Gathering Post - 5/7-5/15

[lcrpg_npc]

 

WEATHER || LONDONIST || BBC NEWS

(Rather than write the same vague drivel, here is a pretty gif to inspire you, a link to the weather for the week, and a link to londonist, a great resource for all things London related. As always this post is open all week. Tag in, tag others, check back often!)

Comments

[yves]

"Cabaline," Yves echoed, speaking the word slowly. As though he could taste it- and he wasn't certain he liked the flavour.

[harrowgate]

That was the extent of the information Felix was willing to provide for so little in return. He smiled, not particularly pleasantly, over his chai. The Cabal had been the primary, if deeply xenophobic, magical power in London for centuries. Over time, their power had become consolidated in smaller and smaller, yet higher and higher, positions in the government of England and later the United Kingdom. Now, they were virtually unknown to any but the most elite... and the very, very old.

"And what are your people calling themselves these days?" Felix enquired, perfectly pleasant.

[yves]

"If I still had kin, they would call me fae. Unseelie, if you wish to get political about it," Yves replied, shrugging one shoulder as he spoke.

[harrowgate]

If he had kin? Fae familial relationships were still a mystery to Felix, but he did understand some of it. One brow quirked with interest. "Ah, the wicked ones. Or, so says the other political party."

[yves]

"A bit like taking two sweets of the same flavour and asking which is better, really," Yves replied blandly. "If you bothered to taste them, you'd find them both sour."

[harrowgate]

"You don't participate in the political season?" Felix inquired. If he recalled correctly, it was the change of seasons when the Fae went to war. "I confess, I have no taste for it, myself. To belabour the metaphor, I'd prefer to make the sweets, not taste them."

[yves]

"I don't participate in anything over there," Yves replied. "I don't participate in much here either, honestly. Unlike my kin, I've no need to partake in mindless rituals and pointless battles."

[harrowgate]

Felix thought it perhaps not wise to pry too much into the business of a man who quite comfortably announced himself as Unseelie Fae, no matter how wickedly handsome he was, or how strangely enchanting is voice. "You prefer to partake in fine coffee instead?" he inquired conversationally. "Or is the news of the mortal world really that fascinating?"

[yves]

"I do enjoy coffee, but this cup is purely to make up for a lack of sleep," Yves replied honestly. "As for the news, I tend to limit my interests to the sciences. Medical, primarily. Currently I'm reading about how paracetamol possibly dampens a human's ability to feel empathy. Wouldn't that be a fascinating tid-bit if it proved to be true, hmm?"

[harrowgate]

"It potentially explains a few things about the current direction of humanity. We've all been giving one another headaches for decades, centuries, even." Felix may not be an expert, but he was well-read enough to hold forth on a broad variety of topics. "Though I'm a touch relieved that I prefer ibuprofen. I'm told I'm already lacking in that virtue."

[yves]

Yves eyed him for a moment, saying nothing. Many mortals claimed to lack true empathy, but when it all boiled down to it, most of them had a weak spot for something or someone. You just had to know where to apply pressure.

The ones who truly didn't were rare and fascinating creatures.

"It's an overrated trait, in my opinion," he said finally.

[harrowgate]

Felix quirked a brow briefly, somewhat amused. Based on his bare knowledge of the Fae, that was an extremely Unseelie thing to say. "As a human being, I'll never fully be rid of it," he observed, thoughtful. "No matter how much paracetamol I take. If one listens to popular culture, a dearth of empathy leads directly to serial murder and all manner of mayhem, but I'm not certain that's true. It's just easier for us to understand monsters if we decide they lack some essential human quality. How much more terrible if a man thinks, feels, and reasons like I do, and still decides to behave like a beast."

[yves]

Yves would have said it was actually just a very Yves thing to say. To be generalized as just another of his kind would have been an insult to both sides.

"I don't think you have to worry about Law and Order being cited by someone as a source in the next BMJ," he replied blandly. "Certainly not by me, anyway."

He finally looked at the peacock full on then, taking in his clothes, his hair, his mismatched eyes... Partially blind? Seemed likely.

"Dr. Yves Francium," he said, though he didn't offer his hand.

[harrowgate]

It was just on the edge of infuriating, how reserved and untouchable the other man seemed. By now, Felix had typically either charmed or at least warmed most strangers... or had found a way under their skin in a manner which was satisfying. Yves just seemed only barely interested in him, but gave him just enough that Felix didn't feel ignored. That unusual tangle of threads left Felix not quite able to define what bothered him about the interaction, but did nothing to relieve the bother itself.

"Felix Harrowgate," he offered in reply. "Do you publish anywhere, Dr. Francium? I would be very interested to read your work."

[yves]

"Several journals- And it's just Yves. No need to call me doctor unless I'm slicing you open."

He tilted his head slightly, studying Felix as if he were some sort of specimen. "How poor is your vision?" he asked bluntly.

[harrowgate]

Yves didn't make a bit of sense. Felix had to work for his attention, but when he got it, it was... skewed. He lifted his cup for a drink before gracing Yves with an airy, "I haven't had reason to have it checked."

[yves]

"No?" the Fae replied. "If you ever decide you should, I could check it for you," he offered, though as pleasant as his tone was, there was something about Yves that made it feel a bit like a threat.

[harrowgate]

"Would I get to keep my eyes?" Felix asked promptly, with a glimmer of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

[yves]

"I suppose that would depend on how interesting they proved to be," Yves replied.

[harrowgate]

For the first time in this brief conversation, Felix began to see this man as potentially frightening. Potentially dangerous. There was something about the way he spoke that was stomach-wrenchingly familiar, and Felix didn't want to think about the reason why. He suppressed a shiver. "I think I'll pass on the check-up, then. As long as we're asking one another personal medical questions, how bad is your allergy to cold iron?"

[yves]

Yves smiled then, dangerous- Yet charming. It was a fine line, but the fae walked it gracefully.

"You've stumbled onto one of my more interesting traits. You see, when I was younger, much younger, I was once taken by the Iron Court after a battle. They kept me for a year. The first six months were... Agony. It was as though my flesh was permanently on fire, and I wore marks that I was certain would never heal. My hair went shock white- At least what remained on my head did. ...And then, something odd happened. I began to adapt," Yves purred. "By the time they freed me, my skin had healed, and my hair had gone dark again. I'm not immune, but I have a remarkable tolerance now. ...It's one of the reasons I no longer live with my kin. It unsettled them. It was unheard of. ...It's one of the reasons I became a doctor."

And possibly one of the reasons Felix was right to fear him.

[harrowgate]

Felix listened with both tattooed hands wrapped around his cup, as if that could shield him somehow. The idea was, frankly, terrifying. The Fae had always been known to be powerful beyond mortal ken, in a wholly different way than wizards could be. Even the Cabal didn't understand Fae magic, if it could even be called magic in the way Felix understood it. Iron had always been humanity's defense, the symbol of their progress, industry, and technology that brought them out of caves and the darkness of fear.

A full-blooded Fae, in this world, with no fear of iron... that was a frightening thing indeed.

"Why," Felix asked in a low, carefully steady voice, "do you think they freed you?"

[yves]

"I think they were afraid," Yves purred. "My kin certainly were when I returned."

He smiled then, bright and charismatic. "Their loss. I never fit in with them very well anyway. I was always an outsider."

[harrowgate]

Felix knew that look; he'd worn it himself often enough. Yves liked people to be afraid of him. He liked wielding the power of fear. Yes, Felix knew that sensation a little too well.

"So, you decided to come live among us on this side?"

[yves]

"More like I was asked to leave, and this is where I came," Yves shrugged.