xp_logs | Doug and Marie-Ange, and a tarot card reading.

Marie-Ange sat sprawled on one of the overstuffed chairs in the student lounge, paging through a worn-looking book, and occasionally glancing down at a set of cards strewn on the folding table next to her.

Doug padded softly into the lounge, intending to spend some serious veg time playing video games. Spotting Marie-Ange, he waved. "Hey, Angie. Whatcha doing?" He gazed curiously at the cards spread before her.

"Would you believe homework?" Marie-Ange tucked the ribbon dangling from the cover of the book into the pages. "Doctor MacTaggart wants to see if I can 'channel' the dreams into something else, and Amanda lent me a book." She turned the book around to reveal the title as "A Forest of Souls: A Walk through the Tarot". "It seems a little silly, but I think it might work."

Doug plopped down in a chair opposite Marie-Ange and grinned. "So, tarot, huh? Shouldn't you be wearing a sparkly head cloth and speaking in a really bad Gypsy accent for this? And do I need to cross your palm with silver to get a reading?" He picked up one of the cards at random. "Hey, I bet with your power you could do a really spooky reading. Cards with pictures that move and stuff."

"No sparkles, and no accents except the one I have, thank you." She paused. "I could probably make some of the cards into projections. It would be easier if I drew my own. As for the silver, if you want to be a .. what is the term, guinea pig? I could try to do a reading. I .. do not know if it would work.."

Doug shrugged and slouched back into the chair. "Why not? I'm kinda bored, and it looks interesting. Let's see how it turns out."

Marie-Ange smiled, picked up the cards on the table, and then held out her hand for the card Doug was fidgeting with. "If this works, you have to help me write it down for Doctor MacTaggart. She seems very fond of having me write everything down."

Doug fetched a notepad from under the small pile of books to one side of Marie-Ange and pulled out a pen. "Good enough. I'll write down as much as I can of what happens and the predictions, and then we can go back and add our own impressions. Sound like a plan?"

Marie-Ange nodded. "And if it doesn't work, and nothing from this ever happens, then it goes in the bad ideas pile with using a wok as a scrying pool." She smiled. "I should not listen to Dr. MacTaggart before she's had coffee."

Doug blinked. "A wok? As a scrying pool? Yeah, that sounds a little off. What, did you put water in it? And have you been asking Amanda about divination? Maybe you're not magically sensitive enough for that sort of thing. Or..." Doug cocked his head. "In all the fantasy books, magic gets weird around cold iron. And since a wok is all completely iron...maybe scrying would work if you used something else, like a ceramic bowl."

"We did not try it. I could not even think about it without giggling, and that is a sign that it is a bad idea from the start. Amanda suggested mice. I am not sure I want to know." Marie-Ange shuffled the set of cards continually while she spoke, and then set them down when she finished. "If I remember this right, you are supposed to shuffle while thinking of a question.. and.. then I think cut the cards into stacks.. four, I think."

Doug blinked. "Mice? Now that sounds really weird." Taking the deck, he riffled the cards and shuffled them, arching them into a rainbow as he meshed them together. Shuffling a few more times, he let his mind wander. ~Well, I guess there are really two questions right now. What's up with Betsy? And is my love life going to get any better?~ He tried to classify one of the questions as more important, but failed. Finally, he shrugged and stopped shuffling. He cut the cards into four approximately equal stacks, and sat back.

"Mice, and yes, it is strange." Marie-Ange watched Doug shuffle and cut the cards, then closed her eyes, and after a moment, touched the far left stack. "Okay, the first card is supposed to represent you, or your question, or.. both." She turned over the top card to show a picture of a knight on a white horse, holding a cup. "Well, that is.. spooky."

Doug looked at the knight intently. "Spooky how?" He blinked. "Oh. Hey, wasn't that the card I picked up earlier? Yeah. That _is_ kinda spooky."

"It also fits you. That is the card I was going to draw you as for my art project." She eyed the rest of the cards carefully, and then laid several of the cards down onto a pattern on the table. "Okay, now I see if I can remember what most of these mean."

Doug sat quietly, waiting for Marie-Ange to interpret the cards, sensing that if he spoke, it would interrupt whatever was going on for her. Although, he had to admit he was intensely curious as to what the card with the knight symbolized. He supposed in some regards he fit the whole knight-in-shining-armor stereotype, but couldn't shake a feeling that he wasn't worthy enough.

