It May Not Be the Louvre...(Private)

[Aenigma]

Aenigma listened to the redhead's words, nodding in agreement to both what she had said and the proposal for a toast. "Of course," he said, raising his own glass with a smile. "To forging a better future!" He took a sip from his wine after the toast, savoring the flavor once more. "Oh, no need to apologize," said the Warlock, offering Lux a reassuring smile.

"So let's switch gears a bit," he said as he spotted the waiter quickly approaching with their food. "Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?"

[Lux]

Lux thanked the waiter as she set down the food, and then took a sip of wine, conscious of the Sleepers presence until she wandered back through the spell. It wasn't the fact that the women wasn't Enlightened that made her pause, Lux just didn't like unspecified people knowing about her past. Actually, that wasn't entirely true, she didn't like anyone knowing about her past, but she liked Aenigma and a bit of give would be necessary if there was going to be any trust between them. And without that, there really was no point to the relationship.

"Well, let's see, where shall I begin the Epic that is myself," she joked, hiding her uncertainties behind a grin. "Many years ago, when the earth was young, I was raised in Montreal, Quebec. My mother was a native but my father was actually from BC, so I learned French and English in tandem as I was growing up. Apparently I had a hell of a time not using a pidgin when I was younger, but I figured things out before it became a problem in schools. Later though, it was a blessing to speak both 'national' languages, and because of that, and because of my choice of career, I went to a university in Toronto, snapped up a degree, and then started trying to rake in money. Those years were, well, I'll just say interesting. At the time it was heaven. Go to work from 8-5, then go home, relax for a bit, and then delve into the nightlife head first. There wasn't anything I wanted that I couldn't get. But really, that was the problem. What I thought I wanted, what I thought I had, wasn't worth anything. That was the most shocking thing about Waking up. It wasn't just realizing how much larger the Universe was, it was also seeing how small I had made the world.

"Thankfully, though, I had Awakened into a large Consilium, and I found a mentor very early on, so there were a lot of people there to guide me along. A lot of people to pester with questions. I actually made a sort of game, to go striding up to someone at random times, acting like I had something on the tip of my tongue, and then see what sort of faces the other people standing around would make...Maybe that's something you would have just had to been there for" she laughed, shaking her head before pausing to take another sip of wine. "Anyways, my mentor was a Ladder, so I suppose it's not odd to see what Order I chose, but no matter what I heard about the other Orders, I always knew which one I belonged in. However, only a few weeks after I was inducted into the Order, something pretty big happened in the Consilium and things got shaken up. My Order came out on top, but the City didn't feel the same anymore. I disagreed with some of what was done, I found it hard to put my old life behind me, and in the end I thought it best to leave. So, with blessings from my Mentor I left for the West, heading down to Sacramento, the mystical land of possibilities, to help fight the good fight. With words, mind you. Hitting people is bad. Unless they disagree with you," she finally finished, the smile disappearing behind a facade of calm and prim sincerity.

[Aenigma]

The Mystagogue listened closely as the redheaded Thearch delved into the story of her life, well more like the "tl;dr" version of it. He paid close attention to everything she said, occasionally reaching for his glass to take a sip of wine. There were many advantages to having a photographic memory; in this particular case, remembering every detail would help if she ever quizzed him about something later. Not that she would, but Aenigma had found that some most women liked to play mind games and test their significant others from time to time.

I guess that gives me an advantage over the average guy, huh? Will never forget a first date, first kiss, anniversaries...ok, I'm getting too ahead of myself...

Aenigma listened to her all the way through to the end, at which point he couldn't help but laugh a little. "I'll make a note to not disagree with you on anything in the future," he said to her, offering Lux a pleasant smile. "That's quite the story though! You know, what you said about your Awakening...funny how that seems to be the case, right?" The question was obviously rhetorical, as he quickly finished his thought. "As Sleepers, we all live our lives as if nothing is wrong. Go to school, graduate, work...the whole nine yards. But little do we know that we truly are living a Lie, and it isn't until we Awaken to the truth that we realize how wrong we've been all along...and how much more there is to our existence than the cookie-cutter routines that we've been brainwashed to follow," he said, reflecting upon his own Awakening for a brief moment.

He paused for a moment, realizing that perhaps he expressed his thoughts a bit harsher than he had intended to...and then looked down at their food before looking back up to meet Lux's eyes. "I'm sorry...didn't mean to sound like such a downer about the whole thing," he said to her in an apologetic tone. "We should get started on these though...wouldn't want our food getting cold." Aenigma gave her a sweet smile, but did not reach for his knife and fork yet. After all, what kind of gentleman starts eating before his lady?

Hopefully I didn't just make an ass out of myself...

[Lux]

Lux had been about to take a sip when Aenigma finished speaking, and suddenly she burst into a small fit of snickering and quickly set her glass down before it spilled. She held up a hand, trying to forestall his reaction, and wiped a few droplets of wine off her face with a napkin.

