Reinholdt's Repository

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Milton Island Assault]

Tricksy door! Damon takes a step forward, intending to do something pretty similar to what Ilpholin's doing now, but stops when she beats him to it. He's quite happy to let her handle this one. There's worse fates than waiting and watching her work.

"Ssspeak your piece, whoever you are. Your offer had better be a good one!"

[Reinholdt]

[Adam's Estate]

One of the sketchy catgirls notices June get closer, their awareness heightened by the fact that they're constantly looking around. Seems she's ran out of luck stealthing after them. And they don't seem to care that she seems lost. She motions towards June for their partner to see.

"****."
"Grab em and go!"

In a sudden flurry of activity they dart forward to snatch the kid who starts to scream, but gets a sock shoved in their mouth before they're stuffed into that bag. These two might not be the most subtle, but they are incredible efficient at their grabbing game. They've clearly rehearsed this. And they're moving to run away from the estate off into the woods surrounding the manor.

[Shadowcaller]

[Milton Island Assault]

"We're-" A longer pause and it all comes out in a franatic pace. Even difficult to comprehend at times. "We're just archeologists. We didn't want to get involved with all this magic nonsense, or the ******* demons. If you just let us go you can have everything we found here. We just want to get home."

Then they can hear the second voice but its more audiable now. "They're just going to kill us too! You're out of your mind!"

A whimper can also be heard, potentially from a third person.

Meanwhile, Ilpholin moves her whip-like arm into the hole on the other side. But while there isn't anything stopping her she can't feel any kind of lever or handle. At least not right away.
But as she moves it upwards they can hear a panicked shriek from the other side, only audiable due to its pitch and the fact they're so close to the hole.

Shortly afterwards someone or something attempts to grapple her whip-arm and wrestle with it. Perhaps not the most effective way to deal with it but it didn't exactly sound like the most rational reaction either.

[Reinholdt]

[Milton Island Assault]

She could probably off the archeologist foolishly grabbing her shapeshifting weapon whip-arm, open the door herself and clean up the rest. But who knows how much time that would take? There's a mission here above and beyond any demon lovers and their enablers. Not to mention a lich that could return at any second and complicate things. The faster this is done the better.

Ilpholin allows her whip to go limp in the grasp of whomever has got it held in the only show of good faith she can provide.

"Open the door in the next thirty seconds and I promise every person in there will live unharmed."

Demons aren't people so they still get the axe.

[5a Violista]

[Adam's Estate]

Oh.
Shoot.
Childstealing.

"Th-"
June quickly looks around, hoping someone else saw that.
"Those two! Kidnapping!" she shouts.

Childtheft is literally the worst.

June has no choice but to run after them, into the woods too.
Luckily, June seems to be dressed better for running through the woods, so that's good. Unfortunately, she doesn't know the area at all. So that's not good.

She runs (slightly cursing her body shape).

In her mind, she thinks through the worst case situations and what she can do beforehand in response: They split up. So she needs to make sure she can keep an eye on the one carrying the child. They get to a crowd and lose themselves in it. So she needs to think back at remembering what they both look like and committing it to memory. The one not carrying the kid turns back to stop her. Then she needs to...um...something. Hopefully they don't do that before June has a chance to figure something out.
At least June doesn't really have to worry about running out of breath...maybe? June isn't really sure what she's capable while under the effect of this potion. And how much longer will it last? Hopefully this chase doesn't last that long...hopefully someone else is calling the police now.

[Reinholdt]

[Adam's Estate]

Worse than childstealing, catnapping!

It is still literally the worst though. But these two gotta steal this kid if they're going to hold it for ransom. That's the rule. No kid, no ransom.

Nobody else saw that, but her shouts don't go unnoticed and more shouts go up as word starts to spread and a mixture of panic and action start to set in. Gathering all the kids, counting them, calling the gate house and perimeter guards to be on alert, etc.

Yet, these two seem to be running in a very particular direction. They must have an escape route already planned in case this happened. If they get away from June and out of sight they almost certainly will escape. Unfortunately, running with a kid in a sack is hard while mostly naked, no matter how dexterous the catgirl may be and June is gaining on them quite handily. So the two crooks have to come with a plan and quick.

They choose to split up in an effort to confound and confuse June, doing so right before a big tree so that maybe June runs into it or doesn't notice that they criss-cross on the other side of the tree, in a last minute 'fake-out' attempt to disguise which way the kid is going.

[5a Violista]

[Adam's Estate]

Catnapping!
And not even the usual kind of catnapping.

