Choristers vs. Hermetics: Go, Go!

[K. R. Jakes] Three is a good number, and well-fortuned; three is a sacred number (for a reason). Three pairs of eyes. Three questions. Three answers. Two cabals of three. Three men. Three women. There is a balance insofar as numbers go, right now, even if some might claim that the magi involved are unbalanced, that stability is unravelling for both cabals, that (stability is always unravelling, that) at least the cabal of Hermetics is in the twilight of their days.

Three is a good number, and the young Chorister's expressions change (see how they chase each other) after each Hermetic answers. Bran, he gets a very quiet [intense] regard, another question in her eyes that she chooses not to voice yet. And maybe she'll wind up keeping it to herself, a secret. Circular logic, indeed. She raises her eyebrows at him, and then her expression changes from questioning and half-inscrutable to apologetic once Justine has had her say. "Oh, of course," she says. "I'm only curious, because -- well; of late," wry, "I've heard so many different opinions. I'm always listening for more."

More, such as Ashley's. Ashley's answer has Kage's expression edging toward pensive (and cautious). "I see. But don't you think that -- " a brief pause; she divides her gaze between Ashley and Bran. Then she decides to be more politic. "But how do you know that it doesn't? If you're not even curious about what created your Will, if you're not even curious about what your Will, essentially, is -- how can you hope to use it properly?"

For now, Hannibal and Simon are quiet. They're looking at each other, and they're not saying a word, and this is not a comfortable. They're both Magi with great presence -- they're both forceful, in their way, and the way they're looking at each other, eye to eye, is a speaking look.

[Ashley McGowen] "Define 'use it properly,'" Ashley says, after a moment. After a single glance toward Hannibal to gauge his reaction before she continues on. "Any system of ethics set down is someone trying to exert their Will over someone else, someone trying to get something from you, and in the end it's for their own benefit. I don't let someone else shape my Will in anything else, so why would I let them shape it over this?"

Dangerous words, and the Tytalan does not drop them lightly. She gives them consideration - perhaps all the more unnerving, since she seems to genuinely believe it.

Justine meets Kage's eyes at her words - they're warm and brown, the same soft and shining tone as her hair - and she seems to understand. Far more than Ashley or Bran ever have or ever will. She understands that magic is a gift, a privilege, that the Will burns like fire and has to be controlled and tempered like one. She understands that she is here, in part, to restrain and guide the other two.

So that Bran is not just a user, not just a manipulator, and Ashley does not withdraw into herself and her own sense of right until she is a monster. To remind them that magi have a duty.

And clearly, there is some of that same tension between Simon and Hannibal - for Ashley and Bran are too drawn into themselves and their own beliefs to ever even realize that Justine has turned her energies to protecting them from themselves. Hannibal is much more cognizant of his own differences with Simon. And probably with Kage, one day.

[K. R. Jakes] "Use it -- to its full potential. That is what I meant by 'properly,'" Kage says, with a faint (ghost) smile. There, see it? Almost touches her mouth, if not her eyes. Hannibal wanted her to observe. And she is observing, all right. What she is making of what she observes likely isn't what he wanted her to make of it.

"Although..." No, stop. "Bran leads your cabal? What does that mean to you? What does, uhm, Bran," she addresses him. "What does that mean to you? Do you just -- do you really just do it because you can't think of anything else to do?"

Hannibal was listening, understand. He was listening, even as he was having whatever he was having out with Simon, eye to eye. He looks up, at the ceiling, for a brief moment. He takes a deep breath, lets it out. He isn't polite. This much, at least, Ashley will have picked up by now; she'd probably have heard already about how short tempered, how irascible, Hannibal could be if ever his apprentices spoke of him. He'll wait until Ashley or Bran (or Justine) have answered that question before he adds his own two cents. But oh, baby. There are two cents to be added.

He doesn't look at Simon, and Simon is back to being blank. In many ways, they interact the way cats do.

[Ashley McGowen] Bran and Justine have always treated Hannibal with a sort of fear and reverence, the way they would treat a demigod. Or they did, back when the three of them were all young apprentices, nineteen and twenty, before they all grew into their roles and came to understand the strength of Will each of them possessed themselves. Now Bran wants to -become- Hannibal, even flatters himself to imagine he is like him some days.

Needless to say, they've informed Ashley of the number of things he's done over the years, of what it was like to be his apprentice. Ashley has always been quietly envious.

Bran smiles. "I do lead the cabal. Because I want to, and the other two follow me." And he does stop to think about it. "It's because I have a vision for where we want to go and where we can end up, and I move us to do those things. I think most of the Order has given up after the Ascension War, and that...well, it saddens me."

Though his sadness is at this point a ghost of what it was. It probably did make Bran sad once. His purpose has taken over any true feelings he might have on the matter.

"Bran's challenged me to move outside the library and apply everything I've studied," Ashley says to Kage, to explain. Justine, too, nods.

[K. R. Jakes] "Past tense."

Hannibal and Kage speak as one. This seems to disconcert Kage; she raises an eyebrow, but doesn't look at the Flambeau magi yet. He is regarding Bran, and the look in his eyes, well. That's the look a very bright patch of ground might notice in a gatherin stormcloud, the second before it's struck by lightning (do you remember, can you remember).

Before Hannibal can say another word, though:

"Has he challenged you to look outside his vision?" Kage asks, and she glances halfly at Simon. At Hannibal. Her eyebrows have drawn together, and her gaze is dark. "Do you look outside your vision, I mean?" The 'you' was to include Bran; not just address Ashley and Justine. Her voice is steady, too.

[Ashley McGowen] Bran, for a few seconds, peers out at them from behind a fringe of red hair with confusion in his eyes. He himself has never been fully aware that it's entirely past tense - he's not given it that much thought. It's one of those things he tells himself, that it makes him sad and that he wants to do something about it. That he loves Ashley and Justine and that's why he leads them, that's why he wants them as his companions and friends.

"Why would I?" he says. "It's my work."

For Bran, there are many things that are in the past tense now, but he carries on with them anyway. Who really wants to believe that he's just using his friends now, that he keeps them because it's comfortable and they're reliable and he doesn't want to see how things have unraveled?

"I've always had my own vision," Justine says, quietly. "And I think the Technocracy stifles people's hope and their beliefs. I'm happy to keep fighting against them however I can."

"It's more in the challenge for me than in what I'm actually doing," Ashley says, with a shrug. "I could be learning to make baskets and it could sort of be worthwhile, it just probably wouldn't be as satisfying." A wry smile, at that, a rare expression. Ashley has a sort of charm that's tied up in her warrior's approach to things; it sparks now and again, that brief show of the passion that's there beneath the drive to improve and conquer.

[K. R. Jakes]

"If your vision is strong -- " Kage is bewildered (touched), and cautious, and reserved. For the briefest of moments, she looks away from everybody; focuses instead on some point across Ashley's apartment, by a book, or a scrap of paper, or a pen, where there is a shadow. She isn't looking at the shadow, or the pen, or the paper, or the book or even the apartment wall. For that moment, her gaze hangs on nothing in mid air. " -- why wouldn't you?"

"This sounds like laziness," Hannibal says (pronounces; dread it. His voice is svelt, is smooth as water; however. There are needles hidden within -- not hidden very deep, either. It's a dangerous tone). "The worst kind. I wonder if this is how a Sleeper thinks? Simon, what say you?"

"What I believe," Simon says, blandly, "is that you've baited everyone enough for an evening."

[Ashley McGowen]

Ashley and Justine do not look at Bran as that smooth voice calls him lazy. Justine knows that Hannibal means it as an insult of the worst kind. For Ashley, these are words she expects to hear out of a mentor's mouth. She understands why Hannibal is doing this, why he's baiting and insulting Bran: because he believes it, and because a student often has to be forced into action. Forced into addressing their behavior. He's providing Bran with an opportunity to prove him wrong.

The poor students get discouraged and give up, the good ones fight it.

Bran, for his part, is absolutely incensed. "I've confronted the Technocracy, I've undermined them, I've instructed the Sleepers, and I've convinced some magi who gave up hope that -winning might be possible,-" he says, and here he bangs his fist on the coffee table to punctuate his point. (And this, finally, causes Ashley to look at him, eyes flashing angrily.) He jerks for a second as though he will stand, but remains seated. "I don't think anyone in this room could rightfully call me lazy."

[K. R. Jakes] "Are you saying," Hannibal says, carefully. Oh, see how carefully, how very, very carefully he uses his words? See how his mouth curves, just slightly? See how Simon looks at his cabalmate, right now? As if he's once again focusing on the world, as if he is, once again, coming back from a far place? A cynical twist to his eyebrow? See how Kage looks at Hannibal, now? Quickly? How she bites the inside of her lip? "That I'm wrong?"

