isleofavalon | best foot forward [OPEN]

Entry tags:

best foot forward [OPEN]

🧙 WHO: Cecelia & OPEN
⚔️️ WHAT: assorted happenings/questings
🕒 WHEN: early/mid-march
🗺️ WHERE: in & around Camelot!
⚠️ WARNINGS: none in prompts; if issues arise, the content will be tagged

o1. the cinderella situation - camelot, shopping areas
[Cecelia Ardenbury is not very great at the pauper life, and she knows it. she grew up wanting very little where material needs are concerned, and her understanding of "making do" is skewed by the world of fiction.

still..."make do" she must.]

Have you...any system in place of...lending your wares? [her smile is a touch pained as she speaks to one of the workers at a clothing boutique. her hand goes up almost in pefect timing with their eyebrows at the inquiry.] I know. Strange, yes? And you've got little cause to trust me. But is there any collateral I can offer in exchange? Surely others from other lands have found themselves in such a situation, and as it stands, I can't work in this...

[she sighs down at her gown, utterly ruined by the days of travel and strife she's found herself in upon arrival.]

...Unless you have some simple cleaning that needs done in exchange instead, I suppose...

[or someone with coin to spare feels moved to lend her a hand.]

o2. the sorcerer, re-apprenticed - outside camelot

None of this magic is really mine, is it?

[a small tongue of flame dances above hand, bouncing from fingertip to fingertip while she's seated on a stone along the side of the road leading back to the city. her journal is in her lap, and she scratches away notes while idly juggling the flame. a slender, goat-sized unicorn lay at her feet, seeming to doze while the half-elf woman murmurs to herself.

a chilly spring breeze snuffs the flame out, and Cecelia sighs.] Not mine in the slightest... [her spark,the flames she could conjure on her own from her own blood and heritage...

she shivers, hugging her arms to herself.] Nh. I'm...not used to feeling the elements like this, either... [she sighs.]

One hell of a square one...this is so vexing...!

o3. wabbit season - Camelot
[ye gods, the indignity... fetch questing?? what is she, level 2?

be strong, Cecelia. it's just a dumb animal. and at least it's not like she has to crawl through mud or brambles? this is actually quite gentle. yeah! this'll be fine! this...this is fine.]

Right, then...

[animal handling: one of her greatest failings in her ages of training. Cecelia frowns down at the array of fuzzy lumps currently populating this little cafe, then at the photograph provided by the app.]

Is it you, hm? I'd quite like this to be over quickly, so--

[she puts her phone away in some hidden pocket within her dress and tentatively reaches down to pick up one of the bunnies, looking like she's about to lift something potentially radioactive, letting it dangle at arm's length until, naturally, it begins to fidget. the second it does, she yelps in alarm, letting it drop and bound over to whomever else is on the case.

still in bunny-hold pose, her expression struggling to contain her disdain:] Gods...

o4. the randomizer - varied -- Camelot adjacent (this bitch can't afford a ride yet)
[wild card me, i fuckin DARE U.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

So far so good. No problems here in Avalon, at least. It's easy to make friends when you're easygoing, don't take offense to things, and have a really adorable familiar. Heck, you can strike the first two.

[Considering what a rough time he'd had making friends before he learned more than a few things, yeah. No problems at all, he can vow.]

Ha. [not a proper laugh, more just a flat note of regard. that easy, huh?] And you've no pressing matters to attend to in your allegedly-frozen homeland?

I am very fortunate in that regard, yes. Even if it isn't frozen, as you suspect, my affairs can manage themselves without me for a bit.

[Privileged position, and he knows it. That's why he's doing his very best not to judge those who are willing to do whatever is necessary to get back home.]

Mostly I just miss my friends and family, of course, but I don't let that get me down.

I pray that fortitude lasts, however long this abduction winds up being. For your sake, of course.

[herself, she wavers between a practiced patience and the looming dread of being stranded without backup. the lack of her own magic makes her lean more toward the latter, while being observed by strangers -- even fair-faced ones who have rescued her before, like this one here -- bids her save face.

apparently she's something of a trapeze artist.]

Ha, don't worry about me. I'm resilient and lucky in equal measures. I'll hold the fort so other people have a place to come back to, metaphorically speaking.

[And even if he doesn't, he's got no business at all dumping that on others. He's done plenty of that in the past! Now's his time to give back.]

[mildly:] Be careful who you say that to here; goodness knows what kind of burdens you may find yourself bearing. Resilient or not, this is far outside the norm for many, yes? 'Resilience' may take on new trials.

Oh, probably. But like I said, I'm in a very lucky place. If I can do something to help others who aren't, I'd like to.

[Catch that little flicker of his eyes at the end there, Cece? You're included in that umbrella, though he's totally guessing she's the sort who would get a hundred times more stubborn if he actually said that out loud, let alone tried to coax her to unburden herself a bit. This way she can get the message and pretend, for as long as she needs to, that she didn't.]

