Episode 8

Laying upon the top of his bed, Bach flips through the unending pages in a thick textbook. His blue eyes wearily scan the elaborate medical terms and drift between the dense paragraphs. Blinking hard with a grimace, each moment of focus grows harder to maintain, and Bach's attention wanders away in desperation. Fruitless minutes pass on by. Bach closes the book, tosses it to the side on the bed, and winces. Letting his head sink into the pillow, he rubs the strain from his eyes and blinks his vision clear. His arms lead the rest of his body to a seat on the bed. Pulling his back into a stretch, he yawns, stands up, and plods to the bedroom door. He glances out his room's window at the sun-backed gray and listens to the surge of rain against the pane. A distant thunder washes over the house, and Bach opens the door to the hallway.

Walking into the large living room, Bach notices Aristespha lounging on the couch staring a hole through the paperwork splayed on the coffee table. He steps over next to the arm of the couch and surveys the piles of documentation with a tablet dividing the masses. Aristespha shakes her head side to side, fights against the building fatigue, and straightens her posture in protest. Rubbing her very long, pointed ears, she notices Bach out the corner of her violet eye. "Oh! Sorry. I am trying to finish up some paperwork. I should be done in an hour or..."

She pauses a moment, glances over the paper strewn landscape of documentation and receipts on the coffee table, and stretches her response. "So..."

Drawing a long breath, she swiftly sighs and dons a positive, fading facade. "Then, we can work on your training and my materials research."

Bach studies the scene. Stacks of paperwork liter the area into roughly organized piles. Boxes of receipts and invoices sit on the floor around the coffee table. A dulled flash from the sliding glass back door illuminates an uncomfortably familiar tax form. Pointing to a seat cushion on the couch, Bach furrows his brow, smirking. "Um, you want help with this? I mean, after trudging through that last book, this seems like a nice change of pace. Oddly, it feels like I could be somewhat constructive and useful here."

Aristespha perks her brow and eyes Bach curiously, scooting over on the couch. "Which book are you talking about?"

Bach carefully slides a pile of papers over and takes a seat, sighing out his frustrations. "Greyhawk's Guide to Magical-Biological Interactions."

Fighting down a reflexive cringe into a frown, Aristespha nods heavy with commiseration. "That... That is an unfortunately rough one to get through. I remember burning up one coffee maker keeping myself awake when studying it. Despite how absolutely dry it is..."

She winces against a reflexive urge to roll her eyes. "It does contain the best information I have found on that particular topic. I recommend any mage of advanced proficiency read it..."

With huff, she twist her mouth. "At least ONCE. Emphasis on the ONCE."

Shrugging his shoulders, Bach leans his head over and idly reads some random piece of paper on top of a nearby pile. "Yeah, I'm starting to agree. At least... ONCE. Admittedly, it's actually nice to get the official terms for stuff. Gods, calling everything That Thing was getting old quick."

Aristespha chuckles to herself, stops, remembering something, and fishes out a packet of papers from a stack next to her. "Speaking of official terms... If you could, fill out how and where you want your pay, please."

Bach grabs the form curiously and flips through with confusion. "Oh. Um..."

He squints at the layout of strange legal terminology, fiscal formulations, and strangely numbered sections. "Okay. So... How does this all work out? I have no clue."

With a smile on her ivory face, a surge of pride manifests upon Aristespha, and she pulls out a tablet from between a pile of papers. Tapping commands on the screen, she presents the device to Bach. "Oh. That is right. I forgot, you never did your internship year. WELL, thankfully, I created a few diagrams over a year ago when we got together to formalize the financial process for our group."

She slips the tablet between Bach's hands, swipes through diagrams, and selects one to full size. "Depending on the mission, quest, or contract, the payout goes into our group's company account with the guild. We deduct any related expenses, then the money gets distributed evenly to everyone's individual guild accounts, up to a quota we all agree upon once every few months. Any excess gets put into another company account that is for shared party expenses, up to a quota. Anything above this quota at the end of the month, is divided out as a bonus to everyone."

Studying the diagrams, Bach zooms in on sections and watches summarizing animations of the process on the tablet. He scrutinizes the workflow of the process, furrowing his brow. He nods to an understanding and hands the device back. "Okay. That makes some sense to me, and seems pretty fair. It sounds like it avoids a lot of possible money drama."

Bach perks an eyebrow and smirks. "Nice animations, by the way."

Aristespha pleasantly smiles and rolls her eyes humored. "Thank you. It helps keep everyone's attention on the more boring parts of this career choice."

She draws in a deep breath, exhales her relief, and quells a corner twist in her smile. "As for drama, it certainly helps avoid it. Money issues tend to break apart adventuring groups faster than any other issue and often with more explosive results. Just ask Dretphi or Cideeda, they have a few choice stories about financial fights between team members."

Furrowing his brow, Bach gazes at Aristespha with a slight tilt of his head. "Really? How bad can that really get? I mean, I've gotten stiffed by a few jobs with paychecks and all. The most I ever did was threaten to get the law involved."

Aristespha narrows her stare and cocks her head of long silvery blue hair to the side. "Well, after spending a long time in close proximity with some people, tempers can be quick to flare up. And when tempers are backed by significant firepower of the magical or technological kind... The situation tends to escalate quickly."

Bach blinks blankly, glances side to side, and refocuses upon Aristespha. "Uh... Huh. I mean, how bad-"

Cracking a humored smirk, Aristespha chuckles lightly. "Well, for example, Dretphi once literally picked someone up by their feet and shook the owed backpay out of their pockets. And, Cideeda shot a prior team leader's truck's radiator with birdshot."

Shuddering to full awareness, Bach flutters his eyes in disbelief. Aristespha flashes an evil grin. "Her and the rest of the team charged the ex-leader for the ride to get a replacement radiator and back, in their van. She also invoiced him for each pellet of shot."

Bach furrows his brow and squints his gaze of to the side, mumbling out his contemplations. "Each pellet..."

Straightening her posture, Aristespha sweeps up a packet of documentation from the tabletop. "And that ex-leader paid it."

Slowly turning his head towards the piles of receipts and assorted paper in front of him, Bach chuckles out a tinge nervous energy. "I'm not even going to ask what Sotalia may have done."

Aristespha pauses mid sort and cocks her head to the side. "She has actually never mentioned too much about her prior groups."

Bach swallows hard and reaches a hand out towards a stack of bookkeeping chaos. "THAT actually worries me MORE."

