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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 18, 2017 3:13:36 GMT
Adeline was starting to see that she wasn't the only one who decided to eat lunch outside today. More than a few people were setting up picnics on the park's sprawling lawns, or stopping by any of the vendors or food trucks that were in the city. Adeline had just been to one herself, picking up grilled cheese that had pimento cheese instead of cheddar. It wasn't too bad. She knew some people opted for something cooler in this type of weather, but she had grown up in Bellerouge. She was used to the heat. She took another bite of her sandwich, just people watching for the moment as her mind drifted back to a few nights ago. As far as she knew, nobody suspected that she had tampered with the sprinklers at the Mia. She assumed business had picked up again the next night. Broken sprinklers weren't too hard to fix. Adeline just hoped the experience was enough to drive some people away permanently. She knew it was reckless what she had done, but she didn't feel bad about it. Walking away hadn't been an option when she realized that some of the club goers were going to become food if she didn't do something. She couldn't bare the guilt of that, she already had enough to deal with. Every time Thrax did something, she felt guilty. She hadn't wanted to feel anymore of it.
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Post by skyeknight on Jul 18, 2017 14:39:36 GMT
Namine headed to the park for her lunch break. Aqua had been pushing her to cut back her hours for the BPD. Namine was becoming far more well rested because of it. No longer working until her eyes ached or drawing until her hands throbbed in agony over each stroke. She had more time to practice her magic. She also didn't have the fear that the memory powers she knew she had, were going to act up. The fear was still there, naturally, especially with the consequences if she failed, but it wasn't in the forefront of her mind impacting her every move. She even managed to slow some of her stuttering down. She had her little packed lunch in hand when she spotted a familiar face.
"Adeline?"
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 18, 2017 18:01:14 GMT
Adeline heard her name being called right when she had a mouth full of grilled cheese, which wasn't the most flattering of looks. She turned to see that it was Namine, and quickly swallowed it down before saying "Hey Namine. How's it going?" Last she had seen her friend, she had tentatively started research on her powers. Adeline hadn't been of much help at the time, but she had given her friend some suggestions on where to start. She hoped she had made some progress since then.
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Post by skyeknight on Jul 19, 2017 19:25:01 GMT
"G-Good," she said. "How are you?"
It was good to see Adeline. It had been a little while, but Namine didn't mind so much. She knew a lot of people were busy. So she had done something to keep herself entertained. Burning through every library book that had anything to do with magic. She was even starting to get the hang of it. Small things, minor spells. But Aqua insisted every little step counted in the 'road to recovery'. Namine just wanted to be better completely.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 19, 2017 20:06:58 GMT
"Doing okay. Enjoying the nice weather," Adeline replied. "And it looks like we're not the only people with the idea." It was probably best if she kept her exploits with Cruella to herself. Namine would probably have a heart attack if she heard Adeline went into a murderous club and messed with it right under the owner's nose. Heck, she might even freak out if she knew she was friends with Axel. Not that she actually knew him, but Adeline remembered that Namine was a bit jumpy when it came to demons, and for good reason. Vanitas had left a pretty nasty mental scar on her. It'd take her a while to get over it. "How's training with your powers going? Have you had any luck finding some info?" she asked.
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Post by skyeknight on Jul 21, 2017 13:56:28 GMT
"I-It was so nice out I wanted to have my lunch break here," Namine agreed.
It was the nice part about the new office. She had a nice view of the park. When she was drawing all of these terrible people, it was nice to have something to remind her there were good things out there. Namely the happy children in the park with loving homes and happy parents. She might not have had that, but at least they did.
"It's... not easy," she said. "Finding information is harder than I-I thought. But Ralph suggested I try to control my magic in general."
His thought was, if she drained her magical reserves daily, she would be too tired to accidentally wipe someone's memories. She would also build up her stamina. It was like working a different sort of muscle in the body. Ralph was a big guy but he wasn't just strong because he was a giant. He had to work out too, right? The police force worked out so they stayed in shape so they could chase down criminals. It made sense from a logical standpoint that if Namine had a better control of her magic in general, she could control these wayward powers of hers without turning anyone into drooling vegetables.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 21, 2017 15:18:22 GMT
Adeline was glad to hear that Namine was out here of her own accord. She wasn't exactly a social butterfly or anything, but at least she wasn't holing herself up all the time. Adeline felt like just getting out every once in a while was good enough, even if you didn't talk to anybody. Fresh air could do wonders. Namine mentioned that some guy named Ralph suggested just practicing with it a bit so she could better control it. Adeline knew better than anyone how much practice keeping something under control took. She doubted she could ever use her demon powers the same way Namine did though. At least wiping memories could have one benefit or two. Adeline's demon side...she couldn't see much good in it besides getting her out of a sticky situation every once in a while. She just felt like once it came out, it was hard to stop. Somebody else usually had to intervene, like Pitch had at the LaFayette's masquerade ball. "That's good," she said, finishing off the last of her sandwich. "Who's this Ralph guy? I don't think I've heard of him."
