"Backup doesn't have to be excited, just available if you have a very badly timed heart attack. I can make a spare circle for her." Circle for Kilchas. "When Jisa vanishes me you're just going to fill this gap in the circle in, right here, here's a pen," pen, "and then there I'll be, quick as a wink, yeah?"

Kilchas takes the pen, peering curiously at it. "This isn't like any pen I've ever seen! Neat." He lowers himself to the floor beside the circle with a grunt. "Ready on your mark." 

Jisa is still absorbed in her game. 

"I will not produce a mark, except by disappearing! Hey, Jisa, you need to concentrate for a minute on wanting to send me home, okay? Kilchas is going to get me back straight away and you don't even have to put down the game if you're very good at concentrating."

Jisa tenses up a little. She peels off the VR headset. "...I think I need to concentrate properly. So I can be brave enough. If you promise really you're going to be right back again."

She wraps the fire blanket cape around herself, and scrunches her eyes shut in obvious concentration. 

After about twenty seconds of this, she manages the right kind of wanting-to-send-Cam-home. 

She'll have to keep it up a little longer than that. He stands around awkwardly until, at last: poof.

Kilchas squints at the spot where Cam was a moment ago. "Well! What about that! ...Oh, I'm sorry, Jisa, guess I'm the one on the spot now." He looks ruefully at the pen in his hand. "Weird pen, maybe I should've practiced with it. Oh well, here we go–" 

He goes to complete the circle. 

- which is exactly the moment that Tran's breath hisses out explosively, his body going rigid. "What in all hells -" 

Kilchas also gets the warning from his Companion. Normally this would be a good thing. Unfortunately, he's in the middle of trying to draw on an unfamiliar kind of paper, with a sort of pen he's also never used before. And, given the kind of day this has been, he's just a little jumpy. 

Instead of finishing the circle, he sends the line wildly off-course and then somehow manages to tear the paper as well. He starts swearing loudly, catches himself, clamps his mouth shut and shoots a guilty look at Jisa. 

Who is now staring at the spot where Cam definitely isn't, in wide-eyed horror. "Where is he? Why didn't it work? Cam! Cam come back you promised!" 

"I'm sorry! Jisa, sweet, it's all right, I just - did something silly - I'm going to fix it, one moment..." 

No, the paper cannot be magicked back together at ALL. 

"...Tran, it should work if I just draw the whole thing out again, right?" 

Tran's jaw works. 

"It should. But - I don't know if that's a good idea." 

"What do you mean?" 

Jisa blinks at Tran with upset confusion, and then dissolves into tears. "Make him come back! Please!" 

This is incredibly distracting and it's such a bad time for it! 

"Jisa, pet, please, just calm down, can you be patient for one minute -" 

He switches to Mindspeech. :Kilchas, Cam knew. About Highjorune - what we just heard...: 

:What: 

:He was spying on them! With his not-scrying screen thing that he made. I didn't get much of a look before he told me off for being 'rude', but I saw Mardic: 

:But that doesn't make any sense! Are you sure?:

Well, no, he isn't sure, he really didn't have long to peek. Tran is just sure enough to be very suspicious. 

:He's hiding things from us. About Leareth. Savil said he wants to earn Leareth's trust. And then this...: 

:I'm not sure what you're implying but I don't like it: 

:Neither do I! It seems bad all round! Just... Either he knew this happened and he lied to us, or...: 

:Or WHAT: 

:Are you going to make me say it? ...All right, fine. Either he hid it from us, or he - did it himself: 

:...No:

:I don't believe he'd do that. Not in a thousand years. Tran, the first thing he did when he showed up here was start trying to feed starving people! He's not a murderer - he's the opposite of that -: 

:How sure are you of that? Because it's an awful lot at stake, making that bet: