The Breaking Of Bread

Alan annoyingly played with his scarf. He glanced at the door for a brief moment, back at the table, and then back at the door.
The Alter Furz was perfect for a night out, and tonight was no different. The restaurant offered warmth and shelter from the cold air outside, and the atmosphere was homely and charming. It was far from empty, but also not packed, and the people were just quietly enjoying their time there. Most citizens preferred restaurants with far more extravagant features and food, but The Alter Furz was more for the everyday man. Well, as much as a restaurant in the inner city could possibly be.

Alan has been nervously waiting by a large, round table for his friends for the past 10 minutes. Truth was, though, he was early by 15 minutes. He always found that being late was rude and unpleasant, and as a host it was simply unacceptable of him. On the table in front of him were a small, decorated jug of water and some bread in a basket, as well as cutlery. Alan grabbed the spoon and spun it between his fingers.
The truth was, it wasn't the matters of hosting a night out that made the young captain so nervous. He was just a little low on friends ever since he joined the Military, and ever since he was promoted to captain he hadn't had the chance to properly hang out with any of them. Alan feared to lose something he held so dear, and was even more afraid of doing or saying something wrong.

Alan went over in his mind over the occurrences each of his comrades had to face. Cora was neck-deep in mercenary work, even since she quit on the Military. Alan barely got to see her since then, and has been dying to. Not only to see how she is faring, but he had to know for himself how legitimate and legal her business was. He'd hate to be put in the scenario of having to arrest her for anything, so he wanted to tell her to steer clear from that.

Mitsuo has been in the attack on the mansion, of course. Alan had seen him a few times since then, but he never got to fully hear what he was working on. Last time they met, he mentioned something about a project with Auth? He needed to look into that.

And of course, there was Auth. Alan was truly worried about him. Ever since his father died, he hadn't been sad. Not truly. He had been driven, harder than ever, to fight the titans, to plot and plan and prepare. Alan was glad to see he was productive, but couldn't help but feel he was losing his own humanity by devoting his life to the destruction of titans. He wanted to check in on him, make sure he was okay.

They were not the only ones invited, however, Alan sent out a few letters, hoping they would reach their destination. He didn't know if Connor Graham had gotten his invitation, or Karl Hjort, or William... guess it was just William? Alan was never told the mysterious man's full name. Not that he knew him well at all. Still, there was something about him that was charming. Alan figured it was worth a shot to try to reach out to him, to see what he has been doing.

But for now, Alan was sitting at the table alone. The unicorn captain, solitary and snug in his own little world. He hoped he wouldn't have to spend much more time like this. Truth was, he was just feeling lonely.
Alan dropped the spoon.

Mitsuo opened the door to the restaurant and walked in.
'Haven't been to a place like this in a while,' he mentally noted to himself.

He narrowed his eyes and scanned the interior. Everything was so neat and warm, a major contrast to the workshop.

Once Mitsuo spotted who he was looking for he relaxed, smiled and approached.
Reaching the table, he took a seat opposite from where his comrade was sitting.

"Hey," Mitsuo spoke with a wave, "Been waiting long?"
Mitsuo checked his pocket watch, 9 minutes early.

"Nice place you chose to meet up in," Mitsuo glanced around, "Haven't been to a place like this in ages!"

He narrowed his eyes in thought, 'The Alter Furz... Don't think I've ever been here before,
actually.'

Mitsuo took off his waistcoat and loosened his tie, "So... who else are we waiting for?"

Alan rose with an earnest smile when Mitsuo arrived, gesturing with his hand towards one of the seats. It was good to see his friend the mechanic again.
Early as well, noted the detective in Alan Likely work instincts - comes earlier to do the things he loves so he has more time doing them, and less time doing things he doesn't.
Without waiting for Mitsuo to say anything, Alan grabbed a glass and the jug of water, and filled a cup for the first guest. He handed him the glass and sat back down, looking intrigued as always.

When he was asked who else they have been waiting for, Alan smiled once again.
"The truth is, I don't know exactly." Alan said, chuckling slightly "I sent out quite a few letters of invitation to various people, but I don't know who is going to make it. Quite rude of them, to be honest. I would have sent a letter in return confirming my arrival." he sighed in a non-serious fashion.
"You needn't concern yourself with that. What is important is that you are here, and this place is lovely, and we're going to have ourselves a great dinner."

Alan did trouble himself with the invited, however. Maybe Mitsuo knew more than him regarding some of the people invited? Maybe he could tell Alan about these people whom he cared about.
"Say, Mitsuo," he began in a casual manner "You... you didn't happen to run into Connor recently, right?" he glanced nervously over at his friend. It wasn't like Alan routinely met with this trainee - in fact, their encounters were often quite random. Still, the young captain couldn't help but admire him a lot. Even as a trainee, he showed more character and skill than a lot of soldiers Alan knew.

