(no subject)

[blue_ice]

who: Kaiba & OPEN (+ closed prompts in comments)
what: Adjusting to an increase in population, various prompts
when: First few days of the new term
where: Around campus and in town, various locations
warning: discussions of minor injury, others to be added if needed, none anticipated


some spellwork

It's been a rough few days for Kaiba, as evidenced by the noticeable wad of bandage on his nose. He's quiet and focused in his classes, and the work gets done, but as soon as he has free time, he jumps back into the next stage of his plan. He has some scrap paper piled in front of him, a wand ready for some glyph work...and he chants his calculation.

That little pile of paper scraps in front of him? It doubled in size. And then doubled again. What an efficient spell! He crouches and immediately begins to draw a counterspell, but the trash pile soon takes over that space. Time to switch gears. The trash pile is closing in.

"Should've put a brake in the glyph..."

Students passing by this lab may notice paper scraps starting to spill into the hallway.

nightly drudgery

If there's one thing that Kaiba needs, it's money. And how is he going to get it? With a job. He's spent the last few months searching for work that suits him, and at last he's found it...by filing paperwork at City Hall. Learning about the ways magic influences property disputes and reading about late night brawls was amusing at first, but nothing can last.

Every evening, after class and homework, he rushes out the gates in a simple navy suit. If a student heads out to dinner, maybe they'll find him seated on the steps for a dinner break, sorting through a giant pile of rubbish.

"If I never hear another case about trees crossing property lines, it'll be too soon."

Comments

for yugi

[blue_ice]

Yugi...he'd seen the familiar name on the bulletin board, and his heart had lifted. Was he here again?

But why hadn't he come looking for him as soon as he returned? Maybe he was preoccupied, but no matter.

Seto hurried forward when he spotted the familiar hair, but...hm. The robes were different.

"Yugi!"

He calls out...definitely friendlier than Yugi probably expects from his surly rival.

Re: for yugi

[sizedoesntmatter]

He paused for a moment. Curious as to what exactly it was Kaiba wanted. Sure he was surprised they were even here, but it always seemed like he only needed to see him or speak to him if there was a reason more than anything.

Last time it was more for the fact he had been a vessl and he assumed that with Yugi putting the puzzle back on he'd come back. But that was then and this is now.

But he did seem different somehow and he couldn't quite put his finger on what and how.

"Ah, Kaiba. Hello there. Did you need me for something?"

[blue_ice]

Kaiba knows enough by now to know that affection is absolutely the wrong move. As much as he wishes for it, that Yugi is gone.

Isabel had told him to be honest, but...there were maybe some things Yugi didn't need to know. He could cover the gist of it without all that. Now...what was Yugi expecting him to be like? Their last parting before Seto had landed at Diatu had been neutral to positive, but now...

"When's the last time you remember seeing me? There's been...a complication."

Once he knows this, he can start to revert to the way things were.

for rosh

[blue_ice]

At last, it's time to meet this brightly colored and tattooed person who'd offered him a crashing space sight unseen. He still has his doubts about this offer, but it's all he has to go on right now. And it's worth at least an interview.

It doesn't take long to find her at the House table. Seto takes the seat beside her...tall, severe-looking, with a bandaged nose.

"Are you Roisin?"

[protectiveink]

"Aye, that is what me mother named me." Though with the situation with her so-called 'father', Rosh has to wonder. But that's definitely not something to get into here and now. She's as bright as she had mentioned--but she's also short. Just about 5'4, looks like.

"Ye mus' be Seto Kaiba, then. An' ouch. That lout did that to ye?" She's leaned in to ask that, because if that's the case, she doesn't want to attract unwanted attention.

[blue_ice]

Kaiba nods and rubs at the bridge of his nose.

"He played dirty. Rushed me in a fit of rage---I countered with a trap, but I don't know if it worked."

He looks rather displeased about it all. "That won't be the end of it, but obviously living together isn't happening. If I'm not a suitable roommate for you, I bought a tent and I'm looking at campsites."

