✧✦ october open post ✦✧

[yokeye]

WHO: Toki + open
WHERE: Campus and Soleil
WHEN: October 4th onwards
WHAT: a celebration, shopping, working, an educational outing, ???
WARNINGS: potential for RNG visions


1. Freedom Party - Banquet Hall [10/04, closed to established cr]

[Despite a few additional incidents in September, the overall second assessment went relatively well. Toki has been given freedom, conditionally, and he will take it. The first day unleashed, he isn't really sure what to do with himself. It feels weird; he'd gotten so used to it. Taking the place of the leash is a tracking rune device doubling as a medical alert bracelet, deemed a necessity if Toki is to go anywhere by himself. Instructions on the bracelet state to call the academy should anything occur, instead of an ambulance or the police. He's a little annoyed, but it could be worse, and it's still a cause for celebration.

On Friday night, a section of the Banquet Hall has been set aside for Toki's rather subdued "freedom party". It's more of a gathering; there's no music or entertainment. A simple social event, catered by Honey and Sugar Patisserie. Instead of something off-the-wall, Toki has gone for a common autumn theme. Pine cone and leaf centerpieces on the tables, and a few select food and drink items; pumpkin and blueberry pies, coconut marzipan cake, caramel apples, and cute animal pastries with choices of honey, hazelnut, and chocolate spreads. Drinks include fancy spiced almond milk hot chocolate and plain apple cider.

Toki invites everyone who has been there for him, but doesn't expect much of a turnout. No matter the audience, he has important things to say. He doesn't have a podium or a microphone, but needs neither as he's tall and loud. He stands in front of the tables as golems bring out the food. He can usually talk at length without much trouble or pausing for breath, but this is a delicate subject and very meaningful for him. He already feels like crying, an he starts to half-way though.]

Hello. Uhh... I just want to say thank you for helping me get to this point. I know I'm difficult to deal with and talk to, and I appreciate every single attempt to help me, even if sometimes I wasn't ready to acknowledge some things. It's still very hard for me to be here, to share this reality and I've had a few setbacks, but I think I'm in a good place now. I talk a lot, but I don't have the words to truly express how grateful I am that you didn't give up on me and you wouldn't let me give up on myself.

[After that, he leaves the room for a few minutes to compose himself; returning to one of the tables and trying the hot chocolate.]


2. Downtown Soleil [10/05]

[After selling or donating most of the clothing he'd outgrown or no longer wanted, Toki has a massive shopping day in Soleil. He's avoiding the mall in favor of the downtown offerings. He wants to distance himself from the old him, which includes his bright and clashy style choices of the past. He's opted to start bleaching his hair again, a throwback to his pre-Daybreak existence when he was ostensibly happier. It looks a lot better this time around, having it done professionally instead of dyeing it himself. It's a light blond, evenly highlighted, and a far cry from the messy tri-color mix of blond/brown/red he'd arrived at the academy with.

Toki's brought a golem along to carry everything, and he's already bought far too much. The golem holds bags full of tailored pants, button down shirts, assorted blazers, vests, and sweaters. Everything is muted earthy colors, blacks, off-whites, and navy blues. The bags sit on top of three shoeboxes, containing both brown and black oxfords and a pair of brown leather boots. There's a few other things on his list, and the golem waits outside while he enters another shop, immediately running into somebody when he gets past the doorway.]

My apologies~!

[Sounding overly excited, it may come off as facetious, but in truth, he's just so happy to be out by himself.]


3. Not Quite Volunteering [10/07-10/31]

[One condition of Toki ditching the leash was having some structured schedule beyond classes to occupy his time. Long periods in which to ruminate on strange and illogical ideas were unacceptable. Simple on-campus tasks have been assigned, neither of which he's being paid for, and most evenings are spent at one of two locations:]

- a. bookstore - hall of pythia (fri-sun)

[It shouldn't be that hard to look up whether or not a book is available, or how much things cost, but there's too much direct social interaction with no escape. Toki finds himself easily flustered, trying to be perfect. It's a particularly slow night, and he's distracted by the buzzing of the overhead lights because the library is so quiet, even inside the bookstore. Until a stack of books is set down on the counter in front of him, the noise amplified in an echo. Startled, his greeting is awkward and his gestures are flaily. He's trying.]

