Lena likes coffee.
Okay, that's an understatement. Lena lives for coffee. I'm serious. Have you ever seen her without some kind of caffeinated drink in her hand? Probably not. It doesn't happen, pretty much ever unless she's set it down and it's within reaching distance. If you ever wanna see someone go from zero to "ragingly pissy" in nothing flat, take the girl's caffeine away for a day or so. It's not a pretty sight.
And thus, we have her sitting outside a Starbucks downtown, her laptop open while a quad venti latte sits half-finished next to an empty double macchiato. She's got one headphone in her ear and the other one faintly thrums with an electronic beat as she works, looking over her mixing program and trying to figure out just the right beat.
Of course, she is aware still. The girl has some level of situational awareness, and a larger sense of situational Awareness. So the pretty-enough thing in a black Fall Out Boy tank top underneath the jacket, worn blue jeans and calf-high boots isn't completely oblivious even as she works.
[[Pre-emptive magedar! Spec: Uncanny Instincts]]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 6, 7, 7, 7, 7, 10, 10) ( success x 7 ) Re-rolls: 2
Kalen[Nightmares]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 5, 6, 6, 9) ( success x 3 )
Kalen[And, do we notice Lena?]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) ( success x 3 )
KalenKalen also likes coffee. He'd prefer not Starbucks coffee, perhaps, but he has learned to take what he can get. And there have been times when he didn't have access to ridiculous imported espresso. He knows how to make do. This is, still, at least a step up from the sludge languishing in convenience store pots left on burners.
And so, into the Starbucks he goes. He pauses for a second and scans the place slowly. Once he spots her, Lena gets a wave, and then he proceeds to order coffee. He leans into the counter while he waits, fingertips tapping lightly over the head of his cane.
Garrett FranklinGarrett is still new to Denver, though he's been here before on tour, for a day here, a weekend there. It's not enough, though, that time here and there with little time to do more than sign books and have dinner with other academics. So here he is, on a day off (for whatever reason a college professor might have a Tuesday off), exploring this area that's fairly close to the apartment he shares with his son.
There are Starbucks everywhere. And, though Garrett's not particularly fond of their coffee there's something to be said for being able to get the same drink consistently no matter where one is in the world. So while Lena is outside with her drink and her laptop, Garrett is inside ordering a chaider - which is to say hot chai in apple cider - which he then takes back out to enjoy whatever weather this new city is currently offering him. So he steps outside and there's scholarship, and renewal, and subtlety, and stability that rolls out from him in waves. As he's coming out, there's Kalen going in, and he stops the younger Hermetic briefly.
"Hey. Want to sit outside?"
Because of course he takes it as a matter of course when they run into each other, when mages begin to converge. It hasn't been a surprise to him for many years.
[Awareness!]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10) ( success x 3 )
Lena ReillyBlame it on the (alcohol?) (uh, no.) caffeine and the music flowing through her ears, but for whatever reason Lena's on high alert at the moment. Which means that she's been watching Garrett through the window since the moment he stepped within her senses, keeping her attention pinned more on him than on what she's doing. New people who ping her radar are always something to be cognizant of, especially since she started spending most of her time at the Chantry and thus she's not just risking herself. It's possible Garrett didn't notice the set of eyes on him, though he of course sensed her presence, that withering pulse that emenates from her like a chillwave beat with a touch of entropy in it. Either way, she's been watching him from her table outside while he orders his drink.
And then she senses Kalen coming close, that double helping of a storm. That probably doesn't help matters much, though this one is at least familiar to her. She looks from her observation of Garrett over at him as he waves, gives a faint smile and an upward tilt of her chin before she turns to--
See that they know each other, which neither helps nor hurts her assessment of the situation. She leans back, withdrawing a cigarette from her jacket and lighting up as she takes the earbud out and sits to observe for the moment.
Oh Lena. This is why you don't have many friends.
KalenOf course Kalen agrees to sitting outside, and before long he is back out to join Garrett. He sets his coffee down, then settles carefully into one of the patio chairs. They are not nearly as comfortable as the chairs inside, but outside is where things are happening. People are walking. And that DJ is out there too, which interests Kalen at least a little.
"How are you?" He asks Garrett, holding eye-contact long enough to ask the question before turning to give Lena a quick smile and a you-should-join-us look. And then he returns his attention to Garrett.
Garrett FranklinThe table Garrett chooses is near enough to Lena for easy conversation but far enough for comfort as well - so Kalen's smile is easy to send and receive, as is the smile Garrett gives her in response. He's amiable, this older gentleman, and has little trouble making new friends (most of the time. Sid is weird, to him), or meeting new people. He's not shy, in the slightest.
"I'm good, how about you? Doing better?"
Better than the last time they were together, when Garrett was basically making sure Kalen remembered to do things other than lounge on the couch for half a day - and of course Garrett knows he is, but there's still tones of concerned older relative there. Not quite fatherly, but too close to be much else. And during this, at some point, Lena gets a smile and a nod, polite, friendly.
Lena ReillyShe's quiet for a moment as they interact, pausing to let them do so as she closes down some programs on the laptop, saves her work. Just the pleasantries so far, she notes. But obviously they know each other, or of each other at the very least. And so that interests her, makes her want to know more. She's a guarded one, this Cultist, but she's also someone who seeks to know the world around her and that only comes with perspective.
Finally she shuts the laptop down and closes it, tapping ash into a tray on the table and setting the cigarette in it. She picks up the hyper-caffeinated drink for a swallow and then looks at the two, putting up a little smile. She has too much stuff to move without seeming like she really, really wants to, and she's not one to concede ground that easily anyway. So she leans over a bit and raises an eyebrow, smiling.
"Fancy running into you here, Kalen. Are you going to introduce me, or...?" Her attention turns toward Garrett then.
Kalen"Yeah, I'm good now." He smiles, warmer and slightly longer than Lena is used to seeing. "Thanks."
