Phoenix

[Addie Calvert] [[First off, Cha + Perf roll. WP spent, still +1 for Acclimation *grumble*]]

[Addie Calvert] [[And Perc + Awareness, no penalties, thankfully.]]

[Callista Alexander] [[May as well get all the rolling out of the way - per+aware)

[Callista Alexander] [[Really? C'mon Kahseeno, play nicely.]]

[Addie Calvert] Wicker Park and similar areas tend to teem with street musicians. It's that kind of place. Magicians, poets, musicians ... most especially musicians; they all find someplace to hang around and try to earn some pocket change in a more bohemian-friendly area than the places downtown, or in Lakeview.

Today, the best of them is a red-haired young woman who is doing quite well out of her folky tunes and acoustic guitar classics ... likely as much because she looks severely underfed as it is because of how well she plays. There's something about her that speaks of fire, that suggests to those in the know that some attention should be paid to this one ... and get close enough, look hard enough, and sure enough there is a Resonance to her - Blazing and Fervent and generally as redolent of fire as the red hair and the intense hazel eyes. She gets looks; most of then, thankfully, are kind, if curious.

[Callista Alexander] Today brings Callista out on a day off from, well, everything really. No work. No study. No poking around, trying to dig up information on various people and groups in the city. A true day off.

So she's found herself in Wicker Park, mainly through random choices at the city's intersections as she's driven around. An empty parking space stood out invitingly, and who was she to say no? And now? Now she's wandering around with her camera, looking for those perfect moments to capture.

Which brings her path across that of Addie's. The image of a drastically thin red-head, surrounded by listeners, with an open guitar case showing a decent amount of change - as well as some notes - is too good to pass by. Callista lines up the camera and the shutter clicks a few times as she presses the button.

There's more to this other woman, though, which makes her stop for a moment instead of just walking away. After a moment or two just watching, she walks over. Callista pulls a crumpled 10 dollar note from her pocket and drops it into the open case.

[Addie Calvert] [[Perc + Alertness - do we notice that someone is taking pictures?]]

[Addie Calvert] She doesn't miss a beat, this girl, but even over the music, it's like she hears the shutter click. She looks up and ... yeah, the eyes are intense and ... yeah, they might actually glow just a little, though it could be a trick of the light. Maybe. Possibly. (Noooooot really but a lot of Sleepers could tell themselves that convincingly.) She's a mage, though, that much is clear.

And the only reason that Calli's not getting the full brunt of how scary this girl can sometimes be is because of the reason for the quasi-recognition in her eyes - she doesn't know Calli, may not have heard of her ... but she knows what Calli is, too, at least once the Akashic gets close enough.

The ten-dollar note gets a raised eyebrow, and when she looks up at Calli again, there's no undue glow to her eyes, no stress or anger (though there's still a little wariness) ... just bewilderment. "Thankya kindly, ma'am," she says, in a Texan accent thick enough to cut with a knife, "but ... ain't that a bit much? An' ... what-all y'gonna use them photos for, anyhow?" After which a blush spreads across her cheeks like wildfire and she adds, quietly, "Um ... Ah also gotta wonder if'n we-all've got ... friends ... in common."

[Callista Alexander] Had she still been happily Sleeping away, Callista may well have convinced herself that the red-headed musician's eyes had been glowing. But, though still new to the spectrum of Strange that accompanies an Awakened life, she's already seen enough to not be quite so easily swayed. There's definitely more to the other woman than initially meets the eye, and the back-of-the-brain feeling of fervent blazing just confirms it.

So Callista has her own wariness about the stranger. New in town? Hard to tell, given her short time here. But she doesn't really remember anyone talking about such a Mage. Not being able to let a mystery rest, though, Callista uses the tip as an excuse to get closer. To see what happens, where things lead.

So she talks to Addie. "Too much? You're good. Very good. And it's only fair I leave a little something for the pictures. Don't worry, this is just a hobby of mine. Nobody else will see them. Although, if you want copies, I can probably get some to you. You don't mind, do you? It's just that the image of you here, it's very.. striking."

Callista gives a faint smile, and nods a little. "I think we might hang around with the same kinds of people." It's only a vague confirmation, but until she knows more about the red-headed woman then her sense of self-preservation is still alive and well.

[[Really, I'm no threat to you - Cha+Exp.]]

[Addie Calvert] There's still a wary eye cast on Callista (this one ... well, there are reasons she doesn't relax with many people, and none of them are for public consumption, thank you), but it's less now. She shrugs. "Well, then, much 'bliged t'ya, ma'am. An' th'pictures? Well now; s'pose y'all c'n have'em if'n y'want 'em, but y'all oughta know that Ah ain't at m'best just now. Had a bit of a ... thang, n'all, last month. Well ... halfa March, halfa April, kinda? T'was all of a ruckus, anyhow."

