Brass, Ruby always loved Brass. Its luster when polished can rival gold, but its common bearing and utility, its capacity for melody, might win the heart of any sculptor.
Ruby plucks a long, winding wire from her metal. It draws like taffy between her fingers, and she takes a patient eye between motions. Sixteen kilos of alloy commands the studio room. It makes a promise with her, a promise to transform and become.
No rush.
Ruby steps back, towards the window to see if her guests have arrived. She is rewarded with the view of an uncharacteristically disheveled and harried-looking Thyrsus. The nights after Granite Park had been hell, but much worse was the shock of Ankh's departure. His animal mannerisms are in full force as he reaches the door and rings the doorbell.
Guards-the-Pack, feeling concerned and helpless amidst the flood of empathic cues, frequently brushes against Animus' side, a physical reminder that he, at least, won't be going anywhere, no matter how bad things became. Even so, the spirit can't help but wish he could do more.
Rosh answers the door, a towel still drapped round his shoulders and drying at wet hair. "Sir. Come in. I." Rosh closes the door and leads the way toward the kitchen. "Water? We have some coke. Ruby! Master Animus is here!" Rosh tires not to stare, but Animus looks much he once did but a few months ago.
Animus follows Rosh, taking in the hall and the kitchen, and despite the changes made, memories come flooding back, of the Cabal that once was. We've all changed, just as the Sanctum has. We can't go back. But maybe we can create something new. Because living alone with West is just too painful.
"Water will be fine."
Joshua is guided to the Sanctum by memory: memories of previous dinners here, of a group of mages slowly becoming friends, of friends mourning the loss of one of their own. He parks nearby and walks to the house, enjoying the brief breeze that glides over him before he steps up to the door and knocks.
"Let him in! Let him in!" Ruby calls emphatically as she hustles to join Rosh and guests in the Foyer. "Animus, as always it's a pleasure."
She inclines her head respectfully, but the state of her friend is not lost on her. He is not a Heirarch today, he's a man with a heavy burden and deep cuts that wont knit shut when his wounds do.
"Joshua!" She starts, her thoughts interrupted by the clap of metal. She clasps the door handle with undue care before a pull and a turn. "Howdy, stranger"
Joshua hears his name called out inside, unable to stifle a smile at her tone--happy that her friend has arrived, and eager to get him inside lest she be seen as a bad hostess for letting him steep on the stoop. The smile is still there when the door opens, and he greets Ruby with a "Howdy, yourself." He comes in, stopping to look around the foyer in surprise. "You've been busy..."
Animus forces a smile at Ruby's greeting and follows her back into the foyer to meet Joshua. "I'm glad we could meet up like this. How have you been doing?" He might not be able to hide how much he's hurting, but he's certainly trying not to call attention to it.
"One water, right up." Rosh sets the glass for Animus. Ruby and Animus depart to greet Joshua. Three is company. Rosh peeks into the studio at what Ruby was working on.
The beginnings of it are hard to piece out, but Rosh can see distinct hollow tubes, like the pipes of an organ. They are woven in what seems intended to be the first loop of a spiral. Several masses of metal have been partitioned off in various sizes, and they lie grouped together on top of folded cheesecloth.
Joshua stops looking around long enough to turn to greet Animus, but pauses slightly at the sight of the Thyrsus. Instead of saying anything he just smiles--just a few degrees above "wan," it is. Joshua finally gets out "It's good to see you, Animus," and doesn't remark upon his friend's appearance.
No doubt that, and more, would be discussed tonight, when they all felt a bit more at ease.
"Well," Ruby sighs contentedly, running her lower lip under the sharp of her teeth. That doesn't sound nice, but trust me it looks cute when you see it in action. She has to make sure this goes perfectly, Joshua has to feel like he's home again. But she hasn't forgiven him. But nothing can go wrong this evening.
"Oh, yea I moved things around a little bit." She says as Joshua comments on the changes to the sanctum. There's a shameful twang in her heart as she shows him the Sanctum she'd stripped of all the traces that he'd lived in it. "I'm sorry it's almost hard to recognize... see we moved these walls back here... and of course, I put in the twin staircases... Though, sometimes I wonder when I'm ever goin' to finish them!" She laughs quietly, with heart instead of humor, and leads the Stones into the dining room.
There are a few changes to the Sanctum that are new to Animus as well, the floors have finally been stained, and the smell of the squatters has finally been gotten out.