And then Lena is coming over and he looks up and the smile changes into something more polite, his expression ever-so-slightly more guarded. But the smile doesn't disappear.
"Of course," he says to Lena. "Have a seat if you'd like. This is Garrett Franklin, he's recently arrived to Denver to teach all the college students. He taught me for awhile, years ago, so I know they're lucky to have him." Is that actual affection in his tone? It sounds like it. "Garrett, this is Lena. She's a DJ and I'm sure she is incredibly talented but I haven't quite managed to catch any of her sets yet." He glances up at Lena. "For which I do apologize. I've been distracted."
Garrett Franklin"Ah. the DJ you mentioned. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lena," Garrett says as he offers a hand for shaking; it's a smooth, relatively soft hand with fingertips calloused not from guitar strings but from computer (or possibly typewriter, at some point early on) keys - if, of course, Lena takes it. Easy talking distance means slightly awkward shaking distance, but the forty-something professor (who is dressed in jeans and a white ringer shirt with a thought bubble over the word 'oxymoron' - and inside the thought bubble the words 'social science'.
"Maybe we should go together. If it's an all-ages show, we can invite Jacob. Though." This next is wry and amused, but not the bitter sort of wry - Garrett is a goofball, and in general pretty happy-go-lucky. "If I try to tell him it's a cool, fun thing, he'll know it's the opposite, no matter what it is." There's a pause, and then, "Jacob's my son. He's sixteen."
Lena ReillyShe's a bit curious at this person who, more than anyone she's seen him with, Kalen seems comfortable around. She guards herself, but it's the longing sort of guardedness of someone who wants to know more of people even if she doesn't venture close enough to the sun for her own wax wings to melt.
But then Kalen introduces them and it's a little clearer...it's someone from Kalen's past. A mentor of sorts, and that allows her to make some assumptions that may or may not be accurate. She regards Garrett with a friendly-enough smile that turns into a faint grin when Kalen says he hasn't managed to catch her shows because he's been distracted.
"Yeah, that's what they all say. You'd think we're not all just layabouts or something." The comment is tinted with humor, generally good-natured. She nods to the the older Hermetic and reaches over to accept the handshake. "Nice to meet you Garrett. And yes, you should. I do try and get at least one all-ages appearance in a weekend. I always hated it when I would go out clubbing as a teenager and all we had was some kind of terrible pre-mixed house crap. I'll give Kalen my schedule for the next few weeks, I'm all set up through Halloween."
She leans back so she can take a drag off the cigarette and then stubs it out before looking back. "You're teaching at one of the schools, then? Right on. I kind of regret not going to college sometimes, just for the experience at least. But what I do isn't something you get better at with classes; it's all about learning through experience."
KalenKalen laughs, leaning back into the obnoxious metal patio chair and laughing. "Don't say things like that around Garrett, it's dangerous. The next thing you know, you will somehow be enrolled in school and learning a new language while simultaneously being roped into horizon-broadening trips around the world." He grins. "Okay, on second thought, do. It's a good time."
His attention strays back to Garrett. "I'll just tell him I'm going with you and he wouldn't like it anyway. And then he will do that, 'fuck off, Kalen, he's my father not yours' thing that he does, and I'll yell back at him, and we'll be fine, but you'll make that frown you make when neither of us is matching your definition of civil, and then we'll all go see Lena." The corners of his mouth keep trying not to flick up into a smile, but he can't quite manage a proper bored and disinterested tone with Garrett. Even an affected one just for show.
Garrett Franklin"That . . . sounds about right, actually. When did I get so predictable, hmm? Once upon a time, I was a wild man. Back when I had to walk twenty miles to school, up hill both ways, barefoot. While hiding from the dinosaurs." Yes, he's joking. No, he doesn't think he's old, nor is he neurotic about his age. As far as mages go, Garrett is downright well-adjusted.
"And, while Kalen exaggerates, I am quite the advocate for higher education. If you find yourself interested, feel free to let me know - I'll see what we can do to get you in the classes you want. And also, new languages and trips around the world are fun, thank you very much."
It's light banter, so much amusement and pleasure just to be where he is, in the company he is. He's a relatively simple man, all things concerned.
Lena ReillyShe chuckles a little at the banter between the two, though she shakes her head when Garrett offers to help get her in classes. It's amicable enough and even friendly for the moment, despite the polite refusal suggested in the motion.
"I appreciate that, but no. The only thing that I really feel like I missed out on is the college life experience, and I'm very well past that at this point. If I ever get the desire to try out a dorm though, I'll let you know."
She sips her gaze between them a moment, her weight leaning forward on her elbows which in turn rest on her knees. "So have you made the rounds of meeting people yet?"
Kalen"In the snow," Kalen leans in and mutters to Garrett, just loudly enough for Lena to hear. "On account of it still being the ice ages or something." He settles back again after that to let Garrett answer Lena.
He watches them both a little, and the people passing by them on the street, and the cars and the...well, Kalen watches everything. Even right now, when he's as relaxed as Lena has ever seen him and he's playing with Garrett. Even a passing helicopter gets a quick evaluation glance. Even so, he's still drinking his coffee, and there is still a slight lingering smile, so whatever else he may be doing, he does seem to be happy enough here.
Garrett Franklin"Right, right, how could I forget the snow!" It's overblown dramatics, of course, and an interesting thing about his face is that it's nearly rubber-like in the expressions it makes. Also, when he's playing like this, it's impossible to catch him blinking.
So there's Lena asking about who he's met, or rather if he's met anyone, and Garrett thinks for a moment before saying, "Not anyone with full introductions or anything. But I met Sid, briefly, and Trent, but that's it. I haven't been out and about that much, yet - between getting settled in at the new university and getting my son settled into his new school and dealing with his acting out, I haven't been out and about that much. So you're one of the first few, and already I think this meeting is going better than that other one." And Garrett was no less congenial then than he is now - he'd just been presented with something curious, then, a case study of sorts, and hadn't been able to resist the impulse to learn more. Now, as far as he can tell, everything is on the table.
