|
  |
So, it's night time in the great, big spooky wizard house. Lamont and Lindon are both early to bed, early to rise types. No staff there this evening, so presumably the siblings and their host are it. No pets, either, at least that Lamont's admitted to.
*
Josie creeps out of her bedroom quietly. She's fairly good at this, having practiced a great deal as a child, but she's not a ninja. Still, the door is closed with the utmost care. She carries her bag with her for now, though some of hte contents have been unpacked. All the essentials are there, hanging against her back as she moves toward the library. For now Josie keeps her senses turned outward, searching for anything unusual that she can notice. She has the Sight, and fairly strongly as well, even if there's no actual magical aptitude there.
*
The wards are woven in, somehow into the woodwork, the flooring. Painted nad then painted over, perhaps? They seem to shimmer in and out of sight, like gossamer on a summer morning. Most seem to be there merely for monitoring - no overt threat.
*
Despite the fact they seem to be benign Josie is frowning thoughtfully as she is kneeling down next to a discrete corner. It's unlikely that even the help will notice what she is doing next. Josie has out a large pocket knife which she sets to the paint. Scrape with the tip, be careful no to hi the actual ward while revealing it… Peel back the wood. This is her very favourite tool. She is pretty good with it.
*
It has been painted over. It's very subtle - the original background was very light, with slightly darker designs to make the relevant sigils…..and the darkest stain overall. Physically present, but hard to pick out visually, even in good light. The wards maintain their even rippling, dark red shimmers of light, like sunlight through closed eyelids.
*
Once Josie has uncovered the actual ward she stops immediately. The large knife is folded andtucked away, the n she begins rummaging through her bag for some paper. Whether the runes are raised or lowered compared to the wall itself she should be able to get a print of it with graphite and paper… Josie is working pretty intently, even letting her tongue hang just a little bit out of her mouth as she makes this copy. Most people wouldn't notice her working. But every sorcerer or warlock is different.
*
And it's like being poked somewhere sensitive. But he doesn't come boiling out of his bedroom in a storm of wrath and silk pajamas. No, he's put on a robe and slippers and cloaked himself with his abilities….all the better to see exactly what she's doing. They're ever so faintly raised, just by a layer of paint or two….but they will reveal themselves to a rubbing. So she's taking impressions, and he's lurking in the hall, merely watching her.
*
Once Josie has the impressions she lays the papers out on the floor. three of them in total, side by side. Josie reaches up and brushes her hair back from her face, frowning thoughtfully while she odes. The girl glances around briefly like something has alarmed her but other than faint frown she doesn't react. Maybe she felt Lamont but clearly she's written that feeling off. "This place feels way too heavy for something this simple. I have to be missing something… I mean, Mr. Cranston's a far out guy, but either he lives on a pile of demons or…" She's mumbling to herself. Seriously. If Lamont wasn't so close- allowed only by his cloak- it would be too quiet to follow.
*
Fairly basic runes of alertness, concealment. He's got good, old-fashioned handwriting, it seems. Cranston himself is silent, observing. God forbid he pop out like a jack in the box and have her prove to be far more of a battle sorcerer than he is.
*
Finally Josie shakes her head, scowling as she does. "Nothing here. Basement? Attic?" The girl is gathering up her papers and rolling them up to stuff them into her bag. She quickly gets up and lofts her bag as well, turning toward the hall behind her. She seems to be carefully surveying her options for the moment.
*
They sort of….bend when it comes to the door that must lead down to the basement. Rather than merely threads intended to monitor, there's a sense of containment…and misdirection. Not only is the door physically locked, the ward patterns there urge the onlooker to ignore and forget. There's something more important to think about, surely. An errand to do. Nothing to see here, move along.
*
"…But first I should get a sandwich. Munchies. Jeeze." Josie drops the idea of checkingthe basement out of her mind in aninstant and instead focuses on the kitchen. Her body is tensefor a second, drawn taut like a bow, and she waits while she considers everything hse knows about the place. The security of the foodstuffs, level of trouble this may cause… Plenty of variables are involved. Her bag is safely across her back for the moment. So off she goes, ambling into the house. Sword and all. Clueless, apparently.
*
The kitchen has one light on, over the stove. It's quiet and clean, no traces left from dinner. Lamont may have staff, but he's far from too proud to do the cleaning himself, when he needs to. The wards there are the same, worked into the doorways and the baseboards, generally. Passive and waiting, observational only.
