19:54 <VoxPVoxD> How early in the day does Bob typically get to the Greybox? 19:55 <tom> He shows up at eleven in the morning, sharp. And then proceeds to take a nap, unless someone else is present. 19:56 <tom> Sure, there's Richard. But he doesn't count. 19:56 <VoxPVoxD> :( 19:57 <tom> He's always there! Bob just has to trust he won't judge him for napping at his workstation, surrounded by dismantled electronics. 19:59 <VoxPVoxD> This morning Bob gets let in by Willie. It's not clear how long she's been there, but she's in a Harvard sweatshirt and pajama pants and looks to be running on coffee rather than sleep. This is the second time Bob's seen her like this; last time, they both left the offsite crying. 19:59 <tom> This time, he'll grab a cup of coffee. 20:00 <VoxPVoxD> Bob gets a smile as he comes in but no verbal acknowledgment. Then it's heads down over her laptop once more. 20:01 <tom> "We're on for tea later, right?" He'll grab a seat at the empty conference table and begin fucking around with a frankenstein mess of arduino and circuit boards. 20:04 <VoxPVoxD> "Ah; you've been briefed. Good. Yes, 4:30, I think. 5 at a push if your better half is busy." Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap. She looks up. "Should I lean sweet or savoury, d'you think, on the food?" 20:07 <tom> Bob takes a moment to think over how he can answer this without sounding crass. Finally, despairing, he settles on: Proudly: "My girl likes meat." 20:08 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks askance at him over the top of her screen. 20:08 <tom> He shakes his head, twirls the soldering iron in his hand and returns to task. "What?" 20:08 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "You very visibly put significant thought into that." 20:09 <tom> "What, she does." 20:09 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I'm just curious if you were trying to think of the most or least crass way you could put that." 20:09 <tom> "I like to keep people guessing." 20:10 <tom> "Sorry, sorry." 20:10 <VoxPVoxD> "I'll have to get you a big MISSION ACCOMPLISHED banner, then." 20:10 <tom> He'll give that a nervous laugh. "What are you fiddling around with over there?" 20:11 <VoxPVoxD> Willie sighs. "Government work." 20:11 <tom> "I can't believe they make you work a job!" 20:11 <VoxPVoxD> "'They'?" 20:11 <tom> "You know, the family," 20:12 <tom> He'll kinda wave vaguely. 20:12 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Oh." 20:13 <VoxPVoxD> "They don't. In fact they don't think highly of it." 20:13 <tom> "Huh. Oh, I get it." 20:14 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "They'd much rather I worked in charity, or the arts. Or, most ideally, as the socialite-cum-broodmare for some chinless little goblin with a title of his own." 20:14 <tom> "Want an officer's commission, you'll get it. Wanna become a celebrity, sure. But no of 'em would choose... to work in an office." 20:15 <VoxPVoxD> "Just so." 20:15 <VoxPVoxD> "At the very least, not an office where they had to do actual work instead of coming in to goof off in their office, fuck the secretary, et cetera." 20:16 <VoxPVoxD> "Most of my brothers are bankers." 20:16 <tom> "The ones that liked to airhole pigeons for fun, yeah?" 20:16 <VoxPVoxD> "You have a good memory." 20:17 <tom> "You don't fade easy, lady." 20:17 <tom> That gets a coughing laugh, at least. "Oh man, I really need to get my shit together over here." 20:17 <tom> "Almost got murked by a vampire last night." 20:18 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's gentle, slow-spreading smile evaporates in an instant. "What? What happened?" 20:18 <VoxPVoxD> "The Councillor?" 20:18 <tom> "I got it all on my ODIN if you wanna review the logs. It's wild shit, they've got stealth like Mari but it's all fucky." 20:19 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "...every clan of vampires manipulates the human mind in different ways. I'm not sure about the Gangrel." 20:20 <tom> "It's like everything you do just gets- bloop-" He plucks an invisible something from the air and squeezes it between thumb and forefinger. "cut right out of the record. Aster and Rolf were right there and she coulda just, drank all my blood." 20:20 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "That wouldn't have been in the spirit of what she was there to do." 20:20 <VoxPVoxD> "They aren't completely bestial." 20:20 <VoxPVoxD> Mostly. 20:20 <tom> "...Can you ask Mari for the note she left in my pocket? I don't even need it, but she won't give it back to me and, ah," he's wringing his hands here. 20:21 <tom> "You'd get it if you saw Suzie." 20:21 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "She being Ms. Cutsworth." 20:21 <tom> "But I'm treading with utmost care here." 20:21 <VoxPVoxD> "Did the note begin 'For a good time, call'?" 20:22 <tom> "I have no idea, she won't let me see it. But it has a number." 20:22 <VoxPVoxD> "Is she angry with you?" 20:23 <VoxPVoxD> "She not being Ms. Cutsworth." 20:23 <tom> "Nah, nah, it isn't like that. But I'm getting hot vampire notes, I mean God, what's she supposed to think?" 20:24 <tom> "Shit, if this were stateside, I'd have to start worrying about OP. TWILIGHT's simp patrol coming after me." 20:24 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Surely she's more secure in her relationship than that." 20:24 <tom> "...I'm not really at the place to speculate what other people think, ma'am." 20:25 <tom> "I got like, four, five? Plates airborne right now." 20:25 <VoxPVoxD> "You don't have to call me ma'am. I don't outrank you. You're both older and more seasoned than I am." 20:27 <tom> "Don't you?" He smirks. "Oh, you're mad everyone just quietly put you in charge on top of your day job." 20:28 <VoxPVoxD> "I'm not m—" She raises a hand. Takes a breath. "I don't think that view is held universally among the team." 20:29 <VoxPVoxD> "But what are you counting as spinning plates? Our various half-followed leads?" 20:29 <tom> "Oh yeah?" He laughs. "Have you seen Aster do diplomacy? Holy shit, haha, I've never been in so much danger." 20:29 <tom> "I guess we can put Rolf in if we want to get the shit beaten out of us." 20:30 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Diplomats aren't in charge. A diplomat's job is to take a bollocking on behalf of the people who take the decisions." 20:30 <tom> "Yeah the Jack stuff's in the mix. I'm on my own bullshit mostly. I gotta figure out how to pass this trial." 20:31 <tom> "Sure I just mean, you know, getting stuff done. Speaking of, how much am I chipping into pay for this, fuckin', what is it, a community center?" 20:33 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "They found that idea patronising. We settled on a scheme of art grants. Which is to say, I've bribed them with cash directly. I can cover it out of pocket easily. A couple thousand off my take. They just want to be able to make something and have it be theirs." 20:34 <VoxPVoxD> "I've forgotten, how did those muscley men beat the Predator?" 20:34 <tom> "I don't think anyone would complain if we shared it equally. Well, Rolf might, but fuck 'em." 20:34 <tom> "Arnold traps the Yaut'ja under a deadfall trap and forces it to self-destruct to evade capture." 20:35 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "If you want to chip in, I won't stop you. But I volunteered because I care less about the money than our colleagues do. Aster, Rolf, Badawi... they're getting on, you know? They must all have one eye on retirement." 20:35 <VoxPVoxD> Or one foot in the grave. 20:36 <VoxPVoxD> "That's rather grim. It's not meant to be a contest to the death, is it?" 20:36 <tom> "It's basically Hide and Seek Two." 20:36 <tom> "With the caveat that I get the shit whipped outta me and lose Clout if I fail." 20:36 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "So just ride it out in the Greybox." 20:37 <tom> "That feels like cheating, ma- Willie." 