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Continued from Cold In The Park
Leta Abbott is no stranger to psychedelics. Honestly, once you've saved the whole of Philly's Awakened society while naked and high on cactus, you're probably better at navigating inebriated than sober.
She steps through the portal into Maddie's, carrying her laptop bag over one shoulder, and immediately begins to shed her now-too-warm coat. There's a pause and she dumps both the jacket -- and her work -- into an empty booth by the wall before turning to Jackie and Fox.
"Yeah, honestly. Between Vasha and me, it is almost literally Fox's job to play tripsitter. Just like it's my job to be... far out, maaaaan." She wiggles her fingers magically, offering a chitter of laughter at her own stupid pun.(edited)
Johnnie doesn't divest of her coat as they enter, opting to simply sweep it delicately beneath her as she sits at the booth they do select, smiling politely at the joke. "That is a particularly fun thing to be employed doing, from what I hear."
"Mmm. If it gets too much and someone gets too ... overwhelmed... I am the walking reset button," Fox agrees, before turning to look at Leta. "That girl had a spirit following her around. I'm not sure if it was nice or if it meant her unkindly but I'm going to LOOK AT IT the next time I see her because I don't think we want people that know what Jackie is - this is Jackie, did I introduce you already? - being Urged." Fox flops down after taking off her coat and backpack, flagging down a waiter for a giant carafe of coffee and tiramisu waffles with turkey bacon.
Leta scoots her butt into the booth, curling up with her boots on the seat like a weird anime detective. "Oh, huh. Admittedly I wasn't really paying much attention. I was very high with Incognito Presence on, and I was focused on your butt."
Leta reaches out to Jackie, offering her hand. "I don't think we've met. Abbott, by the by. I work at the university, and I consult with forensics once in a blue moon."
"A spirit? Hm. I haven't been in Twilight around her. Can you tell me what to look for? I might be able to check myself next time I see her, if you don't beat me to it. What should I be looking for?" Pause. "And what exactly does being Urged do? Is that like influenced actions? Or an altered state of mind?"
"Abbott? It's a pleasure. Like Fox said, I'm Jackie. Vorpal if you're feeling a touch more formal or want to remind me I'm a badass." She slid a hand out with all-too-fluid movement and delicately took Leta's, shaking it warmly.
"It is a great butt, I can't blame you for being VERY distracted," Fox offers, tucking her hands under her chin for a moment like a K-Pop star posing for a picture. "Oh uhm... it's - I don't know how to explain how to know without using magic because it takes me magic to know for sure," she offers abashedly towards Johnnie. "Urged is like... uh... it's the first stage of a spirit possessing a human. Like when there was that rat problem a while ago? The Beshilu are ... a very advanced sort of that."
"You can go to Twilight?" The coffee arrives. Fox pours some for herself and Leta, puts a ton of sugar and a little salt in her coffee and then some cream, too.
"Leta is family and one of my sweethearts."
"This is true!" Leta leans over, nudging Fox with her shoulder. She gratefully accepts the coffee, piling a ton of sugar into it and taking a sip before ordering herself a plate of French Toast, hashbrowns, and eggs over easy. "It's nice to meet you, Jackie."
The Stoned Mastigos gives Jackie the once-over, eyes darting over her top-fluid form. "... are you one of Mearcstapa's people, by chance? I mean I know you're not his family, because I think I've met them both, but... well. You know what I mean."
"Oh, and it's nice to meet you. I'm not usually very personable, but-" she wiggles her fingers and trails off for another sip of coffee.
"I have to agree," Johnnie admits. "If you'll forgive the objective observation. but I sincerely do feel I can say that in truthful assessment, Fox's tail is tip top."
"Oh, the-" Johnnie snaps her fingers, looking faintly aggravated. "That's why the tunnels stink. I forgot entirely about them. Well, good. I feel extra better for not following them north. I was curious where they went, but if it's just to some giant rat's nest, I'll spare myself the trip."
"I am, yes. Closer, actually, than I think most of his family, by means of categorization. We share a Season. And it really is a pleasure to meet you. Please don't feel like you need to excuse being less than perfectly sociable. You're enjoying yourself."
The Thyrsus wiggles in her seat as if in illustration, and grins her sharp grin over the rim of her cup before sipping her coffee. Her gaze goes briefly distant before she sighs happily. "This is the best diner coffee," she opines, and the leans her head on Leta's shoulder.
"Oh, a season," she agrees thoughtfully, as if that means something. It clearly does not and Fox is just going along with it. "That's neat! I like Mearcstapa, he helped me with my pigeons when I was being a boy. I think I was flirting with him that day but he didn't seem to notice so I never did again." That doesn't seem to really bother Fox, though she does stop to think about it.
"I'll take your word on that," Johnnie murmurs calmly as Fox praises the coffee. She's smiling quietly- she seems to find the Fox-Leta snugglepile adorable. "Mm. Yes! We just left our favorite, as it happens. I don't think there's many of us around- Autumn, I mean. Summer and Spring tend to be more popular with the more type A personalities, and Winter tends to suit the type Bs better. Autumn takes a special sort."
