Xander's Cross, Oregon: a small town ringed with forbidding mountains and misty forest. The sky may be gray, but the townspeople are welcoming to people of all kinds...and things that are not quite human as well. Here the native shifters, aliens, werewolves, and witches live in peace. They have yet to find out the new business owners encroaching on the land are also vampires.
The peace has been broken by murder, however, and things in Xander's Cross are about to become quite a bit darker.
Welcome to your new home.
is it better to out-monster the monster or to be quietly devoured?
August 20, 2020
The mayor, Rowan Starkwood, was found dead less than a mile from his home. Rumors say his body was mutilated, but the state of the body has not yet been released to the public.
Post by Robin Skye Eventide on Oct 11, 2020 14:57:00 GMT -5
It was a slow day today, something Robin had not been prepared for. Rainy and cold and dreary, everybody seemed to be staying in today. With nothing to distract herself, Robin had brought out her tarot cards but that had been a mistake. The moment she looked at them and they asked, 'What is your question?' Robin had immediately thought of the boys. 'The children', though they were hardly that. They were teenagers, almost men grown. They were arriving tomorrow and Robin could not stop worrying that it would all go horribly wrong. What would they be like? How was she to help them?
Instead of allowing the cards to tell her just how much she was in over her head, Robin had decided to distract herself by attempting something new. A 'Butterfly Pea Flower Matcha Lemonade'. It was a pretty, color-changing layered iced matcha green tea lemonade made with butterfly pea flowers that turned the drink from a blue to purple gradient in the glass. Butterfly pea tea wasn't technically a tea but rather an infusion but that didn't matter. That was the only thing that seemed to be cooperating with her today because it had turned out delicious. It was on the specials board despite the fact that the cup that was in front of her was likely the only chance she would have to make it on this slow day. And now Robin had nothing to do except once again stare at those Goddess blasted cards.
'Ask your question, child.' they seemed to urge her silently. "Fine" she huffed in a sigh. Taking up the deck, she shuffled them, allowing her mind to go over the questions that she had not stopped asking in the last week. What would they be like? How was she to help them? Not wanting the brutal, in-depth truths the cards could sometimes deliver, Robin opted for a simple triptych. Past, present, future. Hooking her loose, blonde locks behind her ears, Robin laid them out, one card at a time.
First card, past, the Five of Pentacles. Well, duh. Poverty, ill health, worry, isolation. Of course, that would be the first card. Deep breath, second card, The Tower. Ruin and upheaval. Yep, also obvious. She was just doing a bang-up job of it today wasn't she? Last card, 10 of Wands. Great… Feeling oppressed, exhaustion, too many responsibilities.
Sighing irritably, she flicked her fingers at the triptych, scattering the cards across the worn, wooden counter. Then she plonked her elbow down in their place, her chin falling into her palm. She should have left the stupid cards alone.
Post by Grady Collins on Oct 11, 2020 20:33:21 GMT -5
That white '95 Volkswagen Jetta rattled and rumbled, sputtering once until it was drawn to a stop along the sidewalk, just a short distance down the street from Sacred Grounds. Grady had remembered seeing the tea shop upon his arrival to Xander's Cross, and he made a note to drop by and check it out once he was settled. He'd managed to acquire a small apartment here downtown, and it hadn't taken him very long to unpack...considering he basically had no belongings. The most important things were in that bag he always had with him. That satchel (not man-purse, thank you)- you know, like what Indiana Jones uses.
At least, that's what he liked to tell himself.
Climbing out of the car and slinging the bag over his shoulder, his steps were quick as he rushed down the sidewalk, knowing it wasn't doing much to keep the rain off of him. Fortunately, though, it wasn't downpouring but it was enough to start seeping through his gray t-shirt and flatten those black curls atop his head. Grady flung the door open of the cafe, hearing the soft chiming of that silver bell before stepping inside.
