Hadriel IC Contact

[nowherewolf]

James Tucker

"Hey. Leave a message or just text me like a normal person. Later."

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[nowherewolf]

So you're like, from space?

[Alright fine, that's kind of cool.]

Have you been to Earth? Also is this a magic-having world, or nah?

[Because that will go a long way to establish any similarities.

Tucker tries to keep his posture neutral. He doesn't actually care if Wash and Kyna are touching each other, but he wants to make sure that comes across. He makes quick work of the eggplant, dumps the flour in the bowl, and starts breading the slices before tossing them into the pan.]

[evocation]

[It's fine, Wash. Totally chill. Kyna seems to think so, anyway.]

He was still born on a planet, you dork. That's like saying we're from space.

[hardwearing]

[ Wash grins a little at Kyna's comment, watching Tucker cook. ]

I've traveled in space plenty, but never to the Sol system. No Earth for me. And we definitely don't have magic -- just a lot of alien technology that we don't understand yet.

[nowherewolf]

Wow, okay, excuse me for not psychically knowing that.

[He throws Kyna a look, but not a very serious one.]

Isn't technology you don't understand pretty much the same thing as magic? Might as well be, right?

[And now the eggplant has to fry for a bit, so Tucker flips around to face them, still leaning back against the counter.]

[evocation]

[She scoffs.]

Says the dude who doesn't know shit about magic.

[hardwearing]

Well, there's some stuff we have been able to reverse engineer or activate. From what I've seen of magic here it's more... intangible.

[nowherewolf]

I don't need magic, K. I've got skill.

[Said without even the slightest hint of shame. Maybe a little irony, though.]

And I've tricked plenty of people into thinking I do know magic, so again: what's the difference?

Magic is kind of intangible, yeah, but I don't know, there's ways to measure it and shit. And people discover ancient spells sometimes.

[evocation]

Oh my God, you are such a jackass. [And then, in a terrible imitation of his voice:] "Sure Kyna, I'll take your magical Elven stealth cloak, but I don't actually need it because I'm skilled."

[hardwearing]

[ Okay this sounds fake now. ]

How have you tricked people into thinking you have magic?

[nowherewolf]

I mean the magic helps, but- [He shrugs. And then Wash asks a fantastic question. Tucker claps his hands together.]

I'm glad you asked. Got any small objects handy?

[evocation]

[Kyna makes a face, but she's a good best friend, so she stays quiet.]

[hardwearing]

Does it matter what?

[ He twists to reach into the cupboard behind him, where he's got some batteries stashed. Will these work? ]

[nowherewolf]

Nope, doesn't matter. Just as long as it's smallish.

[He eyes the batteries. Those'll work.]

Put a few of 'em on the counter, if you will.

[He moves slightly aside.]

[evocation]

[Kyna is still watching, head tilted slightly.]

I'm ready to be super tricked, JT.

[hardwearing]

[ Wash is super curious, tbh. He grabs a few batteries and sets them down on the counter on their ends so they don't roll around. ]

[nowherewolf]

Shut up, K, you're cheating.

[Tucker turns and takes the batteries, in a motion a bit too quick to follow. His fingers are alarmingly fast when he wants them to be. When he turns back to Wash, he appears to be juggling the batteries.

After a few seconds of this, he catches them all in his right hand, closing his fist around them. But when he dramatically flicks his hand open, there's nothing there. He uses the empty hand to point to his left, which is now also a fist- and when he opens that one, of course, there are the missing batteries.

But wait there's more, as he opens his right hand again, and seems to have doubled the amount of batteries... except actually, his left hand is empty now, so he somehow transported them back. The whole trick takes less than a minute.]

There you go, and I won't even charge you for it.

[evocation]

[Yeah, yeah, okay, Kyna is impressed. Really, she's usually impressed with him, it's just that she can't not give him shit. She claps for his little display regardless.]

Good job. Very magical.

[hardwearing]

[ It's impressive, but not quite setting him on fire or bringing down lightning. Wash tilts his head, reaching out with the arm that isn't around Kyna to take the batteries back. ]

People think sleight of hand is magic?

[nowherewolf]

[This fuckin' disrespect!!!]

People see shit disappear, they think magic first. [At least they do in a world where magic exists...]

Whatever, always made more money throwing knives at people anyway.

[He turns around to flip the eggplant over.]

[evocation]

[Kyna tries and fails to hold back a laugh.]

Okay, my turn. Want me to make something disappear?

[hardwearing]

[ Throwing knives, huh? Another thing he has in common with Tucker, then. ]

Funny, I was going to teach Kyna how to do that.

[ He glances down at her, then. ]

That depends, where would it go?

[nowherewolf]

[Tucker snorts.]

Good luck with that. She barely caught those chips earlier. Wait, why do you know how to throw knives?

[The only people he's ever met with that skill were either very old-fashioned assassins or other people who've worked in a sideshow.]

It wouldn't go anywhere, she can't teleport shit except herself.

[evocation]

Shut up, Tucker. You're ruining it.

[But god, whatever! Kyna reaches out to brush her fingertips against Tucker's shoulder, and poof! He disappears. Or turns invisible, whatever.]

Abracadabra. Or something.

[hardwearing]

A woman in my old unit taught me. Knives don't run out of ammo, so I--

[ Wait whoa wtf.

See now that's magic. ]

...Tucker?

[nowherewolf]

I'm a fucking ghost. Boo and shit.

[He turns just enough to reach out and poke Wash in the arm. And then he returns to regular conversation, as if being invisible is just normal for him. This is fine.]

And yeah they don't run out of ammo, but you do run out of knives, eventually.