steepwithdead | Folkmore

Just occasionally, huh.

[Well, he won't grant an "always". But Leonardo has been fairly reasonable in the time Cad's known him, so the remark gets a teasing tone in response as he gets to work mending those cuts.]

Just occasionally. You never know what I'll get up to next. [Given he came back from a makeshift fight and throwing blood vials around, Leonardo is living proof that things just happen.]

I'll try to keep blood fights off my proverbial dance card for a while though.

My water and diamond supply would appreciate that.

[His gaze drifts over the newly-cracked plastron.]

Did you mend it yourself? Or did he?

[The new crack isn't exactly subtle to say the least, but the question does draw Leo up short.]

Donnie mended it. During our fight, I fell and cracked it. He made sure it held together.

Do you want a top-up? Or would you prefer to let it heal on its own?

[He's always down to let people maintain their own health, but... well, he doesn't like to see it get worse, not better.]

A top up wouldn't be a bad idea. Given I've cracked this area twice here, at least a few times back home. [He answers with a small nod.]

[No hesitation, Caduceus simply nods and presses his hand lightly against the broken plastron, pouring magic into it. It's a relatively simple spell, perhaps a bit stronger than a "top-up", but he's weary of watching the turtle suffer at this point. So, he should heal up more than the fresh crack, maybe a few extra days of improvement on the original.]

[Leo is none the wiser on Caduceus pouring more healing into it than expected. He watches, clearly curious, if anything. The resin was already pretty set, but the magical help makes it adhere further.]

Never gonna get over how cool magic is.

[Caduceus makes an amused noise, checking to make sure the spell caught the rest of his cuts before going to put away the unused med supplies.]

Is it only healing magic that's unusual in your world? Your family has quite the variety otherwise, from what I've seen and heard.

As far as I know, yeah. I at least hadn't run into it. [He can guess some yokai could probably heal, but, it wasn't like he could ask or dig into what their society used to be.]

Our magic was a little weird by everyone else's standards anyway.

What made it weird?

[He's so used to different kinds of magic in the world, it's hard to imagine any standing out as especially "weird". ...Well, maybe the magic ball-eating stuff from the early Uk'otoa days was up there.]

[He needs a second to mull it over.] I can't speak about yokai magic that deeply. Their whole society operated on magic to some extent.

My family's magic is powered by each generation. [He chuckles a little.] Ghost powered magic? Great grandma Karai made a promise, and it carried enough power to ensure every Hamato had magic.

Ahh. Magic formed through a pledge can be powerful indeed.

[Sort of like a warlock, maybe? Except promised through family, not some sort of god. He can imagine some folks would argue that's much better. (Not him, but he can respect the source.)]

Less weird than you might think.

[The phrasing does make the turtle mull over it somewhat. He never thought of it as a pledge.] Huh, good to know it's not too weird, then. I don't think it's common back in my world. At least not by the Hamato way of handling things.

Protect the world from a great evil, die if you must to ensure it doesn't resurface. A blunt weapon that struck until it shattered, giving the next weapon time to be forged. You added to the next generation's power, I think, when you did that. [He huffs a little.] Pardon the lame metaphor.

It can be both good and bad. Really depends on who the pact is made with.

[Like- Wildmom! Good pact. Murderous betrayer gods, or racist uncles: not so good.]

It's not a lame metaphor if it's accurate. That sounds like a heavy task to put on the shoulders of any family, though. Familial expectations, if you're not happy with the duty you're stuck with... it can be a difficult medicine to swallow. Got a few of those in my family.

We changed the rules after Shredder was gone, but- [He waves his hand, not wanting to spin in circles around that.] that's besides the point.

Lemme guess, a sibling wanted to go on grand adventures instead of tend to the dead?

My brother and middle sister were always more ambitious and adventurous than I ever was. Or still am, even now. They were hoping to be the ones to complete the mission to save home. It must annoy them terribly that they had to be saved by me, the hermit who didn't like to travel.

[That does a fair job of making Leonardo laugh, the is sound bright and pleased. Both of them being middle children in their families means, he is already thinking of helpful ways for Caduceus to irritate his siblings.]

When you get back, I hope you rub it in a little. [He makes a small gesture by pinching two fingers together.] They can consider it their first step into more adventures. You'll have their backs when they need you most.

Well, I don't think I could convince Colton to travel with me, even if I were so inclined. We'd go for a day at most before he'd wander off solo. He's poor company on the road. Calliope, though. I think we could try.

[They bicker too, but in a more familiar way. Colton's a little too removed from Cad's personality for them to mesh well. He loves his brother like he loves all of his family, but he's also self-aware.]

[He leans against the nearest counter in the kitchen, still feeling energetic thanks to that spell. He doesn't want to sit down just yet.] Maybe you two can figure out a trip together when you get back. Depending on what is going on, anyway.

Colton can miss out overall, strike it out on his own doing Colton-y things. [He wiggles his fingers when he says 'things' for emphasis.]

I think after everything is done, I'll want to stay home for... a good long while. But eventually, maybe. I don't know how she'll feel, either. She'd been gone much longer than me.

[Although he doesn't know if she felt that time as strongly- she'd been petrified for most of it, after all. He's been awake and adventuring the whole time.]

Fair. You always gave off homebody vibes. No offense intended. [He offers back with a smile.]

If, I figure out portals between dimensions, I'll come by and say hi at least.

I'm not offended, it's the truth. Had I not been called to leave, I would have happily stayed in my temple for life.

[He's been bitten by adventure now... it was terrifying at first, but now, he can see the appeal, doing good and being with his dear friends, now a second family. Give it a few years after everything's over, and maybe he'll venture off again.]

You'd be very welcome. I could show you around. It isn't luxurious like this place, but I think it's beautiful.

You're happy at home and taking care of things. It makes sense. [Leonardo can't blame him for that. He used to just want to stay at home, sure adventures were fun, but home was different. Safe.]

I'd like to see the temple, the graves and take everything in.

Mm. That's so.

[He's glad Leo understands. Not everyone does.]

There's spells in my world that cross dimensions, of a sort. [They're known as planes, but similar theory.] There could be many ways to travel to other worlds. It would be nice if we could somehow visit the friends we've made here, after.

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