it started out as a feeling; [open & closed]

[imperfectwish]

🧙 WHO: Machi Kuragi (imperfectwish) & others
⚔️️ WHAT: Catchall for August w/ TDM & quest prompts
🕒 WHEN: All of August
🗺️ WHERE: All over Camelot
⚠️ WARNINGS: None for now.


I. FRESH WATERS;

[This was what Machi got for her determination to explore, to help and to change for the better while here. When she had thought about change she had meant becoming more open, more honest, less abrasive perhaps. More confidence at the very least.

What she hadn't meant was a change like this -- tentacles and pointed ears. Not to mention the gills too! At first all she can do is look absolutely aghast at the very helpful nurse but she's shuffled off soon enough to find her own way back to the surface.

... Once she can figure out how to operate -- well, all of this. Did she have to have so many tentacles? They all seem to respond just fine but it's definitely a mental adjustment to go from two legs on land to eight or more tentacles underwater. She just seems so flustered by it all it's... kind of cute to watch in a way? Not her fumbling around but the stern frown and wrinkled brow that accompanies it all.

Help a girl out? Or at least don't get too offended when she outright bumps into you or one of her tentacles ends up grazing your tail / tentacles.]

II. OPEN HOUSE -- ROYAL BATHS;

[Though Machi hadn't quite expected water park levels of attractions going on here she had shown up in a bathing suit. Odd for a public bath? Maybe. But she had been more curious than wanting a bath to begin with so it seemed to make sense to her at the time.

She's sort of marveling at just how big the slide is though.]

... This doesn't seem suited for a bath.

III. OPEN HOUSE -- GLOWING COLORS & ROSE GARDENS;

[The library had been fascinating. Some of the books hadn't made much sense to Machi while others had been so dense she didn't think she could finish them anytime soon.
Could she check things out like a library back home? She wasn't sure and had ended up tucking all the books back after a glance over.

Then there was the forbidden section. Machi wasn't one to break rules typically but well... curiosity and all that. That was why she was out in the rose garden now, more or less hiding away among all the flowers -- at least until someone stumbles across her.]

Ah, pardon me.

[She's an entertaining shade of red. And not just her face either. The glow isn't blinding or deep but there's this subtle shade of red to her that can't help but be eye catching.]

IV. DON'T TREEP, MAN;

[When the call goes out for green mages Machi knows the right thing to do is go and offer her help. She's been trying her best in classes all month and succeeding rather admirably to be honest. She's a decent student back home and here she's become quite devoted to her new studies. Without the pressures of others to perform to a perfect standard she's found school is actually pretty fun, particularly the magic courses. Studying for them definitely isn't a chore for her.

She's still green with her green magic though and it definitely shows. On the first few days she's directed to the orchard given several people can work on the trees and such at one time. She's pouring herself into helping one of these trees alongside someone else when the tree just starts budding out fruit like mad on Machi's side. She flusters, quick to draw back her hands and stop herself, eyes wide as she glances upward.]

A little too much then...

[On some other days she's directed to the fields and there she's having a hard time getting anything to sprout. She looks rather frustrated too.]

V. WILDCARD;

[Feel free to leave other prompts under this. Plurk and PMs open for plotting!

Comments

[imperfectwish]

[Machi's expression abruptly flattens.]

I'm afraid I can't disassociate from my own personality that thoroughly.

[Her voice is so dry.]

[imperfectwish]

[Her hand? Snatched before she even much more than realizes it. Her cheeks? Turning pink, of course. Maci's gaze can't help but snap up to Kaoru's face. She doesn't look angry so much as thoroughly surprised.]

Ah... I ... suppose so?

[imperfectwish]

[... Eh? Machi glances up at the greeting, knelt by the side of one of the many barren crop beds. Was this one flowers? She wouldn't be shocked since she hadn't really asked what each plot was for.

He had said 'again'. Had he noticed her on the other days too then? In the next moment heat starts to creep it's way over her cheeks. She's not used to being noticed after all -- Yuki was the rare exception.]

Everybody is tending the flowers.

[Well that and the rest of the crops.]

