• • ABOUT • •

[Margot Blanchard]

“You said that it felt like forever…it was two weeks. And you couldn’t escape the box? The spell must hold you there…I don’t know if it would dissipate without containment….”

Two weeks. Margot looked down at her hands. She felt like a week wasn't even an appropriate measurement of time in the place she'd been. Time there was made up of lifetimes, as the ghosts who passed through it carried their lives with them to be judged. Time was measured in how long it took that ghost to drag their life to the other side. Even that seemed too short. There had been an absence of time that was longer than any temporal unit of measurement.

She thought about her attempts to escape the box and shook her head. There was no way to get out of it, not that she'd discovered; but she thought it must have been something more than the spell that held her there. Perhaps she just didn't know enough about magic, but she knew that spirits were often anchored where they manifest by feelings of anger, fear and despair. Even if the box hadn't been there, Margot wasn't sure if she would have been able to leave.

“Sorry….They didn’t hurt you did they?”

Margot started to shake her head; they'd given her some heartbreaking looks, but nothing to actually harm her, and she started to say so until Atlas's next words made her realize that he was talking about the people who had attacked them. She held out her arms and looked at them, then turned and stretched out her legs. She leaned forward and ran her hands up from her ankles to her hips, then turned back to Atlas and shook her head again.

"No, I'm fine," she said; but she wasn't sure Atlas heard her. He was going on about splinching and explosions and he wasn't quite looking at her. She knew that Atlas tended to take things much more seriously than other people did; and yes, this was a serious thing, but Margot had accepted it and decided that there was no use dwelling on it, whereas she sensed that Atlas would be concerned with making things right for awhile.

"And I don't want you to leave. Neither does Rudolph actually he seems to miss you terribly..."

"Then I won't leave," she said. She smiled. "It'll be nice to see Rudolph again. It's been nice seeing you again too, Atlas. I had thought that I saw you once, though. I thought you were holding Heaven up." She tried to recall the image, but the light overpowered everything; so she couldn't have seen him, just imagined him being there. She looked up at him. "Atlas, we can talk about it sometime. The box. I just want to let you know that it's alright to ask me about it.

"So where will we be living now? You said there was an explosion. Is SHOP damaged?" she asked.

[Atlas Caedmon]

Then I won't leave. The words caught him off guard, so much so that he forgot anything else he might have been intending to say. Probably more apologizing, or maybe something about the house of Sagittarius as it related to energy migrations of the soul but it was lost as she continued on. It'll be nice to see Rudolph again. He must have pulled some kind of face because she continued a moment later adding, it's been nice seeing you again too, Atlas. I had thought that I saw you once, though. Frowning he cocked his head to one side as he adjusted his weight in his seat. There was a time when the only sound in the room was the ticking of the clock on top of the wardrobe. I thought you were holding Heaven up.

He felt that there was nothing he could say to that so the clock took up the silence again. As a child he hadn't understood references and the occasional good natured jokes that his relatives aimed at his name during gatherings. Once he had been old enough to read an exhausted his grandfather's extensive library of children's books he had turned to Greek mythology and come across his own name for the first time. This had led to confusion, why his mother would name him for a figure who was punished with having to hold the world up and therefore was doomed to a life of neglect, loneliness, and lower back problems had been beyond him. It wasn't actually something he had thought about for some time but he thought that it was something he and his mother might discuss the next time they saw eachother. Finally, "Couldn't have been me. I somehow don't see someone seeing fit to trust me with such a responsibility." There was a moment where he thought to tell her that it could have just been a shock reaction brought on from the experience. A trick of the mind to make her feel less alone and maybe less afraid but in the end he only said. "That's flattering."

Atlas, we can talk about it sometime. The box. I just want to let you know that it's alright to ask me about it.

"It can wait." He muttered, nudging the object in question further under the bed.

So where will we be living now? You said there was an explosion. Is SHOP damaged?

Atlas picked determinedly at his cuff, twisting the button and tugging slightly; not enough to do damage just enough to give his hands something to do. He hadn't had cause to think of himself as part of a we in sometime but it was true. "There's been, from what i've been told, a great deal of damage. I haven't seen it yet." He thought but didn't add 'I haven't been able to bring myself to look.' "Jasper has been trying to keep me from seeing the site and that alone suggests that it's extensive. Nothing that can't be repaired and rebuilt but it will have to wait until the Ministry is able to complete their investigation of what happened."

