793.8.025.110.393 -- Arrival in London
Mar. 27th, 2020 09:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsDoug, Amanda, Topaz and Marie-Ange arrive in London to a phone call and a favour asked. On the other hand at least Doug gets to put off his visit to the Magic Types and their love of being naked in ice cold water.
Seven hours in flight, plus several hours of check-in, plus five hours of change in time zone, plus travel to the airport...it all added up to essentially a day wasted. At least it wasn't spent in the back in economy. Doug had spent the entire trip with sunglasses over his face and half-dozing, and he stretched and grunted as the deplaning shuffle began.
"It is like traveling with a cat." Marie-Ange was busy pulling her bag together, books and art pad and pencils all neatly organized. "Topaz, is this what it is like owning a cat? One moment you are reading, the next, something falls asleep on your arm and you cannot move and it makes noises at you?"
Topaz was probably not the best person to ask questions of right then. She had put on headphones and spent mostly of the flight either sleeping or reading. At that moment, she was barely awake. “What? Oh - throw in screaming like they’ve never eaten and yeah, authentic cat experience.” She gathered up her book and turned off her music, putting her phone and book in her bag. She still wasn’t entirely sure why she has been invited on this field trip, but it couldn’t be nearly as disastrous as her last trip to London, so she couldn’t complain.
Being able to teleport to London, Amanda could complain about the flight, but was instead focussing on her phone as service resumed. The one or three beers she'd had on the plane probably helped her mood. "I've got Doug's first visit lined up for tomorrow with a couple of healer types out by Hackney. It's hipster-ville, so we should fit right in." She grinned at Marie-Ange. "In the meantime, we've got plenty of time to check into our hotel and rest up before dinnertime."
Marie-Ange gave a returning nod, pulled a cardigan sweater from her shoulder bag, and dropped it untidily in Doug's lap as he pulled himself together. "Is this the kind of healer with the ice cold pond, or the kind with the herbs and the crystals?" She was smiling, nose wrinkled up in the way that said "I tease, but this is also the truth."
All of them were at least somewhat practiced at long-distance plane travel, so each of them shouldered a small carryon and were quickly onto the jetway. Doug started threading the cardigan through his shoulder strap and pulling it on. As the last of them crossed from the jetway to set foot in the terminal, Amanda's phone began to buzz with an incoming call.
"Probably directions to the nearest sacred icy-cold spring," Amanda joked as she answered. "Yeah, hello? 'S Amanda Sefton, who's this?" As the voice on the other end continued, her expression grew dark. "Oh for fuck's sake... I don't suppose we have a choice about this? Yeah, no, didn't think so. Where do you want us?" She nodded once or twice and then abruptly hung up with a savage jab at the phone's screen with her finger. "Fucking Ancient One and his fucking cronies."
"Ugh, how do they even know we are here?" Marie-Ange complained. "I swear if that Danger Room breakdown means Hogwarts is real, and I am on record at Hogwarts... " She almost sounded like she was kidding, if she hadn't also sounded like she very much wanted to stab the nearest ancient and so-called wise wizard.
"Um." Doug searched his brain for an explanation that didn't boil down to 'wizards are incurable gossips', but he was really at a loss. He rewound the sequence of events in his head, looking for a pattern. "Well, it happened right as Amanda stepped off the jetway." He shook his head. "I guess you're Kind Of A Big Deal," he told Amanda, nudging her with his elbow.
"They sure do need a lot of favors from us considering they're supposed to be all powerful," Topaz muttered. "Here, take the niece of a powerful demon thing and protect her for us, go rescue her because we're too..." she waved a hand dismissively, "something to get our hands dirty first, oh, you're in London? Great, we just happen to need more help. What is it this time, rescuing Clea's long lost sister?" She paused. "I shouldn't have put that idea out in the universe."
"Whatever it is, we'll have to go. I can't let London get swallowed up by a hell dimension just because these arses can't do their job," grumbled Amanda. "I know we're here for Doug, but there's no way I'm going without backup. You lot in?"
"Like you could stop us," Doug said with a chuckle. Between backing up his friend, the chance to be snarky at Team Sorcerer Suprem-o, and getting to put off a dunk in a ice-cold tub of water, Doug was in favor of the plan on several different axes.
