Picnicking in the woods - RPLOG
Participants
Date
7/5/477
Log
A mumble leaves Trace's beak as he moves through the forest, using a small amount of air magic to keep the branches out of the way as he moves along the wild-trail.
Soon enough, he and his companion reach the small clearing that he mentioned earlier, with a clear lake surrounded by various flora and of course, fauna. Most of the creatures present are the Luma Moths, together with the odd squirkik collecting nuts or berries.
The kite seems nervous as usual, although his mood is brighter than usual. Sveta frowns at Trace's mumbling. Someday, she's going to have to break him of that habit, and makes a mental note to do so. The goshawk's glimmering hair sways faintly in the forest breeze as she follows a little way behind Trace, burdened with a large wicker basket in one hand.
"I'm a little surprised that you actually asked me to come out," she says. "Eastbank is supposed to be nice at this time of year, though. Shame the spring blossoms don't appear to have really come out yet, though. Where are we going?" "R-right here?" Trace offers as he gestures at the clearing and the lake.
Again, he mumbles softly, before looking back to Sveta, smiling faintly and nodding a little.
"I... I made some progress with bigger spells, I guess? Not... Not a lot, though..."
He pauses a moment, using a mixture of air and earth magic to blow the dirt and pebbles out of the way to provide a soft spot for the picnic blanket. "Very nice," is all Sveta says before opening the basket and bringing out a small folding griddle and half a jar of oily wax with a half-dozen fat wicks in it. Quickly she kneels down to set out the cloth, then the griddle and fuel to one side on a flat-topped rock before bringing out a small stack of thin flatcakes. "It's good to hear you're making progress..." she pauses a moment, looks up at Trace and smiles sweetly. "Would you mind lighting the fuel for me?" "Not... A lot of progress, though," the kite mumbles, even as he draws a few simple lines in the air. Soon enough, a small wisp lights the fire, and he nods again. Small spells weren't an issue in the slightest, after all.
His eyes cast around the area for a moment, before settling back on Sveta with a hesitant smile, quick to assist her in stalling out the contents of the basket. There's meat, fruit, some other greens, and even some fish of sorts. "I, erm... E-enjoy?" he offers with a gesture to the food, waiting for her to take the first bite. "Some is better than none." In addition to what Trace's brought, there're also small pots of jam and honey - the flatcakes in themselves are thin, flavourless circles of unleavened dough which serve as excellent wrappers for anything at all.
At the sight of the spread, Sveta laughs. "You didn't bring a little of everything to try and figure out which I'd go for first, did you? It's a valid strategy, I suppose, but I'll eat most things, you know. Can't say I have a particular taste for anything...but it's how it's prepared that really does count." That said, though, she does smear a little honey on one of the flatcakes, wrap up a small piece of fruit in it, and sets it down on the griddle. After a moment's thought, she does the same to another piece. "M-maybe?" Trace mutters guiltily, before preparing a modest chunk of meat for himself and using a small amount of fire magic to sear it, before wrapping it in a flatcake, along with a few greens.
Meanwhile, he's preparing a small, simple salad of sorts while keeping a watchful eye on the meat in the process. Sveta smiles sweetly - which may or may not be the case, reaching forward to lightly touch Trace on the forearm. "Either you did or you didn't, you know. There's no 'maybe' when it comes to that. Neither did I say anything about it being wrong or anything..." she sets down her honeyed flatcake on a plate and begins rubbing Trace's feathers between the thumb and forefinger of her silky gloves. "Well...?" Trace mumbles a moment longer, still looking at the food he's preparing. "I-I guess I did?" the kite offers at a moment of deliberation, taking a bite from his salad.
Another few minutes, and he seems to be satisfied with the meat, lifting the flatcake away from the heater again and digging in proper.
He doesn't seem to mind the touch of Sveta's fingers, though his eyes do cast a curious glance in her direction as he continues his meal. "There. That wasn't so bad, was it?" Slowly, Sveta withdraws her hand and sets to warming more of the flatcakes before turning her attention to her own meal. True to her word, she has a bit of everything, although the fish is touched a little less than the others.
"So...what is it you see in me, anyway?" Trace swallows. Hard. He looks up at Sveta, silently, almost as if trying to sort out his thoughts for himself.
"I-I don't know... I mean, you're pretty? E-erm...You're nice to talk to?" he offers hesitantly, clearly struggling with his words.
Finally, he looks down to the ground, mumbling to himself again. Sveta says nothing, just tilts her head, a little more each time Trace struggles out with some words. At last, the goshawk laughs and reaches out to knead one of his shoulders, flapping a little to steady herself as she does so.
"It's a hard question, I know. Although I must say there are many other pretty faces in Firmament. To be honest, I was expecting you to lock up completely - you'd probably have done that when I first met you. But please, enough of my questions. Why don't you ask me something for a change?" Trace nods and mutters softly, before looking up at Sveta. "Why... Why d-do you keep up with, erm... M-me being, w-well... Me?" he finally decides, after thinking for a good while, taking the time to prepare another chunk of meat. Sveta considers the question a moment, taking her time to finish a rather broad lettuce leaf and moving onto some chicken breast, carefully wrapping it up and taking a thoughtful bite. "A long story, Trace. It eventually comes back to what my father told me about males. I could try to snag one who was already someone worth putting up with - with the attendant problem that I would be fitting into his life. Not a deal-breaker, but not ideal, either.
