#serus ocverse

[mooglethyst-irl]

Bio - Kaze Hawkinson

Age: 31 Pronouns: He/him

Kaze (rhymes with "daze") is a genetics researcher at Kline Innovations, a company hunting for a cure to the mutations caused by Sensecraft. He's a Visimancer -- able to manipulate the sense of sight -- and dreams of a day when he can use his Craft on even frivolous things without fear of losing his humanity.

When he was young, he was in a gruesome car accident caused by a Craftbeast leaping into the road. He walked away with plenty of trauma around mutants and cars, as well as the loss of his right arm. The prosthetic he now uses is just as functional thanks to modern technology, but maintenance can get expensive.

Kaze considers himself a high-functioning introvert, able to make friends easily with those who share his passions even if socialization tires him. He can be a doormat, though, and often worries about talking over others or asking too much.

Likes: Healthy clutter, fractals Dislikes: Riding in cars, rainy weather Fears: Permanent mutations, losing control over himself Interests: Polymer clay, needle felting, wine tasting Sexuality: Bisexual

[mooglethyst-irl]

Summary: Kaze and his friend Marina go dancing at the club. Marina uses her Craft to lift his spirits.

Word count: 600

Prior reading: None required

Kaze leaned heavily over the bar, clutching his head against both the daze of the alcohol and the pounding bass. This was so not his scene. He didn't mind a few drinks every now and then, but the loud electronic music and flashing multicolored lights were compounding his sensory overload. He could probably use his Visimancy to dull his perception and provide some relief, but it seemed so irresponsible.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Marina trotting up to him. Her dark blue skin blended with the low light, but her bleach-blonde hair and the glittery top she was wearing were impossible to miss. "Hey!" she called out. "You okay over here?"

"Yeah," Kaze said, forcing a smile. Both of them had to shout to be heard over the music. "Just taking a break."

"I'm gonna head out after the next song. Want to dance?"

Kaze looked out at the dance floor. Everyone made it look so easy; just move to the rhythm, right? But he never felt nearly as comfortable as they all seemed to be. "I… think I'll pass," he said.

"Come on, one more song. Trust me!"

Before he could get out a full protest, Marina was already grabbing his arm and tugging him to his feet. And she was surprisingly strong; whether due to natural ability or the benefits of being a Proprioborn, Kaze had no idea, but either way he found himself being pulled back into the swarming crowd of bodies.

"It's okay," Marina said, already swaying to the beat. She was basically a blue centaur (feline nose and tail aside), but she had such an effortless grace about her even with four legs. She reached out and said, "Take my hands!"

Wincing as someone elbowed him in the side, Kaze snapped his own hands out and gripped Marina's like his life depended on it.

And then… something happened. Kaze stopped feeling like such a clumsy lead weight. The stiffness lifted from his muscles like fog evaporating in the sun. He was still nervous, but he let himself start to move to the beat, and found it shockingly easy. He'd never felt so light and limber before.

A baffled grin rising on his face, Kaze tried to relax into the music and match Marina's pace. Even with them clasping each other's hands the whole time, he never once collided with her or stepped on her hooves. He had even stopped bumping into the other dancers around them; instinct told him exactly how to move to avoid their flailing limbs without interrupting his own rhythm. He couldn't even feel the dizziness from those cocktails anymore.

Soon both of them were smiling and laughing, swinging their arms and stomping their feet. Kaze made sure to hold onto her with at least his left hand the whole time, but he couldn't remember the last time he'd had this much fun dancing.

Eventually, the song came to a close. Marina withdrew her hands, and Kaze blinked as he realized they'd made their way all the way back to the club's entrance. He stumbled a little, earlier drunkenness returning. "Wow. Uh." Reflexively, he pulled off his glasses to wipe them on his shirt. "Thank you?"

"Not bad, huh?" Marina said with a huge grin. "Come on, I'll call you a cab."

[mooglethyst-irl]

Summary: Researcher Kaze and trial candidate Oscar share a quiet moment on their way home and bond over fear for the future.

Word count: 1.2k

Prior reading: None required

Kaze leaned over the railing between the street and the lab. Well, "lab" was putting it generously; it was really just a cramped little suite downtown, on the fifth floor of one office building among countless others. Kline Innovations -- the company he worked for -- had recently acquired it in an effort to branch out to more clinical trials. All the fancier equipment was in the main building, which Kaze rarely got to visit.

Today had been the first round of meeting with candidates for a new program Kaze himself was in charge of. The work had mostly been taking blood and skin samples from a variety of humans who showed partial mutations. With enough data, they might be able to narrow down the genetic switches responsible for making the mutations permanent; if things went well, it could potentially lead to a cure. That would be a long way away, though -- likely beyond Kaze's lifetime.

Rain poured down in front of him, the awning above his head causing the rushing droplets to barely miss his face. The white noise of the rain hitting the asphalt seemed to reflect Kaze's rushing thoughts; it was already dark out, but his brain refused to keep quiet. If he could hasten the path to a cure, a life spent using Sensecraft without fear of consequences would be within his grasp. He could put his Visimancy to work even on frivolous things and never need to worry about the changes. It was far from realistic -- Kline had already spent so long hunting for a cure that Kaze's own efforts were unlikely to contribute much -- but it was so tempting to think about.

