Pre game talking in character.

(OOC: For those of you who want to try your characters out and get to know them with a bit of talking in character and such before the main game start this is a thread for it. I will not start the main game before everyone is done with their characters, but a bit of character interaction can be fun so anyone with a completed and approved character can post here.)

It was about four in the afternoon and the common room at Chantry Steelhaven Hall was rather empty, most of the resident mages where either at their mundane jobs, or if they where lucky enough not to have one, they where at the library or at their sanctums studying or teaching their students. It was a lazy afternoon, outside the weather was gray and threatening rain. The large room on the first floor of the once boarding school now Chantry that served as a common room was sparsely decorated, the wallpaper had seen better days, it's pale yellow and red flower pattern where hopelessly out of style, but there where always something else to occupy the time of the resident magi than redecorating. Around the room where several square tables and chairs, and along one wall where several sofas.

A small woman sat in a chair by one of the windows, she was barley four feet nine and quite petite, her hair where dark brown, her intelligent, light brown eyes focused on a book, yeah sure the Chantry had a library but this room was more quiet right now and besides, the common room had a coffee machine sitting on a table in the far left corner, and the damned thing made far better crap than the old coffee maker Beatrice had in he room. The young mage sigh as her eyes wandered down the page, yes the volume was about the "Sphere" she wanted to study, Bee could recognize that, however while she could tell that the book discussed Matter, the author just did not share her Paradigm so the volume might as well be in Greek. Beatrice was an elementalist who saw Quintessence as the life blood of reality who could be manipulated through sympathetic magick by spilling and manipulating her own blood, the author of this book however was a Hermetic and Bee got as above so below, the rest was mumbo jumbo to her. Oh well perhaps she would ask her mentor, Verbena he might be, but he understood the Hermetics in a way Bee never could. Beatrice sigh and close the book, this got her no where, the book even referred to what it taught as Matter, only Hermetics did that outside of measuring rank, to Bea it was all a form of life, even inanimate objects had a life. Oh well she would have to find other books on the subject, frustrated the blood witch sipped her coffee as she glanced at the dark weather outside, the Traditions agreed about the Sphere system to be able to learn from one another her mentor said, bullshit thinks Bee, how the hell could she learn anything from someone who saw a stone as different from a flower, it did not matter that they had a fancy word to measure rank up against one another, that did not help understanding. Beatrice slowly stood and stretched her waif like body, long hours of studying had made her muscles stiff, oh well, it was time to take a break in either case.

Bruce would be down in his workshop finishing working on a new enlightened crafted knockout arrow to add to his arsenal. He has carefully reinforced the top of the arrow so that while it is not lehtal it would be excellent to knock out the person it is hit with. He has also altered the balance of the arrow and the guiding feathers so to improve it's travel throughout the air and making it more hard hitting. After finishing attaching the arrow head to the rest of the arrow he would wipe the sweat of his brow and put it in his quiver of arrows. He would take a water bottle and one of his ancestors journals this being a craftmasons contribution to the small family archives that he took with him up to read in the library that while had a lot of superstitionsists and really weird books was a valued place of reading and to also socialize with his fellow Artisans.

He makes his way up the stairs so what Beatrice would see at least is a simply clad man in a grey t-shirt with a pair of jeans on and protective shoes on so not hurt his foot if he lost his hammer. He would look about in the vast library taking in the scene as he would scan everything from the roof to the floor with his gaze. When he saw Beatrice he would give a friendly smile and give her a big wave as he approached her "Good day" Was all that he said as he moved towards her.

Adley carried an armload of books as he made his way to the Chantry, his briefcase bumping against his hip and overflowed with papers to grade. He struggled with the door handle until he persuaded it open, stepping into the Chantry front hall. He paused to take a breath in, the shift from his mundane life and that of the Chantry often blurred into one stream of his existence if he let it. Shifting his bag again, he maneuvered into the Chantry proper and walked through to the sitting area, looking for a free surface to put his pile of books. Finding a bit of the coffee table free, he stacked them up and shed his jacket, dropping it casually over the back of the couch and his bag next to it with a look of relief. His mind was still buzzing over the litany of chores, tasks, and requirements that were ahead of him but it was necessary to immerse oneself in what was going on. He could feel that he wasn't alone, even as he attended first to freeing himself of the trappings of his day job.

He looked over to the other two Chantry members over by the window and nodded to them politely. "Good afternoon." It was the sort of greeting he would give a fellow colleague or students in a lecture hall, an acknowledgement of their existence and an opening for conversation if they wished it.

