Welcome to The Duality of Man, an original animanga role-play that features numerous supernatural creatures. Unfortunately, these various species have distanced themselves because of the war that occurred thousands of years ago, plaguing some with eyes that only see their dualism. While others meddle themself with their differences, two groups fight, each attempting to eliminate the other in for their definition of worldly peace. These two groups of the Terror Response Syndicate (TRS) and the Assembly of Phantoms (AP). With individuals fighting merely over their differences, it brings uncertainty to the outcome of this war.
We happily accept all role-players as long as they obey the rules and are capable of meeting our word count of 50. This does include those who are unfamiliar with this style of role-playing. The staff of The Duality of Man are willing to happily help those who are new to the role-playing world so they feel comfortable on site. Feel free to message the staff if you need help, they can be found here or in the site Discord and will gladly answer questions alongside calm concerns. If you have any suggestions we would love to hear them; guests may use the support board as a suggestion area as well. Should you decide to join, may I say welcome to the site and we all hope you enjoy your time here.
Yours Truely,
The Staff
season
Summer 2024
Heat has broken through into a glorious summer. The snow has entirely dried through the spring, leaving to the brilliance of the warmer months. Terror activity has risen as people are brought out of their homes, leaving the TRS in a position of consistent work. Each are attempting to maintain victory in the endless struggle for power.
Since the wonderful members of TDOM enjoy the site enough to play around on it, this thread is to assist with the site's tidying! Functionality is important and we want to make the site functional even if its activity will be minimal at best!
Perhaps it was a little bit too cold to be going swimming, but when had that ever stopped the young nymph before. Her specialty was water and she definitely needed to get some training in before winter came around and any training sessions would have to be with tap water or take way too much effort to actually work. So the young nymph pushed some loose hair out of her eyes and set her bag down on the beach.
"It's just like the polar bear plunge." Ynes murmured as she shivered a bit in the cold autumn air. Sure she could just not submerge herself in the almost frozen water, but what fun would that be? She was going to train and she was going to train the right way. Slowly she pulled out her phone and set a stopwatch. Then she stepped into the water.
The icy shock took her breath away immediately, even though only her calf muscles were submerged they were already starting to seize and her walking into the frozen water became stilted and stiff. Ynes wasn't going to let that stop her though. She focused, took a jittery breath, and slowly the water warmed to an acceptable level. Her muscles stopped with their spasms as they warm water seeped life back into her system. This was always her favorite part of the training sessions, when everything was actually going her way and she hadn't yet started to face the negative side effects.
She was only up to her abdomen when the ringing in her ears started, signalling the downfall of her power. She grit her teeth and pulled a clone of herself out of the water. It moved in tandem with her, always one step ahead, deeper into the water. Then as the dizziness started to come to fruition she dove head first into the water, warming it as she went so that her system didn't freeze. Her clone dove into the air and then her water made self was swimming in air. There was about another minute or two of Ynes swimming along with her clone like this before she felt her headaches start and gradually get worse. She swallowed a lump that was starting to form in her throat and continued with this technique.
Ynes had been testing a new technique, but had yet to get it right. She quickly rose out of the water and, while manipulating the water around her, forced herself into the air, only to be caught by the floating water clone. The clone's hands froze to ice around Ynes' hands so that she didn't just fall back to the water and instead she was floating in the air, being held up by the water clone. She winced as the ice dug into her wrists, but it worked, and if she could get good at it she could maybe even use this technique as a way to fly.
This thought was pushed out of her head as the dizziness and migraines culminated and she realized what was about to happen next.
Ynes immediately released her clone and both her and it dropped back into the water and she sprinted out of the ocean just in time to double over and hurl onto the sand. She coughed and crawled meekly over to her bag and towel. She wrapped herself in her towel and then pulled a blanket out of her bag. She might be able to control the heat of the water, but the air was still very cold against her now wet skin.
Slowly Ynes picked up her phone and checked the stopclock. 7 minutes and 23 seconds. She sighed and curled into a small ball within her blanket. If she couldn't extend her timeline then she might as well not even be able to control water. It was nearly useless if she got this sick each time she used it.
As of most autumn days, the air possessed a tolerable chill to it; at least if somebody dressed appropriately. With winter's arrival drawing closer with each passing day, the weather seemed excellent to enjoy one of the remaining autumn days. Ultimately, it resulted in Malakai deciding that a pleasant walk would be a magnificent idea. Thus, he dressed in a dark grey turtleneck sweater, a pair of black jeans and lastly tugged a warm black jacket over his shoulders. Upon leaving the house and entering the chilly embrace of the autumn day, the tall man shivered slightly before continuing. Malakai had never truthfully be one for the cold, although, he was plenty capable to endure the temperature. A small sigh escaped his mouth, the weather was only going to grow colder and the ravenette hated the thought of the cold days spent working outside.
The walk had began with no real destination in mind, merely a stroll to occupy his day off. With hands tucked away into the depths of his jacket pockets, Malakai walked. For the most part it seemed silent, only the sounds of his own footsteps accompanying him during the walk. As time went on, the young field medic had managed to weave his way through the various sidewalks to Starlight Beach. Upon walking closer, his brown eyes gazed upon the scenery, first meeting the lighthouse perched at the top of the cliff. For a few moments, Malakai's eyes remained locked on the lighthouse as stood tall against the blue sky that was dotted with a some clouds. Trees rose behind it, most of which were bare; more proof to winter closing in. It caused a thin smile to enter his face, the serenity remaining until he noticed the splashing. Immediately, his eyes drifted towards the water to find an interesting display that the field medic had not expected.
