wrfmlogsarchive | I've experiments to run (Reply)

Who: Josiah and Song
What: Magic demonstrations which degenerate into silliness and fluff
Where: Rainbow's End
When: Thursday

Josiah wasn't sure what he had been expecting when Song said she wanted to show him something. Knowing Song, it was either the latest bit of danger she had managed to get herself into, or she had been conspiring with Amy to get him to hold Eli for another hour. He had been pretty sure it hadn't been a welcome back party since Ray was more liable to kill him and he had seen quite a few of his old friends when he came back to Rainbow's End.
But still, anything would have made sense except what he actually came across - Song levitating halfway to the ceiling, a look of concentration on her face as he entered the room.
No, he hadn't been expecting THAT at all.

She'd been hoping to set aside some time for this ever since he came back. After all, most of her efforts over the last year had been spent in magical training, and Josiah was a talented mage who happened to have an abundance of extra memories belonging to one with even more experience. That made his advice more valuable (she assumed) than the Refugees who'd learned all their magic under more ordinary circumstances.
She figured she might as well start off with her most recent project, since it had given her the most difficulty. Even as he entered and stared at her, the spell faltered slightly and she found herself drifted sideways until she bumped gently against the wall - still several feet above the floor.

For a long moment, he didn't say a word - he only watched as she drifted into a wall.
Finally, he dryly commented, "Amusing yourself?"

Blushing at her lack of control, she managed to right herself and floated back down to the floor (wobbling only slightly, which was an improvement).
"That was Gravity. What do you think?"

"I thought Gravity did the opposite," Josiah frowned. "And seeing as how you're not smashed into the ground..."

"I altered it," she said smugly.
"That's been my project this year. I thought if I improve my understanding and control of other forms of magic, I could make the Dream spell stronger... Also, it's cool."

"I see that." He ran his hand through his hair, a small smile on his face. "Well, I guess that's a better project than chasing after villains for fun." He grinned at her. "And yes - it's very cool."

Song grinned right back, pleased with his approval.
"I admit, that one's still giving me some trouble... not that it was noticeable or anything, I'm sure~"
Gathering her focus again, she held out a hand and cast one of the spells she'd found easiest to master. Water formed artfully above her hand, not unlike the casting she'd done alone in the fountain court.
"My spells are a little weak..." she explained, "because I didn't go to a teacher for most of them." The water slowly changed shape as she spoke, sculpting itself into abstract patterns. "I thought I'd learn more about control if I had to figure it all out myself."

Josiah raised an eyebrow as Song summoned water in her hand, not entirely sure what to think about her methods of learning magic. "You do have a fire extinguisher nearby in case something is set on fire, right?"

She gave him a mock-offended look. "I'll have you know I specifically refused to learn Fire for that reason. Or Thunder. I'm not completely insane."
Meanwhile, the water continued to twist and change. Once she'd finished speaking, it flared out and froze -literally - in the rough shape of a long-necked bird with wings spread.

"Good - I wouldn't want to have to late-rescue you because you set the entire world on fire," he replied cheerfully. He nodded at the sculpture in Song's hand. "Well, you have a possible career in ice sculpting if this whole save the universe doesn't turn out."

She stuck her tongue out at him and replied haughtily, "I wouldn't want you to. I'm not the sort to be rescued."
The ice swan (or perhaps it was a phoenix), melted away rapidly and then evaporated as she released the magical energy. "But I didn't actually drag you up here just to stroke my ego. Really, I promise."

He held his hands up, shaking his head. "Beg your pardon."
Grinning, he leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms and giving Song an "oh really?" look.

She nodded, looking downright pious.
"It's true. I only seek your advice, seeing as you're so much more experienced than I." Her tone was sincere to the point of exaggeration.

"My advice?" He sounded surprised and a little confused. "I'm not sure how I can be much help..."

Her silly act was replaced by honest confusion. "You serious? I mean, forgive me for being insensitive, but you do have some useful memories in there when it comes to magic," she tapped her own head meaningfully.

"Oh." He hadn't really considered that. The extra memories in his mind - there were some things he just knew now, without thinking about it. But a lot of them were still hidden - there, but not readily accessible unless the situation called for it. "I'm not sure if you want that advice."

"Why? Because it's Dark magic?" She gave a slight nod of acknowledgement, assuming that to be the answer. "I'm not asking you to teach any of it to me. What I'm looking for is technique. Theory. That book you gave me was a lot of help, for instance."

Again, another thoughtful look. "Such as...?"

"Well..." When turned on her that way, the question seemed to stump her just as much.
"... Maybe if I explain what I'm trying to do. You know I'm doing all this for the Dream spell. I've reached a point with it now where I can actually divide it into separate tiers, just like the standards spells. There's the basic spell which just lets the caster share a dream with one other person, and now there's the one I call Dreamira, which can reach across worlds. I know what I want the third and fourth tiers to do, but they're a lot more complicated..."

