[Safeholme] The Boston Consortium

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Straken
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Re: [Safeholme] The Boston Consortium

Post by Straken »

Ruarc was unperturbed by the investigator's blatant snooping. Everything that needed hiding was hidden under, behind, and around every bit of magical and mundane subterfuge he could muster. After the last time a valuable item had been stolen from him Ruarc took no chances. That, and he now frequently had teenagers popping in and out of his cottage for study sessions, on top of Caoranach's own tendency to poke around. So rather than worried the Irishman was simply irked, and his body language reflected it as he stood with his arms crossed.

"Yup, they sure did," he said, maintaining his deadpan tone. "After you."

Ruarc was set on keeping his eye on her.
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Gwathdraug
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Re: [Safeholme] The Boston Consortium

Post by Gwathdraug »

As the squirrel had followed Ruarc and Tabitha inside she had seemed distracted - sparing little more than a couple of pointed glares at the Consortium woman and a mutter or two about 'chargin' fer entire design advice'. But, with a sudden renewed vigour, Ceit seemed to shake herself and then quickly skittered up Ruarc's side onto his shoulder.

"Sarry." The squirrel whispered as quietly as possible. "Some of tha' other Keepers found oot ah'm down here an' are tryin' tae boot their way down my connection." The woodland sized Gramarye punctuated their statement with a snort. "Tol' 'em it's a proper coinneachadh so they'll need tae request the leadin' Keeper fer any release o' information." The squirrel shrugged as best as she could. "Lemme ken what ye want tae get back tae them an' naw."

The squirrel took a long suspicious look at Tabitha as the women continued to exist despite seemingly have gotten the answers she had wanted earlier. "What else hae ye done ta' piss off her bunch o' yanks?"
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Straken
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Re: [Safeholme] The Boston Consortium

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Rolling his eyes, Ruarc had almost forgotten that he was a black sheep within the Fifth Circle of the Order. Between effectively becoming the first practicing Keeper in the far East, having a bizarrely active career for being only twenty-eight, and flat out inheriting a mansion; a number of the other Keepers back West had tended to view Ruarc as an oddity ranging from idle gossip, to mild obsession like with Alexei. Normally this only became prevalent during Order meetings that took place every couple of years back at the Keep, but apparently a couple were eavesdroppers as well; Ruarc was guessing Belgium and Luxemburg, those two never seemed to be doing much. Although Poland had always seemed more standoffish, going so far as to suggest Ruarc host the next meeting, so maybe he was trying to pry.

"Thank you for your concern," Ruarc grumbled. "But, for the record, I have done nothing to piss her off. Missus Grimley simply forgot that she was here to grab her faerie not search for where I'm hiding Christmas presents."
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Kokuten
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Re: [Safeholme] The Boston Consortium

Post by Kokuten »

At the mention of Christmas presents, Tabitha pulled her head out of one of the cupboards, with a restrained smile on her face. It was painfully apparent that she was aware of what she was doing, and she wasn't being shy about any of her snooping. In fact, she seemed to enjoy the show she was putting on, to the point she was comically looking over her shoulder as she opened another cupboard.

"Sorry. I can't resist. I'm just so nosy," snorted Grimley, as if they'd find her coy nature cute. She thumbed up the stairs, before gingerly making her way up. "Maybe Zippo's found something, let's go see, shall we?"

It had been the second time she had brought this up and no one was more aware than Grimley herself. Up on the second floor, she looked about at the relatively cozy space, the door leading to the bedroom along with the small study area. There was a small trace of icy frost at the doorframe to the bedroom. It sprayed up one side of the wall, spilling lines of hexagonal chill on the wood. The second floor was tangibly colder than the first floor.

Seeing this, Tabitha seemed to sober up. Without any permission, she jolted the door open with an open palm, magic forcing any manner of security. On the other side, was the druid's bedroom, free of frost and faeries. The air in his room was a regular April temperature compared to the rest of the outside.

"Mister Flynn," forced the investigator, her original catty candor replaced with a bit of poison, "Where is my faerie?"
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Straken
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Re: [Safeholme] The Boston Consortium

Post by Straken »

Ruarc had been nice, then he had been tolerant, but now Tabitha had pushed one of his buttons. You do not disrespect an Irishman's family, friends, or home. He was in her face within moments of her saying his name, and behind his eyes was a contained fire. "How the fuck should I know?" Ruarc growled, his voice sounded tense. "In case your memory is short, I've been with you the entire time. To be frank, I'm also starting to no longer care. I wanted to help, I really did; it's what I tend to do. So, I'll tell you what; calm down, drop the damn tone, and maybe, just maybe, I wont throw you off of my property. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?"
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Kokuten
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Re: [Safeholme] The Boston Consortium

Post by Kokuten »

Tabitha's cool demeanor may have been gone, but it didn't cause her to shrink under the imposing Irishman. Instead, there was a similar fire that rose in her eyes as Ruarc dealt away with pleasantries. She was pressing back into his face, her mouth curling tightly to unleash something cutting.

Her teeth grit tightly, as odd, restrained words died through the gaps.

Then it exploded into shocking laughter, her hands rising limply, as Grimley began to cackle maniacally. This went on for some time, as she went through her uncontrollable fit, she turned and put her hand on the wall. Her shoulders bounced with each guffaw, hair spilling over them in a hypnotic flow. As the episode ended, she turned to face him, brushing her hair out of her face, which was filled with that same, saccharine expression.

The woman's mouth was spread in a fang-laden smile.

