The bar that Daemon has chosen to try and garner some information about what the Hell kind of realm he's landed himself in is the right kind of noisy and anonymous. Conversations, some louder and drunker than others, run up against the ambient music that uses instruments and chord progressions he's unfamiliar with. But it's music and people and a crowd intent on minding their own pleasure, so he's safe here, as far as safe goes, and if he conforms to the social patterns he observes in the other bar-goers, he's unlikely to be remarked upon.
Sleeves rolled up and top buttons undone, Daemon looks more relaxed than he's managed to be since he arrived, but only because he's judged himself comparatively overdressed when he's buttoned up properly and for the moment he wishes to blend in at least a little. He's lucky that this is a time and place where suits aren't clothing entirely out of the ordinary, though the cut of his own doesn't match with anything he's seen thus far during his first day in this strange new land.
The small glass of amber liquid in front him is more familiar, however, a not-entirely-awful brandy that he doesn't burn away immediately. The heat of the alcohol itself isn't unwelcome, but the brandy suits the persona he's trying to project. A man of business with his suit coat over his arm, drinking off the day's stresses.
Though he has to use body language to get people to leave him alone, rather than the subtle psychic suggestions he would prefer. There are landens everywhere--non psychic and terrifyingly vulnerable, especially to him--and none of them recognize him for what he is.
He watches the entrances, the people, the bartenders. Alert and trying not to appear to be, drinking faster than he probably should and wondering if this is some sort of trap.
Airy had been planning to pass through but to do that she needed to earn a little bit of money. She didn't mind being paid under the table and after a few stops, she found a local bar willing to let her serve and bus dishes for the night. It was only a few hours work but she earned over fifty dollars between tips and what the manger gave her. Airy had a way of charming people by simply being herself and at the end of the hour, the manger went so far to order her some food and a drink on the house.
She sat at the corner of the bar with her burger and a coke. The bartender offered to get her a glass of something with alcohol in it but Airy didn't think that was a good idea. She already had trouble control her abilities, she didn't want to think what would happen if she also drank at the same time.
Her gaze swept over the bar but never lingered in one place for long. She recognize some of the people who'd been there for hours but was trying not to draw attention to herself. It wasn't really working. Unlike Daemon, Airy's features were sweet and she was cute. She felt more than a few stares and went back to her burger without inviting conversation. It was easy enough except that her gaze kept being drawn towards Daemon. He looked... different somehow but Airy couldn't figure out in what way.
She finished her the meal and thanked the bartender and manger before rising to her feet. Once again those stares bore into her but she ignored them. She had to leave before something else happened... She didn't want to hurt any more people.
Airy's steps slowly came to a stop as she passed Daemon's table. She didn't know what it was but she found it difficult to look away. "Um... excuse me. Are you alright?" Her cheeks flushed the moment she spoke. "I'm sorry. You just look... I should probably go..."
Daemon contemplated how much brandy he could acquire with the funds he'd relieved from the wallet of a drunkard shouting at a cluster of women once he'd made a few educated guesses about the currency system. He wasn't in a hurry to leave just yet. Partially because he was learning a surprising amount of how things worked in this territory through casting his awareness to various tables and eavesdropping. Partially because he honestly had nowhere else to go.
Yet. He had nowhere to go yet. The uncertainty was effervescent in his veins, leaving him in a state of alert, predatory watchfulness. Some of his initial alarm from landing in this place had sloughed away, however, over the course of the last few hours observing. He had a sneaking suspicion that if he wrapped himself in a sight shield that he could pretty much do whatever he wanted. Landens really did not have any sort of defense against the Blood.
He had yet to see anyone with golden eyes like his, or with similar golden-brown skin, and he did not know the conventions around asking for (or in his case declining) sex, so he tried to avoid making any inadvertent overtures toward any of the men or women who sat near him. And out of long habit, he kept an eye on the attention paid to the serving woman in case he might need to step in. This wasn't Draega and the clientele did not seem to include the sort that would require a more lethal type of interference, but he did not know enough about the social cues of this place to know if the looks were likely to lead to anything untoward.
Daemon was tracking anyone who looked over-interested in Airy's leave-taking after her meal, and trying to keep from spooking her. As such, he focused anywhere but Airy. However, because he was casually avoiding eye contact, Airy's question caught him by surprise. His eyebrows lofted, and he met her gaze with his golden one.
"No, no, that was a kind question," he said immediately, low and rich and warm. "There's no reason to apologize. What made you ask?"
His eyes met hers and Airy felt her shoulders straightened as she stared at the beautiful dark golden hue. At first she'd thought it was yellow but it was deeper and more elegant than that. She'd never seen eyes like his before and it'd made her completely forget whatever thoughts had been on her mind.
"Oh um..." Her weight shifted between her heels as she tried to focus. "I'm not sure. It's not something I can describe I guess. I just got the feeling that I could help you. You know?" Her cheeks flushed. "That's weird isn't it." Weird was a four letter word for Airy and it was obvious that it made her uncomfortable.
"You just looked like you might need someone to listen. It's probably just my imagination." Which also sounded more depressing than it should. Airy was being a little weird and awkward in her attempts not to be weird or awkward.
The men who'd been eyeing Airy hadn't actually stopped though they did seem interested in whatever Daemon and Airy were talking about. In fact, a few tables had hushed to try and over hear the conversation.
"I see," Daemon said slowly, studying Airy with a new curiosity. A perceptive young woman. Cute, with a sweet face and an air of...innocence, perhaps? "Weird wouldn't be the word I would have used, but I suppose it might do. Do you often come to conclusions about the needs of others?"
He doesn't sound as if he's being sarcastic, or trying to mock her. The questions sound genuine, like he's gently prodding her for a specific type of answer.
As he asks, he also extends a very, very gentle psychic probe to brush at her mind. He can't touch a landen mind (those with no psychic ability), and he's been keeping his mind to himself while he's among so many, lest he accidentally hurt them. With the probe, however, he can often read surface emotions and surface thoughts. And if the mind he's trying to touch is not landen--well, he's honestly only met Blood or landen. Any other options have never come up, so he honestly has no idea what a psychic probe at their mind might do.