*
Having a partial sketch Josie is confident (probably correctly) she can extrapolate the rest so rather than dig into these she instead makes for he refrigerator. There's a quick survey made of the food that is available. Josie is hoping to make a sandwich. it might contain some odd things, including leftovers, if lunch meat and cheese are not on the menu. Munchies. Pot. She isn't picky right now. After a moment the young woman stops and then reaches into a pocket. She gropes around blindly for a second before producing a cigarette. "Damn it. Lighter… Lighter…" Perhaps unbelievably, she moves to start up a burner on the stove, cursing quietly to herself as she does.
*
The fridge proves to have plenty of things intended for sandwiches. They do make a good quick meal, and if he's only got a cook here part time….After a little, there's the sound of feet. Someone's at least pretending to have just woken up and come downstairs for cookies and milk, presumably. He does a fair impression of someone bleary with sleep - he's got on a dark blue robe made of what at least looks like silk, over pajama pants, t-shirt, and old slippers.
*
Josie is quick to jump and reach over the stove to shut of the heat as soon as she hears footsteps behind her. "…Ow!" A second later she is juggling a sandwich in one hand and nursing a burn on he aother arm. There's a quiet yelp involved. SOmehow the cigarette is still burning between the girl's lips as she turns to face the doorway. The duffel bag is a few meters away. "…Hey," Josie calls from her place by the stove, blinking profusely. "Did I wake you? Sorry. Got hungry. Or are you huntingfor snacks?"
*
"Oh, no," he says, blinking at her in turn, rather owlishly. Then he cocks his head. "Are you all right?" he asks. "I have fits of insomnia, now and again," he adds, lazily.
*
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just… Stupid," Josie responds, glowering a the stove as she does.More smoke curls form the cigarette and she straightens, adjusting how she's holding the sandwich. "Well, I mean, you're welcome to be down here with me," she finally offers, looking around he kitchen. "I can never sleep the first night in a new place."
*
He nods, settling a kettle on the stove, after filling it with water. "I thought I'd make tea. Something herbal, so it won't keep me up. Would you like some?" he wonders. Lamont's hair's rumpled with sleep, eyes shadowed. "Chamomile, maybe," he adds, as if that were the necessary inducement.
*
"Sure. Chamomile sounds great." Josie flashes a quick smile and then nods slowly. She turns and moves toward the nearby table. "Thanks." The young woman is fidgeting slightly as she slides into her newly chosen seat. She briefly rubs the small burn again.
*
The first thing he does is get bits of ice out of the freezer, twists it up in a clean kitchen towel, and hands it to her. "For the burn," he says, evenly. And then he taps a wire matchbox holder by the stove. "IF you need to light up in the kitchen, that'll serve you better," he notes. Maybe teasing. Just a little.
*
"Right I… Should have seen that," Josie respond, a bit ruefully. She takes the ice and tucks it against her arm. The girl inhales deeply of the smoke and shifts in her seat, starting to relax. "Thank you again," she continues with a nod. "Mmm. So, um. You and my brother seem to have a pretty strong relationship," she starts carefully. "How did you meet exactly? I know you are both working on the whole Archive thing…"
*
"Chance," he says, simply, as he measures out loose tea into a couple of cups. "I overheard him speaking in the street. HE was quoting texts he should've never been able to find, let alone read. Occult texts are something of an old family obsession…."
*
"That sounds like Lin," Josie mutters, half to herself. She's calm now, resting her arm against the ice and smoking away. Eventually she reaches for her sandwich and rearranges it in hand to attempt to take a bite while drawing the cigarette from her mouth at the same time. "And then I guess you really hit it off? I'm just glad someone was therefore him. After he left, I… Anyway."
*
"Well," he says, as he takes a seat at the table. "He….he needed help. I might be able to actually do him some good. Or if I can't, direct him to those who can. But as the Archive, he might well draw some bad men, eager to take advantage of the knowledge he contains. It seemed safer to have him here, when he wants to be."
*
Josie nods slowly at that statmeent, her expression thoughtful ashse studies the kitchen. She looks around briefly and then down at her food past the curling smoke. "So," she starts, past a mouthful of sandwich. "He said that you were bound to him ? Like, the Archive is yours to call on and that kind of shit?"
*
Lamont nearly drops the sugar bowl he's just picked up, regarding Josie with wide gray eyes. Deliberately, he sets it down again before answering her. "I….wasn't aware we'd gotten to that point," he says, slowly. "I knew that as something of a relic himself there's the possibility of him binding himself to a sorcerer. And I am just enough of a magician to qualify, it seems."
