xp_logs | Clea, Illyana, and the Cats

xp_clea posting in

Illyana and Clea have a formal meeting and a new friendship is born. Cata has taken on the role of mother and heater to Eris.

"Eris?" Illyana had been poking her head in and out of public rooms for the better part of an hour, looking for her small companion. "Have jerky for hungry kitten!" It was even true, and she crinkled the bag to prove it.

No luck.

The next room held a large, beautifully fluffy cat that she vaguely remembered seeing when she was younger, but not well enough to put a cute face to an owner. "You are best thing I have seen today, since Eris is playing hidey seeks," she said to the cat absolutely seriously, holding her hand out for the cat to sniff. As she did, she noticed just a peek of lightly fuzzed black tail. "Are you hiding Eris, beautiful? She is naughty girl, hiding away from soft sweater wearing in such cold. Suppose you are even softer than sweater. Can pets?"

Cata blinked up at the young lady and put her paw on Illyana's hand as if to give it a shake. Cata moved slowly to reveal the kitten underneath, cuddling for warmth, before hiding the little one once more. "Mew." She meowed in response to the pets and rubbed her head against Illyana's hand as she started to purr loudly.

Another was in the room sitting in the armchair with an old looking book, "I was wondering when - Eris was it? I was wondering who she belonged to. Illyana right?" Clea put the red ribbon in the pages where she was reading and closed the book.

"Yes. She is little chaos baby, so she is named after big chaos." The other woman looked familiar, but not recently so. "I... you were here before, yes? I do not remember your name, apologies."

"That is such a fitting name. The one hiding the little chaos baby is Queen Cata of Catiland, Lady of the Yarnball, Duchess of all Large Cats. Or Cata for short." Clea shrugged, "My 8-year-old self thought it was a fitting name for a fae cat." The look of an apology on her face when Clea answered, "Oh it is Clea. I was. I left for a short while and trained in Kamar-Taj, I am back but I still have to go back and forth. It is nice to formally meet you."

Illyana's smile was small. The name suited the regal, fluffy cat she was petting, and she ended up taking a seat next to the cat to keep showering her with affection. Kamar-Taj... why was that... oh. "Magic users, yes? You are magic too, then. Hopefully not idiot kind, like some people here have been."

Clea laughed, "There are all kinds of idiots in the world. I outgrew my immaturity." Clea looked down at the scar on her forearm, "But yes, I am a witch, magician, magic user. Are you?"

Illyana nodded. "Like to think I have done this growing also. Magic is not tuned to earth energy, so here is mostly scrying and magic sensing. Some small spells. When Eris is bigger, may be able to focus more magic like familiar, but for now she is still baby. We will maybe try closer to summer."

"It is interesting where magical energy comes from." Clea smiled, "Are you taking classes with Amanda?" Looking over at Cata who was enjoying the scritches and still hiding the small kitten. "I look forward to seeing what Eris does. She is beautiful."

"No." Illyana shook her head emphatically. While she'd reached something like a truce with the older witch, it hadn't erased her lingering wariness. "Was trained extensively in Limbo. Understand theories, how it works just fine, but energies are just different enough that what can be done on earth is smaller scale. If desperate, I would pull demon up from plane and sacrifice energy, but it would have cost. Magics like that always have cost."

"Magic does have cost. What is Limbo?" Clea asked, tilting her head. "And would you like to be trained on some magic? I am not a teacher, but I would consider myself a semi-expert on the subject matter."

"The easy answer is that Limbo is hell dimension full of demons, but you are magic and might understand longer version better. Limbo is that, yes, but it is part of splinter realms, and acts as nexus of sorts for other times, sometimes dimensions and realities." She was surprised the other woman hadn't been taught about the place. "Limbo, dark dimension, fear lords. You were not taught about this during your studies?" Illyana's voice was faintly horrified. "I will make trade. You will help me with control of earth magic, I will teach you about Otherplaces. It is important knowledge, the way some here piss off demons like it is sport."

Clea's eyes rose as Illyana explained what Limbo was and made a small 'ha' noise. "I know all about the Dark Dimension. I think the Masters mentioned other universes but had the focus on that particular one because of...my magic." Clea nodded and finally gave a small smile, "I would like that. Hearing about Otherplaces from not stingy old men sounds like a huge step up from me. People sometimes like to toe that line."

"Ah, your magic is... not entirely of earth either?" Illyana relaxed minutely. "This is good trade, and important that people understand what lurks. Some demons small, just want to do tricks. Other demons will promise you world, deliver nothing but pain."

"I am still working it out with the Ancient One." Clea smiled, "I think it is always important to prepare for whatever lurks in the dark. But I am still pretty good at the control of magic, Earth or Not. How often do you want to meet for these little sessions?"

"Hm." Illyana tapped a single finger against her lips, thinking, then pulled out her phone and looked at the calendar. "Can fit once a week, maybe twice depending on time. Am Warren's personal assistant, also work for Excalibur, so sometimes schedule has strange hours. You are doing school and travel to this Ancient One, yes? If we need to meet less, maybe twice a month? Most of Excal work is watching portal, could probably do session as long as it behaves. Vending machine has good snacks, last week got fluffy orange thing like marshmallow with soft filling, tasted like citrus and cream. Inside was cold like ice cream, but outside was room temperature."

"That works for me. I do travel between here and Kamar-Taj, but I have a sling ring that really cuts down the cost of traveling." She patted her pocket, she never went anywhere without it but she reached for her phone in her other pocket. "Was it mochi? Now I am craving mochi. Here is my number. Will aim for once a week for now, and if we have some free time we can add more in. How does Friday's sound?"

"What is mochi?" Illyana traded her phone with Clea's, tapping in her number and saving it. "Friday is good option. There are not usually board meetings and portal watching shift is during daytime."

"If you liked the fluffy orange thing, you will like mochi. I will bring some to our first meetup." Clea nodded, "Perfect. Friday it is. We can meet up after the portal watching, if that is alright."

"That does sound good. Friday and mochi and I will bring drink that is not vodka. Possibly Eris, too." Illyana scooped up the kitten, giving Cata a last affectionate rub along her cheek and behind an ear. "It was nice to meet you, Queen Cata, and also you Clea."