crescentview | ☀️ summer catchall

☀️ summer catchall

🌼 who: Oriphi & others
🌼 what: open prompts & catchall
🌼 when: second half of Summer
🌼 where: various
🌼 warnings: will add as needed!

i. after the hurricane

[ When the skies clear and the sun comes back out after the hurricane passes, Ori does her best to visit every. single. farm. She had spent most of that time inside making sure her and M-21's farm was weathering the storm well enough, and then most of the rainy day following... baking cookies. Many, many cookies.

Which she is now showing up at your doorstep with, rapping upon the door politely. ]

Hello there! I just wanted to check on everyone! Do you need help clearing your farm? Or if you got hurt during the storm, I can heal... Oh! And I have cookies.

ii. funny forest furries

[ On some of the other sunny summer days, Ori will make her way into the woods surrounding the forest farms to practice her magic and figure out what's going on with her shapeshifting ability.

Which is really to say... Anyone exploring or foraging in the woods may find themself running into a rather peculiar sight: choose your fighter between a bear with webbed platypus feet and a platypus face, a rabbit with mouse ears and horns, or a parrot-colored giant owl... ]

iii. double trouble ( aka 'you split into two identical copies of yourself for a day' babey)

[ Did you just see Ori somewhere in town, perhaps delivering flowers during the daytime or hanging around the tavern during the evenings?

Well, now you're seeing her again, somewhere else, even though it seems impossible for her to be in two places at once... unless...?

Anyhow, any prolonged staring will spur the tiefling to approach. ]

Is everything okay? You look like you've just seen something interesting!

iv. wildcard
( feel free to toss something else in! we can hash things out at my plotting comment if you're feeling something else! )

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[ She can't help but sigh when he gives that quiet little snort, but all things considered, she'd rather he find it amusing than be angry at her, so she'll take it as a win.

There are more important things to focus on now, anyway. Let's forget the rainbowy bear incident!!

Well, M-21 truly is lucky to be in this moment with someone who comes from a world in which explanations like that sound totally sane and normal. Well - maybe not normal, but not entirely unheard of. It's different from what she knows of werewolves, but... truth to tell, she's heard stranger things.

What's more important is that having a werewolf heart stuck in you seems just as violent and unpleasant as getting bitten by a werewolf and getting afflicted with a curse... She frowns, idly running her thumb over the patches of fur that emerge on his hand. ]

I see... And why were they trying to get a... "stronger human?"

[ And then, after a beat, she adds: ]

Did you have a choice?

[ M-21 jerks his head back just a little, his eyes widening in slight surprise. He'd worded that ambiguously, but people usually assumed... Huh. His gaze slides away from her face again, but his fingers curl, almost brushing hers.

It's not like he needs to keep it a secret here. But it feels like a lot to dump on her at once. But she'd asked... ]

Who'd trade being human for power?

[ Even he can hear the bitterness in his voice. He draws in a sharper breath and shakes his head in a quick "don't worry about it" sort of gesture. It's not Ori he's still angry at. ]

I don't know a lot about what they were up to. I don't remember anything before I came to in that lab. [ May as well put that out there, for all that he's been avoiding mentioning it to... well, almost anyone. ] A lot of things happened, but now I live with a guy who's good at researching human modification. That's how I know it's under control now.

[ So... it's fine. Nothing to worry about. ]

[ The unfortunate truth of it all is that Ori has seen people trade their souls, or years of their lives, or other such things for power. But she asks M-21 nonetheless because... Well, his answer, that bitterness she hears in his words, tells her what kind of person he is. It speaks volumes of him, actually, and her heart both breaks and swells at knowing the person she's been sharing a home with has been through such an ordeal... She doesn't answer his question, but her silence says "far too many people."

Yet at the same time, the fact that he's here in front of her, means that he's survived through it all. And she can't help but be proud of him for that alone.

Her brows knit together when he draws in that sharp breath, nonetheless. She can't even imagine what sorts of feelings well up inside of him as a result of what's been done to him... Still, she knows that it's not her he's angry at. ]

Hmm. Now you live with a woman who doesn't know much at all about the kind of human modification you were subjected to, but... I'll do my best to help, anyway.

Is that why your name is M-21...? Your... Designation, as an experiment...?

[ M-21 tilts his head a tiny bit at her silence, like he's listening for a sound just beyond the range of normal hearing. He knows people who would make exactly that trade, or more readily, who would trade other people's humanity for it. But he hadn't expected it of her. She seems so small and soft and cheery, like she's never seen anything so ugly about the world.

Maybe it just means she's much more resilient than he is. ]

It's fine. After Frankenstein's work, it's been stabilized. ...Besides, you transform.

