You don't have to do it all on your own

[Isabel Burrows] Today was a warm day. Nothing out of the ordinary for mid to late June in Chicago. The sun was shining, the breezes light - bugs, minimal. All of which were wonderful things - especially for Miss Burrows, who was still getting used to the sun shining more than once a week.

A small cafe, the upscale sort with a european flavor, sat on the corner of two promiment streets. The foot traffic was heavy in the area - as there were plenty of shops near by.

A dark haired woman sat outside on the patio of that cafe. The large red umbrella shielded the harshest of the sun's rays. Her sunglasses were atop her head and dark hair was neatly pulled back into some sort of updo that just screamed 'I don't do my own hair.' She wore a lovely white sundress and a pair of pink peep toed heels. All in all, the young woman was rather attractive, though nothing that would cause people to stop and stare. Oddly enough, she was sitting alone - sipping a cup of tea.

[Emily Littleton] It's a warm and lazy Sunday and all of Lake View is splashed over with bright and white-blue sunlight. It's the sort of brightness that makes you shadow your eyes with one hand, should you need to look far out into the distance. It casts dark shadows. Touches everything. There's no rain in site, unlike last weekend, and it pratically begs to be reveled in, indulged.

Emily is out, wandering Lake View, indulging in that warm and unclouded day. She's wearing a navy dress with a bright white giraffe stenciled on it; it's a comfortable and sort of geek-chic look, complete with her messenger bag's strap slung shoulder to hip. Her long, dark curls are down and the ever-present breeze toys lightly with them, tangles them. She's tall, five-foot-nine even in flip-flops, and not unduly pretty. The diplomat's daughter has grown into a girl-next-door, not a striking beauty.

Her path takes her by the cafe with its red umbrellas and its exquisite tea selection. She had always been particular about food, however carefully she'd hidden those opinions away. So she's walking past the woman with the white sundress, just now, and there's a low wrought-iron gate fence between them to separate patrons from foot traffic. It's the sort of establishment with a menu framed out front, and a polite greeter who asks May I help you, miss?

That's where Emily is standing, smiling politely and talking to the young man at the door. Her accent -- muddled through with hints of far away places and yet predominantly British (always British) -- reaches Isabel, where she's sitting. It is familiar, in an odd way.

[Isabel Burrows] It was the accent that caught her attention first. It wasn't the sort of thing that was overly common here. It sounded so familiar - like home, actually. There was something safe and warm in the young woman's accent that further piqued her interest.

A brow rose ever so slightly as recognition seemed to take root. Isabel's glass was set down and she shifted slightly in her chair, to get a better look. She tried hard not to look like she was staring - but it was clear enough that she was watching the young woman in the giraffe dress.

[Emily Littleton] There's a moment, then when Isabel's curiosity is thwarted by the young man who picks up a menu and heads inside with Emily. But that is just a momentary trifle, as he leads her out through the patio door toward a table near Isabel's. Here, in the sunlight, it's difficult to miss the flash of clear, deep blue eyes (with just enough grey in them to gentle them away from midnight). There are small cues, too, in the way she settles into her seat. How she says Cheers instead of Thanks and the little flick of her wrist that dismisses her curls back over her shoulder.

Now, the Orphan takes pause to look around, to admire openly the warm and lazy afternoon. Her attention flicks momentarily to the menu, and then back up again. To the lady in white. Who looks suspiciously familiar.

(Perception + Alert: Do I ... know you?)
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 5, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Isabel Burrows] {Percept + Alert - can I place you?}
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Isabel Burrows] "Emily?" The question was not quiet, but wasn't shouted either. It was just a polite question that could easily be overlooked should she be wrong. Maybe she was talking to someone else? Oh, that happens all the time!

[Emily Littleton] Emily? The accent was familiar, in that it sounded more of home than anyone she knew in Chicago. The Orphan's attention piqued, she sat a little straighter in her chair. Dark eyes sought, found the source of the inquiry and a smile of recognition started, slowly, and then quickly blossomed into pleased surprised.

"Isabel?" she replied, already rising from her chair to wander over and say hello. Her messenger bag was left behind, in another chair at her table. "What on earth brings you to Chicago?" she asked, as if Chicago were the far-flung ends of the Earth itself.

These things are different, different from how she usually carries herself in Chicago: chin tipped a little proudly, shoulders held a bit more squarely, smile broader (seemingly more open). She moves with a slightly different gait; it seems more confident. It's borrowed, of course, reflected like always.

"It's good to see you," she says, standing now at the edge of the other girl's table. She'd say this if they'd been friends, if they'd been enemies, if they'd only been passing acquaintances. It's what people in their world said, did, it's how the dance went. She remembers, clearly, how to dance. It's just been a little while. (Since Taipei [January]).