20:37 <tom> "And, I mean, God damn, what if it gets in here?" 20:37 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "These are faeries. Legally deniable cheating is their bread and butter." 20:38 <VoxPVoxD> "Ah! If they get in, then we know who to turn to if Jack locks us out. Or in." 20:38 <tom> "I didn't say I wasn't gonna cheese it." 20:38 <tom> "I just don't wanna drag you guys in, I lose if it- they, whatever, hurt anyone else, too." 20:40 <tom> "I mean, Haldane's always here. I would not feel great if he gets an atomic wedge courtesy Toon Town's Finest." 20:40 <tom> wedgie* 20:40 <VoxPVoxD> "A 'wedgie'?" 20:40 <VoxPVoxD> "Is that a kind of bird?" 20:40 <tom> "Is that not a thing here?" 20:41 <tom> "No, it's when you bully a nerd by pulling his underwear up over his head. It's a platonic ideal, of course, no bully has ever successfully done it without ripping their underpants." 20:42 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "..." 20:42 <tom> "Look, we're getting off track, my point is-" What the fuck is your point, dude? "...I don't wanna bring that weird shit here." 20:43 <VoxPVoxD> "Well I certainly don't advocate camping here without Richard's approval. But in general... I think you're too quick to put yourself in danger on other people's behalf as compared to how readily you ask for other people's help." 20:43 <VoxPVoxD> "I would not have asked for your support at Inchcape if I weren't willing to do the same for you." 20:44 <tom> "All good points, that I cannot answer. But it's more than just a tactical consideration, okay!" 20:44 <tom> "Maybe I want an excuse to go apeshit without worrying about collateral?" 20:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I can take a fair bit of punishment." 20:47 <tom> He shakes his head, looks away, but he's smiling through it. "You've got your own stuff to look out for, yeah?" 20:48 <tom> "How's Sergio gonna do if you get all your blood slashed out by, I don't know, some Jack-the-Ripper looking sicko?" 20:50 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Sure. But Inchcape was 'my own stuff', too. And both I and Sergio were happy to have you there. He understands that my work is dangerous." She sounds increasingly uncertain as she goes on here. 20:51 <tom> "Can I at least keep you on the bench until after I've met the guy? It's a whole Deal. After that I'll know what's up." 20:51 <tom> "If it's some fucking nerd bullshit I can handle, which it probably is, no sweat." 20:53 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Well obviously. I trust your judgment of the danger. I just... I'd feel better knowing that if you don't ask for help, it's because you're sure you don't need it, rather than because you're afraid you will." 20:55 <tom> "Look, I gotta be hundred-percent honest here, I've been doing a lot of babysitting- last time literally- and I want to take a vacation back to familiar territory: blowing huge chunks of sod right out the ground with plastic explosives." 20:55 <tom> "It'll be therapeutic." 20:55 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "As long as that poor sod getting blown apart's not you." 20:56 <tom> "Ha!" He gets up and takes the electronics with him. He'll clear out a space on his workbench, revealing a pair of ominous, beat-up pelican cases in Human Office coloration. 20:56 <tom> "See you for tea later!" 20:57 <VoxPVoxD> "Looking forward to it," says Willie as she goes head-down again. 20:57 <banana> Tea later: 20:57 <banana> Mari's got her hair done up with a green ribbon and a nice blouse on, humming to herself. She hasn't got her exam results yet, but it's still winter break, and like she told Bob - tea with a new friend is a great way to start the holiday. 20:58 <banana> The changeling has Bing Maps up on her phone, panning around the address Bob gave her. “Looks like the bus goes nearby, but not all the way. Do you want to chance it, or shall we just mirror-walk?” 20:59 <tom> "Oh there's the Vampire Hive by the way," he'll snicker, pointing out the hotel. 20:59 <tom> "Oh, you wanna impress her with the spooky magic, huh? I can play along, yeah?" 21:00 <tom> "I don't mind cuddling on the bus." 21:00 <banana> Mari: “Yikes. I guess they don’t have to worry about rent.” 21:00 <tom> "You're the boss, ma'am." 21:01 <banana> Mari: “I’m really not. Two years left in school, a year of residency, then I can join a clinic IF I’m doing general practice.. probably five years more before I’d be anyone’s boss. Which is probably a bad idea even then, ‘cause you stand out.” 21:02 <tom> "Is it the midnight sunglasses, or my boyish good looks?" 21:02 <banana> “Um, it’s probably going to rain, but I can’t take us all the way there..” She taps the map. “There’s a furniture shop here I’ve been to.” 21:02 <banana> Mari: “Huh?” 21:02 <tom> "...Hey it's not like, dangerous for you to do that, right?" 21:03 <banana> She blinks behind her glasses. “I think we have some wires crossed.” 21:03 <banana> “You go first, Bob?” 21:05 <tom> "Hi," he frowns. "...It's not dangerous for you to go through a mirror, right..?" 21:07 <banana> Mari: “Oh, it isn’t. We don’t have to pass through the Hedge, the silver-promise is operative on Earth-616. I can’t do it all day, but the worst that can happen is that some kind of whim of the mirror rejects me and we just... don’t go.” 21:07 <tom> "'The Hedge'." 21:07 <tom> "Right. Like with Premson. You been there?" 21:09 <banana> Mari: “Yeah, the Hedge isn’t the Unseelie realm itself.. it’s the barrier between the real world and freaking, fake elf dreamland. It’s not safe, but you can make safe places there, like our Premson has.” 21:09 <banana> “Um, don’t go to the Hedge. You aren’t a changeling, so.. it would hate you.” 21:09 <banana> “Anyway. What do you mean by the midnight sunglasses?” 21:09 <tom> "I think it'd like me if it got to know me." 21:10 <tom> Bob taps his sunglasses. 21:10 <banana> Mari: ? 21:10 <banana> Mari: “Ohhh.” 21:10 <tom> "C'mon, you're killing me. I sure as hell don't wear them for fashion." 21:10 <banana> Mari: “No, I was saying I probably shouldn’t be the boss of a clinic, because the boss stands out..” 21:11 <banana> “Obviously you stand out, baby. No need to question that.” Technically she didn’t indicate whether it’s a good thing. 21:11 <banana> It may occur to Bob that you’re running late. 21:11 <tom> Shit! "I guess our hand's forced. Beam me up, kid." 21:12 <banana> Mari takes Bob’s hand, curtsies to him, and leads him into the bedroom. ...to the mirror, the bedroom mirror. 21:13 <tom> He'll like, fuckin'... bend his elbow over his chest as he bows?? She's got him doing ren-fair shit. 21:14 <VoxPVoxD> That's normal stuff. 21:14 <VoxPVoxD> Everyone does that stuff. 21:14 <tom> What's the area around Willie's apartment like? 21:15 <VoxPVoxD> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Peter%27s_Square,_Manchester 21:15 <banana> The mirror opens at her touch, silver rushing respectfully out of the way to crowd itself in the corners. The magic portal(!) irises open to reveal interior decoration layouts; you can wait for an opportune moment then step through, surprising the hell out of a shop attendant who looks back a moment later. 21:15 <VoxPVoxD> Willie gave her address as something like '35 Princess Street'. 21:16 <banana> Just across the road and around the corner will take you to... the part of Manchester where people are probably all called Lord Something and wear swan feather hats. Or something. 21:16 <VoxPVoxD> Oh come on. That's like saying everyone who lives near Times Square is called Rockefeller. Honestly. 21:17 <tom> It's a good thing he's falling through mirror dimensions to get to social functions, otherwise Bob might be inclined to snicker. 