Ivory
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Pres 4 (Regal) - SL 1 (Noble) Fairest Hunterheart
Posts: 588
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Post by Ivory on May 19, 2021 20:44:51 GMT -8
A fair question.
"She knows what we are, but she's human," Ivory offered, "Beyond that? She is as she appears. She is my lover, but she knew you didn't know what I am. That's why she tried to push past my hospitalization."
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Post by Anthony Cartwright on May 19, 2021 20:55:55 GMT -8
"What decides who gets to know and who doesn't?" he asked, frowning slightly with confusion.
The new adult clearly wasn't satisfied with the gloss: there had to be some pattern of logic to why these people maintained secrecy and revealed themselves. Evelyn was fully in on it before him because... what? She was sleeping with them? Anthony turned his attention back to his plate.
"What favour do you do for her? Did dad have a different arrangement?"
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Ivory
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Pres 4 (Regal) - SL 1 (Noble) Fairest Hunterheart
Posts: 588
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Post by Ivory on May 19, 2021 21:28:49 GMT -8
"That's a... complicated question. There are people who decide when things go beyond what is acceptable and, when they feel enough evidence is gathered or circumstances otherwise call them to action, they act to safeguard the secret," Ivory explained, "You are not among these targets. This is why we need to keep things as minimal as you can. Knowledge can be a danger."
Ivory looked genuinely confused by the question regarding favor and agreements with Evelyn in particular.
"Favor?" she asked, her expression perplexed by the direction. Then some revelation. It seemed Anthony believed Ivory or Arthur had a hand in Evelyn's awakening to the truth of the Lost. "Oh, honey, no... Arthur and I never granted a favor to Evelyn. Evelyn's awareness comes from the actions of someone else in her life. Someone who is not... well... here. Arthur and I had no hand in this. Evelyn became a friend of your father's via connections in our society. Then she came to know me and become attached. I would be lying if I said the attraction wasn't mutual."
There was a pause as Ivory mused on how best to relay this.
"You remember how often your father spoke of networking and went to meetings? How he talked about the power in knowing someone?" she asked, "That's kind of how things began with us and Evelyn in a sense. You're father was a very interesting man and we visited here off an on, as you know. People wanted to know him, Evelyn was one of them. With her, things turned into something more over time. That's all."
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Post by Anthony Cartwright on May 19, 2021 21:52:56 GMT -8
He was silent for a long moment, sinking further into the chair as he directed his attention up and around.
"Was it an accident, or does it have to do with the dangers Kai's supposed to be protecting you against?" Without context, it was a hard thread to follow, but eventually Ivory registered he was having to completely reassess the circumstances of why his parent was dead. The fact that he was bringing it up in the first place indicated a deep unsettlement to what he understood was truth and grounded in reality.
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Post by Kai Rose on May 19, 2021 22:11:37 GMT -8
Kai remained quiet, taking the occasional bite of jambalaya and letting Ivory work on sorting out some reality. This was an intensely personal moment, one that would shape their relationship going forward.
Ivory was doing fine, keeping it real. They'd settle out the issue of secrecy after.
Cajun Spices were truly magical tonight.
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Ivory
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Pres 4 (Regal) - SL 1 (Noble) Fairest Hunterheart
Posts: 588
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Post by Ivory on May 19, 2021 22:15:01 GMT -8
The question was met at first perplexing, but as the revelation of what Anthony was asking bloomed, Ivory's expression seemed to choke with surprise, eyes wide and breathless at the insinuation that Pendragon had murdered.
Ivory had to wipe her eyes and clear her throat before she could find the will to speak.
"Your father's death was an accident," she answered, "He flew up to get his hours. Something went wrong. The plane malfunctioned and... Arthur and his instructor couldn't recover before the collision. The investigators never suspected foul play and I never uncovered anything to suggest otherwise either. The reality is small turboprop aircraft are more prone to mishaps than larger jets."
Ivory let the statement sit. Insofar as she knew, Pendragon's death was completely mundane. It was the result of an aeronautical mishap and malfunctioning equipment.
"Arthur had friends too, honey," she continued, "People who watched his back and kept him appraised of changing situations so that he could head to DC without too much concern. He was protected too, but, sometimes, things happen. Different as we might become we can still die."
Ivory thought for a moment another thought occurring about what might be following in Anthony's patterns.
"Is that something you're worried about?" she asked, "About things in our society mounting up against me? Or Serena?"
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Post by Anthony Cartwright on May 21, 2021 15:36:32 GMT -8
"And you're sure of that?" he pressed, expression serious. "I get that people can get cursed."
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Ivory
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Pres 4 (Regal) - SL 1 (Noble) Fairest Hunterheart
Posts: 588
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Post by Ivory on May 21, 2021 20:21:11 GMT -8
Ivory looked surprise by the question.
"The investigators never found anything suspect," she said, reiterating her early statement, "And, no, I never uncovered anyone."
Then a pause.
"What do you mean you know people get cursed?" she asked, seeking to understand how Anthony came to that conclusion.
