Bart Allen (
outofresets) wrote in
wilderlogs2018-03-28 09:02 am
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Entry tags:
The Bored and the Restless [Open]
Who: Bart Allen and You
What: Imp's activity throughout their stay at the groups first camp sight.
Where: Melai Temple
When: All throught the week at Melai
Warnings/Notes: None at the moment, will update if nessisary.
1. General Work and Meandering
[ It's hard to catch this kid staying in any one place around the temple for too long. He can't seem to sit still or consecrate on just one objective for more than an hour or two. Often he's keeping himself busy exploring the new environment or making projects for himself, working in the kitchen cooking to the best of his abilities (mostly very watery "soup" or boiled veggies), taking spare clothing and trying to turn them in to shabby makeshift "packs" that he's happy enough to hand out. He's also taken an interest in the few Kodama in the area, following them around and watching them, and he may wander into camp with a brave one or two sitting on his shoulder or head if he can manage to coax them into it.
Group members may also end up with a peach dropping on their head when he's up in the surrounding trees collecting fruit or find him digging around for carrots and turnips, passing out some of his meagerly cooked food, or they might catch him wandering out into the woods with some of it. ]
2. Sleep Like You're Running on Speedforce Energy
[ It becomes quickly apparent throughout the week that Imp's sleeping patterns are erratic, to say the least. He doesn't sleep as often as seems healthy, and even when he does he's a light sleeper, woken up by something as simple as someone else walking too close to him.
The first night he doesn't sleep at all, and barely even tries. The second and third he gets about an hour or two of sleep and might be found taking spontaneous micro naps throughout the day on the third. More often than not he's falling asleep in the middle of one of his projects when he gets bored of them, though he might also be found curled up in odd places, particularly around the statues where the music emanating from them is more likely to lull him to sleep and keep him from being startled awake quite as easily. And the week just goes on like that. While he gets a full nights sleep once in a while, it's pretty clear nights like that are the exception to the rule for him.
Fellow night owls might find him wandering around aimlessly at night, going out into the woods the first few nights or coming up and asking if he can sit with them when he gets bored of being alone. ]
3. Can I Borrow a Cup'a Magic?
[ A lot of time is also spent around the temple and woods experimenting with his new magic powers, and anyone in camp who's shown some ability to use magic is likely to have the kid pop in on them at some point, excitedly asking- ]
Hey! Can you shoot me with some of your magic?
4. Practice Makes - Whoops sorry about that!
[ And when he's not leaching magic off of others in the group, he's stocking up on binding spells and casting them around the camp. For the time being, he's keeping it to bugs unlucky enough to be found in the temple, particularly in the kitchen. Unfortunately, he's not so great at aiming yet and seemingly has no idea how big the range for this spell actually is.
While trying to bind a stink bug, he misfires and hits someone in the room with him, sticking them in place with magic chains. ]
What: Imp's activity throughout their stay at the groups first camp sight.
Where: Melai Temple
When: All throught the week at Melai
Warnings/Notes: None at the moment, will update if nessisary.
1. General Work and Meandering
[ It's hard to catch this kid staying in any one place around the temple for too long. He can't seem to sit still or consecrate on just one objective for more than an hour or two. Often he's keeping himself busy exploring the new environment or making projects for himself, working in the kitchen cooking to the best of his abilities (mostly very watery "soup" or boiled veggies), taking spare clothing and trying to turn them in to shabby makeshift "packs" that he's happy enough to hand out. He's also taken an interest in the few Kodama in the area, following them around and watching them, and he may wander into camp with a brave one or two sitting on his shoulder or head if he can manage to coax them into it.
Group members may also end up with a peach dropping on their head when he's up in the surrounding trees collecting fruit or find him digging around for carrots and turnips, passing out some of his meagerly cooked food, or they might catch him wandering out into the woods with some of it. ]
2. Sleep Like You're Running on Speedforce Energy
[ It becomes quickly apparent throughout the week that Imp's sleeping patterns are erratic, to say the least. He doesn't sleep as often as seems healthy, and even when he does he's a light sleeper, woken up by something as simple as someone else walking too close to him.
