Coffee shop epiphanies

[Thistle]

Theo was meeting with Kyle again at the coffee shop. As usual he gets hot chocolate rather than anything cafinated. He had explained to Kyle that he didn't like the taste of anything cafinated.
Despite his desire to tell Kyle everything Theo knew that was a bad idea. Not only was it likely a bad idea for reasons of secrecy and sympathy, but normally people didn't like hearing things in the amount of detail Theo was able to give. So he gave a "short" description of a life roughly matching his own. It was still fairly long. It had taken several coffe shop talks.
He went slowly through through the life that was very much like his own with some differences here and there added in. That wasn't to say he talked straight through it all. Every three or five years he'd say it was Kyle's turn. Kyle of course had finished before him.
It was purely unintentional but the more he told Kyle the more he... he wouldn't say trust... the more he felt comfortable around him. The life of Theo Eberhard (as he was calling himself) was still mostly his own and Kyle always seemed interested (or at least was very good at hiding he was bored). Few of the Awakened community knew much about him really, not even his cabal (though Tyria probably knew a lot about his past). He spent most of his time asking questions or researching alone, rather than talking about himself. With Kyle though, he felt he could be more himself. He finally had someone who knew who he was (mostly), and he hadn't realised how much he'd missed that feeling.
He gotten through most of it, up to coming to Sacromento.
This is where things got tricky. Acording to the laws of the Consilium it was not allowed to tell a Sleeper about the Awakened. Technically Kyle did not meet this description but he wasn't sure the powers that be would make that distinction and they had shown they were willing to carry out harsh punishments. However, thinking on that subject riled something in Theo. He wasn't going to be cowed by their attempts at instilling fear. It was still a very difficult thing to tell someone about. Besides, he was still hoping that Kyle would talk about his mystic nature before Theo revealed his. Kyle of course had finished his description of his life before Theo had without a hint of being a Changeling. He considered how to go about it. The best way would probably be careful observation, gaining of trust and subtle questions to get the revelation. Then again, subtlety was not Theo's strong suit. Might be better to go with what he knew how to do.
He drank some of his beverage and waited for Kyle to show up.

[Kyle Franesco]

Kyle was genuinely interested in the minutiae of Theo's life, asking intelligent questions about things mentioned in passing to get more information about them. Kyle didn't spend much time socializing with normal people very often. Dirty Talking? He was amazing at it. Getting to know someone without trying to get them to unzip his pants? Not so good.

Kyle had no worries about spilling Freehold secrets because he's not in the habit of talking about Freehold business to or around the Mundies. It wasn't any of their concern after all. What he was worried about was this infatuation that was growing in regards to Theo. Normally all he had to do was throw some glamour at someone and he would find himself with them somewhere sans several articles of clothing and with the two (and occasionally three) of them doing interesting things too each other. Theo seemed to be made of sterner stuff than that, and Kyle wanted to push him down and find out exactly how stern certain parts of Theo were (and how long they could be kept stern and if they would stay stern after Kyle was done with them)...

Damnit, Kyle thought looking down at himself, Down boy! Kyle circles the block a few times to calm himself down.

Kyle's life story had been far less detailed. He was an only child. He gave a brief description of his parents, who had stayed married his entire life and were now living in Florida. If Theo had gotten the impression that Kyle did not get along with his parents very well for some reason, he would be correct. He talked about law school and his former wife (he never said her name) and her loosing fight against the breast cancer two years ago. He talked about some of the interesting cases he had worked on and some of the people he had met. According to him, he hasn't been out of the city except for a few times, his honeymoon (Peru) and a few trips around the state. He didn't like moving around very much. It was a full enough life for someone pushing 30 years.

Which was really odd, because he looks like he's in his very early twenties.

Kyle parks his car and hops out of it. When he gets in he's dressed casually, slacks and a blue tee shirt with the letters "NPC" printed in white on the front. "Hey Theo! Sorry I'm late, I got distracted by something big on the way here."

[Thistle]

"No problem. I haven't been here very long," Theo said, getting up to greet Kyle with a smile. Theo had been going over in his head how to broach the topic, what to say, how to say it, whether he should in the first place, the risk of punishment by the Consilium, the rebeliousness of not caring, trying to predict how Kyle would react, planning out responses in advance. He had in his head a vision of how to do the conversation perfectly. It started by making sure nobody overheard and so he had cast a spell to that effect. The next part had Theo sit down and immediatly start asking questions that would lead to Kyle telling him everything about being a Changeling. Theo had even thought of a way not to mention being a Mage.
So Theo sat down, with Kyle across from him.
And the plan instantly fell apart as the seconds ticked by without him saying anything. Theo just looked at Kyle. He had confided to this man almost his entire life. And now he was thinking of potentially tricking him out of knowledge. It felt wrong and Theo found he just couldn't do it, not to Kyle. He wasn't entirely willing to fully recognize the feeling for what it might be, so he passed it off as an unwillingness to break the protocol of right exchange.
"Kyle, you remember at the Faire, when I said I'd tell you my story if you told me yours?"
[spoiler]2009-07-02 18:44:00 Theo rolls 5 to Control sound Forces+Gno (10 Again) 6, 4, 7, 10, 2, 5 1 success
Halves sound to those outside of two yards.[/spoiler]

[Kyle Franesco]

Hrrrrm, Kyle thought as he sipped the ultra-caffeinated polysyllabic drink he bought, overcast sky. That's what his eyes look like.

