Foreseeing the need for more tea
Jan. 28th, 2011 05:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shelbyrouIt is currently 12:34 Pacific Time on Fri Jan 28 2011.
Currently the moon is in the waning Crescent (Theurge) Moon phase (39% full).
Edgewood House: Downstairs
The front door leads into a small mudroom; coats are hanging on hooks. It opens into the spacious, well lit living room, with several battered old couches arranged into a sort of conversation pit facing the fireplace, a table in the center of them. There are a few chairs, some straight-backed, some plush and comfortable, arranged to make secondary conversation areas, with little end tables placed in strategic locations. There's a notable absence of either breakable objects, or elaborate electrical equipment such as televisions. The walls, painted an increasingly dingy white, have some sweeping dark fabric prints on them, but no paintings or posters. A steep, uncarpeted staircase leads up to the second floor. There are several doors that lead out to other sections of the house, as well. (+view for details)
Obvious exits:
Front Door Upstairs
It's been a week since the Shadow Lord and Silver Fang last spoke, but once again it's a rainy day in Saint Claire. This time, instead of hot cocoa on the stove, there's a tea kettle instead, and a canister claiming to contain Irish Breakfast waiting beside the pair of mugs. Shelby leans against the counter as she waits, idly poking at an iPhone.
Xander comes on in the front door, but his clothes are dry enough and his hair is wet enough to suggest he's probably been in lupus for a little while. "Jesus, does it ever stop raining here?" the Shadow Lord grumps once he's in far enough to spot the Fang. "Hey."
Looking up from her phone, Shelby smiles wryly. "It was pretty nice last summer. It wasn't warm or anything, but at least it wasn't raining." She slips the gadget away and gives a nod toward the stove. "You're just in time for tea. That's what I'm going to use for that rite - tea leaves." A sidelong glance back toward the theurge is half-challenging, half-uncertain.
Xander's nose wrinkles. "Not warm in summer? Man, the northwest is weird." He looks amused, though, and runs his fingers through his rain-wet hair, slicking it back. He doesn't really pull off that look very well. "Yeah? Cool, sounds good. I can show it to ya today if you want."
Shelby nods bleak agreement as the kettle starts to whistle. "Never even got hot. I could have worn a coat all summer. --Practically did," she adds, with an amused nod toward Xander's dampness. She makes short work of pouring out water into the cups, both of which have leaves floating free within. "So what do you use? Dice? Cards? There's milk in the fridge, if you want it. I think there's honey in one of the cupboards too."
"Cards," he replies evenly, peering into the cup thoughtfully before going to fetch honey from the cupboards. "I feel like every time we talk there's some kinda drink involved," he muses. "Not that I'm griping, this is good after being out there."
"Gives us something to do with our hands," she says breezily, lifting her mug in order to flutter her eyelashes at him over the rim. "I did a little reading on how to do this, but I'm no expert, or anything. I figure whatever Gaia gives will be loads better than some book, anyway."
Xander looks a bit impressed. "Hey, not everyone reads up. Kudos to you. Makes the teachin' job a heck of a lot easier." He finishes putting honey in the tea, and starts stirring it. "You wanna go sit down?"
Shelby's face fairly lights up for a moment before she tamps it down to merely a smug smile. "Thank you. Yes, let's." Leading the way back to the living room, she settles gracefully onto the couch, legs folded to the side. "So while we're waiting for me to actually get some tea leaves - and the books never said what you should do if you actually eat one, ugh - what's the next step?"
"Eat one...?" For an instant, Xander looks rather amused, but he swallows it down as he settles into the chair opposite her. "Well. Are you gonna be using dry tea leaves or tea leaves on the surface of the water? Honestly if you do the latter, it'll be pretty easy for you to practice it, since you seem to have tea pretty often."
"Dry-ish," the ragabash clarifies, tipping her mug at him. "You're supposed to - at least, the books said to do it this way - supposed to make tea with the leaves loose in the mug or pot, then read what's left. But I usually end up swallowing at least a couple of leaves. Hopefully that's accounted for, and I didn't just eat some dire harbinger or something."
Xander grins. "You'll eat the leaf that dooms us all. Great. What am I teaching this again for?" The Shadow Lord shakes his head, amused. "Nah. Kind of the point of the rite is reading how they fall. Things fall a certain way, or look a certain way, for a reason. If there's something missing, or something that's not there, it's that way for a reason. So, yeah, you won't be messing things up."
