GP - Wild Magic 2: Chaotic Evil Boogaloo

[londoncallingmods]

London was a magic epicenter of sorts. Between doors to The Otherside, dormant and active portals, and an active wizarding community, it was a hub of energy, more so now than it had been for quite some time. The city was experiencing a magical renaissance of sorts- Which sounded lovely and made it a prime place to be for those exploring and studying magical energies, but wasn't so wonderful for London's more 'normal' sorts.

Magic didn't care if you were a dark lord or a banker, if it liked you, it liked you- And it was impossible to guess who it would like.

Today magic energy was at an all time high. Another blip in the usually somewhat steady stream of power that flowed through the streets. As a result, odd things were afoot- From mischievous inconveniences, to darker disruptions. Unlike the portals, these bothers were a touch more subtle, creeping up unseen on the unsuspecting.

Last time around the magic had seemed lighthearted and playful- And some of it still was, but... There was an intensity to some of it this time, harking back to the troubles that seemed to roll around every Halloween now. Something wicked was caught in the current, and while it wasn't out to harm everyone, it did seem keen to target a few.

(OTA. Just like the last time, the magic can affect your pup however you see fit. Unlike last time, however, some of the magic has taken a darker turn. It doesn't have to do something wicked to your pup, of course, but the option is there now. This post will be open from 7/18-7/28 or longer if needed. Tag in, tag others, and check back often.)

Comments

[harrowgate]

Felix Harrowgate was having a picnic.

He was stretched out comfortably on a blanket in a shady area of a park in a rather posh part of town, surrounded by various sizes of earthenware containers, some with lids and some without. Now and then he nibbled from a glass bowl or drank from a paper cup, and turned a page in the satisfyingly enormous book he had spread out over his lap. From a distance, he seemed to be having a grand time.

Felix Harrowgate was not -- of course -- actually having a picnic.

Beneath the natural cotton blanket, the ground had been carefully cleared of leaves, twigs, and the tiniest little pieces of wood or rock. The wizard had sketched a painstaking runic circle in the earth, and then set his concealing disguise over the top of it. The small ceramic containers held a variety of alchemical materials, grounded in their containers. Only the tea in his cup and the fruit in his glassware were not actually part of the magical experiment that Felix was conducting, all under the guise of a relaxing summer afternoon.

[dr_spencer_reid]

Spencer wasn't a social creature. ...Well, no, actually, he kind of was, he just wasn't very good at being a social creature. He was twitchy and strange, and had a tendency to ramble on with facts that were either morbid or of interest to no one but himself. He didn't shake hands, never knew how to introduce himself, and definitely didn't know how to say hello to a complete stranger who was sitting on a large blanket reading a very large book that he had never seen before (but desperately wanted to look at).

He'd just been passing through the park with the intention of eventually making his way to the police station to speak to a contact he had there, and instead found himself lingering on a nearby path, watching the man and trying to think of a way to approach. ...The time to just casually stroll over and introduce himself was swiftly passing though, and the longer he stood there holding his coffee, the odder he looked.

By now the man had to have noticed him staring, and in an attempt to save face Spencer turned to leave- Only to trip over his own feet and drop his coffee. ...Thankfully he was far enough away that the book, and the man holding it, weren't caught in the splash zone.

[harrowgate]

Felix had been absolutely unaware that anyone was watching him, absorbed as he was in the book and in keeping the hidden rune circle supplied with the spell it needed. He had just leaned to lift one of the container lids and check on the experiment when he heard a distinct plop and slosh nearby. Someone appeared to have lost hold of his coffee, and perhaps even tripped himself. A rather sweet-faced someone, indeed, with a droll sense of fashion. Felix already liked his socks. He did hope it wasn't the magic that had caused him to stumble.

"My dear fellow, what an unutterable loss," said Felix to the other man musically. He could be very generous, when the target of his generosity was cute enough. "I happen to have a thermos with me, if you'd like... ?"

[dr_spencer_reid]

"Oh, I..." Spencer had been about to decline, but his brain swiftly stepped in before his clumsy lips could ruin this opportunity for him. "I'd like that, thank you," he smiled, dusting himself off and dropping the now empty cup into the nearest bin before making his way over.

