Posts by Madrigan

pvrisienne Accepted! She already looks like a lot of fun (and trouble ^.^)

goth angel Thanks for the interest! looking forward to your character.

Lucas didn’t immediately follow when Evan went inside, giving himself a moment to breathe, leaning against the stone railing just outside the door. He hadn’t sounded as angry, somehow, and Evan saying good night had to have been a good sign. Right? Plus, he hadn’t indicated that he wanted the ginger gone, tonight. Or... Or had he? Is that what he’d meant when he said he needed time to process? Shit. He’d always been bad at reading people, and Evan’s last, vague words hadn’t made it clear whether he should stay or go.

Glancing down at the aluminum elephant in his hands a little forlornly as he tried to make a decision, Lucas let out a deep sigh and raised it up to his face, his lips just barely touching the metal creature.

“Vita perpetua,” he muttered, the energies inside of him coalescing, passing into the elephant via his lips. The aluminum rippled again, sparks running along its surface, and then stilled just as quickly as it had begun. Except, this time, the elephant shuddered again a moment later, and turned its little head to stare at Lucas. It’s second action was to raise its trunk and trumpet at him excitedly, though the sound resembled a tiny little flute far more than it did a trumpet. Lucas allowed a small smile down at the newly animated construct, and then crouched down to put it on the ground.

“Don’t go far. I’ll need you to keep an eye on him for me from now on,” Luke told the elephant, which trumpeted again, as if in agreement. Then it turned and trotted away, snuffling around at the ground in open curiosity.

Ultimately, Lucas decided that, if Evan had wanted him to stay away from the apartment all together, he would have said so. Time to process could have meant a lot of things, one of which was just to give him space, which Luke could do while also sleeping in his own bed. So he went inside as well, taking the stairs up two at a time, like he always did, and making his way to the apartment. Opening the door as quietly as he could and going inside, Lucas went into the kitchen first, leaning against the counter and closing his eyes for a moment.

Everything was going to change, now. Even if his roommate at first didn’t want anything to do with the Circle, Evan’s curiosity would get the better of him; It had tonight, and it would again. And Lucas couldn’t exactly just keep hiding what he was doing; So Evan was definitely going to be seeing some spellwork being done. Lucas had his own tests coming up in his mundane classes, after all. Evan probably wasn’t going to be super pleased when he saw how easy it was for Luke to fake his way past those classes, but he’d have to live with it. Most Circle members tended to split their focus between ordinary college and their studies of the Art, but Lucas’ focus was laser-like; And he’d advanced faster through the Circle than basically anyone else, as a direct result.

When Lucas opened his eyes again and went over to the pantry cupboard to get a snack, he noted Felix watching him warily from the other room. He looked quite unamused.

“Oh, get over it. You looked good in neon green anyway,” Lucas muttered, giving the cat an annoyed glance as he retrieved a bag of chips. Felix didn’t particularly like that idea either, apparently, because the cat flicked his tail, turned around, and padded away without a second glance.

Lucas returned to his own room, another small smile appearing on his face when he saw Holly sleeping there. He would have been happier if he could close the door, give Evan as much privacy and space as he could without leaving, but Holly would likely want to leave at some point while Lucas was sleeping, so he kept the door cracked just enough for her to escape when she chose to. The red-head stripped down to his boxers quickly and climbed into his bed, settling onto his back and staring up at the ceiling.

The Supremus had specifically ordered that Evan not be mind-wiped, and, furthermore, that Lucas try to actually recruit him. SHe never got involved in trivial affairs like this; And Lucas had the sinking feeling that there was a very specific reason, even if he didn’t know what it was yet. What he did know, however, was that Evan was about to embark on a journey into a world very much unlike his own; Whether he wanted to or not.

And the other man had no idea just how dangerous all of this could be.