"As for living arrangements, I hadn't considered it."The statement wasn't meant to be cruel and he hoped she didn't see it that way. "Once I'm able to get back on the site it shouldn't take long for things to get to a semblance of normal. Prior to that," He immediately considered Jasper and then dismissed it nearly as fast. He couldn't impose on him further and on the other hand he would feel guilty if it was discovered Will had a rogue muggle in his home. "There are, I suppose, a few options that we can consider. I can speak to William about you remaining here until I'm able to make other arrangements. He's a school mate, unquestionably the nicest person I've ever known and he's the Minister of Magic, theres really no place safer than this house."

"If he's unable to assist further I could...." He paused reasoning it out. "I could speak to my mother, more probably my grandfather. My mother owns a Bed and Breakfast, muggle establishment I'm sure you'd be more than welcome. My grandparents home is more," He thought back to his childhood refuge. "Serene, no one would bother you. I can try to make any arrangements you'd like."

[Margot Blanchard]

"There's been, from what I've been told, a great deal of damage. I haven't seen it yet."

Margot tried to imagine SHOP demolished. It was difficult. She'd only been there a few weeks, but she'd become attached to the eccentric little place in a way she never had before. It seemed solid and immovable, although that might have been because of the sheer volume of things inside it. She'd never seen a place that housed so much stuff. That was something else: where was everything, if the building was damaged? Was it being stored somewhere? She decided not to ask. She'd learn eventually.

"There are, I suppose, a few options that we can consider. I can speak to William about you remaining here until I'm able to make other arrangements."

She listened to Atlas as he listed possible options for her, not really perking up at any of them. Really, it didn't matter so much to her as long as she had a place to go, and if Atlas felt comfortable suggesting any of these places Margot was sure they were more than safe enough for her. Something went unsaid, though, which bothered her and she folded her hands in her lap to keep from picking absently at the afghan in her irritation.

"Where are you staying?" she asked. She immediately regretted it. The question was a valid one but she didn't like the tone she'd used without thinking. She sounded too much like a young girl being separated from her caretaker. She didn't want to be dependent on Atlas and she certainly didn't want him to feel burdened by her. Maybe it would be better after all, if she got a place on her own where Atlas could visit her sometimes.

"Anywhere is fine," she said, after a moment. "Wherever you think is best. I wouldn't know anywhere to suggest anyway."

[Atlas Caedmon]

Atlas watched Margot carefully as he listed off the various alternatives for housing that he was able to offer. Her face remained mostly unchanged, with only slight shifts in the muscles along her jaw that Atlas couldn't classify into an emotion. A result, he supposed of tending not to look directly at someone's face when they spoke. As a child he had just found the stares of adults and often times his peers uncomfortable but found when he looked away it generated negative response. He'd searched for an approximate area for sometime without success before discovering the ears, wonderful things, and most of the time at eye level. He got around to eye contact with people but he had by no means reached the point with Margot where he could easily read her face. Finally she folded her hands carefully in her lap, taking on the position of a small afghan draped Buddha. There was a moments silence and then, "Where are you staying?

"Um..." He sputtered momentarily trying to match the tone with one he had heard from Margot before. His confusions must have shown in his face because a moment later she pipped up and said in a quieter tone. "Anywhere is fine," That sounded untrue, he had heard that statement from Helena enough times to know that it was almost always a lie. "Wherever you think is best. I wouldn't know anywhere to suggest anyway."

"I've been staying with Jasper. He insisted," He wasn't actually aware of how much Margot knew about events between himself and his longtime friend. Atlas wasn't in the habit was informing her where he was going when he went out, or what he did when he was gone so she might have had no knowledge of the rift that had formed. "We had something of a falling out, stupid things really, but I think it was sort of way to show that the air was clear. Additionally," He nodded toward the door, "William and I are friends, but I wouldn't say we're particularly close. It was the safest place for you but wouldn't have been so for me."

Sighing he shifted in his seat and produced his wand, thinking for a moment before giving a quick flick, a flickering image of a large brownstone cropped up. "This is my grandparents house, garden in the back loads of space, my grandfather is a bit of an eccentric but completely harmless provided you don't work for the Ministry, which you don't. One of your finer points. Staying with them could be a better option, my Mum will just fuss over you endlessly, possibly interrogate you. .." He petered off as she still didn't look particularly interested.

"I'll visit as often as I can, which considering all I can really do at present is hobble about and pester Jas for cocktails not seen since the 1940s." Still not sensing a great amount of enthusiasm he search for something. "It's not....desirable I know. It's not permanent, just until I can start working on SHOP... I promise."