All In The Golden Afternoon {Open}

[drjuliusmayfair]

he laughed at her devil horns, "I'm a Scot, lass." He allowed his accent to become thick and rolled his R's broadly, "My people were warding away evil before evil was popular." He gave a chuckle and accepted the gris-gris back, placing it back in his pocket, "Just a memento from my mentor. We were close. I don't use a gris-gris for my magic. Gris-gris is an American item introduced by the Wolof people in Africa. It has brought me some luck, I have to admit, but through magic or other means, I am unsure."

He crossed his legs, thinking. There was so much history, and he said thsi out loud, "I'll just give you the shortened version. There is too much to go into, unless you plan on taking up a priesthood. Now, the Loa. They're the spirits of Vodou. There is a greater god that the Loa follow, Bondye. We as priests do not pray to Bondye, he doesn't care for humans. We pray to the Loa. What I said earlier about Legba, is the chief spirit. He is the gatekeeper who allows the Loa onto our physical plane. You pray to Legba first to open the gate to the others."

He paused, scratching his chin. That was right. He then started to tell a story about a young man he had seen in Africa, "My mentor, Papa Midnight, has taken me to Africa to learn to the roots of Voodoo. We had taken rest in a small village that acually no longer exists. We were wined and dined because of Midnight's power of a priest. The village priest offered him a young woman as a wife." He chuckled at the memory, "Midnight was pleased, but declined. he wasn't inclined towards women. Anyway, the apprentice of the priest was called forth to make sacrifice. Usually when we do this, we pray to our gods, heal the sick and so on. The boy prayed and sacrificed but to the wrong Loa. You always sacrifice to Legba first as I said before. It was too late to correct the mistake, blood was already drawn. Ooh that boy." He sighed, "Kid got turned inside out, literally."

He paused, then shook his head free from the sad thought, "That's the rub. You worship spirits and gods and you have to be prepared for such things."

[briannafraser]

Devil horns was the wrong term. The horns had come so much longer after the mudra. She smiled broadly as his accent thickened and half bounced in her seat. “My father’s family is half in Scotland. But uh, this is complicated enough without bringing the clans into it.” So she quieted and listened to him speak, writing notes as he did. It looked like she wasn’t paying attention but that seemed to be because she was writing down absolutely every word he said.

“Short is good,” she half-mumbled. Brianna had no wish to enter the priesthood of Vodou. If anything, she’d end up being a priestess of Hecate or Hades or someone else before the Loa. She smiled at the explanation of Bondye, “Unlike Zeus who can’t get enough of human women and young boys...” Alright, it was meant to be a joke but it was bloody truth as well. Now she understood about Legba at least which had been the point of this in the first place. Well, that and making Julius stay. Mission accomplished on that part.

When he started telling a story properly, she stopped taking notes and turned her attention fully on Julius. It would be rude to tune out the uninformative parts as she’d asked in the first place. Of course it quickly turned interesting and she winced at the idea of being turned inside out... Her fingers twisted in her long hair almost nervously. Was she prepared for such things? If the Ladies found their book and wanted it back?

A hand curled over her mouth and she coughed almost viciously. “Well that was a bloody sobering story.” Even the shackle seemed to shiver a little and she glanced down at it, “Strengthening the wards sounds like a very good idea. I’d hate to wake up and find the Erinyes staring down at me.”

[drjuliusmayfair]

Julius nodded, "It was one of those moments you stop and go, What the hell am I doing here?" He chuckled a little and sighed again, "There were... other... instances I won't go into. I'm a priest now and that's all that matters to me. I am known as Papa Blanche Rouge. Midnight picked the name." he said hastily. He was never happy with it. He would have picked something a little more manly, but he didn't get a choice.

***“Strengthening the wards sounds like a very good idea. I’d hate to wake up and find the Erinyes staring down at me.” ***

He would have to grow used to her talking to that thing on her wrist. It spoke to her and no one else. He hated enchanted objects. Jules tilted his head to the side, his lips pursing in thought and then he snapped his fingers. He knew what she was talking about. "The Erinyes. The Furies? Greek mythology. Nasty business." His sentences were disconnected. "I never cared for Greek or Roman mythology. That what I had to read when I was learning Latin. Too many man loving boys and brother killing brother." He gave a shutter, "If my daughter burst from my head..." he let that trail , unsure of what to say.

[briannafraser]

Brianna scrunched up her nose, trying not to giggle, “Blanche Rouge? Really? I’d have thought something like Mort Blanche.” Her French was very... rough and she wasn’t sure if that was in the right order or not. It felt like it’d been so long since she’d taken classroom French.

"The Erinyes. The Furies? Greek mythology. Nasty business. I never cared for Greek or Roman mythology. That what I had to read when I was learning Latin. Too many man loving boys and brother killing brother." He gave a shutter, "If my daughter burst from my head..."

She covered her mouth as she laughed for she knew it would very quickly turn into a series of coughs which it did. When she finally recovered her breath, “Well, that’s just one version of Athena’s birth. And in that one, it’s Zeus’s bloody fault for swallowing her mother, innit? And then there was that whole nasty business with Hera trying to be as good as the lord of Olympus and then the birth of Hephaestus...”

Honestly, she was trying to distract herself from the thought of the Furies being sent by the Fates to get their book back come Hades or high water. “Still. To prevent your head having to be split with an axe to fetch a daughter... Don’t swallow the mother.” Of course, that went to a bad place in her head because she was a teenager and those things happened. In turn, her cheeks turned pink and she cleared her throat. “As for all that other stuff... Thousands of years ago it was a freer time. It’s actually unfortunate that modern day society has turned against things that were acceptable, even required in some situations. We could actually learn a lot from their attitudes though not everything should be taken in of course.”

