middaeg | june catch-all; quests and more

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june catch-all; quests and more

Who: Yako Katsuragi + Others (TBD)
When: Throughout ~~June~~ Iuneril
Where: All over Aefenglom.
What: Your friendly neighborhood catch-all.
Warnings: TBD

[ I'll just be using this log for various individual top-levels and custom starters through the month and add them below as I go!. I write in prose because that's what I'm used to, but I can adjust to match. ]

1. Do it with Class

Although it's her second month here, Yako still hasn't made that much progress as far as spellcasting goes. The best progress she's made thus far is in enchantment, though for the most part, she's only practiced enchanting food and doesn't have much in the way of combat applications.

In Abjuration class, she looks a bit nervous when she's paired up with someone, giving them a sheepish look as she readies her focus.

"So, ah, do you want to practice blocking first, or should I?"

In Divination class, her fingers are covered with specks of pale yellow light, but when she shakes them off her fingers, they only drift down lazily onto the ground instead of pointing in any particular direction -- certainly not leading towards whatever hidden object they're supposed to be looking for. She sighs, shaking her head and glancing up at whoever's nearby.

"No good ... I can't get the spell to focus right. How about you? Any luck?"

It's in Transmutation class that she finds a surprising bit of luck: as she concentrates on the shattered teacup in front of her on the table, the pinpricks of light that seem to be her signature magic alighting on the ceramic, some of the pieces of shattered porcelain suddenly snap together in front of her, making her jump and lose concentration -- and it falls apart all over again. Still, she's elated.

"Did you see that?!"

Alternatively, you might catch her after classes end, holding a tray of various baked goods and a clipboard by a doorway. If you make the mistake of making eye contact or even coming too close, she'll perk up and step over.

"Excuse me, but would you mind trying one of these enchanted pastries and rating them? Um, the effects are temporary and nothing bad, I promise -- I just need to know how effective they are."

2. Lost in a Good Book

Early in the month, Yako can be easily found in Undermael College, sitting at one of the tables with a book open in front of her and some scattered notes scrawled all over in a girlishly rounded script. Some of it is information on basic spells and invocations taught in the Coven classes, but there's also a roughly doodled sketch of some kind of globe on one corner, and she seems to be intent on her work ... so much so that she's muttering under her breath.

Those close enough or possessed of keener hearing might catch something about 'leylines' or 'divination' or, more perplexingly perhaps, something about the ideal ratio of dry to wet ingredients ... but either way, as quiet as she may be trying to make it, it's a little bit disruptive.

3. Wiped Out

Closer towards the evenings, though, will see Yako straight up passed out on top of her work, pen beginning to leave a growing ink-stain on paper as she snores softly. Will you wake her up kindly and send her on her way, or be a bit more rude?

4. How Does Your Garden Grow?

In the Shopping District, Yako can be found intently browsing through a selection of ... plants? She hasn't picked up any from the shelves and planters yet, but she seems to be quite serious about looking through them -- so much so that she doesn't realize there's someone right beside her.

"Oh, sorry -- I didn't mean to get in your way. I'm having a hard time deciding what I should get for the garden."

???. Wildcard

[ None of these work for you? Want to write your own starter? Hit me up on the CR Meme, let's make something happen. ]

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[ Yako's cautious on those first few strokes, until Konoe seems to settle, and when he nuzzles into her neck once more, she tips her head to accommodate him again. The way teeth graze against her skin makes her movements still for a second, back arching just slightly, a stronger reaction than the licking earned, but her other hand, splayed on his upper back keeps him from pulling back. It's startling, realizing how much she liked that sensation, for all that she'd never considered it before. Her heartbeat's picked up again, and it feels like a strange state of lucid dreaming ... both perfectly aware of what she's doing, yet seemingly unable to have any kind of self-control about it.

It should be frightening, but it isn't. Under all the heat and lightheadedness, a quiet, calm part of her observes as her hand, of its own volition, palm sliding along the muscle of his back, her other hand resuming gently petting his tail. ]

Konoe... [ She exhales his name lightly, and her hand finishes its course, fingers digging into the curve of his shoulder for a moment. It's partly to enjoy the feeling of him, partly to brace herself to ask the question she probably should have asked before. ] Have you ever ... done this before?

