ArchivedLogs:Tricks and Treats

Tricks and Treats
Dramatis Personae Cassy, Shane
In Absentia	2017-10-31 "I be searchin' the high seas for Bald Man Xaviers hidden chocolate pieces o' eight!"
Location <XS> Foyer
Xavier's foyer provides a suitable introduction to the opulent mansion. Teak-paneled, wood floors immaculately polished, vaulted ceiling ribbed with dark wood boning, there is no doubt this school was built with no expense spared. The hallways branch off to the separate wings, with the grand staircase spiraling upwards to the residential dorms above. It's early in the afternoon but with a half-day of classes and Halloween festivities set for the eveningtime school is already done. Kind of bustling, as students get costume'd -- or not -- head out to the city -- or stay right here to enjoy the dance and haunted mansion and feast later on. Shane is just coming /in/ from the city, at the moment. Uncostumed, for now, in neatly tailored crisp grey slacks, vest, salmon-coloured button-down, a bow tie, polished saddle shoes. He's toting in a large boxy pair of motorcycle panniers behind him by their metal handles, the huge metal boxes looking to weigh possibly more than the tiny sharkpup. While Cassy is generally of the opinion that /every/ day is a good day for dressing today is perhaps the only day she can go all out without anyone batting an eye. Which is why she's skipping through the foyer dressed in an eclectic mix of clothing that fuses frilly gothic lolita with swashbuckling pirate princess, topped off with a tiny bowler hat pinned to her hair. Up at the top of the stairs Cassy eyes the banister, as if she really wants to slide down it in true piratical style, only for her plans to be foiled by an excess of petticoats and a potential witness. "Ahoy there matey," she greets, not moving her mouth but practically radiating sound. "I be searchin' the high seas for Bald Man Xaviers hidden chocolate pieces o' eight!" Thunk. Shane drops his panniers to the ground with a quiet shifting rattle of small objects inside. His head tilts back to peer up the staircase, gills whispering softly against his collar at the strangely radiant noise of Cassy's speech. One of his huge black eyes squints up toward the girl, and he rocks back on a heel, sharp teeth baring in a wide grin. "What's in it fer me if I help ye t' find the loot?" "I shall teach thee a magic trick," Cassy offers, making an elaborate gesture with her hands that somehow ends up with her holding a deck of playing cards up. She takes a very cautious step forward and wobbles a back and forth. "At least if I make it down the stairs.. I don't usually wear heels and I can't see my feet in this dress..." She makes another wild hand gesture that somehow returns the pack of cards back to where-ever it was before and, gripping the banister for dear life, makes her way down the rest of the steps. "S'a pretty solid offer," Shane admits, brows hiking up at the appearance-then-disappearance of the cards. His head tilts to the side as he watches Cassy wobble her careful way down the stairs. He rises slightly up onto his toes, peering down towards her shoes, then toward her death-grip on the banister. "Usually helps me if I just don't put any weight on the heels at all. Like keep all your weight on the balls of your feet," he offers with a small wince. "What's the trick, then?" Cassy eventually makes her way down, wobbling a little less after the first few steps. "I can show you the 'pick a card any card' one, which is super easy if you are a master of the arcane arts. No mutant powers required.... Oh! I'm Cassy by the way, nice to meet you Mister...?" "Well that's not something anyone's called me before but I'm a quick study. And you probably have to be at least a /little/ arcane to survive this place, especially around exam time." One of Shane's shoulders hitches in a quick shrug, his smile broadening. "Shane," he introduces himself. "S'il te plait, tell me you're taking fencing, you look positively swashbuckling." "You are /The Shane/?" Cassy wonders, tottering a lot less once she's on the flat of the ground floor, she even manages a little curtsey. "I think I heard someone say they had you as a mentor. Not on purpose just.. everyone is kinda loud." A shrug and the same little hand motion makes the deck of cards pop back into her hand. "I put off my sports type credits for now. I wanted to catch up the book stuff I missed and.. I was tempted by horse riding