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 Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 1:18 pm
June 19, 2017Mondays had always been Reuben's busiest days. Every morning he'd be up at sunrise to open the shop and e had scheduled appointments for readings every Monday afternoon. Some days he wouldn't even come back into the house until after 8pm because of how busy he became during the day, even when the shop closes at 6pm. The cleanup was always worse on Mondays. Today, however, was different. Ryder noticed that Reuben had closed the shop an hour early and was back in the house and in his room with classical music playing as the shower in their shared bathroom ran. What was he doing off of work so early? Why did he decide to close the shop early? Ryder's imagination ran wild with scenarios of what could be. But he didn't let that distract him from practicing his magic. When the music stopped playing and Ryder heard the doors to the bathroom unlock, he instantly went into the bathroom only to smell the stench of strong cologne. "Oh, gods," a saying the frei picked up from his guardian over the last few months. "That's repulsive," the toadstool concluded, throwing his nose into his antecubital fossa. Ryder followed the musky scent into Reuben's bedroom, who had just finished putting on a pair of skinny jeans. "What's going on?" the frei questioned, his eyebrow raised and ribbon end twitching. Reuben spun around and smiled. "I'm going out," the guardian stated bluntly. "Your aunt Calista is coming to watch you."Ryder scrunched his face. He may have been young, but he wasn't a child. "I can take care of myself, you know. I do so every day you're in the shop.""I didn't say you couldn't, but the shop is literally right next door and I could be here in a matter of seconds if something was happening. So, to save me the trouble, Calista is coming over and is just going to be here in case you need anything.""Where are you going?" the frei questioned. Continuing to argue about being left alone at this point was futile. "Just to dinner. I'll be back in a few hours."Ryder's brows fell into dismay. So he was going to leave, and was getting all gussied up for a dinner? "With whom?""My friend, Evan."Ryder nodded at the answer and decided to leave well enough alone. Why his guardian was getting so gussied up for a simple dinner was beyond the frei. And why he was missing out on potential clients and money was just confusing him further, especially when he knew how important Reuben's work was to him. Without further questioning, however, the frei let it be and went back to practicing his magic. A knock came at the frei's bedroom door. "Come in."The door swung open and there she stood, the babysitter as promised. "So, where'd Reu go to anyway?"Confused by the question, Ryder's brows furrowed. "He didn't tell you? He's out to dinner with a friend.""Which friend?" she inquired. Ryder's brows raised. Was she joking? As far as he knew, she was messing with him. Of course Reuben had told her, right? Why else was she here? "Uhh, Evan?" he stated in a questioning tone. "Why are you asking me?""No reason."And with that, Calista shut the door. Ryder was too curious to leave that be, so he got up from his bed and followed her out into the living room. There she was, furiously going at her cell phone like a madwoman, cursing under her breath. "A-are you...alright?" the frei questioned curiously. Calista glanced up at the raevan and then back down at her phone. She then gently pat the seat next to her on the couch. Ryder floated over and perched himself next to her, where she proceeded to show him exactly what she was doing. "He's on a date. With him."Ryder glanced at his babysitter's face and then back at this photo of a man. "A date? What's that? And why are you mad about it?"Calista sighed. "A date is where you hang out with someone you like. I'm sure you've read a story or two where two people kiss, correct? Well, at the end of a date, oftentimes you get a kiss," she began, becoming more and more irritated as the sentence went on. "I knew he was going out on a date and not running errands. He should have just told me."Ryder was puzzled. Of course he had read many stories, but that still didn't explain why she was upset with him, or why he lied about it in the first place. "Okay...and you're upset because?"Calista rolled her eyes and a soft groan escaped her lips. "Look," she said, pointing to the man's social media relationship status. "He's in a relationship. And upon further inspection, it looks like it's with this girl...Valerie Cronk."Ryder's brow raised once more. He didn't understand all the importance of this, nor why it mattered. He understood that the lie was probably why she was upset, but aside from that, it didn't make much sense. "He just said he's going to dinner with a friend. Why do you believe it to be a date?"Calista could tell the frei didn't quite get it, and thus, she spoke up, "Reuben was dressed up far too fancy to run a few errands; and he wouldn't put that much effort into his appearance if it were really just a friend he was going to dinner with," she spoke, fully knowing that Ryder still didn't truly understand all of the surrounding components. "First of all, he lied to me. And he knows you never lie to Calista. She'll find that s**t out and ruin your life," she paused a moment with a sigh before continuing. "And secondly, he's on a date with a man who is in a relationship with a woman." she concluded, staring with disgust at a picture of the seemingly happy couple on her device. "What the hell is he doing?" she muttered under her breath. Ryder kept his glance between the phone and Calista's face. She never took her eyes off of the phone whilst speaking. She was fuming, and he could tell. With narrowing eyes, Calista clicked the sleep button on her cell before dropping it on her lap and rubbing her golden eyes with a sigh. Ryder felt as though this entire scenario could be found in many of the books he had read. A love triangle of sorts. It amused the mushroom frei to the point a crooked grin grew upon his face. Oh how he imagined these three fighting over one another like children over candy. It was fun to stir up drama, at least in his head. Calista sat her phone on the coffee table in front of them before turning her attention to Ryder. "So what all do you know about this Evan person?"Ryder just shrugged. "Reuben hasn't mentioned him to me. This is the first I've heard of him, honestly."Calista looked at the front door and tapped her fingers on the back of the couch. "Want to go for a drive?"Ryder winced. He hated going out, but when Calista said something, it wasn't like he had much of a choice. Before he could even answer, the woman was already walking towards the front door with her car keys in hand, ready to go. With a heavy sigh, the frei slowly floated behind his babysitter, not once even speaking. "Where are we going?" Ryder asked, staring out the window. The illusionist was driving rather manically, and ignored the question for a good ten seconds while she passed a couple of cars in her over-sized pickup truck. "We're going to find your guardian."Ryder shook his head. Why did he allow this to happen? "How do you even know where he is?"Calista quickly glanced at Ryder with a mischievous smirk. "I have my ways."The two drove for a good twenty minutes deep into the heart of Durem. There was one restaurant there that Reuben had always loved to go to even though he hated the town and what it represented to him. If he was going on an actual date, this was where they were most likely to be. "Aha! There's Reuben's car," she chirped as she pulled into an open parking spot nearby. "That ******** thought he could be sly and s**t," she muttered quickly to herself, yet loud enough for Ryder to hear. Ryder just looked at the small restaurant and noticed the dim lighting. It sure didn't seem like much from the outside. "Now we just have to catch him in the act.""The act of wh-" the frei began before getting cut off. "SHH! There he is!" she screamed. Ryder jumped in slight shock. Why did she just tell him to 'shh' in such a loud tone? And even then, it wasn't as if Reuben could hear them when they were across the parking lot. But, nevertheless, she was right. Reuben was exiting the little restaurant with the same man that Calista had shown him earlier. Calista's eyes were like daggers, if only Reuben knew the two were there, he'd definitely feel the pain of those eyes digging deep into his very soul. Ryder was almost nervous, he had known Calista's personality to be rather sporadic and even a bit crazy, but wasn't this going just a tad too far? Maybe this is exactly why Reuben wanted to keep it all a secret from her in the first place. He knew she'd react this way. "Shouldn't we-"
The erratic behavior of his aunt was almost sickening to the poor frei. He already felt bad enough for spilling the beans to her in the first place; but now she was basically in full rampage mode for literally no reason. It wasn't even any of her business why Reuben was with this man. It wasn't either of their businesses. So why did she care so much? Ryder sighed and just stayed silent while she continued to stare at the car.
Once they pulled away from the parking lot, Calista spoke up, "Okay, now we have to follow them."
"Or maybe we should just go home."
Calista's eyes narrowed. That was not going to happen whatsoever. With that, she started up her car.
