middaeg | catch-all (partly open; partly closed)

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catch-all (partly open; partly closed)

Who: Konoe and ~~friends~~ acquaintances (and enemies, and whatever)
When: May
Where: ~around~
What: All the things! So far: herb quest with Dylas; Mrs. Mitten quest with... you?
Warnings: The general stupidity of a catboy chasing a cat? 🙀 Will edit as things come up.
Feel free to use the format/tense you're most comfortable with! I will happily adapt.
If you want to wildcard me for whatever, go right ahead. You're likely to find Konoe around the city, following the magic classes the coven's giving, maybe attempting some very minor magic in a secluded spot, sitting on a rooftop looking out over the city and trying not to feel lonely, or... very much lost because he has no sense of direction.

[closed] HERBOLOGY HELP

It's not for the reward that Konoe does this; in fact, he's not sure what the reward even is. But he's been wanting to take a look at the forest, even if it's supposed to be dangerous, and this gives him the perfect excuse to finally do it. And, since he's not alone... he doesn't have to worry about getting lost either. (Shut up.)

It's strange how much the forest feels comfortable and familiar, yet something about it is still very much off. The smell of the trees and plants is not so different than that of the world he grew up in, but there's definitely something odd on top of that, very faint and sickly sweet, yet anything but sweet at the same time. That's new. The Void never smelled like anything... but then, that only made it more dangerous.

This still feels more like home than a city ever could. Konoe appreciates the comforts of a city, but it's hard to beat scents for nostalgia.

"Follow the river in the forest, it said..." And that's what they're doing. "Do you think it's much further?" He doesn't mind either way. He's just trying to make conversation, in his own way - and perhaps trying to calm down somewhat, with that eerie sickly sweet scent lightly prickling at his nose.

[open] MRS. MITTENS

In a city full of magic and monsters, there's a wide variety of things one should expect to see, and very little that should surprise you. Even so, the sight in front of you may raise a few eyebrows.

"Hey - wait!" There's a young man with a tail and cat ears, his hood long since fallen off his head and flapping behind him like the rest of his mantle. He's running at a pretty impressive speed, jumping obstacles... and perhaps knocking over a thing or two (hopefully not a person or two) in the process, oops.

That's not really the noteworthy thing here, though. The strangest thing to note is that he's chasing... a cat. The catboy is chasing a cat.

"I'll give you milk, so come here already!" He remembers that these Cats are supposed to like milk. He has still not accepted that they apparently - supposedly - can't talk, though... and even if he did, he expects them to at least understand what he's saying.

Clearly this particular Cat is just very rude.

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He's used to looking different from most, and sometimes getting looks because of it, even in a city full of actual monsters. He's not used to being compared to other people's idea of a cat so emphatically, and it annoys him a little.

"It's not my fault you don't know real cats." Nobody seems to, honestly. It's always just the little Cats that people have heard of...

He's more sulky than angry, though, frustrated at being the only cat in this world, and at being stuck in this weird world in the first place. He doesn't always mind it so much - a place to live is a place to live - but he gets a little homesick sometimes, even if his world wasn't all that great.

He looks out over the city again, the spark of annoyance already dimmed again.

"Heroes don't have horns where I'm from, either." Which is him awkwardly saying that other people's worlds are just different, and they'll both have to deal with it.

"Well, perhaps you're both real cats!" Iramaat laughs, light and full of life. She kicks her feet out and finally sits, stretching herself out so she can prop herself on her elbows, "Nox seemed very real to me, after all. And you seem very real, too, unless I'm imagining all this."

She laughs quietly and then settles a little.

"They don't have horns? Curious. I've always had horns and I think of myself as a heroine, so..." She shrugs, "But different worlds, different places. And I am rather unique..."

It's hard to stay angry, no matter how much he wants to, when she's so casual and logical about it all. Even if the cat she knew was one of those small Cats, Konoe can't exactly call it fake. A Cat may not be a cat, but it's still a Cat!

Instead, he just keeps lightly sulking, which is, at least, better than him lashing out at everything and nothing. The environment helps: it's a lovely, comparatively quiet place. Part of him would rather be angry, perhaps: that emotion is clearer, and easier. But it's also not always right, and he's been stupid at her in his baseless anger before. He'd rather not embarrass himself like that again, if he can help it.

"... As long as you're not a demon, it's fine."

Is he really expecting her to just admit if she's a demon after all, right here and now? Apparently so! But then, she looks nothing like the demons he knows, even with the horns. Not that there wasn't plenty of variation...

Iramaat makes a low 'hmmm' noise, "I don't think I'm a demon. I'm a fae, one of the Fair Folk. Totally different from demons, as far as I know. No relation whatsoever!"

