aterat | Loud seal is loud

Entry tags:

Loud seal is loud

Who; Caelan and you!
What; Open log
Where; Assorted Locations! (Red Building Common Space, Red Building his Apartment, Market, Gullwings Office, and the Harbour/Shore)
When; Throughout August, vaguely specified on each prompt.
Warnings; No, but I will edit if anything comes up!

Common Space - Early August

The common space was generally one that Caelan frequented since his arrival, a social creature by nature and necessity to keep himself occupied 90% of the time. He saw it as a good opportunity to get to know his neighbours without actively having to seek them out, to watch them moving in and out of the building and go about their days.

Today found the selkie draped comfortably over one of the chairs, a new violin settled comfortably in his hands as he worked at tuning the new instrument to his liking. Occasionally he’d draw the bow across the stings, testing them out before he resumed what he was doing with the odd thoughtful hum, pleased or disappointed depending on the results.

Still, his mood is clearly good today. Caelan is often smiling, often pleasant company and quick to laugh; but today there’s something about it that it feels far more genuine than it has been. He’d been a few weeks without both an instrument or his usual sense of purpose, but things were decidedly starting to look up what with the morning’s surprise left outside his door.

Market - All through the month!

There was one more musician that could be heard in the market these days. Dressed up, all shiny in his usual accessories and finery, hair pulled back into glittering pins.

Caelan had take to joining in the street performers when they didn’t mind his presence, or setting himself up on an empty corner or near the fountain square when the mood struck. The life and the surrounding energy tended to inspire, and people seemed to like the songs he brought with him from home. Some were familiar enough to those who knew the classical world well, while others had a certain life and rough edge that was more the music of the common folk.

If you were lucky, polite, or simply caught his interest, he would even be inspired take requests. “What’ll it be? Ye look to be in the mood for a particular sound, or are ye just going to stand there gawking?” He spoke up with a grin, cheeks lifted in utter delight and relaxed amusement.

Gullwings Office - Early to Mid!

Caelan still wasn’t entirely sure how this had happened (beyond the obvious, of course). This wasn’t his usual gig, nor was it his usual crowd.

Here he was though, meandering around the Gullwings office like he belonged there. Checking out the furnishings (he had to hand it to Yuna, the place was nice), stopping to chat with whoever happened to be there that day, looking at his desk and wondering what on earth he was going to do with it.

That last thing wasn’t entirely difficult, he’d already shoved some blank sheet music in a drawer to amuse himself on slow days when he didn’t have anything to do. There was also the matter of copying and detailing the maps and blueprints that the directory had given him so Yuna could store the originals away for safe keeping.

He was hoping to at least be able to add to them, to include some rough outlines of the sewers paths between their access points as he and Yuna made a trip down to explore them.

Until then, he was quite available to get to know the group a little better. Getting a feel for personalities, trying to glimpse how they operated, and looking for anything to suggest he might not be able to trust someone.

Harbour/Shoreline - For Holly. Let the Spider-Man meme commence! - Anytime in August, probably late evening after all the respectable people have gone home for the day.

There was a lot about the harbour district that disturbed Caelan for obvious reasons, but he had also found there were quite a few things about it to appreciate.

Once the sun had been down for a few hours the amount of people travelling the docks lessened considerably, which meant a little more privacy for him to do one of the things (aside from his music or thieving) that he did best. Fishing. It was going to save him quite a bit of money, unless he felt like eating something at a restaurant in the company of others.

These waters appeared to be very well stocked with fish, so as long as he didn’t go so far as to be near the reefs where some particularly large and nasty creatures dwelt, he could fish to his content. Feed up, and perhaps even bring some fish home for those who had endeared themselves enough to him to bring back a decent sized catch of fish or crustaceans depending on their tastes.

Tonight was no exception, his clothes folded neatly behind some rocks as he donned his more natural attire to enjoy that other half of his soul. So, as the moon rose higher in the sky, there was a form swimming around in the waters. Diving here, coming up there, a soft song carried over the breeze occasionally, and sometimes a splash could be heard as the being caught something in its grasp.

It’s 3AM, oops. - ... Probably all through the month unless someone does something about it. Sorry Red Building.

Caelan had a very irregular sleep schedule, he stayed up late and slept in just as late. Should he get that shifted now that he was in another world and joining a group for exploring and helping out around the city?

Yes, yes he should.

Would he actually do that?

Probably not.

