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Antics
May 12, 2020 16:45:37 GMT -6
Post by Circe on May 12, 2020 16:45:37 GMT -6
Catherine just stared at Tyrus hard for a few seconds formulating a response. "Have you even made any attempts to get to know her? Outside of MCU or the Court?" She questioned. Granted she hadn't either, but every interaction at work had always been polite and respectful. The woman did her best to shoulder the burned of being assigned Molly as a partner, and for the most part it worked well enough. Though she had noticed a falling out among the two in the last few weeks, and she hadn't had the energy to begin untangling that. Split between her court duties and MCU, it was amazing she even got any sleep, much less a chance to eat anything past stale and tepid coffee.
"Look there's asking, and then there's demanding and giving little choice. I think she would appreciate if you asked her, besides which you're asking her to do something she's skilled in." Acknowledgement of skill could go a long way with someone like Xiaolian who seemed to spend most of her time getting bowled over and bulldozed by Molly.
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Antics
May 13, 2020 12:52:27 GMT -6
Post by demikara on May 13, 2020 12:52:27 GMT -6
"When would I have the time?" He pointed out. "I don't have time to socialize. I'd love to make friends with someone, or get to know people outside of work. I hold down one full time job, one part time job, and my duties to the court and to the council. This is the most socialization I get that isn't between me and a subordinate or me and a superior." He shrugged. Still, she did have a point.
"I'll reach out though. If you're sure she might appreciate it and not feel obligated." He'd have to figure out how to put it so she didn't feel obligated and that was going to be tricky at best.
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Antics
May 13, 2020 13:31:23 GMT -6
Post by Circe on May 13, 2020 13:31:23 GMT -6
Catherine bristled at Tyrus's response, he seemed to forget that even to begin with these 'lessons' had been impossible to make time for, except for that brief period when she had first joined the court. Granted she still felt that it was against her will, but like every other poor decision or run of bad luck in her life, she made the best she could out of it. "Do you not think I understand that?" She asked, one step away from using his formal name. But Catherine refrained from launching that barb at Tyrus, and instead pushed those thoughts and feelings back down and aside. She would deal with them later, whenever later was.
"If you think she won't respond to a request from you, then I'll call her myself." She stated as she pulled out her phone, and searched briefly through the contacts before finding Xiaolian's number. Selecting it, she then held the phone up to her ear and waited.
"Lieutenant? I realize it's late.. but is there the possibility could I ask a favor?" Catherine said politely once a groggy Xiaolian answered the phone, muttering something about vampires and their ungodly hours. Something which Catherine choose to ignore for now.
"That depends on what you're asking Warden." Xiaolian replied clearly unamused to be called this late at night. A week ago it had been the mage turned vampire, and now it was her boss. She had a sinking feeling that this was going to be another bizarre request from the court.
"Rahal has had some problems that require a null, he's tried a few others, but we think it's related to the attack earlier in the year." Catherine explained calmly. Xiaolian had been there, and had provided a solid barrier somehow that had prevented the worst of it from leaking outside the confines of the immediate area of the ranch. The rest of the conversation was only to assure the other that this was a last resort request, and that Tyrus had already tried several others in the area. They were either unavailable or refused to work with the mage again.
"I appreciate it, Lieutenant. Please don't hesitate to let me know if I can return the favor." Catherine finished before hanging up and pocketing her phone again. It hadn't taken any magic, or any unnatural charm, it had just taken asking politely and explaining the situation. "She'll be here in fifteen." She added resisting the urge to give Tyrus a self satisfied smirk.
If anything, getting Xiaolian to analyze the residue would help Chrysanta and the stalled investigation with the ranch.
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Antics
May 13, 2020 14:23:47 GMT -6
Post by demikara on May 13, 2020 14:23:47 GMT -6
"She must live close to a mirror station then. We better go get her." The wards around the mirror would keep her in the way station until he arrived after all. He didn't like unexpected guests. "Are you sure she isn't just doing this because she feels obligated? You're both la principessa and her boss." It was the middle of the night. Why exactly would she be willing to come out this late otherwise? He knew perfectly well most people didn't keep vampire hours.
Hell he kept some kind of terrible mix between vampire hours and human hours and it was exhausting.
