Who: Lina Okeanós & Will Moody What: Drunken oblivion seems like a good way to go... When: Sunday, June 2 | Late evening Where: The shore of Hercinia Lake (nearer to Snowcap side) Warnings: Language, excessive drinking.. Will being an absolute sweetheart
Lina forlornly looked in the direction she knew the Crimson Kestrel to be, and shook her head before taking another swig from the first of three bottle of wine she'd bought. She knew she shouldn't dwell on her own decision to avoid the Kestrel but she couldn't help it. It was the only other place, aside from Delilah's, worth going to but she knew if she did that it'd just make the trip there pointless. So there she was in a small sort of cove on the edge of the lake not far from the town being classy as fuck in drowning her misery with a bottle of wine.
There was no way to fix what she'd done. She wanted to try and make amends but she doubted such a offer would be at all well-received. Add to it she also wanted to leave town but she could hardly do that now either. It was a snowball of a situation of her own making and it looked like there wasn't an end within sight. There was a wry laugh from her lips as she considered the fact that she could leave if she felt like making all her time and effort looking into the people behind all the business with beings a complete and utter waste.
A catch-22 if there ever was one.
Bored, and reluctant to head back to the rental just yet, she using her magic to play with the lake water. Creating little waves, akin to the larger kind you'd have at a beach, at first before shooting a thin stream of water into the air and sending out thinner smaller streams of water like the spray of a fountain. Unfortunately, as she took another drink from the wine bottle she realised she still felt as bored and restless as she had before. This time the stream of water was sent in an upwards spiral before 'exploding' like a firework.
Will had been walking and thinking, something he'd been doing a lot of this week. Out with his sketchbook, he'd taken to sitting by the lake and sketching its changing moods while his mind wandered around his own changing mind, walking as he was through a world that seemed brand-new and strange, or maybe it was him that was so changed. The motion of his pencil was calming and grounding while his thoughts flitted like birds through his head.
He glanced up at the water again, and his eyes widened at the fountain of water rising in the bay, just around the bending shoreline from where he sat. He didn't know much about water creatures, but he was so curious what could be doing that; Will stood, slid his sketchbook and pencil carefully into his cloak pocket, and followed the path around the shoreline to find out.
"Oh," he breathed, too entranced by the sight of the water spiralling up into the sky to notice the witch sitting half-hidden by the shore with her wine bottle. He gasped in awe as the delicate stream of water burst high in the air. "Oh!" It put him in mind of a miracle of the Lord, of the parting of the Red Sea or the pillar of fire that had guided the Israelites through the desert, and he pressed his hands together in wonder. "Oh Lord, my Lord," he spoke aloud, impulsively, "how excellent is thy name in all the world!"
Lina was about to send another stream into the air only it splashed down rather indelicately the moment she heard someone nearby speaking. Fortunately, she managed to catch herself and didn't tumble over but it didn't stop a rather surprised sounding squeak escaping past her lips. As she stared through the dark her eyes landed on Will, and part of her tipsy mind was sure she'd seen him around the reserve but couldn't yet place a name to the fuzzy recollection she had of his face.
"I uh... sorry. I didn't think anyone else was actually out here," she stammered, feeling she was probably going to have to head back to the house soon. Boredom and restlessness might've been her tune for the night but at least it was peaceful—even if it did give her far too much time alone with her own thoughts. "I can leave if you want?"
Will looked down in surprise, but he shook his head after a moment, tucking his hands into his cloak pockets. "Nay, please, you were here first." He smiled at her tentatively, and gestured at the ripples still spreading over the lake. "I saw the fountain. 'Twas lovely. Was that you?"
Part of her wanted to say it hadn't been her doing. This young wizard, probably barely just into adulthood, seemed pleasant enough and... well, she'd rather that not change. That and she'd rather not face a repeat of seeing the expression on Tony's face mirrored on another. Plus there'd been the stuff about veelas and beings in general in the papers of late so she was never sure quite how anyone would take to her as it was—not that she went around telling everyone right off the bat that she was half-Psione. So really she could've slapped herself when she heard herself speaking the truth regardless. "Oh. Thank you. Uh, yes?"