"Sit down, sit down," she urges them as she takes a seat at the tiny table. It's a beaten up piece, carved out of driftwood and built to seat two or three comfortably. It might have used to be beautiful, but time and Craigslist trading had taken a toll.
Tonight, it's set for four.
Rosh grabs a seat, but sits back to give the other men room. Happy to be a wall flower as three of the most powerful Mages- Well, Rosh was not a push-over either. That fact was hush hush. Rosh adjusts his 'student' hat and waits for Ruby's confident, yet soft direction in regard to serving the two guests.
Animus re-takes his seat, glancing around to take in the continued improvements. "I like the changes. They put me in mind of new beginnings. Keep the focus on the future, instead of the past." I don't know how I managed to stay here alone for so long without going crazy.
Almost immediately, his thoughts spiral off into Ankh's offer to join the Neidan, and thinking of her.
"Well, you let me know if you need any help around here," Joshua says. "I'd be glad to pitch in." They move in to the dining room and Joshua runs a hand along the table appraisingly. Then he notices the settings, and Rosh.
"I'm sorry," he says, holding out a hand. "I don't think we've been introduced properly. I mean, you look familiar, but--" He stops himself before he starts to babble and takes a second to start over. "I'm Joshua," he says to Rosh.
Rosh just stops himself making a very strange response. There was no way Joshua would appreciate the heavy subject of what Rosh knew and why he knew it. "Rosh. I'm a student of Ruby's. I think it is an honor to meet you. I understand you have long served within the Arrow."
He shakes the hand firm and he tries to blend in again. Out of sight and only to help see Ruby's night successful.
"Rosh, where are you going? Come on and sit with us!"
"Joshua, Rosh is terribly talented! He's an artist... but he does tattoos too. I keep sayin' how much of a shame it is that he's Council. It was such a scandal when we decided to study together, you would have died of shock if you'd been there, I'm sure."
It isn't easy, but Animus manages to force a smile at that. "You gave him his life back, Ruby. It was a very noble thing you did."
Finally, he decides to just jump in. He had felt the link at the restaurant, even before everything had happened. And now ... New beginnings. "I'd like to bring the Living Stones back -- and include Rosh, if he'll have us."
There's a story there--with Rosh and Ruby, and something she did for him--that Joshua wants to hear, but he knows it's for another night. This night is slated for something else, and that is made all the more apparent by Animus' statement. Joshua is quiet, mulling it.
"Well. I can't deny wanting to be part of that again. But it's up to you three. I didn't leave on a weekend jaunt, I skipped town and burned bridges." He runs his hands on the table again, eyes watching that instead of on his fellows. "So, really. I think the Stones should exist again. Whether you want me after... what happened, is up to you." And the meaning, really, is clear enough there. Animus has already cast his vote, after all. And the student is likely to align with the teacher.
"I've made commitments. Tug Has already offered, and Henry has already agreed." Rosh averts his eyes and sinks down in his chair away from Ruby, not wanting to see her reaction. "Nothing is written in stone though. I think a Cabal should have a purpose. Tug was pretty vague. Does the Living Stone have a purpose?"
Rosh's arrangement with Tug and Henry isn't a surprise to Ruby, though it's no less a disappointment. How will Rosh manage to divide his loyalties across teacher, Order, and cabal?
"I don't..." Animus offer isn't entirely unwelcome, it's just premature. This is just too soon. "You know that you all are always welcome here... but I think that's somethin' that I'd have to think on." Really Animus, what are you thinking?
She wants to say no... she wants to say yes... "I just need to think about it. Oh, I completely forgot the crackers and dip! No Rosh, you stay sit, I'll get them." She rises gracefully and turns to the kitchen to collect appetizers and collect herself.
Animus tries to hide the flare-up of pain, but he can't keep from shrinking inward a bit, letting his animal tendencies become just a little more prominent. More time in the Circle with so few people I know -- and West as a constant, painful reminder. But forcing his problems onto the others wouldn't be fair to them. Instead he simply nods. "I understand. It's too big a decision to rush."
As Ruby departs for the kitchen, Animus' focus shifts to Rosh to distract himself. "We formed after ending the threat from the Discovery Park obelisks that had wiped out the prior Consilium. I don't know that we ever had a specific purpose, but that mutual triumph, and what it had cost each of us, was what bound us together."
Ruby returns with a platter, sectioned off into cheese, dip, and cracker segments. These mofos couldn't be better organized if Ruby busted out the Dewy Decimal System.
"If anyone's got any allergies..." Ruby looks to the room's only Protean Orphan and sets up her punchline. "We got a Master of the Vital arts right here!"
