[The Great Bazaar] Lady and the Tramp

[Sondra]

“Help him?” Sondra made a curious face before coming to her own conclusions. “’Tis true, he does seem to have a sign on him that says ‘kind and vulnerable’. It would tempt any to try and take a piece.” She moved across the room to a chest, unearthing bowls and utensils wrapped in linen. Despite the coarseness of her tones, the Konti hadn’t been erased entirely. There were brief gestures that spoke of a liquid elegance, but they were pasted over with a deliberate coldness. Even her diction would occasionally lapse into something almost educated. “Cathan is a godsend for that kid. He’s a bit of fresh air, but I don’t think he’d hesitate long before imbedding teeth.” Sondra spoke as she served, vaguely aware Hadrian was appraising the scene. He was clever to do so, and she didn’t know whether to be impressed or wary. “Zeltiva, though. A city of scholars. Why am I not surprised you two should share an acquaintance from there?” She sat opposite from Hadrian, curling one leg beneath her. “But how do you intend to give our mutual friend a hand?” The Konti blew gently on her stew, gray eyes peering over the edge of the bowl.

[Hadrian]

"Kind and vulnerable isn't negative necessarily, but they do seem to make up for something in the other that might make them... less likely to survive. Cathan could survive in the wild, I'm sure, but there are benefits to traveling with a magus. The behavior patterns of Kelvics almost assures that. And he probably would sink his teeth into someone who hurt or threatened Kendall. Or you. "Thank you," he said when she handed him his share of the stew. He did not blow upon it, but patiently waited for it to cool sufficiently to eat. This did not impress his stomach, which growled audibly. "Not even really an acquaintance, but someone I recognize. It's a city of twenty thousand people, you know. Well, of course you know. You've been. Anyway, I'm going to start by sharing some of the magic I know... Are you and Kendall romantically involved?" The last was quick and startling, almost apropos of nothing, though it was not so difficult to intuit such a thing. There was a softness to Kendall because of his upbringing as a 'feminine' girl, and calculated hardness to Sondra herself that might prove a similar complement as Cathan and Kendall had.

[Sondra]

Sondra laughed so abruptly it was like a caw. “Kendall? Petch me, no. I don’t mind a young pretty thing on occasion,” she grinned wolfishly at Hadrian, “But I’d eat that poor boy alive.” The Konti’s surprise tapered a bit, “Nothing against him. He’s a fine friend, but no, gods, no.” She idly stirred her stew, not particularly impressed with its density. “Magic, hm? A dangerous force.” She was obviously biting her tongue. Normally she’d let him have it, but she was trying to patch things instead of enflaming tempers. The Konti didn’t care for spells and renegade powers. Playing gods had got Mizahar in this mess. The appetite of man had no boundaries and magic only pushed those boundaries to dangerous places. The nearest craft she had to magic, fortune telling, had proved itself mercurial and frequently malevolent. It was holding the tail of a dog and hoping it didn’t bite you. Changing the subject she asked, “Have you ever really have your fortune told, Hadrian?” She took a bite of her food between phrases. “What I did earlier is something else. It’s complicated, both true and false. But real fortune telling can be an ugly thing. I don’t like doing it.” Sondra was quiet for a moment, the past moving behind her eyes. She came to life again after a beat. “My Grandmother reads the cards, and does so beautifully. A cousin reads tea-leaves. For them, the process can be soothing. But I have no talent with those tools. That thing…” She pointed with her chin to her bedside table where a mirror framed in silver was face down. “…Is my talent.” And by her expression, she wasn't fond of it.

[Hadrian]

He nodded and smiled a little at Sondra's vehement response. It would not have been an obvious match, at least to Hadrian, but he was hardly the best judge of human behavior and from what he had overheard of feminine conversation, often opposites attracted each other. That made him wonder for a moment what exactly would be his opposite, but he quickly dismissed the thought as he always did. Romance would just complicate his plans. "Dangerous, yes," he agreed, but she changed the subject before he could really address it. To his mind, there would always be a cost or a risk associated with something of value, and the best one could do was prepare and educate oneself, and own up to one's responsibilities when things went south unexpectedly. But it seemed strange for a Konti to voice such a pregnant opinion of magic when her race was unusually gifted by the goddess of divination. He shook his head at the question, and listened, glancing dutifully over to the mirror when she indicated it as the source of her own fortunetelling gift. Clearing his throat, he said, "I don't really want to know my future; I'd rather make it."

[Sondra]

Sondra lifted her eyebrow, “Then I have been laboring under a misapprehension.” The phrase was surprising from her coarse mouth, but it wasn’t stilted. “I was under the impression you wanted to see a glimpse of the fortune you might make.” Her conversation began to gather momentum. “Fortunes are not so definite, what I see today may not be what I see tomorrow. And unlike divination, fortune telling deals with metaphors. Their interpretation is an art not a science, but an art Konti observe from when they are knee high. Some fortune-tellers have a greater sensitivity to the nature of a person, allowing them to provide the most accurate story of what the symbols might mean. Most legitimate practitioners offer educated suppositions.” Her brief lecture halted with a quick surge of color in her face and an almost literal biting of her tongue. She was sounding eerily like her Grandmother and it made her shudder inwardly. “Oy, sorry. It’s boring dreck, but I figure you ought to know before you refuse.” She flashed a quick smirk. “Plus, I’m scrambling for a way to make amends with limited resources and talent.” Ever conscious of the mercenary nature of even good people, Sondra went straight for the guts. “So why does a learned man like yourself accept an ill-tempered Konti’s invitation? For the cooking?”

[Hadrian]

"Curiosity, I suppose. Turning over a new leaf... I don't know. Cathan and Kendall seem like good people. I don't really have many friends, but then I meet the three of you, one after the other. Aren't threes supposed to be significant in numerology or sacred geometry?" He shrugged, not wanting to admit that perhaps he was even lonely. Vizyous the Symenestra had come back from Alvadas with him, but even with the supposed blood-bond between them, he was not entirely comfortable with Vizyous. That was strange considering what trials they had undergone together in the City of Illusions, but there it was. Though sometimes he felt more at home with the less human of the sentient beings than those of his own race. "You don't have to make amends. I didn't handle things as well as I could have. Anyway, perhaps we were both laboring under misapprehensions."

[Sondra]

Sondra tilted her head as she listened to Hadrian, he was becoming more curious and complicated by the moment. Making friends, the instinct was a natural one, but the Konti rarely came into contact with it. She smiled, it was faint, but it was true. "I was in Sunberth for a while, forgive me if I am used to looking for a bottom line. The city's unofficial creed is, 'Everything has a price'. I don't like Syliras much better, but it's safer." She took a large bite of what was left in her bowl, using the pause to order things in her head. "I was on the mean end of a bender in Sunberth, had to get out. Correction, something compelled me to get out. I might have stuck around longer." The Konti cleared her throat, fumbling for the right thing to say. "I'm not the most graceful when it comes to people. At least not anymore. Used to cut a decent figure, or maybe I flatter myself.” Her mouth curved sardonically. “It’s less embarrassing if you can believe you fell from grace instead of entertaining the idea you were never there.” Sondra was obviously nervous. Her manner was more confident when she was bent on beating Hadrian’s head against a wall. She fidgeted and pushed her hair back from her face compulsively. Before she was trying to get to a point, interrogation. That she could do with some poise. But making friends was a higher hurdle. Her latent curiosity came out in an inelegant burst. “Why are you studying magic, Hadrian? Won’t that shyke make your eyeballs bleed and turn you mad? There's plenty of other ways to get power and make a living.”

[Hadrian]

Hadrian considered her words, especially the part about never having been in a state of grace to begin with. He wondered if he had ever been in such a state, or if he ever would be. In his travels, he had met men and women marked by various deities, and wondered what they had that he didn't have. There must be something wrong with him that his knowledge and skill counted for naught among the gods. He frowned at her last question. It couldn't be some neglected child sort of problem, or a mad desire for acceptance. He loved the way magic worked, figuring it out, observing it, and -- yes -- manipulating it. Finally, he said simply, "I seek to know the mind of the gods; the rest is detail."

[Sondra]

Sondra almost choked on her stew at Hadrian's answer. She struggled to swallow. "Oh is that all?" The Konti shook her head at nothing in particular. "I see the thoughts of men and that's miserable enough." Gods were not always kind creatures, Sondra thought. The Valterrian had proved that. When one peered into their thoughts, there was no promise to find glory or benevolence. "What's magic got to do with how the powers that be think? Lady-Lis you're fiendishly curious, Hadrian." Her tone deepened with brief gravity, "Or do you think magic reveals all?" Did it? Sondra hadn't the slightest, but to risk losing what little you did know in madness to earn knowledge unknown did not tickle her fancy. Sondra smirked with levity, "I've got a morbid curiosity at times, but you are going to get your head imploded faster than I ever will... maybe." OOCI'll wrap it up in a post or two, if you like

[Hadrian]

"That's all," he affirmed, smiling wryly, acknowledging the humor in the situation. It might be hubris, or it might be the soul's longing to reach a higher level of itself. There were holes in their cosmology. The ethaefal, Caelum, wanted to heal the rift through which his kind were falling out of the Ukalas. Gods could die, like Ruros. Gods could be incapacitated, like Aquiras. Gods could be made, like Sagallius and Myri. Perhaps it was always one at the expense of another, each action having an equal and opposite reaction. Or perhaps the cycle of rebirth was Lhex's way of helping sentient souls ascend to new heights. He didn't know, but he wanted to. "I know a bit of gadgetering," he told her. "It helps me understand the way things work. I can See things with Auristics, how invisible energies make things work. It's a tool. It's a way to peek at the workings of the world. Power in itself might not lead to wisdom, but knowledge is a part of it. Eyris bless me and grant that I am always more wise than I am powerful." It was a fervent prayer though it might sound ironic in the ears of others. "I might not be the safest person to know." He grinned. "Sagallius might decide I'm a rival." That would be a chilling thought if he allowed himself to believe it, but aside from a brush with Drainira that was really aimed at Master Rela rather than himself, he didn't seem to have caught the eye of the trickster god. "And on that note," he said, getting up, "perhaps I should leave you be or else you might get struck by a bolt of lightning meant for me."

OOCAs you wish, ma'am.