He was all limbs as he sat down, careful not to disturb anything on the blanket even as he took it all in. He'd thought it was all food at first, his attention focused mostly on the book, but up close it was obvious that wasn't the case. It seemed more like some kind of ritual- Just with snacks on the side.

"I'm not interrupting anything important, am I?" he asked.

[harrowgate]

The thermos was greenish and looked ancient, like something your grandfather would have had clipped inside his lunch pail. Felix would have described it as 'antique.' He had with him a perfectly normal-looking picnic basket which contained a few extra ceramic dishes, and he selected the one that was most cup-like and poured some of the coffee into it.

"No and yes," said Felix pleasantly as he offered the drink, holding it gingerly so there was plenty of room to let the other man take it without accidental touch. "You're not interrupting, but it is important. It's just going to take most of the day, and I'm here without company. My name is Felix, by the way."

[dr_spencer_reid]

"Oh, um, Dr. Spencer Reid," the doctor smiled, taking the offered cup with a nod of thanks. "Uh, though just Spencer is fine, of course," he added.

Peering curiously at the book, Spencer couldn't hide his interest a moment longer.

"What are you working on, exactly?"

[harrowgate]

"I'm turning lead into gold," Felix told him effervescently, with a sparkling little smile that indicated he was teasing -- or would, to most anyone who knew what flirting looked like. "The alchemists of days beyond never could quite manage it, but I think I have a real chance at success.

"What are you working on, Spencer?" Felix asked, practically speaking every word all in the same breath.

[dr_spencer_reid]

Felix spoke so fluidly and without pause, that Spencer appeared a touch startled by the time the man volleyed the question back- Seemingly without answering at all.

"I was considering going to the police station," he admitted. "I'm looking for a friend here in London, and I have a contact there who I hope can help. Though it was a bit impulsive, I haven't even reached out to my contact yet. they might not even be there anymore," he realised, frowning to himself. "...You were joking about the lead into gold though, right? I mean, you're not really set up to do work on a molecular level, and honestly, the amount of power needed to accomplish that, versus the return you'd get wouldn't really be worth it."

[harrowgate]

Felix's smile broadened delightedly. Lucky wizard, to have lured in a pretty creature who actually knew what he was talking about. And here he thought he'd have to make distracting small talk, just to have some company this afternoon. "I confess, it's not much of a sterile laboratory, but I didn't care to be cooped up on such a day with the sun actually shining."

He leaned back on one hand, appearing very relaxed, and in absolutely no hurry to explain himself. "Are you versed in the theory of quantum entanglement?"

[dr_spencer_reid]

"I'm not an expert, but I know a bit. ...Are you a physicist?" he asked curiously, still itching to touch the book but keeping himself under control.

[harrowgate]

"You could say I'm an extremely theoretical scientist," Felix agreed, content to use words that an annemer, albeit a very intelligent one, could understand. "You might have heard about the researchers in China who have been working to teleport information on photons from Earth to space. I'm studying something similar, regarding the transferral of energy through and between different configurations of matter."

[dr_spencer_reid]

Spencer could only assume that the play on words meant Felix was maybe more of an autodidact sort of scientist, something he could respect given how independent most of his own education had been.

"That is a very deep hole of exceptionally complex quantum mechanics to be musing over during a picnic," he pointed out, though the slight smile that came to rest on his lips made it clear he approved.

[harrowgate]

"But far more engaging than celebrity gossip," Felix pointed out, fairly certain that Spencer would agree with him. "If I'm not exercising my mind, then I'm letting it rot, don't you think?"

He shifted position, since being exceedingly tall and gangly made it somewhat difficult to get comfortable on the ground. The move revealed the title of the book that had drawn Spencer's attention. It was in Latin, and translated simply to Travels.

[akatawitch]

"You're in nerd heaven, aren't you?"

Sunny's voice was full of (definitely not at all affectionate) teasing. She had stopped just at the edge of the blanket, not intruding the space. Not yet. While the Lambs of London might not have seen anything out of place, most of the things that were laid out here were not materials they would ever encounter.

