7581/When you have a bridge to sell...

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When you have a bridge to sell...
Date of Scene: 28 August 2021
Location: Brooklyn
Synopsis: A brief meet-up in Brooklyn
Cast of Characters: Phoebe Beacon, Lydia Dietrich




Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The Neon Lights may be bright on Broadway, and the city may never sleep, but on the odd occasion Phoebe felt trapped inside the confines of the Laughing Magician -- even more so at current, with its proprieter missing. So she had decided, somewhat at random, to go for a ride. She was speeding along, not minding the traffic; it kept her mind off things, even if she was making a little bit of a risk.

    Besides, it was a nice night, and the streetlights reflected off the yellow lines crossing her motorcycle jacket.

    Brooklyn itself was large and varied, and though she opted to stay away from its Botanical garden, there was pleanty of places elsewise to go.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
There's a silversmith in Brooklyn that Lydia has the occasion to go to, and she's just finished doing business with him and stepping outside of his shop. At night she's particularly noticeable with her aura of glowing green ectoplasm, making her stick out like a proverbial beacon in the night. She's dressed in a simple yellow sun dress, perfect for a warm summer evening, and has an oversized over the shoulder purse that she has slung, appropriately, over her shoulder.

She raises a hand in parting to the owner of the shop, and begins walking towards the Toaster, her little silver Vespa that she likes to use when getting around town. Sure she could just fly, but there's something about riding her scooter that's just as fun.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    It's not often you see a green glowy lady in the middle of the city. Even New York, which is far weirder but somewhat more peaceful than Gotham, so the person on the bike pulls over a moment, and she gives a smile, raises her hand in greeting -- and then she undoes the chinstrap and takes off her helmet, showing the face of Phoebe, the girl from the Laughing Magician, as she shakes out her braids.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia looks up from securing her bag to the front of the scooter and looks up when she catches somebody waving out of the corner of her eye. She doesn't recognize the girl at first, but once the helmet comes off she grins in recognition.

"Hello," she says pleasantly, "I didn't expect to see you around here. What brings you to Brooklyn?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Hey, Lydia, right?" Phoebe gives a smile, straddling her motorcycle, and she gives a grin, balancing her helmet on the tank.

    "Just out for a cruise. Figured it'd be a nice change of scenery from the same eight walls I've been staring at for the last week or so." she explains, and she offers her hand. "I don't think we were properly introduced. Phoebe Beacon, from Gotham. I ah... I live in the apartment over John's bar."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia reaches out and takes the offered hand in her own. When touching the green mists, the skin tingles like mint had been rubbed over it. The sensation fades quickly, though, once outside of the field. "I'm Lydia, yes," she says with a smile. "And my condolences."

Lydia winces and shakes her head, "I'm sorry. That was unkind of me. I'm sure John is a very nice person once you get to know him."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe's own touch tingles, though it's with Light and Holy and Healing, but she gives a small smile, and Phoebe rubs the back of her head a moment as she gives a bit of a laugh.

    "No, no, that's fair. John is an effective teacher even if his methods are..." she trails off a moment, and then she shrugs "He's an asshole." she finally decides, with a shrug. "And.. he can be. I mean, I don't pay anything and basically just run for bar stuff and scrape gum off tables." And clean the bathroom.

    "So! Found any more thinning spots? We found one in Gotham, with ghost sheep."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
An eyebrow is lifted, "Ghost sheep? Please tell me they were placid and wooly and not man eating." Lydia shakes her head. "I haven't found any, no. I've had a lot of other things on my plate." She heaves a sigh, "A /lot/ a lot. I've been working on this enchantment for a friend of mine. It's been a particularly interesting puzzle, one I think I have solved. I'm just getting some jewelry made to put the enchantment on," she says gesturing to the silversmith.

"And I think I may have found a mentor," She says brightly. "One that /isn't/ an asshole. There's a bunch of baggage wrapped up around it, though, and I may have to join a coven which...." She trails off in thought. "It's an interesting prospect. A Jewish witch. Not entirely unheard of, though."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Yeah, ghost sheep. It was something of a... well. Like a time slip. My friend and I investigated -- we thought it was more because it was a meat packing factory -- but it turns out these sheep, which we could pick up on IR, were floating above us, but at appropriate levels of the local landscape for the late 1700's." she explains, and Phoebe leans back to stretch her back a moment.