Before even looking around, those bright eyes dropped to his bag to make sure it hadn't gotten soaked through, then his gaze finally lifted to take in the quaint, little shop. The aromas of tea and coffee assaulted his nose as he took in a deep breath, the thoughts of home immediately bringing a smile to his face. Somehow, he'd been so preoccupied, that he hadn't noticed the girl behind the counter right away; not until he turned and paused. He realized he nearly stepped on something- a card of some sort, so he bent down to retrieve it. Recognizing it as one from a tarot deck (the Two of Cups to be precise), he slid it back across the counter before offering her that dimpled smile.
last edited Oct 11, 2020 20:35:22 GMT -5 by Grady Collins
Post by Robin Skye Eventide on Oct 11, 2020 21:41:40 GMT -5
Why had she decided to open a tea shop? A completely organic, holistic vegan tea shop? She should have become a historian or something. She could be in a dark and dusty library right now buried in a book instead of dreading tomorrow. Sighing, Robin allowed herself to sink forward until she could lay her head on her folded arms atop the counter. She was halfway debating whether she should simply close up early, go home, and crawl into a pair of leggings and an over-sized sweater when the bell over the door tinkled. It was a bright sound that belied the gloom on the other side of its door.
Jerking upright, Robin straightened her dark blue blazer and crisp white button down, an outfit more expected of a scholar than the proprietor of a tea shop. A smile snapped into place automatically as she expected to find either a regular or someone else from around town stopping in just to say hi. Not that she didn’t appreciate it but she wasn’t in the mood today despite the chime of her charmed bell. It was a simple enchantment of welcome, of making one feel at home and comfortable. Even Robin felt its effects, an easing of tension in her shoulders and a lightening of her mind. It wasn’t overt, barely noticeable if you didn’t know it was there. It wasn’t cheating or anything, not really.
The automatic smile flickered at finding a smiling stranger there, a stranger who was bending over to pick up- wait. “Oh!” she murmured in surprise and then confusion. How had that happened? Glancing down, Robin saw that earlier swipe at the cards had indeed not upset the deck. Internally shrugging, she reached out for the card, opening her mouth to thank you when she saw what it was and her mouth went dry. Her eyes flew from the card up to the man’s face, his dimpled smile, those dark curls damp with rain. Two of Cups: romantic love, partnership, proposal, marriage. What were the cards playing at now? They seemed to be tempting trouble of a sort Robin did not need right now. Darting a glance back down at the card, this time almost with accusatory indignation, she took it from him. Why...oh why hadn’t she just left the cards alone?!
“Uh...Th-thank you, uh...sir” she stammered as she hastily stuffed the card back into the deck along with those from the earlier, abused triptych. Shoving the whole lot under the (empty) tip mug lest it try to misbehave again, she met his eye and tried not to think about just how flushed her face must be. “Uh...uhm, welcome to Sacred Grounds. What can I get you today?”
Post by Grady Collins on Oct 29, 2020 14:16:53 GMT -5
Where Grady was very aware of how the tarot worked, knew the intended meanings of every card, he wasn't sure if he necessarily believed they actually worked. Or if they were just a tool used by particular people to trick others. A magician's trick, bending the meanings of their cards to suit their clients. It was a strange thought, really, considering some of the things he did believe in...or at least thought he believed in. Grady was on the fence with a lot of things, but at least he kept an open mind.
Regardless, he was secretly curious about whether this girl actually knew how to read them or was one of those who liked to pretend that she could. Whatever the case, he still kept that smile on his face as she finally acknowledged him. He nodded, "'ello." She seemed flustered and he tried to blink away his mild confusion. Had he done something or something surprised her somehow?
A hand gestured towards himself as he adjusted the strap of his bag on his shoulder. "Grady," he told her because "sir" made him sound old. "I'm Grady. I, uh...just moved 'ere, actually." By the sound of his accent, it was clear he wasn't from Xander's Cross, or even the United States. At her question, his eyes flickered across the various pastries on display. "I'll have yer darkest tea, an' a couple o' those scones, thank ya."
