Room 507, Friday Morning, Fairly Early

[not_in_the_book]

It was very tempting, Ronan couldn't help but feel, to simply hide in his room for the weekend. Certainly, he wasn't aware of any visitors coming to visit him, but nonetheless he felt it... prudent to avoid the weekend at all, if he could.

Oh, look, a ringing telephone. Absently, he picked up his mobile, thumbing the answer key. "Hello?"

Annie Callahan	The voice of the older woman on the other end of the line was a bit crackly, as would be expected over any overseas connection, but sported an American accent. "Ronan Nolan, Junior? Is that you?"
Ronan Nolan hotceltogoth	It took Ronan a moment to place the voice, but the accent was a bit of a giveaway. "Annie! Hi! Yeah, it's me," he said. He paused for a moment. "Bit of an odd question to start -- what year is it for you?" Better to make sure first that she was his Annie; although he hadn't had any problems with calls to and from home so far, thanks to the Manual, he was still a bit wary of how that might change.
Annie Callahan	"2006, of course," laughed Annie Callahan. "Just like it has been all year. Don't tell me the culture shock was that bad?"
Ronan Nolan hotceltogoth	"Annie, you have no idea," Ronan replied, laughing in return. "It's a long story. Anyway, what's up? I can't imagine this is a trans-Atlantic social call."
Annie Callahan	"If only," Annie said with no small hint of regretfulness. "It's the Chalice, Ronan."
Ronan Nolan hotceltogoth	That couldn't be good. "What about it?" Ronan asked, a bit hesitantly. "Has something happened to it?" Sure, it had been mostly inert after the last Battle of Moytura, but it probably wouldn't take that much to reawaken it...
Annie Callahan	"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell," Annie said slowly. "Not yet, but we think someone's been tampering with it; Doris has been picking up the odd twinge here and there."
Ronan Nolan hotceltogoth	Odd how the mention of Doris brought back flashes from That Day, even though direct mention of the Chalice didn't -- but it was hard to forget seeing drow and fomori being swept away by azure light, sent forth from the Chalice by Doris's hand. "That's... disconcerting." Ronan frowned. "What can I do to help?"
Annie Callahan	"Well, you know what hotshots you young wizards are," Annie teased. "Besides, you were there, and you have close personal experience with the Treasures. If anybody's suited to help us sort this out it'd be you."
Ronan Nolan hotceltogoth	Ronan grinned, even though he knew she couldn't see it. "You're in luck," he said. "I don't have any classes until next Friday, although hopefully it won't take that long. Give me an hour to get some things in order here, and then I can jump back home."
Annie Callahan	"It'll be fun," Annie answered lightly, grinning just as much as he was on her end of the line. "A trip to the museum -- how difficult could it be? That is, if you don't mind being seen in public with me and Doris. That won't kill your social life, will it?"
Ronan Nolan hotceltogoth	Ronan rather thought that, a year behind and across the ocean, Annie would probably still know that he'd rolled his eyes. "If anyone asks, I'll just say that I'm getting paid to escort you." He paused. "... That sounds much worse aloud than it did in my head. At any rate, a trip to the museum sounds fantastic."
Annie Callahan	"We'll see you in an hour, then," Annie told him. "Any forms you need filled out for the school? There isn't a checkbox on the excuse slip for 'on errantry,' is there?"
Ronan Nolan hotceltogoth	"I can take care of it all," Ronan said. "At least, I'll get everything taken care of on my end, if there's anything else that needs doing I'll tell you when I see you. And... well, there very well might be, at this school. You'd be surprised, the things I've seen here." He grinned again, and it probably showed in his voice. "At any rate, I'll see you in an hour. Is there still that overlay free spot in the corner of your field?" He rather hoped so; he'd been part of the team that had worked to clear it so that certain oversea relatives of Annie's had a convenient spot in which to arrive.
Annie Callahan	"There is," Annie confirmed. "You did good work on that." There was a brief pause, then a slight chuckle. "You'll have to fill me in a little on this school of yours when you get here."
Ronan Nolan hotceltogoth	Ronan chuckled in return. "Annie, you won't believe the half of it. And I say that knowing full-well the things we've all seen." Already, he was planning what he did and didn't need to bring with him. "Dai, Annie. I'll see you in an hour."
Annie Callahan	"Dai, Ronan," Annie replied. "I'll have tea ready for you when you get here."

Ronan smiled as he hung up the phone; it would be nice to get back home, even if just for a short while, and it had been too long since he'd properly been on errantry. This wasn't likely to be much more than a simple reconnaissance mission, perhaps reinforcing the wizardly security on the Chalice, but even still, it was the most actual action he'd seen in months. Not dirty.

It didn't even take him the full hour to prepare: clothes thrown into his claudicated bag, along with some junk food and some Irish money. A quick shower, a power bar for breakfast, and a quick phone call, and then he was ready. It was short work to lay out his transport spell, the words seeming almost as enthusiastic for the trip back to Ireland as he was.

A moment later, there was the bang of air rushing into a suddenly vacated space, the sound of a few sheets of paper rustling in the concurrent breeze, and then Ronan's room was silent, still, and empty.




[OOC: NFI, that Ronan got a phonecall is fine for broadcast, but that he left the island is NFB. Mucho thanks to futurebucs_star for playing Annie!]