21:17 <banana> Manchester’s never actually had an equivalent of Grosvenor or Belgravia, and the square is half commercial foot-traffic. But it’s old and it’s rich. 21:18 <VoxPVoxD> The building itself is significantly more modern than the cathedral or the art museum, and even a bit more modern than the staid, squareish office blocks you can also see if you look around. The intercom is shiny and chrome, and it connects to Willie's phone directly. She taps them in, and the front door buzzes to indicate it's unlocked briefly. 21:19 <tom> Bob gets the door, tipping an invisible hat like a complete fucking goober. 21:19 <banana> It’s Bob! and Mari! “Hello again!” She looks around curiously, not having felt the need to bring some kind of counter-picnic this time. 21:19 <VoxPVoxD> She gives one last tidiness pass to the sandwiches and her hair and then she stands at the peephole to open the door as they approach. Willie's wearing a noisy silk blouse, all copper and iron-coloured, and tiny diamond studs twinkle at her ears. 21:20 <VoxPVoxD> "Mari! How very good to see you. Do come in." Neutrally: "Robert." 21:20 <tom> Bob is in jeans and a button-up, which has been established as the upper limit to his fashion sense. 21:20 <tom> "Wilhelmine." 21:21 <tom> He'll take off his coat, at least, and hang it on the rack. 21:21 <VoxPVoxD> Teutonically: "Wilhelmine. Like the Kaiser." 21:22 <tom> "Damn, that's hardcore. You should go by that, all three syllables." 21:22 <VoxPVoxD> "Four." 21:22 <banana> Mari wanders about.. within a couple of metres of the entranceway. Curious, but not rude. “Four for when you want to intimidate the local vampire nest.” 21:23 <tom> Bob squints, counts on his fingers. "Got me again." 21:23 <banana> Mari: “Oh, oh - have you got any middle names? How many, I should say?” 21:25 <VoxPVoxD> Willie shuts the door behind them. "Wilhelmine Dorothy Charlotte Wellesley, Marchioness Douro. Seventh child to the seventh generation of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke Wellington. How do you do, Mariam?" 21:25 <tom> Bob calls after Mari, barely containing his snickering: "Careful not to get lost in the haunted mansion, I hear there's a spider on the loose." 21:28 <VoxPVoxD> The apartment isn't big, but it's airy and well-decorated. The gentle blue of the walls complements the colours of Willie's hair and outfit very well, The walls are full of dark wooden frames, arranged with a careful eye for aesthetic balance. Most of them are photos of foreign places. Cities other than Manchester, countries other than England. Two exceptions: 21:28 <banana> Mari: “Um. Doing good, but I prefer Mari... um...” She leans on the countertop and scrutinizes Willie carefully. “That’s a story best told sitting down.” 21:30 <VoxPVoxD> The doorway opens directly on a mirror that hangs down to about chest level, low enough for a woman of Willie's height to check hair, makeup, cleavage, etc before heading out. And over the home office setup in the living-room, the angry brick-red-glowing matte black behemoth that both visiting nerds would recognise as an Elite Gaming PC, is what looks like a sketch of Willie, but in a very 21:30 <VoxPVoxD> specific, upsettingly sexy caricaturist's style. 21:32 <tom> Is there a designated couch for him to plant his ass in? 21:33 <VoxPVoxD> The appliances are very expensive. There's a gleaming stainless steel espresso machine, a fancy blender, lots of well-hung pots and pans and knives on magnetic strips. The kitchen looks very well-laid-out by someone with a lot of money and skill who spends a lot of time there. 21:33 <banana> Mari: “Ahaha.” 21:33 <banana> “Is that a Yes Prime Minister thing?? You could pull any boy who votes with that thing.” 21:34 <tom> He'll whistle. It's all so shiny and clean. Must be an enormous ass to maintain. 21:34 <VoxPVoxD> There's a sofa and a chair in the living room, around which the tea service (nice, and well-cared-for, but not as obviously expensive as the appliances) is set, with stacks of neat little sandwiches filled with various colours of stuff. 21:35 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Yes. My boyfriend drew it for me. On the spot, actually, just going off my Bumble photos. He's quite a skilled artist!" 21:35 <tom> "Nice. Sometime I wanna get a trade up with Premson for some of that weird stuff he put in the tea." 21:35 <tom> "I mean, I'm sure this is great. I saw some wild stuff, and I think some of it was even real." 21:36 <tom> He'll start filing through the different tea packets like he has any idea what the difference is. 21:37 <banana> Oh, Mari will come over for tea too, with some haste. She’s not sure which of the two conversational strands to continue, but defaults to Bob’s. “Well, none of this looks psychedelic. Not that there would be anything wrong with that, properly supervised.” 21:40 <tom> "Well sure, I don't think Willie would be dumb enough to jump LSD on an OPFORT veteran..." He'll look at Willie, lower his sunglasses. Right? 21:40 <tom> It's pretty clear he doesn't give a shit. 21:42 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I believe LSD comes from a fungus that grows on grains. So the tea should be safe. Anyway, I hope you'll forgive me for leaning savoury, but I worked through lunch. So, sandwiches: cucumber, egg and cress, curried chicken..." 21:42 <tom> "Now, on the other hand, will I drop elf tea with my friends? You best believe it." 21:43 <VoxPVoxD> "And a bit of sliced leftover fillet." 21:43 <banana> Mari takes a chicken sandwich happily. “Ergotism.” 21:44 <VoxPVoxD> "Saint Anthony's Fire!" 21:44 <tom> Bob: "Yes, fascinating." 21:45 <banana> Mari: “Yep. That’s what LSD is.. claviceps purpurea, which sends rye farmers mad and drives them into monasteries.” 21:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "How far into your degree are you? Have you picked a specialty?" 21:47 <banana> Mari: “I’ve just finished second year. In reality, that is.. on the books I’ve done third year as well and then started again due to some complicated administrative mixup.” 21:47 <banana> “Honestly, I don’t know about specialties yet, though I should. There’s so much you can do in basically any field, and it’s not like we have enough GPs, but...” She glances at Bob’s clavicle. 21:47 <banana> “It might be interesting to become a surgeon.” 21:48 <tom> He'll take up one of the little metal strainers- clap it experimentally. Does Willie have a teapot already heated? 21:48 <tom> If so, she gets a cup of steaming water, followed by Mari, and lastly, Bob himself. 21:49 <banana> Mari: “I figured out at some point that in your job you must do a lot of NHS stuff.” 21:49 <banana> “(Thanks, baby.)” 21:50 <VoxPVoxD> The teapot and cups are all full of steaming water from the electric gooseneck kettle on the table. Once they've picked a tea - "Guests' prerogative," - she'll start it brewing. "A fair bit. DCS is definitely the branch of DWP most closely integrated with the Health Service." 21:52 <banana> Mari: “A lot of nurses seconded back and forth. Have things got at all better this year?” She looks concerned. Retirements and resignations among nurses, particularly, skyrocketed once things began to calm down. 21:52 <tom> "(-I do wanna get more goblin tea, though-)" He'll grin, rubbing her arm. 21:53 <tom> "I can't even imagine what it's doing to the bloodsuckers. Like, wow." 21:53 <tom> "Sorry, is that a shitty thing to say?" 21:54 <VoxPVoxD> Willie, a bit sadly: "Not yet. Between covid and Brexit our nursing staffs have been decimated all over the country. Double-decimated, even. 20% reductions in the regions. People are retiring, changing jobs - that stuff about the 'Great Resignation', it's not all bollocks from white collar managers who want their minions back in-office." 21:54 <VoxPVoxD> Willie, gamely, ignores Bob's slur. 21:54 <tom> Oh nooo. 21:55 <VoxPVoxD> "You'll have your work cut out for you once you graduate." 21:55 <banana> Mari sighs. “I’m not sure we’re ever going to get back to where we were. At least there should still be an NHS, which is good, ‘cause I wouldn’t be signing up for this job in any other country.” 