abraxaslogs | [ CATCH-ALL ] waking from the dream

Entry tags:

[ CATCH-ALL ] waking from the dream

Who: Rhy Maresh and OPEN
When: throughout August
Where: Castle Thorne, Horizon
What: Rhy doing stuff and talking to people around Thorne in August. Magic studies and silly little gifts. Potentially event things will go here later. PM me if you wanna plot!
Warnings: will add as needed.

(( hit me up at belleteyn @ plurk or PM for plotting! Rhy can commonly be found in the dining hall, practicing magic or reading in any of the gardens or courtyards, in the library, at the infirmary studying healing, and at taverns around town. horizon available as well. I'm chill with whatever! ))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ While Julie has tried to encourage people to return to the Horizon -- via party, via conversation, via invitation -- many people seem fairly scarred by the past few months. There's been less in-and-out than normal, and even those who do visit tend to remain in their own domains. Occasionally someone goes on a walkabout, but it's not the norm, especially outside of daylight hours.

It suits her all right, though. It means she can mostly do as she pleases without much worry that she'll be spotted. As far as she can tell, she's the only one who sleeps in the Horizon with any regularity anyway, and always has been. She slept here long before she ever started communicating with the Singularity; it's basically the same as sleeping in the real world, and she finds it comforting. Like the universe's best weighted blanket, cocooning her without ever being too warm or oppressive. Of course, sleeping outside of her domain is pretty new, but she doesn't see the harm.

A few weeks ago, she'd have been sitting on the ground, but Julie is nothing if not resourceful; now there is practically a little tableau at the base of the Singularity, with her sitting right in the center. On a plush, backless bench, she is cross-legged in the center, her back pressed to the cool stone of the Singularity. The bench, ostensibly, is just seating, but it is certainly long enough for someone on the short side, like her, to sleep on. The fact that there is no barrier between her and the Singularity is most crucial -- Julie finds that physical contact absolutely makes a difference, makes it easier to hear. On the ground is a tray with a bottle of wine, a glass and a small plate of Milano cookies. Next to the tray is a pair of kitten-heeled mules, left when she drew her legs up. Though she is, in fact, wearing pajamas, they aren't obviously sleepwear -- she could just be wearing a matching set. It's a strange sight, for sure, but it's not immediately apparent that she's sleeping here.

Her hands are raised at chest-level. In front of her, in the air, is a soft rose-pink cloud, the center of which holds a large white dahlia. One at a time, each petal is gently tugged free from the others, as if by the hand of a ghost, then morphs from a single petal into another dahlia, which begins its own series of the same. Like a perpetual motion machine of flowers. Small blue butterflies flutter between the blooms. For those who aren't particularly attuned to the Horizon's magic, it can be difficult to tell, but this is not the same manifestation normally used in this plane. This is Julie's actual doing.

The look in her eyes is somewhat distant, like she's not focused on what she's doing. She isn't -- internally, she is trying to cajole the Singularity for direction, and all she ever receives in response is the feeling of want. Boundless, ravenous want.

She did not expect anyone to call her name. Her expression shows it, clearly.

The flowers all vanish as she sits up much straighter, breaking contact. Looking over at Rhy. ]

Uh, hey.

...hey.

[ He blinks, clearly a bit confused. He'd seen a glimpse of the magic she was doing before she dispelled it. ]

My apologies. Didn't mean to startle you.

[ A beat, the question obvious before he actually gives it voice. ]

What... are you doing here?

[ She hadn't dispelled her magic on purpose, not really. Honestly, she hadn't been paying that much attention to what she was actually doing -- she has just learned that using magic while talking to the Singularity sometimes gets her slightly more of a response. Like it wants to know what she's doing. Her concentration just broke to hear someone else when she wasn't expecting them to be out and about.

The wheels in her head are going overtime, and it doesn't help that the Singularity is still in there, nosing curiously at her mind, as if to ask what she plans to say. Gimme a sec, she says to it, mildly frustrated, then slips her shoes back on and rises. Takes a step forward. ]

Just gettin' some air. [ The smile that spreads over her face is convincing. Sincere. ] Practicing. Thought it might be a little bit easier closer to it, y'know? And if not, well, never hurts to take in scenery, right?

Really?

[ Rhy looks up at the monolith stretching above them, taking in the presence of it, the soft hum of magic that always emanates from the structure-- like a heartbeat. Like the echo of his own.

His golden eyes slide back to Julie, mildly curious. There is no suspicion there; he doesn't seem to find her presence here weird being being a little surprising, mostly since he rarely sees others at the base of the Singularity like this. ]

Is it actually easier?

