14:11 <VoxPVoxD> The evening winds on a while. Sergio's gone to mingle or dance with someone else. Maybe he's found a pad and a pencil. Willie's not quite in need of a break, but she could use a drink. Then she needs to find someone to drink it around. Aster and Blackfin (no, Blackfin and Aster, that sounds better on a business card) are leaning quite hard on each other. Agostina is absorbed in something 14:11 <VoxPVoxD> quiet and strange. Rolf looks like he'd be available for a chat. 14:11 <VoxPVoxD> So hopefully Bob's around here somewhere... 14:15 <hrolf> …Rolf is not only available to a chat, but is currently animatedly taking part it one. It doesn’t appear to be entirely consensual though, he’s clutched what appears to be a half-suit sleeve / half wing of a birdlike man, who appears desperate to get away. “…yeah anyway now we want to know how the Chinese ‘acked our super carrier, the Queen Liz, so it crashed into that Japanese ship. They’re saying they used Havana 14:15 <hrolf> syndrome, ‘ave you seen that? Somefing ought to be done..” 14:15 <tom> The man in the wolf mask has managed to find himself a cup of coffee, somehow, and is kneading his forehead while he scans the crowd for a familiar face, and only sees Rolf. 14:16 <VoxPVoxD> Ah, Christ. 14:16 <VoxPVoxD> Bob sees Willie on an intercept course with Rolf. "Mr. Hughes. How are you enjoying the party?" 14:17 <tom> She'll probably need backup. 14:17 <tom> Ugh, though. Sip some water first. 14:17 <VoxPVoxD> She takes his sleeve. "I do apologise, sir, but I need to speak to Rolf here on House business." 14:17 <hrolf> Rolf lets go, and the birdman scarpers, giving Willie a grateful squawk. “Doin alright. Enjoyin the party?” 14:17 <tom> "Hey kids, and Willie," he mumbles. 14:18 <tom> He'll take the bird-dude by the shoulder and apologize while he leads him away. He's back in a second. 14:19 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's face lights up when she sees Bob. "I am having a singular night, Rolf. I think we're, if you'll forgive the expression, crushing it." 14:21 <VoxPVoxD> "How about you, Bob?" 14:21 <tom> "-Do you think if I talk to Dr. Blackfin Aster will turn my brainta soup?" 14:21 <VoxPVoxD> "Do you have a sitrep?" 14:21 <hrolf> Rolf looks around and shrugs noncommittally. “If you say so. Not me crowd to be honest. Met a couple of good lads though. Seemed like professionals. In the Trade.” 14:22 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I think you would have to be very disrespectful indeed for Aaron to do something so undignified in front of Dr. Blackwell." 14:22 <hrolf> "Look liked Aster was 'avin a good time. His bir- his lady seemed nice." 14:23 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "You'll never guess who I ran into." 14:23 <hrolf> Rolf: " 'oo's that then?" 14:23 <tom> The wolf taps his visor. "You're right." 14:24 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "One of the Nightingales. Bertie, the boy who was playing with the knife." 14:24 <tom> He turns his furred head like a periscope. "My official sitrep is that we're basically outclassed by pretty much everyone here, but that's okay, because this is a meet n' greet basically." 14:25 <hrolf> Rolf: "Ahh, don't sell yourself short Bob. Bunch of soft fancy shite types 'ere. Will and grit goes a long way in a fight, hey?" 14:25 <tom> "If I can't find Mari soon she won't be here to stop me from trying to go dance in a vampire blood priest's face with his ex-apprentice." 14:26 <hrolf> "The council flat rats? What's 'em doin around 'ere then?" 14:26 <tom> "Poor people can be magic too bro." 14:26 <VoxPVoxD> Who outclasses whom depends how you divide up those classes, thinks Willie. "His family has history with the Hill." 14:27 <hrolf> "So like. Speaking of. I still don't get their whole 'fing. Someone from the Hedge came and Took 'em. And now they're back?" 14:28 <VoxPVoxD> Willie will let Bob answer this. 14:28 <tom> "Please, if you say anything to these people, do not bring that one up. I mean it, literally any other thing you could say would be better." 14:28 <tom> "Not much better, okay, but better." 14:28 <hrolf> Rolf: "Whadjer mean?" 14:29 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Do you remember that episode of Fawlty Towers? Don't mention the unseelie." 