Video Backdated to April first

[mal_contented]

[Mal's mirror came up on someone having the best worst day ever. she pulled out her mirror and aimed it at him, pulling it back enough to show the pink glitter turning white as it got close enough to him.] "Smile for the camera, because this is forever now." [This was actually better than burning the candy shop. This was too perfect. She was going to get Lydia to set up lots of prints of this for her to keep forever. In fact... ] "Hey, Lydia," [she said to the mirror, broadcasting this to everyone] "Can you get over here with your camera?"

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[mal_contented]

Yes, Lydia is a good friend, and Mal would fight to the death to defend her if need be.

"No, not paranoid. Alive. There's a difference. And I thought I knew who you were at the party and the first mission. But that person isn't the person I'm talking to right now," she said pointedly. "Betting this you is under some sort of spell given..." she gestured to her glitter cloud, "But now wondering if you're ever been not under a spell in all the time I've known you."

[king_of_egypt]

That was something the pair of them could agree on, all the way up to and including potentially sacrificing himself to save her. "Alive- you make it sound as if I'm some sort of threat to you." Was that what she meant to imply? Maybe it was. That further realization felt like someone had twisted a knife into his heart. How could he do anything to harm the woman he loved? Eyes briefly looking to the picnic and the food that had been carefully laid out he came up with a way he might be able to help lower her guard. "What makes you say that? What have I done or said that has seemed peculiar to you?" The glitter cloud had been strange- sure... but.. it was also bold and eye-catching in in the colors most associated with Mal. He just.... kinda... thought she had been experimenting. His infatuation had blinded him from his usual observational skills and logic. "Look... maybe I should just come out with it. I didn't want to frighten you.... but.... Mal..." He sighed plaintively before proceeding. "... I've fallen in love with you. That's the only thing that's changed. That's different...." "Here," Trying to allay some of her fears, he kneeled down to the picnic spread and sampled a small portion of both his plate and the other one. "Just watch... nothing adverse will happen to me. I didn't set any sort of trap for you. I couldn't... I-..." His voice cracked slightly as he made his emotional plea. "I care too much for you."

-*

[mal_contented]

Anything she might have said was blown away by that confession of love. It rocked her to her core. and disturbed her. Because this couldn't be real. Because even if it was, she had made her choice. She left Ben for a reason, she wasn't dragging anyone else down into her darkness. Especially not Ben. But even if she had been willing to, and even if there had been no Ben, this was out of nowhere. This made no sense. And she hated herself for the fact that she felt anything at all at those words.

Except that they did remind her so much of Ben. Ben before their arguments, before things had gone so wrong between them. Before Mal failed at everything all the time. Before their arguments about her using magic to move time back so she could get to classes without being late. Before the trident. Back when they were just them.

But also Ben even before that. Ben at the Tourney match when he sung to her in front of the whole school. The first time he had confessed to her. And it had been fake. It had all been a lie. Just because it became true again for a short time didn't make that first confession real. And she knew that.

She shook her head. "No. No you don't love me," she said, stepping back. "This is a love spell or something. Someone's cruel joke on the both of us." Because she didn't think this was him trying to mess with her. But if it was... If he was fully himself and just having a laugh at playing with her like this she would never forgive him. But now she wanted to find out who had drugged him and destroy them.

"And I am going to find out who did this, and I am going to end them," she growled, her eyes flashing green.

[king_of_egypt]

It appeared as though there was some hesitation on her part, and considering the words that had just left his lips that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Still, it gave anxiety and anticipation a chance to take root. Atem righted himself looking expectantly towards Mal but realizing the intensity of his gaze might not be making this situation any easier he averted his eyes towards the ground. The grass beneath them was gently swaying from a light breeze, a ladybug was trying to crawl to the top of one of the blades but it's like he saw what was happening without really seeing it. All that mattered was whatever Mal was going to say next. Would she reject him outright- which seemed likely -or would she surprise him making this the best day in his life? As for this darkness nonsense, Atem would have tried to assure her that nothing she had done could have been any worse than anything he had. For starters, after spending about 3,000 years as a spirit locked inside a puzzle with no recollection of his origins.... well he had done a few things he wasn't proud of after being released. Isolation of that duration could have a strange effect on a soul. In the name of justice, he had employed some questionable practices. Granted, none of his victims had been in error but the punishments had been too severe. He knew that now and if it would help he would share his past with her. Maybe, Mal would see that the pair of them weren't so different. Had he known that she was consumed with the thoughts of another it would have been just as painful as her earlier mistrust, if not moreso. Looking back towards her when she spoke, Atem tried to reassuring, taking one step forward as he did. "... but I do. Would that Ma'at could weigh my heart before you so you could see the truth for yourself." At least she was only doubting his sincerity this time and not his motives. "... What purpose would this serve?" When the witches had used him it had been in a ploy to stir fear in the apprentices, and chaos. That made sense but a love spell? Preposterous. Seeing the rage creeping into her features stirred a mix of emotions within. On the one hand it could be read as almost a ... protective gesture. Naturally, she could just hate being used for someone else's amusement. On the other hand, it sounded too severe. A practical joke was no reason to 'end' someone. Either way this still left him with the same problem. How was he ever going to convince her of his affections? "... I wouldn't be too hasty..." But of course he couldn't help himself from adding the following," You're the only person I know who can achieve that lustrous emerald hue, it's very becoming.." Sounding like quite the lovesick puppy.

