Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

[Thanqol]

"I am attuned to people requesting my presence," Felix said dryly, "And not all of them. There is tea, coffee, lemonade and juice."

[the_druid_droid]

Felix’s appearance was a little uncanny, but in comparison to the rest of the house Jon supposed that wasn’t really out of place. He nodded along at the butler’s explanation of his arrival and chose a glass of lemonade for himself when the drinks were offered.

The lemonade was surprisingly refreshing after the morning’s wandering; Jon realized that he only had a vague idea of how far he had traveled, distance-wise, but it must have been decent exercise. After a few more sips, he gestured with his glass as he asked Felix, “Would you be able to tell us anything about the person who owns this office, and all this sports equipment?”

[Thanqol]

"I knew Mr. Searchlight personally. He was an excellent friend of my master." Felix said. His tone didn't change, but there was an undercurrent of respect in his voice, "He was one of the pioneers of early film, though his passion was professional sport. A man with vision. He, as well as the friends of his with whom he shared this manor, all died in nineteen thirty six as best as I have been able to discern."

[BlasTech]

Vorel, after hemming and hawwing, had wound up showing Howl's Moving Castle. A strangely resonant story, although there was the suspicion that the dragoness was intending it as a gateway drug into anime appreciation proper.

"Thank you again, and sure. I just need to catch up with some stuff here, go ahead and I'll catch up," she said, gently easing the disc back into it's case.

"No problems. See you!" Isabelle replied, closing the door to Vorel's room.

Well that was fun, although I don't know how anyone could be surprised with who the prince was in the end. Or at least anyone who has seen The Gondoliers.

Now, I just need to go find the others. They couldn't have gotten that far, right? She thought to herself as she began walking the hallways of the mansion.

Oh right ... this place is big isn't it.

--==--

It was some time later that she finally found the others. He search helped by the sound of their voices, floating up from deep within the Summer wing.

She slipped in, quietly greeting the others just as Felix finished his explanation of the room.

[Deadly]

Charlene nodded at Felix' explanation. It did make some sense. She looked at the drinks, and carefully took a cup of tea. Something warm would be nice. "Thank you."

She sipped the tea and listened. "All of them? So it was some sort of accident?" She gave Isabelle a quiet greeting in return.

[Thanqol]

"Yes. They, along with fifteen other men, were unpacking crates of tommy guns and there was a terrible mistake," Felix said without so much as a facial twitch.

[Deadly]

"Ah," Charlene tried to imagine what kind of terrible mistake. She could think of a few possibilities, most of which suddenly reminded her of old movies. "Has to be careful in that line of business. Do you know the story behind it? It sounds like it must be an interesting one."

[Thanqol]

"I read an eighty year old police report. Happened at the cinema complex that Mr. Searchlight owned in Los Angeles." Felix said.

"Nice place, that," said the blue-eyed man sitting in the office chair behind a desk covered with paperwork.

"There was a small fire. I have been unable to acquire more specifics." Felix finished.

The man was gone, and the desk was clean.

[Deadly]

Charlene was beginning to get used to the idea that the world was crazier than it had always seemed, but still felt mildly startled when her instinct told her of potential danger in the form of something - anything - unexpected. She tried to take these things in stride, but she had worn her nerves on the outside for five years. It was not as easy as it seemed in theory.

She turned and fixed a look at the desk. "Was that...?"

[Thanqol]

Felix raised an eyebrow archly - either he hadn't seen anything or he was a very good troll.

[the_druid_droid]

Despite his interest in Felix’s story, the words that had sounded out of thin air grabbed Jon’s attention, and he glanced rapidly around the old office, his pulse picking up in anticipation. As far as he could tell though, they were alone...

The fact that Felix didn’t seem to hear anything only set Jon on edge; in a place like this, there were too many possibilities, and they all made him nervous. After a moment’s hesitation, he pulled his gaze away from the office and tried to get things moving toward more occupied parts of the house. “So Felix, Charlene, know any card games? I’m trying to get some use out of my thumbs again.”

[Deadly]

Charlene was certainly prepared to believe the butler was a great big troll in this case, but perhaps he did deserve the benefit of the doubt. At least Jon seemed to have noticed something too, that made her feel a little better. She wasn't about to admit being the only one who heard voices and saw things that weren't there, but if Jon had seen it too then that was good enough for her. "Is this house haunted?" She was prepared to believe that, too. "I hope I'm not the only one who saw, and heard, someone just now. A man, behind the desk?" She ignored Jon's question. This could be important, too important to close your eyes to. "Jon?"

[BlasTech]

"I saw it. Or at least I thought I did" Isabelle offered, her voice a little apprehensive. "Please tell me this is just someone's idea of a joke. I don't much like the thought of this place being haunted as well."

Particularly not when she'd just been watching movies about spirits, witches and demon kings.

[Thanqol]

"Not haunted by ghosts. Ghosts are quite real, and I know a gentleman in the Autumn Court quite adept in exorcisms." Felix said, "It is inhabited by... echoes. There are a number of reasons for that, none of which I am inclined to share."

[Deadly]

Ghosts were not something Charlene had ever really thought much about. She had always known in her heart that there had to be a soul, and something after death. This was what God was all about, and Charlene had never doubted God. She was a proud believer, but not a greatly spiritual person - the kind who spent lots of time thinking about such things as spirits. Spirits, ghosts, demons... of course they existed, it just wasn't something that had occupied her mind until now. Mostly life had worked just fine without that concern.

