westfallcorndog | Magic Lessons for Steve and Verity

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Magic Lessons for Steve and Verity

At the truly, rudely, ridiculously early hour of 3:30 in the morning Harrowheart sent the following texts:

To Steve:

"Steve; Borrowed a phone to let you know we will meet in 11 and 1/2 hours for magic lessons. Eat lunch first but there will be food. See you then! – Harrow"

To Verity:
"Verity; Borrowed a phone to let you know we will meet in 12 hours for magic lessons. Eat lunch first but there will be food. See you then! – Harrow"
A quick follow-up text reads: "Do not text this number back. Tell that Steve person the same thing."

The texts each accompany a photo of a hand-drawn map with instructions to a place on the far, far outskirts of the Parklands.

* * *

Eleven and a half hours later, Harrowheart is exactly where he said he'd be. The destination is a large area of tall grass surrounded on all sides by woodland that remains leafy despite whatever season it may be on other worlds. The whole area is surrounded by a wooden fence of aged split logs. On one side, nearest the path that leads up to the clearance, is an old picnic bench. Laid out on the table are two thick quilts, two pies under glass covers, a sizable trunk, and one lidded black cauldron sitting above a candle that keeps it warm.

Sitting there at the seat of the bench is Harrowheart. He's dressed much differently today than usual, all done up in a heavy-looking suit of blue armor with a red cape on his back that flows down between his spread legs. His hands are attached to his wrists inside a set of gauntlets. A pair of icy blue axes sit against the bench at awkward angles, their handles attached to the belt of his outfit. He pats his thighs anxiously and often looks to the pathway while he waits for Steve to show up.

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"I don't think your world's gone forever. But then again, I have a hard time believing things die for good." He chuckles halfheartedly and motions to himself.

"And I think your army will let you in. I think you're here for a reason. I get this feeling all of us are here for a reason. Maybe it's to learn something, or maybe it's to teach other people something. Maybe you're here to learn how to be strong so you can go back to your war and do some good, or... Maybe you're here to help other people learn how to be good. I'm not smart enough to know which."

"But I do know that nothin' I did for you or with you before was made up. I really like you as my pal, Steve. You were the first guy I met when I came over here, and it was... It was nice to have a friend like you. Someone kind. Someone that I don't feel judged me for the way I am. I guess I just... Wanted to make sure you understood what you were or weren't judgin'."

He sighs, shrugs. "I brought all this up for a lot of reasons, I guess. Everyone's been tellin' me to be honest about the bad parts of myself... Which ain't exactly easy. I feel so stupid right now. All of this feels so stupid to me. But Verity told me that if you and I keep spendin' time together, it'd only hurt more if you found any of this out and decided you didn't wanna spend your time around a bad sorta guy. Shade-Seeker and the old man, they both wanted me to realize that I can't go forward and be a better person if I only ever cover up the bad parts of myself."

"And, maybe more than that... I think I met the first people here in the Nexus who really don't like me. I got in an argument with a lady. She called me a murderer and a bully. I wanted to be mad at her, but I couldn't be. I knew she was right, and... I guess I thought about you? I thought that I'd be ashamed if you knew. But I'd be more ashamed if you found out through her or her brother. I didn't want it to happen like that. Everything kinda came together all of a sudden, and I felt like I had to tell the truth, for better or worse."

Harrow tries to force a smile that doesn't take. "Like I said, this is all stupid. I shouldn't'a even mentioned it."

He pats the table and quietly suggests, "Eat some pie."

"...You think you're a murderer and a bully..because some lady told you that?" Steve gets up form his chair, but rather than leave he walks right up to Harrowheart and pokes him in the armor.

"Anyone can change. Hell, you've got the best opportunity out of anyone because you've got more time than anyone I know has to fix whatever they don't like about themselves. Everyone got stuff they're ashamed about. I know I do. You're not gonna run away from bein' my pal that easily. If...that's all, then...I don't see a problem. I can help you work on things if you want. Otherwise, I'm happy to listen." He's not going to sit back down and enjoy that pie until they're squared up about all this.

