All that legal blah blah blah.

[protectorofnone]

It was fully dark outside by the time Kelne and Illyria left Bryce's mansion. Night had fallen and blanketed the city, the sky dotted with bright spots of light, some of which could still be seen through the thick haze of clouds that had come to hover over Los Angeles. While they could have easily hailed a cab to Wolfram & Hart, Kelne decided

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[protectorofnone]

"I cannot understand..."

Her hand was on his stomach now. He looked down and put his hand over hers. Didn't understand what, exactly? This form. That had to be it. Kelne was comfortable in his, but Illyria seemed to be beyond discomfort, her loathing of humanity coupled with her new form causing her some kind of pain. Kelne could only frown, supporting her as they stepped out into the fourth floor corridor. There had to be a way to help her, a way to make her whole so that she could live, function... be with him again.

"No...stop it....stop it from speaking!"

"Shh, love... clear your mind," he told her, taking her face in his hands and placing a soft kiss on either side of her mouth. "It'll all be over soon. I promise. We're here now... we're going to get you some help. There are powerful people at this firm. They have the strength and the resources to help you, we just need to figure out what the problem is. I need you to do me a favor. I know it won't be easy, but tune out those voices. Just try. Focus on what is here, right now. What's in front of you. Focus on me. Ignore those memories. They're not yours."

[not_the_shell]

We stopped moving and I felt Kelne's hands on the face that was not my own, trying to soothe me somehow. No comfort was found until his lips pressed against mine in the mockery of what we once had together - now trapped within two human bodies, feeble and weak...

We had been perfect and now this was the best we could hope for, it seemed.

His lips left mine yet his eyes did not.

"I need you to do me a favor. I know it won't be easy, but tune out those voices. Just try. Focus on what is here, right now. What's in front of you. Focus on me. Ignore those memories. They're not yours."

I nodded, placing my own hands over his that held my face from moving. My eyes never left his, as I thought back to our times together, the joys in the death...the sheer pleasures between the two of us...it allowed the voice that was The Shell's to disappear, if even for a moment.

"Yes. I am ready now."

[protectorofnone]

"Yes. I am ready now."

"Good." Kelne managed a small smile, carefully taking Illyria's hand in his and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Now come on, baby. Let's go see the Wizard. See if we can't get this all sorted out." Stepping away from the elevator, he slowly began to lead her down the familiar corridor, passing a number of closed doors as they went. He finally slowed to a stop in front of a large set of double-doors that had been left slightly ajar, and, looking to his companion, stepped forward, letting himself in without so much as knocking.

"Miss Morgan, if I might have a moment of your time?"

[femme_fatale_wh]

Lilah was, to say the least, surprised when she saw the pair of women occupying her doorway. She recognized the dark-haired girl all too well, as she, in a roundabout way, was one of the firm's clients. Lilah also recognized the woman beside her, though they had never met before. Virginia Bryce... that was her name, wasn't it? Clearly, Virginia had been having a rough day. She looked nothing like the photographs Lilah had seen. Obviously, this was not a social call.

"Well," she began, putting on her standard-issue smile. "Please, come in. Sit down. I'll admit, I wasn't expecting to hear from you for another few weeks, Lord Kelne. I can only assume that this is an emergency of some sort. It is, as always, lovely to see you. And who's your lady friend?"

[not_the_shell]

I held my lover's hand as we moved into the room, gliding as gracefully as possible in a body I still could not use properly. I was surprised at how friendly the mortal sitting across from us seemed with Kelne, but I did my best to remain unmoved.

"You would dare speak to Kelne in such a matter?"

Yet The Wolf, The Ram, and The Hart were almost as old as I. There might not be any other answer to the voices that continued to torment me save for their assistance.

I disliked that thought immensely.

"Who's your lady friend?"

"Illyria," I answered coldly. And that was quite enough of her interrogations for today. She should know me by sight!

[protectorofnone]

"You would dare speak to Kelne in such a matter?"

