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Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
Aya had chosen a new place and made it ready for her own use. Now, she contacts Kay to ask if she would like to come visit with her, talk over tea. The address she gives for it leads to an old brick building wedged between two new apartment developments near Spring Garden Street and Ridge Avenue. Next to the door was a sign that read, "Abbas Imports -- Staff Entrance", a keycard reader and a buzzer.
TheUserWin - She/They
Kay meanders down the streets at a brisk pace, large sunglasses covering her eyes, she's wearing a black longcoat, heeled boots, the rest of her outfit being a pair of jeans and a blue tanktop.
She is cloaked in veiling and shielding magic, other spells too, to make the traveling bearable, but even so, her gaze remain firmly trained on the ground as she arrives at the door, alerting her Apprentice of her arrival with the tools at her disposal.
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
The door opens for her, with Aya gesturing invitation, "I'm so glad you could join me." She was dressed modestly, as usual, in a swirling turquoise green and cerulean blue dress. Immediately inside the room, it looked like a small business office, though none of the somewhat outdated electronics seemed to be powered.
TheUserWin - She/They
Kay pays attention to the outdated electronics for a brief moment, if only to take note of just how outdated they were in general, a quick glance to the building, hoping to determine it's potential as a place of power and rest for her apprentice.
"Would not miss it." Kay says in a soft voice, setting her coat on the nearest hook, putting her sunglasses back into her pockets. "How have you been?"
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
They were the kind of outdated you commonly find in small businesses that have been in place for a while; computers about 5-6 years behind the times, phones from the mid-90's, printers from the early 00's.. a mishmash of 'we will upgrade next year when we have the money for it'.
"I've been doing fairly well," she says as she closes the door behind her. "I've been doing much better now that I've gotten my library moved and secure."
Once Kay's gotten a good look around, Aya continues in, leading the way towards a back office. "And you?"
TheUserWin - She/They
Kay follows Aya toward the back office, as she ends some of the magic woven in her pattern, which distracts her enough that she bumps into doorframes and desk corners on the way there.
"I'm glad to hear you're doing well." A genuine smile and then an offer for a hug, once they're in the office. "I'm proud."
"And I'm doing okay, it's always a little of a struggle to move around during the day, but I managed pretty well today."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
The back office only had a couple of wide filing cabinets in it, stacked high, with a fax machine on a table next to one of them. She returns the hug and smiles warmly. "I'm glad to hear it; next time, perhaps we can meet at night, if that's easier?"
Then she chuckles, "Oh, and we're not there yet, by the way." She taps a few buttons on the fax machine and the front of one of the filing cabinets opens to reveals a staircase leading down with a small gust of cool air lightly scented in a way that would be familiar to local subway passengers. "I bought my uncle's old business and moved everything here to help disguise the entrance."
TheUserWin - She/They
"Oh I like that" Kay smiles brightly at the secret door display. "It might make it a little easier, meeting groups of people on the way here can get a bit overwhelming." Kay pinches the bridge of her nose, breathing a sigh of relief from the hug and peace away from the Outside.
"Was that complicated to install?" Kay asks with a little smile. "Or did you just snap it into existence?"
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
"No, the doorway and tunnel was already there, I just needed to hire someone to make the actual false cabinet and 'fax machine' keypad. It was mostly a matter of putting it in place and then bolting it secure from the inside."
She leads the way inside, the stairway goes down a fair bit, leading to a maintenance tunnel. It leads across the street into an abandoned subway station-- Spring Garden, off the Broad Ridge Spur-- that has been tagged thoroughly by urban explorers with a penchant for street art.
TheUserWin - She/They
Kay smiles brightly and for a brief moment, there's an air of youth and maybe even some kind of a rebellious smirk that touches her feature, tracing her fingers over one of the tags and drawing on the walls, her eyes close for a brief moment as she takes a deep breath. "What a beautiful place."
Kay studies the art in particular, clearly she feels the Moros vibe off of the space and it's easy to notice the wave of emotions that hits her as she wanders with Aya. "Oof, memories of my own little rebellious youth."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
"Oh, you did a bit of this sort of art when you were younger?" Aya takes a deep breath, taking in the wall, "I never rebelled like that, I have to say. I've always been a bit of a Lisa Simpson." She let out a soft chuckle at that admission.
"But I do appreciate the artistry. I know it's a lot harder to make pieces like this than it seems."
TheUserWin - She/They
"I had a lot to be angry about back then. I wanted to leave a mark, a trace of my passage, of my emotions, my truth on the world." Kay explains, bringing her attention back toward Aya. "I would not have called myself an artist really, but in a way I was nonetheless."