It lured Malakai closer as he watched the mysterious girl and her water clone move. The few moments of tandem movements, the sudden flying via water manipulation. In the warlock's opinion it was rather impressive, especially since his own elemental manipulation was limited to mere striker attacks and pathetic shields; and when Malakai was the one attempting the spell it was very lackluster. When she suddenly fell from the air, the water clone following, the field medic merely thought it was part of the show, at least, he did until she sprinted back onto the beach to vomit. Upon witnessing that, Malakai's eyes widened with worry as millions of horrible thoughts filtered through his head. Perhaps she had been poisoned while in the depths? Or maybe she was recklessly attempting such movements well ill? Then again, being at the beach in autumn itself seemed like a reckless move. Maybe she had already been sick and the water only assisted in the development of a full-fledged flu! Either way, the field medic grew rather concerned about the stranger after watching her get sick. It was something he had seen a few times on the field; with terrors being so diverse it was not unreasonable for the odd case of poisoning to pop up in the patients.
When the mysterious woman returned to her towel, wrapping herself up in before grabbing a blanket as well. While Malakai slowly approached, he watched her, noticing that the stranger had not curled up into a ball inside the blanket. The sign concerned him further, causing the next few steps to be rushed in order to get near the mysterious woman. Once close, the field medic took a momentary pause before clearing his throat to get her attention.
"Excuse me, but are you alright, miss?" Malakai inquired.
Unlike a majority of the time, the words escaped his mouth smoothly as his concerns fought back his social awkwardness. It seemed to occur whenever something seemingly medical related needed attending to; almost as though it was an instinct. Although, in this situation Malakai was not certain about what he could accomplish. The field medic had only expected a pleasant walk that did not involve reckless cold water swimming and a possibly sick patient.
"I saw you throw up a few moments ago, are you ill? If so, I would happily help you so you can feel better," he offered.
The intent to help was obvious in Malakai's expression as he wore a small frown and the tones of concern were written across his face. He had decided to become a field medic for this reason after all, to assist those who needed it. Now he just needed to figure out how exactly he could assist this woman if she was indeed sick or poisoned without potions or his spellbook. That was definitely going to be a difficult task, however, the field medic found himself determined to complete it.
[ I've come to snipe your post cause Malakai would fit perfectly into this scenario. ]
Ynes was silently chastising herself from her spot curled inside the blanket. She was still letting her head stop hurting and stomach stop churning so there wasn't much else she could do. It usually took at least sixteen minutes to recover after puking so she should be good to try the flying technique again. rubbing her wrists absentmindedly she thought about the practicality of her ability with the time limit she had. It wasn't exactly the most comfortable thing she could accomplish, and if she could only do it for seven and a half minutes max then what did it matter how comfortable it was? It wouldn't last long enough to be useful.
A shiver went down her spine as a small gust of wind penetrated the walls of her blanket cocoon. Perhaps next time two blankets would be better. If she came back during winter then the snow and wind and frozen water would only make practicing a colder affair. Ynes figured that two blankets would be a must so she positioned her arm under her in order to sit up and rummage through her bag for a notebook, except as she was about to get up she heard a voice. A seemingly concerned voice? He was asking if she was okay at least.
So once again Ynes pushed herself into a sitting position and turned to stare at the tall guy looking down at her. Perhaps Ynes should have gone further down the beach? She appreciated the concern, but she felt kind of bad that she might have worried him. The man continued with a question into whether or not she was ill and stating that he could help. Did he have healing powers? Was he a doctor, or maybe a medic? She stared a him for a few more moments, not really answering his question as she got caught up in examining him for clues as to who he was.
It was about thirty seconds before Ynes realized that he was genuinely concerned about her and that she still hadn't dissuaded any of said concerns. In a second Ynes was standing, immediately realizing that she was tiny compared to this guy, but still she placed her hands on his shoulders and gave him a toothy grin. "No problems here buddy! Sorry you had to see that, mostly I'm just bad at using my powers for more than approximately eight minutes. messes with my stomach and stuff. So I'm perfectly healthy, just a little cold and nauseous while I wait for the side effects to wear off!"
There was a beat where Ynes kept her hands on his shoulders and stared at him before she let him go and crouched down to rifle through her bag. The blanket was now serving as more a shawl than anything and the cold air was suddenly much more of an issue, but she needed her notebook. After a few seconds of pulling things out of her bad she finally pulled out what she was looking for, a worn black journal with the word "PEOPLE" painted across the front in white.
Ynes straightened, clicked a pen, and stared back at the man with wide eyes. "Oh, so, thanks for checking on me, but as stated I'm not really sick or anything. But of course you did walk over here so now I've got to find out a few things about you." Ynes chirped as she flipped through the book. In the process of doing that she passed by about fifty other pages crammed full of information on people she had met, some even having more than one page. Once she got to an empty page she looked back up at the guy. "Alright cool now go ahead and tell me about yourself." She stated, as if she was interviewing him for a job.
This type of behavior was very common with Ynes. Usually she had the chance to gather information in a stealthier manor, but in cases like this where it was a chance meeting and she had to have information in order to meet said person again Ynes had to kind of set up an interview of sorts. She needed to figure out where this guy usually frequented, what his job was, why he had come to help her... oh and also probably his name. He seemed nice and Ynes wanted to be sure that she had the chance to see him again after this meeting. Interviews were the only logical way to do that.
A few more moments drifted by while Malakai watched the stranger hiding within the warmth of her blanket. The mysterious person was sitting up now, rummaging through the bag stationed beside them. As the tall man watched her, he cocked his head to the side and pushed up his thick black rimmed glasses. Maybe she did possess warming clothing and was merely deciding to have a cold dip in order to wake up, but that did not explain the vomiting. Whatever the woman was searching for, it was completely unbeknownst to Malakai. Shortly, he seemed to possess her attention as the stranger pushed herself into a sitting position and began staring at him. It gave the field medic enough time to analyze her current appearance.
