[PRP] Well gosh (Camila & Alexis)

[Melancholies]

Mila didn't have the best memory really, but it was a lot better than she thought. That, or the whole fire festival was really burned (ha) into her mind, because she was suddenly recognizing a fair amount of people in the crowd. They were surface level things, but they'd always eventually click after the fact, usually when it was too late, that oh, she knew them from that.

So, when she was scrutinizing another individual with that same oh, where do I know them from thing, she made herself come from the realization a lot sooner.

"Ummmmmm— Excuuuuse me?" She sidled up to Alexis, a little awkward, but very friendly, "Do I know you?"

Another mental note: the magical community really liked parks, and getting out and about, or whatever. Alexis sure looked different with the short hair, but the anklet was what drew the connection full circle.

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

Alexis was scrunched up onto one side of a bench, one leg kicked over the side and the other folded around in what looked like it should probably be an uncomfortable position; they were watching squirrels, eyes kind of glazed-over in the way that conveyed i'm honestly doing fine but this isn't necessarily what i want to be doing?. They turned to look at Mila as she approached, not bothering to actually sit up, just turning their head to acknowledge her.

"Kinda? You were the newbie, weren't you. The one with Clark." They frowned at Temperance's last name, a little petulant. "I can't do any magic for you, if that's what you're gonna ask."

MeIancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Mila blinked, "Oh." She wasn't expecting them to be so... outright about magic. Was that why they had the anklet in the first place? Gosh. "N-No, no, nothing like that! I just... I dunno." She looked to the ground for a little bit, "After that whole ordeal, I think I'm good on the magic stuff for a while. Is it okay if I sit here?"

She was already sitting there.

"But if you can't do magic, then how were you there?" She tilted her head, "I thought only magical people could. Y'know. Be... on the other side. Anyway, I only came to ask how you were. Is that silly? I mean, sure, I don't know you, but—" She shook her head, "—it doesn't mean I'm not concerned. It was kinda scary... I'm Camila by the way."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"Not gonna stop you," Alexis grumbled, and correspondingly made no actual effort to move Mila whatsoever aside from shifting their ankle a few inches to make her position more comfortable. "Nah. Used to have magic." Their voice went softer, almost gentle, and they turned their head away to the squirrels again. "Spinel Lady took it from me. Thought it might come back now she's dead, but I guess not, huh?"

"Nasir took me there. Y'can bring people w'out magic there -- just takes a little preparation. And I'm..." Alexis hesitated for a second. "Better. Let's go with that." Their arms were still a little shiny, whorled flesh; probably always would be. It didn't seem to be paining them too much.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Nasir! He was the boy with the cute squirrel." She smiled, apparently happy to have a common friend. "Who's the Spinel Lady? She sounds really powerful if she was able to take that from you... but I guess if she's dead..." The smile on Mila's face melted into a frown, "Magic sure seems to be a magnet for death, doesn't it?"

She was watching Alexis' burned arms curiously.

"Surely there'd have to be some way to get it back, right? I mean... the way it was explained to me, magic can do anything, so..." She fumbled with her hands in her lap, "Oh but, I don't really know that much about magic, so I shouldn't be talking. If it wasn't for the little spell I was able to cast back then, I still wouldn't believe I was capable myself..."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"You wouldn't have met her," Alexis mumbled to themself, "but she was - uh - she was the Court." Unconsciously, their posture improved; their spine straightened, their shoulders leveled, fingers went tap-tap-tap in perfect rhythm against the bench's slats. "Tall, hot, evil. Y'know the type." Tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap. "The Court was built out'f her blood and bone and they made her into a monster. Can't be mad about what she did to me. I deserved it." Tap-tap-tap.

"I never got the hang of subtle magic. The only stuff I ever developed was all about being good at murder."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Mila was smiling, but in that weird concerned oh um geeze where do I put my hands kind of way. "M-Murder?"

Her eyes fell to the anklet again. Oh, but surely if they'd killed someone, they wouldn't be out and about right...

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"Oh my god," Alexis sighed, air hissed out through their teeth; they sounded annoyed but not actually mad, "I'm not even wearin' this for anythin' I did, christ. Has anyone told you about the world-jump a bunch'f us did back in November?" To be fair, it was probably pretty weird if you only thought about murder as an abstract concept, and not your own neck and your own teeth - and Mila was so gentle, so fidgety, like a bird first learning to fly. Maybe she was too gentle for this. Maybe a lot of them were.

"What've you heard about all this in general, actually? I've been, uh." They swallowed. "Little bit out of the loop since April, but I can try t'fill you in."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"W-World jump?" Mila looked overwhelmed. She was overwhelmed. She was fidgeting too, like a tiny little finch, "I um, no... no I don't think so..." She drooped a little, "A-All I know is magic—it's kind of dangerous! Real dangerous, but it's um—it's... cool too. And useful. And can do lots of good things, except when it doesn't... like, y'know..." She started to play with her hair; it was something for her hands to do.

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

Alexis breathed in.  Breathed out.  The way they looked at Mila was nothing short of pity.

"Okay, so - a lot of us are from a world where magic wasn't a thing? We all developed it after comin' to Ashdown, eventually,  but it wasn't - magic was fake stage s**t.  Rabbits in hats, sleight of hand.  I developed mine a year ago against a helldeer, not back in high school, what my records say. Then the principals, the people who made the cage, locked magic away, made the Spinel Lady out of a ******** innocent's body - " They swallowed.  "All three of 'em got killed and the world broke.  And we fell in on Halloween."

Alexis stopped, for a second, and waited for any questions Mila might have.

Melancholies

uuugh phone tagggg

 

[Melancholies]

Mila's eyes were wide, but she was trying her best to follow, bless her poor confused as ******** heart. A simple "hey, how's it going" had turned into this mess, and she couldn't help but feel like she was annoying Alexis; actually, she didn't know their name.

"So um." She fidgeted, "You're like an extra-dimensional alien?"

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"And that," Alexis groaned, "is why someone else should've explained this t'you before it was my turn, because I'm ******** s**t at this. No, not like that. Imagine -" they hummed, a fierce little note, trying to figure out a concept that made sense - "okay. Imagine you're standin' in front of a mirror. The you in the mirror - if they were a person, they'd be just like you, right? But in reverse, kinda. It's kind'f like that. Does that make any sense?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"So you're all dopplegangers?" She blinked, and then gasped, "Or is it more of a persona-y shadow self thing??? But then I guess that means you guys would be..." Well, they did just say they were built for murder, oh nooooooo...

"I guess that makes sense..." She kicked her feet. "Are there a lot of you?"

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"We replaced t''us' from this reality." Alexis scrunched their nose up, a little offended-like, even though nothing bad had happened. "'s about 80 percent of the listserv at this point, yeah? Sounds about right." Tap-tap-tap. "Don't ******** around with magic. You'll get people killed even if you don't mean to. Those people aren't ever comin' back." Tap-tap-tap. "We didn't even know what we did when we remade th'sigil. We just wanted t'live." They weren't looking at Mila anymore, not really.

"This isn't my life. It's someone else's life who looked exactly like me, and now they're gone and I have to deal with what they did."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Mila definitely wasn't qualified for this. "Well... that sure is something, isn't it?" Was Temperance a weird doppleganger too? "So then, most of the people... at that meeting with the Charter... They were like that too, weren't they?" She did a quiet ho-hum...

"I'll um... I'll keep that in mind though, about the magic. It's a shame it has to be that way..." She looked at the anklet again, feeling somewhat guilty. Then she looked away. "You never told me your name."

Daekie