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Post by Kai Rose on May 27, 2021 12:40:34 GMT -8
Kai nodded and gave an 'ah' about the gate. Luke had his ideas about how this ought to be looked into. If they panned out, great. The use of 'pew' earned a chuckle.
"Fair enough. If you think it's the best way to go, by all means. You know Ruben. I don't. As for information about those topics, I've got nothing that I can share, and I would encourage caution. Spring is a minefield."
She turned her attention to more personal matters. Her cup went into the cup holder half-full.
"How are you doing otherwise? I saw you chat with Riley at Ostara. Did that go well?"
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on May 29, 2021 0:53:45 GMT -8
"No kidding. They are hella messy at the moment. Whenever they get messy, the Silent Arrow always end up having to clean up."
Lucas sighed a long suffering sigh. It didn't help this time around that Winter was involving themselves directly in the messiness. Then again, wasn't he doing that very thing?
"Ah, well, they didn't key my car or throw a drink at my date, so that was an improvement."
He added with a playful smile.
"It went about as well as it could have gone. We didn't really resolve any grandstanding issues, but at least we were able to break the ice. The two of us both like to socialize and make the rounds at various parties, so it's only a matter of time before we bump into each other. Better to learn to play nice now than later on when folks are feeling less festive."
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Post by Kai Rose on May 29, 2021 21:18:06 GMT -8
Kai chuckled at the part about the Silent Arrow being the ones to always clean up, shaking her head with amusement. "Sure, Luke. Always."
As he described what happened with Riley, she let out a long, low exhalation and gave a nod. "It's a good start, and better than you seemed to be hoping for. Well done. Can I ask what the deal with you two even was? It was Winter-level icy to start with."
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on Jun 3, 2021 23:06:09 GMT -8
"We dated back when we were in Winter together. They left for Spring and that was the end of that." He shrugged his shoulders as if it were that simple.
"The two of us are too much alike in some ways. The upside to that is that it let us bond with each other more easily than we did with anyone else in the court. The downside to that was we would push each others buttons and that didn't end well." Lucas released a long, drawn out sigh.
"Vegas has been such a strange journey for me. It's so different than what I am used to on a lot of different levels. I can tell my anxiety is playing a role in how I am looking at the Underworld situation. What's happening here...I've never heard or seen anything like it. My brain is trying to force it into a paradigm that makes sense to me."
As he reviewed his notes, he could tell where some of his anxiety was taking over. Kai was right. It was unlikely that Spring had access to a powerful necromancer, even with everything that was going on. Well, at least not the Queen. Much like Winter, he suspected there were splinters in Spring as well.
"Being a Fairest complicates things. It's engrained in me to feel responsible for the well-being of others. If have to make the right calls because if I don't, others get hurt, and that whammies my psyche. If I'm being honest, the idea of disappointing you make me anxious, Kai. You could have gone to Roger with this instead of me so I feel like I need to figure this out on some level or else you'll be disappointed with me."
He might as well share his thoughts because if they bubbled to the surface, and they would, Kai would eventually pick up on it if she had not already.
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Post by Kai Rose on Jun 5, 2021 14:38:20 GMT -8
Sad kids dating, and then Riley had found Desire and fucked off? Yikes. She suspected it was probably more complicated than that, but it wasn't something she felt like pushing right now. Winter didn't usually talk about that sort of thing easily, and she was not inclined to smash him back into his shell with a blunt approach.
"Sure, I get it," she replied, thinking it over for a second. He knew some Weird Shit, and now he was seeing Weirder Shit and wanted to understand the Sekrits. The point about Roger brought a half-smile to her lips. "Disappointed? No. This situation's clearly suspicious, and I'm pretty sure if I had gone to Roger, I would have had the Party Line handed to me, and then the Sun Banisher would have been up Golden Boy and Fawkes's asses and I'd know precisely nothing. Which is where I'll be if you don't look into this, but frankly, some latent gate really isn't worth getting you in a ton of hot water over. I'm not Autumn. I expect you to honor your Oath if you do find anything out, but if you decide to play it safe, that's cool."
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on Jun 6, 2021 21:38:48 GMT -8
The two of them had been talking for awhile now and they were getting into some honest feelings and concerns. Kai was genuinely concerned about Lucas' well being or at least that was the impression he was left with. It was enough for the Fairest to feel touched that Kai cared about his safety enough that she wasn't going to try and pressure him into going further down this ghostly rabbit hole if he didn't want to.
Lucas looks surprised when the contract doesn't take, especially as he put quite a bit of oomph into it. Hmm, maybe this was the Wyrd pushing back after he had tried to decide the terms of contract. If he wants the Wyrd to know Kai is his friend, he has to say it outloud.
"Damn, the contract didn't take. Maybe I have too much sugar in my system and it's making me sluggish. Want to go for a light jog around the park?"
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Post by Kai Rose on Jun 6, 2021 21:52:40 GMT -8
Kai sighed, gritting her teeth as Luke reported that his magic had failed. She needed this. Shit had been too crazy to let it not happen.
Hers didn't, her Will gripping the second hand and dragging it back a few precious seconds to before the Fairest spoke, before his Contract started to pull on the Wyrd --
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on Jun 6, 2021 22:09:17 GMT -8
Time rewinded and Lucas no longer looked surprised that the contract didn't work. Instead, he literally glows as the magic he invoked flows through him. The light that surrouhds him is warm, gentle, and comforting. The Fairest smiled at Kai, reassuring her that at least this moment, things are going to be okay.
The light leaves Lucas and surrounds Kai instead, drawing upon the genuine connection the two of them have forged to soothe away the clarity damage done to her mind.
Even after the contract is completed and the light fades from Kai, she can still feel a remnant of the magic in her acting like a protective armor.
"How are you feeling?"
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Post by Kai Rose on Jun 6, 2021 22:17:32 GMT -8
"Like I'm doing a fuck of a lot of work to try to make people honest, and like there's a fuck of a lot of work more to do. Summer is busier than hell lately, trying to work on dangerous cases and keep people safe, and that comes with genuine danger."
She shook her head, reaching for another donut. A tear formed in her eye.
"But then, on the other hand, there's so much good. It has been good working with Solomon. Really good. The guy's a bastard, but he's upstanding as hell. And my Motley, and my new business, and a firm identity... it's really nice. Like I'm a real person again. I even helped a young Courtless find her way into Summer, which was... huge, you know?"
She bit into the cakey goodness, pondering it all.
"It has been a wild ride. A good ride, but a wild one."
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on Jun 6, 2021 22:33:30 GMT -8
Apparently, the sugar is really making him sluggish as he's not able to channel the usual empathetic oomph that he has. The tear in Kai's eyes combined with her words tells Lucas that she's been carrying this weight for a long time.
"That's one of the things I really like about you, Kai. You are honest. You genuinely a want to do the right thing and help others out. So many folks here don't care beyond their personal connections or whatever gets them more power. You want to protect people. It's admirable. "
He smiled at her. "And that is huge, Kai. Finding a place to belong when you're Lost is well...a big damn deal. Heh, I feel you. It's been one heck of a wild ride and there are still more twists and turns to come. "
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Post by Kai Rose on Jun 8, 2021 18:41:47 GMT -8
"I mean, dishonesty is a difficult thing," she said with a chuckle, gesturing to her Polychromatic hide. The Fae had taken a lot from her. The ability to effectively lie was part of it. "But thanks, dude. I think this place is worth it..."
She blinked away a tear.
"At least people are actually giving me something back, finally. I was so tired of it always being about fuckin' Rowan or Firebringer or whichever kid couldn't get their shit together. Thank God for Ivory. Spring can put things in perspective, when they want to. You met Buck Chasseur yet? I think you'd get a kick out of him. Talk about... permission to just live as hard as you can for a bit."
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on Jun 8, 2021 21:14:12 GMT -8
"Huh."
