+ Chalk it to me! - Mingle Log +

[vitaelamorte]

Who: EVERYONE!
Where: Anywhere outside on Real Side, but mostly in the gardens!
When: 3/14-3/20
Rating: PG, warn if going higher than PG-13
Summary: Alice has invited everyone, Reals and Mirrors alike, to come color outside in the nice spring weather with magic chalk. Surely nothing could go wrong with that plan, right?
The Story:

Outside, the weather is absolutely beautiful. It's not too hot, but not too cold either, and no one would have ever realized there was snow on the ground yesterday if they hadn't been here to see it. The grass is green and everything is dry - no sign of melted snow anywhere at all. Flowers have begun to bloom and it truly looks as though it's been spring for some time already. The season has changed abruptly and now Wonderland's decided it's time for it to be nice out.

There are many paths through the gardens, the vendors, and the hedge maze that can be drawn on, but as Alice demonstrated in her post, there's no need at all to stick to pavement only. Even the air can be decorated with living drawings!

This is a log for people who want to come color outside or people who want to check out what others are doing out here. It isn't strictly to interact with Alice, but she'll be around and will have a top level.

Comments

Alice - OTA

[curiousher]

Alice is absolutely thrilled. Wonderland's working properly again if it's doing that, and after the debacle at the holidays she's been extremely concerned about these things. She hadn't seen any cracks in the seams of Wonderland and yet it had broken anyway. Are there invisible cracks, or ones so deep they can't be seen? Is that what happened?

She doesn't know, but what she does know is that being a royal adviser is absolutely exhausting and she needs a tiny little break. Just for a few days, and then she'll be back to doing her absolute best. No, she'll work twice as hard!

But for now, she's drawing elaborate chalk drawings of everything she can think of. She's made a number of chalk flowers to join the real ones, and some cute chalk springtime animals are running around nearby, and some are just abstract doodle-y things that are wiggling around, but the most noticeable thing about Alice's creations is that she's only given herself blue chalk. She has a number of different shades, but all of her creations are completely blue.

There are runs in her stockings from kneeling on the pavement and she's absolutely covered in chalk dust, but whenever someone catches her she seems incredibly happy to be doing what she's doing.

[shslliar]

Blue chalk, eh? Kokichi's decided to counter that by adorning himself with purple chalk. In addition to his already different wardrobe, he's draped his oversized coat over his shoulders and secured it in place with a chalk chain clasp. He grins at her as he approaches, tipping his chalk cap as soon as she sees him.

"Alice-chan~! Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?"

[powerofmabel]

Mabel essentially all but kickflips in, wielding an assortment of rainbow chalk and not wearing a sweater today (chalk dust is notoriously hard to get out of wool). "Look at you, Royal Adviser Lady. This has to be your best idea ever."

[jamminshield]

After listening to Alice's announcement, Steven decided to respond in person. He grabbed his own basket and rushed straight for the gardens! It wasn't long before he arrived, an eager grin on his face.

"Alice! Hello, I'm here! How are you?" But he he can't resist adding. "Also - MAGIC CHALK?!" He looks so excited!

[teamfun]

The first thing Louis drew was a bunch of dicks, because he's a teenage boy and there's a credo all teenage boys have to follow if they're given drawing implements and a free reign to draw graffiti with them. He has no regrets, even if there are a bunch of dicks flopping somewhere around Wonderland- free as birds.

He doesn't bring any dicks to this conversation, though. He's honestly happy to see Alice in a cheery mood, and heads over with some magic chalk to crouch on the pavement beside her. He hasn't forgotten his promise to the Sisters, and he intends to keep it- but he can stall for a little while.

"Wow, you're going all out with the chalk, huh? I'm impressed."

Mirror!Misty - ota

[dejavoodoo]

It's not the first time that Misty has found herself on this side of the mirror, though the last time the entire mansion had been turned upside down and inside out.

This time seems slightly better, at least for the mansion.