She gave Felix' words some consideration, and appeared to be satisfied. "Echoes..." She gave the desk another uneasy glance. "A little disquieting, but I suppose they do no harm?"

[the_druid_droid]

Jon shrugged and simply nodded at Charlene’s question, “Yeah, I heard something; couldn’t say if I really saw anything or not though... it happened pretty fast.”

When Felix confirmed that there might have been something in the office with them, he wasn’t sure how to feel. It was surprising of course, but was there any point in acknowledging that feeling? Even if he didn’t exactly want to stick around, nothing was chasing him at the moment at least, and if he was going to be honest, there was a good chance that the whole world was going to remain surprising from now on. Jon supposed he might as well get over that fact.

“Felix? Are there any old stories that aren’t real? I’m starting to wonder.”

[Thanqol]

"I am reasonably certain that there are no such thing as vampire pumpkins." Felix said flatly.

[the_druid_droid]

Jon stared at Felix intently for a moment, trying to decide if the man was taunting him, making a joke, or legitimately attempting to answer his question. The butler was so deadpan, even when snarking, that he hadn’t really been able to form an opinion of him, aside from general suspicion.

At last, Jon gave up, and decided to play along. “I guess that’s a relief; one less thing to keep us up at night.” He paused, waiting for a smile he knew wouldn’t come, then tried to re-collect himself, “To go back to an earlier question though, did Mr. Searchlight really know all these athletes personally? I mean, this collection is... well, it’s one of a kind, and the idea of someone having that many connections is a little unbelievable.”

[Thanqol]

"Mr. Searchlight was an exceptional man," Felix said, "with an exceptional eye for talent. He supported many of these athletes before they became famous."

[the_druid_droid]

“That’s probably the only way to do it...” Jon let out a low whistle as his eyes scanned over the assembled memorabilia and he tried to imagine what it must have been like to know all these famous names on a personal level, not only when they were alive, but in their prime.

The echoes lurking around, whatever they were, definitely creeped him out. Even so, he had to admit that this was his favorite part of the house so far, and he wondered what Talmage might be able to tell him about Searchlight when he returned.

[BlasTech]

Isabelle walked the circumference of the room, taking in Felix’s words as she reviewed the collection of sports memorabilia. Most of the pictures were only vaguely familiar to her, like people she may have seen once in passing or encountered through a brief glimpse on the television.

She wasn’t too enthused about the idea of these echoes popping up without notice and made a note to ask Talmage or Vorel about it when she next saw them. She would have asked Felix, but the memory of this morning’s conversation still hung heavy on her mind.

“Accept what is and move on …” Isabelle gave a mental snort at those words. Said like someone who either doesn’t know or just likes looking mysterious.

Although in light of his last answers, she was willing to admit the possibility that he just liked withholding this information because it was annoying.

“So.” She asked instead. “anything interesting you can tell us about this wing or any sights you’d recommend while we’re down here?”

[Thanqol]

"Madame, this is a place of residence, not a tourist attraction. There are no 'sights' to be seen here -"

"- what about the basement?" Vorel called, coming down the corridor towards them.

Felix sighed wearily. " - other than the basement, yes. But before then if you want to know something specific then I can assist you."

[BlasTech]

"A place of residence? Could've fooled me ..." Isabelle mused. "This room feels more like a ... museum, than anything else."

"Does this room get much use when Summer rolls around?"

[the_druid_droid]

The basement? Hadn’t Jon already explored down there? Granted, the house was huge, and so he’d probably only seen a fraction of it, but something in Felix’ voice caught his attention.

“What’s so different about the basement? I was down there for just a little while earlier; did I miss something?”

[Thanqol]

"You have definitively not been to the basement or otherwise you would not be asking that question," Vorel said to Jon.

"Hm." Felix sniffed after the first part of Isabelle's speculation, "And yes. The Prince operates out of this room while the rest of the staff moves into this wing of the Watchtower."

[Deadly]

"Well, now I think we have to see the basement next," Charlene said. She had in fact briefly been thinking of going there, at one point, for reasons she wasn't entirely sure of. Maybe it was just a few remains of her desire to get down into a hole in the ground where you could hide. But a house once used to store crates of tommy guns ought to have had interesting things in the basement.

[the_druid_droid]

“Ok, yeah, if I missed out on it the first time through, we really do have to check it out. I don’t even know how you make a basement into a tourist attraction, but I’m willing to find out,” Jon pause for a minute before adding, “as long as nothing tries to kill us or eat us.”

[Thanqol]

"I make," said Felix, sweeping away down the corridor towards the heart of the manor, "no promises."

[BlasTech]

Isabelle rolled her eyes.

"Not sure what that guy is on about, didn't Talmage already say that it was just an automotive garage down there. What's the wors-" She stopped, catching herself just a moment too late.

"Oh great" She continued, a moment later. "Now we're definitely going to get eaten, you guys sure you don't want to check the stables outside instead?"

[Deadly]

"I do not think I am quite comfortable living in a house where I don't know what is in the basement," Charlene said. "Especially if it's something that might eat me." Although she wasn't quite sure if she could take Felix serious right now.