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[Arkhosia]

[Foxes Snacking]

Anastasia's face reddens. Shit, she's got her there. "Um- I-I mean yeah, but- like, I never said it was a good idea for me to do it."

[Reinholdt]

[Bellamy House]

Reinholdt blanches a bit. "She killed all her old children in order to make new ones?" Rein asks, wanting to make sure he heard that correctly. But... but Otherbriane was so glorious, surely there was some mistake.

Rein looks around at the children gathered in this room. "Is Annie safe here? Anastasia?" They could be seen as in the way by a fey so mercurial, couldn't they? Rein doesn't even want to bring up Manja's name while she's here to overhear it.

[Thursday Violist]

[Bellamy House]

This is really frustrating, Harley thinks.
She came here wanting to put all the blame on this Otherbriane, to blame her for doing some weird kind of mind control on everyone and making things happen, and then that would be that, so long as there's no chance she ever meets this Otherbriane then everything would be solved.

And yet, it's so frustrating that the longer this goes on, the more relatable the Other Obriane becomes.

Harley puts her hand over her own face and breathes out.
"Yes, that could make sense." She wasn't there, though, so only Rein or Kitty would know for sure. Speaking of knowing for sure, Rein's question. That's a good question, she thinks.


Manja is, of course, getting bored since nobody's talking about her anymore. She twists on her chair, trying to spy what the other children are doing.

--
Just outside the door,
Sirena realizes that her best chance to minimize collateral damage is to remain unnoticed for as long as possible.
Her tarantula robot is telling her that, just inside the door there's a stairwell. It just might be possible to avoid being seen while being inside, if she hides in a corner of the stairwell.

Before entering, she takes out a couple other robots, and then slides some oil to the door hinges (she'll need to open and close the door quickly to avoid a draft alerting everyone about the door opening).

She pulls her hoodie hood close to her, opens the door, slides in, closes it quietly behind her, and presses up against the wall.

[Keeper]

Bed Talk

"Sorry Jim. I just wasn't sure if you had any sort of fighting experience. But... that's good to hear." Jaahlyn smiles. "I still can't guarantee that you will see anything and my boss might find it weird if I'm being followed around by my boyfriend for a week." Her smile turns into a smirk. "I might get distracted y'know?"

Bed Talk

"That's your call. If you can't give me details that's the only way I can find out."
He winks, albeit a little sleepily.
"I can try to wear something modest so your attention isn't pulled too much."

[Gullara]

[Foxes Snacking]

"Then why did you do it?" Annie presses further. Ana's making conflicting statements and being evasive. "I'm not dumb, you know." She sounds unimpressed now.

[Arkhosia]

[Foxes Snacking]

"I - um-" Ana fidgets. "Because like, that store is part of a big company that makes plenty of money, and it's not gonna be affected by me stealing a couple dollars worth of ice cream, y'know? A-and if mom saw that I didn't get myself anything, then she might like, feel bad or something, so -" She pauses. Wait, is Annie really gonna get any of this logic anyways?

[Shadowcaller]

[Spookysitting]

"Ah!" Leis startles as she feels a sudden weight upon her shoulders, struggling and thrashing hard to try and escape. Looking back behind her, she tries to pitch back the vial of salt into wherever the entity's face might be.

[Spookysitting]

The content of the show only heightens the tension, and Jaazha tugs on the back of her sister's dress. "Eshe!"

The other girl jumps, easily startled. "Okay okay..." She whispers and the whole group makes a retreat back into the kitchen.

That's when they here Leis's small cry. "Leis!" Orlane shouts and runs down the hall toward the maid room.

"Wait!" Jaazha yells after her. Why is no one listening??? She follows after her sister to try and grab her and stop her from going that way, but Orlane has a head start.

Eshe stays in the kitchen with Rosabel and Maha. At least two of them have to stick with their baby sister.

