acatalepsy_logs | Don't Skip Your Flu Shot

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Don't Skip Your Flu Shot

Who: Everyone! It's a mingle post for the first week of Struxta sickness!!
Where: All around the temple
When: During the first week of the sickness
Rating PG?? At most??
What: Curry, blankets and pillow forts, and other assorted sick things

[With the Struxta illness sweeping through the temple like a wildfire, and with so many new arrivals trying to get adjusted to temple living, it's probably no surprise that things around the Astoria's little pocket of space have gotten a little hectic. Feeling under the weather? Looking for something warm to soothe that scratchy throat? Just want to curl up underneath a pile of blankets and not move for like, seven hours or so? Never fear! A Mysterious Helper (TM) has you covered]

A. Curry in the Kitchen

[The kitchen smells extremely nice during lunchtime this week, the only meal of the day that isn't pre-prepared by the misty servants. Like the scent of coffee intermingled with complementary spices. Those who take the initiative to investigate will find something pleasant waiting for them. A few pots of fresh made curry and steamed rice; a few pots of miso soup (a. . . little on the salty side, sorry); and some freshly brewed coffee already poured into individual mugs, along with cream and sugar and whatever additives your heart desires. It's all strewn out across the counter tops with a handwritten note pinned against the wall above the stove:]

Help yourself, and get well soon.

[There isn't any sign of the mysterious chef when you enter the kitchen, and if you arrive near the end of lunch hour, some of the food and coffee miiiiight be a bit cold. But hey! This might be a good chance to mingle with some of your new coworkers who are also seeking out a warm meal to help quell some of their cold symptoms. Just please don't sneeze into the curry pot, thanks. . .]

[Lunch will be laid out in the kitchen every day at lunchtime for the entire first week of the sickness. Help yourselves!]

B. The Temple Hallways

[THERE ARE BLANKETS AND PILLOWS EVERYWHERE]

[. . . no, seriously. For some reason, it's like you can't even walk down a hallway without tripping over a bundled up blanket or a pillow. What's up with that! For the most part, they're normal bedtime accessories, although you may find a bundle of pillows and blankets stacked up into an ENTIRE PILLOW FORT if you're lucky.]

[Pinned to the walls of the hallways (not every hallway, but enough of them that it should be easy to find one of the signs without wandering for too long) are more handwritten signs:]

Whoever can build the tallest pillow fort will receive one (1) high five as a grand prize. Good luck. Blanket provider is not responsible for anyone accidentally falling asleep in the hallways and blocking your route back to your bedroom.

[Hm. Well, that's weird. Anyway! You can build a pillow fort if you want, grab some blankets to take back to your room, or. . . nap in the hallways. Or do whatever! They're all free for the taking. Maybe you could even team up with another Circle member to try and win that extremely coveted high five??]

C. Wildcard

[Don't feel like interacting with any of the above? That's okay! Make your own prompt based on the event stuff over here, or just use this post for. . . whatever you want! It's totally and completely open for mingling for new and old characters alike, so. HAVE FUN ♥]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Being your moral support! [Obviously!] I can't believe you're not more excited about having new powers.

Figuring it out is easy. You've just gotta focus. [He props up one of the pillows so that it's standing a little higher than the others.] Here, think of this as your target.

Uh, well... last time that happened, it didn't go so well for me... [ it kicked off an Epic Quest full of friendship and trauma. also he got an eye impaled by magic gears or something??? though that bit is admittedly a little fuzzy. ]

Focus, huh? On what, exactly? [ that's the nice things of martial artes, you don't really have to think about them or chant or anything. you just do. ]

That's just one more reason why it's a good thing to get the hang of what you can do early.

[Logical if you don't think about it too hard. He wants to see some cool magic!]

Hmm. [He brings a hand to his chin like he's giving Ludger a serious appraisal.] Could you do anything special at home? The first thing I'd try is tapping into that same feeling.

[ but Takeru, he doesn't even know what he can do, how can he get the hang of an unknown. ]

... I was a good chef? Nothing that seems like it'd be relevant here.

[ judging by the way his eyes slide away, he's e-v-a-d-i-n-g. ]

[Oh. Takeru's demeanor softens just a touch.]

Okay. If you really like cooking then that's actually not a bad place to start.

I mean, it's something you can do that makes people happy, right? Try to concentrate on that. Or what it's like working with your team. I know it sounds corny, but the goal is to see your positive feelings as kind of an energy source.

[You just have to *~*believe*~*.]

[ ... somehow, there's a sense that pity has been taken on him, but if pity gets him out of explaining, then he will take that pity! ]

... Concentrate on the positive, huh? [ it might not be what Takeru meant to imply, but his words make Ludger think of linking. it had never been something he could physically see or touch, but it had been a small, present sense of solidarity, a feeling grounded in the reality of battle. it's easy enough to recall it - until a few weeks ago, he'd practically lived with its presence every waking hour.

~~if only his ability didn't also need a physical touch - he can't just will things into hammerspace!~~ ]

Hey, how'd you figure out how to make your arte work anyways?

