It is a cold grey day in the Foothills today. The sky is choked with clouds perpetually dumping heaps of wet snow on the roads, on cars, and on the occasional weary foot traveler.
Lucy is one of these weary foot travelers. She had nothing planned for things to do today, so she decided to take a trek out and finally visit the address that Richard gave her. He'd said she'd find plenty of people who had similar interests here. Lucy had her thoughts on what that might mean, and she wanted to see them verified (or discounted, whichever).
What she hadn't counted on was just how far out of the way the place is. The buses will only take her so far and she hadn't considered she might need a cab to make the rest of the journey. So it is that a tall, hooded figure trudges along one of the main access roads up through the foothills and the house there. Every once in a while she checks her phone to make sure she's still on the right track. While cold and chill and frost affect her very little, she's never tested the theory of whether or not she can get frostbite or die from exposure. She hopes today isn't the day that she finds out either.
And with each step that she ascends in the direction of the various gulches at the start of the mountains she asserts that this time, this place, here and now. Soon as she gets herself some permanent, long-term, gainful employment she's going to get herself a goddamn car.
Alyssa SolomonAlyssa saw Kalen's note on Ginger, of course. The Hollow One has been hooked up to the MMS (magely messaging service) for a short while now and she finds it all amusing, but also useful. So she noticed when he said that he would be at the Chantry and that's what brings her there. Although her reasoning has nothing to do with hot chocolate or snow or anything like that. Nope, she's going there with a purpose.
Of course, this doesn't mean that she hasn't skimped out on her regular routine, and that includes making herself up. It's a bit less flashy than perhaps she has been known to do; instead of fancy color schemes, she's kept it limited to pale and heavy eyeliner, with painted brows. The one flourish is her lips: black, with a dark red right down the middle. It's a tasteful look but still distinctly Alyssa. It's complemented by a top that starts off dark and faces into a transparency by the time it gets to the waist, a skirted pair of leggings and a leather jacket. A leather cuff is wrapped around her left wrist.
And that's how she looks as she gets out of her trusty, rusty red '89 Acura Legend, whistling a little as she heads her way to the door.
Kalen Holliday[Nightmares]
Dice: 6 d10 TN7 (3, 3, 5, 6, 6, 9) ( success x 1 )
Kalen HollidayKalen has, as promised, made hot chocolate. The long way, where you have to melt chocolate and mix it with milk, which makes some of his protests about not being able to cook are probably based less on the fact that he could not learn to cook and has instead just decided not to learn. Or perhaps he got tired of accidentally summoning demons.
Okay. That probably didn't happen.
But there is hot chocolate and there are marshmallows and there are a ridiculous number of bottles of alcohol in various flavors lined up near a line of those ridiculous ceramic hand-warmer mugs and piles of marshmallows. There are pans of lasagna in the refrigerator, with instructions written out carefully on star-shaped post-it notes in sparkly purple pen. The last step, for anyone ambitious enough to look, reads, 'I promise if you do what I say you will not light the kitchen on fire. And can't you just put it out with your mind anyway? ;P'
And Kalen, who can actually walk now, is stirring hot chocolate and rearranging all the bottles and straightening the line of mugs and walking to the windows to look at the snow and generally wandering here and there because he can. Annnnnnnnd...possibly because if he stays still he will fall asleep.
Alexander[Hang on, do we actually notice you..?
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (3, 3, 6, 8) ( success x 2 )
AlexanderThe weather is cold, wet, miserable. But at least it’s too warm for the ground to freeze and black ice to cover the roads up to the Chantry. Somewhere between Morrison and who-knows-where, a salt-stained blue motorbike slowly (for the rider) makes its way along a road. The rider is well-insulated against the cold, although it seems to bother him less these days than it used to. But, as Lucy, he has no inclination to see if that makes the slightest difference to the effects exposure has on him.