He has no reason to think Airy's anything but landen, of course. It's just that she beelined toward him with the faint vagueness of purpose that reminded him of a Black Widow following deep instinct, or someone he'd drawn to himself with a subtle psychic suggestion. Which he hadn't. But. He'd been doing the best he could to be unobtrusive, so even if this was random happenstance, he did want to know what had given him away.
With a wry twist to his words while he tried to investigate her mind without hurting her, he said, "I wouldn't think I'd have stood out as someone who needed a friendly ear."
Her first thought was to say no. It was rude to assume that she could guess that something was wrong with someone but thinking back on it... it was absolutely something she did. It was only that she was never wrong so no one called her out on it.
Maybe there was something wrong with her. "Oh um..." She cleared her throat, awkwardly glancing at her feet. "I guess... I do."
Airy didn't feel him at first. It was only a light touch against her mind but the moment he truly came in contact with her thoughts was the moment she felt like something bad had happened. Her spine straightened and her eyes widened as a simple thought went through her head. 'What is this?'
"I'm sorry." She began quickly. "I didn't mean to interrupt or be rude. I should go. It's late and I should be getting..." Airy's voice trailed off. "-home." It was a lie. She was a very horrible liar and she tried not to lie for that reason. "Anyway. I really didn't mean to assume or anything. It was still nice speaking with you though."
Unless he tried to stop her, she was going to politely bow her head in a short goodbye and skirt towards the exit.
"Intriguing," he said. Either the young woman had excellent instincts, or there was something else going on. Her straightening, however, and her loud thought of 'What is this?' startled him as well. His eyes widened, eyebrows winging upward, and...well, if she were a landen, she would not have felt a mental brush.
"You didn't--you didn't interrupt. Nor were you rude," Daemon said, holding out a hand to indicate he'd like her to stay. He shifted on the barstool, physically holding himself back from lunging to do something dramatic, like grab her arm. "You were right. I could use a friendly ear, if you'd like to chat." He gave her as gentle a smile as he could, hopefully nonthreatening. He couldn't do without allies here, if at all possible. Lowering his voice, he added, half a guess, "You sound like you could use a friend ear as well?"
She didn't know what to do. Something weird was happening to her, she was terrified of it and she didn't know what to do. Thoughts turned into feelings and she didn't understand it but think that somehow she was playing tricks on herself. It was like the panther... she had to stop thinking about it to make it stop but sometimes that didn't even work.
The people around them noticed her hesitation until finally Airy took a seat next to Daemon. It was then that nearly everyone in the bar lost interest in them.
Her gaze was directed at the table but when she spoke she looked up, her demeanor uncertain but testing before continuing forward. "Maybe. I'm not sure anyone can help me but it's been, things have been changing lately. For me." It was why she was here and why she was running. "There isn't too much besides that to talk about." Airy didn't know what was going on.
She paused and then tried to relax into a less ridged posture. "And you?"
Daemon let out his breath as Airy sat, unaccountably relieved, though now that he looked closer at her, she seemed...uncomfortable, which wouldn't do at all. He leaned his elbows on the table in front of him, showing all the 'relaxed and nonthreatening' body language he could manage.
He only noted that he'd been under scrutiny from the other bar-goers when their regard left him. He wasn't sure what had occurred that they would have stopped paying attention, though he had his guesses. He's not sure he liked any of the options he came up with.
"Change is scary," Daemon said mildly. "Perhaps that's what drew you to me. I am also undergoing a rather alarming change in situation currently and I'm a little at a loss. I'm...unfamiliar with this city and this...culture."
He gives her a thoughtful little head-tilt.
"But I'm willing to listen and, believe me, I can't judge."
Lately, it was difficult for Airy to be comfortable in her own skin. It wasn't Daemon's fault. He was being sweet and trying to talk to her after she'd started the conversation. She was the one acting weird. She tried to relax but she felt like every second was borrowed time until something awful happened again. Until she caused another accident.
Her tongue nervously wet her lips while her hands rested in her lap. She wasn't sure what to do. Talking was a start. She should say something. "Yeah." Airy wasn't sure if she could tell him everything. It was entirely not normal.
"Well, maybe I can help?" It was easier to focus on someone else's problem than her own. "I mean you. Let's start with you. I've only been in this city for a few hours but I've been traveling recently and it's a lot. I mean, cities are weird." Airy used the word weird very liberally.
Her nerves were coming through loud and clear and Daemon found himself conversely less nervous the more she stumbled over her words. His smile grew looser and more confident, his tension relaxed out of his shoulders, and he settled into his usual attitude of warm sensuality that he used to put people at ease (or overwhelm them. Either way). This, he understood. 'This' being conversations with people where the balance of power had shifted in his favor.
"We can start with me," Daemon agreed, propping his chin on his fist and studying her. "I just got here. Today, actually. My name is Daemon, by the way. Daemon Sadi." And he smiled.
It wasn't that Airy didn't want to share but admitting that she had strange superpowers that she couldn't control was weird. It might not be weird for Daemon but it was definitely weird for this world.
She silently listened and nodded her head as she spoke. "I'm Airy Miller. It's nice to meet you Daemon. Have you never been to a city before? It's kind of weird and hard when you don't know anyone." She'd only just arrived and she'd been planning to leave as quickly as she had arrived but Airy never knew what her plans were. She wasn't all that great at thinking ahead.
"It's not the city itself that's, ah, perhaps I should say startling," he said, amused. "I grew up in one of the largest cities in any territory. Though I am curious as to what you call this one?"
He lifted one shoulder in a little half-shrug in an attempt to convey his relative unconcern. "The not knowing anyone, as you say, has been the real challenge. As has not having arrived with the proper currency. Beyond that, I've been through many different cities and courts in many different locales over the years. There's a trick to becoming acquainted with a place that never really changes."
"This is New York City, which also happens to be in New York the state." It was an odd question but Airy wasn't really in a position to question him. "I have a map if that helps?" It might not but its in her backpack.
Airy tried to fit everything she needed in her bag prior to running away from home. The only things missing was more changes of clothes.
"I'm not sure what you would like to know. It sounds like you're more used to traveling than I am." She really didn't know what she was doing.
