texts on a sunday

[keylogged]

texting meme You’ve got your TFLN, you’ve got your sexting, now here’s the meme for all those gen texts, phone calls, voicemails, pictures of your cats, and whatever else your little heart can come up with, because who doesn't like a little old-fashioned friendly texting. (Or enemy texting, if that's more your bag.) instructions: What it says on the tin! Leave a comment with your character, include preferences, a start, absolutely nothing or whatever you want. Run around and reply to others. Lather, rinse, repeat.

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[semicharmed]

No need to be official, I hate labels

[ 😘 ]

I'll text you when it's ready.

[antifungi]

[ 🙄 ]

Uh-huh.

No need to rush on my account.

[semicharmed]

[ Sure enough, it's a few days before Joel hears anything else from Matt. Three, a bit past Matt's estimated window. Something probably came up; in his life, things frequently do.

When Joel does get a message from Matt, he'll find it doesn't contain any words. Just a picture: a small crystal of a milky blue-green hue, clear enough to see the lighter veins that run through it. It's been tumbled to smoothness, and looks small enough to sit in the palm of one's hand.

But like, fundamentally, it's a picture of a rock. ]

[antifungi]

[ Uh-huh, that sure is a picture of a rock. But this is not at all outside of Matt's usual MO, so. ]

You planning on putting that through my window, or just showing off?

[ It's been three days. He may have forgotten what this was about, in the moment. ]

[semicharmed]

[ "Random-seeming picture sans commentary" is very much him, it's true. ]

It's for you!

So ... showing off, I guess, if those are my only choices. But only a little.

[antifungi]

[ just wait, give him a minute... ]

Oh, yeah. That's the thing?

[ wait for it. ]

I thought it'd look different.

[semicharmed]

It's the thing.

What were you expecting it to look like?

[ Matt can make some cosmetic changes, but not particularly dramatic ones. Still, he's curious. ]

[antifungi]

Don't know. More magic like?

[ because that is a thing. ]

Definitely less like a rock.

[semicharmed]

Hmm.

Well, if you want more magic ...

[ Another picture. This one is the exact same rock, but now it's surrounded by a shower of multicolored sparks. Like fireworks in miniature.

~Ta daaaa.~ ]

Alternatively, I could embed it into some other object. Jewelry's easiest? But fundamentally, it just needs to be something that's in contact with your skin.

[antifungi]

[ you are a deeply unserious person, matt. feel free to imagine the incredibly unamused look that picture garners, in the brief, ensuing radio silence. ]

What, like a necklace or a bracelet or something? I guess that would be more convenient.

[semicharmed]

[ Matt is in a state of constant war between esoteric scholar and little nightmare. And for whatever reason, not encouraging him only makes him worse.

Sorry Joel, but at least you get an enchanted item out of it. ]

Necklace or bracelet is easiest, I think. If you think you'd wear something like that.

[antifungi]

[ it's... probably worth it. ]

Necklace ought to be easier to hide.

[semicharmed]

Gotcha

[ Then Matt goes away for two hours. If Joel has any follow-up, it doesn't get a response, until--

A new picture. The same rock as before, now with a small hole drilled through one end. A thin metal chain has been slipped through it, its silver gleam interrupted by a few tarnished spots. ]

Thoughts? I don't have that many stringing options

[antifungi]

Not bad.

[ it's simple enough, not flashy. which is surprising, coming from matt. but he's not going to question it again. ]

Looks good.

[semicharmed]

[ And this level of praise is more positivity than Matt expected from Joel, so it's an evening of surprises all around.

He's actually deeply relieved, because he put a lot of effort into coming up with jewelry Joel might like and he was steeling himself for Joel to thumbs-down it immediately.

About 2% of those feelings make it into his answering text of: ]

Good.

Whenever you want to test it out, let me know and I'll bring it by

[antifungi]

I'm free tomorrow night. You can just stumble in at your usual time.

[ Which is kind of just, like, whenever. But Joel has made his peace with that. ]

[semicharmed]

Excuse you, I'm a picture of class and grace

[ What was that about Matt not being a serious person?

Anyway. The next night rolls around, the moon like a gleaming marble overhead. Matt thinks it's an auspicious evening to test out some magic charms, and packs his messenger bag carefully for a couple different scenarios. Then he unpacks, and repacks for a different one. This is the secret to at least some of Matt's chaos: It's the product of stupid, stupid overthinking.

