The Law of the Instrument OPEN Finished

Roleplaying as Ginyami Midorimori from Mahoutokoro
"English | Japanese"

Ginyami's smile was of amusement when he first laid eyes on Valentin upon entering the room. It seemed the pale prince was always moving in some fashion or other. He wanted to tell the other boy that he didn't have to remove his boots on his account, but his peer was already doing so. He then met Ginyami by the door and dipped his head, earning a similar response from the newcomer, before placing his boots by the door next to the wooden clogs.

“Ginyami. I’m so glad you could make it.”

"So am I. Thank you for your invitation," he answered courteously, his smile reaching all the way up to his eyes as their gazes met. He followed Valentin's gesture toward the piano bench, pausing to admire the picture his companion made as he stepped half in, half out of the spotlight at the room's heart.

He looked ever more a prince with the silver garments he wore, the embroidered snowflakes exquisite upon their metallic backdrop with pearls of different sizes studding the pattern of their crystalline arms. The dramatic back-lighting only added to the view.

“There’s food here if you’re still hungry,” Valentin told him, but Ginyami shook his head, still smiling, with a quiet, "Thank you, but I'm quite full from dinner." He clasped one hand over the other behind him when the Durmstrang student commented on the beauty of his clothing.

"I was just about to say the same of yours," Ginyami chuckled softly. "It very much suits you." He could only imagine how much an outfit like that must have cost. Its elegant design seemed to accent Valentin's statuesque features even as he moved. Ginyami felt his clothes were quite plain in comparison, but if Valentin could appreciate them regardless, there was something to be said about that.

"Do you play?" the Mahoutokoro teen asked, gesturing toward the piano as he eyed the Seeker's long, slender fingers. Perhaps that was part of the reason he had been invited to this room in particular.

Interacting with: Valentin Schnell (@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood)

Valentin observed Ginyami’s face, finding the boy’s smile rather amused. Good, he seems to be in fine spirits. I wonder what he’s thinking? The fox’s grin only seemed to stretch farther to accent his courteous response, leading Valya to nod with satisfaction as he turned to cross the room. Certainly Ginyami’s attire was simple, but that, too, was one of the qualities Valentin liked about it – minimalist elegance. Indeed, Valentin’s own outfit was quite a bit more elaborate than he would have ever picked out by himself.

“Really, it’s Sergei, my butler, who wants me to dress to impress. I try not to let him know that he has such influence over me, but… I think he suspects that his brainwashing works when he’s not around, however much I refuse when he’s pushing me directly…” Looking over his shoulder as he walked, Valentin glimpsed Ginyami’s face before continuing. “Honestly, though, he had a point. I do play – this is the last outfit I wore to a piano competition circuit, and… well, I guess I started to miss those. I haven’t gone to one since I lost my parents. It makes me think of my father, especially, who was a full-time concert pianist. I don’t know… Why did I have Sergei send this thing for tonight?…” Valya rolled his eyes at himself, already feeling like a pompous showman. Some part of him always wanted to show up to a piano competition in a muddied, bloodied quidditch jersey to demonstrate that classist grandstanding had nothing to do with real music… but in the end he caved to Sergei’s insistence that it was really about improving the audience’s experience beyond giving them the music itself. Of course, Sergei knew how to talk to Valentin. The boy would never have accepted an argument that dressing better would give him a competitive edge, instead making him even more disgusted. Sergei was careful with his wording, and he knew that no match was ever “against others” for Valentin. No, coming out on top was mostly a benchmark – a form of feedback about his performance. Valya would never say it out loud, but really, he longed for the taste of victory because it made him feel closer to a higher order. Certainly the power of being a reigning champion was sultry and sweet on his tongue, but throughout each arduous hour of training, Valya’s competitive spirit truly reveled in its spiritual experience.

As Valentin approached the piano bench, his nostrils flared with awareness of the food basket on a low table nearby. As just-picked as its remaining fruits were, its mere presence was beginning to put him off. Picking the basket up to move it to a far chair and returning with a shy smile, Valentin sat at the right side of the piano bench and patted the space beside him to welcome the other boy to join him. “There is something I want your opinion on, but before that, I was hoping you would indulge me in my silly habit.” Turning towards Ginyami, Valya’s face conveyed a fragile hopefulness the other hadn’t seen on him before.

