The Winter of Our Discontent IC "... And no news yet."

[OracleofSilence]

Prologue
Thursday, October 24th, 2013
San Francisco. CA
3:05pm

http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/y510/oracleofsilence/nWoD%20OP_zpspq7g2ivr.jpg

It is hardly a pleasant day. Oppressive, low hanging clouds shroud the city, plunging most of the northern Bay into a grayish, slightly damp twilight. The clammy chill had forced many off the streets, leaving few besides the occasional street vendor, and the perpetual bundle of protesters in the Civic Center. Of course, that was only in some areas. Once you left downtown, desperation or necessity brought more people out of shelter.

Alessa, February, Eneas, Mallory, Mia

Despite, or perhaps because of the chill, the the small cafe is all but deserted, with little to keep it's inhabitants company besides the occasional clatter of dishes from the kitchen and the low rumble of whatever that stuff the solitary cook is playing to break the silence. A few solitary customers are scattered throughout the seating area, with the only conversation coming from a trio huddled in the corner and bent over a notebook, listening to NPR.

Despite that it's a special day, the product of carefully re-arranged schedules and more then a little sleep deprivation on Mallory's part. The group was together for the first time. Well, Eneas was technically still on shift, but that was for like 10 more minutes, and really, who was going to make a ton of dishes at this hour?

"...Recently, there have been growing reports of deaths in and around the city center. While there has been no official police statement made on the matter, upwards of 10 bodies have been found in the past week..." There is a somewhat embarrassed sussuration from the trio in the corner, and the radio's volume is turned down swiftly.

Father Laurence, Friday, James

The church was quiet, light's out and doors closed, but it was not deserted. A small room meeting doubling as a kitchenette stands to the side of the main area, commonly occupied by those with nowhere else to go. For now, its only inhabitants are James and Friday, though the good Father is always around somewhere or other. After all, the room is warm, well lit, and contains both food and.. well lets just call them other entertainments for now.

A small radio in the corner carries on in it's ceaseless drone, recounting the days misdeeds with almost comical resignation. "... And no news yet on the missing students. While reports did surface a few days ago that one had been seen, no substantive evidence has been put forth to back up these claims..."

[Kell_tamer]

"So then, then the guy in the suit is there telling me im a scummy waste of space and then as if someone up there had a sense of humor this car speeds by and SPLASH! all this gross streetwater and goop is all over him!" Friday giggles as she tells her story. She didn't like people getting hurt but when jerks were mean to her she did smile when a bit of karma hit them. Plus she liked telling stories to james cause he actually listened.

She nibbled a bit on her bread as she spoke. She liked the church. Padre was nice and the food was (usually) warm.

[JonRG]

James laughs. Friday's good mood always lifted his spirits. "Reminds me of the time some lady yells at me to get a job - from like across the street, mind - and then runs facefirst into a lamppost 'cause she's too busy lookin' at me. Felt bad, but it was hilarious." He feels for the small baggie in his front pocket. "I'm gonna hit the roof for a smoke break, if you wanna come with."

[Kell_tamer]

Friday grins and grabs an extra roll for him and her. "You bet!"

[Obscurejones]

The padre is already on the roof. He's hauled up a folding chair and is settled between two raised beds. Between drags on a fat cigar he checks the tomato plants in the bed for pesky insecticide invaders.

[ChaosArchon]

Mia sighs,"Between the protests over the tax breaks for tech companies and all these disappearances, the city seems to be getting more angry by the minute..." she stares at her frappuccino for a minute,"Anyway how have you guys been? And hey Mallory thanks for putting all this together," she says with a smile that is only like ten percent fake.

[JonRG]

"Right on." James holds the door open for Friday as they climb the stairwell. Once outside, he nods to Lawrence. "Padre." James takes a seat on the concrete, pulls the baggie from his pocket, and fumbles for a lighter with shaky hands. The last few nights had been rough, though he tries to keep that hidden from Friday. James eventually gets the joint lit. "How're the tomatoes?"

[Obscurejones]

"Coming in strong. I see a couple damn good BLTs in all of our futures. And that better not be from someone else while you're on my roof."
Looking up the Father nods to Friday.
"Keeping your nose clean, kiddo?"

