capeandcowllogs | Lean on me!

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Lean on me!

WHO: Sirius Black and YOU
WHERE: Moonybase, Potterbase, Nill's church, a pub or something, I AM HAVING ALL OF THE SCENES.
WHEN: any time this week or last, just make a note of timing in the tag.
WARNINGS: Wizard angst and wizard logic.
SUMMARY: It takes a village
FORMAT: WORDS.

It was not the worst month of Sirius's life, not by far, but that was more a symptom of the tragedies he'd already lived through than a lack of trying on the part of fate and the Porter. The fight with Remus, Ruka attacked, Bellatrix back, Lily gone, and now the possibility of Voldemort... Everywhere Sirius looked, tension and tragedy looked back, reflected in the eyes of his family. As much as he might miss Lily, however (and Harry, still), there was a part of Sirius that could not despair as long as he had James and Remus with him. Which was good, because outside of being physically present, James and Remus themselves were not being the most helpful: caught up in their own tragedies, this was certainly understandable.

Historically speaking, Sirius wielded his penchant for dramatics to distract and entertain his friends when life got tough, but there was simply no out-performing the Porter, and the thought of what happened to Ruka bared his teeth as well. , and above all else, just very stubbornly being there, in dog form as often as not. He knew Ruka'd need space to...adjust to her new perspective on life, so to speak, and Remus... They hadn't talked about it, but in this case, that was because Sirius acknowledged and understood that he was following Remus's lead in this, not any particular avoidance, at least on his part.

All the same, a man needed some relief from care and worry. There was part of him that rolled its eyes at the ideal, but Nill's church had become something of a sanctuary, and he'd come to enjoy nights out at the pub with Andromeda, and even occasionally Eddie or Zatanna. He'd been spending less time in his workshop, but talking shop with the Weasleys (the twins and Ron as well) was a welcome distraction, and he always felt better after checking in with their wider circle of friends.

[OOC: This is a catch-all for Sirius CR. Named or not, feel free to start a thread with him!]

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"Sorry," Geddoe grunted quietly. "It's instinct, when people sneak up on my blind side."

He followed Sirius to the table and slid into a seat, leather creaking the whole way. "I'll take any good ale they've got. Thanks."

"Smithwick's it is, then."

Once the ordering was taken care of, Sirius settled in himself.

"How are you? I hope you and yours haven't been touched by the attacks recently."

"Attacks?" Geddoe sat up a little, looking disturbed. "What attacks? I haven't noticed anything unusual...there's been no report over the device. Unless you mean the rash of murders a couple of weeks ago?"

"The murders, the attacks at the school, and now Ruka. There have been disappearances as well, people probably getting ported out... but after what happened to Nill and Remus, I don't trust that as easily as I used to."

Sirius shakes his head, but the waitress is back before he can fall too far into brooding, and he gives her a polite smile in return for their drinks.

Geddoe schooled his reaction behind his stoic lack of expression, and took a drink before finally responding. "Ruka has a strong heart for someone her age. She'll get used to it. Like I did." That didn't mean he didn't care, but he was a realist as a rule.

"...aside from that, no. No one I know has been in any trouble." He took another casual sip. "Things have been very quiet on my end." His good eye lifted from the glass to Sirius' face. "What did you want to speak to me about, then?"

"She has a strong heart for someone three times her age. That girl is made of steel. Just like her father." Either of them.

Sirius fiddles with his beer for just a moment, putting his thoughts in order. "I want to speak with everyone, really. Magic users across the city. We don't talk to each other much."

Geddoe tipped his chin in a sort of nod. "Outside of special events orchestrated by Zatanna, no. We don't." He took a sip and mulled it over. "I don't even speak with Lupin as much as I used to, now that the language lessons are over." He cocked a raised eyebrow in Sirius's direction. "There are a number of people from your world here, now, though. I've noticed."

"Yes, quite a few. Most are more welcome than others, but..."

Sirius shrugs, expression darkening. "But threats come, from home and from here as well. The lack of any framework we can trust, even a loose one, by which we could get in touch with one another is worrisome."

