diatuooc | Test Drive #7

Test Drive #7

Air Apparent

The fundamental principle of Sundering, that of breaching the barriers between here and there, often manifests as summoning. Simply open a portal and then bring through that which you desire to command. Today's lesson in the magic went slightly wrong, and now a strange creature called an "air imp" stalks around the campus, causing mischief wherever it can. Its powers are not terribly dangerous, but it is a trickster with the swift gusts of air it can conjure, and almost impossible to see since it is the very color of the air itself.

The faculty has made two important announcements. First, do NOT go commando under your robes while this thing is out there. Second, whichever student or group of students catches the imp shall earn five points for the Colormarch for their House or Houses, and shall be taught a special spell of Discovery personally by Professor Trammel.

This reward has the student body in a tizzy, and groups of eager imp-hunters stalk the campus after classes, each of them with a clever idea to get the prize for themselves. Quickly, find a partner and join them!

Only Shooting Stars

Thanks to some horrible twist of fate, a body-swapping magic has caught you in its claws and wrenched you into a form that is not your own. Perhaps you're a familiar now, a blobby owl or a sneaky cat. Perhaps you've taken over the body of that student next to you, who's now looking at you from the eyes that ought to be yours.

There isn't any easy answer for this. You're stuck, for the moment, anyway. All you can do is try to make the most of it... or just get through.

Another Fine Mess

The fervor of the day down Anastara way surrounds a shop that just released their new special product: Airsquiddlies. These curious little toys take the shape of a squid, and through some little trick of magic they catch the air when held up above one's head. Tethered by a string, they drift about a few feet up with their tentacles waving most realistically and slithering around to curiously investigate whatever, or whoever, they find.

By luck, you've managed to get one of these -- and as delightful as it might be, it does come with a couple of quirks. Has its tentacles gotten somewhere you'd rather they not -- a merchant's wares, the hair of a fellow student perhaps? Or maybe you're stuck dealing with a few people who are intent on getting their own Airsquiddly, any way they can since the stores are sold out?

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

Dewey had seen the new kid at the back of a couple of his classes, but not really paid him too much mind since he'd kept to himself. He had enough trouble keeping his own head above water with some of the coursework, and would rather die than admit to Huey that he needed help.

But seeing the new kid outside of class was another matter entirely, and he was bound and determined to befriend, especially since he looked like a kind of species he'd never met before. That was the best thing about Anastara, he'd decided: all the different kinds of people and creatures and ... stuff.

Even the thing that glomped onto his face before he could open his beak to say hi. The tentacles covered one eye, so he blinked out at Phalanx with the one that was unobstructed, and simply waved, undeterred.

He'd had weirder things stuck to his face, but not by much.

Phalanx doesn't laugh when the squid attaches itself to the little duck's face, but everything about the facial expression fills in the gaps and carries the sentiment across anyway. A big, open grin that the being doesn't normally wear, and they immediately mimic the waving gesture back at Dewey.

They're having a good time, at least. Especially as the squid begins to crawl, exploring its new perch with wandering tentacles, creeping slowly across the side of Dewey's face. Phalanx couldn't be more delighted.

Dewey makes a face, contorting a little as the squid keeps crawling. Once he has enough of his beak free to speak out one corner of it, he does so, still surprisingly chipper for someone besquidded.

"Hi. This actually feels kinda neat."

"Hi. Hi." The tone is a near-perfect parroting of Dewey, happily repeating back the greeting.

Phalanx shuffles closer then, peering very closely at the tentacle moving across the duck's face, deep black eyes reflecting no light but still full of life. They watch as one particular sucker peels off of the side of Dewey's beak, and they reach up to poke one dirt-stained finger in the exact spot it had been.

"Neat."

"Ooookay." This was getting weird, fast, but not scary. He could deal with weird as long as it wasn't also scary.

"No, I don't mean I feel neat. I mean the squid does." He gently reaches out to take Phalanx's wrist with one hand, and a tentacle with the other, pressing it down so Phalanx can see what he means. The squid shifts a litle more, reaching out with another tentacle to balance between the two of them, making a bridge. Friendship via pseudopod. Who knew?

"See?"

Phalanx's eyes widen in surprise as the squid suckers on, and patiently holds still while it wraps around to get a better hold.

"Neat."

Yeah, no, this was pretty cool. But it leaves Phalanx standing there, stuck in passive, patient fascination as the squid slowly crawls around on the two of them, and doesn't do much else.

With the way this guy had seemed to space out in class or random hallways for long stretches at a time, it might be a while before they move again.

Thankfully, Dewey is very good at thinking outside the box, and after a few awkward moments of this, he realizes that somehow, the new kid is like a living mirror. No wonder he hasn't been talking... no one's been talking to him. As far as Dewey is concerned, that's no fair, and he's going to fix it. He gently detatches the squid from them both, letting it go to float above them. Then he takes Phalanx by the wrist to lead him down the street.

"Come on, I'll show you some of my favorite stuff... That'll be even more fun than a squid to the face."

Again, Phalanx seems almost surprised to be touched, but happily lets that arm hang as dead weight in Dewey's hand and follows along. It takes a second to get the feet moving properly, but then they're strolling along like a pair of normal people.

"Favorite stuff?" Phalanx asks a few seconds later. When not directly mimicking Dewey, their voice still has a strangely soft quality to it, despite the fact that the rest of them looks decidedly male.

"Uh huh! I wish we had an arcade, like the one at home, because those are the best, and there's so much to see and do, but the market works too. Or the training rooms. Ooh! Yeah, let's go there. I can teach you how to make music magic!"

This was a fundamentally bad idea.... Which, of course, meant he thought it would be perfect.

Edited 2019-07-30 17:31 (UTC)

It's kind of nice to have someone else drive them around. Phalanx is able to let their minds wander over every other interesting thing around them. All they need to do is make sure that one foot ends up roughly in front of the other.

"Make. Music. Magic." All very good words. "Makeup. Mus.. Musty. Muddle."

"Mischief," Dewey adds, deciding it's a fun game, weaving them through the stands. "Market. Madcap. Marmosets! ... You know, I don't actually know what a marmoset is. It's just super fun to say!"

Maybe it really is a fun game, because Phalanx actually laughs. It's quiet and a little strange, but a smile sticks around on their face afterward.

"Marble. Marmalade." Their free hand goes up to tap dirty fingertips against their own lips, like the words are tickling them. "Mar... Marriage?"

"Ooh, kicking it up a notch, I see. Nice." Dewey grins, trying to come up with more. "Marching. Mariachi ... ooh! Maraschinos! ... Now I want an ice cream sundae. Have you ever made one of those?"

"Ice cream... on Sunday?" They turn to look at the duck very closely, watching his face almost skeptically. They seem to know something is wrong with the logic here. "Make ice cream on Sunday?"

Yeah, they don't get it. But they're trying.

"OH! Not the day of the week Sunday." He laughs, realizing that he should be a little more careful with his words around someone who seems so ... new to everything. Almost like a duckling, even though they look older.

"There's another kind of sundae, it's spelled with an E at the end instead of a Y. It's the word for a bowl of ice cream with a bunch of other delicious stuff on the top. You know ... hot fudge? Whipped cream? Sprinkles? Cherries?"

They sort of aimlessly cup their hands in front of them then, looking down like they're imagining holding a bowl of what the duck is describing. Following the logic and then clumsily continuing it forward.

"Whipped cream, sprinkles, cherries... mm, nuts? Jam. Cookies?"

Test Drive #7

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