[open post: thursday's eve]

[forgethertoo]

When the predetermined day and time for the night hunt comes around, Aornis kits herself out quite reasonably, though she secretly loathes every second of it. Sensible, dark clothes and sensible black shoes with no heels. Flashlight. Notebook and pen. A few other useful and routine tools -- and an odd contraption that she's holding in her hands. The outside of it is a glass bottle that once held a beverage of some sort, washed and cleaned thoroughly. Since she didn't want to appear to be the sort to waste food, she's filled it with different colored plastic beads that she discovered in one of the lounges. The bottle is sealed, with the cap on, as she waits for Claudius and Lan Wangji.

Alternatively, if anyone would like to speak with her while she waits for them, they are also more than welcome to -- though we can't particularly guarantee a scintillating conversation, as she's still masquerading as Thursday Next.

Comments

[wickedwit]

"Thursday." Claudius comes kitted for the occasion in a houndstooth coat, of a cut a Hollywood starlet might wear; his boots are high-heeled but sturdy. "Such a pleasure to see you again," he says, the height of courtesy. "I believe you've met Master Lan Wangji?"

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji follows barely a step behind Claudius. His sword is at his hip, his qin is at his back, and his robes, boots, and forehead ribbon are clean white, as if grime would not dare to think of touching them. None of this is any different from their first meeting, if it was indeed their first meeting. His face bears no particular expression aside from what someone who doesn't know him might easily interpret as distant dissatisfaction. That is also unchanged from the day he greeted her.

Thus cued, he bows. "Young mistress Next."

[vineleaves]

Dionysus is on his way to go find a little late night snackie when he stumbles upon, "Oh, Thursday, dear!" and he, of course, gives her a big hug. "I don't know how it is we only seem to cross paths when one of us is so busy these days," he's assuming she's busy, she's holding a flashlight. People only hold flashlights when they're busy. No clue what's up with the bottle. "Where are you off to?"

[forgethertoo]

"Hello," Aornis greets both of them with a friendly nod. "You know, I'm still not entirely sure what a night hunt is."

[forgethertoo]

"I'm apparently joining Claudius and Lan Wangji on a night hunt," she says, tone bemused. She tests out her flashlight, flipping it on and turning it off again. "Have you been on one before?"

[vineleaves]

“Oh, no, I’m not one much for hunting. That’s more my sister’s thing.” A pause. “What are you hunting?”

[forgethertoo]

"A murderer, apparently." She shakes her head a little. "Sorry, I'm not the one who organized this event. I'm just along for the ride."

[vineleaves]

“Oh,” Dionysus is aware that there have been investigations in to all of …that, but for his part he has mostly just been trying to keep everyone’s sanity in check throughout the grieving process.

“You’ll be careful though, won’t you dear? The last thing we need is for anyone else to end up hurt, you know.” He gives her another hug. “Well, at least you’re not going alone. Stay close with Claudius, won’t you? He’s under my protection, you know, he knows how to call for me if something bad happens, and I can be out to wherever you are lickety-split.”

He doesn’t like the thought of any of them actively looking for whoever the murderer is, but at least there’s safety in numbers.

[wickedwit]

"Then we'll all have an opportunity to learn from one another. Master Lan Wangji, you see, is an expert." He nods in Lan Wangji's direction. "Just as you're an expert in your own field, I'm sure. I'm only an expert meddler. I like to bring people together."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji would ordinarily have some objections to that assertion, but naturally he won't interrupt whatever game Claudius is playing. "Cultivators embark on night-hunts to find and exorcise evil," he supplies, "but night-hunting is not restricted to cultivators." Luo Qingyang's intrepid husband, formerly a merchant, comes to mind.

[forgethertoo]

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself," Aornis tells him, her tone light. "It's just a walk around the grounds."

[forgethertoo]

"Do we think that evil is more active at night?" Aornis asks, tone lightly curious.

[vineleaves]

"Still, dear, promise me you'll be careful?"

[forgethertoo]

"Of course I will. I'm always careful."

[wickedwit]

“In my own limited experience, yes,” Claudius says, with a hand gesture twirling towards himself. “Darkness can cover any number of sins, and it helped that I didn’t much sleep. Back when I was brewing poison for my brother, I mean — it’s said natural magic is most potent at midnight. Ghosts are also said to walk in the witching hour.” He’s quite comfortable implying his brother’s midnight walks brought as much evil into the world as the poison did. “Is it the same in your world, Wangji?”

[vineleaves]

"Glad to hear it." She gets a third hug, and a kiss on the cheek. "I won't hold you up any longer, since you've got somewhere to be, and I'm hoping there's some tiramisu with my name on it somewhere in a kitchen waiting, but we truly do need to catch up sometime. Give Claudius and Lan Wangji my love, won't you?"

[lightbearinglord]

"Mn." Of course, not all evil walks at night. Lan Wangji has seen unspeakable atrocities committed in broad daylight. But for the purposes of night-hunting, the theory holds. "Ghosts, demons, and monsters move more readily at night."

[forgethertoo]

"I will," she nods. "I'm sure I'll see you soon."

[forgethertoo]

"Well, then I'm glad we all seem well-prepared," Aornis says, tone practical. She hefts the bottle full of beads slightly. "Before we head out, I can show you how this works. It looks rudimentary, but it's the detector of entropy manipulation that I had previously mentioned."

[vineleaves]

“Of course! You know me, always around.” He winks. “Anyway, I’m off! Have fun tonight!”

[wickedwit]

Claudius unflips a notebook from his coat pocket, clicks a pen, and says, "Please do go on."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji folds his hands together behind his back and prepares to listen. The detector looks like nothing in particular, but he knows better than to dismiss it on those grounds.

[forgethertoo]

"It's quite simple, really. You don't need much to make additional ones either. If entropy is normal, whatever you put inside will look like this," Aornis says, with a shake of the bottle. The beads rattle. "They're evenly mixed. Random. When entropy is being manipulated, when you shake it, you'll see an unrandomized pattern. Swirls, starbursts, color sorting... anything of the sort indicates manipulation."

[wickedwit]

"Fascinating. I suppose it would begin with simple things. Shen Yuan heard a song from his childhood, didn't he?" with a look in Lan Wangji's direction. "Let me ask -- does entropy manipulation build up over time? If one of our guard catches a coincidence this way, will they be in better shape to avoid more deadly coincidences?"

[lightbearinglord]

At Claudius' prompting glance, Lan Wangji nods. It was both the least and the most interesting coincidence Shen Yuan mentioned during his recounting of his death. The mansion produces improbabilities at regular intervals, but with everything they know about Aornis now, the mansion seems shockingly innocent.

He listens for Thursday's answers, but adds one question of his own: "Can anything about the nature of the threat be gleaned from the pattern displayed?"