teleios | { open | event, and for the month! }

THE WEEK OF THE TRIFFIDS |

It's Jazz who notices that things aren't as they should be, a fact which he'd certainly try to parade around if he could speak. As it happens, he spots something amiss as Fortescue is on a morning walk into the city. Movement snakes at the corner of his green eyes, and he shifts on Fortescue's shoulders to watch it. She pays no mind, humming a bit of The Magic Flute; he watches birds in the same manner.

But she absolutely notices when a section of vine suddenly extends from a planter and wraps around her ankle, yanking her off of her feet. Jazz leaps to safety, snarling and hissing, keeping his distance as he was trained to do.

Fortescue, meanwhile, grits her teeth and taps into her pyromancy. Flames dance along her skin, avoiding her skin but not the vines that are trying to drag her bodily into the planter for... whatever the vines are attached to. She isn't too certain.

"Oh, just get off," she manages. The vines make a whining sound -- how on Earth or any other world do plants make sounds? -- and retreat, but not before a section of one burns off. Fortescue doesn't get up immediately, watching with narrowed eyes. "...just where did you..."

The thought is abandoned as two more sections of plant life suddenly lurch out, one around her right wrist and one around her other ankle. Fortescue's yanked a few more feet along before she huffs out an angry, "All right then," and ignites all of her body. This time, though it hurts the vines the same, the plant seems just as angry and sends out as many vines as she can burn. A deeper noise starts coming out of the planter, something bigger wriggling forward -- something which looks like a person-sized, yellow bulb.

THE THINGS FROM ANOTHER WORLD |

When she isn't being grabbed by enthusiastic greenery, and when other people aren't, Fortescue can be found in the library looking at cookbooks. She's curious about other things she could make which would be feasible for a beginning cook, and the library does have a good selection. Jazz lounges in the sun on the floor, often right in the way of other readers. Some of her experiments are done in the temple's kitchen as well as her own, and when they turn out well she sets them out in offering to those who still bunk down in the temple. She's experimenting with various pasta dishes, slowly amping up the difficulty.

She can also be found in the temple training rooms ever so often, dressed simply and taking out any excessive energy on a punching bag. Everything about her form and stance indicates a seasoned fighter. Jazz curls on the shoulders of a training dummy, and purrs smugly at anyone who approaches it and needs to use it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The moment she realized something funky was going on again, Ashley has been prowling around Teleios to see if she can figure out what's causing this and how to stop it. If she finds anyone who needs help... well, that's just a bonus. She's had to deal with a couple of them herself, but with her super-healing and super-strength, not to mention the deadly talons, the plants aren't much of a threat. Annoying, definitely, but she isn't worried.

This probably means she's not going to stay unharmed for long, but oh well.

Whatever the case, she comes up on Fortescue at a bad time. "Seriously? That's peachy." Peachy keen. Hurrying forward, she slices at the vines, letting her talons rip right through them. This doesn't really help much aside from make the vines angrier. Ashley just stares.

"You have got to be kidding."

This is most certainly in the annoying category. Fortescue twists around, wishing she'd remembered to bring her gauntlets. She sighs in relief when Ashley suddenly appears in the peripheral of her vision and clears up the problem. The immediate problem, at least.

A growling is coming from the bushes, from the pod-thing -- whatever it is.

"Thank you, love," she huffs, scrambling quickly to her feet. Her arms and legs are still ablaze. Jazz snarls at the vines as they start wriggling, clearly about to strike again. "I don't know what set this thing off, but it's really intent on trying to devour me. And I picked this morning to run out without my weapons, naturally."

Lifting her hands, Ashley moves into position at Fortescue's back, just in case something gets the bright idea to try to back attack one of them. She flexes her fingers, clawing the air like a cat.

"Yeah this is kinda happening all over," she admits. "Not sure why. Where are your weapons right now?"

