(no subject)

[unironickylorenfan]

Who: Kyra Wilkie & Liam Blumenthal
When: Sept 1 2017, first lunch of sophomore year
Where: Cafeteria
What: Robot children meet. There is a divination.
Warnings: None

The business of magical contracts, Personas and Shadows would seem like utter bullshit if it weren't for the fact that Liam had seen it all with his own eyes. It throws a wrench into the process of starting over at a new school, which for Liam had been old hat - five schools in half as many years - until he got to the school with monsters. Normally, he'd use his first lunch period to scope out his peers with a discerning eye - get a feel for the social pecking order, who should be avoided, who won't mind him sitting quietly at their table. But that whole magical summoning mess complicates things. Liam’s no longer The Weirdo. He's just one weirdo in a sea full of them.

And, much to his chagrin, he can't help but feel like maybe this time he could make a connection with one of them. That’s why he brought the cards to lunch instead of his normal, antisocial choice - a book with an unappealing title.

The moment he decides this was a stupid idea, a bunch of freshmen barrel in behind him, blocking his exit. He hurries ahead to avoid being caught in their current, a lanky sophomore buoy amongst runty fourteen-year-olds, and drops into the first chair he finds.

“Uh,” Liam says, eloquent as always, when he realizes he’s just joined a dark haired girl wearing a similarly green-accented uniform. Same house. Same year? Maybe. He’s not sure.

He nods to her, his expression three parts deer in the headlights, one part I totally meant to sit here, pulls his tarot deck out of his sweater pocket and begins to shuffle it. “Hi. So, um, how much stock do you put in this mystical tarot monster stuff?”

If Kyra’s caught off guard, she doesn’t show it. She blinks her dark eyes up at the boy, and for a moment it might look like she’s not even going to answer his question. In other circumstances, she would’ve done just that, in case this innocent enough looking lunchtime poll was a stupid prank. But a quick scan of his eyes doesn’t immediately reveal a popular boy trying to find leverage. And he’d brought a deck of actual tarot cards to a lunchroom. No football jock in disguise would think to go that far. Safe enough. Besides. This is something she’s been considering herself since her arrival here. She’d only very recently unpacked her bags all the way, in case this whole thing was pulled away from her or shut down. She’s not going to settle until it’s a sure thing, and it still doesn’t feel like that, contract or no.


Kyra smiles faintly, pursing her lips and scooting to the front of her chair, considering. “I’m still waiting for the Velvet Room people to point out the cameras.”

Maybe there’s weakness in too much honesty, but there’s no point in lying. Who could blame her for a little skepticism at all of this? She points at the deck in his hand. “You buy into it.”

It’s not as much of a question as it should be, but Kyra has never once been accused of being a great conversationalist.

"Mmm," Liam hums a non-answer, gaze flicking down a moment. It's hard - talking, in general, and about this specifically? Especially so. But every other student here just recently learned the same thing he did: they're capital S Special. They don't turn into Shadows - whatever those are. But their heads are still full of monsters. If he doesn't puzzle it out with someone he's gonna go nuts.

Liam's nervous fingers split the deck in three and move the sections around before shuffling them, letting the pleasing sound of the cards smacking together calm him before he goes on. "Used to think they were just pretty pictures on cardboard. But, um, now?" Even now, Liam still doesn't know.

"Team Platinum Blonde running out of the 'Velvet Room' like they are..." The implied air quotes hang heavy around those words - what a ridiculous name. "I'd say weird new reality TV show is just as likely as secret government testing facility."

He lays down a card - The Moon - and, seeing it, he can't help but laugh. The sound is a little strained, uncomfortable. He picks it back up, shoves it into the deck and pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his knuckle. Immediately, he feels like he's speaking too much - hot needling in his head. Still, he goes on. "Either way, I can summon an undead plant dog from my psyche, now. You?"

Kyra notes the card he picks when he laughs. The Moon. Is that his? She’s the Empress. She’d laughed, too, a hollow, unamused sort of thing, when she’d been told. She isn’t queen of anything. She’d sectioned it neatly away in her mind until this moment, focusing on the steps she needed to take to succeed here, now that she was here. Achievable class schedule. Good grades. Pick a sword and hunt some monsters. Simple.

It’s different, having this all laid out. She’s not sure she loves it, but it’s a relief at the same time, to know that everyone else was also having some adjustment period. She assesses this for one more minute and then seems to give up, confessing everything. Quietly.

“I seem to have summoned a tree with two faces.” She says, without even one hint of a smile. “And I’m an empress, now.”

No. Even in context, it still sounds strange. Kyra wrinkles her nose, just for a beat. “I’ve been hoping it’s a government testing facility.”

"Empress..." Liam echoes, hushed with unserious gravitas. Something prickles behind his ears. He brings one hand up to pat down on the soft, unruly fluff of curls hanging over his glasses and hides in that position for a beat. Did he accidentally sit himself down at the locus of popularity? Are they about to get swarmed by her friends? Why couldn't it be just monsters or high school? He's going to embarrass himself. You should get up and leave.

Ignoring the thought, Liam puts on a crooked grin to mask the growing sense of dread. It's not terribly convincing - nervousness showing through in his eyes. But, still, when you're willfully attending a school that asks you to fight demons in exchange for learning magic, you might as well lean into your weirdness. "Well, your worshipfulness, how do you feel about uprisings? Me, personally? I've always wanted to take down a government agency from the inside."

If she was to let herself do something like snort laughter in public, she would’ve absolutely done that now. Instead, Kyra pushes back at the obviously fake deference with a small roll of her eyes. It’s not unfriendly. The opposite. He’s funny, this boy who probably lives across the hall. She marks that down in the ever-growing mental list about the people in this school that is definitely a real list back in her dorm. Tall boy with tarot-funny, nervous, moon? (It’s not very comprehensive, yet.)