"What are you trying to get them to do?"

"The third one is what you'd expect. My original goal was to regain all the power I had as a Nobody, meaning it should be able to link more than two people and reach beyond basic subconscious and into the Heart, or at least close. That one will be Dreamija." She tossed her head to clear a lock of hair out of her face. "The last one is... a new idea. I figured it out in the desert, but really, I'm glad I thought to learn all those other spells. I think I'll need them for this. I'll need the experience of controlling magic in different forms and turning one form into another, that is..." she was dragging this out in her usual manner. She hadn't shared the latest details of her plan with anyone else yet, and it was still both thrilling and a little frightening to think about.

He was following what she was saying, but didn't like the way she trailed off. He had an idea what the fourth level might be, but rather than saying so, he gestured for her to continue.

"See... I always knew I wanted more than just a copy of Brixon's Element. I've had vague intentions of this sort at least since I started practicing other spells - the ability to take raw energy and shape it into any form I wanted... Even if the amount was drastically limited, it would be something." There was a familiar edge to her voice, though it hadn't been heard for some time. Songbird's longing for the Dreaming had never died.

He frowned. "So... still after the Dreaming, then?" His tone contained neither approval nor disapproval, just a stating of the facts.

She tilted her head downward in what might have been a demure fashion, looking up at him from behind a shield of hair. "Dreams die hard and you hold them in your hands long after they've turned to dust.... to quote a favorite film of mine."

"Fair enough," he replied. "I'm still not sure how anything Calum knows will help you with that."

She flicked a hand to the side in her usual dismissive gesture, not bothering to finish her description of the final spell. "I don't expect anything precise. I'm studying different ways of controlling magic, and the grimoire spells aren't quite the same as the standard ones taught by our local wizards. That's what I meant by technique. I suppose... what I need is a way to control magic in several forms at once, without pausing to cast a separate spell for every change."

He fell silent, thinking about her request - he wasn't quite sure how it was done himself. He hadn't really consulted the grimoire enough to know precisely how the spell within it worked, and Calum's own magic was in itself hard to explain without actually doing it himself.
So he decided to see exactly how it worked.
Closing his eyes, he concentrated on a familiar spell, one that was familiar for a pirate. The sound of rushing water filled the room, coalescing into a small, irregularly-shaped globe of water in the middle of the room. At the same time, sparks of dark fire swam around it, like multiple moons orbiting a planet. The water and the dark fire continued to float harmlessly above the floor, bobbing from some sort of air current.
When Josiah opened his eyes, he looked mildly put out. "Wish this actually came with an instruction manual."

She observed the results of the casting and then tilted her head at Josiah thoughtfully. "From here, could you change part of it into something else?"

"Um..." He had never actually tried to do that before - he wasn't even sure where to start. He glanced at the magical water, wondering if an answer would just fall into place.
Somehow, it didn't - not the way he wanted it to anyway. The dark fire suddenly glowed with a reddish brilliance and with a flash of light and the sound of hissing steam, the tendrils of flames covered the globe, sinking into it and turning it into a fireball... that oddly gave off no heat. It continued floating in the air, bobbing the same way the water had, the flames themselves crackling as if feeding off some sort of fuel.

Eyes narrowed slightly, she looked from Josiah to the fire and back, watching him for any signs of strain or discomfort. So maybe she was a little over-protective... he'd earned it, though.
"Now can you describe how you did that?"

Now he looked a little lost. How in the world could he describe what he had just done? There was a part of him that simply knew how to combine the two spells... he gestured plaintively. "Honestly? I don't know. It's like..." He trailed off, looking off to the side as he tried to put it in words. After a few moments, he shrugged, looking a bit sheepish. "I really don't know how to explain it - like I said, I make a terrible teacher."

Rather than showing a trace of disappointment, she just smiled. "I'm not surprised. Kind of instinctual unless it's something you normally think about, I guess? I'm sure I'll figure it out. But the real question..." she held up an index finger, "is how much extra effort did it take to change the spell?"

His mind still wrapped around the first question, Josiah looked around the room for something he could use - an idea had occurred to him how to explain it but he wasn't sure how beneficial it would be if she didn't try it herself.
After a moment, he settled on one of the targest practice items - no bigger than a baseball and just as heavy, he figured that was as good an example as any. Picking it up, he tossed it in the air before catching it and handing it over to Song. "Okay, this is the only way I can think of explaining this." He pointed to the far wall and the panels that lined it. "Can you hit the third panel from the left? Doesn't matter where - just so long as you hit it."

