tampered | Log; Ongoing

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Log; Ongoing

When; Now, November 26th
Rating; G? maybe PG, at most?
Characters; Tonks

kittyjones
Summary; Kitty and Tonks go to see Dorian about getting Bartemeus out of The City
Log;

“Sodding turkeys!” After some point, Tonks mused, Sidestepping poultry was no longer interesting. Keeping a clear picture n mind of where she wanted to go, Kitty’s flat, she trudged on, through turkey-infested streets, “That’s it,” she sighed, searching her mental inventory. What would work? “How ‘bout this, eh?” What was the sound spell, again? “Sonitus!” A loud blast, and the turkeys, now slightly more bewildered than usual, shuffled out of the way. Seeing as the learning curve on the creatures was limited, Tonks ran through the cleared path as she could. Stupid turkeys.

And finaly, the odd spell of the city paid off, and Tonks could see Kitty’s building coming into view. Another quick “Sonitus!” further cleared her way to the building, and she started up the stairs.

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Kitty thought she heard the dulcet tones of Tonks outside the window, shouting something... was it Latin? She had been making a cup of tea, and hating herself for being so stereotypically British, when she heard the loud blast that followed. At first she thought maybe she'd imagined it, or possibly it was some sort of freak storm, but then she heard it again, and (spilling the tea from her teacup) raced to open the door.

She calmed down when she saw her friend climbing up the stairs though. "I take it you had to resort to extreme measures to gain entry?"

“As always, your fortress is heavily guarded.” Tonks smiled, happy to see that signature wit again. It bothered her to see Kitty distraught; she was such a bright person, really. Of course, Tonks had her downtimes, too, in the past, but the, all the more reason to help Kitty.

She put her wand back in her pocket and pulled a feather off her shoe before entering, “Is that tea? I smell tea.”

"Naturally. The hoards of adoring public might break in at any moment," Kitty smiled back at her, raising her eyebrows lightly. She still was feeling really... really pretty terrible. But she liked to talk, and she liked to banter, and it took her mind off things, if only for a moment. But she knew she probably looked a mess. Her eyes weren't red-rimmed any longer but she looked paler than usual, and her voice seemed very... quiet.

"Again, tea is only natural. It's what we Brits do best, after all," she walked back to where the teacups were, and returned with two in hand, filled to the brim, holding out one to Tonks. "Here you go. It's the... the least I could do."

“An’ we jus’ can’t have that, now?” Tonks smiled, and folded her coat into her hand. She didn’t know how long they’d be staying, so she opted to just hold it. She didn’t want to bother Kitty with it, the girl looked... worn, at best, but a friend of hers was in trouble, what else could she look like?

“That and scones, ‘course.” She smiled, and took a sip of the tea. It was getting cold out, the tea was helping and much welcomed, “And what do you mean, least you could do? I really don’t mind going with you, honestly.”

"Course we can't. They'd tear the place apart just for a glimpse of me." She glanced up, and noticing how Tonks was still holding her coat gestured to the sofa. "Please, just, you can put it down there, if you like. I'm not too bothered about the mess." It really, truly was one of the last things on her mind.

"I'm afraid I don't have any scones at the moment, I'm betraying my national heritage, I know." She was smiling, but her face fell a little at the next words spoken, reminding her of... of why Tonks was here. What they were going to do. "If you're... if you're sure you don't mind, then... I really am grateful. I'm a little... a little scared to go alone, t'be honest."

With a smile and a shrug, Tonks placed her coat on the couch. If Kitty didn’t mind, than Tonks didn’t care.

“That is a crime I’m about willing to forgive,” Tonks replied, referring to the scones. “And don’t worry, to be truthful, and rather unsupportive, I’m a bit scared myself, But we’ll be alright. Nothing the both of us can’t handle.” Tonks knew it was superficial reassurance, but she couldn’t really provide anything else. She had never been the best at comforting people, that had always been Molly’s job, “It’ll be alright, I promise.”

[ooc Going off to work now~]

"You're a very forgiving person, then," she smiled a little, taking another sip of her tea. "Of course we can handle it," she nodded firmly. "Of course."

It was more to reassure herself than Tonks. She was trying to look determined and unafraid, but really... she wasn't. She really, really wasn't. She was afraid for Bartimaeus. She was afraid of going to Dorian. Afraid what she'd ask her to pay. Afraid that she might actually pay it.