Lena ReillyShe smiles when Garrett mentions Sid; the fondness there is obvious from the Ecstatic. Trent gets vague recognition but nothing more than that; she's heard about him in association with the business with the film, and she knows his Tradition, but hasn't learned much eyong that.
"I get that," she says with a nod. "When I first got here I largely kept to myself while I settled in, and that was only partly because I'd not met anyone yet. Even after I met Sid I kept myself to the sidelines for..." She purses her lips, and then shrugs and smiles. "Well, far too long actually. I've only in the last month or so gotten around to getting involved."
A quick glance goes to Kalen then. He was there when she spoke with Shoshannah about becoming more invested in the mages of Denver, after all. It's a brief look at best; she's still not in any way sure about the younger Hermetic for reasons that are kept entirely her own. And then she's got her gaze back on Garrett. "So yeah, it's still a work in progress for me."
Kalen"Well, I can introduce you to Grace, but other than than that about everyone here you've already met or I don't really know or they don't like me." He huffs a little, smile melting into a smirk. "Imagine that."
A real smile comes back though, when he looks back at Garrett instead of at everything in the world in general. "I bet they like you better if I don't introduce you though. Guilt by association and all." If people not being into hanging out with him actually bothers him, there is certainly no indication. "I was always a results person more than anything. And with what we do, or at least what I do...c'est la vie...." He shrugs.
Patience Mason[Per+Aware]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 6, 9, 10) ( success x 3 )
Patience Mason[Drive]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (3, 7, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )
Garrett Franklin"They'd like you better if you weren't so intent on remaining aggressively closed off, I bet," Garrett returns, and it's in those same nearly paternal tones with which he'd asked if Kalen was doing better; there's concern, and care, and more than that. However these two met, it's pretty obvious that they know each other quite well now.
"But really, everything's a work in progress. If there was nothing new to learn and no knowledge or understanding to refine, what would be the point?"
Lena ReillyKalen's comment about people not liking him draws a quick look, but she leaves it there because he's good-natured about it. Lena's one of those people who are on the fence of course, but on the fence is different than 'don't like.' And more to the point, Kalen gives a little explanation that, if not much into it, at least gives her a little insight. She understands 'results person.' Some people just aren't the most open and she gets that.
And then, Garrett accuses those people who don't like Kalen of remaining aggressively closed off and that draws a raised eyebrow and a stifled chuckle. "I'm sorry," she says, and she seems to mean it. "I'm honestly not trying to start an argument here. But at least to my knowledge, the people who are...not entirely sure about Kalen or have issues with him do so because..."
She looks to Kalen now, because she doesn't want to talk about him like he's not there. "Well, because you're rather aggressively closed off yourself. Which I'm not judging, really. We all have our reasons. I'm just pointing it out because--well, I don't even know, maybe someone's said it. But if not, at some point it's gotta be said."
Patience MasonStarbucks was about as mundane as one could get, with its unified branding image, its beverages which changed in quality only because of the skill of the barista making it. One would think that such place would be anathema to the awakened mind.
Wether this was true or not was a moot issue as several magi stood just beyond the realm of coffee and treats enjoying the warm desert air. Patience for her part rarely went to such coffee houses, be it out of preference or simple convenience it didn't matter. But passing by such places? Well that was all but impossible to avoid. The Etherite's presence is first telegraphed by the complex whine and rumble of an engine. The machine which she rode was much like its rider, it seemed to have been made for another time, for an era now long past or not yet upon us.
Long and sleek the motorcycle which came into view spoke of an art deco ascetic with a paint job of deepest blue and trimmed with chrome, the seat was wide and comfortable, made of a well worn leather that spoke of continual, and loving use. The rider herself wore riding leathers, a pair of knee high leather boots with a solid heel, and a leather jacket reminiscent of an old barnstormer's jacket.
She cut through traffic quickly, efficiently, and as she did so the tingle of the awakened presence drew those ocean blue eyes to the small group next to the starbucks. She didn't even cut the throttle as she cut through a perfectly sized space of traffic void, and into the outer lane, the bike sliding into nearest parking space in the similarly smooth motion. That done, the engine fell into silence as Patience cut the power and leaned back in the seat, her eye's falling on the others as a small, polite smile crossed her lips.
Lena Reilly[[Delete everything out of that post after the first paragraph. I hate the font size of the chat and didn't read the post right.]]
Kalen[[Well. It's not like I haven't done that already today. :)]]
Kalen"Garrett," Kalen says, and his voice is gentle, but there is just a hint of a warning in it. "You know what I used to do. It's not just me. I don't make anything easy, but even if I'd come rolling into this town with another face I think we'd still be here. Or close enough to here. And what woul-"
He breaks into a sudden, grin when he sees Patience, the warning note completely vanishing from his tone and his eyes losing that slightly narrowed look. "Hey, Firefly. How've you been?"
Garrett Franklin"Kalen," Garrett says, and there's no warning there but there is a raised eyebrow; he's fatherly and easy-going 98.75% of the time (unless you ask his actual son, in which case you'd get an entirely different assessment), though there are a few things that will get that step back and raised eyebrow.
He is Hermetic, after all. And Quaesitor, at that.
But it's all let go with the new arrival, who gets a smile as friendly and open as the one Garrett gave Lena upon their meeting, which is only different from the smile Kalen gets in that it's not so familiar, bordering on intimate. "Hello, Miss."
Lena ReillyPatience MasonShe's quiet for that moment, as she seems to get a brief inside into Kalen and it intrigues her. The question of what he used to do, Garrett's raised brow...it's all pieces of the puzzle that Lena can't help but start to try to put together, sizing and comparing with the other jagged pieces she has to see what fits where and what image is starting to emerge. She's a discerning sort, similar to Garrett albeit perhaps a bit less direct.
