nihil me terret

⛧ Lee Soo-ahn ⛧ Junior warlock ⛧ 32 ⛧ student ⛧ mun/muse 21+ ⛧ literate mature roleplay blog ⛧

[lupusxxdei]

The discomfort that oozed out from the warlock was delicious—its initial notes with somewhat tart, but follwed by an undeniable sweet sensation that tickles the taste buds on the demon's tongue, prompting Babylon to stretch their mouth in a genuine smile.

"I teach Ancient Runes. If you will allow some shameless honesty, it's a disappointment to feel such magic coming from you and not seeing your pretty face among my pupils," Babylon spoke.

Their hand reached for their long, onyx hair and slowly pushed it back, shoulders dipping down.

"Oh, and, please, don't call me ma'am, it makes me feel so ancient," the demon then said, outstretching their arm once again, this time with a hand waiting for a shake.

"I'm Babylon. Professor Moon for you, naturally," they said, while the other hand squeezed the coveted token. When they put it in their pocket, Babylon caught the other's eyes following where the magically-imbued item had gone.

Good. How very nice, the demon thought, excited at the possibility of the item already having caught a critter in its web.

[sooahn-ia]

Despite the fascination that had instantly drawn him in, Soo-ahn kept his balance, a distance of a sort while he listened to the other speak of magic. Magic that also, he perceived it so, imbued the other's body and presence—the kind of magic that his senses could only pick up but not exactly specify or identify.

All Soo-ahn knew was that he wanted it; it was an intrusive thought, an instinct he could neither explain nor (attempt to) justify, but he wanted it.

That was when it hit him.

Ancient Runes.

He had, indeed, applied for the class but has barely been present during any of the lectures. And if what the woman said was true and the other had returned from somewhere...

"If you'll allow me some honesty, Miss, I should be in one of- well, your classes but I've yet to attend your lectures. To be quite fair, the other lecturer made me feel like I was wasting my time."

Perhaps it was a crude way to account for his absence - and, frankly, current lack of responsibility - but it was, for a change, the truth. He tipped his head to the side and, after adjusting the bag on his shoulder, the warlock added, "I suppose we'll see each other at the next session, Professor Moon."

Babylon, Soo-ahn thought. The name had sounded so familiar, so tangible and yet, search as he might through the knowledge that he had accumulated so far, he could not place the name with any person or figure. All his mind could come back with was utter emptiness and yet the name lingered, tickling his subconscience.

[leeknow-ia]

Lee Know's eyes kept shifting to Lenore, trying and failing to hide his discomfort having the bird so close to him. It was hard to keep up the cool guy persona with a literal bird looking like it was going to attack him. At least that's how Lee Know viewed it.

"The bird came onto ME first! This was an ATTACK!" Lee Know put both his hands on his hips and gave the other a hard frown. Stupid bird. Stupid magic guy. Stupid everything, he thought.

".. I dunno. Who knows what sorta motives you have. People here are weird," He shrugged, knowing very well it was a little silly to be so paranoid about everyone being out to get him. "and no, nothing bad. I'm just walking," he kicked up the dirt in front of him and then looked back up at the warlock. "Yeaahh, so... what are you doing here?" Lee Know was grumpy usually, but he also was not going to give this random dude too much of an attitude. He would give the bird attitude though.

[sooahn-ia]

Soo-ahn could not argue with that: this place was full of weird people. And yet, as he eyed the other quite literally from toe to top, the warlock wondered which one of them exactly was normal. He, himself, certainly was not.

Taking slight offense at the perceived unjust reaction to what Lenore had done, Soo-ahn first huffed and said, "Lenore, in her own way, was protecting me. Like you said, she's a bird. She couldn't know it was basically my fault for us colliding."

Welp, that was a lie. Soo-ahn and Lenore both knew that she was perfectly capable of comprehending what danger actually meant; and when exactly she was supposed to swoop in with her death-claws with the pure intentions of gobbling out anyone's eyes.

Lenore herself, who had by now spread her wings and began slowly circling a perimeter about the two men, knew that what she'd done was pure play and unprovoked. But, according to the avian familiar, Soo-ahn could barely do anything wrong and this sort of contemplation was as of yet uncleared as to whether it was some bizarre form of Stockholm's syndrome or an unhealthy obsession with her chosen warlock.