[Isabel Burrows] Isabel stood - lightly glossed lips forming into a bright smile. "Emily.. it is you! Oh.. it's so lovely to see you. What am I doing in Chicago? What are -you- doing in Chicago?"

Emily then found herself wrapped in a hug - a tight, friendly hug that brought back memories of much more reckless and fun times in their youth. She let go quickly enough and allowed the woman to have her space.

"I've moved to Chicago - change of pace you know.. better weather. What about you?"

[Emily Littleton] In the intervening years since they'd seen each other, some things had changed. The height disparity between the two girl was definitely new; Emily had reached a towering height sometime since Vienna. And the hugging -- she'd forgotten about the hugging thing.

The taller girl wrapped her arms around Isabel after a slight delay (we can chalk this up to surprise). Hugged her. It was friendly enough, but not as crushingly tight as Isabel's. The other girl had always been more effusive, effervescent.

"School," Emily answers, keeping that broad smile affixed to her features like a talisman of some sorts. "I'm at University, here at Northwestern," she elaborates with a small shrug. "Do you want to join me -- or maybe should I join you since you were here first? No need to take up two tables."

Then she's fetching her messenger bag to move on over, making a quick comment to the server. "You came here for the weather? Really, now, Isa. It's hot and muggy all summer and dreadfully chill in the winter. Are you sure there's not something more to it?"

A lifted eyebrow, a query. Isabel's name is shortened to a familiar nickname. Emily's pushing, just enough, to see if she might find out what truly drew her one-time friend to the Windy City.

[Isabel Burrows] Who could forget the hugging thing? Isabel had always been a big hugger, especially when she was excited .. and well, who wouldn't be thrilled to see a friend from the past? "Of course, of course - sit.. there's plenty of room."

The dark haired woman sat again, smoothing the skirt beneath her - she then set about moving her items ( a purse, a tea cup, an empty plate and a book ) and placing them into a neat pile off to the far side - thus making room for her company.

"What is it that you're going to school for? Something real super smart, right?" A grin. "And no, I didn't come here for the weather. Chicago is the new LA - or so I've been told. It's nice enough. It's just a chance of pace.. gettin' out from under Daddy's watchful eye - you know, that kinda thing."

Her answer was clearly a little vague - but then again, maybe she didn't even really know why she was here!

[Emily Littleton] "Engineering," Emily answers, and the pursuit is likely super smart enough to leave Isabel feeling vindicated about her guesswork. The Orphan leans back in her chair, relaxes a bit now that they're on to catching up and moving ever further from the shock of running into one another again.

She laughs a little, and it's free and resonant (just like it always was [gently amused]), when Isabel mentions her father. "Ah-hah. I thought that might have something to do with it. Though, really, I understand. My father and I are on far better terms when we live on separate continents."

Emily orders some tea and a raspberry scone, just something to take the edge off. And a glass of water, since it's just that hot this afternoon.

"I don't about this 'new LA' idea, but it's a fairly busy city. Quite a change from London, I'd imagine. Are you settling in all right?" Always with questions. Emily always used to ask so many questions. "I've a flat around here, but it's nothing to sneeze at. You've had closets bigger, I'd imagine."

[Ashley McGowen] There are no clouds today. Ashley is out, of course, because it's not raining - it's one of the first days this week that it hasn't.

Perhaps she's in Lake View because she intends to visit Kage, perhaps she's just here to be here, wandering through. That's more likely, in fact, since she's accompanied by Zane, padding along at her side: a rangy young shepherd with enormous ears, tethered to her by a black leash.

It was a bad week, a largely sleepless one, and the phone call from Carter and the information from Kage haven't done much to lessen it. There was a time when she first arrived in Chicago that Ashley was consumed with ambition. Would have been practically salivating if she'd been told that within a year, she'd be sitting as Deacon of its chantry, would be edging in on becoming an Adept, would have her name a talisman in the city of Chicago. Reality's set in, though: she's paid a price for all of it, not least of which is how carefree she could be last summer.

She's mulling over all of this as she and her canine companion pass near the tea shop. A familiar voice makes the little Hermetic raise her head, shaggy with dark hair that has a tendency to fall into her eyes. She's dressed in a pair of jeans and a striped blue and orange shirt, and the colors combined with her size - to say nothing of the hunger that follows her like a wake - make her rather difficult to miss. She doesn't greet them yet, though. Observes the hug, observes that Emily's a little stiff, and a corner of the Hermetic's mouth curves into a smile.

[Isabel Burrows] Isabel's grin widened as her guesswork did pay off - her friend was super smart! She just nodded and chuckled slightly to herself as she listened, and sipped her now cool tea.

"Oh, I for would have to agree. We get a long so much better with the Atlantic ocean between us - plus, he seems to be a little less stingy with the bank account now that he can't see what I've gone and spent his hard earned money on." There was a playful sparkle in her green eyes then - one that Emily might recongize from a time when they were a little more carefree.

