isleofavalon | september catch-all

Entry tags:

september catch-all

🧙 WHO: yukari takeba and you, if you're so inclined
⚔️️ WHAT: sheep shearing, training, and drinking expensive seasonal drinks
🕒 WHEN: all of september
🗺️ WHERE: in and around new camelot
⚠️ WARNINGS: none so far but i'll tag anything if it pops up

a. shear determination

[ despite appearances, the outdoors is kind of yukari's thing. hiking, camping, sightseeing, whatever one can do in the untamed wilds of nature, she's done it. and at the end of a long day exploring the wilderness, she's always returned to her very urban home where people are required to keep pets on leashes when they're outside. living somewhere within a stone's throw of multiple farms feels positively unreal.

or at least it did before arriving in avalon. the shearing quest doesn't call out to her at first, but the offered reward sounds nice. very, very nice. plus, they barely come up to her knee if the images on AOL are meant to be believed. how hard could it be?

which is how yukari finds herself face-to-face with more sheep than she ever imagined existing. ]

Where do you even start? [ she reaches out to touch one and quickly pulls back her hand when it breathes a tiny lick of flame in her direction. it seems they can sense fear. clever girls. ] Do you just...pick them up? And hope they don't fry you?

b. missing the mark

[ the past few months have been.... uh. they've certainly been! as such, yukari has spent most of that time in her room, surrounded by her few belongings from home. she's done her best to avoid looking at some (like her evoker, hidden at the bottom of a drawer where it'll hopefully never see the light of day again), but her longbow remains in clear view. the familiar itch to practice lingers even though there's no looming inter-school match or apocalypse to prepare for. as much as she'd like to, she can't. she's too drained, emotionally and physically, to even consider the possibility of doing something she loves simply because she loves it.

but that's the mindset of pre-july trip up to the ash mountains yukari. post-july yukari is done sitting around and feeling sorry for herself at every opportunity. time to go out to the training grounds and reclaim some joy!

the problem is that this joy is a lot harder to do than she remembers. while her shots are hitting the target, they're only landing in the two outermost rings. the vaguely frustrated look on her face makes it clear this isn't the ideal outcome. any distractions--or pointers--would be appreciated. ]

c. hot off the not-so-secret menu

[ now that it's no longer approximately a thousand degrees outside, yukari no longer feels weird about indulging in the time-honored tradition of trying every seasonal latte on the menu. yes, they are overpriced, and yes, they are marketed on reputation alone, but...c'mon. it's fun drinks! in different colors! no one can turn their noses up at that.

yukari takes a big sip of her drink and almost immediately pulls the cup away with an expression somewhere between disgusted and intriqued. then she takes another sip. and another. what...what is this flavor.

she'll lean over to the closest neighbor with a Limited Edition Fall (current year) Cup and ask, ] This might be a weird question, but which color drink did you get?

wildcard

[ want a custom starter or change up a prompt? no problem! DM this journal or message me on discord at hermyish#7882 and we can work something out. ]

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It's red.

[ Ritsuka has not actually taken a sip of her drink yet; she'd caught a whiff of the scent before she'd taken a drink, then opened the cup to peer inside. She's been staring at it contemplatively ever since, so when Yukari speaks to her, she starts and shakes her head, not entirely like a dog crawling out of water. ]

And it smells... a little bit like dirt? But dirt with sugar in it.

[ She really doesn't know how she feels about that. ]

[Morgan tends to hang out in the training grounds at times -- not because he trains there so much, since he has his own dojo, but for situations much like these. And though he might not be that great with a bow, the same rules apply to everything in the end.]

Need an outside perspective?

Out of practice?

[Given that Yukari had Shinji's number the second time they met and the first time they really talked, it's probably clear to her that he's not saying that unkindly. As usual, he's just not sugarcoating, either.]

Well, you gotta earn their trust first. Try using the food that's over here.

[ naoto was easily doing that with food, where several sheep were eating from his hand. he looks over to yukari, motioning her over. by his side, there's several bags of feed for the sheep, just outside of the pen. ]

After that, then we can start the shearing. If we work together, we can finish a lot quicker!

There is someone else making use of the training grounds, though at first it may not look like it. Claudia's first order of business is to figure out whether there are any targets available that aren't going to catch fire if she hits her mark - sure, in theory she could apparently summon water and deal with a potential fire, but in practice she's not sure she trusts herself to do that just yet.

