May 23 - Victoria's Room

[Ethan Cheng]

Ethan knocked on the door to Victoria's room. He had a glass bottle in one hand and two thin glasses cradled in the other.

[Victoria Valentine]

Ethan heard quiet swearing from inside the room, then rustling. Victoria finally opened the door, tying on the silk robe that was apparently all she was wearing. "Oh," she said, managing a smile. "Hello, Ethan." The room looked like... well, from the look of all the candles burning and the circles drawn on the floor, he'd have expected to see a coven of witches hanging out in there.

[Ethan Cheng]

"Umm...hi! If this is a bad time, I can come by later."

[Victoria Valentine]

"I don't think there's any such thing as a 'good time' lately," Victoria sighed, moving aside to let him in. "I got notice a few days ago that Victor Bloody Von Doom knows I'm poking my nose in his business."

[Ethan Cheng]

"My God. How...annoyed does he seem to be?" He set aside the glasses and the bottle, which, according to the label, was non-alcoholic sparkling white wine in a fancy bottle. In other words, over-glorified grape juice.

[Victoria Valentine]

"The notice came in the form of a rather unpleasant spell hitting me here in my room. So since I'm alive still, I'm going to go with 'annoyed, but not overly concerned.'"

[Ethan Cheng]

"Better a deterrent than a killing curse. Er, do those actually exist?"

[Victoria Valentine]

"They do, but it would have been tricky to do from a distance and in my own room. Not that he couldn't have managed some other way to kill me than just snuffing out my life," she said, reclining on her bed against a pile of pillows and indicating for him to join her. "So... what brings you my way?" she asked, trying to put aside the unpleasantness.

[Ethan Cheng]

"Ah...just making sure. There's this guy from India in the Black Court of the Club back home who does 'Aghori magic' or something. I don't know what it involves, but I've heard stories..."

He snatched up the drink and glasses and took a seat beside her, and he seemed very willing to do do away with the unpleasantness is well.

"My mother is awake," she said as he drew out a sommelier's corkscrew from his pocket and proceeded to open the bottle.

[Victoria Valentine]

"She is?" Victoria asked, sounding pleasantly surprised. "Well, this is certainly cause for celebration. I assume that she's awake and doing well?"

[Ethan Cheng]

"Some of what she remembers while she was trapped in her mind was apparently a nightmare, but she's grateful to be awake and done with it. At least, that's what Father said. I still haven't talked to her personally." He poured some of the drink into both of the glasses. "Not only that, the man who was behind it all was caught."

[Victoria Valentine]

"Caught officially, or caught unofficially?" Victoria inquired innocently, figuring that was more polite than saying 'and did they kill him when they caught him.'

[Ethan Cheng]

"Unofficially. None of the mutants in the club want word of any mutant-infighting to get out. It would just make us look bad."

[Victoria Valentine]

"Good," Victoria said. "Well, I'm happy for you," she said sincerely. "And it is good that Vivien will have a grandmother, since I'm... lacking in the extended family department."

[Ethan Cheng]

He nodded, not quite knowing what to say to that besides a lame 'I'm sorry.'

"She probably doesn't even know yet. I doubt Father wants to drop that on her so soon." Ethan grinned a slightly embarrassed little grin.

[Victoria Valentine]

Victoria smiled at that. "Yes, that would be quite the bombshell to wake up to, I can't say I blame him," she said, taking a sip of the 'wine'. She smiled playfully up at Ethan, then tugged at his shirt gently to pull him down with her without making him spill his drink.

[Ethan Cheng]

Which he was more than happy to do. As he clinked his glass against hers, he toasted "To problems that work themselves out...or that someone else works out for you."

[Victoria Valentine]

"The best kind!" she said with a smile, clinking, then taking a sip. She sighed, starting to relax a little, leaning against him. "So have you been keeping out of trouble?" she teased.

[Ethan Cheng]

"I've only been accused of one misdemeanor since you saw me last, and they can't prove that it was me." He smirked, taking a sip himself. "Seriously, I've been a good boy."