So the selkie tended to keep very odd hours. Thus far that hadn’t really been obvious aside from the later hour that he left his dorm room during the day (Around 11:30 every day like clockwork). Once Caelan had an instrument, that might have been a different story depending on the person and their ability to ignore noise at strange hours.

Sometime around three in the morning, the red building would be treated to the sounds of a violin being played. The piece was strange in tone, energy fluctuating at random, it was honestly the kind of song one might have been warned off of following if it was heard near the caves of their local beach or along the river beds of the forests they lived near. Fae music, intended to be played by theirs ands alone and rarely heard by humans.

Caelan was feeling homesick, whether he’d admit it to anyone or not. On nights where he felt just a touch too disconnected from his life, he could be found playing the music his best friend had taught him or working on his own compositions. Sheet music spread across the table, and a bottle of whiskey sitting open next to that.

If you’re curious enough, or annoyed enough, knock at his door. He’d be happy to have the company, and he’d be happy to share the alcohol.

Wildcard/Other
Is there something I forgot? Did you have something specific in mind? Throw it at me! I’d be delighted!

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"I can't imagine rebuilding a world from nothing is easy." If it really was from nothing. Jagger wasn't certain he fully believed that aspect of their tales. Still, there was no other explanation forthcoming as to why they were there or what was expected of them, so he'd observe and see if any new puzzle pieces revealed themselves that made the overarching story make more sense.

"'Costumes'?" Jagger repeated the subtle emphasis Caelan put on those words, arching an eyebrow. "What sort of costumes?"

Caelan was a little surprised by the question, but he rolled with it anyway. “Yeah, costumes.” He started, gesturing a little at himself. “You know, like clothes and accessories that one wears to look like someone else when they’re acting. Sometimes accompanied by makeup and wigs.” Or glamour if you were enough to be able to use enchantments. “That sort of thing?”

He supposed it could also be called a disguise, but costume sounded less shady. He’s pretty sure the only person he knows who considers ‘shady’ to be a good thing is Holly around here.

"Very Sherlock Holmes." He wondered if Caelan's world has the fictional detective. "I wager that must come in handy when trying to break into offices." Hearkening back to their meeting. Jagger hadn't forgotten.

The consulting detective? How respectable sounding... “Oh, I suppose he’s a good example as far as fictional characters go. Doyle’s been getting rather popular thanks to that one from what I’ve heard.” The kid his group had taken in loved those stories, though they often liked to ask what he would have done to give the detective the slip if he were being pursued by such a master of deduction.

Caelan grinned a little at the callback, he certainly couldn’t deny the suggestion.. “I will admit that it’s come in handy once or twice...?” He tilted his head a little, turning the conversation a little away from himself. “What about you though? You definitely displayed some prior-experience on the subject, though you strike me as a touch less dramatic than myself.”

It would be a lie to say Jagger didn't, at times, fancy himself a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. That wasn't to say he thought he was particularly intelligent, but his gift allowed him to appear insightful in the same way, and when you consulted for the police, you had to figure out how to sell your visions as a deduction.

"Has been?" He jotted that little note down, too. "Is he a contemporary?" Because that would greatly influence Jagger's view of him, at least in what Caelan might be familiar with. "It's...easier to show you if you're comfortable at least. Did you bring anything with you from home?"

“Yeah? There’s a little over ten stories now, I think? There’s a lad in our group that reads them.” Sixteen, but who’s counting? Apparently not Caelan. He seemed to recall something about the last title being about a box.

He moved on a moment later though, curiosity piqued at the idea of a demonstration of sorts. Caelan let Nida show him what his abilities could do, and it was very interesting to see what kind of magic existed in other worlds. Jagger hadn’t really struck him as the sort to have magic either. While not unheard-of, most humans didn’t where he came from. “I did, would the lock-picks I mentioned earlier do?” He had other things, but they were tucked away for safe keeping. Definitely items that were not to be handled by humans.

Caelan put the pen down and retrieved his coat long enough to snag his lock pick set to put down on the desk. Should he be a little more reluctant? Probably, but he also hadn’t considered what kind of ability Jagger was talking about displaying here. As smart as Caelan could be, sometimes he could be terribly foolish.

Jagger blinked without any intelligent reply for a moment. Being struck by the sudden realization that not only distance but time had been completely disregarded to bring them all here. His imagination wandered for a moment, trying to picture what it would be like to be contemporary to Arthur Conan Doyle, to wait for his next published work, but he shook his head, forcing himself back on topic.