[Spookysitting]

The hand is less gripping her shoulder and more resting on it so she won't have trouble pulling away.
However, it doesn't mean that the creature she comes face to face with is any less terrifying. If Leis has ever seen really thick fog she would know that almost seem to solidify sometimes. Now make that fog purple, make it a spiky body, give it a pair of triangular white eyes and a pink mouth curved into a cartoonishly wicked grin. Then that description would almost match the being she now finds her less than a meter from.

Since a detail that's yet to be included is the vulgar tongue, matching the size of its oversized mouth, which comes close to meeting her face as the creature seems to be attempting to lick her.
But that's when she throws salt at the creature. She's probably not staying around but judging by how it suddenly presses its eyes and mouth close she did hit it and it doesn't seem to like it. Soon letting out a haunting howl as she can see two hands, completely separated from the rest of the beings body, reaching up towards its eyes. Seemingly attempting to rub away the salt.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
All the girls can suddenly hear a howl coming from the direction of the maid's room that definitely wasn't Leis. Orlane and Jaazzha catching a glimpse of a about five feet tall purple creature floating in the air barely a meter from Leis.

But for the girls remaining in the kitchen, if that howl wasn't unnerving enough it's followed by the sound of giggles coming in the direction of the tv-room in addition to the sounds of the tv itself.

If any of them turns in the direction of the doorway connecting the dining room and the kitchen they can see a small grey creature floating towards the kitchen. It almost looks like a sheet hiding a hovering spherical object underneath it. But this relatively harmless appearance is contrasted by its large menacing eyes that are made especially clear due to the dark markings surrounding them.

The creature despite being not much larger than an adults head is wearing a black top hat nearly as tall as itself. There's also a monocle which is somehow attached to one of its eyes despite its complete lack of a nose. Finally, as the being seems to be found of objects nearly as large as itself, a big teacup is floating in front of it which it takes a sip from. Despite of course also lacking both arms and hands or any clear way of manipulating this object.

Bed Talk

The satyr smiles. "Is that so? Well, I can't say no to that. That and your magic would be useful to have along." Then she realizes something. "Uh, one thing though, ever heard of the band DEATHKISS? Can't imagine it'd be something you'd listen to but maybe you've come across them in some other way. They've were all over the news in Riverside at one point."

[Bellamy House]

Obriane is quick to reply as that had not been how she had seen it. "Uh, I'm not sure I would call them children. They were all twisted spirits which she had made-" She pauses as she realizes if she voiced her theory of what those spirits had been made of it would just further freak Rein out. But she could still give him the reasoning behind them. "-see, I think she wanted them to be like actual children though. So while she's a vile creature I don't think she would harm them since they're exactly what she wanted all along. What she had before was just... imitations."

[Gullara]

[Bellamy House]

"They were pretty horrible. They attacked us." Kitsuki reinforces. Not that she felt good about that event. It was a pretty traumatic experience in a few ways. "I don't... think it's like a competition thing. I don't know why she would want to hurt them." Not that Kitty hasn't worried a bit... If only because Otherbriane is such an unpredictable element.

Meanwhile Su-Jin, Chaytan, and Umeka seem to have settled back into their play despite being distracted by the arrival earlier. They've collected near a pile of blocks are you could loosely describe what they're doing as constructing a small city of block buildings. In that they're constructing and dismantling block structures in proximity to one another. Not that there's no collaboration, as they have no qualms about building up structures another started.

[Foxes Snacking]

Annie gives her a skeptical look for a lingering moment. "Okay." She then says, sinking her teeth back into her snack. Is that it?

[Westside Sunrise]

Stasia still seems a bit worried as she watches Siana pull the hoodie on, but she nods, stepping closer to her mother. If need be, she'll reach out to grab the strigoi's hand to lead her along. "Okay, um, yeah - let's go." Ana, meanwhile, only buries her face back into Kitsuki's shoulder and nods.

[Westside Sunrise]

Siana certainly won't object to the helping hand. And at any rate, she doesn't really have anything else to say on the trip back to their house. Not even implicitly. She'll just kind of sit there on the subway until something is said to her, which it likely won't be.

