Lord El-Melloi II - Waver Velvet (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ask_whydunit) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
aterat2023-09-22 10:01 am
ask_whydunit) wrote in aterat2023-09-22 10:01 am
Entry tags:
Open September Logs
Who; Waver & Anyone
What; 2 Open Logs
Where; Market & Fountain (memory)
When; Late September I guess
Warnings; For the fountain memory: Severe Injury & allusions to possible death
A. Market – OTA
Several people had been on his case (justifiably even if he wouldn’t admit it) to get out more. Not that last month had made it that easy to acquiesce to that suggestion… Waver had exerted himself a little too much over everything. Between the damned beast and the other situations, he’d gotten involved with (even if he’d been warned not to). His overused circuits ached, and the rest of his body had done what it did every time a case got a little too out of hand and he’d pushed himself until it was over. It stopped him by way of getting sick and he’d had to hide away while he tried to recover from it.
So there was at least a reason for returning to the hermit life.
At least until that day, as he opened his fridge and realized with disappointment that he was once again out of bread and other assorted sandwich making ingredients… Not to mention he needed to pick up some things for the workshop before he went there later to check in on the state of his current subject of interest. The mystery seed that definitely did not appear to be normal by any stretch. He’d been cautious, studied it a bit, then set up a carefully controlled environment to contain it and see how it grew. Giving Waver items of a magical nature was like giving a kid a toy at Christmas. He was going to be curious, and he was going to study the hell out of it.
So, between the need for easy to make food stuff and materials for his workshop, he found him in the open air market. Strolling between stalls with a bag over his shoulder to carry what he needed. The mage mumbled to himself as he ticked off each item on his mental list, “Tomatoes… Lettuce… Eggs… Bread. Right, I need bread.” He sighed, turning to move away from his current path and on towards the bakery. “Maybe I’ll stop at the tavern for lunch-” Waver started to muse to himself as he noted the time of day, only to stop with a startled sound as he almost walked right into someone, the bag on his shoulder slipping off when he started to drop to the ground with an audible sound of something breaking (RIP eggs). "What the- You startled me!"
Obviously...
Smooth, Velvet.
B. Fountain Memory – OTA
Waver sat on the edge of the fountain later that day as he fussed with his lighter that was being difficult, despite him being certain he just filled the damn thing. It was just meant to be a short pause to light his cigar before starting the walk to his workshop. He planned to check on the mystery planting project he’d set up in a small, controlled environment placed next to a window, maybe nap on the sofa and hope that nothing exploded for a few days.
Idly the mage glanced at the fountain as he seriously considered giving up on the lighter and conjuring a little flame to be done with it, but that was a waste of mana in his opinion when a lighter should be doing the job just fine. The little gold object slipped free of his grip though and clinked audibly on the ground as something caught his eye in the reflection of the still waters…
And when the memory played to the end, a muttered curse left his mouth and his shoulders shook lightly in annoyance. “Shit.” He did not, in fact, need the bloody reminder of what happened just before he suddenly found himself in this stupid city over a year ago now… Especially when he’d had to practice the art of dodging the obvious around people who were starting to notice his avoidance of certain subjects and questions.
It was then that he noticed he wasn’t alone, feeling a presence standing near enough that the fountain had probably been in full view. His head swivelled and his gaze was sharp as he glanced at them uncomfortably. “Can I help you with something or are you just going to stand there gawking?”
Oof... Have fun with that.
What; 2 Open Logs
Where; Market & Fountain (memory)
When; Late September I guess
Warnings; For the fountain memory: Severe Injury & allusions to possible death
A. Market – OTA
Several people had been on his case (justifiably even if he wouldn’t admit it) to get out more. Not that last month had made it that easy to acquiesce to that suggestion… Waver had exerted himself a little too much over everything. Between the damned beast and the other situations, he’d gotten involved with (even if he’d been warned not to). His overused circuits ached, and the rest of his body had done what it did every time a case got a little too out of hand and he’d pushed himself until it was over. It stopped him by way of getting sick and he’d had to hide away while he tried to recover from it.
So there was at least a reason for returning to the hermit life.
