UMass Easthaven A fall into a ditch makes you wiser

[Third on the Match]

The Ivory Echo

Difficulty: Tricky | Gameplay Rules

This box was sitting just behind a guitar amp at the festival the student body put on for Chinese New Year. It is silver, round, and concave on the lid, much like the bowl of a speaker.

DC: 2

Hostile

Keyword: Sound

Cinder
6d6

Strike
5d6

Luck
1

If sound had a shape it would look like this beast. Pale fur, golden scales prickling along her shoulders and back, she seems to waver and flicker, moving towards you at the speed of a shout. She is small, relatively, in that she is the same size and shape as a cougar, with claws that flash gold and glassy orb-like eyes.
The Echo will speak back to you your own words, and other things its heard, much like a mockingbird. It overwhelm you with sound so you don't know from which direction she wants to strike. She is quick and like all the nian, relentless and hungry.

[Max Kuryakin]

Uni events had always been a draw for Max. There was something about discounted alcohol, loud music, and people milling about and just having fun. The Lunar New Year festival on campus, spearheaded by the student union and the Asian American Student Union chapter at UMass, had made a whole thing of it for the next week. Small concerts, the aforementioned discounted alcohol, little competitions. Too much for Max to list, but it had campus energy at an all-time high. Or, something was in the air. Whether it was the festival's energy or not, Max still felt a pull towards it all, like he should go.

But Max wasn't at the day's live event–some garage band Max hadn't ever heard of. He was at the library, stalking down the aisles. He knew Emily was on-campus and knew practically by heart what her schedule looked like. Even her self-defined study schedule because she'd blocked it all out on the calendar she had by her desk. He'd made a bad joke about doing her like homework when she'd smacked him with it.

Emily had blocked off this time for independent studying. Max didn't care right then; he cared about dragging her out of the dark (and haunted) library to have some fun. It was fun tempered by the probably not very good garage band playing in the festival area.

So Max knew the general area of where she was, and he was letting his nose do the rest of the work for him. It helped that some part of him was tracking the smell of himself, just a hint, overlayed by Emily's shampoo. Turning a corner, he spotted her bent over a desk, one of those cubby style desks that blocked off the temptation to glance around the room. Creeping over the carpeted floors, Max crept up behind her but stopped short of shouting 'boo' right behind her. He wanted her to come along with him, not yell at him.

Instead, Max bent down and whispered a hushed “Hi,” into her ear, out of respect for the quiet library, of course.

[Emily Reyes]

Naturally, Emily was not aware of the werewolf sneaking up on her. Bent over her textbook, she was wholly absorbed in her work, brows low in concentration as she chewed on a pen cap. She was taking neat notes from her criminal behaviors text in a painfully well-organized notebook. One of the sturdier spiralbound notebooks, it had colored tabs and sticky notes carefully squared off with the corners, as might be expected from a woman who spent most of her job cross-referencing vast amounts of data. Headphones plugged into the computer, it was playing music at a low volume, one of the earbuds hanging free by the little clip.

So she didn't have time to register the way the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end before she felt his breath gust across her cheek. Violently sucking in a breath, Emily jumped in her chair, the pen flipping off to land on the ground somewhere nearby. Headphone falling out to land in her lap, Emily twisted in her chair to grip the armrest with both hands and glared up at him. Despite her initial shock, she wasn't even surprised it was Max. This had to be the fourth or fifth time? It was like he knew her schedule with how he knew where to find her on campus.

Unless that was a werewolf thing, but Emily always went for the mundane solutions before the supernatural. Emily knew his schedule by heart at this point, but she refrained from using it for nefarious purposes. Her scowl grew, even if it didn't look particularly threatening on her. She just looked puffed up and flustered.

“Max,” she scolded in a narrow-eyed whisper before she demanded, “What do you want?”

[Max Kuryakin]

Max's grin just went broad and pleased as Emily levelled a scowl at him. It had a minimal effect as far as cowing him went. If anything, it encouraged him. He did straighten, leaning up against her little cubby and glancing at her book. Interesting, but irrelevant today. He propped his elbow on the top of it, supporting his chin on his forearm, peering down at her. Innocent looking as you please, but not all that innocent.

“Emily,” he wheedled as if he'd already told her what he was there for. Didn't she know about the festival? “There's live music and discounted booze, and you're hunched over a book. What do you think I want?”

Gently he kicked out, hitting the leg of her chair, raising his eyebrows and looking at her as imploringly as he could. Max's goal was to get Emily to come along with him, loosen up and take a well-deserved break.

[Emily Reyes]

Looking up at him from her seat, Emily pursed her lips and scowled harder as he wheedled her. That tone of voice almost always preceded some scheme. Still, she couldn't help the twitch of a smile as he went on about discount booze and a festival... It sounded nice--even Emily got tired of holing up alone--but she was annoyed and still coming off her surprise. She exhaled, leaning forward to prop her elbow on her book and lean her chin in her hand.

As he kicked her chair, she reached out to swat at his thigh with her free hand. This felt like deja vu. “What? A dance partner?” she asked drily. Emily dropped the hand propping her chin to page through her textbook. “Max, I have so much work to do...” she groaned, although Max would know her expression was softening. Emily was always easy as pie for him.

[Max Kuryakin]

Her expression doubled down, but Max didn't miss that peek of a smile. He was getting somewhere, even if Emily was trying really hard not to give in. The swat at his thigh was barely felt, the muscled limb unyielding against Emily's retaliation. Half-hearted at best, he thought.

“So do I, but that's the point!” Max pressed, moving to stand next to Emily, bending at the waist to rest his elbows on her desk, leaving them almost nose to nose as he propped his chin on his hands. He grinned at her, broad and playful. “We deserve some downtime. Gotta have some fun between all the work. You know what they say, all work and no play...”

Max tipped forward, touching the tip of his nose to hers.

[Emily Reyes]

As Max cozied up next to her, the walls of the carrel desk made it a tight squeeze. Not that Emily minded him closing in, but she could tell Max was launching a full offensive, getting cute and in her face. Leaning back just a little, she rested her shoulder on the opposite wall of the desk and valiantly fought a grin as he touched his nose to hers.

At first, her chin tipped up, and she was tempted to kiss him, but she bit the inside of her lip and angled her head down, fixing him with a dry look through her eyelashes. Emily was pretty much in the bag, but this was the stage where she griped every step of the way. Rather than answer, she reached out to gently close her laptop and asked, “How did you know where I'd be?”

[Max Kuryakin]

Emily was going to come along, Max knew, by the way, she was trying not to grin, but he could see she wanted to. With their faces so close, there wasn't a hope that Max would miss it, but he could see it a mile off anyway. In that same vein, he almost expected a kiss with the way her chin tipped up, but either it was wishful thinking, or she changed her mind, tipping her head down and avoiding his question with a question of her own.

Unperturbed, Max answered. “I know your schedule. It's right on your desk. You had a note about the library.” He didn't feel in the least bit bad about looking at it enough that he knew the broad strokes and when she penned in a change. He was sure Emily knew his schedule well enough. “The rest was my nose.”

As Max admitted the last part, he leaned forward to rub his cheek against hers, smooth-shaven for once. More of his scent on hers, but she didn't need it for him to be able to track her right now, the move serving more like a werewolf's form of greeting.

[Emily Reyes]

Emily couldn't remember the last time someone had taken the time to learn her schedule so intimately. It was touching.

Typically, she might feel a small spike of anxiety at the thought, worry over having inadvertently left out something that should remain private, but it was notably absent with Max. Emily didn't put too much thought into that realization. She invited him over to her place often enough that it only made sense he'd grow comfortable and familiar with her space.