[ Which is his way of saying: who could be more qualified to understand than another shapeshifter? Even as different as the circumstances are, it's hard to get wrapped up in the horror of "look what a monster I become" when living with a woman who can turn into a multicolored bear.

He turns his hand a little in hers to show the mark on his wrist again and gives a little shrug. ]

Right. M-series, number 21. I don't know my old name, so this is what everyone calls me.

[ For Ori, who has definitely seen enough to make most anyone give up on the world, being soft and cheery, kind and gentle wasn't a matter of choice but of survival. How was she supposed to keep going, otherwise? There had been a time in her life when she felt that she must see the good in the world, and fill it with magic and wonder and hope, because she had very little else to go on.

Now, at least, she's in a much better place, but that doesn't mean she's going to let go of that hopeful, bright outlook of hers. It's gotten her this far.

He turns his hand in hers, and her gaze falls to that mark. She hadn't thought much about it when she'd first seen it, but now... Ori wonders if he would like to have a new name, someday. Maybe he's made his peace with it, but... He doesn't have to go on his whole life going by his designation, does he...?

Her other hand reaches for it, fingertips brushing over the mark gently. ]

... Thank you for telling me, M. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Wild Shape... If there's anything else you wanted to know about me or my magic, or anything... You just have to ask, okay?

[ This time M-21 doesn't startle at the touch. Though instead of looking down at the tattoo, which he knows entirely too well already, he watches her face. He wouldn't say he's the most adept at reading expressions. But she really doesn't try to be anything but an open book. It's strange somehow, to be on the receiving end of that sympathy from someone who wasn't an experiment herself. He doesn't want her to have to understand it.

And he really hadn't planned to unload all that on her. Something about her just made it difficult to lie, somehow. Maybe the guilt of lying to a partner really was on a different level. ]

You didn't have a reason to tell me.

[ And it's not like he'd begrudge anyone else keeping secrets even if she'd meant to. Still, since she's offering, he's glad enough to divert the topic to something a little lighter. And of way more interest to him personally; there's a lot he still doesn't know about her. ]

...Then I will. Were you born with that? Or you learned it?

[ Ori certainly wears her emotions plain as day, her heart on her sleeve. She makes for a terrible liar, in any case. There had been a time in her life when she tried her best not to be so emotive, but the efforts were almost always futile. Over time, and as she quietly worked on her own confidence, so too did her ability to be unafraid of her feelings, to let herself feel them.

Even when she's not entirely sure what it is, exactly, she's feeling for M-21 in this moment. Sympathy, to be sure, but... An earnest wish to make his life better, somehow, too. To give him the grace to find himself and make an identity for himself when that had been taken away from him in the past.

Being teammates means being open and honest with one another. So when he asks, she naturally answers. ]

I learned it. Being a druid means... my magic comes from a deep connection with nature, instead of something like a bloodline or through studies or a deity. I guess you could say I felt close with it since I was little, but I didn't learn to use my magic this way until I was a teenager. That was when my sister and I became mercenaries. She had her own magic, and I had mine, and that was the only way we knew to get by.

[ a bit of a wry smile, at that. Her past is perhaps not as joyful and full of wonder as it first seem. ]

Edited (enjoy your backstory dump m-21) 2023-02-07 06:30 (UTC)

[ It's a hell of a way to realize that he hasn't really given deep thought before to what it means for her to be an adventurer. It sounded like such a fantasy idea to him, traveling with friends and defeating evil. But that fantasy was her life too.

How had Adelis put it? People chose adventuring "if they fancied death nipping at their heels"? Or maybe, if they already knew that fighting was something they were good at. He lets her fingertips brush past his wrist as he takes her hand in his instead, cupping it and turning it palm-up. For a moment he studies it as if expecting to find some kind of trace of her experience, like the tangible one permanently imprinted on his own skin. ]

...That's young. The two of you only had each other?

[ He turns her hand over in his, giving it an appraising glance just as she'd done with his. She doesn't have any marks like he does, but he'll find that her hands are rough-hewn, calloused from years of experience, and if he looks further up on her arm he would find scars, marks of old injuries she couldn't heal in time.

She nods, at his question. ]

We did. Fangs of the Fox. That was the group that took us in. They wanted tieflings like us to play our parts, to be scary and intimidating because of how we look... I wasn't very good at it, but Valphi...

[ She leaned into it, to say the least. ]

But the Fangs were focused on money, and money only. I got scolded constantly for trying to do things "outside our scope." Like trying to help innocent people who got caught in the crossfire... So I left, eventually. Just wandered by myself for a while, and then I ended up adventuring with other people - the friends I keep talking about.

[ M-21 is pretty preoccupied in his exploration as he listens to her. His fingertips skim over a callus, and then more hesitantly over a scar, higher up. He's got no shortage of those either, but it feels different, to see them on her. Wrong, somehow. ]

Intimidating? You?

[ He muffles a soft snort, not unkind. She did already say she wasn't very good at it. To get by, he thinks most people would do a lot worse than that, if push came to shove. But she walked away, because she cared about the people her job wouldn't let her help.

...It's not much like himself and M-24 at all. He doesn't kid himself that he was thinking of anything but his own survival when he decided to make a break for it. ]

What about your sister? Valphi. Did she stay?

[ She takes no offense to his incredulity, of course. But all in all, she's not proud of the things she did with the Fangs. But even knowing that it was all she and Valphi could do to survive together... There came a point when she couldn't take it anymore.

But as for Valphi... She frowns. ]

She did. She... Has always been very, very good with her magic. And the Fangs gave her plenty of reason to use it. She's incredibly charismatic, too. I don't even think she needed to be intimidating in the way they wanted us to as tieflings - but she has a sharp tongue and knows how to get under someone's skin.

[ It feels like an awful thing to say about her own younger sister, but it's the truth. ]

Still, we were close even after I left. We'd write to each other whenever we could. Then I stopped hearing from her, and stopped hearing about what the Fangs were up to, like they all just disappeared. That's how I knew something was wrong... And why I ended up with the others. I didn't care about finding the Fangs, but... I needed to find my sister.

[ M-21 gives a hum of understanding, finishing his curious exploration of her hand to just watch her face again. Maybe it's because there's no malice in her words that her assessment doesn't sound harsh to him. Whether she has problems with her sister or not, it's obvious she still cares about her. ]

She doesn't sound much like you. Maybe the charisma.

[ But Ori has the type that brightens a room, like she had at that party. Meeting? Whatever it was. ]

So... did you find her? [ He pauses a little, because as much as he wants to know, he's also aware that he's digging too much. What's he going to do if one of his questions hits something that really upsets her, just because she's trying to be understanding with him? ] ...You don't have to tell me. It's your business.

[ The faintest ghost of a smile plays at her lips, something bittersweet and fond in equal measure as she nods. ]

...We're pretty much opposites. She has red skin, silver eyes, and white hair... And she's tall. A lot of people couldn't tell that we were sisters, unless they really looked at our faces. And everyone thought I was the younger sister.

[ There's another little bit of a self-deprecating chuckle, there. She's always felt like such a horrible older sister, because everyone always thought of Valphi as the more put-together, dependable one. And then M-21 asks. She knows the question is coming. But even after all this time, the answer still twists at her heart and pulls at every feature of her face. ]

...I did. But she wasn't herself. Someone in the Fangs had betrayed her, and the rest of them, and they were all... enthralled. It was awful. It was like - they took everything Valphi was scared of, and made her think it was all real so she would do everything they needed her to. She thought that I had truly abandoned her, that I hated her and her magic, and it made her want to kill us.

[ She draws her arms away from M-21, wrapping them around herself. ]

It took... A lot, to bring her back. And even then, I knew it had left her... so hurt, and scarred. And when I think about all the time that she lost being controlled like a pawn...

[ Idly, she finds herself looking back up at him, holding his gaze. He knows what that's like, doesn't he? To be altered against one's will, to be made a tool to accomplish some ill-fated cause... ]

...It breaks my heart.

[ M-21 doesn't kid himself that he has any talent at being comforting. There's nothing gentle or reassuring about him, and he doesn't have the knack for finding the right words even if he had the temperament for it. So when Ori curls around herself a little he hesitates, reaching out for her and then pausing before he completes the motion to rest his hand briefly on her shoulder.

He doesn't know Ori's sister, or how she feels about it. But he thinks he can understand a little. One tool to another. ]

You can't protect someone from everything. Even if you're her older sister.

[ That's what it means to live, isn't it? To be hurt, to have things you can't forget that change you. It doesn't make the pain meaningful. But it makes it real. ]

Maybe she can't forget what happened to her. But she'll remember that you came for her, too.

[ She doesn't need him to be particularly comforting... He only needs to be himself. How are they supposed to be a team together if they can't work with each other's shortcomings?

Her hand lifts and rests against his hand on her shoulder and, with a small, thankful smile, she nods. ]

Right. And I know she'll be able to come into her own in time, too. Her spirit is incredibly strong.

[ She squeezes at his hand. ]

That goes for you, too, M-21. I hope you'll let me help you find yourself again, here. Though...

[ It's her turn to wonder if she should ask a question or not. ]

How did you... Get out of your situation? The lab... Is it okay that I ask?

[ M-21 gives a little nod of agreement, squeezing her shoulder lightly in acknowledgment when her hand tightens on his. She says her sister is strong. But he can't help thinking that she's resilient in her own way, to be able to take that on faith. ]

It's fine. It's not exactly a secret.