It was quite late already, the sun was very slowely setting. There were areas that still had the sun shining onto them, but the places that lied in the shadow of the wall did not.

Cora was sitting in a dark alley. Her arms were bleeding, cut open. She squinted at the enemy she defeated.

"You had some guts to attack me.", she whispered before stretching her arms out to grab him.

"Meow.", he just said and Cora stood up with her trophy. A small cat. She started petting him. It was more than just half against his will, but she had been persistent enough that he tired out.

"You see? I am not too bad!", she said happily and tried purring. Cora failed miserably. What a disappointment. She pressed the little cat against her and marched towards the restaurant. It had a weird name. Some part of her had the feeling that it was an intentionally bad translation into another language and the owner thought it meant something glorious, while it actually did not.

Something squeeked next to her and the cat in her arms scratched her lip open to get away. Cora did not intent to just let it go, but carefully placed it onto the ground. It hadn't even been a second before it disappeared.

She shook her head and entered the restaurant. It was a tad warmer inside than outside, obvious with all those people around. Cora went directly to Alan and Mitsuo.

"Hello there Alan! Long time no see! I last saw you on your funeral.", she stopped, "Adar's. Not yours. That would be weird. It would mean that I was mad.", she started laughing half seriously.

A huge grin appeared on her face and ripped the wound on her lip a bit more open. She licked the blood off and just continued talking.
"Did you already order something? I for one am very hungry. I kinda forgot to eat lunch. You know...being busy with...uhm. Sleeping actually.", she started humming happily, "I am sorry, I probably interupted your talking, I am just happy to see everyone here!"

And because you met a cat.
Shhh.

Auth was walking towards the meeting place with Alan, a low-class (well, as low class as a Mitras could have) restaurant. Well, at least that was good news, as it was unlikely for people to recognize him. Especially now, with all of his going to and from in this damn district.

He was currently somewhat of a walking zombie. He could boot up his brain and body and spring into action should it be required, but it would've had to be damn required. Despite what anyone would say, politics were not easy. You had to constantly keep in mind basically everything you knew about everyone around you, pretend to be friends with everybody, lie about everything, and be lied to about everything. At this point, Auth had seen it all, having recently had a conversation with a noble about the weather; they were actually throwing veiled threats at each other and were discussing getting support with contacting a number of more remote nobles. If you'd have explained the situation to a layman, he'd have called you mad.

And, if Auth were to be fair, that layman would've been so right with what he was saying.


Regardless, here he was, The Alter Furz. Classic Mitras, for names to be in all sorts of weird languages. Auth had no idea what this one meant, and really, it could have been almost anything. Not like anyone would be able to tell anyway. So... now to enter.

Auth got in, observed the table with Alan, Mitsuo and Cora, and went and promptly collapsed in a chair to it. Arms on the table, head on the arms, facing downwards. A slight memory reminded him how not-so-long-ago Mitsuo was in the same situation. Oh well.

"Nice to see you, guys. Sorry, I may not be too awake during this. Politics are hard."

Alan turned to look at the large figure who approached them. An uneasy smile crept up to his face when he saw Cora looming over Mitsuo and him. It wasn't that he wasn't glad to see her - in fact, he was thrilled. It was just those pesky wounds and cuts covering her exposed body. Even her mouth had been cut, and blood was gushing out as she young mercenary smiled.

Alan rose to greet the newcomer, with a look of special bewilderment on his face. Alan was a curious person, and his expression made him always look a tad surprised, but something about Cora always surpassed that, making him truly confused. He laughed awkwardly when she mentioned his funeral, remembering the absolutely terrible state he had been in during that time.

And speaking of terrible state...

Alan didn't recognize him at first, but as the young man slammed against their table, there was no doubt that Auth had joined too. He looked older than usual - and that was quite an achievement, considering how old Auth seemed compared to his actual age. Alan listened politely to the muffled voice of his friend's head being pressed against the table, and poured him a glass of water.

"Well, it's certainly good to see you could make it. It's equally pleasing to see you are... Well." Alan eyed his cut-ridden friend and the dead-eyed politician.
Alan poured a cup of water for Cora and handed it to her, smiling "How are you doing? You seem rather alive." Alan paused for a moment, seeming lost in thought, then continued "I am afraid we haven't ordered yet. Feel free to do so, if it pleases you."

Alan sat back, drinking in his surroundings, this sudden company of people he has not seen in a long time.
Cora felt slightly changed. She looked more or less the same, her hair slightly longer than Alan had last seen, and her voice more cheerful than before. Other than that, there hasn't been any physical change - meaning she still looked like she could go toe-to-toe with a raging bull.
Still, there was something that felt different. An underlying dangerous vibe. It felt as if Cora had gotten more control of her wild side, but at the same time that wild impulse only grew stronger. Like a domesticated wolf - in control, but savage nonetheless. Alan eyed her carefully. What could it mean?