"But no, really - it's nice just to be out on my own. The flat is nice - not far from here, actually. There's a pool, on the roof.. imagine the fun that might be.. " A beat. "It's amazing that I'd run into you of all people here!" A small whistful sigh. "It's been what.. six.. seven years or something?"

[Emily Littleton] Six or seven? Emily knows instinctively that those numbers are off, she knows precisely where she was six or seven years again in June, but to place her time in Vienna requires some directed thought. Her expression shifts to something thoughtful and she's counting something off on her fingers, years maybe? No, too many for that. Places, perhaps.

"More like four, I think. No matter though. I lose track so easily," she says, with a little handwave that seems to dismiss it all so simply. This, too, is an echo of something long ago, of what she sees in Isabel. It's reflected for now, until she remembers, until she can reconcile it with everything that has happened in between.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," she says, her tone light but only just this side of cautionary. "Chicago is full of coincidences. Just last night I was out watching the matches with a friend-of-a-friend," which had to be World Cup, given the year and the timing, "And it turns out that he went to high school with this other guy I know. And I've met all of them in the last six or seven months."

There's no identifier, here, to place any of the names. Not even for the Coincidence-waiting-to-happen approaching with her dog on a lead. But they had to be Awakened, with the way that she placed the timeline.

Emily's tea arrived, and her scone. She found herself suddenly far hungrier than she'd expected. She broke off a small piece to nibble on and offered some to Isabel with a little tip of her plate. While the other girl response, the Orphan casts about quietly for the familiar face linked to that relentless hunger. It could only be one person, in this city.

[Ashley McGowen] The two younger girls are catching up: apparently they know each other from somewhere, given the discussion about four years versus six or seven. She sounds British - Manchester? Yes, Emily has told Ashley a bit about where she's been, the places she's jumped around between, and the Hermetic remembers. She has a sharp mind, and it forgets very little; locks like jaws around whatever bits of information it happens to come across.

She remembers Isabel. The girl's face is linked permanently in her mind with pink party invitations and the politeness with which Kage had taken the one Isabel handed her.

Ashley drops a hand down to the dog's head, rubs at one of his ears, as he perks when he notices Emily. Tugs briefly at his leash in an attempt to head over to the Chorister-to-be (particularly when he notices that she's holding food.) "Em, evening," she says. That trace of a smile hasn't been wiped away yet. "And...Isabel, right?"

[Isabel Burrows] "Four? Yes.. maybe that's it. Time flies.." She shook her head slightly, trying to figure out where all the years have gone. "I can't believe its been that long now that I think about it - it seems like just yesterday.."

The entire part about conicidences went right over her head. Isabel didn't get it - and if she might have caught some of the refrence, she had no idea what to do with that information. So.. she just grinned. "How's Manchester doing?"

She sat back in her chair, one leg crossed over the other - posture perfect. Something familiar tugged at the edge of her consciousness as her gaze settled on the new arrival - ah yes.. she did meet her once.. not for long. "Yes.. you're correct. And.. do forgive me, I can't recall your name.."

[Emily Littleton] "Ashley!" Emily didn't sound exuberant as much as pleased (relieved), though the Hermetic is waved over to join them, should she wish. Emily seems better than when they'd last seen each other. Her struggle with sleeplessness abated sometime mid-week. She has been coping, for lack of a more upbeat term.

"Oh," she adds, with a little surprise (though I don't know why I bother sometimes). "It seems you two have met." This sounds like a statement, but it's a query. Her tone rises upward, gently, her eyebrow lifts. (Speaking of coincidences...)

Zane gets a smile from Emily as well, but not part of her scone. No. That's people food, after all.

"Pull up a seat," she offers to Ashley, welcoming her into the circle without asking Isabel. The other girl had always been one to welcome company, to delight in strangers -- and Ashley was hardly a stranger, as they'd met -- so Emily didn't think she'd mind. "I mean, if you've nowhere to be just now, that is."

[Ashley McGowen] "I didn't give it," the Hermetic says, as blue eyes fixate on Isabel instead of this old friend of hers. Ashley's tone is matter of fact, often carries a dry note, is direct but not quite brusque. "Ashley McGowen."

Ashley, for her part, still looks tired, but the lines that grief had etched into her rounded features earlier in this week have faded, eased away by an evening drinking beer by the lakeside, by an evening looking at the stars with an Akashic, by a friend who dropped by to play chess and make her dinner. People have been kind this week, in a way that Ashley didn't think they would be - not to her, at least.