[Uninvited]

The group of four, Kitsuki, Siana, and both Anas hustle into the front door of the apartment building, Kitsuki surely hurrying after the first sign that Siana is in any sort of distress. Given Kitsuki is still holding Ana, Stasia unlocked the door and lead them inside.

That leaves them standing in a small foyer area that mostly serves as a mail room for the apartments in the building. There's a staircase up immediately in front of them, which they'll need to take to their second story apartment.

Kitsuki pauses here, though. She looks at Siana with some scrutiny. "Are you okay?"

[Ironsmith]

[Uninvited]

Siana can't answer properly, due to the fact that, no matter what the glamour might tell Kitty and her daughters, she doesn't have an actual face just this moment. Maybe they could already tell that from the copious amounts of smoke pouring out from under her hood, as well as the scent of burnt hair and cooked flesh. And if that doesn't give it away, then they might glean it from the fact that the only vocal response they get at first is a vaguely-reassuring hum that sounds like it should be somewhere down in her throat but is much closer to the surface.

But not to worry. She's flashing them a thumbs-up even if she can't talk just yet. Thumbs-up is good, right?

Of course, since she needs a few seconds for her eyes to grow back, Siana doesn't notice immediately what sort of setup they've come into until that happens. At which point, she can't quite help but let out an irritated moan.

Her god's magnificence unintentionally burning away bits of her every time she saw it? Fine. She can live with that.

But curse his bones, whoever it was that invented stairs.

[Arkhosia]

[Uninvited]

Stasia's hand slips out of Siana's as the scent and implication therein hit her, and she tries to swallow down her third bout of nausea. Oh gosh, that is so much worse than she expected. She thought the hood would protect way more from that! Maybe her umbrella idea was just as doomed to failure. "Um- here, mom- can you carry Siana? I can lead Ana upstairs. W-we'll, um, make sure to close all the blinds."

At first, Ana squeezes herself tighter for a second - but then she takes an unsteady breath. "I- um, okay, yeah, that's- that's fine." Hesitantly, she'll let Kitty lower her down and stand up, squeezing her arms around herself and following her duplicate up the stairs.

[Foxes Snacking]

"...Okay, cool," Anastasia concludes, deciding not to question it further. "Let's go home then, and not tell mom about any of this."

[Arkhosia]

[Spookysitting]

The hand is less gripping her shoulder and more resting on it so she won't have trouble pulling away.
However, it doesn't mean that the creature she comes face to face with is any less terrifying. If Leis has ever seen really thick fog she would know that almost seem to solidify sometimes. Now make that fog purple, make it a spiky body, give it a pair of triangular white eyes and a pink mouth curved into a cartoonishly wicked grin. Then that description would almost match the being she now finds her less than a meter from.

Since a detail that's yet to be included is the vulgar tongue, matching the size of its oversized mouth, which comes close to meeting her face as the creature seems to be attempting to lick her.
But that's when she throws salt at the creature. She's probably not staying around but judging by how it suddenly presses its eyes and mouth close she did hit it and it doesn't seem to like it. Soon letting out a haunting howl as she can see two hands, completely separated from the rest of the beings body, reaching up towards its eyes. Seemingly attempting to rub away the salt.

[Spookysitting]

"What-?" Leis spins around and gasps in shock, stumbling backwards into the doorway. That's not like any spirit she's ever seen before! Thinking quickly, she unscrews the cap of another vial and fishes out three leaves of sage, squeezing them between her fingers.

"L-leaf as my shield, shrub as my knight, wall this spirit away tonight!" The tiefling bites a sliver of skin from her thumb and whirls her wrist to fling the leaves into the air, greenery cracking and crumbling into shimmering silhouettes of light that expand into three large planes and move to encircle the ghost. Should it work, they'll trap the spirit and ward it from passing through.

[Gullara]

[Uninvited]

"You should have told me that would happen. I never would have agreed to this otherwise." The kitsune says sharply. As soon as she caught the first sign of it- gods that was horrible. And she's sure the girl is letting on as little as possible even now.

