<Nocturnal Harmonia>

[Apollymi]

Nikki and her technical elder brother were having a hard conversation even so, the young woman didn't look to be very upset. She was more annoyed by Drake showing off something old than she was put off completely by the idea. But that wasn't the point, as Leon came to understand Nikki hadn't consented to the video going out… he wondered why they weren't discussing murder and hiding a dead body. "First off… I'm a National Hunter. I don't need to hide a body. As Vicky pointed out, if I wanted to retaliate physically I could and there isn't anyone who can stop me," Nikki pointed out. "But I wouldn't want to be that kind of example to everyone else. I realize I am too public a figure to fly off the handle, besides Vicky says forcing the American legal system to actually take this kind of thing seriously won't just help me but a lot of other lasses in the world. It would act as a deterrent to any guy who gets in his feelings after a breakup and decides to post a girls lewd or nude images sent in confidence. Besides, killing Drake seems like a waste of time, making him completely and unequivocally irrelevant is a much better punishment since all he cares about is his own reputation," Nikki pointed out the major parts of her plan. Leon always had some very… strong feelings about Drake and not wanting him around Nikki so much that Leon as her big brother would have rather been the person handling her physical needs. "Bruv, not sure I'm using this right but pause. I appreciate the enthusiasm but that one is outta line, yeah?" Nikki said almost chuckling. Then came some very strange sense… they couldn't fake a live stream with an active chat. If she live streamed a sextape with King Don, no one could argue that it was AI generated and… she could show them the proper difference between sex between two normal people and that the Hunters like herself were currently having. "You know what, bruv. That actually kinda make sense. Brains working overtime today~" Nikki said, sounding a bit close to Iris for the comfort of others. Actually there was something else that crossed her mind in a moment like this, Iris was always all over any man she brought home, even when she was young, except… Drake. "Right. Don't do anything crazy, I'm handling it for everyone… now I gotta go, have a chinwag. Shoot a few hoops or summit~ Oh and thanks bruv," Nikki offered giving the man a hug before she turned, still wearing that outrageous piece of clothing as she headed for the studio to potentially have two conversations.

Speaking of two conversations, Donnie was apparently moving through the one with Tima. Iris was still working gathering enough of the conversation from one side to put together that… Drake had been on the Usual Suspects and said something out of pocket. She made a mental note to help Tima in her fact finding mission. Reaching for her phone to begin composing her usual starter type of email for someone else initiated into a fold she enjoyed. Meanwhile, Tima was giggling, "Don't start, Donnie, you sounding like Unc right now. Man's couldn't focus for shit this morning. Don't even know why Val was there I swear," Tima stated earnestly. As for the conversations about how the older generation made every form of regular life seem gay she could only agree with exasperation in her voice, "On god, they do that shit and act like we're crazy. I told him he could have just messaged you directly and this man in here like, nah," Tima said as she'd tried to diffuse any negative tension between the star that was King Don and her co-host for the show she ran on the radio. As for what Drake actually said and if Donnie should be active, "The show is live but it should already by clipped and uploaded by now, you can see everything he said. Also shameless plug, I'll be spending most of my podcast breaking apart what he said… if I can get all the information on time," Tima admitted. As they moved through the rest of that bit she sighed, "As a journalist, he not gone shut up. He's personable and sounds reasonable on paper. To me he lacks accountability but most would call be bitter if I said that in a public space… regardless, shutting him the fuck up is a requirement… and it might not even work. For a nigga without someone on PR he stay spinning shit, so yeah. Get active," Tima said without hesitation.

[Bloodedge]

Nikki may have been a National Hunter who could experience no repercussions for eliminating her problems and opposition, but that changed nothing about Leon's perspective. "Right. Hide the body by blowin' it to smithereens!" he decided. The legal talk about having the government deal with Drake directly, thus helping less-capable lasses in Nikki's situation, wasn't something Leon could argue with though. More importantly... Nikki's preference for dealing with the problem was much more satisfying as an idea. "Bloody hell, Nik, you've gone proper demonic. That's a good plan!" he said after a few moments of silent consideration. When the topic shifted to Leon being a better use of cock than Drake, even for Nikki, he was reprimanded in a way. "No pause! I'm just sayin', if Drake was the only option you had, I'd rather get it done myself. I could do it! But now you got King Don, so no worries there anyway, yeah," he chattered. Either way, there was a plan to be enacted. Leon had one of his rare good ideas, and Nikki would be off to presumably act on it. "You get in there! And lock in the bloody prince!" he encouraged in those parting moments, deciding to meander the house a bit for the foreseeable future. There were so many people in the group, he saw no point in playing with a basketball by himself.

