open rp/psl/etc

[head_bancho]

Comments

[erbe]

[In an attempt to rebound Tohsaka straightens herself and balls her hands into fists. She'll be just as determined.]

Not for now. We'll start with the basics when we get to my place.

[head_bancho]

[Crap. He broke another one.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Rin putting on a determined expression. He had to jerk his head to the side to hide his smile.]

What're the basics like? I'm pretty awful at math drills.

[erbe]

I'm not daft. I'll make a regiment focusing on the more physical aspects. A teach must utilize their student's strengths to help them succeed.

[head_bancho]

Physical aspects? [Ironically, he couldn't see the logic. Wasn't magic supposed to be about one's mind? That almost felt like the point of it all.]

How's that supposed to work?

[erbe]

You'll figure out when we get there. I'm not going to instruct you on train.

[Which will only take a few more minutes to get to their stop. Tohsaka ushers Riki out of the railcar and through the station. And... ah, yes. That hill they'll have to climb. One of Tohsaka's daily workouts.]

[head_bancho]

[Snorting, Riki swapped to his phone and blew through the time until they passed from the station to to the hill. He didn't recognize the neighborhood but he remembered her name from his parents' complaints about Rin's estate. Once they got to the entrance, he understood exactly why people would have fought for the contracts. Rin didn't splurge on decorations, so it looked like it would be easy to maintain. A nice, big, expensive, easy job.

It also looked painfully lonely. Compared to her taste for sharp reds, the rest of it was drab. Something about it had his nerves rattled but he couldn't help but wonder if Rin actually used all that space.]

Huh. Big place.

[erbe]

[She's merely lucky that the part of the house where ivy threatens to devour it whole isn't by the door. The grounds look mostly unkept aside from a small garden and greenhouse area. And when they get to the door she seems to be muttering something. Just altering a few wards so Riki can stay on the estate without tripping a trap or wanting to hurl.]

More importantly the estate is located on the intersection of active ley lines.

[As if that'll mean anything to him, but to her it's so that the herbs for potions or her medicine are more potent and effective. She'll open the door and once inside kick off her shoes - expecting him to do the same.

It'll be easy to determine the unused parts of the house. The surfaces will have a noticeable layer of dust on them, and it all seems devoid of any personal touches. All perfectly placed and barely lived in. After all, Rin keeps to her own room, kitchen, library, and workshop.]

[head_bancho]

Thanks for welcoming me in. [He waited a moment to clear it up.] Anyway, I only got half of that.

[He wasn't quite hit with all the smells one would assume of a magus. Herbs, chemicals, dust. Far in the back where she must have preferred it. One might have just mistaken it for the scent of a library and strong tea if she didn't let them in on it.

In an effort to remain polite, he left his shoes the way Rin did and followed without looking around too much.]

Which one's your room?

[Alright. He wasn't that polite.]

[erbe]

[She's quick to turn and smack him on the upper arm.]

We didn't come here for that.

[head_bancho]

[Rubbing his arm.]

Sorry. It just came out.

[Once they found the room, he started looking around while keeping his hands to himself. Not out of politeness but because touching random things in wizard rooms always kicked off a horror movie.]

[erbe]

[Guess which bitch has the basement too cluttered in prep for the Grail War? This one! So she takes him up to her late father's study instead. It's pretty large, and doubles as their library with all the walls lined with bookshelves where there isn't windows. Though there is one case that holds various wine bottles pulled from the cellar and a nice little set for drinking with guests. The dust makes it clear it hasn't been touched in a while.

So at the very least he won't have to worry about blowing anything up.]

This room will have the best space to stretch out in. Can you tell me how it feels to use your power? We'll start there.

[head_bancho]

[He nodded, accepting the state of the basement. Yeah. That was a wizard basement. He looked around for a little while, hoping to spot a cauldron. What was the point of magic if one didn't have one of those resting on a wood-pile fire?

Walking to the widest space in the center at her request, Riki looked from Rin to the ground, spacing his feet.]

How it feels. I just gotta... [He didn't conjure anything but he couldn't describe it simply by recalling it. Something that nebulous had to be recalled at their steps. Crossing his arms, he took in a deep breath.]

It's like when you're standing in front of a big bonfire. It's tough to breathe and then... you force yourself to.

[erbe]

I see. Very rudimentary. I'm not going to teach you any theories or mathematical concepts associated with magic. We'll focus on how your body stores its energy and the most efficient and reliable way of channeling it. Which means you can focus the intensity or cut the flow in a moment's notice.

[Without warning Tohsaka begins to undress. Her outer layers shed and carefully placed on the table meant for guests. Well, her bottoms stay the same, but her top goes from something practical and warm to instead a camisole and bra underneath. This reveals the state of her arms — unremarkable normally, but if she flexes at all the muscles underneath shows quite clearly. Though the main event will be the glow of her circuits when she runs mana through them.]

Like this.

[head_bancho]

Like a breathing exercise.

[He caught himself staring when Rin undressed only because it was unprompted and sudden but it didn't take long for him to figure out what she was trying to do. He shut himself up and watched, crossing his arms and focusing.

The moment Rin activated her circuits, he stirred. Something about it made his stomach sink.]

That's what I saw when you hit me. What's it feel like?

[erbe]

That depends... Magic nowadays is closer to science than it is the true miracles of the past. Magic circuits like mine have been handed down through generations with each following inheritor leaving their own changes to it. In order to keep them from crippling my body from the intense strain I have to regularly take medicine.