Daemon's eyebrows lifted. State? Well, that put him a bit further afield than he had originally counted on. The modernity of this place in conjunction with the fact the populous (had) all seemed like short-lived landens had already informed him that he wasn't Terrielle. But even when he'd spent time among landens, they'd all structured themselves with a Realm-Territory-Province-District type hierarchy like the Blood did.
Though, in absence of the Blood...
"Please. I'm unfamiliar with the local geography." He kept his tone light, already running over what he knew about the myths of travel between realms. "And...a portion of my travel hasn't exactly been voluntary. So carving out a niche for myself in a new place has become something of a hobby of necessity."
With a smile, he took another (small) sip of his brandy. "Though the first step is to find someone who's willing to share information and politely ask them questions. I'm starting to think that you sensed my need for a guide."
Briefly, he weighed his possible questions and what, exactly, he might give away about himself by asking them. This young woman was nervous, certainly, and had offered him help based on some mysterious impulse despite that.
Still, he wasn't sure he was willing to trust her too overly far. She was still a woman, if a young one, and he did not trust that being in a new realm would have shielded these people from the societal corruption of the High Priestess. She had always seemed horrifyingly omnipresent in Terrielle.
"Who rules this city and...state, you said? Are they kindly towards travelers? Is there anyone I might run afoul of if I have yet to learn the rules of the city?"
Airy turned in her seat and dug through her backpack. It was difficult for her to find the map because she honestly had too much junk shoved into the small black bag but she was able to produce it after a few very long minutes of rummaging. "Here." She passed it over and he'd find a decent looking map of the United states with little notes and scribbles that she'd been making in the corner.
Most of which were illegible.
"Huh?" His question was weird.
"You mean the government? Well, this is the United States and we have a democracy. There are three branches of government the run everything or do you mean the state specifically because I don't know who's in the house right now. People aren't opposed to travelers but I guess it depends if you're an illegal alien or something but I think most people get green cards and Obama hasn't passed anything that changed those laws recently..." She trailed off.
Daemon watched her idly as she dug through her bag. She was carrying a great deal, it seemed. More than he would assume for a simple outing or jaunt to a workplace. When she produced the map, however, he quirked a small smile her way and didn't pretend he hadn't been watching.
Map in hand, however, he passed his other hand over the table to make sure it wasn't damp. The small spots of water he found, he vanished with a wiping motion, then spread the map out so that he might peruse it.
He hardly noticed the little scribbles. The map, emblazoned with letters and words in the common tongue of the Blood, was of a place he'd very obviously never even heard of before. A strange feeling began to bubble in his chest as he looked up at her, gold eyes fixing on her face as she tried to explain precisely how bizarre her question was.
"A democracy," he said in a low, warm murmur, mostly to himself. A little louder, he said, "That was a useful answer, regardless of what I had intended by my question."
With a little considering, he realized that the swiftest way to an explanation would be to tell the truth. His context and experience was far enough removed that his questions raised suspicions. And, well, if telling her the truth went poorly, well, he could see how well her mind stood up to his. He wasn't exactly helpless.
"Draega, Hayll," he told her.
He glanced around the bar, spotting a couple of older bargoers leaving--and leaving behind a half-filled basket of fries. Rather than leave the fries unattended, he called them to their table--popping them out of existence there and into existence where he wanted them with a thought--and let the basket rest on air a fraction of an inch above the map. It wouldn't do to sully her map with grease, after all.
Airy didn't have trouble believing him but the disappearance and reappearance of the french fries made her jump, lunging forward to cover them from site. "Don't do that!" She hissed, her eyes wide with fear. She didn't think that anyone noticed what had just happened but a few people were looking at her like she was insane.
Her voice lowered and she whispered in a frantic hushed voice. "There isn't magic here. I mean, not like that. You need to be careful who sees it..." Her arms relaxed and she leaned back in her seat, her brow furrowed in worry as she took in the very real confusion of his situation.
He wasn't just in a new country but an entirely new world and she had volunteered to help him.
"I don't know Draega Hayll." She said after a moment before shaking her head. "I'm also not really sure how far it is from here but I'm thinking it's too far to fly too." Airy's lips pressed briefly together.
"There are... a lot of people here. Can we talk somewhere else?" She didn't know where because she really didn't know the city but Airy worried that someone might have seen them and given the development of her own abilities... she didn't know what else was out there. "I-" She began to say before trailing off.
"I have powers too but it's hard to talk about. I've never met anyone like me."
Daemon couldn't help the slow, triumphant smile that crept onto her face at her reaction. Even before she said, 'I have powers too,' he knew. Because a hiss and a scold was the kind of thing someone who understood would do, entirely absent the shock of 'you can do magic?!' he would have anticipated from a landen.
Casually, he ate another fry and did not look at all inclined to move, despite her question and the sudden regard of the other patrons. "So I take it that abilities beyond the physical are...uncommon?" His tone was low and conversational--and since she was so concerned, he tucked a psychic sound shield around their booth so their voices wouldn't carry. The 'size' of the room that he could hear shrunk, most incidental noise cutting audibly out. It would be better to move, but he had his questions first.
"I don't think I'm like you," he told her gently. "Your mind doesn't feel like those of my kind."
He paused.
"But then you don't feel like those around us, either."
"No abilities are common here. People are just... people." She was trying to relax but it felt like all of her nerves were humming with energy that she had no outlet for. She was tense and she was struggling to keep her thoughts in control. Airy didn't want another accident. Not here. She really liked this place and the owner had been so kind to her.
If he won't go then maybe she should. It would be safer for all of them if she wasn't anywhere near anyone.
"I'm not. I-" Airy's lips parted and her face flushed with embarrassment. "I don't know what I am. But I can't always control it so... I have to go. I don't want to accidentally hurt someone again. I'm so sorry. I really want to help but I can't. I'm- you'll just get hurt too."
She rose to her feet and once again slid her backpack over her shoulders. None of this was normal. It had to all be a bad dream or something. If she ran it'd be okay but there was nowhere to run that would let her outrun herself.
The lights flickered over head and Airy felt the tension in her shoulders redouble.
