Winter our discontent (RP)

Persephone smirks and and replies, "Are you annoyed that he was entirely uninterested? He’s a bit old for you, isn’t he?" Her tone and smile suggest she’s making some good-natured fun and not serious.

Then she adds, "Besides, he seems like an odd duck, doesn’t he? It was nice of him to return my purse, but, well, I was hoping to put that night at the club behind me, you know? It was not a good experience."

"You're my friend" She paused for a moment, her fork pushing a piece of chicken around her plate absentmindedly "The guy's a big bully. But honestly, the ones I really blame for all of this are Hali... and Jacob."

Persephone frowns, confused about Circe's reaction. She shakes her head and turns after Circe. "Circe, hun, wait! I didn't mean it like that. I was trying to tease and I made an ass of myself. Again. Hey...Look. I have been a bad sister. You came all this way, and well, you caught me on a really bad night, and I am only now feeling like myself again. So let's try again, ok? First of all, I will go with you to Kickboxing tomorrow. But first, I am going to take you shopping like you have never shopped before! Two words: Company. Card. What do you say?"

"The Administrator DID also blame you for ‘usurping Eliot’s favorite pet’" she recalled "but I don’t think I am important enough for any of them to bother with me. And if I am" she shrugged, and smiled impishly at him "I’ll just tell them to go sort it out with you"

Her smile faded when she heard Circe yelling from the hallway. She didn’t know what the argument was about, but she decided it was best to stay out of it "So what do you make of the weather? Are we going to do anything about it?"

Persephone makes a sad face at Circe, which they used to do to each other when they were young, attempting to persuade her to soften and forgive her.

"I know, right?" her voice was tinged with frustration, though for an entirely different reason then Bev's "The folks in Arundel said it's supernatural in origin. It is exactly what I need for my next book. The plot that will tie everything together"

Sure, she did miss the sunlight, and she figured the rain was causing all sort of issues around the city. But having a few disjointed chapters (as good as they were) was ten times more aggravating.

"Do you know anyone, Benji? Someone who’s already digging into this? I need to get in on it"

Persephone laughs and says, "Yeah, that punching bag really did a number on you! Once you've recovered, you and I--and Emma!--can go back, and you can have a rematch!"

She puts a hand on Circe's arm and looks at her earnestly and says, "But tomorrow? It'll be just you and me, just like old times. But this time, we have the company credit card and London as our playground! Sound good?"

Emma frowns at the mention of Elliot "I tried looking for him, you know. Even called in a favor, but no one could tell me exactly where he disappeared" she stops when she realized something "Do you think Teddy might? Eliot's car had a tracker, and he should be one of the few people who can tell us where and when it went offline" she obviously (and probably foolishly) wasn't as concerned about being kidnapped herself "Else, I could probably call Shelyna Artmitage. I think I should have her number somewhere..."

Persephone smirks at Circe’s giggle but otherwise says nothing. To her question about ingredients, she says, "Sure! It would be fun to cook together. We haven’t done that in years. And we won’t have mom getting angry we aren’t doing it right!" she laughs, but something in her laugh betrays the difficult relationship she has with her mother. It is a feeling Circe shares; they both grew up under the tyranny of a perfect mother, after all, one who made Tiger Moms seem tame.

Persephone makes a note to look into Asian grocers as they arrive at her apartment. "Sorry about that! Circe and I were disagreeing about how best to care for that shiner of hers. Apparently she didn’t like my suggestion of a raw steak. But that’s what they do in the movies, right?!?" she says, attempting to smooth over the sounds of arguing from earlier.

"Yes, please. I'm sure his number will come in handy" If what Benji had said was true, then Teddy had even more reason to track down Eliot. She was sure she could convince him to share whatever he knew, and that it wouldn't take much effort on her part.

She smiled when Pers and Circe walked back into the apartment. She didn't buy the story about their disagreement, but she would never call them out on it "Sit down, then!" she patted the chair next to her "Food’s getting cold"

Emma swipes through her contact list while Pers and Circe settle into their meal. There are dozens of names in there, but one in particular catches her eyes. She heard of The Devil’s Bargain before, a rare bookshop specializing in old books and antiques. She never actually stepped foot inside, but she did glance in a few times from the outside. If both the shop and its proprietor are on the Administrator’s contact list, then there is no doubt they are connected to the supernatural world. And the name of the shop itself... wasn't it a good place to start asking questions about demons?

"Yasmine Deneuve" she lifts her gaze from the screen to look at Benji "Ever heard of her? She owns The Devil’s Bargain, a rare bookstore over on Bookseller’s Row."

She pauses for a moment, then glances at Pers, but then she quickly changes course once she remembers they still need to keep things secret from Circe.

"I was thinking of stopping by... for research. For my next book" she closes her phone and offers a tight-lipped smile "Would either of you want to join me?"