The Necropolis [Conway]

[Vyn]

Mehdi could immediately see the charm Javaid saw in this boy. He was shy, yes, but so polite and they were both a little awkward socially. You didn't find many polite individuals anymore, the more modern age seemed to be stealing that away, and especially not polite, socially awkward, loners like Javaid and Conway. What really struck him, however, was the simple fact that Javaid had kept him around long after he would've thrown most of his guests out. Javaid threw him out constantly and they were 'best friends', so Mehdi had come into this little meeting with some double motives. Help out a friend of his dear Javaid -- and find out what was so special about this Conway.

His feline grin, though subtle, never left his muzzle.


Javaid, trying not to overwhelm Conway by closing in on him while Mehdi had been making introductions, was busying himself shifting the chairs into a more comfortable seating arrangement and then serving himself (and Mehdi) a cup of tea. Of course, he watched them from his peripheral - studying Conway and Mehdi's reactions to each other and ensuring that Conway didn't seem too uncomfortable. Mehdi could be a bit affectionately nosy sometimes and Javaid didn't want the feline ruffling Conway's fur, so to speak.

And then, to his utter surprise, Conway's voice was behind him. His ear immediately twitched back, trying to better catch the whisper, and his moment of tension nearly caused him to spill the tea he was pouring. With a cough, he set the pot down and looked up at Conway. He was... drinking?

"What did you say, Conway?" The jackal looked sufficiently confused. Conway couldn't throw his voice, could he? That seemed to be an odd skill to forget to mention while on the topic of vocalization troubles.

[Kari Muffin]

Conway blinked in surprise when Javaid spoke. He stopped drinking and fiddled with the half filled glass. He hadn't said a word... he had been thinking something, but....

His eyebrows arched. Well it was worth a shot right? He wouldn't look like an idiot if nothing happened. "You mean you can hear this?" he thought at Javaid. It would sound like a whisper behind him, yet again.

At the same time he said, so Mehdi could hear him, "No I didn't say anything at all. I was just drinking some juice."

This didn't exactly solve his problem. He still couldn't talk to more than one person at a time. He could communicate though. Which was more than he could do before. Though this was pretty odd as far as developments went. He had never been particularly skilled in the field of magic compared to the rest of his family.

Apparently all he needed was a shove by someone he considered family. He gave a small sigh of relief.

[Vyn]

Javaid paused, his ear twitching as he picked up on Conway's whispered words and an odd smile quirking on his maw as he realized that they did not match up with the movements his mouth made. That didn't... fix things did it? He nodded to Conway so that he knew Javaid had heard.

"That's still not exactly what you were aiming for though, is it?" Javaid tried for a moment to think of a way to make it work but even if he did sync up what he was saying with what he was ...thinking? then it would still be hard to explain the whispering. "But it's a step in the right direction."

Mehdi looked briefly confused but after a moment he merely shrugged and sipped his tea as he watched the two interact. He was here as a second set of ears and, really, nothing more. He'd been raised around skilled magicians, but that didn't give him the fortune of knowing their secrets. Still, he got to help out and that was well enough for him.

[Kari Muffin]

Conway gave a small shrug. It wasn't what he was aiming for at all but it was a lot closer than he had been. It was a small victory in the right direction in his opinion. And he should probably explain what was going on to Mehdi since Javaid wasn't.

"It looks like Javaid can't hear what I'm saying, but he can hear what I'm thinking." He grinned at the cat. "It's not what we were planning but it's a step in the right direction I suppose."

He attempted to sync his thoughts with the explanation. Which worked in a weird sort of way. It was a little off, but Javaid would hear the exact same thing.

And it wasn't that confusing, he supposed.

He looked to Javaid, directing the question at him in his thoughts, "So... I hear some Clubs have the ability to talk to people through things. Do you know anyone like that?"

It could be something similar. Though he highly doubted he could ask the Highlander girl he had met while working how it worked....

[Vyn]

Mehdi nodded. No, that wasn't all too helpful but it was an appropriate step in the right direction. "Well, something is better than nothing though that's definitely still problematic." The feline's tail twitched in thought. What an uncomfortable sort of magic to prevent him from being heard by more than one person.

The thought that reached Javaid caused the jackal's brows to furrow for a moment though he nodded after a moment. "That's a good question. I know a few Clubs with that ability but none that I'm all that close to. Mehdi, do you know any high ranking Clubs we could talk to about their Communication ability? Conway was thinking it sounded like a similar magic."