[Beans]

February... is here. The thin woman hunches slightly in her leather jacket, toying with a lock of her hair. She probably wouldn't be---no, definitely wouldn’t be here if not for Mallory's efforts. The younger woman's charm and pretty face, and her own nagging feeling that maybe isolation isn't so great, did the trick.
However, she's still too shy to speak up yet, glancing around at the others.

[Kell_tamer]

"Yessir!" She nibbles her food. "Thank you again for the bread!"

[JonRG]

James shakes his head. "Wouldn't dream of it, sir. Not that I could afford to."

[Obscurejones]

Lawrence looks thoughtful for a moment and then stubs out his cigar on the edge of the bed, knocking the ass into the dirt.
"...Can I ask a favor from you two?"

[JonRG]

"Sure. Lay it on me."

[Tome]

"Slowly dying inside whenever I have to listen to André's J-pop obsession" Eneas answers glibly, nodding his head towards the kitchen. "No idea how I haven't accidentally knocked his speakers into the sink".

He's chosen to stand, mostly to at least look like he's still working. That his apron is sodden and his arms have a thin sheen of greasy grime may also be influencing his decision to not touch any chairs he may later be required to wipe down, despite how much he'd really like to get off his feet.

The would-be musician casts a glance at the most reticent member of this little gathering. "So you're... February, right? Nice to finally meet you. I'd offer to shake your hand buuuuut...". He waggles his own rather filthy mitts in the air.

[Kell_tamer]

"Sure!" She sits down on the ground, crumbs start dusting onto her dirty red shirt.

[Obscurejones]

"You know those kids that went missing. Well, I... I don't know. It isn't sitting right for me. I'm not going to... I ain't **** Tracy. But I want to keep an ear out. Would appreciate if you two did the same. Move in slightly different circles after all. Just give an old man a heads up if you hear anything interesting."

[Mono Vertigo]

A sigh of relief comes from Alessa as the radio's volume is turned down. She distractedly turns her spoon into a half-full cup of coffee-no-milk-one-sugar-please. (Or is it half-empty? If you ask that eternal question to hospital staff about blood as the liquid and a human body as the container, there'd be no question about it, they'd be half-empty, and likely half-dead, too.)
"I can't wait for my holidays, mostly", she replies with a tired half-smile. Lots of halves today. "I'm going to need another coffee after this one, to make sure I won't snooze during the concert. That'd be a shame."
Not that likely, in truth; some nights she needs a pill to find sleep. The caffeine is merely for driving away that terrible sleepiness that nonetheless won't allow you to lose consciousness nor focus because your mind is boiling with thoughts and your body overtaken with tics.

[ChaosArchon]

Mia nods sympathetically, and says,"I can't believe how hard the work you guys, it sounds awful. Still... right now I would love to have a reason to want holidays, right now I have 100% of my days off... and it ****ing sucks."

[Beans]

February looks at Eneas, glances at Alessa, then back to the young man. "I, uh... y-yeah, mutual." One rainy grey eye blinks out, the other mostly hidden by her hair.

Glancing at Mia and Alessa, she shifts, sipping her coffee. "I mostly work from home, so a lot of the time I make my own hours---'cept sometimes I get called out for on-site stuff, which, uh..." She waves a spidery hand vaguely at Mallory. "'S how I met her and, well, here I am."

[JonRG]

James nods. "I'll check with Lisa. She graduated from where the kids went. Might've heard somethin', or know somebody who has, or whatever."

[Kell_tamer]

"I can keep my ears open about things...." Friday nodded. She could too. People tended to ignore her.

[Obscurejones]

"Good kids. That... Call thing. It's got that je ne sais cultiness. Someone at the PD will call someone in the local shaman's are us community about it. I'll keep my ear out see if I can't pick off what they're thinking."

[ChaosArchon]

Mia smiles,"And so here we all are, so anybody heard about the band who is playing tonight? I gotta be honest I hadn't even heard of Mousetrapë until yesterday when Mallory told me about the concert."

[JonRG]

James blinks. "Call?"

[Obscurejones]

"Right. It was like a weird apology thing. Went out near when the kids got snapped up. I assume it's connected because... I'm mentally lazy I guess."

[The_Snark]

"Man," Mallory sighs, "working the night shift sucks sometimes. Like, I'm basically a night owl anyway, but not having evenings free is a pain. I'm gonna have to leave before they're even halfway through the show." She picks up her mug of coffee, discovers it's empty. Shoot. She looks around for a waiter, then remembers it's Eneas. Oops. Just forget about it then.

