jesterlies | OPEN POST 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO

[Maverick was ...antsy. Many know him as an unflappable Headmaster of the most prestigious school in all The Isles and then some, so to find their stalwart, wise leader to be jittery over something is a little concerning. Luckily the only he only tends to show this to is Lily. Unluckily, she is away on important business with her family for now, and he is left pacing his office.]

[The letter was very specific, he would be here today. He has sent out scouts ahead to help ensure he makes it safely. he has his Eyes everywhere, nothing is escaping his watch including both this plane and the next.]

[He has had his eyes close on the veil this entire time, through out that wretched war, he knows that his soul yet walks this earth, so logically he has no reason to be worried.]

[And yet he can't help the way his heart shutters to each and every sound. Doors opening, footsteps echoing, it's all the worst. ]

[Finally someone comes to his office to tell him they're arriving now, they've been spotted just beyond the bridge. Maverick all but flies to the very front of the hall, the Spire. The Grand Beacon of the Order. His beloved School of which he's watched over a millennia. He waits in the front Foyer for those large, ornate doors carved in his crest to open.]

[He has been diligent penpals with Percy for years now, even once he'd graduated. His mind was bright and curious and he knew he would go far. He did not expect for him to take up a medic's role in the war that had touched Anglia's borders, but really, he should have. Beyond that brilliant mind had been someone kind and gentle with a healer's heart.]

[The war had been nasty, of which his letters confirm, and with those scars, with the things Percy has described to him, Maverick was all but quick to offer him a place here once more. Both to help him get back on his feet and also, perhaps selfishly, because he wanted to look after his friend.]

[Though he is old and has seen much, he still braces for what comes over the bridge.]

[ Percy stood before the large ornate doors of the Spire and inhaled slowly, closing his eyes as the wave of familiarity washed over him. It felt like ages since Percy had left the Academy, so much had happened. His beloved Order, a place that had become a second home for a small shepherds boy who found magic whispered to him in the crops he grew and the sheep he cared for. Yet it was only, truthfully, a few short years since he had graduated and gone out to the War as a healer, and standing there again, he felt like he did the first day. Slightly nervous, a lot excited, and now there was the feeling of coming home.

And of having someone wait for him.

He's nudged gently on the back and exhales hard, opening his eyes to give his carriage driver an apologetic look. A soft "My apologies" as he gathers up his bags, the driver getting the others, and walks the rest of the way up those grand steps to those large doors.

And like they did that first day, those doors automatically part for him, the magic swinging them silently open, and he watches with the same awe as that crest breaks in half to welcome him.

And that awe instantly changes to delight as he spots a familiar - incredibly familiar, in those years not a hair on the mans head had changed even a shade - figure waiting for him. His smile is bright and blooming wide as he steps over the threshold, setting his bags down to cross the distance between them and clasp their hands together. ]

Seamus! Have you been waiting this entire time?!

[ Where Maverick saw a bright eyed eager young man leave, dressed in his slightly ill-fitting cause he wont stop growing casual clothes, now stands a decorated Healer of the Order of Light in the Dark Wars. His outfit is a crisp well pressed suit that fully fits him, a soft white with the Order of Lights stylized sun pinned to his lapel. And his hair is longer, carefully gathered back into a low ponytail to simply keep it aside.

And where his simple little witch mark of a star once was, now blossoms a many spoked sun, as if he had embodied the Orders ideals entirely. As well as many new crease marks around his eyes, and a fancy new pair of glasses perched on his nose. ]

[It takes his breath away for a moment, to see the changes in the man. To see him older, with a gait so confident. To see him properly filled in that decorated uniform and to see each of the lines in his face. His eyes take in every meticulous difference in an instant and it nearly stuns him.]

[But this not a new experience for him. He is a thousand and forty-seven years old, and watching life grow and die is normal, natural, often when he is the one who gently takes them to the veil himself.]

[With grace he smiles, warm, with relief to see him cross the threshold and takes his hands.]

Of course not, you caught me at just the right time.

[He slowly looks up at him, raising an eyebrow.]

Though I have to wonder, did you mistakenly take some embiggen potion? Mishandle the recipe I gave you, did you? tsk, tsk!

[ That makes him laugh, a soft merry little noise, and he squeezes Mavericks hands gently before letting them go, straightening himself up from where he'd leaned down. Then smiles, cheekily. ]

My dear friend, would I truly mishandle a potion recipe? Perhaps it is you who has shrunken in your older age.