The idea of drawing though, of being allowed to play, it feels so foreign and yet she can't help but to drift her way outside. Just to see what others are doing.

After watching for a time, she takes up a piece of chalk, drawing a small, green object on the sidewalk. Her expression sad and her eyes bright with unshed tears. Then the tiny thing leaps to life and skitters off into the grass.

Wide eyed, Misty draws another, and then another. Soon there's an army of so so tiny green frogs hopping about Misty and over her as she sits in the grass, drawing more and laughing.

And should this Misty seem a bit nebulous, that you can almost just see right through her, well for one day she's forgetting what she is, and remembering how life can be.

[wasitalie]

Chalk-kuuuun! Hello...?

[This Kokichi was looking for something, but he's getting a little distracted by a stray chalk frog that made its way to his foot.]

Huh? [He kneels down and scoops the little guy up... What a small and precious thing it is. He doesn't want to drop it as he carries it over to the other frogs...

And the... The...

Kokichi freezes up a little when he lays his eyes on the ghost. He's more than a little afraid, but... She's making tiny little frogs. Surely she can't be that bad?

He's still cautious as he releases the frog back into the grass... Maybe she won't see him if he doesn't say anything.]

[oneagainstall]

Gren missed Misty's Mirror last time. Mostly because he was avoiding everything and everyone and getting pretty damn drunk. Which for Gren is pretty much a Normal Tuesday, but still. The army of frogs catches his attention first, because who wouldn't notice an army of goddamn frogs?

When he finds the source of the frogs his heart twists in his chest. Oh. Very suddenly, very horribly, the frogs make sense. And as such, a part of Misty's Mirror does too. He walks over, slowly, carefully. He doesn't interact with a lot of Mirrors (hell, he can bearly cope with real people, let alone their made-up versions) but he'll always try for just about any version of Misty.

"Hey. Lotta frogs."

[goodtohim]

There's a small gasp from nearby, and a chalk doodle of a small boy toddles over toward her, unbothered by what she is. He has some sort of grey hat that looks more like an upside-down tea kettle than anything resembling headwear.

"Boy, oh boy!" he says. "Frogs!"

That's about all he can manage for words before he laughs and tries (and fails) to catch one. Wirt's Mirror is following slowly behind, his blue cape swishing as he walks. He doesn't seem to be bothered at all by the ghostliness, or at least he isn't acting like he is.

"Sorry. He really likes frogs," Wirt's Mirror says, laughing just a little. "I hope we're not bothering you?"

[thisismadfreaky]

Cisco is wandering, checking out all the drawings people are making when he isn't busy making his own-- mostly caricatures of his friends from home and a few of the ones here. He comes across Misty's tiny army of hoppy friends and grins. "They're adorable, oh my god."

Kokichi Oma | OTA

[shslliar]

Oh, man. Kokichi's having a field day with this.

Not paying attention? He's set a bunch of harmless chalk traps to walk into. Like, pits in the middle of the pathways and cages falling on top of you. Fallen asleep in the gardens? Kokichi's gonna draw stuff on you! Because when you can draw literally anything he is totally gonna add dumb cat ears and moustaches.

And when he's not making a nuisance of himself?

Well, at one point, he's talking to his phone because someone went and screwed it up.

"You drew what into existence?!"

The voice that replies is his own, so clearly he's talking to his mirror. "S-sorry! I just wanted to see my friends from-"

"Do you have any idea what you just unleashed?!"

Yes, he's going to torment himself for a bit. What you gonna do?

[shrimpheavennow]

Eleanor's been feeling kind of terrible for...a while now. Terrible, and when she thinks about it, useless. Like, at least she had a goal back home, even if she was equally inadequate in the face of it. Here she's just so...not a superhero, at least.

But she's pretty good at, if not being the voice of reason, exactly, being the voice of "What the fuck?" And this chalk business is just asking for that.

