11-05-2013, 01:26 AM
Jon's handshake was firm. "You're going to like this, I think. First we're going to get you elected President."
It seemed like everyone's solution was "make Nicholas Trano president." And honestly, that had been his plan all along until his magical ability developed. He hadn't trusted his own sanity enough to run. I suppose my only consolation is that if I'm this crazy I won't be running for a real presidency.
Nicholas smiled at Jon. "That's not the worst idea I've ever heard. Seems I'm pretty popular right now."
He nodded. "That's exactly what I'm hoping for. Your popularity is on the rise, now, and with someone 'in the know' in control of the union it would make things much easier to prepare before news of this power breaks."
The road to election was a long one, of course. Too long. "You do realize that's three years away, right Jon?"
Trano sighed. "Best I'll be able to do is damage control. This isn't exactly something that's going to stay secret for long."
He rubbed one of his temples--he'd been getting bad headaches in the morning recently.
Jon fixed Trano with a stare. "Three years away? Is that all the time you have? You should have gotten started yesterday. Organization of a political machine doesn't happen overnight."
Nicholas stared right back. "If you were convinced you were a couple cards short of a full deck, would you risk the country you love?"
Jon's gaze turned to the teardrop stone, perched impossibly on its edge upon the kitchen counter. "Why do you seem to have such a hard time accepting that this is real?"
"Because I've just developed magical powers. That's textbook crazy."
He noticed the glass in his hand again. At least the goddamn headache was going away. "If Santa dropped by for a visit I would be just as suspicious."
Jon nodded, as if in thought. He removed his spectacles from his face and put them in his shift pocket. A menacing presence struck the room again -- coming from Jon. He held out his palm, and a flame appeared in it. "Merry Christmas,"
he said. "What do you feel?"
Trano hated that feeling. Really hated it. He raised an eyebrow at the flame. "Honestly? Not too great."
Jon nodded. "Of course. I understand now. You've never had anything to help guide you."
He waved for Trano to follow him into the living room and sit on one of the couches. Wires sprung from Jon and were used to drag a lounge chair opposite the couch. Jon sat down on the lounge chair, flame still burning in his hand, and motioned for Trano to sit opposite him.
Once seated, Nicholas had to ask. "So, what?"
Nicholas barely managed a smile. "Are you going to be my Yoda?"
He just hoped Jon got the reference--he hadn't been having much luck with those lately. And he really hated that feeling.
Jon raised a single eyebrow. "I'm sorry, I don't watch much of Swedish singing competitions. But I think this might help you. Do you feel the resonance between this flame and something deep inside you?"
Resonance?
Trano quietly sighed at Jon's first statement. He didn't feel anything--except for that creeping sense of dread. "Can't say that I do."
He shivered, but not from cold. "I really can't stand that feeling."
Jon nodded. "That feeling will become more natural to you as time progresses. I have learned it is a sign someone else is holding the power around you."
Jon moved his hand into the space between the two of them, the single, pure flame of orange-white fire flickering in his palm. "This was a meditation trick I learned from my people's stories. I want you to clear your mind and focus on the flame. Every emotion you can feel, I want you to feed it into this flame."
Why not?
He felt he might as well humor Jon. So that's what he did--Trano focused on the flame floating in the space between them for what felt like a few minutes. Probably because it was a few minutes. What Jon had asked him to do reminded him of his early sputtering attempts at control. In fact, he was beginning to see the flickering light on the edges of his vision.
Trano knew what to do from there. He reached out with his mind and grabbed it, wrestling it into his dominion. "I've..."
Carrying a conversation at the same time was always hard at first. "I've got it."
With control, suddenly that terrible feeling wasn't so bad. If he felt like he was in a prison shower room, at least the soap was firmly in his grasp.
Jon nodded. "Yes, I can feel it in you. Now, release it. Don't drop the connection or let it slip from your grasp. Release it willfully."
