[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]

Thanks, Diarmuid. I really mean it--I'd be pretty screwed over without you looking out for me.

[Of course Waver didn't have the faintest idea at first. He'd read the mythology enough to know it offhand, but recognizing things like that on sight was another thing entirely. Noticing something different, on the other hand, was fairly simple. It wasn't anything he'd seen in the tower--or anywhere, really--and it seemed markedly different from the others he'd been handed.]

...What's this one called?

[oathshackledbird]

[So much for him not noticing. Though, giving the berry a closer look, Diarmuid does realize just how different is looks from the others he had gathered.]

Ah...that one. It wasn't grown here in the tower. It was one of the things in my trunk.

[He pauses a moment to reach back into the trunk and pulls out a small leather pouch which he holds out to Waver.]

This pouch holds a small number of quicken-tree berries, specifically from the Fairy Tree of Dooros. I wished to give one to you as a way to share an important part of my past. I have no idea if their magical abilities remain, but that is not the point. It is the sentiment.

[Diarmuid blushes lightly.]

It is a silly thing. It is why I wasn't going to say anything unless you asked.

[fionnuisce]

...You're kidding.

[Utterly unable to think of how else to react, Waver opted for 'startled astonishment'.]

You really wanted to give something like that to me?

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid laughs gently at Waver's reaction.]

Of course, I do. If I did not, they would still be hidden in the corner of my trunk. I haven't known exactly what to do with them until now--who I should share them with. You are the first with whom it has felt right.

[He looks a little embarrassed suddenly and runs his empty hand through his hair.]

Even if its magic is gone, hopefully it will still taste as sweet as I remember.

[fionnuisce]

Diarmuid, I-...I really don't have anything to say. Thank you. I'm really, honestly, completely flattered.

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid laughs gently again.]

You're welcome. You mean a great deal to me. Like I said, it just seems right somehow. Now please, come sit and eat. We can talk more while you are eating.

[He motions Waver toward the bed and then returns the pouch to his trunk and shuts it.]

[fionnuisce]

If you say so.

[Waver took a seat, pleasantly surprised by how good this was; years of not being able to cook apparently left him with insanely low standards.]

[oathshackledbird]

I do.

[Diarmuid smiles and walks over to stand near the head of the bed not far from Waver. Again, he seems to make sure to avoid that spot on the floor as he walks passed it.]

I hope it isn't too bad. I was thinking of things that could be stored without refrigeration and that were simple since I made it with Kariya in mind and he can be so fragile at times. Most of what I made, I left for him to help with the limited food this month. I was going to gather more to leave for you and a few others, but then things started to get so chaotic...

[fionnuisce]

[He'd noticed Diarmuid's unusual movement (who wouldn't?) but opted not to question it at the moment. He must have had some reason for it, and Waver would bet it might have had something to do with that second death he'd sensed but not managed to be present for.]

[He was pretty good with conjecture like that.]

It's fantastic. I just hope you're not running around going to too much trouble on my account.

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid shakes his head.]

No, but even if I was it would be worth it. I wanted to ask you to come with me when I went out on the second hunting trip since you mentioned wanting to learn this stuff, but everything went nuts before I had the chance.

...English food must really be as bad as I have heard if you think something so simple is delicious...

[fionnuisce]

It's not that bad, ordinarily. The truth of it is I really can't cook very well.

[oathshackledbird]

All the more reason for me to teach you what I know, meager as my skills may be.

[He pauses, a pondering look crossing his face.]

If you don't cook well, then who cooked for you back home? Was it that maid of yours?

[For obvious reasons, the idea of that temperamental piece of mercury cooking for his friend is not a happy one.]

[fionnuisce]

Heh--not a chance. I live alone, so I cook for myself. I just don't usually do a great job of it.

[oathshackledbird]

Well, hopefully I'll have a chance to help you change that soon. I haven't learned a lot of modern cooking, but I am trying bits and pieces on my own and I haven't killed anyone yet...

[fionnuisce]

Hey, I'm tougher than I look. I'm sure I can survive whatever catastrophe we start in a kitchen.

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid laughs.]

I'm not so worried about you, my friend, as I am the kitchen. Today's machines are a lot more high maintenance than a bonfire, for example.

[fionnuisce]

Tell you what--I'll show you how to use them, you show me how to cook without making something utterly tasteless.

[oathshackledbird]

I think I can do that. I am already experimenting a bit with today's herbs and have found a few that are the same or similar to what I am used to using. They are just called something different, which isn't too much of a surprise.

It is still odd for me to have so much that can just be taken out of a can or bottle now, though. It just isn't the same as gathering everything for a few days from the wild and then cooking it.

[fionnuisce]

Overcoming culture shock's not really a simple thing, I'd assume. But hey, that's why you keep me around.

[oathshackledbird]

Hey, I keep you around for more than that. You have beautiful hair...even if it needs to be cut.

[Diarmuid winks at him.]

But, yes it has been hard. Doubly so since the so much time has passed since I was last alive.

[fionnuisce]

You're not cutting my hair. I like it this way, thank you very much.

[HMPH.]

Anyway, things like that aren't hard to learn. Most modern devices look a lot more difficult than they actually are.

[oathshackledbird]

How about if I braid it instead if you won't let me cut it?

[He winks again at Waver, reaching out to bat at some of the man's long hair.]

That is good to hear. I have been told a little bit about how a microwave works, but there are so many variables that it didn't make a whole lot of sense. Ah! And she never did get around to telling me that much about the oven. What I have used the most is the stove. That is pretty straightforward as long as you are careful and know what buttons belong to what.

[fionnuisce]

H-hey, leave my hair alone!

[Sheesh.]

An oven and microwave aren't all that difficult. The latter's a little bit complicated to explain, but it's simple enough to use.

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid's fingers flick at Waver's hair once more before he lets his arm fall away.]

Maybe that is what she was doing wrong. She was telling me all of this stuff without really showing it to me. Usually, that is all right for me, but for something like the microwave, it just wasn't sticking very well.

[fionnuisce]

I work with some students who don't understand anything more complicated than a phone. I'm used to teaching things like that through example.