khuioduan | [video] and now for something completely different

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[video] and now for something completely different

[So there's some kind of sickness going around, causing paranoia and hallucinations. Zelos is pretty sure he's been on the receiving end of some of it by now. But being sick is being sick, it happens, and who cares that Aifaran's weird Dreaming flavour of sickness means seeing dead people around every corner? There's something much more important he wants to talk about here.]

What's the deal with the Dreamfolk talents? You know, those tattoos we get that are supposed to give you some weird new power? Yeah, those. Does everyone else know what they got? Is there anyone else out there who just doesn't get it? And hey, for those of you who get it --

[Simmering irritation boils over.]

-- how the hell did you figure it out?

[Yeah, someone's a little bitter.]

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You haven't figured yours out yet?

[ No snark here, just pure surprise. ]

No! Why would I be asking if I figured it out? I'm not doing this for fun!

[Pause. The implication of a silent apology. Deep breath.]

I asked around, and it looks like it has something to do with alteration. That's all I can figure out, though. The only way to know for sure is to go around touching everything, and -- [Swift smile.] -- of course there are things I'd love to touch, you know that. But not everything.

[ her eyes narrow angrily. ]

I was just surprised! Since you could do magic back home, I thought you had already figured it out!

[ She takes his silence for what it is and takes a breath to calm down.

For about two seconds. Then she's rolling her eyes and sighing heavily. ]

Seriously? Can't you go two seconds without saying something like that? Idiot! [ Sheena lets out a slow breath. ]

Besides, you don't have to touch anything. We have the same mark, remember? [ And she'll show a gathering of light within her palm. She's been practicing, so it's done quickly and easily, without any strain on her part. ]

Maybe yours is like that.

[Zelos grins. Spoilers: no, he physically can't go two seconds without saying something like that. It's in his genes.]

Greeeat. It could be anything?

[Tap tap, think think.]

Then how'd you figure out what yours is?

[ She sees that smiles and sighs. She should have known. Ah well. He wouldn't be Zelos if he doesn't do that, right? ]

Yes, it can be anything. Mine has to do with light. Maybe yours has to do with an element, too?

[ Oh yeah, he had asked about finding out, hadn't he? ]

Well, ummm... I was in the library trying to do some research--on the mark, actually. The lighting was kind of dim, so I kept thinking that more light would be nice.

Aaaand next thing I knew, I had a tiny ball of light in my hand.

[ Don't you dare laugh, Zelos Wilder! ]

[He does laugh, but not much. Not everyone can summon lightning, after all.]

So you just have to think about whatever it is? That's it?

[There's no skill involved or anything? You can practically see Zelos deflate a little. How boring.]

Oh well, might as well give it a try. [He raises his voice a little.] Man, I sure wish I had some extra light!

[Predictably, nothing happens.]

I don't get it. Do you have to be touching the mark? Man, I sure wish I had some extra -- this is stupid. What am I supposed to do, turn all my senses off one by one and run around Aifaran making things as hard for myself as I can?

[ Sheena's only response to the laugh is a slight narrowing of her eyes. After all, she hadn't said not to laugh aloud... ]

Well, that's how it worked for me. I don't know how it worked for someone else. [ She sees his reaction, and shakes her head. ] Don't get me wrong, though. You're not an expert at controlling it right away. You still have to practice.

[ So yes, there is skill and training involved.

She opens her mouth to stop him, but closes it immediately, intrigued. And shares his disappointment when it doesn't work. ]

I wasn't touching my mark. [ She's not really helping right now, is she? But she grows quiet in thought. ] It just came about naturally... [ hearing his plan, her head snaps up and her eyes narrow in determination. ]

No! You are not going to do that! [ She flashes on an idea. ] What we [ Yes, she said "we" ] are going to do is try to figure it out together without you doing something so stupid.

[In theory, practice sounds good. It sounds like an excellent distraction. In practice (har har), the idea makes Zelos groan a little.

Ah well. Practice makes perfect.]

You're not being much help so far, huh? How are we supposed to figure it out if all we know is what doesn't work? We could try thousands of things and still not have any idea what it is. That could take months, or years.

[ Sheena understands that groan, having uttered a few of them herself. But without practice...You may not become perfect, but you can become pretty damn good.

Or discover something new about yourself and abilities.

Although she lets the groan pass without a reaction, his comment earns him a glare. ]

Look, I'm trying, okay?! [ She suddenly stops and gives him a pointed look. A look that says she won't tolerate his usual flippancy right now because she's actually concerned. ] Wait a second. Zelos, you're really upset that you haven't figured yours out yet, aren't you?

[ Okay, so she still has her "slow on the uptake" moments, but it does explain a lot. ]

[There isn't really a flippant comment to reply with, because yeah, Zelos is upset, and he feels like he has a right to be, but he doesn't know why. All he's been getting are people who don't get what the big deal is -- apart from the one pirate guy who freaked out in the opposite direction, and that was pretty funny.]

Yeah.

[And then silence, because Zelos doesn't know what else to say.]

[ Well now. The simple answer surprises her, and it shows. It also causes her to become thoughtful as she tries to figure out why he's so upset. And the only thing she can come up with considering his attitude and his questions is:

He's feeling left out.

A feeling she can relate to. ]

All right. There's a café in town I go to. Meet me there and we'll start working on this. [ She names the place and tells him where it is.

It's not exactly an order, but more of a plan. ]

Edited (Got to thinking about this...) 2018-05-31 07:35 (UTC)

What are we going to do when we get there? Turn off all the lights and pray?

[There's a lot of old bitterness and baggage in the word pray, but thankfully, Sheena knows practically all of it. That makes his grumble more of a belated call-ender, instead of an actual question.

Zelos hasn't mastered, or even really amateured, instant flight, so he goes to the cafe Sheena mentioned the old-fashioned way. It's not until he gets there that he remembers he turned off hunger a few days ago and never turned it back on, and the moment he does so, every single food smell in the building just smells so good. Can he try it all? He wants to try it all. He's ordering food before he even looks for Sheena.]

You'll see.

[ Because she knows about his baggage, there's no heat to her words. The call ended, she makes her way to the café, her thoughts bouncing back and forth between Zelos' bitterness and what they're about to do.

Those thoughts are interrupted when she hears a familiar voice as she enters, ordering what may or may not be a lot of food. Coming up behind him quietly--or as quietly as she can with his heightened hearing--she pauses a moment before speaking impishly. ]

Gee, thanks for waiting, Zelos. [ A pause. ] Are you a little hungry?

[Heightened hearing or no heightened hearing, Zelos still yelps with surprise when Sheena's suddenly right there.]

A little warning next time, okay?

[And then, with no indication that he's at all aware of the irony in that statement:]

Yes, I'm hungry. I'm hungry on purpose this time. Someone lectured me about not going overboard with turning stuff off, and the really annoying part is that I don't remember if it was you or Kratos or Raine. [He holds up the plate he's already gotten and grins.] Want to help me eat it all?

[ And she'll just cross her arms and give him a look. ]

You mean like you give me? [ Nope. She's not ignoring the irony. ] Besides, that would kind of go against the whole "being a ninja" thing.

[ She sits as he's talking, thanking the server who brought her an iced coffee without being asked. Sipping it, she shakes her head and sighs. She's not admitting one way or another if she had lectured him before. Now, however... ] Despite the lecture, you went overboard anyway, didn't you?

[ She's checking out the food he's showing when her stomach answers his question for her, making her blush and cutting off her surprise at the offer. ]

I think that's a "yes".

Dreamfolk talents?

[The pirate chimes into this video looking quite befuddled. He briefly glances down at the odd mark upon his wrist as he contemplates. Bastien didn't think anything of the mark at first. He just assumed he let some whore ink him when he was completely sloshed. However, he had a sinking feeling that this mark meant something.

Too bad he was too damn drunk to remember.]

So, magic...? [He peers back at the red head.] Eh, I dunno!

I don't do magic, mate! That's for soothsayers and voodoo people.

Edited 2018-05-10 07:33 (UTC)

[The first minute or so of Zelos's reply is just laughter. This guy isn't the first person he's met who doesn't want anything to do with magic, and there's something about that that's just so incredibly ironic.]

Sure! Soothsayers and voodoo people. Boy, do I have some bad news for you. Everyone gets a new magical talent when they come here, and you can tell what kind it is by the tattoo you have, unless you can't, and then you're shit out of luck. You better start doing magic, 'cause otherwise you're gonna touch something and it's probably gonna explode.

Whaaaaaaaat?!

[Bastien nearly has a frickin' cow once he hears that bit of news. The pirate's eyes grow as large as saucers. It seems that this bloke here isn't a fan of the magical stuff.]

Why?! I never asked for this shite! I didn't ask for magic! I don't want it! I don't want to explode! I don't wanna die!

Edited 2018-05-19 04:24 (UTC)

[Zelos was exaggerating! Usually people can tell. He kind of wishes people would miss the obvious joke a lot more, though, because this guy is a frigging blast. Zelos is laughing again. He laughs for... quite a long time.]

Yeeeeah. First of all, it's not you who'd explode, it would be whatever you touched.

[He could leave it there. He could leave it there, and watch the guy freak out a little more. Stupid influence of good people like Lloyd.]