Ryder couldn't take it, she was acting as though she was cheated or something. Finally, the frei had enough. There was only one thing he could do. He used what she had taught him the week before. He completely concentrated his thoughts on wanting his skin's poisonous potency to increase. With tensions high, his skin began to lubricate, looking wet and greasy. The frei looked down at the palms of his hands and they were swollen and glistened with a strange greasy clear slime it seemed. It was his chance. He grabbed the woman's bare arm and held on tight for a few moments.
"Hey! What the hell are you doi-" was all she could get out before she instantly began to feel sick to her stomach. She yanked her arm away from the raevan's grasp and before she knew it, she was hanging her head out the truck's door, vomiting on the pavement.
Ryder's eyes widened. It worked. His skin potency really worked. Albeit maybe a bit too strong. "I-I'm so sorry! I just want to go home!"
As Calista brought up her head from staring down at her own bile, there stood the tall and lanky Alice, bent over staring her right in the face.
"Lets go home," the figment stated in a firm tone, staring her right in the eyes.
"I'm sorry, aunt Cali! I'm so, so sorry!" Ryder cried in the background.
Calista had to take a moment to regain her composure before sitting straight back up in her chair with skin clamming up and chills setting in. "It's fine, Ryder. We're going home," she said, closing her truck's door and noticing Alice still staring at her in the driver window with the creepiest of smiles on her face.
With that, the two headed back to the house.
"We won't tell Reuben about tonight, okay? It'll be our little secret." Calista stated as she stared out the window at the street ahead, clearly still sick from the poisoning.
All Ryder did was nod his head, staring out his passenger window. Tonight wouldn't be spoken of again, that much he agreed with.
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Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 1:21 pm
June 21, 2017"YES! It's finally here!" Reuben's voice rang throughout the entire house. Ryder, curious to see what his guardian was so excited about, floated out into the living room with his arms crossed. He watched as Reuben unleashed his fury on the box, cutting it as much as he could with his box cutter and tearing through the cardboard to reveal a styrofoam box within. Upon closer inspection, the styrofoam opened to reveal a very beautiful clouded quartz crystal ball. It was nothing to be so excited about. It was literally a piece of molded crystal, albeit a very pretty molded crystal. "What is it?" Ryder questioned. Reuben laughed as he pulled the ball from the styrofoam. "It's my new crystal ball that's used for divination. Isn't it beautiful!?"Ryder shrugged. Sure it was pretty, but it definitely wasn't something to get so worked up about. "I...guess?"Reuben scoffed and chuckled. "You don't even understand how cool this is," he said as he walked through the kitchen towards the back yard. Ryder just shook his head and went back to his bedroom. Looking out of his bedroom window toward the gazebo, Ryder watched Reuben wipe down and just stare at that crystal ball. He had a goofy smile on his face as he gazed into it. Ryder just chuckled at the face his guardian made and tried his best to imitate it before laughing a bit and shaking his head. As the day went on, however, Ryder noticed that Reuben was still out there staring into that stupid ball. "What is so damn special about that thing?" he asked aloud. Finally, as he watched, Reuben covered the ball and made his way into his shop. Now was Ryder's chance. He had to see what was so interesting about it. The frei floated to the gazebo and looked at the desk where the crystal ball was sitting. He slowly lifted the deep purple cloth that covered it to gaze upon the ball itself. With a curious eye, Ryder floated down to eye level with the ball, staring through it he saw nothing. With a roll of his eyes, he floated back up and looked down at the ball. That's all it was; a simple, crystal ball that looked pretty. There was no power there. He didn't feel any sort of magical energy coming from it. Shaking his head he then picked it up. Suddenly, the different broken elements within the ball began to swirl towards the center. "Whoa!" Quickly taking his hands away, the swirling reversed back to it's original state. Ryder shook his head quickly a second as to bring himself back to reality. Did that really just happen? Slowly going to tap it with one finger, it did nothing. Then, he left his finger on the ball a moment. The broken shards right underneath his finger began to distort and wiggle as if they were dancing underneath this glass frame. Pulling his finger away stiffened the broken shards. The raevan slowly gazed at his hands, both back and front. His freckles softly glowing as if to warn him that his magic was stirring. He rubbed his fingers against his palms a few times before grabbing each side of the crystal ball once more. This time, the swirling began quickly and the center of the swirl began to show off a vision of a very cartoon-esque styled drawing of a woman with torched hair and elongated eyes which he instantly recognized. "Th-that's Alice..." he stated under his breath with a quick gasp of surprise. He was seeing Alice within this crystal ball. Ryder let go of the ball and the vision faded as quickly as he did. Ryder felt a bit tired once he let go, but it didn't stop him from thinking about what he had just witnessed. His muse within some magical crystal ball. The frei then grabbed the sides of the ball again and envisioned Alice dancing in a field of flowers. Upon this thought, the swirling started and there she was, in her very distorted cartoon-esque style scurrying through a field of wildflowers that looked as though they were drawn by three year old children. Either way, Ryder knew whatever he was thinking about was coming across this crystal ball. One vision led to another and Ryder began down a path, just staring deep into this crystal ball he got lost in a daze as if he was just staring into the void. THUD!Before he could even realize, Ryder had exhausted himself and passed out on the gazebo floor. "Ryder!? Ryder! Ryder!" Reuben's voice could be heard echoing through the frei's mind as if they were nails on a chalkboard. With a pounding headache, Ryder opened his eyes slowly to see Reuben on top of him calling his name. Ryder couldn't do much but push Reuben off of him and roll to his side. "Ryder, what happened!?" the concerned guardian called. Ryder couldn't even bring himself to speak. His face scrunched as he laid on the floor, ribbon strewn ever-so-lazily on the ground. "Lets get you inside," Reuben said, trying to pick up his charge. A moan escaped the frei's mouth as he slowly moved to grab Reuben's hand away. He just wanted to be left alone. "Ryder..." was all that echoed in the frei's mind before he slowly drifted out of consciousness again. Upon awakening, he found himself in his bed with Reuben hovering over. "Thank the gods you're awake. I had to call Zeke because I didn't know what to do."Ryder's head pounded with pain as he sat up in his bed. "Uh-ow..." he moaned quietly under his breath, rubbing his head. "What happened to you?" Reuben asked. He wanted to get to the bottom of it. Ryder just continued to hold his head and once he felt well enough to speak, he did. "I...saw Alice in your crystal. And then I just saw more and more and it was cool. Then the next thing I know, you're standing over me yelling my name."Reuben let out a large sigh. "At least Zeke was right," Reuben stated. Ryder looked at him with squinted eyes, as if there was a blazing sun staring directly back at him. The look on the frei's face made it obvious that he wanted to know what the vet told his guardian. "He said that you're probably experiencing some sort of power exhaustion. You used too much of your magical energy and passed out because of it. He told me if you don't feel better to definitely bring you in, but that you should be just fine. Just don't ever over exert yourself like that again. He also said that you'd probably feel starved when you woke up. So, I went around the neighborhood really quickly and gathered some of our neighbors old food and also found some rotting veggies in the garden. So here you go. Eat up." Reuben stated, shoving a plate of the rotting matter towards his charge. This was the first time Ryder felt that Reuben truly was being a guardian. Before then, Ryder viewed Reuben only as company, not a companion. Now, with this little scare, he knew that Reuben cared deeply for him; and it showed on his face when he woke up. Through the pounding in his head, he smiled. "Thank you, Reuben," he said, accepting the gift of rotting veggies and expired foods.