21:56 <tom> "...The U.S. is out." 21:57 <VoxPVoxD> Willie exhales. "God, what they put American doctors through, it's barbaric. As if the more money you pay them, the more debt you can bury them in out of school and the more of their lives you can lay claim to. It's a gilded indenture. They treat their physicians the same way they treat their fighter jets." 21:57 <banana> Mari: “It’s not just them. Did you know that the average Irish citizen spends two thousand euro a year on healthcare? That’s on top of their actual taxes that are supposed to pay for it.” 21:57 <tom> Bob doesn't talk about what he was planning on doing with the money from the Wolf Mourner Job. 21:57 <banana> “Meanwhile, doctors graduate with hundreds of thousands in debt and somehow make less than they do in an NHS trust.” 21:58 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It's astonishing. You would think this was a solved problem. The NHS has been the finest medical system in the western world for almost 75 years now. No one's copied it." 21:58 <VoxPVoxD> "And yet, we lose doctors, good doctors, every year to foreign payouts. And every policy decision we make seems designed to drive more away." 21:59 <banana> Mari: “’It could never work here,’ Says Arbitrarily Selected Nation.” 22:00 <banana> “Well, I’m sticking around. I’ve seen off worse than Tory cuts.” She nudges Bob. 22:00 <tom> "Hey speaking of doctors... blood pressure, uh, honey, can you get that phone number to Willie? That's our new contact with the Carthian Council." 22:00 <tom> He'll take the nudge with a soft 'oof'. 22:01 <VoxPVoxD> Willie pours out the actual tea - what did Bob and Mari choose? A mellow, bergamot-y Earl Grey? Some floral Darjeeling? The sweet green? - and then put just a touch of milk in hers. "Worse than Tory cuts?" 22:01 <VoxPVoxD> She sounds faintly mortified at the thought. 22:02 <banana> Mari’s eyebrows raise slowly. “Is that the case.” 22:02 <tom> Darjeeling sounds exotic as all hell so that's what he's going for. 22:02 <tom> Bob starts to sweat just a bit. 22:02 <banana> She picks up her purse, set down by the chair arm, and digs through it for a scrap of paper to hand over. Her eyes twinkle in a way Bob can’t see unless he’s got the drone in here somewhere as she hands it over. “I suppose you’d know, Willie.” 22:03 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I understand Bob got reverse-pickpocketed by--" she takes the paper and looks at it. 22:03 <banana> It doesn’t begin ‘For a good time, call-’, but it might as well. 22:04 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's eyebrows go up. "That's rather forward." 22:04 <tom> Bob is calm like a bomb. In that he is seconds from diving out a window. 22:04 <VoxPVoxD> "I didn't see her - she's the sort of vampire who can slip beneath people's perceptions - but from what I gather this comports with her... aesthetic." 22:05 <VoxPVoxD> "I doubt she intended it personally." 22:05 <VoxPVoxD> "Not that that means she wouldn't take you up on it." 22:05 <tom> "Okay though, look, I'm not that stupid. I listened to her track, it straight-up- it just says "Think twice before you play with fire." 22:05 <banana> Suzie’s note: “High blood pressure? Hit me up at 867-5309, or Cirque on Friday nights.” 22:06 <banana> Mari’s eyes flick back and forth during the conversation. 22:06 <tom> "Besides! Besides! Your teeth are bigger!" It's supposed to come out as reassuring, but whether it actually is only Bir-Medwar can say for sure. 22:06 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Well, you've thought about it once so far. So good." 22:06 <VoxPVoxD> Willie blinks in astonishment at that, and it wasn't even directed at her. 22:07 <banana> Mari: “Bob.” 22:07 <banana> Mari: “Bob, you’re gonna give yourself conniptions. Breathe, and then say less dumb things.” 22:07 <tom> "Yes ma'am," he slumps, has some more tea. 22:08 <VoxPVoxD> "If you have to choose between breathing and not sounding like an idiot, obviously, breathing comes first in almost all circumstances." 22:08 <banana> To Willie: “We do conniptions in second year. I prescribe another cup.” 22:09 <VoxPVoxD> "Why did the university think you were a third year? A clerical error?" 22:09 <banana> Now Mari does some breathing. But she’s happy to change the subject, and if they do actually need this vampire’s number.. Willie’s got it. 22:09 <banana> “This is actually the same question as before, and the same as before that.” 22:10 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks a bit chagrined now; this was not her intention. But one can only avoid a thing whose contours she cannot see with so much success. "Ah. Well, of course, it's not my intention to pry into the personal..." 22:10 <banana> She pats Bob on the arm again, then takes off her glasses and hands them to him for safe-keeping. “Um.. how much do you know about Changelings?" 22:11 <tom> He'll carefully fold the frames and keep them safely in his hand while she talks. 22:12 <VoxPVoxD> Willie sits back a bit, thoughtfully. "Truthfully? Very little. Not a focus of my training in Milan. Besides the small amount I've heard from Bob, I know... what the folk tales say. You leave milk out for the seelie folk. You hang iron horseshoes over your door to keep the unseelie folk at bay." 22:12 <VoxPVoxD> And if you fail to do either, they'll snatch your babies from their cribs, she doesn't say. Mari can probably see it on her face. 22:12 <banana> Mari scrunches up her face briefly. “That’s peripheral stuff. Okay. Let me tell you a story.” 22:13 <banana> “About med school and about Mariam.” 22:13 <tom> Bob sips his tea. 22:13 <VoxPVoxD> Willie nods attentively. 22:15 <banana> Mari: “I fell into Arcadia some years ago, which is a really horrible place. I cannot stress this enough. There’s no amount of austerity that would equal it, like.” 22:15 <banana> “It was really bad luck, and everyone’s apologised, and I got out in the end. But when the elves take you away, they leave something behind.” 22:16 <banana> She looks at Bob. “Do you remember I told you we probably wouldn’t be able to meet my parents? Religious issues and so on?” 22:17 <tom> "...That wasn't exactly it, was it?" 22:17 <VoxPVoxD> Wait, Bob's hearing this for the first time? 22:18 <banana> Mari: “Yeah, sorry. They’re actually not that bad, although they also...” She sounds bitter, which is rare in Bob’s experience. 22:19 <banana> “Let me go back a bit. Mum and Dad are both engineers, or they were in Lebanon.” 22:19 <tom> He'll reach out and touch her hand with his, and if she lets him, clasp it. 22:20 <banana> Mari does take Bob’s hand. “Dad was particularly good, and when they came over here he got re-certified, but my mum just... didn’t. She was going to get around to it for years but she slowly decided to become a housewife. It was part of this whole thing, they’d left their own culture and now they had only a few things reminding them of home in this kind of hostile rainy English city.” 22:20 <VoxPVoxD> That much Willie gets. 22:21 <banana> “Both of them got kind of religious, Mum more so and somehow really.. traditional here, even though they hadn’t been like that.” 22:22 <banana> Mari: “So... they didn’t want me to be a doctor. Mum didn’t want me to work at all. They wanted me to marry a nice Muslim boy and cook and eat traditional foods, although I mean the food is fine, and speak Arabic even though Dad barely does, he speaks French...” 22:22 <banana> With her other hand she draws an underline in the air. “But they weren’t that bad. I wasn’t, like forbidden. I got to go to school and date boys and forget our culture, and sometimes I’d pray with them and I still lived at home like a good girl, and things were ok.” 22:23 <VoxPVoxD> Willie nods, waiting for the 'until...' 22:23 <banana> Mari sees it in Willie’s face, looks at Bob’s while she grips his hand. 22:24 <tom> Behind the mirrored lenses, Bob's looking at her like there's nothing else in the whole world. 