June is so glad that they decided to split up, rather than the spare one charging at her. She wasn't able to come up with a countermeasure in case that happened.

Noticing them split up, June pauses for a moment. She already decided what she was going to do if this happened so she doesn't need to pause for too long.
She looks back and forth between the two directions, looking for which one is carrying the sack. They'll be a bit slower, more tired and....obviously, carrying a sack.

She runs in that direction. And it's a bit of a relief:
Unless the other one is running off to, like, grab a gun or magic gun or getaway vehicle, then she almost certainly can catch up. Let's see, she thinks, when she catches up she needs to take down the captor (kicking and hooking legs are a good target for that), find a way to subdue her and maybe tie her up, open the sack, comfort the kid, and run back towards the way they came from.
...but she can't let herself get too far ahead. First, takedown and subdue. No, wait, first sprint all-out, then takedown and subdue.

[Reinholdt]

[Adam's Estate]

June didn't fall for the split-up fake-out! Now what?

Well now the catgirl without the kid gets away. Will she be back for her partner? Or will she escape while she can? Time alone will tell.

And the catgirl with the kid in a sack doesn't get away! In fact June catches up with her as expected and even manages to take her down. The catnapper stumbles painfully into the dirt, dropping the sack which tumbles on its own. Rough for the kid, but maybe the kid's had worse playing sports. Hard to tell, they're in a sack.

That's two of the three steps accomplished. And June has a short period of disorientation with which to subdue the criminal before she begins to fight back. Probably with no qualms about causing serious harm to June.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Milton Island Assault]

She could probably off the archeologist foolishly grabbing her shapeshifting weapon whip-arm, open the door herself and clean up the rest. But who knows how much time that would take? There's a mission here above and beyond any demon lovers and their enablers. Not to mention a lich that could return at any second and complicate things. The faster this is done the better.

Ilpholin allows her whip to go limp in the grasp of whomever has got it held in the only show of good faith she can provide.

"Open the door in the next thirty seconds and I promise every person in there will live unharmed."

Demons aren't people so they still get the axe.

[Milton Island Assault]

Ah, hapless prisoners. Well, that's a bit less concerning than what Damon thought might be awaiting them in there. Though of course this could still be a trick.

"Consssidering we've nearly been ssshrunk down by the infernal trapsss in thiss place, you'll forgive uss, I hope, for being a little cautiouss in turn. But if you are sssimply trapped archaeologissstss, you have nothing to fear from usss, asss my partner sssaysss.

A ball of black fire flickers in one hand, ready to throw, just in case.

[5a Violista]

[Adam's Estate]

Well, maybe the kidnappers used a magic 'smaller on the outside' sack and the big obvious one is a decoy. Since they've already put that much planning into it, it's entirely possible.

June's first instinct is to run over to the bag and make sure the kid's okay. But she reminds herself to stick to the plan she made. She runs to the catnapper.

Her mind races at what feels like a million miles a second, as she tries to think what she should do now.
Um. Um. Um. Oh, right. Pin arms.
June pushes down on the catnapper and tries to pin her arms by grabbing her upper arms and mostly relying on her own body weight.
And then, um, pin legs by...by sitting on the catnapper? Yeah, that makes sense. "Hurting kids is literally the worst thing ever," she politely informs the awful catgirl.

If pinning the arms and sitting on top worked, she shifts her feet onto the catgirl's arms. That way June can take off her jacket – her brand-new jacket that she just bought – and tries to tie the catgirl's arms with its sleeves.

[Shadowcaller]

[Milton Island Assault]

She could probably off the archeologist foolishly grabbing her shapeshifting weapon whip-arm, open the door herself and clean up the rest. But who knows how much time that would take? There's a mission here above and beyond any demon lovers and their enablers. Not to mention a lich that could return at any second and complicate things. The faster this is done the better.

Ilpholin allows her whip to go limp in the grasp of whomever has got it held in the only show of good faith she can provide.

"Open the door in the next thirty seconds and I promise every person in there will live unharmed."

Demons aren't people so they still get the axe.

[Milton Island Assault]

Ah, hapless prisoners. Well, that's a bit less concerning than what Damon thought might be awaiting them in there. Though of course this could still be a trick.

"Consssidering we've nearly been ssshrunk down by the infernal trapsss in thiss place, you'll forgive uss, I hope, for being a little cautiouss in turn. But if you are sssimply trapped archaeologissstss, you have nothing to fear from usss, asss my partner sssaysss.

A ball of black fire flickers in one hand, ready to throw, just in case.

[Milton Island Assault]

"Hold on." The voice replies and then they will have to wait a little while. If they stand close to the door they can hear what sounds like a heated argument on the other side and there seems to be at least three persons taking part in it.