So somewhere along that road, a bike passes a hooded figure from behind. Between the hood and the rider’s helmet, there are no faces to recognise. But these aren’t ordinary people, and there are more ways to recognise someone than just their facial features. The cold, threading feeling emanating from the figure, blending in with the rider’s Frozen aura, seems to bring the temperature in the air down further. The brake lights come on and the bike pulls over to the side, waiting for the walker to catch up. The rider lifts the mirrored visor up to look at her when she does.
“Need a lift?”
Alyssa Solomon[[Awareness Magedar just because why not? And to set a baseline for when the others get there!]]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 6, 8, 9) ( success x 3 )
Kalen Holliday[Everyone else is doing it! Awareness!]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 5, 5, 6, 10, 10) ( success x 3 )
LucyLucy knows nothing about hot chocolate and alcohol and a certain lanky Hermetic she met that one time waiting at her destination. Not for her, of course, but when she gets there she'll definitely think it a fortuitous coincidence. Although, when one is so knowledgeable in the ways of Entropy as she is, is anything really a coincidence anymore?
Like, for instance, the sound of a motorbike coming up behind her, the sight of it pulling a little ways ahead, then pulling off to the side. Like he's waiting for her. Alexander would be the first person to stop and offer the young woman a lift, not because the general populace is generally uncaring of the plights of strangers, but because out here there simply aren't many people driving past.
There isn't much to recognize her by other than that cold, frosted resonance, that threading, stitching feeling. Her hoodie is black with pink plaid accents and lace-up detailing. Her legs are covered in the same shredded (hard to tell if all those tears were made with a purpose or gradually over time) jeans Alexander last saw her wearing. Same black boots, too, which are comfortable but not really made for hiking. A thick lock of maroon-red hair and the curve of a pale chin are all he has to go by for facial recognition, at least until she looks up and sees him there. Then her face breaks out into a wide and grateful smile and she hurries the last few feet to him.
"Do I ever," she says, and for all that she's been trekking uphill for the past half hour, she doesn't sound winded or out of breath. Adjusting the fall of her slouching, canvas shoulder bag, she takes the offered seat behind him on the bike. He may not have a spare helmet at the ready for her, but she doesn't mind. She'll wrap her arms around his waist and duck her face against his shoulder to protect it from the wind and the sting of falling snow.
"I can't believe you can ride in this!" she says, and even without the benefit of seeing her face he can hear the amusement in her voice. Meanwhile, all around them, the world turns ever more frigid.
[sure WHAT COULD GO WRONG??]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 8, 9) ( success x 2 )
Alyssa SolomonShe's gotten past the knocking stage, for the record. She still doesn't quite consider herself part of the Chantry yet, so to speak, but she doesn't feel the need to knock anymore. It's still distinctly strange to her though, this fairly unprotected place. One of these days, as she told Kalen a while back, this is going to bite the Chantry in the ass. But until she considers it home, it's not really her place to say.
So the door opens and it shuts, and she knows approximately where Kalen is because she can sense that ever-so-strong storm off in the direction of the kitchen. She calls out as she starts heading that way. "Hey, Kalen. Someone claiming to be one of your boy-toys called me up right before I was about to call him up. Anything about that sound familiar to you?"
The final word is out just as she does reach the kitchen, taking a sideways lean to rest her shoulder against the door jamb.
Kalen HollidayKalen laughs. "One of my what now? I think you may have me confused with someone else on that count."
His expression smooths over into something more serious though, after that. "If you mean Ian, yes. He's the friend I told you had a problem I couldn't help with that you likely could." He pauses. "Ah. Did he act like an obnoxiously smug cat at you? He does that sometimes. I'd say I don't think he means it, but he probably does. I don't think he means it in a targeted way, but he's...well...kind of...." Kalen rolls his eyes. "You talked to him. He was either incredibly charming or a jerk, or maybe both. So you probably already know."
"Anyway, hot chocolate?"
Alexander“I’ve had practice.” Whether that’s practice at riding, or at dealing with dangerous weather, he doesn’t elaborate. “You headed to the house?” he asks, though, before the visor comes down again. Perhaps it’s a little too trusting, and a little too naive, or Alexander to assume that she knows where it is. Or would even be welcome there. But she seems to know enough of the other Awakened in the city, and seems relatively normal enough, to seem like she’d be accepted there. Getting a nod, or a “yes”, in answer, the visor comes back down and the bike pulls away.