Then something occurs and she blushes again. "An' m'manners done got 'way from me 'gain. M'name's Addie. Ah'm ... kinda a frienda Israel." (Pronounced, in that accent, IZ-rail.) She holds out a hand. "Pleased t'make yer 'cquaintance." If Callista shakes the offered hand ... well, that too is strange in that despite the low temperatures and the young woman's substandard clothing (jacket too light for the weather, threadbare jeans, sneakers that are coming close to losing their soles), the girl's hand is warm in the way that sunburned or fevered skin tends to be. It's like she's fuelled by a coal fire instead of a living heart.

[Callista Alexander] ...a bit of a... thang last month? Callista nods, a small, sympathetic smile touching her lips. "A ruckus is putting it mildly, if it's what I think it was. Did you spend a bit of time out of town with Israel? I'd heard that you guys had made it back, but haven't bumped into anyone who was there yet. I hope you're doing ok."

Callista does, indeed, return the hand shake. "Nice to meet you, Addie. I'm Callista. How long have you been in town, now?" She nods in the direction of a nearby coffee stand. "If it's not getting in the way of your work, can I buy you a drink?"

[Addie Calvert] The smile gets a slight ramp-up of the wary look (are y'all makin' fun'a me?) but she's good at reading people so that amps down a little bit in short order. The rest gets a snort of wry semi-amusement. "Outta town. Y'all c'd say that. An' yeah, gotta put it mild, else t'all sounds kinda loco. An' Ah don't mind settin' n' havin' coffee with y'all, Callista - not t'all - but Ah reckon as how Ah oughta buy." She peers into the case, and the bewilderment returns. "Seems Ah had m'self a day."

So as she collects her various bits of coinage and notes from the case and tucks her guitar back into it with the kind of reverence one doesn't often see paid to a battered, clearly second-hand Gibson six-string, she answers the question. "Ch'cago? 'Bout nine months now. Though dunno if'n y'all c'n count th'last one, seein' as how Ah weren't s'much ... here. Mostly Ah done kept t'm'self, though Ah met a mess'a y'all ... us-all, Ah s'pose. Ain't used t'that. Ah's ... sorta other ... b'fore. S'a long story." Short pause, then, "How 'bout yerself? New in town?" Apparently oblivious to how much she sounds like a sheriff's deputy in a Western movie, sitting in some saloon with a corny name, talking to the lone desperado who rode into town five minutes ago.

[Callista Alexander] Callista? Certainly isn't making fun of Addie. Although the limit of her knowledge of what had happened out of town is limited to them having been trapped in a pocket realm while the Sending slowly consumed them, she has no illusions that it would have been, in any way, nice. Exactly what had happened there is still a mystery, and one that she would like to pick at some more.

But not right here, right now. For one, she has no idea whether or not this new acquaintence even wants to talk about what had gone on. No sense in shooting whatever might develop between the two women in the foot before it had a chance to get going. For another, they're in the middle of a park, and one with a reasonable amount of foot traffic - not the most discrete location to be talking about things.

So she stick to the safer subjects. "I've been here since February, so.. about 3 months now. So, yeah, I guess that still counts as new in town. I've bumped into a couple of the others, but there are some I only know by name, or reputation. I don't know if you've been shown around yet, but there's a clubhouse in town. There's a lot of politics going on there recently, and I haven't been shown it yet anyway, but it's probably worth asking Israel about when you see her again."

[Addie Calvert] "Yeah, Ah been there," is Addie's response about the clubhouse. "S'where we-all came back in from ... outta town." No, Addie doesn't seem to have much of a problem talking about it in a discreet manner - though she is looking around, possibly for a spot wtih less foot traffic. Plus it's kind of grey and kind of cold, and foot traffic's not what it could be. "Ah go there, time t'time. Meet up Israel, an ... couple'a others. There's this one fella, name'a Basil? Y'all wanna steer clear'a him. He's got a stick up his hind end th'size'a Cleveland."

And then there's the coffee stall, and she turns to the barista. "Just a coffee, thankya kindly. Black, one sugah." She turns to Callista, then. "What'all y'all havin'?"

[Callista Alexander] "Cleveland? There's plenty of larger cities, so they may be hope for him yet. But, no, I've not had the pleasure yet. Or the displeasure." A moment's though, and Callista realises that she doesn't have any way of getting in touch with Israel. Although they'd only met the once, she would like to meet up again and see how the other woman's doing. "How's Israel doing? Let her know I said hello, next time you see her. Molly's got my number, if she wants to get in touch." There's a small shrug, and an apologetic look. "Excuse the paranoia, but there are at least two reasons why I'm careful about who I give my number two."