"I was going to the book store to find something but, alas," Soo-ahn sighed, "they didn't have it. And now, I have to go pick up some ingredients for a spell. Care to tag along?" He had no idea why he'd asked for company; Soo-ahn very rarely cared about having company. But it was a strange day...

...so strangely it may continue.

[lupusxxdei]

A knowing smile stretched the corners of Babylon's mouth as they watched the other's near-obsessive but definitely acute awareness of the token.

As it goes—Babylon had lied. Partially. While the token was, indeed, meant for protective purposes, its age only gave away the fact that it was much much more than a simple magic-imbued item that any devilry-inclined critter might carry around.

Intense stare fixated the other's gaze and the demon enjoy how uncomfortable they'd inadvertently made the other. What was he? Babylon had theories—one being correct—but they would leave it to the other to disclose.

For now, the ancient creature focused on the smells: the rotten lilies, the metallic scent of roses, the unmistakable bitter aroma of death curled around the very essence of what comprised Soo-ahn.

"Yes, I did," Babylon finally replied, raising an eyebrow. "Actually, to be fair, I have just returned. I was away for a while but," the demon cast a brief and nearly nostalgic look around, "I have to say I missed this place. It's a freedom like no other."

"And you? I don't think I've seen you in any of my classes. And you certainly weren't here last year."

[sooahn-ia]

Thoughts looking for memories scratched at the back of his head as he searched for what it was that had slowly started to bubble up and stir within him.

The other - in all her mesmerizing beauty - had entranced the warlock but not in a sense he would have ever wished. While the other spoke, Soo-ahn felt like he was nailed to the ground, held within the grasp of some unknown power that - should he not make an attempt to escape soon - would start to nibble away at his soul.

...he knew that feeling from before.

he just could not identify it...not yet, at least.

As soon as eye contact broke, however, the warlock felt released and he held on to the feeling, wishing the weight that'd kept him chained down to never make a return.

"Oh, I, uh. Yeah, I just moved in a month or two back." He frowned for a moment. He honestly could not remember how long it had been since he'd arrived at the Academy. A month, a week, two months, ten weeks?

Time was of no significance in this particular matter.

"Returned? You went on a holiday?" Teacher. "I don't think I'm in your class, ma'am, no. What do you teach?"

[belle-lilith-ia]

She looked up at his mimicking and scolded herself inwardly. Her memories had leaked through- how unprofessional. She cleared her throat, not letting it get to her as she was a professional. She could not let these things influence her or cloud her judgement. “I treated them in a hospital, tended to their wounds.” the half-snake replied with a small smile. She did not want to include how most of the treatments had been amputations or magical re-attachments.

“So healing is a part of the family bloodline, interesting,” she made some more notes. “I did not know it ran in the same families, I haven’t had the chance to treat any families.” another small smile, she tried to be a nice nurse. A good nurse. One that people could depend upon no matter what.

Kidneys? “I can certainly see…” she offered unsure, she had some demonic friends who could harvest organs outside of the normal medical system. “I will need to take some blood.” she added as she grabbed her phone and texted someone. The someone was her friend Hemlock who was a demon with too much time on their hands and a weakness for cute girls with frilly  frogsocks (her).

“Oh,” she paused as she had been texting and then looked at the man. “I already send out a text to see if we can get some, so…” she shrugged and wondered how the other would implant the organ himself- maybe he had people for it. Maybe his sister?

“This room? Not many.” it was true. There were few warlock students at the academy and those who were there seemed to keep mostly to themselves and did not need her aid often. “But I worked in a hospital with a lot of patients with your, uh, state of being.”

With a jump she got up and turned the lights down, the room being immersed in a dark layer with only the lights of the computer screen and a few little status lights belonging to devices that softly hummed in the background. “Is that better? Do you often have light-sensitivity?” the nurse asked as she stood next to the man and touched his shoulder gently. “I would like to do some tests, please take off your shirt.”

[sooahn-ia]

An array of phenomena certainly did run in Soo-ahn's family. He closed his eyes and conjured the images of his mothers and sisters for a brief moment—and for that brief moment, he felt that familiar nostalgia.

The warlock had zero complaints about having been sent to the Academy; in fact, it was a nice change of pace. For the first time in years - or perhaps ever - Soo-ahn felt like his will was his only and the pressure that had been mounting on his shoulders like Sisyphus's boulder had started to wane.

