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Coffee! Nevy’s enjoying a cup on this fine Spring day
Mary makes an appearance not long after, heading on in a very good looking mood, wearing her sky blue dress and beaming at Nevy as she approaches. "Are you good with hugs?" She asks them, waving as green tea is collected from the counter.
Nevy chuckles. “Almost always,” They say, hugging in demonstration
She smiles keenly, returning the gesture and sitting to take a sip of tea. "How have you been? I'm sorry I had to fly, literally, last time."
“It happens - and seeing it was definitely an experience.” They chuckle. “Do you do the little bird thing often?”
"A whole lot." She admits, leaning forward. "Imagine for a second seeing the whole world before you, laid out. Utter freedom, the whole sky on offer." A wide, bright smile. "It's an experience I'll never stop loving."
Nevy blinks, then looks wistful. “Yeah, when you describe it that way I can see the appeal.”
A slow nod. "But, I did want to talk, mm. To check in on you, see how everything was. You've had a whole lot of new information to process in a very short time."
Nevermore chuckles a bit. “I mean...yeah, it’s been a lot. But I’ve had auntie Dandy and Maddy and everyone to help out. “
"Mm." Mary nods with a smile. "They're both really good to know. Especially if you need support and advice. Thing is Nevy, you're in a really rare spot. There's only a small number of people who can perceive magic and who aren't mages themselves. So I imagine that takes some adjustment."
They shrug. “I’ve been talking to ghosts since I was a kid. This is... context, yeah, but I’m still who I have been.”
Speak of the Devil, and surely she will appear. In walks Dandelion, dressed plainly, her hair loose. In search of lunch, surely, though she detours toward Nevermore and Mary's table.
"That's fair." Mary takes another sip. "I'm not the one with the answers. I don't think anyone has all the answers. But I do wonder if your ability to see ghosts means you might have the potential for connecting to Death on.. oh, hey Aunty." She smiles widely, standing to offer a hug.
Nevy does the same. “Auntie dandy!”
"Kids." She pulls them both into a big warm hug, before claiming a seat. "What's the topic of conversation today?"
"Do you want a drink?" Mary asks, hands clasped before her. "And I was just touching base with Nevy, seeing how everything was after the recent revelations." She smiles at Nevy. "About magic and ghosts and such things too."
Nevy chuckles. “Me, of course,” they say with a goofy flourish.
Dandelion nods quietly, and gives Nevy a thoughtful look. "Here's a thing to remember: mages have a few bad habits they don't always like to be reminded of. They tend to view a lot of the world through the lens of their magic, and make phenomena fit into that framework. And you, my dear, are a phenomenon, too. But what they all have to teach you doesn't have to color the work you do as a medium. Nothing that you knew before, about how ghosts work, is wrong, no matter how often someone tries to explain the Arcanum of Death as the true source of all such things. Nothing you brought to the table needs to be thrown out."
There's a soft pop of air as Maddy is suddenly just there behind the diner's bar counter, where she wasn't there before. She's wearing a long white floral print skirt, a tank top, and a wide-brimmed sun hat, and is holding a large brown sack, which she drops to the ground as gently as she can. "Whew, I'm going to need to start remembering arm day," she murmurs to herself as she stands back up, takes her hat off, and wipes sweat from her brow.
"Maddy!" Mary grins, waving. "Come join us! And let me know if you need a pick me up?" A thought look to Dandy. "Every soul is unique, so every way someone perceives the universe will be the same. And it's such a complex, tangled place. Two different things can both be true, even if they might seem to clash. Not that I know anything about Death, but, I feel everything we do is still part of something far greater we're yet to grasp. And there's room in there Nevy, for you to be a medium as something unique and different to how many view the Arcana."
Nevy blinks at the incoming teleport. “I... think I need to get used to that. Hello, Seelie!” They look between Dandy and Mary. “There’s a lot out there. I want to learn as much as I can, but I’m not interested in pinning myself down with a label. I’m me.”
She glances up at Maddy. "Potatoes from Ireland? Coffee from Java? Hmmm. Brazil nuts from Brazil? What's in the bag, my dear?"
