Absit Omen RPG

Attached to this note is a photo of Abby smiling at Sasha and two unicorns in a pasture, the sun setting behind them.

Moira,
Hanging out with unicorns and my bf. Miss you! Work hard while you still can because we're all getting together for sweater weather no ifs ands or bums.

<3 Abby

---

Nemo,

Summer has been quiet? We should go on a spooky adventure. I'll hold your hair back if you want to chuck peruvian powder into the light again.
<3 Abby

---

V,
I had a weird dream and you weren't in it.
!?
Abby <3

Crash!

Abby glanced up from the table she'd been wiping down, pursing her mouth to keep from giggling at Sasha who apologized for a plate he didn't break. When he knelt, she walked over to hand him the dish towel so he could protect his hands. Abby gave him a small, warm smile, recognizing his hesitation. He often hesitated with her too, waiting to see if she wanted him to fix it with magic or figure it out herself. Or better yet, together.

She appreciated his hesitations.

"Aren't you glad I convinced you to buy more than one plate?" Abby teased Moira, fully expecting the scowl she'd earned a few other times earlier in the night. But Moira had at least tried! Moira had talked a little, between mouthfuls of delicious Thai food.

Leaving Sasha and Moira to the plate dilemma, Abby glanced around for something else she could help with. Even Baldur was helping! Baldur was staring intently out the window, sniffing at the sill, his ears pricked. It was so funny when pets played defender.

"What do you see out there, Baldur?" Abby chirped at him, her voice soft so as not to interrupt Moira's attempts to speak.

"Is it a rabbit, a fox? A rustling, rowdy shrubbery?"

She went to the window and put her own face next to Baldur's, looking more at Baldur than the view outside. His eyes softened when she gave him a pat on the head. Abby finally peered out into the darkness. Though the moon was full and the stars were visible, she expected to see nothing more than her blond hair reflected in the glass, and the smudges of Baldur's nose.

Abby blinked. In the distance, amongst the shadowy tall forms of the trees, a tiny light twinkled.

"Is it a falling star? A pixie? A..."

The tiny light drifted and bobbed around a short, small tree. A tree with no branches.

Abby kept squinting. Maybe it wasn't a tree. It was a strange, shadowy shape in the dark.

The shape moved. A little to the side, a little to the other side. Edging forward.

Abby edged back, glancing around the light-filled cottage. Her blue eye gave a twitch. She rubbed at her eyebrow absently.

"Are you expecting anyone else, Moira?" Abby knew full well she was not, but she smiled anyway, not wanting to alarm her. It could be Duncan or Angus checking in on them.

"A wand light's bobbing out there. At least, I think that's what it is." She tilted her head toward the window.

Baldur let out a low 'harumph'. Yes, he'd seen it too!

---

A wand light was indeed bobbing out there.

When the blond girl turned her face from the window, the figure in the distance raised her wand.

Nox. The wand light went out.

The pastry was yummy. Abby happily took the bribe, listening closely to Nemo's muttered explanation. It was nice to hear about an openminded teacher who had let Nemo be creative with her writing.

Virgil asked the questions that she would like to know, too. She just couldn't resist butting in.

"We are a dead poet's society," Abby declared, flopping back on her floor pillow and letting Roxy wriggle away to search for crumbs that her pastry had left behind.

"We use a musical keyboard to type a lyric and then pass it around. And when we're done, we play a whale song from the depths of the sea, where the dead sleep - sorta."

Abby turned her head to the side to giggle. Nemo, please explain!

"Dante, the lovable lazy cat who finds the best sunny spots and has prophetic dreams about his next meal."

Abby declared, with a giggle at Virgil.

Though she'd never call V lazy. He was always there whenever friends needed him the most, whether for gillyweed relaxed times or super serious darting-beyond-the-veil times.

Abby cuddled the squirming Roxy in her arms and urged the pup to settle. Settttttle. She hadn't meant to shut her in the loo!

Nemo's teacher sounded nice. Abby's parents had forced music lessons and other artistic hobbies on her growing up, but she'd always cared more about gabbing than creating, at least in that strict and stuffy environment. Ever since escaping the lakehouse, she actually found that she enjoyed writing, any type of writing, and appreciated it more than she had as a determinedly cheerful teen. She'd never been allowed any angst! Writing gave her a way to talk on and on with no interruptions, to talk about things that mattered to her, and to talk about things she didn't want to say out loud.

"She sounds lovely, but why the name Grim?"

Abby paused to deposit kisses atop Roxy's soft head.

