A Warlock and Enchantress Talk

[Aurora]

She had thought over her relationship, or well, lack of, with Avis. It wasn’t how she wanted it to be, she wanted to be able to reach out to her if help was needed. Well, not that she thought she would refuse aid, but it could be uncomfortable. And Faye was not about that. She knew the way she left hurt Avis and the rest of VT, and she wanted to try and mend that bridge.

While Avis could be strong headed and in your face annoying, she still respected the woman. And nothing would hurt reaching out and trying to talk. As to what would come of it? Well, that was in Fate’s hands, but she hoped it would go well.

So a text had been sent, asking Avis to meet her at the Circle for a more personal concern. Tuesday made an excellent point of making sure Avis knew it wasn’t a business meeting.

Faye found herself seated in one of the numerous pews, coffee in hand. There was another coffee as well as a water, cause she couldn’t remember if Avis drank coffee. So the water was there in case. She was clad in a black leather jacket with matching black pants and tank top. Her long hair was in a messy ponytail.

She was slightly nervous as she took a careful sip of her coffee and hoped the caffeine would ease those nerves.
Cayce Avis

[Avis]

The last time Avis had seen Faye, the other woman had blamed her for spontaneously bleeding from her eyes...

Or that was how Avis remembered their last conversation. Suffice it to say: they weren't on the best of terms. Still, she had no reason to turn down the invitation. Well, no reasons aside from being petty, and while Avis definitely was petty when it came to certain things, she didn't want to be seen that way. Sometimes she didn't give a fuck, but sometimes it was still important to acknowledge that someone's perception of you mattered. Especially when you were supposed to be allies in a war for reality itself...

Which sounded so fucking melodramatic that the meaning almost escaped Avis entirely, but whatever.

The point was, Avis turned up at the circle. Via the stairs and large wooden doors this time. A bag of take out soup and sandwiches carried under her arm.

"You want pea, or lentil?" she asked the gorgeous blonde as she approached. "Also, ham or turkey?"

[Aurora]

There was a brief since of relief when Avis walks in. Step one was done, she actually came. Where it went from here was a complex unknown to her.

The offer of food was surprising, but a warm smile appears on the Enchantress’s lips,
“Oh, well both sound yummy. But I’ll go with the pea and ham? Thank you.” she’d had lentil before, and couldn’t remember if she liked it, that’s how long it had been. And it’d be rude to take the lentil and end up not like it.

“I brought some coffee, different flavors, but I couldn’t remember if you drank coffee, so I grabbed some bottled water too.” She say with a gesture to the various coffee cups, each was a different flavor and there was a bag with creamer and sugar in it. Plus a few water bottles.

“And thanks for meeting up with me, I really wanted to talk and maybe clear the air.” Things had been said between them and she wanted to mend it.

[Avis]

"Ham and pea," Avis repeated, setting her bags down on the pew next to Faye and digging through them until she found the sandwich and soup she was looking for.

"Did you, like, skip eating today?" she asked, handing the food over. "I mean, this isn't gonna be kind to your waist line. You sure you're not gonna, like, blame me if you gain a few ounces?"

Avis plonked herself down on the wooden bench and unhurriedly dug her own food out.

"Or," she continued, her expression completely blase as she unwrapped her turkey sandwich, "maybe you're waiting to see if you get an upset little tum-tum, so you can blame me for that later?"

[Aurora]

There was a soft chuckle, “I actually eat quite a bit, but my routine and training burns it off.” She wasn’t bragging, but she busted her ass training and working. “And I could probably stand to gain a few ounces too.” There was a shrug as she accepted the food. The soup was brought up to her face as she breathes in deeply, “This smells delicious!” and it did!

The last dig had Faye having to silently count in her head. She wanted to smooth things over, and had to accept that there would be digs here and there. But she did have to wonder if the digs were like a way for Avis to cope or deflect feelings. Maybe hurt feelings? She wasn't sure.

As she lowered a spoon into the soup and absently stirred it, she looks to Avis, her eyes trying to find the Warlocks,

“I never intended to blame anything on you. I apologize for that, but I won’t take full responsibility for that day. Things were said, and somethings that shouldn’t have been said.” It was hard to reach out when it felt like an uphill battle was about to ensue. “Look, I’m not sure where the anger is coming from. Is it how I left Sacramento and the Cabal? If so, I’d like to try and explain and see if we can set aside our differences and move past them.” Her voice had grown softer, she really wanted to get past whatever was going on. “If it’s something I’ve done or said, I’d like to know so I can own it." if she had been wrong, she'd own up to it.

"And if I get an upset tum-tum, it'd more than likely be from way too much coffee today." there was a small smile.

[Avis]

Avis couldn't help but give a snerk at Faye's last comment. It was funny, she couldn't deny it. Still, that didn't particularly change her feelings towards the other woman. The dislike she felt had almost reached a sort of atavistic state, an enmity that defied reason and boundaries, but Avis couldn't afford to let that happen. The natural inclinations of the mind, the defensive mechanisms it built up, weren't always adaptive. She knew that better than almost anyone.

"Alright, fine," the Warlock snapped, letting her sandwich drop back down onto it's wrapping on the pew next to her.

"It's all of those things, ok? I'm pissed that you blamed me for trying to contain a goddamn manifestation, and I'm pissed at you for leaving. But more than that, I'm pissed at you for your attitude. You waltz around, looking like you do, and acting all breezy and care free, blabbing about fate or whatever. I mean, that's why you never said anything about leaving even after you came back, right? Because it wasn't a big deal to you. You didn't care that you'd been invited into something that could have been more than just a shared Hallow. But shit comes easily to you, so why should you care? Why should it matter? You're too busy expecting things to arrive on silver platters."

