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+---- Thread: [SE] paint with all the colors of Leafchange (/showthread.php?tid=12566)
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paint with all the colors of Leafchange - Nova - 03-01-2026
The leaves have all begun to change, finding unique hues within themselves before painting their shade along the forest ground in a beautiful myriad of colors. Dappling sunlight and hints of moisture accent each leaf like glitter in her eyes. Reds, oranges, yellows, greens, browns. But nothing shines as brightly as she does, her blonde and purple hair bouncing around her grinning face when she grabs Marcus's hand. [say]"Come on! I see it up ahead!"[/say]
She rushes them forward, the thick material of her encantados-inspired sweater dress brushing her bare legs. The vibrant pink pops out, glitter and small bubbles scattering along the woven yarn covering her arms, falling nearly over her hands with the length, but her grip on his hand is strong, dragging him until they stand beneath a towering tree, unmistakably larger than all the others.
Nova hops to a stop, her fuzzy blue boots landing agilely on a root where she perches to lean her head up. Blonde and lavender curls brush her back as she stares up in wonder, eyes alight like tiny galaxies when she gasps, [say]"Wooow. Look how big it is!"[/say]
RE: paint with all the colors of Leafchange - Marcus - 03-02-2026
Marcus let himself be pulled.
He could have outpaced her, but he didn’t. He matched her instead, boots scuffing through drifts of red and gold as leaves cracked sharply beneath their feet. The air tasted of damp earth and sap, cool against his lungs. Nova’s hand was warm in his. As he was pulled through the forest he watched the way she saw it all — the glittering moisture caught on curling edges, the blaze of color overhead, the way sunlight fractured through branches like stained glass. She looked at the world as if it had been waiting specifically for her to arrive.
Marcus tried to see it that way too.
When she stopped abruptly, he nearly walked into her. His free hand lifted instinctively toward her waist to steady her, but she balanced easily atop the root. He stepped back instead, giving himself space to take in the sight before them. The tree was immense, certainly the biggest the Halovian had ever seen. The bark was ridged and ancient, dark grooves carved deep by seasons uncounted. Above, the canopy burned in layered fire. Marcus tilted his head back, gaze climbing the vast sweep of branches.
[say]“Yeah.”[/say] he said softly, awe threading through his voice. His fingers tightened briefly around Nova’s hand. [say]“Do you think it knows we’re here?”[/say] It, because he didn’t know how else to place the Mathair.
RE: paint with all the colors of Leafchange - Nova - 03-02-2026
It's just a precautionary measure that doesn't have her immediately releasing his hand. After all, Marcus seems like the kind to wander off in a daze, and that can be dangerous, especially for someone with such soft magics like him. If he gets lost in the Greatwood by himself, she's not sure he'd have the strength to defend himself without her, although she'd probably be able to find him pretty quick with her jaguar shift.
Living in her delusional preconceptions about Marcus, Nova spins her head to look at him, a glittering smile on her star freckled face. [say]"Maybe! Let's find out!"[/say] Teetering on her tip toes atop the root, Nova lifts her free hand to cup her mouth and yell up into the massive tree's canopy. [say]"MATHAIR!!! CAN YOU HEAR US?!"[/say] Her voice cuts through the forest, bright and crystal clear as a chime that causes the nearby creatures to stir. She doesn't pay them any mind, stretching her gaze up towards where a 'head' might be among the bark of the tree, waiting with bated breath to see if they might answer.
RE: paint with all the colors of Leafchange - Marcus - 03-02-2026
Nova’s voice rang bright and fearless beneath the canopy, her call lifting straight into the burning leaves overhead.
Marcus felt the sound of it like a stone dropped into still water, the ripples around the stone manifested in the birds that scattered at the sound of her voice. His shoulders tensed before he could stop them. Aside from the birds, the rest of the forest did not echo her shout back. It swallowed it. The hush that followed pressed close, thick as the damp air clinging to his collar. Even the faint rustle of drifting leaves seemed to still, as if the Greatwood itself were listening.