There's a lot of swearing involved.

Then finally after nearly a minute the argument seems to be cut short by something and moments later the speaker is brought back to life. "Okay, we'll let you in. But... there's this artifact in here and its behaving oddly. We didn't have anything to do with it. It just started glowing all of sudden and we're pretty sure that's bad."

"It's communicating!" The second voice can be heard shouting.

Then the bunker door suddenly slides open, allowing the two to enter.

There's a big room on the other side which is dominated by a tank made of red tinted glass. It seems to have been made to keep something inside of it yet is empty now. This tank absolutely reeks of demonic magic but so does pretty much everything else inside this room. On the ancient stone floor in front of the tank there are boxes filled with demonic artifacts though while some of them have glowing parts they aren't really glowing to any significant degree.

No, something else is casting this entire room in a orange light and it seems to be somewhere to their left.

But to their right they can see three gnolls dressed similarly to the ones that Ilpholin killed in the other room. They're giving the two a panicked look as they enter the room and one of them gestures to the left, presumably at whatever is glowing.

[Reinholdt]

[Adam's Estate]

"No, the worst thing ever is some- OWWW!!! stupid ******* sticking her nose in where it doesn't belong and getting in our way," the truly awful catgirl says, shooting daggers out of her eyes.

Metaphorically.

The catgirl's arms are tied up relatively quickly, though her legs seem to still be free to kick childishly at June any chance they get. She can't quite get to her knees to run away, June's too heavy for that maneuver. But she can still cause minor scrapes and bruises!

"Look, maybe we got off on the wrong foot. We can cut you in. This is a big job. We're talking a lot of money for the ransom. Split three ways, you could retire a rich woman tomorrow. Just let me go and pretend you didn't see nothing. No harm will ever come to the kid, I swear! 'e's just got a really rich dad is all."

[Milton Island Assault]

Ilpholin's patience is starting to run thin and her hand starting to shift something much sharper when a reply is given. The nymph's hand retreats from the hole and her arm reforms to something more natural looking as she finally gets off the floor, glancing back at Damon who she knows has been staring at her almost this whole time.

Which is fine. He gets a little wink before her attention returns to the door that slides open. Ilpholin steps inside almost immediately so that they can't change their mind, her intense glare upon the three gnolls for a moment until one motions. Losing interest in them, the nymph refocuses upon the demonic artifacts and orange glow. "So much raw blasphemy. It's sickening." The nymph suppresses her gag reflex to turn her attention fully on the orange glow that was supposedly communication, moving around the room to get a view of the offending demonic source while keeping a fair distance from it just in case.

This incidentally gives the gnolls a good opportunity to break for it and leave this place unharmed, at least in terms of what Ilpholin might do to them.

[5a Violista]

[Adam's Estate]

June's glad that that word is one of those that doesn't translate. It definitely sounds derogatory, but she has no idea how serious or awful it's supposed to be. And if she doesn't understand it, then it can't affect her. Just like the metaphorical daggers: they can't hurt her either.

She is, however, glad that the catgirl is still talking. 'Split three ways' means there probably isn't any backup for the other catgirl to go after. As far as she can tell.

Sadly, June has run out of superfluous clothes to use as ropes for the legs. Should've worn a scarf or a belt today.

So, instead, she leans over and reaches out for the large sack, trying to let the kid out, completely ignoring the catgirl's persuasive arguments. "Hey, you alright?" she asks at the kid. "Let's get you back."

June tries to get the bag off the kid as soon as possible, so that she can stuff the awful catgirl's legs into the bag.

[Reinholdt]

[Adam's Estate]

"Come 'n really? Your hearts desires forever granted!" The catnapper claims in a last ditch effort to turn June's good nature into a malicious, self-serving one.

The kid is... well the kid's ok, even if they are bruised up a bit and crying wildly. Removing the gag technically helps them understand they're in less danger, but also enables the kid to cry much, much louder. It also gives June something to stick in the catgirl's mouth if she wants.

It takes her a moment to get the sack onto the awful catgirl, during which time the kid wails. And wails. Unless June has some particular trick up her sleeve to deal with an upset child, this is unlikely to change.

Fortunately she might not have to do much as the crying brings the attention of the guards combing the woods for two catnappers. They descend upon June's position with batons in their hand, yelling for her to get away from the kid and put her hands on the ground where they can see them or else. It's all very sudden and very aggressive. This does little to calm the child.

