Pushing herself gracefully off the countertop Marlena helped herself to a whiskey when it became apparent that her brother was definitely not in the right headspace to be a functioning host. Not that it was either of their specialisations – spending yours days with beasts and oddballs did not make for the sort of training that most of society considered useful.

“Bored,” she replied simply, taking a seat at the kitchen table so she could at least pretend to be civilised. “And I thought I’d make sure you and Theseus hadn’t fallen into the same vanishing cabinet as Astrild.”

Stealing the corner off his sandwich she glanced between the table and his face with a little more apprehension, speaking quietly. “Has she been around much at all?”

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MJ: still raising the graphics bar as of 2022