14:29 <tom> "Basically it's like uh, aw, jeez..." The wolfman rubs the back of his head with a paw. "Alright, so like, is there any person... you like... care about, Rolfie?" 14:29 <hrolf> Rolf: "Course. The queen." 14:30 <tom> "Uhhhh sure, huh." 14:31 <tom> "Imagine if an old lady you'd never saw before picking rags was the real queen, only she'd just spent like, twenty years in the Maze and the Queen on TV was a body double they replaced her with." 14:31 <tom> "That'd piss you off pretty bad huh." 14:33 <hrolf> Rolf consider this. "They couldn't do that. She 'as a security detail and all. But I see what you're saying. So" - he looks around at the various Assembled - "were all of these people done in like that? 14:34 <tom> The wolf shrugs. "These things can get past anything. They can just show up in your bedroom and you're gone. It's still happening." 14:34 <tom> The wolf nods stiffly. "Every single damn one. And it gets worse." 14:34 <tom> "There's still thousands stuck there. Maybe more." 14:34 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Not all of the people here, some are magicians or vampires or so forth. But somewhere between 8 and 9 in 10 of the guests, I'd estimate, are of the Hill. King Plape said they've come from as far away as Leeds." 14:35 <tom> "Well, look," Is the wolf... blushing? "Obviously I'm not talkin' about the vampires..." 14:36 <hrolf> Rolf: "So what's the point, is what confuses me. Why kidnap this lot - no offense, but some of em seem like pretty useless sods, and then let em go back?" 14:36 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Nobody let them. They escaped." 14:36 <tom> "These are the survivors." 14:37 <tom> "Most of them are all fucked up." 14:37 <hrolf> Rolf: "Sounds like the 'edge's security arrangement is pretty shite. 'oo runs the place anyway? And wot do they do with 'em?" 14:37 <tom> "They still won't tell me." 14:37 <tom> "But the things I'm hearing are grim shit, dude." 14:37 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It's a deeply personal subject. Which is why your discretion is mission-critical." 14:38 <tom> "Yeah. Please do not go asking people about how they were kidnapped and forced to marry an elf." 14:38 <tom> "This is a party." 14:39 <tom> It is a party! Which means its time to get off that topic: "What'd armor dude say to you, anyway, Hughes?" 14:39 <hrolf> Rolf whistles. "Forced marriages, like with ISIS? Sounds like the kind of place where the wokes won.." 14:39 <VoxPVoxD> Willie gives Bob a cautious look. 14:39 <tom> "You know, it is a little like that, Hughes. A little." 14:39 <VoxPVoxD> Like she's expecting him to just, slap the man. 14:40 <VoxPVoxD> Not a disapproving look precisely. But a cautious one. 14:41 <tom> The wolf's face is, of course, grinning rubber, so the shoulders beneath have to carry the emotional weight of a man preparing to bodily tackle another out of the conversation and halting himself at the last moment with surprising, fluid grace. 14:41 <hrolf> Rolf: "Not much. 'is little friend - City supporter, but not a bad un. Did most of the talking. " 14:41 <tom> "Agostina seems to think he's the most evil wizard in the city." 14:42 <tom> "So I guess if you like him that means she was wrong," he adds, helpfully. 14:42 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's very proud of Bob right now. "I defer to Agostina's expertise on the magicians but I have not heard good things." 14:42 <tom> "It's all on the trackcheck, bee tee dubs. Gonna try and get a few more before we're done. This was a good idea." 14:43 <hrolf> "Well I don't know about evil. But 'is frined said 'e was being punished? For some sort of cockup?" 14:43 <tom> "Who isn't?" 14:43 <VoxPVoxD> "I'm so jealous of your nerd glasses. I have to whip my phone out like some sort of creepshotting pervert." 14:44 <tom> "Uhhuh.." 14:44 <tom> "Yeah they're alright when they work. Which isn't all the time." 14:44 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Shouldn't the ODIN reticle be a monocle, though?" 14:44 <tom> "Got the etherics inset. Shit, we still need to get Hughes a new chip..." 14:45 <tom> "They wanted it to be a whole suite for the integrated FIST units. The rest of the system got canned but we kept the visor." 14:45 <hrolf> Rolf: "'e mentioned something about a" - he pauses over the words "- ley line complex. 