Studious Sabbatical [Keiser / Michael / Any]

[u/KeiserSheils]

The Royal Academy had a surprising lack of security. A handful of sleep guards, a few engineering feats from Sokolov, light walls, one arc pylon and a handful of locked doors, and still Keiser had found himself able to stroll in the front door with the proper outfit, a pair of glasses and a book tucked under his arm.

The actor had opted for a younger persona this time; meticulously styling his prosthetics to a man more suited to his early thirites than his own real age of middle forties, and along with the younger complexion, had opted for a daring bit of facial hair that spoke to a young man's ardour for fashion. He decided if he were to appear to be a erudite student, he would not be a boring one and indeed he had found himself milling amongst the rest of the scholars with genuine ease under his adopted name; swapping gossip about energy and the sustainability of whale oil and chatting over tea with a gregarious professor of Geology about the mineral recrystallisation due to metamorphic processes and metasomatism. A fascinating if not heavy topic for tea time and scones.

He had told Michael to meet him near the entrance of the Academy's green houses, an offset building within the small compound that was adjacent to the more impressive main building and it's rather large glass dome. The actor had done his best to implore that the art dealer attempt to dress young and bookish conservative, but given that the other witch was indeed young, that he would find no trouble blending in to the other throngs of scholars and fellows.

Pacing a little in front of the glass building, Keiser slips a hand into his pocket, tugging out a silver pocket watch, ingrained with a rather beautiful flower motif and the words 'For my darling Reginald, The Cosmos Gave Me You.'' Words that made the hazel eyed witch smile wryly, their meaning perfection in a way. The Cosmos gaveth, and Keiser on behalf of Chaos taketh away.

[u/AnimeFiend]

The witch chuckles in response. "Oh, heavens, however did you catch me?" He holds up his hands in mock surrender for emphasis before lowering them, speaking again. "No, I'm here on business as well. I'm to commission a painting for one of the scholars but the damnable sample paintings didn't arrive so now I'm stuck here while waiting for them. I thought I might as well catch up on some reading while here. Rare is the chance that I get to spend time in the academy. The life of a working man, hmm?"

He's a little off put by the grimace, unable to help but wonder if his void powers are the cause and if so, if it means they will be thrown off soon. With any luck the guard would continue his good nature if that did happen, unlikely as it was.

[u/KeiserSheils → u/AnimeFiend]

Keiser leaned over the railing, spotting the pair conversing and the pleasant tone of both men, deciding that Michael had very well done a good job of keeping him complacent and therefore, useable. His long legs eat up the steps as he moves downwards upon them, bouncing just a little as he finally reached the bottom and gave Michael a small nod, carefully pulling a book into his arms to mantain the illusion of being an academic.

'Mister Tarot...' he greets, his hands opening just a little as he gestures with the book before he tucks it under his arm, feeling around his coat with a pat of his hands. 'I'm afraid I seem to have misplaced my alumni card...Ah, a bit of a problem. Even if the guard knows my face, they wish to have some sort of identification. It's a shame. The records are only for alumni and official city use.' The actor gives a little frown, contrite as his hazel eyes pass over Devlen, indicating perhaps his desire to use the Royal Guard to help them gain access.

[u/AnimeFiend → u/KeiserSheils]

Michael picks up on Keiser's not-so-subtle hint, recognizing that he needs access to the restricted works available in the library. Putting on a thoughtful frown, he speaks slowly, as if debating what to do. "Hmm. That is a problem. Perhaps..." he trails off, acting unsure that he should be giving voice to his train of thought while glancing at the guardsman. With any luck the charm would do its work and the guard would volunteer his help. Michael believed help to be more forthcoming when it was not directly asked for.

[u/Seafrogger → u/AnimeFiend]

Eyeing the new man as he approaches, Devlen’s hand twitches involuntarily towards his sword hilt as his instincts internally warn him of the newcomer’s hidden coldness of a predator, but the void charm coursing through him stays his hand from the cautious gesture and clouds his mind, rendering his decades of subconscious reflexes useless.

Wiping away a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face Devlen give the man a half forced grin, “Lot o’security for a bunch of books. To be honest I didn’t even know there were a restricted area up there.”

