fandomhighdorms | Magic Reserves, The Preserve, Wednesday Afternoon

Entry tags:

Magic Reserves, The Preserve, Wednesday Afternoon

The plastic-covered snacks were once again under umbrellas today as the Magic Reserves met outside. Next to the table was a very large tub, covered with a bright blue plastic tarp from T&C's.

"Kiss kiss!" Karla greeted everyone as they assembled around the table. "Today, we're going back to different ways magic can be used to dodge or shield against attacks. Hopefully most of us will never need to know ways to avoid missiles flying at our heads and other various body parts, but as long as the island keeps getting attacked, we need to devote time and energy to keeping our skills sharp." She grinned. "Though no one said we can't have fun doing it."

"And what better time to break out a bit of fun than now?" Merlin asked, ~~blinding people with his Irish-ness~~ smiling far too much for someone only wearing a pair of swim-trunks. "Tony? Would you do the honors of starting us off?"

"Absolutely," Tony said. He flipped the tarp off the tub and called a balloon to his hand. Which he promptly threw at Merlin.

"Hey!" Merlin, so very kindly, responded the same way. Though his balloon was aimed at Karla.

Karla squealed. "I thought we'd agreed to gang up on Tony!" she protested, snagging the balloon with Craft and tossing it back at Merlin. Another flew out of the tub and raced towards Tony. "Have at!" she called to the rest of them. "Try to keep as many balloons as possible from hitting you!"

[OOC ~~on its way!~~ up!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What remained of Jono's face managed a somewhat agonized expression while he thought about the options, and the possible consequences, before smacking his indecision down firmly and nodding.

//If nothin' else, we can always start small.//

Yes. That sounded like an adequate solution to the whole thing, didn't it?

"Of course!" Karla agreed with a nod. "We can also go off a little ways, so there's no one in the direct line of fire. We'll be careful, we'll take precautions and we'll just see what we can do. Sound good?"

She pointed back beyond the table, further into the preserve. "That look like a good spot to practice?"

Jono would have been lying if he said that taking it off and out of the way wasn't the one thing that actually got him to relax, some. Even his flames took on a cool blue tint as he nodded.

//That looks like an excellent spot to practise, luv,// he agreed, already picking his way through the preserve in the direction she'd pointed. //Less likelihood that anybody can accidentally get hurt, out there.//

And, you know, less opportunity for people to gawk. Jono tended to attract a lot of gawkers, even on an island as strange as Fandom.

"I've got a rule about innocent by-standers myself," Karla admitted, nodding. "Which is why I save most of my real practice with Craft for when I go home. When you're throwing around this much power, even a small 'oops' can have catastrophic consequences."

She paced a couple yards further in that she'd pointed before stopping. "This looks good to me," she decided, looking around. "You feel comfortable here?"

//I've been known to make a small 'oops' here and there,// Jono admitted, though grudgingly as he glanced over his shoulder, to be sure that they were far enough from the other people gathered. //Not in any hurry to make any more, really.//

And for good measure, he took a few more steps out. Not enough to really make any difference, but enough so that he could have the satisfaction of knowing that there were extra steps, and they had been taken.

//Here ought t'be good if we're startin' small, anyhow.//

Karla gave him a decisive nod as he took those few extra steps, and suddenly a shimmering blue shield rose up to Jono's waist. "Want to see how much my shields can take then?" she asked. "I'll dome you in and just let you blast at them. They're not reflective, so you don't have to worry about backlash."

//Can't hurt to find out,// Jono agreed, looking almost curiously at the shields. //So I just... have a go at them, then?//

Yes, Jono. That is what she was getting at.

//I'm ready whenever you are, gel.//

The shields grew all around him, snapping shut above his head. She kept them glowing blue, so he'd know exactly how far they extended and so they could both see when (and if) they failed. If her shields went down, Jono would be able to pull back his flames before anything else got hurt.

Outside the shields, she gave him a thumbs up. "Go for it," she called.

//Right.// Right! //Going for it, now.//

He didn't generally 'go for it' with his powers very often. Not here on Fandom, and now was really the first time that wasn't an emergency situation that had him showing them to anybody at all. So this was still sitting somewhere tentatively in the 'baby steps' stage.

Which meant that the first shot he took at the barrier was more of a slightly concussive psionic poke than any actual sort of letting loose.

It was mentioned that he was paranoid, right?

If Jono hadn't clearly been so uncertain about his own powers, Karla would have been almost insulted by the little poke he'd given her shields. She'd mentioned they could withstand bullets, never mind a timid little brush like that.

However for her injured vanity, one probably didn't even need the ability to read psychic scents to realize that it was his control, not hers, that Jono was questioning. So rather than get all huffy, Karla just nodded reassuringly. "Barely even registered," she said. "You've got plenty of room to build."

If ever he had the opportunity to sit down and think on what went on here, Jono might even think to thank Karla for that understanding. There were entirely too many corners of his powers that he was still ridiculously uncomfortable about, after all.

He nodded back, in any case, and steeled himself for another, somewhat less tentative attempt, loosing a blast against the shield that would have easily ripped a wall in two.

... And aimed very pointedly away from anybody who might be on the other side.

...Karla appreciated that caution, yes.

She even took an involuntary step backwards as she felt her shields absorb the power from the blast, grounding it and dissipating it in the earth at their feet. On their own, her shields wouldn't be able to stand up to more than a few of those blasts, though right now she had her shields linked to her Sapphire, drawing power from her Jewel to keep the shields stable. They hadn't had to draw upon her reserves yet, it would only be a matter of time before they did.