Post by Robin Skye Eventide on Oct 29, 2020 19:52:34 GMT -5
In the hands of most 'ordinary' people, tarot cards might as well have been a deck of playing cards. Besides, for those kinds of people, the tarot wasn't really meant for divination and fortune-telling, it was a tool for introspection and self-examination of one's own journey, meant to bring to light truths that one might, for whatever reason, be unwilling to see or acknowledge. In the hands of a witch, however, and perhaps even just in Xander's Cross, mundane tools seemed to absorb the very magic that seemed to flow thick and strong beneath their very feet, becoming something else entirely, almost... sentient in their own way. Robin determined to put the cards and their antics from her mind as she regarded the stranger.
It was rare for strangers to walk into her shop. Xander's Cross didn't really have 'strangers'. For all that it was a sprawling, middle of nowhere, secluded, and insular place, most people pretty much recognized each other if not by name then by sight. The stranger-ness was made even more unusual by his accent when he spoke, introducing himself and explained his presence in Xander's Cross. She'd been half-turned toward the display cabinet for the pastries or the counter for a fresh teapot but was halted by that news. Immediately, her lips widened further in response. So, not really a stranger but rather a newcomer. Well, he wouldn't be the only one, she thought, remembering who would be arriving tomorrow.
His follow-up order of black tea and scones seemed to fit in nicely with his accent. Robin wondered what had brought him here. Whatever the reason, it was none of her business. Didn't she have her own reasons for coming? Didn't most of the people who wound up in this town whether or not they belonged to one of the varying races of strangeness? Well, whatever his reasons, he was welcome, especially today when she could expire from boredom. "Oh! Well then! Hello! Hi!" Lifting a hand, she touched it to her chest. "I'm Robin. And, welcome you to Xander's Cross." With that, she turned to the shelves bearing the jars of loose leaf tea. Even as she looked at them, Robin thought of the shipment that had arrived just last night. Real Irish black tea. From her own private stores. The import and shipping cost had been ridiculous but worth it as it was her personal favorite ever since her year abroad in the UK. Her grin became even more delighted. "One moment." Going do a doorway, she pulled aside the white linen curtain and disappeared momentarily, reappearing before the curtain had fully stilled with a fresh box. As she passed a counter, her hand went out to snatch up not a single mug but a white, ceramic teapot. Thankful that she had paid extra to have that heated water tap hooked up, Robin quickly filled the pot. Once it was on a tray, she wrapped a towel around it to keep the heat in only then retrieving a cup and saucer which also went on the tray. The loose-leaf was measured into an infuser which she left out. Many in the UK preferred to brew and doctor their own tea and it was a habit she had maintained ever since to never hand someone a cup of already brewing tea.
Lastly, she plucked several of her scones onto a plate and added this to the tray. "Milk? Sugar? Clotted cream, butter, or jam for the scones?" It had all taken but moments. She moved with ease, hands reaching for implements sometimes without the necessity of her eyes to locate them. It was as though this were her own kitchen and she were just preparing a drink for a guest rather than a customer.
Post by Grady Collins on Nov 6, 2020 12:54:39 GMT -5
Well, wasn't she just extra welcoming? It kept the polite smile on his face, and he nodded at her introduction. "A pleasure, Robin." He would feel fortunate if all in Xander's Cross were this friendly, not that he expected to stay here for very long. To be honest, Grady wasn't sure how long he planned to remain here- it'd be a toss up. He had heard rumors through the supernatural grapevine that this was one place that just oozed with the mythical community. And he was curious.
Hopefully his curiosity didn't get him into trouble. It'd been a little while since he found himself in any sort of trouble, and he'd like to keep it that way.
"Of course," he said before she disappeared into the back. While she busied herself with getting his order, he was already fishing out some cash from his wallet, waiting patiently on the other side of that counter. Idly, though, his gaze wandered to that tarot deck. Hmm, that curiosity was nagging at him again. It would probably be impolite to ask for a reading.
When she re-emerged, he was offering that smile again. "Oh, both for the tea...and butter, please," he answered her, waiting to hear how much he owed her for the treats. His eyes flickered back to the cards, though, and his mouth was moving before he could stop it, "Do you offer readings, too?"