"I also was a bit of a vandal. Got in a lot of troubles that one time when i was 13." Kay says as she leans against the wall, right beside one of the sillier drawings. "I don't know if I ever told you that story."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
"From a point of view, even a vandal is something of an artist; they make their emotions manifest, and their actions tend to elicit an emotional response. A man chisels a slave owner out of marble, and a woman knocks the head off. Both are making strong statements through an artistic medium."
Aya walks over, making note of the silly drawing with a smile, then looking to Kay, "But no, I don't believe you have told me."
TheUserWin - She/They
"Long story short, I lost my parents in a car crash when I was really young. Spent a bit of time in an orphanage and then got adopted by a local Lenape family." A shrug of her shoulder. "Then that mom died in another car crash a bit later."
"It culminated in me destroying a bunch of cars with keys and a lead pipe. In what, I know now, a failed attempt to awaken." Kay says with a smile. "I was too angry and lost in my grief to understand, to find my place."
"I got another chance, a year later." Kay smiles. "though that was in... vastly different circumstances."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
Aya listened attentively as Kay spoke on her past. She bites her lip and shakes her head, "Oh my, that's a lot of hardship to bear at so young an age. But it's good you had that other chance, and that you seem to have been better positioned for it?"
She manages to find a patch of wall with a mix of blue and green that she seems to blend well into, just before a train whizzes by the platform on the opposite side of the station, not stopping, barely any passengers riding on the dying train line.
TheUserWin - She/They
"I was, I'd learned how to rely on others by then. I'm alive and awake thanks to Peacekeeper and Balm, but, from what I remember, asking for help was a rather significant part of my awakening, alongside fixing and repairing the damage I had done previously." Kay explains and smiles. "Valuable lessons and concept."
Kay seems surprised by the train that zips by and stares a bit blankly for a few seconds, before returning her attention to Aya again. "And yes, it was a lot of hardship, I still won't get inside a vehicle unless it's life or death." a soft shrug. "But I'm not alone, I've healed, i've coped, i've adapted and I've scarred. Just like many have."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
Aya notices Kay's reaction, and gestures to the turnstile, "Sorry, we probably should move into my place's proper boundaries.. I hid my place just inside, one last door; I wouldn't want to impede any artistic expression in here."
She also offers a hug, "I'm glad you told me. Awakening certainly teaches many valuable lessons, at least it has for me and those I've met. I'm still trying to make sure I've learned all the ones mine gave me."
TheUserWin - She/They
Kay accepts the hug, squeezing gently, and then proceed to the turnstile as indicated by Aya. "Learning that can be a life long project, or it can be as simple as you make it. Every voice, even the smallest one, carry wisdom, that's one lesson that's often kind of difficult to parse sometimes."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
The turnstile offers no resistance, the machinery that locked it long since decommissioned. Aya goes through and guides her a short walk to a door that's hidden off to the side, shrouded in shadow and lacking a knob on the outside, made to be inconspicuous back in the times of the station's operation and easily made more so with magic. She reaches out her hand and with deft use of Matter and softly spoken words, commands the door to unlock and it pops open.
"I'm not sure if there's anything official I need to do about welcoming you in just yet? I've not officially declared it, but I plan to soon." she holds the door open for Kay, and inside the room, it looks like a bit of the old station restored to like new. The tile on the wall is un-cracked, clean and polished, the original Spring Garden signage restored flawlessly. There was a desk that had a few books and a journal on it, a large open area, and an old wooden door leading to another room.
TheUserWin - She/They
"Love the place, it's got peaceful vibes." Kay wanders a little, observing their surrounding with care and attention, taking in deep breathes. "I think you found a fantastic gem here. Hopefully, it's not too complicated to take care of such a place."
"Is this where you live every day?" Kay asks, curious. A glance toward the other door in the room. "Or is this more of a 'work environment' kind of thing."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
Aya seems quite proud at the compliments Kay gives, "It took a bit of fixing up, but well worth it. Except for the trains passing once in a while, it's quiet as a tomb; I've found the trains are a good reminder of the passage of time, which has been helpful with my experiments with it."
She nods to the wooden door, "There's enough room in the old station offices and storage rooms that I've a place to sleep here, as well as room for my library." She had a cheeky smirk, "Sleeping underground is comfortable."
TheUserWin - She/They
"Yeah, soon enough you'll be grabbing a coffin to 'try it out' too." Kay teases with a soft grin. "And no, I did not actually do that myself."
