storm season [OPEN]

[adamantlyardent]

WHO: Cecelia, various
WHERE: De Chima, Heropa, ???
WHEN: September
WHAT: September catch-all shenanigans
WARNINGS: Marked in tag subjects if needed


o1: De Chima, small business block, Houdini's Magic Supplies, etc.
[while other teens are skulking back to school, Cecelia keeps a routine of maintaining a shop full of wares she hates, serving regulars she barely tolerates, and altogether makes a great, pleasant use of her time!

maybe she oughtn't complain too much: it is a pretty niche store, so it's mostly empty for vast chunks of time. she can get a lot of reading done, and, since she's the only employee, she can control the audio. enjoy the weirdly out-of-place tracks of forest ambiance upon entry, and do try not to set off the trick hats spring-loaded with playing cards.

at break times she visits a tea shop down the block, picking a patio seat and quietly judging all within view, scratching down her idle thoughts in a leather-bound journal. if you can read elvish, good on you! otherwise, it's just fancy nonsense with too many curls and dots.

beyond that, this is a busy street! hijinks can happen on the regular: rotten drivers, rotten pedestrians, teen hooligans and vandals...it's not as dangerous as Maurtia Falls, but high heat brings about hot tempers!]


o2: Heropa, botanical gardens
[peak flowering season is fading, which means the volume of tourists in this particular venue has greatly died down. finally, Cecelia can peruse this place in some fashion of peace! she'd been itching to since she'd heard about it back in...May? was it May? how long ago is May, again?

whatever.

point is, she may not see all the fanciest of blooms, but hardier summer and tropical flora is in abundance and quite lovely as-is. it sure does suck that so little of it can evoke feelings of the refined and lush forests and gardens of her elven home, but she's gotta take these opportunities to enjoy greenery where she can: this world seems so damned opposed to the stuff.

what a nice place to just sit and reflect in! it vaguely reminds her of some dreams she's had -- encountering fanciful and handsome strangers, footsteps masked by the bubbling of a fountain...]



o3: Heropa, beachside, thunderstorm warnings
[living in Florida in the summer means getting showers or thunderstorms almost daily, and it's an actual nightmare for Cecelia's hair. eventually, though, one has to just suck it up and endure it, you know? this can't go on forever. right???

in any case, it would figure most any opportunity she sees to wander the beach without an eyeful of tourists is inevitably broken up by storms. no wonder this place is all but empty, save for some reckless surfers and herself. Cecelia watches lighting flickering off on the horizon beyond the city as the sky darkens, feeling a prickling under her skin.

most of the time, it's a harried hustle to the bus stop to avoid the downpour: sometimes she wins, but sometimes she'll plop down looking like a miserable, half-drowned (but very smartly dressed) rat.

other times, she will linger, even as winds kick up and nearly yank her shawl and hat free of her (sometimes that happens, too; a little help, maybe?), eyes fixed on surging clouds.]


o4: Heropa #2/gov't housing neighborhood
[if you live in these assigned houses, you'll notice one of the buildings has an incredibly out-of-place balcony on the second floor that is hilariously too ornate to belong to the building it's affixed to. kind of an eyesore to be part of Cecelia's secluded space!! but whatever. she could be glimpsed time to time, sitting on a swinging chair with a book or journal in her lap, mostly in the very, very early morning hours, because half-elves don't really do the whole 8-hours thing humans do...

as for housemates, Cecelia sightings can happen at similar times, or...very, very late. watching taped soap operas or movie specials. with a box of tissues. and some trail mix. as you do.]


o5: wildcard
Come up w/ur own prompt or hmu to plan @whyellewhy

Comments

for riptide

[adamantlyardent]

You're sure this place isn't already haunted by the souls of lingering, tortured spirits?

[because this is near that hell city. maybe not that near, but near enough for her to be suspicious and judgy! she can't retract her good-will offer to come visit and help make it homey, but......if she'd known it was in this region? she'd have brought some holy talismans or something.

and a fan.

gods, it's hot. not humid, just hot.]

