nativized | IC Contact (Folkmore)

[ Holding out his right hand- ]

Alright then, take my hand here.

[ As he holds up his spoon in front of him ~~as if he were a Kadabra~~ with his left hand. ]

[ ...

Cale arches an eyebrow at him but, again, decides to go along with whatever bullshit Lex is pulling and takes his hand. ]

[ And with that Lex closes his eyes...

And then as he opens them again, both her and Cale and - he hopes - the table they were touching (he sees no reason this shouldn't be the case, he could take his own gear into here before even if it couldn't remain when he wasn't here) into his Safe Space.

The room is on the small side. Basically it's a living room with the sort of furniture one might expect in a middle class American household in the early 2000s. There's a faint sea breeze coming in from a window of the room which is lightly ajar and faces out into a view of a beach overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. A sea breeze comes in from it, for all the sounds and smells that implies. ... And heat, really.

Naturally, that view is just that, a view - it isn't actually there. The only things real here are them and maybe by implication anything they brought into this relatively small room. And, of course, the door which they can leave out of.

As usual, Lex feels the inherent relaxation of this space wash over him. Honestly, it's more than he would like to show other people normally, the way his shoulders un-tense, the way that his body language doesn't hint at his willingness to spring at any moment. Even so- ]

Tadah.

Edited 2024-10-30 04:16 (UTC)

[ It takes a second for Cale to process what just happened, and another to register what he's seeing. It's shocking enough that he hasn't yet let go of Lex's hand. ]

This is—

[ — Aww! Is this a date?
— Kehehe! Our kid is on a date?
— Should we fuck this guy up?
— Guys... Be quiet...

At his ancient powers' teasing Cale quickly recovers from his shock and retracts his hand. He looks away from Lex and analyzes his surroundings in more detail.

Technology Cale, Kim Rok Soo, remembers from when he was small. A style he remembers seeing in American television dramas. Scenery out the window that seems familiar but he doesn't recognize.

It can't be anything else but some version of Earth. ]

...A pocket dimension?

Yeah-huh!

[ Ugh, Lex sort of hates the exuberance he feels right now. This space is so relaxing it makes him light up a little bit more and laugh some as he's shown off the display before him, even if he was doing so for purely practical purposes. Or well, he would hate it if he could feel that self-loathing, but within this space, free from emotional trauma in addition to physical, he can't quite bring himself there emotionally.

He waves the hand holding the spoon around the room. ]

I wished on the spoon trick with the water for a more secure place a while back in my travels. I ended up able to conjure up this space, even if the Lore absolutely cheated me on that one. This space kicks me out if I linger in here more than about twelve hours and nothing I leave in here can remain when I leave.

It's—

[ Comfortable, he thinks, letting the atmosphere wash over him.

Logically Cale knows it is some kind of illusion. Just a skin decorating a spatial dimension. It is real-but-not. It shouldn't feel this... nice? And he knows it shouldn't. Knows he should probably be scared that he feels safe here, because safe isn't something Cale can feel so easily. So obviously his feelings are being manipulated somehow. But—

There's no war. No Hunters. No worlds calling for his help.

It makes Cale feel light in a way he can't identify, easing some tension in his body and leaving him pleasantly relaxed. ]

...pretty nice, for a dimension in a spoon. How much did it cost you?

About as much as a magic weapon did.

[ In Cale's defense, this Safe Space is designed for Lex. He might feel some of it by proxy, but he isn't the designed target of the dimension's peace. Lex hums a little as he stands, letting go of Cale's hand to walk towards the door.

After all, he did just intend to demonstrate it, not linger here. Even if, as always, he sort of wants to. ]

So these spoon tricks can get pretty esoteric. I've got this, some other guy I met made a tree which grows pastries.

And how much was that?

[ This would be a pretty good place for a nap, but not as good as home. Even if he bought a spoon dimension of his own, it would be lacking in the three most important things.

Cale follows Lex to the door, feeling an odd mixture of both eager and reluctant to leave. ]

A tree that grows pastries?

