World's Cutest Direwolf
Terry was in full kid-in-a-candy-store mode. Big grin, eyes lit up, swaying side-to-side, the works. Getting demonstrations of a bunch of mysterious potions where nobody was going to attack him or be Severus Snape was exactly the kind of thing he'd hoped for when he took his first steps into this hidden world.
After a few moments of delighted indecision as he gave the weighty question the full consideration it deserved, he pointed at the same jar that held David's attention. "This one. The floaty blue things, what do they do?"
"Ah, good choice! These are some of m-my regents. Or ingredients. I go, um, b-back and forth on those," Annette picked up the jar and gave it a little twirl, causing the shards inside to move faster, shining with more colors as they caught the light from the windows. "A good number of my potions require pretty abstract c-concepts to create. Like songs, smells, and literal sunlight. This one here is a physical c-condensation of the feeling 'wonder'."
David approached his mother with a quick hop. "That jar came from me! From when we were in Disneyland!"
Annette nodded, smiling at David warmly. "Mmhm. Collected from right off your head. With permission, of course."
edited 25th Oct '17 10:03:27 PM by KeiranGold
Cephalopod Lothario
Alexander
Alexander took a moment while Ms Wagner stepped away to look at the children. It looked like they were getting along well. Bethany badly needed friends. If the Freeloader had to suffer a little to bring the two of them together...ah, well. Sacrificed.
Besides, the cat seemed to be enjoying the attention, when it wasn't terrified of being dropped or upset at being held wrong.
His attention was transfixed by the potions, however, when Ms Wagner returned. Magic was rarely boring, and he'd only met one or two alchemists in his life. Neither of them had explained anything of their craft to him, so this was all a bit new.
When her explanation came to a close, Alexander nodded, suppressing a smirk.
"So wonder...condenses? Like milk?"
It was very fanciful. And very strange. He wanted to dissect it, figure out how the hell it came together into a potion that did stuff. Right now, it was just poetry.
"What's next?"
edited 25th Oct '17 10:37:25 PM by DrTentacles
World's Cutest Direwolf
Terry would have made an excellent source of more of those blue things right then. "So, do they do things? Outside of the alchemy, I mean? Like, if you eat one of those shards do you feel wonder or explode or something?"
Annette set the jar back down on the table, where the twirling wonder settled back to a gentle roundabout. She tapped the lid of the jar twice. "Some emotions and r-regents can affect you if you touch them, if they're strong enough. But m-most things will vanish as soon as they're in the open air with no effect. Hence, the j-jars. They keep them bound in one spot and...lessen the l-likeliness that somebody will touch it and feel a random burst of a negative emotion." That and it was just neat having a shelf full of magical thingamabobs in her study at home. Even if she grew up with magic there was just something extra magical to being able to bottle lightning and put it on display. Like a proper witch from old fairy tales.
"Strong feelings like hope, anger, and sadness can fill a room if I d-don't bottle them up. I'm sure there are others like them, I've just only experimented with th-those three. So yes, eating a shard of wonder will give you w-wonder."
Though I think it'd be overkill, with that expression he's got. Damn I love showing off...
Her attention went to the jar of black ooze and the wallet still inside it, her lips curling into a little smirk. "Well, since we're on th-the subject of regents first, this one is a jar of liquid bad luck. This one will get into you and cause, um, t-trouble if it touches your skin, so I need gloves and droppers to handle it." Her smirk turned into a grimace. "Last time th-that happened my car got a flat tire on the way t-to pick David up from school, and I burned the pie I was making. It was not a fun afternoon."
David snickered at his mother's story.
edited 26th Oct '17 6:56:19 AM by KeiranGold
Jarl
"Yeah, the whole 'changing of the guard' situation didn't really help things, did it?" He brushed the last of the snowflakes out of his own face with a gloved hand. Maeve, the Winter Lady, was dead, replaced with a wizard and daughter of a Knight of the Cross. And this all led back to Chicago and Harry Dresden, because of course it did. The Summer Lady, who had barely reigned for a decade, had been replaced, too.
Fun times were had in Faerie, basically.
He looked back at de Goff's daughter. Yeah, he was fucking up royally this time around. Home invasions do that, I guess. Especially home invasions by wizard.
"Oh yeah, I could definitely use the help." He turned his head back to the living room.
"Can you come here for a sec? There's someone else here who wants to see you."
Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.
The Wildest of Ronins
"Ah. Tome trading. Yeah, that sounds much better then using the brush."