He feels the immediate need to retaliate. Fast as he can he says, "I'm a murderer and a bully because –" And then Steve prods him. It's unexpected, to say the least. This tiny man in a hood and a hat with the nerve and the gall to poke an armored killing machine right in the chest.

His first reaction is to laugh, but not at Steve's expense. Never at Steve's expense. He looks down and his heavy huff of laughter is one of relief.

Harrow hauls himself to his feet slowly, not that any sudden moves would scare Steve. It's once he's standing that he moves in a hurry reaching out to pull Steve into a hug. It's a little tight at first before he remembers the rigidity of his armor and the softness of the Steve. He laughs and he grins, because no matter what kind of person he alleges to be on his world, this is the kind of person he can't help but be here.

"I appreciate all of it, man. More than you know," he says, smiling. A final pat to Steves back and then he's free. "And if you ever want bad guy advice? You know who to talk to. Now eat your pie, String Bean."

What a scene to walk in on. Who knows how long she's been there, leaning on the fence, watching them with a kind of dopey grin. She will not be admitting to any of this later, of course, she has a reputation to maintain.

"I can come back later if I'm interrupting." The grin has mostly been subsumed by a smirk. Mostly.

Three guesses what she's wearing, and the first two better be 'striped shirt' and 'jeans'. And for the record, that beanie of Steve's is not her fault.

He picked the beanie, she just helped...try..to..match it. Which well, resulted in either this or a wardrobe so meta the fourth wall might break beyond all reasonable doubt. Steve shouldn't be allowed to go clothes shopping by himself. He either buys cheaply made and cheap price clothes at a bargain shop, or mocks the gods of fashion with his tastes, or lack thereof.

"Harrow made us pie Verity." Steve says with a grin once the deathknight lets him go. "And stew!"

"Verity!" He's just as excited to see her as he was to hug Steve. If he's ashamed of anything she might have seen he doesn't show it.

He motions to the food that Steve pointed out and smiles proudly at the little feast. "Apple pie with a crumbly-style top, pumpkin pie for the Fall, and wild boar and barley stew. It's all classic food from Westfall, where I'm from! I guess it's kinda like your... Iowa?" Look at him, knowing states. And gee, I wonder where he learned that one.

Something sparks a memory in him and he reaches in a hurry into a small pocket sewn into the lining of his cape. Out comes a little golden ring, which he hands over to Steve. "Your surprise gift," he says, still smiling. "I won it in the corn maze that night at the ball, but somehow I forgot to give it to ya." Somehow indeed. "It's a ring of protection! Not sure what exactly it'll protect against. Probably physical pain, but who knows! You'll feel the magic when you put it on. It made me feel pretty brave! Or... That mighta been all the vodka I drank. Jury's out on that one."

She's pretty sure Harrowheart doesn't have a sense of shame when it comes to these things, and she wasn't expecting him to pretend. Anyway, nothing wrong with wanting to hug all the cute guys. That's about half the reason she learned to hug people in the first place.

"There's pie? I would not have eaten if I knew there was going to be pie." Her sweet tooth is about the size of Iowa. "Not my Iowa, I've never been there. If you got Jim to talk about the good old days and food at the same time, I'm impressed." If she'd known flirting with Jim would make it easier to help him deal with his issues, she might have reconsidered their relationship. Not for long, because ew, but briefly.

She edges around them while the magic ring is out to sit on the far side of the table, waiting for them to be done with it. "The vodka. Was there really a minotaur in the maze?"

"Thanks Harrowheart. I'll be sure to keep it safe." The words Magic and Ring have Steve a little dubious, but then again, he's here to 'learn' magic, isn't he? Please don't let this sign a pact with Satan he briefly thinks before slipping it on his thumb, to be polite. It's a bit loose though, so Steve pulls it off again and slips it into his jeans pocket.

"I'm afraid it'll fall off if we're going to be flailing our hands about trying to do magic. I'll get a chain for it maybe? And--yeah! Tell me about the corm maze. I don't even know what a minotaur is. Is it dangerous?"