(So much easier at home, with the dedicated practice rig. Oh well.)

Having found something suitable, she backs up from her chosen target and... waits until the girl with the longbow isn't actively firing, because she also doesn't want any stray arrows flying around. Only when Yukari's obviously between shots and out of the way does she draw something that looks kind of like a gun, if someone were making a gun for a steampunk convention, and fire at the target she set up.

It doesn't fire bullets. It shoots lightning. (It also, from the looks of things, has one hell of a recoil, but Claudia's clearly used to compensating for that.) The lightning hits the target, charring it across the middle.

[It's expensive. The problem, Wolfwood has found, is that sometimes these expensive drinks are actually good. He always loves any well-made food or drink, and combined with the fact that there's not too much else to spend on his curiosity can overcome his stinginess.

He looks down at his still-untouched cup, then back at the woman who asked the question.] Green. He said it has rosemary in it.

[Wolfwood does not know if that will work, but he was intrigued enough to be willing to try it, once it cools down enough.]

[ if it's any consolation to ritsuka, yukari doesn't know how to feel either. ]

Oh my god, that's exactly what it tastes like. I got red, too, [ she explains, ] and it's...a good mix of dirt and sugar? [ she sips at her drink as if to remind herself of the taste and pulls yet another face. ]

Kinda sorta.

I feel like I'm being tricked into drinking something healthy...

[ And now she's suspicious. Did someone sneak actual vitamins into her sugary indulgence drink? Rude, to be honest. ]

You know how long it's been since I've had a pumpkin spice latte? I feel like I've gotten a weird knockoff instead of the real thing.

[ Sipping her own drink, Amy glances up at the girl before looking at her cup. ] Gold. It's actually pretty tasty. Why, which one did you get?

[ yukari pauses mid-draw, looking over her shoulder at morgan. she spends much less time here, but he's got the look of someone who absolutely loves this kind of place. ]

No, I've got it. [ she looses the arrow, watching it sail through the air and hit the outermost ring of the target, and sighs, ] ...maybe an outside perspective would be appreciated.

Edited 2021-09-10 05:01 (UTC)

[ that's not even mentioning how they lived in the same dorm for about a month. yukari is well aware that shinji's tone is always gruff and to the point, but he doesn't mean anything by it. unless he's yelling at akihiko to eat something other than a damn steak bowl for dinner.

she glares at the target (if looks could kill, it'd be reduced to a pile of smouldering ashes) and then shifts her much less withering gaze to shinji. ]

Kinda. There weren't a lot of reasons to practice after we defeated Nyx and I didn't want to go after.... [ yukari pauses here, briefly. shinji should know what that means. ] I haven't felt like coming back until now.

[Well, yeah, but she knew that after one conversation. Sharing housing arrangements only confirmed it.]

I was real fuckin' surprised I managed as well as I did in September. [Much like Yukari's pause, he's sure she knows the one, and why.] Your muscle memory isn't as fucked as mine was, at least.

[ yukari makes her way over, eyeing both the feed and sheep with suspicion. can such tiny, wooly creatures ever be trustworthy? on the other hand...they are very cute. if she thought she or koromaru could handle a sheep, she'd be tempted to bring one home.

she scoops out a handful of feed, but doesn't stick her hand through the bars of the pen just yet. ]

And you're sure they won't bite when we try shearing them? Or...you know. Whatever else sheep do.

[ the p3 kids communicate as much through silence as they do through actual words. ]

If it means anything, I didn't know your muscle memory was off until you just mentioned it. [ she pulls another arrow from the nearby quiver and idly twirls it in her fingers instead of notching it. ] All we noticed was how you sorta chopped every Shadow in half.

[ or beat them to death with a stop sign. or headbutted them. or any number of things. ]

[They sure do! The joys of shared trauma.]

Yeah, well. Get enough weight behind somethin' and your aim doesn't matter as much. Also didn't help that I couldn't fucking breathe right.

Not if you don't agitate them. I think they realize that they need to be sheared too. [ because burning to a crisp sounds very unappealing, and naoto thinks the sheep realize that too. a flame gets harrowingly close to naoto's hand, but he barely even flinches, only gives it a stare.

but naoto takes initiative, entering the pen, still feeding them as he does. ] They're also kinda cute up close.

[He nods slightly, already seeing just where she's having problems.]

