Culinary experimentation

[Atlas Mason] A warm, sunny day, without being to disturbingly warm made it a perfect day for Atlas to use the patio at the chanty, he was dressed as he usually was, with his suspenders and corduroy pants combined with a white shirt, and he stood infront of the grill cooking fish on various planks of wood...some of it smells quite delightful, other parts, on wood that probably wasn't meant for cooking on, smells questionable, if not some what concerning.

Atlas however doesn't seem at all concerned by this, he seems to be having a grand ol time out there by himself.

[Ashley McGowen] Some day, Ashley may go through a week without exhausting herself emotionally and mentally. She remembers a distant time when this was something she could accomplish; it hasn't been in a while, not since she stepped up to assume responsibility for the chantry, into a de facto position of leadership for Chicago's mages.

She stayed out too late last night drinking. She may have just rolled out of bed an hour or two ago, which is the latest she's slept in...a long time. Her countenance certainly has that bleary, rumpled sort of look that would imply such, even if she showered and ate something before coming out here today. She's showered a few times since arriving home last night, in fact. It's not usually something she does compulsively, but after being in packed heat with a lot of bodies and their various fluids, it makes her feel a lot better.

The scent of something being grilled hits her when she's approaching up the street, and when it becomes clear that the source of the smell is the chantry itself, Ashley heads around back rather than going inside. There's a puzzled look toward the Etherite as she comes up behind him. "Atlas? Are you the only person here?"

[Atlas Mason] Atlas looks up from the grill and waves the tongs he was holding in greeting. "Indeed Ashley! appropriately definable social greetings to your personage on this most unobjectionable juncture! The atmospheric conditions are adequately proportioned to external environmental commestable preparation, Given to the conglomerational focal points superior BTU producing preparation plane I have concluded that this locality is the most efficient for this current endevour."

He waves her up onto the patio, waiting for her to join him even in her somewhat hung over state. He however is chipper, energized and all around friendly, quite often the exact state hung over people want to avoid.

If she does indeed join him on the patio she can see, and smell the difference in what hes cooking, all the fish are the exact same, all the same density, cut, and shape, as if they were test samples. But all of the wood he is using, is of a different type, cedar, birch, oak, maple. He has quite the collection.

[Ashley McGowen] "I didn't even know the chantry -had- a BTU producing preparation plane," Ashley says, tone dry as she approaches the grill. "I've never seen the damn thing used."

He's using a different variety of woods to grill the fish; Ashley is able to discern this only because they're slightly different colors, the patterns on the wood differ from type to type. She doesn't know exactly which trees they came from; smart woman, Ashley, but not a botanist. Besides, she's paying more attention to the smell, which is mouth watering.

She comes up behind him, peers for a moment or two. When she's closer, some subtle differences in her demeanor, to her appearance, could be noted by those sensitive to such things: she looks healthy, alive. Like a weight has been removed. "...You don't fish those out yourself, do you?" she asks him, when she picks up on the uniformity of the chunks of fish.

[Emily Littleton] There's only a handful of reasons that Emily might come to the Chantry. Grilling planes of appropriate heat specifications were not really on that list, sadly. Though it seemed appropriate, somehow, that the suburban house would come complete with a grill for its purposes of blending in and concealing the oddities that transpired there.

Maybe. Kinda. Somehow.

She's looking for someone, but that someone is more difficult to find than she had expected. He's not here, she knows it by the time she reaches the front door. He's not there, but there's a downstairs room that might be a good place to just sit and regroup. Nothing fancy, nothing magical, just basking in the unseen glory that is.

It could do a body good.

... Is that... fish? She sniffed cautiously to confirm her suspicions, then made her way out to the back patio.

[Riley Poole] Riley doesn't usually go out of her way to visit the chantry. She's only been there a couple of times, and those were for meetings of one kind or another. She's never been there simply to walk around and check things out, doesn't even really know its history. It just feels like the meeting place to her, place for business not pleasure. Despite the fact that it's a house.

Still, she happened to be nearby for a job. That's why it's not her Honda that pulls up, but a Geek Squad VW. It's also why, when she climbs out of the vehicle, she's dressed for work. The button-down she's often seen in is buttoned up and her tie is tied properly. And she's wearing an impractical and unfashionable black skirt over black tights. A thick black headband holds back some of her hair, leaving her bangs free to fall across her forehead, but is mostly for decoration.

