There was a briefly startled moment at the question from Cal - Gerard hadn't dealt with someone who didn't know in so long it threw him for a loop. And of course the hesitation, how much was safe to say - but it was easier to come to the conclusion this time. He knew what his Cal was able to handle, able to understand, and that regardless additional knowledge would not put this Cal in more danger.
"I deal with haunted books. Only they're not haunted by the dead, but something else. The Auphe here call them 'psychic vampires', and I guess that's not wrong?" he began, figuring that might be easier for Cal than the whole metaphysical explanation from square one. "They're things that live just outside of our reality, they are our fear, as well as feeding off of it. They can't interact directly, so they send parts of their power through. One of the ways it manifests is the books. Back in the 90's some Scandinavian asshole tried to collect a bunch of them but he just put a bunch of powerful bad shit in one place and the expected happened and now they're out. I try to track them down and ... take them out of circulation."
no subject
"I deal with haunted books. Only they're not haunted by the dead, but something else. The Auphe here call them 'psychic vampires', and I guess that's not wrong?" he began, figuring that might be easier for Cal than the whole metaphysical explanation from square one. "They're things that live just outside of our reality, they are our fear, as well as feeding off of it. They can't interact directly, so they send parts of their power through. One of the ways it manifests is the books. Back in the 90's some Scandinavian asshole tried to collect a bunch of them but he just put a bunch of powerful bad shit in one place and the expected happened and now they're out. I try to track them down and ... take them out of circulation."