22:24 <VoxPVoxD> ... 22:25 <banana> Deep breath. “So I climbed out the hedge and fell out a waterspout and Hatch Starling caught me. I got looked after, then I got home. And I was already there.” 22:25 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Is that a name or an imperative?" 22:26 <tom> "It's a name." 22:27 <banana> Mari: “He’s a nice old guy with a silly beard. The King of Frost and Death’s Chill. Seal of the North, Limit of All Edges. ...” 22:27 <VoxPVoxD> That makes Willie glance at Bob. 22:27 <VoxPVoxD> Limit of all what now? 22:28 <banana> “Anyway, there was this... entity... calling herself Mariam bir-Medwar. She lived in my room, in my house, where she was studying the Quran. She dropped out of school because it turned out it was all too hard and she just wasn’t motivated enough by saving lives.” 22:28 <VoxPVoxD> Then the bottom drops out of Willie's heart like the bass in a giant vampire's theme song. 22:28 <VoxPVoxD> She doesn't tear up, though. 22:28 <tom> Bob closes his eyes, takes a deep breath. 22:29 <banana> Mari: “I don’t think she was actually in a zawaj yet but there was this guy she’d been introduced to, they were talking. Mum and Dad, obviously they still lived there too, and... they were all very happy.” 22:30 <VoxPVoxD> The sadness curdles. Willie's eyes harden. 22:30 <VoxPVoxD> "They got the daughter they wanted." 22:30 <VoxPVoxD> "Why ask why?" 22:32 <banana> She squeezes Bob’s hand again and picks up her teacup. That appears to be the end of the story, although the floor is open. 22:32 <banana> Mari: “Yeah, well. I’m not a good enough servant of God’s will to not ask why, or to avoid disrupting the perfect family with my own selfish continued existence.” 22:32 <tom> Bob isn't sure what he can do here. He's holding her hand but... but it ain't working! 22:32 <banana> “Shit, I’m sorry.” She wipes her face. “I’m being really shitty and unfair.” 22:32 <tom> "No! No babe, it's-" 22:32 <tom> "We all got shit here." 22:33 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It's not for me to editorialise, of course," She goes on to editorialise: "But from my perspective, they are poorer for having lost you. And you are richer for the same." 22:33 <tom> If she lets him, he'll pull her into a tight embrace before letting her go. 22:33 <tom> He's really at the bottom of the barrel, though. If that doesn't work, he's out of options. 22:34 <banana> Mari turns to Bob with an expression he last saw on the students who’d failed that exam last week. “I’m not being fair-” she looks back at Willie. 22:34 <banana> “No, like- what they said is, um.” 22:35 <banana> Mari clears her throat, sniffs, clears it again. She looks like she hates someone but isn’t sure whom. 22:35 <banana> “’Now we have two daughters.’” 22:36 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's so quiet you can hear her teeth grinding. 22:36 <banana> Mari: “So! We don’t talk, and that’s my fault, and I could go back. But I haven’t. And I prefer Mari.” 22:37 <tom> Bob sips more tea. 22:38 <VoxPVoxD> Willie wants to argue about whose fault that is, who failed whom, and who should be crawling where to apologise. But instead she says, "Duly noted. Thank you, Mari." 22:38 <tom> This feels worse than the goblin tea somehow. I mean the tea is great, itself. 22:38 <banana> Mari will rest her head on Bob’s shoulder and close her eyes for a while. She should apologise to Willie for the situation, but maybe later. 22:39 <VoxPVoxD> "Was it hard to fix things at the university?" 22:39 <tom> Bob rests his head on hers in turn. He ruffles her hair. 22:40 <banana> Dark eyes open. “It was complicated, but kind of fun. Like solving a puzzle.. I had help from Sumi and the others. Got part of my life back. The bit nobody else is using.” 22:40 <VoxPVoxD> They're so cute together. But that doesn't make her any less angry. 22:40 <VoxPVoxD> "The bit that belongs to nobody else but you." 22:41 <tom> He was going to ask. He really intended to. Bob boots up Huntr. 22:41 <VoxPVoxD> To Bob: "Is there news?" 22:41 <banana> Mari: “That’s a good way to characterise it.” 22:41 <banana> She shakes her head a bit, which just gets both their hair tangled up. 22:41 <banana> “News would be good. Or maybe somebody else can tell a story.” 22:42 <tom> "You're not an extra, kid. Here, I'll prove it:" 22:42 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Wait." 22:42 <banana> Mari: “What.” 22:42 <tom> He pauses. 22:42 <VoxPVoxD> To Mari: "Has Bob showed you TrackCheck yet?" 22:43 <banana> Mari, to Bob. “You mentioned that before. I was going to ask about it later.” 22:43 <VoxPVoxD> Willie gives Bob a look, which is about 15% more withering than she intends because of background anger radiation. "At least show her the thing before you point it at her." 22:44 <tom> He flips off his sunglasses, revealing tired eyes. "We've got it back at the Lab, so to speak." 22:44 <tom> "A real piece of black tech, some sort of..." 22:45 <tom> He spins his hand in the air. "It's like a scanner, only it puts out... music." 22:45 <tom> "And commentary." 22:45 <tom> "We've got it wired into our systems, we've been trying to use it like, fuckin', a scouter." 22:46 <banana> “’Scanner’ doesn’t mean anything. That’s like a star trek thing.” 22:47 <VoxPVoxD> If Bob scrolls for Mari, she'll see all the vampires they Checked, as well as two photographs of Willie, one with a handsome but poorly-captured man and one looking tired but glorious on a sofa. She'll also see, presumably, Suzie Cutsworth, or at least her body. 22:47 <tom> "Here, I'll throw you a bone." He turns his glasses on himself, clicks a button. 22:47 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It's some sort of divination." 22:47 <tom> He scans himself back through the Trackcheck. 22:48 <banana> Mari: “That’s interesting. This is a machine? So it’s enchanted by something? Did it come from some kind of deserted place, maybe an arboreal island?” 22:49 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We recovered it from the archives at the Human Office. It has the character of what some demonic friends of mine call 'Infrastructure'." 22:49 <VoxPVoxD> "We don't know where it's from." 22:52 <tom> Bob's picture- he's holding the ODIN pointed back on himself, so the picture comes out like some sort of demented facetime screencap- slots in nicely at the end of the list. The info's still buffering, though. 22:52 <tom> He'll turn the glasses over to Mari to show her. Should still work as long as she doesn't carry them more than a few feet away. 22:52 <banana> “BOB” GOREMAN, HUNTER AND HUNTED - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTEscgVDnAU 22:52 <banana> "Hiding but much in demand -- cue the combat theme in five -- when you start in the deep end, where do you go next?" 22:53 <VoxPVoxD> Does the song play loud enough for Willie to hear it from across the table? 22:53 <tom> "Nice! Thanks for the heads up, computer." 22:53 <banana> Bob’s song is mixed all the way up. 22:53 <VoxPVoxD> Willie snickers. She can't really make out the lyrics but it sounds like a clown's rave. 22:55 <banana> Mari: “How very interesting. It’s like the story of the world is judging you. Hard to take it seriously when it’s so opinionated.” 22:55 <banana> “And so... South African.” 22:56 <tom> "It's marginal, all right. But we're finding use-cases." 22:56 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It's quite good at upsetting very sensitive people." 22:56 <banana> Mari giggles as she explains to Willie: “Remember the last World Cup?” 22:59 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks briefly confused, then briefly aware, then briefly something else. "Oh, the vuvuzelas. Like a choir of angry ducks." 22:59 <banana> “Yeah, it really undercuts any sinister tones.” 22:59 <banana> To Bob: “Feel free to check my track, B.” 23:01 <tom> He leans way over, putting an arm around her shoulder so he'll appear in the frame. Click! 