set your mind at rest, let your dreams run free

[cleverness]

After the new year's debacle, Hermione has been doing a great deal of thinking. More and more, as she hears about the history of Darrow and sees the troubles that it experiences, she's started to believe that the people of Darrow need to be better informed about threats out there, or at the very least, to have some knowledge of how one might possible fend similar threats in the future.

Most of all, given what she saw of the people who were trying to help in the chaos, Hermione knows that the magic of those who are capable needs to be cultivated. Needs to be nurtured, and trained. Even if it comes at the risk of people using their powers for selfish reasons, Hermione prefers to have faith in the nature of mankind, one that's generally well-intentioned, and worth arming with a good defense.

How she plans on going about it is another story, and probably needs to start small. Hermione's tutored peers in the past, but almost all of them had an upbringing mired in magic. She can't assume the same level of familiarity here, and certainly not a similar foundation of knowledge.

Which is why she texted Lafayette, asking if she could speak with him briefly at his apartment. Now that she's at his doorstep, of course, she feels slightly more nervous about the topic at hand. But, if nothing else, he seems like a sensible man with a good head on his shoulders, and a decent person with whom to start.

Taking a deep breath, she knocks smartly on his door, loosening the scarf wrapped warmly around her neck.

Comments

[voodooqueer]

Lafayette knows it's Hermione almost chiefly because he doesn't know why anyone else would be stopping by his place today, and the knock is too light to be male, and definitely it's not Sookie's. He knows his knocks. Getting up from where he'd been entrenched in his sofa, covered in blankets, watching some shitty Darrow reality TV, which was not as good as shitty regular reality TV, he padded to the door and proceeded to unlock it, and take care of the two deadbolts, before pulling it open to let Hermione in.

He batted at a curl of incense smoke that moved toward the door as the cooler air from the hallway rushed in.

"Shit, come on in. You want somethin' to drink?"

[cleverness]

Hermione blinks at the soft wisp of smoke that veers her way, more purposeful than the smoke typically let off by potions. Not bothering to shy away from it, she instead smiles politely, nodding and following after Lafayette into his apartment.

"It's good to see you, Lafayette," she says, before turning around to take care of the door and its many locks; though her instinct has her reaching vaguely towards her wand, she closes them by hand instead. No need to be flashier than necessary.

"Do you have tea?" Hermione asks once done, stepping further inside the apartment and slipping out of her shoes upon noticing Lafayette's bare feet. "If not, water would be fine. How are you? Is this still a good time?"

[voodooqueer]

"I got tea," Lafayette tells her. "But you only got three kinds to choose from. Iced, chamomile, or chai."

He gives the door a last glance to make certain that all of the bolts are in place, before waving Hermione over to a sofa loaded with blankets and pillows, all mismatched. Like nearly everything else in the apartment. In one corner is a small, pink artificial tree, with its rainbow lights still glowing.

"And I ain't sure it ever a good time for this, honestly," he says, with wry sincerity. "But staying ignorant twice as bad, so now's better than tomorrow. Thanks for comin.'"

[cleverness]

"...chai would be lovely, thank you," Hermione decides after a moment's pause. It's cold enough outside that iced tea isn't an option, and between the other two options, something with a little more kick feels right for the occasion. She closes her eyes for a moment, enjoying the scent of the apartment before making her way to the sofa with a small smile.

Something about it reminds her of the Burrow, chasing after comfort more than appearances.

"I like your apartment," she remarks honestly, looking up at Lafayette with a small grin. "It's as eclectic as your clothing." Folding her hands primly on her lap, Hermione leans carefully against the back of the sofa.

"I should be thanking you for meeting with me, though. Ever since all of us saw what happened on new year's, it simply feels like the education of the people here in Darrow needs to take place sooner rather than later. I thought it only logical to start with a friend."

[voodooqueer]

"Eclectic is a nice word for it," Lafayette says, because he's gotten less nice words for it He appreciates that Hermione's comfortable, though The way he figures, people will get a lot more shit done if they feel comfortable. He disappears into the little kitchen for a minute to start a kettle. He rustles, hunting down the tea, and the honey and sugar, and getting out a mug - a huge one - for each of them.

You ought to drink hot tea out of shit you can hold in both hands, after all.