But those pieces are thrown back into the shadows and she just gets a glimpse before Patience shows up, and hyper-aware (at the moment) Lena snaps her attention over to that woman with a sudden, enthusiastic smile. The Ecstatic quite likes the strange woman, this much is clear, and she rises as Patience walks over with a warm expression.
"Hey, you. It's nice to see you. You're looking good. How're you doing?"
Patience MasonThe helmet Patience wore was old and made of a flexible leather with expanded pockets around the ears. In normal circumstances one might wonder how the hell someone would be crazy enough to wear such flimsy protection while riding a motorcycle, but Patience was of the Son's of Ether, and that could mean her helmet might well take a tank shell before giving...one never does know.
She'd managed to draw her helmet from her head as they began their greetings, her dirty blonde hair falling about her face in a messy mane of helmet hair, no victory rolls toda. [it just wouldnt fit, no matter how much bigger on the inside she made that helmet]. She slid one leather bound leg over the side of the motorcycle and rose to her full height, made slightly higher by the extra bit of heel on her boots.
"Appropriately sociological and intro-cultural affirmation's and verbalized activation's to your individualized personages." She said casually with a wave of a leather glove before she moved to pull it free with her other hand. This freed appendage is held out to Garett, the singular new face in the group whom Patience had yet to meet, and the polite smile became a little warmer, her eyes open in interest as she took in this new factor in her existence.
"My parentologically assigned index assisted by heritological factor's is Patience Mason, this is a direct acknowledgement of your ratification and indexing as an individualized personage within the concurrent temporo-reality stream as actualized by my noospheric field." She said warmly, apparently pleased.
She then turned her gaze to Kalen with a nod, if perhaps a quizzical look upon her features as she replied. "The negatively aligned temporal framework within the active stream has been nominally utilized and existed within Kalen." She said pleasantly, before the confusion returned and she inquired. "Please extrapolate and identify the use of the laymen index for Insecta Coleoptera Lampyridae." She looks over her shoulder as if to examine her back before looking at Kalen once more. "The gluteus maximus of this biological structure has not initiated a chemical reaction with which to produce sufficient lumen's with which to attract appropriate nutrient items or replicative co-organisms."
She looks at Lena and returns that warm expression before inquiring. "Lena, this bio-physical structure continues to operate and facilitate actuality of the noospheric field within nominal ranges given for known frotean anomalies, however at this particular temporal juncture would you assist in deriving the meaning of Kalen's verbalized statement?" She asks, tilting her head back to Kalen curiously.
KalenAnd Kalen, who spends most of his time trying so very hard not to look like he care about things pays real attention to Patience. He has to, after all. It pulls some of his focus off of evaluating everything around them for threats, but that seems to make him calmer instead of more anxious.
His head tilts a little and he can't help but smile when Patience is so baffled by her new nickname and then she speaks in all the puzzles and it may be the best thing that has happened to him all day. "Because you have that glow," Kalen says to Patience. "And because I find your presence is something I'm fond of. So you get another Name from me. I'm sorry if it confuses you."
Garrett Franklin"My parentologically assigned index assisted by heritological factors is Garrett Franklin. It's a pleasure to drift into your noospheric field, Miss Mason." This is given easily as Garrett rises to shake Patience's hand; he's considerably older than his companions, Garrett is, clearly in his 40s as he is.
"Kalen Names people - usually only people he likes. Consider yourself fortunate, Miss Mason." And he says it genuinely; he clearly holds the younger man in high esteem. As he's saying this, he's adjusting chairs so Patience can join them if she so desires - it's polite and gentlemanly, as Garrett tends to be.
Lena ReillyShe was ready to answer if neither Kalen nor Garrett did, but they both contribute in a way that should give the agestuck woman a satisfactory answer. And so she settles back down, taking out another cigarette. She really, really shouldn't smoke but you have to allow her a few vices; so many others have been cut out throughout the years, except in special situations or emergencies.
"Oh, you only get nicknames if Kalen likes you? Explains why I'm still Lena, I guess." She says it with a little grin, no serious hurt behind it. Patience's presence is like that of Sid's or Shoshannah's; it relaxes Lena. Those three are like her version of Kalen's Garrett, basically. She lights up and leans back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other.
Patience MasonKalen offers his own answer to her inquiry, and then to her delight she receives collaborative information from Garrett and Lena, which only verified the initial statement and the etherite gave out a gentle chuckle as she nodded. She watched as Garrett made space and she nodded her thanks, but turned her gaze towards the coffee shop with obvious interest.
"Such factor's and data were within the established internalized thesis. However extrapolative interrogation and collative acumen was necessary to come to a suitable conclusive reading beyond 80.531 percent." She turned bodily towards the shop then and stepped towards it, a finger raised to the door as she said.
"Allow several temporal units to pass until the re-materialization of my bio-physical structure, at this temporal juncture complex carbohydrates are a suitable nutrient derivative to augment and fuel this bio-structure." She said, stepping past them all and into the store.
[Sorry guys, lifes getting in the way and imma put Patience in limbo [starbucks] until i can come back, which hopefully wont be to horribly long. :( ]
Kalen"I also have to know something about you. So there is that," he says to Lena. "Sometimes I just don't know." It's hard to tell if that is an offer of general supplemental information or pointed supplemental information.
He nods to Patience. "Of course."
Garrett FranklinAnd there's Garrett's phone giving off the TARDIS vworp sound - he pulls it out, checks it, sighs. "My son," he says, giving attention back to his companions just in time to give Patience a little wave as she goes in to get her drink. "Apparently, we have no food in the house and I have to go pick up the Chinese he ordered. "it was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Reilly - I'm sure we'll see each other again soon. "Come over if you're hungry, Kalen. Jacob always orders too much."
