Who: Lou Parkinson and Dex Kessinger What: Lou has an explanation to make When: 22 February 1889 [one of the many backdated threads about this] Where: Dex's office Warnings: None.
How Lou had managed to get himself in the middle of events that involved both the Sidhe ambassador to Britain and one of London's protector dragons was somewhat beyond him. He'd known that Miss Ward was some sort of supernatural person early on, but he hadn't expected her to up and vanish away while Mr Mac Ruadh was talking to her. And now he had to explain all this to Mr Kessinger.
(Lou hadn't expected Miss Ward to insult Mr Mac Ruadh either. She hadn't known, clearly. He hoped she survived whatever was happening to her long enough to understand that Mr Mac Ruadh had meant her no harm. And offer appropriate apologies.)
He rapped on the door, hoping Mr Kessinger was as generous about it as Mr Mac Ruadh had been.
Dex was sitting at his desk, flipping through some paperwork that dealt with the House of Shadows. He rarely studied anything up for conversation with the other MPs as he had always been the only dragon, other than his son. Sure, he looked at everything and if there was something to say, he said it. But now that there was another dragon in town, he looked more closely at everything.
When the knock came at the door, he was relieved and he gathered up all the papers and placed them in a drawer on his desk. “Come in,” he called out as he straightened a pen and then stood to greet whoever was on the other side of the door.
“Mr. Parkinson,” he lifted a curious brow. “What do I owe the pleasure?”
Lou had really expected Dex to have some sort of secretary, but on second thought, anyone who really needed to see Dex was going to know what he was and consider the price of disturbing him accordingly. It was, in fact, only dire emergency that had driven him to this extreme. "Thank you for seeing me, sir. I have some news about the coin case, and about Miss Arabella Ward, the young lady who was--is--also interested in the investigation. Several things have happened and Mr Conall MacRuadh is also involved, and with his permission I'm bringing word about otherwise confidential matters of state."
“Please, take a seat Mr. Parkinson,” Dex waved him to a chair at his desk. He moved back to his own chair at his desk and took a seat. “What has happened that you had to get permission to bring confidential matters to me?” He asked with a raised brow. “Is Miss Ward alright?”
When a dragon told Lou to sit down, Lou sat down. "I believe so. That was certainly the gist of what Mr Mac Ruadh said to me. We met with him and there was some verbal jousting, because apparently Miss Ward was suspicious of him for some reason, and quite wroth with me for bringing her there. I didn't know they were previously acquainted," he added nervously. "I knew she wasn't entirely, er," Lou thought about it and settled on, "mortal" as the correct word.
"That she had some supernatural heritage, and that was presumably how she ended up with me, and she seemed mostly unaware of it, and, saving your grace, I didn't think she was a dragon. Anyhow, I told him everything that had happened, which I'll repeat momentarily to you, but the thing is, I thought she might be in danger, and so I felt some protection was in order, and since she seemed more likely to be from the Courts than anything else, I took her to him.
"And then he wanted to speak privately with her, presumably about supernatural matters than I'm not privy to, and," Lou grimaced nervously "I'm afraid she seems to have vanished. Apparently to the Courts. But she wasn't harmed, according to Mr Mac Ruadh. And I'm not familiar enough with matters to do with the Courts to know beyond that."
Dex relaxed slightly, good to know that Miss Ward was okay. To hear everything else, however, bothered him and his eyebrows drew together. “No,” he shook his head. “She is not a dragon, I can assure you of that,” he stated. A dragon knew when they came across another dragon, it just was. At least, it was for him. A pull in his center that said that someone was the same as he; it was how he found his son.
“The Courts?” Now he was astounded, though he thought that it might make some sense she had vanished to there, presumably. “Why was she pulled to the Courts? Or...did she just...go?” He was confused by it all, and even he, himself, wasn’t sure he knew enough of the Courts himself, but this did worry him somewhat.
"The discussion was private between the two of them, so I'm afraid I can't answer that question. And he did not explain to me what happened," Lou admitted glumly. "I assume it's an affair of the Courts that I'm not privy to, because I'm mortal. I know Mr MacRuadh would tell me if he thought she was in danger. I do not doubt his word. I simply don't understand. And anyhow she might be safer there than she is in London at the moment."
Dex stared unceremoniously at Lou for a moment before realizing he was staring. His thoughts were whirling in his head and he was trying to make sense of what was actually happening, what Lou was saying. He blinked, gave a shake of his head and took a breath. “Why is she not safe here? What has happened?”
"You remember the coin that she brought in, and how it had been never been issued, on top of all the other things wrong about it? The official at the Mint who recalled the issue, who made sure it didn't go out, died. And it turns out that Scotland Yard, the mundane equivalent of the Night Watch, is investigating his death as murder. Perhaps I'm overly cautious, but the murder of a Mint official, counterfeit coins--or special alchemical coins of some sort--and a person of supernatural heritage who stumbled on to them? All of this suggests that Miss Ward may be in danger from someone or something that has already killed once."
