RP Logs
WHEN: 2044 SEP 23rd, afternoon
WHERE: The Burger Bus
WHO: Ash and Freddy Windgrace
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[17:43] Ash is sitting in a chair with a sketchbook open in the table. She is working on an image, fingers deftly moving across the surface as she layers on the charcoal and adds depth to the sketch. There is a basket of fries to the side, barely touched, and a strawberry shake, have drunk. She is humming softly as she works but every now and then she looks up and around. She’d sent a note the day before to her brother asking him to meet her for lunch but then she had arrived way early and has been sort of owning the table at the little bus bistro since. Its fairly busy this afternoon but no one has asked her to move. Yet.
[17:49] Freddy always came down to the mainland for snacks when he was feeling too lazy to whip something up at the dorms. The burger bus was always more willing than anywhere else to indulge his special requests and Ash had asked to meet him besides. There really wasn't a question. He was dressed casually, a loose sweater and a tank, his hair still damp from the shower he'd taken at the Academy. Work on his current assignment was a messy one.
"Already started?" he asked as he came alongside Ash's chair and tapped at the back of it. "What'd you get? I was thinking of changing up my order."
[17:54] “Just fries.” Ash brightens visibly when Freddy joins her. “I forgot what time we were going to meet.” One eye close, in a sort of wince wink, but then she laughs at herself. “So I have been here a bit.” She looks over at the fries and reaches out to touch them. They are cold. Her nose wrinkles, “I should probably eat something more though. I just.. got distracted.” A gesture is given toward the charcoal drawing in front of her. Its something dark and dangerous looking. Or at least, most people would think it was. To Ash it is just an adorable eldritch puppy in need of hugs. “You look nice!”
[17:59] Freddy makes a face. "Boring fries," he corrects and wiggles a beckoning finger at her fry basket. Telekinesis yoinks it into his hand. "Why don't you tell me what else you want and I'll go grab it when I order mine?" He peeks down at her sketchpad, his eyebrows knitting upward as he stares at the picture. "That looks like you've spent a lot of time working on it. Your shading's getting really good, you know?" he said without any remark given toward the nature of the 'puppy.' Freddy had his own conflicted feelings about their family's patron beasts, after all.
[18:05] Laughing, Ash shakes her head at Freddy, “Fries can be good! When they are hot. With hot sauce. And ranch.” Which these are not slathered in. “I think I want the sliders. The mini burgers. But with..” she pauses, thinking about it, “I dunno. What would you do to a burger to make it more interesting? If it doesn’t make me go blah, maybe I will try it.” Ash’s drawings are always darkly themed. Sometimes its just a representation of the things she sees that no one else does. This subject, thankfully, is just a flight of her imagination. Probably. “You think?” she looks down at the picture, fingernail rubbing at the shade on one side of the creature. It’s a little grainy. “I feel that I am always seeing errors.”
[18:12] "OH fries can DEFINITELY be good," he agrees and points a finger down at the basket in hand. "Just not like this, bland and all. Hot sauce and ranch are a good start, you want those on your sliders? I was going to do that anyway plus some ground espresso beans and a few of those syruped cherries." He's already standing but he glances down at himself then at Ash. "What's it they always say? Artists are their worst critics?" he says tips his head to give her a look as he walks to the counter. "You're going to see the worst bits, always. Just listen to people when they say you're wrong about it."
Despite the two of them being very recognizable out in public Freddy settles into the back of the queue like a regular person, waiting his turn. He snags a fry or two from her basket in the meantime, chewing the cold potato sticks thoughtfully. "Oh, do you want another shake too?" he calls over to Ash.