"Was she the one who encouraged you to write your own songs? Or was it more like the freedom to write whatever you wanted opened the door to totally focusing on music? This inquiring mind wants to know," Abby glanced up and smiled at Nemo.

Abby tilted her head and arched her brow at Virgil with an air of Reid haughtiness combined with Abby-silliness. Flattering, thank you, but no need to insult her friend Moira! Everyone had different strengths! And such.

She sobered, trying to look encouraging as Virgil gave Nemo what Nemo might call the Precipice Notes. The cragg notes? The bluff notes. Abby didn't know exactly what muggles and muggleborns called these notes of theirs (Fauna always said she was giving these notes to Pratt), but Virgil summarized and then volleyed the question to Nemo, who stalled, and it wasn't really a funny time but Abby pursed her mouth to hide her amusement, anyway.

Nemo's tale was brief but true, and Abby lifted her coffee cup. "To Rachel."

Abby took another sip. She paused, hearing a scratching at the door.

Huh. She glanced at the front door. No, not there.

More scratching, from somewhere in the depths of the flat.

Abby glanced at her friends, confused.

A whine, and a little pad-pad-pad against the door.

Oh! Of course.

Waving off any concern, Abby hopped to her feet and went to her bedroom, where she noticed the bathroom door was closed.

Aha.

Abby opened it, and Roxy the crup came flying out, her claws scrambling on the floor and then catching on the rug, her forked tail a blur of white and brown, she then raced into the living room and hopped in circles around Abby's friends, yipping excitedly. Roxy licked Nemo's ankle. Roxy licked Virgil's elbow. Roxy plopped down between them, tail still wagging, looking like she'd settle for about ten seconds before she'd jump up again.

Abby just laughed a little, "Looks like Roxy has declared herself our official mentor and mascot."

She rejoined her friends. Roxy licked her knee.

Abby happily took the gillyweed. She was about to let out a little laugh, and a puff of smoke escaped instead. Sweet Nemo!

"No," Abby paused to sip her coffee.

"I've had a million different tutors. They came and went over the years, but I've never been that talented in any one thing."

She glanced at Nemo, remembering her confidence in her, her declaration, that time Abby had slipped up and had voiced what she really felt. Her friend was always shadow-boxing for her in the corner.[1]

"I'm good at a lot of things but not especially good at one thing. Except perhaps, being a social savant," she tacked on teasingly.

Some of that was due to having a bit of interest in many different things. Her sister's efforts to broaden her horizons had warred against her parents' determination to marry her off like they were still living in the 1800s. But even if she'd had all the opportunities in the world, some talents chose people. Virgil hadn't had a choice to read minds so easily when he was young.

He'd needed Yavin, after his first mentor.

She'd needed Yavin, too. She would forever be grateful to him for doing everything possible to save her life. Who but the most daring would push aside the veil of death? He must have to constantly reevaluate boundaries to do his job successfully.

She offered the gillyweed to Virgil. Whether he wanted to share his story with Nemo, he was welcome to it.

1.	"You're not dumb," Nemo said firmly, her brow touched with sadness. From Tale or Tune

Abby's stomach jumped when Nemo stood quickly. She was so, so good at vanishing. She'd held onto Abby's arm and apparated with such ease that day in the crypt, even when she'd had a song stuck to the roof of her mouth and her palms were sweaty and she could barely stand. That kind of vanishing only came with practice.

Nemo stayed. A puff of smoke curled up from behind the couch, and Abby let out a small, relieved sigh. The cat jumped up and retreated into Raine's room, assuming many more people would be showing up at the door. No, it was just the three of them, after a summer storm, their battles lost and won.

Yavin had saved Nemo, too? From what? When?

Virgil looked unsurprised, so he must know already.

As he spoke, Abby remembered his teacher B.Y. Before Yavin. The teacher had been a bad person, Iona had decided, and on that point, Abby had completely agreed.

Handled. Abby smiled, glancing away to hide the sympathy she felt.

"Sounds like we've all been on our own odysseys," she let Virgil's hand go without really thinking about it. She wasn't drowning anymore, and her friends would be there when she fell into the deep again.

"But he only has a piece of us. The trauma piece. Not everything. No one can have that."

It was true. She knew it well. Iona hadn't known everything about Abby and Abby hadn't known everything about Iona. There were meant to be lines and boundaries. Yavin might be the most powerful wix there was in the world of dreams and secrets, and sweet Virgil his protégé, but many mysteries of the mind, ah, remained.

Made of glass?