Hello! It is a nice day- night. Did you find everything!?

- b. market square (mon-wed)

[Utilizing the greenhouse for illicit activities resulted in a ban from it, as well as an involuntary contribution to the market: selling gardening items. It's so boring, and no one wants to buy tools or seeds or things of that nature. The flowers and potted plants go more quickly. Today, the stall contains assorted orange and red flowers, tiny pumpkins, and colorful gourds. Toki spends most of the hours painting scenes and decorations on flower pots of all sizes.]


4. Museum of Supernatural History - Soleil

[One Saturday morning, Toki has ventured into unknown territory. Going to a museum, by himself, on purpose. He has a lot to make up for, and classes alone won't help his lack of magic history background. History has always been a failure of a subject for him, moreso than any other, so he's making an extra effort. He's wearing his Daybreak uniform for no reason except he thinks it makes him look more studious and obviously here for educational purposes. That, and Ekkehardt's ribbon looks much less awkward with said uniform than regular clothing.

Toki is currently looking through a dragon exhibit, comparing the depictions to Odd-Eyes and noting differences. He has a clipboard with all of the museum literature attached, and a notebook on top of that. He takes extensive notes, in complete and coherent sentences, and sketches claw and wing details in the margins. Along with his rune tracking/medical alert bracelet, he's acquired a ring. It's a thin band of orichalcum on his right ring finger, bisecting a tiny giraffe tattoo. His earring experiment results were positive, except for the earring itself. It was too hard to put in and remove frequently without seeing what he was doing. With visions stabilized for the most part, the ring is merely a precaution to avoid a potential scene at the museum. He'd had bad luck with that in Paris.

He pauses in his sketching to lean forward and read a plaque. Jotting down the information, he mutters to himself, completely absorbed in his undertaking.]

So many scale types...


5. La Pucelle [closed to one tag-in]

[In the middle of a class, Toki receives a text message and jumps out of his seat.]

It's here! It's here!

[Something he'd been working on in secret, though it didn't actually take much effort. Still, it's an achievement, and he's dying to show it off. He grabs the hand of the nearest student to drag them along with him as he leaves the classroom during the lecture. There are more important things right now.]

You have to come see! I bet it's amazing! [A squeal.] Sorry! But it's here!


6. Network

Good day, fellow students. I was not intending to make use of the Network again, however I have determined it is the best venue for reaching the greatest amount of people for my project.

As you know, I am a Seer. I have been attempting to hone my skills at "seeing" the truth of things in the present, under the guidance of Professor Jailbreak. At this point, I am trying to distinguish the visual traces of magic that come from power types and origins. For example, a Candle signature will look different than a Mage. Sometimes there are combinations, and I would like to gather enough information to make a small database of typing for my own personal use.

If you are interested in volunteering your time for this, it will only take a few minutes initially. You may be called back if there are things I cannot discriminate on first viewing. Please reply with any questions you may have, or to schedule an appointment for me to view and log your magical information.

Thank you.


7. Wildcard
Anything, anywhere~!
Note that Toki is staying at the Inn of Atropos in Soleil for the month and won't be found in his dorm room after the 5th.

✦ inbox threads also always welcomed

Comments

6

[hawkwardness]

I could morph to owl and back for you? That's not much of a change, it's nowhere near as gross as me becoming anything else.

[yokeye]

That should be fine. I'll be looking like inside kind of anyway and not really see the gross parts. It's just to get a general idea of what your magic trace would look like and find the similarities to others in that category. Are you a candle? I don't think I ever asked.

[hawkwardness]

Yeah, I am. If you're okay with it I can run through them all. I'm going to have to do it in front of people eventually, anyway, I bet.

[yokeye]

That sounds good. I can make notes if anything changes between animals. Might be interesting to know.

un: Galanthusnivalis

[buddinghopes]

I can drop by for this, if you'd like. Especially since my Flame ability involves outright transformation on my part.

