[ inhales deeply and prepares to write a mcfuckin' novel for these two pages ]

Bastille cast a side-long glance at Thea, and simply offered a lazy shrug. Sure, they might be offended that they thought they might be housing a murderer, but in his experience the explanation that they had to take precautions was justification enough. Everyone on some level got the need to cover all of their bases, allies or not. Hell, he'd even gone to Snowbound in the past, knowing damned well Jake would never take his mentor, but knowing he had to check in there anyway. Maybe they'd heard something, maybe they knew. While he didn't actually suspect Sunhaven, it was possible they'd experienced recent deaths, too, if the murderer was lurking nearby. Or maybe they had a rogue member. Whatever. He saw no harm in asking.

Monroe and Quantum's arrival came neatly timed, and he offered a lazy nod to each in greeting. Quantum, he was fairly certain, was the new one replacing Jericho. Shame, that: he liked Jeri, though he was unfamiliar with this stranger, so he supposed he couldn't say he disliked his replacement. [b]"One of our own was murdered recently," he said, to the point, "Pipsqueak over here is the only one who saw it, so we're checking out the neighbors to see if you know anything." Not an accusation, and in fact he wasn't accusing them, anyway. He had no grounds to.

His gaze flicked lazily over Buckingham — a stranger to him — before he fixed his attention, briefly, on the next to arrive. Bast cocked his head to the side, distracted by the riddle; obviously it seemed to be a play on his name, which... how did he even know his name? He was faced with the disgruntling realization that Jeri — or this new leader, maybe — had possibly mentioned him by his full name in reference to leading the Ascendants, which was... Damn. How was he supposed to live life in relative anonymity if they all knew who he was? He couldn't deny all forms of authority like this. He gave a slight shake of his head, and huffed an amused, "He dies," in response to the riddle.

Bastille gave the snarky girl a dismissive glance, and didn't bother to point out that he rarely saw them outside of their territory, either. He didn't have the time for sassy apprentices; particularly not when he already had enough of them to deal with at home. Speaking of. He shot Thea a pointed look as she started mouthing off, about to tell her to shut it when her attention swiveled to Bucky. Bast's gaze followed, and he studied the stranger more closely as her accusation landed. There was no... shock, or anger, or even the flicker of someone who was caught. This guy seemed straight up confused, his aura flaring with the surprise, and it left a bitter taste in Bast's mouth. He wanted to feel immediate gratification in finding Roy's killer and bringing him to justice, but this response? Left more for him to question than it answered.

"Thea thinks she saw him kill Roy," he said, slowly, gaze still locked on Bucky as he studied him with intrigue. He didn't bother to ask Thea if she was certain, knowing fairly well that she would be too stubborn to admit that she might not know. His gaze did finally break away finally at the sound of Gor's voice, and he blinked at her for a minute before offered a half-smile. So, she'd found somewhere safe, after all; good. "Hey, Gor." He didn't restate the reason they were here, but instead just glanced away from her; this wasn't the place to catch up, even if he was curious to know how she'd been.

"So, you didn't—" he started to say, addressing Bucky, and then there was a burst of movement as Riza shot past him. Bastille paused, staring at her for a second, before he swore under his breath and took a step after her, snapping, "Riza, hey, we don't have any confirmation— Get the fuck off of him." Damnit. He knew bringing her along was a risk, but he also knew that if he hadn't brought her, she might have turned up on her own and attacked; at least he was gratified in knowing that he was here now to pull her the fuck off of him before she killed someone (which it sounded like she might, from Bucky's shrieking).

She went limp moments before he could drag at her, and with a huff Bastille lifted the unconscious Riza with a flare of air, tossing her back behind him. Maybe he could have been gentler with her, but she deserved it for losing her chill. Pale blue stare frosty with his vague irritation, Bastille eyed Bucky but made no move to go after the accused, instead lifting his gaze to Monroe as the leader stepped in to check that hyperventilation. Oh, so he'd been mistaken — this one was the new leader.

"She's right," he said, gaze flickering briefly to the one spewing shit about false memories and terrible eye witness identification, "He doesn't act like someone who killed Roy, and Thea's young. She could be wrong. I shouldn't have brought Riza, but I figured she might come after you on her own and we wouldn't have a chance to stop her then." Bastille gave a lazy shrug, evidently not too apologetic about the gamble he'd taken. They did manage to stop her, after all. "Regardless, apologies about her. I'll take care of her when she wakes up."

He shot a sideways glance at Thea, studying her for a moment, before he turned back to Monroe. Fair enough, but Bastille saw no point in fucking around with this bullshit any longer when they might solve it much quicker. "I could come back and we could debate about whether or not we can prove this based on a clump of fur and shortie over here's suspect testimony," he drawled, slowly, "Or this guy can let me see his memories from that day, and we can be over with it right here." He arched a brow, studying Bucky. "After he calms down, that is. I don't want to fuck up his health if he's innocent, either."

[B]ASTRAL SERAPH — THE ASCENDANTS — [color=#e2e2e2]TAGS — [color=#e2e2e2]MOODBOARD — [color=#e2e2e2]PLAYLIST