daybreakacademy

Entry tags:

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Who: Kano & OTA
What: magic practice, pettiness, finals
Where: Lumière, greenhouse, library
When: mid-month, before finals
Warnings: self-harm for prompt i., none expected for the rest
Notes: details of Kano's new Fey Contract can be found on his app

i. Lumière dormitory rooftop
[ Fey magic is a really... terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea. But Kano is determined to make it work, this new Contract that he'd forged a couple of days ago, but it's just so different from his usual illusion magic that he'd worked ten whole years to get to the point where he is now, illusions seamless and effortless compared to him staring at his arm right now wondering what he's doing wrong?

Because his arm is bleeding, a bloody knife on his lap while he pokes at the wound with his other hand and it just comes back bloody, him wincing because it hurts and why isn't the magic working? There's nothing intuitive about this at all, and he has no idea how he's supposed to make it work, with the magic supposed to be healing and dulling pain but it's just doing the opposite for him, the pain making it hard to keep a smile on his face, and making him feel like crying a little.

With a sigh, he waves hand over the bleeding cut instead of touching it, and it disappears— simply masked underneath an illusion, but it's still there while he tries to figure out how to do this, preferably before he bleeds out.

It won't come to it, though. He has three years worth of band-aids stocked up, and he knew they would be useful someday. ]

ii. campus, on the way to the greenhouse or inside
[ But you know what always makes up for terrible days? Even more terrible ideas to get your mind off previous ones. This one isn't that bad, though, because it's something that'll have positive long-term consequences. Probably.

Anyways, it's Kano with long sleeves and pants and winter gloves and the hood of his jacket pulled over his head and eyes and also a bandanna over the rest of his face so he can have as little skin showing as possible. It isn't all because of botched healing practice, though, it's because he's lugging around a three gallon plastic jug in his arms— you know, one of those large plastic containers twice the size of your head that you can buy cheese balls in, but instead of cheese balls, it's bees.

It's a jar full of bees.

He had to ship them to a PO in town and then lug them all the way back to campus; this insect purchasing restriction is really an awful pain. ]

iii. library
[ But also, anyways, it's almost finals and while Kano did surprisingly okay on his midterms, he's got to do slightly more okay on his finals too, because exam scored are literally all that's carrying his grades without the homework to pad it.

So the library it is... Books, his arch nemesis... Him, sitting at one of the open study areas with a stack of brand new text books in front of him that barely look touched, a mug of something on the table that's a dark dark red to the point that it's almost black and also has four tea bags sitting inside it that's steeped so long the tea is no longer steaming, and also hands clamped over his ears like he's trying to block out ambient noise, or massage away a headache, or give himself a headache so he can go hang out in the infirmary for the next two weeks and not do finals.

Why does Daybreak have to be a school??? Schools suck. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Exhibit 1: Nana loves old references and musical numbers, and she is actually giggling and laughing throughout the first movie. (Also she'll do the same through the second. There might be questions about the sheer volume later on though.

Exhibit 2: Nana is easily moved. She gets a little teary-eyed at school plays. When a big green ogre finds love with a princess?

Do you know what's more awkward than Nana leaning on Kano's shoulder?

When she sniffs after the credits start rolling. And she's wiping at her eyes. Because she is, apparently, so moved by ogre love that she's actually getting teary-eyed now and trying to be discrete about it.]

Th-that was really good at the end...

[ Nana... get better taste... It might have been a movie Kano would have liked when he was much younger, if he weren't so old and jaded and only knew of the movie through meme status by the time he'd actually sat down and watched it for the first time, so he doesn't pay attention to the movie at all, letting his mind wander from daydream to plans to worries to doubts to fears to

The credits start rolling, and he blinks. ]

—You liked it, huh? I thought so~ I bet you'll like the others, too, and the musical as well! Shall we start the next one? Do you need a bathroom break? Stretch your legs?

[ Because he's been self-conscious for the past ninety minutes having Nana lean against him and maybe he wants to get up too, maybe he wants to run away. He has not touched the popcorn at all. ]

[The truth is, Nana can find a way to like almost anything. A movie has to be really, truly atrocious before she simply refuses to give it the time of day or the benefit of the doubt.

She wipes at her eyes a couple more times, before she sits up straight. Yep, the stupid movie made her cry. She's a little self-conscious and trying to not bring it up. Nana stops laying her head on his shoulder because... actually it was kind of nice, but she thinks everything's asleep on the left side of her body. And her arm hurts.]

...Let me stretch my legs? Um--I probably should sit up straight, though. My arm's all sore.

[There's a glance at the popcorn.]

[ He should have known that, seeing as Nana had watched through the entire Bee Movie instead of turning it off two minutes in.