First off, don't worry about hitting the bullseye. Aim for it, but focus instead on yourself -- what you're doing, the motions you're making. The position of your arm, the length of your draw, your stance and bearing. The ideal, the perfect goal, is for every single shot you take to be like every other one. Which is of course impossible, but the closer you get, the more you'll cluster your shots in the same position.

Oh, don't worry. There's way too much sugar in this for it to be good for you. [ no tricks here! only calories and espresso. ]

But it still feels like a flavor they give you when they've run out of everything else.

You never know. They're always trying to pretend sugary drinks are healthy. ...Or at least, they were, the last time I was in a place that sold stuff like this.

[ She takes a deep breath, then takes an actual, cautious sip. ...Hm. ]

Maybe it's like half and half? The last-choice flavor, mixed with your grandma's health drinks.

You sound like the seniors in my club back at home, [ she huffs, not unkindly. to be honest, getting this type of advice feels a little nostalgic. crazy to think that suffering through class and then heading to the practice fields would be simpler times, but life can be funny like that. ]

The perfect form makes for the perfect shot, and the perfect shot makes for understanding what archery's really about. Or at least what old people say archery is.

[ nothing says "team bonding" like "most of us have at least one dead loved one which resulted in survivors guilt and/or depresson."

yukari tilts her head to the side and hums in understanding. despite best attempts, shinjiro could never completely hide his coughing from the rest of the group. ]

And climbing steps almost every single night didn't help anything, either?

[It's probably a shade or two better than the Phantom Thieves' common bond of 'horrific abuse at the hands of adults,' but not much. Especially not once you factor in Ikutsuki's bullshit.]

It really didn't.

Oh, it's not the perfect form that makes for the perfect understanding. Just like absolutely everything else in life, it's the ability to act without thinking about how you're acting!

[He can't help but grin, because enough people have already disagreed with him on this point that he doesn't expect her to get it either.]

[ philosophically speaking, morgan is correct in every way. yukari, however, is so absorbed in the task of "how make arrow work good again" that she doesn't pick up the subtleties of his wisdom. she's halfway through pulling an arrow from the quiver when she finally catches what he's said and double-takes, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. ]

Huh? [ it's not that she disagrees! just that she isn't on the same page yet. ]

[ and don't forget how many of them are wards of the state! persona 3 is kinda sorta messed up. ]

I noticed you don't cough as much anymore. Not that we're running up steps and killing stuff every night, but you seem.... [ a shrug as she tries to find her words. ] Better. Physically, anyway.

[ yukari quirks a brow at the use of the phrase "they were," but doesn't comment. maybe the other got isekai'd alongside everyone else into avalon. who could say.

ritsuka's assessment of the drink does get a little half-laugh out of her, at the very least. ]

Yeah, exactly. The stuff that's supposed to taste like ginseng and honey, but is way too heavy on the ginseng. Do you feel any healthier yet?

[Half the group is real damn lucky they weren't kidnapped for the Strega project.]

'cause I am. Got fucking sick of being reminded what normal breathing was like and dumped right back into not bein' able to do it, so when the chance to fix it came up, I took it.

Besides, there's better ways to remind myself not to fuck up again.

You can achieve perfect form if you sit, think about it, adjust everything till you're in exactly the right stance and exactly the right shape. And that's a good first step. But your goal isn't to do it once -- it's to do it every time. Time and again, until you no longer have to sit, think, assess, take moment after moment.

[This is much easier when he can use analogies he's certain they'd both understand. Driving a car, playing a video game, throwing a punch, knitting, all sorts of things -- but in Avalon especially, one can never be sure that such a common ground exists. Too many different worlds, too many different possibilities.]

...

[ Ritsuka takes another careful sip before she coughs once, delicately, and considers. ]

Not really, but I never really felt like green smoothies did anything for me, either. Mostly it just made my breath smell like grass. What about you?

[ yukari stares at her own cup with something close to a frown. giving it another go couldn't hurt. heck, maybe she was wrong those first few tries. it could grow on you.

she takes a long sip. waits a moment to let the flavor settle on her tongue. ]

It makes me want water. And to get something else with a lot more sugar.

[ yukari is a modern girl of the year 2009. she'd know what all those things are and then some. even if she can't drive. or knit. and is only kind of good at video games or throwing a punch.

what does know is what morgan is getting at and honestly, that's what matters. ] My club president would really disagree with you, [ she removes the arrow and notches it without even looking at what she's doing, ] since going through all the steps by muscle memory doesn't get you a lot of points at tournaments. It is a good side goal, though.