[ The Singularity lingers at the edge of her conscious while she continues the conversation, like a dog who's been gently moved so their owner can stand up, balefully looking after her. But it's hard to split her attention equally when one party is actually in her mind, so Julie has to prioritize Rhy for the moment.

The lies flow from her mouth with even more ease than the truth. She doesn't know Rhy well enough to have any qualms about lying. She just needs it to all make sense, come off believably. Enough so to explain her presence, but not encouraging enough that he might get overly interested and start hanging around. She can't have anyone hanging around. ]

Mm, probably 'bout the same. At least so far. It was just a theory, but then again, I don't really know what I'm talkin' 'bout when it comes to this stuff. My world didn't even have magic.

[ Again, the Singularity prods at her; she can feel its attention on her. On them. There's a sliver of interest in Rhy, one that it has not expressed toward anyone else so far, but she can't dig into that while she's still formulating her thoughts, planning the conversation so she can manipulate the outcome.

I only met him once before, she internally chides. He can't know. If I ask him anything, he'll know. Call him yourself when I ain't here.

The response feels like a petulant huff, and she can sense the connection waning somewhat, which always happens when the Singularity... loses interest? Goes to sleep? She's not sure what it does when it isn't speaking to her. But it will come back to her. She's no longer afraid that it won't. She knows it will. ]

They say this place is the source of all the magic in this world-- perhaps in others, too. Even if it's an echo in the Horizon, is it not still the same essence? I think your theory has some merit to it.

[ He smiles, almost sympathetic. Understanding, rather. ]

My world does. It's a place steeped in magic, thriving with it-- except for the unfortunate few whom Magic skipped over. But in my world, there was no source like that, that we knew of, to seek some sort of connection with Magic itself in a more direct way.

I know people often simply... talk to it. We coax the magic and converse with it, and it may answer as it will.

[ Or not at all. As has been the case for Rhy -- until he came here. ]

I mean, that's what I thought! But I guess it might be the same as like, when your computer's slow, so you tell it to come on. [ She pauses, catches that she said something probably world-specific. Sometimes, these things slip out. ] Uh, I don't know if your world had computers, but they're like... machines that can do a bunch of different stuff. My world had tons of 'em. Anyway, it was a thing back home, that when your machines didn't work right, you'd try to talk 'em into it, even though they weren't alive.

[ After a year in Abraxas, Julie has gotten fairly good at talking around technology that doesn't exist for most other Summoned, but it still pops up every now and then. She has had to explain everything from dinosaurs to Jesus Christ to cake pops, so now she just tries to keep it simple. The habit of trying to cajole technology into working properly, though, might be too much. ]

I mean, I don't know that it really gets any easier or stronger just 'cause I got closer. It ain't like my domain's far away from here, y'know? It was just a thought.

[ Rhy is aware of the concept of machinery, and beyond that, the very human concept that spans across worlds of people just... talking to things that can't understand, carts and boats and things like that. But he blinks and shakes his head, not because he doesn't get the idea of what Julie is trying to communicate, but because he doesn't believe it's true. Not in this case. ]

Yes, I take your meaning, but--

Magic may not breathe and talk the way a human does, but it is, in its own way, living.

Just as the Singularity is.

Yeah, I know that. [ Of course she knows. How could she not? She can feel it every moment she's awake, winding around her and beating against her skin like a million tiny wings. ] I just mean that it don't necessarily answer just because you move or ask it or bang on the side.

[ It's almost impossible to explain the depth of her understanding of how alive it all is. Kylo had once said the magic is life itself, and Julie's not sure of how accurate that description is, but it feels close to right. ]

I guess... this was just an experiment. That's all.

That much is true.

[ He hesitates, a bit uncertain. It seems she wasn't expecting company, and doesn't want it right now -- and it's not as though he'd interrupted her experiment on purpose.

Rhy offers a nod and a smile before turning to head up the crater toward his actual destination. ]

I'll have to try it myself sometime. Have a good evening, Julie. I hope we run into each other again.

You too, Rhy.

[ Her mask holds until he's out of sight, a cheerful, pretty smile that immediately drops from her face when she can't see him anymore. She watches the empty space for a moment, in case he turns back, but when he does, she goes back to her bench and sits down with a huff.

A sense of petulance seeps into her consciousness. Not her own. Yeah, I know, she responds. She takes a bite from one of the cookies left on the platter. It is what it is. He's probably gonna come back when I'm not here.

If Rhy walks back by later on, she won't be there. The bench, the cookies, the wine, all gone. Even the imprints of the bench legs will be wiped from the ground. She stays away for a few days. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ CATCH-ALL ] waking from the dream

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject