songerein | [CLOSED]

Entry tags:

[CLOSED]

Who: Marui and Leia
Which: Closed log
What: Dreamotion ability training followed by comfort and cuteness.
When: Afternoon and evening of Nov. 2nd
Where: Marui's treehouse
Warnings: None expected, will edit if needed

[ Marui's dreamotion abilities are not progressing well.

He isn't used to struggling with a new skill. He picks up on most things rather quickly. This, however, is quite simply a mystery. Maybe because it's so abstract? He's been able to do tennis and cakes with it like a true genius, but everything else has been a flop. The hot spring pool he made near his treehouse for bathing is uncomfortably small and shallow, and it occasionally mistakes itself for a geyser. His attempt to kill one of those giant termites with a bolt of lightning instead turned it into a particularly luminescent firefly. (On the upside, it's decided it lives with him and provides after-hours lighting around his house.) Bubble gum he'd thought for sure he could replicate as his supply dwindled to dangerously low levels, but the end result was too sticky to chew and popped while still in his mouth and that was great and interesting, perfect prank material, but not what he needed for everyday use.

He refuses to give up, though, especially in the aftermath of all that happened at that graveyard. He's determined to at least learn how to use it to protect himself and the people he cares for. And so now that he's given himself a one-day break to recover both physically and mentally from that ordeal, he's getting to work on that. Starting in the late morning outside his treehouse, he performs some warm-up stretches, rolls up his sleeves, and then... Well. This is about the part where he usually gets stuck. What should he try to do? In the end, what he most knows how to attack and defend with is still a tennis racket.

Well, no sense fixing what isn't broken. Time to invent some moves.

By the time lunch rolls around, Marui has worked up a decent appetite, and there is one thing and one thing alone that can satisfy him: cake. (Actually, some company would be nice too after spending all morning by himself, but hunger first.) Happily, cake conjuring is a dreamotion ability he's got down pat! He's even figured out how to conjure a platter for it to sit on now instead of the unfortunate (but admittedly hilarious) result of it splatting to the ground.

He takes a minute to imagine its shape, size, flavor, decorations, colors. It's easy with cake because he's seen, tasted, and baked so many. What would be really great right now is... yes. Perfect!

It's so real to him already-- the apple slices decorating the top; the warm and nutty aromas of maple, cinnamon, and pecan; how light and juicy it is inside with steaming apple pie filling between fluffy layers of spice cake! He's excited just thinking about it!

It feels like warm tingling at his fingertips. The cake realizes itself layer by layer, stacking higher and higher before disappearing inside a warm off-white encasement of frosting. Red-skinned apple slices radiate from the center on top in symmetry. Candied pecans line the base and accent the apple slices on top. An orange maple leaf pattern wraps around the side. ]

Yahoi! [ He cheers when it's done, and eagerly carves out a slice. ]

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[Yeah, it is weird, and she really can't explain her reaction. She's just... in a weird mood. She's bottling up a lot. And something as simple as a touch to the cheek to wipe the chocolate from it, showing her an ounce of concern, made her feel like things could be okay. It's the comfort she needed and craved. She's emotionally vulnerable right now, so affection of any sort, of any amount, is just nice. Soothing.

That's all it is. Nothing more than that.

She takes a deep breath, her hands dropping to her sides, and she finally turns around to look at him. No longer does it look like she might cry at any second, but there's still a faint tinge of pink on her cheeks. Which is just the end result of feeling momentarily overwhelmed.]

Sorry to worry you, but I really am fine.

[ Marui is quiet for a moment as he looks over her face and processes her tone, her body language. The remnants of that blush still hanging about her face.

He believes her that she's managed to compose herself, and that when she said I'm fine, that's what she meant. He gets the sense there's something more going on there, but he's not really the type to meddle or henpeck. She wants to drop it and move on. He'll respect her wishes. ]

Then, are you gonna try again?

[If he didn't believe her, he doesn't show it. And she appreciates that. She'd been fine up until her exploding cake ruined his- just a small breaking point. By now, she's determined to keep it together.

So she responds to him with renewed vigour.]

Of course! I'm gonna keep trying until I get it right!

[Right. Time to get her head back in the game and focus. And, perhaps this time, she will listen to his suggestions.]

[ This is what he likes about her: spirit, determination, resilience. Despite her moment of vulnerability, despite her failure and the embarrassment it's brought her, she's ready and willing to pick herself up and keep trying. ]

Heh. Glad to hear.

[ He turns to the table and peers over the remains of her cake again. Maybe it's morbid curiosity, maybe it's a foolish degree of gutsiness, but now that it's fucking exploded, Marui just doesn't think there's much more that it can do to him. He picks up a small bite's worth of the cake and puts it in his mouth. ]

...Well. The chocolate isn't terrible. But is it supposed to be fizzy?

[It had just been a small hiccup. It won't happen again. Especially now that she knows he doesn't seem to care about how many times she fails and the disaster it could potentially lead to. Not that that's the reason everything came barreling into her. Truthfully, she didn't care if her cake exploded or tasted bad, it's that it ruined something of his, and it forced her to acknowledge her shortcomings as the possible reason for... some things.