"And if he doesn't get to you fast enough, I'm sure Joshua will be kind enough to relay his apology after the fact!"
Ahhhhh... path jokes. It gives Ruby a moment to consider what it was that tied the small group together.
Joshua wonders about bonds while Animus fills Rosh in. Those bonds hadn't been enough to keep Armstrong around. Ruby had left, for a while. And of course he had disappeared. Were they ever really as strong together as they had thought? Would trying to re-form the Stones just be forcing something that wasn't really there?
He understood Ruby's hesitation.
Joshua allows himself a smile at Ruby's jokes; he once might have pointed out that he wasn't very strong with Death (and only realized his mistake when the awkwardness became clear), but tonight he adds some puns of his own after a moment of thought. "Miss Ruby, you're a multifaceted specimen. A prime scholar, the very material of an excellent hostess, and a forceful comedienne."
Well. They didn't have to be very good puns.
Rosh tries not look like a squirrel as he stuffs his mouth. Anything to have an excuse not to continue the new game. Alas he is too late in realizing he can not respond to Animus either. He simply nods to the Heirarch and gives thumbs up to Ruby for excellent platter organizing skills.
She almost misses the gesture, tickled pink by Joshua's return serve. She mouths a silent 'thanks for helping' to Rosh.
Animus chuckles hoarsely at the jokes. Sometimes you had to laugh to keep from crying.
"At the restaurant, there was a bond there. I felt it. Did the two of you?" The thoughts follow bitterly. Or was it like the pack bond among the Neidan, that the others had no qualms about ripping to shreds because they couldn't feel it? By immersing myself so deeply in the animal, am I starting to lose the ability to relate to other humans? Am I forcing them away?
"Well of course, I did," Joshua says as he helps himself to a cracker and a slice of cheddar. "It never truly faded--it was one of the things that brought me back.
"But there are bonds of friendship and trust, and there are bindings, shackles, of doubt and anger. We may be magicians but not everything can be fixed with a snap of our fingers and our good intentions. I understood that when I decided to come back--and you should too, Animus," he adds, looking to his friend. "If time is needed, then... time is needed."
Rosh stuffs his mouth some more. Better to stay quiet as the three worked things out. This was not his discussion. It was not his problem. They would have to find their own solution on how to rebuild the bridges between them.
Animus nods slowly, deliberately. "I think I can see ... you're right." He chuckles, a harsh, self-deprecating sound. "Since Ankh left, I've been thrashing about, trying to grasp at something to anchor myself. Not stopping to take in the bigger picture, and that's not fair to you or anyone else. I'm sorry to drag so much baggage into this." He glances from Joshua to Ruby, nervous, but a bit relieved to finally get things out in the open.
Ruby hasn't forgotten that Animus has lost just as many friends as she has, maybe more. He must desperately want a place to call home, and she can't help but feel guilty for being the lone set of dragging heels.
"Isn't it enough that we're here right now?" She places a hand on either arm of her friends. "I'm just so glad we could do this again."
"Where are you both staying now? Animus, surely you're still livin' with Magister West, right? He wouldn't have kicked you out."
Animus nods briefly, almost mechanically. "We're staying at the Circle." Of course there was a lot more to the answer than that, but he doesn't say any of it. All it would do is pressure her, and no Cabal should ever form around guilt. Instead, he just soaks in the touch of her hand on his arm, the soft reminder that he isn't alone. It's unnatural, the kind of tension wound up in the skinshifter's limb. Like steel cords, being stretched over a crossbow. Ruby almost shudders at the power of it, but its eased release is the February thaw. You can almost see green poking out from that sad hillside.
Joshua nods in agreement with Ruby's statement--right now, this was enough. It was a start. He waits for more from Animus on the topic of the Circle, but when none is forthcoming Joshua says, "I'm staying at a motor lodge on the east side. Bit out of the way but the rates are low."
"You know," he says in an attempt to draw Rosh in, "If we were to re-form--sometime--down the line--it might help us that Rosh could be in another cabal. Having a link between the two would help foster cooperation. I hear, sometimes, cabals can spend too much time fighting each other for resources instead of giving aid."
"Cooperation. Thats a thing to keep high in priority. Maybe above all else. But even with us working together, little has been done. It may be blunt, but we all have done that cooperatively." Rosh pulls back into his chair, dreading the fact he had gotten passionate too quick. "Excuse me, this is something I've been troubled over for a while now. Politics being what they are. It was hard to say as much without looking the fool."