Alright, apparently he’d hit a sore spot but she had a hard enough time getting accepted being ‘normal’ so she wasn’t about to exclude anyone.

[drjuliusmayfair]

He could tell that he hit a sore spot with her. He smiled warmly to her, but sadness filled his eyes, "I hit a sore spot. I'm sorry. I am unsure if it was the talk of the Furies or of change and differences...What I can say: Things change and people who fear change try and stamp it down. They fear things they don't understand. I think that's why BPRD has tried so hard to stay in the shadows. If the populace knew that things of legend and imagination were real..." He shrugged.

"I try not to think of what people think. Modern thinking." He made a rude noise, "I'm a Scotish Voodoo priest who hunts ghosts. Like I fit in anywhere. I don't give a damn." He chuckled and then leaned forward, "You're with the BPRD now, lass. I can't promise that they won't try to get in, but if they do, we're here for you." he patted her shoulder and stood, removing a pocket watch from his vest, "I have to go down to the labs. I have some paperwork to complete before I enter the field for this branch."

[briannafraser]

Brianna perked an eyebrow up and gave him a Look. One of those special Looks that only women could manage. “Stop apologizing for everything. There is such a thing as being overly polite you know.” Of course, she was one for doing the same thing. Still, she kept feeling kind of bad because of all the apologizing. Though he was terribly right. If people knew what was contained in the BPRD... Brianna shuddered and wrapped her arms over her stomach. She had nightmares about being burned as a witch in some kind of mob.

Again there was a Look but it was a different sort. If he didn’t give a damn he wouldn’t be squicked by the contents of the Greek myths. It was hypocritical but no one was perfect and so she wouldn’t hold it against him. Still, it was kind of amusing to notice these things – all part of the human condition and what not. Or perhaps simply the condition of thinking. She appreciated the thought that the BPRD would protect her from the Furies but she sort of doubted it. Rather automatically, she shrank from the pat on her shoulder, well meaning though it was.

“Oh, well, um,” she pulled her notes from the pad of paper and held it back out to Julius, “Don’t forget your notepad.” She rose automatically and politely, “We should... talk again. When you have more time.” It sounded like she honestly doubted that would happen, like perhaps he’d just been being polite this whole time and would likely forget that he ever spoke to her.

[drjuliusmayfair]

He laughed as she scolded him. "You've known me for all of two hours and you're telling me I apologize too much." He shook his head, "Know me longer before you scold me, lass. A week should do it." He felt a little bad for just leaving her but he had so much work to do before he was called into the field. He had only arrived a few days earlier. He knew he would see her around, if she frequented the library as much as he did.

He took his notepad from her and he noticed her withdrawing again. Did she think he was only being polite, staying and talking with her? Was she so shut out of humanity that she couldn't see she made a friend? He suddenly felt very protective of this fragile girl with the smart ass Greek artifact on her wrist. He took her hand when she stood, "Lass, I want you to know you have a friend in me. We're two new faces in this already established group. I really would stay and talk more if I didn't have so much work. We will talk more, I promise this."

He dropped her hand softly and smiled. Lines pulled at his cheeks as he did, his boyish smile didn't appear often. "We might even be assigned to the same team."

[briannafraser]

He had in fact apologized at least four times but Brianna hadn’t actually counted them and so she didn’t relate this fact so she focused on something else. “Been awhile since anyone called me ‘lass’,” she smiled almost fondly. There were a few pleasant memories in her life where that little name came into play but then the bad ones sort of over took her and that smile melted away.

"Lass, I want you to know you have a friend in me. We're two new faces in this already established group. I really would stay and talk more if I didn't have so much work. We will talk more, I promise this."

Brianna’s first instinct was to physically shrink away when Julius took her hand. In fact, she even started to but forced herself to stop. He was quick with the invasive touch (though she knew he meant only to be friendly and it wasn’t like it was inappropriate) with a final comment that made her half shrug, “It’s likely that we’ll be on the same missions... But I make it a point never to take a headcount when it comes to friends.”

It was inappropriate to explain why so she simply settled right back in her chair and opened her book of poetry. It was very clear that she simply wanted to close the matter but then she added, “Still, it is nice to have something to look forward too.” But she didn’t look up when she said it. The words were more like a sneaky aside to herself.

[drjuliusmayfair]

He had to smile at that and he did, leaving her in the library. He would feel very protective of her for now on. he seemed to feel that way about younger women. She did remind him of his sisters. Since Papa Midnight's death, he has realized his loneliness. He missed his family and friends and has tried to keep in touch with them. He would write his sisters tonight. he walked down the stark and unfriendly concrete hallways, every now and then, a cold metal door broke the pattern of the hallway. Every few feet were relics of past endeavors by the BPRD and magical items.

He entered the lab he was assigned and was happy to see a large crate marked to him. He set down the few books he had retrieved on a large metal table piled high with both his tools and a couple bags of recording equipment. He opened the crate and pulled out the rest of his photography equipment, finally shipped from New York. He opened each bag to make sure nothing was broken and checked his inventory of items. He looked deeper into the large crate and laughed out loud.

He grabbed a crow bar and started pulling at the sides. He removed a front and a side, setting the wood planks off to the side. He pulled out padding, throwing it to the side and laughed again. He couldn't believe they sent it! He pulled out a male's Schwinn cruiser from the 1940s. he had found it in New Orleans and had it restored. It was a hideous shade of yellow. The trim was a lighter yellow and the seat was yellow and white. He rang the gold bell on it and laughed again.

"Oh you beautiful thing, I missed you..." He said, almost hugging the bike.