Asking for Help

Who: Olivia and Dorian
When: Morning
Where: Nevermore

Olivia took Mathias's advice to seek out Dorian for more information on the Dreaming. She felt a bit anxious asking for help from one of Mathias's brothers, but he seemed pretty confident that Dorian could help her. So she walked through the chilly weather to Nevermore after she was sure the store would be open, and hoped that he would indeed be working that morning. The last thing she wanted to do was head toward Dorian's house and knock. It just felt... strange. She felt comfortable talking to Mathias about these things, but this was something, and someone, different.

Stepping inside the store, she shivered a bit as her body began to warm up before starting to walk toward the counter, her gaze seeking out any sign of life. "Hello?"

When Dorian was working, he was rarely waiting behind the counter. In this case, he was in the back half of the shop, flipping through a new book that had just arrived. Whenever a book like this came in, he always wanted to be the first to flip through it, to see if it had any legitimate content. Sometimes his finds were right on, while others provided him with junk. "Back here," he called out, looking up from the book. "Can I help you?" he asked, staying seated for the moment. Some customers, he'd found, just wanted to know that there was someone there; they didn't actually want help.

Olivia followed the voice, keeping her hands seated firmly in her coat pockets. She wanted a cigarette but... no smoking. She approached Dorian, noting that he seemed to be pre-occupied with some book. "Mathias said I could talk to you," she began, not really wanting to deal with small talk. She remembered he had helped her before - when she first arrived in Marquette. Hopefully he would be just as useful. "I have a couple of questions."

"Math sent you?" Dorian asked with a little smirk as he closed the book. That was interesting, since his brother was pretty knowledgeable just due to experience, which made him wonder what the questions were about. "Sure," he said. "Have a seat. Olivia, right?" He'd heard enough about her, but only seen her a couple times. It always seemed like a good idea to know who he was talking to when family sent them over.

"Yes, Mathias sent me, and yes, it's Olivia." She sat down, wishing she could relax for a minute or two. She had felt twitchy and restless every since Judiel disappeared. "I went to him first, but he suggested talking to you. Apparently he doesn't deal with prancing fairies." Her lips tugged into a small smile before she continued. "I need know about the Dreaming. Gates, specifically, and if you know a way to find them."

"I don't generally deal with prancing fairies either, but I can tell you about the Dreaming," Dorian grinned, rolling his eyes. While this was something he could handle, it was just like Mathias to send someone to him because they wanted to know about fairies. "It's the land of the fae, accessed specifically by the gates you're asking about. Generally, the gates appear for one specific reason or another. Sometimes it's a full moon, or a solstice, or the third Wednesday of every month. I think it takes a fae to find them, but maybe not. Either way, it's dangerous for humans to cross over."

"I know humans can't really enter it without consequences," Olivia said. Maybe she could find a Fae. Right, that ought to be really easy. "I guess I really wanted to know if there was a way to locate where gates might appear. If there was one near us... " She figured she ought to explain, at least a little bit. "A friend of mine disappeared into the Dreaming while we were in California. I haven't seen him since. I know I can't go into the Dreaming to search for him, but if I could find a gate, then maybe I could find someone - not human - to go in for me." Olivia pulled a face and fell back against her chair. "Does that even sound plausible?"

"There are people that can see things like Fae Gateways, so maybe that's who you need to look for, since finding another fae might not be the easiest route," Dorian advised. He was fairly certain some psychics could see something like that, or Dreamwalkers. Or was it Dreamweavers. He had a bad habit of getting those two mixed up on occasion. "I think the bigger problem is that the Dreaming isn't some little space where your friend could be easily found. It's a whole nother world. It'd be like... like sending someone to England to look for your friend, with no other direction except for that they're in England."