Yours, though? Opening them up might be painful, but in the end you shouldn't need the same routine to keep them from overwhelming you. If my theory is correct you should be able to surpass most modern magi.

[She allows her circuits to fade and closes the distance between them to take one of Riki's wrists in her hand.]

[head_bancho]

[That appraisal of magecraft, at its core, sounded horrific. Pain was something he could deal with but if it were constant and required that kind of maintenance, he wasn't so sure he'd always be in such a laidback mood.

Far be it from him to critique the process when it sounded like it was just a facet of life for her. He looked as if he wanted to ask if she was alright but so quickly, she already reached out for his wrist. He flushed somewhat more at that than when she took her blouse off.]

Can... mixed bloods have magic circuits?

[It was an unexpressed worry of his. The one self-conscious thought that ran through uncontrolled at the back of his mind. He didn't know if he was one but the possibility arose once again.]

[erbe]

Come now, didn't I say so before? The lady who told you that you were just an extraordinary human was the most correct.

[Tohsaka will feel up his forearms to try and map out his circuits. They're all unused and barren, so it's a difficult process. She wonders if maybe it would be easier to channel some of her own mana through them to... wake them up a bit.]

Do you mind if I try something experimental? It might hurt.

[head_bancho]

[Sighing, he tried to believe Rin and the crazed lady but it never failed to make him worry. All those rumors of possessed people hurting their families made his parents nervous around him when he was young.]

Hmph. [Not wanting to argue or even really talk about it anymore, Riki furrowed his brows and nodded. Very suddenly, Rin looked very pleased with herself and the moment she made her suggestion, he frowned deeply.]

Just do it, Tohsaka. I know you can't wait.

[erbe]

[Well, what's the easiest way to get some of her mana inside him so she can guide it through his body? Well, there's always...

She has to throw herself up on her tiptoes to reach. Her hands grasping his face to keep it still as she crushes her lips against his and prods her tongue to seek entry from him.

"Just do it," he said.]

[head_bancho]

[He expected a lot of things. A pinch. Maybe she had to draw blood.

Rin would be treated to a very genuine moment of surprise written all over Riki's face just before she kissed him, having no reason in the world to suspect that's where it was headed.

The touch of her lips stunned him but her tongue woke him up. He dipped to make it easy for her when she parted his lips, his tongue rolling with hers slowly. Caught off guard but never unprepared, he uncrossed his arms so he could grip Rin's side and pull her in.

Magic. Already worth it.]

[erbe]

[Blood would have been effective, as mana tends to pool in the fluids of the body, but it's inherently more risky because of the diseases on could share. So Tohsaka continues to curl her tongue around his. Exploring his mouth and making sure he gets enough of her.

Because this next part isn't going to be as pleasant. Since the mana still retains her signature from being so fresh, she uses it to push through his his old-fashioned circuits like water flushing through pipes. Expectedly there are some places that seem 'plugged up', and that's where the pain will come in — terrible and searing as she increases the pressure urging that 'dam' to break and let the mana flow through. And, poor thing, he'll have to endure it more than once.]

[head_bancho]

[He wasn't in the right state of mind to remember a thing about Rin's warning or the suggestion she made before. The only things present to him were the rest of the feelings she left him with. Had it been that she just wanted to do it and made an excuse or was it a part of the process?

Almost managing to remind himself that they were supposed to be working on something, he tried to pull away before a pained, startled grunt choked its way out of him. Heart hammering and his skin becoming pallid, a network of dark purple magical circuits sprang up not from his limbs but directly from his heart and lungs as, for only a moment, they both ceased function. In her next breath, Rin restarted them and he gripped her arm, pulling his lips from hers simply worried he'd bite her tongue.]

Feels like... fire in an IV...

[erbe]

[He pulls her off him, breaking the kiss, but Tohsaka is quick to return in other ways. To make the process easier on them both she places her hand on his chest. She'll follow every circuit one by one and remove the blocks individually if she has to. If Tohsaka is anything, it's thorough. She will plan up and down, inside and out, because of her propensity for failure at the last moment. It has made her more adaptable than her father ever was.]

Just a little longer. We can take breaks if it's too much. Do it in chunks. But this needs to happen first.

[Fingers pressing to skin she follows one line, and focuses on it. It takes a little time, but she pushes through like heightened water pressure finally clearing debris from a gutter.]

[head_bancho]

[He tasted smoke each time Rin touched him, so precisely finding nerves he didn't know existed. Each blockage came apart and he felt his heart beat in a different way each time. Squeezing his hands into fists, he dug fingers into his thighs instead, sweat dripping from his brow to his chin, straining as intensely as Rin took to him with care. Her fingers didn't hurt but her mana was scooping its way through him with surgical precision and too much gentleness might have only just made it tougher for her to work.]

Keep goin'. I was. I was breathing wrong the whole time...

[It wasn't to prove he could withstand the pain. It was absolutely unbearable but there was something at the end of it that made it bearable. Each time Rin loosened something in those nerves, he felt closer to feeling real and no amount of writhing, locked muscle and tendon would keep him from it. He was wrong about the bonfire. That wasn't what he was feeling.]

[erbe]

[She'll work him over. One line after the other. The intensity and focus needed makes her hairline break out in a sweat too. Brows furrowing as she attempts to maintain progress.

However after some time his body absorbs her mana as its own, and she can no longer recognize her own signature to guide it through.]

Okay, I think your body is telling us to pause. Do you want some water and a face towel?