He hasn't actually changed his tone at all. He really hasn't. But there's something about it; you expect the situation to have escalated in such a way that now Hannibal is a fifteen foot guy bound in sheer muscle and he's just stood up to look (down) at the little guy who made a smart remark.

[Ashley McGowen] "Say yes," Ashley mutters, though Bran is too far away to hear. Among the Tytali, telling your mentor he's wrong is likely to get you punished, stuck doing some boring mundane task for hours, but it will also at the very least win you the respect of your mentor. They're a surprisingly open group of people in their dealings with each other, House Tytalus.

Bran has not had this sort of mentorship from Hannibal. He's feared and nigh unto hero worshiped this man since he was seventeen years old. He's no longer an apprentice and so he's no longer afraid of Hannibal, not physically, not magically, but he -is- afraid of losing his respect and esteem. This is why Bran will never be Hannibal.

"Master Hannibal," he says, slowly, "I'm seeking to provide you some perspective on what I've been doing in Europe, and what I've learned. I realize how that response could appear lazy to someone else, but I can assure you it isn't."

Justine gives him a look of sympathy, and the Choristers get one of apology. This is why she prefers to keep her mouth shut.

[K. R. Jakes] "Ah. So you think that I lack perspective." And this is followed by a crushing silence (go ahead, fill it).

Justine's apologetic glance is intercepted by Simon, who is watching Hannibal and Bran, yes, but also keeping everybody else in mind. His mouth curves, faintly [compassion (aloof)]. That way he has of smiling; it makes him seem lost (knowing). At least, he's courteous enough -- and in comparison, he's as courteous as an etiquette master at a university devoted to etiquette for a hundred thousand years. Kage doesn't notice, this time.

[Ashley McGowen] "I thought that you might not have all of the information," Bran says, still speaking slowly, trying to choose his words. He doesn't -look- terrified, but he is, and a little angry that this man who held so much of a sway over him in his youth still does. Even now that he's on the road to becoming a master one day himself. "So I was trying to explain."

Justine gives Simon a small smile, catching the courtesy, the attempt at diplomacy, and clearly appreciating it. Her expression suggests that this is hardly the first time this has happened. She's been privy to arguments between Bran and Hannibal, these small challenges while Bran attempts to prove himself, since they were both taken in as apprentices.

Ashley listens to Bran talk with Hannibal, trying to explain himself (ingratiate, she thinks) and lets out a small sigh, leaning her elbow on the back of Kage's chair.

[K. R. Jakes] "Past tense again, Bran." Hannibal. He is unrelenting. "What are you going to do about that?"

Ashley leans against Kage's chair, and Kage glances (musing) at her, then back at the [drama] two arguers. She clears her throat, and she hasn't interrupted yet, but she is going to. She starts to reach across Simon to touch Hannibal's knee, but Simon catches her hand before she can quite (be wary, little thing). He was too far away, anyway.

[Ashley McGowen] Ashley is not looking at Kage, and Kage is on her blind side - she misses the glance upward, that considering look. Ashley is watching Bran interact with Hannibal with a critical eye, as though seeing Bran for the first time in a while. A long time. She's nearly three years younger than she will be when she and Kage meet again (less bitter) and at that time she enjoyed meeting new people more, but right now she's a bit caught up in her own concerns.

Bran looks up at Hannibal, and while he thinks, he removes his glasses and begins cleaning them on his shirt. For something to do while he stalls, because the thing that is evident to everyone else in the room is not evident to him.

"What do you suggest I do about it, Master Hannibal? I'm entirely open to suggestion."

[K. R. Jakes] Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 2 (Failure at target 6)

[K. R. Jakes] "Oh are you?" Hannibal says, (sinister) soft and sharp at once. He leans forward, and there's a crackle of almost energy around him; the potential for energy, the potential for possibility. "I -- "

"Just stop," Kage says. "Look. I only -- " and she's hurrying on, because Hannibal doesn't really enjoy being interrupted, not looking at the dark eyed man " -- asked what I asked because it seemed to me that you, Ashley, do actually look ou -- "

And remember, Hannibal doesn't really enjoy being interrupted? He suddenly loses all pretense at suavity. He slams his fists onto Ashley's table and snarls a word and all of them -- Ashley, Justine, Bran, Simon and Kage -- can feel the quick strike of Hannibal's Not Very Subtle Will, tempestuous and without mercy [Static] crushingly so.

