Research Party

[astraeia]

Stefan and I have been working on his possessed cell phone problem lately, and we're 99 percent sure we've identified the demon. I took a quick jaunt to Arashmaharr this morning to get other opinions and see what info I could find out about it... it being the demon, Echo, which is neither male nor female. It manifests itself as whomever would

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[stefan_d]

"You're right on time," I say, idly spinning the cell phone on the tabletop. I take a quick sip of my beer. "Have a seat."

I'm kinda nervous. What if the demon, like, manifests or something? No tellin' what could happen.

[astraeia]

"Hi, Taffy!" I greet her. "Wow, looks like you have lots of stuff in there. Maybe we can find something that'll take care of this, finally."

[astraeia]

"Okay," I say, "I'm glad the lack of corporeal-ness will make things less complicated." I continue turning pages, looking for any shred of helpful, Echo-specific information.

[stefan_d]

I look over Astra's shoulder, trying to help in the search for information. "What I'm curious about," I say, "is if this demon was already in the phone when I got it, or if it somehow targeted me. I guess that's not somethin' we'll ever know, huh?"

[astraeia]

"That's hard to say," I answer. I don't say the rest of what I'm thinking; that he'd given the demon a lot to feed on. His life had been quite upsetting for a while, there.

[astraeia]

Thoughtfully I tap my pen on the table. "I have a thought." I steal a sideways glance at Stef, knowing he isn't going to care for it that much. "Maybe we can get a banishing spell together, and then see if you can contact the demon on the cell phone. Then if things go south, we can banish it posthaste. What do you think?"

[stefan_d]

I scowl at both of them; obviously they're on crack. The really good kind. But I think they have me effectively vetoed.

[astraeia]

I ignore the dirty look Stefan's giving us. "Hmm, we might be safer to send it off to another dimension. Ooooh, you know what'd be really evil? Sending it somewhere where there is no electronic media. Then it'd just be floating around in the ether."

[astraeia]

"I'm not sure where she is," I tell her. "I sent Stef over there to see if she could help with this demon problem, and she wasn't around. I haven't seen her for weeks."

[stefan_d]

"I've been by there several times," I add, "and there's never been anyone at the shop at all."

I tap my fingers on the table, trying to burn off excess energy.

[astraeia]

"I'm worried about her," I say, "so that might be a good idea."

One problem at a time, though. "Okay, let's set the coordinates... this book I have should help with that. We should have the spell ready to use at a second's notice."

[stefan_d]

"What, will it throw the magic off if I'm not relaxed?" I'm not crazy about bein' herded out of the room like I'm a little kid, and I stop, knowing I'm too big for her to push me out if I won't cooperate. I'm gettin' a little testy. I just want this to be over.

[stefan_d]

I guess she has a point, as little as I like to admit it. "Okay, fine, I'll go talk to Willy and have a drink or five." I sigh heavily, not wanting to leave the two of them back here, even though they obviously know what they're doing. Finally I turn and move out the door.

[astraeia]

I look after him. "Think he's okay?" I ask Taffy. I have such a soft heart for the boys; I guess that's why I'm a vengeance demon for men, after all.