[SE] Court of Miracles

He'd been surprised to get a letter from Hotaru mid-run, asking to meet in Stormbreak. Sure, it was a lot better than it had been before Sohalia had set to work dismantling centuries of bigotry and hatred, but he didn't blame his friends one bit for not feeling safe there yet. He hadn't heard about any attacks on Abandoned so far, but that didn't mean it couldn't happen. Luckily most of the magic-slinging people he knew and loved were strong enough to protect themselves!

And besides, he'd been meaning to get back to Stormbreak and try to get into the Tower to check on Soh. She hadn't been answering his letters for awhile and he was worried about his friend...

But that could wait until after he'd helped Hotaru out with the mysterious errand she'd mentioned in her letter. And until he could wrap his mind around the dragon egg she'd just dropped on his head!

"Wait, wait, wait, go back," Tal spluttered as he dodged other pedestrians walking Stormbreak's well-cobbled streets, heading for the Needle that rose like a giant shiny middle finger to the heavens. Which was kinda weird when he thought about it, but since his brain had just about threatened to explode he wasn't worried about it at the moment. "Whaddya mean, 'demigod'??"

Hotaru

I've grown a mouth so sharp and cruel
It's all that I can give to you, my dear

Stormbreak is equally not a normal stomping ground for Hotaru, but she had been excited to venture out upon its surface not as a newly - and begrudgingly - accepted Abandoned, but as one of their revered demigods. She doubts anyone even knows another Frey demigod has been created, but she knows, and that's the only fun that matters to her.

That excitement is what has her moving so quickly, heedless of Tal's spluttering behind her. She occasionally reaches back to grab his wrist to swing them around slower pedestrians or to otherwise encourage him to keep pace, smiling like sunlight the entire time. Her delighted laugh trails over her shoulder at his blustering. "Exactly as I said! Frey made me their demigod!" She slows her jog only enough to spin in place, her golden hair streaming out behind her in a visage of dancing golden light, illuminated both literally and metaphorically in a way that is distinctly new. Coming to a stop facing Talyson, people grumbling as they move around the two, Hotaru spares a moment - a brief one, because she's still on a mission - to beam at him.

"Surprise, right?" Winking, she snags his wrist again and pulls him the rest of the way to the base of the Needle, where she props her hands on her hips and surveys the crowd around them with a little too much mischievous intent.

I know you mean well, But I'm not a vessel for your good intent
My teeth will only cut your lips, my dear

There was definitely a new and pretty glow about Ru today, but Tal had chalked it up to an illusion or a new glamour of some kind. He would never in a thousand years have guessed that it was the outward sign of her new connection with divinity. Hail, he was struggling to digest the news even now that he'd heard it twice! His feet didn't quite stumble over Stormbreak's cobbles, but he definitely needed Hotaru's steadying hand more than once or twice to keep him from running into someone in his daze.

"I mean... I know you've been doin' a lot for 'em... but..." He shook his head as she pulled him out of the stream of pedestrians and into the lee of the Needle. "But... Hail, Ru! That's incredible!" He still wasn't sure that he'd wrapped his head around the concept, but he swept her into a fierce hug and spun her around once, laughing, before setting her back down where he'd found her. He didn't need to understand it to be swept up in her joy and to share it. "But why'd y'want t'meet me here t'tell me?"

Hotaru

I've grown a mouth so sharp and cruel
It's all that I can give to you, my dear

Hotaru isn't sure she'd agree that she has done much for Frey aside from uphold their ideals of pleasantly selfish pleasure-seeking, encouraging consent and self-discovery, but perhaps that's all that had been necessary to count. She goes into his excited embrace with a tinkling laugh like silver bells, the stream of her hair a chaotic ribbon of gold as he spins her. It feels good to have her accomplishment celebrated by other people, even if her group of people important enough to be told is admittedly slim.

Shaking her hair out of her eyes, and then letting it bleed into a beautiful ebony shade that dances like smoke with her passive magic, Hotaru grins mischievously. In a blink, her heterochromatic eyes become a bright, enchanting green. "I have a quest from Frey to make something bigger. And I think the square could use a bit more liveliness, don't you think?" A bit of revenge for old Abandoned beliefs, utilizing her magic - even if now from a different source - to cause a bit of a ruckus.

Brushing up against the next pedestrian to walk past them, Hotaru touches their wrist and smiles beatifically at them. "Dance with us," she croons, magic taking hold as the person staggers in surprise and then begins to dance and shimmy right then and there. Laughing brightly, Ru drags Tal behind her as she threads through the crowd, bestowing the same command time and time again and watching the dancers grow in number.

I know you mean well, But I'm not a vessel for your good intent
My teeth will only cut your lips, my dear

Her laughter made it worth his lingering shock at the announcement, and he grinned brightly back at her as her magic danced over her hair and eyes, effortless and effervescent. If it drew any stares or doubletakes from the people passing them by, Tal didn't notice. At the moment his eyes were all for his found family and the new powers that she was already exercising as easily as she breathed.

