before this night is over, i pull your body closer

[whichcraft]

WHO: Summer (whichcraft) and YOU!
WHAT: Catch-all prompts for the month of July!
WHERE: All over Chroma
WHEN: Throughout July
WARNINGS: Will be marked in their individual threads!

See below in the comments for individual starters! If you'd like to do something with Summer this month, feel free to hit me up via PM or on Plurk and let me know!

Comments

LEATHER. - closed to Nyx

[whichcraft]

[Magic has never been an easy thing for her. Oh, she's certainly gotten better at it since the day she started, but that's because she'd been utterly clueless at the point when she'd started, barely aware of what to even do with the potential that had suddenly been dropped into her veins, much less how to shape it into something even remotel workable. But experience and peril are both strict teachers, and she's always been a quick learner, anyway. Learning new spells takes time and effort and thought, but it's far from impossible. It's mostly just a matter of figuring out what she wants to do, and then figuring out how to grasp some magic and make it do the thing she wants.

The old man, maybe, would be able to explain it more academically than that. Wizards are scholars, she's learned, and the bastard always seems to have an answer for everything, which is tedious when he could be lying through his teeth and there's really no way she would ever be able to tell as it is. Regardless, she doesn't need to have an intense familiarity with the theory to know how it works in the practical, anyway; at the end of the day, most spells boil down to "see problem; tell magic to fix it", anyway.

In this case, the problem is repairing leather. That's doable enough, and though it takes some concerted effort to work out, it turns out to be pretty basic, and fairly easily learned — easier, even, than the illusions she uses every day.

Once she starts to think she's got it somewhat worked out, she sends off a message to the hex code of the flirty guy from the forum, letting him know of her progress, and providing a meeting place and time. Then it's just a matter of waiting to see if he'll show up, idling there in her own vaguely ridiculous armor (which looks something along the lines of this) and snapping her fingers to make music play in thin air while she waits.]

TRANSFORM. - open to all

[whichcraft]

[On the other hand, it's not just new spells that Summer is trying her hand with lately; if there's one thing that the recent werewolf threat has taught her, it's that no matter how nice this place may seem in the downtime, she can't let herself get complacent. She'd put a lot of her spells to use during the past threat, some of which were used in abrupt and creative new ways, and that's all the more reason in her mind to run through her full repertoire in practice, just to make sure she's still sharp with them.

Of course, the problem with some of them is that they only work if she's got a target to practice on, which is probably where the little sign that she's tacked up nearby comes in. There's no advertising for this aside from the sign; it's purely a chance-meeting-with-passerby-who-see-it sort of affair, but it reads:

BECOME AN ANIMAL FOR AN HOUR
( transformation guaranteed harmless; participants assume the risk of injuries incurred while transformed. participants agree that resident witch is not liable for any such injuries that may occur as a result of their own choices and behaviors while in animal form )
It never hurts to be safe, probably. Takers can feel free to inquire "within", apparently, which given that she's outside in a clearing and puttering around presumably means walking up to her and saying hello, or something to that effect.]

[troubadamsel]

[Speaking of purely a chance-meeting-with-passerby-who-see-it... Maribelle was walking by, glances at the sign, walks on.

Stops. Blinks. Walks a few steps backwards. Looks at the sign again.]

... Is this a joke?

[whichcraft]

[At this point in the day, the aforementioned witch is snapping her fingers in such a way that little sparks of electricity are flying from her fingertips, so she's probably not in the middle of anything too important as she glances up and takes a gander at Maribelle.]

What, the part about the waiver? Hell no, that's a hundred percent serious. I'm not taking responsibility for somebody else's dumbass decision to go fight a cougar while they're fucking around as a poodle or something.

[troubadamsel]

[She whips around-]

Not that - well, I mean, it's part of it it's just - are you seriously suggesting you can turn other people into animals?!

[whichcraft]

Uh...yes? It's right there on the sign.

[Is she being deliberately obtuse? Maybe.]

It's kind of part of the schtick. Resident witch and all.

[troubadamsel]

[There's obtuse, and then there's bitchy. Guess which Mari is.]

I'm willing to believe a few strange things here and there, but that is impossible!

[parodeity]

[ well now that he's alive again... ]

Hi, I want to be a cat. [ he raises his hand like he's in grade school. ] I'd make an excellent cat? Secondary choice is a tortoise.