Post by Robin Skye Eventide on Nov 6, 2020 21:49:29 GMT -5
At his answer, Robin nodded and turned away once more, returning a moment later with a sugar bowl and milk in a miniature pitcher as well as a small butter dish and spread knife. Laying those out on the tray as well, she was caught off guard by his question. She had just been trying to calculate what to charge him for the tea as it wasn’t on the menu but rather from her own private stock and so hadn’t seen the direction of his attention until he spoke. Following his gaze to the cards, she shrugged. "Oh, uh, sometimes." Actually, readings were her specialty. Tarot, tea leaves, runes, and palmistry. Second only to her potions, of course, but that part of her business ran out of the basement and wasn't exactly available to outsiders. However, another thought came to her. An idea- or a question, rather. About this stranger, who he was, and what he was doing in Xander's Cross. What had brought him so far from home to their little hole in the wall, nothing town? What harm could it do to find out?
Well, considering the cards had already been toying with her this morning (Two of Cups! Really!) Robin hesitated only a moment before her hands found the deck, releasing them from under the tip mug without her having to look. "Would you like one?" The words were out before she could stop them, as though they had been drawn out of her against her will. Already she could feel the itch in her fingers, longing for the cards, their familiar weight, the ruffle of air as they shuffled, their knowing whispers. Not wanting to seem like some cheap peddler of tricks for pennies at a carnival, Robin added, "Free of charge. Call it a...newcomer, welcome to town...gift." Yeah, 'gift' and not 'excuse for supernatural espionage'. Not that she mistrusted him, really. No, more that she was just...curious. And, yes, Robin was quite aware of proverbs regarding curiosity and cats. She knew them and hated them; she liked cats.
Post by Grady Collins on Dec 21, 2020 22:48:10 GMT -5
He was gently thanking her for the tea and pastries once more, waiting for her to give him a total for what he owed, but it would seem his stupid mouth decided to ask a stupid question, and distracted her. Perhaps he shouldn't have asked. Was it rude of him? Grady had simply been curious and never actually had the cards read for him, although he knew so much about them. At least, the standard meanings, but the last reader he had spoken to berated him for that, because the card meanings should be "more intuitive" and not what's written in some guidebook.
Grady was a man of facts. He couldn't help it.
Placing a twenty dollar bill on the counter besides the register, he was far too curious now to care about getting any change. She could keep whatever it was and consider it a nice tip for being lovely and polite. Right now, she was willing to do a reading for him and free of charge.
Bright blues blinked, and he finally removed that saddle bag from his shoulder. "Really? Are you sure?" He didn't want to impose, but he got the feeling that he actually wasn't, so he appeared a little excited about it.
Post by Robin Skye Eventide on Jan 9, 2021 14:56:16 GMT -5
At his question, her lips spread into a bright grin. "Sure!" Robin's shoulder twitched up in a shrug. "It's not like I have anything else to do." With that, she gestured toward the windows, the sheet of rain running down the glass and beyond to the street, runnels of water sluicing down the gutters. She was trying to seem casual despite her own curiosity about this newcomer, this stranger, as well as the itchiness of her fingers for the cards. They wanted to read him. More than anything. Robin could feel it. It was why she'd asked him if he wanted a reading without her really deciding to. It also didn't help that she could still feel the Two of Cups in her hand, hear its whisper of fidelity and love and passion every time she glanced up at the handsome, rain sodden stranger. It was just the card. It was getting into her head, that's all. She would banish it; she had to. Yet, here she was, about to read him. That didn't promise to banish anything. As she stood there and mentally dithered, arguing with herself, her itchy fingers had already picked up the deck and begun to shuffle them as she side-stepped down the length of the long, butcher block counter. It was a massive, scarred, heavy thing of reclaimed oak wood from an old barn beam. With such a protective, purifying energy, it was an ideal place for a reading. Still, when she settled the shuffled deck on the counter, she drew her hands in a circle around it. She released a deep breath as she did so, attempting to exhale all of her worry and tension with it before looking up at him. He was so tall.
