344/UMBRA Staff Meeting

UMBRA Staff Meeting
Date of Scene:	27 August 2015
Location:	Plot Room #2
Synopsis:	The newest member of UMBRA joins for a Staff Meeting. Everyone loves Staff Meetings. And credit card fraud.
Cast of Characters:	Fate T. Waldia, Takashi Agera, Euphemia Barchetta, Yomi Takanashi

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Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi, now having settled into his role as Director (and funneled a lot more resources to UMBRA as a result of recent problems relating to Scorn and Suzuki) has decided to have a Staff Meeting with some of his new field employees. After all, he hasn't even met Yomi yet, and frankly more time to talk to Fate can't be a bad thing with the girl being so withdrawn.

But he's still not a corporate type, so the meeting isn't scheduled, but rather a 'hey come meet me in the big room at the end of the hall in a couple hours' and he's got tea and cakes again.

After all, just because you're the head of a nascent evil research/combat team and also a powerhungry person, doesn't mean you don't like cake.

Especially not when you can make someone else pay for it as a business expense.

Yomi Takanashi has posed:
    Yomi enters the room from the hallway, pushing it open just enough to slip through before letting it close again behind her. The demure, dark-haired girl keeps her green eyes down, though she glances about the room over the rim of her glasses, taking in the situation while maintaining that look of polite propriety.

    After a moment, she moves towards the table, her hands folded in front of her over a small notebook she often carries around with her, just in case she needs it. She pulls one of the chairs which sit alongside the table back and slips into it, placing her notebook on the table and then folding her hands back atop it. "Good afternoon." Is her quiet greeting, given in a clipped, proper delivery, her eyes remaining more on her hands than on anyone else in the room (even if that's only Takashi so far).

Euphemia Barchetta has posed:
    Euphemia is out shopping with Fate when she gets the message from Takashi. She'd been hoping to do so for a while and jumped when she actually got the chance, dragging the poor blonde on a tour of Tokyo's upper end clothing stores. The selection for the both of them was smaller than she'd hoped because of their ages, and thus sizes, but she had spent the day with the younger girl trying on all manner of things, buying a small number of them.

    She hopes Fate finds the shopping spree as much as she does, but if not it might be trying for the younger girl.

    Of course when you're trying on so many that can still add up to quite a bit. A lot of the purchases are practical things they should probably have anyway, especially considering the secret identity Euphemia has been told to try and keep.

    The problem is that -some- purchases are wildly impractical, as evidenced by the fact that Euphemia walks in wearing a fancy, frilly dark green dress with all the accessories to go with it- including a patently silly tiara sitting on top of her head. Bulwark is in evidence more so than usual, sitting over her now exposed collarbone.

    Despite the dress that's so expensive it probably cost as much as all her other purchases combined the girl bursts through the door in a blur of energy. "We're hereeee~" she announces as she comes through the door to the office, bags of clothes on one arm, Fate likely dragged in on the other.

    She walks in and sets her bags down in an open corner of the room, only to notice what's on the table, "Yay, cake!" Immediately she goes over and picks a small cake up and takes a bite out of it, at least being careful not to drop any crumbs on herself. She's about to sit down in a chair when she snaps her fingers. "Oh, right."

    She sets down the piece of cake and walks over to Takashi, smiling to him and setting something down on the table in front of him. "Here you go," she chimes, as if she's returning a borrowed toy.

    It's his Eclipse Corperate Credit Card.

    At least the gems in that Tiara are fake.

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
Fate Testarossa comes in shortly after Euphemia. The older girl's energy is hard to keep up with sometimes, but Fate had fun regardless.

She comes in after Euphemia, pulled by one arm, wearing a black gothic dress and a frilly hairband. The look on her face is a mix of confusion and exasperation. She was quietly giggling about something when Euphy were out in the hall, but once she enters the room she's quiet.

Fate glances at the credit card, but she's not seeing it from the right angle to figure out what it is, and Euphemia didn't mention it either. The glance only lasts for a moment until she sees the other people in the room.

"Um... hi."