First noting her rather interesting hair colouring which seemed to become a bit of an eye grabber; it was definitely unique. Afterwards, Malakai began to focus and began looking at the countenance of her face to check for any paleness. The silence gave him time, but before he could register the information for possible illness the girl suddenly jumped up into a stand. When the tall man felt the hands grip his shoulders, Malakai's eyes widened in surprise and a small squeak escaped his mouth. The last thing the ravenette was expected was for the blue haired stranger to touch him. She held a toothy grin on her face, which suggested that she was perfectly fine. The field medic could not help, but wonder if this was meant to be some sort of elaborate trap or if this girl was capable of pulling off a smile despite feeling sick. While she held his shoulders, Malakai remained completely still, even stiffening a bit. People usually respected his personal space, which resulting in the shy man being clueless to what to do.
Quietly, Malakai listened to the girl's explanation on how it was merely the side effects of her abilities causing her to puke. The presumption that the field medic had made was incorrect, which meant there was nothing medical to attend to. Soon that correlated to the concept of this officially being a social situation, causing the tall man to suddenly feel shy. It was only slight, mostly caused because the girl was still gripping his shoulders and the fact that Malakai realized he had been staring. The field medic looked away bashfully, hesitating while he debated what to respond with to the girl's statement.
"Umm... well I could m-make you something to... uh... settle your stomach maybe?" Malakai began awkwardly; his courage had fleeted. "I-i'm good with potions s-so it might... help."
Despite the girl's friendliness, Malakai still found himself being anxious. At least medically related scenarios he could pull himself together, but now he successfully gotten himself caught in a conversation with a friendly girl. He mostly avoided conversation since being a stuttering shy mess just made them awkward. To make matters worse the stranger was staring at him, causing Malakai to grow more bashful. Eventually, his shoulders were released as the girl crouched down to her bag again. In confusion, the tall man watched as she grabbed a notebook and shortly noticed that it appeared to say "PEOPLE". That only left a bemused expression on the field medic's face; why was there a notebook labelled that?! It made Malakai feel uncomfortable, but he did not want be rude. What if she was still unwell? When the stranger's wide eyes were back on him, the tall man offered an awkward, but polite smile. What had he gotten himself into?
The girl soon began assuring him that she was indeed healthy, but what concerned Malakai was the bit about finding out more about him. His brown eyes watched her flip through the many pages that were information crammed. The entire time he remained silent while he watched the girl, confusion and concern written on his face. When the mysterious stranger asked him to tell her about himself, Malakai looked away bashfully. His eyes stared at the sand almost as though it could inform him of what he could possibly say. A faint red tint came across his face due to the embarrassment of being unable to tell somebody about himself. He had never been particularly good at talking about himself.
"I... um..." He mumbled awkwardly due to not knowing what to say. "I-i'm not that important... I-i... uhh.."
The blush on Malakai's face increased due to his embarrassment over being unable to get a sentence out about himself. He barely knew this stranger which only made him more flustered about speaking. It was another moment in his life to those ones where he desired social adeptness. As more anxiousness came over him, the young man began chewing his lower lip and fiddling with the cuffs of his jacket. He did not know what to do or say and was now far too nervous to get a word out.
[ Oh no... Welp, congrats Malakai, you have now acquired a stalker. ]
Ynes watched as the guy stared back at her. For a moment she wondered what kind of information people got from her when they inspected her. She wasn't that upset when people stared at her since she stared at them so often. Very quickly Ynes looked down at her black and yellow bathing suit and the blanket and towel that weren't really helping anymore now that she was moving about and using her arms outside of the warmth inside.
Did she look weird at all? Ynes supposed that people didn't usually go swimming this close to winter, but heck she had her reasons. Her headache was already starting to feel better too, so hopefully this guy didn't think she was some crazy person trying to get force herself to get sick out in the cold. She wasn't trying to get sick, just get better at her powers and getting sick happened to be a side effect of that. Ynes was still thinking of this when he mentioned creating a potion to help her stomach.
Her grin widened as she inspected him once again. He looked a little more nervous this time than when she had been staring at him before. The guy had almost looked confident as he had asked her if she was sick or something, but now he was fidgeting and blushing and stuttering and it was a weird since just a moment ago he had seemed pretty good and confident. She realized pretty quickly that she had been staring at him for too long again.
"Oh! Oh, yes please! Do you think it would work? If I could get rid of the negative side effects then I could be really good at my powers and stuff! Did you see that new trick I did right before I threw up, it was good yeah?" She looked back over to the water, thinking about how much better she could be at her job if she could only use her powers to a better extent. "So do you do magic or something? Is that how you make the potions? Or are you just really good at medicine and you call your medicine potions?" Ynes chirped her questions quickly and she inspected the guy some more, her pen poised over the page in her journal.
Now Ynes definitely needed to get more information on him. If he could create something that helps with her nausea and headaches and throwing up while she used her abilities then she definitely needed to figure out where this man was going to be in the future so she could meet up with him again. Perhaps she should just follow him for a bit? That might be easier than just asking him for the information since he seemed a little nervous now that he figured out she wasn't sick.
The man couldn't even describe himself a little bit. He just said that he wasn't important and mumbled some other words. Ynes stared him down and slowly she circled around him once. "Well, you look pretty important from where I'm standing. I mean you rushed over here and I think you know something about medicine! Imagine if I had been dying you could have helped me! That makes you pretty important to me at least." She stated.
He was definitely very awkward though, considering the switch that kind of flipped after he figured out she wasn't actually sick. Ynes squinted for a second before writing "socially awkward" down on the page. She tilted the page away from him so that he wouldn't accidentally see what she had written down. Why did he think he wasn't important and why did he think that was the only thing that mattered to her? Is that why he thought she was asking him questions? Because she thought he was important?