He had heard the stories of how the Mathair was not a gentle hearth-spirit content to bless children and crops. Leafchange was beautiful, yes—but beauty here was edged with rot and endings. The deity of life turning to death could ripen orchards or strip them bare in a single breath. Could fatten game for winter or lead hunters in circles until frost claimed them. Fickle. Proud. Capable of warmth one moment and something far sharper the next.
Marcus swallowed. [say]“Nova,”[/say] he murmured cautiously, warning wrapping her name. He tugged on her hand a little, cerulean eyes moving from the fiery canopy above to the tree to her. Where he had moments before been amazed by her wonder and headstrong willfulness, now he was afraid of what might answer her. [say]”If we’re going to call, don’t you think we should bring an offering?”[/say] He quickly reasoned, hoping to pull towards the fact she was a daughter of Safrin and that would surely make sense to her.
RE: paint with all the colors of Leafchange - Nova - 03-02-2026
Nova recognized the tone used to utter her name, felt the worry and tension that pulled at her hand. It drew her attention back to him. Bright eyes brushed over the concern she found on his face, unashamed curiosity leaving her unbothered by whatever potential danger he felt. Not everyone could be fearless like her. After all, her magics were always at the ready, any threats feeling insignificant as she stood proudly on her root, overlooking the forest around them like a goddess of her own.
But Marcus made a good point. If they were going to ask for a deity to appear, they needed something tempting. Tilting her head, she tapped a finger against her chin, lips puckering when she let out a soft hum. [say]"Hm. I guess so."[/say]
With the decision made, Nova gave an energetic bounce that shook their joined hands, her starlit smile returning with force as she asked, [say]"What do you think a tree would like? I can decorate her bark or make fun streamers for her leaves! Or maybe pretty gems to hang from her branches! Every goddess deserves to look extra pretty for their season!"[/say] And as lovely as the tree looked, Nova had some notes.
RE: paint with all the colors of Leafchange - Marcus - 03-03-2026
His gaze drifted upward again, then outward, looking to acorns nestled near the roots, a fallen branch heavy with red-gold leaves, a cluster of late berries clinging stubbornly to a thorned stem. [say]“Maybe it doesn’t have to be big,”[/say]he wondered aloud, [say]“maybe it just has to mean something.”[/say] After all, harvest wasn’t only crops. It was effort and preparation, gratitude for what had grown.
He exhaled slowly through pursed lips, eyebrows finding his hairline and wrinkling his forehead. The young Olson turned in a circle, hand just then leaving hers, lifting his arms slightly to invite Nova into his idea. [say]“We could gather what the forest’s already given. The brightest leaves. The last berries. The strongest acorns.”[/say] His voice steadied as the idea formed. [say]“Show we notice what’s changing. Show we’re thankful before it’s gone. What do you think?”[/say] He glanced at Nova. [say]”And yo can decorate any way you;d like.”[/say]
RE: paint with all the colors of Leafchange - Nova - 03-04-2026
Her gaze followed where Marcus's hand left hers empty then rose to watch him, head tilted in thought. [say]"'The brightest leaves'..."[/say] The trees around them did have a wide variety of leaves, their colors shimmering in the wet sunlight, large and small falling from their perilous perches along branches high above. Their shades were a splattering of paints across the sky, some nearly glowing with the light peeking through.
She smiled, soft and delighted with the spectacle, wondering how she might portray the incredible view in an offering for the goddess. [say]"That could work! I'll make sure they're the prettiest parts of the forest!"[/say] Hopping down from her root with all the elegance of her feline shift, Nova twirled in a way that flared the bubbles stitched into her dress, small sparkles shimmering in the air around her when she said, [say]"I'll go this way! Don't go too far!"[/say] She can't have him getting lost, especially without her to hold his hand. And in a flurry of light and color, Nova spun to leave the clearing and collect the best pieces of the forest she could find.