Spellwork

[holdyourhorns]

People wouldn't blink at first glance when looking in the direction of a random human-looking kid who's clearly in the Valhudor house. But on another glance, their familiar is a golden glowing dragonfly and initially, the kid tried to puff up and spit at the titanically growing pile of paper.

The dragonfly buzzed at him.

"Oh right, yeah. I didn't include that like this." He fumbled out his wand and traced out a sigil, which resulted in a fireball that thrummed the air around it. A new shape doesn't mean this dragon in a human body wouldn't choose fire to solve most problems.

[blue_ice]

Huh. Kaiba recognizes Valhudor robes, but not the person wearing them. He's trying to banish bits of trash the old-fashioned way, clearly failing, and...huh. Oddly familiar dragonfly familiar.

"...we have a lot of flammable material between us," he says, dread growing.

[holdyourhorns]

"So more fire wouldn't be the solution here?" the kid asked before drawing a slightly different Osmarius rune that this time conjured a fan-shaped burst rather such an explosive superflame.

Because seriously, unless Kaiba has something else he can try... "Because it's not often I have a problem where trying it doesn't work."

Drudgery

[whose_son_am_i]

"And why should you care about trees crossing property lines?" Loki was curious. Both by the sight of someone rummaging through the giant pile, and about the muttering.

[blue_ice]

Kaiba taps a pen against his paper, shaking his head. "I'm a filing clerk here. I help the lawyers settle disputes, and most of them involve property. When a tree's threatening your afternoon sun, you might waste the court's time petitioning to chop it down---but then what happens when an enchantment on the tree turns your buzzsaw into a rubber chicken? That's on the level of what I'm dealing with."

Isn't it terribly exciting?

Spellwork

[letteropener]

The door popped open, letting a ball of paper scraps wadded up in a corona of golden light in, followed by an alicorn.

"There is a mess growing out of control in the -- oh, goodness." She stopped, one hoof slightly off the ground. "I believe I see the problem."

[blue_ice]

Kaiba is of course embarrassed about being caught. He'll definitely have this under control soon! Hopefully 'soon' means 'very soon', because all that paper was about to suffocate him...

...and that sure is a very tall unicorn queen? Addressing him? Well, he's been friendly with a small dragon, so that tracks.

"I'm in a property dispute, testing a hypothesis about my enemy's tactics," he explains, as if this is remotely reasonable. "And developing a counter. Which'll be ready any second now."

He snatches a paper scrap and draws a glyph on it, and 'vanish' somehow becomes 'feather-light'. Which means the room is now filling with feathers.

"...it can be annoyingly literal."

Drudgery - i'm so sorry

[wagerofloki]

You know kids these days, always on their Agents. Never paying attention to what they're doing, faces lit up with dim electronic light. Val was no different in this world of no hustle, a lack of bustle, and in severe need of neon.

She almost didn't see the teen in the suit on the step doing the paper shuffle, but she managed to swerve away from actually tripping over him. She might have accidentally kicked some of his papers - she wasn't sure - but she was quick to turn on him with Agent in one hand and the other pointing.

"Hey! The fuck you doin' in the middle'f the steps!" It wasn't the middle, she just wasn't paying attention.

[blue_ice]

Kaiba immediately casts a spell to summon his pile back to him. He's practiced enough at this that they land neatly for once, and he can focus on glaring at this person.

"That was clearly the edge, and you're clearly not watching your step," Kaiba points out, disgusted in the moment...but intrigued about the device. "But people having their nose up their tablets is novel for this place...hee, it's usually books."

Spellwork

[sweetsummerchild03]

June is still getting used to the concept of school - going to classes, doing homework, all the fun stuff - but she's been eager to give it a try. She's still mostly learning where her classes are, though, and as she's wandering the halls she pauses when she notices the large paper scraps.