Abby glanced at Virgil in surprise. The spot on the rug could have been an ocean for all she cared. Virgil was rattled.

Wixes sometimes treated her as made of glass, and she could understand how upsetting that would be to hear, but there must be something that had prompted Yavin's choice of words and the flush on Virgil's face. Yavin had known Virgil since he was a young boy. Abby assumed that Yavin had known Adelaide for a long time, too. A friend of the family. A foe of the pretty sister.

It was their business. When Virgil looked to her for support, Abby nodded and focused on the positive.

"He's never been anything but nice to me and respectful about the whole Pentral situation. I couldn't have gone through with it otherwise. One does not simply walk into the death chamber..."

Abby glanced at Nemo. Nemo knew Iona was gone, and that Level Nine had been involved.[1] But Abby hadn't yet told her the full story about that day.

Abby focused on Virgil again, reaching out to touch his arm. Was he alright? Shaky, at all?

He looked like she'd felt - like Iona had felt the first time they'd both spoken to Yavin.

Scared.

Abby didn't want to think about that now. There was a reason Virgil trusted Yavin so much. He'd told her so, in December. She just couldn't help thinking back to November.

Yavin had said a troubling thing when they'd all first met in Carstairs' office.[2] She'd forgiven him, Iona had not. It had been overshadowed by Carstair's hex happy oopsie. She shook her head a bit, pushing away the memory, though the feeling lingered.

She looked closely at Virgil's face, still concerned for him as she schooled her expression.

1.	We are!
2.	We know not the fire

Ah, so, hmm, Yavin was the problem! Abby let out a giggle at Nemo's impression, with a quick glance at Virgil's face to make sure he was fine with it. He was. Yavin's ears might be burning somewhere in London, but no more than usual.

Virgil's sister liked to pick fights, according to Virgil. Of course she did. Adelaide was a lawyer, which also meant she expected to win.

Abby kept quiet for now, and took a long sip of her coffee, listening.

So, the sister must be the subject of Nemo's text. Virgil did sound fond, and his sister did have a musical side, and of course that was important to someone musical like Virgil, and his musical and theatrical family. Abby knew all about mostly-serious sisters. Overprotective older sisters. She didn't know anything about musically-inclined families, but Abby could rhyme tunelessly for days.

"You told your family," Abby piped up proudly, with a smile at Nemo.

Adelaide wasn't happy about Gamp, emphasis last name, or the age difference, both of which Abby could understand. Still, there was more going on that Virgil didn't feel like talking about and Nemo obviously wanted to talk about. So Abby would talk around it!

"You have us and Mr. Grumps," Abby teased Nemo, glancing meaningfully at the cat, who was napping near her feet on the couch, eyes closed. Due to their text emojis, Nemo should know exactly who Abby was referring to as grumpy cat.

"Was it a big family dinner, V? And is anyone in your family not musically gifted? I dare to ask."

She sipped her coffee and raised her eyebrows.

Abby smiled at Virgil when he settled onto a pillow beside her, looking as relaxed and comfy as Raine's cat curled up on the couch, who'd only lifted her head to sniff Nemo's feet.

Driving took such a long time! It felt like it went fast though, and it was easier on the stomach than floo-ing.

"I want to come with you next time," Abby told Nemo, watching the girl's hair spill over the patterned rug. "I've only ridden in a car a few times, but I can't resist singing along with the ray-dee-oh," she emphasized the word, liking it much better than 'the wireless'.

"And obviously the two of you with your melodic voices wouldn't be able to resist, either."

They'd better sing with her! It wasn't any fun, alone, making up the words and struggling to reach the high and low notes.

Quickly, Nemo brought up Virgil's sister, and Abby wondered if this were the outcast mentioned in her text.

"Adelaide with the pretty 'A' name?" Abby raised her eyebrows at Virgil. "Not officially, but I've seen her around a lot on Level Two, looking serious and focused, her head in a case file. Like your cousin Sol," Abby nudged V's arm gently, careful not to spill his cup of coffee.

The young woman had a gravitas that Abby hadn't seen in the other, more theatrical members of Virgil's family. Virgil called his little brother a 'wretch', his eyes soft, but Adelaide was only 'older sister', who worked as a lawyer on Level Two.[1]

1.	Virgil mentions his siblings in the Cellars of London thread

Abby had never been so glad to see her two friends show up at her door for a nice normal evening after their slightly dramatic dinner party. After everything they'd both done for her, she was happy to be that person they dropped in on for gossip and drinks.

