others to join him in the remaining five seats.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "Never point the gun at anything you don't intend to kill," Agnes says firmly, and smiles at Lydia. "Cael's really a very good teacher."

    Jon, for his part, sighs deeply. "Alright. So... first of all..." He clears his throat. "Normally this would violate ethics rules but Marc /did/ say to tell people in case of emergency... Marc Spector has Dissociative Identity Disorder. It was /not/ caused by Khonshu, though I suspect it made him ideal to be Khonshu's avatar. Because, yes, as Agnes figured out, Khonshu's... well, there are stories about him talking to himself. Like the moon, he has different phases."

    Jon shifts a bit in the chair. "When I first met Marc, day one of our therapy sessions, I insisted on meeting all of the alters. I figured at the time he might have multiple /ba/ within his body, and I appear to be right--his aura changes drastically depending on who's 'out.' I couldn't tell you that Steven Grant and Jake Lockley are Marc Spector's alters merely by aura. It's even more divided than the Gotham vigilantes I know."

    He glances to Frenchie. "That about the right of it? You've known him longer than I have, and I only know about the two, and their likely origins."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Whether it's loaded or not," Cael inserts. "Treat all guns as if they're loaded - all the time. But keep them unloaded until you intend to use them."
    "Dissociative Identity Disorder?" Cael repeats without comprehension, before finishing off another skewer. She's eating relatively fast - faster than she usual does, anyways. She must be hungry.
    She blinks in surprise and confusion. "Steven Grant? Is that- ...why you were suggesting that I- huh."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia grins at Jean-Paul, "It's the hair, right? Not many women's hair is as voluminous as mine is." She takes a moment to fluff her hair in an attempt at mock vanity.

    Agnes gets a nod. "That's what Raven told me, too. I never really intend to kill anybody which is why I don't use a gun a lot."

    "The scientific name for multiple personalities," she explains to Cael. "Sounds like Marc has a few alters. It explains who Steven and Jake is, though."

Marc Spector has posed:
    Frenchie nods. "Yes. That covers it well enough..." he frowns seeming a bit uncomfortable. "They are quite literally different people inhabitting the same body. I've been at least associated with them in all in some fashion. I am Steven Grant's driver, for instance. Jake however... is incresingly difficult to pin down and his habits are..." he presses his lips into a thin line. "Dangerous."

    "If Jake is in control I can understand why you'd let him walk... keeping him here would only prove more difficult over time... and he tends to stay at least local." He frowns. "But that doesn't explain the fact of how he didn't recognize Marc. I suspect there is more that you are theorizing on?" he asks Jon.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon scrubs a hand through his hair. "So last full moon, during the eclipse, something... happened." He reaches out a hand, feeling at the air. "Khonshu was sealed off. It was something that Agnes' mother tried to warn us about, through Cael. The sun darkening the light of the moon. I /think/ that this 'Sun King' that Bushman was working with has done something to the Khonshu statue in Egypt, where Marc first got his powers and where he returns from time to time to renew his connection."

    He shakes his head. "Marc... /died/. One of the werewolves put its hand through his chest and pulled out his heart. I managed to pick it up and shove it back in and heal him, but he's been in a coma for the past two weeks. Jake woke up. And Jake..." A pause. "Wait, what are you talking about, Jake's 'little stunt?'"

Cael Becker has posed:
    "That's an actual thing?" Cael asks once Lydia clarifies. ...weird. "I kinda thought it was just Hollywood bullshit."
    She's already worked her way through most of her skewers - and she's finally starting to slow down, savoring her meat more. It's //now// that she finally calls Bear over to offer him a piece.
    "You're a good boy," she murmurs, rubbing at his head.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia looks aghast at the thought of Marc getting his heart ripped out and Jon just kind of /shoving/ it back in there. "My God," she breathes. "I'm glad he was able to recover from that." She shakes her head, sending the curls of her hair bouncing, "That's not something even I could recover from."

    She turns to Cael, "As far as I know, yeah." She gestures at Jon, "He's the expert on this one. I just have some online friends who are plural."

Marc Spector has posed:
    Frenchie frowns at Jon. "Marc didn't tell you?" he asks and then sighs. "Of course he didn't..." he mutters. "Because you probably didn't ask... that was the only way I got the information from him." He sighs and shakes his head.

