11998/Aftermath: Lemon Drizzle Edition

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Aftermath: Lemon Drizzle Edition
Date of Scene: 11 July 2022
Location: A Hotel in Oxford
Synopsis: Cael, Jon, and Agnes enjoy lemon drizzle on chocolate chip pancakes, with mint chip hot chocolate - and talk about just how horribly the visit to Agnes' birthplace had gone the evening before.
Cast of Characters: Cael Becker, Jonathan Sims




Cael Becker has posed:
    The ingredients for this memorial/birthday celebration meal were easy. Roomservice pancakes with chocolate chips - they were on their way. (Jon had added some sausages to the order, that Cael hadn't argued too much against). The rest? Cael popped out to a nearby store to collect everything she need. She returns now with a bag of icing sugar, a lemon, a pint of mint chip ice cream, and a box of instant cocoa mix.
    "I'm back!" she calls as she lets herself into the room. "I think the pancakes should be on their way up in a little bit - Agnes, can you get the water boiling in the kettle?" Cael asks, as she head towards the small table in the room, claiming one of the paper cups from the tea service.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon is in the bathroom, staring at the bright green of his eyes in the mirror. It would be odd enough if they'd suddenly become a muddy hazel-esque green or jade or even Harry Potter-style emerald. Those are all relatively normal, if rare, eye colors. But this green /glows/, faintly visible even in the light of the bathroom. In the dark--as they discovered last night--they shine, like they're gathering and reflecting light.

    Like a cat's eyes, he thinks suddenly. Almost exactly like a cat's eyes. Without the vertical pupils, though.

    Shuddering, he comes out of the bathroom as Agnes is flipping on the kettle, bouncing on her toes a bit. "So, why lemon drizzle? And chocolate chip pancakes? I don't really get the combination, but I'm willing to try it!" She's bright and chipper, too much of a morning person. And seemingly ignoring what happened the night before.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Uhhh - well. Alis has alw- ...had always loved chocolate chip pancakes," Cael explains. "And our first foster family together - the mom, Mrs. Pierce, she was making a lemon drizzle cake, but had to run out to deal with a work emergency - I don't even remember what it was - leaving me and Alis home with their teenage son. And we decided to make some pancakes, and there wasn't any syrup left and- we put the lemon drizzle on it and- well. Alis loved it. It just- it became her thing." As Cael's talking, she slices into the lemon she bought awkwardly with a tiny pocket knife, and squeezes some of it into the cup. It seems like she's done this enough time to have a good idea of how much to squeeze, before she starts stirring in the powered sugar.
    "When the water's //boiling// - pour it in the cups, but only about half full, and stir in the entire packet of cocoa mix in each cup. Then we'll add in the mint chip, and top it off again with hot water."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "We're making tea, too, right?" Agnes peers at Cael. "I mean, I know Alis didn't drink tea, but..." But Agnes drinks tea. And so does Jon.

    "Could be coffee," Jon murmurs, settles on the edge of one of the beds, putting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. "Just... could use some caffeine." He seems subdued, and unsurprisingly so.

    Agnes bites her lip for a moment, then says, "Umm, well, actually--coffee's fine. If that's what you'd... I mean, I guess Alis didn't drink coffee either." She twists her hands for a moment.

    Then the kettle clicks, and she goes to pour water into the cups and then stir in cocoa packets, busying herself with that instead of fretting about her father's state of mind.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "We're making the mint chip hot chocolate - how much of it you actually drink, and what //else// you actually drink, is up to you. I mean, I think we're all capable of making these decisions for yourselves."
    It doesn't take Cael long to make the drizzle - and once it's done, she moves towards Jon - sitting on the edge of the bed beside him, and pulling him in close against her. "Thank you for doing this with me," she murmurs quietly.
    After everything. After everything that happened. Turning her head, she kisses Jon's cheek - and then rests her forehead against the side of theirs, her eyes falling closed for a moment.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon leans into Cael. "I'm sorry," he says. For what? That he doesn't say. Just... leans into her, wraps an arm around her to pull her closer.

