Syrine Mardell: So, I figured that having a decent skill at computers Sy could have done a search and figured out that Griff is teaching at Columbia and a call or two to get his class schedule and she could show up at the end of his last class for the day?

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: Yeah, that wouldn't be too hard. :)

Syrine Mardell: *The door opens and she slips inside as unobtrusively as possible. The Sarah Brightman look-a-like just stands there. The changes are subtle. Her long black hair still hangs in loose curls. Her figure hasn't changed. It's in the eyes that you see it the most. A certain peace, the haunted, nearly crazed look is gone. The inner strength that had nearly been crushed has been nurtured back to health. She's wearing a simple dress in a blue slightly darker than her pale eyes. She folds her hands and just stands there off to the side of the door, waiting for students to finish talking with him and file out or him to notice her.*

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: The students don't really talk to Griffen...he's one of those teachers that just has that reputation. Conversations tend to be...jarring. He's looking over the first of the essays handed in with a highly critical eye. When everyone's gone, he looks up from the paper, and over to Syrine. And he goes deathly still. No reaction in his face, other then a sllight twitch of his face. He says nothing, just watches her, impassively.

Syrine Mardell: *She walks over to him when the student are gone. The stillness, the twitch, the imassivity. She notes all of it. She smiles at him. A real, genuine smile.* Hello Griffen. It's...been a long time.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: There's another good two or three seconds of silence before he nods a little. "Hello, Syrine. It has indeed been quite a long time." He nods a bit. "How are you?"

Syrine Mardell: I am good. Really good, actually. And you?

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "I am well enough. Pardon me one moment." He turns to start picking up the papers and setting them in an backpack. The man still carries nothing technological. No cell phone that's visible, no watch, nothing. And he even wears his pentacle in his class. The man that doesn't change, outwardly at least.

Syrine Mardell: *She waits, patiently, for him to finish. Jewelry hasn't changed much for her either, with one glaring exception. The diamond ring and wedding band on her left finger. Her purse is large enough to contain the dagger she always carried though the weapon itself isn't currently visible.* I hope that I haven't come at an inconvenient time?

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "No, no." He shakes his head as he zips the backpack shut and looks back to her. "The timing was fine. Class was just getting out, after all."

Syrine Mardell: *She nods* I checked on that before coming. I didn't want to interupt. Do you have other work to get to now? Or perhaps time to talk to an old friend and student?

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He gives a very faint smile, protocol, and nods. "Of course, Syrine. Where would you like to head? I have an apartment here on-campus...or we can go somewhere else, if you would prefer."

Syrine Mardell: I have no preference. My husband and daughter are back at the hotel. *She smiles watching his reaction to that.*

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: A brow raises. "You have a family." Both statement and question. Somehow, he just manages to pull that off.

Syrine Mardell: I do. *She smiles brightly.* I met Phillip a little while after I got to Kansas. Christine, we adopted after her mother was killed.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He nods slightly to that. "Well...congratulations." He slides the backpack onto his shoulder, and moves to head out "My apartment is not far."

Syrine Mardell: *She nods, still smiling.* Thank you. They are both a wonder and a joy. *She walks along with him.*

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He just inclines his head a little in response, as he walks along with her. Quiet, as he makes his way across campus. No one really approaches them, or looks their way...they could very well be alone, for all the reaction they get. He moves up into the Faculty apartment complex, moving to the second floor and opening the door for her.

Syrine Mardell: *She walks with him, completely at ease. She does make note of where they head and the routes in and out of the apartment but she steps inside when he opens the door for her without fear. She looks around the place curiously.
*

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: The apartment is spartan, to say the least. The place is set up for functionality rather then style, with a few tapestries hangings on the wall and little else. ((Go ahead and give a Per+Awareness))

Syrine Mardell: ((Sy: d10: Per Aware: 4,8,5,9,10,7,))

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: Oooh, yeah. It's not difficult for Syrine to tell. The place is almost paranoidly warded. Correspondance, Spirit, Time all in place. A very strong, Entropic resonance. Vengeful. He doesn't seem too concerned about other people's opinions about the strength of obviousness of his wards. He moves inside the place and shuts the door behind Syrine..

Syrine Mardell: *Her smile fades some at the warding and the resonance.* The city hasn't gotten any better, then?

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "It has not gotten worse." He shrugs slightly and moves into the kitchen. "Tea?"