Then they're at the coffee stand. Although the selection of drinks combining coffee and milk in different forms is fairly wide, the other choices are a little more limited. Steering away from some sad-looking teabags stuffed away in a glass jar, she opts for a bottle of water instead. "I could never get the taste for coffee," she offers in explanation.

Looking around while Addie sorts out payment, Callista spots a bench near the brow of a small hill. Fewer people seem to be passing that way, and there would be plenty of warning if anyone did start heading their way. So she points it out to Addie.

As they walk away from the stand, Callista asks quietly, "You said you were sorta other. Weren't you a Sleeper, like everyone else, before you woke?"

[Addie Calvert] "S'long's y'all don't lookit me like Ah'm some kind'a barbarian if'n Ah dunno tea from mule-spit? Ah don't mind what y'all drink." The grin is tentative; this is not a girl who is used to making jokes. Or, perhaps, talking to people much at all. But she is trying, at least, and she purchases the water and, as they head over to the quieter spot, she talks about the stuff that it's okay if it gets overheard: "Ah'll pass th'message 'long t'Israel next Ah see'r. She said as how she'd put me through m'paces, see where-all m'talents lie now'days. An' s'alright; Ah don' give m'number out easy either. Y'all don't gotta 'splain due caution t'me. An' m'roomie's a friend'a this Molly - she's th'one with th'ferrets n' th'geek? What lives on a boat and ain't ... quite ... normal?"

When they're somewhere a little more secluded and Callista asks her question, Addie stares at her again ... though this time, it's sort of incredulity. And then she laughs - it's not at Callista; it's somehow delighted, in fact. "T'ain't a d'vidin' line 'tween y'all'n Sleepers, y'know, C'llista. But no, Ah weren't like ever'one else. Ah's a ... Ah heard s'many terms fer't over th'years. Psychic - though not in th'sense'a mind-readin - an' Artificer an' static sorcerer ... all manner'a terms. But t'start with, most'a m'life, Ah's a pyrokinetic, with a few other talents - biocontrol an' mind shieldin', Ah done heard t'all called. S'what Ah was b'fore ... that place. Some stuff happened an' ... a lotta thangs changed, fer me. Mostly m'thinkin'."

[Callista Alexander] [[WP, just because]]

[Callista Alexander] "You might get a strange look if you admitted to knowing what mule spit tastes like, but I'm no tea snob. I just prefer tea leaves that look younger than I am." Callista takes the water gratefully and twists the cap off, sipping as Addie replies to the safer subjects. She smiles as the other woman describes Molly, coughing a little at ain't ... quite ... normal. "With a level of coffee consumption that puts some countries to shame? That's her."

Addie goes on to explain a little of her background. Given Callista's slightly abbreviated education, the degrees of separation between Sleeping and Waking hadn't been covered. It was simply that everyone Slept, except for a few who Woke. Or so she'd thought. So this does grab her Curiosity by the nose. As they settle on the bench, she follows on with more questions.

"I didn't know. I thought it was a nice clean line, with people on one side or the other. But, then, I've not been Awake all that long. What's the difference between what you did then and what you do now? Pyrokinetic - that's controlling fire, right? Mind shielding, I get. Biocontrol? Can you still do all of that?"

Always more questions.

That other place - what on earth happened there? Callista wants to know, but still... Asking someone she'd only just met about things that have, obviously, affected them so profoundly to cause them to Awaken? It's a struggle, and she's literally biting her tongue to keep it from carrying on, but Callista just about manages to keep her Curiosity under control.

So, carefully, she asks, "You see the world differently now?"

[Addie Calvert] "............Not controllin', s'much. Control's ... what-all Ah got now. What Ah had was ... makin' it." Addie's gaze finds her coffee and locks there, but she doesn't flinch away from the topic. "When Ah's a young'un, t'was ... just li'l thangs; sparks, s'all. 'Nuff t'light a thang, if t'was flammable, or scare off a body what ... needed scarin'. Got bigger'n that just 'round when Ah's eleven. Bigger still when Ah's fifteen; by th'time Ah got t'sixteen, Ah c'd light a piece'a sheet steel, Ah set m'sights on't. Kept it pretty well locked up, though. Din't wanna hurt nobody. 'Cept the couple'a times Ah hadta. Where-all Ah grew up had some ... ideas 'bout what kinda person looks like Ah look an' does th'kinda thangs Ah c'd do." That sort of speaks for itself, though it does leave a lot of room for questions.

