you caught the light, you carried mine.

[nightmarist]

WHO: Residents of the Meadows & OPEN to visitors
WHERE: The Meadows outside De Chima
WHEN: Throughout August
WHAT: Day-to-day encounters at the magical farm commune.
WARNINGS: Look to the subject headers.
NOTES: This is a mingle/catch-all log. Start your own threads! Tag around!

The Meadows, being a place largely created from magic, has a subtle strangeness to it. From the outside, it could be taken for any old Appalachian farm: scattered barns and stables, a lakeside castle, a roomy wooden farmhouse, a 19th century stone chapel that some hoodlum graffitied. There's evidence that the farm is home to unsupervised teenagers, too, in the donut tracks that mar the grass and the remains of regular bonfires. As long as the monsters are out of sight, everything seems ordinary.

Once inside the farmhouse, however, the odd discrepancies become more apparent. The layout of the rooms doesn't quite match how the house appeared from the outside. There are windows where windows shouldn't be, stairways like vertical mazes to secluded rooms, and views from rooms that look into other worlds entirely. Half of the appliances work without any source of electricity, fresh coffee's always waiting in the pot without anyone having to brew it, and the refrigerator never seems to run out of leftover pizza. Things are simply wrong about the place, for all the cozy warmth of its design.

Comments

[made_up_names]

[ He looks back down at the weapon. Then over to Kylo. ]

With this?

[photophobic]

[Kylo's lips stretch into a slow smirk.]

It is the only thing in here that can resist the blade of a lightsaber.

[made_up_names]

Well - yeah but - you really want to spar? With me?

[photophobic]

Don't worry. I'll go easy on you.

[made_up_names]

That's. That's good. I'm not very good with weapons.

[ He's not sure he's ever wielded one? He looks very awkward wielding it now. ]

[photophobic]

Then you'll have to get good. If you want a lightsaber.

[He reignites his own, twisting it lazily in his grip. Smooth, idle flourishes.]

Use it as an extension of your arm. Swing it at me.

[made_up_names]

[ Well now that Kylo Ren has told him to get good, he has no choice. He needs to embrace his destiny.

Clumsily, he shifts his grip. And tries swinging it? He's not skilled, of course, but the instant he swings it's clear he has strength and finesse, at least. And he instinctively shifts to direct it better. ]

[photophobic]

Strength, then. [he comments, not quite having to even move out of the way of that cursory swing— he's a few inches out of range. But he does sound... if not quite impressed, then definitely not the opposite, at least.]

Your abilities. Enhanced strength. Agility. Dexterity. Awareness of your surroundings...

Again. Use its weight. Carry the momentum through.

[made_up_names]

[ He'll take it, okay. Anything is better than being scorned by Kylo Ren.

He just nods, gripping the weapon a little harder. Use his abilities, right. Is that Kylo's version of trust your feelings? It could be.

The second swing is much better than the first. A clean arc, only coming up short and awkward at the end. Peter will never be great at weapons, but he has some gifts at his disposal. ]

[photophobic]

[Better. And the curve of Kylo's lips as he watches says so, too.]

There. You have the beginnings of it. Do you feel it? Your balance is improving.

[He takes a measured step forwards, lightsaber flashing in a fluid twist. Time to give Peter something to hit.]

Now. Again. Be prepared for the blow to meet... resistance.

[You know. Of the Kylo Ren's lightsaber variety.]

[made_up_names]

[ Ohhhh god this is awesome and nerve-wracking. He's fighting Kylo Ren and hitting his lightsaber with his own weapon? The more he thinks about it the worse he is at this, but his instincts keep him from being ridiculously bad. Just - trying to wipe at Kylo's blade with all his strength. ]

[photophobic]

[Kylo, of course, draws his lightsaber up smoothly to meet the force of Peter's swing— and if he purposefully absorbs some of the shock of the impact himself rather than risk Peter losing control of his weapon, he says nothing about it. He looks... amused, really, as he pushes back into the crackling convergence.]

You're thinking. Don't.

[made_up_names]

S-sorry. It's - it's really hard not to think.

[ About this, about everything. Including the way his senses light up just looking at Kylo's blade; they make his vibrant red into some unearthly, inhuman color in Peter's vision. ]

[photophobic]

[Kylo considers... then pushes into the resistance of Peter's blade, using the reflected momentum to whirl back. He paces.

How best to phrase the lesson?]

Experience it. The moment you are in. Don't analyse it yet. When you do, you're focused on yourself. Not your environment. Do you see?

[made_up_names]

[ Peter adjusts his grip on his own weapon, trying not to let it slip. He might be overthinking this a lot. ]

I - um - I should let go? And use the Force? Metaphorically.

[photophobic]

Do you know what that means? [He asks, genuinely curious. It's always interesting, hearing other... theories.] To use the Force.

[made_up_names]

You ... relax? Let it kinda flow through you?

[photophobic]

[Kylo's lip quirks.]

Do I look relaxed, to you. When I am using the Force.

[For that matter, when is he not using the Force?]

[made_up_names]

... No. Not at all.

[photophobic]

Mmm. [Point satisfactorily made, he thinks.]

It's extension. Expansion. Making use of my awareness of the Force to perceive and act beyond the limits of my physical body. Beyond its perspective. Using the Force isn't about surrendering control. I am imposing control.

[made_up_names]

On - on the Force.

[ He's not sure that he can do that? He's pretty sure he can't. But maybe if he relaxes into reacting...? his senses might take over. ]

[photophobic]

[Kylo's lips tug in amusement again.]

Through the Force. But we're not arguing semantics now, are we?

[He reminds Peter with a smooth, weaving flourish of his lightsaber for emphasis.]

Reach outwards. Push your focus beyond yourself. Stop watching what you're doing, and do it.

[made_up_names]

[ Huh. That's ... not actually a bad way of thinking of it? He'd been picturing Jedi lightsaber battles, but really he should have been thinking back to Mysterio's illusions. How he'd seen through them without seeing them at all, but rather sensing his surroundings. That hallway in London, sketched out in sparks of perception just barely bright enough to see by.

And on Kylo's end, well. Peter isn't Force sensitive and he never will be. But - his senses do something palpable in the Force, however weak the effect may be. He takes in a deep breath, closing his eyes. Letting his spider senses see for him instead of his eyes. ]