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canisnephrite

May 5, 2014

Jade the Magician, featuring her lovely assistant Minituna

Set during the m!a: split time frame, early to mid-April. First posts are from 16 April 2014.

Minituna: Latula was sleeping.

Latula was sleeping and his tummy was rumbling.

Latula was sleeping, his tummy was rumbling and he knew where the food was now.

There was only one thing to do.

He grabbed the bee--as yet nameless, as he was convinced he needed to know what Sollux called her before she was his, before he could give her a name himself--and wobbled to the door, down the hall, toward the dining room.

Jade: It's the beginning of the day. Or is it the end? Jade's lost track. All she knows right now is that her class is over for now, and she could use some down time that didn't involve a rambunctious youngster scrambling all over her. As much as she loves Auxis, the kitten can be exhausting when she's already tired. She delays going to her room to get something interesting to occupy the little furball's tummy, since that'll put him to sleep, which is where she's at right now, having foregone the whole using your feet to travel schtick. Walking's for squares.

Minituna: Mituna steps into the room, blinking behind his helmet, curiously warbling as he passes to the dining table.

Jade: Her ears twitch at the sound, nose detecting an unfamiliar scent, yet laced with very familiar undertones. She turns her head to look at the newcomer. "...Mituna?" she ventures.

Minituna: He chirped fondly, shoving his visor up, hugging the bee closer to his chest.

"HIiiiiii!"

Jade: Visor, bee, unusual manner of speaking based on her previous experience, it must be the little one. Minituna. She smiles brightly, "Hi, yourself! Do you know who I am?"

She's not being patronizing so much as she literally does not know how much he does and doesn't know and what of that he can process.

Minituna: He nods slowly, stepping toward her. "Nepritt...Jade."

Jade: "Yup. Jade. Like the stone." She throws that in, since the other word he used sounded to her like the second half of her default username these days, which is literally the type of mineral jade is a part of. "Did you know I've wanted to meet you since you showed up?"

Minituna: "Thawdon dumblr." He grins, reaching a hand up to shove his helmet off. "Rmeembr you. LIdtle bit."

Jade: She nods. Tumblr's as good a place as any for him to have seen her. It's not like she's been much elsewhere outside of class and her homes lately. "I was going to go back to my room and feed the kitten. Do you want to come with me and see him?"

Minituna: "Ys" he nods, shoving his helmet back on--before his stomach rumbles... He should eat. it's why he came here... but kitten...

Jade: "You can eat there too if you want to grab something. We can't have starving gemini roaming the building." Especially not when it's her fault he got interrupted.

Minituna: He blinks then sweeps some edible things into his arms with a happy sort of grin. "Leth go."

Jade: She's got the food she came for as well by the time he's finished. Walking might be for squares, but Jade thinks teleporting might give the poor guy a heart attack, so let's be equilateral rectangles. "Alright. Just stay with me then. If you wander off, it's no kitten for you, mister," she teases, leading the way to her room.

Minituna: "I'm do my betht!" He chirps, tottering after her grinning behind visor and hair.

Jade: It's a pretty short trip, but she looks behind herself repeatedly before stopping at the door to open it. A small furry body is right there to greet/attack them. He's so enthusiastic she has to bring him back in in the most expeditious manner possible. Kitten teleportation. One second he's in the hall, the next he's back across the room.

Minituna: He watches the kitten disappear and reappear, eyes bright with wonder.

"Howdafuck you do that?"

Jade: The door is shut before she answers him to avoid having to kitten wrangle again. Leaning in very close, as if it's a big secret, Jade grins and stage whispers, "Spacey powers."

Minituna: He grins brightly, a mess of teeth shining through. "THat'th AWETHOME!"

Jade: Bubbly giggles echo in the room. "I'm glad you like it. I can do more neat things than just that."

Minituna: "More?" he lets himself flop to the floor, tthe bee taking up the empty space in his lap, only to be covered over by the snacks he grabbed.

Jade: "Mmhmm. Do you want to see some of them?" The floor is as good a place as any, especially when a certain someone barrels into her lap seeking the goodies he knows she's concealing.

Minituna: "YES." He chirps, grabbing a snack up from his lap, jamming it into his mouth. His eyes watch the cat, grinning at him. What a cute thing.