Leon went back to his meal not really having anything else to add. He had no knowledge of the mark after all, so its not like he could weigh in on how avid of a tome collector the man was. He glanced upstairs for a moment in the vauge direction of the dorm room he was staying in where the brush was resting in a circle. Once he had eaten it would probably be a good time to get a better grasp on what the brush was and/or could do.
Click Click Boom Boom
Cephalopod Lothario
Jarl
De Goff's daughter made a confused questioning noise, looking at the door like a scared animal, tears still streaking her face. After a second of indecision, she swiped at her face, wiping away the tears, and stood, her legs unsteady, moving like a sleepwalker.
She stopped at the door, hovering a few feet away from Jarl, still skittish around him, and looked Jack up and down, unsure of what to make of the small, rosey-cheeked boy holding a steaming pizza box.
Jack gave her a puckish grin.
"Allo! Je suis Jack. J'ai apporté de la pizza. Quel est ton nom? Tu as l'air triste." note
De Goff's daughter blinked, still staring at Jack disbelievingly. He grinned back, smile full of mischief, infectiously cheerful.
"Si vous n'êtes pas d'humeur pour la pizza, ça vous dérange si je...ça sent vraiment bon." Jack jerked a thumb to guesture at Jarl. Et si je connais ce gars, il a toujours faim." note Jack pattered, sliding open the bag, and opening a brown cardboard box to reveal a fresh, steaming cheese pizza. The smell was incredible. Next to Jarl, Tjalfe's stomach rumbled. Loudly.
Jack reached in, pulling out a slice. The moment he pulled it out of the box, it let off a puff of steam, and lines of frost crept across it, freezing solid into a pizza-sicle. Jack stared at it in annoyance, then slapped it on the doorframe.
The piece of pizza shattered like an upper-story glass window that had picked a fight with Bruce Willis.
"Ah mec, ça arrive toujours! Tu ferais mieux de prendre le reste rapidement." note Jack sighed, grave disappointment on his face.
De Goff's daughter started in surprise as the pizza shattered, looking back and forth between Jack, and the little pizza-shards on the ground. Then, after a moment, she snorted, a laugh dancing on the corners of her mouth. And after a second more, she snorted again.
That opened the floodgades.
An almost demented chuckle poured out of her throat, and tears started to poor down her face again, laughter and tears mingled.
"Je m'appelle Clara, je suis triste parce que mon père a disparu, tu peux entrer, peux-tu me dire ce qui se passe aujourd'hui?" note She choked out between laugh-sobs.
Jack grinned, shooting Jarl a thumbs-up behind his back, then stepped inside.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Wizards Two
Rollo gave a grunt of approval at Tim's elaboration, some relief in his demeanor that they weren't about to sell a priceless, haunted brush to a rich businessman. Such decisions were how supervillains were born.
"Collecting magical tomes sounds more like a hobby than a side-job, just by volume. Might be enough to get his interest, though."
With a heavy thump, he stood from the table, taking his plate and carrying it over to the sink.
"Just choose the right book, I guess."
Apparently considering the conversation concluded, he started to limp to the stairs.
"Students, thank you for breakfast. You have classes. You two—tell me if you need anything."
edited 26th Oct '17 6:24:16 PM by DrTentacles
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
Tim gave Rollo a deceptively soft smile. "Any suggestions for the proper literature?"
"You can reply to this Message!"
World's Cutest Direwolf
Terry shrugged. "Coulda been a lot worse from what I've heard about these things. Way people talk, bad luck mojo can cause some real Dead Like Me accidents." He frowned at the wallet. "Speaking of, the guy who owns that wallet is gonna, like, survive when you give it back, right? Killing humans with magic goes real bad real quick, I don't know if anyone's given you the rundown on that."
Cephalopod Lothario
Alexander
Alexander leaned back in his chair, trying to get comfortable, a frown lining his face as he tried to focus on the reagents. Empty night it was early for this kind of demonstration. And failing to pay attention would have made him a stupid employer. Which he was not. Thus far, it all seemed so...tame.
Ah. Bad Luck. That could a little bit more useful. A slight smirk curled his lips as he took a moment to imagine the possibilities. He could think of one or two people that would be fun to use on.
"I don't suppose you dropped a bottle of that in Vegas last year, Ms Wagner?" He quipped, leaning in to look at the wallet.
That's the...
He looked over at Terry, nodding to confirm his discovery.
Ah. Not so docile. I can't say I expected that. That poor man. I think that might be a bit of overkill, to be honest.
