“It's so important to make a good first impression, isn't it?” Simon froze at Darrah's words, the tincture he was working on forgotten as he turned to focus his attention on her. Lithe and a little younger than his own twenty years he supposed, though who knew with some of the magics available in this city, and with a little of the demon in her. Whether that last was literally true was up for debate in his mind. What was true was that he was having enough of these intrusion in his life. “What are you doing here...again?” He thought to ask how she might have gotten in here, but he just as quickly remembered who he was dealing with. Her expression took on a bit of shame; she crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. Simon tried to look away himself, to keep his mind from the temptation presented. “I've talked to other about you.” She sighed. “I assume many tales of me being a thief.” He looked at her again, now that he had something to distract his mind. “You certainly act like one, breaking into my new home, intruding on my property.” Darrah arched an eyebrow. “It won't be your property much longer, if you don't make a good impression on the city council. They can find other alchemists.” Simon gave her a wry smile. “And you wish to help me like you helped Uncle Erasmus. For some of the 'benefits'?” Darrah walked up to him, an almost animal grace in her steps until she was dangerously close. She smiled, but her eyes hardened a little. “Your uncle was a decent man, Simon, and our relationship was an honest one. I will not have anyone impugning his honor,” and now the smile disappeared, “or mine.” She lingered there for a minute, and Simon could feel a chill go down his spine from somewhere. Yet again, there was the feeling that he was dealing with someone not quite human. Then Darrah leaned back and looked at a shelf above Simon's head; she took a moment before picking up one of the small vials there. “I certainly 'obtained' enough of these materials for him to qualify as 'helping him with his work. I can help you with your work, just as I helped him.” He inwardly sighed; he was going to have to say it, or they'd be there all night. “You still want me to help find out who murdered my uncle?” She heard the note of skepticism in his voice and frowned. Simon could see a little desperation in her eyes. “He was the only friend I had, and I knew him well enough to know he wouldn't kill himself. Someone wanted him dead, and I need to know who and why.” There it was. The whole reason she had been barging into his life in the first place. Only now, looking at her in the candlelight, Simon could notice even more the feeling of anxiousness in her stance. He felt a little sorry for her, but at the same time a slight resignation took hold of him. She really wasn't going to leave him alone until this matter was settled, was she? And how much trouble was she going to cause for him in the meantime? Still, he couldn't just agree to her terms immediately. “You're perfectly capable of going where you like. You've already proved that coming here.” Darrah nodded at that. “But you can walk in circles I can't, not without stirring up more trouble that it's worth.” Simon could imagine what circle she was talking about, and they weren't social. He looked back at the tincture he was making. “Can you provide proof that he was murdered? I mean real proof, not accusations?” The slightest hint of a smile crept onto Darrah's lips, and Simon could see her stance loosen a little. “I can show you later.” She held one hand to stop his protests and pointed to a book on a nearby shelf. “That one over there. It contains Erasmus's list of clients and the potions he was giving them.” Then she made her way over to the table he was working on and looked at the tinctures with what seemed to be a practiced eye. “And as for this...” And as she stood there, an actual smile on her face that was a mix of grateful and feral, Simon couldn't help but wonder what he'd gotten himself into.