abraxaslogs | Open Log - Thorne Castle

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Open Log - Thorne Castle

WHO: Mat Cauthon AND YOU
WHEN: Throughout the second half of May
WHERE: Castle Thorne, surrounding town
WHAT: Practicing magic, being the life of the party at the tavern, and running errands for Yennefer
WARNINGS: Will add as needed!

Magic Practice - Castle Thorne Garden

While Mat's still not entirely comfortable with his abilities, he knows he need to practice them. The more he practices, the better control he has, and the less of a potential danger he is. It's simple. But light if he doesn't still feel as though he's doing something wrong.

It's one thing when he has a mentor directing him and sitting right there. Behind closed doors. It's another to just...do it, on his own. But he has to. So here he is, in one of the relatively sheltered little garden spaces around the castle. He has a basin of water set on a bench in front of him, and he's practicing freezing and thawing it in turn.

Or attempting to, at least. There's a lot of holding his hands in front of him and glaring, and a good deal of cursing. Sometimes an icy little wind cuts through the garden, or the leaf of a nearby plant turns white and frosty. Getting frustrated, Mat waves his hands and growls in annoyance....

And a sharp spike of ice seems to leap from the basin, shooting out in a solid, tapering spear of frozen water.

"Shit!"

Tavern - Free Round

Mat has never outright, intentionally cheated at gambling. And certainly not here, where he's sure that every other tavern patron can detect that sort of thing. Oh, he's misrepresented himself and manipulated circumstances to place himself against the right opponents, but never at the game itself.

Still, he has a knack for it. And that's no different in Abraxas, where he tosses a pair of dice and cheers heartily as they come up in his favor. Half the table cheers with him, half curse and throw up their hands.

"Lady Luck is favoring me tonight!" Mat gathers his winnings to him with a grin. "Alright, alright, to celebrate such a fine evening of games, this round's on me! Everyone's drinking on Mat Cauthon's coin!"

He retreats from the gambling table and drops a pile of low denomination coins on the bar, takes his own drink, and slips off to the side for now.

There's such a thing as pressing luck, after all.

Around the Town - Running Errands

How, exactly, has this happened? Mat has spent the majority of his afternoon not lazing about the castle, not busking on the corner, not dallying with one of his handsome friends, not even studying. No, he's been running all over town with a list of things Lady Yennefer needs, and now he has shop satchels hanging off both arms as he tries to find the last stop on his errand list.

Light help him, but he's a goner for beautiful older women who order him about.

It's a race against the sun as Mat finally turns down the proper street, eyes peeled for a sign reading 'The Dancing Mirror'. This lane seems unfathomably long, and he hustles and hurries, muttering under his breath...aha! There it is!

Quickening his pace, Mat weaves between late afternoon shoppers and Thorneans on their way home from work, offering quick apologies. He reaches to grasp the knob of the shop....and it doesn't turn.

"Oh come on!" Mat steps back with a sigh, raking a hand through his unruly curls. "I've got ten more minutes...Light blast it!"

He kicks at a nearby pile of broken bricks, one of which cracks apart violently with a sharp, loud sound.

Wildcard

[Mat can also always be found in the baths or the dining hall, or busking in town with a sad little hand drum for musical accompaniment, or in his ever-changing Horizon domain. Feel free to throw a starter at me!]

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"I doubt it, as that's not what I was trying to do and I don't know how it happened."

Mat rakes back his tangle of curls and sighs, turning his mild scowl from the ice to Anakin. But he doesn't panic, or recoil as though he's been caught doing something he shouldn't. He's getting better. And the scowl isn't for his friend. He's mostly just frustrated at his inability to control his channeling.

"Anyhow...it's not local magic. I've given up the fight and accepted that I am a man who can channel, and better I get it under control than keep ignoring it."

There's a sense of tired resignation in Mat's voice at that.

"Well, what were you trying to do? Maybe I can help."

Anakin prods at the shard of ice, looking over Mat's creation before moving his focus to his friend.

"Back when I was learning how to use the Force, my Master tried to teach me about patience. Perhaps we ought to start there. You have to learn to walk before you can run, you know." Maybe if he teaches Mat a few Jedi techniques, it could translate well enough into his own magic to help him channel it.

"Just freeze it. Without the great eye-poking lance there."

Mat sinks down onto a nearby bench with a sigh. It's all about control, he understands that, but it's far easier said than done. As for patience...

"I'm a perfectly patient fellow! What I'm not is experienced at channeling. Well, whether or not I did it right, I did practice today. You've seen me, you can vouch for it."

Regardless of his progress, he's making good on his promise.

"Right, just regular, non-stabbing ice. Okay." He follows suit and sits next to Mat, patting him placatingly on the leg. "You definitely did practice, I'll give you that. I want you to try something for me. Just.. bear with me."

He shifts so he can better face Mat. "Close your eyes and tell me what your magic feels like to you."

"Ugh, I don't want to."

Mat slumps against Anakin instead, resting his head on the other man's shoulder and sighing.

"I have practiced. The practicing is done. I am post-practice now, and like post-coitus, I need a small rest before resuming. Then I will indulge you."

But he needs a break. This isn't easy, and it's physically tiresome. Takes energy and all of that. But he supposes Anakin might be of some help, light knows the fellow's been trying to teach Mat since the start.

Anakin hums in thought, looking out at the rest of the courtyard.

"If you're tired, we could always move on to something else. You can indulge me later."

He knocks his heel gently against the side of Mat's foot. There's not a rush, his timing is always bad and he does get why Mat would prefer to practice in solitude. That doesn't mean that Anakin's not a little disappointed he missed it.

"No, it's fine, I just need to rest a bit. I've been at it a while before you wandered in, depleted my resources. That's normal, I am told."

