"Ah, that's shame."  Cera shrugged.  "Let me guess, here on work then?"  Her gaze shifted to the door, which was just swinging shut behind Amuné's group.  Her brows shot up in surprise as the rather unassuming ghoul in front of her set his mask on the table.  "Well, I didn't know we were hosting a celebrity."  Her smile was quick to return.  "It's a shame today is Bart's day off, he's always all over it any time news of you hits the net."  Her expression clouded as she turned her attention to the Queen he'd mentioned.  "There's been a rumor of a ghoul going by that name, but nothing solid."  She changed her position and glanced back at the entrance to the kitchen.  "Look, I really shouldn't be passing information while on the clock, but if you're after her...I'm sure there's a reason.  Gimme a minute, okay?"

The vampire turned and vanished into the kitchen.  When she returned, she no longer wore her apron.  "C'mon," she said, gesturing for Orion to follow her.  "I'm taking my fifteen, so we can talk.”  She headed around a corner and out onto a small balcony area overlooking the alley behind the building.  Aside from putting on a pair of sunglasses, she didn’t seem to have any trouble with the afternoon sun, though she did choose to stand in the shade instead of directly in its light.  “So there really is a Queen, huh?”  Cera leaned against the railing around the balcony, crossing one leg across the other.  “Lots of people claim they’ve seen her, but no two stories match, so I had doubts.”  The waitress tucked a lock of her dark hair behind her ear and considered.  “There’s some guy called Wolf that works for her, though.  Him I know more about.  Very well known, that one.  Seems to be a lieutenant, or maybe her second.  I’ll tell you what I can, but I don’t know how useful it’ll be.  What do you want to know?”

~~~~~~

Back on campus, Amuné and Jareth headed in separate directions.  The latter had a class to get to, and the Seer needed to let various professors and instructors know that she was going to be missing class.  Then she headed back to her dorm.  Her roommate was there when she opened the door, and leaned her chair back far enough that she could tip her head to look at Amuné upsidedown .  “Hey, there!  How’d that test you mentioned go?” she asked around the piece of gum in her mouth.
“Oh, it was cake.  Somehow the prof left all the hard stuff off, so I spent that time studying for nothing.”
“Man, I’m not surprised.  You always get good grades, ‘Ne, I’m so jealous.”  Kirsten blew a bubble and popped it.  “Whereas the rest of us actually have to work to keep our GPA up.”  She laughed, but her grin faded when Amuné only returned a distracted smile.  “Something up?  You seem troubled.”
“Oh...yeah, I’m sorry.  A good friend from back when I was still in foster care, he’s in real trouble, and I’m the closest thing he has to family.  He’s out on the west coast, so I’ll be flying out there.  No idea how long it’s going to take.”
The other girl gasped.  “Goodness, I’m sorry to hear that!  Yes, you go -- gosh I hope things get better for him soon, but at least he has you, right?”
“Thanks Kirsten.”  Amuné smiled.  Her roommate might seem a bit ditzy on the surface, but she was very compassionate and always willing to help out.  “Hey, could you give me a hand packing?  I need to be on my way by six so I can head by my parents’ place and get a ride to the airport.”

((I can skip that scene ahead to meeting Tsitua whenever you like, but I don't want to have Orion too far behind.))