9790/Interesting magic trails

Interesting magic trails
Date of Scene:	24 January 2022
Location:	Hell's Kitchen
Synopsis:	She still doesn't know, Neon Green, or BLUE!?!
Cast of Characters:	Daniel Chain, Valerie Killmore

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Daniel Chain has posed:
While some may make their way with purpose, for Daniel Chain it's the whim of the moment that defines his movements (for now, at least). And that includes his presence here, although there was at least a specific happening that gave birth to this particular whim.
It had started with what has become his typical day, out on a street corner somewhere with his guitar, lifting his voice to the noise and bustle of the city to join in with his own unique song, a faraway look in his eyes. But in reality, his eyes were focused on the moment -- just not the same one everyone else what seeing. A smile had curved the corners of his singing mouth as he watched the play of shifting colors before him -- some beautiful, some ugly, all floating and curling in an ever-shifting weave before him.
One particular thread though had caught his eye, and without thinking his hand darted from his strumming to reach out and snag it. To the mundane passerby it might have looked like he was stopping to snatch at a fly, but in reality he had fixed his senses on this particular thread before it could drift away, peering curiously at it. o 0 (Hm! I've not seen these colors here before. What does this belong to... ?) It's too thin, too faint for him to really get a feel for it from where he is -- it's something fixed to a thing far away then, brought to him on some idle current of the ether.
And so he had closed up his case, and turned to follow it to see just where it leads. And this is what sees him now walking the streets of a neighborhood that he hasn't walked in before (although he'd be quite amused to learn what the locals call this part of the Big Apple), youth in worn denims with a white streak in his hair, one hand holding his guitar case, the other held aside as he follows the play of an invisible thread through his fingers. He must look like easy pickings to the average mugger, though so far he's been lucky enough not to get one's attention yet.

Valerie Killmore has posed:
Interweaving magical energies flow about and travel the world to the side of where normal vision lies. It isn't something easy to detect, but it is powerful and near everywhere, but much like the rivers and roads of the world magic flows. Today, the magical energies that Daniel Chain is following lead him into Hell's Kitchen. Named such for more than one reason, and here the divide between the wealthy and the poor is often as large as one's willingness to exploit, hurt, and murder. Not always, but often.

As he follows the thread that he pulled on earlier, he can hear someone off in the distance. It's a little echo-y, and definitely a feminine voice, continuing to follow it will lead him around the back of a local food spot to an alley where trash is collected. This alley has brightly colored hair moving about inside of it, attached to Hex as she's gathered a ladder, and more than one spray paint can. The cans glow with a shimmering pink energy that ... strangely, she does as well. Infused with magic, and slightly different magics trail along her side, where her tattoos are, an almost mini-black hole with little bursts of energy as nearby free magical energies flow into the tattoos, absorbed.

On the ground nearby some of the paint cans is an Uzi that is lit up with magics, unique, bizarre, magics tied together with the equivalent of duct tape and chewing gum. Tied to the very similar graffiti style that she's painting the wall with.

"Oh, sure sure, so he could light himself on fire. That's not that GREAT of a power. I mean, he can fly, yeah, and burn people, but I just need a flamethrower and I'm practically him." There's a pause, and a few nods of her head as she stands at the top of the ladder to get the left most ear of a scratch styled cheshire cat, "Yeah, hmm, I hear ya. That's a good point. We could just shoot him, and then not make the flamethrower..." Then she's tapping the side of her head, a few times, "But NOW, it's in my HEAD. Thanks!" The last word filled with sarcasm. No one else is in the alleyway with her, neither in the ether or in the real.

Daniel Chain has posed:
Hunh! When Daniel turns to walk down the alley, encouraged at the strength of the thread playing between his fingers telling him he was getting closer to his goal, he still wasn't quite sure what he would find. And indeed, he *still* isn't sure. The young woman is quite literally like nothing he's ever seen before -- neither her coloring nor her manner, nor the strange way in which the threads seem to twist and spark and... get swallowed? How fascinating!

Absently releasing the thread he'd followed to this point with a flick of the wrist, and now steps into the alleyway with the wide-eyed look of an artist seeing a wonderful new painting or sculpture for the very first time. Of course, it probably hasn't occurred to him that the feeling may not be repricocated. Putting aside entirely how a young woman in New York might feel about getting approached by a stranger in a dark alleyway, Daniel does have his own "vibe" to him, and not a very pleasant one at that.

Valerie Killmore has posed:
Stopping with her words, Hex leans back, further back, going as far back as the ladder will let her to look at the large graffiti work thus far, and so she shakes her head. Hopping backwards, turning, and coming to land, just dropping down from being about 10 feet up, she is headed towards other paint. "Needs a little... neon... neon what? Blue? No, green? No..."

Noticing Daniel coming into the alley she lifts her head, and points, "You! Stop right there!" She says and starts walking over quickly, eyes squinty, and assuming he doesn't stop her before she gets right up in his face, "Look." Pointing dramatically at the vandalism she's creating, so far just the outline of a cat's ear and a big smile, no face or eyes or anything just yet, "Blue... or green? Neon. Keep that in mind. If you were at an animal shelter, there were just 2 cats, and you had to take one home, otherwise someone was going to eat all of your tv dinner desserts for the rest of your life. Which would you choose to stop that, green, or blue?"