"I'm sure it'll be all right. What could go wrong? If she says something terrible then we could just... walk away."

"Oh, I'm like Mother Teresa, I tell you." Tonks winked. At this point, she was just settling for a laugh. Anything, really, to make her feel better. Whoever this person was, Kitty would go all out for them. It was a nice thing to know she was so devoted to someone, whoever they where.

"Yeah, the worst to go wrong is we get real shocked and suprised at her answer, and leave in a huff, right?"

"On your way to sainthood, I can tell," Kitty grinned back at the other woman. It helped. Of course, it wasn't permanent. Though the smile stayed plastered on her face, her mind never left the topic of what they were about to do.

"Right. And come back very annoyed, and make ourselves another cup of tea." Again, Kitty nodded, as though rapid movements of the cranium would reassure everyone present and make it all certain, make everything all right.

"But I hope that it... I hope she offers us something we can..." Now she was murmuring quietly, speaking her thoughts aloud in an almost inaudible tone. "I hope she can help us. Bartimaeus needs... I need to find him a way out. Soon."

"Our lady of perpetual clumsyness, that's me."

"Yes, I confess it's really the tea I'm here for." She smiled and patted Kitty on the shoulder. Another try at a motherly- or maybe even comforting- gesture. Something to make her feel better. She was so obviously in pain.

"I hope so too, Kitty." Tonks sighed, "Like I said before, I'll help when I can. If she offers up a price I can pay, you know I'll do it."

"Hopefully they'll give you a nice feast day. There could be scones."

"I always knew you had ulterior motives." Kitty... was grateful for the gesture Tonks made. It was nice to be comforted in more than words. More than nice. And it helped, it really did. Sometimes physical actions worked better than verbal reassurance. There was something... it sounded obvious, but there was something solid about them, something real.

But at her next words Kitty looked up, wide-eyed, "No, don't... you don't have to!" She shook her head, running her fingers through her hair. "I'll do it, if I can pay. And if the price is too high for me, then it's too high for anyone. I wouldn't want you to..." She smiled, weakly, pleadingly. "I wouldn't want anyone to do that for me, Tonks, especially not a friend."

"Scones are good."

"You see right through me, as always." Tonks smiled, nodded, patted her shoulder again. She wasn't so good at reading facial clues, was she helping this girl at all? She hoped so. Her mother was always so good at this, but Tonks seemed to be stuck with Ted's oblivious-to-others gene.

Tonks almost jumped back at her sudded outburst, "Whoa, now. I'm going, an' I'll make an offer, an' if it's a price I can pay I'll bloody well pay it. You have no say in the matter." She smiled, "Anyway, I doubt your friend wants you to be all self sacrificing like this, but you are, and I'm going with you to make sure you're okay. Okay?"

"It's an innate ability, what can I say?" Her heart wasn't really in it, but she guessed it said something about her that she continued being sarcastic even when she was down. Whether that was a good thing or not was completely beyond her. She tensed a little initially when Tonks patted her again, but relaxed after a second. "T-thanks." A small, shy smile of gratitude spread across her face.

"But I..." Kitty mentally cursed herself for this, for getting someone else wrapped up in this whole, stupid mess. "If she asks for your memories of something or someone you... Promise me you'll class that as something you can't pay?"

Silence then, a brief pause as Kitty took in the mention of her friend. Of Bartimaeus, who had explicitly said that if she sacrificed herself for him he'd... he'd never forgive her. "No, he... he doesn't. I don't mean to be, but he... I can't think of any other way."

At the moment there was no other way. She was quickly becoming certain of that. Until some other option presented itself, until some deal could be made or some plan followed through, there was nothing to do but try and find an exit. And this was the quickest way to do that. But if Dorian asked for something that she couldn't... Kitty had no idea what she'd do. Forcing herself to look a lot more serene than she actually felt, she answered in the affirmative. "All right. Thank you. Should we... Should we go, then?"

"Hey, no problem." She nodded, again. Trying to find a rhytem to work by, anything to help. Sadly, this was the best she could do.

"I was kidding about the saint thing back there, okay? There are some prices not even I'm willing to pay." She thought about all the things she would never choose to forget. Tonks thought it could fill several books, "So don't worry about me, okay?" That was Tonks' job.

"Eh, I'd rather have a friend miffed at me than a friend in two peices, So I can see your logic."

"Okay, then," She shuffled over to get her coat, "Here we are." Tonks nodded, "To the marketplace?"

