The Crossroads Cafe is, at this time of the day, mildy occupied. Most customers had already departed to chase their own agendas. Work, college, partying. But not all of them. Oberon, a common face in the business, is lying in his favorite booth. One by the front window. In front of him, a mug of coffee and nothing else. The handsome Spring courtier is watching the movement in the outside while his coffee chills, apparently. Despite the spring mantle that surrounds him, the pretty man looks sad and somehow, nostalgic.
It's a shockingly warm day for Vermont in May, and Logan, ever the California boy, is taking full advantage of this. Dressed in blue 'surfsucker' shorts, a white short-sleeved polo, and white Converse low tops with no socks, he's definitely more SoCal than New England today. For those who can see miens, it's probably not hard to notice him anyway: he just gives off so much light. The Golden Boy doesn't notice Oberon until he passes him on the way to the booth behind him, and then he does a double take.
Oberon notes the double take and offers the golden boy a half smile casting part of his sadness away. At least for a moment. Unable to talk, he just lifts a hand in a greeting and points to the other side of the booth where he is at.
"What are you doing down there?" Logan says, grinning broadly. He does, indeed, stop his trek to the next booth over and sit down across from him. So bright! Oberon might not remember him from the other night, when he was pretty bummed out, but Logan remembers him. "Granted, that looks comfy, but a cafe is maybe not the best place for a nap. Don't you think?" He has a pleasant, boyish sort of voice with a touch of SoCal accent. Flat vowels and the like.
Oberon grins as he shakes his head calmly. Then, he picks a napkin and a pen to start writing down something. The Fairest makes a quick drawing of a man shining and writes down below it:'Mr. Sunshine'. Then, he slides it to the other man.
Logan lets out a laugh, just as musical as the way he speaks. He actually reaches into a pocket of his shorts and draws out a small, blue notebook and a very nice pen, which he pushes over to Oberon. "Here you go. Might be easier than napkins. My name's Logan Brenner. You're Oberon, right?" He tilts his golden head, bright blue eyes taking in the other Fairest. "Don't worry, I know your story, and I don't judge you for it. I was going to get some scrambled eggs -- you want some?"
Oberon freezes when he heards his own name but when the other man says he's not judging, there is some relief on his bright green eyes that locks on his blue's. To that view, the Flowering with also bright green long hair smile. This time, it's a full smile. Then, he quickly writes a 'YES, PLS' along with a smile face.
"Great. How do you take them? I hate runny eggs," Logan grins, "but I like them soft." He flags down a server and orders "fluffy" scrambled eggs for the both of you, along with orange juice. Then he folds his hands on the table, continuing to smile at the Flowering. "So. How's it going? I'm guessing by your previous posture that you could use a little company. Do you wanna 'talk' about it, or would you rather take your mind off your troubles?" His whole demeanor is very pleasant, the light shining out brightly as he speaks...although there is always a bit of shadow hanging around, trying to darken the light. Right now, it's not succeeding.
Oberon nods to the eggs being soft. When the waitress is gone, he starts writing down something."I've lost all Desire. And Hope. And my life. I have nothing else to do in this place. But I also don't have enough energy (he then tries to erase that) will to do so. Life is all grey now." Then he offers it to the other man while retrieving his coffee and sipping from it briefly.
"I see," Logan muses, his smooth brow furrowing just a touch. "Okay, well. If you ask me, funks were meant to be gotten over." But what else would you expect the sunny Golden Boy to say? "So what you probably need is something new to get you going. Something exciting and different that you've never tried before. And the only way to find that out is to go out and do things!" His grin spreads out over his handsome face. Absolutely perfect white teeth that only seem brighter in his light. "Try doing things even when you don't want to. That's the key. If you wait for your feelings to catch up with you, then you'll probably never do anything, right?" Throughout it all, his gaze is keen. Those blue eyes are sharp as they focus on the other man.
Oberon listen and, when the other man is done, he bites his lower lip. Pondering, probably. A second later, he writes down another message."You're handsome." He then flushes slightly and glances away to avoid eye contact in that very moment.
It may say something for Logan that he doesn't look the slightest bit surprised. Of course, Oberon doesn't see the look of bemusement that lingers on his face as he looks away. But it's true, Logan is handsome. Very handsome. He chuckles slightly, leaning back in the booth, sliding one arm up onto the back of it. "Why, thank you, Oberon. So are you." There is a beat, and then Logan continues. "Are you lonely? Is that a part of your troubles?"