His smirk widened. Overkill or not, it meant Ms Wagner had malleable scruples, and magic that could benefit him.
Excellent.
"Keep the lid on that tight, please."
"I've never been west of Chicago, so no? And I know n-not to kill people with magic. That's rule number one." Annette would have crossed her arms and huffed at Terry is she weren't in the middle of explaining her favorite hobby. "It might look bad, but like I said my r-regents don't last very long out in the open. That bad luck won't stay concentrated for more than a week, maybe t-two. It may start out with something like...fingers getting caught in a door, maybe a scandal at the, um, h-hotel...but it'll tapper off to stubbed toes and forgetting keys or his phone n-near the end. Nothing deadly. I'd need it to sit for a month or so to g-get something like that."
Um, Annie, David is listening.
"Hypothetically." She added hastily, and was grateful that David had picked that moment to see if Freeloader would lick a dollop of whipped cream from off his nose rather than pay attention.
Good job. A+ demonstration of your humanity and parenting skill.
edited 27th Oct '17 2:57:28 PM by KeiranGold
Jarl
Jarl returned the thumbs-up, happy to let Jack take over as the proverbial icebreaker.
A Winter Fae acting as an icebreaker. The world is a weird and wonderful place sometimes. He couldn't help but let out a snicker when the pizza froze solid. Jack was a good kid, but he had so, so, so much to learn, still. It was weird, being the protector and servant of a guy who was, not to put too fine a point on it, greener than turtle shit.
"I'm Jarl, by the way. This is Tjalfe." He went to pet the large wolf. "We'll find you something to eat on the way back, boy, don't you worry." He turned his head back to Jack again.
"Hey boss, can you have someone watch the door?" He'd really prefer not having to tranq more cops. It made him look bad.
Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.
World's Cutest Direwolf
"Hypothetically, yes. I'll just hypothetically add that to my hypothetical list of reasons not to cheese you off," Terry said, sounding faintly impressed. There was steel in this one, that's for sure. "What about the swirly one with all the colors, what's that do?"
Cephalopod Lothario
Jarl
Jack left white, frosty footprints as he stepped into the house, looking around curiously before he answered Clara or Jarl’s questions. A look of wonder filled the child-fae’s eyes at the art, as though it was the first time Jack had ever seen such things. It was almost infectious.
“Jack?” Clara asked softly.
The boy blinked, returning to the conversation, a mittened hand rising the rub the back of his neck guilty.
“Pardon!” He exclaimed. “You can relax about the cops! That’s what the snowstorm’s for. It’ll die down after you’re out.”
Jack flashed Jarl a pleased grin, clearly proud of his cleverness, then, his expression a little graver, he turned back to Clara.
“Je pense que tu sais qui je suis. On dirait que le monde entier est devenu fou. Ce n'est pas vrai - le monde est toujours fou. C'est juste ta vie qui est à l'envers. Quoi qu'il arrive, cependant, tout ira bien. Promettre.” note Jack said.
As he spoke, Jack’s demeanor changed. It wasn’t as though he lost the air of a carefree ragamuffin he’d had before—but there was a weight to his words, clear blue eyes full of the memory of uncountable years, of numberless incarnations throughout history.
Clara sniffled, still shaken, tear-streaked, but no longer as lost as she’d been when Jarl arrived. It was as though Frost’s presence was an anchor for her, keeping her from floating off into her mind.
“Vraiment?” note
Jack stuck his tongue out, pointing a mittened finger at her. A little white flake of snow, shining like a gem, crystallized on the tip of his glove, and floated through the air, bursting at the tip of Clara’s nose.
“M'appelez-vous à un menteur? Je reste ici jusqu'à l'arrivée de ta mère. Elle est en route. Et croyez-moi - ce gros gamin ici? Il est un peu rude, mais il est le meilleur homme pour le travail. Et il est venu ici pour aider.” note
Clara sniffed again, then, off a sudden, collapsed forward into the young Jack’s arms, sobbing. Jack froze, looking awkward for a moment, and for that instant, Jarl could see Braden the human boy standing there. Then he wrapped his arms around De Goff’s daughter, and Jack Frost returned.
“Good work so far, oh Knight. I think any more talk is gonna have to wait. Get out there, and make some trouble.” He whispered over Clara's back.
edited 31st Oct '17 10:32:56 AM by DrTentacles
Cephalopod Lothario
Wizards Two
"Mmm. Don't know his personality. Something with a link to French history, or artifice seems safe." Rollo rumbled. "If dull. Gifts aren't my forte. This is your plan."