His gaze shifted to Auth. He looked completely drained, but that was understandable. He has been seemingly working tirelessly on... Whatever it is he worked on. Politics, law, management, the young Vi Rauco had dabbed his hands in all of these fields. And yet, it was not that long ago that his father had died. Even then, Auth did not mourn. Not really. He was too dedicated, too driven by his cause.
All Alan could see was that it was self-destructive. Auth was slowly losing his own life for his various goals. He felt sorry for Auth, but didn't know how to help. Will there ever be a rest for the tortured soul of the young Vi Rauco?

Alan snapped back to reality. He blinked twice, then looked at his companion. "Sorry? What was that? I didn't quite catch that" the young captain smiled politely.

"Unfortunately, I haven't seen or heard from Connor," Mitsuo spoke before taking a sip from his glass.
When Cora walked in he greeted her with a smile and a simple, "Hello."

And then Auth arrived, looking very tired and suddenly slumping onto the table.
Mitsuo chuckled, remembering an earlier experience where the roles were reversed.
Looking from Auth to Cora, the young Shimura hoped the later part of the experience didn't repeat itself.

Mitsuo set down his glass before he started speaking, "so, my question has somewhat been answered."

He took a piece of bread and took a bite.
"So what's the gossip for today then?"

Roland walked in with a neutral facial expression, looking at Mitsuo, Alan, Auth and Cora. He still had his ODM along with his leg harness' on, Along with what he wore. A light gray shirt, his male leggings on. He would ask Mitsuo, "Am I able to sit here?".

OOC: writing order: Alan, Mitsuo, Roland, Cornix, Herdir? Everyone alright with it?

Cora started slowly petting Auth's head. His hair was quite fluffy, not as much as the cat she had just met, but still fluffy. She stopped only to start it a minute later unconciously again.

"Connor, eh? Did not hear from him either...disappointing, really, he was a great guy. Is. I hope it's an 'is'. Would not want to lose him."

Cora started dazing off a bit. She thought about the cat for a second before remembering the rest of the day, she had talked here and there. Trying to find out places with homeless kids, she had actually found them. There were not too many, but seemingly they paired up and were almost stealing in organized groups. It seemed promising so far.

She talked to a few kids, talking was only possible after she had almost beat them up, and it turned out that they were actually interested. Some of them were already used to beatings from their fellow group members, so it would not come as a surprise.

Her thoughts started wandering even more until she got back to the cat and eventually got woken up by some more or less random military guy joining their table.

Cora was quite surprised as none of the group seemed to be an active soldier. Or...well...actually was not either. She just nodded to greet him and turned her head towards Alan, he invited them, he should say something. That's what she believed until she realized that she was still playing with Auth (OOC: only if your character did not do anything against it, obviously), he could say something too. It took her another second to notice that the new one was in fact asking Mitsuo. Cora got confused. She gave up. Someone else should say something.

He would sit down instead, Not waiting for Mitsuo's answer. An MP would walk in putting his hand on Roland's shoulder while walking by.

Roland would respond with "Hey, Pony Bastard." the MP responded like a smartass with "Hey, Disease bird."

Roland in turn flicks the back of his head hard.

The MP decides to aim his Musket at Roland for doing so.

Roland would grab the barrel and pull it out of the MP's hands. Roland would also slap him with his own stock, knocking him back.

The MP responds with "What the fuck?! Little bitch! C'mer!" and chases Roland.

Roland sweeps his leg, holding him face down with his right arm around the MP's back responding with "I rarely even touched you. Calm yourself ass face." He'd sit back down, ending it there.

The MP says "Not bad for a suicidal maniac."

//Roland, posting order. Try to wait until it's your turn to post, it's what we all do to make sure we can RP in a semi-organized manner.

Auth led himself be pet by Cora. He had absolutely zero reason to remotely try and stop her. He also kept his witty comment to himself, for once, as he really didn't want to be smacked instead. And given how his comment sounded like, he would've gotten that smack for sure.

As for the discussion, being in politics does weird stuff to you. As such, Auth understood the following from the discussion that was going on:
-Mitsuo was offering to trade information
-They were all tracking Connor down
-Cora wanted to kill Connor
It of course made no sense. Auth then reminded that no, he wasn't in a passive aggressive nobility environment, and that here people tended to mean what they actually said. Thus, he kept himself from making a similar comment back. Instead, he just sighed and enjoyed being pet more.

Until a new guy showed up. Auth got his head up a bit, to see whomever it was. Great, another Scout in half-uniform while having zero reason to be like that. He sighed.
"Does anyone know the new fellow? Does anyone know why he wears parts of the equipment?" Pause. "Does anyone know if he plans on ridiculous crap in the next five minutes?"

Well, it wasn't even five minutes, and he picked a fight with an MP. For having a hand on his shoulder, no less. Sigh, scouts these days. Maybe it was Auth that didn't get this new generation. He felt old now.

"Aaaaalan. Please arrest these guys or something, I've had enough of these know-it-all new scout generation we seem to be getting. Picking fights with a law official, and carrying weapons into public institutions. I promise I can help if they reeeeeally fight back, but I hope they won't."

Alan grabbed his glass, sipping on the water as if it was some rich colorless wine. For people like Alan who did not consume alcohol, water in many ways was their wine.
"Gossip?" Alan asked, as he lowered his glass. "Why, I would say that YOU are the topic. You and Auth, that is. You said something about working together, right?"
Alan was curious to know motr about this project of theirs, but at the same time grew more worried about his friend. God knows how deep he has gotten with Auth, who knew pretty much all there was to know about him. Even without Auth, there was the Hydrargyrum whom Alan has constantly been training with, and they probably knew everything Auth didn't. Alan didn't like this puppet game. They were Auth's friends, not his tools. He seriously needed to talk to him some time about it.
Not now, of course. Auth had enough on the mind as it is.

Suddenly, an unknown scout asked if he may join their table. Alan was rather surprised by his brashness, but he wasn't one to refuse scouts, whom he had such respect for. He rose, smiling, and gestured with his hand towards a vacant chair.
Alan was about to ask for the scout's name, but almost as soon as he sat down, chaos ensued. First it was a hand on the shoulder, then name calling, and finally an all-out brawl. Alan sat quiet and uneasy, his face growing darker as he watched the fight. They were ruining his special night. He was almost fuming with anger. Still, he had enough composure to controll himself.

Auth said something about arresting the men. Alan truly considered it for a moment, but he wanted to hold what remained of his special night still intact. Alan rose and stared at the two, coldly.
"You two must be brave or stupid to start fighting in front of a Military Police captain. You are lucky I am feeling lenient right now. You will NOT attack your fellow soldier, and you will leave this restaurant, or you will face justice far harsher than my own."
The MP soldier got off the ground, and finally recognized Alan. The blood ran from his face. "Sorry, sir" he mumbled as he grabbed his gun and walked out of the restaurant.
All eyes were still on them, still silent. There was one more person. The crowd held their breath, waiting to see what happens next.

"Oh, I didn't know you were a Captain of the Military Police." He'd speak to Alan in his usual tone. "We were just friends having a friendly spar, Not the ideal place to do it but, We don't see each other very often to be honest.". "I apologize for my actions which will probably get me into court or some crap." He didn't seem phased at all by the threat to be arrested, he'd look at Alan emotionless.

He sat down in his chair placing his chin down on the table. "I'm a Dumbass as you can tell.". He was about to say something dumb. "The underground district is a mess. Lots of people are dying down there, seems like the MP don't care about that place anymore." He was speaking in his usual tone still to the Captain of the MP. "And just a small thing, I caught a Private beating a homeless man. He literally only asked for some food and money to get on his feet." He'd dose off waiting for someone to speak besides him.

Mitsuo was surprised at Alan saying the gossip surrounded him but before he could muster a response someone had asked the young Shimura for a seat.

Mitsuo looked at the newcomer and before he could say anything, the scout took a seat anyway.
’At least Alan got to greet him, I suppose,’ Mitsuo thought.
 
The mechanic was about to take another bite of bread when suddenly the quick fight played out. Mitsuo let out a frustrated sigh as his grip on the bread tightened.

Mitsuo had opened his mouth to speak but Alan beat him to it and the Captain managed to resolve the fight.
The mechanic glanced around, noticing some of the other diners staring at their table.

He slowly stood up and spoke to other tables, "sorry! Sorry! It was all a misunderstanding! They're friends!"

Mitsuo sat back down and glared at Roland, "you're damn right that this is not the ideal place to spar in! You could have just took it outside with him, you know."
Anger traced the young Shimura's voice.

Mitsuo took another bite of his bread but starting choking on the bite as soon as Roland called himself a dumbass.
'He's not wrong though,' Mitsuo commented in his head.

"Honestly, I'm not surprised the underground district is a mess. It's underground. Not surprised about that MP either, most of them are corrupt. However you do get a good pick of the bunch, like Alan here."

With one cough and a sip of his drink, Mitsuo decided to return to his earlier conversation.

"Now, what where you saying Alan? About how me and Auth are the center of the gossip?"

OOC: Roland, this is the last time I delete your post. We mentioned the posting order twice and I wrote you a PM about it. Please stop this, I explained why.

Cora stopped petting Auth's hair the moment the new one started a fight, but did not even think about taking her hand away. He started a fight. In a bar. With someone from the military police. With Alan around. Alan being a captain. Alan being well known as a captain. And Alan being a captain of the military police.

Alan said something about arresting them, she calmed down and started petting Auth again. Then the new one opened his mouth. He hit a nerve. He hit a nerve damn well. Cora accidentally pulled Auth's hair by clenching her hand, but stopped immediatly the moment she realized she was doing it. Cora slowly took her hand away and turned just as slowly into the direction of the new one.

She did not listen to anything that anyone from this point onwards said. Cora blinked, staring at the new one.

"Do you mind repeating what you said?", she said, a forced calm voice, it was obvious that she was really pulling herself together.

Cora really really wanted to give him time to answer her question. She really wanted to. She tried. And she would have. She would have if he would have phrased it differently. She would have if he would not have started a fight over something so stupid. She would have if this small phrasing of his would not have ruined her great day.

Cora stood up, leaning over him, he was more than a dwarf to her, even while sitting. She was barely breathing to control her anger a bit better.

"It will probably get me to court or some crap?", she mockingly mimiked his voice, making it sound more high pitched than it was, "To court or some crap?"

She smiled at him, Nec's usual cold smile. It was quite effective in this regard. Sometimes the other parts of her really worked well together.

"You are ridiculous. He put his hand on your shoulder. You beat him up for that.", she took a deep breath to stop herself from shouting at him, "Just for the way you are talking to Captain Katlewande here I would get you kicked out of the military."

She did not say another word, she was not part of the military anymore. There was no reason to educate him. On the other hand...he did not know that. Who knew how he would react to her?

//OOC: Just realized it was my turn to post in this. Hope you don't mind me practicing thread necromancy over here.

Auth was still half dead, metaphorically speaking, and somewhat bored. The person in front of him, this newcomer, he was... not as entertaining as he could've been. Court of some crap, eh. Auth chuckled to himself. It just so happened that he was sitting in the presence of people that could've gotten him out of the military in a day's notice, make the rest of his further life living hell, and kill him along with all his friends and family if they wanted to. Quite 'Some crap' if you asked Auth.

Alan did what was expected of him, Mitsuo defused the situation. The two worked surprisingly well together. Mental notes to be taken, pair them up whenever possible. But at the same time...

Cora took it less well. Much less well. Anger in her voice, talking of getting kicked out. Yep, it wasn't hard to guess what it was, assuming you knew her backstory. And, the way Auth knew Cora getting angry, it was about time to stop her. Otherwise... it would've been bad. Really bad.

He stood up after Cora. Put a hand on her shoulder, pulled her back ever so slightly. Leaned in to her ear.

"It's not worth it. Leave the poor idiot be. He'll die on his first mission, and it'll be the end of it." His voice was soft, as not to get her angrier.


It was, however, getting himself angry. Why in the living hell did he care so much?! He had to have a lengthy discussion about this with himself sometime. A few kicks, too. In the meantime, to distract everyone from it, including himself, he answered to Mitsuo and Alan.

"Well, Alan, I don't know what you suspect us of, but we're not guilty." Pause. "Well, probably not guilty." Pause. Turning to Mistuo, whispering in his ear, but obviously loud enough to be heard by Alan and Cora too.

"We've been found out. We have to stop visiting that brothel now, before they really understand it all."

Alan was at a loss when the scout explaied his situation. On the one hand, I guess it wasn't uncommon for soldiers to be frienemies, comrades and rivals. Still, that was a bloody stupid show, and in the end of it, the soldier STAYED. He sat down, at their very table, dubbing himself a 'dumbass'.
Dumbass he was, indeed. The young Military Police captain, still angry and confused, didn't know what to do. He saw the genuine indifference in the soldier's eye, the bored tone as he said he'd probably get arrested. He was either without fear or an utter fool... And all signs pointed to the latter.
Alan was about to tell him off in great outrage, but his anger has subsided. It was Mitsuo's natural diplomatic nature, of course, but more then that, there was something truly cathartic in seeing someone else experience something far harsher than you.
In that moment, Alan took solace in Cora's rage.

While it made him less angry, it certainly didn't make him any more relaxed. He has seen first-hand what the crazed mercenary can do, and that was without her being completely insulted. Alan was fairly certain she'd have killed the scout then and there if Auth hadn't stepped in to calm her down. When the ambitious politician leaned close and whispered in her ear, a suspicion quietly rose in Alan's mind. However, he almost immediately waved it off as ridiculous hallucination.
In the end, he realized he had no more anger left towards the scout. Only pity and concern. Alan figured it was truly unsafe for him to stay any longer.
"Please listen to me" Alan heeded the scout, his voice soft and his eyes wary "I strongly advise you, as a fellow soldier, to leave this restaurant. It would do you no good to stay." Alan hoped the soldier would accept his advice.

Alan's mind was still full of concern when Auth quipped about the brothel, but he did offer a soft giggle and a smirk in response. He would not believe the honourable vi Rauco had it in him to frequent brothels. Not now, at least.
"I am fairly certain what I've heard of had more to do with protecting humans and less with protecting ladies from your charms, but I'll leave it at that."
Alan sipped a bit more of his water, thinking.
"I never did truly understand, though" he spoke at last, turning to the two "You two are scouts. Beyond your vigorous jobs, you also have your harsh training. How do you possibly find time for tinkering and politics?" Alan took a quick sip before continuing "I barely have time for... Other stuff."
Alan sipped his water silently. He was NOT going to bring up Marian. Not here. He'd never hear the end of it, if he did.

Mitsuo was waiting for Alan's response until Auth leaned over and whispered about a brothel in his ear.
That made the mechanic go wide-eyed, with new questions running through his mind.

"When did we-?"
Mitsuo started confusion and shock in his tone of voice.
"W-was I drunk? What happened? What was it like? Where was it?"
The young Shimura clutched his head with both hands, elbows resting on the table, "gah, I can't remember!"

Mitsuo almost didn't hear what Alan had said but he was thankful that he wasn't panicking too much.
He released his grasp on his had and coughed, trying to act like he did not just freak out a little.

"Um, w-well you see, I wouldn't call it 'finding time' per se as my dad's business is for the military which means I'm technically still on-duty when tinkering."
Mitsuo paused, collecting the rest of his thoughts.
"Sometimes I'm allowed to skip missions to 'tinker' as they can replace me or not many scouts are needed. I assume it's similar for Auth."

In a final attempt to calm himself Mitsuo drank the rest of the glass of water he was given, only to refill it and take another sip.

Nec stared at the newcomer. He annoyed every single one in her mind. Everyone. Mostly Cora and Nec though, Vex was a bit busy with trying to convince the others that they should just kill him. He did not succeed though, he knew it and that’s why he tried his best to add some more death to their already deadly stare.

They barely realized Auth putting a hand on her shoulder. He started whispering something about him dying on his first mission and if Cora would have not been so mad at the guy in front of her she would have snapped at Auth for getting this close. Atleast he would have had a mission, eh? Unlike her. He was able to join one of the branches of the military. She was unable to. All just because of that damn…

Cora closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath. It was no use now. It was over. Her new life was considerable more comfortable. But…she never really enjoyed comfort. Never really got to see the good sides about it.

They continued argueing in her head. It did not get better and Cora got angrier and angrier with every passing second. By the time Auth had pulled her back so much that she decided to sit down again, all of her muscles were tensed up. Cora was still staring at the newcomer, even angrier and deadlier than before. Her face was probably a bit red, one of the huge disadvantages to being pale.

To be fully honest, she was a bit disappointed at Auth holding her back. It was rather boring that he did, if he would not she would have probably slit his throat there and then. No comments. Just him dying. He held her back though, acted as the fourth one in her head and neither Nec or Vex appreciated that. Cora after all…she usually just listened to them. Right now though he was giving her ideas. Nec quickly realized Auth’s usefulness but Vex didn’t. How dare Auth holding her back now? It was obvious that all Cora desired now was to hurt that man in front of her! And he was holding her back! Unacceptable. This was his head alone after all. His head! His Cora. Not Auth’s. He held her back now! NOW! In such a situation! It’s not like one scout less made a huge difference! Noone really would care, apart from the pour bastard that would have to clean the mess up. And that was, considering all he knew about Auth, not him.

Auth was more the type to own the one that had to clean up than to be the one that had to clean up. Indirectly he was cleaning up then, so maybe he did not want one of his servants to have to do that.

Neither Nec or Cora listened to Vex’s nonsense. He was spiraling himself more and more downwards into being angry at Auth and not at the scout. Simply because he could be mad at Auth, he could snap at him later on, he might even be able to slap him.

That was the point when Auth mentioned something about a brothel to Mitsuo. She had missed his prior words and did not care about them at all, given Alan was the one they were directed at, not her. The brothel on the other hand seemed rather interesting. Interesting enough to let Vex out for a second and let him comment a bit. Or atleast, allow him to influence what Cora would say.

The fact Mitsuo answered to something Alan said did not concern Cora at all. She did not listen in the slightest bit. She just put it off as ‘does probably not concern me’ and did not feel the need to waste a single brain cell on it. She didn’t interupt Mitsuo however to still give a small impression of listening.
Cora leaned over to Auth, still staring at the newcomer.
“To be honest, dear Authy, I did not think of you as one that you would be able to find in dirty whores.”, she mustered him from head to toes, “You look more like the man that satisfies all the ladies behind their husbands back. And....”, she looked at Mitsuo with almost the same bored, cold look as before, “I don’t know...but I thought you built yourself something by now.”, she paused, giving the newcomer another death stare before leaning in a bit, “Or did you two lovebirds get a room for yourself there?”, she smirked.

The table had immediate reactions to the brothel. Alan was disappointingly disinterested - although there was something in his words that sparked interest in Auth - while Mitsuo had fallen for it. Fully. Despite never having been in the damn brothel, he first assumed his memory was bad, and not that Auth was simply lying like usual. Fun fellow, Mitsuo.