OOC: Your move, friend. ^.^

Tracking!

agara

Quick question; Do you think Alexander would know about how much Nathaniel has managed to learn about the court over the years? Given that the young prince doesn’t seem like the type to be that invested in court intrigue and politicking, maybe he could use Nate as a way to avoid a lot of the drama? Plus, information is power. And also leverage.

It was probably around seven-thirty or so that Lucas woke up as well, a shiver of something slithering across his skul, disrupting his peaceful sleep. But, when he reached out for it with his senses as he regained consciousness, there was nothing there. Figuring he must have imagined it, or perhaps that a bad dream had intruded on his rest, the young man forced himself to get up, as much as he just wanted to go back to sleep. His wards hadn’t been tripped; Which meant there was nothing wrong. Still, he doubted he would be able to go back to dreamland, so he forced himself to rise and shine, properly.

Normally Lucas would have just wandered out into the living room in just a pair of sweatpants, yawning his head off and hoping fervently that Evan was both up and had or was going to make breakfast. And, judging by the smell of pancakes filtering through the house, this morning he had; But Luke wanted to be on his best behavior for awhile, and that did not include his usual routine of trying to bum food off of his roommate just now. So he threw on a t-shirt as well before heading out his door cautiously, feeling a bit like he had when he was a kid and he was sneaking into the kitchen to nick a cookie from the jar. When they’d been able to afford them, of course.

“Uh, hey,” Lucas muttered once he reached the kitchen and he spotted Evan sitting at the table studying. He opened his mouth to say something else, but then shut it again, coloring a bit. Shaking his head slightly, as if to tell himself off, he went over to the fridge and pulled it open, frowning at the contents... Though he did notice the ward stone sitting on the counter.

“Someone made you a ward stone. Good,” Lucas chanced saying, hoping Evan wouldn’t be totally averse to even just a single reference to what had happened last night. At some point Luke would have to tinker with Evan’s stone, connect it to his own wards as a precaution. But now wasn’t the time to go explaining to Evan why he would need magical wards around himself now. Time enough for that a little later once he was in a more receptive mood.

Normally when Lucas got up and Evan wasn’t here, or still asleep, he would just temporarily animate the coffee maker. A few choice sparks of magic into the coffee brew did wonders for the taste, it could almost be considered artisanal... But just suddenly using magic willy-nilly around Evan probably wasn’t the best idea right now, so he settled with setting it up manually, punching a few buttons on the machine to set it brewing.

“Just give me a minute, and I’ll get out of your hair,” he added, knowing that Evan needed to do some studying given that he’d been unable to do it last night. Not at any reasonable hour, at least. Though Luke may not have done much studying for his mundane classes, he’d pulled quite a full all-nighters himself in his room with a privacy enchantment up to make sure Evan didn’t try coming in at an awkward time. Of course, Lucas had been studying something rather different, but the slog was often very similar. A lot of memorization and heavy reading.

OOC: I was thinking about that, and, though I know what I want to do in the long term, I have a few ideas for the short-term too; For today (in the RP) Luke and Evan should probably talk a little bit before he leaves for his exam. Said exam is not exactly going to go how Evan imagines, however. ^.^ I figure something will either happen during the exam, or his teacher will be acting very strangely, and Lucas is going to have to intervene.

agara Got it. Alexander is probably going to be the only one Nathaniel trusts, and he’s certainly not the kind of person who would use what he knows on his own. I like the idea that they protect each other by sharing information, so each knows how to stay out of the poisonous court culture.

eden. I can tell you right now that Nate will have a crush on Ishmael (largely because I have a massive crush on Marlon Teixeira xD), though he’s unlikely to ever say anything about it.

pen. I think I’d like to take the Queen’s Nephew as well as Whipping Boy, if that’s alright with you?

