entrancelogs | sleigh bells are ringing, it's that time of year

Entry tags:

sleigh bells are ringing, it's that time of year

Who: Anders (

circlejerked) and Minato Arisato (

jivitadana).
Where: First floor tea room.
When: Dec. 28th.
Rating: PG, probably.
Summary: A late Secret Santa gift exchange wherein Anders does his first Christmas proud and they try to wash the taste of Ewaymas out of their mouths.
The Story:

_{[After that roller coaster ride of sleep deprivation and fending off hordes of mindless Tranquil-esque pod people (a slight exaggeration, perhaps), Anders could honestly sleep for a year straight with his usual dreams of Wardens flying into battle on the backs of tigers. But there's no rest for the wicked or the weary--duty calls.

Somewhere out there is a Secret Santa recipient waiting for him to shower them in holiday cheer. It's Anders to the rescue.

After all, how can he hope to take part in Earth celebrations--or just as likely poke fun at them for being strange--if he dropped the ball on his first Christmas gift exchange? It's practically like Satinalia, and he's awesome at that. He's got this. And then maybe he'll consider looking into that year-long hibernation.

It's easy enough to find his giftee's name in the contact list and send them a text inviting them down to the first floor tea room to meet their Secret Santa. It's not stranger danger when someone's luring you with free gifts, right? Well, that might actually be the textbook definition of stranger danger, but who's counting?]}

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[There was more. Minato was intrigued since it was not just restoration, but something new had come out of it as well. That kind of ability was really so cool as he had thought before since for all of the firepower Minato might've had, he appreciated healing skills much more. What was he going to do with his life after fighting anyway? (Besides guarding a door, if he had the choice.) Knowing how to heal was going to be so much more useful.]

I like that you can just do it without any real ceremony.

[No summoning device, no thinking about one's death, none of that stuff. Anders made it look so easy, even if it hadn't been.]

Anything you show me, I'm sure I'll still like that too.

If by that you mean the kind of ceremony that involves pointing weapons at my tender bits, then I like it, too.

_{[Hey, you do you, Minato. No offense to your activation ritual or whatever you'd like to call it.]}

So which Persona represents that politeness of yours?

_{[Anything is a pretty broad. Letting Anders run roughshod over this little demonstration is kind of adorable in the manner of a courteous audience that claps at anything. He's not adverse to doing more magic if there's genuine interest, though--should Minato want to see a specific kind that's within his capabilities, he's up to the task of trotting out more Thedosian techniques.]}

[Minato nodded since he meant it that way. No offense taken at all. Having magic at one's disposal without all the fanfare was super convenient. He had been more than annoyed more at himself when the mansion decided to nope his Evoker out of an event where it would've been helpful to have. The best he could do was slash a sword at that rate, and he was lucky enough to have one at the time. Not bad, but not so helpful.]

Most of them. Except Jack Frost since that's the way Jacks are.

[And Jack Frost still thought the name "Anders" was a terrible name to pun for lack of any "hee" or "ho" to play off of. Disappointment all while looking like :D forever. But it was soon forgotten since Jacks like shows of magic and are easily amused, even if they're a bit arrogant and think they're bigger than they are. How much of that is Minato is still up for debate.]

But you do have more, right? Anything that could take down a hedge maze?

_[Wait--]

There's more of them? As in these Jack Frosts are their own species, you mean? _{[Now that's a thought.]} So they're not just unique extensions of yourself. There are more of them out there.

_{[That's certainly something these Personas would seem to share with spirits, more than just the fact they're not entirely corporeal. For every defining quality, but there are multiple spirits that do the embodying in the Fade. There's not just one spirit of compassion, but several--hundreds, thousands.

Interesting. He'd come out today to hand out presents, but he's not at all sorry to be learning about the kinds of other entities that share world(s) with people.

He laughs at the almost hopeful way the boy inquires about whether or not he has more firepower to his name, a change from the people who'd ask about his powers with the same kind of eagerness, but with the opposite hope. That he's not powerful enough or skilled enough to raze an area to the ground. It reminds him a bit of Sigrun, wanting to see him a burn a bush just to prove he could.]}

Sure I do. No offense to nature, but defenseless leaves don't stand a chance against a mage on a roll.

They're brothers. Jack Frost, Pyro Jack, Black Frost, and King Frost.

[Little does Minato know there are even more Jacks out there, like Raiho and Frost Ace and so on. Funny, Jacks had a habit of saying "hee ho" a lot, but only of them could have a pun in their name. Double standards there, Jacks. But he only knew of four, and therefore only gave the names of four. He missed the others all the same, even if he saw a Pyro Jack in someone else. It wasn't his Pyro Jack though.

But magic! More magic is to be had and Minato smiled, thinking about it.]

Well, I wouldn't want to slow your roll.