Lifting up a section of paperwork upon the coffee table, Bach flips through it and bounces his bewildered stare between Aristespha and the overwhelming stack. "Damn... I hope this is just a backlog of paperwork, because this might actually be scarier than facing those cyber-zombies."

A genuine laugh slips out of Aristespha. She passes Bach a pen and takes one for herself from behind her ear. "Yes, it thankfully is just a backlog. Unfortunately, chasing and confronting Noxian in the past forced A LOT of our documentation to be left..."

She waves her out and over the disarray upon the coffee table. "Unfinished. It is normally a modest sum of legal document pages that amount to a few signatures to resolve. I have got most of the accounting handled by software. Most of the time, the only time consuming part comes from matching receipts and invoices to account transactions. I have got logging software on a tablet to help that process."

Easing out a long, tired sigh, she rocks her head and rolls the tension in her shoulders. "Before we step up our efforts to hunt down where Noxian is, I wanted to get this frightful buildup..."

Slowly panning her stare over the daunting work, she huffs out with a snarl of her the upper lip. "Handled."

Nodding slowly, Bach glances at Aristespha. "So, I guess it gets crazy when you get on the trail of someone like Noxian."

Aristespha winces her gray and blue hinted cheek and wrestles with a frown. "You can say that. We constantly followed so close to him and kept track of everything he did. We could never really ease up. We never had a real opportunity to do so. After Anta..."

She draws in a long, deep breath in, blinking her violet eyes. "It has been the first time in over a year we have been able to take our time, even a little. I do not know how I feel about it."

Her stare ahead grows distant, her focus turns inwards, and a hint of frown forms on her face. Turning his attention down, Bach stares at the mass of paper in his hands, readies his pen, and cracks a wary grin. "So, uh, where do you need me to sign questionable fine print?"

Fluttering her eyes back the present, Aristespha glances around, taps the packet with her pen, and retrieves another tablet for Bach to use. "Oh. Yes. First, fill out your payment information. You can use the guild account system if you do not have a bank account. They are not fancy or featured, but they do work enough to hold your funds. After getting your paperwork done, you can use this tablet to catalog team receipts and invoices. It has the better camera for that."

Shifting his attention to the packet, Bach reads a few lines and pauses, a thought crossing his mind. "Hey, um, just curious. How much does that monthly individual quota go up to?"

Leaning next to Bach, Aristespha traces a finger down the page and stops next to a number. Bach follows the trail of text down to the spot. His eyes widen, jaw drifts down, and head slowly tilts. Aristespha grins with satisfaction and returns to her stack of papers. "Why do you think anyone considers this line of work? The actual pay can vary based on the workload we take on. The last year has been below average with pay, since we were fully dedicated to tracking down Noxian. Due to that, it cut into our ability to work other assignments from the guild."

Lifting a curious eyebrow, she presents her tablet screen and points out an account summary. "To get you started out, Sebastian wants you to have his share for this months work. This is the amount so far. Consider it a..."

She curls the corner of a smile. "Oh, how did he put it? An apology for abducting you and flipping the fucking table that was your life. I believe those were his words."

Bach blinks in astonishment. He fails a few attempts in forming a coherent response. Drawing in a breath, he shrugs his shoulders appeased. "You know... I've now come to full acceptance of that incident and look forward to our future business ventures with a refreshed adventuring spirit."

With a humored smile, Aristespha rolls her violet eyes, tosses back her long, silvery blue hair, and circles her finger over a box of receipts on the floor nearby. "Right. Of course. Let us see how you feel AFTER sorting through this box."

---

Steadying the tablet, Bach lines up the shot and captures a picture of the last receipt from the paper dust sprinkled box next to the living room coffee table. He sorts through the menus and links the image to an outstanding traction in a long sorted list. Leaning back into the couch back, he blinks his blue eyes and snorts with a humored smirk. "By the gods... You guys must have single-handedly kept Pancake Shed in business for the last year. I mean..."

He shrugs his shoulders with a tug at the corner of his mouth. "They're good and all. But... Even I mix it up a little bit."

Aristespha twists her mouth to a mildly defensive curl and lifts an eyebrow at Bach. "Well. You are free to find another restaurant that widespread, near every major highway, open all hours, and that takes you as you come, with no questions."

A pen scratches a check mark on the last receipt, and Bach stuffs it under a rubber band with others in another box next to the prior. "Yeah. Fair enough. Thinking back, the one in High Alton was the perfect place to recover from all the crazy misadventures I had to rescue Sebastian from."

Aristespha narrows an intrigued gaze at Bach. Distracted by memory, Bach smiles with a slow nod. "Their hash browns are REALLY good at three in the morning."

Aristespha places her pen, tablet, and papers down on the coffee table and sinks back into the couch. "Indeed. That they are. I can never turn down a double order, all the way. The Pancake Shed is VERY accommodating to adventurers."

She cracks an amused smirk. "I have been told there is one in Perimeter that lets you order your captive's food off the children's menu. That way bounty hunters can save money on food."

Bach slowly pivots his head to Aristespha and furrows his uncertain brow. "That's... Uh... Huh... Interesting."

Ducking forward to put herself on her feet, Aristespha stands up and stretches her back. "A lot of fugitives try to hide out in the Perimeter Weird Zone. Most are usually very thankful when a bounty hunter finds them, so they can get escorted out of the zone. It is very easy to get lost and find yourself in a bad predicament out there."

Stepping around the coffee table, she brushes her faded T-shirt off, slips a stray rubber band into the pocket of her worn sweat pants, and guides stray silvery blue hairs over her very long, pointed ears. "Oh, I am going to make some tea. Do you want any?"

Bach tidies up his immediate area and carefully pulls himself up and away from the nearby haphazard piles of different papers. "Uh, sure, I guess. Are we done with all this for now?"

Spinning a carousel of single-serving drink packets on the kitchen counter, Aristespha plucks two of them out and loads one into the brewing machine on the counter. "Oh. Yes. It is NOT going anywhere. We have made very good progress, so I am not too terribly worried. Thank you for helping me with THAT mess."

Settling into a chair at the dining table, Bach wanders his gaze aimlessly. A question lands in his mind, and he quizzically stares at Aristespha. "So... You've been in a weird zone? You mentioned Perimeter and the Perimeter Weird Zone. It sounds like you've had some experience with them."

