2020.09.29 - An Imp For Everyone
It's not every day that students miscast a host of imps into existence. At least, not in Lawson's experience at the Academy. However, being a TA means cleaning up messes that no one else wants to. He left the door open for any students who wanted to watch to come by and even posted a notice to everyone else to STAY CLEAR of the section of the woods he would be performing the spell in. However, as experience would show, the best plans... don't always turn out the way one would hope.
The imps are currently contained with spells of binding in several cages placed in convenient points around a circle. The ground beneath the cages is dirt, the grass and brush having been magically cleared away beforehand. The grad student is currently in the process of drawing a circle surrounding the cages with a thick piece of chalk. He's not paying much attention to who is here, focused instead on the spells he's maintaining and the circle he's creating.
The imps are currently contained with spells of binding in several cages placed in convenient points around a circle. The ground beneath the cages is dirt, the grass and brush having been magically cleared away beforehand. The grad student is currently in the process of drawing a circle surrounding the cages with a thick piece of chalk. He's not paying much attention to who is here, focused instead on the spells he's maintaining and the circle he's creating.
Come to the woods they said, see the imps they said. Well, there are woods and there are imps, and Nolan seems idly curious, crouched not too far from one of the cages peering into it at the imps that have been contained within. He's not poking them, or taunting them, or anything like that. He's just kind of studying them, arms folded on his knees. He's dressed like he just came from class rather than for a hike in the woods, but he seems comfortable enough despite that fact.
In truth, Newt isn't here to watch the banishment taking place. The youngest Xanthos brother is actually in the woods because that's where he spends a great deal of his free time. The red head probably knows the woods better than any of the students in the Academy. He is just drawn in by the magical energy that is created by the containment spells and the disturbance in the forest he spends so much time in. With his attunement to nature, especially this area of woods it's not a surprise that he senses something was amiss here. When he comes into the area that has all of these imps, he is actually wearing clothes. A tank top and a pair of shorts. They are even fairly clean for his standards and they are clothes none the less. His feet however are bare and thoroughly soiled with dirt. Not that anyone would be surprised by that. The teen hates wearing shoes unless he really is forced to. His nose is scrunched up when he sees all of the imps.
A chance to watch someone unsummon demons? Of course Nicodemus is going to be there, even if it isn't his area of study, he's a fucking nerd and this sounds exciting. He's dressed for class, so he has on a pair of grey slacks and a long sleeve grey shirt and a vest. His backpack is slung over his shoulder and he has a bounce to his step as he can't contain his nerdgasm at all the summoned imps. "Oh look, they're all in cages. What a shame." He mumbles to Nolan, but quickly grabs a notebook and a pen to take notes.
Never one to pass up a chance to learn more about the strange new creatures and the magic that goes with them, Nic decided to see what was going on. He was sure his particular skills wouldn't be needed, but that's never stopped him before. So, here he was, having parked his motorcycle a ways away to hike towards the part of the woods mentioned. When he arrives, he notices some familiar faces and makes his way towards the brothers, moving pretty quietly through the woods despite his jeans, jacket, and boots. "Hey, man," he nods to Nicodemus, then smiles at Nolan and Newt, "Nice to see you all together."
There's yet another presence. One who looks so thoroughly out of place it's amazing. James was in the woods for some case he was working on, but it wasn't his real normal place. At least he had the sense to wear some high end jeans that would at least stand up to a little bit more than a suit would. He could sense something was up, and his clairvoyance allowed him to see what was going on, so, he's slowly made his way there, approaching the circle but staying back, out of the way, and back from the people that were there. He didn't recognize any faces, after all, probably best to just watch, itis magic after all. And given the ring he was wearing, he likely knew all about magic.
