Hymn and Haw

Log Info

• Title: Hymn and Haw
• Emitter: Slixvah
• Characters: Slixvah, Patch
• Place: Bardic College
• Time: August 2nd, 2022
• Summary: Patch is getting out of classes in the Bardic College, the dawn elf running into a egalrin woman engaging in philosophy with a group of students. They discuss their various magics and where they draw from. For Patch, it's disconnected notes of the Hymn, for Slix, it's knowing unexplored methods of the arcane. And gossip. So much gossip.

Bardic College, Midday

A bright, full day highlights the splendor and graffiti of the Bardic College in Alexandria. Things are in full swing, especially with so many people about, there's all kinds of new entertainment to be had!

One such figure that certainly blends into the eccentric crowd is that of a rainbow ribboned egalrin woman. She's busy talking to a handful of students in the couryard, inquiring about something or another as she ties red ribbons cut into feathers onto her wingspars.

Unlike the Society, these students don't flee at her obtuse queries. As their craft, too, held many shortcuts and illogicies. "Ah, gotcha, gotcha, tha' makes some sense, yeah," she hums, finishing tying off one more ribbon before protectively patting some fresh, thick feathers coming into place. "But whatever could happen if the Hymn had chords in the tapestry of fate?"

The students give a shrug, give a knowing smile, then scatter for other duties. Slixvah sighs and shakes her head with a chuckle. "At least I'm not getting thrown out here..." she muses idly, watching a nearby square fill with a lecture and prospective students.

The small Dawn Elf had been coming from one class or another, her instrument carried in one hand by the handle of it's case. The other arm is occupied with three books, all of them bound together with a leather strip. She had been heading down the dorm path, taking her away from the main square, but something about the crowds and words catches her ears with a twitch. She looks about for that familiar voice, catching sight of Slixvah with a smirk splaying across her features.

No, no words. The bard is trying to be a tad sneaky as she draws closer through the other students, her words soft as she draws close. "What's all this about the hymn and fate? Sure she's not a bard?"

Slixvah shakes her head, chuckling to herself. "Perhaps I should take up interpretive dance, maybe that'll spill some secrets," she muses idly. With her wing over her shoulder, she doesn't spy the small dawn elf slipping around and up to her.

"Hmm?" Student gossiping? No, that voice was familiar. She pauses, then folds her wing back to see- "Patch!" she cheers, reaching down to give her a brief hug. "Hel-lo, shug!"

She pulls back to put her hands on her hips. "I'm sure I could fake bein' a bard pretty easy," she jokes. "What's good?"

"Well, you're supposed to fake it till you make it anyways, so I guess you're halfway there." Patch muses, her dull glance of emerald taking a moment to flick over Slixvah as she returns that hug, and smirks as she stays near even after it's done. "Oh, I'm good. Now." she chimes, shifting and letting hands slip behind Slix's waist, just smiling up at rust-colored egalrin. "What kind of mischief are you up too?" she finally asks.

"As for dance.... you might do better than I. My toes are all sores from time with Aelwyn and Selia." her laugh short, shaking her head and leaning forward to rest it against the other woman's chest briefly "My boots were stinging me something fierce."

Slixvah snickers, a wing looping around Patch's shoulders. Small yet thick feathers brush against her along with ribbons. "Oh you know, tuggin' at knots, seein' what falls out." A beat, a giggle. "Reall' jus' tryin' ta draw threads between my mojo and other magics. Lookin' between the lines, ya dig?"

She raises a brow at Patch. A hand raises to rest against the back of the small's elfs head, cradling it into the fluffy. "I got some moves, but I need practice. Are uh... they still stinging? I always keep some fixin' peoples mojo on hand."

Patch snorts a soft laugh, pulling back to speak as she looks up to meet Slixvah's glance. The touch causes a light flush, the feel of feather on flesh. "Oh, well..." her brow knitting in thought "They are healing... trying to let them callous, and harden. Aelwyn has claws, and... Selia years. My feet? They have only marched until now." she muses, explaining about the pain and work. "Fixing it might not be helping, but still, the thought is kind." a light kiss pecked upon the bottom of the woman's beak, stepping back to pull away.