Aristespha fits a mug underneath the brewing machine and presses a button. The machine hums with flowing water within. Pondering a moment, Aristespha's violet eyes search her thoughts. "Yes. I have been in a few smaller ones. They were some of the spots I visited during my research into spirits, sprites, and other such entities."

Furrowing his brow, Bach straightens his posture in his seat at the table. "Do you think we'll go to any in trying to find Noxian?"

Aristespha pauses a moment, cocks her head to the side, and blinks in thought. "I do not believe so... Noxian has never shown any obvious interest in such weird zones."

Bach's interest piques, and he keeps his attention upon Aristespha. "Any reason why?"

Aristespha deftly pops out the spent packet, pitches it into the garbage can without looking, and sets that mug off to the side. In a quick series of motions, she loads the next packet, hits the button, and slides another mug underneath the machine. Bach cocks his head curiously, and Aristespha smirks smugly. "Studying at the Grand Library, you learn how to run these things as fast as possible. Anyway, as for Noxian... And Weird Zones..."

She rolls her shoulders with a her thoughts and focuses her gaze distantly. "If I was to make an educated guess, I would propose that he is not that skilled in spirit magic. Very likely has no experience in such. To navigate most weird zones, you need a basic level of understanding just to know what hazards to avoid in such places. There is far more specialized knowledge for Weird Zones, but still a significant amount of overlap with spirit magic."

Bach glances side to side with an idea and focuses his curiosity upon Aristespha. "Would there be a strong likelihood of a source of Elder Energy in those zones, that he'd probably be interested in?"

Eying the cup underneath the machine, Aristespha waits expectantly, the tea level rising close to the target. The last drop hits, and Aristespha sweeps up both containers on counter with one hand. She glances at Bach, wanders her pointing finger over the nearby array of sweetener and creamer packets. "Do you want anything from here?"

Bach perks up briefly, spotting the collection of condiments, and shakes his head. With a quick nod, Aristespha walks to the dining table. Placing a mug in front of Bach, she takes a seat opposite from him. "To your question... YES."

Bach's blue eyes widen with anticipation, and Aristespha wrestles with a twinge of disappointment. "Unfortunately, Weird Zones are typically unpredictable and chaotic areas. Without specific, accurate information, it would be similar to... Trying to find a needle in a haystack..."

Waving her hand to the side, she rolls her violet eyes and twists a frown on her ivory face. "Except this haystack is all tinted needles, and you need to find the singular untinted one in the mass."

A tinge of disappointment rises in Bach's tone. "Oh. Yeah. That sounds like a losing proposition there."

Tapping her finger tips on her mug, Aristespha flutters her eyes and contemplates out loud. "And there is a debated theory that Elder Energy draws quite a significant amount of attention from spirits and other entities..."

Bach's body briefly stiffens, and he averts his widened stare around, fluttering his eyes towards some semblance of composure. "Uh, yeah, huh. So, probably not going to check those places out any time soon."

Aristespha's very long, pointed ear twitches, and she shakes her head, blinking out of her pondering, and settles her gaze upon her mug of tea. "Not likely. That is why we need to focus upon any evidence of strange occurrences outside of such zones. If it is obvious to us, it has to be very obvious to HIM."

She squints her stare and gradually tilts her head. "Though... IF he does go after a lead in a Weird Zone..."

A confident smirks curls from the corner of Aristespha's mouth. "We will certainly have the advantage."

Bach slowly nods and inquires. "So, what do you know of magic in the spirit realm of study? Specifically. I know it's really broad and all."

Straightening her posture in her seat, Aristespha dons a slight smile and tosses back her long silvery blue hair. "Oh. Most of my study has been focused on sensory, communication, and projection types of magic associated with spirits. Honestly, that was all I was really interested in. I extensively know the theory behind the spirit family of magic."

She sneers up her upper lip and rolls the hints of disdain in her mouth. "I just do NOT care for how most of those spirit mages perform most of their magic."

Bach lifts the tea up to his nose for a sniff. The hot vapor flowing around his nose, he lowers it back down. "So, um, what about it don't you like?"

With a slight frown on her face, Aristespha sighs. "Most spirit mages are absolute ASSHOLES to all those entities."

Bach blinks to attention and gazes in surprise at Aristespha. "Wait- Really?!"

Nodding with a grumble, she lifts her mug and sips the tea. "I could go on for hours about it. They coerce, con, and manipulate spirits to do their bidding in exchange for some magical energy. Now, the smarter spirit types will negotiate up front. But, the simpler ones are lucky to get anything after getting controlled by spells."

She raps her fingers upon the cup. "Thankfully, there is a growing movement towards spirit magic that is far friendlier and drastically more ethical. I actually spent a week with the teacher that inspired the initiative."

Leaning back in his chair, Bach ponders, bewilderment toiling on his face. "Wow. That's... Surprising. I've met a few spirit mages, but I didn't realize that's what they were doing. I mean, I never had any of the same classes with them after the first year. I focused on far different things than them."

Aristespha shakes her head and stares down at her cup. She smiles kindly and sighs. "I really did not want anything to do with spirit magic after learning how it was performed. But... Meeting that teacher changed my mind. His name is Marcus Harold. A simple, old man on the outside that holds the favors of thousands of spirits, sprites, daemons, and ghosts. He keeps to forests out in the wilds. There is one spot he visits in the unclaimed territory between the GAA and Appaland."

She lifts the mug to her lips, drinks a moderate sum, and stares off distantly. "That was the most beautiful forest I have ever been in. The density of spirits inhabiting that area is a magnitude of order greater than anywhere else. It actually affects the biology of the flora and fauna out there."

Smiling with the memory, she shakes her head slightly. "As for Marcus, he is a very laid back and kind man. While I learned much from him, he always summed up his lessons to two things."

Breaking from listening, Bach remembers to enjoy more of his tea. "Huh, what were those?"

With a humored grin, Aristespha snorts and glances at Bach. "Ask nicely, and be reasonable."

Bach nods slowly and shrugs his shoulders in agreement. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Seemed to work for him."

Taking a deep breath in, Aristespha tenses her voice. "It does. His resident Elder Geist told me that is why it lives there."

Bach's eyes spring wide open, and his jaw drops agape. Using his remaining cognizance to land his mug on the table, he summons up his senses, keeping tea from dribbling out of his mouth. "Uh... Eh... Hu- What?! Just to make sure I heard you correctly... By Elder Geist, you mean a five meter tall creature formed of pure elder energy, that has probably been around since after the first cataclysm?"

