Jono and Clea | Answers Come, I Too Exult
Feb. 9th, 2024 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsJono goes on one of his night walks and pets a cat, he also meets a girl. He's equally excited by both things.
It had been nearly a month since his disastrous interaction with Sharon. Two whole weeks of barely leaving his room at night so as to best avoid her. He'd missed the quiet. He'd missed feeling like he could leave his room without being scolded by Quentin for refusing to entertain his telepathy nonsense. He needed out.
Now, he was much more cautious when he left his room, music playing in only one earbud, and eyes scanning the shadows all around him searching for movement. He saw a cat that probably wasn't Sharon slink by and slowly bent down, rubbing his fingers together hoping to beckon it closer so he could pet it. He'd missed normal cats.
The fluffy cat turned and stared at him as if gauging if he was trustworthy. The residents of the mansion could be considered dangerous in their own right, but they never raised a finger to her or any other creature in the area that was under her care. Cata made her way over to the man and sniffed his fingers. He was new. She put her two front paws on his knees to get a really good look at him, she could consider calling him a friend. She mewed and rubbed her face against his hand.
Jono’s eyes crinkled in a facsimile of a smile and very gently scratched the cat’s cheek and rubbed behind her ears. After a few moments he tested the cat’s boundaries further by petting down her back and away from her head.
"Cata!" The sound of someone yelling further down the hallway and around the corner could be heard. "I was joking about the vet visit!"
Cata paid no mind to the sound of her name being called as she was getting a full on body scrities and made chirping sounds of happiness and purred even louder.
Jono gently added a second hand, making sure to be able to pet both the cat’s head and body at the same time. This was a good cat, unlike whatever Sharon was.
Much like the cat, he paid no mind to the distant yelling, the people here were very loud and almost never talking to him. Why should he invade their privacy as they went about yelling in public?
A redhead came around the corner, "There you are." But any other emotion that had been on her face had been replaced with amusement. Clea walked up and knelt down, watching the stranger pet Cata. He must have been a good guy otherwise Cata wouldn't be this content. "She likes you. She can tell the good ones from the bad ones."
With a start Jono’s head jolted up and his cheeks darkened, he removed one hand from it’s very important job of petting Cata and held up one finger asking for patience as he tugged his light writer out of his jacket. He struggled a bit typing with one hand but managed to get a sentence typed.
“She is a good cat. No mouth, sorry, please be patient.”
Clea watched and nodded as the words were read out loud, "Take all the time you need. Do you have a name?" With all of these influx of new people in the last year, Clea was trying to put names to faces.
“Jono. And you?” He typed, she was very pretty. “Where in England are you from? I’m from Birmingham.”
"Clea. Pleasure to meet you Jono." Clea watched as Cata finally lay down on the floor as she was being pampered. "Oh, you are from Birmingham? I grew up just outside of Oxford. But we also have a small flat in London. My dad is a history professor at Oxford while my mum is a curator at the Natural History Museum in London. Neither of them are willing to give up their jobs. I've been to Birmingham. One of my girlfriends lives there." Clea looked up at the man. "Is your power the reason why you can't speak?"
Ah. Just his luck. He swallowed hard and typed. “Mum works as a waitress and Dad is in trades. My ex girlfriend was from London, went to Birmingham for uni.”
He paused, considering how or even if he should answer her question about his powers. “Yes.” He finally typed. “It destroyed my jaw and much of my chest.”
"We could have passed each other and may have never known it." Clea smiled. It was such a small world. "It is crazy what our powers can do to our bodies. I am sorry if I pried too much." Clea paused for a moment and looked over at Jono, "What do you like to do for fun?" She was prying again.
Jono stopped himself before he could say something stupid like 'I would have noticed a girl as pretty as you.' But it would be rude not to reply, so he waited a moment petting Cata fondly, before typing. "Music mostly, I was in a fairly successful band until... I also used to work as a bookseller, I read a lot. Mostly folklore and history."
"Was the band local to Birmingham or did you venture beyond?" Clea wondered if maybe she had heard of them and looked up at him once more to get a good look at his eyes. "Oh? Well then you would be pleased to know Cata isn't a normal cat. She is Cath Palug, straight out of celtic myth. She just happens to be small because of a spell I did with Stephen when we were teenagers. She was the size of a car at one time."