"I already knew you had moves!" Patch says openly, winking as she looks about the college grounds. "You know you could of asked me about bardic magic... but the answer is kind of lame."

Slixvah bobs her head, her face floofing up slightly from the peck. "I getcha, I getcha, no worries," she hums, patting Patch on the head before she pulls away in full. The jest makes the floof more prominent, but she easily fires back. "And I'm glad you liked such moves," she winks before looking about the campus with her. "Ya know, we've actually not laid bare what our magics do."

She elbows Patch in the side. "Show me yours and I'll show you mine?" she teases. "For real tho, what's your mojo like, hon?"

Patch takes a hand of Slixvah, tugging it as she motions to a bench with her other hand. The playful bump and words earning a flush, and bemused shake of the bard's head. "Oh, laid bare only our magics?" the tease creeping into her tone. "Come, sit with me and we can talk." the tease almost as quickly dismissed.

"It's not hard to explain, but... it's different for every bard. Some hear the hymn, other's but an echo of it. We all draw on it differently, through emotion, or expression." her feet carrying her as she moves to find seat on the empty bench, and pat the one beside her for the other woman to join. "For me, it's like having something stuck in your head, a song that is muffled and only a fragment of what it should be. The pieces you hear are disjointed, and out of order... a melody that comes and goes, but is never fully heard."

Slix is lead by the hand and promptly takes a seat next to her where indicated, listening along. One wing stretches out to look around Patch, but after she gets cozy, Slix is paying careful attention. Akin to a student being taught critical information. "Like a song, stuck in ya head," she echoes. "And I'm guessin' the Hymn makes its mark when ya get all the notes you're hearin' put together in one melody?"

Astute bird. And, despite the lack of logic the magic has: "That makes a ton of sense, actually. Some people that got magic in their blood sometimes only get it through /feeling/. And somethin' feels right, and ya act on it-"

She makes a 'ker-pow' explosion sound, coupled with her hands bursting forth with pantomimed shrapnel.

Patch blinks slowly at Slixvah's words. It takes a quick moment, but as the animated woman goes on the bard is suddenly laughing with her and at the noises she makes. "Yes! A lot like that. We face a lot of the same academic challenges you do." her words softer, shifting as she straightens her coat, and looking upward at the sky. "With the impressions the notes leave, we can form magic. We theorize it's tied into creation because we have access to arcane, and a touch of magics only thought of as for divine."

"I don't know why, it's not like Vaire and I have that kind of relationship." Patch muses, offering a small shrug. "We get feelings.. and we act on it. Sounds pretty natural to me, yeah? Different, but the same. That's why it's hard for us to make progress."

Slixvah squints in a smile. "Ya use the Hymn ta pluck at the Sea of Mana which yoinks some mojo from the divines since it all flows through the same thing. And when ya make your chord, you see your score, even with no rapport with any divine lords."

She whispers to herself. "Four for one, hell yeah."

Returning back to the dawn elf, she looks up to the sky with her, the wing curling in slightly like a side squeeze. "Ya get feelings that only art can express. Art lives through that, and through that, the Hymn. And the only way to make progress to learn to hear more notes. That sound about right?"

A glance to Patch. "I get ya some. My mojo is arcane. But steals a lot from the gods at times."

Patch snorts at the rhyme and brings a finger to her lips in thought after to stifle her mirth. "What an odd pair of tongues. One sarcastic, and snide... another fluent, flowing, and melodic." rolling her eyes in play. "I sometimes find it odd you're not one who can touch the hymn." glancing to the woman again with a nod. "Some say it might be easier for me because of heritage, but I think not. I can tell the difference between the two magics within me." she admits, looking back to Slixvah.

"Am I boring yet?" Patch hefts in jest, leaning into the other woman, head pressed to shoulder, being careful of bench and wing as it hugs against her. "So, what kind of feelings do you get? What drives your magics?"

