Michael (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
familysucks) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
abraxaslogs2023-05-23 11:50 pm
familysucks) wrote in abraxaslogs2023-05-23 11:50 pm
[Closed]
Who: Michael & Eddie; Michael & Claire; Michael & Lucifer; Michael & Wanda
When: May/June
Where: Solvunn, Horizon
What: May quest threads and other closed starters
Warnings: None yet, will add as required
When: May/June
Where: Solvunn, Horizon
What: May quest threads and other closed starters
Warnings: None yet, will add as required
no subject
You're giving up without even trying.
[This is not how one builds self-confidence. He's had siblings like this, timid ones that didn't want to pick up a blade and learn how to fight. Some of them never did make good warriors. Eddie might not, either. Still, Michael would be remiss to not even try.
Freaky wing thing? Rude, Eddie. Michael does make use of his wings again, but not in the way requested. There's the sound of feathers beating the air as he disappears—then reappears directly behind Eddie. If the sudden absence of his not-quite-human shield isn't enough to send him stumbling forward, Michael gives him an encouraging shove, right between his shoulder blades.]
One on one I'll admit it has a few pounds on you, but humanity is winning the overall war. Go on. Tell it you're going to build a parking lot over its den if it doesn't leave.
[The bear, meanwhile, sniffs innocently at the air. It's likely trying to decide if there's a food incentive to approaching the two men guarding the Maypole or if its only reward will be to use the log as a scratching post.]
no subject
[ There are some things Eddie is pretty sure he doesn’t need to try. Goats are easy--herbivorous, mostly docile and harmless if you can avoid their horns and keep your good clothes from turning into their afternoon snack. But bears…bears are carnivores with sharp teeth, even sharper claws and, yeah, just “a few” pounds on him. Eddie is trying his best these days, doing what he can to shake off some of his lingering cowardice, and he really has seen things become easier to handle over the months, but unfortunately, fear isn’t something that he can just will away entirely.
As his presumably-human shield vanishes, he panics, halfway whirling around in an attempt to spot him again, but desperately trying to keep the bear in his line of vision as well. He flails a bit as he’s shove forward, closer to the massive animal still lumbering slowly towards him. ]
Hey—oh, come on, dude! Shit, shit, shit, shit...
[ He shakes out his hands anxiously and tries to think on his toes, tries to dredge up some snippet of knowledge that may be floating around in his memory about bears. He was never into the whole camping thing, but been an avid reader for his entire life, and he must have learned something over the years. Don’t run away, make yourself look as big as possible, make noise. That sounds right, doesn’t it? Or maybe that’s mountain lions…but either way, if Michael isn’t going to help, it’s what he’s got to work with.
So he steels himself as best he can, claps his hand, and from somewhere overhead, a loud electric guitar riff plays. Eddie’s been putting his spells down for months, feeling they’re really good for nothing more than dramatics and a quick distraction, but a distraction is sort of what he needs right now. And it is loud; loud enough to slow and disorient the bear as it struggles to find the source of the noise. ]
Okay! Okay, um…
[ That seems to offer Eddie a bit more confidence. He raises his hands (and his stick) over his head, and calls to the bear in his best high fantasy voice: ]
Retreat! Retreat now, or face the wrath of Eddie the Banished!
[ He only squeaks a little when the bear takes another step towards him and sniffs the air, but he holds his ground. ]
Seriously, dude, it’s gonna be bad news if you stick around. I mean, like, full on airhorn, dude.
[ The bear simply blinks, seemingly waffling between retreating and just coming closer. It could easily take the human string bean in front of it, after all, but Eddie panics and does the first thing his brain tells him to do. He holds the stick in front of him like a spear and starts running towards the bear at full speed, yelling as loudly as he can. There's not a single thought in his mind about what he’s going to do when he actually reaches the bear, but luckily, he doesn’t need to worry about it. Somehow, that does the job. The bear startles and takes off in the opposite direction, leaving Eddie to stand there, totally baffled that it actually worked. When the bear is safely over the horizon, he turns towards Michael again, a slow grin creeping across his face. ]
Did…did you see that? You saw that, right? Holy shit, dude!
no subject
He stands back and watches Eddie sputter, clap, then—is that music? Not a full song, but the sound of an electric guitar being introduced. It has him looking around for the source of the sound just as much as the bear is. There's nothing above them, no sudden rock bands to the left or the right, and no guitar-wielding goats sneaking up from behind, so his eyes are back on Eddie in time to witness the rest of his performance.