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Antics
May 13, 2020 14:43:01 GMT -6
Post by Circe on May 13, 2020 14:43:01 GMT -6
"Something like that." She commented knowing that there was some odd component to how fast the tiny woman moved. She had heard the startled screams in her office when the other had managed to sneak up on Molly, which was more often than not given how easily distracted the fae was. "We'll see when we get there. I didn't demand, I just asked and if she had said no I would have accepted that." Catherine shrugged. There was no telling with Xiaolian, the woman unlike Molly and others didn't tend to wear her thoughts or feelings on a subject on her sleeve for all to see.
It was something that Catherine had come to appreciate, everything wasn't backed by some emotional fallacy or political quandary as to why she didn't. The rock steady stability that Xiaolian gave to the team was often under appreciated, especially given how often they were plunged into chaos on the daily basis.
"I also asked her if she'd be willing to look further into it in relation to the case with the ranch. We've been stagnant on that front for weeks now, and besides she's the one whose on call tonight."
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Antics
May 13, 2020 16:31:35 GMT -6
Post by demikara on May 13, 2020 16:31:35 GMT -6
"If you're sure." He said and headed to the front, to his four wheeler. The one she took should be there as well and he considered matters carefully. He had four of the vehicles total, for use near the mirror. "I suppose there might be more to be found. But you guys have been over every inch of this section of the ranch." The ranch was a bit too big to go over every inch of every part of it. He tugged on his braid and straddled the four wheeler.
He was glad he had put the mirror station in, given it made his commute shorter, but he was more glad how heavily warded it was. "I'm not sure how much she'll find from further examination of the magic. Chrysthanta has been out here regularly to take measurements."
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Antics
May 13, 2020 16:46:36 GMT -6
Post by Circe on May 13, 2020 16:46:36 GMT -6
"I'm not." Catherine stated bluntly as she turned the engine over on her own vehicle. Xiaolian was a hard read, and she suspected there was more to the lieutenant than the other let on. But like most of the unseen, it seemed better to not ask. Everyone had their own bit of weirdness to themselves, and it often wasn't something any of them were proud of.
Racing through the darkness of the ranch towards the sole station within hundreds of miles, it struck Catherine how strange things had become.
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Antics
May 13, 2020 17:29:24 GMT -6
Post by demikara on May 13, 2020 17:29:24 GMT -6
She wasn't sure. That was great. He pulled up to the landing station and parked neatly next to the other two, under an overhang to keep them away from the worst of the sun and any rain. It wasn't as fool proof as a full on garage, of course, but it served it's purpose well enough. The landing area of the mirror system was a shed, well lit and with an air conditioner set in a window. It was tidy and clean and well decorated as far as he was concerned.
It was set up more like the foyer of a nice house than anything else. Given that's what it served as for him, it worked. He turned off the four wheeler and dismounted, then opened the door to the shed so that they could see Xiaolian when she arrived.
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Antics
May 13, 2020 17:42:44 GMT -6
Post by Circe on May 13, 2020 17:42:44 GMT -6
True to her word, it had only taken her about fifteen minutes before she arrived. Stepping through the silvery surface of the mirror, Xiaolian didn't look too terribly pleased, but she didn't look too terribly upset either. Glancing at Tyrus, she raised an eyebrow at his appearance and then grinned. This was entirely too good, and almost worth getting called out in the middle of the night. "It's a good thing you did call me Warden, I can see that Principe Eliodoro doesn't know when to leave well enough alone." She said.
Xiaolian wasn't going to spare the barbs like Catherine might have, the other had grown up cheek to jowl with siblings and cousins after everyone had settled again. If you didn't grow a thick skin through that, then what else could you do? Chuckling to herself and snapping a quick picture for later with her phone, she then settled down to business. "Alright, tell me exactly what you were trying to do. Excruciating details are appreciated."
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Antics
May 13, 2020 18:23:56 GMT -6
Post by demikara on May 13, 2020 18:23:56 GMT -6
"Is the photo really needed?" He sounded entirely too long suffering there. "A potion for a young child. She was supposed to be able to feed some magic into it and it would glow." He rattled off a list of the ingredients and the proportions and shrugged. "The potion blew up rather spectacularly. Rainbow colored foam, roughly the consistency of toothpaste. When I sprayed it off outside, the ground and my hair began to sprout. I had thought it would be thinned down enough to not interact. Experience says it should have, so I can only assuming the people I've hired to cleanse the excess magic from the accident still haven't managed to get it all, despite repeated visits."
Which was ridiculous. He'd need to check things over because of this and he wasn't too thrilled with the entire situation. He managed a weak smile. "If you could help clean up and deal with the after math, I'd certainly owe you. And of course, I will pay for your time."
