ledbythewind | [Action]

[Anyone who happens to walk by on the road beside House 28 this evening will be treated to a rather unusual sight: a cloud of fireflies hovering around the front lawn, greenish-yellow lights flickering as they fly back and forth, following the movement of a tiny orb of light.

Closer inspection reveals the source of said orb of light as Richard, who is seated in the grass-- he's using a tiny bit of Hyt's power to combine with his own magic (the base for a Holy Lance, not that he's going to cast the entire thing), creating a soft white glowing sphere that hovers a couple of inches above his finger. As he moves his hand to trace mindless patterns in the night air, the orb follows it, and the fireflies follow that in a parade of blinking lights. Richard can't quite hide his amusement at this, reflected in the slight smile on his face. It may be an odd way to spend one's birthday, but to Richard, it's more than fine-- not that he doesn't appreciate what Asbel and the others have done for him. He just needs a little time to himself to unwind after all of that.

But if anyone wanders by, he'll be happy to converse with them. He wouldn't be in a public place if he didn't feel like talking to anyone, after all.]

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[Don quickly holsters his bo, and approaches a little more.]

What do you do?

[This time Richard does make note of it, though still he says nothing just yet.]

I was practicing some of my magic-- I wanted to see if I could combine it with some of Hyt's power to make the light brighter.

[He conjures up another orb of light to show what he means by that, and once again the fireflies move to cluster around it.]

[If Richard doesn't seem to mind, Don will sit in the grass opposite him. This is interesting.]

[Richard doesn't mind at all! He's happy to demonstrate what he was doing earlier, resuming drawing patterns in the air with the hand holding the orb so that the fireflies will follow it.]

[Ever the curious scientist, Don uses the Wind magic he's learned to stir the evening air a little. Does this have any effect on the fireflies' behavior?]

[The fireflies scatter temporarily, seemingly startled by the breeze; once they realize that it isn't going to cause them any harm, however, they're quick to fly back to hover around the ball of light. Looks like it will take a lot more than that to make them leave.]

[Don wouldn't want to cause that - it's pleasant just to watch them. He'll go back to quietly observing.]

They do seem to be rather determined to stay where they are.

[Your dancing lights attract all sorts of creatures, Richard. You probably didn't expect giant turtles when you started this experiment.]

[Richard smiles at Don.]

What brings you out this way? Were you looking for Isamu?

No, I was walking.

It's certainly a nice enough night for it. I would try the same thing myself if I didn't have an audience.

[Meaning, of course, the fireflies, who really don't seem to want to go anywhere else.]

[Don looks around thoughtfully, before suggesting:]

You walk, they go also?

[By now Richard has definitely noticed Don's unusual speech pattern, but his politeness holds him back from making any remarks about it. Perhaps it will come up at some point in the conversation; until then, he isn't going to deliberately point it out.]

Would you like to try?

[Eager nod. What self-respecting scientist would say no to this?]

[With a smile, Richard stands, and after a brief moment of confusion as to where the sphere of light went, the fireflies follow and resume hovering around it.]

There. Shall we?

[Don hops to his feet. The silliness of what they're doing strikes him, but he ignores it. This is fun.]

[Struck by a brief childish impulse, Richard twirls around in a circle with the orb, fireflies following him the entire way, then laughs.]

[That does look fun, but... Don is a self-respecting ninja. He doesn't twirl.]

[Think fast, Don, because Richard will be tossing the orb over to you next. Have fun with the fireflies!]

[Three things happen very quickly:

First, Don gets ready to catch the orb, because he's a ninja and his reflex is to either catch or dodge anything thrown at him.

Second, he realizes he's trying to catch a ball of light, and how is that going to work.

And third, he tries to catch it anyway, because what else is he supposed to do?

... What happens next?]

[As things have it, Richard has enough control over the ball of light to stop it in midair, letting it hover just a few inches in front of Don so that he can reach up to cup it in his own hand if he wishes. But that sequence of expressions on the turtle's face as he tries to figure out what to do with the light is enough to make Richard stifle an amused laugh, though he feels a little bit bad about it.]

Don't worry, I'm still close enough to be able to control it myself.

[The way the ball stops just short of his hands unbalances Don momentarily, but then he tries playing with it - poking it with a finger, bouncing it with his palm, and so on. He understands that any reaction is not Newtonian, but controlled by Richard, but the experiment is fun anyway.]

[Richard just watches Don play with the ball of light, amused by how fascinated he seems with it. Not that it's too much of a surprise; he knows by now that there are many worlds out there that don't have any sort of magic at all, so to the inhabitants of those, anything would be strange and interesting.]

Have you tried forming pacts with any of the spirits here yourself?

Yes, but - not this.

[Maybe he should consider it.]

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ledbythewind - 2012-09-29 06:53 (UTC) - Expand

i_speak_softly - 2012-09-29 15:56 (UTC) - Expand