Common Ground at Common Grounds

[Circe]

Circe starts counting off what his suggestions are with her fingers on her left hand. Then makes a show of tapping those fingers with her right index finger speaking with faux confusion, "Okay, so science and tantric, ghost hunting and tantric, and first preferred. The science and not me? Oh wait," Circe had four finger up on her left hand. She squeezes the fingers together to form a thick V, "Ah they're combos. Good, first one it is," the smile Nathaniel gets is extra chipper.

Circe thanks the server who is giving her a look. The look she is giving to Circe is of a regular nuisance that you know you can't do anything about. Circe's response? Hand her a twenty while singing out, "Yer tip tonight."

The server takes it with a put upon sigh before going to get Nathaniel's water. Trolling people with niceness, Circe is happy.

And Nathaniel's flustered expression? For some reason it reminded Circe of a confused puppy. "Well that is a loaded question." She leans back as she eyes Nathaniel, "I do like building shit, because I'm good at it, and I like cute. Male, female, other don't matter if they're cute I want ta cuddle. I am also very blunt," she points at him while giving a flat look, "As was yer question," then smiles happily, "I like that! Makes ya as cute as that monkey pair I cuddled with once," she eyes Nathaniel then her face screws up as she hums in thought, "Huh? There is a thought. Am I one of those?"

[Nathaniel Dormur]

Tantric... What now? And she seemed... No, no she understood it. Research and stuff it was, then! "I'll gather supplies. Where should we do this again? Do you have any preferences?" There were actually plenty of things they could make- it was exciting to ponder.

Oh geez... She gave a tip- should he have done that? He was the one that'd asked to meet her... How'd this thing go again? Urgh- questions for later, he'd have to bug Emily about it. No sense worrying when it was done- at least Marie seemed to be having fun with it?

Then she started to answer his question. Called him cute (again), kept her usual demeanor, leaving Nathaniel to try and piece things together. "Cuddles sound nice. And um- I don't mind the bluntness." He actually liked it- and even if he didn't say as much, his expressions throughout probably made it obvious. She seemed to like bluntness as well- things to remember.

Wait a monkey pair? And then- "Are you one of.. What?" Had he missed an innuendo there? "Look I just... Really want to get to know you better. In A lot of ways." Hopefully that would make it clearer- it wasn't off the table at all. He just wanted to know if other things were on the table as well.

[Circe]

Preferences? Time to joke, "Nathaniel. With a good cup of coffee ya could catch me in a box, stick, string trap. More coffee is my preference." She spread her arms wide as she smiles.

As for his apprehension at her tipping, yeah Circe isn't watching for it so nope on noticing. Nate was already a adorable blushing mess. How would she notice more? But Nathaniel does get Circe to smile as she nods, "Good. Cause I'm as subtle as King Kong."

"Oh, a harem seeker." Blunt and honest with her concerns. She narrows her eyes before speaking again, "Then again 7 of the last 8 hook up attempts I had were fails sooooo," Circe widens her eyes as she sags down in the chair while looking at him, "Could be just bad luck. Honestly refrained from flirting with ya too much the first time due ta THAT pattern."

"We can play the cards, see how it goes, short term, long term, beneficial friends, we see how it goes," Circe was still feeling down about her dating pattern before Sonja and Emily.

[Nathaniel Dormur]

oh her and her jokes... Granted maybe she was being a bit serious? For someone that has a tab at a cafe... Things to remember. They'd have to figure out the location later, he supposed. "I guess I should learn how to make a good cup then...?" That sounded appropriately flirty.

Subtle as King Kong was right. A harem seeker? That... Came a bit out of left field- enough things had, that it was all starting to seem at least a bit right- or, normal at any rate. The crescent could only wonder where she'd be had all those attempts succeeded. "I'm um. Glad I took the first step then?" He really was- he wasn't regretting anything so far.

