[ In theory, Vash understands that a certain type of magic is just supposed to come to him naturally, and that most people don't find spells difficult to master. The problem is that "following his instincts" or "relinquishing some control" or even using specific gestures and incantations are all things that make absolutely no sense to him.
While his Gate has remained mostly closed to him, the few ways that it can manifest are mathematical and precise. Even if Vash doesn't touch it, he feels like he's starting to understand the underlying principals of his Gate. This other power granted by Duocaeli is wild and strange. It doesn't help that he's particularly reluctant to learn, and the only reason he's attempting to start now is that he's worried about what might happen if this new power continues to grow uncontrolled.
As reluctant as he is to bother Declan yet again, he's the person who makes the most sense for Vash to ask for help. He understands magic, and he's good at breaking things down in a way that makes technical sense. Vash offers what he can in return, if Declan is interested -- anything from daily coffee delivery to help with cleaning, to flowers or physical self-defense lessons. Whatever the agreement, Declan meets him as promised, and even despite his tutelage Vash is... he could do worse, maybe? It's not really that he doesn't understand anymore, but that he's too scared of what will happen if he makes even the smallest mistake.
He ends up on his butt in the grass, catching his breath after yet another failed attempt to manifest something useful from the darkness. What's worse, he feels like he's nearly tapped out even after that lackluster showing. He gives Declan a wry, apologetic smile. ]
... Sorry, I think I just wasted your time. I'm out of power. [ He knows, in theory, they can transfer spiritual energy between them, but he's already asked a lot of Declan today. ]
[ Declan, Vash is quick to find out, is happy to help most anyone with anything at any moment, so he practically jumped at the chance to help Vash with his magic. (He doesn’t even really ask for much in return, though he knows some form of repayment is probably headed his way regardless.) Perhaps the way the arcane worked in Duocaeli was a bit different than in his own world, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t figure it out together.
And while they sort of do, it’s quite clear that Declan’s grasp of his game-given fire skills surpassed that of Vash’s with his darkness magic. As Declan is a firm believer in “if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again”, they’re at it for most of the day.
At last, exhaustion takes its toll, and Vash practically collapses. Declan offers a sympathetic smile – he knows how that feels! – and crouches beside him. ]
Nonsense. If you learned anything at all today, no matter how small, then I would consider that a success.
This is a lot further than I could have gotten on my own -- thank you. You've been a great teacher. [ Vash smiles at him in return. He means it sincerely, even despite his abject failure as a student. He's not accustomed to being such a dead weight, but he bites back any further apologies. He can make it up to Declan later, somehow.
He lets himself flop onto his back with a hefty sigh, feeling exhaustion set its claws into him in earnest. ]
This stuff really takes it out of you... Is this how you learned to use your magic, too? Did someone teach you? Your... caretaker?
Well... that makes two of us. [ Vash holds up his hand for the world's tiredest fistbump and mostly hopes that Declan knows what he's going for.
He frowns a little bit, his brow furrowed behind the big orange lenses of his glasses as he looks up at Declan. He'd spoken about his mother in the present tense, so Vash had been fairly sure she was alive, and for whatever reason Miss Lucy looked after him instead. He hasn't mentioned his father at all, Vash has noticed, but No Man's Land is rife with single-parents and the tragedies that often beget them, and that's somewhat less strange than the rest of it. ]
Her letters..? Did you live too far apart to see her? [ He pauses a moment and adds: ] If you don't want to talk about it, I won't keep prying. I know these things can be... complicated.
[ Fist bumps have come up a lot here! Pinocchio is especially fond of them. But even before that, Declan became familiar with the gesture thanks to the efforts of his wizard friend, Gideon.
Which is to say, yes, he returns the gesture. It’s too brief to spark anything, though.
Declan frowns a moment, but he and V have already had something of a prolonged conversation about Declan’s feelings on his mother, and it strangely helped. He’s still a bit hesitant, but not nearly as much as he would have been a few days ago. ]
It’s fine. Her work keeps her traveling to all corners of the globe. [ A bit of a pause, then– ] We’ve never met.
That sounds tough. [ Vash frowns, turning his head to look up at the sky instead.
Declan has been so kind in exchange for little more than a smile and a thank you, and Vash doesn't think that he's the only one who Declan treats this way. It's just hard to imagine that someone like his mom wouldn't want to spend as much time with him as she could, even just to get to know him, to see what a good person he is. It seems like a waste.
He'd give anything to see Rem again. He thinks she'd feel the same, if she was still alive.
But he supposes it's not fair to judge someone he doesn't know. Whatever her reasons, they must be compelling. ]
Miss Lucy mostly raised you all by herself..? What does your mom do?
[ Certainly leagues better than the situation he’d been in before. He owes his mother for his freedom if nothing else. Thinking about where he was before she sent Lucy to fetch him doesn’t make the distance seem quite so bad.
But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its effects. It certainly does. ]
My mother is an inventor and roving adventurer, the best in her field. I don’t know the full details of many of her jobs, since she’s not at liberty to discuss them. But she shares with me what she can, and they sound wondrous and dangerous in equal measure.
[ Can you miss someone you’ve never actually met? It’s a thought that’s crossed his mind more than once since the subject of his absentee mother has come up with a couple of people.