“I know I can be terribly demanding. It may be cruel of me to put this on you, in fact, but… would you sit here with me please, and just talk to me. I want to hear about your life, and your thoughts – whatever mundane or extraordinary things happen to cross your mind. Please, I need you to just let go, be free, and tell me unedited what you think and feel at each moment – a stream of consciousness… and if you can do that for me, then I can try to write music for you, about you. It’s… it’s actually kind of important. Would you do it, to help me understand and capture your spirit in a melody? You can even press some keys if you think it will help.”

Valentin’s hyacinth eyes looked back at Ginyami with concern and followed the boy's black pupils wherever they went, like flowers following a dark sun. A strange chill behind Valya's gaze pulled at the other boy behind the gentle affection in the seeker's expression...

Stats: STA 8 ✦ EVA 14 ✧ STR 2 ✦ WIS 15 ✧ARC 1 ✦ ACC 15 - Ency
Abilities: Keen Eye ✦ Charmer ✧ Evasive Maneuvers ✦ Fearless

Valentin's English = #CC3333; Interacting with @Jack Burnett

Roleplaying as Ginyami Midorimori from Mahoutokoro
"English | Japanese"

Chuckling softly at Valentin's telling of his butler's influence over him, the Mahoutokoro boy wondered if said butler was anything like family for the Durmstrang Seeker. It was such a terrible shame to think Valentin was otherwise alone in the world aside from his schoolmates and Ginyami's smile faded a little upon hearing about his peer's father. "I am so sorry to hear that. About your father," he said, thinking what a tragedy it must have been - both for the loss of the full-time concert pianist and for the wasted talent of his son. Well, perhaps it wasn't entirely wasted if he still played even a little, but it must have pained him to remind him of his father. "I am, however, honored to have been able to see you in such an outfit if you truly don it so rarely. It is really quite stunning on you."

He watched Valentin remove the basket of fruit before returning with a smile that was charming in its shyness. When the alabaster teen seated himself and patted the space he had left open in invitation, Ginyami obliged. He wondered how they must have looked as a pair; him with his black hair and dark garments with gold lining and Valentin with his white hair and light garments shining silver. The contrast between them must have been quite stark, but perhaps balanced in a way, like yin and yang.

When Valentin turned toward him, asking him to indulge him in his 'silly habit', Ginyami cocked his head, fascinated by the new expression on the other boy's face and intrigued by his request.

"Please, be as demanding as you like," the Japanese youth encouraged. "I could not know your desires otherwise and I do very much wish to please." When he learned what Valentin was asking of him, however, he stilled, his countenance thoughtful. It was both an easy and difficult request to fulfill. He certainly could have talked about his life and his thoughts, but it wouldn't have been good enough. If Valentin was seriously trying to write music for him, a gift Ginyami couldn't begin to think of how to reciprocate, he could hardly just babble whatever came to mind.

The majority of his life was spent being careful with his words, expressions, and actions so as not to let his true nature be exposed to those who might find it distasteful. He could hardly cease to be cautious, especially around someone he hoped to show only the best sides of himself to. So, after a minute or two, he took a deep breath and made an attempt.

"As a shining, white light in the dark
your soul calls out aloud from the throng
what first started as one tiny spark
soon grew vibrantly brighter and strong

You have kindled an interest in me
something I have not known in a while
You are more than what you seem to be
and it shows in the grace of your smile

From your melodic song of a voice
to your jewel-bright and sparkling eyes
You do not give me much of a choice
when it comes down to truth or to lies

I am left with so little to bear
no defense against your clever ways
all you do is fix me with a stare
And I'm weak under your fervid gaze

So forgive me if answers are slow
I might need extra time to reflect
You make me want to be more, you know
Did you realize you have that effect?

Now my thoughts have become so abstract
and I fear they will lead me astray
I do not know how I should react
When I find myself caught in your sway

My acquaintance, if I may be bold
I hope dearly I will not offend
But if you could accept me, all told,
Would you mind if I called you my friend?"

It wasn't what Valentin had asked for, really, but it was a response from his heart. If the musician wanted to write him music, why not give him a poem in return? Lyrics, if he so chose to make them? Hopefully, Valentin wouldn't be too disappointed.

Interacting with: Valentin Schnell (@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood)

Although admitting to Ginyami several details about his private life, Valentin kept a number of details unspoken. It was true that Valentin considered Sergei, a man not of his blood, to be the last of his family. After all, daily duties of raising Valentin fell upon his butler even before Zinoviya’s murder – both parents had spent less and less time with Valya as he grew older. Ostensibly this was the result of skyrocketing fame as Hugo and Zinoviya reached the peaks of their music careers, but 7-year-old Valentin never believed such justifications – not even at Sergei’s insistence. Did he believe it now, at the age of 15? No, Valentin instead blamed his isolation on the sibling he never had. During Zinoviya’s second pregnancy and forever after the loss of the child, skinny albino Valya felt like an afterthought to everyone but perpetually-nagging Sergei.

