For mysticism

[strippernameserendipity]

It had been weeks since she'd managed to make it to the bar in Univille, what with one ping leading to another. Claudia could really use some down time, and the fact that it was open mike night just made everything so much more perfect.

Granted, taking the team to a Dead Rent concert near Featherhead would have really been a place to kick back, but this was a close second. It would definitely remind her of Artie's idea of a 21st birthday present. She wondered sometimes if the birthdays would losing meaning as they piled up, since once she became Caretaker, she'd live as long as the Warehouse needed her.

Another reason to get out and enjoy things, which was part of why she was indulging in a blooming onion and waiting for them to call her name to go up.

Comments

[mysticism]

Merlin hasn't left England in centuries. Albion isn't just his birthplace and his home; it's where he needs to be. It's where Arthur will return to, and Merlin will be there, waiting for him.

But he needs to be equipped for that return. And it's Aithusa who speaks to him in the night, who tells him that Excalibur has gone astray.

He never could have guessed that his rituals of location would bring him to South Dakota. It's entirely coincidence, however, that brings him to a table occupied by a young, pretty redhead who seems...different, to everyone else in the building. Not a sorcerer but somehow...other.

"Sorry, it's packed in here. Mind if I sit?"

[strippernameserendipity]

"It's the only place open this time of night," Claudia said, gesturing to the chair opposite her. She looked at the guy, definitely cute, definitely new, and with that accent...

"Not exactly the kind of place that attracts tourists."

There was something about this guy, the same kind of feeling she'd had that the woman Mrs. Frederick had brought her to see had been important just before she became the focus of an artifact. It made her a little nervous, to be honest, because those kinds of things happening this close to the Warehouse might be more than a bit nasty.

[mysticism]

"I'm just passing through," Merlin says as he sits down, giving her a grateful smile. Even if he's abbreviated his journey with magic here and there, it feels like he's been moving for a long time and it's an immense relief to just stop and take the weight off for a while.

He offers a hand to shake across the table.

"Will."

He borrows his childhood friend's name often. He doesn't think he'd mind.

[strippernameserendipity]

"Claudia," she said, taking the hand for a quick shake. "Although where you might be passing through to is a big question. We don't get a lot of new faces, and it is a small town. Well, not even a town, it's unincorporated, like the sign said as you come in."

She wondered how much he'd nosed around, and if anyone had sent a message back to the home office. Maybe she could stop by the hardware store tomorrow, or the diner. It was definitely a plus that you didn't have to go far for news.

"There isn't really much here. You might even have to head back towards Featherhead to even find a place to stay. Leena's doesn't have any empty rooms." The B&B never did, for all that appeared to have people coming and going.

[mysticism]

"Really? Well, wouldn't be the first night I've slept in my car." Merlin gives her the wide, guileless smile of someone who doesn't make a lot of plans and tends to land on his feet regardless.

Then he nods at the area near the bar that's passing as a stage, blithely brushing past the issue of where he's headed to.

"Are you open-mic-ing?"

[strippernameserendipity]

"I'm on the list, yeah," Claudia admitted, ducking her head a little. For all that she enjoyed the feeling of being up on the stage, having people sharing in when she enjoyed, it was still a little hard to believe. She wasn't really the outgoing type, but there was something about this. "I won't say I'm any good, but some people enjoy it."

The guy up there right now was butchering every tune he tried, not that he could stay on one long enough to finish the kill. "Around here, it's either make a fool of yourself in public, or go out to shoot something. Although some people make you consider doing both."

[mysticism]

"I'm sure there's plenty of ways to make a fool of yourself with a gun," Merlin offers. "Some of them might even not end up with you in A&E." He cracks a smile. "Sorry, wrong country. The ER."

The guy on stage finishes up to a smattering of applause that is half pity and half we're-laughing-at-you-not-with-you.

[strippernameserendipity]

"Yes, well, I'm in no hurry to visit there again. Even when I'm not usually the one hurt," Claudia said, joining in the applause. The guy had chutzpah, if nothing else.

"My big brother is really good at finding accidents waiting to happen. I keep saying that I'm not going to rescue him next time, but somehow that never works."

[mysticism]

Merlin smiles faintly, and there's something sad and distant in it that he can't disguise.