Richard walks into the room in the Chantry.... his eyes ablaze from the adrenaline he has been feeling today. He looks around.. .acknowledging each person with a nod and a big smile... as he does when in this mood, he walks over to the coffee pot" Anyone else care for some?"

Beatrice turns as she hear the simple greeting, good day, and give a smile, the young Verbena was not quite beautiful, but she was pretty with her large brown eyes and bright smile, hum..Bruce, a man it was even harder for the nature based willworker to understand than the Hermetics, and yet the man had always been kind to her.
"Yes good day to you as well."
Bee said, she might as well have conversation as she had given up learning from the Hermetic tome, how her mentor was able to make sense of things like that was beyond her.
"Have you been working?"
Beatrice asked the artificer before her attention was drawn to a second set of footsteps and another man entered the sitting area, hum...the Hermetic and carrying books off course. Bee tensed for a moment as she looked at Adley, it was not that the man had been anything but polite to her, but he was of House Flambeau, and a part of her mentor's dislike fore the destruction mages had rubbed off on her, perhaps there was some truth to the rumor that old Amadeus was trained by a Diedne? Beatrice shrugs and slightly shake her head at her own foolishness, she should not be prejudiced towards a member of her own Cabal just because her mentor was old and set in his way and still hung up on a war that happened a thousand years ago, hundreds of years before his birth, and besides perhaps Adley could help her understand the damned book that had stubbornly refused to give up it's secrets for days now, though Bee suspected that while the Hermetic might understand the tome, she would not understand him.

"Yes good evening Adley, have your job gone well today?"
Beatrice said politely as the Hermetic greeted her and Bruce, she was glad in a way that Amadeus provided for her so she did not have to have a mundane profession in addition to her studies, but then again Adley and the rest had a freedom she did not enjoy as her mentor definitively expected to have his say about how his student lived her life, it did not matter that she was initiated into the Verbena Tradition and by law her own person, old Amadeus wanted his say, well he had his reasons Beatrice knew that but it felt a little unfair, hell Adley's mentor to lived in this chantry but she did not see the older war mage fussing about his former apprentice to the degree that Amadeus did her. Beatrice sigh, oh well there was little to be done for that.
"Ehm Adley I have been meaning to ask you."
Beatrice said as she picked up the large book she had been reading from the table again.
"Can you make any sense of this? I want to learn to feel the flow of nature's heart blood through inanimate objects..."
The Verbena sigh, that probably made little sense to the other mage, well then she would use the term for the only thing it was good for if you where not a Hermetic, as a way to translate what you wanted to do to someone of another Paradigm.
"Err, I am studying the apprentice degree of Matter I mean, and this is supposed to be a introductory text on it, but it is written by a Hermetic and I just do not get it, do you think you can make any sense of it?"
Beatrice asked hopefully and held the book out towards the other mage, having to use her other hand to support the tome due to it's weight.
"I would repay the favor off course."
The young Verbena said, after all the Protocols did require mages to pay one another for instruction not that she would expect the law to come crashing down on her over some help translating instruction to her Paradigm, if the Hermetic could even do that, but it was always wise to be polite.
"I mean I understand that the book talk about what I want to learn, but it is so far from how I see it I just can not make any sense of it."

Beatrice turned as a forth person entered the once all but empty common room, Richard came towards her and the two others, Bea liked Richard, he was always friendly.
"Coffee? Yeah I would love."
Beatrice said as she glanced down into her empty cup.
"I know I drink to much of the stuff but hey, the little pleasures in life eh."
The Verbena said with a grin, well the little pleasures in life and the demands of Chantry life and a mentor that expected results and only so many hours a day to get them.
"How was your day Richard."
Beatrice asks as she wonders if she should put the book she was gesticulating at Adley with down so she could hand Richard her cup.

Pours coffee for all, wether asked for or not.." My day, I was able to save a life. a child... so...today was a VERY good day"

He sits down leaving his coffee where he poured it... pulls out a new paper and starts to read... the hands occassioanly flicking the pages over as if nothing has happened.