[harrowgate]

Felix looked up from his book to see Sunny standing by politely, despite the nudging tone. Because he couldn't help himself from flirting with literally anyone who offered, even when he wasn't interested, Felix drawled, "Care to join me in heaven, darling?"

He indicated a clear stretch of the blanket, where she would be outside the magic circle but still not risking grass stains.

[akatawitch]

Sunny nodded and set herself down in the space he'd indicated. Once she was settled, though, she smirked at him and said, "Dare you to try it," confident in the knowledge that he wouldn't. He wasn't remotely interested in women, and she wasn't remotely interested in him.

[harrowgate]

"Do you think you could keep up?" Felix drawled dryly, but he wasn't serious, either. He closed the book he'd been going through, which probably shouldn't have left the Mirador, but who was going to gainsay him? It seemed to be in Latin, with a title that translated to, simply, Travels.

"So, it's happening again today. What's your theory?"

[akatawitch]

"I certainly hope I can keep up with nothing," Sunny volleyed back.

But she sobered as she considered the question, her expression smoothing out as she looked about the park. "When it started happening on Halloween, I figured it was a fairy thing. There's nothing significant about today, though."

[harrowgate]

"The days that are significant to us may be wholly unremarkable to... whomever or whatever is the source of these incursions." Felix began to swirl one hand in a circle as he spoke, turning faster at the bottom of the curve and slower at the top, like a pulse. "Halloween, the portals, those things with the long arms, and days like this. They're happening with increasing intensity, don't you think?"

The ceramic containers that he had laid out had seemed randomly placed at first, but seen from Felix's position, they were spaced in a cross shape. If you took each one in a counter-clockwise spiral, the smallest jar was at the center, and the largest at the spiral's end.

[akatawitch]

Sunny nodded. "When I was a kid..." She stopped, swallowed, and then shook her head hard. She wasn't trying to be dramatic, this was just hard to talk about, and she didn't want to wed herself to this idea out of old fear. "Something a bit like this happened around the time I was initiated, and there wasn't a pattern to that, either. There was just someone trying to do something even worse."

[harrowgate]

"When the fae zombies happened, I thought that was the end game," Felix mused, stilling his hand. "We had been planning for an incursion, though not as thoroughly as I would have liked. The Virtu held the wards and, as far as I know, no permanent damage was done. But the... the pattern didn't release." He didn't know how else to say it, but he thought Sunny would understand.

"How often do you talk to Remus? Do you know much of what he calls 'wizarding London'?"

[akatawitch]

Sunny knew exactly what he meant, and she had the same thing in mind. The question became then, what pattern was being worked here? Was someone trying to do something on the level of summoning Ekewnsu?

"I haven't talked to Remus since Christmas. I almost punched out his best friend, and I think we're all just not talking about it. But I know what he means."

[harrowgate]

Felix paused in his intellectual process for a particularly chewy bit of gossip. His right brow arched directly up in a perfect arc. He had to practice some dedicated brow maintenance to get them to shape that way. "Sirius? Whatever did he do? And shall I offer to take him over my knee on your behalf?"

[akatawitch]

Remembering the encounter with the idiot in the leather suit, Sunny almost sneered. "Couldn't take obvious discomfort with the harassment he calls flirting as a sign to back the hell off. When I called him out for being a rich idiot fuckboy, his 'apology' was mostly sulk." She shrugged. "Remus assured me before I met him that he just takes getting used to, but I am not getting used to that for anybody."

[harrowgate]

Well, that certainly earned a spanking, Felix thought but decided not to say out loud. He wrinkled his nose delicately, but demurred from commenting on Sirius' behavior directly. "I am eternally bewildered as to how he and Remus are so close. Remus is darling but I've rarely met anyone with such firmly enforced boundaries. By which I mean to say that he won't flirt with me and I barely understand how to talk to him when it isn't about business."

Which had become his and Remus' code word for 'magic' when they were surrounded by what he called annemer and Remus called Muggles.