After entering Durmstrang, Valentin’s obsessive devotion to his friends became his lifeline as increasing urges to rebel pushed him away from Sergei, and later, in revulsion against his new and harsh legal caretaker, Leonid. Yet, almost none of his friends knew much about Valentin’s household: he went out of his way to avoid the topic, neither wanting pity nor “special attention” after someone learned that Valentin was heir to an unthinkable sum of money following the loss of his famous parents. The Schnell Estate’s opulence was already embarrassing enough, and Valentin needed to know people really loved him for himself instead of for such trappings. Besides, his friends didn’t seem all that curious anyway. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been asked for meaningful details about his household. Looking down at his fine-gloved hands, Val knew that his competition outfit gave away tells about his secret wealth, but… searching his heart, the seeker found that he really just wanted Ginyami to enjoy it tonight as an accompaniment to his music and companionship.

"I am so sorry to hear that. About your father," said Ginyami. It stung Val to realize that, after not talking about it to countless people he had known for years, he had gone and blurted out such a key detail on the very first day he’d met the Japanese boy. What was it about Ginyami that had such an effect on him, wondered the seeker. Still, within moments Valentin was feeling better: Ginyami seemed to really enjoy Val’s silly clothes. Maybe Sergei was right after all, and to dress up really was a gift for the audience.

"Please, be as demanding as you like," continued the vulpine Japanese. "I could not know your desires otherwise and I do very much wish to please." Looking over at the boy, Valentin felt his face heat with a rush of blood. He knew his cheeks must be taking on the same vibrancy as a red martagon lily.

"Ginyami…" Overheating, Valentin blinked twice as he tried to collect himself. "It’s dangerous to give me free license! I am terribly greedy about people I like.” Yet, Valentin’s warm smile undercut his warning and he thought it would be surprising if anyone could hear anything over the loud red of his complexion. Looking down, Valentin remembered it was time to take his gloves off. At any moment his hands might leap away of their own volition to carry out their mysterious work. In haste, Valentin laid the gloves on his left shoulder and cast a quick glance around the empty room.

The young fox went on to grant Valentin’s wish much better than the seeker could have ever asked for. To feel out deep truths about the fox, Valentin knew any mere suggestion would be inferior to Ginyami’s own style of expression. For the first two lines of the boy’s composition, Valentin sat a bit stunned while listening, but at the second stanza his lithe white hands moved themselves to the black and white keys to divine Ginyami’s pattern. Once his fingers touched ivory, Valentin fell into key as the path opened up before him.


The only way for Valentin to engage such a complex pursuit was to open himself up completely to Ginyami’s flow of meaning-laden sounds, without question or thought, as they passed through his heart on their way to becoming music. All he could do was trust and surrender to the boy’s will. As Valya’s hands passed up and down the octaves with swathes of notes in complex arrangements, passages of harmony and leading tones full of trepidation and anticipation and nuance sprung from the blows of each fingertip. Valentin’s face contorted and eased in time with the shifting passages, eyebrows rising on the sweetest of high notes and lips pouting under tumult. Anything Ginyami added, musically or otherwise, Valentin incorporated. Feet pushed and pulled waves of reverberation through pedals below as invisibly as the moon lulling a tide. Sensing Ginyami slowing with closure, Valentin ended with a courageous rephrasing of the main theme, lilting with hope as if in an open question to the listener. At last, with the final notes lingering on the air as they faded away, Valentin stared into the dark wood of the piano’s fall board like a man possessed. Even when silence prevailed, Valentin simply sat like a lone marionette. Only the rhythm of breathing marked the passage of time until that small movement freed the gloves from their perch on Val’s shoulder.

A quiet thwap alerted the seeker of both gloves falling onto Ginyami. Instinctively Valentin reached to catch them anyway, d20+15=20+15=35 / Nat 20 and managed to pluck them off the boy before they could hit the ground. A shy smile foreshadowed Valentin turning his head back down to the thin folds of metallic sheen in his large white hands. Unsure how to use words again, Valentin smoothed out a wrinkle in one leather finger. In the back of his mind, the patterns of Ginyami’s melody played on repeat as they burned themselves deep into memory with total autonomy. Not a single coherent thought crossed Valentin’s mind, for his spirit was still half-submerged on the other side. He didn’t really want to leave.