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Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 1:24 pm
 June 25, 2017Reuben and Ryder go to their first ever Lab 305 hosted event. Reuben is quite excited; whereas Ryder is not. But the pair agree to have as much fun as they can and make the most of the day! Beach Barbecue (( Reuben → Entrance → BBQ Stand || Zeke :: Ryder → Entrance → Chimera Playpen )) "Aren't you the least bit excited?" Reuben asked as the two pulled up into the parking lot of the beach. They were invited to a Lab hosted BBQ, which Reuben took as the perfect opportunity to go out and show off Ryder to as many people as he could. It was a wonderful excuse to get the toadstool out of his room and into the open. "Honestly? Not entirely," the raevan stated, still staring out the window. "Okay, well just try and have fun."Reuben wore a very basic beach outfit and was incredibly happy when Ryder decided to ditch his normal garb for a more flowing, basic top. Reuben was just incredibly happy Ryder wasn't being so..."extra" today. The two got out of their car and made their way towards the entrance, where it was labeled "Reserved". Reuben had a huge smile on his face as he grabbed out his cooler, which contained a few vegan sandwich options for anyone attending who wished, as well as plenty of water bottles. Ryder kept his arms crossed as he floated behind the overly chipper Reuben into the event. To Reuben, early was on-time, on-time was late, and late is just plain unacceptable. Ryder, on the other hand, didn't care whatsoever either way. He'd have been much happier if they didn't go in the first place. Reuben went straight to the BBQ stand when he saw Zeke. "Hey Zeke! It's so nice to see you again! How's it going? I brought these vegan sandwiches in case anyone else wanted something a little different from the norm."Ryder on the other hand saw something interesting to him and sauntered over towards the Chimera Playpen, mainly out of curiosity. Looking inside, Ryder brightened up. "They're amazing! I've never imagined something like them before! What are you?" he questioned to himself aloud.
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:13 am
 June 25, 2017Ryder gets a pet foxfish from the lab.  A Special Gift The sun was bright, shining down on the beach and Ryder was ready to go home. Being out was rough on the toadstool. He kept to himself most of the time, and even though he did have fun and he had kept his promise to Reuben, he was completely ready to call it quits for the day. However, before he was able to leave, he was told to meet with Lazarus. Ryder was unsure what it was all about, but it was his final duty before he and his guardian could go home. All the little toadstool could think about was getting home, curling up in bed with a good book and having Alice read to him until he fell asleep. Reuben was going to prepare the car and get it ready to go and Ryder made his way towards the pool where he was told to meet Lazarus. A very handsome man stood there with large horns. Oh how Ryder could imagine him being a badass superhero (or super villain) in a story he could muster. "Hello. I'm Ryder. I was told to come meet you here before leaving? I assume you're Lazarus?" he questioned softly, almost intimidated by the looming figure. The frei grabbed his arm and pinched it; a sort of tick to keep him concentrated on the task at hand.
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:14 am
July 4, 2017Ryder floated about his room; one hand on his chin, the other wrapped underneath, simply musing to himself. "What would you say about a man with horns and flowers in his hair?" Ryder spoke to himself. From the nothingness emerged his best friend, Alice, standing tall behind him. "A man with flowers in his hair? Is he homosexual?"Ryder huffed. "So what if he was?""It was merely a question. Flowers typically aren't considered a masculine trait," the muse spoke. Ryder rolled his eyes and continued to float. "Well, I like the idea of him having soft flowers at the base of his horns. He's a druid after all."Alice simply shrugged her shoulders. Ryder's eyes narrowed as he continued to imagine the horns. So delicate and branch-like with pastel colored flowers set at the base. This druid was to be his main character in yet another story he was fabricating. A powerful druid with a tender, loving heart. Character design was one of Ryder's favorite aspects of writing. The frei closed his eyes and imagined the horns blossoming forth from his character's head. A smile crept upon the toadstool's face as he watched his druid's head sprout the horns and flowers in his mind. As he opened his eyes, he smiled. "They're beautiful."Ryder turned to his muse with a confused glance. "What are you talking about?""The horns, they're beautiful."Ryder shook his head quickly. He had no idea what she meant. Could she see what he was imagining for the druid? Feeling the pang of hunger within, Ryder waved Alice away into the recesses of his mind before floating out to the kitchen to rummage through whatever he could find. As he brought out some expired, sour milk to drink, he closed the fridge door only to be greeted with a shocked gasp from none other than Reuben himself. "Ryder!? What on earth is on your head? A-are those...horns?" Ryder shook his head and floated upwards, still confused. He grasped upwards atop his head, only to feel what everyone else was talking about. Suddenly, his eyes widened immensely as he felt the soft petals of what seemed to be flowers upon his head, then moving his hands upwards he felt the branch-like structures. It was as though they had no actual basis in reality, for he didn't have any sense of feeling in them, and his head didn't feel heavier for having them there, but he could physically touch them. Ryder quickly raced to the bathroom to see what he was feeling. As he entered the bathroom, his jaw dropped. The horns that he had imagined on his druid...were...on him!? He quickly felt up the branch-like structures and then went back down to feel the soft petals of the flowers on his head. Reuben knocked at the door. "Ryder...is everything okay!?""Y-yes! It's uhhhh....uhhh fine! Yeah, it's fine! Everything's fine. I'm fine. The hor-I mean, it's fine. Nothing's wrong."It was clear to Reuben that Ryder was just as freaked out as he was when he first noticed them. Ryder was panicking, continuously grabbing onto the horns and trying to rip them off of him. He felt nothing at his skull, but the horns wouldn't budge. Not even the flowers would come off, neither would the individual petals be pulled from their base. What was he to do!? He didn't want these horns on himself! Even if they were beautiful to him! They were meant for his character! Finally, the frei gave up and opened the bathroom door. Reuben took that as an okay to enter. "Are you really okay? How did this happen?" This first quarter of Ryder's life seemed to be a busy one for the poor frei, coming into so many different powers all within such a short time frame. Controlling them and really focusing on one was hard for the boy with his scatterbrained self, Reuben knew that. But he also knew that this boy's magic was strong, powerful, and was unfathomably wide-ranging; only limited by the boys own imagination (which was...well...never ending). "I-I really don't know. I was just imagining my new character to have these horns exactly. But I didn't think they would grow on me! What do I do?"Reuben gave the horns a look over and rubbed the scruff on his chin. He then went to grab the horns only to realize that his hands went right through them. Slight shock overcame the guardian a moment as he went for the horns again, only to see the same results. "Y-you feel those?""What do you mean? Of course I feel them. I wish I could just pull them off!" the raevan called in frustration trying to rip them from his head with as much might as he could muster before giving up in a fit of frustration. "I mean...I can't touch them. My hands go right through them."Ryder looked into the mirror and watched as Reuben went for them a third time, only to see that his guardian was right, they were like holograms for him. His hands went right through as though they didn't exist. So...only Ryder himself could feel them physically. They weren't really there. They didn't exist. They were just a figment of his imagination; an extension of his power. As he realized this, he looked into the mirror and watched as they began to "glitch out" and as he narrowed his eyes and willed them away, they continued to glitch until they disappeared completely. I will it to happen and it does.This magic was utter will. This power was his and he already had a strong grasp on such magic, constantly willing Alice to come in and out of his life. This was simply an extension of that same magic. This was what Ethiriel talked about. That power, something that was already so ingrained inside of him. His very essence even. Visible Imagination. His imagination made visible by will. Now he truly understood.