"On the bright side, Murphy's Law says the stuff I miss is probably gonna be awesome, so you guys are in luck." She nudges February with an elbow. "You sure you don't want my ticket?"

[Beans]

February jumps a little at the nudge. "I, um, I... thanks but, uh, no thank you."

[Mono Vertigo]

"Eneas was already playing in his band when I left high school. He was pretty good then. Not that he isn't now. Anyway, I kept an eye on him since, and for once the universe was clement to me and allowed me to have my shift this morning."
Truth is, her standards for 'pretty good' are rather modest. Be a guy, halfway decent with a guitar, and if you sing don't be awful at it; bam, that's 'pretty good'.
"You're not planning to stay for the concert, February? Other plans for tonight?"

[ChaosArchon]

Mia shifts, slightly uncomfortably, surely the others heard her speak right? Maybe they didn't and that's why nobody was responding to her. She didn't have anything in her teeth did she, maybe that was it? She starts cleaning her teeth with her tongue while sitting there silent and moderately uncomfortable.

[Mono Vertigo]

Alessa adds: "It's his previous band I used to know, so of course I heard when he formed his new one. I haven't heard anything by Mousetrapë yet, but I have faith it's going to be as good at the very least."

[ChaosArchon]

Mia snaps out of her minor freakout and nods, alright good so she was heard,"I'm sure it will be, can't wait."

[Tome]

"Wait, wait? I have a new band? Did someone forget to mention it to me?" Eneas interrupts, an amused look on his face.

"Sorry ladies," he apolgises, stifling a laugh, "but if you go to this concert expecting to hear me play, you're going to be disappointed. I have nothing to do with Mousetrapë".

It takes him a moment to recall who Mousetrapë are. Oh yeah, he thinks, those gits, from that club, with that drummer... Mitch, was it? Mike? Something like that. "Though you're probably going to be disappointed anyway. Their lead guitarist can't play for ****, only real musician there is the drummer if you ask me".

[Mono Vertigo]

Alessa's face withers almost literally. "... but the website-"
On second thought, maybe she read it too fast and the guitarist's name was actually Finneas or some stupid mistake like that. (What kind of name is Finneas for somebody who's under 50 anyway?)
She catches herself halfway through her vain protest and laughs, a bit awkward, a bit forced, and a bit self-convincing: "Ahah, no wait, I got mixed up, Mousetrapë is that other group - which is still pretty cool from what little I know - and your new group... what is it called? You do have a new group, right?"

[OracleofSilence]

The Cafe

The trio in the corner nods to themselves, shuts their radio off completely and begins the process of bundling to leave. The brief sound of a muffled conversation comes from the kitchen before Andre bellows, "Oi! En, get your ass back here. I need a word." The music from the kitchen has, mercifully, stopped, but Andre's call leaves no room for argument.

The Church

The fog has thickened further yet, all but completely obscuring the world beyond the Churches roof.

"Father! Hey, you about?" The caller, whoever they are, is standing before the church. "Got some questions for you".

[Obscurejones]

"Sure thing! Be down in a jiffy."
Lowering his voice he nods to James.
"Be a dear and help an old man down the stairs?"
Also... I'm assuming the caller is not The Caller?

[JonRG]

"Course, sir." James stubs out his joint and pockets it, then offers his arm to the priest.

[Kell_tamer]

Friday follows along after woofing down her last bit of bread.

[The_Snark]

"Pretty sure he's still single, so to speak," Mallory puts in cheerfully. "You totally should see about getting a new group together, though. I can't play for s*** but Izzy's pretty good on bass, I bet she'd be up for it." It is not the first time Mallory has made the suggestion this to Eneas. To the others, she explains, "Izzy's a friend of mine who works the morning shift here, that's how Eneas and I met. I invited her today, but she said no way was she spending time here unless she was getting paid for it."

A thought strikes her; she brightens, glancing between the three other girls. "Hey, do any of you play an instrument?"

[Mono Vertigo]

The sudden lack of sound from the radio catches Alessa's attention, but only distractedly, and for a half second.
"Oh."
He's not actually involved in any project as she'd thought, then. Disappointment all around.
"I... I-I used to play the flute when I was a kid. Phew, this goes way back."
The implied reply is a sheepish 'no'.

