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At their earliest convenience, Cian suggested the three meet in the Bellevue Elysium. He's set up shop at one of the tables, a notebook and a laptop in front of him and a multitude of books scattered on the table. He's clearly deep into something, frowning slightly at his screen and scribbling notes occasionally into the notebook with a fountain pen.
As Cian scribbles, Eyrgjafa enters, a laptop bag dangling from one shoulder. She approaches the other Kindred, knowing her Beast will get his attention. "You mentioned having information?"
Phaedra arrives in a rumbled pair of yoga pants and a hoodie--it might have been the clothes she slept in the night before, given the current condition in terms of wrinkles and such. Her hair's at least been sort of dealt with before coming here, though, and there's a small plush animal of some sort with its head sticking out of her purse. She walks closer quietly, watching Eyrgjafa uncertainly.
Cian's Beast stirs at the presence of the two arrivals, but he only glances up, confirming who they are but not really acknowledging either of them. Until Eyr speaks. "...Good evening to you, too, Eyrgjafa." Cian gives her something of a humorless smile and a nod, and turns his attention to the other Kindred in the room.
"Phaedra - I trust your night's been well?"
Eyrgjafa sighs at that. "Sorry. I've been under a lot of stress recently, with the Nereid situation, and Dragon business. Not that that excuses the rudeness, of course. How have you been, Cian?" Phaedra gets a glance and a nod. "Evening, Phaedra."
"Eyrgjafa. Are we cool?" Uncertainly, as she moves to take a seat, then nods at Cian. "It's been alright. Quiet so far. I've spent it with a friend, at least part of it, before coming here."
"I've been quite busy, with this research - did you know that Nineveh is actually at least four hundred miles from the closest salt water sea?" He pauses, looking between the two of them. "I hope that...this meeting won't make anything difficult for either of you?"
Eyrgjafa blinks at Phaedra. "Why wouldn't we be?" She glances at Cian, then. "I didn't, no. Was it that far inland when it fell? Coastlines are never truly fixed, even if they might seem so on our timelines."
"Okay." She nods and then looks at Cian. "That's. Really-really far, isn't it? Like...what's 400 miles from here look like? Definitely farther than I've ever traveled anywhere."
"It's nearly twice the distance from here to Boston." Cian nods. "It's near Mosul, on the Tigris, which empties into the Persian Gulf - five hundred miles away."
He squints at his notebook, then nods sharply. "The story of Jonah and the Whale - more of a large fish, possibly, the 'whale' conceit was a relatively recent, Christian translation - talks of it transporting him there. Maybe there's a connection to Nereids here, or some sort of other servant of the sea, but there was not a lot of information I could find about what sort of creature it was that they were attempting to describe..."
Cian turns his laptop around at this point, to show Eyr and Phaedra. "I found a few very old paintings." He's put them on the screen, and they certainly don't look like whales. No, the paintings show giant, blobby looking fish-like creatures that don't really look like fish at all, although they don't really look like mermaids either.
"And of course, the important part of Jonah's story is repentance - after the people of Nineveh repented, the city flourished for a good few centuries before it was invaded and fell."
Eyrgjafa glances at the paintings, then at Phaedra. "Do those bear any resemblance to the creature in your vision?"
She looks at the paintings and her eyes go wide, and she just...lights up. "That's the thing that he was doing the surgery--the autopsy on! I'm almost certain that's what it is, it's too similar to be different and it fits and he was cutting it open in my dream. He had one of those!"
"Oh f -" He swallows the curse. "Are you certain? What...are they?"
"Nothing I recognise." Eyrgjafa says quietly. "Possibly related to the Nereids? Maybe some sort of later stage than the ones that're relatively common knowledge?"
"I don't know what they are, but Rihat has to know and now I want to talk to him even more. Fuck it, I'm going to be blatant on the cacophony later." She sounds eager.
"You want to...talk to the Kindred who professes to be a tyrant and responsible for a number of horrifying things?" Cian arches an eyebrow.
"Yeah, uh..." Eyrgjafa sighs. "I'm not going to tell you not to, but I don't think that's a great idea either. Please keep yourself safe, Phaedra."
"Look, we need information. We need more better information. Proper information from a good reliable source. And...he isn't killing any neonates here, so like...the chances of him killing me aren't very high and...so I'm going to try. Okay? I'll offer him blood, see if he'll talk with me. Because I know the Nereids are gunning for him, and now I know it's tied up to Nineveh and so he might actually really be the real Rihat, but I want to know, anyway."
