(open) i made a sucker's prayer

[scholiast]

who: lucretia & you
what: tdm prompt + catch-all
when: late march/early april
where: oot n aboot
warnings: warnings for violence re: monster fights

01 everybody was monster fightin' (ota)

(Lucretia has always fought better in pairs than alone.

Its to do with her defensive capabilities; she's extraordinarily good at buff magic, at covering those with more destructive power, keeping them safe as they dive in head first. She can at least hold her own when she needs to but it's trickier. It isn't as fun, either! She likes being in a team.

Regardless, she's grouping creatures together with lightning spells and the odd fireball, trying to keep an eye out for other fighters or innocents about to be caught in the line of fire, anybody who needs a hand or a quick shield. Her elemental magic isn't at the same level as her abjuration work; eventually she falls back, starts to conserve her higher level spell slots.

Anybody who has just found themselves in a sticky situation or just looks like they need an extra hand will suddenly find a neat shield of faith being cast about them.)

Comments

[scholiast]

Okay.

I haven't got work tomorrow but I was planning to go help with the relief work.

[scholiast]

(Magnus got it for her as a joke and she loves it very much.)

Okay. (She gives her monitor a shove around so he can see the screen,) It's a personal research project on the different kinds of magic here. I was intrigued by what kind of powers everybody had; how they cast; how they came to learn their craft. So I started asking around, put up a couple public forums to gather information, and I'm compiling it.

(The resulting word document is very very long.) It used to be on paper, but a friend of mine helped me convert it digitally.

[scholiast]

(So Lucretia had been enjoying watching Val fight before she'd thrown up a shield to help and now they're straight back into it. Val swings that sword with so much power and finesse and she clearly knows what she's doing. That all comes to an abrupt halt when Val slits the neck of the monster bearing down upon her and is promptly spattered in gore.

Lucretia's used to killing things with magic, kinda fizzling them out with electricity or with fire so this amount of blood up real close is a bit much?? Feeling sick at the sight of blood used to be a relic from the earlier cycles but now that all rushes back in full force and she heaves, turning promptly the other way and closing her eyes tight.)

Fuck, Val.

[trashvalkyrie]

[The beast staggers off to heave its last few dying breaths by the overgrown treeline, and Val turns at the sound of heaving, frowning at the sight of Lucretia doubled over.]

Hey. You...you alright? Sorry, I should've warned you.

[She mops blood away from her own face.]

Not everyone's as used to that as I expect.

[dancingmd]

(Beverly's eyes pop back open and she turns sideways to face Lucretia as she cooks.)

You'll be okay to do that? I mean... your apartment... all your journals...

[scholiast]

(She falters a little, brow furrowing.)

I'll... go back to collect what I can afterward. (Her things are important to her of course, but she won't waste time or spell slots magicking them out of her apartment when there are people still in need of help.)

[scholiast]

It's cool.

(And it is cool, after she's caught her breath. She will use prestidigitation to clear the blood off of Val completely without asking her first before she straightens up and turns around though. It's yucky.)

It's been a while since I've fought up close and personal like this.

[dancingmd]

(Lucretia's commitment to helping others first is just one of the many reasons Beverly loves her. Her gaze turns soft.)

Let me know when you do. I want to be there.

[scholiast]

Okay. Thank you.

(For now, she'll just cross her fingers and hope for the best! The sauce is starting to bubble, so she switches that off and– oh, the cooling, drained pasta has clumped together in the pot. Shoot.

She wrestles with serving it but hopefully Beverly doesn't notice.)

Here. (She comes over to deliver her a both a bowl, and a kiss to her cheek.)

[bythehand]

[ Crisis averted, it's Lucretia and therefore no one can criticize this magic shield thing. Finn, who has never in his life had chill, immediately goes from looking ass-pained about the prospect of monsters who trap prey in magic bubbles to looking at Lucretia like she might have personally hung this quarantined moon in the sky. ]

Please.

[ Okay look. This is a gift horse whose mouth is not to be looked upon. Hell yeah he's going to form this alliance and shoot these monsters. ]

When were you gonna mention you could do this?

[dancingmd]

(Beverly accepts her bowl gratefully and immediately starts to dig in when... ah well... that's certainly a thing that is happening. As she stabs a forkful of noodle, almost all the rest of the spaghetti in the bowl hitches a ride in one giant clump. She bites her lip and tries not to laugh. Poor Lucretia!)

[scholiast]

(She notices and sighs, setting her own bowl down. Geez, she can't even, like, provide.)

For Istus' sake.

[dancingmd]

(Beverly laughs gently as she sets her spaghetti ball down and reaches for Lucretia instead.)

Don't worry, it's an easy fix. We'll just sauté them with a little extra oil.

[scholiast]

(She gives Beverly her hands, still faintly embarrassed.)

Sorry. I thought I could learn cooking from Taako by osmosis, but apparently not.

[dancingmd]

(She kisses Lucretia's knuckles.)

That's all right. It just takes practice.

[scholiast]

(That coaxes a smile out of her.)

I'd better get practicing in that case, huh.

[dancingmd]

We'll practice together.

(Because the truth is, while Nana made sure she could feed herself without a replicator, Beverly is nowhere near the level of ability of someone like Taako.)

And... it'll be easier now that you're here. That is... if you want to stay.

[scholiast]

(She nods, unable to help the way her smile widens. It will be fun, learning how to cook with Beverly and to stay in the apartment with her, sharing her bed. The thought of having a place to come back to after being out, to be sharing that, not having to be alone...

It's a lot. She blinks, and exhales shakily.)

I'd love to stay.

[dancingmd]

(Beverly beams, unsure why she had been so nervous to ask. It was probably an inevitable course for them, flood or no. )

Good! We can redecorate some and of course we'll have to make space for Junior and your art (...somewhere...)

[scholiast]

(Lucretia's still caught up in her thoughts and just nods, glancing up as Beverly gestures about them. She's been thinking lately about trying to find a studio towards the city where she can keep her art things, stop them from cluttering up her work and home life. It seems very luxurious, to be able to have such an option.)

We'll sort it all out.

[dancingmd]

I just want it to feel like home for you too.

[scholiast]

As long as you're here, it will.

[scholiast]

(His bewildering, wondering expression makes her laugh. People here often have this kind of reaction to magic and she's assuming his surprise neatly falls into this category. Also, she's really down with his readiness to team up!)

Uh, when necessary? It's a weird thing to just uh, bring up– come here?

(She reaches out toward him, resting her fingertips on his shoulder so she can cast stone skin. That'll give him a good boost.) Bit of mobile projection there. Okay Finn, I'm going to lift this shield, but there's plenty more where that came from so just... go for it.

[trashvalkyrie]

[Val glances down, and realizes that Lucretia has magicked away the blood.]

Shit. Nice, thanks.

[She nods, slowly, sheathing her sword in its scabbard across her back.]

I get it. There was a long time where I really only watched the fighting from a distance. It's not...as easy as you'd expect. Even for someone trained as, like, a legendary warrior.

[alldenim]

[ Oooh, numbers! Barry's secret mistress (don't tell Lup). He starts to scan them over. Looking at the types of magic, where magic sources came from, types of spells they could do... It was so... wildly different. At least in a world free from magic that kind of made sense. In a weird way. ]

Woah. We got a lot of material to work with here, Cretia...

[ Think of all the possibilities! ]

Just imagine what we can learn about the arcane across different planes!

[ IMAGINE FINDING THE SECRET TO IT ALL ]