Mat is perfectly content to just lounge against Anakin and wait for this bout of weakness to pass. It always does.

"I am also told it will get better, the more I work at it. It's like muscles, you have to use'em to make them strong." Which is analogy that makes perfect sense to him. This is just a different sort of muscle, one that doesn't exactly physically exist.

"In terms of channeling, I am still a weakling."

"Makes sense. Then I suppose it's a good thing I came by to distract you, isn't it?"

Sitting here with Mat reminds him achingly of times spent on the Resolute between campaigns. He and Ahsoka leaning against one another in one of the hallways as the clone troopers milled about. Companionable silence in the wake of a battle while they gather their bearings.

It's not her, but the warmth at his side feels the same. Stars, he misses her like a limb.

"Gotta walk before you can run, you'll get there. I wasn't the best at meditating when I started out at the Jedi Temple, but I got there. ....Kind of. Eventually."

"It's certainly not a bad thing."

Light, it is nice to rest. Mat hadn't expected how much energy this would take out of him. At least it's incentive - keep at it so he can stop feeling like this after.

"I'm still fuck-all at meditating. I can manage it for the Horizon, but just sitting about without thinking? Can't do it. That isn't a mind's job, to be silent and empty. That's about the exact opposite of the mind's job."

"Then don't do that. Maybe you need something closer to a moving mediation. I used to fix things when I needed to clear my mind or distract myself. Sometimes being still and calm isn't the answer."

It's less about the mind being empty and more about stepping outside of yourself to examine things or even out emotions. Even if it doesn't work for Mat, it might give him ideas of what he could do.

"Why don't we go for a walk?"

"Moving meditation?"

Mat's never heard of that before. He only knows the one kind, like the Aes Sedai do. And it strikes him as terribly boring.

"But a walk may be a good idea. Stretch my legs, think about other things for a bit." It's always nice to walk through the gardens. They're like something out of a fairy story, really.

"Maybe I ought wander into town...buy a fancy new tunic. Do you think Lady Yennefer appreciates fancy?"

"Sometimes it's easier to relax your mind if your body has a distraction. You have to find something that works for you, not everyone else." A lesson he learned the hard way by trying to conform to how everyone else operated in the Jedi Temple.

Anakin stands and offers a hand to hoist Mat upward if he's inclined. He looks around where they're at. "I could go for a walk around town." The question catches him by surprise and his brow lifts. "I think she is someone who enjoys nice things. She's certainly deserving of them."

"Hmm. Sounds logical."

Mat can understand that. Like when, back home, he'd been angry and overwhelmed by the state of his family and had fucked off to hunt in the woods. Always helped to settle his mind.

He takes the offered hand and hauls himself to his feet.

"I think you're right." He nods. After a beat, continues. "I'd like her to look favorably on me, you see. Not just as a student, but as a handsome young man."

One Mat is on his feet, Anakin gives him a pat on the shoulder before heading toward the direction of the front gates.

"You'll find I'm right more than I get credit for." He looks at his friend, eyebrows rising in amusement. "Oh, is that so? And what is it you hope to find when she does? Be careful you don't get lost in the beautiful depth of her eyes."

"With luck what will happen will be one of the greatest nights of my life." A man can dream. "I'd let that woman do whatever she pleased to me and thank her for it."

If she is half as take-charge in bed as she is in every day life, Mat will be a happy man indeed. He does enjoy a strong, older woman ordering him about in the bedroom. And it's an experience he hasn't had in far too long.

"And ah, my friend, you know me. I don't get lost in anyone's eyes. I am a strictly casual fun sort of fellow, romance is not for me!"

"You're telling me you've never had someone take over your thoughts so thoroughly it consumed you?"

Then again, that's the only style of love Anakin really knows personally. He's aware of his roommate's tendencies, as well as the weird relationship that Kylo and Ronan have with the addition of Rhy. For him, there'd only ever been Padmé.

A lot of good that had done him in the end.

"Have you discussed that with her, then?"

"Dear sweet fuck, no!" Mat shakes his head emphatically. "I have never been so enamored with another person like that. I wouldn't want to be."

He casts a skeptical look over at Anakin as they walk. That sounds like madness, not affection.

"And not directly, but it's a subtle dance. I've made allusions that she's well aware of." Yennfer is a classy sort of lady, it's not as though his usual 'want to fuck?' approach is called for. There's flirtations to be indulged in.

Anakin shrugs, taking no offense. "Maybe you're better for it.. Love apparently has its limits."

He hums in thought, glancing at Mat. "Flirtation is never a bad route to go, especially when they're willing to play in return. Her wit is as sharp as a knife."

He nods to the guards at the front gates, meandering toward the market.

"Of course it is, she's brilliant. And I'd bet good money that she could kill a man with a look. I tell you, I think if that woman told me to walk into the sea with rocks in my pockets, I would."

Mat sighs as they walk the winding road down into town, hands shoved in his pockets as he ambles alongside Anakin. It's not an infatuation, not exactly. But light, does he want her to look at him like that. Like something desired and wanted. If a woman like her could look at him like that...

Well, any damned thing would be possible.

"And she's got the most beautiful eyes. I'm not about to get lost in them, but I could look at them for ages. I hope she doesn't think I'm too young for her...I'm not."

"Of course she can kill with a look. What she can do with less? We're lucky to be alive and in her good graces." Men will always be attracted and hopeless when it comes to beautiful women, especially when they are as kind as they are dangerous. He's yet to see Yennefer's dangerous side, but he doesn't doubt that it's there.

"A shame, really. You're missing out. There could be entire galaxies within them and you'd never know." All Anakin can do is offer a shrug. It's not exactly something Yennefer has disclosed with him. "I think your ability is more important than your age to someone like her."

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Open Log - Thorne Castle

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