Always give without remembering

[inkedspell]

Who: Simidele, Saeri, and YOU
What: Simidele thinks he has a flawless plan to help Saeri make friends and it involves gifting runestones and/or crystals to anyone he meets! That means you, and you, and yes, even you! When she remembers to look for them he's going to be in so much trouble...
When: Last week of September
Where: All over Trench

Content Warnings: Memory issues, possible language, overeager dumbass omen shenanigans



[It had all be so unfair. He'd had plans. Saeri never celebrates her birthday and he'd had just the plan to turn that around! Only for them to even forget she had a birthday for WEEKS. And by the time she remembered--and he remembered with her--it was days later and the moment for his perfect birthday surprise had passed. He couldn't reclaim it again. How was he supposed to get Saeri more friends when she kept avoiding spending time with new people? How was he supposed to show people what she brought to the friendship table?

Then Saeri had bumped into one of her dangling bowls of runestones and knocked one out of the bowl to the ground, a cooling stone that immediately caused ice to crackle across the floor. The air around it was so cold it fogged, but the reaction was brief before the power in it faded. While Saeri grumbled and cursed, hiphopping around to avoid stepping on it before she picked it up, the inspiration struck him. The answer to their problem was right there.

Unfortunately, he had to wait...and wait. For all of two days. TWO WHOLE DAYS. For Saeri to be busy enough to not notice the noise he made getting one of the baskets down. It was filled with stones and crystals with single use runes on them. Saeri used them in her experiments as one time additives, but surely other people would find them useful?

And so he struck out. Whether slinking casually down the streets of Wilfull Machine, or flying over to one of the other districts, the strapped of the bowl tight in his teeth. If he saw someone he thought might be a good friend, he would approach them immediately, earnest and proud.]

You look like you could use some magic! My friend is giving these away, do you want one?

[Please listen to him and accept his gift! No, he doesn't know what exactly each stone done--he would if he bothered to look at them, but who has the time to look at all the runes when he was on a mission?--but they were single use. They couldn't be that dangerous, certainly. But he knew he had to get rid of all of them before Saeri realized what he did and came looking.

So he had probably an hour. Plenty of time.]

{OOC: None of these runestones or crystals are particularly powerful. They are single-use runes powered by different blood types and other magical properties. The power in them will only last for a very short while once activated or in one burst of energy. Just be careful about grabbing that lightning stone, oops. Saeri is going to be hunting Simidele down and all of the people he gave stones and crystals to.}

Comments

[xiaoxiuya]

The corners of Shen Yuan's mouth twitch with a small, imperfectly-concealed smile as the sparklecat cringes and ducks its head, behaving just like a child caught in the middle of being naughty. It's so cute that Shen Yuan can't resist teasing the Omen a little, asking, "Oh? So what are you doing, then? Is this a promotional giveaway for a shop or something like that?"

[inkedspell]

"It's a gift-away, you might call it," he agrees, still trying to maintain that innocent demeanor, even if he thinks it may not be as effective as he hoped.

"It's not a business, more of Saeri showing her skills. She can be really helpful if people need things. These are just an example."

[xiaoxiuya]

"Is that so?" Shen Yuan doesn't know enough about making runestones to be sure, but the variety he sees when he peaks into the sparklecat's basket looks impressive, at least. "But why isn't she here with you? Doesn't she want to see how people react to her hard work?"

[inkedspell]

Simidele tilts his head a bit, feeling the emotions of annoyance and frustration building as Saeri gets closer to them. Still far enough away that maybe he can get this done before she finds him, but he's short on time.

"She's shy," he finally says as if whispering a secret. It's not the exact truth, but also not a lie. Even if most people would never consider it in regards to Sarona of all people. "So I'm going to tell her how things go and if anyone's interested in meeting up with her."

[xiaoxiuya]

"Aw, that's really too bad." Especially since he doesn't believe a word of it. "It's very brave of her to have sent you out," he says sternly. "And that you waited for her permission to do something like this. You can't push people with social anxiety too hard too quickly, you know -- it could backfire and push them even further into their shell.
So it's a very, very good thing," he continues, warming to his topic, "that you didn't do anything too pushy, such as stealing her things and handing them out to random strangers of their own accord. If my Omen were to do such a thing, I'd surely be very upset with them, for good reason."

Is he laying it on a little thick? Maybe. It's unlikely that the sparklecat Omen has bad intentions, whatever they are. But Shen Yuan never can pass up a chance to pontificate, it's just not in his character.

[inkedspell]

Oh, well, that does lay it on a bit thick and makes Simidele wonder if he should feel guilty for what he's done. He knows Saeri won't be pleased, will probably even ground him and make him stay inside her for a while after this...