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Post by skyeknight on Jul 22, 2017 3:28:21 GMT
"Ralph is a p-private detective." Namine explained. "H-He's really nice!"
Ralph intimidated a lot of people, mostly because of his size. He was a giant with an extraordinary temper. It made sense for people to be intimidated, but Namine got to know him better. He didn't scare her the way he had the first time. He was a sweet guy and very thoughtful. He also gave some surprisingly good advice. She smiled. Ever since her incident with Vanitas, she had been pulling in new friends left and right. Funnily enough, she had Vanitas to thank for this new social life of hers.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 22, 2017 3:41:00 GMT
"Oh, that's cool," Adeline commented. She wondered if this guy was a Sherlock Holmes type. That always came to mind when people mentioned private detectives. Obviously he had to be good at his job, otherwise he probably would have gone out of business by now. She was quiet for a moment before adding "If you need some more help with controlling your powers or whatever, I could offer you some tips. I guess in regards to control, your powers and my demon side are sort of...similar." Both powers could have disastrous consequences if they got out of hand. And while Adeline didn't know a whole lot about magic that dealt with altering memories, control was something she'd been taught well. She had Pitch to thank for that.
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Post by skyeknight on Jul 23, 2017 2:55:46 GMT
"T-That would be great!" Namine said. "O-Only if you don't mind."
Adeline had helped her so much already. Going out of her way to help her find books. But really, Namine could use all the help she could get. No one she knew had gone through any sort of 'process' to learn magical control. Aqua learned from her parents, but it was so long ago that she barely remembered. Omar and Jane were magic-less. Adeline was a logical choice for magical trainer/partner. It was only with more practice that Namine would improve her skills after all.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 23, 2017 15:20:42 GMT
Namine seemed pretty excited about that idea. Adeline just hoped she could pull it off. She'd been a student for so much of her life, she'd rarely been the teacher herself. But, she figured anything Pitch had taught her could be useful here. Having her powers under control could be a huge boost to Namine's confidence. "Well, I guess the most important thing to say first is that you're gonna have slip-ups, no matter how good you are," she said. "Controlling a power that's inside you can never be achieved 100%. If your emotions get too out of hand, if you're ever pushed too far, they're going to find a way to come out, one way or another. And that's okay. Perfect control isn't a realistic goal. I mean, that's like asking someone to be a perfect basketball player, or musician. They make mistakes too, and so do we." Even after everything Pitch had taught her, Adeline's demon side could still find ways to pop out if she felt too out of control. She still remembered how close she had been to losing it when Thrax had hurt Pitch. That had been pretty scary, almost as much as seeing Pitch in pain.
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Post by skyeknight on Jul 23, 2017 22:44:00 GMT
"I... will have to try to remember t-that." she said.
She had to make sure that if she ever did have a slip she didn't hurt anyone. So no one would ever forget around her. It was a frightening idea, but she would just have to be careful. She had been this far without an incident after all. Maybe she would continue being lucky. She still had to try for better control. She wouldn't let this shatter her newfound confidence.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 24, 2017 2:36:23 GMT
Namine seemed a little scared about what Adeline said, but she felt like it was the truth. Slip-ups did happen. Not everyone was in control all the time. The two of them just had to make sure that whatever slip-ups they did have didn't have disastrous results. Adeline had Pitch to keep her grounded. Thinking about him reminded her about staying in control. Of course, on the flip side, if he ever got hurt as badly as he had with the emerald dust, his pain might be the catalyst to her demon side getting unleashed. But she didn't want to think about that. She was sure Pitch would never be in a situation like that again. Thrax would never be able to pull a dirty trick like that on him twice. "Okay. So, your powers, are they connected to your emotions? Like, if you get super scared or angry or something, do they pop out?" This was usually the case for most Others, so techniques to help control raging emotions were usually the first step in controlling powers.
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Post by skyeknight on Jul 24, 2017 19:20:03 GMT
"W-Well, yes," Namine admitted.
They had only truly became a problem after Vanitas all but brutalized what little sense of security and safety she had by kidnapping her. It got better, after she realized she had so many people who cared about her and cared what happened to her. She hadn't realized there were so many people around her who genuinely cared. It was touching and at the same time she felt horrible for never noticing before. Between Aqua and Omar all but taking turns watching over her, Jane just 'popping in to see how she's doing', along with her random encounters with Adeline and Ralph, she was in better hands than she gave them credit for.
"But I-I was going to see a therapist to... work this out." she explained.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 24, 2017 20:06:41 GMT
"Well, that works too," Adeline said. A therapist could probably help out with that pretty well. Adeline hadn't liked the idea of seeing one in the past though, mostly because something like her rarely existed in the magical world. Nobody had really known what to do. Being with Pitch had made her feel so much more comfortable, because she knew he would understand what she was feeling. At first, it was because he was a demon. But over time, she felt like it was because he simply got her better than most people. "I tend to rely on setting aside some time to just...kind of relax, you know? Like, meditate, deep breathing, stuff like that. It's a good way to get all the bad emotions out so you don't explode later."
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