[This inspires a soft laugh from Venat, which without warning becomes a brighter one, her weight unconsciously shifting to lean on him slightly for support as she gives it voice, without restraint.]
An excellent counselor indeed! A simple statement to open up a whole world of possibilities and questions I'd not even realized. "A chance to just be Venat," yet who is 'just Venat'? I've no idea, in truth, for the line between the woman and the heart of a primal has had twelve millennia to blur and smudge. And at the same time I wonder it, you are helping me to answer. You are a marvel, you well ought to know that.
[She shakes her head, still breathing soft laughter that treads between mirth and confused delight.]
[ Maruki accepts her leaning into him gladly, tightens his arm a bit around her back and finds himself laughing along with her. It's easy, with Venat. He can't remember the last person it was so easy to find such uncomplicated joy with.
Or– he can.
It's been a very long time. ]
I promise there's nothing about this that resembles counseling! I mean every word I say as your friend.
[ You are a marvel, stated so emphatically, like it's a fixed point in the cosmos that Venat knows as well as any other. There's no room left over for him to question or doubt it. The compliment doesn't ping off in deflection; it simply sinks into the very matter of his heart.
They could go back and forth all night – if he's a marvel, then Venat is a wonder, on and on.
Some day. There's no shortage of time for their mutual appreciation circle to run rampant.
For now, Maruki's focused on this dichotomy that Venat is rediscovering within herself. He grins at her and then jerks his head away, back from the cliff's edge they stand so near, toward the clearing of the plateau. ]
Shall we set up our camp? And once we're comfortable, maybe I can ask you to tell me another story you can recall about a time when you were just Venat.
That is a complicated question to answer. [She turns back to him, letting her arms fall.] Creation magic requires being able to perfectly picture the item you wish to create in every aspect, and I do mean every aspect. You must understand its nature, its composition, its weight, its texture, its scent, its resilience, its elasticity, and so on and so on. Rather than recreate an item from first principles in our mind every time, we instead condense them into what you might best consider as mental packages. Concepts.
I possess certain concepts such as my weapons, my robes, camping supplies such as this, Argos... but if you were to ask me to create a rock from my home world, I would struggle mightily at best without a concept. In our time, we had an entire vault, Anamnesis Anyder, that held countless concepts and our full knowledge of all the laws of nature necessary to create more. And so those who wished to accomplish something would obtain a concept from there and refine it, then submit it for review and cataloguing in turn. For living concepts, we had an entire testing field devoted to determining if they were suitable for introduction to the star, or too flawed to be released.
[She has described creation magic enough times that she believes she understands what people wish to know about it -- but Maruki is about to get a little more than most.]
Of course, we have our own limits as well. Each of us possesses more or less aether from which to create. For some, a reasonable sized animal or familiar would strain their limits, while one of the most talented men I knew could conjure an entire city, with simulacra of its inhabitants, without draining himself overmuch. And in turn, many of us could join together to pool our creation magic... or sacrifice ourselves, to create beings that could accomplish what none of us alone could.
[ It makes sense – as much sense as it can make to a man who has never known or possessed that kind of power. His own ability to create is simultaneously more wide-reaching, less demanding, and still almost wholly unknown to him. Perhaps he would have done a better job if he had to know the level and depth of detail intimately enough to create concepts.
Still– he does understand. And it's fascinating beyond his wildest dreams. Especially a vault of concepts able to be tweaked and twisted and improved, a testing ground for new variations of life. The scientist in him is deeply appreciative of the concept (ha ha) alone, and the reality bending weirdo in him wishes he could have experienced it too.
But it's that last bit that brings this around to what he already knows. ]
I see...
[ Maruki hangs his satchel up on a tree branch before moving to sit at the edge of the webbed hammock, gently testing its stability. ]
Exactly so. Zodiark was in fact developed using the concept of 'deity' as a base, and some claim that even without any effort to make it so, the primal had such power as to temper the minds of men.
[Venat does not believe it. But she will at least credit that those who said it believed it, or told themselves they did at the very least.]
A magnificent example of accomplishing something through combined magic that no individual could have done alone. Proof, some have said, of the virtue and glory of our kind, that half our number would willingly and gladly sacrifice themselves to preserve the other half.
