Erich looks personally offended when the cat hisses and runs away. He's also a cat person and prides himself on his (imagined) cat telekinetic abilities. " Little bastard. It's s good thing I didn't shove it in my pants. Been like smuggling a blender or something." Erich tells dustyn softly. Half relieved,half sad. Erich did love a challenge. " Honestly,with a name like Fifi,you have to expect her to rule the roost. That's no name for common rabble felines." Erich states. He has an affection for really bitchy cats. The old ones deserve to be irritable. Same goes for people. Erich squeezes in-between the throngs of people. If it were another time,he'd have tried to get a few of the cuter ones to follow them inside. But alas,erich did have some sorts of morals. Inside, Erich ooh'd and ahh'd over the buildings interior. After living on the Duke,it seemed odd not to see pipes overhead constantly. " You think they have nitrous tanks in here? " Erich asks Dusty,takijg note of the dentist look and smell of the place. Erich tries to lift a pizza box lid and pilfer a pepperoni ,but the veggie pizza is on top of the stack. So Erich just makes a face. Erich looks around the elevator and back at Dusty " well, Dusty, that depends on the smell. If it's just a loud one, we'll giggle like school kids. But if it's smelly...I'm calling culture uncut." Erich grins back at dustyn.

Erich politely tries to ignore the fart. But the echo and length make it hard to do. He makes eye contact with dustyn and slyly starts writing something on his phone. " Is swamp ass hyphenated? Im uh.....asking for a friend." He chuckles at Dustyn. Dusty is right though, the elevator has a reverb that would put any vintage fender amp to shame. As the echo dies down,erich cracks open a beer and quips, " good thing we didn't get that cat. Poor thing would have died from shock."

Erich was ready to see some weekend rumbling,but it was just the tv pissing Billy off. Erich loved the fallout series and would be fibbing if he said it wasn't at least partly responsible for the idea and imagery used for atomic war bride.

Erich gives everyone a hearty hello. It's been awhile since he's spent time with his favorite group of young English and Irish singers. The fact that the veggie pizza will be mostly unused brightens Erich's day. Nobody should eat that shit. But he does ask Riley, "so you lactose intolerant or just against animal products?" He was curious and could appreciate either reason .

Erich dramatically holds dustyn back,as if he was going to punch Riley at any second. " No Dustyn,he don't mean no harm." He tells dustyn this in an exaggerated southern accent. Which on top of his actual southern accent, provides a vortex of southerness that nearly turns the entire room into a NASCAR track.

"swamp ....ass." Erich mumbles as he finishes up what he is writing. It's actually just a text to karoliena that only contains the words swamp and ass. She'll be greatly puzzled when she receives it. "Yeah,i don't doubt that a bit. it's a good thing we didn't buy liquor. I'd douse myself in it and self immolate. " Erich comments to Dustyn,fanning the air furiously ." God dammit,its like a mist. I can feel the molecules sticking to my hand." He wails miserably. Being in a near constant state of hallucination, he is slightly more in tune with the universe than Most people.

Erich listens to the rationale behind Riley's aversion to the world of meat. He was the sort that really didn't fault anyone's opinions on anything as they weren't hurting anyone. " Well, that seems like as good a reason as any. I have had some not dogs and vegan cheese...." Erich just leaves it at that. He hated the stuff. It was forced on him during a visit to some of Ada's friends. Nobody told him the nasty stuff was vegan,so it was quite a shock when he bit into it. He'd never felt so cheated in his life. " So....how does...um...you know.. work? I mean people are human and you're going to get some in your mouth. No matter how careful you are." Now Erich's curiosity was piqued and the gears were turning. He wasn't trying to put Reilly's toes to the fire,it was just an issue he was sure had to come up once in awhile.

When startled,erich also was prone to scream rather girly. It was a long held secret from many atomic war bride tours. It was a source of much lighter. always one to hate awkward silences,erich let's out a high pitched and very long fart. He innocently looks around to see where the sound came from.

