[GV, then open]

[unlogic]

WHO: Desidera, Gunvolt for prompt 1, open for the other two
WHAT: Desi has a talk with her roommate, and then spends the next couple weeks occasionally safely blowing stuff up, and also being a big eater
WHERE: Aube 203 for GV, Mithril Cage or cafeteria for the others
WHEN: August 29 for GV, September 1-20 for the others
WARNINGS: mention of horrible decisions and the outcome of said horrible decisions, primarily prompt 1 but can potentially be prompt 2 as well depending on who talks to her

[ AUGUST 29, AFTERNOON @ AUBE 203 (Gunvolt) ]
[During some downtime on the afternoon of the 29th, Desi is in her room, on her bed and staring up at the ceiling. She hadn't felt like doing too much on this day or the previous, not after that attack on the academy. Her thoughts are still largely focused on what all had happened that day, and how she decided that her roommate needed to know about her. Like, actually know. He saw what she could do, and seeing how they're basically living together while they're both here, he should probably know why she was able to do it.

She rolls herself over, such that she's now facing out toward the rest of the room.]

GV?

[ VARIOUS SEPTEMBER MORNINGS @ MITHRIL CAGE (open) ]
[The first few times Desi had gone to the Mithril Cage was to meet Valvatorez there, in order to show him what she was generally capable of and to begin working on ensuring that she could keep it under control. It would probably come as no real surprise—at least not to the professor—that she has since taken to coming out on her own with the intent to continue working on it, to see how much she could do before it started to actually get away from her, and with the intent to eventually reach a point where she could just handle it, period.

She's been wondering if that thing she had pulled off during the Grimm attack was just a one-off thing, or if she could regularly do something that large under the right conditions.

So, on some mornings when the Cage isn't already in use, she can be found there, practicing what she knows. Rather than burn through a pile of training dummies with her magic—literally, sometimes—she uses the opportunity to practice her shadow powers as well, repeatedly recreating a pitch-black imitation of one of the dummies and using that as her target instead; it saves the staff the trouble of having to make more of the actual dummies. Each fireball, every explosion, lightning bolt, or cluster of shadow spikes is slightly bigger than the last, until one comes out looking like it was barely controlled, prompting her to stop.

Sometimes she experiments with making weapons out of shadows as well, but that generally doesn't get too far; she has no experience in actually wielding the things.]

[ ANY SEPTEMBER AFTERNOON @ CAFETERIA (open) ]
[On most afternoons, with the occasional exception of staying in her room or heading to the library, Desidera can be found in the cafeteria, with just as large a tray of food as she'd had on her first day here. That is to say, it's a lot. Probably enough for three people, actually. While she still finds a table to sit at by herself out of habit, she's a bit less-worried now about how people might react to her appearance, so if she spots anyone she recognizes, she invites them to join her without too much of a second thought, and if anyone else asks to join her, she doesn't turn them away.]

Comments

Mithril Cage

[lastexit]

*Maya's powers worked best, the hearing not the perpetual silence that made her an accidental ninja, when she knew what she was hearing. Which lead her to finding places to just- listen and watch. And, sure, maybe hiding at the edges of the cage to watch someone blow things up wasn't the safest thing. But the issue was trying to hear through the barrier charms. She wasn't in the direct blast lines and a fair enough distance away she shouldn't be in the killzone or anything.*

...Maybe you should practice with normal weapons before trying anything with your- is that shadow magic?

*Maya hopes that she wasn't too well hidden, surprising people who blow stuff up is generally bad.*

[unlogic]

[Hearing the voice and realizing someone was speaking to her, Desidera stops and turns her attention toward Maya. She hadn't really noticed that she had gained any sort of audience, but that was probably to be expected; she had been pretty engrossed in what she was doing.

With her no longer focusing on them, the shadow constructs—both the imitation dummy and what looked like a simple sword in her hand—fall into the floor and return to the shadow that she had constructed them from, that being her own.]

Ah? Yes, yes, it is. And I probably should, honestly, if I'm going to start trying to do something like this.

[lastexit]

It's still an impressive trick.

*Trick isn't the right term, but Maya's not got anything better. She's still listening for all the notes of what power this girl is using. It isn't all shadows, of course, explosions don't feel shady to her.*

I hang around to hear different magics. Never heard shadows before. Nice sound to it.

[unlogic]

[Same as with Gunvolt back while responding to the Grimm attack, Desidera isn't completely sure how to respond to what she thinks is a compliment, and especially not one regarding her use of shadows.