It didn't surprise her either that he sniffed her out. At this point, it was part and parcel of being friends with a werewolf. Juniper was the same way, so the arcanist had twice the exposure now, but contemplating the details of being friends with a pair of metahumans fell to the wayside as Max leaned in to nuzzle at her. His skin was warm as always, and she hummed in approval when she felt his close shave. Emily didn't mind the stubble in general, but smooth skin was always pleasant, and her grin finally broke, cheek pressing against his.

Lifting her hand to cup his opposite cheek, Emily tipped her head and stroked her cheek back against his, avidly enjoying his soft skin against hers and the pleasant scent of his aftershave. It didn't look like a typical human greeting between friends, but with the walls of the carrel desk around them, Emily was comfortable with indulging. “That's good,” she murmured about nothing in particular. Max finding her by scent, maybe? That was good. She liked it.

[Max Kuryakin]

Max couldn't help the low rumble as Emily returned the greeting in the same manner, happy that she was both indulging him and returning the favour. That Emily bothered to imitate it felt significant, an implicit acceptance of the quirks that marked him as inhuman. It gave him a thrill of pleasure in his chest, human and wolf sensibilities liking it all in a mixed pot of just liking Emily. Her indulging it out in the open also felt like more than usual, but they were in a private little corner of the library, unlikely to be catching any attention. If anything, they'd think they were kissing.

“Good,” Max echoed as he managed to pull himself away. There'd been a point to him coming, and it wasn't draping himself all over Emily so she'd be smothered in his scent. He slid a hand to the back of Emily's neck, a light affectionate squeeze before he pulled back the rest of the way. “Then let's go.”

Still, he couldn't help tugging on her arm with his other hand, feeling excitable and eager to get out there. Max wanted Emily to come along, to feel that satisfying rush of a friend giving in and coming along with you to do something fun.

[Emily Reyes]

The low rumble filled her ears, and she hummed in response, a much lighter and more human noise but conveying no less enjoyment. When Max's hand cupped the back of her neck, that was the moment when Emily thought to kiss him, eyes half-hooded and lips parting slightly as she leaned in. When the man pulled away suddenly, she couldn't help hitching a laugh, wrong-footed, but buoyed along by his energy.

Biting her lip, kiss interrupted, she squirmed away from his tugging. She flapped a hand, grinning as she warded him off and started shuffling her papers neatly on top of her notebook. “Yeah, yeah, alright! Let me pack up my stuff.”

[Max Kuryakin]

Max caught the little hiccup but knew he couldn't give in. The two of them wouldn't get anywhere if he started macking on Emily. But she was grinning, moving, and, more importantly, agreeing and starting to pack up. Even if the urge was there to help her stuff her things into her bag, he knew she wouldn't appreciate it.

So Max went back to leaning on the carrel desk wall and watching her every movement. He wasn't doing anything so ridiculous as vibrating on the spot, he wasn't near excitable enough for that, but he was clearly anticipating her wrapping up so they could get going. The aim was to get out of the stuffy library at least, whether they went to a concert or got some beers, whatever goal achieved.

“You wanna check out the booths or go directly to the concert? Swear I saw someone bobbing for apples.” Max asked, idly making conversation as he watched her neatly organise her things.

[Emily Reyes]

A concert sounded very loud, and she doubted they'd be playing any music she knew, but she picked up Max's 'directly,' which meant they would end up there eventually. Emily decided to rip the bandaid off. “Let's do the concert.” Then she grinned, cutting a glance to Max with a wry expression, “I don't want to do apple bobbing, though.” As expected, although she did wonder if there would be dancing.

Emily neatly and very precisely packed up her things into her messenger bag. It was smooth-going at first, but it quickly became apparent she had a habit of overstuffing the poor thing (it was far too small for her needs, very likely in the name of style). By the end, she was tucking a few pens in her back pocket and then huffing as she hefted the thing onto one shoulder.

[Max Kuryakin]

Max watched on with amusement as Emily tortured her poor overloaded messenger bag. How she fit it all in there was beyond him, but it bulged in a way that made him wonder if it'd burst one of these days or the strap might snap. Who'd carry Emily's books then?

With Emily choosing a direct route to the entertainment rather than a meandering route to it, Max grinned. His eyes glanced down at her top, eyebrow quirking.

“Probably a smart choice, with that white shirt of yours,” he teased before he bit his bottom lip as he couldn't help imagining it. But Emily was pulling the heavy bag onto her shoulder, getting him in gear beyond admiring possibilities. Max sidled on next to her, tugging on the strap gently. “I can take that? You're gonna ruin your back like this.”

[Emily Reyes]

Emily had been thinking about her make-up, so the reference to the color of her shirt made her pause and glance down at it. She was wondering if she’d spilled coffee on it at some point when she caught Max’s look and put two and two together. She flushed, grinned and pointed out quite lamely, “I’m wearing a bra...”

Not that that was a point in favor of going apple bobbing, even if it probably removed the wet t-shirt element. But, that wasn’t important. The important part was that Max was willing to carry her overloaded bag and Emily gave it up with a guilty little chuckle but no second thought.

Freed from her burden, she straightened and stretched, sighing, “I keep meaning to get a bigger one, but there’s nothing cute.” Emily was just griping, not expecting Max to have much input on cute bags. Patting herself down to make sure she had everything, she remembered the pens stashed in her back pocket but decided to keep them rather than find a place to tuck them away now that Max was carting her things around. After checking under the desk, she was satisfied, tucking her hair behind her ear as she moved to walk with Max out of the library.

[Max Kuryakin]

Max huffed a laugh at her reply, her bra status not putting much of a dent on the little daydream. But Emily did not hesitate to take advantage of Max's offer to carry her bag, slipping the bag off her shoulder and into Max's grip. With no trouble at all, he hooked it over his shoulder and waited for Emily to do her last checks of her study nook.

But not before she got a stretch in, Max grinning at her complaint about not finding anything cute. Absolutely beyond him, considering he was still using his messenger bag from undergrad. It had survived somehow, the canvas hanging on. It helped that he didn't carry a library in it.

“You gotta have something cute?” he asked, amused as he lifted his arm and draped it over Emily's shoulder as she came up next to him. He started guiding them along to where they needed to be, Emily's bag bumping against his hip and Emily on his other side.

[Emily Reyes]

With Max's arm over her shoulders, Emily leaned into his side, lifting a hand to interlace her fingers with his. She wasn't a fool, she knew how it looked as they strolled through the library, but she had no qualms about it. People--if they even cared to look, which most didn't--could think what they liked, but they were simply close friends, and despite her usual private nature, she enjoyed the casual intimacy.

“It's gotta be cute,” Emily confirmed, tipping her chin up and grinning, almost defiant while expecting Max to make a terribly rational counterpoint. “Not all of us can pull off the hobo student look, Max.”

[Max Kuryakin]

Max did have some awareness of what it looked like, but he also didn't care about how people made assumptions and denied platonic intimacy. It was what he did with friends, male or female, hung all over them and buddied around. Max liked being physical with his friends, and it only helped that he was regularly physical with Emily in a way that broke down most barriers.

But he wasn't thinking about it then, as Max scoffed and tipped his head back, other hand coming up to run through his hair. Not coiffed, but neat. “Hobo look? I do not have a hobo look.” Did she mean how he wasn't always clean-shaven? The way he sometimes wore workout gear if he was planning on getting in some gym time after class? It might've put him in the category of gym bro, but not a hobo.

[Emily Reyes]

Emily pressed her lips together, desperately holding back laughter. She thought Max was adorable when he was offended and when he ran his hand through his hair, Emily wanted to follow it with her own, to feel the strands between her fingers.

