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It's the the sort of bookstore where you might be as likely to find a suspiciously soiled copy of 50 shades of gray as a first-edition copy of the Dead Sea Scrolls, signed by the author. The door opens into a narrow entryway, flanked by a desk with a register on it. The man behind the desk is small and slight, with greying brown hair and a severe expression that's currently turned on the old leatherbound book he's reading. Nevermore is browsing in some of the shelves near the front, paying less attention to the books than to the doorway.
Kay walks into the bookstore, wearing a pair of shades ontop of her head, a loose, open white shirt over a very bright rainbow tanktop and a pair of loose, baggy burgundy pants. "Hey, how're you?" She greets them with a warm smile, waving. She has a small sports bag over her shoulder, much larger than other purse she might have had before.
Nevy smiles and waves. "Hey! I'm doing pretty good, you?" They hold out their arms, then hesitate. "Um... are you a hugger?"
"I am a hugger!" Kay smiles and opens her arms to return the offered hug "And I'm doing okay." she nods to the question too. "So glad you agreed to meet me!"
Nevy is a hugger, too - and a good one, not holding back from the hug. "I'm always glad to talk shop," they say. "Come on." They walk back into the shelves. The man at the front desk glances at the two, then looks back to his book and turns the page.
Once the warm hug ends, Kay follows Nevy, peering around to the various books around them, trying to notice maybe one or two interesting titles along the way, not in any particular genre either. "is this where you work?"
Nevy nods, looking over their shoulder. "Yeah, part time. Mostly on the night shift, but it depends. Here, I don't think Mr. Book will mind if I show you the back."
"Probably not." Kay follows Nevermore into the back of the bookstore, looking around for a potential surface to place her bag on, maybe sit.
Nevy leads Kay into a bare room, 8 feet square by ten tall. The walls are drywall lined with chicken wire. The only real decoration on the walls is a single shelf with a radio pointed outward, which Nevy turns on, pointed toward the wall. There's a folding card table and a couple chairs in the middle of the room, and (after checking the walls for holes), Nevy gestures to one and sits in another. "Sorry. I've gotten... concerned about eavesdroppers, lately."
"Never hurt to be prudent." Kay mentions and sits down onto her pick of chair, then crosses her legs, waiting. Also, the player's vampire is involved in the rat host now. "You have people who will offer protection if needed." she says confidently.
Nevy nods. "But what happens when they're not around?" Nevy says with one raised eyebrow. "I've also got friends who're helping me learn to protect myself. You know the saying. Build a man a fire, he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
Kay laughs heartiy at the grim humor, she puts her elbow on the table "Yeah I heard a similar saying once." she grins and lean on the table. "So, should we get to it then? or do you have other questions or concerns before that?"
Nevy shrugs one shoulder. "We might as well get started. You wanted to talk ghosts?"
"Yes! I was curious about how you found out about them, how you interact with them specifically." Kay asks, opening her bag and setting out a wooden bowl on the table, along with a diamond-shaped piece of wood. "Among alot of other things." she set the bag down, after pulling a small water bottle from it.
Nevy chuckles. "I mean... that's a lot of stuff." They glance at the growing collection on the table. "Literally and figuratively. Mind if I ask about the, uh, paraphernalia?"
"I figure if we're talking shop, we should be talking shop." she points to the tools she's put out. "Just brought out the tools in case it's appropriate show case something, these makes it safer." she nods once. "And I'm an eager student, what can I say."
Nevy chuckles. "Okay. So, uh... How does this kind of conversation usually work, in your, uh... culture? Is that the word for it?"
"Normally we use our long fancy titles and act like we know better than everyone and then debate everything to the minutiae." Kay smirks "Or well, that's one of the ways people do it." She points to them now. "But I prefer a simpler approach like this. I'm curious and knowledgeable about ghostly things, you are, I assume, the same, so I wish to exchange what we know and what we can do."
Nevy nods and side-eyes. "Are you going to try to recruit me for something?" They say, a touch warily.
"Not unless you actively ask me to give you a pitch for something I could recruit you for." Kay says with a little smile. "I'm here because of what I said I was here for."
Nevy sighs. "Okay. Sorry, Adam was in here a few days ago trying to give me the 'join up' speech. So, uh... Ghosts. Right."
"Oh! I see. Did anything bad happens beside a recruitment speech?" She asks when Nevermore mentions that. "And yes, Ghosts!"
They chuckle. "No, aside from that, he was a perfect gentleman. The recruitment speech was... just... that bad."
"Okay, good to know." Kay nods. "So, you want to start us there?" she motions towards them. "Or do you have questions for me first?"
