[Open] June jobs and catch-all

[likethelight]

Who: Allen Walker and YOU! and you, and you, and, yes, you!
When: Throughout early/mid June
Where: Various!
What: Allen takes on jobs by going back to his circus heritage and overdoes it at training :x
Rating: PGish

1 A) Have a drink—or not (Caissa, Center Plaza)

[ What's this? This part of the plaza is oddly quiet for all the goings-on. No water battles in the street—just a modest gathering of citizens clustered together, children squirming forward to see what they're looking at. Ooh! Aah!

Oh, it's for a boy. One of the Heroes who's located a large performance ball and is balanced atop it—and merrily juggling a series of water balloons.

Ooh! He added in some knives. Won't they pop the balloons? some adults whisper. They don't, somehow. He's just rocking the ball back and forth now, standing on one foot and using his other boot to occasionally kick another prop up into the air. Faster and faster..

Ah! In a flourish he sends them all up into the air, catching the knives neatly and fanning them out in one hand as he takes a gentlemanly bow to the crowd. But what about the water balloons...? Ah, well. What comes up must come down.

Each and every one landing squarely upon the head of the first ring of children that had set down their water guns to watch him perform.

Ehehe... 'Washing away bad luck'... He lifts his head and flashes a cheery 'V' to them. ] ♥

[ But please excuse him for now, that's all for the moment. Now he has to run through the streets dodging children chasing him with water guns. It's no game if he just stands still right? Where's the fun in that? Excuse him please, pardon him (woops, quick cartwheel, that one was close), coming through—

He's leading them in circles through the plaza while their parents smile and shake their heads but they don't seem to have realized that yet. ]

1 B) Have a drink part two: merchant edition (Caissa, Kabe Market)

[ When he's not entertaining children with what water arts he can—Allen has no actual training in spells, after all, and hasn't really attempted it here—he can be found in the market area, sleeves rolled up and helping move shipments for various merchants and restocking their items. He's stronger than he looks, after all. (Though perhaps that isn't saying much.)

There's also the fact that here in Caissa... people don't give him so many weird looks when he rolls up his sleeves because of his rather inhuman red left arm, after all. It's a little easier to be himself and less self-conscious about keeping a low profile. Maybe because they're more used to seeing strange and somewhat fantastical things here than everyday people in his world...

There's also his golden companion that stays close just over his shoulder, a bright gold golem with wings. And in fact, if you should be near as they pass by, you might overhear him talking to the golem conversationally. (Ooh, and it clusters a little closer to him each time he does, like an eager puppy.) About what, you might say...?

... it sounds like a running commentary on each and every thing that's been on the menu in the cafeteria that morning. Yes, every thing. And lamenting a "Jerry" or somesuch. And then enthusiastically telling his golem about "Jerry" and something about twenty mitarashi dango. ]

2) Five mornings at Dunya's (Lasker)

[ Do you know who actually doesn't mind putting on unwieldy costumes and performing in them? Or at least has done it so many times it doesn't matter anymore?

The guy who actually grew up in the circus. Who's mostly unrecognizable now, given the large plush suit resembling a... dog? Werewolf? Canine??? that he's wearing now. It's also sporting a floofy clown collar.

But that means there is most certainly a large plush-suit dog entertaining a sizable ground of children over there, juggling a large series of very not safe looking articles in the air while balancing on the same ball he'd been using before in Caissa. Looks like he's trying to gather a set of props again...

But today in Lasker Allen's toiling away with a tireless sort of cheer, entertaining children and passerby. Even if it's really, really hot in this...

There may or may not be a tophat on the ground in front of him for tips as well. ]

3) Training (Hero Hall, Courtyard)

[ Most people probably train during the day, right? It would make sense. And it would be normal to see Allen there a lot when he isn't on a job. Hand-to-hand sparring, practicing with their weapons, notably not magic or spells... anything. Probably to the point of pushing himself too much.

Or like someone that knows he has a lot to make up for.

But at night is when he tries to be in the courtyard by himself. Or at least in a corner off to one side—the one with all the uniformed heavy straw and wood dummies lined up in rows. Sword in hand, nearly six feet of it vaguely luminescent white and broad as he is. Weaving in and out, practicing the feel of it in his hands and blocking imaginary strikes, the blade making the air hum with mana—very pure and condensed mana. It's either unnaturally lightweight or he's unnaturally strong and fast. And while it doesn't seem like physical strain—he is breathing rather hard.