Beatrice nodded at what Richard was saying, saving a life, that was a good thing, the young woman tells herself as she press the dark though and images she knew was coming from her Avatar down. Oh hush with you, Bee thinks, instead of being a nuisance, help me understand the magick I am trying to learn. But off course the...whatever if was an Avatar was, did not listen to her, but the images and ideas faded into the background, they where always there...always lurking, always tempting. Bee closed her eyes for a moment and forced herself to focus on something else.
"Well then you have done far better to day than me, I have been reading a book I just do not understand, it seams your day where more productive."
Beatrice said as she gave a bright smile, she was still holding onto the tome about magick and inanimate objects but she glances at the now filled coffee cup and grins.
"Thank you Richard."
Bee said as the other mage sat down to read Boston Times, a local newspaper.
"Has anything interesting happened?"
Bea asks, mostly just to be friendly as she nods towards the paper.

As he going through the pages " Nothing too much changes, the world suffers and needs help" As he smiles sadly..... gong quiet again looking over his paper

Adley looked to Beatrice again, ignoring the reticence he thought he caught in her body language as if it weren't there and focused on her chosen words. "It was my joy to give them a review today and see if they were practicing. It was to my chagrin to find that of course not everyone had been. I'm not surprised, it's an undergrad class."

Hearing Richard, he replied, "Yes please. That's most welcome."

He was about to greet the others when Beatrice hesitantly began to ask him about the tome. Naturally curious what she was reading, he took the heavy book and balanced it on a knee. "Hm..." Her own descriptions of the Ars when compared to the book he read was the crux of the problem, he would imagine. He wondered why she had chosen a book so contrary - was she desiring the extra challenge, had it drawn her? "Beatrice, why are you reading a book on Matter in a language and path that does not resonate with your given predilections? The theories are bound to be at odds. Aside from that, I do not know the Ars Materiae," he admitted, tapping the book. He did appreciate her offer of reciprocity and that her request was couched politely. He smiled slightly at her. "An introductory book, you said?" He flipped it open again and read the preface, feeling the weight of challenging impenetrability in every chosen word. "Well, you didn't imagine wresting a new key to the universe would be simple..." He scanned the pages curiously as he listened to Bruce and Richard, seating himself on the arm of the couch.

"Saved a child? That is a very good day," he turned his attention to Richard again and nodded, feeling a sense of camaraderie flit through him. Noting that there was coffee poured, he went over and took a cup, still holding the huge book that Beatrice and shown him and returned to his spot. "It depends what you think is interesting; I taught Greek and basic linguistics today. Are you not going to tell us what happened?"

To Beatrice he said, "Your frustration doesn't have to be wasted effort. I can read and speak many languages but not all of them. And even if I did, there is context that comes with this book that is not easily discernible even for its intended audience. That takes dedication and discipline to the path of learning it. This book is not just -about- the Ars Materiae."

"In a few moments..... I will.... just came from his bedside...... a victim... of an intoxicated driver he was on some chemical, a bad choice which he walked away from.... I had to push to get the right... treatment for the boy.... but I couldn't take the tears of joy from his parents.... that wracks me with guilt over our race and why he was there in first place" He abruptly stops... looks a little abashed and drops his head, as if turning to the paper again.

Beatrice sigh at the question of why she had chosen that particular tome as she took at coffee cup and sipped it, before replying to the Hermetic.
"Lack of choice really. I am a blood witch, we are a mostly oral tradition and yet my mentor do not study what you would know as Matter and I know no other blood witches, other Verbena yes, but not many sharing my Paradigm. Since I practice energy based sympathic magick, and that is the same as the Hermetic idea of above so below...well sort of the same anyway, I thought this work would be the closest, the only two other introductory texts I could find where both written by Etherites, and I could not even begin to understand those."
The young mage said as she sigh.
"The language is not so much the problem, I can read Latin, my mentor is old you know, the problem is that the Paradigm of this book, I just do not understand it. You see to me, in a way, all of it is blood, I see the great energy, Quintessence if you will as the life blood of reality, and then by using my own blood, it can communicate with it, shape it though sympathetic magick. However this book talks about will as if it was something more than the desire to do something, it references the old Hermetic arts, that wile I understand the worlds, and I have seen Gregory and your mentor use them, I do not understand how they work, and alchemy, chemistry, ancient connection between substances, all of this is tied into it, and while I can understand how someone can make sense of it, I can not fit it into my idea of reality."
Bee said as she sigh and sit down next to the Hermetic.
"One of the problems is that this book separate the Spheres, I do not. To me a Sphere is nothing but a ranking system, I know I can demonstrate such and such ability in what they call Life, so when someone ask me my rank I can tell them I am a Disciple of that Sphere, but beyond that it is all the same to me, all energy and I do not see a rock as different as a plant, all of it carry in it the life blood of reality"
Beatrice said, she was a dedicated student of the art and there was a sparkle in her eye and eagerness in her voice as she spoke of it.
"Moreover however my path is fluid, simple, while this is very structured. I know my mentor use more ritualistic magick though it is still nature based, but that never stuck with me."
Bee said before she turned her attention to Richard as he spoke about how he had saved that poor child, again she had to force down the ideas and images that came from her Avatar, it never spoke, it just tempted, Beatrice's Avatar communicated in images and feelings, but that was disturbing enough, Richard was so kind hearted, speaking about guild over the darkness of reality, the young Verbena wondered what he would think if he ever saw the darkness inside of her.
"You did and amazing job, and who know my friend, perhaps that boy will one day Awaken and be one of us."
Beatrice said and smiled, in her love for magick she had completely forgotten the dangers that came with it and that wishing Awakening on someone also mean wishing on them Paradox, Resonance, Quiets, the risk of going Marauder and of course dropping them right smack in the middle of a nearly 600 year old was between magick users, but to the Verbena the knowledge and quest for enlightenment was worth it and she assumed it would be for another person as well.
"Life is sacred, you should be proud Richard, for saving one."
The young mage said and smiles before she sipped her coffee again.

