Chocolate Chip Cookies

[K. R. Jakes] K. R. Jakes is not a regular visitor of the White Fence House. This isn't because she doesn't know the way. This isn't because the road is too-long, the way too-hard. This isn't even because she is afraid of what might happen there: if someone began to listen to a rumour that said the White Fence House was cursed, that all the magi caught in its web would eventually find themselves eye to eye with their doom, who would really blame them? The White Fence House, for all its cheerful facade, for all its wholesome Americana, has seen its share of blood.

But K. R. Jakes is in the house now. The slender [plain (average)] pale-skinned Orphan is in the kitchen and she is using the oven. The kitchen smells like cookies, chocolate chip, and the door to the patio is open. Kage is reading a book, her elbows on the counter, and it's just a matter of waiting for another ten minutes before the cookies are done.

[Basil Gillingson] Basil meanwhile is flipping through a book with skin-like hide bound to the book. The Hermetic is staring down into the book when the entrance of a new figure draws his attention away from the study. The eyes stare directly at her for a moment...dark eyes rolling over the figure of Kage. His hands slid around the spine of the book, almost snapping it quietly.

"You're a new face."

The accent was Northern British...quite clear that he was not Stateside.

[K. R. Jakes] They've a threshold between them. Basil's in the living room, and Kage is in the kitchen. They both have books. Maybe Basil was really, really quiet; maybe Kage's book is really, really good. He notices her first, and stares, then speaks, and his voice draws her gaze from the ink-dark words scrawled across the bone-yellow pages of her book, draws her glancea cross the threshold, onto his imperious -- not profile. He's looking at her directly, and Kage quirks an eyebrow. Her finger is a place-holder; she hasn't shut her book yet.

"Since I haven't seen you before," she says, "I suppose I must be. Who are you?"

[Basil Gillingson] "Initiate Exemptus Basil Gillingson bani Quaesitor of the Order. And you are?"

Basil said quietly as he walked into the kitchen itself, setting the unsettling tome on the counter, his hand resting on it as if it would disappear without being touched by the magi.

[K. R. Jakes] "Charmed," she says, and look: there's hardly any dryness at all in her voice. The red-haired Orphan is making cookies, and she doesn't know Basil; she has no reason at all to suspect him of being a dick, or a jerk, or a spy, or a monster, except for the fact that he's a Hermetic, a Quesitor, and he just put a valuable book down on a kitchen counter. That's not enough to convict a guy. "Kage Jakes." And, book held in place with one hand, balanced on her thigh, she offers Basil her hand.

[Basil Gillingson] Basil glanced to the hand before offering his hand in turn. The contact sends shivers up the arm, static electricity seemed to be concentrated around the flesh of his hand as he shook it firmly and then let go.

"And your tradition, Ms. Jakes? And position? So I can properly address you."

[K. R. Jakes] He looks at her hand for a second, and she tucks amusement away in the corner of her mouth. Doesn't quite smile. Kage is in a [demure (restrained)] button-up, casual only insofar as she manages to make it so. Her arms are bare, and when the hair on her left arm prickles, she pays attention, eyebrows drawing -- briefly -- together. Her own resonance doesn't reach out and affect people; she's thankful. Potential shock aside, she shakes Basil's hand as if she's used to shaking people's hands at meetings. "You can address me as 'Kage.' Or Dr. Jakes, if you absolutely must be formal. There isn't any more: I don't follow one of the Nine."

[Ashley McGowen] The cold and the rain haven't gone away. When Ashley enters the chantry house, she's wondering what kind of hell she chose to go to grad school in: one that snows six months out of the year and then rains and blows bone-chilling wind for another two. The Tytalan is unhappily damp, dark hair weighed down with moisture, cheeks and nose and hands the red of embers.

She steps into the house, lets the door close with an enthusiastic slam, and allows a last shiver before she pulls her coat off and leaves it hanging on the banister. Shoes are removed, left in a haphazard pile by the door.

