[July 26th] No news means good news? (Aisha/Rose/Nikolaus)

Nikolaus almost thought he had imagined it when he heard Rose's voice in his head, telling him to come to a room that was usually off-limits to anyone who wasn't the Regent; which, with the Chantry's low population, basically meant him. But there was no mistaking it, Rose was summoning him. Putting his phone down, he reached for his cane, and used it to push himself to his feet, limping to the purple room.

For people who were eager to exchange phone numbers, it did seem odd that they hadn't heard anything from either of them. True, the Nosferatu-designed SchreckNet heavily encrypted their connections, but it wouldn't stop phone calls or text messages, just the possibility of tracing them. But without getting a single text message from either Aisha or David and now that error message they kept getting, Rose's concern was justified. Something about this did smell bad.

Nikolaus entered the room quietly, making sure Rose would notice him, before he closed the door and leaned against the wall near the door. "What do you see, Rose?" he murmured, almost wishing he could read use telepathy right now. He already felt privileged
she'd requested his presence here, he didn't want to push his luck.

Rose let herself be envelopped by the vision. Within seconds, it was as if she'd been Aisha herself. She looked down at her hands. A gold band shone brightly on her left ring finger. They got married? The Tremere smiled softly. She should probably be mad she didn't get an invitation but she was just glad they managed to elope together.

The Tremere focused on the journal she was holding for a bit, hoping she could read something on its cover... Wait she had a phone too now? Before she could see anymore details, the angle changed. Aisha was with someone else, but not the someone else the Regent had been expecting to see. A woman with dark hair and a rather harsh stare. It wasn't anyone the Tremere had met before. Another witch maybe? Rose couldn't tell. How she wished she could still use Auspex while she used Scry but unfortunately rituals and disciplines couldn't be combined that easily.

The Regent waited for any of them to talk, maybe Aisha would call the other one by her name but no. Both women remained perfectly silent. The only thing Rose could hear is a couple of nightingales chirping in the background. They must have been in a park or a garden.

Soon they were both entering a building, and no matter how hard Rose tried she couldn't see a number or a name plate. For all she knew, she could have been in New York City already. The vision ended rather abruptly.

That was... not as informative as she could have hoped. But at least, she had had the confirmation that Aisha was alright. And she was apparently waiting for a call. Probably from David? So he was most likely fine too. As a newly wed, Aisha would have been crying her eyes out if something had happened to her husband. Then again... there was that very slight tremor she thought she'd seen in Aisha's hand but she couldn't be sure.

Rose blinked several times, shaking herself out of the vision. Then she turned to Nikolaus, looking as emotionless as ever.

"She's alright. She and David got married, apparently. But I couldn't see him."

Rose sighed. "I do agree. But, well, at least the ritual is working. And, even if doesn't tell us why they don't return our calls, it tells us that, had they wanted to contact us, they could have." Aisha had a phone with her according to the vision, after all. The Tremere could not imagine that David would not have thought to forward their numbers to his fiancée... wife even, now.

She started putting the ingredients she had been using away. "Aisha was with a woman. They did not say a thing, so I couldn't learn her name but I got the impression that she was looking after Aisha... guarding her even. I wonder who that could be..."

"That is true. Though I have no way of knowing if this woman was Kindred or Kine, it would be logical to assume she was a witch." And if so, she could very well be from Hogwarts, he was right.

"Yes. It feels like there's something we're missing. Her hands... I thought they were trembling at some point." And since they were right in the middle of a hot summer, especially by British standards, it was unlikely to be from the cold. She sighed softly, the only visible sign of Rose's frustration. "As my Mentor used to say, if there's no way to check a fact, it's not worth including it at all." Her way of saying she'd follow Nikolaus' advice and would stop worrying for now.

"Oui, bonne idée."

Rose had always been a solitary hunter. So the fact that she know agreed more and more often to go feed with Nikolaus was rather meaningful.

"Where should we go?"

"A play?" Now that suggestion came as a pleasant surprise. Of course, had she known it was a comedy and the adaptation of a children's book, the Tremere Regent might have refused on principle. Instead, she nodded.

"Let me change clothes and we can go."

Rose liked to be elegant at all times. But at least, and contrarily to most women as feminine and refined as Rose, it didn't take her hours to get ready. Barely twenty minutes later, she was back, dressed in what, according to her, was a more appropriate outfit to go to the theater.

"Je suis prête."

Even if her face still betrayed no emotion, the tone of her voice was somewhat happier.

Kindred don’t really blush, but as he complimented her about her outfit, Rose did the closest thing to blushing she’d done in a long time.

"I’m waiting on you," she said, sounding as detached as she could as she took his arm.

As they stepped into the night, the Tremere smiled to herself. It had taken them long enough, but Nikolaus was finally having his date. Where that would lead them, Rose wasn’t entirely sure. With him being her right hand and all, the situation was a bit complicated. But, as long as it didn’t get in the way of her responsibilities, the Pyramid didn’t actually have to know about it. So, Rose decided to just stop thinking about the possible complications and enjoy the night.

She started leaning slightly against him as they walked, enough for him to notice but not overly so, so it wouldn’t make it harder for him to walk.