Two at the Fox and Goose

[Crowley]

Crowley arrived early at the Fox and Goose.

It wasn't just to snare a corner seat where he and @Miach Bigpaw could sit with their backs to the wall and a broad swathe of the restaurant open to their view. It wasn't just to take in the ambience. It wasn't to sneak that extra drink in before the meal properly began. It was to give the enchanter time to decide if he should stay or go. Given the recent events, the suspicions that had been sown, the words of prophecy ringing in his ears, and a Guardian's righteous zeal, Crowley did not feel himself and suspected he wouldn't be able to stomach too many probing questions in one sitting.

So far, he was holding up his side of the bargain. He was sitting at their corner table, beer at hand, dressed in a suit with a bandana wrapped about his head. He had never realised that the Sac Bee could be so interesting. Maybe Star was right to be reading it while the Consilium assembled...

Cast at Sanctum

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2016-06-13 04:30:36		Crowley to cast Temporal Dodge rolls 8 to GNO + Time + HS (10 Again)		4, 3, 4, 4, 3, 8, 7, 9		2 successes
2016-06-13 04:29:46		Crowley to cast Shield of Chronos rolls 8 to GNO + Time + HS (10 Again)		8, 3, 1, 9, 10, 8, 6, 5, 5		4 successes

Spell cost has been noted in post

[Miach]

Carrying: Backpack, flashlight, bottle of water, smartphone, ID, swiss army knife, some change, magical tool

  3 successes to Life Shield

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2016-06-13 16:15:37		Miach rolls 9 to Res 3 + Ath 2 + Life 4 + HS 2 - extended to 24H 2 to Organic Resilience (10 Again)		3, 10, 10, 7, 5, 7, 1, 4, 2, 3, 8		3 successes

  1 success to Prime Sight

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2016-06-13 16:16:13		Miach rolls 9 to Wit 3 + Occ 3 + Rote Speciality 1 + Prime 2 + HS 2 - extended to 24H 2 to Supernal Vision (10 Again)		5, 3, 7, 10, 7, 1, 3, 5, 2, 5		1 success

  2 successes to Transform Aura

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2016-06-13 16:23:13		Miach rolls 11 to Int 3 + Occ 3 + Rote Specialty 1 + Prime 2 + HS 2 to Transform Aura (10 Again)		1, 2, 6, 3, 7, 6, 10, 3, 5, 7, 8, 7		2 successes

Sitting alone in his car after he had cast the spells that would cover him, Miach was still not moving. Sure, he had called his fellow Acanthus, and knew what he wanted to ask. Sure, it was just a talk. Like that time with Avis... Now that he was about to, he wasn't sure he could do it again. Having "just a talk", especially when it was about sensitive issues. Thankfully, Crowley had chosen a public location, and the former Herald was nothing as hard as the Mastigos to deal with, but still... still it was a social interaction about something painful, and it would require him to hold his own. And it better not be like that time with Star...

After slapping himself a couple of times to shake himself into a state of action, the mystagogue finally left his SUV and walked into the pub. Being tall had its perks, and he quickly spotted the other man with a bandana. He made his way in the crowd with an ease that betrayed his practice in such places, and arrived to the convenient table that Crowley had chosen.

"Hey, how are you tonight ?" Tonight like... not the other night. "Thank you for seeing me." he said with a thin smile to the Libertine. It must have been hard for him too.

[Crowley]

And past and future collided, forming the present. Crowley looked up from his paper, folded it and laid it aside. He gave simple nod to the sandy haired doctor as he approached.

"Not a problem," Crowley said easily, even as his stomach bounced with butterflies. "I am... Well. I"m okay, I guess. I can't complain, I mean... Can I get you a drink? Something to drink before dinner?"

Too hasty. Crowley took a deep breath. Since that night, the Enchanter had discovered he'd lost his natural rhythm.

[Miach]

A drink ? Hell yes. More like a dozen than one, but one could do for starters. "Sure. What are you having ?" he merely replied, though. Sitting across the Libertine, Miach waited until the drinks were here before talking further. He didn't want to be interrupted, but even more so, he wanted - needed - something to cling to as he would speak. He didn't trust himself to speak without at least a couple of drinks down in his stomach.

"As for dinner, so long as it's hearty, I'll be good..." delaying tactics, admittedly, but how did you start a talk about dead people because of you...

[Crowley]

"A good beer. This one..." Crowley rummaged for the menu. "And... Well... Its an English pub so the meals will always be hearty. I haven't picked anything yet."

He paused, giving the doctor time to peruse the menu.

