as we pass through arrangements of shadows

[shreds]

Comments

[maleficum]

[Yep, that's the plan. David lingers just long enough behind them to avoid suspicion but does his best to keep an eye on the car, following back to his intended delivery (18). Once he does stop to drop the food off, he'll hang back, parking near some trees for cover but close enough that he can see the door.]

[tramplemain]

( The driver doesn't pick up on this caravan of travelers following him. They don't follow him far, just down the block back to the a familiar hotel.

The driver double parks with his blinker on and runs inside. )

[tearhiseyesout]

["Anyone want to see if they can invisique their way inside?"

Jaqueline nods, waving a hand over herself and disappearing from view.]

I've got it.

["We need him alive, Jaq." He says after her as she leaves and she ignores him, darting across the street and into the hotel, trying to see if she can catch sight of their redheaded friend (17).]

[tramplemain]

( Their redheaded friend is reading one of the guides along the wall, finding the room number he wants...

Or, does he? He tilts his head and reads his phone again. )

Must be a typo.

( He shakes his head, stepping into one of the elevators. They head up a few floors where they're let out. He follows the doors to the end of the hall and again double checks. There's a window, there's this door and that door.

He knocks on the right door, but doesn't hear anything.

He thinks for a second, but he realizes he is way behind in his drop-off time. He sets the bag between the two doors, snaps a picture and practically runs back the other way.

InvisiJacqueline, roll for dodge. )

[tearhiseyesout]

[She dips to the side, just feeling the driver graze by her (15 vs. 12), but she manages to not attract his attention. Inching further down the hall to where he left the food, she tries to get a look at the door and see what details she can garner (20).]

[tramplemain]

( nothing is unremarkable with either door. nothing is special. there is nothing but a recent half-assed paint job. but there is significantly tethered magic present, more than jacqueline would be able to untie.

She does notice on the packaging the number doesn't exist. There is a 411 and a 413, but not a 414. There is a window where 414 would be. )

[tearhiseyesout]

[Innnnnnnnnnteresting.

She steps back, leaning her invisible self against the opposite wall, and waits. If they're hungry, sooner or later they're going to have to come out and get the food.

In the meantime, she'll text back to the car:]

Room 414. Waiting for someone to come to the door.

[tramplemain]

( 👍🏻

In the blink of an eye the bag is gone, but being so honed in whatever magic is at play, there's the briefest of glimpses of something? a parallel hallway that flashes as a door closes?

she does catch the wisp of someone mentally! roll to reach out to their mind. )

[tearhiseyesout]

[It's hard when she can't make eye contact, but she does her best to grasp onto something, anything about the mystery food snatcher (10).

But she will throw herself forward as an attempt to catch the magical door, see if there's a chance she can slip in (12).]

[tramplemain]

( There is someone there (7), on the other side of this door and it's who she's looking for. Some hate wrapped up in the picture of a good old boy from Puritan times.

She does not slip into the door, but she does slip through whatever is there.

It's an identical hallway to the one she was just in with one glaring exception, the ornate red door in front of her, closed. )

[tearhiseyesout]

[Yep, that's a confirmation, at least. She debates whether or not she wants to try and get in the door herself, but she instead opts to wait for backup.

She pulls out her phone and texts back down to the group chat:]

Come up now. He's here.

[And she's just going to wait here quietly until the cavalry arrives.]

[praevaricatio]

( Well, if that isn't the bat signal. )

Do we have a game plan?

( Meanwhile, from behind the door, she hears a voice. "The door's unlocked." )

[tearhiseyesout]

[Jaqueline raises an eyebrow, before sending a second text:]

We have an invitation.

[David glances down at the second text, then shrugs.

"I think right now the plan is convince him to come in. But we should definitely have an exit strategy if his goes to shit."]

[praevaricatio]

Great. So. We join.

( He closes the car door behind him, waiting for his husband to join his side and they make their way in and up. )

[tearhiseyesout]

[That they do, and when they make it to the fourth floor and the missing room, they are forcefully grabbed by someone on the other side and yanked into the magical in-between.

Jaqueline's already dropped her invisibility.]

Took you long enough.