"And if you fixed it up all on your own, you're handier than I ever was." A soft chuckles. "I was officially banned from cooking at our Sanctum for a long while. Until Maddy taught me how."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
"Oh no, no coffins." Aya chuckled. "It was mostly a matter of cleaning. The floor was a pain, it was badly damaged, but let's just say YouTube is a blessing for DIY home improvement. As for my own cooking, well, I wish I could say my cooking was bad because then my mother would stop asking why I'm not married yet."
There was a coffee table, a chair and a couch that all looked plucked straight from the 30's, fitting right in with the restored station aesthetic. "Would you still like some tea?"
TheUserWin - She/They
"Oh for sure, I'll gladly take some tea." Kay smiles, stretching and looks for somewhere to take a seat, picking whichever Aya wouldn't. "Oh that's rough, I hope she loses the focus on that in a satisfactory way."
"Did you find those in here? Or did you pluck them from a lost timestream cache?" She chuckles, exmining the couch and chair.
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
"I fear only death or marriage will end her focus on it," Aya opened the wooden door, and a peek through would show it looks like a little studio apartment, including a kitchen. She starts some water on an electric kettle and returns.
"I've not come quite that far along to do such a plucking, this was a custom replica of some pieces from around the time the station was commissioned," She took a seat in the chair. "Of course, Matter does help with furniture moving."
TheUserWin - She/They
"I figured it might have been something like that. And I don't think that would make for a permanent couch even if you could." Kay leans back into her chose seat, stretching her ankles in turn.
"Be mindful of how you use your magic for the mundane, you don't want to lose your head in the clouds, without feet on the grounds. The fall tends to be rough after that." Kay says, plucking her phone out of a pocket and checking it for a brief moment.
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
Aya nodded in agreement, "I try to find simpler ways to accomplish things first, and then to use the lightest hand I can." She looks to Kay with a bit of a wince, "I have to admit, I worry a fair bit about losing control of it, or of causing more problems with magic than it solves. Awakening both feels like yesterday and a lifetime ago. It's confusing."
TheUserWin - She/They
"Losing control won't happen at all, if you don't push your magic further than you can." Kay says "But that's very hard to avoid, especially as a younger Magi. Because sometimes, it's the only way to get a spell out in time for it to be useful and Potentia can be difficult to manage. It's why learning to Mitigate the risk is important, why maintaining a wiser outlook can help in both not risking it and when you have to take the risk."
"Sorry, did not mean to get all... weird about magic." Kay shakes her head.
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
"Oh, no, please don't apologize." She holds up her hands and shaking them, "I need to learn all you have to teach me. I also worry I've been too didactic in talking to you sometimes; it's a habit, since I've gotten used to people asking me for advice or knowledge when it comes to faith and politics."
"I sometimes feel like I'm not giving you enough respect, and I'm sorry if that's been so."
TheUserWin - She/They
"Oh don't worry about that. My voice is just one of many, I bring experience, I bring power, I bring myself. You bring a set of fresh eyes, a perspective far different from mine, or that of Balm or Peacekeeper and there's significant value in that. I learned quite a few things from you, from sleepers, other supernatural entities." Kay rambles a bit. "I don't need anything more from you in terms of respect, that we are what we are now is enough."
Kay chuckles "In fact the didactic tone is well appreciated, don't lose it. At least not with me. Others may have different preferences."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
Aya joins in the chuckle, "Oh, you may not want to unleash me like that." She rises when the electric kettle lets out a brief whistle before clicking off, and goes to fetch the tea.
She brings back a tray with cups, tea strainers, the kettle full of hot water, and a few varieties of tea in corked jars-- labeled with different varieties in English and Arabic-- along with honey and other little things.
"For my part, I hope you feel free to get as weird about magic as you like."
TheUserWin - She/They
"recently I've been hearing a song from a video game in my head and wanting to use the whole context as a way to try and learn force." Kay chuckles. "And I know that's not so weird, but it is kind of a little weird, since I don't know any kind of a thing about Force."
Kay look about with a smile, selecting her tea and seeming content. "Sometimes it's good to 'unleash' someone like that, but I will mind your warning for today."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
"A song, from a video game?" Aya raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "You know, I've never been that into video games aside from Sudoku puzzles on my phone. Maybe I shouldn't neglect it as something to look into; someone once suggested a game to me called.." She teased out the name in her mind and nodded, "..Phasmaphobia? Has to do with ghosts, I've heard."
