trade my soul for a wish

[from_scratch]

This is a successor to "call me maybe", which is getting crowded.

Cam is dipping a grilled cheese sandwich into a bowl of tomato soup when he feels the summons. He goes ahead and grabs it. Doesn't even drop the sandwich.


with Mark (kappa)

with Adanya (Aestrix)

with Sable (kappa)

with Ari (andaisq)

with Metella (kappa)

with Miles (kappa)

with Isabella (Eva)

with Steel (Rockeye)

with Daphne (Maggie)

with Edie (Maggie)

Comments

[from_scratch]

"Sure." A bit of wire materializes sticking out of each of his ears; Cam pulls and they turn out to be hooks attached to bits of electronics.

[kaolinandbone]

Isabella waits for all the electronic bits to be cleared. "Again, then." She raises her eyes to meet his once more. "Raise your right hand." This time, the pressure is at least twice as strong.

[from_scratch]

"That's stronger," says Cam, although he materializes a block of ice chained with more ice around his wrist fast enough to keep his arm from going up very far. "And now I have a block of ice, do you have a use for ice or should it be chucked outside and allowed to melt?"

[kaolinandbone]

"The cellar could always use more ice, but a block of that size shouldn't melt particularly fast. Leave it on the stoop and I'll have someone deal with it later."

She tilts her head. "It appears that the earplugs aren't entirely useless, but I am not currently putting any significant amount of force behind my commands. If you're to be protected from a true attack, I would recommend adding glasses."

[from_scratch]

Cam goes and puts the ice out the door; the bit around his wrist appears to spontaneously melt. "Yeah. Do people wear glasses in this world? What do they look like?"

[kaolinandbone]

"The ones I've seen have been wire-rimmed, with thick lenses, but anything that appears to be made out of brass or wood would likely pass without too much comment."

[from_scratch]

"Okay..." Cam fiddles with his computer. "Thick lenses helps... Unrelatedly I can cure some forms of color-blindness temporarily..." Fiddle fiddle. He puts his ear-things back in. Eventually he comes up with a pair of glasses, with slightly chunky brass frames and glass lenses. "That took some doing." He puts them on, and blinks. "Ugh, the delay is just slightly noticeable. Do my eyes look more distorted than they ought?"

[kaolinandbone]

"The glasses are a little unusual in their style, but not so much as to attract comment. I can't tell if your eyes are any different than they should be for lenses that thick."

[from_scratch]

"Okay, good. Try me again."

[kaolinandbone]

"Raise your right hand."

There's a distinct lack of pressure behind the words.

[from_scratch]

Cam wags his tail. "Success."

[kaolinandbone]

Isabella grins. "A good start, at least. Should I put a bit more force behind it?"

[from_scratch]

"Uh, what's the worst case scenario if you explode my glasses or something?"

[kaolinandbone]

"You'll be unable to prevent yourself from raising your right hand."

[from_scratch]

"No ongoing effects, just a raised hand?" Pause. "How does this sort of thing normally interact with tricks like my block of ice?"

[kaolinandbone]

"If you had had the full weight of it hit you, you wouldn't have been able to generate the block of ice. It instills the desire to achieve the command, but not necessarily the means."

[from_scratch]

"Right then. Okay, ramp it up."

[kaolinandbone]

"I command you: Raise your right hand immediately!"

There's a wave of pressure, but it feels unfocused and indistinct.

[from_scratch]

"Huh. I can sort of tell you're doing something, but it isn't really hitting."

[kaolinandbone]

"I'll try it at full power, then."

Isabella draws herself up to her full height, squares her shoulders to Cam, and proclaims: "I, Isabella Katarina Markova, command and compel you to raise your right hand!"

The wave of pressure is much more noticeable now, though it's still just as vague and unfocused.

[from_scratch]

Cam squints at her. "...Kind of makes me want to take off my glasses, which is kind of unsettling all by itself, but still really blunted and not affecting my hand."

[kaolinandbone]

Isabella hums.

"At the level that I was using it, vampires have been known to compel entire crowds at once. That never made much sense to me, considering that they would have to make continuous eye contact with fifty people or more... But if there's an underlying effect of 'pay attention to me', suddenly that becomes much more reasonable."

[from_scratch]

"Makes sense. Hmmm, I wonder what the best way is to really securely attach these to my face without looking like I had a run-in with a piercing shop. I guess I could bolt them through my nose. Be uncomfortable if I were going to sleep, but I don't have to do that."

[kaolinandbone]

"Pins behind the ears might also help."

[from_scratch]

"More visible, I think. Okay, this is gonna suck..." There is a pause, during which his eyes close. A small trickle of blood dribbles down one side of his nose; he makes a tissue to dab at it.