#ǫ.

“Simple.” Luz snapped her fingers. “Despite everything, you enjoy being around me.” The witch cackled, moving forward. “Now come on. We have some ruins to explore.”

THE GRIMWALKER rolls his eyes, traipsing after Luz with an overblown dramatic sigh. "If we get mauled by a pack of wild dire wolves, I'm blaming you."

His annoyance is surface-level, however--and his eyes go wide with delight and curiosity as the two of them delve deeper into the ruins. The stone stands high and arching, the brick pattern carved in a style that Hunter doesn't recognize from his history books. He runs a finger over the stone, pulling his hand away coated with dust.

"What even is this place?" He tips his head back, squinting up at the tall ceiling overhead. At first it seems like nothing of note, but--Hunter gasps, eyes widening as he takes in the faded paintings, intricate murals of the night sky spread across the stone above their heads.

"Woah," he breathes, reaching a hand up to scratch the underside of Flapjack's chin.

"YEAH," he says, voice firm, "and I can handle it myself."

The words did sting, he'll admit--even just thinking about his time as Golden Guard is enough to make his hands shake, but someone bringing it up in a negative light to his face... He scowls at the witch standing behind them, unceremoniously dumping Luz on the ground.

Flapjack transforms into a staff in a flash of orange light, Hunter glaring as his face is illuminated by the palisman's crackling magic.

WHOOPS. Hunter spreads his hands in an approximation of a shrug. "Um. Yes?" His ears droop, face flushed red. "I'm. Uh. I'm not very good at this, Captain."

It was supposed to be a glow-moss pasta salad. The cooking process for glow-moss is simple... for people with magic. Hunter cringes as he glances down at the dish. "Yeah, it's not great. You don't have to lie about it."

STICKY SITUATIONS STARTERS - ACCEPTING !

"OH," Skara says, smiling, "I want everything I do to be under mysterious circumstances, Amy! More fun that way." She still flops down onto the end of Amity's bed, peering up at her... ex-ex-friend? She's still not entirely sure where they stand, but they've both abandoned Boscha's clique, so that has to count for something.

THE HALLS OF HEXSIDE are quiet this evening--most have gone home. In the furthest corners of the bard track department, however, a recorder plays.

In the bard homeroom, Skara has taken to the stage in the center of the room. She plays her recorder, stomping her feet in time with her playing as she dances a spell circle, seemingly practicing a particularly tricky spell. A ghostly voice accompanies her spellcasting, an illusory noise. It seems to be coming from the spell she's casting.

Look how the light of the town, the lights of the town are shining now. Tonight I'll be dancing around I'm off on the road to Glandway now.

A mist begins to spread outward from the center of the spell circle, and Skara's eyes light up as she continues stamping her feet, twirling in a circle, skirts flying out around her--ending her casting with a sharp note and stomp of her foot.

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ; fluff edition - ACCEPTING!

SHUFFLE ! - ACCEPTING SONG: PERFUME - LOVEJOY

IT IS 3:45 IN THE MORNING, and Skara is beginning to, once again, question her mentor's teaching methods. They sit out in the wide-open field, Skara's recorder in her lap, the stars twinkling overhead.

SHE KNOWS RAINE IS RIGHT, but it's still kind of upsetting. Skara sighs, lowering her recorder, looking up at her mentor with wide eyes. "I just--I really want to learn this spell! If I can just get the stupid notes right... ugh, I hate scrying magic."

A break would likely do her a lot of good. She sighs again, twirling a finger and sending the recorder back to... wherever these things go when witches don't need them. She scrunches up her face with a look of concentration, before alternating between a stomp and a clap for a few beats. The spell rushes outward from the spell circle she scuffed into the ground, flowering stalks of selkiefruit blossoming out of the circle.