Daniel Chain has posed:
Daniel Chain says, "! " Daniel gives a bit of a start as she comes right up to him like that -- he doesn't stop her, nor does he recoil or blush. Indeed, he leans a little closer himself to start studying her face, but just as quickly she turns away, pointing towards her work in progress and asking her question.
"Huh?" Most would be off-put by the sudden shift, but Daniel seems to take it in stride, with all the seriousness of one colleague being asked something of another. He steps past her and deeper into the alleyway, turning himself to take a closer look at her work in progress -- although he does require a little more input on it, as he turns his head to give her a curious look. "Stop which? Stop me from taking one, or stop me from *not* taking one, so my desserts won't get eaten?" For most the point of a smiling cat would be inviting, but there *are* plenty of ways it can still go, after all."

Valerie Killmore has posed:
Crossing one of her arms over her body, grabbing at her elbow and then bending that arm up so her hand can come under her chin as Hex takes on a serious look. She stops moving, paying attention, listening to the question, "Right, you need more backstory. Of course, can't make a decision without the proper context. That makes sense."

"It's 4am, you are getting up and going to the fridge. With me so far?" She doesn't wait for you to answer, instead she starts pacing, speaking in a lower tone like she's getting really serious, "There's something you crave, with your..." Stopping again she looks over to Daniel and throws her hands into the air, "Pace! I'm pacing, you were the one who needed context. Amateurs!" She proclaims, as she starts pacing again back and forth.

"Where was I? Oh, right, 4am. You have a deep, inner craving. It feels like..." And then she waves her hand in your direction, tilting her head, eyes getting a bit wider and questioning, like now, now you fill in.

Daniel Chain has posed:
Daniel blinks as she as she voices her exasperation like that. "Oh! Of course." That does confuse him a little, and actually ruffles just a bit. Amateur? *Him?* But he at least seems willing to take that in stride, obligingly putting down his guitar case and begins pacing counter to her, the two of them facing each other as pass aside, and turn again.
And then he's prompted for an answer. He does at least know what a 'fridge' is and the time scale Earth uses, so an idea of what time 4 a.m. is. Food? In that hour? There *has* been times he's wanted something then. What did it feel like, those times he couldn't actually feed himself? When hours, *days* had passed when he couldn't? They had been lessons, not torture, but he has not forgotten them.
"Like something hollow inside," he supplies after a moment's pause. "Not just 'hungry' or 'thirsty.' Like something empty opened up inside you, and began reaching out to pull everything else in, little by little." Saying it without weight, or quietude -- stating it as a simple answer to the question, with only a grimace to go with it, as if remembering something unpleasant. It is however, just a wee bit more than a 'craving.'

Valerie Killmore has posed:
A loud snap, and Hex points, right at Daniel, when he comes back with an answer, then she's got her eyes wide again, as she's shaking with her hands a bit, "Yes, yes! Hollow, something reaching inside to pull everything out, in, both at the same time, good good." With that she holds up a hand, then goes back to pacing a little bit more, "Okay okay. So, it's 4am, you are walk walk walking to the fridge, you have this hollow feeling inside like something has opened up inside of you, wanting to pull everything in."

There's a few knowing nods of her head as she paces, "You are about to get to the fridge, but then you notice something on the floor. OH, what could it be? Who would've left something on the floor like that? And you go over to it, and it is a screw driver, notjustanyscrewdriver, but one that you you really like, even though the tip is a bit bent, it's nice, friendly, good conversationalist." Hex rambles a bit there as she stops, and mentions, "Ah hah!" And she claps with her hands loudly, "You don't have any food in the fridge. You get back on task, looked, opened it up, nothing was in there, could've sworn you at least had old cheese. So, what do you do, where do YOU go to get food, why?!"

Stopping her pacing, she waits, her breathing is fast, her eyes wide, her chest rising and falling quickly with anticipation, waiting, gripped, on the edge of her proverbial seat.

Daniel Chain has posed:
Daniel actually grins when she seems encouraged by his answer -- he doesn't see where this is going yet, but he can understand this much: it's part of the creative process (somehow). That is something he knows, and it's something he knows as a joy. He's actually excited to see it here, in another, and he steps forward to begin counter-pacing with her again.
Which is not to say the rest is as easy to follow. He has to cock his head a bit at mention of a screwdriver, and has to do a quick mental review -- something to do with juice? No no -- it's a tool of some kind. A favored tool? All right, that much he can understand too, although -- conversationalist? He looks intrigued at *that* and opens his mouth to ask her more -- but quickly shuts it as she goes right on.
And he can follow a bit more, at least. No food, where he thought he had some kept. Not even a crumb. Where does he go? He, personally?
"Out there." Having stopped when she did again, facing her once more as Daniel lifts his arm to point aside, down the alley to the street. Even in the grip of -- whatever she's in, she can probably tell he doesn't mean out to New York. 'Out there' in the truest, broadest sense -- the widest world, and beyond it. "Out there, to wherever the threads take me. To wherever my eye may see, that will tell me where the hollow will be filled." Once again answering simply, and completely honestly, not stopping to think that she might not know what he's talking about. Or for that matter, what *she's* talking about.