Was there a stage somewhere beyond awkward? Because that was what Lucas felt they’d reached. Mortifying? No, that was more like the next level of ashamed... And, as guilty as Lucas did feel for having hurt Evan, he wasn’t ashamed. He’d kept quiet for very good reasons, and those reasons still applied, even if silence was no longer an option. Well, not in the long term, at least. Short term, every word exchanged was beginning to feel like the drop on a particularly crazy rollercoaster. Hope lives ever on, however, as, miracle of miracles and without warning, Evan basically invited Lucas to have some breakfast just as the red-head was taking his first sip of coffee.

“Oh, thank God,” he muttered under his breath, wasting no time in grabbing a plate and a fork from the cupboard and heading over to the table, sliding into one of the chairs diagonal to Evan, so the other man could more easily avoid looking at him, which seemed to be Evan’s new go-to move since last night. It had always been so easy before, like they’d just... Clicked. Now, even this small amount of contact was jarring, and Lucas didn’t like it.

Taking a huge helping of pancakes from the plate, Lucas dug in happily. He could honestly just live on Evan’s cooking forever, and be utterly content. Food preparation was one of the things that magic really couldn’t do; Adding flavor to coffee was one thing. Preparing meals was quite another. Any food cooked with magic came out tasting like something totally different; Hell, Lucas had tried to create lobster once, and it had ended up tasting like potatoes. Like, what? How did that even work? Magic could be a conundrum, sometimes.

“Thanks,” he mumbled inbetween chewing and swallowing one bite and taking another, his dark eyes flicking to Evan for a moment before he refocused his attention on his plate again. Pancakes were love, pancakes were life; But in this case, pancakes were also progress. Every little bit helped.

“I, uh... I know you have that exam, today, but... Maybe when you get back later, we can talk about this?” Lucas asked hesitantly a minute or two later, glancing up at Evan again. “You know, only if you want to. If you don’t, that’s totally okay too, I understand. There’s no, um, rush, or anything!” he added quickly before Evan could reply to his question, backpedaling from a perceived push on his part. The last thing he wanted was to get his roommate wound up again and suffer through another tongue-lashing like last night.

Lucas had never been forced to explain his alternate life to anyone before. Everyone he’d ever known, before last night, had either already known about magic, or had been completely in the dark. He honestly had no idea how he was even going to begin to get Evan to understand what he’d been doing with his life for the last four years. The Liber Speculum would help, obviously, but still... And, yet, there was a part of Lucas that was actually looking forward to it, he realized with not a small amount of surprise. One of the best ways to learn a subject more thoroughly was to teach it, after all. Would Evan have the same level of sheer fascination with the Art as Lucas first had, when he’d been recruited four years ago? He supposed only time would tell, but he very much hoped so.

OOC: I know, it’s both adorable and exhausting at the same time, especially because even though Evan is the one just learning about a magical world, he’s not the only one in totally uncharted territory here.

P.S. Also I spent, like five minutes staring at the gif I’m using for Lucas, and I’ve suddenly decided that it’s actually kind of creepy, so I’m changing it. XD

eden. Oh, agreed, Nate would likely just be another wall fixture as far as Ishmael is concerned. It would be fun if some random event or coincidence caused him to notice Nate in some capacity, though, because I can easily see him becoming massively sidetracked by the more juicy subplots of the royals interacting with each other, so a means of bring him into more than just Alexander’s personal orbit would be cool.

pvrisienne Absolutely! I doubt Gabriel and Clarissa would get along very well given that he’s the current Queen’s nephew, and very close to her besides. She would probably see Gabriel as having ridden on the coattails of her mother’s hated replacement. I doubt she would even know or care that Nate exists, beyond that he’s always with Alexander.