The circle is almost complete, just another foot or so of chalk left to draw, when there's a sudden jingle and clang from one of the cages. Lawson's head jerks up as he spots one of the doors sliding open. Imps will be imps, apparently, and one has managed to get the door open. Under normal circumstances, this would not be a problem. However, the distraction is just enough to cause Lawson's focus to slip. With a very audible /flux/ of magic in the air, the binding spells he so carefully cast on each cage /break/. At first, nothing happens. The silence lasts about as long as it takes Lawson's face to twist from shock to a frown. /That/ is the point at which all Hell breaks loose. Quite literally, as no less than ten imps shriek and begin shaking the still closed cages. The three from the unlocked cage quickly fly to the other three cages, releasing the others. He acts quickly, dropping the chalk to withdraw his wand and sticks the tip into the ground. "Lomurus regi pro!" he chants, moving the wand in a circular motion against the dirt. Air stiffens at the edges of the clearing and overheard, blocking any attempts the imps might make at leaving the immediate vicinity. "Blasted imps," he mutters under his breath. Glancing over his shoulder, he says crisply "Let that be a lesson in Murphy's Law." He doesn't get anything else out, because the imps scatter. Upon realizing they aren't getting away, they converge on the students and TA nearest the circle. Here they come, kids!
When the imps are freed, Nic's instincts kick in. While he is not sure what imps are, or what they do, he knows that their escape wasn't part of this. Moving faster than a normal man would in this situation, he lunges towards an imp coming towards Nicodemus, Nolan and himself. He brings an arm up with open palm trying to snatch an imp from the air, mid flight towards then. "I've always wanted to see you two do some magic. Never thought it'd be like this!" The young man is grinning, perhaps not realizing how dangerous this could be or not caring.
Newt looks towards Nolan first and foremost. It's hard for some to tell the two apart but for Newt, who has known them his entire life. He can easily tell the two nearly identical boys apart. He steps over to his brother and says, "It could have been a whole lot worse. They could have summon a dragon or a higher level demon." He looks towards Nicodemus and his notebook and he says, "Really Nico, a notebook?" He rolls his eyes and then addresses Nicholas. "Not all of us. Nero is flitting about somewhere." He looks up to the sky. "Or banging some hottie. Or both knowing him." His idle chatter gets quickly interrupted by Lawson's mistake. "Oh boy!" A look of excitement crosses his face. "Now this is the kind of excitement I came for." He stomps his feet into the ground and there is a bit of a tremble as he attunes himself to the ground around them to prepare for a fight. "I am quite familiar with imps." He's got an obsession with cryptozoology after all. "Let's see what type these are." Quick reference to what they look like and he tries to remember what he can about this particular species.
Nolan had been crouched very near one of those cages when the imps were suddenly set free, which means that one is immediately launching itself at his face -- fast enough that he wasn't paying attention. Instead, he had been looking at Newt and grinning a little crookedly. "The imps are kind of... AUGH!" Imp to the face. Imp in the hair. Imp limbs and claws scrambling everywhere as Nolan attempts to dislodge the little bugger from his face. Lighting it on fire would be a bad idea with it still in his hair. "I'm getting a little /too/ familiar with this imp," he mutters when Newt says he's familiar with them.
Nicodemus smiles at Nic as he arrives. "Are you sure you're not a cat because your curiosity is going to kill you." When Newt walks over he shakes his head at the eyeroll. "It's graduate level magic, do you think I wouldn't take note--" That's about the time the cage opens and Nolan is making friends with the imp. "Shit!" He looks over at Lawson as he starts flinging magic around and he rolls his eyes at Nic. "Honestly, I could have just pelted you with magic in the back yard if you really wanted me to." He doesn't want to freeze his twin's face, so he only coats his hand in ice as he reaches for the creature to try and pry it off. Unfortunately, his forgotten notebook is now being carried off by an imp, while another draws all over his pristine notes.
Well! Things just got interesting. James is definitely no mage himself, but what he is, is a psychic. And a strong one at that. So, he steps fully into the clearing, surrounding himself with a telekinetic forcefield that's invisible but will keep any imps off of him. He concentrates, and begins to gather up some of the imps in a telekinetic field to trap them.
