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Never before, and if Max's worries turned out to be true... then perhaps never again would this group all gather in a time of peace and celebration. An ominous sort of thought for a birth, but then she wasn't always known for her cheerful thoughts.

Raven raised one brow at Max's claim that he had a headache... part of her wondering why he hadn't asked for her help in making it go away, but then the rest of her clued Rave into the fact that he was talking in some kind of code and instead she sipped her tea... glad that he was staying focused.

"Shopping... then I went shopping again, and then just for a change... I dragged John shopping with me!" 3nodding 4laugh In Raven-speak that meant not a whole lot, although she had mostly managed to keep entertained in finding Tomorrow things to do that didn't induce nose bleeds.

Was Maximos telling half truths? Was he hiding some secret plot? Or was he referring to the door that Ryugi had closed on his face when he first appeared here and the headache which resulted there-in? Sometimes a dark corner, is just a dark corner with nothing in it. Except for when it wasnt. And the truth of the matter right this very instant was --

"That's very good John!" Maximos clapped, and there was no mockery in the gesture at all. The eyes were the window to the soul, in the very same way you could see the souls of others which such a sight, you could, with practice, see when the proverbial windows were open. He might have given the other man pointers on how to shut the vision off but...Max's eye didnt really ever shut off anymore.

"If you want to see something really neat," Max said, and then sipped his tea with one hand, then raised the other and held up his index finger. The finger was brought down to tap at the soft fleshy area beneath his right eye, the whitish grey colored eye, "focus it on one eye and try and see through both. The two blend together into one picture. I've been told their are special glasses that do the same thing with kinds of light, three dee glasses I think?"

He lowered his hand and chuckled a bit. "Careful though, its pretty nasty on your head at first."

"I'm just happy I'm finally trying something different!" John said with a laugh, waving his hand over the crowd before him. "All of you, i'm betting, use magic daily - aside from my electrical power, I've never even considered using magic, and i've realised how much of a fool i've been to just dismiss it like I did in the past."

He looked down at Hono'o's cup and wondered if he could create tea within it, seeing her eye the pot. "It's quite exhausting, conjuring things and casting runes - much more exhausting then using my own powers. Maybe one of you could explain that to me, being better versed in this world..."

He looked over everybody as he asked - nothing like a group discussion for self improvement. What else were they gonna talk about, politics? xp

Ryugi sheepishly grinned as Max mentioned his headache, and was mostly quiet as the others talked about their goings on, until they started talking about magic sight and those funny pictures and glasses. I never could get those glasses to work right. I always wound up going cross-eyed and looking foolish. Ryugi sipped his tea, adding to the conversation about Three Dee Glasses and Magic Eye Pictures, or something. For a name like "Magic Eye" one would imagine there was something magical about them. Of course, Ryugi never found out what was supposed to be magical. Squiggles and bright colors just made him dizzy when he stared at them for too long. Maybe THAT was the magic they spoke about. I was never very good at casting magic. Bringing forth my elements were always easiest. I had a friend that taught me about magic runes to a degree, and I still retain the knowledge of how to use them, but it's much harder for me than anything else.

At just that moment a particularly loud groaning moaning cry came from the bedroom door, and faster than one had ever seen him move, Ryugi had leapt over the couch and was making his way into the room to check on his beloved, teacup spinning upright on its plate, leaving the company with Ryudo's charming personality.

Ryudo had certainly heard the conversation, but chose not to add anything to it. Instead, he was busy reading the auras and energy from the elementals and mental thoughts of those in the room. He knew Max was lying, and yet not. Half-truths were something of a specialty among the both of them. The mighty Tomorrow exuded pure power in his aura, while the dainty Raven had a mixed aura. She was contemplating something fairly strongly as she stared at the teapot. Feel free to help yourself to more tea, Lady Raven. You need not ask.

Maximos nodded, and then nodded some more as Raven gave her lecture. Raven had most definitely schooled Maximos in the art of Magic Sight. For a time he could only see Souls and Spirit, then Raven taught him how to perceive the arcane. Through questing and various other peoples along his path, Max learned how to perceive Blood, Distance, Time and a bunch of other things he had lost count of. They had all blended together, and he had infact learned the lessons Raven spoke of. Case and point, the Shadow was not wearing his glasses which he had quested across Angara with Ryugi to acquire in order to focus his magical vision. When Raven concluded, Maximos laughed a proud sort of laugh, gestured wide to the woman and said, "And that's how its done Tomm old friend, a lesson from the master!"

And then Tomorrow worked in an additional question, combined with Damion's comment and the Shadow felt the inclination to assist! Ryugi's did however make him chuckle. Silly magic eyes. He was not an arcane master by any stretch of the word, infact he was physically unable to cast magical spells in the traditional fashion but text based magic. Well, he had created his own variety of the stuff so...

"I can perhaps offer a hand with that Tomm!" He sipped his tea once more then set the empty cup down on the table. If Raven got more, he would steal a bit but otherwise he was content to speak. "The trick is..."

