[Nem]

The captain virtually oozed greasy charm into the air as he kissed the girl’s hand. It was a very upper class refined sort of thing to do, the sort of thing people who said, ‘dreadful weather we’re having today,’ and thought that deep down all others were, ‘jolly good chaps,’ did. Peter tried not to retch.

‘What other reason should we have to help?’ Tristan asked.

‘Money?’ Peter’s mind supplied hopefully, ‘Influence, fear. Because we have something to gain from it? An actual reason?’

He leant back and took a swig of his water. He didn’t like where things were going, picking up stray pets, but it was Someone Else’s Problem. He thought in capital letters sometimes, it was what happened when he needed to put a name to something because he didn’t want to understand it. It happened a lot when he was thinking of Young Children, Politicians and, occasionally, That Scrunchy Bit In Dinner. Right now Aislin was receiving the same sort of mental treatment as That Scrunchy Bit In Dinner.

‘So we take her on as The Guide,’ A little voice inside him said, ‘and she takes us to the castle. And then if it dies, well it was only The Guide. No-one’s going to ask questions about going back for The Guide. Give it the right name and well, it’s barely human is it?’

And another little voice spoke up and said, ‘But you don’t care when they are human either.’

Peter smiled at the base of his mug as if at some private joke.
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Never forget,
We stroll along the roof of hell
Gazing at flowers.
- Issa

[Ravenna]

It took a valiant effort, but Lycoris managed to resist the urge to roll her eyes when Tuxedo Tristan leaped into action and turned the full force of his Charming Rose Attack on a hapless Aislin.

Oh this was going to end well for all.

"I fear we still await the serving maid getting her flaming act together, Captain," Lycoris said quietly, keeping eye contact with Gregory for a few beats more, before relaxing her stance completely - he wasn't going to be as much of a nuisance in Tristan's presence. Especially since he had just been caught in his rather blatant lie.

"What other reason should we have to help?"

'Well, if it's not your rational brain you're thinking with, I'm sure you could rustle up something... Clearly Hudson and Casey have...' Lycoris mused to herself, keeping her face straight.

As she listened to Aislin's tale, her brows drew downward. Tristan had already been banging on about how dangerous the flaming place was, and its place in local legend. Surely a local would know better than to get so close to the Castle? The girl didn't come across as a liar, but they already had their mission.

"The Castle has never given back anyone that it has taken thus far... How can you be sure that your father is still alive? I'm assuming it's still the Warm Hour," Lycoris asked levelly - her tone wasn't derisive. She then turned her inquiries to Tristan: "Are we taking this child on? Do we even have the capacity to launch a rescue operation?"
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Bernard [about the job]: The pay's not great, but the work is hard.
~ Black Books ~