Knight in name only may not be long your fate, speaking like that. [her expression softens, but it still has a cooler tinge to it. being endeared to people...she doesn't like to let it happen, but does have a soft spot for the types of people whose traits remind her of the sort of foolish, youthful imaginings she entertained. a flaw.]

Perhaps knighthood is in your future, Morgan.

[What would she think if she knew he'd grown into these traits? That his life had fallen out such that it had made him into this?]

Eh, maybe. I'm not saying I'd complain. I can't pretend I don't miss having things like money and power, even if that doesn't exactly reflect the best on me. [Shrug! Knowing your own weaknesses is important! Admitting to them is important! Even if it's embarrassing!]

[her mouth curves up, though there's no smile in her eyes. she's just looking for a keener read of the man.]

What does, then?

Reflect well on me? My reflection, of course.

[He lifts his arms in a quick flex that doesn't actually show too much off, because he's wearing his coat still.]

But seriously, I think I did all right during that fight we were in, so I'll take that without feeling too much embarrassment.

[the eye roll is implied in the flattening of her tone:] Ah, no -- knighthood sounds like it will suit you well, with or without the perks of fame or fortune. [with less sass:] And you did perform well enough in that scrap, yes. Doubtless you'll find more of its like to entertain yourself with in the future.

[Morgan waves a hand vaguely, trying to shoo that thought away.] Pfft. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't entertained by it. That's the royal bi-- that's the problem with knowing how to fight. You never want to have to actually do it and nine times out of ten, if you have to, all the skill and technique you've trained in doesn't mean a thing because you have to solve the problem another way.

[the royal what, now?

with an arched eyebrow:] Have you actually confirmed that? Ten whole times, at least.

[The royal won't-say-that, decorum!]

[Morgan glances down a moment, then back up at her, more serious than before.]

More than that, honestly. Simple truth is: if you need to fight full-force, you use the maximum amount of force in the minimum amount of time to achieve your objective. If you don't, you don't use the full range of your abilities. There's no middle ground there. That's why I was using kinesis magic in that battle, not hand-to-hand fighting or even my sword.

That might lead you to counting a few too many chickens before they've hatched, don't you think? [she tilts her head thoughtfully, folding her hands in her lap.] What shall you do when all of your force is expunged, and yet the fight rages on?

Then I didn't do it right in the first place, did I? [But maybe he'd gone on the wrong tangent there. Fingers tapping against each other, thinking...]

Let me put it another way. The techniques I love the most, that I practice and study and struggle to master, are good for fighting. But if I'm seriously trying to stop someone, there's no circumstance in which a long and drawn-out battle where my skill triumphs over theirs is the right choice. I should be using a sword instead of my bare hands. I should be using a gun instead of a sword, if you know what that is. If I can't do either of those, then I have to incapacitate them any way I can, including breaking bones or joints. In a real fight, there is no place for pride, honor, dignity, or even challenge.

Only victory. Or a job not done well enough, mm? [her mouth tugs at one side as she punctuates the lesson.] It is rare to hear a warrior speak so plainly of their survival ahead of all the rest; chivalry aside, I can recall many before so burdened with all the rest you spoke of that one cannot help but wonder if they recall having a body hiding within their armor at all.

[Which makes Morgan laugh. Didn't she just say knighthood would suit him?] Oh, don't mistake me for practical and ruthless. If I have to do any of that stuff I've already failed, in my mind! The absolute best way to fight is to not fight in the first place.

[squinting:] You are incredibly wily, do you know that? I doubt I'm the first to say so.

Wily? [His wide-eyed look comes with fingers pressed against his lips, because that holds back the incredulous giggling.] That is absolutely the first time I've ever been called wily. Why on earth 'wily'?

My, I'm setting a precedent. [she smirks, but not unkindly, before sitting up a little straighter, her chin a bit higher. old habit. elf upbringing. very haughty. much putting-on of airs. wow.] I say wily as I envision observing a fox leaping and bounding around its underground prey like some strange forest dance. You, jumping about with a tail painted 'fool,' rather keen on the insight that lies beneath.

[after a beat, she tilts her head slightly in his direction.] I doubt it's the worst impression you've had painted of you, is it?

Oh, well, that's not so bad.

[Grinning, Morgan points a finger at her, sighting along it with one eye as the other winks.]

And now you know why I don't mind calling myself a dumbass. Don't get me wrong, I totally am... but there's a huge difference between not knowing that, and embracing it. Being a dumbass is a luxury I've earned, because I can totally afford to be one and still life wonderfully.

[she makes a soft, thoughtful sound at that, giving him a quiet moment of regard.]

What a curious thing it must be, being Morgan Knight.

[Laughing, Morgan flops back on the ground, heedless of dignity or decorum as he splays his arms out.]

I'd offer to let you try it out, but I'm not sure how that would work! Besides, everyone is different and everyone is the same. At the same time, we can only imagine what it might be like to be the other, and yet we're all just part of a greater whole, with so much more in common than different if we could only see it that way. God, I miss what I could do back home, the things I could show you.

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