[He was pleased, as excited as a silent protagonist would get at something like this that had piqued his interest. He had more questions too, like if using magic was draining, if different types of magic required different incantations or if they were in different languages, things like that. ]

Of course, brothers. I should've guessed. That makes about as much sense as anything I've seen today.

_{[What's next, sibling squabbles? One Jack doesn't want to talk to another Jack and they sit on opposite corners of Minato's soul? Family dinners that end in split personalities?

Anders can see that given the boy's opening volley had been destruction incarnate, a small display of revitalization probably isn't enough to satisfy an appetite for something big. Everyone always wants the lightning and earthquakes. All right... he can oblige, just this once. Partly because Wonderland can heal itself--any damage won't be permanent.]}

Oh, all right, since we're doing show and tell.

_{[He bends to stand the twig up in the dirt at his feet. It's still growing larger by the second, mantle of green thickening, already the size of a small bonsai tree by the time he steps back.

Not for long. A cage of bluish light surrounds the bit of hedge. It's no gentle healing light--the telekinetic trap condenses, shredding the plant and turning it into scattered bits of mulch on the path.]}

We call that one Crushing Prison.

_{[For obvious reasons. RIP, plant.]}

[Well, Jack Frost and Pyro Jack put on a stand-up comedy show sometimes.

Minato liked that Anders was taking all of this in with a grain of salt and also with a sense of humor. No one had really asked much so far about his abilities, and having them scrutinized this way was actually more interesting that having to explain the whole death, death, and more death thing even if it was a part of it. It made him realize that yeah, he was pretty weird.

He did step back to give Anders some room. The big guns were coming out and Minato wanted to see. And see he did. That plant that had been full of life--how sad!--now was just bits and pieces with hardly any evidence of what it had looked like in all of its previous glory.]

Nice. All of your attacking spells are that flashy?

[He hoped so! But if not, that was still cool. Anders wasn't that unassuming, but no one should underestimate him at all.]

Is there a limit to how much magic you can pull off at a time?

_{[It'd have been much more impressive on an ogre, but he's not about to pull one out of a closet just to demonstrate. All the splattered blood and intestines would turn his appetite off his cake and that'd be unfortunate.

He brushes his hands off as one does after a job well done. The hedge probably wouldn't agree, but the kid seems entertained enough.]}

I've heard it said flashiness is one of my strong suits.

_{[He smiles with sly amusement. A way of saying Anders that when away from the heat of battle where efficiency rules the day, he's a bit more dramatic with his spells and his hand movements than he strictly needs to be.]}

I'd like to say my might is endless, but it's all depends on the mage. It's definitely draining to cast too much too often. Is that not how it works for you, or are your spiritual alter egos doing all the heavy lifting?

I like it.

[Not that Anders was looking exactly for Minato's approval, but Minato wanted to say it. He did like it. He considered it definitely a strong suit. Color Minato impressed in any case. Anyone would be impressed with that flourish added to magic spells. It wasn't directly Minato's style, or he hadn't meant it to be intentional.]

And it's the same. Physical attacks drain my health, magic attacks drain my spirit. Your chanting though makes it sound a lot more legitimate.

[It was fascinating that magic operated in similar ways across different worlds. Like it was universal.]

Stop, I'm going to blush.

_{[And he hadn't to pretend to shoot himself or anything to earn the badge of honor--go him.

Curiosity renewed, he considers what else the kid says, and how he says it. Chanting. Like Anders embodies the more mystical, wizard-y traditions. Perhaps in Minato's eyes, that's how it seems. And maybe it's true. Despite considering himself something of a modern man for Thedas' time, his spells are traditional--and what Minato's capable of definitely isn't.]}

You mean incantations? Most involved spells need to get the juices flowing. Or that's how it is for my kind of mage and how we're taught. _{[But as they've ascertained, Minato is a special case.]} I take the same kind of formal education wasn't a part of your learning curve?

[Minato only wished sometimes that he did receive formal education. Or even a warning. None of this "oh hey all of a sudden save the world and by the way shoot yourself in the head" kind of deal, even if it had turned out as best as it could. Being taught though how to use power seemed logical and a good idea. Best to start out slow and learn through doing instead of just doing it and learning from mistakes afterward.]

Sort of self taught, even if I had some guides.

[Again, sort of. Well, he couldn't dismiss his Velvet Room proprietors as just some 'guides.' They were actually more than helpful. But it wasn't anything so formal (was it?), like being taught in a classroom with an instructor.

But the world Anders came from seemed so much more rich with history and tradition in terms of magic, and that was never going to stop being interesting.]

How many different kinds of mages are there in your world?

Ah, that so. _{[Honestly, he'd have been more surprised if there were enough of these Persona users to form an institution for learning.]} If this were Thedas, they might call you an apostate. Someone who goes his own way.

