[ action | closed ] laa ilaha, il allah, you gonna shine like a star

[black_black_heart]

Who: Lil/Lev (NPC written by Squid) and Tannusen
Where: Velvet Lust's secret basement, maybe other locations too.
When: Late July, several days before bodyswapping shenanigans.
What: Tannusen's putting the final work in toward learning the fifth tier of one of his schools of magic. It goes sideways, as things are wont to do. Wackiness ensues.
Warnings: Nah.

The fifth tier of any Fae magic was supremely difficult to learn. It took years, often, to go from the fourth to the fifth. This was no exception; Tannusen had been working on this off and on for most of the time he'd been on this strange little world.

On the one hand, it should have been a little easier for him to master Elder Form; he was a shapeshifter. The concept wasn't exactly alien to a pooka.

On the other hand, he was having to learn this basically on his own, with no literature from his Earth to help lead him in the right direction.

It... basically balanced out.

Cue Tannusen spending most of a day with his assorted notes splayed out on the table in the secret basement, Lil's ball ending up surrounded in papers covered in cramped handwriting and weird, probably indiscernible diagrams of things that didn't exist on the 'usual' layer of reality... but very much existed for Tannusen, all day every day.

Comments

[sarcastass]

And of course, when Tannusen was there, Lil wasn't about to just sit inside that ball, no sir.

There was a flicker, and the sphere spread the petals of its top, the hologram flickering to life as he peered at all the papers around him. A lot of it? Looked a bit familiar, all things considered. After all, Hastur wasn't the only thing inside that book.

"... Do you need any help?" Was... was there something going on again? Was there a problem.

"Tannusen, did something happen? Do you need anything? Is there something you need me to do?" He couldn't shuffle away any paper that had overlapped on the ball, though it actually looked like he attempted to, before remembering he was immaterial.

[black_black_heart]

Tannusen still... couldn't quite shake the reflexive urge to hide his nerdier side away. His personal books were still mostly here, rather than at the house, even though Cassian had seen them now. And when he needed to do research, he tended to hole up somewhere like... well, the secret basement. It was just, now his focus wasn't on killing Hastur, anymore. It was free to go back to less dire topics. But the pattern of hiding away what he was doing was still there. He'd rather expected Lil to still be distracted by the newest batch of documentaries he'd uploaded onto the media server the tiny AI had access to. Or maybe some of the new art programs he'd added to the growing list of installations on that machine. So, the little pocket angel popping out and being concerned took Tannusen by surprise, and he was stuck mid-word on a note, pen paused, the tiger staring at the little hologram for a moment. "Uh..." right. "No, it's nothing important," he did, however, reach over to move any papers that had crept onto the ball at all.

[sarcastass]

Nope, sorry. Not distracted enough. Now Tannusen was going to have to deal with the tiny AI being concerned at him, eyes wide as Tannusen stared back at him. This looked like he should be concerned, Tannusen. And it didn't help when he didn't get a full answer either.

"Tannusen." Gently admonishing, softly frustrated.

"Are you sure? There's so many papers everywhere... Is there something you're stuck on? I might know the answer!"

[black_black_heart]

"Lily," Tannusen returned, surprise turning quickly to mild amusement, and an urge -- which he fought down! -- to tuck all the notes away out of sight again. ...Look, he hadn't expected the little AI to be that interested in random and unrelated research. "It's the fifth and final tier of Primal, Faerie magic. I'm teaching myself the old fashioned way, by tunneling through it with my forehead. Not exactly any quicker ways to learn this stuff around here, even 'commoner' Arts." He had to flex his understanding of shapeshifting until it was strong enough to influence others, and himself in new ways that had nothing to do with his specific animal seeming. "Although... your kind are shape-shifters of a sort, aren't you? Or is it just like projecting different things?"

[sarcastass]

A gentle huff, and the little AI crossed his arms. Too bad any look of annoyance was ruined by the overwhelming concern on his face. Don't put those papers away, sir!

"Ah, so... extremely complicated work, I can assume." From the mess around him, he supposed that wasn't exactly far off the mark.

Oh, but a chance to talk about things he definitely did know? Yes please.

"It's more of a projection, an image on top of our shell. While we do have to know exactly how the body works to properly mimic all it's outer properties, I couldn't call it really shapeshifting. More of an illusion."

[black_black_heart]

"Ah," Tannusen had stacked up the papers in his immediate area without quite reaching for the rest. A middle ground, caught between the urge to hide them all away, and making himself not react at all.

Look, he was neurotic... he was a cat. Fight him.

"I'm a shape-shifter, all pooka are. But my only other form is my animal Seeming. In my case, that's a royal bengal tiger. This," a tiny gesture at the rest of the mess of papers, "is several years of trying to expand my understanding of shape-shifting so that I can cast Elder-Form and change myself into other things. And other people and things into... anything."

