Chatlog: Pre-Plot

Characters: IC!Mahaado, OOC!Honda, NPC!Azizi
Setting: Honda's new house, pre-bodyswap
Rating: G
Summary: Led by Azizi, Mahaado comes over to see Honda's new house and get his advice.


Mahaado made his way to Honda's new house. He wished to seek his friend's advice. That, and he still hadn't seen the new home yet. He knocked politely, and waited.

Hearing the knock, Honda got up from the computer and headed over to answer the door. "Hey, good to see ya!" he greeted Mahaado with a broad smile. "Glad to see you managed to find the new house on your own."

"You are difficult to sense, but at the same time, easy to find." Mahaado answered. "With the appropriate assistance, of course." He stepped aside, and Azizi scuttled around him and hugged Honda's leg.

Honda blinked, then laughed a little. "Heh, ah, guess that's... good ta know. How you been furball?" he asked as he leaned down to pet Azizi.

*kuri kuri kuri. kuri kuri kuri*

Rolling his eyes, Honda couldn't help but snicker at that response. "You only love me for my cookies, I knew it. Leggo of my leg so I can show you to the kitchen then."

*kuri kuri kuri kuri. kuri kuri kuri kuri kuri*
"I hope you do not mind the intrusion, my friend. I am eager to hear your advice on a peculiar magical experience that I had."

Honda smirked at Azizi, then turned his attention up to Mahaado again. "Dunno much about magic, but I'll say whatever I can to help. We can sit in the kitchen."
Pulling away from Azizi, Honda led his visitors to the kitchen. Waving Mahaado over towards the table, he set about retrieving some cookies for the hungry kuribo first.

Mahaado looked around at the home. It felt somewhat familiar. The opening into the shadows seemed to follow Honda, rather than stay with the previous house. Azizi was just glad to be of service, especially if there were free cookies involved.
"With some unusual, and extremely foolhardy, assistance from Kafele, I was able to tap into the true power of the eye of Ra."

"Really?" Honda smiled a bit over his shoulder as he put out some cookies for Azizi, then sat down at the table. "Sounds cool... there a catch?"

"To open myself up to such power, so I concluded, required me to release a tremendous amount of emotion." he answered. "I was to the point of tears. He attacked the maiden Delwyn with all his might, and did not cease until I had used the eye of Ra to heal her wounds. Friend Honda, it was utterly incredible, like nothing I have ever felt! Pure energy, more than I could measure, but completely under my control. For only a mere moment, though, of course."

Honda raised an eyebrow, quietly listening. "I'm gonna assume from how thrilled you sound that she's okay. Was it not like that when you were using it on Mado, or did ya not feel it so much under thinking you'd failed then?"

"When I used the fused eye on my other self, I must confess, it did not feel like this. In fact, I was not even aware then of what I did." he replied. "This was very different."

"Yeah..." Honda drawled, "kinda figured you didn't know then what'd happened. Just hadta ask. So, that what you wanted to talk about I assume?"

"I know you command a great amount of power, even if you do not utilize it as I do." Mahaado looked over at Honda. "Is that similar to anything you have felt? Such a rush of light, of warmth, of pure energy?"

Honda shifted uncomfortably, stalling for a couple of moments. "Er... not really, I don't think. My energy doesn't come in rushes, just kinda grows over time, 'cept maybe for a couple of occasions like that time with the clouds, when I actually tried to use more than usual..."

"Had I been able to hold it for more than an instant, it may have been less of a rush. But that is the only way I am able to describe it, I am afraid." he added, stalling a little as well. "It was like opening a flood gate, magnifying my energy more than I know my soul is capable of using, if not outright possessing."

"Sounds like an amazing feeling," Honda murmured. "Planning to train yourself to hold that sort of power for longer, or it more of an instinct than training type of thing?"

"I am not certain. My other self believes such an ability would be instrumental in battle, were I able to harness it. However, the emotional attachment it requires is very great."

"...Yeah, not much drives you to tears. On the flip side, if you were the sort of person who easily was, it prolly wouldn't be as effective." Honda leaned back, thinking on the issue.

"Do you think that it is possible? That by opening my heart, my spells will be that much more effective? More powerful? That I can recreate such a power surge, perhaps even maintain it?"

"Hmm, maybe. Like I keep saying, I don't know much about your magic... but I suppose it's possible. You know better than me the potential risks of mixing emotions and your type of magic in battle though."

"All the masters caution against it, though a few have slipped. It usually ended disasterously." he warned.

Honda nodded. "Which I guess either means emotions and magic don't mix, or only someone who really has a firm grasp of both can use them together in battle. Prolly a serious lack in the world of people with a firm grasp of even one though."

"Of that I would be certain. Though how one trains in such a fashion, I do not know. Kafele put the maiden Delwyn in harm's way to force my heart open." he chose not to elaborate on exactly what that implies about his feelings toward the maiden. "Attacking myself produced no results."