...which did not mean he did not miss his family, and all the lovely, dark chaos that they all brought with them.

The nurse's words snapped him out of his thoughts which he blinked away and finally re-focused on what the woman had to say. "Wait," a small frown appeared, and he shuffled in his seat. "You're telling me you can get me a kidney with a snap of the fingers?"

An arched eyebrow showed his mistrust but at the same time...

...how absolutely curious.

"My state of being? You mean dying?" Soo-ahn asked like it was nothing. Fully aware of his mortality, he stretched his back and stared at the nurse, wondering what she was going to say. But, instead of getting an answer immediately, he was soon washed in darkness.

Darkness which he welcomed because it immediately did away with the scratching at the back of his skull and the back of his eyes. He closed them and pinched his nose again. "I wouldn't exactly call it sensitivity, but it's-What?"

The moment the nurse mentioned taking his blood, Soo-ahn paused everything. It was visible - perhaps even palpable in the very air they breathed - that every muscle in his body had tensed and his suspicions heightened.

He had nothing against his blood being taken.

...by someone he knew. "For a second there, I thought you were trying to seduce me," Soo-ahn twisted his mouth in a grin and then slowly shook his head. "The blood, that won't be necessary."

[leeknow-ia]

Oh, Lee Know had more vulgarities, this wasn't even scraping the tip of the iceberg. ".... No? I'm too pretty to get hurt," Lee Know scoffed at the idea that anyone could possible do his beautiful face any harm. Odd of him to say as he had been close to death many times and his face bruised and scratched just as much. Lee Know liked playing tough though so of course he'd never admit that this dude was kinda right.

"AAHH!!!" Lee Know stumbled back when the bird swept down towards them, putting both arms up to cover his face as he stepped back. Once he was sure the danger had passed he lowered his arms and was very much not laughing. He scowled and let out a disgruntled sigh. "Asshole balls," he muttered under his breath.

"No," He responded immediately when the other said 'did something bad'. "I just was gonna-- wait why do you wanna know, huh? Why should I tell you and your...." His dark eyes shifted towards the bird. "Bird, thing. Like what if you're gonna hex me or something?" He said as he crossed his arms, very skeptical of everyone, whether they looked human or not.

[sooahn-ia]

As soon as Lenore descended toward them, wings flapping in undisclosed intentions, Soo-ahn knew what was coming and before the entire scene had played out, he was already laughing.

It was a strange, but dull feeling—to laugh. Right now at least, when every breath scraped the flesh of his lungs.

That's what you get, yokel.

Lenore's voice might have taken the other by surprise, but it only inspired Soo-ahn to look up at the lamp post where the raven had perched. "Now, that wasn't very nice from either of you," the warlcok noted before returning his attention to Lee Know.

"Why would I hex you?" Soo-ahn asked, crossing his arms in faked indignation. "Do you really think warlocks walk around hexing people for fun?"

He paused, if to briefly bite his underlip in contemplation.

"Scratch that. Not all of us do. Quite frankly, it's a waste of time, space, material and magic to do that," he arched an eyebrow at Lee Know. He then shrugged. "Isn't a guy allowed to ask? You're not up to something bad are you?"

[belle-lilith-ia]

The nurse had gotten to know so many stubborn people Soo-ahn was not an exception. Though she did not care much for those kinds of attitudes. She was here to help and make it easier to care for people who were most likely to get harmed in the future.

She studied the other as he stood in the room. Took the pencil from the other and put it down again on the desk. “So no dossiers I can ask from other agencies.” she summarized and then let out a soft oh. Warlocks had been covered in her studies- though more what kind of damage they did.

In the great war of her people warlocks had aided the arachnids that attacked her people. She had seen what they could do but she had treated a few as well, nurses could not decide who lived or died even if they had other people’s fates in their hands a lot. “I’ve treated warlocks before,” she added as she looked at the man and tried to see any outward signs of the other’s state of being- but either he was using illusions or they were not visible to the naked eye, hidden under cloth or skin for now.

“Are you in a lot of pain? How old are you?” she asked him as she scribbled down on her notepad and then tapped the mouse of her laptop- the pale light illuminating her sweet face as she accessed some of her notes from her time at the war hospital.  

