For Jelani

[bitterguardian]

Balthazar Blake doesn't always answer his PINpoint texts right away, but when more than twenty-four hours go by with no reply, that's worrisome. The Arcana Cabana sits empty, doors locked from the inside, but of course he's not the most tidy person so it's hard to tell if there's any minor signs of struggle. Nothing seems terribly out of place, though, at least no more so than usual. The nearest thing there is that could be a sign of abrupt departure is the coffee left in the pot, but that's not reliable either. Sometimes he just forgets.

Upstairs, Saint is sleeping on the couch, but slithers off and hobbles over to slurp on Jelani's hands, tail wagging. There's still a little food in his bowl, and water. Not much, but the bag is sitting on the floor. If he's gone another day, the dog will be able to knock it over and feed himself, but he's apparently well-behaved enough not to do that when he doesn't need to.

It's while Jelani is upstairs investigating that a sound comes from downstairs. It's a thump, impossible not to notice. Impossible to mistake for nothing.

Comments

[halfbreedczarnian]

The old sorcerer was supposed to have been setting up protective wards around Jelani's new house. When he didn't show up as agreed, the halfbreed had been a bit miffed, but had assumed that something had simply come up. But, indeed, when he didn't answer her snarky texts to his PINpoint, she did start to wonder if something was up, wondering enough to decide to stop by the Arcana Cabana and check up on him.

Of course, he wasn't there. That she could PINpoint in past his wards and he wasn't even there? Now that has her worried for real.

The sound from downstairs has her on alert. It could be that it's just Balty coming back home, but... For some reason she doesn't think so, and she has learned to trust her instincts. She's lightly armed today, with just the usual gun. She pulls it and starts to stealthily sneak down the stairs, step by slow and careful step.