Aristespha sips long of her tea, and her eyes meet the shocked stare of Bach. She places the mug back down on the table and cracks a smile, hints of old tension rising from her recollection. "Oh. YES. It was my last day there. I was talking to Marcus. IT came over. Sat down next to me. Apologized for not meeting with me sooner, as it took it a while for it to go through its memories. It translated some audio transcripts I had played for Marcus. And then, it showed me the location, on my tablet's map, of an ancient ruin that housed a library and manifested a pass card for me to use to get in. It wished me well, said it would see me again in the future, and left."

Bach gawks in awe, and Aristespha exhales with a faint shudder. Bach blinks and recovers enough, forming words again. "What did Marcus do?"

Aristespha playfully sneers and curls an upper lip. "Oh. He just absolutely fucking failed to hold back his laughter as I was scared for my very existence. He tends to forget that most people are NOT used to being that close to such a powerful magical entity."

---

Morning lights beams onto the rural landscape. A two lane road weaves through the countryside, and the last vestiges of rain upon it dries in the growing heat of fresh sun. Clear pools of water litter the low spots upon gentle rolling hills, and the excess drains down worn channels in the earth into the nearby stream. A few drops on the open garage door break free and fall onto the gravel junction between the ranch style house's gravel drive and interior concrete floor. Metallic clicks, clacks, and clanks echo faintly from within the garage and drift outdoors, contrasting the ambient calm. Bach tightens a frame bolt with a wrench and grants an extra quarter turn twist to satisfaction. Standing back, Bach surveys his side-car motorcycle, and his examining stare wanders across the machine. Early sunlight reflects off the freshly cleaned surfaces, and minute warps in the sheen hint at dents undone. Bach admires the close-enough-to-new presentation of the vehicle before him.

Sebastian's ethereal voice breaks the long moment of quiet. "Sweet machine you got there, bro."

Bach turns around and watches Sebastian hovering through the door leading inside the house. "Oh. Yeah. Cleaned it up and checked everything. Should be good for a ride, man."

Flying over and around the vehicle, Sebastian appreciates the machine from the different angles. "I'll admit it's a lot nicer to look at when you're not riding the handlebars."

Bach grants a single laugh and shakes his head at Sebastian. "Well, I mean, to be fair, it's not like I gave you that long to take in all its beauty."

Eying his brother with a smug smile, Sebastian rolls his translucent blue eyes. His ethereal form lightens, and his face softens. "Hey. Uh. Thanks for saving everyone. It's been really rough getting used to just being an over-glorified cheerleader slash doomsayer..."

He puffs up his chest and eases out an reverberating sigh. "And... Mostly feeling useless. It could have gone really BAD down there. But, you delivered us the leverage we needed to make the best outcome happen."

Bach rubs the back of his neck and sheepishly shifts his shoulders up and down. "Man... I couldn't just let that happen to anyone and not do something. But, I've got to be honest..."

He awkwardly gazes at Sebastian, grits his teeth uneasily, and hisses in an uncomfortable breath. "I was totally pulling stuff out of my ass! I mean..."

With nervous, uneasy flexing his fingers, he swallows hard. "GODS... I knew the THEORY behind the whole EMP thing. I've imagined a few designs in the past. But..."

Shuddering briefly, he glances around the garage, searching his mind. "SHIT. That was the first time I've ever actually implemented an EMP bomb of all things! Gods dammit, that was such a ridiculously complicated piece of machinery, I just-"

He drags his fingers through his longer brown hair and wanders towards the garage door with worry in each footstep, sunlight glinting off the white streak. "Holy shit... I mean, it's great that it worked, and we got out, but-"

He throws his hands out to his sides. "Dammit! Oh man, it could have gone SO WRONG! If the blast wasn't enough, if they were fully insulated, or even if they just took cover in broom closet with a metal door- I just- Well- I- FUCK!"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he pulls in a long breath in, slowly filling his chest. "Two weeks ago. I was just happy enough to get out of bed and read a decent story on an Aethernet forum..."

Holding his half-open hands shakily out in front of him, Bach's eyes shift between the bullet points of his rant. "Somehow... In less than two weeks... I have gone from living in an over-glorified shack, seen as a failure of a mage, to somehow resuming our dream of adventuring together!"

He glances over his shoulder at his brother and sighs with an uneasy smile. "Don't get me wrong. I'm all for getting my life back on track, but... It feels like I've been strapped to the front of a runaway train! I'm trying to keep focus on the many positives. But, I can't shake these feelings that I'm setting everyone up for disappointment... And... And, uh..."

Letting his arms go limp and flop to his sides, he slacks his shoulders and searches for serenity in the peaceful day outside. With each floaty step towards Bach, Sebastian stares at the floor, shaking his head with a knowing smile. He circles around in front of Bach and waits to meet his brother's gaze. "GOOD. You've gotten to the freak out and situational awareness stage. I was starting to get worried."

Bach refocuses his narrowing blue eyes upon Sebastian between dumbfounded blinks. "The w-what? Wait a- Hold up. This is..."

Leaning a bit closer, he squints at his brother. "NORMAL?"

Sebastian doubles over laughing with an ethereal echo and holds a hand up to Bach. "OH! GODS, YES! This moment here happens to any sane adventurer. In fact, most of the veterans get really worried when they think some newbie isn't freaking out, or worried, or not aware of how fucked-up their profession is!"

Blinking and drifting his gaze around the area, Bach follows his stare and paces the driveway around the humvee in thought. Sebastian hovers close to Bach with a sly grin, waiting expectantly. Bach halts in place and furrows his brow at Sebastian. "So, YOU went through this, too?"

With a ghostly snort, Sebastian nods. "YES. Yes, I did. I tried to hide it from the group I interned with, because I was trying to impress them. We were camping out in these woods up in the Southern Crags near High Alton, clearing out this invasive species of dire rat."

He points to himself and glances off to the side. "I volunteered for firewood gathering duty right off the bat and did it for a week. I didn't realize it, but they were totally expecting me to freak out after the first few days of fighting these things.

He darts his attention back to Bach and twists his transparent face into a disgusted grimace. "Fucking nasty, angry things, bro. The textbooks make dire creatures sound like enlightened, cooler versions of animals..."