Song had no idea where this was going, but what she did have was good aim (it was a necessary skill for getting headshots with snowballs, obviously). She bounced the object off the targetted panel and looked at him expectantly.

He nodded at her, fetching the ball and handing it back to her. "Now try it again, but do it with your eyes closed."

Her eyebrows rose doubtfully. "If I didn't know better, I might think you were just looking for a laugh." She took the ball, though, and gave the panal in question a challenging glare. "Am I allowed to aim before I close my eyes~?"

He grinned. "Doubting my motives? Ow, my feelings are hurt." He glanced at the panel and then back at Song, pretending to consider her request. "Nah. See if you can do it from memory."

She offered him a feline smile. Then quickly, before she had time to think too hard on it and disorient herself, she turned on the far wall again, closing her eyes with the motion and giving the ball a measured throw. It hit the fourth panel.

He laughed, going to retrieve the ball. Walking back to her, he handed it over again and said, "Not bad. But try it again. Concentrate on where you want it to hit, not just before you throw it but as you're doing it too." He put his hand on her shoulder for a brief second before taking a step back, winking at her. "And I solemnly swear that I'm not training you for the World Series."

"No, you just want me to borrow Riku's blindfold whenever I decide to greet you with a snowball. I was disappointed this time, you know. I missed all the snow. Sandballs aren't nearly as fun..." Her rambling trailed off as she tossed the ball up and down a couple times, then closed her eyes and adjusted her stance more carefully before giving it a hard throw. She opened one eye to watch it hit... the fourth panel again.
"That one should count."

"And takes about four times as long to get out of your hair," he replied with a raised eyebrow. He watched as the ball hit the fourth panel again and shrugged. "Maybe I should have just changed it to the fourth panel." He held out his hand and the ball wobbled just slightly on the floor before picking itself up and returning to him. He tossed in the air a few times, looking thoughtful. "You're trying to do the same thing with your magic, you know. Starting at one point and ending up at another - the fusion is actually the trajectory. If you can't get that down, then you're not going to get the end result that you want, like the ball hitting the third panel." He smiled back at her. "Or a spell turning into another one. It takes practice and concentration, but once you've got it down..."

He was awarded with a flat look. "What an astonishing revelation, thank you." She stretched her hand toward the ball and a focused gust of wind swept it away from him, bringing it near enough for her to snatch out of the air. "What other pieces of wisdom can you share with me, oh great sage?"

He made a face at her. "Oh come on - I said I was a terrible teacher. I've got to rely on old cliched advice to help me out."

She tossed the ball back again. Perhaps her mood was just a little too playful for serious learning. "I'll remember that in the future. I wonder if..." she smiled sheepishly and turned her eyes up towards the ceiling rather than finishing that sentence. Best not to risk his irritation.

He looked at her expectantly. "You wonder if what?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all... Well, everything actually. Will Mabry ever lock me in my tower permanently? Does Maleficent secretly love to knit? Do pirate captains make good teachers?"

He gave her an incredulous look. "Riiight. Well, at least you know the answer to the last one - a resounding no."

She sighed. "You're right, of course. Calum himself probably wouldn't even try. He'd just keep saying things that didn't answer my questions at all. I wonder how long it took him to master that talent..."she tapping a finger to her lips in speculation.

Josiah crossed his arms, chuckling. "He was a pirate - talking in riddles was part of the resume, I think. And Lilith probably didn't help matters - she had centuries to practice before helping him with his goals."

"In other words you collect secretive people. How in all the worlds did you end up with me, then?"

"Would it be too corny if I said I was lucky?" he asked, faintly smiling.

She snorted in amusement. "If it was a matter of luck at all, I'd expect the theory of opposite attraction - my good luck and your bad." A decisive nod. "Yep, my next project will be discovering the laws of luck, like I was saying before. I hope you don't mind being a test subject."

"Wonderful - because the one thing I don't have on MY resume is guinea pig," he laughed, wrapping an arm around Song's waist and pulling her close. "Well, as long as you don't see how many snowballs you can chuck at my head before I have permanent brain damage, I guess I'm game."

Grinning, she rested her head on his shoulder for a moment. "You need to stop worrying about me inflicting cranial injuries. It's probably the one thing I'm not going to do to you." Wriggling to free herself only slightly, she steered him towards the door. It didn't seem likely they'd get anymore magical practice in, given how silly she was tonight. A much better plan would be to find other people to tease, and perhaps discover just the right dose of coffee to get Josiah playfully energized without completely stringing him out. It was all for science, of course.

He gave her a flat look similiar to the one she had given him earlier, allowing her to steer him towards the door. "Rocks. In the snowballs. For science. I see it now."

Stepping out into the hall, she paused to shake her head adamently, feigning insult. "Never! Well... Never unless it were to test the strength of a bubble. Very important, that. I'll have to discuss the parameters of the experiment with Aria...."

