The Building Blocks and other assorted tales!

[imaglyphwitch]

Who: Luz, open!
What: Aftermath of the January prompts and various happenings.
When: Late January.
Where: Specified in prompts!

Comments

Magical Happenings (Forests in Cassandra)

[imaglyphwitch]

It had been taking too long for Luz to get back into experimenting with magic, but after what happened with Varian Luz had decided that she needed to make the time for it again. Before now she'd just been reading up theory and applications, and now she knew that it was no longer time for speculation. She had the glyphs, she had the know-how, and she had the room now.

"Ok, lets start with the invisibility spell," she said, half to herself, and started to doodle on the glyph, but paused before hitting it. It was still dependent on her holding her breath, and once she needed to breathe, she'd be visible again. She took out the mask she'd prepped for this very thing, which she had scribed the same glyph on, and then activated the staff.

Luz became invisible, and this time she could still breathe and be invisible. Yes! So long as she kept that extra mask on, she'd be able to keep that invisibility! Of course, that was also dependent on not being seen too, so she'd have to work on that too.

"All right, that works!" She took out her own beaten notebook, scribed with the words Notes and Spells on it, and she wrote in her observation that the mask she made would keep her invisible so long as she kept it on and the mask wasn't askew.

"Now, to get back to working on that forcefield spell..."

[inkedspell]

There's the sound of nature being disturbed in the distance. Crunches of snow, twigs, and dead leaves. The rumble of a heavy weight thundering closer and closer. There is also a voice somewhere off, muffled at first but clearer the closer it gets.

"--back, you little shit!"

And suddenly there comes this large winged mountain lion covered in peacock feathers, bounding through the snow, something flailing and metal in its jaws as it runs by Luz, skidding around a tree before almost hopping along. It's only a minute or so later that Saeri shows up, body flickering as she skids in the snow. Her speed rune only works in short bursts, but it was enough to get her this close.

"It's not even cute, this is just being an asshole."

Whatever sound the mountain lion-bird-thing is making, it doesn't seem to agree with her.

[imaglyphwitch]

Luz paused her spell because there is totally a new animal to ogle over and she's about to do so properly when Saeri follow suit and now she has to get out of both their way, which results in Luz skidding on the snow and falling flat on her face, her spell book firmly in hand.

"Wha-th-eck!" Luz groaned, trying to get up, slipping on some ice and falling again. She gets up, spitting out some dirt and sees who's pretty much run her over.

"Oh, Saeri! Is this your Omen?"

[inkedspell]

Sarona is surprised to see her, having been so focused on trying to catch up to her errant troublemaking whatever overgrown birdcat.

"Oh sh-oot, hey Luzi," she gets out, changing her language just a bit because she may swear like a sailor, but Luz is like twelve or something and she needs to be better about that when kids are around, right? "This is...I guess my omen. Except all he does is try to distract me from getting anything done ever."

And suddenly said animal's attention is entirely on Luz. He's bounding over in a rush, all but ramming into her with his head in a desire to nuzzle right into her. The cold metal of the item in his mouth rubs against her stomach as he keeps pressing into her. If she's not careful he might even knock her down. If she looks down she might even recognize exactly what that is, the fingers waving about as they try to pry that unmoving mouth open.

Yeah, Saeri would really like to get her arm out of the dumb cat's mouth.

[imaglyphwitch]

"I heard that," Luz said teasingly, though she would have been a little outraged to know that Saeri thought she was twelve when she was more like fifteen! Darn these awkward teenage hormones not going into full swing yet (whatever that meant)! "What were you trying to do, and what exactly is in his mo-whoa!"

She definitely had to adjust her footing not to be knocked over (because that had been happening quite a lot the past few days, mostly due to how accident-prone Luz sometimes was. And now that she feels the object (Luz's midriff hoodie notwithstanding), she could see clearly what it was.

"H-hey wait! Can you detach your limbs?"

This WOULD have freaked Luz out had she not befriended Eda, the owl lady, who could take her whole head off if she so wished.

[inkedspell]

There's a pause, because she doesn't hide her arm but doesn't talk about it either. It's one of those things people notice and don't bring up again. It works for her. But she doesn't think Luz is the kind of person to make it weird either.

"Yeah, because it's not real." Saeri holds up her arm and it's very obvious one is not like the other. The left sleeve of her jacket is rolled up to the elbow, showing that she's missing her hand and two-thirds of her forearm. The fingers of the hand in the omen's mouth finally stop trying to fight it and fall open and limp.

"It's a prosthetic, but he's decided it's a chew toy today, because it thinks it's a dog or something."

The omen is still making that noise as it rubs itself against Luz. Pet him, pet him, pet him please...

[imaglyphwitch]

Luz is definitely not the type of person who went out of her way to make it weird, especially not when she lived with someone who had a prosthetic and was one of the closest people to her in Trench.

"Huh. That's what I figured when I saw what he had in his mouth. Let me see if I can convince him to drop it."

