The Perk, Thursday Before Class
It was a perfectly lovely morning, and so Emma had decided to walk into town and treat herself to some ridiculously fancy beverage that pretended to be coffee while she made a few calls. First to her stockbroker, to leave a few messages. Then another call, mostly because Emma just liked being annoying and wanted gossip. "Pick up, Karla," she complained, frowning when she got voicemail. Again.
She frowned at her phone thoughtfully before calling one more number. Hopefully he'd be able to figure out how to answer.
Morton
It took three rings before the connection clicked open. "Hello?"
It wasn't a greeting so much as a puzzled sound. Someone was new to this whole phone thing.
Emma
"Moooooooortooooon! Look, tell Karla that I can only cover for her in classes for so long," Emma whined. "She needs to do her own assignments."
Morton
Morton went from blinking in slight confusion at the phone to... blinking in confusion at the phone. "What? Karla already headed back to the island."
Hadn't she?
Emma
"When? If she's back tonight, I can give her the notes I've been taking, and make her buy me dinner." Emma was already considering where she wanted to eat. "What have you been doing that's kept her so busy, anyway? She isn't even answering her phone."
Morton
There was a long pause.
Then, slowly, "Almost a week ago. Five days, to be precise."
Emma
Emma felt her heart drop, and she had to swallow hard before speaking again. "Morton. It does not take five days to get from there to here," she said, doing her best to keep her voice even. "Does it?"
Morton
"No. No it doesn't."
Morton's mind was already spinning up, considering all the nightmare scenarios that this could indicate.
Emma
"Right. How many people do you want me to bring along when I arrive?" Like hell Emma was going to sit here, sipping her coffee, when Karla was actually missing and not just late.
Morton
"How many can you bring?" That was to say: all of them.
Morton suspected they were going to need all the help they could get on this one.
Emma
"That depends on what you think we're going to be doing," she replied, already jotting names on a napkin. "It's not like her to just skip off on vacation."
Morton
"No. No it's not. I think... I think she may have been..."
"Kidnapped."
It was hard to say.
Emma
"I need you to focus, Morton!" She wasn't going to yell, yelling wasn't going to help. "WHO do you think kidnapped her? Your uncle? Where could she be?"
Morton
Her tone was enough to snap Morton out of it, at least a bit. His spine straightened automatically.
"Probably Hobart, yes. He might try to hide her somewhere in Glacia. Or maybe one of the neighboring Territories. I'll talk to my contacts in Glacia and notify the Hall. They can send people to nearby Territories. Hopefully we'll know something by the time you get here."
Emma
"I'll round up a veritable army," she promised, looking over her list. "If Hobart is behind this, he won't know what hit him."
"And best yet, we can't be traced back to the Hall."
Morton
"Don't think that hasn't occurred to me too," Morton said, voice low and dangerous.
His Queen was in danger.
Emma
"Keep a leash on it, Morton," Emma warned. After over a year of knowing Karla, Emma had gotten a general idea of how to handle Blood males, or at least knew how to push Morton's buttons.
"Here's what we're going to do. You get the dubious honor of talking to that Uncle Saetan of yours, and I'll get a portal to the Hall ordered up. We'll be there as soon as we can."
Morton
"Yes, Lady," Morton answered automatically, straightening further.
Then: "And, Emma? Thanks."
Emma
"Thank me when we get her back," she said quietly. "And we will get her back. I promise."
Morton
"Yes." That was Morton suppressing any doubts very, very hard.
[OOC: And so it begins! NFI, totes for broadcast, preplayed with the always-cool make_the_shot. Continued here!]
She frowned at her phone thoughtfully before calling one more number. Hopefully he'd be able to figure out how to answer.
Morton
It took three rings before the connection clicked open. "Hello?"
It wasn't a greeting so much as a puzzled sound. Someone was new to this whole phone thing.
Emma
"Moooooooortooooon! Look, tell Karla that I can only cover for her in classes for so long," Emma whined. "She needs to do her own assignments."
Morton
Morton went from blinking in slight confusion at the phone to... blinking in confusion at the phone. "What? Karla already headed back to the island."
Hadn't she?
Emma
"When? If she's back tonight, I can give her the notes I've been taking, and make her buy me dinner." Emma was already considering where she wanted to eat. "What have you been doing that's kept her so busy, anyway? She isn't even answering her phone."
Morton
There was a long pause.
Then, slowly, "Almost a week ago. Five days, to be precise."
Emma
Emma felt her heart drop, and she had to swallow hard before speaking again. "Morton. It does not take five days to get from there to here," she said, doing her best to keep her voice even. "Does it?"
Morton
"No. No it doesn't."
Morton's mind was already spinning up, considering all the nightmare scenarios that this could indicate.
Emma
"Right. How many people do you want me to bring along when I arrive?" Like hell Emma was going to sit here, sipping her coffee, when Karla was actually missing and not just late.
Morton
"How many can you bring?" That was to say: all of them.
Morton suspected they were going to need all the help they could get on this one.
Emma
"That depends on what you think we're going to be doing," she replied, already jotting names on a napkin. "It's not like her to just skip off on vacation."
Morton
"No. No it's not. I think... I think she may have been..."
"Kidnapped."
It was hard to say.
Emma
"I need you to focus, Morton!" She wasn't going to yell, yelling wasn't going to help. "WHO do you think kidnapped her? Your uncle? Where could she be?"
Morton
Her tone was enough to snap Morton out of it, at least a bit. His spine straightened automatically.
"Probably Hobart, yes. He might try to hide her somewhere in Glacia. Or maybe one of the neighboring Territories. I'll talk to my contacts in Glacia and notify the Hall. They can send people to nearby Territories. Hopefully we'll know something by the time you get here."
Emma
"I'll round up a veritable army," she promised, looking over her list. "If Hobart is behind this, he won't know what hit him."
"And best yet, we can't be traced back to the Hall."
Morton
"Don't think that hasn't occurred to me too," Morton said, voice low and dangerous.
His Queen was in danger.
Emma
"Keep a leash on it, Morton," Emma warned. After over a year of knowing Karla, Emma had gotten a general idea of how to handle Blood males, or at least knew how to push Morton's buttons.
"Here's what we're going to do. You get the dubious honor of talking to that Uncle Saetan of yours, and I'll get a portal to the Hall ordered up. We'll be there as soon as we can."
Morton
"Yes, Lady," Morton answered automatically, straightening further.
Then: "And, Emma? Thanks."
Emma
"Thank me when we get her back," she said quietly. "And we will get her back. I promise."
Morton
"Yes." That was Morton suppressing any doubts very, very hard.
[OOC: And so it begins! NFI, totes for broadcast, preplayed with the always-cool make_the_shot. Continued here!]