She takes a steadying breath, then puts Ana down. "Okay... just hold still for a moment." If there's no protest she'll lift Siana with the same means she lifted Ana earlier, though she doesn't bring Siana in close like she did Ana. Instead the subtle cloud effect doesn't fae away and the girl is held out in front of her in the air in a loose sitting position. If that all goes well she'll take them up the stairs behind the Anas.

[Spookysitting]

"Uh, Orlane. Orlane!" Rosabel elbows her sister, who turns to see what she's looking at. "There's two of them."

"Uh...." Orlane's eyes dart around. "Run!" She and Rosabel, with Maha in tow, make a break for the door on the kitchen's east wall.


Meanwhile Eshe and Jaazha in turn bolt past the intercepting hallway where Leis and the spirit are. Oh no, this is real trouble! Eshe doesn't stop before she reaches the master bedroom and she pushes the door open and runs inside. Jaazha is forced to follow. "Mom has to have something in here to help."

[Ironsmith]

[Uninvited]

If Siana were more cynical, she might have pointed out that Kitty just gave her a darn good reason to not tell her about the whole sunlight problem.

As it is, she can only look back up at the woman, perplexed and apologetic. She thought she'd prepared Kitty, Ana, and Stasia reasonably well for her combustion. Gave them ample warning and put on as much protection as was needed.

But apparently, Kitty didn't feel the same way. And she sounds like she thinks Siana cheated her somehow, as opposed to simply grossly underestimating how badly she'd take the burns.

The strigoi sinks into her hoodie and mumbles out an apology, looking wide-eyed up at Kitty the whole time. She just... could not stop screwing up today, could she? Granted, this is a mere faux pas compared to, you know, murder, but knowing she can't even get the little bits right anymore certainly isn't doing her mental health any favors.

She should just hurry up the steps and get out of Kitty's hair. That would be the least intrusive thing to do, right?

...Well, apparently Kitty isn't having any of that, either.

"Oop!" Siana grunts as the cloud forms under her and they start up the stairs.

...Admittedly, this isn't a terrible way to traverse them. But Siana can't help but feel a bit scummy about it anyway.

[Keeper]

Bed Talk

The satyr smiles. "Is that so? Well, I can't say no to that. That and your magic would be useful to have along." Then she realizes something. "Uh, one thing though, ever heard of the band DEATHKISS? Can't imagine it'd be something you'd listen to but maybe you've come across them in some other way. They've were all over the news in Riverside at one point."

Bed Talk

"Uh, I think you mentioned them once? You asked me for a mechanic in Riverside once? But uh, otherwise no. I know there was an incident or something with the news, yeah."
Jim doesn't remember the specifics. He would remember hearing about the bombing but he didn't pay attention to the name of the band.

[Gullara]

[Uninvited]

Once they reach the top of the stairs at the second floor, Kitsuki lowers Siana back to her feet again. "It's not far." Sure enough they follow the Anastasias a short way down the hall to the left and stop at a door. Kitty moves past her split daughter and goes to unlock the door. Before they even enter they can hear the faint sound of babies crying, though. An ill omen.

The sound intensifies as the door opens, and even more as they step inside. Inside they step into a small tiled area with piles of shoes and a coat rack on the wall. It opens directly into a spacious living room and a kitchen beyond it. The ceiling above the living room is clear up to a second level, while there's a staircase directly next to them that leads up to a space overhanging the kitchen. It's somewhere beyond that upstairs space that the crying is coming from.

Along the wall leading to the kitchen and taking up a bunch of space in the living room are a number of moving boxes. It looks like they're only partially moved in.

"Just... take a seat and rest for a minute. I'll be right back." Kitsuki says as she kicks off her shoes and runs up the stairs, disappearing into a hallway beyond.

[Arkhosia]

[Uninvited]

Ana and Stasia move quickly to ensure all of the curtains and blinds in the living room and kitchen are closed tight, drawing a particularly tall one close across a glass door to an outside balcony. There's a moment as they step in where Stasia hesitates, looking up towards the source of the clamoring babies - but the pressing need to make sure Siana does not burn to death overrides her sense of duty to help soothe the kids, and thankfully Kitty seems to be on it.