Valentin’s eyes searched for the boy’s black pupils once more, knowing his work was not done but unsure of what to do. The path had ended and here stood Valentin in one end of the perfectly dark pool that lived in Ginyami’s eyes. With a ripple like silver fish scales, a glint therein beckoned as bright as a lure: living treasure. Valentin raised two bare fingers as he leaned forward and dropped one glove again – it would land on Ginyami’s knee if the boy did not try to catch it. Slowly moving forward, Val’s now-empty fingers stopped at a long strand of black hair that had fallen into Ginyami’s eyes, and he swept it off of the boy’s face.

The White Immortal had friends, and he had Sergei, but the seeker still went hunting through night skies only to bring back the same hollow golden snitch, each time colder in his hand as winter approached. Had Valentin's family ever filled the space inside him? He couldn't remember anymore. Certainly there was magic from his lost family he needed to restore, but he never found the answer alone. Valentin stared back into the depths of Ginyami's eyes, searching, and hoped the fox would also find his sonnet's answer inside the blackness encircled by cloud-castle buttresses of silver and amythyst.

Roleplaying as Ginyami Midorimori from Mahoutokoro
"English | Japanese"

"Ginyami…" Valentin began, blinking twice as his complexion began to change, "It’s dangerous to give me free license! I am terribly greedy about people I like.”

The ends of the Mahoutokoro student's lips slowly curled upward as he watched the transformation overcome the Durmstrang Seeker, enjoying it immensely. "Nonsense. It's not as though there is anyone to object to your greed. I know I certainly wouldn't." It was part of learning more about who Valentin was to determine just how far that greed could go, after all.

It was then that Valentin removed his gloves and placed them on his left shoulder in order to allow his long-fingered hands full access to the piano's full range of keys. Ginyami admired those hands as he watched them go to work, picking out notes like the most delectable grapes on a vine.

To experience the creation of the music as it was woven was absolutely enchanting. With the way the young musician played, it was difficult to comprehend the fact that the melody was entirely improvised rather than something pre-conceived and practiced. Ginyami almost lost himself in the thrall of the complex musical composition before his own performance was completed, his concentration wavering, but managed to find himself again in the harmonious flow of both as he ended his poem. It was as though Valentin was directly translating his words into original music as he spoke them.

Watching the starlight prince's features as he played was a treasure in itself; as though they embodied the emotions of each pitch and tone. Not just his hands, but his shifting feet and face too reflected the sounds echoing throughout his entire body like he was part of the piano - an instrument himself. When the melody and poem finally came to a close, Ginyami continued to watch Valentin as quiet gradually fell upon them, stricken by how it seemed the life had left his limp figure along with the music.

His gloves fell from his shoulder then and the Japanese teen thought it a wonder they hadn't fallen sooner. With swift deftness, Valentin retrieved them from where they had fallen on Ginyami before the latter had a chance to move. His shy smile preceded him turning away again to look down at his gloves and Ginyami smiled as well. Neither of them seemed to want to speak, but neither of them needed to.

Eventually, their eyes met again and the fox-faced boy watched his shining companion raise two fingers while leaning forward. His attention was disrupted by the falling of the glove, which he automatically reached out to catch. But by the time he had resettled his focus on Valentin, the alabaster musician had moved to sweep a strand of hair out of Ginyami's face.

They continued to peer into the depths of each other's gazes and Ginyami got the distinct sense that Valentin was searching for something. Would he find it? Or would he not and lose interest? Fear of the second possibility instructed Ginyami to turn away, but he could not; not immediately. He didn't think he had ever been so intimately close to a person as he was then, either physically or otherwise, and it was difficult to be the first to break the connection. Better to be the first than to allow someone else to be, a voice inside him whispered, and he finally averted his eyes to the glove in his hand.

"That was..." He paused, seeking a satisfactory word in English. "...ethereal, Valentin. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to hear you play. I shall hold it in my heart for all time," he announced. "You said...before, you said this was important, though. May I ask what you meant by that?"

Interacting with: Valentin Schnell (@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood)

Ginyami caught Valentin’s glove with ease 1d20:17+11=28, allowing misdirection to clear a path for Valentin’s hand to move the hair out of Ginyami’s right eye. The frost captain hadn’t intended the setup, but it came as automatically as influencing another quidditch team’s positioning with his own. With Ginyami’s words and demeanor as they were, he likely wouldn’t have resisted anyway – and this was precisely why Valentin allowed himself the experiment. The seeker’s lips curved like a crescent moon as he took in the fox’s dexterity and reaction time. He had loved how Ginyami played him like an instrument, and now he wanted a turn.

The metallic glove in Ginyami’s hand felt warm and soft, characteristic of fine Napa leather: reminiscent of a living hand all on its own. A single embroidered snowflake glinted with a hint that it might be enchanted to dazzle an audience at a distance. This close up, the bright design’s thread almost seemed to glow. Yet, however lovely the glove, Valentin’s empyreal eyes still managed to recapture Ginyami’s gaze.

The longer the seeker’s lavender-ringed pupils held, the deeper Valentin immersed himself into the black pool behind Ginyami’s eyes, searching for the titanium-bright entity he’d glimpsed before. Just as Valentin caught sight of the long-tailed light again, however, Ginyami turned his head away. Like a pang of hunger, a chill slipped through Valentin’s body and he shivered even as his tongue licked his own bow-arch lips. Although his keen sight tried to follow after the boy’s pupils, the narrowness of the fox’s eyes ensured a clean break from Valentin’s taller gaze.

"That was… ethereal, Valentin. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to hear you play. I shall hold it in my heart for all time. You said...before, you said this was important, though. May I ask what you meant by that?"

Valentin’s tongue flicked against the roof of his mouth as he listened to the pleasing timbre of the boy’s voice. Yet, Ginyami’s diligence soon reminded him where they were. With a long inhalation, the seeker steeled himself for revealing more when he hadn’t yet sated his growing thirst. Patience, he chided himself, but the chill of winter from a nearby window was already sinking into Valentin’s gloveless hands. With a flare of nostrils in his small nose, and again, he narrowed his eyes as they slid down the contour of Ginyami’s face. A smell like temple incense in a rainy stand of trees came to him, drawing his white-lashed eyelids completely shut. One foot jostled as Valentin repeated curling and releasing his toes, unusually visible without its boot to shield them. Valya’s clothes, too, carried fragrances from afar, having been sent from their black walnut dresser in Russia near Kazan. The furniture’s mild wood musk lurked beneath the characteristic scent of stargazer lilies and an unusual warmth from Valentin’s oud bakhoor incense. A blend from the Middle Eastern and European environment of the Turkic boy’s home, the fragrance was surely exotic.

“Well…” slinked a low note from Valentin’s throat. In the brief span of a bite of his lip, the pale boy slipped on his left glove. If he was going to execute the second half of his plan, it wouldn’t do to let his fingers lose agility in the cold during conversation. Reopening his eyes, Valentin looked at his other glove in the boy’s hand. How much could Val afford to reveal before he asked his own question?

“That’s three answers I owe you, then. Your words are kind. I only hope to treat you so well.” With a slow blink, Valentin tried to convince himself to not indulge his greed despite Ginyami’s warm welcome. Besides, wouldn’t it be trivial for the fox to escape with Valentin’s vulnerabilities when they left for their respective schools? The last time Valentin had opened himself up completely, another boy threw his heart away. Was it a tragic cycle of violence, with Beater #4 repeating what had happened to him? Silver-amethyst eyes looked back up at Ginyami’s face, and Valentin resolved to not inflict such pain on the sweet fox. He wanted Ginyami to be happy. Couldn’t Valentin make him happy? Would it be so wrong to give him another piece of his story?

“Ginyami, I… want to be your friend. I am also… afraid. Can I accept you, all told? We only just met, yet, I know myself and how dangerous I am. I do accept you, and I want you to call me your friend. That’s where I am trouble. I know that I inspire people, and that’s why they put me in power, despite the risk… and when people make me theirs, I make them mine as well. My love for certain people is unconditional, and the seers say it’s strong enough to kill an immortal. Please, just… take care of me so that I can survive enough to serve both you and others.” Valentin glanced down at the glove in Ginyami’s hand once more. A rose-tinted smile shifted across the pale dunes of Valya’s face, and he closed his left, gloved hand.

“Now, the importance of learning your song is manifold.” The silver seeker’s choice of words betrayed his overappreciation for fancy English reading materials. “At its foundation, I want to know everything about you. ‘Curious’ is not a good enough word. It's deeper, like wanting to feel the shape of reality – and it's thrilling like that. It’s one of the shapes my friendship takes, wanting to play with you. Beyond that, my heart compels me to take care of you, and if I can just… figure out how, knowing your song will help me protect you. It’s...” Valentin’s eyes flickered with realization of how absurd it must all sound. “It’s actually a matter of life and death. Please, believe me. I don’t know what I’m doing, but one day it might actually work, my ancestors’ technique…” Blush deepening to red, Valentin bit his lip, having gone so fast as to blurt out more than he’d meant to. No one else held that piece of why Valentin was so obsessed with music these days – mending his own heartbreak was only a part of his need to compose. Now you’ve done it, charovnik… Russian: “charmer,” lit. “sorcerer.” Just watch as he runs off to the land of the rising sun, taking himself and that shard of you far out of reach. Even more, what if this friendship worked? He might just keep you forever.