"So. Did you want to talk first, or... You know? Eat? Eat! Eat sounds good. Uh I am famished."

It seemed that the Libertine was delaying the conversation as well.

[Miach]

The Libertine's enthusiasm about the menu was quickly mimicked by Miach's, who chose a stout, and some irish stew. "It's been some time since I've come here, and it really is a warm, cozy place." And even though it was true, the mystagogue's voice made it bland. It lacked the ring of someone who could still actually care about such a thing.

Once their meals were served, and he had started biting into it, there was little room left for evasion, though. So the doctor at last reluctantly started speaking about that night, in hushed tones and with cautious looks around to ensure their privacy.

"I asked to meet, because Star had brought an event from the past to the fore, and I wanted your help with it... Do you remember a year ago, or so, when Animus died, and I threw a pyre party for him with Avis... You said then that Falstaff had died saving you, but I didn't follow up with it, even though I still have so many questions left..."

And he let his voice trail, because he had spent all his energy saying that. Gosh, how it was good to munch, and swallow, and not talk about harsh things.

[Crowley]

Crowley matched the Mystagogue with another irish stew, this time supplemented with a light craft ale. He tucked into the meal vigorously and for a few moments was able to completely screen out the coming conversation. Miach's words dragged him into the present moment.

"Mmm. Mmm. Yes." He chewed blithely until the words struck home.

"Yes. He died for me." Crowley managed to say after a long pause and a sigh. "So. Shoot, I guess. What do you want to know?" He laid down his cutlery and reached for his drink, hoping to hide behind it while he took a drink.

[Miach]

That conversation would be like pulling teeth, but Miach couldn't blame Crowley for it. He would much rather be back home sifting a rum-pineapple while patting his cat too.

Between a couple of bites, he managed to gather his wits - or what was left from them - and asked for greater details about the Libertine's side of the story, pausing here and then to make sure noone could overhear inappropriate things "I.. was saved from them by Animus, too. But I'd be damned if I know the first actual thing about them. Closest I heard was one of them talking about his Mistress and how she would help free them from the Lie, or something...

Perhaps I owe to the departed to shed light on what they fought... you know more about them, and their cult ? And where it all happened ? It was so foggy that night..." and it all happened so fast... Being born took months. Being dead took seconds...

[Crowley]

Crowley paused. Mistress? Cult? Well... That was possible.

"Uh. They had been tracking me. Falstaff too, obviously. Two of them came at me in the street, timed it perfectly and injected me with some... drug. Next thing I knew I was in a cell with Falstaff. They... They were trying for complete sensory deprivation, I think."

He paused for a bite but gave up when the tremor in his hand picked up. Rather than stare at his jerking fingers, he stared glared across the table and carefully modulated his voice.

"There was a guard. Sleepwalker who threatened us harm if he felt we were touching the..." He gestured upward. "Uh. I managed to break free of the chains they had us in, but I was left too buggered to do much for Falstaff. So... So... we tried a different tactic and lured the guard into the cell..."

Crowley fought down a wave of nausea and had to put down his cutlery.

"He fought me off. Thats when Falstaff sacrificed himself. He... He... ah... He goaded the guard. Called him out... So. So when the guard turned on Falstaff, I slipped out and shut the door of the cell. It would have left them in complete darkness. But the outcome was certain: if the guard didn't get him... his friends would."

His hand shook as he reached for his drink.

"Outside was real foggy. I didn't know which way to go. I thought I saw Animus. I couldn't tell what was going on."

He drank deeply.

"What happened to you?"

[Miach]

A shiver ran down Miach's spine as Crowley explained his ordeal. It could have been him. Falstaff had done something foolish, something brave. Something Miach knew himself incapable of doing, in his heart of heart... After a long draught, he leaned forward, and whispered over his rapidly empty glass. "I got tailed in the street. Bumped into a man, and thought it was happenstance, but then he tried to inject me, I guess... so far, their stories matched perfectly.

"I got lucky, escaped, and managed to track them down through their use of the E&M Appliances company. I met a guy, we nearly fought but I convinced him to lead me to their Mistress... there, something happened. Animus was sent by the Mistress to fetch someone skulking in the fog, but I couldn't see a thing..." and from Crowley's story, it wasn't hard to guess who it was anymore.. "Then I heard her scream, and all hell broke loose..."

The cries, the looks, the spells flinging, it still gave him the chills... the mystagogue stopped his part of the story at that point as he composed himself. Looking around, he made doubly sure noone had been able to hear even a whisper of their talk.