Rosh sighs, "Again."
Ruby takes immediate note that Joshua does not yet have a place of permanent residence. It's a very practical thing to take note of after all. She also hopes that Rosh will be able to get along with everyone, though she doesn't blame him for his doubts.
"That will change soon though. I think we're just on the cusp of makin' this place so much safer..." she tries not to go into too much more detail, so much wasn't sorted out yet. She's eager to change the subject away from her part in war.
"Rosh, how's the Council farin'? I understand you're makin' a few new friends?"
"I'm trying to get it all sorted out. Trying to build a base of like minded Awakened dedicated, if not to the Consilium's goals, then to me. You all might not realize it, but this city is Libertine gold. Big shots had been controlling Sacramento for years, that ended with..." They all understood the horrors of the obelisks.
"There is a power vacuum now. The LA and San Fran chapters are butting heads over what to do. A lot of Libertines are keeping out of dodge for that reason alone." Rosh turns to Animus. "There are sharks out there Animus, not all of them follow the Exarchs. If you don't prove you're more then just a young body filling a hat, there might be trouble from my end of the Star. Bad Trouble. Especially with the Ladder being so weak, the recent deaths. That's blood in the water sir."
Animus grimaces heavily, his voice bitter. "Right, because the universe hasn't given me enough of a beat-down recently." A moment of silence, breathing carefully measured.
"Sorry, it's been hard to stay positive sometimes. But if they try anything, they'll find other things to fear besides the Ladder. I'll make sure of that."
Ruby has long since come to understand the fragility of the arrangement she has with Rosh. He is no novice of the Arts, and his pull with the Council is greater than she would guess. But there is still room for surprises, and so her face twists with shock as Rosh so bluntly tells Animus that there were Libertine factions actively considering usurping power. He is lucky, lucky more than he knows that the Heirarch is the man he is.
How could such a statement not demand investigation? How could it not invite reprisal.
"Well, we don't have to worry about that, do we? Because we are GOIN' to show folks that we can keep this city safe." She stands, adjourning forcefully to the kitchen to collect an engorged and steaming apricot tart. The oven sighs as it gives up the confection, and Ruby plants it firmly in the center of the table.
Joshua leans back, quiet, letting the conversation drift towards areas he had no familiarity with. He couldn't imagine the LA and SF chapters of the Council could be that much of a problem; but he had to concede that they couldn't all be like Zero. Rosh seemed fairly on the ball, for starters. The Arrow busies himself with cheese and crackers as he listens in.
"I know." Rosh admits with a fresh grin. "The larger Council does not sir. Reallyy, It's more appearance then anything. Armstrong is gone and with her went the Libertine authority her predecessors had begun to rebuild.
Andrade left and with her went that special brand of leadership. Maybe, for that there is hope. Having Libertines interested in this city is not a bad thing. How they go about it might be. That is something I think I can work out.
I understand one of mine is in a bit of trouble. I'd like to understand what happened. If that is alright."
Animus seems puzzled for a moment before recognition finally dawns. "Who, Marconi? He'd decided that he didn't need the Consilium, and that it was perfectly acceptable to be rude toward his superiors. Honestly, though? I think his attitude is going to get him killed." Inwardly, the Hierarch winces at his own words. The admission of failure, that this was a man who couldn't be protected. "Unless he changes, the best we can do is try to keep him from taking anyone else down with him."
"Animus," Ruby cries. "It's as much our duty to protect the rude and obdurate as it is the better of us. If we ran out all the fools and rabble-rousers, this city'd not have six of us in total."
Joshua grunts. "In theory, I agree with you Ruby," he says. "I want that to be the case. But we're not in a position to afford rabble-rousers and fools in this city. At Granite Park, Ollie ran off on his own after being told to always stick with someone, and it got him killed--and worse, it got him turned into a weapon to be used against us the next time we went to the Park. And that whole business with Falx and Dee," he adds, jabbing the table with one finger and looking to Animus. "That was because Falx couldn't keep his mouth shut, remember? Zero likes to make his jokes and pranks, but has he strengthened the Council? Like it or not, we're at war, and that sort of behavior is a liability we can not afford."
Ruby's words score on the same wound as Animus' own conscience, and his eyes flash with anguish. But Joshua cuts in before he can even begin a response. His glance instantly pivots to the Moros. "Josh, please. Don't fight my battles for me. It's not your job." Finally, he turns back to Ruby. "It's not a matter of choosing! How do you protect someone who obstinately refuses to see the danger around him, who treats any evidence of it as some crackpot conspiracy theory? Someone who won't even take the most basic precautions to keep himself safe?"