"I guessed. Somehow I don't think a halo would have been the best look for you anyway. Or the wings. Or floaty robes." Kitty looked Tonks up and down in mock-critique, eyebrow raised teasingly. She declined to reply to the request about not worrying. Worrying seemed to be one of the things she did best, and she did it about just about everyone under the sun.

"Yeah," she sighed a little, "rare for me to have logic, but it does sometimes happen. Wish more people could see it as logic, that's all."

Kitty knew they were rather rushing things – after all, Tonks had only just come in, and her teacup was only half-drained (though it was rapidly cooling anyway). But she really couldn't wait. If this didn't work then she needed to find another solution, and fast. And more to the point, she couldn't stand hanging around any longer. If they were going to do it, they'd better do it now before she started thinking about stupid things. Stupid thinks like risks.

"Yes, I've heard that's where she keeps her... shop. Stall. Place. Thing." In all honesty Kitty had never seen the woman, preferring instead to keep a very good distance away from her. She grabbed her own jacket from where she'd left it on the chair, pulling it on and turning up the collar. She'd hate to be chilly if she woke up not remembering who she was.

"Right. So. Marketplace." After a sweeping gesture with her hands towards the front door she headed for it, and to the stairs beyond, checking Tonks was following her.

Tonks chuckled, and set her tea down, "oh, yeah, we're very logical, it's everyone else who's got the definition wrong."

"I think it was a stall actually," She shrugged, inching for the door, "On that day she was handing out cupons, I faintly remember seeing it..." Of course, most of her memories of that day where rather faint.

And out the door she went, following Kitty down the stars and towards the turkeys. She pulled out her wand, just in case the poultry needed another good scare.

"Oh, I remember that day. I never got one myself..." She remembered the panic there had been in the City though. Well, some people had been panicking. Other people had seemed a lot happier, for some reason - for them it had been the day after that was the clincher, when they started remembering. It was disconcerting how forgetting could affect people in such different ways.

"What did you..." Kitty began to ask Tonks as they walked down the stairs, but stopped herself. It was none of her business what she had forgotten.

Outside, the turkeys were everywhere. Big ones, small ones, mangy ones, slightly-less-mangy ones, and all seemed hell-bent on swarming around the pair. Kitty aimed a sharp kick towards one, felt a brief pang of remorse, and then swiftly kicked out again when it pecked her leg. "That thing must come in handy," she gestured to the wand.

"What did I... forget, eh? Jus' the wizarding folk I knew. Couldn't remember who my mum was, much less... other people." Tonks shrugged it off. She couldn't let Kitty slide out of easy conversation just to fidget, Tonks at least knew that much about cheering people up. Or trying like all hell to.

"You have no idea," Tonks nodded, taking her wand out and fumbling with it. What where some good spells...? The 'blast them with noise!' bit probobly wasn't the best of ideas for too much longer. "How about Secui profundum...? No that only works on water..." She mumbled to herself. What was that spell? "Ah! Hows about Videlicet via!" She pointed her wand out, and suddenly all the turkeys where shoved out in front of them, creating a short path, "C'mon," she said, "I dunno how long that'll last."

"You forgot your mum? That's... well, glad it wasn't permanent." To be honest, Kitty wasn't that sure she'd mind forgetting her own mother. But still, that would be through personal choice. As opposed to having a coupon shoved in your hand and memories yanked out of your head.

She watched, intrigued, as Tonks began to scrabble with the wand. They'd had magicians back home, of course, but things like wands had been grouped in with the cloaks and pointed hats, something rather fairy-tale like and ultimately ineffectual. But this thing seemed to have real power. What was that Tonks was muttering? Latin? But before she had time to consider it further, their fat friends shot out of the way.

"It appears you're more of a Moses than a Theresa," she commented dryly as they navigated through the mass of birds, "it's like the parting of the Red Sea. Just with, err, feathers. Instead of water."

Kitty nodded briskly at that as they began to walk, hands shoved into her pockets, fiddling with the inner lining. It couldn't be far to the marketplace. That was one of the weird things about the City, it always seemed to speed up when you had somewhere to go, like the whole place suddenly became a lot more squashed together.

"Yeah, and most all the magic users I know... Looking back it was kinda funny..." Most of that day was still a haze, but she remembered being... happier? A chilling thought, actually.

