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Post by Lucas Chevalier on May 19, 2021 20:58:26 GMT -8
Lucas smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as he thought back on his use of bedlam and the ensuing consequences.
"I appreciate that you get it wasn't intentional on my end. That's not why I offered to help out with my contract. That's me legitimately offering to do it because I appreciate what you do to help keep the Freehold safe. I mean, yeah, I get it, it's part of your job and all that. But it's not like just anyone can do it and if there's a way for me to make that work easier for you, I'm happy to do my part."
When he looked at Fawkes, those bright blue eyes of his were filled with that endearing quality that gave him a sympathetic presence.
"Given what happened, I am not sure if anyone else would have told me. I would rather learn this way than try to reach out to him and have no idea what happened."
Lucas could easily see the higher ups in Winter deciding to tuck the incident away and then never speak of Maks again. Although he also understood why they sent Fawkes his way, in case Maks was working with someone else who was also a ticking time bomb.
"It's up to yourself, no pressure. I get you've got lots of responsibilities that keep you busy. " He relaxed in his chair, gesturing out towards the view of the city.
"But I will say this much...few things beat a clear summer's night, drinking a beer, enjoying the view, and shooting the shit with a friend. "
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Post by Fawkes on May 19, 2021 21:38:46 GMT -8
Fawkes sighed. There was a discordant whistle as the sound split, the glass reacting to the pitch as he idly played with the miniature cyclone. "They would have. If they figured you two were significantly connected."
Bright eyes followed Lucas' grand sweep, "Um. Listen. Lucas. I'm not someone you want to be friends with."
It sounded condescending, even with the placid nature of his demeanor. He didn't seem very determined to prove his company was palatable, when he was clearly more aware of social expectations than his Seeming stereotype.
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on May 20, 2021 8:10:28 GMT -8
Fawkes' initial response caused Lucas to deflate. The enthusiasm in his eyes dulled and looked away from Fawkes so he wouldn't have to take another lump of what he thought at the time was rejection. The last thing Lucas wanted to do was try and burden someone with his friendship. The urge to isolate started to tug away at him. His hold on his bottle tightened and he took a longer sip of his drank than his prior ones.
Pulling away was easy. Winter as a whole was fantastic about it. In fact, Fawkes could stand up without another word and stroll out of his apartment and there wouldn't be a single repercussion for it. No one in Winter was expected to "play nice" with each other. The expectation was that they were professional towards each other and they got the job done. Fawkes was an officer in the court, he had the social power in this dynamic as well as the centralized authority.
And yet, Fawkes remained out on the balcony with him.
Lucas drew what courage he had and dared another glance at Fawkes to try and figure out the motives behind his behavior.
As he studied Fawkes, several things suddenly clicked in Lucas' mind. Fawkes was indeed trying to intentionally push Lucas away, but not for the reasons Lucas had initially thought. His hunch that the two of them had common ground between them was turning out to be more and more true.
"I don't see why not. I've always been in Winter. It's the court I've always felt the most at home with. Sure, I could see myself in the other courts to some degree because we are all made up of the different moods of the court. The court we ultimately land in is the one that resonates with us. On the surface, I can see folks thinking I belong in Spring. I like a lot of what Spring is about too. The thing is, they are all about healing, and I know that they would want to "fix me"."
The look in his eyes became gentle once again as he finished off his beer.
"I've always found the difference between Spring and Winter can be summarized as; Spring sees Lost and others for who they want to be. Winter sees Lost and others for who they are. Real talk, it can be depressing as hell to take a long look at yourself and see all the different flaws you have. But there's a lot of strength in that too because you're being honest with yourself and by doing so you can build a lot of resiliency. My bad days with my depression don't take away from all the good days and work I do too. They are both a part of me. The same is true for anyone I become friends with. I accept their flaws along with their strengths as long as they're being honest with themselves and me."
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Post by Fawkes on May 20, 2021 13:01:45 GMT -8
"I don't have an issue with ambition," he said plainly, as Lucas described the differences between Spring and Winter. "I find the differences are more obvious. The transitional courts practice shared tenants of flexibility to encourage discovery and experimentation. The peak courts are locked in and directed on a single aspect: offensive and vigil. The ebb and flow of the Bargains allow for us to function in a changing paradigm that relies on one another. The Keepers don't understand it. And can't circumnavigate it. The politics are just methods of honouring the spiritual end. An Emerald promoting healing by trying something new is a prayer. Just like an Onyx protecting the hearth."