Slixvah giggles. "'ey, some tongues work better for certain things, ya dig? Anywho, I'm sure if I put some effort into it, I could sense th' same thing ya hearin'. You know Nemori, right? She hears the Hymn too sorta. Like... really strongly."

"I guessin' one's feelin' internal, and the other is vaguely external," she surmises. Her musings being her gaze down to blink at Patch. A snort leaves her, and the wing curls the elf in. They're thick, they can take some weight resting on them. "Absolutely not," she answers with a chuckle, but the response honest. Though the question is left with a bit of silence. A breath in.

"There's an underlying theory," she begins. "That everything and everyone is connected by fate and luck in some manner. All constantly woven at the present, and the next few stitches are always at hand. Some fray, others mend. But luck is never truly random."

She looks down to Patch, her voice dropping to a quiet hum of admittance, "Through methods of the arcane that only Fiadh has shown me and that most wizards ain't gonna touch with a hundred foot stick, I hold both needle and scissors. To be mend and snip at my leisure. It has... side effects. But I wouldn't trade it away for anything."

Slix holds a hand out, and twirls a finger around something unseen. "It's less a feeling, and more a knowing. I know where the threads of luck are. I know how to tug 'em. Cut 'em. Fix 'em. Tie 'em."

Patch nods in thought, thinking for a time as she listened to the Egalrin's words. "Tapestry, and weaving. A flow and order. I am jealous. There is so little order for me. A cacophony of notes that flood through you, but somewhere in that madness you eventually find an order, a sequence that just makes the smallest smidge of it understandable." her tone low now, pondering to herself. "I don't know if one is ever supposed to hear the hymn in its entirety. It feels almost too 'massive'" her mind fumbling with words.

"I didn't know that Nemori heard the hymn. I only met her but a couple times, and... she's not too keen on my kin. I think I pissed her off actually." The bard's words coming with a small smirk. "Eventually I will sort that. Maybe." a heavy breath.

"And... you mean the darker magics of undeath, and such? When you spoke when we met Mourner Verna. I really never would never of guessed." Patch offers, but something causes her brow to knit. "You said it takes a toll? Care to... explain?"

Slixvah ruffle's Patch's hair. "Nothin' ta be jelly about, hon," she coos. "There is order, but there ain't a lot written about this stuff, hence why I bother so many people about things ta figure out my own stuff." Her gaze softens. "I don't think we're meant ta know the whole Hymn. But. Maybe. One day, your piece will be melody that's needed ta complete the whole symphony."

Pat pat goes a hand before she shrugs. "Nemori's been through some rough stuff. Give her time, she'll come around."

She looks off. "... mmm... sorta. It's about balance. I know how to heal. So I gotta know how to hurt. And magics that hurt with life force tend ta be, ya know, frowned upon." And there's the true question.

She inhales, then slowly sighs as she rubs at her face. "So. You ever notice how I don't... stay in one spot overlong? Why I wander? Wherever I go, the tapestry mends itself slowly. Things get really lucky. It's... not always a good thing."

Patch narrows her glance, eyes falling to half-lid as she looks to Slixvah from under the strands that have fallen in her face. "Not always a good thing?" pondering those words as she brushes a strand from her face. "Always the hair with you... always." laughing off the pat and play.

Patch grows quiet for a moment, turning to stare out among the student's walking the college grounds. "Your words are true, but also bring lots of discordance to my mind. What is too much luck? What /is/ considered luck? What....." her thoughts always seeming to come in jumbled groupings. "Well, perhaps I shouldn't ask some questions." she finally reasons. "I'd rather just enjoy the now." settling something for herself.

As for the topic of Nemori, she sighs and nods. "I am sure it will mend in time. We all carry our scars in different ways. I don't know her past, but we share some of the same views of my kin."

Slixvah chuckles. "It's always fun ta tussle," she croons before she too falls quiet. She folds her hands in her lap, the wing still resting over and around the elf. "Askin' questions is tha fundamental basis of all of creation," she says quietly. "You... enjoy me for me. So... welcome to me, this is the now. I'll ask all kinds of question that ain't meant ta be asked."

