A Problem Like Maria, Solved. [closed/open]

[protagonized]

i - Blame the New Guy (3 May - locked to Lancelot and Faolan)

It turns out that putting a bounty on the head of a mostly harmless human stalker is not the best course of action when one is a Guardian representing the Night Council, particularly during the elections. Simon's made an even bigger mess of things than usual, it seems. Or at least that's the impression he got from Lancelot's reaction to the news.

"Daryl assured me he wasn't going to hurt her," Simon says for what feels like the twelfth time. "He just wanted to get information that I could use to get her off me." To blackmail the blackmailer. That was Eames' idea, though Simon isn't going to mention that to either of them. He's deep enough in the shit as it is without bringing a fae into things.

ii - Will Wonders Never Cease (7 May - locked to Daryl)

Simon has been expecting the worst for days now. It's hard not to, given his own overreaction and the reactions of those around him. So when he finally hears from Daryl that the job is done, he's mostly expecting there to be a body involved.

He certainly didn't think it would end up like this.

"And she just...agreed to stop?" He's completely dumbfounded. "What did you do to her?"

iii - Matinee Idol (13 May - OTA)

It feels strange to be around normal people. Simon has become so accustomed to being surrounded by the supernatural world in almost everything he does that even doing something as simple as going to the cinema with some friends from Uni and taking in Hollywood's latest semi-annual installment in one of its most venerable superhero franchises seems...wrong, somehow. It's a feeling he can't seem to shake afterwards, as he and the others loudly debate the merits of each member in the pantheon of heroes and how they'd stack up against each other in a fight. It's hard to compare hypotheticals when he personally knows people with powers just as fantastical as the ones dreamed up on screen.

After a while, his friends decide to continue the discussion at another pub, but he makes his excuses and stays behind, scowling at a mostly-untouched pint. The movie was supposed to take his mind off of things, and it was only making them worse.

iv - Choose Your Own Adventure (Anytime - OTA)

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[reticence]

Faolan takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. He's still trying to process it all. Doing something like that, getting caught, by a reporter no less, then Daryl getting involved somehow. He'll need to talk to the other man about what sort of interactions he's had with the woman himself, but for the moment they've got Simon. Simon who's suggesting that he might have just gone out with her to keep her quiet.

"So let me get this straight," he says, because this is the first time he's spoken with the other Guardian directly about it (and not just been messaged to be filled in by Lancelot). "She found you out. And then what? Where has she taken it from there?" He glances at Lancelot, wondering if he's been more in the loop than he. He certainly hasn't had to deal with all the election trash anyway. Not in the same sense that Faolan has at least.

[knightscode]

"Ducks are a lot cuter," Lancelot corrects, and looks between Faolan and Simon properly. After a moment he sips his drink and decides to do a little of the talking for Simon's sake. "Blackmail," he fills in finally, "she's threatening to take video footage of Simon to the papers. It's not very clear footage, I suspect it might be widely considered faked, but it's still something. The terms are a little more unusual, though. It seems she has a romantic interest in Simon, and she's hoping threats will make him see the light. Not a tactic I think is working."