Report on the lines, and other stuff (Attn: Starling)

"Thanks." Valkyrie takes the card and leaves, almost bumping into the man standing outside. "Whoops, sorry."

On his way out, Orphan nods in acknowledgement of the student waiting outside Starling's office. "I hope his meeting goes better than ours did," he thinks in passing before hurrying to catch up with Val.

"So, wow. That could have gone so much better." Despite the words, Val's standing a lot straighter now than she was when she went into the office. Her voice is firmer too. "So before we head off to..." she checks the card Starling gave her, "This Circle of Creation to get chewed out again, I'd like to buy you some Starbucks. Sorta my way of saying thanks for trying to take a bullet for me."

"Thank you," Orphan replies. "I just wish I'd been able to do a better job of taking the bullet. It feels more like I accidentally knocked you into its path, and I'm really sorry if anything I said there made things worse. That thing of nobody being allowed to heal you...." he just shakes his head. "Wow, I don't even know what to say. Starbucks sounds good, though," he says, forcing a smile to try to lighten things a bit.

Noticing her bearing after the verbal lashing she got, once again he thinks "Val definitely has what it takes to be an Arrow. I would hope she won't be expected to still study under that Ollie guy. I'll have to mention that when I report in with the Arrow. Maybe she can get reassigned to someone who would appreciate what she's about."

Vegas walks up to the man that Dr. Primoria had pointed at.

"Excuse me. You're Apotheosis right?"

Theo offers his apologies to Valkyrie for being in her way.
He's about to go into Starling's office when he's caught by a man with one of the brightest smiles he's ever seen.
"Yes. And how are you called?" His suprise makes him revert a little towards direct translation of thoughts to English.

There is a fraction of a second pause as Vegas reorganizes the words in his head. "My names Vegas." he said extending his hand. "Dr. Primoria told me that you where working on a project for her and asked that I help you out."

Well that was expected. With Ruby off in Egypt or wherever, Dr. Primoria wouldn't trust him enough without someone else. Still he supposed he should be glad of the company. Sacramento could be dangerous and another set of eyes might help.
"Well, I'm seeing Starling about some things relating to that right now. Unless he has some disagreement you could be included." While not addressed directly at Starling, Theo turns to him for an expected response.

Theo goes in the office and waits to begin until Vegas enters and the door is shut.
All during his description Theo’s voice seems oddly calm and the very astute might notice his eyes wander every now and then. “I was mapping the ley lines of the city. Ruby seemed distracted and not up to mapping, so I set out on my own. During my cartography efforts I noticed what looked like warped Atlantean runes graffiti following along the lines. There seemed to be a correlation between the runes’ size and the waxing and waning of line strength. I had noticed several times a red motorcycle and was beginning to think I might be being followed by some party or other.
Under this suspicion I armed myself with my spear during one of my examinations of a line that went into an alleyway. The alley also had graffiti similar to what I describe before. I was about to examine it closer when I thought I saw something from the corner of my eye. Upon scrutiny I noticed an Aura and supernatural shimmer.
Having seen my interest the man who was under an invisibility spell dismissed it and commented on my observation. He was Asian, average build and looks, wore casual jeans and a red leather jacket. Not recognizing him, I thanked him and asked him his name. He claimed the pseudonym Wallflower. I am fairly sure that was his attempt at humor or cleverness.
He asked me what I was doing and I told him exploration. Suspecting he had other reasons for being there given his spell, I asked his purpose. He said he wanted to know whether I was following the runes or the lines. I told him both and asked if he had made the runes. He gave some suggestions for deciphering them but said he hadn’t made them. He said he was trying to discover if they held some harmful curse, as he didn’t want to go through the trouble of driving out the Pentacle for a cursed city.
I told him I hadn’t done more than a cursory examination and expressed surprise at his antagonism. He pointed out my weapon but I said it felt justified given the situation. I ask about his group and their motivations but he ignored my query, instead asking about the Awakened community and specifically Calligan Wellmer. I told him I didn’t know the name and asked for a description. He expressed uncertainty regarding my statement and made a threat to force the truth. He'd also deduced by then that I was working for Dr. Primoria.
It was then that I ran. He didn’t seem to pursue but given his proficiency with the arcane of Force I was unsure. It was then that I made my call that you picked up. Afterwards I called Sentinel Joshua requesting to talk to him. Then I came straight here as he said he was busy at the time.”
Theo’s eyes seemed to focus a little more on Starling and his voice gets a little more grating.
“I’d like to say that I don’t think my description conveys the feeling of threat and confrontation I felt.”

