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Bran Wilder {The Phantom} (lemortvivant) wrote in bellumlogs,
@ 2010-04-14 17:36:00

Entry tags:

phantom of the opera

Who: Bran and Katya
What: A "what fable are YOU?" reading
Where: Red Horse Tea shop
When: Thursday at 4
Warnings: Other than socially awkward and moody Bran, none

Bran was already doubting his decision to visit this Katya woman - he'd had to dig through the forum to find out her name, as well as the name of her shop - since he usually preferred to interact with people who didn't live in the same building as himself and thus posed the possibility of being encountered again. Still, he'd made some more headway with Phantom, and his own curiosity was growing so large that it demanded to be satisfied. The woman in his dream had called him Erik, and he called her Christine - both were the principle characters in the novel. If this fable thing was true and there was a Christine in the building - he was leaning towards Lotte, considering the way she reacted whenever he spoke to her - then he might be the Phantom.

Part of him knew it was insanity, but another part of him still waited to cast judgment. He'd seen some strange things in his time with the gypsy circus, things that no one could explain, that people attributed to old magic and mysticism. It couldn't hurt to see what this woman had to say, and he wasn't worried about her keeping whatever she saw to herself. Bran knew that, if she posed any kind of threat, he would simply get rid of the problem. He was quick, efficient, and practically untraceable - it would barely be an afterthought.

Even though the day was warmer than most, he wore a pair of frayed jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt, but this time he was sans baseball cap. His face looked almost flawless, and Katya would only be able to tell that there was something off about the left side if she looked closely. It didn't take long to find the shop, and he studied the exterior for a moment before seemingly casting his approval and pushing open the door.

There were some people inside, not many - but even so Bran slunk along the walls, pretending to study various types of tea on the shelf in front of him. He had no idea what this Katya woman even looked like, but he tried to guess which one might be her from the corner of his eye.

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redhorse_tea
2010-04-15 01:53 am UTC (link)

Everything had been quiet until approximately three thirty. Since then, people had been coming in and out of the shop at a constant speed. This Katya normally considered quite a good thing. More people meant more money. But on this day, she knew she was expecting a visitor, and the stream of people was a drain. Every time someone entered, she jumped a little, wondering if it were him. It occurred to her that she didn't know what he looked like.

When four o'clock came around, someone entered the shop that jarred her. She looked at the man who entered and there was something about him, something different. Slowly, she approached him. "You are 1106, da?" she inquired, looking up at him. If he wasn't she would feel foolish, to be sure. But she thought her guess was right.

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lemortvivant
2010-04-15 02:34 am UTC (link)

Bran had practically based his life around his ability to go unnoticed, and he was slightly surprised when he was approached by a woman. Instinct made him suspicious, but when she inquired as to who he was by his apartment number, he realized that this had to be Katya. He'd forgotten that he hadn't given her his name, which wasn't surprising since he never really stuck to the same one. Today he was Trevor, tomorrow he might be Bran again, and the week later it could be someone entirely different.

"Yes, I'm 1106 - you can call me Trevor." That was the name he'd given to Lotte, wasn't it? His tone was neutral and somewhat detached, and there was only the faintest trace of a smile. "You must be 207."

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redhorse_tea
2010-04-15 04:49 pm UTC (link)

"Trevor. Da, I am Katya," she replied. She gestured toward the back of the shop. "Unless you would be liking tea with reading, we can be going straight back. Feel free to take something you would be wanting to drink from the shelves."

She led him to her office in the back, tarrying a bit in case he wanted time to look at her teas, and she settled in one of the two chairs before her desk. Her office was neat and pin-straight, as she would have it no other way, and she turned to Bran. "Were you finding anything you would like to be drinking?"

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lemortvivant
2010-04-15 07:21 pm UTC (link)

He noticed her accent immediately, heavy enough to indicate that she probably hadn't been in America very long. That, or she was one of those people who stubbornly refused to conform to the typical American way of speaking. Bran could respect the latter - people who shunned mainstream assimilation were a little higher on his list than the rest of society. "Katya. Nice to meet you." He could be polite when need be, after all.