“Have you seen any magical medics? The warlocks I met always had been healed by healers before.” Humans that they enslaved sometimes and other times just family members, humans who became healers and helped in the war efforts. She couldn’t fault them, it was all just part of the job. Even the warlocks she could not fault as much- just following orders from their leaders.

[sooahn-ia]

Pain was an understatement for Soo-ahn.

Usually, he paid no attention to it. In a bizarre way, the warlock had gotten used to something somewhere malfunctioning that the pain that came along with it—whether it was stabbing or a silent, nibbling kind of ache that sucked him dry over time—made him feel alive in a sense.

—which was not a horrible thing considering that he was more interested in living anyway.

"How did you treat warlocks before?" Soo-ahn nearly mimicked her tone of voice as he had noticed - though he had no idea why it was happening - a certain dose of reservation and distance from the nurse.

It was an amusing thought: healing someone who was already dying. Soo-ahn let out a long, slow sigh and closed his eyes. They were starting to pulsate from a source of white light coming from....somewhere. The outside? The bulbs?

He lifted a hand and rubbed his temple. "Yes. My youngest sister has a tendency toward healing." That, of course, did not mean So-hee used it for healing. But every now and then, the youngest girl in the family showed sympathy for the youngest child in the family and helped him push through the pain until it got better.

...speaking of better.

"You wouldn't happen to have a brand-new set of kidneys, would you? I could use that, mine are probably going to fail soon." He had dropped the information so suddenly, so non-chalantly, that he nearly laughed at himself. But, he sighed again and this time - gave the nurse a proper look. By then, he'd either been looking away, up, searching for the light (literally) or giving her half-interested glances.

Stretching his mouth to either side, a smile gave way as his eyes fixated on Belle. "I'm joking. I can get them myself. Tell me though, how many warlocks have you had pass through this room? I can't imagine this is a place my kind visits regularly."

What was that damn light? Now, it stabbed him right between his eyes. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Soo-ahn slunched forward by a few inches, and asked, "Can you please turn the light off?"

[lupusxxdei]

"You dropped something."

With a smooth, slow spin on their high heels, Babylon turned to match a face with the honeysuckle voice that spoke out to her. Their eyes landed on the other - a beautiful, seemingly untouched face, hiding beneath it all the kind of spiritual torture that Babylon only witnessed among one and one kind only.

And the (possible) realization got their eyes sparkling. It's been a while, they thought. Finally, Babylon looked down to see what the other was holding and it was of no value. Nothing that they would miss - nothing that anyone would notice being dropped, either.

A small "protective" token. "Thank you," the demon opened up their left hand and reached out, as if waiting for the warlock to give them the token back. "It's a little something I brought back from Italy."

@sooahn-ia

[sooahn-ia]

Magic.

Magic as thick and dark as the molasses that drips from the walls of an aged, forgotten sugar mill, clinging to every surface and pulling one deeper with every step—a force that didn't just weigh on a person but seeped into their skin, sticky and inescapable.

Soo-ahn felt it the moment he'd picked up the wrapped up object. It was small, weightless even, and round. Unimportant-looking and unasuming, it still managed to weigh heavy on his palm the moment he'd wrapped his hand around it.

"You dropped something," he heard himself say to the woman that dropped the item, but his focus was entirely on the beautiful, tempting magic within his literal grasp.

He'd heard of such objects before—so rich and abundant in hexes, spells, magic and rituals, so adorned with layered intend that they felt less like artifacts and more like vortexes, pulling the unwary into a history too dark and tangled to escape.

The problem was: he was one of the unwary.

And he was more than glad when the woman spun around and took the item back to where it belonged: her purse.

"Italy?" Soo-ahn asked, observing the other. Oblivious to the fact she was not a student like himself but a staff member, he followed his question by, "Is that whence you just rolled your bags in? I saw you when you just arrived."

He was reasonably nervous. An itch at the back of his head kept inquiring: Italy? That same itch wanted to know the object. What in the all mighty was it?

[merry-ia]

Her brows furrowed when he reacted so coyly and sighed before she led the way for the other and wondered what the other was on. “It isn’t a secret place, it is just outside of the boundaries of the academy,” she pointed out once again. Maybe this time he would hear it. The woman shot a knowing look at the ghost that accompanied them- one that said stay out of this one’s way. She did not trust it one bit but she was curious.