Jade: "Well, the most popular party tricks are teleportation, which you saw, changing the sizes of things, and turning myself into a portal. I can also fly, but that's pretty common around here. Do any of those sound cool, or should I pull from the less popular ones?"

The chirping may have attracted someone else's attention, who then decides it's a great idea to climb over Jade's leg. He places his paws on a knee and sniffs at the apparent source of the sound, the troll's mouth. That's where noises from the big creatures come from, both the tan and the grey ones.

Minituna: Mituna is momentarily distracted by the tiny creature, blinking at it before gently 'boop'ing his nose. It's a moment before he catches back onto the original train of thought and warbles curiously, leaning up.

"Thizsath?" Sizes?

Jade: The kitten instinctively pulls back from the finger, eying it uncertainly. No harm was done, other than a slight startling at being touched there. Jade smiles at the pair as she answers the question and poses another. "I can shrink and enlarge things. Pretty much anything but myself. Is there something in particular you want to me to do it to?"

Minituna: He eyes the bee thoughtfully for a moment.

"N thingth come back thafe?"

Jade: "Mhmm." She nods. "The worlds in the solar system were toy sized for a while, and now look at them. Full sized and good as new."

Minituna: "...'Veonly theen here." He admits. Neither he, nor big him, nor their combined self, has ever been prone to voluntary exploration.

Jade: "I didn't mean literally go look at them, unless you really want to. But they're close enough you can see them as satellites in the night sky." She knows this from talking, as well as the fact they still have a trip they're supposed to go on and he hasn't bothered to remind her.

Minituna: "Moonth?"

Jade: "The moons! Yes. Some of them anyway. I didn't get to play with Derspit or the alpha sessions."

Minituna: He grinned a bit. Space was pretty freaking awesome. "Cooool."

Jade: "It is! And that's only a tiny part of it. There's so much more to see it'd take forever to do it." Which she has, but she knows he doesn't, and it's the only thing stopping her from saying that.

Minituna: He scrunches his face thoughtfully and nods, shoving another snack past his lips. He's not sure what to say, so he sticks with 'nothing', for now

Jade: Nothing works, and he never answered her question beyond looking at the bee, so she makes it bigger. Not excessively large, something along the lines of about three feet long. It seems like a good size for a spontaneous demonstration of powers.

Minituna: The bee grows, knocking his snacks aside, but he doesn't seem overly disgruntled in that regard. His eyes go wide and he throws his arms around the massive bee, grinning.

"Cheth HUGE"

Jade: It shocks Auxis too, who runs away from the giant plush. "All grown up, huh?" Jade grins, glad Mituna likes it, and more glad she didn't scare the crap out of him.

Minituna: "Cheth a queen now." He nods solemnly, patting the stuffed bee affectionately.

Jade: "That she is. And a mighty fine queen she'll be. Do you want me to leave her that way or put her back?"

Minituna: He considers the bee for a long moment. Older him might kill him if she doesn't come back from this properly...

But she's awesome and super cuddly like this...

Minituna: But can he carry her?

"THmall..."

Jade: She nods, bringing the bee back to (almost) her normal size. Hopefully big him won't mind if she grew a little. "That better?"

Minituna: He nods a bit, grinning brightly.

"Thank you!"

Jade: "No problem. Do you want to see something else? Jade the magnificent is here forever! Or at least until she has to go teach class again." Is that a hat on her head? Boy it sure looks like one. And a traditional witch's hat no less, because someone's a big nerd and easily amused. It's specially adapted to accommodate her ears, of course.

Minituna: He wiggles excitedly, nodding as he shoves another snack into his mouth.

Jade: She performs some suitably impressive and unusual trick. It may also be needlessly flashy. She is showing off for a version of her sort of boyfriend after all.

Minituna: And he's clearly delighted. His grin is broad, eyes full of wonder behind the mass of bangs in his face. Jade is cool. Jade is REALLY cool.

Jade: She does her best. The expression on his face draws a warm laugh from her. "You're just going to make me do this all night, aren't you?" He really seems that impressed.

Minituna: "Ifnyeou want." he manages to sound a little embarrassed, fidgeting with the bee. "Magic."