'e was trying to break one." 14:45 <tom> "Yeah that certainly sounds like Wizard bullshit to me." 14:46 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Bring it up at the next all-hands, so Agostina can tell you why that's mental." 14:46 <VoxPVoxD> "I don't know the specifics, but I'm certain it is." 14:46 <hrolf> "'e also said 'e was couriering some documents tonight. Not the little one, the big one that is. The little one was gonna do it but then the big one said 'e'd do it instead. Somefink like that. Anyone reckon they know what that's all about, then?" 14:47 <tom> "I'm not an expert but you should keep that one tucked close to the old chest." 14:47 <tom> "And coming from me you know it's for real." 14:47 <hrolf> Rolf: "More pertinently. They said they 'ire contractors. Could 'ave a job or two from em." 14:48 <tom> "I feel like that's a good way to end up at the wrong end of the Mrs. Badawi's crosshairs." 14:48 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I think there are meant to be representatives from all across the night-city here to consecrate an old pact." 14:48 <VoxPVoxD> "You've noticed how they've got just a bit of everybody." 14:49 <hrolf> Rolf: "Didn't see anyone from the 'uman office. They'd usually 'ave someone uh. Liasing, like." 14:49 <tom> "Maybe we're under their radar thesenights." 14:50 <tom> Yep, he said we. 14:50 <VoxPVoxD> Willie nods sadly. "Tory cuts." 14:51 <hrolf> Rolf bristles. "It was the labour government that wrecked the office first. I was there!" 14:51 <tom> "It's true. They don't even have a MANPADS in the armory." 14:51 <tom> "Descusting." 14:51 <tom> Sheepishly: "...You know, like a SAM." 14:52 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "They're still Tory cuts when Labour does them." 14:52 <hrolf> Rolf: "They sold off most of our gear for scraps and 'ad us handing out ASBOs to teen wizards." 14:52 <VoxPVoxD> "Oh, I thought they were sanitary products." 14:52 <tom> "They kinda are." 14:52 <tom> "Bug, swatted." 14:52 <VoxPVoxD> "Surface to Air Missile?" 14:52 <tom> "Yes ma'am." 14:52 <VoxPVoxD> "I'm absorbing so much new jargon from you." 14:53 <tom> "The disease is inside of me." 14:53 <tom> "Don't catch it," he cackles. 14:53 <tom> This time he does actually do the wolf howl, weakly, pumping his fist. "Ahhh what a good fucking night." 14:54 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Right??" 14:54 <hrolf> Rolf: "To be honest no government's given the office their due really. Seen as unimportant - even the PM doesn't know most of what we really do. Sold as 'uman experiments gone wrong and the like to keep the masquerade up. So he put a wet in charge, and well. 'ere we ae." 14:54 <tom> "Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke." 14:54 <tom> "We'll do their job better." 14:54 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Who would you make Minister of State for the HO, Rolf?" 14:55 <VoxPVoxD> "If you were PM." 14:55 <tom> Now it's the wolf's turn to turn and look at her with those fake eyes. 14:56 <hrolf> Rolf scratches his chin. "Well. Probly Johnny Mercer I reckon'd do a right job." 14:57 <hrolf> "'e stood up for us veterans. We did a job for the country." 14:58 <VoxPVoxD> Willie scoffs. "Don't be fooled by military bearing. He's just another banker's son." 15:01 <hrolf> Rolf: "'e's a loyalist and 'e's not soft on the paddies. I've seen what they done, with me own eyes, me lady. And the Corbyn lot are in bed with the whole lot of 'em - irony is, if we gave em an inch it'd be their cushy 'omes in Islington that'd get bombed first!" 15:02 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Which is why the government can't afford to give amnesty to the IRA. You give amnesty to only one side of the Troubles and Stormont goes up in smoke. Figuratively at minimum." 15:03 <tom> While they talk, the wolf turns and watches the partygoers, reflecting them in the mirrored lenses of his visor. He pauses as his vison passes over the elder of the three gathered vampires, and the grinning lupine mask seems almost to growl. 15:03 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks over in Bob's direction. "Bob?" 15:03 <tom> "Yeah." 15:03 <tom> "What." 15:03 <hrolf> Rolf shrugs. "Boris'll sort it out - 'e always does. Main fing is - britain's britain again. Does me 'eart good to see fings in pounds and ounes back in the shops - you alright, Goreman?" 