Micky ran his bruised knuckles under the spigot before sticking his entire head under the frigid flow. Pulling back and shaking the water free from his hair, Micky was surprised to see Algernon sauntering across the training area accompanied by a slender man dressed in a loose gray robe.

“Morning Micky, I thought I’d check in on our newest recruit. Ingunn must have gone easy on you” Algernon said with a grin.

“I’m pretty sure I saw her smile too, so I must be doing something right” Micky responded.

“That’s definitely one option. That or she’s planning the next hit” laughed Algernon. “I thought it might be a good time to introduce your new team lead an healer. This is Gwilym, I thought you might be needing his services right about now.”

Stretching out his fingers Micky turned to the new man, noticing his bright red hair and fair skin. “Honestly I think I’m okay, but I appreciate the thought. I’m Micky.”

“al'right byt, how's it going?” Gwilym responded with a friendly grin, his accent lilting musically. “I lead a crew for this reprobate” he gestured towards Algernon.

“Steady on, don’t be forgetting who signs the cheques round here.”

“that would be you byt, getting rich on all our hard work.” Turning back to to Micky he continued, “let us see you hands, I’ll sort em out for you quickly.”

“Right, ill be off then. Gonna go enjoy the fruits of all that hard work” Algernon shot back, before walking back towards his office.

Stretching out his hands towards Gwilym Micky had no idea what was about the happen. With an easy confidence Gwilym extended a hand towards him, palm aimed at the offered hands and fingers splayed wide. A warm gust of air seemed to extend from his palm curling around Micky and ruffling his clothes. The wind brought with it a gentle warming sensation, Micky could feel his fingers and wrists tingling as the slight swelling from mistimed blocks eased, first diminishing, then vanishing entirely.

With a wide stretch of newly relaxed muscles Micky grinned widely at Gwilym. “Mate that was wicked, thank you. I reckon I’ve got to get that healing song Mattheo offered me.”

“Happy to help, and yes get the healing song. I’ll not be able to do this too often, so if you could passively heal a load of us at once it would be a great help.”

“I’ll pick it up today, Mattheo should be back this afternoon for another session.”

“Good stuff byt, before that thought lets us have a wee chat. Go grab a shower then meet me out front.”

“Can do bossman” said Micky, enjoying the easy informality Gwilym offered. “I’ll be out front in fifteen-ish.”

A brief shower and a change of clothes later Micky strolled through reception and out into the clean air of the entranceway.

“Al’right let’s get a bite and we’ll have a chat”

“Ah mate, I don’t think I can handle Narasimhaan food again, near killed me last time.”

“Not to worry, there’s a tidy wee cafe just over the bridge.”

Sighing with relief Micky followed Gwilym back towards Baer’s Landing. A brief walk later they found themselves in front of a small cafe with tables of steel and glass set in front of it.

“Pull up a pew and I’ll grab us some food. Coffee?” Asked Gwilym.

“Yes please mate, a coffee sounds brilliant.”

Gwilym emerged from the cafe with two steaming mugs a few minutes later and pulled up a seat.

“Cheers” said Micky, taking the mug gratefully. “I’m not going to lie, finding coffee here was is in my top ten for Outremer surprises.”

“Not to worry, you can get the next one. Food’ll be out in a bit there. Before it arrives we can have a chat here.”

“Of course mate, what’s on your mind?”

“Algernon has set you up with my team, so I need to know what you’re about.” Some of the ease had gone out of Gwilym’s voice and he looked directly at Micky. “Starting with Stats and Skills, what can you do?”

“That’s a fair question, I didn’t know Algernon had decided on a team for me. I kinda thought I’d be going with him.” As he replied Micky extended an arm towards the pale man and shared his Stats and Skills.

“That’s pretty tidy” responded Gwilym after a pause. “We’ll try to push your Might and Grace to 12 or 13 before we set out. The Research and Writing mean you’ll be able to help Tavish out with anything we come across, and the Performance Skills should give you a good base for your buffs.”

“Yeah, Mattheo has giving me some pretty handy Abilities too” said Micky before sharing that part of his menu.

“Lush, I can see your trainer has put some thought into what you’ve been taught. You’ve a ton of support Abilities and you’re set to find things which might be hidden. I wasn’t best pleased when Algernon told me I was getting a rookie, but I can see why he’s sorted things this way.”

“I’m glad, like I said I don’t really know anything about your crew. Can you give me a bit of background.”

“The core crew is a five man team, six now with you. Each member has multiple roles depending on what needs doing. I’m in charge unless Algernon is on site and Tavish, our engineer is my second. Our job is to run the operation and keep the rest of the team safe. Ingunn is in charge of security so it’s good you’ve met her already.”

“Ingunn is on a team, I thought she just ran training at the compound?” Asked Micky, confusion plain on his face.

“That’s more of a hobby for her to be honest. I’m pretty sure she just enjoys seeing us suffer” Gwilym replied with a grin. “After that there’s Zofia, she’s our cartographer, and Yan. He’s in charge of logistics.

“Ok, cool. I think I understand a bit more now. So what’s my role in all this? You guys seem to have it all pretty much covered.”

“You’ll be coming in to cover support. Your job is going to be helping everyone else with their individual roles. You’ll help Tavish locate items of interest and help with excavations using Bolster Flesh. You’ll help me heal any injuries once you get that Ability. You’ll also work alongside Ingunn in security if needs be, so she will be continuing your training.”

“Ill keep working on it, I can tell it’s already started to show some results” Micky said with an exaggerated flex of one biceps.

“Im not sure you’ll be threatening Ingunn with those things any day soon byt, but it’s worth doing anyways.”

As Gwilym finished speaking the food arrived in the form of two steaming plates, eggs and toast piled high with bacon and lashed in a dark brown sauce. “Proper tidy this is” he enthused.

“Like a full English from back home” Micky agreed before digging in. “Hey you’re a human like me right? So does that mean your from the same ‘verse as me?”

Finishing a slice of toast Gwilym took a slow breath before responding. “There are humans across many of the ‘verses which link to Outremer, so not every human, or their ancestors, came here from the same verse. My great great grandfather came from a place he called Cymry. A proper foaming barbarian he was. That may be the same ‘verse that you arrived from, but I can’t be sure.”

“That’s good to know” replied Micky thoughtfully. “The induction pack I was given by the TRC was fairly light on those kind of details.”

“That’s not too surprising, it’s more the business of Arcanists and Physicists than the average man on the street. I know Algernon consults with them if a convergence site is more complicated or active than it should be.”

Finishing lunch in a patter of smooth conversation, before Gwilym finished his coffee and stood up slowly. “I do so love a lunch at Algernon’s expense” he said with a smile. “Micky, it’s been good to get a look at you, I’m sure we can find a home for you in our team. I’ll be bringing the others along to join training over the next few days so you can meet them as well. That and I enjoy watching Ingunn make the mitchers run a little. We’re scheduled to inspect the leftovers from a heavy gravity convergence in two weeks. If you’re up to standard by then I’ll make sure you’re included.

“It’s been good to meet you too” replied Micky, “and I’ll be honest, I won’t mind seeing Ingunn put someone else through the wringer a bit either.”