Lina looked at Will warily a moment. "I didn't disturb you did I?"
He shook his head again, surprised by the question. "Nay, nay. I was only drawing a little -- I did not know you were here." Will looked down at her, his gaze shifting from the wine bottle in her hand to the others lying beside her, and his eyebrows rose. "But I consider I am disturbing you. Pray pardon me." He hesitated, eyeing those bottles of wine again. "Are you all right?" he asked after a pause.
Lina blinked slowly, and then looked down to where his eyes had gone, and spotted the unopened wine bottles sitting there. Oh, right. "No. Well, not really, and it doesn't follow that the disturbance isn't unwelcome." It might not be who she may have wanted to talk to, and to be honest she wasn't even sure who that might be, but at least it was someone being friendly and/or polite. Something which frankly was something of a relief these days. "I'm..." She trailed off whatever her answer had been dying off into the sound of a wry laugh. "I'm alive and in one piece still, so honestly? As alright as I possibly can be right now."
Will watched her for another moment, biting indecisively at his lip, but then he thought of Luke, and how that night in Las Vegas he had stepped in and dropped everything to make sure Will, a complete stranger, was okay. He stepped forward, smiling carefully at the witch. "Mayhap you would not mind company?" he inquired, and offered out his hand. "I am Obedience-To-Thy-Will Moody. Folk call me Will."
There was a brief flicker of surprise and confusion in her looks as she considered Will. It was becoming more obvious that he hadn't heard of her; however, given her reluctance to hang around the reserve much aside from doing her job she could hardly be that surprised to not be recognised. And he was so polite that she was almost reluctant to give her name. "Evelina. Well, Evelina Okeanós officially speaking. Most call me Lina," she responded, as she reached out and gave his hand a wary-yet-slightly-firm shake. "Or they might if and when they'd actually want to talk to me."
The name sounded familiar, and after a moment of thought he realized why: there had been some scandalous incident between her and Cate's boyfriend, Tony, weeks ago, and the gossip had spread so far that even Will, who tried to avoid the rumor mill when possible, had vaguely heard about it, though he had managed not to learn any details. He was glad about that now.
"I consider I've heard your name. You are with the Confederation's investigators, aye?" he asked politely. He settled down on the ground near Lina, but not too near, keeping a courteous distance. "Some folk are not comfortable with the government being here. Is that why you fear no one here wants to talk to you?"
Lina admittedly was a little surprised at how Will had recognised her name, and couldn't help but wonder if that was absolutely the case or whether he was being nice and just not mentioning the other possible reason. She responded with a nod and murmur of agreement. "No, they're not and I can't really blame them for feeling that way. But no, that's not why. If it were it probably wouldn't affect me so much." Lina was well used to people being wary or surly when it came BACO investigating anything but it never bothered her since she generally just ignored that kind of behaviour and got on with her job. When it was more personal, and for good reason, it was a little harder to deal with. "But you needn't worry about that. I'll be... fine," she said, as she looked out across the lake. She'd be fine. So long as she didn't make any more mistakes she'd be fine.
Will nodded politely, leaning back on his hands and looking out over the darkening lake, too. "Aye, I'm sure," he agreed. "But 'fine' is not the same as 'happy,' and…" He shrugged one shoulder. "'Tis forward of me to say, mistress, and I pray you will pardon me, but you seem unhappy. Lonely. And if I can help, I would be glad to." He glanced over at her, his cheeks a little pink at just how forward he was being, but it seemed like the right thing to do. He couldn't tell how old she was, but she didn't seem much older than Will himself, and he knew what it was like to be lonely. "If you want to talk about what is the matter, I am neither clever nor wise, but I would listen. Or if you want me to leave you in peace, I would do that."