[He hums acknowledgement absentmindedly upon hearing his name, not paying nearly as much attention to her words as to everything he's feeling, both actively and passively. Her stroking the base of his tail makes him feel like she's stroking his entire spine from the inside out - it's that intense, yet somehow still good. It might not have felt good if it was with most anyone else - someone he couldn't trust - but he trusts Yako, even after that minor mishap.

That, and he's just plain desperate to touch and be touched, but, you know...

Even with sensations his main focus by far, her words do sink in, with a small delay. He pulls his lips from her skin - just barely! - and opens eyes he hadn't realized he'd closed.]

No... [He's honestly not sure what, exactly, she's referring to, but he can honestly say that he's never done anything like this. For that matter: he's never been in a mood like this.] ... Have you?

Not exactly. [ Yako admits, truthfully. She's simply never had the opportunity or the inclination for this sort of thing, and while she can't say this has changed her mind about it, the fact that it's with Konoe does make a difference. She turns her head slightly, though they're too close for her to see his face, so all it really does is have the effect of pressing her cheek to his hair, and she can't help but rub her face against it, just once. ]

But humans usually ... [ She trails off. ]

[When she rubs her face against his hair, he can only rub back, tilting his head a little. It's probably just a part of that bigger need to be touched, but... it sure is a huge comfort, somehow, to both his body and his mind.]

"Humans usually"...?

[He moves so he can look at her face, so close to his that it's borderline uncomfortable - yet doesn't that just make sense? It already feels like the world consists of only the two of them.

He has no idea what humans usually do or don't, but since she starting bringing it up, it might be important. If it's important, he wants to hear it, even if his personal priorities lie elsewhere just now.]

[ Yako flushes (more than she already is) as he gets up close like that, even though it works well enough for what she'd rather show him than tell him about (not the least because she's not sure how to describe it). But since she did start saying it, she's going to forge ahead. ]

Humans usually start this kind of thing ... like this.

[ Rather than explain it in words, she moves her hand away from his tail to rest over one of his hands, instead, even as she leans in to close that last bit of distance between them, so she can carefully and a little awkwardly press her mouth against his. Hesitation vanishes again once their skin makes contact, the magic catching hold, and her eyes drift shut. She can still smell the sugar and fruit from the tart on their breath, and she vaguely wonders if she'd be able to taste it as well, prompting her to return the licking from earlier in kind -- though now, her tongue runs lightly over his bottom lip instead of his neck. ]

[Konoe does know of kissing, just about, but he's certainly never done it, nor does he have any idea about how to do it. The sudden press of lips against his is even more intense than the touching that came before, almost like a physical strike from the inside out. He might freak out and pull back, except that he refuses to be intimidated that way, not to mention that breaking contact seems like a terrible idea. Now that he's so deep into this, the only thing he can do is to press on.

He's still not sure how to even do that, though, so he mostly holds still, his heart beating to hard it's almost painful, until Yako licks his bottom lip. If that is the human way, then Konoe can only applaud it just now, responding in kind - or trying to: he licks at Yako's lips in return, catching the tip of her tongue, too.

In the distance, footsteps sound, but he doesn't hear them. He kind of has other things on his mind.]

[ So does Yako, because as relatively inexperienced as she is at it, it turns out that, well ... kissing is nice. Or at least kissing Konoe is. With a sample size of exactly one, it's hard to separate out how much of the enjoyment she gets is out of it being a specific person, or the heat racing through her blood, or both. She's still trying to make up her mind on that when Konoe licks her back and her lips part in surprise, retreating briefly at the unexpected touch to look at him with wide eyes.

She'd parted with intention of saying something, but now that they're actually there, she's forgotten entirely what it is. Instead, she leans in again, a little too quickly so their noses bump together and she lets out a little squeak, but adjusting the angle of her head seems to fix that problem.

Though it won't fix the way she practically jumps out of her skin at a sudden explosion of light and sound around them, a spotlight shines down on them and a clap like a sudden gong sounds out of thin air. ]

TIME'S UP, LOVEBIRDS!

[ The overly-cheerful announcement comes from one of the maze monitors, who claps her hands and doesn't seem at all bothered about catching them in the act. ]

[Konoe may not know what exactly he did wrong to make Yako back up, but neither does he get the chance to think too deeply about it before she starts kissing him again, and all is once more right in the world. Kissing really does feel amazing, after all, and while his fangs might have posed a problem in this hasty, borderline rash mood, he doesn't think to go too deeply with his kiss, so they never become especially dangerous.