    "John... is helping me with an issue, but I would like to stay on and learn from him. I mean, there's no shortage of magical people now that I've met, but I don't know if coven work would suit me. I'm sort of..." she pauses, and glances down, "An oddity."

    But she gives a bright grin. "Wouldn't be the first time I've heard of one. Besides, have you read all the Golden Dawn stuff? Three quarters of it is pulled from Jewish Mysticism!"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"That's odd," agrees Lydia about the sheep. "They were just milling about? That's a refreshing change from revenants possessing people and going on a murderous rampage."

"I know about the Golden Dawn," she says with a wry grin. "They're a bunch of hacks. I'm a kabbalist, myself which is all Jewish mysticism. To be honest, I'm not sure a coven is right for me either. I'm meeting the other members next week to kind of get a feel for it before I decide one way or the other.

Then Lydia laughs gently, "I'm something of an oddity myself." She waves a hand leaving a trail of green glowing ectoplasm in its wake. "Does it have something to do with that energy you give off?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Yeah, just... sheep and a sheep dog that wanted to play fetch. It was weird and... I'm actually really happy since my friend's experience with the supernatural so far has been... well. Me, and then all the horrors of the last few weeks." she pauses, and Phoebe's ears darken as she gives an embarrassed smile "Right.. because... yeah..." she trails off, and she taps her helmet a moment.

    "It's... a bit of a story. And has to do with some pretty awful things that have happened." she explains gently. "And it's a bit of a sore spot... kinda not the stuff you discuss in the middle of the street." she states, and then she raises her eyebrows "Maybe over a cup of coffee? We can compare notes."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"Sure!" Lydia says agreeably, slipping on her own open faced helmet. "I know the place. Follow me." She gets on the Toaster and revs it up (well, turns it on so it makes it's cute little putt putt noises), and then slides into traffic. She's easy to follow, since she's almost impossible to lose in traffic, and after about ten minutes worth of driving she pulls up to this quaint little 24 hour coffee shop that looks warm and inviting with large couches and chairs for its patrons to relax in.

"Here we go," she says once they park. She pulls off her helmet and secures it to the side of Toaster, and takes her oversized back from the front basket. "Best coffee this side of Brooklyn. I don't drink much coffee myself, but their selection of teas are vast and plentiful."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Meanwhile, Phoebe has that motorcycle, lightweight and surprisingly loud. Her helmet goes back on, and she follows along after Lydia's Toaster easily. She's becoming used to tailing people through traffic. A quick turn and a kick of her stand, she's able to share parking space with Lydia as she dismounts and takes off her helmet, shaking out her braids again and wincing a moment as she pulls one from a strap, then tucks her helmet into a backpack and follows Lydia in, taking off her biking jacket.

    It really was a warm and inviting place. Surprising, because as much as Phoebe misses Gotham, she's really beginning to like New York.

    "Yeah, full admission I don't drink coffee. I like a little coffee to flavor my milk in the morning." she jokes. and she pulls out a couple of crinkled five dollar bills from her messenger bag.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia laughs, and nods, "Yes, that's pretty much how I'm able to drink coffee, too. They make great coffee flavored milk products here." She sees Phoebe start to pull out some wadded cash from her pockets, and Lydia hold out a restraining hand. "I've got this tonight. If you're living above the Laughing Magician, then you probably need all the money you can spare."

She goes up to the barista and asks for a latte, with a bit of cinnamon and almond flavors, which he is more than happy to supply. She steps back and waits for Phoebe to order and when the time comes, she pays for both of them, brooking no argument from her.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Ah... just a hot chocolate, please." Phoebe states, feeling incredibly awkward about having suggested coffee, not being able to pay, and then ordering a cheap hot chocolate as she breathes out. "And it's not /that/ bad/. John lives elsewhere. Chas and I live above the bar, and a lot of the time he's... doing other stuff. It's almost like living alone. Except every once in a while the seat's up." she jokes, but does give Lydia a smile.