[Aurora]

She thought she would be ready for what Avis would say, but she wasn’t. There was confusion on her face as she listened, before setting the soup down. Did she really come off that way?

“I,” she began, obviously trying to find the words. Blue eyes blink a few times as words were sought, the right words. But were there any for this? "Whoa, um, wow." more hostel then she expected.

“I had no idea I came across that way, it's not how I am.” Her voice soft as she gently shook her head. “And no, that’s not why I didn’t say anything when I returned.” Her eyes then look to Avis, “I didn’t say anything cause I didn’t know what to say. I knew I had hurt people, the people who opened their doors and home to me. And instead of facing those people, I choose not to. Was it right? Probably not, but you know what? I make mistakes too, I’m not perfect and I’m sorry. But I didn’t think you guys would want to hear what I had to say anyways.” Which was true, but she never expected there to be this much anger.

“I didn’t mean to blame you. It’s just I approach situations differently than you do. Your passion and obvious anger towards her is justified, I’m not disputing that. I just believe it was unwarranted given how fucked up things now are. We’re not the same after we all had those dreams, shits hitting the fan and I think we need to find allies. Part of that is me being a Ladder, and part is cause I suck at confrontation.” There was a shrug.

“And I don’t think it’s blabbing about Fate. My Path has opened my eyes to Fate and Time and what happens when the past is altered. I’ve seen the consequences of it first hand, seen the way it alters our futures and our own Tapestries. I never meant it to come off as arrogant or anything, I’m just passionate about it. Like you’re passionate about your personal beliefs. Can I really be faulted for being passionate? Maybe the words came out wrong that day, but I can’t change it. I can only try and mend what damage was done.”

“And shit doesn’t come easy for me. I’ve worked hard to achieve what I have in my profession, and worked hard to portray someone who is breezy and carefree. My looks only get me so far in life. My looks won't make me a better Mage or make it easier to swallow a sword.” Using her words, “Why should it matter?” she bounces the question around, “It matters because you are another Awakened who is well revered here, who is well respected. I want to be able to work with you and learn from you. And quite frankly, you’ve always intimidated me, and I’ve always been a little jealous of you to be honest. You’re able to just be you and not have to put on a dog and pony show for everyone. You’re open, honest and to the point. I’ve never gotten to be anything other than what you see. I’ve always been expected to be pretty and to perform, that’s it, always told that that’s all I’ll ever achieve.” Born into a family that travels and performs, it’s usually expected you’ll continue the family tradition. “And I don’t think it’s blabbing about Fate. My Path has opened my eyes to Fate and Time and what happens when the past is changed. I’ve seen the consequences of it first hand, seen the way it alters our futures and our own Tapestries. I never meant it to come off as arrogant or anything, I’m just passionate about it. Like you’re passionate about your personal beliefs. Maybe the words came out wrong that day, but I can’t change it. I can only try and mend what damage was done. We will probably never see eye to eye, but I believe we can work together.” Avis was either going to yell at her, or maybe find an ounce of humanity in her heart.

“Silver platter? Well, only if I’ve tweeked Fate a bit.” It was probably a bad joke, but meh.

[Avis]

"If you've worked hard to be light and breezy, that's the problem," Avis countered, feeling partially ashamed and partially vindicated, in almost equal measure, after Faye's heartfelt words. Basically, it was confusing, to feel resentment fade, but not the anger, not yet.

"Ok, look," she tried again, turning so that she faced the other woman head on. "What I mean is this: we're dealing with the building blocks of reality, here. We're talking about the very struggle for existence. That's shit with some weight and substance. It's not compatible with light and breezy. Consider it a...cultural clash, I guess.

"Still," she added, a hint of sheepishness entering her voice now that the coil of fire had finally been released from her chest, "that's no excuse to have acted like a bitch. So...I need to work on that."

[Aurora]

There was a solemn nod, “I get that, which is why I want to change. Work on the way I approach things and be more useful to the community. I’ve never spent this much time in one place, and I’ve never had to defend that which was important to me. So in a way, it’s new to me, so I’m kinda flailing around trying to figure it out. And it’s not working, I need guidance. I’m not perfect, far from it, but I want to help and be able to stand and fight for our community.” She knew where her weakness was, and wasn’t ashamed to admit it.

Whoa, she was not expecting Avis to admit any fault in this. And she was pretty sure her mouth hung open slightly, a look of shock washing over her features. Her eyes quickly blink away the shock as she tries to gather words.

“I, uh,” what could she say, what should she say. Nothing seemed appropriate, and nothing was coming to mind. “I wasn’t expecting that.” She replies with a nervous, small smile. “Seems like we both have things to work on. Maybe it’s something we can work on together? I’m not sure if I have anything to offer you, but I personally would like to work together on some level.”

[Avis]

Was she still being bitchy if her response to the gaping, shocked expression on Faye's face was the urge to stuff her sandwich in it?

Probably.

But the image was funny, and she couldn't help but crack a smile in concert with the nervous grin that appeared on Faye's face, too.

"Well, um, yeah, same," Avis mumbled, turning back to her sandwich to give her some time to think of something a little more eloquent to say. Or something with at least a little bit more flesh to its ideological bones. Communication was the first step to actually working with someone, after all. No one knew that better than she did. She just...didn't know exactly what to say. But, regardless, something was better than nothing. She'd have to say something eventually.

"I guess we could just, I don't know, start with the basic foundation type stuff. Ya know, share a few facts. Learn a bit more about the other," she suggested around the bite of sandwich before swallowing.

"You wanna start, maybe?"

The suggestion was more hesitant then Avis'd intended it to be, but if she was being truthfully, she much preferred that Faye start spilling secrets first.