Log:Harnessing the Power of Sleep

The Madness of David Flyte 2020/01/14 Radical|Connor Duran Grimm Randal 4

Connor is out on the porch with Randal when Grimm arrives. They're wearing light jackets in the brisk air. The temperatures are in the 50s, but otherwise pretty pleasant. No rain at all, thankfully.

At the agreed upon time, Grimm appears by the street outside of Randal's place. She looks around to orient herself and starts walking up the walkway towards the porch, offering a wave as she arrives. She has her messenger bag slung across her shoulder. "Good evening," she says to the Durans as she comes within conversational distance.

Randal waves, "Good evening, Miss Grimm. How are you holding up? Connor was telling me about what you've been dealing with."

Grimm smiles faintly, a little sheepish. "Hello, Mr. Duran. I've been a lot better before." Of course Connor would have to fill in Randal. But it's not like Randal is a stranger to strange things. "How've you been?"

Randal gets to his feet, and leans on his cane a little bit. "Getting by. Giving out some advice. Doing some writing. And mostly trying to keep from getting too freaked out by weird things. Connor was telling me about the bugs. It makes me wish the current Cartesian was more friendly. The healing might be faster in that case.

Connor nods, "I've gotten quicker about the spell now, though. I think I can probably heal someone in...a few seconds now instead of fifteen minutes."

"Writing? Are you becoming a novelist?" Grimm smiles. She does look briefly concerned to hear Randal's worried about the bugs. "Yeah. I didn't have any direct conflicts with the current Cartesian, but I don't know how to contact them, either. I was thinking of trying to ask them to help." She raises a brow at Connor's news. "That really is a big improvement. That last fix was...difficult. Since they're definitely not cooperating."

She sucks in a breath and looks around. Then she realizes the bugs only know Radical, so Randal is safe out here for the most part. She looks back to them and smiles faintly. "I ignored Connor's advice and brought a thank you and apology gift," she says as she digs out a bottle of scotch. It's high-mid shelf, and certainly bank-breaking for a college student.

Randal smiles. "Well, thank you. You certainly didn't have to do that. And I know your finances must be tight." He glances toward Connor. Connor also smiles and nods, "Well, let's see if the 'thank you' is warranted, shall we?" Connor opens the door, and holds it for the others.

Randal smiles. "I have a guest room you can sleep in. Can I call you Gabrielle? 'Miss Grimm' sounds so formal." He chuckles and heads to a doorway ont eh first floor. It's a small bedroom that's also acting as a library. Lots of books around the entire room on shelves that go from floor to ceiling.

"Pfftt, the thank you was to Randal for allowing me here as a guest. The apology is to you...for previously," Grimm says to Connor. As she walks in with them, she nods to Randal. "Sure, Gabrielle's fine. Do I...uhh...still call you both Dr. Duran? Or is it...Mr. Duran and Dr. Duran?"

Connor and Randal exchange glances. Connor then smiles and says, "I think you can call us 'Connor' and 'Randal'. Just...go with Dr. Duran for me while on campus. It's...a different environment? State? Situation? You know what I mean." He chuckles and heads over to a duffel bag that's set by the wall. He pulls out the harness that he usually wears under his armor as Radical. There are a couple of bracers with it and wires that run to a torso harness and belt. "Ready to see if this works?"

"Calling you Connor on campus just feels weird. No problem there." Grimm also feels weird calling him Connor off-campus, but she'll try. "Besides, students might talk if I called you by your first name." She looks at the harness and all the devices. "I'm ready to get some sleep," she chuckles. "Hopefully that stuff isn't too uncomfy, but I get the feeling it'll be fine."

Connor nods. "I've been able to doze off in it in the past. I think you'll be okay. We just need to make sure it's snug." He helps Grimm put the harness on, including hte bracers. He then cinches the straps a bit, making sure it's secure, like she's in a four-point harness for a race car. "There we go. The on button is on your belt. Right there." He points out the switch.

