"You know everyone around here." Allura will visit this new person remembering everyone and place she visits.

Next Thelik goes to a run-down shack much like his own, but smaller, and about a block from the lake (unlike his which is pretty near to it).

He just walks right in... and opens what looks like it's going to be a closet door, but it turns out it leads downstairs.

In a basement lit not by candles but by some sort of luminescent globes (chemical, Allura thinks, instead of magic-- or maybe a little of both?), is a woman who seems human. Her hair is long and blonde, she wears glasses... when she looks up, her eyes are wild. "Oh, Thelik. Figures it'd be you."

Thelik puts a small handful of graveweed seeds on one of the few empty spots on one of her many workbenches. "Ooh, dried graveweed seeds!"

"Yeah. I'd like you to make me some blackout grenades. You can keep the rest as payment."

"Hmph! That'll just barely cover my costs... but yeah, I'll take it. Rush job?"

"It'd be best to have 'em by tonight."

"...Late tonight?"

"Yes."

"All right, then. Come pick 'em up late."

"Got it."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:22, Mon 26 July 2021.

Since Thelik is not drawing too much attention to her so she decides to keep quiet even though this person seems even more interesting then the last one to know. So she just gives a little wave to the woman.

Bjarta notices the wave and frowns slightly. "Demon?" she asks Thelik.

"Nah. Just a new friend from House Malebranche."

Bjarta gives Thelik a look that Allura interprets as you sure your new friend is trustworthy...?

It strikes Allura as slightly strange that Bjarta had to ask if she was a demon or not. Most people can tell that much... Could Bjarta be an actual human, and not just a Chaosite in human form...?

Allura takes it in good grace considering she is acting on behalf of Squig.

She does mentally store that away though.

Thelik leads Allura back upstairs, out of the small shack. "You won't see many basements around here. People think that anything below surface level, some kind of emanations from the black lake seep up and drive you crazy or something. But I think Bjarta was already crazy when she set up down there, so..."

"Is she human ? She didn't recognize me as a Lady of a house ?"

"Yeah, she's just a regular human, as far as I know. I don't think they can tell demons from House members' inhuman forms, if they've never met us before. She's really smart, though. A lot smarter than she is crazy."

"I like that she works with chemicals and things, I really think that is interesting." She smiles.

"Ok so what now ?"

"Hmmmm... We still have lots of time... Do you need to rest...? Or eat...? Or both...?"

"I wouldn't mind going over tonights plans, I have never been to an accountant house before."

"So maybe we could head back to your place, I have some money, not a lot but, I could get us a meal on the way."

"Pfffft. Don't worry about that. I should make change for one of these purple crystals anyway..."

Thelik stops (not at The Unicorn's Head) and gets food. For his purple crystal, he gets change of a green, a red, and some orange crystals...

The food is carryout... he takes it back to his shack, so he and Allura can eat there...

"That was a pretty fun day so far Thelik." She smiles while they enjoy their meal.

"You know quite a few people in town."

"Yeah... I guess I'm a people person."

"I lived a more insular life. So I guess I am surprised to see all the variety of people you know. So Yes, I guess you are a people person." She smiles more.

"I guess I need to start meeting and becoming more of a people person too."

"Seems to me you've already started... Um, sorry about your demon friend, by the way. I don't know if I said that before. So... now I did."

Allura nodded, "Thank you, yeah I.. I haven't even really had the time to come to grips with it." She nodded, "I appreciate the sentiment, it is even more then the church spared."

Thelik nods. "Yeah... Maraki's... not... a people person. Like practically everyone his age I've ever met, dealing with other people on any sort of emotional level makes 'im uncomfortable, y'know? But he's pretty all right down underneath, if he's known you for a while... which is more than I can say for some people."

"He likes you, were you a regular at church ?"

"Mmm? Oh, no, he just used to be friends with my father. As much as anybody ever has been. So I saw 'im around all the time. Maraki doesn't have any kids that I know of, so I think I got the benefit of that kinda."

"Oh, they used to be friends, I didn't know that. I guess I shouldn't really be that surprised. Your House and the church have been close in the past." She nodded almost to herself.

"Yeah, seriously. That's all done now... Maraki's faith is pretty sincere, and father's really never was, and I think that that started... I mean we all know and believe that The Serpent is a really big deal... but I wouldn't say that father thinks of it as a god or anything like that, just a really powerful magical being. And, y'know, a lot of people are like that... but Maraki isn't one of 'em."

"I think the serpent is to us, like we are to demons. A being on another level of power. I suppose you could call that a god. I have never had the pleasure to meet the serpent mind you and it would probably be terrifying to do so. I will give the serpent it's due as a being of extreme power."

"Yeah, I'm not in a hurry to meet it. Most people don't, though, I think, so I guess my odds are pretty decent."

"Have you met a lot of other houses like Maraki's ?"