[Suddenly, almost violently, she shakes her head, then lifts it.] But that is a path down which dark memories and cold thoughts dwell, and those are less suitable for the present time than they might be at others. I find myself speaking so often of our flaws as a people and society that I neglect to mention how wonderful it all was, for century upon century.
[ Maruki still remembers everything she told him of that story. He's thought about it often, rolled it around in his head on nights where sleep is hard-won for his mind despite his body's exhaustion. It weighs on Venat, clearly– he straightens up as she shakes her head, such is the force of her trying to dispel the notion from their conversation. ]
I understand. We don't need to go down that road now, but you know I'll always listen in the future.
[ And then he offers her a warm smile before flopping back into the hammock with a little oof. ]
If there's anything you never do, Venat, it's fail to mention how wonderful anything was. I can tell that you have a deep appreciation for the society you came from, even with all that happened.
[Oh, that's easy to answer, and so Venat turns her brilliant smile onto him full-force.]
No matter the flaws and fractures in society, mankind remains, in all its forms, itself. Nature is beautiful, and every moment a miracle, without question -- but people are what warm my heart, more than any serene view or vista can.
[Life is worth living, in all its pain and glory. How, then, could she not find wonder wherever she goes?]
[ And there she goes, just proving his point. Maruki shakes his head, not in disagreement but in a fond sort of disbelief. Venat's love of people truly does transcend all else, even her own vast and varied hardships. She's an inspiration, really, for the kind of person Maruki wants to be.
He laces his hands together and folds them behind his head, grinning up at her. ]
Very! You have a knack for creation– though I guess that's not surprising, hah.
[ It's extraordinarily peaceful – looking up through the tall trees at the night sky, surrounded by the bioluminescent plant life, wonderfully silent. ]
I was just trying to get away from my housemate's destructive tendencies, but this is so nice, I might have to come camp here more often.
Now you are starting to understand much of why I do what I do. This moment has never come before and never shall again.
[Venat busies herself setting up their campsite a bit more, making a ring of stones to hold a small fire. Her skills mix the magical and the practical to adapt to whatsoever is at hand, and she looks altogether happy to be doing such again.]
[ Maruki sits back up in the hammock to watch her, half fond at how much she's clearly enjoying it, half feeling more than a bit useless. He plants one foot against the ground and uses it to idly rock the hammock back and forth as he chatters. ]
I think I only ever went camping... once or twice? Both had to have been school trips, so I was fairly young. It's not something that my family would have done for fun, and I can't say I ever sought it out as a recreational activity as an adult... Though I did enjoy traveling to visit various hot springs. That's not the same at all, but it felt calm like this does.
[ And then he hops off, draws closer to the fire, eyes shifting from the flames to the luminescence of the flora back along the path they climbed, then to Venat. No, this moment won't ever come again. ]
[Roaming the world is valuable and delightful; sharing that experience with a friend all the more so. Rarely has she had good company, in this last long while.]
It is different here, is it not? You already have the feeling of being away from home and in a new, unfamiliar place, so spending a night in a different unfamiliar place is not so strange.
[ It's an interesting point, and a valid one. Maruki finally opens up his satchel to produce the blanket he'd brought and shakes it out to lay on the ground near the fire as he speaks. ]
You're not wrong, but at the same time, it's strange how quickly we can settle into a place and make it feel more familiar. Somnius is nothing like Tokyo, and the castle I live in is nothing like my cramped little apartment–
[ Satchel closed up again, he hangs it from one of the nearby tree branches and grins at her. ]
But it's a little like home already. Ah, but I suppose that's a feeling a homebody like me would cling to – an adventurer like you who won't even settle down in a home, not so much.
[ And a wink, to boot. He's teasing. For now. GIRL YOU'RE GONNA NEED A HOUSE!!
Then he settles down onto the blanket and pats the spot next to him. ]
Come on. We can tell a few more stories to pass the time.
[There are a couple of places. Dark, dangerous ones, that have an altogether different appeal. The castle, in many places the labyrinth. But here, she can feel comfortable and happy.]