So, for the first time in a while, she's engaging. She's walking around. And apparently, as vigilant as she is for whatever bullshit is behind the scenes here, she isn't vigilant enough! Because here she is, hanging upside down from a chalk rope tied to a chalk tree.

"Goddamnit. Why am I only right when being right means bad shit is happening?!"

And of course she hasn't picked up her own chalk out of sheer paranoia at what might happen. Time to dangle and pass out from blood rushing into her head, apparently.

Sunburst - Both Real and Mirror editions

[bibliocorn]

Real Sunburst

Real Sunburst is very much interested in the chalk and its magical properties. He can be found on the real side grinding it up and putting in into test tubes, levitating it in front of him and occasionally dropping some weird substance or other and scribbling whatever results he gets down in a notebook. He can also be found on the mirror side with his faithful notebook- taking notes on just about everything he can. It's rare he can get on this side of the mirror - and given him being here isn't going to make a lick of difference to where his Mirror can go- well, might as well make the most of it. Regardless if someone is a Mirror or not, he'll trot over with his notebook.

"Hello! Do you live on this side? I'd love to learn some more about this place if you don't mind?"

Mirror Sunburst

Sunburst's Mirror will never miss out on the opportunity to cross over and make life more complicated for the people on this side. Things have been horribly calm on the mirror side since the Queen's demise. He doesn't like the White Queen's reign. He doesn't trust her, and he sure as hell doesn't trust in whatever she has planned. She has to have something planned, he thinks, because no one is that altruistic. Not really.

So he can be found on the real side wandering around aimlessly (with those creepy green purple-smoked eyes of his) picking things up seemingly at random (his magic a bubbling purple mass, instead of his Real's glittering yellow)- examining them with detached disinterest before carelessly tossing them aside. Maybe it was something that belongs to you, he doesn't care.

"So. You guys get all the colour and all the magic and you're using it to draw things on the pavement like foals," he picks up a piece of chalk, examining it, before glancing over at whoever is in his periphery. "I honestly don't understand why the Queen of Hearts thought you were such a threat. It's so unimaginative, it borders on the pathetic."

((ooc: Mirror Sunburst replied will come from hlietforesettanpliht ))

Mirror Sunburst

[shslliar]

So, the chalk he was using started bubbling with gross dark energy and suddenly flew off in front of a weird unicorn with darkness leaking from his eyes. On first glance, Kokichi decided that Sunburst should win the award for creepiest mirror ever on account of this.

Still, Kokichi doesn't seem too upset. In fact, he walks right up to the danger unicorn with a sly grin on his face.

"Au contraire, my equine friend," he effects a venomous tone as he stands before the pony, "Not all of us are simply content to draw such childish things. In fact, some of us may use it for more... Nefarious purposes."

Here he moves to grab the chalk from the dangerous bubbling aura in a show of confidence... Hope the dark magic isn't slimy.

drizella tremaine | ota

[emojis]

[Drizella isn't really sure why she's out here. It's probably just that she was bored. She's never really been the whimsical type, but the basket of chalk calls to her for some reason, and she decides, what can it hurt?

She stakes out her own square, a ways away from the rest of the group, and starts idly sketching out the first shape that comes to mind. Maybe it's because her mother and sister have been on her mind as of late, or maybe it's just been such a pervasive part of her life, she starts sketching golden lanterns floating in the sky.

She makes it about halfway down the walkway when she realizes that lanterns are actually lifting off of the pavement and floating up into the sky. The sight of them freezes her in place, because it was not her intention to put herself more in her feelings, so she just turns to the nearest person and hands off the chalk.]

Here. You take them.

[beatupgrass]

[Rocket just stares up at the lanterns like "really?" and then looks at the chalk she's handing him. He's pretty good at figuring out the mathematics of what's gonna happen when he takes that chalk.]

Everybody here's gonna be real pissed at you for givin' me this power, lady.

[He's gonna take it though because he loves power.]

Michonne | OTA

[thesamurai]

[ Michonne tends to walk the grounds pretty often, and she has to admit, seeing everyone out, relaxing, it's nice.

She's more interested in being able to go over to the mirror side, though, so while she does take the time to wander outside and look at everyone's chalk art, she goes to the mirror side as well. She's too intrigued to leave well enough alone. ]

Wonder if we should get used to this? What with a new queen and all.

[ She asks this of the closest person, mirror or not. ]

[eatsyourscience]

[Souji is also doing a little exploring on the Mirror Side. Just a little, partly out of morbid curiosity to see if his Mirror still collects tarantulas... But he's gotten distracted by being on that side of the glass at all and hasn't made his way to his Mirror's room yet.

He looks over when Michonne speaks.]

I'm not sure. She's definitely...different.

Mirror Entrapta | OTA

[fizzybeverages]

[Entrapta's Mirror has never been on the Real Side of Wonderland before. She's relatively new and simply hasn't had the opportunity. Lacking her Real counterpart's innate curiosity, she isn't driven to cross over the way many are. But...well, drawing with chalk does sound fun.

She contents herself with drawing various robots and is absolutely delighted when they come to life. They don't function very well, of course, but they're still lovely.

She keeps her welding mask on while she's drawing, but should anyone approach, she'll reluctantly raise it to show her face.]

[stantagonist]

[Stan's Mirror isn't really on board with any of this, and he looks completely out of place in the gardens. He's mostly been keeping to the edges of everything, watching and sulking that this is their new normal.

He wasn't made for this regime. He was built for Mirror Warfare, not...coloring.]

What are you doing?

[He's been watching her and he chalk-bots for a little while now, and the question is a lot more accusatory-sounding than it really should be.]

Dipper Pines | real or mirror | ota

[krmvgivv]

Real - Words Will Never Hurt Me

[Look, Dipper knows the chalk is magic. That’s why he was careful to bring his own, non-magic chalk as well. He is in hardcore mid-theory mode and he doesn’t want to stop just because there’s some delightful fun happening! Theorizing is important too!

Unfortunately, he’s deep into his notes and when his chalk gets too short to work with, he doesn’t think much of grabbing another piece right next to him.

A few minutes later, he looks up and yelps as the numbers, words, and question marks he’s been writing peel themselves off the pavement and start coming after him.]

Oh, no, I’ve had nightmares like this!

Real - When I Grow Up

[Maybe he can turn this around.

Dipper sits on the ground, legs splayed out in front of him. Then, he leans forward and very carefully draws an extra foot or so of leg to the bottom of his foot. He lifts it up and waves it around, satisfied with his newly longer leg.

The problem comes after he’s done the same on the other side. He pushes himself awkwardly to his feet, then wobbles.]

Oh, no, I knew I should have used a ruler!

[More wobbling on legs that clearly aren’t the same size, then down he goes.]

Dippy Fresh

[Honestly, Dippy Fresh’s art speeaks for itself.]

Words will never hurt me

[teamfun]

[Never fear, Louis is here! Or...perhaps fear a little, because this is still Louis and he's not going to allow any rescue attempt to be regular. He does have Chairles, though- and runs over to happy whack a few numbers out of the way. It's considerably easier to take out the dead with it- they usually stay down. ]

So. I'd say this is a sine of a larger problem, huh, Dip?

[Look. If he's going to help you, you're going to have to put up with his shitty puns. It's the price you have to pay. Also, him singing a rousing rendition of "Comma, Comma, Comma, Chameleon" as he takes out a few stray punction marks.

You're welcome. ]

Doctor Fitz | ota

[hypoxic]

[The chalk has been magical, but strong enough that it's provided a means to escape from the prison that's been holding him. It's not the first time an event has given him the option to accomplish this. Usually, he'll spend his free moments making arrangements and touching base with the scant allies he's made here. But after months of the routine, of trying and failing to make progress, his desires are far simpler.

He is going to go outside and be in the sunlight.

