コノエ (
catasstrophy) wrote in
middaeg2019-05-10 12:02 pm
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.
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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[Realistically, they shouldn't be able to, but in this case caution is more important than realism. And he definitely doesn't want to take her too far outside the wall...]
Let's go to a garden. If it's not allowed to practice there, they can just tell us.
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Right. Hopefully on Coven grounds, they would expect some magic practice. I doubt they would want us to go out in the city itself, right?
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Good point.
[A garden, it is. While they walk there, he glances down at his awkward, hurriedly collected notes.]
What should we practice? Some of these things sound a lot harder than others...
[The class was no doubt well-organized, the contents properly structured... but Konoe isn't used to classes in the least, and he's a little too determined to Do This Thing: he's having a harder time than he should, separating the important from the less important.]
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[She steeples her fingers together, thoughtful as she walks.]
They did mention teleportation though... even that somehow seems complicated.
[She thinks back to the dream she had had before she arrived here, one where she had found a familiar face here and there. She had managed to use her magic -- or at least what she's been given here -- in that one but it was foggy how she had done so.]
I'm capable of healing at home but most of my abilities are more offensive.
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[Not that he'd know, but something like healing, or even creating light - something he is determined to learn at some point, if only to avoid fire everywhere and always - are a lot easier to imagine. Teleportation feels like too big a shift. Then again, maybe it's not so different...]
What kind of thing did you usually do?
[Offensive? He's intrigued - and maybe a little concerned, in a very healthy way.]
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[When Shaft unlocked her abilities as a child, it had been the guardian spirits themselves that helped her in more incarnate forms. Now sometimes she could call on a few of them but by and large she borrowed their abilities more often than not.]
I don't feel their presence now though. I haven't since we all arrived here.
[...]
I did have a dream though before I came here. I've recognized at least one person from that dream so far and I could use magic in it so I assumed if I tried the same thing, I could now too.
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[That all sounds pretty nice, but the ominous number four lingers heavily in his mind, if only because it was four demons who had tormented him. They each had their own magic, too... He wonders if he could have borrowed it, if he'd defeated the demons.
Still, getting out alive was already more than he could have hoped for.]
You, too?! I had a dream like that!
That is: I didn't use magic, but the dream was definitely more like this world than my own, and I think I recognized people from it...
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[Or at least they had had insect wings?]
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[Well, this is just creepy! Though not as creepy as the memories as such: suddenly Konoe remembers losing his tail because of those fae, and he immediately raises it, reaching behind himself to touch it, even as he looks back to check for its presence visually, too.
Okay, it's all good. His tail is still there...]
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[Or something like that? She hadn't a clue really and she mulls on it as Konoe makes sure no one ran away with his tail again.
The gardens themselves -- or at least this one in particular -- are in fine bloom. Maria takes a moment to lean down an appreciate what flowers have sprung up here before she straightens back up.]
Alright so... hm. Where should we begin?
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[If it all happened because of a dream, should he be more suspicious, all things considered..? Well, suspicious or not, it's not going to change their current situation.]
... Should we try to use the flowers? Teleport them from where they are into our hand, or something like that.
[He enjoys the flowers a great deal, himself, but he sees no harm in trying to magically cut them off. And this kind of teleporting - with something small, and where they can see what they're doing - seems more doable than most.]
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[Alright then. With that plan in mind, Maria's brow furrows. She picks out one flower - a particularly vivid blue one in her opinion - and gives it a good long look. Mostly because she's rummaging inside of herself to feel that spark of magic again.
The magic here is different from what she knows but she can still feel it. She tilts her head a little in Konoe's direction, though she doesn't take her eyes off the flower.]
Do you feel anything? When you try to use magic here, that is? Or in general? The magic here is different from what I know at home but it's hard to put my finger on just how to describe it.
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[It's not unlike when he was Singing, and yet it's something else entirely. At least it's not a painful start, the way Singing was... but since he hasn't managed much of anything with magic, yet, maybe he shouldn't get his hopes up.]
It's like... a clear sky that's turning stormy, filled with clouds and powerful wind? But not in a bad way!
[Maybe magic is, after all, that kind of chaos: it's like something calm and empty is suddenly sweeping up into something much, much more.
He knows what he feels, but he suddenly feels stupidly insecure about it, regardless - as if what he feels could be "wrong" somehow.]
Is that... what it's like for you?
no subject
That's a very good way to put it. Like something is gathering all together? A storm brewing up, a concentration of power? Mm, that's not far off from how I feel too.
[Maria concentrates on this feeling then.]
For me it's like... the sun. It's a warmth heating up through my skin, like the sun getting brighter and hotter. A ball of light I concentrate on? I guess that's the best way to put it.
[She holds her hand palm up and poof, the flower does disappear. And it does pop into her hand.
... A bit mangled for the trip though.]
Perhaps I was a little too forceful.
no subject
[That is, perhaps, the essence, for him: that the potential is already there, always. He just has to use it. In that sense if no other, he "feels" magic a lot - but that makes it tricky, too. Even if he has the right feeling, filling in the details is still hard, and he doesn't have enough experience yet to fit together all the pieces of the puzzle. He doesn't even know how many pieces the puzzle has, yet!
Mangled flower or not, he's impressed.]
You still did it!
[His turn! He tries it his own way, focused on a red flower a little further down... but he makes the mistake of focusing on not repeating Maria's "mistake", when that was never his mistake. Trying to keep it careful and small, what he teleports is... a single petal.
... Not mangled, though!]
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Very good! It's intact and everything! Mm, maybe I should focus on smaller bits too and work my way up like that.
[A whole plant was a little too ambitious maybe?]
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[He should tell her that he'd intended to get the whole flower, but when she's praising him like this, he just can't bring himself to do it.]
... Maybe we should try for leaves, first, so we don't ruin all the flowers.
[They can just magically pluck leaves off stalks and what not, and work their way up to flowers if they manage. It requires a little more concentration to do right, perhaps, but that's also an important thing to train - and at least it's a smaller area of concentration than a whole flower.]
oh no, konoe. he's so darling. i'll praise you all you want ;w;
[She's no plant aficionado but she does admire these after taking that first language of flowers gardening class.
And honestly, concentrating on something small is somehow easier for her right now. She pops off her first leaf from the plant to her hand without a problem and looks thoroughly pleased with herself.]
Perfect!
he is a good cat who need nothing and nobody, except when he does
[He definitely doesn't want to ruin all the flowers, either, even if the more experienced witches can probably magic them right back. He kind of likes flowers... not that he'd ever admit it.
She manages so easily, he feels a lot of pressure to do the same... but then, he'd already sorta kinda managed before, hadn't he? Magic is chaos... He just needs to concentrate and keep it simple. It's just a small thing. So...
He reaches out with his hand in the direction of the leaf he's focusing on, and it appears in his hand almost too easily. He lets out a breath, stunned. To think he managed it just like that!]
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You did it too! It's much easier trying like this, I think.
[The blonde blows out a breath then, contemplating the leaf in her own hand. She doesn't look displeased but thoughtful really.]
It's amazing though. I'm so used to using my abilities so easily. I think though all this time I've been relying on my guardians to help me use it. Now I have to rely on myself and it's... rather humbling.
[She laughs a little gently, looking sheepish as she turns the tiny leaf over between forefinger and thumb.]
I am looking forward to learning, of course.
[Perhaps her self confidence has been taken down a peg or so in terms of her abilities though.]
no subject
[In fact, that may just be his life motto, in borderline unhealthy ways. At least he's become a little more flexible about it in more recent times.]
If you do something yourself, you have only yourself to thank for it. Good or bad, success or failure... you don't owe anyone but yourself.
[And there's no point in resenting others, either. Konoe likes a healthy distance between himself and others, but that includes not hating them if he can avoid it. Nobody needs to waste energy on that.]
no subject
That's true but there isn't any shame in needing help too. Or looking to others to help you as well.
[She feels no shame in using those guardian spirits of hers as help. And she certainly doesn't over Richter and Annette taking her in as a child. There's only gratitude to both.]
no subject
[There's no shame in that whatsoever. He wonders, briefly, if he accidentally insulted her, but if that's true, what's done is done.]
If you need help, you need help. It's more that, since you can't count on other people to give it... if you can do without help, that's better.
[That's probably the crux of the matter, really. Konoe knows, on a logical level, that people can't be required to help you. He wouldn't want them to be, either. But he'd rather just avoid the awkward "needing help and waiting to see if you ever get it from anyone" altogether.]
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[If she's insulted then she sure isn't showing it. She focuses on another leaf and manages to transport it into her hand just a tiny bit quicker this time. It's small improvement but it's definitely improvement!
She considers. Back when she actively trained quite a bit which all in all wasn't that long ago she often just went and went until she was too drained of magic - and by consequence too hungry - to continue.]
Then again I'm also the type of person that heads into most things first. I don't have the patience to wait on others sometimes.
[She says as much with a gently sheepish smile. She understands that's a headstrong and perhaps bad habit but she often feels if anyone should brave it, it ought to be her.]
no subject
Oh, right - they definitely need to keep practicing. He's a bit distracted now, not as focused on doing things better and faster, but even if it's just a repeat of what he did before, it will get him more used to magic.]
If you can do it yourself, there's no need to wait, anyway. [But... He looks over at her.] As long as you don't go alone when it's dangerous.
[Okay, now he's being a huge hypocrite. But he means well?]
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