Second, relax, will ya? It's not that bad. Believe it or not, I get how you feel, and it's a lot easier if you just give up fighting and go with it.

Relax? RELAX?! [Bastien snatches up his yimo and starts shaking it violently. He's trying to virtually choke the redhead but it's not working.] I never asked for any of this!

Never!

I'm not some bleedin' voodoo doctor, savvy?! This ain't my thing!

[He stops shaking the damn yimo once he realizes he can't strangle this accursed louse. The pirate gives up and sulks.]

But I don't even know the first bleedin' thing about magic, lad.

Edited 2018-05-20 06:20 (UTC)

[Zelos laughs again.] Yeah, well, maybe if you spend less time panicking about it and more time learning about it, that would fix at least one of your problems!

[Someone freaking out worse than he is has gone a very long way to calming Zelos down.]

I never asked for anything that happened to me, either, but it's not like anyone listens. Just relax and make the most of it. Here, I can help you get started -- what mark did you get?

Don't you judge me! I have a right to panic!

[He nearly shouts. This poor bastard is definitely more than a little freaked out here.]

Relax? Relax how?! It's bad emough I have gills, I don't need this too!

[Bastien let's put a disgruntle sigh as he shows the spiffy tattoo on his wrist.]

You tell me, mate! I have no idea what this means but it's damn sure not a birthmark.

[His hands are up in a gesture of surrender.] Sure, alright! You do you. I'm just saying, panic's never helped anyone.

OK, see, that's the same as mine. [Zelos's own tattoo is on his shoulder, as he shows the pirate next.] I asked around, it's about transforming things into other things, or... changing things. I dunno, no one really agrees. A friend of mine has this one too, and she can make light in her hand. Don't ask me what that has to do with transformation, but there you go. See? So relax.

Here's a much more important question for you. What do you mean, you have gills?

Accident.

[Conan had discovered his own talent while trying to do something entirely different, and was still rather resentful of the entire thing.]

What kind of accident? You can't take the time to answer me and not give me details! Does it have to be a lethal accident?

[... Zelos no.]

It wasn't. I was just thinking about something else, and I suddenly noticed it happening.

Noticed what happening!? I don't get it! Is it all a big secret? How come everyone knows except me?

An illusion appeared. Because apparently I can use illusions now.

[Said with a lot more sourness than you would expect from a kid announcing he had superpowers now.]

Maybe you've already used whatever it is you have, and you just didn't notice.

An -- illusion?

[Huh. Maybe the kid's got a point.]

What were you thinking about? Magic? Food? Pretty girls?

An apple disappeared. And isn't invisibility just another kind of illusion?

[That earns one of Conan's patented "are you an idiot" looks.]

An interesting case.

Edited 2018-05-31 02:08 (UTC)

[Conan's "are you an idiot" look gets an identical one in return, saying something like "no, are you?"]

I don't get it. A bookcase? A display case? Why would you be thinking about books?

[Wait.]

Did the apple reappear?

A murder case. [Conan's answer came bluntly.] I run across a lot of them.

Of course it did. I wasn't about to leave an invisible apple sitting around.

[Conan has the questionable position of being the first person yet to be able to make Zelos utterly forget about the Talents.]

A murder case? [Squiiiiiiint.] Right. You're way too young to be doing anything with the Sentry. Are kids guards where you come from? What's the point of that?

I'm a child detective. [He delivered the line in a bored manner. How many times had he had to explain this now.] Back home I live with a famous private detective. I assist him and the police on cases.

[Shrug.]

I still haven't figured mine out. I guess it'll happen eventually. What's the big rush?

The big rush is that it's free magic, and I thought I was the only one who didn't get any of it.

[It would be something that was Zelos's alone, not mixed up in any of the angel or the Chosen crap, not magic usually only elves could use given to him because he ingested aionis. Something new. Something his. And if being an angel screwed with that somehow...]

Wait, what kind of tattoo do you have?

I haven't bothered. It's just something else to complicate things, and my life is complicated enough.

...though I suppose it wouldn't be a bad skill to cultivate, considering.

I heard you can make a lot of money off of it in those contests next month if you've got skill to brag about.

[Which may or may not be one of Zelos's motivations. He used to be rich. As rude awakenings go, this one hasn't been too terrible, but there's always a part of the boisterous redhead that longs never to have to worry about money again.

Mostly, though, it's about feeling left out. So it's oddly helpful to see someone else who has no idea what their talent is either.]

Besides, how do you know we won't need 'em? Remember that big evil whatever-its-name-was from Keeliai? Malicious? Malevolent? And then the Dreaming picks us up, pops us here, and gives us magic. Doesn't really sound like a coincidence to me.

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[video] and now for something completely different

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