[ Being riled by Tseng is a pleasure in turn; Alan only wishes he knew more about Tseng so he could give back with a little more specificity. It's nice to feel like they can be friends, as well as fuck. ]
[ oh, they have plenty of time for alan to learn the ways to rile tseng up. not least of all because alan doesn't seem like the type to back down from a challenge, and getting a rise out of a man with self-control like tseng's is indeed a challenge. ]
I don't know what it was that gave it away. [ maybe all the ranting about class issues. ] "In a while"?
Mm. [ He looks around for an ashtray; even he can't quite bring himself to ash on Tseng's carpet. It also means he has someplace to look that isn't Tseng's face when he continues. ] Only did it for a few months.
[ It isn't that he's ashamed of it, exactly. But it is ... embarrassing. He glances over at Tseng with a wry smile. ]
[ there is one, on tseng's side of the bed, and he passes it wordlessly to alan when he sees him glancing around. although tseng himself doesn't have much regard for the resort's property, he'd also rather not have ash in his carpets.
as for being a thief, well. it doesn't seem to bother tseng any, nor does he seem to find it embarrassing. some of his best people were thieves first, after all. he just lifts a shoulder, thoughtful. ]
Fair enough. If you think you'd like to take it up again, just let me know.
Well, skimming off the house is a bit different than housebreaking. Might get me thrown out of the casino, but it probably won't get a gun pointed at my face.
[ God he misses Jack. ]
You're full of things to teach, aren't you? Card sharping, sex ....
[ not least of all because they don't even have guns here! ]
Probably won't even get you thrown out, if you pace yourself. The trick is not to let them know you're doing it at all.
[ tseng taps his own cigarette into the ashtray and then sets it on the sheets between them. they're already a mess, after all, no need to be precious about getting ash on them. ]
Maybe even more than that. Is there a skill you've always wanted to learn?
[ Alan pauses, looking at the glowing end of his cigarette, and then shakes his head with a small smile. ]
I don't think you can teach me magic, Tseng.
[ Widogast is scratching that particular itch, even though it's slow going -- excruciating for a man who used to be top of his class, quick to pick up his lessons. ]
But what about you? Anything you've always wanted to learn?
[ another quirked eyebrow from tseng, this one accompanied by a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. ]
What makes you think I can't teach you magic? [ nonetheless, after a moment tseng is forced to admit, ] It probably wouldn't be the kind of magic you want to learn, though.
[ although there's certainly an element of skill to the use of materia, tseng is aware by now that when most people say "magic" they mean something broader than the elemental magic to which materia grants access. not to mention that tseng himself only has access to two orbs, here. ]
Something I've always wanted to learn... [ thoughtful pause, while tseng takes another drag. ] An artistic skill, maybe. An instrument, painting, something like that.
[ Alan looks genuinely startled for a second, and then laughs. ]
For God's sake, are you another magician? Can't throw a rock without hitting one of you lot.
[ To be fair, he isn't sure why he thought Tseng isn't a magician; maybe just assumed that it would have been obvious, the way it was quickly obvious that Tseng likes men and likes being in control. ]
Thank God there's something you can't do already. Not that I can teach you to draw. Closest I could do is forge your signature.
[ it's always such a delight to be able to surprise alan at all. ]
I can do magic, but I wouldn't call myself a magician, [ tseng says. ] Magic can be done by anyone in my world, as long as you have a materia and enough mana to perform the spell. I'll show you sometime if you'd like, but I only have two materia here so my list of spells is short.
[ but lightning spells are mad satisfying so alan might like to try them out anyway! and if nothing else, the assess materia can teach him all kinds of useful things about tseng's erogenous zones and kinks... ]
I'm sure there are plenty of things I can't do besides art and music, but if you want to teach me the art of forging signatures in exchange for lightning magic I'd take that deal.
[ still smoking, and still wholly nude, tseng climbs out of bed (careful not to upset the ashtray as he goes) and makes his way across the room to where a leather wristband sits in a shallow dish atop the dresser. a moment of fiddling later and tseng turns to come back, bringing with him a yellow orb the size of a large marble, maybe, glowing with an internal light.
tseng rejoins alan in bed and holds the materia up on his palm, offering it to alan to touch if he wants. he'll find it cool to the touch, but if alan has any capacity for magic at all he'll also find it a little bit like soda fizz. static lingering in the air around it. ]
This is a materia. It's a crystallization of the elemental power of the planet I come from. Mana is the... internal source of power that I use to cast spells with it.