Grimm takes off her jacket and slips on the harness. She's not exactly sure how to put it on, so his help is welcomed. "Wow, this is a whole ordeal," she chuckles while strapping in. She adjusts a little in places, trying to get used to it. "Okay, should I try it?" she asks as she looks to the switch.

Connor nods. "Go ahead. I didn't want to surprise you by turning it on myself. You will feel a slight vibration initially."

Sure enough...when teh switch is hit, there's a vibration from teh harness. And the bracers. But it settles in to just...feeling slightly warm. There's a little bit of white noise that goes with it. Just...in the background. It blocks out a little of the noise from passing cars outside, but it's not enough to interfere with conversation.

Grimm still jumps a little at activation, even though she was ready for it. "Ohh, that is weird." She looks out the window towards a passing car, hearing it differently. "Really weird audio distortion, but I think that might actually help more with sleeping," she laughs lightly.

Connor nods. "There's now a dimensional distortion field active around you. It's a side effect of the harness. I suggest not activating the actual powers of the harness." He points out the controls, just so she can avoid them. "These cause folds in space. This one will create singularities...and well...destroy stuff you point at. So...don't fire that in Randal's house." He smiles.

"Yeah, I don't want to know how the harness' dimensional powers will interact with mine." Grimm keeps her hands clear of the controls. She chuckles. "I really don't plan on wrecking Randal's house."

Connor smiles, "Tell you what...go ahead and lie down. If it'll help, I can talk about math for about ten minutes. It seems to help you sleep." He gives her a wink.

Grimm laughs at that. "Yeah, that'd probably do it. I bet if you did it in your old style, it'd work in five," she winks. Even though it may still be early for her, she's exhausted. "Goodnight, Randal. Thanks again for allowing me the use of your guest room," she says to him with a warm smile.

Randal smiles, "You're welcome. And you're welcome in my home any time, Gabrielle." He heads out to the living room and takes a seat on the couch.

Connor then does just as he promised. He starts to talk about math. But not even math from your class. Really high level stuff. In fact, he throws in dimensional physics into the mix. It just ends up turning into a droning sound, which is further muted by the field around Grimm.

Grimm looks pleasantly surprised by the offer. "Cool. If you ever need help, you can call on me." She goes to the guest room and lays down on her back. The harness takes a bit of adjustment to get comfy, only because she's not used to it. Once she's comfy and, to her word, five minutes into the lecture, Grimm's dozed off.

Connor takes a look at Grimm with his magic sight, just to see if there's an obvious difference.

The energy radiating from the cracked rifts are being contained by the field for now. But the cracks themselves are still there and the same size.

Connor nods to himself, satisfied. That will be a reasonable stopgap. He'll need to work on a permanent solution, though. He quietly closes the door to teh bedroom and heads out to the living room to discuss just that. Perhaps the elder Duran has some ideas about how to implement such a device. Randal doesn't have the technical knowledge, but his magic knowledge surpasses Connor's significantly.

In the morning, Connor isn't around. But Randal is. There are the smells of coffee and bacon coming from the kitchen.

Grimm wakes up from a full night's sleep. Dimensional physics and graduate math sure did the trick! It might even be as effective as the knockout gas used on her before. She yawns and stretches as light streams in through the curtains and the scents of bacon and coffee revive her. She sits up slowly, remembering she's still in the gear. She avoids the controls, except for the off switch, and starts carefully removing the harness.

She carries it out of the guest room after getting her shoes back on and slipping her jacket on. She's at least combed through her hair with her fingers. She follows her nose to the kitchen. "Umm...hello...?" she asks quietly as she wanders over.

Randal is currently in the kitchen, cooking. He smiles. "Well, good morning. You can place the harness over the chair there." He furrows hsi brow, "I forgot to ask. Are you a vegetarian or vegan? If so, bacon was a poor choice on my part. And probably the eggs might be an issue too?"