And then it all ends. To say Konoe is disoriented at the sudden light and noise doesn't begin to cover it: he freezes up, clinging to Yako just because she happens to be what he's holding, and looks up with unnaturally wide eyes, all his fur standing on end.

What just happened? "Time"...? He barely remembers where they are just now, let alone what any of this has to do with, well, anything.

Oddly enough, being called lovebirds doesn't even shock him. It's objectively not untrue, probably.]

[ The friendly-looking Witch smiles and cocks her head, considering them both. They don’t seem like they’re going to put up any resistance, but they also don’t seem like they’re going to be able to take directions well, so she regrettably has to take matters into her own hands, speaking now at a more normal volume.. ]

Still a little out of it, are we? Well, we can fix that right as rain. I’m sorry, my dears, but I hope you have good memories of our maze regardless! Well then — OUT YOU GO!

[ All too abruptly, the bench under them bucks like a wild thing, and the hedges abruptly part, all the way to ... the gleam of water in the distance, unmistakably the harbor. Like a runaway horse, the bench begins to gallop forward on all four legs, clearly set on depositing the pair right into the water, and all Yako can do is cling on, yelping in alarm. ]

[Konoe isn't doing much better - worse if anything, in fact - as the bench becomes a living thing, and he holds on to both it and Yako for dear life with all his limbs, his puffed out tail sticking out horizontally as if to remind the bench of how steady it's supposed to be. In the distance, the water of the harbor flickers almost gently in the light, and while Konoe decidedly doesn't like where this is going, for the longest time, he can't move. He knows exactly what's going to happen, yet he can't seem to get his body to take action against it. It has nothing to do with the enchanted food, and everything to do with the total shock of the rude "awakening" they got.

They're going to get wet. This knowledge echoes in the back of his head somewhere, and while Konoe doesn't actually hate water, he doesn't exactly love a total soak, either. Still, he can't seem to get his body moving for the longest time, the few seconds on the running bench feeling like so many hours.

It's only at the very last moment that he manages to let go of the bench, renewing his grip on Yako, and rolling off the bench and onto the ground, right at the water's edge.]

Oof--

[ The breath all wheezes out of Yako sharply as she's grabbed and rolled over, but she doesn't offer any resistance, tucking her head against Konoe's shoulder and squeezing her eyes shut as they go rolling. The cat's legs end up tangled in her skirts and he'll unfortunately be landing on his back with the witch on top of him, the enchanted bench continuing to trundle on its merry way and buck sharply on its 'forelegs' -- something that would have sent them flying, were they still on it.

The bench isn't actually sentient, though, and after satisfying itself that it's done its job, it trundles on back into the hedge maze, whose walls part in a truly alarming way to swallow it back inside. A glance at the darkened sky is enough to reveal that it's much later in the evening that Yako even realized. She pushes herself up with a hand to the side of Konoe's head, looking down at him apologetically even if she's not having great success prodding her limbs to cooperate and lever herself off him right now. ]

Sorry ... are you all right? [ She still feels the tug of the enchantment, a little, but it's nothing like before, and she's slowly growing aware of all the ways this is a terribly embarrassing situation. ]

[It's like being forcibly woken from a dream, except that Konoe knows very well that this wasn't a dream. He remembers everything, and it was all real. Even knowing that, however, it doesn't seem like it happened to him just now. It's like borrowing someone else's memories, with all the sensations attached.

They were pretty nice sensations, though...]

... I'm fine.

[He looks up at her, trying to figure out how to react. The reply is automatic, but... it's true enough, he thinks. After all, he's not hurt, and nothing is really wrong. It's just weird, being this close together, and being pretty okay with it. The intense urge to kiss and go even further is all but gone, but this? This is still very comfortable.

Even if he's lying on the streets with the stench of the harbor in his nose. It's an oddly sobering experience, but even then, he's in no rush to move.]

Are you?

... Yeah, I am. [ 'Mixed feelings' is a good way to describe how Yako's feeling right now, a mild flush heating her cheeks that has nothing to do with spiced food, for once. Her mouth's still reddened from the kissing, however clumsy and inexperienced it was, and without really thinking about it her tongue licks across her bottom lip as she tries to think of what to say

Unlike Konoe, though, she has a pretty good view of the state of the ground he's lying on, and she laughs wryly. ]

It might be better if I let you get up, though. [ Instead of continuing to straddle Konoe and keep him pinned to the dirty stones. It's a bit of effort, with the layers she has, but she does manage to push herself up to her feet, holding out a hand to help Konoe up once she's upright. It'd be easy enough somehow to pretend the last few hours didn't just happen, but that isn't quite the kind of person she is either. ]

About what happened in the maze ... [ She starts, slowly, still organizing her thoughts as she goes. ]

[His eyes dart to her tongue, the way it licks across her lower lip, and for a moment, he wonders if he's still under the influence of enchanted food, his heart giving a single, loud throb. The feeling is gone pretty much immediately after that, though, and he almost wonders if he just imagined it with all the rest.

Taking her hand, he gets up, and wonders what to do. It's late, but he doesn't feel tired, his thoughts still racing, even though he can't seem to pinpoint any of them. Grooming will help with that, probably, but somehow he doesn't feel like being alone just yet. What a strange experience...]

What... about it?

[The phrasing may be a little confrontational, but that's not how he means it. What happened was definitely unusual, but... even if he's never done anything like it, it felt pretty natural. It was not a bad thing; he's pretty sure it was a good thing, regardless of circumstances.

He really has no idea how to classify it beyond that, though.]

[ What about it indeed. She wonders if Konoe realizes how fully loaded that question is, or if there's a difference in cultural contexts here that puts them looking at the same event in a completely different light. Even relatively sober, it's hard to string together the right words to say, to get across what she feels ... which isn't a struggle she's experienced for some time now.

She decides the safest course is to start with an explanation of where she's coming from. ]

Where I come from ... most people would say that was pretty irresponsible. Dragging a friend after you and then getting them to eat drugged food. [ Enchanted, in this case, but she blushes, either way. ]

At least, it's considered rude if you don't get someone's permission first. I'm sorry if any of that wasn't something you wanted to experience.

Edited 2019-07-24 11:28 (UTC)

You said it was enchanted.

[She was clear enough about what was what, is what he's trying to say: it's not like she tricked him. He was the one who decided to risk it... even if that turned out to be the wrong decision - to avoid enchantment, that is. The general outcome really wasn't so bad.]

It's my fault that I couldn't undo the enchantment.

I wonder why it didn't work on everything...

[He's pretty sure it worked on some of the items he ate! And then suddenly it didn't.]

[ It's not as if Yako hated the experience herself, but she could probably safely say she'd never seen herself or Konoe in that light before, and she wonders if it's the same for him -- if this is just something to chalk up to being another mishap of living in a world where magic is as common as air, or...

She reaches out, impulsively, to catch his hand. ]

You're not angry about it? You don't wish it hadn't happened?

Edited 2019-07-25 11:48 (UTC)

Of course not!

[It's true that he'd never thought of her - or anyone else, for that matter - in such a light before, but the intensity of her questions, something almost like shock in them, surprises him and makes him overly determined in response.]

I mean... It was nice.

[Is that weird to say? Suddenly he's extremely worried that she didn't like it as much as he did. Maybe he was no good at kissing...?]

[ Surprise remains on Yako's face, searching his expression, already knowing what she'll find: Konoe isn't lying. For better or worse, he isn't the sort of person who would, so when he says he feels a certain way, she can trust him to mean it.

Which means she's reddening, faintly, when he says 'it's nice.' It's uncharacteristic of her to be bashful, but since he's gone ahead and said it with so little shame, any of her worries seem sort of silly now. ]

It was nice. [ Is what she settles on, finally, with a small smile. A little foolish, a little strange, but it wasn't unpleasant. The only question is... where does that leave them now? ]

[Saying it was nice was easy enough: it's the truth, after all. But where that leaves them, Konoe couldn't say. What do people do, with this kind of stuff? Do they do anything with it? Should they agree to do it again, and if so, when? Really, when is a good time for making out?!

In the end, he can't decide how to broach the subject, so he doesn't. They both liked it. Maybe that is enough to know, for now.]

... Let's go home.

[ Maybe things aren't exactly resolved, but ... they aren't a disaster, either. Though Yako doesn't know the answers to those questions any more than Konoe does, she smiles at what he says. It can wait. It doesn't have to be anything right now.

That, in itself, is both a relief ... and strangely, a bit of a disappointment. But she'll ponder over those feelings later. ]

... Yeah. Let's.

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june catch-all; quests and more

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