The door to the office building opened, and someone else joined Kaze at the railing. He looked to see Oscar, one of the trial candidates he'd met with earlier.

Oscar was quite mutated already, well on his way to becoming a Chronoborn. He had an ashy skin tone, broad pointed ears, claws on his hands, and a long reptilian tail curling behind him. He even shaved his head to deal with the patchy hair growth. Combined with his angular jaw and heavy brow, he was an intimidating sort. And now, he was leaning over the rail and staring out into the rain in silence, just as Kaze had been doing.

For several minutes, neither of them moved. Only the sounds of rain and passing traffic kept them company. Kaze glanced over nervously; what was going on? Why hadn't Oscar said anything? Kaze didn't want to imply the company wasn't welcome, but--

"Want one?" Oscar asked.

Startled, Kaze looked down at Oscar's offered hand, which held a box of cigarettes. "Oh... oh, no thank you," he said with a stiff shake of his head. He used to smoke back in college, but never touched the stuff these days.

Oscar nodded, lit one up for himself, and took a slow, thoughtful drag. Blowing the smoke out into the falling rain, where it immediately dissipated, he turned towards Kaze again and said, "Are you doing alright?"

"H-Huh? Yes, I'm... I'm fine."

"It's not my business or anything, but I'm a pretty good read of people. And you, Dr. Hawkinson, don't seem fine to me. Something on your mind?"

Kaze stumbled through a few false starts of sentences, trying to think of the best way to politely deflect. He wanted to keep things strictly professional, but he also didn't want to offend or patronize.

"No pressure," Oscar said with a shrug. "I'm a taxi driver, so I'm used to people spilling their guts out to me, is all." He turned back to the falling rain.

A few seconds of floundering later, Kaze found himself being honest. "I'm scared of using my Craft," he blurted, mortified but unable to stop the admissions from tumbling out. "It's all I was looking forward to for years, it's one of the largest reasons I moved here, but the changes are terrifying. I don't want to end up like--" He froze, realizing he was probably crossing a line. "Well, you know," he finished lamely.

Oscar took another drag. If he was offended, he didn't show it. "Sightcraft, I take it?"

"That's right." Kaze stared at the ground, wanting to crawl into himself and forget this ever happened.

One more inhale, and then Oscar snuffed the cigarette out on the railing and tucked it back into its box. "I used to be scared too," he said, still staring out into the downpour. "Once you get used to messing with how your brain processes time, it's hard to give up. I could slow the whole world down and have a good while all to myself, or speed it up and skip right over the boring stuff. I blew through some of the changes so quick it scared off my partner."

"Oh... I'm sorry."

"Don't be, they weren't worth it anyways. Shook me up for a little while, but I went back to it eventually. Timecraft gets me through life. I guess I stopped caring about the side effects, they're worth it to me. But still, I get it." Idly, Oscar scratched a line in the railing's paint with one of his claws. "It's hard to tell where the line is."

Kaze pursed his lips. The silence that hung over the pair was killing him. "Do you ever get nightmares?" he muttered.

"Oh, sure. I still dream about turning into one of those things they shoot on sight."

"But then, how do you live with it? If you keep going as you are, maybe it'll really happen."

"Maybe... but probably not. It's a risk worth taking if you ask me. Shouldn't let your fear hold you back from something that'd make you happy, Doctor."

Kaze frowned, trying to let the words sink in.

"Tell you what," Oscar said. "How about you break out your sightcraft right now? Something fun, just for the hell of it. If you keep letting your fear get the better of you like this, it'll strangle all the life out of you until you can't remember what you were even getting out of bed for."

"Something fun..." Kaze looked all around the city street, until his gaze finally settled on the night sky looming overhead.

Risks worth taking... hm.

Taking a deep breath, Kaze shut his eyes and called on his Visimancy to focus them beyond their means. When he opened them again, the ambient light of the city initially blinded him; it took some trial and error to tweak his vision in just the right way, to pull in distant light without registering any in his periphery.

But when it clicked, and he looked up again, the sight took his breath away.

"Here, lemme see," Oscar said, laying a hand on Kaze's left shoulder. He wasn't too practiced in using his Craft to affect others yet, but it felt natural enough when he tried. He knew it worked when Oscar gave a low, amazed whistle.

Above them, Kaze and Oscar saw through all the usual pollution of the countless streetlamps, window lights, and glowing signs around them, to a brilliant nebula of gleaming stars.

[mooglethyst-irl]

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Hey, I'm Moogle 😄 This is my general non-fandom hobby blog. Some common tags:

#writing, #ocs, #crochet, #knitting, #yarn: Anything related to these hobbies! I post crochet/knitting projects and photos of cool yarn sometimes.

#serus ocverse: Anything related to my OC verse! It's a near-future modern fantasy where magic is publicly accessible, but mutates the people who use it over time. These posts are usually further split into #original writing and #oc questions.

#solo rpg: Anything about solo RPGs I'm playing, including links to actual plays, cool stuff happening in my games, and general musings. If you've never seen these before, I've written a quick primer here.

#actual play: Specifically links to actual plays I've written! I put these up on my blogspot. I try to keep them accessible even if you don't know much about the hobby or haven't played the specific game.