Ask And You Shall Receive (Closed to Emma)

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Liz felt awkward about asking Emma to read for her. It wasn't the act of reading so much as asking it of someone she spoke to casually while at work since Emma was often in the kitchen while Liz was serving. Truth me told, Liz liked Emma a lot, but she thought Emma was miles away more mature than her.

Still, she was thankful when the girl offered to give her a reading. As Liz sat at the table in the cafe and waited patiently. Beside Liz was a small bag. A thank you gift because it felt awkward to ask something of Emma without giving something in return.

She knew Maria would be beyond jealous - Maria always liked this sort of thing. Liz had thought about what she wanted to find out long and hard, but it had been made even clearer after Tuesday and the talk she had with Peter.

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Emma had been surprised, a little, that Liz asked for a reading. Or maybe it was the girl's uncertainty about asking coming through. Then again, Liz often seemed uncertain about a lot of things, and that was something Emma could understand. She felt that way often enough, although she felt like she'd gotten used to it as she'd gotten older, coped better now.

When she finished up in the kitchen – things went more quickly with Mildmay helping out sometimes with the grunt work and dishes and things – she went to meet Liz in the cafe the way they'd arranged, and took a seat opposite her. "I didn't keep you waiting long, did I?"

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"No, no. I only just got here, really. Besides, I'm that person who shows up early because I'm worried about being late." She smiled with a soft laugh.

"Thank you for, um, for doing this. I really appreciate it."

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Emma was also the type to show up early so as not to be late, not wanting to impose by keeping someone else waiting, and she knew she hadn't been late today, but it was still possible Liz had been waiting. So she was glad to hear that wasn't the case this time.

"It's what I do. I've been a fortune teller since I was thirteen. Cooking's fun, and I'm good at it." She liked being able to feed people. It was a way of helping, providing something useful, and showing she cared. "But it's not a vocation, at least not for me. So really, I'm glad to read for you."

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That Emma seemed to enjoy reading made Liz feel a lot better. Still, she lifted up the small bag and put it on the table with a bit of a sheepish smile. "I, um. I still made you something, as a thank you. I don't think if you, um, can even use it, but it felt right to give it to you."

Inside the small gift bag was a long dark blue velvet pouch that had been stitched together diligently, but not to the degree of someone like Corbie's whose hands were deft at the skill. The pouch and a cursive 'E' on it in light blue lettering and it was mostly straight. A small pink ribbon wrapped around the top to open and close it. It was big enough to potentially hold cards, should Emma feel the need.

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"You didn't have to do anything," Emma told her, as she pulled the velvet pouch from its wrapping. "But thank you. It's lovely." She didn't point out that Emma was merely a nickname based on her actual initials; Liz wouldn't have known. It was still a very thoughtful gift. "And I got a bunch of decks in my egg last month, I'm sure there's a good one in need of a bag."

From the messenger bag she usually carried, she pulled a similar pouch, this one a mossy green silk, and from it her favorite Shadowscapes deck. She shuffled a few times, adding in a flourish and a fan, more at ease with the cards than trying to put on a show. The ease had come largely from putting on a show for so long, but it wasn't so much her intent today. Then she set the neatly stacked cards in front of Liz on the table.

"Have you had a tarot reading before?"

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Liz was happy to give Emma something and glad it seemed to be well received. It made her feel better knowing she could provide a thank you for a service,

"Sort of. My friend Maria is really big into them, but we never went to see one in person. She'd try to do them, but it wasn't ever real." Maria was a lot of things, but a fortuneteller wasn't one of them.

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"Most 'real' fortune tellers are very good at reading people." Emma could; she'd learned from one of, in her opinion, the best. It just wasn't what she did when using the tarot. "And a lot of people use the tarot more as a guide, to put their own thoughts in order, to point out things they might be overlooking. No precognition involved. That can get into self-fulfilling prophecies and things. What I do is different, but that doesn't necessarily mean other readers don't have something to offer."

Not that that was the point today, when Liz wanted Emma to throw the cards for her, but she wasn't going to discount Liz's friend's experiences.

"The way I do it is pretty simple. Shuffle the cards, thinking about what you want to know. Try not to let your mind wander too much – I know, that's harder than it sounds – what you focus on is what the cards are most likely to show me. Whenever it feels like you've shuffled enough, stop, and I'll see what I can see."

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Maria would be happy to hear that explanation from Emma. Liz told herself she would remember this for when she saw Maria again.

"Okay." She nodded. She felt nervous for some reason. It was just shuffling cards. It should be easy, right?