[ChaosArchon]

Mia frowns,"Not really, I tried learning guitar when I was 12 but only tried it out for a few days before quitting."

[Beans]

February blushes slightly, still twining a lock of her dull black hair around one long finger.
"Uhhh... I play the theremin. Kinda. I dunno if bands use those a lot..." She smiles a tiny bit. Arlene had hated the theremin, so she tries to play it a bit every day as a small celebration of her freedom.

[OracleofSilence]

The Church

When the Father arrives at his churches door, he is greeted by a small gaggle of somewhat scruffy young men. A general muttering amongst their number causes one to be pushed slightly out from the rest of the group, his posture hunched and more then a little nervous. "We... We uh, heard that you were looking for them what went missing a few back." A general susurration of agreement issues from the group. Buoyed by this support, the elected spokesperson continues. "My, our. The. Yeah, The Boss was thinking, and he had us go out to say, we might be able to help. In a general non-'ncriminatin' sorta way, course. But in a way. Not now right? Gotta givya some time he said. They said. Whatever." the man inches back into the group and, with little real indication of exterior movement, they begin to edge away.

[Tome]

"Hah, yeah I'm still a solo act" Eneas chortles. "Though not for lack of trying".

A small sigh escapes his lips as André calls him away. "Aaanyway I need to get back to work. So see ya' later loves" he says with a wave, weaving between the empty tables on his way back to the kitchen.

"Yes chef?" he tentatively asks as he ducks in the door.

[Obscurejones]

The Church

When the Father arrives at his churches door, he is greeted by a small gaggle of somewhat scruffy young men. A general muttering amongst their number causes one to be pushed slightly out from the rest of the group, his posture hunched and more then a little nervous. "We... We uh, heard that you were looking for them what went missing a few back." A general susurration of agreement issues from the group. Buoyed by this support, the elected spokesperson continues. "My, our. The. Yeah, The Boss was thinking, and he had us go out to say, we might be able to help. In a general non-'ncriminatin' sorta way, course. But in a way. Not now right? Gotta givya some time he said. They said. Whatever." the man inches back into the group and, with little real indication of exterior movement, they begin to edge away.

"Huh. Well let him-them know I appreciate it. Any of you boys want a joint for your trouble?"

[The_Snark]

"Theremin?" Mallory asks, attention derailed from Eneas's departure. "I don't think I've heard that instrument, what's it like? Sounds woodwind-y."

[Mono Vertigo]

Ignorant as well of what that instrument is, Alessa asks a question vague enough to hide that: "Where did you learn how to play the theremin?"

[Beans]

February shakes her head. "It's... weird. It's this sort of box with a straight vertical antenna and a circle antenna. How close your hand is to the vertical antenna changes the pitch, and how close your other hand is to the circle antenna changes the volume. And I learned it at home whenever Arlene was out... which was, y'know, a lot." She shifts a little in her seat as she mentions her ex-wife.

[The_Snark]

"Oh, one of the space music thingies! I always forget what those are called. That's cool." Mallory hasn't gotten the full story about February's ex, but she gets the feeling it's a topic to be avoided. "I dunno if bands like those either, but hey, if you're good then maybe you could convince Eneas to go from metal to electronica? They're not that far apart."

[ChaosArchon]

Mia chuckles,"And they both have the same amount of decent songs."

[The_Snark]

"Oh man," Mallory laughs, "no saying that where Eneas can hear you. Pretty sure them's fightin' words."

[ChaosArchon]

Mia turns her head to the kitchen, searching for errant Eneases and laughs,"I seem to be in the clear for now."

[JonRG]

"Think we're gonna bounce and check in with some folks. I'll letcha know what I hear back. Ya comin', Fri?"

[Kell_tamer]

Friday nods with cheeks packed with tasty tasty bread. "mmmhmmm!"

[JonRG]

James grins. "Right on. Let's roll." With a wave to the padre and his merry men, he heads for Lisa's shelter.

[Kell_tamer]

Friday follows with a smile on her face and waves to the padre as she leaves.