“Power is only good when you’re on the right side of it.” A corner of her mouth tugs into a small smile. “ So coup before I’m in charge, and I might help.”

To confirm, because right now he knew more about her than the other way around, she taps at his cards again, careful to sound sure of her guess. “It’d be a moonrise. Right?”

Liam isn't prepared for the way Kyra's eyeroll makes his smile tug into something wide and more genuine - pleased with himself and with present company, almost delighted. An unfamiliar feeling. He sinks a little, shoulders dropping, posture loosening, relaxing the way a balloon deflates.

"In a way." He confirms, leaning forward, resting his elbows on the table. "But I'd probably install someone else on the throne, in the end." It's almost like they're plotting a real coup - though Liam is quick to squash that thought as immature and unwise. He knows better than to play those silly games with others. He recalibrates, dipping his chin before spreading the cards out on the table in an arc. "The moon's just supposed to light the path, anyway. Hey, how about a reading? Want the pretty pictures to tell you how your year'll go?"

Speaking of silly games not to play with others. Kyra eyes the cards up, riding a wave of immediate distrust. A month ago, this would have been perhaps fun, and not a problem. Suddenly, the idea of someone else being potentially exposed to something magic and vulnerable about her makes her throat squeeze shut. She doesn’t know the rules about any of this. But it isn’t dangerous. It shouldn’t be. It’s some cards. Jesus. She plays off her hesitation with a slow nod, and settles forward, linking her hands together on the table.

“I could use all the warning I can get.” She tilts her head up at him, tell-tale curious despite all her caution. “Light the way.”

Liam nods, scooping the deck back up and trying to suppress his grin.

When you do a spread, you're supposed to shuffle the cards and focus on the question you want to ask. Center your energy or something like that. Instead, as he cuts the cards, Liam boggles at how he's even still sitting here. How this girl is just playing along with his weirdo schtick and he doesn't even know her name - maybe you should ask her name, dumbass.

Nah. He lays down a card, instead. "Two of Wands. That's your challenge. Now, this could mean that you're undertaking something risky, something dangerous. Who knows anything about that, though?" He pauses with a laborious shrug, gnawing on the inside of his cheek before he ticks a finger forward. "Or maybe you're starting your own business. A fashion line?"

He shakes his head, snickering, and places a second card over the first. "Eight of Swords means that the world of fashion is going to be difficult to breach. You'll feel cornered. Like you have to stick to the beaten path. You're just going to have to accept that it's an unfair Ivory Tower..." Another beat. "Paisley tower? Anyway. It's a hard business to break into, and you're going to succeed by accepting that and going your own way." He doesn't wait for an answer. "Because that'll probably lead you to your goal..."

The final card he lays down is the Empress. He looks at it and then blinks up at Kyra. "This school has ruined my hobby."

Kyra, for her part, has been paying polite attention to the cards and their tales. She breathes out a sound that almost could be laughter. Not quite. She’s almost certainly just been fooled, and it’s funny. He’d be a very talented Magician. Maybe the Velvet Room got his card wrong. Still. It’s best to treat these things seriously, so she nods sagely, and her eyes get serious as she turns them to this fortune teller.

“Wow. No. That’s very astute of the stars. If I take my own path...to my fashion empire...I’ll find myself.” It’s not exactly a revelation, but she hadn’t been expecting one. Her eyebrow raises, reluctantly amused. “That’s a good trick.”

"That's me. Full of weird tricks and fun surprises," Liam returns, his tone dry enough to mask his excitement at a social interaction that isn't turning out disastrous. But then, if he dwells on it - and he does, of course - the familiar creep of nerves winds its way up his back. He busies his hands with retrieving the cards he's laid out, gaze stuck on the open spot on the table between them.

He should leave, he thinks, before he does something that's more plain stupid than charmingly stupid. "Well, Highness," Liam taps on the green accent of his jacket's lapel. "I'm sure we'll see plenty of each other around."

Kyra wonders a little if she’d offended him. That’s not unheard of. He’s certainly packing up pretty quickly. She smooths her own lapel down, identically green. “Looks like it.” She doesn’t sound disappointed.

“Thank you.” She says a moment too late. “For the future. ...Did you still have to eat?”

It’s a little of a risk, but she gestures next to her, tentative. Just in case he wanted to sit. He probably has a lot of friends to eat lunch with, but. In case he didn’t.

He hesitates, hovers, mid-way to his next movement (away). Slouching, he gives his tongue a thoughtful bite, and then takes a breath.

"I...do." Liam says, giving as casual a shrug as he can muster while his fingers find their way into his pockets to flex nervously. He watches Kyra after her invitation - just a second or two longer than is acceptable for a human who knows how to do social interaction - and decides to sit, again. Next to her, this time.

He offers her another smile, unsure, but warm. "Liam Blumenthal. I'm a sophomore."

She’s not sure why he looks so nervous, but she’s not entirely at ease, either. She’d resolved pretty solidly to focus more on academics and training as soon as she heard that they had to train. But she needed to talk to some people this year. Maybe they should be good people. He seems good.

Kyra makes her invitation solid, and slides some plates of food toward them both. She’s used to dishing out her entire family before she eats, but she clasps her hands in her lap before she can do that. She lets him take it first, anyway. Weird force of habit. He’s awfully thin. Her mouth pulses once in something like a smile when she realizes they’ve been going through an entire conversation with no names at all. “I’m a sophomore, too. Kyra Wilkie. It’s nice to meet you.” It is, actually.