Jaden nodded.

"Of course." he replied.

He then looked at the folder again, and bit his lower lip slightly.

".....right." he mumbled, putting the file off to the side.

"Anyway." he said.

"Oh yeah, you sure you're okay with giving me a bag of that Gold-Rush Bounty coffee?" he asked.

"That shit's expensive."

Jaden just chuckled.

"Well, then. Fair enough." he said.

"Though payment is not needed. However, I also know it's pointless to argue." he muttered.

After they ate, they reconvened to the den area, and were discussing their plan.

"So I assume I will need to find a way to get close." he told her.

"In some organic way." he went on.

"We need to think up a plausible excuse."

"....say now." Jaden mumbled.

"Yeah, that can be arranged." he said.

"Especially considering philosophy deals with the fundamental nature of reality, among other things. he continued. "And my performances are considered to be 'reality-defying'." he went on.

"I'll need to speak with my agent about it." he then said, before pausing.

"Unless you can bypass her and just set it up." he went on.

"Regardless, she'll need to know I'll be performing there." he said further.

Jaden grabbed a scrap of paper and a pen, and wrote a number down, before handing it to her.

"Here." he said.

"That's her personal number." he told her.

"As well as her work number." he went on.

"I'll let her know to expect a call from you, so you'll have an easier time getting through." he added.

"But I'll leave the red tape and string-pulling to you. You have WAY more connections than me, to massively understate it."

When she went downstairs, she had a choice. She had two pools, one for swimming, the other one her own personal aquarium. And she had a feeling she knew which one Rene was in.

Sure enough, when she went to the aquarium, she saw a bunch of her fishes swimming around in it. Many endangered and rare, being kept there as part of a preservation program, many not meant for the mortal populace to see. And there were a few sharks in it as well... but, at largest, they grew to be a metre in length.

But she saw a humanoid figure swimming around with all the fish, and noticed as a shark approached... and the figure started to pet the shark's nose.

After a few seconds of that, the figure seemed to notice Kalin was there, and rose to the surface, revealing the green-haired man in question.

"Yo." he said, as the shark circled around.

"Sup?" he asked.

"And yeah, seems... what'd you name this one? Bruno? Seems he likes to have his nose petted." he then added.

Rene raised an eyebrow as Kalin sai what she did, and turned to the shark.

"She's an enigma." he muttered.

"I'll be up there in 10, max!" he called to her.

Sure enough, about 8 minutes later, he had gotten out of the 'aquarium', dried himself off, changed into some casual clothing, and made his way upstairs, to the den, where the two women were.

"Ladies." he greeted them.

"What's up, Sydney?" he asked their visitor.

"Booty call?" he asked further with a laugh... but also a vague undertone of hope to his voice.

Rene paused for a moment, and pondered it.

"Hmmmmm..." he mumbled.

"Ah!" he said, snapping his fingers.

"Yeah! I can!" he told her.

"I think I know just the way to." he continued.

"I'll get right on that." he said further.

"Also, protection of a young magician?" he asked.

".......seems like an odd assignment."

Immediately, Rene froze.

"...excuse me?" he asked.

"Did you just say 'Desiree McCormick'?" he asked her.

"I did." Sydney confirmed.

Rene looked at Kalin, and then back towards Sydney, confusion and concern in his expression.

"This IS worrisome." he said.

"She's the sweetest thing." he commented further.

Rene smirked.

"That'd be perfect." he said.

"Actually... I think it'd be good for Desiree." he then said further.

"She doesn't idolize Jaden... far from it... but she DOES respect him and look up to him, in a professional way." he told Sydney.

"Granted, they have VERY differing styles of show, but she appreciated how he went from an underground weirdo of a magician, to one that has some serious street cred." he went on.

"...she really doesn't seem to be the type to like the crowd he attracts, though." he then mumbled.

"But seeing as the venue is her school, and it's an impromptu show, that shouldn't be a big issue." he reasoned.

Rene watched Kalin go, before sitting down and looking at Sydney.

"Watch." he said.

"Give her 35 minutes, tops." he told her.

"She'll come back, and EVERYTHING will have been set up. Perfectly." he said further.

He was then silent, before sighing heavily.

"Still..." he mumbled. "To think there's going to be an attack on her." he went on.

"I'd say it's unthinkable, but... well... from what I've heard, her past is filled with violence towards her." he continued.

"Life just isn't fair."