"Makin' things bigger for Frey, huh?" Tal's nose wrinkled as he bit his tongue against the grin that took on a decidedly teasing cast. "Well, th'Needle ain't Molly's, but I reckon we can figure somethin' out..." He wasn't sure how he felt about the prisoners watching from behind their cell doors, but what was the worst Stormbreak could do? Kick him out?

At least if they did, maybe he'd finally get an answer on where Sohalia was and why she wasn't answering his letters.

With nothing to lose, Tal spun off into the crowd behind Hotaru, dragged along without resistance until he could get ahead of her and spin her into an impromptu dance of their own that had maybe a bit more enthusiasm than rhythm, but that allowed them to bump into even more people! "Hey! What we really need is some music!" He whooped to her over the growing noise of the dancing crowd.

Hotaru

I've grown a mouth so sharp and cruel
It's all that I can give to you, my dear

Though magic had always lived in her veins, this magic feels hers in a way that the primordial elements could never compare to. It's as easy as breathing, as steady and sure as the beat of her heart, and it accentuates her incandescent joy like complimentary colors.

His comparison to Molly's makes her bark a laugh, always pleased when he defaults to innuendo given how rarely it happens. She may already have a plan in mind, but his input is perfectly timed, and as she is whisked into his arms in a jaunty dance that is more limbs than grace, Hotaru takes his recommendation and stretches her magic like a sleepy limb to the crowd around her. No longer does she need to exert her touch upon someone to inspire and command them, and it's novel and exhilarating.

"Find us instruments!" It's an easier command to give, one that rushes through the crowd as a whole as they move to do her bidding. Voices call back to her when they're found - from street corner buskers to household instruments in nearby homes - and Hotaru laughs and spins Tal as she extends her command to, "Play for us!" It's not the graceful, rehearsed notions of a normal concert, but the stomping of feet and clapping of hands pairs perfectly with it. And soon, without need of Hotaru's magic at all, people flood in and join the revelry all on their own. Forming chains of dancers with linked arms, laughing partners, and excitable children. All amassing in the shadow of the Needle where previously only a laconic stream of passerby had been.

Her joy is bright and loud - and equally drowned out by noise - as she holds both of Tal's hands and spins them in circles for a moment like they're young children still, magic-blue eyes bright with mirth.

I know you mean well, But I'm not a vessel for your good intent
My teeth will only cut your lips, my dear

Maybe that innuendo might happen a little more often now that Sex Frey had taken an interest in him, and he'd been hanging out with Sunjata more. Or... maybe not. He'd gotten the sense that Sex Frey wasn't all that impressed with him and his prayers, but after his Boys' Day Out with Sunjata he was a little more relaxed about such things. Her laugh broadened his grin as they danced their way through the growing crowd and her hair scintillated out behind her as they swung each other around.

Jaunty was the right word for it; lively and spontaneous and owing far more to the country reels and town square festival dances than any ballroom on Caido. Anyone could join, and even beyond the compulsion of Hotaru's magic many people did, not knowing why and not needing an explanation so much as a chance to laugh and let loose a little in the face of all that threatened their world. Tal spun away from Ru, ducking down with a mischievous grin and spinning on his boot heels to stay under her arm before he popped back up in time to catch her hands so they could swing each other around in the center of the growing festival, with Hotaru as its golden heart.

"Don't let go!" Tal called out, laughing. "Or we'll both go flyin'!"

Hotaru

I've grown a mouth so sharp and cruel
It's all that I can give to you, my dear

It's far less organized and elegant than Stormbreak might otherwise host, but that is precisely why it is a fun trick to play on all of them. Any who truly did not want to obey her commands would shake them off with ease, their consent inherently respected by the loose grip of her magic. They're simply making the day a little brighter.

Talyson is nimble and surprisingly good at dancing when he loosens up, and Hotaru meets his grin with a toothy version of her own. As he catches her hands on the spin back up, she plants her own heels to make them spin ever faster, laughter a touch breathless as she obligingly tightens her grip on his hands to keep them firmly anchored to one another.

They spin until they're nearly dizzy, and until Hotaru catches sight of disgruntled Dragoon on the edge of the dancing crowd now swelling obtrusively in front of the Needle and other business entrances. "Oops! Damage control time!" Slowing them enough, she drops one of Tal's hands and uses the other to tow him behind her as she dodges dancing bodies to come nose-to-nose with the Dragoon. "Who started all this? This can't happen here!" The Dragoon asks her directly, the brief surprise at being accosted fading away as he eyes her shrewdly.

Hotaru smiles beatifically and waves her hand elegantly. "It was spontaneous! Flashmob I think. Don't investigate who started it," she commands easily, expression winsome. "Why not enjoy the byproduct of impulsiveness?" He still looks like he just sucked on a lemon, but Hotaru knows she'll be safe from investigation for at least a little while. Not that it stops her from tugging Tal behind her to sneak away, curving around the outside of the dancing masses to fall into a chair on an outdoor cafe patio, illuminated and tittering her amusement as she winks at her compatriot.