23:01 <tom> Alright you stupid piece of shit machine, you be nice. 23:01 <VoxPVoxD> She wishes Sergio was here. This feels very lonely-spinster right now. 23:02 <tom> Don't forget I can still throw you in the trash if I choose- 23:02 <banana> MARI MEDWAR, LEAST OF WINTER - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83o1eAS7eiY 23:02 <banana> "The worst luck in a hundred years -- she'll never really believe it gets better -- she won't let that stop her from doing the right thing." 23:02 <VoxPVoxD> Oh, Willie loves this song. 23:02 <tom> That title could use some work. 23:03 <banana> Mari: “That better be ironic.” 23:03 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Mine is so on-the-nose it feels like it might loop around to irony, or it might be a really bitter, straight-faced joke." 23:05 <banana> Mari: “Who’s writing them? Can I see the device at some point?” 23:05 <tom> "Ha! That's the first time I've seen you stumped!" 23:05 <tom> "See, I got magic secrets too." 23:05 <VoxPVoxD> "We don't know who's writing them. Bob could easily check the thing out to show it to you." 23:06 <tom> "Not sure what you'd do with it, but yeah, you can check out the track check." 23:06 <banana> Mari: “Track checkout.” 23:06 <tom> "Now you're getting it." 23:07 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Does faerie magic touch machines?" 23:07 <VoxPVoxD> "Vampires can only seem to touch minds." 23:08 <banana> Mari: “Yes, sort of! The power of Faerie is rooted in the real world, in the imagination and in tales... anything with a hold on the human mind has its twisted dream-representations, and that very much includes computers these days.” 23:09 <tom> "Metaphors, yeah?" 23:09 <banana> “A goblin isn’t gonna know what to do with a machine as a machine, but if you find some sort of, um, scanner in the hedge? It might scan impossible things.” 23:11 <tom> "...I really want to see what I can do with a drone and a GPS in that place." 23:11 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Hedge as a noun or a verb?" 23:12 <banana> This was a good distraction. Probably enough to carry through tea. 23:12 <banana> Mari looks blank for a moment, then: “Oh, yeah. I was just telling Bob earlier...” She repeats the description of a ‘barrier’ between the real world and the land of Faerie. 23:12 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Ah! How very liminal." 23:13 <banana> “Sometimes it’s a finger’s width, sometimes it’s as deep as the ocean. There has to be a Hedge, but it doesn’t have to be more than a technicality.” 23:13 <banana> “You can tell it exists because science keeps working.” 23:13 <tom> That doesn't really make much sense to Bob, but Mari is Smart. 23:14 <VoxPVoxD> Willie nods. "So tell me about Samhain! What's the dress code?" 23:16 <banana> Mari: “Masks. Come in something evocative, as cheap or as elaborate as you like.. a mask that means something to you, shows you off a way you’d like to be seen.” 23:16 <tom> "...We get to make our own?" Bob lights up. 23:17 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I've got a gown I had to wear to my vampire debut getting dry-cleaned. I wouldn't mind giving it one more go before I pack it up for the winter." 23:18 <banana> Mari: “Home-made is very much encouraged! The technical quality doesn’t matter.” She thinks for a moment. “I mean, artistic quality. I know you could make a mask that shoots knives, B.” 23:19 <VoxPVoxD> Willie nods. "Like the Lady of Pain." 23:20 <banana> There’s something she’s not saying, but it’s like... someone keeping a secret because it will be fun to reveal it later. Feels harmless. 23:20 <tom> Bob, taken aback: "Wait, you played Torment?" 23:20 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Torment? No, I played Planescape. Some friends of mine had a Dungeons and Dragons game and invited me. They made me a character and gave me a lore packet to study." 23:20 <banana> Oh hey, where did Bob put Mari’s glasses? She’s going to get them back on. 23:22 <tom> Bob flicks his wrist, unfolding them, and hands them back. 23:22 <banana> Nice. 23:23 <tom> The man wears aviators at midnight. He knows how to at least try to make them look cool. 23:23 <VoxPVoxD> Nice. 23:24 <banana> Mari: “Oh yeah, I know some people who play that. It’s really a cross-cutting thing... somehow.” 23:24 <tom> "Oh no, you poor thing. They roped you into their sad nerd party." 23:25 <banana> “The guys in Autumn aren’t too nerdy, though they do have arguments about it. Apparently the game comes in editions, and the last one’s awful, but people say it isn’t, because they’re all dumb and probably bad at political economy.” Mari rolls her eyes. 23:26 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Yes it is rather sectarian, isn't it? It's all over my head, I'm afraid. Just tell me how many dice I get for stabbing someone and move on." 23:27 <banana> Mari: “What kind of games do you prefer?” 23:29 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I try a bit of a lot of different games, whatever has neat art or whatever people gift me on Steam. But the one I really play the most is the Sims. I just love building and decorating houses, I could do that all day." 23:30 <tom> Ten years ago. Hell, Six months ago, if you told Corporal William Goreman that two of the hottest women on earth invited him over to talk about video games, he would assume you were leading him to a trap, and he'd gladly march to his doom. 23:31 <VoxPVoxD> How much has changed, really? 23:31 <banana> Mari: “Eheh heh. Yeah, I haven’t played desktop computer games much but the Sims is so good. It’s like, the nesting instinct. But you can make them go through an obstacle course to go the toilet.” 23:31 <tom> But after all this? Bob hears them talking, and from the tone of their voice knows that everything is basically fine. No one sounds sad, or mad... 23:31 <tom> So who cares about the details? He sinks into the sofa. 23:34 <tom> It might take a minute for them to notice that the expression beneath the lenses isn't changing in response to what they're saying, and the man nods off with his ODIN blinking some warning about battery charge. 23:35 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Right? You get to play god in a tiny, inconsequential way. It's great fun." She glances in Bob's direction. "Oh, the poor dear. He works so hard." 23:39 <banana> Mari: “Aw.” She lowers her voice a little. “Unfortunately, a lot of it is make-work I think? I’m not too sure about all the details of your operations, but B.. he doesn’t want to sit around and have time to think.” 23:39 <banana> “And he doesn’t want a pointless second job with some kind of Gordon Brittas yelling at him.” 23:40 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "He seems to enjoy working with his hands. Maybe he'd enjoy a side gig building custom firearms?" 23:40 <VoxPVoxD> "He made me quite a lovely shotgun." 23:41 <banana> Mari: “That sounds better. Something to fill in the gaps in your thing, which is almost too lucrative.” 23:41 <banana> Something seems to occur to her and she chuckles. 23:41 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Mm?" 23:42 <banana> Mari: “Games, cartoons and shotguns.” 23:42 <banana> She makes finger-guns with both hands. “You could so do findom.” 23:43 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I'm not familiar with the term." 23:43 <banana> Mari: “I’m just saying, if you made an amazon wishlist... boys would want to know about it.” 23:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "If you spend time around rich or handy enough boys they'll just make one up in their heads to start buying you things from." 23:45 <VoxPVoxD> "It's a bit... and with Cutsworth, too." 23:45 <banana> Mari: “What, is she bi?” 23:45 <VoxPVoxD> "Bob is a sweet man, with a good heart. But he's far too ecumenically horny." 