Héctor (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
unpocoloco) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
daybreakacademy2019-02-13 09:59 am
unpocoloco) wrote in daybreakacademy2019-02-13 09:59 am
Here in the dark, in these final hours, I will lay down my heart and I'll feel the power
WHO: Héctor, OTA Catch All
WHERE: Around the school
WHEN: Various times after the 9th and/or the Valentines dance
WHAT: Various opens in the late evening
WARNINGS: Standard spoilers
You can't turn around a bad day, week, month, year, decade... you can't turn any of that without trying first. And so, once the monster's beaten back, his lost arm is returned, and the dance wraps up, so begins his annual rejuvenation. It's his return to the grind, starting every January (late this year but, well, he's doing his best), when he goes back to the drawing board and renews his plans-- only this time, not just for his return home. He's got a few things in mind this year, and isn't that exciting in and of itself?
A - OTA
With his arm back in place and whole again (gone for that week of the 2nd to the 9th and leaving him looking more like a zombie to people than he'd ever let himself before), he can actually get back to repairing the other one who took some hits this past while.
Rather than steal from the shop class, this time Héctor has decided to break in. Which, considering how much they let him use this place for doing repairs around the school, it isn't really breaking in is it? He doesn't think so. And so, upon a work table, in the dead of night, he's lain out a broken guitar. He's got nails and tools, bits of wood and scrap metal, anything he thought he could need for trying to repair the old thing. The guitar's not going to sound good when he's done, but it'll be something.
Despite everything, he's not quite ready to give up on music yet. In fact, he takes to humming a little as he works, breaking into soft song only to quiet again into humming as he hammers and cuts and sands away at the guitar. Until he hears footsteps and abruptly stops, that is.
B - Aube
Not every night can be spent on fixing the guitar. He's still got occasional evening classes to TA for, things to mark, essays to read. On those nights, he settles in the Aube common room, quietly working this time.
Being nocturnal as he is means bad news for any kids sneaking out of the dorm late in the night. "Ah, ah!" He says to any looking a little too ready to go, eyes lifting from his work to them and brows lifting higher. "Did you text Bee for this little excursion?"
C - Aube
Of course, not every child getting up in the night is looking for rowdy adventure. He knows all too well by now that some of these kids have had more adventure than they ever asked or bargained for. Those quiet wanderers, or ones who settle in corners, they're no less apt to get his attention.
He gives them their moment of space and quiet. Just a moment. Then, trying not to scare or disturb them, he walks over, placing a hand to the back of any given chair and tilting his head down at them.
"Hey," He says, soft as he can. "You okay? Can't sleep?"
D - OTA
In the early mornings, for any early risers who seek him (and not one of the smarter or more experienced of adults in this place) he's of course there to tutor those who need it. He may not always know what he's doing with magic but he can work out a lesson and, more than that, he can work with kids.
He draws another example upon paper when he can't simply show it, and he presents it, explaining each piece and part. "Do you understand?" He asks.
Perhaps you're the one he's tutoring. Or, perhaps, you're catching him just as the last kid wanders off and he's gathering up the books and papers, time soon running out with the coming dawn. But he might have time for one more.
E - OTA
He doesn't know the first thing about this, any of this. He keeps telling himself he's not a fighter, but more and more he's coming to realize he might need to be. It's not just about him anymore.
That evening he finds himself in one of the training areas. The bow he takes up is tall and heavy, heavier than a guitar. He's got the dexterity for that and the experiencing of firing... his arm. But it's not the same and he hasn't entirely got the strength built in him for using this thing. He's not sure if he can build the strength or if what he's got is as good as it's going to get. But he can't see himself yet using anything else.
So, there he is in the range, practicing. His shots mostly miss but every now and again he gets somewhere and he's encouraged to go farther. He gives a little laugh of victory and surprise in these moments. Hopefully he's not interrupting anything.
Of course in all his focus, anyone interrupting him is almost certain to make him jump and yelp and send and arrow flying far off target.
F - OTA
At some point before the library's closing for the night, he's managed to surround himself so thoroughly in books that he's built something of a wall around himself. His hand is half tangled in his hair and his brow is knit with concentration, pencil tapping absentmindedly in his other hand as he reads. The books seem to be all about defensive and offensive runes and spells.
"Wait, what?" He straightens up, flipping pages back, and then to his current page, comparing them. "That doesn't make sense, how can you-- what?"
G -[Closed to Orihime]
"Orihime?"
