A Chat over tea

Cammie led Aeolia to what amounted to her office, a couple of chairs, a simple desk covered in pages of culinary notes, and a small laptop computer, and gestured for her to sit.

“A nice chai, and a touch of honey, right?” Cammie asked, pulling out a kettle of steaming water from a shelf on the wall nearest her computer, a cup, container of tea and bottle of honey floating down from higher shelves buoyed by motes of green wind. She prepared the drink, the dark liquid gaining a light blue glow as it began to swirl around.

“Yeah,” Aeolia responded quietly, taking her seat. “Never forget someone’s favorite, do ya?”

“Nope,” Cammie answered, taking the readied cup in hand and handing it to Aeolia. “Not the ones of my friends. Do you want to talk about what happened?”

Aeolia took a sip of tea, letting the hot liquid soothe away some of her tension before she began to recount what had transpired.

“We were hired to clear out three Barriers,” she said, staring into the cup. “The first two had been taken over by Kalendra rats. You know how much of a pain they are to deal with if they get big enough. Took us most of the day to clear them out. By the time we got to the last Barrier, we were pretty worn down.

“Sandra wanted us to call it a day, but me and Thomas pushed to just get the job done.” She paused, her expression darkening, “We convinced everyone we had enough left in the tank to finish the job and we went in. There wasn’t anything in there, but before we could leave, they took control of the Barrier and summoned up a fog and a pack of vine hounds.”

Aeolia took a sip and cleared her throat. “The fog blinded us, and made it harder to coordinate. The hounds drove us apart and ganged up on us. I fought them off as best I could but I couldn’t keep them from getting hits on me. One of them knocked me down and would have gotten me if Zeph didn’t blast it away.

“He,” she continued, stopping to swallow a lump growing in her throat. “He said he could sense a large amount of magic building up and was going to try to warp the Barrier to protect as many as he could. I got knocked out while he was working on it. He sealed me away, but I was the only one saved."

“When I fell back into the Barrier, everyone was dead,” Aeolia finished, her voice growing raw as she reached the end of her recollection, the image of her pale and lifeless comrades nearly breaking her composure. “I used a Tracer Crystal he had given me to detect some of the magic being thrown at us and I followed the trail.”

“And I assume that led you to finding the two Mason’s keeping entertained,” Cammie commented, her eyes wet.

“Yeah,” Aeolia answered, her sad voice growing a bit lighter. “I tracked the hounds to John’s school, where whoever sent them had pulled him into a Barrier to kill. We dealt with the hounds and he went with me back to HQ. They raided it, but we found Vivian’s business card. She had reached out to Zeph, wanted to make a proposition to us. We tracked her down and she’s had several other guilds fall out of contact.”

“And you think they met the same fate as the Dawnseekers,” Cammie finished.

“Yeah,” Aeolia said, taking a sip of tea.

Cammie shook her head. “Can’t say I like the thought of you going off to confront these guys. Don’t like the idea of them getting away with this even more, so I won’t go telling you to not go after them. Just be careful.”

“We are,” Aeolia responded with a slight smile. “Both of them are kind of new to everything, but I think they’ve got a lot of potential.”

“Oh?” Cammie said, a sly smile banishing some of the sadness she was feeling. “I thought I felt something in your aura. Which one of them have you taken to your bed?”

Aeolia choked on her tea, putting the cup down on the desk as she cleared her throat.

“Do you have to be so upfront with stuff like that?” she complained half-heartedly, wiping her mouth on an offered napkin.

“Being obtuse and dragging things out is pointless,” Cammie countered seriously. “Life can be too short.”

That cooled what remained of Aeolia’s anger and she answered, “Yeah. I slept with John. He sort of walked in on me getting off and I kind of jumped him.”

“The guy, huh?” Cammie remarked. “Thought you swore off them after that one from Doveport insulted you.”

“Well, he deserved to get his ass kicked for thinking I would just keep his bed warm,” Aeolia grumbled. “Can we talk about something else?”

“Oh,” Cammie grinned mischievously, “you’re usually not this closed off about things. Sounds like you really like this guy.”

“I mean, he’s sweet,” Aeolia muttered, her skin gaining a light flush as she stared at her remaining tea with utter fascination. “I was all ready to just camp out with a pillow and blanket and he went on and tried to build me a bed.”

“Sounds romantic,” Cammie remarked with a sly smile. “Almost a pity you didn’t really use it.”

“I slept a few hours in it,” Aeolia retorted, red in the face.

Cammie let out a hearty laugh. “Well, spending time in someone else's bed has its own appeal to it.”

“How long are you gonna keep teasing me?” Aeolia asked, before finishing off her tea and placing the empty cup on Cammie’s desk.

“Only for a little while,” Cammie answered with a chipper smile. “I’ll get bored eventually, unless something juicy pops up, like you jumping ships and hooking up with that redhead.”

Aeolia’s reaction, a sheepish aversion of her eyes, caused Cammie to quirk an eyebrow.