And with that, Garrett's up and heading out, giving polite nods, waves, and the like.
Lena Reilly"Ahh," she says to Kalen, nodding a little with a faint smile. "Well, any time you wanna quid pro quo, feel free."
It's a friendly enough statement, but a pointed one too. If he's not going to trust them with details about his life, she's not willing to do the same. Trust engenders trust.
Kalen"Some other time," he says to Lena. "And, perhaps more notably, some other place. It was good to see you." He rises and heads off with a small smile and a wave.
Lena ReillyShe watches Kalen head off for a moment, then smiles and shakes her head slightly. Some other time, he says. She rather doubts that. She knows people with walls and she knows delaying tactics.
Still, he may surprise her. You never know.
Kalen gone, she looks back to her laptop and flips it back open, opening up her email to look over her latest samples for remixes as sent by fellow DJs while she takes a drag of her cigarette.
Patience MasonPatience took a while, it was easily a good fifteen minutes before she returned from her adventure into the Starbucks, and when she returns she seems slightly flustered, her lips are drawn slightly downward as she approached the table and found it to be largely empty. This admittedly surprises her, and as she approaches the table with a small coffee cup in hand she inclines her head and asks.
"What relativistic abberation in the socio-cultural allignment and dissertation actualized and imparted the departure and movation of the individuals indexed as Kalen and Garett?" She inquires, seating herself in the chair that Garett had pulled out for her and looked about curiously.
Lena ReillyShe looks up from the computer screen, chin resting on her propped-up hand, and smiles to Patience when she comes over, babbling in that way that isn't babble at all. Lena, for whatever reason, finds herself surpremely comfortable around the other and when she asks her question there's the usual focused look as she translates in her head, gets the meaning of what Patience is saying.
She's got it figured out (like she often does) by the time the unaging Etherite finishes speaking. "Oh, Garrett had something come up involving his kid, and Kalen..."
She sighs, looking over her shoulder as if she could spy Kalen leaving, even though he's been gone for a few minutes now.
"Kalen was being Kalen. There is something seriously not right about that boy."
That boy, saiid the twenty-four year-old. But Lena's lived enough for more than a couple lifetimes, and when you're on borrowed time everyone seems young.
Patience MasonLena was aged and wise by dint of experience, and Patience...well Patience existed within an entirely different scale of age and time. You very rarely come across the like of her, even in the community of magi as it was. Regardless of this Lena calls Kalen a boy, and Patience smiles, a gentle laugh escaping her lips as she responds in her way.
"Every individualized personage that I has ever been actualized and indexed by my noospheric field would by temporal relativistic framework be classified as a pre-pubescent youth." She held her cup in her hands for a few moments before setting it on the table and reclining in the metal chair, crossing her leather bound legs gracefully and taking in the area about them as she undid her coat, pulling on the big brass buttons to let some air in.
"Thus far I have encountered little aberrant or negatively aligned socio-noospheric defects or idiosyncrasies in the aforementioned personage, would you be willing and capable of divulging and extrapolating upon your verbal dissemination Lena?" She inquires, ever curious despite her age.
Grace Evans[Awareness! I need a reason for Grace to appear in a Starbucks!]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (5, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 3 )
Lena ReillyPatience's observation that they're all old compared to her draws a bit of a grin and a chuckle, before she leans back and presses Send on an email. The Ecstatic finds amusement there, and she nods to concede the point.
"In this life, sure. That all gets fuzzy when we go beyond that....but I'll give you that one."
She sighs a little bit and puts the smoke back between her lips, drawing the carcinogenic smoke deep into her lungs and exhaling it through her nose as she considers Patience's question about Kalen. There's a moment where she hesitates, like she doesn't know how much she wants to say. There's risk in revealing things like this because it tells people about who you are, something the Ecstatic has largely avoided. But she gives in to the question and shrugs, ashing into the tray at her table.
"I don't..." A pause as she aborts that line of thought, and then she starts again. "Kalen is someone who holds onto who he is very tightly. And I'm not talking about who he was. I don't mean stories of his past, though there's that too...I don't mind that. But he is very, very careful about not giving a shit about anything."
She gives a light shrug, taking another drag of smoke. "I have problems trusting people like that. And I don't like the way he treats one of my friends, either."
Grace EvansGrace is not here for coffee. It is a Starbucks. This kind of place sucks the soul out of you, she thinks. As Gadfly would say it, this is how they get you -- the preservatives.
And the network of coffee shops so thick there's one on every corner. How convenient. How unnerving. It's a symbol, yes? And not of the mermaid with a split tail variety, but one of hegemony. Like how that mermaid became less and less female, less and less subversive as the brand took shape to conquer the world in caffeinated capital.
No, Grace is on her bike, on her way home from somewhere else when she feels it. Lena comes through first, that rhythmic wilted something, followed by another, less familiar presence. And, well, there they were, right? The two sitting there, one she recognizes as Patience (but the name "Robot-Voice-Woman" admittedly comes to mind first) and then Lena, and it would be rude not to stop, right?
Even though this is the Coffeeshop of the Beast. Ugh.
She walks her bike up to the outdoor tables, and lays it against the wall of the building. "Hey guys! Girls! Whatever... Ah, what's up?"
Patience MasonPatience listens to Lena's words as she pulls the lid off the top of her coffee cup and gives it a sniff, her nose wrinkles a little with each intake of air, and then in the end those full lips turn downward a little. But instead of going into the store to grab some sugar or milk, maybe some of that artificial sweetener [heaven forfend] she reaches into her pocket and pulls out what might look like an elaborate wand, made of a machined metal and furnished with lacquered wood the thing is finely crafted and about an inch thick and five inches long. She nods as Lena spoke and once again frowned slightly when Lena spoke of the way he treated someone.