[18:23] Peering at her half-drunk shake and noting its mostly melted state she calls back, “Yes!” then turns about in her chair, one leg curling up beneath her. “Hot sauce is good. Ranch too. I.. don’t want the other stuff on the burgers.” She shakes her head. The rest.. ugh. “So I’ll go half way.” She laughs and curls one arm about the back of the chair, head perching atop the arm. Her head tilts so she can look back at her sketchbook for a moment and she furrows her brow a little. “I guess.” She never feels anything is perfectly perfect. But sometimes she doesn’t want it to be. “I wonder if I will ever be as good as Uncle Stan. I want to be. Maybe I want to be better.” An impish smile curls her lips a moment and then she is swinging her one leg, “Thank you for meeting with me.” She sounds like she wants to say more, but she doesn’t want to like, call it across the outside patio she is going to wait until he is back with her at the table.
[18:28] Freddy pouts in feigned offense at her rejection of his ingredients. "Missing out, little sister but alas, I've no time in queue left to argue." He grins at her the next moment though, clearly joking. Her sliders, his ridiculous burger, some odd assortment of toppings for a fresh set of fries, and a pair of milkshakes are ordered then instructions given to just call out for him when it's done. Freddy returns to the table and plops himself into a seat, lanky legs sprawling out across the ground. "He's had ages and ages to practice, yeah? You'll get there. Just keep at it." The smile he gives her is encouraging as he leans back against the chair. "You look cute as fuck, by the way. Did you pick that dress? I'm just sat here a casual mess next to you."
[18:36] Laughing at the expression on Freddy’s face, Ash shakes her head at him then pushes her hair back over a shoulder as she turns about to face the table again. “I will just have to forever wonder what I am missing out on. Or! Steal a bite of yours and live to regret it.” A grin follows and then she is considering his statement. “I suppose you are right. Uncle has never told me how old he actually is.” She is aware that they are magical protected and do not age but she is not so the concept of being /that/ old is really foreign to her. Even Freddy doesn’t feel old to her. She is so young compared to the rest of the family. Glancing down at herself, she nibbles her lip a little then shares. “Sort of.. There is a girl at school that everyone like.. tries to look like. She is very pretty. Kinda exotic? And she makes clothing. Like, all kinds of crazy things. I kind of copied something she wore. But its not as..” she furrows her brow. “Um. Scandalous.”
[18:57] Freddy wags a finger as Ash suggests taking a bite. "WON'T regret," he says before following the shift in conversation with a slightly uncomfortable sigh. "Old," he says simply and looks around them at the people milling about the streets. "You should ask him sometime, I'm sure he won't have an issue telling you. It's not rude from family, surely." Freddy leans forward to put his elbows on his knees as he listens further. "Everyone in your classes?" he asks, pursing his lips as he considers trends among the Academy student but chooses to keep what assumptions he makes about the girl Ash describes to himself. "Well YOUR version of the outfit is cute as fuck," he says as he leans back in his chair again. "And I for one am GLAD it isn't as scandalous. I can't have both of you getting nabbed up by boys and wrapped up in nasty business you know."
[19:03] The thought of asking Uncle D how old he is gives Ash a moment’s pause. She thinks on that and then nods slowly. She isn’t certain why the thought of asking makes her feel a little nervous, but she pushes that aside to nod at Freddy. “Yeah. She is kinda popular.. but also kinda wild. Like. She .. feels? Wild. She isn’t human.. but then a lot at the academy aren’t. I bet you have seen her and just didn’t notice.” She laughs, finding that amusing. But then Freddy actually touches the topic she wanted to broach with him. “Oh, you don’t have to worry about me. I haven’t met anyone I want to get close to. But! On that topic. Tell me what you know about this boy that Alec likes. He hurt her feelings the other night.”
[19:17] "He's fond of you Ash, don't be nervous," he says after taking a guess at the hesitation in his younger sibling's face. "And I probably have, yeah. I never said I didn't know who you meant, you know." He took the very opportune interruption of the burger bus staff calling out their order to hold up a finger and twist to face the window. Both hands moved as if conducting an orchestra, far too showy and grandiose than he actually needed to be but the wink in Ash's direction gave away that it was by and large to try and ease the nerves.