They shrug. "I mean... you wanted to know how I knew about ghosts?"
"Yes, I'm curious about... well everything in regard to you and ghosts." Kay's eyes are wide and bright with curiosity.
They chuckle. "Okay. Well, it started when I was a little girl, one day, when my Grandma came into my room to ask why I was crying."
Kay immediately follows the story and leans forward to listen to it, she doesn't hide her reaction to it, her smile turns into a sad pout when they talk about the crying girl.
Nevy chuckles, leaning back. "The thing is, I was crying because she'd died the evening before. A heart attack."
"Oh! I know it's late for it, but my condolences." Kay says softly, offering a comforting smile. "Was she manifesting just for you, or were you simply able to see her?"
"I could see her. She was the first, but from then on..." They shrug. "It's part of why I got into the goth scene. I could talk about talking to ghosts, and instead of getting weird looks, people just thought I was deep."
"Did you ever find out why you could see them?" Kay asks, curious, running her fingertips on the brim of the bowl she brought, clearly just an idle gesture.
Nevy shakes their head. "I wouldn't even know where to look. Maybe she gave me some kind of blessing when she died? Maybe there's something in my brain that clicked on when she came in the room?" They shrug one shoulder. "The spirit side came later, and I've always been more connected to ghosts."
"Oh you can see spirits too? I can't even do that." She comments with a little nod. "I could look at you and study you for a few moment, see if I can find anything, if you wanted me to try doing so. No touching even necessary, just some weird sort of ... staring."
They shrug. "I mean... to what purpose?"
"I offered in case you wanted the answers, if you're not looking for them, I'm not going force them on you." Kay responds. "Just letting you know that the option is there for me to do if you get curious."
"I mean... it was an honest question. Is there anything that learning about these abilities would do to help me use them better?"
"Maybe? If it's blessing from her, then maybe there's something more for you to look for there? Maybe she was some kind of magic user. " Kay adjust herself on the chair. "If it's a brain thing, it could mean that biological alterations worked in different ways could help you use the power under the effect of certain drugs or chemicals? Or maybe grow it in other ways too."
They nod thoughtfully. "You'll tell me everything you see?"
"I promise, I'll explain what I'm doing first too, so you can chose if you want me to use that particular avenue." Kay proposes and leans in. "Is that okay with you?"
Nevy thinks about it, then nods. "Okay."
Kay smiles and pours water into the wooden bowl she brought, then, lets the diamond piece of wood float within. "First, I'd like to use a simple ability that lets me look into your soul. That may be something that gives me a hint of where or what to look at for my next step."
That draws a hesitant look. "When you say 'look into my soul,' what do you mean? That sounds... pretty invasive. No offense, but I only just met you."
"I'll look at you and I'll see the soul you have. I'll see if you're possessed, if someone's left a mark on it, which could potentially be a cause for the ghostly abilities." Kay explains "I'll probably learn if you have any long lasting sort of condition affecting you or if someone was terrifyingly horrible to you with magic, which I honestly doubt is the case." She smiles "The kind of abilities that I need to use to find the kind of things that could grant you ghostly abilities are going to be a little invasive. But they won't be painful and they won't be anything visible."
"I know I'm not possessed," Nevermore says, reaching up to touch the stylized rose amulet at their throat. They sigh. "But... when you say "see my soul," that's all you mean? It's not going to, like, tell you my regrets or point out the most embarrassing thing I did in High School?"
"I mean your literal actual soul. I can't read your mind currently or at all with the specific ability i'm going to use." Kayla responds
Nevy nods. "Okay, I guess." They seem far less certain, though.
Kay run her fingers around the bowl once and then stops the gesture, studying them for a short moment. "You don't have to say yes, I'm not going to leave and be angry or less friendly to you if you'd tell me to stop." she offers a genuine smile. "I'm here to learn more from and about your abilities and you. And to let you do the same. And if all I learn today about you is that you had a ghostly grandma and that you value your privacy in such a way, it,s good for me."
HobbitGuy1420 (He/Him)Today at 12:39 AM
Nevy huffs out a breath. "If I don't just do it, I'll never work up the nerve. Go ahead. The waiting's not helpful."
Kay closes her eyes for a moment and she runs the tip of her right index fingers around the rim of the wooden bowl, the diamond shaped piece of wood swirls around with the little motion her finger creates. She dips the floating piece of wood deeper into the bowl and pulls it up above the bowl, then, she looks at them through the droplets of water and returns to the bowl.