At least until that day, as he opened his fridge and realized with disappointment that he was once again out of bread and other assorted sandwich making ingredients… Not to mention he needed to pick up some things for the workshop before he went there later to check in on the state of his current subject of interest. The mystery seed that definitely did not appear to be normal by any stretch. He’d been cautious, studied it a bit, then set up a carefully controlled environment to contain it and see how it grew. Giving Waver items of a magical nature was like giving a kid a toy at Christmas. He was going to be curious, and he was going to study the hell out of it.
So, between the need for easy to make food stuff and materials for his workshop, he found him in the open air market. Strolling between stalls with a bag over his shoulder to carry what he needed. The mage mumbled to himself as he ticked off each item on his mental list, “Tomatoes… Lettuce… Eggs… Bread. Right, I need bread.” He sighed, turning to move away from his current path and on towards the bakery. “Maybe I’ll stop at the tavern for lunch-” Waver started to muse to himself as he noted the time of day, only to stop with a startled sound as he almost walked right into someone, the bag on his shoulder slipping off when he started to drop to the ground with an audible sound of something breaking (RIP eggs). "What the- You startled me!"
Obviously...
Smooth, Velvet.
B. Fountain Memory – OTA
Waver sat on the edge of the fountain later that day as he fussed with his lighter that was being difficult, despite him being certain he just filled the damn thing. It was just meant to be a short pause to light his cigar before starting the walk to his workshop. He planned to check on the mystery planting project he’d set up in a small, controlled environment placed next to a window, maybe nap on the sofa and hope that nothing exploded for a few days.
Idly the mage glanced at the fountain as he seriously considered giving up on the lighter and conjuring a little flame to be done with it, but that was a waste of mana in his opinion when a lighter should be doing the job just fine. The little gold object slipped free of his grip though and clinked audibly on the ground as something caught his eye in the reflection of the still waters…
And when the memory played to the end, a muttered curse left his mouth and his shoulders shook lightly in annoyance. “Shit.” He did not, in fact, need the bloody reminder of what happened just before he suddenly found himself in this stupid city over a year ago now… Especially when he’d had to practice the art of dodging the obvious around people who were starting to notice his avoidance of certain subjects and questions.
It was then that he noticed he wasn’t alone, feeling a presence standing near enough that the fountain had probably been in full view. His head swivelled and his gaze was sharp as he glanced at them uncomfortably. “Can I help you with something or are you just going to stand there gawking?”
Oof... Have fun with that.
B
He really did lead a life that would almost fit right in with the X-Men.
Of course, once he'd finally noticed her (and she'd finally noticed him) she tilted her head and then gave a small smirk. "I think I'll just keep gawking for a bit." She really couldn't help herself. "At least there's less chance of everyone seeing it if it's playing in a movie fountain." Was that her vague attempt at trying to make him feel better? Maybe.
"Did you ever find out who she was?" Of course she was going to ask questions and not just pretend she hadn't seen anything.
no subject
Her comment gets a rather unimpressed glare across the fountain, shoulders still shaking lightly as though he were a volcano just this close to erupting He should know her well enough by now to have expected the reply before he even opened his mouth, but Waver’s emotions always got the better of him, always went from a calm zero to an over the top 60 in so little time that it ensured a reaction before he could stop himself. “Do you really have that much bloody free time to waste?” Of course she did. Everyone did in a place like this.
It didn’t help that he felt awkward right now. His frown stretched impressively across his face, turning his eyes to glower down at the waters below that had begun to ripple and dissipate any lingering images when he activated his circuits to stir up a small breeze. If he had more power, he wistfully noted, he could have caused a gale that might deter further conversation… “I’d rather this world not take it upon itself to share personal shit in general.”
It was at least a small comfort that it wasn’t a public phone network message this time. But a fat lot of good the change did when one of the people he didn’t want to see it most happened to be present in the first place. He’d lied to her at least once, maybe twice, in the last month alone about this, considering he’d told her his ‘plans’ had kept him alive this long when it came to dealing with trouble. Now it was fairly obvious that might not be the case.
