A Little Day Drinking

[Nesrin Aziz]

Ah. So Cade hadn’t resisted the arrest. The actual story was predictably underwhelming and Nesrin only smirked. She hadn’t thought the monster line was true, but she listened with slightly more interest when it seemed he was declaring it wasn’t his lie. He seemed too earnest for straight dishonesty, but she found it curious. She’d seen strange things at Almaz, and stranger things in dreams, but what he described sounded almost fairytale. Given what Zigzag said about hosts, it made her wonder exactly what she might be dealing with with The Emissary. Nesrin suppressed a shiver with the last of her cocktail, compartmentalising the concern for later.

She ought to have felt some empathy for his story; she was younger when her own mother died, and the chasm of her absence shaped much of her early life. Given how she’d felt when Brandon accidentally revealed Nesrin hadn’t even properly known her own mother’s name, the loss was still as sharp, however buried. Inside was a burn for answers she sometimes denied and sometimes embraced. But beyond what she’d already shared, matters of parentage were really not what she wanted to think about right now either. Instead she welcomed Anna’s return with more drinks with a grin, and curled back comfortably in her chair.

As she pressed the fresh glass to her lips she glanced at Elyse over the rim, sharing a small smile for how Anna used the opportunity to move a little closer to Cade.

“The dancers use it on stage at Kallisti? How do they do that? Can you show us anything?” she asked curiously of Anna.

[Anna]

Anna shrugged at Nes’s question. ”Some do. Mostly for visual effects. There’s a viral video that shows it happening. Cade showed it to us before your arrival.” Anna took a deep drink. ”I wouldn’t be good at demonstrating though. I’m not very good at it. I need more practice, but I can’t even hold the power when I’m not…”

Anna stopped, and her eyes widened. She WAS holding the power, and she WAS NOT nervous. In the conversation she had simply forgotten about holding on to the power, but had kept a hold of it. By not thinking about it, she had accessed her power

”Elyse! I’m not nervous. I can use the power when I’m not nervous!” she said, earning a smile from Elyse. Anna addressed the other two. ”Seriously until just now, I couldn’t do anything with it unless I was nervous. Now I can actually learn how to use it. Still couldn’t demonstrate a whole lot though. Sorry.” she mentioned to Nes.

Testing it out, she dropped the power and easily embraced it again. It was just there - ready for her to use. She did what felt natural. Water - water came to her quickly, and she channeled a simple thread of water, turning it into a floating sphere. She placed it in Elyse’s empty glass. ”See - nothing exciting or special, but it’s really just a start.” She shrugged.

[Cade]

Cade pulled out his wallet and showed Nes the video of his brother. It was a collage of various skits and fights throughout the internet. He hadn't compiled it but it was the one that kept coming up when he looked for his brother online. Like someone was trying to change the narative to showcase just how dangerous this man was.

It seemed to Cade that someone was going through a lot of trouble to make sure this guy was known, and it felt like a warning. "That's supposedly my brother. Though I get the feeling someone is trying to change the narrative. He's dangerous, but all the other videos and information seem to disappear, and only this remains. It's strange. I know I've seen the originals, but I can't find them."

Cade didn't really understand what Anna was talking about, only that it had to do with her magic -- this gift, but Cade didn't seem to think it was much of a gift if the Ascendancy was right and a murderous cult would come after you. Maybe that's what the narrative was about for his brother -- don't come after me or you might regret it? Not that Cade believed in monsters or cults. He'd say he didn't believe in magic, but he had just seen a globe of water fill a glass from nothing -- so there was that.

[Elyse]

Elyse was truly happy for Anna.  She had seen her frustration at rehearsals when others were so easily able to access their gifts with the power.  She knew Anna struggled, and apparently now, that struggle was over. She could really learn how to use it.  The joy was all over her face.  "I'm really proud of you, Anna. Very happy for you!"

Cade showed Nes the video he had showed them just before. There was something to say for the originals disappearing. Likely Sage was at work there.  But in reality, it didn't matter for Elyse.  She knew what Nox could do, and the video wasn't for her. Elyse also knew he was dangerous, and the video could very well be a warning.

For now, Elyse remained silent, allowing Nes to react to the video however she wished.  She began to think about her problem and finishing her own drink and the glass of water Anna made for her.  Elyse began to formulate her own plans with regards to that. Mae still hadn't responded, but that was her primary thing. Still, she had things to do, and the sooner she got to them, the better.

Elyse waited for a good time to speak up. "Well, I'm afraid I need to get going. I have some things to take care of with regards to my situation. I thank you guys for the distraction, it really helped a lot. I'm also sorry for my generally bleak attitude." She looked towards Cade and Nes. "It was very nice to meet both of you. Feel free to contact me if you wanna do something like this again. Generally down attitude aside, I had fun!" Elyse gave them her contact information.

Anna stood up with Elyse and wrapped her in a hug. "You gonna be alright?" Anna said, holding her in the hug.

Elyse responded. "I think I will be. I'll want to talk to you later tonight if that is okay - I'll text you?"

"Of course," Anna said letting her go.

Elyse turned once more to the group. "See you all soon!"