Marie-Ange took a slow breath. "That first card is the Knight of Cups. I think, if I remember right, that he represents a romantic, someone who dreams about love." She pointed to the set of two cards she had placed on top of the Knight. "One of those is the Five of Cups.. " She frowned, obviously somewhat distressed.

"I think this one represents disappointment, which makes some sense, I think?" She shrugged. "I can stop, if this gets too personal?"

Doug shook his head and smiled reassuringly. "It's okay, Angie. I'll tell you if it gets really upsetting or anything, promise. I imagine the reading by its nature will be very personal, and may say some things I'd rather not hear. Only way we'll know is to read what the cards say."

"It is your decision. Maybe I am just reading these wrong?" Marie-Ange pointed to the third card in the small stack. "That is the High Priestess. It is one of the important cards, the major arcana. Having it here means.. I think, that someone, or something that will affect you, or your question is torn between .. I guess, good and evil. I am not sure."

Doug nodded and gestured encouragingly for Marie-Ange to continue.

Marie-Ange touched the card she had placed below the stack. "I.. don't know if it means something if a card is upside down. This one is supposed to mean.. I think despair, or fear is at the core of your question. How strange."

Doug nodded. "I think, from something I remember reading about tarot readings, that if the card is reversed or upside down, that it affects the meaning of the card. Usually it means the opposite of the card, but not always."

Marie-Ange eyed Doug closely, grinning and pointing at her book. "Do you just eat books for dinner? I should make you read this."

Doug smiled self-deprecatingly. "Whaaaaat? I like to read. Besides, I worked in a warehouse that had been turned into a four-story bookstore one summer. I did a _lot_ of reading that summer."

Marie-Ange tapped the card on the left of the stack. "That is.. also odd." The card showed a man and woman, unclothed, with an angel in the background. "I don't know if I can explain that. It should represent a couple, or people in love, but I do not see how that is in your past."

"That represents the past?" Doug asked neutrally. ~Probably something to do with my confession to Marie about my feelings. Now that she's told me that it's Logan for her, it's definitely in the past.~ He sighed inaudibly.

"It should. " Marie-Ange wrinkled her nose. "That's very strange. I .. think I might not understand this as well as I should."

Doug nodded encouragingly. "Maybe try and talk it out? That sort of thing usually helps me when I'm unsure."

"It is just odd, I would think this is the card for the future, not the past. It is supposed to mean a relationship, a strong one, I think." She shook her head.

Doug shifted, slightly uncomfortable. "Actually, it's pretty true, I think. There was...a strong relationship, and it's not very strong right now because of some stuff that happened. So..." He shrugged. ~I miss her. How silly is that?~

"It is true?" Marie-Ange eyed the cards suspiciously. "Do you want me to stop?"

Doug smiled slightly wistfully. "Yeah, it's probably true. And no, you don't have to stop. I'm kinda approaching this like a scientific experiment. You don't halt the experiment just because you don't like the results you get." He reached across and patted Marie-Ange's hand to reassure her. "It's okay, Angie. Thanks for being so considerate."

"You are probably right. I would get in trouble with the doctor if I stopped now anyway." She squeezed Doug's hand. "More tests for me. Yay." She tapped the next card. "This should be.. ah. a different path you can take, I think, or maybe a choice you've made. This .. doesn't make any sense though. " The card showed a man, holding a bundle of sticks aflame at the tips. Looking at it, Marie-Ange wrinkled her nose in confusion. "This is.. ah.. a burden, someone else telling you what to do, I think."

Doug looked at the card pensively. "That doesn't sound very encouraging, does it. A choice I've made?" ~The choice to tell Marie about my feelings? It really has become a burden lately, ever since she told me about Logan, and the fact that we just seem to be drifting apart. That's my fault, though. I should be content to just be her friend, but it hurts so much right now...~ Doug bit his lip and sighed.

"Odder still, this card seems to say you're going to get hurt, and.. I think by something you do to yourself. " She shrugged. "I would rather be wrong, you know. Promise you won't do anything stupid?" The card she pointed at was dark, a pair of beggars in front of a stained class window. "And, this one says that you will be upset, very depressed, by.. I think whatever is going to happen?" As she pointed out the cards, Marie-Ange's voice had grown quieter, and vaguely distant, yet troubled. "This is distressing."