[yokeye]

Thank you, Lia. I have someone else who transforms too and this will be good for comparison purposes. What sort of transformation? Are you a shape-shifter?

[buddinghopes]

Happy to help! My transformation ability... it'd be more accurate to compare it to a magical girl than anything. It comes with an outfit change, boosts to my physical abilities, and some powers I can only access in that form.

[yokeye]

[A magical girl. That was unexpected, but certainly much different than Tobias's flame.]

That's perfect! It contrasts with my other transformation subject. When do you want to meet?

3b, October 9

[lifeforced]

[The previous encounter with Toki had left her with some impressions, with the biggest ones being that he actively disliked being here, and that talking with people bothered him—or maybe she doesn't yet know the right way to talk to him. He'd seemed pretty content to leave her alone since then, too, which was fine, and there had also been no sign of him in or around Lumière at all recently, either.

But, eventually, they were going to wind up crossing paths again, one way or another.

During her free time after everything else on one day in the first half of the month, Rebecca wanders the market square, mostly to pick out a variety of things that she's decided she will be needing later in the month, but while passing by one particular shop, she catches sight of Toki with those pots.

One or two to put by the windows in her room might not be a bad idea, and so she approaches. She waits until he's done with the current pot before speaking up—doesn't want to cause a mistake by startling him or anything.]

Hey, Toki. You're pretty good at that.

[yokeye]

[Toki looks up after setting the pot on a shelf; he hadn't recognized her voice. What was her name? It sounded something like his, he knows. It's several seconds before he responds, retrieving the information from wherever it had been misplaced.]

Becky! I mean, hello! Uhh, thank you! I like to paint things!

[He steps away from the pots and attempts to adopt a more professional stance.]

I'm sorry, that was- let's start over. Good afternoon, can I interest you in gardening supplies or perhaps a lovely flower arrangement?

[lifeforced]

[She'll take his accepting the compliment as a sign that she hasn't said anything wrong yet, and gives a nod to acknowledge his response.]

I'm thinking about maybe getting a couple things set up by the windows in my room, so I could use a couple empty pots, couple packs of seeds, and a bag of potting soil? If you have any particular recommendations for what kinds of flowers, those'll be fine, otherwise let's just go with something random, I'm not gonna be picky about it.

[Somebody doesn't plan on going the lazy way here.]

why rng

[yokeye]

[He pictures the windows in his own room. There's nothing there. They used to have a large fish tank in front, but since the jellyfish died, it's only occasionally had some books set on the sill. They would look nice with flowers.]

Maybe something really colorful because it will all be snow soon?

[He crouches to pull out of a bag of potting soil from one of the low shelves. As soon as he's grabbed it, he drops it again- and half falls over himself, losing his balance as he has a vision. A rainbow hued group of skeletons, distant music, flashing lights like in a club, bones clicking as the skeletons... dance? The vision is short and he's right back to his task, wincing a little. Potting soil obtained, he sets it on the table near the front of the stall.]

I'll get right back to you, Becky...

[His bag is in the corner near the gardening tools and he retrieves a notebook from it. He quickly scrawls down what he saw and shoves the notebook back in the bag.]

Okay! What size pots?

6 (UN: SenzaLuce)

[unlogic]

I wouldn't mind helping with this, though I should inform you in advance that anything you see from me will be a combination. [Mage with Daemonic corruption, after all.]

Did you have any particular time in mind for doing this, or is it whenever I can spare a moment for it?

[yokeye]

I am also looking for combination samples, so you would be perfect. Any time you can spare would be fine. It's technically training for me, so I can schedule things whenever and leave a class for a few minutes if necessary.

[unlogic]

I've been spending some of my mornings at the Mithril Cage practicing with what I have to make sure I can keep it under control, so if coming to watch would work, we can do that.

If you're not a morning person, then maybe we can go with after my classes have ended if I don't have anything else that I need to do first. In that case, I can let you know when I'm ready.