“You have the same school bag as when we first met,” she teased. No matter the bag’s condition, the age of it was what stuck out to Emily; her insight was making her see the flaws—making her see it as hobo-esque. “That was over a decade ago.”

They were passing the front desk, and the early evening outside looked chilly, but it was clear something was going on. People passing by for the center of campus were dressed in bright red and there was the occasional pop of fireworks, accompanied by distant music.

[Max Kuryakin]

“What?” Max exclaimed as they walked through the library lobby, seeing the festival in full swing outside. People in bright red passing by, the occasional fireworks flashing flaring in the sky.

And to that, Max couldn't help his reaction. The burst of fireworks made him flinch, whatever he'd planned to say dying on his tongue as the loud noise popped in his hearing. It put him on edge, but he'd known it'd be a thing, so it didn't catch him by surprise beyond suddenly hearing them close by now that the thick brick walls of the library weren't blocking it off.

Rather than linger in the hiccup, Max forged on, defending himself from Emily's inaccurate description as they passed the threshold of the library doors out into the chill of the early evening.

“A canvas messenger bag is a timeless classic and it's still perfectly intact. Nothing about it is hobo.”

[Emily Reyes]

Emily was struggling not to laugh, but at Max's exclamation, she lost the fight. Even if she thought it was true, part of her insistence was hoping to lure that kind of reaction out of him. He gave her so much grief, and this was just desserts. Head tipping back on his arm, she dissolved into bright laughter, although the sound quickly died down into a surprised 'ooh' as they stepped outside, stifled by the cold.

Emily tugged her coat tighter and bundled herself against Max's side. As a result, it was impossible to miss his flinch as the fireworks popped in the distance. The lull only lasted for a second, but she was perceptive, and she could read Max quite well at this point. Emily thought to pry but decided from the way he forged onward that she could trust him to say something if it became too much.

“I just can't get over the fact that you've had the same bag for this long,” she chuckled, easing off on teasing him as they joined the stream of festival-goers. “That's a lot of time. A lot of memories.” Emily didn't consciously attach any particular emphasis to 'memories', whether it was positive or negative, but for her part, she only kept a few things from that time of her life.

[Max Kuryakin]

Having come in while the festival was starting up, he didn't feel the same surprise as Emily did, but he did feel a flush of happiness that he'd thought of dragging her out of her dark hole to see it. Being stuck at the library while this was going on felt like a crime.

But she was still giving him grief over the bag, so Max let out an indulgent huff, even as he answered her. “It's just a bag. It used to have the Greatest Hits of Shakespeare in it, but now it's got Foucault and Derrida.” Max wasn't carrying his bag; he'd stashed that in his car because his worn down laptop didn't deserve to get knocked around. “If you're going to make fun of me for having old stuff, you should target my laptop. I swear it's going to croak any minute now.”

He didn't attribute too much emotion to a bag. It'd been a bag he'd used through undergrad. It'd survived intact despite all the books a lit major carried around. But that was neither here nor there as they walked, turning towards the concert area. The band was between sets, but there was a sense of... something around.

Max's attention was still on the conversation, but his head swung towards the vague direction of the feeling, goosebumps erupting down his arms. Senses sharpening in the direction he felt it.

[Emily Reyes]

Emily hummed, chewing his response over. It said a lot about their mindsets, or maybe them as people, she thought. The things they attached to the things they owned. Max remembered what he put in it, but Emily remembered seeing it in moments in the library, slumped against the foot of a sturdy table. Moments that should've been quiet but were marked by the way her ex made her feel like her skull was full of bees.

But it wasn't Max's fault, and it wasn't his bag's fault, and Emily didn't spend more than a split second mulling that thought over. She laughed. “God, yeah, if you weren't- well, you-” A gaggle of younger students had walked close, laughing together as they jostled each other and horseplayed on their way to the festival, so Emily didn't get explicit. “I'd worry about you dying from a shock. Or a house fire.”

The festival opened up in front of them, stretching out across the plaza. As they walked towards the concert area, Emily took it all in with a little smile, from the sparkling strings of lights, the great swaths of red, and the paper dragons fluttering in the breeze. But, not a moment later, she glanced in the same direction as Max, unprompted, a strange feeling curling in her gut.

The fledgling arcanist's instinct for trouble and magic was still so fresh. She didn't know how to read it, save that she'd felt something like it at the Winter Festival in the city when she met the Mari Lwyd.

Emily had kept the glassy marbles on her ever since. They went along with her growing collection of miscellany. Her components. It made her feel like a kleptomaniac cat, the sort that stole paperclips and other shiny things and stowed them under the couch. Currently, her little collection was in an old travel make-up pouch, currently in the bag Max was carrying. The addition was likely why her bag was over-stuffed now.

Emily cut a glance to Max, uncertain but curious. Leaning in, she whispered, “Did you feel that too?”

[Max Kuryakin]

Ground Sense (Strike) Complete success

Talk of Max's possible fire hazard of a laptop faded as both found their attention dragged away. With a little surprised glance, Max took in Emily's words. Her question caught him by surprise. He was reminded of when they'd been dealing with the marbles and the pin; Emily seemingly hadn't felt it. Had her use of magic made her more sensitive, now?

Reminded of the baubles, Max knew he had them in a little pouch in his coat pocket, out of the way, but something he always kept in his pockets after they'd spoken about the apparent warning the Mari Lwyd had delivered. Something was going to happen, and far be it for Max to be unprepared.

“Yeah,” he murmured, wondering what it was. He tipped his head towards the direction where he sensed something was waiting or watching. It was a strange feeling he couldn't parse, different from how he usually experienced the feeling of burgeoning magic. “Giving me a bad feeling.”

But even as Max confessed to the idea that this wasn't a good feeling, he began picking his way towards it. That sense of the people around him, how they were moving, told him little about it, only that there were fewer people towards where his senses were pulling him.

[Emily Reyes]

Emily found herself simultaneously relieved and alarmed at Max's answer. So she wasn't just 'feeling' something because she was jumpy; good, she wasn't crazy. But, on the other hand, it was giving Max a bad feeling.

As a beat cop and then a detective in a large city, she was no stranger to risk, but most days, she saw the aftermath. And even then, that was while she was on duty, with backup, and armed. This had the potential to be a little more like what happened to Rami... But Rami didn't have a werewolf with her that night. Emily was reasonably certain that Max counted for a good amount of backup, but when was the last time she'd walked into an active situation? When was the last time she'd walked into an active situation where magic was involved?

Never. Although her training had her steady and alert, the novelty of it had her adrenaline spiking. She followed Max without hesitation, wishing she had the comforting weight of her sidearm in her hand as they went around the edge of the concert venue, and the empty stage. Emily knew better than to walk around with a gun in hand or on her hip and even the thought alone felt like a touch of alarmist overkill, but it was the woman's only equalizer, and it helped on a psychological level. With Magic, she just never knew what she was dealing with, and all of her encounters had been fairly benign so far. But she didn't bring it on campus with her, so she was SOL. Well... No, perhaps she wasn't?

“Hey, can I see my bag?” she asked quietly, glancing around as the feeling drew them from the main crowds and towards the backstage area. “I need my... Ah... Spellstuff.” It wasn't one word. Emily just shoved the two together in an unrelated spike of nerves, grimace-grinning because she didn't want to show Max her bag of junk.

[Max Kuryakin]

Emily following the course he set meant she didn't slip out from under his arm, the both of them weaving their way through the crowd to the more sparsely populated 'backstage' area. Not forbidden to go into, just not interesting.

