<div style="text-align: center">《Rebel》<br/>
Location: Abendblume<br/>
Addressing: Marcia <a class="username" data-user-id="36" data-username="Sayd" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/members/36/">Sayd</a>​</div><br/><div class="bbImageWrapper bbImageAligned--left js-lbImage" data-lb-caption-extra-html="" data-lb-sidebar-href="" data-single-image="1" data-src="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/attachments/91203a8d88c449c3b5acbaccccbcf48b-jpg.133060/" title="91203a8d88c449c3b5acbaccccbcf48b.jpg">
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</div>Her laugh was a slap. Thankfully it was directed at another. There was no love lost between Marcia and her husband, and her naming him a cockroach reminded him of being called<i>Saekki – </i>bastard. Only he supposed that Marcia had no qualms about calling her husband that to his face.<br/><br/>He drew his head back, eyes narrowed at her question about what he had to lose. Thankfully he didn't have to find her an answer. She talked of nurturing intrigue and milking people for information, turning them against each other to manipulate the community. He didn't have that skill; he was too direct. Too expressive. At least, that was what the undercover recruiter told him. As much as Rebel had wanted to work with the task force, they screened him out as being unable to lie believably.<br/><br/>It was unbelievable.<br/><br/>He wondered if he even had the skills to do what Marcia was suggesting. "You're right; I've lived here nearly two years and only saw you in passing," he said. "We were encouraged to stay in our lanes, and that's what I did." Others did not, though; they knew each other and had built up trust between them. In truth it was probably his disconnect that caused all the problems yesterday. No one there knew him from Adam, and it showed.<br/><br/>He rolled his lips to wet them as she shared her fears for Armando. "Do you think he would listen? I mean…if it came from me," he asked. "I don't know him well, but I respect him. And for some reason I feel like he'd be less likely to go off the deep end than someone like Alvaro." He leaned against the alcove frame, crossing his arms over his chest as they stood there in the small, isolated hall. Working his jaw he thought things over. There was a lot of variables to consider. Like a bull, Rebel was more likely to go in direct than take the sinuous route of intrigue that Maria suggested.<br/><br/>"Hale said that Sou and others were conspiring with another group to take over Abendblume." He quirked a glance at Maria. "I didn't see it. But then again, I didn't realize she was seeing someone else until the morning that everyone was sent away." He blinked rapidly, dropping his gaze as he sorted his thoughts out loud. "It seems like there's more going on that I missed, and you're saying that I need to nurture people's feelings and figure out where they stand."<br/><br/>He shook his head. "Hale said something about this being a place for families. I got to stay despite being childless, but I have a feeling that everyone here with kids, no matter what they do to help the community, was allowed to stay because of their families." Armando was the defacto, unofficial 'father' to Marcia's kids; as their uncle he held a special place that would have saved him even if he hadn't been Hale's right-hand man. "Maybe what we need to do is figure out something to ensure their safety no matter what Hale might do." He almost shared with her what he had advised Dan to do, then thought better of it.<br/><br/>"If you think it will help, I'll talk to Armando. Let me know what he needs to do," he suggested. "If you think that this place isn't going to be safe anymore, I want to know how I can help."