[knaval]

Positive! Like, 46% positive. I'll punch a ghost, anyway. I want this!

[riptide isn't entirely comfortable with it, either, but it worked for knock out.

he glances over at her, one of his optical ridges raised.] You look uncomfortable.

[stupid giant metal man and his feeling nothing about humidity. primus, but he was soaked when he was in his human form for a few brief moments. ugh.]

[adamantlyardent]

[a bit snippy:] It's fine. The inside will be air conditioned, yes? I can endure until then.

01

[helpdesk_hero]

[SURE it isn't necessary to come back to the shop. But David feels like certain apologies should be reinforced in person. Which is what brings him back to the magic shop, a while after their last disastrous conversation. One that he's certain is entirely his fault.

At least he's bearing an apology in the form of a small box filled with his latest attempt at candied peach and plum slices.]

Cecelia? You in today?

[adamantlyardent]

[from the far end of the store, Cecelia's ears twitch. twice, actually: once for the chime of the door opening, and again at the sound of David's increasingly-familiar voice.]

David...?

[it's an incredulous tone as she peeks partway behind an aisle before abandoning the inventory she was doing, hastening to the front. it's, it's utterly baffling for him to set foot in here again: this store has nothing of value for his interests!

wait, did he. is he...here just to see her?

please.]

What on earth are you doing here?

[helpdesk_hero]

[Well he does smile when he sees her. Good, he wasn't crazy to come here. And he holds out the box once she's close.]

I needed to apologize more for the other day. I brought you a treat. I probably should have checked if you have allergies.

1

[devilishly_handsome]

[Anton cannot read elvish. However, he knows that pretty swirls are pretty when he sees them, and he happens to spot them when he's out getting tea.]

Oh, wow! You have really nice handwriting!

[adamantlyardent]

[absorbed in an effort to connect a rhyme with the right cadence, Cecelia didn't regard the large, looming presence. not until it spoke up, that is.]

Eep-!

[she startles, lurching forward, hugging the book to herself, which sends her pen flying into the air.]

[devilishly_handsome]

Oh! Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you!

[He puts his hands up in what's meant to be a calming gesture, tail swishing behind him as he waits to see if she settles down.]

1

[iminthebook]

One stage magician, wizard, detective and teacher was definitely visiting the store and was perusing the shelves. He was looking into finding new gimmicks, magic tricks, and things he could use both in the classroom and in the field.

He smiled as he rounded a shelf, a small basket slowly filling, as he headed, finally, toward her and the counter.

"Interesting store."

He was tall at more than half a head over 6 feet, and lean, and he looked somewhat ruffled, and with a smile on his face that belonged there. Even if it was a tired one.

[adamantlyardent]

Aside from initially glancing toward the door when his entrance sounded the little bell above it, Cecelia paid little heed to the tall, scruffy man who was now perusing the shop. Firstly, he wasn't a regular, which meant she was less likely to have to engage in awkward conversation and once again decline obnoxious requests to join some dumb fantasy tabletop game or have to pretend she agrees with their conviction about the noble art of hand illusions or whatever.

Secondly...this book. She can't just drop it mid-paragraph to do, like, customer service things? So he's on his own until her ears pick up his approach and prompt her to mark her page and slip the book out of sight under the register with a somewhat pained sigh. Ugh, the pains of having to work and interact. Just the worst.

"Oh, is it?" she dryly remarks, not really minding her manners in that beat before she checks herself. She clears her throat. "That is...did you...find everything you need?"

03 !! i couldnt remember if this was supposed to be a fight or an accident

[crypdick]

[ The Outsider goes everywhere and anywhere. Once he could have watched everything, but now if he wants to know what's going on he has to seek it out. Follow rumours, go places. Often he simply wanders without purpose, hopping between the cities and hoping for a happy accident.

Like this one.

