Coffee & Magic

[Einstein]

Einstein wasn't a huge fan of artsy restaurants and businesses. They were always pretentious, and filled with pretentious people. But, they did make some good food, sometimes. You just had to know how to pick them. Einstein had picked the little shop more out of necessity than anything else. She needed to find a close-by place that wasn't in somebody else's territory, and with the Wave taking Downtown, most of her first choices were cut out. So the teacher had picked an artsy little place that was in TdS' extended territory. Maybe someday she'd actually convince the others to claim all of the South and it would be in their official territory.

Einstein sat in a chair at a table over in the corner, another chair set up for Pepper right across it from her. She had her coffee already in hand, and was sipping at it quietly while she waited. Although, really, no one beyond a few feet of where she was sitting would really know how much sound she was making, given that it was magically dulled to the point where a shout would come out as a whisper. She wasn't sure exactly what the other Councilor would want, so she hadn't put an order in for her. Better not to order than to order the wrong thing.

  Supernal Vision P1, Control Sound P3

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-04-19 10:41:52		Einstein rolls 4 to Control Sound (Forces + Gnosis) (10 Again)		10, 2, 9, 7, 8		3 successes
2015-04-19 10:41:41		Einstein rolls 5 to Control Sound (Forces + Gnosis) (10 Again)		7, 2, 3, 6, 3		failure
2015-04-19 10:41:25		Einstein rolls 8 to Supernal Vision/Magic Shield Combined (Wits + Occult + Prime + HS - 2) (10 Again)		4, 3, 8, 2, 3, 4, 6, 6		1 success

[Pepper]

  Fortune's Protection 2p 3a -1mana

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-04-19 12:40:28		Pepper rolls 8 to Fortune's Protection(Rote) (10 Again)		9, 6, 4, 2, 6, 9, 2, 4		2 successes

Pepper enters the coffee shop and feels the sensation of active spellwork against her senses, then so=pot's Einstein at a table. She waves, then gets a tea from the counter and joins her at the table.

"Hey. I take it we can talk freely?" She paused for Confirmation, then flashed a smile. "Great! Can I just say, you have a brilliant mind for understanding how laws should work. Were you trained, or is it just instinct?"

[Einstein]

"Yeah, we can talk freely, although if you're going to use...uh," What was a good term for them? "Our words, you should probably lower your voice a little. The spell can only do so much - it drops volume down. I have this one set up to kill a lot of sound, but let it be loud enough and it can get out." She could only do so much, as an Apprentice. Even if 'so much' was something it had taken Sleepers hundreds of years to accomplish without magic

Pepper's comment got an eyebrow's rise and a smile, though. Einstein was a genius, and she knew it, but it was always nice to hear it acknowledged. "A little of both. I didn't get a real education in it, but I pulled it out of books." The Mysterium's libraries were usually full of dusty tomes about law. "And, thanks. You're pretty good at the legal stuff too."

[Pepper]

Pepper nodded along an made note not to yell anything, then nodded again, in approval, at Einstein's confidence in her skills. "Ah, well, kudos to you. I was trained to be more than just a lowly worker, which means I was seriously taught the laws. So that you managed to suggest most of what I was thinking before I got a chance to speak really says a lot. It kinda sucks you wound up where you did, cause you think a lot more like, well..." She paused to take a sip of her tea and shrug at the same time. "A ladder. You and Emrys, both, actually. Though Damn I wish he hadn't talked over me. I hate when people answer for me when I'm there to answer for myself."

[Einstein]

Einstein would probably have said something about the 'lowly worker' comment, along the lines of asking what that was supposed to mean. But, Pepper was talking a lot faster than Einstein could process and react. And then, she ended on something a lot more surprising, that made Einstein completely forget about the first sentence.

Einstein gave Pepper a completely bewildered look. "What?" Think like a Ladder? That just threw her completely off her game, and no other words came to mind to respond to that.

[Pepper]

Pepper pulled up short, surprised at Einstein's bewildered question. "Uh.... About Emrys talking over me or you thinking like a ladder? I mean, I assume the Emrys thing is obvious." She hoped it was, otherwise she really had overreacted in telling him to shut up.

[Einstein]

"The...second one." Emrys talking over someone and being disrespectful had been something she'd noticed. He did a lot of it too, barging into what other people were talking about to add his own two cents. And then, he had the nerve to act like she was the one who did that. Seriously? Her face twisted a little at the thought, then she remembered where she was and it returned to normal. Or, confused. Which was normal, here.

[Pepper]

Pepper nodded. "Right, so. Knowledge and interest in Law, confidence in your abilities, you don't bother with false modesty. You'd be a better Ladder than Emrys, since although you seek power out, you don't steamroll over people - well, you could, but if you do it, you're aware of when you're doing it, compared to Emrys who just goes roaring into things."

The Acanthus tapped the table sharply with one of her nails, and leaned forward a bit. "You don't give as much ground as Faye or Truce either. Both of the need to build their confidence. Those tend to be the hallmark characteristics for a Ladder, really. I could ask you a bunch of other things, but Gyges was right about one thing - people can learn the philosophies and beliefs of an order if they think that Order can give them what they want." It was an odd note to end on, mentioning the Temoin de Suds member who had left, and it made Pepper back pedal a little.

"Not that I'm trying to recruit you. Since doing so would require you to betray the free council and as a whole this city doesn't need that kind of infighting right now."

[Einstein]

Einstein mostly gave Pepper a blank stare while she spoke. Everything she said, she acted like it was a compliment. Even worse, it all made sense. The thought that a Ladder, one of the Diamond's little Tyrants - even if she was a nicer version than Einstein was used to - thought that she acted like a Ladder? That was a little spooky.

"I....uh...." What was she supposed to say to that, really? Her mouth hung open, like a fish out of water, while she tried to think of something to say. "...Truce is kind of a pushover." Hey, when you don't have anything else to say, state the obvious. "And, uh...thanks, I...guess?"

[Pepper]

Pepper gave a slightly dismayed expression and nodded to Einstein's statement. "I didn't realize it at first. He's like Mace, though I wouldn't call her a complete push over. I'm a bit worried about that. I need to figure out some way to get him to actually hold his opinions and fight for them a bit."

But she'd been watching Einstein too, though. "Hey, you alright? You looked shocked."