Absit Omen RPG

Lexus rose as Nemo sorted herself and prepared to leave. She walked her to the door, taking a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure the girl hadn't left anything behind, "yes, considering." She said with a smile before opening her door.

"You need anything else, come see me okay?" She didn't want to hear about the girl getting in trouble while trying to get her hands on something again. She'd feel partially responsible. She also felt as though she'd met a kindred spirit. Sure she was trying to impress Draco Malfoy of all people but she had a zest for life and strong sense of self. Lexus could appreciate that. Even if they had met under less than favourable circumstances, Lexus wouldn't be opposed to helping out again.

"Even if it's a place to crash. This is a two bedroom after all."

Lexus tried not to smile as the implications of what she was offering sunk in. She was happy to see the hesitation and the way she drew back, preferring to see it as a recognition of danger and not disgust at the reality of being what she was.

She was about to commend the girl on her decision when she name dropped who she was doing all of this for. Lexus let out a bark of laughter and pocketed the small silver chest, "Draco Malfoy? You're doing all this for him?"

She shook her head, the smile finally curling her lips. The young werewolf knew the wealthy recluse as well as one could. Though she didn't know of him or his family from the newspapers or the Second Wizarding War. Lexus happened to work with him. The brooding young pureblood was one of the few talented potioneers that headed up St Mungo's internal Potion Making department.

She drew a deep breath and offered Nemo a softer smile, "Sorry hun but I don't think there's anything I could offer you that would impress him." She didn't dislike the former Slytherin, he was just a hard person to get to know as he mostly kept to himself. Not to mention their job required a lot of concentration and didn't really leave room for much socializing.

"Yes." She added quietly. He paused once again before continuing, "They're mine." She let that sink in for a moment, "Coming over took a great deal of paperwork and getting on the Ministry's safe house list wasn't top priority. My first full moon here . . . Well it wasn't pretty."

She placed the little chest back in the box and sat back a moment. The tiniest of smirks curled her lips before she returned to her more serious expression, "That enough to impress your friend?"

Lexus was fully aware that the only real impressive item she was handing over was the teeth. Everything else may have impressed experienced Potioneers but the scamp in front of her definitely didn't strike her as one. Whoever she was trying to impress may appreciate them more though.

"Strickly speaking I'm not supposed to have these. I don't think they're illegal - I wouldn't be offering them if I did - but as I said they can be powerful weapons and will be treated as such if you're found with them."

"I have an excuse, seeing as they're mine but you may not be as lucky." She looked sternly at the younger girl, "you willing to take that risk?"

Lexus shook her head, "Nah don't bother with the hags. They'll rob you blind and leave you with nothing more than a few worthless dried herbs." It wasn't so much that Lexus thought the Hag's Market was a scam, she simply didn't think they'd do right by Nemo. Likely take her as a Mark and see what they could swindle out of her. She had only been once or twice herself and she had to let those there know about her condition before anyone took her serious.

"The Apothecaries won't be much more help either, even the one in Knockturn. Regular run of the mill stuff and if they have anything better they're not likely to sell it. Or it won't be worth the price."

She picked up her mug again drained the last few dregs before placing it back on the table, "wait here." She instructed before moving deeper into the apartment. She was gone for several minutes, soft sounds drifting out of the back bedroom as she collected a few things. When she returned she was carrying a small box.

She placed in down on the table in front of them. There were a few phials of liquid, some dried ingredients and one small silver lock box which looked like it might contain jewelry. She picked up one of the phials, inside was a sparkling ice blue liquid, "Ice gnome tears. Not as potent as the Lord tears they put in wands but good for a lot of different potions." She touched a satchel of dried leaves, "nothing fancy here but none of these plants grow here so they're a little harder to get." She named several more ingredients that were more local and a little less rare before picking up the lock box with hesitation.