23:45 <banana> She takes out Bob’s phone to go through the list again. 23:46 <VoxPVoxD> "I have no idea, I've never met her." 23:46 <banana> “Oh. It’s ok, Willie, there’s nothing wrong with attraction.” 23:47 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Even if you're being attracted into a dangerous trap?" 23:47 <banana> Mari: “In this case, I will say it’s bad taste.” She shakes her head at Suzie’s outfit. 23:48 <banana> “I think... I would have to be pretty hypocritical to complain about the tendency to walk into traps.” 23:48 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It clearly works. You don't rise to a position in local government by being bad at bleeding your constituents." 23:49 <banana> Isn’t Willie in local government? Perhaps the civil service is different. “Now that’s the way they’d put it.” 23:49 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "'They'?" 23:50 <banana> “I’ve met some vampires. They always seem to choose words that have............ bite.” 23:51 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks abashed. Her laugh is brief and rueful. "...a parallel I have observed before." 23:51 <VoxPVoxD> "Which vampires have you met, if you don't mind me asking?" 23:52 <VoxPVoxD> "I'm still getting my bearings in that world." 23:53 <banana> Mari: “Well, please forgive me if I omit names, cause this stuff is other peoples’ secrets, but I’ve seen three:” 23:55 <banana> “There’s this old witch-warlock from up north and their apprentice (still old by normal people standards) down in the city. They helped the hold with some projects, so they’re basically considered allies.” 23:56 <banana> “There’s been drama though. The apprentice, she abandoned her master or something and now works for the city vampires - broomsticks to politics. Both of those two will be at Samhain, since they’re our friends if not exactly each others’." 23:58 <VoxPVoxD> Willie nods. Good to know. 23:59 <banana> “There’s also this much younger vampire who’s local, lives near Bob and I, or he did. He was working with us on this.. situation.. basically, there’s some sort of wizard who is also undead, but not vampire-undead, or not properly. Which has vampires and wizards both interested. We were helping do mediation, but now S- the vampire has vanished entirely!” 00:00 <banana> Mari: “It’s a mess. The King is screwing everything up, I’m told, but-” she shrugs. “I’m not really involved.” 00:01 <banana> “I basically just knew this guy because he sometimes came to Empanading.” 00:02 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It's all frightfully complicated. Some very hard opinions. Some old, deep feuds. We've got active contracts from opposite sides of some kind of vampire party-political division." 00:02 <banana> Mari pushes her glasses down her nose a bit. “And I haven’t actually told you anything useful. Sorry!” 00:03 <banana> “May I ask - isn’t taking both sides there a bit too dangerous?” 00:03 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I disagree. Even unconnected bits of information are useful. The challenge is whether we can build a useful model, fashion an insightful narrative, with the facts we accumulate." 00:04 <banana> Mari: “Imposing your own story on the world.” 00:04 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "A bit, but I don't think it's more dangerous than our business plan is by design." 00:04 <VoxPVoxD> Willie nods fiercely. "Making of yourself, and not being what was made of you." 00:06 <banana> Mari stretches with several cracks and pops. “I dunno. It’s an impressive way to be, but sometimes you, the royal you, have to accept what’s been done. Accept, as it were, into whom you have been made.” 00:06 <banana> “Otherwise you’re struggling against yourself.” 00:06 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "So?" 00:07 <banana> Mari: “One of you’s going to get hurt.” 00:07 <VoxPVoxD> "Sometimes yourself needs a bit of sense knocked into her." 00:09 <banana> “If it works for you, that’s a good thing.” 00:10 <VoxPVoxD> Willie smiles ruefully again, refreshing her tea. "I don't know. My life has changed very dramatically in the last couple of months. I feel like I've jumped from a frying pan into a fire. Though others disagree." 00:10 <banana> Mari: “Hey, you’re accepting a judgement there.” 00:10 <banana> She holds up Bob’s phone. 00:11 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Well, if I'm not going to struggle against myself, I need something else, don't I?" 00:11 <banana> “Here’s my question: Did you want a dramatically different life than the one you had?” 00:11 <VoxPVoxD> Willie, immediately: "Yes." 00:11 <banana> Mari nods. “Sounds like this is worth a try.” 00:13 <VoxPVoxD> Willie smiles without regret. "So far so good, in the main. A lot of it would be very difficult to rationalise or explain. I know having tried and failed repeatedly. But little of it feels wrong. Leaving London, working for the night-city, a vampire boyfriend... if I had to ask permission I would not have gotten anywhere near here." 00:13 <VoxPVoxD> "...but I do detest begging forgiveness." 00:14 <banana> “Throwing fireballs at spirit-monsters. Getting inbetween blood feuds. Getting tricked into a faerie party by Sumi. You wanted excitement, right?” 00:15 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I did indeed. And I would trade none of it away. It's worth far more to me than the money is." 00:15 <VoxPVoxD> "Speaking of excitement... how worried should we be about Bob's trial?" 00:15 <VoxPVoxD> "He's been downplaying it, but you know how Bob is about getting maybe-murdered. Like the guy in the meme going 'no of course not... unless?'." 00:16 <banana> Mari: “Most of that would not be my thing. But I can see the idea. You’re not gonna get bored, and you’ll always have another way forward, like... Live Fast and Carry On.” 00:16 <banana> She falls silent. 00:17 <banana> “Okay, well, He’s definitely not getting murdered. That’s not on the table in the trial, and also- I will never let it happen.” 00:17 <VoxPVoxD> Willie seems like she's decided for the moment that the correct amount of worried to be is 'quite a bit'. 00:17 <VoxPVoxD> That helps, though. 00:17 <banana> “But it’s still, um... I think maybe we’re expecting Bob to react with a mindset that isn’t his. It could work ok.” 00:18 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "He called it 'Hide and Seek 2'." 00:18 <VoxPVoxD> "But he mentioned something about an ambush, which does not seem in keeping with the spirit of Hide and Seek." 00:18 <banana> Mari: “Actually, this is the perfect opportunity. He can’t stop me from telling you stuff, because he’s paying off like two-three days of sleep debt right now.” 00:18 <VoxPVoxD> Maybe the Hide and Seek Cinematic Universe is more tenuously linked. 00:18 <banana> “Here’s how the Trial of Winter works!” 00:19 <banana> “Sometime soon, if B gives the go-ahead, he’s introduced to the hunter, who will take his scent. He takes the hunter’s measure. At that point, he has 24 hours to prepare.” 00:20 <banana> Mari: “The next day, the hunter is loosed. It seeks the candidate, Bob, who has to run or hide for another 24 hours. For me that was hide which turned into outrun.” 00:20 <banana> “If you fail,” she swallows, “the hunter hurts you. Not permanently, but something real, so that it matters. If anyone else gets hurt helping you, you also fail.” 00:21 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "What's the link to Winter?" 00:22 <banana> Mari: “It’s who the trial is for. The Winter Hill of the Seelie Hold. The group I’m in.” 00:22 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Winter being the season of riding out the danger somewhere warm and quiet." 00:22 <banana> Mari: “Other peoples’ secrets.” 00:23 <VoxPVoxD> "Of course." 