[5a Violista]

[Adam's Estate]

June is fine leaving the catgirlnapper un-gagged. Tying up and gagging someone in the woods is literally just asking to let wild animals get them. Not gagged means they can shout away the wild animals and call for help or whatever.
What sort of wild forest animals do they have here, anyway? Wild cats? Caterpillars? Catdogs? Catbirds?

After taking off the kid's gag, June performs the esoteric arts of....talking to the child. "Come on, let's get you home." "What's your name? I'm June." "Don't worry, I'll get you home soon." "I bet everyone's going to be so happy when you get back." combined with the arcane science of carrying the child back in the way they came.

Sadly, this doesn't go exactly as she she planned. If she had managed to get all the way back to the estate with the child then everything would have been fine. But being stopped by the guards while still in the forest totally makes her look suspect, doesn't it?!?

Faced with very agressive cops (and a very non-calm child), June carefully, without sudden movements, puts the kid down. "Shh, it's okay, they're going to bring you home," June says in as calm a voice as she can manage, as she gets down to her knees and puts her hands down, not sure at all if it's going to be okay for her.

[Reinholdt]

[Adam's Estate]

Talking to the child is leagues above gagging the kid and stuffing them in a sack to carry around and ransom. It's unfortunate that the guards yelling things makes it scary again.

But... the kid manages to nod to June as she puts them down. That's a pretty good sign overall!

Well, maybe not for June as she gets pushed down even further and her hands get pulled behind her back and cuffed. They are not being gentle at all. June can probably hear the waves of hisses from one to another. Just a whole hissing at her fest. Her and the other catgirl who doesn't fare much better.

They will all three be escorted back to the manor and June is placed in a 'holding cell', which basically consists of one of the unused servants' rooms. As far as confined chambers go, this is actually really nice. It's clear that Adam doesn't skimp on treating the help well here. She even gets her cuffs removed. Any dislodged shoulders she'll have to deal with on her own.

She's left to stew for about half an hour, plenty of time to plot out an escape plan if she wishes, before a catgirl shows up. British shorthair by the looks of it. Clearly one of the security forces here to grill June, based on her uniform and equipment, though she seems to have left all weaponry outside in exchange for a folder. If June doesn't try anything particularly daring or dastardly as she comes in, she'll start off with a very simple question that's going to lead into many, many more questions.

"What's your name?"

[5a Violista]

[Adam's Estate]

June is glad that her child-handling tactics are marginally better than a kidnapper's.

She would've expected all this hissing if she were in snakegirlland instead of catgirlland but. . .well. She supposes that cats sometimes hiss too.
Having her arms pulled back like that hurts.

The holding room seems fairly...decent.
With the cuffs off, June rolls her shoulders and wrists to help them feel better.

Escape plan?
She doubts anything she could think of would work. Sure, mushroom powers could maybe work, but (1)she'd have to wait for the potion to wear off which will take...she estimates another hour, and (2)it's not like she ever practiced with them anyway.
And what else does she have to get out, a pair of cursed earring? Is that it? And one of them barely even does anything and all the other does is increase literally every sensation she feels (which made the handcuffing process even more painful) so. Not exactly helpful.

So,
basically
a half-hour passes, and June gets a lot of pacing in.

"Ju-" Oh. Probably wants a full name. "Minerva-June," she replies. Then, "The kid's okay, right? Brought back to 'er parents?" she asks, opting to use a (what she thinks is) gender-neutral 'her' because the kid was too young to tell for sure if it was a boy catgirl or a girl catgirl.

[Reinholdt]

[Adam's Estate]

"I'll ask the questions around here!" Says the security catgirl with the tone of someone who has waited their whole life to say that and is actually a little disappointed that there isn't an interrogation table to slam her hand down upon when she does so.

"You just focus on answering them," the catgirl says as she writes down Minerva-June's name and something else on her clipboard. Something about being insubordinate no doubt. She taps the board with her pen and proceeds to ask more questions, many of which are absolutely leading.

"What were you doing here?"
"How did you and Crook Cat meet?"
"When did you and Crook Cat first come up with the plan to kidnap the child?"
"Why did you pick that child?"
"Who are you working for?"
"Where were you taking the child you kidnapped?"

[5a Violista]

[Adam's Estate]

Having previously met a justice system and realized that they don't particularly care about the truth (but just getting through things quickly and without much effort, and making sure they can claim to be in the right), June takes a deep breath and thinks through what she needs to do.

Honestly, she really shouldn't be talking with cops. It's a bad idea, all around, even when you're provably innocent.
But she didn't really check with the locals whether the justice system here takes 'silence' as an admission of guilt, or what. She had no reason to expect needing to!