Doug concentrated more on Marie-Ange's mannerisms rather than the distressing predictions of the cards. He noticed her quiet distance, wondering if she was managing to channel something as Doctor MacTaggart had hoped, rather than merely trying to puzzle through the cards' meanings. He took copious notes and waited for her to continue.

The next card Marie-Ange indicated was ominous in appearance. A demon, goat-legged and winged, with horns on a throne, in shades of yellow and black. "The only devil except the one you create." She whispered.

Doug jerked back, shaken. Marie-Ange was clearly not with him anymore. He kept taking notes, concentrating on the experimental aspect of the reading while a small portion of himself quietly freaked out in the back of his head. ~No devil except the one you create? What does that mean?~

Marie-Ange continued to whisper and her gaze followed the line of cards to the next in the column. "Sharp tongue, and sword, and mind." The card was facing the opposite of most of the rest, and showed a woman on a throne, holding a sword.

Doug's eyebrows furrowed pensively. ~Mind? Ms. Braddock? Could you vague that up a bit more, Angie?~ He continued taking notes and leaned intently forward to see Marie-Ange's interpretation of the last cards.

The second to last card was a open palm, holding a single golden cup. Marie-Ange sighed and met Doug's gaze, though her eyes were still clouded. She took his hand, and held it open, palm up. A slight chill ran up Doug's arm, and the golden cup appeared in his hand, as heavy and solid as any real goblet.

Doug was transfixed. His eyes widened at this melding of Marie-Ange's powers, and looked hesitantly to Marie-Ange to explain the meaning of the goblet. The cup faded, the weight on Doug's hand lessening as the image grew transparent and finally dissolved. Marie-Ange turned Doug's hand over and placed it down on the last card, silently moving her lips as she did.

Doug's eyes were still on Marie-Ange's lips, waiting for her to explain the goblet that had appeared in his hand, so he was able to read her lips. His own lips moved silently as he repeated the message to himself. "The moon has no light of its own. You do, and will need it." He sat quietly, fairly spooked, and puzzled as to the meaning of the final message.

Marie-Ange held her hand on top of Doug's for several long moments after she came back to full awareness. She looked more than confused, and quite a bit upset. "That .. has not happened before. Not ever." She pulled her hand back, allowing Doug to free his own, and revealing the last card, a bright moon with a wolf and dog howling beneath it.

Doug glanced at the card before looking at Marie-Ange. "What hasn't happened before?" His eyes showed concern for the petite French girl, and a lingering mishmash of feelings with regard to the reading.

"I do not know if I can describe it. I kept almost seeing things, like one of my dreams, but not enough to remember clearly." She winced, obviously in some distress. "I am sorry, this is so frustrating."

Doug shushed Marie-Ange and placed his hand gently over hers in support. "Angie, it's okay. I can only imagine what all of it was like for you. Plus, this was your first time trying something like this. That you were able to see things at all means that it must work. Maybe, with practice, you'll get better at it."

"I.. do not know if I want to do this again." She touched the side of her head with her free hand. "My head is ringing like a church bell."

Doug stood up quickly, all business at the sight of Marie-Ange's pale face and the pain that was positively radiating from her. "Do you want me to find you some painkillers, Angie? What can I do to help?"

"Oui. Merci." Marie-Ange leaned back into her chair, and closed her eyes. In French, obviously too weary to make the mental switch to English, she continued. "Aspirin, and .. tea, please. I hope caffeine will help."

"Coming right up," Doug replied in French. Dashing from the room, he returned quickly with aspirin, a large mug of tea, and a damp washcloth, which he placed gently over Marie-Ange's closed eyes.

Doug placed the aspirin and tea by Marie-Ange's hand and gathered his notes into some semblance of an order. He finished up by marking off the cards from the reading and their positions, and then whispered quietly so as not to disturb Marie-Ange, who was starting to drift off into sleep. "Angie? I'm gonna take my notes to Doctor MacTaggart. I imagine she'll want to talk to you when you feel better, but I'll tell her that it can wait for now, okay?" With that, he walked very quietly from the room, and eased the door closed.

(OOC Note: Because Marie-Ange uses a mutant power, the interpretatons of the cards may not be 100% kosher with the 'standard' ones.)