The food settled at their places on the table and Freddy called out a, "Good mate, thanks!" before sitting back down. He had been thoughtful enough to get an extra basket to separate the fries into so Ash wasn't forced to eat whatever combination of toppings he put on his own. "Is that why you wanted to have lunch? To put our heads together about the ginger lad?" He laughed and divvied up the fries, scooting her portion over to her along with some packets of hot sauce and ranch while he put the same on his... plus some chocolate syrup, some sprinkles, some caramel...
"I know his name. Ichi, surname Sato but he's Dashrix's ward. Weird familial... situation, seems like. He's in Hermetics and Technomancy, no surprises there." Freddy smooshed some fries into his burger and took a big saucey bite. Someone had been digging, it seemed. "That family's got as much of a reputation as we do but the kid doesn't do much. Quiet, doesn't really get up to much with extracurriculars. Just rumors. And word of something like a fight club he wants to start on campus. What does that make YOU think about him? Not quite the type you'd want hurting our dear Alec, is it?"
[19:28] It works. The exaggerated motions gets Freddy a giggle for the effort and she does seems to relax a little, the uncertainty about discussing certain things with her uncle sliding away, or at least moving into the background. “So you do know?!” Ash sits up, giving Freddy a look, “Don’t go anywhere near her. She might bite you and give you a disease or something.” Such horrible words, but Ash is earnest in her statement. But she nods at her brother, lips pursing a little. “Yes. You .. know more people than I do. And I do not know that boy well at all. But he isn’t starting off very well and I would really rather that Alec doesn’t get hurt.” She wiggles her fingers over the fries before reaching for the sauce packets and pulling the bun off her burger. The packets get torn open and make a bit of a mess but that’s okay, she just licks it off her finger. The rest gets poured over the fries and burger. “Doesn’t your stomach ever rebel?” she wonders, eyeing the rest of the stuff he is putting on his with a kind of fascinated horror.
[19:45] Freddy cracks a grin when Ash giggles that lingers even after she rebukes him from associating with the mysterious fashion girl. "Oh, don't worry. I can take a bite or two. And I don't *know* people personally, not all the time. Sometimes you just have to know who to ask about certain things." He takes another massive bite of burger before setting it down and mopping up the mess with a mess of napkins. "Mother was very intent on keeping me in Hermetics at first. Hard not to run into Dashrix or people who know him and that kid in those classes," he explains. Another bite and he chases that down with some of his own shake, which mercifully looks a normal color. "Mm-mm," he answers with a shake of his head. "Nary a wayward fart, sister dear. Uncle Dorian doesn't seem too bothered either and he does the same thing! Just think of it as my brand of art." He ponders Ash's observations on their sister's recent interest. "You're right about that boy though. What'd he do? I assume it was at the party?"
[19:53] “She is very intent on putting me in that class too. I do not see why I should attend when the very best teacher I could ever have is my mom.” The youngest Windgrace might have a little issue with skipping classes. She doesn’t do it a lot. But more than one or two is usually enough to get noticed. The problem is that they are teaching things she already knows – both her mother and uncle have been teaching her things for years. So she is bored, lacking challenge, and disinterested. “You are a marvel.” She shares with Freddy. “And if it were a potion, I bet you could sell it.” She scoops up some of her fries and noms them, eyes closing in bliss at the bite and sting of the sauce. “I am not at liberty to say.” Which might also mean she doesn’t know. “But he did, at the party. When he left.. she was a mess. We had an ice cream night.”
[20:08] Freddy hums. "Well it's more than a bit tradition and very likely, sorry 'bout this, a little bit my fault. I skipped out of Hermetics after a year, you know." He swabs his fries through some of the sauce left in the paper lining his burger tray and crunches them down, chuckling after the swallow as she mentions selling potions. "I've been quite discouraged from selling my eh, products around actually. But we'll see. I don't think most would fancy tonics made out of my digestive bits." He takes the fairly brief time it takes to demolish the rest of his burger and fries to think of what Ash has told him. "Well I won't pry if she won't tell so just say this much - is it worth getting a bit even, hm?"
