FIRST SPARK | SETTLING INTO A RHYTHM

[interlucere]

WHO: Lucille, and you!
WHERE: Various places around town, focusing mostly around Recollé University and Catmosphere Café
WHEN: Early October, before the start of the infection
WHAT: Lucille is a busybody + a general catch-all. Closed prompts found in the comments!
WARNINGS: None currently!

[ Throughout the first week of October, Lucille does her best to keep herself busy. With all of the mystery revolving around Retrospec, different lives, murders, and any number of other oddities, sitting idle is only going to force her to let the mounting anxiety she’s been feeling get even worse.

She can be found doing the following during this time: ]

A:
[ During the day, Lucille can be found wandering around the Recollé University campus in an effort to locate weird and interesting things. Her current obsession? Locating bizarre statues and trying to interpret what they are. Is she an artist? Gosh no. But does she have opinions about art? You bet! Get ready to hear them if you walk by.

Or maybe you can help her figure out what these are, because she sure has no clue! ]

B:
[ During odd hours of the day (and sometimes, gasp, at night!), Lucille can be found curled up somewhere around the college campus, either dozing off or sound asleep. The common room in the first-year dorms, the library, various places around the student union building; really anywhere she can find a comfortable spot and has a moment to rest her eyes. More often than not, she can be found surrounded in books and notes, pouring over any variety of study materials. On the rare occasion, the small blond may be caught (again, gasp!) not studying, but instead with some massive book in her lap. The guilty pleasure she’s currently reading? Some kind of campy-looking fantasy, or a classic mystery/thriller novel.

She probably shouldn’t be sleeping here, but it’s okay. Probably. ]

C:
[ And on Friday night, Lucille can be found at the Catmosphere Café. It’s been a long Monday to Friday for her, and she needs some time to recharge. What better way to do that than with a bunch of cats! She can be seen trying to get the attention of various furry patrons around the cafe, but some of them seem to be playing hard to get.

Help her make a new friend and she’ll think you’re the cat’s meow! ]

( If you have an idea for a prompt that is not here, hmu at impearls! )

Comments

[interlucere]

[ He's so blase about it. She's never actually used a sword before, and while she should probably be reassured how the idea isn't a big deal to him, she hesitates. ]

Let's try a few swings with one of the practice ones, then see if I'm good enough to move on to the real thing.

[ That's her excuse. Not "I'm afraid I'll lob your arm off," but "I might actually be a klutz so let's try the training wheels first" approach. ]

[parodeity]

No problemo. [ and TWO PRACTICE SWORDS JUST APPEAR IN HIS HANDS!!! using hammerspace magic. it's super convenient.

he offers one to lucille, hilt-first. ]

So first off let's go over how to hold a sword and how to stand. That way you're less likely to get knocked off your feet.

[interlucere]

[ Lucille blinks owlishly at him, staring down at the practice sword he offers her. Um excuse you are you just going to act like that's normal, Dave? Her expression brightens as she grins at him, taking the sword by the hilt. ]

So are you going teach me how to do that too, or is that next lesson?

[ She figures it's something only he can do, but a girl has to try. ]

[parodeity]

The sylladex? Sorry, you gotta share my past life to get that particular power.

[ also...it is a dumb power??? ]

[interlucere]

Darn, I guess I'm probably out of luck then.

[ IT LOOKS COOL. But she laughs it off, adjusting her grip on the hilt of her practice sword. She defaults to holding it more like one would hold a bat one-handed, her grip somewhat loose. ]

[parodeity]

Okay, you'll want your grip a little tighter here or you're maybe gonna lose the sword, which would be bad. I mean, unless you were tryin' to lose the sword. But generally? Not your best shot.

[interlucere]

[ Oh, that would make a lot of sense. Yeah, she doesn't want to lob this thing, that could be dangerous. Lucille uses both hands to readjust and tighten her grip. ]

Like this?

[parodeity]

Exactly. Okay, now. For the start, why don't you just take a swing at me, so we see what we have to work with?

[interlucere]

[ Swing at him? Well... ]

Okay...

[ Not sure but she's going to try it anyway. It's clear from the way she moves that she's used to swinging a bat around, and while it isn't the best form for using a sword, she could probably clobber whoever ends up on the wrong end of her blade without much difficulty. ]

[parodeity]

[ well, it gives him a read! dave will actually come over to adjust her methodically, touch light and never lingering. ]

You're not doing too bad, actually. Ready to do a practice round?

[interlucere]

[ Oh! Really, that's all there is to it? Wow, maybe she's a natural. Lucille smiles, giving Dave a nod. ]

Let's try it!

[parodeity]

All right, give it your best shot. [ he'll be going easy on her...

which may be how she gets a hit? ]

[interlucere]

[ Lucille tries to take a swing at him. She's about as subtle as someone swinging a baseball bat, which admittedly isn't too far off base given her previous training. At least there's a lot of strength behind the blow. ]

[parodeity]

[ the strength is good! dave brings his sword up slow to block, nods when she puts the force behind it. ] That's good, but you also wanna pay attention to where you swing and why - use leverage if you can get it.

[interlucere]

[ She nods when he gives the advice, trying another strike. It still has the same power behind it as before, but it's much more focused this time, as she aims for his torso. ]

[parodeity]

[ this time he displays a deflection for her, blocking in a way that slides the blow to the side. ]