Amara: now then. Amara comes to find senior Griffen

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: Cool...the man's not too difficult to find. He has a daily routine...he's either at his classes he teaches, or at home. Occasional walks through the larger (non-Central) parks.

Amara: She ends up teering herself on a path to intercept. She calls out about 10 feet from him so as to warn him of her approach. "Glad to see you're teaching."

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He looks over his shoulder, adjusting the backpack over his shoulder, and raises a brow. Face as impassive as always. "I would hardly call stuffing a subject matter as difficult and complex as environmental ethics into what Columbia University claims to be 'acceptable curriculum' as teaching." A slight shrug. "But I can do no harm, at least."

Amara: "It's something, though. You have students."

Amara: She squares her shoulders. "We need to talk. privately."

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He nods a little, turning to face her. "Yes. Students who take my class because they consider it an easy A, and then attempt to sleep their way through. How does the season find you, Amara?"

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: His head tilts, and he nods some. "Very well. My home is not far."

Amara: "You know...influence is influence. When they see the truth of your words in action, and recognize it, they will recall what you said. You might change something this way, Griffen." she walks in the direction he heads toward.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "Perhaps. Miracles, however, I have found to be in short supply these days." He heads off toward the faculty housing. A quick trip up the stairs finds him approaching one of the apartments. He pulls out his keeys, moving to unlock the door and let them in. ((Per+Awareness))

Amara: ((Amara: d10: per + alert: 5,7,8,6,)) She pulls her parka closed and waits

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: The apartment is heavily warded, quite obviously. Amara can feel Spirit for sure, and likely some others too that she can't place. He opens the door and steps inside, holding it open for her. It's large, very spartanly-decorated. The place is set up for functionality rather then style, with a few tapestries hangings on the wall and little else. The living room has a few chairs, and his altar set up against the wall. He shuts the door behind them. "Drink?"

Amara: "Yes, please. Anything you have with alcohol. Or caffiene." She wanders around, looking at it.

Amara: "You avoid the chantries. Why?"

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "You know...I knew a young Verbena in Portland who ran vodka through her coffee-maker. Made alcoholic coffee. I never tasted it, but the young girl swore by it." He moves into the kitchen, making up a gin and tonic for her.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: And yes, he just blatently tried to divert the subject. Knowing it won't work, but...he had to try.

Amara: "sounds inventive." She grins. "You're dodging."

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He sighs, pausing...and turns to make himself a gin and tonic as well. "Have you seen the Chantries in this city, Amara?"

Amara: "I am the deacon of one." She holds out her hand to acept a drink.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He passes the drink over. "I would imagine not the Hollow One's...and I don't know that you would wish to go back to where you once were." He looks up at her. "Morgan's?"

Amara: "Yes." she nods. "You are quick with it. But aside from not belonging to them, I know you have visited mine, at least.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He raises an eyebrow, looking to her with that calm look. "Once. Last year. I went to see how Morgan was doing, after the incident with Robert. Had a brief conversation with the Node Guardian. He invited me to join. I respectfully declined."

Amara: "I spoke with him recently as well." she sipps her drink. "I have no delicate way to say this, so I'll get right to it..did you have a relationship with Naomi?"

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He blinks at that, and the impassive expression breaks, becoming first shocked, then a scowl. "What in all the Hells across the Gauntlet would make you ask that?"

Amara: "I noticed your odd relationship with Tansy. At first, I didn't think much of it, but I've been wondering about it for a while now."

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He moves out of the kitchen, into the living room. "I'm offended that you would ask. I will remind you, Amara, that I was in a committed relationship at the time."

Amara: She scratches at her nose slightly. "No one but you and Bella know what boundries and agreements your marriage contained, Griffen. I'm not used to thinking in monogomou terms- I wasn't implying you were involved in any wrongdoing."

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He takes a swallow off of his drink and sets it down, pulling out a hand-rolled cigarette and lighting it. "What makes you ask such a question, anyway? If you have been considering it for a while now, what is the current impetus for coming to find me and ask?"

Amara: "I heard Sebastian say something puzzling to Briar. I asked him about it. His answers led me to belive tht you might be a father of sorts to her. if not biological, then perhaps spiritual, or something."

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He frowns a little bit, looking over his shoulder to her. "Briar. Your...friend?"

Amara: "Correct. The one you are always fighting with."

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "Always is a bit much. But the one time we have met...yes, we fought."

Amara: She swigs her drink. "So then. You never gave me a yes or no on Naomi."

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He takes a drag off his cigarette, frowning. "My offense was not enough of an answer?"

Amara: "It should be." she says, and she does sound apologetic. "But I'm discovering lately, that when I assume something, that little grey area I haven't defined becomes problematic."