Shelby, cause of the End Times, says, "I demand a philodox to clear my name!" before calmly having more tea. "Oh, I think I see. We're looking for foreshadowing, not skipping ahead to the end of the book. Looking for... for patterns and inclinations, not things written in stone. Right?"
"Exactly," the Shadow Lord replies, taking a casual sip of the tea. "It's often a lot of ..." he waves a hand, trying to think of the word, "... interpretation, too. It takes some practice, both in learning what things mean and how to put it all together."
"...Okay," the girl nods, after a moment to think and yet more tea. "I think getting a notebook to write all this down - to go back and look at things after they've happened, and see where things went right - would be a good idea. Or is that too... too concrete?"
"Actually, it'd probably be a good idea," Xander agrees. "As long as you understand that not every sign will be identical, and that it won't give away anything if any non-garou find it, obviously. But yeah, I think using that to track things would be fine."
"I was raised in a Sept, so I understand about keeping the Veil," Shelby says mildly. "But your warning's noted." Another pause for more tea, and she gives the coffee table a nod. "Can you give an example? Not with tea leaves, of course, but with the cards?"
"Just sayin'," Xander replies with a shrug, and goes to dig in his jacket pockets. "Yeah, I'd brought 'em with me so you could see. This is one of the first rites I learned." The aforementioned deck of cards is ancient, battered, and looks like they've probably been through a washing machine at least once.
Interested, Shelby scooches forward, leaning more when else she'd fall off the couch. "Aw, it's your baby rite," she teases with a wrinkle of her nose. "I'll shush, and let you do your thing." A finger held to her lips seals the deal, and as good as her word, she goes quiet to let the theurge work.
The door opens, at first just a crack, but after a pause it pushes the rest of the way. The large man who enters appears a bit disshevled, and not just from the rain. He could have been lost in the woods for a month, given the state of his clothes, and the dirt that seems to cover every exposed inch of him. But for all that, his breeding is unmistakable, as he stands at the threshold and looks over at the pair.
Xander grins. "We all have to start somewhere." He starts shuffling the cards with practiced ease, frowning down at them. "When you're doing this, you want to focus on what you want to know, and what they can tell you." Before he can really get into it, however, he's distracted by the door; the Shadow Lord glances over, brows raised in a mildly questioning manner. "Hey."
Isaac appears to be in his late twenties. At about six feet, his broad and muscular shoulders lend his frame a boxy appearance. Dark, reddish hair is long and shaggy, unkempt beneath the too small cowboy hat. His face bears a bushy beard, a brighter red than his hair. Hazel-green eyes seem unfocused, and rarely maintain contact for long, drifting from point to point. His large hands are warm, and despite calouses of hard use, still soft and often clammy. His, perhaps overly lean frame is clothed in relatively new garments. He wears a once white T-shirt, now greyed with dirt and wear. Dirt stained, but unfaded jeans cover his legs, and mud-stained and scuffed white running shoes adorn his feet. Around his waist, proudly displayed and not through any beltloops, he wears a large belt with a big, bull belt-buckle. The slightly too small black cowboy hat is pulled snuggly onto his head. His round face is not so large as to be too large; neither is it too thin. It is not, in fact, most things; and yet it is pronounced in a way that words do not well describe. It seems that you may have seen this man before; though where you cannot say.
A nod, and an, "All right," break Shelby's silence; she turns to look at the door at nearly the same time as the Lord. After taking in the newcomer the girl sits just a bit straighter. Her, "Can we help you?" is ever so faintly challenging, though not without welcome.
The man hesitates for another second and then steps the rest of the way in and closes the door behind him. "Hello," he says to both, as though there were nothing at all odd in his appearance, and without any sign that he's noticed the questioning, or the challenge put to him. He grins and shakes his head. "I was hungry," he explains in a voice somewhat low in tone, though not particularly quiet. "I can make a sandwich."
"Well, there's sandwich stuff," Xander replies, with a brief glance toward the kitchen. "Haven't seen you around before. Though," he adds, more wryly, "Not like that's a weird thing right now, I guess. You got a name?" The cards are still absently shuffled in his hands, though his attention isn't really on them right now. His posture stays relaxed and more mildly curious than anything.
"Yes," Shelby agrees, "introductions all around, I think." A nod to Isaac invites him to start.
