[PRP] brand new moves (leila & nasir)

[azuredreams]

Nasir was shuffling on his feet, double checking his text and then realizing that he knew this house. Or, at least, he had known it before this new reality. The house that had been next to the Mercers, the one that did not have that younger married couple in it, had been occupied but for the life of him he could not remember who it had been.

It was familiar and reassuring considering he was coming to meet someone he hadn't really met before. Nasir had only briefly seen Leila a handful of times (one of which was Blackfriars) but he knew that she was on the path of becoming a warg herself just like him.

Which was why he was standing at the door and knocking, a basket on his arm that was covered with a checkered cloth. He was dressed warmly, though that did involve a long skirt over tights, and tugged his scarf down from his neck so that he could properly speak when someone came to the door.

(He was so nervous, hoping he wasn't bothering anyone or interrupting something.)

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

The staccato burbling and clucking of chickens were audible from the backyard, and this noise was accompanied by the crabby hemming of finches as Leila opened the door with a cautious but welcoming smile.

"Hey! I've met you a couple times, right? You're gonna find that thing under the couch cushions."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

The sounds of chickens had Nasir blinking, shifting on his feet and wondering if he could - just perhaps - see them. Except that then Leila was there and opening the door and he was settling back flatly on his feet.

"Yeah," he replied, before- "Under the cushions? Okay, I'll remember." Obviously there was going to be something under the cushions (and he took that in stride). "We kind of ran into each other a couple times but not really met and, uh ..." Nasir was nudging his glasses up his nose. "America told me about you?" He was nervous, hoping that was okay to say. "That you could also help?"

A ruddy red darkened his cheeks. "I should introduce myself properly. I'm Nasir, Nasir Vasile."

cibarium

and then i leave out the part where nasir doesn't know if he should offer a hand or hug because he does both in greeting but he's too nervous for some reason u___u

 

[cibarium]

America told him about her, huh? That was points in Leila's book, and he already had a high score considering Eve's tales about him. "Nice to meet you," she cheerily replied. "Want to come in, then? If America told you about me, I'm guessing you're here for warg stuff."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Nasir smiled, wide and friendly and warmly. "Thanks," for inviting him in, "and ... it kind of is? The other part is to bring you some baked goods. I brought Eve some once and meant to bring more by for the both of you but things have been hectic."

The basket on his arm was held out briefly as he followed after Leila. (Though he might have still been looking, very briefly, for the makers of the noises he had heard.)

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

The ooh, goodies! face was strong with Leila as she accepted the basket to open on the coffee table, and the happy expression brightened further as she discovered it contained a stack of lemon bars. Wonderful, delicious, perfect lemon bars. Across cycles there were three universal constants about Leila, and one of them was her love for lemon bars. Needless to say, she was utterly delighted. (She wondered for a second if Ezra would like them).

Effusive thanks were given as she moved to noisily unwrap one of her favored treats and break off a bite-sized piece to gobble down. "You make a habit of spoiling people, don't you?" she slyly quipped. "I'm not complaining. I still have some work cut out for me until I'm a real warg, but I can do my best to help. Wanna meet Biscuit?"

Leila had taken a small but telling glance in the direction of the backyard when making the offer. Unless the chickens were one hell of a ruse, her meaning was quite evident.

azurereams

 

[azuredreams]

"I do," Nasir replied sheepishly, following after Leila (and ridiculously happy that she was enjoying the lemon bar), "because cooking is just another way to look after people, you know?" He was very much a mother hen in training, alright.

Not that he wasn't still a ruddy red. "I haven't really managed myself? I got blindsided with it. I freaked out my boyfriend when it happened the first time ..." As he saw the chickens, his eyes widened behind his glasses. There might have even been an eye sparkle. "Is- Biscuit is your familiar? And it's a chicken? That's so cool. I'd love to!"

c1barium

 

[cibarium]

It was a different story than the one Leila had to give, but bits enough of it were familiar enough for her to give an easy smile as she led Nasir back through the dining area of the house. "Yeah... even if you had been prepared, it still would have surprised you," she humbly confessed. "America helped me understand that it's something huge, what your familiar is offering. It changes you, and changes them too."

Biscuit was already pacing intently on the other side of the sliding glass door separating the dining room from the backyard. Even if it weren't for her enthusiasm, it would be easy to pick her out from the other four: her eyes had become a stormy grey that matched Leila's almost exactly.

"You can grab a cereal box if you want to bribe them," she smiled. "Then tell me more about your new buddy."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"I didn't even realize," Nasir admitted, "that that was going on. I kept finding little presents at my flower box. America explained it's like it's making a home in here," he tapped a finger to his temple, "and here," a finger tap to his chest and heart, "and that it's more than a little wonderful."