The edges of her frilly dress sway as she walks over to the cake.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi nods to Yomi as she walks in - "Good afternoon to you, as well. You can relax, I'm not going to pull rank on you if I don't have to." he adds with a soft smile. "Get yourself some cake. The others should be here so-"

And that's when Euphemia and Fate, and their new clothes and heavy shopping bags, make thier way inside. "Hello!" he says, happy until Euphemia passes him the card she shouldn't have had. He's not sure if he's more annoyed she has it, or more annoyed apparently nobody questioned that she is most assuredly not a 'Takashi'. He's very, almost visibly upset for a moment as he looks down at it. But that passes quickly, as he thinks on his feet. However much they spent it probably isn't that bad, but it does grant him an ability to squeeze out of a previous comment. "Well, as long as you like those clothes more than you wanted that swimming pool, everything is okay." he adds, pocketing the card. Euphemia doesn't react to discipline or yelling, he's guessed, but this might have a better function.

"It's good to see you two happy, though. You're all still very important to my plans for this little group." he adds, getting himself a little cake and tea too. Then he has a seat.

"I know it's been a bit chaotic, getting settled in. And then the big event last weekend and rushing out to grab things was fun, but didn't give us a lot of time to talk. So, let me open up by asking if you ladies have any questions for me?"

Yomi Takanashi has posed:
    Yomi glances up when the door bangs open and the other two girls enter. She watches with an expression somewhere between curiosity and aloof disdain as Euphemia prances about, returning the card to Takashi, but she at least has a small smile for Fate. She says nothing though.

    She does acknowledge Takashi's invitation by reaching out to find a plate with a piece of cake on it and draw it back towards her seat, where she begins to devour it one excruciatingly neat forkful at a time, nary a crumb falling to the table.

    When Takashi asks if they have any questions, she mutely shakes her head for the moment- she may chime in if someone else asks something and she has a follow-up or a comment, but she isn't the type to start a line of questioning on her own.

Euphemia Barchetta has posed:
    Euphemia isn't quite sure what to expect as Takashi realizes that she somehow got ahold of his card. She's even ready to take a wallop if that's how he decides to deal with it, the momentary look of anger in his eyes letting her know there likely is a limit to how far she can go before he really gets upset with her. But his methods don't end up being so crude but rather more subtle.

    And indeed, more effective.

    As he mentions the pool and implies she's ruined any chances of getting one much of the wind comes out of her sails, and her bright smile momentarily turns into a distressed little frown. "Aww..."

    There is no backtalk, however. She may be rambunctious but she's more than aware of how her antics get her into trouble- it's just that she's normally willing to deal with the consequences later to get what she wants now. In this case, however, she'd probably have rather had the pool.

    As she goes back to her seat she picks up her cake and takes a bite, which cheers her back up a little. Then she sees Fate sitting down with her dress swishing. "Hee..!" Okay, sad time is over. One day of Fate having fun now is worth 'maybe' having fun with her later!

    Once she's seated she closes her eyes and sends a quick wave to Yomi, having either missed the look from earlier or dismissed it. As the other girl eats her cake she decides she's going to give her a snack that's eaten in the hands and also very crumbly sometime. How would such a neat girl deal with inevitable crumbs without a napkin?

    "I have one!" Euphemia pipes up when questions are asked for. Really, did anyone expect her to be silent in a meeting? "How much of this building is ours? Do we need to be careful going to other floors? And are we going to be 'public' like WPS? Oh! And like, should we move in and live here too?" she asks as she raises her chair high enough so she can swing her legs back and forth below the desk

    Someone didn't read any of the memos.

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
"D-don't worry, Euph-chan." Fate tries to be consoling. "I'm sure we can just steal a swimming pool."

How in the heck does she plan on managing that?! Do you really want to know?

Fate looks between Euphemia and Takashi as Euphemia asks questions. Fate quietly eats her cake, glancing to Yomi who is the other quiet girl.

She does have one question. "Do we have any youma we can use?"

This may or may not be associated with the swimming pool comment. She hasn't explained.

Fate eats very carefully. She likes her dress. She doesn't want to get anything on it.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi watches Euphemia's reaction, and is suitably happy with the effect it had. Then, he watches Yomi. She and Fate remind him a lot of each other - he wonders what might be under Yomi's shell, with the small cracks he's seeing in Fate's.

