driftfleet | Dumpster World Mingle

[What the fuck. He was shopping for the First Breath again, this time with some actual money in his pocket, when something just floats off the shelf across from him. Taako stops his inspection of a mismatched set of measuring cups in a unit he's never seen before, and stares - hard - at the object levitating in thin air.

And then it speaks.

Well fuck him, someone is invisible in here. He leans his arms on the shelf and then reaches out tapping the object with one finger.]

If you're going for the unseen five finger discount, my dude, you should probably not talk while doing it.

Ah!

[With a yelp Mikleo jerks backwards, fumbling and nearly dropping the pan. He glances over to find... some guy? He doesn't recognize him.]

Five finger... what? [A beat.] Can you see me?

[Yep, definitely someone who has an invisibility spell up or something. Taako isn't going to do an Arcana Check on something so simple, but he grins, shrugging.]

Nope, but if you're trying to be invisible, maybe don't yelp and flail things around, huh? Makes it pretty easy to figure out where you are, bubla.

[Oh... voice-only again, huh? Well, after this long, he's not surprised. It's a rare thing outside the fleet, though, so this guy's probably traveling with them.]

I'm not trying to be invisible, I just am. If anyone's going to look weird, it's you- to everyone else here, you just sound like you're talking to yourself.

[....what? How is a person just always invisible? Even ghosts have an energy and a form. He's seen should coalescing and that definitely had a visible shape. Taako tilts his head and narrows his eyes as he looks at the source the voice.]

Eh. Wouldn't be the first time people looked me strangely. So people here can't even hear you? That must be annoying as hell when you're shopping.

[Mikleo shrugs his shoulders, not that the guy can see it.]

It has its downsides, yeah. I can't buy anything on my own, nevermind negotiate prices. ...I don't suppose you have some time to spare?

[His knee jerk reaction is say no and refuse help just because this guy was invisible and could literally just steal everything he wanted, but the permanent invisibility and being unheard as well piqued his curiosity. Just what sorry spell could render you not only unseen but unheard on the reg?]

Depends. What are you?

I'm a ser-

[And then he hesitates, sighs, and tries again.]

A malak. An elemental spirit, more or less.

[stupid dumb angel lore, stealing his word.]

An elemental?

[.... Well shit. That's. Huh.

Taako's confusion deepens and he tosses an idea around in his head. Elementals are typically visible even where he's from, and especially once they emerge into the Prime Material Plane. So unless this guy is an intelligent Invisible Stalker or something, he's a new type not ever seen in his world.]

Hey, so, this might be weird, but what kind of elemental are you? Not the stab-stab-kill variety I hope?

[That's... one he hasn't heard before.]

I wasn't aware that stab-stab-kill was a type. My element is water...?

[Double huh. Taako has never met an invisible, unheard water elemental before. This is definitely someone out his wheelhouse, and that just makes him more interesting. This with he regrets not making ointments lately. He has the ingredients, he just hasn't gotten around to mixing them properly.]

Oh yeah, lots of elementals can get testy and decide you'd be better off dead. Doesn't sound like you're the type though. Not sure if this'll work but, what plane are you in? Are you out of phase with this one?

What... plane? I don't know what that means.

[He's pretty sure he's heard people in the fleet talk about planes as in ships, but that makes zero sense in context. What would a plane have to do with phasing? It has to mean something else.]

I'm, um. Against killing, though. If that helps at all...?

[He chuckles a little and holds up a hand.]

That does help to ease my nerves, but hold on a moment. Let's see what this does.

[He's never heard of an elemental that didn't know about the planes, but a lot of things in this reality made very little sense. And in the end, it won't matter because Taako has one trick he can try.

He moves his hands swiftly and then Blinks, disappearing into the Ethereal Realm. Let's see what he can see here.]

What? [Is all he has time to say, before Taako makes some kind of hand gesture and... vanishes? Or at least, mostly. If he squints he can see a sort of blurry outline that is vaguely person-shaped. He glances around, just in case it's some kind of after-image, but no luck.]

H-hello? Where did you- are you still there?