Lou's thoughtful expression turned toward a scowl. "And there have been other suspicious events around her, apparently, which could relate to her unknown heritage. But what if they don't?"
Dex was quiet as he let all the information sink in, nodding his head about the coin. “So this mysterious coin has become even more mysterious and dangerous,” he said as he stroked his short beard. He needed a shave, but had been thinking he would grow it out a bit. “I don’t think you are being overly cautious, I think maybe that is what it is that should all be doing; those that know of the coin,” he looked at Lou. If what Lou said was true, if someone was murdered because of their knowledge of the coin, then that did mean that Miss Ward and others were also in danger, including himself and even his son.
“Have you done anything to protect yourself?”
Lou's face fell a little. "I've mostly been concerned with assuring that Miss Ward was protected, since I was certain she was the one who had drawn the most attention. But the truth is, Mr Kessinger, that if there's someone killing people inside the Mint to suppress information, then a jumped-up bank clerk like me is hardly going to be able to protect himself. Especially if they're supernatural and I'm just me." Which would have been a painful admission to make to anyone short of a Dragon or a great lord of the Sidhe like Mac, but it was the truth. "I'm keeping an eye out for anything suspicious, but I don't know that there's much I can do. I did, however, think of one precaution."
He pulled a small envelope out of his pocket. "This is the other key to the vault with the coin. I think you should have it, rather than me, just in case. If you're willing to take it, that is."
Dex did not like the idea that there was a murderer out there that was more than likely looking for these coins, or wanting to make sure that those who knew about the coins were silenced permanently and Lou had no protection. There was little that he could do to help protect Lou, he thought, short of hiring protection which would only cause more attention than they needed.
No, he did not like this at all.
“I’ll take the key,” he said, a frown clearly on his usual stoic face. He reached out to take the envelop. “You should take more precautions, however. “Maybe always make sure there is someone else with you, never be alone. I can see who is looking into the murders, see if there is anything to be done about finding who it is.”
"I've been told to take this to the Night Watch, and they are next on my list. But first I owed you an answer and the chance to protect your family." It was, after all, the honourable thing to do. But Lou could not have denied how relieved he felt when Dex took the envelope from his hands. "If you'd like to speak with the Night Watch, I'll of course wait until you can tend to the matter."
“The Night Watch is a good idea,” Dex nodded. “There is a man there, Mr Bertie Eden, that I know. If you feel you wish to go to someone that you know is trustworthy, that would be who you should speak to. Feel free to go to them yourself. If anything, tell Mr Eden I sent you so that things go a little more smoothly if you wish.” Not to say no one at the Night Watch was untrustworthy, just that he knew Bertie on a personal level. “I do appreciate you coming to tell me, to warn me,” he said. He had the envelope in hand and rose from his seat. From there he strode to one wall and moved a wall hanging to reveal a safe. “It should be well kept here for now,” he said.
"I trust your precautions," Lou said, and politely turned aside so whatever Dex needed to do could be done without him seeing it. He could not be forced to give up information that he didn't have.
Dex shut the safe and put everything to right before turning back to Lou. He had not been worried the man would see the combination to the safe, his hulking form would have hid it well from view, but he did appreciate that Lou had turned away.
“Perhaps I can talk to Mr. Raducah and ask after Miss. Ward,” he then said. “However, I believe I will be told that it is business that is not of my own,” he chuckled. “Still, I will find out if she is safe or in danger, see if there is anything I can do of help.”
"Please do. I'm far more concerned for her than for myself. I'm mortal, and I'm a smaller and less useful target. Miss Ward is special and I worry a great deal about her. She has no idea what she's got herself into," Lou stressed. "I don't think she truly understood anything about the shadow side of things until now at all."
Dex gave a nod. “I’ll talk with him soon, then.” It wouldn’t do any harm to find out about Miss Ward’s whereabouts and if she were okay. “I may need to put some protection in order for my son,” he murmured thoughtfully. Harming his son would be the easiest and quickest way to get to Dex
"I personally don't know of anyone who would suit, but if I hear of someone of the right sort seeking a situation, I'll be glad to refer them on." Lou wouldn't have presumed to give unasked advice but he personally thought an excellent nanny of the supernatural sort would be wise for a dragon child anyroad. It would be one thing to attack him or Miss Ward, who didn't know very much about how to defend herself. A supernatural person who had some idea of what they were doing would be an entirely different matter. "If there's anything else I can do, please don't hesitate to ask.".
Dex had a governess and he was sure Miss Foster would be good in protecting his son, considering what she was. Thank goodness he’d had the mind to get someone of the supernatural sort. “Thank you, Lou,” he said, using the man's first name. “I’ll be sure to contact you when I know anything, and I ask the same of you if you can,” he nodded. “Stay safe.”
"I will, sir," Lou answered, unable to quite hide a smile at the friendly intimacy from someone who really could squash him like a bug without meaning to. "I will."