He'd already fought two creatures and come out the other side, a little wiser, a little more tuned in to how they felt and how they might look, how they smelled. Max hardly spared a thought to possible risks, a bloodhound on a trail and boundless confidence in his abilities. He was also thinking about that creature he'd encountered with Juniper. A quick google search had told him it was likely a 'rakshasa' which had carried with it some disturbing realisations if that was what they'd fought. But what if something like that showed up on campus? Who was there to help?

Those were the thoughts running through his head as they rounded a corner, as alone as they could be behind the stage, with Emily quietly asking for her bag. Her use of 'spellstuff' made Max's eyebrow quirk–what?–but he complied.

His arm sliding off her shoulder, he slipped her bag off his arm and held it in his arms, offering the bulging object to her, holding it in such a way that she could rummage in it. There was a feeling prickling at the back of his neck of being watched. Ill intent, but not urgent, and Max trusted his senses. For now, they were relatively in the clear.

“So... is this spellstuff,” Max began, echoing her exact wording and giving her a slight smirk, “Stuff like that blob of emotion we ate?”

[Emily Reyes]

Despite the tense situation, Emily chuckled as she sorted through her bag. The memory warmed her, even if it was a cold day on a mountain. Pulling out a few books and her laptop, she hauled the old make-up bag out of the bottom of her bookbag.

“Yeah... That's, uh... some of it,” she answered softly, a little furtive. “It's mostly just my...” she cut a shy glance to Max, grin crooked as she murmured, “'Wizard pouch.'” When she replaced her things, her bookbag was still overstuffed, but everything fit, giving it a much neater profile.

Unzipping the travel make-up bag, she pulled out a small worn hardcover notebook which she shoved in her back pocket, and then there was the sound of glass tapping gently against glass as she showed Max a small handful of perfume sample bottles.

Each vial was clearly labeled; some were empty, and these Emily dropped back into the bag. Other vials had a gel-like substance and a faint twinge of feeling, while still others looked more liquid, others more like gas. Some rattled, full of hard little stones.

“It's for my 'spells,'” she went on, embarrassed to name these things that belonged firmly in fantasy books, but were quite real. “I had a lot of these bottles lying around, so I started collecting things, and... It's not just emotion.”

Emily plucked one from the pile and held it up between her fingers for Max to see. It glowed brighter than the others with a faint blue-golden liquid. “This one is a bit of sunlight from a cloudy day.” She'd captured a sun drop, but the arcanist spoke very matter-of-factly about it, sharing but not with any inflection. Her brow was furrowed with worry as she looked at the vial.

In any other situation, she might've been quietly excited to share with the werewolf, but with something strange creeping around the campus, it didn't feel like the time. Also, the magical collection was the only fun part. The rest of the bag was a junk-drawer collection that Emily thought made her look insane. Paperclips, marbles, river stones, slips of paper, a penknife, a little Ziploc of alcohol swabs, and more.

[Max Kuryakin]

When Emily said 'wizard pouch', Max couldn't help echo it silently, lips moving but no sound escaping as he tried to wrap his head around Emily of all people saying something like that. Magic bag, he'd have taken in stride, but wizard bag? He let her rummage around, grinning but keeping mum.

He was pretty interested in her vials, though, despite himself. It prompted that familiar tingle of magic now that they were in sight. He noticed her slight tinge of embarrassment, but he didn't want to make fun of her. Well, maybe her wizard bag, but not the whole... magic thing.

The vial of... sunlight was interesting, and not an emotion. Max peered at it, noticing it had the kind of murky quality of sunlight that only barely peeked through the clouds. What limit did that ability of hers have?

“Oh, so it's like a component pouch? Like in D&D.” The thought shook him out of being too worried about the strange feeling creeping up his spine. Startled into becoming fully conscious of the strange world he was inhabiting, where his friend walked around with a component pouch like she was a wizard. He usually managed to coast along on instinct.

[Emily Reyes]

Emily made a strangled noise at 'like in D&D.' Tipping her head back and looking at the dark sky, she was utterly aggrieved and squirming at the comparison.

“Yeah. Okay? I guess. Stop smiling about it!” she huffed as she went back to searching through her 'component pouch.' “I saw that on Google. Component pouch, yes.” Emily drew in a breath and exhaled, fluttering a hand as if to dispel the whole conversation before carefully putting the vials back in the bag.

All except the sunlight, which she held out to Max with a murmured 'hold onto that.' “I was looking for my- Ah.” She pulled out her little set of marbles, the pair clicking together inside a little mesh bag.

[Max Kuryakin]

Emily's aggrieved noise only made sure to make Max grin a little harder, despite the tense situation. Despite the association with D&D, he thought that component pouch was better than wizard bag. Sometimes you had to embrace the ridiculous. He was a movie monster, after all.

But he took the bottled sunlight as requested, still grinning and turning it over in his hand, holding her stuffed messenger bag one-handed. Max only got a split second to look it over more closely as Emily brought out the mesh bag of marbles. The familiar tingle of them, from carrying around his own set, let him identify them on sight.

“Oh, I have mine, too, here–” Max carefully handed the bottle of sunlight back, only going to rummage in his pocket once Emily had it firmly in hand. Tucking a hand into his pocket, he pulled out his five marbles. The pouch was a simple canvas, nothing special, but he held it out to Emily. “You have them. I won't need them.”

Magic wasn't his thing, and he didn't trust himself to use them effectively. But Magic was Emily's who deal, so she'd know when and where to apply them.

[Emily Reyes]

Looking at the offered charms, Emily's lips pursed slightly, eyebrows drawing together in a question that reached the tip of her tongue but didn't fly. Two questions, in reality: the usual polite 'Oh, are you sure?' when being given something out of hand followed up by a fretful 'Why won't you need them?'

'I won't need them' was a curious thing to say, but Max was wearing a kind of easy confidence about him that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Not in the same way as when he was trying to rile her up. This felt deeper somehow. Max had confidence born of experience, which put Emily on edge.

Emily never enjoyed the reminder of Max going toe-to-toe with the unknown, even if he'd lived to tell the tale.

But, all of that needed to be put aside, and the questions went unasked. No need to fill the air with nonsense when she knew he was sure, and she knew he didn't need them. Besides, the arcanist had been quietly coveting them for a while, thus far unable to create more on her own. Pocketing the sunlight, she cupped the canvas bag in her palm, murmuring with a small smile, “Well, I don't mind if I do.” As she peeked into the bag, her expression lit up with quiet glee, possibilities churning through her mind.

But again, it needed to be put aside. Neither knew what they would find, but it didn't feel like a false alarm. Pushing the marbles into her free back pocket, Emily zipped up the make-up bag but kept it close. Just in case--it was a poor stand-in for a sidearm, but Emily was forever walking into a world where she didn't know the rules. A sidearm might mean nothing, while her bag of junk would mean everything. Taking a deep breath, she reached out to take Max's hand before they went any further, squeezing it gently and smiling up at him. She'd been outwardly steady this far, and she wasn't faltering now, but her nerves tightened the edges of her mouth.

“I hope it's nothing,” she confessed with a huff of a laugh, gaze cutting off to one side. There was an ornate silvery box sitting on a speaker just nearby. It was weird, but it didn't draw her attention for too long; her gaze quickly returned to Max.

[Max Kuryakin]

For a moment there, it looked like Emily was planning on arguing, demurring and pushing the marbles Max didn't know how to use back to him. Something seemed to click in her head, though, taking it with a slight smile that had Max grinning. Her shot of glee looking into the bag charmed him, even if he didn't get it. She'd studied them already and knew what they were. Why the delight? But she liked this magic stuff where Max didn't.