"Sorry...I'm sorry, but it's just struck me as a bit ridiculous," she managed after a second, clearing biting back more laughter. "We're both these...supposedly enlightened individuals, but it seems like we're both, I'm not sure, tiptoeing around conversation. I mean, you're right, the point you made holds true, but what I was trying to say was that even for most I used to have a shitty outlook. Almost as bad as those people on that Jersey show. I mean, in a different way," she added quickly, realizing how that could be interpreted, "but about the same level of removal from the world. I think that's why I sometimes slip into those pseudo-reflective moods, as though I'm trying to compensate for the past, but that's not a very authentic way to live.

"I guess my point is, well, why don't we both try to relax a bit. You've actually been very charming. Don't worry about offending me, and I'll...stop fighting for conversation." She looked down then, feeling a bit insecure despite her words, but feigned nonchalance as she began cutting into her salmon. "But on that note, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself? I mean, after you've had a chance to taste your food."

[Aenigma]

At first Aenigma thought he had said something ridiculous as he watched the woman across from him laugh. However, when she explained the cause of her laughter, the Warlock seemed to relax a bit and let out a soft chuckle of his own. "You know what, you are absolutely right about that," he said to her, offering her a smile. "What's in the past is in the past. It is important to learn lessons from it, but one shouldn't dwell on it so much that it clouds what's happening in the present or what may happen in the future."

With those words he reached for his fork and knife and started on his meal. However, when the redheaded Thearch asked Aenigma about his own past, he quickly realized how much of a hypocrite he was for saying those last words to her.

What's in the past is in the past...yeah...right. That sounds nice, but it isn't always true...is it?

He took a couple of bites as hesitated for a moment before answering her question. "Well, what can I say?" said the Mystagogue, buying himself a little more time as he stalled. "I was born and raised in the Washington, DC area. I'm an only child, and led a pretty normal life up to my own Awakening shortly before finishing high school." He paused for a moment as he took another sip of wine to clear his throat a bit.

"I attended Georgetown University for both my undergrad and my graduate studies, which is where I met my mentor," said the Mastigos, sneaking in a bite or two, but making sure not to talk with his mouth full. "He was a history professor of mine, and a member of the Mysterium. I guess his influence is part of what drew me to the Order, asides from my own interests of course. Either way, he was the one that inducted me and taught me much of what I know today."

There was another pause, this one a little longer than the others. A slightly somber expression took over the Warlock's face as he reached for his glass and drank some more wine. "Shortly after I received my master's degree, some...things happened with the local Concilum," said Aenigma in a slightly distant tone. "Things changed, and not for the better. A lot of...bad things happened, and my mentor urged me to leave DC behind...which is why I'm here now."

[Lux]

"Since high school? Intéressant," Lux replied, eyes widening. "And you said 'what can I say'? That's not unremarkable, you know, but rather pretty incredible. That must have been horribly confusing, going through such a revelation right as you were at the stage of discovering subjective truth in the world, and yet you must have a remarkably solid grasp of all this. I have to say, even the most basic acts of Will still surprise and impress me, but for you they must be old hat." She paused, taking another bite of food, taking the time to enjoy it so he could respond. Lux hadn't failed to notice his pause, and that vague look of remembrance in his eyes, but she didn't wish to pry. She had been similarly vague on why she had left as well.

[Aenigma]

Aenigma couldn't help but blush a little when Lux spoke in French. Even if it was just one word, he was still a sucker for accents. "I guess it sounds better when you put it like that," he said and then laughed a bit. "It was definitely a confusing time for me, can't lie about that. I was lucky that my mentor found me when he did, because I would've been lost without him." The Warlock paused for a moment as he took another bite or two from his meal, following that up with another sip of wine.

"You'd be surprised though, while there are things that I'm used to by now, what our kind is capable of never ceases to amaze me," he said with a genuine smile. "Besides, there is so much more that I have yet to learn."

[Lux]

"Oh, well, I already knew that last part," she said, grinning mischievously, pausing to take a sip of wine. "But no, I suppose you're right, if you weren't impressed by such things you wouldn't be as open minded or astute as you are. I suppose maybe it's similar to art, in that way. If a sculptor began to think of statues and stone as commonplace and boring then soon all their work would become uninspired, and they would cease to be an artist, and become merely a copyist." She drained the last bit of wine from her glass, and then glanced at it, as though surprised it was empty.

"Would you mind," she asked with a smile, gesturing to the wine bottle.

[Aenigma]

"Exactly!" said Aenigma, smiling at Lux's words. "I wouldn't have been able to say it any better myself." He let out a soft laugh and then took another sip of wine. "That is an analogy I may have to borrow in the future," said the Warlock with a smile, taking another couple of bites from his plate.

Wait. Did she just call me astute? Gosh, am I bad at noticing compliments...

When the redheaded Thearch gestured towards the bottle of wine, his smile widened just a bit. "Oh, not at all," he said as he reached for the bottle. "Just say when." With those words, he began to pour some wine into her glass, waiting for her indication of when he should stop.