|
Aaron and Mei share a room, though the pull curtain divider has been drawn and they're both so stoned they might not know the other is with them. He has an IV in filling him with fluids and antibiotics. His head is wrapped and immobilized, his right fist is bandaged heavily, and his chest is likewise wrapped. He has a blanket draped over his lower body, and he's hooked to a pulse ox monitor that reassuringly beeps the affirmation of his continued life. His face is horribly bruised, both eyes blackened and one filled with blood. He has stitches on his lip and right cheek, and lord knows what that head bandage is concealing. It seems a genuine miracle he's alive.
Mei's not much better off in the next bed over, currently asleep because there are drugs in her system and not a lot else for her to do. She has stitches across one cheek, where the bean bag round hit her, and only doesn't have a broken cheekbone because of healing magic used on her earlier in the day, but even still her eye is swollen shut and her lips are swollen. What's visible of her body is mostly bruises.
Light-Shy is great for sneaking into places. They had to be careful about cameras, but that was easy enough to dodge around. They were mostly worried about getting around any cops loitering about, anyway.
It took some searching, but eventually they find the right room. They wait outside it for a nurse to step inside--ducking in through the door before it closes, rather than risk opening it themself. Once the nurse is gone Lux steps further into the room, frowning deeply as they catch sight of Aaron--a sharp distressed gasp that isn't heard by either of them. Or maybe it is. Who knows what magic they're both experimenting with!
They peek around the curtain and then also see Mei, and their face falls more--briefly, before it's replaced with relief. Better to be locked up to a hospital bed than... well, dead.
The Contract fades away, so that when they step over to Aaron's side he can see them, and feel the light touch of their hand against his arm. "Hey... You awake?"
"Lux?" Aaron croaks the word out. His voice is hoarse, like he's been screaming at the top of his voice for extended periods. (He was.) "I..." Whatever question was about to come out, he just shuts his eyes against. He can't shake his head right now. "What happened to Mei? The last thing I remember--" Another pause. "They were beating her. Grabbing her. Dragging her down. Is she okay? Do you know?"
"She's okay. She's here in the hospital. Same room. Look, see?" Lux steps back to grip the curtain, pulling it back so that they can see each other. But the rustle of the sheet is perhaps enough to wake her, even if they're being careful.
It makes Mei stir, but she's far more than half asleep, so she shifts a little and opens her un-swollen eye enough to peer at Lux. Between sleep and drugs she only seems to barely register them, at first. "I'll get home safely tonight," she says with a half-hearted attempt to wave Lux off, which is quickly give up upon. "I'm not that drunk, but it's nice of you to worry." Then her eyes close again.
Aaron's head and neck are immobilized. His eyes veer to the side as much as they're able, but it's not precisely the same. "Nope. Sure don't. Mei?" When Mei sings the familiar refrain of the functioning alcoholic, Aaron lets out-- of all things --a relieved sigh. Yep. That's Mei. "They're stalling on a lawyer. They took my phone. I have no idea what city hall is doing about any of this. Do we have a-- do we know how many...? Did we lose anyone? Do you know?"
Lux grimaces a bit as they realize Aaron can't see her. "I--sorry, um..." They pause, looking down at Mei and letting out their own relieved sigh, shoulders slumping. "Yeah... You'll get home safe, Mei. It'll be... fine," they murmur to her, then turn back to Aaron. "I don't know yet." They grimace. "I've been in a panic all afternoon trying to find you. There was a live stream on Facebook. Showed you and Mei getting beaten..." They chew their lip worriedly. "I'll check in as soon as I can and see what happened. As for the lawyer... I called someone. She's willing to help."
When the voices next to her continue Mei's eyes open again, and she starts to surface further from her drug--and-pain induced dozing. At first it's just her eyes opening, and then they search around with more recognition. She starts to lift her head up, it starts spinning a little, and she lowers it back to her pillow as she starts to bring her hand up only to have it come up short, cuffed to the bed frame. "Fuck," she says softly. "I keep hoping it was a bad dream."
"Oh. It's. On video. That's. That's good, I think. I'm. Pretty sure I didn't start swinging until they started in on... on Ibrahim. I was so. Angry. I've never been that angry before." He lifts his right arm again with a rattle of hand cuff chains, examining the bandage around it. He winces a bit as he wiggles his fingers. "I think I hit a cop in the face." He raises his voice just a hair, "Mei, did I hit a cop in the face?"
"Afraid it happened, hun," Lux says softly to Mei, grimacing as she tries to move and fails. "Please, just--take it easy, okay? Both of you." They just... stand there awkwardly between the beds, hands wringing nervously. They're no good with medical stuff.