Haah... he's running out of time already. Better see how far he can push it now—

Crouching and gripping the sword in one hand suddenly, bracing... he takes a second to breath before he launches himself towards the rows of dummies. Here goes, then.

Up, around, down, back, sidestep, across, through, down—it's light and almost like a dance for how acrobatic he is, rolling to the side and using one hand to catapult over the top of one dummy to land on the other side and cleave back through three at once. Until he reaches the other side, breathes at seeing the stone wall and no more dummies in front of him—and then promptly drops to one knee hard, sword tip sinking into the ground as he uses it to brace himself from falling completely. ] Haah...

[Just... air... yes, good... ahhhh that's exhausting. Too exhausting, even still, and the sword seems to... fluctuate for a moment. Shimmering in such a way it makes one squint. Did it waver and start to lose its shape?

Although after Allen catches his breath after a moment and looks behind him—he blinks a bit, blood suddenly going cold. It's just a wreckage of straw, wood, and tattered scraps of cloth. ]

O-oh... [ He sort of just... destroyed all of them. Well that's...

Expensive.

Crap. ]

4. Wildcard! Anything!

Comments

2/2

[likethelight]

[ He hadn't quite pictured her using it. Or seeming so natural using it, rather. And he gets up to his feet, if a little unsteady, and offers a slightly sheepish smile. Quite oblivious to how long she might have been watching or that the display might have been, well...

Scary. ]

Mm, I guess... [ Ah, she caught him... he'd hoped his absence wouldn't be noticeable.

He pulls the blade out of the ground, indicating at the spell at her feet with an outstretched palm and a light (strained; he is exhausted after all in a way only a mana drain can exhaust) but appreciative smile. The sword still glows faintly, illuminating the area. ]

You're pretty good at that.

[drawmecute]

*Lola takes the compliment in stride. Her magic is slow and clunky, not really more valuable in combat than a parlor trick. But so much of her practice and training has just been to be able to move around freely. It is little wonder that is what she does best right now.*

There isn't any Facerange, hastygram, oomphchat, or anything from home for me to put my focus into. So I have been trying to get better at spellcasting.

*She was glad for the confirmation she was getting better.*

You're pretty good at that.

*Gestures to the swath of destruction he carved into the dummies. Trying not to let on that, yeah, suuuuper scary.*

[likethelight]

[ It's better than Allen who hasn't even tried his hand at any actual magic yet. It just feels... weird and not-him.

Although gosh Lola, he swears half the things that just came out of your mouth can't be English and he scratches at his cheek with a gloved (he finally bought a pair) finger, even if he thinks he does get the gist of what she means. Ehe...

"Put my focus into"—he does smile a little at that though and looks up to her, sobering. The compliment... ]

Because it's not like my sword back home and I have nothing else to strive forward with, I've been trying to get better at this. [ He means it a little as an apology or at least an explanation for sneaking out for late night training. Because this, this weapon...?

This is nothing compared to what he could do with Crown Clown without even breaking a sweat. So some might find it scary, impressive, or any number of things...

But Allen just finds it makes him feel weak.

Which is also why he lets the activation go, before the constant drain of the manablade makes him actually pass out. The blade shimmers—like an illusion—before fading back into what seems to be his hand, but in reality is actually a playing card (what looks like a gothic joker) he was gripping as the hilt; a conduit.

He holds up and regards it with a tired smile, eyes flicking first from it to Lola. ]

It still feels really strange, though.

[drawmecute]

*Look, you are lucky Lola is using words and not emoji to talk. She can do that.*

You seem pretty good at that... is that the weapon they gave you, the glowy sword thing?

*Lola's boots were, well, not really a weapon. Not conventionally. She couldn't win any fight easily she kept having to move and run. It was a lot of work! Work she was both used to at home, and completely unprepared for. The only advantage is, once she got the basics, she found jumping was really fun.*

What was it like at home, if that isn't what you're used to?

[likethelight]

[ He gives a nod, tucking the card away into his breast pocket. ]

It is. [ But how to explain Crown Clown...

He smiles a touch sheepishly, scratching at his cheek. ] My weapon back home though—

It, ah.. is my left arm. [ "Is" even if he can't use it because... well his arm is still attached and has the same inhuman appearance. ] Although it no longer works that way.