To the bit about seeing the world differently, she nods. "Well, mostly m'self. Ah thought Ah's hellspawn. Then Ah found out what-all hellspawn's really like. Few other thangs, prolly don't make a lotta sense if'n y'aint a Christian - which Ah reckon Ah am, even if Ah got no idea what kinda Christian Ah am, 'specially. Stopped bein' so 'fraid'a what-all Ah c'd do. An' ... well, s'like it-all's waitin' fer me t'figure it out. So Ah ain't got no destructive forces'a torchin' no more, but Ah'm glad 'nough t'be shot'a that-all fer th'now. S'better t'know it. Feel it, Ah s'pose. Like Ah said ... s'a long story."

Then she looks back at Callista, finally, and gives a hesitant sort of smile. "As t'lines n'all ... nope. M'first friend on this earth was a tel'path. Ah know a fella here'n Ch'cago what has psychometry - what they-all call bein' a touch-know. Some others do spells in a diff'rent way than y'all, or so's Ah heard - slower n' ... diff'rent, Ah reckon a li'l less with th'understandin'a what-all they-all're doin'? But there's a mess'a ways t'do magic. T'make thangs happen. Ah jus' ... some'd say 'traded up'. Ah dunno if Ah b'lieve that p'tic'lar, but s'how t'all goes, Ah s'pose."

And finally, with the first addressed last, she says, "Yeah, Ah reckon that's her. Ah reckon, from y'all's reaction, that m'friend din't 'xaggerate none?"

[Callista Alexander] Callista looks around the park, keeping an eye on where people are and where they're heading to. Nobody appears to be moving in their direction, so she carries on.

"Well, they do say that looks aren't everything and that appearances can be deceiving. Strange how they usually say that around the same time as 'Well, he was such a quiet sort before he went postal with a shotgun', but it's still true enough. But I guess coming from a God-fearing part of the world, having something out of the ordinary adding to their fear..." Callista shrugs. "People do bad things because they think they're doing the right thing. Are you ever likely to go home? Or would the proverbial villagers-with-torches-and-pitchforks be waiting for you?"

Addie talks about how her view of herself has changed. Callista replies, "It can't have been easy living in fear of yourself. Trying to keep such tight control over yourself, have you had many friends? I imagine there would always be a fear that you could hurt anyone who got too close..?"

Callista listens closely when Addie explains the other ways of working magic. She had always written off psychics and the like as charlatans in the past, certainly before her own Awakening. Then there was always the possibility that some of them could be genuine, bending the world to their will to see distant things, speak with the dead, and the like. But, then, it always seemed that the more someone made of their abilities, the less likely they were to actually have any. After all, the truely aware would probably know of the dangers lurking in the shadows.

"So... it's a bit like following a set of instructions to use something, where you don't know the 'why behind it? Like... turning the TV on, I guess. I know how to do it, but I wouldn't have the first clue about how to build one from scratch."

[Addie Calvert] At the question about whether she was likely to go home, Addie looks up at Callista and just for a second, her eyes take on that burning glow again. Apparently, this is a thing that happens when she's angry or scared, or both. This time, it appears to be the 'scared' bit, and she looks away quickly. But she is a terribly and fundamentally honest person, so she swallows and says, "Ah cain't go home. There ain't no home t'go back to. When Ah's three months shy'a m'sixteenth birthday, folks in town d'cided t'end it fer me, one way or t'other. Either they's gonna exorcise th'demon outta me, fair means'r foul, or they's gonna just up'n kill me. Which's more'r less what Ah'd'a been askin' fer, they got much further on th'exorcism part. T'was th'... y'all c'd say th'nastier sort'a exorcism, where-all they make th'body a ... nasty, uncomf'table place fer anythang, demon'r spirit ... 'r soul ... t'live." She pushes up a sleeve on her jacket to demonstrate what she means - there are burn scars on her wrist - faded, healed too quickly to scar much, but present - in about the pattern you'd expect from scorching rope. "When Ah said's how t'all got even bigger when Ah's fifteen? S'what-all Ah meant. Th'church burned. Most'a th'parish still inside. Ah got out, just 'bout. Th'others? Ah din't see much - Ah's panickin' too much, in too much shock, t'notice much'a anythang - but Ah reckon most'a th'others weren't s'lucky." She shuts her eyes, hunches in on herself and says right out what it's fairly clear she's never admitted out loud but just as clearly has carried with her for a few years. "Ah reckon Ah done killed 'em all. Ah din't mean t'do't. Ah panicked. But that don't change nothin'."

