A Friend of a Friend's Friend

[Circe]

There were roughly about two degrees of separation that kept Mary at the fringes of the unseen world these days, and it wasn't uncommon for some of a younger generation than her father's to float in and out of the community as it pleased them. Mary however was an exception, and had made a career out of utilizing her network of those within the fringes.

Stepping off the plane, she was glad to be free of what she considered a flying sardine can. Mirror travel would have been an option if she didn't find the stations so utterly difficult to navigate through. Her step-mother had tried, but ultimately gave up after Mary got lost trying to find the terminal home and had ended up clear across the country. But if she hadn't, then she never would have met Madeline.

Carried along by the throngs of passengers and their luggage, she headed towards the exit at a lazy pace. Mary had to remind herself that not everything was a race and that to slow down and take her time was perfectly okay. Besides which, she had to wait for her luggage to be deposited on the carousel and then pick up her rental car. "One thing at a time Mar.. one thing at a time." She thought to herself, repeating this mantra in her head.

After she had retrieved her luggage and picked up her car, she headed north towards where she would be staying for the next few weeks. Mary only visited her family once a year, which now primarily consisted of her and her father; he had divorced her step-mother some years ago and her sister had recently passed after a battle with an illness. At least that's what she told her mundane friends.

Rolling down the window to the balmy Texas winter temperatures, she sighed. It was good to be home, but it felt strange to be in such familiar territory after trotting about the globe scouting locations for film crews. She made good money at it, but it took a toll on her relationships with family.

Arriving at the house, a well appointed two story red brick afair she let herself in and deposited her things.

'Mar, working late tonight. Help yourself to whatever is in the fridge or have Louise cook you something. Love, Dad'

Shaking her head, she had thought she would be able to see her father before she had to head out again. Madeline had asked her to look into a friend of hers who had happened to move to Dallas a few years ago. After a few emails back and forth they had agreed to meet at a popular coffee shop not far from where he worked. "Well looks like I'll be early for once." Mary laughed, the fact that she had constantly run late since she was a child not lost on her.

Picking up her bag and keys again, she headed out the door.

[demikara]

Tyrus was not running early, but he did manage to make it right on time. The mage glanced around the cafe looking for Mary Hammerstein, having only a picture to base who he was looking for off of. It was better than nothing though and he came up to the table she had chosen and managed a smile. "Mary, right?" Please let him be right. It would be entirely too embarrassing if he was wrong. Though hopefully Mary would actually be able to find him from the spectacle he would have made of himself. "I'm Tyrus. It's nice to meet you."

At least it would be fairly obvious who he was. The long braid tended to give it away given most people didn't grow their hair out quite like he did. That was to say, extra long and kept tidy only by virtue of genetics and a braid. Otherwise, he looked more like a business man than a mage, though he doubted anyone looked like a stereotypical mage anymore outside of rituals. Then again, he was coming from work and that meant business wear and he was always stylish about his clothing. Tyrus was a bit of a fashionista.

Madeline had insisted that they would get along splendidly, but Tyrus mostly thought that his friend was trying to force him into making more friends, as if he didn't have enough. He had...Catherine. And Monmack. And maybe Carter. Though the fact that these were all initially business relationships and continued to largely be just that probably lend credence to Madeline's point. Some friends who weren't strictly work for the most part would be nice to have.

[Circe]

"Yes!" Mary confirmed cheerfully. "That was my name last time I checked." She joked before looking Tyrus up and down appraisingly. A suit wasn't what she had been expecting, especially given that Madeline had said he was a mage and most mages she had met didn't wear $3,000 suits to work. It gave him an almost cavalier appearance that left a lot of questions about who exactly she had agreed to meet with. But then again, Mary's friend had always had an interesting circle of people around her, and given that she was just a bit deeper into the unseen than Mary was it was almost expected. What Mary hadn't expected was for one of those friends to be the prince of the former sun court and working at Broadmoore.

Pushing her tablet and notebook aside, Mary extended a hand to Tyrus, "It's nice to meet you too." Her nails were kept short and brightly painted. There were no rings, just a few bracelets and a watch. Her wavy auburn hair was kept in a neatly trimmed pixie showcasing several piercings climbing up her right ear. Jeans, sandals, and a bohemian blouse read more as an artist or free spirit than someone who actually had a serious, paying job. "Madeline has said a lot about you and says she sends her best."