“You’re not already thinking of jumping ship, are you?” the dark-haired woman asked with a serious voice as a critical eye studied Aeolia. “No, that’s not it. Oh, you naughty girl. You want both of them.”

“Don’t say it like that,” Aeolia grumbled. “Makes me feel like a scumbag.”

“I don’t hear a denial in there,” Cammie teased.

Aeolia squirmed under Cammie’s gaze. “I mean, yeah. If that happens, it'd be pretty great. But I’m not going to be pushing things. Vivian’s a bit shy and John doesn’t have much in the way of experience either.”

“Not like you’re all that worldly, yourself,” Cammie noted.

“Shut up,” Aeolia muttered, growing sullen. “It’s not a problem, right? Getting into relationships like this so fast.”

Cammie levelled a serious look at her guest. “There’s not any standard to how these sorts of things are supposed to go. Sometimes you just click with someone. Or someones. Don’t hold back on something just because it may be odd or happens quickly. Go with the flow.”

Aeolia’s lips twitched into a smile. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Now, how about we get you something to eat and rejoin your friends, hm?” Cammie suggested, hopping out of her chair. “I’m sure Mason whipped up something for you. Probably the grilled cheese and tomato soup.”

“He’s probably talking John and Vivian’s ears off,” Aeolia remarked lightly, rising to her feet. “Maybe he’s telling the story about that giant crab he fought.”

“I barely rolled away from the blasted creature’s pincer,” Mason recounted, a small wisp of green tumbling away from a larger spirit that mimed out the attack of the giant crustacean. “Regaining my footing, I threw my spear at its black eye, my wind spirits guiding it and fire spirits heating the metal. My aim was true and the beast recoiled as the tip seared through its eye. I charged at it while it recoiled and jumped onto its head.

“I wrenched my spear free and jammed it into its brain,” he proclaimed, miming the action in time with his spirits. The larger mote of magical energy faded away while the one representing Mason bounced up and down in celebration.

“And then you revved up a bonfire and had a big ol’ crab bake,” Cammie finished as she and Aeolia emerged from the back room. “Don’t you ever get tired of that old story?”

“As long as there’s an audience to tell the tale, I will always lead with it,” Mason playfully retorted. “Now, how about I recite the tale of the time I went to Bristol and had to take down a vicious tyrannus chicken?”

“How about you go and get Aeolia her food?” Cammie suggested playfully, lightly slapping his ass. The large man took on a look of mock scandal before he bent down to capture Cammie’s lips in a swift kiss, then retreated to the kitchen.

“That man,” she uttered, shaking her head with a small smile before turning her attention to the table as Aeolia slid in next to John. “Honestly, his stories. Hope he didn’t distract you from your meal.”

John shook his head. “No. Everything was fine. Food’s great and the conversion was fun.”

“Yes,” Vivian chimed in. “Mason has been a gracious host. Though I preferred his explanation of his abilities over tales of his exploits.”

Cammie chuckled and levelled a look at Aeolia before returning her gaze to the redhead. “Curious about spirit magic?”

“That was more on me,” John admitted. “I’m a little new to all this.”

“Well, he’s not one to brag, not about his abilities in any case, but Mason is pretty well versed on spectramancy,” Cammie said. “And he’s not one to fudge such info so whatever he told you is as close to the truth as he knows.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Mason rumbled as he brought out a bowl of tomato soup with an accompanying grilled cheese sandwich. He deftly manoeuvred the meal with his spirits, floating it to Aeolia, who quickly began to dig in as the proprietors retreated to the kitchen.

As she tore into her meal, Aeolia’s eyes drifted across the table, seeing some sort of writing on Vivian’s napkin.

“What’s that?” she asked through a somewhat full mouth, pointing at the inked napkin.

“Oh, just some ideas for the invisibility array,” Vivian answered. “Nothing definite since we don’t have what we’re going to put it on, but sketching out the basic idea lets me see how complex, and therefore big, the thing will have to be.”

“Might need to experiment with Craftsmanship a little before trying to make a bracelet,” John added, nibbling on one of his remaining fries. “Last time I made something, I was limited to just simple shapes. I wonder if breaking down something can give me a crafting recipe. I got one as an achievement reward to craft Senka with.”

“So buy a few test bracelets to experiment on,” Vivian listed off. “If that yields a recipe, then see what breaking down those gears can give you.”

“What about using one of the zilhavrum ingots?” John suggested, earning him a glare from Aeolia.

“That stuff’s too good to waste on something as simple as an invisibility charm,” she protested, earning a nod from Vivian.

“We don’t know enough about it to determine if it would be a good material to use,” Vivian added, tucking a loose strand of hair behind an ear. “Your observation said that its primary effect was magic dampening, so trying it at our level of skill would be a waste. Using more mundane materials will work just fine.”

“Then I’ll break down the gears,” John said, a little abashed over his initial suggestion. “That could give us usable metal. Actually, do you think it’d be rude to give it a try now? If it works, then we know that we won’t need to buy raw material.”

“It’s not like it’d make a mess,” Aeolia said through a mouth full of sandwich. “Give it a go.”

“Alright,” John responded cautiously and withdrew one of the Composite Gears. Before he could cast Craftsmanship on it, the door’s chime rang as it was violently opened. John turned his attention towards the newcomers, vaguely aware that Aeolia and Vivian followed his lead.

A pair of brutish men prowled into the diner. Both were dressed in jeans and wife beaters, tattoos up both arms. The smaller of the two had a buzz cut while the other opted for the shaved look. Mason popped out of the kitchen to greet the newcomers and John threw an Observe at them.

“Nice place ya got ‘ere,” the shorter man, Louie, said, his voice unnecessarily loud.

“We take pride in our establishment,” Mason responded, his tone friendly but his posture tense. “Would you prefer a seat at the counter or table?”

“We’re not all that hungry,” Louie explained. “We just wanted to check out some of the local amenities. We’re new in town and wanted to see the sights. Hope nothing bad ever happens to it. Heard that happened to a joint down in Eddingtown a few weeks back. Such a shame, eh, Jonesy? They made some good pasta.”

“If you’re going to try for the ‘intimidate for protection money’ shtick,” Cammie cut in, walking out of the kitchen, “at least get to the point quickly. Time is money, after all.”

Louie let out a laugh. “Well, ain’t you a little firecracker. Since you’re keen on what our aims are, I’ll cut to the chase. Five grand a week and this little establishment gets to stay open with all these nice appliances undamaged and all your food unspoiled.”

Cammie looked unimpressed by his threat, shaking her head and sighing. “Look, I’m not really in the mood to deal with something like this today, so could you just go and bother someone else?”

Louie let out a short bark of laughter. “That ain’t how it works, cupcake. Maybe a little demonstration is in order. Jonesy, get to it.”

The silent Jonesy took a step forward, his tanned arms growing darker as his flesh became coated in a rocky exoskeleton. Limbs transformed, the bruiser brought them up and moved to strike one of the tables. John summoned Senka, but before he could muster his courage to confront the bruiser, Aeolia lightly grabbed his wrist.

“She’s got it,” she whispered, inclining her head towards Cammie.

“I tried to warn you,” Cammie muttered, and a dark form, vaguely wolf-like in shape, appeared next to her for a second, before it bolted at Jonesy. Ethereal jaws quickly snapped around one of Jonesy’s earthen arms and dragged him to the floor.

Louie made a move to withdraw something from his pocket, but froze when a vulture of grey fog manifested behind him, his exposed skin flushing red as the temperature around him dropped.

“As you can see,” Mason said, his voice gravely serious as he stepped past Cammie, “we are in no way helpless against such threats. We are, however, not the sort to calmly execute people, even dregs like you. So, you get to live. But…”

He lifted his hands, two candle-like flames sparking into existence. “We are not going to let you off the hook without some punishment.”

With a sharp gesture of his hands, the two flame spirits shot towards the restrained men. The motes phased into their chests, eliciting a sharp gasp from each man. Mason nodded and Cammie let out a sharp whistle, causing her spirits to dematerialize.

“Now get out before we decide to re-think our mercy,” she said coldly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Louie looked like he was going to issue a retort, but doubled over before he could speak a word, teeth grit in pain.

“Jonesy, we’re out,” he spat and turned on his heel. His silent partner pushed himself to his feet, arms returned to normal, and followed. When both had vanished back to the outside world, Mason let out a breath.

“Glad that ended well,” he said, turning back to look at John, Aeolia, and Vivian. “No need to worry about anything other than your food here.”

“What did you do to them?” Vivian asked, eyes alight with curiosity.

“Just a little binding,” Mason answered. “Next time they try anything funny, they’ll get a bit of a burn dissuading them from that course of action. A little bit of a pity I have to lose some spirits to do it, but a small price to keep them from hurting anyone else.”

“The way you attract spirits, you’ll fill out your ranks by tomorrow,” Cammie said with a smile.

“Those were still spirits, right?” John questioned.

“Yep,” Cammie replied, holding out her hand as a black wolf faded into view. “I’ve always been partial to animal spirits. They are a bit more complicated than Mason’s elemental ones.”

“Animal spirits are born of more than just one emotion or intent,” Mason explained. “And obviously from an animal. Or animals as they most often form when large amounts of the same species gather. Of course, Cammie’s a bit of an exception.”

“Flatterer,” she said with a smile, dismissing her wolf. “It’s nothing all that special.”

“Oh yeah, nothing not special about being able to spawn your own spirits by siphoning psychic energy from beasts,” Mason countered. “And I should know. I’ve studied enough. Be proud of your gift.”

“Never said I wasn’t,” Cammie countered back, “just that I don’t think having a leg up means other people couldn’t do what I can, given enough time and effort.”

“True, true,” Mason conceded. Then his expression darkened as his eyes turned to John. The sudden shift of tone and focus caused John to pale.