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Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 5:25 am
July 15, 2017It was an afternoon unlike any other, Calista had come to pick up Ryder for the day and take him out to the bookstore. Normally Reuben would do it, but he had a full day of scheduled readings ahead and Ryder was getting rather antsy at home without any new books to read. Luckily for him, Calista had weekends off and was able to step in. The drive to Isle de Gambino was a quiet one. The two hadn't really spoken since their last meeting almost a month prior. Ryder stared out the window and watched as Calista weaved through traffic on the freeway. The drive was tense to say the least. As the two pulled into a parking space, Calista noticed someone familiar. "Is that.." she began, narrowing in on a couple walking into the same bookstore that Ryder and her were visiting. Ryder looked in the same direction, but didn't notice anyone or anything in particular. Calista quickly hopped out of the truck and began to waltz into the bookstore as if she was angered. Ryder's eyes widened as the scene unfolded in front of him. What on earth was she doing!? He quickly followed suit and rushed in after her. She wasn't about to embarrass him in his temple, was she!? As the frei entered the small bookstore, all he could hear was the voice of his aunt. "Excuse me!" she called ominously. Ryder's eyes widened as he heard her. He saw a couple spin around as they were being yelled at. The woman looked offended and the man just shook his head and shrugged. "Can we help you?" he asked, a brow raised. Calista instantly felt offended. Her face scrunched up, and all Ryder could do was shudder and hope for the best. He wasn't about to interfere with the wrath of Calista, even though as soon as the man spun around, he knew why she had called him. But before any more words could be shared, Ryder was spotted by the man. "Oh, wow, hey! You're Ryder, right!? What a coincidence!" the man called, walking straight past Calista and over to Ryder, grabbing his hand to shake it. "Reuben has told me so much about you! I've seen pictures, that's why I know who you are." The man kept a smile on his face the entire time. Ryder, first of all, was shocked that he had grabbed his hand without permission, didn't humans typically offer the hand and the frei could decline? Secondly, Reuben had been talking about him to his friend? Thirdly, why hadn't Ryder heard of this man before, aside from the one date they had and the snooping Calista had done. "Y-yes, I'm Ryder. And you are?" Ryder tried his best to throw off the trail that Calista had been so rude to create. Looking over, Calista was obviously fuming, and the girl, Valerie, seemed just happy as ever. Calista shook her head. "How do you know Reuben?" she inquired bluntly, with such a tone only Calista could muster. The attitude was quite apparent. Evan chuckled, and chuckled, and chuckled some more. "That's a funny question! It's Reuben. Everyone knows Reuben!"Ryder's eyes widened and his cheeks went blush. His poison. He looked down at his hands, they seemed swollen, uncontrollably, they were more potent (probably due to his stress level at Calista). Those few seconds of touching Ryder's hand had given Evan a fit. It was then that Reuben began to manifest. It was obvious that it wasn't Reuben, some details were very off, but it was based in Evan's mind; where Ryder could see the hallucination occurring. Calista's eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"Valerie walked over to Evan (right through holo-Reuben), rather concerned. "Are you okay, babe?" she questioned. Evan laughed, eyes puffy and cheeks flushed. "Yeah, babe! Everyone's okay. Reuben, man! How ya been!?" the man chuckled, swatting at holo-Reuben and laughing. "Who's Reuben, sweetie?" Valerie asked, both out of concern and curiosity. "Reuben is my best friend. My gay best friend," Calista said walking over. "Someone your little boy-toy here needs to leave the ******** alone," she finished, walking up to Evan and shoulder checking him slightly. Evan just chuckled as he spun around. Valerie grabbed Evan's arms and became angry. "Hey! What the hell is wrong with you, lady!? What are you talking about?" Evan just plopped down to the ground, only to look up and see Reuben smiling back down at him. "Hey good-lookin'!" he said with a smile. Valerie spun around to see Evan staring up at the ceiling. "What did you do to him!?" Valerie stated, turning to Calista. Ryder couldn't sit by and watch. Everything that Calista said to Valerie in that moment went by in a blur. He floated over to Evan and hovered down to Evan's level while the two women went at it. The frei looked up at the Reuben hallucination Evan was having and then turned back to the man. "It's alright. Reuben isn't here. He's at home."Evan chuckled and looked right up at Reuben, smiling. He then made kissy lips to him before turning to Ryder and smirking more. The hallucination bent down and when Evan turned back the two 'kissed'. Ryder shook his head. Calista had been right. Obviously Evan had some sort of feelings for Reuben, this concreted it in his mind. "Evan, Reuben isn't actually there. I'm sorry this is happening to you, but you'll be fine in a little bit."When Valerie noticed Ryder was crouched down to Evan's level, she came over and pushed the toadstool away, causing Ryder to fall to the ground. "Get away from him, you monster! You're probably the one who caused whatever is happening to him!" she shouted, trying to pick Evan up off the ground. "I-I didn't mean-""Now you've gone and done it," Calista said, waltzing up to Valerie and throwing a right hook right into the poor girl's face, instantly breaking her glasses in half and causing her to fall into Evan and the two of them ended up right back onto the floor. "HEY! WHAT IS GOING ON OVER HERE!?" a disgruntled manager screamed as he ran over from the back. "GET OUT! ALL OF YOU! AND NEVER COME BACK! YOU ARE BANNED FROM TODAY'S BOOKS!" the man said, phone in hand. "I'm calling the police!" "No need, we were just leaving," Calista stated loudly, narrowing her eyes at Valerie and motioning for Ryder to follow as she began to leave. That, however, didn't stop the man from walking back over towards the registers on the phone angrily. Ryder's heart sank as deep in his chest as it could. Never come back? Was the manager serious? Was he really banned from the bookstore!? This wasn't something that Ryder could just take. He hadn't even gotten a new book yet! He quickly glanced at all the books around him and truly felt sad for the first time. In fact, he was sad enough to actually feel tears well up in his eyes as he floated quickly to catch up to Calista. Before he got too far, he turned back around to see Valerie trying to compose herself and pick up Evan once more. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "What the hell do you mean, banned!?"Ryder could hear his guardian yelling at Calista from his bedroom. He'd never heard Reuben truly yell before, at least not like this. Ryder just wanted a new book and Calista had to go and be a hot-head. Even the frei was so mad at Calista for starting up everything. Why did she have to stir the pot? The two hadn't even done anything to her. In fact, Evan was being a nice guy! But now, because of what she had done, the frei was never allowed back into that bookstore again. He rolled over in his bed, tears falling from his face onto the pillow sheet. More yelling could be heard up until the front door slammed, shaking the whole house. It only took a few moments before Ryder heard a knocking at his bedroom door, only to ignore it. The door creaked open. "Want to tell me your side of the story now?"Ryder winced and sniffled a bit before rolling over to see Reuben standing there, arms crossed, angrily huffing. His tone wasn't mean or angry, but his entire body seemed to be stiff and just so. "Not really."Reuben's eyes narrowed a bit behind his glasses, and Ryder instinctually knew that he wasn't going to leave until he talked. "Calista fought Evan's girlfriend."Reuben shook his head in shock. "Evan who!?""Your friend.""What? How do you even know Evan? How did she know Evan?"The frei sniffled, knowing the secret that was kept was about to run out of his mouth without another thought. He tried to keep it back, but his anger with Calista over the days events just made him want Reuben to be mad with her. "The night you went on your date, Cal-""My date!? What the hell do you mean?" Reuben sliced Ryder's words in half. Ryder heaved a big breath before letting it out with a few more tears, trying to push the words from his mouth in between sobs, "Calista said you were on a date. So we followed you to Dur-""You what!?" Reuben cut into the raevan's sentence again. Angry, and getting angrier and angrier by the second, Reuben couldn't help but storm out of the room, closing the door behind him softly as to not alarm the frei, but knowing it was best for his own sanity to calm down before discussing anything further. Ryder's thought process continued, only circling back around to the fact that he was never allowed into the bookstore again. He rolled over on his bed to face away from the door. He held onto the pillow tightly for comfort, sobbing and thinking into the night.