Lina couldn't help but chuckle a little. Somehow Will managed to not only get the right of it but was even offering to help. As greatly as she'd appreciate it she couldn't quite make with unburdening herself only to darken such sweetness. And given how sweet and innocent he seemed she was, for selfish reasons, reluctant to change that. "Perhaps it is a little but I don't mind. And while it's awfully sweet of you to offer to lend an ear to my troubles, I..." She trailed off with a sigh. "You seem like a good kid, and you... it's probably better for you to not talk to me or even be seen with me. I'm not... I try to be but I'm not a good person." There was a slight scoff as she said those words. "Some people would probably even go as far to say that I'm not a person at all." Lina withdrew into herself a little there. "They wouldn't really be wrong either," she mumbled more to herself.
He frowned a little at that and shook his head, not comprehending why anyone would say such a thing about herself. "No one is unimportant," he told her softly. "Everyone matters. And no one has done such great wrong that it cannot be forgiven, if one truly repents." Will looked over at Lina, watching her face carefully as he spoke; not many people here seemed to appreciate it when he spoke of God, but he didn't know how else to make his point. "I am a Christian, and I sincerely believe this. You are part of God's wonderful creation, and he loves you, even when you may not love yourself."
There was the hint of a smile tugging at her lips as Will's words floated around her. Religion had never played a part in her life, and while the words didn't hold quite the same meaning for her as they clearly did for Will she appreciated his effort. "I might not share your faith but I appreciate the sentiment all the same. Truly I do," she responded. Lina felt like taking another drink, and yet part of her was reluctant to make Will feel uneasy—especially when he was being as nice as he was even if that was just his way. With a sigh she set the bottle down for the moment and hugged her knees to her chest. "Though I think no matter how penitent I am, or how much I try to make amends, that I'll be forgiven by Tony for what I did." She lightly scuffed her foot against the ground as she stared at the water. "Not that I've actually been able to make amends yet. Though I doubt Tony would be all that accepting of it right now as it is anyway."
"Hm," Will answered, and thought deeply about that for another quiet moment or two, watching the lake as Lina did. He was gladder than ever now that he'd stayed away from the gossip about the two of them. "I consider… mayhap in time he will come to forgive you for whatever wrong you have done him. If you are truly repentant and do all you can to undo any harm you may have caused, the hurt will fade. Nothing can last forever, aye?" He turned to look at her, still serious. "But even if he does not forgive you, the Lord will. We have all sinned and dealt wrongly with one another, mistress, because we are human, not divine."
It was difficult to know what to say about forgiveness to someone who didn't share his faith; maybe God will forgive anything didn't mean anything to Lina, and he didn't know how secular people dealt with matters of the soul. Or whether they thought about souls at all. He tilted his head at Lina. "Do you believe in anything?" he wondered.
"Perhaps," she responded, not sounding particularly hopeful nor too dejected. It wasn't an entirely impossible premise though it would probably take a long time coming. Depending on how she chose to look at it it was either unfortunate or fortunate that, aside from the more powerful gift and some scaling, she'd inherited the Psione's longevity. So, for better or worse, time was on her side. Lina glanced at Will, looking at him with a slightly raised brow. "Even those of us who aren't entirely human?"
Lina thought about the question a moment before shaking her head with a slight chuckle. "That's a pretty big question y'know?" she replied. "And honestly? I'm not entirely sure I do any more if I ever did." There were essentials she believed in, and yet she had still utterly failed at the one of doing no harm with her gift.
Will's eyes widened, and for a moment he stared at her, his mouth open. If Lina being only part-human was part of the gossip, he hadn't heard about that, either. "Are you not human?" he asked, filled with wonder and curiosity, not a bit of it wary or judgmental. He'd read some things about part-beings lately, and heard the trial and the registration issue and all of that being discussed, but it was something he hadn't paid much attention to. "What -- is it rude to ask what you are? I don't know many people, or any people, who are different in that way. But," he added quickly, anxious to make this point known, since it seemed to be on her mind, "however you were born, you are a child of God. Or -- I don't know how you would say it if you don't believe, but you are not less than any other person, mistress. I pray you will not think so."