"Anything'll do, really, but something of yours'll tell me more, yeah." It was his first indication about his powers. He took a steadying breath, licking his lips as though nervous, before reaching out to place his hand gently over the case containing Caelan's lockpicks. He inhaled sharply when his mind connected with the aura surrounding those picks. "You've had these a while." His voice had taken on a vacant sound, as though he were muttering to himself rather than speaking to anyone else. "You used them...to break into something." He closed his eyes then, to focus. "Specific. A place filled with old things...that didn't belong to them. That's why you were there."

He swallowed as something connected to something else. "A key. You have a key that belongs to...to faeries. No. Not faeries really...Dryads. Dryads are familiar because they're like you...but not." He pulled his hand back quickly, his eyes still unfocused as he looked back to Caelan, then he closed them again, breathing evenly in and out and when he opened his eyes again they were focused.

"I'm not gonna be rude and ask what you are, if you're worried. I know what you're not."

“Yeah I have, no point in replacing things that work just fine.” He responded with a little shrug, sitting himself back down and watching curiously. His habit of breaking into places, stealing things, that wasn’t a concern for the other man to read in the lockpicks. Jagger could have worked that out on his own based on their first meeting alone. A fun trick you saw at side shows or some silly socialite’s party. Of course, once Jagger continued talking? The selkie slowly had the dawning realization that maybe, just maybe, this demonstration was a less than good idea.

‘Good job, Seal-Boy. What’ve we told you about not getting carried away? You’ve got a brain, it works well enough, why don’t you use it?’ Sara’s fussing, annoyed tone echo’d in the back of his head as he listened to the man continue, a pit forming in his stomach. He could almost see her ruffling her feathered shawl like the angry swan she was when he did something particularly foolish.

Let it be known, Caelan had been figured out before in far less pleasant situations, and still come out of it fine. It had been a while though, maybe once every few years or so. Now here he was and several times in a matter of weeks he’d run into a situation similar to this. The circus woman, Syeira had been an encounter almost similar to this, but not quite the same. Then there was Nida, who only worked out he had magic that he easily brushed off as though he hadn’t a clue about it. Now here was Jagger pulling up information on his last heist and figuring out... not everything, but enough to leave him frustratingly unsettled.

Shit... How long was he going to be able to keep this up for? At this rate the whole bleeding world was going to know it before he’d even worked out if he could trust even a handful of people in it. Compared to the last few times, the usually smooth smile he plastered to his face was brittle around the edges. “Aspects sure have pulled in a perceptive lot... Good job though. Sorry I don’t have a prize for you, Sherlock.” A little edgy but still humorous, his accent gets a touch more pronounced at his shift in mood. He needed a minute to work out what he wanted to say for once.

“I’ll grant you, you do at least have better manners than some of the others here.” He started a little moment later with a huff, “You going to mention this to our leader?”

Edited (Words & Punctuation I’m a fussy bitch some days) 2020-08-20 17:53 (UTC)

He folded his hands in front of him, not responding immediately, sorting his thoughts from the images that had recently flooded his mind, trying to make sense of them. When he touched things, he got brief wisps of who had touched it recently, and more intense impressions if the item was frequently handled by one person, but the sense of Caelan's mind was strange, alien even. He shook his head, frowning as Caelan's words registered in his mind.

"Better manners, huh? Well, I had to blend in with normal people, yeah?" He shook his head at his question, though. "No. I'm the one collecting information, mate, not her."

“So that’s not normal where your from then?” He hummed a little, it’s not that it was a surprise or anything, just an interesting fact to add to his store of knowledge on those around him. Jagger had just bumped himself up rather high on the list of people to figure out. “Manners do make a good mask in the right situation. Not that this is that sorta situation. I’m not about to go opening any more doors just because I appreciate you not asking questions directly.”

Manners didn’t equal trust in his books, not by a long shot. He did relax a little a touch when Jagger said he wasn’t going to go blabbing all that to Yuna. “Alright... We don’t have a problem here then. Not yet, anyway.” He liked their leader well enough, but he didn’t know her any better than anyone else in this place. Now if Jagger broke his words on that, that was when the selkie could get rather difficult. “Of course, one does consider the fact that people collect information for future use of some kind. Maybe not for today, but eventually.”

"It's not common, but there's enough knowledge of it to have a term. 'Psychometry' my mate calls it. It's the ability to read auras on things and people, but only through direct contact." He smirked wryly. "So, no worries about me reading your mind or anything, yeah?"

Having a normal conversation, even if it was on the topic of trust and whether or not Caelan was right in placing any at all in Jagger was comforting, an even, non-invasive topic that allowed him to sort out his thoughts. "I wager we both are at that, mate. Look. I know you're good at knicking a thing or two, and you know I can tell you where something's been if we get touchy. I know you're not human, but in a place like this, it's hardly surprising, yeah? We'll leave it at that."

Edited 2020-08-22 16:12 (UTC)

“I don’t imagine my mind would be a thing a human would want to read anyway, got a lot going on up here.” He responded with a more relaxed little tap to his head before he continued. “So that’s what your gloves are for then. It makes sense... Wouldn’t want to just go touching anything by mistake, probably mean an overload of knowledge you often wouldn’t want or need.”

As it stood, he’d seen more than a few humans reach their limits when it came to processing things that were not the norm as they knew it. The mind could only take so much before it put up defences and either shut down or shut out what it didn't want to comprehend. As annoyed as he was over Jagger figuring more of him out than he liked, he was glad he hadn’t offered up anything else for the guy to demonstrate on.

He shrugged a little at the suggestion they left it at that, “That we can...” Of course, they could also benefit from one another’s skills. “Maybe if I happen upon something useful I’ll bring it back for you to puzzle over, or if there’s something the group needs that can’t be gotten easily you can give me a heads up.”

“And if your fine with not knowing what I am... I can probably offer some information the others can’t collect. As long as you don’t need the specifics.” His tone suggests this is a tentative offer, not something that he’d be sure about. Jagger was right though, there were other non-humans in this place, it wasn’t entirely strange... It was just that he was a non-human that was easily restrained and controlled; but having someone at least slightly informed would be useful if he happened upon anything of use in the waters around Aterat.

"So do humans, believe it or not, mate." He'd never read a mind, only gotten the briefest of flashes when he'd accidentally brushed by someone on the train or the bus, but it was enough to know they were pretty damned complex, regardless of their normalcy. "Can't say I've encountered many non-humans, just a couple demonic entities. I don't know if they're just scarce in my world or they know to keep clear of psychics." He shrugged, having never really pondered it all that much.

He nodded at the agreement, finding it perfectly acceptable. "Sure, Caelan...on one condition." He wasn't sure if the other would accept, but it seemed like a means of facilitating a degree of trust between them. "If what you are becoming relevant, you'll not hold it back. I trust you to know what that is, and I trust you to stick to it. Whatever you tell me doesn't go beyond me, unless it puts lives at risk."

Demonic entities? Ouch, that definitely was not the sort of head you wanted to go diving in. “Well I can assure you that I’m not a demon, can’t say I’ve ever run into one of those before myself.” Not that there weren’t fae that were nearly as dangerous or unpleasant as a demon. Some of them could be just as nasty little pieces of work, even when they weren’t angered.

Ah... the terms and conditions.

Caelan paused for a moment or two, taking the time to consider his answer. After all, he was a man of his word, and to agree would mean he’d have to hold himself to it... Jagger didn’t put the terms in a terribly specific way though, there were things he could say depending on the situation that would be a truth but also vague enough if need be. As it stood, he honestly couldn’t imagine a situation where the secret would put anyone else at risk aside from himself at the end of the day. “Yeah... Alright, that sounds fair enough to me. But I expect a little warning or a chance for discussion if you think you need to share with the group.”

It wasn't out of any sort of desire that he'd done it, that was for sure. "I know. You don't feel...oily enough for that." It was the best way he'd ever been able to describe what a demon felt like, all seething darkness and hatred.

Jagger considered Caelan's counter-offer in kind, nodding after a moment. "I can agree to that. I'm not one for showing cards unless the other side's cheating anyway."

“Oily...? Huh... Who woulda thought they’d feel oily, I’d imagine something more like ash and the like.” Caelan wondered what he felt like specifically, if it might even differ between fae, but he also wasn’t about to open this up for more questions. The shorter the conversation was now, the better.

“Then I believe we’ve got an agreement.” The selkie responded with a little nod, satisfied that at least he shouldn’t be blindsided. If he was? Well, he’d deal with that later. He would have offered to shake Jagger’s hand, but unless he put the gloves back on Caelan would just call a verbal agreement good enough.

(ooc: We don’t have to continue this if you wanna start something new for Octobers stuff! I just didn’t want to leave things un-tagged.)

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Loud seal is loud

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