So she decides to fall back on the very obvious power politician strategy!
Namely, instead of answering the questions they ask, answer the questions you want to answer. In fact, there's probably very little reason to even think about her answer to the security catgirl's questions, because it's not like she's looking for the answers anyway.

After spending a little longer than intended thinking about the first question, June decides it's ambiguous enough that it could definitely be interpreted as 'what were you doing here today' or 'what were you doing in the forest when you got arrested' and the latter question is clearly one that she can answer and give a positive answer. So that's the one she answers: "I was there saving the child from the two kidnappers," she says.

There. Now that she has her story out there, she just needs to interpret every single question favorably and pretend every single one of them is asking about saving the kid from the kidnapper. June won't pretend to understand the kidnappers' motivations so if they want to know about that they should ask the kidnapper. Sure, the security person is probably going to get really frustrated that June isn't answering the questions correctly, but...
...honestly, it seems like the only way to move forward.
"While saving the child from the kidnapper, I met that kidnapper after I tackled h- the kidnapper to the ground." Whew, that one was close; she almost said 'tackling her' which the cop might interpret as 'tackling the child'.
"I did not kidnap the kid," she insists.
"I stopped one of the kidnappers so that I could save the child." June almost feels sorry for how she's treating the officer, before reminding herself that the officer doesn't actually care if she's innocent or not, which suddenly makes this a bit easier.
"I do not understand the question; the kidnappers had only taken one child so there was only one child to save."
"I saved the child on my own."
"I w-"
Whoops. June almost fell for that one. She was about to say how she was taking the child back to the kid's parents but given how the question was worded that would absolutely be taken as an admission of guilt. So, instead, she repeats a previous answer: "I didn't: I did not kidnap the child." She makes extra sure to enunciate 'not' to make up for her multiple slip-ups that she already made. "I rescued the child from the two kidnappers."

[Reinholdt]

[Adam's Estate]

Security Cat's blood pressure seems to be on the rise and she has to go over to the furnished desk just to slam her hand down on it.
"That's right! TWO catnappers!" She seems to think she has caught June in something as she points an accusatory finger at the tourist.
"And your partner in crime has already confessed and fingered you after you betrayed her. Why don't you just make it easy on yourself and stop playing these games Miss June? If that's even your real name. Tell us why you kidnapped the kid and maybe y-"

Her tirade is cut short by the door opening. Standing in the doorway is an older catboy whose bearing emanates dignity and posture demands respect. There's something just... off about his features though. It's really hard to place. Maybe his ears are just a touch too long or his neck a tad too skinny. It's bordering the uncanny valley with regards to the catpeople June has seen thus far. Maybe even it's how his clothing seems to be both full and refined, unlike the skimpier or missing clothes of many of the other inhabitants here. This was the immaculate dress of someone extremely wealthy and powerful.

Presumably. It certainly makes security cat fall in line. "S-sir Adam! What brings you-"

Adam cuts her off in that way some people do, though this particular interruption is lined with disapproval and disappointment. "That's enough Caroline. I will not have the woman who rescued my daughter treated like a criminal."

Caroline glances from Adam to June and then back and starts to open her mouth in protest. There are procedures to be followed and evidence and Adam cuts her off this time before she can even begin. "I would recommend you get out there and spend your time finding the other n'er do well who was here today instead of wasting all our time." His eyes focus an intense piercing gaze at her and Caroline's ears flatten.

"Yes sir..." Caroline mumbles quietly as she sees herself out.

Once she's gone, Adam breathes a little and tries to relax the atmosphere with a gentle smile at June. "I cannot apologize deeply enough for the behavior of my staff. Nothing like this has ever happened before and I believe they were at a loss at how to handle themselves. Poorly, however, was not the correct answer, no matter how many crime dramas that one has watched. It was unacceptable."

[5a Violista]

[Adam's Estate]

If June had not convinced herself that Security Cat is anything but a nameless person who doesn't care about the truth, then it would be really easy to sympathize with the catgirl and say something really wrong.

Fortunately!
Security Cat is just Security Cat.
June realizes it's actually extraordinarily fortunate she managed to rescue the kid before anything happened.

June turns and looks over at the male catgirl gentleman who just came in.
His name's Adam? But probably not that Adam, right? Probably a common name among the people who live here. Besides, if she remembers correctly he was an elf so definitely...a different one.
Oh, shoot. And now she knows that the Security Cat has a name, too. Maybe this whole situation is actually just an elaborate good-cop bad-cat kind of situation.

