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Post by { o p a l } on May 25, 2013 23:14:09 GMT -6
"Do I know what I'm going to say? Bloody hell, of course not. This isn't a decision for me to make, after all." She glanced down at her clothing, the official regalia of the Chief Executive of the Silence. "I suppose it's a good thing I'm already all dressed up."
Kalyani extended her mind, touching the Executive's spirit animal and bringing it into contact with Eyvindr and herself. While he could summon a spirit animal, the Doppelganger could not reproduce the exact complex mental pattern of each person's specific spirit animal, and thus it was used as a high security check.
"The Doppelganger is a curious creature," she replied to Eyvindr as the Executive's spirit animal went through some of their memories as a double check. "Anything that is an enigma will captivate him. Vincent, currently, has no apparent reason for being present- which we can use to our advantage as the Doppelganger tries to figure out who he is. It will disperse his attention slightly, and might even be able to be used as a bargaining tool for minor things. When dealing with the Seelie Nobles, any advantage possible is one to be seized upon."
She sighed and walked over to the collapsed Vincent, crouching down in front of him and placing one gloved hand on his shoulder. "All the nobles are like that, yes. However, by far the worst is Titania." She paused a moment as the elevator slowly pulled upward. "The Doppelganger is of interest because he can imitate anything perfectly. That is why you may never trust your senses in this particular prison- while Titania will bedazzle you with lies of splendor, the Doppelganger will simply place a finely woven glamour over himself and suddenly he's your best friend, or brother, or mother, or father."
Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Oh, goodness. I forgot about that..." She drifted off, closing her eyes, mouthing words silently as she thought things out. At last, she paused for a moment. "Make that three stops, then. On your feet, Vincent. We have to visit three entirely different places in ten hours." Glancing at the ceiling, she added loudly, "Call my chauffeur."
The Chief stood, extending a hand to Vincent absentmindedly. "We're going to need to get you some better clothing. Official clothing." She looked at him and tiled her head sideways slightly. "Say, have you ever met the Prime Minister?"
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Post by Wildsky on May 26, 2013 0:13:18 GMT -6
Vincent raised an eyebrow, curiosity piqued, and then Regina asked him about the Prime Minister. All curiosity was dropped and mass-produced into denial. "The Prime Minister? The Prime Minister? The PRIME MINISTER, Chief Executive Regina?!" He laughed at and stood up, a look of pure insanity on his face.
"Oh, yeah. I like to go over to his house on Saturdays and play with his maids," he said, the sarcasm nearly tangible. "No, I've never seen the Prime Minister! My family is wealthy, but not enough to meet the Prime Minister. Well, yes. But I've never been invited."
Vincent took a breath and shook his head. "I have a suit at my father's house, outside of London. Or you can give me one, but I'm not paying for the rent. Plus, the one at the house is nice and fancy."
He glanced at Eyvindr and opened his mouth, meaning to say something. But, it was harder to say than he thought. "But, it might take more time than you would expect if my parent's are home. Needless to say, we aren't on the best of terms, but we are still family -- they're worried. And you know how parents can be, Regina."
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Post by { o p a l } on May 26, 2013 7:30:21 GMT -6
Regina simply waited out the explosive reaction. She'd seen it before in Executives. "Yes, Vincent, the Prime Minister. At the highest levels, we work closely with him. He does, you know, sort of make executive decisions for running the country."
She sometimes had issues figuring out why people freaked out so much about the Prime Minister. Perhaps it was that she'd met him when she was much younger, still being tested for her suitability as the next leader of the Silence. But the Prime Minister was just a man- nothing like the entity of great power that Vincent had just met (or the other one he was about to meet that she hadn't told him about yet).
"The Silence does have a fair amount of coats that don't require rent. And as the Assistant to the Chief Executive, you don't need to pay rent to use some of the Silence's resources." She leaned against the wall of the elevator as it stopped about halfway up and a series of scans were made of it to ensure that the Doppelganger wasn't hiding somewhere.