"It brings discordance because it goes against the grain of what you understand," she elucidates, speaking soft. Then, says in a matter-of-fact manner, "Luck is when opportunity meets preparation. See it as I create a lot of opportunities with very little threshold for preparation. Too much luck...? Makes life dull. All highs, no lows."

She bobs her head. "Nemori's a smart cookie. Hopefully Ez can get her more accommodating."

Patch snorts at the last comment from Slix, nodding her head with a slight flush. "Oh, that one needs something. A release, a vent. Eztli will have her hands full." again wry in her tone. "Hopefully, anyways." her mirth restored as she kicks a boot to scuff the stones beneath her feet. "I enjoy you a lot. I could enjoy you far more... and it has everything to do with you being you. That's how attraction works." returning that matter-of-fact tone.

"Opportunity meets preparation? Well, I like the highs, but I am sure we'll have lows." Patch shaking her head, and bumping Slix playfully with a shoulder. "I just don't want you running out on me because you think things are 'too' good. I have my flaws, I swear."

Slixvah can't help but guffaw at that, a wheezing sort of whistle that sounds like a down trill of a songbird. She wipes at her eyes. "One can hope. One can hope."

A sky blue eye rests on Patch, then slowly moves off as it softens, watching some students gather for another round of practice performances. She doesn't have lips, but there's a flicker of a smile in her eyes at the bump. "You're a sweet one," she intones. "Honestly? I feel the same way. Runnin' away at the first sign of abrasion ain't somethin' I do. When bad luck hits me, it hits me hard."

She leans back and clasps her hands together. Looking like she's mulling something over hard. Then. "Understand that my... tapestry fixing extends to people too. Meanin' sugar, I-" she pinches between her eyes, sighing. "-this is always so awkward to explain- I can't hang around the same people for a long, long time. So I tend to... get around. Or at least try to. Truefeather wants something more serious. I ain't about that. Am I makin' sense? I'm probably just making it worse."

She just rubs at her temple, face feathers all a-floof.

Patch flushes and laughs. "Truefeather?" her surprise in her tone as she can't help but feel her cheeks burn at the roaming thoughts. "He is charming in some ways." she admits, her mirth not easily dispelled, even with this conversation.

"We're long lived... and I /do/ understand. We both have places to be, and things to do beyond the other. I just... don't do summer romance well." Patch says in a light tone. "I don't want all of you for myself, nor do I want you to feel obligated to be there more than you can, or want."

"I will find time for you when you have it. That's my compromise. " Patch's laugh genuine as she looks to Slix with a tight-lipped smile. "Just don't disappear, or leave without explanation." a hand rising to smooth at those ruffled feathers of her cheek. "I cherish your company now... and who knows, fifty years from now if paths crossed again? Probably still so. I wouldn't see why not."

Slixvah sighs in relief dramatically, her sliding down the bench like she was melting. "Oooooh thaaaank goooooodssss..." she slowly says, full glad that went smooth. "Thank you, hon, thank you a bunch." She closes her eyes as her feathers are smoothed down, which she returns with bumping her forehead against Patch's. "I promise I won't go poof, sugar."

She wraps an arm around the small elf. "Yeah, who knows? Maybe in those fifty years we'll find the right ribbons," she winks. "Thank you. Really."

A beat. "He is charming, yes. Helped me out a ton. Would totes give him a chance if he wasn't so..." she rolls a hand. "Serious about us. Need ta give him a talk proper like."

Patch nods, her lip bitten as she bumps heads lightly with Slixvah. At Slixvah's embrace, she leans into the woman, and nestles against feather and cloth. "I like your ribbons, and fly what colors you will, but I will always be a fan of this red." speaking of the woman's dull rust color, fingers teasing at feathers.

"It's okay... I flirt a bit much with Aelwyn. He's a charmer in his odd way. A humor and croon that can make one swoon. I blame us learning dance together." Patch muses. "So.. don't feel bad about Truefeather and that mess. Just do what you feel you must. He'll accept your side of it, or move on. Though I am sure he's smarter than to walk away."