Ynes shrugged. "Hey, listen guy, I'm Ynes, alright, we can start there. So what's your name?" She asked. If she was going to have to go this slow in getting information from him then she might have to go to plan B and just follow him around. That was always the easier way to go. She just had to figure out a very few small things in order to make sure he didn't have any abilities that could find her if she was hidden, or give him an insight into where she was hidden. Plus, she hadn't even decided whether or not to follow him around yet.
This girl was definitely strange, or at least to Malakai considering the manner of which she was dressed. The bathing suit help little protection against the cold despite the blanket and towel's assistance. The field medic could not even begin to comprehend the careless behavior taken towards assuring her own well-being and by the looks of it she did not even bring along a change of clothes; or at least presumably. Malakai felt bad for her, this weather was likely making the poor young lady cold. Unfortunately, the bashful man was far too uncomfortable to really state anything about it. Carrying the confidence he had when he inquired about the young woman's health had been easy; he could get his act together at those times. When the stranger's smile broadened, Malakai was starting to become uncertain if that was a positive or a negative.
Considering the last smile had been followed by the girl grabbing a book labelled "PEOPLE" he was fairly certain his concern was justified. Whatever this young woman was planning, it was completely unknown to the bashful medic. When he mentioned the idea of making her medicine to help with the side effects, the girl seemed pleased with the concept. She continued by stating how her powers could be improved if the negative side effects could be removed; which would likely make was she did prior to his arrival more impressive. When the stranger asked about whether or not it would work and seeing her trick, Malakai offered her a shy nod.
"W-well I might have to... um... develop the recipe," he responded quietly.
That was when the conversation turned to one about his potion making abilities. Despite his amount of skill in medical based potions, Malakai still looked away shyly. Talking about himself was always difficult even when only about potions and his medical abilities. To make it harder, the stranger asked him several questions at once which made it difficult for the bashful man to figure out where exactly to start.
"I-i have magic. So I m-make my own potions," Malakai started before hesitating. "I-i am not that g-great. I just... um... know what I am d-doing. Th-there are a lot of people... better than me."
The humble downplay of his potion skills was a common for the field medic since he was only well trained in potions related to good health. Although, people have given him praise before because of his skills, but he always found himself unable to take the compliments or even act as though he possessed extreme adeptness in potions. As Malakai stood silently, he was clueless to what exactly the girl was planning. When she began staring at him and circling him, immediately the young man looked away bashfully. Staring always caused him to feel spotlighted and he always grew anxious under the gaze of another person. As soon as the stranger began stating that he was important, Malakai's cheeks tinted a faint red colour. Comments like that always made him blush as bit, especially due to his lack of self-confidence. The field medic was now speechless from what the mysterious woman had stated about him. His gaze returned to her for a moment when he heard a pen hit paper; what she was writing remained unknown since she titled the page away from him.
Despite his curiosity, Malakai did not dare attempt to take a peak at her notebook. That would be impolite of him, especially if it was the girl's private thoughts. Thus, the shy man stood silently while he waited for the woman to continue with whatever she was planning. His attention returned when the friendly woman introduced herself as Ynes and asked for his name. There was a small pause before the field medic spoke.
"I'm... Malakai. Uh... n-nice to meet you," he responded shyly and politely.
After stating his name, his gaze returned to the sandy ground while he crossed his arms. Almost instantly, his hands began fidgeting with the sleeves of his jacket while he debated whether or not he should inquire about her clothing scenario. There was a few moments where Malakai remained silent before ultimately deciding that perhaps asking her was best. She could get sick in the wardrobe she was currently in.
"Um... Ynes... do you... um... did you b-bring any warmer clothes? Y-you could get sick... wearing that," Malakai asked awkwardly.
The bashful man did not enjoy questioning people's choice since some people found it downright offensive despite his attempt to merely help. All the while, his eyes remained glued to the ground as he prayed that Ynes was not the type to scold questioning.
So far this guy had been pretty alright. He was definitely very nervous, and the more Ynes looked at him the more she realized how truthful that statement was. It was as if he couldn't handle her staring at him for more than like a minute. She wondered for a brief moment why that was. What made him so nervous right now? Was it the staring, because that wasn't too bad, she stared at plenty of people and most of them weren't quite this nervous. Perhaps it was just the situation he was in? He had seemed fine when he thought she needed help so maybe that was the issue here?
Ynes didn't really get this guy. She wasn't always the most confident person, but she never really worried this much around other people. Perhaps it was her that was making him worry? She did oftentimes have that effect on people. Something about the constant staring, writing things down, and following people seemed to make them uneasy around her. If that was the reason why this guy was nervous then she supposed she could stop staring at him so much. She could do that. It wasn't like she always had to be staring at somebody.
Then the man stuttered out that he might have to create a recipe for it first. Ynes tilted her head to the side as she considered that, trying her best not to stare at him as she thought about this. "That's interesting. So you have to make recipes for it?" She asked slowly, trying to be a bit quieter in her speaking this time, less sporadic.
As he continued speaking Ynes couldn't help but let her constant grin creep back onto her face. She had been trying to look more neutral for this guy's sake, but what he was saying was just so interesting that she had to smile. If he was indeed magic then his potions were probably a lot more likely to actually help her, since she hadn't been entirely sure that regular old medicine would help her that much.
Ynes started writing again and this time wrote down that he had magic and did potions. That could definitely come in handy in the future. "I mean any skill you have in magic and potions is better than what I have, so you've got something going for you at least. Don't be so down on yourself dude, I'm sure you're great at this stuff." She stated simply as she scribbled down her notes.
Once again the idea of simply just following this guy around came to mind. She liked him, but he was just so awkward and bashful and he just really wasn't good at talking about himself, which was basically all the Ynes wanted to do. She already knew enough about herself, she didn't need to talk about herself, but new people were interesting and this guy, despite all his flaws, was interesting. So once again she found herself watching him, but trying to stare too much as to not freak him out.