Once Kay has made her tea, Aya gets to work on her own, "What game was this song from?"
TheUserWin - She/They
Kay pulls out her phone and pulls up the song from youtube. "It's a real old one, I remember playing it on someone else's SNES back in the day. It was kinda old back then too, kinda." She press plays, roll her eyes at the ads that play. It's haunting little loop and the image shows some old man made out of light.
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
"Ahhh.." She listens and nods along, "..simple, but interesting. And in its context, I'm assuming the light man there is Dr. Light?"
TheUserWin - She/They
"Yep, the capsule thing is how the character you play gets upgrade to his base abilities, having planned to help his creation in the future in case it couldn't be peaceful." Kay says with a shrug. "I dunno, it's the kind of stuff that's been weighing on me a bit."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
Aya thinks on it for a moment as she takes a sip of her tea, "You mean upgrading your abilities, or leaving something behind for the future in case of peril?"
TheUserWin - She/They
"Something like both of those things." Kay nods and sips her tea too, enjoying the relaxing moment of conversation.
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
That gets a moment of quiet thought as she tries to work out a conceptual synthesis of the two. Aya gives a nod after. "You do have your Legacy. What more do you think you need?"
TheUserWin - She/They
"That's a good question, one I don't know the answer to yet." Kay chuckles, it turns into a short-lived laughter, clearly Aya said something that hit pretty directly. "Thanks for asking it."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
Aya raises her cup and nods to her, "You're welcome, I'm glad to help." And with that, she takes another sip.
"Aside from getting this place ready, my mind has been mostly on.. Mind. Study and practice with Time, and the trains' regular passage, led me to thinking about the perception of time. How it seems to move quickly or slowly depending on one's mental state."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
@TheUserWin - She/They
TheUserWin - She/They
Kay smiles and nods. "Time is a difficult beast for me. I've managed to learn it, but it was one difficult ride. The kind of thoughts and instinctual learning I had to do to push the arcana further did not come naturally."
A sip from her cup of tea. "Mind was much simpler to assimilate for me, though there were a few snags I hit early on."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
Aya chuckles and nods, "I think I know at least some of what you mean." She pauses for a sip of tea, "Using one's own mind to study Mind is a bit of an interesting thing in itself. But I sometimes have gotten a bit too introspective; 'what if I only think I'm having the desired effect?' 'Am I tricking myself?' 'Or being tricked?' That sort of thing."
TheUserWin - She/They
"It gets especially tricky when you're trying to give yourself a skill or knowledge with a spell." Kay chuckles. "Yeah sure, I know how to cook now."
Kay makes badly acted fire and burning noise, mimicking flames with her fingers. "Oh no, I almost burned my Cadre's kitchen down...how'd that happen?"
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
Aya laughs and covers her mouth, then eyes. "No way! Did that actually happen?"
TheUserWin - She/They
"Yeah, see, the spell worked. I knew the recipe. What I didn't account for was the absolute lack of practice I had in the kitchen." Kay explains, running her fingers over her forehead. "That's basically why there was an interdict for me cooking in the sanctum for a while. Until Maddy taught me how to."
Kay finishes her tea. "And before you ask, I got in the habit of being the one to clean up after the cooks and wash the dishes after the meal, when I was with my adopted family and with the Children, never really learned to do anything but absolute basics."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
"Ahhhhhh," Aya says, nodding with understanding, "If you'd like to learn more recipes, I enjoy sharing them, especially the precious ones I learned from the dearly departed."
She also finishes off her tea, "I was able to share one such recipe, and its story, with a friend not long ago. Could do the same, even if you'd rather I do the cooking," she offered with a smile.
TheUserWin - She/They
"The moral I was going to do with this story is that you definitely should include "know how" in the package of a skill you magic into yourself." Kay says with faux pride. "I'd love to learn more recipes, from the dead or the living, can't be stuck doing mac'n cheese the rest of my days."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
"Ah, sorry if I broke the flow. I'll definitely be mindful of that." Aya sighs, "And you definitely can't live off Mac and Cheese! I'll get some ingredients together soon and I can cook you a story that was almost forgotten. What kinds of foods do you like best?"
TheUserWin - She/They
"Nah, I was just feigning indignation." A soft chuckle. "I tend to prefer spicy food and snacks. I've always made a point of eating ethiopian food, since that's the region my family's from."
"But, I enjoy pretty much anything that isn't beans or peas."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
"Alright, I think I can work with that. I'll make a mental note to hold the hummus," Aya said with a slight smirk. "I think the version of Shalgham Challaw I learned while visiting Kabul, from the Palace, will do. It's a bit spicy."
