Something was telling Ken to shake Joanne's hand... He already knew some magic words and... It just felt right to shake her hand... Hands clasped, movements up and down, and it was sealed...
"Are you just going to leave us hanging their?" Sinclair asked. Ken realized he'd been holding hands for a bit too long with Joanne and she seemed to be blushing a bit.
"It's been awhile since I've had a young man want to hold my hand this long." Joanne said a little teasingly in the way an older woman could.
"This is just a greeting, you haven't sworn to some lifelong pact with Joanne." Magnus stated. Ken quickly shook the other two's hands.
"Sorry... It's... It felt like more of a pact thing or something..." Ken stuttered "I was considering not shaking hands at all actually..."
Joanne sighed "That wasn't the worst reaction. We are all powerful, and outside the restaurant we could've offered deals that would be sealed with a handshake or oath or something... but really we're here to chat. New people don't enter our world every day you know? Did you discover your power naturally or artificially?"
Ken said "Artificially I guess. I was gifted some power b-" Ken felt like his throat was being clogged with used gym socks and was gagging a bit. He noticed in the corner of his eye Christoph glaring at him as Ken's throat cleared up... "...Ok...Not telling that secret I guess..."
Magnus harrumphed "There are some old farts doing things like this all the time. If you do things artificially at least take some responsibility..."
Sinclair said "Not all Artists treasure all their work, but that does mean this one needs a mentor no?"
Ken took out his remote and said "All I've got is this remote and a magical phrase." The three older mentor-types looked at the remote and grimaced a bit.
Magnus said "You were in contact with Penny?"
Ken nodded "If anything, my friend there's more of Penny's student... or something..."
The mentors glanced over at Penny with keener eyes and Joanne said "Or something's right... more of an experiment. What were those magic words you learned?" Ken took in a breathe to speak and then realized... he couldn't... his lungs could expand, air enter, but the breathe couldn't leave. After a second Ken exhaled gasping for fresh air...
"Nope... I'm not able to say that either..." Ken said as the older magic people looked concerned.
Joanne said "So you know some sort of magic that whoever taught you doesn't want to spread... and you have one of Penny's inventions..." She then vocalized "That Narrows down the list of people who could have taught you, RIGHT Christoph?"
"I Taught him ONE trick so Penny couldn't just turn him into nanomachines like his friend. If he wants to dive further into those words he can figure it out once he has some magical training." Christoph said dismissively.
Ken sighed "...Was about to get into college... what are the entrance exams and tuitions like a not Hogwarts?.. Sorry you guys not being an Artist or peace officer or something."
Joanne raised her eyebrow "If one of our kind takes an apprentice we dont generally charge money. We don't really need that much money. I could find someone who'd be interested in taking in a fledgling, but... why do you think joining people studying magic would prohibit you from being an artist or one of Magnus' group?"
"...Umm... Opprotunity cost?"
Magnus said "We need peaceful people in all groups to try to mitigate any disaster."
"-and often our greatest art pieces are possible thanks to magics discovered." Sinclair added.
"I general prefer the world being peaceful as much as I dislike Magnus, and creativity and magic go hand in hand so long as someone doesn't summon demons from hell to recreate a painting in life." Joanne said
Ken pondered "Why did you all go towards me instead of Kate? Was it the way I ate the soup?"
Magnus said "You showed hesitancy when prompted to consume a civilization, and declined the rest after taking a single bite."
"You showed the willingness to even try a single bite despite your hesitancy." Sinclair responded
"...I don't go for androids..." Joanne said a little ashamed at her shallow reasoning.
Ken thought and said "Well I appreciate peace and the arts... Never really saw myself as an Artist though, and I think I'd be better served practicing magic for at least awhile."
Magnus took out a business card and said "Well if you are ever interested in protecting others here's my number."
Sinclair nodded and said "Just pay attention and you'll find more of my kind if your interested in the arts."
Joanne said "...Eh... Just find me after the whole meal is done and I can sort you out."
The Chief came out and said "Now then Ladies, Gentlemen, and any indescribable horrors from beyond our comprehension in human flesh I will now bring out our mysterious forest salad. Don't worry if you can't finish it all. The start is nice and refreshing, but who knows what you might find deeper into this dish."
What was placed in front of Ken and the others at his table were four plates of forests... Miniaturized forests. Ken noticed the 3 of his tablemates had taken a tree each and started eating it... They were here to enjoy their meals so they would, but they were also curious how Ken would eat this. Knowing that Atalantis was edible all the way through he first sampled... the grass. A small clump of grass and dirt. The grass was refreshing and had the taste of the scent of freshly mowed lawn and the dirt was... maybe a hint of something... chocolaty? more tea like with a bit of cacao? Then a tree which had a burst of herbiness from the leaves that settled into a more breadstick like taste as he bit into the trunk. He went a bit deeper into the forest when he saw... A little baby deer... a bamby... He noticed a skewered animal on Sinclair's fork... It was protein... it wasn't alive... and... it was fresh Venison probably...
As Ken was about to try to shew the deer into the forest Magnus said "Whether or not it was alive, it'd be kinder to mash it up in your jaws than to force it into the forest."
"Hey let the boy discover how everything works himself." Sinclair said
...Ken... took his fork... and stabbed bamby... why did he have to name the poor thing. He could feel it tense up as he impaled it and... it went limp... Ken raised the deer up to his mouth, took a bite and... it was perfectly cooked venison... he felt like he could cry of deliciousness and... guilt...
"I've learned in my years that pushing yourself is the quickest way to learn things... This is probably one of the safest ways to learn... There are things in the forest you can learn from, but... You are new and maybe you don't want to go this fast." Joanne explained as she was trying to hide what was on her fork behind her forest. Ken then felt more guilty. Here were some people experienced with this magic dish and he... he was stifling discussion in a way... He got less guilty when he remembered they were scrutinizing his every bite. Still how deep would Ken go?