June isn't completely sure what to say or how to act now. If this is some kind of trick, she thinks it's going to be really effective. "Th-thanks," she tells the gentlecat. "I'm sure she just thought her only job was to get confessions from criminals, so she didn't consider that she might be wrong."

Okay, back to the important question, since it seems this Adam is more amenable to questions: "So the kid was safe and has calmed down, right? Got back to you and wasn't hurt?"

And as long as June is asking questions, she asks herself how many more minutes does she have until the potion wears off and what she's going to do if her chest deflates in front of him and what if one of those who arrested her earlier noticed a tail and hold on does she have a flower in her hair there's been so much going on that she totally forgot to check and wait did her hat fall off at some point and she didn't notice and...

With the Security Cat things were easy because all June had to think about was being obsinate about her innocence, but now that there's more things to consider, her thoughts are racing again.

[Reinholdt]

[Adam's Estate]

It's pretty strange admittedly how this Adam who couldn't possibly be the Adam she's thinking of looks so much like the guy in the portraits she saw of the founder. Just with cat ears.

"Maybe..." Adam replies, not particularly satisfied with the explanation but also bound to accept it in order to save face. "We'll have her review her job responsibilities later in that case." Because they should not include getting a confession.

"A few scrapes and bruises but nothing serious. I would have been here earlier and prevented this debacle but I went to her first, I hope you understand. That's what kept me." Adam smiles a little. "Once she calmed down she had nothing but high praise for you miss..." Adam picks up the clipboard Caroline left behind. "Minerva-June. I'm afraid you've caught me off guard. I've never been in debt to a stranger before. And we all are deeply indebted to you." Adam puts the clipboard down.

"So if you are in need of anything, please don't hesitate to ask. A bath perhaps and new clothes since yours were scuffed? It would be a start." Adam stops short of calling someone in to help June out in the unfortunate possibility that she declines Adam's offer of pampering.

[5a Violista]

[Adam's Estate]

The most rational answer is that this Adam is the half-elf half-catgirl son, or maybe three-quarter-catgirl quarter-elf grandson of the original Adam, which would make him Adam Jr or Adam the Third and would explain why he looks the way he does. In fact, yeah, that's June's new headcanon. This is Adam the Third, second child of Junior, who is trying to prove himself even though he has a lesser inheritance and...
...wait that probably wouldn't fit with the museum tour timeline, she thinks. This is Adam Junior, half-catgirl half-elf, who has been put in charge of something-or-other and whatnot, and...she'll be able to figure out the rest of this headcanon later.

June, who is actually quite ignorant on what Officer Cat Caroline's duties actually are, is solely basing this on past experience in a different nation and not on any intimate knowledge of Catside or Adam's Estate's policing procedures, so she just decides to leave this conversational thread there.

"Such a relief to hear she's doing well," June says.
With her name (apparently?) cleared, a busy schedule ahead, and her fairy godmother's 'midnight' fast approaching, except with mushrooms instead of pumpkins, June seriously considers turning it all down, saying that she already has everything she needs, that everything's already perfect, and that she only did what she thinks a decent human being would do, but...

...
Adam (Junior?)'s casual comments on the state of her clothing makes her look down and notice. "I do have a date planned for later today," she says, prefacing her decision, "and I don't have the time or anywhere to wash or hang them up to dry, so. I'll take you up on that offer. Bath and a change of clothes." Besides, baths are generally private so perfect time to wait for Fairy Godmother #1's magic to run out and wait to take the next one.

[Reinholdt]

[Adam's Estate]

There is obviously no more rational headcanon than that.

"Oh?" Adam says, half curious but not pushing. "Oh dear, I hope we haven't held you up then. If you need a trip back into the city, I can have my finest chauffer take you. Amelia is truly a savant when it comes to just barely getting into an intersection while the light is still yellow." It'll be an exciting journey at least.

"But before that," He claps his hands and a catgirl maid enters, curtsying to both Adam and June. "Take her to the bath and cleanse her yourself if she so desires." The maid nods and motions for June to follow her as Adam speaks one last time towards June. "We're not much for clothes around here, but I'm sure we have something date worthy around here for you. I will have some options for you once you're finished with your bath." Hopefully they'll be her size. He's definitely going to have to ask his staff to ask around a bit.

[5a Violista]

[Adam's Estate]

While there's no more rational headcanon, June's pretty sure she could come up with some alternative headcanons, given enough time.
He's some other guy who just happens to be named Adam who ended up just coming here for unrelated reasons and tries to fit in by wearing cat-ears headband is making an...interesting case for third place.

