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Audrey Basque HYDROCHOERIA, sometime around 4-5PM

    Audrey has asked you all to come to Hydrochoeria and wait at the Warpgate; dinner will be provided, she insisted, so come on an empty stomach (and you don't have to bring anything, Kukuru!!). The meeting is about the Last Star, and how to procure it; there are multiple paths to it, and since everyone who's helped her so far has such diverse skills and experiences, reaching an agreement and plan is for the best on this one.

    Hydrochoeria is as it is ever is now; the sky is rent above the floating island, like a scar that reveals the clear night sky underneath it and casts the place in a sort of twilight. The castle, and before it the community Petra has built, are visible from the Warpgate without trouble, as is the floating tower above the castle. Three of its massive crystals are deployed in orbit around it, tracing a narrow triangle without a base; Circinus, the constellation, the crystals linked together by thin strands of energy to form it.

    Audrey is already present at the Warpgate, still wearing her Librarian uniform from a short stay at the Library after class; though she's removed the gloves, and opened the outer layer, the white dress shirt underneath contrasting it a bit. Once everyone has arrived, she stops idle banter, waving her hand to fracture space and motioning for everyone to step into the mess of mirrored shards.

    Stepping through puts everyone inside the tower! It's a large room, with stairs going up and down at the north and southern ends, a massive organ against one of the side walls, and a big, fancy table with two dozen chairs around it in the middle. The walls are white along the bottom, and fade into dark blue with gold accents halfway up, like a star chart. And speaking of stars: the ceiling is nothing but that. It's dark blue, almost black, and looks exactly like the night sky, unfiltered.

    On the table, a feast has been arranged. Chicken, beef and pork, largely uncut, are tended to by a professional chef who will cut you whatever slice you want, while large plates of various steamed vegetables, potatoes in every configuration, cheeses and crackers and cuts of meat and every sauce you could want adorn the table like an expensive buffet.

    Suffice to say however picky you may be, there is some kind of food for you here. Audrey raises her voice a bit, to be just a touch dramatic.

    "Welcome! Please, take a seat, and help yourself to however large a meal you want. I'll go over the details I have to share about the Last Star in a little while, but... I thought it might be nice, while I have you all here anyway, to treat you to a thank you dinner. And I can guarantee none of that meat is people, or rat," she feels the need to add, helpfully.
Sarracenia      Sarracenia had thought her invitation would be revoked after the recent development, butit had not. So...much to Gregory's dismay, she and the piranha plant butler are here. It may be the only time Sarra is allowed to be here without it being an invasion of some kind.

     The princess arrives in her new standard attire. A black velvet dress with matching gloves and heels, all trimmed with silver and adorned with a flowing silver starry night pattern from right to left. And of course her gold crown and rusty red metal lotus hairpin. Despite the bad blood, when she arrives she curtseys to Audrey. Specifically Audrey. If Petra is nearby then the curtsey is angled away from her. Gregory bows politely to both.

     Then, she looks around. It is quite awe-inspiring, seeing those crystals, that rended sky, and the flying city that used to be Quicknest. Sarra keeps an eye out for Emmy, since there is a fairly high chance the metal rodent is here somewhere.

     When asked to step through the mirror shard portal...Sarra hesitates, obviously a bit suspicious. She makes sure someone else walks through first before she does. The organ against the wall gives her pause, and for some reason Sarra gives it a wide birth.

     When presented with the feast, Sarra goes to choose some generous cuts of both chicken and pork along with steamed vegetables. All get covered with equally generous amounts of spicy sauces. She then takes a seat when asked and waits for Gregory to pre-cut all her meat before she takes a bite of pork.

     'And I can guarantee none of that meat is people, or rat.'

     Sarra freezes mid-chew, eyes wide, and almost coughs out her bite. Is that something she needs to worry about here?! It takes a long moment of pondering before Sarra finally swallows. Petra might be the type to do such a thing to her, but Audrey does not...even with everything that has happened.

     Still, Sarra is slow to continue her meal now.

     "Yes, quite nice." Sarra agrees. It is the second time now she has been at a thank you celebration given by someone who does not like her.
Petra Soroka     "But, Mikey would be excited to know, it *was* cooked by rats."

    Of course Petra is already here! She appears from the stairwell from higher up in the tower, leaping over the last flight of stairs as a matter of course to land with a thud in the dining hall. She's not wearing her Librarian uniform, or anything particularly special, just a cropped tank top and big baggy olive cargo pants, with her compact mirror as a pendant on a cord. She doesn't elaborate what she meant by rats cooking the meal, though.

    In her hands is the same yellow cane that was retrieved out of the crypt last adventure: the Spinning Star! She twirls it around casually, like a conductor's baton or teacher's pointer, while ambling over to the seat beside the head of the table to sit down. Obviously, given that this is her castle, she could insist on taking the central seat in Audrey's place, but Audrey's going to be doing most of the talking, so she doesn't really care about doing that.

    As she starts loading her plate up (mostly vegetables, light on pork, with a bean-heavy soup on the side), Petra leans back in her chair and looks over at Audrey. "So what's up? What's it gonna be? Give us the deets."
Kukuru For once, Kukuru doesn't bring dinner! Or snacks! Or refreshments! Audrey did insist on it, after all, and she's eager to see what's on the menu and on tap. Arriving at the castle with her usual suddenly-appearing cloud of evil-coded effects, the woman in white and green marvels at the grand crystals above for a moment before locking onto her expected target.

"Au-dreeey! Hello, he-lloo~" She calls out in her usual sleepily pleasant tone, half-jogging along to catch up all two steps it takes to get to her and those shards. She's eager to dote on Audrey and offer those hugs she often does, but she settles for holding her hands out in the hopes of clasping Audrey's close for a few moments. "Are you doing okay, dear? Do you need any.. Hmmm. No, you're smart enough not to need help with that. Maybe... Oh. A quiet place to nap? It's really pretty here, but is the moving stuff and the shining distracting?"

She must think Audrey sleeps here or something.

Taking a seat near, but not directly, the middle of the available areas, she patiently waits for everyone else to start grabbing food before going for some herself. Her first round of food involves getting a bit of everything and not being too picky about where the chef's cuts, but definitely asking for extra portions of meat right off the bat.

