Home and Back Again [January Catch-All]

[wolfstrike]

Characters: Yuri Lowell and YOU
Date: All of January
Location: Various Locations
Situation: Yuri is looking for a Kedan baby's parents and also experiences going back home.
Warnings/Rating: None at the moment.

After finding a Kedan baby at the end of the last month, the first week of January saw Yuri looking for her parents. Despite asking around, and Anton's contacts, the little girl's parents had yet to be found. She was at least in good hands, being well taken care of by both Yuri and Dove. However, as he had planned, Yuri paid a visit to Milyn in the form of exchanging a favor for taking a dreaming trip back home. Starting on the 8th, Yuri wakes up again on the evening of the 10th, having slept for two days. It's then that he returns back to where he and Dove are staying at the guild house in the Sky Sector with Lambert at his side. Thinking about all that he had experienced and trying to process the fact that he'd lived several months in the span of two days.

A - Closed to Duke
Not long after he returns, Yuri is seeking out Duke. Which means going outside the city and into the forests surrounding it, because that's where he knows he'll find the guy who insists on living in seclusion. Lambert is with him of course, able to sniff out the guy far better than Yuri could ever hope to. So it's by the dog's nose that they're heading in the man's direction.

B - Closed to Dove and Sion
Once Yuri had settled in again into every day life on the turtle, things got back to relative normalcy. By this time it's in the middle of the month, just after the fog has finally lifted. A day with fair weather means going out into the city and doing some errands that are much easier to do now without the oppressive fog. Thus Yuri would be seen with Dove, walking with the baby in tow as they took turns holding her. Lambert protectively as he's also taken a liking to the tiny Kedan.

C - Open to all
Whatever you want! If anyone would like a starter than just let me know!

Comments

[dragonaught]

Morning was usually a pretty standard affair for Casey. They got up, took a shower, got dressed and went down to the first floor for breakfast. The fog had been taking a toll on their nerves, not to mention their magical ability and reserves. Even if the Hotel's wards were blocking it out and making everything less stressful, there was an edge to the people around.

Well, it felt that way to Casey, anyway.

Stepping into the kitchen, they kept their head down just enough when they saw the cook was still there. Just here for some food, don't mind Casey...

[wolfstrike]

The fog had been taking a toll on everyone. Even Yuri's blastia was on the fritz. Not quite like when they were exploding and stuff during his time in the Knights, but it was still pretty annoying.

Trying to do his part in keeping everyone's spirits up, Yuri put some extra effort into making breakfasts. Making things he knew everyone liked. Waffles, the Kedanese version of bacon, eggs, rice, miso soup, fish, whatever anyone wants. So long as he's got it on hand. And he's got a lot on hand.

So when Casey walks in, Yuri flags him(them?) down.

"So, what'll it be?"

[dragonaught]

Casey startled at attention being called to them, even if it was for a particularly mundane reason. Of course the chef wanted to know what to make, even if Casey had simply intended to grab something simple.

They hesitated before finally shrugging. "No need to go out of your way," they said. "I was just going to get whatever was already made."

[wolfstrike]

"Hey, I'm going out of my way for everybody today. There's gotta be something you really like, right?"

Yuri's voice is kinda and friendly, but not pushy. If the kid really wants to be left alone he'll let him be. But not after a little persuasion first.

[dragonaught]

Casey hovered by the counter, looking over to the fridge before finally turning back to Yuri. "Do you happen to know how to make crepes?" they asked. If he didn't, then that would be that and Casey would serve themselves. The offer was being made and Casey didn't want to be mean and continue to insist otherwise.

"Is something special happening today?"

[wolfstrike]

"Sure do. It's one of my favorites, actually."

And with that, he starts busying himself with making some crepes. He already has the batter and there's plenty of fruit, so this will be easy.

"Not really. I just thought everyone could use a boost."

[dragonaught]

That was not what Casey had expected. They tilted their head, a slight smile coming to their lips without realizing it, and they moved to take a seat on the counter where the space was clear. Nothing to do but wait if Yuri was insisting on making the food; they weren't confident enough in their skills to offer help while he did what he obviously knew how to do.

"It's been... pretty bad lately. That's true. Bad weather doesn't help anyone's mood."

[wolfstrike]

"Yeah, a lot of us can't use our abilities and it's pretty dreary too."

This said as Yuri busied himself with making the crepes. Once the thin pancakes were fried, Yuri slid them onto a plate. Fruit and cream were then wrapped in them and slid over to Casey. Might not be quite the same as back home considering the weird ingredients they had here, but it's pretty darn close.

