[OPEN] *draws a tarot card* oh sh—

[silentabyss]

who: Noah & You
what: Tarot readings~
when: Post-Disney fieldtrip, so 02/12 and on
where: Dorm Common Room
warnings: I'm on my pagan bullshit again it's fine

[If you venture into the dorm common room at any point after the fieldtrip ends, you will find Noah sitting in the middle of the floor with a deck of tarot cards, Trying His Best. He only recently acquired these cards (they were scattered about his room, see) and he hasn't had too much time to play with them.

Obviously, the correct thing to do is to play with them now. Step right up and get a very amateurish tarot reading free of charge! He has a book open in his lap about how to do this, including multiple spreads that he can use. If he spots you while he's nose-deep in studying, he'll wave you over with a hand and ask if he can read your fortune — you just have to tell him what you're interested in knowing. Past, present, future? Love? Interpersonal relationships of a non-romantic nature? Just ask!

As a disclaimer, Noah is not responsible for any harm that comes to you if he divines your future and it turns out really badly. That is not his fault. Your fate was written in the stars, after all.]

Comments

[silentabyss]

[Noah's trying to learn the Celtic Cross spread which is the worst spread in tarot reading in this essay I will—]

I'd be lying to you and you'd see right through it if I did.

[Noah wants to roll his eyes, but, well... if Add time travels so much, he guesses it makes sense Add wouldn't believe fate. That, and Add's a scientist, and Noah finds that people who are really good at science just don't believe in things like this.

It makes more sense to him when he thinks of Senku maybe not buying into it since Senku's world doesn't have magic, but Add? Erm, yeah buddy, maybe you time travelling is a form of fate. Hmm...]

The cards were scattered in my room, and... I found the last one in my brother's spellbook, which... [His expression softens.] I haven't told anyone that it showed up. I wonder if Harque was here at some point or if he's trying to help me in some way.

[Not the point. Noah shakes his head like he's trying to rid himself of sentimentality.]

Do you want your fortune read?

[subtract]

I didn't ask for your life's story... [SIGHS, he's bitching but really... he doesn't mind that much. he's more annoyed that Noah is telling someone like him all these weirdly personal details like they're friends... isn't that kind of stuff supposed to be private? why would Add be the first person he tells this to?? if he's supposed to say something to that he's already fucked it up, so welp]

... reading the future, I don't doubt it's possible but the activity is completely pointless. Time isn't a straight line, it's an infinitely splintering web of possible outcomes. It's impossible to know which thread your time will diverge to until the present catches up with your so-called prediction. All you're doing is rolling the dice and hoping your guess is relevant. If you're close enough to claim it was "right", then you say your prediction was accurate. If the future you predicted never occurs, then you say it was avoided thanks to the prediction...

Besides, you realize I'm an entity that exists outside of linear time? What makes you think you can read my future? If something happens that I don't like, I'll simply reset it. This school can't limit me forever.

[he's saying all these words about how stupid tarot is and how much he doesn't care about it, and yet... he is still here. talking about this.]

[silentabyss]

Uh-huh.

[Noah, not listening to this, starts shuffling his cards. Intermittently he'll say "yeah", "okay", "sure" and such so that Add gets the sense that he's listening even though he's wholly focused on drawing a card and setting it out between the duo.]

"If something happens that I don't like, I'll reset it", which means the fortune was correct and that it happened, just that you got mad and reset the timeline. [Checkmate. Noah flips the card he drew over.] So, anyway...

Your card is Pegasus, Upright. [The Magician, technically. There's a constellation that looks absolutely nothing like a winged horse on the card art, overlaying a chalklike drawing of an actual pegasus.] The good news is, the deck thinks you're more than capable and that you have the skills needed to be successful in... whatever it is you do. As for a fortune, Fate says you're going to have positive changes coming your way, but you're going to have to use your intellect and willpower to make that happen. What you define as a positive change is up to you, of course.