"That was a good one!" Karla said, clapping. "But I bet that's not all you got!"

//Not even nearly,// Jono replied, lifting a hand and rubbing almost awkwardly at the back of his neck. With his bandages down he could feel skin there, which was... almost human, in the face of the halo of flame that surrounded him from his abdomen on up.

Considering the raw power that was being thrown around right now, he needed that simple inch of humanity that he could find.

//Do yer want all I've got?//

That was... kind of a lot.

"Can you shift in mid, er, flame?" Karla asked. "Start at a lower intensity and then increase as we go? This way we don't risk a sudden blow out; I'll be able to tell if my shields are about to fail."

Jono took a moment to consider that, and then he nodded.

//I can work my way up,// he agreed. //There's even a chance that I'll run out of steam before you do, if we go it like that.//

And then he'd be taking a nap right there in the preserve.

For now, he was going to start with a blast that was about as strong as the one before it, but he wasn't going to ease up, gradually putting more into it, pushing to go from 'strong enough to break a wall' right on up to 'so, I accidentally blew up the dorms.' ... Which was not an experience that he cared to repeat.

Karla felt it when her shields would have buckled and collapsed, not very long after Jono began increasing the strength of his blast. When she felt the first warning tremors, she immediately created a link between the shields and her Sapphire, feeding raw power into them so they could continue repairing the damage Jono was causing. It was a steady drain on her Jewel, she could feel the power within it ebbing, but they were far from the danger zone.

So far, anyway.

She was sweating with the effort, breathing heavily, but took a moment to send him a small thread. *We're good!*

//Good is... good,// Jono replied, his voice a little broken between the effort it took to actually project coherent thought and the massive amount of power that he was channelling.

He was pushing harder, now. His heels were digging into the turf underfoot as the energy he was throwing forward increased even more. The inside of the barrier was now a veritable firestorm, and it would take effort to pick out the shape of Jonothon within it.

This, too, was progress.

It had been awhile since Karla had used this much Craft--not since she'd fought off the attack that had prompted her flight to Fandom. She was acting the magical equivalent to a funnel--channeling the raw, destructive force of her power into an orderly stream of Craft. Too little and her shields would collapse under Jono's onslaught. Too much and she risked overloading them and having them shatter spectacularly.

She was going to want a long shower, a full meal, and a nap when this was all over.

She felt the power rushing out of her Sapphire. It was going faster than she'd thought; she'd underestimated the sheer power that Jono could call upon. She estimated that she could keep holding on for another fifteen minutes, though that would get perilously close to emptying her Jewel. So ten more minutes at this intensity (five if he decided to kick up another notch or two) and then she'd call it.

Another notch, Jono could manage. Another two notches, as well, which was exactly as much power as Jono would have needed to, say, recharge a world with an existence that relied on pure psionic energy (something that another Jono, who never had the opportunity to attend Fandom High, had already done months and months back.)

Pushing it another notch still was... pushing it, period. He was going to try, of course. Here, it was safe to try. But what it ended up boiling down to was that, if Karla could last another five minutes, Jono had another... maybe thirty seconds left to go.

*C'mon, Jono,* Karla urged, ignoring her own strain. *You can do it. Just a little more...*

She sank to the ground, her knees too rubbery to continue holding her, but her shields didn't waver.

//Not... m-uch more... le-ft.// Bloody hell, speaking had become an entirely new sort of challenge. What wasn't broken by the effort that it took in order to speak in the first place was being snipped out in bits and pieces by the fact that he was about ten seconds away from passing out on the ground in a smoldering heap.

But she said he could do it. He didn't think he could do it. There were teachers back in Massachusetts whose job was to push him to do it, and he seriously doubted that he could. But somebody said otherwise, and that was enough for him.

One final push, a massive explosion of energy that saw the ground he was standing on pulling up and being blown about in a molten mess of dirt and ash, and then--

Then he really, really needed to take a seat, himself. Though it wasn't so much a sinking to his knees thing as it was a sudden drop from one point to the other, from foot to arse in less than a second, his hands going to his head.

//Oy.//

Karla let her shields collapse with gratitude, almost before the dirt finished falling back into place. *That was awesome,* she sent, mental voice slurring with exhaustion. *How you doin'? Okay?*

Groaning a bit, she pulled herself up so she to a kneeling position and kind of half-crawled, half-dragged herself closer to Jono.

*Ow! Fuck!* Yes, Karla. The ground it hot.

He was reaching for his bandages no matter how unsteady his hands were at the moment, if that was any indication as to where his brain had gone.

//Careful, luv. Some... of that's actual... fire.//

Good thing for water balloons.

//Could sleep for... 'bout a week. Don't think I'm... made for that.//

*I think I'll join you,* Karla agreed, expending a bit more Craft so she was kneeling on air instead of the super-heated ground. She was far too tired to think of the implications of that statement, other than how nice it would be to sleep. *Mmmm, this ground looks comfy. Okay, maybe not this ground. But some of that ground over there.*

The ground that hadn't been subjected to intense bursts of psionic flame.

Jono was even going to pointedly ignore that his bandages were hanging somewhat awkwardly over his face and chest right now. When coordination came back to him, he'd remedy the issue. As it stood, it was bloody well good enough as he nodded and oozed forward a little, his forehead just about bumping his knees.

//That has t'be... th'most I've ever put out,// he noted, certainly not one to nitpick implications of ill-worded statements if she wasn't. Now, if only the ground would cool down so that he wouldn't burn himself if he fell over.

Magic Reserves, The Preserve, Wednesday Afternoon

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!

Re: Water Balloon Fight!