but I spook animals pretty easily." "I'm the /only/ Shane here," Shane replies with a crooked skew to his grin, answering Cassy's curtsey with a deep flourish of a bow, "so yeah, I'm /that/ one." His eyes are following the flick of cards as best he /can/. "Do you want to meet the horses some time? My pa runs the equestrian club -- he helps train most of them so I know them real well. Some of them spook easy but we can introduce you to the really calm chill ones if you want to learn. The horses /here/ are used to a /lot/. Everyone here gets used to -- a lot." "Ahh erm.. No I mean my power spooks them," Cassy explains with a sigh. "I sometimes slip into ultra or infra sound. And I don't want to be cruel to the horses if it happens while I'm around them." The cards get shuffled, she even springs the cards from one hand to the other and back, before fanning them out for Shane. "Pick a card any card. Oh you are welcome to have me cut the deck first if you'd like!" "Yeah, I figured what you mean." Shane's gills rustle again, briefly. "I got way better hearing than the horses do. But some of them are old and half deaf anyway. You wouldn't bother 'em." He takes a step forward, reaches out to pluck a card from the deck, peeking at it -- jack of spades! -- before holding it uncertainly face-down. "You want this back now?" Cassy nods, holding the cards out to make it easier for Shane to slot the card back in. Once it's back she'll resume the fancy shuffling. "I'll think about it, but I can be /really/ loud. Especially when I'm stressed or nervous. So maybe something I'll save for next summer. That also gives me plenty of time to talk my parents into letting me take whatever courses I want." Finally she makes a big show of closing her eyes and doing one last flashy shuffling trick. "What do your folks want you to take?" Shane tucks the card back into the deck, duly impressed at the fancy shuffling. "How'd you learn all this, anyway? Where you get arcane powers /from/?" His eyes widen -- perhaps somewhat disconcertingly; already uncannily large, now they take up a disproportionate amount of his narrow face. "If you transferred here from Hogwarts that'd be a pretty neat story." "Okay, King of hearts.. No that's not it. Jack of clubs perhaps? No? Closer I bet. One last try. Ace of spades? Not wrong three times... Darn it," Cassy sighs dramatically, tucks the deck into her pocket and scratches her head. "Oh just the usual stuff I guess. I did ballet a while back and I think my Mom wants me to do dance to make the lessons worthwhile." It's at this point the tiny hat falls off her head and the Jack of Spades falls out of the hat. "My Dad is a professional magician. Had his own TV show and everything. I'd pester him until he'd teach me the tricks he was working on." Shane shakes his head at the guesses, brow creasing by the third try. "Yikes do you like dance? I mean it's badass but from what I've seen it's kind of a grueling -- oh /damn/." This last comes with a bright smile, a delighted clap of hands when the card falls out of Cassy's hat. "Now that /is/ a magic, shiiit. You teach me how you pull that off, and --" Still grinning bright, Shane stoops to unlock one of his large trunks -- opening it up, it is brimful with an enormous variety of chocolates, "-- I'll tip you off on where some of these are getting stashed before tonight." Cassy beams at the chocolate reveal. "Deal. The trick is to cheat," she fans out the cards, then tilts her hands so Shane can see how she's actually moving a single card very discreetly so no matter which card someone thinks they have picked it's the card she wants. "All the shuffling is just window dressing. And if you have a few identical decks you can have the card you want tucked away for the big reveal. The rest is all nimble fingers and practise." Shane watches carefully, his claws clicking quietly against the top of his pannier while Cassy shifts the cards. "Cheating," he echoes with a nod. "Definitely my kinda magic." He hops to his feet, closing the case and hoisting both of them with little enough effort despite their size. "C'mon," he gestures down the hallway. "I'll show you some of the prime chocolate spots. You can raid 'em before my pa does." "Aye aye Captain," Cassy declares, making a little salute before pinning her had back in place. "I'd offer to help carry those but I'm really not dressed for heavy lifting." She winks cheerfully "Too many hidden decks of cards."