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He frowns, turning away from her, to look at one of the tapestries on the wall...a fairly old, hand-woven one, displaying the Green Man in the throes of death as winter comes. He stays quiet for a long moment.

Amara: She issues no sound herself, but for the swalowing of the drink.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "Your persistance is most frustrating. I have gotten unused to people who do not give up."

Amara: "I'm learning as I go."

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "You never did give up. It wasn't any more convenient then." He looks back at her finally. His face calm again, and impassive as if he hadn't ever been angry. "Yes."

Amara: She nods, and sips. "If I gave up easily, I really would have been gone for good during any number of times I've been supposed dead. But I got soft for a while." she shrugs a little. "Things in this city are as much my fault as anyone's." She shoves an errant tangle out of her eyes and smiles softly at him. "So then, you think Tansy might have been your child?"

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He sighs. "I suppose it does not matter anymore. Yes, there was the possibility. The likelihood, even. Robert always maintained she was his...I do not believe that. Naomi claimed her father to be that Sleeper in Seattle because it was easier to believe, and easier on...others."

Amara: She nods, understanding. "Is that why you're all hermity now? Because she's gone?"

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He gives a slight shake of his head. "Not entirely, no. I will not say it has nothing to do with it...but it is not the only factor."

Amara: She nods. "So what else drove you to isolation?"

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "Amara..." He frowns. "When has my involvement within our so-called community ever borne fruit that did not rot on the vine?"

Amara: "That's how I met you."

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "Indeed." He nods. "And I got us all killed, but for you and myself."

Amara: "You didn't do that. You're no more reaponsible for that than I am."

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He throws her a sharp look. "You don't know that, Amara."

Amara: "You have to stop blaming yourself for shit that happens around you. Everyone -I- get near, dies, Griffen. Our cabal, Cary, January, my lone student, my friend's student, Chaz, Dana....I went into the Umbra..for months..to find out why."

Amara: "And you know what? I'm leaving about half the names out. I went insane from the type of thinking you're doing."

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "And I do not suffer from the same curse?"

Amara: "There is no curse." She says, almost sadly. "I wish there was. But I found no evidence of any curse. Neither from the umbra I lived in, the spirits I encountered, nor the zietgiest of Cary Day I summoned." she drains her drink. "Who, incidentally, did not appriciate being summoned."

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He frowns at that, taking a drag off his smoke. "Then the next most logical explanation, Amara, is that we bear responsibility. We are the common tie for those around us who have died."

Amara: She watches the ground. "In some cases, at lest for myself. I can say, yes. I'm responsible. The massacre at Lings- I was not capable of protecting those women. Or not smart enough to see what things Toro would try to get in. I didn't put Jackie someplace safe. In those cases, I am responsible. But Cary and January died, giving thier lives to save the other magi and defeat an evil. Chaz was killed by his own demons. Nothing to do with me. A lot of the people around us might die, Griff. They have thier own shit going on. We can't always save them."

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He frowns a little bit, falling silent. He turns away from her, to look out onto the balcony of his apartment, and the college campus visible below.

Amara: "I tell you, what you're feeling, what you're thinking..I have lived with that for years now. I have to accept that everything happened the way it did because of reasons I can't see yet."

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "My time is past, Amara." He keeps his gaze down on the streets below, on the other side of the sliding glass door. "I've served my purpose. Robert is gone, and all the twisted children he created are as well. There is no more war with the Union. I'm no less a bygone then that dragon you have guarding your Node."

Amara: "Oh, what a load of horseshit." she snaps. "Your tradition teaches that life is pain and growth. You've suffered, but have you grown? Can you not find a purpose for one such as yourself?"

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He turns and looks at her suddenly. "I've done nothing since we've parted ways but put an end to the lives of those Robert left behind. I think we can both agree that Syrine was a stunning example of how badly I failed as a teacher. And yet, more Syrines keep coming. How they find me, I don't know, but they do. Roxy. Tansy. As much as I try to keep distance, they find me somehow."

Amara: "All you can ever do, Griffen, is be the best -you- you can for them. What they do with it..tht's thier choice. But not everything is under your control, and not everything is your fault." She gets up. "I might need to call you soon. if I do, will you come?"

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: "Of course." He says it without hesitation. "I always will, Amara. Much as I am able."

Amara: She nods. "Allright. Think about wht I said. Sometimes our purpose changes, without our choice." She goes over and hugs him, and then moves to leave.

Griffen "Aconite" Aston: He doesn't hug her back, but he accepts the hug. "Good evening, Amara."

Amara: "And to you." And she goes.