Exchange PI How you do anything is how you do everything

[Emily Reyes]

Once Emily learned about the Sewing Circle, it took her a few months show up. She had longed for a wider group to study with ever since she started practicing magic, but her questions about the Exchange had her dithering. There was also a more mundane sense of self-consciousness, but that didn't last long. Her safety depended on continued learning, but she bent Max's ear for hours at a time, going in circles about the Exchange. Eventually, she relented to the evidence she had on hand. Vigilantes or not, they weren't doing harm.

Then, after she was decided, it took her another month to work it into her schedule. The detective's full-time career was an interesting juxtaposition to her life of magic, but by now, she had a good balance. There were times when she found use for her magic, and as a result, started to look like she had a broad streak of good luck, but overall she kept it on the down low. Or, she thought she did.

The clincher was when Murphy obliquely asked her if she knew about the Exchange. He asked it over a steaming cup of coffee, referring to them as private investigators. They often took the odder cases that the EPD didn't have time for, he said, eying her carefully. Emily had played it naively, smiling when he offered her a business card. Whether or not the police captain knew what she'd gotten into, she showed up at the Sewing Circle Workshop the very same evening. Two aspects of her life were swiftly converging and Emily wanted to be ahead of the curve.

By now, she'd been coming to the workshop weekly, if not multiple times a week. She didn't make fast friends, but she was familiar with Dorion and a few other faces now. Likewise, her careful study paid off. There were only a few techniques that needed adjustment before they let her loose on the workshop.

Emily was cautious when she started out. There was a library of books and a storeroom of equipment and components, which was almost a dream come true after her frantic search for information in countless libraries around the city and online. However, she didn't want to overstay her welcome. She didn't immediately launch into her own project, instead taking on the small requests from the Exchange itself for utility items. Rizzo's store of healing ointment was first and even if she disagreed with the choice of Vick's VapoRub, she set herself to replicating it.

When she had that spell memorized and could shore up the stores for the Exchange, she branched out. She had notes for a floating lantern based on her first charm--a hands-free, heatless light source seemed useful for any agent. However, she was having trouble getting it to follow whoever activated it. And at one point, she overcorrected and the little orb kept bumping into Dorion's head for the rest of the evening. So, tonight, she'd set that aside and went back to something of a vanity project: magic food.

The workshop was quiet and mostly empty, the tall windows half-open to allow a summer breeze. There were several tables arrayed around the open space and half-finished projects sitting under sheets against the wall, labeled for their owners. Scorchmarks dotted the floor, and there were holes in the drywall in more than a few places, but it was otherwise a studious and peaceful place. Emily sat at one tall workbench, her charmed lights dotting the air above her head, spinning lazily around each other. They illuminated a shiny red apple in the center of her circle, on the intersection of nine circles.

Her current problem was making sure she didn't turn the apple to mush by blasting it with magic. Her magic was already relatively soft and gentle by nature, but there were a few failed attempts in the wastebin next to her. Apples were much softer than her magic by far, and she was starting to wonder if she should pick a rined fruit. Still, she wrote out a few more runes, and, satisfied, pressed her bleeding thumb to the circle.

The circle lit up, glowing a soft, creamy white with healing energy. The apple started to glow as well, and Emily nearly held her breath with anticipation. However, she felt it when the spell hitched. The apple in the center started to swell with magic, and then, as might be expected, exploded. The magic coalesced in the center and then dissipated with nowhere to go. The workshop smelled like cooked apple and she had a star-shaped pattern of apple-mush in the center of her table.

With a soft frustrated noise, she dropped her chalk and dragged her unwounded fingers through her dark hair. She found apple in the strands and made another grouchy, displeased noise in the back of her throat.

[Theo Crowhurst]

Cinder (Third Eye) Complete success

While the Exchange offices were the spot to find Theo most days if he wasn't out dealing with some incident or another, he rarely wandered onto the top floor where the Circle did their work. When he did, it was for a purpose. Usually checking in with the Exchange relevant research being conducted, although it was always interesting to see what other projects were being planned. Theo took pains to not appear too interested though, self-aware enough to know a few of the Circle got leery about outsiders looking at their work.

Usually Theo met with Dorion, one agent who also maintained membership in the Circle, and the man spent much of his time working on something new for the Exchange. The badges were good work, even if Dorion worked from the journals and notes of long dead ritualists, and the man was eager to push into a next ambitious project that was wholly his. Too enthusiastic, but Theo knew the theory worked in practice even if Dorion was a joker.

He'd ventured up intending to find out if Dorion had made any headway on that same project, especially since he'd sent Theo feet first into a lake, but the man had been hurrying out. But he knew what was on Theo's mind when they spotted each other in the doorway, smiling broadly when he met Theo's glare and slapping a hand against Theo's chest while he rushed past, a quick, “Sorry, I'm out, but check in with the new girl, yeah?”

