Unpleasant. Angels had no room in their great flaming books of rules for subtlety, Ashleigh mused, and Helen here was clearly no exception. That always spelled trouble down the line, when those pesky shades of grey showed up. And considering how often mages were in the shadows...

Well, she'd hoped they could be very careful about this, but instead it was damn-the-torpedoes, full-speed-ahead, huh? Well, she could work with this. And she definitely felt better when she heard Helen's listed assets as a 'techno mage and an energy shield'. Nobody knew technology in magic like she did.

"If noninterference and a presumption of good will all around is all you want, then we'll be happy to give it to you," she said evenly, not so much as twitching a finger. Phrase it like that and everything should flow nicely from it... "You're absolutely right that your offer is of inestimable value to us."