3 / open / i just wanna be a flower

[morns]

🧙 WHO: Kate Galloway and OPEN
⚔️️ WHAT: Kinetic & Blood magic practice, parkour through the city, questing (A Polite Pyro, Incubabes)
🕒 WHEN: Throughout May!
🗺️ WHERE: All over the place tbh.
⚠️ WARNINGS: fire, murder, blood, probably depressing topics relating to the doppelganger event and amnesia forest


— magic practice.

( Kate can't just stay in, even though she could practice her magic pretty safely in her new place. seeing the same four walls for hours on end is just another form of torture to her mind and the weather is getting better (though it isn't hard to be better than April's rains, ridiculous even by April shower standards), so why waste it indoors making pieces of furniture float when she could head outside.

which is why, throughout the month of May, she's seen at grassy patches of the city practicing magic until her body aches with the stamina drain. it's a good, familiar feeling, one which lets her focus on nothing but itself and the work she's doing. no thoughts, head empty, in the best meaning of the phrase. )

i. blood magic
( there are days she sticks to a knife and her skin, slitting open enough flesh to pull out droplets of blood and gather them into a shape. a ball, a thread, nothing bigger than a fingertip, but it's solid enough. a vast improvement over the disaster of when she tried to use it against the library slimes. but still, that problem persists:

even as she controls her own blood, her senses fly wide open to the blood flowing all around her. people who walk by, animals curled up in the bushes and trees, her familiar — a woman with white skin and dark hair curtained around her, persistently trying to get bloodstains out of the clothes in her hands — and...

someone coming this way? )

What do you want?

( she doesn't bother to turn around from where she sits cross legged, her gaze flicking warily between her blood hovering above her fingertip and her familiar, who watches this all with baleful eyes, as if she'd rather not see Kate spilling blood this casually, even for magic practice. )

ii. kinetic magic
( on the easier, lighter days, Kate can be found... well, floating. hovering a couple inches off the ground and grunting as she tries to take a step and fails, tripping back down to the ground. dammit. that's not working. she flexes her hands, curling them into fists and stretching her fingers out again and again before she begins to stretch, pulling a leg up behind her and exhaling loudly.

the rest of kinetic magic has come pretty easily, has been practiced and practiced in all parts of her daily life. it's just this damn hovering and teleporting that seems to slip through her fingers.

okay.

once more.

she settles herself back into a full standing position and tries to picture floating. hovering off the ground, light and weightless

and promptly shoots several feet into the air with an undignified yelp. )

— parkour.

( the days may be reserved for quests, or magic practice, or skulking around the city wondering what to do with the rest of her free time (maybe that militia, defence force, whatever they want to call it, wasn't such a bad idea after all, pay or no pay), but the mornings have one true purpose:

exercise.

unfortunately, the fog that leaks through the city in the earliest hours means she isn't going to be doing anything until the worst has subsided, so instead of a brisk, pre-breakfast circuit of the rooftops near her new abode, Kate finds herself waiting until it's closer to lunchtime to get those actions in.

but when she starts... oh, it's a blessing. a relief. there's nothing in her ears but the whistling of the wind and the rushing of her own blood, her feet quick and light as she picks up speed and pop vaults higher, onto the rooftops themselves.

who needs finicky flying when you can do this? she all but skips between buildings, grabbing the ledge of the next and hauling herself up to the highest point she can find and exhaling as she slows to a stop, stretching her arms over her head and rocking her weight from side to side. it'd be a long drop from here, and she can see the people walking below, picks out a body or two that looks familiar as she sits down and lets her legs dangle over the edge, the movement knocking some debris loose from the roof.

sorry about that, anyone down below. except she's not. it's much easier to get around like this if you try, you know? )

— pyromania.

i. research
( the dark web pays good money, in Kate's experience, and really, all that matters is she's funded and kept busy. this particular quest is so direct and to the point that she almost laughs about it. no bullshitting, just... light shit on fire.

easy enough, right?

well, she's pretty sure that light shit on fire wouldn't be a quest if the person who posted it could just burn a candle or light a bonfire, so... no, not really. it'll have to be something big, but the question is... what?

which is why her quest to find a flammable target starts in the most boring of places: the library. Kate can be found with a pile of city maps and directories on hand, scanning each for layouts and details with the focus and scrutiny of someone planning a mission. it needs to be big, destructive but not murderous, abandoned would be best...

