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TLV: IC Inbox

You've reached Timothy Stoker, leave a message at the tone and I'll get back to you.

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"No, what is *important* is the human right here. *Everything* else waits until he's safe. So help me."

The swarm, growing in agitation as Taylor grows more still, sinks a little lower from the ceiling in amorphous buzzing shapes.

"We can't think like that. What if it's Kiryu next? Or Pagan, or Iris, or Sweeney--"

She picks up a towel and clutches it in her hands, but doesn't hand it over.

"Let me work, Taylor. You can do your thing, but this is my thing."

Taylor's on her feet in a second, the insects descending in columns around her. "Do you think detectives get in the way of EMTs and snivel about their crime scene!? Get the hell out of here until I've taken care of him, and then you can play cop all you want!"

She doesn't give Misty a chance to argue further, giving her a hard shove towards the door, a dense, almost-human shape of insects sweeping in to encourage her to keep moving that way.

"He's dead, Taylor!" Misty yells. "And he hasn't revived yet! That means he's eviden--"

The rest of what she'd been going to say is cut off by coughing and spluttering as she fights against the tide of insects shoving her through the doorway and back out into the main spa area.

The moment they have Misty past the doorway, the insects spread out to fill it, a nearly-opaque wall of silver wings and angry humming.

Touching that wall will be met with a sharp, warning sting, though Taylor's not so furious that she lets the wasp express any venom.

Turning back to what she was doing, Taylor sets to cleaning Tim up. She leaves as much of the blood on the floor as she can, but she will not let Tim wake up like this.

She isn't ever going to tell him that beetles do a faster, more thorough job than water and cloth.

There will be, no doubt by the swarm, a great swelling of warm air just before Dracula makes his way into the spa for what is essentially the first time. Seeing Misty, he frowns but the frown only deepens as he sees the wall of insects.

"Taylor, if you could please let me in? I'd like to bring the patient back to the infirmary."

"And I need to examine the scene!" says Misty, still swatting at bugs.

"You 'need' no such thing," which comes out harsher than he intended because the bugs don't stop what he can smell. And that is quite a lot of blood.

"Taylor, do you need me to remove her?"

"Please," she calls from beyond her wall, though she begin to let it ebb immediately.

It isn't even a thought.

He'll turn to Misty, give her a quick if sharp smile-

"Thank you for informing me, Miss Quigley, it is much appreciated."

-before she disappears. And will reappear on the deck, as far from the stairs as possible. Then he'll walk towards the wall.

"She's gone. Please, Taylor."

With a rush of buzzing wings, the wall is gone, her swarm returning to the ceiling where they hang in heavy clusters. And Taylor's on her knee beside Tim, just now sending away more clots of beetles from where they made fast work of the worst mess. Her face is tight, and Jaws turns towards Dracula, but she doesn't.

"He's been here all night," she says, low.

He walks in and... he doesn't know the man himself not well, but he knows him to be important to Daniel. And he knows that he has heard nothing terrible about him. That Taylor knows him and cares about him?

"May I?"

And he turns his hand as if to ask if she minds him picking him up.

She nods, pushing herself up to her feet to step back.

"I- put in for him to revive. Few minutes ago. Shouldn't have had to."

"We all know things are hardly as they should be," but he says it gently as he uses his power to lift his body up as if he's on a gurney. He uses his other hand to clean up the body the rest of the way with a spell. The blood in the room, whatever might be left, that goes as well.

"Would you care to walk up with me?"

She nods, pushing her hair back from her face. Curled strands are sticking, cold sweat.

"Yeah. I'm staying with him."

He looks her up and down, wondering if she might need some care for shock, but he nods.

"Excellent. Come along, then. We'll get him back to the infirmary. I'll know if she's there when we get there."

And respond accordingly is unspoken.

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