Jade: "Wow. What a slave driver," she teases. "I'm going to take a break then. And it's not magic. The game gave us powers. These are mine."

Minituna: "Magic." He seems keen on insisting on this point.

Jade: She tilts her head, chewing on her lip as she thinks about this. "...I guess they are a little magical..."

Minituna: "YES" he insists, grinning brightly.

Jade: "Why do you want them to be magic so badly?"

Minituna: "Becauthe magic." He scrunches his face. There was a time when one of his friends believed staunchly in it, and it mattered to him, still, but he wouldn't be able to properly express that.

Jade: There's obviously something she's missing, but she's also getting the sense he can't explain it either, so she doesn't push it. "I'm not the only one who can do magic. My brother can turn into the wind."

Minituna: "Woah" He chrrs, eyes wide, utterly amazed by the idea.

Jade: "I'd take you to see, but he might get a little cross if I just popped in. Who knows what he might be doing?" She grins, winking at the troll.

Minituna: He thinks for a moment then blinks owlishly. "O...h." Sex is an easy enough concept to get to for him.

Jade: She reaches out to pat his cheek before thinking better of it and patting the bee instead. "Probably not though. He didn't exactly marry a porn star."

Minituna: "Marry?"

Jade: "It's like permanent quadrant commitment," she settles on, considering her wording carefully. "Matesprit, to be specific."

Minituna: He nods slowly. He doesn't quite understand but he appreciates it.

Jade: No one understands. "Everyone seems to think it's silly, but he's happy, so who gives a shit what they think, right?"

Minituna: THIS he understands, and he nods, huffing. "Killjoyth."

Jade: "Exactly," she agrees, taking note of the attitude. "Does that happen to you a lot?"

Minituna: "Yeth." He huffs again, arms crossed over his chest.

Jade: "Wow. Who does it? I can go kick their butts for you for spoiling your fun." She's mostly just joking to make him feel better.

Minituna: "Ebryone!" he declared, arms in the air.

Jade: "Everyone? I seriously doubt EVERYONE stops you from having fun. I think you're exaggerating." She gasps, holding a hand to her mouth. "Unless!! What if there's a secret society devoted to it and they didn't invite me? How rude."

Minituna: He started snickering, flopping backward onto the floor. That had to be it. Absolutely.

Jade: She huffs, doing her best not to break character and start giggling. There is moderate success in that endeavor.

Minituna: He rolls back to his feet, still cackling, far too amused with everything.

Jade: Wow. What a cutie. She has a question for him now though, so she manages to calm herself enough to ask it. "So...what's it like being split like this?"

Minituna: That gets him to sober up, ears flicking thoughtfully as he settles back into himself. "... Fuzzy." A hand gestures to his head. "Broke... Sad?? Kind of... "

Jade: Her face falls and she whines softly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your fun by asking. I just wondered if it was like you both remember things now or how that works. I guess I should have figured it out from big you's posts about you."

Minituna: "S'hard t'think... I'm .... I'm sorry I..."

Jade: "No! It's okay! It's my fault." She holds out her arms. "Can I give you a hug?"

Minituna: His attention pulls up to her and her extended arms, which he mirrors in place of a response. "Wh'n we're stuck you chould... the thing... head thing... Talk"

Jade: She tries very hard not to laugh at him. "Alright. I will." That's actually unnecessary, since she's already gotten the play by play version from him. "...do you actually know how to hug?"

Minituna: He huffed, surging up to wrap his arms around her. "Hell yeth"

Jade: It's all giggles and hugs up in here now as she returns the gesture. "I was so wrong to doubt you. Clearly you are a master of hugging."

Minituna: "Gif the betht hugth. Athk anyone"

Jade: "I don't have to. I'm getting my very own first hand. I'm the luckiest girl." She manages to almost sound like a swooning fangirl when she says this.

Minituna: He chirps happily, hugging her a little tighter. "Good." He wasn't sure that was meant to sound lucky.

Jade: She leans her head into his, an affectionate sideways headbutt. It probably wasn't meant to sound lucky, but it doesn't mean she doesn't actually feel a little bit like that anyway. Regardless of what anyone else thinks, she's really proud of Mituna, either version of him.

Minituna: He letst his face rub against the side of hers, purring softly.

