002 // [ action - open again ]

[deucedlyerratic]

The day hadn't been particularly trying apart from working on the curriculum, but the news definitely had Amelia unsettled. She wasn't the most profound with weapons nor combat with unknown entities, she'd leave that to the more...capable hands. While she took pride in her abilities, she felt terribly useless when it came to things that needed a

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[notasuggestion]

Helga had formulated several plans of how to handle the Black Mist while she'd bathed and rested the previous day. She supposed the time could have been worse spent. Though it would have been preferable if it hadn't been a small leviathan that had forced her to relax. Still, who was she to argue with sharp teeth?

...Of course, most of her plans involved throwing someone to the Mist and then watching what happened so they'd know what they were dealing with better.

Somehow, she doubted the school would let her do that.

Still. Now that little creature was gone, she was rested, and her back felt better. She'd wait awhile before trying a high kick again. Perhaps another week or so. As she walked, she smelled tea. Slow brewed tea. She hadn't smelled that since she was a girl and her mother would make tea...

Helga followed the scent only to find the captain at work. She said nothing, not about to disrupt another professional. Instead, the lieutenant merely leaned against the doorframe, watching. Curious but silent.

[deucedlyerratic]

The inaudible creak of the doorframe caused the Captain's ears to perk, and as her eyes never strayed from her work, she could only assume who it was out of her peripheral vision.

"Tell me, Lieutenant, how much sugar do you take in your tea?"

It was an upfront question, but not one to be expecting if you're not supposed to be there in the first place.

[notasuggestion]

Helga stiffened slightly. She wasn't used to being addressed when she remained silent, and the fact that the captain knew it was her... Well, for a moment, it brought up unsettling memories.

She didn't quite answer, instead saying, "I apologize if I'm disturbing you. Not many people brew tea properly, so I had to see." She shrugged. It was a poor answer, but it was true.

[deucedlyerratic]

"That doesn't answer the question as to how much sugar you'd like." She sat her pencil down calmly, but it was obvious the tea was done if it was attracting Lieutenants.

"Don't apologize. It was too quiet anyways." She pulled it off the hot plate.
"And making tea on a chemistry hot plate is far from proper."

[fillsinedges]

[Much like Helga, Cutler was drawn to the smell of a good, strong tea. Or, rather, the smell of good strong tea, being brewed somewhere not in one of the two communal kitchens. Lord Cutler Beckett was not used to having to trek down an entire floor to have his tea. It just wasn't DONE.

Curiously, he paused in front of Amelia's open door. The room's inhabitant only gave him a moment's pause. There was everything familiar about the situation, save for some minor - and yet, important - changes. Tea. Charts. A uniform. He might as well have stepped back into the East India House.

Cutler rapped smartly on the door frame, and then tucked his hands behind his back, waiting for the Captain's attention.]

[deucedlyerratic]

[ Amelia didn't take much notice to Cutler until he made himself known by the knock on the doorframe. By then, she had been well into her tea break. She took notice that he handled the situation much like a professional would, and so she decided to treat him as such. ]
"Come in."

[ She made it seem like she was only paying half attention to him, when really, every few glances, she was doing a thorough look down. Judging by his clean appearance, he was obviously, high up there on the status ladder, but not a spacer. ]

"And what can I do for you?"

[fillsinedges]

[He steps inside, but only marginally. It's a gesture of guarded respect, since there is still the none-too-faint possibility that the...woman could outrank him. Not within England's borders, or he was fairly certain he would have heard of her. But certainly elsewhere. And with Jack underfoot now, he was suddenly much more desirous to make alliances within the faculty.

That being said her half-attention, regardless of veracity, was noted, and it rankled. His voice was wry when he spoke, but ultimately polite.]

I apologize if I'm intruding. I simply came by to introduce myself, considering I didn't get the chance at our recent briefing. Lord Cutler Beckett. [She gets a really shallow bow, mostly because she's a woman. Also, he's totally lying, since he came to ask about the tea, but there are formalities that must be stood upon.]