[ Cale preemptively ignores the Glutton's begging. ]

That's what I was told. It really opened my eyes to the idea these spoons and make some weird things. I kind of want to try it out; maybe make a tea which produces tea or monster energy.

[ As he puts his hand on the door handle, Lex hums again and ... how to explain... ah, well, let's go with ]

A little more than six times as much as getting some tools... so somewhere around fifteen to twenty times as much as a lot of food charges you?

Huh. Makes sense.

[ Spatial magic is no joke, so the price seems fair enough. ]

It's a good place for a nap. I assume they're modeled after a place the owner is familiar with and feels secure in?

I couldn't say. Mine was just like this.

[ Said as he turns the handle to open up to leave - and because he is leaving his Safe Space, as he does - the both of them just appear back in Folkmore, back in or near their chairs in the canteen.

Of course, by showing that at all, he was sort of revealing something of himself. But he did do this in order to make a point of sorts. The point being, ]

So, using the spoons like that, one can really produce some esoteric powers, even if my accident. Makes me wonder by the limits of Lore might even be.

[ The return is a bit disorienting, especially compared to teleportation magic. Cale nearly trips over his seat but pretends that he didn't. ]

...That is a good question. Thirteen doesn't seem to care about balance, so who knows?

Balance, huh?

[ A little laugh, as he pulls back into the chair and leans back a little ]

So that's why I wondered if it might be the Familiar bonds were made through them. Perhaps there's even other links made that way.

Yeah. It's an important thing.

[ Important and annoying. Though it makes him wonder how Thirteen is handling all the accumulated karma, or if karma even exists in this realm.

And, if it doesn't, how he could use that to his advantage in avoiding more threats of godhood. ]

What you showed me makes it seem like these spoons are more like wands than wallets. With that in mind it wouldn't be surprising if they were used as catalysts for other connections.

Ironically, I actually generated another wand with them yesterday.

[ This is... not that relevant, but the connection amused him. ]

... You're an Elementalist and a magic swordsman?

[ Wow. This guy is more of a munchkin than Cale expected. ]

Oh please, I don't have the mana for that. [ Understatement. As far as he knew, he didn't have any actionable mana as that other world understood it. ] It's just a magic tool that a Magister made for me once upon an adventure in a desert.

Uh-huh. [ Even if Lex doesn't have mana, Cale is still a bit skeptical. ] But you're at least an elemental swordsman, right?

I mean, that'd be your term. I'd certainly never use it.

[ That's ... it's technically a deflection, he supposed, but at the same time he also just has never heard that term before, so. While he can infer its meaning, he doesn't really think it applies, necessarily. ]

Your spirit friends don't add elemental aspects to your sword? [ The elementals of the Elves and Dark Elves all seems delighted to lend their powers to arrows and blades so he thought the spirits would be similar, but maybe not. ]

[ Oh. Huh. Honestly, the term made that sound much more... theatrical, in his head. Lex brushes his hand on the hilt of the thing on huis belt before settling in and finding his way to making another one of those lettuce taco things. ]

Ah, well, if you're asking that - the metal this thing's made up is very electrically conductive. Using them to make it spark's a trick I've used before.

[ Huh. Neat. Cale wouldn't have pegged this guy as someone who favoured lightning. ]

Have you tried creating a blade of wind around your sword? You can use wind to increase the speed of your swings.

I've thought about it, but to maintain that for more than a strike or two I'd either need more spirits contracted or more complex ones. [ At least, in his own experience, from his own tests of it. ]

It's more efficient usually to have them work around on my lungs or ankles or parts of my body to increase the speed there. Wind's more sympathetic to flesh than it is to most metals.

[ At least within the Logic he knows. ]

It would be interesting to see your world's spirits and my world's elementals interact.

[ There seem to be both a lot of similarities and a lot of differences. ]

Yeah, well, maybe you can try calling some of 'em here through the spoon. Or maybe the Fox'll see some 'potential' in them and we'll get the chance.

[ Or... well, anything more than that's far, far too ahead of things. ]

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