“Oh, those must have been the times. There’s nothing like looking after the outcasts and allowing them to let loose. The energy generated by that must have been amazing. Missing those days only makes sense really.”
“I can’t be seen anywhere like this. I simply can’t.” He’s inviting himself to a seat now, but at least he doesn’t sit on top of Saima’s book. “So I suppose I’ll just hide out in the middle of nowhere for, I don’t know, five years.”
“Right.“ Because this is the sort of dilemma where hiding away is necessary. But they can’t blame him for this impulse, not really.
“Five years? Well, alright – if you’re actually up to being in the middle of nowhere for that long. Figure you might get restless enough to get out even sooner though.“
Quinn nearly jumped out of their skin when they heard a voice behind them, fear running through them in a cold shock as they blinked up at the being watching them. Teasing them.
Fuck.
“Are these yours …? You can have them back.” Assuming they’d unknowingly crossed into their territory in their wanderings, and now trying to resolve the situation – assuming this being was a threat and angry – without any critical thought. Just doing, stammering through sentences, ready to run if need be. Their instincts operated on a principle of fear first, observation later. For now all they knew was that they’d been not only found but called out by someone who wasn’t quite human.
“’m sorry …”
The sheer fear that the person seemed to experience was quite entertaining from Saima’s point of view. Although, it’s probably best that they at least try to calm the poor kid down after giving them such a fright.
“I mean, these are some of my wandering grounds but it’s not like I’m claiming the leaves. Just thought it was curious that you were out here.“ They settle into a somewhat more recognizably benign tone, if only for the sake of the lone explorer.
“You don’t need to apologize, I was really just kidding at you. You just seemed so dedicated that I couldn’t resist giving you something of a shock.“
“I bought plum oil for sixty euro, and I’m-“ he’s getting all choked up, but it’s probably just the pepper in the pasta trying to kill him- “I’m breaking out!” As soon as he can breathe again he shoves another forkful into his mouth. Carbs help. “*My forehead is disgusting*.” There’s like…one whitehead.
They listen carefully, although thinking that sixty euro might be a bit for some plum oil. Nonetheless, the news of a breakout causes a sympathetic sigh.
“I’m sorry. I know that’s definitely a trying time. Hopefully, that whitehead clears out sooner rather than later.“
“ yeah. I try my best, but when all I have to interpret is a picture of a FISH or something, it’s not a lot to work with it… ” sometimes, that’s just the way magic was. but maybe he was better off not divining at all. there were plenty of people who worked well with the mystique of the whole thing; he, however, preferred his answers simple & clear cut! “ I’ll leave the fortune-telling to the Ms. Cleo’s of the world. I think I’m gonna stay out of it for now… ”
Saima sounded like they had a pretty interesting cache of talents themself, though! “ sounds cool! so all of that, and you’re kind of like… a muse? ” he gives a playfully discerning look to the other. “ I can see it! do people
randomly
try to draw you a lot? ” the dramatic scene of that cliche iceberg movie comes to mind, but he doesn’t know the other well enough to be sure that he can make stupid jokes about it– not quite yet. so he refrains, though not without an amused smile. “ I’m not really an artist, so it probably won’t work on me… but if I end up writing a song about you, I’ll let you know! ”
“True, true. With not a lot to work with – maybe leaving it to someone else might be a better choice.” Saima could sympathize with the frustration of working with the mystique of trying to get answers. Maybe it’s something that could be worked with another time.
At the question, they chuckle. “Yeah, all of that. And I have served as a muse for people before. Inspired writings, paintings and all that.” They know that could lead one to make some dumb jokes about it. “Hah, feel free to let me know if anything happens. No problem if nothing comes out of it. ”
“ yeah– you’ll be the first person I call. ” he’s joking; realistically, if he turns into a vampire, there’s a long list of numbers to go through; he’ll get to Saima when he’s done yelling unintelligibly into the phone, freaking out.