[20:23] Ash picks at her fries and manages to consume the entirety of one of her burgers in the time it takes her brother to consume most of his meal. He truly can pack it away. She gives him a bemused look then reaches out to snag a napkin and dab at her lips, cleaning the mess of hot sauce away. “Your fault? I am to blame you for them wanting me to attend Hermetics?” she rolls her eyes. “The time would be better spent on my art. There is magic in that too, you know.” She taps her finger on the sketchpad beside her, smiling a little. She tilts her head to the side as she ponders his last question. “I do not know yet. I have learned that acting hastily gets me in trouble. I want to know if it was a mis understanding.. or if he hut her on purpose. And if he makes it up to her. Those things happen. But if he kept doing it..” she frowns. “Alec wouldn’t want me or anyone to butt in. But we are family. We look out for one another.”
[20:32] Freddy shrugs. "Well it wouldn't do to have all the children decide not to pursue the family practice eh?" he says before waving a hand. "Nah, I think your art's more important. It's YOU, and as your said it's an outlet for your magic too, like our Uncle's." After a pause he sighs though. "Mother teaches Hermetics. In some fashion it's likely a bit embarrassing for her if we shove off it entirely. You could do what I did, just take the core courses and leave it at that." He piled his many napkins up in his food basket and used another to start meticulously cleaning sauce and food bits from around and under his fingernails. "As for Alec's boy... he's at the Academy too, yeah? Could just ask him. Don't think Dashrix or that boy would really bother lying about it. Alec's not going to want any butting in but someone has to look out for her. It's what siblings are 'round for."
[20:41] Ash hmms softly and considers this point of view from Freddy. “The hermetics.. its useful in some of the things Uncle D is teaching me. He has been working magic into his art in the most fascinating ways and honestly, I have been learning it since before I could walk. He used to take me to his studio and just play in the paint.” Smiling, eyes going distant like she is remembering a fond memory, “I was such a messy kiddo.” Focusing on her brother again she hums. “What would Dashrix have to do with it? The boy isn’t him. Right?” she pauses, eyeing him to make certain. “Also. Eww. He is a person. You want me to socialize!?” she gives a mock horrifies look at Freddy. “You are going to gray my hair before I hit 25.” And then she laughs. She does agree with him though. After the humor is spent, she nods at him. “Perhaps I will. Seek him out. I don’t want him to hurt her.”
[20:46] "I guess I've always just sort of figured it was Hermetic magic enchanting his paints," Freddy replies with another thoughtful hum. Finished cleaning his fingers and hands he sends his fry basket and napkins off with a little scootching motion of his hand to go dump itself into the nearest bin. "You and Uncle Drystan are very close. It's sweet... he's affectionate with all of us but most with you, I think. I mean you're both very similar so I can see why." He keeps his smile even, his doubts on the siblings and their origins kept mostly to himself. When Ash questions his remark about Dashrix Freddy just shakes his head. "I only mean that whole family - if that's even the right word - is fairly on the face about things. No mincing words or... or trying to their way 'round like father does. Only trying to say you ought not have trouble getting a straight answer out of Ichi, IF you decide to socialize. I can ask too if you want, I just figured since you know a bit more about it than I do it might be better if you tried."
[20:57] “He mixes paints like potions. There is a bit of alchemy there, and Hermetics. He is truly a master.” Ash is a little awed by this skill. She does not yet know how to do any of that. It is very clear that she has a great deal of affection for Drystan as well. Maybe even a little hero worship. Different from the esteem she has for her siblings, but no less fierce. “I have a somewhat different approach in that I do not think even he has dabbled in. Or maybe he has and just did not like it..” she ponders that then shakes her head, “More questions to ask.” Smiling at herself she then pfts at Freddy, “I suppose I could be more social. I just .. am not well practiced.” She presses her lips together then, eyeing Freddy when he suggests that he could do it instead, “Right. Older brother stepping in.” she rolls her eyes. “ I think you might set off more alarms than I would. I do not want to ruin anything for Alec, if this is a good thing. I’d never forgive myself.” She pauses, “I just. Want to make sure.”