"We don't have time for idle chatter. I don't suppose you told them you work for a government agency of any sort? No, of course you didn't, Regina. That's a stupid question; most people don't have parents like yours." She sighed and frowned, closing her eyes for a moment. "Does your house happen to have skylights? I can levitate down into it and extract the suit without ever touching the ground."
She opened her eyes. "I do believe meeting your parents would be an interesting activity, but we're pressed for time. I do wonder how they got you to be nearly the same as me."
The elevator began moving again. "We can always take one from at Stonehenge, as we have to stop there anyway. We'll save the visit to Titania until after we've met with the Prime Minister, as he might want to come with." She raised her voice suggestively. "Perhaps we should get a report from the Executive at Point 72 in preparation for when we have to talk to the Prime Minister."
The voice of the executive replied over the loudspeaker in the elevator. "Of course, Chief Executive. I'll send over your orders immediately."
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Post by Wildsky on May 27, 2013 4:48:21 GMT -6
Vincent sighed and listen to Regina speak. He could tell that she was stressed -- not in the way that she was stressed before, no, a much different stress. This was her "business" stress, where she would stress about time and people and getting things done and big, final decisions.
That was above him. His mind could handle it, certainly. He knew how to deal with all of it. But he didn't care. There was something in his mind, something that he hadn't considered. The Prime Minister was nobody compared to Regina. The Prime Minister held the power of a government, and Regina held the power of mythical guardians. And compared to the Doppelgänger, the Prime Minister was an echo of nobody, not even important enough to brush away, just a simple thought or idea or hidden disguise.
And the thing that caused the grin on his face? The thing that made him realize the insanity of the world and stupidity of humans? It was the fact that Regina had to be secret, or else she would be nobody herself. And the Prime Minister was a powerful entity, but only if you use him correctly. Our world, our society, is based on the idea of manipulation and false pretenses and idiotic ideas and nobodies being the figureheads of societies and the idols being forgotten.
This was what he is defending. This insanity, this ridiculousness, this ludicrous, presumptuous, overly proud, broken world that we call home. But despite all of this, despite his ability to see all of that, he didn't care. He didn't care about the politics or the societies or governments. He cared about one thing: the fae. And that was what kept him going, now, and forever.
He turned to Regina, a glimmer in his eye that wasn't there before, and with a voice that rang not of sarcasm and patronizing tones, but rather of pride and strength, he said, "My parents, I can handle. My father will be proud enough not to ask questions, and my mother will be careless enough not to force me to stay. Leave the words to me -- I am their son after all." He took a breath, to pause, but began to speak faster and with more of a strategy. "I would say that we could get one from Stonehenge, but it's out of the way. The Prime Minister is going to be in London, and if we only have ten hours, and we're in Manchester? We don't have time to sit back and try and get something at Stonehenge. Give me twenty minutes at my parents' estate and I'll have a suit and some money."
He smiled and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes, and listening to the rattle of machinery. He needed a break, but that break probably wouldn't come tonight. Or for the next week, in his mind. Not with the Doppelgänger on his mind, with Titania so close, and with his parents finally being dragged out of the hole he stuffed them in so long ago.
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Post by { o p a l } on May 27, 2013 8:05:19 GMT -6
When Vincent spoke again, his voice was different. Prouder. Stronger. The type of tone that Regina expected to see when they were facing a world-scale crisis. The type of tone that meant things would get done swiftly, efficiently, and well.
Needless to say, she was pleasantly surprised. "Very well," she replied, her voice showing her pleasure. "We'll do it your way."
"We're going to need to call them on the way there," Kalyani added. "Not your parents, Vincent. Someone else."
Regina sighed. "I know. I don't like it, but I'll call them."
The elevator slowed to a halt, and opened. Regina went through the three remaining security checks with mechanical ease, got her com back, then turned to the Executive.