15:04 <tom> "Just keeping an eye on Human Sacrifice Guy." 15:04 <hrolf> "How's that, then?' 15:04 <tom> To seemingly no-one: "Yeah I see you bro." 15:04 <VoxPVoxD> "Ah, the elder blood-pagan." 15:05 <VoxPVoxD> To Rolf: "Old friends of the Hill." 15:05 <hrolf> Rolf: "Go on." 15:06 <tom> "'Zactly what it says on the tin. Lots of old religions had human sacrifice." 15:07 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "This Hill is an ancient and sacred space. It stands as a bulwark. It protects people. It has many friends. Those blood-witches, the Iron Throne... others, I'm sure." 15:07 <VoxPVoxD> "There was a time when the King under the Hill was the most important figure in the night-country." 15:08 <VoxPVoxD> "At least the night-north." 15:08 <hrolf> "Is the king one of the hedge lads? Or somefing else?" 15:08 <tom> "As far as I can tell." 15:08 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It's a crown that passes between four people with the seasons. That's them at the high table." 15:08 <tom> "Don't stare." 15:09 <hrolf> Rolf stares. But he doesn't point. 15:09 <VoxPVoxD> "Tonight is the last night of King Plape's Autumn. At midnight, it will be Winter, and Hatch Starling will take the crown." 15:09 <VoxPVoxD> "And then Bob gets... whatever's going to happen to Bob." 15:09 <hrolf> "So...you mentioned human sacrifices, hey?" 15:10 <tom> "Yeah. I've been thinking about it." 15:10 <hrolf> He winks at Bob and claps him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it lad. If they try to wicker man you, we're 'ere." 15:10 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I would advise against turning your debut as a member of the Winter Hill into a diplomatic incident." 15:11 <VoxPVoxD> "If you were my minister, I would say it was a courageous decision." 15:11 <hrolf> Rolf laughs. "Shouldn't debutantes be wearin' a dress or somefink?" 15:11 <tom> Bob produces a pack of cigarettes from a pocket in his coat and, thwacking it against his palm, takes one out to stick into the gap in the wolf's teeth. 15:11 <tom> "Thanks Rolf." 15:11 <VoxPVoxD> Dryly: "I thought only camels smoked." 15:12 <tom> "This wolf needs his medicine." 15:12 <tom> He lights it, puffs. "Oh man, this is so fucked, haha." 15:12 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "What is?" 15:13 <tom> "Oh, I dunno, I'm twenty yards from a guy who cuts people's living hearts out and I'm not calling in an airstrike." 15:13 <tom> "Fuck I still need a new drone." 15:14 <hrolf> "Not so different from working with vampires innit." 15:14 <tom> "At least Aster's nerds have to fill out a form." 15:16 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "..." 15:16 <hrolf> Rolf: "Aye - communists 'ad to fill out forms in triplicate before sending people to gulags too." 15:18 <tom> Bob realizes what he's saying, and while Rolf's talking formulates his escape plan. 15:18 <tom> "A few of them seem pretty okay." 15:19 <tom> "Like they're just people with a fucked up disease, really, like... yeah." 15:19 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Rolf, have you introduced yourself to the high table yet? You should." 15:19 <hrolf> Rolf: "Do I 'ave to bow or scrape or somefing?" 15:20 <tom> "...You could probably get away with a nod?" He squeaks. 15:20 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Not at all. Just be ordinarily respectful, like you might to future potential clients who invited you to a lovely party." 15:21 <tom> "Please don't talk to them about the thing, or antifa..." he pleads. 15:21 <hrolf> "Business development isn't really my fing, but- alright." Rolf heads off to meet the bigwigs. 15:21 <VoxPVoxD> Once he's a respectful distance away: "Simple as." 15:22 <tom> "You can just make him do stuff? What the devil." 15:22 <tom> "...Is he?" 15:23 <VoxPVoxD> She turns to Bob. "He's not an unreasonable man. Just not a very nice one." 15:26 <tom> The ember on Bob's cigarette grows and shrinks with his breathing. 15:26 <tom> "I wish he wasn't so fucking good at his job, god damn." 15:26 <tom> "If they give that guy a Mjolnir he could destroy the world." 15:26 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Two shots at a time, anyway." 15:26 <VoxPVoxD> "Now: I have a request." 15:27 <tom> "Already? Shit, I thought he was pretty nice." 15:27 <tom> "What?" 15:28 <VoxPVoxD> See, Willie was going to play it cool, but if that's the kind of joke Bob wants to make, she leans in and says, firmly, "Dance with me." 15:29 <tom> Bob extends his arm. "Yes, ma'am." 15:29 <tom> "Be aware this is not a bell you can unring. I am god-awful." 15:31 <VoxPVoxD> The tempo on the floor is not particularly fast or slow. "Can you waltz? I'll teach you to waltz. It's just four steps and you'll look very graceful once you've got it." 15:31 <tom> He lets her take the lead. Thank fuck he had the mind to get new shoes, or he'd be doing this in fucking boots. 15:35 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's in heels, but short and stable enough. She's still shorter than Bob, but she can meet his eyes without moving her head too much. "And right, and back-- smooth. So, what's the verdict? May Sergio accompany me to the regatta, Father? Or is he an unsavoury sort?" 15:37 <tom> "Ha-ha!" Bob cackles behind that wolf grin, carefully supporting Willie with his arm as they move past another pair of dancers. "Aw c'mon, the whole point I was tryin' to make was that I'm not about that." 15:37 <tom> "Dude's gotta get it into his head that he's signed up for a whole heap of trouble on top of his regular nightly dose. Seems chill though." 15:39 <tom> "Says he never iced anyone, and I'm the dumb-fuck who just really wants to believe him." 15:39 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I think... I don't think he's lying. But I think there's a story there." 15:39 <VoxPVoxD> "You made quite an impression." 15:40 <tom> "So people say." He'll follow her directions, but it's obvious that Bob has to physically force his hands not to hover. 15:40 <VoxPVoxD> Oh come off it, Bob. Honestly. 15:40 <VoxPVoxD> "Are you nervous?" 15:41 <tom> He laughs. "Wait, you're serious?" He laughs harder. 15:41 <VoxPVoxD> "About tonight, I mean." 15:41 <tom> "That's the only part of me that wants to stay alive." 15:42 <tom> "Oh, pfft. I'm over the hump." 15:42 <tom> He scans the crowd for Mari as they spin. "They wouldn't have talked up the Hunter so much 'n then thrown me to the wolves tonight with no warning." 15:42 <tom> "They'll probably just have me trip balls on goblin tea again and swear some stupid oath." 15:43 <VoxPVoxD> "It's exciting, isn't it? You've won real esteem under the Hill. A boon for them, a boon for us - our very own Winter Soldier! - and... a boon for you too." 15:43 <tom> "I like that title a lot." 15:44 <tom> "All that shit I said to Rolf, you know it's true. It's worse than that pin-head could imagine." 15:45 <tom> "What are we even doing if we can't stop that, you know?" 15:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie nods, her strawberry face marred by sadness for the first time this evening. "I quite agree. They're very lucky to have you." 15:46 <tom> He loosens up a bit and carries her closer while they move. "I've been thinking a lot, you know, about, you know... aw, I don't wanna rehash it." 15:46 <tom> "S'posed to be a party." 15:48 <VoxPVoxD> Another couple, two quite short women in matching pinstriped suits, brush past them. "A celebration, even. This is the best night I've had in... I don't know how long. All this beauty... all these people... this is why we're here. This is why what we're doing is good." 15:49 <tom> "Yeah. Yeah I can just... feel good about that." 15:49 <tom> "No reason to complicate it." 15:49 <VoxPVoxD> "I certainly do. And I owe every bit of that feeling to you." 15:50 <tom> "Ha!" The wolf shakes with contained laughter. "There you go giving me all the credit." 15:51 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Well, I won't be falsely modest. You had help. But I was thinking, after talking to Sergio... and again after talking to Rolf just now... I was making a list in my mind, you know? A mental inventory." 15:52 <VoxPVoxD> "The things that make me happy here. The things that make me feel like... this could be a home. A real home, and not a term of exile. At least for a while." 15:53 <tom> He's quiet for a while, focusing on matching her movement. 15:55 <VoxPVoxD> "There's this job, on good days. There's Sergio, who I can only see tenably because I made it through Inchcape alive. There's this lovely party, and the friends I've made in the Winter Hill. There's a very pretty shotgun under my skirt with my name on it." 15:55 <VoxPVoxD> "And one common thread." 