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* Catreenia is dressed for travelling when she stops by the shop during late morning. She looks a little puffy-eyed, like she's either gone without sleep or has been drinking or crying-- or any combination thereof. <Catreenia> Master Caz? ::her mouth quirks up in a smile as Eidolon comes and curls around her ankles, but it doesn't reach her eyes. She bends to pet the cat for a moment. <Caz> ::stepping out of the back room and closing the door:: Cat! Good to see you. ::he frowns a little as he studies her face:: You're not working today, are you? Is everything all right? <Catreenia> Well... ::sighs:: No, not exactly. Actually, I came to ask... I need some time off. About a month, I think. Some... unexpected family problems have come up that I need to attend to at home. ::she chews on her lower lip for a moment, studying the floorboards between them before looking up again with serious eyes:: I wish I could explain more, but... it's personal and a little sensitive, and so I can't elaborate very much. You know how it can be with family things.... ::she looks away:: <Caz> Cat... ::he looks at her, catching her eyes:: There are only so many problems that fit into that category, you know. ::sighing a little, and smiling at her:: Would you please just tell me what trouble you've gotten yourself into? I'd like to help... and I've almost certainly seen it if not actually lived through it. Trust me, I'll understand. <Catreenia> ::shakes her head slowly:: Not... this kind, I don't think. It... has to do with my talent, too. I have to speak with my great-grandmother. <Caz> ::thinks a few moments:: You used your talents to control someone else's mind and now you want to talk to your great-grandmother who was condemned as insane and has been dead for years. Am I correct? <Catreenia> ::blows out an exasperated sigh:: No. *Please*, Master Caz... I want to continue working with you. I'd love to have a job, when I get back. ::looks at the floor:: But... if I don't... then so be it. <Caz> ::shakes his head and takes Cat's hand:: I would never fire you over this Cat. And I won't stop you. I know what it's like to have something you HAVE to do. ::brushes her cheek:: But I don't want to see you getting hurt any more than you already have been. Let me help, even if it's just by providing a sympathetic ear. <Catreenia> I... ::bites her lip:: I'm sorry, Master Caz... I have to figure some things out, and there's only one person I can talk to about it right now... <Catreenia> ..but... thank you. ::looking away:: It's better than I deserve, just now. <Caz> ::turns her face so that he can look into her eyes:: Maybe. But if you learn from it then eventually it will heal. <Caz> If you're going to talk to the dead can I at least come with you in case things go wrong? <Catreenia> ::smiling faintly as she turns back:: Thank you again, but I already have someone to go with me to take care of... things going wrong. <Caz> ::smiles faintly:: Might I ask who your protector is? <Catreenia> ::shakes her head, a bit of a wry impish smile on her lips, a little of the old Cat:: He has some responsibilities here, and it can't be known that he's away, so he's travelling incognito with me. But I promise, he's very good at what he does. <Caz> ::shakes his head:: I wish you'd trust me more, but no matter. If you won't tell me what's going on, and if you won't let me come with you, then you're damn well accepting a gift or two from me in order to ease my mind. <Catreenia> ::looking a little apprehensive:: Nothing... old, I hope? ::looking stern:: And nothing you can track me with! <Caz> Old? <Catreenia> You know... something that might, um... ::taps her temple, and makes an exploding gesture with her hand:: <Caz> ::chuckle:: I had forgotten.... Hmm... that means I'll have to reconsider. <Caz> ::disappears upstairs, coming down after a few minutes with a gold bracelet set with violet garnets:: <Caz> Just do me a favor and wear this while you're gone. It'll make me feel better. * Catreenia accepts it gingerly. "What is it? What does it do?" <Caz> He was made to capture and store spell energy, but he's acquired a few other abilities that can come in handy. And hopefully he'll be able to talk you out of doing anything too stupid. <Catreenia> ::looking alarmed, and starting to hand it back:: *HE?* <Caz> ::gently closes Cat's hand around the bracelet:: Yes, he. They're extremely rare, but he is an intelligent magic item. If you won't let me be there to protect you, then I'm sending him along to protect you. Especially when I don't know anything about the protector you've chosen. <Catreenia> I... ::looks extremely worried:: it... *he* can't make me do anything I don't want to do? Or... or... or... think for himself? ::holding the bracelet the way she would a snake:: <Caz> He does think for himself. That's the nature of intelligent beings. As for making you do things... Yes, though he only will if you're about to do something suicidal. <Catreenia> ::her alarmed look only increases as he keeps talking, and finally she puts the bracelet on the counter, backing away a couple of steps, trembling a little:: I... no. I'm sorry, Master Caz, I know, it-- he must be very very valuable, and I'm honored that you care so much to even lend him to me, but... no, please, I can't-- I can't have that making decisions for me! Especially not now! <Caz> Do you trust me Catreenia? <Catreenia> ::tears in her eyes:: Master Caz... *please,* don't make me do this... <Caz> ::waves his arm:: Forget everything else for the moment, Do You Trust Me? <Catreenia> ::biting her lip, turning her head away to look at the wall:: M-mostly... <Caz> Mostly? <Catreenia> ::her lower lip is white where her teeth grip it, and tears are tracked down her face where they've spilled from the corners of her eyes. Her voice is tiny:: Y-yes... <Caz> ::continues to hold Cat's gaze:: Why only mostly? <Catreenia> I... well, you... ::anguished:: Please, Master Caz, it's only a month, I'll be back in a month! <Caz> Why