[demikara]

Tyrus shook her hand and took a seat across from her. "I worry about the things Madeline has to say about me. She knows entirely too much about what I've gotten up to. Though given she was there for half of them..." They had been college buddies and thick as thieves and nearly as much trouble together as two fae. Unlike Mary, Tyrus was decked in his rings and necklaces and earrings. The suit was expensive, but the stone looked almost out of place on him, when he was dressed like this.

He was well aware of that and also dared anyone to separate a stone mage from their preferred stones. His were thick with magic by now and he knew it. "Madeline didn't say why you were in town." It was an opening to a conversation at least. He could manage to be perfectly civil after all.

[Circe]

"I'll have you know she's never said anything bad." Mary replied pretending to be insulted. Madeline had been right, the mage was too anxious about what other people said or thought about him. "I'm joking by the way, but seriously she speaks very highly of you you know." She pointed out. What Madeline hadn't mentioned was the man's penchant for shiny baubles, which by her guess were likely some sort of personal warding or some other form of protection. He was a member of the unseen, which in of itself wasn't uncomfortable for Mary, it just meant having to operate in a culture she hadn't since she was a teen.

"I'm in town visiting family, and well not all family is worth spending the entire time with." Mary explained. Her father's work-a-holic tendencies often led to a lot of friction and stress among what was left of the family.

[demikara]

"That I believe. If only because she'd implicate herself as well." There was a reason she was his closest friend, despite the distance. Together they were a menace. Apart they were only just slightly less of one. "And I can understand that. Family can be complicated." On so many levels. He knew entirely too well how complicated family could be and some days he still wondered what would happen if he scryed for his birth family. He was just always too scared to do so.

He was a vampire now. What would they think of that, people he hadn't seen since he was a handful of months old? Would they be afraid? Probably.

It was best to keep his distance and not know.

[Circe]

Mary laughed at Tyrus's remark, "Yeah.. that's the problem with some friends. They're entirely too good at playing the devil's advocate." And Madeline had did a hell of a job of it most days too. She was the type of person who seemed to enjoy having a large sphere of friends from different walks of life and their community's social strata. "But basically my father is a work-a-holic, I've got too much use it or loose it time off to use. So here I am. What about you? I hear you're trying to reform a certain hell hole and did so voluntarily." The unseen talked, the community wasn't very big but that didn't mean it was anywhere near less than a thousand people.

It was more than likely closer to 10% of the total population in any given large metro area, and when that was combined as a whole across the world a much clearer picture was able to be formed of this magical shadow society.

[demikara]

"I was clearly briefly insane when I volunteered for that job." He joked and then grinned. "But a lot of progress has been made. It's up to modern standards of care now at least." And that was a huge improvement over what it had been. He wasn't about to let it languish in the dark ages though. The unseen may be slow to change, but he was not going to stand for the treatment of patients, even high risk patients, that had been going on. "It could probably even pass a mundane check, if needed to. Coming up with a way to secure patients but let them at least wander the grounds was the hardest part."

The prisoners had been relatively easy. A cuff had been needed but it kept them from doing magic and from leaving the grounds they were allowed on. He mandated they had some time in the sun, so long as the weather was appropriate. It wasn't good to be inside all day. They still couldn't leave the grounds, but he had a feeling the council would never let him get away with that particular model of imprisonment for either sides of Broadmore. He could only push so far before getting pushback and he knew it. But he provided as much as he could in way of comforts to both sides.

Breaking the law didn't make you any less human. Or sentient in the cases of the non-humans who were imprisoned. He wasn't about to treat them as lesser beings because they had made poor choices. As it was, he received pushback on that point already.

"Well, you already know what I get up to work-wise. What do you do?"

[Circe]

"Funny, but a tiny bit inappropriate." Mary commented grimacing slightly. Madeline hadn't said anything about the mage having a penchant for irreverent jokes and self depreciation, but then again most of Mary's assumptions were based largely on the expensive suit and jewelry the other hand shown up it. It made her feel a bit self conscious in her own clothing, and made her wonder if she shouldn't have dressed just a tiny bit better. Her father had always asked her to dress just a tiny bit better, to not look so much like a vacationing college student. Her step-mother meanwhile usually just sighed and asked if it was at least clean, as her hands were normally too full with work to even worry about how Mary had dressed or done her hair that day. For that Mary had been grateful that at least one parent was willing to overlook or tolerate some of the weird phases she'd gone through.