As for stories, well. Perhaps I should relay one about a snowy mountain pass and the avalanche that threatened the nearby village...
[Stories are wondrous ways to take another person to a place they cannot see, and also to return to the places you yourself have been. Delighted by the opportunity to share, Venat takes a seat without hesitation, beginning a tale of adventure and danger and delight.]
[This promises to be the best night she has spent in this world thus far.]
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2024-07-01 05:41 pm (UTC)An excellent counselor indeed! A simple statement to open up a whole world of possibilities and questions I'd not even realized. "A chance to just be Venat," yet who is 'just Venat'? I've no idea, in truth, for the line between the woman and the heart of a primal has had twelve millennia to blur and smudge. And at the same time I wonder it, you are helping me to answer. You are a marvel, you well ought to know that.
[She shakes her head, still breathing soft laughter that treads between mirth and confused delight.]
no subject
Date: 2024-07-02 01:08 am (UTC)Or– he can.
It's been a very long time. ]
I promise there's nothing about this that resembles counseling! I mean every word I say as your friend.
[ You are a marvel, stated so emphatically, like it's a fixed point in the cosmos that Venat knows as well as any other. There's no room left over for him to question or doubt it. The compliment doesn't ping off in deflection; it simply sinks into the very matter of his heart.
They could go back and forth all night – if he's a marvel, then Venat is a wonder, on and on.
Some day. There's no shortage of time for their mutual appreciation circle to run rampant.
For now, Maruki's focused on this dichotomy that Venat is rediscovering within herself. He grins at her and then jerks his head away, back from the cliff's edge they stand so near, toward the clearing of the plateau. ]
Shall we set up our camp? And once we're comfortable, maybe I can ask you to tell me another story you can recall about a time when you were just Venat.
no subject
Date: 2024-07-02 08:21 pm (UTC)I'll see if aught comes to mind that might interest you. Elsewise -- praytell, are you fond of hammocks?
[With a simple line drawn in midair, Venat marshals her creation magic to summon a web of rope, loosely stretched between two trees.]
no subject
Date: 2024-07-03 09:35 am (UTC)[ Maruki looks between the suddenly appeared hammock and Venat, more stunned than he has any right to be. ]
No, wait, I meant– yes, hammocks are great, but–
[ When even was the last time he laid in a hammock?
Matters not, because the real pertinent question finally makes its way out: ]
Is there no limit to what you can create??
no subject
Date: 2024-07-03 07:53 pm (UTC)I possess certain concepts such as my weapons, my robes, camping supplies such as this, Argos... but if you were to ask me to create a rock from my home world, I would struggle mightily at best without a concept. In our time, we had an entire vault, Anamnesis Anyder, that held countless concepts and our full knowledge of all the laws of nature necessary to create more. And so those who wished to accomplish something would obtain a concept from there and refine it, then submit it for review and cataloguing in turn. For living concepts, we had an entire testing field devoted to determining if they were suitable for introduction to the star, or too flawed to be released.
[She has described creation magic enough times that she believes she understands what people wish to know about it -- but Maruki is about to get a little more than most.]
Of course, we have our own limits as well. Each of us possesses more or less aether from which to create. For some, a reasonable sized animal or familiar would strain their limits, while one of the most talented men I knew could conjure an entire city, with simulacra of its inhabitants, without draining himself overmuch. And in turn, many of us could join together to pool our creation magic... or sacrifice ourselves, to create beings that could accomplish what none of us alone could.
no subject
Date: 2024-07-03 10:10 pm (UTC)Still– he does understand. And it's fascinating beyond his wildest dreams. Especially a vault of concepts able to be tweaked and twisted and improved, a testing ground for new variations of life. The scientist in him is deeply appreciative of the concept (ha ha) alone, and the reality bending weirdo in him wishes he could have experienced it too.
But it's that last bit that brings this around to what he already knows. ]
I see...
[ Maruki hangs his satchel up on a tree branch before moving to sit at the edge of the webbed hammock, gently testing its stability. ]
Like summoning a primal, for example?
no subject
Date: 2024-07-04 10:14 pm (UTC)[Venat does not believe it. But she will at least credit that those who said it believed it, or told themselves they did at the very least.]
