(open with some closed) I don't ask why they call on me

[blackeyedprince]

Who: Kell Maresh and OTA
When: July and August
Where: Thorne, Nocwich, Horizon, Nott
What: Kell shenanigans, rifts sightings, plight of an aspiring author
Warnings: marked on threads as needed


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[ushiri]

Kahlil is too distracted trying to keep the animal contained in his cloak and away from his body to notice Kell's embarrassment. Nor does he seem to realize Kell can see anything different in the air.

"Find somewhere... else for it to go, I think..."

Preferably outside of the walls.

He frowns deeply at the squirming 'bag', then at Kell.

"C'mon. Maybe you can convince people I'm not trying to murder someone's cat..."

Because with the shrieking and hissing, it certainly sounds like it.

[blackeyedprince]

It's silly that he always tries to prove himself to Kyle. The stupid urge to impress him coming when he least expects, and even less needs it. And for what? He knows very well why, it just doesn't make any sense. He should be wise, get over it and move on. It's so stupid that he somehow can't. At least, he has a shrieking creature to distract himself with.

"Let me try something."

Still holding a bag full of tea Kell, pushes the basket with the rest of the order up his arm so it hangs from his elbow. A bit precarious arrangement, but it will do. He comes closer, close enough so he can reach out and dangle the fragnant herbs in front of the captured creature. He's quite sure, if he'll be able to touch it, he should be able to sense the creatures heart beat and slow it down. For that, it need to stop trashing about, and the herbs seemed to interest it before.

One more step, it seems to work. The shrieking and hissing turns into low-annoyed growl. Kell switches hands so he has the open bag of tea in the same hand as the basket. The growling does not stop, but it's more a warning now, not a sign of outright panic. He puts his other hand where the creatures head should be hoping it won't instantly bite him.

The moment he does it, the creature fills his perception completely. It takes every ounce of focus, all of Kell's attention to balance his magic just right. He tunes out everything else, Kyle, the sounds of the street, the weight of the basket on his arm, the solid ground under his feet. Everything recedes far into the background. At the forefront of his mind is a tiny, terrified creature. Kell can see in minute detail the workings of its body. The beating of its heart, the blood flowing through its veins, lungs feeling with air all too quickly, muscles contracting in spasms. It's the most difficult of magics for a reason. The rarest. If he makes just one bad decision, he can kill it. For him, with his blood and his magic, killing it would be easy. He could do it entirely by accident.

To not do it, he has to use all of his willpower to hold himself back, to let only the smallest wisp of his magic out. Not a push, but a whisper, the gentlest touch destined to ease the creatures fear, slow its heart down, even its breathing. So much with so little.

Any other time, Kell would not risk it, but Kyle asked him if he could do something, and apparently - stupid and irrational as it is - he'd do a lot to impress Kyle.

It feels like forever, before he finally moves his hand away, leaving Kyle with a sleeping, but alive creature, wrapped in his cloak. Kell smiles, a weak exhausted smile, not entirely believing he really managed to pull this off.

"This should give us some time."

[ushiri]

Kell says let me try something, and Kahlil doesn't have any reason to protest. He does, however, shoot Kell a mildly concerned look as he approaches, but he does so slowly and with obvious purpose. Kahlil doesn't entirely understand at first what he's doing with the herbs at first, nor can he tell exactly what Kell begins concentrating on as the creature is momentarily distracted by the scent. Still, he almost finds himself holding his breath, the seconds ticking by.

He almost doesn't notice when all noise and movement stops from within his close, not until Kell pulls his hand away and speaks. Kahlil's gaze flicks from his heavy cloak to Kell, curious.

"What did you do?"

He hadn't spoken words to an Abraxan spell, Kahlil had watched his mouth. He's aware Kell has his own magic, he's seen it at least once before - but that was some kind of ice conjuring.

[blackeyedprince]

"I put it to sleep."

He says it as if it was this simple. It was anything but.

"I'm sure there are local spells for that purpose, but I don't know any of them. What I do have is a kind of magic that lets me control bodies of living things. It's a rare one and usually a lot more destructive."

Even his voice shakes a little when he says it.

"Very forbidden where I come from," he adds after a pause.

It feels like a much needed addition, because bodies of living things can and do mean humans. It would have been a reasonable question to ask if he didn't clarify himself. It's forbidden to use magic to control other people. And yet he did it. Most of the times to protect Rhy. But it's so fiendishly difficult not to break them when he does it.
All of his magic is just raw power, he's perfectly attuned to it by virtue of being who he is. Still, more often it's all about saying yes to the stream that flows through him, than ever about saying no. What he just did was almost a pure no. And yet as exhausted as it left, Kell can't help but feel a little proud.

can wrap this up?

[ushiri]

Kell has told him some of the Antari history before - he assumes this is a spell related to them, and so he understands wielding it comes with a heavy responsibility. He's not surprised to here it is forbidden.

"But useful," he adds, not expressing any judgement. On an animal or people. Kell does not strike him as someone to misuse his power - though when he glances at the younger man again, he senses that hint of pride in him. Kahlil understands it, and is reminded of himself - not for the first time, when he was a youth.

"Lets go," Kahlil says, giving him a wry grin. "We can find him a nice burrow before he wakes up."

Do they sleep in burrows? Eh, they'll figure it out.

absolutely! wrapping it here :)

[blackeyedprince]

There never be a time when he is not proud of his magic. It's such integral part of him, that Kell couldn't possibly imagine himself without even if he tried. But the knowledge of its many angered has been hammered into his head from the very beginning. He used to clash with Tieren on this. He knew the story of the fall of Black London, but was already convinced something like that would never happen to him.

Until it almost did.

So he's more cautious now, and a little less prone to always use magic as a solution. The problem is never magic, it's almost always the people.

He follows Kyle outside trusting implicitly the older man has a plan. The creature is cute, and potentially harmless, but the way it got itself on their way still bugs him. He might want to check in the library next time he's there to see if they have any records of similar events.