People had been stolen off the streets for much more flimsy reasons than being a witch -- Arden didn’t really need that to be spelled out for her. To some the fact he could perform magic would be more valuable than any amount of money anyone could hope to offer; at the same time, certain vampires might think he just looked tasty. As soon as she realised that last one wasn’t kidnap as much as it was murder it unsettled her. So she rolled her shoulders in an attempt to shake it off and focussed on the ‘witch for hire’ thing. It sounded odd, somehow… like a gypsy fortune-teller… but she didn’t think Ice would appreciate that comparison. It didn’t quite fit either. “You make it sound like detective work,” she remarked, perhaps a touch puzzled because she had never thought deduction would feature into it before -- but then her own magic was very different from his.
Feet on seats had never bothered her so long as they were clean -- she hated her (possibly wicked) step-mother for making her take her shoes off at the door when she visited -- and as a result, didn’t even feature on Arden’s radar of Things Happening In The Car. Actually, most of the focus was rather shamelessly taken up by Ice, with a lingering red dot on the map somewhere near where Rafiki was because of the banana. That dot was still fairly small in comparison to the witch -- who was riding shotgun and therefore right in her peripheral vision. A faint smirk already formed at his grin, Arden admittedly felt quite smug as she went into auto to turn the car, her mind zoning the stereo out to replace it with Edith Piaf’s Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien.
Usually that only happened on the racetrack.
Now, with the car stationary, the world looked different and much, much less inviting. “Oui,” she agreed, pout fully audible. “Moi aussi.” But then her experience with the military involved the German occupation of France. Opening the door, she swung her legs out with far more grace than she would have usually bothered -- only to immediately stretch her arms right over her head, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet as she stood. A quick make-up check was done in the wing mirror and she was ready. “Lunch sounds good. All I’ve eaten are these--” she pulled her shrinking lollipop from her mouth before promptly putting it back. Cherry was not a thing to be wasted. There was also the knot she was getting in her tummy from the sight of all those cars. “I don’t understand -- if they ‘ave all been ‘ere since last night, why are the paramedics and such still ‘ere? If there are all in school they should be fine, no?” This, she did realise, was hopeful thinking. But it had only now struck her that two of her adoptive brothers were old enough to actually be in there and she had heard nothing from either her father or step-mother. They had told her nothing of it. Did that mean they didn’t go? Maybe she’d gotten their school wrong. Or were Luc and Carrie just freaking out too much? ... Are they here, now, waiting? “What do you think might ‘ave caused it?” Ice’s opinion had now become more than a matter of interest. “In theory. Without looking.”
Then an idea hit her.
“I could try and flirt you past a soldier.” It was an honest-to-god suggestion and completely shameless. Anyway, she was a very good means of distraction. Whether she could hold the attention of a soldier with an agenda… Well, that was another thing entirely. “No ‘arm in trying, right?” Yes, she was deliberately using Ice’s own words. Minus the ‘h’.