Regardless, he thought they had it well in hand if they were running headfirst into a fight or a false alarm. With her seemingly finished getting what she needed, Max readjusted her messenger bag, so it was hanging off of his shoulder. He'd have to drop it once they got to wherever that strange little danger sense was pulling them, but it was better to keep it close until they got where they needed to be.

When Emily took his hand, Max glanced down as she squeezed it, looking back to her as she smiled. The tension was easy to spot, especially with how familiar he was with her, but soon enough, she was putting words to the tension. Huffing a laugh, Max lifted a hand to smooth out the tension at the corner of her mouth, cocking his head and smiling at her as his thumb rubbed at her dimple. Max interpreted her glance as uncertainty or nerves rather than something else, even as there was that familiar tingle running up his spine. He took it as the general feeling from before, rather than targeted.

“Whatever it is, we'll deal with it,” Max said it with the confidence of someone who'd done it before and was walking on familiar ground. “I've got point, you cover me, yeah?”

Quickly, Max leaned down to give her a peck on the cheek, sliding into rubbing his cheek against hers, following the impulses even as he felt something at the edges of his vision.

[Emily Reyes]

Emily was scared. She'd be an idiot not to be and never imagined walking into a potential situation like this, especially not with Max. However, the same sense of duty that had her going into law enforcement bolstered her to do this. If they didn't at least check it out, who would? But she was scared.

Then Max laughed and gently touched the line of her mouth, his thumb dipping into her dimple. It could be anything in this world of magic and mayhem. A huge monster. A witch? Another shifter? She'd heard stories. Or it could just be a bad feeling. Whatever it ultimately turned out to be didn't matter anymore. What mattered was that they weren't facing it alone. Emily wasn't sure what she would do if she ever lost Max. So it made it all the more critical that she rallied. Her expression softened considerably, and the warmth in her chest swelled until it felt too big for her ribcage.

It almost hurt, but a good kind of hurt. Max leaned in, and she turned her head into the gentle nuzzling. “Right,” she answered quietly, eyes sliding closed as she squeezed his hand one more time. “I have your back. With my wizard component bag of junk,” she chuckled wryly.

[Max Kuryakin]

Ground sense (strike) exceptional success

Laughing gently at her describing her make-up bag of tricks, Max squeezed her hand back and started moving again, pulling her along behind him as he focused back onto that gut feeling. It wasn't like being physically sick, but more the tickle of being watched combined with a swooping feeling in his gut, which marked it different from the marbles and the pin. It was more like being watched than feeling something purely magical.

“It's your little bag of tricks,” Max corrected, sounding a little distracted as he focused on the feeling, the sense of the ground around them. His walk slowed, trying to feel his way to the thing they were hunting. He swung his head around, his gut telling him there were two things around them. His eyes stuck to the box, the sense of magic tickling at him from where he could see it, partially hidden behind the guitar amp. “I think-” Max began, pointing to the box, before he did a slow turn, hand slipping out of Emily's grip. “That's what we're after, but... something's here. Waiting for something.” His voice dropped to a murmur as he spoke, awareness acute.

Slowly, Max dropped Emily's messenger bag next to the guitar amp, tension running up his spine. His eyes scanned around them, knowing with the certainty of instinct that something was waiting for them.

Max's Luck 9/9
Puzzle 7/7

[Emily Reyes]

Emily Cinder Puzzle Box: Extraordinary Success
Nian Cinder: Complete Success

“Wow, watch me pull a rabbit out of a hat next,” she snickered. Still, it was better than a "bag of junk."

Attention directed back to the silvery box, Emily scowled at it. It looked so unassuming, but it was the odd thing out in the pile of music equipment. She felt a wash of deja vu looking at it, thinking about the worn journal she'd found at the Inkpot. Normal enough to be overlooked on a glance, but on a longer look, you knew something was strange. On the one hand, it was no wonder the supernatural world flew under the radar--everything was camouflaged. On the other, it felt insidious. Like bait. Too good to be true, a siren song. Here sat a literal Pandora's Box. She'd thought that once or twice about the book of perfect circles, but there was no way but forward.

Tucking her bag under her arm, Emily picked it up. It didn't feel like anything special to her, but it was gorgeous, its concave top like a shallow dish, designs etched into the metal. Something inside it rattled, and her curiosity was too great to give it a second thought. She opened it up to find a little collection of triangles and squares.

“Huh,” she muttered, a little disappointed as she picked a few up and let them clack together in her palm. “It's just a tangram puzzle.”

Emily started to arrange the pieces in the top, and as soon as she slipped them into the right spots, she ate her words. The two pieces fused to the top, and there was suddenly a giant golden cat sitting on top of the amp. It opened its mouth and the air around her filled with whispers. The sound rose and rose until it was a deafening roar, and the sheer volume of sound hit her with an invisible wave of force and heat. Emily felt it thrum through her entire body, bouncing around in her chest cavity and her skull until it was agony.

She'd read about what it was like to be hit with a sound cannon, although their department never needed to get one, thank God. She staggered back a step, eyes wide and shocked, hot blood trickling out of one ear.

Emily Luck 3/4
Puzzle 5/7

[Max Kuryakin]

Nian, exceptional success
Attunement, complete success
Synergy, fail
Sound, partial fail
Max Strike hit vs. DC2
Ground sense, complete success

There was an urge to tell Emily not to pick it up, but what else was there to do? So Max kept mum but watched her pick it up and carefully kept his attention on what was going on around them. They weren't anywhere near the crowds, only the sounds reaching them, so no one was around to witness them. At the rattle of the box, Max looked to Emily and the box in her hands, taking in the geometric pieces with no small amount of confusion.

“What the hell...” Max muttered as Emily identified what it was. A tangram puzzle, which told him very little. Emily didn't waste any time, beginning to slide the pieces to where they looked like they were supposed to be.

The moment the first piece slotted into place, Max's hackles rose and the persistent watching sharpened into something urgent. In the space it took for the second piece to slot in, something otherworldly had appeared on the guitar amp like it had been waiting all this time for someone to waltz in and put the pieces together. Whether it was a trap or a trick to free it, Max couldn't know as it hit them with a roar that pierced his ears like someone was driving an icepick into them.

With a roar of pain, Max flinched back, hands going to his ears as he staggered back from the seeming wall of sound that sent jolts of pain into his head. He tried to say something to Emily, push through the pain, but he couldn't muster any sound with his head swimming dangerously. Instead, he staggered a few steps to put himself between Emily and the creature, gritting his teeth against the pain and staring the thing straight in the face.

Even with the sound sending jolts of pain in his ears, Max pushed past it to lash out on his own. He swung a fist with only a semblance of grace to it as he desperately sought to retaliate. It was on target, but the creature was supernaturally fast, dodging the blow and leaving Max embedding his fist into the concrete wall the guitar amp was up against.

With a feline but still supernaturally enhanced growl, the creature slipped away into the complicated underbelly of the stage. Max could feel it moving away, but he couldn't hear it, his ears ringing and aching, blocking out any sound. Max pulled his fist out of the concrete with an animalistic snarl, frustrated, angry, and in pain, sending dust and chunks scattering to the ground.

Max's Luck 8/9
Puzzle 5/7

[Emily Reyes]

Emily Cinder Complete Success on Identifying

Still staggered, Emily dropped the box as if it had burnt her. It popped open, and the remaining pieces exploded out, scattering on the ground. Emily looked down at it, shocked, head whirling. Then, she looked up just in time to watch Max put his fist directly into a concrete wall, narrowly missing the monstrous cat.