They give Aaron a distressed look, stepping closer to his bed so they can rest a hand over his gently. "Yeah. It's all on film, babe. It showed them hitting Ibrahim--then you punching the cop. ...Pretty sure you broke the fucker's nose." Their lips twitch up into a brief smile.
"I think we both did," Mei sighs as she closes her eyes again, but this time not like she's going back to sleep. "Except it wasn't cops, at the same time. What happened? That was the strangest trip I've ever been on, if that was a drug trip." She opens her eyes again, and since she can turn her head to look at Lux, she does. "What are you doing here, anyway?" she asks. Then she pauses her gaze shifts to Aaron. "Ooooh. Yeah. That tracks."
"There was an Angel," Aaron muses, "I think. I think it spoke to me. It wanted me to fight. I--" Aaron's left hand lifts to briefly touch at his own face, as though trying to center his thoughts. "I think I saw an Angel. Like. A real Angel." How many drugs is he on? "Not the kind on Hallmark cards. Not those pale white blonde ones Christians depict. But. Eyes. Wheels of fire in the sky. Many wings. It kept saying... they were unholy. Unclean. I think I'm starting to remember."
Lux just... falls quiet at that, looking between the two with creased brows. But... that's definitely not a look of doubt. Just worry.
"The whole sky split open, and they were all darkness with smoke for faces," Mei adds to what Aaron is saying. "You saw the same things I did? I thought I remembered you saying so, but I didn't know if I believed it." A beat "I still don't know if I believe it."
The dog arrives first: it's a little border collie with a vest on that says THERAPY DOG on it, walking at heel with Liezel. And then: a moment of surprise! The dog blinks rapidly upon spotting Lux, and makes a rather strange, brief sound. Not quite like a bark. More like... well, Lux has heard that sound before. You don't forget gekkering once you've heard it up close. And those eyes are very green.
"There was an infiltrator in the crowd. They do that sometimes. The Proud Boys. Dress as protesters to stir up trouble. I remember approaching him and him leaving to-- then the Police started advancing." Aaron drapes his left arm over his face, trying to piece the last day's events together. He falls abruptly quiet when someone walks in. Or several someones, as seems to be the case.
There's a Very Tall brown woman accompanying Liezel and the therapy dog. She gives the dog an odd look, before glancing between Aaron and Lux. "You two know each other?"
"Fucking assholes," Lux murmurs at the mention of The Proud Boys. They're still holding onto Aaron's hand gently when the others start flooding in. They look up, blinking for a moment and looking down at the dog, then from one face to another. "...Um..." Their expression shifts to one of caution, and they let go of Aaron's hand to move to stand in front of the beds in a clearly protective stance. Not that they really know what the hell they'd do to protect them. "Yeah. I know them. Who are you?"
Mei might have had more things to say, but then people arrive and the very first thing she says is, "I'm not talking without my lawyer present." And then she closes her mouth and does exactly what she said she would do: stop talking without her lawyer present. Cops don't usually bring therapy dogs, but you never know. They're allowed to lie. And she's on drugs.
A less-tall brown woman is leading the doggo. She looks a touch uncomfortable, but hey, that's also pretty much par for the course- if she's not working, she looks awkward. She holds up a... makeup compact? compass? pocket watch? Compact. And glances into it briefly. "Part of the reason he's not hurt worse." She frowns at the compact, looking puzzled, and looks back up at Lux briefly, blinking. Whatever's confusing her, she keeps it to herself. "H... um. Sh- we're not cops. And they're not asleep."
Who's not asleep? That statement will make a lot more sense to the mages in the room.
What sounds to the rest of the room like a gentle boof-boof sounds to Kotahitanga like I know them. They can get into Maddy's. No more details about Lux than the fact that they can get into Maddy's. The border collie dances from one foot to the other with barely-contained excitement. Therapy dogs are usually more calm than this, so after a moment, she shakes herself briskly and tries to calm down. Tell them that hummingbirds can hover.
Kay walks in with the rest of the troupe, wearing a white button up shirt and a pair of blue, loose pants with flat black shoes, there is a lovely smile at the sight of the dog reaction to Lux. She greets the people in the room with each a nod and a little wave, her attention lingers on Aaron in particular. "Hi, I'm Kay... we're here to help you two."
Kotahitanga glances at the dog again, then nods. "We're friends. Also the dog says to tell you that hummingbirds can hover." Which is an odd statement, considering she's not one of the people on a lot of drugs, but she seems to believe it.
"Also, careful what you say." Liezel looks at the three strangers. "The machines here won't pick up what we're saying. They can still hear you, though."
Aaron reaches out with his hand and pokes the bed adjustment button. The bed sloooowly raises from flat to back raised, so that Aaron's immobilized head and neck can at least look his guests somewhat in the eye. It takes the bed, and him, a while to complete the maneuver. And now he's light headed, too, so that takes a few moments to deal with. But eventually Aaron squints at the new arrivals, "You are all very weird."