    "Late last year, Marc was... actually losing time. Which... given the stability and understanding that Khonshu gave him, didn't happen often. "Durng those times of loss, we realized that Jake was going on true scorched earth runs on his own with the gifts of Khonshu."

    He pauses and lets that sink in. "Marc went to Egypt and found some things that helped seal Jake away a bit. Force that particular alter to... sleep. He said he was 'laying him to rest' for a time. I don't pretend to understand how Marc's mind works. So I just figured he'd done something with Khonshu and handled it."

    He frowns. "I suspect that Khonshu's departure though... released any seal on Jake -and- erradicated the lucid separation the three of them share. Which... means that you let a clincially insane man walk out of here." He glances to Agnes. "But given present company... I cannot truly blame you."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon looks to Cael and then sighs. "Yes, it's an actual thing. Hollywood grossly mis-represents it, but Hollywood is /terrible/ about portraying mental illness. It's incredibly rare to have a literal 'serial killer' alter or what-have-you." To Lydia, he notes, "My healing did a lot of the heavy lifting. And he's really doing alright, aside from not having had solid food for two weeks. Dr. MacIntyre knows what she's about, taking care of a patient."

    He sighs and shakes his head. "Look, we can track him down, and eventually either Steve or Marc will take over if nothing else. I'm aware of Marc's issues, /very/ much aware, but..." Another frustrated hand run through his hair. "I don't... I don't know what to /do/. I was trying to work with him on... not integrating, that's impossible, but... getting to /know/ the others. Letting them in, some. He just adamantly refused. Insisted they /had/ to be separate, locked off."

    A pause, and he sighs. "The same way he used to insist on interacting with people as 'Mr. Knight,' even though I..." He hesitates, and looks between Cael and Lydia, then says, "Mr. Knight's aura doesn't read as Marc's, to me. It reads as /Steven's/."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Okay, so... when he's Mr. Knight, he's Steven. And when he's Moon Knight, he's Marc. And then sometimes he's... a cabbie," Cael remarks. "...how do you live there separate lives at once, though? There isn't enough time in the day. I can barely keep up with one life," she remarks with a shake of her head.
    "He isn't in danger, though? ...and he isn't a danger to others? And what sort of scorched earth we talking? Who was he targetting?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia folds her arms and scowls at Frenchie. "Just because somebody is clinically insane it doesn't necessarily mean that they're a danger to anybody. In fact, they're more likely to harm themselves before harming anybody." She looks about and reads the room as they all stare at her, "... which is not the case with this Jack persona, I take it."

    A frown tugs at the edges of her lips. "We probably should track him down and keep an eye on him, at the very least," she says. "Make sure he doesn't, ah, go 'scorched earth' on anybody."

Marc Spector has posed:
    "Jake," Frenchie corrects, not exactly being too phased by the scowl. Marc could scowl pretty fiercely as anyone else when he wants to. "Jake, when he was doing his vigilante thing, would kill people for the evil they did. Didn't matter how big of small. Gang bangers, pimps, prostitutes, and he didn't even give the more monstrous beings a chance to prove their worth. He just erradicated them: vampires, werewolves, mutants, none of it mattered. They were in the night and had the capacity to harm others so he stopped them before they could."

    He sighs and splays his hands on the table. "Now... without the power, he's likely to keep his actions to street level sorts. The gangs and people he runs into, even so... he's not stable... and he doesn't have a shred of mercy in him. I agree with you, Lydia" the man says. "You need to get eyes on him... soon. And pray that Marc or Steven can wrench control away from him before he does something unexpected."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "I rather like Jake," Jon says quietly. "He's not doing it because he loves violence, not really. He's... getting the job done, however he has to. He wants the world to be better and brighter than it is. And he has a soft spot for people that most overlook. He just... well. His view of the world, his /part/ of the world, is... bad. His origin was..." A pause, and then a shake of the head. "It was bad."

    He frowns thoughtfully. "We need eyes on him, yes. And we'll need to sit him down and get him to work this out. I think that even when he had Khonshu there, things weren't as stable as he thought. But on the other hand... we need to arrange a trip to Egypt, to see if we can fix this damn problem with the statue. Maybe once we can sit Marc down and talk to him."

    He sighs, and pulls out a vegetable skewer. "If I thought he'd be all that bad I'd never have let him leave. And... Marc rarely sleeps, Cael. Two alters sleep while the other is active, and Khoshu keeps his body refreshed. It's amazing what you can accomplish with eight extra hours in the day."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "He sounds like the fucking Papal Killer, Jon," Cael asserts abruptly, her tone scathing. "He sounds like //Mikey.//"
    No. Odds are she WON'T be as kind and gentle to Jake should she meet him again.
    She pushes back abruptly from the table, almost getting tangled with her chair, her balance teetering for a moment before she regains it, while the chair falls over backwards behind her. She then takes out her frustration on the poor, innocent chair, stomping down on one of the legs, and snapping it it off - before kicking it out of her way so she can stalk away from the table.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "Uh..." Lydia says, looking worriedly between Frenchie Jon, and Cael. It's obvious why she's worried. "If Jake likes to kill powered people indiscriminately, perhaps I may not be the best one to tail him. Or be around him if you manage to get him back." She waves a hand through the sparkling field of her ectoplasm. "I'm kind of obvious."

    "I'll help wherever I can, of course," she says. "I don't know what I can-" She never gets to finish her sentence, though, when Cael has her outburst. It pings the beast within her and she's on her feet in a flash, ready to defend herself, but her hackles slowly smooth as she watches her walk away.

    "Sorry," she says, clearing her throat in embarrassment, easing back into her chair.

Marc Spector has posed:
    Frenchie's either used to outbursts of violence or has a very good poker face when it comes to such things. Maybe both. His eyes move from Cael's destruction of the chair to Lydia's more than human speed and defensive posturing. He clears his throat and looks to Jon. "I suspect Mr. Grant will be fine to replace the chair, but I would appreciate it if no more of the furniture was destroyed..." he says mildly.

    He lets the two woman stalk off and return to their seat, respectively before he continues. "You may be right, Lydia. Though without Khonshu, I doubt he's even aware of that world in any great respect. He was usually one to turn gangs on each other and mop up the remnants when the war was over. If your abilities allowed you greater abilities of stealth you could probably pick him up with relative ease and remain undetected with the basic level training that he has."

    He shakes his head. "You have to remember; he's not Marc. The infiltration and erradication methods employed when we were working with the CIA as contract killers don't transfer between the alters as far as I can tell."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Agnes yelps at Cael's outburst, hands coming up and flames dancing around them. Her gloves have been warded against fire, so they don't combust, but she has to take a moment to calm down and turn the fire off. She frowns and hunches a bit, staying quiet.

    "What the /hell/, Cael? He doesn't /mind control/ people! He doesn't /torture/ them, either. In fact, I'm certain that Jake would call Michael 'one sick fuck.'" Jon shakes his head. "I think, if we get him back and we sit Marc down and he /talks/ to them, and Jake finds out what he truly is and where he came from... maybe he can be better. And if he can't? If he won't? Then we'll seal him back up again. Okay?"

    He huffs out a breath. "Fuck." He looks to Frenchie. "Look, should you and I take turns tailing him? I've been taking over some of the patrols anyway."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "He kills //prostitutes.// He kills people regardless of their crime," Cael shoots back. "It's not that different." She retreats to the far side of the room - as far as she can get from the table, running her hand through her hair as she paces, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself - while ignoring the various startled reactions she'd caused in her wake. Bear hesitates in confusion - then starts crawling his way towards Cael, letting out his quiet, worried whine.
    "I'm //fine,// Bear. Just fine," she remarks a bit irritably.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia, honestly, doesn't seem all that bothered by Marc's past. There are worse that live at the Asteroid. "I can do stealth," she tells Frenchie, letting her lights turn black. Not off, /black/. Little motes of darkness. "I can't totally turn them off, though."

    She eyes Cael worriedly, though she doesn't make any move towards her. She lets Jon do that.

Marc Spector has posed:
    Frenchie ponders for a moment. "Three pairs of eyes are better than two and while I'm formidable... I do not have any of the advantages that either of you do" he says plainly. "I know where he haunts but stopping him... well, Marc was the one that beat my record at the underground fighting ring where we met. There's a tenacity in him that I see in Jake often enough. I don't think... if push came to shove, I could stop him. But I can point you to where he can be found easily enough."

    Cael's situation is not -lost- on the man, he is just choosing to ignore it for the moment. Jon seems to have a better handle on it after all, still he watches and waits. Anger or not, Cael is at least on his own level in terms of power and skill. After all SHIELD training is modelled after the same work the CIA gives to its covert operatives.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "He never used to--" Jon frowns at Cael and cuts off, then gets up and goes over to her, reaching out gently to offer a hug, though only if she'll accept.