That being said, the primary point of focus for Auth was still Cora. She thankfully sat back down in her chair eventually, although was even more tense now. Improvement? Perhaps. At least she wasn't about to commit murder in the next minute. And, by the looks of it, he might've attracted her ire instead. Auth sighed, so quietly it was nearly impossible to even realize he did. Not a sigh of relief, mind, but a sigh at the fact he felt so compelled to stop Cora from doing more mindless illegalities. With the specific reason of protecting her. Why in hell, he didn't know, and didn't what to get into this with himself. He would've ended up angry, and Cora would've been the one to feel it.

But yet again, brothel to the rescue. It had gotten to Cora too! Time to do the answers!

First, to Alan:

"Well, duh, protecting humanity from titans is one thing, but woe is the fellow who thinks he can protect a lady from my charms! Nobody would dare do it, that's why you never hear of it!"

Then, to Mitsuo, more quietly:

"Oh, you mean... you don't remember?" Auth scratched his head. "Well, we did drink, but come on! It wasn't that much, and now you tell me it was meaningless anyway?! God damn it! Hold your drinks!" The tone was obviously joking.

And lastly, to Cora:

"Oh, Miss Alpha Wolf, you're quite right about me and the ladies and their husbands. I was with good ol' Mitsuo here at a brothel for him to have some fun, after a discussion I can't fully remember, about him and his conquests... or rather, lack thereof. I simply chatted to the pimps, mighty fine business brothels are. Might consider opening one sometime." Pause. "Riiiight! Say, you think your guys would be up for pimp work? Yes, no? Coin involved, of course."

And then, back to Alan, with the normal topic:

"Well, about finding time, Mitsuo is both right and wrong. For one thing, Survey actually tends to have more free time than MP, as missions are a rarer occasion. But, even without accounting for that, it's mostly privilege in my case, as descendant of the vi Racuo. Now that my father has died, I've had a lengthy chat with Commander Erwin about this at some point, and given most of what I do here in politics has the same end goal as the Survey Corps themselves, he did write it off as 'on duty'. I help more here than there, really."


He leaned back on his chair now, most of his attention still on Cora, just in case. He also realized he was missing her petting his hair. Another inaudible sigh.

Alan smiled at Auth's witty and humorous remarks. It was good to see that even through all the hardships he's been through, the same silver-tongued man was still there. Alan had not seen him speak like this ever since the attack on the vi Rauco mansion. Probably not because Auth hadn't spoken like that since, just that they haven't talked that much in general anymore.

For a brief moment, Alan had a wonderful flashback, to long-lost days of happy soldiers hanging out and having a good time. It was strange that Auth is the one who triggered it, considering that he wasn't even in the memory that popped up in Alan's mind, but Alan was thankful regardless. He still remembered the day of the festival vividly, how Cora almost picked a fight, and Connor drank more than he should have, and the horse-riding, and the wolves...

Alan glimpsed around him, wide-eyed, like he had just woken up. What has changed? What happened to them? Even under their smiles and jests, Alan could see the weariness of his friends. The way their personalities and livelihood has been graded down by the burden of life. The growing hurdles and obstacles in their struggling existence. It seemed that the years have not been to kind to his friends, either.

And yet, here they were. Still friends, still hanging out and having fun. Alan relaxed up, having subverted his inner conflict. He glanced back at Auth, listening.
When the young unicorn heard the scout's explanation, he simply couldn't truly grasp the idea. Maybe time-wise the Military Police were working for longer than the scouts, but their overall productivity and contribution to humanity was far inferior. It put Alan at awe that these people who risk their lives on a regular basis still have it in them to pursue a career during their off-time. What does that do to a man, to devote himself to politics or craftsmanship to know that at any point, their lives could just end?

The young Military Policeman sipped more water, silently.
He looked over at Cora, who still looked pretty mad. She didn't even seem to care about the jokes. That was a horrible sign.
Alan decided to try and cool her off, for everyone's sake.
"So, Cora, how's mercenary work? Hope you're not getting into trouble too much." Alan asked, looking at her with a small grin. In reality, he was actually pretty serious. It wasn't the first time that it occur ed to him that Cora's line of work may put her directly in his way. He very much wanted to assure that would never happen, because worst case scenario he will have to put Cora away forever, and worst case scenario he will be killed by her.
Alan sipped.

Mitsuo lost track of every other topic being discussed as he turned all of his attention to trying to remember if he had visited a brothel with Auth.

'If I did... I definitely must have been drunk,' he mentally noted.

Mitsuo hesitated before replying to Auth. Especially after he told him to hold his drinks as that convinced the mechanic that the brothel visit had actually happened.

"U-um... I don't really recall, sorry," he started awkwardly scratching his head as he let out a nervous chuckle.
"Was there any key points that happened? I might remember something if I had some detail."

Mitsuo took another sip of water.
'I would never go to a brothel naturally, so either Auth got me drunk beforehand or somehow convinced me to go whilst sober.
Strange how I don't recall having a hangover recently though.'

Mitsuo face dropped into horror as a flood of realisation washed over him.
'What if my dad finds out!? I'll be mocked for the rest of time. WHAT IF MUM FINDS OUT!? I'LL BE KILLED!'