The first night he doesn't sleep at all, and barely even tries. The second and third he gets about an hour or two of sleep and might be found taking spontaneous micro naps throughout the day on the third. More often than not he's falling asleep in the middle of one of his projects when he gets bored of them, though he might also be found curled up in odd places, particularly around the statues where the music emanating from them is more likely to lull him to sleep and keep him from being startled awake quite as easily. And the week just goes on like that. While he gets a full nights sleep once in a while, it's pretty clear nights like that are the exception to the rule for him.
Fellow night owls might find him wandering around aimlessly at night, going out into the woods the first few nights or coming up and asking if he can sit with them when he gets bored of being alone. ]
3. Can I Borrow a Cup'a Magic?
[ A lot of time is also spent around the temple and woods experimenting with his new magic powers, and anyone in camp who's shown some ability to use magic is likely to have the kid pop in on them at some point, excitedly asking- ]
Hey! Can you shoot me with some of your magic?
4. Practice Makes - Whoops sorry about that!
[ And when he's not leaching magic off of others in the group, he's stocking up on binding spells and casting them around the camp. For the time being, he's keeping it to bugs unlucky enough to be found in the temple, particularly in the kitchen. Unfortunately, he's not so great at aiming yet and seemingly has no idea how big the range for this spell actually is.
While trying to bind a stink bug, he misfires and hits someone in the room with him, sticking them in place with magic chains. ]
no subject
He's down to eight cigarettes, and he's been trying his best to ration them out. He's finally accepted that there's no convenience store that's going to pop up with beer and smokes. That when they're scouring for food and water it should be a minor concern to the group, even if it dominates all of his thoughts.
But rationing doesn't mean cold-turkey, and when the desire for nicotine finally overwhelms the desire for alcohol he heads to near the statues and lights up, which takes a moment with how hard his hands are trembling. He knows he probably shouldn't smoke inside something that's probably holy to someone, somewhere, but at this moment he's in a very fuck religion what's God done for me lately mood and he likes the music. It's weird, but calming. He's always enjoyed music.
He either wakes Bart as he finds a place in the shadows of the statues, or runs into Bart when he's already awake.]
What're you doing over here, kid? [By now, refusing to acknowledge Bart as capable is a matter of stubbornness. He saw how Bart did with the Wheelers - he knows Bart doesn't need someone looking after him. But it's something for Dixon to do, try and keep an eye on the youngsters. It's a nice distraction.]
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When asked what he's doing here he slowly sits up on his elbows enough to shrug, and yawning he turns his head so he can lift his goggles without Dixon seeing most of his face, so he can rub at his bleary eyes. ]
It's easier ta sleep here.
[ His voice has a tired slur to it, and when he's done fiddling with his goggles to put them back in place, he shifts to lay back down and look over at Dixon again.
Laying up on the statue's pedestal, in the cramped space between it and the barrier separating it from the next, it doesn't exactly look like a comfortable place for anyone to sleep really. But in a move that's probably not much more respectful than Dixon's smoking in here, somehow the kid has managed to shove himself in there like a cat, and seems comfortable enough, with one arm hanging draped down off the pedestal and the other used for a makeshift pillow.
Like when they first met, he gives Dixon a quiet critical look for a moment, before asking- ]
Ya all right? You're hands'r shakin'.
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Fine. My hands ain't doing shit.
[It's possibly the most transparent lie Dixon's ever told, given the way the flame from his lighter is tracing out a scribble in the night air. When he gets the cigarette lit he snaps the slighter closed and slides it back into his pocket as if everything were normal.]
Why's it easier to sleep out here? You one of those people who needs noise machines to get to bed?
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Detox wasn't something Bart really knew much about, if anything. It wasn't anything they had gone over in the little first aid crash course Young Justice had been put through before Apocolips, and he'd never known anyone that needed to go through it (at least not when they went through it). But even if he had, he might not have recognized the symptom for what it was.
His assumption, or hope, was that it was just nerves. After all, nerves could do that to a person. And this situation couldn't be an easy one to deal with for someone who wasn't use to being thrown into these kinds of things. Especially after doing something like decapitating that Wheeler not too long ago. It had seemed like a pretty cold move at the time but maybe it was some impulsive fight or flight response. A very violent fight or flight response. ]
I don' know what that is.
[ Just judging by the name though, the idea of a noise machine seemed annoying to him. ]
The music makes it harder for other noises ta wake me up though. What'chu doin' here?
[ It was a kind of dumb question with an obvious answer, said in a slightly bratty tone, but he's tired and actual clever comebacks aren't coming to him in the moment. ]
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The flame vanishes as Dixon finally gets his cigarette lit, replaced with the dull orange ember flaring up and then dimming when he takes a drag. He really holds it in his lungs, savors it. He's not going to have many more of these.]
It's a machine that makes noise. And I'm smoking a cigarette.
[These both seem like really obvious answers, and if Dixon weren't in an agitated mood from the withdrawal he'd probably try to sound less grumpy about it. He's needed things that seem obvious to others explained to him enough times that he knows it can sting. 'Idiot', 'stupid', they can stick with you a while, even if they're accurate. Especially if they're accurate. He backtracks a little, not knowing whether it's anything that'll land particularly hard for Bart but playing it safe anyway.
He's trying to be a better person. He thinks it's probably a bad sign that he keeps having to remind himself to do that.]
I mean, I've never actually had a noise machine. I've heard of them, though. It makes white noise, like breeze sounds, oceans that kind of thing. Sort of like what you're doing here.
[He takes a long inhale. If he had any to spare, he might offer Bart one - he was probably around the same age when he picked up the habit.]
You always been a light sleeper?
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But when Dixon doubles back, the expended explanation is unexpected enough that he sits up a bit in a small show of interest, despite the fact that the device doesn't sound any less pointless to him. ]
That's weird. Seem's it would be better to use a radio.
[ Stuff like random nature sounds, and white noise in particular, had nothing on music. It had never occurred to him to try and fall asleep to a radio before, but if he had to pick between the two he couldn't understand why anyone would choose the noise machine.
At the question of whether he was always a light sleeper, he shrugs again. ]
Yeah, I guess. But I didn't really need to sleep for long before unless I'd been doing a lot. So it wasn't really a problem, just kinda annoying.
[ The problem had admittedly gotten worse lately. Nightmares had always been an issue and they had only gotten worse in the last few months, but for once, that was a fact he preferred to keep to himself for now. ]
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And now we're probably going to be doing a lot all the time. Hell, we'll be doing a lot just to keep ourselves fed. [Dixon has not been a particularly helpful team member when it comes to getting food; he's managed to bring home a few handfuls of fruit and some kind of root vegetable he all but tripped on, and he's not very good at the laundering or basketweaving or whatever else they're supposed to be doing. He's felt he's been expending everything he can just not drowning himself in the river or snapping at someone and murdering them with his bare hands.
But God, he should be pulling his weight more. It shouldn't be on sixteen year-olds to feel strung out because the adults got no follow-through.]
But, you know, if you're a light sleeper because you're jumpy something's going to get you, that's what everyone else is around for. I don't think anyone would let anything happen to you. [It's his way of trying to be comforting, if only because comforting someone else takes his attention off himself. There's no way for him to comfort himself when the answer is booze. But he can maybe do something for someone else.]
You need me to be quiet just tell me.
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[ Which probably meant he was going to have to force himself to adjust his sleep patterns to something more normal. If he could.
Dixon's assurance that the group would keep him safe while he slept was a bit unexpected (though with his continued insistence that he and the other "kids" need to be protected, maybe it shouldn't have been), but it's enough to make Bart give the man a small appreciative smile. ]
That's not it exactly, but thanks. It's nice ta hear.
[It's true that for speedsters stopping or slowing down was just about the most dangerous thing the could do. Slade's words and actions from only a few days ago still ring in his head, punctuating that fact; "You may be able to leap around at the speed of sound, but you stopped for a second, and then you became a target".
Nasshead.
And maybe to some extent, it was some kind of speedster instinct that had something to do with his bad sleeping habits; why it was often easy to fall asleep in the cramped Supercycle with his friends around him after a big battle, but it could take him four hours to fall asleep alone in his own bed. Still, he rarely ever consciously put much thought into his own well being, let alone let the thought of his own possible demise stop him from doing something. He'd always just figured it was more due to a mix of too much pent-up energy, a mind that wouldn't settle down and knowing he could get away with very little sleep for at least a few nights at a time.
