12-03-2013, 12:55 AM
What could he say? It was easier to grab hold of the power when you weren't stone cold sober. It was easier to clear his mind, and the strands were less slippery. Still, by the time Nicholas was starting the third bottle of scotch even he was swaying a little.
The thing about experimenting with the power was that it felt like riding a black bear. Losing hold of the reins probably meant a quick, painful death. Really, it wasn't the most user-friendly experience. Ever since Jon's visit and the verification that Nicholas was not, in fact, completely bonkers, he had been practicing. He didn't even know why he was training himself so hard--after all, it wasn't like he'd be coming to blows with Nikolai Brandon--but there was something rewarding about making new discoveries. It wasn't easy to let go, either.
Still, he was working in a vacuum. He didn't want to take heavy risks and had no other minds to work off of. Really, all he could do was throw together different combinations with a minimal amount of energy and see what happened. As far as he could tell, the complexity of the shapes and the stability of the strands was increasing steadily but he hadn't really brought it down to an exact science. It was like flying one of the first airplanes; a few feet up in the air but far from supersonic. He was combining red and yellow wires in an attempt to make visible, colored light when Reed barged inside.
"Trano? Passed out in here?"
He'd been so focused on what he was doing that he jerked when she made her presence known. Unluckily for both of them, the momentary lapse in attention caused the combination of red and yellow to lose stability. It took a few moments to regain his sight and hearing.
"N...no. I've been practicing. What do you need?"
He was probably about to get an earful for practically detonating a flashbang grenade in the room, but she should have known better than to barge in on the resident wizard.
The thing about experimenting with the power was that it felt like riding a black bear. Losing hold of the reins probably meant a quick, painful death. Really, it wasn't the most user-friendly experience. Ever since Jon's visit and the verification that Nicholas was not, in fact, completely bonkers, he had been practicing. He didn't even know why he was training himself so hard--after all, it wasn't like he'd be coming to blows with Nikolai Brandon--but there was something rewarding about making new discoveries. It wasn't easy to let go, either.
Still, he was working in a vacuum. He didn't want to take heavy risks and had no other minds to work off of. Really, all he could do was throw together different combinations with a minimal amount of energy and see what happened. As far as he could tell, the complexity of the shapes and the stability of the strands was increasing steadily but he hadn't really brought it down to an exact science. It was like flying one of the first airplanes; a few feet up in the air but far from supersonic. He was combining red and yellow wires in an attempt to make visible, colored light when Reed barged inside.
"Trano? Passed out in here?"
He'd been so focused on what he was doing that he jerked when she made her presence known. Unluckily for both of them, the momentary lapse in attention caused the combination of red and yellow to lose stability. It took a few moments to regain his sight and hearing.
"N...no. I've been practicing. What do you need?"
He was probably about to get an earful for practically detonating a flashbang grenade in the room, but she should have known better than to barge in on the resident wizard.