"Aw, you shouldn't have, Audrey... But thank you a-ny-waaay~" Humming softly with a chunk of meat already going right into her face, Kukuru savors that chunk for a while before adding. "Maybe I should've worn something fancier, though... Ah. Well, I'll just have to set something up for you and everyone sometime to do that, then. But really, this isn't going to set you back too much, is it?"
Angela Angela could have made it to this meeting but she ultimately decided on not making Petra throw up feathers today and instead has sent...

MALKUTH and THE MAGICAL GIRL OF LOVE to the meeting today. Mikey WOULD be thrilled to know that the food was cooked by rats and Malkuth, with her professional chipperness says, "I'll be sure to let him know." without confirming which rats cooked the meal but she is imaginine a kitchen full of ratbots doing various tasks rather than Heyalexa.

Love is full of energy when she arrives, "Petra!!! Audrey!! And..." Love frowns. "No rat?... It's okay. I'm willing to eat not-rat food to support a friend!"

She jumps onto a chair and perches on it like a bird by crouching on top of it rather than sliding her feeks over the edge.

"Your tower is so biiiiig. I like the star charts. I think Justice would love the star charts. Who is that?" She points at Sarracenia, having forgotten who she was since it's been a minute. "I kinda want to chomp her. Oh no! I'm going to chomp her if I don't cover my mouth in time--Ahhhhh...!" She covers her mouth with both hands.

Malkuth snaps out a datapad and adds, "Angela said I should handle keeping the minutes. I'll have you know I'm very methodical when it comes to taking meeting notes so you can rely on me to make sure an accurate summary is presented to Angela after the end of this meeting!"
Petra Soroka     Petra obviously insists that Love sits beside her, and rubs her arm affectionately when she perches and starts harvesting food to her plate. "Hey Love! Hey Malkuth. Wait, wait, wait, Love-- Love I have to try something."

    Petra scoots her chair back and stands up, brandishing the Spinning Star at Love. The next time she emits a floating cartoon heart from ehr emoting, Petra points the Spinning Star at it, and... *doip*. Flips it upside-down. *Doip* *doip* *doip*.

    "This fucking thing rocks. This is the best thing anyone's ever made."

    Petra leans over and tugs on Love's shoulder, miming her away from Sarracenia. "Oh, and you don't want to bite her. She's poisonous. Have the food Audrey made instead."
Kukuru Sarracenia and Gregory get excited little waves from Kukuru as she approaches them mid-eating, taking a moment to check on the former's hair in case any strands need to get nudged back into place. "That's a good girl. It's important to savor the food, even if someone is treating you. You don't have to worry as much about choking that way." She advises, getting the completely wrong impression when she sees Sarracenia slowing down.

Petra's big jump and subsequent landing gets a brief 'ooh' from Kukuru, and then she's clapping when the Spinning Star comes out. "Hehe... Hiii, Petra. You look like you're having fun in here. Just take care not to be too rough on your ankles, okay? I hear those are first things to go when you're older and still need to worry about tendons and stuff..."

Malkuth and Love, meanwhile, get a big broad wave from Kukuru who conveniently is not thinking too hard about the past while she greets them as cheerfully as ever. "Oh! He-llo, Malkuth! Hi, Love! This meat's reeeeally good, so you should try these instead of taking a bite out of Sarra. The sauce can really help it feel nice and juicy, too... Oh. Malkuth, you can eat now, too, riiight? What kind of meat do you like the best?"
Angela Love is thrilled to sit by Petra and true to form, Love is already radiating hearts. More than one. They're sort of floating away from her just from sitting by Petra. She starles as Petra flips the heart out, mouth opening in a big o as her eyes get even wider.

"How is this possible...?" She whispers like Petra flipped the whole world upside down.

''You don't want to bite her. She's poisonous.''

"Okaaay..." Love says, holding up a finger like she's delivering a lesson. "Just because something looks delicious does not mean it's safe to eat! Ask an adult you can trust first to see if it's safe!"
Audrey Basque     Audrey is more than happy to smile at Sarracenia; there's no animosity, and the fact they've already resolved to make a show of-- well, resolving, things a little bit, means there's no sense in worrying about her. And having more hands on deck is never a bad thing.

    She notices the pause, and laughs a bit. "This food is Concord-sourced. It's only the finest quality goods--" Petra insinuates the involvement of rats, and Audrey thinks it's too funny to correct. "And most importantly, not mislabeled. So you can trust that pork is real pork."

    Of course Petra's appearance brightens Audrey's mood considerably, and sitting down next to her, at the head of the table, seems to visibly relax her.

    "I'm getting to that, let's give everyone time to settle down. There's a bit to go over, but with everyone here... I'd think it won't take long to decide what to do."

    Kukuru bombards her with questions, and Audrey shakes her head. "It's fine, really, when I do sleep here I don't have any issues because of the tower." It's true. If she has issues sleeping it's going to be something else entirely, usually.

    "And no, this won't set me back at all. This was nothing, really. I won't say no to seeing what a feast you've done is like though." Kukuru seems quite attached to food, so anything she sets up must be legendary.

    "Sorry Love, I'll make sure to have rat for you next time, if I know ahead of time you'll be here. But there's plenty to choose from, so I'm sure you'll like something here."

    Malkuth gets a nod, of course, since Audrey is used to working with her some. "Of course. Thank you. But do make sure to enjoy the meal, too."

    With everyone seated, and hopefully in the process of being fed, Audrey dims the lights, and a projector pops out of the table to beam a screen onto the empty wall on the opposite side of the table to the organ.

    "So, as you know, the Last Star is being sold at an auction at the Badalamenti House of Arcane Goods. They specialize in, get this, arcane goods." Audrey clicks to a slide showing the auction house, an average looking building that seems like it could be in any Chinatown of any random city.

    "Now, this is NOT a reputable place. Every local newspaper has at least one article about stolen goods being sold there, or prominent crime families using it to launder goods and money. I have a partial attendees list, based on faces people say are reportedly 'always there' and it's pretty dire."

    She clicks to the next slide, which is blank.

    "So... this is the big question. I have floor plans, patrol routes for their security detail, a list of attendees, though a lot of it is spotty and relies on net sleuths who've tried looking into that place before."