The call comes with a knock. Finally, at long last, he can repay this girl. He's ready at her door, smiling in his newly repaired clothing and holding a bag of tools and materials (nabbed from the shop class as usual).
As the door opens he laughs and say, "Repair service! Is now a good time?"
H - St. Valentine's eve - [Closed to close CR and/or those who ask first]
He's only been here so long, only saved up so much and a lot of it goes towards his hopeful plans. But for this, he can spare a small expense.
The shopkeeper had eyed him curiously, as exhausted and nervous as he'd appeared to be that morning of the thirteenth, pushing the limits of his magic into the day. He knows, in some sense, that he shouldn't. He really, really shouldn't.
But it's the first time in ten years he could do anything and... well, she deserves something. After ten years she deserves so much and a simple carnation or rose just isn't cutting it. Even this doesn't quite but... he can't push more, because even with this, the best gift he could give is his distance.
The note simply reads "for Imelda Rivera" in fancy calligraphic script. He presses the tiny card to his lips then places it back into the bouquet. It's a bright one, colorful, with full, giant blooms. There's soft pinks and bright ones, oranges and reds and blues, greenery, and vivid purples-- her favorite. It'll remind her of home, he's sure.
Off he goes into the night, bringing his delivery to the Lumiere dorms. He just needs to leave it at her door and go. So far so good. He won't get to see her reaction like this, but that's fine. She doesn't need to be happy with him, he just needs her to be happy. That's what he tells himself as he slowly and quietly works his way back, turns the corner-- and freezes, a deer in headlights as the second worst thing that could happen here, does.
I - Other, Make your own
WHERE: Around the school
WHEN: Various times after the 9th and/or the Valentines dance
WHAT: Various opens in the late evening
WARNINGS: Standard spoilers
You can't turn around a bad day, week, month, year, decade... you can't turn any of that without trying first. And so, once the monster's beaten back, his lost arm is returned, and the dance wraps up, so begins his annual rejuvenation. It's his return to the grind, starting every January (late this year but, well, he's doing his best), when he goes back to the drawing board and renews his plans-- only this time, not just for his return home. He's got a few things in mind this year, and isn't that exciting in and of itself?
A - OTA
With his arm back in place and whole again (gone for that week of the 2nd to the 9th and leaving him looking more like a zombie to people than he'd ever let himself before), he can actually get back to repairing the other one who took some hits this past while.
Rather than steal from the shop class, this time Héctor has decided to break in. Which, considering how much they let him use this place for doing repairs around the school, it isn't really breaking in is it? He doesn't think so. And so, upon a work table, in the dead of night, he's lain out a broken guitar. He's got nails and tools, bits of wood and scrap metal, anything he thought he could need for trying to repair the old thing. The guitar's not going to sound good when he's done, but it'll be something.
Despite everything, he's not quite ready to give up on music yet. In fact, he takes to humming a little as he works, breaking into soft song only to quiet again into humming as he hammers and cuts and sands away at the guitar. Until he hears footsteps and abruptly stops, that is.
B - Aube
Not every night can be spent on fixing the guitar. He's still got occasional evening classes to TA for, things to mark, essays to read. On those nights, he settles in the Aube common room, quietly working this time.
Being nocturnal as he is means bad news for any kids sneaking out of the dorm late in the night. "Ah, ah!" He says to any looking a little too ready to go, eyes lifting from his work to them and brows lifting higher. "Did you text Bee for this little excursion?"
C - Aube
Of course, not every child getting up in the night is looking for rowdy adventure. He knows all too well by now that some of these kids have had more adventure than they ever asked or bargained for. Those quiet wanderers, or ones who settle in corners, they're no less apt to get his attention.
He gives them their moment of space and quiet. Just a moment. Then, trying not to scare or disturb them, he walks over, placing a hand to the back of any given chair and tilting his head down at them.
"Hey," He says, soft as he can. "You okay? Can't sleep?"
D - OTA
In the early mornings, for any early risers who seek him (and not one of the smarter or more experienced of adults in this place) he's of course there to tutor those who need it. He may not always know what he's doing with magic but he can work out a lesson and, more than that, he can work with kids.
He draws another example upon paper when he can't simply show it, and he presents it, explaining each piece and part. "Do you understand?" He asks.
Perhaps you're the one he's tutoring. Or, perhaps, you're catching him just as the last kid wanders off and he's gathering up the books and papers, time soon running out with the coming dawn. But he might have time for one more.
E - OTA
He doesn't know the first thing about this, any of this. He keeps telling himself he's not a fighter, but more and more he's coming to realize he might need to be. It's not just about him anymore.
