are you a good witch, or a bad witch? [OPEN]

[bastardofipswich]

who: Chase Collins & Open
what: Catch-all
when: April 15 and onward
where: Communal Housing, Gramarye, a gym, someplace outdoorsy, and someplace rowdy.
warnings: Nothing yet, but with Chase there's always a risk of addiction themes.

i. at home (communal housing: floor 1)
[ Well, at least he's not dead anymore. That's pretty much Chase's main mantra whenever living with a billion other people gets to be too annoying: COULD BE WORSE! I COULD BE DEAD AGAIN!

It's effective, like, 60% of the time, which he guesses makes him a glass half-full kind of guy these days. And on those days when he's just grateful to be alive-- even if he's on an alien moon and the only people he knew from home are gone-- he's a pretty good roommate. He picks his shit up, keeps to himself, makes (superficially) friendly conversation, and plays the same role he's been playing his whole life. A good, clean kid from a nice family!

The rest of the time-- that 40% when just being alive isn't good enough-- he's anything but the considerate, respectful roommate. He listens to too-loud music (hell, he might even sing along sometimes, and you seriously don't want that), lets his dog chew on other people's things, leaves dirty dishes in the kitchen without so much as a cursory rinse (oh, and you know he takes other people's food), does magic (sometimes harmless, sometimes disastrous) on a whim, and has a smart-ass comment about everything. Oh, and there might be spiders. Like. Wherever he feels like conjuring them, just to get a rise out of people.

SO. Who do you get today? Jekyll or Hyde? ]

ii. at work
[ Here's the thing: Chase is totally self-taught with magic. Everything he knows, he picked up on his own, mostly through practice. Not like he had a crypt full of witchy books to learn from like the Sons of Ipswich did. The way he sees it, it makes him like... a street smart kind of witch, instead of a Hermione Granger, top-of-the-magic-class type.

But there's so much he always wanted to know, about his own magic and others'. If there's a way to keep his power from killing him, he's sure he can find it here, at Gramarye. As a student researcher, he's basically just a glorified errand boy for the old wizards, witches, and sorcerers (PS: if you're over 30, you're definitely among the old in his eyes). Hold this, clean that, get this, where's my coffee-- etc.

It's crappy work, but at least it gives him access to a hell of a lot of resources. So, whenever Chase has a spare moment, he dives into his own independent research project: How to Use All the Magic I Want and Also Live Past 40. ]

iii. at play
[ For a spooky witch, Chase has some wholesome hobbies! He can be found at the gym pretty much every day-- mostly using the pool to swim laps. Plus, when it's nice out, he'll take Cujo out to the park to run around and play and chase alien squirrels.

His less wholesome hobbies include: Using until he's nice and high, and going out to find trouble. Sometimes it's in the form of sketchy clubs or grimy raves, and other times-- when he's really restless-- it's in the form of totally reckless and irresponsible use of magic: teleporting to high places, jumping from ledges, picking fights as an excuse to Use... and so on.

He's got a varied and diverse set of hobbies, okay! ]

iv. WILDCARD
[ Fling a starter at Chase. ]

Comments

ii (let me know if you want anything changed)

[thestarling]

[Peter was never the most dedicated of students, but a year or so in the Folly has given him a healthy appreciation for research. The Gramarye library doesn't have quite the same sense of familiarity to it, but at least most of the books aren't in Latin. Or Greek.

He spends a fair amount of time there when he's off shift, but the hours are never exactly regular so Peter sees a lot of unfamiliar faces. For the most part, he tries not to bother anyone too much. There are only so many questions you can ask of someone before you should probably just start looking things up yourself. And there's more than enough here to keep him busy for quite a while.

Except that the book Peter has been looking for has apparently gone walkabout. He's spent a moment or so searching the shelves around it just in case it had gotten put back wrong, but no. Which means it's time to go farther afield, eyeing the desks that scatter the area. It would probably be more helpful for him to watch out for where he's going, though.]

it's perfect! (sorry I stalled so hard; the anon texting post super sidetracked me)

[bastardofipswich]

[ Today's task, brought to him by some wizened old Merlin-looking motherfucker: Shelving the magic tomes. Ugh. What does he look like, a librarian? Chase would kill to do any hands-on work with any of the researchers' projects today. Instead, he's trudging along, gathering misplaced books up and putting them back where they belong.

He's too busy glowering down at the armful of books in his arms that he doesn't even realize he's heading straight for another person, not until he walks right into Peter. Letting out a dignified noise, he very nearly drops all the books-- except, you know, witch. All it takes is a flick of his hand, a flash of black in his eyes, and the books are hovering in a nice, neat stack in the air. ]

That could've been a disaster. Some of these books really don't like getting startled.

[ Gotta love magic. ]

[thestarling]

[The collision catches him off guard, but it's what comes after, the oily tugging sensation that washes over him that really makes Peter start. Once he's gotten a handle on that, he glances at the hovering books and the black-eyed gent behind them and draws a few conclusions.]

The books don't?

[There are books about magic, certainly, but this might be the first Peter's ever heard of the books themselves being magical. Probably.]