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Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2017 7:56 am
July 25, 2017Just over a week had passed since the bookstore fiasco. Reuben still hadn't spoken more to Ryder about what happened, and his birthday was just a couple days away. The two hadn't spoken much at all, actually. The Rothmore home was quiet, eerily so. The tension was high and anyone who visited could tell. Calista hadn't come back since their blowup and Ryder hadn't noticed any calls or texts between the two. Reuben stayed out in the shop most of the days just keeping to himself. Ryder stayed in the house doing the same. It was very unhealthy to say the least, neither party talking it out. It was before dawn and the guardian had been stressed out all morning, Evan had been getting shorter and shorter with him over the course of the week, and these two talked each and every day all day long. It was like they were best friends, but Reuben's heart sank each and every time a text message would come back with a short reply or no text would come back at all. With a heavy sigh, Reuben put down the bottle he was working on and just laid his head in his hands. He couldn't even express how he felt. Angry. Disappointed. Hurt. A whirlwind of emotions at every person involved. Angry at Calista for doing everything she did and lying to him. Ryder for telling Calista in the first place about Evan and then keeping what they did from him. Evan for being so back and forth, but mostly hurt that he'd started distancing himself. Reuben just couldn't sort out all of these emotions. He needed to get away. The guardian attempted to call his hiking buddy, Sam, to no avail. She was going to be too busy at the zoo today. He contemplated contacting another person from the lab. But a quick run down of all the names didn't really offer anyone particularly enticing at this very moment. Plus, it was rather early to be calling people. Setting the guardian's list back in his desk, he got up and paced around the workroom just thinking, fuming, and still not being able to get over what had happened. His reading in the morning even knew he was tense. Obviously, Reuben knew what he needed to do; and that was just go have a conversation about it with Ryder. But all the tarotist wanted to do was call Evan and profusely apologize like he had the day of the incident, find some sort of glimmer that the two could continue to flesh out what they had started, even if it was only friendship. Reuben ran back into the house and into his bedroom. He packed up a bag and left a note on the frei's door that said, "I'm going out. I'll be back later."Ryder awoke around ten that morning to the note on the door. Had Reuben really left him all alone? The whole reason Calista had to come watch him that first day was "in case something happened" or if he needed someone for anything. But now, Reuben was just off doing his own thing and the frei was left to fend for himself. If the raevan were being honest with his feelings, he'd say that having the house to himself without fear of Reuben looming was actually rather nice, especially since the past week had been so tense for the poor frei. Since he was home alone, he decided to take this opportunity to write Reuben a birthday card. One thing he read from his storybooks that was during a birthday, typically humans would get each other gifts and cards. Some, however, were just a heartwarming gesture. Ryder didn't have anything he could really give him, so he decided that he'd create a nice card for the tarotist. Heading out to Reuben's workshop, he pulled out some paper from the desk and checked it to be sure it wasn't anything important. He then took a quick trip into the shop to make sure that Reuben wasn't around. He closed up shop for the day, obviously, and posted his typical "sorry for the inconvenience" sign before heading out. At least that was a bonus for Ryder, giving him more time to craft a beautiful card! This card was done to kill two birds with one stone. First it was to apologize, offering that olive branch to his guardian was much needed to lighten the mood around the house, and the second was to wish him a happy birthday like the characters in some of the books he had read did. At least Ryder realized that the intention behind the card was that it was heartfelt and not just a random card. Ryder picked up a pen and scribbled on the paper "Happy Birthday". It looked like a five year old had written it, but it was honestly the best he could do. He tried to imitate the letters he would read every day, but his hand just wasn't working with him the way he had expected it to. He tried holding it a different way, and swapping hands, and just began to get frustrated with the fact that he knew what he wanted to write, how to spell it, everything; but he just couldn't get it to look like he wanted. After almost twenty minutes, the frei set the pen down and looked at the card. It looked like utter s**t; even he knew it. But, it was mostly legible, and it was worth a shot to try and get his guardian to ease up on the anger. Ryder folded it in half and floated it into the house, setting it on the little desk Reuben had in the living room so that the guardian would see it the moment he walked in the door. Ryder, still slightly miffed by his lack of knowledge on how to use a pen, decided that if Reuben was going out, so would he! The toadstool got dressed, grabbed his spell book, and headed out the front door towards the forest behind the house.
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Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2017 10:32 pm
 July 25, 2017Ryder meets Xiu while he's out in the forest practicing his magic.  Well Met Reuben was gone, and now, so was the toadstool. Being on the outskirts of the city was always worth it in that sense. Ryder did enjoy the peace and quiet the forest gave him every now and again. It wasn’t typical, but especially after a rain of sorts, the frei loved to go out and feast on rotting, wet wood as well as practice his magic. He was equipped with a few mushrooms, his crystal ball, and of course, his spellbook. The frei found the perfect area. Somewhat discreet and rather open, for a good magical practicing session. He opened his tome and, using the magic that his aunt Calista had taught him, he made the book float in place. He just needed a nice, open and quiet area to really focus his mind and allow his imagination to flow freely. Ryder started by taking a mushroom from his pocket. With his enchanting hands, he molded the mushroom into a shield. With another, he molded it into a flimsy toadstool sword. He imagined himself as a warrior in a faraway land, protecting a castle from invaders. Swinging his toadstool sword a few times he giggled. Placing the two pieces down he then took out his crystal ball. Touching it caused the shattered inner crystals to swirl, opening a rift into the frei’s mind and causing images to appear. He kept glancing at his floating spellbook to make sure his notes were correct, and then the castle from his imagination appeared within the orb. This was the castle he was to save from the intruders. After a bit of building the inside of the castle within his mind and showing it off in the orb, he felt the pang of hunger. It was at this time, the frei decided it was time to take a break and find some food. After some mild searching, the frei came across a log to feast upon. But in the distance through some trees, there was a man. “Wow, a real warrior,” the frei muttered to himself quietly, taking a bite of the log. It was like a show. He was impressed and instantly imagined the man as his warrior in the story he was just fabricating. Ryder watched as he jumped, thrusted, and swung his sword every which direction. It was almost whimsical to watch, the man’s clothing swaying with his every move. He was a true warrior, Ryder could tell. The frei just watched from a distance as he feasted upon his log.