I know you mean well, But I'm not a vessel for your good intent
My teeth will only cut your lips, my dear

Hotaru saw the guard before Tal did, but as soon as she drew his attention he lost some of his sparkle and gulped. It was easy to make devil-may-care boasts when Authority wasn't actually around, but now that the jig was up he felt a brief moment of panic at getting 'caught.'

But Ru was heading right for the man, and Tal wasn't about to let her get in trouble alone. He let himself get pulled along, though with somewhat less enthusiasm than he'd showed earlier, when she'd been pulling him into the crowd of soon-to-be dancers.

He really should have known better, however. Just because she'd never used her compulsions on him didn't mean she would hesitate to use it on someone else! And sure, he felt a little bad for the guard; he'd grown up with a Deepfrost Shield for a father, after all. But they really weren't hurting anything, and last he'd heard bringing merriment to a somber place wasn't a crime!

The courier opened his mouth, wanting to add something helpful to the interaction, but with a wave of one regal hand Hotaru put a pause to his investigations and then was tugging him away once more. Tal's jaw snapped shut into a rueful grin as he caught up with her, much happier to be heading away from the source of potential trouble!

He threw himself into the chair across from her, grinning broadly at her wink. "So those're your new Frey powers? Makin' people dance?" Not that he was complaining! He'd needed the break from his worries and stress as much as anyone in Stormbreak had!

Hotaru

I've grown a mouth so sharp and cruel
It's all that I can give to you, my dear

She doesn't mind taking the lead when this had been mostly her own orchestration, though she does not have the qualms Talyson does about meddling with the man's head or career. Perhaps that is a greater sign of her return to form than anything; the joy of mischief and escaping unscathed from consequences she rightfully deserves. Such was also the freedom of not being tied to a government anymore, though she'd never held a council station in Halo. One major blunder was enough for a lifetime of Halovian retribution.

Presumed innocent and now invisible to the general public as soon as they sit - as most diners on the sides of walkways often are - Hotaru takes the menus handed to them by the waitress who comes outside and grins over it at Tal's question. "A stronger version of my compulsion magic from before," she clarifies freely, her trust in Talyson allowing her to share it without considering the benefits of occluding it as she would with others. "And of course the ability to change my appearance at will now." He'd only seen a glimpse of it, but it was good to include. As for the glowing, well. That was a bit impossible to miss.

I know you mean well, But I'm not a vessel for your good intent
My teeth will only cut your lips, my dear

Hotaru might be used to hiding in plain sight from the mischief she instigated, but Tal was definitely not. He had a good teacher, however, and though he took the menu from the waitress a little stiffly and was perhaps a smidge conspicuous in how he raised it to hide his face from people passing by on the street, he managed not to drop any silverware or do anything else to draw attention to them.

It helped that Ru was doing an excellent job of distracting him, and he couldn't help but relax into a more natural position as she shared her new secrets with a sparkle that was somehow even brighter and more magical than he was used to seeing around her. "Oh, of course," he repeated teasingly. "You're gonna save a bundle in makeup an' hair dye!" Were there more practical uses of her magic? Probably. But he couldn't help but poke fun at her, falling back into their old patterns as easily as breathing. "Not sure how good it'll be at disguisin' you, though, once people figure out th'whole glowin' like th'world's biggest lightning bug thing is you!"

He only needed a glance at the menu to know what he wanted, and a quick aside to the waitress soon had a cup of straight black coffee and a large slice of lemon chiffon cake with extra whipped cream on their order.

Hotaru

I've grown a mouth so sharp and cruel
It's all that I can give to you, my dear

Hotaru only preserves her snickering because it would draw more attention to Talyson's abysmal hiding skills. She makes a mental note to train him on that later - if he's to be one of her friends she can't have him skulking around like a bear thinking it's imitating a cat.

Laughing at his exuberance, she lets her hair go dark once more. With the sunlight overhead and the dark locks beneath, the glow is far harder to see, and mostly present in her skin. "It's not too bad like this! But with how many demigods come into being, I think I can still talk my way into things," she asserts with a wink. Hotaru knows many still call her Valkyrie whether they've met her or not, but she doubts that holds much water.

As he places her order, she quickly scans the menu and picks the first thing to jump out at her. Handing over their menus, she leans across the table with a wicked gleam to her smile. "Now, tell me about you. You've been keeping all the good updates to yourself, I swear!" And with Tal cornered with the promise of food on the way, Hotaru sets about getting all the good gossip out of him - whether he'd noticed it was gossip at the time or not. She really has to do all the work around here.

- Fin!

I know you mean well, But I'm not a vessel for your good intent
My teeth will only cut your lips, my dear