"Back to the cat though, if I do not get food that is not from the airport, I may scream." Marie-Ange added. "If they need us so badly, they can buy dinner, or wait until we've eaten."
Seven hours in flight, plus several hours of check-in, plus five hours of change in time zone, plus travel to the airport...it all added up to essentially a day wasted. At least it wasn't spent in the back in economy. Doug had spent the entire trip with sunglasses over his face and half-dozing, and he stretched and grunted as the deplaning shuffle began.
"It is like traveling with a cat." Marie-Ange was busy pulling her bag together, books and art pad and pencils all neatly organized. "Topaz, is this what it is like owning a cat? One moment you are reading, the next, something falls asleep on your arm and you cannot move and it makes noises at you?"
Topaz was probably not the best person to ask questions of right then. She had put on headphones and spent mostly of the flight either sleeping or reading. At that moment, she was barely awake. “What? Oh - throw in screaming like they’ve never eaten and yeah, authentic cat experience.” She gathered up her book and turned off her music, putting her phone and book in her bag. She still wasn’t entirely sure why she has been invited on this field trip, but it couldn’t be nearly as disastrous as her last trip to London, so she couldn’t complain.
Being able to teleport to London, Amanda could complain about the flight, but was instead focussing on her phone as service resumed. The one or three beers she'd had on the plane probably helped her mood. "I've got Doug's first visit lined up for tomorrow with a couple of healer types out by Hackney. It's hipster-ville, so we should fit right in." She grinned at Marie-Ange. "In the meantime, we've got plenty of time to check into our hotel and rest up before dinnertime."
Marie-Ange gave a returning nod, pulled a cardigan sweater from her shoulder bag, and dropped it untidily in Doug's lap as he pulled himself together. "Is this the kind of healer with the ice cold pond, or the kind with the herbs and the crystals?" She was smiling, nose wrinkled up in the way that said "I tease, but this is also the truth."
All of them were at least somewhat practiced at long-distance plane travel, so each of them shouldered a small carryon and were quickly onto the jetway. Doug started threading the cardigan through his shoulder strap and pulling it on. As the last of them crossed from the jetway to set foot in the terminal, Amanda's phone began to buzz with an incoming call.
"Probably directions to the nearest sacred icy-cold spring," Amanda joked as she answered. "Yeah, hello? 'S Amanda Sefton, who's this?" As the voice on the other end continued, her expression grew dark. "Oh for fuck's sake... I don't suppose we have a choice about this? Yeah, no, didn't think so. Where do you want us?" She nodded once or twice and then abruptly hung up with a savage jab at the phone's screen with her finger. "Fucking Ancient One and his fucking cronies."
"Ugh, how do they even know we are here?" Marie-Ange complained. "I swear if that Danger Room breakdown means Hogwarts is real, and I am on record at Hogwarts... " She almost sounded like she was kidding, if she hadn't also sounded like she very much wanted to stab the nearest ancient and so-called wise wizard.
"Um." Doug searched his brain for an explanation that didn't boil down to 'wizards are incurable gossips', but he was really at a loss. He rewound the sequence of events in his head, looking for a pattern. "Well, it happened right as Amanda stepped off the jetway." He shook his head. "I guess you're Kind Of A Big Deal," he told Amanda, nudging her with his elbow.
"They sure do need a lot of favors from us considering they're supposed to be all powerful," Topaz muttered. "Here, take the niece of a powerful demon thing and protect her for us, go rescue her because we're too..." she waved a hand dismissively, "something to get our hands dirty first, oh, you're in London? Great, we just happen to need more help. What is it this time, rescuing Clea's long lost sister?" She paused. "I shouldn't have put that idea out in the universe."
"Whatever it is, we'll have to go. I can't let London get swallowed up by a hell dimension just because these arses can't do their job," grumbled Amanda. "I know we're here for Doug, but there's no way I'm going without backup. You lot in?"
"Like you could stop us," Doug said with a chuckle. Between backing up his friend, the chance to be snarky at Team Sorcerer Suprem-o, and getting to put off a dunk in a ice-cold tub of water, Doug was in favor of the plan on several different axes.
"Back to the cat though, if I do not get food that is not from the airport, I may scream." Marie-Ange added. "If they need us so badly, they can buy dinner, or wait until we've eaten."