But it's fine. And she will manage to keep a tighter lid on things and focus on having fun and learning dreamotion!

She's about to ask for what to try next, however, when he... goes and eats the chocolate that remained on the plate. Her eyes go wide, uncertain how good of an idea that is, all things considered. She's more shocked than anything, almost not sure what to say.]

Uhhh... that's the popping candy to give it an extra kick. [she says in disbelief, now shifting to concern.] But why would you put that in your mouth after watching it explode?

[Like... how could he be certain it wouldn't explode again?]

[ At her question, Marui looks at her and for a moment isn't sure what to say because it's so self-evident to him. ]

Because I wanted to taste it.

[ Is this a reversal from moments before? Yes. Does he care? No. He is a guy that follows his whims. And anyway, how often do you get the chance to try exploding cake? ]

[Well, okay. She's not sure what answer she expected.]

... And what if it wasn't done exploding?

[ Marui grins. ]

Relax. It's just one taste.

All right. Let's hope you don't find out.

[And yet she may be a little touched that he dared to try it. Even if he didn't mean anything by it.]

More to the point, don't you have another one to make? I'm waiting here.

Shouldn't we clean up the table first?

We?

[That single word alone wounds her deeply.]

Awww, seriously? Don't suppose you gotta dreamotion skill for that, by any chance?

Dreamotion skill, huh? Wouldn't that be handy. Imagine waving your arms around and the cleaning taking care of itself.

[ That's a No. ]

Right!? We should totally come up with one!

[He IS looking at the same explosive mess that she is, right? The one that's going to take a single person all day to clean, right? Plus, wow, imagine never having to clean her room again.]

You're welcome to try.

You wouldn't want to figure it out with me?

[She did just explode a cake, is he really willing to hand over the reins to her for this?]

My dreamotion practice is getting invested elsewhere. Besides... that's not my mess to deal with.

[ Look, this is just an entertaining adventure for him. If this leads to another epic failure, well, that's okay with him. ]

You really suck, you know that? Fine. But if half your house goes missing, just remember this is partially on you.

[Of course, she's teasing him about sucking. Except he does. Kinda.]

[ Marui grins; yeah, he knows he's being a pain in the ass to her, and he has no regrets. It's good to see her seeming more herself. ]

If half my house goes missing, I'll find another one.

Ugh, you're impossible!

[Hmph. He is beyond a pain in the ass. But, in a way, she's more focused on him being utterly obnoxious and trying to get this table cleaned that she hardly has time to dwell on certain things.

She takes a deep breath, then gently punches her open palm, trying to get herself pumped.]

Okay, so the steps are probably similar to creating a cake. Guess I should start by visualizing an empty table. Hmm... and then how it becomes empty...?

[She's not looking for commentary, just thinking out loud.]

[ Marui settles down on a spot of grass to watch, looking perfectly relaxed with his arms propping up his half-reclined lounge. He's paying attention, though-- and not just because the results could be entertaining. He's also interested in learning through observation. It's actually a neat idea Leia's got, and if it can be done, he wants to be able to do it, too. Leia is helpfully thinking it through aloud, letting him take in not just what she's doing but what she's thinking in the process. ]

[Thinking, thinking, thinking...]

I need something I can visualize that'll clean all this cake off. But what...?

[With how the cake is strewn all over, even if they did have things like towels and cloths, she'd go through too many of them. Now, if there was a hose...

Oh. Wait.]

Yeah, water! And we're outside, so the rain could wash it all away! Just gotta make sure it only rains right over the table. And if I can get a cake to materialize in a specific spot, then making it rain in that same spot shouldn't be that difficult.

[Perfectly sound logic to her. It makes total sense. Just got to put it into action now.]

All right! Time to get serious, Leia!

[ When Marui sat down to watch, what he envisioned was something more like enchanting a bunch of dishrags and mops that would move as though controlled by a crew of invisible workers, like in that one cartoon movie he saw as a kid.

As Leia continues her stream of consciousness monologue, it becomes increasingly evident that she's taking this in a very different direction. Marui sits up. His train of thought proceeds thusly:

Wait, she's gonna do this with rain?

She's gonna create rain.

It's a chilly November afternoon.

Has she thought this through...?

Of course she hasn't, she's been sharing every thought aloud already.

This is gonna end badly.

But trying to talk her out of it is probably a waste of energy.

Well, experience is the best teacher after all. Guess I'll be sharing my jacket again.

Here we go. ]

[She closes her eyes to help with the visualization. There's the exploded cake mess all over the table. And now the rain. She imagines the clouds churning overhead, picking up speed, growing darker...

A low rumble is heard up above. She's got the clouds moving. Then the rain soon follows- sprinkles at first, barely anything. One by one they increase in quantity, the rain falls harder before the sky, so to speak, opens up, and it quickly becomes a torrential downpour.

Right over the table. It remains contained within a small radius.

... Which includes where Leia is standing.

The cake is very quickly washed away, along with Leia's pride.

But as the rain slowly comes to a stop, she turns around, completely soaked, not the first time he's seen her like this, and smiles sheepishly.]

See? The table's all clean now!

[And sneezes.]

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