((OoC: feel free to say goodbyes or anything and mod her leaving if you want to))

[Nesrin Aziz]

Visual effects were what she was curious about. Nesrin had seen the video, of course – not that she admitted as much. She was just steering the conversation into a direction that sparked her interest. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Wicked’s capabilities, or the rather loose deal they had just made, but they were talking about the m’Antinomian here – something she was beginning to realise might be more than a bunch of nerds in their basements. So, if there was, say, a way to obscure or change an aspect of her appearance that actually confused facial recognition. Well, that would be useful for all sorts of things. But she already knew Nox wasn’t going to be able to teach her any of that. And apparently Anna was new to her abilities.

She leaned over to watch the video Cade shared anyway, as curious as if she hadn’t ever seen it. What he said about someone changing the narrative made her smile, since she had insight he lacked. Was this cute little paediatrician really ready for the kind of life he was poking around in? Probably not.

A while later Elyse made to leave, and Nesrin bid her a farewell along with the others. She’d stay a while longer, enough to finish the drink, but she wondered if Anna might appreciate time to chat with Cade alone.

“I should probably go,” she said eventually. “Need to start looking for a new place, and see about getting this guy fixed.” She patted the bag by her feet, which housed the ruined laptop. Neither of those things were strictly true, but as Elyse helpfully pointed out, who really knew with Nesrin. She stood to retrieve her hoodie and pulled it over her head. The coffee smell was pungent, but at least it was dry. “Thank you for the rescue. You guys made a shitty day a little brighter.” Nesrin was blessed with one of those light up the face smiles, and she gave one now as she heaved the bag strap onto her shoulder.

”Hopefully I’ll see you around Kallisti, Anna. Either way I still owe you that dance.” She grinned, waved her goodbyes to Cade too, and slipped out the door.

[[Nesrin would have stayed and chatted for a while before she excused herself, so just assume that happened lol]]

[Anna]

Anna kept her eyes on Elyse until she left the bar, the concern growing in her again. Elyse wouldn’t lie, so she’d hear from the other woman tonight, and would know what was going on. Their little group was starting to break up. Nezrin was the next to leave.

”I look forward to it,” she said with a genuine smile to Nezrin’s dance comment. ”Ill try not to fall in love!”

When Nezrin stepped out, Anna was left with Cade. Her thoughts went to Elyse though. She looked at her drink, turning it slowly and admiring the colors. ”If you’d like to leave,” her tone straight forward. ”id understand, but I’d also be grateful for the company.”

Anna wasn’t pleading. It was simply an offer. It wasn’t an attempt to flirt either. At least not right now. Either way, Anna planned on staying for a little longer.

[Cade]

Their little impromptu gathering was breaking up. Elyse was the first to leave and then Nesrin left. Anna was the last of the women he'd met to stay. "I have nowhere else to be. And it wouldn't do to leave you drinking alone, even if we just met."

Cade figured there wasn't a lot to talk about. "What brought you to working at Kallisti? Seems like an interesting place to work. How well do you know my brother? What's he like?"

[Anna]

Anna chuckled, not because his question was funny, but ultimately because of the answer. She worked at a burlesque club now, but what she had done before was significantly more risqué. It hadn’t been something she was ashamed of. She had liked it, and was good at it too. She would be interested in more with Cade, and how he reacted to this might determine if it would even be a possibility.

”I moved here from Chicago because I needed a change. Moscow seemed like the place to be. I applied at Kallisti because it was similar to what I did in the States. It had a reputation that the dancers were treated well. Applying there made sense. I’ve been happy with the move so far.”

Anna didn’t actually tell him she used to take off clothes for money, but there was enough information for him to make the deduction if he thought about it.

”As for your brother, well, we’ve not actually spoken and if we have, it hasn’t been much. I’ve only really seen him in passing. I’m sorry - I don’t have much to tell you there. I can tell you he always treats the other performers with respect and seems to legitimately care about us. Elyse is his ex, and they still get along. That’s enough for me to trust him.” she frowned, her apology sincere. She really wished she could give him more.

[Cade]

It wasn't hard to deduce what she meant. It wasn't uncommon for women to do such things, sex sells. Laney had danced a time or two before they'd gotten together. It had been more a sorority dare than anything during rush week, and he knew plenty of women who paid their way through medical school doing the same. It was easy money. "You don't worry about what you can do, and all the attention he's bringing with the viral videos? Specially with the cult hunting people like you. Did you have trouble back home? "

[Anna]

Anna shook her head. ”Not really. Nox also does security and the team does good work keeping us safe. Since I’ve started, there have been no alterations besides your typical stuff. Maybe you were right. Maybe those videos are being edited as a warning of sorts? I don’t know.”

To be honest, Anna had never thought about it being a danger to herself. She had never been good enough with the power to actually be worried though. ”Maybe I should be more afraid. I’ve never really thought about it but…” Anna paused and finished off another drink, gather her thoughts. ”A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Now it’s been a very long time since I went through catechism, so I’m 100% sure this isn’t what it means, but it fits. Sometimes, you just don’t want to hide anymore. You want to say to the world, ‘this is who I am, and I’m proud of that.’ I could live in fear, or I could be me - and I’d rather do the latter. I don’t know - maybe that doesn’t make sense.” she sighed, still finding it odd that she quoted scripture. ”I didn’t know about the Atharim when I lived in the states and wasn’t really good enough with it to draw any attention. The only problem at home was the occasional customer who got too handsy.”