"This is the big one." She looked to Nemo, an air of seriousness about her expression, "this will only open with a very specific spell. No standard unlocking will break through it," she warned, "inside is a pair of werewolf teeth. They can be crushed and used as a very powerful antivenom. Very few will work with them though. It doesn't matter how much you clean them, they still carry the curse and even the smallest scratch will pass it on." She paused for a moment, "once they're crushed and put in a potion, you're safe, but before then." She drew a deep breath, "they can be used as a weapon, you understand?"

Lexus was silent for a long moment before giving a curt nod over her mug. Taking a long drag from it before speaking again, "Alright." She said simply. If the girl really was where she wanted to be, who was Lexus to say otherwise. The older woman had led a rough life, nothing ever really came easy to her, even before she found out she was a witch, before contracting the Lycantrope curse had turned her life upside down. She had seen others struggle as well and was likely biased about the situation.

She put down her mug with a long sigh and a soft smile, "so what did we decide on to help impress your friend?" They had already gone over unicorn blood and how it wasn't something Lexus just kept lying around nor was she willing to go through the trouble of obtaining some.

There was one thing she could offer, outside of her more foreign ingredients that she had managed to get through customs coming over, something she could only get because of her particular curse but she wasn't entirely sure she could trust Nemo with it.

Lexus took a moment to consider the young woman in front of her. She was aware that she was a werewolf, claimed it wasn't a problem. Lexus looked for tells, ticks, withdrawals, flinches. She had dealt with all of it. The little subconscious responses when someone was lying. There were plenty of people that claimed they were okay with werewolves so as to appear politically correct, though still wouldn't want to come across her in a darkened alley. Thankfully, Nemo didn't appear to be lying.

Lexus let out a wry laugh, feeling as though a final piece of the puzzle had fallen into place. Yes, she knew Snoop. Most of the neighbors knew of him as well, though she doubted any of them had spared him any of their time. She didn't mind the scamp and found his constant hustling almost endearing. He knew a lot more than people gave him credit for. It made a lot of sense that he had been the one to point Nemo in her direction.

She gave her a lopsided grin, "So being a werewolf automatically means I don't mind being shady?" She chuckled a little bit letting the younger woman know she was teasing, "I'm happy to help where I can." She paused for a moment as if thinking of something, "I know a thing or two about being down on your luck."

Lexus suddenly got the impression of a runaway. She also wished Hunter had been there and a flicker of grief crossed her features. He was good with kids. So much better than she had ever been. She had no idea what to do in this situation. Despite the fact that the girl in front of her lied (or rather omitted the truth) she wasn't as on edge as she had been a moment ago.

She tried to put the pieces together. The girl was from overseas, judging by the accent. She had gone to a small school Lexus didn't recognize, probably American then. She was looking for rare potion ingredients to impress someone, and was a little too curious about unicorn blood. She had no idea how all these pieces fit together but she was seeing a picture of a young girl that was about to get herself into a lot of trouble if she wasn't more careful.

"Drink your tea." She said simply when the girl asked if she should leave. She watched her for a long moment, "You know I'm a werewolf, don't you?" Her face was near emotionless, "who told you to come to me?"

Lexus blinked several times trying to process this new information. The little scamp hadn't gone to Hogwarts. Which meant she didn't know Ayla (or the twins for that matter) She watched with narrowed eyes as the girl left the desk and moved closer.

The hair on the back of Lexus' neck stood up. She had invited the other woman in under a load of assumptions that she realized had been on her. She had assumed she was a student, she had assumed she had known her cousin, that the young Hufflepuff had sent her over. The girl didn't even know her name.

She stared at the girl's outstretched hand. She casually ran her own over the side of her Healer robes, looking as though she was wiping something off them, reassuring herself that her wand was in easy reach before accepting the handshake.

"Dale." She offered with the most smile she could muster. She could easily kick the girl out, hex her before she even knew what was happening but there were too many unanswered questions to act rashly here. Who was this girl really and how had she found her?

"What school did you go to?" She tried to take the polite route for now, "Sorry I just assumed you went to Hogwarts. My cousins are there right now."