00:24 <banana> Mari: “Secrets aside, if you get an opportunity to hide from danger in a warm and quiet place- I’d take it!” 00:24 <VoxPVoxD> "Well, the way I see it... if the hunter's-hunter has a nice bum, Bob should just give up now. If the Hunter's made of his own thoughts and feelings, he'll probably react exactly the way you did. Otherwise, you know Bob. He's like the Road Runner got ahold of Wile E. Coyote's catalogue and credit card." 00:25 <banana> Mari: “Hahaha!” 00:25 <banana> She glances guiltily to see if that woke anyone up. 00:25 <VoxPVoxD> Bob seems quite soundly asleep. 00:26 <banana> “No, the most likely thing is, ahh, a monster, basically.” 00:26 <VoxPVoxD> "Is he disqualified if he does blow it to pieces? Or whatever conceptually appropriate equivalent?" 00:27 <banana> Mari: “Technically no, but I think people might withdraw the invitation. The hunter will be some ally of Winter and likely sentient. Bob knows this.” 00:27 <banana> “From my point of view, rather it than him, you know? But our requirements are... strict.” 00:28 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "If he knows not to hurt it too badly I expect he'll honour that. But he will want to, forgive me, Own it." 00:29 <VoxPVoxD> "But this sounds like something he can handle on his own, or that he wouldn't handle particularly better with backup. So I shouldn't read too darkly into his refusing aid." 00:29 <banana> Mari: “Hey, it’s your emotions. Feeling is free.” 00:31 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Sort of. But also a bit not. Like our bone marrow produces blood constantly, just like our minds produce emotion. But it's not really free, is it? It's the substance of being alive. The price we pay is the effort of breath. The weight of experience. Of pleasure and pain." 00:32 <VoxPVoxD> "A cost most will pay, and many gladly... but still a cost." 00:32 <banana> Mari: “Alive... no, I don’t think so. A worm is alive. Feeling is the substance of being real.” 00:32 <banana> “That’s how faerie magic works, you know. You pay for the promises in feeling, which is also a down payment on your connection to everything.” 00:33 <banana> “...these ones are my secrets.” 00:33 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "So it's literally emotional labour?" 00:33 <banana> Mari: “Ouch. As on-the-nose as Track Check.” 00:34 <VoxPVoxD> Willie winces. 00:34 <banana> “What’s the tenor of the stuff it says about other people?” 00:35 <banana> “I mean, I can see these notes - are they coming from a place of unkindness?” 00:35 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It depends. Sometimes it's very third-person-omniscient. Script notes, essentially. Others are quite sharp. Insofar as it expresses feeling, it seems to be one of judgment." 00:36 <VoxPVoxD> "Whether that judgment is meant kindly or not, I can't guess." 00:36 <VoxPVoxD> "But judgment sort of always hurts, doesn't it?" 00:36 <VoxPVoxD> "At least, when it's real enough to be weighed in feeling at all." 00:36 <banana> Mari: “Something that thinks it knows you better than you know yourself cannot be trusted.” 00:37 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I think such a thing fancies itself above trust, and would demand only respect." 00:38 <banana> Mari: “What’s that kind of respect worth?” 00:39 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I have a feeling we'll find out before too long, at the rate we're going." 00:40 <banana> Mari sighs. “The world is so much weirder than the simplistic tales you get taught. God or superheroes.” 00:40 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Yeah. The Pierian spring is rather deeper than we're raised to expect." 00:41 <VoxPVoxD> "But... it's irresistible, isn't it?" 00:41 <banana> “No.” 00:41 <banana> “No offence.” 00:41 <VoxPVoxD> Another rueful smile. "None taken." 00:42 <banana> Mari makes a face, remembering. “Mariam told me to stop saying ‘God’, actually. She says it’s offensive, because you have to speak the tongue of God to speak about God.” 00:42 <banana> Mari makes a face, remembering. “Mariam told me to stop saying ‘God’, actually. She says it’s offensive, because you have to speak the tongue of God to speak about God.” 00:43 <banana> “I was like, I used to say ‘God’ so that kids at school wouldn’t know I was a weirdo, which you would know if you were ever a human child?” 00:44 <VoxPVoxD> "Being a human child, admittedly, is a very divisive experience. People run quite hot and cold on it." 00:44 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Alas, our lord and master Satan has only endowed me with the Tongue of Man. I do curse men quite a lot, though, so maybe she's onto something." 00:44 <banana> Mari: “So... the fireballs.” 00:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "They're more like arrows or javelins really." 00:46 <VoxPVoxD> "But yeah, that, not burning, a sort of mortal omniglossy, and then the summon-and-bind demons stuff. Not the full course at Milan, but the high points for sure." 00:46 <VoxPVoxD> "Arguably those are other people's secrets. But they're my secrets too." 00:47 <banana> “And this is, um, the blood of Iblis Shaitan? Or I guess Lucifer Morningstar?” 00:47 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "That's the story. But the Lucifuge gets people from all over. Which demonic myth has primacy, if any do... not really legible from where we sit." 00:48 <banana> Mari: “Well, there you go. If the spring of knowledge is in your actual X chromosome, it justifies some degree of engagement.” 00:49 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "That's the talk that got us kicked out of Eden. Or let me get the rest of you kicked out of Eden." 00:51 <banana> Mari: “A rogue scarecrow taught me the secret acids to obliterate the knowledge of love. I’m just avoiding further hypocrisy.” 00:52 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks out the window. "Ah, it's getting late. Should we wake him or can you fireman carry him out?" 00:53 <banana> Mari. “Hmmm. You want another drink from that fountain, Pierian or otherwise?” She didn’t study Classics. 00:53 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Always." 00:53 <banana> “OK. Please take Bob’s feet and help me get him over to that mirror.” 00:54 <VoxPVoxD> Without hesitation: "Yes, ma'am." 00:54 <banana> The idea of carrying Bob like a hammock is just a joke. They can prop him up, or wake him enough to stumble to the front door. 00:54 <VoxPVoxD> He seems so much smaller when he's asleep than he does in waking. He is quite a squirrelly man, isn't he, despite his personality. 00:55 <VoxPVoxD> So the two women have no trouble getting him over there, however awake he is to help. 00:57 <banana> At the mirror opposite, Mari raises an arm- she’s still got two arms carrying Bob. Don’t ask questions. She puts a palm flat on the surface, which will create fingerprints, and the silvered back flees from her touch once again, leaving a door that shouldn’t be. “Allow me to quantify.” 00:57 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's very impressed. 00:58 <banana> Mari: “For the sake of your work- about one in ten of us can do this. I can do it about once a day, and the cost is several hours’ sorrow forgone, for someone else. Probably not predictable enough to be of OPFORT-level tactical utility... whatever that is.” 01:00 <banana> She’ll manhandle Bob into something like a hug to get him through. “I had a really nice time today.” 01:00 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Me too. I enjoy your company very much, Mari." 01:00 <VoxPVoxD> "You take good care of Bob." 01:01 <banana> ::::) 01:01 <banana> The changeling smiles, and takes Willie’s friend back through the looking glass. 01:01 <VoxPVoxD> That was nice. Willie's tidying up for a bit with a two-eyed smile on her face. In fact it's not until she rinses the tea leaves from the bottom of Bob's cup that it falls away. 01:02 <VoxPVoxD> She asks herself a question aloud. The question is its own answer. 01:02 <VoxPVoxD> "...sorrow?"