are you afraid to answer the question? <Catreenia> ::lifting her eyes finally to meet his, snapping with anger:: Because I don't like hurting people! I've hurt people *enough* for this lifetime! <Caz> ::shakes his head:: Don't do this, Cat. I don't know what personal demons you have chasing you, but driving people off isn't the way to handle it. And since you have a protector, I hope for your sake that it's someone who loves you very much, because the only other protector you're likely to have chosen in this mindset is one who will punish you, either directly or by getting you into trouble. <Catreenia> ::sounding as if the words were dragged from her:: I have to do this. I have to find out. And I have to talk to my great-grandmother... I can't-- I *know* it could be dangerous. I'm not an idiot. I don't *want* to drive anyone off, I don't want to hurt people. But... I'm not letting you or anyone else chain me "for my own good." And I *am* going. <Caz> And I'm not stopping you. But there's a difference between letting you do what you have to do and letting you commit suicide, and you're showing all the signs of being dangerously close to doing just that. I'd have thought that if you'd learned anything about me while working here it's that I value individual freedom and freewill. <Catreenia> ::shaking her head, backing away another step, and pointing at the bracelet with a trembling finger:: If you think *that* represents individual freedom and freewill... then you're as false as I am. Goodbye, Master Caz. ::backing towards the door:: <Caz> Stop! <Catreenia> ::freezes a few steps from the door, eyeing him warily:: <Caz> ::sighs:: I've told you that I used to abuse my power without a thought for other peoples lives. It's a hard road you have ahead of you, Cat. Don't think that you have to go it alone. <Catreenia> I'm... ::taking a trembling breath, and relaxing fractionally:: I'm not... I won't. But... the first steps *have* to be mine. I... I'm sorry, Master Caz, but I really can't take that. <Caz> Then what help will you accept from me? <Catreenia> I... ::wrinkles her eyebrows, looking distressed:: Do you have anything like that that's not sentient, and not cursed not to come off or anything like that? <Caz> ::shakes his head:: Not that you'd be able to use. <Catreenia> ::makes a worried, frustrated noise in the back of her throat:: Rmf... umm... ::looks around the shop a little desperately:: <Caz> Do you want to say that you don't want my help but are worried about hurting me? <Catreenia> No... I... I wish I *could* find some way you could help, honestly, but... ::as she scans the shop displays, her eye lights on what could be termed, for lack of a better word, a mood ring-- a smaller variant of the glow-globe Caz gave her for Midwinter:: That! ::her face lighting up:: that would help me. And... ::biting her lip:: Do you have anything that can protect against the, well, the undead? <Caz> ::looks at the ring:: How would this help you? <Catreenia> I... it could be *very* important, over the next month, for me to know my own heart... and... well, I've been having trouble with that, lately. <Caz> I have some items that would protect you against the undead...but they've been tested rather thoroughly. <Catreenia> ::frowns, puzzled:: Tested? Oh-- you mean, used! Well... did they work? I mean-- you didn't get them off of dead people, did you? <Caz> Some. But do you really want items I got from a priestess that saved me from the vampire lover that showed me that I shouldn't control peoples minds by controlling mine and then using me to control the populace she ruled over? <Catreenia> ::blinks several times as she tries to work that one out:: <Catreenia> Oh. Hm. ::cocks her head, and then grins:: Well... it would certainly give me insight onto your character, Master Caz... and honestly, my shielding *is* better. Does it work against ghosts? <Caz> ::grins:: Well you said you were worried about things with histories. And that I'd track you, though to be honest I could do that even if you didn't take a single thing with you. <Catreenia> ::bites her lip:: Please don't? But... ::nods:: Well... if I could try it on here first, maybe... if you're willing, that and the ring I would accept. <Caz> ::sighs:: I won't promise not to watch you Cat. I've seen people in situations like yours pull through and be the stronger for it, and I've watched them destroy themselves and everything they care about. I won't interfere unless you're truly in danger, but I won't promise not to watch. <Catreenia> I... ::nods:: Just... please, Master Caz, try to trust *me.* <Caz> I am trusting you. But you're quite likely to be dealing with ghosts or worse, and they've been known to get the better of well-prepared priests. <Catreenia> ::nods:: Very well. ::looking over her shoulder:: Not to be rude, but... I really do have to go, Master Caz. <Caz> ::nods:: Just a moment then. ::heads back up stairs:: <Caz> ::returns and presents Cat with a cloak, a set of bracers, and a ring:: The cloak's enchanted to make it harder for people to actually hit you. The ring will make it harder for magic, including a ghost's touch, to affect you. And the bracers will extend your life force if something should manage to get through everything else. ::the items have clearly seen a lot of use, though they've also clearly been well cared for:: <Catreenia> ::nods, accepting the items a little gingerly, one at a time, closing her eyes and taking several deep breaths to steel herself first. She cracks an eye open as she touches them and looks almost surprised:: Nothing... unmanageable. *Thank* you, Master Caz. And... ::a little shyly:: The mood ring, may I...? <Caz> ::opens the case and pulls the ring out for her:: Just be sure to come back, sound in mind and body. Even if you have to leave all these trinkets behind. <Catreenia> ::nods:: I'll try, Master Caz. Really I will. Thank you again. ::slips the iron ring on her finger, and the shimmering mood stone beside it:: Goodbye! |
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