“Level?” she asked, and was confused. That sounded almost like a videogame character. “So you’re a lower… level?” she questioned the other and gave them a look over once again. Purpose? Curious. She took another look at the man and narrowed her eyes slightly- leading them through the forest but taking her time stepping over any branches and making sure she did not scratch her golden skin any more than she had to.

“Familiar?” she asked and eyed Hancock who rolled his eyes at the others. The ghost was tall and had long hair- but his face was disfigured on one side, eye dark while the other side of his face seemed to be unharmed. He wore a long coat and what looked like a pirate hat as they walked. “It’s my brother,” she said “Family business.” which wasn’t the truth either but it was close enough. “Why can you see him, what are you exactly?”

[sooahn-ia]

For a second there—for a split second, an important bit of time stolen just for the sake of the moment—Soo-ahn looked at the woman with very clear contempt.

Lower level his ass.

But, he regained his cool pretty quickly; in fact, to be able to even notice his reaction one would have had to pay close attention to the spark of disproval that lit his eyes and the way his mouth twitched to the left. If she had noticed - the warlock was indifferent to the notion.

"I'm considered a junior," he finally found his words, "which means exactly what you might think it means. I've still got some extra miles to go to be like, uh, my sisters and mothers."

Surprisingly, Soo-ahn chose the candid route. Instead of beating around the bush or giving vague nonsensical answers for no other reason than to irk the other person, the warlock managed to select a bit of honesty today.

But, just a bit.

"I'm a warlock. A necromancer, too, in a sense," he ultimately replied, "whichever you prefer. I suppose that answers your question as to why I can see your brother over there."

Soo-ahn nudged his head toward the spirit, and then made a jump over a small log that had intercepted his way.

"Family business, huh? Doesn't that sound familiar. Was he always dead or is it just a fashion statement?" Obviously, he was every bit of aware of the fact how ridiculously he'd formulated the question. But, by now, he'd started to forget what it was he had come to the forest for.

It was a nice change.

[sooahn-ia]

a toast to the dead, the living, and the in-between {open}

"Happy birthday, little brother."

"I see you still remember who I am."

"Don't be a wazzock, Sunny."

"You learned a new word."

"I have to go. I love you."

Seul-gi was the third member of his family - and the first sister - who gave Soo-ahn a call as soon as the first and the earliest minutes of Samhain rolled in.

It had been months since Soo-ahn had last spoken to Seul-gi. She was still in St. Petersburg, he believed, but other than a few scattered calls back and forth, the warlock knew little of what she'd been up to in the past months.

The conversation was short, albeit it'd left Soo-ahn feeling bittersweet. Seated in front of the school, having found a bench to relax on, the warlock ate away at a caramel-imbued chocolate muffin—its decadent flavor lost to his already numbed down senses.

It was a lonely day, in a sense. The first Halloween he'd spent away from his family. And - quite possibly - not the last one to be spent in such a manner. Whether he stayed here or was gone from this world, or any other, by such time that another Samhain creeps in—the warlock knew things would remain different.

[sooahn-ia]

“Well hello there! Welcome to Dark Letters Bar, anything you want I got” He smiles waving the new comer over to a stool at the bar. “Please come in, unless you’re underage then come in secretly” The Shigofumi laughed throwing his rag over his shoulder.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment, I suppose."

He certainly neither looked nor seemed underage, especially tonight when the dark circles underneath his eyes so carefully conveyed the fact that he couldn't wait to get any sort of stimulant at all.

His stomach hurt. It hurt - another one, Soo-ahn thought, would have to be procured. In the mean time, the current one might as well drown in—

"You wouldn't happent to have a Long Island Ice Tea, would you? Make it extra spicy," he requested, eyeing the bar tender.

[merry-ia]

Merry laughed at that. “They allow anyone in here, serial killers and world destroyers.” she shrugged as she twirled some locks of her hair to make them more curly. She needed to put another treatment in her hair tonight, the high humidity really did a number on it.

“Nothing, that is the point. Are you even listening to me?” she wondered if they had accepted someone to the academy that was, uh, special with how bad the other’s listening skills were.

As the other approached Merry got a little stiffer as she prepared to fight back if needed and she narrowed her eyes more. “It is outside of academy boundaries,” she said again, slower this time in the hope the other would understand her. “So they won’t care, you need to do your risky and illegal shit mostly outside of their reach- or well, their territory I guess. They don’t care what happens outside the boundaries of the academy only what happens within.” She shook her head slightly.

