MCU Headquarters

Axolotls rolled down the sidewalk in front of MCU. she stopped and stared at the person throwing stones at the windows, and then decided it wasn't any of her business. With that, the super intelligent axolotls drove her fortified fish tank down the sidewalk.

Humans were weird. Everyone should just be an amphibian like her. The work made much more sense that way.

While Gwathel stood there throwing rocks into the many openings in the old, burned down building, it’s wards were quietly awakened by this new and rather aggressive activity. Wards that would eventually send a message to Council, if anyone happened to be monitoring the old outmoded system of magic powered sensors that was.

What few rocks and larger hunks of concrete that managed to make their way through one of the upper story windows, resulted in much of the same fiery death as the others. Minor explosions and showers of sparks cascading down towards the street, nothing terribly harmful, and more than likely annoying. However, eventually these explosions stopped and something else shuddered inside the building.

MCU had always been creative when it came to warding properties, and objects. They had somehow managed to devise a way of giving them a rudimentary sentience, that at least allowed them to recognize an attack; even one as small, and inconsequential as hurling rocks at windows was. But, eventually Gwathel received what she had been asking for by provoking the wards on the old building.

The building shuddered with a deep groan as the wards sluggishly came to life after having slept for so long, as varying pieces of brick, and mortar rained down. Eventually after a time the building began to shed larger and larger hunks of material, taking aim at Gwathel and her spiders.

June surveyed the report that had been sent some time ago. "I'll be honest, I don't see a problem. Construction is coming along just fine, and most of the archives were salvageable." She said with a shrug. Humans could be some of the most destructive beings when given access to any sort of magic, it seemed to be something unique about them. Granted, June hadn't really observed any other sentient races a terribly great deal. Her scope of experience had really only been humans and animals; in fact really most of Terra's own flora and fauna to be exact. "You're better with all of this metaphysical nonsense than me Kas, you figure it out!" June added shoving the not so small ream of paper contained within a binder over towards her companion for this trip. Granted, June wasn't about to go diving headlong into whatever crazy wards were on the building; but some of them were keeping construction from moving forward further.

Kasimir rolled his eyes and accepted the report, flipping through it to the relevant section. "Here. Some of the officer's personal wards are concealing key points in the building." He pointed out the highlighted parts of the diagram in the report. "It's gotten in the way of construction, because the workers are all mundane, yet mysteriously can't find out where to put some of the support structures." Everything had been cleared out that could be cleared out. He looked the paperwork over again and sighed. "And the wards all begin and terminate in midair. None of these are ground floor, those were removed already." It was a hassle. "We need to bring in specialists, I think." But that would be a hassle and an expensive one. "...which will require council approval, and while you know I try and support MCU, certain idiotic voices on the council will do what they can to obstruct this, including fighting the motion to hire specialists."

With June, while they played politics occasionally, he could often let his actual feeling show. That included his opinion on certain foolish elements of the council.

Oh the sidewalk, a girl walked by, backpack on her back, and oddly, a small gymbag at her side. The girl stopped, as she often did, to watch the construction. It happened a lot here, she knew, but that didn't make it any less interesting, not to Nadya. She brightened as she recognized the aura on the site though, and moved closer to her, though she remained on the proper side fo the fence. "Miss June!" She called out, pleased to see the other. "Hello!"

"Well, that's what happens when a fire destroys the upper floors." She huffed peering over at the diagram with a great amount of annoyance. She knew if push came to shove, she could likely get Alexander to vote on the issue, after all, he did have family working with MCU for the most part. "So we bring in the specialists.. do it sometime when the workers won't be here. A Sunday perhaps?" She mused looking at the diagram and weighing her options. There would likely be stalling, and attempts at overriding the vote, but perhaps Council needed to be reminded of what was going on while MCU was largely absent. "I think... I know of a way to get the vote pushed through," June said, grinning mischievously. So what if it meant sacrificing a guinea pig or two, it was all in favor of the greater good.

Seeing the small girl, June's grin widened. It looked like she had survived her first month with Laura and was doing well. "Nadya! Hello!" She replied as she walked towards the girl.

"A Sunday works." He murmured and smiled. "Alright. Go ahead and-" He looked to whoever had June's attention and joined her in the walk over. "June? Who's this?" He murmured to her, more than a little curious. He didn't think she knew too many children, not since she had moved full time to the council. Most of the children she had placed were grown, weren't they?

Nadya beamed. "Are you helping with the construction! Oh! This is the old MCU building, right? Is this going to be a new MCU building? Are you here to, um, ward it?" She asked, searching for the correct term. She was pretty sure that was what was meant by it. The girl shifted the bag to her other shoulder and then swallowed. "I'm pretty settled in now by the way. Laura is alright. She even let me restart my paper route!" Though Laura didn't know that Nadya had the Gambit's Bar route. The girl gave a beaming smile to Kasimir. "Hi! I'm Nadya by the way. You're Miss June's friend right? It's nice to meet you, sir!"

