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Fox:
Part of looking after the wild things is looking after the wild places, and the wild places within the urban places. Wissahickon Park is the closest thing to a wild place around here, and Fox (and the other local Orphan of Proteus, Weaver) look after it.
Today that means walking the trails and cleaning up, yes, but also checking on the health of the forest and looking for lanternfly eggs and the lanternflies themselves. "Well, all I'm saying is that it would be trivial for me to target all the lanternflies or lanternfly eggs in a given area, and I think I could do it in a way that wouldn't have significant risks." She's padding barefoot through the woods -- never mind the cold -- in a pair of cutoff jean shorts and her one concession to the weather, an oversized Eagles hoodie. Fox is accompanied at the moment by what is -- for all visual purposes -- a large, shaggy Husky in perfect health.
The husky gives her a look aside, as if it can understand her perfectly and is simply choosing not to answer.
"I'm just saying... " Fox trails off.
Ylva:
Ylva had been seeking her out to meet Klaire and tonight she was wearing a knee length skirt with one of Klaire's hoodies.
Her and Klaire are just sitting on one of the stumps in Foxes path, waiting patiently. Ylva squeezing her hand.
Klaire:
Klaire was happily holding Ylva's hand, petting a German Shepherd's head as they were chatting. Klaire's head was on Ylva's shoulder.
Rook didn't have his vest on today, and his WHOLE tongue was out of his mouth as he got the BEST head scratches. Without his vest he was in play mode, happy to be there and happy to be OUTSIDE with YLVA, OMGOMGOMG. He licked her hand before realizing he couldn't do both that and get head scritches so leaned right back to the head scritches.
Fox:
"Just saying," mumbles Fox in the Husky's direction, and she reaches out one hand to ruffle his ears, which earns her a huff. Fox is exactly five feet tall, with lanky black hair and gold eyes, compactly-muscled in the way a person gets when they just spend their whole lives running around doing things.
When she spots the pair sitting on a stump, she and Agoston stop about fifteen feet away, leaving plenty of space. The Husky -- a noble and dignified beast, as Huskies can be -- sits at heel neatly. "Heya," she greets, pulling her hands out of her hoodie pockets and wiggling the fingers of both at them.
Ylva:
Ylva waves gently with her free hand, that same anxious wave she always has.
"Hey Fox. Nice to see you again."
The other hand squeezing Klaires a little harder than she should.
Klaire:
Klaire kept rubbing Rook's head. The German Shepherd sat a little more attentively as the Husky came into view, but after a look and what almost looks like a silent conversation from Klaire, he relaxes again. He continues watching the newcomers just in case...maybe they were friends!!
"Hello there. Fox, was it? I'm Klaire. I would offer to shake your hand but...I have unfortunately found myself lacking any hands to do that." She gives a polite smile as she motions to the hand being held by Ylva.
Fox:
"Hey, Ylva," Fox greets, dropping her hand onto the Husky's head again. "Yeah, I'm Fox." She glances back over her shoulder and up the trail before turning her attention back to the pair. "This is Agoston, and Vasya will be here... momentarily." Who knows how the Acanthus knows to be here, or how Fox knows to expect him. She just does. Old Mage couples be like that sometimes. A beat, and she adds, "Vasya is a people, not a dog." And then she looks down at Agoston, who gives her a look. "Not that dogs aren't necessarily people, don't look at me like that."
She clears her throat, and tosses a brief smile -- that smile has too many sharp little teeth in it -- before going on, "It's good to meet you, Klaire. And don't worry about it." A little glance indicatively to Ylva, and then back again.
Vasya:
Vasya, being Vasya, sort of 'appears' from behind a tree not far from the group. People are free to make what they will of that, because he's not explaining himself any. There's nothing particularly notable about the man. He was probably quite handsome once, middle-age hasn't been the kindest to him, and his eyes look particularly cold. But that's most slavs his age, really.
He's dressed in jeans, a flannel shirt over a tank top, a ball cap concealing his widow's peak. There's a rifle over his shoulder, but it looks old and perfunctory. The sort of thing you carry for wild animals, not the greatest game. If anything, he manages to make its presence reassuring. This is a forest, after all, and he carries it the way other people carry a pocket knife.
He tosses a nod to the group while shaking taking a cigarette from his tin and pausing to light it up. He offers the tin wordlessly to the group, one bushy brow arching up.
Ylva:
"Heya Fox." She repeats followed by a nod as Vasya appears.