If the vice-principle accepted this young man personally they must have had a bad day (which she did not think was possible, but that was besides the point. Perhaps she attributed too many skills to the vice-principle). Or maybe they liked fucking around and seeing what ended up, well- they accepted Irene and Yeosang as well so they didn’t really seemed to do IQ tests. She snorted a little at her own thought process. While Merry would never say this to her friends in the face- she did have opinions.

“Do you want me to show you or not?”

[sooahn-ia]

Demons, possible serial killers, and all forms and un-forms of depraved souls. Soo-ahn knew that; in fact, it was the selling point that had him convinced to attend the Academy after weeks of his mothers' persuasion.

"Well, I certainly wouldn't have bothered walking up to you if I weren't interested in seeing what secret little place of yours, or whatever you want to call it," the warlock replied.

As he walked alongside Merry, the warlock did his utter best to ignore the very obvious (spirit?) creature in their presence; he did not ask just yet about the other's purpose or meaning, though, somewhere at the back of his head, curiosity scratched away at the thin layers of the subconscience.

"I wouldn't call what I was doing illegal. Not quite," he explained, at last. "If anything, it's fraught with danger and not recommended for someone of my purpose—Ievel." The word purpose had slipped. Whilst it was the truth, the warlock wanted to avoid - if at all possible - talking about the matter.

"So, what's the thing with the-" he swayed his head toward the supposed spirit. "Familiar?" He knew it wasn't the correct answer, but.

[belle-lilith-ia]

Welcome Sooahn | Belle x Sooahn

[belle-lilith-ia]

follow-up from here!

“Yes yes, a medical check-in” She chirped back at the other and smiled and then her smile fell when he said it wasn’t needed- surely it was. “Of course it is, I don’t have anything in your file except your name and classes. Usually I have the whole thing- history and race and everything. Come on now,” she gestured the other to follow her to her office.

“I need to know what everyone in the academy is up to and how to help you in case something happens, now-” she rather pushy led the other into her office and then closed the door. “When did you last get a doctor’s check?” She asked as she pulled out an old-fashioned notebook and looked at the man expectantly. Her pupils were slightly narrowed, a sign that while she was friendly she was mildly annoyed by the other’s behaviour already.

@sooahn-ia

[sooahn-ia]

Soo-ahn did not voice any complaints when he was practically made to follow the alleged nurse. She did, at least, provide him with something to think about: his own mortality.

Not a fun topic - not by any definition - but he embraced it for a change. It had been a long time since he was a tabula rasa to someone. Even if he weren't a complete empty canvas to the other, at the very least - he could finally pretend again.

He started with an absolute truth, however. "Like a regular go-to-a-formal-hospital-see-a-reputable-doctor-kind-of-thing? Never. Unless my mothers took me to see one when I was just born, which I highly doubt."

Soo-ahn felt free to pick up an abandoned pencil and start twirling it, slowly, between his fingers. "I'll answer another one as a bonus so you needn't ask: I'm a warlock."

[leeknow-ia]

Lee Know had a weird paranoia about him that someone was tailing him and would glance back every now and then. He was easily knocked back by the stranger. With his lightning fast reflexes he attempted to catch himself before falling completely on his ass. His eyes wide as black tapioka pearls gazed upon the person who had just hit him and he let out a loud, "Bitch ass motherfucker!"

The apology didn't seem to register as when Lee Know got to his feet, he looked ready to fight. His hands balled up into loose fists (he could not fully close his hands) and his knees bent.

But no, Lee Know was not gonna WWE this guy, as much as he wanted. Lee Know had a pretty face and even softer looking eyes, even when angered. He continued to glare daggers as he continued onward, "Yeah you better watch where you're going. Who the hell do you think you are? You--" It was at that moment that Lee Know realised the stranger wasn't actually a stranger. He was a classmate. Not one that Lee Know knew but he recognised the face. He was in at least two of Lee Know's classes. "..... okay hi, yeah," He shoved both hands into his pockets and looked away, now worried that this guy would report Lee Know for being rude or something , as if Lee Know wasn't already having issues in classes.

