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

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

🧙 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!

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[ Minako is definitely no green mage. Nor an animal mage. She definitely isn't the most suited for the task. But the quest board did mention that anyone could come out and do something, so she's here all the same - and, at the moment, trying to help work on a fence.

A fence that happens to be near the tree Machi is working on. So when she suddenly hears a familiar voice speak up, Minako glances up from the fence, wiping some sweat off her forehead, and letting out a loud 'WOOOOW' when she spots what's going on there. ]

Machi-chan, looks like you made things a little.. fruity!

[ She's helping. Look at this dumb grin on Minako's face. ]

[It's a library, with a big ol' forbidden section right there just asking to be tampered with. Who can possibly resist that?!

Which is to say, Machi isn't the only one hanging out oh-so-casually in the rose garden today with a suspicious glow about her. Kadoc's own faint glow had been a slightly gloomy blue just a moment ago—but when he unexpectedly bumps into someone else in the same predicament, it brightens to the red of embarrassment, then fades to the pinker red of amused embarrassment. Great minds, huh? The magical glow is definitely the most colorful thing about this pale boy dressed all in black and grey.]

Sorry. . . . At least we both know exactly what we're doing here, huh.

[Machi turns a momentary flat look in Minako's direction, doing her utmost to look unimpressed by the joke.

... Even she can't help but huff out an amused breath though.]

It's budding with possibilities.

[Ugh, she almost hates herself.]

[He's such a stark contrast against the greenery and his own shade of pink that Machi can't help but be doubly-surprised. Her hue of embarrassed faint red darkens and then turns into a soft shade of yellow, something like a pastel. Is she... curious? Intrigued? Both of those would be good guesses.

At least until rosy tints of red rise up again. She seems like the time to vacillate between emotions even as her expression shows something like displeasure.]

... It's not exactly fair when there's an entire section of it.

[Yep, same exact reason.]

[Huh, would you look at that. Kadoc stares a moment too long at the shift; the truth is, he's been glum and irritated since he got put off from the library, so he hasn't actually witnessed the color change yet until now. His own hadn't gotten his attention, but hers does. That can happen? What does it mean . . . ?

Of course that just shifts his own color again, and this time he notices, looking down at his faintly glowing arm in surprise. Now he's the one glowing a sort of pale, electric lemon yellow. Whoa.]

It's—I had no idea this happened. What is this, a mood ring or something? Like I needed insult added to injury . . . I just wanted to see what they cared that much about hiding in there.

[Oh, a mood ring. Machi has no experience with those but she vaguely knows of them. She glances down to her hands that are now mellowing out into a sort of neutral blue-gray. An even temperament maybe?]

Mm. It's embarrassing, isn't it.

[At least for her. She barely knows her own emotions after all.]

That's probably the point.

[Now he's watching himself, observing how his own hands turn from just yellowish to a more orangey glow—so, mixed with red. Embarrassed. That tracks. There's something about having embarrassment pointed out that makes one more aware of it, and with that, more embarrassed . . . at least if you're the self-conscious type Kadoc is.

But he is also the type to take interest and be curious about things, so the yellowy base remains.]

When it first happened, I thought it was just so any security around could spot us more easily. But it's probably more like embarrassing us into thinking twice about pulling that again.

[ There's a brief moment where Minako looks surprised. Mostly that Machi went along with her joke in the first place.

But then a grin spreads on her face, even wider than the one from a moment ago, and she laughs heartily as she runs over in the other girl's direction, giving her the biggest smile the moment she's next to Machi. ]

Hey, hey, do you think we should pluck some of the fruit? If we leave it all up there, branches may start to break off because of the weight!

[Machi has thought as much. It made her stand out like a sore thumb inside... and out here too honestly. It was much easier to hide amongst greenery and red roses than it was shelves of books where other eyes were more apt to see you though.

...But. Well.]

The barrier is more effective. If you're tagged like this once you might as well walk through. Not everyone gets embarrassed.

[Or that made sense to her at least.]

[Ah, Machi hadn't even considered that! Her brow readily furrows and the glance she throws up to said laden branches is honestly worried. Maybe she's a little softer inside than her exterior? No, that's sort of a given.]

We probably should.

[...]

I went a little too far again.

[Had she messed the poor tree up too badly? She knew next to nothing about plants really. Maybe she should study up on them more?]

No kidding.

[He lets out an amused little breath that isn't quite a laugh, but it's definitely smiling, even if it's with a lightly scoffing sort of undertone. Boy, are some people here ever not embarrassed by anything, apparently.]

I bet we'll see a network post within the hour. "Hey everyone, I tried to break into the forbidden section of the library, and now I'm glowing. How cool do I look right now?"

[ Minako takes a step forward, like she's ready to climb up this tree herself to get that fruit down, but then she hears the second part of what the other girl says.