[loyalbreed]

Indeed, the vegetables as well - no? The farmers here have a wonderful variety of land. It is good to see there are those capable of using magic coming to help. You aren't working too hard though Ma'dam, are you?

[ It was a mere reflective question, drumming a gentle conversation into light. ]

[reloves]

Aw, it'll be fine! There's just no way I'll fall!

[ .. partially since Minako is used to running and jumping across extremely tall buildings, but.. She's pretty sure she can't bring up that reason without seeming really weird.

Or worse, invite questions she's not too sure she should answer, considering how long the story behind it is. ]

Really, it's super sweet of you to worry about me, Machi-chan! But it's so much quicker than using a ladder, right? We'll be done here in no time if we work together like that!

[impostorsyndrome]

[That surprises a real laugh out of him, which he automatically covers with his mouth when it's louder than he expected. Ha!]

Yeah, I respect that. . . . Anyway, you were trying to get outta the way of people, so you don't need me hassling you. But I feel a little less mortified about it now, so, thanks.

[imperfectwish]

Absolutely not.

[Machi seems quite firm about that. Heck, she thinks she's probably doing too little to be honest.]

[imperfectwish]

[Mmmh. Minako does have a point about it being the quicker option. Machi finally concedes with this sort of weary, accepting sigh that she's practiced through the years with her brother.]

Alright then. If you'll climb up then I'll catch what you toss down.

[Or maybe shake down? Either way Machi goes to pluck up one of the nearby conveniently laid-out baskets and returns shortly to stand beneath the laden branches.

This is either going to go spectacularly or horribly.]

[imperfectwish]

[Hassling her. Machi tilts her head a little.]

I didn't think you were hassling me.

[Indeed he hadn't poked fun at her even once. Not even to say something outlandish just to draw a myriad of colors from her. That's what someone Kakeru would have done in the name of "amusement".]

[conciliant]

Uh...?

[2B's face suddenly flushes with colour, and she winces when the next splash comes, this one feeling bigger than the last. Or perhaps it's her sensory circuits overloading. A human... inviting her to do something "for fun". She isn't quite sure what to say to it, given that she never was someone who did things for fun, and had chided 9S for insinuating they do so many, many times in their travels and battles, but...]

... Sure.

[It would go against her programming to scold a human for suggesting it, which makes it even harder. Her lips turn upward into a small, shy smile.]

Will you go first?

[queenofminiskirts]

[How cute.

Her smile brightens.] Then let's go!

[She starts tugging on the hand she's holding.] I'm Akashi Kaoru! What's your name?

[reloves]

[ Minako seems so stoked that Machi agrees with the plan. Had she really been planning on not climbing up after all if the other had insisted? Who knows, but having permission seems to make her extra excited.

Which means that by the time the other girl has returned with the basket, Minako is already in the tree. As if she's somehow part monkey, able to climb a tree like this in record time. She doesn't seem too worried about being up there either - she just smiles down at Machi, flashing her a V-sign while holding onto the tree with her other hand. ]

Are you ready? I'll try to avoid hitting your beautiful head!

[impostorsyndrome]

I just didn't wanna intrude.

[He shrugs lightly, awkward, in the way of someone who is often awkward in his body language; his arms are folded loosely over his middle now, and the glow about him is redder.]

[imperfectwish]

[Would it make the other woman feel more comfortable if she did? Machi nods before she deeply thinks it through.]

It's only fair since I suggested it.

[Yes, perfect, that's her reasoning. Machi leads then around the main pool the slide seems to deposit everyone into. On the other side is the ladder she expected to find leading upward.

It's... surprisingly tall, isn't it. Or does it just look that way? Machi isn't precisely afraid of heights but it's somehow still surprising even though she's been looking at the end of the slide for a while now.

After a brief moment of hesitation Machi swallows her nerves and starts right on climbing upward.]

[imperfectwish]

Kuragi Machi.

[Here she is, once more being tugged along into something. Was it her fate to attract everyone with Kakeru-like energy in this place?

... She doesn't seem to exactly mind though.]

[imperfectwish]

[Look at her go! Minako kind of marvels at how fast she's gotten up that tree in the little time it took her to get a basket.

Her cheeks color at the 'beautiful head' bit but she seems to... plant her feet? Take a stance? She holds out the basket with this honest-to-goodness serious look on her face.]