Isaac takes a couple steps toward the kitchen, but when Xander asks his name, he stops again and turns to face the two. "I'm Isaac," he says and then grins again. "The mirror lady calls me Innocence, but Sepdet calls me Open Heart. And sometimes people called me Chews Rocks, but mostly they don't say that, anymore." Then, as an afterthought, he adds, "I'm a philodox. A Silver Fang."
Xander doesn't register any recognition with the name Sepdet, but to the rest he nods. "Huh, cool. Good to meet you. Name's Xander Yin, Night's-Shadow. Cliath and Theurge to the Shadow Lords."
"I'm Shelby Zaleski-Leveque, great-great-granddaughter of the adren galliard Winter's Snow on Summer's Branches, the adren philodox Silver Sword with Two Blades, and the adren galliard Falcon's Cry Turns Tears to Blood," the Ragabash chimes in, face pleasantly neutral for the names Isaac drops. "I'm called Falcon's Gambit Accepted. Also cliath, ragabash." She doesn't bother to mention her own tribe. "I think I saw some roast beef in the fridge, and there was half a loaf of bread left when I looked." A nod for the philodox, and she turns expectantly back to Xander, her eyebrows lifting toward his cards.
Isaac smiles at Xander's introduction, until the tribe is mentioned, at which point his eyes widen a fraction and he turns a little pale. Then Shelby starts to speak and he listens, jaw going slack, until she's finished. "Okay," he says, and simply stands there for a beat. Then he turns and continues on toward the kitchen.
Xander watches after Isaac for a moment thoughtfully, and then shrugs a shoulder to Shelby and carries on with his demonstration. "Don't let what you want them to say, or what you'd like to hear, get in your head. For these, I just keep shuffling them until it feels 'right', sometimes it takes awhile."
Shelby allows Isaac to continue on his way without further interruption, her attention given instead to the lesson. "Okay," she says dubiously, giving her tea a glance before looking back to the theurge. "So... you figure out what you want to know, then you look at what you're told, instead of looking for what you want to hear. Got it." She nods as if done before immediately adding, "Are you allowed to say what you're looking for, or should it stay secret?"
From the kitchen come the typical sounds of sandwich making.
"That," he says, distracted, as he flips the cards down somewhat indiscriminately; some land face-up, some face-down, and at all sorts of angles, "Is up to you. I personally don't like to."
"Got it," the ragabash agrees. "I can see how it could disrupt your concentration." She gives her tea another look, then purses her lips as if in thought, has a last drink, and sets the cup on her knees. "Do you do that," a nod toward the flipping, "until it feels right, too?"
There's a clatter as something falls to the floor, followed almost immediately by a rather loud, "Oops!" And then the scrabbling sounds of a hasty clean-up effort.
Xander seems a little lost in thought, and stops after about ten cards. "Yup," he finally answers. "For the way you want to do it, it'll be a little different; you'll be reading the tea leaves, obviously. If--" And then the clatter and exclamation from the kitchen makes him start a little, and two of the cards in his hand slip out from the deck and scatter on those already piled. He frowns darkly and grumbles a curse under his breath. "Well," he grumps. "That," he explains, dryly, "is how you mess the Rite up. But, regardless. What you'll do is read why things fell the way they do-- what each position means, what it means as a whole."
Shelby sends a look toward the kitchen but doesn't go to look; instead she turns back to Xander with half of a smile. "I saw which two got 'added'," she makes air quotes, "if you want to take them off. Or," as the thought strikes her, "you could just read it like this. I mean, you say to read things the way they fall, and those fell, even if you didn't plan it." A nod toward the entire pile and she gives the theurge a charming smile. "So...? Could you interpret that for me, so I get an idea?"
The sounds from the kitchen continue as the pair converse, and eventually Isaac returns, hands wrapped around an overstuffed sandwich with a glob of mayo about to drip from the edge.
"Good point," the theurge replies, and then ponders the results. "Well. More are face-up than face-down; that's positive versus negative. So, the chances are in the positive favor." He points to a few. "The numbers that fell also emphasize that. They're also all numbers; the royal cards usually mean there's going to be a heavy influence that comes into play." He goes on to point out a few more details, explaining their significance; he doesn't appear to notice Isaac's reappearance.
Shelby, at least, does: she gives the Philodox a vague sort of nod, though the bulk of her attention remains on Xander and the cards. "So overall it looks like a positive answer to whatever it was you asked." She sounds unaccountably pleased by that, with a nod for emphasis. "So I'll get a book on tea leaf reading, at least to get me started with the symbols and things. The final interpretation is up to me. Thank you, Xander, you're a really good teacher."