    "But... thank you for the drink. "

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"Are you sure that's all you want?" asks Lydia, concern in her voice. "You can get a muffin too, if you're hungry." Yes, anybody living at John's place must be destitute and starving. She waits for her latte, and for Phoebe's hot chocolate before she goes and sits down in one of the comfortable chairs.

"I'm lucky," she says conversationally. "The only place where I lived with a man was with my parents and we had him trained well."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I've... lived with a lot of people. Off and on. My mom would /probably/ not approve of my living arrangement at the moment," Phoebe gives a sad sort of smile. It doesn't touch her dark eyes when she peers across to Lydia, then draws her gaze down and to the left, setting her drink down a moment as she rubs at a white ink tattoo at her left wrist, and she takes a deep breath.

    "So, you had said you were a bit of an oddity? Is it because of the ah.... the ectoplasm? Is that the right word?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia nods as she takes a sip of her latte, wincing at its too hot temperature. "Yes. Even before I got into magic I could always sense when ghosts and spirits were around. That and I don't know of anybody else who has this mutation. It's kind of unique." She shakes her head. "But that's not the long nor the short of it," she says. "It turns out that I'm a direct descendant of Hatshepsut. I learned a... I guess you could call it a genealogy spell that will show you your ancestry back to the beginning of time and mine was rather special."

She crosses her legs, right over left, after setting her latte down on a nearby table to let it cool some. "It's why the coven is interested in me. Apparently we share the same ancestors. It's kind of exciting, if I'm to be honest."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Hatshepsut?" Phoebe blinks a moment, and she gives a smile. "A geneaolgy spell sounds extremely useful, if it shows your ancestry -- until you find out you're related to someone who you'd rather not be attached to." she trails off a moment, and gives a soft sound.

    "So, is Hatshepsut is your common ancestor with this coven? They practice Kemitism?" she inquires, leaning forward and fairly interested, her dark gaze settling on Lydia.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia nods in agreement. "Indeed. I performed the spell on someone and we found some..." she licks her lips as she tries to frame this delicately, "... questionable people in her family history. It didn't go over well."

"I don't know," she admits. "I get the feeling that they practice their own flavors of magics, but the coven is there to tie our powers together and to make the whole greater than the sum of the individuals. It was alluded to that once I joined, I wouldn't need kabbalism to perform magic anymore, that I'd be strong enough to just.... apply power and thought and just /do/ things. Like how John is able to do things most times."

"I'm really of two minds on this. On the one hand it's kind of exciting to see what can be accomplished at this level of sorcery, but at the other, I /like/ working out kabbalic spells. It's like putting together a puzzle and making sure all the pieces fit together."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The young woman across from Lydia is listens carefully. She gives a nod in understanding at the questionable people in the family history -- who doesn't have that?

    Phoebe gives a small smile, and she brings her hands together, and then between them, there is just a little spark of light.

    "I apparently am an oddity because my magic is in-born. John explained that a lot of magic is the application of /Will/. He taught me to separate the three veins of my power -- well, separate the Healing from the rest of it... so that I didn't set his lungs on fire." she explains, and then she presses her palms closed, then looks about to make sure no one was paying too much attention.

    "Ordinarily I have an aura, too. In the Astral, anyway. Not a glow like yours -- and yours is super cool and eerily neat to watch!" she explains, awkwardly, and then picks up her hot cocoa.

    "... do you have to stop using Kabbalic spells if you decide to join the coven?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
It's not every day that Lydia gets compliments on her powers, and that leaves her grinning. "Thank you! Most people are just spooked out about it or assume that I'm radioactive or something. I can't tell you how many times I've been turned down for jobs because HR was afraid that I'd give the kids cancer or something." She shakes her head, "I've got a better job now." If Phoebe has been keeping up with mutant news, she would recognize that Lydia has been hanging out with the Brotherhood, and even made an impassioned plea on Mystiques behalf on national television. (There's also rumor that she's actually /dating/ Mystique.)

She nods, "My ectoplasm comes with me to the Astral plane, too. I don't know if I have any other unique presences there since I really opened up to magic. I was there, once, but that was before I built my golem."