Syrine Mardell: *She nods* That would be lovely, thank you. It didn't need to get any worse. It was quite bad enough as it was. I had hoped for some improvement while I was gone.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "Mmm. The Union as restarted the Pogrom. As people should have realized would happen." He speaks as he brings the tea--home-brewed, of course, not any commercially-done thing--down out of the cabinets and puts the water on to boil. "There are none here who I remember from before I left."

Syrine Mardell: *She frowns a little.* I didn't realize they'd stopped here. Has everyone moved away or are they dead? *She's not as twitchy as she once was about things, it's upsetting but she's handling it calmly.*

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "I don't know." He shrugs a little. "Amara hasn't been seen since she vanished into the Umbra two years ago, as I know it. The others..." He shrugs. "I have not asked."

Syrine Mardell: Why not? *She tilts her head, a sad look crossing her face at mentioning Amara vanishing.*

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "There is no point." He shrugs. "I have no means of tracking them down if they have left...and if they have died, then I cannot do anything about that."

Syrine Mardell: *She sighs.* It seems a cold way of looking at things, though...

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "Life is cold, Syrine." He shrugs, taking the water off the burner and pouring the tea. "Nature is harsh. It is the way of things."

Syrine Mardell: Not always, not completely. Birth, families, springtime...those are a part of life as well. Joy is a part of life as much as death and sadness.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He just shrugs slightly to that, and moves to hand her her cup. He takes his and moves into the main room, sitting down on the floor. There is a chair, if she chooses to take it. "So you are happy, then?"

Syrine Mardell: *She looks at the chair and moves over to sit on the floor with him, crossing her legs in front of her, careful to keep from flashing him. She smiles at the question.* Yes, I am. Very. Phillip is an Akashic. I think I'd been there a year before I met him. I spent most of the first year pretty much holed up in a room, hiding from the world at large. It took him, a master of mind magics, and a few others to bring me back to sanity. While they were working on it, I found myself the head of the local Verbena, even sitting on the council. *She shakes her head with a bit of a chuckle. Even less than completely sane, I was better than what they'd had before.*

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He listens quietly as she relates the story, nodding a bit with that same calm, impassive expression. "I am glad you are well, Syrine. It--" He pauses a bit, as if he wasn't quite sure where he was going, and sips his tea.

Syrine Mardell: *She tilts her head. Then sips from her own tea. Her eyes going to the cup.* I'm sorry for how I left. It just got to be too much. I had to get away. I was terrified to wake each morning. Kansas...there were problems...but nothing like this place. I swear Griffen, New York is...hell on earth. I don't know how else to describe it. If it hasn't gotten any better, then I wont be here long. I wont raise Christine in that.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He nods slightly. "I understand. I would not be here, if...I did not know were else to go. It is close to home. As close as I can get."

Syrine Mardell: I just ran. I didn't care where I was going. I wound up in Kansas, found some mages there, they took me into the Chantry and I lived there completely off radar for a long time. Griff, if it's that bad, I can bring you back with me. Even if it's just a holiday, without some sort of break, this place will kill you.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He smiles faintly. "Look around my home, Syrine. Extend your perceptions. Do you think I socialize with other Awakened? I am, as you say....'off the radar.' The last time I spoke with a Tradition member was two weeks ago, and it was brief and rather uncomfortable." He shrugs and sets his tea down, plucking out a hand-rolled cigarette. "I do not delude myself with hope for a better place. I merely wait until Nature strikes back, and hope to survive so I can help rebuild then."

Syrine Mardell: I already noticed the warding. Cutting yourself off, becoming nearly a hermit...this is not living.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "And what is, then?" He tilts his head, a look of slight curiosity on his face. "Enlighten me, Syrine."

Syrine Mardell: Interacting with people. Making an effort. Doing something. What's the point of being able to shape reality if all you're doing is keeping people out? You say you're waiting for Nature to strike back. What if it doesn't in this lifetime. Is this what you would want to be doing if you knew you were going to die tomorrow?

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "Of course not." He tilts his head slightly to the side, watching her. "I would be preparing to join my loved ones."

Syrine Mardell: How would you be doing that?

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "Meditation. Prayers to Earth. Apologies for my failures...gratitude for the chance to see those loved ones again." Said without haveing to really think about it. He's a man who knows what he'll do when his time has come.

Syrine Mardell: What failures would you apologize for? *Desperately trying to think of an approach that will work to get the man out of his shell.*

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "I have quite the list, Syrine, as you well know." He shrugs a little bit. "But then, I suppose, who does not?"

