Carver reached out after that last contract, before I had a chance to. Wasn't about Domi, though - she wanted to help me with the uh, traumatizing, aspects of that last mission. I sat her down at my restaurant and gave her a private meal where we discussed the details of what went down, and she helped me get through some of the mental blocks that popped up after. I slept with the light off last night.

Maybe Carver's not as annoying as I thought as first. She seems like she could actually be a good friend, if I let her. That's probably not a great idea, but... I need allies, at least, right? Yeah. Allies. I don't know if I really trust her, but... I trust her enough. And at the end of the day, isn't that all that matters? She's no James, but she knows what she's doing. And I need that.

Rituals, rituals, and more rituals. Also some more training with blades - in and out of the kitchen. Some more of my reading has paid off. I figured out a way to borrow a small part of the underworld for storage purposes. It's tied to the owner's soul, which some people might find a bit iffy I guess, but it's necessary to open the way. A pinch of it stays with the doorway - in my case, my purse - and it does admittedly feel rough if the soul's owner stays away from that pinch for too long. My reading seems to suggest that the pinch would die, actually, and the gate seal. Obviously, I have not performed a first-hand test on this. If I were to do so, I'd use someone else's soul for it. Likely a good idea to just avoid that situation instead, however.

In more martial pursuits, I've been practicing using my Left Hand of Darkness in the kitchen to speed up prep times when working alone. Also out of the kitchen, with my martial arts. It works wonderfully!