"Um- y-yeah, okay. A-are you sure you don't -" aaaand she's gone. Stasia blinks and looks back at Siana. "Well, um- we have some blankets, if you want." She gestures to a stack of them folded neatly on a corner of one of the couches. Ana is already on it, hopping onto the couch across from the TV and pulling her knees in close.

[Ironsmith]

[Uninvited]

Siana nods and hobbles over to the couch, taking a seat near Ana, with enough space between them to accommodate Stasia if she wanted to take a seat as well. With the implication that the blanket is cleared for use, she quietly scoops one from the stack and cocoons herself in it, shivering inside of it with a quiet, high-pitched hum. It's normal for a strigoi to feel cold to the touch, but Siana's been feeling it even more so lately; despite having been essentially on fire a few minutes ago, she's already chilly again.

She doesn't comment on the babies upstairs, but she does glance up in that direction every now and again, a worried expression crossing her face. Last time she agreed to stay at a friend's house, the timing was rather poor and she ended up making a mess of the place. That was bad enough when the only person there was their adult host, but if that happens when there are infants in the room...

The strigoi coughs violently, almost retching at the notion, and in the process, manages to dislodge one of the phalanges from her mouth and sends it skittering across the floor, complete with a little trail of unidentifiable translucent goop. Gross.

"...I, um..." Siana begins, pulling the blanket tighter and keeping her gaze fixed on the mess she just made. "...I hope I'm not too much of a bother. I promise I'll try not to be."

[Reinholdt]

[Bellamy House]

Reinholdt frowns. That's nice and all for the triplets, but Rein's concern had been for the kids not directly Otherbriane's and the answers weren't particularly satisfactory. Then again, it's unlikely any answer really would be in this situation. But if Otherbriane just wanted a bunch of kids...

"Why involve me then? She's proven she's more than capable of fathering her own children." Reinholdt idly waves at the trio building a block city.

Before his keen rouge senses suggest a door opening to him. That was quick. Anastasia and Annie must be back and trying to come in quietly so as not to disturb them.
...
Wait a minute. When has Annie ever been quiet?

Reinholdt turns his head to glance over towards the hall that leads to the door for a moment, but he doesn't see anything with Sirena carefully hidden against the wall. Huh. Was he imagining it? Probably. He is kind of on edge right now, so he ignores his instinct and turns his attention back to the group.

[Gullara]

[Uninvited]

As the three are settling in a little bit they'll hear a gasp followed by a sharp, "What?!" The quick might see a face peeking over the edge of the short wall of the overhanging space before it pulls away. Stomp stomp stomp, over to the stairs, then stomp stomp stomp down.

There emerges Annie in her two piece, matching (not so) spooky pajama set, dragging a starry pattern blanket by one hand, her frazzled hair pulled into a rough ponytail. She pauses at the bottom of the stairs, a baleful look settling on the group. "Now there's two of you???

[Arkhosia]

[Uninvited]

"A bother?" Stasia blinks. "What? No way, you're fine! Besides, like, if Kitty and Obriane can handle my mess of issues on a regular basis, I'm sure they can handle yours just for one day," she assures, flashing a bright and optimistic smile. The room is quiet for a moment before Ana chips in, hey eyes shifting from the gross spindle of bug-matter to Siana's face. "Hey, are you feeling alright? Do you need to like, eat? Cuz we can, um, give you some privacy if you-"

Ana and Stasia's tails both bristle when they first hear their sister up above them, and Stasia practically jumps in place. The braver fox winces and sighs, then looks over at Annie and shrugs as her counterpart puts on a nervous smile. "Um, hey, morning Annie. I... guess so? It's been, like, a really weird night."

[Ironsmith]

[Uninvited]

"I'm not going to do that in your mom's living room." Siana replies, giving Ana a shaky smile. "I mean... what if some of my food got out? Look what I've got in here. Roaches, crickets, spiders, scorpions, termites, bedbugs, wasps... I don't want to be the reason she has a pest problem in a few months."

Really, that could be an issue now, if those jars somehow got broken. But she's keeping them in her purse at her side and is reasonably sure nobody's going to come up and smack it with a baseball bat or something.

Siana turns as soon as she realizes there's a newcomer in the room. Oh, look at that. That must be Ana's little sister. One of them at least. Time to make a good first impression.

...Oh, come on. One shy little wave is not a good first impression, Siana. It's not terrible, but not good.

"Um... h-hi there."

...Slightly better.

"I'm Siana."

Getting warmer, putting her name out there.

"I'm a friend of your sisters."

Okay, okay, good, establishing a relationship...

"And I'll just be staying here for a little bit."

Managing expectations, good. Okay. Better. Much better.

The strigoi holds out her hand for a shake, but if Annie doesn't take it, she'll quietly withdraw it back into the blanket, holding it close to her body and letting out another buzz. It's too cold in here for her to keep up the gesture for too long.

[Beans]

Agatha leans into Carrie and stares at the screen for a minute. Then she has to wipe at her eyes too. "They look like good kids. And you sound like a good mom. My little crow, all grown."

It takes her a few introspective breaths before she figures out why it hurts so much. Just as frozen fingers brought in from the cold start to prick when the blood begins to flow through them again, Carrie heats up her frostbitten heart too fast. Years apart, brought suddenly together. But the gap between them is still vast and growing every time she looks at the woman by her side and sees her changes. It hurts. She can't bear to spend another heartbeat standing still. The walk ahead to the Riftline station seems unacceptably long. Fortunately, she's been to Carrie's place before. She fixes it in her mind's eye.

"I can't wait. Hold on." She wraps her arms around her and, with a loud sound of linen being torn in one long strip, they're no longer standing Inside.

[House on the Flats]
Carrie blinks as they arrive. However, she's not too dazed to overlook the storm of emotions inside herself or Agatha. "Well, that's convenient..." Giggling softly, she takes off her jacket and hangs it on the stand by the door, holding out a gloved hand for Agatha's as well. The house is cozy, comfortable, and not too much different since the last time Agatha was here. Since that last kiss before they went their separate ways.

"It's still pretty cold out there. Maybe I make us some tea and... you can tell me anything interesting you've been up to?" She wants to give Agatha the chance to unload anything that hurts her heart---like the things Carrie's already been told---but doesn't want to force it. She wouldn't want to just be asked about Eiko out of nowhere (how the hell did Rhett know?!), even if it'd feel so much better to tell her. So she just does her best to make Agatha feel comfortable opening up however she wants.

[Gullara]

[Uninvited]

Annie marches across the room, dragging her blanket behind her as she goes. She stops, puls her hands on her hips, and replies to Stasia. "What does that even mean?"

Then she rounds on Siana. She furrows her brow and her nose wrinkles up at the girl introduces herself. "This isn't your fault, is it?" She points at the Anastasias. Her voice is accusing.

[Arkhosia]

[Uninvited]

"I-I-" Stasia stutters, seeming to pause and process last night's events. "L-look, like, I had a weird dream where I went to a party, then I got sawn in half and I woke up and there were two of me, I really really don't know what's going on, I'm not even sure I wanna talk about it, it's just... weird." The girl folds her arms around herself and shivers.

"Annie, please, be nice," Ana requests. "She didn't do anything, and she had a rough night too, okay?" She frowns, then looks back towards the background noise of babies. "Did you get anything to eat yet?"

[Ironsmith]

[Uninvited]

Siana opens her mouth to respond to Annie's accusation, but it looks like Ana beat her to it. And, in a stunning reversal, the foxgirl is the one defending her this time.

Which she can't help but smile at, just a bit. She still feels like garbage, but... it's good to know Ana's got her back, at least as much as she has hers.

And, in the meantime, Ana did bring up a way she could make a good impression with her family, and at the same time not seem so much like a parasite who happened to be following Ana around.