The alternative would be to find someone who showed promise, and...work with him, in a manner of speaking.
No, I wouldn't have given you the time of day, if I was looking at the present instead of the future. Who someone is, as opposed to who they could be. And that's about -" she conjures a small shower of water with a snap of her fingers to wash her hands with - "as much directness as you'll be getting out of me today." A light nod, a slight mutter from the kite. He seems to have a question on the proverbial tip of the tongue, before he simply mumbles and looks away for a bit. "I... See," he finally mumbles before going silent once more. Sveta tilts her head at Trace's indecisiveness, but doesn't pry any further. He'll be willing to speak when the right time has come. For now, though, she concentrates on getting some food inside her and enjoying the relaxing atmosphere - sometimes, the dangers of Eastbank really are just stories made up to scare the young. Again, the kite mutters, his feathers ruffled lightly by a gust of air, before he re-focuses his attention upon Sveta. "So, long story short... I'm a project," he mumbles, frowning lightly as he looks down to the ground, his feathers lightly ruffled, even as he takes a bite out of a piece of fruit. "Everyone's a project of some sort, if you really want to put it in such a vulgar way," Sveta replies between bites. "We all influence one another just by being around others, let alone speaking, or going out on picnics as we are right now. It's just that some are more mindful, or honest about doing so, from our parents to our friends to our mentors. Do you feel any worse off for it, Trace?" A mumble, a slight huff. "I mean... Not... Not if you put it like that, but," the kite mumbles, looking back at sveta and twitching lightly. "I... How would you feel if someone... If someone told you 'well, you're not what I'm looking for... But I'm sure we can turn you into it?'" he mumbles, followed by a twitch. "So long as it dovetailed with who I wanted to be? At least they would have been honest about it. It's what every single parent, mentor, lover and friend has ever done...and if you're getting so upset about me, why don't you try and turn the tables and turn me into someone you'd like to be with? Or at least, even more than I am already? At least you can try and cure me of this bad habit?" Sveta says with a small laugh. Trace mumbles and twitches lightly, his eyes casting around the area, before he tosses a bit of bread towards a squirkik. The little critter quickly collects the crumbs up in its cheeks, before scampering off again.
At her suggestion of him changing her, he mumbles a bit, though he stays mostly silent, trying to mull everything over in his mind. "It's not something we like to think about, even when we knowingly do it. But understanding unpleasant truths at least help us prepare to face whatever they mean. A pleasant lie just makes for more unpleasantness down the road." She smiles and ruffles Trace's feathers. "Come on, don't look so sullen."
Trace mumbles. "There's... A difference between doing something consciously and doing it subconsciously," the kite mutters after a bit of contemplation, before nodding lightly and admitting a soft huff, before his sullen mood is broken by her touch, and he smiles, albeit a bit forced.
"Yes, but I wouldn't say that any mentor aiming to mould their protege into a better being is morally wrong, are they? Come to think of it...who was your mentor? You ought to have had quite the impressive teacher to be able to do that much. Cedric told me some of it, he did."
"Well... I... I did go to Cliffside," Trace mumbles, frowning lightly. "I had... Two mentors... Alfred Whitefur. Gifted mage when it came to lightning. Well, he used to be my mentor for a long time... Until that one day," the kite mumbles, before looking away. "After that, they mostly kept the fire and air spells away from me. And the other one was Mattheus Ironclaw... Great with earth-magic... But earth is... Well, I'm good with it, but it's not my element."
Sveta merely chooses to keep quiet and nod, offering Trace a particular piece of flatbread with jam and honey on it. She may by blunt at times, but she's not that blunt. "Here, have some. Unless you're no fan of sweet things?"
"I'm... I'm just glad I... Didn't kill the guy," Trace mutters after a while, hesitantly taking the flatbread and working it down slowly but surely, muttering a little to himself, as if he's convinced he just did something wrong.
"You're glad you didn't kill...oh. I see. An accident. Those things happen, you know." Sveta is quiet for some time, clearly thinking, then sighs. "I won't ask for the details, but you should know them. And did you ever know what exactly went wrong, or -" she leans in a little closer, perhaps too close - "have you not tried? I should not be asking, but..."
"I... I lost control. As Cedric probably told you, I simply can't control the bigger, more complicated spells, even though I should be able to, by now... There's just... There's a very sharp cut-off... Beyond that, I lose control... A spell fizzles, goes the wrong way, or spirals out of control..."
"I...see." She sighs. "I think we're approaching the root of the problem here. I'm not going to say anything about you or your situation until you know more about it, but...listen to Cedric. And listen to me. You can't kill me by accident, so don't worry about it, all right?" A mumble, a twitch. "I realize that the problem is somewhere in that direction... I mean, I've been able to cast slightly larger spells in the years since the accident, but... Not a whole lot... Like, increase the fire just a little bit, but nothing I could really call... Progress."