None of the teas held any interest in him - his needs were fairly basic - so he followed her to the back office, curious despite himself. "No. I appreciate the offer, but I'm fine." Bran hesitated for a beat before taking the remaining chair, his gaze steady. "Whatever is said here, it will stay confidential, won't it?"

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redhorse_tea
2010-04-16 03:21 pm UTC (link)

Katya nodded. "Of course it is being kept only between us," she told him. She still felt a bit guilty for revealing Micah, Iris and Eliot, but she had been very annoyed that Micah had betrayed her confidence first. To some degree, she still was. "I am not breaking my confidences so easily." Secrets were secrets for reasons, and she could understand why people were leery of giving their away, especially in regards to this fables business. Residents seemed far too keen on making judgments based on a person's fable instead of on the person.

Shifting in her chair, she held up her right palm. "I will read palm for you," she told him. "It is more accurate for telling about the self. If you are wanting, I will read past to show I am not so fake as some fortune tellers. Then, I will look for signs of your story. Is this good with you?"

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lemortvivant
2010-04-16 06:44 pm UTC (link)

He never had and likely never would trust anyone, so he wasn't completely convinced by her reassurances that whatever was said would be kept confidential. Still, Bran was here for a reason, and afterward he'd make sure Katya wouldn't say anything - because if she did, it wouldn't end very well. "Good." He'd seen how people reacted to the thought that there might be a Phantom, and if they had his room number he would never have a moment's peace - never mind the fact that everything with Lotte would be ruined.

He began to hold out his right palm but stopped when she mentioned reading his past. Whether she was legit or not, his past was something he didn't want anyone to see... on the other hand, it would make him more inclined to believe what she said. Bran studied her for a moment, frowning, before finally nodding. "I don't need you to read all of my past," he said tersely. "Just a few details will do, and then the story."

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redhorse_tea
2010-04-17 04:19 pm UTC (link)

Reaching out, Katya took his right hand in both of her own. She leaned forward, peering at the lines. There was much in his palm that she could tell him; hands always spoke clearly of a person's past. His fingers were calloused from years of playing instruments, but anyone with a careful eye for detail would notice that. But underneath the callouses... Yes, there was a story there, and one that was innocuous enough to share.

She pointed to a line on his hand, one inside his life line. "This? It is telling me you are gifted musician, as are callouses on your fingers. You are playing all the time," she said. "But, as a child, is was a secret thing." A precious thing for him, something that was a source of freedom. She suppressed a shudder, not wanting to reveal what she saw in his hand. One of the first things she had been taught is that people deserved to keep their secrets unless they asked for them to be revealed. She would say little of what she saw, but it made her want to weep. "And is here, in your music, I am thinking is your story." She lifted her eyes to him, her expression asking him if he wanted her to continue.

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lemortvivant
2010-04-17 05:49 pm UTC (link)

For a brief moment his entire body tensed when she took his hand, an instinctive reaction to initiated human contact that had never quite left him since childhood, but it passed quickly enough and he forced himself to relax - as much as he could, at least.

Bran wasn't particularly impressed when she told him he was a musician - you didn't need to have some sort of psychic gift to be able to tell something like that - but what followed made his gaze a little sharper. It wasn't a specific statement, but it wasn't broad enough to be attributed to a lucky guess either.

He knew what she was going to say even before she said it, since there were few stories that involved music aside from the one he had in mind. Still, Bran wanted to hear it, and to her questioning expression he gave a slight nod. "You can continue."

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redhorse_tea
2010-04-17 08:04 pm UTC (link)

Examining his palm a bit more intently, Katya read the lines of his hands. "I am seeing... a passionate desire for music that is eclipsing all of the reasons," she told him. "You are desperate for this music, da? And you will do much to gain it, but in doing so will cause its maker to be despising you, most likely. You will love her voice, but exist to her for the most part in the shadows. A phantom."