"...I could help with that, if you want." She begins, a bit hesitantly. "I, um, used to work in a kitchen. My old boss taught me a thing or two about cooking. ...If your mom doesn't mind."

The last thing she wants is to overstep her boundaries and rob Kitty of an activity she enjoys in the name of helping her. That's a pretty quick and thorough failure of hospitality, right there.

[Gullara]

[Uninvited]

Annie gives the three of them a skeptical look, but then lets the bravado drop along with her arms to her sides. "Nuh uh. Obi's been too busy for me." She whines. "And mom said no choco puffs!" Horror of horrors. "And those babies woke me up way too early."

[FireFox]

[House on the Flats]
Carrie blinks as they arrive. However, she's not too dazed to overlook the storm of emotions inside herself or Agatha. "Well, that's convenient..." Giggling softly, she takes off her jacket and hangs it on the stand by the door, holding out a gloved hand for Agatha's as well. The house is cozy, comfortable, and not too much different since the last time Agatha was here. Since that last kiss before they went their separate ways.

"It's still pretty cold out there. Maybe I make us some tea and... you can tell me anything interesting you've been up to?" She wants to give Agatha the chance to unload anything that hurts her heart---like the things Carrie's already been told---but doesn't want to force it. She wouldn't want to just be asked about Eiko out of nowhere (how the hell did Rhett know?!), even if it'd feel so much better to tell her. So she just does her best to make Agatha feel comfortable opening up however she wants.

[House on the Flats]

The teleportation isn't as physically nauseating as all the times Dani Goswell had carried Carrie to and from HALO, nor is it as instantly disorienting as when she had been yanked back and forth by the Marchioness Curiosity. But while eudaimonian magic gave her flashes of synesthesia, experiencing sensations like sounds and tastes with different senses, this kakodaimonian power Agatha wielded has more straight forward hallucinations as an aftereffect. When she hangs up the Selinite's greatcoat, she'll see a wooden mannequin in the corner next to the stand, wearing a coat of the deepest navy and a scarf of the brightest orange she's ever seen. At first it doesn't seem surprising at all, like it's always been there. As she walks towards the kitchen she'll pass another mannequin, this one wearing a shiny leather jacket and a clean black cocked hat. It may take her a few more steps to realize they shouldn't be there and by the time she looks back they're both gone. Judging by the way Agatha is rapidly blinking her eyes and trying not to smile, she saw them too.

Ah, but I get ahead of myself. In order for Carrie to hang up Agatha's coat, she needs to take it off. Which means first unbuckling her sword belt. Then unbuttoning the double-breasted coat. Once she gets that off and hung on the stand, the Inquisitrix reaches behind her back and unhooks the leather harness holding a brace of flintlock pistols under her arms. After that, she slowly unfastens her black wool jacket with silver buttons, inch by inch revealing a white linen blouse. She's not trying to be seductive about stripping out of her many layers of clothing and equipment and even looks embarrassed as it goes on and on... but it's an intimate moment all the same and the weird shared hallucination is something of a relieving distraction.

Whatever humor the black-haired woman may feel from watching her vulture-winged girlfriend's reaction to her stripping down to blouse and pants or to the unreal mannequins wearing combinations of their clothes evaporates, leaving behind a bittersweet emotion as she looks around the house. Doesn't seem like much has changed since the last time she was here, when she kissed Carrie and said goodbye for what she assumed was forever.

"It was worth it. I need to say that first." Agatha miserably rubs warmth back into her hands--or pretends to--while studying the kitchen floor. "I didn't... feel good about leaving you. Especially not since you stuck your neck out for me to get all that spook training. But my Goddess showed me how nothing was working like it should back home. How the clergy enabled the nobles' excesses and kept the common folk in line. How the people in power never gave anything back, never looked after the people they ruled like Selene told them. They just kept getting more and more power, crossing every line and breaking every rule in their way. I'm not stupid, I know the world doesn't work like in all those plays and operas I watched as a kid. But She gave me a chance to do something about it. To hold the priests accountable. To put the fear of my Goddess into nobles. To protect all the street trash like me nobody else cares about. All I had to do was lie to you about why I wanted the training and betray your trust.