" I knew nobody could really like the not dogs! Dammed things look like drowned corpses' penises." Erich states, dangling his finger for added emphasis. Truthfully,he probably would try one.... if they weren't sickly and pale looking
" Are we trying to go all phallic here? Not dogs,meatless meatballs...people are going to start talking,riley. I'd give em a go. I had some meatless....things. they were Sorta pyramid shaped pastry things filled with bean or rice...stuff. we had them at an Indian place. Fucking delicious." Erich rambles, desperately waiting one of the pastry chef things he just explained.he felt meat substitutes were ok when they weren't being sneaky and looking like real meat dishes. Erich nods appreciatively at Riley's answer. He felt the entire world should work as hard as it could to ensure everyone was pleased in the loving department. " Good good. Can't have that lady being sad. You never know who could be lurking,just waiting for you to slip" Erich leans in close to whisper this. his eyes roam and settle on Dustyn's cat,to which he nods towards. " It can be anyone. Even shape shifting cats." Erich is the sort that could actually be serious about this statement.

Erich let's the two bicker over fallout. he pondered giving horrendously outdated hints like where the water chip could be found or how to instantly get out of tranquility Lane. But he remains quiet,partially wanting to see where this would end up. If it turned physical Erich would just stand by. If it wasn't dustyn,he figured it wasn't his place .

Erich isn't above letting his son take the fall for a fart. But he does gingerly step on the floor. " Could be a loose floorboard.or the house settling. You can never be too sure.or a ghost. England must be crawling with those bastards." Erich didn't like the idea of ghosts. He likened them to workaholics who never wanted to go home. He helps himself to another beer.he had a reputation to uphold.

" sure, Lydia. You can just go right in studio60's building and get all the Post it notes and vending machine snacks you want." Lydia says to herself in a mocking tone. Erica and Nina of the harlots told her studio60 was an empty husk of a building and they had plundered it several times. Yet,here Lydia was in the middle of a very occupied building, looking confused and holding a crowbar. Being talent and attached to the harlots,nobody really questioned why she was holding such a tool. urban exploration wasn't going to happen. So she walked down halls, randomly tapping doors with her crowbar.

This was bullshit. There wasn't supposed to be anyone here. She couldn't very well just walk in and take stuff with many witnesses. While the harlots certainly kept the label afloat through the lean years,the band probably used up all the goodwill. "Ooh,coffee!" Lydia squeaks while looking through the window of an empty room. She didn't bring any money for the vending machines,since she was told she could just break into them. Casually,Lydia tries the door handle and it easily turns. She opens it and looks around the room, empty aside from that cup of steaming coffee. "Am I really going to drink from a random cup?!" She asks herself before sitting on the table and facing away from the window. She had a phone and it was the modern day,some cafe around had to have Google pay or whatever it was called.

"Gah!" lydia screams when a voice is heard. its a good thing she hadnt had anything to drink before coming here as it certainly would've exited her at the shock she just received. before she could see the person that the voice came from,lydia jumps back with both her and the crowbar clattering to the floor. "lord jesus ,help me. " she says in the tone of someone's southern grandma and clutching her chest. "the fuck is wrong with you?! who hides under a table and scares people??" she asks,now cracking up. she would know madison by name,but certainly had no clue what the woman looked like. the woman seemed to have a kind face " if you didnt look semi normal,i'd think you were lurking in order to cut people'
Achilles tendons!" she accuses.

Madison's possessiveness in regards to the cup of coffee was half cute,half animalistic. The gesture was the human equivalent of a dog hiking it's leg. "Crow bar.." Lydia muses while looking around before her eyes fall on it. The item's presence was hard to explain. It wasn't exactly every day someone traveled internationally to steal post it notes and break into vending machines. "Oh... that.' she explains softly," I ..uh came to... renegotiate my contract..I drive a hard bargain." she says while looking around the room. Lydia was a terrible liar. Especially when put on the spot like this. If this woman was someone who dealt in contracts this would get really weird, really quick.


"Semi normal", Lydia repeats, pointing under the table. "How can I know you don't just like hanging out under tables and drinking your coffee like a Hobbit or something?" Lydia chuckles. When Madison mentions complimentary things for talent, Lydia puts two and two together. "I'm talent too! I recognize you from the instagram!" Lydia pipes up, pointing to Madison. Lydia wasn't really used to the idea that people on instagram were real people that she may see in person. And yes, Lydia was the sort to call it the instagram. So she sounded quite impressed. " I'm talent too! Do they hand you a cup when you come in? I didn't get one." She says in disappointment .