When invited to take a seat, she does so, swinging it around to face the table with a snap of her wrist. "Thanks," she says to Emily as she takes a seat. Zane falls to his haunches near her chair, and every once in a while a black nose pops up over the edge of the table, investigating. "We met just for a few minutes," she adds, with a glance toward Isabel. "She was sitting out with Kage and Lara - have you met Lara?"

There's a short pause, a glance between the two girls. "Did you two go to school together?" Ashley seems to be as full of questions as Emily is, on a good day.

[Isabel Burrows] Yes, that was her name! It was duely noted for next time. So many new people - too many names to remember. Needless to say, she didn't mind the company. Isabel motioned to an empty chair at their table before glancing down at the little dog. Aww, it was so cute - and reminded her of how much she missed having a pet. Maybe she should get one of the extra little ones that can fit in a purse? Yes - that'd be really cute!

"Not exactly.. but we did have some fun times together when we were younger.."

[Emily Littleton] ((Manip + Subterfuge: I am on my best behavior today and do not think unkindly of anyone you just mentioned.))
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 3, 5, 9, 9, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Ashley McGowen] [Huh, really?]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 7 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Emily Littleton] Emily's eyebrows lift up, a little, and then drop back to their normal elevation. She sips at her tea, listens, smiles. It's all very subtle. There's no direct indication of how she feels about the named parties, no, but inwardly she's cringing at the thought of Isabel and Lara becoming friends on any level.

It would only complicate her life that much further.

"We knew each other in Vienna awhile back," is what Emily offers, by way of explanation. "Oddly, we've never visited one another in England. Her family's from London, mine from Manchester." Emily offers up familial connections, not hometowns. It's a strange (strained) thing to talk about.

She most certainly does not rise to the bait of discussing their fun times form when they were younger.

"Isa -- I met Ashley around the holidays," Emily explains, extending introductions in the other direction. "She's also a student, albeit in her graduate studies already."

[Ashley McGowen] Earlier this month, she and Emily and a mutual friend of theirs came upon an orgy happening on Northwestern's college campus. Right in the middle of the grounds. Now, granted, those weak Sleeper minds are suggestible, were easy for a foreign mage to bend to his Will, but it was one of the last campuses where Ashley would have expected to see such a thing. Emily admitted to some sketchy behavior in long ago days afterward, and Ashley just raises her eyebrows when Isabel mentions those fun times they used to have. Perhaps the Hermetic is already drawing her conclusions.

Her hand reaches back down to Zane's head, traveling over the dog's soft ears, his smooth skull, as he investigates the edge of the tabletop. "Huh," she says, of familial connections. "I'll never stop being amazed at coincidence." She really won't, if she hasn't by now.

A mention of her studies and she gives a nod, inclining her head toward Isabel. "I'm in a doctoral program at Northwestern's school of communications. Working on my master's right now, my PhD once it's done."

[Isabel Burrows] Isa almost sighed.. but covered it with sipping her tea and looking at the -rather-large dog who kept peeking up over the table. Emily just couldn't have any fun nowadays, could she? Maybe it was all the studying - or carrying around too many books. Or, maybe it was just Isa's lack of direction in life that made her seem a little more carefee. She had nothing to do- no one to impress.

Maybe she should do something with her life?

"Impressive, Ashley. How much longer is it that you have in your program?"

[Emily Littleton] ((Per + Aware: Heeey... Ashley, Lara, Kage. Oh, shit, are you Awake too?))
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 5, 9 (Failure at target 6)

[Emily Littleton] Despite the company her old friend is keeping, Emily doesn't feel the pull of resonance off of Isabel. Perhaps this one time coincidence is purely that. Just Happenstance. With all of the near-misses and surprising revelations running around town, it had to happen sooner or later. And it's a relief, this, that her past and present lives are not so thoroughly intertwined.

Ashley is headed for her own conclusions, and Emily does nothing to sway them just now. Instead she breaks off a piece of her scone and offers it to Zane. Which is not entirely allowed, but could be forgiven on a summer afternoon. The dog, it seems, was growing on Emily -- who was decidedly not a pet person. She petted his head a bit, and then folded her now-dirty hand into her lap.

She's quiet, now, while the others interview each other. It gives her a chance to observe and reflect.

[Ashley McGowen] "I've just finished the first year," Ashley says, "and I have another year before my master's thesis is due." The Hermetic gives the younger woman a wry smile, dropping her chin into the L formed by thumb and forefinger, resting her elbow on the edge of the table.

Zane snaps up that bit of scone when it's offered, and, Emily being at her left, Ashley does not see him do it or hear the click of his jaws, the eager chewing that accompanies. Perhaps she'd be reproving, perhaps not. Zane's a young dog, and it doesn't seem to be bothering his figure or his health at all.

"We'll see if I can manage to hold it down in between everything I'm doing for the Awakened community." Because she, unlike Emily, picked up on that feel from Isabel before now - when she and Carter sat on a park bench two weeks ago.