    Agnes has stirred cocoa into the cups, but before she can get the ice cream room service knocks on the door. She goes to grab the tray and plates and everything and brings it all in. Pancakes, sausage, fixings for tea. "You didn't know the whole house was awful and terrible and /evil/," she says as she goes to grab the ice cream. Huffing.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "You have nothing to apologize for," Cael answers Jon quietly, wrapping her arms around them in return, and holding them tightly, and protectively. "I'm here. And you're //mine,// and we're together," she reminds him quietly. "Alright? And Agnes is here as well and that- that's what matters. That's //all// that matters," she adds, lifting one hand, to brush it briefly over Jon's eyes. Whatever they look like - Jon is still her Jon.
    She takes a deep breath in then, letting out a sigh as she adds, "The pancakes smell good."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon shakes his head. "Not for--not for the house. But thank you for coming, last night." He leans in to kiss Cael's forehead, then gently disengages to go refill the kettle so they can have tea.

    "No, I mean--I'm sorry for being so..." They frown, standing over the sink and filling the kettle. "I've been so focused on--stupid things. Small things. Who's supporting who, whether or not people like me. Instead of..."

    He swallows, and then says softly, "I--Rien's statement, and what I was feeling, it... whatever's on the other side of that crack, it's... /bad/. Really, really bad. I feel I should be more grateful for the life I have."

    Agnes just frowns as she puts ice cream into the cups and then starts topping them with more hot water, as instructed.

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael's fingers linger on Jon's back and arm as they break away, waching them refill the kettle as she listens to their words, before the moves towards the table, to set the plates out for everyone, along with the silverware. She adds Alis' framed photo to the table, taken with them on the trip - just for this occassion.
    "Jon... I don't feel unappreciated. I know you're grateful for me, alright? And I'm grateful to have you. And you, Agnes." And as she spots Bear watching with a hopeful expression, she takes one of the sausages off her own plate, and heads over to the pup. "And you," she adds, letting him take the sausages from her fingers, before she scratches him behind the ears. "Don't get used to it, mutt. I doubt breakfast sausages are good for you."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "Breakfast sausages aren't good for /anyone/. Do you know what nitrates /do/ to the colon?" Agnes shakes her head, putting pancakes on her plate.

    "Then you needn't any," Jon says with aplomb, trying to take away the plate of sausages as she grabs for it.

    "...I didn't say that! I just mean maybe they should be for special occassions! Like this." Agnes snatches the plate away and sticks her tongue out at Jon, then puts two sausages onto her own.

    Jon grins at her, then looks to Cael, expression sobering a bit. "I know you know all that, but I just... I didn't..." He licks his lips. "I only got... glimpses, impressions, not a lot of details, but what we touched last night, it's..."

    They frown. "Imagine... imagine a world without superheroes. No magic, no Superman, not even a Batman. Not that hard, right? You used to live in that world, sort of. Just... normal people, doing normal everyday things. No gods in the world, not visibly. Just science, and technology, but nothing like--no Stark or Reed Richards. No regular space travel. No aliens."

    A pause. "Then imagine that there are still monsters. Old Gods feeding on people's fear and using them as avatars. Vampires feeding on blood like spiders in a web. Werewolves stalking prey. Ghosts that can shoot people with... well... ghost bullets. Haunted places that can trap people. Haunted objects that can twist or kill."

    They stare down at their plate. "And nobody can fight them, because the people that fight them... /become/ them."

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael listens - and nods her understanding. She can picture such a place - it doesn't take her that much effort really. She frowns, picking up the cup with the lemon drizzle in it - and pours it over the pancakes on her own plate, before passing it on. "That's not our home, though. This is - this world where- magic and Gods are more real than I ever thought. This world where - //I// am here. The only world where I am here, from what you've said before. That's all I need, and these bastards won't get the better of us. We dealt with Michael - didn't we?" she points out bluntly.
    Towards Agnes she adds, "You can try the drizzle on the side, if you're not sure - it's really good, though."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon goes right ahead and puts lemon drizzle over his pancakes. After a moment, Agnes does the same--on one pancake. That way, if she doesn't like it, she can always have the other pancake without.