The more people that come in, the more anxious Lux gets, looking from one person to another. But they don't move, not giving any ground. ...Until Kotahitanga speaks, and Lux blink-blinks in surprise before looking down at the dog. "...Fox? I--fuck. Uh. Okay. They're with you?" Lux is just... talking to the dog now, apparently. Then a beat pause, and Lux gestures to Aaron and Mei. "Are they with you?"
"I mean, I think they're here?" Aaron tries.
Mei seems to be reminded by Aaron's actions that the bed is adjustable, and starts adjusting her own as well. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt. Eventually it gets upright enough, but she doesn't say anything still, just shifts her gaze between the strangers and then raises her brows with expectation.
"They are now. Which is why we're here." Kotahitanga says to Lux, before glancing between Aaron and Mei. "We're not going to let you get sent to jail, by the way."
More gentle boofs. BoofboofBOOFboofboof. Yes, it is I, I am Fox, hello friend, hello! The border collie moves away from Liezel briefly in order to headbutt Lux's knee twice, circling back to the person she was standing by. They are now, and a sort of thoughtful look. Can't make them invisible to machines, the monitors will start screaming. Drat.
"...Okay." Lux looks down at the dog, then takes a few steps back, standing between the beds again. Their arms cross over their chest. Still a little uncertain about the crowd, but not in defense mode, at least. They seem content to be quiet and listen. Until someone kicks them out, anyway.
"We are here and they are..." she points to both Mei and Aaron "Like us, yes, they're also very new." Kay addresses Lux in particular, then her attention return to Aaron. "We're weird because after today, you can feel the truth beneath the lies."
"Unless you want to go to jail," River helpfully adds as she shows up, bringing up the rear of the party, gesturing with a churro. "Big fan of your work, by the way," she chirps at the pair of them.
Liezel looks thoughtful for a moment, then moves to close the door to the room- if it's not closed already- and peers at her mirror for a moment before snapping it abruptly shut. "I should have thought of that before. Never mind about watching what you say. Nothing we say is going to get within like six inches of the walls or floor, so it shouldn't reach any recording devices."
"Unless the room is bugged."
Mei starts to focus a little in her gaze, her eyes shifting so that they're looking not just at the people (and dog) invading her hospital room, but around them. A few seconds pass, and then she gives her head a shake that makes her wince in pain and she tries to bring both hands up to her head, only to have one get stopped by the cuffs. "I think I hit got hit in the head harder than I thought," she mutters to herself. "It hasn't ever looked like that before."
"How exactly are you planning on keeping them out of jail? What's your plan here?" Lux asks, brows raising.
"I want the officers that attacked the crowd held to account. I want the one who may have killed my friend charged for having tried to do so. I want justice." Aaron says it flatly, very precisely, through the fog of pain and narcotics. "If I leave this bed or flee prosecution, they'll have everything they need to ruin my life and the life of every protester they rounded up today. What I need is a lawyer and a microphone."
"We're arranging that, Rabbi Cohen. Nobody here wants to destroy your life." Kotahitanga says gently. "Think of us as... a welcoming committee."
He didn't kill the Imam. I made sure of that. Fox offers that much before trying to hop up on the hospital bed. She looks like that gif right there and ends up on the floor. Put me on the bed please, she whines, laying on the floor dramatically. I'll make it stop hurting.
"We have people who can help you with legal matter, I'm a paralegal, we have a whole organization willing to help with various aspects of it." Kay explains with a little nod. "We can help get what you need... and this dog can do a lot more for you than looking cute." Kay moves to assist Fox get on the bed.
Look the mass-to-weight ratio and leg length and all sorts of things are very diffierent when you're a fox as opposed to a border collie.
Lux looks to Aaron, eyes growing dark and soft all at the same time. "You'll get your justice, Aaron. No way I'm letting that slide." They take a deep breath. "I have a really good defense lawyer who is already working on all this. She's..." A glance to the Fox dog, then to the others. "like me. She'll get that it's a... apparently very complicated situation. So unless you guys have your own..." They glance to Kay, eyeing her a moment before puffing out a breath. "Alright."
Kotahitanga glances at the dog again, nodding. "The imam? You'll be glad to hear that he survived, then." She's about to assist Fox onto the bed when Kay pre-empts her.
"Right..." Mei looks around at the strangers showing up to make promises and offer things. "Just out of the goodness of your hearts? Nobody ever gives things away for free, in my opinion. Especially not lawyers, a fact with which I have plenty of experience, since my mom is my lawyer." She doesn't seem annoyed, exactly, just extremely dubious. She looks extremely relieved about the imam, though.