The fire, the explosions, and the lightning all sound fairly normal, albeit with a faint underlying buzz of something else. That something else becomes more prominent—and potentially recognizable—when Maya listens to the shadows. If she can identify it despite the other sounds accompanying it, then she may be able to determine that at least part of the magic Desidera wields is daemonic in origin.

It might not be too much of a surprise, considering the girl's appearance, but that's what it is.

Maya telling Desi why she's there, though, that grabs the girl's attention.]

You can hear magic?

[lastexit]

*Looks lie, there are tricksters, shapeshifters, and all sorts of whats what you see and what you gets aren't the same. She trusts a sense nobody looks to deceive. As eventually over time, she can dig deep enough into their sound and hear everything. Eventually.*

Is it really any weirder than anything else?

*Maya you are the only person who does this.*

[unlogic]

[That response has her wondering if her question may have caused some sort of offense. She's hoping it didn't.]

Well, probably not, but I've never heard of anything like that. [She pauses for a moment, then adds:] There are a lot of things that I still don't know, actually.

[shockingblue]

[GV was at his desk, actually not working on some matter of runecraft for once. No, right now, he was just doing some more normal studying, on an actually mundane general education class. It wasn't even really all that important, he just wanted to be on top of things, so it was easy enough to set aside when Desi called for his attention.]

Yeah? What's up?

[unlogic]

That thing we did during the attack on the academy a few days ago. [He knows the one.] I—

I think you should know why I'm able to do that. Just in case. ["Just in case?"] I'm a Mage, but that wasn't any normal magic. I mean— [Pause.] The fire was. The lightning was. The shadows...no. That was something else.

[shockingblue]

[Gunvolt turned around in his chair fully to face her. This definitely sounded serious, so he wanted to give her his full attention. And sure enough, he knows instantly what she's referring to, nodding along when she speaks.

When he answers, his tone is even, calm. Almost stoic, but there's just a hint of emotion in there that keeps it from being stony, enough to signal that he cared about what she had to say, but didn't appear worried or frightened about whatever it might be.]

So it wasn't typical magecraft. Then what was it?

[unlogic]

It's still magic, but its origins are... It's daemonic. Not human. Anyone could probably assume as much just by looking at me, but I wanted to confirm it for you, because if we're going to be together for the foreseeable future, then you need to know.

As for how it came about... [This is where she really hesitates.] The best way to put it is, I'm corrupted. [She won't call herself contracted, because the contract itself isn't hers.] My mother tried her hand at contracting seventeen years ago, but the agreement that she made, it affected me rather than her. Before I came here, I had little to no contact with the rest of the world because of it.

[Hey GV, do you want to know what the worst part is? Just take note of how long ago she said this was, and:]

I'm sixteen.

[shockingblue]

[He's quiet as she explains, keeping his ears open and making sure he doesn't miss anything. He doesn't fidget or squirm, or even look terribly uncomfortable at the mention of daemonic magic, or even at daemonic corruption. ...What makes the mask slip, however, is the bombshell that she's younger than the contract that her mother made. A bit of shock makes it through on his face at that revelation, but it's not one of revulsion.]

Wow, uh. That's a lot to unpack right there.

[Understatement of the century, GV. Either way, he leaned back into his chair to take a moment to process that. Not spending any time in the outside world... that had to be a lonely existence, especially because it was no fault of her own.]

...Before you were even born. Wow. I mean, I had a feeling there was... something, going on involving daemonic things with you, but I gotta say, I didn't expect that. That's....

[His words failed him in that moment, and he found himself emptily gesticulating, trying to find what he wanted to say. Eventually, he shook his head, and instead went from another angle.]

Just to make it clear, the whole daemon thing? Doesn't bother me. I care more about who someone is rather than what, and you've done right by me since we met. So don't worry about that, at least.

CAFETERIA

[yokeye]

[Toki has been eating here more often than he used to. Mostly as some sort of integration experiment for appropriate social conduct. He has yet to master it. He's forgotten her name, but he recognizes Desidera as a newer student he'd spoken to in the library. At least he thinks so, that could have been a months ago, really. Either way, she's sitting alone and that's sad.]

Hello~! How are you~!?

[He still has his personal guard along, much like in the library. They both sit at the table, though Marcel's not eating. In contrast to Desidera, Toki has barely anything on his plate. Some sort of rice dish. It looks fairly bland and unappetizing.]

[unlogic]

[Up until now, Desidera had looked like she was simply going about a normal routine, but when Toki approaches, she brightens a bit, recognizing him from before.]