Unlike Ashley, though Riley certainly had more to drink than she should have last night, she doesn't look bleary or rumpled. In fact, she looks very much awake. After all, she doesn't need as much sleep to recover as most people. She looks very well put together today, or at least as much as she needs to be for work.

As she heads up the drive, she catches the unmistakable scent of grilled fish. Rather than heading for the front entrance, she sets off along the side of the house toward the back, just in time to catch Emily disappearing around the corner. Riley's in better spirits than she was last night, is more herself than she's been for most of the last week.

Her smile is bright and sunny when she sees Atlas and Ashley by the grill, and she remembers the Memorial Day cookout. "Hey, guys. What's the occasion?"

[Atlas Mason] "Indeed I did, i extracted these particular specimen's recently from a variety of localities around the urban center within the past solar cycle, they were sustained within a portable environmental unit up until their termination for this experimentation phase."

He says as he carefully checks each piece of fish in turn, in addition to the already peculiar scene, there is a note pad with several facts and time frames, even compositions sat on the patio table, along with an alarm for each fish, with a tag and the fishes weight attached to said timer.

When both Emily and Riley come around the corner of the house in quick succession Atlas smiles brightly to each of them and once again waved his tongs in the air in greeting. "It is a juncture of experimentation Riley, I am colating the various data factors and parallel's between a particular specimen breed and their reactivity to a variety of prepartory and protective planes of deciduous and arboreal flora." He then turned back to Ashley.

"It would appear my experimentation has drawn a convergence of individuals, how exemplary!"

[Emily Littleton] ((Int+Enigmas: [Analytical] +1 diff, hangover))
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 9, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 5 at target 7) Re-rolls: 3

[Ashley McGowen] "I'd be happy to help you analyze the data," Ashley says, almost brightly, leaning an elbow against one of the planes to either side of the grill and watching him cook. There's a glance out of the corner of her eye toward Atlas, something quick and only slightly skeptical. "I take it you've, uh, analyzed the specimens for foreign chemical bodies? This part of Lake Michigan isn't exactly known for its cleanliness."

Riley's arrival is only noticed when she's gotten close enough to speak to the two of them; Ashley's left is toward the front of the house at present. There's a startled look, which then shifts to something more amused as she takes in the particulars of Riley's outfit. "None," she says. "I came over to check the bulletin board and he was out back. Did you just get off work?"

She's seen Chuck in his Best Buy gear, and she didn't think it was possible to be happier that she's escaped working in some horrible corporate hell position. Now she's sure that she was wrong.

[Emily Littleton] "Greetings, fellow footballers," Emily says, a smile spreading across her features despite the brilliance of the day and the rather piercing quality of her hangover. It's been awhile since she was hungover, which was rather remarkable given that she weighed next to nothing and drank like she'd had half a decade to perfect the art (she had... just not here).

"It smells great, Atlas. I'd be happy to assist with your culinary experiment, should you require additional data points." Apparently, hangovers help with the Etherite-to-English translation, as Emily's not having any trouble assimilating his speech patterns today.

"I was going to put a rematch note up on the board, but since we're all here, maybe we can work out schedules without a general notice."

There's a sympathetic look for the other girl, re: Best Buy attire. She's amazed that Riley tolerates it as well as she does; Emily would have a few choice words for someone, and then a new job search to busy herself with.

[K. Jakes] [?]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 (Success x 4 at target 6)
to Emily Littleton

[Riley Poole] Ashley and Emily look at Riley with sympathy, or pity, or something when they see her attire. The skirt seems to emphasize what everyone with eyes already knows about her, that's she's skinny. It's not the skinniness of someone with an eating disorder, or even really a high metabolism. Riley is just very active, always has been. She eats healthy food for the most part, can pig out like the worst of them at any time. She's just. Very. Thin. The skirt shows off long slim legs that are usually hidden by jeans, or just longer skirts.

Riley has ranted and raved and railed against the establishment, arguing for the right to wear pants just like anyone else, but her efforts only ever fall on deaf ears. And so she has to wear the skirt or get demoted back to blue shirt, and that's the best case scenario. So she puts up with it as well as she can, and she has mastered the art of the quick change. Except her change of clothes are in her car, not the work one, so she's stuck out among her friends in that stupid fucking skirt.