    Audrey, between bites of chicken, proposes: "We could participate in the auction; either fairly, or with a bit of sabotage by somehow taking out the highest bidders early. We could try to rob the place, knowing it's... well. That sort of place. Or we could raid it, which will absolutely mean a fight. In all cases, local authorities won't interfere. They never have. They're probably in the owner's pockets, or have no means to deal with these kind of people."
White White arrives in the usual manner, the usual wardrobe, and the usual state. Slightly early (though less this time), and- wait, there's one thing amiss. Instead of a single huge braid, she seems to have tried a double-braid and tied them together into a little bow halfway down her back... She might've gotten some help with it. Still, it's a small difference and she behaves just as placidly as ever, following Audrey's lead after greeting the others with small nods and waves.

     She, of course, isn't especially thrown off by the environs given her recent visit. She can sightsee even with her eyes shut, so it might be hard to tell if she's panning her view around the room anyway! Settling into a seat at the table, it takes her a minute or two (literal) to figure out the intended arrangement for recieving food; making a request is a daunting challenge, but after some subtle anxious jaw-rolling she eventually leans in and tries to indicate what she wants with just loose pointing; a little bit of each meat (maybe a chicken nugget's-worth at most), a little ice-cream scoop of mashed potatoes, and a slice of cheese (maybe colby-jack, or something else similarly normal-but-not-cheddar) plopped onto the potatoes to melt. It truly is a curse to have to eat such small portions... Prioritizing is always so hard.

     The commentary on rats and people draws a shut-eyed look, but insofar as anyone can assume, she doesn't seem squeamish from the mention. The little thumbs up she's been using lately makes an appearance again too, so she seems content. When Sarracenia coughs in surprise, White does her the minute courtesy of cracking one gleaming eye open to look at the princess's plate. "Nothing... To worry about." she reassures softly, before going about mouseishly working on her own meal. Depending on Sarra's trust for White, or whether she even knows anything about the Evil Eye at all, that might be reassuring or dreadful!

     When Petra arrives with the identity of the chefs, White mumbles "Mine can't... Cook." like she's disappointed in her eight-legged creations suddenly; she's assuming Petra was talking about the ratbots of course, and comparing minions is just normal. Her gaze does fix on the Spinning Star in recognition, about 30 percent of the way toward reacting like it's a loaded gun, but after a moment her attention goes back to her food again. Petra wouldn't use it on *her*.

She knows better.

     As for Angela's stand-ins of the day, White doesn't know them especially well! She's (probably?) seen Malkuth around in passing, but at least she recognizes Love's voice from the radio. Magical girls shouldn't eat rats, probably, but White is still supportive of the lifestyle on principle, so she should at least try to smile at her... Right? ... No, nevermind, maybe another time. Love seems... Busy, right now anyway.
White White gets about a quarter of the way through her plate, paradoxically both an incredibly slow eater and an incredibly determined one, before eventually wiping her mouth delicately and asiding to Kukuru- she probably has to try a couple of times not to get talked over, though her face doesn't show a sign that she took offense. "You... And the Demon Lord... Should cook together. Sometime." When Audrey talks about sleep, White doesn't even look at her when she suggests, "If it gets... Really bad... I'll put you to sleep." ... Why does that sound so threatening? And why would she offer, anyway?!

     But, it's time to talk brass tacks again, and White is perfectly fine to continue eating while the briefing is ongoing. She'll probably still be eating after everyone else is done, even with half-size portions... "... Are any... Of the attendees... Dangerous?" is her first question; it's an easy way to weight the risk levels of each option in advance, if they know anything about the stand-out participants. "If it comes... To bidding... I can make the... Others think less clearly. If they can't... Resist it."
Petra Soroka "You look like you're having fun in here."

    "It's *my* castle. I better be having fun in it." Petra says that as if it's obvious, but until a couple months ago, she actually spent next to no time here. "And I'll be fine. That won't happen to me." It's hard to tell whether she means that she's planning on dying before getting old, that her power prevents her ankles from getting worn down, or whether she's just blithely youthfully invincible about her body.

"How is this possible...?"

    To Love, Petra proudly holds up the Spinning Star as if it's a precious trophy she won through innumerable trials. "*This* is the super powerful magical artifact that Audrey was hunting down. We found it in an ancient crypt, surrounded by skeleton warriors and magical traps and stuff, chained to a skeleton. Its power is so great that it can overturn kingdoms! Or at least, random stuff the king's holding."

    *Doip*. Petra flips over the remote in Audrey's hand just as she tries to click to the next slide, causing an entire second and a half of irritation where she has to flip it back over to hit the button.

"It's fine, really, when I do sleep here I don't have any issues because of the tower."

    Petra squints, and... misses Audrey's insinuation entirely, distracted by a different thought. "I don't... *think* it's too bright for anyone to sleep. Love, it's never been too bright for you, right? No one in the apartments has ever complained about it. Maybe I should ask, just in case."

    At White's difficulty with selecting food, Petra quietly gasps with realization, and opens her compact mirror to dig through it. After a second, she pulls out a ratbot (not Twopence), who's wearing a little tiny chef hat that she glued to its head. The ratbot floats over to White impassively and hovers there, waiting to be directed by her pointing or quiet whispers to haul food over to her.

"Mine can't... Cook."

    "Oh, I had to, like, program a whole AI subroutine for it from scratch. I tried to scrape recipe sites for help with the specifics, but then they'd just output tons of garbage to the logs about their grandmothers, so I basically add every recipe manually and have a series of routines they follow in the kitchen-- that's Franc, by the way."

"So... this is the big question."

    Petra leans back in her chair, biting off a carrot from her salad with a loud snap. "I'm *so* in favor of fucking everyone there over as hard as possible. I mean, like, they should be expecting it to happen at some point, so it's just like kicking up an anthill-- except, morally fine, because it's people and not ants. If we walk into a shitty scam place and try to play honest just because we have money, we're *asking* to get fucked over. Let's do it first. Turn it into a wasteland that no one will ever trust afterwards. Who's the guy running it, anyways?"
Sarracenia      Sarra as usual accepts a hug if offered one by Kukuru. "Hello, Miss Kukuru! Good to see you, as always~" Petra makes a grand entrance and proceeds to play with the Spinning Star. Sarra is unimpressed by the entrance, but is somewhat intrigued by the hearts flipping around thanks to the star cane.

     'Who is that? I kinda want to chomp her. Oh no! I'm going to chomp her if I don't cover my mouth in time--Ahhhhh...!'
     'Oh, and you don't want to bite her. She's poisonous.'
     'Okaaay...'