"SHE," Harrowheart stresses, "Was as deadly-dangerous as she was brilliant and gorgeous. Here, I'll draw you a picture."

He goes to reach for his breast pocket before he remembers he's wearing armor. After a roll of his eyes he gets down on his hands and knees and drags out his satchel from beneath the bench. He pulls out a piece of paper and a stumpy pencil and quickly gets to work at an artistic masterpiece.

"My memory's a little hazy" he admits, "But she looked kinda like a race of folks from my world, so I think I can fill in the blanks. Her name was Aglaia, and she was a princess. She made me eat spinach, then gave me chocolate coins. All her traps were about temptations and thinkin' things through before you act. I think she really wanted me to do good, so I tried my hardest, but I coulda done a lot better if I was sober. I hope I can challenge her to a maze run again some day."

He finishes quickly and holds up the drawing of a spear-wielding cow woman in a dress for Verity and Steve to see. "Talk about a maze to get lost in, am I right?"

No. You are always wrong, Furryheart.

"Spinach, huh? Poor thing." He's not really getting any sympathy from her. She likes spinach. And don't think she's missed the lack of vegetables. Then again, given how Steve's been eating on his own... he can probably live with it.

Verity leans forward slightly to watch him draw, and the finished piece gets a raised eyebrow. (So basically, it's a thing she's reacting to.) "Huh. She looks like fun."

What? Her bestie may have given birth to an eight-legged horse, and she's from a world that was repeatedly invaded by aliens. She has interesting views on personhood.

"..Wh...why does she have human..." Cleavage? Anatomy of any sort? "..uhm..chest..areas? I don't think that's anatomically correct for how they feed their young..." That's not a real thing. Harrowheart was drunk that must have been a costume. He seems serious though, so Steve doesn't want to hurt his feelings.

"I..I hope you had fun in the maze though." Best to stick to the safer topic.

Harrow looks at his picture again, confused and slightly shocked that Steve would even question the anatomy of his art. "So, uh. I'll level with you here: I actually don't remember if she had boobies at all? But something in me wants to believe."

He laughs and claps his gloved hand on Steve's shoulder. "But don't tell me you've never seen an animal person before, dude! I'm from a race of animal people, you know? I'd show you my other form, but Verity told me you'll have an asthma attack and die, and I don't want that happenin' 'cause I already promised no necromancy today."

"But... Speakin' of things Verity said, I think there was somethin' about a phone?" Subtle side-eye. Did she bring one? He's smiling very slightly because he can't contain his excitement.

Oh, Steve. Maybe someday you'll learn not to ask these questions. Verity's of no help because she has no opinions about minotaur anatomy, and because she's giggling.

Just giggling. Right up until Harrowheart tries to throw her under the bus again. "Hey, no, I said scaring him would be bad. Whether or not he wants to see you shapeshift is entirely up to him."

There's a long look here to make sure he understood that point before she pulls a phone out of her bag. A nice, reasonably simple one that's small enough to hide in an emergency. "Here. You'll need to find a place to charge it when the battery runs low, but there's plenty of places to do that in the commercial district."

"Other..form?" Poor Steve looks ten kinds of confused and at least two kinds of does not want. He doesn't understand what's going on here anymore. Just at all. He can go over here now and sit back in his seat. Let Verity distract from all the confusion with new technology for everyone.

At least the pie looks normal. No spider legs sticking out of it or anything. just roll with it Steve. Act like you know what's going on. It will become one of your many life skills.

Harrow refrains from being a Rude McGrabbyhands about the phone, but he does take it with excitement and gusto. He looks it over, sniffs it, decides it is good, and delicately sets it in his side satchel. It is a fitting tribute. Tonight he will feast well on the light of the Internet. But now? Now it's time to learn magic.

"You two hurry up and eat some pie and stew. I've got a couple of ground rules to set for these magic lessons, and then we're starting."

He stands before the bench and faces his two favorite breathers.

