Nic Castell (bleedingheart) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2020-04-22 20:44:00 |
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Entry tags: | #january 2018, caius, caius x nic, nic |
Who: Nic and Caius
When: Night, Saturday, Jan 20th
Where: Overlook Country Club, Casino Night
Status: Complete
It was always nice to be at an event he didn’t have a hand in planning, and an hour or two into it, Caius was enjoying the country club’s casino night. Everyone looked great and seemed to be happy to be out doing something festive and charitable. Caius had already made a reasonable donation to the cause at the start of the evening, but he’d been playing a few games too, for the fun of it. He was a pretty good poker player when he set his mind to it. So was Reagan, he’d always been impressed by her control over her facial expressions. By the time they’d been to a couple of tables, they’d started a little unspoken competition between them. Caius was pretty sure he would have her beat in chips at the end of the night, but time would tell.
He was taking a break, standing up to get himself another drink, when he spotted Nic Castell. Caius hadn’t seen Zania anywhere, but given what she’d told him about her situation, that wasn’t entirely surprising. It was that very situation that made him change his course and approach Nic. There was no love lost between the two of them, Caius was very aware of that, but he hoped recent-ish events had cooled the animosity some, at least. In any case, he wanted to ask after Zania’s well-being, so he was there with good intentions. “Hello Nic,” Caius said when he was close enough, giving the other man a small smile. “Having a good time?”
Nic had thought about skipping the party altogether, but he knew it was a good chance to talk to people he wouldn’t normally speak to on a normal day and he had information to gather. It was easier to casually ask about people who’d been hurt when they were distracted by gambling and three drinks in, and he took advantage of it where he could, sneaking the questions into small talk. It felt weird to be there by himself, but Zania needed to get a handle on what she was dealing with before putting herself in a crowd of people and it was easier to casually approach people without Lem at his side. As much as he adored her, she stood out in this crowd, whereas Nic could blend in when he had to.
Though he hadn’t spoken to Caius, he was on Nic’s list of people to talk to, and he gave him a small smile as he walked up. They’d never be best buds, but Caius had willingly provided Zania with information on the demon they were dealing with and that he could appreciate. “I’m ahead at the moment, so sure,” Nic said, casually flipping the chips in his hand. “You?”
Caius glanced at the chips and gave a soft chuckle -- winning always improved people’s moods, that was for sure. He patted the bulge of chips in his front pocket and nodded. “I’m doing decently well ... Reagan might be ahead of me though, we haven’t checked in for a few rounds.” Caius gave a quick glance around, but didn’t spot his wife right off the bat, so he returned his attention to Nic. He hadn’t approached him to chat about the event, after all. It was kind of reassuring to see him there, even though Zania wasn’t present. He doubted Nic would attend if his sister was in immediate danger. “I wanted to ask you about Zania,” he went on, dropping his voice a bit. Caius’s dark eyes were full of concern. “I haven’t heard from her about her issue ... how’s it going?”
Nic knew Caius wouldn’t have come over just to chat. If he had, Nic would’ve been searching for some ulterior motive, so it made it easier on both of them for him to get straight to the point. “She’s okay. After she talked to you, we had a better idea of what we were dealing with. Gabriel was able to track down a ritual that allowed her to see it and banish it. We did it last night-- Well, she did. We just provided support,” he explained, trying to condense the experience into the sort of conversation they could have at a public event. He could keep his voice low, but he still didn’t think talk about demons was appropriate if avoidable. “It worked, but it took a lot out of her and she’s still dealing with some side effects. She had to scratch Casino Night from her plans.”
For a moment Caius completely forgot who Gabriel was, but then he recalled meeting him briefly at the Castells’ party. Zania’s new boyfriend, right. Big and black and pretty. And apparently helpful too, so that was good. Caius felt a touch of relief when Nic said ‘it worked,’ and let out a soft sigh as he nodded. He still didn’t know all the details of what they’d been dealing with, but Zan had been nervous, and that was never a good sign. “That’s good to hear,” he said, giving Nic a small smile. “What I found was pretty worrisome, so ... glad you all got it sorted out. Anything more we can do? What kind of side effects is she having?”
“Yeah, it was escalating pretty fast,” Nic said with a little laugh. Now that it was over, it was easier to laugh about a kitchen full of snakes. He’d never minded them before, but he could happily live the rest of his life without having to handle another. “I dunno that there’s anything more to do, per say. The ritual she performed allowed her to see it, which was part of trapping it, then banishing it. The side effect is she’s now seeing auras around people. Everyone, not just people like us. We’re not sure if it’s permanent or if she can control it yet.” Which was why she’d decided not to come tonight. If she couldn’t control it, this many people could be overwhelming. Or overstimulating. They just didn’t know. Maybe they were worried for nothing, but Nic really didn’t want her to push herself after last night.