She smells the cookies in the kitchen before she hears the voices, and that cues her in that there are people here - there often are not, this late in the evening. Pulling her messenger bag back over her shoulder and wincing as the soaked cuffs of her pants touch her socks, Ashley heads toward the back of the house. Once there, she peers into the kitchen, stopping when she sees Kage and Basil there.

This should be good.

[Basil Gillingson] Basil arches the brow before he sets the hand back on the book, relaxing it.

"Ahhh...another Orphan...I see."

The almost friendly tone is now evaporated from his words as he stared at her. He clears his throat as if he had swallowed something coming up his throat before he regarded her fully.

"So, is there a particular reason for your role being outside of the Traditionals?"

He rest his left hand behind his back, the fingers almost flexing to a fist though this more the reserved stance that Basil takes as he watches her, staring down the aquillan nose.

[K. R. Jakes] "Of course," Kage says, grave as dirt, a courteous sort've duh. Basil will probably put this together fairly quickly: Kage isn't an Orphan the way Emily is an Orphan, because she doesn't know any better, because she's being placed in a Tradition now; Kage isn't an Orphan the way Enid was an Orphan so recently, because she was new, didn't know. Kage is an Orphan on purpose. "Is there a reason you joined House Quaesitor over all the other Houses in the Order of Hermes? Why?" - inquisitive. And there's Ashley, in the doorway. Kage notices, and gives her a nod. Says: "I'm baking cookies. There's milk in the refrigerator now."

[Basil Gillingson] The eyes glance over his shoulder at Ashley...and the Hermetic turns his head as he addresses Ashley.

"Disciple McGowen, good evening."

He waits to be addressed before he finally deigns to speak to Kage once more.

"...I joined the Quaesitor because I felt its pursuits would be more towards my arts as well as my capabilities. It was also the house of my prator as well."

[Ashley McGowen] Kage gives her a nod, says that she's making cookies and there's milk in the refrigerator. Ashley doesn't need to be told twice to take Kage up on the invitation, opening the door and pulling out the jug of milk. "Thanks," she says, her tone almost bright as she pours it into a mug. "You want any?"

And, as the liquid sloshes into the mug, "Evening, Basil." It's deliberate, the way she uses his first name. As though she's aware of the fact that it irritates him, that he thinks it's a breach of protocol.

[K. R. Jakes] "Ah hah. Following in the footsteps of someone you admire, then? How long have you been part of your House, lending your art to its grand pursuits, whatever they may be or vice versa?" Then, Ashley: Kage scrunches her nose slightly. "Not unless you'd like to make some tea to put in that milk."

[Basil Gillingson] "...two decades."

He says, regarding Kage before the head turned to stare at Ashley.

"I have done more them my pursuits for the Hermetics as well as the conflicts with the Technocrats during the 80s and early 90s. I have bled, killed, and sacrificed."

He says flatly, the eyes staring at Ashely more then Kage as he addresses the Orphan's question.

[Basil Gillingson] (I have done more then necessary, my pursuits...sorry)

[Ashley McGowen] "I think the only tea here is Lipton and stuff," Ashley says, with a disdainful glance toward the cabinet in which such things are stored. After Kage turns down the offer of milk she restores the cap and goes to put the jug back in the refrigerator.

She is turning an ear to the conversation between Basil and Kage. Doesn't miss the man's stare as he claims to have bled, killed and sacrificed. "You have almost a decade on me, Initiate," she says, glancing over at Basil as she lifts her mug.

[K. R. Jakes] It'd be an insensitive sort've person who didn't notice that there was a certain frisson of tension between the man who felt like he was made out've electricity and the woman who felt like she was shaped out've hunger. Kage isn't an insensitive person, and she knows Hermetics far better than she'd like (it's always too much [it's always too little]). The red-haired Orphan doesn't feel the need to look at Ashley when she comments on the passage of time. Instead, instead: she says, "Do you regret it? Why did you do more than necessary, if necessity didn't call for it?"