Isaac takes a large bite of is sandwich and the reaches out to point at the cards. Mouth still full, he speaks through the mash of bread and meat. "Fepdep hab suv ov vose."
Xander grins, pleased. "Thanks. That's a good idea. Lemme know if you run into any roadblocks." He glances over at Isaac, and it takes him a second to process what was said around the food. "Uh. Oh, these?" He starts gathering up the spilled cards, tapping them back into the deck with no real order aside from all facing the same way. "Did they use it for the rite, too, or...?"
The girl returns Xander's grin with another of her bright smiles, though it fades when Isaac mumbles. "I'm sorry," she says crisply, lifting her mug again, "I don't speak 'my mouth is full'. Could you repeat that in English, please?"
Isaac swallows the larger portion of what's in his mouth, though traces remain, particularly around his teeth, visible when he speaks. "Sepdet has some of those," he says to Shelby. His expression shows concern for the other Silver Fang, as though her inability to understand him might demonstrate some underlying injury on her part. Still, he grins when he turns back to Xander again. "She makes them tell her things. Sometimes she just knows things and sometimes those things tell her."
"Ah, yeah," Xander replies, tipping the cards toward Shelby. "There y'go, another example. They work, I tell you." That last bit is half-amused, and he packages the things up in their cardboard container.
"Ah," says Shelby, just as though Isaac had translated from some foreign language, "thank you." Xander gets another smile and a light, "I never said they didn't. What sort of student would I be, contradicting my teacher?" She glances out the window, then pulls out her phone and frowns at the time. "Crap. I have to run. Thanks again for the lesson, Xander, and it was good meeting you, Isaac."
Isaac takes another big bite of the sandwich as he watches. He's still chewing when Shelby looks at the time. "Ngy," he says around the bite and waves a little with the sandwich.
"Later, Shelby. No prob. See you around." Xander gives a little wave, repocketing the cards and reaching over to pick up his mug of tea again.
The ragabash frowns faintly at Isaac as she stands, but retreats back to the kitchen without another word. There's an electronic 'click' that sounds like a camera shutter, then the sound of water running. After a few more moments, the back door opens and closes again.
Currently the moon is in the waning Crescent (Theurge) Moon phase (39% full).
Edgewood House: Downstairs
The front door leads into a small mudroom; coats are hanging on hooks. It opens into the spacious, well lit living room, with several battered old couches arranged into a sort of conversation pit facing the fireplace, a table in the center of them. There are a few chairs, some straight-backed, some plush and comfortable, arranged to make secondary conversation areas, with little end tables placed in strategic locations. There's a notable absence of either breakable objects, or elaborate electrical equipment such as televisions. The walls, painted an increasingly dingy white, have some sweeping dark fabric prints on them, but no paintings or posters. A steep, uncarpeted staircase leads up to the second floor. There are several doors that lead out to other sections of the house, as well. (+view for details)
Obvious exits:
Front Door Upstairs
It's been a week since the Shadow Lord and Silver Fang last spoke, but once again it's a rainy day in Saint Claire. This time, instead of hot cocoa on the stove, there's a tea kettle instead, and a canister claiming to contain Irish Breakfast waiting beside the pair of mugs. Shelby leans against the counter as she waits, idly poking at an iPhone.
Xander comes on in the front door, but his clothes are dry enough and his hair is wet enough to suggest he's probably been in lupus for a little while. "Jesus, does it ever stop raining here?" the Shadow Lord grumps once he's in far enough to spot the Fang. "Hey."
Looking up from her phone, Shelby smiles wryly. "It was pretty nice last summer. It wasn't warm or anything, but at least it wasn't raining." She slips the gadget away and gives a nod toward the stove. "You're just in time for tea. That's what I'm going to use for that rite - tea leaves." A sidelong glance back toward the theurge is half-challenging, half-uncertain.
Xander's nose wrinkles. "Not warm in summer? Man, the northwest is weird." He looks amused, though, and runs his fingers through his rain-wet hair, slicking it back. He doesn't really pull off that look very well. "Yeah? Cool, sounds good. I can show it to ya today if you want."