Deep breath.

Exhale.

Oh well.

She brightens at the prospect of food, as she nears and sees the array that Atlas has set up. "Ooh, me, too! I'll totally be a guinea pig if it's for a food experiment. Unless," and she glances at Emily, "it's at Chuck's place. Then it's better to starve."

[Emily Littleton] Witnessed.
to K. Jakes

[Atlas Mason] Atlas chuckles at Ashleys concern over toxicity levels and he gestures to the pad of paper, on it is a toxicity report...obviously in his own hand writting, it states an incredibly low percentile, in the .ooooo's somewhere.

"These specimens have all been screened and molecularly stripped of all afflicting or cancerous subtstances, along with all other symptomatic or aberrant factors. Their current toxicity rates are comparable with reports compiled on specimens extracted from the chronological line of over four hundred solar traversal cycles."

He beams at Emily as she offers to aid him in his experiment speaking in his own language, and smiles as well at Riley. Even if he knows that they are primarily there to eat, he seems quite pleased that they will at least share their findings with him.

"Most appreciable! He says as he waves them up onto the patio as he moves to turn a few more specimens, and then checks his graphs, and his timers. "The initial specimens shall be appropriately themally induced and prepared within the next 2.34 time units. Please appropriately locate yourselves as is dermally compatible with your internalized preferences." He says gesturing to the chairs.

[Ashley McGowen] Ashley glances over the pad of paper long enough to be polite. She also keeps her eyes from glazing at the numbers long enough to be polite. Following that, she gives the Etherite a nod - she trusts him - and goes to sit down in a chair relatively near the grill.

"I could rematch today," she tells Emily, slumping back in the chair and pushing her hair up out of her eyes. "After I wake up a little."

Things are still a little awkward, for her. Well, being together in a large group is awkward to begin with, but hanging between her and Emily is what happened yesterday, the topic of conversation the two of them will probably be very pointedly avoiding for some time. "So do you just hang out over the back of the ship and fish when no one else is around, Atlas?" That thought is considerably more amusing and less traumatizing than memories of either a possible infernal encounter or most of Northwestern's student body at last night's concert.

[K. Jakes] [ONE ROLL, THEN I POST IN, HONEST. percept+awareness? wot? r the mages i -like- here?]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 6, 8 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Emily Littleton] Ashley's not bringing it up, Riley's not bringing it up, Emily's not bringing it up -- if all three of them affirm there's no elephant in the room, then it clearly doesn't exist, right?

If she doesn't want to sit across from Ashley, and be subject to that rather particular pointed gaze, she'll have to sit next to the Hermetic. That's where she settles herself after having a chance to review Atlas's notes. What was meant to be just a cursory scan of the data sheet turns into more than idle interest. Emily looks it over curiously, taking note of the columns and parameters he's tracking. She's analytical to the core, and these sorts of spreadsheets and notations are almost calming.

Perhaps she'd missed her true calling, in aligning herself with the Celestial Chorus. She sets the notebook down with a small smile, and takes up her seat.

"You have a ship?" she asks Atlas, picking up on the tail end of Ashley's comment and noting it's oddity. "Here, in Chicago?" There weren't that many ways to get a sizable vessel into the Lakes. It'd be interesting to hear about.

[K. Jakes] The red-haired Orphan closes the front door behind her. Click. The red-haired Orphan is laden (yes, laden [like kings of old w/ rings of gold & viking treasure & curses]) with a laptop bag metaphorically the size of Jupiter. Her cargos are olive green, her blouse is white, demurely buttoned, lace-at-the-throat, short-sleeved. Her hair is a fox's nest of red, red, red, kept in some semblance of 'okay, so I'm in public' by a highlighter and a pen, and she has five hematite rings on her left hand, one for each finger, one for her thumb, and she looks altogether ordinary, an ordinary sort've tired, an ordinary sort've awake, an ordinary sort've coffee cup in her right hand with a couple shots of espresso.