"...Uh, yeah, knowing you I'd assume self-harm wouldn't do squat for activating that eye." And Honda certainly hoped Mahaado wouldn't ask him to explain what he meant by that any further. "I'm not sure how you'd train your emotions for battle, but I'm sure there's ways to get more in touch with them to have a better grasp on them outside of battle."
"...Am I the only one being suddenly reminded of those talks we had about the reasons not to bottle up emotions and what to do instead?"

"No. You are not the only one being reminded of that fact."
*kuri kuri kuri kuri kuri kuri kuri kuri* Having finished his cookies, Azizi felt the need to interject.

Honda raised an eyebrow and glanced over to Azizi. "...I'm not sure I wanna ask what you mean by that."

*kuri kuri kuri kuri kuri kuri. kuri kuri kuri kuri.*

Quickly biting back a snort of laughter, Honda attempted to glare. "That's not very nice furball! And don't dare say it doesn't have to be nice to be true."
Honda pointedly turned his attention to Mahaado. "Anyways... back to what we were saying. Was that the advice you were wanting, or was there more?"

"I was hoping that such an experience would be familiar to you, and that you may have ideas on how to train my heart and mind to work as one."

"You've gone most of your life being taught to disregard your emotions. Relearning how to deal with them, much less how to make them work with your magic... that's a pretty big task for anyone," Honda warned. "But not impossible, especially since you've had people try to help you get in back in touch with them. How much do you know about your emotions now?"

"More than before. My heart has been pulled in ways that I never anticipated." Mahaado answered softly. "I even guided the maiden Delwyn through a spell designed to reciprocate and grow heka. We shared heka in a way that I had previously only done with my ka."

"Sounds like a pretty deep connection," Honda replied quietly. "Does it feel different, doing things for her rather than doing things for yourself or doing things for other people?"

"I have always felt that my magic is stronger when in the service of someone else. Though that may be partially because when protecting another, I must be that much more successful. Failure is even less of an option." Mahaado thought for a little while longer. "Taking her energy into me... made me feel very warm inside."

"You sound like you really liked it a lot," Honda noted with a small smile. "I'm glad someone can make you that happy."

Mahaado blushed. That was somewhat warming too, though not nearly as pleasant.

"I assume by now you've convinced yourself it's okay to like someone that much? You've really come a long way from the guy who woulda protested..."

He suddenly looked up. "I would not say that I... well, perhaps it may be... No, that is still preposterous. She is merely a friend for whom I care a great deal and have shared heka with." he mumbled another excuse to himself quietly.

Honda sighed to himself, half-expecting this reaction despite his earlier words. "I think it's okay that you like her, however much you like her. You really like other people a lot, like me and Mado and so on, right? Thus, it's obviously okay to like select people a lot."

"Right... That is what I meant." he looked down.

"...Does it feel different, doing things for her? Compared to doing things for me or Mado or other important people?" Honda asked after a few moments.

"I am not entirely certain." he eventually replied after a lot of thought. "I feel more nervous."

Honda nodded slightly. "Any idea why?"

"To open myself in such a way makes me vulnerable. I do not like vulnerablility."

"I know you don't, I don't think anyone really likes feeling vulnerable. What makes you feel vulnerable about doing things for her? Or do you not really know, just that you do?"

"Everyone's energy is different. I suppose that perhaps the warmth I am able to feel from her... that it may go away." he replied after a long thoughtful pause. "And then I often say it is better not to feel it, so that I do not miss it when it is completely gone."

Honda bit his lip for a moment, then smiled faintly. "Well, only you can decide if having that warmth near you is worth the risk. All I can really do is give my opinions and point out that life would be pretty cold and empty if everyone kept a distance from everyone else for fear of losing them."

"I know this." he said to Honda as he stood up. "There was nothing cold about what I felt with the eye of Ra."

"Yeah, so you said." Honda nodded, then looked up to Mahaado. "Need to go think on today's advice before you ask for any more from me?"

"I think that I do." he replied, putting a hand warmly on Honda's shoulder. With it, came a pulse of heka. "Thank you very much, my friend."

Honda let himself smile a bit more. "No problem, hope I managed to help a little. See you later."

Mahaado looked at his kuribo. "You are coming too, Azizi."
*kuri kuri kuri kuri*

"Heh, I don't mind sending cookies home with you furball if Mahaado doesn't mind."

*kuri kuri kuri kuri*

"Not sure that's your place to say..." Still, Honda did get up and put some cookies in a container for Mahaado to take home.

"I am certain he will appreciate this." Mahaado bowed to his friend. "Thank you, again."

"You're welcome. I'm glad to provide cookies and help when I can, really."

"There is hardly a time when you are not helpful." he whispered another spell, and said his goodbyes, disappearing through his own personal rift.

Honda watched Mahaado go then sat again once his friend was gone, thinking perhaps he had a few things he ought to think about too.