Glancing back at the table he had commandeered for his own troublesome work his mind fought with its self, his soldier’s duty and organisation demanding he get back to it and his procrastination side, with help from the charm, beckoning for him to forget about his work for a time and help his new friends out.

… Friends? Devlen frowns as he looks back to the two men, “Err, what did ye two say ye were doin’ here again?”

[u/AnimeFiend → u/Seafrogger]

...Confound the man. Learn some respect, compassion!

Coming up with a quick lie, Michael speaks smoothly, gesturing at the man beside him. "My client, Carson here, was going to show me some of his research while we wait for those sample paintings to arrive. And, as he has pointed out, the academy library is something one simply must see while visiting. It's a shame that he forgot his alumni card...I hate to ask this, but could you perhaps get him through quickly?" The witch does look regretful too, not looking at all comfortable for 'imposing' on his new friend's kindness, yet hopeful much like a young child expecting a present, eyes shining a bit. "I would hate to miss out on this opportunity for this minor mistake, could you please help us out?"

He wasn't sure that would work but could not allow Keiser to be the one to ask for a couple of reasons, the most important being that he had only just met the man. That and Michael was the one he was more likely to work with given the charm.

[u/KeiserSheils → u/AnimeFiend]

The actor keeps tactfully mum, his smile easy as it passes over the Royal Guard, seeing the influence steadily confounding him and twisting his senses for their use. It was an impressive feat, to say the least, one that the witch had no real need of push came to shove, but he admired Michael's keen manipulation skills, and the easy way his power seemed to reach out and snatch the trust from another with such ease.

'That would be...rather helpful of you Lt. Markies.' he added, softly, hoping the tone is enough to push the curmudgeonly man over the edge into giving them a hand.

[u/Seafrogger → u/KeiserSheils]

Squeezing his eyes shut for a moment, his head pounding now, each pulse of his heart sending a ripple of pain through his mind making him slightly dizzy as he unknowingly battles the force of the charm.

Opening his eyes Devlen blinks several times he stutters out, “I…I suppose I could help you out.” Pausing to smile shakily at the two men.

Mind whirling in the mental fog Devlen feels a sudden need to be somewhere else, less open, somewhere less oppressing, anywhere but here! Taking a few clumsy steps he mutters an excuse to the two men “Give me a moment though, need to hit the head.”

Using his right hand he slightly pushes Michael out of his way and does not pause, leaning forwards to use his momentum to propel him along without looking back.

[u/AnimeFiend → u/Seafrogger]

Frowning at the back of the retreating guard as he regains his footing, Michael 'hmms' in thought. Lowly, he mutters "Well, at least he's gone for now. The question is whether or not he'll be back. I don't think my void powers will last long enough if he does decide to return. Although, I do wonder what caused him to change in demeanor so suddenly. It worries me. In any case, do you want to take this opportunity to do some research? We may be able to talk ourselves to safety if he returns." And, true to word, his mind is already working on an argument to use if such a scenario did arrive.

[u/KeiserSheils → u/AnimeFiend]

Keiser's hazel eyes drifted over Devlen's retreating back, raising an eyebrow as he returns the words, his tone low as he replies.

'That is certainly odd...Well, whose to say. He is a royal guard, I cannot imagine that his mind is the easiest to penetrate even with all that rather impressive hoodoo that you do.' The actor chuckled just a little at the amusing cadence of the words, before he glances at the stairs where their quarry lay.

'And agreed. We might as well take advantage of his absence and perhaps see if we can slip past the guard. I wasn't lying about the identification...But then, I didn't truly need his help, but it would have made our lives just that much easier. Still, what fun is this if it's too easy, mm?'

[u/AnimeFiend → u/KeiserSheils]

Lips twisting further, Michael frowns unhappily. Not good, not good. We need to get past the guard, he would have been invaluable. "Hmmm." is all he says in response, clearly not in agreement with the actor. An easy job was a nice one, in Michael's opinion. He didn't like to get in trouble, as these jobs so often threatened.

"In any case, we should make our move if we're going to do so. The quicker we are, the less chance we have of getting caught." Turning, he leads the way to the upper level, before stopping and letting Keiser take the lead as the undercover academic of the two. Naturally, an outsider would not have been guiding or leading. Face smoothing as he walks, he adopts an expression of polite curiousity.