He turns back to Euph. And goes back to business mode as she begins to ask questions. "All of this building is under our unit - the employees, everything! Once you shuffle into the Stacked Space it's allunder my purview. You really only need to be careful going into my lab - for your own saftey. That's why the doors are so heavy - I work with energy that most normal people can't handle." This is, actually, not a lie. Takashi's research labs are pretty much cesspools of negative energy and pretty hostile to normal life.

"We're not public like they are - we don't have a legitimate business front. If you need someone to know where you go, say after school, you're an intern with Eclipse. That's not technically a lie." he adds with a wink. "That's what you're listed at on the official employee sheets. You're just /also/ part of our secret little unit."

"You can keep your own place, if you'd rather, but I made sure we had pretty expansive little dorms for my elite squad - which is you - to stay closer if you choose. It's also free, so you'd save the cash on an apartment. I've already moved in."

"And youma - we have some, yes. They take time to make - but if you want to request one I can get assign them to you. They're not like Miss White's goons - they're big shadow creatures, tough opponents. You can rely on them to hold the line and not explode." It's obvious Takashi doesn't hold the robogoons in high regard. He hasn't addressed the stealing of swimming pools.

Euphemia Barchetta has posed:
    The consolation seems to work- Euphemia's smile is now just as bright as it was when she first walked into the room with the younger girl. "Oh, yay! You're right, I bet we can. You're so smart, Fate-chan~"

    Seeing both Yomi and Fate eating their cake so carefuly makes her want to do something dramatic to rattle them both. But considering she just got in trouble not a few minutes ago and she doesn't actually want to mess up Fate's dress she holds off. Instead she eats her own cake extra voraciously to offset them, leaning over her napkin as she eats.

    Some gets on her face, but she wipes it off effectively enough once she's done. After that, it's teatime.

    She takes some cups as Takashi explains, setting them down in front of the others before getting the tea container and pouring it out. Perhaps to everyone's surprise she doesn't splash it everywhere, instead making an active effort to make as few splashes and little noise as possible, a look of intense concentration on her features.

    Euphemia sighs a little once she's back in her own seat, having poured her own glass, and makes an effort at playing polite while drinking her tea. After all, she's dressed for it!

    A moment later this is spoiled by an excited outburst, "I'm moving in! I'm definitely moving in! Yay!" She throws her arms into the air and laughs, pushing her chair back from the desk and spinning it around. "We can be dorm-mates, Fate-chan~"

    Being in the same dorm complex as Euphemia would definitely make things more exciting, but you'd probably want to be in a room across the hall rather than adjacent to her.

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
Fate quietly considers the notion of moving into a dorm. Well, the fact that it's free would allow Fate to spend money on other things. That said, she's got a few specific special needs. "The dorms allow Familiars, right?"

She says this before considering that Takashi himself also has a familiar. Fate is in the habit of asking about pets, and habits have a way of overruling forethought. Not that Arf couldn't hide her wolf nature if she really needed to.

Fate takes her teacup in hand and lightly tilts it from side to side, causing it to swirl in a circle. The tea's surface reflects in her thoughtful wine-red eyes, before she looks up, "Big shadowy creatures... Are you talking about the big doggy thing I fought? I mean... the day before... my mother... um..." She trails off, but Takashi should be able to figure out what she means.

Fate watches as Euphemia gets excited again. She smiles softly, if still a bit shyly.

Takashi Agera has posed:
"Well, it's not like there's an apartment manager. You're really asking if I allow Familiars. After all, I run things here. And of course Arf can come with you." he adds with a smile to Fate. "That's why it's important we don't do things like needlessly overspend our budget, or break important things. If mistakes like that are made constantly, Eclipse might choose to replace me with one of their stuffy, boring upper-management types, and UMBRA wouldn't be able to work as well as it does." He leaves the threat of it being less fun/more businessy to Euphemia's mind.

"You should move in though, both of you. It'll be more cost-effective, the rooms are very nice, and you can respond really quickly from here to incidents."

"Yeah, the big shadow animals. They're called Retrivers. I'd forgotten you'd been engaged with one before your mother took Tomoe up on his offer." he adds, tapping a finger against his plate before finishing is cake.

"I much prefer having you on this side of things, Fate-Chan. You're very capable." Then, to Euphemia. "And of course, the help you've given me in my research has been much appreciated, Euph-chan." Appreciated enough to offset her often destructive or disruptive nature.