He breathes out a little laugh. ]
If you thought what I could do was impressive, magnify that by like a hundred and you’d get what my mother is capable of. We’re alike, perhaps, but she’s in a league all her own.
[ Or maybe Declan just underestimates how much he’s grown. ]
Mm. What I was planning hardly matters now. She went missing some months ago. I’ve only recently picked up her trail but… there’s time travel and strange magicks involved, so I have no idea what to expect.
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clockworksoul) wrote2023-04-30 08:50 pm
ON / sometime in June
While his Gate has remained mostly closed to him, the few ways that it can manifest are mathematical and precise. Even if Vash doesn't touch it, he feels like he's starting to understand the underlying principals of his Gate. This other power granted by Duocaeli is wild and strange. It doesn't help that he's particularly reluctant to learn, and the only reason he's attempting to start now is that he's worried about what might happen if this new power continues to grow uncontrolled.
As reluctant as he is to bother Declan yet again, he's the person who makes the most sense for Vash to ask for help. He understands magic, and he's good at breaking things down in a way that makes technical sense. Vash offers what he can in return, if Declan is interested -- anything from daily coffee delivery to help with cleaning, to flowers or physical self-defense lessons. Whatever the agreement, Declan meets him as promised, and even despite his tutelage Vash is... he could do worse, maybe? It's not really that he doesn't understand anymore, but that he's too scared of what will happen if he makes even the smallest mistake.
He ends up on his butt in the grass, catching his breath after yet another failed attempt to manifest something useful from the darkness. What's worse, he feels like he's nearly tapped out even after that lackluster showing. He gives Declan a wry, apologetic smile. ]
... Sorry, I think I just wasted your time. I'm out of power. [ He knows, in theory, they can transfer spiritual energy between them, but he's already asked a lot of Declan today. ]
no subject
And while they sort of do, it’s quite clear that Declan’s grasp of his game-given fire skills surpassed that of Vash’s with his darkness magic. As Declan is a firm believer in “if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again”, they’re at it for most of the day.
At last, exhaustion takes its toll, and Vash practically collapses. Declan offers a sympathetic smile – he knows how that feels! – and crouches beside him. ]
Nonsense. If you learned anything at all today, no matter how small, then I would consider that a success.
no subject
He lets himself flop onto his back with a hefty sigh, feeling exhaustion set its claws into him in earnest. ]
This stuff really takes it out of you... Is this how you learned to use your magic, too? Did someone teach you? Your... caretaker?
no subject
[ Well, since they’re flopping, Declan takes a seat in the grass, long legs criss-crossed. He leans his elbows on his knees, chin resting in one hand.
Poor Vash looks ready for a several-days-long nap. ]
Oh. Um. Sort of. I learned most everything through my mother’s letters. Lucy isn’t very adept at magic, but she helped me where she could.
no subject
He frowns a little bit, his brow furrowed behind the big orange lenses of his glasses as he looks up at Declan. He'd spoken about his mother in the present tense, so Vash had been fairly sure she was alive, and for whatever reason Miss Lucy looked after him instead. He hasn't mentioned his father at all, Vash has noticed, but No Man's Land is rife with single-parents and the tragedies that often beget them, and that's somewhat less strange than the rest of it. ]
Her letters..? Did you live too far apart to see her? [ He pauses a moment and adds: ] If you don't want to talk about it, I won't keep prying. I know these things can be... complicated.
no subject
Which is to say, yes, he returns the gesture. It’s too brief to spark anything, though.
Declan frowns a moment, but he and V have already had something of a prolonged conversation about Declan’s feelings on his mother, and it strangely helped. He’s still a bit hesitant, but not nearly as much as he would have been a few days ago. ]
It’s fine. Her work keeps her traveling to all corners of the globe. [ A bit of a pause, then– ] We’ve never met.
no subject
Declan has been so kind in exchange for little more than a smile and a thank you, and Vash doesn't think that he's the only one who Declan treats this way. It's just hard to imagine that someone like his mom wouldn't want to spend as much time with him as she could, even just to get to know him, to see what a good person he is. It seems like a waste.
He'd give anything to see Rem again. He thinks she'd feel the same, if she was still alive.
But he supposes it's not fair to judge someone he doesn't know. Whatever her reasons, they must be compelling. ]
Miss Lucy mostly raised you all by herself..? What does your mom do?
no subject
[ Certainly leagues better than the situation he’d been in before. He owes his mother for his freedom if nothing else. Thinking about where he was before she sent Lucy to fetch him doesn’t make the distance seem quite so bad.
But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its effects. It certainly does. ]
My mother is an inventor and roving adventurer, the best in her field. I don’t know the full details of many of her jobs, since she’s not at liberty to discuss them. But she shares with me what she can, and they sound wondrous and dangerous in equal measure.
no subject
So, she's sort of like you? [ At least the inventor part. ] Were you planning to travel with her some day?
no subject
He breathes out a little laugh. ]
If you thought what I could do was impressive, magnify that by like a hundred and you’d get what my mother is capable of. We’re alike, perhaps, but she’s in a league all her own.
[ Or maybe Declan just underestimates how much he’s grown. ]
Mm. What I was planning hardly matters now. She went missing some months ago. I’ve only recently picked up her trail but… there’s time travel and strange magicks involved, so I have no idea what to expect.