[Well he doesn't know that, he'd totally use those analogies and it would be a lot easier!]

Sure it does! After all, if your body knows what it's doing, you just have to account for aim and environmental variables. That's the other half of practice and experience, but it's useless if you can't plant the arrow where you're aiming anyway. If I ever meet your club president I'll teach her too!

Right? I should have just gone for something with chocolate. Who cares if a tiny cup is like five thousand calories? At least it tastes good.

[ YOLO, and also it'd be nice to have something chocolate that isn't something Valentine-themed in some way. ]

[ no truer words. and the weight of shinji's even more truthful words cause yukari to lapse into silence, idly plucking the bowstring in thought. she may have figured out his personality from the moment they met, but much about him remains a mystery. it never felt right to ask mitsuru or ken the whole story, especially not after--

yeah. especially not after that. but from the way he's talking, it sounds like there's more. somehow. yukari turns to face him, nose scrunched in confusion. ]

Wait, what do you mean "when the chance came up?" That doesn't make any sense.

[ she doesn't even know what a jaunt is. how embarrassing. ]

Red, [ yukari answers with a disappointed glance at her own cup. ] I was wondering if all the other drinks tasted like vegetables, but I guess not.

Anybody ever explain what Strega's deal was to you guys?

[It sounds like a complete subject change, but it isn't, not really. It's just Shinji backtracking to the most useful starting point. His shit health starts with the suppressants, but if she doesn't know about those, starting with Liminal Space bullshit won't help.]

Or strawberry. I know they aren't in season, but.... [ why can't this cafe cater to very specific needs only. this blows. ]

At least it's hot chocolate season? You'll be able to get anything you want in it, too.

Oh, she'd love that, [ she answers with pure, grade-A sarcasm. morgan can hazard a guess that she absolutely would not want to be taught anything. ]

Still, it'd be good pointers for the juniors when they start out. They're so focused on just hitting the goal that it's hard to get them working on anything else. [ ensuring the lot of them didn't poke their eyes out while notching arrows had been a stressful, multi-week process. having another experienced person who was not yukari keep them in line would be useful.... ]

Tell you what, if we all manage to get back, I'll see if you can take over for a day. Like a seminar. I can't promise anything since the faculty is so strict, but, [ a shrug, ] maybe the student council and teachers would like the idea of a guest teacher coming in. Cultural exchange.

Yeah, but if it's anything like the syrups they're using for these drinks, I'll pass.

[ There's a pause, and then a long-suffering sigh. ]

But now that you've mentioned strawberries, that's what I'm thinking about. You'd think that with all the magic people have here, they wouldn't be seasonal...

Yep, there's the first problem right there. Hitting the bullseye is the end result; you have to master the process first, same as you can't kick a man in the shin without moving your leg to do it. I'd enjoy helping a lot.

Tell you what, why don't you teach me? The act of teaching someone else is a great way to learn and understand what you're trying to do.

[ unfortunately, higher cost is a usual indicator of quality. or, if wolfwood's answer is to be believed, a sign the cafe gave the head barista permission to go full on avant garde with their flavor profiles. ]

Rosemary? [ she asks, tone flat with pure disbelief. ] Like the herb?

[ like the stuff you put in spaghetti? weird af, bro. ]

Oh yeah, the red one. Tastes like beets or something, right? That one's hard to pair any kind of snack with.

Seriously! [ yukari huffs, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. see, fujimaru gets it. ] Isn't green magic a whole thing? Everything could be in season all the time, but instead we get...beet coffee.

[ hot bean water flavored with vegetables. terrible. ]

I don't know that much about magic, but the fact that no one is using it to cheat and grow strawberries out of season feels like a huge oversight on their parts.

[ She gives her drink another long unblinking stare, then very deliberately puts it down and nudges it away. ]

...I hate wasting money, but also, life is way too short to waste on beets pretending they're dessert drinks.

Like the herb.

Something about 'bringing out the earthy sweetness.' [Wolfwood waves a hand dismissively. He'll try the drink, sure, but the way people talk about some of this stuff is ridiculous.

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true story: after I wrote this a hipster coffee place did a cold brew with rosemary and it was good