Alucard, March catch-all [open]

[cryptsleeper]

Who: Alucard + ????????
When: Throughout the month
Where: Garden class, caves, and around Aef itself.
What: March catch all for activities and adventures
Warnings: Added as needed



Garden classes, start of the month
[Gardening feels like something safe to begin with. Not that plants can't go terribly wrong in so many ways, but because it's so connected with earth and the physical. Getting over the brand of witch has taken far too long. This is a solid place to start.

Today's focus on growing through magical means rather than mundane ones is honestly enjoyable. Alucard's sat with a small spreadsheet he's made himself, walking through various growth rates on daises with spells.

Daises he's run out of, because of course. His eyes move around, and there's a frown suddenly on his face.]

We're entirely out of experimental plants for the day? Or are we meant to reset any we're working with as not to cause additional waste?

Northern Outpost, middle of the month

You're in my light, I'm afraid.

[Alucard knows it sounds rude. Pretentious even for himself, but the act of copying the cave art that is embedded in the cliff face demands exacting light so that the details can be just right, and all without ruining the art long term by light damage.

It's a nice thing to do, to sit in the cave and reproduce section after section. Moreover, he's good at it, the current chunk of painting coming along quite well.]

Or if you could just move off to the right a little, please?

[He isn't that particular.]

Here, there, and everywhere else within Aefenglom
[While he isn't around at all during the full moon - there is a vigil to sit, and a fully vampired Trevor to help through the first day of the worst of all of this - Alucard makes a point to get out of the house at least once a day.

Mostly that means finding a spot in a park or at one of the bars to people watch, doing precious little else. He's been better at people lately, but this entire world? After everything it's thrown himself and the other two into? That demands holding everything at arm's length.]

Wildcard
You know the deal

Comments

Garden Classes

[petcromancer]

[Hector's faun magic hasn't manifested reliably, but he's still been attending classes religiously, in the hopes that through careful study, he will gain mastery of what power he has left. He's brought Cezar along with him, because witches come in and out with familiars and he didn't think anyone would question it.

He has one pot of daisies at his work station, and so far, he's only managed to make one fold up into a bud and then unfurl again. He's not burning through specimens nearly as fast as certain witches.

He doesn't notice Cezar's absence until he hears a little yip at another workstation as the pup plods over to a friend he recognizes and dances for attention. As Hector looks up to find his pet, he sees Alucard, surrounded by an absurd amount of spelled daisies and meticulous notes. He looks...

...he looks so much like his father, the way he'd been when Hector had first met him. Hector can't summon up any anger at the son, looking at him in this moment. This is all that is left of the first man Hector ever respected.

He takes his plant and sets it on Alucard's work station. It's not like Hector was making any headway anyways.]

You're going through them twice as fast as anyone else. Reset them.

[He makes a grab for Cezar so he can get back to desk, but the dog ducks him and keeps darting around Alucard.]

[cryptsleeper]

[Cezar breaks Alucard's attention, but only because the pitter patter of little doggy feet? Those are out of place in a classroom, and that means there's someone else here he'd really, really not deal with.

He picks his head up, catching sight of Hector before the pug grabs all of Alucard's attention. It's not fair to ignore the dog, so Alucard leans down, rubbing under Cezar's chin.]

Go back to your person, hm? It'll be better.

[The dog likes him, Hector doesn't. That's just fine. But too late, Hector's here.]

Resetting doesn't allow for a longer term study of certain spells.

[petcromancer]

[Hector rubs his temples. He is trying, for once, to look past his grudge. Lord Dracula, give him patience.]

This isn't your father's laboratory. It is a free class. If you want to do extended trials, you're going to need to get your own specimens and make an independent study of it.

[Cezar doesn't seem like he's going anywhere while those chin-rubs are happening, so Hector takes the opportunity to glance at some of the spreadsheets. He wants to know what he's supposed to be learning from this class even if he can't do the spells himself yet.]

Here, there, and everywhere; cw reference to alcoholism

[bolstafir]

[Arm's length is the most comfortable way to interact with people in general, in Qrow's opinion. Enough distance to leave if you needed space, and to protect them from the most dangerous parts of yourself, but close enough yet to be there if you were needed.