Then she squares her shoulders, raises her head and shakes it off as best she can. Which is pretty well - if nothing else, this girl has willpower in spades. "As t'psychics? Ah dunno; Ah reckon's diff'rent for all'a us. Me? T'was always like Ah's on fire ... inside." She puts a closed fist over her heart to demonstrate. "Ah c'd cut it loose, if'n Ah hadta. Or ... or't got loose all on its own, though Ah worked like a dog t'keep that from happ'nin'. As t'friends ... maybe two, maybe three. Dunno if'n Ah'd call Israel 'friend' yet, but Ah s'pose Ah gotta, a li'l, seein' as how t'was in ... wherever. All after Ah's sixteen. Th'tel'path, m'roomie ... s'it, mostly. Ah ... ain't talked t'people much. Reckon it shows."

[Callista Alexander] If there had been any question of just how bad things had been for Addie, they were gone now. A town who would take a child, already struggling with what she was, and... do that. Instead of support, instead of living their religion and loving thy neighbour, they do what? They twist it. Fearful of something they didn't understand, their faith twists into something that would kill a child. No longer a comfort through bad times, or an inspiration through good times. Something that would take control from an innocent, so much so that they believe they deserve it.

Into this.

Callista stands and takes a couple of steps away as Addie recounts her past. What she's left behind, and what she was still blaming herself for.

As she turns back, she is angry. And, judging by wetness around her eyes, incredibly sad.

"You have nothing to feel sorry for, absolutely nothing. Those people were no more Christians than Nephandi are. Their faith was twisted, and wrong. You shall not kill? You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord? When did they follow those commandments, when they descended on a child? Where did they follow the spirit of their faith? When did they show the love that their Lord and Savior showed to them?" She turns, throwing the water bottle hard into the distance.

Turning back she continues, emotion fading. "I am so, so sorry that you had to go through that. I'm sorry that I asked. I'm sorry that you've had to be so alone."

She crosses her legs and sits on the ground in front of Addie.

[Addie Calvert] "......................"

Addie's reaction to the outburst? First, taken aback, and that descends into a profound sort of shock. She's told (owned up to) this in various degrees to maybe four people in about as many years, and Callista makes five ... and Callista's the first to actually get angry. The fact that the anger's on Addie's behalf is actually the most shocking thing of all. So for a long moment, she just stares at Callista, entirely unsure what to make of it; what to do.

In the end, she takes a leaf out of Israel's book ... or at least, as much of one as she can. Seated not too far away from Callista now (but not too-too close, either; she has proximity issues, as one could probably expect), she raises a tentative hand, hesitates ... then reaches out and touches Callista's hand. It's a brief, fleeting thing, but it wants to provide comfort, odd as that might seem given the circumstances. "...S'alright," she says, still so tentative. "Well ... alright, maybe t'weren't ... t'wasn't ... ain't. T'ain't ... t'ain't right that no one talked t'me 'cept t'call me names 'til Ah's sixteen, r'kicked outta school 'cos they din't wanna teach no demon ... any'a that. Thang is, though, C'llista ... if'n t'wasn't fer that-all ... thing's be diff'rent. Ah ain't sayin' life ain't been hard. Sometimes, though ... y'gotta have that. Ah wouldn't'a come t'knowin' what-all Ah know now if'n Ah hadn't known s'much diff'rent fer s'long. Now ... Ah gotta whole new world'a thangs t'learn 'bout. T'sperience proper, old 'nuff t'preciate't. Ah went through a lot, an' now Ah'm gonna go through more, Ah know ... but Ah got ... poss'bil'ties now. Ah know m'own p'tential. Ah ... came t'a kinda faith. An' now Ah gotta lotta catchin' up t'do, an' s'much'a it's ... nice. Ah ... figured out what-all happiness feels like. That's ... worth ever'thang. Can y'all 'magine feelin' happiness creep up on ya; a thang without a name, an' while that's all warm'n flutt'rin' inside, y'also get that ... lightbulb-in-th'-brain rev'lation moment on toppa that? Ah got that. An' there's gonna be more. Ah ... earned th'world, through that sixteen years. Ah ain't got't in me t'be too angry 'bout that."

[Callista Alexander] After sitting down, Callista had Closed her eyes for a moment while she took a couple of deep breaths. Trying to get back to a sense of balance. So she starts when Addie's hand touches hers. Her eyes flash open and look up at the other woman, listening quietly as she explains that... although bad things happened to her, that they're not holding her back. That she has a sense of wonder, and hope, and that they are definitely alive and kicking.