"Glad to hear it isn't just me with a handsy plant," Fortescue says, sighing as she gathers her hands in front of her. She half-balls her fingers together and the flames grow hotter and hotter. The next vine that lashes out for her is going to have an unfortunate end.

Or perhaps it would be better if it were just her and one plant...

"My weapons are back at the house. But fire should work just fine," she says thoughtfully. "Now that I know to use it."

And assuming that she's careful with it and doesn't light anything else on fire.

Ashley eyes the fire with mild wariness. She remembers the one time she got set on fire. Hilariously enough, her mom was the one who released the fire elemental, but Helen had done it to stop the Cabal Super-Abnormals and Ashley was just one of them. So Ashley can't blame her mom; it made sense and stopped them cold without killing them.

Or it actually stopped them hot but oh well.

"Can you set me on fire like that?" she asks cautiously, an idea forming. Not her best, but on the plus side, she's pretty sure that whatever Fortescue is doing can't be worse than a fire elemental.

There's a blink as Fortescue glances over at Ashley. She hadn't expected that to come out of her friend. While she's set quite a few people on fire, most of them had been Nazis. Or Inveterate Order, which was, essentially, the same thing.

"Er--" She shrugs. "Yes, I could. Why?"

Suddenly this reminds her of being out on the battlefield and getting fed crazier and crazier ideas from Cash through her communications line. Mattli had also loved setting himself on fire and running through cramped enemy lines. By the time anyone had been able to respond, they'd been ablaze.

It's a long shot idea, Ashley is aware, but she has to wonder. So she shrugs, eyeing the plants. "Unless you have the power of a fire elemental, there's no way you can hurt me," she explains slowly. "These guys don't like fire, right? The more of us burning, the better. Maybe fire can keep them down."

It's worth a try, as far as she's concerned. And it won't hurt. She can heal. So... why not?

She can't say that she likes the idea of lighting her friend on fire, even if it won't permanently damage her. Fortescue's dual-fired like this before, except it was with another warlock, Mattli, who was undamaged by fire and could create his own.

"Are you certain you want to burn just for some vines?" Fortescue can't help but wonder. "Why don't we move in and see if we can't do some pruning, and if they go for you I'll light you up to dissuade them?"

Ashley may not be hurt, but it's the principle of the thing.

Fortescue is probably on the right path with this. Ashley doesn't always have the best track record for thinking through weird things like this. Or anything. So she nods. "Okay. It's worth a shot."

At this point, anything is, she supposes.

"Wanna go in together and see what happens?"

"Sounds like a plan," Fortescue chuckles. Or not very much of a plan at all, but she's used to that -- to some extent. It's been a while since she's been able to lean on the plan-making skills of Cash. On her own, her plans tend to be on the... flexible side.

Loose. Very loose. That's a charitable way of looking at them.

She concentrates the fire around her further, the heat beginning to roll off of her. It's going to be a while -- hours, even -- before she tires out.

"Let's show this thing it bothered the wrong people."

Ashley grins, letting her talons show themselves again as she gets ready for a fight. Diving in with hands swinging, she tries to take as much of the plants' attention as possible. They swipe at her fiercely and for every cut they land on her, every gash that heals in an instant, she gives them two swipes back. Five talons cut through a whole lot.

Eventually, she falls back to where Fortescue is, looking around for more. "How are things back here?" she asks nervously.

She admires Ashley's progress even as she intensifies the fire around her even more, turning any vine that tries to wrap around her into ash. Outstretching her palms, she creates plumes that work through any vine nests she walks toward. But she puts care into it -- she doesn't want to set anything too on fire.

Like the city.

Just the plants that are trying to kill her. Or whatever they were trying to do. Fortescue errs on the side of trying to kill her, in Teleios.

She offers Ashley a tense smile, as she moves back to her, while burning a few more vines with another plume. "So far, so good, I suppose," she says. "I can't figure out where the bloody thing is coming from, it seems to be coming from everywhere."

{ open | event, and for the month! }

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