RE: paint with all the colors of Leafchange - Marcus - 03-09-2026
Marcus watched her go in a blur of pink yarn, glittering thread, and bouncing curls until the trees swallowed her up. For a moment he just stood there beneath the enormous canopy, the quiet settling back around him like a cloak. Then a breath slipped out of him, half relief, half something warmer. [say]“Well,”[/say] he muttered under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck, [say]“that worked.”[/say] He hadn’t been entirely sure it would. Nova’s ideas tended to burn bright and fast, like sparks off a fire. But she had taken his suggestion with that same eager light in her eyes, already spinning it into something bigger and more beautiful than he had pictured.
A small laugh escaped him as he started across the clearing. The idea of Nova worrying about him getting lost in the woods was endearing. Ridiculous, in some ways, but endearing all the same. Marcus had spent enough time roaming forests and mountain trails and deadly tundras with his father to know how to keep his bearings. Still, the warmth of it lingered.
He crouched near the base of another tree, brushing damp leaves aside until he found a cluster of acorns nestled in the roots. Marcus took them up quickly but carefuly. From there he wandered slowly through the undergrowth. A spray of dark, late berries caught his eye and he gathered a few of the ripest. A fallen branch offered a perfect handful of flame-colored leaves.
By the time he straightened again, his arms were full, so he made his way back towards the Mathair tree.
RE: paint with all the colors of Leafchange - Nova - 03-09-2026
While Marcus looked low throughout the foliage, Nova looked high. Her eyes roamed the colorful leaves, sending a wisp of air magic through the sunlit pieces to rattle the loose ones into her waiting hand. Some shimmered from the damp rain, nearly translucent in their new choice of color so that they could be shards of stained-glass layering in the palms of her hands. They didn't cut like glass, soft and delicate although not yet brittle with dryness. She wondered in passing if they'd make a cute dress.
Her magic also managed to snag a few loose acorns, and when she finally looked to the ground, she reached greedily for the orange and red flowers that had blossomed in the recent weeks, eyes alight to have found flowers at all. By the time she came back to the roots of the Mathair, Nova was nothing more than a pile of leaves and petals, yellows, oranges, and reds burying her sweater and face so that she was nothing more than a bush with bouncing curls and dancing feet.
The same feet that betrayed her with the buzzing excitement. So distracted with thoughts of decorating and making something pretty for the tree goddess, Nova couldn't see around the colors bundled in her arms. She missed the root that had the audacity to be somewhere it shouldn't, her skipping toe tip snagging at her balance and threatening to drag her to the ground. Surprise radiated up her spine, a small gasp escaping as she moved to catch herself.
RE: paint with all the colors of Leafchange - Marcus - 03-09-2026
The clearing felt different when he stepped back beneath the towering branches alone. Marcus had reached the Mathair first. The great trunk loomed above him, bark dark and ancient, its canopy burning with reds and golds that whispered faintly against one another high overhead. He paused a moment at the base of the roots, arms full of gathered things, and tipped his head back toward the leaves as if checking whether the deity within had noticed their efforts yet. Though, from the stories, he was sure he would know if or when she did. He knelt near one of the broad roots and set his collection down. The acorns rolled softly together, the berries glistening darkly in the dappled light. He arranged the leaves instinctively, their colors spreading like small flames against the bark.
Then he heard it, the unmistakable shuffle of hurried footsteps through brush. Marcus straightened just as Nova burst from the trees in a riot of autumn color. Turning towards her with a broad smile the young Olson brushed his hands off on the front of his jacket. She looked less like a person and more like the forest itself had stood up and started running—arms overflowing with leaves and petals, curls bouncing wildly behind the pile. The sight tugged another laugh out of him. [say]“Nova!”[/say]
The word had barely left his mouth when her foot caught. Marcus saw it happen in the slow, terrible clarity of instinct. He moved before he thought. Two quick strides carried him forward, arms lifting as he reached for her shoulders through the avalanche of leaves. [say]“Whoa — I got you.”[/say]
RE: paint with all the colors of Leafchange - Nova - 03-09-2026
She'd been about to announce to Marcus the cool stuff she'd found when her foot caught. Her mouth was partially open as she tipped forward. With one foot snagged, the other rushed to catch her, barely clearing the root enough to keep her from smashing her face against Marcus's chest. She hadn't seen him arrive, but a soft huff of breath sounded when she collided with him, wondering if the ground would have been more cushioned that the muscle he wore.
