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Klaire
Psyche had an eventful day, waking up to a Changeling delivering a note, spending time with Jay earlier in the day...and now inviting Mx. Bones over for dinner. Casual, she didn't want to have to dress up. Specifically stated 'I don't care if you come in PJs, as long as you have clothes.'
She had made spaghetti, meatballs, sauce, and veggies for the meal, and the food was still cooking at the time she had asked them to come over.
But most of all...she wasn't burned. She wore a tshirt and jeans, and her arm was clear. Similarly, while his flank was still hairless, was injury free!
Tommy/Bones
Bones knocked on the door at exactly the appointed time, to the second. Time and the Mystagogue were friends after all.
Today, they were in a femme presentation, like last night, but without the hoody and sweats. It was a lovely white sundress.
They had a picnic style basket with them, and hummed some random melody as they waited
Klaire
Rook of course got excited, running to the front window, borking, and then running to the front door as Psyche goes to let in Bones.
She opens the door, and opens her arms for a hug, showing how much better she looked.
"Hello there, just in time. Food's almost ready."
Tommy/Bones
"Look good, kiddo," she smiled and hugged her, kissing her cheek.
"Oh, hey, rook..." the Obrimos' words were already enchanted to talk with the animals, walk with the animals, ... oops wrong game.
"So, who healed you, dear?"
Klaire
She smiles at the hug, a bit surprised at the kiss but doesn't press. Rook's tail was wagging and he did a spin for Bones in excitement. "ITS BONES! ITS BONES! THROW THE BALL! CAN WE PLAY? I CAN SHOW YOU WHERE THE TREATS ARE AND YOU CAN GIVE ME SOME."
It's clear that Klaire does not have her telepathy up, and doesn't react to him besides an amused smile.
"Sirius, he got through to me that I was letting myself be in pain as penance, and that was hurting those around me. I admit I can be stubborn."
Tommy/Bones
"Just a touch..." and from the basket came some garlic bread and cannoli.
She handed it over to Klaire with a wrm smile. Once Klaire's back was turned, a pair of treats came out of the basket and were thrown to opposite sides of the room for Rook to retrieve
She then stared at Klaire's back, which the Psychic would have felt that shiver up their spine in that moment, or something similar
Klaire
"OH MY GOSH TREAT! ANOTHER TREAT! BONES YOURE THE BEST!" Rook goes to hunt for treats.
Klaire sighs. "Tommy, you are spoiling him. Yes yes I know I'm a bit stu-" she cuts off and turns around. "Did you bring anyone with you?"
Tommy/Bones
"No.... I was checking something, security, so to speak. You have Sirius' nimbus on you... someone might see it and think you're an ally, employee, or the like... I think about Nimbuses a lot as an Obrimos. It's one of the reasons I decided not to do the ritual for you."
She ran a hand through her hair, "I should remove that from you, if you let me."
Klaire
Klaire looks worried for a second, but then processes. "It it because Sirius cast a spell on me? Haven't you done that to me before?"
She nods. "Let me stir the sauce and then yes, you can do it. I don't want a third run in with the Mark II's."
Tommy/Bones
"Yes I have. And no I didn't scrub it at the time. Now I know to do it because of the robots..."
Another treat, this one a dental bone, was tossed from the basket.
Klaire
Klaire looks as the treat is tossed, and looks exasperated. "Please stop that. He doesn't need that many treats."
She heads into the kitchen/dining room, and stirs the sauce and noodles. "Yes, you may remove it. Yours too if you can. Lets not give them more targets."
Tommy/Bones
They pulled out the petrified wand, "Mine would be gone by now. It lasts a week or two usually. Some of the folx might make it go longer like Lyuda, Fox, or Cookie..."
While making a few motions with the wand, they started talking in the high speech. Then they touched the wand to Klaire and poof, the nimbus was gone. Klaire was just going to have to trust the mage.
Klaire
Klaire looks bemused by the motions, and has taken to not understanding High Speech at this point.
"A week or two, got it. Thank you for removing it...I think?"
Tommy/Bones
"Yes, it is gone. It is possible to hide you from all but direct scrutiny, and even that, they'd have to beat my abilities. But right now... even that spell was too heavy..."