His side feels cold and empty when Nana sits up and pulls away, but he rolls his shoulders to get the stiffness out of them and also jumps up to his feet, narrowly upsetting the popcorn bowl— which looks like it should have spilled but it does not. ]

Alright! Five minute bathroom break!! I'll be right back~

[ Gotta go see if his arm looks any worse, maybe wrap it up in toilet paper while he's in the bathroom. ]

[Nana starts to move to catch the popcorn bowl... but's fine! She sighs with relief, then picks up a piece of popcorn and eats it.]

That sounds good! I'm going to try to fix my sling, I think it got a little jostled.

[She'd be frustrated with him if she knew about the bleeding.

Mercifully, she's busy adjusting the straps and stuff on her sling when he leaves.]

[ Such a pain... Kano's able to breathe a sigh of relief when he's in the bathroom, hopping up to sit on the sink so he can glance over at the mirror and take a look at his arm. Gives it a poke... Why isn't it healing up? There was no callback number on his phone for him to ring up the Giraffe and ask what's up, and a stubborn bit of pride has him wanting to figure this out on his own like he'd been able to do with his illusions with minimal help from Michael.

He was able to help Yuya, sort of... So why not this? With the illusions, it was all about vision and intention. He can see his cut being closed up, can create the illusion of it no problem, but the transition gets lost somewhere and maybe it's because...

Hm.

He wraps up his arm in toilet paper, pulls his sleeves back over it, runs cold water over his hands and wipes them on the sides of his pants while he makes his way back to the lounge. ]

Alright, I'm back~ Did you get to fix your sling? Is it comfortable? I could help you with it?

[ There's not much he could probably help with, but at the very least, trying out his magic shouldn't hurt, right... ]

[Nana's had similar thoughts about the Giraffe and the inability to call it back.

When he comes out, she has fixed her sling. I'd been tangled up, a little; resting against his side that way was nice, but it came with some downsides. She turns to him, smiling, and then shakes her head.]

I think it's fixed. I had to redo one of the straps.

Maybe I should sit on your other side or something. I don't think there's a lot we can do. My arm still just gets sore easy, really?

[She has no idea about the magic, of course.]

[ No... The reason why he'd chose that particular side of the couch was so he can protect his arm without it getting jostled, left arm safety tucked against the left side of the couch, but if they swap places, then he definitely wouldn't survive Nana leaning against him without it hurting. ]

Hm... Could I offer you my lap again?

[ He is not giving up his seat. ]

[She's turning red in the face again because HE CAN'T JUST DO THAT TWICE.]

K-Kano-kun. Th-that seems like... I-I mean, u-um, maybe, it might be--um...

[She's looking a little like she just short-circuited.]

...wh-whichever is fine!!

[Maybe he doesn't want to sit that side of her because his... jacket needs to be washed or stitched up or something? She has no clue. She also isn't really thinking about that right now.]

[ He wants to die for suggesting it again, mostly, and can't even enjoy short-circuiting Nana. This is fine... keeping his secret is more important at the moment than having Nana sit on his lap (or just sit on the other side of the couch?? there is so much space on the couch, guys)

But it's also hella embarrassing and he plops down on his end of the couch and draws his knees up to his chest. ]

It's alright if you don't want to! If I'm suggesting something stupid or embarrassing or you just don't want to do it, you can always say no.

[That reaction... that gets a real smile out of her.

It's not that she absolutely doesn't want to; it's that she doesn't know, and it sounds like A Lot, and she has no idea what she's doing. She looks a little more at ease, then. She walks over and sits down next to him.]

Well... all right. Same, okay? Like, um, I don't have to lean against you! If... you'd rather not.

[ If Nana's going to hang out with him, she might as well learn three things for her time: first and most importantly is meme culture. second, how to be more direct with people. third, how to say no. These three skills have brought him far, important things for anybody to know. ]

Hmm, well... [ He'd rather not!! but how to say it ] Because it gets hot, right? If we're leaning against each other.

[ It's hot because he's EMBARRASSED ]

[There's a little disappointment... but only a little. She nods her agreement, her smile unflinching.] Sure. Especially over a whole movie.

[She reaches over him, to get some popcorn.]

...Want to start the second one? I'm curious if it gets better. Sometimes these long-running series start getting a little weird after the third or fourth movie.

[and sometimes they're Bee Movie...]

Hm~ I won't say anything and spoil it!!

[ Because it gets weirder, and worser. But you know what? She can have the bowl of popcorn; he sets it on her lap so it'll be easier for her, and finally he helps himself to some of the popcorn. Aka he picks out only the mushroom-shaped ones and leaves all the butterflies. ]

[Nana likes them all pretty well. Shrek 2 is great. She's actually moved by the bit with Fiona's parents. Shrek 3? Sure, she can roll with it. But it's partway through the fourth film that she concludes:]

...Isn't there a saying in English? Don't stop while you're in the lead?