And then her answer- it was a comforting one, even strange. "Yeah- yeah, I think that works. Seeing how things go." And with that, the crescent was at a loss for what to talk about next- didn't help that his brain felt fried and his... Everything... Was starting to feel woozy from the buzz.

[Circe]

"That'd work ta lure me inta the lions den quite well," Circe winks as Nathaniel talks of making coffee. Though the mortal was doing well getting used to Circe being, well, herself. "Though the lion should be careful, lest his mane become a mo-hawk, oh ho ho ho!"

"Congrats on havin' the confidence professor," she gives him a thumbs up in encouragement. A straight black cup of coffee then arrives for Circe with a water for Nathaniel. Circe does her best to put on a friendly smile but it somehow resembles a troll face. Then server huffs and walks away. Circe would probably get an earful from Seraphina later about irking her mundy workers. But she still had another mundy to play with. And a willing supplicant no less.

"Hmmmm," to see if she could get Nathaniel to faint or get serious about ghostbusting? Circe smiles at the foolish thought. Practically speaking, it'd be easier if she didn't have to drag him out the door. "Right. Camping kit, ghostie camera, and bubbly. Yer bringing the positive juju in case spooks are legit? What was it again the group said? Holy salt?" She was honestly curious what Nathaniel thought would work against ghosts.

If there were any in town Circe would have just gone up to a Gravewight to ask them how to survive against a pissed of spectre. While sipping the coffee Circe cuffs as she perks up, "Oh! cough. I had a thought. Ya figure out anything more about those Excalibur theories?"

ooc I can't help but cackle at the idea of Nathaniel "introducing" Circe to Emily

[Nathaniel Dormur]

Lion's Den? Perhaps not the best comparison in this particular case, but the wink did it's job. "Eheh.. Yeah, I think I like my hair just the way it is..." An awkward sip of water as it arrives, making a mental note to ask Emily how to make coffee, the wolf taking the praise happily as he observed the display between her and the waiter. How in the world she had a tab in this place was anyone's guess- did she know the manager or something?

Then a topic Nathaniel was quite comfortable with- several, actually, all occult based. "Protection against ghosts usually relies on certain materials- salt, powdered animal bones, and a few certain herbs are the common examples." All three were also (conveniently) very close to the recipe for a Talen used to detect ghosts, sans the necessary spirit. "Those are the cheapest materials anyways. Some sources also claim that places or symbols of faith, or of powerful positive emotions, can serve as protection." That was the gist of what he knew, without mentioning that ghosts were indeed real and how it tied into the Forsaken. "-Ah, I can bring a bunch of this stuff over and we can experiment? Before we um. 'Experiment'."

As for Excalibur? "I haven't looked as deeply into Excalibur yet, but..." But he had some theories. yes. "Perhaps it's not a matter of finding the blade- maybe all of these weapons can't really be found at all, but are instead created when certain conditions are met." Klaives required powerful spirits to work. But when found and done, a knife could be made to summon lightning, or an axe made to fell any man. Weapons of legend, useless without a spirit's blessing (or promise of vengeance). But unless some humans had figured out how to channel essence into such things, Klaives alone surely couldn't account for such mythical weapons? "That is to say... If they do exist, it may not be about finding them, but about figuring out how to bring them forth- under the circumstances of their original creation." Of course, there was another option- objects with ghosts within them. They weren't as common, but the Uratha knew of them. Used them even, on occasion. But Marie didn't need to know that, and Nathaniel wasn't anywhere near prepared enough to start looking.

He had talked for quite a bit there. Another sip of water. "Ah- that's what I have so far anyways." He got excited, whenever occult stuff was brought up. It brought out something far more confident in the crescent. "Sorry, I know I can get a bit carried away with this stuff. Do you have any ideas?" She liked the occult stuff, it seemed. And that, combined with her demeanor, appeared to resonate with the crescent.

Double date with her and Mable? Hah.

