[ prp ] Fix it with Food (America & Sonny)

[Silverah]

"I'll see myself out," said Liam, rising from the table.

He waved from the doorway. "Have fun."

lizbot

shibrogane

dad's outtie

 

[shibrogane]

"That sounds like fun!" Sonny perked up, and made quick work of the dishes. "I can tell you some stuff about cage-making, if you want. I know a little bit."

lizbot

we can wrap here if u want but also we can keep goin >:3

 

[lizbot]

"Was nice meeting you, Mr. Liam," America calls out faintly. She'd likely see him again soon, in a class probably. Jesus wept, a class. About magic.

Pulling out a variety of cookie cutters, so recently bought the tags were still on, and a pile of little frosting tubes, she started lining up ingredients along the counter.

"I'd appreciate it you would, you're better at explaining than I am at reading," she laughs, a little chagrined and entirely grateful.

There were a lot of different shapes of cookie people, along with some birds, a cat, a dog. There were even ninjas. Some people were definitely getting their cookieselves for Christmas.

shibrogane

lets keep going then *___*

 

[shibrogane]

Sonny laid out the cookie cutters as America did the thing with the ingredients. "Well, obviously it's got a transference quality," she said. "Nothing's impossible, but usually you need a focal point that shares a likeness with the target of the cage. It's easier if the target's willing but usually they're not, because cage..."

She trailed off.

"Did you want me trapped, when you made the cage?"

lizbot

 

[lizbot]

Measuring out the wet and dry ingredients, America sloshes a cup of water over the floor and her sweater as she whips around in alarm. "No!" The exclamation is immediate and then she has to pause, because maybe they had, a little.

"Not like that, at least. It's like," her brow furrows, "...like when people break a leg or something, and so when its set there's a cast right? Not for trapping, but for supporting 'til it's safe to move around free."

There's flaws in the comparison, there's probably better ones, with trees and such but there's a feeling she may overthink that sort. Too close to the actual sigil, maybe.

"You're not broken though," America tries to assure the other girl, reaching for the paper towels to clean up. "But you were breaking and the world was breaking around you. You're so powerful, Sunny," she sighs, "and it was awesome and scary and you...there was something wrong. Like the person Sunny and the crazy powerful powerful Sunny weren't...existing right together. I just wanted you to be free and powerful and able to exist in the world. I wanted you to have a chance to grow into it, so nothing had to break."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Sonny paused to think about this. (She gestured, and the water evaporated as if it had never been.)

"I don't remember any of that," she said. "I know you're from another... reality, or something, but I think... I think you changed me. Papa's acting weird all the time, like he doesn't think I'm real. And Father's been avoiding me since the day the sigil was made. Maybe that's the day you came back?"

She looked down at her cookie cutters.

"Thank you for fixing me," she said. "I've been scared I'm broken for a long time. If this means I'm not... I guess it's okay."

lizbot

 

[lizbot]

"We did," America admits solemnly, getting up from the floor as the mess was simply gone, "...your memories are different, and that's enough to change just about anybody. And you look a bit different, too. It wasn't intentional. We meant to....to change the conditions, to stop the damage. Give us all another chance. And we did, but the sigil was so much more than we ever expected."

She starts measuring out spices after remembering to pre-heat the oven. "If you want to know about...about the other you, I can tell you. But if you don't, I won't mention her. I know what it's like to...to exist in the space someone left behind."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"Any kind of cage changes the conditions of the world," said Sonny. She peers over America's shoulder at the spice-measuring. "Magical cages that still allow the caged to continue as if nothing happened, I mean. You can make an unpickable lock, for instance, to put on a jail cell, or you could charm a door to never open, but a cage that the caged can't see is... different."

She pulled out an old-fashioned hand mixer, the kind with metal beaters. It looked old, but well-kept. "Father uses it to make quiche," she said. "Do you need it?"

lizbot

 

[lizbot]

America absently takes the beater, thinking hard. "They make new rules, 'stead of being under the old ones? You can make an unpickable lock, but if someone takes the door off its hinges then who cares about the lock. And a cage would be more like saying, there is no door, there never was. And then that's reality?" A pause and then the loud rrrrr-ing of the mixer fills the kitchen. Nudging the mixture, giving is another pass, she tastes the mix and nods in satisfaction before tapping off one beater and handing it to Sonny.

"Are cages real common, then? I guess if there's books about it, must not be a one at a time thing. The old one, I think it kept magic near entirely in Ashdown. I couldn't use it at all after I was away for a couple days."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Sonny nodded. "Yeah. It's really rare. Papa knows about it because, well... because." She scooped some batter onto her finger. "Most of the books are really old. From where-ever Papa and Father were before this. So everyone here thinks it's theory. And anyway, it's mostly for things not--people."

She licked the batter off her finger.

lizbot

 

[lizbot]

"Why would a thing need a cage?" It was time for plastic wrap and rolling pins, and America was not super great at make an even sheet of dough and so there was a brief deviation to discuss thickness and the merits of alternating cookie crispness. Some folks like them a little burny!

"To be honest, well...I'm not religious, much, but my Aunt Prudie was. So each time I've heard about Enemies and Cages and such, I've been thinking of it...all biblical like. But it seems it's not like that at all."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Sonny said, "It wasn't for good reasons," like this was an obvious thing. "It used to be popular in old dynasties to curse favored pets. Toto eats your baby, suddenly you don't have an heir or a dog."

She shook her head. "It's not that clear-cut at all."

lizbot

 

[lizbot]

The sheets of dough eventually make their way to the freezer for a quick firming up, and America settles again at the counter. "Do you know what happened? To make folks think the old sigil, that cage, was needed?"

There's a huff of laughter, "I must sound so ********' ignorant."

shibxrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"I was born after its creation," said Sonny, "so... no, not really." She smiles at America. "I don't think they meant for it to change the world so greatly. Usually only a few things change, not the entire world."

lizbot

 

[lizbot]

"You think it was the place it was made? We ended up in a big dark..." and the word for it slips past her, too quick to catch and say, so she settles for hand gesture and "...nothing place. Or maybe a nothing but magic, place."

shibrogane