You arrogant... Daemon berated himself. He didn't know anything about this realm, about this young woman, and he'd just assumed that she'd been concerned about being overheard and making a spectacle. Not that she needed to get out of there because of an impending, well, it felt like a witchstorm.
He followed her to his feet much more slowly, rising with fluid grace and trying to keep all the urgency he now felt out of his movements. It wouldn't do to draw any more attention to them than she did with hopping to her feet.
"Allow me to walk you out, then?" Because getting her out of here was starting to look like a very excellent idea. The flicker of the lights was alarming enough, and if whatever was about to happen was anything like a witchstorm in truth, emotional releases of psychic energy that manifested with violence, they needed to be away from bystanders. Not that he counted himself. "You can't hurt me."
Bold words for knowing shit-all.
He amends, "And if you do, it'll be my own fault."
It wasn't a storm that was about to take the bar but a manifestation of Airy's fears. It happened whenever she felt nervous or scared and she'd been fighting back her panic for too long. She couldn't hold it back anymore. She didn't have the practice or strength.
Her lips tilted into an awkward smile. "Sure but that's it. I know you don't mind but I do. If I hurt you..." Her voice trialed off. "It will be my fault. Nothing you can say won't stop me from feeling that."
She turned and headed towards the door with Daemon following behind her. Once outside she took a deep breath of cool air and continued a little ways from the bar. Their exit hadn't been smooth or unannounced but it didn't look like anyone was going to follow them or bother them. A black alleyway appeared at her side and Airy jumped when she heard a growl within the shadows.
"Ah!"
It was only a noise, there was nothing there, but Daemon might feel the subtle tension in the air as magic poured from Airy into her surroundings.
Daemon followed, jacket over his arm, trying to project concern and goodwill that would discourage interference. He couldn't afford a confrontation with the squishy locals. He caught up with Airy just as the growl sounded from the alleyway.
More instinct than anything conscious, he probed the alley with a thought and found...nothing. Something? But even if it were nothing, that "nothing" had threatened, and he tried to step between her and the dark.
His hand came up and a Red shield popped into existence between them and the alley, a smooth and translucent curve of power, to protect them from anything physical or psychic that tried to leap out at them.
Airy pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to steady her breaths. Her heart began to slow and her thoughts calmed enough for her to focus on the man standing in front of her. This was either going to turn into the narration of a bad teen novel or a news story of when her body was found in pieces or... something else.
It was hard to think straight.
"It's fine. It's gone. I'm okay." She opened her eyes and watched that red translucent power. "That's cool."
"It's a basic shield," he said, wary. "Not quite Basic Craft, but simple enough."
Daemon considered her 'It's gone' and the absolute zilch in the alleyway. On edge, he took longer than he would if he knew what it had been in the first place, but he did drop his shield. Once more he was just another guy in a suit on a not-so-busy street.
"It's gone," he repeated, just shy of a question. "Do you know what it was?"
Airy inspected the shield curiously but her focus was too divided to see more than the translucent shimmer of energy. Then it was gone. It felt as if the air had been pulled from her lungs. She wanted to gasp for air but forced herself to breath normally.
"Yes. It was-" She looked behind her and frowned. "You know how, when you're little, and you're afraid of the dark. They tell you that there isn't anything there. I- my nightmares are real. Not for long or forever but something about me." She didn't know what it was, only that she had absolutely no control over it.
"It was just a shadow in the dark." She smiled up at him, her blue eyes glimmering apologetically. "A child's nightmare. I'm sorry. I really didn't want to bother anyone with this. I was told that there were... people, who helped those who were different. Here. Somewhere in the city. It's not exactly normal. That is, people don't believe in magic. Not for real anyway."
Daemon felt very stupid for a long minute, because all he really wanted to do was repeat her words as if they'd make more sense the second time he heard them aloud. The closest analogy he had were witchstorms, where the emotion of a witch drove a physical phenomena. This was more like...the waking dream of a tangled web without the very necessary tangled web. As...wary as he was around those of Airy's gender, the prickle of a need to protect the combination of power and vulnerability caught him in the chest.
"I did not mean to scare you," he said, tucking his hands in his pockets and giving her as mild of a smile as he could manage. "I apologize." Then his smile widened, just a touch, and his gold eyes sparked with mischief, "Though I don't believe in magic, either."
"You didn't scare me. Not... exactly." She laced her fingers together, too nervous to remain still for very long. "I'm scared of me. Of what I might do. I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want to hurt you either." They had only just met but Daemon had been so nice to her and he had no reason to be.
Airy didn't feel like she deserved his kindness.
"You don't? What do you believe in?"
If what she was doing wasn't magic then what was it?
Daemon's mouth twisted at her words, though he did not respond to those particular ones. She was afraid she'd hurt him? Well, 'hurt' was relative, after all, and the kind of hurt he'd been subjected to ceased to matter more than as tally marks of an ever-increasing debt he would one day call to be repaid.
Returning to smiling, however, and not trying to hide it at all, he said, "Craft. I believe in Craft."
Opening his palm, he summoned a small ball of witchlight in the center, burning a merry ruby-red.
"Craft?" Airy had never known what to call her abilities or those like her. She only knew what media and books told her and that wasn't particularly helpful when your entire world has been turned on its head. "Is that what this is?"
She paused when he summoned the ball of witchlight, her blue eyes widening at the sight. "It's beautiful."
Airy met his gaze and hoped that he was as kind as he seemed. "What's the difference? Can you tell me? I don't know... what any of this is. I'm not supposed to have powers. I'm supposed to be normal." That was all she had ever wanted.
"That's what mine is called. My power is a gift of the Darkness, and the use of it is called Craft. I wouldn't call it magic because there's nothing magic about it. If my skill and knowledge are both great enough, I can do again what I have done before."
Meeting her eyes, the corners crinkle briefly with warmth before he breaks the connection and scrapes said gaze from her head to her toes. He then shakes his head briefly. "I don't think that...however you do what you do is quite the same. Yours might be magic in truth and I would have no way of knowing."
After a pause, though, his brow furrows and he questions her words. "Were you originally lan--without powers? Did you acquire them somehow?"
