Nic Castell (bleedingheart) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-04-22 22:36:00 |
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Entry tags: | #october 2017, kat, kat x nic, nic |
Who: Nic and Kat
When: Tuesday, October 17, morning
Where: Castell Exotic Teas & Spices
Status: Complete
Nic stood at the counter inside the tea shop, idly throwing scrying stones with no real purpose. His mind was on the dream he’d had on Sunday, the one that stuck with him long after he woke. It felt like it meant something, but he couldn’t put his finger on what. Plus, the people in his dream, they’d been familiar. Neil especially. And he knew he should probably track him down and find out what he knew, but he also knew he could potentially sound crazy. It wasn’t like they were friends. Neil might think that anyways.
The dream sat in the back of his mind, lurking, waiting for the right time to crop up again. Like that damn mirror trick. He knew something was wrong there, but he couldn’t figure out what. And it was so sporadic that he’d thought for the longest time that his mind was playing tricks on him. But after the last time, he was sure something was up. And then nothing. Nic wondered if they were tied together and if so, what it meant. He liked puzzles, but this felt like he only had a handful of pieces when there were a thousand to make the picture.
He threw the stones again and looked down at them with a sigh. It was a slow day in the shop, but the mornings were always the slowest. Things would pick up as it got closer to noon.
One major advantage to Kat’s job was that she could arrange her day however she liked. Sometimes she worked until one or two in the morning and slept in until eleven, and sometimes she kept fairly regular hours save for doing her errands when she first got up and around. It was something she loved. She’d always thought she’d hate being trapped in a strict 8 to 5 job with no flexibility in case a crisis arose. This morning she’d already gone to the grocery and the post office and decided to stop in for some tea on her way home. And okay, she never minded seeing Nic Castell either, if she must admit it.
The weather was cloudy, and she was dressed for it in jeans and a burnt-orange sweater that made her complection look smooth and clear. She’d even broken out her brown suede boots. Fall was here, and it was her favorite season. Once she’d parked she burst through the door of the shop and smiled brilliantly when she saw Nic at the counter. “Hey!”
Nic looked up as someone walked through the door and a smile lit up his face. Kat was one of the few people that didn’t seem to care about his past, even back when it was fresh on everyone’s minds. Having spent most of his junior year in juvie, his senior year could’ve been a complete bust, but they’d had a good time together, partying, hooking up, and staying under the radar. They went their separate ways when he went off to college, but it hadn’t ended badly, for that he was thankful. “Hey, Kat, how’s it going? Come by to keep me entertained?” He asked, throwing the scrying stones again out of habit.
Kat had probably liked Nic more in high school because he’d been in trouble. A tall, handsome bad boy? Yes please, sign her up. There was something deep inside her that liked that type for some reason. Her brothers had had to be kept in the dark, but sneaking around had been fun. “Of course,” she said when he wanted to know if she’d come to keep him entertained. “Well, that and I’m running very low on tea. Can’t run out, you know.” She leaned on the other side of the counter, standing opposite him once she got close enough. “How’s your day so far?”
“Of course not,” Nic smiled. “What would you like this time?” While they had an extensive selection of teas and spices, he did sometimes wonder if she knew what else they sold. Or what else he was. It had been so new to him when they’d been together, and not something he was comfortable sharing. She’d been fine with the explainable darkness, the rage that sent him away, but black magic was different and Nic had been known to wade into those waters from time to time. “Boring. Mornings are slow. But we’ve been prepping for this weekend’s festival, so there’s that. You going?”
Kat looked over the selection of teas available. “Some Chai White and some Oolong,” she decided. She loved the teas here, so why not take a few minutes out of her day to stop? Magic hadn’t really touched her world, and at this point in time, she wasn’t aware of any difference in Nic, or his sister for that matter. “Oh, I forgot about the festival,” she said, looking mildly surprised. “I probably will go unless something keeps me from it.” After a pause, she happened to glance at the stones on the counter. “What are those for?”