she's so engrossed in her work that she might not notice she's taking up all of a six person table to herself. )

ii. target acquired
( it's her doppelganger she has to... well, thank would be overly generous. blame for this particular choice. an empty building with a basement, one that sends a shiver down her spine despite its non-descript appearance. she's not even sure if this particular building was ever used, not outside of...

well.

the biggest reminder of that event will be gone soon enough, so it doesn't bear thinking about any more.


she pulls the hood of her cloak closer around herself, thankful for the mask obscuring her face and the worst of the tension in her jaw as she stares down this thing. there's a bottle of accelerant in her other hand, hidden by her chosen cloak (basic, plain black, purchased from a cheap market. she'll toss it as soon as she can) and matches in the bag on her thigh.

nobody comes down this alleyway, it seems. it's just as dead as it was that day her doppelganger dragged her here, hanging the life of an acquaintance over her head. and that makes it easy for Kate to slip into the building, into the basement, and soak all the wooden furniture in alcohol before she tosses lit matches onto each of them in turn.

the heat is immediate, intense, and almost mesmerising as it eats up the memories of this place, but sanity wins out just in time, just as the room begins to fill with smoke. Kate darts out with all the speed kinetic magic can give her, the door left ajar with smoke billowing out. )

— incubabes.

( two murders, huh?

where to start. Kate checks the posting once more for information, sat on a bench a few hundred yards from the castle. close enough to see, far enough to just look like someone who went for a walk in this direction and decided to take a break. ideally, one would put some days between these two deaths, more if possible, to keep them from seeming connected, but that kind of time might be a luxury. which means she'll have to do this quickly.

god, it would be easier if she had a partner for this one. (and, perhaps, if her mind would stop reminding her that Marc would lose his shit if he knew. he isn't here, and ultimately, what difference is there between this and war? they're all done for someone's personal gain in the end.)

she taps her foot and sighs. she's here, so she may as well case the joint. see just how she can sneak in and hope it doesn't involve wigs and fancy dresses. so she steps away, wandering down one of the side paths with the kind of purpose that would make someone believe she's heading towards the houses in that direction, but loops around as soon as she steps off the beaten track and weaves her way through the trees towards the back of the building.

only to find she isn't alone. )

— wildcard.

( hit me with anything else! quest-wise, I am also interested in Party Rock Anthem, but if you want to hash out anything specific, get in touch at exits / exits#8071. )

Comments

Blood Magic

[whatsamada]

[Ken really shouldn't be surprised by whatever this world throws his way anymore. Ever since he found out he could talk to dead people, he was fully expecting what other morbid magic was coming his way. This was no exception as he spotted a familiar looking women looking right at him.]

Nothing, I was just wondering if you're going to be okay.

[Because while it was cool to use blood magic, he didn't want her to pass out on him again!]

[morns]

( oh, yep. there's a lot of morbid magic floating about here nowadays. and, sod's law says that she gets stuck with the one she'd rather not have. she'll take bargaining. at least that doesn't involve every heartbeat in the area thundering down on her on a regular basis.

(she'd gotten used to the silence, finally. of course that wouldn't last.)

she turns her head back to Ken, glancing at him and then the small sphere of blood which slowly grows bigger as each drop flowing out of her hand adds to it. )

I can put it back in.

( no she can't, she's just being a little shit, as is made clear by the unimpressed look her familiar shoots her, before wordlessly pointing to the small box in Kate's lap.

she came prepared with a first aid kit. it'll be fine. )

[whatsamada]

[Ken didn't say anything and instead looked back at said small box before looking back at Kate. Again, Ken didn't know Kate that well but if there was something he did know? The older women was definitely a stubborn person.

With a sigh, he shook his head.]

If you say so but are you trying to figure out what else you can do with your magic?

[Because as much as he could argue with her, there didn't seem to be point. He might as well try to see what she could do with all that blood.]

[morns]

( that's one way of putting it. Kate sighs and relaxes her attention on the sphere of blood, letting it drop back onto her hand before she opens the first aid kit and starts wiping everything up. )

... Trying to get better at it. ( trying to split apart the sensing which threatens to overwhelm her every time she does anything with her blood magic and the rest of her new abilities. ) What you wind up with?

kinetic magic

[inevitablerest]

[Kinetic magic was the first thing that Thanatos focused his attentions on getting used to.