There’s no spare helmet, so the ride from there is slower than it was before he’d stopped. But it’s still quicker than walking the rest of the way would have been. Given a good day, warm weather, and decent clothes on his passenger? That would be a different matter.
And so a short time later, a bike pulls up onto the drive of the house. The engine dies down with a last roar, and two people get off. “I’ve not seen you here before. First visit?”
Alyssa Solomon"Uh, yeah. No, he wasn't obnoxiously smug, he was just basically a complete dick." She doesn't say it in an angry or bitter way; in fact, it's fairly matter of fact. She's used to having to work with complete dicks before, and it doesn't affect her ability to do so unless they actively let their attitude get in the way of what they're trying to accomplish. Alyssa's demeanor suggests they haven't hit that stage, yet at least.
"He's the one who called me to ask for help and then got all suspicious when I said I was looking to call him too. Which was a fun flip when he got indignant after I said I was going to confirm who the shit he was before I started handing out information like it was a roll of Smarties on Halloween."
She pauses there, partially because she feels a couple Resonances pull up, It's a brief pause though, and she looks back to Kalen. "What do you know about him? He's tied into a case that I'm working on and his story seems legit to the naked ear, but I'm not born yesterday so I'm not taking it on that alone."
Lucy"Yes," she answers at his ear. "You're a lifesaver, I thought I was going to have to try to cut across the gulch." Lucy's been a few places, enough that it surprised her that Richard would give up the address of this place to someone he'd just met. But she doesn't know that it's this city's Chantry, not definitively, at any rate. She just knows that there'll be others like her there, maybe, so it could just be some other gathering space.
She'll find out for certain soon enough. In the meanwhile, if Alexander is going to drive more slowly then Lucy relaxes her grip around his midsection. Not much. And she doesn't lift her head, though once or twice she turns it, and in so doing she catches glimpses of the Chantry's acreage. And then they're pulling up the long drive. Lucy dismounts as Alexander cuts the engine, and she looks around, eyes wide.
"Wow." And that may answer his question for him.
The Chantry grounds, despite the snowfall, looks much the same as it did yesterday, the day before, a month ago. It looks much the same as it will for the next several months, beneath the thickening layer of snow that is. The gras that pokes through the snow in place is thick, lush, verdant green. The flowers in their beds are in full bloom despite the weather, multicolored blossoms rising valiantly above the line of the snow. Lucy can still feel it, the faintest tingle of an older Working, something empowered, something desperate and euphoric. Something verdant.
"What?" she asks, turning to look at Alexander, and for a moment her expression maintains that look of almost childlike wonder. A blink and it becomes sheepish. "Yeah, first time. I have to tell my sister about this place, I think she'll love it." Of course, she would tell her sister about it anyway, but still. Lucy had been in the process of removing her gloves, but she stopped, left them on. Uses one of those hands to motion ahead.
"You're the regular, lead the way."
Kalen HollidayKalen sighs. "I know that he's hard to read, mostly." He shrugs. "He's just...what he is. The only thing I can get a decent feel for is that his friend, or his whatever he is, because I'm not sure friends are really a thing Ian is prone to having, is missing. And it bothers him more than he wants to admit to.
"And I think the only thing he may hate more than needing help is asking for it. So if he called you...it means something, even if he was insufferable." His expression softens a little and his eyes go a little distant, like he's thinking about something, but he doesn't say anything else about that. Particularly not when he can sense the others coming.
"I invited him here. For this. But it...." He shrugs. "I don't expect him."
AlexanderThe helmet comes off, revealing a little more of Alexander. There’s a scarf wrapped around his neck, although more to keep the wetness from getting too far underneath his gear than for the cold. He smiles at her initial reaction to the ground, easily answering the question. He’s a little curious about the abundance of flowers too. He’s not had enough contact with Sid yet to connect the working with her resonance – the only reason he picked up on Lucy’s on the way here was because he’d bumped into her so recently.