When Dixon offers to be more quiet, he shakes his head.]
Nah, you're good. Probably would'a got up soon anyway, and I'm good with talkin'.
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He's relieved that Bart's alright with talking, because he's desperate to occupy himself somehow. God, he does not want to be alone with his thoughts, and he's rapidly running out the patience of everyone else here, it seems. He doesn't blame them, given that he's pretty sick of himself at this point, too, and hasn't exactly shown that he's about to be useful in this whole ordeal. He's the definition of "dead weight" here, sick, detoxing, cranky dead weight.
So Bart's outright doing him a kindness, even if the kid doesn't know it. Dixon knows it. He feels a swell of gratitude and goodwill, relief, even, as just like that Bart crosses into someone Dixon likes. Someone to talk at and be concerned about.]
So where are you from? We're a little outnumbered here by all the Northerners. [He takes another long drag, fidgets some more, runs his hand absently over the the smooth burn scars and the new texture there.] I'm from Missouri. Ebbing. One stoplight.
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[ Once again, he's probably giving away more information about himself than he really should. But then, it wasn't exactly a secret in his own universe, he was just considered small-time enough that most villains outside of his own little rogue's gallery usually didn't care to track him down anyway. Why go after Impulse when you can go for the Flash?
And in his mind, he couldn't see how telling people he was from Manchester was any different from Robin saying he was from Gotham. Despite the fact that you could probably fit at least ten Manchester's inside of Gotham. ]
Had to move to Keystone in Kansas recently though. It's right on that Kansas and Missouri line actually.
[ He doesn't bother adding a size description because it's Keystone. One of the twin cities and home of The Flash! It didn't really need an introduction as far as he knew. ]
Might have been through Ebbing before.
[ Then again that wasn't saying much, he'd been through just about everywhere at some point or another. Certainly plenty of small towns. Enough that they kind of blur together after a while.
Seeing Dixon run his hand over the scaring on his face he finally took notice of the fact that it was looking a lot better than before. There was a temptation to ask if someone had healed it for him, but he gets as far as opening his mouth to speak before he remembers that he seemed touchy about it before, and got that odd look, and then he closes his mouth, thinking better of it. ]
Got any good places to eat there?
[ He would remember good food. ]
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[There are a lot of places he hasn't been. He has a sudden realization that he may never see them now, that they probably don't exist here. It's not like he wanted to see Atlanta or New Orleans, but he feels a bit wistful that the option no longer exists.]
In Ebbing? I mean, you got J. Arthur's, which is where people go if they want to do anything fancy. But as far as stuff you can get just passing through there ain't much. And you don't really pass through it anyway, on account of it being tucked back there on its own.
[Even unable to find any common location, there's a certain camaraderie in laying out their lives like this. It's like two people trying to put together a puzzle, not in terms of solving things but in terms of the trading back and forth of pieces, of trying to match things collaboratively. Enough of a framework for them to be on the same page, even without anything that lines up yet.
He does notice Bart looking at his face.]
It's alright now. Sorry I went off on you a little when you asked earlier. That Robbie kid healed it up best he could. [He takes another drag.] I never planned on entering Miss America anyway.
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[ The Flash and whether or not a person had heard of him was quickly becoming Bart's way of discovering if other people were from the same world as him. It made sense as far as he was concerned, there really wasn't anyone from his world that didn't know the Flash unless they lived under a rock. Maybe even then if their rock had cable or WIFI. ]
What got'cha going there now?
[ He wasn't really aware of much being in Idaho outside potatoes, and maybe their waterfalls. Not much in the way of tourism destinations unless you were into hiking, camping or climbing, at least not as far as he was aware. But then again, maybe Dixon's Idaho was different from his own. The idea that he might have been going there for more personal reason's than sightseeing didn't really occur to him in the half-second it took between thinking and blurting it out.]
[ The apology was unexpected, to say the least. Frustration and aggravation were a common occurrence when dealing with him, so he was used to similar outbursts happening often enough that even his friends didn't bother apologizing for them most of the time anymore. ]
That's okay. I've been told I got that kind'a effect on people. I'm glad he was able to help you out.