“ yup. plus, for me? whenever I scry, it’s like… whatever I see is totally up to interpretation. so you might think one thing’s gonna happen, and then something totally different does. you freak out, thinking this thing’s inevitable and fated and all that– and it turns out it was never even supposed to happen at all. you know what I mean? the future’s not as OBVIOUS as people think it is. at least, not with hydromancy…you can NEVER get a clear answer from water; it’s always gotta be stupidly mysterious… ” the most ANNOYING of all his powers, by far. obnoxiously, one of the most highly sought after, too. everybody has burning questions they want answered; and sometimes he lacks the luxury to wave them off to someone else. he rolls his eyes, clearly annoyed with whatever supernatural force was controlling water divining. “ every time I do it, I gotta add a ‘results not guaranteed’ disclaimer. ”
“ so, what about you? ‘any cool powers come with your… um… mythical stuff? ”
Saima just chuckles a bit in response to the joke, knowing full well that there are likely others he would turn to in the immediate aftermath. It would be strange for them to expect otherwise.
“Hm, right at least with the open to interpretation it allows for multiple possibilities happening. It’s troublesome but it’s more akin to how existence tends to be.“ The future was often much more in the air so any reading would have to incorporate that. “But I get how that’s incredibly annoying when you just want to give someone an answer to their questions.“ Such warnings about things to be determined can make people feel like the attempt to ask was kind of pointless.
“Oh yeah definitely. I can move from place to place near instantaneously, I have control over nature. I tend to inspire creativity among musicians, storytellers – being a pretty gifted creative sort myself. I’m much stronger than I let on and can change my form when I tend to feel like it. “
“Are you wandering aimlessly, or do you have a purpose?”
They do suppose that ‘wandering’ has a connotation of being aimless, otherwise it would be ‘traveling,’ would it not? Azrael, themselves, is a traveler. They never rest, moving from place to place, wherever prayers call for their presence.
‘I do, in fact, have a purpose. I embody the mythos and folklore of my homeland- so I end up supporting creativity and nature wherever I go. Originally though, I ended up traveling because, at my core, I have a restlessness that can only be satisfied through travel.” Such was the case of being both otherworldly and hopelessly prone to movement. “So a bit of column a, column b to be honest.”
“That’s so incredibly true. To the point it’s ridiculous. I guess it’s kind of amusing a lot of the time to see what lengths they will go to see if it’s possible. Of course, on the flipside, they will go to quite terrible ends for the sake of it. They won’t turn that tendency off no matter how self-destructive it is.” That’s humans for you.
“ yeah– I guess I’ll never really get what it’s like… unless I get bit by a vampire or something. ” he jokes, although it’s not actually completely out of the question; he’s met more than a few. but he’s not really sure how he would feel about exchanging mortality for bloodthirst? as of now, he’s perfectly content with his humanity, even if they are, as a species, a little predictable and annoying. he smirks. “
if I do, I’ll be sure to let you know. we can hang out in a couple hundred years and see what’s different! ”
it’s good, though; that they’ve got some people– or whatever they might be– who understand, to lessen the constancy of loss. “ I guess that’s true for everybody, though. even other humans. sometimes we lose people too soon… ‘outlive people that we shouldn’t. it’s not easy for anyone… the difference is you know it’s gonna happen, and we don’t; we’re all in the dark about it. ” he’s not sure which is worse… but he’s betting it’s the first one. “ maybe ignorance is bliss, right? I don’t know, but I’m glad I’m not clairvoyant like some people! that’s some magic I DON’T want. knowing the future sounds so boring…” not to mention stressful; there’s some things you’re just better off NOT knowing.
“Heh, you never know these days. Might be surprised by the encounters you find.” It’s a funny joke, but Saima wouldn’t be too shocked by someone getting transformed into an immortal one way or another. “Please do. It’d be interesting to see how you deal with the change and whatnot.” Wouldn’t be a bad thing to try and help folks getting used to having a longer life anyway.
“Isn’t that the truth. The sense of loss is inevitable in different forms. And that direct knowledge it can be hard to handle for sure.“ Being in the dark about certain things definitely seems more understandable. It reminds Saima of how many they knew wished to be as in the dark about things as humans are. “Yeah, clairvoyance sounds like a really painful ability to have. That’s the kind of information which can be frustrating cause it’s like even if you try to change things, fate has a way of twisting the situation into where it was going to go in the first place.“
Seekesotsibteadmist 