[ it's actually called "mp" in game but it was too cringe for me to have tseng refer out loud to having a magic points value. ]
Alan takes a last drag on his cigarette and stubs it out in the ashtray, so he can use both hands in examining the materia. (Seems as though it should be a materium, many materia, but what does he know.) He takes it from Tseng's palm and holds it up in front of his eyes, turning it slowly. ]
It's ... [ Frowning, he squeezes it slightly and shivers. ] It tingles.
[ contemplating the correct singular of a latin-rooted word, on the other hand, is definitely not nerd shit. alan's probably not wrong about it, though.
the corner of tseng's lips twitches up, and he nods. ]
This one is an Assess materia. In a combat situation it would give me insight into an opponent's strengths and weaknesses, elemental affinities, and so on.
[ but because tseng has already used the materia once in the resort, he knows that isn't all it does here. ]
In the resort, it has an added "bonus" of letting you see a partner's kinks and erogenous zones. [ and, for clarity, ] My offer is to let you use it on me.
I do think I've got a few ideas about your kinks already.
I don't know if it'll do that for me. I suppose the worst that can happen is I have to find our your erogenous zones the old fashioned way, though. How do I use it?
You do, [ tseng agrees. with a smile, he takes one last drag of his cigarette and then puts it out decisively into the ashtray, then moves the whole thing off to the nightstand. ] Here, I'll show you.
[ he sits up halfway and faces alan, reaching out to curl alan's fingers around the assess materia, and then provides as clear and detailed an explanation of how to use a materia as befits a trainer like tseng, but which i will not be able to write out in detail because nomura did not see fit to make these mechanics clear in the text.
when he's done, tseng sits back, opening himself up for alan's perusal. ]
Go ahead, give it a try. The worst that happens is it doesn't work.
[ It seems both straightforward and incredibly complex, to Alan, in the same way that playing a pianoforte is as straightforward as hitting the keys with your fingers. This doesn't seem to be a particularly difficult spell, though, as far as Alan can understand Tseng's explanations.
May as well try. His brow furrows in concentration as he follows Tseng's instructions -- and tries to think of himself as permeable. Something that magic can flow through freely. He imagines channels running from his heart to his fingertips, fingertips to his eyes, drawing whatever this mana is into the materia and looping it back into himself.
At some point in there, he closes his eyes. When he opens them and looks at Tseng, the first thing he notices is the places where Tseng is suddenly glowing. There's something else, too, dancing around Tseng's head like the spots in your vision after glancing at the sun.
It takes a second for Alan to realize that they're words. They flicker a little when he looks straight at them, but they appear in his own handwriting, so they're reasonably legible. He inhales sharply, trying to take it all in. ]
[ having taught this same usage to caleb before, tseng was at least reasonably sure that the explanation was intelligible—but then again, he was much more familiar with the extent of caleb's familiarity with magic than he is with alan's, so there was always a chance it might not have gone to plan. still, when alan opens his eyes and then inhales that quiet almost-gasp, tseng thinks it's a reasonable guess that he managed to see something after all.
he can guess at the information alan will be able to pick up. erogenous zones including his hands and forearms, his hips, and the nape of his neck; a resort-gifted status effect involving randomly-occurring rut periods; and a whole laundry list of kinks that tseng has participated in and enjoyed, including several types of control and bondage and consent play. his suit mark, as alan already knows, is the tattoo of a snake that wraps around his left forearm, and considering they fucked not an hour beforehand it is unsurprisingly not activated in the least.
tseng stays quiet while alan processes it everything. he's always wondered how an assess materia might present information to someone not from gaia, someone who isn't trained to receive information in the form of a military briefing, but he'll wait for alan to say something before tseng asks any questions at all. ]
[ Alan reaches out to try and pass his fingers through one set of floating words, a few inches from the left side of Tseng's head, but they're untouchable. ]
I'd like to see you in ropes You'll come when I say so, not before or after. Tell me you don't want it. It won't matter.