The children and children-at-heart are creating noise pollution, but are just something else to endure. It's spring already, from the looks of things. Have they kept him prisoner for so long? Father would be mortified.

There might be something out-of-place about him to others, a man in a three-piece suit for no reason at all, deliberately looking away from anything remotely resembling fun. It can just wash over him for now.]

[hadtolose]

[ Kara's been on the fringes of everything, merely observing. The whole situation's pretty bittersweet, all the whimsy and color reminding her of her daughter. She's not up to participating, really. She'd rather not go back to being a depressed mess.

When Fitz walks past, her defenses go up, just like they do with any human. They're even higher than usual, since she didn't expect anyone to come by, let alone anyone that looks like they'd fit in nicely with some shady government officials. After dealing with the raid on Jericho, she is totally not digging that vibe. Connor's always insisting that the humans here aren't bad, but...

She'll attempt to be cordial. Maybe he's not wrong. ]

Not up to drawing either?

ange ushiromiya | ota

[entreats]

[ If you just happened to go out into the gardens, you might find Ange. And you might find - more surprisingly - that for once in her life, she's actually participating in something. Because even for Ange there comes a point where she just has to say to hell with it and do something to occupy some time.

So here she is, coloring with the chalk on one of the paths. Her drawing style is a little simple, but still recognizable enough to tell that she's drawing humans. Guys, to be exact. First she draws one in a black outfit with grey hair, then one in a white suit with red hair.

Except she's given both of them incredibly dumb facial expressions and donkey ears.

Ange doesn't even bat an eyelash once they suddenly come to life, stand up, and start walking off. She already knew what would happen, she made sure to check out the dangers of this by watching other people before attempting it herself, okay.

So she just calmly watches the figures walk off, and when they walk past you, it's then that she notices you there. ]

You might want to watch out, their idiocy is contagious. [ It's hard to tell with all the deadpan, but something about her seems like she's actually enjoying herself. ]

[eatsyourscience]

[Souji watches the two figures walk off, then turns to look at Ange.]

They're not too bad.

[Drawing-wise.]

Why the ears, though?

Steven Universe | OTA

[jamminshield]

[Steven pretty much goes to town with the magic chalk! At different points of the day, he can be found with any variety of chalk creations. Here is an example of where his work looks like. Not too bad? Okay so how about the options for his chalk creations when one comes across him:

(a) He naturally started off with drawings of his close friends from home. So there will be chalky versions of Steven's dad, the Crystal Gems and Connie. He's happily mingling with them, even if they're just speaking gibberish, and already wondering what to do next!

(B) He eventually moves on trying out fictional characters. So he ends up bringing about the likes of Dogcopter, Cookie Cat, Lonely Blade and characters from the Spirit Morph Saga. Steven's excited to meet his heroes, though things may get a bit chaotic with all of these drawings running about!

(C) While not extremely detailed, Steven eventually draws a landscape of Beach City itself. One can witness him jump into it on his own, or Steven might perhaps run up to people to try to convince them in entering it!]

a.

[waitin]

( Clementine hasn't dipped into the magic chalk herself, but she's around, trying to be protective of those who are participating in the fun. She just doesn't trust the mirrors, doesn't trust people in general.

She does smile as she comes upon Steven mingling with this group around them. They're all chalk, but she can tell they're important to him. )

...hey, Steven. Who are you hanging out with?

clementine | ota

[waitin]

Clementine can't help but think of how much AJ would have loved this. He was always into drawing even before he could speak. He'd be drawn to crayons. Maybe because it was the one quiet thing they could do without attracting walker attention. She doesn't know. Either way, she can't help but be hyper vigilant, especially with the mirrors over here.

They can't do a lot with chalk, but they sure as fuck can do a lot with the weapons they can pull out of the closets. She's always armed to the teeth, and this is no different. Armed to the teeth, watching everything as it happens, making sure nothing goes to shit. She'll never forget that mirrors murdered at least two people in one of her first months here. Sure, not all of them are bad, but they bring a level of unknown to the whole situation.

