Winter our discontent (RP)

- Persephone -

"I don't have an accent." Circe declares, pulling her nose up at your offered coffee in a judgemental way... though she also looks wistfully at the cup and takes a deep breath. She ignores your 'goblin' comment, still being too jetlagged to participate in sisterly banter.

"Sure, that sounds great." She says, brightening up when you suggest 'luxury shopping at Canary Wharf' an activity she can get behind, at a place she has heard of... though she half-thought it was a harbour... or a Star Trek character...

What do you do?

- Persephone -

"I'm not embarrassed. Why would I be? It's all these brits that talk funny. You are the only person here that talks normal." It's possible she is messing with you.

"And coffee does not give you energy. It only makes you feel like it does." There is definitely a note of longing in her voice, but she is adamant... for now. You have set the idea in her mind and she may well crumble when you get to Black Sheep Coffee and the full force of its aroma.

What do you do?

- Persephone -

"I definitely need more shoes." Circe agrees. "Everything I own is damp. I really was not expecting the weather to be this bad."

The water-pressure in your condo is excellent, and more than adequate to keep up with two simultaneous showers —if you choose to do so. It might feel like ages ago, but is only yesterday that you were bitten... no, 'it was just a scratch'... by the vampire, Chablis. You have not healed from that, though you can ignore any discomfort and it does not really affect you. You will have to remind yourself about the new dressing if Circe talks you into buying new dresses. Pity Zhiyu could not recommend an ointment for that as well, but it never came up.

What do you do?

Benji figures the frog knows best what frogs do in winter and that, if he tries to intervene, he will probably just get in its way.

St James’s Park is fenced off to stop people walking or cycling on the flooded footpaths but Benji just hops over the low metal fence and sets the frog down on a nice muddy patch of grass.

"Goodbye and good luck," he says, with a very formal bow. "Watch out for the pelicans."

- Persephone -

By the time you get to Canary Wharf, Circe is complaining about a headache. It transpires that she quit coffee when she arrived in London and you can point her to a quick web-search on caffeine-withdrawal-headaches which makes her pull a face. She is not sure if this proves her point about fake-energy being 'bad', or proves your point about how it makes you feel being the whole point, but the headache is not something she likes and she invariably drawn to the coffee shop to remedy it.

Black Sheep Coffee, it turns out, is very queer, if you know what to look for. Circe —as a straight— does not recognise this, but, closeted as Viviana is, this is the sort of place she might try to avoid... but it is your only lead, and it 'feels right' (but, then, that's the point of coffee).

Viviana is not there now, but the relief on Circe's face as she takes a sip (possibly placebo as it is too quick for any physiological change to have happened yet) suggests you will be back.

What do you do?

- Benji -

The frog cocks an eye at you, as only a frog can. 'Pelicans'? Phooey! It almost seems to be saying. I'ma looking out for princesses to kiss! It inhales the fresh air, looking pleased and leaps gracefully into the water.

What do you do?

Benji opens his umbrella (though it won't do him much good, at this point) and heads back to his apartment to get some long overdue rest.

- Persephone -

You see Circe's faces tell the tale of her journey, from "In this weather?", through "that's probably best.", to "I suppose so.", all the way to the realisation "wait: all of them‽ I love my sister!".

"Yeah. OK." She agrees, putting on a casual tone that is fooling no one.

What do you do?

- Benji -

"Where have you been!?" Lizabeth demands as you walk in the door. "I was soo worried that something had happened to you!"

What do you do?

- Emma -

It is awkward, all the progress you made bringing Sarah out of her cocoon seems to have evaporated when you started putting pressure on her. She was never the biggest conversationalist, but even that is gone from the kitchen, silent except for your orders. If this does not make her want to move out... well, she stayed with a vampire, for goodness knows how long, so maybe she will tolerate this atmosphere that sucks too?

Eventually David comes home, cold and tired.

What do you do?