[ Open ] This is What I Brought You

[portolan]

Who: Balthier portolan and you
What: Tarot Reading, return from off-world, open post
When: Mid to late November
Where: Excelsior, his shop, around town
Content Warnings: None so far



OOC: As always, will match prose or brackets.

I. Sign of the Times

[ Business has been...odd...since the near world-ending, since everyone started leaving town, since the guilds have cracked down. It's all the more important he keep the shop safe, but he's that much more wary of people wandering in. So far, the normal folk don't seem to suspect the shop is anything more than a beautiful man with beautiful objects.

But he's been getting restless. So he puts a message out on Our Powers; stop by, guild discounts (either side) and also he's reading tarot.

There's an antique table and two comfortable antique chairs. There are a few decks to choose from. ]

You have a question in mind? You don't have to tell me, but you should think about it while you shuffle.

II. No Place Like Home

[ It's not like Balthier to be low or keep to himself. But between the world almost ending, and then his friends slowly moving our of Excelsior, the anti-meta sentiment threatening the safety of he and his loved ones. He honestly hadn't noticed it eroding his energy.

But after two weeks home, both relieved that his loved ones there are safe and buffeted by the pain of being away from them, he's trying to make a better effort.

So he's reached out, invited people over for tea or dinner, trying to keep this house full and warm as the need to just jump on a ship and go steadily increases. ]

You know this is the longest I've spent tied to one location. There's something enchanting about watching the weather change.

[ He sets out a tray of tea and snacks, all in beautiful antiques. Honestly, eleven months ago, he'd never have expected to get this much comfort out of being so domestic, but here he is. ]

III. Wildcard / Catch-All

[ All your Balthier needs ]

Comments

[portolan]

[ Balthier doesn't get many youth in here, but he tends to enjoy the ones he does. They're either little punks he can fluster into leaving, or they genuinely have some eye for good antiques or a sense of stability from the past.

This one definitely seems like the second. ]

A topic works. You can ask for clarity or guidance. Here. It needs some of your energy.

[ He hands the deck over. Balthier has real magic. Tarot is not, not in any energy transference sense. It's very much magic in the way art and theater are, giving perspective to things we can't reach ourselves.

And he's a conman and it's fun to pretend he's magic this way. ]

I'm Balthier. I don't think we've met.

[codicies]

Dylan. I don't come out to Excelsior much, I actually live in Little Love.

[ He takes the cards in his hands, and starts shuffling them with the familiar motions of an overhand shuffle as he lets his mind wander about his question. Or even his topic. What does he actually want to know?

He's felt so... rejected in the past month. Which didn't make sense. He spent his birthday surrounded by friends and family. He knows, consciously, that he's loved. But Eddie going off world, even for just a little bit, had triggered some deeply-rooted anxiety about his dad's disappearances at home. That, on top of getting rejected by both Hunter and his dance partner at Loki's masquerade...

It feels so stupid to fixate on those rejections so much, but his brain keeps wandering back to them. Is there something wrong with him that's driving people away?

Of course not, he knows that. And yet...

Maybe he should be asking why he feels this way, why he can't shake the feeling of things he knows aren't true. Maybe he needs to ask how long he needs to wait to make this feeling stop. Or what he needs to do to stop it.

Dylan decides to settle on his general feeling of unease and anxiety, and finishes off the shuffling by cutting the deck and riffling the halves together. THe cards are bigger and thicker than he's used to, so the move's a little clumsy, but he manages to keep the cards in his hands at least. He offers the deck back to Balthier with a small smile. ]

Just thought I'd try something new.

[portolan]

[ There's a nervous energy to Dylan that Balthier recognizes. A hunger, too, for some kind of tether, some kind of direction, not knowing what but grappling for it. Wandering to a stranger, being open to the winds, to any sign. That had been him, not that long ago. A lifetime ago.

That had been when he'd first learned to read tarot, actually. ]

Ah, Little Love. I'm not there as often, but I'm familiar. Balthier.

[ Pirate's eyes can't help watching the way Dylan moves, clocking that experienced shuffling but slight awkwardness with the size of the cars. Normal playing cards then, possibly a gambler. The muscles in his face twitch slightly, face keeping that look of deep thought. Easy to guess some lack of stability, something amiss that shouldn't be.

Balthier accepts the cards back, flipping the top three over. ]

I have always found novelty a good companion and a better guide. Ah, interesting.

[ Knight of Wands. Three of wands. The Sun. ]

All fire. Are you a creative, or just stubborn when you put your mind to something?

[ His smile is warm as he asks it, the metal up both his ears glinting, a testament to all the nonsense he's survive -- and heavens forbid, enjoyed -- since he was in Dylan's position. Even the sweater he's wearing is a testament to a life he carved for himself, a gift from his beloved.

There's an odd sense of peace about this reflection, like he's getting to reach back and tell his teenage self it's alright. If he can give some of that to Dylan, he'd like to, for no other reason than no one deserves to be that lost, not when they're fighting so hard for a path. ]

[codicies]

[ Dylan would love to say he had some kind of rough history as a gambler; Maybe throw in some details about surviving alone on the street, making ends meet by hustling strangers on the street with rigged games of chance.

But no, he's just spent a lot of time dicking around with playing cards.