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He takes a few drags of his cigarette to buy himself time while he tries to dig up an answer to Bart's question. It's an innocent question - why the hell are you going to Idaho? - but the real answer, for obvious reasons, is one that's gotten mixed responses from people. People tend to at least react, one way or another, when you tell them that you were on your merry way to blow someone's brains out.
On my way to a stranger's funeral.
The pause between Bart asking and Dixon answering starts to sag with how suspect it's becoming, so he fumbles for some words to buoy it back up.]
Needed to get out of town for a while and we decided to go to Idaho. [It's not untrue. There wasn't much left for him in Ebbing, and a journey that was either going to end with him dead or in jail seemed much preferable than slowly drinking himself to death under the weight of depression and shame and unemployment and trying to pay back a bunch of medical bills to the burn unit.]
No, it wasn't you. I just get pissy sometimes. Nothing to do with whatever effect you got on people. Who told you that? [He sounds a little offended on Bart's behalf.]
3
I'm- Um-!
[ It's just one of the teenagers. Okay. ]
That's... kind of not how magic works, I don't think?
[ So far, nothing Simmons can work with does any kind of shooting. ]
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It's how it worked with the fairies. They shot spells at me and I absorbed them.
I wanted to see if it would work out the same with the spells people here have. You can use magic, right?
[ The smiles back, slightly cloying when paired with a hopefull puppy-eyed expression. ]
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[ He eyes the kid, uncertain. ]
I guess I can... try? It's not like anything I do hurts anybody.
You want to see if you can absorb it too?
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[ Which indicated that, yes, the kid probably would have been cool with the possibility of getting hit with a damaging spell for the sake of experimentation. ]
How does your magic work? Do you have to concentrate on where you want it placed? Or is it more of a buffer magic kind of thing?
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It's easiest if I'm touching whatever it is?
I mean, I was making light chains to trip those guys with the wheels, but touching stuff to do lights and healing? That's a lot easier.
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See, I thought that was you doing the chain thing!
I got something kinda like that from the temple I think, but it can only chain stuff down for a while. I can't make them just appear like you did. How's that work?
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[ Simmons mulls over how to put it. ]
I look and I concentrate, I guess.
I'm not even sure how you'd absorb that.
[ Is the kid worrying him? Yes. Is the kid also managing to push back that worry into curiosity about how this all works? Also yes. ]
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Okay, that sounds a lot like how the one I got now works, too.
[ And he'd had mixed results with actually trapping what he'd tried to aim at. Maybe it was a mix of not being able to focus properly and just not being used to it? ]
Maybe it would be easier if we try out one of the touch ones instead? What about the light one? That would probably be the easiest to test out, right?
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[ Simmons puts a finger and thumb to his jaw. ]
Worst that could happen is your arm just starts glowing, right?
[ Probably? ]
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[ Unless the light spell has some effect that Simmons doesn't know about yet. But hey! If that's the case they'll just find out together, right?
And with that optimistic thought in mind, the kid holds out an arm for him to test it on. ]
Hit me!
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[ This is maybe a bad idea, but scientific curiosity presses on. Simmons puts his hand on Impulse's forearm and...
He doesn't really have a concept for what he's doing, somehow telling the part of his consciousness that does magic to make the light thing happen. He needs to get a better grip on that, it's kind of hard. ]
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So there's a bit of an anticlimactic feeling when Simmons touched his arm and he still feels...nothing. But at the very least, nothing went wrong, as far as he could tell. That's a good sign, right? ]
Diiiid it work?
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[ Either Simmons didn't manage to make the glowy thing happen, or he did and the kid absorbed it.
He knows which version of events he hopes it is.
Simmons scoots toward one of the statues along the wall, pointing. ]
Here. Grab a statue. Think... lightening thoughts at it?
[ He's helping. ]
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[ Likewise he scoots over to a statue, putting a hand on it and doing his best to think 'lightening thoughts' at it. At first, it doesn't seem to be working and impatient as always, he frowns disapprovingly at his hand within about a half second of no results. But pulling his hand away reveals the spell was at least starting to work, as a semi handprint shaped patch of light is left behind on the statue.
Mood instantly hurtling back up, he cheers before whirling back on Simmons.]
Can I borrow it again?