_{[There's another 'a' word that might get bandied around, too: the "abomination" label, on account of having psychic passengers that aren't entirely human, but that one's less pleasant to share. Apostates don't come with the best connotations, either, but being one himself, Anders is a bit biased of the designation.]}

Oh, there's plenty. _{[His smile ticks wider, amusement still evident.]} Some of us are tall and thin, some are small and fat. Some are grouchy--that would be most of the Circle. Some are paragons of their trade.

_{[Like Anders, maybe, if you feel like filling that blank with his name.]}

[Oh, man, Minato would not have wanted to go off on his own to do the bulk of his journey. Way too difficult and also kind of not fair to his friends too who were in a similar boat as him. But there was nothing wrong with going one own's way too.]

Are apostates not normal in Thedas?

[It didn't sound like it. Someone like that was hard to find anywhere, really. Minato though smiled when Anders gave him that list of mages. Not what he meant, but he asked for it.]

I meant if different mages have different magic specialties.

If the powers that be had their way, we'd all study in Circles of Magi. Apostates don't. They belong to themselves. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes it's a bad thing. So far I think it's the former for you.

_{[Anders wants to like him--he's curious and gentle, not the image of someone fighting to keep control of their mind and body like others from Thedas have described Vengeance, the fusion of Anders and the spirit of Justice. Anders' deep-seated anger corrupting a spirit's sense of righteousness until both are worse off than when they started.

No, Minato doesn't seem like that at all, fortunately.

Turning, Ander heads for the bench, unscathed by the powerful magic being thrown around this afternoon, and bends to collect his box of cake.]}

Shall we save more demonstrations for later? Get talking about the kinds of magic in my world and we'll be here to see the hedge grow back.

Thanks. I like learning more though, so you're helping with that.

[That is to say, not only about Anders and his world, but also about himself too. Now that he had his chance to encounter other people from different worlds and know even more people than his original circle of friends, he was going to take it and run with it. Luckily Anders didn't entirely seem to mind.

But good things do come to an end. But that didn't mean they couldn't happen again either. Minato nodded.]

Sure. Thanks again for agreeing to this.

[Since Anders and his magic was his secret and therefore his prerogative to keep to himself. Minato would have to make him some more cake later too.]

It was my pleasure.

_{[Another smile as turns back toward the entrance and waits for Minato to join him, box tucked back under his arm.]}

I don't mind sating curiosity. Comparing notes on our home worlds takes the edge off the homesickness, doesn't it? _{[Anders finds it to be true, at least. Talking about what life in Thedas is like keeps it alive in his mind.]} There are as many specialities as you can imagine. The four main schools in Circle study are the primal, spirit, creation, and entropy schools. It branches out from there.

[Minato did follow Anders back into the mansion proper. His Personas would be up for another demonstration. He did have to let them out sometimes for practice. That poor hedge maze.]

It sounds like it's possible to know all four kinds?

[But mastering them? Was that possible too?]

_{[It feels a bit like walking away from the scene of a murder--a hedge murder. But in hindsight, Minato had been right in suggesting it as a good, isolated place to practice, and Anders walks away in higher spirits than when they started.

He's starting to think Minato comes from a very odd place--but he's not sorry to have seen a glimpse of it. Provided, of course, he doesn't go full-on abomination one day. That would be a downer.]}

I can preform magic from each, so now you can say you have! Specialities are really only limited by interest and affinity for the work, like any vocation.

[That part about it being a vocation sounded nice too. You could choose to pick up whatever suited your needs and then run with it. Like being passionate about something and then doing your best at it. Hearing Anders talk about all parts of magic though, good and bad, did ground Minato some. Magic wasn't all fun and games all the time anywhere in any universe.]

Thanks again. I'll be taking you up again on more demonstrations and question and answer time.

[Aw, because Minato definitely wanted another next time of some sort. More lightning and fireworks, please!]

You do still have a voucher in your possession, so I'm at your mercy. But between you and me, if anyone asks who set the hedge maze on fire, let's pretend it was someone else.

_{[Back in the mansion and out of the chill, Anders holds up his box of cake--the eating of which may very well be his next activity.]}

I might be swinging by sooner depending on how my sweet tooth feels. Thank you for showing me your abilities--it was interesting. _{[Among other adjectives.]} It was a pleasure to be your Secret Santa during my first Christmas season.

[Minato could say that someone else set the hedge maze on fire. There wasn't a problem with that and it wasn't quiiite a lie either if one of his Personas did it? Details. Or pleading ignorance, that was okay too. That just meant he and Anders could set the hedge maze on fire again later on.]

Enjoy the cake. There's more whenever you want. Thank you again too, for everything.

[Definitely one of the better Christmases he's had. He was looking forward to seeing him around some more.]

You and your Personas stay out of trouble now, you hear? Until next time.

_{[He lifts his hand in goodbye. In this small of a place, it's almost guaranteed there will be a next time. But if not, Anders will hold Minato up as someone who can make a spirit possession-y state look kind of cool.

Not something he'd been banking on for this meeting, but not something he's sorry for, either.]}

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sleigh bells are ringing, it's that time of year

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