spellbinders | [JANUARY INTRO LOG

Hm. [He takes the card back from the stranger, holding it up to the handful of flowers he had been given.] Probably. Guess I'm not as used to the whole notion.

[They'd never been allotted time or opportunity for harmless fun. The closest they had gotten had maybe been mobile worker training with paint ammunition, but even that had been a process to teach children to kill without thought, without concern. Probably the very definition of harmful fun.

Tekkadan had offered them more time for quiet, for joyful moments to themselves. Orga had had a few, but as they grew more renowned, more of his time was dedicated to the dreadfully boring: the politicking, the deliberations.

The card blinks with the answer to his own floral horoscope, and he gives a single laugh. Well, maybe it was more of a grunt of acknowledgement - there wasn't much mirth to the sound. ZINNIA - THOUGHTS OF ABSENT FRIENDS, it read.]

Cute.

[The flat tone of voice implies something different, though.]

[ That makes the two of them, then. Given reminders of what they might have otherwise chosen to forget, yet could not. Two soldiers with death that they could not let go of.

Julius closes his eyes, replying with a message in two parts. ]

Let's go for a walk. Are you with us, by the way?

[ Perhaps a little startling to ask a stranger, but Orga is free to refuse. On the off chance that they're both from the coven, he could turn it into something tactical. ]

[Maybe the things weren't so random after all. But, then again, you could read meaning into about anything.

But his thoughts were commonly plagued by those he had left behind, those that had been lost but even more pressingly those that remained. He isn't sure how this whole "transferal across space and time" thing worked, but he sure as hell hopes it doesn't mean they were all left to fend for their own until he got sent back.

How the words were relayed might've thrown him off if he hadn't been looking at the other guy as he said them. The second half of the statement beamed directly into his head.

Ah. Another one.

Orga's certainly not one to turn down such an offer.] Sure. [He slips the flower-reading card into a pocket, the flowers into one on the interior of his jacket.]

Yeah, I am. A recent addition, though. [For what it's worth.]

[ Orga's response spares Julius from having to accompany another NPC for 2 hours. He would be much more comfortable with someone who was implicitly on the same mission as well. ]

The garden is quite beautiful, despite the snow. And it's quiet as well. [ So they can get away from the gaggle of girls nearby and from anynne who might notice a signet and cause the police to fall upon them.

Speaking of signets, Julius doesn't seem to have one where they would usually be, at the base of a person's neck. ]

I as well. It may be safer if we stick together. [ But first... ] Julius Visconti. I don't believe we have exchanged names yet.

Yeah. [He gets the gist of what the other guy's doing, filling in conversational gaps so nothing would seem amiss.] Must be some extra work, keeping it all from falling to frostbite.

[He only vaguely knew about such things. Agriculture wasn't much of a pillar on Mars, certainly not compared to the mining sector. But he's sure he heard Mika talking to Sakura once or twice about getting the crop of corn harvested before the weather got cold enough to lose anything to frost...

Orga, observational as he is, does notice that the little accessory they were all gifted upon arrival here wasn't present for this guy. Was he hiding it? Some sort of magic trick? Well, if he can speak to him telepathically, it was enough to absolve concern and just let it remain as a thin feeling of curiosity.]

From what I've heard about what's going on around here, yeah. Probably a sound bet.

[Right, introductions are usually important.] Orga Itsuka. Nice to meet you, Julius.

A pleasure to meet you as well. Let's go.

[ With that acknowledgement, Julius starts leading the way towards the garden. ]

I have heard that the environment is strictly regulated, so they may have dispensed just the right amount of snow. [ He's also a sort of stranger to these things, having only enjoyed gardens rather than planted them. Most crops could not be cultivated in the Far East, as it had a lack of both safe spaces as well as farmhands to do the work. ] It's interesting technology, I must admit.

[ You know, small talk to cover their telepathic conversation. ]

Have you met any other coven members so far?

Alright.

[Call it Martian mentality, but having a whole garden like this largely tended and kept for nothing more than the amusement of those that wandered through it seemed ostentatious. But when the soil would actually support such a thing, perhaps it was simply a luxury they could afford. It was difficult to shake off preconceptions, however, hailing from a place where any soil fit for growing crops was put to financial use.]

Regulated? [This is the first he's heard of that. But... well, he supposes the terraforming of Mars was something like that, though it'd mostly been creating a machine and leaving it to run. They didn't have any direct control over the weather.] Well... hell. It'd sure be useful.

[To be able to tailor the weather to your whims...]

