Breaking Habits, and Maybe Other Things

[Richard Price]

Habits were something practiced, a routine of sorts. It took time to build and establish them. In the best of situations habit building was a way of providing personal growth, establishing practices that made a person healthier, or happier. The unfortunate it part is that while it took time to build and develop these habits, they were undone in no time at all if neglected.

That was habits for the better though, and almost the exact opposite applied to destructive tendencies. They took no time at all to develop and required an extraordinary amount of effort to try and undo. Bad habits needed to be broken like a branch over one's knee.

Rich had dragged the two chairs to sit by the edge of the pool, the midday sun beating down on the backyard. The Ogre wore a loose fitting white button up shirt that was not tucked in, and a pair of beige khaki shorts with a pair of flip flops. He had messaged his Courtier about half an hour ago telling him that he should be ready for a meeting.

He moved across the property and knocked on the door, checking to see if the Elemental had gotten the message and was ready to meet. They were going to have to deal with some tough love likely by the time this day was over.

”Fawkes, you ready for our chat?”

His voice was more than loud enough to announce himself and leave no doubt as to who was knocking. It was just whether he would need to let himself in or not.

[Richard Price]

Fawkes Krakenbox

[Fawkes]

Fawkes misses the first round of knocking, presently fixated on tracing a crack along his bedroom mirror with his finger. The ghost of a song can be heard through the static, but lately it had gotten faint.

The house had been kept clean, due to Fawkes very rarely utilizing the kitchen and the like aside from the constant stream of cheap, black caffeine. He had been careful with his smoking habit, making sure to dispose of everything in an empty coffee jar filled with water and kept it outdoors.

Clutter was a different story. There was a mounting amount of paperwork and files, most kept in a cabinet he had picked up with the key hidden. Open folders with lots of short hand were strewn on the coffee table and a cork board had maps of several districts with key locations being added with colour coded pins.

An expanding collection of empty frames had been discarded to the side with the glass separated in a stacked pile. The closet was bare, seeing as Fawkes could count the articles of clothing he owned on one hand. A radio blared on a classical music station, and was never turned off. Personal affects were completely absent, with no homey touches or indicating any specific interests. The blinds were always drawn. Phone was off. Pipe put away in the end table.

At Price's voice his head snaps instinctively, the lighting prickle of anxiety telling him to hide. He pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes as he steadied his breath. He really needed a Pledge at some point.

Kicking the wedge he kept under the door, and clicking some of the locks he had installed, he checks the peephole before opening the door. One hand stays in his pocket as he messages the smooth texture of the marble, finding solace in the sensation through the haze.

"Yessir," he says, cocking his head. He neglected to put a shirt on, just black joggers with no shoes or socks on the cold floor.

[Richard Price]

”Well good afternoon, figured we could take a few minutes to sit by the pool and have a little pow wow, catch up a bit. Figure I could give you some good news and we could go from there.”

He offered the elemental a chance to talk, peering behind the elemental best that he could to see into the guest house he had lent Fawkes.

  failure

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2019-04-17 02:12:00		Richard Price rolls 5 to Peer into the Guest House (10 Again)		4, 3, 4, 6, 2		failure

But the slim crack in the door wasn’t enough to gauge if anything was suspicious about the living space.

”Throw a shirt on and meet me out there.”

The statement lacked the sense of it being an option, and he fully expected the man he roofed to come and have a seat with him. Rich meandered towards the pool waiting to be joined by Fawkes, hopefully with a shirt on, but he wasn’t about to make a fuss about it if decorum was not present.

Once he saw the elemental coming to join him he took a moment to size him up, determining how he was feeling, what his current state was. It would help paint how the next few steps would go.

  3 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2019-04-17 02:30:42		Richard Price rolls 7 to Determine Fawkes' state (10 Again, WillPower)		8, 10, 6, 5, 10, 7, 1, 5, 6		3 successes

He had something to go on as he motioned to the seat in the sun, across from where the Ogre would seat himself.

”So I have a meeting coming up with the other Monarchs.”

He said casually as he took a seat if Fawkes already had.

[Richard Price]

WP expenditure

[Fawkes]

Housekeeping for ST: 3 Successes even with -2 on Rigid Mask.

Fawkes notes Richard's interest with the interior. It was understandable: it was the man's property. He also wasn't going to give him what he wanted unless he asked.

At his request for a shirt, Fawkes blinks slowly before closing the door to follow the request, emerging with a wrinkled slate grey v-neck sans socks and shoes. Instead he takes a moment to rub his foot into the grass, apparently lost in thought with the sensation. The mannequin's attention is everywhere. Despite the serene expression, his gaze flicks to every rustle in the tree, every shape moving in the sky or racing across the expansive lawn. He's squinting a bit despite the sun being overhead rather than in their face, and with close proximity the light sensitivity is apparent from how bright his eyes are. Was he nervous about speaking with the Summer Sovereign?