It was strange, and Lina couldn't quite tell why but far from being offended at the questions she was actually amused by the curiosity and couldn't help but laugh a little. Though this time the sound was decidedly more pleasant and full of humour than before. "Oh, I still am in part at least," she answered. She shook her head as she smiled. "If it is then I'm not offended by what appears to me to be genuine and good-natured curiosity rather than a means with which to later insult or attack with." It really was sweet of him to say, and she was reminded that the Reserve's new groundskeeper, Dante, had said something similar. If she weren't feeling so wretched she might've felt better about herself instead it merely soothed her spirits a little. "Perhaps I might believe that when I don't feel quite so terrible about myself. But this is not answering your original question."
As a personal rule Lina rarely, if ever, told anyone her heritage, and only went so far as to tell only close friends or confirm it for anyone who had made an accurate guess. However, it was all there in black and white if anyone cared to check the rather, in her opinion, offensive registrar of beings. "I'm half-Psione," she answered. Lina realised, from her quiet observation of the young man, that he might not be familiar with the term. "Are you at all familiar with the Greek myths of sirens?"
Will shook his head no, still watching her with fascination. "Nay. I consider I know little of other places. What does it mean, psione?"
"Well, the myth that non-magical folk believe is that a very very long time ago there were mermaid-like creatures or beings called sirens whose singing would lure sailors from their ships because they thought they were being promise their heart's desires." The Greek myth was in parts accurate albeit wrapped up within a fanciful tale. Sometimes she wondered if the myth was partially to blame for the ill-regard that witches and wizards tended to have for them, or if that was simply their prejudice against anything non-human. "Sirens though is more of an umbrella term that some people decided to adopt for the three kinds of there are. Psione do have a gift for singing though, and whether for good or ill with that gift we could make anyone do anything we wished. People don't take kindly to that even when good intentions are meant, and others..." She sighed. "Others only seek to use us for their own purposes. It's why we tend to sequester ourselves on our island. Also there are some who don't like people who look different even when they're otherwise still mostly human. Our elders, that is true Psione without any human lineage, do happen to have tails and scaling much like mermaids and other merfolk have. Those of us with partial human lineage don't have tails but we sometimes might inherit the scaling to some little or larger degree depending on how diluted their Psione blood is."
Lina paused in her explanation and gave Will a slight smile. "For myself I have an elder Psione for a mother, and a completely normal wizard for a father. Something that made my childhood rather interesting since I not only presented with Psione traits but I ended up inheriting magic from my father." She shook her head and laughed. "I don't even know why I'm telling you all this. I don't usually tell anyone until I've known them a long time and trust them."
Will nodded thoughtfully, considering all she'd said. He hadn't heard stories of Lina's people, but the gift she spoke of seemed powerful and fearsome, and he could understand why folk might be wary of someone who could influence others in that way. But no one could help the way they were made, and God had a purpose for everything, and so he put away the little nervousness he felt about this woman who could make him do anything, and smiled at her. "Folk tell me I'm a good listener," he answered, forbearing to point out that she was also half drunk. "Mayhap that's why 'tis easy to talk to me."
He rested the heels of his hands on the ground behind him, leaning back and regarding the dark water in front of them. "Do you come from an island in Greece, then? I consider 'tis very far away. Is it very different here in the Confederation?"
Lina smiled gently. "I think they must be right. You've certainly been awfully patient with me—a veritable stranger." Though she felt sure that what really made it easy to talk to the far younger man was the apparent lack of judgement in his expression and in his words.