"Would you like a general reading or do you have a specific question in mind? A...direction?" Her hands fidgeted as she spoke, tucking her errant blonde waves behind her ears. "Your profession, perhaps? Or…maybe something more personal?" Her lips curved in a slight smile. "Your love life?" Robin tried not to let the weight of that stupid Two of Cups press on her as she asked this, aiming for the same casual tone she had strived for since asking him if he wanted a reading.
Post by Grady Collins on Jan 31, 2021 13:44:34 GMT -5
Well, he supposed it was kind of slow here today, and she hadn't looked busy when he walked in. Perhaps this would keep them both entertained, and he wouldn't mind the bit of company while he enjoyed his tea. Today was just one of those days that a cuppa would heal any ailment and lighten the mood from the rain.
To say he was curious and excited was an understatement. Although he was no stranger to the occult, he wasn't a practitioner, he wasn't anything but this normal human. Nothing more. Did he believe there were other things, other beings out there? In certain ways, he did, but he hadn't been able to prove it yet...which was precisely why he was in Xander's Cross. He was a fact finder. That was his life now.
Preparing his tea as she shuffled the cards, he brought it to his lips where he paused in thought with her question. Grady looked a little perplexed- he hadn't thought of it, and he didn't exactly want to share what he did for a living. He wouldn't actually call it a profession, either.
She might just think he was weird. Weirder and more awkward than he already felt, that is.
He was taking a careful sip of that hot tea when she mentioned "love life". The chuckle that escaped him was a little embarrassed. "Oh, no...definitely not that." His love life was basically non-existent. The closest he got were those strange dreams...and that wasn't meant to be dirty. He dreamt of a woman whose face was always mostly covered by her windswept hair. Everything was so black and white, so full of gray, that he couldn't make out hair or eye color. It was always storming. All he understood was that, every time he fell into this dream, there was this overwhelming need to get to her, to reach her. Just when he got close enough, it all disappeared and he often woke up in a cold sweat.
"Maybe...just a general reading?" he asked. Yes, that should be safer.
Post by Robin Skye Eventide on Jan 31, 2021 16:37:28 GMT -5
There was something there in how he turned down the reading on his love life, some nebulous question, an ephemeral reaching; Robin could almost…feel it, a dream half-remembered, fading quickly like morning mist. The sense was there and gone in the space of a single heartbeat. She couldn't even tell if it had really been a sense or if it had come from her. It would have been just as easy to say that her love life had been lacking. Okay, so it had been nonexistent the last few years. It hadn't rarely bothered her; she had been so busy ever since opening the shop that she hadn't really had time to think about it. Now, it was foremost in her mind. Damn that Two of Cups.
She distracted herself by shuffling the deck and considering him. Him, the stranger, as the general question. Then she began laying out cards. Not in any traditional spread but rather one of her own devising in that very moment.
Who are you? How do you see yourself? The Fool. This made sense. "You are a world traveler." She demurred with faux coyness, her blue eyes glittering with jest. It was, of course, no surprise; his accent alone could have told her that. Fingers lingering on the card, she went on, her voice becoming more serious as she spoke, as she read the energy coming off the card in waves now, "You are on a new path. A new beginning. You are a seeker, a searcher."
The next card she laid over The Fool, crossing it with the Four of Wands. "You begin a new adventure yet it is also...a homecoming. To your own creativity." Her eyes lifted to meet his. The corner of her mouth twitched into a slight curve. "Perhaps you have found where you ought to be."
Above these, she laid another card. The heart of the matter, what was his state of mind, what did he desire? The Page of Swords. "Hmm." Curiosity. Wasn't that what had driven her to offer the reading? "You have a question…" she paused, no, that wasn't right. Perhaps that was how he saw it but it was something else. "Or...an answer. And you are looking for the question?" She posed it as a question herself, uncertain if she was even making sense. "You are looking for...validation? Confirmation? A reason."
