there are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke

[stealerofhearts]

Who; Ren Amamiya and Waver Velvet
What; Ren has been thinking about that trick the prof had for a while, now
Where; Waver's laboratory, Harbor District
When; Mid June; late evening
Warnings; None as of yet, but will update as needed



With all the strange but subtle things that had been happening throughout Aterat over the last few months, his last actual meeting with the Professor started flitting through Ren's mind. The candle, the ward, they were useful for small rests, when you needed to stop existing for a few moments to catch your breath, but with the wall of mist and its roiling creatures encroaching on the place he and his had made their home away from home, the leader of the Phantom Thieves decided to take matters into his own hands.

He headed to Waver's laboratory under cover of darkness, disguised as the Joker, he flitted unseen from rooftop to rooftop, eluding the creatures new and old scurrying below, and only dropped to the cobbles outside Waver's door. He didn't know what sort of protections the mage had set up, or rather, he could see them if he Looked, but he didn't understand their weave, and he didn't want to test their potency.

And so, the Phantom Thief knocked, like a good, upstanding citizen.

Comments

[stealerofhearts]

Ren had a rather pragmatic way of looking at Aterat and its people. He assumed many of them were brought here, just like they were, and that they just didn't remember. Some of them seemed to alien to one another, even the structures were as dissimilar as they were the same. It was hard not to think of this place as something akin to Mementos, which made even more send to the boy since he could summon his Persona here.

The teen spent the time Waver was away going over the notes again, sketching out a rough diagram of exactly how he wanted to lay out the field he was thinking of and around the building he was thinking of, leaving any distinguishing marks from his illustration.

Following Waver's return, he nodded as the professor directed him to recreate the effect with the supplies provided. After he had everything set up to the best of his understanding, he reached one hand up to touch his mask, the other he extended toward the miniature closed magical circuit. He didn't know if his magic would work this way, but the design he'd created itself gave him something to focus on, and in a way it was sort of like activating his third sight.

The circuit wavered before the energy he summoned flickered into place and he smirked.

"Nice."

[ask_whydunit]

Waver kept a close eye as Ren worked on setting things up, making sure that things went in the right place and order. Sometimes he offered a small bit of advice, of some small adjustment to keep in mind, but it was clear Ren had already gotten a good idea of what he was doing. It was always a particular kind of satisfying to see one of his students actually get how something worked and completing it without any concerning issue. He liked giving them the foundations needed to succeed, to teach and help guide them towards progressing. Even if the end results were a bit bittersweet, seeing them always surpass what he was capable of so easily compared to his struggles in such a short time.

The real test, of course, came to the point at which Ren finished setting it up and activated. As suspected, the mask’s significance held true where magecraft was concerned as well. Similar to the triggers each mage had for utilizing their circuits, he wondered what it meant for Ren, that it was a mask in the first place to use his abilities. Something the professor would be pondering over later, probably. For now, he admired the teen’s handiwork, with the skeptical eye of a teacher grading an assignment.

“Very nice, actually. I’ve had students fumble a bit with the placements before, but you’ve done well. It’s a strong, solid field.” He reached for the box he’d brought up from the cellar. “If you repeat the process back in your own space, I don’t doubt it’ll hold for a long time as long as you maintain it. I’ve put together a few things that you’ll need yourself, harder to get your hands on.” They could consider it advanced payment for future errands and assistance, Waver figured.

[stealerofhearts]

He smirked at the professor's reaction, nodding as he did so. He couldn't say he wasn't at least a bit egotistical when it came to his ability to work out puzzles and put things to use. He was pleased he'd be able to keep his people a little safer, and hopefully that would be enough.

He nodded. "You know where to find me if you need me, Professor." And by that, Ren meant he had a habit of running into Waver when he needed him. He patrolled often enough for that to be the case.

[ask_whydunit]

“I do, and you certainly know where to find me if you have more questions.” He confirmed, because it was more likely that Ren would run into him rather than the other way around. If the teen decided he wanted help with something else, well… he’d proven to be a decent student, so Waver wouldn’t mind doing this again sometime.