Euphemia Barchetta has posed:
    "You have a Familiar too, Fate-chan? I can't wait to meet her!" There is no question in the girl's mind on that she'll meet Arf at some point; is a matter of 'when' more than 'if'. The extra reinforcement of how important it is not to cause too much damage has Euphemia closing her eyes and sipping her tea. After she sets it down she utters, "Y-yeah, that'd be terrible. We should try to avoid that."

    It's the voice of a girl who's trying to pretend that she's not the primary concern in that area.

    "I will be! It's been harder than I expected to find my own apartment. Something about 'legal guardians'." She huffs a bit, annoyed that the nicer places weren't willing to just take her money and turn a blind eye. Then again it's not like she has the funding to offer especially juicy bribes for personal matters.

    On the subject of Retrievers? "I want one! Or two! You should teach me to use them, Takashi-san. You know me, I'd be more than happy to go out and have a bit of fun with 'em, even if you just need data on how effective they are."

    She pauses for a moment then, "Actually, what do we use them for? Other than getting Lost Logia and other devices we want I'm not sure what we're actually trying to do." Her cyan eyes peer upwards towards the ceiling as she taps a finger against her cheek, the girl going through her memories to try and piece together some reason behind it all.

    Yes, it's the first time she's even considered and cared about a reason to doing all this.

    After a moment she also sends a pout towards Takashi, a tiny tinge real jealousy in her voice as she mutters, "I'm capable too."

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
"Oh," says Fate. Well, that settles that. Arf coming along really does matter to her, and it's a relief that Takashi is in charge of it... He at least would at least understand what it means to have a Familiar.

To Euphemia, Fate says, "Um... oh right, you haven't yet. I'll show you sometime."

Back to Takashi, she adds, "If someone replaces you, we can just get him fired."

Fate is starting to learn how things work around here. She might be learning it a bit too well. That's what happens when an impressionable young girl grows up in an environment like this.

Her attention continues to be split back and forth between the two of them, her eyes shifting from Takashi to Euphemia. Hearing Helix talk about taking out Retrievers, Fate quietly listens. "They're pretty strong... actually..." Takashi knows she speaks from experience. "Strong enough to impress mother."

When Euphemia asks what they're doing together, Fate volunteers, "I want to find power sources that my mother can use. Other than that... I guess I'm here to support whatever else needs to be done."

She sips her tea for a moment as Takashi says he's glad to have the two of them here. "It wastes less time when we aren't fighting each other," says Fate. She doesn't quite have enough social grace to understand that she should return the compliment, or maybe she just can't think of anything to say.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi smiles at Euphemia. "Well, the 'correct' answer is that we are a divison of Eclipse which exists to acquire magical artifacts and information, in order to ensure we have the best understanding possible, so that we can make sure Eclipse's plans stop being derailed by the so-called magical heroes of Tokyo." he answers her, in a very practiced manner. "Now, how much you want to bite into that idea is your own perogative." he says with a wink.

"Now as far as what we're actually doing? That's kind of a secret, but I can assure you it's a lot more interesting and fun than making sure some stuffy old balding businessmen retain their money."

"Like I said, Euphemia-chan, you're welcome to a retriver -or two, yes -if you're going to use it in a more controlled and helpful way than you just used my card." he adds. Then Fate mentions her mother. "Oh yes, we're also specifically under orders to seek and find a very specific kind of Lost Logia, the Jewel Seeds, for Fate-chan's mother. In exchange, Fate-chan is helping us with everything else." he says, laying out the terms of that agreement.

Euphemia Barchetta has posed:
    Euphemia smiles happily to Fate when she says she'll show Arf to her, taking a bigger a drink of her tea rather than a sip. Seems she can't keep the 'little princess' routine up for very long at a time.

    "They're that strong? Then I -really- want one! And maybe we can use them to help get power sources for your mother." Her head tilts a bit, "Though if Devices aren't strong enough..." Seems she also doesn't understand the exact meaning of power Fate means by that.

    She listens to the official purpose behind UMBRA, nodding along in a 'yeah, yeah' manner as he speaks. That's... pretty much exactly what they were doing before UMBRA was it's own division.