“Have you tried the Maharaja Chai Oolong?” Nic asked as he selected the canister of Chai White and set it on the counter. They had more teas than most people knew what to do with, so he was always looking to suggest something new. He could brew her up a taste if she was curious. “It’s nice to get out of the shop for a bit,” he said, then glanced toward the stones. “They’re scrying stones. Or rune stones.” His were black obsidian, hand carved with the runes painted in gold. He liked the feeling of them in his hands better than his cards. “They’re used for divination.”
“Not yet,” Kat said, looking intrigued at the mention of a new tea. “If you recommend it, I’ll try it this time.” Tea was almost a ritual for her, something she liked to pour into a beautiful antique cup and savor. Vintage was a way of life for her. She got preoccupied looking at the rune stones. “They’re gorgeous. Do you really believe you can tell the future with them?” Her tone wasn’t confrontational at all, more curious. She’d never believed in that sort of thing, which might be strange given where she lived.
“I’ll bag you a sample,” Nic offered with a smile, then pulled that canister down as well. He didn’t mind giving freebies to someone like Kat. She was both a good customer and a friend. “Um… Yes and no. It depends on who’s throwing them, what you ask, and your ability to read them correctly. They don’t work very well for yes or no type questions. You have to be specific. Like, what will happen in the next couple of weeks if I go to the Witch’s Festival this weekend? Things like that.” Nic didn’t always know what to ask, but they had been extremely helpful on occasion.
It sounded like Nic believed in the stones, either that or he was pulling her leg and doing it extremely convincingly. “What kind of answer would you get to that question?” she asked. “What I mean is, how do you read the answer to that?” It was interesting, something about which she didn’t have any real knowledge. What if she came across some antique rune stones sometime? It would be good to have some idea of how they were used, and she didn’t think Nic would mind giving her information about them.
“Well, first you’d put all the stones in the bag and ask the question,” Nic said, doing just that as he spoke. He dropped the stones into a black velvet bag and then spoke softly, with intent. “What will happen in the next couple of weeks if I go to the Witch’s Festival this weekend?” He then selected five stones from the bag and laid them out on the counter in the shape of a cross, one in the center, and then four points. Nic took a deep breath as he stared at them, then looked up at Kat. “The first one, here in the center, represents my problem, or state of mind. This is Laguz. It represents fantasies, mysteries, or dreams. Then the second one, here,” he pointed, “Represents the past. I drew Algiz, which would normally mean protection, but it’s reversed, or upside down, so instead it could mean a hidden danger or a warning.” The results were surprising to him, expecting the festival to bring nothing but boredom, but this seemed to indicate something of importance. “The third tells me what I need to deal with. Eihwaz, but reversed, means… it means confusion.” Nic sighed, his eyes rising to Kat’s. “Sorry, this is kind of an odd reading. The fourth should tell me the things I have to accept, but I got Perthro, which is like, a mystery. And then the last is what I should expect after dealing with the confusion and the mystery, and but I drew a reversed Thurisaz, which means danger. So, according to this, based on this draw? I might be better off not going.”
The reading was more interesting than Kat had thought it would be. She wasn’t a hundred percent convinced about runes, but it was something different and unusual to her, at least. “Danger, mysteries and confusion,” she said, a smile quirking her lips upward. “I guess it would depend on how much risk you feel like taking that day.” She’d tried to decide if she wanted to go to the festival, although her answers to that type of question always depended on how much work she had to accomplish. She usually ended up deciding at the last second. “But either way, be careful with yourself,” she added, taking out her wallet to pay for the teas.
“Yeah, it’s kind of a weird reading,” Nic admitted as he rang her up. “Normally I don’t throw stones that sound like an omen, but I’m just having that kind of a day I guess.” Nic smiled anyways, since he wasn’t super worried about it. Maybe he’d get some answers. That was usually the hope, that then he had a fortune telling him he just had to accept the mystery. No chance in that. He offered the receipt and gave her a smile. “Thanks, Kat. You too.”