houseofcards_rp | Hot as a hare, blind as a bat

Maggie sets her trowel on the ground and sits back on her heels. The Datura didn't need deadheading, yet the evidence lay before her eyes: small, precise cuts separating flowers and leaves from stem. The Heart rises to her feet in a smooth motion that belies her age and makes her way down the neat cutting beds. No mistake. Someone's come in with small sheers and pruned some of her more interesting plants. Foxglove, morning glory, monkshood, castor oil plant, someone's disturbed them all. Lovely.

"How very unwise of my uninvited guest," she murmurs to herself before turning back to the gate and inspecting the lock. An enterprising soul could hop the wall, but in this case, a close look reveals scratch marks around the mechanism. A short walk brings her to her Cannabis plot. Unmolested. She claims to grow the weed for medicinal reasons--indeed, she has a prescription for it. But truth be told, she enjoys the relaxation it brings her and never begrudges a few leaves here and there should anyone ask her. Yet the plants escaped this latest harvest. Clearly, her prowler hadn't cared about medicine.

"I suppose I'll need to reinstall the surveillance cameras. And let one of the Faces know so they can pass the word along. Bloody nuisance."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was Incredibly Awkward, standing in someone else's kitchen, being served tea and plied with food. He had no qualms about doing it as it was his duty, but he'd served her for the years she had spent with the Spades and to have their roles reversed has left him standing in the kitchen, lingering between the counter and a seat, feeling much more dumbfounded than he looked.

"I am fine, m'lady, thank you." Please Don't Make A Fuss over him. He's not sure he can handle it. He'd offer to help if that hadn't resulted in Accidental Hand Contact the last time he Materialised At Her Doorstep.

"I won't take up much of your time." Or he'll try not to, at least.

"You wouldn't deny me my chance to play hostess, would you? It wouldn't be proper not to offer you refreshment. Besides, I'm having tea, and it would be rude to not offer any to my guest."

"Of course not, Madam Eight." He may no longer directly serve this once Ten of Spades, but he would deny her nothing. And even after all this time, she still seemed to know which of his buttons to push.

"I would... stay for tea, if it please you."

Hit them where they're vulnerable if you want to get the job done. "Your company would please me very much." It doesn't take long to make the preparations. She'll even allow him to help a bit, the way Zoe or any other of her visitors help. She'll keep the chatter to consequentials until he's ready to discuss whatever it was that brought him here.

He sits quietly with his back straight and a cup of tea resting in his lap. He doesn't make for Particularly Vivacious Company - that is he well aware of. But still he will speak when enough silence has passed between them.

"As you know, there had been a surge of new Castle residents over the past months. Things have since... settled, a bit, and some have returned to their homes. One of the rooms we had cleared out to be used as a Temporary Residence has..." A slight tilt of the head.

"...Hidden Relics, which may be of interest to m'lady St. John." If, of course, she'd rather he discard everything without taking a look at the space and opening a few Pandora's boxes, he'd be happy to do so.

Ridiculous for her stomach to turn to stone at the news. What are a few mementos and memories after all these years? She carefully stirs her tea.

"St. John belongings, you mean?"

"I opened a box and saw your name on an envelope, ma'am. Everything else has remained untouched." It was Not His Business to go around digging through others' Personal Belongings. He merely gleaned sufficient information from as few items as possible before re-sealing the box and making his way out here.

"All Spades have secrets. 'tis not my place to uncover them."

"Of course you didn't pry. I'd expect nothing less of you. I'm glad you're the one who found it--whatever it contains. Did you bring it with you?"

"No m'lady." And it wasn't because of a hidden agenda to draw her back to the Spades' Castle. Or perhaps it was.

"There were Other Boxes, which no one has touched." They may not belong to her, but it would have been reasonable to assume that they did considering they were stacked together.

"Safer that you find the time to take a look."

"Then I hope you won't mind me walking back with you? I'm sure you could use the space they're taking up."

Time had passed. Very few of them were left from the old days. New young Spades were unlikely to know her or her past. Her reluctance to visit stems more from avoiding memories rather than fear.

"Of course not." He hadn't expected that she would want to come along straightaway - she might, after all, be busy Persecuting Plant Vandals And Thieves Relentlessly - but an old Spade visiting their home was not something he would In Any Capacity hesitate to encourage.

Maggie believes in facing unpleasant tasks head on and in getting them over with as soon as possible. Besides, it's quite likely her thieves come from her former Suit. There's absolutely no reason why she can't conduct a few discrete inquiries while at Spade Castle.

"And you can tell me how everyone is."

Hot as a hare, blind as a bat

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I don't actually have a reason so I made shit up.

Making shit up is what we dooooooooo

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