"This is my lover I talked about the other night. I thought you might like to meet her. Might have some tips. I dunno. Magic at each other."
She sighs clearly out of her depth. Though she does chew her lip at the cigarette, considering, even though its been years. Finally shaking her head.
"Lets not start that addiction again."
Klaire:
Klaire stays quieter as the others approach, petting Rook gently. "This is Rook. I do quite think dogs are people too, if more easily excited. Although, I have seen small children rival that excitability."
Klaire didn't seem to mind the sudden appearance. She in fact did it to Ylva just the other day. She waves to him as well while hugging Ylva.
"Its nice to meet you both. I apologize but I don't smoke. I guess we can..." she pauses "magic at each other? Is that the right term?"
Fox:
His appearance makes her eyes light up, and ... does Agoston roll his eyes? Surely not. Dogs don't emote like that. He wanders away from Fox, approaching Rook with his ears up and tail held up but neutral. His nose works curiously.
Agoston goes one way, Fox goes the other, flinging herself at Vasya, as is her rite and custom. Arms around his neck, legs around his waist, the Orphan kisses his cheek noisily. "No, ew," she says cheerfully to the offer of cigarette, before letting go. And then she blinks at Ylva's words. "... magic at each other?" Her gold eyes widen and she blinks, making an animal-curious noise.
Vasya:
Perhaps not understanding the subtext of Ylva's response to his offer, Vasya stares at her for a moment, shrugs his shoulders, puts the tin back in his pocket, and produces instead a silver flask which he unscrews, takes a nip from, and offers towards her instead. "Vodka cranberry." The offer is extended to Klaire with a little waggle of the flash that rattles the open lid.
"No one's magicked at me at a first meeting since Budapest." He remarks, as though Budapest were an event and not a place, and an event of common knowledge, which it clearly isn't. He manages to look grave, even with Fox kissing his cheek noisily.
He unhooks his thumb from his rifle strap and puts his arm around Fox, the pair looking like the most oddball parody of American Gothic ever.
Ylva:
Ylva shrugs. "I dunno. You said you could give advice. I thought she should meet people like her."
There is another exasperated sigh as she whisper yells.
"Your the fucking wizards not me."
Klaire:
Klaire nods slowly, putting a hand up at the vodka as well. "I appreciate that offer, I'd rather just have a clear head. I do not function well with substances."
She looks back and forth between the two mages, and a slightly longer than usual glance at Agoston. "I'm glad I have the chance to meet others, I usually stay by myself. But I hope we will not have to magic at each other in a hostile way. I would likely lose anyway." Klaire watches Fox carefully, looking them over to try to gather their vibes.
Fox:
She leans in against Vasya comfortably, smooching the top of his hat and wrinkling up her forehead as she looks at Ylva for a moment, then Klaire, then Ylva again. She frowns mildly, as Agoston lays on the ground all by himself, a dignified elder dog.
"Probably," she says absently towards Klaire, though there's no malice in it, just a commonplace confidence. "But I don't think it needs to be like that." Then she falls silent, just.... looking at Klaire for a minute, and then she draws her head back a little bit, lifting a hand like Obi-Wan Kenobi. "Don't do that," she says, her eyebrows shooting up. "Not without asking permission."
A beat. "So. Sleepwalker," she says, apparently unbothered past saying 'no.' "Okay, that makes sense."
Klaire:
Klaire looks mildly confused for a minute, then her eyebrows raise. "I apologize, I am simply cautious. I haven't met many others and so I am not quite sure what to say."
She wraps an arm around Ylva. "I am not quite sure what you mean by Sleepwalker. I don't know know many terms if I can be honest."
Ylva:
Ylva gets a touch on edge. Her hackles raising for want of a better word before realizing Fox seems calm.
Vasya:
"Water is a substance, but I am being pedantic, and people tell me that is my most agreeable least agreeable feature." He sniggers at this joke at his own expense before taking a swig for Klaire, another for Ylva, and a third for Ylva's exasperation which he turns into more of a suckle. He pops the flask from his mouth with a satisfied sigh, screws it closed in one hand, and plops it back into his breast pocket.
"It's awkward, isn't it? What manner of thing are you, what can YOU do? Setting aside the questions of who each of us might work for. And who those people might work for. It gets ... hard to know who to trust. Which is why it's nice to know who to trust, I imagine?" Vasya's wondering aloud at being in Klaire's shoes, clearly.
