Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been a few months since Nacht had been defeated, and things at A Cat's Paw had remained much the same, with some differences. Of course, with the cat curse broken, no one necessarily had to hang around the cafe as often, but it still turned out that more often than not, at least one or two people were at the cafe after hours or when the cafe was closed. After all, they'd been through a lot together, and there wasn't many other people that they could talk to about their new magical abilities.

For his own part, Graves had become much more transparent about himself and his management of the cafe – even putting his schedule on the kitchen whiteboard every week. (To be fair, though, it was mostly boring stuff – like meeting with local shelters for cat intake or taking care of financial things). So everyone was surprised when Graves said he wanted to meet with everyone after work one day, without saying why.

Once everyone was assembled, Graves cleared his throat and began with, “I hope I didn't alarm anyone by calling this meeting without telling you all what it was about.” But he didn't have to worry too much – all his employees trusted him, especially now that he was able to be more honest in general. Only Reese looked annoyed, which did not surprise him. His first apprentice never did like being kept in the dark about anything, no matter how minuscule.

“I was wondering if you would all like tarot readings. You can consider it... reparations, I suppose, for keeping you in the dark for so long. But since you are all learning magic now, some of you might like to learn how to read the cards. It can be a useful tool and practice for witches.”

There was a moment of quiet murmuring, and then everyone began talking at once. This was precisely why he had left the purpose of the meeting a mystery. “Excuse me,” Graves said, raising his voice only slightly, “I'm willing to answer all of your questions, but one at a time, please.”

Landry spoke first. “Do we have to do this?” He had a dark, distrustful look on his face.

“No,” Graves said, “but I'd like to be able to do it for everyone, if possible.”

Finley was beside herself with excitement. “Is this like fortune telling?”

Graves grimaced instinctively, but Reese spoke up first. “Nah, it's divination,” he said. “Witches use tarot to gain insight into themselves, or a situation. You aren't gonna know the future from the cards, but you might learn something from them.”

“Precisely,” Graves said, smiling. “I couldn't have said it better myself, Reese.”

Reese beamed with pride.

“We'll start out with a simple spread, the three card spread with the cards representing the past, present and future,” Graves continued. “If anyone would like to be taught to read for themselves or any further readings, we can discuss it. So,” he concluded, “would you all be interested in this?”

The consensus among the employees of A Cat's Paw was a tentative yes, with Finley representing the highest level of excitement and Landry the lowest. Graves again stressed that he didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable and wasn't forcing anyone to come.

And so, on the scheduled white-board it went.

Chapter Text

Graves was surprised when, a week later, the first to come up to his apartment for the reading was Landry. He could tell that Landry was nervous, but seemingly open to trusting the cards, and him. Good.

“I wanted to get it over with,” Landry said. “Besides, I'd feel a little bit like a party pooper if I was the only one who didn't get a reading.” He smiled.

“I appreciate it,” Graves said. Landry sat across from him at the coffee table, and Graves laid out a few decks for him to choose from. There was, of course, a cat deck, but also a vampire deck, a monster deck, a nature deck, and a standard Rider-Waite. Landry hesitated for a moment before choosing the monster deck.

Graves raised his eyebrows at Landry's choice but said nothing as he shuffled the deck and let Landry choose three cards and flip them over. Judgment, the seven of swords, and temperance. Landry was drawn especially to temperance – an image of a werewolf split between wolf and man half pouring two cups. “What do these mean?” he asked, letting his curiosity get the better of him.

It was Graves' turn to be hesitant. “I can tell you,” he said, “but these messages may be very personal.”

“I think,” Landry said, “that will be okay.”

“If you say so,” Graves said, and he pointed to Judgment. “This is your past. I believe it should be rather self-explanatory,” he added, not unkindly.

Landry winced, almost flashing back to the moment in the bar with the underage witch. When he'd lost control of his anger, and paid a drastic price. He pointed to the center card. “And this?” Landry asked.

“Ah, that is a bit more complicated,” Graves said. He chose his next words carefully. “This card is known as 'The Thief,'” he said. “It can symbolize deception, either committed by yourself or another person.” He waited for Landry to say something, but Landry turned away and was quiet for several moments. “Are you alright?” Graves prompted.

Landry's head snapped up. “Oh, I'm sorry,” he said. “I was thinking.”

“Is the reading upsetting you?”

“Yes,” Landry said immediately. “I mean... I'm okay, Graves.” He folded his hands, still not meeting his boss' eyes. “It's not you, I agreed to this.”

“Well,” Graves continued, “this last card is very encouraging, if that helps any.” He leaned over to tap it with a long finger. “Temperance indicates a balance in everyday life. A balance of all things, held steady. Including,” he added with a modicum of caution, “emotions, both negative and positive.”

Landry said nothing but stared at the card. Sometimes it really did feel like he was two people. When he started working at the cafe, he'd thought if he just tried really hard to be cheerful, it might rub off on him. It had, but it had also made his darkness – his rage – only darker.

“I believe it is possible for you to do this,” Graves said, bringing Landry back to reality. “But you must not be afraid to ask for help, if you need it. Everyone here only wants to see you succeed.”

This time Landry did meet Graves in the eyes. Only kindness and understanding were there. “Thank you,” Landry said. He smiled – not his customer-service worthy smile, but a hopeful one. “Thank you, Graves,” he said again. “For everything you've done for me.”