[Isabel Burrows] Awakened community.. awakened community .. why did that sound familiar? A slender hand reached up to brush some stray hair behind an ear. "Now, I don't quite remember who was telling me about that group.. was it.. Lara maybe? Or - this guy who plays.. an instrument - trombone maybe?.. yeah, he might have mentioned it."

"What is it you do for them, Ashley?" It wasn't entirely an act .. she had a poor memory reguarding the crazy ass things people had told her recently. Hrmp. Zombies. Vampires.. Magic. All Bull-shit.

[Emily Littleton] ((Manip + Subterfuge: I am not surprised by this, at all, or dismayed. Really. I also do not blame the cultists for every worldly wrong... yet.))
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Emily Littleton] Trombone. Trombone. Oh, God, that has to be Nathan.

Emily shifted in her seat, a little. Rearranged her curls so they were once again falling down her back not over her shoulder. She sipped at her tea. It was all very nonchalant, even as her attention honed further on the two women joining her for tea-time.

"Was that Nathan? Trombone case... it sounds like Nathan," she says, without her voice taking on the warning edge it rather wanted to. From Isabel's point of view, it might be surprising that her once-friend recognized these names, this allusion, and barely batted an eyelash at it. It might raise some questions.

[Ashley McGowen] Ashley is not as good at Emily at covering her dismay when the trombone case is mentioned - or, perhaps, she just isn't bothering to cover it at all. That Isabel shows only passing familiarity, too, that also tells her a lot. It tells her that Isabel is a new apprentice, and it also tells her that no one has -really- gotten a hold of her yet to tell her what's going on.

"I'm the chantry Deacon, at the moment," she says to Isabel. "It's not a 'them.' It's an us. You're Awakened."

[Isabel Burrows] "Yeah.. I think his name was Nathan." A brow rose and her gaze landed firmly on Emily. "How do you know who he is? I just ran into him in Grant Park last week.."

She suddenly looked a little more skeptical.. (nervous, maybe?) about this whole 'I can't believe you're in Chicago' meeting. What in the hell was going on?

"Yeah, people keep saying that..."

[Emily Littleton] ((Per + Aware: Trying again!))
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 7, 8, 10, 10 (Success x 3 at target 7)

[Emily Littleton] And now, now that Ashley has pointed her at it, now that her mind has cleared enough for her other senses to home in on it, now, just now Emily can feel the faint tug of another Awakened sitting across the table from her. In Isabel. She frowned a little, leaned her elbow on the table and canted her head into her palm in a manner not entirely unlike Ashley's current pose.

"I know Nathan," she says, confirming but not explaining how or why. "Perhpas a bit better than I'd like to most days. But he's another one, Awake, like Ashley. Like you, and me." There's a touch of regret here, of open apology.

"I'm guessing it's all pretty new to you, though. And out of nowhere, all of these people show up who are just like you, or want to sell you on Wonders or Magic?" She lifts an eyebrow, but her voice is a little worn, now. Just a touch less excited than any of the others may have been. "That's how it was with me, at least, last fall. Ashley can tell you... I was a bit skeptical and stubborn, too."

[Ashley McGowen] "We know him because it's a small community," Ashley says, and her hand lowers away from her face, comes to rest in her lap, as she leans back in the chair. "You can't help but keep running into the same people. It's beneficial, in fact."

She turns her head to look at Emily, and it is perhaps clear in the degree to which she turns, enough so that she can see the girl out of her right eye, that there is something wrong with her left. It isn't milky or veined, but once in a while it does seem to have some difficulty focusing.

"You'll probably have a lot of people approach you wanting to talk about it. I mean, your presence alone sort of leaves a print on the reality around you...it's called resonance. You just give off a kind of feel. Other Awakened people are going to pick up on it. They'll expect you to know what you are."

[Isabel Burrows] "It's all quite interesting. I don't seem to meet anyone normal now days - just one of you.. trying to tell me about it.. like it's going to suddenly make a difference and some lightbulb is going to turn on and I'm going to know everything and accept it."

"It just doesn't work that way. Just because random people come up to me and tell me that I'm the King of France doesn't make it true. And, it doesn't make it so I can do anything about it."

Her gaze drifted skyward for a moment - maybe looking for some clarity. "Nathan showed me some of what 'we'" (and yes, it was complete with air quotes!) "can do. It doesn't mean I can do it. And really, I have no idea how I'm supposed to figure out what exactly I'm supposed to be doing. I'm supposed to 'choose' something, or so I'm told. But.. oh.. who knows.." Where was the liquor when you needed it?

[Emily Littleton] Emily's frown deepens. It's one thing to encounter this newness in someone completely unaffiliated with her. It's another to see a one-time friend standing where she has, not too long before, at a time of such deep metaphysical unrest in the community. The Orphan (for now, Singer soon to be) sighs. Runs her fingertips through her curls. Toys with the rim of her mug.