Her smile brightened as she thought of home and being able to talk of it with someone. "Mhmm. Ogygia, and I'd say so since there's an entire ocean to cross before you get close to it." Lina gave a nod. "It is. For one it's an entirely matriarchal society in every sense. The uh... that is any males born are sent to the mainland or nearby islands. Not that they're abandoned at all, and good homes are found for them, it's just... well, no Psione abilities or traits emerge in males. It's been the way of things for... a very long time." It perhaps might seem harsh and even cruel to an outsider but who was to say it would be better for them to stay on the island where jealousy might fester at not having the same ability and talent as others with a similar lineage. "I think what I miss most though is the island," she commented with a fond smile. "And just being able to sit on or near the shoreline and watching the sun shining over the sea. I miss that warmth and sense of being home. Not that the confederation is lacking in beaches but sometimes it doesn't quite compare, you know?"
Will, who didn't have much experience with beaches, nodded, though his mind was still on what she had said about her home and what they did with their male children. The idea of mothers sending their children away from them like that horrified him, and he sat up again and looked back at her, his eyes wide. "'Tis not right," he said before he could think better of it, and immediately flushed and looked down. "Pray pardon me, I only meant -- your folk consider that boys and men are unworthy? I cannot conceive how a mother could bear to send her child away from her. It seems very hard."
Lina could tell the idea of it all was an unsettling one, and knowing what she'd learnt of wider society she could hardly blame him for his thoughts on it. "You needn't apologise. You're as entitled to an opinion as anyone is, and I know it must seem strange and unreasonable." Lina frowned slightly at the idea it was done because they were deemed unworthy. "I imagine it is no easy task but no they don't deem them unworthy. They don't go unloved or unwanted, and contact is not always severed. However, imagine what it might be like to grow up in such a society where there is magic and women with this brilliant if terrible gift, and some of whom look very different from you or I, and knowing you're utterly different and will never have any of that. No matter if all the love in the world was heaped upon such a child it may not stop something from taking hold and festering within their psyche. And few of the Elders have seen before the way men will... the way some men will think such gifts are theirs to command and use."
Lina shook her head. "My apologies for giving such a poor explanation. My mother would certainly be able to do a far more eloquent and fluent job of it than I."
He considered the idea for a moment, turning it around and around in his head. "Nay, I understand," Will answered after a moment's pause, "but I still cannot conceive it, mistress." He folded his hands together in his lap and looked down at them. "But my folk are like yours somewhat. We hold ourselves apart from the world, and we have our own customs that folk here may find strange. So I understand that, too." He hesitated another moment, and then looked up at Lina. "'Tis forward of me to ask, but if I may… why did you leave your people? And can you ever go back?"
Lina gave Will what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "It's alright. I'm not the least bit offended, and I didn't expect to you be okay with it. I'm more reconciled with than I am approving because I know at least that even if they're not living on the island with us they haven't been abandoned." There were even a couple of her own brothers and cousins that she was in somewhat irregular touch with even if she hadn't seen them since her little tour of Europe. "Oh, no, not forward at all. There's nothing wrong with curiosity so long as you don't let it get the better of you," she replied, and chuckled. "That's actually why I left—curiosity. I'd learnt about the world but in the first twenty years of my life I'd never even so much as left the island for a second. I wanted to see it all for myself. Mhmm. I've gone back to visit a time or two but that seems so long ago now."
Thinking back on what Will had said, and then the question she asked she gave him a slightly concerned look. "You mentioned your folk are like mine a little... I'm sorry if this is a painful question but... well, am I right in guessing that you're either not allowed back or are afraid of returning?"
Will looked down again at his folded hands. "Nay, I could still go back, if the Lord should turn my heart that way. I am under a Bann from the church, but I was not a consecrated member before I left, so I am not excommunicated. I could return to my family if I would make confession and repentance for my worldly ways, and join the Congregation. Once I thought that I might go back once I had seen the world, but now…" He flushed, his mind turning inevitably to Luke and the recent decision he'd made to try believing that it was God who inclined his heart toward men, not the Devil, and that it was still possible to be a Christian and a good person. "I consider mayhap God has a different plan for me. My folk believe there is only one way to be godly and live a good life, but I… I have some disagreement with that. So I consider I may not go home."
