#dehqstarter

Briar had thought the problem had been limited to her not being able to live in her house until most likely the spring and the majority of the snow had melted—whatever damage had occurred to her home due to the blizzard would be taken care of when it was easier to actually assess the damage. It never occurred to them that there's people relying on them being able to access their home, beyond their auntie and the Jackals. The latter is still an issue, of course, but it's not one that risks anyone's immediate health.

Besides, auntie would understand.

No, ultimately it had been Milo who made her realise the importance of getting at least that part of her house uncovered, sooner rather than later. Despite crises, even if she prefers to just sit down for a moment to process everything that had happened the past week, the extreme physical and mental exertion of the bear hunt, Briar knows that resting is not a luxury she can afford. Others, maybe, just not her. That's the sacrifice she'd made when she took on helping the Burnington community as best she can.

It means that there's no resting for her now, either, why she finds herself on the Mad Scientist's doorstep just after it's opened, this time not to hunt down Miah, but to speak to its proprietor. Not one to really drink alcohol or cause any sort of trouble in someone else's establishment, they'd been directed towards the back when asking for Frankie, and Briar finds themself moving through the depths of the bar that no one beyond employees often see, footfalls soft on the worn wood underfoot, holding the folds of their dress close to them to make their form as slim as possible, working their way through narrow corridors.

"Ms. Desta?" she calls out, ending at the far larger room holding Frankie's chemistry equipment, geared towards solving entirely different problems than Briar's—and yet the majority of it is all quite familiar to her nonetheless. "Ms. Desta," she says again, spotting the older woman between it all and picking up her pace to close the distance between them quickly. "Hi." Biting down on their bottom lip, Briar casts their eyes to the floor for a moment before looking up again, hands behind their back, foot idly kicking at the floor.

They take a deep breath in, filling their lungs to capacity, and... "I'm sure you know that my house is buried and I've already asked Miah to help me get inside because his brother came by for his regular pick-up but then I realised I had no way to get to it, because my house is buried, but also that I'd have no way to help him in the future, at least not until spring arrives and the snow melts, and it wasn't a problem initially, because my sister is letting me stay with her and I love her very, very, very much, but now I can't do anything, because Remedy Roots isn't equipped for the stuff I usually do at home and I can't exactly do it anywhere because, as you know, there's the dangers of fumes with the things we do, but then I remembered you have all this stuff, so I wondered if Miah helped me retrieve my equipment, at least until spring and I can put it all back, can I do my work here, with you?"

The twins have been working on this particular one for months now, a project that has helped them not just learn how to work together, but integrate them into one well-oiled machine. It had been a test of their combined skill, to tear something so incredibly sophisticated apart, see what makes it tick, learn from it to be able to produce something similar with the same technology going forward by putting it back together—but better.

Gray had already told Benny to come by, leaning back as he watches the code he wrote compile again to flush out any final bugs and glitches that might come up. Line after line comes up green, the colour reflected in attentive eyes as the pen in his hand taps rhythmically against the notepad in front of him, the silence stretching in the room, despite the older man lying back in the chair.

Installing it would be the final and easiest step in it all, simply since they don't have to operate, Afterglow has already done the difficult medical part of this whole thing years ago. That said, it's been empty for a few months, and as the compile keeps running, Gray pushes himself back and away from the desk towards where Benny is clicking on the thin flashlight he picks up along the way.

"Lift the patch up," he says, the second thing he's said to the man since he got here, the first being to lie back in the chair.

Perhaps it had been the fact that the option to see Daphne had been taken away from him by the blizzard, or perhaps it's just because in the heat of the moment, over text, he'd suggested they have dinner together when it's all over. Lino doesn't rightly know, but he's a man of his word, despite everything, he tries to be a man of integrity in that way—it's exactly why he doesn't give his word all too often. But he'd given his ex-girlfriend a time and a date, and it's why he's currently in his kitchen, cooking the dinner he'd promised her.

Regardless of his relationship with his father, he's still his father's son, and both his parents had put upon him the importance of cooking, the joy and the culture of it, which is why, unlike many of the people he grew up with, Lino does actually know how to cook, how to clean, how to home make. He doesn't do it often because he doesn't have to, he pays people to take care of that nonsense, but he's not... helpless.

His sister had been the first he'd willingly spoken to since he'd been assigned to the squad. He's not stupid, he doubts it's a coincidence that his first assignment is with both his sister and his father, but at the end of the day, it could've been worse. They'd been separated for a few years, and three years ago could've been the last time he'd seen her, but perhaps someone up the chain had taken some sort of pity upon the twins.

Dropping the cafeteria tray down on the table in front of Vera, he sits down across from her, spine straight, the dark, serious look that he grew up with having somehow deepened over the years. Although he picks up the fork, it takes him a few long moments, moments spent looking at a face more familiar to him than his own, to stab a bit of food upon it and bring it to his mouth.

"You talked to him yet?"

Of course she must've. Not even in the manner of having been given orders, but a conversation, something not about work. Isaac doesn't exactly know why he asks—he knows he doesn't have any interest to have a conversation with their father. But he knows Vera does. The moment they found out about their parents, that they're not quite as dead as they'd been lead to believe, either twin had vastly different reactions.

He doesn't blame her, certainly, Isaac believes it's part of the reason that makes Vera the better of the two of them. Forgiveness and grace is far beyond the realm of his capabilities. That's a road Vera usually forces him down, kicking and screaming. "You made friends?"

Although Diogini Scevola seems historically difficult to please, as critical as he is, he's a man who values competence above all. Even if you make mistakes, handling it works more than in your favour, rather than relying on others to fix things for you—it's exactly how he'd been raised himself, it's how he's raised his children, and it's how he conducts his business.

It seems that after every crisis, the major-general finds himself face to face with the chief medical officer. His opinion on the younger man has always been quite steady, and he's always shut down any general criticism or call to remove him from his position, even if it's no more than the shadow of a thought. They've had their disagreements, their clashes, certainly, but from Dio's side of it all, he's never thought Felix Estrada is not the right man for the job, for Afterglow's medical progress as a whole.

This crisis is, of course, no difference, but instead of 'inviting' Felix to his office, he decides to find the man on his own turf. The knock on the door is both brief and performative, finding his way into it before he's even given permission or the OK to come in. He doesn't immediately find the desk, or the man, instead making a slow loop around the office, spacious as is becoming of a high official within Afterglow's employ, eyes moving along the walls, briefly stopping at shelves lined with files and books, before finally landing on the man he came to see.

"Dr. Estrada, I'm glad to see my people found you in good health," he tells him, coming to a stop in front of his desk, hands behind his back. "I hope you've had enough rest?"