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[ An absolute dummy. But it means Alex doesn't get on his case for having what is probably the highest hospitalization record. Joke's on them, he hasn't died. Get fucked Stop Dying 101!

The voice isn't loud or rushed. Simply the type of idle correction you'd give to someone practicing music. Your hand needs to be in second position, less pressure on your bow. ]

Don't be afraid to push the walls back. Remember. You have a space as infinite as the Sea. Common sense need not apply.

[ You should still be careful, you dolt. He'll be back to that, he really will.

Alex's natural curiosity works against him, as he falters. ] The sea? You mean the ocean?

Don't make me throw the remote at you.

[ Bedridden or not, he will nail you from here if you don't focus. ]

You can't just say things, man, I'm gonna ask questions.

[ You can probably feel at least some of his overflowing curiosity, like come on.

He's focusing, he's focusing!! ]

[ He can. And he's honestly kind of impressed. Maya doesn't count because #Contract, but Lion's emotions are nowhere near this vivid. It's beautiful, but also the same type of beautiful that comes from staring at the sun for ten minutes. ]

Here's a question. At 10am, Train A leaves the station. An hour later, train B leaves the same question on a parallel track. If Train A travels at a constant rate and Train B travels at an exponential one, how much time would it take before I reach over and smack you through the Oath?

[ At least he's feeling better. ]

[ No- wait, a train goes zooming past his room and he squirms, and then another-- Will stop- ]

Y- st-stop making me do math, tha's'not fair! [ Actually flailing his hands to try and smack the non-existent distractions out of his mental space, his house isn't a fucking train yard!

He's also absolutely whining. Child. ] Can you actually hit me through this thing? Do I gotta watch out for a mental flyswatter?

[ It's B. Something moving expontentially will always beat a constant. Thus, Alex's answer is wrong. He must be tested. At first, on Alex's end, everything goes very still. A monitor gets turned off. Focus inward on thousands of years of every time some stupid fucking intern ran their mouth off and had to get their head smashed against a desk to make them listen. Come, remember what form you had, or however that line goes, and the monitor gets flicked back on.

On Alex's end, the next time he turns around to his whiteboard hell hallway, there's a Change. A piece of A4 printer paper taped to the wall, the first in what will most likely end up an endless array of paranoia-fueled conspiracy boards. The quality is sub-par - about as good as your average late-90s printer - but it is a hyperrealistic image of Will throwing the remote at Alex and nailing him between the eyes with it.

And thus his room is created. ]

[ Really, if Alex just listens to the questions he probably could answer, but the moment the train problem gets blurted, what he's more focused on is the invasion in his new mental space.

He spins about and peers at it, the thing he definitely didn't put on this whiteboard in his mental space, and- ]

Oh, real cute Will.

[ And in reality, a remote dings off his shoulderblade. ]

Congratulations. You learned basic magic management. I'll buy you a cake.

[ This is partially genuine. Normally there'd be some level of emotional bleed over, but it apparently went across without affecting Alex proper. Extreme amount of potential, low chance to reach it because of anxiety and inability to focus. Sounds about right. ]

[ Too focused on the piece of paper- which he's taking down, by the way, and crumpling- Alex yelps as the remote bounces off him.

He smacks that paper back on the wall, and it sticks, but now it only displays a cut in his shoulderblades. ...And the pain he'd felt through the Oath is gone. Oh. That's how that works.

Alex's eyes shoot open. He rubs at where the remote hit him, but it's a normal ache. He's distracted for a moment. ]

...Wait. Did you just say magic? Like... Like magic from your world?

[ Technically, it's more a basic exercise for maintaining focus that has been repurposed through countless eons and cultures and found particular use in memorization, medication, and religious practices; not just Magic. But that's also way too many words and he's tired. Whatever. ]

Yeah. [ With the same type of inattentive dismissal one gives when discussing the weather. ] You're a Warlock. Th'ell you surprised by here.