Left in the metaphorical dust of the man's departure, Theo glared at Dorion's retreating back, the man hopping cheerfully down the steps, before turning to the open plan of the workshop. Down one hallway was Dorion's office, one of the few in the Circle who had dedicated space, but he was also the Exchange's main connection to the group. Theo had very little to do with them in the matters of everyday running, he only signed the checks and approved requisition forms. Dorion's office would be locked, so Theo instead scanned the room for the 'new girl.'

His eyes landed on Reyes. Her attention was on a soft white glow in front of her, while glowing orbs floated around her head. Theo had known Reyes was a ritualist, but this was the first time he had visual evidence of that fact. The glow in front of her–an apple, he realised as he quietly crossed the floor, slow steps as he took in her work–intensified and Theo narrowed his eyes and saw beyond the outwards signs of the magic, seeing the moment the spell hitched and the magic swelled beyond the constraints of her chosen vessel and, presumably, the ritual, and the apple exploded.

Theo's vision had been only a split second insight, so when the explosion came he watched the apple fly into chunks, the light coalescing before disappearing. Thankfully, his progress had been slow enough across the workshop that he wasn't in range of the blast zone, but he caught the smell reminiscent of baked apples with a quirked eyebrow. The sound of Reyes' disappointment in the ritual confirmed that it hadn't been the intended end for the poor fruit.

Stepping over a large piece of apple, he reached up to tug at his collar, open by a few buttons. His suit jacket had been left behind in his office, but his attire was no less put together, even if the open collar made it something a little more casual. Perhaps more approachable.

“Should I be concerned about a vendetta against apples?” The Englishman remarked dryly, the corner of his mouth curling in a small smirk.

[Emily Reyes]

Emily was facing the room, her back to a wall. She’d only picked up this habit in the past few years, but her world had shifted dramatically since she started messing with magic. Still, while she was aware someone was approaching her table, having seen his figure through the light, she didn’t know who it was. She expected to see Dorion until she looked up from brushing apple debris off her shirt. She should get an apron in her kit, she decided.

She simultaneously perked up at seeing a familiar face and went a little hot around the collar for having mucked up some magic right in front of him. Theo's expression didn't say anything negative though--more wry humor. Despite her frustration, she supposed exploding apples was something to chuckle about. To her relief, it looked like he'd stayed out of the blast zone as well, his nice white button-down unblemished. The top few buttons being undone was pleasantly distracting, but she only glanced briefly before returning her focus to her work. She grinned at his comment, laughing a little bashfully.

“What, no,” Emily replied, putting on a look of faux innocence. “What gave you that impression? Don't look in that trashcan next to you.”

Straightening in her seat, the arcanist plucked a piece of clean gauze from the little stack beside her pen knife. It was fortunately untouched by the explosion, and she pressed her thumb into the soft pad to staunch the bleeding.

[Theo Crowhurst]

Theo did not lean over to check on the garbage, taking the joke as an implicit admittance that she'd been at this for a few rounds, at least. The smell of baked apple was strong enough in the room to back up his inference. Letting the smirk linger, he stepped closer to survey the ritual markings on the workbench between them, letting out a thoughtful hum as he glanced up as she pressed the gauze to her finger.

“You should apply some of Rizzo's ointment to that,” he advised, nudging a piece of apple away from one rune. The runic symbols were familiar–Enochian, he thought–and he could read the rough shape of her ritual by following their progress around the circles. “Many use signs of repeated scarring on fingers to identify ritualists. Sometimes it's better to avoid that kind of attention.”

Theo glanced up from her finger to her face, quirking an eyebrow and pursing his lips, banishing the smirk momentarily. He wondered if she understood what he left unsaid in that bit of advice.

[Emily Reyes]

Emily hadn't considered taking some of Rizzo's ointment for herself. She was accustomed to being very stingy with her healing ointment so Theo's suggestion made her hum thoughtfully as she put pressure on the wound. It had the sort of inflection that said 'good idea', the woman nodding as she stood and glanced over at the supply cabinet.

The second part of the suggestion made her glance back at Theo, both eyebrows lifting in surprise. She caught on to what he was saying--or, at least part of it. It could be conspicuous, especially to people in the know. She watched him look at her runework, suddenly feeling a bit exposed, but not in a way that bothered her. She wanted to pick the man's brain.

“I’m sure you don’t mean that to sound so ominous,” she chuckled softly as she shifted out from behind the worktable to make her way over to the cabinet. She kept Theo in her peripherals, openly curious as she asked, “Is that something you and your people look out for?”

It might've been the first time Emily had heard the term ritualist, but she found she liked it better than 'witch' or 'wizard'.