"Uh..." she says, glancing around before walking towards the lab. "Why's there so much trash here?"

[blue_ice]

Huh, there's...a small duck. Kaiba thinks he's seen her on the dormitory stairs. He flicks his wand at a few scraps, trying to banish them, but they just end up floating in the air.

"I'm trying to figure out how to destroy trash as efficiently as possible," he explains. "It's a clutter war with my roommate, and I have to win."

for atem

[blue_ice]

It's a rather unfortunate day for Seto. He'd received a package from the War Games Association---a pristine coat, perfectly suited to his tastes! He'd naively assumed it was part of his ongoing initiation...this meant the group had finally accepted him as a full member, right?

Sadly not. Donning it has ended in him wearing a glamorous blue ballgown that absolutely will not come off. He's tried every spell he knows, and the thing is nigh-indestructible. Worse, if he tries to throw his robes on over it, it itches like nothing else.

All of this has led to a rough solution: desperately racing across campus, ignoring the stares, and hovering at Aer et Calculum's spire entrance. Atem surely would've understood his request and waited for him, right?

"Where are you?" He holds up his skirts as he whirls around---not that he cares about the dress, but just because he looks ridiculous doesn't mean he should look ragged too.

His face is essentially like the icon right now.

[king_of_egypt]

Well, Atem had thought he'd understood Kaiba's request but upon seeing the other male he's not so sure about it now. Pressing his lips tightly together as he leaned casually against a support column, he tries his hardest not to snicker.

"I was under the impression that you had a matter of some dire importance, Kaiba. I ... didn't know it was going to be a formal affair or I would have procured a suit for the occasion."

for mal

[blue_ice]

Seto's day has not been...great, to say the least. He's found himself stuck wearing a showstopping blue dress worthy of Cinderella, and he can't run around campus in search of a cure this way. At least...not as he is now. But some rambling from his amused roommate had given him an idea.

He signed a quick note on the bulletin board addressed to the evil dragon artist, hoping he wasn't making a terrible mistake, and waited for her at the base of a stairwell with his arms crossed.

"Think you can hold in the jokes until I explain?"

Re: for mal

[mal_contented]

Her lips twitched. If he was just a guy in dress, she could have rolled with that, but looking at how uncomfortable he looked, she couldn't help but find it funny.

"Probably not," she said, quite amused at his predicament.

for noa

[blue_ice]

How odd. There's a...rather fancy-looking red-headed woman on campus today, wearing an expensive-looking silvery blue dress. The royal has matching jewelry, a navy masquerade mask, and even a circlet...and is over six feet tall.

This woman navigates the hallways, desperately searching the library for curse removal options. A book here, scroll there...and when they spot a familiar face in the next aisle and need to pass, their heels click to a halt.

"Excuse me."

It's a high-pitched whisper that they hope isn't too suspicious.

omg,

[noasark]

Well, that's a sight. Noa blinks once, and then otherwise doesn't really comment. There's stranger tastes in this school. Tall for a woman, but hey, whatever.

And then they come near, and speak.

"Ah, no problem," he starts, before the rest of his brain catches up.

Wait. Wait.

Wait.

"....Have we met." NO.

nightly drudgery

[noimpulsecontrol]

Della's intent had been to get some dinner, but she'd quickly become distracted by how much there was to see! Tons to explore and learn about; she doesn't want to miss any of it! Except... She is getting hungry, and it's the smell of Kaiba's dinner that has her going closer to City Hall-- Normally a place she'd write off as dull without much investigation.

However, hunger takes a backseat to confusion when she sees (and hears) the well-dressed young man going through, well, trash on the front steps. "Well, yeah, that sounds really dull. What are you doing, anyway?"

[blue_ice]

Huh. Kaiba was quite used to seeing ducks around campus at this point, so he lifted his head to acknowledge her with a nod.

"Preparing to file paperwork. I work at City Hall, and working your way from the bottom always means grunt tasks. For example, this diagram of trees and property lines."