12935/Same Hat

Same Hat
Date of Scene:	30 September 2022
Location:	Vellichor
Synopsis:	Lyda and Gabby meet Ariah at the bookstore, and they give the vampire clues on where to find the JLD should she choose to join. Then Lydia gets a bit long winded, and Ariah is patient enough to listen.
Cast of Characters:	Lydia Dietrich, Ariah Olivie, Gabby Kinney

---

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Vellichor is the kind of place that Lydia can get lost in for /hours/. Places like this, with all the shelves and the eclectic assortment of books have always been a kind of haven for her. Already she has a small pile of books that she's planning on buying being held aloft by the golden glow of her mutant powers. Some promising romance books that she's never heard of and a few ancient tomes that look promising for her arcane studies.

    She's currently wearing a light brown plaid twofer dress with suspenders, and a pair of black flats to compliment the affair. Her super curly hair has been tamed into a neat bun, but already stray locks of hair has started to come undone from it. And as always, she's surrounded by her mutant power, a field of golden stars that twinkle into and out of existence around her.

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    Much like Lydia, Vellichor is a perfect place for a small woman to hide from the sun and bury herself in books forever and ever and ever. And ever. Ariah seems ill-dressed for the cooling autumn weather but here among the insulation provided by parchment and paperback, it really doesn't matter so much, does it? She's so small, the dark-skinned girl with the shock of white hair, that it's almost hard to notice her sitting on some old steamer trunk in a corner.
    Stacked up next to her are a handful of mismatched tomes, seeming nonsensical in their combination. Aurthurian Legend. Mythical Creatures. 101 Fondue Recipes. And in her hands, a guide to the Germanic runic alphabet? There does seem to be a notebook laying atop the fondue book, though at the moment it seems more like to contain a shopping list for said fondue. Her outfit does seem more like it's meant for a club than a bookstore, though, with that custom dress and the corset top.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"Ooh look it's the famous author, Lydia! I wonder if she'd autograph this novel of hers I found here?" Gabby's voice comes from just behind Lydia as she steps down the aisle of shelves toward the familiar woman. It'd been awhile since she'd seen Lydia around in general. When she'd caught her scent she'd followed it out of curiosity right up to the bookstore and inside. And, after a quick search through some shelves, she'd managed to unearth a copy of one of Lydia's novels which she holds in hand giving a little wiggle in the air.

She hadn't noticed the girl in the corner yet, but she was mostly focused on a singular target after all. That doesn't help much when she steps past the reader on the trunk and her necklace glimmers with light causing her gaze to drop.

"You're... just using your abilities right now, right?" She asks Lydia uncertainly while reaching up to twist the wire wrapped stone between her fingers.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "Gabby!" Lydia says, a grin spreading across her face. "I've been meaning to catch up with you. I heard some things have changed in the JLD since I took a step back and decided to do some work on myself."

    She looks at the book and shakes her head with a disbelieving grin. "You know I could give you a mint copy if you had just /asked/," she says, but still, a golden tendril of light sneaks down into her purse and pulls out a fancy pen. Snagging it from the air she scribbles her autograph in it. "There. Now even if you don't buy it somebody will have a happy surprise."

    She cocks her head curiously at the question. "Just my mutant powers," she explains, her voice turned low. "You know I can't turn them off."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    The mention of abilities and powers doesn't seem to earn a reaction from the small woman. She seems to be deep into her reading, or she simply is used to the way the world works--especially NYC. The only thing tht makes Ariah pause, in fact, is her need to lay the book across her lap and retrieve her writing implements. She looks over the shopping list she's made and then slowly turns the page to get a fresh one. Not a sound comes save the faintest of scratching noises rising up from a pen meeting paper. It looks like she's simply transcribing some Elder Futhark runes to paper, more than anything else.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"Oh I know, but it was funnier this way." Gabby always did have a little flair for dramatics when she had the chance after all. It's the response that has her ponder a moment still twisting her necklace in hand. "I thought so. So what's setting this off is the question."

"Ah, yes a lot happened... Everyone kind of retired. Rien and Chas started a romance and left." When the book is handed back she grins in amusement regardless. Reaching up she slips the necklace free holding it out so it dangles from her fingertips. And slowly, slowly she turns... to face toward Ariah. A step closer is taken, her head cocking to the side while she regards the small woman. A look is cast back toward Lydia and she grins.