Shelby nods bleak agreement as the kettle starts to whistle. "Never even got hot. I could have worn a coat all summer. --Practically did," she adds, with an amused nod toward Xander's dampness. She makes short work of pouring out water into the cups, both of which have leaves floating free within. "So what do you use? Dice? Cards? There's milk in the fridge, if you want it. I think there's honey in one of the cupboards too."
"Cards," he replies evenly, peering into the cup thoughtfully before going to fetch honey from the cupboards. "I feel like every time we talk there's some kinda drink involved," he muses. "Not that I'm griping, this is good after being out there."
"Gives us something to do with our hands," she says breezily, lifting her mug in order to flutter her eyelashes at him over the rim. "I did a little reading on how to do this, but I'm no expert, or anything. I figure whatever Gaia gives will be loads better than some book, anyway."
Xander looks a bit impressed. "Hey, not everyone reads up. Kudos to you. Makes the teachin' job a heck of a lot easier." He finishes putting honey in the tea, and starts stirring it. "You wanna go sit down?"
Shelby's face fairly lights up for a moment before she tamps it down to merely a smug smile. "Thank you. Yes, let's." Leading the way back to the living room, she settles gracefully onto the couch, legs folded to the side. "So while we're waiting for me to actually get some tea leaves - and the books never said what you should do if you actually eat one, ugh - what's the next step?"
"Eat one...?" For an instant, Xander looks rather amused, but he swallows it down as he settles into the chair opposite her. "Well. Are you gonna be using dry tea leaves or tea leaves on the surface of the water? Honestly if you do the latter, it'll be pretty easy for you to practice it, since you seem to have tea pretty often."
"Dry-ish," the ragabash clarifies, tipping her mug at him. "You're supposed to - at least, the books said to do it this way - supposed to make tea with the leaves loose in the mug or pot, then read what's left. But I usually end up swallowing at least a couple of leaves. Hopefully that's accounted for, and I didn't just eat some dire harbinger or something."
Xander grins. "You'll eat the leaf that dooms us all. Great. What am I teaching this again for?" The Shadow Lord shakes his head, amused. "Nah. Kind of the point of the rite is reading how they fall. Things fall a certain way, or look a certain way, for a reason. If there's something missing, or something that's not there, it's that way for a reason. So, yeah, you won't be messing things up."
Shelby, cause of the End Times, says, "I demand a philodox to clear my name!" before calmly having more tea. "Oh, I think I see. We're looking for foreshadowing, not skipping ahead to the end of the book. Looking for... for patterns and inclinations, not things written in stone. Right?"
"Exactly," the Shadow Lord replies, taking a casual sip of the tea. "It's often a lot of ..." he waves a hand, trying to think of the word, "... interpretation, too. It takes some practice, both in learning what things mean and how to put it all together."
"...Okay," the girl nods, after a moment to think and yet more tea. "I think getting a notebook to write all this down - to go back and look at things after they've happened, and see where things went right - would be a good idea. Or is that too... too concrete?"
"Actually, it'd probably be a good idea," Xander agrees. "As long as you understand that not every sign will be identical, and that it won't give away anything if any non-garou find it, obviously. But yeah, I think using that to track things would be fine."
"I was raised in a Sept, so I understand about keeping the Veil," Shelby says mildly. "But your warning's noted." Another pause for more tea, and she gives the coffee table a nod. "Can you give an example? Not with tea leaves, of course, but with the cards?"
"Just sayin'," Xander replies with a shrug, and goes to dig in his jacket pockets. "Yeah, I'd brought 'em with me so you could see. This is one of the first rites I learned." The aforementioned deck of cards is ancient, battered, and looks like they've probably been through a washing machine at least once.
Interested, Shelby scooches forward, leaning more when else she'd fall off the couch. "Aw, it's your baby rite," she teases with a wrinkle of her nose. "I'll shush, and let you do your thing." A finger held to her lips seals the deal, and as good as her word, she goes quiet to let the theurge work.
The door opens, at first just a crack, but after a pause it pushes the rest of the way. The large man who enters appears a bit disshevled, and not just from the rain. He could have been lost in the woods for a month, given the state of his clothes, and the dirt that seems to cover every exposed inch of him. But for all that, his breeding is unmistakable, as he stands at the threshold and looks over at the pair.
Xander grins. "We all have to start somewhere." He starts shuffling the cards with practiced ease, frowning down at them. "When you're doing this, you want to focus on what you want to know, and what they can tell you." Before he can really get into it, however, he's distracted by the door; the Shadow Lord glances over, brows raised in a mildly questioning manner. "Hey."