"Good morning," Grimm says with a warm, sleepy smile. She heads over to the chair and sets the hanress over it. "Oh, no, bacon was the exact right choice," she chuckles. "But nice of you to ask. Nice of you to even do this. You didn't have to make breakfast for me."

Randal chuckles, "I know. But I rarely get the opportunity to make breakfast for someone other than myself. I figured...why not?" He points to a cupboard, "Mugs are up there. I have some cream in the fridge...and uh...sugar and artificial sweetener in those two canisters." He finishes frying the bacon, and then does the eggs. "Have a pference for how you like fried eggs?"

Gabrielle smiles, unused to being a guest. "Um. Uh. Sunny side up. Please?" She's doing her utmost to be a good and polite house guest. She fetches herself a mug. "Do you want me to make a cup for you, too, or have you already got hers?" she asks, looking around after procuring a mug.

Randal chuckles. "I already have some. Thank you, though." He smiles and finishes with the eggs in short order, serving them up for Grimm on a plate. "Here you go." He sets it down on the kitchen table. "You know...back when I was Cartesian, I used to drink tea. No coffee. I only started after I lost the mantle. I think I understand why, but I always found it...a little strange."

Grimm fixes herself a cup of coffee with some cream and sugar, leaning on the sweet side. She stirs her cup after preparing it and walks over to sit where he set the plate. "Thanks so much, Randal. It smells amazing. I can't remember the last time I had a homemade breakfast," she says shyly. She takes a sip of her coffee, then picks up the knife and for and starts cutting into the egg yoke. "Really? Why the change in drink choice? Would the coffee super charge your sense of orderliness?" she grins.

Randal goes ahead and does a couple more eggs for himself...but over hard. He shakes his head. "Tea...is in some ways all about order. Ritual. Look into how the British or Japanese view tea. You will find that there are rules to how they drink it. In fact, the Japanese have a ceremony devoted to tea drinking. Coffee has some rules that go with it as well, but in general, those rules tend to be less rigid." He smiles, thinking about it for a moment, "I think...it was just the ritual aspect that was attractive to me while I was...influenced." He shrugs a little bit.

Grimm smiles in amusement as she dips a piece of bacon into her runny egg yolk and eats it. She swallows and nods. "Oh wow, I hadn't thought of that. That makes total sense. At first I was thinking caffeine would make someone under that influence suddenly super energized to organize everything. But the ritual makes a bunch of sense."

Another sip of coffee. "I once got to sit at a gong fu tea ceremony. It...was at a music festival, so definitely not the sort of thing you'd probably be familiar with, but in that tent, there were all these steps to serving an preparing and drinking the tea." She thinks on it a moment. "It was really nice. Calming. I don't know how to describe it. It was nice having someone do all these things to prepare something for me." She smiles. "Kind of like this breakfast."

Randal turns off the burner and then sits down with his food opposite Grimm. He chuckles. "It's why I like to go out to dinner once in a while. It's nice to have someone else wait on you." He watches her for a moment, and then says, "Thank you for letting Connor help you. He's been...concerned about you for a while now. And I hope it helped."

Grimm blushes a bit. "He has...?" She takes a bite of eggs. "Well, I got a good night's sleep. I don't know if it's helped the underlying issue. But I at least feel better."

Randal nods. "He figured it was just...a stopgap. Something to stem the problem temporarily. We were up late talking about possible solutions to your problem. He's currently sketchign up some plans, I think. He doesn't have to teach today at all. He'll be back later, so I can give him back the harness." He pauses and say, "How often do you think you'll need to use it to sleep? Or do you want to wait and see how you feel tonight?"

Randal nods. "He figured it was just...a stopgap. Something to stem the problem temporarily. We were up late talking about possible solutions to your problem. He's currently sketchign up some plans, I think. He doesn't have to teach today at all. He'll be back later, so I can give him back the harness." He pauses and say, "How often do you think you'll need to use it to sleep? Or do you want to wait and see how you feel tonight?"