Below the first two, she laid the Eight of Cups. Withdrawal. "Yet you doubt. Not your quest or your question…" again she lifted her gaze to meet his. "You doubt yourself."
To the left of the cross, she placed the Two of Wands. "You're waiting for something." Her fingers lingered on this one, again transfixed by what she was reading. "Not… not inside. You're waiting… for something outside yourself. You're…unfulfilled."
Moving of their own volition, her hands laid another card, to the right of the crossed The Fool and Four of Wands, the final arm of the Celtic cross spread. Three of Swords, reversed. She drew in a quick breath. "Oh!" This time she snatched her fingers back from the card as though she had been burned. Her eyes found his again. "You lost something." She paused, reluctant to go on, feeling as though she were intruding on something private. "And it wounded you deeply. Perhaps more deeply than even you realize. It's this loss that has driven you. You have been running from it, looking for your question. But it is only through healing this wound that you will be able to trust the answers- or the question, that you truly seek."
Post by Grady Collins on Jan 31, 2021 19:25:48 GMT -5
There wasn't really anything there, except maybe embarrassment. Or so he would think, at least. And the funny thing was, it just wasn't something he worried about. That was the thing with Grady- he didn't often worry about things that were not in his power, or were too small...except, of course, this search of the supernatural. That was no small thing.
As it seemed that she was beginning the reading, he remained silent while that budding excitement began to grow. He'd keep himself busy with the tea and scones, watching her hands at work as she shuffled and then flipped over the first card. The Fool. For someone who didn't understand some of the tarot meanings, they might take that as an insult. Instead, as Robin began to talk, his mouth curled into a slight smile. Clearly he wasn't from around here, so it could be determined that he had traveled. It was the rest of the meaning that made him curious.
It was indeed a new path. He was seeking something, he was searching...he just wasn't entirely sure as to what it was yet.
Blue eyes narrowed in thought at the second card. A homecoming, she said. His gaze drifted up from the Four of Wands to her face, catching the light quirk of her own smiling mouth. Maybe he was where he needed to be- that had always been his initial hope. Grady seemed pleased with that notion.
"What? he couldn't help but ask as she contemplated the next one. He was looking at the Page of Swords as she attempted to explain. He had a question? Perhaps. He always had a lot of questions, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. Or...an answer. And you are looking for the question?' Blinking, she continued, and he was trying to wrap his mind around it. Validation or confirmation? A reason.
'Yet you doubt. Not your quest or your question…' It was the next card, and once more, his attention was lifting up to meet her eyes just as she paused to look at him. 'You doubt yourself.' Was this reading really real, or was she somehow seeing right through him?
Robin continued on to the next and he strangely felt his hear pounding inside his chest. He had long ago placed his cup down to lean upon the counter so that he could better pay attention and he swore his palms were sweating. 'You're waiting for something. Not...not inside. You're waiting...for something outside yourself. You're...unfulfilled.' Grady barely realized he was staring in what could only be explained as a mix of fear, awe, and curiosity. Seriously, though, what else did he expect from a tarot reading? It was just...very strange, and somehow he felt this odd calm in the middle of all this surprise. He didn't think that was possible.
Then, as she exclaimed, he jumped a little and stood up straight. Oh god, what was it? Is this when she told him that he was going to die some horrible death? Don't think the cards can actually see that, mate... he thought to himself, calming down only a little bit. This time, however, as she was looking to him, he was still staring at the Three of Swords.
'You lost something. And it wounded you deeply.'
His father. Was that the loss the cards spoke of? A wound that was always there. Or was it this sense of purpose he couldn't figure out, exactly, what it was? Grady knew what he had witnessed before his dad passed, and he'd been thinking and following it ever since, seemingly coming to a dead end here in Xander's Cross.
Drawing in a slow deep breath, he attempted a crooked smile but it didn't seem to reach his eyes. "Wow," was all he was able to say, still trying to wrap his head around this all.