Finally she got him name though. In big bold letters at the top of the page she wrote down Malakai, making sure to leave room for a last name once she got it. She always found it easier to search people out online if she had their last name as well. Middle names were great, but oftentimes she never really got those, or they simply just didn't have one.
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance Malakai, you seem like a genuinely cool dude." She told him slowly. Ynes was having a bit of trouble being more calm for this guy. She wanted to be pacing and staring at him and asking a billion more questions, but instead here she was looking into the distance and glancing at him every so often.
In between her quick glances Ynes noticed that he was picking at the sleeve on his jacket. Noticing his wardrobe almost made her realize her own and she adjusted the blanket to be tighter around her shoulders. It wasn't exactly the best outfit considering how cold she still was, but once she got back into the water she'd by fine again. Maybe she would leave the water sooner this time so she could use the droplets still on her skin as a source of warmth. Warming and cooling water didn't take that much effort so she could probably still get over the sickness while she was warm. It would definitely take longer, like three times as long probably, but she would be warmer afterwards.
Ynes was still thinking about the technicalities of keeping the water warm while she recovered when Malakai asked about her clothing. She looked down and laughed a little. "Yeah I do have some clothes in my bag here, but I figure that my towel and blanket are better while I'm still going to go back in the water, but I have like a jacket and some pants in here. I'll be fine." She motioned to her bag on the ground that she had pulled all over her other stuff out of. It was a small duffel bag, so it had enough space for the towel, blanket, and clothes.
As Ynes stood there she realized that she was feeling a little better now. She wasn't one hundred percent so she should probably wait one more minute, but she could probably start planning what to do next.
Despite how kind Ynes was being, Malakai still felt nervous due to the peculiar and friendly behavior the girl displayed. Since childhood his social abilities were never particularly good due to how his mother treated him. Being the child who constantly got upset often made the other children avoid him and the shyness he possessed already never helped either. Not to mention the events that occurred during his teen years still left mental scars alongside the physical ones. In this situation it only impacted him further since a pen and paper were involved. With the notebook in the girl's hand, maintaining a casual conversation seemed like an impossible vision in the field medic's mind. The sudden note taking discouraged him since it seemed to begin whenever he stated a fact about himself; was she writing this all down?! A part of Malakai's mind refused to believe that, certainly the booklet had be out for a different reason, but it was still nerve wracking nonetheless.
The staring did not help either, especially since the field medic constantly failed to make eye contact and it proved that the stranger's attention was on him. Even if it was merely a singular person, there was always an anxious feeling the young man would get when somebody stared at him. Fortunately, Ynes seemed to pick up on the concept since the staring was decreased slightly which allowed a small rise in Malakai's comfort. Even the woman's voice seemed to quiet down a bit, coming out slower as she did so. The field medic raised his head a little to glance at the peculiar girl, although, it was only a short period of time before his gaze drifted back towards the sand in order to avoid eye contact. A moment was taken to process the question and to create an answer.
"W-well sometimes there are... uh... ways to make th-the potion more effective," he stated. There was a moment of silence before Malakai realized he forgot to mention something, thus it was hastily added. "And of course there are allergies! I wouldn't want to hurt anybody!"
The final few sentences spilled out of the bashful male's mouth so fast that he was not completely certain they could be deciphered. Red touched Malakai's cheeks as he got embarrassed over his horrible speaking skills which resulted in him nervously chewing his lower lip. Shortly, the field medic was fidgeting with the cuffs of his jacket more frequently as the embarrassment consumed him. The thoughts that occupied the young man's head consisted of all negatives about how terrible he sounded and over how pathetic he was during these situations. It was almost as though his courage took a vacation whenever concept of conversation arise; unless it was on the field or medically concerning of course. At this point, it felt like Malakai's cheeks were burning from the pit of embarrassment he was launching himself into. When the young man's brown eyes looked back at the girl, he found a smile upon her face. It held some reassurance that perhaps he was not messing up this exchange completely.
Somehow, the field medic managed to flash a small, polite grin back at Ynes before glancing away shyly again. She was writing stuff down again, which started the nervousness to flare, but she was also complimenting him. It only flustered the young man, resulting in his cheeks and the bridge of his nose increasing in redness. Many years were spent with a mother who criticized him or emphasized perfection which caused compliments to always make him blush.
"I... um..." Malakai mumbled awkwardly as he attempted to form a sentence. "Th-thank-you."
In the end he could only manage a quiet thanks and a tiny appreciative smile. Hearing somebody state good things about did give him a confidence boosts; even if Ynes did not know him overly well yet. Although, Malakai desired to know a little bit more about the mysterious stranger since it did assist him when speaking to people. Getting to know somebody was a sign of friendship and allowed the field medic to sometimes be capable of casual conversation based on topics they were both familiarized with. Right now, however, Malakai could barely manage to form a complete sentence which meant him acquiring any information about the mysterious girl was plan unlikely. There was also the fact that Ynes seem keen on asking him all the questions. When it was mentioned that it was pleasure to meet him alongside the referral of him being cool the redness in Malakai's cheeks deepened a bit. Most people avoided the word 'cool' when referring to him, even his closest friends considering his rather nerdy appearance, thus the comment left him speechless.
Due to Ynes' glance wavering away from him every so often caused the bashful man to begin gradually feeling more comfortable in the strange girl's presence. Although, the notebook still seemed a little creepy considering the title it had been given. When she mentioned that she had warmer clothes, Malakai only felt slightly relieved. The young woman was swimming in the water which screamed the possibility of sickness.
"Um... but y-you could get... sick d-doing that," Malakai quietly. "The w-water is r-really cold... right? It c-could make you sick f-from constant exposure."