As far as she is concerned, her own mirror's an unexpected, dangerous threat. Her mirror stole her fucking hat, knowing what it means to her, which clearly shows it obviously meant shit to her mirror so she doesn't trust her mirror at all either.

Sometimes it's really not easy for her to be... normal, to just enjoy chalk and drawing with it and the warmer weather and the rest.

[teamfun]

AJ would have loved all of this. Tenn, too. Louis can only imagine the wonderful creations those two would have come up with here. It would have been pretty amazing. A better show than the few crude dicks he'd gaffiti'd about the place before deciding that was probably not the...best idea ever.

He hasn't got much of an opinion on the Mirrors. He hasn't been here long enough to have the natural distrust of them as most do. They're more strange to him than anything else. But if Clem sees reason to be guarded...well, he knows he can trust her on this one.

But he's also made it his mission in life to make her smile at every opportunity- particularly when he feels she needs it. And he feels that she needs it now. As such, he's sat down next to her, cross-legged, scribbling on the pavement, his tongue sticking out in concentration.

"Okay, so if you were going to have a magical fantasy playing-god chalk pet, what would it be?"

Regina Mills | OTA

[madehervows]

Chalk Collecting »

[All the chalk really does is remind Regina of 'simpler' times. When Henry was still a little boy and before people came to town and ruined her life and forced her to grow and change and be a good person. They didn't quite have magic chalk, but that's besides the point.

What the chalk means now is that Wonderland has gifted them a piece of its magic, however small. Or Alice has, but the magic had to come from somewhere So, instead of drawing with the chalk, Regina is intent on collecting as much of it as she can. It might ultimately amount to nothing, but anything that might give them some insight on Wonderland is worth pursuing.

Chances are, you might be approached by her and asked about the chalk - what you think about it, if you're planning on using it, that sort of thing.]

Testing »

[Once she's collected as much as she can, Regina finds a quiet corner of the gardens - far enough away that if anything goes wrong, nobody else will be affected, but close enough to notice - to get to work.

First, she begins by grinding the chalk down into a powder. With how much there is, it takes a while and occasionally she inhales some chalk dust. Hopefully that won't do anything to her... When she's finally done, she sets out several bowls of multicoloured powder. Each one has something different added to it: another powder - a single, solid colour - a liquid that sparkles with magic of its own.

Nothing happens with any of them. At most, she ends up with a sparkly chalk soup.

It's the final bowl that gets a reaction. Since nothing else worked, Regina deecides to pour a little of her own magic into the chalk powder. The resulting explosion covers her in chalk dust and dyes her hair a wonderful shade of rainbow.]

Chalk collecting

[oneagainstall]

[Gren has sequestered himself in some dark corner to drink and keep the fuck away from all these lunatics with their magic chalk. His own sits, untouched, beside him. He has exactly zero intentions in toying with questionable magic.

He knows Regina has no such qualms though, so he'll push his set of chalks over to her as she heads over.]

Kock yourself out, do whatever you like with it. I'm just waiting for it to all go tits-up, which this shit always does.

Lapises, OTA, the usual spiel

[ssmisery]

Mirror Lapis

[This Mirror, unlike the Real Thing, knows how to have fun, and would never turn her nose up at an awesome toy like magic chalk. It's great. Since it only gets the full oomph Realside, and that's where most of the people and all the partying is, she should really be over there. And she will! But like... even regular chalk is actually a pretty good novelty on the dreary grayscale Mirror side, do people not realize this? She wants to do some decorating while it's available. While a lot of that is kept to her own space, right now she's working on a more ambitious mural along a hallway. M'Lapis is actually a pretty decent artist, and appears to be creating some sort of alien landscape, a purple sky over rocky red land punctuated with the occasional... crater full of tentacles, looks like? Okay. It definitely stands out more on this side of the glass, especially when things are extra quiet here.

