Aguril Catch-All Prompts (open and closed)

[silentsavant]

Who: Soren and the Aefengang (that's you guys....)
When: Anytime in Aguril
Where: your heart's desire.... or wherever the prompt designates
What: Open and closed prompts for events and quests and whatever strikes our mutual fancies. Prompts are in the comments.
Warnings: Minor blood. Mimes. Will add warnings as/if they come.

If you would like to plot a custom starter for your character, feel free to hit me up at wingything or my CR plotting meme comment! I absolutely love tailoring threads for just one character. Feel free to create your own starter in the comments below if there is something different you have in mind (wildcard option??).

➤ Red-String Strung Along. Soren and some poor shmuck (your character) discover that they are ~destined to be~ via the red string spell that went haywire. Original prompt can be found here.

➤ Match Made. Two prompt flavors: help Soren try to find mates for difficult customers, or get paired up with him for a complimentary date instead and see if you can get him to say yes. Quest page can be referenced here under the part-timer quest titled Match Made.

➤ Forget-Me-Nots. Two prompt flavors: Soren experiences pleasant memories while picking flowers, and then there's the option where one of those flower-loving foxes bites him, causing him to accidentally poke himself on the toxic thorns. Quest page can be referenced here.

Comments

[sneaksweet]

My younger cousin. Muku.

He's... real timid, and he says stuff like "I'm sorry for being a hollowed out radish" when he feels like he needs to apologize. One of the nicest guys I know, but... sein' him there on stage, confident for the first time...

I couldn't help it. I was jealous, and that's shitty of me, but... I don't ever want to let him know how jealous I was.

[silentsavant]

[...Hollowed-out radish? Well, that's a new one.

Even though the situation and mood has been lending itself well to an unexpected heart-to-heart, even though Juza really would answer if pressed, Soren isn't the one asking all the prying inquiries around here. It obviously makes him uncomfortable, so he resists follow-up questions like, 'Why would it make you jealous?' even if it's something he wonders.

But he doesn't have to wonder much at all, does he? The ghost revealed Juza's complete lack of self-esteem to him. Soren has often been accused of coldness or insensitivity, and they would be right — in certain contexts, with certain people. The real truth is, Soren is almost too sensitive beneath the layers of ice he forms to protect his soft inner core. He finds himself empathizing with the younger monster's feelings of the past.]

To never feel jealousy would be unnatural. Even if you don't think you have a right to that feeling, nobody can ever help it. It's just your brain's funny way of reminding you that you want to improve in some way. In that moment, the jealousy you felt was simply reminding you that you wanted that kind of confidence for yourself. That's not wrong to want. I'm sure your cousin has felt that way about you before in some capacity, even if he never admitted it.

[sneaksweet]

[Muku has a wild and truly impressive imagination. Juza just wishes he'd use it on things that aren't disparaging remarks about himself.

Juza's been working on himself. He can't do as much as he could back home and his most pressing issues were getting his homework done on time, but it's still something. It's impossible to really act if he doesn't have a handle on who he is. Or at least the way he does it.

The points that Soren makes are valid, and he knows it. Still, they make some part of him squirm in discomfort. The leader of his troupe came back after he watched Juza's performance, the way Juza laid his regret out on the table. There had to be something there that spoke to his leader. Maybe it was something like jealousy.

The thing he wanted wasn't so much the confidence as the ability to be somebody else. To fully let go of "Hyodo Juza" in favor of another role and being another person was what he was chasing after...]

Ain't no reason to look up to somebody like me. [Especially not for Muku.

Juza's a delinquent with a bad reputation. It wasn't something he actively cultivated. He didn't want this for himself. A series of misunderstandings led him to his life back home.]

[silentsavant]

[Soren's patience for Juza stretches far beyond the extent of many other Mirrorbound. However, at this point, it starts to strain.

If he were to analyze himself in this moment, it could easily be attributed to his own interpersonal shortcomings and his frustrations with his inability to improve the situation. Pep talks do not come naturally to him. He really doesn't know Juza like he knows Ike, so knocking some much-needed confidence into him would be like firing with his eyes closed. It's not easy to know immediately how to encourage him, and it was never easy to deal with his own self-doubts and insecurities, much less someone else's. When Ike had lost his father all those years ago, when he was forced to shove all of his grief aside and hone himself into a capable leader under such immense pressure and scarce time, Soren felt completely helpless whenever Ike began to doubt himself. He had no idea what to say except to remind him that he had faith in him, that he would always stand at his side and support him.

That's not exactly true here. Soren's confidence in Juza isn't based on the same principle, and the truth is, he doesn't want to always be here to support him. He wants to return home. So he falters for a moment.

