[Private] Bean Juice

Lucas could feel his brain wanting to go back into sleep mode again. Sleepwalking through life in some ways was more appealing than walking around with the fear that had burrowed itself inside of the core of his being. Even all of these weeks later he still felt shaken from his experience with the rite Golden Boy performed.

How could he not?

Everything he knew had changed in that instance. In the grand scheme of the universe even the most powerful among them didn't hold a candle against the monumental force he had encountered that had literally melted reality around him. He found himself flexing his hands every now and then as phantom pain coursed through them.

However, if there was one thing he had learned from completing the right it was that he needed to stay awake. He needed to keep forging forward. The Fairest was discovering that spending time around Elementals was good for staying awake. The intensity of their emotions and the unpredictability that followed felt like capturing lightening in a bottle. Even if they went in a direction that he found frustrating or even frightening, they made him feel *something*.

After feeling nothing for so long feeling that level of intensity was energizing. Maybe even a little addictive. He had enough insight into his mental health to recognize he ended to be careful with how long he held that bottle of lightening in his hands. Otherwise, he was going to drain all the energy from it and begin an endless hunt to keep it filled.

The invitation for coffee was innocuous enough. There was only so much excitement that could come from drinking coffee in front of mortals. On a personal level, he felt a debt of gratitude towards the Summer storm. Oren's words had helped Lucas find his senses during the debate over what to do with the Wyrd gun. On a professional level, Oren offered an opportunity to access a new information network. Summer was in full swing and Solomon was top dog after the fall of the Sun Banishers. Kai was sworn to Solomon so there was a good chance that Oren was as well.



"Hey, Oren. I'm doing good, thanks. How about yourself?"


The Fairest lips had an easy smile sketched into them . His golden hair was shaggier than the last time the two of them had met. However, his hair was well groomed and he was clean shaven. He had opted to wear a form fitting maroon v-neck shirt and a pair or gray Chino pants. For all intents and purposes he looked well put together and not like someone who had seen cosmic horrors a few weeks ago.

"It's getting there. I'm not directly involved in the cleanup myself. I can feel the effects of what was released because of my particular...innate connections so to speak. "

Since the two of them were in a public place he stuck to speaking in code or at least general vagueness. [/font]

"The feeling isn't as intense as before. Let's hope it stays that way, eh? We could all use a cool down period. "[/font]

The past few months had been especially brutal on the Freehold. After what Lucas had been with Golden Boy, he feared that this was only the beginning. They needed to find a way to get spring's healing back as well as fortify each freeholder's mind and spirit.

"I've picked up a couple of new hobbies to give myself some space from it all and do a mental recharge. How about yourself? Your team has been especially busy with everything that's been going on. Lots of new team members in need of training I imagine. "

For his part, Lucas was going with the flow of the conversation. Nothing the Mirrorskin had done indicated he was digging deeper into Lucas' psyche and desires. He did notice that Oren didn't share what he had been up to but nothing about that was unusual. Many a Lost liked to redirect when it came to their business, especially when they were in public, or they were mingling with other courts.

He flashed Oren an enthusiastic grin as he grew closer to what Lucas had been up to.

"You are closing in on one of the hobbies. Very warm there. The other one...well, if you manage to successfully guess what it is, the drinks will be on me. I'll even throw in a pastry of your choice."

If there's one thing the Fairest enjoyed doing it was adding more energy into his conversations or his social outings when he had spoons to spare. Today happened to be one of those days where he had extra social spoons to spare. Adding a harmless bet was usually a good way of making a conversation more engaging and fun.

"Fair enough. "
Lucas laughed, he knew that lazy feeling all too well.

"I've started to practice yoga with a mindfulness focus. My plan is to get certified in it and setup shop at Eurydice's dance studio. "

Focusing on health rather than dying like with his current job has been a nice change of life pace. He still kept up his job as a death doula because he needed the insurance benefits. If he got enough clients he could make the switch over and pay for the insurance out of pocket.

"The other..."
He paused to create a dramatic effect before revealing his answer.

"Aquariums. "

The expression on the Elemental's face caused the smile on Lucas' face to grow. He didn't outright laugh but he was amused. It was the kind of amusement where you were enjoying having a humorous moment with someone rather than laughing at their misfortune.

"Really? With how awesome you are at dancing, I figured you had done formal training at some point."

Now that he thought about it, there wasn't a lot that Lucas knew about Oren. He knew that the Elemental worked alongside Kai, served Solomon, and that he was involved in the entertainment side of things in Vegas. As to where the Elemental's true passions lay and what kind of projects he worked on...that remained a mystery to the Fairest. There was no time like the present to get a better understanding of the other Lost in front of him.

"If you want to come check it out sometime, you're welcome to stop on by. My plan is to transform the room Eurydice is letting me use into a proper yoga studio. My sleep schedule is all over the place so I was thinking about hosting evening classes. Y'know, connect with the market that works a 9-5 or the dreaded second shift job and offer later hours. Maybe until 8-9pm, depending on what Eurydice is cool with."

He didn't want to impose on the other Fairest, especially when the two of them were getting along so very well these days.

"What about yourself?  You're something of a man of mystery." He added with a complimentary smile.

"One night you're the reigning dancing queen of the Spring Fling and the next you're ready to get your hands dirty alongside Kai. That's an impressive mixture of skills."

"Oh! Haha, that makes a lot more sense. " The Fairest laughed at himself and sheepish grin appeared on his lips as he reflected on his original response.

When Oren revealed his dance teacher was none other than Mitch the Onyx Fairest's curiosity towards the Verdant Fairest deepened. Not only did Mitch and Lucas share the same dance partner so to speak, but they also had romantic ties with Eurydice as well. He couldn't help but wonder if Mitch was also drawn to the same kind of intense energy that he was. One of these days he would have to sit down with Carr and get a better sense of who he was. In the meantime, his attention was solely focused on the Lost in front of him.

His mind quickly played catch up and Oren's response was temporarily set to the side while Lucas backtracked.
Woah, how did you do that? You sounded just like me! Which is kind of awesome but also weird. Like when you hear yourself in a recording and it sounds different than how you hear yourself in your head."

The Elemental had captured the Fairest's full attention at the mention of being good at impressions. Before diving into more questions about it, he answered Oren's question since he got the sense Oren was interested in learning more about him.

"I sing and dance with the Spring Fillies who enjoy performing arts, especially poetry. They love them some sorrowful poetry." He chuckled softly as he thought back on a couple of occasions where tissues were passed around and the well-meaning courtiers fussed over him.

After answering the question he once again shifted the focus of the conversation on Oren.

"That's an incredibly useful skill. Is it something you learned to do in the before Vegas and before "all this" times or something that you developed after?"