Oberon, still avoiding eye contact, nods as part of that sadness comes back. He opens his mouth to say something and then remembers his pledge. He closes it and retrieves both pen and paper."I used to be surrounded by people. All the time. Now I have no one." He writes down.
"Well. I'm happy to be your friend. But you can't stay down in the dumps like this," Logan says, matter-of-factly, with a single nod of his golden head. "You have to get back on your feet." Then he lowers his voice a little, leaning in confidentially. The light grows ever closer to Oberon. "You know, too many of our kind think that life, and Glamour, are all about feelings. But they don't have to be. You can gain Glamour from ideas, from accomplishments, from any aspect of life." His grin beams out again. "Maybe it's time for a complete reinvention, Oberon. After all, if you're not satisfied with who you are, why not make yourself into something new?"
Oberon hesitates for a second before starting a new message."How do I reinvent myself?" He then looks at the Golden Boy hopefully.
"Mm. Well, we've just barely met, haven't we?" Logan laughs, once more showing off his teeth. About that time, the server returns with the two plates of eggs and two glasses of orange juice, and Logan smiles his thanks. "So I may not be able to give you advice that's personal to you, but there are so many ways one can be a better, newer you. Even if you aren't feeling desire, you can start with something you're interested in and build upon it. Get so wrapped up in it that you forget your troubles for long enough, and you'll eventually start to transform." He nods as he picks up his fork. "I guarantee it."
Oberon waits for the server to go away to write down another message to the other Lost."If I could really change, I'd like to be stronger. Braver. Maybe a fighter. Some people still want to kill me. If I could defend myself, I could survive." The message says. The Fairest then turns to his OJ and sips from it longly.
Once again, Logan laughs. Not at Oberon, but with him. Like he appreciates what he's saying. "You see? You /do/ know what you want. So start there. I can help you. I'm not really a warrior myself, but I do know how to defend myself, and I could get you started on that path." Logan is a problem-solver. He lives for this sort of thing, and really seems in his element as he takes a small bite of eggs. He eats neatly and moderately. "Okay. So if you were going to be a fighter, how would you want to fight? With your fists? Swords? Knives? Magic? Ranged weapons?"
Oberon grins to that as if he had some secret card on his sleeve. He starts drawing again. This time it's not Logan he pictures. It's himself. But his hands have no fingers. Instead, each finger is replaced by a long and sharp looking and menacing thing. He then shows the drawing to the other man and grins once more as he wiggles his finger.
Logan takes a close look at the picture, and his grin gets even wider. "Oooh." His eyes sparkle as he looks into Oberon's. "That's cool. You should go for that! I bet you could find something in the Goblin Market. Although," and he leans back in his seat for a moment with his orange juice, taking a sip as he smiles. This time, his grin is more of a smirk. "It might not make you so popular with the...lads. Probably best to make sure those are retractable. Wouldn't want to scratch anyone's eyes out, would you?"
Oberon arches a brow and looks a bit confused. Then, he realizes the other man didn't get the message right. He shakes his eyes and adds to the drawing a message. It says:"I already have them."
Logan doesn't miss a beat. "Perfect! So you have the weapons. What's stopping you?" He tilts his golden head, expression continuously pleasant. "If I were you, I'd be practicing right now. How else are you gonna get stronger and better with your weapons if you're not practicing?"
Oberon nods and smiles. He then writes down another message."Why are you trying to be so helpful?"
Logan shrugs a shoulder. "Why not? That's what we're all here for, right? We're all in this together. United we stand, divided we fall." He smiles again. "Besides, I'm very interested in helping people to change and transform themselves. It's essential to our evolution. Stagnancy is death." He takes another bite of eggs and comments, "Good eggs, huh? They're just perfect. Not runny at all."
Oberon narrows his eyes and smiles, nodding."You're a Dawn. Makes sense." He writes down and then, finally, picks a piece of his eggs and starts eating. A second later, he nods again and thumbs up to remark he agrees with the other man. Then, he writes down something else."What should I do with my old life, then?"
Logan laughs at the pronouncement of his court. "Guilty as charged, yes." He shrugs a slight shoulder at the question of his old life. "Well, I dunno, Oberon. What do you want to do with it? How important is it to you? If it were me, I would cull the things I found useful from it, and throw the rest away. But not everyone is like me." If everyone were like Logan, it would be very hard to see. There would be a /lot/ of light everywhere.