[21:03] Freddy nods as Ash speaks of her and Drystan's abilities, similarities and differences. "Well I don't know how to do any of it, what you two do," he answers. "Sometimes I barely think I've a grasp on basic Hermetics but..." he trails off and doesn't pursue the train of thought. It is, after all, by his own design that he's not further along in his Hermetic courses. "I'll be interested to see what you do with it, that painting skill. How you make it your own." When she pffts at him he wrinkles his nose and crosses his arms. "Come on now, you're plenty social. You have tea parties all the time with the dolls and they're a crowd," he says with a furrowed brow. "Probably more lively than some of my parties, even. It's plenty of practice. So you're very well set up for going and poking at Alec's prospective boyfriend if that's what you want to do. Just let me know if you need a step-in, I won't go raising alarms otherwise, promise."
[21:20] A warm smile is given to her brother, Ash’s eyes bright as he shares his interest in how her skills will develop. “I do not see why you have to focus on Hermetics if you do not want to. You have your own talents and skills. You haven’t yet begun to really shine yet. None of us have. But we will. The girl’s faith in her family is all encompassing and perhaps a bit over the top, but this is her family. They are the Windgraces. How could she not feel this way? “You should see them when they start arguing.” She shares with Freddy. “Last week, Nelly stabbed Mrs B in the chest and ripped out all her stuffing. I found the mess all over my bedroom and Nelly tried to deny it. The other dolls wouldn’t say anything. They didn’t want to end up like Mrs. B. But I knew. She still had the knife on her.” Ash rolls her eyes. “Like I wouldn’t notice.” A head shake follows but then she shares earnestly, “I left Mrs B. go. I figured her trauma in that form was not acceptable and she should have oblivion again to make up for it.” All that, and somewhere in there tea was likely involved. “I will seek him out. Maybe ask for his handle. Its not stalkery. Its family.”
[21:44] "Oh I don't anymore. I've had loads more fun at Witchcraft, it's where - oh," he holds up a finger and scoots forward in his chair, one hand digging into a pocket to pull out a little bottle of nail polish. Initially pink in the bottle it seems to turn black when under the sun, slightly glittery when he shakes it. "There's that polish for you. Chew-resistant and all," he said and slid the bottle across the table to her. "Nelly seems like she's still holding a bit of a grudge for Mrs. B, Ash. Got to watch those old crones sometimes, they get to finding their own ways if they're very bored." He lifts his hands helplessly. "I'm sure you can handle them. You know them best, yeah?" Freddy frowned as he felt the aetherphone buzz in his other pocket. Pulling it out, he checked the message that came through and rolled his eyes. "Gods. I'm sorry, Ash. I've got to get back to the Academy."
[21:52] Nodding along with Freddy, Ash glances curiously at what he is handing over then actually squeals aloud in utter happiness. “You made it!” She bounces up out of her seat to pounce on her brother and give him a hug then lifts the polish up in the air like it is a prize above all prizes. “You really are the absolute best.” She informs her brother. “Thank you so very much!” the nail polish is hugged tightly to her chest and then she flushes with a little color when she realizes that people are looking her way. “Ahh.” His phone goes off and then she is nodding. Reaching out, she flips her sketch book closed and then slips the charcoal into a container that she attaches to the sketchbook. She still has food left over. She did at least eat one of the mini burgers and some of the new fries.. but this youngest Windgrace seems to have some issues with actually getting the food into her body part of things. Unless its sweet. She drank half of her second shake. That’s something! “Its alright. Thank you for joining me. We should do this more often.” A little smile plays on her lips, “I miss you. But this was amazing.” She reaches out to lightly touch his shoulder, will wait for him to get up to go, and then will head back to the tower.
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