| Testing 1, 2, 3... | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 19 2014, 12:46 PM (835 Views) | |
| Smitejr | Apr 19 2014, 12:46 PM Post #1 |
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Kursten walks around the vacant lot that they had chosen for their little arena, making sure there was no interference that would reduce the value of their experiment. When he's satisfied that there are no errant phenomena, he turns back towards the two people who had accompanied him. "Alright, test area looks good. Are you people ready to start?" He palms his book...he's never really tried using it in anything even approaching a combat situation...but he's fairly confident that he could reign in the errant thoughts that tended to get in his head as he drew power from it. And it was worth testing...he didn't know nearly enough about the actual effects it produced, most of his work till now was in translation. "Okay, dictee, note that the test site is as control as anywhere in Reliquus can be. We might want to try the experiment outside of the city later to see if there's any noticeable difference." He takes a breath to steel himself, then nods. "Let's begin." |
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| Smitejr | May 29 2014, 10:33 PM Post #71 |
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Kursten shrugs. "That's fine. Everyone's different, and no one has the right to tell others how they need to live their life. They can only advise and counsel...and some people take that advice, and some don't. I'm sure you have a great life ahead of you, fate or no fate, and I'm happy to be your friend." Laughing at her shifts in conversation, he shakes his head, smiling. "Well, I think you're a lot more fun smiling and happy. Most people think the opposite, that it's easier to be sad. And well...I could be sad, but being sad isn't the most productive state to be in. It just makes more sense to be happy, if you can manage it. And sandwiches are magical that way...they can be any size you want them to be. Sandwiches are the last kind of food I would knock, myself." Shrugging at her desire for a professional, he nods. "Makes sense. If there's a problem to find, you'll want the best. I'll see if I can convince Doctor Levy to see you...he's really nice, and you've probably heard of him, he's really famous!" As Destiny pushes herself against him, his eyes go wide, before he sighs, returning the hug. "You won't? Because this seems like the opposite to me..." Still, he enjoyed it, he liked being close to Destiny. She was the first real friend he could say he had...and a bit of embarrassment was a small price to pay to see her even happier than normal. "But really, not being malicious about it is all I can ask. Thanks!" Her question causes him to frown, and he shakes his head. "It's...a long story. The gist of it is that other magi targeted me, as they basically caught on that I had the potential of bringing my family back onto the scene. I used the grimoire to defeat them...but we ended up losing a lot of our priceless artifacts in the process. I couldn't bear to see that happen again...so I'm on the run." He turns to her, smiling, a fire in his eyes. "But I'm going to be able to master the grimoire's power, to the point where I can defend my family easily and without causing collateral damage. I'm going to come back home with both power for myself, and knowledge to share, to make me and my family come back with a vengeance against people that want to keep us down! That's...well, that's my dream...and if living in a tenement and working at the library gets me closer to that, well, then that's what I do." He sighs a bit, looking down. "I do miss them, though..." |
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| SarahSyna | May 29 2014, 11:31 PM Post #72 |
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“Well, Mr Tentacles, I think we might have to disagree on the magic of sandwiches,” Destiny said with a giggle. “I sure hope our friendship can last this terrible trial! And yeah, I’ve sure heard stuff about Doctor Levy, yeah! I mean, we’re not the same kinds of doctor, but his name pops up even in my area!” There was a little gasp as she thought back in the conversation! “Wait, he’s the guy you said was your idol! You got to meet him! That’s the coolest thing ever!” She resisted the urge to hug him again. It’d probably shed a bit of doubt on her claim to not be malicious about it, even if she just was in a huggy mood after the earlier disagreement. It wasn’t entirely her fault though – Kursten was just nice to glomp! And then, well, he answered her question, and soon as he started to do that, Destiny started wondering if maybe she shouldn’t have asked at all. She was totally silent as he was speaking, just twisting her fingers together until they hurt while he spoke about what had happened with his family, and tensing up more and more as he continued. There was a moment of awkward, uncomfortable silence that, for once, she had truly no idea how to fill. “I saw my dad get shot!” she suddenly blurted out. "I was seven." There was a deer-in-headlights