Syrine Mardell: Then do something about them now? Why wait to simply apologize for them when you're still alive to change things?

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: A brow slowly arches, eyes locking onto Syrine's face. "I cannot turn back time. I cannot fix was it already broken beyond repair."

Syrine Mardell: You can alter reality but believe something to be beyond repair
? *Not turning her gaze away from him.*

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "We are not Gods, Syrine. We can bend reality...but not even that so much, anymore. The Union won the war, and we lost. Our ways are failing...and even if they weren't, some things are always beyond repair."

Syrine Mardell: You only lose when you give up. Do you really think they have such a strangle-hold everywhere? You think our ways are failing but there are still places where it can be done. There are still things that can be done, newer ways of doing them. What is it that you think you failed so badly on that it cannot be fixed?

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He hits an odd point of serenity, an eerie calm, as he watches her. "My wife. Dead. My cabal. Destroyed. All by a madman. One I finally tracked down and destroyed. Merely too late. The girl I was supposed to protect, destroyed. Dozens of children. Also gone. Students failed. Friends lost. Shall I continue?"

Syrine Mardell: Death is not the end of all things. Life goes on. I failed my children and found a way into the lands of the dead to put their souls at ease. Students, I can only speak for myself, you didn't fail me Griff. I had simply gone through too much for any one person to handle. Friends, you yourself have told me you haven't even bothered to ask where they've gone.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "The children were not mine. And I do not have regrets for what I did...I did what I had to. Still, it is my failure for letting them get there. My friends? Gone long ago. I had no friends her, Syrine. You, perhaps. Amara, yes. But who else, really?"

Syrine Mardell: How can you be sorry for something you do not regret?

Syrine Mardell: Amara, two years is a long time to have left it. I don't know where to begin. Myself, I'm here, now. Not lost. Who else? I wouldn't know, you tell me.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "I do not regret killing them. I merely regret failing to save them before I had to. As to Amara...I do not know the Umbra well, and we cannot pass through safely anyway. You...are here, yes. And who else? You prove my point. Here, in New York...there was none else."

Syrine Mardell: You really had no other friends here? *A saddened tone to her voice.*

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He shakes his head a bit. "No. You and Amara were the only I was ever remotely close to."

Syrine Mardell: *She sighs.* Then my leaving was failing you. For that, I am sorry.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "You did what you must...as I have done what I must." He shrugs. "Perhaps we just were not...enough for each other. I was...inadequte for what you needed. I should have recognized this."

Syrine Mardell: You wanted to help, and I...was broken. I was still fighting, trying to function but...maybe I put on a better show of being whole than I realized.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "Perhaps." He nods slightly. "It does not change the facts, though." He rises to his feet and makes his way to one of the few pieces of furniture. A chest in the corner. He opens it up and reaches inside, withdrawing a smaller wooden box.

Syrine Mardell: No...it doesn't. *She watches him, curious*

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He brings the box over and sets it down in front of her. The way he carries it is remarkably careful...but whether out of reverance or wariness is hard to say. The latch is opened, and he draws the lid up. Inside is a silver bowl and an athame. He looks up to her, watching her reaction carefully. "You remember these?"

Syrine Mardell: *She nods, looking down at them. A soft, sad look on her face. Her voice quiet.* I had such hope...*She reaches down towards them, touching the rim of the bowl gently. If he doesn't stop her she moves to touch the athame as well. She closes her eyes and sighs.* ...And I broke it. *Continuing something that began as a thought, aloud.*

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "You broke what?" His brow furrows, a little curious. He does not stop her from touching the blade. It doesn't look, honestly, like it has been used in some time, from the comfortable indentation it has in the fabric lining the inside of the box. "Your hope?"

Syrine Mardell: *She shakes her head, looking up at him.* I made a promise to you with these. Just as you made one to me. And I broke that promise when I left.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "No," he says with a shake of his head. "An oath made like that is never broken. It continues on, to this day."

Syrine Mardell: *She looks down at them again, silent for a long moment, then up at him.* I don't know how long I'm staying here and I can't guarentee I wont argue with you...but, if you'd like to try again...

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He straightens up a bit at that, a spot of tension coming into his back. Clearly, he did not expect to hear that. It's not a bad reaction, really, just...surprised. He considers her for a long moment, before... "Syrine...why did you come here? To New York?"

Syrine Mardell: Originally or this time?

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "Yes."