He never promised Cecelia that he'd leave her alone; simply that he would not pull her into the Void. So he blinks until he's behind her, watching her watch the clouds. ]

it's a Surprise is what it is

[adamantlyardent]

[the Outsider's gnarly, spooky presence ought to be a priority to detect! however, Cecelia's rather infatuated with the storm ahead of her. after watching another bolt flash between the clouds, she pulls her wand out of her skirt's pocket, anxiously drumming it against her hand as she wrestles with the notion of casting.

it's fine if it's the sky, right? it's not like she's going around threatening teens again or anything! and besides, it's been...a while. maybe she can't even cast magic that strong anymore. she can't know unless she does...so...

after that fussing, Cecelia lifts her wand up, thinking on the spell she's used so many times...so long ago. the one she helped fell dragons with, roast mercenaries, slay demons...a lifetime ago, it seems. but just a world away. it doesn't even matter here at all, and yet...


the wand and hand connected to it illuminate, and the tip-top begins to crackle and spark like some holiday sparkler. she tilts back and then trusts the wand skyward, and from it, a blinding and blazing bolt of white-hot lightning bursts forth and races into the sky, crackling and zigzagging through the clouds above, causing a smattering of other flashes in the distance...and, belatedly, a terrible sequence of rumbles.

it's excellent, though -- exhilarating to behold!]

for finn

[adamantlyardent]

"So, like, he looked like some kind of scruffy...I dunno, weird TV dad-person? Just less fat. More beard, less fat."

Cecelia pauses in her description to take a sip of her tea, her toes tapping the bottom of her cafe chair lightly while casting a glance past Finn toward some of the other patrons...y'know, just in case the guy she's talking about happened to be there.

She'd not asked Finn to join her on lunch break, but here he is! So she naturally didn't go out of her way to refuse him, either. Such is her fickle way. At least now she can gossip about the weird old wizard guy who darkened her store doorfront and get some outsider opinions.

"But, like, anyway, he was all...oh, you don't like your job? Have you tried something else?" She rolls her eyes. "And all, like, what subjects do you take in school? Because I obviously look like the only place I belong is in one of those hell-buildings, right? Gawds."

Being so invested in recounting this story is what is keeping her sharp half-elf ears from picking up distant distress from outside and far down the block. Goopy, incoming distress.

[hatejakku]

Finn hadn't really planned for this adventure. He simply saw Cecelia while he was about to grab lunch and asked if she wanted someone to tag along. Caught up in the middle of this story, he can't help but wonder if he should be regretting that decision.

He doesn't, though. He's weirdly into this.

"And he was a total stranger? That's none of his business." Look at him, completely ignoring the fact that he kinda did the same thing around the second time they met up.

Regardless, his eyes trail over Cecelia's shoulder to see... people running from a few blocks away, heading on to their street. That's weird.

for fuu

[adamantlyardent]

This really isn't the best time to be heading out there. You know that, right?

[this might be the second or third time Cecelia brings this up on their walk to the Porter. even though she says that, she's the one all dressed up and heading off to work anyway.

she scowls at some gawkers passing by in the opposite direction before lowering her voice.]

Weirdos aside, the news said there were still nasty monsters popping up here and there? Like, what is even the point of the hero-people who say they're on top of it anyway?

[monster_san]

Yes, but if we waited for a good time, we'd never go anywhere. [She gives Cece a smile, for the second or third time, and continues in the same conversational tone.] Especially with the monsters, and these incursions into reality.

And I am in the Justice League, so if you look at it that way, I really ought to be here, too.

for darin

[adamantlyardent]

Uh. Darin?

[she leans over the banister on the second floor, peering at the weather report going on the TV downstairs, before hastening to catch up with him, nearly kicking one of the pots on the floor set down to catch the dripping.]

Hey. So. Maybe...we postpone this little fix-it thing? I think they said severe? Storm?

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[Darin, unsurprisingly, is currently outside climbing up onto the roof, even as the sound of thunder rumbles in the distance. It's early afternoon and it is dark. The skies themselves might open up at any second. And that's pretty much the reason why he's up here. Stupid government housing can't even afford to maintain the roof! Luckily, he'd found the several sources of the leaks and bought what he'd need to re-shingle the roof afterwards.]

If we postpone it, it'll just get worse! Besides, how often is the news right about anything?

2.

[fursleuth]

[This is not the handsome stranger you're looking for.

Pikachu's just looking to have a nice afternoon in a nice- ahaha no, that's not what he's doing at all. He's on a mission. His mission is to find a missing wallet that some guy dropped in here and as he's still trying to build up his credibility as a detective, he's taken the case.

It's an insult to his skills, but it's paying and he's pretty sure that being low to the ground is going to help. As such, among the beautiful greenery moving along with his nose and eyes to the ground is an adorable furry creature, poking around plants and lifting things up. To a normal person, he could just be a friendly animal looking to add to this idyllic Disney princess image. Probably looking for something to eat. He hasn't seemed to notice her yet, but that's due to both his determination and the fact that he's rustling at the plants two feet from her and kind of fucking up the moment and he'd feel bad about that if he realized someone was enjoying the moment.

Probably.]

[adamantlyardent]

[some of the rustling is in time with the scratching of her pen on paper, peppering out some nice thoughts for a poem later; new flower names'll do that. but what to rhyme begonia with...?

she only wonders for a moment before her ear does twitch at the overly ambitious rustling... that's far more rustling than any plant ought to get up to, as far as she's concerned. she frowns, leaning over and peering around and--]

YAHHH! OH! EW?!

[she squeals, tossing her pen and journal off her lap as she leaps up on the bench, her hair practically standing on end.

a rat!? a snake?! bad animal alert!]

Omigods, what!?

botanical gardens

[lesterzeppelin]

[ One of the 'perks' of teaching music for so long, if Apollo could call it that, was constant invitations to events around town. The first year, he'd declined most of them - but at this point, he didn't see the harm in dropping by and making an appearance. The gardens were holding some event for... Greek-Americans? Italian-Americans? He's kind of lost track.

The event doesn't matter, at the end; after all, it went without a hitch, and now he has extra time to kill before he heads home for the day. Might as well see the gardens while he can.

Apollo doesn't purposefully seek out greenery, he has to admit, but plants have been warm and soothing. They remind him of Meg, strong, powerful, and resilient. They take root in different climates and they thrive, even in the humidity and heat of Florida.

He walks along the garden path kind of aimlessly, stopping upon a water fountain and - wait. Is that... ]

Cecelia? [ It has to be, right? Apollo waves, approaching her, ] Hey! It's been a while.

[adamantlyardent]

[writing about chance encounters with handsome strangers is one thing -- living such an event is very much a different thing entirely. Cecelia's ear twitches at the sound of her name, and she stops her pen, looking around with a confused blink before fixing on Lester.

and gaping a bit, paling some as he approaches.

omigods?

he's accented by day lilies and ferns.]

O-oh... [sorry, was she paling? now it's flushing. lots of face activity in this one today.

hastily, she closes her book on her pen, gathering it up to herself so she can stand up just as fast, nevermind the headrush.]

Le-Lester. Hello. Greetings. [she blinks a few times. nope! he's still there! wow.] It's been what? Oh--has it? Gods, I...I suppose it has. Sorry. How...how fare--how are you?

2 you knew this was coming

[mycrosstobear]

[If you, maybe, want to learn a little more about plants, visiting a place where there are a lot of them isn't a bad idea. And besides, it's quiet here. Wolfwood doesn't mind the city, overall, but it's a lot more city than anything back home. When you have heightened senses, it can get overwhelming sometimes. Here, there's almost nothing but the plants and the decorative water fixtures.

He wanders along, reading the plaques explaining what each plant is, before turning a corner and finding that there is at least one other person here.

How does he run into her everywhere?] Oh.

[That's not much of a greeting.] Hey.

[Better?]

YES and im joyful for it

[adamantlyardent]

Uh-?

[who, her? Cecelia's head lifts up, ears twitching, and her head snaps in his direction, fixing wide, unblinking eyes his way. it takes but a moment to recognize him, but even that much doesn't keep her from looking puzzled.]

Oh? Hello, um. [she starts to squint. why...is he here? this doesn't seem to be a place he'd be keen on--

wait.]

...Are you here to, ah. Get in touch with your magic?