fandomtownies | Monday Morning, Wolfram and Hart

Tara does peek in the windows, and winces. This looks like a bad time, but Lilah's voicemail did say any time... She knocks.

Lilah turns around as if there is nothing out of the ordinary and turns off the torch when she notices the blonde at the window. She opens the door.

"Yes? May I help you?

"Um... I'm Tara Maclay? I gave you a call, and you said I could come by." She looks nervously at the torch in Lilah's hand. "Except, if I'm interrupting I could go and get some tea, and come back later."

Lilah places the torch on the table. "Don't worry about that. It's just a...workplace issue I'm in the middle of dealing with. Now is fine. Won't you follow me into my office so we can discuss things in private?"

She led the way down a windowless corridor and into a small, if nicely decorated, windowless office.

Tara follows Lilah, and looks around the office. "This is nice." She searches for the right word. "Inclusive. Of, um, some of the town's non-human residents. Which is really thoughtful of you."

Lilah smirks as she takes her seat behind the desk and crosses her legs, gesturing to the chair in front of the desk for Tara as she sits.

"We here at Wolfram and Hart make it a practice not to discriminate against any segment of the population, including the 'alternatively alive.' In order to properly accomodate them, certain sacrifices must be made as far as office decor goes."

She folded her hands in front of her on the desk. "Now, how may I help you this morning?"

Tara sits, crossing her ankles. "I, um, wanted some advice. Or, well, to know if something was legal or not." She bites her lip. "A while back a friend did spell on me against my will and without my permission, which made me lose some of my memories. And I know there's probably not a law specifically about spells, but I thought there might be something about hypnosis or something... I know what she did was wrong, I just... I want to know if it was illegal, too." She stares at her lap the whole time, clenching her hands together tightly.

"Spells, huh?" Lilah frowns in thought (now that she no longer has to worry about things like aging and lines, frowning is perfectly permissible). "Any particular spell?"

Before Tara answers, Lilah walks over and pulls a thick book off the shelf, opens it, and begins skimming the contents.

"Lethe's Bramble," Tara replies, surprised that Lilah would know any spells at all.

Lilah immediately flips to the index and runs her finger down the right margin. "Ah, there it is...not for beginners...complete forgetfulness..."

She looks up. "Did you do anything that might be considered illegal while under its effects?"

Tara shakes her head. "Not that I know of. Except I don't know how many times it was used. My... friend... she said that it was just the once - or, well, twice - but I don't know if I can believe her. I could have done anything, or she could have, and I wouldn't know."

"Did you ever have sex under its effects when you might not have otherwise wanted to?"

She thinks for a minute, then says, "Miss Maclay, the truth is that the law does not consider mindspells illegal at this time, so it's kind of a charcoal gray area. However, if you have done something you might not have otherwise done were you in your right mind, you may have a defense of coercion available to protect you from the legal repercussions of whatever you've done."

She ponders for another minute, then makes some notes on a pad, putting a Post-it note in the margin of the book. "You may be also able to file charges against that person for false imprisonment, assault, or whatever else they've done to violate your body while you were incapacitated."

"I did. Have sex." Tara looks up a Lilah for a moment, and then away. "Um, we'd had an argument, and she made me forget about it, and we had sex the next day. If I'd known about the argument I probably wouldn't have, but if I'd known about the spell I definitely wouldn't have."

Lilah's gaze doesn't waver. "Well, then, it sounds like you've got at least a rape charge--if you would have said no but couldn't because of the spell, then in my opinion it's no better than a girl having sex under the influence of rohypnol at a frat party. But you need to talk to the police about that, so they can file charges. We don't really do that here."

"No," Tara says, shaking her head. "I don't want to file charges. I just wanted... to know, I guess? Whether other people would see it as a... violation." She bites her lip. "Um, can I ask you one more question?"

Lilah smirked. If this woman wanted to use her as the societal norm...well, that was actually pretty damn funny.

"Go ahead."

"You said your firm practices anti-discrimination for the differently alive. Are there any laws that protect their rights, or does being dead mean you lose your legal rights?"

"Generally, being dead means that you use your rights. However, proving death...can be somewhat challenging, especially if someone is talking or walking around." She shrugged, and made another note. "Things like glamours can be utilized to make someone appear alive, even if they're not, in which case it's up to the challenging party to prove that the first person is, in fact, dead."

She grins. "Because, trust me. juries...love listening to arguments like that. Judges too."

"So, princess, got a vamp or two that needs protection? Maybe a demon chum?"

"Actually, yes." Tara smiles. "I learned last night that some defamatory video was made of a vampire friend of mine, and sold without his consent. There's all sorts of discrimination issues going on up at the school for people who aren't human, and I want to know what their legal protection is, as well as the school's attitude. But, uh..." She winces apologetically at Lilah. "I'm kind of 'differently alive' myself."

Lilah pulls down the collar of her sweater to display both fang marks and a large slice across her neck from what may or may not have been a large axe. "Join the club, sweetie."

"Defamatory video of a vampire? This wouldn't happen to be of Angelus, would it?" Lilah asked, with barely disguised glee and a secretive glance towards her bottom desk drawer. The DVD she'd bought several weeks before was carefully hidden within the pages of a sanctified copy of the Bible.

"As for the administration's policies--you'll have to take it up with them," she shrugs.

"The school is currently off limits to Wolfram and Hart personnel, and is outside of our dimensional jurisdiction. Should have that kind of information published in the student handbook, though, and if they're violating published policies...then maybe you can file a complaint."

Tara blinks at Lilah's scar, and pulls the neck of her blouse down to reveal a shiny pink scar over her left breast. "We need a secret handshake. And, um, I'm addressing the school issues at the school, I just wanted to get the legal issues as well. Hence the talking-to-a-lawyer part. And yeah, the video was of Angelus and Faith. They said they didn't take it up with the school administration, and they don't want me to act on it, but... it was really mean. It's totally silly, because they're way more powerful than me, but I feel kind of protective of them - to all the people from back home, really."

Lilah admires the scar for a moment, running a finger down the bites mark almost in remembrance. "Well, I guess you've got invasion of privacy...maybe some copyright stuff and licensing issues..."

"Wait...All the people from back home? You mean Sunnydale?"

Lilah turns to her computer and types something in. A few seconds later, she reads the response. "Ah. You're that Tara Maclay. Wolfram and Hart has a definite interest in your transfer to Fandom High."

"Yeah?" Tara looks surprised. "Well, I wasn't told it was a secret or anything, if there's anything in particular they want to know. And, um, yeah, home was Sunnydale."

"I'll pass that message along to the Senior Partners and may be calling you, if that's alright?"

She smiles, then steeples her hands under her chin. "Such a lovely little town. Shame what happened to it, don't you think? It's wonderful that so many of its...denizens have chosen to make their home here."

OOC: Not sure if you know, but RP-Lilah died during season 4 of Angel, so she'd know most of what happened in SunnyD (probably about the same as Tara, actually). Assume research and nosiness has filled in the rest.

"That's fine," Tara nods. "You have my number. But, um, what happened to Sunnydale?"

OOC: Yup, I knew. But thanks for checking. Tara only knows as far as Angel S3, so you've just surprised her.

Monday Morning, Wolfram and Hart

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