Oh. That sounded a lot more complicated than what Airy had been imagining. She had hoped that it was like a book where everything fell into place and it was somehow explained to her... but life wasn't like books.
"I don't know. I don't think so. I think I did things when I was little but I always thought it was my imagination. Then I seemed okay for awhile. Now... now I can do things." Airy didn't realize that her powers affected her most of all. For most of her life, her desire to be normal had suppressed her abilities until her creation magic grew too powerful.
"Ah," Daemon says. He then tucks his hands in his pockets and rocks back on his heels. He studies her from beneath his lashes. "You know?" His lips quirk. "I don't think you need to know anything. I'm just someone you met in a bar. But--I do think we can help each other."
With his chin, he gestures down the sidewalk, away from the alley. "How about we find somewhere that we can chat. It doesn't have to be private. I can make anywhere private. But maybe somewhere that's not the middle of where people are walking?"
"Help each other?" She thought about that but her thoughts couldn't dive too deeply before he called attention to their surroundings. Standing on the street wasn't normal and... well... she didn't trust him but if they were going to talk it'd be better if they were somewhere comfortable, or that she was comfortable.
"Yeah. Sorry. Let's go this way. I am staying at a hostel like place. It's just a bunk in a room with a lot of bunks but they have some smaller rooms and places we can talk there." It wasn't private but it was more private than this and Airy could at least sit down without worrying about where she was sitting.
"If you're willing," Daemon agreed easily, though his gold eyes turn a little more wary.
He was surprised at himself. He'd been the one to suggest that they find somewhere more suitable to talk, yes, but he hadn't thought he'd react to her choice of the hostel with...caution. Let's call it caution. Until this point he'd been confident enough. He'd overpowered Blood far more overtly powerful than she—but perhaps the description of overtly was part of his concern? She had a kind of magic he didn't understand, and he had not survived this long by being careless, not when the kind of privacy they were about to find had sometimes been more dangerous for him than he'd care to admit.
"That sounds good," he says anyway. "Lead the way?"
She nodded her head and turned to lead the way. After a few steps she stopped and made sure that he was walking at her side before continuing further. She tried to find a pace that suited them both though the occasional crowds made it difficult to stay next to him. "Er. One more block." It was a pretty heavily traveled street but they found the small hostel and ducked inside.
The front room was a common area with a fire place that kept it warm. Airy waved at the man behind the counter and stepped forward to talk to him. "Hey Mike. Are any of the private rooms open? I ran into a friend and I wanted to catch up." He looked around the counter and pointed to one of the opened doors.
"Thanks." She flashed him a smile and the older man blushed before busying himself behind the counter.
Airy turned towards Daemon and kept smiling. "We're in luck. One of the rooms is free. So we can chat there. It'll still be loud and people might pop in but it's private-ish."
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timeasmymeasure
Daemon on Airy's Earth—The Set!
Date: 2019-04-29 07:00 pm (UTC)Sleeves rolled up and top buttons undone, Daemon looks more relaxed than he's managed to be since he arrived, but only because he's judged himself comparatively overdressed when he's buttoned up properly and for the moment he wishes to blend in at least a little. He's lucky that this is a time and place where suits aren't clothing entirely out of the ordinary, though the cut of his own doesn't match with anything he's seen thus far during his first day in this strange new land.
The small glass of amber liquid in front him is more familiar, however, a not-entirely-awful brandy that he doesn't burn away immediately. The heat of the alcohol itself isn't unwelcome, but the brandy suits the persona he's trying to project. A man of business with his suit coat over his arm, drinking off the day's stresses.
Though he has to use body language to get people to leave him alone, rather than the subtle psychic suggestions he would prefer. There are landens everywhere--non psychic and terrifyingly vulnerable, especially to him--and none of them recognize him for what he is.
He watches the entrances, the people, the bartenders. Alert and trying not to appear to be, drinking faster than he probably should and wondering if this is some sort of trap.
\o/
Date: 2019-04-30 02:17 am (UTC)She sat at the corner of the bar with her burger and a coke. The bartender offered to get her a glass of something with alcohol in it but Airy didn't think that was a good idea. She already had trouble control her abilities, she didn't want to think what would happen if she also drank at the same time.
Her gaze swept over the bar but never lingered in one place for long. She recognize some of the people who'd been there for hours but was trying not to draw attention to herself. It wasn't really working. Unlike Daemon, Airy's features were sweet and she was cute. She felt more than a few stares and went back to her burger without inviting conversation. It was easy enough except that her gaze kept being drawn towards Daemon. He looked... different somehow but Airy couldn't figure out in what way.
She finished her the meal and thanked the bartender and manger before rising to her feet. Once again those stares bore into her but she ignored them. She had to leave before something else happened... She didn't want to hurt any more people.
Airy's steps slowly came to a stop as she passed Daemon's table. She didn't know what it was but she found it difficult to look away. "Um... excuse me. Are you alright?" Her cheeks flushed the moment she spoke. "I'm sorry. You just look... I should probably go..."
Airy is the most adorablest!
Date: 2019-04-30 06:54 pm (UTC)Yet. He had nowhere to go yet. The uncertainty was effervescent in his veins, leaving him in a state of alert, predatory watchfulness. Some of his initial alarm from landing in this place had sloughed away, however, over the course of the last few hours observing. He had a sneaking suspicion that if he wrapped himself in a sight shield that he could pretty much do whatever he wanted. Landens really did not have any sort of defense against the Blood.
He had yet to see anyone with golden eyes like his, or with similar golden-brown skin, and he did not know the conventions around asking for (or in his case declining) sex, so he tried to avoid making any inadvertent overtures toward any of the men or women who sat near him. And out of long habit, he kept an eye on the attention paid to the serving woman in case he might need to step in. This wasn't Draega and the clientele did not seem to include the sort that would require a more lethal type of interference, but he did not know enough about the social cues of this place to know if the looks were likely to lead to anything untoward.
Daemon was tracking anyone who looked over-interested in Airy's leave-taking after her meal, and trying to keep from spooking her. As such, he focused anywhere but Airy. However, because he was casually avoiding eye contact, Airy's question caught him by surprise. His eyebrows lofted, and he met her gaze with his golden one.
"No, no, that was a kind question," he said immediately, low and rich and warm. "There's no reason to apologize. What made you ask?"
XD
Date: 2019-05-01 03:56 am (UTC)"Oh um..." Her weight shifted between her heels as she tried to focus. "I'm not sure. It's not something I can describe I guess. I just got the feeling that I could help you. You know?" Her cheeks flushed. "That's weird isn't it." Weird was a four letter word for Airy and it was obvious that it made her uncomfortable.
"You just looked like you might need someone to listen. It's probably just my imagination." Which also sounded more depressing than it should. Airy was being a little weird and awkward in her attempts not to be weird or awkward.
The men who'd been eyeing Airy hadn't actually stopped though they did seem interested in whatever Daemon and Airy were talking about. In fact, a few tables had hushed to try and over hear the conversation.
no subject
Date: 2019-05-02 02:02 am (UTC)He doesn't sound as if he's being sarcastic, or trying to mock her. The questions sound genuine, like he's gently prodding her for a specific type of answer.
As he asks, he also extends a very, very gentle psychic probe to brush at her mind. He can't touch a landen mind (those with no psychic ability), and he's been keeping his mind to himself while he's among so many, lest he accidentally hurt them. With the probe, however, he can often read surface emotions and surface thoughts. And if the mind he's trying to touch is not landen--well, he's honestly only met Blood or landen. Any other options have never come up, so he honestly has no idea what a psychic probe at their mind might do.
He has no reason to think Airy's anything but landen, of course. It's just that she beelined toward him with the faint vagueness of purpose that reminded him of a Black Widow following deep instinct, or someone he'd drawn to himself with a subtle psychic suggestion. Which he hadn't. But. He'd been doing the best he could to be unobtrusive, so even if this was random happenstance, he did want to know what had given him away.
With a wry twist to his words while he tried to investigate her mind without hurting her, he said, "I wouldn't think I'd have stood out as someone who needed a friendly ear."
no subject
Date: 2019-05-07 01:24 am (UTC)Maybe there was something wrong with her. "Oh um..." She cleared her throat, awkwardly glancing at her feet. "I guess... I do."
Airy didn't feel him at first. It was only a light touch against her mind but the moment he truly came in contact with her thoughts was the moment she felt like something bad had happened. Her spine straightened and her eyes widened as a simple thought went through her head. 'What is this?'
"I'm sorry." She began quickly. "I didn't mean to interrupt or be rude. I should go. It's late and I should be getting..." Airy's voice trailed off. "-home." It was a lie. She was a very horrible liar and she tried not to lie for that reason. "Anyway. I really didn't mean to assume or anything. It was still nice speaking with you though."
Unless he tried to stop her, she was going to politely bow her head in a short goodbye and skirt towards the exit.
no subject
Date: 2019-05-10 01:02 am (UTC)"You didn't--you didn't interrupt. Nor were you rude," Daemon said, holding out a hand to indicate he'd like her to stay. He shifted on the barstool, physically holding himself back from lunging to do something dramatic, like grab her arm. "You were right. I could use a friendly ear, if you'd like to chat." He gave her as gentle a smile as he could, hopefully nonthreatening. He couldn't do without allies here, if at all possible. Lowering his voice, he added, half a guess, "You sound like you could use a friend ear as well?"
no subject
Date: 2019-05-10 03:11 am (UTC)She didn't know what to do. Something weird was happening to her, she was terrified of it and she didn't know what to do. Thoughts turned into feelings and she didn't understand it but think that somehow she was playing tricks on herself. It was like the panther... she had to stop thinking about it to make it stop but sometimes that didn't even work.
The people around them noticed her hesitation until finally Airy took a seat next to Daemon. It was then that nearly everyone in the bar lost interest in them.
Her gaze was directed at the table but when she spoke she looked up, her demeanor uncertain but testing before continuing forward. "Maybe. I'm not sure anyone can help me but it's been, things have been changing lately. For me." It was why she was here and why she was running. "There isn't too much besides that to talk about." Airy didn't know what was going on.
She paused and then tried to relax into a less ridged posture. "And you?"
no subject
Date: 2019-05-10 07:16 pm (UTC)He only noted that he'd been under scrutiny from the other bar-goers when their regard left him. He wasn't sure what had occurred that they would have stopped paying attention, though he had his guesses. He's not sure he liked any of the options he came up with.
"Change is scary," Daemon said mildly. "Perhaps that's what drew you to me. I am also undergoing a rather alarming change in situation currently and I'm a little at a loss. I'm...unfamiliar with this city and this...culture."
He gives her a thoughtful little head-tilt.
"But I'm willing to listen and, believe me, I can't judge."
no subject
Date: 2019-05-12 08:03 pm (UTC)Her tongue nervously wet her lips while her hands rested in her lap. She wasn't sure what to do. Talking was a start. She should say something. "Yeah." Airy wasn't sure if she could tell him everything. It was entirely not normal.
"Well, maybe I can help?" It was easier to focus on someone else's problem than her own. "I mean you. Let's start with you. I've only been in this city for a few hours but I've been traveling recently and it's a lot. I mean, cities are weird." Airy used the word weird very liberally.
"Did you just get here?"
no subject
Date: 2019-05-14 05:59 pm (UTC)"We can start with me," Daemon agreed, propping his chin on his fist and studying her. "I just got here. Today, actually. My name is Daemon, by the way. Daemon Sadi." And he smiled.
no subject
Date: 2019-05-15 05:06 pm (UTC)It wasn't that Airy didn't want to share but admitting that she had strange superpowers that she couldn't control was weird. It might not be weird for Daemon but it was definitely weird for this world.
She silently listened and nodded her head as she spoke. "I'm Airy Miller. It's nice to meet you Daemon. Have you never been to a city before? It's kind of weird and hard when you don't know anyone." She'd only just arrived and she'd been planning to leave as quickly as she had arrived but Airy never knew what her plans were. She wasn't all that great at thinking ahead.
no subject
Date: 2019-05-15 06:46 pm (UTC)He lifted one shoulder in a little half-shrug in an attempt to convey his relative unconcern. "The not knowing anyone, as you say, has been the real challenge. As has not having arrived with the proper currency. Beyond that, I've been through many different cities and courts in many different locales over the years. There's a trick to becoming acquainted with a place that never really changes."
no subject
Date: 2019-05-15 11:45 pm (UTC)Airy tried to fit everything she needed in her bag prior to running away from home. The only things missing was more changes of clothes.
"I'm not sure what you would like to know. It sounds like you're more used to traveling than I am." She really didn't know what she was doing.
no subject
Date: 2019-05-16 06:35 pm (UTC)Though, in absence of the Blood...
"Please. I'm unfamiliar with the local geography." He kept his tone light, already running over what he knew about the myths of travel between realms. "And...a portion of my travel hasn't exactly been voluntary. So carving out a niche for myself in a new place has become something of a hobby of necessity."
With a smile, he took another (small) sip of his brandy. "Though the first step is to find someone who's willing to share information and politely ask them questions. I'm starting to think that you sensed my need for a guide."
Briefly, he weighed his possible questions and what, exactly, he might give away about himself by asking them. This young woman was nervous, certainly, and had offered him help based on some mysterious impulse despite that.
Still, he wasn't sure he was willing to trust her too overly far. She was still a woman, if a young one, and he did not trust that being in a new realm would have shielded these people from the societal corruption of the High Priestess. She had always seemed horrifyingly omnipresent in Terrielle.
"Who rules this city and...state, you said? Are they kindly towards travelers? Is there anyone I might run afoul of if I have yet to learn the rules of the city?"
no subject
Date: 2019-05-17 01:50 am (UTC)Most of which were illegible.
"Huh?" His question was weird.
"You mean the government? Well, this is the United States and we have a democracy. There are three branches of government the run everything or do you mean the state specifically because I don't know who's in the house right now. People aren't opposed to travelers but I guess it depends if you're an illegal alien or something but I think most people get green cards and Obama hasn't passed anything that changed those laws recently..." She trailed off.
"That wasn't your question was it?"
Another pause.
"Where are you from exactly?"
no subject
Date: 2019-05-18 02:29 am (UTC)Map in hand, however, he passed his other hand over the table to make sure it wasn't damp. The small spots of water he found, he vanished with a wiping motion, then spread the map out so that he might peruse it.
He hardly noticed the little scribbles. The map, emblazoned with letters and words in the common tongue of the Blood, was of a place he'd very obviously never even heard of before. A strange feeling began to bubble in his chest as he looked up at her, gold eyes fixing on her face as she tried to explain precisely how bizarre her question was.
"A democracy," he said in a low, warm murmur, mostly to himself. A little louder, he said, "That was a useful answer, regardless of what I had intended by my question."
With a little considering, he realized that the swiftest way to an explanation would be to tell the truth. His context and experience was far enough removed that his questions raised suspicions. And, well, if telling her the truth went poorly, well, he could see how well her mind stood up to his. He wasn't exactly helpless.
"Draega, Hayll," he told her.
He glanced around the bar, spotting a couple of older bargoers leaving--and leaving behind a half-filled basket of fries. Rather than leave the fries unattended, he called them to their table--popping them out of existence there and into existence where he wanted them with a thought--and let the basket rest on air a fraction of an inch above the map. It wouldn't do to sully her map with grease, after all.
He popped a fry into his mouth.
"It's a very long way from here."
no subject
Date: 2019-05-20 03:44 pm (UTC)Her voice lowered and she whispered in a frantic hushed voice. "There isn't magic here. I mean, not like that. You need to be careful who sees it..." Her arms relaxed and she leaned back in her seat, her brow furrowed in worry as she took in the very real confusion of his situation.
He wasn't just in a new country but an entirely new world and she had volunteered to help him.
"I don't know Draega Hayll." She said after a moment before shaking her head. "I'm also not really sure how far it is from here but I'm thinking it's too far to fly too." Airy's lips pressed briefly together.
"There are... a lot of people here. Can we talk somewhere else?" She didn't know where because she really didn't know the city but Airy worried that someone might have seen them and given the development of her own abilities... she didn't know what else was out there. "I-" She began to say before trailing off.
"I have powers too but it's hard to talk about. I've never met anyone like me."
no subject
Date: 2019-05-20 06:19 pm (UTC)Casually, he ate another fry and did not look at all inclined to move, despite her question and the sudden regard of the other patrons. "So I take it that abilities beyond the physical are...uncommon?" His tone was low and conversational--and since she was so concerned, he tucked a psychic sound shield around their booth so their voices wouldn't carry. The 'size' of the room that he could hear shrunk, most incidental noise cutting audibly out. It would be better to move, but he had his questions first.
"I don't think I'm like you," he told her gently. "Your mind doesn't feel like those of my kind."
He paused.
"But then you don't feel like those around us, either."
no subject
Date: 2019-05-27 03:13 am (UTC)If he won't go then maybe she should. It would be safer for all of them if she wasn't anywhere near anyone.
"I'm not. I-" Airy's lips parted and her face flushed with embarrassment. "I don't know what I am. But I can't always control it so... I have to go. I don't want to accidentally hurt someone again. I'm so sorry. I really want to help but I can't. I'm- you'll just get hurt too."
She rose to her feet and once again slid her backpack over her shoulders. None of this was normal. It had to all be a bad dream or something. If she ran it'd be okay but there was nowhere to run that would let her outrun herself.
The lights flickered over head and Airy felt the tension in her shoulders redouble.
no subject
Date: 2019-05-28 07:28 pm (UTC)He followed her to his feet much more slowly, rising with fluid grace and trying to keep all the urgency he now felt out of his movements. It wouldn't do to draw any more attention to them than she did with hopping to her feet.
"Allow me to walk you out, then?" Because getting her out of here was starting to look like a very excellent idea. The flicker of the lights was alarming enough, and if whatever was about to happen was anything like a witchstorm in truth, emotional releases of psychic energy that manifested with violence, they needed to be away from bystanders. Not that he counted himself. "You can't hurt me."
Bold words for knowing shit-all.
He amends, "And if you do, it'll be my own fault."
no subject
Date: 2019-05-29 01:56 pm (UTC)Her lips tilted into an awkward smile. "Sure but that's it. I know you don't mind but I do. If I hurt you..." Her voice trialed off. "It will be my fault. Nothing you can say won't stop me from feeling that."
She turned and headed towards the door with Daemon following behind her. Once outside she took a deep breath of cool air and continued a little ways from the bar. Their exit hadn't been smooth or unannounced but it didn't look like anyone was going to follow them or bother them. A black alleyway appeared at her side and Airy jumped when she heard a growl within the shadows.
"Ah!"
It was only a noise, there was nothing there, but Daemon might feel the subtle tension in the air as magic poured from Airy into her surroundings.
\o/!
Date: 2019-10-04 06:31 pm (UTC)More instinct than anything conscious, he probed the alley with a thought and found...nothing. Something? But even if it were nothing, that "nothing" had threatened, and he tried to step between her and the dark.
His hand came up and a Red shield popped into existence between them and the alley, a smooth and translucent curve of power, to protect them from anything physical or psychic that tried to leap out at them.
<3
Date: 2019-10-19 07:19 pm (UTC)It was hard to think straight.
"It's fine. It's gone. I'm okay." She opened her eyes and watched that red translucent power. "That's cool."
She hadn't seen a power like that before.
:lays on floor: I'm very slow. You are a gem.
Date: 2019-11-27 10:32 pm (UTC)Daemon considered her 'It's gone' and the absolute zilch in the alleyway. On edge, he took longer than he would if he knew what it had been in the first place, but he did drop his shield. Once more he was just another guy in a suit on a not-so-busy street.
"It's gone," he repeated, just shy of a question. "Do you know what it was?"
<3 I am also slow
Date: 2019-12-03 01:55 am (UTC)"Yes. It was-" She looked behind her and frowned. "You know how, when you're little, and you're afraid of the dark. They tell you that there isn't anything there. I- my nightmares are real. Not for long or forever but something about me." She didn't know what it was, only that she had absolutely no control over it.
"It was just a shadow in the dark." She smiled up at him, her blue eyes glimmering apologetically. "A child's nightmare. I'm sorry. I really didn't want to bother anyone with this. I was told that there were... people, who helped those who were different. Here. Somewhere in the city. It's not exactly normal. That is, people don't believe in magic. Not for real anyway."
:D
Date: 2019-12-03 06:54 pm (UTC)"I did not mean to scare you," he said, tucking his hands in his pockets and giving her as mild of a smile as he could manage. "I apologize." Then his smile widened, just a touch, and his gold eyes sparked with mischief, "Though I don't believe in magic, either."
no subject
Date: 2019-12-17 02:55 am (UTC)Airy didn't feel like she deserved his kindness.
"You don't? What do you believe in?"
If what she was doing wasn't magic then what was it?
no subject
Date: 2020-02-09 09:23 pm (UTC)Returning to smiling, however, and not trying to hide it at all, he said, "Craft. I believe in Craft."
Opening his palm, he summoned a small ball of witchlight in the center, burning a merry ruby-red.
"Very different from magic."
no subject
Date: 2020-02-12 01:25 am (UTC)She paused when he summoned the ball of witchlight, her blue eyes widening at the sight. "It's beautiful."
Airy met his gaze and hoped that he was as kind as he seemed. "What's the difference? Can you tell me? I don't know... what any of this is. I'm not supposed to have powers. I'm supposed to be normal." That was all she had ever wanted.
no subject
Date: 2020-02-19 09:11 pm (UTC)Meeting her eyes, the corners crinkle briefly with warmth before he breaks the connection and scrapes said gaze from her head to her toes. He then shakes his head briefly. "I don't think that...however you do what you do is quite the same. Yours might be magic in truth and I would have no way of knowing."
After a pause, though, his brow furrows and he questions her words. "Were you originally lan--without powers? Did you acquire them somehow?"
no subject
Date: 2020-02-21 03:57 am (UTC)"I don't know. I don't think so. I think I did things when I was little but I always thought it was my imagination. Then I seemed okay for awhile. Now... now I can do things." Airy didn't realize that her powers affected her most of all. For most of her life, her desire to be normal had suppressed her abilities until her creation magic grew too powerful.
"I'm sorry. I don't know anything."
no subject
Date: 2020-02-22 03:57 am (UTC)With his chin, he gestures down the sidewalk, away from the alley. "How about we find somewhere that we can chat. It doesn't have to be private. I can make anywhere private. But maybe somewhere that's not the middle of where people are walking?"
no subject
Date: 2020-02-26 06:28 pm (UTC)"Yeah. Sorry. Let's go this way. I am staying at a hostel like place. It's just a bunk in a room with a lot of bunks but they have some smaller rooms and places we can talk there." It wasn't private but it was more private than this and Airy could at least sit down without worrying about where she was sitting.
Cities were gross like that.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-02 08:28 pm (UTC)He was surprised at himself. He'd been the one to suggest that they find somewhere more suitable to talk, yes, but he hadn't thought he'd react to her choice of the hostel with...caution. Let's call it caution. Until this point he'd been confident enough. He'd overpowered Blood far more overtly powerful than she—but perhaps the description of overtly was part of his concern? She had a kind of magic he didn't understand, and he had not survived this long by being careless, not when the kind of privacy they were about to find had sometimes been more dangerous for him than he'd care to admit.
"That sounds good," he says anyway. "Lead the way?"
no subject
Date: 2020-03-03 05:56 pm (UTC)She nodded her head and turned to lead the way. After a few steps she stopped and made sure that he was walking at her side before continuing further. She tried to find a pace that suited them both though the occasional crowds made it difficult to stay next to him. "Er. One more block." It was a pretty heavily traveled street but they found the small hostel and ducked inside.
The front room was a common area with a fire place that kept it warm. Airy waved at the man behind the counter and stepped forward to talk to him. "Hey Mike. Are any of the private rooms open? I ran into a friend and I wanted to catch up." He looked around the counter and pointed to one of the opened doors.
"Thanks." She flashed him a smile and the older man blushed before busying himself behind the counter.
Airy turned towards Daemon and kept smiling. "We're in luck. One of the rooms is free. So we can chat there. It'll still be loud and people might pop in but it's private-ish."