What Could Be Lurking In The Corner

[whole_bloody_business]

Something's killing the students. Again.

Cara didn't ask to be stationed right on top of the Hellmouth. She certainly didn't ask to put her extremely expensive education to use trying to convince a bunch of drooling American teenagers to pay attention to Latin verb conjugations. In fact, she'd strongly prefer to avoid demons, non-Slayer high school students, and other such unsavory creatures altogether. But, well, she's the one who decided to become a Watcher. She made her bed, she has to lie in it.

Of course, when she signed on, she didn't expect a missing Slayer.

The girl seems to have vanished off the face of the earth, which, of course, means demonic activity is skyrocketing. And, of course, Cara's the only one around with even the tiniest chance of keeping it in check. Which is why she's poking around in the boiler room during her lunch break instead of popping another aspirin and taking a nap on her desk.

Whoever this missing Slayer is, she'd better have a damn good explanation.

Comments

[cross_and_bow]

"In your professional opinion, is there any way that any sort of entity she might be has a way to read my mind?"

[whole_bloody_business]

"The Powers-That-Be could not read your mind. You're safe."

[cross_and_bow]

"Okay. Then I should be able to check her out if I'm creative."

The Slayer sits at the kitchen table.

"Hi. I'm Bella. We're probably going to need nicknames. I apologize if my Watcher mishandled you. By any chance do you know what I'm talking about if I ask you what the three questions are?"

[impetuous_force]

"No duh, but I wouldn't have to read your mind, I'd just need to read your notebooks, for that, so you have something else in mind."

[whole_bloody_business]

Cara shifts uncomfortably when Bella mentions her, but doesn't feel she has the right to speak up in that instance. However:

"How well, exactly, would someone be able to reconstruct you if they'd read your notebooks?"

[impetuous_force]

"Well. But not perfectly, because it's all in note to self format. You could guess what somebody was making for dinner by reading their grocery list, but if they didn't bother to write down the brands or quantities because those were obvious, you might not know how many people they were having over or their budget or the preexisting contents of their spice cabinet."

[cross_and_bow]

"Nicely put. Is it too invasive to ask you to walk me through a three questions assessment of where you're at now, in real time, out loud?"

[impetuous_force]

"Uh - I don't think so, although I guess I might stop abruptly if I find something."

[whole_bloody_business]

Well. She certainly sounds like Bella.

[impetuous_force]

"I would take going home immediately over never going home, but in the advance of an immediate solution or any compelling reason to think there's a deadline I want to help you out, if you can use a roughly medium-high quality witch who is a you for anything, any hundred things, whatever, and then take home anything I can get ahold of here that would be useful back in my world and bring it with me - a Potential, maybe, if I can take passengers. Oh, I also want to find and wreck your Gem of Amara if that's a thing here, I already did mine.

"You guys exist and are giving me a fair shake at demonstrating my Bellatude. I have - some spells memorized that I can do without anything I don't have on my person, enough that I'm not sure you could stop me from making a break for it if I didn't telegraph the intent or you didn't want to kill me, and I have a couple ideas where to go if I have to do that, which for obvious reasons I'd rather not elaborate on aloud at this juncture. I won't start looking like I live under a bridge for at least a day or two and I've got what is probably passable legal tender cash on me, although my credit card likely won't work here - it's worth a try anyway, although I'd be risking stealing some random person's money. If I succeed at demonstrating my Bellatude then I can mooch off some combination of the two of you, and I don't know that much about what you have - there's a palm tree out the window, this isn't Forks, so there's that - but it probably includes research and spellcraft materials and crash space.

"So here I am doing a three questions walkthrough out loud, which is a little weird, because that's my best avenue what with the not necessarily going being homeless thing and better upside potential both ways."

[cross_and_bow]

The Slayer applauds.

"Okay, life story, and then we're probably done."

[impetuous_force]

"Uh, born in a little walled enclave in Washington state called Forks. Walled enclaves are towns with walls and really snug security around them so if you live there you can be pretty sure no vampires and probably no demons are about. My parents were both born there so they got automatic residency, and so do I for the same reason. Public school, my best friend's a girl named Angela, her dad's a priest and I forget what her mom does. I am defying parental forbiddance to be a witch and have done since I was - it was autumn and I don't remember the date so I might have been thirteen but I was at least almost fourteen. My parents thought I'd get addicted or drafted - yes to the first, no so far to the second - and I'm seventeen now. I have the addiction under control and I titrate my casting but it frazzles me if I'm too withdrawn and makes me kind of giddy if I overdo it. My most significant accomplishment so far is summoning and then destroying the Gem of Amara, which is an artifact that vampires can use to become invulnerable."

[whole_bloody_business]

Cara startles a little at the "magic addiction" bit.

"You have your magic addiction under control. I shouldn't be surprised. Does that mean she passes?"

[cross_and_bow]

"Sounds like it to me. What's the magic addiction like?"

[impetuous_force]

"...Sort of personal," says Witch Bella, glancing at Cara.

[whole_bloody_business]

"I can go out in the hall."

[cross_and_bow]

"Eh, more urgent question is where to keep her. I can try to explain her to Charlie, but it wouldn't be the simplest thing in the world."

[impetuous_force]

"Charlie - just Charlie? What happened to Renée?"

[cross_and_bow]

"Divorced when I was a baby, remarried recently, lives in Florida, I moved here to let her travel around with her baseball player husband."

[whole_bloody_business]

"I'd ask if you wanted to stay here, but my place is not exactly suitable for houseguests at the moment." Indeed, there are more books and papers cluttering the apartment than usual. "I could also put you up in a motel somewhere. I don't think I can afford a particularly nice motel, but I owe you." She shifts a bit. "I am sorry about all the shouting. And...everything."

[impetuous_force]

"I mean, I can take the couch and be fine, if that would put you less out than would getting me a motel for who knows how long. I'm not picky. Explaining to Charlie might be the better long-term plan but I don't blame the Slayer over there for not having a script to do it on short notice."

[whole_bloody_business]

"If you're all right with sleeping on my couch, that would be preferable until and unless Bella feels comfortable broaching the subject with her father."

[impetuous_force]

"Slayer seems to trust you. Stop calling her Bella, it's confusing. I can be Rune until I think of something better. Slayer, you got anything better than 'Slayer'?"

[cross_and_bow]

"Eh - Bolt? Arrow? Destiny. I'll be Destiny, pretend I'm a stripper."

[whole_bloody_business]

In spite of herself, Cara snorts.

"All right. Rune, is there anything I can do to help you get acclimated? Or would you rather start making plans?"