However, I do like the idea that Gabriel and Liviana could be using each other for their own ends. Gabriel uses Liviana for information on the King and others in court life, and Liviana uses him as a means to both keep the Queen sidelined and her position secure. They’re fair-weather friends, in every sense of the term.

pen. As for Charles, I know he’d probably ignore Nate just like (pretty much everyone else, poor baby) Clarissa and Liviana, but he’d definitely have a relationship with Gabriel, yeah. Do you think Charles would care one way or the other about Gabriel’s influence at court, given that he has absolutely no claim to the throne? I’m thinking we can either do a rivalry there, the obvious choice, or they could actually be friends if you like. Gabriel really does care about Reynes, much like Charles. Although the Prince’s dislike of “brown-nosing”, which Gabriel has had to do a fair amount of, might nix that.

eden. Sounds like a plan! Once the roleplay actually started, we can decide on whether Nate approaches Ishmael, or vice versa, for whatever reason seems appropriate at the time. ^.^

agara It might also lead to a better relationship between Alexander and Ishmael, if the latter and Nate start spending time together, as the shared connection would provide Alexander a place to start on getting to know his half-brother.

Desgusting I’m half in love with Marin already. The poor guy is going to have so much work to do with this group of deceitful, lustful, screwed up weirdos we have going so far. xD Y’all need Jesus, you hedonists!

pen. How do you think Gabriel and Charles will get along? Gabriel has absolutely no claim to the throne, and both he and Charles do honestly want what’s best for Reynes, but Gabriel is also majorly into the whole backroom politicking thing that Charles hates. They spent at least part of their childhoods growing up together, though, so maybe they’re not too antagonistic?

Lincolntown was not the kind of place you took your kids to on vacation. Not anymore, at least.

A story of exponential success for the first half of its existence, the town was originally built, as many such settlements in the American West began, as a mining town. Significant iron and coal deposits were found early on, and the boom that followed was something out of a Western film. A few modest homes turned into a bustling Main Street, and more and more residences spread outward from the center, like a ripple in a pond. The mines were rich, new businesses were moving to Lincolntown all the time, and, soon, there was even a railroad built running through town. But, eventually, all good things come to an end.

It would be hard to reconcile the idea of a thriving Lincolntown compared to today’s version; A rundown, dilapidated mess with little growth, no funding, and even less enthusiasm. Fires have gutted most of the old buildings, and, over the decades, they were replaced by grim concrete blocks, “modern” offices and apartment buildings. Lincolntown’s Main Street, once a go-to cultural center for towns from miles around, has become little more than a collection of dive bars, liquor stores, and shattered dreams.

This is the town you grew up in, and the town you worked so hard to leave behind. But no matter which way you look at it, our history has a tendency to catch up with us. Little else but a funeral could bring you back to Lincolntown, but that’s exactly what’s occurring; A funeral for your aunt Emma. But your childhood home isn’t what you remember; down every street and around every corner is something that shouldn’t be there. It all centers on the house; Your house.

Welcome home.

I figure we can go one of two ways; We can go full-on weird-ass supernatural tomfoolery, involving either the whole town or just your family, depending on your preference, or we can go with something more subtle, where a lot of it is realistic, just with supernatural influences and overtones. Or I suppose we could do away with supernatural entirely, but that’ll be harder to do I think. What do you think? Once we have the basics hammered out, I’ll create my character and we can start out with your character just getting back into town.

Okay, good, he’d said yes. Now he’d have a chance to really get into some of this stuff with Evan once he got back later. He’d have to be a little cautious, of course. This new world being a little overwhelming was inevitable, but Lucas didn’t want Evan to be thrown into the deep-end just yet. He’d start with the minor stuff; What magic basically could and couldn’t do, how people like Luke tapped into it, and things like that. Foundations were good.

Evan’s statement about studying with friends was almost certainly code for “I need to get out of here for awhile”, which, while a little discouraging, Lucas did understand. And, having no intention of pushing his roommate any farther than he had to yet, the red-head just nodded.

“Okay. Uh... Good luck, on your exam. I know Monroe can be a hard-ass with those things,” he replied, giving Evan a little wave and an attempt at his usually easy smile, which, while only partially successful, was something, at least.