"This is a sack of coffee beans, so I think I brought the pick me up," Maddy says with a laugh as she nudges the bag, which is behind the counter, with a toe. "Coffee from Ethiopia!" she answers Dandy with a laugh, already moving from behind the counter to come join the others. "Kay keeps drinking it all. Okay, Kay and I keep drinking it all. And isn't this just a group of some of my favorite people. Everyone treating you well, Unseelie?"
A nod to Nevy. "I get the feeling a lot of people would welcome having you around for talking and sharing ideas. We do tend to bat them back and forth a lot." She smiles widely, padding over to Maddy to offer a hug. "Can I buy some of those off you?" She asks Maddy. "For Kay's sake? Just do me a favour and don't tell her?" A soft laugh.
Nevy chuckles. “Easter eggs from Easter Island?” They say teasingly. They hold out their arms for a hug with Maddy, then sit when hugged or rebuffed. “For the most part, yeah, they say. “I haven’t gotten along with everyone, but everyone here right now is great.”
They smirk at Mary. “I hadn’t noticed, at all,” they say drily.
"Who haven't you gotten along with? Do I need to give a talk to somebody? Has Jinx tried to spook you? I will give him such a talking-to, if he has." She crosses her arms over her chest.
"Has Kay been stuffing the suggestion box at home too? She's always doing so here." Maddy laughs and does return all offered hugs, each with affection. "Someone put 'people waffles' in the suggestion box the other day, because someone always has to be a smartass. I can definitely get you more coffee, though. I pick up things regularly for Jay." She looks at Nevy at this point too, curious who was causing discomfort.
"She would if we set one up." Mary winks. "But I mostly wanna surprise her in the morning. And everyone else too of course." She sits again, tapping her tea. "And, mm. It was River, wasn't it?" She asks Nevy, rubbing her mouth.
Nevy shrugs one shoulder. “Honestly I’d rather not devote too much brainpower to it. If it becomes a situation, we can deal with it then.”
She gives Mary a frown. "What did River do?" Sounding every bit the exasperated mother at student-teacher conferences for a prankster grade-school kid.
Maddy is definitely listening but also not currently interjecting. She takes a seat, wipes at the sweat on her brow again, and makes a bit of a face. "I'll pick some more up for you," she tells Mary.
She nods at Nevy, then hugs Maddy gratefully. "Much appreciated, thanks." She offers Dandy a rueful smile. "I'm not sure she meant it, it was just some of the things she said."
Nevy shrugs a shoulder, glancing between them. “If she didn’t, we can deal. If she did, I’ll just avoid her.”
A sigh. "I see. Well. Whatever makes you comfortable, Nevermore."
Maddy gives Dandy a concerned look, but she's as often as fickle as Acanthus are stereotyped to be, and seems okay with just shrugging it off for the time being. "Let someone know if you need help with the situation, Nevy, but otherwise we'll let you handle it your way. What was everyone talking about before I showed up and brought this topic up, anyway?"
"Well, I was talking about how much I love flying at the very start." Mary smiles softly. "Very few things make me happier then that. But yes, if you want our help Nevy, I think you have it."
Nevy glances around, then chuckles. “If I’d been friends with you all in middle school, I think there would have been fewer rumors about talking to people who aren’t there,” they say. Then they hesitate. “I mean, maybe. I did talk to people who weren’t strictly there, so...”
"Middle school is awful for everyone. I was...ahm. A bit of a mean girl, believe it or not. A snob and more than a little cruel to some of the other girls."
"I was miserable through all of my school years," Maddy admits with a heavy sigh as she thinks back on it. "Well, I was miserable for a while afterward, too." She glances at Dandy, who knows a lot of the story, but also because she's curious about mean Dandy. "Fortunately," she adds, "I'm not miserable any more! There's a fair bit of angry still, but I also try to change what I can, while not sweating what I can't do anything about."
"I kinda kept to myself back then." Mary admits. "Sorta lonely. I'm glad that's not the case anymore." A warm smile, she settling back. "And you are sweating a little Maddy." She teases gently.
That admission from Dandelion draws a double take from Nevy. “No way.” They sound frankly disbelieving. “You?”
She laughs aloud at Nevy's look. "Me! I know I look young, but I have had a good amount of time since middle school to learn and grow."
Maddy laughs. "I'm sweating because it's hot in Ethopia right now, and I was just there!" she protests. "I should probably get some ice water or something." She laughs again and says, "we all benefit from your experience, auntie. It's been hard earned, I'm sure, and I'm glad you're willing to share it with us."