"Ah, I have found my calling, I'll lead you all out of Egypt." Tonks grinned, shuftling through the turkey-path once more. The streets swisted and turned, an odd, shimmering effect of this City, where you could go where you wanted with out actually knowing about it. Sometimes, Tonks could swear that the whole of the warping effect responded to anxiety; the more you needed to get there the faster you arrived, but she would never probably test that theory. When she was worried, she never really noticed if she was quickly getting there, just that she was getting there at all.

"And then you can climb on top of one of the blocks of flats in the City, and recite a special set of commandments. Thou shalt not suffer a turkey to live, what d'you think?" She smiled back as they walked, as she got the hang of avoiding turkey feathers and the turkeys themselves and certain other turkey things which she decidedly did not want to get on her shoes.

It hadn't been long, in fact Kitty swore it had only been a matter of minutes, but she could see a figure in the distance, a vendor by a stall in a nondescript corner of the square. There were people scattered around nearby, most of whom looking completely dazed, some muttering, some not saying anything at all, almost forgetting to breathe. The happy customers, it seemed.

Taking a deep breath Kitty started to walk towards the stall, then froze mid-step. "Shall we..." Breaking off, she fixed her eyes on what she could only assume to be Dorian, her brows furrowed. "Shall we... shall we go and talk to her then?"

Again she paused, thinking for a moment. "If you want to I'll... I'll go first? And then you... I mean, if you're still sure, and then we can..."

"Thou shalt not mope around after curses. Yeah, sounds 'bout right..." They continued to walk, Tonks all but kicking the turkeys out of the way. Tolerence wains after they jump into your toilet.

"Ah, there she is." Tonks put her hand over her eyes, as if to guard them from imaginary sunlight, "The lady of the hour..."

"How 'bout..." Tonks thought she would put her hand on Kitty's shoulder again, but decided against it, "We both go at the same time...?"

[ooc *is Laaaaaaaate*]

Kitty smirked a little at the... abrupt... manner Tonks was showing with regards to the turkeys. She was surprised in all honesty that Tonks hadn't started blowing them too pieces – she'd have found the temptation a great one if she'd only had a wand.

"Yes. The object of our long travelling. Another great quest completed," she ruffled her hair absent-mindedly. "They'll have to put this in the story books."

Her head flicked to look at Tonks, her mouth opening as though she would protest, but then thought better of it. "All right. Together. C'mon, let's go." With that she tugged at Tonks lightly on her arm, before starting to head to the stall.

Another turkey rocketted out of the way, and Tonks was getting the impression she was being stared at. In either retaliation or the fruit of prolonged annoyence, she launched the next turkey in Kitty's direction. It missed, of course, because the thing had wings and changed direction in-transit, but the intent was still there. Tonks finished the act with a giggle, starving off all possible mistakes of maleviolent intent.

"Yeah, they'll call it... 'The Adventures of Tonks and Kitty in Turkeyland'" she shrugged with a smile.

Tonks nodded, almost deeply, and followed Kitty along, into whatever this might entail.

[ooc Sounds like a plan. I'll allow you to do the honors unless you've got any objections~]

Kitty ducked and almost gave a disgruntled squawk, very much along the same lines of the noise the turkey itself made as it hurtled through the air towards her. Almost. A little of her dignity had managed to be retained by not doing that, at least. "You know, I could get you for animal cruelty!" She brushed non-existent dust off her shoulder with an air of indifference, a mock-scathing look at Tonks as she giggled.

"I'm sure it'll be one of the great novels of our time. Adventure, romance, turkeys. Everything you need for a ripping yarn."

It was like something out of a storybook, Kitty supposed as they walked. Or maybe some sort of clichéd movie. Two young women, walking purposefully down a street, bravely heading towards some mysterious threat. Except that Kitty had absolutely no idea what came next. Most stories didn't involve creepy figures who'd empty your head of memories, just for a ticket out of a city built on an apocalypse.

Still, she wasn't going to complain. Things hadn't been normal for a very, very long time. Making deals, naming prices, negotiation... perhaps this would be something she could actually understand? Could do? Could... could use to help somebody? It couldn't hurt to try. Nothing to be afraid of.

And with that refreshing bout of over-optimism, Kitty drew herself up, hardened her eyes, and spoke to the strange woman before her. "We're here to make a deal."

A blunt statement. Simple. And, hopefully, it would be effective into the bargain.

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Log; Ongoing

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