And Luz proceeded to pet him vigorously and oo and aah over him, as this was what Luz had wanted to do in the first place. Once he was comfortable enough, he opened his mouth and Luz gently pulled the hand away and behind her back, so Saeri could get to it.

Taking down graffiti (All around Trench)

[imaglyphwitch]

Depending on where you were, you were likely to see a busy working Luz with a heavy-duty sponge, yellow gloves, and soap and water. It didn't help that it was still pretty cold in Trench and she had to make sure the water didn't freeze.

What was she doing? It looked like in those certain areas of Trench, there was some rather colorful graffiti that were either fairly crude drawings of male members, the middle finger, or colorful iterations of the name "glyphywitch" or "glyphywitchy" with the initials L.N. right under them.

Luz's snakening had apparently had a field day, and now the poor girl was doing her best to get these artful additions off the wall, so that she would at least feel better about what crazy thing her "other: had done while she'd been a skin for a time.

"What am I doing?"

Luz sighed, shaking her head. "Trying to make sure that all of Trench doesn't know my moniker."

[tempredmental]

By now, Keith's sheds had left him a paleblood for the last week of the month, but he was back to his normal memories and self following three transformations. As a paleblood, Keith not only picked up on her mumbling like someone without that ability would have, but also, he could hear her voice in his head.

Sort of... he'd been having difficulty sorting through the noise, so, while he heard her speaking out loud, he was able to match it and sort of filter through to what was in his head, but it took a lot of concentration, and he already had a pretty nasty headache. He really wasn't up to trying to filter right now, so most of her thoughts got lost in the static.

He'd been trying to find a quiet corner when he stumbled on her doing her clean up.

"Someone tag your building?" he asked. Or she'd been caught and was doing her community service as penance. Keith would keep that to himself.

[imaglyphwitch]

Hm? Who was that? Luz looked over and gave him a wave, unaware she'd somehow broadcasted herself into his head. She'd only had that happen to her in one other instance, otherwise it had been pretty dormant.

"Actually, it was me. Sort of. I don't know how long you've been here, but some of us have been shedding and stuff, and apparently my other ME is this girl with long hair, flannel, a hat and a prickly attitude. She decided she was going to leave her mark before going away, so, yeah. Now I have to clean this stuff off or forever be branded a vagrant."

Not that anyone but Luz would care, of course: she just didn't like that it had happened in HER body.

[tempredmental]

"Oh... yeah. That."

Keith frowned a bit.

"I think I might be affected by that right now, too. I've had three transformations already this month. For now, it seems I have different blood powers." He huffed a small sigh. "I don't like all these changes." It was confusing.

"I'm guessing, though, that you're not usually the type to go spraypainting tags everywhere?" He looked amused.

[imaglyphwitch]

"Exactly. That. Not a fun experience. I'm guessing you had your fill of it too."

Yup. Different blood powers too, just like Vira-Lorr. Maybe that meant hers wasn't permanent! She could hope, right?

"You and me both," Luz huffed, shaking her head, then look scandalized. "Do I look like a vagrant? I'm completely in a manner of speaking innocent!"

[tempredmental]

"Yeah... this is my fourth transformation this month." His tone definitely reflected how much he did... not... want this.

Keith did look a little amused, though. "Eh... nothing wrong with doing a few small things now and then." This from the guy who stole a car to make a point.

[imaglyphwitch]

"Fourth?! Jeez! You must be made of steel! I've only had one, and it was still a bit of a doozy for me! Granted, she was way cooler in kind of loner-y way I never could be, but she wasn't ME. Did it change you super drastically too?"

Because Luz could think of a few people that changed for the worse.

Luz scoffed. "Listen, I do wrong things by accident all the time. I don't need to have another part of me doing them on purpose."

[zib]

Now that Zib's back to... well, whatever passes as "normal" for a Zib from his own recent shedding incident, he's taken to being out and about rather than hiding again. Albeit, the thicker coat he's begun wearing lately seems to be kinda off around the middle chest area for some reason (is he actually that cold that he's keeping his arms inside the coat entirely rather than using the sleeves?), but he otherwise approaches Luz when he sees her, and takes note of the graffiti.

"Did... you draw those?"

[imaglyphwitch]

Hey, that was a good idea. It was something Luz might do herself, actually, but right now she's clearly focused on her work right now, but she nods in Zib's direction. She was definitely glad that Zib seemed more like himself.

"In a manner of speaking? Basically I was a different version of myself. At least she chose nice colors?"

[zib]

"Oh."

Guess he wasn't the only one who wasn't acting like himself lately. He almost wishes he had seen what this other Luz had been up to, but... then again, Zib wasn't exactly the best version of himself for the last week until now.

"Any idea why the other you would be drawing those?"

He points to the crude hand gestures and such. He's no stranger to seeing rude graffiti before, or just practically nonsensical things given the town he lived in, but it's still a bit surreal to think that another version of Luz would draw those when the Luz he's met here doesn't seem like the type to do so.

