+1 Cylon to the Nexus

[fiveofnone]

There is a man standing near the vending machines in the Plaza, dressed in a well-tailored, peacock blue suit. He looks like he could get you an excellent rate on your second mortgage, but you'd be wise to double-check the fine print before you sign anything. As he fixes himself a cup of coffee, he glances periodically at the people who pass by, his expression perfectly neutral. Although the more astute might pick up on the way he tugs at the cuffs of his sleeves impatiently, as if wishing he were somewhere else.

Finally, he sighs. "Okay. Listen up. Adia asked me to come here because she thought it'd be good for me to make some friends, so if you see her, you can tell her that we chatted and save yourself the actual trouble. All right? I'm sure we're all very busy people."

He takes a sip from his to-go cup and grimaces. "On second thought, can anyone tell me where I can get a decent coffee around here? I can't believe she's been drinking this stuff for the past three years.."

Comments

[mudblood_andproud]

Crookshanks nods at him. He paws at the cup. Would you like him to tip it over, good sir?

"Yes. His name is Crookshanks. I am Hermione. We are both friends with Adia."

[fiveofnone]

Did that cat just nod at him? He pulls back the cup, not wanting any coffee to splash out onto his suit. "Hold on, buddy," he says, throwing away the full cup and grabbing an empty one from the coffee machine. He places it in front of the cat. "Here you go. Knock yourself out."

His mouth quirks a little at the name 'Crookshanks', but the look he gives Hermione is otherwise blank. Had Adia mentioned a Hermione? She might have, but she mentioned a lot of names.

"My name's Caspar," he introduces himself. "Adia's boyfriend."

[mudblood_andproud]

Crookshanks just looks at the empty cup. And tilts his head at Caspar, as if saying that knocking over an empty cup is not worth his time.

"How lovely." Hermione pulls over a chair, so she can sit with him.

"Would you like some proper tea?" Hermione reaches into a small beaded bag at her side, and pulls out two empty tea cups. And then a bag of herbs. And then a tea kettle.

[fiveofnone]

That gets an honest-to-goodness laugh out of him. "You don't want any of that crap on your nice orange fur, do you?" He taps the cup a couple of times, then shrugs. "Suit yourself."

He redirects his attention to Hermione. More specifically, the bag that she is pulling items out of as if it were a clown car. How...?

"You're the one who charmed Adia's messenger bag," he says suddenly. Adia had showed it off to him after telling him about the Nexus. It was both amazing and disturbing, and even now he shifts in his seat uneasily, put off by the blatant violation of the laws of physics. "I'll have some tea, sure. It's regular tea, right? It won't do anything to me?"

[mudblood_andproud]

"Yes. I am." Hermione smiles. Glad that he knows who she is now.

"Just regular tea. Nothing magical or Nexus LOL enchanted about it."

[fiveofnone]

It certainly helps to put him on notice. He can't give Hermione too much of an attitude if she's that good of a friend to Adia.

He'll think it over while she makes it, but he supposes he can take her word that it's safe. "So I guess you're a witch, then?" He spares a glance at Crookshanks. "And that's your familiar?"

[mudblood_andproud]

Hermione taps the top of the tea kettle with her wand, and the water inside starts to boil. She smiles at his question. "Yes. I am a witch."

"And yes, Crookshanks is my familiar." Crookshanks meows softly. He knows you are talking about him.

[fiveofnone]

His eyebrows go up at the display of magic. With a wand and everything. "Gives a whole new meaning to instant tea. That must be awfully convenient for you."

"I like cats," he says, looking the animal's way again. "They have a certain dignity to them that you don't see in most other domesticated animals." Settling back in his seat, he returns his attention to Hermione. "How long have you known Adia?"

[mudblood_andproud]

Crookshanks moves forward, hearing that the man likes cats. He paws at Caspar's sleeve. Will he allow the cat into his lap, or is the suit more important?

"A couple of months. I met her, when I first entered the Nexus."

[fiveofnone]

He looks down at the cat, brows furrowed. He know what the cat wants, he's just trying to decide if he wants a shedding fur ball sitting on his lap. The suit is very important to him. But he does like cats, this one in particular. It has good taste.

"All right," he sighs, scooting back a little so that the cat has room to sit on his lap. "But no claws, please." Orange fur he can get out with a lint brush, a snag in the fabric is much more of a pain to repair.

As for Hermione's reply, he looks a little surprised. "Only a couple of months? Did she help you around or anything?"

[mudblood_andproud]

Crookshanks nods at his request, moving into Caspar's lap, and settling quickly, purring contently. He will be pleasantly surprised to find out later that Kneazle's do not shed.

"She did. We met outside the Grand Library. And started speaking about books."

[fiveofnone]

That will definitely be a pleasant surprise. For now, he smiles down at his furry companion and scratches gently between his ears. It's almost like Caspar is a different person with a purring cat in his lap. Much softer around the edges. This must be the side of him that Adia sees.

"She loves libraries," he says, his tone a little warmer as he talks about her. "She talks about the Grand Library all the time. Gave me a tour the other day. I can see the appeal, it's huge." He looks up at Hermione. "The Nexus must seem less crazy for you if you come from a world of magic."

[mudblood_andproud]

Crookshanks also knows when people just need a kitty in their lap. And Hermione knows that she can trust Caspar, because Crookshanks is a good judge of character.

"Not really less crazy. It is very unusual for me, since most people who come to the Nexus are from worlds with no magic. Or from worlds that have advanced technology."