[ He hm's and lifts a hand to put it at Mavericks head, then drags it to himself. Tsks softly. His voice takes on a healers note, a soothing cadence one might use for someone suffering a head injury. ]

Perhaps you should rest, Seamus? You are quite old, after all, being out and about at your age must not be good for your back. Are you stooping a little? Tsk. Ah! Thank you, my good sir!

[ The last bit is to the driver, and he's quick to move over to give the man his pay and a gracious tip, beaming merrily at him as he leaves and leaves behind the last of Percy's luggage.

Which is suddenly looking daunting now that it's just him carrying it. He glances left, then right, then pushes his glasses up a little further on his nose and whispers a quick spell and a little hand gesture. The luggage pops out of existence and he clears his throat like he did nothing. They'll come back when he's shown to his room proper. ]

Bah!

[He flaps his hands in such a dramatic manner as he whirls around, his robes and tassels smacking into Percy as he does. Oh, you will not get one over him! He is still the Headmaster!! Even if you're suddenly very tall and actually suit it now!!]

I am in beautiful shape for my ripe age of two thousand-and-twenty, thank you very much! I am as spry as they get! Why, I even did a little jog around the courtyard earlier! No, no, it must be that something is afflicting you.

[He pauses, turning around to look at him once more, then winks a little in amusement, watching the luggage vanish suddenly.]

[Joking aside, he sighs a little, and then offers him a bright grin.]

Welcome home, Percy. Come along, I've got your room sorted.

Edited 2025-12-26 07:01 (UTC)

[ The tassel smacking makes him snort softly, as does the comment of his age. Oh, now we're on two thousand-and-twenty? Was this younger than he said before? He'll have to note it. ]

You? Jog? Oh, my dear, I see you still tell tall tales!

[ He steps back over to his friend, taking him in proper as he's welcomed home. Which makes a warmth blossom in him. He is home. He sets a hand on Mavericks shoulder and bends in just enough to lay a little kiss on the top of his small little head. His friend. ]

Thank you, it's good to be home again. I've missed this place dearly. And it will be quite something to see this place from the other side of things.

[ A Professor now, where he was once a student. He straightens again and gestures for Maverick to lead, curious. ]

How has the school and these lands fared since my absence? I know your letters were always filled with warmth, but there has been no signs of War here? All is still peaceful?

I see you've become less gullible! Ah, how sad that you will be harder to fool with my silly little stories. Alas!

[Ah, Maverick's eyes flutter shut a moment before he smiles. He will turn and begin walking, though, because he does not want to linger on that for too long.]

It's true! The student has now become the teacher. You're quite lucky that Professor Haberly decided to retire a few months ago. I'm quite lucky you decided to take her slot, as I had a time trying to fill that class as it's sub! Healing is not my specialty, after all.

[Off they go, up the stairs. There's a larger than life painting of the three founders. Maverick, Lilian and Eochaidh, all with their regal glory rendered, which is often at odds with both the Headmaster himself, and the way Lilian sometimes drags herself back to the Spire covered in mud up to her knees with twigs in her hair having not eaten in three days to excitedly tell them all the neat thing she just learned in some ancient ruin in a kingdom across the ocean.]

Oh, it has been the same as it always has been, not to worry. I built this place in such a strategic local that the threat of war very rarely whispers here. I would know if that ever changed. How has your journey been? Uneventful, I hope.

Oh dear...

[ The thought of Maverick, of all people, subbing in Healing makes Percy bark a laugh. He can't help it, because as much as Maverick has gone from Headmaster to close friend, and as much as Percy knows the mans knowledge of various schools of magic borders something truly insane...

Healing requires a touch far more delicate than this small chaos incarnate man knows.

As they walk, he admires the three portraits, as he often did when he was younger. Each one the picture of grace and regency. Power and poise. And he knows, as many students quickly learn, that only Eochaidh is truly that way. The Silver Knight is the very picture of a gentleman and a leader. Soft spoken and disciplined, yet a fierce swordsman and defendant.

Then there's Maverick, who he got to know as first just a professor who pushed him theories and mind to the limits, then as the Headmaster who lead his students to great things... and then as the man. His friend. Something he can only call a creature in human disguise.

And Lilian... it's hard to tell with her, as she's out more often than in, but it was always a ruckus when she came back with something new to share. Whether it be knowledge or something fighting tooth and nail-

Percy sighs in relief as Maverick reassures him the world here has been quiet. ]

Our efforts to contain it worked, then. I'm glad. And yes, indeed. Uneventful and quiet. Almost painfully so. I had grown quite used to the clamor of the field! I truly look forward to the student noise to fill in the silence.

[ His voice is soft and pleasant, happy and sweet, and from the tone of it one would never know he'd been to War. He seems the picture of serenity. The Paragon of Healing. ]

Ah, I truly missed it here!