Then he realizes something. Does it matter if his support is undying? That someday he won't be here? What kind of mode of thinking has he been operating under that offering casual support without expecting anything in return, without some other overarching tangible goal, without committing himself to someone absolutely, seems so unnatural? He just cares about another's well-being. There's nothing that strange about it, is there? The tone he takes is imperative like he's issuing a mildly exasperated demand, but the intent can still be glimpsed beneath.]

Don't dismiss your value like that. I think you do have admirable qualities, and if I need to keep reminding you of that over and over in order for it to sink in, then so be it.

[sneaksweet]

[There's absolutely no need to go to such great lengths for somebody who Soren's only really known for a few months at best.

The thing about Juza is that about 95% of his problems are an internal problem that he's slowly trying to work over. He's just been carrying it around for such a long time that working through it is incredibly slow going. He knows, objectively, that Soren is probably correct. Even his dumb roommate back home has a couple of things he appreciates, even if he's mostly an ass. By that same principle, Juza probably also has something good about him.

"Sorry" doesn't feel right, somehow.]

... Thanks. [It's not much to say, but he does mean it. ]

[silentsavant]

[That's much better than an apology. Soren looks satisfied by the response.

As if growing bored and impatient, or perhaps jealous of the accord they are capable of finding between themselves in spite of her attempts to divide them, the ghost prods Soren with an icy chill that spikes at his shoulder and creeps down his spine. Her voice hovers close.]

Young dragon... You're slated to outlive everyone who means something to you.

[She's stricken a chord and it shows in the dreadful widening of his eyes, the tightening of his pupils.]

What are you planning to do when your reason to live comes to his natural end?

...

[Her phrasing cuts to the bone. Soren peers off into the frozen expanse of the lake. He'd been expecting a difficult question to come his way, but this is one that has been gnawing at him every now and then, especially recently. Such a future looks bleak. Even if it's invaded his thoughts every now and again, it inflicts too much pain to contemplate for long stretches of time. He averts his thoughts like one might their eyes while peering into the blinding sun.

Soren shivers. The cold is really getting to him now. He can't even come up with a solid answer. If he lies, he'll be hurt. What is the truth?]

[sneaksweet]

[Juza thought Soren's friends at home were also dragons, or at least people who would live for much longer than a human would. It's hard to imagine outliving somebody, especially when they seem to be close. They only idea Juza has of that is second hand, and that person died due to an accident, not something anybody would call natural.

At least Juza's questions were things that had solid definitive answers. They just weren't things he wanted to admit, or talk about. In contrast, this looks like something Soren doesn't know for certain.

It's not Juza's place to butt in here, even if he does want to cut and run so Soren doesn't have to answer. So he watches him, quiet and waiting, ready to follow his lead if he wants out.]

[silentsavant]

[After a long moment of contemplation, Soren admits what he thinks is the truth. His voice emerges dry, quiet, and somewhat brittle.]

Usually, I like to plan ahead. I like to be prepared for what the future brings. However, this... is something I prefer not to contemplate overly much. Therefore, I don't know what I will do when the time comes.

[It's odd to say this in front of someone else. Not even Ike has gotten to hear these fears of his. Once they have been released into the wintry Wilde, he's left cold and silent, awaiting the possibility of her retaliation, wishing he didn't have to subject someone like Juza to such a dreary fact of his life. It doesn't even have anything to do with the young actor. What good does it do him to know?

But she doesn't move her spectral hand against him. She doesn't punish him for having no answer. Instead, the air's heavy charge cedes, and two pearly objects plop into the snow between Soren and Juza. Soft surprise overtakes Soren, then relief. He looks up at his furry companion to gauge his response to this change, then the area around them, then the tiny round dents in the snow.]

Was that it?

[sneaksweet]

[It's... hard, isn't it? To know that your lifespan is so much longer than the people he cares about. And it's not really something Soren can do anything about it. Why would anybody try to think about the future when this much is so immutable.

That's it, huh? The ghost woman interrogating their deepest, darkest feelings- not letting them get to ask her any questions... and then she leaves.

Juza looks thoughtful, but slightly less tense than when she was in front of them.]

Yeah. I think we're done talkin' to her.

You okay, man?

[silentsavant]

[His eyes meet Juza's before he averts them aside and to the snow, arms crossed over his chest like he's fending off a chill. A pause drifts between them before he straightens and collects himself with a self-soothing sigh.]

Yes. I will be just fine. Her question took me off guard, is all.

[Soren stoops down to sift through the snow that had been pelted. Two smooth round shapes brush up against his fingers. He scoops them up and rises again, two snow-flecked pearls nestled in the slate-colored palm of his hand.]

These must be what the Coven was seeking, so I would say that we are finished here.

[sneaksweet]

[Juza does not try to meet Soren's eyes after he moves them away. It's just kinda uncomfortable to meet each other like that , right now.]

'kay. We just gotta get these back to 'em, right?

[silentsavant]

Yes. Though we may also keep them, if we so wish. They are supposed to glow when someone is telling a lie.