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[ He's not used to doing it a lot. Simmons puts his hand on the kid's shoulder and does that pressing-against-the-part-of-his-brain-that-does-magic-now thing again. It's slower this time, and a little harder. ]
Alright, but that's all I got for now. I'm not going to give myself some kind of blinding headache even if it is for science.
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[Apparently that one somewhat successful go at the spell was enough for him to decide he had the hang of it.]
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...Now I'm just imagining all the ways we're gonna need it and I don't like any of them.
[ Fuck the dark. Simmons shakes his head. ]
And you're welcome?
[ He's... not used to people telling him thanks. That was neat. ]
2
[Right now he's nestled in the hollow of a sturdy tree branch just outside the entrance, cape hanging down, like a wannabe Batman. No, wait, that's his brother. Like a wannabe Shinigami. Not really making an effort to hide, but not announcing his presence either.]
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When he sees something hanging down from one of the trees ahead of him, he slows down, coming to a near stop before he could get too close, squinting at it curiously. In the dark, all he can really see is the dark outline of a figure watching the temple, with what appears to be a cape draping down.
In a move that's very much like a house cat thinking it's being sneaky when it's really not, he cautiously tries to get closer to the tree hiding the figure, without being seen. ]
2
[But after he slips his boots back on and slips away from the others to look around, he can't find Bart anywhere in the temple. With the uncertainty of their situation - and Bart's lack of speed - that worries him more than it normally would.]
[So Kon goes outside. After he leaves the door of the temple, his eyes shift back to normal, and he searches around pensively in the moonlight, trying to find his friend in the nearby woods.]
Bart? Are you out here?
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But after a moment, a single small light can be seen shining on and off like a signal from somewhere in the trees, not too far off from the temple. Eventually, it starts moving a little, and shining more steadily.
Moving closer will reveal it's coming from a small figure sitting at the base of a tree, waving a glowing hand to seemingly try grabbing Kon's attention. ]
4
What in the-?
[Looks like tugging isn't going to work here.]
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Anita! You're back!
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[Except thinking to taller, hulking older Kon and sharper Tim... this could be time travel stuff again. Even though Impulse really doesn't look that much different.]
Actually, you know what? It's probably not a good idea to tell me. The last big thing we dealt with before I got here was Secret- Greta- going berserk.
[She tries to move a bit, to no success.]
Mind letting me go?
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[ Pulling back away from her, he scrunches up his face in concentration, trying to will the spell to turn off. It takes a moment but eventually it flickers a few times and then the chains finally fade. ]
Still getting used to the change in powers. [ He gives her an embarrassed smile before his expression lights up again. ] But hey! You're not too far off from me.
[ And MAN is that ever a relief. Finally, someone who's not from over a year ahead of him! ]
I'm from only a few months after the stuff with Greta. It's actually been a while since we hung out, like, in costume and all.
[ Which was about as much as he figured was safe to give away. ]
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Really? [Is everyone she knows here further ahead in their timeline? It's starting to look that way. And probably a better idea to not ask how long 'awhile' is in that context.] Huh.
I'm guessing the change in powers has to do with the surprise chains?
[And the fact that he isn't zipping around like he usually does.]
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[ Looking down at his hands, he flexes them a little. ]
It's super weird. I think I'm like a magic sponge now or something. The chain thing is something I absorbed from this place somehow.
[ Curious and slightly concerned, he looks back to Anita. ]
Do you know if you still have your same magic?
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I think mine's the same. I haven't felt any different since coming here.
[Of course, there's a good chance it's because she wouldn't be able to tell right off the bat, but if it changed, there'd have to be some tell, right?]
Is that all you can do?
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It definitely hasn't been an easy shift to get used to. Then again, it was really only recently he'd even found out he had any abilities left to him at all.
He shakes his head at the question. ]
I got some other spells from these bug fairy guys at the place we were at before we got chased here. But I've been kind'a afraid to use'um. Not sure exactly what they threw at me but all of the magic they were using was more damaging than the chain spell.
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[She shrugs her shoulders back, and crack her neck to the side before her expression grows a bit more serious.]
Mon, I can't tell you what to do, but it's probably not a good idea to practice where you could accidentally hit other people. Outside might be a better idea, yeah?
You can't always tell what's gonna happen with magic.
[There are risks, and then there are risks.]