- 128th tide | | chilled -

[soulofocean]

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[conductyourself]

[ Finds, but doesn't say anything immediately when he does. It never ceases to amaze him how they grow up so suddenly.

I mean. Umi still has a ways to go, and her magic has hit a sort of snag which is why he decided to show up in person, but. Shush. He's being reflective over here. ]

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[soulofocean]

[So she won't be noticing him at first, concentrating of making the cold go away so it stops freaking snowing on just her little private patch of street.

...It's... not going in the best way possible, and Umi frowns, hands on her hips, debating whether another tryst at localized freezing might well wreck the tree for good.]

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[conductyourself]

[ ... Oh, she's not doing that on purpose? Pity. The snow is actually pretty impressive; most people would just end up with freezing rain or sleet or something.

Interesting. He's never seen anyone just get stuck like that. Doing magic is supposed to be the challenging part - not doing it should be easy! ]

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[soulofocean]

[By the way Umi's started pacing around her little frozen area Clef may be able to tell she's considering her options. So hard, she hasn't noticed his eyes on her yet. She stops, sighs angrily, and her face gains in determination.]

...Alright, round two. [A nod: like her words, mostly to herself.]

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[soulofocean]

[Umi raises her hand and her blue aura blazes awake -- perhaps more strongly than intended. Her eyes are closed. This time the snow DOES vanish, but it's only to become a light ice-cold rain.]

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[conductyourself]

[ Steps back a few paces, deeming it wise to stay out of the radius of freezing air. Something tells him that this could get ugly so he gets a light fire spell ready, the air around him warming up just barely perceptibly. ]

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[soulofocean]

[Under any other circumstances Umi would have sensed the heat starkly in contrast with her nowadays overly sensitive icy aura. But right now all her senses are focused on concentrating.

The rains keeps falling, smoothly... hey, maybe it's falling a bit harder now? ...but that's also okay... it's not like she's not intending to make it--]

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[soulofocean]

[...Pity that that split second of concern sparks the wrong mood in Umi. Worry. Her emotions seem more connected to her magic than ever before, and she confirms this as part of the rain suddenly solidifies to become sharp ice needles falling from above.]

Gah-! ...No, dammit! [Um. Poor tree?]

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[conductyourself]

[ fjdlajla ice needles, it's raining fucking ice needles. And whatever they touch, it looks like they freeze a small area. Poor tree indeed.

Clef utters something that probably loosely translates to "OMGWTF" in Cephiroan and there's a very loud FLOOMPH and a blast of hot air coming from behind Umi. Maybe also a brief fiery glow. Anyone who had been looking at him would have seen a very large fireball expand and dissipate around him, like an explosion in slow motion - oddly flashy, but it seemed to have done the job well enough. The needles were once again replaced with rain, for now. ]

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[soulofocean]

[...Okay, what. The sudden clash of heat and cold produce a haze of vapor that rises from the area where Umi's aura keeps the air chilled. This is quite the grand entrance and there's no way she can ignore there's another magic user nearby.

She turns, squinting through the mist to spot a small figure standing past it. Her face falls. There's an odd mix of gratefulness and Ack! He saw this mess in her expression.]

...Clef.

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[soulofocean]

[With an angry gesture of her hand Umi dispels the fog. Almost as if slapped away, it opens a path straight to the Master Mage.]

When-? ...How long have you been back there??

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[conductyourself]

[ That gesture was a little more violent than necessary, and for a split second he thinks that she's angry that he was watching her.

Not that he would have cared if she was. He totally doesn't momentarily look slightly cuter as a defense mechanism against female wrath or anything. You're imagining things. ]

Only a few minutes.

[ That is clearly not the case, however, he realizes after a moment. It's just that her way of doing magic right now is somehow... kind of angry-ish. Like she has a lot of pent-up subconscious rage or something. Yep, that would probably do it.

So, that must be her problem. He was a little surprised he didn't notice it before, but it wasn't as though he had had much opportunity to watch her do magic since her abilities returned. ]

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[soulofocean]

Er. Long enough to...? [Umi gestures at the tree without looking back at it, then points at the sky as if to bring up the light drizzle that again it's just that: very cold, very icy, very light rain.] Um. Yeah, you were.

[The cute never went unnoticed either. Here's a Water Knight looking slightly guilty at not just the reaction but the way Clef had to intervene to cancel her magic gone awry.]

...I've been meaning to talk to you, you know.

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[conductyourself]

I know.

[ Slight smile. Conveniently showing up when needed is totally part of his job description.

More seriously, he adds, ]

I'm glad you realized about Kazuo.

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[soulofocean]

You read that, huh. Clef, why didn't you tell me you fought him during that nasty curse?

[Because he was worried about how would she react? Or just too worried about her and Fuu to bother mentioning it? Still, the way Aya put it...] You went after him to get him out of our way, didn't you.

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[conductyourself]

I wasn't certain that you'd understand, and if you didn't I didn't want to have that argument right then.

[ He had left Kazuo tied to a tree, but there was no telling how soon he might have escaped. And it certainly wouldn't have been difficult for Umi to go back and try to free him. After all, even if he was somewhat protected by a cage made of branches, it wouldn't have been hard for some ambitious (or vicious, rather) soul to kill him while he was unable to fight back. ]

I didn't want to take any chances.