He slides close to Bach. "Totally DOES NOT translate when it comes to rats. FUCK! Those things still give me the creeps."

Shaking off a shiver down his ethereal form, Sebastian turns his head, squints his eyes briefly, and finds the dangling thought. "Anyway... The ranger in that group finally tracked me when I left the camp for firewood and figured out why I was so willing to do firewood duty."

Bach quirks an eyebrow, bounces his eyes side to side, and leans closer. "Which was?"

Sebastian throws his hands up to the sides and exaggerates his shrug. "Oh, you know... Cursing the job, party members, school, the world, and so on! All the while chopping at trees like an ax murderer with blue balls."

He pauses a moment, his mind stumbling upon a random tidbit. "By the way, I so need to show you how to throw an ax, if you don't already know. Learned the basics from that ranger, AFTER she enjoyed watching me rant and rave."

Narrowing his eyes at Sebastian, Bach figuratively and literally stares right through him. Sebastian matches Bach's scrutiny and places his hands on his sides. "What? Why are you-"

His gaze darts between possibilities, and his eyes flit wide briefly. He relaxes his posture, and a goofy, unapologetic grin sneaks onto his face. The first few words fall out his mouth. He put his hands behind his head. "WELL, you know, bro. She made a really good point about not letting such youthful energy go to waste."

Lifting his head up to the clear skies just outside the garage door, Bach rolls his blue eyes dismissively and plants his face into the palm of his hand. He slowly slides his hand down and just stares at Sebastian. "I, of all people, shouldn't be surprised. ESPECIALLY after all those times I had to rescue you."

Sebastian smirks and jokingly shakes a finger at Bach. "Hey now! I'm trying to pay you back for all those times. So, you feeling any better, bro?"

Bach tenses up his shoulders, puffs his chest up with a breath of air in, and relaxes with a long exhale. "A bit... If I am going insane, at least I'm on schedule to do so, which somehow makes it... Normal. Right?"

Floating at the side, Sebastian presents an honest smile and genuine tone. "Hey, listen. We do good work for good reasons to achieve good things. BUT..."

He cocks his head to the side and wrestles an awkward smirk. "That doesn't change the fact that what we are doing ranges from being a bit weird to really fucked up."

Gazing directly into Bach's eyes, he cracks a sly grin. "It's normal to feel this is insane. It's insane to feel this is normal."

Bach and Sebastian stare at each other for a minute. Sebastian watches Bach's familiar body language. Summoning up traces of determination, Bach wrestles a frown to a smile. "Yeah, it's insane and fucked up when you break it down. But... Everyone got out safe, and we kept those cybernetic monsters from getting loose. I don't think anyone else was going to get it done before really bad stuff started to happen."

Nodding with pride, Sebastian drifts back satisfied. "And that's what you have to focus on. It's a hard balance between striving for the best outcome and keeping aware of what it is you actually do. But, that's a balance you want to maintain. I've seen what happens when it goes too far one way or another."

He swiftly shakes his head. "Not a good time either way."

Bach wanders his attention around the front yard and strains out a sigh. Taking in the nice sun filled scenery of spring greenery, he gazes off across the two lane road into the large open field bordered by the fresh forest. Sebastian floats next to Bach and stares off into the same distance. "Too nice of a day for any more heavy shit, bro."

With a smile, Bach simply nods. "Yeah. I'm feeling okay for now, brother. Thanks for the talk. I kind of needed to get that stuff out of my head. By the way, what's everyone else up to?"

Sebastian tilts his head to the side and furrows his brow thoughtfully. "I think Sotalia and Aristespha were analyzing the magical material stuff you made for practice yesterday?"

Grimacing into an unamused frown, Bach groans in disgust. "Well, I'm not going in there for a while. Already feel like enough of a lab rat for them."

Sebastian directs a thumb towards the side of the house with a scheming glint to his eyes. "From what they were talking about earlier, Dretphi and Cideeda should be sorting through all the random melee weapons we've picked up-"

Bach swiftly sets off towards the side of the house, swinging an arm out ahead and signaling Sebastian. "Sold! Sounds like fun to me."

---

Aristespha slides a box of paper with her foot clear of the recliner. She swiftly drops into the plush cushions of the seat, pulls the handle for the foot rest, and spreads a blanket over her. "We have about five minutes. Last week's rerun is finishing up."

Switching out a bowl under the spout of the hot air popcorn popper, Dretphi hands Bach the filled bowl. Bach ferries it with another in his hands over to the coffee table. Sebastian zips through the sliding glass door and drifts down to Aristespha's side. Wrapping herself tighter in the blanket, Aristespha gazes curiously at Sebastian. "Where have you been, Sebastian? You disappeared earlier today."

Pointing a thumb out the sliding glass door, Sebastian twists his mouth to the side, intrigued. "I saw some lights coming from a house on the big plot diagonal to this one. It's the first time I've ever seen activity over there. Thought I'd check it out."

Aristespha settles deeper into the over-stuffed cushions of the recliner and tilts her ivory, gray and blue tinted face. "Probably the property management company getting it ready for new renters, if I had to guess. Many of these properties are rentals."

Sebastian hovers closer and wanders his gaze towards the television. "Yeah. That makes sense. I couldn't get close enough to make out anything, since I started fighting the sword's max range. Anyway, apart from that, not much else is happening around here."

Furrowing her brow, Aristespha guides a few stray silvery blue hairs back and glances her eyes out into the evening beyond the sliding glass door nearby. "If I remember correctly, I explored that property as an option, but it was not ready to rent when we needed it.

A bowl of popcorn lowers down near Aristespha. She happily lifts her hands underneath the blanket, and Bach places the bowl right between. Dropping off the other bowl on the coffee table, Bach departs back to the kitchen. Checking to see if anyone is paying attention to her, Aristespha smiles mischievously. With swift hand gestures underneath the blanket and soft incantations, her violet eyes briefly flicker. A small helping of popcorn drifts from the bowl into her mouth. Crunching down on the popcorn, she catches the mockingly judgmental glare of Sebastian. "Whut?"

Shaking his head, Sebastian sways his attention back to the television. Aristespha rolls her faintly glowing eyes and another batch of popcorn leaves the bowl. "Oh, please... You'd do it, too."