"Mr. Flynn, my bad, I lost my head there. I'm just really attached to my toys. I mean, it's not a huge deal; Zippo's just a faerie. If he's dead, he's dead. He's swirling out there somewhere. ANYWHO, I think I've learned enough for today, but... just so you're aware..." explained Tabitha with a polite candor, coming back into the man's face again with a calm, sweet intensity. She pressed a finger into his chest, and swirled it in a slow, circular motion.

"... I'll be back."

Her hand traced off him like a snake as she took to going down the stairs, the small armored guardian trailing after her as he had done the entire time.

As she walked away, out of sight, the way to Ruarc's room opened again. This time, a small, orange faerie poked her head from the edge of the door, an apparent guilt showing on her face.
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Straken
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Re: [Safeholme] The Boston Consortium

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Ruarc maintained his pose as Tabitha left in a manner that summed up the experience he had had with her fairly well. He shifted only slightly when he noticed the little sprite appear in the doorway, moving only to lift his arm and beckon the fairy over with a motion of his finger. Maintaining his staunch demeanor, the Irishman locked his eyes onto the diminutive creature.

"May I ask why exactly you are in my house, Jakku?" Ruarc asked, his tone was flat and unassuming. A teacher interrogating a student that was already in trouble. "I don't mind visitors, but the timing was a little unfortunate. Is Zippo in there as well?"
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Kokuten
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Re: [Safeholme] The Boston Consortium

Post by Kokuten »

Jakku's bright eyes dropped to the floor as Ruarc put the stern stare upon her. Her hands tucked tightly behind her back as she seemed to struggle with the words to answer the druid. The faerie wasn't quite like the kids at the academy, and was quite vulnerable to hard stares from people she cared about.

"I-... I'm sorry..." whimpered the sprite, downcast eyes filling with tears. "... I was trying-- trying to help... I di- didin'n meahn' to--..."

As Jakku floated forward to face judgement for her indiscretion, a hand came up from the edge of the door, scooping up the small fae gently. Percival Caxton shouldered the door open the rest of the way, and brought the small creature close to his chest.

"Forgive her, Rook, you know fire fae, filled with fiery senses of passion, justice, or whatever..." Percival dismissed her crimes as much as he dismissed the fact that he had just walked out of Ruarc's bedroom. Though, a glance over the Alchemist's shoulder showed that the doorway did not lead back into the bedroom. "She got away from me when I scooped up your souvenirs from the China trip. I was holding on to them here."

The odd man stepped back through the door way, leaving it open for Ruarc. "Come on in, I know you just had tea, so I've some coffee steaming."

From where he stood, the scene painted on the other side of the threshold was a marbled floor at the base of wide stairs, leading up somewhere out of sight. There was a table with some chairs, with a kettle, cups, and basket filled with biscottis. It looked like a courtyard.

Percival stopped, and turned half-way, already at the table, "Unless you'd like me to just bring them back out to you."
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Straken
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Re: [Safeholme] The Boston Consortium

Post by Straken »

"I have... several questions, Perce," Ruarc said as he took a couple tentative steps through the doorway, shutting it behind him. "First and foremost, dimensional doorways; that's new, right? Second, how did you get the book out of my strongbox? Third, I've never been a big fan of biscotti. Although that's not really a question."

The druid looked around to take in the new environment as he made his way to the table. Running his hand along the back of the chair, he finally committed to sitting down. "Alright, here's the third question. When did you get so sneaky?"
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Kokuten
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Re: [Safeholme] The Boston Consortium

Post by Kokuten »

"I knew it was you, I just keep forgetting which of us is particular with their baked goods," said Percy, still cupping Jakku close to his chest. He looked at the basket with some intent before Jakku piped up.

"Mr. Caxton, I'm sorry," she apologized, staring up at him, to which he smiled and set her on her flight again.

"You are very sweet, Jakku, but you did cause some trouble," Percival pointed back to the way they had come, an arch of thorns and flowers reinforced by a stone trellis. "We'll talk on it later, for now, go keep your friend company while I speak to Mr. Flynn."

Silently, the fire fae nodded, before flying to the arch, which flashed with the image of some cold, northern place before becoming a simple trellis again. The Alchemist sat down across from Ruarc, and picked up the basket, tossing up the contents once. What was biscotti fell into place as fresh, English muffins.

Around them was a small garden, which sat as the front piece to a building behind them. The marble stairway lead into a great library, which sat carved from the wall of a mountain, the whole of which rested at the base of a massive valley. The two of them were sitting at a high point in the valley, with a small village of cottage houses huddled around a river and road that snaked through it all.

Percival sipped his coffee.

"Let me answer those in no particular order," said Percival as the wind picked up, bringing on the scent of flowers and faint magical residue, "Your strong box was a work of art, but I am nothing if not resourceful Rook. First of all, I keep a set of tools on stand-by to break into everyone's things, as a matter of safety. Don't tell Jane."

"So, the tools for your box were: a very specific counter-rune set, Hammond's Rubberizer Salve, and Locksmith's Glue. I affixed the counter-runes to the combination runes to spoof their magic. Then, I spread the salve on the wood to peel back the covering to see the lock mechanism, and finally poured a dose of the glue into the arresting mechanism. You just shock the stuff, and it comes out like a silk handkerchief, then pops back up a mold of the internal workings. Blasted complicated thing, but made life much easier in figuring it out."

At that he took another sip of his coffee.

"The dimensional doors are a side-effect of all of this," the Alchemist raised his cup in an arc, that gestured to the whole valley.

He set the cup down and smiled, "For that last question... Can't quite toss fireballs and icewaves, Rook, I've always been sneaky. You've just never noticed until now."
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