“Definitely,” Luke agreed to Evan’s question about seeing him later. “I’ve got a few things to-... Um. A few incantations to memorize, anyway,” he went on after a moment, coloring a little as he almost, by sheer force of habit, obfuscated what he was really planning on doing. If Evan was going to trust him again, though, he had to start telling the truth about what he was doing on a day-to-day basis, and his own studies were a part of that.

Just before Evan was able to actually leave, however, Lucas just couldn’t help himself. He’d decided to do it later, but now, with Evan literally walking out the door, he found he didn't want to risk waiting. If something happened to the other man in the meantime... No, better to be safe when it came to Evan’s freaking life.

“Actually, hang on a second,” he said, rising from his seat and circling around the table to grab the ward stone that Evan had left on the counter. Holding it in his left palm, he tapped the stone softly with his right index finger, willing a connection between the object and himself. The rune on the stone flared into golden life instantly, and Lucas frowned down at it as he focused, quickly snapping his fingers and flicking his hand back down at the object. The air between his hand and the stone seemed to shiver for a moment, as if someone had dropped a pebble into a pond, and then both the air and the stone calmed down, leaving the latter looking no different than it had when he’d picked it up.

“I know I’m not really in a position to be asking favors, Evan, but I’d really like you to keep this on you,” Lucas said, walking over to his roommate and proffering the stone to him. “I can explain exactly why later, when you get back. Can you do that for me?” he asked hopefully. He’d connected the stone to his own personal wards, which would now extend around Evan for so long as the man had the stone on him. It was likely an overly cautious move, but, hey, better safe than sorry, right?

OOC: Thanks :P Poor Evan is in for a bit of a scare in a bit. (Muahahaahhaha)

Professor Monroe had a predilection for the dramatic, and he didn’t disappoint this time; The door to the classroom slamming open as the man strode inside like a soldier on a mission. Most of the students in the class glanced up at him, and most also tried to resist the urge to groan; Judging by the look On his face, this exam was going to be a particularly brutal one. The more relaxed Monroe was in class, the worse it generally was for his students... And he was looking positively serene.

“Hello, class. You know the drill for these things; You’ll have an hour and a half to complete the exam. There will be no talking during the exam, and if I see so much as the tiniest corner of a cell phone, I will kick you out and give you an F for the whole thing,” the dark-haired man announced, marching over to the whiteboard and turning his back on the class, collecting a marker and starting to write something on the board; Likely the rules, just in case anyone could possibly forget given how many times they must have done this by now.

He went on after a few moments of writing. “You should all be ready for this exam. If you aren’t, it’s entirely your fault for neglecting to study in favor of partying, or doing keg stands, or whatever it is you do these days. This exam counts for a full twenty-percent of your grade in my class, so hope to God that you-“

And then something odd happened; Monroe stopped. No, that’s not quite the right word. He didn’t stop so much as he just froze, as if someone had just flipped a switch somewhere inside of him. He just stood there, arm raised, marker in hand, doing absolutely nothing, totally and utterly still, for the next several long, awkward moments. A few nervous coughs sounded around the room, and a few students shivered a little as the temperature suddenly seemed to drop, weirdly. Finally one student got up the courage to say something.

“Um... Professor? Are you okay?” a petite girl who always sat near the front asked cautiously.

“Turn it off.”

The words seemed to have come from Monroe, but there was something very wrong with his voice, something empty, and cold, and eminently angry. The professor started to move again with an abrupt and almost jerky energy, his arm moving much faster than before as he started to scrawl on the whiteboard in large, messy writing, far-removed from his usually neat style;

Turn it off, turn it off, turn it off, turn it off, turn it off, turn it off, turn it off, turn it off. Over and over again.

“Jesus, is this a prank or something? I didn’t think Monroe had it in him!” a boy sitting near Evan said, amazed.

“Turn it off. Turn it off. Turn it off. Turn it off. Turn it off. Turn it off.”