Death magic was simple - he had no wish to animate the dead or possess other people and what remained came very naturally to him. The kinetic magic worked in a different way, turning something that used to be innate into a mental effort. Still, he'd been working on it and could now quite comfortably float about if he wished to, or even teleport at a short range.

He spies Kate just as she shoots up into the air, and he guesses from the noise she makes that a) that effect was not intentional and b) she has no control over how high she goes or how far she falls. His feet touch the ground as he transfers his attention to her instead, raising his hand to hold her steady and make sure she lands gently.]

[morns]

( she's never needed to worry about the flying, or the teleporting. it was never as immediately practical as simply moving faster or moving other objects. but now those skills are as good as she needs them to be, she thinks, and they've finally moved to the forefront.

though, at this moment, she's wishing she'd practiced them sooner. it's embarrassing to shoot up into the air like a rocket and find herself grabbed by a stranger. carefully, she notes, with some relief, and just in time to stop her being propelled back to earth at the same speed she shot up. )

Nngh...

( ah. there's the ground. and it's her feet meeting it gradually, not her ass being bruised or worse. )

I— ( ah. what do you say to someone who just saved you from a broken tailbone? ) ...Nice reflexes.

[inevitablerest]

... Thank you.

[Once she's settled on the ground he returns his attention to his own levitation, and resumes floating a few inches off the ground. As if he wasn't tall enough already.]

I assume this is what you were attempting to do.

[He gestures down at his feet. This seems likely, and not that she was actually trying to violently launch herself up into the air and break something on the way down.]

[morns]

( ... do you know how much of a pain in the neck it is to try and look up to you when you're also floating, dude? )

Aren't you tall enough?

( that doesn't answer his statement, but look. what else is she supposed to say? )

pyromania ii

[birdflipping]

[Conversely, being a knight wasn't easy, and it didn't always pay well, if at all. Still, it's in Nero's best interests to protect the city, especially if it means protecting her, so he won't complain too much about it.

Right now he's heard of a spate of unexplained arson attacks around the city. He's hoping to catch someone in the act, or at least be on hand nearby for the next round of attacks. Still, he doesn't have any leads, and it's purely coincidence that he notices someone darting out of an abandoned building, with the sight and smell of smoke following out after them and into the street.]

Hey! [Nero calls after them, using kinetic magic to both give himself a burst of speed and to try to yank the figure back toward him.]

[morns]

( ah, shit. she recognises that bark without even needing to turn and see who's yapping at her. his magic fights against her own, resulting in Kate being slowed down, legs moving like they're in a pool of treacle, her cloak fluttering dangerously at the forced change of speed.

goddammit. she grabs the hood, pulls it tighter. clothes are clothes, they're nothing that will give away her identity, but her hair is far less common.

ugh, c'mon. she's gotta — ah! there's a bin, just beside her, one of those giant industrial fuckers, and she's pretty sure (pretty sure as in "she hasn't pulled it off") that Nero can't yank her again if she telekinetically slides it between the two of them, severing the connection long enough to speed up and pray to whatever deity doesn't exist up there that she doesn't fuck up flying this time.

she jumps, catching air and propelling herself straight to the rooftop of the building opposite. he might be able to follow, but this is familiar territory for her, more comfortable than the streets, with less chance of other people becoming obstacles or distractions. )

pyromania — research

[fooligans]

[ Akira steps inside the library with a completely different goal—he's here to borrow a few animal photo albums. It's not like pictures are hard to come by when they have AOL, but the photographs in books are usually more detailed. And from what Akira has learned from his past experiences with transforming into an animal, focusing on details really helps him to get it right.

Needlessly to say, seeing Kate occupying a whole table that is thoroughly covered with maps makes him curious. Akira stands behind her and tries to peek at whatever map or book she's examining at the moment. ]

Looking for treasure?

[ If only... ]

[morns]

( she's just engrossed enough — idly rolling a pen between her fingers — that Akira's presence doesn't register until just before he speaks, blinking herself out of the maze of lines and keys before she turns around. )

Looking for waste.