look in her eyes, as though she hadn’t meant to say that. But she continued, her tone a little frantic but robotic, speaking fast without any chance for the emotions to catch up. “I only heard mom die – answering the door, then the gunshot and her body thumping to the floor in the hall. We only saw her body after. But dad was shot right in front of me, because I’d been too scared to go with the others. He was going for this gun that he’d bought only a couple days before, but he didn’t get there in time. One minute he was there and alive, and then...” She went silent for a second, and then put her fingertips to her temple and mimed shooting herself in the head. “It was all over the cereal and the toast and me. I could taste the blood in my mouth. And then Erin ran in and she dragged me downstairs and we hid in the panic room while they smashed up our house. Next time I saw my parents was when Harry pulled us all out of the house and took us with him. The police hadn’t taken the bodies yet.” She started to twist her fingers again. Now she was looking down, feeling more ashamed than anything else. She shouldn’t have said that. She should have kept that to herself. “I think you’ll see your parents again. A-And I know you’ll be tough enough and strong enough to stop anyone who tries to hurt your or your parents, but I’ll still help burn those bastards until they roast in their own skins. Because they’re nothing but fucking monsters.” She perked up, just a little, trying to regain her usual demeanour. “I think your dream sounds really good and amazing, and I know you’ll achieve it, and that it’ll be totally worth it too. Seeing your parents again, and being able to k-keep them safe... it’ll be worth anything." |
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| Smitejr | May 31 2014, 10:01 AM Post #73 |
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He grins wide. "I know...I did get to see him! He's pretty...well, understated in person, but he seems really nice. He helped another friend of mine out of a bad situation, and I think he'd be willing to help us if he has time. Then again, he could also be really busy, but it can't hurt to ask!" He was rather excited, and glad Destiny seemed to be as well. Then he had to tell his story...and honestly, it was much less difficult for him to tell it than it was for him to see Destiny's reaction to it. He didn't like seeing how uncomfortable she was, and it was more than possible that the story reminded her about what happened to her own family...and how comparatively lucky he was. After all, his family was fine...and he had a goal in mind that would keep them safe. He feels his breathing catch in his throat as she blurts out what happened to her father, and he listens. When she was finished, Kursten didn't know what to say. He didn't think there was anything to say. So he did the only thing he could think of and slid a bit closer to her, and tried to wrap her up in a rather awkward hug. "Yeah...I think I will. And thank you for being willing to be there, Destiny, it means a lot. I'm so sorry about what happened." He laughs a bit, trying to shift the subject, no matter how slightly. "And heck, being willing to do stuff like this brings me closer to that! Studying what we're both capable of, and seeing just how much the grimoire can do for me, well, that's important. And it's definitely more fun with you here." |
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| SarahSyna | May 31 2014, 06:05 PM Post #74 |
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For the second time in five minutes, Destiny clung to Kursten and buried her face against him, this time for her own comfort. Kursten was bordering on uncomfortably cold to the touch at the best of times, but that hug was probably the most comfortable thing in the world right then. She had to turn her face so she wouldn't mess up his clothing though. "We're going to be an awesome team." she said, sniffling a little. She was all for the idea of changing the subject. "The best team ever." She squeezed a little tighter before letting go. "I think it's a lot more fun to work stuff out with you as well, so much better than figuring anything out alone." There was a little shake in her voice, but she had on a big smile. "I'm really glad we're friends, Kursten. You're... you're good people." she said, fidgeting with her hands behind her back. Her smile widened. "We should... get a team name! Or something! Something silly t-to brighten the mood! And then we'll spar, and we'll what we can do, and tomorrow we can run tests and that's going to just be awesome. Figuring stuff out for either one of us is going to be great when it's both of us doing it! I've heard really cool stories of what my great grandparents could do, and who knows how awesome your book-grimthingy could be! Hell, you might even be able to change how you look back to what you liked, and then it'll just be sheer niftiness with pages!" She tilted her head. "Actually, I have a question. ...is the super tallness part of the book too? Or are you just that big?" Edited by SarahSyna, May 31 2014, 06:32 PM.