After Kage shuts the door, she locks it automatically, then unlocks it just as automatically, checks the board, wanders into the living room next to the kitchen to set up, hunts up a power outlet for her laptop's cord, hands-and-knees, if necessary, and that's about when the smell-of-cooking-food hits her. Kage pauses, gets her bearings, rests her chin on her knees while she pays attention to whatever her senses have to tell her today, like, what other Mages are about, and does she care to socialize with them.

The answer: hey, maybe. Maybe all three of them, + one. This is all to the good, right? So, after a careful sip of her coffee, which she almost puts down, then decides to take along with her (nobody'd mess with her stuff, right?), Kage nudges open one of the pretty patio doors and treads [creak] onto the pretty patio with a: "Emily, Ashley, Atlas and -- I'm sorry, I don't know your name yet. Hey! Is this a secret meeting, or am I welcome?" The academic isn't shy.

[Riley Poole] Riley's choices for seating, if she wants to stay with the group anyway, are fairly limited. If she wants to sit next to Ashley, she has to sit across from Emily, and vice versa. So she does neither; despite her shoes (which have a thick, sensible one-inch heel, but still) and the fact that she's not technically off from work yet, Riley crosses her arms over her stomach and keeps to her feet.

There's talk of the rematch, and Riley starts to smile as she watches Atlas work the grill. Atlas, her nemesis on the soccer (not football, we're not in England) field.

"I'd be up for it if someone has some shorts or something I could borrow. Or if you need time, Ashley, I can pop back to Best Buy and get my stuff."

Atlas has a ship that's moored...somewhere. There are plenty of docks along the coast where his ship could be kept, depending on the size. Riley's seen them by the Navy Pier. Or he could have his own place somewhere.

Rather than listening to his answer, Riley twists at the waist to see the redhead stepping out onto the patio with them, and she smiles that charming smile of greeting, all warmth and good will. "Hi. I'm Riley. And we're just a bunch of cats lured out by the smell of fish."

[Atlas Mason] "A rematch at this juncture would be an acceptable allotment of time units as this is the primary experiment of this time frame." He says cheerily before looking over to Ashley as she asks him about fishing. "The Lafette is indeed one of the localities from which i sublimate the H20 bodies to acquire commestible specimen's from a variety of subcategories. Emily can verify that I locate in a variety of physical environments to partake in such time allocations."

Emily reads over the notes that Atlas has been taking, and it is impressively thorough, from weight, to toxicity counts, to the tactile sensory input at various times during cooking as well as prior, aroma's exact BTU's transfered to the fish, age of the fish, and a variety of other factors all being used to identify similarities and useful data. When she finishes looking and she asks Atlas about his ship he turns and nods to her with a pleasant smile, happy shes asking it would seem.

"Indeed, I habitat aboard a modified Cannon class destroyer escort categorically labeled as the Lafette. It is located at this point 15.32 miles from our current position in the primary body of H20. It...arrived here during a catastrophic level reality phase shift, resulting from a error in the ships light space fold drive assembly."

He shrugs as if these things happen, and its just something yuo have to live with as one of the timers goes off as Kage comes through the door. "Kage! Your convergence timing is precise! locate yourself to an appropriate locality and you may assist in the experimentation." He says as he picks up one of the pieces of fish, with the wood and plates it, before handing it to Riley. "If you would, please note the variety of factors upon that clipboard in the post or present juncture of consumption." As he says it, less then five seconds later another timer goes off, another five seconds, another. He had it timed perfectly it would seem. The next fish goes to Emily with a smile, and then to Ashley, and Kage if she accepts.

[Ashley McGowen] The redhead gets a pleased - if surprised, vaguely suspicious - glance shot her way when she makes her appearance on the porch in the back. Ashley knows that Kage doesn't appear often in the chantry; she can't really come up with many reasons for -why- she would be here, exactly, or what she would want, given her professed dislike of Tradition mages.

"Hi, Kage," she says. "Go ahead and sit." She and Emily and Riley are arraying themselves so they don't have to look at each other, so that the things that they are trying not to think about can go unacknowledged. So that the elephant can go about his business in peace. The timer is going off with an eerie sort of precision, which is characteristic of Atlas himself, on some occasions.