“…And if we are to be friends, it may be that your song is the only thing that can save you from me.”

Banner by Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood

Roleplaying as Ginyami Midorimori from Mahoutokoro
"English | Japanese"

Rubbing the texture of the right glove's soft, silver fabric between his idle fingers, Ginyami's attention shifted back to Valentin when he inhaled and closed his mithril-amethyst eyes and the black-haired student wondered if he was asking too much again. Should he take back his question?

He watched the musician curl and uncurl his toes, smiling a little at the constant motion Valentin seemed to be in. The Japanese boy took in the striking, foreign scents of the clothing so near to him including the glove in his possession and closed his own eyes to linger in their embrace. He only opened them again when he heard the single word escape its speaker and noticed Valentin put on his glove.

"Owe me? I would not be so presumptuous as to say that," Ginyami was quick to assert, following Valentin's gaze to the right glove still in his grasp. He then gently took its owner's hand to pull the other glove onto it, taking care not to be too rough with the soft material or the pale skin that disappeared under it. Perhaps he simply forgot to let go when he finished, but he continued to hold the gloved hand once his task was completed, examining it as though it had stitched in its lining all the secrets of the world. His gaze was distant, though, like he wasn't really seeing what was in front of him so much as what was beyond. "If I ever ask too much of you, Valentin, I do hope you will let me know. In my thoughtless curiosity, I may ask questions whose answers are beyond boundaries I am unaware of, so I am relying on you to tell me if I happen to overstep those boundaries."

Ginyami raised his head at the sound of his name upon those pale, delicate lips and was surprised to hear the admission that Valentin, too, was afraid. It didn't seem to be the same fear that Ginymai had, however, for the Seeker suggested that he himself was dangerous and that he was trouble. The black-haired boy's head tipped, tilting slightly as he tried to understand. ...Take care of you...so that you can survive enough to serve me and others...?

"I will do my best," he resolved, "But...will you help me know what it is I need to do to take care of you? I would hope you would survive not just for others but for yourself as well," he added, lightly squeezing Valentin's right hand with the ghost of a grip.

The Mahoutokoro student continued to listen attentively as Valentin elaborated upon the importance of learning Ginyami's song. He beamed at the words used, impressed by the other's vocabulary and the poetic quality they took on as so many things did when produced by the alabaster prince.

"I believe you," Ginyami assured Valentin. He wasn't quite sure what ancestors' technique his companion was talking about or what it had to do with music, but he was willing to trust Valentin on the matter. The crimson blush that bloomed across the albino teen's face was quite becoming, he thought.

"I am sorry, I am...not certain I understand," he finally admitted once Valentin had finished speaking. "If we are to be friends, why is it that I might need to be saved from you? Is it because of that...unconditional love you were talking about? The kind you said the seers say is strong enough to kill an immortal?"

Interacting with: Valentin Schnell (@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood)

As the observant fox took Valentin’s hand to pull its glove on, Ginyami’s fingers slid across the raised silver scar from that first bolt of lightning that Valentin caught in his palm – the very one that sent him falling to his momentary death. It was also that sacred space for grasping the golden snitch, and a node for the flow of Valentin’s music out through his fingertips. His slender right hand was not only a fine-tuned instrument of his will, but also a portal to Valya’s senses. Indeed, to touch his hand was to pluck the very ends of his heart’s strings.

"If I ever ask too much of you, Valentin, I do hope you will let me know. In my thoughtless curiosity, I may ask questions whose answers are beyond boundaries I am unaware of, so I am relying on you to tell me if I happen to overstep those boundaries." Ginyami’s words resonated throughout Valentin, who lingered over them as if holding onto a climactic line in a song. With the growing warmth in his hand, every sense came to Valya amplified as he sensed them standing at the very edge of a precipice. It would be so simple to step off and fly away with him.

“Thank you. If I may be so bold, my friend, that is precisely what I want you to do. I need you to push the boundaries. Find my limits and drive them back, farther away. Push me harder. I don’t want to be static. I must… I need you to move me. Please. If you wish, I will do the same for you. That is what I am good at.” Valentin’s words pulled with longing, but also with trepidation, as he went on to explain that it was because of this connection that he was dangerous.

