After Arundel (RP)

- Emma -

Your message goes through and you quickly see Charles start typing...

He is still typing when you arrive a few minutes later, it must be one doozy of a message.

You are pretty much soaked through when you arrive, but Sarah was mostly protected by your umbrella, just her boots and the bottoms of her tights are wet. She slips off her boots and hugs her legs to her chest again, not meeting your eyes.

What do you do?

- Jacob -

"Huh? I don't know. Someone at the party mentioned it in passing. We did not go into details about 'activation sequences' or anything, it did not seem all that important at the time." Crowley says.

"You are the one with the penchant for opening these doors. I just recognise them ... And there does seem to be something here, though I can't quite put my finger... or toe, as it is, on it." He kicks that the weed-covered surface. "This is veiled. So I can't be at all sure this is what we think it is."

What do you do?

- Emma -

Sarah shakes her head, her face hidden behind the steaming coffee mug so you can only really see her eyes below her fringe.

You don't actually know much about Sarah. She has not spoken about herself or why she is in London, but, from what little she has ever said, you think she has a rural accent and uses simple words except when speaking about farming. She has not mentioned her job, but you don't think she is a student based on her schedule of free time during the day.

What do you do?

"Sure, I’ll give you his telephone number," Benji agrees.

He is very happy to hear that the Night Sisters interests align with his own, as he hoped they might. "Oh! That’s terrific news! I promised Boadicea I would try to destroy the object but, to be perfectly honest, I hadn’t the faintest idea how I was going to do that. I’d like to help you, if I can."

"I’m inclined to trust you too," he says, sincerely. "I’ve also spoken to Shelyna Artmitage about this, but I trust her less… I don’t know her very well but she doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would be interested in destroying a powerful magical object if she has the opportunity to use it for her own purposes instead."

When asked about Lizabeth, he responds a bit more hesitantly. He genuinely wants to help the Night Sisters destroy this lamp, but protecting Lizabeth is his priority. "She’s sleeping right now but I’ll ask her when she wakes up. I’m not so sure about hypnosis, but she’ll probably be willing to talk to you, at least."

- Benji -

What would a two century old vampire know about GDPR laws, hey? Amira thanks you for Jacob's details, making a note. If Jacob is receptive to her advances she will Owe you a Debt for making an introduction, but you might actually need to make that introduction if he is screening his calls from strangers.

You have also, pretty much, revealed who your accomplice was last night —and after all the trouble you went to last night to avoid mentioning Jacob. If Amira knows Jacob is a demon and was at the soirée she does not show any surprise.

"for sure we both have a better chance of destroying it if we work together?" She points out. "Though it may be advisable to not tell too many others about this plan. Some may want to use it, and many will oppose the destruction of an ancient artifact on general principle. 'It belongs in a museum!'" She quotes Indiana Jones, whether you get the reference or not.

"Yes. Mss Artmitage is precisely the sort who would be aghast at such an action. Though she is unlikely to be foolish enough to try using it... I don't think..." She does not sound all that confident about Shelyna's ability to resist the lures of power, though. "Why did you bring her into this?" Amira asks, curious about the connection.

There is a brief pause, and you think she was about to say something about last night, but does not find the words so that moment is missed.

"Oh, hypnosis is quite safe." She assures you (expressing her own opinion which does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the GM or the game). "Will you give me a call when you have spoken to her?" You can tell that Amira is quite eager to speak to Lizabeth, but both times she has allowed you to take the lead, using words like 'when you have spoken to her' rather than 'as soon as she wakes up', for instance, inherently leaving Lizabeth the option of refusing. This seems like a very soft-touch in this hard world.

What do you do?

- Emma -

"Oh! Thank you! Thank you!" Sarah exclaims with so much obvious relief that you may have a difficult time rejecting her if David does say 'no', though he is a caring soul, so the chances of that are very low... He is also unavailable on the phone right now —in an emergency you can (almost) always (usually) get hold of him on the radio via dispatch, no matter where he is— so you possibly can't check with him till he gets home this evening.

You do, finally get your reply from Charles. For the typing time it took it is surprisingly short, also —possibly unsurprisingly— very supportive:

The young lady seemed distraught. Take care of her. Dont worry about us.

"Did he say 'yes'?" Sarah asks eagerly, like a puppy.

What do you do?

- Emma -

"Umm? Oh, yes." Sarah says glancing down with less enthusiasm at her untouched coffee that was purely being used to warm her hands and face, before drinking it down in one long gulp. She springs to her feet, ready to go.

What do you do?

- Emma -

You are substantially more than 'damp', having focused the umbrella to shield Sarah as much as possible.

All Sarah has are the clothes on her back and her phone. "I'll be fine." She says when you offer to lend her 'essentials'. She still has not spoken much other than to answer your questions, but she follows up slipping out of her wet boots by slipping out of her damp tights as well, draping them over the radiator (or windowsill or whatnot if you don't have a radiator) and padding around in her bare-feet and knee-length, oversized jersey.

"It's delightful!" Sarah exclaims about your apartment, looking around you small place. She seems completely at ease and makes herself instantly at home —her shyness at the group clearly not being related to her confidence.

---

You would not call her 'proficient' in the kitchen, but she is curious, and interested, and willing, and follows instructions fairly well. Your vegetables are not quite all the same size, but they should stir-fry up well enough nonetheless.

It is probably still an hour or so before you would expect David home.

What do you do?

- Emma -

Sarah looks uncomfortable, surely it can't be the very light questions you have gently left for her? She puts a hand to her stomach, and looks at you. "Where's the bathroom?" She asks before darting off in the direction you indicate. She is in there for a while. You think you hear her throwing up quietly.

But before you can do more, David arrives home, (slightly) early for a change. He looks unhappy, you can almost see him 'put on a happy face' as he walks in. He does not like to bring his work troubles home with him.

What do you do?

- Emma -

His mood markedly lightning at your greeting, David see the still-raw veggies on the counter and agrees: "Yes, well. Beautiful food and a hot wife will have to do."

Not knowing there are guests in the house his hands are strategically placed to hold you up and take the weight off his neck. Sarah gets an eyeful of him getting an handful, and you hear a suppressed giggle from behind you.

What do you do?

Benji promises to call Amira back once he’s had a chance to speak with Lizabeth about all this, but he isn’t sure he should tell her about Lizabeth’s connection to Shelyna. It doesn’t feel like his secret to share and he’s quite certain they would both be very cross with him if word got out about Lizabeth’s ties to the Artmitage family. "I’d prefer not to say," he tells Amira, not wanting to lie to her and risk losing her trust. "I’ve arranged to have a meeting with Shelyna about this later today though. Do you think she might have information that could be useful to us?"