open ♔ august castle socialization

[wynn]

WHO || Everyone! [ota]
WHAT || Shenanigans.
WHERE || Anywhere in the castle, surrounding environs, London, etc!
WHEN || Any time during August [back and forward dated]
HOW || Actionspam

[ The castle can be a happening place, even on more mundane days. This log is for random interactions over the course of this month.  Because not everyone is into parties, ok.  

You are encouraged to start your own threads and tag around, and feel free to threadjack into any on-going threads that aren't specified as 'closed' in the subject lines since people can enter into rooms even in the middle of what's going on. You can also specify 'single thread', meaning you want only one response for all participants, rather than multi-thread, where a number of different scenes/threads can be done as replies to the top prompt. ]

Comments

[uncurse]

Uh ... yeah. Why - [ WHOOPS FOLLOWING. ] What?

[bittersweeter]

You need to keep them apart. [She is really, painfully serious.] Far apart.

[uncurse]

Yeah, the thought occurred to me. But maybe you missed the part about crazy powerful Magi. No one's keeping her away from David if she doesn't want them to. David's been keeping her at arm's length, it's fine, we just ... need to figure out how to break it without her losing it - and Gold's the most powerful person in this castle, whether he knows it or not, but he doesn't have any interest in trying lest he lose his chance at her magic.

[bittersweeter]

And if your dad's dick decides to start running the show? Then he's a rapist. That's a story to tell the grandkids about! [Her tone seems to imply try harder.] Fuck her magic, fuck Gold, someone needs to protect her.

[uncurse]

Hey! [ ok no more walking. emma grabs her arm and forces her to stop and look back at her, because now she's just pissed. ] That is not gonna happen. He knows as well as the rest of us what's going on here, and he would never take advantage of that. You don't know him. I do. [ at least ... she hopes she does. there's conflict in her expression, because whoever david charming is, he's not david nolan, and she'd never gotten the time to get to know her real father before coming here. david nolan might have done it tbh. she takes a deep breath, because snapping at a kid isn't the answer, and she drops her hand. ] We find another member of the Dragon's Fire, figure out if they've got something to - to defuse something like that. But, I don't know any of them.

[bittersweeter]

No, Emma, you don't get it. It's not like some drunk party girl you know is fucked up. It's subtle but it's still like a magical roofie and she is going to keep trying, because she thinks she loves him right? That's the curse, he is only thing that matters now and she won't stop until she wears him down and he gives in to her rationalizing it and the sheer power of someone loving you that much. [She jerks her arm back, ignoring the latter half because Emma needs to understand first.] I know. Because I experienced it.

[uncurse]

[ she experienced it.

whether it was the love spell with people there to protect her and break it or if it had been too late to, it doesn't really matter because in the end it's just as horrible.

it hasn't escaped emma how horrible this is for amara, which is why she hasn't stopped coming up firmly on the side of love spell bad since they got back. but, she's also been faced with teammates who think she's overreacting, who think it's manageable - it's not. but she's outnumbered and she's also being told to let it go by the one person she'd be going to for a fix. it's been a hopeless situation, one that she's felt powerless to change.

but this isn't about emma and how powerless she feels to intervene or to protect her family anymore, it's about lila. it's about a kid who's had to go through that and knows better than any of them how wrong it is to let it keep going on. and devastation hits her like a ton of bricks as she stares at lila, grappling for words and losing them.

she raises a hand to reach out in her speechlessness, wondering what she can do, how she can make it better or be there for her or support her but she can't because it already happened and the damage is done, and lila is about as receptive to physical contact as emma herself. so her hand drops and the look of anguish stays on her face. ]

Lila ... [ k no she tried. she presses her lips tighter together, at a loss for words, and reaches out to squeeze her shoulder - this time not a rough grab, but a motion of offered support. the gesture welcomes a hug, but doesn't demand one. she knows how hard it is to even confess these things, talk about moments when you felt weak and helpless, because emma herself refuses to talk about them, but she needs to make some motion to show lila that she's there for her in it, as much as she can be. ]

So, we'll protect her. Someone in the Dragon's fire has to know a spell. They could help, or - or I have magic, maybe I can - [ maybe is all she has to offer. she takes a deep breath, committing. ] I can try. Let's just head down there, and see who's home that knows something.

[bittersweeter]

[Lila lets Emma's hand rest there for a couple seconds before she steps back, arms coming up to cross her chest, fingers digging in roughly against her arms. She doesn't say it's okay, because it isn't, it wasn't. Cassel hadn't gone that far (and he was just so proud of himself because of it) but that feeling was something she didn't get to forget. Her head shakes briefly.]

