"Female, preferably under sixteen?" He scoffed, reading the advert Lockwood had put out in the paper.

"And preferably well-dressed," Lockwood added, not looking up from his newspaper.

"You're ridiculous," George scoffed. But nevertheless, he put a pot of tea on and got out a plate of biscuits.

The applicants...well, they were either giggly while talking to Lockwood or had no Talent at all. The ones that did have Talent, when presented with the Skull, usually shrieked and ran out.

Until you came along, of course. You passed the test with flying colours, even seeing through the trick object, which was George's toothbrush cup. Lockwood shook your hand, grinning as he welcomed you.

George? Not so much.

It's not like he didn't like you, it was just...weird. Having a girl in the house. Now he got weird looks from Lockwood when he walked around without trousers. Hell, George didn't care if you walked around without trousers, why shouldnt that same courtesy extend to him? But you were all seated at the kitchen table, the room a bit messy and disorganized because of course until today two teenage boys lived there alone.

"We go to that mansion tomorrow, I need to finish up my research. I need someone to come to the archives with me," he said, taking one of the shirini morabaii he had made and chewing on it thoughtfully.

"I can't. I've got to go...handle something with DEPRAC," Lockwood said, digging through his wallet and pulling out a few quid.

"You two go and get dinner. I'll be back before curfew," Lockwood said, picking up his bag and leaving without another word.

It was silent for a moment.

"Italian sound good to you?" George asked, glancing over at you.