And Kage? Is totally silent. Her jaw is sharp, is tight. She looks pained.

And Simon? Give him a moment.

Hannibal, however: "Now," the growl is low, deep in the back of his voice still. "My cabalmate's student has a kind heart, but no more help from the Celestial Chorus for you, Bran Summers. I want to hear just how open you are. Enlighten me."

[Ashley McGowen] "Will you both stop hitting my fucking table!" is Ashley's outburst in spite of the crackling energy around all of them. Perhaps she's been stirred by that relentless feel to Hannibal's magic, similar in some ways to her own. She silences again, reaching up and rubbing her temple (the scarred one) with the tips of her fingers when Hannibal again invites Bran to defend himself. Kage, though, gets a curious look; Ashley is clearly wondering what she was going to say.

Justine, like Simon and Kage, is silent, looking at Bran with concern. Unfortunately, she also realizes it might be a good thing for his ego to get stomped on a little.

Bran finds his voice with an "Umm..." And, once he realizes he still has it, he shoves his glasses back on his nose. "I clearly should be trying to think outside the Technocratic Union for the time being," he says, contrite. "So I'll turn my attention to other things. Focusing on research back here in Boston, maybe." But he's groping for answers. He has no idea what he did wrong.

In fact, he has no idea why Kage even asked him whether he was looking outside his vision in the first place. Right now the young man is fighting off hopeless confusion, and it shows.

[K. R. Jakes] This isn't the first time. This won't be the last time. Bran Summers is explaining himself to Hannibal. Hannibal is flicking Ashley a glance, one still resonant with the recent flexing of Power, one that is almost a threat (so much of what he does is). Justine is looking with concern at the cabalmate who is like a brother to her (beloved), but holding her tongue. Ashley is thinking about herself, about what the stranger might've said about her; Kage is quiet, and furious, and pinching the bridge of her nose, wan as the chevaliers left to wander sedge and wither by la belle dame sans merci. And Simon stands, and it's possible to note a certain brutal efficiency in his grace, and he punches Hannibal in the face. Hard. Bone snaps.

[Ashley McGowen] Justine's mouth sags open a little. Bran looks torn: he's furious with Hannibal at the moment, confused and upset and feeling like he could use some support (and it's not coming from the woman that would have, years ago, happily gotten up in Hannibal's face to defend him), and yet wanting to defend his mentor against an attack.

Ashley looks like she's about five seconds from throwing the two of them out. This is her damned house. But in this, she holds her tongue; she knows that trying to throw them out is a fight she couldn't win, if they chose to resist. Better to let them just settle it themselves. But if they break something, oh, there will be a reckoning.

"Please!" Justine finally breaks in. "Don't start this here. There's...you could call for a certamen at the chantry." And work through it like civilized magi, are the unspoken words.

[K. R. Jakes] Hannibal's on his feet. And then Hannibal's off his feet. Because he's been punched, again. Now: Hannibal is not a slouch when it comes to physical violence; indeed, he's quite good at it (his nature is violent, in many respects; explosive, for all he carries himself so quiet, until, until). His students have probably seen Hannibal in a brawl before. And after.

They haven't seen Simon in a brawl, however. And Simon didn't seem like the type, exactly; now his jaw is set, and his wide (focused) eyes are on his cabalmate. His knuckles are bruised, and bloodied, and Hannibal is holding his nose. He doesn't try to get up again. Rather, after a furious second, he laughs, low, thick.

And in a low, thick voice says: "I'm sorry, Virtue. But I'm trying to teach the boy a lesson." It sounds more like buh 'm tying ta teach da boy a less'n. It's probably the first time they've ever heard Hannibal say sorry, however. Or at least only the second time. "That won't be necessary Justine."

"Yet," Simon says. Then Simon turns (pivots) to face Ashley. He keeps Bran and Justine in his view, though, as best he can. "And I'm sorry," he says, sincerely. "But it's rude to use that kind of word on another man's student. We didn't just come to catch up. We brought you three something."

[Ashley McGowen] "Perhaps another time, Master Hannibal," Bran suggests, aware that he is still going to have to come up with an answer to Hannibal at some point in time. The man isn't the type to just let this kind of thing go. And it's better if he actually goes out of his way to schedule a time to meet with him instead of letting Hannibal -surprise- him.