Then there was an awkward pause. He could tell that Theo was thinking about something, and he assumed that it was how to frame the why and how of his trip here. It had happened before, while he was great at remembering what appeared to be every little detail (an extremely impressive feat in Kyle's opinion) he was constantly trying to compress things into an engaging narrative so that wouldn't bore his listener. It was such a nice thing to do, really. And he really wanted to talk to someone. To share his story with. Someone outside of whatever circle of peers he ran with nowadays who (Kyle assumed) wouldn't judge him or who's preconceived notions and opinions wouldn't be shaken by whatever he wanted to talk about.

And that was fine with Kyle. He honestly didn't give a fuck about what you did, but what you are doing. He projected this attitude, even if he didn't say anything of the sort.

Kyle starts to say something, "So why-" But Theo starts at the same time, and Kyle makes a motion for him to continue. "Of course. That's what we've been doing."

[Thistle]

Theo ran his hand through his hair, clearly uncomfortable about something.
"For the most part yes." he folded his hands on the table in front of him. "To be honest I don't talk about my past much and it wasn't really my intention to do so at such great length as I've done. I don't know, I've enjoyed it more than I expected. And I've enjoyed learning about you as well. However, I haven't been completely honest in either my story or my intentions."
He sat up against his chair taking his hands off the table. The constant movement came across as fidgety.

[Kyle Franesco]

Kyle smiles, and his blue eyes twinkle. He totally thinks that he knows where this is going, and on the inside he's doing the Macarena. "Well, I honestly think that enjoying yourself would be reason enough to do it in the first place. And in all frankness, it was very interesting. Far more interesting than mine I'm sure."

He chuckles. "You are very interesting to talk to, you aren't self-absorbed, you're clean, you don't swear unnecessarily, you listen to what I say and ask intelligent questions, and it's very flattering to have someone interested in me. As to the amount of honesty you shared with me? I know that I'm still little more than a stranger, even if I've told you a lot about myself. I would be very surprised if you told me about the worst thing that ever happened to you, or the worst thing you ever did. We aren't just the sum of our history. I doubt you're a serial killer, because I've met a few. I've met a lot of people that are pretty bad by anybody's measure, and you don't strike me as being cut from the same cloth as them. So whatever your intentions are, I'm sure that while they may suprise me, they won't upset me."

[Thistle]

Theo gave a sigh, the flattery didn't help and claims of understanding didn't help. They in fact made him feel a little more guilty.
"I've known what you are since first met. It's why I was originally curious about you. I was planning on tricking you into talking about it but that wouldn't be fair to you. Your a good guy Kyle." Theo made more awkward movements for reasons that didn't have to do directly with the conversation. He spoke more quietly, even with his spell in effect, he didn't want to be overheard. "So I'm going to start over with the deal. I'd like you to tell your story about being a Changeling and I'll tell mine about being a Mage. No tricks." Subtlety was not his strong suit at all.

[Kyle Franesco]

Kyle's face slips into an expressionless mask, and he sips his drink.

A minute passes. His eyes never leave Theo's face.

Then, with quite possibly the exact same amount of care a bomb disposal expert might take with something that had the potential to make his life loud, painful, quite noticeable and extremely short, Kyle asked, "That's an interesting idea. Let's say I believed you. How would you authenticate a claim like that?"

[Thistle]

Theo had expected suprise, disbelief, even laughter. The emtionless expression was a little disconcerting.
"Believe me about what? That I'm a Mage or that I know your a Changeling? Well knowing that you are one goes a long ways towards proving both points. I also know you have, to date, cast" he does a quick count "five spells within my vicinity.
He thinks for a moment. "Here, give me your hand, try to relax."
Theo forms an image in his soul of Kyles eyes coming alive with the primal white celestial fire granting him the mage sight of supernal vision. All around, Kyle sees resonances and auras appear.
"Well?" there's a hint of mild concern and uncertainty in Theo's voice.

Primal Flow

2009-07-04 05:05:05 Theo rolls 5 to Prime+Gno (10 Again) 6, 2, 8, 10, 9, 4 3 successes

[Benji]

He sees them, and he screws his eyes shut less than a second later. It doesn't help. He can feel the... whatever it is all around him "Turn it off. Get rid of it NOW." He hisses at Theo, his heart racing and him trying desperately to get his hand out of Theo's hand.