[whichcraft]

Lemme guess. A black cat, right, Salem?

[She grins at him.]

Why is the second choice a tortoise?

alex, this is so super late i'm sorry and i understand if you drop!

[parodeity]

Because my thing is speed so seeing the opposite of my thing might be chill? Like, divebomb onto the greener grass and see how the color holds up, you know how it goes.

[whichcraft]

All right, well, take your pick. I can do either one, but you probably don't want me to do both at the same time. Catoitses don't sound all that appealing.

[parodeity]

...Okay, see, do you know me at all? Now I'm just thinking "what would being a catoise be like"? [ the forbidden fruit is the sweetest

or the weirdest ]

[queenofminiskirts]

[She reads the sign and just knows that if she accepts this without consulting Shiho first her best friend is going to be mad. But Kaoru still turns to Summer looking very much interested.]

At least you make your terms clear. [The words could be interpreted as sarcastic but she's smiling! And it's genuine.] Can you really turn people into animals?

[whichcraft]

Yup. It's kind of part of the witchy schtick, you know? Boom, you're a toad.

[Except that's sort of bad for business, and even worse advertising, so.]

...I mean, I can do plenty of things other than toads, too.

[queenofminiskirts]

Turning people into toads is pretty cool though!

And you can do other animals too! That's amazing! Where I come from something like that wouldn't be possible! I mean, a hypno user can make people think they've turned into a toad but no one can actually turn someone into one.

[She's just very excited about other people's powers!]

Did it take you long to learn how to do that?

[whichcraft]

Sort of? I kind of picked it up in a hurry.

[Just like all of her spells, actually, but she's not going to point that out.]

Probably if I'd learned how to do it the right way, it'd last for a lot longer, but the way I've got it now, it only sticks for about an hour, and then it wears off.

[atomicals]

[HE STARES FOR A LONG TIME...

But after a little while he starts looking around, for the aforementioned within but uh there's only a clearing. This is not his idea of within but okay Hunk will roll with it, and he casually walks toward her.]

Is that your sign over there? [with a jab of his thumb over one shoulder.]

[whichcraft]

[She's pretty hard to miss at this point, given that she seems to be drawing in the air with colored light when Hunk approaches, which by virtue of being transparent is making everything behind it turn different colors than they're supposed to be, like a stained-glass window.]

Sure is. Resident witch, at your service. You looking to be turned into something today?

[atomicals]

Uhh... thinking about it. Can I ask some questions first?

[Well yeah look at her do that thing. This definitely seems like the person to talk to about magic transformations.]

[whichcraft]

Sure. By all means, peruse the fine print as much as you like.

[...]

There isn't actually any fine print, but ask whatever questions you want.

FEAST. - closed to Prompto

[whichcraft]

[The shitty thing is, she was actually really excited about this stupid feast, too.

It had been shaping up to be a pretty good day, all things considered. She'd spotted the commotion from afar, glimpsing the tables set up near the center of town with all their foodstuffs and promises, and at first she'd been skeptical but then people had started eating and chattering with no apparent ill consequences, which is what had gotten her hooked. Then she'd decided to wait a little while, give it some time, and see if anybody went the way of Odysseus and started turning into pigs after gorging on the feast. She'd decided to go rescue a few people from the well, that'd buy her some time to scope things out.

But then at last sufficient time had gone by, and she'd headed over to the feast to snoop around, and damn if that wasn't a lot of really good-looking food...

...with namecards set at every place.

At first, she'd hit denial. Somewhere around, there'd probably be a card that said "Sabrina". Or maybe "Flora". Or possibly even "Witch". It could be any of those, it could be all of those. Maybe there'd be a card left blank — haha, wouldn't that be something?

Then she'd started to hit apprehension, which quickly blossomed into anxiety, which melted into outright fear. Where was it. Her place, if there was a place designated for her — maybe there wasn't one? Maybe they left her out, and she'd never wanted to be left out so badly as she'd been hoping to be at that moment.

Then she'd found it.

So. Mister F knew, then.