"The first rule is that if you get tired? Thirsty, hungry, cold? Out of breath, anything? You gotta tell me. This ain't boot camp. We're gonna take it seriously, but I don't want you two collapsin' dead or gettin' hurt. I don't have the same physical boundaries as you two, which means you gotta be honest with me when you need a break, 'cause I might not realize."

He frowns then, rolls his eyes. After a few sighs to jog his brain, he's ready to continue.

"The second rule is: There's three people in the Nexus you can't share what you learn with. A woman named Isidor, her brother, Viatorus, and whoever their bodyguard is. Normally I don't hold grudges, but those two insulted me, my magic, and poor folks everywhere. I asked 'em for some payment for my lessons and Isidor tried to trick me outta payin'. Then she went on some spiel about how her family's wealthy and successful. I told her I didn't have any respect for rich folks who try to swindle poor folks outta payment for their work, and she went on a rant about–" Heavy airquotes incoming, "~Makin' peasants' dreams come true~ by havin' 'em toil away for her family. She called me a murderer and a bully, and I mighta called her brother a little honorless weasel."

Talk about other people going on rants, Harrowheart...

He clears his throat and shakes his head. "I don't care if you two are friends with 'em, but I don't trust those two one lick. I don't wanna find out they learned my magic without showin' me an ounce of respect. And Steve? Remember that dreamfoil tea I gave ya? Don't let Viatorus have it. Throw it out for all I care, but I don't think he'll do good things with it."

Edited 2015-11-26 14:49 (UTC)

Verity will help herself to small servings of both. Wild boar stew brings back happy memories for her, and pie is always a good thing. She'll make sure Steve has some too. Boy needs to eat.

The first rule gets a nod. That one makes sense, and Samus has similar rules for their training. Plus, Verity's generally a sensible girl. Aside from her choices of friends. But, speaking of her friends... mention if Isidor gets a tired 'I know, right?' kind of sigh from her. Naming Viatorus gets a narrow-eyed look that starts as suspicion and could easily devolve.

It's just not a good idea to talk about her friends like that.

"I can fully believe Isidor was a total bitch to you, but Viatorus is one of the nicest people ever born. He is not honorless, or a weasel." She takes a breath and then admits, "He doesn't make great first impressions."

"I'll do my best, but I don't think I'll be up for teaching anyone how t'do anything I learn here until I'm you know, not gonna hurt anyone accidentally." Hell, Steve doesn't even think he can do that.

"Wait, was that the super patronizing woman who came in the other day? I'm sure she..meant well...in her own...high brow kinda way. Those folks live a different life and don't know better. She wanted me to teach her brother how t'draw better. I don't think he needs a teacher. Honestly, I just wished he'd stand up for himself. He lets her kick him around more than he should."

"I thought so too, Steve. Kid needs someone cool to hang out with. That was half the reason I was offering magic lessons in the first place. Except... Idunno, it mighta been hard. Every time I looked at him I got this overwhelming urge to shove him in a locker and take his lunch money..." Harrow rubs his chin in thought over that one before he finally shrugs. It's a mystery nobody will ever solve!!

He steps back rubbing his hands.

"So about this magic stuff. Since you two come from a world without magic, or maybe only mostly without magic, I figured I'd start from the very start. I went and asked a mage on my world where people get their magical abilities from, and he told me there's three basic sources. The first is magic that's in you all along. Some folks are born with the hidden ability to channel magic, and usually it comes out one way or another in their lives. The second is magic that comes from knowledge you gain, like words from a book or lessons from a death knight. The third kind is magic that comes from an object, like..."

Harrow tosses open the chest and retrieves two wands! One of them is a long, dark stick with a blue crystal cluster at the top that looks more like rock candy than anything magical. The other is a silver rod with a golden star at the end. Tiny sparkles of light rain down from the tips of the star whenever the wand is moved.