"Mostly in Birmingham, we opened for a few bigger names when they were in the area but nothing outside of England really. Well... a few notable gigs in Wales thanks to my mate's family hiring us for weddings, but mostly local." At the mention of Cath Palug he perks up instantly, making direct eye contact before quickly looking down to type. "I thought Cath Palug was killed by Sir Kay? I know some retellings say Arthur, but I don't pay mind to the ones outside of Wales. So Cata's Brythonic then? Or is there overlap with the otherworlds of the Manx, Irish, Scots, Welsh, Bretons? I have so many questions.Is she able to be localized here because of our lake given that Cath Palug are localized to water?"
"My friend I told you about that lives in Birmingham, she was in that scene." Clea smiled slightly as the text to speech went off and she nodded with what he was saying. "I thought so too. But England has old magic for sure. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a whole clan of Cath Palug. Sir Kay may have been able to kill one of them, which is horrible since they are so fluffy and cute." She said that last one to Cata in a baby voice before collecting herself. "Lost myself for a moment. We did find her close to our summer camp. She was always alone, so I figured the rest of her family was lost or maybe she slip through one of those fairy rifts we hear so much about." Clea thought about it for a moment, "I never thought about it. She does like to hunt near the lake and the surrounding areas." Clea put a finger to her lips and tapped it as she thought.
"Your friend was in the grunge scene?" Jono typed, surprise written all over his face. "Of course England has old magic, English Traditional Witchcraft is an area of intense scholarship."
Jono's cheeks colored as he realized he may have been lecturing some. "Was your camp near Wales? Cath Palug are pretty exclusively Welsh. Surely we English haven't colonized even the otherworld?"
Clea nodded and grabbed her phone to show him a picture of her friend, "Is in the grunge scene. Some of those parties were fun." Clea eyes widen, "I can tell you are a historian. Do you have an additional interest in Old Magic?" The red head didn't appear to take offense of the lecturing, as she continued with the conversation, "Yes and I hope not. I just feel sorry for the blokes who may have just accidentally slipped through."
Jono's blush deepened. "Oh! I saw her around loads, I think she hangs around my old flatmate. I'm only a historian in that I used to sell history books to stodgy old professors that thought I didn't deserve to breathe the same air as them. But I have interest in all magic- I don't practice any, but it's fascinating to learn about."
"Really? She will be so jealous that I am under the same roof as someone famous." It wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last time that Clea was in the presence of famous people. "It always starts with passion for something you love and then following it. I'll introduce you to my dad one day; he'll talk your ear off and introduce you to some pretty good books if you are interested." Clea tilted her head to the side, "What kind of magic? We do have a good selection of magic wielders at the mansion. Along with a future classroom that holds books and magical items for teaching purposes."
“I’m not famous.” Jono protested. “My flatmate was in the same band. The only thing I’m famous for is exploding.”
He stopped himself. Clea probably knew about that. It had been all over the news, speculation of terrorism that his very public anti-monarchy sentiment hadn’t helped. He quickly tried to change the topic. “Any and all magic. English traditional was easiest to get sources on at home but I’ll study anything.”
Clea watched him carefully and decided not to continue that topic for the time being. She was curious but she could easily search for that at a later time. "Well, I do have access to the magical archives here. I am sure I can let you read the not-so-dangerous stuff. If that is something you are interested in."
“That would be fantastic.” Jono typed immediately. “As long as it’s not a bother. I wouldn’t want to put you out.”
"It is never a bother to share magical knowledge." Clea nodded, "Plus, Cata would love more scritches."
"Thank you." Jono said. "And I'll always be happy to give her attention. I love cats, and it would be wonderful to get to take my own notes on the Tylwyth Teg."
His nose crinkled and his brow furrowed in clear frustration. "I'm going to have to see if I can program this thing to use the correct pronunciation for other languages."
Clea started to laugh at the pronunciation of the name. "Oh that is great. Tylwyth Teg. I am not tech savvy, but I know someone who is if you ever need help."
“That would be great. Thank you. It might be helpful to swap numbers as well? I can send you anything I find on Cath Palug?”
"We can do that." Clea pulled out her phone and started to type Jono on the new contact and then handed her phone over to him, "Here you are."
Jono quickly typed his number into her phone and handed it back. “Thanks. I’ll,” he paused, giving Cata some well deserved chin scritches, “I’ll leave you to it. I should probably get back to my room. It was nice meeting you.”
He definitely needed to get back to his room before he made of fool of himself. Quit while you’re ahead. He thought to himself. You already gave her your number, just quit while you’re ahead.
"Likewise. I'll see you around Jono!" She waited for a minute and looked down at Cata. "And you missy have explaining to do. Where you the one that left me that suprrise?" Clea picked up Cata and started to walk down the the hall in the opposite direction.