( that's a bit more accurate. she's looking for something that doesn't matter. a building no one uses, something no one will miss, where it's unlikely to cause injury or panic. she's not completely stupid — this quest might be simple in mechanics, but she's seen enough fires set in places where they shouldn't be (usually accidents, incidental damage never intended to happen) to know there's more to it. more to think about than just will it burn. )

What brought you here?

( aside from books, obviously. )

[fooligans]

Low resolution memes.

[ Quite literally. Trying to mimic animals based on those was an ugly disaster. Memeworthy material, perhaps. Luckily for Akira, it wasn't documented. ]

You're really fired up about it. Trying to make the poster come out and show themselves or looking for quick cash?

kinetic magic

[ferrytale]

[ ledo is trying to put forth more effort on this magic business than he did last month. if magic is intended to be their ticket home one day, failing to contribute means failing at his mission. it's not one he's been assigned but one of his own choosing because it's the only way he knows how to frame things in his mind.

unfortunately, for that same reason, he has no feel for magic whatsoever. other people might imagine things to try or play around until they get a clue, but he doesn't know how to really do either of these things. he's not very good at recognising anything out of the ordinary either if it's happened.

the sound kate makes sets him on edge. he looks around seeking an enemy but only sees a woman floating instead. that can obviously happen in space, depending on whether something had artificial gravity, but he knows that's not something that's easily ignored here.

he's really stood here too long thinking about it instead of acting (although, what's he supposed to do about it, really?), snapping back to awareness whenever she stops going up and starts coming down again. he's no closer to having a solution, but he realises he can't just watch her hit the ground either.

ledo starts moving but he's already thinking steps ahead like he would in battle. he doesn't speculate about whether or not he's fast enough to get there in time, only the attempt. in his mind's eye, he's already where he needs to be, already anticipating what might happen next. maybe he can catch her? the pilot's job is to make the decisions and take action, chaining it all together while letting AIs like chamber mind the details and offer guidance.

quite abruptly, it's like the world had lagged and just now caught up. ledo has no idea where the distance went, only that he's here now in reality as well as in his mind. it breaks his focus and distracts him because what just happened shouldn't be possible. fortunately, he's here just in time for kate to land on him, so that's sort of like catching her, right? ]

[morns]

( goddammit, this is embarrassing, and now she's going to end up with a broken tailbone. it shouldn't be this difficult to lift herself in the air if she can lift a myriad of other things, but speed and control seems to slip out of her mind every time she does it.

she's bracing for a hard landing, for pain and an awkward waddling trip to a healer, but instead...

well. it's soft. soft-ish. decidedly person feeling. )

Eh?

( she scrambles to roll off whoever that is and finds... a kid? someone who sure looks young enough, anyway. )

Shit— Y'alright?

( she twinges, but he did a job at cushioning her fall. as long as it didn't end with him being the one with a bust tailbone, she's already dragged one guy to the doctor in the last month, she doesn't need this becoming a habit. )

[ferrytale]

[ fortunately, this ranks low on the list of painful things that have ever happened to him, even considering waking up tomorrow and realising he must've caught an elbow or something but just hadn't felt it before. that's nothing. ]

Yes. I'm—...

[ as soon as she's clear, ledo sits up, staring back in the direction he'd come from. when that tells him nothing useful at all, he looks up at her as if she might be able to offer a reasonable explanation. ]

I do not understand what just happened. I should not have been close enough to make it here in time...

[ now that the "mission" is over is when all those thoughts he pushed aside to focus on just getting it done creep back in, like how things don't add up. he'd listened to the explanations that had been given when he'd arrived about different types of magic, but that had mostly gone in one ear and out the other because it had all seemed too ridiculous. ]

we know why i'm here; pyromania ii.

[disasdeer]

[ He didn't spend a lot of time researching. He has no reason to. He's here to do the job, finish it, and go home. No fuss. For all that Louis would like to hide his features, well. He's a deer - so his solution has to be more clever than a hood and mask. He does have a way in mind should he notice anyone who isn't actively participating in what he's about to do here. It's thanks to the magics he's been working on. A blinding curse transmitted to their phone. People couldn't resist the buzz that beckoned them from a phone, even when out on the job.