That evening he finds himself in one of the training areas. The bow he takes up is tall and heavy, heavier than a guitar. He's got the dexterity for that and the experiencing of firing... his arm. But it's not the same and he hasn't entirely got the strength built in him for using this thing. He's not sure if he can build the strength or if what he's got is as good as it's going to get. But he can't see himself yet using anything else.
So, there he is in the range, practicing. His shots mostly miss but every now and again he gets somewhere and he's encouraged to go farther. He gives a little laugh of victory and surprise in these moments. Hopefully he's not interrupting anything.
Of course in all his focus, anyone interrupting him is almost certain to make him jump and yelp and send and arrow flying far off target.
F - OTA
At some point before the library's closing for the night, he's managed to surround himself so thoroughly in books that he's built something of a wall around himself. His hand is half tangled in his hair and his brow is knit with concentration, pencil tapping absentmindedly in his other hand as he reads. The books seem to be all about defensive and offensive runes and spells.
"Wait, what?" He straightens up, flipping pages back, and then to his current page, comparing them. "That doesn't make sense, how can you-- what?"
G -[Closed to Orihime]
"Orihime?"
The call comes with a knock. Finally, at long last, he can repay this girl. He's ready at her door, smiling in his newly repaired clothing and holding a bag of tools and materials (nabbed from the shop class as usual).
As the door opens he laughs and say, "Repair service! Is now a good time?"
H - St. Valentine's eve - [Closed to close CR and/or those who ask first]
He's only been here so long, only saved up so much and a lot of it goes towards his hopeful plans. But for this, he can spare a small expense.
The shopkeeper had eyed him curiously, as exhausted and nervous as he'd appeared to be that morning of the thirteenth, pushing the limits of his magic into the day. He knows, in some sense, that he shouldn't. He really, really shouldn't.
But it's the first time in ten years he could do anything and... well, she deserves something. After ten years she deserves so much and a simple carnation or rose just isn't cutting it. Even this doesn't quite but... he can't push more, because even with this, the best gift he could give is his distance.
The note simply reads "for Imelda Rivera" in fancy calligraphic script. He presses the tiny card to his lips then places it back into the bouquet. It's a bright one, colorful, with full, giant blooms. There's soft pinks and bright ones, oranges and reds and blues, greenery, and vivid purples-- her favorite. It'll remind her of home, he's sure.
Off he goes into the night, bringing his delivery to the Lumiere dorms. He just needs to leave it at her door and go. So far so good. He won't get to see her reaction like this, but that's fine. She doesn't need to be happy with him, he just needs her to be happy. That's what he tells himself as he slowly and quietly works his way back, turns the corner-- and freezes, a deer in headlights as the second worst thing that could happen here, does.
I - Other, Make your own
no subject
Whether Toki intended it to or not, it doesn't click that the boy's looking for his own escape route. He pulls over the textbook, opens up a few pages in, then speaks to Toki.
"For the most part, we can assume contracts are indeed a bad thing. Sometimes a bad situation can force a hand and those situations may not always make it clear that a contract is the wrong choice. If it's life or death, for example, it's hardly fair to expect a person to choose death. Every contract is designed in a way for the daemon to win, but it's also good to remember that the daemon may not necessarily design it for the person to lose." His brows lift and he gives a pointed look, just to be sure Toki is listening and understanding. If he's got the boy's attention (at least enough), he'll keep moving along.
"Sometimes, like as often happens in fae pacts, the daemon believes themselves to be bestowing a genuinely good deal. There tends to be a lack of understanding in what's proportionate in scale for price and reward beyond their own perceptions. It's important to know this because it's important to know the daemon as much as contract. To say a contract is bad is easy. To have already been caught in one and needing a loophole or a means to break it means you have to know the daemon. The key is figuring what, exactly, their true purpose is in making the contract. Can you give me a few examples of the kind of things a daemon might want out of a human? What are some key motivators?"
no subject
Yes, that made sense. No one would pick death, or most people wouldn't. It definitely wasn't a life or death situation for him, though. He hadn't considered fae pacts, which honestly sound more like what happened with him. Maybe it wasn't even a daemon. As for knowing the daemon, he doesn't. At all. He'd basically made a deal with a guy going by the obviously fake placeholder name of Taro Yamada and at the time, Toki was totally fine with that. He was such an idiot. He didn't know anything about daemons at all, but it was still a stupid decision. Ugh, okay, examples...
"Soul. Amusement? Pawn?"