You're welcome.

[subtract]

[he continues to make an irritable face the entire time Noah is telling his fortune... but, y'know. still not interrupting, still (apparently) listening. he does fold his arms, though, to maybe look more annoyed about it. he totally doesn't care about his fortune.

...

when it's over he scoffs lightly, glancing off to the side.] Positive changes by my own intellect and willpower, that's no different from saying I'll just change the outcome myself. Pointless...

[... but his features do relax a little. he's not displeased. not that he cares what some dumb cards say about his future, obviously.

Luka said they would all disappear, erased from existence before the end of March... but that doesn't matter. A future like that isn't one that Add will tolerate. No matter what's ahead, whatever trials they have left to face... he'll never settle for a lukewarm ending like that.]

... hmph. Fine then. Let's put your divination to a real test. [??? we're testing it now, just roll with it, he'll never admit he's that desperate for advice] The coordinates that were left behind by our former classmates—54.2 N, 45.2 E—Saransk, Russia, the world called Earth. The sequence 1-5-2-8. There's a meaning to this data that should be obtainable within Yogen, but we're missing something... what do your cards have to say about that?

[silentabyss]

[The numbers make Noah's head spin. What the fuck... alright. He collects the card he drew and starts shuffling again, contemplating exactly how to lay this one out.]

I guess you're asking me how you'd obtain this information? Fortune-telling is kind of vague, but I'll see if Fate can point you in the right direction...

[Okay... with the cards shuffled sufficiently, Noah cuts the deck, keeping the question in his mind. What are they looking for? What can they do to find it?

...

Two cards, then.]

The first card is the Ten of Cups, Reversed. It represents what's "missing" — so what you could be looking to find or obtain. Keeping in mind that it doesn't necessarily mean a tangible object or thing... the card says what's missing is love. I know that's cheesy, but the Ten of Cups is usually an omen if it appears in a reading. It says something is going wrong, that harmony and contentment have disappeared and been replaced with strife. Something somewhere is disharmonious. It can also indicate that people aren't being true to themselves, too.

[He pauses, looks Add in the eye, and then flips the second card.]

It's the Ten of Wands, Upright. This card represents what you can do to find the information you seek. It's... a bit nebulous, but this card is much simpler in this case: You've strayed from "the path" and you need to find your way again so that you can find what you seek.

If you want my personal opinion, I think the cards are referring to the exchange students — maybe we need to find harmony and balance somewhere. Maybe we need to be true to ourselves. Maybe that's the path we strayed from. We're all out here killing each other and deluding ourselves, and maybe that's not "it". The "you" in the reading could be referring to everyone, so make it a "we". "We" need to find harmony. "We" need to be true to ourselves.

[Maybe honesty and peace gets them all out of an awful situation.]

[subtract]

[He maintains his serious expression the whole way through, though when he gets That Look he returns a confused stare of his own. What? What's that for?? He's always true to himself, what's any of that got to do with him??]

... another pointless prediction. Obviously, internal conflict is going to get in the way of an investigation. If that's the best your cards can come up with, fate is as useless as ever.

[or maybe it's giving the only useful advice it can, since Add has already made it clear that he'll just undo any unpleasant endings... so, really, it's more useful to be reminded of what's getting in the way. not that Add would ever admit to any of that.

fate sucks and can't foretell shit, science and logic still rule supreme]

Hmph... well, whatever. If the answer is within Yogen, we'll figure it out. [and, after a slight pause] If you come up with any ideas... let me know.

[silentabyss]

["He's always true to himself" sure buddy, and Noah's never been an emo goth kid.]

Uh-huh. I guess predicting the future really is useless for the guy who moves through it so effortlessly, huh? Maybe having a fortune-teller around would be useful so you know which timelines to avoid and which to pursue, that way you're not wasting precious time?

[Noah shrugs. Somewhere in his head he thinks he might be appealing to Add's logic.]