Liz tentatively reached out to pick up the cards. It was awkward as the cards were big. But she started to shuffle and as she did she thought about Max and the future. She wanted to know what happened to her and Max and Tess. That's all she wanted to know.

When she felt it was sufficiently shuffled, she set the cards back down.

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When Emma began to lay out the cards – three by three, center to a cross, then the corners – her eyes went distant and unfocused as she not only saw, but Saw. And there were so many majors. Emperor and Empress and Lovers and Moon. First a dark haired man, or boy really, about Liz's age, who was obviously at the center of her question. First love, but not without conflict. From there she got snapshots, brief clips following one on another. The boy, with a girl who looked a lot like one of Lillith's illusory forms.

"You like him a lot," she began, when the entire vision had played out in her mind. "And he likes you. But." Emma frowned, not sure how to say the next bit, especially not without upsetting Liz a great deal. "There's another girl." Her hand drifted to the Lovers. In this deck, it was a couple, the dark and light of their hair opposite the couple she had seen in her vision, but in many decks, the card showed a triangle, a man presented with the choice of two women. It was that meaning of choice that felt particularly appropriate here.

She hesitated again. "And a child. He tries to explain, and I don't know what, but there's more going on here than I could see. More than he can know even."

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"Tess." She said when Emma brought up another girl. That part she had been ready for, or at least that she was there. She hadn't been ready to learn Max was apparently enough into Tess to actually be with her. And then Emma brought up a baby.

"Oh..." Liz felt her chest seize a little. "Is it... Is it the other girl's baby or, um. Mine?"

She didn't think she'd be foolish enough to let herself get pregnant as a teenager, but things, she supposed, happened.

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"Does Tess look a little like Lillith does sometimes? Because that's what I saw." It wasn't like the images came with nametags, but if Liz expected it to be this Tess, then it probably was.

"The baby is hers." Emma wasn't sure if that would be better or worse, from what she could read of Liz's reaction. "And his," was probably unnecessary to add, but better to be clear about that, Emma believed.

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"Yeah, yeah that's Tess." She pressed her lips together. Even after she asked the question, Liz knew the answer, but hearing it from Emma solidified things.

"... that's. Um. " She paused as she searched for an adequate response. She couldn't find one.

"Thank you for, um, for telling me." Her chest felt heavy suddenly. It ached.

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Too late, it struck Emma she hadn't given Liz one of her usual warnings. Maybe it was cruel to tell her now, when she'd already had the lesson in experience. She should probably keep it to herself now. But she had to say something, seeing how hurt Liz was.

"First love is called first love for a reason," she said gently, remembering Paolo and how she'd closed herself off after. "It's bright and new and exciting, but then you move on. You have moved on," she reminded Liz. There wasn't anyone at the inn who didn't know Liz and Peter were head over heels with puppy love for each other.

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She had moved on, she knew it, but Peter was so adamant that they would go back home to their own worlds and have to live their own lives away from each other that Liz was having a hard time dealing with the idea that she'd go home and there wouldn't be a Max. Even if logically she knew it was dangerous to be together because of what Future Max said.

She nodded, maybe a little numbly. "...I guess... I was sort of hoping you were going to say you saw me with Peter, in his world." She hadn't asked that, though,. She had asked about Max and she knew it and somehow that felt worse now.

"I, um... I should probably go."

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"Just because I'm a psi, doesn't mean I'm a telepath to read your thoughts."

Emma might not have warned Liz not to ask anything she wasn't ready to get an answer to, but she had been clear on focusing on what she wanted to ask about. "I can only tell you what I see, and what I see is based on what you think about while you're shuffling." She shrugged. It sucked getting bad news. It also sucked having to tell people what you knew was going to be bad news, or seeing people you don't know hooking up, but now that was added to the memories of every tarot reading Emma had ever done (not for the first time, but still, she always felt weird about it).

"I am sorry it wasn't what you wanted to hear, but I understand you not wanting to hang around."

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Liz felt a pang of guilt which muddled the aching in her chest. "Sorry... it's not - I'm glad you told me. I am." She should know, after all. It was clearly not meant to be. She would just have to come to terms with that.

"I just need to... process this, you know?" Liz also didn't want to cry in front of Emma. That felt too terrible a thing to do, especially since Emma was helping her out.

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Emma nodded. Time alone to process was something she knew very well. "I should probably get back to work anyway. There's always something that could use my attention in the kitchen." True enough, but mostly an excuse so Liz didn't feel awkward about needing to leave.

Emma gathered up her cards and put them away, along with the new pouch Liz had given her. Best to just go, so she did.