House of Cards RP

Clive gave up on his office after a while. His days of late had started before the sun rose, and ended well after it had set. Yet no matter how many books he poured over, how many grieving families he spoke to calmly and reassured- nothing felt as if it was being accomplished. So, he gave up. With an aching head, and a sore back he'd taken to the gym with the vague idea of working out the tension that was building tight, painful knots between his shoulders.

He started with sit ups, and then push ups and pull ups and various weights. At least working out didn't require too much thinking...though he was going to be needing a shower afterwards, he could only imagine how awful he must smell at that moment, with sweat dripping off his arms.

Theo closed his office door with a sigh. Well, no sense in putting off the inevitable, he told himself firmly as he headed left, not right. Right led to his comfortable quarters within Heart castle, left lead to the executive offices of the Heart Royals. He went left because he’d spent the last several weeks trying to talk himself out of this upcoming conversation. But finally, his conscious had won out and here he was, walking seemingly confidently to the office of his King.

Tunde was still in, working on his laptop when Theo knocked on the door jamb and gave a smiled greeting. The King invited his Ten in, and Theo politely took a chair this side of the desk and, after the usual courtesies, revealed the reason for his visit. Although he took care to make it as inoffensive as possible—which…wasn’t, really—Theo was still unprepared for Tunde’s reaction. The Heart King leaned back in his chair, steepled his hands, and laughed.

Seeing his puzzlement, Tunde grinned. “Of all the Cards, Theo,” he said, “I never doubted it’d be you to lay down a Challenge, my friend.” Theo blinked. “All things considered, I’m surprised it took you this long. Although,” he admitted with a small hand wave, “that in itself speaks volumes, doesn’t it.

“Very well,” he said, leaning forward again, “your Challenge you shall have.” Theo nodded. Tunde added with a good-natured twinkle, “But don’t expect me to take it easy on you.”

Rising to his feet with a formal bow, Theo grinned back. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, Majesty.”

( Cut for length )

 Sophie learned her lesson during the Arcana incursion. She'd spent far too much time buried in old tomes. On more than one occasion, she'd had to be carried to bed. So now, she paces herself. She gets the same amount done as she searches in vain for mentions of past magical failures--at least they have jumping off points--but she makes time to take the occasional break and clear her head.

That  still doesn't explain why the 8 of Diamonds is seen outside scrambling up trees.

Curiouser and curioser.

He'd found an old house that didn't belong- close to the Clubs so not to seem too out of place, and yet far enough off the beaten path that not many would wander in on him he hoped. It was weird, too, he thought- walking into a place he felt he didn't belong. He brushed what seemed like centuries of dust off tarnished mirrors and ducked cob webs as he hunted out just the place to hide a tracking device in a cupboard. There was no helping the signs of it having been opened, the clear brush of fingers over the wood though he had tried to be careful.

Then again- what were the chances anyone would have followed him in?

"Creepy place," he said aloud, before moving back out of the place and into the streets. Now he thought, if it disappeared he would at least know where it went. And maybe, just maybe, they could find those that had gone missing and save them. He didn't trust the deck, but no one deserved whatever weirdness was going on in his estimation.