XOqNI

[tongueamok]

Hello, this is Carlisle. I mean, it's not Carlisle as in I'm actually answering you right now, so if you're trying to reply to me at the second, you should probably save your breath because I'm not really here. This is some kind of a recording of my voice, but this is my communicator. I'm going to assume these devices are as common here as they are in other places — not my world, but others, ones more technologically advanced than where I come from— so if you'd like to leave me a message, then you may do so here, or er... Right. Here is fine. So just leave yo— [beep]

Comments

[tongueamok]

Like Faith? [He gives Kate a puzzled look.] What about Faith? What was wrong with Faith?

[Not that he cares -- he's just curious.]

[tongueamok]

[Atem's exclamation and smile are met with utter confusion as Carlisle glances over his shoulder.]

It was... me who made the tea? Isn't that why you're here?

[puzzlingly]

「Well, no, of course he wouldn't know what he's talking about, but Atem goes near the ugly rabbit and gives it little scritches.」

The guy under the pelt. At the stores.

[tongueamok]

Wha— [His look goes from confused to alarmed.] What? What are you talking about?

[He might be quietly denying it, but Rabbit seems to remember as he stands on his hindquarters and leans into those scritches.]

[dedikated]

( Wrong is... the wrong word and Kate's lips quirk upwards. )

Nothing. She's... special. ( In a lot of ways, but Carlisle knew that. )

We call them Named ones. People with certain sets of powers that get a name. One in a million sort of thing that springs up randomly.

Faith's a Phoenix.

[tongueamok]

A Phoenix?

[The word is lost on him, Kate. Forgive him.]

The title sounds fancy, but what unique could she do?

[Because of his reclusive nature, he rarely saw her do anything, and he assumes the ability to coerce birds to move in with you is not a choice skill in any world.]

[dedikated]

Stories said it were a bird of fire that could heal people with its tears and come back to life.

( A shrug. ) Could do most of that. Didn't need to cry to heal anyone. Regenerated her injuries instead of dying in the first place.

[tongueamok]

[A necromantic bird. How utterly dreadful.]

So she was some kind of... pyromancer and healer. That seems counterintuitive.

[dedikated]

( Well the only real version of them is Faith, at least. And she can't come back from the dead. )

Why?

( And no one said powers had to make sense. Look at hers. )

[tongueamok]

Fire is wildly destructive, while reparation is not. If she were to lose control of her pyromancy while attempting to heal, it would be devastating to the victim. And if her healing does not require a firm grasp on her energies as mine do, it could be dangerous in an entirely different way.

[He sips again, wondering if the difference, perhaps, lies in what constitutes a power versus magic.]

[puzzlingly]

「Atem knows that tone, perfectly, Carlisle might not know it, but he is more than skilled at reading people, their whole bodies, the tones in their voices, it might be a thing that comes from his ancient education as a king, but not only that, as a duelist, one needs to learn how to read their opponents. Calirlse is lying, but Atem merely gives him a knowing stare and then a little smirk. It doesn't take too long to figure out people like Carlisle. He then turns his attention back to the critter.」

Ah, nothing, nothing. I must've been confusing you with this someone else. There is no way he could have been you... He was nice.

[dedikated]

( Ah, that's what he means. )

Don't think whatever decides on our powers cares much. You learn to control them. Or you shouldn't be using them.

( Shouldn't being the key word. Guess what 90% of power-related incidents end up being back home? Idiots who never took the time to properly control their powers trying to use them. )

[tongueamok]

[Carlisle continues to be easy to read: his expression tightens, souring at the off-hand insult.]

I am plenty nice to those who don't just make themselves at home in my garden, spitting nonsense with every breath. Your mistaking me for a creature is not my fault.

[puzzlingly]

I'm sure you can be. And don't worry, I will not come by anymore if that's your wish. I just didn't want you to ignore my request, it's very important.

「 But regardless, Atem seems impervious to Carlisle's snottiness.」

What's its name?

「Yep, just as if the other said nothing, he picks up the ugly rabbit.」

[tongueamok]

[Though Carlisle continues to glare at Atem as though his gaze could burn a whole right through the lad, Rabbit seems nonplussed by the fact he's been scooped up. He's not much for being held, but he's docile enough when in someone's arms, his nose twitching at he sniffs at Atem's bangs.]

His name is Rabbit. Don't drop him.

[puzzlingly]

「At the request, Atem gives Carlisle a funny stare. Does he really think Heaney that dumb?」

You really don't be like me at all, do you?

「It's evident, but the absolute lack of trust of handling the little critter makes it even more so. Again, Atem doesn't wait for and answer and smiles at him instead.」

I will not drop him. I think I was just missing holding an animal like this. I used to have a bunch of cats back home.

「The ancient one. He cannot really hold and cuddle his fiery salamander.」

Rabbit is a good name.

「Not too complicated.」

[tongueamok]

[Carlisle looks to the pruning shears in his hands, clearly a little embarrassed by Atem's blunt assessment -- he hadn't warned him not to drop Rabbit out of dislike, but out of concern for his pet. He isn't warm on Atem, true, but... well, at least the lad is being kind to his companion. That much goes a long way with the clergyman.

He pushes a breath through his nose, several seconds passing before he manages an answer.]

I've been told he's not a rabbit. I suppose it isn't very appropriate.

wow sorry my dude, phone "autocorrected" things and I didn't notice

[puzzlingly]

「After all this time, Atem should have noticed that often he can be a little too full of himself, that he can be annoying, but the truth is it often goes over his head. He's spoiled at best, even if he tries not to.」

What is he, then?

「And since Carlisle doesn't shun him away, he takes the opportunity to indulge a little more in the conversation. At least answers things that are not quite directed at his person. That's good enough for Atem.」

Whoops! D:

[tongueamok]

I don't know, frankly. I thought he was merely an otherworldly rabbit of some sort. It does not seem all that out of the question one would appear here, given all of us. I have called him that for so long that I suppose I am too stubborn to change it now.

['Being too stubborn to change' is pretty much a character trait for Carlisle.]

[puzzlingly]

「To which Atem gives a little shrug.」

I still think it fits.

「The teen gives Rabbit's ears a gentle rub between his fingers before putting him back on the ground.」

Maybe it's good it is not exactly a rabbit either. Your garden wouldn't like it.

[tongueamok]

[Rabbit shakes his head upon being back on the ground before padding over toward some stray coiler vines once more, looking for another easy snack. Carlisle watches as he meanders out of sight, pruning more leaves.]

He is useful here in the garden, in truth. He helps keep the coilers tamed, as they are in constant need of pruning.

[He snips a few more leaves.]

He also keeps me company. The heat does not seem to bother him.

[He might insist otherwise, but there's little denying that Carlisle can be a lonely soul.]

[tongueamok]

[He hmms quietly to himself. He knows too well about needing to learn control, though it is a rare instance when he uses his compulsion by choice.]

Have you tried learning other magic, Kate?

[dedikated]

( They've spoken about glyphcrafting before, and she's even considered it, but aside from that. )

No. Not sure how it'd interfere with my powers.

[tongueamok]

Would it? [A genuine question, considering how things work in his world.] You will not know unless you make an attempt.

[dedikated]

( But they're not in his world. Or hers, come to think of it. Who knows what realities Hadriel operates under with regards to that? They can receive pieces of the gods' powers and use those without their bodies rejecting them. There's still a lot about powers that's unexplained even back home, and it only gets more complicated when you add magic to that. )

... Might not. Still a lot about how things work here we don't understand.