[ The flickering is starting to make his eyes water. He inhales again, blinks hard, and drops the materia between them. ]
Fuckin' hell!
[ There's a disbelieving laugh bubbling up in his voice. He scrubs tears out of his eyes with the heel of his palm and looks at Tseng. No more of that glow, no more words. Just a lingering ache in his forehead and the memory of what he saw. ]
It worked! It worked, I could see -- words, like. [ The laugh finally bursts free. ] Dialogue. And-- [ He touches his own forearm. ] You like being touched here.
[ even before alan speaks, that little gesture is enough to give tseng half an answer. for him, assess has always been nearly instantaneous, and has presented information very much the way one might see it in a dossier. for alan, clearly less so, as he reaches out to touch... something in the vicinity of tseng's head.
and of course, what he says makes everything clearer. dialogue? that's interesting, and also somehow makes perfect sense for what tseng knows about alan. his enthusiasm is infectious, and tseng finds himself smiling too. ]
I do, [ he confirms. ] I'm glad it worked. Are you all right?
[ tears of emotion or tears of the strain of using a spell for the first time? ]
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Arrogant prick. No, I don't count cards. Not that I should be telling you that, giving away advantages. Why?
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I was going to offer to teach you. It seemed like you'd enjoy stealing from the casino.
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Am I that obvious?
[ He takes a thoughtful drag on his cigarette. ]
I haven't been a thief in a while.
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I don't know what it was that gave it away. [ maybe all the ranting about class issues. ] "In a while"?
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[ It isn't that he's ashamed of it, exactly. But it is ... embarrassing. He glances over at Tseng with a wry smile. ]
I promised my ma I'd stop.
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as for being a thief, well. it doesn't seem to bother tseng any, nor does he seem to find it embarrassing. some of his best people were thieves first, after all. he just lifts a shoulder, thoughtful. ]
Fair enough. If you think you'd like to take it up again, just let me know.
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[ God he misses Jack. ]
You're full of things to teach, aren't you? Card sharping, sex ....
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Probably won't even get you thrown out, if you pace yourself. The trick is not to let them know you're doing it at all.
[ tseng taps his own cigarette into the ashtray and then sets it on the sheets between them. they're already a mess, after all, no need to be precious about getting ash on them. ]
Maybe even more than that. Is there a skill you've always wanted to learn?
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I don't think you can teach me magic, Tseng.
[ Widogast is scratching that particular itch, even though it's slow going -- excruciating for a man who used to be top of his class, quick to pick up his lessons. ]
But what about you? Anything you've always wanted to learn?
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What makes you think I can't teach you magic? [ nonetheless, after a moment tseng is forced to admit, ] It probably wouldn't be the kind of magic you want to learn, though.
[ although there's certainly an element of skill to the use of materia, tseng is aware by now that when most people say "magic" they mean something broader than the elemental magic to which materia grants access. not to mention that tseng himself only has access to two orbs, here. ]
Something I've always wanted to learn... [ thoughtful pause, while tseng takes another drag. ] An artistic skill, maybe. An instrument, painting, something like that.
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For God's sake, are you another magician? Can't throw a rock without hitting one of you lot.
[ To be fair, he isn't sure why he thought Tseng isn't a magician; maybe just assumed that it would have been obvious, the way it was quickly obvious that Tseng likes men and likes being in control. ]
Thank God there's something you can't do already. Not that I can teach you to draw. Closest I could do is forge your signature.
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I can do magic, but I wouldn't call myself a magician, [ tseng says. ] Magic can be done by anyone in my world, as long as you have a materia and enough mana to perform the spell. I'll show you sometime if you'd like, but I only have two materia here so my list of spells is short.
[ but lightning spells are mad satisfying so alan might like to try them out anyway! and if nothing else, the assess materia can teach him all kinds of useful things about tseng's erogenous zones and kinks... ]
I'm sure there are plenty of things I can't do besides art and music, but if you want to teach me the art of forging signatures in exchange for lightning magic I'd take that deal.