That gets her to stop moving immediately, instead walking back towards Machi with a concerned expression on her face. ]

Don't worry about it. We're all new to this place's magic, right? [ To some extent. ] Of course some stuff is going to go wrong sometimes!

[ She smiles, shaking her head. ]

But that just means we have to fix it!

[Parties aren't really 2B's thing, and this is exactly what she would call it. A large gathering of people might as well be that, especially when she catches sight of the baths. She's far from an expert on what human baths should look like, but from what she does know, it isn't this. This is extravagant, obviously fit for a king, but the slides...?

She winces when someone comes piling out, splashing and sending water up to the edges of the pools, and 2B can feel the droplets against her face next to Machi.]

Are these common? Slides in baths?

[Her voice is sharp, laced with frustration, as she wipes away the water from her cheek and the front of her simple, one-piece black bathing suit.]

It seems unnecessary for their purpose.

[Ah yes, the spray of water. Machi swipes droplets from her face as well but she's not near as frustrated as 2B sounds.]

Not at all. In fact, it's ridiculous.

[And yet here she is in front of one in a supposed "bath".]

This place seems full of odd things though.

[Abilities, familiars, you name it. It's one odd thing after another and Machi isn't sure if she won't be wore out of seeing weird things before too long.]

[... That's right. Things can be fixed, can't they. They aren't doomed forever just because of one misstep or mistake.

Nearby where some other trees are being worked on someone's actually thought to bring a few bigger baskets just in case. They're painted edges catch Machi's eye from where they sit in the green grass.]

We'll probably need some sort of ladder...

[Or step stool at least?]

[Machi blinks a little at his reply, blending back to yellow again. He's dry and scoffing but it's interesting to hear a joke like that out of someone so... tired looking? He's got a look about him that's very familiar somehow.

Instantly though she thinks of Kakeru though. That network post sounds exactly like something he'd so and she looks tired at the thought.]

I'm very glad my brother isn't here.

Oh, Machi-chan! You sometimes say the funniest things!

[ .. not that Machi said anything funny, mind you. No, that is a very normal and sensible suggestion, yet to Minako it somehow seems to come across as.. a joke..?

She even waves a dismissive hand. ] If you just make sure to have something to catch the fruit with, I'll throw it down!

[ Is she implying she will just climb into that tree by hand?

Yes. Yes, she is. ]

[... Funny? For a moment Machi is well and truly mystified until Minako mentions throwing fruit and then she looks stunned.]

Are you going to climb the tree?

[Wait, it's obvious. She's going to climb the tree!]

You can't just climb a tree!

[Kaoru had also worn a swim suit but mostly because she's sure the whole 'no bathing suits' rule is more of a Japanese tradition than a Western one. And you know what Minamoto and other smart people would say: when in Rome...

She's also looking at the water slide with an impressed look.]

But it looks fun, right?

[She laughs before she reaches out to take this girl's hand. Hi, she doesn't know you but she's pretty much acting like this because that's just how she rolls.]

Want to go try it together?

. . . Lemme guess. Because he's that type? I know a few of them myself.

[By now, Kadoc's own glow has settled into that yellowy pink of curious amusement, and he halfway stops noticing it. You do get used to it once you know what's going on. He'll never manage to be someone who takes things entirely in stride, but being here has been an exercise in adapting in all kinds of ways.]

I'm a little jealous of them once in a while. Imagine being that shameless. I mean, I can't, though. Imagine it.

[More than you know, Machi. More than you know.

2B is silent while she watches another person climb the stairs up to the slide, and she hums low in the back of her throat, mentally preparing herself for another wave of water to come at her.]

I don't understand.

[And here they come, back down and into the pool.]

What's the point? Is it just for fun, or does it serve another purpose?

[AKA: what the hell even is a waterslide???]

[ Blink. ]

Why not?

[ Said so casually. Like it's a totally normal question. Why can't she climb the tree, Machi? What problem exists here? She doesn't know. ]

I am happy you are here again. [ Gawain states, his foots steps are light and he is not wearing his armor. Instead he wears something casual but along his shoulders is his cape. ] The Flowers here find themselves far more steady, when you are here to tend to them.

[ Gawain had noticed she was frustrated, and having come here to help tend to the flowers. He could not stop himself from passing by and greeting her rightly. ]

[Why -- Minako!]

What if you fall! You'll injure yourself!

[Yeah okay there are healers around probably but that's beside the point.]

[... Had she never seen a waterslide before? Machi hadn't in baths and had thought perhaps the other woman had never been in a public bath before but evidently she had never been to a waterpark either?]

Usually they're for fun. They're typically around pools and waterparks though.

[Then again given the size of this place... it's more of a waterpark, isn't it.

Another resounding wave, another near drenching. Pushing now wet hair out of her eyes Machi offers:]

Would you like to try it?

[Normally Machi herself would never go on the slide. She wasn't quite ready to dive into something like that alone. If 2B came along though...]

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

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IV. DON'T TREEP, MAN;

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