She cocks her head and gives him a curious look. He's sort of cute when he sulks, honestly, but she's also very curious about this whole demon business. She crosses her legs at the ankle, one booted toe tapping soundlessly against the air.

"What are demons like where you're from? If you don't mind me asking!"

He really shouldn't feel relieved... but he's still a little relieved. She's not the only horned person in this city: he needs to get used to the look. It's just that he'd sort of been through a lot because of demons, right before coming here...

"They're... big? Bigger than me." Describing the demons he knows as one species is actually a lot harder than he would have expected, but he gives it his best shot. "They have horns and a hairless tail. They can turn into a flame... I guess?" Were the flames really them, or more like a reflection of them? Konoe has no idea.

"They can definitely turn into snakes. And they each govern an emotion."

"Well, I can't really do any of those things and I definitely don't represent any sort of emotion, so that's... not really me! Good thing, too, honestly, because I don't think I'd enjoy being a demon..."

She reaches underneath herself to feel at her tailbone, "No tail, either!"

Well, not yet, but she doesn't know that.

"Very different from me, honestly. Which I think I'm glad of.

The tip of his tail gives a little swish, relieved but still restless. The more she says, the more he can believe that she really isn't a demon, but the topic still gets to him. He gives a little shudder - might be the wind, really! - to shake off the physical discomfort.

"You should definitely be glad." Actually, he's not sure how demons feel about being demons, but he knows that nobody should want to be one, regardless. "I'm glad, too."

"Then we can be glad together," Iramaat responds, as if it's the most sensible thing in the world to say. She's rather direct like that, for good or ill.

"Would you rather talk about something more pleasant than demons? They seem like they're not worth the time or effort, especially considering they are likely very, very far away from here."

Glad together? He glances over, trying to judge if the words were intended to mock him. That doesn't seem to be the case, though, so he lets it go. Being direct is fine; offending Konoe's many petty sensibilities is not.

"Let's talk about something else," he agrees, hoping that any and all demons are indeed literal worlds away. "... Done any heroics, lately?"

He may be mocking a little, but only a little. Banter is just an easier way to connect, sometimes, than outright showing an interest.

"Not since I arrived - oh, wait," Iramaat pauses, struck by a thought, and then grins, "I did help a lady in distress. She apparently arrived without clothes and badly needed a bit of help, so I decided to do what I could for her - invested some credit to help her get better equipped. That's heroic, isn't it?"

She glances at him, waiting for approval.

"That's pretty heroic," he agrees, not-quite(-but-almost) reluctantly. Heroic or not, it's a nice thing to do, and that's more important than semantics. "She arrived without clothes?"

And he thought he got a bad deal on his arrival! That was mostly due to the situation he'd arrived from, though, so nothing actually to do with his arrival at all.

"Apparently! And the only thing the Coven gave her was a robe, so she wasn't doing all that well, you understand?" Iramaat sighs and shakes her head.

"The least they could've done was given her a bit of money to get something more than that, but I suppose they have their own problems..."

She pauses and frowns, "Not that I care all that much about coin or wealth, but there you are. It's a sad necessity, I think. Especially here..."

Arriving naked... And Konoe thought he had a shocking experience, falling out of a mirror!

"A robe is a start, but it's definitely not much." He's actually a little surprised; the Coven seems to take decent care of people. At the same time: they can't exactly be forced to hand this host of new arrivals everything they want on a silver platter, so Konoe doesn't hold it against them that they only did the bare minimum here.

"Seriously." He agrees wholeheartedly. City life isn't so bad, but needing to deal with money and what not is a huge complication. "At least there are jobs available that even we can do."

"Yes, there are..." Iramaat muses, "Although I'm not particularly used to working for coin. I normally provide for myself or at least i don't need the money. So this is going be... interesting. A change of pace."

Then she brightens, "But I've always liked new experiences, so at the very least it won't be boring! What kind of job are you looking into? Anything interesting?"

"You... You're pretty enthusiastic, aren't you?"

Surely she is way too excited for this new world adventure!? Not that he really minds it; in fact, he can't help smiling a little. (It's just because she's being weird, he swears.)

"I don't know that I want a steady job just yet... I'm going to stick to one-time jobs where I can discover the city and its surroundings for now."

In part, he doesn't want to commit to anything steady, when committing feels like accepting that he's stuck here. In part, it's just scary to let his financial future depend on a boss, when he doesn't know if said boss will be reliable... or if they're willing to accept cats in the first place.

Random quests feel like a much better idea all around. (Except for the part where he'll likely get lost all the time, oops.)

"One has to be enthusiastic! There's so much to do and see and experience in the world that it would be a shame to be dreary and depressed about it. That's no way to live. No way to live at all..." She trails off with a little laugh and glances over at him, listening to him speak.