The corridor quickly devolved into chaos as the Dementor descended upon them. The lift had yet to arrive and the sick and fleeing patients were being forced down the stairs. Lexus could only imagine how difficult that would be for most of them but she was at the back of the pack and unable to help filter them through.

Their charge however seemed to have awoken and Kurby made quick work of her restraints. Lexus exchanged a concerned look with the werewolf hunter, only mildly aware of the sudden burst of energy the coma patient had as she pushed through the crowd to get to the stairwell.

She tightened her grip on her wand and commanded her Patronus from the spot on her back to stand guard in front of them, joining the minuscule hummingbird. She looked to Kurby again, placing her free hand on his shoulder as he seemed lost in his own nightmares, "might be a good time for your spider friend to join us."

Lexus couldn't remember the last time someone had called her dude. If there wasn't a more pressing issue at hand it may have even made her feel homesick. No one in London seemed to use the word, everyone just called her mate instead. Something she had become used to years before when she first met her husband.

Lexus sat up straight then leaned forward. The youth's enthusiasm was not a good thing. Apparently Lexus insinuating that Unicron Blood was a really stupid thing to be looking for had only bolstered her up instead of making her back down.

However she did learn one thing, Nemo was looking to impress a guy. Nornally that would have been a regular run of the mill sort of deal for a teenaged girl but this didn't feel like she was looking for a date. Whoever this guy was that she wanted to impress, this felt more like a gang initiation.

She took a deep steadying breath, "Listen kid, unicorn blood isn't something you just go to the local apothecary and buy," somehow she knew the teen already knew this, "unicorns are rare and hard to catch. They aren't trained or bred and they most certainly aren't hunted. Only an idiot would go looking for one to get it's blood."

She took a sip of her tea. Giving her words time to sink in and for her anger to ebb. She sighed and scratched at her hair, "shouldn't you know all this? There's unicorns in the forest next to your school." Assuming the teen attended Hogwarts of course, "this is basic stuff. Unicorn blood is stupid powerful magic but the curses connected with collecting it and using it," she impressed the point, despite the teen assuring her she wasn't going to use it, "are just not worth it."

There was humor in Lexus' expression as she listened to the younger woman. She didn't deny that she was looking to impress. Lexus decided not to dwell on it for now. She remembered being a teenager and wanting to prove herself. Despite the fact that blood purity didn't hold as much stock overseas she had spent most of her teenage years feeling as if she needed to prove herself, being no-maj born.

Lexus narrowed her brow in thought, trying to remember what she had tucked away in her personal stores, "I have some ice gnome toenails and some Yeti hair." They were ingredients that were Native to Canada but also easy to transport as they didn't degrade, "Not as impressive as say, an Ice Lord tear but those are mostly used in wand magic anyway."

She raised her eyebrows when the girl asked about Dragon Eyes. She held back a scoff. Once again her companion was not only showing her age but her inexperience. While dragon parts weren't unheard of in potion making, typically you'd use scales or crushed talons. Pieces you wouldn't have to kill the beasts to collect. Even dragon heartstrings were rare but again were mostly used in wand magic and from what Lexus understood, only came from Dragons that were already dead.

She sat up quickly, her expression of shock and concern when unicorn blood was mentioned. She held back a snarl, her lips twitching and her eyes flashed. Her fight or flight instincts suddenly triggering, "Unicorn blood?" She asked quietly, trying to keep the edge out of her voice, "please . . . Please tell me, you don't have an idiot friend trying to get you to prove yourself with unicorn blood."

Lexus gave a nod and a lift of her shoulders in a sort of 'yeah I figured that out' sort of way when her guest mentioned she was American. Then again she could have been more local than Lexus first thought as well, given the fact that unless you were Quebecois or an East Coaster, most other accents were the same as many of the American ones.

