taxonomites | [Text] / [Location: a cafe in Speares]

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[Text] / [Location: a cafe in Speares]

Does anyone know if transfer of credits can be accomplished from one person to another, here? So far all I have managed is using them at the stores or with the hatches, and as it happens this 'allowance' they give us isn't really adequate.

Where I was from, I offered my services in a consulting capacity, but if I cannot get payment for such here, then that isn't incredibly practical.

....on a similar note, if anybody wishes their tarot read, it appears I'm doing this for free until I figure out a way to return an investment on the deck I just hatched.

If so, I'm at the version of the Café Procope that they have apparently stolen from Paris and transplanted here. It is in the Speares district. I may be found at one of the upstairs balcony tables.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Confirmation of the lycanthropy, then. The man spoke.... quite forthrightly about it. Jason was silent for several seconds.

He'd already considered Azkadellia as an option, someone to discuss his own... situation with. This Lupin might be another. Two casters, and neither of them without power... and both of them with some experience of a force within one that might do great harm if not contained.

"Yes. Of course," he said, a little absently, to Lupin's words, his thoughts on more personal matters. He reached for the cards, and laid them out, one, two, three, flat on the table.

Having outted himself already, Remus is learning to be open about it, to tell others.

"I should think about trying a wand for Azkadellia, if I'm going to be doing the wand making thing... Though I'm not maiming myself for wand parts, I'm not that generous."

"The two of you are acquainted, then," Jason half-asks, setting the deck of cards to one side. "I have also spoken with her... I have a matter I would put to you both, as practitioners.

"But not today."

He flips the first card. Stength.

The second next-- the Moon, which he's not surprised to see. It would have been shocking if it hadn't made an appearance in Lupin's reading.

"Apparently everyone in this city has such stories that nobody draws anything like a lowly four of cups," Jason says rather dryly as he reaches for the third card.

"I'm vaguely surprised you didn't get a five of pentacles in my drawing," he admits. "I lived hand to mouth for many years, not sure where I would get my next meal."

In fact, he didn't expect so many major arcana in his draw. He turns his attention to the next one, waiting to see what is drawn.

"Apparently the cards feel it's not the defining element of your life," Jason responded with the hint of a smile.

He turned over the eight of wands, and snorted softly to himself. 'The cards' seemed to be settling into something of a pattern to him-- strong cards for past and present, then cards from the high, but not royal, ends of the suits to sum up the future.

Jason straightened the cards then laced his fingers together before his face, rested his chin on them.

"Well." Lupin was familiar with the cards; he did not have to explain the concept of each as he had with the others. Merely focus on the reading itself.

"Your life has been a balancing act. A struggle between the beast within, and the man you are." Nothing terribly profound there, of course, but Jason's eyes roamed the lines of the Strength card, maiden and lion, gentle hands and the girl's compassionate face.

"You have also struggled against others... you mentioned a war. I see that, but your desire has always been the path away from violence-- to disarm rather than wound, to protect rather than attack. You prefer wards to curses, and you prefer gentle words to either; always you have served as the voice of moderation, diplomacy, conciliation. As the maiden with the lion, so you with your colleagues and..." Jason narrowed his eyes slightly at the card, "...friends, I think. Yes. Putting yourself between... friends and another figure, someone I am not seeing altogether clearly."

Remus listens attentively, face betraying very little. He nods a lot as he listens, understanding and agreeing with the basic idea.

It's only at the end that he looks slightly disconcerted, unclear about that that could mean. He reaches over and takes the card, looking at it and then up at Jason. "I'm, I'm not sure what that means, who that could be. All my friends are gone and I never managed to stand up to them like I should have."

He puts the card down and looks at Jason's eyes, dropping the gaze quickly. "Can you do a clarification draw on that, please?"

Jason spread his hands slightly, a tiny shrug of his shoulders.

"It's the sense that I got from the card. Your words indicate you certainly feel that there was a need to stand up to them. Perhaps the cards suggest that you did so more than you realize.

"Or perhaps my reading is wrong."

He slid the Strength card to one side. "As you wish; though I will conclude this one first if you please."

Remus closes his eyes, head bowed. "Yes. There was. I can think of many times in particular I should have done more. Stood up to them. But I didn't. I just find it strange that it would suggest that I did stand up to them when I didn't."