Indeed.

[Maverick knows the theory and he is perfectly fine at the magic itself, he has created the Healer's programs here at the school, but it's true, when it comes to teaching it, it just isn't his best work.]

[It requires a patience he was never gifted with, but that is why he thinks Percy will be a fantastic choice for the role.]

[Maverick continues them up the stairs, across halls, into the wing known for holding most of the live-in professors.]

Of course, and even if we saw a threat at our door, I would dispatch them immediately, so you needn't worry here. The Order has been much the same as you remember.

[Joyously loud and chaotic.]

[He pauses by the door that will now be Percy's new room, and smiles, taking him in.]

[He's grown so much he can hardly believe it, but at the same time, hm. While he looks at him, he can't help but feel like something is a little off. Percy had come from war, and so Maverick wonders if he is holding himself this way as a means of trying to hold back those horrors. It's something for him to suss out later.]

[For now, he opens the door for him.]

I hope you'll not come to miss the peace and quiet! You'll surely never get any now. Now, how does it feel to be given a proper professor's quarters after living in the dorms all this time?

[It's a very lovely room actually.]

[ Much the same as you remember makes Percy smile with true delight. An absolute madhouse, then. Children of all ages screeching from class to class, the sounds of experimental magic exploding, the sudden colors of smoke wafting from chimneys or windows. The joy and laughter of comfort and safety and learning. The grumble of older professors sitting around like stodgy statues, trying desperately for peace and quiet to continue their work.

His heart aches and yearns for those days, and he cannot be gladder he's returned home.

The way his friend studies him makes him tilt his head gently, and he gives him a soft smile in turn. A little shake of his head. He knows the mans curiosity and though he told Maverick much in his letters - the nightmares, the pain - there's some he has yet to reveal. But he knows he will, because there's no one he trusts more.

Then his gaze turns to the room and his eyes widen, and he looks delighted. ]

I knew it!

[ He stomps into the room, looking around. Taking in everything like he's committing it to memory, when he's truly thinking back. ]

We oft argued in the dorms just what a Professors room truly looked like. "Gilt like a Kings treasury." "Lavish, like a Queens bed chambers." "A hovel, pitiful." I always knew it would be comfortable without being extravagant. Ah, after I got to know you more and realized you would not put such distance between our comforts.

[ He sits on the foot of the bed and with great gusto reaches down to undo the laces on his shoes and kick them off. Sighing heavily in relief as he massages one. ]

[The shake of his head makes him realize he's been caught. He sighs a little, letting it go for now, but now Percy knows he's watching him.]

[He watches him storm in and then immediately start ripping off his shoes. Ah, he recalls now that Percy had been particular insolent about wearing shoes while a student, having grown up on a farm where he wandered about barefoot to his heart's content.]

[Maverick saunters in after him, arms crossed.]

Of course I would not make my hard working Professor's live in a sty, but at the same time I had to be practical about the space! Do you know how bloody many of you I have to cram in this tower on any given day? It's a logistical nightmare.

So, to me, these rooms are rather humble, but still meet your needs.

[ Shoes are the Saints bane on Mankind. Truly the Demons greatest laugh. It makes a foot weak! It disconnects you from the natural magic!

They suck!

With a small pop Percy's luggage finally comes back into reality, clunking down in various places. He laughs a little and shakes his head, gesturing to a window. ]

You know very well that you have lovely lands you could build more on!

[ But he also knows Maverick, nor the others, ever would. Nor would they move. The Spire is located at a loci of energy, it's the best place for magic to flow in and around. And to disrupt the land with other buildings would cause a shift that would take ages to naturally adjust.

He huffs a small sound and looks around, already also beginning to undo the stiff outfit. He's lived in dorms, he's very much not body shy. ]

I think it's perfect. It beats sleeping on a field cot inside a tent. Do you know how long it's been since I slept on a bed?! Ages, Seamus!

[ He flops backwards with a heavy heavenly sigh. Bliss. ]

Absolutely wretched. You can see why I've never been one for the field myself. I think I would simply perish being outside my castle walls!

[The click of heels as Maverick begins to walk around the room. He throws open the wardrobe. He will pull out a Professors robe set and then hum thoughtfully as he holds it up far above his head.]

Hm, I may need to get this tailored for you after all, what a pity.

[He slides it back in. Then with a flick of his wrist, the doors shut behind them nice and secure.]

Now, will you let me take a look at your ailments properly? You described plenty to me over your letters but why do I suspect you're yet hiding some.

Au of an Au

why can't i hold all these limes meme

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject