<Nocturnal Harmonia>

[Apollymi]

Drake was still trying to avoid the one truth for now. He might not even have been doing that sort of thing consciously, but maybe he could feel it, an invisible line that he simply didn't have the power to cross. Uncle Shane kept chattering talking it up like he'd do whatever if given the opportunity. "Nah, bruh… I stand on it, but I'm not about to put someone out that ain't ready to be out, feel me?" Drake deflected. The ball pushed into a quiet court of respectability. But Tima wasn't really having it, "I mean, it's easy to say something like that, but Unc not gone get no play for running his mouth. And Drake… you can't run from a fade by pretending you ain't out here taking shots… but that's just the outside perspective~" Tima chattered. Their conversation could continue on from there… they had another 20 minutes left on the show so they'd fill it with idle chatter. Including the jokes about Tima, "Bruh, she get worse than this… I don't know how ya'll handling all of that~" Drake said as if Tima was some sort of problem. Still, she'd rather be considered a problem than to fall for inconsistency.

Meanwhile, the crew from the plane were now in a limo, settling in for a 20ish minute ride to Donnie's residence. The address for which was something hot got off the man and they found themselves on the move without too many problems. "I love Fon~" Nikki said as she settled in to watch the show. Apparently, they were in a place called Queens and this wasn't somewhere Donnie himself wanted to be, "I am confused on how a place called Queens could evoke such a negative response," Melty mentioned while looking out of the windows as the high buildings. "Brother everything here is so tall!~" she squealed while she looked at the buildings light sparkling in her eyes. The complaints of Donnie didn't go unheard though, "I mean I usually drive up when I'm feeling it. So… it's not usually a big deal to me. It's a different route from Philly here," Kim mentioned almost casually, meanwhile, Melty had a simple question, which likely seemed odd, "If you don't like using the public landing strips. You could always have a private strip and hangar installed on your property. Crow is a good pilot he shouldn't need more than a 1000 feet to land the plane," Melty claimed as if the idea of building an airstrip was something completely reasonable, but such were the words of someone who never had to think about costs. Such would be a part of that 20 minute car ride, which would end with them at Donnie's private residence, and Drake getting ready to leave the radio station.

[Bloodedge]

By similar methods to what he'd been using this entire time, Drake avoided the problem at hand. All he had to do was speak a name, and he'd get precisely what he was asking for... or perhaps what he thought he was seeking. The way he spoke this time, however, gave Shane a bit more to work with. "Well that just sound like somethin' more than titty signin' goin' on over there. But that's all I'ma say 'bout that," he commented just to fuel the fire a bit more. Whatever came of that, the show would go on for another twenty or so minutes.

In that same passage of time, Hop managed to reach the address provided to him by Donnie. The driveway alone looked like the kind of turnabout he'd practiced driving on, and there were more windows on the giant building than he'd seen on an entire tower block back home. "People actually live like this? It's more posh than Buckingham! There's stone walls after the gate!" Hop observed, ignoring the massive "KD" sign, featuring a crown, on the aforementioned gate. He parked out front, not knowing that another roundabout would have led to the basement garage. Soon enough, the group could exit the vehicle. Donnie switched from that YouTube video to an app that controlled his front gate, shutting it behind them. As he did that and had a look around the property, some words shared by Princess Melty crossed his mind again. "Aight, we out here. And you know what, Mels? I think I got space for that. Yeah, yeah... I get these trees knocked out, move the court around back a little bit that way... hell yeah. You on one. C'mon y'all, let's get to settlin'!" Donnie urged. As he led the group forward, before the first thirty feet of black marble, gold edges and one of New York's greatest city views behind, Donnie could have sworn he heard... barking, of a very familiar variety. That was strange, as there shouldn't have been any dogs around ─ at least not here and now. Little did he realize, a certain black Presa Canario he'd kept since its infancy was already barreling down the stairs, bringing nearly 150 pounds of brute force toward the main hall.

[Apollymi]

Drake managed to dodge several questions which would have put him directly into the fire. It would have been impressive, if it wasn't such an obvious act of cowardice. "True…" the nonanswer of that said more to Tima that it would to most people. 'Signing' often had a different kind of connotation in modern times… and she wasn't going to be the one to point that out. Instead they'd simply be chattering. Until the end of the segment, "Alright ladies and gentleman. Time to say goodbye to today's suspect, Drake. It was… something man~" Tima said without choosing any particular emotion. "Tell 'em Unc~" Tima pointed out. "Aight, aight. I'm out for the day… make sure to keep a look out for the album. Preciate ya'll for having me and for the drinks!~" Drake claimed while holding up his hands. He'd wrapped on the entire show. Had he been caught saying anything else? Maybe, but that would be something that came from Tima later. No… for now, Drake was walking out of the studio after giving all proper respect to Uncle Shane and Tima and then walking out into a swarm of paparazzi and a process server. "Casper Kelly Drake?" asked the young man in a suit with exceedingly straight posture. "Yeah, that's me, who asking?" he posited as his security guard stepped up, "I need you to sign right here please," the voice said reasonably. "Oh, man, if you wanted an autograph you should have just said so…" Drake said signing on a clipboard without reading. Once his signature was there… a paper of a different sort was presented to the man. "You've been served." The process server's job was done and he began walking away and the media storm began properly. All the while, Victoria Sinclair, the premiere lawyer of the world right now… was standing out in front of her office building with a different kind of press conference being organized.

At the same time, Donnie and the group were pulling up to his abode. A crazy looking spot full of windows and a whole turnabout up front. "I don't know it compares to the palace, but it definitely has most places beat," Iris said as she looked at the front. Soon enough everyone was piling out of the car with the intention of going inside, Nikki slipped, out along with everyone else. Kim, seemed to be the most relaxed but she visited this place quite often. The sound of the approaching paws, would come with light footsteps as well… "Yo, what you runnin' for? You too big for all that movement~" a voice carried from the stairs as a woman with long pink hair, and a face remarkably similar to Kim's aside from their differences in coloration another extraordinarily large rack and thick hips walked down the stairs. She had pink eyes and was wearing ripped jeans and a short t-shirt showing off a black spade tattoo, right over her hip visible over the low-rise jeans. "Oh shit!~ Dak is home!~" a grin spread across that girls face as she took in the group and Nikki herself looked around at the pure design aspects. "Great place…" she said looking at the dog. "Ooh, is that Mithos?! Can I pet Mithos?!" there was pure fangirl excitement.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah man, we had us a real banger of a late show tonight. Y'all be sure to get up bright and early in the mornin', we might have somethin' else real special for ya'," Shane said, taking one of the last few sips from his glass. "Drake, 'preciate you bein' a suspect for us tonight, droppin' the bars and the knowledge, all that. I you got anything else to say, you know where we be young boy! All love 'round here," he bid. Whatever Drake had going on once he exited the studio, Shane hadn't a clue... nor did it matter. Once the rapper was gone, he heaved a sigh and offered a few additional words ─ whether they were on the air or not. "So I don't know about y'all, but... I think young Donnie gon' go nuclear."

By the end of the show, Donnie was letting everyone into his personal abode ─ though he hardly spent any time in the building whilst in New York. Lo and behold, the first thing he saw was the culprit of that barking: the muscular black dog with golden eyes, a collar with his name upon it, tongue flailing and tail waving. "Yoooo, Mithos! What you doin' here? C'mere boy!" he greeted, taking a knee as the hound barreled into his embrace. While he rubbed the beast's head and back simultaneously, having his face saturated by tongue-lashes, Donnie's periphery registered a person he couldn't mistake. "Riles, the fuck you doin' here? Wait, nah... how the fuck you get Mithos?" he wondered. Speaking of the dog named Mithos, Nikki seemed almost as excited as Donnie himself was to see the dog. "Hell yeah you can pet him; he don't bite. Mithos a lil' pussy boy. Ain't you, Mithos? Huh? Who a lil' bitch-baby-doggie?" he cooed, mussing the dog's sleek fur.