Meanwhile, Donnie was chortling over Tima's reaction. He could see the man called Unc losing every bit of his cool around Val. Things wouldn't have been the same for him, but there was one truth he had to acknowledge. "Man, if y'all wanted to do numbers, you shoulda just put her one-on-one in the podcast forreal. Muhfuckers would watch that start to finish, no sound," he insisted. Donnie had little else to say, his mood just partially soured by the idea that Drake already acted out of turn somehow. The warning was supposed to dissuade that, but it was all too late. No matter. If he had the time and freedom, he'd probably scan the sound clips from that recent show to find out what was said. "I got a lot goin' on at home right now, but I'll peep if I can. If not, shit... surprise me in the mornin'. I can come through. I just gotta be gone by lunch. Doin' one of the readings for the kids out here."

[Apollymi]

Nikki gave the explanation she meant to and got from her elder brother, an amount of understanding that contributed to her usual confidence. He thought she'd hide the body by blowing it to smithereens, but that wasn't how Nikki was… she wouldn't have hidden anything, she wasn't the type. If she killed him, she'd likely have made a spectacle of it, which is exactly why she was stepping back from it. There were more complete ways to give a just outcome and she'd decided that already, "Not demonic this is justice. He started in on something crazy, used old information to try and make his point and betrayed trust. I simply intend to show him what the good versions of all those things look like and make sure that any conversation around him is never positive again," Nikki pointed out. Apparently, there was also the idea that Leon was quite serious about being the one to handle her physical needs, but… conceded that King Don was a proper replacement. "Damn right King Don is… I been waiting my whole life for that one!" Nikki said. A kid wasn't even the first thing on her list, but it was on the back burner… for now, she was going to ask a question and it would take her a few minutes to wander up and into the house.

While Nikki was on her way up the stairs, Tima was having a conversation about her ratings and how to get more people watching. "Oh, you ain't gotta tell me. Val launching Hot Girl summer with me on the podcast. It's gonna be a banger~" Tima mentioned, of course, that would be a couple of months off, but it was the sort of thing were happening soon. Ah but the sour part of the conversation, was still coming. According to Donnie he could stop by for the morning show, so long as he was out before noon, as he needed to go to an event for some kids. "Given that you ten toes at all times, I don't think anything will be a problem for you. Just… know that a lot came up, and the internet probably buzzing. And if you agree to be in in the morning, I'll make sure you are out by 11:45, can't have you late for something charitable. I appreciate it, see ya in the morning. Any special requests?" she asked, as she was always willing to do a bit of bending for King Don, Around the time she asked that… Nikki had entered the studio and was looking over Iris's shoulder at the edits she was making. From an objective perspective about composition, she was actually quite good. "Good eye," Nikki commented.

[Bloodedge]

Nikki parted ways with Leon, making her trip upstairs during the latter half of Donnie's phone call. The way things were currently, Donnie imagined he would be able to follow Tima's podcast. Little did he know. That aside, the idea of Valerie thee Vixen launching her known 'Hot Girl Summer' routine on that same podcast had Donnie leaning up in his seat mid-puff. "Yooo, for real? Tima, put a nigga on. You know you can't start talkin' about a lot of hotties and you ain't invite the Don! Y'all need a second opinion out there, right? You ain't gon' get it from Unc!" he suggested, laughing lightly throughout.

Regarding the actual appearance on Tima's radio show, Donnie could easily pencil it in before his existing plans the next day. Maybe he'd figure out what had been said by Drake before then, or maybe he'd find out on the show itself. Whatever the case, he wasn't too bothered about it presently. Instead, he gave consideration to Tima's question about special requests. "Uhh, shit... nothin' I can think about? I might have somebody else with me. Maybe. Iono. Oh, but y'all got some juice or somethin' down there? I ain't tryna be drinkin' before I go out and read to some lil' kids, feel me?"