So it's actually later than he means it to be by the time he makes it to Joel's. Matt fishes a key from the depths of his bag and tries the door. ]

[antifungi]

[ Joel can't claim to be completely beyond the bad habit of overthinking things - but he tends to save it for when it really matters. And that isn't really this. Matt's visits are often at odd times and frequently not when expected, so he doesn't put too much thought into it, either, when he doesn't show up any earlier than he's expected, either. (Not that there was any more than the vaguest outline for when that might be, in the first place.)

He does give it a bit of consideration when it looks like he might not come around at all, though. Which is how he ends up a step away from the door on the other side when Matt tries his key. Joel waits for him to unlock it before opening the door, himself. ]

About time. [ That straight face is pretty convincing. If you don't look too closely. ]

[semicharmed]

[ Matt's brain is a thaumaturgical hamster wheel. He's learned to quiet himself somewhat with meditation and kissing, to channel his spinning into honing new spells and crafting new charms. Underneath, though, the neons are always threatening to flicker.

He pulls up short when the door begins to open, a nanosecond of bzuh?? Just the barest instant: By the time he comes face to face with Joel, he's smiling. ]

Not on your way out, are you?

[antifungi]

[ Yeah, that's pretty much what he expects. Matt and predictability don't often go together, but in some ways he's easy.

Joel shakes his head and gestures to the porch behind him, not-quite smiling, himself. ]

Just to get some air. Night's still pretty warm. You mind sitting out here?

[semicharmed]

[ Matt says hm, a pleasant midpoint between agreement and approval. He steps back, turning to follow Joel's gesture. ]

Not at all.

[ He enjoys the weather right now: the fading warmth on his skin, the little hints of chill pooling around his legs and eddying through the air. And his omnipresent band tee is pretty good for current conditions.

Is there furniture on Joel's porch? If so, Matt will take up a perch there, but if not, he's got no problem sitting the porch itself. His messenger bag plunks down beside him either way. ]

[antifungi]

[ There are, of course, a couple of chairs - heavy, roughhewn wooden ones that he might have fixed up, himself. But Matt's still welcome to sprawl wherever he likes, while Joel takes one for himself. ]

So, let's see this rock.

[ Magic or not, it's impossible for him to think of it as anything else. ]

[semicharmed]

[ In perhaps the most annoying move possible, once Joel sits down, Matt takes the nearest chair, but settles on its arm rather than its seat. He rustles in his messenger bag, coming up with a small drawstring pouch. ]

Here you go.

[ He produces the milky blue-green crystal on its silver chain and holds it out in his cupped palm. ]

If you want to try lying to me and see if I can tell what's the truth, we can do that now. If you want me to lie to you, you'll probably have to hang onto it for a little bit. Let it attune to you.

[antifungi]

[ It'd be annoying if Joel wasn't already well used to it. Matt's choice of position doesn't even earn him a raised brow, at this point, Joel reserving his skepticism for the look he gives the necklace.

It doesn't really matter how often he's seen Matt's particular brand of magic actually work (or, at the very least, backfire in a decidedly unnatural way), he still always approaches it as though it's something completely foreign and totally untrustworthy. (Even if that second part isn't necessarily how he really feels, nowadays.) ]

Let it 'attune' to me? That sounds like somethin' you just made up. [ Which is true. ]

I didn't really think it'd work, anyway. [ That's not, though. But if Matt can't catch a flat, off the cuff lie with that thing, it'll definitely need some fine-tuning. ]

[semicharmed]

[ Under normal circumstances, Joel's odds of getting away with that lie would be pretty decent. At the moment, however ...

Nothing much happens. Which is by design; Matt figured the point of an enchanted item like this one is to be stealthy, and if it lit up or made a noise, that'd defeat the point. But a little thing does happen. The slightest tremor in his palm. Matt's reaction to the sensation is likely more visible than the thing itself.

He smiles accusingly at Joel. ]

So you do trust me. Just a little bit. [ His thumb brushes the crystal's smooth face. ] I'm always talking about attunement, for the record. That's why skin contact is such a big thing. For something to be the most effective magically, whether it's an amulet or an artifact or a divination tool, it has to get to know you.