Even if the girl was a little peculiar, she did treat the bashful man with kindness and seemed to go lengths to attempt to create comfort between them. Thus, the field medic decided that perhaps convincing her to cease this training might be a more favorable idea. Honestly, Malakai would have attempted to no matter who the person was, but in this scenario he did hold some determination to at least steer her away from sickness; that was if she did not already possess a method of avoiding it.
Ynes looked over her few notes on Malakai as she tried to avoid staring. She had never really noticed just how often her eyes locked with other people until she was trying not to. Considering how every time she looked up at the guy he appeared to be getting redder and more flustered she didn't want to freak him out more. So looking at her notebook was the next best option.
There wasn't nearly enough on him yet. Usually, with all her questioning, she could have already gotten enough information on people to find them again in the future, but at the moment her scrawled notes only contained his name, the fact that he had magic, and that he was nervous. It wasn't exactly the best interview she'd ever held, but if she wanted Malakai to be more comfortable around her then she'd have to chill out a little. Maybe putting the notebook away would help? She furrowed her brow at that idea. She'd forget anything she learned if she didn't write it down, and Ynes was planning on remembering this guy, since he seemed useful.
At the speedy mention of allergies Ynes cocked her head to the side slightly. She hadn't been able to catch the whole sentence, but considering what she knew about him so fair Ynes assumed that he was worried about allergies somehow. "Well, it's not that severe, but I'm allergic to lactose. It makes me sick to my stomach. Even that won't kill me though." She muttered as she considered if she might be allergic to anything else. "I've never been stung by bees or wasps either, so maybe I'm allergic to those? I don't think so, but maybe." She stated aloud as she continued to think.
When Ynes glanced at Malakai quickly she could almost see the waves of anxiety coming off of this guy. His fidgeting with his jacket seemed to be a nervous tick, along with him chewing on his lower lip. Everything about him read that he was uncomfortable. Ynes tried to think of what else she could possibly do for him.
She had stopped staring and slowed down her words for him, what else was making him nervous? Once again the idea of her writing making him nervous popped into her head, but Ynes didn't really care. If that was the case then she'd just have to follow him to figure out his schedule.
There was a small moment when he returned her smile and thanked her that was almost a normal way to hold a conversation. Malakai still seemed incredibly nervous, but it was maybe getting a bit better? At least this time he had smiled at her before staring off at the beach's sand again. With a small chuckle Ynes looked off down the beach. "No problem. I mean it, you seem really nice... If only a little nervous." She teased a little. Maybe if she took a break from the questioning and tried to joke with him he would loosen up? She supposed that it wouldn't hurt to try.
She considered this new approach she was going to take. Ynes could be fun, she liked fun. She wasn't that great with normal human interactions since most of her socializing took the form of information gathering or complimenting others, but she could at least try. Ynes smiled again as she hyped herself up to try and make a joke or something. What would a normal person do?
Her thoughts were broken by his quiet worried words. It was nice that he was concerned for her health, but really the only worry she had was overworking herself and passing out in the water, since she could either drown or freeze to death, but with somebody else here now she didn't even have to worry about that. So Ynes laughed.
She turned towards the water and with a small flick of her wrist a sphere of floating water bolted into air and then zipped over to where they were standing and talking. Ynes motioned to it with a smile. "Nah, I don't have to worry about exposure cause I can control the water. About a year ago I figured out how to change the temperature so I don't have to worry about the cold water while I practice." As she mentioned this the hovering ball of water started to steam and them quickly bubble and boil. "So far I can get it really far past boiling and scalding, which is nice for a quick attack or something, but i usually don't get it that hot for just keeping me warm while the air is cold." She stated with a laugh.
Ynes was about to turn the temperature down on the ball of water, but the sphere had already all shifted to steam and dissipated into the air. She still couldn't really control steam, since it was an airy particle she didn't really get it as well as she got water, but it wasn't that big of deal. She was, after all, next to an unlimited water source. Her grin turned towards the guy again as she flexed her fingers. She felt good now, she could probably even get another couple minutes of heavy training in before she had to stop, at which point she might just call it a day now that she was talking to Malakai. "So what do you think? Any requests for a cool trick or two with the water?"
The intense nervous feeling that was sparking in Malakai was horrible; he desired that social skill. Lacking something so basic to a majority of the people seemed to always create a self-conscious feeling. Thus, even as Ynes looked down at her notebook, he was still unable to glance at her face. Staring was considered rude and the young man did not want to behave in a rude way towards somebody who had been kind enough to grant them a few compliments. From what Malakai could currently presume, she seemed to be the supportive type considering how quick she was to praise his abilities despite barely knowing him. There was always a slight encouragement behind that which was furthered by the kindness that was presented in the form of ceasing the constant staring his way; he could rarely do well socially when people were looking directly at him.
Alas, the notebook was not helping sooth his qualms about the social situation he had gotten himself into. It perturbed the field medic due to the fact that Ynes seemed to right in it after he spoke. Naturally, Malakai kept considering the possibility of him being wrong with the thought of her writing everything down. Why would she write all this down anyways? He was nobody important and he was not very interesting in his own opinion. When the woman began speaking of allergies, the field medic make certain to make a mental note of what she could be (or possibly be) allergic to. Milk was never used in his potions which meant little concern over triggering her lactose allergy was taken. A small nod from Malakai was given in response to the allergy list to prove he was listening despite his lack of eye contact, however, he was quietly wondering why she mentioned wasp/bee stings. There was a moment of hesitation, leaving a small area of silence before the young man spoke.
"Y-you should be fine then... I... um... don't use th-things like that," he responded quietly.