"Hi," she greets abruptly. "I don't suppose you're a witch or a sorceress or something?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia can't help but snicker at Gabby's antics. "I'm always surprised when I find one of my books in print out in the wild," she admits. "Most of my sales come from digital copies, and the stuff I write is usually too niche to attract the attention of a publisher. Still, it gives me those happy warm feelings to see one."

    She shakes her head, "I didn't see that coming. Then again, I never really got to know Chas or Rien all that well. I was too busy rubbing them the wrong way." She glances over at Gabby and asks, with a tilt to her head, "I heard that Nettie's taken over, and that they had to shut down the Velvet Room. I should try to rejoin now that pretty much everybody I stabbed in the back is gone."

    She blinks at Gabby's bluntness when she addresses Ariah. "Um. Hi," she says, trying to smooth things over. "I'm Lydia. This is Gabby."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    Slowly, Ariah tilts her head up when the greeting comes, and she's still in the process of doing so when the question follows. She fixes her mismatched eyes on the pretty mutant and then slowly blinks. The soft scratch-scratch of her writing has also halted, and she gives Gabby a blank expression. "...bonsoir..." she starts, returning the greeting, voice soft, cold. "It is... something of a personal question to ask that, non?" she queries, her thick accent matching the soft peppering of French in with her words. She does seem to be rather guarded and even when introduced, has yet to offer up her own name as she sizes the two women up. Her small self, sitting down.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"No offense meant," Gabby assures as she steps back to give the shorter woman her space. It was a woman, right? Yes definitely. It was just rare to meet someone shorter than herself after all. With Lydia's signed book tucked under her arm she lifts her hands to pull her necklace back on again. "Sorry, I 'sensed' some magic of sorts, but wasn't sure."

Glancing again at Lydia she nods. "Yes, I asked Nettie to come back and Sara as well. We're all three leading now." Says the freshly turned 18 year old. It's all that's said though, otherwise, as she didn't want to talk too much more of the JLD in front of someone she had just met. "I'd love to have you back, Lyds."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia gives the small woman a soft smile. "Sorry for interrupting your day," she says. "We've, um..." She thinks for a second on how to say this. "Encountered a thing or two here and there, and that kind of thing always piques our interest." She tries to hide her wince at the explanation. That's not going to help any at all.

    She nods at Gabby. "I'll swing by the Belle and see if I can't catch Nettie when she's in."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    "Sensed... magic?" Ariah asks softly, eyes following Gabby's motions, focusing intently on the necklace until it's secured around the woman's neck. Then a slow nod is given, her head tilting down, then up, but her eyes seem to drift over towards Lydia in the process. Those mismatched eyes narrow as she's clearly fixating her senses on her now instead. "...you do not have a pulse..." she states, voice still quiet, icy, and simply matter-of-fact. Now her head cants to the side at an angle as her gaze lifts to look Lydia in the eye--and then to Gabby next. "Curious."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"In a way." Gabby admits about her statement of sensing magic. Even though she herself was... not really able to do so herself. It's only once Ariah speaks of not having a pulse that she moves, a bit more guarded and wary, to step just between Lydia and her. Just in case it becomes an issue.

When she herself is stared at in that manner she just lifts her eyebrows curiously. "Oh I'm totally alive," she assures with the smallest of shrugs.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia quickly averts her strange golden eyes from the mismatched pair of Ariah before they can really meet. She seems a little skittish that way. A hand goes to scratch the back of her neck as she explains. "I'm, uh. Kind of dead. Technically." She hurries to dismiss it with a helpless shrug. "It's a long story."

    When Gabby moves to shield her from the small woman, Lydia rests her hand on her shoulder, and gives it a bit of a squeeze, indicating that she can handle herself.

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    While Ariah doesn't give herself away as undead--having a pulse and everything--she does seem to nod in a manner that indicates understanding. Her gaze redirects to her books and she closes the one on runes with a soft 'thump' of the pages and cover. Then she arranges it with the others and her notes in a neat stack. "Oui, I am a... practitioner of certain arts," she asserts, folding her hands on her lap and affixing her gaze on Gabby now. She is, after all, the one who initially asked. "...is there a reason you wished to know?" Her chill is still there but she seems more... aloof now. No hackles up, no prickles. Just. Soft spoken and cold.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney can only offer a small smile in response. "I know a group of peopl who specialize in helping with incidents related to magic. It never hurts to know who's in the area with such abilities." She pauses then as her phone goes off earning a crinkle of her nose. "Okay I need to take that. Sorry..." She turns away, and gives Lydia a quick hug before heading for the exit. "I'll catch up Lydia."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia nods in agreement. "I was a part of that group until recently," she says. "Good folk. Helps keep the world safe." She nods to Gabby as she leaves, "Definitely! See you later!"

