[#000] Appointments

[abjurer]

Need to get in touch with Max in Luceti? Leave a message.

Please label threads with method of contact (Video/Action/Voice/etc) and the date.

Comments

[250mhzwabl]

[One step at a time, hand to the wall - that's the way to the front stoop. If Max needs to stop to lock the door, he can do that - Jack is going to be comfortably crouched out of the way of the wind, just outside the door of the building, lighting a pair of cigarettes off a match. They're unfiltered, no brand stamped onto them - just fine paper and good tobacco without a filler to be found.

Cheerfully, he offers one up once the cherry is glowing away, coughing a little from the task of dragging on two at once.]

There you go.

[abjurer]

[They make it, albeit slowly and with a few stumbles. He doesn't bother locking the door. What the hell is anyone gonna steal except the booze? No wait, that could be bad...

He takes the cigarette gratefully, raises it to his lips and takes a first, blissful drag.]

Thanks. Damn, I've needed this since the shift ended.

[250mhzwabl]

I can imagine.

[Jack nurses his smoke along like the precious thing it is, and there's a relaxation in the intent of it, something that makes him look subtly younger. He smiles, still in a comfortable crouch, back to the cold wall of the entranceway.]

Did you ever figure out what you'd caught a taste for?

[abjurer]

It was quite an experience.

[Max leans back against the wall, head leaning against it as he lets out a slow exhale of smoke.

He thinks over that for a moment. Had he? Loki, Lirael, Zevran, Helios and god, that still makes him blush at the memory. He can't figure out any common thread.]

Not a clue. You?

[250mhzwabl]

As best I can figure? Dangerous types. Killers.

[He might be a bit broody about it, if he was sober, but at the moment it's just amusing.]

Made an arse of myself in front of Clint, among other things. And you don't want to hear about the dreams, trust me.

[abjurer]

Wow, that had to be a riot.

[He might have sounded more concerned normally, but it was just kinda funny now.]

Did you stare too much during training? Can't blame you. He has a fantastic arse.

Magic. That's the only thread I can think that fits. And that's rather a broad subject. Doesn't explain the people with magic who I didn't fall for.

[250mhzwabl]

He does. I'm not sure I can unsee it.

[Or unimagine a few particularly vivid daydreams, honestly. Even if his bizarre infatuation with violence is gone, there's still an illicit thrill wrapped up in the whole thing.]

But that doesn't sound too terrible, at least. At least it's something you like regardless.

[abjurer]

I can think of worse things to have burnt into your retinas honestly.

[Maybe not, y'know, the whole killing thing, but...]

This is true. And people I like regardless.

[He smirks over at Jack, taking a long drag on his cigarette.]

How is married life treating you, Jack?

[250mhzwabl]

[For a moment there, Jack has thought they were taking a break in bantering to continue smoking. But Max's question his him laughing out the better part of his drag, muffling the sound into his hand.]

Don't even pretend that was a serious ceremony. [Smirking, he points a finger at Max, the gesture faintly accusatory.] For your information, I considered myself married long before that.

[abjurer]

[Once Jack starts laughing, Max can't help himself.]

You mean ceremonies conducted by Elvis droids in a place with no legal system isn't binding? Damn.

Actually, I think it's about as serious as you want it to be.

[250mhzwabl]

[Jack is quiet for several seconds, considering that, then nods in satisfaction.]

Just a bit, then. Not so much I'm obligated to use the word husband.

[abjurer]

Sap. [It's sadi with great affection though. Really, he thinks it's lovely.] It was a hell of a night.

[250mhzwabl]

I think everyone had a fantastic time. Or a good excuse for one, at least. [The way he grins doesn't make the comment any more innocent.] What did you get up to?

[abjurer]

Maybe a few people doing the walk of shame the next day. [Max matches his grin and then shakes his head, remembering.]

Talked with a few people. Shared far too many things about myself with a couple of people.

[250mhzwabl]

Ooh, bad luck.

[Jack winces sympathetically, taking one last drag off his remaining stub of cigarette before standing straight and grinding it into the muddy snow of the stoop.]

[abjurer]

Eh, it happens. 'least it was someone I trust rather than any random stranger. It could have been a lot worse.

[He finishes his own cigarette and follows suit then leans back against the wall, taking a few breaths of the cold air.]

[250mhzwabl]

Very true.

For a moment the conversation lulls, and Jack accepts the quiet, wings unintentionally ruffling into a dark-and-white puff in the chill. It's not so cold that he feels the need to run inside, especially with the anaesthetic warmth of alcohol working its wonders on him.]

Do you think you could walk me though how this magic - the filial stuff, you know - how that works? All the advice I've had so far has been infuriatingly vague.

[abjurer]

[Things could have gone so badly and instead it had been, well, really nice after all.

He glances over at Jack when he asks that, quirking an eyebrow.]

Now? You want to drunk spellcast?

I'm not sure how much help I can be with the filial magic though. Not tried it. Might be able to make some sense of it. Who've you been speaking to about it?

[250mhzwabl]

Why not? I've had no luck doing it sober.

[Max putting it like that just makes the idea more appealing, and Jack grins broadly.]

Helios, mostly, and his advice was all along the lines of going somewhere quiet, and keeping and open mind, and . . . [He gives a frustrated noise, waving his hands in the air aimlessly.] And then something, apparently, happening.

[abjurer]

...fair enough. I've done dumber things while drunk.

[And deep inside his mind, his sober self is just facepalming.]

Well, Helios is very skilled. At magic. [Yes. Magic. Heh.]

The filial magic comes from spirits right? Supplication magic. Generally you have to form some kind of connection with them so... you know that time when you're just waking up, but not quite there yet, and everything is fuzzy and nice and anything is possible?

Like that.

[250mhzwabl]

[Jack is absolutely familiar with that state of mind, given that his sleep architecture has very little inherent structural integrity. He nods, chuckling to himself.]

See, I'm not quite grasping where the alcohol would work against me in this endeavour. But go on. Where does the spirit thing come in?

[abjurer]

Well, there's a reason shamans use mind altering substances to contact spirits.

Okay so... you ever seen one of those pictures which just looks like colours and swirls until you let your eyes go weird and suddenly there's a picture? For spirits you have to kind of... unfocus, disconnect a little from the mundane world. Because spirits aren't real in a physical sense. The unfocus is letting you step into their world a little, makes it easier for them to contact you.

[250mhzwabl]

And then you just . . . wait for something to contact you?

[Jack is getting the sense that something isn't quite connecting, though at least that's an expected feeling when he's had this much to drink.]

Isn't there some sort of invitation? I mean, I gather there aren't any fancy words, but . . . all right, putting this in radio terms, are you really just leaving your receiver on and sitting next to it?

[abjurer]

Yup, pretty much. [Max couldn't help but grin at the frustrated tone of Jack's voice.]

Calling something takes power, otherwise it's luck and hope.

[250mhzwabl]

Not my favourite things to rely on, but at least I'm used to it.

[Chuffing a sardonic - if aggrieved - noise, Jack turned to reach for the front door.]

All right, I feel misleadingly sober now. So I suppose it's more liquor, unless you have anything I can try to heal.