"...Don't go alone. If you track him down, and he wants to talk, and at the moment those sounds like pretty big 'ifs' if I'm not mistaken - take someone. Maybe a few someones."
Eyrgjafa nods. "They don't have to be my age, but try to make sure they know Obfuscate, at least?"
"I have a few people who've offered. I don't want to get got. I'm not trying to be stupid about it." She shakes her head. "But knowing this fishystick is actually tied up into this all properly? It matters to get somewhere with all this."
"It does - I'm glad my research went somewhere, and that it was helpful." He turns his laptop back around. "Do either of you have any updates, about it all?"
"Not much, sadly. I'm still trying to arrange a meeting with Shiri." Eyrgjafa sighs. "Phaedra and I talked to Washington, and he's going to be looking into the port for any recent unexplained signs of a vampire coming in that way, but no word on that yet."
Her attention shifts from the laptop screen to Cian himself, her head tilting slightly to one side as she considers the older Gangrel. "Nope. Not yet, not right now. Eventually, I will."
"If anything happens that you think I might be of use for, I would love to know. Looking into this has been...fascinating, to say the least." Cian gives the two of them a smile, though the effect is probably a little ruined by the fact that he's not Blushed.
"What's your skillset, beyond sailing?" Eyrgjafa asks, glancing at Phaedra. "Right now we're still stuck trying to get more info, sadly, but if you're good in a fight that might be useful later."
Phaedra's head tilts to the other side, now, and she seems to be chewing on a thought.
"Research." He waves a hand over the books on the table. "Academic or otherwise. History is my specialty, but...if you point me in a direction, I tend to be able to find things out about it. You most certainly do not want me in a fight."
"Ah, well, nothing wrong with that." Eyrgjafa leans in, as if confiding a secret. "I don't want me in a fight, either. I'm a scholar more than anything."
"I'm also useless in a fight, but I'm also useless with history!" She grins broadly. "So you can always teach me things, because I never got to learn much about them at all, and it's all fascinating to me."
"This is an excellent city for learning new things," Cian says with a nod. "There's a wide variety of living history - apart from us -," he lets out a short laugh, "in every corner."
"Technically we're not living history, though," Eyrgjafa counters, before glancing at Phaedra. "Weren't you talking about wanting to get your... I forget the term, the equivalent of a high school diploma?"
"GED. I want to get it, and Finley and Rena are both going to help, but there's a lot to catch up on, you know? Math is terrible, especially, and science. I'm okay with reading, not so good with writing, and history is a complete crapshoot."
Eyrgjafa's comment earns another short laugh, and Cian's smile turns warm as Phaedra talks. "Ah - Finley." He says zher name fondly. "If you would like assistance with history, I could most likely find time in my schedule for tutoring."
nley would probably be good for the science, zhe's studied the high school level stuff much more recently than I have." Eyrgjafa glances at Cian. "You'd probably be more use for history than I would, my pre-embrace schooling in that area focused on Icelandic history, which I doubt is likely to come up."
Xavier slips in on silent feet, dark eyes scanning the room as he enters to see who's who and what's what, as it were. The corners of his mouth twitch into the smallest of grins as he sees Phaedra and the other. Slipping his hands into his pockets, he casually strolls over to the other with a silent nod of greeting.
"Careful, volunteering to help might lead to me asking you All The Questions. But yes, I'd like the help, definitely. I'm going to do it. When I find time between all the other trouble I'm getting in. And learning how to play video games, and reading comic books. Those are important too, and I have good people teaching me those."
"I don't mind questions." Cian flicks his eyes toward the door as his Beast alerts him to the new Kindred, but quickly returns his attention to Phaedra. "I would agree that playing cultural catch-up is equally as important, absolutely."
Eyrgjafa nods. "I had to learn a lot, when I first came to America. Not least the language."
Never one to interrupt, Xavier silently takes a seat near the others, getting caught up on the conversation until he's invited into it.
Well. Invitation comes immediately, as Phaedra turns to Xavier, grinning. "Hey! You again! Have you met Cian and Eyrgjafa yet? Guys, this is Xavier, and he's one of the people who's offered to come with me if I meet Rihat and he's awesome."