6 for now because it's easy when I'm tired

[deuteranope]

seeing the truth of things huh... I think I got a mage on hand you can use for this shit, maybe in more ways than one
guy around your age, kinda loud
want me to ping him?

[yokeye]

[Toki stares at the text and reads it several times. He doesn't understand it at all. Which ways? Is this someone he knows that Maverick's not naming because he thinks it's obvious? Someone entirely new? What is "ping"?]

Okay.

[deuteranope]

[don't...don't think about it that deeply, toki...]

yo @[un: princely] get your butt in here
got a job for you

2

[genz]

[ leo's out here shopping too! well, window shopping, for his roomie, who probably will get sick of wearing his signature blue eventually. --leo doesn't actually know that, he'd actually be a bit offended by that, he's mostly just being considerate for the IN CASE and the PREPAREDNESS.

and look who he's run into! his mind goes a mile a minute. ok, that was definitely a lot for a first meeting, getting ditched soon after he decided he liked the savior. it was like getting a princess carry then getting dropped off a cliff. he hadn't intended to see him again this soon? what if it's still weird! (as it turns out, just weird for him... toki's absolutely fine.) ]

Woah, hey, Toki. [ eyeing that golem... ] Nice stash. This ain't retail therapy, is it?

[ subtle ways to ask if he's alright, the best ways. ]

[yokeye]

Oh, hello~! Uhh... I don't think I knew your name, but if I did, I forgot~!

[Toki looks back at the golem.]

There's a lot because I got taller and I kind of wanted a new style so I sold and gave away a lot of stuff.

[Some to none other than Leo's roommate. If he sees Therion wearing anything oversized and purple, it's probably Toki's. He frowns a little in confusion at the last comment. "Retail therapy" is not a phase he's familiar with, so his response is rather drawn out like a question.]

I go to therapy on Thursdays?

[genz]

Nah, I think life was happening too fast for introductions. Leonardo. Leo, because that's long.

Whew, good for you Toki! Getting to pick stuff for yourself is a nice feeling.

[ leo shakes his head good-naturedly. ]

Oh, retail therapy is when people are sad or frustrated and buy stuff to feel better! Doesn't seem to be your case though. That's good...

[ hold on, they're still standing right at the entrance and the clerk's kind of staring, whoops. ]

Sorry for being in your way! Actually, do you know this guy named Therion?

1 - Freedom party!!!

[unpocoloco]

[He's late, naturally, but there was no way he was going to miss this. He hangs by the back, not wanting to make it too weird as the older person here, and so that no one notices him not touching any of the food. It's a sweet display. If Coco were here he'd have definitely tried to bring some of the fancier pieces back to her.

He's distracted from that thought when Toki begins his speech. He can tell right away that the boy's choked up. It brings a pang to his heart and the ache of it lingers well after Toki walks out. He makes his way over to the boy at the hot chocolate display as soon as he's sure no one else is going to interrupt. He speaks soft.]

Hey, kid. How you feeling?

[yokeye]

[Toki feels the tears come back at just those words. This is ridiculous, and he sniffles, clutching his newly obtained mug of hot chocolate.]

I'm fine. I really mean it this time. Th-thank you for coming, Héctor.

[Héctor had seen first-hand some of his poorer choices, and he's still here.]

[unpocoloco]

Good. I'm glad.

[Just to hear he's well. He laughs softly and shakes his head.]

I'm really glad, actually. You've put so much work in, taken these strides. You deserve to have this, you know. And I'm happy to be here.

2,

[soft_focus]

[Reira for her part, doesn't tend to do a lot of buying things. Even when she's supposed to buy things. It probably shows, given that she's wearing her school uniform.

She's supposed to 'get out more' or something though, so she's doing some wandering downtown today. Just to wander, and really when you're 9 going on 10 no one really cares as long as you don't steal anything.]

Oof-

[Anyway she's apparently on the ground now, and looks a little confused as to how she got he-

Oh a person.] ..........it's ok.

[GOD YOU'RE SO HAPPY THOUGH. IT'S OVERFLOWING,]