"Keep a close eye on the Doppelganger. Send word to Point 72 that I will be arriving there, possibly with the Prime Minister, in less than ten hours. Assign all research battalions into finding this crack in Titania's prison, and call an emergency state. Send over units R-892, R-034, R-457, and R-791. Also triple security. Pull from the other prisons if need be, but not from this one." She motioned to Vincent to follow her, and began to proceed out of the prison.
Touching the com, she spoke into it. "Chauffeur, fire up the car and have it ready. Vincent will be giving you directions."
She glanced down at her current clothing and sighed. "I should probably change out of this." She pressed the com. "Get me a tailcoat from my quarters here and bring it to me."
Stepping up a flight of stairs with ease, she came to the next level. An agent came up to her and handed her the type of tailcoat she normally wore. Taking off her official military one, she left the button-up black shirt underneath and pulled on her regular coat over it, hanging the official clothing over one arm. "I'll just keep this in the car," she muttered.
As they finally arrived outside, she strode up to the car and tossed her tailcoat in one of the back seats, leaving the door open for Vincent, and then getting into the front passenger seat. "You give directions, Vincent. I need to make a call."
Pulling out a smartphone, she unlocked it and dialed. After a few moments, she spoke into it: "I'd like one fatty tuna sushi, please, with extra soy sauce." With that, she took the phone from her ear and hung up.
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Post by Wildsky on May 28, 2013 0:00:04 GMT -6
((I'm assuming they're near London now. Also apologies for the length, but not much of anything really goes on it. /flail Just... Uh. Skim. Skim hard.))
---
Vincent nodded and began to direct the driver on where his parents house was located. It had a gate in the driveway, but the guard knew Vincent well. Vincent like the staff to his house -- it was the one thing that his parents did right. Most of them had been with him since childhood, and they all had parenting aspects to them. His parents knew they couldn't be around them all the time, so they used these staff as surrogate parents. Horrible, but he didn't care, it made him into who he was.
The mention of tuna confused Vincent. Regina was one for oddity, but also secrecy. Was this a code with a meaning that he didn't know, didn't expect? Or was it simply her hunger getting to her? And that, perhaps, was the best part of her secrecy: people couldn't tell it apart from the oddity. In a way, he respected her for that, but in another, he wished he had it. Oh, how he wished he had so many things different, yet so many things the same.
'Your parents, the Prime Minister, probably Titania, and who knows what else. It's going to be a busy day, Vincent, and the Doppelgänger was just the beginning.'
'Eyv, the Doppelgänger was the beginning. If it weren't for him, then we wouldn't be messing about. We'd be down at Stonehenge training or taking out fae!'
'But you can't complain, can you?'
Vincent grunted audibly and close his eyes, focusing on the conversation. 'No, I suppose not. Still, it's a bit unfair that he causes all the stress. I respect him for his power, but aren't we nothing to him? Just playthings?'
'He's just playing with you, then. Play along, he'll be less likely to slaughter everyone.'
'I suppose. But what about you, Eyv? What do you know of him?'
'I'd love to tell you, but I think the driver is getting upset that you aren't letting him know where to do.'
Snapping back to the present, Vincent returned to his role of giving directions. They were nearing his house, where he lived, where he was, where his home used to be. Nostalgia flooded through his body, but he did he best to ignore it. Nostalgia was funny -- it wouldn't come when you wanted it, and it wouldn't go when you wanted it. It was a painful emotion, remorseful and bittersweet, but all the same, wonderful.
They pulled into the long, private driveway and Vincent rolled down his window (and he was thankful for sitting on the right side). "Just pull up a bit past the guard's window. He knows me well." He took a breath and gazed at the grass passing rolling through the fields and before long, they had arrived at the station.
Vincent smiled and said to not worry about him. Just had a job that needed something that was back at the house, and so they were let in. Simple, easy, cautious. He didn't mind that -- perhaps the only simple and easy thing that he had today.