He gave her another look, stopping in the middle of the hallway. "No bubbles."

She mirrored his expression. "You fear the bubble more than the rocks?"

"It depends if I'm in the bubble alone," he replied evenly. "Gotta keep you out of trouble too."

"Aria can't put both of us in the same bubble. I asked." It had been a disappointment, too. "Even if she could, it would defeat the purpose of the experiment. I'm supposed to throw rocks at your head from outside the bubble." She rather gleefully wondered if anyone could hear them yet. Those words would be even stranger out of context.

"Well, that's not much of an experiment if I can't even dodge." And, more seriously, she wouldn't be able to conduct experiments at all if she stayed and he left again. He sighed, banishing the thought - they both had made their decisions about it, no use bringing it up again.
Instead, he leaned against the wall and gave her a playful look. "And if that's the case, then I guess I better just stay put. Easier target for your experiment."

"Well, we can't do it now," she pointed out reasonably. "I don't know the bubble spell. If you really want me to throw things at you, I'll find a blindfold and you can stand in front of that damn third panel until I hit you. Then at least I'd get a chance to practice Cure..."

"I'm still not moving," he said mischievously. "Besides, we've learned that I can't teach worth a damn so getting a baseball thrown at me by someone who has really bad aim... well, it's not high on my to-do list."

She raised her eyebrows at him, wishing as usual that she'd inherited the muscle control to manage one of those pointed single-eyebrow arch. Alas, she wasn't quite perfect.
"Bad aim, huh? Are you sure you should challenge me like that when you know how hard I try to prove myself?"

He only looked up at the ceiling, the perfect picture of innocence. "You didn't hear me say that."

"Uhuh... If you stand there a minute longer, I'll pounce and it won't be my fault if the wall gives you a concussion." So considerate was she to give him such a fair warning.

He only whistled, standing his ground as if daring her to try.

Backing down after issuing a threat went against her sense of pride. However... "There's no point in pouncing when the prey doesn't run," she pouted, gently taking his wrists in each of her hands and pressing them firmly against the wall to demonstrate her point.

He grinned brightly, amused. "The great hunter gives up - I consider that an accomplishment on my part." Then, leaning down slightly, he kissed her before she could reply.

She had a mind to argue that she hadn't given up. She had him pinned, after all, ignoring the fact that he could easily break free. But arguments, however silly, were not quite as enjoyable as kissing, so she let the matter drop and focused instead on producing their quota of sap.

After a few moments (and when it became necessary to actually breathe again), he pulled away just slightly, shifting his wrists away from Song's grip and turning so he could pin her to the wall instead. He tilted his head at her, and pretended to look smug. "You know, I'm 0 for 2 right now. I should get a lifetime supply of coffee or something."

Blinking slowly to clear glazed eyes, she gave him a small smirk. "Only in your dreams."

"You would know better than anyone." He gave her one last, long kiss before pulling away, tugging at her hand. "C'mon - we'd better go see what everyone else is up to before your sisters come around the corner and start lecturing us."

"Tch. I saw Mabry and Brendan when they started dating, not even to mention Amy and Jalen," she pointed out as she went along with him. "They have absolutely no right to lecture us, believe me~"

"Guess it all evens out in the end then," he said, glancing back at her - there may have been the barest glow in his eyes, but it was gone in the space of a heartbeat. "Maybe it's addictive."

She had to ask, "What, snogging or lecturing?"

He shrugged. "The snogging that leads to the lecturing."

"Oh, well, yes. Obviously." There was the Scientist Voice again. "It could also be subliminal. did you ever notice that it's an anagram of my nickname?"

He tossed her an amused look over his shoulder. "You and your anagrams - although, I have to admit, you're quite good at it. Maybe there is more to it than that."

She ducked her head in a silent laugh and trotted forward a step to match paces with him. "I'd say it was destiny, only then I'd have to rewrite it. Too stubborn to abide by fate and all that."

He put an arm around her shoulders, giving her a sidelong glance. "Never one to leave well enough alone, eh? Well, as long as you don't getting into heaps of trouble when I leave in a few days just to fill some unknown daily quote, I guess it's perfectly alright."

She responded with her most angelic smile. "I don't know what you're talking about, love. We must hurry and replenish your caffiene levels, for you've begun to ramble senselessly."

"And you all say I need a bubble," came the dry remark. He raised an eyebrow at her. "What am I going to do with you?"

"That's what I keep asking myself about you," she answered affectionately. "So far I'm rather liking the results of acting on instinct. One day at a time, right?"

He frowned at her suspiciously. "And acting on instinct once again leads to the lecturing - I'm letting you face Mabry by yourself on that one." Still, he allowed a smile to slip onto his face. "Right - one epic day at a time."