"If I'm honest," Lafayette says, appearing once again in the doorway to lean against it and scrub at the back of his neck with a broad palm. "I'm still not totally sold on the idea of getting 'educated' at all. All this shit ... is complicating. And it bring back memories, not all of them good. But the ones that is is worth thinkin' on. And anyway, I'm not the sort of person who can live forever in blissful ignorance. That's a valid choice, but it ain't the one for me. Never has been. I know that about myself."

[cleverness]

"Are nice words not what you're looking for?" Hermione asks, wincing slightly with her lack of surety. Is comparing the apartment to his fashion too much? Neither really seems to be indicative of his gender, as far as she's observed. She's always gotten the sense of Lafayette being a man, even if he doesn't dress in the same way as most of the men Hermione knows.

She folds her hands on her lap, pressing her lips thinly. With decent intentions, she's pretty sure Lafayette won't turn her out, and she smiles faintly when he returns with the mugs.

"I'll tell you why you should be sold on the idea of getting educated, Lafayette, and I'm not going to mince words. Regardless of whether or not you take what you learn and use it, the only way you'll have a choice in doing it is if you understand your powers and how to keep them under control. That's why schooling is mandatory, where I'm from. If left without guidance, a witch or wizard could easily perform deeds that they never meant for. Powers are volatile. Even if you never want to use them again, it's easier to avoid them once you've learned how."

[voodooqueer]

“I ain’t a fucking idiot,” Lafayette tells her, settling onto the couch nearby and leaning back comfortably, his own cup of tea steaming and clutched between his fingers for warmth. “No offense. I mean it in the best way, I guess is what I want to say. But I ain’t dumb. Saying that, you ain’t telling me nothing new. The only way anybody ever have power over something, including themselves, is if they understand it. You want to survive, you gotta understand. And I tell you the very first thing about myself: I’m a survivor. I’m gonna do what I got to do for myself. Even if I ain’t totally comfortable to start out with. So don’t start me with basics. Don’t start me with cautions or rules or theories. That’s the shit I can figure out on my own, by my own terms. I don’t want to know how to build a gun or why I should keep the safety on I wanna learn how to shoot it. Can you gimme that?”

[cleverness]

"Well... no offense, but it's taken us this long to have this talk," Hermione points out with a small smile and a pointedly arched brow. They've had plenty of time to make a connection before this, particularly after having fun into one another at the magic store, with Hermione discovering the poltergeist in the locket. She suspects, however, that Lafayette needed to settle into the city first. And perhaps, needed for things to shake up a little before coming to the realization that sitting still won't keep him safe for long.

His question, however, is a good one. Hermione glances briefly down at her lap.

"I am fairly sure that I can help you learn how to shoot your gun, yes. Bearing in mind that shooting a gun has never been my greatest strength. Knocking guns out of other people's hands, perhaps. Putting on a bulletproof vest. And it will take me some time to learn the particulars of what it is you can do, as opposed to those from my world. But a gun is a gun," she says, tilting her head. "I'm confident we'll find out how to manage. Have you ever accidentally fired it off before, so to speak?"

[voodooqueer]

"Which don't change the fact that I don't like feeling patronized," Lafayette returns, to make his point, though without any heat or offense. He just has expectations, about how he communicates with people, especially when he's in the position he's in. Hermione can't meet them, even if she'd like to, if he doesn't communicate them clearly.

Anything else leads to trifling bullshit, and he isn't interested in trifling bullshit.

He's interested in controlling his magic.

He holds up a hand "Pausing the extended metaphor. What I want is a tool that can protect me. What I decide to do with it afterward is my shit, right? Pretty much the only time I used what's in me is by accident. Once or twice, I had actual intent. But it's not really a tool when you don't use it without intent to begin with. That's what I want to do."

[cleverness]

Hermione surveys him for a few seconds, before she lets out a soft snort in amusement. Lafayette's words pull her easily back to fifth year, to how everything had changed when the Ministry stepped in to control their schooling. Refused them the opportunity to cast spells, as though that might make things more peaceful in the future, without young adults to render the world more chaotic than it already was.

She can understand the point that Lafayette makes. Who is she to be the one to decide who does or doesn't get to wield a weapon?

This place certainly could merit it.

"I think I can," she says with an arch of her brow. "And... if I can't, it won't be through lack of trying. I'll need your help, though. Anything that you might have heard or learned about your abilities before you came into the city, I'll need to know. It will give me the opportunity to scour my resources for any information I may have, and for me to think about where we could go to practice. From what you've told me, most of what you know seems to be about working as a medium? What kind of accidents have you had, exactly?"