She'd had to make herself walk on past, shaking beneath her cloak, pretending it meant as little to her as any other of the nametags on the table. Don't make a scene, don't draw attention — that would only make it worse. But then after a hopefully inconspicuous interval, she'd sent Jericho to do the dirty work, swooping down to snatch the nameplate and spirit it off into the sky, away from the table where anyone might see it.

(They'd brought all her favorites. Processed junk food, candy, soda; heaps of nonperishables, things she could toss into her pocket dimension and keep forever, ration out as long as she wanted. And perishables, too — her grandmother's special cookies. Pasta the way Mom used to make. Real McDonald's french fries. Everything she's craved for months and months, and it's all tainted beneath the looming shadow of that damned stupid name —)

Jericho brings her the card, and she takes it with trembling hands, hovering on the sidelines of the gathering, debating what to do. She wants to take an armful of the bounty and run; she wants to set it all on fire and curse them for taunting her like this. She wants — she wants —

She wants Prompto, inexplicably, and that seems like a better idea than all the others, so she swallows the lump in her throat and takes off to go see if she can find him.]

[photoshooter]

[He's not hard to find, not with the light show that is Lucian magic as his fingers brush the edges of well-spiced dishes--peppery daggerquill rice, that beet stew, everything like it just came from Iggy's hands themselves, cuts of meat that look right, not too small like so many of the animals they hunt here. Prompto touches them, leans over to take a whiff, remember warm nights on the road, and then immediately relegates them to the Armiger. The thing about all his favorite foods is that they're Ignis's, and Ignis is here. It's not a one-time-only thing, not if maybe Dave can work his magic again, get these spices growing the same as anything else in the garden.

The only thing he doesn't put away are the four uncooked cups of instant noodles. No, those he holds, blinking with a watery smile on his face. And then Prompto lifts his head and sees her.

He's been looking for her, actually. The whole time, he's been hoping to catch a glimpse of her, to share the bounty not just of the food, but the way it smells, looks--sense and color in this grey prison of theirs. He's wanted to make sure she's got something good and hot to eat. He's had his eye out for a flash of red hair, a quick word.

There she is, finally. His first reaction is to smile, but then he notices the look on her face and the smile falls off of his. He waves to catch her attention but heads towards her anyway, Cup Noodles gathered in his arms.]

Flor? Hey, did you find yours yet? There's got to be a setting for you.

[Without even thinking about it, he reaches out to gently touch her arm, already turning to look at the spread for her place.]

[whichcraft]

[There he is. It's almost funny, somehow, that he's had the same idea she did — take it and stuff it away where it's safe, don't just sit and gorge, try to make it last. It's kind of nice to see, too, that his haul includes junk food — Cup Noodles, holy shit, now there's a blast from her broke university student past.

But what she notices most is the way he's smiling one minute and then suddenly he's not, and ninety-nine times out of one hundred she's good at thinking on her feet but this is apparently the one time that she just can't.]

I don't. I don't have one. They didn't — there isn't one for me.

[Which...would be fine, except for the fact that she's completely forgotten she's still holding her stolen placard, which is still distinctive in hue despite the way that she's unconsciously crushing it in her white-knuckled hand.]

It's fine. I'm just — I'm just going to go.

[Despite...just...arriving? She's visibly rattled, to the point of being outright scatterbrained, unable to focus on much of anything for more than a few moments at a time.]

[photoshooter]

[He turns to her and sees the placard in her hands just as she says she doesn't have one. The next moment, though, he's looking at her face again, and the way she looks--is this what Aranea saw, when she smashed through the wall to find him?

His fingers, after grazing her elbow, linger there. Then he straightens a little, lowering his voice until it's even.]

I have a hideout, in Flavo. Uh, a house nobody's using for anything.

[Not a place nobody else knows, after all the attention he attracted there. But in a way because of that, it feels his now. Less creepy and empty, even though it remains just as empty as he found it. It's his empty.]

You want to go there? ...I'll make us some Cup Noodles.

[whichcraft]

I don't know.

[Yes. Yes? Maybe. Maybe she shouldn't abandon the food, what if it's gone when she gets back? No. Maybe? Go. Stay. Think, think, how did he get it, did they read her mind, no one should've known, how did they know? Is it because she got sloppy? Careless? Weak?

Oh. Prompto's still looking at her.]

I have to —

[...What? Has to what?]

I don't know. What to do. I — I don't...