As far as Ivory knew, Aello was the only Lost her son was introduced to, but Aello was a near-ward to an entire motley so the option existed others had spoken to her son. She would deal with that in time. However, if Lost were discussing their society with her son in depth? That was dangerous.
Moreover, it meant some had seeded the thought that Ivory had not been honest about Pendragon's demise. If that was the case, heads would roll.
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Post by Anthony Cartwright on May 21, 2021 21:43:30 GMT -8
"That's how fairies work," he said, flushing. "How would the investigators uncover magic? Or did your people look into it personally?"**
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Ivory
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Pres 4 (Regal) - SL 1 (Noble) Fairest Hunterheart
Posts: 588
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Post by Ivory on May 21, 2021 22:23:49 GMT -8
The Pale Dragon shook her head.
"I see," she said at his reasoning.
At the question, Ivory shook her head.
"It doesn't work like that, honey," she explained, "Think about the police as they function and how families aren't privy to investigations involving relatives due to being intimately connected to a victim. I wouldn't have been brought into an investigation by our people for the same reason. What I can say is Arthur was considered important and he was well-liked. I doubt I would have been kept in the dark following the investigation if something happened that was out of the ordinary."
Ivory's fork was put down.
"Anthony, dealing with his death hasn't been easy for me either," she offered, "It took a long time to accept it. I still struggle with it sometimes, just like I know you do... Sometimes accidents happen and it can feel impossible to justify the reality. Yet we have to. Sometimes a tragedy is just that. All we can do is let ourselves mourn and get used to them being absent. Otherwise, we enter a spiral... I do not want to see you tear yourself apart. The best way to honor his memory is to pursue what we love, like he did in life."
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Post by Kai Rose on May 21, 2021 22:49:33 GMT -8
Kai nodded in agreement, idly stirring the jambalaya.
"I know it's tempting to think it was something deeper -- hell, at least with enemy action there's someone to hold to account for it, someone to direct the anger at. But sometimes, it's just plain damn bad luck, or someone's negligence. Human error is sometimes more dangerous than any magic you can imagine."
She sighed, thinking of all those they'd lost fighting to stop the ritual.
"I'm sorry about your dad, Tony."
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Post by Anthony Cartwright on May 25, 2021 15:16:29 GMT -8
Anthony shrugged, clearly embarrassed for asking.
He let the silence stretch, unsure what to do with himself at this point other than let the other two reset the conversation so they can go back to doing what they wanted to do.
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Post by Kai Rose on May 26, 2021 14:07:02 GMT -8
When the kid didn't say anything else, Kai gave him a sympathetic look.
"There's just one thing I need to address before we move on. I've told you what I have told you to give you context and to try to help you make sense of the weirdness you've been exposed to, but that comes at risk for me. Will you promise me that you will not reveal that you are aware of my supernatural nature with anybody aside from Abigail and I?"
A Seal would go a long way to easing her mind.
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Ivory
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Pres 4 (Regal) - SL 1 (Noble) Fairest Hunterheart
Posts: 588
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Post by Ivory on May 27, 2021 19:32:36 GMT -8
Ivory looked conflicted.
On one hand, the Pale Dragon wanted to offer her son some comfort in order to guide him through this. On the other, she was uncertain if such an act would be welcomed or interpreted correctly. Anthony was an adult now and Ivory questioned whether an embrace from her would mean anything. It hadn't seemed to before. Thus, she sat and wait, granting Anthony a soft smile by ways of providing a sense of assurance.
Ivory would need to gain her own Seal on the matter or a true Oath in order to safeguard her own identity, but she was uncertain if she should broach the topic before Kai had her answer. The Wyrd could be fickle and Ivory was not going to risk her friend's promise unsealable.
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Post by Anthony Cartwright on May 27, 2021 20:31:17 GMT -8
Anthony's shoulders hunched, attention flicking to Ivory and seeing the smile of encouragement.
He was sweating again, mouth dry as he ran over scenarios where things could blow up. He didn't want to come off as a danger or a burden to this new woman that was trying to make Abigail happy, and he had noted how relieved she was when he simply mentioned Evelyn asking after her; being given the proof that people cared.
He knew if something happened, as far as legends go faeries were fucking brutal about broken promises. He didn't know where the lines were with alliances with these people, and how much danger Abigail was in to need an Amazonian bodyguard to move in. She had already almost died for these people, where this was so incredibly important for her and as she put it he wouldn't ever understand.
Evelyn was special? Apparently? In the sense that she wasn't brought in because of an argument. Abigail loved her and so did his father? She was better with the hospital emergency, he had just added to the stress of Abigail needing to navigate his needs. He just needed time to figure things out and prove he could be worthy too. He didn't want to lose everything else and let her down because he was being a coward with her new partner. He didn't really know what to do at this point now that he didn't have any family aside from Abi, and he was graduated, and Serena was a fairy too, probably ready to drop him the second he was a nuisance for her own safety.
"Um. Yeah... Sure."
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