[hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/XiUHyUc.png[/img]     [img]https://i.imgur.com/K7gWNb1.png[/img] [/center]
[right]Interactions: Britney [@Punished GN], Ken [@AtomicEmperor] 
[code]Kari Wilson’s Basement[/code][/right][hr]
The recollection was… interesting. Anya took a moment to think about it, ignoring the commotion that was the rest of the coven. She did catch Linqian going into Sloane out of the corner of her eye, and Sloane’s subsequent defending of her. Which Anya appreciated, only so she didn’t have to deal with Linqian. 

8th Street's mention in the recollection could be disregarded. Anya already knew that they had been trying to recruit Kari thanks to Sloane. But who had Kari joined to protect her from them? Was there a connection to Father Wolf? It seemed likely. Kari had the means to aid someone in killing them.

As they headed towards the basement, Anya briefly turned her attention to Clancy. A child that survived being shot. How intriguing. After they first met, Anya had tried to enter his dreams, with no success. Night after night she tried, but there were no dreams to get into. Almost everyone dreamed, even drunkards like Evelynn on the rare occasion. But not him. 

It was curious, and clearly pointed towards him not being human. 

The basement was cluttered but Ken had a clear goal for where he was taking them. Anya watched with a raised eyebrow and some amount of awe. It had been a while since they talked, and longer still since Anya had truly seen him use his magic. While the two of them weren’t particularly close, what he showed only confirmed to Anya that he [i]was[/i] someone she should become friendlier too.

Because he would be useful. One of the few useful members of the coven, in fact, outside of the large burst of emotion he showed. 

Anya inclined her head at Sloane as she rolled her eyes and left - an action that would offend most, but Anya could read the meaning behind it. 

[color=9966CC]”She’ll come around,”[/color] Anya said softly to Britney, gaze moving over to the stairs Sloane had disappeared up to make it clear who she was talking to. Of course, she didn’t really believe it. Sloane was unlikely to ever forgive Britney for what she’d done. It was a shame. 

She then turned towards Ken, crouching down to get on an eye level with him. She didn’t make a move to physically comfort him - she couldn’t do that, and didn’t want to. Others already had. Britney had gone on about staying positive and hopeful. Anya, on the other hand, was going to take a more logical approach. 

[color=9966CC]”You said that the seals weren’t broken, right, Ken?”[/color] Anya started, with a gentle smile. [color=9966CC]”Isn’t it more likely that Kari herself took the notes out? Maybe she was adding to them, or reorganising. We can’t immediately jump to the conclusion that they were taken. It would require very strong, subtle magic to get in without you being able to tell. As far as I’m aware, 8th Street doesn’t have anyone with that kind of magic. It doesn’t discount others but… I agree with Britney. Let’s look around the rest of the house.”[/color]

She straightened back up and gestured towards the stairs, indicating for him to lead them back up. [color=9966CC]”Where’s the most likely place that Kari would leave the notebooks, if not in there? We can start our search there.”[/color]
[hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/FaCzAxe.png[/img]     [img]https://i.imgur.com/1Hvat1r.png[/img][/center]
[right][b]Interactions[/b]: Aryin [@NoriWasHere], Clancy [@Zombiedude101]
[code]Kari's House[/code][/right][hr]
[quote=Clancy]"She won't say anything, again- about your brother."[/quote]
[color=CD5C5C]”Heh, I won’t let her say that shit again,”[/color] Linqian snorted, lips pulling into a thin smile. She was inclined to treat Clancy like the kid he appeared as, joking and thanking him like she did when Henri talked about protecting her as a young boy, but there was an otherness and maturity that stopped her. He looked young, but he didn’t act it. Whether it was due to circumstances or something else, she wasn’t sure. [color=CD5C5C]”But if she says anything while I’m not around, make her regret it.”[/color]

She then turned to Aryin, who’d probably overheard it - not that she was bothered by that - and slapped a hand on her friends shoulder.

[color=CD5C5C]”Well I haven’t been shot or teargassed yet, so this ones going pretty well,”[/color] Linqian replied drily. Every meeting had been a shit show, at least this was a shitshow where they were [i]probably[/i] making progress. They had a goal. That was a lot better than just turning up to a stripclub on a hunch, or not even making it out of their new ‘lair’. 

They made their way down to the basement and Linqian kept an eye on Clancy - because even if he was a paranormal kid, he was still a kid. Someone had to be the responsible adult here! And it sure wasn’t going to be half the people here.

Layla was high off her tits. Fucking hell. She was [i]not[/i] babysitting her again. There was no motivation for that. No expectant little brother or high paying, drug inducing boss. 

Her attention turned to Ken’s feat of magical genius. She recognised some of the Kanji, thanks to the similarities to traditional Chinese. Some kind of repeating phrase… she only recognised the words “must” and “pay” from all of them. Honestly, the speed they were going at and the full visual effect hurt her head. She looked away, grimacing. This was Jinhai’s area of expertise. She always left the things that required brains up to him. He’d tried to explain different dimensions and shit like this to her, and she’d zoned the fuck out everytime.

It wasn’t like she could do it, so why bother learning about it? She had way more important shit to deal with. Like work-

And definitely not Ken having a full on breakdown over some notebooks being missing. Holy shit. She understood that it was hard to lose someone. She really fucking did. But this wasn’t the time or place. She looked away, fists clenching at her side. There was a toxic jealousy roiling in her chest at the ease with which Ken could show his grief. How openly he could just cry and wail about it. She would love to be able to do that. Had she even properly cried over Jinhai’s death yet?