And then he was gone, back down the stairs.

Graves had to admit that he, too, was encouraged by Landry's reading – though he hoped that the others might be more positive.

Chapter Text

Finley came up next, bounding up the stairs to Graves' apartment, hardly able to contain her enthusiasm. “Ooo, wow, you have a lot of decks! Didn't you say you used to use these a lot?”

“At one point, yes,” Graves replied. “Now I just mainly use them for myself.”

Ever polite, Finley didn't pry any further but chose the cat deck. “Can I look at them first?”

“Certainly,” Graves said, spreading them out face-up.

“They're really pretty,” she said, holding one up and looking at it. “And they all mean something different?”

“Well,” Graves said, “there's the major arcana, which tell a story of sorts, and then the court cards, which are somewhat like you'd find in a regular deck of cards, and then the suit cards – the pentacles, the cups, the wands and the swords.” He pointed out one of each suit in the cards face up on the table.

“I didn't realize it was so complicated!” Finley said. “But I wanna learn all about it now. I love stories.”

Graves sighed. The thought of teaching a crash course in tarot to Finley – who would undoubtedly be a fast learner but still have a lot of questions – exhausted him. “Perhaps some other time,” he said. “Or you could ask Reese, since he knows a fair amount about tarot himself. For now,” Graves continued, sweeping his hand over the cards and shuffling them, “shall we begin?”

“Sure,” Finley said, “but can I ask what Landry's reading was about? I tried to ask him but he was pretty tight-lipped about it.”

Graves had been afraid of this. “Sometimes people get tough messages from their readings,” he said. “If he doesn't want to talk about it, I'd ask that you please not pry.”

“Oh!” she said, covering her mouth with her hand. “I was just teasing, I didn't mean to bother him.”

“It's quite alright,” Graves said, letting Finley pick three cards. She flipped them over – the ace of cups, the page of cups, and the queen of wands.

“Hmm,” Graves said, looking at the spread. Less emotionally loaded than Landry's reading – thank goodness.

“So what do they say? Is it something good?” Finley asked hopefully.

“Well, it's nothing bad,” Graves said. “And I prefer not to think of the cards as good or bad, but merely tools to tell us who we are, who we could be.”

Finley chuckled a little. It sounded like a very Graves thing to say. “I believe you,” she said.

“The ace of cups,” Graves said, “is your past. The cups represent emotions, and the aces represent each suit in its purest form. Daresay I'm reminded of when you first came to the cafe, Finley.”

Finley nodded. She remembered her interview with Graves – being so enthusiastic she thought for sure she'd scared him off. And then being excited when she learned she got the job. And then being disappointed when she turned into a cat for the first time... so many emotions in such a short time.

“These two,” Graves said, pointing to the present and future cards, “are both court cards, which generally represent archetypes or people. I don't suppose it would be too far of a stretch to say they represent you,” he said with a smile.

“The page of cups is known as the empath archetype,” he said. “Emotionally in-tune with other people, sensitive and caring – also can be hurt easily,” Graves added. “Does that sound familiar?”

“Hmm,” Finley said, picking up the card. She wasn't sure quite how she felt about how scarily accurate it was. “That sounds a lot like me, huh?”

Graves turned his attention to the future card. “The queen of wands is known as the performer archetype. Expressive, creative, as nurturing as the page of cups, but perhaps more mature.”

Finley liked the sound of that. “I still want to know more about them. Since, well, they seem to know so much about me.” Secretly, that made her a little nervous.

Graves seemed to sense her unease and chuckled. “Don't worry,” he said. “The cards aren't an authority over you. You can use them as a tool for self-improvement – they won't use you.”

Finley was reassured. “Thanks, Graves, I'm gonna bug Reese about them!”

“Be my guest,” he said warmly.

Chapter Text

Hayes was the next to come up the stairs. He didn't look as nervous as Graves was expecting. “Reese was talking about the tarot downstairs,” he explained. “He said it's like a story, so that seems kind of cool.”

“Yes,” Graves said, “something like that.” Hayes sat across from Graves and unsurprisingly chose the cat deck.

Fanning the cards face-down, Graves motioned to Hayes to pick his cards.

Hayes reached out his hand, but wavered. “They're not going to say anything bad about me... are they?”

Graves smiled reassuringly. “You know, Finley had the same question. And I will tell you what I told her – the cards represent positive and negative aspects. They are simply tools at a witch's disposal.”

“Alright,” Hayes said, not sounding entirely convinced. He showed Graves his selection – the star, the page of pentacles, and the sun. “These ones look very bright and colorful.”

“Very intuitive of you,” Graves said. He pointed to the star first. “This is one of the most hopeful cards in the tarot. That hope and courage led you here, to the cafe.”

“You think so?” Hayes asked.

Graves nodded. “Mm. Yes.” He moved on to page of pentacles. “A character who is grounded, genuine... and perhaps enjoys the company of animals more than people.” He gave Hayes a knowing look. “As for the future...” They both stared at the depiction of the sun, a cat basking belly up surrounded by a halo of light.

“That cat looks so happy,” Hayes said, smiling for the first time since they'd began the reading.

“Indeed,” Graves said. “I believe that happiness is in your reach, Hayes.”

Hayes was still smiling. “I hope so!”