Blinking up at him through the mess of leafchange souvenirs, Nova paused to regain her bearings. She probably would have caught herself even if he hadn't stepped in, so she didn't bother with thanking him, although she didn't immediately push him away. Instead, she glanced between them where her arms were pinned to his chest - along with all of the things she'd collected.
Panicked, she pulled back, loosening her hold on the leaves and flowers to inspect them. [say]"Oh no! The flowers got squished!"[/say] She peered at them from all angles, her eyes picking out which ones were salvageable as she muttered to herself, [say]"These should still work for the wreath..."[/say]
RE: paint with all the colors of Leafchange - Marcus - 03-09-2026
Marcus had expected impact. He had braced for it. Braced for the full force of her momentum knocking into him, leaves and petals exploding between them like a startled flock. Instead she caught herself at the last second, and the collision that followed was softer, closer. Closer than he had prepared for. The breath left his lungs in a quiet huff as Nova bumped against him, arms still half-raised around her shoulders. Leaves brushed against his jacket and throat, damp and cool. A few slid down between them, catching briefly on the front of his coat before drifting toward the ground.
For a moment he didn’t to move. He just stayed, holding her to keep her off the loamy forest floor. Then, Marcus cleared his throat quietly. His hands shifted back a few inches, hovering uncertainly before dropping to his sides as she steadied herself. Heat crept up the back of his neck, and he suddenly found himself very interested in the pattern of bark over her shoulder. [say]“You—“[/say] he started, then stopped as she leaned back to inspect the pile in her arms. Her panic over the flowers arrived faster than anything he could say. [say]“Oh, yeah, it’s okay.”[/say] He said quickly, rubbing a hand along the back of his neck again. [say]“Some of them still look okay.”[/say] Marcus blinked down at them too, following her gaze as if the crushed petals were the most serious problem in the world.
RE: paint with all the colors of Leafchange - Nova - 03-09-2026
She felt the hands pull away, suddenly realizing how cold it was, but otherwise distracted by her spoils and the plans she had for them. Nova let out a sigh of relief, her head nodding to agree with Marcus. [say]"We can still use them!"[/say] The petals weren't too crushed, and even if she pulled the flowers apart, she could still make the decorations beautiful with the pieces she salvaged.
Excited to begin the project, she beamed up at Marcus, only to find him looking elsewhere. There was a flush to his cheeks and a discomfort to the way he stood that had her worried. She leaned forward, her face growing ever closer to his so she could spot any other signs of the problem. Brows furrowed and lips pursed in concentration. [say]"Are you okay?"[/say] Her head tilted, lowering the leaves as she tsked her disapproval. [say]"Did you eat something you shouldn't have? Get lost? Trip? Those roots are really rude."[/say] Perhaps she should have listened to her instincts not to leave him alone. There were all sorts of dangerous things he could have gotten into.
RE: paint with all the colors of Leafchange - Marcus - 03-10-2026
Marcus blinked when she leaned in. For half a second he didn’t quite process the question, only the way she leaned in, pale locks tipping forward, eyes narrowed with intense concentration. [say]“I — what?”[/say] he said before catching himself. He cleared his throat again, straightening a little as if posture alone might smooth away whatever she thought she’d spotted. One hand lifted in a small, dismissive wave. [say]“No. No, I’m fine.”[/say] His mouth tugged into an awkward half-smile, but it couldn’t take away the color in his cheeks or the warmth crawling up his neck. [say]“I didn’t eat anything weird. Or get lost. Or — ”[/say] he glanced briefly toward the offending roots near the ground, [say]“trip.”[/say]
Again, Marcus rubbed the back of his neck before crouching down near the roots Nova had tripped on, using the movement as an excuse to put a little more space between them. The leaves he had gathered still lay where he’d arranged them, bright against the dark forest floor, now also littered with what Nova had gathered. [say]“Okay, so wreath.”[/say] He said after a moment, glancing back up at her. [say]”Where do we start?”[/say]