Omg What Happened

[Caru]

Why does it look so bad?

Caru blinked at the detritis and urban gore that decorated Bath's Silver Thimble; from the broken bell hook to the smear of graffiti that blazed with incredulous grief across its walls, the shop had seen better days.

Caru picked her way over the trashy painted language and entered the shop, calling a small "Miss Audley? Are you in?" before closing the door behind her.

"He-llo?"

[Valentina Audley]

Valentina is in the back room, deep into sewing ruffles when she hears Caru calling. Tonight she is dressed modestly in a cotton print gown and starched apron, though as is customary, some of her curls are escaping thier knot on the back of her head.

She abandons the ruffles and swiftly heads into the main shop.

"Good evening darling, how pleasant to see you! Won't you join me in the parlour?" She avoids looking at the broken window, as though it hurts her to even think of it.

[Caru]

Caru looks to have grabbed what she always grabs - a simple and totally innapropriate green travelling frock, made for men, by really poor men. In contrast, her trousers look astonishingly good. The blonde hair is scraped by into a french braid, though several strands have come artlessly loose and have become plastered to her pale eyebrows.

"Pleasure to see you too! I didn't even know that you had two shops, and some idiot on the road tried to navigate me to Bristol. Can you believe it? I was right outside Bath! Of course I was looking for the Bath chain. Lemons, I tell you. He looked Gangrel. But I guess everyone does out in the fields."

Having tact to some degree, Caru wisely does not point out the broken window, even as she follows Valentina's gaze to it.

"Sooo," she waits until they're safely aside. "How are you... keeping?" She lets that hang, in case Valentina is kind enough to sate her curiousity. Caru had never seen the shop look so rough.

"I don't want to impose, just had a couple things on my mind. Thought I'd stop by, share the love. Or, rather, the gossip. I've been stuck in London until May, when, suddenly, my err Prince decides I'm fine to leave. Out of no where. House arrest half a year followed by unexpected but welcome freedom."

[Valentina Audley]

Oooh gossip. Valentina brightens at the thought.

She waves Caru into a seat, folding herself elegantly down into a wing back chair as she does so.

"Given the current state of my shop darling I'm rather glad more people don't realise there are two Thimbles. Imagine the mess if my assailant went after both!" She laughs, mirthlessly.

"As you can no doubt see, I've had a few trifling problems just recently though on the whole I've been well." Her tone invites Caru to ask more questions. After all, if one is going to have attackers one may as well have the fun of being a tragic victim mightn't one?

"And how is life in London these days?" She asks lightly, noting the allowed to leave after May with interest and wondering if Caru is actually mixed up in her mess or whether is was just a coincidence.

[Caru]

"I bet," Caru's eyebrows pinch and concern tightens her expression. "Do you know what happened? I mean, who did this to your shop? I'd assume it was random gangs but they didn't touch the place next door and... some of the writing was..."

Caru licks her lower lip. "Err, you know." Targetted.

"London's keeping as London keeps," the Ancilla sighs. "The main Elysium caved in out of no where, and Lady Bowesley's been on major Masquerade cleanup, because, obviously, that wasn't natural. The Prince was working with her a lot over Spring, Dominates I imagine across the center. The media are a bit phased, but there's a lot of lockdowns on what's being published. So it's mostly the word on the street and underworld that's carrying it. I think the upper brows in Court are worried that the Nosferatu are sniffing around a lot, because it caved in some of their territory too. Mithras has always had a... ah... strained relationship with the Nosferatu in London. They're sort of a law unto themselves below the surface. Even Fortitude only goes so far with Nossies. Clever cu- oh, I mean. They're clever. You know how it is, they got weird ace cards and traps and stuff. The Primogen there never visits Court."

[Valentina Audley]

"Not random I'm afraid darling. It was aimed quite deliberately at me, by one of us. Though the perpetrator did the deed via a kine gang as best we can tell. We are looking into the matter and I'm confident we'll find who is responsible. In the meantime it's a case of organising a clean up and trying to ensure it can't happen again. "

She sighs and shakes her head ruefully.

"London's Elysium caved in? Gracious! I trust you weren't injured by it?" Concern is her first thought, her second was Seer related. "When did this happen? "

[Caru]

"I'd help but I'm terrible at painting," Caru snorts, offers Valentina a small smile.

"No, I wasn't injurred. I wasn't there at all, no one was. Mithras cordoned off the whole place for the month, as if he was expecting it. Maybe he was and was just preventing some larger danger in the Jyhad to his domain I don't know... It's hard not to question everything these nights. And yet, questioning is exceptionally dangerous. I've kept my head down."

Despite her words there is an underlying anxious tension in the Gangrel's body, in the coiled rope lines of her muscles.

"I think it caved in on the first of May." She doesn't meet Valentina's gaze for a heartbeat. "So, you know. Nothing unusual there at all."

[Valentina Audley]

"Me too, it's one of the most vexing things about the whole affair! " This time the accompanying laugh is genuine and the smile which accompanies it relaxes Valentina's body, though only briefly as she turns serious again at Caru's next statement.

"Perhaps he heard of some dreadful plot and has been thwarting it?" She suggests. She doesn't believe it, she doesn't expect Caru to believe it, but... it gives them both plausible denialbility and that's something Valentina is always in favour of .

"One day is as good as another to an anarchist I suppose" she agrees lightly. But why cordon it off for whole month? She wonders to herself. Why do that when he knew the date he'd likely have problems? Precaution or are there more puzzle pieces she's missing?

"Well I'm glad no one was hurt at least!"

[Caru]

"Mithras thwarting dangers? Probably..." Her gaze shines. "I heard he was in the Americas after all, fighting the good fight for us all. I think that was a year ago or something."

"Oh, some of the Nosferatu were hurt, according to tall tales. But I'm not sure. One wild theory is that the Nossies were trying to develop a secret way into Elysium. Another says that they were trying to burrow a hole into Mithras' temple just to spite him, and Mithras collapsed it deliberately at the climax of some coup. I don't believe it, personally, but it's funny. I think no one met Final Death. They're probably all healed by now? More than likely, the Nosferatu hurt were just those living closer than they should have been to the temple."

"Hmm, you know it's strange. All the electricity when whacko that night. We have a new system around the center zone for street lighting. Then, poof. All gone. Took days to get sorted, it was like something just blew it out."

"I suppose we live in strange times."

[Valentina Audley]

"Oh, was he? Which bit of the Americas?" Despite herself Valentina is interested.

"I am not very familiar with electricity, though I have seen the lights at the Palais Garnier in Paris and I thought them very fine indeed. Such brightness! Is it unusual for the street lighting to go... whacko?" Valentina isn't entirely sure what whacko means, bit assumes it's an electrical term in the same way she knows taps have washers but wouldn't know what to do with one if it where presented to her.

"And you don't think someone tried to collapse the Elysium to spite Prince Mithras?" Her eyes are wide with curiosity. "I mean, were I going to be foolish enough to attack a Prince of the Camarilla it's one of the things I'd consider..." Her tone makes it clear that attacking people is something she'd never consider, let alone Camarilla princes.