     Sarra has a deadpan expression throughout the exchange. "Chevalier Love...it is me, Princess Sarracenia. I am not sure if it is flattering or scary that I inspire such in you without you even recognizing me."

     The idea that rats might be cooking...doesn't bother Sarra for some reason. Apparently all princesses from storybook lands consider all small fuzzy creatures to be friends. Rats are about the same as tribbles to Sarra. And imagining a whole kitchen of them cooking like a scene in some movie is cute! She giggles instead at the joke. "Do they have tiny chef hats and aprons?" she asks.

     'Nothing... To worry about.'

     Sarra relaxes visibly. She does trust White pretty well even if she does not know anything about the Evil Eye. White seems able to determine things at a glance often enough. "Ah! Thank you, Commander White!" she says, and eats without worry after that.

     The lack of animosity from Audrey...confuses Sarra somewhat. Combined with Petra's light demeanor, Sarra finds herself slowly relaxing despite herself. Gregory seems happy to see this, given how he also relaxes and starts enjoying some of the food.

     'We could participate in the auction; either fairly, or with a bit of sabotage by somehow taking out the highest bidders early. We could try to rob the place, knowing it's... well. That sort of place. Or we could raid it, which will absolutely mean a fight. In all cases, local authorities won't interfere.'

     "Well, as an aspiring heroine usually a theft would be off the table, but..." Sarra starts, then her eyes start to sparkle, "...if we are recovering stolen merchandise, then planning a caper sounds splendid! A daring operation with us playing the parts of suave and savvy operators~" Apparently the chance to live a movie in real life is enough to get Sarra to ignore that she would be working with Petra. "And if they catch us, then we still have the fight option. Which I am always for."
Kukuru Kukuru breathes a sigh of relief at Audrey's lack of (stated) sleeping problems. "Oh, wonderful... I was worried all that spinning up there might be distracting." She comments, looking up and over at where the orbiting things might be if she can even see them from here. "But sleeping on them might be a real treat... Hmm."

She strokes her chin lightly, visibly considering it even without saying it outright.

Audrey giving indirect approval for Kukuru to preparing a feast at some point, meanwhile, gets her to perk up a little in her seat. "Oh! Then you've gotta come to the next big Partner meeting. I'll make sure to have something eeeeven better prepared than last time." She boasts with palpable smugness. "What's your favorite kind of thing to eat, aaanyway?"

White's double-braid look gets a brief squeal out of Kukuru when she sees her, and it's clear as day that she's looking right at White's hair after White takes a seat. "Oh, that's so cute, Whiiiite~ Mmhm, mhm. Don't be afraid to eat up, but take your time. There's so much good stuff to try here, so you've gotta pace yourself... Oh?"

She taps her chin again, eyes gleaming a little more at the suggestion. "Cooking with Ariel... Oh, that'd be wonderful! I wonder what we'd be able to make with the ingredients there... Oh. What do you like to eat the most, anyway?"

And then it's time for the actual presentation! Kukuru slows down her eating to actually pay attention, squinting lightly every now and then as the slides change. There's a brief moment when she perks up at misunderstanding the meaning of laundering goods and money, then settles down again once she remembers that words sometimes have two very different meanings.

The blank slide has her holding her breath for a few seconds before realizing that it's supposed to be blank.

"Ohhh... Hmm. Well. I could seeee... A few way working, mhm." Kukuru comments, stopping and starting briefly as she samples more of the bread and cheese, spreading and arranging it deftly with a fork. "Robbing and raiding them would be real straightforward with us handling it, but I wonder iiiif... Would they be more useful joining us?"

For once, she actually seems to be having misgivings about pulling people into the Concord family. "I know some of them must have their reasons and could do better if they had the right guidance, but... It's like you said, Audrey. They're not reb... re-pu-ta-ble. I'd be worried about opening any of you or our families up to getting hurt by them getting in, you under... By lying to us, you know?"
White White reacts to the chef-rat-bot Franc almost immediately; it might not have nerves or fur, but Franc gets a little fingertip stroke on the top of its head before and after service is rendered to her! Cute little guys have to be treated well, even if they aren't sentient, or even alive! If she could feed it, she probably would. Petra, at least, gets the minute agreement that, "Cooking blogs... Are useless..." in a genuinely mournful tone. It's not like her own data 'scraping' methods are all that bad either, but the sheer mental exhaustion of dozens of little 'hers' absorbing 95% useless information all the time makes it quite unpleasant.

     To Kukuru, White seems to very slightly straighten up more in her seat, the phantom of a smile arching the corners of her mouth upward almost imperceptibly. Of course she's proud to look good! She was the Ruler of Pride once, y'know? Still, she hasn't had many chances to get unbiased-... Well, *less* biased input, so it's a pleasant treat. Asked about food, White briefly conveys, "There's a... Fire dragon... In the Labyrinth. It looks... Like a catfish. It's really tasty." It might just be the case that those 'catfishes' kept her sane in the Middle Stratum, at least after the initial trauma...
Audrey Basque "I'll put you to sleep."

    Audrey stares, and only chooses not to treat it like a threat because it's White. "I-I'm okay, I swear. Sleep's not the issue! And even if it was, here wouldn't be the issue."

"... Are any... Of the attendees... Dangerous?"

    "Yes. Heads of presumed crime families, some of them known to use arcane weapons. Or their envoys, at the very least. They either go there to sell stolen goods, or "legally" swap whose hands certain things are in. But as you'd expect, there's very little documentation."

*Doip.*

    Audrey prepares to move slide when the remote gets flipped in her hand. She indeed has to flip it back rightside up! But it's funny. For now. And so she does flip to the next slide, which is a floor plan of the auction building, which has large unmarked fortified rooms near the back.

"I'm *so* in favor of fucking everyone there over as hard as possible."

    "If people feel comfortable making it an all-out fight, I don't mind. But, that does raise one concern. They might have the means to quickly escape with the goods. So our first move should be to take the Star. We know they keep the items on-site, but they don't show them to guests. It's in the back areas, according to winner testimonies. So we have to start there."

"...if we are recovering stolen merchandise, then planning a caper sounds splendid!"