"Did you two come up with any ideas of why this is happening to me?" Grimm asks hopefully. She shifts a little in her seat and chuckles. "Um, well. I have to sleep like any other person, but I'm young. I can do without a full night's for a few days." Or find alternatives if needed. She just didn't feel comfortable mentioning the other method that's helped to her professor or Randal.

Randal nods, "We have some theories. The source of your power is that other dimension that's leaking through. While you're rested, you're able to hold it back. But your weakness...your exhaustion...means you can't hold it back as effectively." He tilts his head, "Connor mentioned there was some event that happened to you? Something about your powers being used by someone else or something? He wasn't that specific."

Grimm nods slowly as she chews slowly, too. With a gulp, she thinks for a moment. "Yeah. There was this fiction author named David Flyte. He was...well, crazy. He had this tome he used and set up a trap to hold me and use me to rip open a portal to let some terrible Elder God through. It...wasn't pleasant." She crosses her ankles under the table and thinks a bit. "I was completely wiped after some heroes rescued me and the ritual was ended when they burned the book he was using. I think Flyte's in Blank Asylum now..."

Randal nods and finishes off his food, "Do you know if you had problems like this before that event or not?"

Grimm takes a moment to think. "Well...I've always had trouble sleeping. It just got worse. Nobody mentioned cracks in my aura. Not until sometime after that event. But that was the last time I was so magically strained." She frowns in thought. "Actually...the last time I had serious problems with my powers was kind of similar. I was captured by a Morbane and they used some mind magic to make me use my powers past their limit." She prods at her eggs with her fork and twirls the fork a bit, looking down at it.

"Um. That time, I don't remember much. But when I was rescued after weeks, I was in bad shape..."

Randal thinks about it. "What if...you basically have an injury? If you say...hurt your arm, you need to give it time to heal. Otherwise, it won't." He taps the table, "What if...your powers are the same way? If you let yourself heal...by relaxing and not using your powers, you would naturally heal?"

Grimm blinks at the thought. "I...hadn't thought of that. I mean...physically last time I wasn't good. I had to rest, which meant resting my powers." She purses her lips in thought. "I guess I have been going non-stop. It's been one crisis to another. I haven't had time to just stop."

Randal smiles. "I'm guessing. Because my powers were...channeled. But I got the impression that your power is like a muscle. You have to concentrate and control it. That's the only reason I thought it might be similar. It'll be hard to test, if you keep having crises to deal with, though."

"Yeah, kind of? When I first get them, it was difficult to control. Things would happen when I didn't want them to. I had to learn to focus and concentrate. An emotional flareup used to be risky," Grimm admits, taking some time to reflect on it.

Randal nods, "So...there you go. The gear Connor is working on designing may very well fix the problem. But I personally think he's treating a symptom. The problem is your injury, which needs to heal.

Grimm nods with interest. "That could be it. Like I said, the nightmares and lack of sleep aren't new. It was just manageable. I've had it ever since I got my powers, but I could still get through a night only waking up once or twice. Now it's like...as soon as I start dreaming, I wake up terrified."

She looks up at Randal hopefully. "Do you really think just resting might heal it...?"

Randal taps his temple, "It might. I can't guarantee it, of course. I'm guessing. But if you're going to test it, you're going to need rest. Every night. A good night's sleep. Every time."

Grimm nibbles on some bacon as she thinks about it. "That's going to be tricky. No power use, and getting to sleep solidly for...who knows how long. While there's lives at risk? That's gonna be really tough..."

Randal points at her, "And you'd have to refrain from using your powers. Right." He takes a deep breath, "We might be able to determine more details about what happened to you if we knew more about what Flyte did. I know the name. I've even read some of his work. What was this tome he was using?"

"I don't really know. The heroes burned it to ash. It ended the ritual at least. The remains of it are in Starguard evidence. I examined it, but there wasn't anything I could learn from it," Grimm comments as she takes another bite of eggs. "This is delicious, by the way."