    "Hey," he says, tone gentle. "If he's that bad now, we seal him away. For good. Okay? Marc won't let him run around doing this shit--he already didn't before. But right now, he doesn't have access to the powers."

    Agnes frowns. "You can't seal him away," she says softly. When Jon stares around at her incredulously, she goes on hastily, "Five phases of the moon, five alters. Marc, Steven, Jake, Mr. Knight, Moon Knight. He /has/ to make this all... balance out, if he's going to be properly in harmony with Khonshu."

    She stares down at her hands. "There is a part of Khonshu that is violent and dangerous and eats hearts. It needs to be... appeased." She clears her throat. "But he certainly never stood for punishment /before/ a crime, or death regardless of crime. Khonshu should be helping prostitutes, as ones who walk in the night, the same way that he offers good vampires sanctuary here."

    Jon nods, expression smoothing out. "Right. And if this /is/ coming from Khonshu all of a sudden? We convince him to stop being such an /ass/." He sighs. "Just... we'll handle this, one way or another."

    He looks back to Cael. "What do you need, love? To feel... what do you need, right now?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    As Jon approaches, for just a moment - it looks like Cael might retreat away from them, but she holds her ground, posture tense, and eventually leans into their presence. She loops one arm around them - letting her other hand dangle at her side, she she can soon feel Bear licking at her fingers, before inserting his head under her hand.
    "I'm alright," she answers quietly. "I'm alright. I didn't mean to just- fire off like that," she admits.
    She doesn't respond to the rest of the conversation just yet - as she continues to seek comfort in Jon's presence.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "If he doesn't have his powers I could stop him," Lydia muses. "If he did I /might/ be able to but I wouldn't want to test it." She gives everybody a wan smile, "You know how I like to talk to people first before getting physical with them."

    She nods at Agnes. "That makes sense, though I didn't know that you'd count Mr. Knight and Moon Knight as separate alters."

Marc Spector has posed:
    Frenchie nods. "Then it's settled?" he asks rising. "I'll go out, find where he is and from there we'll get some eyes on him. We'll take turns" he says, looking at Cael and Agnes. It's clear he assumes the pair of them will stay together for now. He's tugging on his gloves and slipping them on.

    "I... should probably get your contact info, if you don't mind, Lydia?" he says, drawing a smartphone from his pocket. It's an upper level model, almost as high end as something from Stark Industries but sleeker and more refined in its size. He flips through a few pages to the contacts and offers his own up before looking expectantly to her.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Agnes shrugs to Lydia and spreads her hands. "It makes five. I mean, it's that or two whole other people. Maybe I'm wrong though." She sighs and gets up and then actually offers Lydia a hug. "It's good to see you! We live in Manhattan now, maybe we can visit?"

    Jon wraps his arms around Cael and sighs. "That might be an idea, yes. Visiting, I mean. I'm going to take you two home. Frenchie... let's close the Mission for now, alright? Except to those who need it regularly. Khonshu isn't here anyway. It's... it's not the same."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "I'm alright, Jon," Cael murmurs quietly, tucking her head in against their chest. The tension and anger bleeding out of her. "I'm sorry for that little... outburst," she adds more loudly - so her voice carries to Lydia, Jean-Paul, and Agnes. "It was uncalled for. I try not to let it, umm... get the better of me."
    She takes a deep breath in, taking in Jon's scent, before she starts to straighten, giving them a reassuring smile. "I'm alright," she repeats, before crouching to scratch at Bear's head and shoulders. "Who's the best dog? Yeah? Good boy, Bear. Good boy."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia nods and pull her own cellphone out, "Of course. I'm nocturnal so I'm not around during the day. But it /does/ mean that I'm up in the wee hours of the night when the others might be asleep."

    She's more than happy to hug Agnes. For a vampire she's very huggy. "I heard! I'll have to come over and visit. My apartment is in Brooklyn so it's not that far to fly."

    She shoots Cael a gentle grin. "It's okay. I understand." She stands and puts what's left of the bread in a paper bag and hands it over to Jon. "Here. Go home and take care of your family, and have some bread."

    She turns and raises a hand in parting, "Have a good evening, all."