[Apollymi]

There was the nice wrap up, and Drake said his piece before going outside of the studio to get served with a paper. He opened it up, and found it simply said cease and desist. It named Nikoleta Corbyn as the complainant, and had her attorney of record as Victoria Sinclair. It claimed that Drake should remove the video he posted of Nikki within 48 hours, but that he should note that it was still a criminal matter that would be pursued. It also claimed that any attempts to slander or defame Nikoleta Corbyn would compound the issue. Drake read the first few lines dumbfounded and immediately got on his phone. He no longer had a manager but he still had a lawyer that dealt with his previous issues… so perhaps he could get some quick legal advice. "Not answering any questions right now, ya'll tune into that radio show I was just on!~" Drake commented aloud but internally he was panicking. His stance that he and Nikki were getting back together would be blown up by the idea that she was actually suing him. And the legal jargon wasn't something he was prepared to process while being a little tipsy. Meanwhile, Tima leaned against the table after draining her glass again. "I don't think nuclear is a strong enough word. I also don't think Drake understands the smoke he invited to himself…" Tima said "But ya'll know what it is. I'll be clearing up all the inconsistencies and filling in the blanks on my podcast. Imma need a bit of grace on it though… there is a lot to unpack here tonight. I'm also gonna do my best to make sure tomorrow mornin' is gonna be something. Alright? Stay tuned~" she said giving her own out and leaving space for Shane to do the same before they went off the air to casually continue their conversation.

Meanwhile, Donnie and the crew were settling into his place only to be confronted by, one of his pets and one of his greatest muses. In this case, Ronnie stood around inspecting a place that had the kind of feeling she enjoyed while the two female teens were also just looking around. At the same time, Riley or as she was called Riles, was busy answering Donnie's question. "Imma answer anyway, because I have keys. Also… I ran into, Miss Rio, while I was…" her eyes scanned the room when she decided what she would say, "Catchin' up with Nacho, getting some party favors~" Riley said. "And Miss Rio said she was trying to run some errands and didn't want to leave both the dogs alone while Mr. J was on shift so… I offered to take Mithos since she said he was too much of a busy body for her. I told her I'd drop him back when I was on my way out, as it is or rather will be Monday~" claimed Riley as if everything made all the sense in the world. Meanwhile, Nikki was joining Donnie in stroking that large dog, having taken a knee to pet him. "Aaaah!~ Brilliant. Always wanted to do this!~" Nikki claimed that accent of hers marking her for what she was. "You seem like you been up to something crazy, Dak~"

[Bloodedge]

Riley, whom Donnie still affectionately referred to as Riles, was here because... she had a key. That definitely wasn't the sort of overly-simplistic answer he wanted, but the expectation of such an answer was precisely why he disregarded the question. She'd been in the area, allegedly catching up with a man named 'Nacho' for some... party favors. "He ain't stopped yet?!" Donnie blurted out. The man Riley mentioned was, in fact, Donnie's uncle. His mother was going to have quite a fit if she found out... or was she? The agreement to return Mithos to the woman sounded a bit suspicious to Donnie. "... Uh-huh. You know what? That ain't none of my business anyway," he decided. Donnie would then be separating himself from the dog just slightly, leaving Nikki to relish in its attention ─ which seemed to be coming quite easily.

As he straightened himself out, Riley commented on how busy his life seemed of late. She had no idea. "Hella busy," he commented, already linking his app to speakers all throughout the estate. "Matter of fact, I'm workin' on a track right now. Gotta put some niggas in they place. Oh!" Just then, Donnie realized something. He should have expected to see a new purchase in the driveway upon arriving. Either it hadn't arrived yet, or... "Yo Riles, my package come in yet?"

[Apollymi]

Riley filled Donnie in on some missing information, and how she came to be hanging out in his abode while he wasn't home, with one of his favored pets. When speaking about the man named Nacho, Donnie seemed surprised he hadn't quit yet, "Yeah, you know how he is. He asked about you… complained that you never stopped by, claimed I'd seen you more recently than him… that's crazy~" Riley mentioned like it was mostly nothing at all to it. No matter, apparently her taking of his dog was suspicious but he wasn't going to comment on it. So while Donnie stood, Nikki gave Mithos a thorough rub down. "Aww, really are a bloody sweetheart aren't ya?~" Nikki cooed at the dog. All the while Veronica inspected the dog from a safe distance, as domesticated animals acted a bit strange around her now. "That dog is bigger than me," Iris asserted, the idea of it being called a sweetheart was just ludicrous.