Flyte tends to write fictional horror. He's not yet at the heights of Stephen King, but there was some speculation of it. His last three novels started turning towards more supernatural horror, Lovecraftian in nature.

Randal smiles. "Thank you. I'm glad you like it." He tilts his head, "I probably wouldn't learn anything you couldn't find out by looking at hte book's remains. But...Flyte's last few books...three, maybe? Have been kind of supernatural-focused. Maybe he started getting influenced by something prior to starting to write the first of those? We might be able to learn more by looking at interviews he did at the time. Or talks he gave.

"Do you know anyone who could restore the book? Like that spell to heal those bugs?" Grimm asks. "Sorry, I don't know if the spell has a name." She perks up at Randal's ideas. "Could be. From the Starguard report, there didn't seem to be a magical connection. Flyte wasn't a known mage. He's in the asylum because his lawyer put in an insanity plea."

Randal blinks. "It might work? I'm not sure. It's an odd spell. It repairs forced changes, like...magic transformations. But not say...injuries, from a gun. We can suggest that Connor try it? The worst thing that happens is...that either it doesnt' work, or it recreates a super evil magical tome?"

Grimm nods. "Oh. Well, it was destroyed with a spell, but just a normal damaging spell." She listens to Randal's options and cringes. "Yeah, maybe we shouldn't try recreating a super evil magical tome," she realizes.

Randal nods, "Ah ha...but...there's another option." He grins, "We dont' need to recreate the book. Connor could look at hte book's history by seeing its past. Perhaps we can learn about the book's title or history without recreating it."

Grimm's brows pop up. "He can do that? Wow. I didn't know either of you could do that."

Randal nods, "In addition to the gear, he's relearned two spells. The healing one...and one that allows to see the past or future of a person or an object. Everyone has a thread of their life, and he can trace those threads forward and backward."

Grimm suddenly looks more intrigued. "He can do that with people, too?" She hesitates and asks in a way that sounds more personal, "Can that be done after a person's gone?"

Randal nods slowly, "In theory, yes. But you'd need to have their body. You can't just...say...look at a person's history without something to latch onto."

Grimm looks crestfallen at that. "I see," she says with a heavy heart. More fork twirling in the last of her eggs. "Well, it should still work for the book. So that could tell us something,, too. In the meantime...I guess I need to lay off the power use and figure out how to get some consistent sleep." She takes the last bite of egg.

Randal looks at her for a long moment. "Whose history were you thinking of looking at?"

Grimm swallows her egg with difficulty, looking back down at her plate. "Sorry, I guess I got sidetracked. I was thinking about my little sister." She blinks a few times, her eyes glistening a bit as she tries to get control of her composure.

Randal nods, "It's possible. You two were in the same place at the same time at some point, right? Then it might be possible to find out what happened to her."

Grimm sniffs once and looks up. "We were, a long time ago," she says as she rubs at one eyes with the palm of her hand.

He nods again, "Do you know what happened to her? I'm sorry to keep pressing, but...well, it's important to you. Clearly. And I'd like to help if I can."

Grimm purses her lips and shakes her head. She has difficulty saying anything at first. Finally she draws in a breath that shudders faintly. "Um. I...I was supposed to walk her home from school, and I was too busy hanging out with my friends." She starts fidgeting with her fingers, picking at them as she averts her eyes again to stare at them. "It was a short walk. I didn't think it was a big deal, and...and she..."

Grimm has to stop and clear her throat as her brows knit together out of guilt. "She never made it home. The cops never found out what happened. No witnesses saw if she was taken or just ran away or...what. It's been a cold case for a long time now," she sniffs.

Randal rubs his chin, "Talk to Connor about it. He'll be able to help you. And if he can't...I know his friends can. If she was never found, there's no guarantee that she's gone."