"I can't," she replies, shrugging. "Not the way you put it. I guess for that you need life to really smack you down, and that's the reward you get for surviving. I suppose it's pointless thinking about how things could have turned out differently - not really a lot we can do about it. Well, not a lot many people can do about it, anyway. But, I... I guess I'm a bit in awe of how you've managed to turn it all around."

"Have you managed to use your new gifts since you got them?"

[Addie Calvert] Addie is a blusher, most of the time, but when the mention of her turning it all around comes, she just shrugs. "Survivin's a thang Ah'm good at," she says. "Been doin' it all m'life. Now ... now Ah get t'live, too. S'a little overwhelmin', but Ah reckon Ah c'n handle it. But ... thankya kindly, since Ah din't say. Fer ... takin' up fer me. Din't stop it, but ... thinkin' Ah din't d'serve that ... s'kinda new t'me. S'always good t'have a body help t'drive that home." Then she smiles a little. "Wouldn'a been able t'turn't 'round if'n people ... r'circumstances ... din't do the drivin', time t'time. Cain't take all th'credit."

To the last question, she shrugs. "Not so's y'd notice, usin' it. Ah ... kinda did, back in th'place we-all's trapped. Last time Ah used th'torchin an' first time Ah did t'other, all'n th'same twenny seconds'r so. Atlas ... he's helpin' th'fires 'long, an' ... Ah felt it - felt them - an' helped him some. Since then ... well, Ah ain't had a lotta energy fer that kinda thang. Or much'a anythang, tell ya true. They-all called it ... Acclimation, what-all Ah's havin'. S'why Ah'm so..." She holds out her arms to accentuate how skinny she's got. (It's been weeks; one can only imagine what she looked like before.) "First four days'r so, Ah c'd barely stand upright. Still have a harder time doin' some thangs. 'Parently that whole thang - walkin' th'other spaces, Ah mean t'say - starts breakin' a body down t'just spirit. That Sendin' bugaboo Ah-dunno-what-all was speedin' thangs up. Don't reckon it meant t'wake two people ... or might'a done; might'a been a better meal fer th'thang that way, Ah dunno. Either way, Israel, she said as how she's gonna test me on some thangs - she reckons Ah kept some'a what-all Ah knew, just in a diff'rent way? But she's been tired too and Ah ain't fixin' t'inconvenience her none. She's been too good t'me fer that."

[Callista Alexander] Callista sighs and smiles. "You're welcome. And.. I'm glad. That you are getting to live. If there's anything I can help you out with..." Callista thinks for a minute, before pulling the ever-present pad and pen from a pocket. She scribbles a phone number down. "Call me."

As to not having used her gifts yet? Callista stands, then sits next to Addie on the bench. "Give me your hand a moment."

[Addie Calvert] ".........Ah thought you said there's good reason y'all din't give people yer number," is her response to the first, but she's smiling a little as she says it. She may not have talked to people much, but she's learned a lot by observation, and it's likely she knows at least part of why she now fits on Callista's trustworthy list. Which is why she holds out her hand for the pen and, after tearing off a blank bit of the paper, she writes down her own. "Likewise, y'hear? Ah ain't some magical master'r nothin', but Ah c'n sling a shotgun like nobody's bus'ness." She gives a little snort of dry amusement and adds, "Yep; Ah'm from Texas, alright."

The request for her hand gets another wary sort of look, but ... well, she admitted to killing (probably) most of a town (if not the whole damn town) to this woman. So while there's a bit of a look, and a stiffening of shoulders (she's bad at hiding it, but she cannot help it; it's a survival trait, deeply ingrained), she does give Callista her hand. Though before they get going, she tries to diffuse some of the nervousness with, "Just t'say, also? Ah think yer name's right pretty." Then, with the bonfire blush again, she adds, "M'name's short fer Adelaide. Adelaide Marie. S'kinda silly. Ah looked it up an' s'a town in Australia. Ah don't go by't r'nothin..." But she wanted to tell Callista anyway, apparently.

[Callista Alexander] "I did. But, then, there are good reasons why I do give my number out, too." Callista smiles, then looks a little surprised as Addie gives her number too. "Don't expect major miracles from me, either, but I have my uses. Mainly digging stuff up, but I know which end of my fist to poke at people in a pinch."

And it's Callista's turn to blush. "Thank you. And Adelaide isn't silly. It's nice. Ever thought about visiting?"

Then, Addie offers her hand. And Callista tries to show her a little something of what she has to look forward to.

((Right, Kahseeno. Play nice. Mind scan. Coincidental, base diff 4. Resonance (searching) -1, so diff down to 3. 1 succ for effect, 1 for letting Addie see too.))