Dretphi immediately switches out another bowl under the popcorn popper and gives the freshly full bowl to Bach. Zipping through the hallway archway, Cideeda vaults over the couch arm and deftly maneuvers to the opposite end. Her long, fluffy, orange-tinted tail wraps around her, and her clawed fingers reach out eagerly for the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table. The last kernel pops, and the final puff drops out of the popper. Both Dretphi and Bach carry a bowl each from the kitchen into the living area. Shuffling between the coffee table, Dretphi settles onto the middle spot of the couch. Bach lines up to get in the space between table and couch.

Sotalia's voice sounds out. "Hey, Bach!"

Freezing, Bach stands upright and pivots towards the kitchen. Searching the area, he squints confused. A flow of air accompanies a hazy blur directly behind him. Sounds of scrambling over a couch arm join up with a struggling grunt. Bach spins back around and snaps his gaze at the previously empty spot at the end of the couch. Causally waving off the last traces of magical mist off herself, Sotalia slowly stretches her legs onto her part of the coffee table and wiggles into the cushions, putting her arms behind her head. Grinning with smug self-satisfaction, she perks her brow. "Oh, too bad. I guess you'll just have to get your own seat."

Narrowing his blue eyes at Sotalia, Bach cocks his head. Sotalia maintains her smug attitude and gently twists into the cushions further, flashing a sly smile. Bach stares at her briefly. A smirk forms on his light tan face and gradually grows into a grin. He lifts an eyebrow at Sotalia with an amused tone. "Well... I guess I will."

Sebastian blinks away from the programming on the television and turns his attention to his brother. Lifting his free hand up, Bach stretches his arms and flexes his fingers, a blue glow pulsing from his eyes. Sotalia's smug attitude cracks, and she tenses her body and widens her golden gaze. Following Sebastian's focus, the rest of the team watches expectantly. Bach's hand twists down and drops just above the height of the couch. A fine, layered lattice of golden magical energy flows out, conforming onto an organized framework and spreads down to four points on the floor. The frame fills in, growing more dense by the second, and reveals the emerging supportive seat structure and individual accessory components. Functional parts materialize into existence, shift into their places, and arrange themselves into the greater furniture whole. Seconds of magical flowing pass. The stabilized energy manifests fully, and a translucent deck chair solidifies completely, translucent cushioning in all the right places for comfort. Laying into the chair without another word, Bach magically adjusts it and scoops out a handful of popcorn from his bowl.

Sotalia gawks at the new chair. Dretphi suppresses a laugh behind a hand. Leaning into view around Dretphi, Cideeda gives a quick thumbs up to Bach. Both Sebastian and Aristespha nod with approval. The television blares out the iconic intro music for the Next Adventurers of Nexus show.

"With that recap out of the way viewers, let's see what our adventurers were up to this week!"

The screen cuts to a shot of Chad Bosch, sitting by himself in a small recording set for individual interviews. A simple chair, plain, non-description background patterned curtains, and some lighting decorates the basic space. Glancing around the area briefly, Chad draws in a deep breath. "We decided to pursue a contract to investigate an old military facility where there may have been some recent activity. As the leader, I believe it would be the perfect mission to test team cohesion. But first, we needed to get supplies and equipment."

Clips and segments showcase the Flames of the Phoenix team shopping. A video journal segment shows Deedri uncomfortably sitting in the individual interview room. "Well, I've only done small medical supplies orders for myself. I never had to get everything for a whole team! Unfortunately, it took A LOT longer than I expected. But, the people at the pharmacy were really nice and understanding!"

Deedri briefly grits her teeth and sighs, a hint of unease slipping out. "But... There was this one evuukian woman. Um, she didn't seem happy at all. I overheard her grumbling and-"

A piece of paper finds its way into Deedri's clawed hands from an out of frame source, and she blinks at in a bit of confusion. "Oh! Uh... Um... What is this?"

From off camera a woman's voice speaks. "That's a translation of what that woman said."

Deedri's auburn eyes follow each sentence. Hints of distress slip out with each line she reads. She covers her fair face with a hand in shock and tilts her head back, a few stray locks of black, brown, red, and white hairs slipping free. Staring wide eyed at the bottom of the page, she grabs hold of the bell on the collar around her neck, muffling the ring. "S-she wanted to put my bell WHERE?!"

Attention in the room gravitates towards Aristespha. Crossing her arms in defiance under the blanket, she returns an unamused and unapologetic glance towards everyone else. "I am NOT sorry. Not in the slightest."

Another clip shows Trakenthin seeking Dretphi's attention and the prompt denial by the group arriving. Trakenthin observes from a distance and notices Dretphi giving a warm smile to Bach. Trakenthin trains a sneering glare right at the back of Bach's head. Trakenthin cracks his knuckles, the sound rising clearly from the television speakers, and Bach squirms uncomfortably.

The next segment shows Tassilda posing for the camera and presenting her choice books with purposeful positioning of the material in compliment of her figure. Through the narrow gaps between the tops of books and bottom of shelves, Sotalia, Bach, and Cideeda occasionally show up in the frame of the shot. A few more shopping segments play out, and the feed cuts to the adventurers meeting together, planning for the mission. With a fade to the next day, the segment continues with an outside shot of the Amaranth Dining House. A swipe cut reveals the inside of the establishment. Chad walks and talks to the camera, taking time to greet the GAA soldiers. He focuses upon Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia at their table. The video playback dramatically hangs upon the group into a slowdown to a freeze frame. Different angles of the team appear, and quick shots of each member follow. Unease swells through the living room, and an uncomfortable pressure looms heavy and thick.

Chad's voice cuts mid way into the sequence with a hard cut over to him in the individual interview room. "This group... I got a strange feeling about this group. There was something about them I couldn't quite put my finger on."

Tassilda's voice interrupts an individual shot of Sotalia. "Oh. I've certainly had to deal with HER KIND before..."

Sotalia yanks up a disgusted sneer and narrows her golden eyes at the screen. "MY kind? That. BITCH!"

The screen shows Tassilda in the interview room, sitting with proper posture and her nose tipping slightly up. She takes in a deep breath and exaggerates her chest movement with a sly smile. "Yes. She is of the ilk that try, very often in vain, to tap into the magic potential of their ancestry. But, unfortunately, especially for her..."

Narrowing her light blue on black eyes, she twists a mean curl at the corner of her smirk. "Their distance from their Emin ancestors is often too far for significant results."