" Oh you." Lydia smiles and waves her hand. "Look at your own hair. Beautiful.' Lydia says excitedly. As a hair dye enthusiast, she could appreciate a good dye job. Getting it all one shade was very very hard. Lydia looked around and took one of the chairs to the side of Madison, rather far away and clearly meant for one of the lesser staff members. "I never worked in an office. Do we make small talk about the tps reports or something?" She jokes. Since the pandemic hit, she'd only been around Erica and Nina...she could use a break.

lydia considered she may be getting in over her head. she wasnt so much a bad ass when it came to business negotiations. like,at all. over at the harlots camp,the morticia addams looking woman's wife handled all the business affairs. cappie or something was her name. "um...you'd probably want to fire me in a week. i tend to use my smashing tools to get office supplies." lydia grins at her newfound friend. "the band i am in cant even get on the charts. i think its in our contract or something." lydia says rather confused,now giving a little shrug. she continues after a sigh. "of course,thats the punk rock code." she says as if this is an absolute,like the sun rising or her hair never being a natural color. this woman seemed fun, at least in the face of another strange woman who was holding a large piece of steel.

lydia shakes her head at madison. "i am sorry,i dont speak mole person. your accent is strange and your ways are different than mine. " she giggles,now looking under the table for a portal to the center of the earth. she gives a little nod as if to mentally approve of madison before actually getting somewhat serious about the conversation. "no t-shirt cannons?! why are we signed to this label? i would expect this sort of treatment over at pesky kids. but here?! i guess we're just going to have to take matters into our own hands. a tshirt cannon killed maude flanders. we need to remind them of that fact." lydia states while tapping her finger on the desk for emphasis after each word. it was probably time to be honest,this woman seemed like she would be cool with why lydia was here and armed. she liked free coffee,so that was sympathetic to the cause. " to be honest, i came here to break into vending machines and steal post it notes. but...i was told nobody actually occupied this building. boy,is my face red!" she giggles,casually kicking the crowbar under the table.

"maddie!" lydia says,instantly using the new knowledge,"your hot number on number action is too spicy for my virgin ears!" lydia screeches and pretends to be embarrassed. she leans back in the chair and it makes a loud creaking sounds. it turns out,these chairs arent supposed to be leaned back in. "i'm lydia santangelo, newest member of the harlots. i...play bass and brass. band nerd,extraordinaire!" she says with a nod of her head.

"did you just volunteer? i mean, i got the crowbar." lydia says with a hint of flirtation and a little shrug. as a bassist,she was naturally sort of a background being. at least in regards to her current position. her tastes were closer to atomic war bride than the harlots,but it was probably safe to assume karoliena wouldnt be going anywhere. she also preferred an upright bass to the normal electric bass, it stood out more. she looked out the slot of a window in the door at the people running around in typical office fashion. " oh yeah. i could take these people. you wield the words,i'll wield the fists." she holds up her tattooed hands. the tcb that stands for taking care of business on her fingers lends a bit of meat to her threat. in reality,lydia was far too good natured to really do anything like that.

"huge tits?! i fail to see how those are going to help with a t shirt cannon!" lydia exclaims with very wide eyes after purposely mishearing maddie. she was a very immature person and would never hide that fact. with lydia,what you saw was what you got. " the label doesnt even give you t-shirt designs?! maybe we do need to burst into someone's office and set things right. they'll have to pry the t-shirt cannon from our cold dead hands!" she says dramatically and recites the famous line from the nra. she wasnt sure if the constitution's second amendment extended to shirt cannons or only firearms that shot lead. she wasnt a lawyer and that was above her pay grade.

"i've yet to really live life on the road. so i have no hotel sundries! it is like i am a poseur to the craft.i...i dont even have so much as a bar of soap from a hotel." lydia says while pretending to be embarrassed,though there was some truth to it. she didnt feel like a real musician. she'd not been on tour or even played in an actual venue yet. she assumed the woman in front of her had. anyone could play in front of a camera. but in a venue? with things flying through the air? crowds being able to boo? that was what separated the pros from everyone else.

"i cant take the heat. i must get out of the kitchen!" she agrees when maddie says this just isnt for her. lydia may not get the vending machine snacks and office supplies. "i cant take any credit for any of their coolness." lydia says to maddie humbly with little frown." so far the only thing i've done is play on some streams and on that last single. what about you? are you queen of the number crunchers here? oh my god...do i work for you?!" she cackles and sits up straight and puts her hair behind her ears and tries to put on a professional expression. outside of a very select few acts,lydia wasnt up on the acts out there in the world.