Some. [Keeping up the conversation on two fronts was a little tiring, he had to admit, though it would be an important skill to sharpen.] Seen more than I've spoken to, mostly around the apartment building. You have any idea of our numbers?

[He's just thinking like a commander, wanting to know exact details of what they had at their disposal. It's a particularly difficult part of his brain to disable.]

[ Julius comes from a world where such things could still be afforded. The sentiment of avoiding wastage is something shared, however. Nature claimed what humanity could not protect, so what was accessible had been turned into factories instead. ]

If we could learn of it, it might be useful as a skillset. Though it may be a consequence of the resources that they are able to employ.

[ Certainly not something they could haul around across worlds, he imagines.

I would say in the dozens, less than a hundred. I keep close contact with only a handful, however. [ It's tiring to have to keep notes on all the people, even if he wanted to help them. ]

[This world seemed to function so differently from anything either of them had known, then. Everything was provided, everything was controlled. People existed as cogs in a machine, playing into production so they could afford their lives of relative leisure. It's not to say he disagrees or thinks it doesn't work, but it seems strange, almost false. As if they scratched just beneath the surface, they would find nothing was as it seemed.]

Yeah. The ability to manipulate the weather to that extent of control, huh...? You'd certainly never have to worry about a harvest failing ever again.

[Sakura would certainly be happy.] But yeah. It might be something only possible here. Still might be worth looking into, though...]

Right. [It was a decent number. Comparable to the amount of manpower he was used to, back with Tekkadan. Hm. Maybe a little more.] You have any idea about what we're meant to be doing around here? I've heard conflicting things. Something about looking for someone?

[Their supposed arcane employer.]

[ Perhaps it was the perfect order of this place that set them unto unease. Surely, such perfection must always exact a price... and how large would it be? How will they find out? ]

... Did you come from an agricultural place?

[ It seems that they both did not, but better to be sure. Talking about plants is a good cover for the real, more important conversation, so he has to keep pulling points out to sustain it. Easier to talk about a phenomenon and the environment than either of themselves. ]

Qri, the witch who brought us here. We are to seek her out and ply her with magical energy, though the method for that is anyone's guess.

[ In case all their science talk hasn't made it clear, he's not very good with magic. ]

Mm, not really. The soil wasn't fit for very much of anything besides baking in the sun, but there were some farms that eked what they could out of it. Corn, mostly.

[Corn that wasn't even intended for dinner tables, instead sent onward to be processed into biofuels. Controlling the weather would be interesting, though. Perhaps they could manipulate the elements enough to allow more things to grow. He knows Mika had been experimenting with other plants, trying to get something to survive, but they hadn't been going as well as anyone might have wished.]

There was more mining than farming. [Mars' true wealth was beneath the soil, in the half-metal that could be extracted there. Orga knew exactly how valuable that resource was, after Tekkadan's recent acquisitions. It was the only reason why a backwater colony like Mars even existed on the interplanetary map.

Don't worry, Julius, you're in good company. Orga knows his way around some machinery, sure, but this magic shit is way out of his sphere of comfort.

He scratches at the back of his neck as they continue walking.] Vague. Lovely. [He ruminates a moment longer.] How much the people around here are starting to suspect us isn't going to give us a lot of freedom to look, either.

[What a headache. He's thought that a lot, since showing up here.]

[ Julius runs Orga's words through his mind, seaching for a place that he could compare familiarity to. Perhaps the Midwest of America, before the fall - those were places maintained solely by technology much like the ones here in Shehui. ]

It'd probably be an issue of the soil, then. I've heard that valuable metals tend to poison the lands around them. [ Kind of depressing, but that's how nature worked. Or at least, it's what he read in the Archives. ] Did you import food from elsewhere, then?

[ His telepathic response will come a little later, after some consideration. ]

I confess I have considered the possibility of infiltration. I have a skill that allows me to conceal my signet without magic, but I have little idea of where to even begin. ]

[It was a fair enough comparison, though it'd be lost upon him; Orga's only seen a small slice of Earth, though he knows enough about it to know that it encompasses far more biomes and locales than he's familiar with on the relatively monochromatic landscape of Mars.]

Mm. That might be it. [Though he'd argue maybe the soil had never been made for supporting plants. Or, at least, not within recent history. But Mars was a strange place, capable of strange things.] Sort of. Nothing would survive shipping from off-planet, so I think they grew vegetables in greenhouses, or something. Protein was mostly synthesized, since there was nothing to graze animals on...

[That's all well and good, Orga, but one of those factoids is rather not like the other ones.