Zero. He owes me like fifteen favors anyway. [And if she has to ever tell this story again it sure as shit isn't going to be to someone she doesn't trust. She doesn't know if he could do anything, she still doesn't understand technomagic (or magic in general) but it's magic so. That's enough right now.]

[uncurse]

Okay. If Zero doesn't know, I can try talking to Hasmed. [ she's careful to state that she can try rather than both of them because she doesn't want lila to feel obligated to have to share why they're so determined about it. ] He trained Gold, he should be just as capable, if less self-serving.

[bittersweeter]

Sure. Let's go, before I remember I don't give a shit. [And she stalks off toward the Dragon's Fire wing. She just wants to get this over with before she overthinks it and shoots Gold in the throat for her own personal enjoyment. Who knows, she might do it anyway to make herself feel better -- someone could just heal him, it's not like he would die. Probably.]

[uncurse]

[ and emma heads after without a word, because it's painfully obvious that neither of them is lacking for fucks to give as nice as that would be and she's ... having similar murder gold thoughts hey maybe they could just call hook. but yeah heading into the dragon's fire wing to find these bitches. ARDEEEEEN. ]

[eldritchweaver]

[ WELL WHO SHOULD BE WALKING DOWN THE HALLWAYS OF THE DRAGONS FIRE but the snake/elf man himself. there he go. up ahead. ]

[uncurse]

Hasmed!

[ she picks up her pace, jogging up to him to give her a moment to break the ice before lila has to join in. ]

Hasmed, we need your help. There's this woman, she's under a spell, we need your help to break it.

[bittersweeter]

[Lila slows down as Emma speeds up, eyes darting around like she is looking for a way out. Part of her is; she doesn't want to talk or think about this because she doesn't want the feelings it dredges up. It wasn't a kindness that allowed her to keep these memories.

She swallows and slows to a stop, watching Emma and what looks to be the most disgruntled person ever. Her arms stay crossed tightly over her chest, a physical barrier between her and the rest of the word, her fingers digging in so tightly that her pale skin will have bruises. The only thing that keeps her from turning and bolting is the fact that she can't.

No one protected her.

She can't let someone else feel that. Because it's not just the loss of control that makes her sick, its the irrational shame that comes from it.

Taking a deep breath, she stands her ground, expression hard as a defense mechanism, waiting for Emma to call her over.]

[eldritchweaver]

[ hasmed looks coolly between them: emma in front of him, and lila at a distance. ] What manner of spell?

[uncurse]

A love spell.

[eldritchweaver]

[ his expression registers a great deal of contempt suddenly, a sort of cynical "of course it is" in his eyes. ] Do you have any indicator of how powerful it might be?

[uncurse]

Powerful enough to turn a Magi into a swooning fangirl. [ the description itself proves she has ... no idea how to actually convey the power levels of magic because she has no idea about magic yay she's so qualified for this. ]

[eldritchweaver]

The Magi... [ WELL NOW HE'S INTERESTED ] Wynn had mentioned she was here, but been hesitant to discuss the circumstances until we met face to face. [ and i guess hasmed's just been missioning it up 24/7 b/c i said so ] How was she afflicted?

[uncurse]

[ emma will just keep talking over lila since she has ... no way of having the answer to that oops. SORRY EMMA. ]

Not sure. There was this staff, and David grabbed it, and she just ... got this look in her eyes when she saw him. I don't know if it was the staff, or something else, but I know it was sudden enough and strong enough that it kept us all from dying.

[eldritchweaver]

David? [ know who hasmed doesn't keep track of? SQUIRES. ]

[uncurse]

Charming. He's - [ my dad? that doesn't help. ] He's a squire. But, he didn't cast it, he doesn't even have magic. [ she ... thinks ... ] It just ... happened.

[bittersweeter]

Who even cares about your dad right now? [She pauses for a second as she strides over because this is all taking too long and she doesn't have the energy to care about Emma's dad at the moment or even to be cordial.] No offence, but I don't think he is the big deal. The woman stuck under a curse? Probably more important, yes?

[eldritchweaver]

[ hasmed looks thoroughly unimpressed by lila's insinuations. so much so that he keeps speaking directly to emma, even as he responds to lila's words. ] It's important that we understand who she's dealing with - and how they're doing so. If she's cursed, her reaction is easy enough to extrapolate.

[ moving on. ] It just... happened. [ he raises both brows, obviously finding her explanation to be a shoddy one as well ]

[uncurse]

Yeah! Like one minute she was trying to kill us and keep us from leaving without offering Zatanna up as some new battery, and the next she's moon eyes over my dad and trying to help us out! What do you want, a watercolor? If you want more, talk to them - separately, if it's all the same. The last thing we need is this getting worse.