"And I don't trust the technology," Geddoe freely admitted over a sip. "I'm not good with it no matter who tries to teach me. Foes and indifferent interlopers alike can see and hear the messages, it's no way to contact specific people."

Of course, were he from a more industrialized world, Geddoe would have known about cell phones. But that man in his leather armor and eyepatch was not the one to even understand, let alone propose secure one-on-one contact. He raised his eye to regard Sirius. "Complaining, or do you have an idea?"

Sirius smiles and raises his glass in full and enthusiastic agreement with that sentiment. He keeps an eye on the comm to keep in touch with friends and current events, but he avoids discussing anything serious on them, and just sort of assumes that cell phones work exactly the same way, only it's a separate network for natives.

"Both, naturally. Half the joy of planning is grousing about how you need a plan first." ...This may explain much about how the Marauders get up to the nonsense they get up to.

"My idea is more or less a very simple 'we need to talk more'. Organize, even a little bit, just enough to know who's around, what they can do, and that there's some support for each other should we need it. Not in a matching spandex-ensembles way, just... being aware, and using our skills and cleverness instead of relying on the untrustworthy technology handed to us by the thing that kidnapped us here in the first place."

"You'll get no argument from me on either point," Geddoe sighed. "However. I make alliances easier than friends. Because I trust Lupin, by extension I would support anyone who calls him a friend. I'm not quick to give my trust to just anyone who can be vouched for..."

He looked pointedly at Sirius. The glint in his good eye suggested wryness. "...but an alliance with magic users of all kinds is something I've been seeking for a while. And while I don't know you as well as I know Lupin, I know enough."

Sirius shook his head, smiling fondly - not at Geddoe specifically, but at Remus, and whatever he had done to win the stubborn loner's heart. It was a gift of Remus's, the ability to connect with others, one of the many things to love about a man who had a great deal of difficulty loving himself.

But, now was not the time to wax romantic.

"It's a complicated idea, and I admit I'm not sure how best to approach it. There are a lot of questions that only the full group can make, including who should be included in the full group. Bit awkward, really.

"What did you have in mind."

Geddoe's eye shifted to the side while he mulled it over, mentally comparing the current situation to things he was used to, various tricks employed by guerrilla fighters, structured military, and cutthroat mercenaries alike. "At the very least, introductions," he said after a minute. "The means to organizing is knowing who to trust, who to include and who to reach out to. Alliances are built less on fidelity and more on a base agreement to work together."

He paused, and then added something perhaps no one else in this world knew. "I have been present at treaty signings and alliance meetings for several different reasons. I'm not a diplomat, but I know how to get mortal enemies to put aside their differences and work together for a common good. Not that there are mortal enemies among us, but if it should come to that. The reason for banding together should be greater than any reason to keep to ourselves and mind our own matters individually."

"There are, actually," Sirius says quietly, a few moments after Geddoe is finished. "Most of the wizards from my world are pleasant enough, but there was a war on, back home, and it was internal. As long as there is a Death Eater like Bellatrix Lestrange in the City, we have mortal enemies among us. Add to that the endless traumas of the Porter, the tendency of our popular opinion among the citizens to rise and fall, and the less heroic imports, and I think a bit of banding is in order."

He looks tired, older, like this. The vibrant youth that had been in the city resurfaces in Sirius when he smiles, but he is very far from smiling now.

"The difficulty is that we cannot trust every magic user who appears based on skill alone. At least not those from my world."

Geddoe listened very carefully, digesting everything. He could not remember ever meeting someone by that name, despite the fact he had actually run into her in a hallway of the MAC once. "Skill is not my concern," he murmured in response. "Personality. Objective. Will. These are the things that set friends apart from foes."

He set down his tankard and curled his right hand into a fist on the table. "Up until some time last month, there was another from my world, as well. Another True Rune bearer. But he is the epitome of chaos and I expected nothing but evil from him. Fortunately, it seems the machine sent him back before he could try anything. So I am aware that not everyone who comes here is an ally. For those from our own worlds, there's bound to be someone who can vouch for them. Others...will have to be met, and judged on their interactions."