    "That's what I mean," Jon says. "I... there was another version of me, in that reality. I think that's the one Wade sees when he calls me 'Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London.' And... well..." He glances at Agnes. "I think some version of /you/ lived in that house, in that reality. She didn't sound... happy." He sighs. "But that's my point. That other me, he couldn't fight these things. I get the feeling that the harder he tried, the more he just got entangled in the whole business. But here... we have magic. We know angels and gods and Hell Lords."

    He frowns. "I don't know why they came /here/. Maybe because of Rien--that'd fit with her being the 'gateway.' But they're going to find it was a mistake."

    Agnes has been quiet, eating the pancakes. "I didn't like... the feel of the place. It made me... angry." A pause. "I wanted to burn it down. I... even with you all in it, some part of me just wanted to... destroy it. Utterly. It made me think of... of spiders, scuttling." She shudders. "Like it was all... covered in webs. And I just wanted to burn them all away."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "There's... part of me that wants to deny any of that's real. //This// is real. This is reality. This is all we know, and all that matters - to me anyways." Cael gives the pair a small smile.
    The expression sobers as Agnes talks about the spiders, though, and she flicks a glance towards Jon. "There were spiders - or at least, webs. Jon and I walked through them. But- that's not so unusual, is it? In a half-built house, exposed to the elements. I- what was weird was those recordings. Your voice, Martin's voice..."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "That was the other world," Jon says. "The recordings. Those tapes were really important, somehow. Rien saw... for a moment, she saw up through a hole half-covered by a web made of /cassette tape/. And there was a giant eye in place of the sun, it was..." He shudders. "It was /awful/."

    Agnes reaches over to pour lemon drizzle on her other pancakes, having evidently decided she likes it, and says, "Well... well, fuck them anyway." She glances at Jon for a brief moment, cheeks darkening, then goes on, "I mean it! Cael's right. It doesn't matter--I mean, maybe to know why this is happening, sure. Gather information, or whatever, but it's not--this is all that matters. This. It doesn't... nothing... nothing that happened there matters to... to us."

    Jon smirks at Agnes for a moment, amused, but then his brow furrows. "Agnes, what did you... did you see something?"

    Agnes frowns at the pancakes. "Don't want to talk about it," she says, and stuffs a bite of pancake in her mouth.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "But if it would help us fight these things, you would tell us, right?" Cael asks - her tone growing gentle, and concerned. "You know me - there's nothing that matters more to me than keeping you and your father safe - but in the same vein, I also don't want to put you through anythng traumatic needlessly." She gives the girl an encouraging smile, cutting off some of her pancake to nibble on. She pokes at her pancake with her fork, and glances at Alis's picture,t hen back to her plate again. This was something she'd stopped having - without Alis around, and it felt strange having it now, without her sister there with her.
    She hastily picks up her mint chip hot chocolate for a sip before adding, "Can't have this for breakfast very often, huh?"

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "It's terrible for us," Jon confirms. "Too much sugar--/way/ too much sugar, especially refined sugars. Just... yes. Very bad for us. But tasty." He's drinking the cocoa, having finished his tea--he really did need the caffeine. But he glances to Agnes, raising a brow.

    "I, umm..." Agnes hunches her shoulders, much like Jon often does, and murmurs, "I felt a... resonance. I could... I couldn't exactly /see/ things? I... I feel like if I'd gone inside I would've seen more. But I could /feel/..."

    She hesitates, stirring a piece of pancake around on her plate, then says, "It felt like... terrible loneliness, and constant heat. The scent of burning candle wax mixed with burning flesh. Scuttling spiders in the corners. Flashes of faces, people I've never met, a person made of wax...?" She shudders, and shakes her head. "I didn't like it. At all." She spears the piece of pancake she's been stirring around, and eats it, glowering at her plate.

    "Whatever it was... it's not you. Not anymore." Jon says this gently. "Okay?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    "You think she somehow connected to the //other// Agnes?" Cael asks. She frowns slightly before she adds, "There's not even an 'anymore' about it," she asserts firmly. "//This// is Agnes. //Our// Agnes. This is who she always was, and always is. Whatever she felt- was another person. Wasn't really her." There's determination to her voice.
    Then more gently she adds, "You're not alone, Agnes. You have me, and Jon. Bear, and Lady, and Nimue. You have your friends - like Sydney - and your teachers at school... This is your life. And if you ever feel lonely... We'll get out the dance pads and do some Dance Dance Revolution, or Gran Turismo, or Call of Duty or something."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "Cael," Agnes says slowly, "Didn't you hear... what Dad said about... the /Magnus/ Institute? I mean--that implies that El--Jonah was connected to it, too. And you said you heard Martin's voice. How... how much...?"