"Kasimir, this is Laura Seychelle's girl," June said as she briefly introduced the two. Sometimes she had to agree with Alexander, what Kasimir didn't know didn't hurt him in the least, unless it was one or the other dumping garlic or holy water into his coffee. "Yes.. we're here to take a look at those." She explained off hand. Things such as wards were something complicated, and that she rarely messed with. That task could easily be pawned off on Kasimir or someone else with a bit more time on their hands.

"And by the looks of it, Laura is letting you do other extracurricular activities," June added seeing the bag that Nadya held.

"A pleasure to meet you Nadya." Laura Seychelle...that was Catherine's latest foundling wasn't it? Already old enough to take in a foundling of her own. Interesting. The man glanced to the fence, then offered Nadya a slight bow. Nadya giggled and gave him a curtsy in return, clearly ridiculously charmed already.

She didn't address the note of Laura letting her do anything, deflecting skillfully. "Mmhm! I have my old paper route back and everything. Sales are way down, but that's fine. By the time the paper becomes digital only, I should be old enough for a real job." Though maybe she could babysit sometimes. It might be the same amount of money, but much less work, over all. "This is my dance bag. I take ballet classes twice a week." And practiced in secret the rest of the time. Curious, she watched Kasimir from the corner of her eye, even though she looked to June as she spoke to her. "Do wards and things take long?"

June raised an eyebrow at Kasimir's behavior, "So you do have some manners after all," She remarked snidely. That was the trouble with having someone like Kasimir as a co-worker, it was entirely too easy to be mean to the poor man sometimes. But, June did find him to be one of the more reasonable ones when it came to situations with children, adults though were generally best if their case didn't land on his desk. "Imagine that!" June chuckled to herself as she turned her attention back to Nadya, wondering how on earth she had convinced Laura to let her have a paper route back.

"But the wards are a good question for Kasimir here, not me. I don't much understand that sort of thing." She said shaking her head. "All I know is it depends on so many things it's insane." June knew a bit here or there but, really didn't care to learn much outside of what they were. Jobs that needed wards could be pawned off on other Councilors in exchange for cases they didn't want or have time to take. It could sometimes be a profitable thing, but really it mostly just ensured she kept her eye on what was going on with Alexander's family; and why was a different story altogether.

"However.. ballet is an excellent thing for a young lady. It teaches you quite a bit." June said steering the conversation away from the issue of the wards.

Nadya beamed. "The dancing part is a lot of fun. My instructor likes to tell us to hold ourselves like princesses though, which is stupid." She thought so, though it did work to get everyone to straighten out. "Mostly though, I signed up for the sword fighting bit. It's ballet with swords!" It was a lot of fun. "We have weighted wood practice swords to rehearse with, and she won't let us take them home, but that's fine. It's still a lot of fun!"

The teen had signed up for it strictly for the sword fighting lure, but had found herself enjoying the ballet. "Besides, learning ballet is kind of like honoring my heritage, at least according to the teacher. I think she may be full of it on that part." She was russian, not french.

Kasimir rolled his eyes at June. "She is a child. Children are still learning." He said simply. He was always kind to children, and usually kind to women. His co-workers hardly counted, at least in his eyes. The man smiled to June, though it wasn't a kind one. "And the wards won't take too long. There will be lot of set up, but the magic itself is over fast." He assured Nadya. "And it's not very flashy, so there's not much to watch. I'm more curious about the addition of swords to your dance class."

"Swords? Oh boy... and let me guess you haven't told Laura." June ventured ignoring Kasimir for the time being. The man could be so dour at times it was almost comical. She was generally good at reading children like Nadya well, most were bored and looking for someone to care about what they did, and some were just trouble makers from the start. She suspected Nadya to be some of both, and given Laura's rather fearful disposition after several encounters with less than savory characters as a young teen, she suspected she was prone to be over protective of her new charge. "Honoring heritage? What sort of nonsense is that?" June asked slightly puzzled as to why someone would say such a thing. Once again, humans continued to confuse her.

Turning to Kasimir she glared, "Oh blow it out your arse, you over grown mosquito." This was a relatively normal day between the two, a few squabbles and insults here or there, but the work was done eventually. "You should consider yourself lucky I don't just dump everything with the urban affairs school on your desk. I know how much you love dealing with Summers."

"Laura doesn't even know about the dance class. What she doesn't know won't hurt her. I figure I'll tell her a week before the next performance." She shrugged and smiled. "And that's what I thought. Adults are weird." Laura was too overprotective. Still she watched, uncertain as June scolded Kasimir. She wouldn't have thought the other would have. "...You shouldn't call people names, Miss June." She murmured. "It's not nice. It can lead to suicidal i-dea-ation." She sounded out the last word, obviously something she had only ever read. "It says so in our health book."

Kasimir's lips twitched and he smiled. "Be sure to tell Miss Catherine also. I'm sure she'll be curious. You're practically her grandchild, after all. And don't worry. June and I play fight a lot." He eyed her, unimpressed and then shook his head. "And you wouldn't dare. Summers and I get along like cats and dogs." He said simply. "For the peace of the council, don't make me work with him any more than I must." He didn't mind the children. He minded Summers.