    "Oh! I like secrets, especially finding them out. I'm glad there -is- something more interesting to it than that. Not that I'm ungrateful for everything you guys have done for me, but I want all those Devices I gave you to cause an -impact-!" She grins broadly, bouncing in her chair a little as she smacks a fist into her palm.

    "She's right, by the way," Euphemia chimes in with a giggle, "If you want you could put a bomb in your chair or something and we could blow up anyone who ever tries to replace you with it."

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
Fate nods as Takashi mentions the Jewel Seeds. "I only have one. They're hard to come by. There should be at least fifteen, maybe sixteen, but it's hard to pick out their signal from all the other magical things that Tokyo has."

Takashi keeps his plans a secret. Well, Fate supposes, that's just how it is. Mother keeps secrets, too. Maybe that's just how things work in the real world.

"I don't think that Retrievers would be effective at stealing a swimming pool. The one I fought seemed like it was better for draining energy."

Fate tilts her head as Euphemia mentions devices. She doesn't know much about them, or else if she was told she doesn't remember.

She blinks as the bomb is mentioned. "Um... well... we could do it that way... if you wanted..."

After a pause she adds, "I'm not sure we'd want to have bombs under our chairs, though."

Takashi Agera has posed:
He looks -very sternly- at Euphemia, a look that is out of place for him. "I do not want a bomb under my chair." Great, now he's gonna have to /check/.

"The devices you gave me will make a big impact soon, it's just taking time for me to figure out all of the ins and outs. Midchildan stuff is a bit more advanced than anything I've worked with before, so it's one step at a time."

"Yeah, the Retrivers I have so far are designed to steal energy and artifacts. A pool would be much harder to steal." he adds, smiling. "But maybe we could look at that pool in the long term still, if you girls keep up the high level of work - both of you." Carrots work better than sticks, he's found.

"You all did very well securing those trinkets during the strange night. But as I'm sure you know, most of the good stuff is either carried by people or draws them quickly."

Euphemia Barchetta has posed:
    Euphemia perks up when Fate mentions she already has a Jewel Seed. "Can I see it?! I mean, I should know what it looks like so I can make sure to get one if I see it. You can, um... just have Bardiche give Bulwark the schematics or something..." It's times like these that she regrets having a reputation for chaos and destruction.

    She catches Fate's head tilt and gives one of her own. Then she realizes. "Oh! I mean like your Bardiche and my Bulwark, and Takashi-san's Axion. Intelligent Devices, Storage Devices... like that. If those aren't enough for her... those Jewel Seeds must really be powerful!"

    Then an exasperated look, "I'm not going to blow you up, Takashi! Gawd!" She throws her hands up in the air in dismay that it would even be considered of her. "Like, I understand if you though I'd do it on /accident/, but on purpose? Rude."

    She then makes a really odd face and shakes her head, "What can you even do with stolen energy, Takashi-san? I don't really get it. Artifacts and Lost Logia I understand wanting to steal, but energy? I've got tons of energy I could give you if you needed to study it!"

    The praise seems to put him back in her good graces, and she smiles, "You've got it! I haven't been slacking, but I think I've made a few mistakes in some of our fights. I want to show you just how effective a team Bulwark and I can be. You really haven't seen what I'm capable of."

    A pause, "Oh wait, yes you have. Ehehehe, that was so awesome~"

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
On the subject of pools, Fate shrugs. Whatever plan she has in her head, no one's asked her, so she isn't saying.

"If a person picked up a Jewel Seed and didn't know how to control it, it'd be bad for them."

Euphemia wants to see it, so Fate takes the yellow icon off of the back of her glove, Bardiche, and holds it in front of her. "Bardiche. Confirm Jewel Seed."

Bardiche pings, and projects a magical field in the space over her hand. A small, black, eight sided crystal appears, with the roman numeral 'XII' etched in the side of it in glowing red.

"It's dangerous to use it, even when it's sealed like this. The intent is for it to cause your wishes to come true, but... it's unstable and unpredictable."

"I found this one on a giant kitten. It wanted to grow up, but instead of becoming an adult cat it became as big as a house. You can't rely upon it."

The Jewel Seed vanishes back into Bardiche, and Fate returns Bardiche to the back of her glove. "It's true. There are others who want what we want, and that's why we have to use force to get what we want. We can warn them off, but they won't listen. Talking to them is pointless."