He nods, swallowing tightly. "Yes, of course, my apologies. Please, I'd like to hear more."

"Then perhaps the cards are pointing out a failure," Jason responded evenly. "One would expect Strength to be inverted in that case, but one card standing in for your entire past has a good deal of work to do. If you've had both successes and failures at exercising your strength wisely, the card may be doing its best to split the difference."

He might have been making a joke, but it was a bit hard to tell.

"In the position of the present we have the Moon... hm, the full moon is just a few days away, isn't it?" Jason tched softly. "Aside from the obvious relevance..."

He set his elbows on the table, propped his palms beneath his chin, and let the image of the card fill his mind, opening his mind to whatever would come. Wolves running beneath a fat harvest moon, not exactly surprising. A pack in disarray, one after the other hunted, shot, muzzled, imprisoned, except not only wolves but dogs and deer as well.

Moonlight shining on a cottage in the woods, a tower on the card. A young man, soft of feature and form, demanding entrance and speech. Barricades of fear, grim responsibility, loneliness.

"You are feeling the pull of several influences even now, I think," Jason said after several seconds of silence. "The voice of prudence and caution bids you stay in the tower, where you perceive safety-- safety from the danger you pose others, not yourself. The voices of others try to call you back from the wilderness, bid you rejoin them, but you hear this as a distraction and a temptation you cannot risk.

"And yet... you are here now. You've made the journey from the woods seeking--" his finger tapped the moon's bright circle on the card, "--illumination, guidance.

"I cannot tell you if you are right or wrong to attempt to seclude yourself, Mr. Lupin, but I will say that in the classic reading of the cards, the security offered by the towers is very often a false promise."

Remus smiles slightly, joke or not. He nods at the comment about the moon, it is in a few days and he can feel it pulling on him, choking him with its presence.

"You're very good," Remus finally says, voice soft. "You do have the touch about you, you've got a very good grasp on the past and present, which people often underestimate as part of the Gift.

"The tower isn't really a good reference to have, no. I'll certainly have to think on this. You've given me some honestly good advice, thank you."

He looks up. "I don't have the same touch as you, but I can offer to do a reading for you in payment."

Jason shrugged away Remus's second compliment, his brows slightly knit. "I don't have the penchant for drama that most successful readers do," he said dryly.

He inclined his head slightly at the thanks. "You're welcome."

Jason reached to straighten the third card slightly, then paused when Lupin made his offer. His eyes flicked from the eight of wands to Remus's earnest face.

"No thank you," he said after several long seconds. "I know what my cards hold. I do not find it enjoyable knowledge."

"Ah. Well, maybe not then. If you need magical assistance, I'm easy to get hold of. But not the day after the full moon. I need that day off for recovery."

Jason nodded fractionally, his eyes returning to the third and final card in the reading.

"Of course," he said in response to Lupin needing to rest the day after the moon's fullness. He could sympathize, although his ordeals weren't tied to anything lunar.

"There is a matter that I would discuss with you, yes. But we are concerned with your future at the moment..."

Jason's fingers tapped the eight of wands thoughtfully. "The only card of the entire tarot with no representation of a person in any shape or part...

"We see earth. Water. Sky. The wands flowering, new growth and new buds appearing. The influence of man is restricted to the presence of the house-- so small it is almost overlooked.

"Often, a card signifying a return to the basics: to grounding one's self in what is essential and stripping away extraneous complications. It's a card of perspective, of introspection; of finding quiet havens from the world's noise in order to achieve clarity as to what direction one ought to pursue.

"In your case..." Jason pursed his lips, turned his head side to side in a 'hmm' gesture; he looked back briefly at the other cards. "I think in the context of this reading-- and what you've told me-- the eight can be indicating it is time for a re-evaluation. The friends that you spoke of, with whom you feel you failed-- they are not here. Neither is the war you mentioned. The strength that has been an essential part of your past has less purpose here, except as you struggle to find a balance with your.... beast, which the moon presently brings into sharp reality.

"The eight suggests that you ought take this time to reflect. Consult your emotions," Jason finished with a subdued note of deadpan snark. He sounded even to himself like a New Age help book.

He spread his hands a little in a shrug, as if to say, that's what the cards said, don't blame me if it's cheesy, then began to gather up the cards.