Ashley meets Simon's eyes, nods her understanding. There's still some anger there, he can see it in the tightness of her jaw, but she can understand. She would be a hypocrite for saying that he wasn't right to assert himself.

"What did you come to bring?" Justine asks, curiously, since Bran is holding his tongue and it isn't really Ashley's place to talk.

[K. R. Jakes] Hannibal smiles (faintly) at Bran. It isn't a smile of approval, and it's a fairly gruesome thing. Peel back the attitude, and there's something almost savage about Hannibal; city predator. His face is a bloody mess, and his nose is definitely broken. By sheer luck alone, no blood on Ashley's couch.

Kage is still [chained to] quiet. No input, except a handkerchief for Hannibal, which she withdraws from her pocket. He accepts it, and does not give her an apologetic glance, although he does give her a Look. Which sort've runs off her like water.

"We'll be in town four more days," Hannibal says.

And Simon says, simply, "A book and a Wonder."

[Ashley McGowen] "Then maybe tomorrow," Bran says. It's not the savage nature that troubles him. Ashley herself has a fierce nature, a predatory one, and he has been dealing with it since he was twenty years old. He gives Hannibal a stiff nod.

Justine gives Kage a concerned look, a considering one, one that wonders how much of an affect on her this all has had. She's a student, an apprentice, and being around so many big personalities, not to mention seeing them all come into conflict, has to weigh on her somewhat.

Then it's all smiles as she looks back at Simon. "That's very kind of you both. Thank you."

[K. R. Jakes] "Tomorrow," Hannibal agrees.

Hannibal chuckles, at that. Kind was not a term that was ever, ever attributed to him. And he knew it. And kind wasn't really a word that many people attributed to Simon, either. Simon's student was, occasionally, kind. What they'd brought Bran Summers wasn't a kind thing to bring him. The book -- well; the book would be useful. The book contained an old secret (warrior's). The book was a lying thing, and so very old.

The Wonder, however. The Wonder was a riddle, was a secret, was power locked under seven by seven knots, a deck of cards that was more than a deck of cards, a deck of cards that they may find (or may not; perhaps it won't unlock for them) able to take on attributes of select individuals, and then, oh then, what readings one could do, what communications -- it's a Wonder, something sacred, a relic. But the riddles: they'd drive a good man insane.

And Kage finally gets her voice back, and coughs. "You know, I'll go to the car and get them."

[Ashley McGowen] All three Hermetics look intensely curious as Kage says she'll go to the car to get them. Bran and Justine realize that these are most likely not helpful gifts; chances are they'll be at the very least a learning tool. Hannibal is not the kind of mentor who just gifts his pupils with things.

"Will you need any help carrying anything?" Justine offers.

[K. R. Jakes] "No. They're not so heavy, once you've already touched them the first time," Kage says, and she offers Justine an almost smile. Once again, it lends a certain gorgeousness to her eyes; a brightness, which fades when she's no longer (almost) smiling. That said, her words were grim -- a warning. And out Kage goes, leaving the experienced Tradition mages alone together for a time.

Simon is still standing, and he doesn't seem inclined to sit. Hannibal cleans his nose up.

[Ashley McGowen] While Hannibal is away getting the blood cleaned off his nose, presumably in the bathroom, Justine gives Bran's shoulder a pat and asks if he's all right. Ashley looks like she might have something to say to him, possibly to console him, but not here in front of people and not right now. She takes the seat next to him now that others in the room have left and now that Simon's standing.

Bran places his hand on top of Ashley's and she looks at it, hesitates for a long moment and then covers it with one of hers.

"How long has she been your student?" Justine asks, looking up at Simon after Kage has gone out to the car. "She's very observant."

[K. R. Jakes] "Ah. Not very long," Simon replies. "Months. A handful of them. But," and his eyes are distant, again, "she wasn't new when our paths crossed. She already has ideas."

Hannibal, bruised, but not broken (as if he'd ever), returns on the tail-end of this sentence. He doesn't scoff. He just takes a seat again -- Kage's chair, since Ashley sat on the couch.

[Ashley McGowen] "I would imagine it's difficult to train someone who's been an orphan for a while," Ashley agrees, watching Simon carefully. When Hannibal comes back to the room she looks as though she's about to rise to give him his spot on the couch back, and then just stops and remains where she is when he takes Kage's chair instead.

"So how -did- you all end up together, Master Hannibal?" Justine asks, looking toward the large man once he has seated himself. "You never explained to us how the two of you ended up keeping company."

[K. R. Jakes] He doesn't reply immediately, Simon. A beat, and: "It is always difficult to be a person's teacher," Simon says, to Ashley. "They seldom come as blank pieces of paper; and even the blankest are palimpsest."

Hannibal raises his eyebrows (did you ask the wrong question again) at Justine, but if he's affronted by her temerity, he doesn't show it. There's not so much as a hint that he's going to explode at her, or even much more than the usual air of general sharp (arrogance) disapproval.

"Ha. I don't remember if you tried to answer my earlier question, Justine. What use are they?"

[Ashley McGowen] "That's true," Ashley agrees, "but it's different to teach someone to unlearn a Sleeper mentality than it is to teach them to unlearn magic. Particularly if they're older - then they already have their opinions formed about how the world works -and- how magic works."

"I didn't," Justine says to Hannibal, with a small smile. "But I don't really keep company with people because they're useful, Master Hannibal." It's much too polite to be a reproach, though it certainly -would- be coming from anyone else. Bran looks at Justine with a raised eyebrow and no small bit of anxiety. It might start again.

But Justine continues. "I suppose you thought you had some sort of common purpose with them. Or you and Simon work well together. Or you like each other. Those are the reasons I'm here with Bran and Ashley, so I would assume it's the same for you."

[K. R. Jakes] "Of course you don't," Hannibal says, brusquely. As if Justine's very polite not-reproach was nothing at all except for empty air, shaped into something by a voice. "But that doesn't negate your ability to see what use they might possibly have."

"I will tell you this," Simon says, [prophetic] softly, "Ashley." The way he says her name. As if it were a Word. He focuses completely on her for a moment -- so completely, so intensely, that it can't be comfortable, and his eyes are very blue, and he doesn't blink them. "When you teach, it is both helpful and useful," maybe he's listening to Justine and Hannibal after all, "to remember that different instruments can play the same melody; that different melodies can make up the same piece of music. There are different interpretations of the old music. Even in your Order of Hermes this is true."

[Ashley McGowen] "They provide additional perspectives and advice," Justine says. "What I believe isn't all that different from the Chorus, really, I suppose. And I also suppose that keeping around members of other Traditions makes you seem more diplomatic and helps you influence the other Traditions."

This isn't stated with approval or disapproval. It just is.

Ashley turns her own very blue eyes toward Simon, listening. A muscle in her cheek twitches when he draws the musical metaphor. "I have amusia, actually," she tells him, with that same touch of wry humor she used with Kage earlier, "but I understand. If I do happen to take on a student in the future, I'll make sure I keep it in mind."

[K. R. Jakes] "Ha," Hannibal says. "Well, actually..."

"I'm sorry," Simon says, when Ashley says she has amusia actually. "Always?" For a second, he almost looks like a human being.

This is when the door opens again and -- enter, (young) Kage, bearing gifts. There is a book (clearly; it's wrapped in cloth, protection against the elements, and oh, the cloth has symbolic meaning) held against her chest. And no sign of the Wonder, at first. "I'm back," she says, unecessarily. Perhaps because she can speak again? And she sets the book on the table, for Bran and Justine and Ashley to look over, and then she slips her hand into her pocket, and her fingers close around the deck of cards. A moment, a second. And then she brings that out, too, and offers it to whoever is the first to take it.

[Ashley McGowen] Justine looks interested in what Hannibal is about to say, raising an eyebrow and waiting for him to explain. Bran has been following this conversation and looks slightly envious: Justine managed to draw an explanation from Hannibal when he could not. They are exactly like siblings in most things, and that includes rivalries.

"No, it's acquired," Ashley says. "When I was eighteen I..." And then, when Kage comes back in she trails off in favor of looking at the objects that have been brought in.

Bran extends his hand for the deck of cards, while Justine looks at the book. It's wrapped in a cloth, and the young woman reaches forward to unwrap it so that she can get a look at the title. "Thank you, Kage," she says.

[K. R. Jakes] There is no title. The book looks like any that one might find in any used bookshop. But it feels like more. The book has its own resonance (liar [holy]) and the more perceptive of the Hermetics might feel lingering yet some touch of Will in the book's bindings, but it is very, very faint (irreverence [building]). And after a second or two, this sense that it was more dissipates (odd) as if it never was (hidden, mystery, open me, open me).