“…And that’s why they put me in power, despite the risk… and when people make me theirs, I make them mine as well. My love for certain people is unconditional, and the seers say it’s strong enough to kill an immortal. Please, just… take care of me so that I can survive enough to serve both you and others.”

"I will do my best, but...will you help me know what it is I need to do to take care of you? I would hope you would survive not just for others but for yourself as well." Ginyami squeezed Valentin’s palm, sending another blossom of pink over the seeker’s face. With a smile, the Durmstrang boy nodded and looked down at his gloved hand within the other boy’s grasp. Certainly Val was guilty of pathological levels of generosity, but all he could do at the moment was glow. Ginyami’s precise words hit the mark: the captain needed to be told to take something for himself, too. Hearing such words, Valentin knew it was safe to give more of himself to the black-haired boy, and so he spoke of the importance of learning Ginyami’s song. When it seemed the other believed him, Valya relaxed even more, knowing he could take from the young man as well.

“…And if we are to be friends, it may be that your song is the only thing that can save you from me.”

"I am sorry, I am...not certain I understand. If we are to be friends, why is it that I might need to be saved from you? Is it because of that...unconditional love you were talking about? The kind you said the seers say is strong enough to kill an immortal?"

Ginyami’s hand felt a breeze from the seeker’s exhalation whisper across its knuckles before being pulled in between both warm gloves. Now it’s your turn, Valik.

“Yes… Whenever I go too fast, please grab on and slow me down. It’s very important that I explain well enough that you truly understand. I don’t want to rush you. Help me go at the pace that works for you.” Regret soaked Valentin’s voice, a ghost from his past, but his two gloves pulled the boy’s hand onto his leg. “You are right, but in a new way. Let me start at the beginning. I need you to take care because I am willing to give everything for those I love. When you, my friend, are in danger, then I must be there. I cannot accept it any other way. So eager am I to help, that a careless soul could break me for little reason. This is why I must be careful about who takes me as a friend. I believe that you can take care of me so that I can give myself to you and still continue to help others.” Raising Ginyami’s hand up to the bridge of Val's nose, the White Immortal closed his eyes, again telling himself to take his share.

“Because of my power… when I give my unconditional love, people put themselves in danger, too.” The captain could hear the long-lost words of Charles, Chaser #3, echoing in his mind: 'A victory isn't the same alone; alone, even if we win then sometimes we feel like we lose… There are multiple that would go on the thrills with you, including me, so promise you won't go alone again! Frost!'

Pushing Ginyami’s hand forward to examine it, Valentin drew a thumb over the length of the other’s index finger a couple of times as he continued. “In the US, fans call me ‘Hell-Chaser Val.’ The papers call me a masochist, and maybe they’re right. Yet, my team would follow me deep into the inferno and back. I know this because I took them there, and next summer I’ll do it again. That’s what I do, as their frost captain, as their white king. I inspire people to push their limits, even when it hurts, even when it’s risky. I move people, and sometimes, the effects are permanent.” Valentin stared into the layers of black in Ginyami's hair, and in his mind’s eye he saw the afterimage of Mikael’s burn scar, forever distorting the lovely creature’s face. The fact that Mikael never had it removed was proof of its lingering effects on his broken mind. “People trust me, and they make me powerful. With this power, I am dangerous, for I am not just a man. Inside, a ravenous monster tears at my insides trying to get out. I hunger. I want my share.”

The fingers of Valentin's left hand clawed at the fox’s arm through the softness of their glove. Violescent eyes burning with the need to lock with Ginyami’s gaze, the seeker’s right hand squeezed into the fox’s palm.

“I am both magnanimous and terribly, terribly greedy. I am the engine that burns the fuel of others to create action. Yet, somehow, the deepest part of me is alone while surrounded by friends. I give everything I am, but no one will take it all. Only when someone grants me that wish can I finally take all of someone for myself. This hunger consumes me, and so I keep pushing the limits. So you see, when I take and I give, things change because of me, and this is why I am dangerous. Please, Ginyami. Ask more of me so that I can have more of you. In the end, the greatest gift of all is to ask everything of me.” Grip softening around Ginyami’s hand, Valentin’s eyes flickered over the contours of the boy’s black and gold.

“Do you see how reckless I am?” A sigh tore from Valentin like a gust from a squall. “I don’t mean to be rude. Before you take my friendship, I just want you to understand. I am a thrill-seeker. I put myself in danger for people, I enjoy it, and then others want to join me on the edge. Everything I do in the service of others is… it’s all I can do to keep them alive and playing like innocents forever.”