[Circe]

Changing subjects seem to have gotten Nathaniel's blush to start dying down. Circe puts her left elbow on the table and rest her chin in her palm. Her expression was serious until he made a pun. Then she smiled like a little girl that had just gotten a unicorn, "Ooooh. I was gonna make a spice rack joke but ya punned. I am so happy I am corrupting you."

Circe does have a suggestion though. "I regularly donate ta a church. So I could ask ta borrow holy water. Ya can handle the spice rack fer ghost roasting."

Circe sips her coffee. As for the artifact part? That got Circe shaking her head. "No. I mean the part about deeds empowering things." Which was true. Circe now knew that Hedgespinning could use storied items as components. And probably easily become tokens if left in the Hedge for something like, say, Jack the Ripper's knife. Circe looks at Nathaniel, "Like Twain's pen I think was an example ya used. About the only thing I can think of that'd be easy, uh, easy-ish ta get would be really evil shit. Like murder weapons. I think those get sold off at auctions, ya know, eventually. At least according to drama TV. And," Circe had no way to put this positively, "Well lots of world war 2 stuff is collectibles. The bad guys did lots of evil shit, their stuff got collected, and can probably be bought."

Also if Nathaniel proved it might have power then Circe wouldn't object to stealing from some people that collect that stuff for certain reasons. "Though it'd crazy expensive. I mean if a baseball card can go fer hundreds, a evil doers knife is gonna be crazy expensive." Then she decides to add, "Also evil. So probably bad if it has some storied power ta it."

[Nathaniel Dormur]

Had... Had he made a pun? Was he being corrupted? It made her happy so... Was it that bad?

"Ah- I'm glad I could make you happy." And wait, she donated to church? Wait why did that surprise him? "Holy water can't hurt I suppose- and yeah, I'll bring the rest of the supplies. We can 'cook something up,' see what happens?" Another pun, this one intentional. She seemed to like them, and they were easy enough for him to make up.

Oh! The deeds. "Ah! yeah, strong emotions empowering objects. Things that are impacted by meaningful events- it could also explain some hauntings or such." Spirits fed off a particular essence, that essence made them more powerful, they did more that caused more... And that's how spirit cults and all sorts of nasty stuff got made. "Of course, you're right- the easiest way to find that kinda stuff would be by messing with bad juju, murder weapons." The Uratha knew of parallels, there. "..and I'm not sure how you could purify something like that... And if you did, would it even have the power in it? If that's even how it works at all..." No way to test that. Well, none she knew of.

The crescent shook his head. "It's exactly why I tried to focus on things like summoning or making that kinda stuff. If it is a deeds thing, any object is probably going to be either behind glass or carrying bad stuff, and I don't want to mess with either. But if it's possible to make them , or call them forth... Like the Lady in the Lake, for Excalibur?" What if the Lake had been the Shadow, and the 'lady' had been a powerful spirit? Weirder tales existed. "Either way, not going to mess with the bad stuff anytime soon. Even if I had the money."

A smile- wait... "Are you... Interested in buying that kind of stuff? Haunted guns and all that?" If she was... Well, add it to the list of things. Nathaniel shouldn't have been surprised- she'd gone into the occult club for a reason.

[Circe]

Circe laughs as Nathaniel keeps the puns coming, "Oh ho ho ho ho! That's the spirit! Make sure ta bring yer meat ta our picnic, I'm sure I'll be sure ta ketchup with it fer science." She could pun plenty too. "And ya can make holy water at home too. Ya just hafta boil the Hell out of it."

As for the debate about the bad juju, Circe just shrugs, "Well the really heroic stuff ya can't test because what's left is in museums. Or is a museum maybe like a museum ship or something." As for the purification process, "Purify with how priests do it I guess. Or just smash it ta bits," she nods as that was what happened to many old weapons. Circe found the concept of Gunbusters horrifying to her sensibilities.