(He wonders if Eddie "the Banished" is a reference to something, but if it is, he doesn't recognize it.)
It's a bluff, of course. A single man versus a fully grown bear can't be anything else. Yelling and stick-shaking is what he expected to see.
He was not expecting Eddie to charge the bear like a man returned to his savage cave-dwelling, animal-hunting roots. It's not what the bear bargained on, either, because it beats a fast retreat back towards a patch of woods.]
Not bad. [He calls out from a few feet away, then starts over to where Eddie is now standing. Despite the improvised and slightly panicked tone of the display, he's a little impressed.] Now you can warn the goats you've fought off more impressive foes than they.
[As he stops in front of Eddie, Michael mentally flips through the list of congratulatory gestures he knows of: a hand on the shoulder, a slap on the back, a hand on the head ruffling one's hair. Wrong context for those. He settles on raising a hand, offering Eddie a high five, if he's feeling inclined to go for it.]
What was that—noise? The guitar.
[Did he explain the wing thing? No. Is he asking Eddie to explain his powers instead? Of course.]
no subject
The sheer weight of what he just did seems to catch up to him by the second and while he’s more than happy to slap Michael’s hand, as he goes to take his place beside the pole once more, he opts to take a seat on the grass, looking just a little dazed and exhausted. To someone as nervous as Eddie, it’s no small feat to scare off a bear on your own. He just needs a moment. ]
Huh? Oh, the, uh—?
[ He gestures upward vaguely and drags a hand down his face. ]
Yeah, I can’t do that back home. Not that people would react well if I could, but that’s strictly a here thing, you know? I’ve mainly been using it when I enter taverns and shit. I guess it finally came in handy for something else.
no subject
He gives Eddie a speculative look, head cocked to the side in an almost avian display of curiosity. Is he going to pass out now? That's certainly one way to opt out of dealing with the next bear.]
Abraxan magic, then. [He nods, knowing. Anyone who's been here a few months must be familiar with suddenly finding themselves with previously unknown talents.] I've had similar experiences. Is it just the one note, or are you able to produce more?
[He has no particular talent for music himself, but that makes it all the more interesting to him.]
no subject
[ He echoes weakly, brushing his mussed hair away from his eyes. He’s not going to pass out, but he absolutely doesn’t think he can handle another bear. Even another goat might be a bit too much right now. It falls onto your shoulder now, Michael. ]
Uh—well, I can do full riffs when I concentrate. You know, like—
[ He demonstrates on his own, humming the intro to Smoke on the Water, if only because it’s the most popular and well-known riff he can think of. ]
It’s only ever guitar, though. Which is fine for now, but considering I don’t have the rest of my band here, it’d be cool if I could use it to be a one-man band or something. I dunno.
no subject
He continues peering down at Eddie, listening. There's a flicker of recognition in his eyes at the tune, but it's a secondhand memory.]
Solvunn is not the ideal place to form a band, no.
[They've got drums, because every musical culture has something to set a beat, but there's nothing else around that sounds quite like it belongs in a rock band. At best, some of the screaming goats might make suitable backup vocalists in a metal band.]
Has practice expanded your repertoire? Repetition seems to improve control, but extending the limits of this acquired magic has proven a challenge.
no subject
Yeah, I hear the Free Cities is where it’s at for that type of shit.
[ Not that he has any desire to switch factions. His allegiance is flimsy, but switching is difficult and expensive to do, and he likes the people he’s met in Solvunn. But there’s a wistful note in his voice. Playing solo isn’t the wort thing in the world, but he misses playing with a band. ]
Uh—not really? I mean—most rock music is made up of the same four chords so I’m just sort of rearranging them. It’s not like I’m doing anything big.
no subject
[Expecting them all to still be in Abraxas in ten years' time is either optimistic or pessimistic, depending on one's perspective on being here. Michael has yet to figure out where else he could go, so in Abraxas he expects to stay. At least for the time being.]
Nonetheless, it's something you can do that others can't.
[Seeing the way Eddie's eyes keep nervously moving to search the distance, Michael takes up his watch again.]