It helped that she enjoyed gossip and drinks.

"Ooo, am I Penelope, then," she giggled, hugging Nemo, and giving Virgil her most theatrical curtsy in return. Tipsy lost boy!

"Speaking of the kettle, there is tea. And other drinks. And lots of snacks and probably some leftovers, if either of you are still hungry."

She gestured at the kitchen, and took a seat on one of the floor cushions with her cup of decaf coffee. Be quick, because it was time to tell her everything!

She might have felt a little jealous that she hadn't been invited, except it was Nemo and Virgil, and they were here to tell her what mattered, and she would keep their stories safe.

It was strange though. Nemo had texted that she felt bad for V, but V seemed fine - much better than fine, flitting into the flat on a gillyweed cloud.

It was Nemo that had called it an odyssey.

Abby glanced at Nemo with a raise of her eyebrows, and then lit a candle. For atmosphere.

Moira adored Baldur and Baldur adored Moira, which was to be expected. Abby smiled at her friend, glad she'd ordered a bunch of extra dishes to try, as the curse of silence hadn't affected Moira's appetite.

As Sasha and Moira fortified the cottage, Abby took the food out of the bags and set the table for three, having convinced Moira that she needed more than one glass and one plate and one knife and fork the last time she was here. The plates were a dark teal with a subtle Celtic pattern texture built into the stoneware. Abby had also pointed out some simple woven placemats to 'protect the table', she'd told Moira practically, and to make it pretty, she hadn't said.

"So many noodles," Abby agreed with Sasha. "I sneaked in a few desserts, too. And a boba green tea with Moira's name on it."

Abby could smell the coffee in the air, but Moira might like the bubble tea, if she tried it. Abby was obsessed.

With a grin at Sasha, Abby picked up the small bonsai tree from the middle of the table and placed it on the kitchen counter for now, so they could look at each other while they talked and ate. She'd gifted Moira the tree last month, partly to prove that it made an excellent housewarming gift for someone who would actually take care of it. And she had!

"What can I say? I can only handle Level Two heat," Abby took the seat beside Sasha. "More show than spice."

Though shadows stretched across the misty hills in one last farewell to the sun, and Abby's shoes sank into the mud with every step she took, Abby had never felt safer on the short walk to Moira's cottage. Baldur bounded not too far ahead, and Sasha's hand was warm in hers.

And the land had not yet been disturbed.

They passed by the grave of Moira's mother, the tree solid and strong, still a sentinel for those dead and living.

But Abby directed her gaze ahead. To Moira. They were here to worry about werewolves. No, they were here to make sure that Moira was safe and Sasha could relax with friends and Abby had a tradition to look forward to. Baggynold was a secret softie! The next time Abby saw the werewolf hunter, she'd have to tell him that he'd started a tradition of inviting too many people over to the most introverted person's house.[1]

"Oh wow, that's so terrible of Bettina," Abby commented, her eyes sparkling, fully aware that Sasha was participating in gossip just by talking about Bettina gossiping, but he was being oh so cute and earnest about it, she'd let him. Besides, Bettina did enjoy speculating a little too much.

The first thing Abby noticed upon seeing Moira in the doorway was that her hair was wet.  If Sasha weren't here, Abby would shamelessly offer to braid it. She still might.

"Next month, we're going to have to dedicate the night to a Back to the Future trilogy."

"We're just going to have to talk to each other!"

Abby grinned, hurrying up the steps after Baldur to offer Moira a quick, not-too-intrusive hug. Movie or no, she and Sasha would help her talk again and keep her company. Abby had brought games and a few other surprises in her bag.

"We brought food and our lovely selves! I bet you haven't eaten yet."

1.	In Bones and Ashes, Bagnold was stuck hosting the blond brigade and Duncan

A sleepover party with Nemo? Wonderful. Abby still had a pillow fort set up at her place. Nemo was checking her pockets - hopefully she had more gillyweed to share, though they'd likely fall asleep before they could talk about all the wacky and scary things they'd just lived through.

"Bye, Duncan," Abby said, waving back at him. Sorry for being weird, she didn't say. He might feel better if he'd taken a hit of that joint, honest.

Her sister looked like she wanted to say something, but instead gave Duncan a respectful nod, lots of questions in her eyes.

Her sister, as always, never explained anything, but waved her wand in a complicated motion at the top of the door and held it open behind her for Bagnold. Huh? Bagnold was coming with them? Ok!

Bagnold wasn't coming with them! He was just showing them where to apparate from on the roof. Ok!

Abby was tired.