theafflicted | 06

06 - week six

WEEK SIX

Sunday starts with more aches and pains than you might be used to. Florence patched people up after Saturday’s lesson, sure, but it’s not a complete cure - not to mention it doesn’t ease the sting of betrayal. Some classmates that you thought would cooperate wound up breaking your trust in the end, and this week will be interesting with the fallout.

It’s hard to say what this week will have in store otherwise. Things are changing, and it’s not clear what this means for all of you. On the bright side, however, the creatures and places you once knew from home have suddenly disappeared, so that's less that you need to worry about. There are new areas for you to look at as well.

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FLORENCE / LORELEI

FULL NAV

(CODE)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I don't know you very well. But if I had to guess, you have more hidden sides than not. Even you must have times when you're angry.

[Although veering away from that probably more sensitive topic a little, he smiles slightly.]

I didn't expect you to egg Hien on on Saturday, either.

[The cursed dice knife throw...]

[ He's glad that Phantom steers the conversation away from unpleasant things like the tower. Fai remembers his presence there in a dream only, but he knows that Phantom saw it. ]

Heh... well, I was irritated by Owen's gloating.

[ It was the last thing he wanted to hear after getting thoroughly electrocuted. ]

I thought he was going to do something whether or not I told him to, so I figured there was no harm in saying it. [ ... ] I didn't think he was going to hold himself back otherwise.

I suppose I'll count that. Even if you were only annoyed.

[At least it made Phantom feel a little better? He has to chuckle at that explanation though.]

He really does have surprising sides. For instance, I didn't think he had a knife.

[He could have wished Hien's aim was better but, well. None of them were doing that well post-electrocution. And he imagines Fai's good nature would have kicked back in if that had actually hit.]

[ It definitely would have, as he ultimately likes Owen and would have felt incredibly guilty for that. Thankfully, his boyfriend is ultimately uncool. ]

He likes knives... I suspect he has a knife on him most of the time.

[ Which is concerning, but it doesn't bother him much. ]

I'm surprised Marcus hasn't taken that up, since his ridiculous sword hasn't turned up yet.

[Not that he's drawing a parallel between Marcus and Hien, that would probably give him hives.]

[ He laughs. ]

Maybe he has yet to surprise you!

[ Fai moves to check the cake. It’s not cool enough yet, but it’s getting there. ]

I don’t think he’s quite the type to do that sort of thing to the extent Hien does, though.

[ But he could be wrong. ]

Surprises, or knives? Though I suppose you'd be right for either. He imagines himself to be the responsible one.

[Thus firmly establishing this as happening before Marcus scares the life out of him with an inflatable t-rex suit. Anyway, Phantom is watching the cake progression with interest.]

You're experienced at that.

[ MARCUS…. ]

I think he’s pretty responsible. And uptight. It’s funny.

[ He likes uptight people, though.

Fai turns his attention away from the cake and back to Phantom. ]

You think so? I suppose I had quite a bit of practice when I ran my own cafe. To tell you the truth, though, I apply my knowledge of magic to cooking, which has made it easy for me to improve quickly.

[PLEASE JUDGE HIM.]

Of course he is, when he's not being impulsive. He was created to be a... babysitter.

[Whoops, almost said something nicer. No more thinking about Marcus, that was the whole point of dragging his tired body out of the dorms.]

Our types of magic really are very different. That's convenient, though. Is that what you'll go back to? After this?

[ A babysitter… that’s a hilarious thought.

Fai starts to dig around for some icing and decorating tools. It’s easier to not make direct eye contact when he’s busy looking for things. ]

I’m not sure. I suppose… I’ll have to see what Hien and I end up doing.

Ah, there's that. It's clearly not a problem for him to be in this world now, but...

[Well, Phantom's good at Magic Complications, but Hien's situation still made his head hurt a little. Still, they'd find a way around it. He frowns a little in thought at Fai's expression.]

Are you worried about that?

A little.

[ He finally finds some of the pipettes. ]

There are also a few other… factors that could cause trouble.

"Other factors"?

[That certainly feels cagey...]

I won't press if it's not my business. But sometimes magic from other worlds can circumvent difficulties in our own. Perhaps there's something I can help with.

[ He checks the cake again. Almost ready… ]

I’m cursed to kill the first person I come across with more magic than me.

[ And he knows for sure that Hien has more than him. ]

Hien said I could kill him, but that doesn’t mean I want to.

...Ah. He's an idiot about some things, isn't he?

[(Affectionate). That's more of a tangle than he expected, though.]

It doesn't seem to apply here, while our powers are sealed. I wonder if there's another way around it.

[Hien's kind of power... would need a really, really big protective mirrage to do that.]

[ He shakes his head. ]

I don't know. I haven't found anything to counteract it in my own studies.

[ Fai lets out a sigh as he deems the cake ready to be decorated. He picks a light gray icing and starts spreading it over. ]

He's such an idiot.

[Fai's presumably been at this a long time. But, still... Phantom frowns thoughtfully to himself as he watches Fai work.]

Well, depending how things work out at the end of this... course, I'll need a new project to take on. [...] Hien is beyond my abilities to help with, I'm afraid.

[ He pauses, his hand stilling for a brief moment. ]

I couldn’t ask you to go through so much trouble for me…7

You could think of it as a selfish wish, if it made you feel better. If I could use my power to help something for once...

[Phantom gives an awkward little shrug. Who even knows if he could help, honestly.]

[ how did i put a 7 instead of a question mark..... ]

A selfish wish...

[ That does help, but it's the fact that Phantom wants to use his power for good that finally convinces him. ]

Alright. Help as much as you wish.

[The good news is without glasses it absolutely still looked like a ?]

...Thank you.

[It's much too early to be optimistic. But feeling like he has something to focus on after this is more welcome than he expected.]

Ah... no need to thank me for it...

[ He's still worried he'll end up killing Hien anyway if Phantom can't find a way to counteract the curse, but... at least Hien comes back???

Now that he has frosting all outside the cake, he starts piping another color of icing around the top and the bottom rims of the cake. ]

I do. Don't let it trouble you, however.

[But he'll put aside prodding that further until Later. He hopes he can help the two of them somehow. For the moment, he smiles a little as he watches Fai work.]

Mileena had a touch for this kind of thing, I believe. But it's the first time I've seen someone do this for myself.

[ He'll try not to be troubled over it, but... that's his main emotion. Still, he means it when he says he'll let Phantom do as he pleases.

Despite his own briefly troublesome emotions, he pauses for a moment to smile at Phantom. ]

And now you get to see a pro do it! [ He laughs. ] It's been a while since I've made a cake, and I've never made one for a single person before.

It's a bit fascinating.

[A little like delicate engineering in its own right, actually. Although he pauses to absorb that information.]

Is it for Hien? He does like food.

[Is there information that would lead him to another hypothesis? Yes. Does this one still make more sense to him? Also yes.]

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