Valentin stroked the top of the other’s hand, his own fingers balmy within the glove Ginyami had given him back. Was a fox’s heart true enough to keep the king from succumbing to the colddrake’s ravenous power?

“If you become my friend, the reason you might need saving from me is… the closer we are, the more my power becomes yours to destroy all limits.”

Banner by Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood

Roleplaying as Ginyami Midorimori from Mahoutokoro
"English | Japanese"

“Yes… Whenever I go too fast, please grab on and slow me down. It’s very important that I explain well enough that you truly understand. I don’t want to rush you. Help me go at the pace that works for you.”

In reality, it was difficult for Ginyami to focus on what Valentin was saying when the latter pulled the former's hand onto his leg with both gloved hands. The gesture was so intimate that he had a hard time thinking of anything else except the warmth of that leg under his palm and fingertips. The regretful nature of Valentin's tone eventually forced him to return his attention to the conversation at hand, however, and he did his best to keep it there.

Once the seeker explained it in such a way and Ginyami tried harder to understand, he thought it started to make sense to him. One who cared so much for others had to be particularly careful not to neglect themselves or else be careful about who they cared so much for lest caring for the wrong people or for too many brought about their own ruin. It was a wonder Valentin was still alive with the strength of the bonds Ginyami had seen him have with his fellow Durmstrang schoolmates. Then again, hasn't he said he had...died before? Or perhaps had multiple near-death experiences? His attention wavered again when Valentin moved his hand up to the bridge of his nose before closing his eyes. The tender action was something Ginyami was entirely unused to and thus at a loss for how to respond. All he could do was sit there and continue to listen.

He could understand how those other Durmstrang students to whom Valentin was so clearly devoted to might find themselves just as devoted to the white seeker in turn and thus put themselves in danger for his sake. Perhaps that was what he had meant by people putting themselves in danger when he gave them his unconditional love; that they would be willing to go to great, even life-threatening lengths for him just as he would for them. Some might have called it admirable, but Ginyami couldn't help seeing what he believed was the foolishness of it. After all, people were all too prone to taking advantage of one another or turning around and stabbing each other in the back. He understood the concept, but it made little sense logic-wise to him to put so much total and complete faith and trust in another person.

Valentin, though, seemed different. He made Ginyami want to believe he could be trusted with how much he trusted others - how much he seemed to want to trust Ginyami despite them only having just met. Don't put your faith in me, he thought as he observed Valentin run his thumb over the other boy's index finger. You may find that to be a mistake.

If he was a masochist, though, as he said the papers called him, maybe that was why - his incredibly trusting and loving nature. After all, anyone who cared so openly and honestly in the world they lived in was bound to get hurt sooner or later and it was usually sooner. Evidently Valentin's brushes with death hadn't taught him enough for him to change his ways, however. Yet how could he possibly remain the way he was, vulnerable and open-hearted? He was such a mystery to Ginyami. It was part of what drew him to him. Perhaps it was what drew his teammates and fans and others to him as well.

He then spoke of a ravenous monster inside him that made him hunger and 'want his share'. Share of what, though? Power? Love? Trust? He kept still, contemplating this even as his arm was clawed by the soft fingers of Valentin's gloved left hand. When those mercury-amethyst eyes sought him out, he met them, gripping tight the other gloved hand that squeezed his own.

“...I give everything I am, but no one will take it all. Only when someone grants me that wish can I finally take all of someone for myself. This hunger consumes me, and so I keep pushing the limits.”

So you hunger for more of others and that they will take more of you in turn, Ginyami tried to reason. 'The greatest gift of all is to ask everything of you'? I don't understand why you would want to exchange anything in the first place. Most people aren't worth it. He felt Valentin's grip on his hand slacken and glanced down at them.

“Do you see how reckless I am?” he asked with a sigh and Ginyami could only respond with silence. Yes, he thought he did. But it simply made him all the more curious and interested in him, like watching a tornado devour everything in its path.

“If you become my friend, the reason you might need saving from me is… the closer we are, the more my power becomes yours to destroy all limits.”

"You're right. That does sound dangerous," Ginyami agreed, trying not to let the strokes of Valentin's hand atop his own lead his thoughts astray. "But however dangerous destroying all limits may be, it sounds as though that is also your ultimate goal in pushing them. Is that right?"

"I think I understand, now," He bowed his head. "Whatever your goal may be, Valentin, however dangerous, I will endeavor to help you reach it. That is what friends do, is it not?" Raising his head again, he offered a serene smile. "And I do still wish to be your friend."

Interacting with: Valentin Schnell (@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood)