diatuooc | Test Drive #3

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test drive

Test Drive #3

Test Drive #3

Lightning Crash

The weather over the floating island of Ascelion during spring months is best described as "hellacious"; its elevation puts it right among the worst of stormclouds and fuels their thunderous fire as they sweep past it and electrically scrape against its sides. Rain is frequent, but lightning is almost constant, along with thunderous rumbles that roll across the city and the open spaces of the Magicademy like waves.

But today is particularly bad. Webs of electricity crackle through the sky, jumping from cloud to cloud or grounding themselves on towers of the Magicademy angrily. None of them seem to endanger the students, but there's a first time for everything, isn't there? As titanic fury threatens to tear the sky in half, do you risk stepping into the outside? Does the infrasonic rumbling trigger fear or terror in your gut, as such deep waves are known to do? Perhaps you've learned a spell that will protect you. Or perhaps you've poorly learned a spell that may or may not protect you...

Wand Wrong Way

The rumors around campus speak of a small and musty store deep in the Merchant District, on a side road to a side road, where only those in-know go to find items that would surely draw too much notice if displayed publicly. Powdered dragon tail, eye of sphinx, swords Forged with magic-cutting spells, and most valuable of all, the Gateway Wand. Surely this legendary wand, in which the full power of Sundering hums, could get you and your friends back home.

Rumors are pretty lousy with directions, though. The Merchant District offers ample chance to get lost, to get distracted, or to stumble down the wrong alley and find hoodlums all too eager to extract "tolls" from the lost and seemingly helpless. Does your adventure become disaster? Does this rumored shop even exist?

Pantalones Giganticus

At its heart, Modification seems like the most simple of schools. What could be more simple than arithmetic? Therefore, Modification also has the steepest and most shocking learning curve of all, as it rapidly balloons to more complicated mathematical expressions, more variables in the formulae, and above all more chance for error.

So really, the mistake is an honest one. Any hurried student, probably in their third or fourth year of study, could accidentally introduce an unnecessary factor into their equation. That is probably why your pants are now sized for someone four times large than you. (Not four sizes. Four times.) Worse, this has happened to EVERYONE -- the entire population of the Magicademy, student and staff and faculty alike, are trundling around in blown-up bloomers, too-large trousers, not-conveniently-sized knickers... you get the idea.

Now the bad news: to fix the error in formula and restore your pants to normal size, someone else has to get in them with you.

Labwork

Not every magical disaster is caused by some wayward student you don't know. Many of them are caused by you instead. To wit: you're on the spot in one of the magical labs, being called on to demonstrate a technique more advanced than others you've mastered so far. Failure is expected, and the wards should prevent any injury to others from a miscast spell. But will the sparks of your magic just sputter out and die? Or will you inadvertently mispronounce, misform, misshape, or miscalculate in a way that brings chaos to you and your lab partner?

(You could also manage to succeed in casting the spell, but that isn't very fun.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[LIGHTNING CRASH]

He is not afraid of lightning.

Noa Kaiba was not someone afraid of things, or so he liked to tell himself. There was of course plenty to say otherwise- and rightfully so in a number of ways. But it was what he told himself, which was also why he and the relatively massive cat he'd somehow gotten bonded to were both staring quite warily at the sky above. Rain was absolutely coming down. That alone was plenty good reason to stick indoors, and he hadn't minded.

Except now he had to actually leave to go to a different building on the campus for his afternoon class of the day.

"Nnnhgggg..." There is a loud, fairly immature groan escaping him, the sort that he would absolutely refrain from making if he had any idea someone else was around. But the boy just can't stop looking...Up.

He's not afraid. And it can't even strike through whatever protections the school has anyway. It's logic. It makes sense. The school couldn't have lasted this long if it couldn't keep safe from that so. So!

"MrAAAAAAAAAOOUUURR."

"I am not stalling..." he hisses quietly at the cat, as if it had been speaking in the first place. But no doubt someone else has overheard that.

[LABWORK]

Noa is beginning to realize one very unfortunate drawback of going to a school, particularly a school with people. When he was growing up at home, he had nothing but tutors, and not a single classmate around. Which meant if he made mistakes, no one could laugh- and therefore also meant that the image of even being able to make mistakes just failed to really stick. Him??? Mess up?? Don't make him laugh, he studied this, and thoroughly.

But being in a class with people means that as much as he stares with interest when someone performs a spell marvelously, there is nothing stopping him from smirking and chuckling from his seat when someone doesn't.

And that means-

'Mr. Kaiba!'

-the experience of being called out in a class.

'Care to demonstrate your skills in the art?'

Naturally, he goes up to the 'stage' absolutely certain that he's going to do exactly that.

...

That is not what happens, and after a few seconds of time- filled with either humming, spoken scripture, or sigils- Noa is left red in the face and fuming at the absolute lack of anything 'correct'.

This is likely going to end in only a few ways- none of them anything but messy, unless someone steps in and even then;

"Nhh...What!" he'll snap to whoever's nearest.

(The teacher, for their part, seems rather content to just let things play out)

WILDCARD

[Noa has an app drafted here for those who want to look into him- otherwise, I'm pretty much open to any scenario, so feel free to either PM his account with an idea, or even just come up with a prompt to tag in with on the spot!]

[ The weather on this island is consistently terrible. Kaiba has devoted an embarrassing amount of time researching spells to keep his white robes unblemished by the mud all around campus.

Lightning is another matter. He grits his teeth and passes through quickly, but in one of the flashes he spots a familiar head.

Noa. Not the first person here who's supposed to be dead by any means, but it's a shock that he's not prepared for all the same. He sucks in a breath and approaches, trying for a dry tone.

But his surprise is impossible to suppress entirely. ]

If that's not it, then what are you doing out here?

[While they aren't white, Noa could certainly benefit from picking up a few mud-repelling charms himself- red and orange might look alright with brown, but it is definitely going to be noticeable if it stains. He's so wrapped up in getting over the unsettling hold actual human emotion has on him in the face of something as simple as weather though, that he completely fails to realize Seto is near.

At least, until he hears that voice.

And then Noa freezes, because frankly even if someone could have feasibly remarked 'oh, another Kaiba?' at some point in his enrollment, he'd probably desperately hoped it was complete coincidence.

That or Mokuba. He likes Mokuba. This is... Well.

Noa swallows, quite unintentionally going for a strategy similar to Seto's own. There's a lot of complicated feelings here. A lot of...attempted murdering (on his own part), among other things.

Not to mention a lot of things he really ought to apologize for, but hey! That's weird. And awkward. And difficult! ~~So nah~~.

Noa's voice has a forced edge of smugness to it, and he crosses his arms.] I can take my time to enjoy a view, can't I? [He huffs, rather deliberately trying not to look in the other's direction.] ...And if there's time to burn then there's nothing to stall for!

[Noa's cat looks remarkably unimpressed with that bluff.]

[ Well, this was a conversation he'd hoped to never have. He'd never really bought into Mokuba's pleas before, but after everything...and after a few forced nights of self-reflection? He might be ready for a round two. ]

Isn't the next class period in three minutes? You'll need to leave soon.

[ Kaiba also has a cat, it seems, but his is ordinary-sized. She's a quiet black feline curled over his shoulder. She commiserates with the other cat, giving the boys a Look. ]

[Being a maine coon is rough, normal cat. It's rough. Especially being a creamy white one.

As it is- Noa grimaces immediately, and no amount of haste to hide the response can save him from that.] ...I can run.

[Yes, of course he can. Because that's a brilliant answer. Absolutely perfect.] ...the physics class tends to have a late start anyway I find- if I do miss something, it won't be anything I don't know, [he adds for his haughty- and wavering- defense.

Really, he's quite enjoyed that class. It's physics. But other world physics. Extra neat!

...but also, lightning...] ...Don't you have a class yourself?

At least some aspects of this world aren't entirely nonsensical.

[ It's really unsettling, how alike they are in some ways. How many times has he made the same haughty declarations in mathematics and modification? ]

Yes, but. More to the point:

As a physics genius, surely you know how to draw the lightning away from yourself?

[Physical was bad enough, but everything else? ~~Hey Gozaburo what the heck?~~

Somehow, Noa manages to not choke. He does, however, freeze, and grimace again, and then scowl. No hiding that one.] ...Naturally that wouldn't be necessary with current protections, [he grumbles, unable to keep from looking back at the sky again.]

...The school is hundreds of years old after all. It wouldn't exactly benefit if their students were at risk in every thunderstorm they had...

[He hates this. A lot! Behind him is a chirping mew of sorts as his cat nudges his legs. If he's so sure of everything then go!]

This school is very willing to tolerate risk. Most of us have fallen ill due to a magical side effect several times already.

[ He exhales, clearly Done with this blasted school. But he starts drawing a glyph in the air and muttering regardless, and the end result is a pyramid-shaped barrier, extending high above their heads and touching on the ground far away. ]

That should provide any stray strikes an alternate path of least resistance. Now let's go.

[ He's doing this for his reputation by proxy, Noa, not you. Don't get the wrong idea. (Yeah right.) ]

It what-

[This is news he DOESN'T LIKE-

Though the shock of the news certainly isn't enough to make him miss THAT. The glyph appears, and in the quarter-second it takes to log the sight away (modification is interesting to study, even if he won't likely get to give it a practical shot)] I-

It wasn't as though I needed that..! [he huffs, moving forward anyway once his cat starts batting at his ankles on top of it all.] ...Besides that, are you even in the same building for your next class...

[What him, worried? Never. Same deal as you Seto, it's just a matter of reputation and not being responsible for someone else's problems. (...Totally.)]

We usually recover from the ill effects within a day. The school considers that acceptable. I don't.

[ He strides forward purposefully, eyes fixed ahead. ]

It's the other way.

[ A pause. ]

But I've been building the Kaiba name from nothing in this world. I won't let you risk our reputation over something so avoidable.

And I'd suggest focusing on shielding spells first, given what the school is willing to look past.

Ugh. What a waste, [he remarks in the face of the school's 'acceptable' standards. If there is any acknowledgement that they've agreed on things, he'll deny it furiously.

...

Especially after that.] Tch. As if I would want to do anything to tarnish my own name, [he growls, even as he fingers the medallion ocarina around his neck. Intro classes to fantastics- small instruments first, larger later, so it's this thing instead of a violin for now. ~~Alas~~ His eyes are briefly glued to the glyph, his mind thinking over what he little he knows there, and what he's learned thus far for himself.]

...The 'advice' is noted however, as much as I'm fine without.

[Hmm, which notes would equate to what calculations...he moves his eyes to look ahead every now and then, but if he can figure out how to recreate That spell on his own, this will be way easier.

...

Even if it takes a few days.

...At least they're just about at the building.]

I wouldn't expect anything else from you.

[ They really are too much alike. He almost has to laugh as they reach the shelter of the building.

He eyes the ocarina and Noa's robes with mild interest. ]

Fantastics. Why doesn't that surprise me?

Good, [he says before stopping himself- and he's still smiling (though perhaps somewhat more honestly the longer it lasts) after Seto's question.] I did study music in...my childhood after all, [he hums, carefully avoiding 'in life'. It's more for his own sake than Seto's though. Think of things as 'in life' is just.

Weird, now that he's alive now.] It's not quite my instrument of choice but...

[He'll pause, testing a few notes- it's far cry from a shield spell, but he's got...Something? Forming over his hand?

It's a start.] ...It'll do for now.

[Hey, he managed not to slip any barbs in that last remark.]

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blue_ice - 2019-03-26 01:58 (UTC) - Expand

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noasark - 2019-03-26 02:04 (UTC) - Expand

Xion was still trying not to be seen much. She couldn't help it, it was habit. And she still didn't know who would be able to see her and who would see just a blank puppet. So she kept her hood up. All the time. Axel wasn't in this class, so she had almost skipped, had wanted to skip, but with Saïx sniffing around, she figured that with other people around he couldn't corner her so easily as he could if she were out on her own in the halls. So she had come to class.

And was already regretting it. She had mostly been staring at her hands throughout the lesson, listening without watching or attempting anything. When the other student got called up she tried even harder than ever to be invisible. When he turned to snap at her, she realized that her hand had been out to one side, a desperate attempt to conjure a dark corridor to RTD. Her hands came up to make sure her hood was secure as she flinched back from the boy... and the imminent disaster.

I'm sorry, did you expect Xion to be able to FIX anything? A broken mirror like her?

[[OOC - I'm canon familiar, but my memory is fuzzy on this point...]]

Whether he sees anything, or even realizes what she's been doing, Noa's irritation takes most of the priority for his reaction. There's no magical disaster incoming at least; that much is certain from the spectacular lack of Anything he was able to conjure.

Unfortunately, an irritated Noa is one who will readily jump any number of conclusions to lash out. "What! You can't even look, is that it?!"

It's at this point that he's told to return to his seat- fine and grand, except for the part where he wasn't exactly sitting far away from Xion to begin with.

So the boy sits in what will be Xion's visible range, face red and fuming as he glares rather accusingly.

She tried to shrink in on herself. HEr hand flickered out again, but still no dark portal. When she glanced up and saw him glaring... she broke. She stood, sadly knocking things aside with enough noise to guarantee EVERYONE was looking at her, and fled the room.

As soon as she was in the hall she pressed her back to the wall, gasping for air, wishing she could just RTD and not have to face anyone again until sunset.

That...

Is not a reaction Noa has ever seen. For the most part he's used to people snapping back. Or perhaps even just protesting some reason or other that he doesn't especially know about (or care about, even). Someone running away is...

Different. It's weird even, and Noa is left blinking off the shock for a moment as everyone manages to forget about his incident and instead focus on the doorway.

(Or at least that's what he would prefer to think- but the reality is that people definitely then looked back at Him from the Door, given that he was very obviously the reason Xion left.)

It's a very odd thing and he's not really sure he likes how he feels about it.

Noa, 'proper' student he is, asks to be excused before he follows out into the hall to see where Xion went. From there... ...he stares in silence, speaking only when he finally accepts that he can't sort out what just happened on his own.