How should he know things daemons want? They were individuals as much as humans, weren't they? It depends on the daemon. The next question, however, he doesn't understand.
"Motivators of what?"
no subject
He beams. So far, he's not seeing anything glaring about Toki's ability to learn. But on the other hand, he's also perfectly unaware of the boy's blindness or anything else here.
"In different degrees," He continues, "That applies to people as well, only humans typically have greater social needs and rely on each other in ways daemons do not. This same thing tends to mean there is usually less care or desire for moral fulfillment in daemons than in humans." Usually. But that was a whole other bag of worms.
"As for how this goes into contracts, that's all a part of looking at what was offered, what was given in exchange, working out what the daemon gets from it and what, therefore, it wants."
no subject
"Yes."
And now he's not on daemons at all somehow. What is this? Why is he talking about humans and social things and this moral fulfillment? Did they skip a chapter? But then it's back to contracts.
"Daemons want power and entertainment."
That's his summary. Daemons want things and you shouldn't give anything to them. He thought they'd already established this.
no subject
There's a flicker of a smile before he goes ahead and closes the textbook. He pushes it away.
"Alright, Toki. We're good there for now. Tell me about you, now. Got any hobbies, things you like to do?"
no subject
Not so much explosions as fireworks for theatre special effects, but that counts as a hobby right? He hasn't done much science-related lately though. He's had too many another things to deal with. Otherwise, he just likes to talk and that's not happening with Héctor.
no subject
Now how to connect it to contracts? He hums and strokes his chin. Explosions, explosions...
It seems Toki is in luck because as it would just so happen-- "I'm not the most science inclined I'll admit so I can't do a lot there, or with most kinds of explosions but... I did pull off a pretty big fireworks stunt once." He grins wide. "You wouldn't happen to know how fireworks function do you? Both individually and in general?"
Somehow, without Toki saying it, they're both coming to fireworks.
no subject
Yes, he knows. He doesn't understand how it fits into daemon contracting unless it's some visualization Héctor likes to use for his tutoring. He's now imagining someone playing a flaming daemon and fireworks go off when the human signs his soul over. That would be much more entertaining than The Bee Movie. Somehow, he's learned nothing and found a new avenue for more delinquency.
no subject
"Perfect! Toki, you and I are going to have some fun!"
He grabs a piece of paper pulling it close. Quickly, a list is scrawled out of all the different fireworks he can remember. He speaks all the while. "So here's how this is going to work. I'm going to speak to Professor Avery. He and I will do up several fake contracts. The assumption will that you're pretending these are contracts you are already worked into. They're all going to involve fireworks. But, for each contract, there's going to be a different goal, and so, picking the right firework to set off will fulfill the contract without meeting the "demon's" goal, effectively nullifying it! And since you know fireworks, you already know exactly what each should do, but just in case..."
He draws in another sheet, listing the names again and drawing besides them what it is that each one does. A cheat sheet. This wasn't a test after all but a form of practice in exploiting loopholes. He slaps the paper when it's done and slides it to Toki, folding the first one up for himself-- that'll be his shopping list. "So, all you really have to do for the exercise is work out the phrasing and goals. Now how is that for a tutoring session?"
no subject
No, that's not fun. Toki stares blankly. What? What is he supposed to do? He looks over the fireworks listing. Okay, that makes sense, but not in relation to whatever they're doing with them.
"It is good!"
At least there will be explosions. Then the phrase about fulfilling the contract without meeting the daemon's goal sinks in.
"Loopholes?"
no subject
Not for the first time in his life, Toki's fate is sealed. This time by an over excited tutor. It's fine the boy's unsure for the moment, he'll explain the specifics and details in time, once he's got this all set up, and he has got ideas...
But loopholes! Yes, that he can explain now.
"Ah, right! Well, you see, contracts are all about wording. It's sort of like an advanced study of language, or poetry, where words can have multiple meanings, and unspecified demands can be exploited! For example; a demon's contract demands you bring to them a piece of sky. Obviously you cannot bring them an actual piece of the sky. Or at least not without some crazy magic and breaking a few laws of physics. However, if you know a person named Sky and you, lets say, got a piece of hair off them. You could then give the demon that hair and fulfill the contract of giving 'a piece of sky'. Make sense?"
no subject
It does make sense, and sometimes he comes up with solutions exactly like that. Though more due to taking things literally than actively trying to subvert. He's certain he'll be good at this; at least the loopholes and contract wording parts of the class anyway. He's not going to question bringing the fireworks into it. It will make sense later, he hopes.