Speak of the Hunterheart and another will appear, it seemed, as Asbolus made his way into the diner through the portal. Even with the Mask firmly in place there was a certain sharpness about the man, something honed to a fine edge with each movement.
The Darkling took a moment to remove the well-made leather duster before turning his attention to those already present, smiling a touch as he saw Johnnie. "Evening."
"What sort is that?" Leta drifts off into gently staring at things and Fox just snuggles her up. Sleeping isn't really a thing that someone high on LSD will usually do, but Leta seems happy staring at her hands right now.
Her bright green-gold eyes turn toward Asbolus, and they blink once, twice. "Hi! Do I know you?" Her fox-sharp smile flashes in his direction.
"Asbolus." Johnnie says with a smile without turning to look. So mysterious! (Unless you've watched her Notice things before) "This is Fox. Fox, Asbolus. Another of the sort I mentioned. Which is those whose response to the frightening is to harness the reaction rather than quell it. To learn How To Be Afraid Well instead of just Not. Those willing to dive into the frightening, the mysterious, to become it. Not everyone has the inclination or temperament. Most don't." Which sounds all exclusive and snooty until you remember she just said there's four seasons, so... by definition, Most Don't Fit for ANY court.
"Asbolus isn't quite of mine, mind, but he's enough of a mind to have our favor anyway."
Something seems to make it past her infatuation with her own clever words, and Johnnie pauses and actually turns to look at Asbolus for a moment. "... you look extra sharp today. Is that new?" She's not talking about his dress.
"Don't believe I've had the pleasure, no." He looked ready to introduce himself before Johnnie beat him to it, nodding to the description as he approached the table. "My primary alignment is with those who focus on sorrow, both learning from it and understanding its impact. Johnnie has been kind enough to act as my mentor among her court, however."
"Relatively, yes." He replied to the Elemental, making a 'may I?' motion towards one of the seats at the table. "Took another drink from the well, as it were."
The waffles start arriving, and Fox gets Leta focused externally enough to start eating her food before turning to her own. "You can call me Fox, or Little Fox. Everyone does, except the people who call me something else." Well that's helpful, Fox. She starts digging in to her tiramisu waffles and blinks at Asbolus. "That seems like a really hard thing to focus on like all the time," Fox admits, licking chocolate syrup out of the corner of her mouth. "Yeah sit with us! Are you friends with Lux?"
Apparently that's Fox's meter for judging people.
"There's more to it than that, and it's not something we must focus on all the time. But there's also internal and external manifestations of it. While I do make extensive use of my own fears, I also have learned quite a lot about wielding it on others. So, for instance, one of Wrath's children might focus on harnessing their own rage, and another base their studies on driving others into mindless fury."
"I see, I see. It seems- " She stiffens, and sighs slightly. "It seems I was operating under some poor assumptions about how dangerous that well itself is. I may be amending my understanding of it soon."
"At times, but it allows one to treasure the joys that come with life all the more, or at least that's the case for me." Asbolus nodded in agreement with Johnnie's addition, pausing for a moment at what followed. "It has its ups and downs, certainly."
He couldn't help but smile warmly at Lux's name, nodding as he claimed a seat for himself. "I'm close friends with them, yes."
"Which well?" Fox seems confused, now, but maybe she's just distracted by her waffles and turkey bacon. She shoves another slice of the latter into her mouth, and pauses for coffee, curling up on her side of the booth. "Oh! That's awesome. Lux is my best friend. They're super great. And that makes sense. Light versus darkness and all that. If you just look at light all the time you can't see anything, there's no contrast."
Johnnie gestures vaguely. "Metaphorical wellspring of power from which we and our cousins drink. Not a literal one in any sense," she explains, smiling faintly at the energy with which Fox eats. "And yes, quite right. The contrast is where all the interesting things are, after all."
He took a moment to ask a passing server for two cups of coffee before turning back to the table. "Indeed, and good to hear. We met while we were elsewhere and have continued the friendship here on our own terms. They've helped me through a few rough patches, which I'm quite grateful for."
"Oh," Fox agrees with Johnnie rather thoughtfully - visibly filing that away for future consideration - and sips at their coffee, nudging the carafe on the table toward Asbolus in offering. Her sharp green eyes examine him for a long moment. "They're good at that. They take good care of people, like, all the time. I met them when they were doing graffiti, and I was foxing. It's good to do things on your own terms."
"You know, I don't recall how I met Lux," Johnnie muses. "But yes. They're quite good people. I've had the privilege to meet quite a lot of good people around this city." She smiles, pleased to see Fox take her information seriously, and listens to the others chatter for the moment,
"Agreed. They have a good heart, which I've always admired them for." Asbolus thanked Fox as the carafe was nudged his way, pouring one cup for himself and another placed in easy stealing range for a certain Elemental while giving her a 'not for you' look. "As have I. One of a number of reasons I'm glad I stayed here after getting back."
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