[Huh, yup, there he is. Pretty guy with long hair and very blue like water. Makes sense, even if he would have figured air the invisibility thing. It's not as clear as it should be when seeing beings from the Ethereal Realm, but he can at least see him.

Taako waves.]

Yep, and now I can see you. Nice hair. You must be out of phase with the Prime Material Plane - where the rest of us live. You have enough power to break through, but not enough to be seen by regular folk.

[Mikleo hums thoughtfully, moving closer to circle around the... shadow. Outline. Person. He still looks three-dimensional, but from every angle all he gets is that vague shape... even the wave he made was barely discernible. Fascinating.]

Now I know how people must feel when they can barely see me... how did you do that?

[As the elemental circles him, Taako turns to track him. It's fascinating - even though he's visible on the Ethereal Plane, he can't fully see into it. It's like he's caught in between, neither here nor there. And yet free can hear into it and apparently vaguely perceive it.]

I'm a wizard - so magic is kinda my thing. And this let's me enter a different plane of existence. Thought you might be here, but I guess you're stuck between.

I... can't really say, one way or another. I've never heard of "planes of existence" before- as far as I know, we don't have anything like this. Usually my being invisible is because of the perception of the humans around me- we call it resonance.

[Tentatively he reaches out to try and poke the shadow.]

You didn't look human though.

That would be because I'm not.

[He generally doesn't like being touched, but for the sake of experimentation, Taako lets the spirit poke at him. He vaguely feels the finer touch him, but it almost sinks into his form a little.

That's. Disturbing.

Taako waves the spirit's hand away and takes a step back. ]

Incompatible magic systems then. Could be why I can see you even though I don't have any "resonance" as you say.

[He snickers and reaches up to flick the elemental in the forehead - his turn to experiment.]

Never had to mesh my magic with one of another reality. This is weird.

Edited 2018-10-16 07:28 (UTC)

[Whoa! Mikleo jerks his head back at the impact- which, now that his knee-jerk reaction has passed, wasn't really much of an impact at all. It was more of a tingle, a buzz of static, almost. There, but not quite there, at the same time.

Very weird.]

Ah... that might be why, yeah. I'm not familiar with "wizards" or "magic" like that... the elemental artes of the seraphim are what most people would call magic, and this feels completely different.

[He rubs his forehead absently. Like getting zapped by Gramps...]

[Hm... By his reaction, he certainly got touched, but he isn't rubbing it like Angus does or looking irritated - only confused. So they can't really touch each other, even if they can feel.

Their worlds are definitely different if an elemental has never heard of wizards. He says "seraphim" not instead of malak, so yep definitely not the same. Taako crosses his arms over his chest, one hand rubbing his chin. Fascinating, but also not all that useful. It's just another magical being able to be trapped here - add that to the list of gods, Death, wizards, and more. ]

Mm, definitely different. Elementals in my world can use magic, not like mine, but they know of us at least.

So what do I call you? I'm Taako by the way.

Ah, sorry- I'm Mikleo.

[This is so weird, being the visible one talking to someone not visible. In all the conversations he's had in this place, it's never gone like this before.]

So you can use magic freely, then, despite-- sorry, not human. What are you, then?

[Okay, that earns a look, even if Mikleo can't see it. He'd think it's fairly obvious what he was if he wasn't human. He removes his wizard's hat so his pointed ears are more easily visible, even in the Prime Material Plane.]

What, don't tell me they have elementals on your world, but not wizards or elves?

[He says, pointing to his ears.]

[It's a little hard to see the ears in this ethereal form, but he'd gotten a good look when Taako was still visible, so he gets the idea.]

We don't. Well, I guess we have wizards in a sense, but I've never heard of one that wasn't undead. It's taboo to try without making a pact with a malak for that reason... and I'd never heard of elves until I came here.

Ew.

[No thanks. He is not of the undead variety and never will be. Not only does he not want to mess up his complexion, he also has an idea of someone who would take some major offense to that.]

It sounds like your wizards are closer to our warlocks - they make pacts with fey or demons to draw their power. Me?

[He Blinks back into this plane and tosses his braid over his shoulder with a flourish.]

All this power is mine. I just have to focus it through something.

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