The idea is good - start from the inside out - but there is already someone in there with a similar idea to him. ]

Well look at that.

cw: blood and violence references

[morns]

( it's a chance meeting, a fraction of a percent likelihood that they'd choose the same building at the same time, but stranger things have happened.

(like, apparently, the fact that ghosts are real here. yes, she still thinks that's ridiculous.)

the sound of someone approaching has Kate turning from the patch on the ground where dried doppelganger blood still stains it black, her thoughts shifting from memories to options in a comfortingly familiar way. it's reassuring to only have to worry about the next step forward, her way out, regrouping later. to pull her mind away from the weight of the steel pipe and the bloodstained grin of a thing wearing her face.

there's no way to tell she's here for nefarious purposes — the cloak, though suspicious, hides the items she's brought with her — and as long as she isn't pressed about her chosen outfit, she can just... pretend she's here to clean or something.

but that plan goes out the window when it's a familiar face greeting her. )

... You got business here?

( welp. )

[disasdeer]

Quest.

[ He says it nonchalantly because he knows her. He's been on a quest with her before. They've talked, they've had drinks. They've spent as much time together as he has with anyone else he knows. It's part of why he answers. Though he doesn't say what quest it is. He shuffles his hand through his pockets and pulls out a cigarette to, well, smoke. ]

Same?

[ He fumbles through another pocket to find a cigarette. ]

I work weird hours so I do whatever works.

[ He says it like he doesn't enjoy things that appear on the Dark Web in particular. ]

Pyromania II - Rolls in late with starbucks

[colchismagecraft]

[Caster had been morbidly amused to see a quest about setting buildings in town on fire- but at this point, she'd been primarily wandering around looking for a good target. One that was a little out the way, where the wood wasn't too damp.

She didn't want to cause too much collateral after all.

But she did see the smoke start to rise from that empty building nearby, and rushed over to investigate- just in time to see the cloaked figure emerging.]

[morns]

( and just in time for Kate to turn in her direction and, quite literally, barrel into her with a surprised yelp, the force enough to knock her cloak's hood off before she has a chance to grab it.

dammit. )

Watch it, fuck's sake.

( hood back on, thank you. and now that Kate has done that, she takes a proper look at the person she ran into. )

[colchismagecraft]

[Caster staggered back as she was slammed into- but her hood was better fitting, so stayed in place. Well, it would be easier to recognise her with the hood up than down.]

Hmph, you were the one who- Kate?

incubabes FINALLY

[commediadellanime]

[Assassinations aren't anything new to Childe - he does what the Tsaritsa asks of him and, sometimes, people need to die. Assassinations aren't his preferred method, but a quick and easy murder is still better than having to wine and dine and scheme like some of the other Harbingers.

If Signora or Dottore was here, this mission would take forever to complete. Conveniently, they have Tartaglia on hand.

And it seems like he's not the only one interested in the quest. He looks over at the pink-haired woman, head cocked to the side. He at least assumes she's here for the quest, from the way she carries herself. Small, but confident. Sure of herself.]

Nice day for a walk, isn't it?

[He grins, and it doesn't quite reach his eyes.]

[morns]

( the thing about killing people is that eventually you become good enough at it that it becomes an easy option. mechanically, at least. but even the weight on the mind, the soul, whatever you believe it to be... changes. what once felt like a tonne weight on your chest is just another pound on the pile that's already there.

so what's the harm in taking a quest like this? she's not the one who wants it to happen. she's nothing more than the tool assigned to the job.

well, her and this guy, it seems. because why else would you be skulking around among the trees at the back of this place right now? )

True. ( and given that one of the targets is a chef... )

You looking for a bite to eat?

( these kinds of covert, coded chats are so cheesy, jeez. )

[commediadellanime]

[People burdened by their sins are so last season, Kate. Every death at your hands is just more experience to hone yourself into the perfect weapon. It's disappointingly easy, sometimes, but Childe yearns for a challenge, for the thrill, more than anything else.

He's hoping this target puts up a fight - and if this one doesn't, hopefully the next one will.

He grins brightly, almost laughing. It's so cheesy, and Childe is delighted - he's used to working alone, or sending lower ranking agents out onto the field, he's never had to bother with codes.]

Yeah, feeling a bit peckish. Was thinking about getting something and then doing some magic practice.

[As their other target is, hopefully, quite the wizard...]