You better!

[imperfectwish]

[Ah, red.]

Are you embarrassed?

[She asks it so bluntly too.]

[impostorsyndrome]

—There's no hiding it like this, huh? Yeah, a little.

[He is at least used to being called out bluntly on his feelings, even if it's been a while since he was back in his world where he got the worst of that. He barely even winces!]

But I'm just like this.

[queenofminiskirts]

What a cute and refined name! [She looks over and winks.] Perfect for a cute girl!

[Don't mind her too much she's always like this.]

[reloves]

Now that's the spirit! [ Minako says. She's beaming a smile so hard from up here that she's practically radiating like the sun.

But it's not like she's just lazing around, oh no. Machi looks so ready that Minako knows she has no choice but to immediately get started on this task - especially since there's not telling how long these branches can hold both the weight of all this fruit and of Minako herself..

So she starts to reach over to pick fruit off the branches, throwing them down one by one. ]

Incoming..!

[ She yells.

You know, just as a warning. It's like Machi is playing an entire videogame here, having to catch the fruit. ]

[imperfectwish]

[Machi feels only mildly bad for bringing it up. After all she had come out here to avoid anyone teasing her so... but she wasn't exactly teasing, was she.

She thinks she gets what he means though, at least in a way.]

Socializing is awkward.

[She pauses there, tinged a little pink now as she looks away to brush her bangs out of her eyes. Or more likely just to look away really.]

I've never been very good at it. I've never been sure how to be good at it.

[How did one "get good" at socializing? She had seen Yuki do it, seen him go from standing on the outer rings of social circles and then enter them with a smile more real than ever before.

... She could too, couldn't she? Maybe hiding in the rose garden wasn't the best way to accomplish that though.]

[imperfectwish]

[H-how can she not mind her?! With Kakeru it was one thing, she was used to him. This girl tugging her along though --

No, just remember how you treat Kakeru. She's the same as him.

... She can't outright punch another girl she barely knows! Instead Machi seems to settle on flustering brightly with the tightest look on her face.]

It's just a name.

[imperfectwish]

[Minako is such an enigma. Machi honestly does enjoy her company and her spirit but at the same time she'd like to grab her by the shoulders and shake her. So... yeah, much like Kakeru basically. Though for whatever reason she feels far more tolerant of Minako's shenanigans. Maybe because Minako isn't her brother? Was there some sort of hidden instinct to punch your brother when he got too out of hand?

Anything musing is cut off once fruit starts flying. And yes, it's just like a video game. Here Machi had thought she'd have a nice day of making things bloom and now she's quite literally dashing around for the fruit.

One finally does hit her in the head of course only to bounce right into her basket. She blinks for a moment, misses another because of it and then jumps back into action.]

Farming... must be hard work...

[Or farmers do this with some sense is more like it.]

[reloves]

[ Minako does notice the piece of fruit hitting the other's head. It makes Minako pause for just a moment - though she's already dropped a few more pieces of fruit before pausing, considering the delay! - and call out: ]

Are you okay?!

[ .. then again, Machi does still seem to be moving and catching the other pieces of fruit, so surely she's alright, right? Machi has seemed like a pretty tough girl so far, this is probably nothing to her..!

So Minako just keeps throwing fruit down, until she looks down and sees that the basket is basically overflowing with fruit at this point.

That's the cue she takes to just.. jump down. Climbing back down is for losers. And this way it's easier for her to be back with her feet on the ground in no time, so Minako can walk over towards the other girl, gently putting her hands on both sides of Machi's head and looking at the top of her head. ]

You didn't get a bump, right? Does it still hurt?

[impostorsyndrome]

I feel that. Some people are naturally talented in it, and then there's people like us. . . . Normally, I wouldn't let that stop me. Just giving up on things I've got a disadvantage in isn't my style. But socially? It's not as easy to just mimic what those people act like without coming off super fake.

[He has a moment, not for the first time, where he imagines himself trying to act like Pepe or something, and that's a terrifying mental image. The type of terrifying that brings another little smile to his face, but not because it's charming. More a smile of horror.]

I don't think I could keep it up for long.