Facial twitches of confined anger flit upon Sotalia's light tan and dark gray face, those around watching for further development. The show cuts to a clip of Aristespha and switches over to Modoran. Calmly sitting in the interview chair, Modoran stretches arms behind his head and idles a smirk on his face. "I really do not know what everyone's problem is. I thought the evuukian was pretty cute. It is kind of a pity she left before I had a chance to talk to her and all. I caught sight of her leaving..."

He cocks his head to the side and shrugs his shoulders. "I wonder if she's spoken for?"

Sebastian's blue-white ghostly form sparks hints of small flame-like distortions around the edges. A segment plays back Cideeda awkwardly waving at Deedri. Cringing at the display, Cideeda sinks into the couch. "Gods... Damn. It. Of course, they used THAT clip."

Deedri sits in the interview chair and excitedly fidgets. "There was another fvalian on the team! She seems really nice and even waved at me! I hope I get a chance to talk to her in the future."

Viewing the screen in abject horror, Cideeda slowly shakes her head with a wince and mouths, furry ears pulling back. "PLEASE. NO."

A video clip with Dretphi plays out. It cuts to Trakenthin, and he silently stares stoically to some point off camera. The camera shifts and zooms on Trakenthin, and he gives a dismissive snort. The show cuts to another segment. Dretphi groans to herself, places her face into her palm, and breathes a hard sigh. The show highlights footage of Bach at the restaurant. Chad tips head back with a dismissive air and his nose high. "Well, I guess it's nice they're helping out a drop out get back on the right path. Have to give credit where it is due and all."

In subsequent clip, Tassilda quirks brow and rolls her light blue on black eyes. "Well. I guess they thought they needed a token human to compete."

Following the prior segment, Deedri searches overhead in her mind, tapping a claw tip on her lips, and simply shrugs. "I guess he seems okay. What does he do on that team?"

The next sequence queues up, and Modoran's attention lies elsewhere. A female voice out of frame hems, and Modoran snaps his head back towards the camera. He squints his dark blue eyes at something off camera. "Huh? Oh. Um? Sure. Whatever."

Another segments queues up. Trakenthin crosses his dark bronze arms and narrows his hazel eyes with flecks of anger. He gusts in air through his nose with a rattle and spits a wad of phlegm onto the floor. Bach blinks in disbelief and gawks in shock. Leaning forward, he glances around at the rest of the assembled group and swings his arms out to the sides. "Okay... THE FUCK was THAT?! REALLY?! Come on!"

Sebastian gazes over at his brother and twists his ethereal face confused. "I don't know, bro. They certainly gave you the special treatment there."

Searching the top of his mind with his eyes, he cracks a humored grin. "I think they're still a little pissed off with you using their power cell trailer."

Bach flops back into his stabilized energy chair and huffs out. "Well, sorry, for preventing the horde of cyber-zombies and cyber-commmandos from breaking lose and all... Shit... Fuck me for figuring out a solution..."

"Looks like our Adventurers may have some friendly competition... Or NOT! Who are these people? Why are they here? And more importantly, what did they do NEXT!? All will be answered!"

The music drops into a suspenseful tune, and the video clips fade in. Chad sits in the interview chair with disgust and resentment plain on his tan face. "We hit a snag. That's to be expected with any adventure. We were regrouping and getting ready to make the rescue and be THE heroes. Then..."

He glances off to the side brief and frowns. "They showed up. Strangely..."

Narrowing a glare right at the camera, he tensely states. "Just right at THE perfect time to swoop on in."

The show transitions to another clip with Tassilda, and she crosses her arms, pouting defiantly. "They kept us away. We never got a chance to go back in there and prove ourselves. How DARE they take that away from us! We could have handled the rescue without question."

A final clip of the adventurers around a table shows them complaining back and forth, getting upset and yelling at each other. The screen fades away from the program, and a commercial flashes up.

Sotalia shoots up from the couch, slips from behind the coffee table, and marches over to the kitchen. Opening the cabinet above, she reveals a variety of different glassware. Pulling back doors below the counter top, she procures multiple bottles of alcoholic beverages. She straightens up and wryly smiles at everyone in the living room. "So. Raise your hand, if you want a drink."

Hands go up for everyone, including Sebastian. Noticing the attention, Sebastian shrugs with a sigh. "Yeah, I know. But, I can still WANT one."

Turning her head away from Sebastian and towards the kitchen bar, Aristespha notices a new alert on one of her tablets on the coffee table. She picks up the tablet, props it up on her lap, and taps in a password. Flipping through the notification and alerts, a message from the local guild office blinks for attention. Opening the message, she reads the first few lines. Her head tilts back puzzling, and she furrows her brow, leaning closer to the screen. Sotalia readies glasses and assesses the resources available. "Okay, I can mix a few good ones with these."

Sotalia pulls open the nearby refrigerator doors and scans the contents in glass and aluminum. "And we have plenty of other options."

She points over towards the recliner. "What do you want, Aristespha?"

Aristespha darts her violet eyes between text messages. The perplexed stare on her ivory face and lack of awareness beckons the interest of the team. Returning to present reality, she notices the attention from everyone else. "Oh. Sorry. We just got a message from the local guild office. Someone just directly bid an existing contract to us."

---

On the living area's flat screen television, a segment of Deedri happily chimes out. "I know I keep saying it, but I'm just so excited there's another fvalian on the other team. I didn't grow up with many other fvalians where I lived. So, it's just nice having someone else that could-"

The screen blanks to matte black. Cideeda pulls a claw tip out of the soft plastic power button and tosses the remote onto the couch. Turning around, she walks towards the dining table, shuddering uncomfortably with a tinge of disgust. "Little creepy. Just saying..."

Aristespha picks up the whiskey glass of dark amber liquor and calmly sips. She directs her voice towards Bach across at the table. "It is not unusual for different patrons to all bid on the same contract. In fact, that can help a common problem between multiple parties get the best group to address it."

Sotalia sits back, stirs the mix within her glass, and rolls a hand out to punctuate. "Yeah. Let's say a town has a bandit problem. At first, the one merchant that ran into them might set an initial bid. Then, later, as the bandits harass the town, other people with some money will throw in more into the overall pot. Eventually, it gets good enough that a decent team takes it and gets it done right, rather than a desperate group attempting it..."

She rolls her golden eyes and brings her drink close to her lips. "And fucking it up."

Holding a finger up, Aristespha slowly points down at the tablet in front of her. "But... What can also happen is that a patron can put in a bid with stipulations. That is often used for contract conditions on bounty hunting, with the payout difference between the target being dead or alive. It can also be for limiting availability to groups with specific skills sets or requiring conduct conditions."

She tips the display of the device in front of her up off the tabletop and narrows her stare upon it. "Now... Bids restricted to specific groups through the guild system are... Uncommon."

Settling into her seat, Cideeda claws the cap off of her bottle of beer and cocks her head of short, multi-colored hair, her eyes glancing bewildered around locks of gray, white, brown, orange, and black. "SO... A specific group with an unpublished ID number? That's RARE."

Sebastian's ethereal visage drifts next to Aristespha, and his eyes trace text on the tablet. Taking a moment to appreciate the aroma from Aristespha's whiskey glass, he shifts his attention towards Bach. "Yeah, most of our families know our team's ID number. And, we've gotten direct work by references and even contracts forwarded our way. Some really good ones, too."

He leads Bach's attention towards Dretphi. Nodding, Dretphi holds her large bottle of cider with both hands and furrows her brow, recounting. "My birth father maintains Grath military connections. There were contracts we were allowed. Hidden from the public."

Aristespha tips back a little of her drink, exhales, and squints her violet eyes at the tablet screen. "What we have here is a direct bid to our unpublished ID number for a two month old contract that paid out very little..."

Lifting the tablet up the tabletop, she scrolls her finger through info history lists. "BEFORE what is now offered to US... Direct... From a patron, undisclosed, with an ID number NONE of US recognize."

The gathering around the table idle amongst their own thoughts with hints of deliberation playing out on their faces and in their body language. Bach tips his head up, narrows a stare at the television, and furrows his brow curiously. "And... We got sent the job right after we were on TV. Maybe someone recognized you guys?"

Dretphi puzzles at Aristespha and drops her steely gray eyes at the tablet. "What IS the job?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Aristespha slowly shakes her head. "It is an investigation of odd disturbances in a forest reserve park that is an hour's travel from here."

She places the tablet on the tabletop closer the middle of the gathering and slowly scrolls through the listing. "No major threats or problems listed. Simply some strange activity has been scaring people away when they travel around, camp, or visit the area. There is not much more in the main description. The local park service put a really low bid initially..."

Settling back into her seat, Aristespha swirls her whisky glass and perks up an intrigued eyebrow. "And now... There's a VERY high bid... Explicitly to US."

The rest of the team leans in closer, stares focusing upon the device. The payout number lights up prominently on the screen, the illuminated numbers glinting in Cideeda's emerald green eyes. Dretphi furrows her brow and pivots the tablet towards her direction. "This is strange. We have conduct conditions that are new to the job..."

She pulls the screen closer to her and studies the list of requirements, others peeking over her shoulders. "Restricted use of force. Minimal collateral damage. Confirm before engagement. Explicitly non-lethal methods should be utilized for any combative elements encountered. Report discovery of any persons to contact information listed. These requirements seem like-"

Sebastian cocks his head, his ethereal form drifting with his thoughts. "A rescue mission?"

Dretphi rocks her head side to side and guides a stray platinum blonde braid over her shoulder. "A live capture bounty? Either feels likely."

Bach crosses his arms and straightens his posture in the chair. "This just sounds and feels... WEIRD. Am I the only one thinking that whoever put in that bid knows A LOT more about the situation than we do? Or anyone else for that matter?"

Sotalia points a long black nail to Bach and nods in agreement. "GODS. Yes. The fact it's been sitting around for two months, and just NOW it gets another bid with all these restrictions? Something is going down there that the bidder knows something about."

Cracking a confident smirk, Sotalia chuckles lightly and tosses her hair around. "BUT, SOMEONE thinks we can handle it. And, obviously, WANTS us to handle it."

Cideeda deftly curls her claws around the edges of the tablet and slides the device further into her view, an entrepreneurial smile growing. "For that much, I'm willing to bite. It's not like we don't have some skill in capturing troublesome people."

Blinking out the hints of irritation, Bach slowly turns his head and meets the playfully apologetic, toothy grin from Cideeda. Rolling her shoulders, Aristespha contorts her mouth with her contemplation. "So... Should we investigate? Personally, I am... Intrigued."

Sotalia knocks back a bit from her glass and shrugs amused. "Sure! If they want to pay us that much to wander around a damn forest, that's fine with me."

Cideeda quirks her eyebrow and gently scratches her chin. "It's weird how we got this. But, it's not the first time we've gotten something weird. There's certainly more to all this, but for that amount I'm willing to take a look."

Bach tilts his head to the side and raps his fingers upon the dining table. "Also, they've been reporting strange things happening for over two months. I mean, might be good to check out just to make sure it's not strange things that Noxian would be interested in. Check out the situation for two reasons then."

Gradually nodding to an agreement, Dretphi hums thoughtfully to herself and swirls her cider in the bottle. "The parameters are strange. Need to be cautious. I admit that I am curious. Worth checking out just to make sure it is not related to Noxian. Might do some good regardless."

Bach watches the reactions and slowly nods. "I mean, if it's not another cyber-zombie den, I can work with that. Still feels really weird that none of you have been contacted about this, since it seems like only someone who knows one of you could direct it to us."

Sebastian ghostly visage hovers upright, crosses his arms, and nods slowly. "Yeah, bro, I'm feeling you there. But, I get the feeling we're being summoned because we might be the right ones for the job."

He glances off to the side and tugs at the corner of his mouth. "Maybe the only ones..."

Resting his hands on his sides, he straightens his back and smirks. "Someone knows we are in the area now and wants us to check this out. But, they want to maintain some plausible deniability. So, it could be someone in or around power trying to feed us a lead to something."

Aristespha covers her mouth with her ivory hand and ponders to herself. "That sounds quite feasible. Nothing unfamiliar from the tales of certain political circles."

Sebastian glances over the team and perks an expectant eyebrow, smirking. "Any objections to taking this one on and figuring out what the hell is going on?"

Other members of the team exchange glances, shrugs, dismissive waves of their drinks, and hints of eagerness. Sebastian grins proudly and clasps his hands together with a distorted, ethereal clap. "Awesome! Well, if tomorrow sounds good, let's do it. It'll be a good excuse to explore out further into the area surrounding Amaranth Valley and check off a possible Noxian spot or two."

Pivoting in place, he eyes the television and sighs with a slight smirk. "For now... Let's find something else to watch on the TV, and then we can get a good night's rest."