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Antics
May 13, 2020 18:36:46 GMT -6
Post by Circe on May 13, 2020 18:36:46 GMT -6
"Oh believe me, the picture is necessary. I can't loose this week's bet." Xiaolian commented off hand as she produced a small notepad from somewhere within the pockets of the anorak jacket she was wearing. It was very clear that while on call she did everything she could to not have to wear the suit and blouse that MCU mandated for it's Specialists. In fact, the ripped jeans, band tshirt she was wearing was far from professional. "A potion... for.. a kid?" She asked bluntly not entirely sure she had heard right. Not many people were terribly eager to give something to kids that could potentially be ingested. Her and her siblings and cousins had done their own fair share of tasting strange things as children, mostly on dares or bets.
"So you ended up covered in the foam, which is how I'm guessing the Warden found you." She added scribbling a few notes onto the paper. To her it sounded like a case of mismatched or bad reagents, but there was still the fact that there might be other factors at play.
"Aside from the issue with the fire and such, has anything else happened that might affect this?"
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Antics
May 13, 2020 19:01:26 GMT -6
Post by demikara on May 13, 2020 19:01:26 GMT -6
"She's old enough not to drink random things." He waved his hand. "Kids are smarter than most adults think. She's about six. If she was a toddler, I would be much more concerned." She was old enough. He considered things and frowned. "It's possible I did something with my own magic without realizing it. My control has been off since the fire." Along with his sensitivity. He really out to get a check up, but he wasn't even certain who to go to for this. His usual healer had not made it through the coup.
Besides which, he was a full vampire now and that changed things significantly when it came to his health. And it meant he was less certain as to who to go to. "Other than the fire though, nothing has happened. I had all my reagents replaced after the incident."
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Antics
May 14, 2020 9:50:18 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by Circe on May 14, 2020 9:50:18 GMT -6
Xiaolian looked at Tyrus for a moment, and frowned. "I didn't say anything about the kid drinking it, Rahal." She very quickly clamped down on her own mental shields, unsure of what exactly was going on. Xiaolian knew that the Warden was a more than capable telepathic, Tyrus however she didn't.
"If your magic is off that's concerning. Either way, why don't you show me what happened, and I'll see what I can do."
There were a lot of questions that she suspected would go unanswered. Especially as to why Tyrus was so quick to dismiss something she hadn't even spoken about. There was something going on that the mage wasn't admitting to, and it looked like to Xiaolian she had been dragged into the middle of it.
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Antics
May 15, 2020 7:56:37 GMT -6
Post by demikara on May 15, 2020 7:56:37 GMT -6
"I thought...I must have been imagining things." Better than than oops I read your mind on accident. "It's been a long day. Apologies." He took the keys for the third fourwheeler off the hook and handed it to her. Entertainingly, the keys were color coded to the fourwheelers themselves. Xiaolian now had the keys to the electric green one, not that it was clear just how bright it was this late at night. "Do you know how to drive a fourwheeler?" It wasn't quite like driving a car after all.
Besides, if she didn't, she'd need a quick lesson before they took off.
He could have sworn she had spoken out loud earlier. Hopefully there wasn't anything up with his magic and it was just him not being careful. The telepathy was still relatively new, after all, and he tended to relax his shields when on the ranch and so far from other people.
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Antics
May 15, 2020 9:45:11 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by Circe on May 15, 2020 9:45:11 GMT -6
Now it was Catherine's turn to raise an eyebrow in concern at Tyrus's comments. Tonight had already gone off the rails and it looked like there was more than he was even willing to admit. There appeared to still be products left from the ritual that had changed both their lives for good or bad; and like anything else in their world came with a heavy component of the unknown. Despite the phrase with age came knowledge, Catherine of all people felt like she was flying blind into unknown territory.
"I appreciate you coming out here so late Lieutenant. I figured you were the safest bet... and less likely to make it worse trying to despell it." Catherine told the other. Truthfully she was extremely grateful that it had been Xiaolian and not Molly. While Molly was capable, getting her to buckle down and work was another thing altogether.
"Yes, I know how to ride a four-wheeler... is there something special about these or?" Xiaolian asked wondering what Tyrus's problem was. The mage had been acting weird and cagey for the last few weeks, never mind that he had dropped off the list of approved experts to consult with. "You know what, nevermind." She said shaking her head as she got onto the four-wheeler and started it up.
At least it wasn't the worms, those things had taken the cake for weird so far.
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