[Addie Calvert] There's a touch on Addie's mind and the eyes flash again; she's been trained for this sort of thing for four years or so, and this? This is no different, except that it feels different; like the phoenix in her rises up to help shore up the steel walls that Zeb taught her to put up in her own mind.

[[WTF?!? Mind Shield - coincidental so base diff 4; -1 practiced so down to diff 3, +WP]]

[Callista Alexander] Callista tries to share the extra sense she's willed into momentary existence, intending to share the expanded sensation with Addie. But, instead, it feels... well, wrong. While the effect lasts Addie feels... scared. Angry. And the effect fades.

"Damn," she says quietly. "I should have warned you first, I'm sorry. I wanted to show you Mind, let you feel what's out there. A little of what you have to look forward to." She sighs.

"I'm sorry if I scared you. It.. I should have asked."

[Addie Calvert] Addie closes her eyes, takes a couple of deep breaths, and then nods. "M'sorry. Ah din't mean t'get all scary at'cha. S'just ... Well, Ah said as how Ah had a friend who's a tel'path? He taught me t'shield m'mind near's soon's we met. Said as how a body who c'd do what-all Ah could do oughtn't have another body trompin' around m'brain. Takin' m'secrets'r makin' me ... do ... thangs. S'a reflex now." There's a sheepish, reluctant sort of smile as she adds, "M'just glad t'know fer sure Ah ain't lost that. Be a cryin' shame, after three years'a teachin', t'lose that."

Then she looks over at Callista, showing one of the first signs of curiosity. "How d'you do that? Feel ... what's out there, Ah mean t'say? Ah reckon's diff'rent fer everyone, but ... Ah hear tell 'bout focuses ... r'foci r'some-odd. How d'y'all make't happen?"

[Callista Alexander] "Don't apologise, I really should have warned you first. But, now, I'm curious how you did that. Maybe it's something left over from before, but maybe you have a little Mind skill rolling around in there. Although Israel is definitely a better person to figure out where your talents lie than I am. She has been doing this a touch longer."

Addie asks how she does it? "A focus - foci is more than one of them - is a tool for concentrating your will. Different people have their own foci, and tend to have different ones for the different Spheres. I guess you've been told about those..? Anyway, I have a little Mind skill of my own. The way I was taught - the way my Tradition taught me, really - is through clearing my mind. The idea is that if your mind is too busy worrying about things, then there's too much noise to be able to sense anyone else's."

"Take that noise away - calm your thoughts until your mind becomes quiet - and..." She laughs as she tries to find the right words.

"I haven't tried to explain this to anyone before, so bear with me. Picture the universe, the whole thing, with a single mind. Every life that exists contains a fragment of that single mind. Those fragments are how the universe experiences and learns, so they're all still connected with each other. But... For most people, their mind gets in the way of seeing the others. So I try to get my own mind still, which lets me follow those connections."

"I can feel what's out there, but don't have the.. Strength? Knowledge? Probably a little of both.. to be able to affect anything. Yet, anyway."

She grins. "Does that answer your question? I'm not sure if that's any help whatsoever."

[Addie Calvert] Addie considers the first thing, then shrugs. "Ah don' think's th'same thang. S'like ... how-all Ah did't's same's b'fore? But ... s'more b'hind it. S'like ... when Ah first woke up? S'like th'fire'n me ... burned inta somethin' new. Like one'a them firebirds. Phoenix, y'know? 'Cept with a voice. An' ... when Ah put th'walls up? That phoenix-bird inside'a me ... held 'em. Wasn't ... just me, fightin' fer it n'more. Was ... easier." This is a revelation, apparently.

Then she considers the rest of what Callista says, about how she does things, but it's apparently too much for someone who has had no experience with abstract thought on any kind of scale. (Someone curious might wonder exactly how old she was when she was, as she admitted, kicked out of school.) She tries, clearly, but then she shakes her head. "Ah s'pose's what works fer y'all, but ... sounds a mite compl'cated t'me. Ah'd reckon more that if th'world's noise, s'all 'bout ... tryin' t'hear it clearer. Like..." She looks over at Callista and says, "If'n y'all don't mind ... Ah'm gonna try t'see if'n Ah c'n do what y'all were d'scribin' ... an' Ah'd like t'clue y'all in like y'all tried with me, so's Ah'll have a body t'tell me if'n Ah'm doin' it right."

Assuming she gets agreement, Addie closes her eyes, takes a breath and clasps her hands before her, dredging up some memory. Quietly, she murmurs, "For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face: now Ah know in part, but then shall Ah know even as also Ah am known..." That as she pulls on the watchfulness, the awareness of people and their moods that's helped her keep one step ahead of ... well, a lot of things that would cause her harm at one point or another.