[imaglyphwitch]

It was complicated. She knew her other was aware she was on borrowed time, so she'd tried to live up as much of the day that she could. Some of that just happened to include getting into bar fights, petty tagging and fighting a snake.

"It's graffiti. She was trying to leave her mark before she left. I'm pretty sure she wasn't the one that drew all the male...appendages, but some of the swears and the glyphwitchy stuff is her pseudonym."

Clearly that Luz was still a little meticulous about such things.

[zib]

"Huh, I guess that makes sense to want to do. Kind of."

But, then he frowns as he looks down at Luz's cleaning supplies.

"If that's the case, then why are you getting rid of them?"

Animal Care (Forests of Lumenwood and Prufrock/stables behind the Disaster House)

[imaglyphwitch]

So due to recent events, Luz and the assorted members of her household were now the owners of Fathiers from Darth Maul and taking care of these guys were starting to become a full time job for Luz. The stables were luckily enough to house them, but Luz was now starting to get a crash course in how active them were, as she was finding they had to be taken out to run wild for a time, and this required Luz to fashion a saddle for the both of them.

She had only ridden one bareback once. Her aching butt was enough to remind her to NEVER do that again.

If you around Lumenwood, you'll see Luz riding the black Fathier, likely screaming as she was still getting used to how fast they were. Later, in Prufrock, you'll see Luz doing the same with the brown Fathier, only she's having a bit of a rougher time here, as this one is a bit more ornery and has likely thrown Luz off of it for the fifth or sixth time.

"Oh come on! You ate half of your feed and I even gave you a treat! Why won't you let me ride you?"

If you're a resident of the Disaster House, later that day you'll see a disheveled Luz finishing up mucking the stall and falling at the foot of the stall.

"Ugh. That was. So. Much. Poop."

[survivalthroughhate]

Maul is in Lumenwood for a few hours. Now that he's shed his skin and gotten back to his normal Zabrak self, he's feeling pretty good, feeling almost shiny and new as if he was in tip-top condition now. He's walking along when he suddenly sees a fathier that's pretty much all legs go zooming past at top speed. And there on top riding the beast while screaming at the same time was....Luz? Yep, of course it'd be Luz.

Of course, rather than help, Maul just proceeded to laugh and laugh at the sight, especially when the fathier decides that the building now blocking its path is of no consequence, and subsequently goes vertical and starts running up the side of the building. Luz better hold on tight!

[imaglyphwitch]

Oh sure, LAUGH at her misfortune! Granted, a little girl hanging onto a fathier for dear life screaming her head off is actually pretty funny, though Luz certainly doesn't think so right now.

"No, NO, DON'T RUN INTO THE BUI-"

And Darth Maul's warning about fathiers running up things is right on the money. Luz is holding on with everything she has, and scared as she is, she couldn't help but think this was a lot like riding the staff.

Only without any notion that she might be OK during this, and Luz let's out another yell once the fathier leaps off the building and hits the ground, continuing at top speed.

[survivalthroughhate]

Maul continues to howl with laughter as Luz holds on while the fathier runs willy-nilly and goes wherever it decides it decides its whims will take it. He's keeping an eye on Luz to make sure she doesn't fall off from a great height while the fathier runs vertically and then leaps back down to the ground.

He lets this continue for another few minutes before he's able to get himself back under control. Deciding enough is enough, as he's afraid Luz might get hurt the longer this goes on, he goes into the nearest grocery shop and buys a bag of eggplants. He goes back out and takes one out, whistling loudly to get the alien beast's attention. "Do you want a treat? Come on. Come over here." The fathier makes a beeline for the Zabrak and skids to a stop right in front of him. He slowly feeds the eggplant to it, letting the animal naturally bite off large chunks of the vegetable.

He looks up at the small rider. "Having fun?" He says with a particularly evil glint in his eyes.

[imaglyphwitch]

Seriously, why was he laughing while she was going on a dangerou-wait, no, it was Darth Maul. It would be strange if he wasn't laughing at her misfortune. Still, it was a little rude considering she was trying to make sure the fathier got proper exercise!

In any case, she was holding on as best as she could as the fathier continued to run as fast as it could and only seemed to stop when it heard Darth Maul's whistle and took off toward him. When it reached Darth Maul it's sudden stop had Luz sprawling, and she fell down in a heap in front of Maul.

She groaned, and looked up at the Sith. "Never better," she said hoarsely. "Give me a second, my spine is trying to get back into alignment."

[survivalthroughhate]

"I recommend simply replacing it with a metal one. Any problems with my back have been cut in half since I did." Get it? Cause he was cut in half? No, he's not funny, someone tell him never to try and have a sense of humor ever again.

Having lived with the Sith Lord for many months before he'd given them to the Disaster House, the fathier is well-familiar with their old owner and happily nuzzles him after swallowing down a good bit of eggplant. He pets the soft nose while he speaks to Luz. "You're not doing too bad. There's room for improvement but the fact you stayed on as long as you did is a good first step." Maul never hands out compliments lightly, so when he does, you can be certain he means them.