He goes silent for a moment, realizing he was nerding out when the other was just wanting to explain why they were in the same court as a point of connection. Lucas didn't want the Elemental to think he was trying to influence him, or something.
Fawkes tossed the rest of the bottle into the air, shattering it with a pitch that wasn't detectable to the ear and adding to the twisting shapes as he casually spun stars and daggers. "So what's your position. Rather than describing what you aren't."
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on May 24, 2021 22:10:01 GMT -8
Lucas listened Fawkes, impressed with the insight the Sunbanisher had on the rest of the courts. Beyond the different values that drew each Lost into their various courts, the Fairest always assumed that the Wyrd played a role in it as well. Whenever they used their contracts, the Wyrd caused small physical changes here and there to reflect their chosen courts as well as their Seemings.
He eyed sparkling stars and daggers, still looking impressed although a part of his mind also let off a small warning bell. It wasn't that he thought Fawkes was going to harm him in any way. Rather, his mind was reminding him to not lose sight of how powerful and dangerous the other Lost was. If Fawkes wanted to at any moment, he could flick the glass in Lucas' eyes, and Lucas would be SOL.
"My position, huh?"
He chewed over the thought. On top of everything else, this was an excellent opportunity for Lucas to learn from Fawkes. Volatile or not, the other Winter Courtier had a proven track record of effectiveness within their court.
"I find that I am drawn to the cycle of life and death. I get there are folks who worry about my mental health sometimes and how fragile that might make me, so they don't want to expose me to some of the nastier things in life. Which I get where they are coming from. But natural death...it doesn't bring me down. That's not to say I don't mourn or grieve, but more so, I understand that everything has a beginning and an end. No one is promised a long, healthy life. A lot of unfair things happen every day and we can't change that. The cycle spins and it will continue to bring new life into this world and bring others out. Where I get more...intense, is when the cycle is interrupted by supernatural means. When Lost or the Gentry or whoever else mess around with that circle, they are disturbing that balance, and it throws everything off kilter. "
He tapped the top of his bottle of beer in thought.
"It's like you said; there's an ebb and flow things that the Wyrd directs. If we mess around with the cycle of life and death, it worries me that the cycle is going to flipped upside down, and that's going to get disrupted. And that affects me on an emotional because sometimes all people have is hope of what waits beyond death. A lot of folks cling to religion because this world can be so harsh, they hope that there's going to be something better waiting for them on the other side. Maybe there is. I don't know how anyone can look into the eyes of someone who is scared, who hasn't been able to properly grieve their loss of their future, or the loss of a loved one, and want to cause them more suffering.
That's why I'm here. The politics and some of the other things we do behind closed doors. I get it and we gotta dive into all of that to understand the grand picture and all that. I only see some of the picture because I don't remember my time in arcadia. But my empathy and allowing myself to feel what I need to feel...it's a strength. Even if it gets hard and there are times I have to numb it out, I wouldn't want to change that about myself. I never want to lose the capacity to care about the suffering of others and thinking somehow I know better than the universe about how life and death needs to operate."
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Post by Fawkes on May 25, 2021 18:32:32 GMT -8
"Oh. I didn't realize you felt coddled."
Fawkes listened to Lucas outline his experience with the court, not watching him directly but his fidgeting settled a bit. "What's your perspective on the Wyrd extending it then?" he said after a moment, genuinely curious. "From my understanding. I can age to around a hundred and seventy."
He's quiet on the topic of The Other Side, and caring about suffering, only offering a mechanical nod to not make it awkward as his attention drifts back to violently twisting the glass.
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on May 29, 2021 0:22:13 GMT -8
"Things in Vegas have been better...there was some of that in Detroit. I also recognize that there's a lot of value in my maintaining my clarity, because I know Fortifying Presence. I used that contract pretty frequently while in Detroit. If you ever want me to use it and get that extra protection to your Clarity, hit me up whenever."