It had been nearly a month since his disastrous interaction with Sharon. Two whole weeks of barely leaving his room at night so as to best avoid her. He'd missed the quiet. He'd missed feeling like he could leave his room without being scolded by Quentin for refusing to entertain his telepathy nonsense. He needed out.
Now, he was much more cautious when he left his room, music playing in only one earbud, and eyes scanning the shadows all around him searching for movement. He saw a cat that probably wasn't Sharon slink by and slowly bent down, rubbing his fingers together hoping to beckon it closer so he could pet it. He'd missed normal cats.
The fluffy cat turned and stared at him as if gauging if he was trustworthy. The residents of the mansion could be considered dangerous in their own right, but they never raised a finger to her or any other creature in the area that was under her care. Cata made her way over to the man and sniffed his fingers. He was new. She put her two front paws on his knees to get a really good look at him, she could consider calling him a friend. She mewed and rubbed her face against his hand.
Jono’s eyes crinkled in a facsimile of a smile and very gently scratched the cat’s cheek and rubbed behind her ears. After a few moments he tested the cat’s boundaries further by petting down her back and away from her head.
"Cata!" The sound of someone yelling further down the hallway and around the corner could be heard. "I was joking about the vet visit!"
Cata paid no mind to the sound of her name being called as she was getting a full on body scrities and made chirping sounds of happiness and purred even louder.
Jono gently added a second hand, making sure to be able to pet both the cat’s head and body at the same time. This was a good cat, unlike whatever Sharon was.
Much like the cat, he paid no mind to the distant yelling, the people here were very loud and almost never talking to him. Why should he invade their privacy as they went about yelling in public?
A redhead came around the corner, "There you are." But any other emotion that had been on her face had been replaced with amusement. Clea walked up and knelt down, watching the stranger pet Cata. He must have been a good guy otherwise Cata wouldn't be this content. "She likes you. She can tell the good ones from the bad ones."
With a start Jono’s head jolted up and his cheeks darkened, he removed one hand from it’s very important job of petting Cata and held up one finger asking for patience as he tugged his light writer out of his jacket. He struggled a bit typing with one hand but managed to get a sentence typed.
“She is a good cat. No mouth, sorry, please be patient.”
Clea watched and nodded as the words were read out loud, "Take all the time you need. Do you have a name?" With all of these influx of new people in the last year, Clea was trying to put names to faces.
“Jono. And you?” He typed, she was very pretty. “Where in England are you from? I’m from Birmingham.”
"Clea. Pleasure to meet you Jono." Clea watched as Cata finally lay down on the floor as she was being pampered. "Oh, you are from Birmingham? I grew up just outside of Oxford. But we also have a small flat in London. My dad is a history professor at Oxford while my mum is a curator at the Natural History Museum in London. Neither of them are willing to give up their jobs. I've been to Birmingham. One of my girlfriends lives there." Clea looked up at the man. "Is your power the reason why you can't speak?"
Ah. Just his luck. He swallowed hard and typed. “Mum works as a waitress and Dad is in trades. My ex girlfriend was from London, went to Birmingham for uni.”
He paused, considering how or even if he should answer her question about his powers. “Yes.” He finally typed. “It destroyed my jaw and much of my chest.”
"We could have passed each other and may have never known it." Clea smiled. It was such a small world. "It is crazy what our powers can do to our bodies. I am sorry if I pried too much." Clea paused for a moment and looked over at Jono, "What do you like to do for fun?" She was prying again.
Jono stopped himself before he could say something stupid like 'I would have noticed a girl as pretty as you.' But it would be rude not to reply, so he waited a moment petting Cata fondly, before typing. "Music mostly, I was in a fairly successful band until... I also used to work as a bookseller, I read a lot. Mostly folklore and history."
"Was the band local to Birmingham or did you venture beyond?" Clea wondered if maybe she had heard of them and looked up at him once more to get a good look at his eyes. "Oh? Well then you would be pleased to know Cata isn't a normal cat. She is Cath Palug, straight out of celtic myth. She just happens to be small because of a spell I did with Stephen when we were teenagers. She was the size of a car at one time."
"Mostly in Birmingham, we opened for a few bigger names when they were in the area but nothing outside of England really. Well... a few notable gigs in Wales thanks to my mate's family hiring us for weddings, but mostly local." At the mention of Cath Palug he perks up instantly, making direct eye contact before quickly looking down to type. "I thought Cath Palug was killed by Sir Kay? I know some retellings say Arthur, but I don't pay mind to the ones outside of Wales. So Cata's Brythonic then? Or is there overlap with the otherworlds of the Manx, Irish, Scots, Welsh, Bretons? I have so many questions.Is she able to be localized here because of our lake given that Cath Palug are localized to water?"