    "Exactly," Audrey notes to Sarracenia. "We can have a couple people head out back to look for the Star while the others cause a scene upfront-- not a fight, but a scene. Once the Star is found, we escalate. We have no shortage of people who can teleport or otherwise relocate people and things, so it wouldn't be hard. But we don't know what kind of security measures they might have, on the other hand."

"What's your favorite kind of thing to eat, aaanyway?"

    "I'm kind of fond of French cuisine to be honest. Coq au vin, escargot, quiche. I'd never decline a good beef bourguignon. But whatever you prepare will be fine."

"Would they be more useful joining us?"

    "I'm not really suited to saying one way or another. It doesn't sound like most of them get along, or have much to offer. I imagine people like that, they've already tried, if only for the advantage it'd give them over the others."

    Which leads her back around to...

"Who's the guy running it, anyways?"

    "That's the weirdest part. Legally, the owner is someone called Reese Demonte. Not married, no children, entrepreneur in his 40's. Squeaky clean reputation, besides having the standing entrepreneurs usually have. All money no brains. As far as I could find, he's not the crime lord you'd expect to own this kind of place. He might just be making a fortune off of what happens there, without regards for or desire to be involved in what those things are."
Sarracenia      Kukuru comments on White's look, and Sarra nods in agreement. "But then, you always look quite elegant, Miss White." Sarra says. "Though, that hairstyle...did you do it yourself? Did it take a while to do? My tiara braid takes some time, and it is not as big as that." It is probably easy to overlook since she wears her hair like that all the time, but Sarra does have two small braids that start at her temples circle around the back of her head to meet in the back beneath the metal lotus hairpin where they form into one slightly larger braid that rests atop the rest of her long hair.

     'Exactly,'

     Audrey agrees with Sarra. Sarra is -extremely- confused at this point. Audrey, someone who challenged her to a duel because Sarra was being extremely annoying...is not spewing any kind of venom at Sarra. She is being very pleasant, in fact. And Petra has let a few small barbs out, but nothing like their usual interactions. The entire thing has Sarra looking a bit bewildered.

     And then...rat-bot with a chef hat! Sarra blinks a few times, watching it and White, then can't help a slight giggle at the cuteness of White petting the bot. "So, it was cooked by rats, then!" she says cheerfully.

     Details about the owner seem unimportant after hearing them. "Whether he is a crime lord or merely a crime enabler matters little. We should make sure he has no stock left by the time we leave. And perhaps no auction house."
Kukuru Kukuru's eyes light up even more when White gives her a suggestion. "Fire dragon... Hmm. Okay! Then I'll make it... A surprise." She hints with all the subtlety of a brick, humming softly in-between bites at her ingenious plan to cook something with Ariel especially for White.

She'll need to ask about what Ariel and everyone else likes, too, but that'll have to wait for another time when she's not busy stuffing her own face with food. Kukuru does eventually take out a pen, though, to scribble some notes into it between White's suggestion and the food names Audrey gives her. She recognizes a few of these, at least, but she does have some visible trouble even attempting to spell beef... Borgerneon?

"French food... Hehe. Okay~ I've had a few of these before, and I reaaally liked the creme bouquet those couple of times I had it."  Kukuru asides with a firm nod, already letting her mind swim with ideas until it's time to get her mind off of food and back on the heist.

At least, it really sounds like it's going to involve a heist or less-than-amicable transfer in general. "Causing a scene.. Hmmm. Oh, I could deeefinitely do that. I've played a preetty mean person a few times, believe it or not." Kukuru's finding plenty of opportunities to boast today, complete with a slightly puffed up chest and smug little smile on her face.

"Maybe I could've been an actor if I really tried... Wouldn't that be fun? Oh, we could make-" She stops suddenly, and Kukuru's eyes widen as some kind of ill-advised idea starts to form in her head. "We could act like we're filming a movie right up front... That'd be pretty disruptive and eye-catching, wouldn't it? And if our actors started raising a stink out front, we could really get more eyes on us instead of whatever's going on inside."

Somehow, the idea continues to flow even after Audrey gives more information about the clean-seeming owner. "Oh, oh... And if we bring his name up during all that, then that might even get him to show up because we're making up fibs. And then..."

Kukuru trails off to stick a meat and cheese sandwich (no bread, just two layers of with cheese and sauce between them) into her face. The idea has ceased flowing.
White White continues eating while Audrey answers everyone (though the sleep topic is thankfully dropped without further a word from her), thinking while she does so. "My agents... Could search the building. If it's just... Walls in the way... It will be easy." Of course, that's 'if', and she's used to being stifled by magic wards and the like, so it's not a one-stop solution. And given the plan is leaning towards using force eventually, White sees fit to note, "... How much... Are we trying to... Preserve? We could... Take the building down. On top of them. If you wanted." Her decaying and earth magic, Sarracenia's explosives, Audrey's gravity magic, Petra's... Seeming ability to pull anything out whenever she wants? Well, Petra said she's a Kamen Rider too, so maybe White should just tune her expectations to the level of a Rider Kick and go from there. Still, it's a generous selection as far as taking down a building that can't 'dodge' whatever they want to do to it... Though it would also mean less loot! "If we... Identify the fighters first... I can send each of you... Into a good match-up. Instead." is her fallback idea, if the other one isn't appealing.

     Then, as a delayed afterthought when Audrey mentions Escargot, "Don't... Eat snails... In my world. It'll... Kill you." Friendly warning.

     To Sarracenia, about her hair, White's head tilts slightly askew as she thinks on her wording, then instead makes a little illusory image in her palm, with three little comic panels, and three frames of animation apiece. There's a chibified White in each, and in the first one a similar chibi of Ael, one of her 'nieces' helps her figure out the style and does her hair for her. In the second, White seems to be using silk manipulation to move little web-strands through her hair like ultra-thin fingers, with a mirror behind herself. Then in the third panel she's pumping her stubby cartoon arms up in the air in victory with her new hairstyle. So basically, she has someone else figure out the manual way of doing it, then she cheats to do it herself later.
Angela ''This is the super powerful magical artifact.''

"It's maybe...too strong..." Love whispers. "If you can flip the heart, you can flip everything..." But then she perks up. "But luckily, there's nobody I'd trust with this power more than you!!" And she immediately tries to give Petra a ginormous joyous hug.

Love pulls back eventually, spinning around in her chair to look at White. "You're White aren'tcha??" It's like she sensed that she almost decided to talk to her and decided not to. This is the power of being a pink magical girl... Can it be...?