"I don't believe it either." Mary adds, nodding keenly with a grin to Dandy. "And, ice water sounds a good plan." She adds to Maddy brightly.
Nevy considers that. “Huh. That’s... pretty cool. That you realized you were being cruel and changed. You’re definitely not now!”
She nods. "A lot of that came down college, and also my early years as an Arrow. It's hard to internalize a lot of the philosophy and end up being a selfish twat in the end."
Maddy hops out of her seat and heads off around the bar to get a glass of water. She's still in pretty easy conversational range, since the diner's not a very big one and most of the tables are across from the bar. "Awakening and finding the Children of the Tree helped with a lot of the things that troubled me when I was a teenager. That, and having an Auntie who would talk sense into me as well as support me when I needed it most."
Nevy chuckles and smiles. “One more way I wanna be you when I grow up, Auntie.”
She reaches out to lightly touch Nevermore's arm. "Don't do that. Grow up to be an absolutely amazing Nevermore Usher. Maddy, she took the lessons I've taught her, and chose to create a space that is welcoming and full of love, and that's so much better than just 'being me', because it's being her best her. Do you understand? I'm not a poet or an artist or a goth. But you are, and you can do great things while being all of those."
And then she looks up at Maddy. "Any other news about that I should be aware of?"
"I'm starting to get old enough where looking forward to finding out who people will grow into, instead of only looking at who they are now, is something that I can even wrap my head around," Maddy says as she returns with her glass of water. "It's kind of a nice change. I do wonder how much the Mists have to do with that, and surrounding myself with the raw essence of potentiality, and how much is being old enough to be able to see it happen to realize it's a thing." She stares absently, thinkin about that question, for just a bit before shaking her head and answering Dandy, "hm, not since the feast, I don't think?"
Nevy blinks at the speech, nodding slowly. “Okay. I... just meant that... I want to be the kind of person that’s better than I am now, and that helps other people grow to be better, too.” They glance between the women. “Has there been any news on the rat thing?”
"Nothing since I posted up everything I've learned about the Beshilu. I also shared that with one of the vampires--that Guy fellow? I don't know if he's spread it around." She shrugs. "Time will tell, with that."
"I'm afraid I don't know much about that topic. I haven't been involved, so what I know is just what's come to me through the rumor mill," Maddy says with a head shake. "I might be able to help out with some of the logistical aspects," she points toward the portal that goes from near the heart of Philly to a remote wooded plot with a diner on it. "Given the Centralia news and the distance involved. I don't know much about spirits, or have much skill in dealing with them."
Nevy nods. “I’ve been able to make a couple more amulets. They won’t protect against everything - mostly just complete possession - but they might help.”
She nods, then looks at Nevermore. "Everything helps, at this point, dear. You're doing good work."
"Complete possession sounds like a big problem, and something it's well worth protecting against," Maddy says with a bubbling laugh. "I think that sounds like a pretty valuable thing for someone to have along if there's a risk. Does anyone know where these things came from in the first place?"
“Locally? Centralia. There’s apparently a gross nest warren... thing. Mythically? Some ancient god-spirit.”
She points at Nevermore, nodding. "That. Which is all sorts of fascinating. And reminds me I still need to teach you about abjurations."
A pause, then she looks at Maddy. "Maybe some of you mages, too. That's a trick that anyone can pull off. Full exorcisms, too, with the bane for such a thing in hand."
Maddy laughs. "I meant less geographically and more metaphysically. They are spirits, right? With that animistic world there's usually some emotion or the creation of an object or something that causes a spirit to be where there was no spirit, as I understand it. I'm wondering what event or process spurred the genesis of this group. Centralia makes some sense, I guess." She stops wondering aloud about this and blinks at Dandy. "What are their banes?"
“The disease spirits around them won’t like fire, but as for the rats themselves?” Nevermore shrugs a shoulder, also looking at Dandy. “Did you find anything on that?”
"Nothing yet, I'm afraid. I've been preoccupied with some...personal matters. Dinners with people, rubbing elbows, exchanging information on Mei and Aaron's case, keeping my ducks in a row, my new Cadre. All that fun nonsense."
There's a point in there where her smile slips slightly, but she perks back up again by the end of it.
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