Apparently, Donnie had been hella busy. Riley took a moment to scan the crew and she could say that was the absolute truth, and there were even some familiar faces among the crowd. "So I see…" Riley said grinning from ear to ear at the thought that there was actually something exciting going on. "Oooh, Dak attack!~ Love to fucking see it!~" Riley seemed to be quite excited a huge grin spreading across her face. There were few things she enjoyed more in life than watching Donnie check some irrelevant man's privilege. When he asked if his package arrived she looked at him and snorted. "Cha… You callin' that a package, nigga you trippin'," Riley asserted but she grinned just the same. "Yeah it came in. I took the liberty of parking it right up front and even managed not to take it on a test drive first, that ho' clean though~" Riley asserted. As a white girl she was probably the epitome of a taboo, but she was having the best possible time.

[Bloodedge]

The topic of Nacho continued with the notion that he'd been asking about Donnie. Just as Riley heard, he'd been in contact with her more recently than that man. "That ain't crazy; that's your fault. You just be poppin' up like you got a tracker on me or somethin'," he retaliated. Of course, it was also Nacho's fault, as Donnie didn't care to hang around dealers of hard drugs when it could be avoided. His mother, however, was somehow a different story ─ one Donnie didn't trust. No matter; he had other concerns. Right here and now, he was planning the warning shot to be fired Drake's way. All he needed was... a certain package to deliver the right flex.

According to Riley, it was wild of him to call that thing a package. She'd received it, parked it, and avoided taking a test drive. "Bet bet. Lemme introduce everybody, then... Nini, I'ma need somethin' if you don't mind." With that said, Donnie paused only for one thing: the reactions of one Corbyn and one Postwick to his 'son' Mithos. "He don't do shit. My kids aight with cats too. Go on, pet 'im," he suggested. Introductions of everyone present to Riley ensued, while Donnie found the most perfect beat for his current purpose. It was a bit on the techno side of things, but... he could work with it easily. Finally, he could look toward Nikki again. "I need... like a suit. Somethin' clean as fuck, and I KNOW you got me on the crispiest shit I ever seen! Besides that, I got my cameras workin' in here. Who tryna be in the video?"

[Apollymi]

Donnie apparently blamed Riley for not visiting his own uncle. There was a claim that she seemed to pop up like she was tracking him down or something. "Well… I used to, not gonna lie about that. But this one is just a coincidence. King of Diamonds here has a lot of celebrities coming through so I agreed to my usual~" Riley said as if it was a perfectly normal reason for her to have shown up unannounced. As for whatever was going on with Donnie's mother… Riley wasn't about to say anything, whether she knew something or not. What she didn't know, was what Donnie was planning for his flex, though the recent celebrity news had told her whom it was against. Beyond that there was a claim by Donnie that he needed Nikki for something and he even used her nickname to make the demand, "Bruv, King Don needs me. I've been waiting my whole life for this!~" Nikki chanted giving Mithos one final rub.

At the same time, Ronnie was told that Donnie's kids got along with cats, and she could pet them too, "If you say so…" Ronnie claimed and both she and Iris would be tentatively reaching out to touch the big dog. "I didn't know the Blue Lotus, liked Dak so much," Riley said to Kim of all the people present. "Bitch, you got no idea… shits been crazy out here~" Kim said, obviously those two were reasonably comfortable around each other. Ah but now Nikki had to gather her wits to find out what Donnie wanted was a clean suit, something completely new and fresh to be part of his… video shoot. "I have been waiting my whole life for a request like that!~" Nikki said a grin spreading across her face. That magical item box of hers opened up and she pulled out her sketch book again. "I had an idea for one of these… when I made the one for King T'Challa," Nikki said flipping pages to find the sketch she'd put together. "There it is…" she mused, looking at Donnie and making the mental adjustments, she also began pulling fabrics and materials towards herself from inside that box. She knew what she was about to put together and it was so easy to do she was going to end up putting it on him. What Donnie would end up in was a grey suit, perfectly measured to fit his form, a white shirt of silken material connected by some gold lion shaped cufflinks. A golden tie with strands of real gold woven in and a matching handkerchief. His pants were perfectly tailored and lead to a pair of silken dress socks and a new pair of shoes, which Nikki made based on the mold left by Chiori. They were some wingtips, made in the same style as those usually designed by Giorno Giovanna, but with Blue Lotus on the tab in gold. She'd be fitting them to his form telekinetically, and putting away his combat fit on a mannequin instead so she could look at him. And lastly there were the volunteers. Kim, Riley, Ronnie and Nikki were all willing to be in the video, Iris odd as she was wanted something different. "I don't want to be in it, but can I do the edits?" Iris posited knowing where she best served and wanting to keep herself under wraps for a bit longer.