A magnificent example of accomplishing something through combined magic that no individual could have done alone. Proof, some have said, of the virtue and glory of our kind, that half our number would willingly and gladly sacrifice themselves to preserve the other half.
[Suddenly, almost violently, she shakes her head, then lifts it.] But that is a path down which dark memories and cold thoughts dwell, and those are less suitable for the present time than they might be at others. I find myself speaking so often of our flaws as a people and society that I neglect to mention how wonderful it all was, for century upon century.
no subject
Date: 2024-07-05 08:59 am (UTC)I understand. We don't need to go down that road now, but you know I'll always listen in the future.
[ And then he offers her a warm smile before flopping back into the hammock with a little oof. ]
If there's anything you never do, Venat, it's fail to mention how wonderful anything was. I can tell that you have a deep appreciation for the society you came from, even with all that happened.
no subject
Date: 2024-07-05 05:32 pm (UTC)No matter the flaws and fractures in society, mankind remains, in all its forms, itself. Nature is beautiful, and every moment a miracle, without question -- but people are what warm my heart, more than any serene view or vista can.
[Life is worth living, in all its pain and glory. How, then, could she not find wonder wherever she goes?]
Is it comfortable?
no subject
Date: 2024-07-07 10:44 am (UTC)He laces his hands together and folds them behind his head, grinning up at her. ]
Very! You have a knack for creation– though I guess that's not surprising, hah.
[ It's extraordinarily peaceful – looking up through the tall trees at the night sky, surrounded by the bioluminescent plant life, wonderfully silent. ]
I was just trying to get away from my housemate's destructive tendencies, but this is so nice, I might have to come camp here more often.
no subject
Date: 2024-07-08 03:49 pm (UTC)[Venat busies herself setting up their campsite a bit more, making a ring of stones to hold a small fire. Her skills mix the magical and the practical to adapt to whatsoever is at hand, and she looks altogether happy to be doing such again.]
no subject
Date: 2024-07-10 06:37 am (UTC)I think I only ever went camping... once or twice? Both had to have been school trips, so I was fairly young. It's not something that my family would have done for fun, and I can't say I ever sought it out as a recreational activity as an adult... Though I did enjoy traveling to visit various hot springs. That's not the same at all, but it felt calm like this does.
[ And then he hops off, draws closer to the fire, eyes shifting from the flames to the luminescence of the flora back along the path they climbed, then to Venat. No, this moment won't ever come again. ]
Thank you for doing this.
no subject
Date: 2024-07-16 02:24 pm (UTC)[Roaming the world is valuable and delightful; sharing that experience with a friend all the more so. Rarely has she had good company, in this last long while.]
It is different here, is it not? You already have the feeling of being away from home and in a new, unfamiliar place, so spending a night in a different unfamiliar place is not so strange.
hehe we can probably wrap on yr reply so it's done before you go on vacation !!
Date: 2024-07-18 07:17 am (UTC)You're not wrong, but at the same time, it's strange how quickly we can settle into a place and make it feel more familiar. Somnius is nothing like Tokyo, and the castle I live in is nothing like my cramped little apartment–
[ Satchel closed up again, he hangs it from one of the nearby tree branches and grins at her. ]
But it's a little like home already. Ah, but I suppose that's a feeling a homebody like me would cling to – an adventurer like you who won't even settle down in a home, not so much.
[ And a wink, to boot. He's teasing.
For now. GIRL YOU'RE GONNA NEED A HOUSE!!Then he settles down onto the blanket and pats the spot next to him. ]
Come on. We can tell a few more stories to pass the time.
no subject
Date: 2024-08-02 02:56 pm (UTC)[There are a couple of places. Dark, dangerous ones, that have an altogether different appeal. The castle, in many places the labyrinth. But here, she can feel comfortable and happy.]
As for stories, well. Perhaps I should relay one about a snowy mountain pass and the avalanche that threatened the nearby village...
[Stories are wondrous ways to take another person to a place they cannot see, and also to return to the places you yourself have been. Delighted by the opportunity to share, Venat takes a seat without hesitation, beginning a tale of adventure and danger and delight.]
[This promises to be the best night she has spent in this world thus far.]