[ By means of explanation because he figures it sounds pretty weird: ] Exorcists are synchronized with our weapons; mine is a part of me because I'm a parasitic-type. Our bodies because anti-akuma weapons themselves then.

[ So what he's saying is his body is literally a weapon. ]

The activation process is similar, I think, but... [ His smile turns a little wry, looking down at his red left hand and flexing it, cracking his knuckles before looking back to Lola. ]

It feels a bit... strained. [ Which is him trying to say that it's an alien thing exhausting him a lot faster than he's used to. Though that too is because his sync rate was so high with Crown Clown when he left, it took a long time for him to master it enough to even manifest the sword form, and right now his mana reserves are... so small. ]

As a sword they're pretty much the same to wield though. But mine was an exorcism blade.

It wouldn't harm humans. [ "Only that which is evil." ]

[drawmecute]

It sounded like you were speaking English. But I only got, like, half of that. Is this why you're like 90% scars?

*Lola was trying to wrap her head around 'weapons that didn't hurt humans' when... what else was there to hurt? And that was the bit of what he said she really understood.*

But your weapon hurts dummies the same way as your... arm, did?

Look all I know is that my options are learn magic or step on every bad monster I have to fight, and that gets a lot more complicated than it sounds.

[likethelight]

[ If she were paying very close attention she might notice how he gets just a little—still at mention of his scars. Standing a little more stiffly. But it's a very slight kind shift. ]

Dummies aren't human, they're just objects, so yes.

Sorry. [ He smiles lightly, but a little more sadly and his eyes hood. Sympathetic, but like he's suddenly a little more distant as well. ] It probably seems really weird.

That's always what it comes down to, though. [ And he cocks his head to the side. Wry—but—warm, like he's prone to. ] Anywhere humans have to fight monsters. It seems simple and straightforward at first, because most people think they can just think "I'm good" and "they're bad" when they have to choose whether to fight something not like themselves.

[ His eyes flick down to his left arm, the red inhuman one, and he makes a fist lightly with it. ] But it's not so black and white. The beings you might be fighting rarely lack the same kind of humanity. They could be suffering more than anyone and lashing out because of it. It ends up being impossible to tell where "human" ends and "monster" begins.

"Monster" doesn't even exist then. [ Because humans themselves can be monsters. Or become them—are turned into them—in Allen's world. ]

So you have to know. Why you want to fight, even if it's something you're being forced into doing with little choice. Because fighting is ultimately about having something to protect. Whether it's people you care about—or your ideals.

[ Or the monsters themselves, but he won't complicate that anymore for her. He has a feeling she wouldn't understand his own feelings on that.

But he lets the fist he had been making go and looks up to her with a warmer sort of smile. ] If you don't have that, you can't fight in a war. Not from your heart. Even if it'll be painful for you to fight things you don't want to, because sometimes you'll have to. [ And if she wonders why he sometimes looks at her like he's sorry—it's because of that. Allen may not know Lola well, but he does know her well enough to know this sort of world is something she's been thrown into without being ready for it at all. And for that he's sorry she has to deal with it.

A world where this sort of thing isn't forced on people would be nice. ]

And then, only knowing why and what you fight for will let you know how.

You'll never get stronger unless you know that. [ But he doesn't say it unkindly. Like he's trying to be gentle, actually.

Miss Lola. ]

[drawmecute]

I can't be too mad at how weird things are, I got a potion in town to turn my hair pink. It turned my nails and eyes pink too, and sunlight gave me a headache.

*Lola your life choices are terrible. But as he talks more about monsters the more complicated this seems, and she's trying to parse through all of it with what she knows about what's going on.*

But, it doesn't matter if we're good or they're bad. We need to visit dungeons to get what Cassia needs to further their goals. That's why we're here, if we don't it can't be good for us. Monsters get in the way, or even try to hurt us. So they have to, um, get out of our way?

*Lola was trying to talk herself into seeing it as simply as possible, moreso than try to confirm it from Allen. But monsters and soldiers, if they were in her way... they had to be stopped. And she didn't want to kill them, but she didn't want to die. It was best not to think too much. Always ruined her day to think.*

What are you fighting to protect? Cause, all that?

*She gestures at the poor unfortunate dummies.*

You seemed to be trying really hard there.

[likethelight]

[ Heh... Chin up, his eyes are a brighter silver at the question.

Simply: ] Both.