[sooahn-ia]

Well that was a creative vulgarism, if he'd ever seen one.

He nearly chuckled at the other's frustration, though as soon as the other's guard and tone changes, leaning toward what Soo-ahn was believed was utterly unprovoked hostility, the warlock changed attitudes as well.

It was a swift but noticeable change in his demeanor: the raised shoulders, the slightly elevated eyebrows, the fixated gaze and his feet firmly on the ground, pressing down as if - any moment now - anchoring would give way to flight.

But when Lee Know calmed, Soo-ahn followed, much like a mimic. "You know - one of these days, that attitude's going to get your face scratched off. Not in a kind way, either," the warlock commented, not once allowing his eyes to leave the other.

Inspecting, analyzing, threatening - who knows what Soo-ahn's discolored contactless eyes were looking at or trying to convey.

"Where are you in such a rush to—"

Before he was able to wrap up his question, he saw Lenore. Out of the corner of his eyes, the familiar, which had been watching the interaction and had picked up on her master's change of heartbeat and blood pressure, flew right toward the two at an unsafe cruising speed and height, nearly touching both with the span of her wings.

Soo-ahn, naturally, laughed. "Told ya. Anyway, where are you in such a rush to go? Did something bad, need to cover it up?"

[merry-ia]

The other did not seem to hear her at first- and then he did. Looking at the other and frowned. “You don’t tell me you haven’t heard about the vice-principle?” she asked and then added “or the headmaster? The most powerful creature known in the Earthly world?” She asked the other- and perhaps it wasn’t known and perhaps it were all silly rumours but the headmaster was powerful. They were (rumored) to be responsible for the protection of the academy and the cloaked figure was only seen with events and what-not.

“The vice-principle will have your head for this, you know, he has done it for less.” She observed as the other seemed to be stupid or arrogant. Perhaps both, he did however sense Hancock and she moved to stand in front of the ghostly figure. “Back off,” she warned as she narrowed her eyes at the stranger. A lot less friendly in this warning than the other.

“What are you doing anyway?” She asked as she looked at the leaves and then gestured to the North. “Literally take your magic 2 minutes that way and the academy won’t care. It is still in the forest and… very empty.” she had just done a drugs run there after all. “I can show you,” she offered, curiosity might kill cats but she was more akin to a fish, or a good tall glass of water.

[sooahn-ia]

When she asked the question, Soo-ahn shot the woman a very obvious look, asking Are you serious?

"The same vice principle who must have known my background," Soo-ahn presumed, "before I was formally accepted to study here?"

He didn't intentionally play down the gravity of his situation. Just as mother had warned him not to experiment with the spell, the warlock was sure - somewhere in the back of his mind - that authority figures at this place might, also, not be too pleased with a junior warlock toying with spells that involve death. Or Death.

He eyed the woman's companion, from the top of his head down to the toes and then back up, only to return his eyes to Merry. "What does it look like I'm doing, practicing my dance moves?" he asked. "It's a spell. Quite a fun little one. But, as I said," he paused. "I need a couple of more ingredients."

As he spoke, he begam to walk toward the woman, and toward where she was pointing. "What's over there?" he asked.

Curiosity probably did kill the cat but, as the adage goes—satisfaction brought it back to life. That was the principle Soo-ahn lived and swore by.

[yeosang-ia]

Humming to a tune he'd made in his head, Yeosang took two sharp turns before gesturing to a shelf of older-looking books. If he was right (and he hoped he was because leading the other man to the wrong section was just downright embarrassing), then the other should be able to find what he was looking for here. "Ta-dah! I think this could be the right place? The librarian told me before this is where the older books are when I was looking for stuff for my Human and Earth History class."

Squinting at the titles and author names etched onto the book spines, the cloudling couldn't help but think how their library should really invest in better overhead lighting. Because the ambient lighting did make him feel like he was in Hogwarts, but it also made reading a lot more difficult. "Oh, I like visiting the librarian! She glares at me a lot because I can be kind of noisy, but I know she loves me."

Unbeknownst to Yeosang, the librarian "loving him" was still pretty debatable. But if anyones could live off delusion, it would certainly be the cloudling. Rocking on his feet, eyes tired from reading the few titles that he could. "So, why do you need the book? Are you the type who reads for fun? You look like you do. What's it even about? It sounds like a pretty serious book."