She shoves chicken, beef, and pork in her mouth like a Saiyan or a Hibiki or Detective Jord. It all works.

Love gives Sarracenia a confused look when she names herself. "Hi Princess Poison! Don't worry, I won't eatcha!" She winks at her. A heart flies out of her eye and flies over Sarracenia's head.
White White turns away from Sarracenia when she hears her name (and notices she's being looked at), meeting Love's eyes with her closed pair. She nods slightly, and waves in Love's direction with the hand that's supporting her little chibi-comic conjury, but it doesn't disrupt the image at least. When the heart drifts over Sarra's head, White's head turns to follow it slowly. Somehow, manifesting heart VFX in the real world is among the most notable powers White has encountered... She contemplates doing it herself with illusions, but almost immediately experiences an Alignment Conflict and feels winded enough to absentmindedly lay her other hand on her chest for a moment.
Audrey Basque "Whether he is a crime lord or merely a crime enabler matters little. We should make sure he has no stock left by the time we leave."

    "Mhm," Audrey nods. "I think this is where having White go in through the back would be most useful. I'm willing to take the risk the Star gets damaged by a teleportation if White can teleport their inventory away. We can sort through it after, then. But, I'd still prefer if that was a last resort." The shock and surprise in Sarracenia flies a bit over Audrey's head. Maybe it'd be more accurate to say that right this moment, she can't perceive something like that in a way that matters.

    Their little spat is so inconsequential compared to...

    Well.

"I've played a preetty mean person a few times, believe it or not."

    "You have? Huh. Well, if you want to be part of team "make a scene" I have no objections. How you do it is up to you, and I don't think it'd be a bad idea to have *multiple* scenes. Setting something up outside, but also having someone go into the auction proper and make a--"

    Audrey pauses.
    She looks between Sarracenia and Petra.

    "Sarracenia, Petra. Could you play the role of two people really angry at each other and get into an extraordinarily long and senseless bidding war? Once we have the goods you can vent any frustrations this causes onto the attendees and staff."
Petra Soroka "They might have the means to quickly escape with the goods."

    Petra chews on the inside of her cheek, irritated by this information but forced to admit its validity. "Can you stop people from teleporting? They might have tunnels or some shit, though. Ugh. Yeah, we'll probably want to split our attention, then."

    "I mean, okay. So these aren't some bottom of the barrel random thugs with no possible answers to the shit we can do to them. They're wizards with wizard tech and whatever. But, like... are we *really* all that worried about getting overwhelmed? I'm in favor of making a distraction, infiltrating, and then blowing the entire thing apart from inside to get back out. We can even do Kukuru's shitty movie idea if we want. Would that make you happy, Kukuru?"

"Legally, the owner is someone called Reese Demonte. Not married, no children, entrepreneur in his 40's."

    "Alright." Petra nods, as if this settled a quandry she was having. After swallowing her bite of pork, she nods again and casually says, "I want to ruin this guy's life."

    "Either he's a super boring piece of wood who's such a loser pushover idiot that he's a safe pillar for people to build a criminal empire around, or he's secretly crime-pilled and hiding it really well. Either way, his ass is insured to hell. Whatever reputation and whatever business he's constructed, I want to completely turn it to ash around him, because that bio pissed me off."

    "So it's settled." Petra stands up and wanders out of her chair, leaning on the back of it to look at Audrey. She twirls the Spinning Star around between two of her fingers, with the same air as if she was twirling a revolver. Audrey's fork flips over and she's suddenly holding the meat on the end of it.

    "Petra Soroka, known crime boss and villainess with an interest in magical tech whatever, will attend the stupid auction legitimately. From there, I'll either fuck with the computer systems for the winner verification, or the security system, depending on how my vibe's feeling that day. I'd love to fully erode everyone's trust in the handling of the money, considering that *not* letting people see the items they're buying in a *criminal* auction ring has got to be the furthest stretched trust I've ever heard in my life. That sounds like a gunpowder barrel ready to fucking explode. If people get even the slightest hint that the owner's trying to pull one over on them, they'll be rioting at the doors of the backstage."

    She waves her hand dismissively. "And then we bring the entire building down. I think that'd be fun. I'd love to bring a building or two down."

"Sarracenia, Petra. Could you play the role of two people really angry at each other and get into an extraordinarily long and senseless bidding war?"

    Petra narrows her eyes at Audrey, hands planted on the edge of the table. She stays silent for a bit, and then eventually twists her lips into a pout. "Yeah, I'm sure Sundew being at a criminal fencing auction won't make anyone blink." That doesn't sound like sarcasm.
Angela ''I don't think it's too bright for anyone to sleep''

"I can sleep just about anywhere. But I don't need to close my eyes whehn I sleep either. Usually I like to crawl under my bed and sleep there though." She quirks her head. "But I liked doing that even in the Kingdom of Happiness though so I don't know if that's because it's too bright. I usually close my eyes to sleep though because that's more fun and when I close my eyes I can envision my crushes in my head a lot better!"

Malkuth's head snaps towards Love, eyes wide in surprise before clearing her throat and doing her best bureaucrat impression. She tries to eat her share of turkey so unobtrusively you don't notice her eating it. She's here for a JOB and it's important for appearnaces that she looks like she's spending 100 percent on her job and only ten percent on eating (Malkuth always gives 110 percent).

"...Is the Dark Kingdom involved in this, Miss Audrey? This does seem like something the Dark Kingdom might get up to. Smuggling magical artifacts so that unsuspecting innocents pick one up and WAH WAH WAH--suiddenly they are a dark soldier, corrupted by the Dark Jester Nihil...!"

She punches her palm into her hand. "Can I help, Audrey? Can I blast the evildoers? Can I, Audrey? Please? I've been very good. I didn't even eat Poison...!"

She bounces up and down in her chair as energy fills every ounce of her being. "I'll only blast evildoers, cross my heart and pinky promise. And I haven't magical teamed up with Petra in forreeevvooor..."
Audrey Basque "My agents... Could search the building."

    "Good! Yes. So we have your agents search and find all the inventory, and maybe even spot the security systems they have. Then we either disable all that, or have you move the goods somewhere else."

"... How much... Are we trying to... Preserve?"