"You know..." he begins, tone almost drawling, "If anyone was going to get shouted at in there, it was probably going to be me, right? I'm pretty sure you weren't going to be next up for being embarrassed in front of the class..." He's certain of it, at least. Not that he's about to outright admit he was in the wrong, but he's able to accept that he was the one 'overreacting'. Also, she didn't make his mistake and laugh. That definitely guaranteed an option to avoid the front stage.

The boy pauses, tapping his arm. "...And I'd at least like to hope I'm not driving classmates to a panic with a single look..." He is Absolutely assuming it was panic, on that note.

She froze when he came out, staring at him from under her hood. What had she done to make him want to go after her like this? was he about to attack? She didn't have her Keyblade, she could barely use her magic... and the one spell she had back wasn't really good for use indoors. She pressed herself further against the wall, braced for an attack.

She hadn't expected words. So it took her a moment to process.

It very much was panic. And her shoulders hunched. "Whatever I did to upset you, I'm sorry, okay. You can just forget you ever saw me." And then she winced at her own words. She was past that. She had succeeded. But in the far of the moment the words she had been saying her whole first month here came out. Oddly... before she knew she had succeeded, the thought that he was about to cut her down would have been a relief, now that she knew she had pulled it off? Whatever small fraction of an existence she had... she wanted to keep.

Axel had a heart now, and he'd be hurt if she was snuffed out. She had to keep going for him. And for the chance that she could help find Roxas.

It's a bit of a ping-pong match between them- but instead of a ball, it's being surprised and having to process whatever is being said. And done. And Noa of course is now doing that, once again blinking rapidly with a somewhat stunned expression.

"What you did?" he repeats, before scoffing at the notion. "Please...you can blame the teacher for most of that," Noa mutters, not quite ready to admit that maybe, just maybe, he shouldn't have laughed to begin with. "All you did was sit there...I'm plenty over it, trust me."

Which of course implies anything was done at all, but. Well, again, he's not about to admit he was wrong out loud. ...Not yet anyway.

"...Who are you, anyway?" he finally asks, not making any motion to look for anything under the hood.

She wanted to say but you didn't glare at the teacher like that but didn't. Talking back never worked well. Not for her. Axel seemed to get away with it, but... that was Axel.

But if he was over it, did that mean he wasn't going to attack her? She hoped so. Axel kept telling her things were different here than they were in the Organization... that this world wasn't divided into friends and jerks, that some people were just... in the middle. Maybe he was in the middle too?

She looked down at her gloves.

"Xion," she said, softly.

It's the power of directional anger. The teacher was the one to bring him up there. But having laughed before, his mind thought 'someone else will laugh at you now'.

Xion was just unfortunate enough to have been moving in that moment. A target that his mind decided was going to be next to laugh. (even if she wasn't)

He is definitely closer to the Jerk end of the general world scale, just by virtue of honestly having no idea how friends even work, sadly.

"...Xion," he repeats calmly, mentally logging it away. "Hmm. I, am Noa then," the boy introduces. "Kaiba, Noa. ...Planning to sit out here until the end of the class?" he adds, unable to keep from making extra remarks.

"Kaiba?" didn't she know that name? That boy who had found her when she had been sneaking out. Hadn't that been his name? Why were there two people with the same name? Weren't there enough names to go around in his world?

"I can leave... I won't be in anyone's way," she said quietly. If he would move, she could go back and hide in the dorm, or she could head for the beach....

Surnames are an illusion Xion. A dastardly illusion.

The more they talk though, the more her attitude absolutely baffles Noa. "I would hardly think you were in anyone's way before," Noa insists with a shrug. "The only reason I took notice was because I was paranoid..." Ah, well there, he said it.

He at least stands in a way that he can be walked around though. The halls can't be so narrow that it's impossible right? (A small blessing, that.)

"Paranoid?" did she know that word? She was trying to remember it, if she did.

Well. "...That's what I said isn't it?"

That's not helpful at all, but alright. "You weren't the one doing anything." Hopefully she can work with that context, because he doesn't even consider the fact that she might. Not know that word.

Noa Kaiba | Yu-Gi-Oh! DM (anime)

incoming disaster train (lightning)

huhuhuuuu (-flips a coin from house choices to pick noa's in the meantime,-)

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this pic isn't the right colour for either cat but boy does it show how alarmingly big that breed is

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Labwork

What would determine if he can see her as 'not a puppet' :0?

A combination of willingness to see her as existing as much as they do and expectation.

-thumbs up-, Thanks!

Welcome!

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I honestly don't recall if she got Seto's name, but it is a TDM so.... >.>

TDMs are good excuses for things like 'ah shoot did I get that tidbit', thankfully <u<'

Yep. And I'm sure they'll meet differently in game!

Oh for sure (hopefully on better grounds lmfao...)