"Wait here, both of you. I don't want them getting any ideas," Vincent said. As he got out of the car and shut the door, he spotted Eyvindr hanging from the roof, and he was attacked by a memory: as a child, Eyvindr loved this house, with all of its paces to hide and rest and look around. And Eyvindr loved it all the same now.
But now was not the time for memories. No, now was the time for success, pride, and victory. Victory walked up to the doors and knocked on the door (as he always does when he isn't expected), only to be let in by the house-keeper. They smiled, exchanged pleasantries, but Vincent dashed him off with a half-lie.
He looked around the entrance room, with its windows, chandelier, and spacious atmosphere. His expression hardened and he quickly found his room, going through his spare closet to find his suit that he was given for college. He hadn't grown since he was seventeen, and he was roughly the same physique. It would fit him well, and it was of good quality -- son of the owner of a company had to have a good suit.
Vincent changed into the suit quickly, not wanting to take time later when they needed the the most. He stuffed his spare clothes in a bag, got his formal shoes and coat, and walked downstairs. His arrival was surely noted, and he would have to confront his parents. He didn't want to do this, but he'd rather now when he could say he was meeting the Prime Minister.
He took a breath and walked down the stairs, and unsurprisingly, his mother and father both were standing at the bottom, worry, angry, pride, and hurt all mixed in their faces. He was going to have to be quick about this, but not let them get excited.
"Mother, father! A pleasure seeing you, but I hope you don't mind if I come by tomorrow. As you can tell by my attire, I have somewhere rather formal to be, and rather soon as well. It's for my job, and I don't think that the higher-up of 10 Downing Street would be all too happy at a late arrival."
His father, Jonathon Chambers, arched a brow and said, "What is this, a joke? You can't expect me to believe--"
"Father, I understand your unease. But I would much rather talk about my job and who I work with tomorrow, not today when I have a meeting with the Prime Minister. My... boss is out there, but we're extremely tight on time. Can I come by tomorrow? We can talk about all of it then, I promise."
Olivia Chambers, his quiet mother, took a breath and said, "I don't claim to understand why you're trying to deceive us into thinking you're meeting with the Prime Minister, but, regardless, I'll go along with it. Go on and stop wasting time."
"Olivia! He needs to explain himself!" Jonathon hissed at the woman by his side.
"For Christ's sake! No, he doesn't. He's an adult now, he doesn't need to explain what he's doing!"
Vincent took this time to escape the house and but did manage to mutter a "see you tomorrow" before he got out to the front room and shut the door. He smiled at the car, though he couldn't tell if he was being watched, and walked towards it, content with how things turned out.
He would have to find time tomorrow for his parents, but that wasn't a problem. They were both business people, but where Jonathon took aggressiveness, Olivia took rationality. And they both took egotistical traits. But he brushed that off -- they were successful, of course they would think they are important.
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Post by { o p a l } on May 28, 2013 5:37:49 GMT -6
Regina hated staying put.
She could not sit and wait for others to do anything, she had to be doing something to make herself happy. A feeling of impatient uselessness set in, but she refused to listen to it. She could sense Kalyani getting twitchy as well. As Chief Executive, you didn't wait for anyone. You didn't stay put.
She tried to distract herself: examining the structural integrity of the house (very good) and where she'd place explosives if she had to detonate it.
"Never mind about this," she muttered, then got out of the car. "There are three people in this world who can give me orders, and Vincent isn't one of them."
Donning her sunglassses, Regina looked around for security cameras and guards, resting a gloved hand on the sleek black sports car which was their ride. She glanced around, turning back to the gate to see how many came from that direction. Overall, the front of the house was fairly security-less.
She slipped into some bushes, then propelled herself upwards using her magic, landing lightly on a side of the roof obscured by a tree. Sneaking over to a skylight, she peeked inside the entryway.
It was well-decorated and rich. Perhaps not exactly her picture of a childhood home, but it functioned well enough. Inside it, she could see Vincent dressed in a formal suit, speaking to two people. Arguing, perhaps.
Pulling out her tablet, she quickly remotely activated Vincent's speaking area of his com and tuned up the sensitivity, which would pick up the background noise of their conversation. She frowned at the people, vaguely recognizing them from Vincent's file.
"Mother, father! A pleasure seeing you, but I hope you don't mind if I come by tomorrow. As you can tell by my attire, I have somewhere rather formal to be, and rather soon as well. It's for my job, and I don't think that the higher-up of 10 Downing Street would be all too happy at a late arrival."
With a raised brow, the older man replied, "What is this, a joke? You can't expect me to believe--"
"Father, I understand your unease. But I would much rather talk about my job and who I work with tomorrow, not today when I have a meeting with the Prime Minister. My... boss is out there, but we're extremely tight on time. Can I come by tomorrow? We can talk about all of it then, I promise."
"I don't claim to understand why you're trying to deceive us into thinking you're meeting with the Prime Minister, but, regardless, I'll go along with it. Go on and stop wasting time."
Regina couldn't stifle a grin. The one time he actually told the truth, they thought it a lie.
"Olivia! He needs to explain himself!"
"For Christ's sake! No, he doesn't. He's an adult now, he doesn't need to explain what he's doing!"
"Kalyani, do you sense any fae here?"
"Yes. It's a brownie, too. On a different subject, I don't think the people would reveal that we've gone to the Prime Minister."
Regina sighed as she watched him stride out to the car. The mission had gone well, all considered. Vincent would want to know, and they'd have to cover their tracks. Reaching up to her com, she spoke into it. "Come in, Agent Vincent. Not bad, but I have to come into the house. A fey is somewhere around it, possibly inside, and we cannot leave our tracks uncovered."
If they told her that the Prime Minister was being visited, Titania would know something big was up. And at this stage, they couldn't have it.
Kalyani appeared and prowled up to the top of the roof. Regina's eyes suddenly widened and then darkened.
"Agent Vincent, distract your parents. Make sure that they don't look through the skylights. We've got another little eavesdropper."
With a smirk, she stood up, carefully skirting around her skylight and to the crest of the roof, where the brownie sat in squirrel form, its eyes unusually attentive on the conversation below. Still silent, Regina pulled a throwing dagger from an inside pocket.
Crackling with lightning, the dagger slammed into the squirrel, sending it flying backwards, its fur singed and its skull cracked from the impact of the blade, now sticking between the fey's eyes.
"Take that, Tutu." Regina stood as the fey began to shift, drawing a blade and slitting its throat to ensure it was dead. "Al...right. How are we going to hide it."
She looked at Kalyani and the cat looked back at her. Regina groaned. "No! We are not putting it into the trunk like common roadkill."
The Chief sighed. "Fine, we can hide it in a bush. They won't notice, it'll deteriorate in the next twenty-four hours." Grabbing her dagger, she kicked the corpse down into a bush, then walked quietly over to above the door and dropped down, ignoring the height, and speaking into her com as she dropped. "We're clear, Vincent." She then proceeded to listen in to see if he needed assistance being extracted.
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Post by Wildsky on May 29, 2013 5:14:09 GMT -6
Vincent was proud of himself for that. He was able to avoid the politics and whatnot of dealing with his parents, an endeavour that always took more time than he wants. But, he supposed it would be good practice for the Prime Minister. Regardless, he suddenly became on complete high-alert when he noticed Regina wasn't in the car (which was a moment or two, with the tinted windows and Regina liking to be not seen all the time).
A moment later, her voice rang through on the com and told him that a fae was around the house. That didn't bother him much, besides the fact that it meant possibly distracting his parents further. He stayed outside and glanced at the door, peering through the window to see the two still arguing.
Regina's voice came through again and told him to distract his parents, a feat that was easily done, though they didn't realize it.