"It's not until six, so there's not a huge rush." Just means she won't be able to explore the suburb architecture, like was recommended to her. And for messing up her already-too-tight vacation scheduling, she can thank...well, she's not quite sure who to thank. There was a lot of things going on, all caused by different people. If she really wants to do that, she's going to have to rethink her entire plan. "As long as there's still buses goi-"
Wait.
There literally just was a major catnapping here.
A never-happened-before emergency.
There's obviously going to be cancellations, delays, people being forced to leave immediately, and other things.
"Um. Well...I don't want to impose, so I'm perfectly fine taking public transportation, so long as it's available."

Oh right! June almost forgot that getting clothes from here might be a very unique experience.
Somehow.
There was just too much excitement going on.

She gets up, and starts to follow the maid.
To Adam, she says, "Thank-you."

June follows the maid out, and informs the maid that she's probably not going to need help bathing: she's been practicing most her life and is almost a professional at it.
And then immediately regrets saying that because of how awkward and cheesy and dumb that joke was. Luckily she successfully managed to not flirt, as far as she could tell, so at least she doesn't have to add that embarrassment to it, too.

[Reinholdt]

[Adam's Estate]

Adam doesn't appear to be in possession of the cursed four ears necessary to back up that particular line of thought.

"Ah. Well then we won't rush. And I promise you, it's no imposition at all. Seriously... thank you." Adam all but takes her hands in his when he gives her his utmost gratitude before heading out to find June some fresh date worthy clothes.

The maid herself can't help but smile at June's bad joke. It was pretty funny, even more so in her line of work. "Well, if you need anything at all, I'll be outside ma'am." She gives June a courteous bow and closes the door behind her to give June the privacy she desires. The water has already been drawn and is steaming slightly in the tub that's oversized, about twice the width of a normal one and long enough so that June doesn't have to bend her knees. Some sort of specialized heating stones on the bottom keep the water at the desired temperature too, not letting it cool down over time like it would normally, but she can adjust how hot June likes it with a dial on the side. Or activate the water jet massager from there as well.

[5a Violista]

[Adam's Estate]

Maybe he's a......
...? June isn't sure what kind of elves don't have external ears, but she's sure there's got to be some kind of elf that's like that. After all, there's wooden elves and darker elves and cookie elves and snow elves and fairy elves so there's got to be earless elves somewhere out there. Maybe.
Little point trying to think to hard about it; it's only one of the lesser theories specifically because it doesn't match all the evidence.

June is pretty glad that there is, in fact, privacy.
But, if she didn't know that the was literally in the super-mansion nation capital, she would start wondering why literally everything she's seen so far has been way too opulent and too big.
She dresses appropriately for the bath (it is such a relief finally having that tail not so cramped up) turns on the jets, and (after feeling the water) turns it up a little. Before getting in, she checks for her last potion for the day...it's one of the strong ones. Ugh: that one's going to give her horns, isn't it? Luckily they've always been pretty small so far...

She sticks her head underwater and blows out air in frustration. Would it be possible to just, like...pull them out? Would that be dangerous? Probably. Maybe a fancy hat would be better. Ugh, ugh. She's going to be on a date while under the influence of a strong succubus-fairy transformation potion. That literally has bad news written all over it. The reason she hates these stronger potions is because it makes her much more open to doing whatever. Like making out. This was supposed to be a 'for-fun' date where they show her around and have fun but...jeez. If she ends up making out with them then if it accidentally gets more romantic than planned, they'll want to probably do something again tomorrow. And that's before considering all the pheromones and supernatural attractiveness and everything else that'll happen. If they go anywhere public at all, there's going to be nigh-nonstop catcalls (ha) and wolf whistles, she supposes. That's going to absolutely ruin the mood of the date. Whoever planned out June's schedule (June was the one who did it) didn't think through it at all.
...
On the plus side, she won't need perfume, since her hair will give off a nice floral scent by itself. So that's a good thing, she supposes.

She sticks the top of her head (down to her nose) out. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. She's going to have to wait out the previous potion here in the bath - luckily it shouldn't take too long - and then take the next one immediately. This totes messes up, like, every single plan. She was supposed to wander around the suburbs alone and only take it at the last possible moment, so that the date could last as long as possible. Unless it's going to be a really short date, she's going to have to take a very brief stop back at the penthouse overly-fancy room and grab another to take partway through the date...but that would leave her with exactly one which she'll need to use during checkout in a day-and-a-half which means she'll have to feel incredibly uncomfortable with her body the whole day tomorrow, while avoiding literally anybody who she has met before. And she needs a new jacket.

Oh.

Right.
She came in here to actually wash off the dirt and sweat and stuff and not just complain about her life.