Basically the same way. [So it's not entirely baseless advice.]

Astoria's magic is a lot more direct than anything I could normally do, but I'm pretty familiar with the idea behind it. [In theory it's not so different from manifesting the power of the Crest of Hope.] When you're focused and you know your strengths, it's easy to zero in on what feels right.

[As if to demonstrate he holds up a hand, summoning a beam of light that impales the poor target pillow, causing it to droop over sadly. From the way Takeru winces, that wasn't exactly the plan.]

...Getting it to be useful is still a work in progress.

The fact that you can use it in different ways already makes it useful. Flexibility is a power all of its own, trust me. [ his Extensive Combat Experience of less than one year makes him an expert no really.

as Ludger talks, he drops into a crouch to curiously poke at the pillow. as he prods it, though, it, uh.

it halfway vanishes. ]

... Uh.

Hey, it worked!

[Well, sort of. Ish. But Takeru's instinct is to celebrate before worrying about the whys or hows.

He kneels down too, casually invading Ludger's personal space in the name of science. No pressure or anything.]

Whatever you're doing, don't stop there. You're onto something.

[ no worries, Ludger gets his personal space invaded fairly often. and not even in the name of science! but he's still not used to it, so whoops, instinctive flinch to the side.

whoops, he's putting more pressure on the pillow.

whoops, there goes the pillow and also his forearm. ]

That's great - How do I make it stop?! [ he wants his arm back ok. ]

I-I'm sure it's fine!

[He says in a panicky voice while knowing absolutely nothing about magic, which is sure to be incredibly comforting.

Takeru waves a hand through where the pillow used to be, like he's making sure it's really gone and not just invisible. Oh boy, uh.]

Just-- [Except his usual advice doesn't apply here. Takeru's own magic relies on keeping constant concentration--if it were him in this situation, the problem would have fixed itself the minute he started freaking out.]

Just think really hard about it being back. [Probably??? Then, a beat later:] And in the right place.

[ it's super duper comforting, he can feel his nerves becoming more frazzled by the second. ]

I'm thinking, I'm thinking-!

[ he's also taking several quick steps Away from the place his hand disappeared - it's instinct okay, maybe there's some... invisible... pillow eating arm stealing monster there......... it could happen.

and fortunately, his arm reappears! like it was sliding out from behind something. hm.]

[Oh. Proooobably should have thought of that before freaking out. Maybe next time.]

So, uh. Congratulations on making holes through time and space?

[Or... something like that. The real questions can wait until Ludger's had a few seconds to calm down.]

Thanks, I guess?

[ he's still kind of freaking out, but at least it didn't remove his arm permanently. or slam into his eye. or cause him immense amounts of pain. ]

What's even the point of a power like that?

That's what we have to figure out.

[Break's over, pal.]

How'd it feel? Did you get any sense of what was on the other side?

[ boooo, but it just started. ]

It didn't feel like anything special. [ which is remarkable in it's own way? ] If I'd had my eyes closed before- that happened, I never would've known it vanished.

... I think I felt the pillow though.

Well, that's something. You should see if you can get it back.

[Since let's try to jump in and see where it goes might be a bit too extreme. Baby steps.]

We've gotta be sure the portal always leads to the same place before anything else.

[ baby steps! yes, right... baby... steps........ uh.

you know, maybe he's done enough experimenting for one day, after all he's going from having no magic to magic and- ]

Why don't you do something with your artes? Just for... you know... contrast.

I've been practicing mine all day.

["All day" in this case means about ten minutes before Ludger walked by. Details!!

But fine, he's not completely without sympathy.]

It's really weird to you, huh? This whole using magic thing.

[ that. gets a helpless shrug from Ludger. he's not quite entirely sure how to describe the complete and utter disbelief he feels at the thought of him having anything that could be magic. ]

I'm Elympian. We don't have mana lobes to cast spirit artes with. It's physically not possible for me.

[ well. ]

Or at least it wasn't.

It wasn't for me either. Or a lot of other people. Maybe you shouldn't think of this as spirit artes at all.

[If that particular brand of magic carries the baggage of bad memories.]

What we're doing here is different. We're basically borrowing mana from Astoria, right? [Assuming... that means what it usually does in video games.]

So your power is something unique. Something only you can do.

[

yeah, the last time that happened, it... well, it worked out in the end, but the journey sure was bumpy. but the effort is appreciated! ]

... You really like having magic, huh? [ at least someone is having fun with them. ] I guess it can't hurt to expand my arsenal.

Yeah, I guess I do. [Magic felt weird at first--still feels weird, honestly--but it took him a grand total of about five seconds to warm up to the idea.] In the past, I've always had to rely on my partner to help me fight. It's nice to think I might be able to protect him for a change.

[Not that Patamon's actually around. Still, the sentiment applies to his new teammates as much as anyone else.]

You're not alone in thinking it's strange. We've all gotta learn how to work with abilities we're not used to, but it'll be worth it in the end.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Don't Skip Your Flu Shot

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