Isaac appears to be in his late twenties. At about six feet, his broad and muscular shoulders lend his frame a boxy appearance. Dark, reddish hair is long and shaggy, unkempt beneath the too small cowboy hat. His face bears a bushy beard, a brighter red than his hair. Hazel-green eyes seem unfocused, and rarely maintain contact for long, drifting from point to point. His large hands are warm, and despite calouses of hard use, still soft and often clammy. His, perhaps overly lean frame is clothed in relatively new garments. He wears a once white T-shirt, now greyed with dirt and wear. Dirt stained, but unfaded jeans cover his legs, and mud-stained and scuffed white running shoes adorn his feet. Around his waist, proudly displayed and not through any beltloops, he wears a large belt with a big, bull belt-buckle. The slightly too small black cowboy hat is pulled snuggly onto his head. His round face is not so large as to be too large; neither is it too thin. It is not, in fact, most things; and yet it is pronounced in a way that words do not well describe. It seems that you may have seen this man before; though where you cannot say.
A nod, and an, "All right," break Shelby's silence; she turns to look at the door at nearly the same time as the Lord. After taking in the newcomer the girl sits just a bit straighter. Her, "Can we help you?" is ever so faintly challenging, though not without welcome.
The man hesitates for another second and then steps the rest of the way in and closes the door behind him. "Hello," he says to both, as though there were nothing at all odd in his appearance, and without any sign that he's noticed the questioning, or the challenge put to him. He grins and shakes his head. "I was hungry," he explains in a voice somewhat low in tone, though not particularly quiet. "I can make a sandwich."
"Well, there's sandwich stuff," Xander replies, with a brief glance toward the kitchen. "Haven't seen you around before. Though," he adds, more wryly, "Not like that's a weird thing right now, I guess. You got a name?" The cards are still absently shuffled in his hands, though his attention isn't really on them right now. His posture stays relaxed and more mildly curious than anything.
"Yes," Shelby agrees, "introductions all around, I think." A nod to Isaac invites him to start.
Isaac takes a couple steps toward the kitchen, but when Xander asks his name, he stops again and turns to face the two. "I'm Isaac," he says and then grins again. "The mirror lady calls me Innocence, but Sepdet calls me Open Heart. And sometimes people called me Chews Rocks, but mostly they don't say that, anymore." Then, as an afterthought, he adds, "I'm a philodox. A Silver Fang."
Xander doesn't register any recognition with the name Sepdet, but to the rest he nods. "Huh, cool. Good to meet you. Name's Xander Yin, Night's-Shadow. Cliath and Theurge to the Shadow Lords."
"I'm Shelby Zaleski-Leveque, great-great-granddaughter of the adren galliard Winter's Snow on Summer's Branches, the adren philodox Silver Sword with Two Blades, and the adren galliard Falcon's Cry Turns Tears to Blood," the Ragabash chimes in, face pleasantly neutral for the names Isaac drops. "I'm called Falcon's Gambit Accepted. Also cliath, ragabash." She doesn't bother to mention her own tribe. "I think I saw some roast beef in the fridge, and there was half a loaf of bread left when I looked." A nod for the philodox, and she turns expectantly back to Xander, her eyebrows lifting toward his cards.
Isaac smiles at Xander's introduction, until the tribe is mentioned, at which point his eyes widen a fraction and he turns a little pale. Then Shelby starts to speak and he listens, jaw going slack, until she's finished. "Okay," he says, and simply stands there for a beat. Then he turns and continues on toward the kitchen.
Xander watches after Isaac for a moment thoughtfully, and then shrugs a shoulder to Shelby and carries on with his demonstration. "Don't let what you want them to say, or what you'd like to hear, get in your head. For these, I just keep shuffling them until it feels 'right', sometimes it takes awhile."
Shelby allows Isaac to continue on his way without further interruption, her attention given instead to the lesson. "Okay," she says dubiously, giving her tea a glance before looking back to the theurge. "So... you figure out what you want to know, then you look at what you're told, instead of looking for what you want to hear. Got it." She nods as if done before immediately adding, "Are you allowed to say what you're looking for, or should it stay secret?"
From the kitchen come the typical sounds of sandwich making.
"That," he says, distracted, as he flips the cards down somewhat indiscriminately; some land face-up, some face-down, and at all sorts of angles, "Is up to you. I personally don't like to."