"There's a lot you can't do, at first," she says, her voice level and still somewhat resigned. "I'm not sure that part ever goes away. Look, I'm not going to try and convince you to choose -- Nathan's probably cajoling you into picking a group, and it's clearly too early for that with you -- or to believe. But if you want to talk, or weird stuff starts happening and it becomes more than you can handle, you can call me. If I can't help you with it, we can find someone like Ashley or Kage, someone who can."

A pause, here.

"Fair enough?"

[Isabel Burrows] {Are you serious..? Per+Aware}
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 4, 5 (Botch x 1 at target 6)

[Ashley McGowen] Ashley nods, with another sidelong look toward Emily. It's a little wry, that glance: she knows that it wasn't so long ago that Emily herself was wrestling with the same questions, the same doubts. She heard many of them, when Emily was just beginning to come to terms with what she can do now.

"What you've come to is an understanding," she tells Isabel. "You know there's more to the reality around you than you've been shown. That understanding comes first - you'll be able to warp things later. But right now, I figure you can see things that most people can't see."

[Isabel Burrows] "Yeah.. sure.." The response first is to Emily. She looked more than skeptical now. Something wasn't right - though she couldn't put her finger on it. Was her old friend lying to her?

"Ok.. an 'understanding'.. ? I might be able to wrap my mind around that one. What I don't get is.. other people that tell me that I'm awake tell me I need to pick and decide on things.. but no one will tell me what the choices are. It's like telling someone to pick a boat to row across the channel on - but no one tells you one is a bath boat, one is a raft.. one's a row boat.. and so on.. I don't think I can make these choices alone.."

[Emily Littleton] "There are groups," Emily begins. Patiently, calmly. With a sip of her tea, and a level-headedness that Isabel might think strange. Though Emily was always an excellent student and Emily was often the one that got them out of trouble. It is possible she is lying, but not overly probable.

"They each have their own words for things, and how they look at the world -- what they think about what you can do, how they teach, if they teach. All of the groups, put together, are called the Traditions. People who, for whatever reason, do not choose to join a Tradition are called Orphans. There are several of them -- us -- in the city just now."

A pause, here, but still not long enough to let the Hermetic interject.

"There are also small groups, called cabals. These are tighter, and usually constructed toward a purpose. A bit like Task Forces at the Embassy, or committees, but with less being-assigned-to and more self-selection."

[Ashley McGowen] Isabel mentions people pressuring her to join groups, and a wry smile touches the Hermetic's face, for a moment. "Listen to what Emily is telling you," she advises Isabel. "She's been through this, recently."

Her hand reaches out to the table, pats its surface for a moment, before she remembers that she didn't go in to get a drink. She doesn't have one out here, anything that would usually fill her pauses or allow her time to gather her thoughts. Ashley frowns for a moment at that empty spot before letting her hand drop back into her lap and leaning back into her chair.

"Don't decide on anything immediately. You have to learn. Let them compete for you." There's a smirk, then, when she adds, "It's like dating. Don't just go for the first group that offers. As for each group...I'd suggest getting acquainted with other mages, and learn from them. Find out where they're from and see if you can find a suitable mentor."

[Isabel Burrows] "So, is what you're saying that I just keep sitting around and wait to see if any of these traditions are interested in me? And, if so.. don't decide to 'date' any of them until I've seen them all?" A slight shake of her head.

"And that's another thing that I don't get - how do I learn anything? People keep telling me you'll learn.. or you need to learn but I'm guessing this isn't like baking a cake: No one is going to hand me a recipe and all of the ingredients and say go!"

Yet another sigh escaped - she seemed a little frustrated - not at them, really - she knew they were trying to help.. but at everything else!

[Emily Littleton] "You don't have to do it all on your own," Emily says, and there's a look cut over to Ashley now. She'd been equally exasperated, just six or seven months ago. Likely equally as stubborn. "I can introduce you to people, from different groups, and you can make your own choices and decisions from an informed perspective. Like Ashley said, it's a tight community, out of necessity, and almost everyone understands the importance of finding your own place in your own time."

Emily finishes her tea, here, and sits up a bit straighter. "It's taken me the better part of a year, so there's no great push. And I'm not still not formally included in the group I think I'd like to join. In the meantime, you'll meet people who will be willing to help you as you make your decisions. A Verbena taught me, without expecting me to join his Tradition. It's not as insurmountable as it seems, Isa."

[Isabel Burrows] "..I would like to meet some of these people. Nathan said he'd call me to put me in touch with someone - but I haven't heard anything.."