    Jon cuts in, "It /doesn't matter/, Agnes. Didn't you just say that? It's a past life. Okay? Maybe not even that. Maybe it's just... echoes, that imprinted here, on our souls. We don't know." A pause. "But that's just it. We don't /know/. Okay? Whatever you saw, it's just like your life with Jonah. It's /over/ now. I know that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, doesn't bother you, but--"

    "Dad..." Agnes looks up and between him and Cael. "Dad, I think they wanted me to destroy the world."

    "And so did Jonah," Jon says firmly. "But you're not going to, right? He's dead, and nobody from that other world can make you do anything."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "It's not a //past life.// I mean that's-" No, Cael. Cycle of souls. Past lifes are real. She blows out a huff of air, and starts again. "It's not a past life. It's a different reality entirely. That wasn't //our// Martin, //our// Jon, or //our//... you. And I wasn't there at all. That world, that reality, is not here."
    She reaches out towards Agnes, to put her hand on the girl's arm, her expression serious, and intent. "And like I said - you're not alone. You're not - and if you ever feel alone... you call me, or Jon, and we'll do whatever we can to help. Alright?"

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon looks at Cael, at her /insistence/ that it's not a past life, and... says nothing. Because he can't lie. Because he knows better, and he can't lie. But he can eats a sausage and drink some cocoa and pretend that he's agreeing with her by not saying anything. It's just... conspicuous, the way he /does not say anything/.

    Agnes, for her part, focuses on Cael. "I know," she says, and smiles. "I know. It's... it's okay. I'll be okay. It just... rattled me, last night. How badly I wanted to burn down that house, even with all of you... inside." She swallows. "I didn't, though. I won't. I promise."

    Then she smiles. "Okay, look, tell us the story about the... all of this. The lemon drizzle, and the cocoa and mint chip ice cream. Whole thing."

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael glances briefly at Jon, but then decides to ignore it, and focus on Agnes, giving her a small smile in response. "Well... I told you about the pancakes," she explains. "Alis always liked chocolate chip pancakes, and then when we were left home alone with Mrs. Pierces lemon drizzle... it just happened. We were... God, we were your age, actually. 13." She lets out a quiet laugh.
    "The, umm... The hot chocolate just happened. We both love- loved mint chip ice cream. Whenever we were told to eat our greens, we'd get out the mint chip ice cream - not that anyone but us thought we were being funny. Then one day, we were having hot chocolate and we thought- what if we put the mint chip in? The rest is history, you know?"
    She picks up her hot chocolate for a sip, letting her gaze shift to Alis's photo. God, she missed her sometimes.
    "We used to get into a lot of trouble together, not that we ever meant any real harm."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "We should, umm... here. We should've had a plate for her, I didn't think about it." Agnes grabs some bits left from what room service sent up, puts it all on a plate, and puts it in front of the photo. Then she gets up to Go make another cup of the hot cocoa with mint chip ice cream. "Offerings, you know? She'll... I think she'll sense it, down in the afterlife."

    Jon smiles. "The Opening of the Mouth worked for me. So... I think she'll feel it. She'll know we're thinking about her." He reaches over to put a hand on Cael's. "I'm sorry she's not here anymore. I'm sorry she was dead to begin with."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Even, uh- with just a photo, and no proper... alter or anything?" she doesn't know how any of this works - but she helps Agnes fix up the plate for Alis, and then turns to Jon as they place their hand over hers.
    She gives a small nod, and then offers quietly, "She'd be 26..." And then abruptly, the tears begin to flow - streaking down her cheeks, as she tries to brush them away with her free hand. "I've been mourning her longer than I knew her. I- Sorry. I'm okay, I just-" She thought she was doing better. Why does it still have to ache so much?

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon clasps Cael's hand. "It'll always hurt a little. Especially on days like today. And that's okay. The crying is good. That means you're letting yourself feel it, and not pushing it away." A pause. "But yes--the picture's enough."