[She then nudges them towards the door.]

Let's go.

[praevaricatio]

Just like - fine. Right. The invitation.

( "I hear more voices," he calls out again. "You know, your breakfast is getting cold," he calls out again.

The door opens to a great room, a long table before them with place settings for four, enough for four, and candles lit in the middle of the table.

No Barnet, though. )

[maleficum]

[David raises an eyebrow as he makes his way inside, looking over the setup.]

Wish we had known in advance.

[His tone is dry and he slides his hands in his pockets.]

We already ate.

[praevaricatio]

( He makes an entrance, sweeping in from the left between two curtains, suit and tales. Entirely overdressed for a breakfast rendezvous.

"I was the first male in the Colony line to gain the sight," he says, grandiose, clearly talking to hear himself talk. "Of course, gifts like these are never enough. I could not gamble. I could not read your mind like some of us. I did not know which three witches were sent in search of me, but that there were three." He sighs. "And I did not see you eating without me. The Double T Diner really is one of a kind."

But, whatever.

"Two of you are infamous. I am sorry, that the woman has escaped me." He never did pay close attention. "Three does seem like overkill,".

He is ONE man. )

[tearhiseyesout]

[Jaqueline rolls her eyes, because really? Fine. She grits her teeth, before making her way over to one of the chairs.]

I'm sure you didn't have us come in just for breakfast. What do you want?

[praevaricatio]

( He's not your favorite person?

"Oh, that's easy. Let me go. Give up whatever old fashioned crusade you've been sent on. I have long lived past the standards and practices of this time," he purports. "I know, I know, it only takes one," he says. "But, is this really the cost of one piddly witch life?" )

[tearhiseyesout]

Crusade is too strong a word. If this were a crusade, we would not be standing here, talking.

[She would have killed him already, and not lost any sleep about it.]

Unfortunately for you, we've been asked to bring you in alive. Which means the Colony has other plans for you. Depending on how high you are on their shit list, you might wish I was on a crusade. But one way or another, Barnet, you're coming with us out that door and we're turning you over to Allura. That is how today is going to go.

[David points to her when she finishes. "What she said."]

[praevaricatio]

( And if they were the polite sort of company, they'd be seated.

"That sounds like a series of threats," he says, simply. "And all for the Colony, an outdated notion trying to modernize against every ancient impulse. Tell me, why the modernization? Why fix what isn't broke?" )

[tearhiseyesout]

Because what doesn't evolve, goes extinct.

[It's the one thing that she and David actually did agree on. They were going to revitalize the Colony, make it work for the modern age, now they're doing it with different people, for different ends.]

And let's face it, Barnet. You're a dinosaur. You're not even recognizing the major players anymore. Especially considering, the woman who "escaped" you? She's a fucking Melroux.

[And with that, her magic begins creeping in, fringing on the edges of his mind. It's not a nudge, she's knows he's too strong to respond to that so she goes for the works, reaching into his mind to pluck out his greatest fears and turn the dial up to eleven (17).]

And I take after my father.

[tramplemain]

( Here he thought they all could talk this out. Jacqueline Melroux has other ideas, ideas that haven't and don't give him the foggiest. Melroux is a name that doesn't carry any weight with him (5), like her magic. She does do her very best, but Barnet doesn't indicate that anything he fears has taken up any residence inside his or anyone's minds. (17)

David and Ezra, too, can do a sense magic check. )

Perhaps, you should've taken after your mother.

[maleficum]

[Jaqueline is too frustrated that things didn't go her way that she's not paying attention (3), but David is (19). It's part of the reason why he let her run her mouth, get in over her head. So that he could stand back and make sure that he understands what happening here.

And he feels it.

There's too much magic in this room. Too much power to be contained to just one man. And as much as he may have brushed off Jaqueline's assault, David knows how strong she is. That's not actually an easy feat.]

Let's leave Helene out of this.

[It's for the best. He steps forward and leans forward to rest his hands against the table.]

Look, Barnet. She's not wrong when she says there's only one way this is going to go. We don't bring you in, we don't go home. But I'm also willing to bet this isn't about some one you killed. You're sitting on a conduit, and they want it.