Regardless, he shrugs.] You learn to eat what you get and not complain.

[You actually get used to it. The food around here was a little too rich. Mika still refused to eat any meat that actually came from a living creature (though Orga was far less picky).]

Ah. I was wondering about that. [He considers this possibility.] It's risky. But our whole situation here is risky. Even if you're able to conceal that, they'll probably catch you on something you either know or don't soon enough. [It's strange, to sigh and to have it audible both in the physical world and over their mental connection.] It's not an ideal situation. I'm still figuring out what the better paths might be.

[ That gets a small chuckle from him - though it's clipped short by his habit of silence. ]

The same was said by someone I worked with; when the times are hard, you make do. However, artificial spices made it easier to bear for some of my teammates.

[ Eating becomes something surreal now that he's not a human anymore. Even when he was a human, he didn't think much of it. Food as an art could only be afforded before his time, so it was a natural consequence of self-restraint that he would not expect too much out of his fare. ]

Aye. I'm not good at espionage, so perhaps it's best left to someone else. [ He's far too inexperienced for it. ] Do you still have your job here?

[Orga returns the laugh.]

You learn that finding people with the ability to make something good out of whatever's on hand is worth their weight in gold. [There'd been the smallest shred of him that had been hesitant to take Atra with them into space, vaguely protective of the girl that had started to tag along after Mika in their youth, but... she'd been fairly insistent.

And her food was pretty damn good, especially considering what she was working with.]

It's not my strong suit either.

[Tekkadan was known more for kicking down doors, knocking out proverbial teeth. He simply used the tools at hand, and Mika was a blunt, particularly unsubtle weapon.]

What, my same job from back home? [There's a sense of amusement in his smile.] Nah. I gotta assume the same could be said for you?

[All this city really had to offer were jobs at the lowermost rung, so unless they were a bunch of gardeners and mall cops, they were all feeling a little underwhelmed with their options.]

[ There's a lot in common between them, which adds to his newfound relaxedness. Thus: ]

I don't know how to cook well, so I won't complain about it either.

[ No use fussing over something that he struggles with at times. Toast is easy, but simple food is the limit of his abilities. ]

Yeah. This place doesn't really need my old skillset. [ Also, his second excuse would be that he was retired... which is true. ] I was offered a job as a clerk, but that's out of my ability.

[ He wouldn't have minded a gardener job, actually. But that's not really the point here. ]

It feels like they're almost done tightening their net. I can pass off as someone not from the coven, but I'm not sure how much good that'll do.

[Orga feels similarly. It's nice to find those cut from at least vaguely similar cloth.

He laughs.] Let's hope we keep ending up in places where we can keep ordering food, then. [Because if he's ever stuck in a situation where it's him, a pantry of ingredients, and a kitchen, he's royally screwed.

Retired... sounds nice. Certainly beat being in the middle of a thorny situation and feeling as though you left your entire crew high and dry back home, without your leadership to try to guide them through the storm (which you admittedly put them in the path of in the first place, but that's beside the point).

A lot of the menial jobs were, in one way, shape, or form, things he'd done before. He's not thrilled about it, but he could do them. Maybe once he's shed his curiosity for the city and found some concern for the state of his funds.]

I'd have to agree with you. A place like this, it has to have records. If they know where we live, they can pull our names from a register somewhere without much issue at all.

[If they ever got half a mind to do something about them, well. There'd be nothing stopping them.]

My bigger question is, if they reach a point where they do something about us, what would that thing be?

[Setting dramatic irony aside, considering current events...]

[ Sagely: ] Perhaps we should learn sometime. It'd be useful, at least.

[ There are plenty of jokes about how men are useless without housekeepers, but it only applies to them on a very superficial level. Can't be thinking when one has a crisis on their hands. ]

It might be eviction. I'm not sure, there's much we don't know about what's beyond the walls. But I'm confident that we can handle it.

[ Hey, they're soldiers. They've lived through worse, and can just grit their teeth through it. ]

[Orga seems a little more unsure about the idea.

One of the first rules of leadership he'd learned was delegation. He had to make sure to distribute various important duties to different people, partially to keep himself from becoming overworked but also to make those individuals feel important and take pride in their work.

He would argue that he would just be taking away from all the valiant work his cook does for them... though the truth was, he just doesn't really want to...]

Maybe...

[Yeah, doesn't sound convincing.

It's not that he is against this sort of thing...! It's just that everyone, on his ship, has a role and a function, and his is very far removed from all of that. It's a bit hard to switch from that mentality here, where he feels he'll have to become a lot more self-sufficient.]