[ And they're teammates. Although... it's not exactly the most flattering story, either, if he tells it straight. He pauses a moment to reorder his thoughts. ]

...By the time we were ready to try for an escape, there were only two of us left. Most of the others— the experiments didn't go well. They were either killed on missions, or in testing, or their bodies started breaking down. My partner still needed the medicine the lab made to keep him alive, so... we stayed until we could be sure we could steal enough.

[ And did whatever they were told to do. He thinks of what drove Ori from the Fangs and glances away. ]

They put us on a weird mission. Recovering some coffin that had been stolen from them. They didn't tell us that what was in that coffin was a vampire. Not one like whatever straggler they'd been able to pick up to use for the experiments on us, either. I've never seen anyone that strong. Maybe not even the goddess, here.

[ Patience is all she can offer as she waits for him to sort out his thoughts, knowing full well that it's never easy to recount these things. It's hard enough to talk about these things even with someone from the same world, but they're both from such vastly different worlds, it feels like...

Though perhaps not too different. Werewolves, vampires, people with unimaginable power, entities that do unspeakable things to people in the pursuit of power... They may not have teevees, or phones, or the other things that M-21 is used to, but... Strangely, she's not too befuddled by what he tells her.

Yet still, it breaks her heart to hear. She wonders if he's still suffering from the effects of what's been done to him; he's said that it's under control now, but... She would have noticed by now if he was suffering physically, right? Would she be able to help? ]

M, if... If at any point you feel unwell, please... Please, tell me. I can't guarantee that my magic will be able to help with any effects of the experiments, but... I can try. I want to try.

[ A beat, then she continues, ]

So you found the vampire, then...? What happened when you did?

[ His reflex is to tell her not to worry about it. His healing took care of the degeneration as quickly as it could happen. But even if they haven't been teammates for that long, he gets the impression that she isn't the type to stop being concerned over something just because someone says so. ]

I'll tell you. But it shouldn't happen anymore. My body accepted the werewolf heart, so...

[ Well, he's already telling this. So he may as well try to get things in the proper order. ]

That's because of that vampire. Rai. The whole mission went sideways, brought way too much attention down on us. I was thinking that if he made enough of a distraction we could still get away in the mess. But we got some kids he knew dragged into it, and M-24... he'd always been soft on kids. [ He hesitates again, then shakes his head sharply. ] Anyway, the smart thing for Rai to do would've been to get rid of me or turn me loose. But they said I should stay if I wanted. Gave me a job and let me live there. Did something to my blood that made the heart part of me. ...I owe them a lot.

[ He has the correct impression.

Ori listens dutifully, of course, the concern that had already been plainly visible on her face only deepening further when she hears about kids getting caught in the crossfire, only to soften the slightest with relief at the resolution. ]

...They must have seen that you're worth keeping around.

[ They haven't been teammates for that long, but... She can agree with Rai on that. ]

They're...

[ He lets out a quiet sigh of frustration. Wouldn't that have been the easier answer? A tool worth keeping? It's the only framework that it occurs to him to take her words in. ]

I thought they were trying to use me at first. To get information about the Union, or just as some expendable muscle. But they don't even need me for any of that. [ And with a little disgruntled pause, the backstory reveal of all time: ] Frankenstein makes me do the dishes.

[ Truly what he's worth keeping around for. He gives his head a small shake. Anyway... it all worked out, clearly. ]

[ As a tool isn't what she'd meant by it at all - but she doesn't realize how his mind would interpret her words until he continues on. Of course he would assume they needed him as a tool, when that's all the Union wanted him to be... ]

Well... You are really good at doing the dishes... But maybe they just wanted you to be able to have a different kind of life that way, hm?

[ Though, judging from what she can vaguely remember them talking about while she was drunk and he was carrying her home... Maybe it wasn't quite so peaceful then, too. Why would Rai need Knights if not for some trouble brewing? ]

So that's how you became a... knight...?

[ It's a little funny to hear from Ori, who's never met Rai or Frankenstein. But her understanding of them is probably closer than he'd managed in those early days. Maybe not a surprise. That kindness gives her more in common with Rai than she has with him. ]

That's just Tao's joke. ...He's another guy from the Union, like me. His experiment wasn't a failure, but...

[ He's going to push Tao down the stairs for the knight misunderstanding when he gets home. He sinks a little down with a quiet grumble and waves a hand. She can probably infer easily enough that Rai took in more strays than just him. ]

Anyway, we take care of things when Rai's busy sometimes. That's all.

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☀️ summer catchall

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THANK YOU FOR THIS PRESENT ♡

im going to bully dw

it deserves it!!!

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