Mitsuo started internally panicking at the thought of his parents finding out the information of the brothel.
He certainly knew they would react worse than how Cora and Alan reacted.

Mitsuo took another sip of water as he slowly started accepting his fate.
It suddenly turned into a long week for him.

Cora leaned back on the chair and crossed her arms, silently observing the group and the rest of the inn. While Auth and Alan were talking she looked around for possible threats or...people that were easily to annoy just so she could let her anger out at someone. Auth suddenly addressed her and she got kicked out of her thoughts.

It was probably for the better if she would not start a fight, according to Nec atleast. Nec was after all the only one that saw the concern about her doing that in both Auth and Alan. Neither Cora or Vex cared too much about that.

As Auth started talking about brothel work Cora started laughing for a few seconds before going fully serious.
"One of the other Alphas might actually be VERY interested. Want me to talk about him with that? He is the shadiest out of us all.", she stopped talking and looked at the ceiling, "Thinking about it I might even be the tamest.", she stopped again before laughing, "Well. No, I am not the tamest, we have one huge coward, one inexperienced one...I am NOT the tamest. I wonder how those two ended up Alphas..."

We might want to send some assassins to them...
Good idea, Vex
They might still be useful! Don't do that!
Yet.
Yet.
Ok.

"So, Cora, how's mercenary work? Hope you're not getting into trouble too much.", Alan suddenly said. Cora quickly turned her head towards him and stared perplexed at him for a second.
"Work. Wha- Oh.", she did not know why he caught her off guard so easily with that question. She just had a slight feeling of him asking more with that question than how it seemed. She shook that thought away. He was her friend after all, why did she start to think that way?

Nec started getting more cautious, taking a few mental notes without letting Cora know. Yet.

"Oh, right. Work. Sorry.", she smiled, "Quite good! Managed to get a new way of recruiting, not just the usual 'pillaging, raping, killing, kidnapping' thing. ", she started laughing, "Don't take me serious. I usually abstain from the raping.", she grinned. Nec was curious about his reaction to that, it might be quite insightful.
Cora continued talking, not saying anything more about her way of 'recruiting'.
"Apart from that, I got on better terms with the Alphas...Mitsuo's now employing a few of my guards....nothing much, really."

Talking of which...he suddenly started panicking. Without saying it, but the look on his face and his question...it was amusing, really. Way more amusing than you would think. She smiled at him. What DID Auth do with him?

Mitsuo watched as Auth politely excused himself, apparently having to return to some business which the young Shimura assumed was politics.
Once Auth left, Mitsuo turned his attention back to the group.
"Y-Yeah, I hired Cora's services... needed a place to be defended for a while. Working on a few of my projects."

When the mechanic speaks the "projects" he stares at Alan, hoping the MP Captain catches on but keeps his mouth shut.

"I figured the sooner I started on them, the better. I mean they'll take a while to be completed. There's also the danger of people trying to disrupt the process. Hence the need of defending."

Mitsuo takes a sip of water, "I'm assuming we'll be the only people to be arriving to this party so... shouldn't we order food?"
The young Shimura smiled at his friends. His facial expression gave away signs that Mitsuo was still somewhat distressed at what Auth said to him earlier.

Alan glanced at the mercenary through his spectacles, his mind drinking in information as a thirsty dog would from a river. It was nice to hear she was taking care of herself, but Alan could have done without the comment regarding pillaging, raping, killing and kidnapping. He still hadn't exactly come to terms with the fact that his younger brother was sold into the mercenary business.
However, Alan took great note as to not reveal his true opinions on the manner. All he did instead was smile narrowly, and reply "Charming."

However, when she mentioned working for Mitsuo as well, the surprise on Alan's face was genuine. A private project between Auth and Mitsuo was understandable, but... could Cora be on it too? Alan was starting to feel left out, and smart people feeling negative emotions soon turn to suspicion. What if Cora, or one of the other Alphas, decided to use one of Mitsuo's creations for their own benefit? How far could such a thing endanger humanity?
Alan was brought back into the conversation when Mitsuo started talking. He mentioned that he required protection for his projects, and shot Alan a meaningful look.
Alan caught on, of course. He hadn't known about all of the young mechanic's ideas, but of course he'd remember the grand, secret project, the metallic titan. Could it be possible that Mitsuo had began work on his pet project?

Alan smiled when Mitsuo mentioned food. He had been so nervous he hadn't noticed how hungry he was. Despite the... minimal... attendance, Alan figured the night could still be salvaged.
"You're right, of course." Alan remarked and lifted his hand, to draw the attention of one of the waiters.
After going over the menu for a while, Alan finally spoke.
"I would very much like to have some roasted chicken, with extra seasoning." he said, salivating at the thought of a hearty, hot meal. He turned to his friends, waiting expectantly for one of them to make an order as well.