Post by Robin Skye Eventide on Jan 31, 2021 22:50:30 GMT -5
Robin fought the shaking of her hands. She was usually better at this, at tailoring her readings to keep them vague enough that it could be considered luck or confirmation bias. She was usually better about not scaring people with what she saw in the cards. Because when she looked in his eyes, she could behind the awe to the fear. But something had come over her the moment she saw The Fool. Perhaps from the moment he had handed her the Two of Cups.
Still her hands shook, fighting the urge to turn the last card. There was only one more and it would read his future more clearly than the whole spread had read him. It took this reading from the realm of fun and fiction into outright Seeing. And it was forbidden to outsiders. Yet her fingers were already moving, turning the card and laying it atop the first two. She could feel it, could feel the card asking him, Who will you become? It wanted her to turn it, to lay it atop the spread, to set the path, this card she had no business reading for a stranger.
Judgement. This time, when her eyes lifted to his, they stayed there. They did not look back down at the cards. "In the end, you will have a choice to make.However you choose, you will find clarity, who you truly are, and your life's purpose shall be revealed to you."
Try as she might to force her tone into lightness, into the feigned witchy mysteriousness that so many expected of a fortune teller, Robin didn't quite hit the mark. For one thing, her hand were still shaking. For another, her eyes were still semi glazed with Seeing. Still, she yanked her lips into a smile, jerked her shoulders into a shrug, and offered, "Well...how was that? Did you get your money's worth?" As it was free, she hoped he would see the humor and not her unease.
Post by Grady Collins on May 1, 2021 22:22:47 GMT -5
In truth, Grady wasn't really sure how to feel about any of this. He had innocently asked for a reading, and he wasn't a stranger to these kinds of things (although he was merely a human with only an inkling that the supernatural existed), but now? Now, he wasn't sure if he should be worried or not. Her hands were shaking, and he nearly asked why, yet he was honestly too afraid to.
That couldn't be a good sign, right? That was definitely bad, no...?
Bright eyes watched her fingers turn over the last card, and he stared at it for a long moment until he realized her attention was on him. That drew his gaze up to her in soft question, noting that glazed look in her eyes and it made his back stiffen a little. Well, she was certainly good, there was no doubt about that, because she was really making this "witchiness" work. It was creepy, but not, and he only blinked until she seemed to snap out of it.
Seriously, what just happened?
"Uh, well...good, I suppose? I mean, you were fine, I'm just...I dunno 'bout what the cards...?" The way he was making everything sound like a question perhaps made it all too clear that he didn't know how to take it. And why did she appear so shaken?
Did he look like a wide-eyed fool standing there right now?
Post by Robin Skye Eventide on May 4, 2021 20:18:16 GMT -5
The smile on her face was tight but she held it there. She shouldn't have done this. She should have done a simple triptych. No; she shouldn't have read him at all. It wasn't the first time the Sight had taken her like that nor was it the first to happen with an outsider. It was the way he was looking at her now… as though he were afraid of her. He had asked so innocently for a reading and she had given him…that. What business did she have doing such a thing? And why wouldn't her hands stop shaking? Was it just the reading or… or did he make her nervous? Why?! Well, it wouldn't matter now that he was plainly terrified of her. His unease showed as he stammered and stumbled over his words, everything coming out as half-finished questions.
Reason told her that she should end this, dismiss him to a table where he could enjoy his tea and scones, and then leave. But she couldn't move. A part of her screamed that it was already too late for that. She breathed a forced laugh, "Oh...it's all in how you read the cards. They have simple meanings and can be interpreted in a varied multitude of ways." Again, her eyes found his and held. Those light blues were wide with the hope that he believed her even as she knew how false her words sounded. Yes, the cards could be read in a multitude of ways and yet she had just read them in a very specific, singular way.
Tearing her gaze away, she looked down as her fingers scrambled across the countertop, scraping the cards out of their careful layout into a haphazard pile. "I'm sorry. I should let you get to your tea." 'And stop scaring the daylights out of you,' she added silently.