Vegas followed Theo into the room and introduced himself to the new man then took a perch next to the door and listened to Theo's report. At the mention of the potentially hostile mage, Vegas' thoughts turn to the gun in his closet.

Dammit Granny. Do you always have to be right.

After Theo finishes, Vegas raises his hand.

"Yea I just wanted a bit more info from Apotheosis."
Then to Theo. "Umm I agree with you on contacting the sentinel but I doubt he has time to walk all around the city with us while we work on these laylines. So we should probably contact the Arrows and see if they have anyone to keep us company in case this Wallflower guy shows back up. Now as for the laylines, how much of the city did you get mapped out? Did you take any pictures or sketches of the runes, and did you mark the placement of the runes on your map? He asks all this in a relaxed off the cuff manner. Sounding like he didn't really care if had done any of those things or not. He would just like to know if he had.

Theo didn’t really like Vegas’ casual, uncaring tone. “Joshua is an Arrow himself and could direct further if his responsibilities stop him from coming.
“I don’t own a camera and didn’t bring extra paper while mapping the one third of the city that I was doing today."

Vegas hadn't meant for it to sound like he didn't care about the job itself so much as he didn't care if pictures and such had been taken, figuring that if they hadn't it could just get done later.

Oh well. What was done was done, and Vegas was not going to try to backpeddle. Things would work out in the end. They always did.

He then looks over to Starling to see if he had anything to add.

Vegas returns the smile. "I'll do my best."

Still smiling he then turns to Theo. "So Apotheosis, let me give you my number real quick. I don't have any else on my plate right now so I can start on this when ever it's convenient to you."

"Right." said Theo with the smallest bit of sarcasm he could manage. Be careful of things you don't know about. That was a useful suggestion.
Leaving the office with Vegas, Theo gets out his handy and pressed in keys as Vegas dictated the number.
"Well if your up for a walk, I need to go back to retrieve the rental car I had."

"Sure. I'm up for a walk. Unless you want me to give you a ride there on my bike?" He says nodding at the motorcycle visible through the glass lobby doors. He knew most people where squeamish about riding as a passenger on a bike but thought it couldn't hurt to offer.

"It will be faster." he said. He was less uncomfortable with riding the oversized moped, than with riding it with no protection.
"Do you have an extra helmet?"

Extra helmet? That made the unfair assumption that he had one helmet. Vegas shakes his head no. "Sorry dude. I think we'll have to walk then."

Now he was was uncomfortable. Still, he was more worried about losing a loaned car than riding without a helmet.
"It's alright. It shouldn't be more than around a twenty minute ride. You might want to drive conservativly though. I'm not used to motorcycles."
Theo went over to the bike and waited for Vegas. Seeing he didn't have a helmet for himself either he commented "You really should get a helmet though. They can help a lot in an accident."
He waited for Vegas to get on and then mounted the bike too. Vegas can probably feel the tension in Theo's body.
"Ok, set."

"Don't worry. I'll drive extra careful. He said as he mounted the bike.
He considered giving a joking "Yes mom" reply to Theo's comment about him needing a helmet but decided against it. He had already had one miscommunication with Theo and he didn't want to come across as sounding condescending.
"Loosen up man. I promise I am a good driver." With that he gave the engine a quick rev and headed out, following Apotheosis' directions.