Lucas drummed his fingers on his arm chair, contemplating the question that Fawkes asked him.
"You and I...we were never meant to come into contact with the Wyrd the way we did. We were whisked off to Arcadia. You can live for 170 years...I look like a vampire, I've spent time in the Underworld even if I don't remember it, and I can legit see dead people. We didn't choose any of that; it was forced onto us. The Gentry don't care about balance or how things are meant to be, they only care about themselves and their needs.
We can't change what happened to us, but we can make the best out of cards we were dealt. We can use our connection with the Wyrd to stop the Gentry from messing around with things even more. If, you know, we can actually get along with each other for more than 5 minutes." He added with a deep sigh.
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Post by Fawkes on May 31, 2021 20:28:00 GMT -8
"I didn't know what," the mannequin said, lifting a shoulder in an idle shrug. "The way you describe Detroit. It sounds like a miserable meat grinder that bubble wrapped you for a Contract source. Not sure if I'm accurate. The Crisis was way too much to ask of the Gravewights and everyone's stupid if they don't recognize what you had to manage."
He crushes his hand, forcing the glass into a vicious orb before floating it over to toss in the bin Chevalier had on the deck. If it was for his cans, the Elemental wasn't checking. Lucas spoke about his feelings on the Changeling experience, blinking as his attention glazed.
...we make the best out of the cards we were dealt.
"Yeah."
He was intimately more aware of that necessity than others, now that he had had the time to...compare.
The cigarette was lit in a smooth, mechanical motion, giving Lucas the impression that the only reason he wasn't smoking was because he had been provided with a bottle to keep his hands busy. "I saw dead people once. Don't think it was the same. Though. So what's that like?"
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on May 31, 2021 22:57:04 GMT -8
"Heh, a miserable meat grinder is an adept description for what it was like half the time. The other half of the time, I learned a lot about myself because there's so much history, resiliency, and soul to the city."
Lucas couldn't help but look fascinated for a moment while he watched the orb float over into the small bin that was indeed for collecting his beer cans and bottles whenever he went drinking outside. However, he seemed too intrigued by the glass orb to be put off by the orb going into the wrong place.
"It's...I guess it's natural to me. Because of whatever happened to me in the Underworld, it doesn't scare me, or make me feel like a fish out of water. Not any more, anyway. My initial fear was because ghosts can do some scary things and I didn't understand them. Once I understood them, especially their pain, they stopped being scary to me. More than anything, I feel for them now."
Lucas gave Fawkes a curious look. Did he mean during the Reverent Crisis or when he was helping Golden Boy? Or maybe he is being literal and he means the corpses of his last freehold. Either way, the thought was a nice distraction from recalling how tortured the ghosts were during the crisis, begging not to be forced to go back to the Underworld.
"When was that?"
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Post by Fawkes on Jun 1, 2021 22:11:32 GMT -8
Fawkes offered yet another silent nod along with the crackle of the cherry; he wasn't looking to shit on the guy's fond recollection. He winced inwardly at the idea of feeling for the dead.
The Elemental noted Lucas watching the magic show—it made him feel a little better about the whole thing when he was open about what he was; whether that evoked fear or fascination. It ultimately was a weaponized extension of his condition, but it looked like art to the uninitiated. A small connection he could offer people that wasn't just shelving his alien experience.
"Um. A while back. It was when I first got out. Couldn't talk and got shuffled in with a group. They stole a rite and it did something weird. Where they didn't fully die?" his voice pitched enough to betray he was unsure. "Stalked me for a while. Wards of my own kept them back for a while until they didn't bother me anymore."
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on Jun 8, 2021 3:13:25 GMT -8
"Oh, wow, that's...really rough. I'm sorry you had to go through that, Fawkes."
Lucas couldn't help but be curious and wonder if Fawkes was being trailed by ghosts from the Underworld gate because of what happened to him back when he was haunted. His former companions could have caused him to become open to future possession or other ghostly malice. The Gravewight decided to take a peek into the Twilight and see if anyone was surrounding Fawkes at the moment.
Or at least...he wanted to take a peek. He could spend more glamour to give it another whirl but he was trying to keel things chill and not risk frustrating himself or becoming hungry for glamour.
"Phew, it sounds like there's all kinds of strange and confusing things going on across the state of Nevada when it comes to rites and the dead. The reverent crisis was something else."
Fawkes commentary created what Lucas thought was a natural opening to poke into it. After all, Fawkes was the one bringing up the dead and asking him about his own powers. Maybe Fawkes was trying to feel him out to see what he knows about the ghostly happenings in Vegas.
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Post by Fawkes on Jun 8, 2021 14:33:10 GMT -8
The Elemental was easier to track now that he was being open, the key being to watch his physical quirks over the stillness of his expression. The way the mannequin's attention was clicking with a constant amount of fidgeting with his hands and mouth, he was looking for threads of connecting conversation to pass for social. He had, after all, arrived under the pretense of stalking and a personal investigation into someone's death...on top of a concern that Lucas' neighbours may judge him hosting a known sicario.
Fawkes had enough socializing to get by, but his method of engagement was clearly rapid cold reading and offering small trivia to make up for the lack of warmth.
He puffed away, stilling at the topic of the early Fall that had sent the Low Seasons further into scrutiny. "It's not as complicated as everyone wants it to be. A Fall Knight let some outsiders operate with just enough leads to get by. To gain knowledge on the dead. It got out of control. The initial team reported Yazzie at fault. So the Summers thought we were covering it up. So a bunch of Summers get killed by scared humans protecting their own. Everyone wants to know how the Pantheon's Wards and original Bargains work. But we're a bunch of kids trying to piece together rocket science with our toys and imagination."
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on Jun 8, 2021 20:24:43 GMT -8
"It's not that complicated but it's also rocket science, huh?"
Lucas teased Fawkes, grinning at him.
"I get what you're saying though. What lead to the Reverent crisis getting out of control was relatively straight forward. A series of bad choices that got worse at every turn. The whole Pantheon Wards and original Bargains...I'm not tall enough for that ride yet. Even if someone were to explain to me at this very moment, I don't have a strong enough knowledge of the occult that I would be able to make sense out of it."
Lucas was impressed with how much occult knowledge Fawkes appeared to possess. Given he used to be a member of the Fall Court, it made sense. He was surprised that their court didn't have Fawkes do more occult snooping around. Well, it was entirely possible they did because Winter was full of secrets. However, as far as Lucas was aware most of Fawkes duties involved cleaning up and dealing with the mortal population.
"I would be happy knowing what the Old Laws are all about. They are a piece of the Reverent crisis equation that was dropped once and then I never heard anyone discuss it again. I 'unno, the whole thing boggles my mind. The Las Vegas valley area has been inhibited for over 10,000 years. Ten thousand years! That's a lot of years. This whole city should be a literal ghost town. And hey, maybe it was, and that's what lead to ghosts being used to help with the wards."
He stood up for a moment to stretch his arms.
"Do you want another beer or a pop or a snack of some kind? I'm gonna grab some chips and dip. I've got some soft pretzels I can heat up if chips 'n' dip aren't your thing."
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Post by Fawkes on Jun 12, 2021 21:10:00 GMT -8
The Elemental snorted at the self deprecation, nodding along to the comments about how old the territory was with the usual blank expression.
"Um. Sure," he said stiffly to the bridge to extend the odd visit. Sharp cobalt taking a quick sweep of above and below of potential patio listeners out of habit. "The only people who knew all the Rites are dead. So that's awesome."
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on Jun 15, 2021 20:50:21 GMT -8
Lucas returns a handful of minutes later with chips and dips, a couple of more beers, and the appropriate silverware. He hands a plate full of nachos piled high with nachos and a healthy amount of both salsa and nacho cheese on the side. The Gravewight cracks open his beer while reflecting on Fawkes' words.
"Someone has to know something. Even if the ritual itself died with them, they had to have written down some notes or consulted with someone within the Freehold to get more information. "
Talking to Fawkes was turning out to be less disconcerting than Lucas thought. He was still mindful of who he was dealing with and the types of things Fawkes did in his daily life. However, even within the ugliest of criminal organizations or any kind of organization really, there was a desire to belong. Even the Gentry couldn't eradicate that feeling. Sometimes Lucas wished that he had lost the desire to belong because it would make loneliness a whole lot easier to deal with.
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