[OracleofSilence]

The Kitchen

Andre, stooped slightly over a few espresso machines grunts and jerks his head, indicating that Eneas's presence would be appreciated next to him. "So kid, I got good news and bad news." The low rumble of his voice, might, to highly trained and discerning ears, appear to carry a hint of humor, deep withing the glacial and unplaceably foreign depths. He drops a massive arm across Eneas's shoulders, stooping down slightly as he does so to bring his head more in line with his shorter co-worker's. "Good news is, I'm going to be gone for a few days. Have some business to attend to at my other job. Bad news is, your getting my job, least till I get back. Gotta do my stuff while I'm out, keep the new hire in line." The humor is more evident now, and the deeply uncharitable may be inclined to say that there is a not altogether pleasant edge to Andre's grin.

The Cafe

The corner trio exits, brushing slightly closer then is necessary given the emptiness of the cafe, before exiting the cafe. Silence reigns more fully within, the only sound coming from Eneas's muffled conversation and the quite taping of the last remaining customers typing.

Anyone that feels like it can roll for perception.

The Church

The sussurus raises again, and another voice raises from the group "Maybe, uh, maybe later Father. Appreciate it." The groups steady retreat has already obscured them in fog, and a few moments more all but completely conceals their location.

Edited because I didn't read player posts closely enough :smallredface:

The Shelter

The walk is relatively uneventful, with the streets largely abandoned. Upon arrival, however, it becomes quickly apparent that things are not at all well. An ambulance, lights blaring and paramedics swarming, sits before the shelter with a few police cars close by, and more then a few uniformed figures watching the goings on.

[JonRG]

James walks up to the nearest adult who looked to be in the know. Ideally a fellow homeless person, but he'd settle for a friendly face. Least, not a cop. "What happened here?"

[Obscurejones]

With a chuckle the old priest hobbles his way inside, walking through the empty church to a tidy, albeit cluttered back office. Pushing aside the leaves of a particularly verdant fern he digs out an old rotary phone and begins to dial. Waiting for the gentle ring on the other end he grabs a small pair of mustache scissors and trims a few dead fronds. As the familiar voice on the other end comes in with a greeting he smiles and sets the scissors down.
"Hiya Saul. Was wondering if you could do me a solid? It's about that phone thing we all got a while back."
Father Lawrence is using his professional contacts to try and learn if anyone knows anything about the call.

[OracleofSilence]

The Shelter
James finds a small huddle of early arrivals at the shelter, gathered around a streetlight. "No real idea. Last I heard before the police forced us out was that someone had collapsed. Someone vandalized the place too. Buncha punks if you ask me."

The Church
"Yeah, I got one as well. Pretty spooky if you ask me." the Father can hear a dry chuckle from the other end of the line. "So then, lets hear it Father. What exactly can I do for you?"

[Obscurejones]

"Well it had that... It seemed like our kind of thing. Think you can keep an ear out if any of First Estate has heard anything about it or been contacted by the cops? I'm trying to figure out everything I can about it. Just sort of... I don't know. Old man needs a second hobby."

[Kell_tamer]

Friday pokes her head out from behind James. "Anyone we know?"

[JonRG]

James's heart skips a bit. "Lisa. Where is she? She okay?"

[Tome]

Eneas blinks in surprise. "Are... are you sure about that chef" he asks, confused. "I'm not exactly an old hand here myself. I mean, I'm flattered you've got such a high opinion of me, but isn't there someone better suited to cover for you?".

[OracleofSilence]

The Cafe

The brief silence is broken by a faint buzzing from Mallory's pocket, likely a text of some variety.

You are fairly certain you see one of the exiting patrons drop something, maybe a small notebook? In February's bag, and you're certain that one of them winks at you when you spot it.

Also, should you read it, the text is a message from Izzie: Gotta talk soon. I might be in a wee spot of trouble.

The Kitchen

There's no mistaking it, Andre's expression is definitely more then a little sinister, the smile of the slightly older enjoying the panic of the young. "Nothin' to it kid. The only thing that takes some practice is getting the steamed milk just right. And most of the heathens that come through here wouldn't recognize a properly aerated late if you threw it in their face." The cehf straightens, and faces Eneas directly, pushing him out to arms length and considering him closely. "'Sides, confidence or no, you don't really have a choice. I won't be here, and the new kid coming in's got no previous work experience. As long as your up for it, the place can stay open and you can collect a decent little pay bump at the same time. Win/Win, I say."