"And it's admirable, that that's your aim" River muses. "But, think bigger for a second. Your world just got a lot wider, Rabbi. You have options." She gestures around the room -- with her churro. "And allies." She flickers her colorless eyes over to Mei, not for any particular reason, maybe, other than to regard her. Maybe. "Unless you would rather go it alone? It will be more frustrating for us to watch you muddle through it all, but that's certainly your prerogative." Churro munch.
For those with Mage Sight active, it's pretty obvious that Fox fired off a spell. (No, the foxfire jokes aren't ever going to get old.) There's that scent of petrichor and broken greenery like someone just tore a handful of leaves open or cut grass, and the feeling like staring into the eyes of a faithful canine. Aaron's body washes with warmth, leaving absolutely no pain behind, and boy, he's probably really enjoying that dilaudid even more right now. I'll leave the lawyers to you lot, Fox boofs, streeeeetching up the bed toward Aaron. He probably likes dogs. Would he like to pet this dog? This dog is good. Please pet ears.
Presuming her Legacy's tricks don't uncover any bugs in the room, Liezel finally seems to relax a little. "And nothing to be found in the room, either. We should be undisturbed until the nurse's next rounds come by. And as for giving things away- it's a lot easier to give things away when they come to you easily." She shrugs. "A lot of things are going to start coming to you easily." She moves to offer Aaron and Mei her hand, towards their free hands one at a time. "Hi, I'm Liezel." Then. "Hi, I'm Liezel." Same intonation, same gesture. It's practiced.
She also gives Fox a good scritch between the ears. Just to show Aaron how to do it.
"I'm a Rabbi, a community organizer, and a government official. If I leave the hospital and leave my cuffs hanging from the bed, I don't see how that improves me situation any. It's the weekend. We'll get a bail hearing. They'll have no choice but to let me walk for trial. I'm not a flight risk. Yet. If I leave, I will be." Aaron's eyes focus on the doggo for several moments. Curious. But the fact that he's now just high rather than high and in pain is a big bonus. "Whoa." His eyes flutter a bit, though he manages to shake Liezel's hand on the third attempt. Gotcha. "If you can get us lawyers, get us an expedited hearing, we can meet up with you. But if getting your help means I have to leave with you now, then I don't want your help. I'm sorry."
"Rīpeka," the Extremely Tall brown woman introduces herself as in turn, giving the dog an amused look. "Like that was ever not the plan?" She looks Aaron in the eye. "It doesn't. We wanted to make sure you knew there was a lawyer arranged."
Kay looks between Aaron and Mei for a brief moment, she seems a little reassured, then her attention turn to Lux. "If your very good defense lawyer is willing to help Aaron's cause then I'm willing to lend my assistance to her and mine, we're here to help. Especially if there's a possibility she could understand some sensitive matters." she looks around at them again.
You don't know, I could know lawyers, I used to be Mysterium, the dog boofs gently, and tilts her head to the side, giving the biggest smile to Aaron with the tongue hanging out and everything. Can someone please put me on the other bed? I want to help the girl. And she isn't keen on falling on her ass again.
"Go what alone?" Mei asks River, because she still has no idea what any one is talking about. "Normally I'm a bit more perceptive, but I'm on more than a little drugs for the pain I'm in right now, so it would help if people would just say what they're trying to say." She glances at Liezel's hand, like she's a little surprised by this handshake offer, and then she suddenly sneezes hard. "Ow, fuck," she curses before rubbing her nose with her left hand. "I should probably also point out I'm seriously allergic to dogs."
Her ear even wiggles a little when Liezel scritches her. Cutely. Because she went for maximum adorable with this shapeshift.
Lux looks at Aaron and the dog, head tilting curiously. "You... okay?" they ask Aaron worriedly, reaching out to touch his shoulder, hand lingering there if allowed. But the dog gets a small smile, their other hand reaching out to scritch until she's moved. Then to Kay, Lux nods. "I'll give you her number. Her name is Makoto Mori. She seemed eager to fuck over some cops."
On cue, Kotahitanga lifts Fox up, then pauses when Mei says she's allergic. "Okay. What animals are you not allergic to, Ms. Lee?"
Aaron points over at Lux, "I want the cop fucker." His eyes then strain to look to Lux, "I'm fine. They're on the up and up, I'm fairly certain. I'll call you if anything bad happens. But I think they won't talk freely until it's just us." The flares of magic keep assaulting his senses, but he doesn't seem much to mind. Because opium.
"Everything else except dogs, as far as I know. I love dogs, I'm just really allergic to them." Mei winces, because she's still extra-hurting from sneezing so hard while in her current state, but she follows that with a smile at the dog. More of the rest of the conversation catches up with her and she looks at Aaron and then Lux. "I don't think I can afford a cop fucking lawyer, but I like the sound of her."
Another fwoosh of magic and the scent of fresh rain, and Fox announces to anyone who can understand, I am no longer allergenic and wish to fix the girl. Boof boof boof.
River shrugs unhelpfully at Mei. "Sounds like what you need is an emergency motion for an expedited hearing," she buzzes at the Rabbi.
Kay nods to Lux with a warm smile there, it remains through the 'fuck the cop' Sentiment, because, of course. "You have a phone yourself?" she pull her phone out of her pocket. "I can't speak it into certainty, but I have a feeling money is not of the essence for this situation."
Kotahitanga nods at Fox's boofing, carrying her over to Mei's bed. "If she's out of your budget, don't worry. We can arrange for that to be taken care of."
Lux frowns down at Aaron for a moment, chewing at their lower lip. "...Okay." Worried, but understanding. They lean down, kissing him softly on the temple. "Here, I'll give you Ms. Mori's number." They fumble in their pockets a moment for a piece of paper, writing the name and number down two times. One is handed to Aaron, the other copy is handed to Kay. Another fretful touch to Aaron's shoulder, before looking to Mei. "I'm covering her fees. Don't worry about that. You two just focus on getting better and--deal with... whatever this is." With a gesture towards the others. "See you both soon, I'm sure. I'm going to sneak back in tomorrow to visit, if you're still here. I'll bring some decent food." Then they head for the door, opening it--then disappearing from sight, the door closing gently on it's lonesome.
Liezel comfortably settles into silence, maintaining the spells preventing them from being disturbed for now. She lifts a hand, stiffly, at Lux. "It was nice meeting you. Sorry for the scare. Have a good night."
"The congregation will cover you even if you can't, Mei. That's what we're there for." Aaron is keeping his mind on the positive, clearly. Since it's entirely possible Rodeph Sholom will decide he's more trouble than he's worth after this incident. "And yeah, a motion for an explebiped hearing is not what you said, but a thing that is a good idea." The fact that he's not in pain has him doing stupid things like trying to sit up more. That it's not working that well is probably for the best. "How do we reach you after this is-- once we have. The hearing thing. Explibbled."
"One of us, or our associates, will be on Ms. Mori's legal team, I'm sure. They'll handle making sure you can stay in contact."
Lux has my phone number, too. When she's set on Mei's bed, she does not cause any more allergic reactions, and that same pleasant warmth floods through the baby Obrimos. So there are multiple points of contact. And the pleasant pressure of a puppy on the lap, not causing Mei pain or sneezing for the first time in her whole entire life.
Mei seems a little surprised by the idea of the congregation she belongs to actually helping her, instead of her being one of the people who does what she can to help others, and it actually makes her stop to consider that for a moment. "I suppose they would," she agrees after a moment. Then the pain vanishes, and she's just high instead, and she blinks at the dog for a few moments before she reaches for the puppy. "Come here. If I'm going to die of allergies, I might as well enjoy it by snuggling an adorable puppy first." She doesn't know she won't be allergic. "I also suppose we're going to be here for a couple of days. Would someone be willing to contact my current clients and let them know I won't be working on their cases for a couple of days?"
River draws her lips back in a slight wince at the Rabbi's jello-like relationship with the edges of words. "Maybe you should relax, Rabbi," she suggests. "Both of you. And if you give me their contact information, I'll let them know, and none of them will be worried or upset." She sounds more than a bit certain.
Kay gives her phone number to Aaron "We take special names to empower what we do, to empower ourselves." she smiles "There's one of us in our larger organization, that chose the name of Esther, if that can offer some comfort to you." her eyes dip slightly to the necklace around Aaron's neck.
"Apparently your friend Lux has Fox's phone number, as well," Kotahitanga relays to Aaron, gesturing at the dog resting in Mei's lap.
"Esther, huh?" Aaron purses his lips and probably would be nodding his head if it weren't strapped down. "So the Angel that was looking down on us when we were fighting the darkness consuming everyone, that-- happened. And the other Angel with the book. The one with the eyes and the fire and the turning wheel?" Aaron pauses to touch his face with his hand, "I'm not gonna lie, there were a bunch of angels. I think I may have kicked one. Oh, man. Oh, wow." He calls across the room, "Mei, did I kick an angel?"
The adorable puppy with the wood and sapphire pendant hanging on a leather thong around its neck seems perfectly happy to be snuggled. Fox scoots up onto Mei's lap and gives her the biggest snuggles, gently mooshing her face into Mei's face. Look, ma, no allergies! And no pain! Oh wow, I didn't kick an angel, that's a pretty badass origin story, the dog gently boofs, laying against Mei's chest and snoofering her ear.
