( When she agrees to cast the spell, Kate thinks it won't be so bad. Of course it wouldn't be. She's never been known for her imagination, after all.

But her longing for the past? Well, maybe she should have taken that into account when she used siphon magic to flare the thing to life. The field quickly shifts into the shape of a house. Simple red brick and a teal front door with three steps leading up to it. The front garden is a small thing, with two miniscule strips of grass and pavement, potted plants dotted around the wall of the house. Kate knows the layout instinctually: when she pushes down on the door handle and enters, the hallway will be there, wallpaper a lighter, but complementary, shade of blue to the door, light wood floors with a shoe cabinet that doubles as a sideboard.

She runs her hand along the grain of the cabinet top and finds air, brushes through the key bowl and counts the coats on the wall opposite. Five, as always. The smallest ones slipped onto a standing coat rack, umbrellas beneath.

This isn't real. Of course it isn't. And yet it all looks exactly like she remembers it. The chip on the wooden balustrade where her dad tried to carry a filing cabinet upstairs by himself and quickly regretted it. The wear on the carpet when she steps into the living room, a stain next to it where paint spilled and could never fully be removed.

She draws in a shaky breath and turns around, catching the eye of someone she drew into this scene and immediately glancing away.

Something so normal, and yet so impossible to talk about. Where would she even begin? )

( Sometimes in life, you take on a quest you're not really into because the rewards are interesting. And because you want a point of contact with the person who posted it. There's promise in the kind of enchantments they're saying these lip balms have, and so Kate has a full roulette of them on hand, reapplying each time someone approaches. )

You interested?

( Don't mind the glint from her fangs as she speaks, they're harmless, promise! )

( Dark Web quests are not, by nature, something you do because you agree with the action. At least, not usually for Kate. She seeks out things which offer worthwhile rewards, and the stain on her soul can join all the others she has.

But this one is different. This she agrees with. The experience of ordering a coffee has gone from simply saying "one black coffee" to "one black coffee, no I don't want oat milk, no syrups, no I don't care for your seasonal offerings..." and, well. Maybe it would be nice to watch some people suffer.

So, after ordering her own coffee (black, no sugar, no syrups, no nothing), Kate settles in at a table near the counter and quickly casts a spell on the rows of syrups near her — changing the flavour from whatever ghastly sugar concoction they are to hot sauce.

Extra hot hot sauce.

Have fun, froofy drink lovers. Please don't mind the fact that she whips out a cameraphone to record your reaction, it's fine. )

( you know what this is! )