[Open Catch-all][March]

[judgementor]

Who: Red Wine & you
When: All through March
Where: Specified in TLs
What: Open catch-all for March quests and such
Warnings: None yet
Warnings: Prompts in TLs inside the post, also open to wildcard prompts!

Comments

[battlebound]

( after months of magic build up, the low magic of the full moon feels good, and he feels inspired to work on his magic despite the contradiction. it's a challenge, but if he can master this basic locating spell under these conditions, surely he can do it at any time of the month.

so he starts, having borrowed one of Red Wine's ties earlier for the purpose. the closer you are to the person, the more powerful the magic, the book had said and there's no one in the city he would ever consider closer to him than that bastard.

so it should work, right? and he's probably not anywhere exciting, not with the full moon out—

and then the focus twitches, heading across the map of Aefenglom which is laid out, all but dragging his arm with it, bouncing back and forth at the edges like a dog trying to get out of the garden. )

The hell...

( he resets his magic, letting the focus drop onto the paper and staring at it a good long moment. did he do something wrong? ugh, that took more out of him than he was expecting, as well...

but no one ever improved by giving up after one try, so Steak breathes, stills himself, and tries again.

and it happens again, and this time Steak frowns. once is a mistake, twice... is Red Wine out beyond the borders of the city? at this time of the month?

there's only one way to find out, but it leaves him somewhat blind once he exits the city, trying the spell without a map and finding it to jerk him all over the place each time he tries it. but finally, finally it begins to behave as he reaches a copse of trees, staying still and true as he walks into the clearing.

dammit. nothing. nothing but an odd little noise.

well, there's one way he can always count on getting the bastard's attention, and that's by taking a breath and hollering )

Red Wine!

( ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

[judgementor]

[The whole point of this was so that he couldn't be found. Why would he want anyone to actually see him like this, particularly when he utterly loses himself to it during at least the first several hours? He could be a danger to anyone, and given that he can't see himself ever fully accepting this part of the curse this place puts on him he finds it makes more sense to simply get as far away from people as possible.

But, as he does with so many things, of course Steak has to ruin it.

He hears him coming long before he steps into the clearing, and he watches him from the tree in complete silence, just hoping that he will go away if he can't find him.

Naturally, this does not happen. The sound of him shouting has every hair on his body bristling up. Idiot.

There's nothing else for it.]

Shut up.

[battlebound]

( Red Wine should really know by now that, if nothing else, Steak has the tenacity to track people down if he wants to do that. should know more than well enough that when it comes to himself, especially, Steak can't simply let something go.

though, admittedly, it didn't start out that way. he could have just stayed in the city so that Steak could see his spell was a success, not dragged the man all the way out here.

well. at least he knows it works. )

The hell are you doing here at this time? ( alone, presumably, given that he hasn't heard anyone else pipe up. ) Do you have...

( hm. probably can't have a death wish, given that Red Wine's already dead. ) Have you lost your mind?

( debatable that that happened several decades ago, but... welp. what else can he call waltzing into the Wilde alone in the middle of the night on a full moon? )

[judgementor]

[Look, never doubt his ability to have a death wish despite already being dead.

From his spot high up in the tree he's sure Steak can't see him, but he can see Steak easily. He's part angry that he's here and part mortified for the same reason.]

You're not needed here, go home.

[Please just go home.]

[battlebound]

( you know what's the worst way to make Steak go away? to tell him to fuck off without any further explanation.

he's as stubborn as a bull and always has been, and Red Wine telling him to leave only makes him more certain he should be here. so instead of turning tail, Steak leans himself against a tree trunk, folding his arms over his chest and looking in the vague direction of where Red Wine's voice comes from. )

What the hell are you doing out here?

( not needed his ass. that comment stings in a way he can't quite make sense of, leaving him bristling. )

[judgementor]

That's none of your business.

[Red Wine is relatively certain that with the amount of effort it must have taken Steak to get out here, very little save for being attacked by something terrible could chase him off the spot he's on right now. The likelihood of that happening is far higher out here than anywhere else, but it would just be the vampire's luck that nothing caught the sound of the idiot yelling his name.

But Steak is not needed here. Not needed and not wanted. He watches him from between branches.]

Were you following me?

[battlebound]

( even being attacked by something terrible would be dubious. if he could defeat it, you'd be damn sure Steak would be right back here, yelling at Red Wine for hiding.

but, for now, he's just here... yelling at Red Wine for making him come all this way out just to verify his spell. )

Don't flatter yourself. I tried something called a scrying spell.

( totally different, okay! )

[judgementor]

On me, specifically.

[That sounds a lot like you were following him, Steak. And now he has to deal with... this. But at least it's keeping him focused. The sheer dread of actually being seen like this does wonders for maintaining coherent thought.]

Do tell me how that's different.

[And while he's at it, he can explain why he was looking for him at all.]