“There’s a lot more land around the back, but it’s probably best to wait until the weather’s a little better to go poking around back there.” He looks down at her boots as he says it. “You hadn’t walked all the way out from the city, had you?”
As those inside had felt their arrival, Alexander had already picked up on a couple of familiar resonances coming from inside the house. Not yet talking to Ginger, Alexander is equally clueless about the offerings of hot chocolate and potentially-demon-summoning lasagne. He turns and starts walking towards the door. Looking back, to check Lucy is following, he asks her, “Have you met Kalen and Alyssa yet?”
Opening the door, he stamps his boots on the ground to dislodge any stuck snow before rubbing them on the door mat a few times to dry the bottoms out. “Hi guys,” he calls, bending over to start loosening the clips and working his way out of his leathers. “I’ve brought company. Meet Lucy.” He gestures towards the others, motioning Lucy on while he works on freeing himself.
LucyLucy picks up on the others more strongly than she picks up the Working, but the Working - no offense intended to the Mages - is so much more interesting. Especially for someone like Lucy, who is made, or rather was turned into being the way that she is. She wouldn't mind wandering the grounds in snow or sleet or hail or rain, but that Working gives her pause. Beneath the snow everything is so lush and green. It would be a shame if Lucy were to somehow ruin it.
That can come later, though, she'll figure something out by then surely. Alexander looks down at her boots and Lucy, straightening her legs and bending to follow his gaze down, looks back up with a chuckle. "Ah, no. Rode the bus most of the way, but the only ones that come up farther than the town are Greyhounds, and I didn't want to wait an hour or two for the next one to find out if they make earlier stops."
So she follows Alexander toward the front door, keeping her hands and elbows in tight to her body so she doesn't brush against any bushes or outstretched branches or leaves of the other plants. Not that her clothing won't protect the living green things, but still she's nervous now.
"Um, unless there's more than one Kalen, I've met him. Alyssa, that'd be a no." She follows him up the front steps and waits her turn to stamp her boots out, but then ah, hm. "Should I take off my boots? I'd really rather not but," but what will have to wait. Alexander is calling out that he's brought company and so she follows up with her own call of, "Halloo!"
Alyssa SolomonKalen's response is, perhaps, a bit less than Alyssa was hoping for. It shows in the crease that briefly lines her brow, the downward tug at the corner of painted lips. It's easy for the Hollow One to go Newp, not good enough, sorry Ian. That's what her habit has been up until the point when she came into Denver and started meeting the Awakened here: if you don't have certifiable proof that someone's on the level, then move on. Fuck 'em.
But she doesn't here. Whether it's a good idea or not, she trusts Kalen's judgment. They wouldn't be a cabal if she didn't. And so when he vouches for Ian (albeit in a circuitous way), she sighs and reaches up to scratch at her hairline. "Well, that's not encouraging, but I'll take it I suppose. I've gone on less when it worked out fine." A pause. "You know. Once."
And then the door is opening and Alexander and a woman Alyssa hasn't yet met are coming in. The Hollower gets a sense of that chill in Lucy's aura, and it seems distinctly appropriate considering the weather. She looks over her shoulder toward the opening hallway and calls out. "In the kitchen! Hurry up before Kalen explodes over the fact that no one's eating or drinking all of his stuff! I don't want to spend my day trying to get Flambeau out of the linoleum."
Kalen Holliday"He doesn't really seem to be better at trusting than we are. But he-" Kalen frowns. "I just know how that is. And we're...for better or worse so far we seem to go on faith here. I didn't give much of anything, and even knowing I was actively being hunted they brought me here. I know it may not be the wisest thing, but it's the thing they did. So I'm trying it out a little.
"And...for whatever it's worth, I don't think there is anyone else to help him. The only time I've ever seen him need something he came to me. And I don't have any illusions he has some great fondness for me. I'm not crazy. I just don't think he had anywhere else to go."
He raises his voice a little then, less serious and more playful. "I will not explode! I haven't even made the food yet yet." He clears his throat. "By which, of course, I mean followed the attached reheating instructions."
Alexander“At least you’re not completely mad then,” he says with a smile to show that he’s joking. “I’m guessing you don’t have your own transport.” It’s not really a question – if she had something with wheels, he’s pretty sure she wouldn’t have been trekking through the weather outside. But, then, stranger things have happened.
Lucy asks about leaving her boots on, and Alexander pauses for a moment. “I’m not actually sure. I just didn’t want to drag wet crap into the house and these things aren’t all the comfortable anyway.” He shrugs. “If anyone yells, there’s cleaning stuff out in the garage.”
Alexander calls back, “As long as he explodes on the linoleum, at least that stuff can be mopped. Just keep him away from the carpets.” The boots are off and he sits on the ground to get his feet out of the trousers. A pair of decent socks have appeared from under the boots, and there’s some jeans emerging too. A few layers of t-shirts can be seen under the open jacket. Finally wiggling out of the last of the gear, he hangs it up by the door and wanders through to join the others.
“What’s the occasion,” he asks, seeing the array of drinks and things to add to drinks.
Lucy"Not completely, no," she replies, her smile shifting toward impish and more grin-like. She nods, though, and she looks down to see just how much snow and water and slush she'll be tracking through someone else's house, and her mouth quirks. Thoughtful. A moment later she bends as well and starts undoing the elaborate laces. Shooting a grin to Alexander she says, "Might as well, right? And I don't have my own, uh, transport yet. I have to get a steady paycheck for that to happen."
She peels out of her boots, one after the other, and leaves them on the mat by the door to dry. Her own socks are colorful - in that one is rainbow colored and the other is orange and yellow giraffe spots colored. The legs of her jeans are tapered, of course, the better to fit into a pair of boots. Finally she straightens, unzips her jacket to reveal her Harley Quinn t-shirt. After a moment's hesitation she leaves her bag hanging with her sweatshirt. There are no extra layers to her, no long-sleeved shirt, although at least it looks like she has on tights beneath her jeans. Lucy isn't dressed for cold because Lucy doesn't need to dress for cold. She outfits herself in the hopes that no one will ask her Are you cold? After all these years, she's still not sure how to answer that question.
Once she's divested of her own outerwear, she pauses again. By now, Alexander has probably already made his way to the kitchen while Lucy considers her appearance. Should she stop in the bathroom first, make sure that everything's in order? No, she thinks, tugging her hair to fall over one shoulder. No don't be silly, Luce, just go say hello to everyone. Sliding her hands into the butt-pockets of her jeans, she makes her way to the kitchen finally. She brings the frost from outside with her, chilly icy cold, creeping over the surfaces around her, radiating out from her like a living ice cube.
"What's all this?" she asks, moving between people so that she's inside the kitchen proper and able to look at the spread. "Hi," she says when she looks over at Alyssa. "I'm Lucy."
Alyssa Solomon"Alex, you say that like someone who's never tried to clean blood out of the seams in linoleum." She smirks. "Trust me, personal experience here. You will never get that cleaning deposit back."
She nods a little in response to Kalen. It's still not entirely accepting of Ian (or the idea of him), but it is acknowledgement and that's something. And perhaps they can talk about it later, even. After all, she's talked with Alexander about this and he had his own experience. Something to keep in mind, perhaps, once pleasantries are done.
She slips fully into the kitchen as the two come over that way. It's not a retreat of any kind, just her getting out of the doorway so that they can come in. She moves to hop up on one of the counters, one wrapped leg crossing over the other at the knee. Lucy gets a quick once-over and a half-smile. It's not hard to guess that she's the source of the chill. Even if it weren't getting stronger as she got closer, her aura exudes that cold.
"Alyssa Solomon. Hollow One. This is Kalen. Hermetic, but don't hold it against him. I try not to." Even if Lucy and Kalen do know each other, Alyssa's in the mood for giving the intro. Maybe just so she could have delivered that little poke at him. The fact that it comes with a glitter of amusement in her kohl-lined eyes takes some of the sting out, perhaps.
