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Jeremiah Hamilton:
A late-night diner run was never a bad thing, and on this particular evening Jeremiah had laid claim to one of the booths at Maddy's, a cup of coffee sitting nearby and a notepad in hand, musical notation flowing across the page as he wrote. He was idly humming as he worked, testing out things here and there, the sound effortless in its passage even in its simplest form.
Little Fox:
Short, scruffy, and looking very very tired, Fox wanders in through the portal, pausing just inside and -- very momentarily -- shifting her weight from one foot to the other. A mild look of confusion slips across her face, and then she scratches her right ear with her hand, instead.
Sleepily, she pap pap pap barefoot across the diner floor and slumps into the other side of the booth like Jeremiah invited her, laying her head down on the booth and mumbling indistinctly.
Jeremiah Hamilton:
Jeremiah looked up at the sound of Fox's arrival, smirking as she fwumped into the booth across from him. "That kind of a day, huh?"
Little Fox:
"Mmffeeee," mumbles Fox, raising a forefinger. Fortunately, this is the sort of place where people like Fox are Known -- Maddy's always been good to her regulars -- and so the carafe of coffee arrives on the table a second later, along with a mug and a large dish of creamers. "Yeah," she sighs. "'Cha doin'?"
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"Been there." He lifted his own coffee cup in sympathy before taking a sip, nodding to the notepad at the question. "Working on a new song. Had an idea hit out of the blue so I'm seeing what I can get out of it."
Little Fox:
She props her elbow on the table and her chin on the palm of her hand. "Am I allowed or supposed to ask about the idea, or is that bad luck for actually finishing it?"
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"Nah, not for me at least. Don't have any lyrics for it yet, if it will have them, just getting the vibe going at the moment." He spun the pad around so she could see it, the notation within something high-tempo and bombastic if she was familiar enough to read it, a good summery tune to go with the season.
Little Fox:
She squints at the music, and he can see her thinking it through, not quickly enough to be at his level by far, but capable of reading music at least. "It sounds like French fries and vinegar on the boardwalk," Fox finally posits.
Jeremiah Hamilton:
He smiled at that, nodding as he reclaimed the notepad. "About what I'm going for, so good to hear."
"How have things been on your end? Haven't had a chance to talk much the last few times we were together."
Little Fox:
A lopsided little smile, a flash of her sharp teeth. "Yeah, good. Glad your idea is carrying."
She starts doctoring her coffee up: many, many, many creamers and a very little sugar. "I mean... weird? I dunno if you heard what happened to Simon?"
Jeremiah Hamilton:
If she glanced at Jay's cup she'd find quite the opposite, no creamer to speak up but notably on the sweet side. "Don't think I did, no..."
Little Fox:
"I don't know if it's my business to explain the details," Fox offers with a shrug, "but he had a pretty bad day not long ago. Vasya was there. He's like... fine... now... though." Another vague gesture.
"Just another day in Philadelphia's current timeline."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"Ah. Will have to ask next time I see him." He nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. "That it is. Haven't caught wind of any new snags on the horizon as of late, but I'm keeping an eye on things as best as I can."
Little Fox:
She shifts slightly. "It's... a lot." Fox goes quiet for a minute, then adds, "Have you, like... talked with your leadership at all about what we found? And the ... timeline manipulation?"
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"They know about what happened with the Major Arcana and what we found in their sanctum. Haven't talked with them as much on the latter, though; I'm not as caught on up that part as I probably should be."
Little Fox:
A bit of silence. "I think... " Fox posits, eventually, sipping her coffee and then - as the server brings her usual, eggs over easy and lamb bacon with toast - chomping on a bit of bacon, "it is probably time that we have ... a larger conversation about what's going on. We are all, at this point, either heroes guarding a future where we win or accomplices to an unforgivable crime, so."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
Jeremiah nodded to the server as he brought over their meals, his own a small stack of the cobbler pancakes and sausage, then looked back to Fox. "Agreed. Getting everyone on the same page would help all of us, I'd say."
Little Fox:
"At the very least, your cadre and mine," agrees Fox tiredly. "We may not be able to get institutions to work together, but people? Yeah."
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