She placed her mug on the coffee table and leaned back into the couch again with a wide smirk on her lips, "So . . ." She drew out the word before continuing, "you're looking for something but you're not really sure what it is you're looking for?" She tried hard not to laugh. The girl definitely sounded her age with the expressions she used, "what kind of homework is this for again?" She had a sneaking suspicion that the other woman was looking to make an impression rather than a grade.

She glanced back over to the hallway that led down to her bedroom. Her brow knitted together as she thought something through, "Most of the ingredients I work with these days are at the hospital but I do still have a few local pieces from back home that are a little harder to get shipped over." She looked back to the girl, "think something like that would impress your friends?"

It hadn't taken long for the water to boil and Lexus poured it into two large mugs before dropping a tea bag in both. She wasn't exactly fancy about drinking tea like some of her colleagues were but she certainly preferred it to coffee. She opened her fridge, splashing some milk into one of the mugs before dropping some sugar in as well. She glanced over at the younger woman, "Do you like anything in it?" She once had a casual conversation with one of the Welcome Witches during a lunch break about how the 'Proper' way to drink tea was black. Lexus had always preferred hers sweet.

After fixing the other drink for her guest she crossed into the small livingroom, handed over the mug and sat down into the couch. The whole area had an air of freshness, as if everything within it had never been used.

She gave a soft shrug, "Canadian actually. People mix it up all the time though." After having lived in London for just about a year now she had become used to people thinking she was American. Her own accent wasn't exactly distinctive and was really only noticable when she said certain words.

"What sort of potion help did you need?" Nornally Lexus would have been rather standoffish and dismissive but she was working under the impression that this young woman was friends with her cousin. Not to mention the company was much more agreeable than being alone with her more darker thoughts. Not that she was willing to admit that.

Lexus was jogging down the corridor as Kurby pushed Zelda's Bed. She didn't want to leave them alone but also felt sort of useless. She did her best to shout directions to those she passed, making sure everyone knew where they should be going. Her silver Eagle glided along above them doing it's best to keep them in better spirits. Every so often it would circle around one of the other Healers or Patients before gliding back to them.

She gasped when their charge had suddenly become conscious amoungst her thrashing and called out to her surly companion.

She placed a hand on Zelda's shoulder, trying to look at reassuring as she could, "It's okay. It's going to be okay. You don't have to be afraid. The Aurors are here. They'll keep the Dementors out." Unfortunately she was unaware that there were currently at least two of the Beasts inside the Hospital. Nor was she privvy to the fact that the very thing they were searching for was currently inhabiting the prone woman in front of her.
 
She glanced at Kurby, for a moment wondering if he'd have any words of encouragement. The two obviously knew each other but she wasn't about to assume what their relationship was.

Despite herself, Lexus chuckled at the girl's assurances that she wasn't selling anything. She wasn't sure if that was a relief or not. The kid certainly looked like the type but standing outside people's houses, waiting for them to come home from work wasn't exactly the best sales tactic. She had once sold Energy Potions on the Platforms at Union Station, that was the sort of place you wanted to sell things.

"Homework?" Lexus repeated back to her, looking over the girl and trying to gauge her age. She didn't know too much about the schooling system in the area, other than that her cousins attended the 'local' Wizarding School. The girl looked to be about the right age to be a student, "Did Ayla send you over?" She hadn't been in as much contact with her cousin as she would have liked but she did her best to Owl when she could. There weren't too many around that she knew of that would know of her talents otherwise.

She entered her flat, flicked her wand and the lights came to life. She crossed the small living space into the open concept kitchen area and put a pot on the stove. She had left the door open as an invitation and called back to Nemo, "Cuppa tea?"

She moved about, decompressing a bit from her work day as she started to fix herself a drink, "What was it you needed?" Given the girl's age and the assumption that she went to school with family, Lexus didn't think twice about letting the stranger in. All things considered if this 'meeting' went south, she was a trained witch and her Lycanthrophy gave her resistance to many spells. An attack wouldn't be the wisest move for the other girl.