"Got it," the ragabash agrees. "I can see how it could disrupt your concentration." She gives her tea another look, then purses her lips as if in thought, has a last drink, and sets the cup on her knees. "Do you do that," a nod toward the flipping, "until it feels right, too?"
There's a clatter as something falls to the floor, followed almost immediately by a rather loud, "Oops!" And then the scrabbling sounds of a hasty clean-up effort.
Xander seems a little lost in thought, and stops after about ten cards. "Yup," he finally answers. "For the way you want to do it, it'll be a little different; you'll be reading the tea leaves, obviously. If--" And then the clatter and exclamation from the kitchen makes him start a little, and two of the cards in his hand slip out from the deck and scatter on those already piled. He frowns darkly and grumbles a curse under his breath. "Well," he grumps. "That," he explains, dryly, "is how you mess the Rite up. But, regardless. What you'll do is read why things fell the way they do-- what each position means, what it means as a whole."
Shelby sends a look toward the kitchen but doesn't go to look; instead she turns back to Xander with half of a smile. "I saw which two got 'added'," she makes air quotes, "if you want to take them off. Or," as the thought strikes her, "you could just read it like this. I mean, you say to read things the way they fall, and those fell, even if you didn't plan it." A nod toward the entire pile and she gives the theurge a charming smile. "So...? Could you interpret that for me, so I get an idea?"
The sounds from the kitchen continue as the pair converse, and eventually Isaac returns, hands wrapped around an overstuffed sandwich with a glob of mayo about to drip from the edge.
"Good point," the theurge replies, and then ponders the results. "Well. More are face-up than face-down; that's positive versus negative. So, the chances are in the positive favor." He points to a few. "The numbers that fell also emphasize that. They're also all numbers; the royal cards usually mean there's going to be a heavy influence that comes into play." He goes on to point out a few more details, explaining their significance; he doesn't appear to notice Isaac's reappearance.
Shelby, at least, does: she gives the Philodox a vague sort of nod, though the bulk of her attention remains on Xander and the cards. "So overall it looks like a positive answer to whatever it was you asked." She sounds unaccountably pleased by that, with a nod for emphasis. "So I'll get a book on tea leaf reading, at least to get me started with the symbols and things. The final interpretation is up to me. Thank you, Xander, you're a really good teacher."
Isaac takes a large bite of is sandwich and the reaches out to point at the cards. Mouth still full, he speaks through the mash of bread and meat. "Fepdep hab suv ov vose."
Xander grins, pleased. "Thanks. That's a good idea. Lemme know if you run into any roadblocks." He glances over at Isaac, and it takes him a second to process what was said around the food. "Uh. Oh, these?" He starts gathering up the spilled cards, tapping them back into the deck with no real order aside from all facing the same way. "Did they use it for the rite, too, or...?"
The girl returns Xander's grin with another of her bright smiles, though it fades when Isaac mumbles. "I'm sorry," she says crisply, lifting her mug again, "I don't speak 'my mouth is full'. Could you repeat that in English, please?"
Isaac swallows the larger portion of what's in his mouth, though traces remain, particularly around his teeth, visible when he speaks. "Sepdet has some of those," he says to Shelby. His expression shows concern for the other Silver Fang, as though her inability to understand him might demonstrate some underlying injury on her part. Still, he grins when he turns back to Xander again. "She makes them tell her things. Sometimes she just knows things and sometimes those things tell her."
"Ah, yeah," Xander replies, tipping the cards toward Shelby. "There y'go, another example. They work, I tell you." That last bit is half-amused, and he packages the things up in their cardboard container.
"Ah," says Shelby, just as though Isaac had translated from some foreign language, "thank you." Xander gets another smile and a light, "I never said they didn't. What sort of student would I be, contradicting my teacher?" She glances out the window, then pulls out her phone and frowns at the time. "Crap. I have to run. Thanks again for the lesson, Xander, and it was good meeting you, Isaac."
Isaac takes another big bite of the sandwich as he watches. He's still chewing when Shelby looks at the time. "Ngy," he says around the bite and waves a little with the sandwich.
"Later, Shelby. No prob. See you around." Xander gives a little wave, repocketing the cards and reaching over to pick up his mug of tea again.
The ragabash frowns faintly at Isaac as she stands, but retreats back to the kitchen without another word. There's an electronic 'click' that sounds like a camera shutter, then the sound of water running. After a few more moments, the back door opens and closes again.