[Ashley McGowen] "No. In fact, if you make it common knowledge that you're an apprentice, most of us will be happy to tell you what we know. There's some prestige that comes with having an apprentice and raising them successfully," Ashley says, blue eyes fixing again on Isabel.

"I'll explain to you what I can, though it might not be much at the moment, unfortunately. I have my own apprentice and I've been...pretty busy lately." The glance that she gives the girl seems to be genuinely apologetic, for the few seconds before it fades. "I guess the best way I can put it for you is that a Tradition should mesh with your own beliefs. They should help you become who you want to become."

Ashley pauses, again sweeping a hand over her dog's ears. It's something she does almost automatically, when she's thinking or when she's trying to relax. It seems to be a soothing gesture, moreso for her than for the canine. "When did you first notice things were different? Did something happen?"

[Isabel Burrows] "Four weeks ago now.. just after I moved here. There was a lot of stuff going on - stress with the movers, a strange conversation with my family an odd dream or two.. and that's all I vaguely point to just before I noticed things were different. Nothing really happened.. it just was."

[Emily Littleton] Emily considers this for a long moment, then asks carefully. "You said that Nathan showed you some of what he can do. Have you noticed yourself more aware of things -- or of different things -- lately? Is there anything you can see or sense now that you couldn't before? It may help us find the right people for you to talk about, knowing what gifts you Woke Up to."

[Ashley McGowen] Ashley's heard of this happening - Awakenings that people just ease into, where they have a few dreams and wake up and know things are different. She's a little envious, if the truth be told, but then again, it's less clear. People walk around Asleep.

"Well, moreover I guess...what do you believe? If anything. Some people don't, necessarily, when they wake up," she says, recalling Bran. "And speaking with Traditions will help with that."

[Isabel Burrows] "Um.." She paused to think a moment.. "Well, I guess I've been able to get more of a hint when things are going bad.. like when the movers were carelessly handling my mother's china.. I -told- them the box was weak and they needed two people to carry it.. but they didn't listen and of course it gave out and broke all kinds of hierloom china all over the floor.. and.. I don't know.. "

"With things so stressful it's hard to know if things are new or not.. but really strong feelings.. other people's.. I get a hint of - almost feel like their mine? I don't know if I'm describing it right.."

[Emily Littleton] Her mother's china. Emily winced. Hard. It took more than a moment before she recovered from imagining the inevitable aftermath of that problematic moment. No wonder Awakening had seemed mild in the wake of moving across The Pond and fielding Mrs. Burrows's ire.

"Finding weaknesses in things is something I Woke Up with as well. It's the study of entropy, and goes along with luck and decay. The other sounds like Mind, which I don't know, but I know several who do." Here she looks to Ashley, again, and sets back in her chair to fold her hands in her lap now.

"I'd be happy to ask someone in the Chorus to speak with you, but I don't remember you being overtly religious. Both of the Singers I know are Catholic. If that's not a good fit, maybe we can start with another group. Ashley, would it be alright for me to take Isabel by the Chantry -- or should I wait, with everything going on just now? I thought she might be better able to get in touch with the others from there."

[Ashley McGowen] [Gonna read your pattern. Just in case. Mind 1, Prime 1, -1 for focus.]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 1, 4, 9 (Success x 1 at target 4)

[Ashley McGowen] Emily asks whether she can bring Isabel to the chantry, and Ashley looks back at the newly Awakened mage again. Given everything that's happened in the city the past week, well, it strikes her as a little paranoid to think that she should scan the girl, but who knows. Demons are tricky creatures, and she wouldn't put it past one to influence a new apprentice to work its way into the chantry.

So she says, "Wait a moment," and her hand reaches beneath the collar of her shirt, taking hold of a necklace there - several chain links of different metals, bound around her neck at either end with a leather thong. Her hand finds the gold and iron ones, and the look she gives Isabel for a few seconds is intent, looking through her almost, something focused and yet not. Weighing, feeling that pull at the back of her brain, evaluating that weaker Will and tasting its resonance.

"Go ahead," she says, once she's found no sign of Qlippothic taint. "Isabel, you do have the beginnings of being able to use the Ars Mentis, from the sound of it. I specialize in that...so I can teach you some of what I know. Or get you in touch with someone else."

[Isabel Burrows] "At this point.. I would be more than happy to learn anything.. something to prove to myself that this is all real and that I'm not going to wake up tomorrow in a psych word and be taking tons of new different colored pills."

"Yes.. I do think that's the best plan.. help me learn something, so that I can prove that you're all right and not just messing with me.." The second comment was more of a muttering to herself - something that she said just to reinforce what she's already decided..