The Wildest of Ronins
"Well his company focuses on robotics, so maybe something about golems?"
Leon finished up his meal after his suggestion and started cleaning up. Once he was done assuming no one wanted him for anything else, he'd head back upstairs and start examining the paint brush.
Once up there, he broke the circle he had set up around the paint brush on the end table. Using his cloak as a glove he then moved it gingerly to the floor where he then set up a new circle with the iron chain around himself and the paintbrush. This way if any accidental magic did happen it would be contained.
He took a deep breath and did his best to center himself. The brush from what little he knew so far preyed upon errant thoughts and emotions. A nice calm focus was what he needed at the moment. Once he was reasonably in the 'zone', Leon picked up the brush with his bare hand, waiting to see what the brush would say this time.
edited 5th Nov '17 7:58:22 PM by Kosjurake
Click Click Boom Boom
Annette's expression softened a little, her smile becoming fuller as she picked up the little colorful vial and uncorked it. "This one is one of my f-favorites. It's a...well, actually, this one is safe t-to give a full demonstration of. Hang on." Giving the hotel room a once over, Annette moved over to where the couches and the glass end table were. It wouldn't do to get this stuff soaked into a carpet after all. She bent herself over the end table and cleared away a few coasters and magazines that had been left out for guests and with a steady hand held the vial just a few inches from the glass. She let enough drip onto the glass that it pooled into a brightly colored puddle no bigger than a coaster.
David, who'd been watching again eagerly, gave a little squeak of anticipation.
And then bubbles began to burst forth from the puddle. Bubbles of all sorts of bright, happy colors, ranging in size from a tiny soap bubble to perhaps as large that a child could fit inside it. They bounced around the ceiling and floor and furniture and kept filling up the room until they couldn't anymore, but it never became so full of bubbles that moving was hindered or difficult. And everything smelled like flowers. David burst into delighted giggles and put Freeloader down gently before running into a mess of bubbles, letting them bounce off his arms and head as he spun in a circle. Annette pushed a large orange one out from her face with her hand, grinning at Alexander and Terry.
"Unpoppable b-bubbles, anyone?"
World's Cutest Direwolf
Terry gave an exceedingly manly and dignified squeal of glee, batting the bubbles around in happy fascination. "This is some Willie Wonka shiii- stuff. Drunk Alex hired Willie Wonka, he's smarter than I thought. Actually," he frowned in contemplation, "how unpoppable is unpoppable? If these things can turn a knife, that could be very useful for our more, uh, exciting activities."
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
Tim frowned. "I can - if you want to be crass about it - 'fake' a suitable book." he allowed, rubbing his bearded chin. "I'd need a blank book, some ink, a few other ingredients and a workspace to do some magic, though."
edited 1st Nov '17 4:41:47 AM by 3of4
"You can reply to this Message!"
Jarl
Jarl sucked in a deep breath, seeing it come out again as cold mist. He really didn't like leaving now. This was a mess he'd helped cause, he felt like he should help fix it.
Then, for a brief moment, he saw Braden in the features of Jack Frost, and he relented. The kid was going to do fine. He'd been trained for this. Jarl hadn't. He'd been trained to make sure Jack could do his job without a knife at his back.
"Yeah, I think so. Swing by Rollo de Normandie's house when you've got the time, boss. Just give me a heads up so I can get you back for that 'oaf' comment." He smiled and gave a two-fingered salute to both Jack and Clara, stepping out into the whirling mass of snow with Tjalfe at his heels, the information he'd gathered from the de Goff manor in his pocket, speeding off down the nearest street to get back to the others.
Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.
Cephalopod Lothario
Alexander
Well, that was some tonal whiplash. From bad luck curses to...bubbles.
Alexander let out a half-amused, half-exasperated sigh, at Terry's excitement. Bubbles? Really? This was a job interview. Though he supposed he'd already, technically given her a job. Still. The squeal Terry had made was just uncalled for.
Next to David, Bethany's attention was torn away from the cat, and she gave a matching squeak of wonder, dropping from her chair and moving to poke at the bubbles, eyes wide with wonder and curiosity. Alexander mentally braced himself as she started to rattle off a rapid-fire chain of questions to David and Ms Wagner.
"What are they made of? How many can you make? Couldtheyfillupthewholeroom? Canyoueatthem?Can Ihavethem?"
Alexander sighed, about to ask Bethany to give Ms Wagner some space.
Hmm.