"So... you think I'm sweet? Most people think I'm a little forward and rough around the edges." Patch seizing on that topic with a laugh. "Though... bolder when drinking."

Slixvah hums happily at the thought. "Thanks," she coos, wrapping both arms around Patch to give her a fluffy embrace, as her face floofs up. "I'll give ya a couple red ones when they fall out. It'll look slick."

She blinks, then rubs her neck. "I.... /may/ have been flirting with him too," she sheepishly admits. "Do you want me to back off him?" she asks. "Yeah, Truefeather will resolve himself, one way or another."

The egalrin snickers. "Yeah, you're sweet. And I don't mind the forward at all. Not one bit." A wink. "Sides, rough and forward makes ya feel genuine, which I like, ya dig?"

Patch shakes her head, her laugh a huff as she kisses the Egalrin's lower beak, looking up with a grin. "Why would I mind? He's honest with his wants, and desires. He's a sly and would likely try to sneak his way in bed with us both if he could." she teases, continuing her rest, basking in feather and wing with a light breath.

"I'd like that. A few feathers to help keep memories." Patch's words in thought, eyes again flicking upward as her grin and visage are both coy. "Thank you for not being upset. I take few to my bed, but there are still some...."

Slixvah laughs quietly, another relieved sigh leaving her as she presses her beak into the kiss. "He honestly would. I'll tell it to ya straight, I'm prolly gonna see what he's all about," she confides, her face fluffing up some.

She looks down towards Patch. A smile in her eyes. "Why would I be? I just asked the same of ya. Only fair of ya get the same treatment. Besides, the gossip is gonna be /juicy/ between us," she giggles.

A thought crosses her, and her visage adopts a playful coyness. "Anywho, I think ya deserve somethin'. Close your eyes."

Patch blinks at those words, confused as her ear twitches with the emotions that now roam through her. "Okay..." her tone quiet, sitting up from the woman's grasp a she closes her eyes, her cheeks still burning from their banter.

"I'm sure you'd like what he's about. I did." Patch teases, fidgeting in her seat, and letting out a heavy breath. "So, what am I a so deserving of, Slix? I thought you were my prize here."

Slixvah just snickers. "I look forward to it, thanks for the heads up," she hums. She takes a breath, and there's some movement from a hand.

"Eb htaw I esdeir," she chants. There's a surge of some kind of power. The wing recedes away. The fluffiness departs.

A soft hand caresses a marked cheek. "This," a voice that's still Slix, but notably different, coos. And lips press against Patch's.

It lasts for a few moments before Slix pulls back. And before the dawn elf is a human woman that's completely dressed in head to toe in ribbons. Her rust red hair a veritable wreath across her shoulders with white streaks in it. And a broad, warm smile cracks across her pale face, familiar sky blues crinkled from the expression.

GAME: Slixvah casts Alter Self. Caster Level: 4 DC: 16

Patch twitches another ear as she hears that evocation and words, the lack of response to her tease casing her to smile. "Nothing ever shocks...." words ceased as she feels that caress of lip upon her own, shocked but returning that lingering kiss as eyes flutter open. "I..." her words still struck from her as that new look and change of self takes the bard a few ticks to process. The red and white hair, her ribbons, and the form she has taken leaves the bard in a state of awe.

Patch returns that kiss with one of her own, deciding it best not to speak, letting action do her talking as she lets the peck end with a teasing tug of Slix's lower lip. "I... didn't mind before. Really." she finally gets out with a quick breath. "You're stunning, no matter what form you take."

Human Slixvah giggles, her smile bright and expressive as she loops some hair behind her ear from the reaction. There's a blink, and there's a riposte!

She leaves the kiss with a flu-no crimson cheeks. "I know ya didn't mind befo', hon," she intones. "But thank ya, I try ta at least make myself pretty wit' whatev's."

She merely observe Patch for a moment before she rises. Holds out a hand, the sheer amount of ribbons on her making their own little Hymn from the rustling. "So... which way is your dorm? This'll last about... three and a half more minutes." Mischief all in her eyes.

-End Scene-