An Offer of Assistance

Who: Dorian and Jules
When: Morning
Where: Nevermore

It was no secret that she wasn't looking forward to heading into Nevermore. She felt somewhat bad for venturing in to ask Dorian for a favor when they hadn't gotten on very well the first time they met, but Aiden and Eris had both suggested him. She wasn't about to just sit around not knowing anything about the air elemental things she would be dealing with. So she sucked it up and headed over to the shop to see Dorian. It was pretty empty when she entered the building and she looked around at the books that surrounded her, pushing her hair back behind her ear and heading towards the counter to look for Dorian. She wondered if he'd even be there this morning, if not, she'd just have to come back later, but she was hoping.

Dorian was there, even if it was Saturday morning. He'd been in a good mood all week, part of which he attributed to Halloween and the rest to how well Nevermore was doing. Those that didn't think the world was ending came for real answers. Even if he didn't have them, he did the best he could, all the while looking for something better to tell them. He moved towards the front when the bell rang on the door, surprised when he saw who it was. "Jules," he said, brows raising. "Hi, um, what can I help you with?" He figured she was there for something other than to see him; their last meeting hadn't exactly been the sort to send her running back.

"Dorian." she said with a little smile. "Um... well, first... I should apologize for the way I treated you before. And I came to ask you a couple questions too. And get some advice, maybe some.. books?" she said as she closed the gap between them. "What can you tell me about elementals?"

"Don't worry about it," he said with an easy smile. "I was an ass. I'm sure I deserved it." That happened from time to time. He just couldn't seem to help his attitude at the worst of times. "Advice maybe, books yes," Dorian said, now feeling much more in his element than he had at the bar. "Elementals are basically humans in tune with an element. It's something they're born with, but can go unnoticed their whole lives if they don't know what to look for. Are you asking about a specific element, or just in general?"

"A specific one." she told him. "Air." She definitely agreed with that unnoticed thing, definitely. She'd been twenty-one years without realizing it and she'd been one her whole life apparently.

"Okay, Air then," Dorian said, leading her back to the round table in the back of the store. "Have a seat and I'll pull some books. What I know off hand is that an elemental can meditate and work to increase their abilities. It takes focus and practice. For an air elemental, this means learning to calm or create winds, then on a larger scale change weather patterns, and eventually the ability to become one with air." Which he understood better with the other elements, but he'd do his best when it came to air.

She took the seat he offered, crossing one leg over the other and putting her purse on the table. Jules listened carefully as he spoke, wondering if he suspected who she was looking up the information for, or if she was just curious. Calming and creating winds. That was interesting. Changing weather patterns even more so. The thought of becoming 'one with the air' was somewhat strange and foreign sounding to her, but she nodded. "Interesting." she allowed with a little nod.

"Interesting?" Dorian said with a little smile. "Are we talking about you or some close personal friend that we'll have to dance around?" He'd rather have her come out and say so, than pretend this was for someone else. It reminded him of the kid that had come in with questions necessary for his father's book. At least he'd eventually come out and admitted it was for himself.

Jules saw no point in beating around the bush. Aiden had nothing to say but good things about Dorian, so she wasn't going to think any different. "Myself." she admitted. "Aiden and Eris both said to come to you, so here I am."

"Aiden knows the majority of my secrets," Dorian smirked, laying a book on the table. "And Eris, as I understand it, should not be under-estimated. You watch yourself around her." Dorian had avoided her thus far, though he couldn't say as much for his older brother. "So where are you now? On the scale of things, I mean. Can you blow out a match? Or a candle?"

"I'm not sure where I am.." she admitted. "I think I'd still be around thinking I was crazy if Eris hadn't noticed me accidentally blow some guy's cigarette smoke away." she told Dorian. She took in that whole 'watch yourself around Eris' thing and wondered why he pretty much said the same thing Aiden did, but she didn't question that, not yet at least. "So, I know I can blow cigarette smoke... not sure what that means..."

"Is it focused?" Dorian asked. "Meaning, do you blow everything, or can you blow out one candle and leave another burning?" He thought of it much like he did telekinesis, since that's what he had to relate to. "Let me think--" he started, looking around, then looked back towards Jules. "If I get a couple of candles, will that help?"

"I've never really tried." Jules told him. "I can try..." she said when he mentioned the candles. She nodded a little, at least they'd gotten this far without any arguments and he really was being helpful.

"One second then," Dorian said, standing to go find a couple of candles. This was the kind of thing he was good at, something he actually enjoyed. Unfortunately, he couldn't really say he knew how to teach people to do this sort of thing, since it was entirely hit or miss. Plus, it attracted the kind of attention he really didn't need. "Okay," he said, setting two candles on the table and pulling out his lighter to light them. "I want you to try and blow out the left one but not the right one."

She nodded and tried to concentrate on doing what he'd said and she manged to blow them out. But both did it instead of just one. She let out a little sigh, a bit annoyed that she couldn't do what he'd asked. "Sorry." she told him. "I tried for the one, but it just didn't listen to me."

"It's okay," he smiled. "It wasn't a test. It was just to see where you stand on things. That's one way you can guage your progress, if you're looking to learn more. If you really want to move up, you can start meditating on your element. Take deep breaths, feel the air around you, focus on it's movement. That sort of thing. The more in tune you become with it, the better you'll be at little tricks like that."

She nodded. "Guess I'll be investing in some candles too then." she told him with a little smile. "And you're right, about the whole not even realizing it thing. I had no clue. I found out in a bar. Mostly because Eris noticed me thinking I was completely nuts."