"My friend I told you about that lives in Birmingham, she was in that scene." Clea smiled slightly as the text to speech went off and she nodded with what he was saying. "I thought so too. But England has old magic for sure. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a whole clan of Cath Palug. Sir Kay may have been able to kill one of them, which is horrible since they are so fluffy and cute." She said that last one to Cata in a baby voice before collecting herself. "Lost myself for a moment. We did find her close to our summer camp. She was always alone, so I figured the rest of her family was lost or maybe she slip through one of those fairy rifts we hear so much about." Clea thought about it for a moment, "I never thought about it. She does like to hunt near the lake and the surrounding areas." Clea put a finger to her lips and tapped it as she thought.
"Your friend was in the grunge scene?" Jono typed, surprise written all over his face. "Of course England has old magic, English Traditional Witchcraft is an area of intense scholarship."
Jono's cheeks colored as he realized he may have been lecturing some. "Was your camp near Wales? Cath Palug are pretty exclusively Welsh. Surely we English haven't colonized even the otherworld?"
Clea nodded and grabbed her phone to show him a picture of her friend, "Is in the grunge scene. Some of those parties were fun." Clea eyes widen, "I can tell you are a historian. Do you have an additional interest in Old Magic?" The red head didn't appear to take offense of the lecturing, as she continued with the conversation, "Yes and I hope not. I just feel sorry for the blokes who may have just accidentally slipped through."
Jono's blush deepened. "Oh! I saw her around loads, I think she hangs around my old flatmate. I'm only a historian in that I used to sell history books to stodgy old professors that thought I didn't deserve to breathe the same air as them. But I have interest in all magic- I don't practice any, but it's fascinating to learn about."
"Really? She will be so jealous that I am under the same roof as someone famous." It wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last time that Clea was in the presence of famous people. "It always starts with passion for something you love and then following it. I'll introduce you to my dad one day; he'll talk your ear off and introduce you to some pretty good books if you are interested." Clea tilted her head to the side, "What kind of magic? We do have a good selection of magic wielders at the mansion. Along with a future classroom that holds books and magical items for teaching purposes."
“I’m not famous.” Jono protested. “My flatmate was in the same band. The only thing I’m famous for is exploding.”
He stopped himself. Clea probably knew about that. It had been all over the news, speculation of terrorism that his very public anti-monarchy sentiment hadn’t helped. He quickly tried to change the topic. “Any and all magic. English traditional was easiest to get sources on at home but I’ll study anything.”
Clea watched him carefully and decided not to continue that topic for the time being. She was curious but she could easily search for that at a later time. "Well, I do have access to the magical archives here. I am sure I can let you read the not-so-dangerous stuff. If that is something you are interested in."
“That would be fantastic.” Jono typed immediately. “As long as it’s not a bother. I wouldn’t want to put you out.”
"It is never a bother to share magical knowledge." Clea nodded, "Plus, Cata would love more scritches."
"Thank you." Jono said. "And I'll always be happy to give her attention. I love cats, and it would be wonderful to get to take my own notes on the Tylwyth Teg."
His nose crinkled and his brow furrowed in clear frustration. "I'm going to have to see if I can program this thing to use the correct pronunciation for other languages."
Clea started to laugh at the pronunciation of the name. "Oh that is great. Tylwyth Teg. I am not tech savvy, but I know someone who is if you ever need help."
“That would be great. Thank you. It might be helpful to swap numbers as well? I can send you anything I find on Cath Palug?”
"We can do that." Clea pulled out her phone and started to type Jono on the new contact and then handed her phone over to him, "Here you are."
Jono quickly typed his number into her phone and handed it back. “Thanks. I’ll,” he paused, giving Cata some well deserved chin scritches, “I’ll leave you to it. I should probably get back to my room. It was nice meeting you.”
He definitely needed to get back to his room before he made of fool of himself. Quit while you’re ahead. He thought to himself. You already gave her your number, just quit while you’re ahead.
"Likewise. I'll see you around Jono!" She waited for a minute and looked down at Cata. "And you missy have explaining to do. Where you the one that left me that suprrise?" Clea picked up Cata and started to walk down the the hall in the opposite direction.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-11 12:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-11 11:07 pm (UTC)(I'm not sure why, she's taking an interest in Jono v2.0)
no subject
Date: 2024-02-21 03:47 pm (UTC)djsfshkj
I appreciate Clea's unflappable kindness here, which seems especially appropriate for someone who's been involved in magic since her teens. Jono's special interests compensating for his current lack of game is also hugely entertaining; I'd love to see him interact with more of the magic-oriented characters.