Lydia muses on the last question. "I suppose not. The ritual of it all requires more finesse than the brute force method. I've been working on a way to close those rifts without having to expend all my power, and I think I've got something down that's more efficient than the way John showed me. It does have its disadvantages, though. It takes considerably more time to perform."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe didn't pay attention to most of the information that flooded through, but she had kept tabs. Now, if there was evidence that Lydia was planning some sort of terroristic threat -- that would be something.

    She leans forward, and she gives a grin "Yeah, sometimes his methods are more 'in the moment'... he has finesse when he wants to have it, though. Or needs it. His warding is just... I mean I've been trying to see if I can emulate some of the circles but nothing feels right." she breathes out, and she gives a smile to Lydia.

    "Yeah, I had it bad enough being a Black girl in a mostly white neighborhood... I honestly think having visible powers and mutations is pretty much the worst thing at the moment for people hiring. Like, we don't have a huge population of mutant or meta human in Gotham that aren't currently involved with criminal elements, but I had been reading that by and large the percentage of underserved peoples around the States are either mutants or metahumans with obvious powers or physical deformities and are made unhoused almost seventy percent higher chances than non-mutant or metahumans..." she trails off a moment, and takes a deep breath.

    "If... if you find something that works better -- think it's something that can be shared?" she questions, almost hesitantly.

    Could Phoebe use it? "We have three in Gotham that I'm monitoring, but... I can't 'sew up' the same way."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
The subject of mutant equality has Lydia leaning forward eagerly. "Yes! Exactly! Bushwick is largely a ghetto made up almost entirely of mutants or families of mutants, and they are disadvantaged in ways that other ghettos can't even begin to imagine. Did you know that they don't even have a school? That's something we're trying to fix. The Brotherhood, I mean. We're investing heavily in Bushwick to try to get it's citizens an even start, so that they don't /have/ to turn to a life of crime to just make ends meet."

She grins widely, "It's why I created the golem in the first place. Crime has gone down 15% since he started patrolling the streets! He's helped out with community projects, too! It's such a wonderful feeling when you create something that has such a positive impact on the community."

"That's another reason why I'm working on the actual spell," Lydia says. "So others can use it and you don't /have/ to rely on me or John to get them closed. I just... need more time, first. And then I'll need to test it on one first to make sure it works properly."

"You've got my number, right? If you need my help with any of them, give me a call. I've got access to teleporters so I can be there within minutes."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I used to work with the unhoused population in Gotham pretty exclusively. Before... before I had to leave." she explains, and she breathes out.

    "... but seriously, no school in Brooklyn? What is this, Warsaw? That's ridiculous. I know the guy who runs the Hope House, I have an in with the Wayne Foundation through work with the Fireman's orphans. We could find some way to funnel money into something... I mean I don't do the webmaster thing anymore..." she trails off, finding a problem that she could fix without magic.

    "... no school. That's bollocks." she mutters under her breath.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"Well, there's schools in Brooklyn, but none in /Bushwick/ proper," explains Lydia. "So they all have to be bussed out to different schools, where they're frequently bullied and ignored." Lydia suddenly realizes that she has a latte cooling on the table next to her, and picks it up to take a couple of sips.

"It really isn't about the money," she says. "Funding is easy to secure. It's the logistics that's throwing me for a loop. I've been trying to find a mutant who knows a thing or two about this so I can put /him/ in charge instead of me, but they're few and far between."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Eh. And I would gather if you put out an add in the classified for 'headmaster of a mutant charter school' you probably wouldn't get very qualified candidates." she leans her head back. She wrinkles her nose in thought.

    "I'm sorry, Lydia, I'm just kinda this seventeen-year-old kid who's trying to figure everything out for everyone..." she takes a sip of her cocoa. "I'm not very good at it yet."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia chuckles good naturedly and nods. "It's all about connections. I'm probably going to have to go with a sympathetic human, but I want to keep this whole thing in house as much as possible. Hire as many mutants as I can, providing on the job training for a lot of the positions so that mutants who wouldn't have otherwise have been given a chance to work on a job that has a /real/ salary."

She leans over and places a consoling hand, "It's okay. I'm twenty five and I /feel/ the same way. You're doing good."