Amidst the chaos, Lawson raises his left arm and chants "Luxcudo!" A literal shield of light appears, conjured by his magic, on his left arm. He uses it to cover his face and torso as he bashes an imp that is about to scratch his eyes out. Another imp flies under the shield and grabs at his shin, earning a kick from the TA. Nicholas manages to save the twins from one imp, but there are still others flying around! The one in Nicholas' grasp squirms and tries to claw at him.
As Lawson spots one latching onto Nolan, he frowns intently at it. But the stern expression is not going to get it off, so he raises his wand. "Solvu!" The chant causes the imp to suddenly lose control of it's limbs, easily being grabbed by Nicodemus who is waiting with a chilled hand.
"Nicodemus!" Lawson calls out to the twin. "Chalk. Circle." He points in the general direction where he dropped the chalk, the circle still unfinished. Raising his other hand, his wand is suddenly snatched by an imp. "Fucking little-" he curses under his breath. "Luxvara!" A glowing wand of light appears in his empty hand, which he points at the imp carrying his actual wand away. "Solvu!" The charm works again, the imp dropping the wand and falling to the floor. "I have to finish the banishing ritual." At this point, Lawson is only partially aware of the rest of the chaos around him. He doesn't even notice the stranger showing up and sudden way several of the imps nearest the man seem to /stop/ moving. Lawson's focus is, understandably, on completing the ritual so that they can banish the little suckers once and for all.
With one imp squirming in his hand, Nic struggles to keep the thing held tightly, fingers wrapped around his legs and one arm. When the dastardly creature claws his hand Nic growls and squeezes tighter. "Lucky I was here though!" he quips at Nicodemus seeing that he has one in hand too. "Okay, do we kill or capture these things?" he asks, ducking as another Imp goes flying towards his head with teeth bared and little claws out. "I'm guessing you mages are gonna do something impressive and get them all back right?" When he sees that Imp is headed towards a human who just stepped out of the woods, Nic kicks up a branch into his other hand and hurls it end over end at the imp flying past him, unaware of any invisible magical shield of course but seeing someone in trouble. "Will this count as a lab class?" he muses to himself.
As Newt charges up his defenses. He is drawing in energy from the Earth and it's like a cascade of gemstones starts crawling up his body. It isn't long before he is covered in a protective layer that makes him look like a statue carved from a geode. "Those imps appears to be a species of Mephit. They are the pigeons or rats of the demon world. Low-level demons. They can't do any lasting harm to the world. However they have dangerously sharp nails and teeth. They are absolute pains in the asses. Literally. They just cause chaos, but be careful because like rats they attack in swarms. Working together for extreme havoc. They usually have pretty fast regeneration. And their wings are not substantial enough to keep them afloat with much weight. However if they team up, they might be able to lift up something." He spouts off the information about them as if he actually read a book on the topic once. And knowing the Xanthos boys, he probably did. Now who is the nerd now? With his protective armor up. He runs into the chaos of all the imps, taunting them with jeers and waves and all of the shiny gemstone skin. He snatches two of them out of the air and he holds the squirming forms as they claw and bite at his hardened skin unsuccessfully. Not sure what to do with the attacking things he bonks the two imps together by the head to knock them out. "Stay." He presses the two knocked out little bodies against a tree and vines start to entangle them. "I think you just need to sleep with the teacher. That's why Nico is always getting extra credit." That retort was in response to Nicholas' question about this counting as a lab class.
With Lawson's help, the imp drops off of his face and Nolan staggers back just a little bit as he lets Nicodemus take care of that one. Now that he can see what's going on, he surveys the chaos going on around them. Imps and demons aren't particularly afraid of fire usually, but he waits to see what Newt has to say about them first. In the meantime, he does notice James standing off to one side with a bunch of imps around him just -- stationary. Huh. That distracts him for a moment before he regains his focus.
When Newt provides him with a little more information on the imps, he nods and frowns. "Maybe ice their wings, Nico? That'll put some weight on them." He, however, does not have that at his disposal. So instead he goes for exploding a ball of brilliant light in the faces of a few that fly right at him. Dazed, they crash into each other and he quickly grabs them and stuffs them back in a cage.
Ice, James got that at least. So, the ones he's got in telekinesis are forced back into cages so he can start getting more. And, as the telekinetic wave touches more imps, thick layers of ice suddenly start building up on their wings, not to mention they're now being surrounded by cold, if that degrades their performance any. He can't get them all, of course, because of the risk of hurting some of the people, but he tries to at least get a few.
Once Nicodemus has his hand around the imp he focuses his energy to freeze the thing in a solid block of ice. "Is this the part where I make a cold pun?" He says dryly as he tosses the solid block of ice imp back into a cage before giving his twin a quick once over. He turns to Newt as he gives his dissertation on the imps and quirks his brow. "And you all call me the nerd."
He's about to turn toward the others when he hears his name called out by Lawson. "On it!" He can't help but smirk as he gets to be the one to draw circles and help with the spells. The excited grin on his face falls at Newt's comment and his glares at him. "I do not sleep with my teachers." He says in exasperation as he stalks back to the chalk. His twin has a good idea and he kneels next to the chalk before he rubs his hands together. Taking a deep breath he exhales, and blows icy crystals toward the imps spreading a frost over the general area. Hopefully that slows the imps down enough for him to focus on finishing Lawson's work.
The chaos of the imps seems to be never-ending. Lawson is, now that the circle is on track to being closed, in the center of it and dodging several attempts by the imps to grab at him. Dropping to one knee, the shield disappears and he draws a slender crystal from his pocket. Jamming it into the ground in the center of the circle, he stands back up and looks around. As Newt turns practically to stone and takes out some of the imps, he frowns at him. "Xanthos, get those into the circle! I've only got one shot at this now that it's all gone to Hell in a handbasket." It's clear that Lawson is pissed at how poorly his demonstration has gone.
Taking several strides outside the circle, he points his light wand at a few imps. "Solvu!" One by one, they drop limply to the floor. "That charm won't keep them numb for long, gather them up and back in the cages." At that point, Lawson finally notices James. "Who are you?" he asks with a rather blank expression. Shaking his head, he adds "Never mind, not relevant at this time. Keep doing whatever it is you're doing," he says with a vague gesture. "As long as they're within the circle when I cast the spell," he adds as the imps begin to get shoved back into the cages by those gathered. The ice being cast on the imps by the others has the intended effect, causing the imps to become sluggish and easier to catch.
Gathering up sleeping creatures....that's something Nic can do while the finger-waggles do their waggling and the teacher does his....cleanup. So, moving with incredible speed and agility, Nic dashes from sleeping form to sleeping form snatching them up with one hand and transferring them into his jacket to hold like one might a load of potatoes when one doesn't have a bag. Passing by Newt and his gemstone armor, Nic takes a second to be impressed, "That looks uncomfortable but damn effective, man!" Then he's grabbing an imp near Nolan, "Thank you for *not* casting a big ass fireball!" Finally with his jacket full and an imp in each hand, he heads towards where Nicodemus is forming a circle. As he unloads the imps onto the ground unceremoniously, he spies one flying straight at the water mage. With his hands full, he does the only thing he can, he leaps towards the flying fanged critter and slams his forehead into the creature's chest, knocking him from the sky.
"Ice ice baby." Newt then hums the beat to vanilla ice to the group. "Yes well you are the nerd Nicodemus. I just happen to be very knowledgeable about these kinds of things. I don't take summoning classes however I have studied most of the creatures that they have potential to summon. It is a fascinating read. The options that they have are quite endless. However these are most common. It's like testing on rats." He shrugs his gemstone crusted shoulders. When Lawson starts to command them to get them into cages and into the circle. Newt changes his course and the red headed Xanthos brother starts to gather as many of the feisty little imps as possible. It really does help to have a protective layer of gemstone skin. To Nicholas, "Looks like we are on cleanup duty. Typical. Leave all of the dirty work to the youngest ones." He doesn't seem to be too upset about it.
James smiles slightly at Lawson, but his look is definitely the 'we'll talk later' expression, as he's rather busy, specifically, with forcing more of the little devils back into the circle with icy wings, to help keep them from trying to fly away. But then he spots the guy who got him a save earlier, even if he didn't necessarily need it, favors are paid back with favors. So, when the man launches himself into an imp, and knocks it out of the air, not only does James pick up the imp and throws it into the circle, he also catches that man in telekinesis to gently set him back on the ground, before giving him a thumbs up, and resuming his work of grabbing with telekinesis and shoving into cages or the circle.
"Obnoxious rats with wings," Nolan quips as he tries to drag some of the slowed imps out of the air. He blinds and dazes a few more, making them a little easier to wrangle, and begins dragging them back to their cages, ensuring that none in his little area have managed to escape the circle. But now Newt has "Ice Ice Baby" stuck in his head and so he hums along to it as he drags a few more of the little winged monsters back into their cages.
Flashing a grin over at Nic he says, "Imps and other demons that are used to being around fire a lot aren't usually super impressed by a giant fireball. Sure, it might still hurt them but it'd probably mess with us more than them."
"Ugh, you know I hate that song." The fact that his brothers keep humming it is only causing a stabbing pain to grow behind his eye. Or it could be the imps. He can't look up and glare at them again, because he's too damn busy trying to help Lawson salvage this ritual. He notices Nic head butting another imp near by and grunts in thanks as he finally finishes what Lawson start. "We're good!" He calls out, looking for any more wily imps laying about that need a cage. It's now he's finally noticed the other man and wonders just how much attention they're drawing with all this fuckery.
As the circle is closed by Nicodemus and the imps are contained within it, Lawson steps to the edge of it. With his body half in and half out of the circle, he raises his light-wand and aims it at the center crystal. Beginning the chant to banish the imps once and for all, he speaks in an even and somewhat monotone voice. "Daemo prot rurdom, tantau feret usium." As he speaks, the chalk begins to glow brightly. Once the final word is spoken, there's a brilliant flash of light and the cages now sit empty. The imps had been successfully banished back to wherever they were summoned from.
Without turning around, Lawson speaks loudly over his shoulder. "And this, students, is why the Academy prohibits certain types of conjuration or summoning. Period."
Turning around, Lawson levels everyone with one of his best frowns. "I apologize deeply for the... unfortunate circumstances." Taking a deep breath, he continues "Nevertheless, I will be sure to let the professors and staff know of your assistance with this matter. One must always document this sort of thing, lest there be repercussions. The amount of magic used in this clearing tonight will leave very noticeable traces."
Walking over to where his dropped wand is, he picks it up and pockets it at the same time as he dismisses his wand of light. "Your help was most appreciated." The last comment doesn't seem to be directed at anyone in particular. "Lesson learned, I hope," he adds crisply. His gaze lingers on James briefly before he turns his attention to the students and Nicholas. "Remember, no matter how well you prepare for a spell - something can always go wrong."
Surprised that he isn't lying on his ass, he had caught the nod from the new arrival he hadn't met before. "Thanks, man. I'm guessing the cushion I hit instead of the ground was you since it wasn't wet, burning or full of stones." Apparently he knows of the brothers' elements. "Well, Lawson, if you teach sparring like you teach conjugation, I'm going to look forward to your class!" Nic straightens out his jacket as he looks towards Newt, Nolan and Nicodemus, "I gotta say, you three work really well together. To Nolan, Nic walks by and leans in "Glad these were demons then!" The biker ends up standing near the middle of the clearing and then looks at Nicodemus, "Don't worry I don't believe you slept your way to an 'A'"
Newt laughs at his brother and he says, "I know nothing of the sort." He even sticks his tongue out at his older brother. He does however not hum anymore. Rituals are actually serious work and Newt may be the baby and may be playful sometimes but he doesn't fuck with magic. Like all of the Xanthos line, he has been doing this since he was in the womb. He whispers not too softly, "I think he let them out on purpose to see if we can actually handle ourselves in a crisis situation. Everything is always a lesson. Be prepared for plan a and b to fail." Newt was the scout of the family. He made it all the way to top ranked Scout. Shaking his head at Nicholas, "With that lack of a gag reflex, It was an A+" Newt scans the clearing even after the ritual is finished and he makes sure that none of the little buggers got away. When the all coast is clear he focuses on his magic again and the gemstones disappear from the protective layer around his body. "Can we make sure they summon something exciting next time? I might want a Cerberus puppy or something like that." Of course he would want a three headed puppy.