Not just punching the surface. Into. Emily gaped. And then he pulled it out, sending up a puff of powder and debris as if punching a crater in a wall was no big deal. She had witnessed his strength before, but it was always in decidedly non-violent ways. This was formidable and she was entirely out of her depth. Adrenaline jolted through her, her place in this universe reinforced once more.

The thing disappeared beneath the stage, and Emily's knees gave out, but she managed to land somewhat softly rather than crashing all at once. In a side sit, she leaned forward on her hands, the pieces scattered on the ground around her. Emily was teetering on the edge of overwhelm, but she held on to two significant facts: if it wasn't them, it could've been someone completely ignorant, and the guy who'd just punched a hole in concrete was on her side.

So now they'd seen what they were up against: a giant golden cat that could scream like an LRAD. Moreover, it seemed to be attached to the box. As Emily stared down at the silvery object, she spied the faint enchantment over the pieces, tiny strings connecting them to the box itself. Emily ran her thumb over the edge of one tan and found the vague impression of binding runes. So the box was important. It was bound to it.

Now, all they needed was space. And time. And something better than a bunch of marbles.

Fingers numb, she quickly gathered the tans up, shaking her head and blinking, willing the deafness and dizziness to go away. It faded slowly, but only in one ear. But there was no time to worry about that. “Max-” His name came out a pathetic whisper, and then she cleared her throat, determined not to crumble. “We need to get it away from the crowd,” she said, her jaw aching fiercely and voice muffled to her hearing. “Nobody goes to the East Garage.” At this point, it was the lot everyone went to for some privacy.

[Max Kuryakin]

Ground sense, exceptional success

Max's temporary deafness took out one portion of his senses, but he focused, rooting his feet and feeling the creature's movement through the paved ground beneath and behind the stage. It was keeping its distance but not fleeing. It was scared off, but only for now. Shaking out his hand, Max wiped off the dust and checked his knuckles, the scratches from the impact already fading.

His rapid healing was repairing the damage done by the unearthly shriek in increments. He missed Emily saying his name, but he caught the last part. Turning to Emily, he saw she'd dropped the box and all the pieces. She was on her knees and picking them up. Max knelt to help her get the puzzle back into the box, shaking his head as his ears popped as the healing progressed.

“Yeah, yeah. Let's do that,” he breathed out, glancing in the direction he was feeling it pacing. “It's not- not interested in the crowds, I think. It wants us,” Max concluded, grabbing for Emily's hand to help her to her feet. “C'mon, take the box and run!” The werewolf urged her to run ahead, holding himself between her and the creature he could feel moving after them but keeping its distance.

Max's Luck 8/9
Puzzle 5/7

[Emily Reyes]

Emily Cinder WF Marble Heal: Complete Success

Emily didn't know how Max knew what the monster wanted, but she'd take his word for it. It was terrifying to think it wanted them, but that worked for them. Bundling the box and her component bag up under one arm, Emily took his hand and found her feet, pausing to glance down at his knuckles in concern. But, of course, they were already healing. So, Emily moved at his urging but paused to grab her messenger bag as well, going against every fire drill direction she'd had since elementary school, but she thought she might need the paper.

Hauling it over her shoulder, Emily slipped out from behind the stage, knowing Max was just behind her. When she emerged into the hustle and bustle of the festival, it was so at odds with her pounding heart and rushing adrenaline that she felt like an alien. The woman took a breath and forced herself to walk briskly for as long as they were in sight of the crowd, but once they left the bright lights and music behind, she broke into a run for the East Garage.

The thing was chasing them. She couldn't hear the way it whispered and giggled, but she caught the flicker of gold as it stalked them, moving too quickly for the human to see. Emily didn't think she'd ever been hunted before, but she did not appreciate it.

The old parking garage loomed ahead, sitting on the outer edge of the campus and framed by the dark expanse of the ocean. With the way the campus had expanded over the years, it became unpopular because students needed to drive through campus traffic to get to it. Since she didn't have a car, Emily rarely found herself in this area, but she knew it'd be mostly empty. That was the hope.

When they dashed through the mouth of the car entrance, they found the first level quiet and echoey, just one or two empty cars tucked away in its dim, dank corners. Distantly relieved, Emily just started moving towards the back of the garage. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, beyond a quiet spot out of sight of the door.

As Emily walked, she tugged the two marble pouches from her back pocket and, panting quietly, spilled them all into her hand. Plucking the one healing charm from the mix, she held it up in the dim fluorescents, chewing her bottom lip. LRADs could deal a lot of damage and this was magic. Who knew what it had done to her? Her organs could all be dramatically rupturing and she wouldn't know until the adrenaline wore off... Emily could taste copper in the back of her throat and her head was whirling, both eardrums thrumming with pain. Maybe it was the only one they had, but she couldn't heal like Max.

With a decisive move, she crushed it in her hand. It was made of glass, solid and dense, but when she activated it, it made a sound like a cracking eggshell and crumbled into sparkling sand that flowed between her fingers and disappeared. Abruptly catching her breath, Emily felt a rush of pleasant warmth, working her jaw as her ear popped and healed.

“Jesus,” Emily breathed, amazed. “Okay- Alright-” It was the only healing charm they had but now that she wasn't in agony, she could think, and she exhaled a long breath through her nose, muttering through her racing thoughts. “So, it- It doesn't want the box, but there's an enchantment binding it to the box. It attacked because I solved a few pieces, so- It doesn't care about the box, but it doesn't want us to solve it. It has- I guess... Interest in not letting us solve it. But- I-” What was its' motive beyond that? Was it just some asshole's sick idea of a game? Leave out a pretty puzzle box with a monster that doesn't want you to solve it? See what happens? It felt very Saw. Emily huffed, listening to the distant crash of the waves.

“We should just throw it in the ocean, right?” She chuckled, the sound a little reedy. “That should work... Until it washes back up on shore and some other idiot finds it and tries to solve it. Because that's how this shit works.”

And she'd always wonder what happened.

Emily Luck: 4/4
Puzzle Pieces 5/7
1 Healing bauble used

[Max Kuryakin]

Attunement, partial failure

Max followed Emily closely, shadowing her steps like a tenacious guard dog as he felt–and heard–the creature following them. Somehow, it avoided the crowds as they cut through the student partygoers towards where they might have some privacy to deal with it.

With his ears in working order, Max could hear clear as day the noises it was making as it followed them. Inaudible whispers–or a language he didn't understand–and giggling that was at odds with the fact that it was menacing them. Had he been alone, maybe he could've shaken the pursuit, but this wasn't about getting away so much as... resolving whatever this was.

Regardless, the werewolf was feeling the effect of being under threat. Max was holding onto control tightly, but with each inaudible whisper, the urge to burst out of his skin crept up his spine. It didn't help that he felt the genuine threat to Emily, clenching his teeth against the feeling as they were coming up to the parking garage. Max couldn't let go until they were in the garage, but he didn't want to even then. He was acutely aware that Emily hadn't seen the werewolf part of him yet. Now seemed like the worst time to debut it.

Inside the garage, there was a temptation to relax, but Max couldn't. He was straining against his instinct to shift and deal with the threat but prioritising following Emily further into the parking garage. He was caught up in the sense of the approaching danger and his struggle against his shift to catch Emily using one of the baubles, only focusing entirely on her once she began speaking.

Conflict-hardened instinct told Max that the creature wanted to attack them. Emily's talk felt like babble to the werewolf. The role the box had was irrelevant in light of that, but Max had enough brain cells while he struggled to piece together that the only way out was to solve the puzzle. Finish what they'd started.

“Solve it,” he gruffed out, clenching his fists and turning towards the sense of the creature he could still catch, closing in on them. “It- it doesn't want us to solve it, we solve it.” His words were strained, Max trying not to hunch over as pain radiated up his limbs.