He was transfixed with Biscuit (and the other chickens) and he looked to Leila with a quick nod. That cereal box was absolutely grabbed. "I was scared at first? I didn't really know what was happening and the headaches were pretty bad at the beginning ..." Another sheepish smile. "... but it's a southern flying squirrel, I think. Really kind of active at night, likes to bark at people, oh and it likes corn on the cob!"

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

"Headaches seem to come packaged with the psychic s**t," Leila shrugged. "But based on what I learned from America, you're already doing good paying attention to those bits. She talked about how Mr. Bitterberry chose to connect with her because he saw traits he valued in her."

She'd led Nasir out from the porch to the yard proper, becoming surrounded by her flock of five large and affectionate chickens immediately. It had been difficult to get them trusting her again since the time travel deal, but now it was beginning to feel like all was forgiven on their part. "I wasn't planning to warg a chicken. But Biscuit was born with the aptitude, I think, and... sensed something she liked in me. She wasn't even a day old when she reached out to me. It was..."

Something she'd always wanted, but presented in ways she could never have expected?

"Anyway they're all friendly. Toots over here likes new people the most, especially with treats." Leila gestured down to a large white hen who could have been mistaken for a cloud at a distance. "You can feed them out of your hand, unless you'd feel safer with a cup or something."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"America told me to stock up on ibuprofen or whatever works best for me." Which he had and would continue to do so, though part of him hoped the headaches would lessen as time went on.

Nasir was very, very quiet and very, very enamored with all the chickens. Toots was definitely nearly mistaken for a cloud on the earth before he was crouching with the box in hand to look closer.

"This is kind of awesome, you know?" he said quietly, hand held out with treats for the chickens. "I mean that your Biscuit picked you and that you have this bond? I wasn't ... really sure that all the magic stuff was good to be a part," Nasir had been excessively worried, "but this is nice. I like it and really can't wait to properly meet my little friend."

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

"You mentioned corn on the cob, right? Sounds like you know an easy way to lure yours in. Should just be a matter of time..."

Once Toots accepted a bit of cereal, the other four were quick to follow... if Nasir had been starved for chicken attention now, there was certainly more than enough for him to take in now.

"Thing about magic is that it really isn't anything besides magic," Leila offered. "A lot of my experiences with it have been terrible. Plenty have been good too, even extraordinary. It made my connection to Biscuit possible, but also messed it up, in a way..." She shook her head. "Sorry, I'm getting all poetic when I should be thinking of advice."

azuredreas

 

[azuredreams]

"I've been trying with that," Nasir laughed a little, "but I think they're just as discombobulated as I am after December and that was a setback."

He had absolutely no problem with the attention and, once he was sure they were all there, he was sitting with his legs crossed in front of him and his feet tucked under his thighs. Nasir glanced back up at Leila and nodded. "No, that all kind of makes sense? For all of the terrible things I've heard about magic, I've heard some wonderful things too. I think going into this with an open mind and an open heart is the way to go?"

His attention flicked back to the chickens, cereal held out with a hand. "I really just ... wanted to meet someone else who was going through this too? Wil's not got magic, so far as we know, and the more people I can talk to about it that are okay, the less worried he'll be about me." Hopefully.

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

"You're starting to get a little Disney over here, kid." Leila didn't mean anything hostile by the remark, but between Jeremiah and Eve she got her regular fill of romanticism about magic. "Don't let that stop you from getting cranky when you wake up with a new power that isn't fun. It happens to everyone, trust me."

She sat crosslegged on the ground, which Biscuit took as an immediate cue to go sit on her lap, the allure of treats be damned.

"The December thing's what messed me up, too. I was, the me I replaced was more powerful than me. I've had to redo a lot of progress." Leila idly stroked her familiar's head and neck as she spoke.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Nasir flushed a deep ruddy red, ducking his head down. It wasn't a bad remark but he knew what she meant. "It doesn't. I mean, I was kind of a nervous wreck? I wasn't getting sleep and the headaches were, still are, pretty bad. Didn't seem like much of a swap for never running out of cooking ingredients ..."

It was, for him, better to be positive than negative because otherwise he was just- Well, not a waste of space but when he got nervous, he got bad.

"I don't think the me that I replaced was a warg? Magic, yes, but ..." His nose wrinkled up a bit, fingers reaching to softly touch feathers and then give more cereal. "I can guess that Biscuit was used to someone further along?"

cibarium