[PRP] Just Hadouken It! (Horace & Shiloh)

[The Semblance of Unity]

Alright, so Horace had mostly figured out that sometimes he went into an alternate Ashdown (with less people, so honestly, it was perfect for him). And also that this had something to do with the people who were predisposed to being magical. So, that meant logically he was magical, too, right? His logical was undeniable; sadly, he smirked at his own mental use of a movie quote. He was getting used to being alone and here, he didn't typically have to worry about meeting people.

This was the reason he'd picked a relatively clear lot and was trying to summon the magic from inside himself. Frankly, Horace had no idea how it all worked, but he dropped into a low horse stance and held out his hands.

"Haaaadouken!" he yelled loudly, hoping something would happen. Hmm, maybe his hand positioning was wrong.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh knew Otherworld pretty well by this point, and he had little issues traversing it. Othercreatures left him alone for the most part (aside from the occasional tiff with Beel) and he usually didn't run into anyone from Ashdown. Even so, running into them at least meant another face he could eventually associate with trust.

Today? He found himself watching the actions of another man—someone who didn't look terribly older than he was—as he tried to... do some weird sort of dragon ball z s**t? Shiloh didn't know, he didn't keep up with television shows or animes. Anyway, it had been going on a solid five minutes now, and he decided to finally step in.

"Ain't it like," He spoke in a slow drawl as he approached Horace, "Kame-hahme-haaaa?" He stressed every syllable in a way that he really obviously hadn't seen the show outside of memes; not to mention the fact that he was clear off of the mark in the first place.

"Anyway, whatever you're doin' ain't really workin' too swell." Thanks, captain obvious.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Horace jumped when Shiloh spoke. He hadn't noticed the other man's approach, possibly because he'd been so ridiculously focused on his own delusion. He immediately stood up straight and rubbed his undercut nervously.

"DBZ versus Street Fighter..." Horace shrugged and smiled. "Didn't hurt to try, did it? So does kamehameha work for you, Goku?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Who the ******** is Goku?" Shiloh squinted up at Horace, apparently undeterred despite everything. Whatever; he shrugged, "I don't gotta use real world culture to use magic, but I knew someone who did. It worked pretty good for her." The thought of Heliodora made him a little sad still, but that was in the past.

"Wait, you are trying to do magic, right?" He tilted his head.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"G-goku?" He almost choked. "The one who used kamehameha." How could someone know the move and not the user? He looked down at Shiloh, puzzled expression on his face.

"And, yeah, trying to do magic... I don't get how it works. But being here means I'm magic, right? So I should be able to, I dunno... do something cool."

melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Oh. The spiky haired guy? Monkey tail?" This was the extent of his dragon ball z knowledge. He shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, because it honestly wasn't to him particularly. He was not a wealth of pop culture, and had little intentions of ever becoming one.

"But yeah I mean, generally. This is Otherworld." He scuffed the ground with his shoe, not really wanting to explain, but finding his duty as a noble to do it anyway, "Or Other Ashdown. Some people don't like Otherworld too much." He looked up at the sky and the notable absence of rain.

With a little bit of thought and urging, he produced a small bud on the pavement. He coaxed it with a fluid motion of his hand, and the bud bloomed—a small sprout burst forth—and it climbed into the sky like a beanstalk. Maybe it was a beanstalk. Shiloh wasn't sure. A dainty little flower popped out at the top regardless of what the ******** it was.

"You can basically do whatever you set your mind to here." He explained dully, "Magic is all about intent—it sounds easy 'n all, but it's hard to grasp. Took me a while. Still don't got it completely." He shrugged, "Just gotta practice. The ******** you even trying to do?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I like it here." He shrugged. "Less people, after all." Horace opened his mouth to speak again and then abruptly clicked it shut. There was plant magic going on.

When Shiloh asked his question Horace reluctantly tore his gaze from the miracle of nature. "Uh, I was trying to... summon a giant ball of lightning to defeat my enemies?" He had the grace to look vaguely ashamed. "I thought it would be... kind of cool, you know. So how'd you do that?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

If Horace looked ashaned, Shiloh didn't seem to appear mocking or teasing. Instead he snorted with amusement, his hand curling into a fist. The vine browned and withered and disintegrated as quickly as it came, as if it had never been there at all.

"That's pretty damn legit." His eyes sparkled. Had this been a time before the void and before Court, he'd probably be trying to do the same. "I'm sure you could. You can do anything in Otherworld."

Again, easier said than done.

"Magic is all about belief and intent." He explained as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, "But it's deeper than just thinking it and having it happen. Heliodora--she was a friend--she helped me and my other buddy out a while ago. She attached her magic to pop culture to give it a better ground in casting." He shrugged, "It doesn't make much sense I guess. Once you do it you just... kinda get s feel for it."

Shiloh was not made out to be a teacher.

The semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Horace frowned as the vine withered. The lord giveth and the lord taketh away, as his grandmother was fond of saying.

"Ground her magic?" Horace frowned in thought. Having a teacher would definitely be useful. "Did Heliodora teach you all that and is she still taking students?" Horace didn't think he could do anything without a little help.

melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh's eyebrows shot up and his eyes glimmered with a sort of disappointment. "Not anymore, she's sorta dead." Not sort of, was. Rewritten completely out of existence, she was basically as dead as dead could get.

"There's lots of people who could teach you though, maybe." Mercer came to mind as a possibility, Algernon... "I could try? But I ain't good at explaining."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Sorta?" Was sort of dead an actual existing condition in this place? Horace was used to all-dead people and not half-dead or anything like that. He looked at Shiloh.

"You could teach me plant stuff - do you know other things?"

melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Yeah, it's kinda complicated." Shiloh scratched the back of his head. "Like, she basically never even existed in the first place now I guess?" He shrugged again awkwardly, if not nonchalantly.

"Anyway, nothing anyone can really do about it now." Shiloh sighed, but went on without a beat, "Plants are sorta my specialty? I didn't pick 'em but they're neat." He looked down at his hands as he wiggled his fingers, "Oh! I guess I can do this too—" he cupped his hands and produced a brilliant (if not useless) ball of light. It floated up and orbited around him like the sun. "My best friend can shapeshift, but I dunno if that's taught so well as it is contracted. And I know some old farts that are neck deep in this s**t if you want their numbers." His eyes glimmered, "Otherwise I'm all you really got, bud."

He hesitated for a moment before throwing a hand out.

"Shiloh Beaumont, by the way." He was rather blithe about the whole thing.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

He rubbed his undercut again, awkwardly. "Does that just happen to people? The not existing thing..." Horace was a simple man with simple desires, he just wanted to shoot out electricity balls without worrying about disappearing.

"Nice alt to a flashlight, that. And yeah, I'd love to learn. I'd take your numbers and your knowledge. Though I'll pass on getting infected without whatever space virus your friend has." He grinned. "Horace Nokoni."

melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Long story, but you prolly don't got anything to worry about." That was Shiloh's new problem, he thought as he wheezed, "Anyway, shapeshifting is totally cool. Some of them are foxes and wolves and s**t? My boyfriend's a rabbit." He seemed immensely proud of this fact, to the point where he had to share it.

"But cool, cool, I'll write them down later." He shook his hand, jumping at the static shock that greeted him, but writing it off. He let go, snapped his fingers, the light fizzled out. "Anyway it's like, magic, alright." He took a deep breath, "Like I said, it's all about intent and belief. You gotta like, will it to be real. I think that's why Heliodora used pop culture with her spell casting? It gave it a base in reality or somethin'." He scratched his head, but then crouched down on the pavement.

With a little bit of concentration, another tiny bud popped out of the ground.

"So like, try and focus on this. Try and imagine what it'll look like when it blooms—be like alright little buddy, you're gonna be SUCH a kickass flower." He wiggled his fingers, "Picture it and will it to grow. But uh, try not to give yourself a headache. It prolly won't happen immediately and casting is a lot more exhausting than it seems."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

He snorted. "Ok, don't hate me for saying this, but he's the rabbit and you're the-" His lips quirked up and he gestured to the withered plant. "The rabbit food." Horace was suitably distracted from the silly joke by Shiloh effectively utilizing a variation of 'clap on, clap off' to make his light dissipate. Pretty neat.

"Willing things to be real seems kind of, I dunno, like if it were that easy, why can't I fly kind of thing." But he dutifully crouched down and stared at the flower. Really hard, squinting his eyes. Horace imagined the flower opening, all yellow and sunny. C'mon, he thought, ******** do the thing. After a few minutes, he blinked and shook his head before resuming staring at the flower. Nothing was happening.

Fed up with it, he jabbed his finger at the flower. "Grow!" A spark of electricity leapt from the tip of his finger, singeing one of the leaves. "Uh... oops."

melancholies