Show and Tell
20th of January 2007 A.D.
It is not uncommon for the Order of the Cauldron to gather in one place, from potlucks to charity drives to yard sales. The various minor magical talents of the wider Chicago area have always known that there is safety in numbers, in the raising of wards and the trading of emergency contacts. This time it happens to be a baby shower. Pauline's sister is having a baby, a boy by the profusion of blue balloons —you've never been a fan of those after getting scared by a whole bunch of them popping at once as a little girl— and the large number of people with cumbersome packages in tow. Having reconnoitered the matter, i.e. asked Mom, you decide to go with a rocking chair, one you made yourself. Fortunately the new mother has enough of a Myspace presence that you can not only estimate her weight and posture, but also have a good idea for what would fit the decor of her house, forest green with gold accents.
The reaction to your arrival, is a touch startled at first and then all goes silent. It's only when you hear the first 'whoa' that you realize it is a silence of awe and not concern. "Told you you went overheard on the carving," Olivia 'whispers' so loudly they can probably hear you in the back of the packed living room.
In your defense a rocking chair is a pretty simple thing to put together so having scheduled the time and summoned the tools it would have been a waste to just leave it wood. So instead you had gone for a a fairy tale motif, specifically the tale of the
Laughing Prince, from the harrumphing princess to the saddled roster of the tale in a tale to the kingdom filled with merriment.
"We... come bearing gifts," you offer with a smile and a wave to the women inside, and it is still all women, even though there are a few male members of the Order these days.
Olivia herself had just gone for large boxes of chocolate, maybe too large or too many, she had never been to a baby shower before. No matter really, there are plenty of kids along who are more than happy to stampede off with their new sweet treasure while their mothers, sisters and grandmothers have a 'grown-up talk'.
There's something almost unreal about sitting on an overstuffed armchair, sipping all natural fruit juice from the 'good glasses' and explaining in layman's terms, or as close to it as you can manage, what you are. Oh, this is not the political talk you'd had with Morgan and Wu Min or with the Agents of the Library of Congress, nor is is the guarded repartee you had shared with Lara Raith, instead it is... not unlike a fairy tale you guess, though one of darker mien than most:
I am a power, I am growing in power, I am willing to share power.
A few demonstrations of Olivia's less alarming abilities top off the whole thing. She has a lot of fun juggling the contents of a fruit bowl with impossible skill then tossing them all across the room only to vanish and appear in time to catch them for a finale. For obvious reasons you do not get into the terrifying synergies with her newly found skill with a riffle and she does not summon any visions of Sanctuary.
"What was the cost? The cost of this working I mean?" Pauline is the one who asks and not surprisingly, you still remember meeting her in person, the sense that an unseen presence was accompanying her. Eyes of spirit often see more than those of flesh.
"I have a new appreciation for beef tartar for one," Olivia jokes. "It's not like vampirism or anything, just frozen meat you can get at the supermarket, but it serves kind of the same purpose. A part of me that was asleep is not awake and its needs are not entirely commonplace. Most of the magic, the chi, I use is either respire naturally though my connection to Molly or drawn from places of power."
"And you have to do this?" Helen's voice is sharp. She is not usually one for baby showers, she's only here for Order business.
"To use some of my powers, but also I accepted Molly as my patron, without that I would have to seek my own balance with the shadow soul and that's...
tricky," Olivia continues smoothly. You doubt anyone else in the room can feel the soft hum of power enhancing her words. It is not direct influence, you had triple checked that against your own defenses, rather much like your own putting of essence into a task she can find the path of least resistance be it in jugging fruit or talking to a crowd. "I never was much good at warding, but if you guys need backup because something is testing a ward I'm your girl." She glances at you and laugh. "Guess that makes two of us."
"
Three," Lydia speaks up quietly from the corner. She had come along for moral support, but since it soon became obvious you would not need it she had contend herself with sticking with Maria talking about... dogs you think. Her cousin runs a shelter.
Everyone seems to take the offer in the spirit it had been said, though you do not get any of the kinds of questions that might indicate that someone is tempted at least not while you are at the house. Helen catches up to you in the driveway.
"These gifts you can grant, can they
heal?" There's quiet intensity in her words you had not heard before, though
what emotion may be stirring behind those dull dark eyes you could not say.
The answer of course is 'no', but is it only no? After all you know that Tiffany managed to heal Harry yesterday and if her skills have grown enough to deal with the mess those
things had made of him she could make right any mortal sickness or injury. On the other hand Tiffany is still... a kind of Lasciel even if she is kinder. It's hand to forget her flirting ankle deep in blood in the tunnels.
What do you answer?
[] Regretfully explain that you cannot heal
[] Explain that you do know a magical healer if she wants one
[] Write in
OOC: You guys mentioned Marcone, but missed that you are in the same organization as Helen. Question is do you want to make a Tiffany-Marcone connection through Helen.