They're distracting themselves already, Vincent thought to himself. It's not like they'd see anything -- Regina's as quick as lightning. Vincent unintentionally made a horrible pun there, one that he would be groaning at if he knew how bad it was.
Vincent saw his mother sigh and walk off, towards the living room. The living room had skylights as well, but just when Vincent thought he'd have to go in, she turned to the left, towards the main hallway. He breathed a sigh of relief, and that feeling of relief only deepened when Regina told him they were clear.
"Understood, Regina. I'll be in the car; they distracted themselves more than enough, so I was able to avoid having to re-enter the house. Out." He took his hand off the com and entered the car on the side he rode the way there on, resting his head back and trying to relax.
He used radio-speak out of habit and to avoid confusion. The two that were most important were "over" and "out"; the former being "ending what I'm saying and expecting a response" and the latter being "ending what I'm saying and do not respond". He always groaned at movies that used "over and out", the idea being completely nonsensical.
'Vincent, you're getting over-excited about the smallest things again,' Eyvindr said to him, telepathically, as he hung under a tree close to the car. He was smug -- his own version of relief, and he was joking -- his own version of relaxing.
'Eyv, it's a distraction! I'd rather being getting upset over movies that use incorrect military speak than the fact that I'm about to see the Prime Minister. Plus, I don't know how upset Regina's gonna be that I didn't get her some food.' Vincent was more than willing to joke to Eyv himself -- assuming, of course, Regina didn't hear a word of it.
'Hah, she eats because she works hard.'
'At least I have a good taste for my food!'
'Vincent, that just means you're picky.'
'Shhhh, shhhh,' Vincent though, grinning and closing his eyes. For some reason, he always had an easier time talking to Eyv in the dark, and he never really understood why. Even if they seemed serious about their insults, it was all in good fun.
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Post by { o p a l } on May 29, 2013 5:39:16 GMT -6
Regina landed with a light thump beside the doorway, then trotted away towards the car as if nothing had happened. She slid in, closed the door, and pulled out her tablet.
"We need to get to the Peacock Café- they've got the report printed out there." She turned Vincent's com's settings back to normal. "As quick as is reasonable, please."
She knew it was dangerous to tell her chauffeur to go as "quick as is reasonable," him being a racecar driver and all, but right now she wasn't really in the mood for going the speed limit. The faster they went, the less stressful it was, and the earlier she could arrive.
There was a little buzz. She pulled out the smartphone, answering a call. It went something like this:
"Yes, tamago sushi with extra soy sauce."
Pause.
"No, soy sauce."
Pause.
"What are you talking about? Tamago sushi. The one with egg. Not raw, no!"
Pause. She scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"Are you so senile as to forget your own code?!"
Pause. Regina groaned and slumped in her chair, holding a hand to her forehead.
"No! I am in major stress mode, not let's-joke-around-mode! There are two major hostiles about to-"
Pause.
"No, not him! Yes, that one. Yes. Now you see my issue?"
Pause.
"I'm not about to do that, no. I've got ten hours."
Pause.
"No, I'm not calling for advice. You wanted a warning when something big happened, I gave you a warning, because you might have to come in."
Pause.
"I can't- what are you talking about? No. I need to go." She pulled the phone from her ear and hung up with a sigh, resting her arm against the arm rest and cradling her forehead in it.
Regina drew breath a few times, as if she was about to speak. Finally, Kalyani rumbled and raised her head from where she slept on Regina's coat.
"What she means to say is her deepest apologies for ever forcing you to talk to your parents." The cat licked her nose with a little pink tongue, looking as docile as a housecat. "We may have to stop somewhere else later today. It's relatively low-priority, though."
"But don't ever tell them she said that," Regina burst out. "Just some old, retired agents that we might have to bring in for facing down Titania if things work out a certain way."
Kalyani traded knowing looks with her human. "And they'll probably come anyway."
The car revved its engine one last time as it pulled into a spot by the Peacock Café. Regina sat for a moment, her eyes closed and hands folded, for one second her forehead free of a frown and her lips in a neutral smile, for one second a picture of peace and tranquility.
Then she turned, yanked the lever, and kicked the door open. It swung wide, and she got out, striding confidently up to the door. "No more time to putter about. Come, Vincent."
Pulling the door to the establishment itself open, she walked quickly to the counter.
The Executive himself and come out to greet her. "I assume you're here for the new versions of the menu?"
"Yes, of course. They're in back?"
He nodded. She followed him to the room behind the counter, beckoning for Vincent to follow with a jerk of her head.
Once the door had swung shut behind her, he held out what appeared to be a tablet. It was made of a hard, metallic substance, and was flat and featureless except for veins of blue-green light running across its surface that seemed to outline supporting anti-breaking plates. It also had a small sea-green glass square in the center of one side. A thin seam ran around the edge, indicating that it might be able to be opened.
"Ah, the new prototype S-573 file holder. Well chosen, Executive." She stepped aside to let him see Vincent. "My new assistant needs measurements taken for his official uniform. Now is as good a time as any."
The man nodded, turning and pulling out what appeared to be a tablet with a large camera lens on it. "Hold very still, with your arms relaxed at your sides." He held the camera up and pushed a button. "Now, turn one hundred and eighty degrees, and I'll take the other side." Once the second picture was taken, he fiddled with the camera for a moment. "Your measurements were sent to the tailors with an order. They'll get your uniform done with post-haste. Should your spirit companion like any pieces of uniform, you can request that then."
"If you're done, we should be off." Regina was already at the door. "We have quite a few things to get done still." She smirked. "Next up is the Prime Minister, too. I'm certain you're thrilled."
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Post by Wildsky on May 30, 2013 14:59:34 GMT -6
Vincent was concerned (and amused) by one thing in the car: the phone call. Regina's voice was different, her tone and her words. With anyone he'd ever seen her speak to, she gave orders and continued on with her confidence. She would never take orders from someone, and the more that they demanded she listen, the less she would. So, then, why didn't she tell the person on the other side of the phone? And why were they retired? Who were they?
'Whoever it is, Eyv, this person is important -- maybe not in an official way, but to Regina. She wouldn't say things like that in that tone to someone she wouldn't take orders from. Or, at least, pretend to.'
'I agree... But, still. It doesn't make sense. There's no one that I can think of that would be more knowledgeable about Titania than she, and when things get dire, she won't take orders from someone unless she thinks they know what they're doing.'
'But why? Why is she so cryptic?'
'I haven't the slightest clue, Vincent, but she's not gonna say anything.'
'I know.'
Vincent heard the engine stop and took a breath, wondering what this place would be. So many secrets, how did they keep all of them? He turned to look at Regina and saw something he rarely saw: a face, free of frowns and creases, but relaxing. And then, barely after it had started, it was gone.
He climbed out of the care (feeling slightly uncomfortable in his suit) and followed Regina into the café. It was a nice, quaint little place, but Vincent didn't care much for quaint. He much preferred isolation and privacy to "quaint".
With more than slight curiosity, he followed Regina to the back of the store. He saw the "file holder" and was impressed, though he didn't have the slightest clue what it did or how it worked. But since Regina approved of it, he doubted that it was simple or easily broken.
As he was requested, he let the pictures be taken, but didn't understand why he needed an official uniform -- or what it would consist of. He didn't want to be confined to a uniform all the time, that defeated the purpose of secrecy and his ability to blend in, but at the same time, official business could easily be taken care of in that.
"Oh, lovely. I can't wait to meet the Prime Minister. Out of curiosity, does he respect you or think that you're just a stupid thorn in his side?" Vincent was truly curious; he had no clue how the world would react. He didn't understand why they'd be upset, but he didn't expect they'd be happy either.
"And, on the topic of questions, what does a uniform consist of? And what was that file holder holding?"
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