"I'm always uncertain of where to begin, likewise. But. My understanding of things is that Ylva here thinks you should be brought in to Philadelphia's greater supernatural community. There is one, you're in it whether you know it or not, and there are a few different places you can probably find a home if that's what you're about. I am a representative of the Free Council of the Unnamed Nations here in Philadelphia. A confederation of wizards and sorcerors high and low who further the defense and advancement of humanity. I'm offering you a seat at that table on a probationary basis for everyone involved until you get a chance to learn where you may want to spend your time full-time, and until we've gotten a chance to make sure you're a good fit. I do have personal assistance I can offer outside of my esoteric associations, too. That similarly has no strings. But... it's also much more limited in what it can and can't do, if you get me. Which... you might not. Anyway. Hello."
He adds, "Also, let me know if you change your mind about the vodka."
Ylva:
Ylva tilts her head to Klaire before looking at Fox and Vasya.
"Are you not the same sort of thing? I have a bunch of questions but I should let Klaire ask those huh."
Fox:
"It's okay," Fox says simply, "Just don't do that again without asking. I don't like people poking at my brain." She leans against Vasya and then shakes her head a little at Ylva. "We're not the same kind of thing, but we belong in the same part of the greater community. Kind of like... there are people who are actually werewolves, and there are people who are related to werewolves, and if there are people who aren't Lost but are ... associated with your community somehow?"
"Those, to Mages, are Sleepwalkers. And that's what Klaire is. So -- yeah, you belong in our community, Klaire, and there are people we should introduce you to."
Klaire:
Klaire smiles at the joke, motioning Rook a bit closer for more scritches, which he happily takes. He could tell that Klaire was anxious, so it was his JOB to put HIS HEAD in HER LAP and look cute to make it all better. Plus he got head scritches for it.
"It is awkward, yes. And no I do not know who to trust. I have worked with others before, including werewolves and..." she looks at Ylva with a pained grimace "I believe some of the Lost. Afterwards I often try to insure we can each...look the other way about what happened. But as for the larger community I have done my best to stay out of it."
She nods to Fox. "I guess that does make sense. I taught myself what I know, and figured there were more beyond me. But having said that...I don't wish to join this Free Council. I am perfectly happy on my own." The pets for Rook increase to help stave off the anxiety.
Fox:
"If you are not associated with a part of the greater supernatural society, there will be great limits on what you can be told, which, unfortunately, Ylva seems to have already passed," Fox answers bluntly, but not unkindly. For those who have only ever seen her be cheerful and flip, this might be quite the change. All business, now. "You have to be a part of something at this point. I'm afraid there's no choice on that. That doesn't mean it has to be the Free Council, but you can't stay in the city if you're not part of something. For your safety and ours. How deeply you have to be involved is up to you, but full independence is not really an option anymore."
She leans away from Vasya, then, tucking her hands into her pockets. "I'm glad this happened in Philadelphia, and not some of the other cities I've lived in."
Ylva:
Ylva leans back, almost cowing from Fox and looking up at Klaire.
"Sorry, I." She tries to take a deep breath. "I assumed it was sorta the same as me vs V. Like we work on the same rules but arent in the same weight category."
A pause before. "Fuck." and talons digging into the stump she is sitting on.
Dad Hoc:
"There are always choices," Vasya insists, when Fox presents the matter as a fait accompli, "and it's true you don't have to join, per se, but I also would strongly suggest doing so." He briefly reclaims his arm from around Fox so that he can give little air quotes around certain words to follow. "There are 'organizations' and 'societies' with 'rules' and 'ways of doing things' that existed before we were born and will likely persist long after we're dead. We've been playing by them without knowing it all our lives, and you just crossed a threshold here in this particularly city. You're now 'in play' in a way you weren't prior, based simply on what you know. I can try to remove that knowledge from you, but if you're a telepath you already know why that should be your last resort." His arm slips back around Fox, unperturbed by it all. "I can also make it so this meeting never happened, but that's a somewhat drastic measure, too. It's all up to you until it isn't anymore, as with most things in life."
Klaire:
Klaire hesitates, looking to Ylva to squeeze her hand and then back to the the mages, and then to Rook. She stays quiet for a moment before looking back.
"I recognize I am out of my league here, but no, I don't wish to be forced to leave my home or...especially you to mess with my mind. I do wish to stay...'in play', especially if Ylva is in danger." She takes a deep breath. "I do not wish to make enemies, and know joining a side will give me many enemies. I want to know more before I join, and if I decline...well I guess we can go back to removing my memories. I just am not prepared to join a group quite yet."
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