[mal_contented]

"Fine," she said tightly. "Fine. First we break this spell, then I find out who cast it and we can ruin what short rest of their life they have remaining together. Luckily for you, I've made a love spell breaking bon bon before. So we can fix this." She was pretty sure she remembered the recipe. Her eyes remained a furious green. "Maybe I'll find whatever they spiked to cast this spell on you and feed it to them while making them look at..." Keeper? Hilarious, but perhaps to mean to keeper. Still, tempting. Failing that, she could make this Merlin's problem. Dump it in his lap as a way to show him that someone has been messing with love spells and clearly needs to be stopped.... Oh, maybe one of those annoying birds from that jungle mission. That had potential.....

[king_of_egypt]

Atem wanted to make further protestations- however he held his tongue. He'd comply and go along with her plans. Since she was so keen on 'breaking this spell', when her efforts failed then she would have to accept that his feelings were in earnest. At the admission that she had dabbled into spells of this sort before he gave her a quizzical yet amused look. "Have you? I imagine there's a story behind that but I won't press you for the details."

"Where do we start?"

[mal_contented]

She sighed. "Hardest ingredient first. We need to find someone to cry us a tear of pure sadness," she said, making a face. The recipe called for human sadness, but last time she'd used her own. Of course she had no clue if it would have worked or not.... given how everything turned out. "After that we have everything we need back at the apartment." And Lydia could probably help hold him down if needed, if he refused to take the bonbon once she made it.

And yes she was ignoring the not quite implied question.

[king_of_egypt]

"A regular tear would be easy to come by..." Atem internally questioned what was the difference between the various types of tears- but magic always operated under it's own rules. "I haven't run into anyone who was overly ups-" His words trailed off abruptly when he realized the falsity of that statement. "..... Though I suppose my roommate wasn't in the best of spirits this morning..."

This wasn't exactly the sort of meeting that Atem had in mind, but... he was getting to spend more time with Mal, which was all that really mattered. The omission was noted, and only seemed to entertain him further.

"I should make this clear as well before you can get the wrong impression. I'm not going along with this because I believe that I'm under a spell- I'm cooperating so I can show you that I'm not." Deciding it would be best to lay all his cards on the table. After inquiring a final time about whether she would like to partake of any of the lunch he'd purchased for them he set to work putting it away so they could begin this different sort of quest.

She has a thread with Sylvando for this already, lol. Not sure how to handle this.

[mal_contented]

"Who is your roommate?" she asked. She had thought she knew, but now she wasn't sure. She gave him a look and crossed her arms. "You very much under a spell. You'll see. And then we'll find out whoever did this to you." She wasn't going to eat any of that food until she knew what of it was spiked with love spell.

We could always see where her Sylvando thread goes then go from there?

[king_of_egypt]

"Sylvando, you've met him before," In case there was any uncertainty on that point. It was peculiar for him to be in bad humors so her confusion was warranted. At least Atem had managed to find some humor in the situation or he might have been more crushed by the initial rejection. She was trying not to take advantage of what she considered a peculiar situation. That was actually... admirable. "We'll see." Was all he would concede.

That being said he finished packing everything up. "I'm not sure where else we might find a tear of pure sadness."

I guess, or I could have her avoid so that he doesn't tell anyone she tried to take care of him >.<

[mal_contented]

"I could always rip the head off some kid's doll in a shop," she said with a smirk. There. No way anyone not evil would still love her after that. But just to be sure. "Or set the kid's hair on fire." Not that she would actually do that last one, but she had to make sure that on the off chance this crush wasn't a love spell it was, itself, crushed.

Lol you could do that too

[king_of_egypt]

[Ooc: If we need to timeskip at some point that's fine. Just need to decide if a. They fail to find the ingredients. b. They succeed. or C. They run out of time and it wears off naturally. I do need to put up that follow up/apology post]

"Creative," Still sounding oddly positive despite the horrible nature of those suggestions," but I don't think that would work. A toy might have sentimental value, but pure sadness couldn't be over something so superficial." As for the fire concept,"... If any tears were shed from the fire surely that would be out of surprise, pain, and fear." Maybe he was reading too much into this, but the terminology conjured up a profound feeling of loss like of a loved one, or of an ancestral homeland in which one would never be able to return to again. The more he considered it, the less likely it seemed that this would even be possible. Had there even been any funerals on Main street...? And how could they in good conscious intrude on such a private and solemn affair.

Atem was under the delusion that Mal was thinking of the worst options she could just to somehow rattle him. He had no proof of it however, but he also didn't think she would go through with either option.

".... You did mention having concocted this before. Under what conditions was the tear obtained that time? Maybe it would give us an idea."

LOL

[mal_contented]

((OOC: I'll let you make the call. I'd lean towards either failing to find the ingredients, or split up to do so and time skip to when it wears off, so we can wrap and you can do your thing. :D)

"You've never seen some kids with their toys. But if we do set a kid on fire..." she smirked, "we can get the tear from a bleeding heart nearby, probably." She was going to play this to the hilt if she had to.

"Already considered it and it won't work, we need something to suit this world, not my world," she said side stepping his question. The first tear came from Lonnie when she realized that the villian parents didn't love their kids. She wasn't admitting that. The second was her own when she knew she was doing something that would make the person she loved hate her. And no way was she opening that can of worms here either. So far not even Lydia really knew much about Ben. She was keeping as much about their relationship to herself as she could. And she hated that Crowley had some vague idea. No. Too many people here knew too much about her as it was. She wasn't adding more weapons to people's arsenals.