Corn's car (Mysterium secret business)

[Crystal]

Crystal listened to Corn in silence. He could feel himself regaining his cool already, pushing all the shit down again. He had to get better at this.
"What makes you think the grubs - or whatever has any connection with them for that matter - left any residue just randomly floating around? I mean you have to go off of some sort of hunch here, right? Have you been studying the grubs yourself?" With a wife-to-be and his many many hobbies, the Moros should have a better appreciation for free time.

He was tapping some rhythm on his knee again and after a while the Warlock sighed. "And look: sorry I went ballistic on you. Let's just agree to disagree on how not-dangerous Magic is for now, all right? That means no, I won't be helping your project." Who said ridiculously good looking people weren't able to swallow their pride and apologize every now and then?

[Corn]

Wow, it is true what they say, that good looking people weren't able to swallow their pride and apologize every now and then, Corn thought but didn't make an issue about it. He didn't mind Crystal being Crystal and was not about to clarify that he never said magic wasn't dangerous. Live and let live.
"Don't worry about that minor disagreement. Each one has different opinions and experiences. Water under the bridge.
On our mission today now, I can't say I have deeply studied the Grubs, but I have checked their resonance so I could locate something similar if I spotted it. It is what I suggested back at the meeting."
With a hint of amusement in his voice, Corn asked "If you haven't checked the resonance of the Grubs, may I ask what are you looking for?"
"Perhaps we should have clarified what we would look for a bit earlier, but it is not the end of the world, it's not like we would find what we're looking for in the first try. From what the others told us, the Grubs were found in a garden through some 'cracks'. As I mentioned in the meeting I would be looking for similar resonance with them. Perhaps, you could look for some of these 'cracks in reality'.
Campanela said the original ones, what we already have, were found in an allotment garden. So far, we haven't passed any community gardens at all, we're just checking gardens." Corn said, not really sure whether 'we' actually included Crystal.
"Do you think we should continue checking gardens as we clear part of the city or you think we should drive by allotment gardens directly and try to find the right one? We can't even be sure that the original garden still holds any of these, as it was 3-4 years ago. That's why I started by looking around inside the city. However if you think checking the allotment gardens is better, we could do that."

[Crystal]

"Oh." Yeah, he kind of expected to get out of Grub-study duty. "Well, I didn't quite find the time yet to really look at them, hence the question. So I guess I'll just look around to see if there's anything noteworthy?" Luckily Crystal's ego didn't depend on what just any Mage thought of him. Maybe he dropped the ball on that, but it didn't seem like a huge priority at the Order meeting.

"But if you ask me, I'd say we go to the allotment gardens - higher density of possible targets and all." So as suspected, this operation turned out to be a waste of time. Crystal looked out of the window, trying to think of things to talk about. Supernal stuff was out of the question - they didn't seem to share particularly many things when it came to that.
Small talk? To listen to the perfect little life of Corn? Also a hard pass.

Gossip? Now gossiping he could do. "So anything noteworthy happening with one of our colleagues? Had any interesting run-ins or something?"

[Corn]

"Well, I will head there. Still, don't expect to find much in the first try. It takes a lot of effort from grunt-level people like us to make progress." Corn said about the gardens as he started driving towards the outskirts of Sacramento.
"I thought you would have some news on the subject of our colleagues, to be honest. You're more extrovert than I am. As for me, I occasionally hang out with our colleagues like we did in the bookstore but haven't formed any deep friendships with mages. I don't find it too easy to get deeply involved with other mages, when so much of my life is with sleepers. I also have found out that most mages are ... a different kind of weird than I am which also makes things more difficult to form personal relationships. It was that way for me since the beginning of my double life. I had trouble forming deep friendships with mages in San Francisco when I awoke. Anyway, one reasonably interesting something is that the Arrow, Skye, seems to have left or moved away. Other than that... nothing comes to mind.
How about you? Any interesting piece of info? Do you plan to form a cabal with Aurora for example? You two seem to get along well."