[Her English is good, but idioms are hard. She seems to be amused rather than bored, though.]

That's right, we can't stop now~ We've almost made it through! Next~

[ They have to power through a couple more short films, and also the musical... He's so tired and he hates this and instead of watching the screen has resorted to taking out his notebook and casting an illusion over it so it looks like one of the throw pillows on the couch that he can hug in his lap and he's going to study instead of wasting his time watching Shrek. ]

I-it's an endurance test, then?

[Nana is a little concerned.

That may have been an attempt to abort mission. But she settles in, because... it looks like they're doing this.

WHY WERE THERE SO MANY SHREK FILMS? DIDN'T OTHER FANDOMS DESERVE THAT CREATIVE ENERGY MORE??]

Edited 2019-03-29 23:44 (UTC)

[ That sounded more like a challenge than a plea to give up, so they're in it for the long haul. ]

Yep~! We'll make it through, I believe in us!!!

[ "Just say no if you don't want to do something," Kano preaches, but doesn't adhere to at all while he sits back and goes through his notes for a fourth time. He's going to pass finals with flying colors at this rate. ]

[The long haul...

The dreadful truth about the Shrek movies and the TV series and the rest is that they get... kind of boring. The memes get old. The jokes get lamer. The voice acting suffers. And though Nana said she wouldn't lean on him... at a point, he feels the side of her head lightly fall onto his shoulder.

And then a soft snore.

Oh no. Nana fell asleep, sometime before the horrible donkey costume of the musical declared war against the very concept of human dignity.]

[ Oh no... But this is... okay. This is okay. He'll just do his best to use his feet to drag the remote over towards him without jostling Nana, and fast forward the video until it's at the end credits and he pauses it there, like they really did manage to finish the whole thing before Nana fell asleep.

She must be tired, so Kano just lets her sleep, and goes back to reading his notes, keeping an ear out for Nana waking up so he can restart the video at the credits again. ]

[She is sleepy. The way she shifts, she actually gets one green ribbon in her hair loose, and the banana-tail falls out into longer hair down one side of her head. They're not tied very well when she only has one arm to do it with.

She takes a nap for about an hour; head rested lightly on his shoulder, and with a couple of snores. It's a little later that her eyes flicker open slowly and she spots the screen blearily. She doesn't register that it's paused.

But she murmurs an incoherent:] Kano-kun? Oh--did I miss the ending...?

[ -—! Kano reaches forward to pick up the remote and pretend to pause the screen, that's already paused. ]

Mmhm, it just finished! It was pretty surprising, right? Totally blew my expectations away~ [ He didn't think it would be so terrible, but here they are.

That said, he doesn't make any move to get up and stretch or clean or whatever, just leans slightly into Nana's side and lets his head fall sideways to rest against the side of hers. ]

So... What'd you think?

[Clever! Nana, as she's waking up, doesn't quite register that. She blinks, but--no he must have paused it. Scrolling credits are hard to follow.

She lets her head lean against his and decides this is nice and worth the slow deterioration of a funny franchise.]

The first two were great. The last two were okay. I think they should have stopped with two. But... it was interesting?

[oh no, a theater kid is happening:] How an idea for a script and formula can work, so they keep doing it. So even though Shrek should have learned that he was good enough for Fiona as he was after the plots of the first two films, he had to do something about it again and they had to keep doing weirder and weirder takes on fairy tales, where the fourth movie basically repeated the emotional context of the story from the first and second combined.

Instead of trying something new. It makes me appreciate how hard it is to write a good script, especially for a sequel.

[A beat, then the important question:] Also, why are a donkey and a dragon able to breed, Kano-kun? That knowledge is going to live in my nightmares.

[ As long as it brings in money, there's no reason to try anything different, he can understand that, the same reason he does the same things day in and day out and nobody ever suggests he do things differently.

Other thoughts: writing a good script, especially for a sequel, would have been easy? He could take this and make it 560924583 times better, just like he'd made the Bee Movie better. It just needs more demons. ]

Hm... Something like... The power of love?

Love is a many splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All we need is love. [She catches herself before she literally starts reenacting the scene or singing the song. She's not sure if he knows that movie.

Then:] But it doesn't make horrible dragon-donkey babies possible.

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sorry for the delay, I've had a really bad cold!

kicks your cold in the butt, colds are miserable, I hope it clears up soon ):

it's just starting to!! I can think clearly again?? that's progress!

good!!!!!!

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