He listened as Beatrice explained her problem as well as how she viewed how her magick worked; an oral Traditionalist blood-witch seeking the secrets of the Hermetics from a book. "To understand the paradigm of the book, you must not just understand what you read but be the paradigm of the book, walk the path. That is what I meant by saying it is not just -about- the Ars. But it seems you've gotten there already." He sipped some of the coffee. "But you might be learning in a different way...you have described a great deal of how you view things," he said as diplomatically as he could. He didn't agree with much of it beyond some course similarities but that was the way he felt when discussing such things with most of those not in his Order. At least she was trying to understand and had sought out someone. It was really a matter of Will - if she saw Will as desire then there was another barrier; it was the same as manifesting change or being it. Of course, he could not explain to her some of the hidden teachings, even if he could it would mean essentially starting from day one. He couldn't see it. Perhaps a contrary would make her try again. Or give up. Or come up with a third option. "Causing a friction may lead to a fire. Still, it might be that the Ars Materiae aren't going to be something you can derive from this particular book, even if you -desire- it to be so. Or any that we've got on our shelf at the moment. "

He waited for Richard to decide to speak or remain silent. When he finally began to tell them what had happened, he realised that the person he had saved had been driving under the influence. "You saved more than that one man if you got him off the streets and on the path to recovery. He might have not only hurt himself but others."

Bruce accepts his cup with a friendly smile and a nod before sitting down to observe the magic discussion unfolding in front of him. It quickly devolves into a weird babble to him as they talk about blood, rituals, ars materiae or whatever the hermetic just said. He carefully sipped his coffee before speaking up "I have studied matter quite extensively over the last year or so. The secrets of the science laying behind matter is something that takes time and effort to understand, but it is worth it in the end. Sadly I do not think my methods can really be applicable for you to take inspiration from." He then turned to listen to Richards story with great interest as he continued to drink from his coffee

Beatrice nodded to what the Hermetic was saying, yes indeed it was doubtful that she could learn anything from a Hermetic tome, but for now without another Verbena to learn from, what other choice did she have, the young woman noticed the Hermetic's diplomatic tone, it was to be expected the Order generally looked down on the Paradigms of others, especially naturalistic ones, at least her Cabal mate did not say anything.
"Yeah you may be right that the book is of little use to me."
Beatrice said as she sipped her coffee and sigh.
"But I feel that learning to understand immaterial objects is the next step for me, the way I understand it, Hermetics call it pattern magick yes? But for me it is just this feeling I get that it is the next step for me, perhaps it is my Avatar nudging me but then she never speak, I only get these feelings so what do I know."
The blood witch sigh again, she envied those magi who had seen and spoken with their Avatars, hers was nothing but jumbled feelings and impulses, even during the one Seeking she had experienced that was all she got, and the rest was for her to piece together for herself, perhaps that was a blessing though, maybe she would have been like those kids she heard of who murdered their siblings and ran of to a Labyrinth if she had been exposed to her Avatar's full influence considering what it's former host had done in an earlier life. Beatrice sipped her coffee, perhaps but it would have been nice to hear it's voice, if only just once.
"Anyway I do not feel I can give up on this and my mentor can not teach me this, he have no interest in what he call dead objects and everyone who know how to manipulate that part of reality living at this Chantry have views even further removed from me, so I hoped I could perhaps learn enough from that book to figure out the rest for myself but...no luck so far."
Beatrice said and then she gave the Hermetic a grateful smile.
"I really appreciate you trying though, well for now this book is all I have so I guess I will try to read through it again, the problem off course is that a Sphere is really little more than a description and a rank, I mean Richard and I both know Life as far as I know, but what do that mean, I doubt that beyond a way to tell other mages that we can affect living things there is nothing that is similar, a Sphere is just a word, it is the meaning I need to learn and the author of this book's meaning when it comes to matter is just so far removed from mine."
The blood witch said as she finished her coffee and then looked at Bruce as he spoke.