Summoning and creating? "Well mediums do summons as a profession so ya could just talk to them," or a Gravewight but no luck with that. Creating however. "Making a weapon I don't see happening. Not really likely ta make a amazing story of warhammers these days," she rubs her chin in thought and sips her coffee. "Hmm," what other options were there. Well there was one. "Well the opposite direction ta test deeds could work, in theory. Very opposite direction of violence. But not really sure what ya would have as a tool fer it. Or how many orgies would be required."

Because what else was the opposite of killing? Wait a minute. "Nathaniel, I got an idea. Museum ships," Circe lifts her head so she can talk with her free hand for emphasis. "They'd have story and deeds ta them. Ya could test those! Like the Iowa down in LA. Or, uh, whatever the one in Alameda was. Or maybe the Vegas sign?" Circe wasn't sure what about the last part counting. Doubtful Nathaniel's college would fun it anyway, being Vegas and all.

She scoffs at the idea of buying a possessed gun. She gives Nathaniel a flat look, "Yeeeah, no." she nods her head, "Nathaniel I have no intent of touching anything that adds a voice inta my head telling my ta do shit." She was getting steam built up now, "I've seen enough horror movies ta know that holding possessed object equals next victim. First its all oooh power then its all," she hunches forward and starts rubbing her index finger on the rim of her coffee mug. The next thing is said like Andy Serkis, "Prrrecious," she then drinks her coffee, "Oooh it is."

ooc: I mixed up the names of Common Grounds and Garden Grounds. Common Grounds isn't Seraphina's place. Whoops.

[Nathaniel Dormur]

More puns,enough to cause Nathaniel's smile to widen. When she got to the holy water pun, that was it- Nathaniel started to laugh, almost spilling his water. -That's... ha... I'll have to remember that one." Maybe Matt would like it? Actually wait a minute... A holy water Talen? Hm. Thoughts for the future.

Marie noted the same problem Nathaniel had encountered in researching this stuff. "Mmm. I get that it's hard to find this kind of stuff- if it's all even real right? And the good stuff's behind glass or worse. But when it comes to bad juju like that? I'm going with option two. Toss what's left in a bonfire or something." As far as Marie needed to know. If the crescent actually encountered something like that?... He'd probably perform some tests at the very least. Ghosts and other such menaces could be a real issue to the Uratha, and if they weren't prepared...

Of course that just left summons and creation. "I don't think there are mediums that can summon weapons... Actually on the topic of holy water, think a weapon could be consecrated? Maybe ritualistic behaviors can lead to creation." But she had a point- very unlikely for a human to make a story out of a warhammer. The Uratha on the other hand...

Then she brought up another great point. Positive emotions empowering objects as well. "Love, innocence, peace, faith- maybe those ancient monks had something to it? Or the safety of a church? And so many fairytales about the power of True Love... But As far as pleasure is concerned, I'm not sure what tool you'd want to imbue with that power, either." Whatever the case, it was another option. There already existed fetishes and talens that utilized more positive spirits. There was precedence.

Suddenly she perks up, veering in another direction. Ships? "Hm. I hadn't actually considered that- but you have a point. Sailing the seas, so many tales and stories..." Of course, he hadn't really considered it because the ocean was the last place he wanted to be- the types of spirits, and the terrain, were alien to him. "Perhaps. Maybe we could take the whole club on a trip to one some day?" That might be a relatively safe expedition, so long as it was a fairly public museum. And so long as he scouted beforehand.

A small, barely noticeable sigh of relief as she mentions not wanting to truck with haunted guns. She explained his fears about it quite aptly, actually. "Exactly. No good out of that stuff, right?" If someone inexperienced and unequipped possessed it, at any rate...

Another smile as her coffee-adoration lightened the mood once more. "So... it's a date? A ghost researching date? Do you have a place in mind?" Her place? His? Shoot, he'd have to hide the Uratha stuff- well, more than he usually did anyways. Maybe ask Emily to hang onto them for a night?