[open; dated 4/20] // dream fades before dawn

[fionnuisce]

Characters: Waver and open!
Setting: Floor 25
Format: Action, but I will try to match.
Summary: Someone doesn't cope well with screwing up.
Warnings: None yet.

[Since his revival, Waver hadn't slept. He certainly hadn't eaten, considering the miserable state of the cafeteria's choices. Not that he thought it mattered; there were more important things to do.]

[Twice, twice now he'd failed and gotten himself killed. This time it wasn't the death itself that bothered him (though painful, it had at least been quick) so much as it was the circumstances surrounding it. If he hadn't hesitated, if he hadn't faltered, if he hadn't been terrible with one of the most basic forms of magecraft...a thousand 'if' possibilities had run through his head countless times over by now.]

[Waver could be found sitting in the meadow on the twenty-fifth floor, and in time he'd surrounded himself with scattered and discarded notebook pages--upon which were drawn sigils both magical and alchemical in nature. It was clear he'd spent hours there (if not a day or two) doing...what was he doing? There was a small knife in his left hand, which Waver seemed to be using to cut various parts off flowers; sometimes focusing on only one, and occasionally several at a time.]

[However many he'd damaged, the green-suited magus would then hold out his hand and appear to be in deep concentration. If he was lucky, a pale green light would flicker and crackle around his hand, and the flowers would appear to slowly repair themselves.]

[...But he usually wasn't lucky. Waver estimated that even after endless hours' practice, his healing magecraft would only work approximately five times out of ten, and would only heal effectively three out of those five. No matter; he had absolutely no intention of leaving this floor until he got it right. What had begun as a harsh realization of the need for practice had rapidly spiraled downward into an obsessive task of repeated motions and stubborn fixation.]

[For him, healing was a difficult thing, one which all his thoughts had to be focused on. Unfortunately, he was thinking of far too many more troubling things; his obsessive practice had turned to an exercise in futility.]

Comments

[fionnuisce]

...Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not sure if that's more or less efficient than my own method.

[canofworms]

[He just grins, wry.]

You wanted something more reliable.

[fionnuisce]

Nothing personal, but yes. I need something a little more thorough than that.

[canofworms]

Reliable, and thorough -- you're trying to do both at once. Wouldn't it be easier to work on one at a time?

[fionnuisce]

If you're going to criticize my technique, I'd at least ask that you offer a suggestion or two as well.

[canofworms]

[Have a laugh, grumpypants.]

Didn't I just do that? What I did wasn't healing -- it was a combination of healing and repair spells. [He lets the flower drop from his hand and shakes his head.] Spiritual healing is... well, animals and humans are both complicated.

I guess you would call it cheating? I just ignore the complexity. That's why it isn't quite as good as a normal healing spell. But it gets something done when I need it to.

[fionnuisce]

...Show me how you did it again.

[canofworms]

[Obligingly, he picks up another flower. A moment of thought, and then he takes one in his other hand; there's two small flares of light, and now you have two whole but rather droopy flowers. Nothing like a double demonstration, right?

Can you tell he's never taught anybody......]

Did that help?

[fionnuisce]

[Luckily for him, Waver was a pretty fast learner. He picked up another flower and concentrated, healing but leaving it a little unsteady.]

...This seems a little inefficient.

[canofworms]

[Clearly amused:]

You said that already.

Is there some reason you need to be perfectly efficient right away?

[fionnuisce]

It was a point that could stand to be repeated.

...Is there something wrong with improving one's abilities?

[don't mind him dodging the question oops]

[canofworms]

I never did claim to be an expert magus, did I?

[He's... pretty reconciled with the fact. He's gone his own way in magic in many respects, not all of them good. But there are tradeoffs for everything.]

Anyway, it depends on what you'd call improvement. [Have a perfectly pleasant smile.] Are you hungry?

[fionnuisce]

[Sigh.]

A little, though I don't expect much from this place for a while.

[canofworms]

No, we can't expect them to give us much. Compared to this, last month was a feast.

[He sighs in turn. He's not exactly a big eater, but even he will get irritable if he has to go without for too long. Not to mention that he's got considerably more than himself to keep fed.

He pushes the thought away.]

I was hoping to find someone to come hunting with me.

[fionnuisce]

I suppose I could do that much, if you wanted me to.

[canofworms]

Ahh, my magic isn't really great for taking things down cleanly.

[Eating things that have been Wormed isn't appetizing even to a Matou, sadly. Also, he's low on ammunition.]

[fionnuisce]

So you thought mercury poisoning was a better idea?

[And that's his sense of humor, folks.]

[canofworms]

[It makes Kariya laugh at least.]

I'm sure you've plenty of other tricks up your sleeve.

[If you don't look in much shape for martial arts, it's perfectly fine. His Worms can always soften the prey.]