It's the way Qrow has always lived his life, and although he's made effort to build connections enough for intelligence gathering in Aefenglom, he still finds himself holding himself apart. Some habits die hard, even if the reason behind them have been rendered moot by this world's magic.

...Of course, there's a difference between holding yourself apart by choice and being forcibly ripped from your loved ones, and some days that gets to him harder than others. It takes something as simple as a handful of rose petals scattering as a florist attends his wares to make him painfully aware of the fact that he neither has seen his nieces in a month, nor does he have the ability to do so if he wishes, or even to contact them with a message through the Scrolls or a written letter.

He ends up taking his bruised feelings to a bar, as he so often does, intending to nurse them in peace, alone, but the various celebrations in town mean that the bar he chooses winds up being packed. Apparently, even having his semblance locked away can't prevent all bad luck, in the man for whom the odds are never in his favor. Qrow sighs, and pauses before the nearest empty stool, before asking the man sitting beside it--]

This seat taken?

[He looks like he's considering taking it regardless of the answer. But picking a fight even before he's drunk seems more trouble than it's worth.]

[cryptsleeper]

It was only a question, Hector.

[Alucard's in work mode, which means he's both more clipped and less inclined to really pick a fight.

The spreadsheets are organized by spell going down the columns and immediate result, five minutes after, ten minutes after, half an hour after, an hour after, longer term, additional notes across the top. Alucard's handwriting is terribly neat, and below the spreadsheet is a handful of additional notes.]

[petcromancer]

'Reset them' was an answer.

[Look, Hector understands the struggle of wanting to dive in deep to a study and not being afforded the proper resources. He had to go to Dracula's castle to find a decently funded grad program stocked laboratory to work with.

He taps his finger on one of the spreadsheets, careful to touch only blank paper, not any potentially smudgeable ink. Damn, it's no wonder Vlad had always frowned over the chicken scrawl of Hector's notes, if this is what he was used to seeing from his pupils.]

You have enough information to start with, at least. From these preliminary results, you could rule out further study on some of these spells, and focus your home study on the ones that were more effective.

[cryptsleeper]

As you like.

[Alucard's response comes after he only just briefly looks at the gentleman in question who's asking. He seems fine enough, and seating is far too limited for single drinkers at the moment.

The dhampir's own glass is barely touched, the way he holds the stem of the wine glass suggesting that it's more for affectation than real drinking anyway.]

[cryptsleeper]

Hm.

[There seems to be proof that there's real consideration happening in Alucard's head based on that noise. It isn't a bad point, but...]

I need at least two more hours worth of data to make that determination, I think. But that is a fair point.

[See? He can concede about things! Kind of!]

[petcromancer]

Then just wait for the two hours with what you have. You don't have to test every spell this session.

[Fucking Ţepeşes and their inability to do anything at a normal amount. 'Destroy all of Wallachia'. 'Test every spell in the book'. The sheer drama of their every waking moment.

Alucard isn't arguing with him, though. And he is indulging Cezar. Hector bites back on any further retort.]

Cezar can keep you company while you wait.

[Hector reclaims his one daisy pot, the only one of the lot left un-spelled.]

[cryptsleeper]

[Hector, you agreed to get involved in Vlad's drama. You don't get to complain.

But that the forgemaster is actually letting the pug stay? That does give Alucard pause, and he tilts his head ever so slightly.]

You're sure about that second part?

[petcromancer]

Why not? I still have work left to do, and it'll keep you from commandeering every damn flower in the room.

[He looks away, his voice falling quieter.]

Whatever else I think of you, I can trust you'll take care of him properly.

[cryptsleeper]

I wasn't going to--

[He stops. That's actually a compliment, that he can take care of the dog. Alucard drops the fighting.]

Let me know when you're leaving. I'll probably stay here later than most.

[petcromancer]

I'll stop back by to collect him on my way out.

[With most people he's met, he would add something like, 'come find me if you get tired of him', but he doubts that will be the case with this one.

He bends down to give Cezar a quick scratch, then heads back to his work station with his plant, determined to make his monster magic manifest through sheer stubbornness if he has to.]

[cryptsleeper]

Very well.

[It isn't the case at all. Alucard takes notes. Pets Cezar. Repeats, until he hits the wait another hour mark and looks over at Hector. Hector and precious little change to his own experiment.]