"Further extrapolation would exemplify and articulate this intrinsic defect within his socio-noospheric reflection. As this individual has yet to actualize any negative data utilizing all available relativistic sensory input. His nominal demeanour has been that of the standardized status of pleasant, attentive and interested." She stated in a 'please do go on' sort of tone as she pointed the wand into the cup, placing the tip as close to the black substance as she dared.
"Activating meta-scientific apparati, please be actual." She said as she rotated a tiny silver ring near her finger, and a solid beam of light could be seen stabbing into the drink, and she made to stir it as if the wand were a stir stick.
It was at this point she looked up and nodded to Grace as she arrived, a friendly look upon her features as she stated.
"At this temporal juncture Lena is verbally disseminating fact's and data points relevent to the personage indexed as Kalen, in addition I am concurrently utilizing this device to isolate, and neutralize all undesirable and non nutrient baring deviant molecules."
[Arete]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (1, 9) ( success x 1 )
Patience Mason[Extend for funs]
Dice: 2 d10 TN5 (1, 8) ( success x 1 )
Lena ReillyStarbucks may be the Coffeeshop of the Beast, but it's still a source of caffeine. In Lena's eyes, that makes the chain a necessary evil in the world. After all, you can only do so many energy drinks in order to get her favored drug of choice and it offers a place to sit down and work...and the Ecstatic doesn't worry too terribly much about her mixes getting spied on by the Technocracy.
She looks up, noting Grace before she gets close due to her hyper-awareness at the moment. The deejay gives a bright smile and waves as Grace walks her bike up. "Hey, you. Fancy seeing you here. How's it going?"
She smiles a little bit when Patience explains (in her own inimitable way) what exactly is up. The use of the Effect pings off of the Ecstatic's consciousness and she looks at the little beam of light in the cup curiously. "Wow...interesting." They all have their different ways of doing what they do, and Lena finds some interest in seeing how Patience works her magic.
"What Patience said," Lena says to Grace, and then stubs out her cigarette and gestures to a chair at the table. "How about you? Everything going well?"
She glances back at the unaging woman then and gives a light shrug. "He's not a bad guy, I don't think. He just...has one of those personalities that I react poorly to. I'll get over it, he'll relax a little bit or we'll get into a shouting match that blows off a ton of steam. I don't dislike him, I just..."
She shrugs. "It's my issues as much as it is his, I suppose."
Grace EvansGrace kind of does a 'woo' look at Patience's stabby light wand thingy. "Well, I would't want to be a nondesirable deviant molecule right now, I am thinking."
"Hmm, and why are we gossiping about Kalen?" she asks, swinging a chair out like she was already invited to do so. Listens, as Lena goes and talks about the guy, and then goes a bit silent. Digs a bit into the table with her fingernail. Looks over Patience's wand again, you know... not really there.
'Cause Kalen's a friend. And that's a bit uncomfortable. What to say?
"He's a bit standoffish at first, I know..."
Patience Mason"As previously disseminated, I as an individualized personage have encountered no such negative behavioural cue's or attributes, however It is through thorough understanding of an individual through multiple test groups and data quotients that one is able to ascertain a more efficient psychological and sociological profile of the afformentioned individual." She shrugs, as if she meant nothing by it.
She finished working her magic on the coffee and tucked the wand/laser away as she took a moment to sniff the coffee once more. It was then that she smiled and picked it up, taking a careful sip of the drink as she considered the others, Grace in particular in this moment.
"What data are you able to contribute to ascertain and actualize a more thorough and effective profile?"
Lena ReillyShe looks a little apologetic at Grace when she seems uncomfortable with the topic. The last thing she wants is to put people in a difficult position and Grace's reaction, her question and comment suggest that going further down this road of conversation will put her in that very spot. So she shakes her hand and then smiles.
"We weren't, really. Kalen was here and left, Patience picked up on my wierdness about him and asked about why I felt that way. I was just explaining my own personal thoughts and reactions to him, not anything about him or anyone else." She smiles, very faintly. "It's fine, like I said, it's a me thing. I have trust issues that he spikes up. Not much more than that."
Then Patience asks Grace what she knows about Kalen that may help her form a more detailed picture, and she shakes her head. "Probably best to change the topic. I don't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable." A sigh, and she smiles. "What's new with you guys?"
Grace EvansGrace glances over at Lena, and the first thing she wants to say, she doesn't. Kalen's teaching her how to shoot, and that's new, right?
"I... ah... not much I can say really," she responds in code. They're outside in public, after all. Going on about business wouldn't be right. "But you know, schoolwork. I'm definitely busy."
Patience MasonThe topic derails, it seems discussing Kalen was no longer a viable topic, and Patience sits there for a few moments finding the knowledge she had gleened to be considerably less then she had hoped. She taps a finger against the side of her coffee cup and quirks a lip contemplatively before she looks towards Lena and offers a casual shrug, a sure sign that not a whole lot was up.
"I have been utilizing available temporal units to process, plan, manufacture and maintain the Aurora." She says, a small smile creeping up onto her lips. "Projections based upon the current rate of raw materiel acquisition and the available temporal units to this individualized personage indiciate an estimated ten solar rotations before the Aurora is ready for movation beyond the immediate geographical locality of the landmass I have acquired propertiorial rights too."
She looks over at Grace then and inquires. "Have you ascertained any further forward movation within your chosen and active thesis?"
SerafínePerception + Awareness
Dice: 7 d10 TN5 (1, 2, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 10, 10) ( success x 7 ) Re-rolls: 2
SerafíneSo it is eightish on a Tuesday night and that means Sera has been up for maaaaybe four or five hours. So, noonish for her. That means it is legal to start drinking, though she may well have started when she woke up. A bit of whiskey mixed into her Darjeeling while she eased her way out of an acid hangover and waited for Dan to descend and cook her some French toast with that loaf of brioche Dee brought home from the bakery. They don't get good bakery stuff on the weekends these days because Dee's always traveling right now for Derby playoffs and Derby matches and Derby things, and it is a good thing they have only been sort-of working lately, or they might actually be gigging on the weekends, instead of just spottily during the week.