"I'm carrying more magic than I should, because I used the ritual energies in my sanctum to do it. Every single spell right now is begging for paradox."
Klaire
Klaire turns one of the burners off. The one for the sauce.
"Thanks for the protection then. Maybe you shouldn't be casting then, or adding so many things. I don't know how it works but...be careful please."
Tommy/Bones
"I went a little heavy... but ... impatience, right? Gotta make everything done as fast as possible!"
She flopped into a stool and waited for food, "SO why the invite, other than to celebrate being healed?"
Klaire
"No, it doesn't need to be as fast as possible. You need to be safe." She sighs and turns off the other burners, setting the table.
"I have questions. About the Pentacle and the Awakened society as a whole, but also about the Mysterium. And...well I am aware you love questions."
Tommy/Bones
"Ooo. Even better!"
She bounced in her seat, adjusting left to right, not from discomfort, but just a constant fluid movement.
"What can I do to better your understanding?"
Klaire
She laughs slightly. "I figured that would be about how you responded. Serve yourself first, then I'll ask."
She serves herself, waiting for Tommy to do the same. "First question...can you give me a broad overview of the history? Enough that I don't look like a fool. I know vaguely of Atlantis being a city of Mages and the um...Exarchs being the one to stop that? Besides that I'm lost."
Tommy/Bones
They seemed to flow from their seat, back to the floor and then slid over to the serving spot and dished herself a meal. Klaire hadn't quite seen Bones so... magical... in their movements before now. Something had changed for sure.
While dishing it up, "Time gets funky when you talk about Atlantis. Seriously. Atlantis was a city and a time of mages. Everyone was mage or sleepwalker, and the supernal realms were a place you could metaphorically walk your way to, if you wished....
THey took a bite of the bread, and then moved back to her spot.
Klaire
Klaire watches with interest at the magical movements. "So...time is strange, and everyone was magic to some degree, alright. What happened next?"
Tommy/Bones
"It either was a long time ago, or will be a long time from now, or never was and people remember it, because it was erased from history, or... it's a jumble, just so you understand why I say time is weird, got it?" they even used a fork in a fluid motion. Bones was Bones right now, Tommy Shanks was gone.
"There's... so there were the parts of the city of mages that divided themselves up into parts of the 'Dragon.'"
A few more bites and swift movements to grab different pieces of food.
"The Ungula Draconis, the Talon. Visus Draconis, the Eye of the Dragon, Alae Draconis, the Wings of the Dragon, Vox Draconis, the Voice of the Dragon. Each roughly translates to what one of the Diamond orders follow... the Arrows, the Guardians, The Mysterium, and the Silver Ladder..."
Klaire
She nods. "But the Free Council came later."
Tommy/Bones
"Somewhere along the line, these eleven bozos decided they wanted to live in the supernal and disconnect the rest of us. They made something called the Celestial Ladder... and it allowed them to physically enter the Supernal. When they either broke the ladder, someone else did, or the universe did.... they became trapped there, and became the Exarchs. The rest? Well... the Abyss, the Destruction of Atlantis, remnants of the peoples, the remnants of the city. Those remnants, by chance, are what I study. "
Klaire
She nods slowly, getting most of it.
"So basically...11 people got greedy and fucked everyone else over. You are studying the bits left over to try to piece parts together?"
Tommy/Bones
"Yeah. That's where I"ve put my efforts for the last seven years, all across the globe."
More gobbling of food, but less savage then the past, just a constant flow of fork to food to mouth.
"SO... then they made the four different orders, probably around the time of Ancient Greece. Maybe earlier, maybe later. Every order wants to be first, if you get my meaning. And the Council of Free Assemblies organized at the end of the 19th century, turning away from the Seers fully rather than being independent of them, and joined with the Diamond to make the Pentacle."
Klaire
"So no one knows which one is first? That...sounds about right. Thats a part I'm curious about too, what happened with the Free Council and all of that."
Tommy/Bones
"That part.. I know the basics, but honestly, I'd ask one of their elders. It's possible that some of the oldest Councilors were there when it formed."
Klaire
"I'll do that then. At some point at least."
She takes a slow bite of her own food. "What about the Mysterium, what can you tell me about them?"
