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]

Good. So, do you want to give that another try, or do you want to start with the basics of ... magic. [ she gesticulates to the gun and then down-range when she says 'that,' and then shifts uncomfortably at the mention of magic. ]

[reallywicked]

[The idea of making Emma uncomfortable is extremely tempting, but Faye also doesn't really know this woman well enough to trust if her end of the bargain will be held up if they jump right to magic. Or maybe she just wants to make Emma work for it.]

I came down here for a reason, didn't I? We can work on the rest later.

[She turns and picks up the gun again.] Show me again. [It's not a question, but it doesn't have the bite of a demand. It's about as humble as Faye can be to say that she still doesn't get how she's supposed to properly hold this thing.]

[uncurse]

[ emma nods, all too happy not to be the one struggling through the baby steps, and she too holds up her gun to indicate and continue instructing. ]

Keep your feet shoulder width apart, and keep the gun level with your shoulders when you hold it. Elbows loose, you don't want the recoil to hit you too hard.

[reallywicked]

[She's paying attention this time, more than before at least. The instructions seem to make more sense and she mimics Emma's stance and holds the gun steady and almost looks like she knows what she's doing (int 19 for comprehension! hooray!). She turns her head to look at Emma expectantly, but doesn't say anything. She only arches an eyebrow as to say 'what now?']

[uncurse]

Take a deep breath, and pull the trigger after you exhale. It'll steady your grip. Don't look at the gun, look at the target, your hands will figure out how to aim.

[reallywicked]

[She turns towards the target and adjusts her stance. She really wants to prove something to herself with this, but as she exhales, she hiccups just as she squeezes the trigger, and her hand jumps up. The shot goes wild, putting a hole in the ceiling (attack crit fail).

She clenches her jaw and doesn't even give Emma the chance to make a comment on it, but instead closes her eyes and takes a breath before opening them and firing off three more shots, each one better than the last (attacks: 11, 12, 21).

Satisfied, she puts the gun down and glances to Emma out of the corner of her eye before looking down at the target.]

Have you ever killed someone?

[uncurse]

Are you planning to?

[ she turns the question back around on faye, concerned by the line of questioning. she hits the button on the side of the range to bring the target up towards them on its railing. it starts to swing up the range toward them. in a way, she has. maleficent wasn't just some dragon, and knowing as much hadn't stopped her from doing what she needed to in order to save her son. but it's not as though she goes out with her gun with that in mind. could she? sure. if the situation called for it. but she doesn't think it's some rite of passage, and she sure as hell doesn't think it's the first question a 17-year-old should be asking. ]

[reallywicked]

If it comes down to me or them? Do you really need to ask that question? [There's a coldness in her gaze that probably doesn't seem right for someone her age. There was always something darker in Faye, something morally askew.]

I find it hard to believe that you go out of your way to fire non-lethal shots. [A pause.] You still haven't answered the question.

[uncurse]

Seeing how that wasn't part of the deal, I don't plan to. [ she'll just let faye wonder, because the fact of the matter is that it's not important, so she'll go on to provide some of that wisdom instead. ] And no, you shouldn't shoot to kill. [ she pulls the target paper off the clips and holds it up, showing the holes that faye has left - one in the dead center of the target's heart, the other clustered nearby where his hypothetical kidneys might be. ]

The people you're going to be firing at aren't pieces of paper. They're real. They have lives, and they have families, and nine times out of ten, they're just doing what they need to do, or following orders. We train in here to be accurate. And yeah, if they're not going to let you out of there until one of you is dead, you train to make this shot. [ she points at the hole through the paper man's chest. ] If you have to. But that's not your first move, it should never be your first move.

[reallywicked]

The "people" I was up against last time were flesh eating zombie children. If you aren't going to show me something worthwhile, I don't really see why I should hold up my end of the deal.

[She places the gun on the table and folds her arms over her chest. Stubborn teenager mode: engage]

[uncurse]

Those aren't a "someone", Faye. [ she's just saying. ] What I'm showing you is worthwhile, but you don't get to pick and choose what I teach you, that's part of having something to learn. So, yeah, knowing how to shoot comes with the lecture on when and where to. [ her tone is calm and she's obviously not concerned about faye actually going back on their deal (diplomacy 25). ]

[reallywicked]

Guess I should have read the fine print. [She mutters with a fake sweet smile. Just because she's convinced to continue doesn't mean she's going to be happy about it.]

Fine. Responsibility is key. Message received. Can we move on now?

[uncurse]

Can you ask with a little less attitude?

[ she's just saying, ok. that's not how you get what you want from people, faye. but emma's also pulling out a fresh target sheet, getting it ready. ]

[reallywicked]

[Faye weighs her options. She doesn't like playing nice. She doesn't do it well, but this could get her a totally different sort of upper hand. No matter what lessons she learned from Emma, the choices she made were still hers. Cowing to another wasn't in her nature but she could bite her tongue, if nothing else.

While Emma readies the sheet, Faye takes her weapon and adjust her grip just as Emma had shown her. She's clearly waiting for Emma's signal...silently.]