[sooahn-ia]

Noisy was an understatement, the warlock believed.

Although he was yet to find any concrete example of why the he should be bugged by Yeosang - a habit Soo-ahn had to keep himself sheltered from the world - the warlock could not actually imply anything. Except the noise part. He disliked it.

"Where is the librarian?" He'd conversed with her very briefly, and right when he might have needed her most, she seemed to have gone poof.

Once they arrived to where Soo-ahn could only hope he'd get his hands on the manuscript, he looked around, eyes scanning the covers of the tomes. "Are you familiar with who Kyteler was?" he asked, though he answered his own question, without hearing Yeosang's response, immediately, "She was the first woman in recorded history to be condemned for witchcraft in Ireland."

After a brief pause, during which he inched closer to a shelf and picked up a book with what he thought said Kyteler on the front cover, in faded letters, Soo-ahn continued his story. "But, prior to execution, she made a very dramatic escape with Sarah."

"Sarah was the daughter of my great-great-great-I-don't-know-how-many-times-great-aunt Petronilla de Meath," he finally explained though - despite the fact his lineage was recorded even in human history, black on white - the warlock was sure this was all inconsequential to the other.

"The manuscript I'm looking for is one that did, in fact, belong to Kyteler, but it contains scribbles and notes from Sarah. Which is why I want it."

[jiwoo-ia]

continued from here

Sharp eyes assessed the man before her, not knowing that the "little bird" the other was talking about was quite literally just that. Jiwoo was making internal bets on whether the man would have an order or a target for her, but his question made it quite clear that they weren't aware of the other side of her humble little shop.

Placing down the nail polish and carefully inspecting her work, quite content at the clean edges, Jiwoo looked up at the man. "Well then, welcome to Forge&Fury. I'm Jiwoo, the owner of the place, and we sell normal and enchanted knives, but we also take in commissions. Anything you need that can be made with a forge and anvil, I can make for you."

Steepling her fingers together, she continued, sharp teeth on display as she grinned, "We have a few pre-made ones, but custom weapons are always more fun."

@sooahn-ia

[sooahn-ia]

Normal knives, abnormal knives. Pointy blades that gleam, sharp knives, dull blades, deadly slice, slice, scream.

Soo-ahn's lips curled into a patient smile as the woman spoke. The entire time, his ears listened, his eyes observed. Forge&Fury—it was a suitable name for a place so odd, but exquisite.

"Actually," though the warlock had no idea what would welcome him at the shop (even less did he know that he'd end up shoping for weapons), he responded to the woman a bit too soon after she'd asked her question.

"You wouldn't happen to be the secret owner of the Excalibur, would you?" It was a joke; a half-baked utterance that only served to portray his boredom with the world.

[yeosang-ia]

continued from here

Yeosang blinked at the other's words. Those were a lot of words that made sense individually, but didn't make as much sense when put together. Nonetheless, the smile on the cloudling's face didn't falter as he repeated the words in his head. Dame Alice Kyteler, diary, before execution.

"I don't actually, but I can help you!" Yeosang's pestered the librarian hundreds of times now to look for the sources he needed for class. And the old woman was so frustrated with his questions that she had to sit him down to explain how their library's catalog system worked. He still had questions most of the time because he wasn't the brightest bulb in the box (or the whole house really), but he remembered some things.

Turning on his heel and walking towards where he knew the non-fiction section was, the boy declared, "To the non-fiction section!" Shooting the librarian a grin when she shot him a glare at his loud voice, Yeosang introducted himself to the other in a much softer tone this time, "I'm Yeosang, by the way. It's nice to meet you!"

@sooahn-ia

[sooahn-ia]

It was a truth universally acknowledged that he would be damned, but he would be double damned if he did not actually voice that out loud.

"Well, I'll be damned," Soo-ahn said to the other as they offered to help. Non-fiction was, indeed, the correct direction and Soo-ahn had already gone through one or two shelves, before he got distracted and ended up following Yeosang to...wherever the other was going, deep into the library's cornerside shadows.

"I'm Soo-ahn," the warlock introduced himself right back, though, without a proper physical acknowledgement - like a hand or head shake or any other form of normal communication - his own 'greeting' felt bland at best.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. Duh, people came to the library for rather common reasons. But, if Soo-ahn hadn't come exactly for something conventional - why should the other one have?