[[General impression of minds in the area; coincidental so diff 4, +1 for first time, -1 for focus, -1 for resonance match (Fervent, for prayer and striving) so diff 3, + WP]]

[Callista Alexander] ((You up to something there? Per+Aware))

[Callista Alexander] "Has anyone mentioned Avatars to you, yet? Mine seems to be happy to hang around in the shadows, and I've not really seen it yet, but that phoenix of yours? That sounds like yours. It's... that's the bit that's sleeps in most people." Someone suitably perceptive might notice a hint of annoyance in Callista's voice.

As for it being complicated, well.. It is, really. Many people would write it off as too complicated, too new-age, a load of hippy crap that doesn't work for them. But, as Addie says, it works for her. She tries another way to explain, though. "Ok, think that you're sat in a crowded train. Everyone, you included, has music playing through headphones. To be able to head anyone else's, you need to turn yours off first. But if you want to give it a try, you go for it! See what works for you."

So Callista sits and watches as Addie works her will. The sense of what's happening is different to how it feels when she's working, but there's enough similarity there to get the impression that it's working properly. Smiling, she asks, "What do you feel?"

[Addie Calvert] [[Extending, +1 diff.]]

[Addie Calvert] [[Mrr. One more time, thankfully don't need to extend again, but if this fails, that's it. Stupid rules, and c'mon, Kasheeno...]]

[Addie Calvert] Addie feels like she's getting it, really ... and then Callista speaks. It's distracting enough, given the very newness of what it is she's trying to do, that she loses the thread, tries to get it back ... and fails. "Aw, tarnation!" She looks unutterably frustrated with herself, and unclasps her hands to run them through her hair. "Felt like ... Ah almost got ... somethin', but Ah's tryin' ... couldn't get a link t'ya an' keep't goin', both't once. But Ah nearly had somethin'; Ah know it!" Then she wrinkles up her nose a little and admits, "Also ... Ah kinda wonder if'n t'ain't a mite ... nosey-nasty, pokin' around at people's heads when they ain't lookin'? Though Ah reckon Ah see how-all it'd be useful. And prolly not s'diff'rent from lookin' at 'em real close-like t'see what-all they're thinkin'." And so she shrugs that particular abstract off like she does most others, leaving straight-forward thinking in its wake.

Then she looks over and says, "As t'th'Av'tar? Ah done heard 'bout that long b'fore Ah done woke up. Guy name'a Nathan, he first met me and weren't sure Ah weren't one'a y'all, though Ah hear as how Ah felt a mite diff'rent. He talked 'bout a lotta thangs, an' Av'tar's just one more. Though at th'time, only Av'tar Ah done heard'a was th'movie with th'freaky-lookin' blue folks Ah seen on th'posters." She shrugs. "But yep; Ah reckon y'all're right. Sounds like th'freaky kinda thang Ah'd have fer some-odd like that."

After a moment of mulling over that, she looks at the quality of the light in the sky, then checks her watch. "Aw, dang; Ah sh'd prolly mosey. M'roomie's been ... kinda pr'tective'a me since Ah ... got back inta town. So Ah oughta get back b'fore she-all starts rustlin' up search parties'r some-odd. But ... was a pleasure t'meetcha, an' ... Ah'd like t'talk t'y'all 'gain, if'n t'wouldn't inconvenience y'none." Blushing again, and bashful, but sincere. An awkward, untested kind of charm.

[Callista Alexander] If it hadn't been obvious that Addie had personal space issues, Callista would have patted her on the shoulder. The advice, though, is the same. "I think you were close. Very close! What you were doing certainly felt right from where I was sitting. But... Start simpler. Don't make things any harder than you have to, working this stuff is hard enough is as it is. Practice just extending your own senses before worrying about letting anyone else see."

The ethics of snooping around other people's minds had already crossed Callista's in the past. Thankfully, she isn't really in a position for that to be an issue yet. But Addie had asked, so Callista let her know her opinion. "To start with, all you're likely to get is a general feeling of their emotions. Like you say, it's the kind of thing you can pick up from body language and the like. But it can also be kinda handy for spotting people trying to hide in shadows. You might not see their body, but you know the mind's there. As for poking around in actual thoughts? Ask me in a few months, I might have figured out where I stand on that. One thing I'm already clear on, though, is controlling others. I will not do it, at least without a damned good life-or-death reason for it."

It is getting late, though, and Addie is right about moving on. "It's been good to meet you too, Addie. And no problem about talking again! Leave a message if I don't pick up, and I'll get back to you when I can. I sometime get a little buried in work and study, but surface eventually."