--
But, eightish. Well past twilight now though there is a glimmer of sunlight against the spread of the western mountains, visible in places where the downtown core cuts away, at intersections, in parks, giving a straight shot over the low-rise sprawl to, yeah, those fucking mountains. Two people outside with their arms flung around each other, and they both look way cooler than you ever thought you could. Dan's wearing skinny black denim and a t-shirt from their old band and a beanie over his blond hair and a black hoodie, unzipped, the cuffs shoved up his forearms to reveal his tattoos. He is tall, well over six feet, and he has an arm slung over Sera's shoulders.
Sera is wearing a short red cocktail dress with spaghetti straps over black thigh-high tights that have that torn-to-pieces look because it is awesome. Instead of spike heels, combat boots. They have a bit of a platform, maybe two extra inches, but nowhere close to her usual magickal five or six extra inches. They are out walking, see. She has her arm around his waist and her hand tucked into the back pocket of his jeans and they're talking about something, sharing the intimate laughter of old friends along with a silver flask and you may think they are just passing by but,
you would be wrong. Sera felt them all from a half-fucking-mile away.
He holds the Starbucks door open and she slips under his arm and in they come. Headed in a pretty direct line past the counter toward the three other mages.
Lena Reilly[[They're outside. =) ]]
Serafíne(delete last line!)
Lena ReillyThe conversation tapers off without Kalen to talk about, and that just makes Lena feel a bit more uncomfortable. She listens to the two women's responses--Grace has school, Patience has been working on that project which is rather crucially important to her. Lena is an Ecstatic and as such has an innate sense of time; still, she has to do a little thinking to connect ten solar rotations to the right period of time.
"Oh, cool. Is that...more or less time that you had initially thought?"
She goes a little quiet after that, letting the Etherite and Virtual Adept talk about their schooling. It's a topic that Lena had broached in regard to herself with others before either of them had arrived; she never attended school herself, but kind of wishes she'd had the college life experience. Outside of that, she doesn't regret not going.
And then her attention shifts as she notes Sera's presence. As hyper-aware as the red dress-wearing Ecstatic is, the jeans/tank top/jacket-wearing one is equally so and they sense each other right away. So she's looking down the street as Sera and the guy she's arm-in-arm with come up, already raising a hand to wave well before most would note someone recognizable. She waits quietly for her Traditionmate to arrive, offering both her and Dan nods.
"Hey, you. And hi." The first to Sera, who she knows (if not closely yet), and the second to Dan who she hasn't yet met.
Grace Evans"Ahh, it goes slowly, Patience. There's also classes to go to and homework to do, and..." Oh who is she kidding? The mental programming makes that fairly easy. One half of the brain focuses on class, the other half does homework, and she can read twice as fast now and still understand it. "Well, actually, it's not that. There is just a lot more going on."
A lot more sleeping, for one. Though that feels, to her, like sloth itself. To be honest, she's a bit down on herself for not making much progress in that particular area, and is making excuses.
"I have given some thought to what you said, but I still think it wouldn't work, for the same reason I had before. I'm a graduate student in computer science. At some point, someone would straight out ask where I managed to become a biologist of all things, and how I knew what to put in the sim, and therein lies the problem. I can't say. I cheat. That's all there is to it."
Grace does not feel Sera coming from a mile away, or even a half-mile. But she does feel the addition of that resonance, yes. That drawing, aching sensation. And it draws her gaze straight to the lady in red, even if she has to twist her head to do so.
Patience MasonPatience listens to Grace as she explains her situation and Patience understands, at least in some manner she does. So she offers one little piece of advice. "Acquiring appropriate source data and expertise to assist in correlation of the afformentioned data would be considered standard practice for such thesis actualization would it not?"
She makes this offer in a round about way before looking up to Sera as she approaches, a warm smile upon her lips as she nods to the woman the man with her. "I must depart from this locality at this juncture, however Sera, it is with mathematical certainty that my noospheric field actualizes your concurrent and continued nominal status." She rose then, looking to Lena and Grace.
"Similar statements are at this juncture transferable and impressionable upon your personages as well." Smiles offered to each of them as she starts to put on that leather helmet of her's and offering her seat to either Sera or her fellow.
But then she's on her way, moving towards her art deco motorcycle just a few feet away.
[Sorry guys, gotta crash here thanks for the scene!]
SerafíneSera's the one with the flask in hand now. She is halfway through the motion of capping it. Or uncapping it. One or the other, and it requires two hands so as the pair of them amble up to the outdoor table where the other magi have congregated, well, Dan has his arm around Sera's shoulders, and both her hands are occupied. Sera tips the flask outward towards the other women, offering it around.
"Hey!" to Lena, and
"Graaaaaacie," to Grace, reaching out to touch her somehow. Ruffle her hair maybe, and
"Chica," to Patience, "you are the fucking limit." With the bemused and ironic but deep affection of someone for the world's largest ball of string, or the monorail to nowhere, or or or -
--
She is not sober, Sera. It is more than booze.
--
"This is Dan," Grace and Dan have met, so the introduction is for Lena and Patience. "He's Cool."
Then she looks up at Dan, just beaming. Like she invented starlight, or at least the Irish car bomb.
"That. Is the robot-talking lady."
Lena ReillyLena gives a smile and a little wiggle of the fingers when Sera introduces Dan, the expression friendly. A friend of Sera's is a good start as far as she's concerned, doubly so if Grace knows them. "Hey. Nice to meet you." She amiably waves off the offer of the flask and instead reaches out to tap the nearly-empty quad latte next to her laptop.
"I've already gotten semi-close to needing another one, hon. And I try not to combine my vices," she says with a half-grin. Says the girl who is always on caffeine and yet smokes. "At least, not too terribly much."