And then! The timer dings, and she pushes away from the counter [easy (composed)], setting her book down on the floor rather than the counter, and she wanders over to the oven, opens it, peers inside. Heat comes out, wavering, warping the air, and the cookies look [smell] good, so she casts about for some sort've kitchen mit implement. When she doesn't find any, she grabs some paper towel and wraps it around her hands before hauling the tray out.

[Basil Gillingson] "Things were sacrificed that I had no intention of sacrificing. Someone...something had to repay the balance."

Basil says before the fingers tap the skin hide of his book before he looked to Ashley once more.

"Almost a decade? Hrmmm...I would think it was a bit longer but I could be mistaken. You don't look that old, Disciple McGowen."

He casts his eyes elsewhere...thoughts turning inwards...going silent.

[Ashley McGowen] "I'm twenty-eight. I woke up when I was almost nineteen," Ashley says, raising the mug once more. "I was remarking on time spent Awakened, not age." Her tone says: you know, what matters.

To sacrifices, she has nothing to say. Not at first. Then, "I think that's the way of Awakened life for most people." Not dismissive of Basil's words; she seems to intend to point it out.

[K. R. Jakes] Kage listens, but is doing Important Just Baked Cookies Things, and perhaps that's why she doesn't ask another question, has nothing else to add just yet. Perhaps she doesn't feel it's yet her moment in the conversation -- conversations are like symphonies, see. Everybody has a part. Not all at once.

ooc: skip me, yo!

[Basil Gillingson] "I was raised in hedge magic...both of my my parents were practitioners. I was sent away by the time I was 12 after having a fire spirit attack another kid..the rest of my life has been under the tutelage of the Hermetics. I fully Awakened when I was 16, when I was caught 'cheating' on sorcerer ritae, shortcutting the usual methods. If we want my full time as a mage...it has been thirty years, Disciple McGowen. But not all of us have been on the fast track."

Basil spoke, though his lineage screamed that if he had been part of his family's original dynasty, there could be the likelihood of him standing in her position. He glanced at Kage and then back to Ashley.

[Ashley McGowen] "I stand corrected, in that case," Ashley says, watching Kage take the cookies out of the oven. She watches the Orphan because it helps keep some of the contempt out of her expression; Basil's lineage was written plainly across his face, and she is familiar with such things. Has studied them, noticed them in the many books she's read.

"You sicced a fire spirit on another kid?" She doesn't sound surprised.

[Basil Gillingson] "I was young...I also didn't particularly care for the boy's way of discussing my mother. He was only singed a little."

Basil said offhandedly, almost dismissive of the seriousness of attacking a sleeper with a fire elemental. His fingers traced around the eye pattern along the grimoire, eyes adrift as if contemplating something.

[Ashley McGowen] Ashley looks at Basil for a long moment. Sets the mug aside, letting its weight rattle on the countertop, and folds her arms for a moment or so. Perhaps there are times when she's allowed a different perspective on her Tradition: a perspective she didn't get, back in Boston, when she primarily kept company only with Hermetics. A perspective she's earned through time spent among other magi.

What that perspective may be, though, is not entirely clear. But there is a quick glance to Kage, as though she suspects what the Orphan may be thinking. Whatever her own thoughts are, Ashley doesn't say them. Her mouth just thins for a few seconds. Then, "What prompted you to come over here for the evening, Kage?"

[K. R. Jakes] Kage is -- a courteous creature. Really, she is. Kage is also a snarky, sarcastic creature, but more often than not, she relies on courtesy; on cool, level-headed politeness. Witness, now: "You don't sound very regretful," she observes. She has poked one of the cookies, watched the dough take the impression of her finger, then rise again, and she's licked chocolate from her fingertip, and turned to face both of the Hermetics once more. "Do you still speak to your parents? What brings you to Chicago, Basil? Or is it Mister Gillingson?" Demure, see.

Then Ashley is asking Kage what prompted her to come over to the White Fence House, and Kage is giving Ashley an eloquent [yet inscrutable (her specialty)] look. "I wanted to make certain it was still here, check the message board and poke around for Henri."