“Considering I’ve been here since then? No… I’ve only got an unconfirmed theory at best.” He offered back, finally stooping to scoop up the lighter he’d dropped. The topic of the woman in the chariot was at least an easier topic to focus on, one that he’d gladly take over the ‘elephant in the room.’
no subject
But, basically, her job was teasing the people around her, mostly him (he should feel special).
"Who wouldn't rather that? But we don't get to choose it," she said with an overly nonchalant shrug. She'd be just as annoyed in his position, but luckily she wasn't in his position at the moment. Which meant she could act as indifferent as she wanted to about it.
"What's the theory?"
no subject
“Your job-“ He rolled his eyes with a grumble and fussed with trying to get the lighter working again. “Then you clearly need a vacation.” He ended in a slightly deadpan tone, because she clearly spent too much time working (teasing).
That was part of why this was all so annoying, honestly. They didn’t get a choice on the whole ‘their lives being shown like a stupid movie for other people’s entertainment.’ They didn’t even get to have a say in what was shown! Couldn’t it at least be something stupidly insignificant that would be easier to talk about? Finally, he gave up the lighter, barely keeping himself from chucking it across the courtyard and sticking it in a pocket instead. He brought a hand up to conjure a small spark of flame to light the end, because Waver didn’t think he’d get through this conversation without a smoke.
“Does it matter what the theory is if I can’t confirm it?” The professor responded with a tired shrug, blowing out a cloud of smoke in the opposite direction of them. Of course it mattered, at least enough that he spent as much time thinking about the encounter as he did.
Still, better this than other things, perhaps. “A body double for the king. His shadow… Their physical appearance fits some of the legends describing what he looked like. Small frame, dark black hair, heterochromia with one eye embracing the blue of the sky and the other the shadows of the night… I think she may be a residual image; a magical body double meant to protect him and confuse potential threats by being such a contrast to his actual appearance. But without confronting her again, I can’t say for sure…” Nor could he be satisfied with the theory without confirming it or a few other lingering details.
no subject
"You know, they say those things can kill you." She tilted her head and just kept grinning that smug little grin of hers. Something told her he didn't really care about that aspect of things, but hey, she wasn't above picking on anything to tease him about.
"Guess not," she shrugged. It may not have mattered, but that didn't mean she wasn't curious. "It matters to you though." Illyana wasn't usually an exceptionally observant person when it came to the feelings of others, but if he was this loathe to talk about it, then it had to bother him in some way, right?
"Hmm, a body double that doesn't like you much?"
no subject
And he definitely dug his heels in more as she found the next thing to tease him about. Brow twitching just slightly, he lowered the cigar and gave her a look. “Wow, that’s new information that I’ve never heard before.” His tone was slightly deadpan as he responded, sarcasm evident.
Having her point out that the mystery of who that woman was did matter to him gets a small, uncertain frown and an uncomfortable hunch to his posture. Waver was never good about talking about what mattered to him. Personal shit was always a minefield. It was easy to pull apart cases and expand on incidents that hadn’t been tied to something personal, but crossing that line always left him feeling off balance. “Yeah… Guess so.” He huffed, rolling the cigar between his fingers and decidedly not looking at Illyana.
“That’s a mild way of putting it.” He responded with a frustrated sigh. Whatever her motivations were, she’d clearly weighed and judged Waver on sight, and found herself ultimately offended by his very existence. He couldn’t blame her. The mage knew he wasn’t much to speak of compared to most the other retainers of legend, but her reaction to him had been… pretty volatile almost immediately. Between that and the fact he’d never seen her before? That just added a whole layer to the puzzle that was going to drive him crazy till he figured it out.
no subject
"That's shocking! I'm glad I could give you some new information though," she said with a grin that she didn't even try to hide. Why would she try to hide it? That was part of her fun after all and Illyana did enjoy her fun; which was something she'd be all too willing to admit without hesitation if asked about it.
"What was that? You guess so?" She prodded him keeping up that prickly smile. "Strange that she'd judge you so harshly. Maybe she really hates smokers." Look, she knew how utterly ridiculous that was to say, but she honestly wasn't entirely certain what to say. It clearly bothered him to some extent, though she wasn't entirely certain how badly. Reading people in a way like that was not, and never could be, her strong suit. "At least it wasn't too bad of a memory to share with others."