--Do you want a second set of eyes?

[He asks it only after he's walked over, aware that the little pug is going to trail behind him no matter what.]

[petcromancer]

[Hector is hunched over his plant, shoulders slumped, with one hand drumming on his notepad as he tries in vain to make this work. He straightens up when Alucard approaches, because he's not going to look like a slob in front of Vlad Dracula's perfect son. He has a little pride, at least.]

Won't help. I know the steps, I just can't access the spark to power it.

[He huffs out a frustrated breath.]

It's like being a child again.

[He drops a hand to his side blindly and wiggles his fingers. Cezar plods up and bumps his head against the hand.]

[cryptsleeper]

Hardly.

[Alucard's eyes glance down at Hector's work, but it isn't as if his eyesight is what it used to be. But he can guess at a part of the problem, the way he uses the word spark.]

You're used to using a tool to do the work of magic, given how forge-mastery works, correct?

[petcromancer]

Yes, for forging. But faun magic doesn't use tools.

[Everett grew a blackberry bush in front of him with just a seed and some dirt. He's seen similar workings since then by other fauns, and none of them involved magical aids.]

I tried using coins when I first arrived. They didn't work.

[Of course, there's the simple fact that at that time, he was barely a faun.]

[cryptsleeper]

But that's my point. It's a new form of spellcasting, there's no reason it should be a natural thing for you to do when you've completed the work through entirely different means for your entire life.

[Moreover, and he's trying not to be a dick about this, he really isn't:]

It's also not necromancy. For all that I understand the connection in your work between life and death, it still is a matter of distinct difference.

[petcromancer]

But... [Hector's brows furrow. The tools make the spark, and the spark is what makes the magic, isn't it? Is that just a necromancy thing?

This is making his brain hurt.]

Do you not spark your magic into being?

[cryptsleeper]

I think the spark expresses itself differently. If I'm using my sword back home, the spark is in my own mind, and the end result is that the sword moves under my sayso, even if it is some distance from me.

That isn't the actual point anyway. [He's trying to be nice. He really is.]

[petcromancer]

[Look, Hector isn't here to make friends. He's here to learn. Hector didn't spring from geniuses like Alucard, and he's only studied the one type of magic before.]

Then what is the point?

[cryptsleeper]

First of all, not to be frustrated with a lack of success, because there's a learning curve that's countering your natural instincts and talents.

[He has no idea if this is condescending. He's trying to make it not be.]

Secondly, to think about how you're trying to spellcast in relation to that natural ability. If you can pin where the transfer of magical energy breaks down, you may be able to repair or find a work around.

[petcromancer]

[Hector goes silent. He turns away, and closes his eyes. It is like being a child again, trying to figure out how the pieces fit together. For so long, he's just known what to do, operating without having to put in conscious thought as to how.]

Be quiet for a second.

[He thinks back to the first success, his first dog. He's been focused on the spark, the visible transference of power from himself to the subject. But that isn't where it started, was it? Before that, there had been the sound of barking that no one else could here, the gentle shimmer of a displaced spirit. There had been...what? A presence, one that he felt with his soul, before he reached out to reignite its flame.

He reaches out, eyes still closed, to touch the flower. It has a life, and Hector stops trying to ignite it and just feels for it. There's a brief warmth in his fingertips, and one of the folded buds begins to unfold.

It's a tenuous connection, and as quickly as he found it, he loses it again. He opens his eyes, almost hoping Alucard missed that so he doesn't have to deal with that fact that the dhampir may have been a little bit right.]

[cryptsleeper]

[He actually does shut up. He watches the flower instead of Hector, because to find the process on one's own is absolutely essential.

Alucard keeps looking at the flower and--

--there. It does work. For a fleeting moment it's there and then?]

So you just keep doing that until it holds and becomes second nature.

[petcromancer]

...I would've figured it out on my own....

[It comes out waspish, mostly because he's furious with himself that it's taken this long and help from Alucard goddamned Tepes to piece together a puzzle he's already solved before. Never mind that his partial transformation is also a contributing factor.]

Were you getting ready to leave?

[Alucard said he was staying late, but why else would he be at Hector's station?]