...Wait, not shape-shifting? Did that mean he'd been fooling around with Szel as a big tumor-filled ball-jointed doll this whole time?

...Hm.

[sarcastass]

Well, he was keeping up so far. Pretty much the ultimate level of shapeshifting is what this was sounding like to him.

"I see... So rewriting code then?" A pause.

"Rewriting reality, I'm sorry! That sounds a bit more reasonable. That's... goodness that could get sticky though, couldn't it? I suppose it is a good thing that it seems so difficult to learn, it'd be terrible if just anyone could master it."

Speaking of which.

"What have you learned so far?"

[black_black_heart]

"I rewrite reality by existing," Tannusen gestured vaguely at himself, "I'm just as alien as that shitty parasite was. Just not quite as... destructive."

To put it mildly. Tannusen wasn't at risk of eating entire realities.

"Most of the fifth tier Arts are just as dangerous in the right hands. The one I've mastered already, Wayfare... the fifth spell is Flicker Flash and with it I can teleport anyone anywhere. The bottom of an ocean, the middle of a volcano, a different layer of existence altogether. I lost the ability to teleport myself like that, but that was the bargain I struck to come back to life after I murdered myself."

Shit was weird, okay?

But he was still a little hung up on the Szel point.

"So wait, you guys are like me? Everyone's always seeing my Faerie Seeming but your minds reject it and substitute it for the mortal Mask, the human body I'm wearing like a meat suit. Or more like Jethro, I guess. You all see the kirin, but your minds can't accept it so you substitute in the motorcycle."

[sarcastass]

"Murdered... yourself?" No, see that's going to be a sticking point you dick.

"Tannusen you died?" Horror? Concern? Probably a little of both, and the hologram paced in his beam of light as if he wanted to come over and check.

"Why did you murder yourself? What happened? Did you see someone when you came back? ... How did you come back!? Are you undead? Oh Tannusen!"

[black_black_heart]

"I came back the same way Cassian did after I murdered him," a little sour, as ever, at the topic of that time he'd assassinated his beloved with his own two hands... Why did Cassian still like him. Not. Now. He wrenched himself out of that thought spiral forcibly, aware that he'd fall back into it later -- but it's not like it was an uncommon thought for him to dwell on, these days. With that engagement ring on his finger... "Death isn't permanent on this world, as long as you give up something important to come back. I suppose if you made a habit of kicking off, you'd run out of things to bargain with. I remember quite a few deaths before I wound up on this world, though. My kind reincarnate over and over... and over. Coming back to the same body was the only really weird part."

[sarcastass]

A flinch. Yes, Lil knew what a sensitive point that was, but... Tannusen moved himself off of it before he could press himself deeper. Good!

Too bad Lil didn't know it was just going to show up later.

"O-oh..." Awkward, still, with the brief lapse into depression and this constant mentioning of death. The hologram looked away, down at his feet, toying with the hems of his robes.

"At least... you are doing well now, right?"

[black_black_heart]

"They healed this body up before they stuck me back in it, the only lasting change has been--" psychological-- "losing that one part of Flicker Flash." Yep that's it that's all. Really. "I'm not undead, I don't even have any scars from the incident. Cass has one from the stabbing, but there was a lot more damage involved when I took myself out. Skin flayed off, throat ripped open, an eye torn out..." Tannusen on Tannusen violence had had an element of brutality you only generally achieved through real and honest hatred. Even the 'good' side had been perfectly willing to murder the other side with a piano wire garrote. Not exactly a nice way to go, that, with the race between strangulation and a slow, sawing decapitation... The split hadn't invented anything that wasn't already there, and there was no part of Tannusen that was even remotely a pacifist. Or kind to himself, for that matter.

[sarcastass]

"If... you're sure, Tannusen." The angel was flickering, clearly uncomfortable with the depth Tannusen was going into about his injuries. He liked him! No he didn't want to hear about Tannusen getting hurt, thanks!

"A-ah... ssssooooo..." Right, moving the topic.

"What... What have you learned so far? About Elder Form?"

[black_black_heart]

Tannusen was pretty casual about having mauled himself to death. It wasn't like it had been the first attempt in this lifetime; just the first successful one. The old scar over his breastbone was proof of that.

"It's less having to learn about the actual spell, and more expanding my understanding of the concept until it clicks. This is all pretty much just me hashing that out."

At least the tiger was willing to shift the topic, particularly in light of the flickering.

Though, staring at the little hologram, it was hard not to go back to thinking about some of the activities he'd gotten up to with a particular demon...