The eight of wands had promise to it that Remus found alluring. A return to stable life and friends.

Forget the war. Forget the betrayals and the death and the horror and have a life here that he could enjoy.

He quirks a smile at the 'consult your emotions'. "Thank you. You've given me a lot to think on and some much needed guidance."

"You're welcome. May you benefit from it, and perceive clearly the answers for which you ask," Jason says, a slight roteness to his words that speaks of ritual response.

He puts the cards away, and busies his hands with his cup instead, stirring the brown beverage. Lupin's company so far is less annoying than some, and he wishes to cultivate the man as an ally...

"I did not offer you anything to drink, Mr. Lupin. I myself am having coffee, but I am sure they have tea if you would like."

"Oh, well, a hot chocolate would be lovely, to be honest. My tastes tend to run a bit sweet at this time of month." He gives a happy smile. "Thank you for the offer, I don't get out and about much, to be honest."

Jason nods slightly, and signals the waiter with one hand. As the smartly-jacketed figure makes his way over to them, Jason permits himself a half-smile at Remus's words.

"Yes, I think the cards rather hinted at that seclusion," he deadpans.

The waiter takes Remus's order and disappears with a quiet efficiency that Jason enjoys. If there must be not-quite-people around, best they are unobtrusive.

"Sweets, though, really? I would have thought savory."

"But only hinted. You didn't draw the Hermit after all." He smiles again, cheerful.

"I need the energy. The sugars keep me going. And chocolate's always been a personal favourite of mine."

"Touché." The half-smile doesn't quite fade.

He nods a bit, mulling that over. "I suppose that makes sense-- I'm familiar with the need for sugar. The more dramatic magics in my practice often leave me physically drained."

Enough! Send this mangy cur along his way
You've read his cards. There's naught to say.

Goodness, one would almost think you don't want me talking to a magician. I can't imagine why not.

Etrigan snarls. If you would teach the litter's runt
The words to master our damned bond
Then when first he tries this precious stunt
I'll bugger him with his own wand.

Jason smiles distantly-- to Remus's eyes, at nothing at all, it would seem.

Jason seems distracted, that much he can tell and his scent is a bit off. "Yes, I can see that. No, I don't, actually. Just the exertion? I don't know anything really of your magic."

Jason laces his hands together above his cup, weighing his words a little before speaking. He doesn't know why exactly he's hesitating. If his words will make Lupin judge him, so be it; the moral opinions of others regarding his acts have long since ceased to matter to him.

Except for those times when the painful earnestness of some upright soul sneaks past his jaded weariness and makes that tiny, battered part of him attempt to be a better man.

"The exertion, yes, that is part of it. In my practice magic.... usually has a cost. Often payable in blood."

One that he often avoids paying himself. He's killed a lot of goats, rabbits, and birds over the years. And the occasional human. Of course, most recently that wasn't an option; the back of his left hand still bears the visible mark where he cauterized his own cut with the hot metal of a knife.

Edited 2012-07-30 19:42 (UTC)

Remus doesn't look shocked or horrified. Maybe a little sad, but not much else. "Blood is a powerful and dangerous thing in magics. Your ways are your ways and you no doubt know how much caution you need, but if you ever want, I can try to help you with our way of casting, replacements for blood that are far less damaging."

Blood is usually a Dark magic and it can do awful things to the soul and magic of a person.

'Blood is a powerful and dangerous thing in magics.'

He resisted the urge to say a weary Tell me something I don't know. The man was only being helpful. And sincere.

"Thank you for the offer, Mr. Lupin," he said rather woodenly, tone expressionless save for a certain note of weariness to it. "I am, as you surmise, familiar with the risks."

"I have no doubt, but maybe our way of magic will offer you some other choices. I mean, it might not be compatible, but surely it would be worth trying?"

"I suppose it can't hurt to make the attempt," Jason said after a pause. To say he was not optimistic was an understatement, but he was trying to be gracious, however poor a job he did of it.

[location | Cafe in Speares]

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[location | Cafe in Speares]

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[location | Cafe in Speares]

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[location | Cafe in Speares]

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[location | Cafe in Speares]

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[location | Cafe in Speares]

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[location | Cafe in Speares]

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[location | Cafe in Speares]

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