As Rodney made his way down the steps, he heard the voice again. It wasn't identifiably one gender or the other, and his heart fluttered, anxious in spite of everything. Maybe because of everything. His hand traced the stone wall, for security.

Rocks, at least, he knew.

He was also a bit relieved to be away from all the machines. He was used to lathes, but he was not a technician. The cave didn't even have fluorescent lights. Torches flickered on the walls, and ancient writing glowed with strange phosphorus. If any place was thick with magic, it was here.

Still, Rodney didn't feel alone. Something about the small cave felt like an auditorium. He heard the sound again, Hey, and he searched for it.

Hey, buddy, it coaxed.

Rectangular stone, like the tablets used for lithography, were carefully shelved in the walls of the rock. It looked vaguely like a caveman's library.

"Where are you?" Rodney asked, quiet. He almost expected to see a small creature crouched somewhere. A lizard, an owl, a bat. Chantelle had said the tablets themselves would choose him, but...? Surely now he was already past the realm of too strange to be true. He approached the shelves, and reached to examine a plain tablet with the image of a circle on it. He did get a feeling from it, sort of a rattling, unwelcome hiss. It was more vibe than sound. He didn't touch it.

Lower. Psst. Over here.

"Can...can you hear me?" Rodney asked, crouching and working his way along the floor. His steps were as soft as his voice.

Sure I can. Little to the right.

The images were delicate and simplified, and none of them were cats or bats. Here, a knife, there, a claw, all waiting with subdued violence. Rodney's hand was shaking by the time he felt something besides hostility. Almost...warmth? Welcome. Like an open door with its lights on in an unfriendly neighborhood. He couldn't make sense of the image etched into it. It looked a little like a spider dangling from its webbing.

"You're one of the stones?" Rodney asked, finally allowing his fingertips to rest lightly on the surface. His hands were coarse. It wasn't the sculpture studio.

More than the rest of this guys. Let me out already, would you, Buddy? I've got something really good, you're going to want to see this.

"Sorry," Rodney whispered, "just making sure. Hold on." Rodney carefully positioned himself to lift the stone. In spite of his fragile appearance, the arms bundled under his sleeves were strong, biceps corded from hauling materials more than visits to a gym. The tablet slid safely free of the slot with a gravelly, gurgling coo, like water in a brook. Rodney felt a bit odd, and it combined with a feeling of wanting to see exactly what he was holding-

Thanks, pal. Ahhhh. Yeah, you like that, huh?

"Like-?" Rodney nearly dropped what was certainly no longer a tablet. The glowing spread, shifting and changing into a long metal chain. An anchor- no, a hook, dangled from one end, clanking against the floor. White writing was inscribed, glowing, over the surface. At the very least, whatever it was looked more utilitarian than vicious, and Rodney sighed. This...this was alright, he thought. Not a cat, but it wasn't a gun either.

Gargoyle, the voice filled in. Name's Seven. Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows if you're freaky, heh. Welcome to the Chez de Seven, ghoulie. Open for business and all seven kinds of sinning, if you catch my drift.

"You heard that?" Rodney asked, because he hadn't said anything, and he followed up by an even more worried, "S-sinning? Oh, no, thank you, I don't think..."

Oh yeah, I can hear it all. What, can't you hear me? What do you think, nice, huh? We're going to have fun, I can tell. Where to first? Your abode? Place of business? The cazbah?

"Upstairs," Rodney hedged.

Lead on, lead on, Seven encouraged, like Rodney had much of a choice positionally. Partners. This was... temporary, right?

Yeah, if by temporary you mean until death do we part.

It's...it's very nice to meet you, Rodney tried to think sincerely back, but mostly he thought that he was very, very in over his head.

You and me both, Seven said, but he (or she) Either one! Don't remember! felt a lot less...uncertain about it.