[bastardofipswich]

[ Chase shoots him a quick grin, gesturing dismissively at the nearest table-- sending the books floating over to it before settling down on the surface. With that spell done, the black in Chase's eyes retreat back into his irises, leaving a pair of totally normal baby blues. ]

Yeah. [ SHRUG. ] Some of them. Here and there. [ Chase cocks his head to the side inquisitively, a teasing smirk on his face. ] What, they don't have sentient magic books where you're from?

[ Like he's ever seen any back home, himself. Hell, they're pretty rare, even here. Nine books out of ten in this library: totally normal. But every once in a while... things get weird. ]

[thestarling]

If we do, I've never heard of it.

[And he'd like to think that it's the sort of thing someone might warn him about. If nothing else than because Peter would somehow inevitably manage to trip over one. This just seem to turn out that way for him.

He eyes Chase for a moment, trying to judge if he's just taking the piss -- yes, obviously, but possibly not wrong anyway. Interesting.]

I don't suppose you have any advice on how to avoid those?

i

[phantomqueen]

[Makoto has definitely noticed the bad habits and the bad days. Fortunately, she spends so little time at home that he doesn't disrupt much; unfortunately most of the time she is at home she wants to be sleeping so the loud music and louder singing don't win him many points.

Neither do the dirty dishes, though she'll do them as she does her own because keeping a tidy home is second nature to her and it's just easier than causing fights over issues she can just deal with and move on from.

Even so, it's a nice surprise to come home and find, for once, that he's tidying up after himself and it's something she can't help but comment on, though her tone suggests she's making the effort to keep it light-hearted.]

So you do know how the sink works. I was starting to wonder if they didn't have those where you come from.

[Hey, around here it's a legitimate concern even if she doesn't actually believe that to be the case with him.]

sorry for the delay!

[bastardofipswich]

[ You know what, that's fair. He totally gets why she'd remark on that, since he's been an absolute pill to live with lately. Thinking about his death too much, it kind of leveled him up from standard-issue 'moody teenager' to 'walking disaster zone.'

But hey! Better late than never to make a token effort at basic housekeeping! Chase shoots a smirk at her, aiming for 'endearingly chagrined,' though god knows if he's successful at it. ]

We don't, but I'm a fast learner. Did you know that this knob's for hot water, and this knob's for cold? Incredible.

[ K I D D I N G. ]

no worries!

[phantomqueen]

[Makoto's seen enough fake chagrined looks over her time as student council president that she's not entirely convinced by this one now. She won't rule out that he means it on some level, but it'll take a little more than that to get into her good books.

Still, they're under the same roof for now so she'll make an effort to at least keep the peace. Even if her tone makes clear she's not wholly convinced that he's being genuine.]

That is something I'm aware of, yes. Though I assume the combination of hot water and soap to clean something isn't quite as much of a miraculous revelation to you.

[She'd like to think that's a theory that crosses universes, at least, and he seems clean enough to have at least some grasp of the concept.]

[bastardofipswich]

[ He shrugs, as if it's no big deal that he's been utterly inconsiderate to his roommates. Because, well, far as he figures: it isn't.

(Then again, Chase is totally self absorbed.) ]

I just figured there was a housekeeper or something.

[ Total bullshit. He doesn't even try to be particularly convincing. ]

[phantomqueen]

Uh-huh. Well it's taken you long enough to figure out we don't but we got there in the end.

[Still at least trying to be positive. People can change, after all, she's seen enough of that.

She crosses over to the cupboards, then, figuring she might as well check to see if she needs to stock up on anything. It's force of habit, really - she's never been a housekeeper herself but she's become used to keeping house for herself and her sister.

Which is possibly why Chase might have got that impression to begin with, were he not lying outright.]

ii. only a little super late lol

[krasnaya_vdova]

[Loki is the person that's helping Ava with her powers, so she's in and out of Gramarye on a fairly regular basis. Not too frequent, but every few days she'll swing by, sometimes with a coffee (sometimes two) in hand, and when she leaves, she usually looks a little exhausted, but more herself, somehow- less sharp around the edges.

She has her hair tied up in a ponytail, dressed in black and white, the hilts of those blades from the alley tucked into the belt she wears slung around her hips. She's not expecting to see Chase, but it curves an amused half-smile across her face when she sees him and she nods slightly in acknowledgement, pausing on her way out to door to linger.]

I didn't know you worked here.

[She says that as if she gave a fuck about literally anyone else working there that wasn't Loki, which is just... completely not the case.]

NO WORRIES, I AM ALSO LATE

[bastardofipswich]

[ One fun thing about working at Gramarye: he gets to see so many interesting people! Usually when they're arriving or leaving, since Chase never really gets to do anything fun here. In fact, right now? He's just passing by Ava, with a freshly-brewed mug of tea for some grumpy old wizard who decided that was the best use of a student research assistant. She doesn't register with him at first, not until she stops and speaks to him. That's when he stops in his tracks and looks kiiiiind of embarrassed, because he'd rather not be spotted doing a bunch of lame errands. Like he's a freaking house elf.

But the mortified deer-in-headlights look lasts only a moment, then it passes, his usual cocky demeanor sliding into place. ]

That's right. I mean... [ He shrugs, smirking. ] This is where the magic happens!

[ Then, eyeing her with interest: ] What're you doing here?

[ He knows she's got powers, of course. But not everyone with powers makes appearances here, so... Can't hurt to ask, rather than make assumptions. ]