Fate takes a deep sip of her tea after that. She slowly eats a bit of cake. "My familiar took that Lost Logia. She was mad because it made me act weird. She hasn't spoken much to me since then."

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi nods. "Energy has a lot of uses. It's like... a raw material. The more of it I can store, the more interesting things I can do. For example, the Retrivers - one of the things I build them with is raw energy. It's different than the stuff I use, too. So that's why I take it. It's another way to build our strength. The more strength we have, the more we can do. It all builds up. But if I take your energy, you get weakert, so it's better to borrow from other people who aren't so useful."

"I'm sure the Jewel Seeds must be powerful, or Fate-chan's mother wouldn't them so bad. I can understand a search for power, certainly." he adds. "Even unreliable power can be controlled with the proper knowledge, I'm sure of it."

"We use force because people are dumb, frankly. If they were intelligent they wouldn't oppose our strength. They make the choices that force us to be aggressive. If they would just stand aside, we could attain what we want without hurting them - it's always their choice. I always give a warning." he says, adamantly shifting the blame.

Takashi's phone starts to buzz. It's the same tone as the time Fate's aleigances were shifted mid-fight. He rapidly takes it out, listening, getting up and hanging up. "Ugh. Well, that's what I get for having a meeting. Sorry ladies, I have to go meet with some of the boring people now." he says, a grumble in his voice. "Help yourself to the rest of the cake, though - and try not to go off the walls. When I get back I'll get you set up with your rooms." he says, smiling, even bowing a bit, before he's off to Eclipse's main HQ to answer the unwanted summons.

Euphemia Barchetta has posed:
    Euphemia hums a little as it's explained why they'd want to take people's energy. Using it so they don't have to use their own- that makes sense to her. She might have to do a bit of digging around to find other uses for it herself!

    Then she's looking the Jewel Seed as Fate shows it to her, leaning in a bit to get a nice good look at it. "It's amazing to think so much power can be in such a small thing." The actual powers it contains has her making a curious look, "Hm. Badly granting wishes isn't something I'd be interested in except as a silly party trick, but your mother probably has something really important in store for them. I'll do my best to help you get the rest of them, Fate-chan!"

    She helps herself to another piece of cake as the others muse on people not simply giving them what they want. "I learned that a long time ago," she mutters after eating a piece, "if you really want something a lot of the time you have to make it happen yourself, one way or another. People might try to stop you but if you're really committed to it you'll get your way more often than not. You've just gotta be willing to give it your all and see it through to the end!"

    She lets out a sigh when Takashi gets up to leave after the phone call. "Try not to roll your eyes too much at them- boring people usually hate that." She's pretty sure Takashi is better at hiding his boredom than that but she offers it anyway. "Thanks for the cake, and the dorms!" She waves to him as he exits.

    Then she turns to Fate with a bright smile, "So... tell me about this plan of yours to get us a pool!" Seems she hadn't missed all those references earlier- she was just waiting for the bossman to leave before bringing it up.

    She also gives the younger girl a quick look over, followed by another happy smile, "I really like your dress!"

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
"Well I was thinking... you know... we get what we want by force, right?" says Fate, in between bites of cake.

"Well, like... we can just go to a public pool and steal theirs. We can have youma pick it up and carry it for us. No one's going to stop us from taking a pool, right?"

Well, that's not true. Someone might try to stop them. She'll cross that bridge when she gets to it.

"We can just find a spot nearby, in a yard or something, dig a hole, and drop the pool in it! That should work, right?"

Fate seems to be unaware of how pool maintenence would work, or the chances of breaking the pool in transit. Or the difficulties of actually transporting it. Still, a public pool would be more than big enough for UMBRA.

"I mean, we steal whatever else we want. Why not steal a pool?"

Fate's own device pings at her, and she hears Arf's voice telepathically, in a long whine. "Faaaaaaate. I need heeeeeelp!"

Whatever's going on, it's desperate enough that Arf would actually ask Fate for help. "Umm... I gotta go," says Fate to Euphemia. "We can talk about it later, if you want."

Fate darts out of the room suddenly, leaving her teacup behind but taking a slice of cake with her. Hopefully she wont spill too many crumbs over her dress!