    Turning back to Ariah she shrugs. "If you've ever been to Bushwick, I'm the one who built the Golem that patrols there. That's how I know them."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    One Ariah's hands raises from her lap and she gives Gabby a slow, polite wave of farewell. "Curious," she repeats. "I am aware of some such groups. It does help to know who or what are... about..." she muses. Then at the mention of Bushwick or the Golem, she shakes her head slowly. "Non, I have not visited. I have a home elsewhere. I spend much of my time in places like this... studying... reading..." she trails off slowly, and now that they are alone, there's a faint glint in her purple eye. "What is immortality if you cannot spend as much time learning about the world and shaping it? I, too, seek to help. To fight for those who cannot fight. It is what I am. And it is what I have been."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia offers up a grin, "I'd give you a business card, but, really, it's not the kind of organization that has one. If it's something you want to look into, go to the Candle, Book, and Belle and ask for Nettie. She runs the place." She gives a little shrug, "Even if you're not that interested it's a good place to go to for supplies."

    "I... well," she begins and shuffles on her feet. "I'm a bit new to the whole immortality business, to be honest. It'll be a year come a few weeks, now." She lets out a low sigh, and tucks her feet up underneath her as a golden platform forms underneath her to take her weight. "Before I got into magic, I just wanted to live a normal life. Well, as normal as an obvious mutant could live. Write my novels, teach somewhere. That kind of thing." She shakes her head and chuckles, "But... it's kind of amazing how the world doesn't leave those with power alone."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    "It is better to be harder to trace, oui," the small woman says simply, accepting the lack of a business card though she does mentally note the location and the name. "It sounds like a place I should visit," she admits, lips pursing slightly. "If it allows me to help further, when I can, then I should do so..." she trails off, checking her notes for a moment, then looking back up at Lydia, hearing her speak on her... trials. Ariah nods slowly, "I am eighty-two years old," she states matter-of-factly. The girl doesn't look a day over twenty-five. "The world does not stop moving, and seems to do so far quicker for those with the power to change it..."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia nods, accepting those words. "Indeed. Things are moving so fast now." She lets out a chuckle, "I'm only twenty-six and a lot has happened since I was a kid." She shakes her head, "I can only imagine how it looks like to you. Or even to my sire who was... well... let's just say that she clocks in at over three millennia."

    "One of the things I've had to come to terms with lately is recognizing how young I am, and how much I don't know." She shrugs, "I'm always learning, though. There's always something worth learning. When I stop I'll be all-the-way dead."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    "It is... interesting..." Ariah says, choosing her words carefully. "The longer we are here, the more dangerous it is for us, non?" she offers quietly, then shakes her head. "I will not speak on the age or status of my sire, but she is..." it takes her a moment to find the right word. And then the one that comes might be a surprise: "Breathtaking." Clear reverence is in her voice, but she doesn't look like a... thrall. Then the topic of learning takes precedence, and she nods in agreement, "To live is to learn. If we do not continue to do so, then it is better that we simply stop existing. It would be far too easy to... stagnate. It is not how I wish to spend my days."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia gives Ariah an understanding smile. "I've met some breathtaking vampires before," she says, after a pause to check in with her supernatural senses to make sure nobody is listening in. Just the cat, and cats aren't wont to tell secrets.

    "Before I got involved in all of this, I was an author of supernatural romance novels. *Am,*" she corrects herself. "I still am, even, God, it's been forever since I've worked on one. So one night I met this absolutely stunning woman at a gala event in the Hellfire Club, so me, being the disaster lesbian that I am, had to strike up a conversation with her."

    "So as we're talking I'm starting to notice little things about her. About how she effects staff, how her eyes glow red every once in a while." She chuckles and shakes her head, "If I hadn't been writing about vampires since I was thirteen, I don't think I'd never notice, but here I am, convinced that this woman is a vampire so you know what I do?"

    "I just asked her. Point blank." Laughter escapes her at how bold and naive she was. "She takes me outside and I'm kind of nervous, scared, and excited all at once. I mean... don't get me wrong. I can defend myself. I can throw cars and stop bullets. But still, I didn't know if she was going to try to /bite/ me, and I didn't know if I wanted her to or not."

