"Well if he always seems to find you Master Grimsley, then I suppose he must be [i]yours,[/i] not mine." The tiny, upward tilt of her lips as she glanced at the flaxen-haired man said she teased, though the steely glint of her glimmering blue eyes said [i]'maybe not.'[/i]

One gloved hand still ran tenderly over the top of the dog's brow, his neck, the emaciated creature leaning into her hand as her fingers found a particularly delicious spot to scratch behind his ear. "Do you not think after all this time, your whole long acquaintance, that the poor thing might yet deserve a name from you?"

Jerusha was a youngling yet in the Veiled World, still impetuous, less circumspect than her elders perhaps. Still, the long, occasionally brutal experiences of her mortal life did not leave her without a care for danger, or the evil men could do. She considered Nestor's offer, letting the thoughts of the infernal cold and black lake of ice she saw in her mind's eye, could feel emanating from the cobblestone street around them - and the warm, genuine voice of the man she could still hear, overlaid with a melancholy she did not understand. Jerusha was not even sure [i]he[/i] understood its depths. The vampire balanced the two sides thoughtfully, carefully in her thoughts though her decision was made in a matter of moments.

"Just you and I, Master Grimsley?" she asked, searching his face for several long moments, a slow patient smile for the man. Her gaze turned toward Charles, still waiting patiently on the other side of the thoroughfare though he watched the strange trio curiously, as a man would who was not entirely unused to Lady Wilde's strange whims.

Jerusha was hungry. Famished in truth, since she fed only when she absolutely must, taking not one drop more than the smallest amount necessary to keep her animated. But it was the sincerity she heard in Master Grimsley's unexpected invitation - a sincerity that struck her as [i]palpable,[/i] tipping the scale just so between two very real, deep-seated needs for this vampire.

"Let me find a cab for Charles then, and send dear Lord Wright home safely this evening. Yes, that would probably be for the best." Jerusha's smile turned knowing, and just a little sly. "Mortal men probably ought not walk where you and I can tread, would you not agree? There was a little something you said moments ago as I recall, about not always being able to 'avoid the things we do not know we searched for, but are destined to discover all the same?'"

"I would far rather spare him that, as I am sure you understand, though I doubt dear Nameless here would be of much note." The vampire patted the dog's head affectionately once more. "But once I have dear Lord Wright safely on his way? [i]Then[/i] you may certainly have the honor of showing me this place you wished to visit. The night is still so young - I imagine there is time for [i]many[/i] a 'venture' to be had before sunrise."