"Mlucky too... efrythinth diffrend but 'm safe. mglad."

Jade: "Me too. It's nice to be safe. Speaking of which, is anyone going to be worried about you being gone for so long? I may have forgotten to let anyone know you were coming with me." She doesn't mean to be a spoilsport, but she's seen some of the posts online about him. It seems unlikely he's not under someone's supervision.

Minituna: "Tul' wath with me but che'th leeping." and later she would be handing him to Kurloz for babysitting duties, but that didn't really mattter at that point... not that he even knew

Jade: "Do you want to stay here for now or should we go back. I don't want to cause any trouble with them." Jade worries at her lip. Trouble with the big trolls generally isn't fun. She's not afraid of them per se, but starting shit is way too easy when they seem to be so high strung.

Minituna: "Tula doethn't feel good tho I don' know..." His brow furrows and he frowns a bit. "Unno..."

Jade: Aw. Sad face from Jade. Poor Latula not feeling well. "You don't know if you should go back because it'll bother her, or you don't know if you should stay because it'll bother her?" His answer requires just the tiniest bit of clarification.

Minituna: "Yeth." Both.

Jade: She faceplants into his shoulder.

Minituna: He blinks at her, peering at her with a questioning sound

Jade: "That didn't help me decide whether I can keep you for myself for longer or whether I have to take you back. I should probably take you back though. I'm sure she'll wake up soon."

Minituna: "Okay" He sighed, resting his chin on her shoulder. It was probably for the best...

Jade: Aw. Now she's being the spoilsport. Maybe she can offer a concession though. "Do you want to fly there?"

Minituna: He blinked owlishly slowly nodding. It'd been a long time since he'd felt flight. Psii hovered from time to time, but only flew once since arriving on Kyouei...

And that didn't feel like HIS memory

Jade: "Okay. Hang on tight to me and the bee, and I'll carry you guys. Also, you're going to have to tell me the way, because I haven't been to Latula's before." She could find it on her own, just like anything else in the castle, but her statement is technically true, and it would probably make him happier if he helped some.

Minituna: The bee had fallen to the floor in the act of the hug, and was swiftly scooped up, clutched under one arm as the other hand reached for hers. "Okay!"

Jade: She secures them to her before lifting them all up. It's a bit of a heft, but she manages, since magical flying powers don't seem to require super personal strength. "We have lift off!!" she shouts before she heads out the door, not really paying a great deal of attention to what direction she's going, because she's not navigating this time, though she does keep tabs so they don't actually get lost.

Minituna: He lets out an excited chirp, hanging on to her as they begin moving, wracking his brain for the location they're meant to be going to. The directions are relayed in stumbling words, and he looks about critically, concerned he'll get them lost.

Jade: She listens to him, ears twitching as she parses his words into coherent directions. If she senses an error, she asks him about it, making it almost sound like SHE didn't understand it, not that he said it wrong. It's slightly patronizing, but not in a malicious way. She just wants Mituna to feel like he helped and didn't screw up.

Minituna: And he does feel like he helped, which is great. It's probably a similar method to what Kurloz and Latula employed in the past, and he doesn't feel any worse for it. By the time they arrive he's happily chirping along... It's been a long time since he's felt the rush of air this way.

Jade: Jade is grinning when they land. She doesn't let go of him just yet "Can you get back inside without us waking her up, or should I teleport you the last couple meters?"

Minituna: He points to the panel beside the door, where Latula's Libra sign rests, then to the gemini on his jump suit. "Can'd opin it."

Jade: "Didn't think so, but some /people/ have made /adjustments/." She knows about the cheating that's been done. She hasn't done any personally, but it's not really much of a secret either. There's the briefest of warnings before she pops them both inside, relying on her knowledge of the standard layouts to not end up as part of anything in the room.

Minituna: He suppresses a squeak as they pass in, and glances around, spotting his sleeping moirail, nodding approvingly.

Jade: Awww. That's adorable. Jade whispers at him, "You take care of her now. It was fun hanging out, and I'll see you later." In what form, it seems irrelevant to state. She gives him a quick peck on the lips and disappears the same way she brought them in.

Minituna: He stifles a chirp in response, looking around for her once she's gone only to realize...

Yeah she's probably not still there...

And goes to curl up with Latula.

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