Wait a moment.
Ms Wagner had said had said they were unpoppable, right?
Alexander glanced over to make sure the children weren't paying attention, then turned away from the group, grabbing a bubble, sliding his switchblade out of his pocket, and attempted to stab it.
edited 5th Nov '17 3:23:09 PM by DrTentacles
Cephalopod Lothario
Wizards Three
Michele was curled on one of the living room-couches when Jarl returned to Rollo's abode, a book with a brightly-colored cover depicting swirling lines of energy, and a figure brandishing a sword high in the air. A warm fire roared across from her, a blessing after the cold walk to and from De Goff's manor. It was late afternoon, by now—the day had grown warmer, by only by a little, dark, thick clouds gathering overhead, the earlier frost turned to a cold, damp mist that soaked through to the bone.
In the next room, on the pull out couch that also served as her bed, Jarl could see the silhouette of Fortune. She was bent over a table, working on something, but he couldn't tell what.
Michele flipped him a wave.
"Salut, Jarl. How goes? My class was canceled today—something about a missing Professor across campus." Her voice was deadpan, no resentment toward his part in De Goff's disappearance, a faint sparkle of amusement in her eyes. "You look soaked. There's tea and coffee in the kitchen. The tall one's in the basement—he set up a makeshift workshop, something about books, and the American is in his room."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Upstairs, somewhat prior to this, the brush came to life as before in Leon's hand, an electric tingle coursing through his flesh. There was no voice—not like the last time. Instead, he could still a sound. A faint, rhythmic roar. The sound you hear when you sudden become aware of the blood pulsing through your body, the pump and rushing of your pulse in your ear.
Thump.
Thump.
The sensation intensified, the creature within the Linthe brush aware of him, trying to rifle through his emotions, his mind, his self. To get a sense of who he was. But Leon was ready. He was in control.
The sound changed.
From a pulse, to the steady rush of ocean waves.
A scene formed behind his eyes, a long, tropical beech. Trees, lashing in the wind, as storm-tossed waves crashed on white sand. Above, heavy storm-clouds gathered, driven by the winds, fleeing the ocean.
A figure stood on the waves, shape like a man. It wavered—features unrecognizable, like a mirage. A shadow, carved from clouds and mist.
Sorcerer. This time you came prepared. I greet you.
The Wildest of Ronins
"Sorcerer? I know I'm young but I am a fully certified wizard. Still, greetings I suppose."
He focused on the mirage like figure, unsure of just what to make of it at the moment, but for now treating it as the spirit of the brush itself.
"So... what's your deal? Cause gonna be honest, a paint brush isn't at the top of my list as something to be turned into a magical artifact."
Click Click Boom Boom
Alchemy was so much easier for Annette to think about than herself trying to survive a zombie apocalypse. She pushed her plate of mostly finished pancakes a little further from her seat and stood up, a genuine smile shining through. "Okay! I'll go g-get what I have in my room and be right back. David, don't get the cat in the pancake batter."
Annette went back to her bedroom and took a few moments sorting through her suitcase and dufflebag. When was the last time she'd shown people her potions? College it felt like, though back then her talent had mostly been for fun and semi-legal activities. She'd grown up a lot since then. Mostly of her own volition. The fact that she wasn't carrying around a vial of those crass so-called "love potions" that she'd sold in freshman years spoke volumes by itself. Annette chuckled as she plucked a few vials from the dufflebag, a sports bottle from her suitcase, and a couple jars that had been put on her desk while she'd been working on her little project last night.
One of the jars, filled with a black, gelatin like substance, housed the stolen wallet of her previous hotel's manager, soaking in pure, unfiltered bad luck.
Okay, so maybe she wasn't as mature as she claimed.
Annette returned with her hands full and yet managed to still set everything down at her prior spot at the table without making a racket of plastic and glass clanging against the wood. "Here! These are j-just a small selection that I brought, um, with me. I can make more, though most of th-the potions not on me are in b-beta. Or are just sort of useless wh-when traveling."
The two vials were very different in apperance: one a clear, foggy liquid and the other a swirling syrup of colors. The sports bottle held something dark red like wine. Lastly, aside from the jar of black goo that the wallet was soaking in there was a collection of little blue shards, almost like sand or tiny pieces of glass, but they drifted about in the jar rather than staying settled at the bottom. David's attention went to that jar in particular, a glimmer of familiarity in his eyes.
"So...wh-which one would you want to see first?"
edited 24th Oct '17 6:25:57 PM by KeiranGold