    She laughs again and waves a hand in dismissal of her own folly, "Disaster lesbian, remember. Turns out she just found me amusing enough and wanted to talk, which I was more than ready to do. But if I was going to interview her, I wanted to do it properly and not in a ball gown. So I asked her for drinks later that week."

    "I got my interview, and we enjoyed each other's company," Lydia says before waving a hand. "Not like that. I ran into her a couple more times, but then life happened and just kept /happening/ and I haven't seen her since. I've been meaning to get a hold of her and catch up."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    Ariah, it would seem, is terribly patient. Or maybe she's listening with rapt interest to the woman telling her tale. Whichever it is, she watches, and listens, eyes occasionally blinking to moisten themselves. Her head does tilt this way, then that, now and again, taking in the little details, observing Lydia's body language. The mention of cute little things like her not being sure if she wanted to be bitten or not, or the 'not like that' does seem to bring a faint little tug at the corners of her mouth, a ghost of a smile.

    Then with that serious, deadpan expression and near-monotone voice, she asks ever-so-innocently: "...what is a disaster lesbian?" And then follows up by looking down at herself and back up at Lydia. "Am I one?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia looks rather surprised at the questions. She's never been asked to define what a disaster lesbian is, so she has to think about it for a moment or two before answering. "A disaster lesbian is a lesbian who kind of stops functioning properly when they're around their crush or another woman they find attractive. They have trouble speaking right, and may get clumsy and stumble since they're so taken up by the presence of this beautiful woman their coordination goes out the window."

    She shrugs at Ariah's second question. "I didn't even know you were a lesbian," she says. "Only you know how you act when you're around somebody you crush on."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    Another slow, owlish blink. Maybe it was a loaded question in the first place, to ask such a thing to be defined. Her head again tilts, this time straightening before she speaks. "Am I attractive?" the smaller woman asks, again with some degree of innocence. Perhaps it's to wonder if Lydia finds *her* attractive, or just in the overall general sense. Then she gives a simple nod, "...my sire is a woman... and when I am with her I feel..." she lifts a hand to rest upon the middle of her chest. "Complete."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia blinks at such a blunt question. She tilts her head to consider Ariah for a moment before concluding, "I'd say so. Not quite my type but then..." she shrugs, "there's more to people than just how they look."

    At Ariah's description of her feelings about her sire, there's a pang of hurt and regret that, no matter how much she tries to hide it she just can't. "I know how that feels," she says. "I would give everything to feel that way again about somebody."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    Ariah nods, "People are complex beings," she states softly. "It is something to not forget as the eons roll by. I understand that immortality can make one feel... detached..." she says quietly. "But it has not set in yet. There is still much to study and much to learn." Then she looks up at Lydia, seeing the pang that can't be hidden. Maybe she doesn't understand, or maybe she does. "I did not mean to bring you any distress," she states, then stands up slowly before taking up her books. "My apologies." Then she offers up her hand, "I am Ariah."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia shakes her head. "I know. It's okay. It's still a rather recent wound, and it'll take some time to heal." She gives the other vampire a wan grin, "But I have a lot of time so heal it will."

    She steps off her golden platform which dissipates into mist and reaches out to take her hand. Her own hand is cool to the touch. Room temperature. "Lydia. It's a pleasure to meet you. Sorry for the cold hands."

    "I hope I never get to the point to where I'm that detached," she says. "We'll see. My sire is over three thousand years old and it doesn't seem like she's lost touch with humanity, but that may just be our bloodline."

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    "May it heal sooner than later," Ariah states, her voice still cold but her tone sincere. Maybe she just has that vocal inflection, or her deadpan 'everything' is just how she is. "That is good. That she is not detached. There is much history to read. To experience. To live." The mention of the chill doesn't seem to bother her, she doesn't even really make note of it. "It is growing late. This is not a library. I should purchase these and return home..."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "Thank you," Lydia says. "I appreciate it."

    When it's noted at how late it is, she pulls her phone out of her purse and checks the time. "Goodness!" she says. "It is!" She looks up from it and gives Ariah a warm smile. "It was good to meet you. Hopefully I'll see you around at the Belle." With that she turns and heads towards the cash register, books in tow still floating in that golden haze.

Ariah Olivie has posed:
    "I will visit there soon, merci," Ariah nods, taking her time to follow Lydia to the counter. When she's there, though, she'll certainly pick up a nice autumn-themed postcard from the proprieter's printing press. "Be safe outside," she then adds.