"He needs some help putting his ship back together, actually," she tells Emily, when she sees the interest with which the girl is looking over the spreadsheets. Such numerical analysis is the bane of Ashley's existence and one of the things she most loathes about both marketing and Hermetic magic, but she knows that some people like its structure. It's useful to have allies that can appreciate that nonsensical language.

[Emily Littleton] "I've got some you can borrow," Emily tells Riley, and it's the first time she really makes eye contact. It's brief, doesn't linger. Polite without pushing personal boundaries overmuch. "Do you want me to bring them in when I get the football out of the car?"

"We're participating in a taste test," she tells the rowan-haired Other, just barely managing to stir up enough of that usual wry mirth to tinge her smile and color her eyes. The Orphan-for-now is wearied, worn thin. She is not radiant, is not Reverent. But hungover, yes, that she is somewhat. It's summer break, could Kage really blame her.

"And plotting a football rematch. Do you play?" a quirked eyebrow. "Soccer that is," she corrects herself before Riley can jump into to help with the Americanism.

All of this is threaded through Atlas passing out plates -- Emily does take one, and she takes this experiment seriously enough to note her likes and dislikes, in appropriately specific terms -- and Ashley mentioning he needs a hand putting the ship back together.

"If you need another pair of hands for repairs, I'd be happy to help," she offers. It could be good for her, get her mind off of things. "Admittedly, I have little experience with anything on that scale, but I can be taught!"

[Riley Poole] [I'm totally not a butthurt little emo kid: manip + subt]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 8, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[K. Jakes] The surprised, vaguely suspicious look slides off her back like water off a duck's feather, but then, so does the pleased glance. But then, she is introducing herself to Riley. The virtual adept's smile is returned. Kage's smile isn't warm, but it is easy; draws lines around her mouth, around her eyes. No bad will. No bad wishes. No agenda [hidden (or otherwise)]. Kage is a courteous creature, and self-contained. "Riley? Nice to meet you, finally." That first Society of the Nameless 'Crow meeting didn't count; the few times Riley's name have been mentioned, passingly, to Kage: they don't even 'not count,' that's how far out of the number pool they are. "I'm Kage."

And Atlas mentions 'experimentation,' and 'good, you can participate in,' and something a little (inquisitive) wary touches her gaze. "Really," she says, because he's a Son of Ether, a Gentleman Inventor, a Machine Poet, and maybe the experiment is something nefarious (or at least, embarrassing [liable to explode]). "Is the hopeful outcome of the experiment high levels of deliciousness, or are we talking something test goggles will be required - "

"Thanks," she says, to Ashley's Go Ahead and Sit, and, "Oh," a little relieved, or disappointed, when Emily expounds, Taste Test, okay, that's fine. Kage accepts the fish. Won't be the first one to eat the fish, but she accepts the fish, with another smile, easy, "Thank you, anyway." Her coffee, she places on the table. The girls are arraying themselves so they aren't looking directly at each other, and Kage is a girl, so she notices Some Thing. "Ah, hm - is there anything in the fridge to drink, and if so, anyone want something? Iiiiii.... can make tea or coffee."

There's gotta at least be coffee.

[Okay, You Three, WTF is going on! *squint* Perc+Aware-as-Empathy?]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 7, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Emily Littleton] ((Manip + Subter: Nothing. We are cool as cucumbers.))
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 (Failure at target 6)

[K. Jakes] And add into that - "Well, I once earned seventyone dollars and sixteen cents with my hacky sack skills."

[Riley Poole] [headed home, folks, bbiab! just, uh, assume Riley's smiling politely for a bit.]

[Ashley McGowen] [Nooooo, nothing's up. I'm not trying to avoid thinking about that GIANT ORGY that was all over the news.]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Emily Littleton] ((Re-roll!: No, really, everything's fine. +1))
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10 (Success x 2 at target 7)

[Atlas Mason] Atlas serves out the first round of fish quickly and there is still another five pieces on the grill apparently he staggered the cooking process, how he had planned to eat all of them in the amount of time he had allowed, was anyones guess.

If he noticed the oddity in which each girl was acting, doing their best to ignore each other, or at least to not bring up some shared memory he doesn't seem to notice, or he at least chooses to ignore it. He is completely absorbed in his 'experiment' or as others would call it...cooking.

