002

[solmate]

WHO: Alina + closed starters (Kirigan, Ciri, Kylo, Geralt)
WHAT: Alina haunts some friends new and old
WHERE: Free Cities, the Horizon
WHEN: Throughout October
NOTES: No warnings currently. This will be a catch-all for October threads. If you'd like a custom starter, dm me and we'll figure something out!

Comments

[solmate]

[ As Ciri relaxes, Alina follows suit. Somehow the scars she wears on her body makes Alina less self-conscious of the one her own tells, antlers weaving in and out of her skin. She sinks too, sliding down, their legs bumping together with the slide but she doesn't flinch away from it. It's nice to be close to someone. ]

Hm? [ That rouses her from her slow fade into the warm water. Fidgeting, she glances to the side wondering how to best answer this question. ] Well it's not really a spell...

[ Aleksander would have been very upset with her for not contesting the term magic at all, but he can take a stick and shove it up his—

Anyway. She shrugs warmly. She isn't going to let thoughts of the Darkling distract her. ]

We call it summoning. Different people have different affinities of what they can call to. Water, wind, fire and... [ She lifts her hand out of the water, letting a small orb of light come together and spin in her palm before smiling and letting it slip back into the air. ] ...light.

[wiedzminka]

[ Alina seems to settle in further, relaxing her legs; Ciri relaxes too, slowly, her legs stretching out to the side of Alina and giving Alina room to do the same.

Sometimes, occasionally, her eyes still catch on the warped shape inside Alina's collar bone, especially when no clothes obscure it. She makes sure they don't stay there. ]

Really? That just sounds like elemental magic to me.

[ She sounds dubious, and then Alina summons up a ball of light again, balancing it in her palm like a tiny, spinning planet. ]

And your affinity is light? [ Ciri smiles faintly as it dissipates, focusing again on Alina's face. ]

It suits you.

[solmate]

[ A little embarrassed at showing off, Alina sinks down deeper into the water, covering half her face. She's not used to being suited for anything. It's a nice change.

She bobs back up quickly enough, lounging against the edge of the tub, curious. ]

Can you use any magic?

[wiedzminka]

[ Ciri watches her hide with a small, fond smile. She nudges the side of her leg against Alina's outer thigh, almost teasing, as if encouraging her not to be embarrassed.

But the smile slips at the question. Her throat goes tight. ]

Technically... yes. [ She answers slowly, the words careful, and though she doesn't move away at all (except her eyes, which drift past Alina and to the wall behind her), there's suddenly a distance there. In her gaze, her voice. ]

But I'm not very good at it.

[ Not exactly a lie. But not quite the truth, either. It depends on what one considers good. ]

[solmate]

Yeah?

[ She straightens, curious and enthusiastic before trying to reel herself in and following the cues of Ciri's distance. There's something there, but Alina has enough of her own secrets that she doesn't want to pry too much.

But she isn't exactly delicate either. ]

Well. [ She turns to the side, curling on the edge, head rested on a pillowed arm, shifting a little to accommodate her collar awkwardly poking into her skin. ] I probably wouldn't be able to tell.

[wiedzminka]

[ Before she can restrain herself, Ciri lets out a startled scoff of a sound, bitter and sharp. ]

Oh. You'd be able to tell.

[ Her eyes linger on Alina, something harsh and unhappy shining dully in her gaze, but it's not directed at the other girl. Past her, somewhere. Into another time and place. Ciri swallows roughly and tips her head back to stare at the ceiling instead. ]

...that's why we're here. [ She admits finally, after a few seconds of tense silence.

Alina had listened, last time. When she'd spent her first few nights in this world, crying and angry and heartbroken. When Geralt hadn't known who she was. When they'd been stuck like animals in that cell for no discernible sin except Thorne's, and Ciri had felt more alone knowing Geralt was only a few cells away than when she'd been searching the Continent for him.

Alina had listened, then. She'll listen now, won't she? Ciri doesn't need to tell her everything. But she needs to say something. ]

I've always had magic. But I've never been able to make it behave as I want. Some things are easier than others, and back home, I understood it just enough. I'd practiced to control it. But yesterday, with Jaskier--

[ She looks down again, this time at her hand drifting back and forth over the surface of the water, feeling it cling to her palm. She lifts it with a shallow splash to gesture, vaguely, a restless wave at the room as a whole, to indicate a larger space. ]

It was too much. I couldn't control it at all. I was only trying to practice a little healing spell, and instead all that magic poured out of me and I didn't know how to stop it and it hurt him.

I hurt him.

...I will not unstop that cork again. I don't need magic. It isn't beautiful and warm for me. It's a torrent, and I don't plan to let it back out.

[solmate]

[ A little startled, Alina leans back feeling like she's missed the last step in the stairs. Her breath catches as she listens to Ciri. She almost begins to protest, that it wasn't her fault or that she just needs practice, but it all feels like lame platitudes. So instead she listens. Really listens.

Then, she shifts forward in the water to scoot closer. Slowly as to not feel like she's invading too quickly. Gently, Alina reaches for Ciri's hand and clasps it between her own. It's not an effort to calm her down, Alina knows what it's like to feel such big things, too enormous and heavy to put into words.

Grisha women scare me, Mal had joked. Before they knew of course. He would never tell it to her now. But there is no telling what he still thinks when she has this collar around her neck. The heat of the sun is a brutal thing when looked upon too closely.

She dips her head, thumb stroking against the back of Ciri's hand. Alina has a tenuous relationship with her own powers, so she won't tell her that she should be glad to have them or work harder to master them. It'd almost certainly be easier if they were gone, and Alina wouldn't dare tell Ciri any differently. ]

It wasn't your fault.