The Shelter

"I'm fine James, though I appreciate the concern." Lisa works her way out of a gaggle of officers and heads over, smiling, perhaps a touch sadly when she spots Friday. "Hey there kiddo, how ya doing? But yeah, things should be calmed down in a few minutes. One of the managers was found unconcious when I was opening up for the night, and a few walls were vandalized. I know you weren't here, but you might still need to make a statement to the cops by the way."

The Church

"Not personally no, but I do know a guy. One of my buddies, runs a baptist place up in Richmond, has some of the parents in his congregation. Apparently the group that vanished had all been doing some extra credit thing for one of their classes. Sh*t, look, don't tell anyone I told you this, alright? We aren't really supposed to share information like this, and you know it."

[JonRG]

James shrugs. "Okay. I can do that. Any suspects for either incident?"

[The_Snark]

A tactful person might wait for a private moment to tell February that a stranger slipped something into her bag. An underhanded one might try to get a look herself without letting on to anyone. Mallory is neither of those things. "Hey Feb, check your bag? I think one of those guys dropped something in it on their way out." This is weird and possibly creepy and she's curious.

With this occupying her mind, it takes a few moments for the contents of Izzy's message to really register. Hey, no. That's no good. She quickly texts back:

:-(
what's up?
I work 2nite but aside from that w/ever works for me

[Obscurejones]

"What you told me was a fact, and not bound by the seal of confession, professional courtesy, or y'know criminal charges. I'd say we're in the clear. At least for now. And thank you, Saul."
Lawrence waits for a moment to decide but his curiousity gets the better of him.
"...Baptist place up by Richmond have a name?"

[OracleofSilence]

The Church

"Of course he does. I don't mean to come off as mysterious or anything, just having bit of fun. You can ask for Dr. Vaughn. Guy's real particular about that doctor part, but you should be fine."

The Shelter

"Not as far as I've been told. The vandalisim was weird too. Just a bunch of solid black circles on the wall, about a two feet across. Never heard of that before."

You could role Int+Streetwise or something similar if you should be interested. Perception's okay too I guess

The Cafe

"Soon is better. Got roughed up a bit by some weirdos. And I can't contact some friends. Since yesterday I think."

[Beans]

February does check her bag; should she find said notebook, she flips through it with a confused and somewhat on-edge expression.

[Mono Vertigo]

"Be right back", says Alessa, going to the toilets.
Once there, instead of taking care of the expected business, she pops open a small bottle of pills whose label was torn off. Just double-checking. How many?
To her surprise, there's only one left.
"Come on, there was more than that", she anxiously comments between her teeth. She hasn't used that many of them! Or has she? Nah, can't be, she's got this under control. Obviously. No problem at all. Can stop anytime and all that. It's just for relaxing.
The nervousness brought by that unfortunate discovery makes her swallow the last one all the same, in an attempt to chill.
She comes back. "Did I miss anything interesting?", she asks, still sweating a little.

[ChaosArchon]

"Somebody apparently slipped something into Feb's bag. So Feb, what'd they drop?"

[Tome]

"Well, if you insist chef... I'll try not to let the place burn down whilst you're gone" he says, only half jokingly. If the boss wants to leave the dishwasher in charge, that what's going to happen. Not worth his job to argue.

This is going to end so badly, Eneas thinks to himself. What on earth has Andre been smoking?

[The_Snark]

"Crap."

!!
Can come now, are u at ur place?
U okay?
Like do i bring first aid stuff

Mallory glances up from her phone with a concerned look. "Sorry, I might have to run in a minute."

[Obscurejones]

"Dr. Got it. Thanks again, Saul. I owe you one."
That conversation done the old priest limps over to the parish attached to the church. After a quick shower he dresses in a crisp black cassock, with a nice white collar.
The old man chuckles to himself as he checks it in the mirror.
"Nobody mugs a priest. Hopefully."
Hopping in the old beat up station wagon that came with the parish he sets out for Dr. Vaughn.

[JonRG]

"Not good," James mutters. "Wherever this goes up, trouble's usually right behind." He turns to his pintsized companion. "Know anybody who knows about this kinda weird stuff?"

[Kell_tamer]

Friday shakes her head. "It's all gibberish and I don't know nobody who is into gibberish"

[JonRG]

"Yanno who might? Eric. I mean, he treats a whole buncha wackos. Not just me." James smiles nervously. "We gotta talk to Lisa 'bout those kids, but after that, I'll give 'im a ring." He makes his way back over to Lisa. "Ya got a minute?"