Except now it wasn’t just Monroe, and it was no prank; The students sitting near the front had, even as the idea of a prank was being floated, stiffened just like Monroe had. And, out of their mouths, came the same three words on repeat, like a tape stuck on a loop. And then the row behind them started doing it too. And then the row behind that one. The voices grew louder, and louder, every moment more joining the chant, and, the closer to Evan it got, the hotter the ward stone in his pocket became. Evan felt no particular urge to start screaming about turning something off, protected as he was by Lucas’ wards, but with every passing moment the chant was growing louder as every other soul inside the large classroom succumbed in record time.

The whiteboard was covered entirely now, and Monroe had started to write on the walls to the side of it. The students were doing it too, using their pens and pencils to scrawl the words onto notebooks, their desks, textbooks and loose notes, the sound rising, twining with the cacophany of the chant that had now reached a fever-pitch. Within moments, even the students sitting right at the back, to the sides of Evan, right next to him even, were acting just as crazy as the rest of them.

And then bad became worse. Monroe finally stopped writing, though his chant never stopped, and he turned around to face the students. One might have expected a crazy look in his eyes, or perhaps some kind of weird smile or sneer. But the reality was even more terrifying; His expression was totally blank, his eyes utterly empty, as he began to slowly walk forward, every step taking him closer to Evan, his cold eyes fixed resolutely on the young man.

“TURN IT OFF, TURN IT OFF, TURN IT OFF, TURN IT OFF, TURN IT OFF, TURN IT OFF, TURN IT-“

OOC: The door will not open if Evan tries it, FYI. ^.^ I figured I’d let Evan freak out a bit, then Lucas will come to the rescue, if that’s good with you!

Gotcha! And that picture looks great, for sure. I think my character, Colin, could maybe have been a childhood friend of Sandy’s who never left town like she did? Or do you think he should be a member of her family (probably adopted, given that he’s very latino)? I suppose it also depends on whether or not you want a romance subplot. Let me know! ^.^

Awesome. One final question; What’s Sandy’s last name? I’ll go ahead and create her NPC family next, then do the first post.

@Mirror’s Edge Happens to all of us at one point or another, good luck with your stuff, hope to see you again!

Right, the Harpers are up on the first post! Let me know what you think while I get started on the first roleplay post. Also, how old should Sandy be, so I can make Colin around the same age? Like, twenty, twenty-one or so? Or a little younger?

You go ahead, so the first post is Sandy getting back into town.

The old swing set outside of the Harper residence had, like most things in Lincolntown, seen better days; It was mostly just a big monster of rust and lost childhoods by the time Sandy arrived back home that day. But, while it may not have been much of a swing anymore, it still made for a half-way decent place to sit, so long as you weren’t too worried about getting Tetanus, hence why Ethan and Colin were both sitting on swing seats. Better out there than inside, after all.

Colin glanced up from one of the swing seats as a car made to pull into the driveway, recognizing that blonde hair of the girl behind the wheel even before he saw her face. He would be glad to see her again, even if he’d been one of the people to help convince her to go. Unlike her family, Colin had actually encouraged her to get the hell out of this nowhere town; Even if he couldn’t have come with her.

Ethan leapt off of the swing and hurried over to the car, and immediately threw himself at Sandy in a huge bear-hug. He’d gotten both taller and bulkier than the last time she’d seen him. Came from playing football at Lincolntown High. Colin got off of the swings as well and wandered over, his hands in his pockets, giving her a small smile of welcome. He had to admit, acting as a buffer between Ethan and Mr. and Mrs. Harper was getting a little difficult when it was just him.

“I’m so freaking glad you’re back, even... Even if it’s not forever. Tragedy is supposed to, like, bring people together, right? But Mom and Dad are worse than ever,” Ethan groaned, giving her a huge smile once he pulled back from the hug.

“I think what your loving brother meant to say is; Welcome home, amiga,” Colin added, rolling his eyes at Ethan’s immediate decision to start complaining.

OOC: I figure everything should seem normal, at least for the first day or so that Sandy’s back. Starting tonight, things are gonna start going bump in the night. ^.^