The thought made his heart heavy, even though he'd thought it before; there was no way to both embrace everything new he was learning and trying out in the world, and be welcomed back by his family. He sighed, bent down by the weight of it, and looked out at the water without saying anything more.
Lina smiled sadly, and her heart went out to Will. She couldn't imagine that was an easy decision to make or come to terms with. Knowing you could go home might be a blessing but following on with knowing it'd mean having to give up ways, thoughts, and or feelings you'd come to appreciate in any way would certainly make any homecoming bittersweet no matter how reconciled you were. "There's nothing wrong with that but I think perhaps it's not an easy decision to come to terms with," she said, not wishing to really push him into further conversation on the matter. "I know it might not mean much but I hope it at least will feel less... painful for you. Though it doesn't quite make up for family I'm sure you've plenty of friends in the area, and friends... well, they're just another kind of family aren't they? Still it's something that'd probably take time..."
Not that she had many of her own of late. Even with as long as they'd known each other she wasn't even sure how her friendship with Zophie would turn out. Lina glance at the unopened bottles, and noted that she could at least admitting however good an idea it seemed that drinking herself into oblivion wasn't going to help. "I maybe haven't been in the best from of mind this evening but... well, thank you, Will, for stopping to talk to me," she said, giving him a somewhat brighter smile than she'd felt up to giving earlier.
That sounded like a dismissal, and it was fully dark now and past time to head home and call Luke before sleeping; Will smiled back over at her and pushed himself to his feet, courteously offering out his hand to help Lina stand as well if she wanted. "Aye, I consider I am fortunate to have made so many friends here in the world," he agreed. "And my--" He hesitated, a blush climbing up his cheeks at the impossibility of choosing a word to define what Luke was to him; he was glad the darkness would hide his flushed face somewhat. "My close friend has said the same thing, that 'tis possible to choose one's own family. Surely you both are right, and I am sorely glad of it."
He patted his pocket to be sure he still had his sketchbook, and smiled at Evelina. "'Twas a pleasure to meet you, mistress. I pray you will find peace and resolution, however your situation may end."
Lina accepted the assistance gratefully, but didn't comment on the pause she merely smiled warmly that it was clear by the way he spoke that he at least had somebody to count on. She was still unsure if she could say the same; however, she did have to admit that she did feel less burdened by everything. It seemed that Rory had been right about just having someone to listen to.
"And you, Will. And thank you, I hope so," she responded. Lina bit on her lip wondering if she ought to offer, and in a brief second decided to regardless. It was the least she could do after he'd sat there listening to her. "If you'd like, before you go your way, I could show you what it was I was doing with the water before?"
Will smiled, surprised and delighted by the offer. "Aye! I would like that very much. 'Twas a wonder to see. Can all your folk do such things with the water, without spells or wands?"
"Some can, or at least from what I've seen and been told—at the very least for those that have some or distant wizarding heritage there's definitely an affinity for water-related magic. There weren't exactly any wand-makers where I lived so learning magic without one was more a necessity than a desire," she replied. There was what could only be called a bashful smile as she held up the thin piece of wood in her fingers for a moment before pocketing it again. "I'm afraid it's mostly for show in my case. Anyway I did promise you a show..."
Lina focused her attention on the lake now, and after a few moments a globe of water seemed to start forming before streams of water suddenly dispersed whirling through the air and spiralling around each other. There was more playfulness and joy where before there'd been a kind of disinterested boredom; in fact she couldn't help a little gentle teasing as she had one of the streams spiral out to them and around Will before returning to the lake as she gave him a slightly apologetic smile. Lina sent the tiny streams up into the air once more before making them arch over and falling back into the lake with a gentle splash. As terrible a start as it'd been she had to admit that the evening really wasn't a complete mess after all.