Trano had never noticed how seductively sweet magic felt. Probably because every other time he had used them he'd been either drunk, or drunk and terrified. As it was, Jon's request was no easy task. It took more than a few moments for Trano to manage to let go. Once he did, the discomfort returned. "Alright, it's done."
He unconsciously rubbed his arms. "Now what?"
The flame disappeared from Jon's palm. "Now I want you to take control of the power -- this time consciously and on your own."
He sighed and gritted his teeth before getting to work. It still took a while, but soon enough Trano had it firmly in his grasp once again. "I've done this before. How do I take control of it faster?"
As a plus, the figurative soap was back in hand.
Jon grinned. "You were faster, that time."
He folded his hands together. "With practice, you will learn to clear your mind faster and your connection to the Great Spirit will become like second nature. Now. I want you to reach out with the power and bring my coffee mug from the kitchen to me."
Grabbing the coffee mug was easy enough, once he had control. Yellow wires snaked out, coiling around the delicate shape. <strong>"So I've moved up from snail to tortoise."
</strong>Granted, 'easy' and 'flawless' were two different things. He almost smashed it into the ground, and the wall, and the couch before settling it in Jon's hand. "I'm not going to pretend that isn't my best work." He took the chance to make use of the more important glass in his hand.
Wires snaked out from Jon, snatching the glass from Trano's hand. It flew to Jon's other palm, and he set it on the coffee table between them. "No time for that right now," he said. "But you've shown remarkable progress. It took me weeks to figure out what you've done here."
He set his coffee mug down on the table. "So do you believe you aren't crazy, now?"
He bit back a flash of irritation at Jon taking the glass before meeting his eyes. "It doesn't matter one way or the other, does it?"
If he was crazy, he was too far gone to care in any case. "We've got three things--our perception, thought and choices. The first one's foundation for the rest."
He spread his hands. "Worst case scenario I'm safe in a nice padded cell somewhere. I might as well live by what I'm seeing."
Putting his hands back down, he had his first real laugh in days. "Even if it is completely insane."
Jon shrugged. "Well, I suppose that's a start to believing."
Edited by Nick Trano, Nov 6 2013, 12:33 AM.
It seemed like everyone's solution was "make Nicholas Trano president." And honestly, that had been his plan all along until his magical ability developed. He hadn't trusted his own sanity enough to run. I suppose my only consolation is that if I'm this crazy I won't be running for a real presidency.
Nicholas smiled at Jon. "That's not the worst idea I've ever heard. Seems I'm pretty popular right now."
He nodded. "That's exactly what I'm hoping for. Your popularity is on the rise, now, and with someone 'in the know' in control of the union it would make things much easier to prepare before news of this power breaks."
The road to election was a long one, of course. Too long. "You do realize that's three years away, right Jon?"
Trano sighed. "Best I'll be able to do is damage control. This isn't exactly something that's going to stay secret for long."
He rubbed one of his temples--he'd been getting bad headaches in the morning recently.
Jon fixed Trano with a stare. "Three years away? Is that all the time you have? You should have gotten started yesterday. Organization of a political machine doesn't happen overnight."
Nicholas stared right back. "If you were convinced you were a couple cards short of a full deck, would you risk the country you love?"
Jon's gaze turned to the teardrop stone, perched impossibly on its edge upon the kitchen counter. "Why do you seem to have such a hard time accepting that this is real?"
"Because I've just developed magical powers. That's textbook crazy."
He noticed the glass in his hand again. At least the goddamn headache was going away. "If Santa dropped by for a visit I would be just as suspicious."
Jon nodded, as if in thought. He removed his spectacles from his face and put them in his shift pocket. A menacing presence struck the room again -- coming from Jon. He held out his palm, and a flame appeared in it. "Merry Christmas,"
he said. "What do you feel?"
Trano hated that feeling. Really hated it. He raised an eyebrow at the flame. "Honestly? Not too great."
Jon nodded. "Of course. I understand now. You've never had anything to help guide you."