Out of habit he continued fidgeting with his jacket, which was slightly calming for the bashful male. It occupied his mind from focusing on when Ynes was looking at him or writing in her notebook. Eventually, Malakai managed to slow his breathing from the average pace which allowed him to relax to a degree. Assuring thoughts about everything being alright also assisting in soothing the often nervous man. His eyes remained on the motionless sand alongside the shadows that him and Ynes that stretched across it; it seemed to be the only motion the ground possessed. That was when the woman commenting on his niceness alongside the 'little' bit of nervousness. Despite the intention of it being a joke, Malakai took it seriously and frowned a bit before hugging himself.
"S-sorry... I am... h-horrible in t-hese sorts... of... um... s-situations," he responded quietly. His words became more hasty afterwards. "I'm making everything awkward, aren't? I always do that, but I can't stop myself. I'm so so so sorry! I didn't mean to, I am just bad at this- no terrible! I stutter and can barely even talk, it's pitiful! I just get so nervous, then I don't know what to do and I start rambling... Sorry... I am rambling... I um... sorry..."
The words came out in the quick paced manner that his questioning for allergies had been released. They shortly ceased after the mentioning of rambling considering he had rambled over his social abilities. Apologies seemed to be interjected into the sentences whenever there was the possibility to place one; Malakai has always been the apologetic type. It caused him to apologize a majority lot, including instances where he had done nothing wrong. It was not long before once again chewing his lower lips and the fidgeting increased. His brown eyes remained glued to the ground in what seemed to be a futile attempt to regain social ability. When he mentioned freezing and Ynes began laughing, the young man glanced up at the girl for a moment. When she began to manipulate the water again and explained that she could change the temperature, it began to make more sense.
He was genuinely glad to know that her safety was not at risk when she entered the water and accomplished those incredible moves. As she began explaining, Malakai kept watching the ball as the water began to boil; it was incredible considering his own water based abilities were poor and only striker and shield based. Curiosity glittered in the young man's young eyes as he listened attentively to Ynes' explanation. A nod was given as the bashful male watched the steam dissipate into the air. The laugh caused him to look back towards the girl, which allowed him to notice the grin that stretched across her face. After a few moments of staring, the bashful man acknowledged his own staring and looked back towards the ground. When he heard her mention whether or not he had any requests for some water based tricks, Malakai shrugged a little.
"Um... not r-really. I have... not seen must w-water manipulation... so uh... a-anything is fine," Malakai mumbled quietly.
To be honest, the man was not completely certain what he wanted to see Ynes accomplish with her water manipulation. After witnessing the first display, he was alright seeing anything her mind could come up with. There was also the fact that he did not want to request something that would drain her too much since he obviously had not began making those potions yet. A moment was pondered, how was he suppose to find her after he made them? Perhaps it would be a good idea to offer his cell number, at least that way she could ask for more whenever required. The real problem at the moment was trying to ask about it; he wished he was less shy.
"Um, s-since I will be... m-making those... um... p-potions, d-do you want my... um... cell number? C-cause then I can get i-in c-contact with you w-when they are done," Malakai offered.
The inquiry held a lot of anxiousness, which suggested that he rarely asked for phone numbers; which was a true statement. Usually, the bashful man just waited until somebody asked him for his number instead of offering the concept of giving and receiving a number.
Ynes couldn't, for the life of her, figure out why Malakai was so nervous all the time. Was she really that scary? She had done pretty much everything that she was willing to do to make him more comfortable, and yet he was still more nervous than she had ever been in a regular conversation. Was it just his personality? Nobody could be that nervous right? She looked up from her book at him again quickly, trying to decipher whether he was getting any less nervous.
At mention of her allergies and possible allergies he seemed to focus on that for minute, either going through his recipes and seeing if he used either thing, or making a mental note on her allergies. Maybe both? He seemed like somebody who was good at remembering things so she wouldn't put it past him to be able to make mental notes and not just forget them immediately. Ynes was the type of person to forget everything almost immediately if she didn't write it down.
He mentioned that she should be fine with her allergies and Ynes smiled. "Well that's good. I appreciate you considering making the potions for me. It's kind of hard to go into a battle or something if I can only fight for... well... approximately eight minutes." She mentioned. She made sure to say considering making the potion because she didn't really want him to feel forced into making it. If he decided not to then Ynes could probably try to find another human with magic that she could hire. She had never considered that magic and potions would be able to help with controlling the side effects of her ability. Now that she had that idea she could find somebody else if Malakai didn't want to do it.
It almost seemed like Malakai was calming down a little bit though. Despite him still fidgeting, that seemed to be helping his nervousness rather than making it worse. For a moment Ynes was happy that she was getting through to him. If he could be less nervous around her then she could get more information out of him, but then that seemed to break when she made her little joke.
Almost immediately Malakai was ranting about something and much more nervous than he had been yet. Ynes cringed as she listened to his words and scolded herself for making the mistake of making him nervous again.
After his ranting was slowing down Ynes took a step forward and gripped his shoulders. "Hey, listen." She started quietly. "I'm sorry about what I said. You're doing fine in the conversation and honestly I don't mind if you stutter or ramble. I'm happy to have somebody to talk to either way." Ynes stated with a small smile. She quickly let go of his shoulders and took another step back, hoping that she wouldn't make him any more nervous by having done that. She really was just trying to comfort him.
It was easier to focus on her water manipulation rather than how to make Malakai feel better so that was what Ynes did. She focused on explaining her ability and showing off the small feat of making the water scalding hot. It was left as steam and when she asked for recommendations on the tricks he mentioned that he hadn't really seen water manipulation so he didn't exactly have anything he wanted to see. Ynes smiled and set down her book, towel, and blanket, making sure to tuck them inside the bag so as to not get sand all over them.
As she was putting them away Malakai started talking. She looked up at him and smiled as he asked for her phone number. Ynes nodded quickly and ripped a small piece of paper out of the back of her book before writing her number on it and offering it to him. She stood up and grinned at him. "You should text me right away so I have your number and I won't forget it. I'm pretty forgetful sometimes." She muttered with a small chuckle. Her phone was in her bag so she could check it after she was done in the water, but for now she wanted to show off a little bit.