15:56 <tom> Wolves can't blush. 15:58 <tom> "Aw if you keep talking like that I'll have to start hoping again." 15:58 <tom> "...I said it's the beginning of death, not the end." 15:58 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's smile can, regrettably, only be described as devilish. "Wouldn't that be something?" 15:59 <VoxPVoxD> "I don't think I've ever thanked you." 15:59 <VoxPVoxD> "Certainly not enough." 15:59 <tom> The wolf's rubber nostrils flare as he exhales. "You don't need to. I mean like, for real." 16:00 <tom> "I have selfish motives." 16:00 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Oh?" 16:01 <tom> He wraps an arm around her, and following her instruction dips her- safely, not far. Back up: "Agatha reminds me of my girl a lot. Like if nobody found her for a hundred years. So she's just... like a spider in a cellar." 16:01 <tom> "Crouched up in the ceiling." 16:02 <tom> "...Am I a bad person for wanting to hold her too?" 16:02 <VoxPVoxD> "No." 16:02 <VoxPVoxD> "Not in the least." 16:02 <VoxPVoxD> "Now, I'm not saying it's a good idea—" 16:03 <VoxPVoxD> "But the sentiment? Irreproachable." 16:03 <tom> "...Maybe we can invite her for board games at my place sometime." 16:04 <tom> "We could get the whole gang together, Sergio'd probably like Monopoly." 16:04 <VoxPVoxD> Willie starts laughing, and in trying to keep it demure it ends up coming out as a snort. Her face would be red if it wasn't already. "'Miss Hursley-Apple, have you ever settled Catan?'" 16:05 <tom> Mocking, high pitched: "Yes, it was in the year of our lord Eighteen hundred and ninety-four, and all the children had the Wh-hoo-ping cough." 16:06 <tom> "Oh man, she's so old timey it's right back around to cute." 16:06 <tom> "I guess they just get stuck like flies in amber, huh. We're lucky Sergio missed the eighties." 16:08 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Maybe just leave her a note, if Mari doesn't balk at the idea. Don't bother her directly. I wouldn't expect a reply, much less an RSVP." 16:09 <VoxPVoxD> "They can get stuck. I don't think it's inherent to the condition. There are some who oppose it fundamentally. I find them the most interesting by far of the vampires." 16:09 <VoxPVoxD> "Vampires who actually asked me to light up for them." 16:09 <tom> "Yeah I've been reading the dossiers. Do you think he's real, then?" 16:09 <VoxPVoxD> "Who? Dracula?" 16:09 <tom> "Yeah." 16:09 <tom> "Like for-real Dracula." 16:10 <tom> "Him you really should stay away from." 16:10 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I don't know. I'm sure Vlad the Impaler was real. Was he a vampire? There are... more undead aristocrats than I might have guessed." 16:10 <tom> "I didn't actually read the book but uh I know the rep." 16:11 <tom> "...'Light up'... oh, fuck they weren't afraid of fire??" 16:11 <tom> "That's usually really bad, wow." 16:11 <VoxPVoxD> "They were respectably cautious. But they did not flinch." 16:12 <tom> "Dibs on not fighting those guys." 16:12 <VoxPVoxD> Teasingly: "What does a pretty girl named Mina have to fear from Dracula anyway?" 16:12 <tom> "...I still think it's cuter than Willie but now the change is extremely fortuitous." 16:13 <VoxPVoxD> A bit giggly: "Do you remember when we were talking about how your fellow VALKYRIEs would would keep weapons under their pillows in case a vampire invaded?" 16:13 <VoxPVoxD> "And I made fun of them for being afraid a vampire was going to seduce them?" 16:13 <tom> "Oh I'd completely forgotten." 16:13 <VoxPVoxD> "Yeah I bet." 16:14 <tom> His palms are just a little sweaty. 16:14 <VoxPVoxD> "Well... I view that conversation differently in retrospect." 16:15 <VoxPVoxD> The song is winding down. She doesn't really want to let go. "I'm going to do something nice for you. Just saying 'thank you' is no longer adequate. It's going to take me time to work out what it is. But it is now an active concern of mine." 16:15 <VoxPVoxD> "Consider this a warning." 16:15 <tom> "Yes'm." 16:16 <VoxPVoxD> "In the meantime..." She barely has to move to kiss him on the cheek. "If you want to call me Mina... you have my permission." 16:16 <tom> Wolves can, in fact, blush. Just a bit. "Ok Mina. I won't wear it out." 16:17 <VoxPVoxD> :)