Mei nods at River's words, and offers up three names, one of which might be familiar: Alexis Bartram. "Would you reassure them that I only let you know they're clients, and not any of the details of their cases?" Then she tries to figure out what's being said in the rest of the conversations, which includes picking up on Aaron asking if he kicked an angel. "I think we both did, Aaron," she says with a wince, as she puts her arms around the doggo and snuggles the heck out of her. She's too high to care if her allergies are or aren't going to kick her ass. "Oh my god you're so cute," she says, finally giving in to having to comment on the dog. She even laughs.
"Mm. Yes. That really happened. The book that you signed your name to, the tower you signed it at, the angel, all of it happened. Though-" Liezel pauses, looking between the two. "You both kicked angels?" She looks around at the others, then back to Mei and Aaron. "Did you see the angels at the same time?"
"Did you see each other there?" Kotahitanga adds, sounding very curious.
"Yeah," Aaron says without any appreciation whatsoever as to what that implies, "they were huge and hovering over the battlefield in righteous judgment. Kinda hard to miss." His brow furrows for a moment, "That was before they hit Ibrahim. They just kept saying 'not holy'. About the darkness." So naturally, he charged it with a fist, as one does. "Again, full disclosure? I thought Elijah was late, or that I'd really messed up with the Omer." If you don't get that joke, it's okay. Just know it's hilarious.
River gives Mei her reassurances that she will speak to Alexis, and the rest of them, and rocks back curiously on her heels at the mention of kicking angels, an 'oh shit' grimace passing her features. The joke misses her by a mile and a half.
"If you do have any questions, specific or otherwise, I think we could get into a few if you wanted." Her attention shift to the other gathered Magi. "How long is left on your sneaky effects timers?"
The dog laughs. You can tell it's laughing because it sounds like a fox gekkering. The dog gets the joke. And the dog curls up on Mei, because apparently Fox has just decided that this baby Mage is her baby Mage and she's going to sit on her and protect her from all harm.
Kotahitanga just looks blank at the joke, her brow furrowing slightly as she glances at Fox in confusion, before returning her focus to Aaron. "Did the angels hit Ibrahim, or was that the cops? Or both?"
"I'm pretty sure that we both kicked angels, we were both there, and that we were seeing the same things," Mei confirms with a glance at Aaron, just to see if he backs her up. Meanwhile, she snuggles with the dog, constantly scritching and petting. "That's just one of a very few really weird things that happened in the last 12 hours, like the fact that your therapy dog literally makes pain go away or the fact that I remember myself different than how I am now. Which might just be whatever hit me in the face."
Liezel's rather austere front cracks momentarily at Aaron's joke, leaving her sputtering for a moment as the laughter catches even her off guard. Then she's clearing her throat and taking a deep breath, reclaiming her composure. "That's fair. A lot of strange things. More to come. Trust what happened, happened. You're not imagining them. And... it's interesting you saw those things together. It's usually a personal experience. I have some research to do, I think. But you're lucky," she says, looking between the two. "I would have given a lot to have had someone to go through my Awakening with."
"It was-- the darkness. There was a like. A wall of black. Like. Evil. Darkness. And it was the cops but not the cops. It was inside the cops. Their faces were smoke and ash and their voices were wasps. They beat Ibrahim. They split his head open." Aaron's already ruddy features, bruised and bloodied as they are, visibly darken redder. "It was the most blasphemous thing I had ever seen. I know Ibrahim. He's Plain like..." Aaron rewinds a bit. "He's a peaceful man. He looked after me. Seeing him bleeding, cast down like that. I had to. I had to. I've never hit something that hard in my whole life."
Kotahitanga blinks, glancing between the more experienced mages, curious if they're taking the same thing she is from this.
"You will," River portends. "And harder, too." She sags her weight back against a wall.
Kay shrugs and moves to lay against a nearby bed. "You look troubled, what's the matter?" she looks to Ripeka in particular, reaching for her, but not quite touching her without her permission.
Boof boof. It's what's called an Entangled Awakening. They're connected to each other -- forever. Like that Suzanne Vega song. Bound to you forever. Thank you, Fox, for putting that in ... completely Fox terms. Sympathetic link for the rest of their lives, but it can be very powerful.
Please reassure him that the Imam will be fine. That's one very chatty dog. Who is really a fox.
Liezel looks to Kotahitanga curiously. What does the fox say?
Kotahitanga relays most of Fox's words. Just not the bit about the Suzanne Vega song. Afterwards, she glances at Mei. "When you said that you remember yourself different from how you are now, what did you mean by that? If you don't mind my asking?"
Mei laughs at the boofy antics from the doggo and snuggles her more. "You're sure a talkative pup, aren't you?" she asks. Then the question comes and she briefly frowns in thought, thinking over her answer before she gives it. "Just that my body isn't exactly the same as it was before. It's hard to explain, but the proportions are all different."
Aaron is staying conspicuously mum for a stoney baloney chatterbox. He is also avoiding eye contact with literally everyone.
Liezel snaps her fingers as Fox's meanings are translated. "Ah! I knew I remembered something of the sort. Thank you, Fox. I couldn't remember the detail."
She catches Aaron's reponse, and frowns worriedly. "You heard he is well, yes? Ibrahim? I watched Fox fix his wounds. He'll be alright. You can relax."
Yeah, that's probably not on-target, but she's trying.
River gets a look at Aaron and meanders languidly in his direction. "Rabbi?" she wonders, leading with the question.
"I heard about Ibrahim. Baruch HaShem." Aaron's eyes roll up towards the ceiling at that. He glances briefly to Liezel, a tight smile gracing his lips. There's a brief flit of the eyes to River, but no response beyond a guileless, "Yes?"
The border collie sits up, and her head cocks to the side, and she stares at Mei for a very, very long moment with those wide green eyes. A 'Restorative' Entangled Awakening? This is VERY exciting to Fox, apparently, for many, many reasons. I had a Restorative Awakening! And that's when her tail starts to wag rapidly while she's staring at Mei. Well that would explain why the Fox wanted to just lay on Mei and claim this bb as her very own.
She looks at Aaron as he goes quiet for a moment, curious, uncertain for a moment and she smiles at Fox and smiles at the reaction.
"Are you alright?" she asks plainly.
"...wait, you too?" This is possibly the first thing Kotahitanga's actually directed at Fox since they got here.
Mei stares right back at the pup, smiling, high and not really sure what's going on, but happy it involves a dog. With the one hand that she can move around, since it's not cuffed to the bed, she scratches behind an ear. "Would someone mind explaining what's really going on here, anyway? None of this makes any sense. You're talking about things like Awakening," which is directed at everyone, and then directly at Kotahitanga, "and you're talking to the dog like she's actually talking real words."
"I just think you should stop asking her questions about what happened now," Aaron hazards, as though it is both not his place to say and not his place to say why. "I'm fine. Just. You don't pry about some things that aren't your business. She has a right to say more or not say more. And I think prying when we're on painkillers is... not... right." He replays that in his mind a few times before tacking on, "It's not polite."
"Awakening is what happened to you today, you are, what our people call Mages." Kay explains to Mei with a nod. "Each of us are one here." she points to Liezel. "She's the same kind of Mage as you two. And your awakenings were special, as I understand from the conversation."
Yes, I was assigned male at birth. I'm not any particular gender now, but my Awakening removed that particular issue from my life. I don't know if that's because being a trans woman in Russia was horrible or what, but. The dog wags its tail at Mei, boofing at the bb mage and at Kotahitanga quite happily. This baby is my baby.
The translator is distracted, and Liezel is officially out of her depth with Aaron, utterly unsure what might be bothering him. She glances at River, hoping maybe she can figure it out, and at Kotahitanga, no more sure what she's reacting to than what Aaron isn't.
And then Mei asks Questions. Questions need Answers and Liezel has Answers and that much she can do.
"You saw the Supernal Realm of Prime and Forces and abode of Angels,
And the Watchtower of the Golden Key. It-" But Kay offers the answers first, and Liezel falls dead silent again.
River tilts her head slightly to the side, and becomes vaguely aware of just how much she might, or might not have missed while she was tending to her churro needs. She clicks her tongue behind her teeth and glances in between Mei and Aaron with a disaffected arch of her eyebrow. She leans down in front of Aaron, catches his eyesight, makes sure she has his attention. "Yes, it is," she tells him, almost, almost apologetically, and then she rights her self and hooks a thumb over at Kay and Liezel in silent co-sign.
Out of all of the things that have happened so far in this conversation that Mei has cast disbelief upon, coming from the various strangers who are filling up her hospital room, for some reason the whole "mage" thing isn't actually one of the. "Oh," she says. "I can already do things that some people would consider magic."
"That's because she is. Just not ones in a language you understand." Kotahitanga explains to Mei, before glancing at Aaron. "I think what happened to her is the same thing that happened to Fox here and myself."
Aaron's clearly got an urge to stick up for and defend a woman who does kung fu on cops, so if anyone needs more evidence of his overdeveloped sense of social justice, you're on your own. He does seem to lose some of his anxiety at Kotahitanga's explanation. His eyes flit from one face to the next-- at least to those he can fit into his limited range of vision --and he frowns somewhat. "I tried to heal myself. I prayed and prayed and God didn't answer. He used to. I tried to stop the riot. I tried to push back the Police. I prayed and I prayed and God didn't answer. But now I can text message with my brain and my punches break bullet proof visors. And I can see things I couldn't before." He lowers his voice and whispers up at River, "Your blood looks cool, for the record."