Once the threat is dealt with, James lowers his hands to his sides and steps further into the clearing, so everyone can really get a good look at him, and who he is. He looks around, offering a smile, and nodding to the man he'd saved. He doesn't say anything just yet, though, not until someone addresses him.
Nolan looks around for the sign of any stray imps, but not seeing any, seems to relax a bit now that the entire thing is over. He has a few scratches on his hands and arms and face from the little grabbety bastard that had tried to tangle with him, but seems no worse for wear. He smiles a little amusedly over at Lawson and says, "Noted. No demon summoning." Not that Nolan can summon much of anything at all. That's not his area of expertise whatsoever.
He chuckles and then flashes a grin at Nic when he leans in. "This time," he warns, eyes sparkling with a bit of mischief.
He wanders over toward Newt and gives his shoulder a light squeeze, "Of course you would want a hellhound from the underworld." It's said with a fond, yet teasing tone. Then he looks over at James and says, "Hi. Who're you?" Because someone's gotta be that guy.
Nicodemus shakes his head at Lawson. "Not on my list of things to waste my time on. However if I could get your notes on the banishment..." However the teasing continues and Nico rolls his eyes as a proper brood sets in. "You know every well how much I hate that song." He's heard it all his life, and it never leaves his brain when he hears it. When Nic joins in he rolls his eyes. "I don't fuck my professors." He grumbles to himself as he gets to his feet and dusts himself off. He manages to find his poor notebook which is covered in lewd drawings. He joins his brothers in time to hear the puppy comment and shakes his head. "We'd never get the deposit back on the town house if we had a demonic puppy living there." Though now he's starting to worry that one of his brothers will actually figure out how to summon a demonic pet. He grabs his backpack when his attention finally turns to James. "Oh, he isn't a student."
As Lawson walks back to the crystal in the ground, he pulls it out. The crystal is now black with violent purple cracks in it. "Summoning and banishing come at a price. If you don't have the necessary catalytic elements with you..." Frowning, he says in a rather distasteful tone "Blood is a poor, if often readily available, substitute. Unfortunately." Snapping his fingers, the air around the clearing begins moving again. "I've just released the barrier I erected, by the way."
Narrowing his eyes at Newt, Lawson doesn't say anything in response to the boy's speculation. The mention of a Cerberus puppy does, however, get a huff from him. Walking over to Nolan, he doesn't really ask permission before stepping into the boy's personal space. Reaching into his pocket, he withdraws a Tarot card and presses it against Nolan's forehead. Yep, no concept of personal space at all. "Faciam Devo Empress," Lawson murmurs. Immediately, the cuts and injuries on Nolan begin closing up and healing. Once that's done, Lawson puts the card back in his pocket and steps away.
Lawson actually levels an intent gaze on Nicodemus for a moment. His mouth opens as if to say something, but then he shuts it again. Whatever it was, he's keeping it to himself. He instead eyeballs James as the man steps forward, a single brow arching up. "I'm not sure what you were doing here tonight, but I'm not going to pretend your help was unwelcome."
Nic nods at Nicodemus' declaration "I know, man. I'm on *your* side." He offers a winning grin and then looks around, "I don't know that I did much more than be an imp transporter, but I'm glad I was here to help." The wounds from the bites and scratches already seem to be healing on Nic's face and hands, so there's that. "So, what do you do after a demonstration like that? I know I could go for a drink!" the biker says, "I got my motorcycle back a ways, if anyone needs a ride back to school or town."