[Emily Reyes]

The quality of Max's voice drew Emily's sharp attention from her whirling thoughts. The man looked like he was under an entirely different kind of pressure, his body tight with pain, and cold realization clamped around her throat. Emily's mouth dropped open as the slip of control she'd managed to wring out of the situation fled.

Emily was not a freestyler--it was endlessly crucial that she have all the rules laid out in front of her. While she wasn't so hidebound that she couldn't roll with the punches, she just wasn't good at it. Especially now. At a loss, she looked down at the box she held, overwhelm threatening. Max was going to shift. A monster was hunting them. He wanted her to solve it just because it didn't want them to solve it? They didn't even know what would happen if they did solve it.

“I can't take another hit like that, Max,” she breathed, agonized over being the weak link. “I-” The marbles clicked together in her hand, and an idea abruptly crystallized in her mind. Moving in, Emily reached for him, for his hand, anything he allowed, pleading, “Please, hold on, please.” With a breath, Emily calmed her voice and ducked her head to find Max's eyes. “I can- I have an idea. I just need time, a few minutes, that's all. And then, if it doesn't work, you bring out the wolf. But right now, I need you to hold on for me, Max, please. I know you can.”

offered Assistance bonus to Attunement

[Max Kuryakin]

Assisted attunement roll, exceptional success

When Emily began talking about not being able to take another hit, the pain of a shift jolted through Max's body again despite trying to hold it back. It didn't help to bring up that she couldn't have the same sort of beating he could; it only encouraged the shift. The wolf had the size and power to deal with whatever it faced, and Max knew he'd cover Emily.

But Emily sounded desperate not to let that happen, leaning in to try to meet his eyes. The part of MAx that still feared what Emily might think of the werewolf, the beast he carried around inside, mentally recoiled from her desperation. It served as discouragement enough. Against all odds, Max scraped together the shreds of his control and locked it down. It hurt to do it, even as he felt his pulse evening out, the pressure becoming less acute.

Max couldn't help the pained grunt, clenching his mouth on a gasp, his body and mind aching at the incomplete shift. The effort it had taken to pull himself back from the brink left him feeling empty of words, looking away from Emily. He schooled his expression into the blank face he'd had as a soldier, with drill sergeants yelling in his face, trying not to show how unnatural it was to push back a shift.

Still, he had the mind to half-turn, gesturing in a tense go ahead with his hand.

Max's Luck 8/9
Puzzle 5/7

[Emily Reyes]

Max made a pained noise, and Emily stilled, eyes wide, expecting to hear the wet muffled crack of joints pulling themselves out of sockets. She knew that sound like she knew her mother's voice. It echoed in her nightmares, unseen agony. What would she do if Max shifted? Max had told her that it was safer when she smelled like him, but they hadn't talked about this...

Emily wasn't afraid, though. She was desperate, hopeful, needing Max to keep a lid on another piece of chaos, but she wasn't afraid. The woman didn't know his thoughts, and she hadn't shared hers, but now wasn't the time. Max didn't say anything, but she felt the tension bleed away. It wasn't easy to see him go blank, and she wondered if she'd just asked too much, but for now, he wasn't twisting out of his human form, and that was enough. She smiled, but it was a sad thing, dark eyes wide and hurt to see him hurting.

At Max's gesture, she turned and started searching for a space to work. Turning the corner, she found an empty section overlooking the rocky breakwater expanse that led down to the shore. She could hear waves crashing in the darkness, a salty breeze blowing in over the concrete guardrail. There was a bit of trash collecting in one corner, and the asphalt was stained with oil, but it was smooth and unbroken. It would work.

Kneeling on the dirty ground, Emily put down her things. She set the box to one side, dropping four marbles into the dish-like top. Then she pulled out the tiny vial of sunlight. The arcanist charmed the remaining baubles with a thought, and they rose into the air together, shedding warmth and lighting the space. Then, rummaging in her bag, she pulled out a box of thin chalk and began to draw.

'Bag of tricks' felt depressingly accurate at that moment. Most of Emily's magic was very tame. Lights, colors- cute things. Now didn't feel like the right time to try something new, but it felt like the needed time.

Emily drew a large central circle--even drawn freehand, it was elegant, close to perfect if one didn't take mathematics to it--and then four intersecting rings, at the north, south, east, and west. Then, with quick, practiced strokes, she wrote in the runes.

“Is it near?” she quietly asked the werewolf, brushing chalk dust on her trousers.

Ritual 1/3: circle drawn

[Max Kuryakin]

Synergy+sound, exceptional success. Lowered threshold by 2 on Emily's next roll of choice

Max wasn't in a frame of mind to pick up on the subtleties in Emily's expression, avoiding her eyes and trying to ignore the ache of bones and muscles that wanted to shift into the powerful shape of the werewolf. But she was moving rather than lingering on him, following his silent gesture to get on with it. He followed with slow, steady steps as he felt the creature whispering at the edge of his hearing but staying clear of them for now. Whether it recognised Max for what he was or was still cautious about the near miss, Max didn't know, but he kept his attention on it, ears sharpened for when it would creep close.

When Emily settled onto the ground to do her thing, the same process as before, under the library, Max ignored the little shiver down his spine, remembering the explosive result of it. If something like that happened again, he'd have no hope of staving off the shift, no matter how softly Emily spoke or how sweetly she asked.

Restless, Max paced as Emily got her things together, gathering up his words as the ache of pushing off the shift faded in the background. Not gone, but just tuned out. His attention was sharpened on the sense of the creature, shifting his pacing as it moved. Nonsensical to anyone observing, but he intended to keep himself between Emily and it.

Max only glanced back when Emily spoke, frowning a little at her question. Clearing his throat, he spoke, sounding a little hoarse, “Slowly coming closer.” Knowing it wasn't going to jump out at them anytime soon, Max turned fully to Emily, stepping to stand next to her. “I've got it. Don't think about where it is. Focus on your plan. If it comes close, I'll deal with it. You trust me, don't you?”

As he spoke, something coiled tightly in Max's chest, like an oncoming shift but pleasant and warm. It held no pain, no aches, only pushing more energy into his words, his hoarse voice going firm and steady. Looking down at Emily scratching her circles, he crossed his arms and cocked his head, mustering the energy to give her a crooked grin, prodding her thigh with his foot.

Max's Luck 8/9
Puzzle 5/7

[Emily Reyes]

'Slowly coming closer' put a shiver down her spine. An ancient instinctive fear quivered inside her, the fear of being hunted by something powerful and unseen. Something adjacent to helplessness--Emily was blind to its progress, distracted by how Max was moving around her workspace, and she drew a shaky breath, wishing she hadn't asked. Even knowing Max was there wasn't shaking it. She was still very human, and their symbolic chain was only as strong as she was.

But then Max was moving close, his voice warming, and Emily felt the hard knot of tension in her chest soften. Then, as he nudged her with his foot, she looked up, a soft smile springing to her lips when she saw his. To Emily, Max always felt like a safe harbor in a storm.

Hand dropping to squeeze his foot through his shoe, Emily didn't hesitate to answer. “With my life.” It felt a touch dramatic, but it was the truth, through and through. Emily chuckled faintly, suddenly feeling shy about expressing it baldly, and looked away, tucking her hair behind her ear. “This will go better than last time, I promise.”

Picking her components always took the longest time. Emily needed five, one for each sense. The feeling of a burnt tongue, a pair of wax earplugs, a strip of cloth that could be a blindfold, sinus medication, and last... Emily pulled her finger over the scar on her left thumb from her first ritual in the library. Brows drawing together in concentration, she pinched the air just over the scar and drew out a long, gray string. Numbness. These went into the building spell, the circles beginning to thrum with expectation.