“Auras, huh? Interesting,” Caius murmured, twisting his lips thoughtfully. It did sound like some kind of backlash effect to a ritual based around sight, but if it wasn’t causing her any huge distress yet, maybe it was nothing to worry about. Just an effect that would fade with time. Besides the fact that she likely needed to rest and recharge, he understood even more why she hadn’t wanted to come tonight. A whole room full of auras bombarding someone who’d never dealt with them before sounded unpleasant at the least. “Well ... let us know if you need anything, or something gets worse.” Caius paused, then let out a huff that was only halfway amused. “Seems like something’s always getting worse around here, doesn’t it? Congratulations on actually solving a problem. I hope that’s the end of it.”
Nic snorted softly at the praise, not really believing it from Caius, even if he knew that was his own personal bias. “Yeah, well, the alternative was death by house cats or stray dogs or some shit, so it better be over. I think Zan will take a change in her vision over the alternative,” he said, then took a drink. “While I think that issue is at least under control, I was wondering… how’s your mother doing? Mom mentioned she’d been hurt in the fog.” It was far more direct than he would have been with most people, but Caius wasn’t most people. If he had any idea what might be going on, Nic hoped he’d be open to talking about it, even with him.
Caius charitably took the snort as an indication of agreement about the fucked up state of things, nodding slightly. The question about his mother caught him off guard and Caius’s thick brows furrowed a bit. Nic Castell was one of the last people he thought would be concerned with Miriam D’Onofrio’s wellbeing, but that likely wasn’t what he was really asking about. He felt a nonsensical flare of protectiveness and was tempted to say that Miriam was perfectly fine, but the memory of that feeling from earlier in the week surfaced again. Something bad was coming, and it was all connected. “Acting strangely,” he admitted after a pause. “Very moody, according to my father, very up and down. She says she’s fine, but ... I believe she’s being affected by the same thing the others are.” Caius was assuming Nic knew something about the others, since he was asking.
Nic was aware of how sensitive a subject it was. It was why he hadn’t directly brought any of it up with Lem. She’d given him the information he needed freely enough that he hadn’t had to ask directly. But he knew Caius wouldn’t, nor would most of the people he knew. “What others are you aware of?” he asked, his brows drawing together. He’d learned about Brianna McCarthy through his mother as well, the Overlook socialites all seemed to know what was going on with each other, but past that point he had a harder time figuring out who he should look into. If Caius was aware of some that he wasn’t, then it would be good to know.
So maybe he didn’t know about the others. Or maybe Nic knew of others he didn’t think Caius would know about. His secretive nature wanted Nic to answer first, but that was probably stupid. Shayna Mae hadn’t told him to keep it a secret, and the more minds they had on this problem, the better. Caius slid a quick glance around, but no one seemed to be in earshot. “Well, besides my mother ... Brianna McCarthy,” he said, his voice dropping a bit. “Max O’Reilly, Shayna Mae’s half brother. And a friend of a friend of hers, a woman named Greer.” He wasn’t sure if Nic would cross paths with any of them -- he honestly didn’t know much about what Nic did with his spare time -- but now he wanted to know if there was any overlap. “Who do you know of?”
Nic knew Max and Greer, they’d both been at his house for the Christmas party, but he hadn’t realized they’d been hurt in the fog. Shayna Mae and Rost would be easy to reach out to, if necessary, though he still wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say or do. It just felt important to know who’d been affected. “My neighbor, Vex. I was there when he got attacked,” he said. “A guy named Sage, who I think works at Dragonfly. And Ty Solomon.” There had been a few others, but he wasn’t sure he had names, like Jules’ boyfriend. “I’m just trying to see if everyone’s experiencing the same thing. Discreetly.”
A weird charge ran through Caius at the name ‘Vex,’ and his spine straightened a bit. He didn’t know a Sage, but he didn’t go to Dragonfly often. He knew Ty Solomon very well, and that also struck him as bad news. But Caius zeroed in on the first one, a fresh sense of alarm buzzing under his skin. “Did you say Vex?” he asked Nic, even though he didn’t have to. “Last name Knowles ...” Of course it was the same person, Nic had said neighbor and Anthony had told him Vex Knowles lived off of Ludlow. “Fuck,” he breathed, his jaw tightening a bit. “He’s already approached my mother, and was acting threatening, she said.” There was more to it, all of the things about being psychic and kidnapped as children, but he didn’t want to get into all of that. This was another weird connection between them, and Caius didn’t like it.
