"No, Uncle Archie, it's not, actually, it's a very good moment. You see, Dad was about to tell me why he's investigating the Cult of Bedlam." She watches Archie for reactions, and her face falls. "You knew?" She looks at Greg accusingly.

Archie looks between them, somewhat lost. "I'll just go, then—"

"So, Penny, I was thinking we should move in with Aunt Karla."

"I knew it. You wanna take us to the Suburbs!"

"That is where Aunt Karla lives, yes."

...a stunt like that would have very probably gotten Denice killed, a year ago. She clasps her hands to keep from flapping and focuses on keeping her breathing steady.

Is there a way into the restaurant without going through the bouncer? The idea is kind of terrifying but staying out here where she can't do anything isn't much better.

Yes, actually. There is a back entrance that seems unsupervised but might have an alarm system. And there's the basement, which seems to be connected to the Sideways and through to another building nearby.

The back entrance connects to a hallway that leads to a couple of offices, stairs up into living quarters, and the kitchen, and the basement's stairs lead up directly into the kitchen.

She might be able to navigate the kitchen without anyone stopping her, but the back entrance seems like the much better bet, if she can get in that way. She approaches and checks carefully for alarms.

...there are surprisingly none!

Penny and Gregory continue glaring at each other while Archie looks lost, and then she finally breaks the ice. "But how are we going to map?"

"Well, that's the thing..."

"You want us to stop, don't you."

She makes her way through the hallway, and pauses to collect herself just outside the dining area. The result is... imperfect, but there's only so much she can do when she's this freaked out.

"It'll just be for a few weeks," he promises. "No mapping and no exploring for a few weeks. Focus on your schoolwork. Maybe play with the neighborhood kids or something. Think of it like a vacation. We haven't had much of a vacation since you started mapping, have we? Well, now's the time, I'd say."

She folds her arms again and continues the glaring game.

The interaction between Penny and her father seems... stable, at least. And intruding might change that, and that could be very bad. But she steps out into Penny's view anyway, arranging herself into an approximation of calmly surveying the room while her attention is split between the Yates' table and the restaurant staff - if someone notices her she'll need to get moving, better to do that right away than wait for them to approach her.

She notices Denice—

—and relaxes considerably. "Well, fine."

"Really?"

"Sure. Whatever. You won't tell me stuff, I won't tell you stuff, it's fine."

"Penny, this is dangerous and you know that."

"I'll be back later, okay?" says Archie, and starts making his way back to his office.

She gets out of his way. Restrooms are thataway, that's always a safe destination.

She rolls her eyes. "Yes. It is. Fine. Whatever." And she reaches for her phone.

<PennyLane> Want me to tell my dad about you?

<PennyLane> Offer help

<PennyLane> Since he won't talk

<PennyLane> And then we can figure out what's up

Denice's hands are in no way steady enough to check her phone right now, but when it starts alerting her to new messages she changes course to approach Penny's table, going a little out of her way so that she comes into Greg's view before she's too close to him.

Okay, that's her cue. "So, do you want any help with the Cult?"

"...help? Penny, what—" And then he spots Denice. And frowns.

She doesn't falter; if she wasn't already moving she'd be in some trouble, but she is, and keeping going is easy enough. (Exits are here and here and here, routes, traffic, most likely to work if she has to grab Penny too, hiding places...)

She stops behind Penny's chair, eyes downcast. "Hi," she murmurs, too quiet for either to hear, and then repeats herself, louder.

"...so you're the friend Penny's been talking to," he realizes.