Ah! Hello, ah... Toki, I believe you said it was? [And then, directed to Marcel, if he'll acknowledge it:] And to you as well.

[Back to Toki:] I'm doing well, what about you?

[yokeye]

Yes!

[Which means he does know her name. It will come to him. Marcel just gives her a nod.]

It's a good day and there's been no incidents so far! So, uhh... Oh! What are your academic pursuits for the upcoming semester?

[That should be a safe topic.]

[unlogic]

[No...incidents? That is a mildly concerning pair of words to put together.

The question does seem to briefly catch her off-guard as well. Desi's having been focusing on what she came to the academy for in the first place has had the secondary effect of...not really considering normal school things.

Fortunately, though, there are some classes that play into her interests pretty well.]

Aside from the classes and other lessons that I need? I believe I'll be looking into the literature classes that are offered here. Are you familiar with them? [Or, in other words, she's wondering what she can expect.]

[yokeye]

Literature~! That's great! A good choice!

[It's almost as bad as history classes. Reading is hard enough as it is, why take electives in literature? Oh my god.]

I kind of missed out on the classes a lot so far, so I'm afraid I haven't taken any literature ones yet!

[Toki barely attended any of his classes since his arrival in January, passing a mere two of them. He's never taken a literature class in his life and never will unless it's mandatory and he somehow can't escape.]

cafeteria

[ofexperience]

[V almost perks up a little at the sight of Desidera and makes his way over when he's invited over, his own tray of food in hand and a book tucked under his arm.]

Good afternoon, Desidera.

[unlogic]

Hello, V. It's been a little while since we've seen each other. [That's likely to change soon, though; aside from the classes she actually needs, she's strongly considering looking into the academy's literature classes once things actually get started for this year.]

How have you been?

[ofexperience]

I've been well... aside from recuperating after the Grimm attack on the school. There's been a lot of material I wanted to cover before classes started up, so that's why I've been a bit scarce lately.

[He chuckles a bit sheepishly as he sets the book he brought with him aside.]

I figured I'd do well to at least try to get a head start. How about you?

[unlogic]

I'm doing well enough, feeling better about things than I was over the path month.

[V might recall how Desidera had seemed just a little unsure—worried, even—the first time they met, which was also here in the cafeteria. Something that happened between then and now seems to have done away with a bit of that; she's actually looking a bit relaxed this time.

The attack was certainly a thing that had happened, though. She and GV were fortunate enough to come out of it relatively unscathed, but she knows that others who had gotten themselves involved weren't quite so lucky.]

I've started spending extra time in the Mithril Cage, myself, practicing what I know and making sure I can keep it under control. Professor Valvatorez is helping me with it when he has time, but I want to make sure to stay on top of things rather than wait on him.

[Eyeing the book, and remembering from their previous encounter that V loves him some reading, she has to ask:] So, what would be the subject of the day, there?

Mithril Cage

[descolation]

[Desco was all set to do some more of her training in the Mithril Cage. It was usually pretty empty around this time, so she just barged right in without a care in the world, only for a fireball to explode a few feet away from her face. Although she wasn't really injured, it was still quite surprising. She shrunk a little, looking shocked, confused, and a bit scared.]

S-should I come back later?

[unlogic]

A-ah—?! [Desidera hadn't been expecting for anyone to just come in, especially not without checking to see if someone was already there. So, when she saw that she might have actually hit someone with that last fireball, she dropped everything—the shadow-construct imitation dummy sinking back into the floor as it no longer had any of her focus—and ran over immediately.]

Oh no no no no no— I didn't— you're not hurt, are you? [She may be panicking a bit; this exact sort of thing is basically a nightmare scenario for her.]

[descolation]

[Slowly but surely Desco manages to relax, simply shaking her head to let the other girl know that she's fine. Kind of fine.]

No, Desco is fine. She just wasn't expecting anyone to be here. That's why she ran in! Not one of her better ideas...

[unlogic]

[So it had been a near-miss, rather than an actual hit. That's good. Desidera tries to calm down a bit as well now that she sees Desco is fine (kind of fine; she was clearly rattled by that), but she's finding it a little hard.]

I— I should have been paying more attention. [And/or should have kept the shadow-dummy away from that particular area.] I'm sorry. You can go ahead and do whatever you came here for, I'll... I'll take a break.

[descolation]

No, Desco can wait! She'd feel really bad if you didn't get to finish training. Training is important!

[Especially if you're worried your powers can hurt people. Desco seems mostly fine now, her anxiety replaced by a more intense expression. She feels very strongly about training.]