TheUserWin - She/They
"That sounds vaguely familiar." Kay says, trying to recollect where she might have heard about that. "In any case, looking forward to it. Shalgham Challaw." Kay says, sounding the word out slowly.
"What is it made from?"
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
"Lamb, turnips, rice, onions, little bit of pepper and ginger." She says, the recipe seeming effortless to recall. "The stew goes on top of the rice which is served steaming hot and fresh. The recipe hails directly from Darul Aman Palace, which was a ruin the first time I saw it."
TheUserWin - She/They
"oh, ginger-spicy is fine, I'll deal with that just fine." Kay says with a air of relief, she smiles. "That sounds like a good meal."
"Was a ruin? It got rebuilt?" Kay asks curious about that too.
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
Aya smiles and nods, "Yes, a very impressive restoration; it honestly looked unreal how well it had matched its Twilight appearance when they finished with it. It was wrecked during the whole Soviet invasion business; it looked like they used it for target practice with their tanks."
TheUserWin - She/They
"I need to learn more of world history. I wasn't aware there was a soviet invasion that occured in that area." Kay admits, seeming pensive for a moment. "Who did you learn it from, was it a ghost who taught it to you or just someone who was there?"
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
"Ahh, I've quite a library that covers a lot of history, if you'd like to borrow something," she gestures to the wooden door as she offers. "The Soviets in Afghanistan was big news throughout the 80's, especially after America decided to involve itself. The ghost I learned it from, I believe, was the chef of the Palace-- or at least worked in the kitchen-- before the invasion."
TheUserWin - She/They
"I bet that was an interesting conversation, hopefully he wasn't too aggressive. I know some of the shade I spoke to earlier in my career were not friendly." Kay says with a smile. "Had to duck a few ectoplasmic blasts."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
"Oh, I've had to beat a hasty retreat myself, but he was not. I don't want to spoil the story, but he was a man wrongly accused but didn't know it.." Aya nodded, "Not wrathful, sorrowful. And a bit confused."
TheUserWin - She/They
"Yeah I've seen a fair share of that too." Kay says, shaking her head a bit, as if to chase away some images and thought she did not want in there.
"That sounds like a cool story, I'm all ears if you want to share it!"
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
"Oh, sure, alright!" Aya nodded excitedly, "The recipe itself is simple enough, the proportions tuned to the tastes of the last king of Afghanistan, Zahir Shah. His rule, however, came to an end, and a series of coups and coups of coups followed."
She speaks with ghost story-telling skills honed from lots of practice, "Our story starts with the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, ruled by Hafizullah Amin, who had become useless to the Soviets after breaking with the Moscow political line..."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
Aya continues telling the story in riveting detail of how a dinner was arranged so that Amin would dine with a Soviet General, where he would be poisoned and the General well-positioned to take control of the situation. Twist of twists, however, as Amin survived when a Soviet doctor who was not in on the plot came to his aid and saved him. Enter our ghostly figure who in life was blamed for the poisoning, though the act was carried out by someone else in the kitchen who was working for the assassins. He was locked in a basement room to be dealt with later as Amin was sent to the Queen's Palace where another poisoning attempt was made, but this time with mistakes that merely left Amin mildly sick, then a failed sniper attack followed until eventually the Soviets just directly and openly killed him.
The cook languished in the basement of the palace, only told later that Amin had died without any details, and then when the palace was attacked he was left alone. Pacing in his improvised cell, he tried to figure out how the poison had ended up in the meal, what mistake he might've made. By the time he realized that he'd been abandoned, he was too weak to break down the door holding him in and died alone. The Palace was bombarded in the aftermath. Aya continues to tell of how she heard of the ghost from locals, studied the history, and at night, found him still pacing, blaming himself for some mistake he surely made. Then how she managed to settle the restless dead, and later visited the restored palace.
TheUserWin - She/They
Kay smiles and listens closely, grabbed deeply by the story and the details. Emotions showing on her face just as Aya would conjure them with her words. "Wow."
Jane/Aya - connie (she/her)
"I know, it's such a wild story in so many ways, and also tragic. I was glad to help him before the restoration of the palace, that would've been unpleasant for all involved-- he was very attached to the palace and.." Aya continues telling as much about the man, the palace, and as she rolls, continues on to talk about the mystical reasons for her trip to Afghanistan, following rumors of a Sufi saint's grave that had fallen in disrepair...
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