fandomhighdorms | Magical Reserve - Preserve Next to The Cabins, Wednesday

With tea and biscuits--oh hush, he was a proper ~~Irish~~ English boy--ready for members and guests, Merlin was cheerfully waiting for everyone to arrive.

"Hello! Today, Karla and I have a bit of a new exercise for us all to try today," He informed everyone with a sort of manic cheer that came from hoping to god this ended well.

Karla stepped forward with the blithe carelessness that came from having no clue that anything could possibly go wrong with her plan. "Kiss kiss everyone. So, more than anything else, there needs to be trust between us as a group. Without it, we'll be disorganized, inefficient, and the other members of the Reserves won't trust us, either. Which, in a crisis, could lead to disaster. So, I thought today we could focus on building that trust together. And for that we have--" she paused for a moment to let the anticipation build "--magical trustfalls!" She beamed at them, certain they'd be as enthusiatic as she was about the idea.

"Yay!" Merlin offered with a strangled little cheer. "Karla and I will demonstrate."

Or something.

"Karla?"

"That's right!" Karla said, giving Merlin a reassuring smile. One that had a lot of teeth in it. She practically skipped around behind him. "In case you're not sure what a trustfall is, Merlin is going to close his eyes and fall backwards, expecting me to catch him before he hits the ground. I'm going to do so, but only with magic." She clasped her arms behind her back. "Ready Merlin?" she chirped. "You trust me, right?"

It wasn't reassuring at all! But he nodded dutifully and closed his eyes. "Of course."

Really.

Taking a breath, he fell backwards.

Karla took the easiest path. Using Craft, she solidified the air behind him, the same way she would if she were airwalking. Merlin hadn't tipped back more than a few inches before the air caught him. "Now, there are a ton of different things I could have done. I could have called in a big pile of soft things for him to land on, or put a shield behind him, or just floated something over to catch him."

Merlin blinked a few times and looked around at the nothing holding him up. "Whatever it is you believe might work best. And if you don't think you can use magic, your hands are perfectly fine."

"Or if you think your magic isn't suitable, you can always brainstorm with a partner about ways you could possibly make it suitable," Karla added. "I've found that a lot of working with magic involves improvising." She looked over and gave Merlin her best unsure-but-game grin. "My turn now?"

Merlin nodded and waved toward the rest of the group. "Pair off and get started then!"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I wish Azar were wrong," Raven said quietly. "There are so many things I wish I could experience. Sometimes it hurt so terribly to deny myself. But if I should take that step and lose control...." She was slowly learning to trust that those on the island would not shun her for what she was, so she took a steadying breath and continued. "...my father might take hold of me. He is a terrible creature and would cause untold harm to those around me."

Karla blinked a little. Her world didn't have anything like ghosts or demons or monsters, so she wasn't entirely certain what Rachel meant, but she was pretty sure the other girl wasn't referring to some kind of evil human. "How can Azar know for a fact that your emotions are the key?" Karla asked instead, sending over another wave of comfort and reassurance. She might not entirely understand what Rachel meant by 'a terrible creature,' but she wasn't going to head for the hills or anything. "Though I can understand why you'd be reluctant to experiment to find out if she is wrong."

"Azar knew what my father was capable of," Raven said. "She understood how his powers worked and how his blood would affect me. I was trained to lock my feelings away so they could not be used against me when...if...he tried to enter this world again."

She had never doubted Azar before, but since she'd arrived here in Fandom, that had changed. Maybe Azar was wrong. Maybe she could be allowed to feel.

"Blood is the memory's river," Karla said slowly, thinking. "If you'd like, sometime, I could weave a tangled web sometime and see if there's anything I can see. No pressure," she added. "Just an offer."

"Is that safe?" Raven said, intrigued by the offer. "I would not wish to cause any danger to you."

"There's always a price," Karla said, utterly failing at being reassuring. "But I don't think there would be any kind of danger. I would be calling up visions of your past and maybe your future, seeing what your blood could tell me."

She gave Rachel a helpless shrug. "You're different from anyone else I've ever done this for, so blithely promising that it's perfectly safe would be disingenuous. But I think it would be."

"The dream I had," Raven said hesitantly, bringing the conversation back to the topic that it had begun with, "was of my father, as you may have guessed by now. But it felt real, as if he were actually there. If you were to do this, could he sense your presence? He would destroy you if he did."

"I don't think he could," Karla said, chewing on her lower lip. "I guess it would depend on how closely he's monitoring you. Normally it would just be visions that I'm getting, but these are new and unusual waters for us both, I guess. No one ever has before, though."

[Which is my way of saying 'if we want to turn it into a plot, sure, but otherwise, probably not.']

"Your offer appeals to me greatly," Raven said. "If you think the risk would be small...."

[*g* We can definitely discuss.]

"I think it would be," Karla said firmly, "especially since you've warned me, so I may be able to put up some kind of wards or shields or something." Never mind that she wasn't entirely certain what she'd be warding against.

"But it isn't anything you have to decide here and now. If you'd like, take some time to think about it. The offer is an open one," she said with a smile.

"I am very much interested in what you might see," Raven said. Perhaps she was being impulsive, but she ached to know if her fate was set in stone. "I wish to accept your offer."

Karla smiled at Rachel. "It'll take some time for me to set everything up. Would you like to do it after Reserves next week?"

"Yes, that would be a good time," Raven said. She quelled a surge of anxiety and managed to small smile. "Thank you. Must I do anything to prepare?"

Karla shook her head. "Nothing for you to prepare. I will need some blood from you next week," she said as a warning. "A small cut on you palm should suffice. Will that be okay?"

"That is all right," Raven said, nodding. "I do not fear blood or a moment's pain."

"Then we should be all ready for next Wednesday," Karla said smiling. "Would you prefer to meet in your cabin or in mine? I'm okay with either option."

"Wherever you are most comfortable," Raven said. "My cabin is not terribly private." Not that any of them were, actually.

Edited 2009-07-20 20:27 (UTC)

"I can put up aural shields around whichever alcove we end up in," Karla said. "Even sight shields if you'd prefer no one see that we're there. Shall we meet in my alcove then? So I won't have to move the web?"

Not that moving a web was such a big deal when she could vanish it and call it back whenever and where she wanted, but it was a reason to settle on one alcove.

"Yes, that will be fine," Raven said. "I have no classes on that day, so I am free to do as I wish."

"Then right after the meeting? We could just walk back to my cabin. It shouldn't take much more than an hour."

"I am eager to see what you can discover," Raven said, nodding.

Karla flashed her an eager grin. "So am I," she said. "I hope whatever it is, helps."

(shall we take planning to LJ messages and/or email?)

[Sure! I'm at kajivar@gmail.]

Magical Reserve - Preserve Next to The Cabins, Wednesday

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle

Re: Arrive/Mingle