Kalen HollidayKalen just waves to Lucy. No wary eyes. He huffs softly at Alyssa's little barb, but he seems completely unbothered by it.
"Oh, we've met, Angel," he says, his voice gone all amused purr. "We've even planned our first date. Though I haven't managed to find a moment to go on it yet. I've been terribly preoccupied."
"No occasion," he says to Alexander, in a more proper voice. "It was cold, and I-" Hate the cold. Probably not the thing to say to Alexander.
"You know how I hate company. I thought people might come here. And look, here you are." He smiles. "Have at, if you want any. Kharisma made lasagna. I made her promise to put only the legal mushrooms in the sauce, just for you."
AlexanderAlexander looks at Alyssa for a moment, apparently thinking something over before mentally shrugging without saying anything. “Isn’t there something about cold salty water for getting blood out? And, anyway – surely there’s someone around here who can figure out a way to get rid of awkward stains that doesn’t involve scrubbing.” He looks over the drinks, checking for coffee. If there’s some there, he’ll fish a mug out of one of the cupboards and pour some out – waving it at the others in offering.
He looks to Lucy, continuing the introductions. “Alexander. New-last-Thursday-so-still-figuring-out-the-teams.” She already knew his name, but the lack of affiliation is new. He cocks his head, curious what her background is.
He laughs a little as Kalen mentions their planned first date. “Alyssa’s taking me on a tour of a polluted lake, I do hope your plans can compare.” He sips his coffee as Kalen stops mid sentence, raising his eyebrows as he tries to figure out what the rest of the sentence was going to be. But Kalen doesn’t seem as if he’s about to explain, so he lets it pass. Prodding Kalen a little himself, adding, “Well it’s been at least a week since you last tried feeding somebody into submission.” He looks at the pans, seeing if any appeal.
Lucy[date did someone say date? psh, psh i say, he's probably joking, look, look how chill we are CHILL GET IT (oh my god I can't stop): manip+subt]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 4, 6, 7, 8) ( success x 3 )
Alyssa Solomon[[Eh, why not just for grinsies? Per+Sub]]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 5, 8) ( success x 1 )
Kalen Holliday[Oh dices - Per+Subt]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 6, 8, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 5 )
Alexander[Eh? Wutwut? Per+Sub]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (4, 6, 9, 9) ( success x 3 )
LucyAlyssa's comment about the blood in the linoleum causes Lucy's brows to raise. She is not appalled, she's not even vaguely alarmed. It is more of an ah hah look. Talk of blood would explain that bloody resonance. Not so much the wings, though, that's curious.
"Oh no," she says to Alexander. Bright green eyes slanting a glance toward Kalen and then Alyssa, she faces the apprentice. "Once that stuff finds a crack it's best to rip everything out or it'll start to smell no matter what you do."
Introductions are being made, and she blinks, brows lifting in mild surprise. "Oh! Are we doing the...whole thing, okay. Lucy Simms, Dreamspeaker," she says, pressing her palm to her sternum. "Dreamspeakers, we're kind of a hodge podge of spirit types. Ghosts and things, but like all the Traditions there's a lot of room for variation. My sister and I just moved to Denver. She's not a Dreamspeaker, though. She's...well she's just not." Is someone flustered? That must be because she's in someone else's house talking to people she's barely met and stuff. Yes, that must be it.
Clearing her throat, Lucy shifts her hands from her back pockets to her hip pockets and looks for something to lean back against, but oh, there's hot chocolate. Before she can settle she moves to take up one of the mugs that are out and look for what to pour into it. "What are all these marshmallows? Oh my god are they different flavors?" She looks around hopefully.
LucyLucy does a pretty excellent job of playing it...cool (i'm not sorry), but Alexander's a police officer. He has some training in determining if someone is lying - which Lucy is not - or trying to hide something - which she sort of is - or if they're trying to make one thing look like it's being caused by something else. While some of her flusteredness is from being the new girl on campus, it seems to have a different source, as well. Just what, though, is difficult to say.