Cian gives Xavier a slow and searching look, taking in whatever he can about the man's appearance and demeanor. His gaze is as sharp as his jaw, his clothing simple and giving him a slightly anachronistic appearance.
"Xavier. It's a pleasure." He speaks with a slight Irish accent, and his voice is soft as he holds his hand out for the other man to shake.
"I have not, no." Eyrgjafa glances at Xavier, also offering her hand. "Eyrgjafa, in case you weren't sure who was who."
Xavier rises and leans forward, shaking each of the offered hands in turn. "I'd like to think that I would have guessed correctly." He says, with a grin to Eyrgjafa. "I suppose, to get the rest of the formalities out of the way, I am of the Ordo Dracul and have been taken in by the Cheverette Family. I am recently arrived from Chicago and currently spending most of my nights meeting and greeting fellow denizens of the city." He nods a bit, and retakes his seat, relaxed, but attentive.
"And he's awesome." She asserts it again with a bit of a grin, then looks around. "What were we talking about before? I got distracted."
"Learning and teaching, I believe." Cian eases back into his chair and shuts his laptop.
"Oh, you're also a Dragon? We should talk more later, then, I'm the Convenor locally. And a member of the Ashtifar family." She glances to Cian and Phaedra, then. "Indeed. Do you have anyone lined up to help with your writing ability, Phaedra?"
Xavier nods and pulls a little notebook from his pocket, spiral bound at the top, he jots his number in it and rips off the page, handing to Eyr. "Yes, I'd be happy to talk at any time."
"No. And like...I need...vocabulary. That's something I'm the worst with, and I don't know how to go about fixing it beside trying to read the dictionary. And math too. I'm kind of secretly scared about math." She shrugs. "I mean, this isn't really as important as like Rihat and the fishcourse, but. If you know anyone good for those subjects, send them toward me?"
"Maths is... something I'll probably need to acquire copies of Mina's textbooks for, actually. I can't think of anyone who'd be good at tutoring it without those." Eyrgjafa pauses for a moment, considering. "Would getting copies of those in general be likely to help? I've no idea what's actually on the GED."
Cian opens his mouth, sitting forward slightly - and then closes it again with a small shake to his head.
"I seem to recall seeing test prep books for the GED, though it's been some time since I was in that section of the book store." He glances over at Phaedra. "Do you enjoy reading? As I understand it, one of the best ways to enhance your vocabulary is to just... read things, pick a genre you enjoy to start and then move on from there. If you don't know a word, take a moment to look it up. I'm .. not entirely sure how skilled I am at instructing but I did graduate high school and college so I should have all the knowledge you would require to attain your certification.
"I like to read, but I kinda don't even know where to start there, either. I mean, I've got help with comic books. But...I like stories with a lot of magic. Elves and fairies and unicorns and evil wizards? Stuff like that is really cool to me, I guess. And dragons, especially if not all of them are friendly."
Eyrgjafa's offer gets a tiny head-shake. "Maybe if you could get me the titles? But she's probably way past anything I can do. I still have a hard time with fractions, you know?"
"Ah. Titles I can get you, but she was rather past fractions by the time I took her in. For stories with magic in... have you read anything by Tolkien? His stuff doesn't have fairies or unicorns, but there are wizards and elves aplenty." Eyrgjafa glances at Cian. "Is there something you wanted to say?"
Another shake of his head. "Xavier is correct, that reading what interests you is an excellent way to expand your vocabulary. Tolkien is a classic, and fantasy novels certainly use an extensive vocabulary."
Whatever he was going to say, it probably wasn't important.
"I might suggest Harry Potter for you list as well, though I've never read them they seemed quite popular for quite some time." He pauses a beat, eyes scanning over Phaedra as if studying her. "I do feel slightly disadvantaged though in providing advice for you. I am lacking some context, why is it you're just now doing all this learning and studying, if you don't mind my asking."
She gives Xavier a small smile. "I grew up on a cult compound and never went to real school. All the homeschooling focused on the Bible, mostly, and...I kinda feel stupid around a lot of people sometimes, because I never...you know. Learned anything that wasn't either religious or related to my role within the cult. So. I want to learn more and do better and be able to keep up with everyone around who's brilliant."
"Thankfully she's out of it and able to make her own choices now, though." Eyrgjafa says. "Not that brilliance and book learning are necessarily the same thing."