Bran holds his hand out for the deck of cards. And they too look very, very plain, but not at all like they've been weathered. When she puts them into Bran's hand, hesitates for a second, he'll hear it (murmuring, mad moon, lunacy; fragments of balladry, poems, half-glimpsed things out of the corner of his eye, a question a question a questionquestionquestion and something to be desired). The cards, however, are tied up, and it appears that the 'knots' Simon mentioned earlier are at least somewhat literal. Because whoever tied the deck of cards 'round with twine and ribbon and strands from brine-soaked rope -- they knew what the hell they were doing.

And Hannibal, Simon and Kage are all watching to see what the Hermetics are going to do.

[Ashley McGowen] Justine tries to examine the book from all ends, and Bran does similarly with the stack of cards. They check to see how the primal energy within them resonates, they peer at them from all angles before they either try to unbind the cards or open the book.

Assuming he doesn't sense anything off about the Weaving in the cards, Bran turns his attention to the knots. He has nimble fingers, it seems, and he takes a very methodical approach to trying to get the knots to slip free of each other.

Justine, too, opens up the book and begins to flip through its pages, trying to get a gist of what the book is about. Ashley watches curiously over both of their shoulders.

[K. R. Jakes] As soon as Justine opens the book, it gets cooler.

She won't notice immediately, and perhaps she won't even be the one to notice (although she is perceptive, observant), but it will begin to infiltrate her mind, tease her with half-written words. There are two books, and the book she is looking at is only the camoflauge. The actual book -- well; unlock it. It lives in the spine. It lives in the mind, a memory impressed onto the pages, so that sometimes it's almost a real book ...

... And oh, Bran. It isn't that easy. His fingers are quick and nimble, and his smile is charming and quick, but it will take much more than that to unknot the (what did they say? The riddles) knots that bind the deck of cards close. Tick, tick, tock. It's a logic puzzle, of sorts, and the deeper he looks into it, the more it'll start to snare at him. There are booby traps: touch a knot the wrong way, and it'll suck out your [spirit (magick) soul (energy)] will to speak. Another will take a memory.

It's an OLD wonder, see. Wonder where Hannibal and Simon got them, and why they're giving them away.

[K. R. Jakes] The Hermetics are quickly (too?) drawn into the mystery that the book and the cards represent. Kage folds her arms over her chest, looking at the three thoughtfully, pensively; her gaze wanders from them to Hannibal and Simon, and she raises an (question) eyebrow.

Simon is not the one who catches the look first. He seems devoted (no: still distracted? No: devoted) to watching the young Hermetics. Perhaps they'll feel it when he Does Something; when the air is touched with (awe? and...) a very faint note of someone having touched Prime. Then again, perhaps they won't. The gifts are distracting.

This means Hannibal is the one to catch the look. He says, "And we'll leave you with this. Remember, they're on loan, unless you can figure out how to use the deck. In which case," and his smile is a villain's smile, is insidious, is simmeringly proud, "we'll revisit how long of a loan they'll be."

Simon, courteous, "Thank you for having us over." He reaches out; takes Kage by the elbow, steers her away. She doesn't move away from him, but she looks away from Ashley and Bran and Justine only after a second, regardless of steering. Her expression is well, that's that, then?

[Ashley McGowen] They're like dogs that have been given one of those soft chews full of peanut butter, trying to figure out how to get it out. Utterly rapt. All three of them look up and smile in unison as Simon politely thanks them for having the other cabal over.

"Nice to meet you both," Justine says to Simon and Kage; Ashley nods, but does not offer any goodbyes of her own. "And to see you again," she adds, to Hannibal. "We'll see what we can work out of these."

"I'll speak with you tomorrow, Master Hannibal," Bran tells the older Hermetic, with a touch of apprehension.

[K. R. Jakes] "I certainly hope you remember how to speak with me," Hannibal says, and it sounds like a promise and a threat, although he is smiling at Bran when he says it (because he is smiling at Bran when he says it).

"It's been an interesting evening," Kage says, courteous, and Simon -- maybe he's the public face of the cabal? -- just nods a serious response. He looks at Hannibal, and although it may have seemed that the two punches were enough, that Hannibal and Simon were done arguing over tonight, that would be a seeming, and not the truth. There's a promise, in the way they look at each other, and the beginning of an argument.

And with that, they leave, just the way they came.