[dragonaught]

"I'm one of them," Casey said, tone slipping into disgruntled. Their magic was part of life in a way most here didn't seem to understand, and to have it suppressed like it was in this fog was distressing.

When the food was served, Casey turned up to give Yuri a grateful smile. It looked great, and they were hungry for breakfast. This man seemed easy enough to talk to, so Casey stayed where they were and merely placed the plate on their lap. "Thank you."

[wolfstrike]

"Yeah, me too," Yuri replied, though not sounding quite so disgruntled. Sure, it was annoying, but he didn't rely on his artes for every day things.

But he gave Casey a smile when he was thanked for the food. "No problem, enjoy."

And since it was late into breakfast he wasn't expecting many more people to show up. So he pulled over a parfait he made earlier and decided to join Casey in his meal.

"So, how long have you been on the turtle?"

[dragonaught]

Yuri earned himself an interested look for the commiseration. Having some kind of abilities that didn't involve magic wasn't quite what Casey was used to, but it was better than some people here having no power at all. It was so strange.

Casey shifted just a bit as if to make room for Yuri when he joined them. That was okay. This guy seemed fine.

"Um... since about—October? I've mostly been trying to get used to everything..."

[wolfstrike]

Yuri tries to think back to October. Which is really hard considering he'd just spent several months at home according to his point of view. So it was almost like a year ago to him, but then a thought jogged his memory.

"You're the one that was surprised about the lack of magic, right?"

Even though he hadn't talked to him then or seen him since, Yuri had seen that particular network entry.

[dragonaught]

Their face coloring at the question, Casey could do little more than nod in affirmative. It was still true but perhaps not expressed in the best way back then. Sometimes it was easy to forget that such remarks were open for anyone to see, whether they made themselves known or not.

"That was me," they said. "It's... just how things are back home."

[wolfstrike]

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with that," Yuri assured him.

"We all come from pretty different places. We've got some magic back home too but probably not what you're used to."

[dragonaught]

"Probably not," Casey agreed. They resisted the urge to slowly kick their feet against the cabinets under the counter. They were just going to eat their crepe and behave. With a sigh and something of a small, wry smile, they asked, "What kind of people do you have where you're from?"

[wolfstrike]

The question drew a bit of a confused blink.

"I dunno. We're just people." He gave a shrug, not entirely sure how to answer that.

He thought on it for a moment though, before looking at what appeared to be a large bracelet on his arm.

"Most of us live in cities protected by barriers, to keep the monsters out. Uh... well we used to."

He kind of... broke all the barriers now didn't he?

[dragonaught]

"All humans?" they asked. That was still the weirdest part, even somehow setting aside the lack of magic. Worlds with only humans as sentient... seemed lonely. Plain. Not somewhere Casey wanted to be in the long term. Even their hometown hadn't been so singular, although it was closer than most.

Their head tilted in curiosity at the second part. "Monsters?"

[wolfstrike]

"Not all, but mostly. There's the Krityans and the Entelexeia."

Though most people considered the Entelexeia monsters rather than people due to their animal like shapes.

"Yeah, really aggressive and powerful animals."

That's the best way he can think to describe it really.

[dragonaught]

"Are they humanoid?" Perhaps not the best question without context, but the term seemed to be understood often enough whenever Casey had brought it up before. They were definitely interested now; a world with more than humans was apparently some kind of rarity.

Casey nodded slowly in understanding. Animals implied nonsentient, which made sense for the context. Aggressive animals that would go after people and needed to be kept out. That sounded miserable. "You said... used to. What happened?"

[wolfstrike]

"The Krityans, yeah. The Entelxeia, not at all. A lot of people think of them as monsters. But most of them are spirits now."

When asked about the barriers though, Yuri nodded while poking at his parfait.

"Yeah. We had to give up the blastia, including the ones that kept the barriers working."

[dragonaught]

"Animal-like people?" asked Casey. That was how they were understanding the different. Krityan was a new term but knowing they were humanoid was a comfort. Maybe... maybe there were more than just them where this man was from? No way to know for sure. At least it was something. "Now they're spirits?"

It was all a bit of a jumble, putting pieces together without seeing what went where, but they were curious all the same. What would the point of their different backgrounds be if it wasn't to share? "Had to...?"

[wolfstrike]

"It's kinda a long story," he tells Casey. Plus he's not exactly very good at explaining all the scientific and magical details of the whole thing. But if he really wants to hear it...