Emily had a good feeling about it. The foundation was sound, and she'd been practicing endlessly. The circle drawn, she placed the vial of sunlight in the center. Then, the four marbles went into each of the four smaller circles. She pointed to them and asked with a small leading smile, “Remember the anti-magic charms?”

Ritual 2/3: components chosen

[Max Kuryakin]

Ground sense (strike), complete success

Emily seemed to take Max's words to heart, answering quickly and confidently, her hand settling on his boot. Her words could probably be seen as dramatic, but it didn't feel out of place in a world with werewolves, magic, and proven dangerous creatures. When she looked away, those little quirks telling him she was feeling shy, he had half a mind to interrupt her and shake it out of her, but she was moving on in her little ritual, laying out objects like they held a specific meaning and function.

It was moving beyond what Max could do, so he moved again, leaving her to it, and returned to his pacing. He felt steadier now, the little burst of energy offsetting the ache. A little instinctual twinge told him he shouldn't push for that too often, sensing a looming risk in indulging too much in the good. Puzzling that over in his head, Max focused in on their opponent.

The feeling of it moving ahead was fainter, but from the sound of its whispers, Max could tell it had come closer. Maybe his little moment with Emily had distracted him enough that he'd lost that keen sense of it.

And there was Emily, distracting him again, but he threw a smile over his shoulder for her. “Uh, yeah?” He did remember those, even if he wasn't sure how he'd apply them. Difficult, too, when he tangled with someone, he was boasting claws rather than hands.

Max's Luck 8/9
Puzzle 5/7

[Emily Reyes]

Emily could read Max well enough to know he was following along but only just. The arcanist sighed but smiled fondly, figuring he wouldn't quite appreciate it until he saw the final result. Sometimes you needed a steak to enjoy the sizzle.

“Well... I'm about to pull a rabbit out of a hat,” she joked wryly, flipping open the penknife and plucking an alcohol pad out of her bag of tricks. She cleaned the blade first and then her thumb. Then, holding the sharp edge against her skin, she looked up again, giving a last-minute warning. “The lights will go out, but it's meant to do that this time.”

Thrumming with fresh excitement despite her low-grade terror, Emily drew in a breath and released it slowly, closing her eyes. She couldn't be hasty. Her hands were shaking a little. But- everything was correct. Everything was in order. Opening her eyes, she checked it all one last time, and then shifting to get comfortable, she pulled the knife across the side of her thumb. Blood welled from the cut, a little red gem of potential, and she felt the magic stir, reaching, searching. Hungry.

Holding her hand out over the circle, she pressed her finger into the meat of her thumb until the blood gathered enough to drip. Once it did, Emily felt like she watched it fall in slow motion. Her heartbeat was steady, her pupils pinned with focus. The blood hit the ritual circle with a little puff of chalk, and then the ritual roared the life. The chalk lines flared with iridescence, the light of the coalescing magic overwhelming the glowing baubles and the overhead fluorescents.

The circle dragged light particles from the overheads, making them thrum, dim, and flicker as tremendous amounts of energy were pulled through the fixtures. The glow gathered over the ritual circle in a shining spinning column, lifting the four marbles and the vial of sunlight into the air.

Inside her head, it felt like the tumblers of a lock falling smoothly into place. Like a song where she hit all the right notes, like a dance where she executed all the steps. Emily's expression went distant, eyes focused but unseeing as the light swirled, gathered, and grew in intensity until it shone like a little star. The unheard music inside her head crescendoed, her heart began to pound, and then, on the final note, the power failed under the pressure, and the parking garage was plunged into darkness. The ritual concluded simultaneously, the light inside suddenly dying to burn as low as an ember.

Emily sagged, blinking away the sunspots. The ritual was burned into the ground like lines of ash, and in the center was a crystal pendant containing a drop of golden sunlight. It pulsed with a warm light that filled the space. Blind to the power outage in the aftermath, Emily reached out to pluck it up, her hand shaking slightly with the exertion. She cupped it in the palm of her hand. It was warm to the touch.

Emily Enchantment Roll 9 Passes: Extraordinary Success

[Max Kuryakin]

Max managed to scrape together a rusty laugh at her joke, but she followed it up with a warning, choking off any enthusiasm to it. He moved away to give her space, pulling off his jacket and placing it next to her messenger bag as he put some distance between himself and the ritual circle. It looked more prepared and put together than the last time he'd seen her work. Max just had to trust things would go as intended, rather than a vague sense of having summoned an animal companion, which he still wondered had targeted him by accident. Usually, he had a better handle on it.

Rather than watch, Max turned his back to it, keeping an eye out of the monster tracking them. It was drawing near now, having mustered the courage or whatever reason it had to keep its distance, Max spotting it by a car, the huge thing crawling over it and leaving dents on the metal. That'd be some frustrated campus denizen, considering the security cams were only active at the entrance. Why else would it be the prime spot for mischief on campus?

He knew when Emily had begun her ritual by the smell of blood catching his nose, weak but there, along with his hackles going up as the power of it flared behind him. Eyes ahead, he listened to Emily's heartbeat picking up behind him. Thankfully, there was no explosive short-circuiting of the lights; they just went dark with a fizzle. It wasn't as alarming as last time, Max's eyes seeing through the dark and seeing the glowing eyes and glint of gold from the prowling... magical mountain lion?

Even as it stalked closer, the rush of magic–or the feeling of it–ebbed off behind him. Max glanced over his shoulder, seeing the faint marks of the ritual in the dark and the soft glow of whatever Emily had made.

“You okay?” Max asked, voice hushed in the darkness.

Max's Luck 8/9
Puzzle 5/7

[Emily Reyes]

Emily Cinder Puzzle: Exceptional Success (not gonna use it yet)
Nian Cinder Hit Exceptional Success (give it a sec)

Emily gazed down at the glowing pendant with a rush of wonder and exhilaration. It fit in the center of her palm, warm to the touch and glowing like... Like real magic. Like some artifact straight out of Lord of the Rings. Emily, a normal human detective who, less than a year ago, had discovered magic, werewolves, and monsters--she'd made this. The feeling was almost intoxicating.

“How's that for a bag of tricks?” she whispered to herself, satisfaction pulling a smile across her face. Her quiet celebration interrupted by Max's quiet question, she looked up at him and grinned, face lit by the soft glow of the pendant. “I'm good,” she assured him, smile in her voice. She held it up by the loop at the top. “Look!”

Emily Luck: 4/4
Spell-Queller Luck: 3/3 (will be 2/3 after hit)
Puzzle: 5/7 (will be 3/7 after solving)

[Max Kuryakin]

Attunement, partial failure

“I'm lookin',” Max countered with a laugh, but only half turning to get a better look. With the sense through the ground of the creature closing in, he wasn't too keen on turning his back to it. The pressure was back with it this close, the urge to shift, but not as acutely as last time. The effort of pushing it back still lingered.

In truth, looking at it told Max very little. It had the faint glow, much like her baubles from the winter festival and what she'd done just now, with the marbles, but that didn't tell Max what it did. He was privy to how exactly her magic combined with the marbles and whatever the ritual did. Magical theory was not his forte.

“What's it do?” He asked, more preoccupied with the practicalities than what it looked like, just then. Max could come with wide-eyed amazement later. “Our little hunter is closing in, so you might... do whatever it does. I don't think I can hold back much longer.” His voice went a little strained towards the end as the creature let out a cackle that echoed in the darkness.

Max's Luck 8/9
Puzzle 5/7