"Well, if you find anything particularly interesting, let me know. I'm not going to be so much looking for something steady either. I'm more interested in venturing out there-" She waves a hand vaguely in the direction of the city walls.

"Seeing what there is. That's my calling in life!"

How is she like this? Seriously - how?! The enthusiasm is already more than Konoe can understand, but her having an actual calling in life? That is beyond anything he could ever even imagine for himself. And that's fine! It's not like he needs a calling. In fact, he's not sure whether to envy her or mock her, at this point.

But he actually admires her a little, he thinks. Even if she's kind of weird, holding on to beliefs like that is seriously impressive.

"I'm not sure this is the right place for too much 'venturing'." Discovering the immediate surroundings is one thing; going far into infected areas is more like suicide than like an experience. "But at least if we stay fairly close to the city, we should be fine."

"That's a part of it, though! The danger!" Iramaat spreads her arms, as if to emphasize the point, "Adventuring is dangerous. It's the unexpected. It's risking life and limb. If there's no danger, it's just a stroll in a well-manicured garden and... well, while I don't mind strolls in gardens, that's not what adventure is."

She taps the side of her nose and winks, "After all, a ship in harbor is safe - but ships aren't meant to spend all of their time in harbor, are they?"

"Even a ship is supposed to return to a harbor after it sails, though." Just sayin'. He's no scaredy-cat, but he has enough common sense to weigh risks against benefits before doing anything dangerous.

"There's always danger in a forest. Bandits; monsters..." The Void, he almost adds, but this world is a little different. Still, even the forests of his own world weren't infected everywhere. "That's fine; those are things you can fight.

"The Cywld is different. Even the Coven can't fight it."

More than courting danger, messing with the Cywld feels like committing suicide.

"As far as they know, anyway," Iramaat points out cheerily, "Maybe one of us has the solution! Maybe we're the chosen few who have been brought here for a reason."

She thinks that's likely more true of her than anyone else, but she doesn't say that. Not just yet, anyway. Instead, she cocks her head and makes a little 'hmm' sound.

"To give up before you've even tried isn't really all that great, is it? If you think you'll fail, you'll fail. Believe in success!"

"I'm not giving up!" He is actually insulted by that. He's never given up in his life, and he never will give up. "But there are things you can do and things that you can't do. That's just how it is."

It doesn't count as giving up if you never start in the first place!!

"... I'm really not sure we were chosen for a reason, anyway." The more he talks to people, the less he sees a pattern in who got taken here. "There's nothing we all have in common."

And he, himself, feels very different from everyone else in particular.

If she notices that he feels insulted, she doesn't betray it. She's unruffled and smiling and still as calm as ever.

"Oh, never say can't. Can't is such an awful word. Nothing's impossible."

Well, at least not for her, in her own esteemed and very well-regarded opinion. She's a little full of herself, honestly.

"Well, I'm sure there's somethings - but I also imagine they wouldn't want us all to be identical. We all have different... skill sets. And reasons for being here. Different parts to play in the story. That sort of thing."

"Some things are definitely impossible. Do you want to pull the moon from the sky and keep the sun from moving?"

He's all about not giving up, and fighting back as hard as possible - and then some! - when people or circumstances are against you. But even so, there are things that simply can't be done. Not attempting them doesn't count as giving up; it's more like common sense!

"If it's a story with a hundred players, I'm pretty sure they could have cut out some minor roles, or just left them to the locals." Just sayin'. He really doesn't buy that 'predestined' thing. He tried to find a pattern in who came here, and he failed. 'Magic is chaos' feels like the only explanation they're likely to get.

"I haven't tried that yet, but maybe I ought to. Can't know until I do, you know?" Iramaat replies, apparently with all seriousness, although there's definitely a teasing lilt to her tone. She knows there are fae in the Dreaming who can do such things, but the mortal world tends to be a bit different.

Not that she's letting on with that.

"Why would you ever leave anything to the supporting cast or the chorus? No, no. It has to be the star players. The mysterious strangers. The wandering heroes! Don't think so small!"

She is, however, apparently convinced of them (or at least her) being destined for greatness.

He's not sure how serious she is or isn't, really, but it's all the same to him. "I'm pretty sure that kind of thing is for villains more than heroes." Just saying. Not that he expects her to succeed regardless - that kind of thing really can't be done! - but it won't be a good thing, even if she's successful.

"One hero should be more than enough. We don't need a hundred." And yet about a hundred of them showed up here, didn't they? What is it supposed to be, like a hero audition - see who gets the part?! "That's not thinking small, that's just common sense."

If that even applies at all. He's not sure he believes in heroes. And that's fine: the world shouldn't need any.

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