Alyssa Solomon"A date, already?" She chuckles. "Man, it's hard to keep track of your little black book. How many volumes is it at this point?"
It's not intended to be cruel or insulting; it's just the teasing that Alyssa and Kalen throw back and forth. Lucy seems flustered but not by the whole date thing, so maybe the Hollower is hoping that a joke will put her at ease. But then, is Alyssa big on putting people at ease at all? She's unapologetic about who she is and she can certainly be abrasive, but this is a little different in tone and demeanor than her usual This is me, deal with it vibe. And Lucy endears herself to Alyssa a bit when she points out that once blood gets in, you'd better just pull the flooring up. She puts a finger on the side of her nose and points at the newly-introduced Dreamspeaker.
"See, this one knows what she's talking about. I like you." She leans back in her seat on the counter, fingers lacing as her hands come to rest around her upraised knee. "Nice to meet you, Lucy. Welcome to the Denver society for Awakened individuals, or whatever it is we call ourselves. We try not to bite too hard."
Kalen Holliday"They are so totally different flavors. I recommend the hazelnut ones, personally, but you do what you want, Snowdrop." Welcome to Kalen's life, Lucy. That's what those Names mean. You just wait, Alexander. As soon as he figures yours out.....
He glances between Alexander and Alyssa and laughs, low and warm and rich and completely unruffled. But he did see Lucy's response, so he does not play as much as he otherwise might. "First," he says, and has picked up that silken purr again, "I'll have you know that as a Hermetic I do not have a black book. I have little parchment scrolls, bound with black satin ribbons in elaborate knots according custom. And there are no few of them, I suppose. Lucy and I are going to explore some mine shafts. With champagne. I would say we may or may not have fascinating post-champagne moments, but every time I try to do anything fun outside a secure space there is some mystical crisis, so I'm going to count this whole affair as a victory if we get through the first glass of champagne."
Lucy[her reaction is too complicated and i don't want to describe it *lazy* MAYBE SHE WILL HIDE IT?? manip+subt again, hopefully the last]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9) ( success x 5 )
Kalen Holliday[Are you still freakishly perceptive?]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 5, 6, 6, 7, 8, 9) ( success x 5 )
Lucy[DAMN IT KALEN]
AlexanderThat Alyssa knows about the problems of cleaning up blood is no surprise, after seeing... Well, after seeing. That Lucy also knows makes him start to wonder how she knows. Most likely similar reasons? After all, it doesn’t sound like spreading the red stuff around is a particularly uncommon way to make things happen. Maybe something else, though?
The train of thought shifts rapidly onto a new track as she finishes her introduction. There’s a long look of interest on his face as she mentions the Dreamspeakers. It’s one of the Traditions he hasn’t really found out much about so far, and having one stood here? “Um. Can we talk sometimes? About the Dreamspeakers, I mean. You’re the first one I’ve met, as far as I know, and... well, I have some questions.” Probably more than ‘some’ by the time he’s through. He picks up that Lucy is being a little evasive when prodded about the date. While he wonders what that be, he’s not going to probe. Just... no.
Kalen has a library of... little black-ribboned scrolls? Alexander hides a snicker with the mug, taking a sip once it passes. The teasing is obvious, but there’s likely some truth behind it. It’s not a side of Kalen he knows about but, then, there’s a lot about off of these people that he doesn’t know. And there’s that phrase again, but it’s not as frustrating as it used to be. Maybe it’s starting to turn into more of a challenge. And given his acceptance of Kalen’s invitation a few days ago? There will be plenty of time to learn.
“Ah, c’mon Kalen. Sera’s little picnic in the park was fun, and there wasn’t even a hint of the end of the world then. Although... there had been there a few weeks before, so maybe it’s like lightning.” Again, he cocks his head a little while he thinks. Although...
He clears his throat quietly. “I’ll, um, be back in a minute. Too much cold, too much coffee.” He sets the coffee cup on the counter and heads off to find the bathroom.
Alexander[And now I go *poof* because I so should have been asleep an hour ago. Thanks for the scene!]
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