Yeah, I mean- I know. I know that. It's just...

[ He hesitates, for a moment. ]

When Lion tried to help me before, that... [ He shrugs one shoulder. A twinge of shame, at his own lack of impulse control. ] Called it magic. That's all.

[ Oh.

Even more than the hastily taped-up holes in his memory, that subject gets a wide berth of avoidance. That's just too deep a hell for him to contemplate dealing with right now. ]

...Yeah. The illusions, right? That's magic from our world.

...It really was nice. I hope... Hope Lion knows that. 'Til I, uh...

[ He winces; show the boy an illusion of Clear and he just loses it, even if he knows that's an illusion. ]

It meant a lot.

[ That explains why Lion's been so vague about the whole thing. They're already scared shitless about falling down the same plot hooks, refusing to use their illusions for anything. But if Alex showed heartfelt gratitude, they'd never be able to say No. ]

Lion's aware. But... don't make a hobby out of it.

[ There's a question Alex wants to ask. But he knows it's best asked to Lion in-person. Not behind their back. ]

I'm not going to.

[ Smart kid. The only thing he gets back through the oath is a deep silence, like perfectly still water, and something infinitely close to gratitude. ]

Good. You can get better magic lessons when I'm not in time out.

[ Thinking of it like that, magic lessons... It gets him excited. Just a little. He curbs it, though, as he feels that. ...The more emotion he gets back through the Oath, the more he's glad for it, accidental as it was. ]

When're you blowing this pop stand, anyway?

[ Okay, yeah, all that above? Nix that. All that's left is an irritation strong enough to blot out the sun. ]

I have no idea! He doesn't tell me shit. [ For good reason. There's an attempt to say something, cut off into a moment of silence, then staring at Mia's gift again. The speech is oddly strained. Like using a word you've never had to use in a sentence before, and aren't quite sure what it means. ] A few... days? Leg's almost fixed.

[ Oh, that's startling. What's his... Jeez, why's that the reaction? ]

It is? Damn, wonders of...modern...medicine magic... [ Ugh, that's dumb- ] 'Least some things never change, docs never give you anything. [ ... ] Don't...end up here again, like this? [ Worry. Concern, a bunch of concern. ] It... We were all real worried about you, Will.

[ Alex is given free reign to wander through various awkward conversation rejoiners with the patience of a very tired saint. It's only that last one, all worries and honest feelings, does anything change. Reach over and shut the display off. Lion's already reached the realization that comes after that concern. Last thing he needs is it playing in stereo.

Downside to the oath is, even with shutting off the receiving end, Alex gets - of all things - a mix of precision and focus. ]

Can't say I'm planning on it. So stop worrying.

[ He's going to have to get used to that, isn't he? The strange feelings he can't pinpoint or understand. What is it? ...He realizes, maybe, comparing notes with Lion will be a good idea. ]

Plans go awry. That's true in every universe. [ Light, breezy. ] ...I'll worry less. Okay? I know you're a capable fighter.

[ It's definitely more the "can't pinpoint" option. If Alex opts to reference against his mental whiteboard later, the only note he'll find posted there is a pane of opaque glass. Giving nothing but reflections of everything else; unyielding. A corner might be cracked.

But the crack gets smoothed over. Not the time or the place, Not Yet, and only one part of his statement gets focused on. ]

Worrying less is all I ask for. Last thing we need is you having a stress-based heart attack.

[ The new mystery to figure out, that of Willard H. Wright himself. Alex could get used to that. ]

Hey, that hasn't got me yet, has it? I've been like...a thousand times more stressed than this.

[ Sad thing is, that's true. ]

[ The eternal question: how many problems can you internalize before people start catching on to your bullshit. The answer is a lot higher than whatever you're thinking.

And he knows it's true, but that's not healthy you idiot. ]

That's not permission for you to try breaking previous records.

(no subject)

rockymountaindie - 2019-10-22 05:19 (UTC) - Expand