Tommy/Bones
"Basically, we use mundane myth and science and remants of Atlantis to try and fine a way back to the Eternal Knowledge of the days before, or yet to come. We focus more on the supernal, while the toher main information gathering force, the Free Council, focus on humanity's inner magic. Different interpretations on how the Lie affects things, is the main difference there."
Klaire
She nods. "So the Mysterium looks into the weird things for magic, and the Free Council looks into the not so weird things for magic?"
Tommy/Bones
"Good gist there, yeah. It's like you're an investigator or something," she teased.
"We follow a few protocols, that basically mean... we don't lie to other Awakened if we can help it. We give our mentors respect, and they are always responsible for us. We trade information for information, simple enough. And we respect those with both broad ranges of Arcana, showing their instinctual knowledge, and those with many rotes."
Klaire
Klaire rolls her eyes. "Yes, repeating information back makes sure I understand."
"So is it knowledge for knowledges sake, and maybe one day piece together enough to understand Atlantis? Trying to learn as much as possible?"
Tommy/Bones
"Yeah, basically. I wonder about the Council, truth be told, given my background, my personal beliefs, and so on. I had already joined the Mysterium by the time I met a Libertine, and honestly, I really like what I do."
Klaire
She considers. "I joined because I needed to be part of something, but I don't know much about it at all. How do you see the Council?
Tommy/Bones
"I like the democratic side. I like the thoughts that humanity itself is magical, and other things to that model. My own personal model is more that all supernatural powers stem from one source, and if we understand all the powers, all the differences, we might understand the source. If we understand the source, we have something to either copy, or discover, or reach."
Klaire
Klaire thinks. "So you want to mix both the Mysterium and Council's views. Humanity and the other things are magic, and its just one big puzzle?"
Tommy/Bones
"Yep. I've been studying the friends at Maddy's with permission and I hope to learn more."
Klaire
Psyche nods. "You are welcome to study my own abilities...when we dont have Mark II's breathing down our necks."
She pauses for a minute. "How do you feel about the Ladder then. They think everything is fairly connected, like you said. Sleepers, to Sleepwalkers, to Awakened, right?"
Tommy/Bones
"Politics."
Klaire
Klaire pauses for a moment at the one word answer from the wordy Mage. She studies Bones's expression for a moment.
"Is this a question I should stay away from?"
Tommy/Bones
"Nah. I just... honestly, someone told me they were politicians and that was enough for me to run away."
Klaire
She nods. "Sirius doesnt seem like much of a politician to me, more of a teacher. But I guess that is fair."
Tommy/Bones
"Yeah. He's a mystery to me. Maybe I should ask him about the ladder sometime. I just know it didn't call to me, the same way the Arrows and Guardians didn't."
Klaire
Klaire nods. "I see. Well...thank you for the insight, Bones. It's helpful to learn about these things."
Tommy/Bones
"If you weren't so, what did you say earlier, stubborn? about joining the groups, you might have asked before you did," she winked.
Klaire
Klaire frowns. "My options were join as soon as I could, or leave Philidelphia. Including my partner who just escaped from a hellscape, and my entire livelihood. If your choices were join right now or leave your father here, which would you choose?"
Tommy/Bones
"I would ask my choices of who to join."
Klaire
"My options were the Mages, or another group that would take me in. Vampires required me dying, which I did not enjoy, or the Lost, who likely would not trust me. I wasn't trusted with details until I joined, because...well I was a stranger who was powerful in my own right, and the only person that could vouch for me was a recently escaped Lost who ate someone."
She takes a long breath, forcing herself to be calm. "So no, I did not have much choice at the time. And now I am trying to catch up."
Tommy/Bones
"...Sorry..." and suddenly it was Tommy again, pushing the chair back, "Sorry. I make jokes and they don't hit. I'm sorry."
Klaire
Klaire takes a deep breath. "I am not fresturated with you, I'm fresturated with the circumstances."
She was calm again, for real. "You didn't know, and didn't mean anything by it."
Tommy/Bones
"I'm sorry, still, for being the reason those feelings bubbled up," Tommy looked up at her friend from a downcast head, "SO... I'm famous now, apparently."
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