No. She didn’t have the time. She discovered his body, and had to deal with all that came with it. Then she had to be there for Henri, she had to move, she had to work to keep them afloat- she didn’t have time to cry or grieve. So she’d put up a cover of emotional numbness to stop herself from processing it at all.

Linqian was jerked out of her thoughts by another fist to her shoulder, tilting her head towards Aryin with a questioning eyebrow raise. She followed her over the wall.

[color=CD5C5C]”Fuck if I know,”[/color] Linqian frowned. She hadn’t known Kari well at all, but she’d seemed nice. She was part of that weirdo magical girl group filled with nerds proclaiming to fight darkness or some shit. They didn’t seem the murderous type (apart from maybe the edgy one).

But maybe that was all fake. There was no way Linqian would see through that. But Jinhai hadn’t suspected her either. Then again, Jinhai didn’t know about the murders… this was making her head hurt. She wasn’t cut out for figuring shit out. That had never been her role. She was the get pissed at people and punch them person. 

[color=CD5C5C]”Yeah, I got a bad feeling about this too. Shit’s too weird. Like, the dead Kari being another Kari? Can’t wrap my head around it but that’s a massive red flag… Fuck, what you’re saying makes sense. I can’t think of why, or what the fuck that vision was trying to warn us about, but yeah. Something isn’t right.”[/color] She shook her head. [color=CD5C5C]”Let’s stay down here and look, maybe we’ll find something. Wait-”[/color]

She turned back towards the main group, speaking louder so they could hear her. [color=CD5C5C]”We’re going to look down here. There’s plenty of places a book could’ve been left, maybe Kari was just using them or some shit. Maybe someone else can help?”[/color]

Linqian gestured towards Clancy and Britney - the two she’d be alright with sticking around. Britney she trusted, and Clancy didn’t have any proper connection with living coven members (or Kari). After saying that, she pulled a hair tie out of her coat and pulled her hair back into a messy ponytail.

[color=CD5C5C]”Let’s get searching,”[/color] she said to Aryin with a wry grin. She started rummaging through one of the shelves, looking for anything that looked like… notebooks. Fuck. There were loads of notes around here. [color=CD5C5C]”Not that I know what we’re fucking looking for! I don’t understand half this shit.”[/color]

Understatement, she didn’t understand any of this shit. 

She then lowered her voice back to a whisper so only Aryin could hear her, pretending to look so nobody got suspicious.

[color=CD5C5C]”You’re definitely right that coming here is probably fucking dangerous,”[/color] Linqian whispered, gesturing towards her back where the pistol she’d brought was hidden. [color=CD5C5C]”I came prepared. I’m fucking getting shot again. It’s magic too, or some shit. Dunno, Greyson said something about orange lux infused. Sometimes this shit is more effective than getting up close and personal.”[/color]

She shrugged, picking up a book and skimming through it. Stuff she didn’t understand, probably not the notebooks they were looking for.

[color=CD5C5C]”I’m not taking any fucking risks.”[/color]
[hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/QIUSezo.png[/img]     [img]https://i.imgur.com/ycOCuCr.png[/img][/center]
 [right][b]Interactions:[/b] Clancy, Jacqueline Reed (text) [@Punished GN]
[code]Kari’s House, Patio[/code][/right][hr]
It was difficult for Luca not to feel guilty when Lila talked about how glad she was that Luca wasn’t with 8th Street anymore. Of course he wasn’t with them anymore, he refused to hurt anyone. But he’d joined a group that Emily was in charge of in the first place. And if the direction and leadership changed… He’d probably rejoin. Though he wouldn’t be abandoning these three friends, even if he did. 

He turned his head to Clancy when he asked about the book.

[color=6B8E23]”The book’s still with an 8th Street member, one of Emily’s sisters,”[/color] Luca replied to Clancy. Maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned it. He didn’t want to put Jacqueline in any sort of danger. [color=6B8E23]”She’s really reasonable, so I’m sure she’d talk to us if we asked- and help. I think I still have her number.”[/color]

Luca still had the numbers of a lot of 8th Street members - saved on his computer for if he ever needed them. There were a few he added to each new phone: Carol’s, Greta’s and the twins’. Just in case. He never actually contacted them. 

But he’d message her about it when he got a moment.

[color=6B8E23]”I’ll stay up here!”[/color] Luca waved to Ken’s retreating back. Almost everyone had gone into the basement… apart from Drake and Stormy who’d gone into the woods. After Tayla’s stalker? Luca decided not to think about that much - it wasn’t his place. 

He didn’t want to disturb Jasper while drawing and honestly, a moment of peace was nice. Luca was still recovering from the festival, and with that came a lot of pain and exhaustion. He grimaced as he moved over to a large rock, sitting down. His knees creaked slightly as he bent them, but the relief at being sat was near immediate. 

Now seemed like a good opportunity to text Jacqueline. He pulled out his phone, concentrating to make sure he didn’t destroy it. Typing was an arduous task - his fingers ached and were incredibly stiff, and his phone was a cheap, shit type that only had the numeral keypad. After quite a bit of time spent typing, 

[code]To Jacqueline: Hi, its Luca, can we meet to talk sometime?[/code]