i'm too sad to walk

This was enlightening. It seemed the human must have always been in possession of their ability. Daehínen turned to regard their appearance and assessed that they were still young, by human standards. Yet they had never attempted to hone their skills. To him, it was like meeting someone who had never tried to use their arm, merely letting it hang by their side, even though it was fully functional.

"Magic is everywhere, though you cannot see it. Even in this realm. It is a part of its make up. You were around it, you were just not aware of it or that you have a specific ability that harnesses it to change reality," he corrected the human. This was not meant to be done harshly or to appear superior– it was just his nature. Daehínen was of Wynter blood, and they did not like misinformation.

She looked down at her feet, kicking at the ground absently. She really had meant to do something about her powers by this point! She had just gotten so caught up with her studies that she hadn't gotten around to it yet. And maybe she was scared! Once she started really trying to control her gift, if she still couldn't handle it, she would only have her own incompetence to blame.

"Yes. I... I just haven't known where to begin." That was a large part of the truth, if not the whole truth. She wanted to get better, she really did! She was just also afraid that it wouldn't work.

Mutual Pining

@wintersselene & @mar-mar-marbles

THIS! IS! THAT! GOOD! SHIT!!!!

Mutual pining my beloved! Not only is it mutual pining, oh no. It’s mutual “unrequited” pining!!!! It’s mutual “unrequited” OBLIVIOUS pining!!!!!! God I love disaster gays!!!!

Individually, these girls have so much going on. Selena with her magic, Marcy with her family situation; it’s a lot. And yet these two are able to find time to have big obvious crushes on each other! They don’t have the time to process nor acknowledge those crushes but hey, we can’t win ‘em all!

The basis of all good romance stories is two-fold: why aren’t they together, and why do they need to be? Marcy and Selene both crave community and connection and are able to meet each other at their own levels and give each other what they need emotionally. They need each other and frankly deserve some happiness in their lives!

Unfortunately, they’re both inexperienced, oblivious little wlws, so who knows when or if they’re going to figure this out. They will probably need a nudge. Or a swift kick in the ass.

She had gone to find Selene at one point and saw her talking to some guy. It was getting close to midnight and she saw them getting closer.

When the countdown started, she saw them leaning in and she found herself turning away as everyone shouted out "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" It hadn't mattered--it shouldn't matter. She should be happy for Selene! That was exciting!!

Instead she just wanted to leave Pierrot's and curl up in bed. Which was exactly what she did.

They were some time removed from that now, classes providing a somewhat needed distraction from it all. Of course they'd chatted a bit between then and now, but no in depth long talks. And no mention of the kiss from Selene, so maybe it hadn't happened? Maybe Marcy turned away too fast? She could hope-- but why would she hope that? That was mean, she should want her friend to have a good new years eve.

June was out at the moment, and Marcy was studying when there was a knock on her door. She knew Selene was coming over so why did it surprise her so much to hear the knock?

She got up, opening the door with a smile. "Hey!" she said brightly. "Come on in. That food smells amazing."

"How's it going?" Part of her wanted to dive right in to the whole Taehyun situation, but she felt strangely anxious about bringing it up. She had felt a weird pit in her stomach every time she thought about the kiss, to be completely honest.

She hoped that if they just started talking about something else, it would go away. She hoped that her nerves weren't written all over her face--or worse, seeping out into the room. She didn't want to dump all of this on Marcy!

So as she approached Marcy's room, takeout in hand, to catch up on what the first week of classes had brought their way, she was shocked to remember that she had her FIRST. KISS. and hadn't even told anyone! She almost forgot it even happened, the night had been so busy.

She wasn't sure what to make of the whole situation. It had been so... anticlimactic? Maybe Marcy would have some good advice for her about it. She knocked on the door, not sure why she suddenly felt nervous. What was wrong with her today?

She tried to keep her attention on the show, but she did spend most of the time looking over Selene's shoulder, giving her advice on what to do and where to go.

And then she reached the first gym. "Your team should be high enough that the first few trainers won't be a problem. But once you get to the leader..." And that's where Marcy started rambling about strategy and type strengths and weaknesses, telling Selene everything she would need to know to get that victory.

In it all, as she watched her friend battle her way through the gym, Marcy found herself resting her chin on Selene's shoulder, smiling a little to herself as she felt the warmth radiating from her body.

Marcy had always loved pokemon, but so far this had been her favorite playthrough.