Lucas was surprised that Dani and Rowan were front and center for awhile. Rowan was so cagey, shy, and reclusive. The one time he shone some light on him, he scuttled away into the darkness. Dani...she seemed fun and he enjoyed their Denny's adventure. However, during Beltane she seemed to be in Riley's shadow. Which made sense since it was a big spring to-do.
"Not officially, no. I saw the two of you dancing at Ostara and yeah...being around him made me want to fully seize my destiny. I felt like the Wyrd was on my side and no one was going to stop me. We all need to live as hard as we can whenever the opportunity pops up."
Because death was always lurking somewhere nearby.
"Does it...bother you? That you literally wear your emotions on your sleeves? I mean, I know you have your rewind button if you shared something you didn't want to, but that's still gotta be rough all the same. I know I would feel hella exposed."
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Post by Kai Rose on Jun 8, 2021 22:40:51 GMT -8
"Of all the crimes done to me, taking my privacy from me was the greatest," Kai replied, a set in her jaw suggesting that this wasn't a comfortable topic. "But it has revealed to me a truth, recently. Very little is actually private. In a magical world, privacy is a luxury, not a default state. People can look at you and know your greatest wishes, your deepest hate, or whatever on a whim. Secret things. Deep things that they would never otherwise know."
She shrugged, reaching up and wiping at her eye.
"But nobody does that to me. Not since I've got here. I'm certain of it. People just see what's there, and take their impressions as they will. So... while I hate it, I've grown familiar with it. It makes it really easy to tell if I'm full of shit, so I get to live in a pretty direct world. It's not always easy, but it is simple."
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on Jun 9, 2021 23:21:11 GMT -8
"You're not wrong. I mean, I agreed to the contract without pushing a ton because I could tell that you genuinely didn't want to fuck me over.
There's also fear there too. Most of us get on some level that privacy is a luxury in our world. You're exceptionally good at reading into someone's emotions. If someone keeps trying to read you beyond the surface, you're gonna notice. And you're a hell of a lot more likely to figure out what's really going on with them than they are with you.
In a city like Vegas, most folks don't want their flaws to be seen. They only want others to see the exceptional in them so they can make their wildest dreams and desires come true. "
He sighed as he reflected on all the different things going on. Fawkes was right about the occult side of things but their attitudes and pursuits shaped the city as well.
"For me, I've found that being in Winter has given me a certain sense of peace that I don't think I could find anywhere else. I struggle with depression because something in my brain doesn't work right on a chemical level. But I don't struggle with grief.
We've all had so much taken from us. The fact that you've had your privacy stripped from you...my heart goes out to you, Kai. That was a monstrous thing to have done to you. So many of us are carrying around this grief deep within us because we think being sad is somehow an admission of weakness. That some how the Fae got the best of us. I like to think of it more as our past lives deserve to be mourned. And that is sad. Like holy shit, all the things we've lost is an incredibly sad state of affairs.
Once we let ourselves run through the whole gambit of emotions associated with grief, we get to find closure. We get to really be on the other side of Arcadia and create a new normal for ourselves. It's not the same normal as we were used to when we were purely human, but it's a new normal we get to create for ourselves. "
Lucas offered a small, gentle smile. "I've rambled enough. I just hope you know I won't judge you for feeling whatever it is you need to feel. You didn't judge me back in Ostara for struggling with my emotions and that means a lot to me."
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Post by Kai Rose on Jun 15, 2021 22:24:16 GMT -8
Everyone wanted them to see the exceptional in them. Yeah, she bought that. It was a city of dreams, where even the lowliest of people could throw the dice. If they were supremely lucky, everything in their lives could change and they could have it all, a promise of change, of Desire. Las Vegas was Spring's paradise, a world where every Lost had a real chance to get whatever they wanted.
Too bad people were people. Sinners-in-waiting, where desire could be corrupted to evil with enough time.
"It's not. An admission of weakness, I mean. That's a hard thing to admit, because of training and trauma... but yeah. You're right. Closure brings a new chance."
She smiled sadly.
"You've given me a lot to think about, Luke. I think I'm going to call it... but I appreciate you, buddy. Thanks."
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