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Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2017 5:19 pm
August 9, 2017"Just go," the imaginary friend whispered to her creator in the dead of night. "It's not like you'll be missed around here this late."Ryder stared at the ceiling from under his covers. Alice was probably right, Reuben was probably sound asleep and it's not like he would even have to know if Ryder left. The toadstool was just restless and needing to get away. Practice his magic. Get out there and do something with himself. He felt as though he was wasting his time lying in bed doing absolutely nothing but staring up at the ceiling fan that spun slow enough for him to capture one blade and follow it with his eyes. Ryder was bored, plain and simple; and with a little convincing from his trusty side-kick, the frei clothed himself, put on his toadstool cap and grabbed his spell book and crystal ball before leaving the house, much like he had done a few weeks prior. The frei made his way towards the same spot he and his companion, Xiu, trained just weeks prior. He had learned a lot from that valsaros and he wanted to prove to himself and to the other raevan that he was going to be one strong frei. Practicing literally every single day did cause his powers to strengthen over time. He only took a couple days off here and there to recuperate; and that was only when it was forced upon him by Reuben. Closing his eyes, he enchanted the spell book to float as he magically turned the pages with his mind. He plucked a toadstool from the ground and as his freckles glowed, he then expanded the cap outward and elongated the stem, creating an umbrella. He then shrunk the mushroom down and turned it into a little ball, completely formed from the cap itself. He then broke the ball into different pieces and scattered it all over the ground around him, only to throw his hands up into the air, causing the mushroom bits around him to rapidly grow into individual toadstools all around him. He had really gotten the hang of this power, and quite quickly at that. It had only been a mere three months since he first discovered this power, and yet he was already able to quickly manipulate mushrooms and bend them to his will. Finally, as the small mushroom forest began to grow ever slowly around the frei, he stopped the growth and imagined what he wanted the page to say. The enchanted paper began to glow a moment before it was permanently inked by Ryder's imagination. The title on the top of the page being, "Mushroom Forests" and photos of his mind's eye directly printed in the pages. The raevan then took out his crystal ball from the wrap and held it up, also enchanting it so it would float. He hovered over the ball as though he was a sorcerer looking into the future; though instead, he looked into the ball to see his imaginary friend, Alice, come to life inside it. An entire scene played out in the ball where Alice was playing croquet with flamingos and hedgehogs. Ryder laughed as he slowly allowed the ball to fall to the ground, hitting it ever so softly. After that, Ryder decided he had had enough practice for one night. Packing his things, he noticed the moon was high and his surroundings were a little eerie. The clouds covered the moon's rays from fully hitting the ground and any strays were lost through the treetops. The darkness was overwhelming. The small glow from the frei's rune was all that lit the path towards home. Slight panic overcame the poor raevan as he tried his best to make it home quickly. The howling wolves and creaks of the forest were beginning to frighten the frei. He cursed under his breath the moment Alice told him to go. He clutched tightly to his spell book and his crystal. He was hungry, alone and afraid, wishing he was home and wishing he could take back the past few hours at this very moment. Luckily, the raevan wasn't too far from home, but still, the things that went bump in the night felt more real, more scary, and much larger than they would to the average person. After all, the kid's imagination got the best of him from time to time. Little bugs became huge monsters. Small things over exaggerated in the worst of ways. The trek home was the scariest thing the small frei had experienced in his short life. As he reached the front door, he looked around. He slowly opened the door with a creak to reveal the living room lit up by moonlight. He was home. He was safe. The toadstool made his way slowly to his bedroom, however, at the end of the hall was what looked to be a dark figure in the low-light of night. Ryder closed his eyes tightly and reopened them to view that dark figure creeping closer and closer. Ryder's heart began to beat unimaginably fast. He quickly closed his eyes and turned away, only to feel the body heat of the figure looming behind him. "Boo."The frei's screams could probably be heard for miles. When the hall light flicked on, there stood Reuben, cackling. "What the hell, Reuben!?" the frei called, white as a ghost. Reuben's laughter subsided after a few moments and he spoke, "I should be asking you the same thing. Where were you at so late at night?"Ryder's face flushed. "I was...out practicing." The frei looked down at the ground in front of his guardian, obviously aware that he had broken some sort of unspoken rule. With an audible sigh, Reuben walked closer to his charge and grabbed his shoulders. "Please don't ever go out like that again without telling me, okay?"Ryder turned his face away and just simply nodded before pulling away from his guardian and slowly floating to his room, defeated.
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Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2017 5:21 pm
August 13, 2017Due to Ryder's antics the previous week, Reuben had thought about one thing; what if Ryder did get lost out there and needed help? If he hadn't been able to find his way home and was lost, how would he have gotten any help? Those questions swirled around in the tarotist's mind the days following the incident. This led Reuben to one answer. Get the kid a cell phone. Reuben recalled Vesna on her cell the day they met. Just like a teenager. Luckily, Ryder hadn't ever taken an interest in really playing with Reuben's cell phone so the guardian never thought to purchase one for him. But now, the frei was getting a bit more adventurous, Reuben could tell by the late night escape. So, it was time. After he closed up shop, Reuben went to the local retailer and took a look at the different phones he could add to his phone plan. Over all, Reuben figured to get Ryder something easy, user-friendly, and one the guardian could help with had the frei any issues; his old iPhone 6s Plus. Reuben decided to splurge and get himself an upgrade, leaving the frei with his old phone, which he could easily clear off. Reuben walked into the house with an oversized shopping bag for what was contained inside. "Ryder, come out here please!" the guardian called to his charge as he set his keys on the table, swinging the bag onto the table as well. Ryder, donning a new set of horns and wings, quietly floated into the living room. "Yes?"Reuben's eyes widened upon seeing his charge in the new getup. "Nice horns," he said with a slight nod of his head. Ryder smirked and nodded in return. He then continued to float there questioning why his guardian had called him out in the first place. He glanced at the bag that Reuben had sitting in front of him and raised a brow. Reuben cleared his throat before he spoke. "So because of your little excursion the other night, I decided it's finally time to get you something," he began, digging his arm into the bag, pulling out his old phone. Ryder's brows furrowed when the man took out the phone. He shrugged and shook his head. "It's a cell phone. That way if you ever need to contact me or anyone else, you can." Reuben held out the phone to his charge, who took it. "Cool," he said with a smile, taking a look at his new device. "So, how do I use this?"Reuben chuckled. "I'll teach you, don't worry."
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Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2017 8:40 pm
 August 18, 2017Reuben has an unexpected guest come to the Mystic Herb. The Gift of Knowledge The sun was high in the sky and the Mystic Herb was calming down from the usual morning rush. Reuben decided to go into the back office to gather some more supplies to restock the shelves lined with random knick knacks, crystals, stones of all kinds, dried herbs, incense, candles, cards and so much more. The Mystic Herb was one of Barton Town's greatest metaphysical shops; especially since the shop itself was so much more than that. It offered a real peaceful, open-minded place for those who thought differently to come and feel accepted, ask questions, and be heard. Reuben heard the door to the shop open up as he was in the back gathering supplies. He set what boxes he did have in his arms back down and put on that usual chipper smile. Walking out into the shop, he realized just who it was that graced his presence. A raevan! His face grew an even wider grin when he saw that ribbon and just how beautiful this girl was. "Hello and welcome to the Mystic Herb!" the owner said, looking the girl and, no doubt, her guardian up and down a split second before continuing. "You're a raevan," he said, not giving more information than that, but his sly smirk may have given away something to those perceptive enough to see through it.
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Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 6:00 am
 September 2, 2017Reuben and Ryder meet someone rather unexpectedly on their walk through the nearby park. Daydreams in the Park "C'mon Ryder, lets get going!" Reuben's voice called from the living room as his eyes gazed down at the watch on his wrist. The second hand ticked away, every moment seemingly passing as a century. Ryder cooped up in the bedroom, trying to evade the inevitable. The toadstool didn't really care for the outdoors, and lately his guardian had been pushing him to leave the house more, get out and go see the world. He knew it was true, that he should definitely give that a shot and do his best to appease his guardian; hell, it may even be good for him to get out of the house. But today, of all days, didn't seem like the day to do it. The two had been rather lazy this Saturday. Reuben had a couple of appointments in the morning which gave Ryder full reign over the house. He had been practicing his imagination magic most of the morning and was rather worn out. But, the calls of his guardian never ceased. Finally, the toadstool decided to give in, to leave the house. With that, the two made their way towards the local park, one of Reuben's favorite jogging places. This time, however, the two were just going to go for a light stroll to soak in what was left of the afternoon sun. Reuben kept a bright smile on his face and a few paces ahead of his charge. Ryder oftentimes would just try and keep up as best he could before falling behind again or getting distracted by the most minute circumstance. As the two entered the park, Reuben spoke. "I can't believe I haven't taken you out here yet! You're almost six months old and you've only been to bookstores and the forest. There are so many more things out here to experience."Ryder hadn't paid any attention to what his guardian had to say. The frei was on his phone taking pictures of the scenery around him. Oh how he did love the one feature on his phone. Pictures and video were always great sources of imagination for the boy; and he took inspiration for places in his stories from such photos. "Ryder, are you listening?" the guardian stated coldly, turning around and crossing his arms. Ryder finally broke through the daze. "Hm? Oh. Yeah."Reuben sighed. "I think it was a mistake to get you that phone.""Why? It is a wonderful tool for me to gain so much more inspiration for my stories. The pictures I take, the things I can find online. It's all very useful!"Reuben just simply shook his head before continuing to walk down the cement path that lined the park, Ryder following close behind enthralled with his iPhone.