[Apollymi]

"Thanks… you need something?" Iris asked while her eyes remained on all the different images she was bringing together into a cohesive music video. She'd need the sound to be sure of the perfection, but for now just the images were enough for her. "Yeah, I do but I was wondering since all the Postwicks have such weirdly strong feelings about it, why don't you like Drake?" Nikki asked leaning to the side and studying Iris's face. Iris sat back and looked around the young woman making sure that Leon wasn't anywhere nearby. "Hm, you caught up to that part quicker than expected. Did you leave Dande somewhere… I don't care what you told him, he'll actually be upset if he finds out," Iris said her voice empty of anything resembling emotion. "Drake is a pedo… like grooming behavior and all. Which doesn't work on me for obvious reasons, but I found that out without trying. Around the time I was trying for more normal, you know when my therapist advised I try not abusing my massive brain power right after I turned 13," Iris stated as if she was speaking about something as simple as the sky being blue. For her part in it, Nikki looked at Iris in disbelief but not against Iris… "What did he do specifically?" Nikki asked striving for calm but not really achieving it. "You are more upset about this than I expected…" Iris said her eyes going back to the screen… as she kept up work on the video as if there was nothing worth being upset about.

While that little conversation happened, the end of Donnie's conversation was coming up. Tima spoke of the start of "Hot Girl Summer" on her podcast, and Donnie wanted in. "Actually I don't think either of us would mind that… I don't normally have a guest cohost on the podcast, so we could try a different kinda format, if ya' want. I'll give ya' the details when it pops up," Tima said easily. She didn't see Val having any problems with it, considering what the girl had to say about Donnie during her interview. In all honesty she was surprised they hadn't met yet. "Going sober for the kids, is a bet. I'll have mimosas tomorrow, and make sure there is some juice for you to drink in the studio. I'll also prep for a just in case extra guest, an extra seat, headset and glass ain't nothing too far out the way. Anyway… I'll be getting back to my night work. See ya' and maybe your special guest tomorrow mornin'~"Tima said cheerfully, waiting for any parting words before hanging up.

[Bloodedge]

While Donnie's conversation with Tima carried on, there were some things he easily overheard happening in the room. Since Nikki showed up, he was able to hear every word spoken between her and Iris. Among those words was mention of Casper Drake being a pedophile. Donnie had only known that girl for the duration of this trip, but he knew enough to believe she wouldn't say such thing without very firm evidence. Perhaps then, she'd been a victim to some extent? The way he tried to rationalize it created a sensible answer to her earlier issues with him, but he didn't have enough for anything concrete.

Beyond that, an additional agreement was made on that call. Donnie might find himself acting as a guest co-host during Valerie's big appearance to start summer in her usual way. "Man, hell yeah! I'll be on the lookout. Maybe I'll have an album out by then and we can do somethin' big," he chattered with no sense of surety. At the rate things were going, though, that album might actually release sooner rather than later. Time would tell. Before any of that, however, he'd be making a mental note to visit Tima's studio first thing in the morning. "Bet bet, I'll see y'all bright and early. Good luck wit' that podcast," Donnie offered before ending the call from his side.

[Apollymi]

Iris went back to her work, seemingly waiting on something for a few moments. "I'm not ignoring you…" was all the young girl offered to Nikki. Unlike most moments she'd simply decided she'd wait for Donnie to end his phone call so that she wouldn't have to explain herself potentially twice, especially since she already knew of his super hearing from their earlier conversation. As for that email she was constructing, she finished it, signed it with her special online ID and hit send. It went to Tima and all it said was; Following Casper Drake's internet trail is annoying. Have everything I have so far, and just double check what you want to use for due diligence. At the same time, Donnie was wrapping that phone call, "That's a bet. I'm sure she'll be lit about it~" Tima claimed knowing that Valerie thee Vixen, was one of those people who actually appreciated all aspects of King Don's music. "Thanks, but it's a lot of internet searching…" she paused as she noticed an email pop up with a large pdf file attached. "Thanks for the well-wishes though I gotta go~" was all Tima said at the end.

Soon after Iris was speaking again while Nikki looked at her, "What? I didn't want to distract him too much…" Iris said as if she was being perfectly reasonable. "Anyway, Drake is the kind of man who frames his speech to young girls as if he's looking out for them, but in truth he's trying to manipulate them into trusting him. My therapist says it's extraordinarily hard to manipulate people who are used to being manipulative or who are better at being manipulative than you… which is probably why I found him odd in the first place," Iris explained while clipping more images together and adding in transitions between frames. "Irrespective of that he has definitely taken multiple upskirt images of me that he doesn't think I know about, and grabbed my ass, while explaining to me in a friendly manner what I should be looking out for. I have it all on video by the way… not just that instance. Him running up behind me when I went to my room from the shower, while you went to the loo. Several of him actively using his phone to snap pictures of me when I wasn't looking and when no one else was around… that kind of thing," Iris said. "Why didn't you say something. We wouldn't have allowed it," Nikki said genuinely more upset that the girl herself wasn't more upset. "I know that, though I still don't understand why you are so upset. I'm clever… if he tried that on me while not being able to tell that it wasn't working… who else was it doing it to where it did? I had to find out… and gather multiple instances of evidence and replace him as your boyfriend and keep you from feeling bad for him. It was a multi-tier plan I am already most of the way through," Iris said as if it was a perfectly reasonable thing for a 13 year old girl to do.

[Bloodedge]

When Donnie finally ended that call, he heard Iris say she didn't intend to distract 'him' too much. Donnie himself could have been the only guy she was talking about, as Hop, Auric and Crow were all elsewhere in the building by now. Without any further hesitation, she went into detail about Drake and his pedophilic tendencies. There were tales of sneaky photographs and ass-grabbing that Iris had accumulated evidence of, though luckily there were no mentions of anything more serious. As he listened along, Donnie decided his earlier train of thought was... luckily, off. "Damn. I thought it was gonna be real bad, like connected to that problem earlier bad. Traumatizing shit," he said.

Overall, the methodology of Casper Drake was... strange. Donnie always wondered about the manipulative types who basically outed themselves as a method of attempted manipulation. It didn't make any sense to him, but apparently it wasn't going to work on Iris anyway. That much was also to be expected. There was some empathy in the sociopath known as Iris yet. She avoided outing Drake quite some time ago, if only as a method of putting a proper end to his shenanigans and helping others. It was quite the self-sacrificing maneuver, Donnie thought. "Hol' up, so you took that on you this whole time? That ain't right, but I mean... your heart in the right place. Good shit, Riri. Big ups."

[Apollymi]

Donnie's phone call came to an end, and Iris worked through what to reveal to the pair. With only those two and herself in the room, Iris felt fairly comfortable giving them the requested information as well as her motivations. Donnie was one with an initial reaction thinking something that happened may have contributed to Iris's issues concerning him that wasn't the case… "No, I'm not traumatized or anything like that. I'm sure that's all in my head. My need for things to be logical interferes with emotional behavior. And from what I have observed of Drake he wouldn't be a violent rapist… it wouldn't allow him to talk himself out of the situation. I could see him drugging someone though," Iris said as if she were simply reading a newspaper and not speaking about her psychological understanding of an adult man.

Nikki was quiet for the duration, but a sigh of relief escaped her. What she spoke of was way more manageable than it could have been. Still, it was more than a bit ridiculous that the man had done so much under the noses of everyone present. But it would be Donnie to first speak on it, congratulating Iris for taking the weight of Casper Drake unto herself for the sake of making sure he was properly punished. "Is it not right?" Iris gave that a bit of thought but the congratulatory statement was more pressing. Nikki finally moved she turned the girl around in the chair and lowered herself to look her in the eye. "Really, you're brilliant," she offered the girl placing a hand on her head. "But don't go doing stuff like that. You don't have four older siblings so you can struggle with things on your own… alright?" Nikki said and Iris nodded slowly. "Oh, you thought I should have been more upset… I see," Iris said seemingly logging that away. "Is this another secret?" Iris wondered. "Yes, we can't tell Leon…" Nikki said and she chuckled. Outside of that door, strangely enough, both Ronnie and Riley had listened and wandered back off with very different ideas of what to do with that information. No matter, Iris was soon swiveling back around in her chair, "I sent all the legal stuff to Vicky so it will find its way to where it needs to be… but I am sure you didn't come here for this. So carry on, I have a few more cuts to make~" Iris said rolling back around. "Ugh…" Nikki was exasperated for a moment only to look back to Donnie and flop on the couch beside him. "I came up here to ask you a very weird question, based on something Leon said, which I know isn't the start of anything normal~" Nikki claimed as she sat back. "Ripping the band-aid, how would you feel about live-streaming a sex tape?" she pitched without any extra dressing as some ideas needed to be naked in the air.

[Bloodedge]

Iris Postwick was a very strange individual. Donnie had known that since the first five minutes of their meeting. Still, he had to give credit where it was due, and Iris was overdue for quite a bit ─ for at least two years, even. Speaking of Iris, she further proved her own mental acuity by dissecting the mind of Casper Drake, shunning the belief that he'd be a rapist... but accepting the idea that he might drug a person. "Nigga need to finish goin' through that file," he decided. With that, Nikki and Iris were having a more sibling-like discussion about the care to be taken with such things. Frankly, Donnie agreed wholeheartedly with Nikki's perspective. "Shit, count me in too. Don't nobody get to fuck on my peoples ─ especially like that," the male added.