He waved for Trano to follow him into the living room and sit on one of the couches. Wires sprung from Jon and were used to drag a lounge chair opposite the couch. Jon sat down on the lounge chair, flame still burning in his hand, and motioned for Trano to sit opposite him.
Once seated, Nicholas had to ask. "So, what?"
Nicholas barely managed a smile. "Are you going to be my Yoda?"
He just hoped Jon got the reference--he hadn't been having much luck with those lately. And he really hated that feeling.
Jon raised a single eyebrow. "I'm sorry, I don't watch much of Swedish singing competitions. But I think this might help you. Do you feel the resonance between this flame and something deep inside you?"
Resonance?
Trano quietly sighed at Jon's first statement. He didn't feel anything--except for that creeping sense of dread. "Can't say that I do."
He shivered, but not from cold. "I really can't stand that feeling."
Jon nodded. "That feeling will become more natural to you as time progresses. I have learned it is a sign someone else is holding the power around you."
Jon moved his hand into the space between the two of them, the single, pure flame of orange-white fire flickering in his palm. "This was a meditation trick I learned from my people's stories. I want you to clear your mind and focus on the flame. Every emotion you can feel, I want you to feed it into this flame."
Why not?
He felt he might as well humor Jon. So that's what he did--Trano focused on the flame floating in the space between them for what felt like a few minutes. Probably because it was a few minutes. What Jon had asked him to do reminded him of his early sputtering attempts at control. In fact, he was beginning to see the flickering light on the edges of his vision.
Trano knew what to do from there. He reached out with his mind and grabbed it, wrestling it into his dominion. "I've..."
Carrying a conversation at the same time was always hard at first. "I've got it."
With control, suddenly that terrible feeling wasn't so bad. If he felt like he was in a prison shower room, at least the soap was firmly in his grasp.
Jon nodded. "Yes, I can feel it in you. Now, release it. Don't drop the connection or let it slip from your grasp. Release it willfully."
Trano had never noticed how seductively sweet magic felt. Probably because every other time he had used them he'd been either drunk, or drunk and terrified. As it was, Jon's request was no easy task. It took more than a few moments for Trano to manage to let go. Once he did, the discomfort returned. "Alright, it's done."
He unconsciously rubbed his arms. "Now what?"
The flame disappeared from Jon's palm. "Now I want you to take control of the power -- this time consciously and on your own."
He sighed and gritted his teeth before getting to work. It still took a while, but soon enough Trano had it firmly in his grasp once again. "I've done this before. How do I take control of it faster?"
As a plus, the figurative soap was back in hand.
Jon grinned. "You were faster, that time."
He folded his hands together. "With practice, you will learn to clear your mind faster and your connection to the Great Spirit will become like second nature. Now. I want you to reach out with the power and bring my coffee mug from the kitchen to me."
Grabbing the coffee mug was easy enough, once he had control. Yellow wires snaked out, coiling around the delicate shape. <strong>"So I've moved up from snail to tortoise."
</strong>Granted, 'easy' and 'flawless' were two different things. He almost smashed it into the ground, and the wall, and the couch before settling it in Jon's hand. "I'm not going to pretend that isn't my best work." He took the chance to make use of the more important glass in his hand.
Wires snaked out from Jon, snatching the glass from Trano's hand. It flew to Jon's other palm, and he set it on the coffee table between them. "No time for that right now," he said. "But you've shown remarkable progress. It took me weeks to figure out what you've done here."
He set his coffee mug down on the table. "So do you believe you aren't crazy, now?"
He bit back a flash of irritation at Jon taking the glass before meeting his eyes. "It doesn't matter one way or the other, does it?"
If he was crazy, he was too far gone to care in any case. "We've got three things--our perception, thought and choices. The first one's foundation for the rest."
He spread his hands. "Worst case scenario I'm safe in a nice padded cell somewhere. I might as well live by what I'm seeing."
Putting his hands back down, he had his first real laugh in days. "Even if it is completely insane."
Jon shrugged. "Well, I suppose that's a start to believing."
Edited by Nick Trano, Nov 6 2013, 12:33 AM.