He holds out the two wands and says, "Like these! Magic wands! There's pointy hats in the trunk too, if you want, but mostly they're for show. These wands, though, they've got magic in 'em. Each of you pick whichever wand you want. Then I want you to point 'em at a tree or a post and shake 'em around, slash the air like you'd use a sword. See if you can coax some magic out of 'em. They're both ice wands, so they'll probably be frost bolts or snowflakes, if anything. Using a wand is a good way to find out if you got some natural magical talent. If the wand works, then you do! If it doesn't, well... That doesn't mean you can't learn. Just means you might have to work a little harder."

Edited 2015-11-28 00:55 (UTC)

Ooooohkay, just ignore her, make assumptions, that's fine. If he were paying attention, Harrowheart might notice how it's getting filed away somewhere in her head. But she's still laying attention.

She's taking the blue wand because fuck gender stereotypes, and she is no good witch. Steve can have fun with the sparkly star. But for all she's quick to claim a wand, she's not quick to use it. She holds it lightly, turning it over in her hands, putting it down from time to time as if making sure she can. She looks a little afraid of it.

"Please don't kill the trees, Steve. They don't deserve that."

Aww, Verity. The whole gender stereotype thing is fine and all but could you have left Steve with a girlier option? Well, it could be pink. Still he picks up his wand and gives Verity a raised eyebrow and a little wiggle of the wand, though not in her direction.

"So, are you a good witch or a bad witch?" Because what's the fun of having a prop if you don't make references?

To Harrowheart, Steve raises his free hand meekly, in question.

"Uhm, so do we have to focus on snow or just swing them?"

Harrow frowns lightly at Verity's comment. He looks up to the trees, then back to his friends, a guiltier look on his face now than when he spoke poorly of dear Viatorus.

"I guess I thought the trees weren't real," he says quietly. "Guess I never thought they were here from other worlds like all of us. Let's just aim for the fence posts, then. Or at me. I can take it."

He sidles up next to Steve and inspects his wand, then glances at Verity's with a thoughtful frown. "Hate to say it, kids, but I never used one of these. I can't. I'm kind of a magical creature myself, it doesn't really work for us. The mage I bought 'em from said you gotta think of it like you're tossin' a ball. Envision something comin' out the end of the wand. Stretch your arm back, envision the spell comin' out, and throw!"

Edited (oops it sent when the tag was halfway done) 2015-11-28 15:31 (UTC)

Fuck gender norms, Steve. It's not like it would work better for her just because she's got bigger tits. "Bad witch, definitely. They have better shoes."

The fact Harrowheart can feel guilty about the trees only strengthens her resolve to help Viatorus fix things. Not so much Isidor. "Any one of these trees could be Groot's cousin. Knowing him makes being an environmentalist easy."

She's not going to be aiming anything at him and she doubts Steve will either. But she will be picking up her wand with a firmer grip finally and turning to aim at a fence post. Arm up, swing down, and pretend. She's not great at pretending. Or at hoping for much. Getting a few snowflakes would have pleased her; she certainly hadn't expected to actually freeze anything, but that's what she gets for not chasing down Grandpa Willis' secrets when she had a chance.

If Steve really wants to switch wands he could totally take hers right now, she's too shocked to stop him.

Steve's too busy gaping like a loon. He hadn't thought this would work either, but watching a burst of ice rocket out of the end of the wand makes him jump about a foot and drop his own in the process.

"Whoa! Whoaa! Y..you did it Verity!"

"Verity!" Harrow shouts. He hurries over, cape flowing behind, and invites himself to hug her while he laughs. He steps away quickly and holds her at arm's length with his hands on her shoulders.

"You did it! Your first time! Your friend who said you can do magic wasn't wrong, you got it in you! So how's it feel? Got any insight for the rest of us?"

Whoa, surprise hug! By definition, she was not expecting that. She blinks up at Harrowheart while he's laughing and she's still trying to process what just happened.

"I... I don't know. I wasn't expecting anything to happen."

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Steve isn't quite short enough to be a Hobbit, or I'd have a good joke here.

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ILU for the pic <3

I really need a NOPE face for Steve

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the longest post ever omg (ALSO HAPPY THANKSGIVING!)

Eh, I've seen longer. :P Also yes happy Thanksgiving and turkey day!

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http://bit.ly/1MOddUK