Valerie Killmore has posed:
Following along with you, hearing the words, she nods, like she gets it, and then nods again, and hmmmmmmmmmmmms, long, and takes in a breath, then hmmmmmmmmmmms again. "Alright." Hex says and she turns, spreading her fingers and putting her hand out, and then slowly arcs it through her vision, "You go... out there. Where the threads take you, yarn, in this case maybe, or possibly in a double stitch, it takes you. Inspired, you know you are getting closer, and CLOSER and CLOSER!" Hex's voice rises with each time she says the word closer.

A pause, a long pause, she doesn't pace, she doesn't say anything, just stuck for a moment, before she snaps like a crocodile out of the water, reaching out to grab Daniel by the shoulders, and shakes him. She's practically screaming right at him, "And that's when it comes after you, you are running, running, it's there, no there, over there." She's turning her body back and forth as she shouts different directions, "The physical manifestation of your hollow. It's everywhere, it wants to consume you, YOU! To be fulfilled, it tore itself from you at the fridge, you didn't notice, and now ... now, it's after you. To take everything there is in the OUT THERE!"

She's breathing quickly, panicked, and then she steps back, "That's when it happens. A savior comes, a cat. Not like any other, it has come to stop the hollow from consuming everything, including your TV dinner tray's dessert." She quiets down, and sits, cross legged on the ground, waving with both of her hands for you to get closer.

Whispering, practically, she asks, "So... what color is it? Neon Green, or Blue?" Still startled, eyes wide, she bites her lower lip, practically trembling as she waits for the response.

Daniel Chain has posed:
Daniel finds himself leaning in a bit more as she goes on again -- " !! " -- but starts violently as his shoulders are seized. Out of pure reflex his own hands come up to seize her own -- in another time and place place this would be an attack, forelimbs catching him to drag him into piercing fangs, and his own is a counter, a push to keep space between them to buy him the second's fraction he'll need to bring his power into play --
-- but he stops himself as he sees she's not attacking after all, but instead continuing on. How odd -- but no matter. His eyes widening again as he sees her fully in the moment, the two of them standing gripped close as she screams the terror to his face. He lets his hands drop she she finally steps back, speaking now of his savior. And when he's beckoned closer he willingly steps forward, dropping down to one knee where she sits. Leaning in closer to listen as she whispers, the question...
The look she gets is, for one moment, completely blank. But then light comes back into his eyes, and he gives a little 'Ah!' as everything clicks, as she sees now what it is this has come back to, and why. Excited, he opens his mouth to answer -- but then he pauses. "Neon-green, or blue?" he repeats. "Nothing else? No others?" That, he is not pleased by -- not because he thinks either is wrong, exactly, but that the fact that this limitation is there. That the scope of what it is she has just so wonderfully described, seeks to bring into being, has that leash.
But that is not to say he won't answer. But not right away. His look is completely serious now as he pushes himself back up to his feet. And turns, stepping back over to where she began her work. Raising his head to take it in...and then... reaching up his hand to press over his left eye. Undoing the enchantment there, and what it blocks of his seeing.
Once more, the word of colors and magic, of threads and their twinings, swims into view. In their full glory this time, jumping into stark relief as he takes a long look at her graffiti, and then at her paints. From where she sits, she may make out a telltale gleam of red from his fingers -- but he doesn't face her this time. Instead turning his regard back to the wall and her working, studying it for one more long, weighing moment...

Valerie Killmore has posed:
Waiting, waiting on the verge, she feels Daniel tense up, but whatever she thinks of it she doesn't react in any other way. She's not afraid, doesn't recoil, she just tells the story, the tension, the turning, and then... then... you have a question. Instead of an answer.

As the question comes, Hex just lays back on the alley floor, crossing her legs at the ankles, looking up into the sky. More solemnly she says, "You don't get to choose the direction a road goes, just whether or not you are on it." And she sits up from there, and looks over to Daniel. "I'll be back tomorrow." Not a good bye or a hello, or I'll want an answer then, just informing.

Heading to her magic uzi, she picks that up and shoulders it with it's strap, and then picks up her spray paint cans which she sticks to the sides of her pants, with... some hot pink yarn that's attached to the paint. Like it's glue soaked, or something.

As Daniel does look over the painting on the wall he can easily see that the same magic absorbing sparkles from her tattoos are also there on the paints. It pulls inward, collects, like someone slowly breathing in while particles fly by, just to get sucked in. In the world of magic it creates a breeze, as it were, of loose magic threads. With more study, it's clear, that her magic is wrong. She pieced it together, formulated it out of order, made little runes into the picture that shouldn't work. And yet, it functions. The same with the magic inside of her, the same with her uzi, even when a similar rune is used... it's used differently than the time before. Like Jazz, it's never the same twice even though it has the same 'feel'.