Old Enough to Know Better (Jai/Jory)

Jai looked over at Security, who managed to withhold a sigh. "Watch the movie," he told the guy. He took the carrier loaded with drinks and snacks, pulled out a couple things for Security and handed them over, then relieved him of a bucket of popcorn. "I'll be fine, I'm not alone, see? Tell Dismas I'll be home later."

If they were going to go act like geeks over Divination, Jai didn't want any loose threads who might start spreading stuff. The fact that he'd be going off alone with a blossoming scandal went right over his head.

There was a hint of a feeling this could be a bad idea, but when was the last time Jory had been able to just hang out with someone who wasn't Indigo? Not that Indigo was bad, it was just nice to break things up sometimes, and he had a pitifully small number of people he could consider friends. The number he regularly interacted with was even smaller. "I'll make sure he gets home safe," he said to the other guy, actually letting a grin escape.

Security let them go and Jai walked with Jory back out to the streets. He picked a direction blindly and they walked, the sounds of the busy town at night whooshing past them, then finally fading. "So you like, don't want to have prophecies?" he asked, offering the popcorn aside. "You could do something really big with that. Like, you could help people." Jai might be famous, but he gave people music, not legendary advice.

"We don't get to control what we see," Jory said, taking a big handful of the buttery deliciousness. "I mean, for all I know I could slip out right now and talk about the world ending. I don't think I've had one since, but I don't even remember actually giving the first one. I don't know how much help I could be." He'd left Astra at home, which probably wasn't the best idea, now that he thought about it. Well, he'd only been alone for a few minutes.

"Hey, prophecies helped take down You-Know-Who," Jai pointed out. "You could play it like, You-Know-Who wouldn't have done some of that stuff without the prophecy, but think about it. You-Know-Who was already trying to take stuff over. The prophecy sent him to a baby who knocked him out for like fifteen years, then finished him off a couple years later. A prophecy did that."

"Perfect example of a self-fulfilling prophecy, though," Jory said. "If it had never been made, then maybe the Potters would have survived and he'd have been taken down anyway and a lot sooner. We'll never know." He forced himself to stop talking and take a moment to breathe. "Sorry. I'm working on not thinking like that. Everyone thinks I'm stupid for worrying about it, I think." At least he was better than he used to be when it came to not going into a panic over it.

"Aw, we were just talking about it is all," Jai said. "No one really knows, anyway. Maybe the Potters would have lived, maybe they'd have died anyway. We're doing like, Divination Philosophy in Div 220 right now, it's some deep sh~. Madame Magadia is totally hardcore." The woman lived, breathed, ate, and sh~ Divination, though he wasn't really sure about the sh~ing part. She seemed way too mystical to need toilets.

"She's amazing. She showed up in my dorm room after I gave that prophecy, and I've been having private lessons with her ever since. Intense, but she's taught me so much. One of her assistants even trained Astra to keep an eye on me and alert whenever something like a prophecy might happen," Jory said. It was wild to think of where he'd been before meeting the woman. "I didn't even know it was possible, but she was able to get all this extra information out of the prophecy, too!" His momentary awkwardness was immediately forgotten and his eyes brightened.

"Oh wow, that's totally badass," Jai said. "But you didn't know where or when, did you? That's got to be harsh. You've got this big-ass prophecy and you can't do anything. The ancient Seers, you know, the Oracle of Delphi when she was a huge thing, they knew enough to actually warn people. I hope you don't teach yourself not to have prophecies before you get to do something like that." Jory had said that was his goal, right? To stop having them?

Jory shrugged and took another fistful of popcorn. "When she was doing it, I was able to see some eyes, that's about it, and when I saw Saren I pretty much immediately knew it was him." Magadia had always been impressed with his abilities, but he couldn't ever get powerful enough to actually See, could he? Sit down and meditate and actually watch something happen. Would it be better or worse to have seen something happen knowing he probably couldn't stop it? "You sound like you're sure it's possible to do that now."

Jai shrugged. "I don't know how it works," he admitted. "I figured you might if you're a Seer. I need to use sh~ to manage anything and it doesn't always work anyway." It was a damn good thing that music was working out for him. He'd be screwed trying to make money with his other so-called skills. Up ahead a darkened playground loomed, its only light from the Muggle street lamp standing on the edge of the sidewalk. Jai eyed it as they approached.

"I always was into cards and astronomy and stuff," Jory said. He still was refusing to officially change his focus from astronomy in school. It was stubborn, but he loved the stars. "I started kind of...knowing stuff the year before I started university. I don't even know how to explain it, and it wasn't ever anything important." As they drew closer to the playground, he angled his feet towards the collection of structures.

Jai wouldn't have gone into the playground if not for Jory, but he followed along all the same. "I started off busking. You've got to start somewhere, right? If you just give up you won't go anywhere." He'd had a stroke of luck. Not nearly as many people got discovered as people seemed to think. And how many of those people were immediately hooked up with an established band? He could think of one.

No one really got paid to give prophecies and readings, though. People skilled in divination were always teachers or shop keepers, as far as Jory knew. "Next thing I know I'll be crystal-gazing in a stadium full of fans, right?" he teased, running his hand along the nearest playground item. There were monkey bars ahead, and he considered getting rid of some of his energy on them. He used to climb trees all the time when he was younger, when was the last time he'd done anything like that?

Jai chuckled. "Yeah, you'll have to hire security to keep your fans from crushing you." He was quiet a moment as he took a sip of Orange Crush. "Really though? You could end up an Oracle if you're good enough. A lot of Ministries have oracles. Come on, I bet you know this stuff. The Nechung Oracle and Gadhong still work with Muggles even. Maybe you won't get panties thrown at you while you're trying to work, but a face full of dirty underwear is hell when you're trying to do your thing."