"Keep at it. Perhaps when I do have the time, I'll have to observe for myself instead of going through hearsay, but that can wait for another time." Sveta puts on a pleasant smile. "Come on. This is supposed to be fun, yet we've done nothing but talk about heavy subjects for almost the entire time we've been here - I'm supposed to be the stick in the mud here. Why don't you tell me something more about yourself, then?"
"I... I told you most of the things already, though... Grew up in the countryside near Cliffside, parents managed to scrounge up enough money to send me to the academy there, wound up here... Oh, and... I used to do cliffdiving, I suppose? I don't think I mentioned that one before," he mumbles after another good moment of contemplation.
"The feeling of the wind blowing through your feathers, the air rushing past your body..."
"There's always more to a person than meets the eye at first glance, even if they don't think it important. No, you didn't tell me that you used to do that - we don't have that many cliffs in these parts, or at least, not sea cliffs - if you jumped off the lighthouse the street's all that's below. Then buying an airship ticket is expensive enough to not want to waste it just jumping off...although I will add, for someone who's afraid of so many things, it's nice to know that falling isn't one of them."
"Afraid isn't... Isn't the right word," Trace mumbles after a moment of thought, before looking back around. "I'm... I'm sure there's some place I could take flight without drawing on magic too much, if not the way I did it back home... It's not so much about the jump, it's the way you start and control the action..."
"The main thing my tutors kept repeating over and over is that you're supposed to steer the energy along, instead of forcing it... Same with flying cliffdive. Don't launch yourself with magic, or you'll be burning a lot of energy just to get in the air... Use it to steer the flight instead."
"You'll have to show it to me sometime, then," Sveta says. "Do a practical demonstration. It should be fun, shouldn't it? Pucture being worth a thousand words and all that."
Trace nods and mumbles a little. "It's not that hard... The question is *where*," he begins explaining. "Either a high, steep place where you can build up momentum, like a cliff... Or you find a place where the airflow blows you up into the sky, preferably in a straight line, and then work from there..."
Sveta nods and takes another bite of food, chewing thoughtfully. "Most who do fly usually don't think about how it's done. It's like walking, one supposes, one just does it. Although it's good to hear that this has actually been studied to some extent."
"Well... You /can/ launch yourself from the ground... I mean, that's essentially how airships work... But if you have nature do that job for you, it leaves you more energy to stay in-flight... If that makes sense? I mean, I know it works... Made it to the quarter-finals in the competitions for distance twice... And made second place in a smaller, region-based competition."
Sveta smiles and takes another bite. "Now you're sounding like you're bragging. If that's meant to impress me, it is, but probably not quite in the sense you thought it would." A small laugh. "Come on, have something. You took the trouble to get all this food, and you haven't had that much, have you? Best not to let it go to waste."
"I'm... Not really the kind to brag," Trace mumbles, before shaking his head and setting to make another bite of food. "I... I mean, it's nice that it's an impressive achievement, I suppose, but... I'm not really in it to win, I guess. As I said... The feeling of the air rushing through your feathers while you're moving at high speeds... It's... Something."
Sveta says nothing for a little while, simply staring - well, not quite at Trace, but some point past Trace's shoulder, as if not quite there. Eventually, though, she blinks and leans back, propping herself up with her arms. "I do believe this has been quite enjoyable so far."
A mumble, a nod as Trace looks out over the clearing for a moment, smiling faintly. "I... I enjoyed myself as well, so far," he mutters with a slight click of the beak, before he looks around and smiles faintly. Even so, he does look over his shoulder after a moment, trying to figure out what exactly Sveta was staring at, if not himself.
"No, there's nothing there, silly. I was just thinking. Well, that settles that, then. The food's almost all gone, perhaps we should head for home?"
"I suppose we should? Any... Any stops you'd like to make on the way? I... I mean, if... If you want me to be more forward... I-I think I want you to make some decissions, too, maybe," he mumbles, looking down at the ground again, muttering softly to himself.
"That's quite thoughtful of you, but I'm not the one needing a lesson in decisiveness, and I'd like to leave it to someone else every now and the. That being said, though, I don't think I have anywhere I need to go, so it'd be appreciated if you just saw me to the door."
Trace nods and mumbles. "I... I can do that... But that wasn't what I meant. I... I don't mind making decissions. But you're making me make... well, most, if not all of them... I don't like that part," he mumbles with a slight frown, before standing up and offering a hand to help Sveta up.
Sveta accepts the hand, gripping it a little more tightly than is strictly necessary. "We all do things that we don't like, Trace. If we never wandered out of our comfort zones, we'd never grow. That being said...I'll go a little easier on you. Just a little." She grabs the basket with her other hand, heaves herself to, and begins clearing up. "Come on, then. It's a long walk back."
A nod, a smile, a twitch. "Alright... After you, milady," he mumbles, smiling faintly as he uses a burst of air to lift up the cloth and folds it over quickly and neatly.
