a_better_man: (deep thoughts)
Mat Cauthon ([personal profile] a_better_man) wrote in [community profile] abraxaslogs2022-05-26 07:37 pm

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!]
blackeyedprince: (the mask i wear)

[personal profile] blackeyedprince 2022-07-22 12:42 pm (UTC)(link)
"I think my ears can handle it," Kell says with a shrug.

It's not a dismissive one. As difficult, as it sometimes is for him to convey it, he understands. He can get the uneasy feeling of doing something very, very wrong, born out of conditioning that should no longer matter here, but is so ingrained it's close to impossible to get rid off. Or catch yourself doing it even. That, and he could possibly get a degree in whining himself. What Matt is doing is not even close to his own levels of complaining.

"Can't say I had some grand motive to stop by. Mainly curious what you were doing. So if you need to get it off your chest, go for it."