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You've gone and said the magic words, you know.

[That makes her laugh.]

Well, at least I know magic in one way, huh? Come on over.

If only such an incantation actually existed as to make wine from nothing. Extraordinary.

[But his tone is light.]

If you're so stricken for my company, how could I refuse?

I'm surprised there isn't one, actually considering all the different magics in this place.

[She just sounds amused.]

Okay cool. The scotch is already in a decanter, so it'll be ready when you get here.

No magic, in any reality, has the ability to create something from nothing. Even the conjuration of Taako's world pulls matter from other planes. I really could go on, but that's hardly the point, is it?

Splendid! I shall arrive shortly.

[Alex had grabbed the scotch and two crystal glasses from the study and brought them into the living room proper. Dorian had good timing; Richard was still at his office grading papers and Simon and Stan were both out. It was an odd day that Alex actually had the house to herself, and she was intending to enjoy it, which is why she had invited Dorian for a drink. She was curious about how things were progressing and was more than a little hopeful that the reasoning behind him being so scarce was because he was spending more time with Magnus.

Adding some chips in a bowl next to the two glasses, she met him at the door with a quick and easy grin.]

[Dorian shows up about half an hour later, dressed casually at least for him, and returns her smile as she opens the door. It's...been a rather rough month, but he's very nearly shoved all his anguish down with the rest of it, at least enough, he thinks, to brave Alex's prodding.]

Good evening.

[As always, Alex is pretty casual herself, and she's wearing what is practically her uniform of trousers, a blouse, a cardigan and a scarf as it's starting to become cold again. She gives him a smile and steps back so that he can come into the stupidly ornate Victorian house that had been Howard's before it was theirs. Which was honestly where the good scotch came from. The man had stored loads of it, so now they were slowly working through it.

Leading him into the living room, Alex just dropped onto the couch and gestured to the chair. Despite the outside of the house, the furniture was actually of the comfortable variety rather than what one might expect. However, that said, the rooms were entirely lined with bookshelves and books. There were so many books.]

How've you been, Dorian?

[The house itself had a certain charm, to be sure, but the interior...his eyes widen as he looks about the walls, floor to ceiling with books...]

Maker's breath...

[Ah, yes, his hostess had asked him a question and he turned back to her. He'd ask graciously to unabashedly consume her library later.]

Ah, yes. Well enough, I suppose. And you?

Yeah. We have loads of books. Most of these belonged to Richard's father, honestly.

[And there were loads of Sumerian mythology books, because Howard Strand had three passions and one of them was that. There were also some on corruption in the Catholic church. Of course there were books that Richard and herself had added, but books were one of the few things that had survived the great purging of the house that they'd done.]

Most of Richard's are in the study. And I'm okay. Glad to see you.

How is it you have his father's entire library?

[And how much to I have to pay to read all of it?]

Ah, yes, and you. [He clears his throat.] Keeping busy? [That's what he'd been doing, joining expeditions, drinking a lot...]

We have his father's entire house, actually.

[Alex just gestured around to the living room around them.]

Well, Richard's house too. He was living here in Seattle before we ended up here. But yeah, I've been okay.

[She's just going to pour him a scotch and bring it over to him, because when you're involved with Richard Strand, you know how long the whole book thing can take.]

It must have been hell getting it through the portal.

[He takes the scotch with a nod of thanks.]

Richard's father was a learned man, or at the least liked appearing so. [And he takes a sip of the scotch and then looks at the glass with slight surprise.]

Well, this is quite good.

He was. Mythology and proving that the Church was corrupt and occult things. But the most of the last one is locked up upstairs.

[Because of Stan and Simon and in no small extent her and Richard as well. After all no one needs demons and being reminded of keys and the end of the world every day. They’ve got other things to get on with.

And she laughed softly.]

No need to sound so surprised, Dorian. I broke out the good stuff for you. This stuff is older than I am.

Aren't all churches corrupt, at least to an extent?

[He finds himself wondering what a world like Alex's would classify as "occult", but honestly, he can explore later.]

Oh? And to what do I owe the honor of such treatment?

There's corrupt and then there's levels of the Catholic Church corrupt, honestly. They've got like hundred of billion dollars in assets and that's not count the historical treasures and the actual churches that they own. They're... a special case.

[But also fuck Howard Strand, Alex would punch him if she could.

But instead she's just going to laugh.]

Because you're my friend and it's the first time you're visiting my house. And of course there's a little bit of the booze snob there thing too.

But not singular. They sound rather like the Chantry, honestly. Direct influence within the government, elections that are political rather than any sort of divine ordinance.

[He smiles. How pleasant his guise is still working. It wouldn't do for any of his friends to know he really couldn't care less what he was drinking so long as the objective was accomplished. That made him sound like a lush which...he is, but it need not be aired so publicly.]

You are too kind.

Yeah. That sounds like them. Fucking up humanity for something like almost two thousand years.

[Alex herself is a recovering catholic so she knows of which she speaks honestly. But that’s neither here nor there. Instead she’s just gonna smirk.]

Yeah but don’t tell anyone.

[Like most of riverview didn’t know all of that already.]

Ah, I doubt they were the only hand in. That's rarely the case.

[He does turn from the bookshelves, though.]

If you wanted to keep that a secret, you really should have put more effort into it.

No, they weren't, but they definitely were the ones in power for a huge part of the shitty things that humanity's done. Even when it's not their fault directly, they're still not helping fight what is.

[Alex just shrugs and then she laughs softly.]

Yeah, probably. But what's up?

True enough, and the Chantry, when the heavens were torn and demons spilled unfettered into our world, pointed fingers and floundered about like decapitated chickens.

[He raised an eyebrow at her question. She'd invited him here after all.]

I was hoping you'd tell me, though I'd believe it if you were simply to claim you meant to tease we with your literary inheritance.

[Alex frowned at the mention of demons; it was a habit after all, and she never really got any better at preventing it from happening. It's just who she was now, and a year in this place hadn't tempered it any; it had only made it worse honestly.]

You reached out though, I thought you might have had a reason.

[And until this very moment, Dorian had the distinct impression he'd dodged that particular line of questioning, but it would seem his charm wasn't potent enough to deviate Alex's attentiveness.

He heaved a sigh and turned back to the wall of books. They were, after all, the most quiet and constant of friends, books.]

Magnus has gone. Again.

[This is Alex. She never really lets anything go honestly. All one needs to do is ask Richard about that. But the words surprised her and she just frowned at him.]

Oh Dorian. I’m so sorry. That's terrible!

[And there it was, the very reason he'd withheld the information in the first place. Pity.]

It should be expected, shouldn't it? We are from various worlds, after all.

[A callous response, perhaps, but it was also a self-defense mechanism.]

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tevinteraltus - 2018-10-30 16:13 (UTC) - Expand

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