"There is certainly a distinction between book learning and brilliance," Cian agrees with a nod at Eyrgjafa, and he grabs his leather backpack from the floor and starts to put his research materials away. "I have another engagement tonight that I need to get to, excuse me packing so abruptly."
"Ah ha! Well first off, let me just say that the bible is an excellent source of vocabulary. I cannot think of any other published work that makes such prolific use of the word begat. And the descriptions in revelations, if you don't pick up a word or two there you weren't reading it." He grins a bit at that. Then he glances at Cian. "It was a pleasure to meet you, I hope your next engagement is productive and that you accomplish everything you set out to."
"I'm never reading the Bible ever again." She sort of puffs up like a pissed off owl, before looking at Cian. "You know. We should talk more. When you're not busy."
"Of course. See you around, Cian." Eyrgjafa glances at Phaedra, extending one hand to pat her on the shoulder, making sure the younger woman can see it coming. "Maybe stuff about non-christian belief systems? I'm sure Rhea would be happy to come up with suggestions for her gods, and I could do the same for mine."
"There are a multitude of ways to build one's vocabulary without touching on religions - Christian or otherwise," Cian offers, a little distracted as he finishes packing up his bag. Though he does pause for a moment when Phaedra addresses him. "If you have something you'd like to discuss with me, of course. I look forward to our next meeting, Eyrgjafa, it was lovely to meet you, Xavier. Stay safe, all of you."
And with that, he takes his leave, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he strides out of the room.
Xavier holds his hands up to Phaedra, an expression of innocence or an attempt to ward off the pissed offedness of the little owl. "I certainly wasn't suggesting you read it -again- I was only saying it is filled with a multitude of unique words. So you aren't starting with nothing. In fact, so far you've been a delightful conversationalist, it hasn't even crossed my mind that you would have any vocabulary limitations. Just by communicating we're constantly expanding our vocabulary. In any case, I've some free time still being newly arrived, so I'll be happy to assist as you need."
Her gaze lingers on Cian's back as he heads for the door, and she doesn't respond to Xavier until the Gangrel is out of sight. "I want to know his history."
"That could be interesting, yes," Eyrgjafa agrees. "I don't know much about him, but Finley certainly seems to like him."
Xavier was about to ask one question, but hearing Eyr's response he seems to have his answer. "Rhea was quite pleased when you two left together last night." He says idly to Phaedra, though he's definitely curious about her reaction.
She turns to Xavier, blinking. "Who, me and Finley? Well, I mean, someone had to make sure zhe made it home safe, right?"
But her posture shifts somewhat, a bit of a coy smile on her lips.
"Making sure each other made it home safe is a good goal," Eyrgjafa admits. "How was my sister, Phaedra?"
Xavier glances down at his phone as it rings, then frowns a bit and rises. "I do not know how can keep who safe on the way home but I am a keen observer of outfits." He grins and winks at Phaedra. "Unfortunately, I must take this, right when things were getting interesting. I would be most delighted if the two of you are still here when I get back, if not, I bid you both a good evening." And with that he nods to them and moves somewhere more private.
"She was good. Loud, encouraging, boisterous. Rhea was Rhea." She nods. "Atalo was here last night, too. He showed up in full armor. It's interesting to see him looking like the Soldier, not the Poet."
"That does sound like my sister, yes," Eyrgjafa admits, chuckling quietly. "I don't think I've ever seen Atalo in full armour, though. I wonder how far in integrating the two facets he's gotten?"
"I don't know, it feels like right now he really wants to be the guardian of all of us neonates, make sure we don't get attacked, but he can't be everywhere at once, can he?"
"Not with any powers I've ever heard of our sort developing, no." Eyrgjafa shrugs slightly. "I wouldn't mention that to him, though, he might decide the solution is to keep you all in one place."
She wrinkles her nose. "He can try. It'd end really, really badly, I think."
"Yeah, just offhand I can think of at least four neonates who wouldn't appreciate that in the least."
"Mhmm. We're kinda strong-headed too, some of us are. I mean. Just a little."
"Only the minutest iota," Eyrgjafa agrees wryly, chewing on her lip for a moment. "How did things with Calamity go, after I left?"
"Pretty good. Did you know they know Finley, too? Like, for someone who's not a Kindred, they have a LOT of Kindred friends already."
"I did know that, yes," Eyrgjafa says, a small smile playing about her mouth. "I hadn't realised that they knew Rena, though. I have to wonder how the two of them will react, if they're ever reunited."