The man had turned out to be a recluse despite his active contact with their people, rarely leaving his living space except for quick errands. The mannequin never attempted to bring over friends or late night bar hookups; his single social outlet being entirely Changeling hosted. He certainly didn't sleep much. The light for 3 am smoke breaks often blinked to life, and the curtains rarely went dark. In fact, if Richard thought about it hard enough he couldn't recall the last time he saw Fawkes bring home something like groceries.

His charge takes a seat, idly picking the pills of cotton from the corner of the cushion of the patio furniture as he listens to Richard's good news.

"Great. Did you want to talk about Summer's clause?"

[Richard Price]

”I think that it is about time, yes. I will also be calling another meeting soon, with you and Circe to talk about promotions within our ranks, settle what roles will need to be fulfilled, and hammer out the final details of what is expected of the Iron Spear. I will not be leaving that meeting without something resembling a proper pledge in the works.”


“Before we get too far off track though, I want to talk to you Fawkes. The real you. I have ideas that are floating in my head to try and do great things, but even for someone as tall as me some goals are quite lofty and I won’t be able to achieve them on my own. I want to include you in these pursuits, I personally trust that you have a good head on your shoulders, and all the right intentions.

“But,”

“Are you in a place where you are ready to chase the goals close at hand? I have given you a place to stay, and I still won’t press you for any sort of payment for it, but part of me is curious. Do you just spend all those late nights looking at the ceiling? Or do you find other ways to cope. You don’t exactly keep a normal schedule and it reminds me of some of the places I have lived in the past.”

The Summer King leaned in, taking a deep breath through his nose - no hard promises had been made yet, but it was an ogre’s instinct. Rich hadn’t been in the game for a very long time, but he wasn’t blind to the habits as they tended to not change.

[Fawkes]

Fawkes opens his mouth as Richard speaks about possible positions, but the comment doesn't get a chance to be voiced as the Summer Ogre continues to speak. The man seemed full of pep talks and speeches. The Elemental gives a little grunt at the irony of 'the real you'.

"I'm not sure what you're getting at, Sir. I can pay rent. That isn't an issue. Are you asking what my hobbies are?" the concept amused him, though his tone did not shift. Changelings were always a little weirded out by Elementals, and the fact that Fawkes did have any obvious force of nature to connect to tended to concern what slot he filled. The destructive rage of fire; the sensitive and shifting lucidity of water; the stubbornness of stone, earth or steel; the capricious whirling of wind and lightning. He wasn't any of it.

"I don't sleep much. I usually plan for things. Pick things apart to understand," his statement is punctuated by more idle plucking. He looks at the dancing sparkle along to surface of the water. "If the light is irritating you, I can invest in some blackout curtains."

[Richard Price]

Words, Rich liked them, and used them a lot. The attention clearly wasn’t there, so he slowed it up, spoke in smaller blocks, let it sink in. He didn’t dumb it down at all, just took the speechy-ness down a touch.

”Rent isn’t an issue, and you aren’t any other. I would have come calling a lot sooner if that was the case.”

He shook his hand back and forth in a dismissive motion, that was far from the concern. He took a moment to stop and look right at the elemental. He tried to see if he could pick out anything that was a clear sign he was using, versus just being an elemental.

  failure

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2019-04-24 01:16:13		Richard Price rolls 3 to Determine if Fawkes is on drugs RIGHT NOW (10 Again)		4, 5, 1		failure

But he couldn’t tell the difference anymore, he was losing his touch it seemed. There was the direct approach of course.

”Do you use anything to cope with the world? I had some friends who couldn’t get what they needed from the VA, so had to find a different way.”

He appealed to the soldier he knew the man had been. Rich had helped veterans mundane and otherwise get past their trauma, and he knew it wasn’t uncommon. With the Lost it was a different beast. Was this man high, or was he trying to deal with being a literal ocean trapped in a very restrictive shell - or whatever his element had been.

A Freehold Pledge was on its way, and with it a real crown. While he had initially thought he had a few more months to deal with this, he was going to need to see if this man had the stability it took to be groomed into a proper Knight.

”You can be honest with me, Fawkes.”

A level of assurance, a safe place, amongst other things. He didn’t want to chase the elemental off in his quest for answers so Ogre’ing would have been effective, but maybe not the best route.

[Fawkes]

Fawkes gives a hiccup of a laugh, "I know you're rich, Sir. It's more of a principle of respect." At Mr. Price's question, the man was already producing a cigarette,

"I smoke a lot," he says bluntly. "I chew my nails, otherwise. Bad habit. I drink more coffee than I should. I smoke a joint on occasion, but we're in California." He wasn't lying in that respect, anyway. Smoking was smoking. He leans back in the chair and takes a long drag, watching the smoke split and swirl with his exhale. A bright side-eye is offered to the Ogre,

"Why are you asking this? Are you giving all the Summer kids a drug talk?"