"Would you teach me how to forge a new path to myself?" Oberon writes down quickly after listening the Dawn courtier's answer to his first question.
Logan smiles confidently. It's less of a grin this time, and more a broad smile without teeth, but it's as handsome and dimpled as any other smile. "I'd be happy to." He extends a hand, as if to shake on it. His blue eyes glow brightly as he stares into Oberon's, their azure color only enhanced by his brilliant light.
"It's going to not be hard when you're around. FYI." The Flowering writes down in the paper and grins before shaking hands with the Dawn Courtier. When his hand is released, he makes a cross over the first message and writes another one below it."That was my old me. Forget it."
Logan's skin is warm, but not hot. His Mantle makes sure of that. There is constant change around him, a modulation. "Oh, it's alright. There's nothing wrong with giving a compliment or two." He gives a quick wink over the top of his orange juice glass.
Oberon nods to that and writes down another message."If you need help with anything, tell me. I'm a good carpenter. And decent gardener. And I like cooking. A lot." The message says.
Logan nods and smiles. "Sure thing, I appreciate that! Of course, don't think like you have to do something for me because I'm helping you. You should just give because you feel like giving." He adds, "I have a staff, anyway, but if you find you just like cooking for pleasure, you're welcome to come over to my house. I'd love to see what you can come up with."
"I can make you dinner whenever you want me to. Then you tell me if your staff is a better cooker than me." The Flowering writes down and grins.
"Sure, that works," Logan says with a grin. "You should come to my party, by the way. Everyone in the freehold should have received an invitation. It might be a good chance for you to try out the first wave of your reinvention. You could come as who you /want/ to be, rather than the disappointing parts of who you are."
Logan blinks once at the picture, then tilts his head at Oberon, a pleasant and questioning smile on his face. "Who is that?" he asks, drinking more orange juice.
"I'm a master illusionist. I can create another me over my old me." The Fairest writes down after grinning for a bit."I can pretend to be of another kith." He adds a bit later.
Logan grins too, but it's not much of a stretch to make him grin. "That's pretty interesting," he notes. "I think the only disadvantage is that people won't think it's you. But it would be a little like coming in costume. So long as you can keep to the theme, it could work!" His eyes flash for a moment as he finishes off his glass. "It would at least be entertaining."
The Fairest arches a brow in curiosity."How am I going to be the new me in my the same body?" He writes down the question before sipping from his own OJ.
Logan makes a grand gesture with one golden hand. "Why, people do it all the time. Look at Madonna. Or David Bowie, before he died. Constant reinvention. It's not just about how you look, it's also about who you are and what you do, y'know?" He smiles his boyish smile and polishes off his eggs. The toast that came with it has been left alone, for the time being.
Oberon nods and grins to the other man."I owe you one." He writes down and draws a smiley face blinking. Then, he starts really eating his own eggs that were barely left untouched so far.
Logan lightly waves a hand. "Don't worry about it." Which isn't to say that you might not owe him one, but...at least he doesn't seem easily concerned about payment. "How're you feeling now? Any better? You're smiling a bit more." And he can't help but grin broader at the idea.
Oberon nods and writes down a message."I'm feeling a bit better, yes. Thanks. I'm paying for this." The message says. The Fairest then takes from his pocket a ball of bills and puts over the table enough to pay for their meals and a very good tip."Now I need to get going. I'm going to perform at the Riverside Markets if you're interested in listening some good music." He writes down and gets ready to depart.
"There's no need for that!" Logan exclaims, but then you're already getting money out. So he lets it slide. And he nods with another cheerful smile. "I might take you up on that later. Good to have this 'chat,' Oberon." His blue eyes follow the other Fairest, if he's already on your feet. "Take care, and remember what I said. In the end, it's all in your hands."
Oberon nods with his head to let the other man knows he'll remember his words. Then, the Fairest stands up, but instead of going away, he sits by Logan's side and hugs the other man if allowed.
Logan does allow it, and even hugs back. It's a damn fine hug. He's lithe and strong and warm, and smells pleasantly of lemons. His smile beams out as the two disconnect, as does the light all around him. "Be well, Oberon. Stay positive!"
Oberon smiles brightly like once he used to do and departs leaving behind a delicate trail of tiny wild flowers along with their scent.
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