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Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2017 8:12 pm
September 11, 2017The night had fallen, and all was quiet within the Rothmore household. Reuben had gone to bed, and Ryder...well, he had talked himself into yet another late night magic session in the woods behind the house. With his phone in hand, his spellbook in the other, he snuck down the hallway, into the kitchen, and out the back door. Past the gazebo in their backyard was a small fence, which was easily hopped and then there he stood, just about one hundred feet from the edge of the forest where Reuben would go for his morning runs. Being born of a wild forest mushroom, Ryder felt drawn to the forest, especially at night. During the day, he hated to leave the house. But at night, the frei thrived. He was able to practice alone, in the dark, with nobody to bother him. It was his little escape from whatever reality he was living in. Though, he did know that Reuben didn't approve of his late night excursions in the past, telling him to always let him know; but he was asleep, and the raevan didn't want to bother him. Thus, he just left, keeping his door closed, knowing full well he wasn't technically allowed to leave the premises without permission. But to him, when the forest called, the frei would come. The iPhone lit up in the distance, though the frei wasn't paying any attention. He was too focused on a new spell, trying to perfect his imaginings movements. Flowing movements were important after all, especially when fighting. Preparing another monster for the battle training with Xiu was very important to the frei. Out here in the dead of night, he could be as loud as he wanted, bothering nobody. There was no way Reuben would allow such a monstrosity at the house, no way in hell. Again, the phone lit up, this time signaling an incoming call; but to the caller's dismay, it was not answered. The device sat situated on a nearby log, along with the spellbook the frei brought. The frei was far too busy dancing around, hands flailing to control the hands of his monstrosity. It was a magnificent thing, magic. But Ryder's precise focus did not falter by an illuminated screen. Hours passed and Ryder, devoid of energy, cast away his imagining, deciding it was time to return home. He floated over to the log and gathered his things, clicking the power button on the phone he noticed a very long list of notifications. Texts, missed calls, voicemails, all of which came from Reuben and Calista. The time: 4:24 AM. Ryder's eyes widened with each swipe of his thumb across the screen. So many messages. How did he get so carried away? He was gone for...almost five hours.  As Ryder approached the front door of his home, he noticed every light in the house was on, even though the sun had yet to rise. Exhausted from his training and nervous from his missed messages, he glanced down at the knob on the door. Did he dare enter? He knew he was in trouble. He didn't even have to listen to any messages to know that. The quick glance he had taken at the messages before his trek home was enough to alert him of the impending doom that awaited his return. With a heavy sigh, he turned the knob. As the door opened, the house was empty. Reuben wasn't there to greet him, and Calista hadn't come over either. But before he was even able to close the front door behind him, Reuben barrelled into the living room, a very angry look on his face. Ryder hadn't ever seen the man scowl like this before, it was so unbecoming of him. "Where the hell have you been!?" a loud tone filled the room, only to be followed by utter silence. "I left you countless messages! What the ******** were you doing, Ryder!?" the man continued to yell when no response was made. Ryder took a deep breath, physically shaking in fear and anxiety. He had never been yelled at before, not like this. But he felt so ashamed. He just didn't even know how to respond. Reuben had never cursed at him before, he had only heard that kind of speech directed toward Calista. First for the fiasco with Evan at the bookstore, and now directed towards him. But being the brunt of the anger was the worst feeling in the world. Ryder couldn't help but stay silent, the tension in the air growing with each second that passed. "Answer me, dammit!" Reuben said, closing the gap between himself and the frei, crossing his arms in the meantime. The frei hung his head in fear, anger, and worst of all, shame. He clenched his grip on his spell book, tears welling in his eyes. "I-I," the frei's words cut off by the slamming of a hand on the nearby table, causing the frei to flinch back in fear. "You what!? Thought you could sneak out yet again and get away with it? You deliberately ignored my calls and texts, aunt Calista's calls, and failed to get back to me whatsoever! You had us both worried sick about what could have happened to you! Have I not told you never to leave the house without my permission? Have I not!?" the guardian yelled, still furious. "Y-you...have," the frei muttered between soft sobs, trying to keep an averted gaze from his guardian. The frei was all alone. No muses came to his defense. Even Alice stayed silent. "I know I have! And yet you deliberately went against my wishes and left anyway! Not even a text saying where you're going!""I'm...sorry," the frei whimpered, tears now trickling down his face. "Sorry isn't going to cut it, young man," Reuben said, standing tall, eyes glaring towards his charge. "You're grounded."Ryder looked up, not sure what to make of the word his guardian just said, the first time he saw those piercing blue orbs staring, what seemed to be, right through him. "That means no cell phone for the rest of the month, and you're not allowed to leave the house unless I'm with you. Not even if you tell me where you're going. You have lost that privilege."The frei's sadness turned to anger in that moment. How on earth could this man be so cruel? Not allowing him to leave without him, the toadstool could deal with. But no phone? Now that he had had the luxury of a cell phone the past month, he didn't want to give it up! A glare shot up towards Reuben who stood there, one hand outstretched. The frei knew what he wanted. He wanted to take his phone away from him. The frei wiped what tears were on his face and he no longer felt ashamed of what he had done. All of that had turned to anger. He slowly went into his pocket and brought out his cell phone, holding it out for his guardian to take. As the man yanked the phone from the frei's grasp, anger boiled up inside of him. Keeping silent, however, knowing full well that whatever came up after this would just make the situation worse, the frei began to float off towards his room. "You'll get this back earlier if you're good. Stay in your room," the man said, shoving the phone in his pocket and watching his charge float off to the room, only to hear the slamming of the door behind him. The instant the door was closed, Reuben felt ashamed of how he had acted. He felt like his father, how he was yelled at, screamed at even, for the littlest of things. He hated his father and their relationship worsened because of how he was treated. Now, with the realization of what had just occurred, Reuben felt like he was turning into his father. The guardian slumped into the couch, head hung in his hands and tears welling up in his eyes. What had he just done? Yelled at a poor, innocent soul. Sure, he was angry because Ryder hadn't followed through and hadn't listened, but he vowed never to treat his raevan the way he was treated as a kid; but looking at this situation, he had broken that vow in spades. Instead of apologizing, taking back what he had said, giving the boy a more reasonable punishment and maybe a firm talking to, the guardian left things as they were. After all, the shop needed to open in just a couple of hours, and Reuben had yet to even get his day started. He was too stressed out about the night's occurrences to do anything but worry. Though now that Ryder was home safe, Reuben could begin his day, hoping that the rest of this Monday would go more smoothly than how it began. He would deal more with this situation later.