James smiles at the others. "I'm James," he says, with a hand wave. "I was, oh, maybe a half a mile away or so and picked up something, so, I hoped it would be more exciting than the original reason I was here. And, well, I suppose it was. Glad I was able to help."
"Listen, have you ever seen a Cerberus puppy? I am sure they are adorable. Hellhounds and Cerberus are not the same thing." He is obsessed with all of these cryptozoology and other magical creatures. Not unlike Newt Scamander who has written some very thorough books. He may have most of them committed to memory since before he was old enough to read. One good thing about having nerd older brothers. Nicodemus would read anything to him. Especially if it got him to shut up and sit down for a little bit. "Fine, no three headed dog. But I want a magical creature as a pet. And you're going to have to live with whatever follows me home one day." Not that he doesn't animate golems for companionship. His does have a huge pet rock collection in the basement. "I move faster underground. The fastest way to any destination is a straight line. Well actually it's teleportation however that is not in my skillset." He shrugs his shoulders. "I am also not nearly old enough to drink. And I doubt they would serve me anything anyway." He has a baby face.
Nolan does not get between Newt and Nico, letting the two go back and forth with an amused smile on his lips. He just shakes his head a little bit and then laughs when Nico brings up the deposit on the house. "Screw the deposit. I'm not pooper scoopering for a three headed Hellhound." He points at Newt then and says, "You get it, you walk it, and you clean up after it." Not that he really expects that any of them is going to summon up a Cerberus puppy.
The sudden appearance of Lawson right up in his personal space has both of Nolan's brows raising, particularly when a Tarot card gets slapped up against his forehead. He blinks for a moment at Lawson, but he can feel the healing and realizes what he's doing as he does it. His gaze flickers curiously over the man with him in such close proximity, but after a moment all he says is, "Thank you."
"Nice to meet you, James," Nolan offers to the psychic. "I'm Nolan," he introduces himself, "My brothers -- Newt and Nico." He nods to each one of them in turn, "Our friend Nic", a nod in his direction, "And Mr. Eaton, our TA."
Nico shakes his head at Nic. "You say that now, but next thing I know you'll be on their side and it'll be four against one." There is a hint of a smirk on his lips before Lawson catches his attention. He tilts his head at the silence, but frowns as he invades Nolan's personal space. "So that's a no on the notes then?" However, he can't hide his fascination at his Tarot card spell. "Yes, a beer sounds great." He says distractedly as he puts his bag over his shoulder.
Turning to Newt he shakes his head. "It'd be cute for a year, then we'd have a giant dog everywhere, invading all the space. Besides we have Nic, he'd be upset if we got another pet." See he can dish it out too. He scoffs at his younger brother and rolls his eyes. "You say that like we can't just walk in and make them serve you." He pauses for a beat as he looks at everyone else. "Not that we'd do that because it's illegal."
When he's introduced to James, he waves his hand. "You handled yourself well. Do you often traipse through the woods and invade on random magical rituals?"
Lawson glances at Nolan as the boy is courteous enough to introduce everyone. "Thank you for that, Mr. Xanthos." Now that the sense of urgency is over, he's back to calling everyone by their surnames apparently. Lawson turns and nods to James. "How fortunate for us," he says in a somewhat muted voice. "Well, apologies for taking you away from matters you needed to attend to. Even if this turned out to be, as you said, more 'exciting' than your plans."
Turning to face the youngest Xanthos, Lawson finally addresses Newt's insistence on some kind of pet. "Magical creatures are not typically domesticated and I cannot recommend owning one as a pet. There are any number of perfectly acceptable mundane pets, even exotic ones if you are so inclined." He doesn't join in on the mention of going anywhere else, instead heading back to the circle. Staring at it, he says over his shoulder, "I believe that will be all for today. Feel free to enjoy the rest of your evening." He, apparently, is going to stay behind to clean up the mess. Magical and mundane, since the cages didn't go with the demons.