Immediately the entire thing felt daunting and discouraging. Not that she would let it deter her. She had to try, at least. "He's a Muse," Olivia said, realizing it wasn't her place to tell, but thinking that if it helped find answers somehow, it was worth spilling the secret. "I know they're closely related to Fae, aren't they? I mean... they share similarities at least. I don't know too much about either races, but do you think he would be able to navigate comfortably, even if he's never been there before?"

"A Muse?" Dorian asked, brows raising. "Yeah, they're related to Fae. They share the Dreaming with them. And Muse gateways are a lot more common than Fae gateways, except they can only be used by Muses. I don't think he'd have a problem navigating the Dreaming, due to what he is, but I can't say for sure cause I've never been there." And he never planned on visiting, even if he was half demon. There was no telling what kind of pull it would have over him and he didn't want to get stuck there. "You know, it wouldn't come as a total shock if there was at least one Fae gate here in Marquette, just based on what I know of the area. But even if you found it, you couldn't risk going in, so you'd have to find someone that could."

"Do you have any books on Faes or Muses? I guess if I understood everything better it might help." Maybe it was well past time she knew exactly what Judiel was other than the basic knowledge she had. She blinked in surprise at Dorian's suggestion that there might be a gate in Marquette. Like he said, it wouldn't be a total shock. Marquette was... Marquette. "I know I wouldn't be able to go in myself... I guess I'll cross that road when I come to it. Tracking a gate down is probably my first step."

"I should have a couple of books on Muses and at least one good one on the Dreaming," Dorian said, rising from his seat to find her the books she would need. "I think you'll wanna start with those, rather than really getting into the Fae, but if you end up finishing these off, you can always come back and I can give you more." The number of books he had on the Fae far outnumbered those on Muses, so it was easy to be overwhelmed if she went down that path. Instead, he pulled his best book on the Dreaming, since she was more interested in the realm than the occupants within. "I'd suggest finding a psychic, a dreamwalker, or another fae if you wanna find the nearest gate. I can't guarantee that any of them will have an answer for you, but it's worth a shot."

Olivia shifted in her chair to watch him get the books, thinking the best place to find any of those would be Babylon. Only you couldn't really walk up to someone and ask what they in that place - some people were offended by that. "I appreciate the help. Mathias said you were the guy to go to for information... seems he was right," Olivia said after a moment. She dug some of her remaining money out of her jacket. She needed to get back to work soon... she was pretty much broke at this point. "How much for the books?" If they were too expensive, she'd have to settle for one.

"It's kind of what I do," Dorian said with a shrug and a smile. Mathias had his good looks and his charm, and Dorian had his book knowledge. For all that it had taken them different places in life, it still seemed wild they'd both be in Marquette for such a long period of time. "I'm renting the books now, rather than selling 'em. Something between a library and a video store. If you really wanna buy them, I'll give you a price, otherwise you can keep those two for twenty dollars a month." It seemed like a much better plan, since one of those alone was worth at least twice that price.

Renting supernatural books... that was an interesting trade, but one she could totally buy into, since she was pretty much broke anyway. Given the prices of the books, she was thankful for it. Pulling out a crumpled twenty dollar bill, she handed it to Dorian and shoved the remaining money into her pocket. "Thanks. I doubt I'll need them that long..." She would probably finish reading that night. "But it's a good deal." She gathered the books to her and stood from the table. "I really appreciate the help. I'm not sure what I would have done on my own."

"Well, I hope that gives you a direction to start, at least. Anytime you've got a question, feel free to drop by and I'll do my best to help," Dorian smiled. He didn't feel like he'd been able to tell her all that much this time, since the fae had never been something he'd been highly interested in. The Dreaming was an odd place, and not one that had a lot of books written about it. It was hard to get accurate information on a place that humans couldn't visit without consequences.

"I will." She nodded and offered up a thankful smile. "Thanks." If there was anything in the books that even remotely helped her, she would probably be eternally grateful to him. And Mathias. "I'll have these back to you soon." She held them in one arm and lifted her hand in a quick wave before she headed toward the exit. She had a lot of reading to do.