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[ still smoking, and still wholly nude, tseng climbs out of bed (careful not to upset the ashtray as he goes) and makes his way across the room to where a leather wristband sits in a shallow dish atop the dresser. a moment of fiddling later and tseng turns to come back, bringing with him a yellow orb the size of a large marble, maybe, glowing with an internal light.
tseng rejoins alan in bed and holds the materia up on his palm, offering it to alan to touch if he wants. he'll find it cool to the touch, but if alan has any capacity for magic at all he'll also find it a little bit like soda fizz. static lingering in the air around it. ]
This is a materia. It's a crystallization of the elemental power of the planet I come from. Mana is the... internal source of power that I use to cast spells with it.
[ it's actually called "mp" in game but it was too cringe for me to have tseng refer out loud to having a magic points value. ]
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Alan takes a last drag on his cigarette and stubs it out in the ashtray, so he can use both hands in examining the materia. (Seems as though it should be a materium, many materia, but what does he know.) He takes it from Tseng's palm and holds it up in front of his eyes, turning it slowly. ]
It's ... [ Frowning, he squeezes it slightly and shivers. ] It tingles.
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the corner of tseng's lips twitches up, and he nods. ]
That's the magic in it. Do you want to try?
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[ but because tseng has already used the materia once in the resort, he knows that isn't all it does here. ]
In the resort, it has an added "bonus" of letting you see a partner's kinks and erogenous zones. [ and, for clarity, ] My offer is to let you use it on me.
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I do think I've got a few ideas about your kinks already.
I don't know if it'll do that for me. I suppose the worst that can happen is I have to find our your erogenous zones the old fashioned way, though. How do I use it?
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[ he sits up halfway and faces alan, reaching out to curl alan's fingers around the assess materia, and then provides as clear and detailed an explanation of how to use a materia as befits a trainer like tseng, but which i will not be able to write out in detail because nomura did not see fit to make these mechanics clear in the text.
when he's done, tseng sits back, opening himself up for alan's perusal. ]
Go ahead, give it a try. The worst that happens is it doesn't work.
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May as well try. His brow furrows in concentration as he follows Tseng's instructions -- and tries to think of himself as permeable. Something that magic can flow through freely. He imagines channels running from his heart to his fingertips, fingertips to his eyes, drawing whatever this mana is into the materia and looping it back into himself.
At some point in there, he closes his eyes. When he opens them and looks at Tseng, the first thing he notices is the places where Tseng is suddenly glowing. There's something else, too, dancing around Tseng's head like the spots in your vision after glancing at the sun.
It takes a second for Alan to realize that they're words. They flicker a little when he looks straight at them, but they appear in his own handwriting, so they're reasonably legible. He inhales sharply, trying to take it all in. ]
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he can guess at the information alan will be able to pick up. erogenous zones including his hands and forearms, his hips, and the nape of his neck; a resort-gifted status effect involving randomly-occurring rut periods; and a whole laundry list of kinks that tseng has participated in and enjoyed, including several types of control and bondage and consent play. his suit mark, as alan already knows, is the tattoo of a snake that wraps around his left forearm, and considering they fucked not an hour beforehand it is unsurprisingly not activated in the least.
tseng stays quiet while alan processes it everything. he's always wondered how an assess materia might present information to someone not from gaia, someone who isn't trained to receive information in the form of a military briefing, but he'll wait for alan to say something before tseng asks any questions at all. ]
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[ Alan reaches out to try and pass his fingers through one set of floating words, a few inches from the left side of Tseng's head, but they're untouchable. ][ The flickering is starting to make his eyes water. He inhales again, blinks hard, and drops the materia between them. ]
Fuckin' hell!
[ There's a disbelieving laugh bubbling up in his voice. He scrubs tears out of his eyes with the heel of his palm and looks at Tseng. No more of that glow, no more words. Just a lingering ache in his forehead and the memory of what he saw. ]
It worked! It worked, I could see -- words, like. [ The laugh finally bursts free. ] Dialogue. And-- [ He touches his own forearm. ] You like being touched here.
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and of course, what he says makes everything clearer. dialogue? that's interesting, and also somehow makes perfect sense for what tseng knows about alan. his enthusiasm is infectious, and tseng finds himself smiling too. ]
I do, [ he confirms. ] I'm glad it worked. Are you all right?
[ tears of emotion or tears of the strain of using a spell for the first time? ]
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