This was likely to be a disaster, and June would prefer not to stick around for it. "You better believe I'll stick you with Alexander." She said pointedly. If only for her own amusement would she do it, and likely not regret it. "Oh hush Nadya. Kasimir's not hurt..." June remarked off hand. The girl seemed awfully keen on telling the adults what to do today.


But then Kasimir had to go and say the grandmother word and June just looked at him in abject horror. "That was the worst idea..."

Kasimir's lips quirked. "You are right of course. Laura was her nephews foundling first, before he fell ill. That would make her Nadya's great great aunt." He smirked, planning on bringing that up in person at some point. Her reaction would be one hundred percent worth it. "You'll have to invite her, Nadya. And her husband. I'm sure he'd like you." He liked basically everyone. It was like a puppy. A mischievous nuisance, but friendly enough. "I believe he knows how to use a sword as well, and could give you pointers."

Nadya blinked. "I have a great great aunt? I think I met her once...are you sure she's old enough for that? She didn't look it." Then again, she guessed magic was involved somehow. Nadya shrugged. "I'll invite her too then. And you can come too sir!" He cheeks were pink as she invited him. "You too Miss June. I wouldn't have met anybody if it weren't for you, after all."

June just sighed in exasperation, "Just shut up Kasimir," She muttered testily under her breath. "You're digging your hole deeper.." She highly doubted that Catherine was interested in laying claim to this mischievous young girl, or really wanted much to do with her at all. From what she understood, the other had made it perfectly clear that she was done with children of any sort for a very long time; and had only helped Laura because the poor girl had gotten wrapped up in whatever mess her nephew had started. "It's complicated my dear, and it's something you very likely don't want the answer to right now." June said glaring daggers at her would be companion. "And don't you have wards to fix Councilor?" She asked as she debated what next she could put garlic in to mildly inconvenience the other. He'd grown smart to the coffee and other things, and she was quickly running out of ideas. But she would likely find a way to pay him back for this latest debacle he was so intent on causing.

"As for Dumitrescu's husband... he means well, and yes he's like a puppy, a rabid one."

"She already despises me June. I doubt I could dig the hole deeper with Catherine than it already is. And I don't do warding June. That what contractors and mages are for." He waved a hand. "But I'll look closer and see if I can do anything right now, if you insist." He gave Nadya a bow which caused the girl to giggle and then headed back to the ruins. He rarely used magic, but supposed she could handle.

Nadya watched him go, then smiled to June. "He's really nice." She bounced in place. "Miss Catherine doesn't really want to be called my relative though, does she?" She smiled, knowing better than to expect it. "Laura doesn't really want to either. I don't think that she knows what to do with me." That was the truth. She had a feeling she confused Laura greatly. "Don't get me wrong, I'm super grateful for the bed and food, and clothes and everything. But...I don't think I'm much wanted." And that was okay. The other didn't need to want her.

"I wonder why..." June muttered rolling her eyes in exasperation. Kasimir had always had the idea that certain people needed a target on themselves and considered it their duty to take as many shots as possible. Needless to say, the relationship between him and MCU had always been strained. "You go do that.." She added waving the other off as she turned back towards Nadya.

"Nice? More like he's found something he wants... and I'm just not sure what it is yet." June remarked eyeing Kasimir with mild disdain. "But listen, Nadya, the relationships among that group are complicated. Even I don't understand them sometimes, but you'll be okay. It takes some adjustment is all, and Laura isn't really used to anyone but herself; she lives a pretty quiet life. As for Catherine... she's complicated, and it's not something you need to worry about."

Nadya nodded. "Alright. And yeah, her life is so quiet. I don't really think I like that. The camps and the group home always had something going on." she didn't mention her life before. Nadya didn't talk about that with anyone. It didn't fully feel like it was hers anyway. "And then I went on that adventure. And now all I do that is exciting is dance class." Maybe she could tell Laura about the ballet part, at least.

It was probably the right thing to do. Nadya would think on it. The teen shrugged. "We're still adjusting, I think, to each other." She didn't know, not for sure, but it was pretty weird, as far as she was concerned. Laura cared a lot about her shop and did her herbal magic stuff. Periodically, Nadya got a book to read about her own magic stuff, but no tutor, not yet.

"You probably are, and these things just take patience. Look at this as a vacation.." June said with a wink. "Besides which, I'm sure those meddling crones have better things to do with people other than you." She said quietly to the young teen. "And on that note... I need to go see what sort of chaos the overgrown mosquito is causing." June added as she turned her attention back to the building. No doubt Kasimir was neck deep in trying to sort out the things ward's.

The wards had been placed one over the other, over time, leading to quite the chaotic layered system. It would be difficult to disentangle one without triggering another. "Don't forget to tell Laura about the class!" She said over her shoulder as she waded back into the fray of the construction site to go supervise Kasimir.

The rat materializes from the void.

The rat has left the area, heading south into MCU Director's Office.

The rat has arrived, coming from MCU Director's Office.

The rat has left the area, heading north into Mythical Crimes Council.

The rat materializes from the void.

The rat has left the area, heading out into Ellum.