[Basil Gillingson] "...its because I'm not regretful of something done when I was barely a teenager, Dr. Jakes. And no...my mother passed away some years ago and my father...well...my father is my father. There's not much between us and there never has been, never will be. And I was sent to Chicago...and please, Mr. Gillingson or my title shall suffice. I only allow those close to me to call me by my Christian name..."

The eyes fall on Ashley again...as if to remind visually that he had recognized her earlier slight.

[Ashley McGowen] He was sent to Chicago, he says. Ashley's blue eyes flick in his direction at those words, lock the same way her jaw does when it tightens, stare a moment. As though she suspects why he was sent. Resents it (of course, who wouldn't?) "I suppose you have people you keep in contact with, back at the chapter in London."

Then she looks away, gives Kage a nod as the redhead explains that she was checking the message board. "I can't get a hold of Henri," she says. "She doesn't really come here much anymore, from what I can see." Still a little troubled by that bright orange scribble. Eighteen year olds will be eighteen year olds.

[K. R. Jakes] "Mister Gillingson it is. C'mon, descend." That's for both of the Hermetics. "I think these have cooled enough now. Or, wait; I will test one for you, that your tongue be saved a burning," and she smiles at Ashley, includes Basil a little, something very much like mischief touching her eyes, and takes a bite of one of her cookies. And judging from her expression, her tongue was just burned. And it doesn't matter, because it is a warm, fresh-out've-the-oven chocolate chip cookie. Once she has swallowed - " - why were you sent to Chicago?" she asks, inquisitive.

And, half-frowns at Ashley. "Is it urgent; whatever reason you have for contacting Henri?"

[Basil Gillingson] "Nothing that should concern you, Dr. Jakes."

He paused, removing a small fob watch from his jacket, glancing at it for a moment before sliding it away.

"Good evening to you both, but I have to attend to something. Enjoy your biscuits."

He says offhandedly before moving for the door.

[Ashley McGowen] "Good night, Gillingson," she says to his back, after he checks his fob watch and departs. Spears him with her eyes as he makes his exit, and rues protocol and politics. "I'll be in touch soon for the business we discussed. So will Solomon."

Then, cookies. Which are a lot more pleasant than Quaesitori, to be certain. Ashley reaches for it carefully after she notices Kage grimace, burn her tongue, and picks it up around the edges. "It's, um," she says, holding the disc carefully. Looking at it rather than at Kage. "Well, not quite -urgent,- exactly..."

[K. R. Jakes] "I have a heart," Kage says, wryly. "Sometimes, the antics of you lot drag my concern kicking and screaming out've the closet. Have a good evening, Mister Gillingson." Then: she watches Ashley, Ashley taking a bite of cookies, Ashley kicking back in the chantry, Ashley. And she says, mouth quirked: "Happy to have another Tradition mate?"

[Ashley McGowen] "You should hear him bust out his titles," Ashley says, when Kage asks her that. Her tone is a little sour, so is the glance she shoots in the Orphan's direction. She looks as though she would say more, as though she would add something more specific, more cutting. But this is a matter of loyalties and Basil, like it or not, is a Tradition mate.

She doesn't add: he was sent to watch me, people in my house Fall. She doesn't say that. But the resentment is there. Though perhaps that's solely Basil's attitude having that effect.

[K. R. Jakes] "I didn't hear his titles?" A pause. And then: "Do you have titles?" Kage does not pry into Ashley's feelings about Basil any further than she already did. Kage understands loyalty -- perhaps surprisingly well, considering the fact that she steadfastly refuses to commit hers to anyone.

[Ashley McGowen] "It's part of a True Name," Ashley says, with a sidelong look toward Kage. "They're used primarily in high ritual and around other members of the Order of Hermes. A lot of older members will rattle off their titles when they first introduce themselves." By the way Ashley says 'a lot of older members,' it's easy to infer that she herself doesn't keep with this practice.

"So yes. I have them. Some people are kind of pompous with theirs, just like with Craft names. I'd let you laugh at his, but it would be pretty heavily frowned upon to share them." She takes a bite of the cookie, finally convinced that she won't burn her mouth.