Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky [Open]

[rules_winter]

1. Bulding glass houses
Mab had finally staked out her home, something that had before been more of a manor she now was pouring will into, icing the facade. She'd been working intermittently for days now, spilling enough magic into the structure each time to build a new layer of ice without completely draining her resources. It simply wouldn't do to be caught out without some of her strength to use. By now the building reflected the sun back in glacial colors, and almost seemed to have it's own inner glow, a pulsing of variable colors that matched her eyes and would leave those without strong magic entranced if they gazed too long. The ice was thick enough that you could no longer see the stone that had originally created the structure and you could also no longer see the door. Icicles hung like deadly spears from the eaves and the windows glittered with facets.

She pulled her hands away from the side of the building and stepped back, breathing in deeply before looking up at her work. It was nearly done, a few more days and it would be a solid defense, beautiful, remote and deadly, standing at the top of a hill bare of trees though they gathered around about a half a kilometer from the base of the hill. She shook a hand as though weary before straightening completely and giving it all a proud look. Yes, this would do nicely. Snow started falling just in the general area, carpeting the top of the hill and scattering down into the grass and heather. The snow muffled all the other noises in the area making everything feel even more remote.

2. Air and Darkness

A pale figure seemed to shimmer into space between two trees in a wooded area of the Southeastern Greenbelt. As if she'd taken off a black cloak and let it fall to her feet she stepped out of the darkness and onto the grass overlooking Crystal Palace Park. Following her as though congealing at her feet is a creeping fog, a result of her own natural coolness hitting the warm summer air. In the darkness she puts a hand out to touch the worn stone pillar on a set of stairs leading down from the Italian terrace she is standing atop and ice forms along it, spreading along the surface and making soft cracking noises as the cool expands inside the stonework. Lambent eyes take in the area, assessing who is nearby. Even as she begins to walk down the steps, the fog starts spilling down them in her wake like a living thing, silent and sinuous.

Her gown trails down behind her and it is difficult to see where fabric stops and fog starts, it all blends together.

3. Newfangled technology

Mab stood unnaturally still, looking up at the sign above the store. The sign did not sound like it should sell cellular telephones but the window displayed them. The sign should be changed. She had the strong urge to fix it for them because it annoyed her. Finally she took a noticeable breath and her head moved, dropping to look at the door which hand a metal handle. Humans loved metal far too much. It was why she found gloves necessary but she still did not like to touch the bane. Even through her gloves it burned a little. Instead she waited a moment more for someone to open the door and she followed them in, letting the door close behind her without ever touching it.

She stopped again inside the store and looked askance at the rows of different phones many of which also seemed to have metal housing. The air in the store was cool enough it didn't noticeably cool when she entered but the window on the glass door behind her fogged a little until she began to walk farther in, eyes scanning across displays that seemed to be written in English but for the life of her none of them made any sense at all. Abbreviations, numbers, features. She stared down at one of the little cards and then looked up at the displayed phone. The screen glowed with pictures splattered across the screen. Tiny tiny pictures.


4. Anything else!
Hit me up, I know there are a few people I mentioned wanting to meet, if these don't fit for you let's work something out, baby.

Comments

[rules_winter]

His words make her frown and lift her eyes to his. "Seem normal?" She repeated cooly. But he was already moving on and pointing out a phone. It was a little bulky and had buttons, actual buttons on the bottom so it did not look as sleek as some of the others but the buttons were definitely plastic which served her purposes. It was also pretty out of date which meant it was being sold at rock bottom prices while the store tried to get someone to take it off their hands.

Mab touched the edge of a glove as though being certain it was still on and delicately picked up the phone. Let's just say Mab is a complete novice. She doesn't know where the power button is. And once she tries to use the touch screen she'll quickly find the gloves will make matters frustrating. Lifting her gaze to his she fixes him with a, 'well what do I do?' look. Surely you can read looks Sasuke.

[eyeforaneye]

"..." His expression goes from expectant to confused to impassive again, slowly looking down at the phone and her covered fingers alike.

"You'll either need to take those off or invest in gloves that are almost entirely sheer. It'll get used to your patterns but you may need to apply more pressure for it to actually get a reading through fabric." He can read looks only sometimes, and honestly he empathizes with a plight in any way related to technological incompetence.

[rules_winter]

She puffs out a breath and looks at the phone carefully again, trying to be sure she's not going to suddenly burst into horrible flame. Finally as content as she can be she hands him the phone to hold (because she just expects him to do so) and starts to slowly peel the glove off that hand. It takes a moment but she tucks it away into a pocket and holds out her hand for the phone again.

"How does this one work?" She asked him. Sasuke wasn't getting away any time soon. It was probably good she wasn't trying to get anything particularly complicated. If she could find someone who would sit down and just teach her things she might upgrade later but for now simple was better. She didn't know how to turn the damn thing on, much less that there were special gloves just for use with touch screen phones. Sauske is currently her 'expert'. And as far as she can tell he knows exactly what he's talking about.

[eyeforaneye]

Oh we are on a short track to a mobile hellscape, you and me.

"... that's such a broad question. Here, it's common for the main button to be positioned on the side, so press it and hold it down to turn it on. It's the same for powering it off, and a short brief press will lock the screen in order to save on battery life. Are you actually paying attention? Because I won't repeat myself." He gesticulates at the button in question, not pausing in his explanation and expecting her to keep up.

[rules_winter]

Yes they are.

She watches him find the power button and hold it, her expression intent. His question though distracts. The cold look she gives him should make him wither away. The temperature in the store drops about five degrees going from cool to uncomfortably cold. She fights the temptation to freeze his eyeballs in their sockets. She needs him to be able to see if she wants to figure out how to use the contraption. But if he presses his luck she'll find someone else. "If I did not wish to pay attention I would not ask." Her reply is clipped. "Press and hold for on, press and hold for off. Press to lock the screen." Although she doesn't really know what that means other than it will save the battery.