"Well... right now I'm contracted with a film company as a location scout. I get to travel a bit and see friends across the globe." That alone was a perk as far as she was concerned. The travel could be exhausting and mind numbing, especially when there was a language barrier involved. "It also means that it's easier to take care of family." She added

[demikara]

"Ah, sorry. I'm not always...well, I'm not always aware of what is and isn't appropriate." What was fine for the court was not fine for other situations and he had a hell of a time understanding how human culture worked. Even now, years after his 'introduction' to the mundane and to human culture, he still tripped up now and again. Apparently he just had. The problem with growing up in one culture was learning the rules of another. And he still struggled with the rules of the dominant mundane culture. At least the Unseen made sense to him.

Tyrus didn't think anything at all about her clothes. If anything, he wondered if he should have changed before coming here, into something a little less business professional. It was just his lunch break, but still, he could have changed. "That sounds like an amazing job." He admitted. "You must have seen some beautiful places before. Do you have a favorite location?" He didn't see how constant travel would make it easier to take care of family, but he'd trust her word on that. She would know better than he did what she could and couldn't do because of her job.

[Circe]

"Don't worry about it, I understand it's hard switching between the two cultures." Mary reassured the other. Her transition back and forth wasn't always terribly easy, but it certainly wasn't as difficult as his. Staying at the fringes certainly had it's benefits, especially when it meant you were free from most of the politics that came with being further involved in the community. Stress and largely drama free was how Mary liked her life, and in some ways she was glad that when her sister had died so had any desire to be more involved with the unseen.

"It's got it's perks that's for sure." Mary agreed. Travel meant she didn't have to deal with the politics of home, and having only a small apartment to worry about as a mailing address more than anything was really all she wanted. The family was a broken mess after Emily's death, and none of them were willing to admit that. "Can't say I really have a favorite, I've seen so many places." It was true, her passport was full of stamps and visas required to gain entry or exit a country.

[demikara]

"You mentioned it was easier to take care of family with the job?" He made it into a question. He was trying not to be too prying, but other subjects weren't coming up and he really wasn't that great at this outside of work, was he? That was probably why Madeline kept trying to set him up to make new friends. At least she had sworn that she was giving up on trying to get him to actually date someone. He was married to his magic as far as he was concerned. Besides, family could be...so easily taken advantage of as a weakness. He didn't want to subject anyone to that who wasn't already cursed by it.

"Do they live in town?" They might after all. There had to be some reason she was in town and he doubted she was here as a film scout to Dallas, not when she got to travel the world.

[Circe]

"Yeah, as long as I have an internet connection I can do most of what I need. But also my job keeps me out of the drama between my parents." She explained taking a sip of her coffee. Mary had long since finished the slice of chocolate cake she had ordered with it, after all she was something of a self confessed sugar addict. Her job had her work odd hours, with even odder people, so it was only natural that she relied on sugar and caffeine to survive.

"Dad lives in Dallas as a divorcé with a hell of a string of girl friends. Can't say I blame him, but it's kinda weird when some of them are my age." She shrugged. Far as she was concerned, Izaak needed to date someone his own age who wasn't after his money. While he made good money, the trade off was often he had little time for anything serious when it came to his relationships. Not once had Mary mentioned a sister, a mother, or any other family. For the last however long it had been her and her father against the world.

[demikara]

"Parent drama sucks." That much he could emphasize with. Parent drama was basically the worst thing out there that he was aware of. He was perfectly glad staying out of the worst of it when his parents went at it. And they could go at it. "I can't imagine my parents dating someone my age. They were...disgustingly in love most of the time. When they weren't fighting." They either fought, viciously, or catered to the other's every whim. There was no in between for the former Ra and Isis. They were wildly in love and their passion sometimes got a little too fiery. The entire court paid for their arguments though.

There were rare times when he wasn't conflicted about his parents though. Even in this he was.

"Hopefully he'll start dating around his own age soon. It's got to be awkward meeting his girlfriend and she's your age." It was creepy.

[Circe]

"Tell me about it." Mary snorted with amusement. Now that she thought about it, some of her parent's thoughts had been utterly ridiculous. But when her father had started sleeping around for whatever reason, she had been able to see why her step-mother had been so mad. They had been married since her and her sister had been very young, and it was difficult to imagine anyone else in the role. Perhaps that was part of the problem with her father's string of companions. "Mine.. I think they were in love, but it cooled off after awhile." She added thoughtfully. She'd never really had reason to think about what had caused it or how it had even influenced her own short lived relationships.

"Hopefully.. if you know someone let me know. I'm tired of seeing him with girls who are only interested in the money he makes. Apparently a district attorney pulls down a pretty good salary, but the trade off is shitty hours."