Maximos said and then stopped, his eyes squinted and his hand moved to his temple as if his headache had suddenly come back in force. His mouth shut, and the Shadow for all the world looked very distraught. Then he shook his head and looked over to Ryudo with a pleasant albeit slightly displeased look on his face and said. "Mr. Kazamaru, I dont want to be rude, but could you please stop that?"

He shook his head again and rubbed his temple and forehead and continued slowly. "There are alot of...pieces in my mind. Soul fragments, from a...complicated past. Attempts to enter my mind are like trying to read a book when each time you turn the page the book changes, and the previous book and next book after a while begin fighting for the attention of the intruder against all the other books. Its..."

A pale hand rubbed his temple a final time before laying back down on the couch. "...distracting, friend. To say the least."

It was also the reason why Maximos had no psychic abilities to speak of. What Maximos did have, however, was some skill with runic magics which he tried to focus on, smiling brightly and turning his attention back to Tomorrow. "The trick, is concept. You use the runes as a language to describe the concept in your mind. Its like art really, instead of math. No equations but formations! Understand?"

Ryudo raised an eyebrow as Maximos called out his passive perceptions. Ryudo wasn't into the habit of actively reading minds. But the mind gave off subtle electrical impulses that his psychic senses were able to pick up. It wasn't so much reading a mind as it was having a very strong sense of empathy. He could read the signals to gain a glimpse of what might actually be going on within someone's mind. Of course, reading a mind and thoughts directly wasn't beyond his capabilities, Ryudo just, by in large, found it a bit revolting to mess in the active affairs of other beings. Memories were interesting, like a story. Thoughts were often personal, primal, nasty things that he didn't care to deal with. Regardless, the shadow dragon offered the shadow an apology. My apologies, Mr. Dark. It's a very old habit, and those are the hardest to break I'm afraid. But I will make an honest attempt to reel in my wandering mind as per your request.

Ryudo was about to offer the shadow, and the rest of Ryugi's guests, more tea when there came a faint knock at the door, and the faint sound of a familiar voice. Ryudo's hand once more spun in the air and the door opened, revealing the tiny muse, Miss Tilly Pace. Ryudo quickly offered her a greeting as Ryugi was not currently there. Ah, Miss Pace. Please, come in and make yourself at home. I trust you know your way around the apartment, yes? We also have tea if you would like. Ryugi should be back shortly...

"Aye, and don't go poking around in my head....my brain is so messed up, you might not find your way out again..." John added to Maximos' comment on Ryudo's apparently impromptu telepathic insertion. "....And that goes for the rest of you too. You've been warned."

He took a sip of his tea. John's brain was so messed up it would be better referred to as scrambled eggs. There were more scar tissue in there then synapses - the sheer fact that he could breath properly, let alone walk, talk, cast magic and fight, was more then a miracle - there was some type of purpose for it. As it was, Ryudo would probably start crawling up the walls if he was that sensative to electrical impulses - that was the problem with John's messed up brain. It was firing constantly, like a blender whirring at full speed - and if you dipped your toe into it, you were likely to lose the toe.

John looked back to Maximos, nodding as the man spoke. "Aye, thats what I do....here, i'll demonstrate." He placed his teacup onto the ground and lifted his hands, holding them so his palms were open and facing him. He looked down at the palms and visualised the Runes he wished to cast, sparks of static curling over his palm and fingers to leap into the air, hanging there within his grasp, each individual Rune hovering in a glowing haze of power. After only a few moments, the static symbols had become long, a few lines hanging in the air - before suddenly they merged, snapping and squarking, before finally disappaiting....to reveal a single, long-stemmed, de-thorned, ruby red rose. John smiled, catching it in his hand as it dropped weightlessly, lifting it to his nose to sniff it's divine aroma, before holding it out for Hono'o with a wink and a smile.

"Each rune is a letter, a symbol of power. I add the letters one at a time, forming the picture in my mind even as the power for the image grows in my hands. When the letters form a sentence, a statement of what I wish to create, it is made. 'Red rose, no thorns, long stem, perfect aroma.' I've seen such things before, so i know what i want, but i need to spell it out to make it work..."

He looked back down to the palms of his hands. "I can make it happen without having to form the runes, but its easier when i see the runes themselves - i guess its like reading from a recipe book." He turned one hand over the other and pinched his fingers together as Ryudo opened the door, allowing the meek girl into the room. As she placed her gifts down, John began to rub the fingers over his open palm, the static flowing over his arm down to his fingers where sand seemed to drop, piling on his palm slowly - before he blew them off his massive hand, the sand-particles turning into ultra-light pink cherry-blossom leaves, floating through the room like bubbles.

John smiled proudly in satisfaction, dropping his now empty hand and crouching down to grab his cup of tea - but found himself unable to stand properly, falling back onto his behind with a grunt, blinking heavily as he tried to stop the tea from spilling all over him. "Uhhh..." He groaned, lifting his hand to rub the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. "Dammit....this is what happens when I show off..."

Unfortunately, his little spectacle also had the downfall of exhausting him, his mind not yet ready for such heavy abuse of power - and that was just changing one tiny thing into another tiny thing. It would be a long time before he could fashion clothes or items of heft and weight....but he had time. And Hono'o was a good teacher...