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| Smitejr | Jun 1 2014, 12:23 AM Post #75 |
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Kursten holds on to her tight, he wasn't about to start blushing or get embarrassed now, it was too serious to let stuff like that get in the way. He might not be the most ideal example of their kind, but he was magi, and he knew how to delay emotions for when they were appropriate when the situation called for it. "We will be, yeah. We're going to show the whole world just what we're made of." A goofy grin shines through his face, and he can't help but chuckle a bit. "Rather more literally then I meant!" He returns the squeeze as she lets go, letting her know that he doesn't mind. "Yeah! It's a lot easier...even if it isn't the easiest to keep focused. But hey, four hours of unfocused study is often better than one hour of focused study, so long as it's recorded to go over later. There's so much sheer information that might be looked over if you just try and drill through it. It's much easier to just relax and let it come to you." He grins. "And with the both of us, we have mutual goals we can fill together, which makes up for a lot of the inefficiency." Her compliment brings his blush out with a vengeance, and he shakes his head. "I...I'm nothing special, I told you. I'm just doing what anyone else would, I think...I'm...I'm glad you think well of me though." He shakes his head. "But I do stupid things like cause that whole fight...I can still be better, and I have to be better." Destiny's descriptions of what would come causes more laughter. "That sounds like a great plan! I don't know how far into the future we can look, but things are looking up pretty high." He enjoys her optimism about the book, and..well, he can't disprove her thoughts on what could happen, so he lets her be happy. He's not as confident though. "You should tell me some of those stories sometime! They sound very interesting!" He wonders what kind of name she would want to have...but he's more than happy letting her think it up at her own pace. Her question takes him completely by surprise. "Huh? No, I was always this tall. Why?" He laughs. "I could ask if being so short is tied to your fire!" |
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| SarahSyna | Jun 1 2014, 09:54 PM Post #76 |
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“So we’re inefficient but effective? I like the sound of that, a lot.” Destiny said, grinning back at him. “And it’s not like both of us can’t work and focus hard when we need to either. We just need to factor in a little extra time for discussion.” Honestly, she still felt a little... out of sorts, but despite whatever he thought of his social skills (and how right some of it might be), Kursten was pretty good at cheering her up again. The blush made her giggle again. She hadn’t even intended that one. She stood on her tiptoes and leant in so she could look him in the eyes a little better. “I know you can be better, Kursten. Everyone can. But I think that you’re starting off a lot better than most. So accept the compliment before all the blood rushes to your face and you just go pop! Like a blushy balloon.” A head popping joke less than five minutes after talking about what had happened back then. Well. If that didn’t show she was feeling better, nothing short of laughing about patricide would. “And of course things are looking high. For one, if we had an air balloon, we’d never have to worry about it running out of fuel, so let’s totally get one. And two, I’m not settling for anything less than excellence before I’m 25, and two people with a lot of drive can do anything they damn well decide to.” She said with confidence. Then she looked him up and down, taking in his full height (mentally adding in the extra inches lost via his slumping). “...wow, you must have either really tall parents, an amazing diet, or a rack in your basement.” she said, sounding genuinely a little impressed. She looked at her arms when he returned the question and laughed. “I wish my power was why I was short; it’d make a great threat! ‘See all the height I don’t have? I turned it into burning POWER!’” |
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| Smitejr | Jun 1 2014, 11:09 PM Post #77 |
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Kursten nods. "Yeah, and it's not like we need to work on a deadline or anything. I mean, I'd like to see my parents sooner rather than later, but I'm a long way off regardless. So taking it a bit slow isn't that bad, especially if it prevents frustration and burnout." He shakes his head, mumbling under his breath. "All right, sure. I appreciate it." He smirks a bit at her joke, and tries futilely to hold back laughter. "I'm...pff...pretty sure that won't happen, but I guess I should calm down a bit. It's just...I dunno. I really liked that you said that, but it felt strange, I don't know." He lets out a breath. "I'm glad you're feeling a bit better, at least." Her metaphors blow him away, and he's left reeling, trying to pick up the pieces of the shattered conversation. "You want to get a balloon? Why? And what happens when you turn 25?" He frowns a bit, there's that number again. He was getting rather nervous about it, something was definitely up. "I think I'll try and get you in to see Levy sooner rather than later.." he mumbles to himself. He looks a bit defensive as she sizes him up. "What's the big deal? So I'm tall...my parents are shorter than me, it just kind of...well, happened. I'm not sure about it...I'm pretty sure it's just natural. We do eat well, I guess..." When Destiny responds to his little jab, he laughs out loud. "Hey, maybe that's something you can just say for the heck of it. Pretty sure people will believe you." He grins. "I don't think you'll need threats though..can't imagine anyone wanting to tangle with those fire-metal chains of yours... |
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| SarahSyna | Jun 2 2014, 10:11 PM Post #78 |
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Destiny looked kind of thrown by the question. She hadn’t even thought about it, for a pretty good reason. "Well... I guess I celebrate being a quarter of century old?” she said finally, shrugging. “I think that's a pretty cool thing to do, not to mention traditional Not everyone can say they made it that far, which is a kind of sad thing if you think about it, but loads more do so it kind of evens out in the end! And why not get a balloon?” She tilted her head, as if unable to understand why anyone would be opposed to floating around slowly in a cramped basket held up by silk and hot air. “They’re comfortable as long as you have a cushion to avoid wickerbutt, and cheaper than an airship! Plus, no one uses them, so they’re probably cheap. And they just seem like fun! His sudden defensiveness as she looked him over made her smile a little, weird as that was. “I’m not judging you for being tall, silly, I’m just impressed because you’re nearly the tallest person I’ve ever seen. I think it’s nice, and I’m not just saying that because I’m intending to use you as my grab-things-from-high-places slave. Which I totally am.” She added, grinning wider. “It’s the price of my friendship, I’m afraid! You must fetch all the high things, and I’ll bite the ankles of anything that bothers you, even if it’s not got any and I have to improvise.” She laughed with him at the idea of using that as a threat. “I just might do it!” she said cheerily. “I rather use the threats than the chains, but people tend to back off when they just see the fire, which suits me just fine.” She looked down at her arms and made a face, for maybe the first time looking bothered by them. “It’s a really offensive power, too much of what it can do are things that’d leave someone injured too badly to ever be justified, even if it’s self-defence. That’s actually why I decided to make the chains to begin with, because they’re a lot easier to control, and they don’t cause such lasting damage even if they hurt like hell.” she said, then added jokily, “I’m not a proper pacifist though, I just wish I was! What about you? Do you believe in non-violence, or are you more, uh, easy-going with it?” She put her hands up quickly. "I'm not judging you if you are or anything, I'm just wondering! I won't preach, honest!" Far too many arguments had been started on that topic to not include a caveat. Edited by SarahSyna, Jun 2 2014, 10:16 PM.