Kay fills Nevermore in on the stuff not decided on yet quickly. "I'm not seeing any long lasting effect on you, you read like what I'd expect a medium to read like." she tilt her head slightly to the side. "I think I can see a hint of a former possession on it, but it's not the clearest thing." She smiles and nods. "That's all I learned from this ability."
They blanch when she mentions possession. "That's... horrifying," They say weakly.
"If you're ever in need of an exorcism from a ghost, I can help on that front." Kay says reassuringly. "Or if by a spirit, I know people who can help. I could potentially shield you against ghostly possession or powers, if you ever needed it too."
Nevy touches their amulet again. "This... keeps me from being possessed or Claimed. I... learned how to make it in college, after... some really bad nightmares."
"That's a great skill to have, do they only function for yourself?" Kayla asks with a curious look there.
Nevy shakes their head. "I can make them for anyone. They're hard, though - I think there's something to do with the ink at the craft store I've been shopping at."
"What sort of materials would you need for that though?" She asks, a little bit curious. "I'm not asking for you to make me one, i'm just curious about it." she smiles.
"Ceramic. A couple types of ink. Powdered salt and iron filings. A couple threads from my coat." They smile. "And lacquer to seal it."
"Oh nice..." She tilt her head to the side and uses her phone to take a quick note. "Just getting an idea about something regarding the amulet and I don't want to lose it." she set her phone down right after. "To continue on the previous thread of thoughts, however, if you'd like." she smiles. "I could use another ability that would let me determine if your abilities are related to my sort of dealings, I doubt I'd get anything more that specifically that from it."
"What was the idea you had?" They say curiously.
"Some people have the ability to create... perfected versions of materials." She point to the amulet. "I'm just wondering what kind of interaction it'd have with an amulet like that."
They blink. "Perfected? How so?"
"This is a little bit out of my specialty, but it basically means to form the idealized version of materials." Kayla explains. "Which can grant some additional abilities to items, I wonder if it would interfere with your magic on it."
Nevy shrugs. "I'd be willing to try sometime. Honestly, I'm not sure it's about the materials so much as it is the mindset when I'm making the amulet."
"Well, that's an experimentation I'll mention to Liezel about or maybe even Heather." She tap her cheek a little bit in consideration.
Nevy nods. "Okay. So. You wanted to see if what I can do is tied to what you can do?"
"Yes. I doubt it'll come up with anything more than a yes or a no." She chuckles just a little bit. "But I'll give it a try, I might gain some insights on it, if I'm lucky."
HobbitGuy1420 (He/Him)Today at 1:45 AM
Nevy nods. "Might as well?"
Kayla repeats a similar patterns as what was there before, though it seems to require a lot more effort on her part for this one, she kind of anoint her eyelid with the water this time and her eyes open wide. She seems surprised for a moment. "Well, I know what the aura of a Medium looks like now and your amulet too."
(Basically, all the question I can ask for this spells comes back as Not Applicable)
"So I'm not a baby Mage who's hiding really well?"
"You are not, indeed, a baby mage in hiding." She grins and narrow her eyes. "Alright, I think I got one more thing before I actually do the weird staring."
"You haven't been doing the weird staring yet?" Nevy makes an exaggerated "ruh roh!" expression. "Now what?"
"Oh no, but you'll know when I get to that part." She points to the amulet. "I'll target the amulet and understand a little more of it's purpose and if I can do that, then maybe I can understand more of your abilities."
Nevy nods. "Okay. Go ahead."
Kay looks to the door and makes a quick reach to lock it. "This one has a bit of a visual to it." she stand up from the seat and set the bowl closer to Nevermore, then wields the diamond-shaped piece of wood, then she sets it down. It takes a little more time for her to cast at this point and then a variety of little runes appears all around the necklace that Nevermore is wearing. The runes last for about ten seconds before vanishing.
"Alright." Kay takes a deep breath there and shrug her shoulders. "That gave me a confirmation." She grins. "And, now, the staring part, if you're up for it"
"It basically does exactly what you told me it does and the spell revealed, nothing else beside basic uses you can make of your necklace."
They take a deep breath. "So. The staring. What will it do?"
"I'll know how good every piece of material is, how solid, how well it fulfill it's intended purpose. I'll know if you're an anchor for a ghost, if you have a soul, which, I already know. What I can use to help in my magic." she points to her items. "If this place is particularly powerful in some mystical sense." she explains "And then I'll focus on you, specifically to see if I can learn something about the power of medium you have."
They let out their breath. "...Okay. Go ahead."
"Okay so, I just realized this might need a bit more of a thing... Can we do that part later Nevermore? " She narrow her eyes. "In the meantime, maybe you could show me a few of the books you have here?"
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