Sirius doesn't really understand how the rune magic of Geddoe's world works...though every time he thinks about it, it strikes him as something he'd like to learn more about.

"People are people, no matter what their skill set, and not all people are good. What was your society like, among the rune bearers of your world?"

"Society?" Geddoe shook his head. "Anyone can bear a rune. Those with strong innate aptitude for magic or much studying can bear up to three. Mages like that are a part of all cultures in my world, under different names - some are called shamans or spirit listeners, others are simply magicians." His lips twitched as he thought. "True Runes...there are only twenty-seven, if the myth of creation is to be believed. I've only heard of maybe half of them, if that, and not all are actively held. One is incarnated as a sword. There is no...commisseration, usually. The circumstances that brought me into fellowship with True Fire and True Water were highly unusual."

Sirius sipped his beer and listened attentively

"There are runes and runes, where I come from - the ability to make a symbol that represents a potent concept, and have that symbol stay, is deep magic, and it's not really like anything else, incantations or potions. Writing has become commonplace since the advent of runic magic, but there is still power in it, which most muggles and even most wizards ignore or have forgotten. It's something I've always found interesting."

This is a bit of a tangent, but there isn't a wizard alive who isn't a complete nerd for at least some aspect of magic, and this was a specialty Sirius didn't often get to talk about.

"What does it mean to bear a rune, and what's the difference between a rune and a True Rune?"

Geddoe nodded slowly. "Lupin explained to me the concept of runes as he knows them, a writing system evolved into magics. It's a bit different." He took off his left-hand glove to show the marking on the back of his hand, extremely faint like a faded henna tattoo but visible enough to tell its shape, a single lightning bolt running jagged down the center. "In their inert states, they can be stored inside a crystal or orb - smallish, about palm-sized - until a rune scholar can transfer it to the hand or head. It takes some measure of innate ability or affinity to bear and use an elemental rune, or some of the more powerful runes, but any brick-for-brains can bear a technique rune to enhance their fighting skill, they require no magical ability whatsoever."

He paused, took a deep breath and let it out slowly, and then revealed his right hand from beneath its own glove. The mark on this was more like a cluster of bolts, but similarly faint. "True Runes are the source of all other magic. The parents, of which common elemental runes are the children and grandchildren. They are...not quite sentient, but they have their own wills. Some cultures revere them as gods."

"Mmm, there's some that would argue that the magic evolved into the writing system, and I've always liked the ring of that interpretation. The semi-sentience is a bit troubling, I'll be honest. There's an old wizarding saying: 'never trust something if you can't see where it keeps its brain.' Of course, there lies the path of paranoia and screaming 'constant vigilance!' at a man every time he tries to get a bit of a nap in what he has been assured is a perfectly safe safehouse, but it takes all sorts."

The babbling almost covers for the intent and intelligent look on his face as Sirius leans forward a bit to examine Geddoe's marks. That's a lot of magic, and he actually senezes a bit as he sits back.

"That's quite a thing you have there."

"Mm." Such was Geddoe's simple, universal noise of agreement and acceptance. "I've had it for about eighty years. Enough time to become enured to it, and not let it influence me. Most of those unlucky enough to bear one don't get that much time with it."

He slid his gloves back on out of habit and picked up his drink once more. "So. Do I pass muster? I may not be able to conjure things out of thin air much as you do but magic, as they say, is magic."

"Do you- Ha ha ha!" Sirius laughs and then waves Geddoe's... concern? teasing? away.

"Rowena wept, Geddoe, I'm not interviewing you to see if you're magic enough, that would be daft. I asked you here to see what you think of it all, because I want you in, right at the start! You just got me going on runes, you know, and I've got a bit of an interest."

"Oh." Geddoe relaxed and just sipped at his drink. "Well, then. Whatever you want, I suppose. What I think is that there's no harm in organizing, probably the sooner the better."

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