"I think that an Artificer would be perhaps the furthest away from my Paradigm you can get unless you count Top Hats and their ilk, I mean you make some amazing things but I could not even begin to understand how."
Beatrice said as she put her empty cup down.
"Well I guess it would be no fun if it was easy eh."
The young Verbena said and grinned.

Imagination, reason and hard work is all there is to my work. " He said with a shy smile and a big nod to Beatrice as he crossed his legs and finished his cup of coffee and placed it on the table. He had been intently listening to her talk about her problems. "There are other verbena in the world. You could have your mentor ask for scripture or for someone to teach you. You can also just retreat into seclusion to quietly contemplate on matter."
He then leaned more back into his seat to make himself more comfortable as he watched the group to see and hear what they would do next in the conversation.

"If you think you need to learn this particular Ars, then you will find the way." He drained his cup, putting it on a side table. The book was heavy in his hands. "Even amongst our Tradition, a book alone is not usually the complete course of study. There is always more to learn. Whether it be one book or many, our our mentors. "

Perhaps there was one thing he might assist with, and yet not give away things too deep to be shared. "Beatrice, you say that 'sphere' is just a word. I would challenge that assumption. Aren't books made of words? Are we not using words right now? Didn't you ask me for help with words and we come to know the story of the boy that Richard saved with words? Let's take the word of 'sphere' and replace it with 'Ars.' You are attempting to learn the art of materials, the basis for alchemy, a transformational process. And you say your difficulty lay in seeing this state as..." he pauses to think for a moment, "that it is not separated from other Ars." He looked at her, instead of the book. "But the right words allows application of your will to materials in this state and demand that the change be so."

These were basic tenets that everyone in the Order knew; how to explain that the Ars were transformational, that those with the knowledge of matter could control and transform at will materials from their basic components, wresting the spark of divinity within it to a higher state? Certainly, while he was not studying it himself, it was impossible for him to teach it, even if she were in the Order. But as many of the main issue were due to paradigm, he continued to dance through concepts, keeping himself along the edge of what she seemed to have already gleaned or what was within the common scope of the Chantry. It would be most challenging to scratch even the surface of this tome if the diametrically opposed beliefs were held close. Still, she wanted to try again and so he held the book back out to her.

He looked at Bruce and nodded in agreement. "Yes, it might to do request assistance from another Verbana. Perhaps your mentor would be inclined to suggest someone to you?" Sometimes asking a mentor for knowledge outside their expertise was insulting; and it would indeed bring more favours to fulfill but if the Will was there then it would not be denied. She would make the path open before her.

Beatrice nodded she could ask her mentor to help her find another blood witch to teach her, but like the Protocols said, the teacher's debt must always be repaid, to bring someone in to teach an apprentice would get expensive and Bee doubted because my Avatar want it, would hold much sway with her mentor who for obvious reasons distrusted her Avatar.
"I can ask Amadeus but, I doubt that he will be much willing to help bring in someone else, not while there are other arts to learn that he can teach."
The young mage said.
"He have allowed me time to try to study what you two would call Matter on my own, if I get results, but I do not think he will be very helpful."
Bee said, she wondered if anyone would ask why she was still so very much under the sway of her mentor even if she was initiated and was a full member of the Traditions, the Hermetic might understand, but the two others? Not wanting questions she could not answer Beatrice quickly moved on, she looked at Adley as the man spoke she nods.
"Hum...you might be right, words do have a meaning I agree, but it is just so hard for me, I tend to see all Pattern magick as one, not as separate Spheres. I guess it is hard for me to explain, I see the patterns as veins and Quintessence as blood that flow through them, by drawing a representation of that pattern in blood I can manipulate it, it is then hard for me to separate that into three Spheres instead of one system."
Beatrice as as she accepted the book back.
"But I can try to work on the words, it is worth a try at least."
Bee said then she gave an apologetic smile.
"I am sorry, I must be boring both of you with my problems, I mean I really should not complain, i live in a Chantry with access to a library and I have a good Cabal and a kind mentor, I am better of than so many."
The young mage said before smiles again.

