undergrounds | [OPEN] [May 8th-10th] Busy Bees and First Impressions

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[OPEN] [May 8th-10th] Busy Bees and First Impressions

a. FISHING
Gipsy on the road again felt good, like she always did, with that purr and the hum of the open road. It had been five years of the road in her blood, wild and free with a mission under her belt. Mako might have been at the top of her class five years ago but the road had sharpened her to the finest of points. But for now, she was leaving that behind and relaxing a little - or trying to, at least. Fishing was one of those things that gave her a little breathing room, not to mention a good snack. She had a nice fire pit lit and crackling behind her, the warmth at her back, a rod in hand and an empty bucket for her catches.

A sound, the rustle of bushes, that preternatural prickling at the back of her neck, told her she wan't alone as she pulled a decent sized fish from the water.

" If you are looking for lunch," she said quietly as she put the fish into a bucket, "let me catch another fish and we'll see about that. Meanwhile, you may enjoy the fire."

b. COFFEE
It is difficult, sometimes, to get a cup of coffee that is truly good. Mako stood in line at Cafe Poirot debating her choices. It was like picking some sort of jewel out of a line up of the finest in the world. The cappuccino was good, the machination was fantastic, the lattes were among her favourite and-- She turned to the person behind her at a loss.

"Which do you like from the menu? I am debating on the latte but everything looks so good today."

c. GARAGE
Far more than fishing, working with mechanics of any type makes Mako feel complete. Anything with a motor, anything with gears, she knows how to put it together. It's been like this her whole life. Machines are an intrinsic part of her life, personal and professional. Setting up her garage, her workspace, makes her stay official.

She's very much the newest member of Hillingdon House, now.

Mako even has a little sign that says: Gipsy Danger's Quick Fix. Okay, so it's a borrowed garage and a borrowed workspace but it's off the road and she's had a shower - a long one. It's real enough that she hopes it'll stick. At the moment, Mako was working on restoring an old engine, which has been neatly disassembled and placed on a sheet as she went through each, cleaning them. A noise makes her look up from her work and she stops what she's doing.

"Did you have something that needs to be fixed?"

d. WANDERING HILLINGDON HOUSE
New places are often difficult to navigate and getting the lay of the land is something that Mako had learned to do before truly settling anywhere. She had been wary of it but in rather dire need as well. She moved carefully, looking for the kitchen and hopefully some tea. But mostly, she was just looking. She turned the corner and nearly bumped into someone.

"I am so sorry!" she said quietly, backing up a little. "I am Mako Mori and I am also very new to this place. Is there somewhere that I may make tea?"

e. Wildcard; pick a situation and we'll roll with it.

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The mix of 'attractive woman' and 'terrifying scent' was sure to get Roddy's full and undivided attention the second she walked into the room, nearly bumping into him as she did so. Although any reservations he might normally have at the scent of cat seeming to invade the edges of his nose were quickly squelched by the woman's apologies as she backed up.

Of course, naturally, the second she asked for anything, Roddy was on it. "That's okay! I mean, I was standing way too close to that corner. No way you could have seen me. But yes, you were going in the right direction already, actually. Kitchen's right through...here, I can show you," he said, already starting to move toward the entrance to the kitchen.

"Thank you very much for showing me," Mako said quietly. He was so jumpy, nervous, even, that she did not wish to startle him further. "Do not worry yourself. It is just tea I am looking for." She offered a soft smile. "Would you like some with me? I do not mind sharing."

Roddy returned the smile. "Yeah, sure! Thanks."

He was always up for tea, and part of him was curious about the new girl, anyway.

"I'm Roddy, by the way."

"Mako," she said in a soft, quiet voice that was thickly accented with Japanese. "I am Mako Mori." She dipped her head in a light bow. "I am pleased to meet you, Roddy."

She glanced toward the kitchen.

"I was hoping I could find tea, at any rate. It is that or I will have to go to find some. I ran out quite some time ago and have not been able to stop for more."

"Nice to meet you, too," he said, grinning. "So I'm guessing you're new to the country, and not just to Hillingdon?"

Judging by the accent and the mannerisms, though she could have been here for a while for all he knew. Sometimes it took some time for those things to fade, after all.

"There should be tea. I mean, there's usually tea." Although with so many people eating out of this kitchen, he never knew when they'd be out of something for sure. "Here, let me look."

He checked the pantry, digging around a bit before finding a tin of loose leaf Earl Grey.

"Here's some."

"I am, I suppose, new," Mako said with a slight tilt of her chin, "to all of this in some respects." She took the tea and a slight bob of thanks. The bergamot was strong but also rather good. It would be a milk and sugar tea, as the British so loved. Mako did not really mind it because all teas had their kinds of goodness.

"I have not been here for long, just long enough for an old lady to stab me, yell at me in what I think was Russian and kick me out of her house for asking about fae," Mako said dryly.

"All of this?" He asked, surprised, "Like, even..."

Then he decided not to pry. He was only assuming she was a shifter, anyway, because her scent reminded him of a cat. It was entirely possible that she simply liked covering herself in cats on a regular basis. After all, he'd assume that by her age she'd have known about being a shifter for a while. Or maybe she just meant to 'Hillingdon'.