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| Smitejr | Jun 3 2014, 01:30 PM Post #79 |
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Kursten still looks a bit nervous, but shrugs. "I guess that makes sense. Haven't exactly heard about it enough to call it traditional, but heck, maybe it's a family thing?" Her argument in favor of getting a hot air balloon was kind of wonky. "But there are lots of reasons! In a hot air balloon, you're stuck going where the wind takes you, unless that's an element of magic you can use...which it isn't." Then he starts to thing about it. "Well...maybe if you can use the fire to create warm air updrafts underneath us to get us where we want to go...that might work..." He shakes his head vigorously. "But what would we even use one for? And where would we keep it stored? It seems like a rather odd thing to want, is all. I don't think we really need it." Kursten can't help but laugh. "Well, at least you're open about it. And I don't mind, really. You don't need to bite any ankles though...that's not nice to other things, and they probably won't taste very good." He frowns. "It's just...I dunno. I'm glad you don't mind it? It just kind of isn't brought up that much, especially not in relation to my book. It kind of confused me is all." Kursten shrugs. "The element of fire is more offensive based than the other of the four prime elements, but you kind of overestimate it. Fire can be used for a whole lot of things...not that many in combat situations, in that case they all kind of converge around 'burn the other person a lot,' but even then, that fire metal thingy you can make seems fantastically versatile! You really shouldn't sell yourself short." He shakes his head, sighing. "I'm not a pacifist, no. I think it'd be rather hard to be one after you get physical force used against you and the people you care about...I'm sure you agree on that. I'd like to be one too...but I just don't think I'm a good enough person for that. I'm not really keen on using it for anything more than self defense, but I'm always open to new possibilities." When Destiny gets defensive herslf, he breaks into laughter. "Don't worry! I don't mind. Heck, I don't think I'd mind if you did start preaching, I'm interested in what you have to say. 'The world needs to be looked at from as many different angles as possible to be understood'...that's something my father told me, and I think he's right." |
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| SarahSyna | Jun 5 2014, 09:55 PM Post #80 |
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Kursten’s reason and logic did nothing to curtail Destiny’s apparent love for hot air balloons. “Maybe when we start exploring! We could use it to travel then, and to carry all our stuff!” She flailed her hands together, becoming more excited by the word. “Oooh, or an airship! I hear they have smaller ones now for personal use, and we could get one with two bedrooms, or maybe just one, and a living area and a storeroom and a little lab that would suit us both and it would be AMAZING!” There was another bounce and Destiny declared with confidence, “I know exactly what I’m saving up for now! An airship for exploring and researching! An airship of SCIENCE!” Yes, Kursten’s sensible points did nothing to change her mind, but that was okay. Her mind did that well enough on its own. “Oh, I’m always open about my need for tall minions. It’s a pity I’m not a mad scientist though, I could just make myself taller. Actually, I could always have distraction osteogenesis on my leg, but the Guichet method is so very rare, and the Illizarov method is so very flawed, not to mention the possible complications haemophilia could bring to the surgery. Not to mention that I really can’t afford to take such a long time off work for what is really just a cosmetic squibble. I like tall, but I don’t have to be tall as long as I can climb, I guess! Anyway, the moral of that entire well, of what I should have said- is 'wow, you’re tall, and that’s just fine'. Whew!” She caught up to her breath with a little huff and added cheerily, “But I do have to sell myself a little short, because I sure can’t sell myself tall!” She laughed at her own awful joke. “And I don’t think it’s bad or useless or anything, I’m really lucky to have any ability, especially one I can adapt like this. I have plans for it though; it’s going to be just as amazing as you think it can. More, if possible! According to mom, most of us would specialise in something in particular, and the fire-metal is going to be my area of expertise!” She listened to him patiently, “Your dad sounds pretty smart about it, and you do too. It’s just that my eldest sister and I have had a lot of arguments over this,” Destiny said sheepishly. “She’s military, and she thinks I’m either being soft and naive, or that I’m trying to judge her. I don’t think she realise just what I’m capable of doing, but I’m not going to just go all punchhappy like her and pick fights for no good reason because I'm trying to look cool in front of my friends.” Destiny squeezed a teeny little bit of air between her index and her thumb. “Okay, so I might be judging her, just a little.” |
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8:46 AM Jul 11