Mehdi bobbed his head. It did sound like similar magic, but Mehdi was in the same boat as Javaid - none off the top of his head at least. "I can't think of anyone at the moment, but I can look into it for you. I'm sure I've got some connections laying around that would know a bit about communication magic."

[Kari Muffin]

Well, at least Conway was getting the benefit of the entire conversation. It was kind of enjoyable to watch the cat not missing a beat even though he didn't hear part of the comment. Javaid had a rather interesting friend.

Though Conway still felt a bit uncomfortable. Could this person be trusted? How long was he staying anyway?

"Thank you," Conway said verbally to the feline. "I appreciate that you're willing to help."

Of course he probably was only willing to help because Javaid asked him, but it was a start right? He had to give this person a chance anyway, if Javaid liked him then he must have been a nice person.

"Is he staying for dinner?" Conway asked Javaid. "And you don't mind me using this power do you? I just don't want to constantly switch back and forward verbally. If it's creepy I'll stop."

He imagined hearing someone's voice in your head would be a creepy experience.

[Vyn]

"Not a problem. I can imagine the trouble something like this would cause - the more help the better." The feline smiled and sipped his tea, catching the brief tick of Javaid's ear that suggested Conway had said something he couldn't hear.

Really interesting trick. That'd be useful, though only if he could manage to figure out how to be heard physically by multiple people as well.

Javaid paused in thought, his long ear pulling forward once more. "It doesn't bother me, though it is unusual to see you sitting in front of me when I swear I'm hearing you behind me." He chuckled softly before glancing to Mehdi and back to Conway as if remembering something. "I haven't asked... How are you feeling?" Javaid kept his tone purposefully casual, almost as if he was talking solely about the boy's health, in hopes of keeping the pressure off of Conway.

This way he could decide whether or not he wanted Mehdi to stay without the feline ever realizing they were talking about him and Conway would, hopefully, not have to worry about holding up appearances or anything of the sort. Javaid didn't want to make him more uncomfortable than absolutely necessary.

[Kari Muffin]

At least Mehdi was nice. He seemed to have the best intentions, which did make Conway a bit less nervous. But he still had a bit of anxiety. It was impossible for him to forget about the fact that he was a Joker, and he had made sure to put a rank on his chest even if it wasn't visible.

Conway fiddled with his juice, he had been holding it this entire time. He looked down at when Javaid asked the question. He was still a bundle of nerves, but he was better than before. He curled his toes as he looked up at Javaid, answering in the man's head, since he wasn't ready to play the switching game. "I think I'm fine. I'm still a little anxious but that's not going to change after years of dealing with one person at a time."

And it was good to know that Javaid didn't find it too creepy. Though it was weird that he could hear it from behind him. That could be terribly useful if he got into a bind. Then again it depended on the range of this ability and so forth. He knew next to nothing about it and would probably have to experiment a few times before being sure of it's capabilities.

[Vyn]

Javaid's tail gave a brief, cheerful wag. He hadn't expected Conway to be okay with Mehdi staying any longer than it took to experiment with his capabilities let alone be confident enough to keep him around for dinner. "Mehdi, would you be interested in an early dinner before you head back out?"

The feline's expression registered very brief surprise as he glanced over to Conway, as if to gain confirmation that the man didn't mind his 'intrusion', before nodding cheerfully. "Dinner would be great." He leaned a little toward Conway and whispered conspiratorially to the other male. "He'll deny it till the sun sets, but Javaid's got the best cooking in the world, doesn't he?"

Javaid's pale face flushed instantly and his nose wrinkled. "You just like to exaggerate. I'm not that good."

Mehdi grinned. "What did I tell you? He's just too humble for his own good."

[Kari Muffin]

Javaid was obviously a good influence on Conway. And it did help that Mehdi was a Hisstor. For whatever reason he felt a bit more comfortable about people from his own region—though he was still cautious around them. At least he felt like he wasn’t going to get stabbed in the back all the time.

Conway blinked a few extra times when the cat leaned forward. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen so he pulled away slightly. When he half whispered the statement Conway couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, he’s really great in the kitchen. I’ve been eating better than I have in years with his cooking.”

Of course Javaid didn’t hear the statement, but it was the thought that counted.

And he was actually going to have dinner in a nice setting. Well, today was different from what he was used to, and he had to admit it was nice. He had discovered some magic, and he got to see how Javaid interacted with people without feeling completely awkward and terrified.

“If he wasn’t so humble he wouldn’t be Javaid,” Conway commented quietly.