"Oh. Wow. Yeah, I don't get fae stuff, like...at all." He was guessing the possibly Russian lady might have been fae. "Although I know there are some things going on with them right now, and with the witches like...having familiars again and stuff like that, so they might be more on edge."

"Even shifting," she said softly, clarifying with no real need to keep silent on the issue. "My parents did not live in a shifting community and had a fae charm me when I was very small so that I was unable to shift until such time as they returned to the community. They did not get that chance, something I found out five years ago. This is why I was asking about fae. I go from place to place around the world, asking to talk to them to see if they will aid me in some way with the disenchantment."

Mako made the kettle ready, swirling water through it to clean the pot before dumping it and then refilling it, her gestures fluid as if this was a normal part of her routine. Her voice flowed over the sound of tea-making like a quiet river.

"Perhaps the woman did not like that I am a shifter," Mako mused, sitting while the tea-water warmed. "Perhaps she was affiliated with these witches. I do not know but she would not tell me of the fae she had gone to many years ago. And so, I am here, having tea after Daryl aided me. It is a lesson," Mako said, her eyebrows raised.

"Not every grandmother is sweet, some are sharp, and know where to strike but still, there is kindness in the world, Roddy. It is still there."

"That sounds horrible."

Being a rat shifter was part of who Roddy was, and he couldn't imagine being barred from that. He understood, he supposed, the danger of having a child just shift when you were surrounded by humans. He was lucky enough to have been raised near other shifters, but still...

As he contemplated this, he watched her quiet steady movements as she made the tea, his eyes unfocused, almost in a trance for a moment as he wondered how this thing could be undone.

"So does it have to be like...a specific fae?"

"As a shifter, I imagine that if you had shifted before such a charm was placed, it would be a terrible thing," Mako said thoughtfully. "For me, I suppose, it is not as bad. While I wish very much to shift, I do not have the memories to make it a painful thing. It is simply as if there is something in my life that does not seem right."

She laughed a little.

"In addition, I found that in growing up I could see things that no one else could and talk to cats," Mako shook her head a little. "I was a very different child than those I knew in school. I made up for it by intense study."

Hmm, specific fae? She thought about it for awhile and eventually shook her head.

"It is my belief that any fae can dispell the charm, at least from the information I have gathered for the past five years. None of the fae I approached would consent to remove it, though. I did many things for them in my quest for knowledge and I have become quite good at tracking them down."

"I guess you're right. I just can't imagine not being able to turn into a rat. But then, the majority of the human race gets on just fine without it, so I guess it's not too terrible if it's what they're used to."

He was surprised when she laughed about it, but Roddy supposed it might be easier to do so when it wasn't a loss so much as something she may gain in the future. And at least, being able to talk to cats and see ghosts was something, he supposed.

"But still, it would be nice if you could get that charm dispelled. I don't know what it would take to get them to agree to it, though. All I know about fae from my experiences with them is that I don't understand them and they're kind of scary."

He did wonder why they wouldn't take the charm off. He couldn't imagine it was that difficult to do if her parents could so easily get it put on in the first place.

"Did any of the ones you approached say why they wouldn't take it off?"

Edited 2017-05-16 02:55 (UTC)

"Mostly disinterest," Mako said, "or they were willing to give me little hints to 'help' me on my way. I have met some very grumpy fae, that is for sure, and one that kept me around for an entire year just for a single manuscript. Many that I have spoken to enjoy the challenge of speaking around the information I wish. They are very good at it and such meetings frequently end in frustration and disappointment. Several I never even got in to see."

She touched her healing shoulder absently.

"London seems to be a dangerous place to speak about fae," she murmured. "But it is no matter. I have to break this charm."

"I guess when you live as long as they do, spending that much time on each step doesn't seem like as much of a big deal."

Oh, he was sure they knew it was frustrating, but he doubted they could grasp the full extent of what shorter lived races were giving up by being stuck playing their games year after year.

"Yeah, but the fae are here. I've seen a couple of them, although I wouldn't even begin to know the proper way to approach them."

"I suppose it can be complicated," Mako acknowledged with a slight frown. "But sometimes you just have to ask, especially if it is something that means a great deal to you and it is not something you can achieve without their help. If they are here, I shall find them and do what I must. I can only hope it is sooner rather than later."

"Yeah," he agreed. "And sooner or later I'm sure you'll find one that will help you."

And London was as good a place as any to look. Who knew, maybe the crazy situation they were in could even work in their favor, if Hillingdon sided with the fae in all this...stuff.

"Sometimes, I wonder if they send messages to each other and warn that I am coming. I do not know if such things are true, perhaps it is the fae who placed the charm?" Mako made a face. "Perhaps they were not paid their price fairly? If it is so, you might think that fae would come visiting to me. Then again, I have seen that fae enjoy games, so I should not be so surprised."

"Yeah, they probably aren't doing anything like that. I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for, even if you have keep playing their games for a while."

He looked at the tea again, wondering if it was ready yet while also wondering what the fae would consider enough to return her natural abilities. It seemed a bit unfair. Most shifters only had to deal with the fae if they wanted to go beyond what they were born with. She needed to just to really be a shifter.

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[OPEN] [May 8th-10th] Busy Bees and First Impressions

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