    "Dad says... Dad says a lot of it's the intent." Agnes glances over at Jon. "That, umm, the... the trappings, they /help/, especially people with less power. A way to focus the will, a way to enhance power. But it's not /necessary/."

    Jon nods. "Exactly so. A true magus, or wizard, can do magic with little more than their will and a word or a gesture. Circles and altars and all the rest... it makes it easier. Lets one focus less on the construction of the spell and more on the power and intent. Like a drummer keeping time so you don't have to think about the rhythm, or like guide lines on a painting."

    Agnes grins at Cael. "Or sights on a gun?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Or sights on a gun," Cael agrees, turning her hand so she can squeeze Jon's tightly, taking a deep breath, and letting it out slowly. The tears pass quickly, though it's clear her mood hasn't entirely stabalized.
    "Anyways - umm... We used to get into a lot of trouble together. I mean, the usual teenage nonsense at first - sneaking out and toilet papering a house here, or egging someone's house or car if we didn't like them, or writing messages with toothpaste... Stupid stuff, but when you're foster kids, they just- they assume the worst about you, you know? The consequences are worst. ...I mean, plus there was all the shoplifting," Cael adds with a wry smile.
    "And we used to go to the store together and we'd find the ugliest, most ridiclous clothes - things that clashed horribly, and we'd build these terrible outfits for each other and make each other put them on. I mean it all started out pretty harmless."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "But then it turned to... stealing cars and street racing?" Agnes says this quietly, frowning, trying to understand.

    "The people they did that with... gave them a home. A place to belong." Jon sighs. "It doesn't make it /right/, but it's understandable."

    Agnes grins. "She built the Ma'atmobile, right? As a gift for you. I still want to go for a ride in that car, it looks brilliant."

    Jon visibly rolls his eyes. "Good /lord/," he mutters, irritated, but fondly so.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "I mean - Alis loved mechanics. Loved taking things apart, and putting things together. She was- honestly, she was a lot smarter than I'll ever be," Cael says wryly. "We managed to find an old rusted out motorcycle, and we bought, traded for, and stole enough parts to get it working and- I mean, we didn't have a license to drive. We weren't old enough, but we started driving anyways, and I was just... good at it. So, umm... the street racing miiiiight have started a little bit //before// we joined the gang," Cael admits.
    "...but yeah. They gave us a home, and somewhere to belong, when- when the foster care system wanted to split us up. They'd caught Alis shop lifting and wanted to put her in juvie and.... well. We ran away."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon chuckles and reaches over to ruffle Cael's hair--something he hasn't really done much for a couple of weeks now. "Why am I /not/ surprised to hear that? At all?" He grins at her. "You, driving before you were legally old enough to. Shocker, really."

    He leans away from any retaliation and goes on, "Well... what do you want to do today, in her honor? I know Oxford isn't the most, err, /Alis/ sort of town, but... I'm sure there's something we can find that she might have liked."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Hey!" Cael protests, shoving towards Jon, and then reaching up to smooth out her hair - but there's a faint smile on her lips, before it gives way to a puzzled frown.
    "I hadn't really..." she admits quietly. "I mean, I'd just planned on... this." She gestures towards the meal, as she thinks it over. "I suppose we'll refrain from shop lifting. Umm... I mean, we used to love playing video games together - and watching //terrible// movies together and making fun of them ourselves. And then just.... of course she spent hours in the shop."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "Well... there's the History of Science Museum. They have all kinds of gadgets and scientific instruments going back to the Middle Ages. They have a great avionics collection, too. Or... hmm. There's Oxford Castle, the University, boating on the Thames..."

    Jon eyes Cael. "None of that sounds interesting to you, does it?" A brief smirk, and then a sigh.

    "There's cycling tours," Agnes points out. "We can see all the sights and be doing something active."

Cael Becker has posed:
     You could almost see Cael's eyes glazing over as Jon rattles off the possibilities - a wry smiling growing on her features as Agnes speaks up. "Uhh.... yeah. A cycling tour sounds better. Followed by Terrible Movie Night. We'll have to find a suitably horrible movie," she suggests with a broad grin.
    "And buy plenty of junk food."