"Mm. I used to know somebody like that. You just - you have to, in the end, don't you? If they stopped being that way, they wouldn't be the person you know."

[strippernameserendipity]

"Something like that," Claudia said, trying not to notice the sadness of Will's expression. "You still didn't say where you were headed, you know. And you haven't been in town long enough to know better than to approach one of the IRS people."

[mysticism]

Merlin mulls over his options for a moment. It's always tempting to lie, but...well, he sat down here with her for a reason, didn't he? He chose this table for a reason. Sometimes he has to trust in serendipity.

"I gave something important to a friend, a long time ago. She lost it. No fault of hers. But I'm going to need it soon, so - I need to get it back. And another friend told me that this is the right direction to be heading in."

[strippernameserendipity]

That made her immediately think of the Warehouse, and any number of things that could have been considered lost. She tried hard not to show her wariness.

"Sometimes it's safer for things to stay lost," Claudia hedged.

[mysticism]

And just like that, Merlin knows he picked the right table. Because she's not asking what it is - she's just going immediately into warning him off.

He smiles.

"Sometimes. But not this time. Not this thing."

[strippernameserendipity]

"I can pretty much guarantee whatever you're looking for, searching here is a bad idea," Claudia said, glancing over to the waitress managing the performer list and inclining her head a little, hoping it was her turn. If not, well, the fact that she'd been here a few months back with Cherie Curie had gotten her a little clout.

"Nice meeting you, Will."

[mysticism]

He watches her get up. Takes less than a second to mull over his options.

"My name is Merlin."

[strippernameserendipity]

"And I'm the queen of the underfolk," Claudia said, clearly not liking where this could be going, and really not wanting to believe he might be telling the truth. "Either way, it doesn't change the fact that I can't help you."

[mysticism]

"You're lying," he says steadily, not accusing her, just pointing it out as fact. "You're - a little like me. Not magic. You're human, but...you've been chosen by something. Some fate has tied its life to yours."

[strippernameserendipity]

"Not really," she said, sighing and sitting down. "I'm no legendary wizard, that's for sure. Nor am I certain that you are."

Besides, there were only two artifacts in the Warehouse with ties to that historical figure, and she doubted it was the stone he wanted. "And if you're after what it think, it doesn't answer to your hand any more than mine."

[mysticism]

Merlin smiles.

"You'd actually be surprised."

All in all, he spent longer wielding Excalibur than Arthur ever did.

"And regardless, it's more mine to take than it is yours to keep."

[strippernameserendipity]

"It's safe where it is," Claudia pointed out, shrugging a little. "And I really can't just give it to you, even if I wanted to."

She didn't, not without a damn good reason. "So you wasted a trip. When the future king shows up, I'm sure nothing I or anyone else can do will keep it from him. Until then, my biggest problem is a coworker who picks everything up."

[mysticism]

Merlin nibbles his bottom lip.

"Sorry. I don't think you...get this," he says gently. "When Arthur returns, it's not going to be in the sort of circumstances where he'll have time for a trip to South Dakota. I'm going to find Excalibur, and I'm going to take it with me, and...really the choice I'm offering you is how big a hole I leave in the wall," he concludes.

[strippernameserendipity]

"I doubt he'll have to," Claudia said, althoug she didn't like the threat. It made her want to draw her mini-Tesla or something. The problem was that a confrontation in the bar would draw attention. "And what you're suggesting is a lot harder than you think. The protections predate even you."

[mysticism]

That's something to think about, but - okay, new tack.

"You're going to have to explain this to me. You found something that belongs to someone else, you locked it away - which I understand - but now you're telling me that its only living wielder...can't have it back. Why not?" He twists his lips. "You've got to admit, 'finders keepers' is a bit....childish."

[strippernameserendipity]

"More that I don't have the authority to release something from the inventory," Claudia said, smirking just a little. "As for finding it, the person who had it tried to cut one of my friends in two when we...obtained custody. We were just lucky that we already had the stone to nullify that."

She didn't really want to say no, but it wasn't her choice. Unless she had signed paperwork from the Regents or the Caretaker, she was bound by protocol.

"I don't make the rules, Merlin, I just live by them. It usually keeps people safer that way."

[mysticism]

"Then I need to speak with someone who does have the authority," Merlin says, then quirks an eyebrow. "Or do I need to be asking around for the local manager of the IRS?"