[Theo Crowhurst]

Theo huffed out a quiet laugh at Emily's words, eyes following her as she stepped over to the cabinet. He looked down at the ritual circle again, brows furrowing as he kept tracing the runes and finding the logic in their construction. He answered her as well, brushing some apple aside.

“Sometimes, if we're looking for one. I don't find it terribly accurate, but it's one sign to look for,” he shared, unworried about giving her the crumb of insight into how he thought. Scars on the fingers were just one hint, rather than proof, but he knew plenty jumped to conclusions. “And I didn't intend it to be ominous. We are far off from witch hunts, but there are those that claim to do the same work as I do with less restraint, while others simply want to take advantage.”

Maybe that made him overly suspicious, to expect ways to be identified and targeted, but he'd spent too many years embroiled in magic and those who were born to it or learnt it to ignore the risk. His own family fell under the groups who used 'less restraint,' so he had a good idea of how they thought.

[Emily Reyes]

Inside the cabinet, there was a small basket with little tubs of Vick’s. This was Emily’s contribution to the cause, each little tub carefully enchanted according to Rizzo’s recipe. She usually made one or two a week, in a tacit effort to pay her way. It was lucky that, this week, she’d put the effort into an extra tub, and this was the one she took for herself.

Closing the cabinet with a soft thump, she turned back to Theo as he went on, attention flicking between him and applying the healing ointment. She pawed the tub open with her palm, her wounded thumb splayed out to one side to keep it out of the way. She rubbed the powerful smelling ointment over her thumb, grimacing when it stung. It quickly cooled her skin and then the wound warmed as it knit closed.

“Ah,” she said, eyebrows drawn as she carefully absorbed this information. There were others doing the Exchange’s work? At first, this troubled her and she frowned. However, with further thought it made sense, fitting into the framework of the world as she now understood it. The supernatural community policed itself, while the Exchange sat in reserve for when the worst happened. It was different but at least someone was keeping an eye on things. Moving back to the table, her expression smoothed as she watched Theo inspect her work. Was he interested in her project?

Still, Emily stayed on topic unless he asked. Putting the little tub down, she tucked her hair back with her freshly healed hands, noting with amusement, “You’re still making it sound a little ominous.”

[Theo Crowhurst]

There was little else to it then, if she thought it sounded ominous. Nothing but the standard for Theo, the urge to fly under the radar so no one could pin anything on him. Perhaps that was strategic, or a habit of a lifetime where going unnoticed was the most desirable, even if one was proud of what one was. He didn’t enjoy his curse, even if he used it to his advantage, but he knew plenty of agents who embraced their natures with aplomb and more.

“Call it strategically sound, to be unknown until you decide the opposite,” Theo half-heartedly countered, but wondered if he wasn’t the wrong one to talk to her about the inherent aspects of being a member of the community, considering his family history.

Maybe it was simply because Reyes hadn't known it all her life, hadn’t grown up surrounded with best-practices of taking down a rogue ritualist, and seeing the work of those who were less discriminatory than even the Crowhursts. The factual statement of the existence of those who had a looser definition of what deserved killing seemed to him no more ominous than an oncoming major storm. Worrisome, but normal, and one just got on with it.

He was more interested in her ritual than impressing on her the advantage of remaining an unknown quantity. “You're working with Enochian, here? Healing?” He hovered his finger over one line of runes, following the circling path, as he looked at Reyes.

[Emily Reyes]

Theo seemed a little wrongfooted by her observation, and Emily grinned, perplexed but curious. His advice was sound, but she wondered if she was missing a piece of the puzzle. Still, he didn't seem bothered and she decided to take it at face value from a man who had a respectable amount of experience. She was better off keeping herself as an unknown quantity--it wasn't more than she was already doing, but the reiteration didn't hurt.

They were moving on. With her finger healed, she reached under the workbench to pull out a roll of paper towels. Peeling one sheet up, she paused before she ripped it off as Theo confirmed what she already thought: he was reading her runes. Emily tried not to look too pleased, but it was hard not to when someone noticed her work.

“Yes!” she said brightly, before forcing herself to simmer down with a bashful chuckle. Nodding, she latched onto something she had the advantage of experience with--she assumed--and gestured at the experiment as a whole. The destroyed apple, the smudged runes, and the ring of nine circles. “It's the runehand Enochian is based on. I've been experimenting with healing food for... Well, honestly, just to see if I could manage it.”

So far, she could not, but she remained undaunted.

[Theo Crowhurst]

As Reyes elaborated, Theo let out a sound of interest. Healing magics was always practical, even if they had Rizzo's Vicks recipe. It was easy to put in one’s pocket and apply, but it wasn't the most pleasant balm for wounds. Something a little more palatable struck Theo as perfectly welcome.

