Mingle: For a limited time only...

[hearsthesea]

Who: Everyone!
Where: Anywhere on the hub
When: Days 134-139
Open/Closed: Open mingle goooo!

[Copper, lizards, and vines - oh my! With the recent installation of 9S and co.'s scanning equipment and the also recent, significantly wetter rainstorms there's quite a lot to check out on the island right now. Plus, the monitor robot still needs a name. You're not going to leave them nameless forever, are you?

Too bad Genette's put out word that everyone's about to be moving location soon. That means these are the last days the coven has for a little while to get everything in order, whether it's to take things to the next destination or to leave them behind. Get your bags packed and your huts cleaned, everyone!]

Comments

[hearsthesea]

[Dirk has been one of the hardest people to ask of all those Shirley's met before, to be honest. She doesn't particularly like him after their first encounter, but on the other hand he hasn't tried to kill her and she only knows so many people. Better the devil you know when it comes to something risky.

Doesn't mean Shirley isn't currently a little pink-faced from asking, but right now she's a girl on a mission.]

Tell me something you want.

[splinten]

[This is an undeniably weird question, but,]

Orange soda.

[hearsthesea]

[And that's a weird answer, so they're even.]

I know what oranges are, but I've never heard of soda before.

[splinten]

It's a syrupy drink with carbon dissolved into it via pressure. When the pressure on the liquid decreases, the carbon is released as bubbles. Basically, a fizzy sweet drink.

[hearsthesea]

Oh.

[That sounds doable...probably. Really, Shirley only understood that last sentence but she can work with that. A sweet drink isn't exactly a grand wish, but it should be good for a start. Something in her gut tells her it's good too, should be easy for her power. She can grant that wish.

And with that, a pink butterfly shimmers into existence in front of her and flies over to Dirk. Shirley gasps.]

My teriques! But--

[It looks like her teriques, but the wrong color. Shirley's teriques is blue, and she shouldn't be able to summon it here anyway. The butterfly does look like it, though, and it hovers near Dirk's hand as if expecting to be picked up.]

[splinten]

[Oh. His eyebrows lift a fraction, and his monotone voice doesn't give much but he says,]

That's beautiful.

[Spoilers: Dirk's a dumb sucker and not a real coolkid.

He holds his hand out, raising it up so the butterfly can land.]

[hearsthesea]

[The butterfly glows for a moment, and transforms into a glass of some kind of orange liquid. If Dirk drinks it he'll find that it tastes more like fizzy orange juice than traditional soda, but first he might be distracted by Shirley's sudden swaying.]

Oh. I...I need to...

[She manages to sit on the ground and roll over on her side before the exhaustion hits home. She'll be sleeping there for around the next ten minutes. Have fun in the meantime, Dirk?]

[splinten]

[THAT SURE IS DISTRACTING? He can't flashstep but he moves to her side fast and then she's on the ground.

Shit.

By the time Shirley wakes up, she will find she has been moved over to the mansion living room and set on a couch, with a blanket pulled over her. On the table in front of her is a glass of water and some light bready snacks.

Dirk is sitting in the chair across from her, reading, but the second she starts to move his eyes will flick open and he'll move over to her side.]

How are you feeling?

[hearsthesea]

[Shirley's more than slightly panicked when she wakes up to somewhere very different than where she went to sleep, although the fact that she recognizes the mansion's interior and that someone's clearly made an effort to make her comfortable helps to mitigate that. Seeing that someone is Dirk is...well.

It's not as concerning as the sudden exhaustion that caused this, though. And speaking of which--]

I'm fine, but how long was I asleep?

[splinten]

It was about ten minutes. It might be a side-effect of using your power.

[Which, like.]

Sorry you had to take a nap over a fizzy orange drink.

[hearsthesea]

[Ten minutes is a relief. Shirley was afraid it'd been hours or something. And unfortunately, the explanation about her powers makes sense. The obvious choices would have been her attempt to use her power or maybe Dirk using his, and though Shirley's impression of Dirk isn't stellar she wouldn't expect him to randomly put people to sleep.

An idea strikes her, so Shirley casts off her blanket to sit up on the couch and tries to summon her teriques. Nothing, not even the pink one. Interesting. She looks to Dirk.]

Does using magic usually have this effect on people? It didn't back home.

[splinten]

Not necessarily. Mine comes cost-free, but it has serious limitations on being able to work it. If your ability is to grant the desires of others, it isn't surprising it might come with a major drawback. Qri herself said she took items from us because magic always has a cost.

[hearsthesea]

That is what Genette told me, when I arrived. Granting wishes to others.

[Shirley hadn't told Dirk about it specifically, but it's no surprise he figured it out. She wasn't exactly being subtle. She'd wanted to learn more about her power, honestly, but that requires testing. If making a drink is enough to knock her out, what would something bigger look like?

Shirley isn't sure she wants to find out, so she stands up and nods at Dirk. Her tone is aloof and formal, but it lacks the reluctance of her original request.]

Thank you for taking care of me. I don't know if I'll be testing this again.

[A beat.]

I don't know what happened to that drink, but I hope you got to have it for your troubles.

[splinten]

They were more your troubles. I'm basically a champion of carrying around people who aren't able to move themselves.

[And since they were her troubles, he takes the drink from where he put it, and holds it out to her.]

You can try it if you want.

[hearsthesea]

[Shirley's a little too preoccupied with her thoughts to think about more than how she was supposed to have made that drink for Dirk and therefore he was supposed to drink it, and misses the part where he might be offering it to her for a reason. So instead she says:]

That was for you. I don't want it.

[It isn't meant dismissively, but the blunt tone doesn't preclude that possibility either.]

[splinten]

Okay. Thanks, then.

[He will just have his orange juice. Sea Jesus during her Old Testament phase can be cranky if she wants.]

[hearsthesea]

[Shirley could leave at this point, maybe, but she doesn't. She watches him and she pretty obviously has a question in mind, but it still takes a minute for her to get it out.]

Did it work?

[There's a touch of anxiety to the question, as Shirley can't quite manage a casual tone. No telling if the soda turned out tasteless or something, since she wouldn't put it past herself to mess it up.]

[splinten]

[He didn't expect that. He takes a moment, then says,]

Kind of. It tastes more like carbonated orange juice. I assume since you had no reference point for what orange soda actually is, you went with the closest equivalent.

For what it's worth, it's pretty cool. I didn't ever get to have orange juice, so it's a treat.

[hearsthesea]

Oh.

[It's a short "oh," like she was about to say something and decided against it. Shirley's not sure what to take from that answer. It wasn't what he was looking for so she got it wrong, but...]

You liked it?

[splinten]

Yeah, thanks. It's good.

[Dirk is monotonous by nature, but this is sincere. Thanks, Shirley.]

[hearsthesea]

Oh.

[This time there's more surprise to it, because she really wasn't expecting someone to thank her for doing something wrong. So in a tone of not-quite-disbelief, she responds:]

Thank you.

[And because Shirley suddenly has a few too many things she feels like she needs to think about, this is also the point where she makes to leave. Or flee. One of those things.]