"Alright well, I'll be sure to show you some cool moves, but I apologize if it's a bit of a short session." She stated as she faced towards the water and tried to plot out her routine and what kind of tricks she was going to show off. Ynes didn't want to repeat any of the tricks he might have already seen, but she also didn't want to do anything too draining and end up throwing up and embarrassing herself. She considered all of these elements as she stepped towards the water, ready to show off what she could do.
As it currently stood, Malkaai was praying for a miracle that could cease the bashful manner of which he spoke. A miracle that could make the stigma created from the harshness his mother inflicted on him completely disappear, but memories were a fickle thing; both friends and enemies. The effects of him treatment were being displayed by the shyness he exhibited as he spoke to Ynes and self-conscious feelings that roamed through his thoughts like starving wolves eating away at the shred of self-confidence he had. This conversation was not flowing smoothly, which meant that there in imperfection within the words he said considering he was the one who was doing a majority of the stuttering. That, in the field medic's mind, automatically meant that he was failing his duties in the act of conversing and socializing with the young woman.
It resulted in the bashful man wishing to melt into the sand and never surface, however, it would be rude to leave. Ynes had stated that she was not sick, but a lack of confirmation still lingered in Malakai's mind. He needed to wait and become certain, besides, she seemed to be enjoying the conversation despite his social failings. When the young woman with the uniquely coloured hair mentioned her appreciation over his consideration, a shy smile crawled its way onto Malakai's lips. Hearing somebody vocalize appreciation over something the bashful man considered occupational always caused him to feel better about himself. That was when the field medic's mind began analyzing what the stranger mentioned, which was fighting. For a moment, the young man pondered and thought that perhaps it meant she was apart of the TRS. Common ground was always an excellent method to form bonds which could later allow him to speak smoother.
"I-its not a problem..." He began quietly. "Y-you... uh mentioned fighting? Are you a-apart of the TRS b-by chance?"
An attempt was made to keep the sentences short as a method to avoid stuttering too frequently and to possibly open up the possibility of conversation in a category he knew better. He dared not to mention himself, the field medic always found himself growing shy when mentioning his occupation. Most believed he lacked the personality befitting of a medic who worked in the field considering his extreme shyness. It likely resulted in people viewing him as spineless due to how he reacted in social confrontations; he always feared confrontation. Not to mention, Malakai bore an emotional side which displayed itself over the joke that Ynes attempted to make. The young man had always been sensitive to even joking critique because he was a perfectionist. After his rambling, Malakai's eyes remained glued to his shoes with certainty that he ruined the entire conversation by randomly ranting away. He hugged himself tight and paid little attention to what was around him as he waited for the anticipated words of criticism.
Instead, the man found himself surprised when Ynes took a step forward and grabbed his shoulders. Initially, Malakai flinched partially due to the cruel past he had faced and because of the bashfulness he felt. When she spoke in a pleasant, quiet voice, the young man acquired the nerve to glance at her. The words she stated, the reassurance that the field medic was doing fine assisted in calming his anxiousness. The most reassuring piece was the final sentence when Ynes mentioned that she was happy to speak with anyone. It caused the corner of Malakai's lips to twitch up in a small smile. There was appreciation over the words being said and it was obvious the young man felt calmer.
"I-i'm still sorry though... I... um... try to avoid d-d-doing that," he stated shyly. "Th-thank-you for s-saying that though... I ap-apreciate it."
Silently, the bashful man watched as Ynes quickly packed up her stuff to perform a water manipulation trick. Admittedly, Malakai was very excited, but somewhat nervous after the side effects that the woman mentioned. It caused him to think about how he could assist in making her feeling better should those effects surface after the performance. When given the slip of paper that had Ynes' phone number on it, the young man retrieved his own from his pocket and began setting to work. She had mentioned being forgetful after handing it to him, so perhaps texting her shortly would be a better method to assure that Ynes possessed the phone number. Thus, while the woman finished her preparations, the bashful man quickly inputted the phone number into his contacts and sent a simple 'Hi' text. His attention returned to the stranger when she mentioned that she would attempt to show him some cool moves alongside a quick apology. As he placed the number and his phone into his pocket, the bashful man favored her with a sheepish smile.
"I... uh... am certain anything w-will be fine," he responded quietly.
When the water manipulator began setting off towards the ocean, excitement glimmered in the bashful man's eyes. He was giddy over seeing what Ynes planned to show off. As he stood, ready to watch, the field medic fiddled with one of his jacket sleeves to help banish the last few shreds of nervousness.
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The skin is created by Wolf of Adoxography and Gangnam Style. The thread and conversation remodels are by Kagney. The Strange Reality board list, Heal My Soul info center, I Remember Now mini profile and Electric Requiem profile remodel is made by Pharoah Leap. The Who's That Member member list remodel was made by Tictactoe. The Cbox.ws Shoutbox remodel was made by Trinity Blair. All templates used for claims, information sheets, applications, etc are credited to their owners; credits for these can be found in the threads the templates are use on. Images that are used on The Duality of Man are credited to their owners, however, they have been edited by Zac with a few being edited by Chibi Magician. The plot, rules and various other information pieces for The Duality of Man are written by Chibi Magician with the assistence of her co-admins, Finnegan and Dremulf, alongside other unlisted people who were kind enough to give their input. The TRS, AP and face claim were all created by Fleur for specifically the use of TDOM. All plugins used on The Duality of Man are credited to their owners. The templates my members use are credited to their maker, if you find a template that belongs to you, but is uncredited, please speak to Chibi Magician or the member themself. Characters created on The Duality of Man are credited to their owners and should not be used elsewhere without the creator's permission.
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