When Iris returned to her editing, Nikki joined Donnie on the couch. Ah, but she wasn't the only one. Ronnie and Riley would be passing Mithos as they walked off, as the dog made his way into the studio. He circled the area, covering ground between Donnie, Nikki and Iris before settling near the latter ─ apparently in understanding of the general protective feeling in the room. Donnie knew what his dog was doing. "Buen chico, Mithos~" Donnie said before another hit of that blunt. With Nikki sitting next to him, he offered to pass it over... while she prefaced her coming words by saying an idea came from Leon. "I ain't doin' no gay shit!" he exclaimed partially in jest. Surely she wouldn't have brought that to his attention, after all. No... but it was a sexual topic she came with. There wasn't even a proper moment of hesitation before Nikki suggested streaming a sexual encounter live. Donnie fell silent for a moment. He looked at Nikki, looked at the blunt he was offering her, then looked at Nikki again. 'I need to stop smokin' this shit here!' he thought. After a short silence, however, Donnie made some mental connections. "... Ooooohh, you tryna get it back in blood, ain't it? You movin' devious!"

[Apollymi]

Iris was learning how other people saw her behavior. She supposed her older siblings might have thought her to be a bit reckless. All the while Donnie claimed he needed to finish his file. "You should, I had to send an amendment earlier…" Iris pointed out, knowing that information she'd fished up for that one rapper was something everyone needed to know. Beyond that Nikki's words to Iris seemed to settle in her, and Donnie added himself as well. No one got to fuck on his people… that included what Drake had been attempting with Iris. "I'll keep that in mind," Iris managed seeming to be, her own age for just a moment. At the same time the two women outside of the door walked back to finish their conversation about 'work' and some other things they intended to do. "Yeah, so call me when you know where it is. New or old… I don't care~" Ronnie said a grin crossing her face. "Yep! No worries~" Riley commented. Whatever that was about it, wouldn't be known for quite a while yet.

Meanwhile, Iris went back to her edits with Mithos nearby. She reached out for his head and petted him too, "Good boy~" she said seemingly amused. In that same moment she wondered if it was weird to think about the dog the same way she thought about her older brother but… she decided it didn't matter. Speaking of Iris's older brother, Nikki was putting an idea to Donnie which came from the eldest of the Postwicks, and he had only one thing to say about it initially. "Bwahaha!~" Nikki couldn't hold in the laughter as Donnie claimed he refused to do anything gay, while holding a blunt before taking a secondary hit. She'd be reaching for it, while trying to recover but still feeling her stomach twitch as she explained her actual thoughts. "Damn, why'd you have to go and say it like that~" Nikki managed as she calmed her breathing enough to only choke a little at her first hit, but managing to take the second smoother. After a moment of silence and some extra thought though, Donnie understood what she wanted to do. "Everyone says devious, I am trying to get it back in blood though. I plan to shag again anyway, making sure Drake loses all relevance in the process is a special bonus," she said firmly. "Besides, if everyone is going to be watching me have a go, it might as well be at my absolute best!" Nikki confirmed. Iris sat at the chair brow raised, 'I didn't think she had that in her…' Iris concluded, seeming to grow a newfound respect for her elder cousin in a short span of time.

[Bloodedge]

When Donnie delivered his joke, it was received in epic fashion. He imagined Nikki would have been choking through her first puff if he'd timed it any later... and then, she choked her way through it anyway. "Yo chiiill, I ain't think it was gon' hit that hard~" Donnie said, having a laugh himself. He would have cautioned her to take it a bit easier, but Nikki had enough smoking experience to be fine now. Lo and behold, her second hit was of a much smoother variety. "There you go! You becomin' a pro out here~" he encouraged.

On to the important topic at hand, Nikki's idea for a streamed sex tape was indeed a plan to strike back at Drake. There was, however, a reason 'everyone' was talking about her methods. "Everybody sayin' that 'cause you movin' devious!" Donnie insisted. "But I'm wit' the shits," he added right away. All things considered, they were undoubtedly going to have at each other again regardless. A sex tape wasn't something Donnie ever considered making for the general public, though he'd once said something about sex with Veronica Corbyn being something he put all over every corner of the internet. Given Nikki's behavior as a fan, he imagined that sentiment was similar for her. Ah, but apart from that... she mentioned making Drake totally irrelevant via such actions. Donnie didn't need much time for consideration after that. "I mean, shit... Tima gon' have a fit for that show in the morning. Oh, that was her on the phone. I'ma be on TUS before I go see the kids tomorrow. Anyway, this ain't the way I usually put niggas' careers in the dirt... but I'm 'bout it."