Mary smiled back at the friendly young woman. "Ah yes, Ms Mitchell, thank you for calling ahead, not that we're swamped with guests of course, but it's nice to have someone remember to warn you! Welcome to Tadfield Manor! You'll have to fill in this form. Any preferences regarding your room, dear? First, second or third floor, shower or bathtub, single bed or king size?"
Kirby grinned broadly down at the women. "Bathtub and king size bed would be super cool," she said. She glanced at the form and entered her name and phone number, then grinned at the next question.
Mary nodded, selecting a key. "A room on the first floor then. Will 104 be alright, dear? And I'm afraid the form is serious, you know how it is, we get all sorts here, but really you don't have to worry. Just ignore anything that isn't applicable and don't be too surprised if you see men with wings running around."
She filled in the form and handed it back, along with the money for the first week. Strange - she could have sworn the lady had said men with wings. Well, she probably hadn't.
"Men with wigs?" she asked, deciding that she had probably misheard. "Cool. That adds a little surprise once in a while."
"Not wigs, dear, though really you never know, that Aziraphale has such lovely hair, I knew a few women who would have been so jealous." Mary smiled to herself as she took the form and money, remembering some of the nuns. She rather missed them.
"Wings. Lovely big ones, too, though frankly I wonder how they get dressed in the mornings, but of course they can hide them if they want to, which must come in handy."
"The wings or the angels? Well, the angels can fly because of the wings, but sadly they don't run about in nothing but diapers. Bit of a pity, really. They have swords though, and they're mostly very polite."
"I'm not really into guys in diapers," Kirby said. "And I've never tried wings before." She took the key, and her grin grew a it wider still, "but really - them being polite and no eunuchs is a very good starting point!"
Mary blinked at her for a moment. "Eunuchs? Oh no, dear, I meant real swords. Big metal ones. I really wouldn't know about their being eunuchs or not, I've never had the chance to find out, though I wouldn't protest if I did. Still, I doubt you'll get to find out anytime soon, I think they're not supposed to do anything of the sort. The demons have wings too, though."
"You have no idea at all of the reasons men can come up with to let the likes of us find our about that even if they're not supposed to," Kirby laughed. "More often than not they don't even need a lot of prompting." She considered. "It's been years since I had a decent swordfight. Maybe they're up to some practice. They can get nice and sweaty and I can offer to help them cool off again." She said the last with a grin that left little doubt about the underlying idea.
Mary laughed. "I do wish you all the best with that, dear. I didn't know you could use a sword, though - do you mind me asking what your occupation is?"
Without missing a beat and in a tone that might as well have been used to say "secretary" or "engineer" or "baker", Kirby answered: "I'm an assassin for hire." She considered for the fraction of a second, then went on: "Though I am mainly retired these days."
Still, it wasn't as though there weren't stranger types staying at the Manor.
"Oh? You seem a little young to be retiring if you don't mind my saying so, although I suppose your line of work is rather stressful and one would want to retire early if one wants to be able to retire at all, poor dear. Ooh, have you ever been in a car chase? Though those do make me wonder who cleans up afterward, I must say, and of course it's rather wasteful."
"That's true," she said. "Luckily you make enough money young to retire young if you want to enjoy your retirement at all."
She flashed a smile at the woman. "Car chases are greatly overrated I must say. You don't really get to enjoy them when you're in the middle of them, and as you said they're quite a mess. And they draw attention. Attention is never good. Or well, not that kind of attention. Now, that basketball playin' fella out there, I wouldn't mind drawing his attention for sure."
Mary laughed. "Well, he isn't married as far as I know; he apparently arrived with another man but they're not that sort, I think, not that I have anything against that, of course, it's a personal choice. And I certainly have my suspicions about Aziraphale. Still, I think you'll like it here."
Kirby smiled widely. "Cool," she said. "It would have been a shame if he'd preferred men. Not that I could blame any guy for wanting him. Who did you say was Aziraphale?"
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"Is this serious?" she asked.
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"Men with wigs?" she asked, deciding that she had probably misheard. "Cool. That adds a little surprise once in a while."
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"Wings. Lovely big ones, too, though frankly I wonder how they get dressed in the mornings, but of course they can hide them if they want to, which must come in handy."
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Mary handed Kirby the key.
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Still, it wasn't as though there weren't stranger types staying at the Manor.
"Oh? You seem a little young to be retiring if you don't mind my saying so, although I suppose your line of work is rather stressful and one would want to retire early if one wants to be able to retire at all, poor dear. Ooh, have you ever been in a car chase? Though those do make me wonder who cleans up afterward, I must say, and of course it's rather wasteful."
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She flashed a smile at the woman. "Car chases are greatly overrated I must say. You don't really get to enjoy them when you're in the middle of them, and as you said they're quite a mess. And they draw attention. Attention is never good. Or well, not that kind of attention. Now, that basketball playin' fella out there, I wouldn't mind drawing his attention for sure."
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