"Maybe. It's been so long," Grimm sniffs and dabs at her eyes. "I tried finding out what happened for a long time. I thought my powers would help with that. But I've learned how many scary, awful things are out in the world since then. I'm almost afraid to find out the truth, because...because I already know it's my fault. Whatever terrible thing happened, it's my fault."

Randal shakes his head, "No. It's not your fault. There are some things that are out of your control. Trust me on this. I know." He takes a deep breath again, "Please...talk to Connor about helping you. I know he'll be willing."

Grimm nods a few times, shallow, nervous bobbing. "I will. Maybe once I'm healed up. I feel bad enough with how much he's trying to help me and I haven't been able to repay him."

Randal grins. "I already know how you can repay him." He pauses for dramatic effect, "View him as a friend, not an enemy."

Grimm blushes at that and smiles gently. "I...suppose you're right. Well, also as a professor. Gotta keep things professional, right?"

Randal nods, "Sure, while he's your teacher, sure. But when not in that setting, you're peers. He has a few years on you, but you have more experience than he does."

"I guess I forget about the experience. I mean, he took up the mantle after you, and the Cartesian is...well, the Cartesian!" Grimm chuckles. "I don't know, it just seems like ranks above whatever the heck I am. At least the responsibilities were."

Randal smiles, "He wasn't the Cartesian that long. A year or two. If you were talking about me...then I'd agree. I have more experience than you probably do. I was the Cartesian for more than a decade. He's a knowledgeable man. Dont' get me wrong. But he can also be impulsive at times now."

"I guess I just assumed a fountain of knowledge got, like, downloaded into whoever had the mantle," Grimm admits her assumption. "Connor, impulsive?" she raises an eyebrow. "Do tell."

Randal nods. "Well, since he gave up being the Cartesian he...well, he tends to be more impulsive than I would like. I've heard some stories about his exploits that I was a bit surprised about." He chuckles. "Oh...no. there's no fountain of knowledge. Not like that. You get some instruction from the Lords of Order. But the way most experience is passed down is through books. I have a rather large library, you see. As does Connor. Most of the more important magic tomes are in his home or his sanctum. I do wonder a bit about how the new Cartesian is learning her spells, but...I haven't spoken to her to find out."

"Oh, I think I know some of the exploits you're talking about. They seemed over the top, even to me. I'm shocked he's doing stuff like that." Grimm sips her coffee. "Even a library would've been helpful. I wish my powers came with a manual," she smirks. She thinks for a moment. "I still haven't run across the new Cartesian lately. But she certainly seems different from either of you."

Randal smiles. "I'd be happy to chat with her some time. But I suspect she wont' want to speak with me. Or Connor for that matter."

Grimm nods along. "Most likely she's on orders not to? Or...do you think the Lords of Order would even tell her how you both disobeyed them?"

Randal nods. "Oh, I guarantee that she knows. Connor told me about a couple of the interactions he's had with her. She at least knows about him. And I suspect that by extension, she'd know about me as well."

Grimm nods thoughtfully. "Just to be sure, you don't think she'd have it out for either of you, do you?"

He grins, "I just have the good sense to not stick my nose in where I'll run into her. It helps that I'm not exactly as hale and hearty as I used to be. So, I don't feel the need to be out fighting someplace." He shrugs, "I don't think she'd go after us directly, if that's what you're asking. But I can't be certain. She has orders to follow. If those orders involve say...taking us out? Well, she'd likely do it. Or they'd have yet another rogue to deal with. But for her to get an order like that, we'd have to run afoul of their plans. Connor's more likely to end up in those crosshairs than I am, but he...can be diplomatic when needed."

"Yeah, I was more worried if she'd come for you directly here, or Lazare. I'm not exactly sure how vengeful Order and Chaos's servants are." Grimm looks unsettled that orders of that nature could be given out. Though she's more worried about Randal than Connor. Connor has his powerful friends to back him up, after all. "Do you know of any way I can try to contact the new Cartesian? Connor had suggested she may be able to help with the weird creature that's turning people into bugs, in case he's not available. So far only his spell has worked. She may not be willing to talk to Connor, but maybe I can give it a go."