[uncurse]

[ emma hits the button to send the sheet back down range, then looks at faye. as the paper reaches the end of the firing range, emma raises an eyebrow. ]

Elbows.

[ her remark is a brief reminder, and emma then pulls her earmuffs back on to block out the sound of the gun - an indicator for faye to start shooting. ]

[reallywicked]

[As she sets up her shot, Faye rolls her eyes at the suggestion, but... casually shakes her arms a little looser. Not because Emma told her to. She just felt like it :|

The first shot is decent (attack 15) but she gets too confident and fires off two more that don't even hit the paper. (attacks 7, 5). She steps back and looks almost like she's going to give up, but at the last second, she raises the gun and looks like it was born in her hand. A quick breath in, an exhale, and she squeezes the trigger- exactly like Emma said. Her eyes are trained on the paper. Exactly like Emma said. Maybe she knew what she was talking about after all. Damnit. (attack nat 20).]

[uncurse]

Now you're getting it.

[ it's hard for emma not to look a little smug at the fact that faye did well once she ... got over being a stubborn ass. and also emma is admiring her hard work aka ... faye's improvement which she is giving herself some credit for. LET IT HAPPEN, OK, EMMA RARELY GIVES HERSELF CREDIT. ]

[reallywicked]

[Faye isn't sure if she wants the smug look in her face to be so obvious. She's also not sure why she gives a shit about Emma's thinly veiled approval.

God damn it, Swan.

She puts the gun down, but this time doesn't have all that attitude behind the motion.]

So why do you want to know about magic?

[uncurse]

It'll make me a hit at parties.

[ her response is dry and uninformative because she likes it that way and she doesn't particularly feel the need to spill secrets of how vulnerable and unhelpful she felt in bermuda. ]

[reallywicked]

[Well... here comes back the sass. Faye folds her arms over her chest.]

Let's get one thing straight... You want my help, that means you play by my rules. This place is full of people with magic, but you're not talking to them. You know what that tells me? Either you can't or you won't, which makes me your only option. (wis 15)

Magic is built on intent. [She's figured that much out at least.] If I don't know why you want it, I can't do anything with you.

[uncurse]

I'm talking to you because Gold told me to. Said you could catch me up. If you're gonna make this difficult, I can think of a dozen other actual knights I could ask. [ hasmed, after all, had taught gold; he could teach her. ] All I want to know is what he's already taught you.

[reallywicked]

[Sorry, all she heard is that Gold said Emma should go talk to Faye, which means Faye must be doing pretty well. Internal self-five.]

This is what he taught me. Intent. Drive. You need it- or if you have it, I need to know what it is to know how to get you to use it. [Actually, he taught her how to reign in her anger and focus it. It's a twist on that. Also Faye just wants to know because you aren't telling her (bluff 22).]

[uncurse]

[ youtried.jpg. sense motive 25 means emma is giving her an unimpressed kind of doubting look. ]

No, you don't. See, I might not know how to magic, but there is one skill I have been honing for a lot longer than you've been learning how to beat it. I know how to spot a liar, and there is no magical reason that you have to know what my reasons are.

[reallywicked]

[Nothing irks the teenager more than when she gets called on her bullshit. She glares at the older woman for a solid thirty seconds before huffing and rolling her eyes.]

Fine. Keep it to yourself. Here. [She reaches in her back pocket and finds a receipt from some earlier purchase. It's half crumpled but she balls it up further and drops it on the cement floor between them.]

Whatever it is, it is important. You have to use it. [She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes briefly. A spot of... eh let's say 15 of more will catch that the red star ruby on her necklace glints... or maybe almost glows as she pulls at her well of power. Faye uses anger to fuel her magic (and exactly no one was surprised). She takes her frustrations from the immediate situation and glances down at the crumbled paper.]

Before, I could only create the flame, make it appear from the paper with no match or external source of heat. That's what I want you to do. That's what he asked me to do. And once you can do that, it will grow and then... Searing fire, I call thy name. Set the enemy aflame.[She turns and holds out a hand off to one side, away from Emma and towards one of the empty target stalls. From her fingertips, a stream of fire shoots out a good fifteen feet. The words are corny- and even she recognizes it. But they've been coming to her, literally leaping her mind at the exact right moment since she arrived here. She's not going to question it. (spell used: burning hands)]

[uncurse]

[ there's a look of disgruntled argument mounting in her, but she bats it back. at the end of the day, this is for her own good. next time, she'll be able to protect her family and resist magical mind control. maybe even break it for the others who get stuck under it. she won't wind up shooting her father, she won't be at a loss for what to do on a mission. she'll have it together. she'll be able to do something.

gathering up all of these disparaging feelings towards herself, she focuses on that helpless feeling she'd had in bermuda. on how she doesn't want to be helpless again. on her instinct and need to protect her family now that she's found at least part of it.

her eyes close, and at her feet, a warm torch-like light begins to glow, encompassing the paper. she doesn't seem to notice it's worked, because she continues to concentrate and another glowing light appears behind her to the left before her eyes open (spell: dancing lights, concentration: 14). it's not a flame - not a true flame, anyway, because it's not burning the paper up, and as emma's eyes open, it moves and lifts higher into the air. ]