However when Ashley mentions that he is in need of help with his ship, and Emily openly offers to assist the man turns and blinks for a moment, surprised perhaps before he nods a few times. "Most certainly, your additional man-hours would be of no inconsequential assistance! The required training is quite simple, and utilizes synaptic constructs and cognizant problem solving that you are certainly qualified to undertake. Perhaps in a near time juncture I can associate your personage with the particulars of the Lafette, and what we be undertaking in time."

He asks Emily, almost looking hopeful for the help, and certainly happy for it.

[Ashley McGowen] Ashley takes the plate, and takes it as an invitation to start filling her mouth with food to avoid saying something she'll regret. Emily summed it up some time ago: food goes in the mouth, foot stays out of it.

The elder Orphan gets an amused glance when she references her hacky sack skills: children of the early eighties, they are, and such things were widely played when they were both in high school. Given that she and Kage don't have the most relaxed of friendships, it's difficult for her to imagine Kage deciding to join in a soccer game with the rest of them - then again, it's probably equally difficult for Kage to imagine the same thing of her.

"You don't want the tea here," she tells Kage. "Wharil stocked the cabinet full of Lipton bags." A wrinkle of her nose: her opinion on such things has been expressed to both Kage and Emily, on separate occasions. "I haven't really bothered to bring over any of mine. But I think there's some coffee. And some juice. I don't want anything." One would think she would finally get around to it.

[Emily Littleton] The raven-haired Other is not well. She is frayed around the edges, like an old cloth, worn down and nubbly, rough under the fingertips, ready for the rag bin. Worn. Tired and threadbare. Used up. Thrown out. But this is Emily, so even threadbare and worn, she can pretty it up with a smile. There's sorrow at the corner of her eyes, ready to spill, and a tightness at the corners of her mouth: contained, welled up and then denied.

She has not been sleeping well enough. She has not been Reverent, though she is likely Unrelenting over something. She has not been Keeping Court; so many things overlooked, overshadowed, yet here she is, prettied up, smiling. Threadbare, worn. Smiling warmly enough to seem less hungover than she is. Less down-trodden.

More hopeful.
to K. Jakes

[Emily Littleton] "Lipton?"

Nose wrinkle. Slight sneer. Displeasure. No no, this will not do. This disdain overtakes whatever else they'd been discussing, for a moment. This house of magic, this place of Reverence, this gathering place for the high and mighty -- Lipton? Dear God above, it was almost as bad as Chuck's sad little American sausages, charred and nearly brittle when they came in from the grill.

"... I think I'll make a good faith offering to the Chantry. Proper teas, a couple diffusers, and a tea pot. Just to save our collective sanity."

Lipton. Good God, no.

That being sorted, dealt with, set aside, she's able to turn back to Atlas and the project at hand. And the project to come. There's a broadening smile, genuine at that, for the thought of a new bit of engineering (an old bit of engineering) to understand. It might not be her magical calling, but the way things work have always fascinated Emily.

"I'm between semesters at the moment. So my schedule's fairly flexible. Let me know when to come visit, and what to bring, and I'll be happy to help." Oh elephant, even though Kage pokes at it with her Awareness, Emily's not willing or wanting to direct the conversation his way. Or even into an acknowledgment of that pachyderm. Poor, sad, lonely elephant.

[K. Jakes] Kage is a subtle creature, too. Whatever she notices, whatever she gleans by paying attention, she doesn't feel the need to comment on, because why should she? Instead, she (unconscious [subconscious]) echoes Ashley and Emily's wrinkle-of-nose when the bogeyman Lipton is mentioned. Discerning critics, Wharil. Discerning critics.

Speaking of discerning critics, it might as well be noted: Kage watches whoever eats with curiosity, and when they don't turn into a frog, or a monster, or come over suddenly with spots, or say a word which becomes electricity that turns all the lights on in the White Fence House and blacks out the city for ten city blocks, then she takes a small bite of hers. It's not that Kage doesn't trust Atlas, insofar as she trusts anybody. But it's good to be careful.

And if nobody wants anything, she'll settle in, comfortably, to listen to ship-talk [ardent curiosity] and, "Thank you, Atlas."

[K. Jakes] ooc: brb!

[Atlas Mason] It might taste a little off to some of them, as not all of the fish was cooked on cedar planks, Kages' was on a birch plank for instance giving it an almost minty flavor. The Etherite nods to the suspicious woman as she at last samples his cuisine, and it is very well cooked, very delicate. The man knows his fish if nothing else.

But his attention is quickly brought back to Emily. "I will be capable of supplying, manufacturing or augmenting any required tools or environmental layering you will require during any particular juncture of project Emily, your personage and capability is all that is required at this juncture. As to a time frame at which would be most suitable to your locality aboard the Lafette...after this convergence if you are inclined in the positive, or any juncture or time unit after will also be nominal, given to my general locality aboard the Lafette's physical structure."

He turns back to the grill and keeps working diligently, afterall this was science! and he had to see it through to the end.

[Ashley McGowen] "What has you over here?" she asks Kage, with a sidelong look toward the Orphan, once she's set her plate aside. The Hermetic, in spite of some residual jumpiness given this weekend's events, is slumped in the chair and deceptively relaxed. Kage sees through this, of course, but has declined to comment - why would she?

There's ship-talk, and she's turning a little of her attention to it, mostly because she's happy to have facilitated such a thing. She likes Atlas, and Ashley is capable of spontaneous small favors for people she likes: it's one of the little oddities about her character that would at first appear to be discontinuous with the rest of her character. Until one gives it a little more thought, that is.

[Riley Poole] The finally at the end of that nice to meet you gets a bit of a raised brow, curious. She recognizes Kage vaguely from her first meeting at the chantry, but she hadn't stayed long to meet the other mages who had gathered. She probably should have, but she also probably had other things to do that day.

Emily offers her some spare shorts, and she gets an lukewarm smile. Apparently getting wasted together didn't do much to alleviate the strain that's fallen over their friendship. Most of them don't notice, but one of them does. She quite clearly sees the touch of frost in Riley's smile, the tightening of her jaw. The usually open and painfully (brutally) honest woman is doing what she can to close that off, though, hide it away so that it doesn't divide her from the Orphan further.

She nods her head. "Yeah, if you don't mind, that'd be great, Emily." Oddly, she had no intention of playfully correcting Emily's Englishisms. When Emily corrects herself, Riley's attention has already been diverted by the prospect of working on Atlas' mysterious aquatic vessel. And of course by the man himself handing her a plate of fish.

"So what's the deal with these? I assume you're cooking each one differently." She wanders over to the clipboard in question, looks it over. "And if you need an extra extra pair of hands, I'm free. Especially if you for need help with technology. I can wield a hammer pretty well, but my technical expertise lies in diagnostics, and the repair and maintenance of electrical systems." Here is where she would tap the little button her tie, the one that says GEEK SQUAD. Because the VW parked out front clearly isn't enough to let customers know who she works for. But, Riley has doubts that Atlas would know what that means. Unless he's downloaded said information into his robot brain.

[Emily Littleton] She's usually possessed of a rather obvious competitive streak, Emily is. She's driven, inquisitive, a quick learner; with that personality and in that climate, one tends to develop a rather pointed sense for competition. Riley chimes in, lists out her expertise, she's wearing her proficiencies on her sleeves ...

... And Emily smiles a bit more softly, and goes back to taking notes on the fish experiment. When she gets a break from overanalyzing the appropriate adjectives, the Orphan chimes in, "Riley's pretty great with electronics, Atlas. She's probably more help than I am."

Which is a yielding, stepping back thing to say. Something she doesn't often do. But if Atlas is going to take an understudy, better one with the requisite skills, yes? Emily's neat, tight script fills the boxes in as necessary on the clipboard.

[K. Jakes] "This is good," Kage says. "But it tastes - different. What did you do to it?" A beat, and, "Is Henri helping you with your ship?" Emily and Riley have technical know-how. Kage does not. She says, "And damn, I feel like I should offer my skills, too. I'd be happy to sit quietly in a corner, reading."

Another beat, and, Ashley, who isn't to know how it is she's involved in Kage's current reason for seeking refuge at the White Fence House: Ashley gets a smile [smoke & moonlight & devils] that crinkles the corners of Kage's eyes. "I do pop by, just occasionally, to see whether or not the safe house is still safe as houses can be." Then, more specifically: "I brought some work. Was planning to take advantage of the serene atmosphere." There's no irony there. She isn't making fun. She really expected quiet and noone else around.