She leans back, gesturing to the open seat vacated by Patience (and the one next to it). "Join us. How're things with you? We don't hang out nearly enough, you know that?" She's just naturally more at ease around members of her Tradition (not surprisingly, of course).
Grace EvansPatience says, 'So, get help from a biologist,' or... well, you know. That's what it translates to, and Grace just can't imagine how that might work. Having to work so closely with someone, and having to skirt around certain issues, and lead and hint and goad them in the right direction? It could work. It could also be a total disaster.
Unless that biologist were also Awakened... hmm.
Just then, her thoughts are muddled by a 'Graaaaaaacie' and a hair ruffling, and suddenly Grace is sporting the oddest looking startle-smile. "Hey, it's Sera..."
Sera's having Fun, this much is obvious. The flask is declined, but this is done with that weird smile of discomfort mixed with impatience at that discomfort. It's like the smile is Grace's attempt to not be wigged out by that shuffling of hair.
"Yeah, sit with us!"
Serafíne"I always combine my vices," Sera's laughter is rich and only mildly self mocking and her statement is clearly one thousand percent true. She is combining vices as we speak and will pile vice on vice on vice until the world spins away from her like a pendulum gone mad and all she can do is hold on tight. "Don't I?" Lifting her straight brows to Dan for confirmation. He drops a kiss onto her brow. The affection in that kiss is quite nearly fraternal. "It's what makes life worth living.
"And I'm always around. 'Cept when I'm not, but," a flashing grin as she takes another pull from the flash. " - our door's almost always open. You're welcome pretty much anytime.
"We're on our way to a show, but we can hang a bit," when Lena offers seats, and Grace adds in an enthusiastic second. "What the fuck is up with y'all?"
Lena ReillyLena smiles, basking a bit in the warmth of Sera's glow. It's not a feeling that she exudes on her own and her vice-combining days are well-behind her, but she always finds some level of warm, almost reminiscent comfort in seeing it in other Ecstatics. It's a window back into something she enjoyed, albeit before she actually Awakened. Even before Lena was able to do magic, she was a born Cultist.
"Same old, same old really." She runs a hand over her scalp, little finger and thumb scooping up her hair and straightening, flattening against her head to get it in order. "I'm the dullest DJ of all time. Mostly hanging out at the house on the weekdays and helping Shoshannah with stuff during the week, working on the weekends. But dull isn't the worst thing in the world, as much as I might have said otherwise once."
"What about you?" She tilts her head a little to the right, curiously. "What show are you off to?"
Grace EvansTruth be told, there are many things going on in Grace's life. Her plants, her sim, her new programming techniques, the business with the movie, the guns... None of it is light conversation. Some of it would be dangerous to overhear. Some of it she knows would be completely incomprehensible to Sera. So, she kind of waves her head back and forth, and her eyes dart around like she's trying to think of what to say.
"Oh, you know, stuff."
Yesss. Perfect. Stuff.
"Hey, are you going to that Halloween party? Shoshannah seems so excited about it. Well, for Shoshannah it's like, exciteorama."
SerafíneSame old, same old, returns Lena.
Stufffff! says Grace.
Sera has by now capped the flask and tucked it back into an inner pocket of her leather jacket. She shoots this glance at Dan, and then looks back at the two of them. "Jesus Christ, you need to come party with me sometime. Stuff and Same old - "
She does not quantify her days and nights, though. Does not really answer the what have you need up to questions because they can read that in her skin and her eyes, the blown pupils and the odor of whiskey on her breath and beyond that - well -
beyond that she just doesn't say.
Dan is the one who answers Lena's question about the show. "Melissa Wyatt. She's a singer songwriter. I'm producing her EP." See, some people in that household actually work. "She's a great guitarist, and does some interesting things with rhythm and found-sound, without going off the deep end. So, just trying to support a friend."
"I guess so?" Sera to Grace, about the party. A little dubiously, though. " - I mean, it's at the house, right?" The chantry she means. "So it's just us?"
Lena ReillyThe DJ squints a moment in thought after Dan mentions the name. "That...sounds familiar, I think." Lena's in music, after all. It's a completely different style of music of course, but we're talking about a local music community and since she arrived in Denver Lena's done a lot to get herself insinuated into the scene. "One of the other deejays had mentioned her, I think. That's awesome though. If you and her want, I would love to do some a remix for the club. Might help get her some visibility."
She nods a little bit to Sera when she asks if it'll be at the 'house.' "Yeah, we're getting it all decorated up already, both for the party and in general. It looks pretty amazing, Shoshannah's done some great work with it."
And then a grin. "And I'm always down to party, to a degree anyway. There are some limits on how far I can really get my party on anymore, I'm afraid. But yeah, other than that, anytime."
Grace EvansThe others have their world, of gigs and music and partying (which is different, Grace thinks, than attending a party, exactly) and the apprentice thinks it sure is a shame that Patience had to leave so soon. So, if they're going to talk parties, Halloween is a better topic than the kind Sera means.
"That girl really goes all out with the deco. I like it, though," she says, and that's a rare compliment from her. Decoration is meaningless to her. Usually. Function before form and all that.
"I'm going to go. Don't know what I'm going to wear yet, but I have some ideas..."
Serafíne"You should let me dress you up," Sera says to Grace. "Or just come raid my fucking closet. Jesus Christ, you should go as me that would be fucking awesome."
"I'll mention it to her," Dan says, with a quick grin and a faint shrug to Lena. "I don't know how well suited her stuff is to nightclubs? But what the hell. It might work, you know?" Then, to Sera, " - hey, we're gonna be late. We need to get a move on."
Then Sera's standing, telling Lena that they'll get together soon, though one expects that Sera... has no limits. In a way that is both brilliant and bloody frightening, at the self-same time.
Soon enough the duo are off down the street, waving a farewell as they go.