"It's alright," Kelne assured her, guiding her towards an empty seat. After all, Lilah had invited them to sit down. He smiled a little, waiting until Illyria was settled before seating himself beside her, making himself comfortable before tilting his head to the side and regarding Lilah with narrowed eyes. "Lilah and I... we're pals. No worries, love."

"Who's your lady friend?"

"Illyria."

"You know, the one I've told you so much about," Kelne pressed on, winking to Lilah as discreetly as he could, as if signalling her to play along. It wasn't a good idea to wound Illyria's ego. Not a good idea at all.

[femme_fatale_wh]

"You know, the one I've told you so much about."

"Ah, yes," Lilah said with a nod, giving Illyria herself a cordial smile. "Must have slipped my mind. Well, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." Her smile was even more plastic than usual as she reached for the cup of coffee on her desk, taking a long sip before looking back to her guests.

"Can I get anything for either of you? Coffee? Tea? Water?" She paused, shifting in her seat, then training her gaze on Illyria. "I assume our lovely Illyria is the reason you're here, Kelne. What seems to be the problem?"

[not_the_shell]

My gaze travelled towards Kelne, then back to the mortal before us...no. Not mortal. Death swam off her body in waves although she sat there and spoke to us both...perhaps she was animated as I was, a being trapped within a body of death?

"I require nothing save the solution to my troubles."

I was growing impatient.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"Kelne had informed me you might be able to assist me in ridding myself of...the voices of the former host of this vessel." We would soon see just how powerful the mortals in The Wolf, The Ram, and Teh Hart were...

[protectorofnone]

"Kelne had informed me you might be able to assist me in ridding myself of...the voices of the former host of this vessel."

"In other words, the body's former occupant decided to leave some of its memories behind," Kelne chimed in, leaning forward in his seat. "My suspicions are the girl's soul hasn't completely left yet. It's still hanging on by a thread. You see how this poses a problem for us. Our dear Illyria has a bunch of voices in her head that she's not feeling too good about. We need them gone."

Lilah raised a brow, leaning back in her seat and folding her hands in her lap, assuming a professional but neutral position. "Understood. Just what is it that you think I can do to help?"

"You've got yourself a multi-million dollar, state of the art operation here," Kelne pointed out, making a vague sort of gesture to the room at large. "You've got experts in demonology, magic... the works. Can't you find some magic gimmick that might scrub out the last of that pesky soul?" He paused, sitting back in his chair again and giving Lilah a determined look. "It would be in your best interest to help us, Lilah. You won't go unrewarded."

"Well," Lilah began, her expression still neutral, her face blank. She managed another small smile as she looked to Illyria. "I'll see what I can do. Would you mind letting us run a few tests? We can't go about solving your problem until we know exactly what it is, you see."

[not_the_shell]

"Would you mind letting us run a few tests? We can't go about solving your problem until we know exactly what it is, you see."

I spun my head quickly to Kelne in anger. They would dare poke and prod at me? No, I would rather live with the screams of The Shell drowning me daily than the touch of a mortal upon me as if I were the insect and not they!

"Can't you find some magic gimmick that might scrub out the last of that pesky soul?"

Yet...my lover seemed to trust them as I did not. I glared at him quickly before turning back towards the other before me and giving only the slightest of nods.

"Do it."

[femme_fatale_wh]

"Do it."

Lilah smirked. Lovely. Not only would this earn her a few brownie points with a potentially important client, but it was also an opportunity for the coats down at the lab to gather some data on this interesting phenomenon that had shown up at her door. This was different than possession, even a little distanced from avatars -- Illyria's situation seemed to be one all her own. This, Lilah thought, was intriguing, and she could think of a few lab staff members that would find the new subject especially exciting.

"I'll get the science department on the phone," she said evenly, still smiling that dark, silky smile as she reached for the receiver.

((Should we end this here and hop to a lab thread? Your call. ^_^))