Fading Spring

[Quick]

He absently moves to wipe the tears from his face. It's a pointless effort, but he finishes the motion. It's normal. Grounding. He hears most of what Ingrid says, despite himself, and eventually meets her gaze. When did she take off her glasses? Fuck, focus. As she draws closer, he eyes her warily. What she says sound too good to be true.

"I... no." He lets his statement hang in the air between them. "You're right." He looks away. "I can't get it back. But lying to myself... makes it hurt less." He's silent for a moment. Admitting to this makes it feel real - something he's gone to great lengths to avoid feeling.

"It's impossible, anyway. What could you possibly do to fix this?" At this point, he isn't sure what feels worse: confronting his loss or inviting more disappointment. It's a faint glimmer of hope, anyway.

[Ingrid]

"If you want to be the life of the party, then be the life of the party. They can change your body. They can take your family and your friends. Hell, they can take time away from you. Don't give them your vital essence as well. So they turned you into a being of solid air, ice, and lightening. Fuck 'em. Be what you were going to be regardless. Don't give up your dreams. That what Spring is. Not giving up. Not giving in."

Perhaps she sounded forced, angry even. She sighed, fiddled with her glasses.

"Well. If you must know. There are ways. Secret ways. Rituals... Kill the fetch; assimilate with it. Take back your fate. Don't ask me what they are - I don't know. Its deep shit. But its out there. And if you work for it, you can find it. I've heard that some Entitlement's and Noble Orders and stuff... They can help. If you can find them. If you can pay the price they ask."

She replaced her sunglasses, sighed as the comforting darkness shrouded her vision.

"Recognising that you're lying to yourself is the first step. It means you know you got a problem."

[Quick]

Cryptic. A slow breath. He avoids her eyes. "Yeah. Well... whatever. Didn't take you for a shrink." Maybe there's something to what she said. Maybe not. A whole lot of mysticism, either way.

"What about you? What's your story? What 'dreams' didn't you give up on?" It probably sounded like an accusation. Or a challenge. Either way, too defensive. "I'm..." He offers a sigh by way of apology. "I'm just curious. About everything. Like what drew you to Spring. And who you were before."

[Ingrid]

Ingrid cackles, then giggles.

"Oh there is no secret there. I was a private investigator. I blundered into my Keeper when they were Taking someone else, so I was really an afterthought. Two birds, one stone, you get it. And I'll be a P.I. again - sooner rather than later now I have a stable life here. So the... The Gentry whacked me and took me sideways! I'm still doing what I do, despite them."

She shivered excitedly.

"In fact, I may even be looking at future enterprises that I would never have thought about... Before. Gotta help the Freehold. So. One day I may even be the proud owner of a club. Or a bar. Or - heaven help us! - a lawyer. Ya never know."

She tugged on an ear, rested her chin on her cupped hand.

"As for what drew me to the Emerald. I love Contracts. I love learning what they can do. All that stuff. Sure I could have gone Ashen - but I'd never have made it. Not really. Ashen Court is all Fear and thats just not me. I want the magic goodies. Because. Not for fear or mastery or power. That called out to the Emerald. To the want at the heart of desire. Mother Susan's lesson. So there it is."

[Quick]

Listening as best he can, his thoughts tangent off as she spins her story. She's difficult to place, this one. Madness, maybe? She wouldn't be the first of their kind who seemed a bit 'touched'. Definitely unlucky. And a P.I. to boot. She'd probably spent as much time trying to solve problems as he'd spent causing them. A few blinks and he's back on track.

"You're weird." he finally offers. "Ambitious, though. And nice enough to use what you have for the Freehold. So you... really like all this weird magic, huh? Tried to avoid all that too. For a while."

He shakes his head, rolling his eyes a bit. "Met a crazy Summer, once. Got me to branch out. Never wanted to be the lightning again. Bad memories. But my friend showed me how to control fire. It is pretty fun." A pause. A blink or two.

"Another one? Showed me how to change my face. Not just to James. To whoever." He grins mischievously. "When I get bored of being this pretty." Sure, she's pretty too. For a weirdo. James used to make money with his innocent face. Quick still does.

[Ingrid]

"You really tried to ignore all of this, didn't you?"

Ingrid breathes. Or was it croons. Her expression was... sad.

"You see! Contracts. Gotta love 'em! The things you can play with!" She brightened again, a grin splitting her face. Only it didn't seem to reach her eyes. Even as she nods along.

"Well, you're secrets are safe with me." Totally false. Her smile was fading as he face turned serious once more.

"You should totally talk with that... Sasha... Wasn't it? Fair One. Owns the Blue Note. She's Queen of the Winter - for what its worth. You should totally try out. You got that Court in spades, my friend."

The look on her face now: why haven't you committed already?

[Quick]

He can only shrug. 'Ignore' is an understatement. At least she seems sympathetic, for all her quirks. Her last look gives him pause. Its like she wants something from him.

"Sasha? With the purple eyes, right? Barely spoken a word to her. But sure." He says, ignoring her questioning look.Seems you can't walk two feet in Sacramento without bumping into Court Royalty. Maybe another sign of how unstable they must have been. After that dragon nonsense. His thoughts bring a concerned frown to his face - somewhat out of place in their conversation. A few blinks. Realizing himself, he adds "Shame everything's been messed up here. Aren't many Winters kicking around. So yeah. Can't hurt to talk to her."

Unbidden, his eyes wander to her bag. Thinking to himself won't accomplish anything, so he asks outright. "What's with the bag?"

[Ingrid]

"Well... As I hear it the Freehold was nearly destroyed by a dragon. The old Freehold's focus was burned down and they were being pretty much squeezed on all fronts."

The Darkling shrugged.

"A lot of folks simply left. I mean, the Freehold won... In the end. But well. No longer recognisable as a Freehold. And the old monarch's simply left. Well - I guess that kinda killed it. What you see is the new blood and a few old holdouts."

Ingrid blinked at the sudden turn of conversation.

"Oh! My bag? Oh you know. Usual stuff. Phone. Money. Book. That sort of thing. So its a big bag. I thought I might do some shopping later."

[Quick]

It sounds a little like someone had hit the 'reset' button in Sacramento. The very existence of a collection of Lost is something to lament - that many people forever changed - but breaking them apart might just be worse. They need each other to sort out the scraps of their ruined lives. Everyone leaving must have really hurt those left behind. That realization hits home, and Quick swallows hard. He wills himself not to cry again. How many times has he left friends behind?

"Shopping, huh? Lugging that thing around the whole time? I don't envy you." He grins, shaking his head slightly. As quickly as his thoughts had trailed from the real meat of their discussion, they snap back. That look she had given him... like she was waiting for some big reveal.

"Never spent enough time in one spot to ask 'why'. Why this Season or that Direction, you know? Maybe just never cared. But thanks. For filling me in." A sigh. "I don't think I'd make a good Spring." His eyes avoid her in the lie. A sort-of lie. He's had a knack for getting back up after being knocked down. He, himself, has played the so-called 'Siren' on numerous occasions. He has to wonder if, maybe, it's just being tied down that irks him. Enough to keep him from committing.

[Ingrid]

Ingrid settled into a watchful silence as the Levinquick continued.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-06-26 03:44:49		Ingrid to read Quick rolls 7 to Wits + Empathy + speciality (10 Again)		3, 6, 5, 7, 10, 6, 3, 6		1 success

"Nah. Its easy once you get used to it. And you've got nothing to thank me for. Asking questions is good. You got any more?"