[Crystal]

"Yeah effort.. I'm with you there." If college was any indication on how this was going to go he wouldn't have to worry about any of that. Corn seemed to be enthusiastic enough for the two of them.

Corn's evaluation brought a sly grin out of the Mastigos. "Am I? I hadn't noticed yet." Although most of the Mages he met weren't really into the kind of socializing Crystal was looking for. "Nah, not really. After the evening with Madison and you I hardly hung out with any of the known faces. Well, Kaze and I visited this club-" where they got definite proof that Vampires and Werewolves existed and where he got to experience the absolute joy of feeling way out of his depth.
Fuck no, not going there. He would probably be riddled with questions and he was not here for that. After a slight moment of hesitation he continued. "He's a great guy. You should meet up some day."

He looked at Corn one eyebrow raised. "Different kind of weird? What's your kind then?" Yeah, he was nerdy and ambitious, but as far as Crystal was concerned that fit the bill of most Mages. And by the way.. "You're from San Francisco? It's a small world after all: so am I. Although I didn't really get to know most of the Mages there - mostly my mentor." And those very friendly Guardians back then. Fuck, this Moros was a second-hand treasure trove of bad memories.

Then he said something that made Crystal stop his thoughts. "Wait what? Skye moved away? How do you know?" She was a stick in the mud, but at least she took her job seriously. Oh well, must be the coming and going he was told about. "About Madison - I don't know. Haven't been thinking in terms of Cabals at all, to be honest. Can't really read her either, so you saying we get along great is news to me. Like, we're already spending more private time together than I ever did with her and in case you haven't noticed: we're not raising any bars here." He shrugged and grinned. Did he care about the relationship with the Awakened here? Not really - he didn't trust the peace for now, so he didn't really see a point in getting all tied up and comfortable right now. Thinking about that seemed kind of bleak, so he changed the topic.

"Anyway, what was your Awakening like?"

[Corn]

The question surprised (and not in a good way) Corn. He looked at Crystal side-ways and made a grimace.
"Why on earth would you like to know that? In short, it was dark, cold and damn scary. I didn't believe in magic beforehand, fatereading and the like. And then, I was in a bad, bad situation. No mystery plays to warn me. I go to sleep a perfectly normal person like everyone else, and I get in a ... very unpleasant place. Black and white. Full of 'things' that I now know they're spectres but for me then they were 'stuff from nightmares'. A cerberus hunted me to devour my soul or something. I just knew I had to get to the Tower." He shakes his head. "I don't want to talk about it. It was bad. Next day, I knew it was real. Which meant I had no fucking idea what was going on, what the world was, how it worked and who the fuck I was supposed to be. Was I called to be a superhero? Was I an angel? Was I just blessed? No idea. I could see dead people, I could manipulate water and I could know things about matter around me and more." This was one of the few times (if ever) that Crystal has heard Corn say "fuck"
"The Mysterium found me two days after I awoke, while I was still hiding in my room, and warned me about hidden dangers. I don't know if it was my idea, but I think they also incliuded themselves in the 'hidden dangers' if I didn't follow rules I didn't even know existed. So, I joined them. "

"Let's change the subject. I don't have gossip as I told you, but perhaps you know better why Anima and Puck nearly threw down in the Consilium?" Corn asked, forgetting that Crystal was not in that gathering.

[Crystal]

Aha. So it seemed they were even on pissing each other off. Crystal looked out of the window to hide the smirk on his face and listened to Korn, but the longer he did the less he felt like smiling about it. Yeah, their Awakenings were not really comparable, maybe it was a Moros thing.

"Hey, easy there. I was just interested - you know, a Mystagogue's journey to understanding the universe and all." Maybe that'd smooth over the waves. He looked at the driver again and idly tapped with his fingers on his knee. "I just think it's remarkable - after what you've been through you seem kind of trigger happy with Magic." Before Korn could answer to that, Crystal threw his hands up. "But I'm dropping it, alright. So Puck and Anima, huh?" Crystal did a quick recap on who he actually knew - he saw their faces from fleeting introductions but then came up blank. He really should start meeting the other Awakened - or at least drop by the Circle every now and then.