[Bloodedge]

Naturally, Riley stuck around in the area due to her usual agreement at the King of Diamonds nightclub. She did mention Monday coming up, and he knew that to be a day... or night, that she dedicated to that form of work. "So what, you practicin' on my shit? You hit record?" he asked, even knowing his own preference for live performances over recordings. Irrespective of that matter, his needs were being met by Nikki while Ronnie and Iris, joined tentatively by Hop, made friends with Mithos. Donnie didn't even have to spend time stripping himself when Nikki completed this design, as the pieces were assembled right onto his body. When all was said and done, Donnie was already walking around and having a look over himself. The reaction this time was a bit different, to say the least... but he had no negative thoughts. "Yeah. Hell yeah, this it right here. Good look~" he said in an offer of gratitude, swaggering about with the confidence of a man walking toward his own workplace promotion. Little did Donnie know, he was en route to the spiritual equivalent of that exact thing.

Riley, Kim, Nikki and Ronnie all had an interest in appearing in the new video ─ as did Leon. Iris shared an interest in something different, surprisingly enough. As opposed to playing a role in the video, she wanted to handle the editing. Donnie didn't often have access to someone capable of that. "Shit, you can edit? Hell yeah. My system upstairs, studio on the left. Login was... uhh, shit... I think it was MfalmeEnero28, capital M, capital E... eighth note, money sign, exclamation point. There's space up there for everybody to chill, and some intercoms and shit. The beat I got for this should show up already," he explained. If there was nothing else, Donnie would be making his way. "Aight, I gotta start this next to the new baby! Ven aqui, Mithos!" As he aimed to guide the others down to the garage, Donnie called his dog to his own side, intending to include it as well.

[Apollymi]

A passive kind of conversation took place between Riley and Donnie. It was like they were catching up just as casually as he and Kim had in the shop. Knowing what she had come into town to do, Donnie asked a question and Riley answered, "I don't know why you care but I did. I wanted to see what it looked like while working on some new stuff~" Riley claimed. Of course, she never minded giving Donnie a real show, and likely would at some point in the near future. At the same time, while Ronnie and Iris and apparently Hop, got to know Mithos, Nikki was busy crafting a grey suit that would fit Donnie perfectly. She paused looking him over after she was done. "Glad to make it, mate. Been imagining that for years… and it's bloody perfect, innit?~" Nikki claimed. "Love a man in a suit…" Nikki uttered. "And it gets you out of your combat gear. Not that you looked bad in it~" Ronnie claimed.

As they continued on, Kim and Riley would be gushing over the quickness of that change of clothes and the pure magical nature… While Donnie discussed with Iris, how to get to his in-home studio and password to the wifi and system. "I can do most things I decide to do, but this one I have a bit of experience with~" Iris claimed. She wanted herself out of the way and would be heading up pausing at Nikki for another of her bags which had some other things she wanted to use in them. Melty would be going with Iris as well, not wanting to interfere. "Oh, there's snacks and normal stuff in the fridges up there too… I restocked all the fridges," Riley mentioned. Iris looked at the pink haired woman her brows furrowing. She had an oddly homey nature for someone who chose to be a stripper and technically a groupie. There were many things in life Iris would have to come to understand eventually. While those two wandered off, "Thank you!~" Melty offered as they headed upstairs to settle in, at the same time, Nikki was looking at the group, she changed the clothing on herself and Ronnie looked at Riley and Kim as both of them nodded easily willing to accept whatever this woman had for them as well. As they needed to all fit the visuals that this current shoot had in mind. They'd be following down.