“As good a reason as any,” Theo offered, giving her a crooked grin as he braced a hand on her workbench and let himself try to parse her syntax and meaning in more detail. His enochian was rusty, a rare runic language to come across on Exchange business. It wasn't something that drew to it troublemakers all that often. “Are you having trouble with the infusion? Making the apple carry the healing, I suppose?”

His brows furrowed as he tried to recall other treatises on healing magic he'd read. Not a focus of his, considering, but the Crowhurst library had some that served as a temptation for any curious mind.

[Emily Reyes]

“Yeah, exactly,” Emily confirmed ruefully, bracing one hand on her hip as she looked over the ruins of her ritual. “This time, I made sure it wasn't much more than a drip feed-” she gestured to a set of runes that were smudged out since it was at the center of the circles. “But it seems like any amount is too much. The apple is just too soft... I was considering an orange for the rind, but I don't think that's where the issue is.” After all, weren't there tales of magic apples in folklore? Unless those were metaphors for oranges, which made no sense, those magicians had figured it out. She sighed, eyebrows furrowed in thought.

Dorion had suggested turning down the feed and she'd come up with the runehand from a few examples on the table next to her. She brushed a bit of mashed apple off one of the pages. Fortunately, these were commonly used enough to be photocopies of spellbook pages, laminated, and put in a cheap binder.

[Theo Crowhurst]

Theo listened as Reyes elaborated, pointing out what the smudged out runes had been. A controlled feed of the power rather than all at once, which felt like the intuitive correct step, but not what the magic wanted in this case, if Reyes was dodging apple chunks.

“Have you tried starting with a seed or a seedling? Growing the magic into them, so to speak,” Theo asked, looking up at Reyes as he puzzled it over.

If a slow drip didn't work, then an even slower one might? Especially one that literally fused the magic in with the seedling to start. It was the type of slow release magic he wasn't too familiar with, so he was uncertain how it might work.

[Emily Reyes]

This was revelatory. Emily paused, looking out over the worktable as she absorbed this. Start with a seedling? It would be the slowest drip imaginable, but the apple would form with magic woven into its metaphysical fabric.

“Oh,” she breathed, intrigued, eyebrows lifting as a slow smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. Glancing back at Theo, she grinned at him, freshly impressed. “That's worth trying.” She knew where to go in the laminated spellbook, having gone through the plant section a day before, but before she went flipping through it, she asked, openly hopeful, “Would you like to stick around? We can see if it works.”

Having someone else to work with almost unerringly produced better results, in Emily's estimation. It was either the company, the helping hand, someone to bounce ideas with, or all three.

[Theo Crowhurst]

As Reyes thought it over, Theo shifted back from the workbench and folded his arms over his chest, one hand reaching up to scratch at the more than five o'clock shadow he was sporting. He tilted his head to regard the ritual with its runes again, seeing if he'd missed a detail–and learning to recognise Reyes' work, which hopefully wouldn't become useful–before glancing up to meet her grin with a lopsided one of his own.

Although not a ritualist himself–the theory was quite enough, and he'd proven himself right on that front by getting stuck in the middle of one–that the idea he'd offered appeared plausible to her was gratifying. The invitation to stick around was welcome too, Theo having no particular agenda on his docket beyond the vague idea of checking in on Dorion's progress on teleportation. Switching teleportation theory for healing was just as useful.

“I'd like that,” Theo offered, grinning still as he dragged a hand over his chin. “Healing isn't a field I've paid much attention to, having left it in better hands than mine.” He looked at Reyes, grin taking on a sardonic edge. Healer had never been something he'd had an affinity for, but if he'd tried to fit himself into that slot he knew he'd have the most atrocious of bedside manner.

[Emily Reyes]

Grin brightening by a notch, Emily started flipping through the spellbook, carefully turning the plastic-y pages and wiping away any apple debris where she found it. The binder lay open, neat, and flat, on a page decorated around the margins with plant drawings: herbs, flowers, and other diagrams. Theo's explanation earned him a huff of a laugh.

“I get it,” she said as she started poking around in the apple mush left on the table. She quickly located a few seeds in a decimated core and teased lightly, “You're the sword and board of this outfit, right? The muscle?”

[Theo Crowhurst]

Theo maintained his relaxed stance, scratching at his whiskers as she flipped through the book. He quirked an eyebrow at her as she described him as the... muscle. The sword and board, whatever that meant. He could make a guess, but he wasn't sure if he quite agreed. He was far from the strongest out of the pool of agents in Easthaven, Aldane and Bowen were names he threw out whenever he knew he needed pure strength.

“Ah, I wouldn't say so,” Theo demurred, unsure how to frame himself considering the curse, magic, and the way he met trouble these days. He tapped his chin, thinking it over before he spoke. “There are stronger things than a human around. I'm more of a strategist, knowing which tactics work to get what I want. Of course, sometimes the best tactic is brute force, that I can’t deny.” At that, he angled a crooked smirk in Reyes' direction.