Randal nods, "Based on a story Connor told me, I think I do know how you can contact her. She can be summoned. Miss Steinberg has done it." He shrugs again, "Lazare has some respect for me, I think. I can't say how he views Connor. And...well, the Cartesian only knows me by reputation. So no personal axe to grind."

Randal grins, "I suspect that most people with some kind of connections like we used to could be summoned. That includes you, you realize."

"I don't feel right about summoning someone against their will. Doesn't feel right. At least not to me. I'd rather call or maybe hope she reviews HeroNet." Grimm flinches at the sudden revelation. "Wh...really?" She suddenly looks worried. "How would they do that? DEMON's after me. Does that mean they could figure out how to summon and trap me?"

Randal nods, "In theory? But they'd have to know what to look for? And what to call? I suspect it's not as likely as the Anarch or Cartesian getting summoned. Those are known quantities. There's always one that exists."

Grimm clutches her warm coffee mug worriedly. "Right. I'm not even sure if there's a way to protect against that. Is there?"

Randal thinks about it. "There likely is. I suspect that any place you can't be seen with scrying, you might be safe from summoning. A...shielded room? Wearing something like that?" He points to the Radical harness. "Though that doesn't protect against him being seen, it does make it a lot harder to affect Connor with certain abilities." He smiles reassuringly. "I'm sorry to have worried you. If it helps...I was never summoned in that way. And Connor hasn't either. And it's even less likely that you would. I would put it in the same category as getting hit by a bus. It MIGHT happen, but not something you have a lot of control over. Don't worry too much because there's little you can do."

That doesn't help her not worry much. Grimm doesn't like not being about to control things about her own situation. "Right. Well. I wouldn't know it's coming, and I can't stay in Starguard HQ forever," she tries to use that to at least reduce the worry. "Thanks for the talk, Randal," she smiles. "At least I can mentally prepare myself if that happens so it won't be a surprise. I think I'll try contacting the Cartesian the old fashioned way."

Randal gets up and gathers up the dishes. "What do you want to do about this evening?" He nods toward hte harness. "You're welcome to crash out here for a few days, if you like."

Grimm helps with clearing the table. "I think at the moment, this may be the only reliable thing. But I know Connor needs his harness, so I got to figure out something. Besides, the commute from here to school and back is rough if I can't use my powers for a while. Can I help do the dishes for you?"

Randal shakes his head, "I can do them. Thank you. And...if you'll let him, Connor could get you back and forth so you don't have to use your powers. He suggested it to me as a possibility before he went back to his house this morning."

"Okay. Just wanted to offer since you were nice enough to make me breakfast," Gabrielle smiles. "I suppose that'd work if he's okay with it. I can try and see about alternate options for sleeping arrangements." She's still not sure of Malcolm is back from his latest assignment, and she feels a bit bad about imposing on Carpenter. She tries to think of what other options she may have. . o O (Oh god. Porter? No. Nope. Nada. No way...)

Randal smiles warmly. "I can drive you back into town, if you like. And it'll give me a chance to drop off Connor's gear."

Grimm smiles back. "I'd appreciate it. I don't want to risk trying to use his gear to get it back to him."

Randal nods. "That shows some true wisdom beyond your years, young lady." He grins and sets the dishes in the sink, "I'll get these when we get back." He grabs teh harness from the chair, "Let's get you back toward school. I suspect you have some work to do."

Grimm chuckles. "Maybe that just shows common sense and a healthy fear from horror movies? Folding space just sounds scary if it goes wrong." Like getting folded in half. "Sounds good." Except the work. "Thanks again, Randal. For the breakfast, the hospitality, and the talk," she smiles, then fetches her jacket and messenger bag for the drive back to the city.

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