"Well, you had no reason to," Dorian said, taking a seat. "It's a part of who you are and it doesn't work against you. Though I'm curious as to why you thought you were nuts if you didn't realize you could do things. Or didn't you notice you could do something, but not really believe it was you?" he asked. He found it intreguing, how someone could just come across that little part of themselves that had been laying dormit for so long. It was so different from his own realization, which had come crashing in with a bang.

"Well, I was at Babylon, minding my business and this guy was sitting next to me smoking. And that wouldn't have been a problem, but he kept like blowing the smoke in my face and then all of a sudden - inside a building - the smoke just blew away from me. So I was like what the hell, ya know? Confused to say the least. I thought I was losing it but then Eris noticed me talking to myself and looking confused and we got to talking and she said that it looked like I didn't like the smoke so it listened to me and went away or something. Said I should come talk to you about elementals."

"Nice," he said with a little laugh. Some day he'd meet Eris, but this was just another reason to watch himself around her. She picked up on far too much. "Well, I'm willing to work with you, if you want. Or you can take a shot at working on it on your own. It's really all about feeling one with the air around you, then asking it to aid you. Almost like you imagine it being done, and so it happens. But it's not going to happen overnight either."

She tilted her head a little and looked at him for a long moment before saying anything. "You'd really be willing to help me?" she questioned. Help definitely sounded better than trying to do it all herself when she had no clue what she was doing. "I'd really appreciate it.." she said honestly. "I mean, if it's not too much trouble or anything."

"Of course," Dorian said, as if it was nothing at all. And in part, it wasn't. He had nothing better to do some days and he was curious to see what an air elemental could really do. "Just keep in mind that I'm not an air elemental, so I'm not the perfect teacher. And you really should read up, so that you know as much as there is to know about being one."

Jules nodded and gave him a little smile. "Which is why it's nice that you have all these books." she said as she glanced around. "Point me to the best books and you'll get yourself some business and me... I'll get some homework."

"This one's the best I can offer you," he said, tapping his finger on the book on the table. "Once you finish that, I'll see what I can scrounge up. The real trick is finding books that are more truth than bullshit, and there's a lot of bullshit out there," he laughed. He had a pretty easy time picking out the good ones. After a while, he'd learned to pick out the subtle hints that really showed if the author knew what they were talking about or not.

She smiled and glanced down at the book. "I'll start with that one then." she agreed. "How much do I owe you?" she asked, opening her purse to get her debit card out. "And um... how do you plan on 'working with me'?" she questioned. "Like, I come in for lessons or something?"

"All the books in the back half of the shop are for rent at ten dollars a week. They're all rare finds, so if I sell it to you, I'm not likely to get another," Dorian said by way of explanation. "If you decide you really want to keep it after you read it, then we can work out a price." He just didn't know that that would be necessary. Or if she'd want to pay full price for the book. "You can come into the shop, or we can meet up somewhere else. It's really up to you."

She nodded. "Well, I've got ten." she told him, pulling two fives from her wallet and handing that over. She understood 'rare' and wasn't about to wonder at the price for the book. "And um... whatever is easier for you, here, or my place is pretty quiet and I don't want to like broadcast it or anything so... maybe there? If that's okay I mean."

Dorian pocketed the cash to put into the machine later, getting used to the casual transactions made with renting books. It was definitely easier to deal with than finding replacements. "Thanks," he said. "And your place might be best, since this place has windows. And customers, who I can't always ignore." He could also show her some things there that he wouldn't risk out in public, little tricks he'd learned in dealing with his own special talent.

"My place it is then." she smiled. "So um... when's good for you?" she asked. "I work til five during the week. Open on the weekends, unless I'm with Aiden, but if I make plans to see you and stuff, it won't be a problem keeping them. I'm like the appointment guru or something."

"I'm really good whenever," Dorian shrugged. "Just give me a call and I'll drop by. My schedule's pretty flexible, so I can usually shift things around to make something work." Listening to her, he once again felt relieved that he'd given up working a strict schedule. He couldn't stand being tied down in such a way, even if he'd done it to himself.

"Okay." she smiled, nodding and pulling her cellphone out and sliding it across the table to him. "Give me your number?" she suggested. "We'll figure out something and see what you can teach me about all this stuff. Though I will try and read some of this book before I take up your time." she assured him.

"It's worth your time. I promise," Dorian said as he entered her number into his phone. She'd mentioned that she was hanging out with Aiden, which reminded him that he needed to give him a ring and see what he was up to. And if he was dating Jules, since he didn't want to make any guesses there. "If you have any questions, feel free to give me a call," he smiled, handing her back her phone. This meeting had definitely gone better than their last.

She took the phone and tucked it away in her purse again. "I'll do that." she smiled, glad that this time around hadn't been snippy arguments and annoyance for the both of them. Maybe they could manage to get along. "I appreciate it, really. Thank you. A lot."

"I'm glad I could help," Dorian smiled. "Maybe make it up to you for last time. Or at least start." He figured it would take a lot more than a book and some good advice for the things he'd said the last time they'd met, but at the very least they were pointed in the right direction.

Jules nodded. "We both suck at meeting people. And we have conflicting personalities. Or I'm just a bitch and you told me all the things that someone should have told me to begin with. It's really okay." she told him with a smile. She stood then and took the book from the table. "You're not as bad as you might think, and maybe I'm not either." she added. "So, how bout this is a new start, yeah?"

"Sounds good to me," Dorian smiled. He wasn't going to argue with her, since he wasn't sure what the truth was in any of those statements. Maybe he was as bad as he thought he was, but it was hard for her to know with only two meetings to judge him on, both very different. And he really couldn't say much about her, since he'd put her in a position to be bitchy in the first place. She was right about one thing though, this was a much better start than their last one, and that he was willing to go with.