"Probably badly. One of us should maybe warn her about that conversation, maybe?" She doesn't seem confident in that idea.
"Maybe." She squints at Phaedra. "Do you think we shouldn't?"
"I think...it's going to be a difficult conversation to have, even if it really, really should happen. She's not going to be very happy at all."
Xavier strolls back in, phone slid away in his pocket, once again he doesn't interrupt, silently retaking his seat and waiting for a good opening.
"Probably not, no." Eyrgjafa sighs. "It's not a topic I have any advice in, even if she'd take it, since I never saw anyone who knew me in life after I was Embraced." Beat. "Leaving the country within a few months probably helped with that, of course."
"The only person I still see is my cousin, Grace. She got out before I did." She shrugs, then looks up at Xavier. "Good call?"
"No news is good news, as they say, so I suppose it was fine." He considers a bit. "I met Rena, briefly, she seemed rather interesting."
"Interesting is a good word for Rena, yes." Eyrgjafa nods, glancing at Phaedra. "What's Grace do with herself, now she isn't in the cult anymore?"
"She works at a bakery--wants to own her own someday, but for now, she's opening manager. Which means she's up and in before the sun rises. So I visit sometimes, just to hang out with her."
A pause. "As for Rena? She's only a little stuck yet right now. She'll get there. But I think she thrives on spite a little bit of a lot."
"As I said the meeting was only brief but." He nods to Phaedra. "I'd believe that, based on what I saw."
"So I should pretend I don't want her to make anything of herself and she'll do it to prove me wrong, then? Is that what you're saying?"
"Pretty much. Let her know there's a challenge, but you're not expecting her to get there anytime soon, you're not pushing her, all that. And watch her put in the effort. And then? Be proud of her, after she's accomplished, for the things she's fought for, for the things she's managed to figure out."
"Fascinating, I'll have to make a point to spend more time with her. I'm certain her perspectives are quite unique as well. Perhaps not terribly original.., but unique nonetheless. Though really, i'm making a point to spend more time with most." He shrugs a shoulder. "Have the two of you been in Philadelphia long then?"
"Okay. I can do that, I think." She glances at Xavier, then. "A century and counting, myself. Longer than many, briefer than some."
"All my life, but I was only Embraced in 2015. So...no, not long at all." She shakes her head slightly.
He blinks a bit at Eyr, then nods, then glances at Phaedra. "Is the cult still here?"
Eyrgjafa lets Phaedra field that question.
She nods at Xavier. "Right outside the city, on a patch of farmland."
"Interesting, do you intend to live and let live? I have no opinion either way, and if you don't want to discuss it, of course, just let me know. I am simply curious if you have any desire to .. squash it, I suppose?"
Eyrgjafa glances at Phaedra, then. "If you do want to squash it, the offer to help make the blood eagle of your uncle is always open."
"I want to. With everything in me, I want to. Like a fire that burns my heart, I want to. My Beast would sing to taste my uncle's lifeblood." Her hands clench in the fabric of her pants, and she looks aside. "But that would draw at lot of attention."
"So it's not a lack of desire, you just need a sound strategy." He nods a bit. "That is.. more of what I expected. I've not spent a lot of time with anyone who's escaped such a thing, and certainly none that have been empowered as you have since then. Is there anything supernatural behind the cult?"
"Well, I mean. I was the prophet while I was there, because I'm...I was psychic. Clairvoyant, and able to read signs from God." She shakes her head. "It's possible more of that ran in the family."
Eyrgjafa glances to Xavier, then back at Phaedra. "Would Grace be likely to have contacts still within it, do you know?"
Xavier motions for Phaedra to go ahead
"Grace cut ties completely. I think she lives with her boyfriend now, and I'm the only other Lamb she still talks to."
"Fair enough. I know I wouldn't want to still be in contact with them, if I were in her - or your - shoes." A pause as she glances to check whether Phaedra is wearing shoes, tonight. "How many people are in it? It's possibly we could just make your uncle disappear and leave nobody outside our circles aware of his fate."
"And is the web set up such that if we remove the spider at the center, the rest will fall away, or will someone new simply rise up in his place." He pulls his notebook and pen out again, though for now he simply taps the pen on the notebook, gears turning.