Just leaving the same complaints to run through her head, June gets on that.


Assuming nothing notable happens in the meantime, the current potion wears off in peace, she takes the new one, grabs a couple of towels (oh she forgot to check beforehand for towels. Hopefully she doesn't have to ask for some), wraps her hair up in one and the other around her, gives up on trying to uncomfortably tuck the tail into the towel, and goes to the door to ask if the maid's still there, and "Do you know if there's anything ready yet that I can change into, or should I just put back on what I was wearing before?"

[Reinholdt]

[Adam's Estate]

"Oh yes ma'am. There's a few outfits here for you to choose from ma'am," The maid says, opening the door to usher June back into the other room. She does pause a little though, caught off guard somewhat. "You... I must say the bath has done wonders for you. Practically glowing ma'am," the maid says, keeping it polite. Something about June seems different, that's for sure. If the maid notices the tail, she manages to keep herself restrained enough from commenting upon it.

But the maid absolutely insists June come out of there and into the other room where three outfits have been laid upon the bed for her to choose from. They're all definitely dateworthy, but they're all also daring. There's a red backless, strapless dress that either magically stays on or will need to be a perfect fit to avoid constant adjustments. The blue dress may be the classiest, but still comes with a leg slit that rises all the way up to the hip and has a triangular window just below the collar of a quarter-sleeved partial mantle, pearls holding it upon the shoulders. Finally the black dress is an affair of many ribbons that have entrapped catgirls past, and while it technically covers more than the other two, about eighty percent of it is see-through.

"Master Adam said not to worry about returning the dress. It is yours to do with as you please. All three of them if you want." The maid motions to a large full length mirror in the bedroom. "I'm to help you try them on and see how they'd look if you'd like ma'am."

[5a Violista]

[Adam's Estate]

"Okay," June says. "Um. Thanks." If that's all catgirls will do, then maybe today won't be so bad? Just be polite and compliment her? Well, maybe it won't actually be that bad, then. Maybe catgirls have a natural resistance.

She (cautiously, feeling a little odd walking out of the room in what is either a public place or some rich guy's house with a towel) follows the maid out into the other room.

June looks at the dresses, and is appreciative for the effort they put in. The black one looks gorgeous, but would be better if it had a jacket or another layer. The red one definitely needs a jacket, and June has no idea how it'll stay up. A jacket would be perfect for it, though. The blue one looks nice, too, but maybe wouldn't work if she wants to keep a tail hidden.
...
Plus, all of them seem to emphasize her chest which isn't something she particularly likes. She already thinks they're too big like this.

June really thinks about just taking one, but she thinks about it. If she doesn't, what are they going to do with the other two? They obviously look good, and they must've put in a lot of effort to find them, and it's not like she's seen anyone else around here who would wear it. "Um, I'm going to try them all on to see which fit, and then decide."

She sighs.
It would be faster to get help.
Besides, if more than one fits, taking the others would give a decent excuse to take a quick stop by the hotel room in case she runs into her date(s) in the lobby.
"Could you help me?" she asks. "Also, do you know what time it is? Want to see how much time I still have."
She gets the red one first, starting with the one she supposes she's least likely to pick, then blue, and finally black. Looking in the mirror at different angles, bouncing, seeing how they fit and such.

Afterwards, she ultimately decides on the black one.

[Reinholdt]

[Adam's Estate]

Catgirl maids who have a job of being polite to guests might have stronger reservations of willpower to draw upon than the normal catgirl in the streets. June's still amped up and hard to resist right now.

That probably becomes more apparent over time. "Of course ma'am," The maid gives a gentle smile and helps June into and out of each of the dresses, trying them on. As they try each on, the maid slowly becomes redder and hotter. It sure feels warm in this room. Well to her. To June, this bedroom's probably a nice temperature.

They were picked out with the general assumption that they would have fit June as she was under the effects of the previous potion, so each is actually a little tight, just a bit off. Still good enough to wear if June decides to. Sometimes that tightness pays off if she were trying to show off. Though, the ribbon-like nature of the black dress actually makes it the best fit of the three anyways because certain parts can be loosened just enough until it's a perfect fit.

"I must say, you are breathtaking ma'am," The maid says as June settles on the black one. "It's four twenty now. You need to be back by six, correct? Ah... well... that's time enough for me to give you a personal tour of the estate if you want it ma'am." The maid offers, her breath short as she gets physically closer to June. It's almost certainly guaranteed to make her late, especially if June plans on swinging by her hotel room first. And probably won't involve touring the estate at all, just the maid.