Syrine Mardell: *She laughs softly.* Originally, I came to make a break into Broadway. I hadn't awakened yet. I was fresh out of high school and believed the world to be a much better place than it is. This time, *She pauses, thinking.* I came to finish coming to terms with the things that happened to me here. I came to see you because you were one of the last good memories I had. I didn't know how you'd react or how it would go. I...own a theatre back in Kansas. It brings me a good deal of money and I don't have to be there for it to happen. I brought Phillip and Christine with me specifically because I did not know how long I'd want to stay.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He nods a little bit, and half-smiles. Your timing is good. A mere year earlier, and you would not have found me." He sighs and reaches up to rub at the bridge of his hawkish nose. "You are probably as advanced as I am, these days, Syrine. I do not know what more I can teach you. And I have not had a student in a long time." He considers the woman's words thoughtfully, with a slight frown.

Syrine Mardell: I may be...but I am nearly completely self taught. And the day I stop learning is the day my soul dies. But being much more advanced than I was is why I said I could not guarentee not to argue with you. But I think it would be good...for both of us. *She tilts her head* Where had you gone?

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "To deal with a problem that had been plaguing me for many years." He shrugs a bit. "A problem resolved, ironically enough, here in New York." The man actually looks just a bit nervous. After a brief moment, he nods. "If you are willing...I would be willing."

Syrine Mardell: *She nods and lifts the empty bowl, moving as if to sip from it before offering it over to him.* This time, I will not vanish without a trace.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He takes the bowl back from her and raises it to his lips, as if to drink, before setting it back down. "And this time, I will not give up and let you go."

Syrine Mardell: *She smiles and reaches out to take his hand gently in her own, then squeezes it.*

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He queezes back. Perhaps. There was a slight shift in pressure, and it could have been involuntarily reflex, or a change in his arm positioning...hell, it could have been a lowering of the barometric pressure. But it's there. Maybe. "My warning from before still stands, Syrine. I am no easier of a man to deal with now then before." That...may have been a joke. Perhaps.

Syrine Mardell: *She laughs* And I can be a right bitch if you catch me in the wrong mood. I can handle it if you can.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He nods slighty at that. "Then we shall give it another go."

Syrine Mardell: *She smiles.* So we shall. *She tilts her head a moment.* How are you with children?

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "I have...not been around children in quite some time. It may...take some getting used to, perhaps."

Syrine Mardell: Sometime, I'll bring Christine by. She's absolutely wonderful. And amazingly well behaved.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He gives a slight smile and inclines his head. "I would like that, perhaps, I think."

Syrine Mardell: *She smiles* So, I didn't actually pay attention when I called, what do you teach at Columbia?

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "I teach environmental ethics. Or, rather, I try to teach it. I do not attract the highest caliber in my classes....students look for the easy A. Then they meet me."

Syrine Mardell: *She covers her mouth, her eyes dancing with a soft giggle.*

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He gives her a deadpan look. "They get the same 'I am not an easy man to deal with' speech you got. It is not my difficulty if they chose to ignore it."

Syrine Mardell: *She giggles even harder.* Would you allow a video camera into your classroom on the first day of class sometime? Directed at the students, not you...just to film their reactions?

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He levels a look at her. "That was humorous, correct?"

Syrine Mardell: *She covers her face with one hand, still giggling.* Yes...I was being funny.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He nods a little bit. "I hoped so. No video cameras in my classroom."

Syrine Mardell: *It goes through her head...before she can stop it. "Your mission, Mrs. Phelps, if you choose to accept it. Get Griffen to lighten up." She can't help but laugh even harder. It really is a delightful sound. It's a shame she didn't do it more before.*

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "Mmm. Yes, that's likely." Said with the most even tone one could imagine a human being having.

Syrine Mardell: *She laughs.* You don't mind my humor do you?

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He shakes his head. "By all means, feel free."

Syrine Mardell: *She smiles at him.* I should get back to the hotel. When should I come by next?

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "Whenever is convenient for you. I can be available most times, outside of my class schedule, which you already know, it seems."

Syrine Mardell: It wasn't that difficult. Computers and telephones are useful things. *She chuckles* And I figured it would be rude to appear in the middle of class.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He nods. "Fair enough. Any time that is not then."

Syrine Mardell: *She nods* Alright. *She finishes off the last of her tea then gets up and leans over to kiss both of his cheeks.* Until next time. *She smiles.*

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "Until next time." He nods a little bit, and rises to show her to the door.

Syrine Mardell: *She heads out, pausing a moment outside the dorm to get her bearings then begins walking back to the hotel.*

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: ((And fade there?))