River touches both hands to her chest. "Thank you. I made it myself." Not the point. Right. She exhales a short sigh, and slides her head back in the other direction, a cant that way instead of this. "Then you know that he answered, just not how you expected," she answers, softly, more to the point.
Aaron gets sort of a look from Fox for a moment, and then she settles back on Mei's lap, gently bumping her head against the baby Obrimost girl's head for pets and attention. When he starts going on about what he can do, she huffs amusement and settles across Mei's lap like she's setting up shop there. She might be, for now. The little pup looks at Liezel, next, and wags her tail. Blood does look really amazing. It's got so many parts!
"The powers you used to have are different than the ones you have now. Those abilities were probably replaced by Arcana along a certain path." She speaks to Mei and Aaron. "Forces and Prime, for you we call those aspect of magic. It's likely you have maybe something else in your arsenal, but it'll take time to learn and develop." Kay looks around them, just to see if there's other obvious question floating about
Mei looks over at Aaron for a few seconds before resting her head back against her pillow. "Is that what you were trying to tell me the other day at the bar?" she asks. "Healing, pushing back the police? Wait, you can text with your brain now?" All the while she keeps quietly petting the dog, who seems to have taken a liking to her. Dogs tend to like people who love dogs, and Mei loves dogs. "What does that mean?" she asks Kay. "Forces and Prime?"
"Forces are the physical manifestations of elements. Prime is the manipulation of magic itself," River shorthands. Lecture day can be later; Mei and Aaron are still IV-drip high.
"Ways of demarcating the different things we can learn to do." Kotahitanga adds, possibly more usefully. "You should be able to text with your brain too, or at least easily learn how."
"I was lying in bed, here, and I could see the wifi signal. And I thought about how much I wanted to talk to Lux. And so I did." Aaron tries to shrug his shoulders and just bumps his immobilizer around. "Thought became form became action." Which is how Imago works, yes.
"Maybe. I think He doesn't care."
A simple statement from Liezel, breaking her silence briefly. Her tone is notably flatter, though whether due to the topic or something else, she's not saying. "I think He just winds us up and lets us go. Some He winds more than others. But I think we can't wait for Him to act for us."
Liezel catches Fox's gaze and wag, but what spoons she has for socializing are bent and smoking on the floor. She offers the Thyrsus a... truly minute smile before she turns to open the door partially, enough room for someone to step outside while she gets her compact back out. "I am going outside," she says, voices On High chanting as thunder- or gunfire- rumbles beneath her words. "Text me when we're leaving. I'll come get everyone." And then she snaps the compact shut and she's gone.
When Liezel turns to get the door, she can hear the telltale squeak of the nurse hauling the night cart from room to room. Checking vitals and IVs and seeing if anyone needs anything. She'll be here soon, no doubt.
Mei looks over at Aaron again, then drops her head back and closes her eyes. "I think the nurse is coming around again," she says. "I'm pretty sure I could use more sleep, too. This is a lot to think about and take in. Especially while they're putting drugs in me."
Liezel pauses before she closes the compact. "Oh. We're out of time. Say your goodbyes now so we can leave before the nurse gets here."
River subtly slides her attention sideways to Liezel at her sudden exposition, but seems content to let her to her personal bubble. "Alright. Clients," she gestures at Mei, but more likely she is reminding herself. "Expedited hearing," she wags her finger back and forth in between the two of them. That was more a commandment to Fate, but she wanted Fate to know who she was talking about. Obviously. "Alright. You all enjoy the drugs. We'll see you soon. Maybe you'll even see us," she winks impishly, baring her teeth in a rakish smile and availing herself to departure.
Kotahitanga nods. "We'll be seeing you, Ms. Lee, Rabbi Cohen. If you need to get hold of us, let Lux know?" She glances at Fox, checking if the other Scion wants help getting back down.
"Rest well." She looks over at the to people and ponder for just a moment there. "Hmm. Do be discreet about what happened, it's generally an easier, safer bet."
Fortunately getting down from the bed is not as hard as getting up on the bed, so Fox hops down. Tell them I'll be back to check on them. Until she picks another Master, I'll take responsibility for her. A pause. And I guess him, too.
"Fox says she'll be back to check on you. And she's volunteering to take care of getting you two situated within our society, until and unless you pick someone else." Kotahitanga translates, before glancing at Fox. "Do you want help with that? It might go easier with someone on the same path as them."
The little Thyrsus shrugs at that, chuffs: A conversation for another time. And away they must go before the nurses arrive.
Once everyone is ready, Liezel snaps the compact shut and there are but two bedridden patients when the nurse arrives.
|