It was kind of fascinating, that his mind was as easy to fool as any other. Had he really been fooling around in bed with a seven foot tall ball-jointed doll covered in tumors? Szel had seemed so convincingly human -- other, but human enough...

Look, a lot of senses had been fooled, if that was the case!

It was a little distracting.

[sarcastass]

"Oh.. I suppose that makes sense. How much progress have you made on that?"

Well he was about to get his answer, for not but a second later, papers were flying everywhere.

Paper. Paper everywhere.

A yelp, a crash, and a second later a befuddled, considerably less wingy, considerably taller Lil was sitting on the table, gold brass eyes the size of dinner plates as the former AI turned flesh sat there for a good, long second, unable to put his finger on what... he was feeling-

OH.

HE WAS FEELING.

"... What?"

[black_black_heart]

Okay so there had been a little mechanical golf ball on the table, with a six inch hologram projected out the top... And now there was a six-foot-four guy in a toga. All at once. No warning; he'd done it on accident. And so with a yelp of surprise, Tannusen shoved back from the table in sheer reflex aaaaand... his chair toppled right over, backwards. More papers going everywhere.

[sarcastass]

Doing some math here, if it smarted to land on his ass on the table... It must really hurt to fall backwards in a chair.

Lil was quick to follow, thankfully walking wasn't hard. He did it a lot in the hologram. He'd ponder upon how heavy he felt later. No, there was a good friend on the floor, a good friend who'd just told him he'd died a whole lot, who had appeared in this room with a massive burn on him once.

And now he could finally check things.

"Tannusen!" Clambering off the table, after the pooka, and promptly going to just, you know. Straddle his waist. Easier to get a good look at his eyes that way.

"Did you hit your head? Are you alright?"

[black_black_heart]

Tannusen's eyes were more than a bit wide, too; and too blue. Way too blue.

...As he'd said, he sort of broke reality by existing, himself.

"What... the shit?"

404 kitty not found.

[sarcastass]

Very blue, but otherwise healthy! No mismatched pupils or anything, that's good to know.

Lil leaned down, bracing his arms on either side of Tannusen, his face just a few inches away from the bamboozled fairy.

"Okay, talking is good. Talking is alright. Does anything hurt? I mean... Well hurt more than usual?" How long does pain last in a physical body anyway. Forever? That burn still looked like it hurt, he's just gonna say forever.

[black_black_heart]

Ahhhhhh-- Tannusen just sort of stared up at Lil in shock for a moment or two longer, registering that this was awfully familiar other than the addition of some very pretty eyes. "Shit." Sorry Lil, Tannusen needed some distance pronto, and that meant a certain newly-human AI was getting pushed right off of the tiger.

[sarcastass]

Shit?

And off he went with a surprised cry, though not hurt nor even distinctly upset. Confused though. He was confused.

But!

"I... I guess that means you're not concussed..."

[black_black_heart]

"I'm fine, I..." sitting up, Tannusen continued to stare, thankful for the return of at least a little personal space. All things considered...

Like how he'd just been contemplating how realistic the illusion of Szel's human form was...

From experience.

Doing things.

With it.

...No he didn't particularly want Lil inches from his face right now, thank you!

"...I'm fine," he repeated, "just shocked. I... I guess I've figured out Elder-Form, after all. I didn't mean to cast anything..."

But that was the only explanation for a suddenly-solid, full sized Lil. Levanael? Lil. Memories may be identical up to the point of the AI's creation, with Levanael mapping his mind into the orb, but then Lil had gone on to experience things Levanael hadn't. That made him a separate person, surely.

"Are you okay?"

[sarcastass]

Look, Lil doesn't know what's going on in your dark, spooky brain, Tannusen.

"I guess you did!" Ah, there we go. Something positive he could attach himself to. The smile was brilliant, still, apparently, ignoring the fact that he was no longer six inches, but six foot four.

"And you did it without meaning to as well! I guess that means it must be easier for you to do than you thought!"

Look, you're fucking brilliant, Tannusen.

"You learned it all so fast!"

[black_black_heart]

"It took years -- years means something, to my kind; we don't last long -- and I don't know quite how I cast it." But there's no denying that he had. Lil is huge, and solid. "Did I turn you human? I was thinking about the illusions," if not Lil's in specific, at least not exactly, "not your, ah, shell. Cam and... the others I've met, they all look human until they don't."

[sarcastass]

"But still! You did it! Which means you can!"

So there. Optimism!

Ah, but he looks at himself now, turning around and around a few times-

"I... don't seem to have any wings."

So he must be human, even if he sounded dreadfully uncomfortable with the idea of no wings.

"It... feels like it should be more noticeable, physically, doesn't it?"

Some more spinning, before he tried to reach back between his shoulder blades with his hand, disquieted.

"Do I look alright?"