"There's about a hundred people. Someone new would probably try to step up, probably my cousin Johnathan or my aunt Mercy. I don't think Mercy'd hold power long, though, if she tried, because she's a woman and it's unseemly there for a woman to try and tell a man what to do. But she does a lot of the thinking for my uncle, I think. I'd hear them talk, on nights when I was at their house."
"How competent is Johnathan, do you know? Is he the type to actually be able to run things, or just make a hash of them trying?"
"Johnathan...I don't know. He was sixteen when I left. But people used to listen to him when my uncle wasn't around."
Eyrgjafa nods slowly. "Do you want the cult as a whole squashed, or would revenge on your uncle be enough to satisfy you?"
"I want them all to be free, if they want. A lot of them are scared and silent because it would stop them from having so many problems. I want them all to be allowed to go where they want, away from the compound if they want." She shakes her head. "No one should have to live like that."
"No, they shouldn't." Eyrgjafa sighs softly. "But knowing that the main forces keeping them there, in your uncle's absence, would be your cousin and aunt does help us know what to do to ensure they have that option."
"...so, you'll help me with this, for real?" She blinks up at Eyrgjafa.
"I will," Eyrgjafa meets Phaedra's eyes. "May Freyja herself turn from me, if I fail in this."
"Thank you." Her smile grows warm and bright.
"You're welcome." Eyrgjafa returns the smile for a moment. "While I think about it, have you given any readings recently?"
"Well, yes, but that's mostly at work--you know I'm reading at Penny Dreadful now, right? And Nevermore designed a whole tarot deck, so I'm waiting for my copy of that to come in now, because I can't wait to read with it."
"I knew you were going to be, but not that it had started yet." A shrug. "I wasn't aware they'd done a full deck, either. Do you have samples of what it looks like?"
She nods, pulling out her phone and Nevermore's instagram to show off the pictures. "They just finished it. Isn't it amazing?"
Eyrgjafa leans in to look properly. "It really is. Not my style, of course, but the technical skill is really impressive."
"True, your style is much simpler." She traces a Tiwaz lightly on the table with a fingertip, smirking.
"I'll help as well, should you need it." Xavier offers, coming out of his reverie, he looks between them as they talk of cards and runes. "Are you both diviners then?"
"And yours is full of distractions, that make it harder to see what is truly meant." Eyrgjafa smirks back, before glancing at Xavier. "We are, yes. Even if Phaedra uses an inferior method." The bickering is pretty clearly performative.
"She's into those primitive runes, you see. It's almost like the chicken scratch the Babylonians used." She grins, though.
“I have dreams, sometimes.” He admits. “They give me glimpses, I suppose but I’ve never tried my hand at anything more.... intentional”
Eyrgjafa sobers, considering Xavier. "Have you ever considered studying a more intentional method?"
"I've been known to dream, but without a push, it's not the most reliable method."
"I didn't know it could be pushed." He leans back, rubbing his stubble as he considers Eyr's question. "No, I never have, but the face that I'm in here with the two of you who both do... my curiosity is piqued to say the least. I wonder what such insights could offer beyond my existing formidable skills."
"That is a good question. Phaedra?" Eyrgjafa glances at the other woman. "I've never had prophetic dreams, they're not a feature of my clan or bloodline."
"Besides working extra hard to concentrate on remembering dreams when I see someone new, Cruac's the method I know for affecting if I'll dream about someone, but that's not something I can teach you. Regular cartomancy, though? That, I can. Tarot is a language of symbolism that speaks to the self. It's important. Sadly, I'm not carrying a deck, though." She pats the stuffed sheep poking out of her purse.
"I see, I see, perhaps I'll have to look into it." He glances at Eyr. "And your runes, what sorts of things do they tell you?"
"It depends on which runes get drawn," Eyrgjafa shrugs. "They're associated with different things, and the questions being asked can affect which is most relevant."
"Anyway, I should maybe think about heading home. After all, I haven't watered my garden yet, since I didn't stay at home last night." She grins. "It's been nice seeing you both."
He nods to Phaedra. "It was wonderful to see you again as well, have a lovely evening." Then he looks to Eyr. "I imagined it was something like that. I was wondering if perhaps you could tell me of a time the runes were particularly helpful to you, for illustrative purposes. Though if the Runes and reading of them is too personal, we can speak of something else."
"Perhaps another time? I've errands of my own to run. It was nice meeting you, though, Xavier." Eyrgjafa glances at Phaedra, then. "Be safe, okay? You matter to people, Phaedra."
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