    "Not that much, but this is a residential district, so I'd feel kind of bad if bystanders got hurt by *our* actions. But if those people start blasting at random, that's kind of different. We should try to avoid that."

"Can you stop people from teleporting?"

    "Apparently, yes, but only if I'm near the goods. So-- I'll have to go in with White and her agents. And, well, proximity. So I can't cover ALL the loot at once, unless we move it together first. White's good enough she can teleport regardless of that, too."

"Petra Soroka, known crime boss and villainess with an interest in magical tech whatever, will attend the stupid auction legitimately."

    Audrey smiles at Petra's enthusiasm, and tries to reassure her when she suddenly pouts. "Perfect! No, you're onto something. You and Sarracenia cause a scene-- once it escalates into fighting, you can sneak into their offices. Do as you will once there. Sarracenia can surely handle a crowd of rich magician crimelords, along with whoever Angela sends, and Kukuru coming in at that point."

"And then we bring the entire building down. I think that'd be fun. I'd love to bring a building or two down."

    "If you can get it controlled enough, I have no objections."

"...Is the Dark Kingdom involved in this, Miss Audrey?"

    "I think it's a fair bet that most of the people in that building will "evildoers", so... if Angela and Petra give their permission, I don't see a problem with it. But you have to promise you'll be careful not to get injured."
Kukuru "Multiple scenes..." Kukuru repeats after Audrey, lacing her fingers together under chin and sighing wistfully. "Oh, that'd be great, for sure. I know Petra and Sarra could definitely play their part real good, so I'd need to do something suuuuper crazy to grab anyone trying to look away from that. Like..."

What kind of movie filming would get the right kind of attention that an angry bidding war wouldn't? "If they're gonna be inside, then the movie shoot could probably be anything. But staging thatk ind of thing could be really expensive..."

As she's coming up with potential roadblocks to the plan, however, Kukuru hears Petra's comments, and especially the comment on the movie idea. Try as she might, Kukuru fails to keep up the carefree smile she usually does, unable to really find any way to put a positive spin on that. It takes a bit for her to just exhale quietly, then droops in her seat visibly while staring off into space for a few seconds.

"Maybe... Something simpler would be better, mm. Something cheaper." Kukuru concludes and holds her face up with her palms, scrunching her face up for a moment before nibbling on more crackers and cheese. It's easier not to maintain eye contact that way. "Something that won't keep me busy once it's time to show up when things escalate, mhm. Like..."

She goes quiet again for a short while, and then she finally looks back up at Audrey. "I could dig a hole. A reeeeal big one, right in the street, so cars can't go through and everyone wants to yell and stop me. And if I turn another way when I'm deep enough, maybe they'll go the wrong way to... Uuuum. Try and cut me off when I'm really coming back up to rejoin everyone inside...?"

She sounds hopeful, but anxious about that second idea.
Sarracenia      "...fire dragon?" Sarra has not really considered eating giant monsters. They are giant. On her world, those things eat -you-. And she's pretty sure that's how it works on most worlds.

     White answers Sarra's question with a set of adorable chibi art panels! Sarra lets out a little 'aww~' at the cuteness, then leans closer to look at the panels. "Oooh. I see! One of your nieces helped you!" It is unclear if she understands the panel about White's web manipulation. "So cute! I sometimes wish that I had siblings of my own. I am sure I would be a wonderful aunt!"

     'Hi Princess Poison! Don't worry, I won't eatcha!'

     Sarra mmphs softly at the title of Princess Poison. But, not being threatened with being eaten or with having her face ripped off by Love is an improvement. "Well, thank...you...?" Sarra blinks and watches that heart float over her head. "Oooh." Sarra reaches up to give it a poke like a passing bubble, but is distracted by White seeming winded. "Are you alright, Miss White?" she asks.

     'Sarracenia, Petra. Could you...'
     'Yeah, I'm sure Sundew being at a criminal fencing auction won't make anyone blink.'

     Aaaand there it is finally. Sarra feels like a bit of weight has been lifted. She also feels like she has just been insulted. She peers at Audrey at the very detailed and specific request, then at Petra when she replies. "...only because no one in that world would know me. And I suppose my new look will fit in more easily in such an auction." She looks back at Audrey. "It will be quite a stretch for me to have a senseless war. I have good reasons for any war I am involved in."

     'And then we bring the entire building down.'

     Sarra nods in agreement. "It has been a while since I was able to unleash full destruction on something. It will be nice to let loose. And yes, I have no doubt I can handle a room full of rich magician crimelords."
Audrey Basque "Something simpler would be better, mm."

    "No, no. These people would HATE having cameras tracked onto their building, especially if you're dropping their names out loud. Faking being a filming crew is sure to get their attention, and they're going to want you to get out of there. It might even reduce the amount of security inside the venue if they have to go out to deal with you. Maybe... if you were posing as a reporter, instead of a movie crew. That'll seem more serious an issue to them. Right?"

    She turns to Petra for approval.

"It will be quite a stretch for me to have a senseless war."

    "Excellent. Hold on to that energy. Just imagine that Petra really likes someone that you really hate, and you just, ontologically, need to up her bid at all costs, and if she says anything, you *need* to get the last word in. Every eye in that room should be on you two!"
Petra Soroka "Can I blast the evildoers? Can I, Audrey? Please? I've been very good."

    "Yes." Petra answers before Audrey has the chance to, immediately sliding over to drape her arm over Love's shoulder. "Yeah we should *so* do a magical girl team-up duo for this. They're all evil! And they're selling evil corrupted magic things that probably turn your whole color palette purple and black when you pick them up. It'll be fun."

    She raises up a finger to keep Love from getting carried away. "But, since this is a big hideout for the Dark Kingdom, we'll have to disguise ourselves to sneak in. You'll have to pretend to be evil like I am so that we can slip undercover without getting into a fight right when we show up. Is that alright with you, Love?"

"If you can get it controlled enough, I have no objections."

    After having established her alliance with the Magical Girl of Love, Defender of the Kingdom of Happiness, Petra rolls her eyes at Audrey. "Controlled enough for *what*? You're not really going to tell me that I can't do something for the sake of some hypothetical *bystanders*," pronounced exactly like 'extras', "are you? Worst case, Kukuru's film crew gimmick gets civilians to clear out the streets."

"Maybe... Something simpler would be better, mm. Something cheaper."