"Well, you know what I chose. You probably heard some of what I did, too. I arrested, tried, and secured convictions of heretics from deacons to bishops. I investigated and insulted the most heinous of nobles until I provoked duel challenges and then I killed them in front of their peers and Ponera. I banished knave daimons back to the Underworld and stopped their psychotic preying on my people. I'm sorry, Carrie, but it was worth it."

She finally looks up at the other woman, her eyes dead yet defiant like the bodies of a battalion that never broke. "Forgive me, my love, but I'd do it again. I will do it again, if it comes down to leaving you or leaving the Inquisition. Although it's more likely that my enemies will kill you first."

[Beans]

[House on the Flats]

Carrie blinks at the hallucinations... but then she gets to watch Agatha take her coat off, and there's something quite lovely about that.

And then... the words. She listens, and she smiles, even if there's a sadness to it. She meets Agatha's defiant eyes, her own tawny ones gentle and a little weary. She squeezes Agatha's shoulder softly. "I forgive you, and I don't blame you. Really, I don't. I... I'd like to that, had you told me your true intent, I'd have helped you just the same. We can't know for sure, but what's done is done. I've been kept up to date, a bit, on what you've been up to, and I'm proud of you. The good you've done for people is, for me, worth having been lied to. It's worth having certain people from the RCA look at me very hard and weigh whether I'm a threat or just extremely stupid." Her voice carries no venom; she's earnest. But she also wants to make sure Agatha has all the information, all the context.

"I... I understand that, as much as you do feel for me, some things come before me. Between you and my daughters... it would break my heart, but I have my responsibilities. I hope it never comes to that, or to being between me or the Inquisition, but..." She sighs, smiling sadly. "I've learned enough to know that love alone doesn't always pan out. But I also know that, even so, it's worth it. But before I go any farther, you need to know something."

She swallows, knowing this could throw everything for a loop. "I'm not just a mom now. I'm adopted. Princess Caroline Vulpan."

[Arkhosia]

[Uninvited]

Stasia blinks. "Siana, are you sure? I mean, I would really appreciate the help, but you're shivering-"

"Well, mom didn't tell us that," Ana interjects, favoring her sister with a mischievous grin. "So, how about I go pour you a bowl of choco puffs, huh? And then if you chow them all down, mom won't know a thing!" Besides, if she gets in trouble for this, she's really only half in trouble.

[Thursday Violist]

[Bellamy House]

Harley bends over and looks down at her knees. Yeah, that's a good question that Rein's asking, too.
She should definitely have come more prepared. As it stands, she's basically just letting Rein ask everything important.

She breathes in. And out. She sits up straight, and pushes her hair back. She thinks of a hopefully-good question, and not one that would be super obvious in retrospect. "Oh. Um." She looks at Obriane. "Have you ever directly spoken with your alter ego? Or is that a thing that's just impossible?"
Harley glances at Kitty. She opens her mouth, decides against it, and then looks back at Obriane.


Manja, of course, finds the blocks very interesting. The way that the three of them are playing together is pretty interesting, too. She's never considered just...adding stuff to what someone else was using.
It's a pretty clever idea, she's forced to admit.

------

in the stairwell
Sirena figures she needs three things to be successful. Maybe four things, now that she thinks about it.
First, she needs to monitor where everyone's looking at...well, everyone except the children because they can't really do anything anyway. Second, she needs to set up a hologram so it's not immediately obvious when she snatches Manja. Third, her optical camouflage needs to be turned on (it's been overheating recently so she should only use it last-second). And, fourth, a distraction.
...
And, of course, she needs to do it quick enough that those two who went out don't come back and spot her creeping by the stairs.

To the first end, Sirena places a chrome gecko on the wall, so it can climb just high enough to determine where everyone's facing.
And she releases a little metallic cockroach robot to perform the second task, to scurry around a little and start recording Manja, so that the computer behind Sirena's watch can start developing a 3D hologram of what's sitting on that chair..