Play@YSDC

Izzy looks across at Leo and rolls her eyes, but with a friendly smile attached to show she's not being serious. After all, she recalls them both meeting Beverley Brook, not to mention the extensive training that the Nightingale had put them both through in terms of avoiding the potential control of the more powerful figures of the demi-monde. And more to the point, the rather awkward coffee meeting with Mama Thames and Lady Ty, where the tension in the air had been so thick between mother and daughter it could have been cut with a knife and served as dessert.

Glancing across to Des, Izzy replies, "That's pretty much the gist of it, I reckon. Except replace the word ghost with something Latin. Although, has anyone tried reading it the fish recipes in the latest Gordon Ramsay?"

Looking back to Leo... "I think you might be right. The guv'nor has much more experience than us on dealing with this stuff. Hell, he's probably changed their nappies and sang them lullabies, with how long he's been around..."

"Saffron is going to be foaming when she sees this," Skipper says, rubbing his forehead. He pauses to take a few photos and scritch Ernie behind an ear. "Does that explain your magic camping lanterns going out, then?"

"If it likes stories," says Jordan, looking around for a children's book, preferably Goodnight Moon, "why don't I read it one to calm it down? I have plenty of experience. Robert's too old to have me read to him any more, but I still read bedtime stories for Caroline - though she's never thrown a temper tantrum this bad. If we can convince them to keep the children's books and story time down here, that might stop it from getting cranky."

”Dat’s it?! You gunna read it a bedtime story an’ then we go home? We ain’t gunna exercise it, or sommat?” said Des, not quite believing what she was hearing.

"It's a sentient creature, whether we can see it or not, you can't just exorcise something like that. Imagine if some random strangers came to your home and tried to get rid of you because you'd had a bit of a scrap, how would you like it?" Izzy isn't stern with her words, but she is firm. She's had more experience than Des dealing with minor gods and goddesses, after all.

"Might be a good idea," she says to Jordan. "At the very least it might calm it down enough for us to get up the stairs, and we can get out and call Nightingale. See if he knows what to do."

OOC:   I think we all dashed upstairs during the book storm.

"No-one read me any bedtime stories as a kid, I'm down for some listening time." Skipper nods happily at Jordan. "Some Harry Potter?"

OOC:   Got it.

"Let's have a look upstairs, see what's happening." Somewhat cautiously, Skipper heads up the stairs. "Oi, Ernie, are you my guard dog or what?"

Jordan picks up one of the children's books that came down the stairs, figuring that the entity may have chosen its favorites, and heads over to a nearby chair. "My son Robert likes Harry Potter, in part because it's rather on the long side. Caroline's more into science fiction." He settles into the chair and begins to read the book aloud.

Leo digs through the pile of children's books until he grunts with annoyance, showing Everybody Poops to the rest of the crowd before tossing it over his shoulder. After a bit of digging, he finally comes up with a worthy prize.

"Dinosaur Bob!" he shouts excitedly. "Trust me, you're going to love this one."

"I'm next," he said, moving over behind Jordan.

Des rolled her eyes. ”Dat’s the plan, den? Tweedledee an’ Tweedledum read it a story, den we all goes home? You just gunna leave it here? What happen if it get bored wit de Tiger Who Came to Tea an’ it decide to throw a book at a kiddie nex time?”

"Sounds like the plan, yeah," Izzy replies. "At least as far as calming it down enough for us to get outside. We'll ask Nightingale for a more long term plan once we're safe. Could be worse though, it could be throwing Kindles at people." She stifles her own disgust at the notion of e-readers, being such a literary traditionalist at heart.

She can't help but smile though at the idea of Leo being one of the rather dumpy brothers from Alice in Wonderland, and wonders privately just which of the two he is...

Having received a much-appreciated scratch behind the ears, Ernie follows Skipper back up to the ground floor. Surprisingly, most of the store is untouched, with the exception of the children's section. Brightly coloured books lie on the floor in a roughly straight line towards the stairs.

Meanwhile in the basement, Jordan and Leo's attempts to read to the genius loci are rudely rebuffed, with each book being wrenched out of their hands. Instead, a thin blue paperback with large red writing and a cartoon witch on the cover is flung at their feet. It appears Meg and Mog is it's book of choice today.

"Meg and Mog it is," says Jordan, picking up the book and reading it out loud.

”Dis make no sense,” grumbled Des as she sat at the top of the stairs, listening to Jordan reading the story.

Izzy looks at Des with an amused expression, having followed the others whilst the genius loci appears mollified for the moment.

"Welcome to the Folly. We don't make sense."

OOC:   Jordan, please make a Luck roll.

OOC:   What do you all want to do now? How are you going to deal with the mess? What are you going to tell Nightingale?

Skipper snaps a few photos of the children's books on the floor.

"All seems pretty good up here," he calls to the others. "Minor mess compared to downstairs. Just in the children's too."

"I guess we go back to Nightingale and tell him what happened after we clean up here," says Jordan after he finishes the story, "but let's keep the children's books down here."

Luck roll (60% stat) reading the story:
d%

As soon as Jordan finishes the slim volume, the pages flip back to the start. Clearly the genius loci wants to hear the story again!

OOC:   Almost time to wrap this up I think. But please can everyone make me an INT roll first.