*
"I might have misunderstood him," Josie responds quickly. "he said youcould call on the relic and stuff and I was prettysure that could only happen if you twowere bound," she continues blandly. "I might be jumping the gun a little bit. Sorry." She sares back at Lamont with the widest eyes in turn, her own a rather vivid blue.
*
The kettle's begun to whistle, and he rises and pours for each cup. There's the grassy sweet scent of chamomile strong in the kitchen. "I have not had a relic bind itself to me before," he says, slowly. The Phurba in the basement doesn't count - that was a forced match, as it were. "Not like that. I….might be missing it, out of ignorance or wishful thinking." The line of his back is tense, as he glances over his shoulder at her.
*
"Wishful thinking? Are you hoping he's not bound to you like that?" Josie asks slowly, watching as the tea is being poured. She ctucks her cigarette between her lips once more to smoke a few more puffs before adding, "Like I said. I might have misunderstood. I didn't, like, find away o verify it it or anything. I was just curious."
*
Lamont settles back down, carefully. "Not necessarily," There's still that uncertainty to his voice. "I'm…more afraid I'd be inadequate as his protector. And that ….that we'd not suit, in terms of personalities. He's not an object, he has a will of his own beyond the binding choice…."
*
"You seem to get along really well so far," Josie responds rather gently. "And you seem to be really nice so far," she adds then, tilting her head as she does. "I don't know about protecting him. I mean, you were obviously in the military and you've got plenty of experience shooting, 'd guess, by all those callouses and the way you jive. That's a leg up on most people… I don't know if I could protect him either, honestly. Like. THe magic has to help, dig?"
*
That has him eyeing her across the table with something that can only be at least the dawn of respect. "You are observant," he says, drily….and there's both approval and wariness there. "I'm not 'nice'," he adds, and there's a hint of bitter amusement in his voice. "Nor am I good. But….you have a point. Many a sorcerer has had his day ruined by the application of a .45 slug."
*
"Good is pretty much irrelevant. I don't honestly fucking care if you're a good person, dig? You keep Lin safe and the rest of the world can cut out, dig?" Josie shrugs her slender shoulders and twists in her seat slightly. She exhales oe last puff of smoke from the cigarette between her lips and then moves to take another bite of sandwich before finding somewhere to extinguish her smoke. "And hey, you're being nice to me. And Lin. How am I supposed to judge? I'm an asshole," Josie responds soberly. "And you're right. Shoot them in the face before they get the chance to say anything. Only way to be sure."
*
There's a clean glass ashtray on the kitchen table. Apparently Lamont is not averse to a post-prandial cigarette, when he's dining alone in the kitchen. "Indeed," he says, drily. "You have experience hunting sorcerers as well?"
*
"Yep," Josie responds shortly. Her expression is suddenly very serious. "After Lin disappeared I looked everywhere. And then I stumbled on to some people who'd been chasing him. Knew what happened. Magic. Bad magic too, to hear peole talk about it." She shakes her head slowly as she sarts to speak, inhaling deeply through her nose. "I decided to learn everything I could so that when I finally caught up to him I might be able to help a little bit." She rolls her shoulders then, studying Lamont's expression carefully. "I'm just here to help Lin. As long as you're on his side you don't need to worry about me."
*
He regards her for a long silent moment. About as revealing as a concrete block. Then, finally, he nods. "I am on his side. And the same goes for you. I mean him nothing but good….and while I am far from perfect and make mistakes, that you can be assured of."
*
"No one's perfect," Josie responds, shrugging agian as she does. "We're all afucked up and just looking for some peace of mind." She closes her eyes for a second and titls her head back until she's facing the ceiling. "Anyway, if you do have some problems with oogly booglies or demons or somehing… GIve me a poke. I might know how to help. Or at least be able to get a head start for the border to Ontario."
*
The gray eyes are cool, as he watches her. "I sense an interesting past there," he notes, before he gets up to take the herbs out of the cups, and bring them to the table. "Sugar there, honey if you want it," he adds, nodding first at the sugar bowl, and then the little door that must be the pantry.
*
"Maybe," Josie agrees mildly to the statement about her past. She moves to collect the sugar and add a bit to her tea before lifting it to her lips. She inhales deeply of the steam before swallowing a mouthful quickly. "A-ah," Josie states afterward, steam curling past her lips. "Hot." Then she shrugs and takes another sip.
*
Lamont blows on his a little, continues to regard her,thoughtfully. Only when it's cooled a bit does he try a sip. Then he's gazing down into his tea, and it turns into a kind of weariness. "Be welcome in my house," he says, finally. It has the air of something formal. A benediction, perhaps.
*