She froze for a moment when she felt Marcy's head hit her shoulder, before remembering what she was doing and continuing her journey through the gym. When she was successful--thanks to Marcy--she grinned over at her.

"Thanks for tonight. This was so much fun." They would have to finish the game another day, but their first session was a major success. And if Selene couldn't help but look forward to continuing the game, that was nothing she had to read too much into, right?

Again, he felt the deluge of emotion as it knocked against his mind. He had to make an effort to shove it away, dispersing it from clinging to his shields and wearing them down like water to stone. As strong and sturdy as his shields were, given enough time and force, they could be damaged. But with her lack of control, it was easy to brush the emotions away from himself.

Daehínen refocused, taking a deep breath of the cold air to settle in his lungs before speaking.

Her emotions had always been intense, and she couldn't keep friends for long, but she tended not to affect people in such acute ways. It was always prolonged exposure that hurt them and ultimately pushed them away. But leaving home had disrupted everything and made her so much worse, that eventually someone suggested she could be Gifted.

"I've always been.. sad. But I was never really around magick, so I didn't think that could be the cause." Moving to Swynlake, it was clear that her hunch was right, and magick obviously played a role here. She just didn't know how to bridge the gap from knowledge to action.

And it was always hard to be mad at Frank, which made Delilah's shoulders twitch a little, relaxing by a fraction. "You're fine." She said simply. "Just," She motioned with her hands, waving her back a bit. "Back up a smidge."

Shaking her head to herself, Delilah turned back to the rail of clothes she'd been looking at. And then, with a sigh, she turned back to the girl and said, "Sorry for snapping. You're right, it's crazy in here today."

Hearing the woman speak again, Selene turned her head, worried that she had done something else wrong and was about to get chewed out. Relief washed over her as the words registered and she realized that she was in the clear.

"No, I really am sorry. I should be more careful." She spoke more genuinely now, not trying to make excuses to smooth the situation over, but to actually apologize. If everyone was just a little more considerate in these situations, she thought, the world would be better off for it.

"You did not affect me. I have preemptive measures that your amateur competence could not get through," Daehínen said in an attempt at reassurance. Given his flat tone of voice and word choice, it could probably have been taken as condescending.

He stepped around the bench until he was in front of it so that he could sit, movements stiff. His posture remained straight, hands still tucked into the large sleeves of the thick robe he wore.

"If you would allow it," he said, turning to look at the human, "I would ask to know more about your– lack of understanding."

She expected him to storm off like the other man had and was surprised to see him sit down next to her. Why was he still here? Didn't he realize this was a pointless endeavor? Still, she supposed answering his questions couldn't hurt.

"Sure, yeah. You can ask." She spoke through the knot in her throat. She would not start crying again, not when she had already made such a fool of herself. She took a couple deep breaths, preparing herself for whatever he wanted to know.

"Nice!" she looked at the screen. Oh right, a nickname. Shoot, Marcy was so bad at those.

"I usually name mine after something that reminds me of them. Or a character from something else," she admitted. She thought for a moment. "Ooh, we could call him Gilmore!" she pointed at the TV excitedly.

"Okay, any tips before I take on this first gym?" She figured she might need more help with this part, so she should probably get Marcy's attention now anyway. Since this was the first gym, it probably shouldn't be too hard, but Selene also wasn't totally confident in her pokemon battle abilities. Having another set of eyes on the battle was a good idea.

She was so focused on her task that she hardly noticed the woman in front of her had stopped moving, causing them to get a little too close to each other. Selene was about to turn away when the woman turned and spoke sternly to her.

"I'm so sorry! This place is crazy today. I didn't mean to, like, be all up in your business." She rambled, trying to diffuse the situation. The last thing Selene wanted today was to get yelled at!

Reaching forward, she put her hand on Selene's shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. "But none of those reasons are a good one for putting their emotions on you, especially when you're a stranger to them. In my cafe, if someone is a jerk to you, you can be a jerk back. We want to make sure everyone feels welcome. That means you too. Assholes are the only ones not allowed."

It wasn't the lesson every business worked off of, but she hoped it was one Selene would remember. Hopefully it would make the next time a little easier.

"All right. I'll be here if you need anything else and I'll finish making up those sandwiches."

"Okay. I think I can do that. I can at least try." She was sure it would feel pretty foreign, but she'd had a lot of success with taking risks this year. Maybe it would be okay.

"Thanks, Cass. This really means a lot." She smiled again before making her way toward the door. She was ready to face the rest of her shift--and the next asshole customer--with a little bit more confidence.