[Atlas Mason] He seems so pleased, even excited that Emily was offering him her help in return, and he seemed just as pleased when Riley offered up her services as well, he thinks on that tapping tongs against his chin briefly as he thinks, jumping slightly att he heat of them, given that they had just been over open flame.

"Your aid would be equally appreciated Riley, additional assistance is accepted regardless of skill level, the act of data apprehension and absorption is set at the apex of concern. The Lafette was designed and its primary purpose was to be utilized as functional methodology for such activities, if it can be utilized for its primary purpose regardless of the linear path taken to it, so be it."

He seems outwardly excited by the idea of actually having people onboard again...but his face actually falls for a slight moment as Emily decides to back out, before he steps towards them waving his hands in the air tongs flying. "Negative, negative. As I have inferred, the data you will assimilate and the skills gathered are relativistically equal in priority! I genuinely infer to your continued application of your knowledge aboard the Lafette." He turns to Kage at that and points the tongs at her.

"Your personage as well Kage, the Lafette contains a data archive requiring copious reconstruction."

[Riley Poole] "Besides," says Riley, warmth starting to creep into her smile in spite of herself, "you could learn a lot. And it'll be fun." Hard work most likely, but still fun. Electrical and mechanical repairs are things she genuinely likes to do. She likes finding herself buried in parts, digging her way back out by building something new.

She looks at Emily for a second, then she breathes in through her nose, her eyes widening and shifting away. "What kind of data is the Lafette designed to apprehend?" she asks, finally taking a bite of her fish. She chews thoughtfully. When Emily's done with her notations, Riley adds her own to the appropriate boxes.

[Ashley McGowen] Emily retracts her help, and Ashley gives the younger Orphan a look. The tension between her and Riley hasn't gone unnoticed by the Hermetic: she was there, after all, when the cause of all the trouble surfaced, when Riley told Emily to stop being an asshole, when Emily described what was going on. She got the distinct impression that there's been much more between them than what she's witnessed.

"I'm sure there'll be something you can do, Em," she says, with a pointed grin in the girl's direction. "I offered Atlas my help, and I'm pretty useless when it comes to technology." This is, in fact, a lie. Or modesty, who knows which. Ashley has a keen interest in how things work and has dissected a lot of equipment - it simply isn't where her primary focus lies.

[Emily Littleton] Oh yes, this is going swimmingly. Emily steps back, and gets goaded to step forward again. Avoiding conflict is not working, conflict itself is not working, it's unacceptable to have a temper tantrum in the middle of a culinary experiment because you just don't fucking know how to behave like an adult in the face of social adversary.

Thank goodness they're all out of high school -- which she has heard is a terribly dark time in a human's development -- or this might turn into less of a delicate dance and more of a shouting match.

About that football...

"Okay, okay," she says, holding her hands up in mock-defense. "I'm in."
There's a smile there, still, but it's a little less steady than most days. Emily's no slouch with technology, even if she's no Virtual Adept either. But she's a pretty deft hand with what she does know. This is painfully close to argument she and Chuck had, once, with Ashley as an audience, so she doesn't let it go much further. Doesn't want a repeat.

Instead, she excuses herself politely to go grab a few things from the car. It's not an awkward must-leave-now excuse, but it's probably clear to them all that Emily's feeling a little socially ungainly this afternoon.

[K. Jakes] The Lafette contains a data archive requiring copious reconstruction -

gets an amused chuckle [ash & smoke, thorn & silk]. The cant of her eyebrows is sardonic, but the cant of her eyebrows is almost, always, sardonic; expressive, anyway. The chuckle ashes itself into a brief smile, one've the rare ones, strikes out incandescent - touches the plain woman with gorgeousness, for about a second. "Quietly read in the corner, got it."

A salute, Naval style. Sloppy, though. When Emily excuses herself, Kage watches her go, reaching up to poke a finger into the total mess that is her current mode of hair-style, scratch her scalp, says something like, "All right," but since Emily is coming back, there's no goodbye. At least, not unless it seems clear, once Emily has returned, with things, that she's not staying. Then: regret, and promises of phone calls. That kind of thing. Casual, though. Not concerned, or meaningful -- heavens no.