Nic realized his mistake after the fact and cringed a little when that was the bit Caius latched onto. He’d forgotten about Vex’s run in with Caius’ mother and the resulting visit by his father, in part because it felt like the very least of his worries. It really spoke to how bad things had gotten when Anthony D’Onofrio didn’t seem like a threat in comparison to everything else. “Yeah, that’s Vex,” he sighed. “He won’t hurt her. He’s just… he’s focused in on the people that are like him, who disappeared as kids and then came back. But I don’t think that’s related to any of this.” He didn’t know for sure, but it seemed highly unlikely that all the others had disappeared as kids as well. There were too many of them with too big a spread, especially since high schoolers were involved.
So Nic knew about that part too. It made Caius wonder just how big of a mouth this Vex had -- who else was he telling about Miriam’s secret past? Nic seemed to trust him, even with some exasperation mixed in, but Caius didn’t know how much to rely on that. Not that there was anything much for him to do. Anthony had said he would handle it, and when his father said he would do something, he generally did. But if Vex was being affected by all of this from the fog, and became unstable ... Caius was just glad there were lots of wards on his parents’ house. “It’s just another weird thing in a whole line of weird shit,” he muttered, wishing he’d gotten that drink before coming to talk to Nic. “Has he been showing signs of problems? Mood swings, all that?”
It occurred to Nic that Caius might not know the dynamics of his relationship with Vex, but now wasn’t the time to explain that he wasn’t just his neighbor. The amount he and Zan had gone through with Lem and Vex made them feel like part of their pack, the family that wasn’t blood. “I mean, he’s always been kind of weird, so it’s hard to gauge, but he’s been more moody than usual. Almost like he’s starting fights with Lem, which is… it’s not normal,” Nic said, his face pinched in concern. He knew she could be a little firecracker, but she didn’t normally go off on Vex without reason. He sounded like he’d been an ass lately, but Nic tried to stay out of it. “That sound in line with what you’re seeing?”
Caius knew nothing about them really, except what had happened between Vex and his mother, and that Nic’s girlfriend looked about thirteen years old. But that was judgy and unhelpful when it came to any of this. If Nic said things were unusual, Caius believed he would know. He heaved a sigh at the question, though it was directed at the situation and not Nic. “See the thing is, I’m not seeing anything,” he said. “My mother always seems fine when I visit her, but I’m not there a lot. And I don’t know anybody else personally, so ... I don’t know. It sounds in line with what I’ve been hearing from others, for sure. Understated, from my father, but that’s just how he is. And the O’Reilly’s familiar confirmed there was something ... alien at work. But it wasn’t magic. So we’re all very concerned.”
“Yeah, us too,” Nic sighed. He wished he had an explanation of sorts, but the more he learned the less he liked where things were heading. All these people, acting slightly manic, were in their dreams and whatever was coming concerned them, yet he had no clue what they were supposed to do about it. Helping them seemed like the right idea, but how? “If anything changes, would you let me know? Vex is the only one I know personally and he’s not really the best example.” He hated asking Caius for a favor of any sort, but he was asking out of concern for everyone involved. If they didn’t figure this out soon, he wasn’t sure what would happen, but the possibility of the fog returning lingered in his mind. It was connected in some way; he just didn’t know how exactly.
“Of course,” Caius said without hesitation. They might not be best friends, but they were both painfully aware of all the dangers that lurked in this town. It was an extraordinary place, and despite their differences they were all on the same side of it. Caius was coming to believe that more and more, especially after the success of the coven. Sure, it was only one success, but perhaps there would be more to come. Maybe they would be needed for this problem. Caius would definitely be keeping an eye on it. “Likewise too, please,” he added. He glanced back toward the card table and saw Reagan looking around, presumably for him. “Give Zania my best. Talk to you later, Nic.” There wasn’t really anything else for them to talk about, so Caius turned to go, intent on getting that drink and re-joining his wife.
“Of course,” Nic nodded. “Say hi to Reagan for me.” Normally, she would’ve been the one he’d reach out to, they certainly got along better, but Caius was the contact he’d needed in this case. He could be an adult and set their differences aside when it came to the safety of those they cared about. If he’d thought this was something the coven could assist with, he would’ve swallowed his pride and asked for their help, but he had the feeling this was something different. Like the O’Reilly’s familiar had said, it was alien. And it was coming whether they were prepared or not.