Dylan's familiar with the concept of a cold read. Balthier's gaze isn't intrusive — this is a conversation, after all — but he knows he's being closely watched. Maybe under normal circumstances that'd make him uncomfortable, but here it's just part of the show. The attention combined with the atmosphere of the shop makes it feel almost... mysterious and exciting. ]

A little of both, maybe? I'm a little into music, though I stopped for a while after my teacher disappeared in one of the Confluences.

[ Another reminder of someone who left. He tries not to let that get to him. ]

What do you mean when you say they're fire?

[portolan]

My condolences.

[ Loss of new bonds isn't something he's unfamiliar with, and not unique to being here. There'd been a lot of that when he was trying to find his way. ]

Tarot is built around four elements, fire, earth, water, air. Fire is typically creative -- and destructive -- energy. Passion, willing things to being. Things that need to be tended and crafted. Wands are fire, always, and the sun tends that way as well.

[ As he talks he watches Dylan's face, curious for a smile or a wince, anything that betrays what's resonating or what fears he might be after. ]

This is a past-present-future spread. Your past position is knight of wands. Knights are typically young people, teenagers, so likely you or a peer around you. They do something with their whole being, making them energetic and effective, but can be blinded by this one path thinking, often getting themselves into a corner or hurting others unintentionally.

What they work on, though, often creates a vital foundation for themselves and others. They're almost always disappointed in it though. Restless. Wanting to be more polished or more effective but don't know how. Since it's wands, it's likely a creative endeavor, an idea they're trying to make real, or a relationship with someone important.

[codicies]

[ Dylan leans in as Balthier explains, looking over the cards with interest.

Dylan would never have considered himself a Knight in any literal sense. He knows the Venom Symbiote had the title of Space Knight, briefly — back when it was bonded t Flash Thompson — but didn't consider that anything he could inherit.

Hunter seems more like a Knight to him. He's strong, skilled, earnest and kind... and so many other things.

But Dylan came here to get his mind off the things that were depressing him. Even though he can feel his face getting a little warm, he keeps focused on the cards, and what Balthier is saying. ]

I can think of a few things.

[ Music. Cooking. What kind of hero he wants to be.

...more time with Hunter. ]

[portolan]

[ Balthier's eyes take in the way Dylan leans forward, the boy's eyes moving in a way that indicates deep thought. Good. Give him something to disrupt whatever wheel-rutted paths he's undoubtedly carved in his mind regarding whatever has him here looking for answers.

He taps the center card. A figure standing looking over a horizon, three poles rooted in the ground around them. ]

Three of wands. Once again about something creative or potentially a relationship. This is perhaps more frustrating on the surface but more promising for the long run. Three of wands is someone who is underway trying to make their plans and dreams a reality. They're looking to the horizon and their goals, aware both of opportunity and obstacles. It can be a frustrating position, because there's a lot of work left to do, and no promise it succeeds, but it is a good foundation, and work worth doing.

This is the present position, so I'd say it's how you're feeling or how you're dealing with whatever the past card introduced. With a knight, I would say there's learning going on, some dealing with the wounds the knight inflicts or being along on a learning journey as the knight works to soften their weaknesses and grow to their more balance adult self. Regardless, it is about expansion and is generally a hopeful card.

[ His voice is casual, thoughtful but relaxed. He's done this a thousand times, knows the cards like he knows childhood stories. It frees him up to watch and see what Dylan latches onto.

The real magic of the cards is just how human they are. The mind can't help organizing its clutter of thoughts when given specific, recognizable patterns. And that alone is soothing. ]

[codicies]

[ Wounds the Knight inflicts.

Dylan quietly raises a hand to his heart when he hears that, not even realizing he's doing it. He hadn't really thought of it as a wound, but... it did hurt. He knows, logically, that Hunter both wants and needs room to grow into his own person before... whatever it is they could become together. If anything.

But maybe the cards don't have to be about Hunter. In the end, it's all a show, right? Dylan could use the extra space to grow, too. He's been so enthralled with just existing here, getting to just be with the endless love and support he's always craved, that he hasn't really given much thought in who he'd like to become. ]

That makes sense.

[portolan]

[ Dylan's hand rises to his heart. Someone on his mind then -- maybe romantic, maybe a parent or a friend.

He taps the third card. ]

Future position. Sun. Maybe the best position for it. The sun is everything coming together, growth culminating, a new dawn. It's amplified by your other cards being fire. Whatever it is you're going through, it's tending toward a positive and rewarding outcome.

[ Balthier knows, better than most, that the real magic is hearing that assurance from someone and believing it. A prophecy that often becomes self-fulfilling. ]

[codicies]

I hope so.

[ There's a pause as he looks the cards over, looking thoughtful. ]

It reminds me of someone I'm close to. Or not exactly close, I guess? We're friends. But he's...

I wanted to be more, but he didn't. It sounded like he wasn't ready.

Feels kind of weird to say it out loud. To a total stranger. But the cards kind of helped... sort it out a little in my head, if that makes sense?

[portolan]

[ Ah, there it is. ]

That's how the cards work best -- pulling things into clarity.

Relationships are always difficult. [ Gods know his relationships at that age were...terrible at best. But they also helped him get here. ] But it's not always anything we have or haven't done. It sounds to me like you're doing all you can, giving him space.

It still hurts, though. I've been there.