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Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2017 8:51 pm
 September 20, 2017The crow cawed as the sun began to set. Looking out his window, he saw a lone crow perched upon the dying tree in the backyard. Was it really dying? Ryder hadn't ever seen a tree begin to lose it's leaves. But every day more and more leaves began to gather at the base of the tree. It was autumn. Reuben said that every year is a cycle. Birth, life, death, and rebirth. Each season corresponds to a different aspect of the cycle. Things like philosophy and metaphysics were some of Reuben's favorite subjects, but not Ryder's. The toadstool couldn't quite comprehend why his guardian seemed so intent on making him learn such abstract thoughts. Though these thoughts were pleasing to the palate, they weren't something that Ryder necessarily enjoyed discussing, especially when Reuben was so vehement in his ideology. Instead, Ryder enjoyed the comfort of his bedroom. Being grounded wasn't half bad. Coming up with his own worlds, characters, and stories. Using his cell phone to explore other's worlds and characters. Being able to create, and visualize, an entire world was always a fascinating and extensive adventure. But Reuben didn't see things in the same light. He wished Ryder to be more outgoing -- or more specifically -- his version of outgoing. Ryder had been truly trying to build the confidence to get out of his shell. And by his standards, he was doing fabulously. He had met a few fellow raevan and had tried his best to talk to others, like Mark and Daniela. But for some strange reason, it wasn't good enough. The crow cawed once more before flying off it's perch, the branch left wobbling a moment. Staring out his window, Ryder couldn't help but feel alone, just like that crow, the sun's rays beaming down on him in the evening glow. Even with all the muses in the world, with Alice right beside him, he didn't quite feel complete. Something told him he needed to try to be more outgoing -- the way Reuben was -- and to try and change the way he was for something new. Maybe Reuben would appreciate him more that way. Ryder floated away from the window and looked in the mirror he hung upon his wall, he watched as his mushroom caps began to transform before his eyes into that of large crow wings, wings that would allow him to fly away, just like the crow had just done. What was he to do? Alice hadn't even come to say hello today. In fact, none of his muses had. Just that lone crow. He didn't even have the energy to practice magic. He just felt so lethargic. Life seemed to pass by so slowly. He didn't have any new books to read, and with no cell phone at his disposal, life seemed dismal. He couldn't search the web or buy any new books to read. He just had to deal with what he already had, which wasn't a lot. The frei's boredom turned into utter agony. Leaving the room wasn't something he did often during this "grounding", but when he did, it was just because he needed to satiate himself either out of actual hunger or out of pure boredom. But this time, he just needed to leave the room as the walls seemed to be closing in on him today. One last glance out his window at the bare branches on that dying tree, nothing felt right today. Ryder found himself draped over the small chair in the living room, his ribbon lazily dangling over one arm whilst his head rested up against the other. Tick. Tick. Tick. The grandfather clock's pendulum swayed back and forth in the corner of the room. The room felt eerily silent over all. The ceiling fan circulating the air was the only other noise the frei could hear. As he watched the ceiling fan slowly swirl above him, he tried to focus on just one blade, which kept his attention for only a moment, before the next ticking of the clock. Where was Reuben? Still working, perhaps? Ryder hadn't left the house in over a week, not even to go to the shop, not even to get some fresh air in the back yard. With a heavy sigh, the frei rolled to his side, staring at the coffee table and all of the little knick knacks that accompanied it. Just then, Ryder heard the doors in Reuben's room open. He must be home. The frei closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. He didn't want to deal with Reuben, if he was being honest, but he knew Reuben's routine well enough to know that the guardian wasn't going to stay in his room long. Sure enough, the bedroom door opened and he heard the footsteps tap along the wood floor and stop once they were behind the chair. The frei could sense someone hovering directly over the chair, which caused his heart to pick up pace. But he was steadfast, eyes closed, and soon enough the footsteps picked back up and the tapping drifted off into the kitchen. With a soft sigh, the frei opened his eyes again, staring straight at the coffee table. This time, however, his gaze landed upon the lovely sight he had so longed to see. His iPhone, now decked out in a new, beautifully designed, fungus case. With wide eyes, the frei sat up quickly and grabbed out to see if what he was seeing was real, or a figment of his imagination. To his surprise, when he picked it up, it was really his iPhone. He turned it over to admire the craftsmanship and the beautifully detailed artwork on the case, and with a smile, he clicked the power button to reveal a full battery. "I'm glad you're awake."The words startled the frei, who flinched, placing the phone back on the coffee table and quickly turned around to view his guardian walking into the living room from the kitchen, arms crossed and a smile on his face. "I wanted to apologize for last week. I didn't mean to yell at you like I did, and I know it's been a bit of a tense week here, but I wanted you to know that you're ungrounded. You can have your phone back, but I still don't want you to go anywhere without me, understood?"Ryder patiently listened to his guardian's words, taking in each one. Even though there was still some slight resentment towards him for how he acted, Ryder nodded, gave a smile, and floated up out of the chair. One thing he didn't want to do was apologize again for leaving the house, for he had already apologized once upon first realizing how upset his guardian was. "Thank you for the new case. And yes, I understand,"With a nod, Reuben gave a soft smile and outstretched his arm towards Ryder's bedroom, almost ushering him to leave if he so please. Ryder took the sign and did just that, grabbing his phone and instantly unlocking it to reveal an absolutely stunning display that he missed so much the past week. The frei floated off slowly towards the bedroom, enthralled deeply with the device, only to close the bedroom door ever-so-softly behind him, where he would stay the rest of the night.
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Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2017 8:56 pm
September 27, 2017The day had been rather uneventful and the frei had been doing nothing at all but lazily laying around the house reading a new book he found on the bookstore application. As he scrolled through it's pages on his cell phone, a message notification banner ran across the top of the screen. Assuming it was Reuben just trying telling him dinner was ready, he ignored it and swiped up. Then another banner flew across the screen, and another, and another. The phone just incessantly buzzed with each subsequent text received, interrupting the frei's reading. He glared at the phone and decided to open up the text message only to see more texts pouring in.   As his eyes ran over every letter, the frei lit up. So, this new raevan did tell stories? And his name is Emyr!? But he...lies? Ryder shrugged off the latter notion and instantly beamed with excitement. He had been in a rut lately with some of his own storytelling, so maybe a new view on some stories would be a breath of fresh air and get his imagination flowing again. Without a second thought, Ryder set the phone on the bed and floated out into the living room to deliver the great news of Emyr's birth to his guardian, who was still making dinner in the kitchen. "Reuben, guess what!" Ryder stated excitedly, floating into the kitchen. Reuben was slaving over a large pot of soup when Ryder floated in. He glanced at his charge and noticed the extreme excitement on his face. "What is it?""Emyr is born!""Who's Emyr?" Reuben questioned curiously. "Mark's raevan!"Reuben's face crinkled. Mark? The name rung a bell, but he couldn't quite place the name with a face. "Mark from the park, remember, with the monkey," Ryder clarified. "Oh, monkey man Mark. Well that's great, congratulations to him," Reuben said, only a second later questioning how he knew this. "Wait...and how did you find out this information?" the guardian inquired. "He texted me," the frei said, almost a questioning tone not truly understand why it mattered. "And how did he get your number?""I gave it to him, why?""When did you do that?" the guardian questioned, ignoring the latter end of his frei's words. "Oh, umm. He asked me for it that day at the park. Gave me his phone so I could put my number in it."Reuben shook his head. "But he didn't, I was there with you the whole time.""Yes he did, while you were playing with the monkey, why does it matter?" the frei reiterated the question, now just becoming annoyed with his guardian for pushing the issue so much. Reuben's eyes narrowed. "Because, I want to know who you're talking to. You don't even know who he is, Ryder. And why didn't he ask you for the number with my knowledge?"The frei took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "I don't know, Reuben. I was just letting you know. There's no need to get defensive about it.""You're right. Well, thanks for letting me know about it. I'll give him a call and we can plan a date for you and his frei to meet," the guardian huffed as he went back to stirring the pot of soup on the stove. "Oh, he said he'd call you once Emyr is settled in."Something about this stranger telling Ryder that he would get in touch made the whole situation worse. It would have been one thing if Mark had said something like, "let your dad know and we'll set a date" or "have your dad call me". But no, now the ball was still in his court, and things just didn't set well with Reuben. Not that he was going to necessarily stand in the way of Ryder making new friends, but why was this Mark character so shady about stuff? "I'll text you when dinner's done," the guardian said plainly, still stirring the pot. Without another word, Ryder turned around and floated back to his bedroom, the entire vibe being killed by Reuben's overreacting. With narrow eyes, Reuben couldn't help but feel a bit defensive. First, the man questions his parenting during their initial meeting and then gets his charge's phone number without permission so that he can talk to him behind his back? What was this guy's deal? It just seemed a bit off to the tarotist. But, he didn't say another word to Ryder, and instead, he decided to wait for the call from the monkey man.
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