Katya pursed her lips, surprised by her own poetry. She wasn't usually so poetic with readings. His hands did have their own poetry. Perhaps that was what she read when she looked at them. She released his hands and pulled away, watching him. "But this. I am thinking you were already suspecting it." Not that it mattered much to her.

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lemortvivant
2010-04-17 08:29 pm UTC (link)

Her voice. It couldn't have been any clearer than that, especially not when she said the word that confirmed everything he had suspected: phantom. If all of this was true, then there was no doubt as to what story he was from and which character he was meant to be. Bran hadn't been expecting anything less, but that still didn't mean he liked it. He hadn't finished the book yet, but he had a feeling he knew how it was going to end. There were undeniable similarities between Erik and himself, but his disfigurement wasn't as bad. They called him the living dead - he didn't look that monstrous without his prosthetic mask, did he?

"A phantom." There was a harsh edge to his voice, but for the most part he managed to stay calm. Of course - he shouldn't have been surprised. He'd existed in the shadows from the moment he was born, and he'd come to hate the world as much as it hated him. It made sense that his fable was just as despised - and if Lotte was Christine, did that mean their story would end the same? Would he help her improve her voice only to have her run into the arms of a Raoul somewhere? "I was, yes. I suppose I merely wanted confirmation." His hands curled and uncurled into fists, and suddenly he wanted to leave.

"You can't tell anyone about this." Bran glanced up sharply, wearing an expression of hard urgency. "No one. I've faced enough scorn on my own, and I don't need any more of it because of a foolish tale."

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redhorse_tea
2010-04-18 05:07 pm UTC (link)

She watched the expressions cross over his face. They were muted, partially hidden, but there none the less. She didn't comment on them, instead wishing she had a cup of tea to sip at simply to give herself something to do. When his hands curled into fists, she stiffened ever so slightly, imperceptibly, and nodded.

"Of course I will not be telling anyone," she said. Her tone was dismissive, as if this was a given. For her, in fact, it was. She had no intention of revealing anything to anyone about this Trevor. It would get her no where even if she did, except, perhaps, to make her more trustworthy as a psychic. But regardless of that, she would say nothing. "I am keeping my confidences. You will hear nothing of this from me." There was an underlying threat in his words, though, that she didn't necessarily like. She would have to tread carefully for the next few days.

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lemortvivant
2010-04-19 06:25 pm UTC (link)

It was easy for people to make promises, to say they would do one thing and never do another. Still, if Katya did this sort of thing often, she had to be used to keeping certain things confidential. "Alright. Thank you, Katya." Gratitude was something he rarely felt, yet she hadn't been obligated in any way to help him, so he supposed he owed her that.

Bran hesitated, wondering if he expected any sort of payment. He had money, of course, but how much did something like this even cost? "I won't take up any more of your time, then." He stood, still waiting for her to ask for payment. "If that's all...?"

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redhorse_tea
2010-04-19 06:34 pm UTC (link)

Katya stood as well, gesturing toward the door. "I am preferring to ask favors for readings," she said easily. "They are small favors, never large." Unless someone wanted something large from her. But she didn't consider telling Trevor his fable a large reading. So there was no reason to be asking for a large favor in turn.

She led him back into the shop itself, and for a moment considered asking him to purchase a tea as payment. But that seemed rude at best. "I am hoping this is to be helpful for you. Please, if you are ever needing more advice, you can be coming back." She gave him a brief smile and took a step back. "Please to be having a good day." And she turned away from him so that he could look without someone hovering, or leave without feeling pressure to stay.

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lemortvivant
2010-04-20 05:53 am UTC (link)

Favors. Bran hated owing anyone anything, but he figured he could let it slide this time, especially if she kept her word and stayed silent about what she'd seen. Besides, he had done some things for people in the past, things they were too cowardly to do themselves. He could do it again if he needed to. "Small favors. Well, that sounds fair enough."

He glanced around the shop once more, but really saw no reason to stay. "Thank you again, Katya." His smile was still minimal at best as he turned away, leaving as silently as he'd entered.

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