Until she runs out of chalk and now she has to make a foray Realside. Whoops. Out among the drawers and their equally lively drawings, M'Lapis doesn't call attention to herself, instead keeping an eye out for likely marks. She may be kind of on a mission, but the bigger goal is to have a good time doing it, so she wants to find people who look like fun and chat them up. Thus you may find her sidling up as you're hard at work, acting interested and easily impressed: "Ooooh, what're you making?"]

Real Lapis

[Real Lapis is, indeed, less likely to be getting out and having fun with something like this, although she sure does appreciate the break from Wonderland's other bullshit. Still, she can be found all around the outdoors as usual, and yeah, sometimes she does actually try out the chalk. Lapis seldom draws anything recognizable; deliberately pointless scribbles may undulate in the air nearby, or abstract forms can be seen shambling after her in whatever way they can figure out. At one point, sitting on the roof, she draws more clouds into the sky just to see if she can. (They're actually just hovering right above her, of course.)

One notable quirk, though: once Lapis learns how scene drawings work with this chalk, and thus that people can be trapped inside them, she does not like that part at all. Since she is the natural enemy of all things chalk, anytime she should come across what looks like anyone she even sorta knows in a picture, she won't hesitate to erase it -- if there's no better water source handy she can make do with her own wings. Of course, depending on the situation, this could be the rescue she intends, or she might actually just be ruining people's fun. Oh well. You had to come out of there sooner or later, right?]

[slapfight]

[Let it be known that Peridot is not much of an artist beyond her abstract morps- oh sure, she can do technical drawings, but they're not really good for chalk, though she tried very hard- there is a half-finished Homeworld computer system somewhere on the grounds that was abandoned after the fifth time Peridot ran herself out of chalk trying to get all the details right.

Eventually, she sticks to her stick figures who are hovering around her like chalky servants. They cower in the face of Lapis destruction of a scene and as the persons "trapped" quickly exit grumpily, Peridot yells after them.]

YOU'RE WELCOME. [Look, she knows what Lapis's intent was... or she assumes she knows. Leave it to Peridot to stan for Lapis's misguided attempts to free all trapped persons.]

Mirror Wirt | OTA

[goodtohim]

[The Real Wirt has enough sense to not mess around with magical anything, so he is avoiding this entire situation. Magic chalk? No thank you. He has literally nothing that he needs brought to life that badly.

However, his Mirror is thinking about this a little differently. He no longer carries the lantern that supposedly held an essential piece of his brother's soul, but he can still feel the weight in his hand - the weight of constantly missing someone. Mirror Wirt is distinguishable from the Real version in that he still wears the blue cape that defined Wirt for so long, but skips the tall pointy hat. There's also something different about the way he carries himself - he walks without fear weighing him down, with a confidence and contentment the Real Wirt does not possess.

There's only one thing he would be out here drawing. The pictures are a little basic (he's never claimed to be an artist) but each one he draws is of the same teapot-headed child. When the first chalk Greg gets up, Wirt's Mirror is absolutely delighted. The chalk Greg needs a friend, he quickly decides, and then the first two wander off with ease so he draws three more. Soon, there are more than a dozen chalk Gregs running around the gardens, laughing and playing and getting their noses into trouble.

And Wirt's Mirror is content to let them get into as much trouble as they want, as along as they get to exist for a little while. That's all he really needs.]

[teamfun]

[The Mirrors are still a pretty new concept for Louis. To meet people who look exactly the like the people he knows- but are absolutely not those people. It's weird and not easy to get used to. Still, Wirt's Mirror is someone to behold. He's so used to seeing Wirt wandering around like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. This confidence is...something else.

He smiles at the myriad of Little Gregs- not for the first time a little sorry he never got to meet the real deal here. He moves to stand beside Wirt's Mirror, watching the Gregs scuttle about. He might not be the real Wirt, but that doesn't mean Louis isn't going to be friendly. ]

I wonder what a collective noun for a bunch of Gregs is. A Mischief? A Greglective?