But then he reminds himself of his cause. If he doesn't act, she may as well stay locked up inside with barely any new friends and no one knowing how her skills can help them. He's doing the right thing. He nods his head and his tail flares at attention, feathers making him look even more grandstanding than he'd been before.

"Of course," Simidele says as if stepping around everything he said entirely. "But if no one takes the stones, she won't know what people think of them, so you should take one. There are so many different ones, it's like a surprise."

[xiaoxiuya]

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Obviously not. It really is like talking to a stroppy disciple, in one ear and out the other.

"What are these things anyway?" he asks with a sigh, peering down at the sparklecat's basket with an exasperated look on his face. "What do they do?"

[ooc: sorry for vanishing on you for so long! I wasn't feeling well, but I'm ready to keep going with this thread if you are!]

[inkedspell]

Simidele is very good at only hearing what he wants to hear, so he's not not listening. When the man finally seemed to be engaging in his gift, he puffs up a bit, very proud.

"Saeri made these runestones and crystals. Each one has a different skill and they can be helpful to people! There are fire-stones and water-stones and wind-crystals, and light crystals, and one of them magnetizes objects to each other!"

{OOC: No worries!}

[xiaoxiuya]

Oh, magical items. Despite his own better judgement, Shen Yuan finds himself leaning a little closer, interested despite himself. "How do they work?"

Not that he's planning on taking one! This entire situation still seems highly suspicious to him! But every minute the wayward Omen stands here talking to him is one minute less it can spend running around causing trouble for other people, is it not so? Maybe his Sleeper will even turn up and Shen Yuan can see what such a terribly lonely person looks like!

"And how does she make them?" he quickly asks as a follow-up question, in the spirit of keeping 'Saeri's' Omen talking.

[inkedspell]

Simidele has not caught on to this plan, as he is very invested is preaching Saeri's praises as much as he can before she catches up to him.

"She makes them using rune magic. That's what the inscriptions are for. You put a little energy into them, or a drop of blood, and it activates the magic to perform their purpose! The more energy the stronger the reaction. They aren't too powerful, but they are neat for quick tricks or doing tasks around the home, I'm sure."

[xiaoxiuya]

"So this is something she brought with her from her homeworld?" Finally Shen Yuan picks up one of the stones, a green one, and peers at its inscription curiously. "But how does she actually get the magic into the stone? Does she have to use some of her own blood, or does the inscription do all the work?" Even talismans made for commoners, a small amount of qi was needed to charge the spell so it could be activated later...or that was how it worked in the last world Shen Yuan had lived in, anyway.

He was still keeping an eye out for the mysterious Saeri, of course! His purpose there hadn't changed! But he's always had a weakness for lore, okay? And the longer he stands here talking to the sparklecat, the more interested he's likely to get!

[inkedspell]

"Mostly," Simidele says. "She has adapted it from..."

His words faded as he realizes how in trouble he is. It may have taken her longer to hunt him down, considering how far away he's made it, but Saeri finally could see just how close she was. And there he is. Standing there with someone else who is holding a wind-stone in his hand. She walks up and doesn't think twice about snatching her own omen up by one of his wings. He let out a weird feline-yowl-squawk, hopping backwards on his paws to avoid the sharp pull on his plumage.

"What are you up to now, you feather duster?" she says, tone clipped. "What did I tell you about mixing other people up in your pet projects?"

Simidele is more concerned by what Shen Yuan must be thinking, embarrassed at getting in trouble like this in front of someone.

"I'm just showing off some of the stones tricks, nothing dangerous!" he insists.

Saeri looks over the other guy, "Well, at least you're not stuck in a mini-twister."

[xiaoxiuya]

"Was that a real risk??" Shen Yuan hastily hands the stone back, tucking his hands into his sleeves and clearing his throat afterwards to help himself regain his composure.

"Mistress Saeri, I presume?" is what he says once he feels he's gotten it back (not that the way Shen Yuan thinks he's presenting himself has ever born more than a passing resemblance to the way he actually appears in reality). "I had a feeling this naughty creature was acting without your say-so, so I did my best to detain him for you."

Despite his pompous words, he's smiling slightly as he watches Mistress Saeri wrangle her squawking Omen. Even if his actions were misguided, there's something really cute about how eager he was to do his Sleeper a favor. It sort of reminds Shen Yuan of some people he used to know.

[inkedspell]

She probably shouldn't be freaking people out.

"Not unless he got you to activate it with the wrong kind of magic," she says with a little wave as if to say don't worry. Simidele is sitting at her feet looking reasonable chastised and pouting all at the same time. "Certain combinations have certain results and all that. You were probably fine. I'm pretty sure he's more careful than that."

She gives Simi a look. "Pretty sure."

She then holds out her left hand--metal and cold from the changing weather--not thinking since her right hand is busy keeping Simidele in line. "Thanks for the help."