"I just started learning about computers." Hermione smiles. "I am quite excited about it. And while my spells and potions do help me in everyday things on my world... not everything here can be solved with magic."

[fiveofnone]

That makes her the first human to trust Caspar, aside from Adia. Good thing he likes cats.

"Magic is that commonplace where you're from?" He looks at the teapot, the cups that came from her small bag. "I feel like it's all over the place here." Maybe it's selective bias on his part, only noticing what's different from him. "Seems like mostly humans around here, too."

"Not everything here can be solved with computers, either," he points out. "But good luck with that. They're useful tools."

[mudblood_andproud]

"About half of the population are either wizards or witches. The other half are Muggles, non-magic using humans." Hermione explains.

"And the Nexus magic is different from my own." She pours them both two cups.

[fiveofnone]

"That doesn't cause problems? Half the population walking around doing things the other half can't?" He sounds incredibly pessimistic about it. He knows how easily differences in powers or abilities can spark a war.

At least he thanks Hermione for the tea. He picks up a cup and gives it a sniff. Blows on it. He's not much of a tea drinker but it smells pretty good. "How's it different?"

[mudblood_andproud]

"We have a Magic Secrecy Act that is still kept in pretty good control." Hermione explains. "But I have been looking at ways to unite the two worlds, once again. It would be of benefit to Muggle-borns, like myself, for their parents to know more about the Wizarding world."

"Well, there is always a balance to my magic, something to control it. Nexus magic can be chaotic and uncontrollable at times. No one around to legislate it."

[fiveofnone]

"Once again? Must have been a trainwreck the first time if it's a secret now." He leans back, his fingers unconsciously scratching a gentle pattern in Crookshanks' fur. "But at least anyone can be born using magic. You'd have a lot harder time otherwise."

"Hmm." He takes a sip of tea, considering her words. It's another point against the Nexus, in his mind. He likes the convenience, but anything that puts Adia more at risk is suspect to him. "Are you referring to the curses? The LOLs?" His mouth sours on the phrase. There's nothing funny about being cursed.

[mudblood_andproud]

"The wizarding world and the muggle world once worked together a long time ago, before the 14th Century. Then there was a change in society, where many in the wizarding community started to feel that the Muggles were taking advantage of the partnership. And a few power-hungry Muggles felt that if they could not have control of their magic themselves, that those who did should not exist."

"That started the witch hunts. There was widespread persecution of wizarding children by Muggles, escalating attempts by Muggles to force witches and wizards to perform magic for Muggle ends and teach them magic, and increasing numbers of witch-burnings. And by the 17th Century, wizard-Muggle relations were at their worst."

"The International Statute of Secrecy was signed in 1689, and wizards went into hiding for good. We formed own small communities within a community, and used power secrecy spells to hide our schools, our government, our powers from Muggles."

Hermione lets the history lesson sink in for a moment, as she sips her tea. "Yes. I am. I have been fortunate not to have run afoul of a LOL yet, but I know people who have."

[fiveofnone]

He listens silently, unsurprised. Of course humans would try to take advantage of the ones who could do magic. Of course they would respond with violence at the slightest pushback from whomever they were oppressing. "And you think things can be different now? Are humans any more enlightened in your current century? Because it took two wars and a genocide for the humans in my universe to get a clue."

As for LOLs, he takes another sip of tea before responding. "Is there a way to see them coming? Something to look out for?" Adia told him that it could be anything, really, but maybe a witch has a better sense of what to look out for.

[mudblood_andproud]

"My concern is that the wizarding world is getting too detached from the Muggle world. We just fought in a Wizarding War, trying to prevent a deranged wizard from deciding that Muggles had no worth. And because of his delusions, Muggle-borns like myself, were viewed as criminals..." Hermione explained.

"I am a Muggle-born. I have connections to both worlds. I just think things could be better. That Wizard-Muggle relations could be better." It is something she feels very passionate about.

"Not really. That is one of the risks."

[fiveofnone]

The oppressed becoming the oppressors is a bit too close for comfort for him, and he shifts uncomfortably in his seat. "Yeah, well.. all it takes is one asshole to take things too far and screw everything up. Are there any of this wizard's flunkies still around? They won't make your goal any easier."

"Great," he sighs. "What sort of LOLs have you seen so far?"

[mudblood_andproud]

Hermione frowns slightly. "As a matter of fact, I was recently attacked by one of the Dark Lord's followers recently. His most loyal follower."

"So yes. There is resistance."

"The most recent one was the gender-switching LOL."

[fiveofnone]

"Was it here?" he asks quickly. That's his first concern -- always his first concern, because anything dangerous in the Nexus is a threat to Adia. "What happened? Did you stop them?" Hermione doesn't look injured, but that doesn't mean that her attacker didn't get away.

He raises a brow at the idea of a curse that can switch genders. Gender is a human construct, but he's rather partial to the construct that his consciousness is housed in. "Sounds harmless but annoying. Are they all like that?"

[mudblood_andproud]

"Not in the general gathering area. There is an Anti-Violence Field that usually prevents people from hurting others here..."

"It was at a Nexus apartment I was sharing with my friend, Hunter. And he did get hurt."

"Bellatrix was brought in for justice. She is facing trial in my world now."

Hermione takes another sip of tea. Crookshanks is laid out in Caspar's lap, purring up a storm. "Most of them. The LOL stands for Laugh-Out-Land. Generally, they are harmless."