"The names ring a bell, haven't talked to them since. What was it about?"

[Corn]

"What the fight was about? I ... am not really sure. The short version was that it was highschool drama.
Anima was talking to Aurora , Puck said something that I didn't pay attention too as I was talking with the new girl - we have a new mage by the way, Vulture, an Arrow - Anima answered that with a smarmy response hinting that he had also hit on Puck in the past and Puck accused Anima of lying about his sexuality basing that accusation on Anima also hitting on Aurora, and about Anima talking about orgies in the previous consilium and calling Puck a plebian. Then Puck grandly announced that he would take Anima to the principal for detention. By which I mean, that Puck said he would press the issue formally in the next consilium meeting, to formally accuse Puck for lying about his sexuality and a separate accusation about how Anima insulted him by calling him a plebian.
Apparently in Sacramento's consilium we have so few problems that one can start proceedings because the boy he liked talked to a girl or because the boy he didn't like talked to the girl he liked. Actually, it was not highschool drama, it was more like middleschool drama.
And like a true middleschool drama, Kaze trying to be the voice of reason. He started well enough telling them to chill down and that we're all on the same side etc etc... and then suggested they move past it by throwing down after school. By which I mean, he suggested a duel arcana over it.
It was insane.

I lost a lot of respect for many of my fellow mages that day. "

[Crystal]

Crystal had to hold onto something to not get emotional whiplash then and there. Here they were, lamenting the darkest parts about being Awakened while stuff like that was on the big meetings' agenda. He even looked at Korn to see if he was fucking with him - no, that's apparently what has happened.

"Jesus, I really need to attend those meetings again. Could you imagine bringing something like this up at the Consilium in San Fran? Also, have either of those been to an "official" gathering here?" The air-quotes were dripping with sarcasm. "We barely got officially recognized, who is going to put up with two bickering boys?"

Frankly, he still couldn't really follow the Moros' story, more precisely: he still didn't get the problem. Slander? Insults of some edge fifth-graders? Well, maybe he understood it on an intellectual level, but it all seemed so ridiculous anyhow.

"I think I lucked out with the people I've chosen to hang out with." Yeah, that was a compliment, Korn should feel honored. "But I wouldn't disregard Kaze like that - yeah, a duel would have been a bit over the top, but at least he stepped in and tried to mediate. Shouldn't that be some Councilor's or an Arrow's job? Speaking of: is this Vulture as much "fun" as Skye and Phoenix?" Again with the air-quotes, this time slightly less condescending in tone. Slightly.

[Corn]

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I like hanging out with Kaze ! I honestly think he did well to dissuade the situation and he was warm to both sides. I didn't lose respect for him, it was more like 'seriously? A duel arcane over calling someone a plebeian?'. About those two, I also think there were other minor accusations from either side. I didn't keep a tally as I am not a gradeschool teacher to hand out stormy clouds or something to kids that misbehave.
I just found the whole thing... a real blast from the past. From my days in middleschool and we had a small middleschool with perhaps 150 kids all in all. In serious middleschools you would have bigger issues than that. "

When Crystal mentioned how such a thing would go in San Franscisco, Corn chuckled. "I guess we now know the meaning of 'we were not found compatible' with the San Fransisco Consilium'. Was the "Corporate" cabal still the movers and shakers in San Fransisco when you were there? With their expensive suits and veiled threats? Yeah, I am sure they would have loved to have one of their 'little talks' with the 'Chosen of Icarus' interrupted by low ranking mages arguing about this. Croesus Magus may have even spilled his 60-years burbon on his 10000$ suit. And then heads would roll.

About Vulture , I can't say for sure yet, I have seen her once. She has served in Afghanistan, by the way. Showed up from the consilium in Kabul with a letter of introduction. I am not sure how those are supposed to work. I guess they are something sleepers couldn't sense but our senses would pick up. Do you want to meet her some time?"