Colin calmly entered the Common Room, brushing an imaginary speck of dust off the sleeve of his suit.
"Ah, good afternoon. I presume you're not all gathered for tea, are you?"
The outright mismatched, Frankensteinesque face, covered in ugly scarring, belied his cheerful tone.
"Ah, did I walk on on something?"
Casting a quick glance at Beatrice, he added, "Oh, dear, still having a spot of bother with the textbooks, are you?"

Beatrice looked at Colin as he entered and spoke she pointed at her now empty cup and grins.
"Coffee actually."
The young Verbena muttered.
"Do you want a cup, I am sure I can scrunch up some tea as well if you prefer that."
Beatrice said then she shake her head.
"No, we all ended up here by coincidence and started talking."
The Verbena explained and she had to smile when the thought of how absurd it was that there now was five mages gathered around a sitting room just like if they where having a coffee break at the office. Bee glance down at the heavy tome that now was back in her hands.
"Yeah I am not having much luck with it."
The young mage said and grimaced.
"I just do not get the idea behind this magickal theory...but what about you Colin, did you come up her for some specific reason? Because I mean if you guys don't mind I think it look like we all could need a break and some dinner, there are this pizza place that delivers not that far from here, okey so not a healthy option, but it is food and it might be nice to share a meal with others for once rather than it just being me and Amadeus."

Colin chuckled, "Actually, I was hoping to find a few people here; there were a few good sales today, and I thought I'd celebrate by going out for a better dinner. But I so detest going out alone, you know how it is..."
Clearing his throat a bit, he added, "As for tea, you know full well that my personal stock is quite above average for America; there'll be little need to 'scrunch', as you put it. Oh, and if the books are causing you difficulty, perhaps a bit of practical trial and error might be more to your liking? Here, why don't you see what you can glean from this..."
Digging into his pocket, Colin fished out a single silver coin and flicked it unerringly to Beatrice before sitting down in a chair and grabbing a newspaper.
"I'll tell you nothing about it, of course - one shouldn't want to bias your experiments."

He looked up as Colin came through the door and nodded to him. "Good afternoon," he said in polite greeting. He fell quiet as the man proceeded to take a coin and toss it to the blood witch, speaking of experiments. After a moment of regarding the item from his vantage point he replied to Beatrice. "I haven't had anything to eat since lunch. Pizza sounds fantastic to me. I'll put my things away and I can go pick the pizza up." It was safer than ordering direct to the Chantry. He was sure people did it, but it wasn't a great hardship for him if it was the place down the road.

Bruce shrugged since this is just a trivial meeting and there are no greater purposes to directly work with so going for pizza seems perfectly okay with him at the moment. He would crack his neck slightly before nodding to his fellow mages "Well sure I could grab a bite to eat." He said casually as he got up from his seated position and prepared to move to the exit with the others

Colin sighed inaudibly behind his newspaper.
"Very well, pizza, then... Adley, my treat today - here, and don't forget to tip."
A hand stretched out with four twenty-dollar bills in a paperclip.
"I believe this should cover three extra-large pizzas of any configuration, and more."

"Take your ease Bruce, unless you would like to join me on a walk. I'll bring it back to us. I have to drop something along the way."

He looked to Colin, then the money in his hand and then examined the insinuation that he would forget to tip. He'd rather not fall into debt with someone who thought that he didn't appreciate service where it was due. He took the money, unfolded it, took one of the twenties clipped the money back together and then held the rest back.

"Thank you, Colin. I won't forget to tip," he said, with a slight tone that implied he had found the implication distasteful.

Colin lowered the newspaper a little, eying the little stack of bills.
"Oh, no, Adley, I insist on paying for it all today. And, ah, of course you won't forget to tip; my apologies, I have to keep reminding myself of the practice... a small misstep to extend the reminder to others, I'm afraid."

(OOC: Checked the price of pizza in the Boston area - seems to be about twenty bucks apiece for an extra large, so the four twenties would be the right sum. )