[Emily Littleton] ((Int [Analytical] + Engimas: Given - you have Entropy. Given - Entropy involves chance. Proof: We can use chance to show you you're not crazy.))
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 4, 4, 7, 8 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Emily Littleton] Emily reaches up and pulls at her lower lip with her thumb and forefinger. Her brow creases thoughtfully for a long moment. During this pause, she imagines Ashley saying something terrifying like I'll just reach back into your mind and show you the memories! After quite some time of being quiet, she reaches down into her messenger bag and pulls out her wallet. From the change pocket she wrests an American quarter.

"We can do one better," she says, now, holding up the coin. "Entropy gives you some awareness of chance. If you reach out with it, I bet you can call the coin flip in the air. Heads or tails. Enough times that it won't be pure coincidence... Would that be proof enough, or a good start toward it?" she asks.

[Isabel Burrows] Lips pursed in a slight expression that read something like 'are you seirous?' before Isabel just decided to go with it and nod. If it was all chance, it'd be fifty fifty.. heads, or tails.

"I.. suppose. Though - I've never tried to guess at a coin flip before.."

[Ashley McGowen] "Don't just guess," Ashley says. "Whatever you've been doing when you've been tuned in to other people's emotions, or when you looked and saw the box...do that. Look, and tune yourself in. Do whatever is easiest for you, right now, because those techniques can be fine-tuned later."

Her hand runs over the dog's head again, traces around to the underside of his muzzle and rubs at his chin while she watches the two apprentices.

[Isabel Burrows] "Ok.. I'll give it a go.." Absent mindly, her thumb rubbed against the backside of her grandmother's ring as she thought really hard about trying to do something cool..

{Gonna try Magic-y stuff!}
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 9 (Success x 1 at target 4)

[Emily Littleton] It's strange, at first, reaching out with these untried and untested senses. Isabel is, naturally, skeptical, and that can make it even harder at first. Emily waits, patiently, until something stirs at the edge of her Awareness; until the Subtle seeking touch of her once-friend's magic strengthens just enough to be felt.

New sense are, at first, overwhelming. She is not just aware of the coin in Emily's hand, and the innate probability over how it might land. She is aware of the unsteady tip of the bus boy's tray, and how everything inside it begins to slide just before he rights it again. She's aware of rust building on the wrought iron fence, of the weak spots in the canvas umbrella's seams. She's aware, gently, of the quiet senescence in all of the life around her, even as it grows, changes and calls out to something more -- each pattern is, in its own way, dying.

It takes a moment to focus it in on the coin, and Emily waits. Then she lofts it into the air, end over end.

"Tails," Isabel finds herself saying, as the coin falls against the back of Emily's hand. Tails it is. And the next time: Heads. And the next, and the next, until it's too many times to be circumstance; until it's too repeatable to be an excellent stroke of luck.

It lasts for awhile, this awareness, and then begins to unravel and fade from her sight. The tangible world reasserts its prominence and she is no longer hyper-aware of the rust, even as Emily's water glass beads condensation that drips down to puddle there and provide the catalyst that will hasten that process of decay.

[Isabel Burrows] "Interesting.." She finally mutters after a long silent moment. -Interesting- uttered in that soft British accent... a finger is brought to her lips, where it taps lightly as she continues to think.

"I.. find I am at a loss for more useful words. Though, that was rather enlightening. I suppose that is just the most minor of things people like us can do..?"

[Ashley McGowen] Those new sensations, they aren't just something Isabel could write off as feeling unusually aware or as simple luck. She knows, she sees, she's intimately attuned to the reality around her and how it works.

Ashley watches as the newly Awakened mage announces what the coin flips are going to be, not saying anything, not interrupting. She waits for Isabel to realize it, realize that she's doing something she should not ordinarily be able to do. Or perhaps she won't; some apprentices dismiss these things, write them off as a new talent. It's easy to do that, early on.

When the coin stills in Emily's hand, Ashley tips her jaw into her hand once more. "This is just a start, yeah," she says to Isabel. "I'd show you more. But it really isn't appropriate in public, around Sleepers."

[Isabel Burrows] "I think seeing more would be in order. Perhaps we should exchange numbers and arrange another meeting?" A glance between the pair of them.

[Emily Littleton] It's right about then that Emily's phone starts to ring. If she had a harbinger of doom and gloom ringtone, this would be it. The Awakened world, calling her to a meeting, just as she reconnected with a new friend. A friend who might need to draw on their acquaintance more than either of them had expected.

She pulls out a piece of paper, jots her number down on it. The phone rings through to voicemail, but not until she's given Ashley a quick glance.

"Here, Isa. It's my number. Give me a call when you're free, and we can catch up some more. Like I said, my flat's nothing to look at, but I can have you over for tea and talk a bit more. Or head for the Chantry -- the meeting house -- if it's not already booked for the evening."

[Isabel Burrows] {Okies, I must go to bed. Yay for trying to figure this mage thing out. Thank you both! We'll play again soon.}
to Ashley McGowen, Emily Littleton