Suddenly realizing his voice had risen to an uncomfortable volume, the Thyrsus takes several deep breaths, trying to force himself to some measure of calm. Is this it, then? Have we all changed so much that we can't help but come into conflict?
As the small tussle of words stalls, Rosh finds an opportunity. "Like it or not, Mages are very much human. The Exarchs and their side stunt that piece of themselves off for power." Rosh takes a short breath
"I will do what I can with Marconi. As for fools, I'm glad we are not so strict as all that. Lord knows how much I've fucked up and what that has cost us."
"Animus, this ain't a battle this is a discussion," Ruby answers him with soft laughter. Does her Heirarch carry Sun Tzu with him to tea parties? "And if anything, the business with Ollie proves that leavin' irresponsible Mages unattended is a recipe for disaster. We lose track of 'em for ten minutes and they turn up in an awful state and at our throats."
And in truth, Ruby doesn't know the half of it. What about the defiled scraps of Invictus stitched together to harangue the Consilium from the shadows of the Bell building, the newcomer Crane already in enemy hands for who knows what purpose, Falx of the Arrow torn into his essence to forge an enemy Soul Stone, and even others beyond that? Near every fool they've lost has been twisted into a weapon of the enemy.
"Besides," she smiles as Rosh steps up and takes responsibility for the wayward. "Ain't no skin off our backs if we you do what you already intend to do."
Animus wants to protest, that it is a battle, it's just not her that's the enemy; that if they put a constant watch on every irresponsible mage, they'd be spread too thin to defend the Consilium as a whole, but he bites it back. These weren't things she needed to be convinced of. And besides, it's the people who don't have to confront the harsh realities that make what we do worthwhile. If everyone thought like an Arrow, there would be nothing left worth fighting for.
Instead he turns to Rosh. "Thank you. I think he'll listen to you, where he would brush off any of the rest of us."
Joshua sits back and focuses on his water, feeling chided. He hadn't intended to fight anybody's battles except his own--but perhaps he'd chosen the wrong time to comment. So it was in that spirit that he let Ruby's statement "this ain't a battle" go without touching upon it, even though the Arrow in him truly believed that Existence was War. All things were battles.
And like all battles, you had to know when to pick yours.
Rosh watches the real Magic. People, powerful People, work out what was between them even while discussing something different. Rosh wonders if this was a glimpse of the Truth. "I think we finished off this platter, Poor Josh looks like Death rolled over, Maybe another platter might grant some Life to his renewed Spirit. Mind it hardly Matters at this Fated Time." The Obrimos' grin almost splits his face in two.
"Whoo!" Ruby hollers with a clap of her hands and a mirthful glow. "Slow down! You're runnin' circles around us." Ruby sets her fork neatly down on her plate along with syrupy fragments of apricot and crust. She missed this, missed moments like these. Sure it wasn't the same, and maybe it never could be.
But it was blessing enough.
Animus coughs softly at the puns, too drained even for a hoarse chuckle. He hadn't expected or wanted things to be exactly the same, but what he had hoped for, and needed so desperately, was some network to replace the deep void left by Ankh's sudden departure. And the slow realization that that will only come through time and considerable effort drags on him, sapping at his will.
Glancing from Rosh to the remnants of the food, the Thyrsus forces a weak approximation of a grin onto his face. "I'm sure the platter's noble sacrifice will live on in memory." No matter how hopeless things might look for his personal life, he'd continue on, because he had to. But his wolf instincts demanded a pack, and that was still beyond his reach.
Joshua groans at the Libertine's flurry of puns. "I can see why you're tutoring him," he says dryly to Ruby. "Peas in a pod." He spears a piece of apricot with his fork and pops it into his mouth, chewing deliberately, and asks, "Is Marconi an isolated case? Or do more of the recent magi distrust our current Consilium?" Although it's directed at the table as a whole, his eyes flick to Rosh--either because he's with the FC, or he's younger than the others, or newer to the city. And he doesn't feel the need to point out that if there are others, they could grow into a problem for the new Hierarch--after all, Animus had been with the Ladder. He would recognize the threat.
Ruby follows her tart from the plates of her guests to their lips, just a little bit frustrated that the conversation has stolen her confection's thunder. "Let me just clear a couple things." She rises in need of a stretch, grabbing the cheese tray and a smaller plate.
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