    After declaring that confidently, Petra turns to look at Kukuru and is confused and faintly apologetic to see her slumping. "H-huh? No, I actually did think it was funny. If you want to do it, go ahead; I don't think this operation is going to be finnicky enough that it'll matter."

    Petra sighs and leans on the back of her chair. After all this time, she *has* eventually been scammed into developing some amount of impulse to improve Kukuru's mood when it falters. "Look, Kukuru. Do you wanna be the director or an actor?"

"...only because no one in that world would know me."

    Petra shrugs one shoulder. "Who knows? They're savvy villains, maybe they're keeping up with their competition."

"It has been a while since I was able to unleash full destruction on something."

    Petra just silently lets that statement stand, immediately following Sarra's declaration of her obvious heroism.
Audrey Basque "Controlled enough for *what*? You're not really going to tell me that I can't do something for the sake of some hypothetical *bystanders*," pronounced exactly like 'extras', "are you? Worst case, Kukuru's film crew gimmick gets civilians to clear out the streets."

    Audrey considers, and then: "Actually... yeah, good point. Alright. Get me a video of it if I'm too busy with White to see your handiwork."
White White seems to be drawing attention, with her internal bit about VFX leaking into her body language without thinking. Once Sarracenia seems worried, White resets to neutral and goes back to slowly eating like nothing's amiss; there's no way in hell she's explaining what an 'Alignment Conflict' is, or anything else! At least it seems like her role is pretty well established for the upcoming plan and won't demand much of her. She does wonder if she's going to get rusty with battle-magic given how much she's restrained herself while working in groups... But she's a peaceful spider, and it's not good to look a gift horse in the mouth.

     To Petra and Sarracenia, she murmurs "You'll do great.", and to Kukuru she suggests, "You could... Keep anyone from... Escaping through the front, too. Block the doors... Windows..." For a bit, she's just listening to the others talk about the wibbly details, toss ideas around, and encourage Kukuru while White finally finishes her food down to the last spec on the plate. Contrary to her demeanor, she's not above wiping the plate with her fingertip to avoid missing even a scrap, and once this sacred duty of hers is done and she's cleaned her hands and set the silverware down neatly she looks over to Love again. "... What kind... Of blasts?"

     She'd like to be able to see her first magical girl attack from the best angle, so she needs to know where to place her own 'camera crew' before it goes off. It'd suck to miss the top half of the (obviously heart-shaped) mushroom cloud, or something!
Kukuru Although Kukuru's ability to hold the ever-present smile has waned considerably, her ability to bounce right back hasn't weakened in the slightest. After all, it's not just Audrey encouraging her. Audrey's actually giving her concrete reasons to get those cameras focused on the building, getting Kukuru to look over slowly. "Would they...? Oh, and even that partial guest list... I could call out their names really easy that way. And as a reporter..."

That's a job usually reserved for smart people, isn't it? Does this mean Audrey thinks she's.. Smart?

To make matters better, Petra's even trying to clear up the misunderstanding. "Funny...? Oh, like those silly heist movies where the crew's all super inexperienced people, or everyone's got the wrong kind of experience for a heist?" She asks, starting to cross ideas into each other in questionable ways rather than wallowing like before. "Film crew or reporter... Both of these are starting to sound better and better, mhm."

White gives her a practical idea on how to keep their prize from just rushing out the front, too, and these combined efforts soon get Kukuru's eyes glistening slightly with the familiar smile creeping back across her face. "If I turn them to rubble... Oh, no, no, I know. I could pull the street up so there's really no room to come out those ways. Eheh... O-okay. Plan A, then."

And with that, Kukuru goes right back to stuffing her face. She'll be okay.
Angela Love leans against Petra, humming happily, eyes literally sparkling. "Changing their color palette to purple and black... That IS evil..." And JUST AS she's about to get carried away, Petra tells her she's going to have to pretend to be evil! Just like Petra! Love bites her lip nervously. could she do that? She doesn't have a dark magical item that changes her palette to purple and black.

"I... I'd need another outfit." She has other clothes but not dark magical girl clothes OR rival magical girl clothes. "But... I know how they act....I'll need a fake evil weapon too. My staff is too good to pretend to be evil with... Yeah, yeah... If I manage all that... I can pretend to be a BAD GUY. But only for the mission! I'm a good girl, so I'm not going to do bad things for real real. Just for, you know, pretend. So we can save the day... Oh! If I give myself the snakeyes that'll help--"

She then looks to Audrey. "And then I can stick my tongue out like--" She sticks her tongue outand it hisses as it's clearly forked in the moment though it shifts back to a normal tongue as it snaps back to her mouth.

"Let's see... You can be the boss evil minion, and I can be the lackey that inevitably gets purified and turned good after a few encounters. Those are my favorite bad guys because sometimes they become magical girls..."
Audrey Basque     Audrey stares at Love and Petra.

    There's the unspoken horror of 'oh god there's two of them', something akin to a sigh, and then just a happy smile.

    "You'll do great, Love. I'm entrusting this to you." She echoes White.

    She turns to Kukuru and nods.
    "I'll get you the names I have so you can capitalize on having that information and really make them react."
Sarracenia      'Excellent. Hold on to that energy. Just imagine that Petra really likes someone that you really hate, and you just, ontologically, need to up her bid at all costs, and if she says anything, you *need* to get the last word in. Every eye in that room should be on you two!'

     Sarra's lips purse into yet another deadpan look as she listens. "...I will do my best." she says with an slightly annoyed tone.

     White returns to neutral quickly, but that doesn't really reassure Sarra. When White says they will do great, Sarra huffs softly. "Well...thank you."

     Kukuru seems uncertain, so Sarra pays White's reassurance forward. "You will also do great, Miss Kukuru. I have no doubt in your abilities." she says with a smile.

     Love mentions needing an outfit. Now it is Sarra's turn for her eyes to sparkle! (Not literally though, she's only a princess and not a magical girl) "Love! If you need a new outfit, I am just the person for the job! I can have my personal tailor fashion you a new outfit in no time at all~ And if you need a fake evil weapon, I am sure I can arrange that as well! It will have to be color and style coordinated with your new outfit, of course!"

     Sarra is going to say more, but then...there's that snake tongue display. Sarra swallows a bit nervously. "Er...I suppose we could draw inspiration for your outfit from a serpent?"