I want to say it'd be no skin off my back, but... I guess we're here for a reason, huh? [Something about that witch. They have to find her or something? Then glut her on magic until they can get the hell out?]

I guess so. I just like having a little more of an idea of what's ahead, so I can at least start to plan something out is all.

[Again. Necessary adjustments he's a little too hesitant to make just yet.]

[ Times will change, Orga. One must get used to it.... even if it wasn't something they wanted to do. Best to be prepared. ]

Did you have a preference for food, though?

[ Julius perpetuates their discussion out of food partly because it gives them an excellent cover, so it has to continue. That, and his interest in it has increased over these few months. ]

Likewise. Still, it gives us opportunity to get to know each other so we can work together more easily. [If it's any comfort. ]

[It's true, it's true... Usually he's fairly good with rolling with the punches and adjusting to whatever shit is thrown his way, but it's more the loss of his crew that he's slowly adjusting to. Being without them feels like he's wandering around with one arm tied painfully behind his back.

Orga gives a huff of a laugh.] On a plate, in front of me. Check those two boxes and I'll eat it. Hell. It doesn't even have to be on a plate...

[He's not picky. Of course, eating had become perfunctory back home, something he got out of the way so he could return to work. This opinion could stand to change here.] How about you?

[It is a fair point. He gives it to him.]

True. Seems to be working out that way right now.

[He certainly feels as though he can trust Julius at any rate.]

[ Julius can't help but smile at the response. It's something he might have heard from Gilbert, though the older man did prefer a drink with his meals. Not just for the taste - sometimes, he wondered if the veteran ever doused his worries in alcohol. However, the likelihood of that happening had decreased over time. ]

I had the luck to be able to eat a somewhat balanced diet, so something along those lines. Meat, and some cultured greens. [ cultured because farming no longer exists. ] But if it's required, I'll also eat whatever's in front of me on a plate.

[ Friends are good, and being both military means he doesn't have to mind his words so much. ]

I think there might be a cafe of sorts around here that I can recommend. We can check it out, if you're free. [ If not, maybe next time. ]

[Orga whistles.] Fancy. [Yeah, a "balanced diet" with actual, bona fide meat that came from an actual once-living animal and a variety of grown vegetables was pretty privileged from his perspective. But the Third Group had typically eaten what the rest of the CGS had eaten: gruel made from cheap grains, what few vegetables could be farmed on Mars, and artificial proteins. After coming from that, made by their own hands (and, by extension, not tasting all that great), all the food that Atra had been able to make from their supplies seemed like a divine gift.

He wonders what she might be able to do with some really decent ingredients. Something to look into when he gets back, maybe. Just so long as there was a meatless option for those of his crew that still felt weird about it.]

Yeah, sure. I don't have any place to be. [Maybe he should get a job, but, well. Then he'd be less free to wander around and befriend others who'd gotten swept away into this coven business.]

Lead the way.

[ Fancy indeed... ]

I suppose it is fancy. I treasured it because of the rarity, though. [ Such things were given only to the best soldiers, and for good reason. Mortality rate is pretty high. ] That's more the reason to enjoy what we can have here.

[ He'll start off towards the direction of the cafe he had last visited. It seemed like a peaceful type of place, with a gentle atmosphere. If Orga is anything like their conversation makes it out to be, he'll also need a good long break.

Or as much of it as they can get here. ]

Better 'n taking it for granted, that's for damn sure.

[It wasn't even that they had seen such a harsh divide among the different groups in the CGS. Even the older, more privileged (in as much as that they weren't youths selling themselves as human shields for food and board) First Corps had eaten the same sort of gruel that the Third Group had. The owner hadn't exactly been affluent. It was tough everywhere on Mars, except for the very thin upper crust of families so rich they might as well have been royalty.

He doesn't hold too much against them, though. His first employer had been a scion of such a family, doing everything she could to fix the very circumstances which had created the mercenaries she'd hired to protect her. There was an irony in that, sure, but he had nothing but respect for her.]

You're right, though. We gotta take advantage of all of this variety while we still can. [Said with a grin, happy in the anticipation of wherever Julius had in mind.

Casual things like getting a bite with an acquaintance was something that was still faintly unfamiliar to him, though Orga takes to it well, sampling some food he'd never really heard of before and continuing to talk for as long as their meeting together lasted.

Because, well, you gotta capitalize on the peaceful moments while they last.]

[JANUARY INTRO LOG | WORLD TWO]

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we can wrap this up? :D

sure thing c: