This is going to take some getting used to...[For Verity, open to Ixis]

[smartass_captain]

There's an awful lot of commotion going on in the tower. Sounds like Ixis has his tail in a knot over something or another. It almost sounds like he's arguing with someone. Guess he's going to head up to his quarters and sulk for a good while.

Typical, right?

Except 'Ixis' isn't upstairs at all. He's looking around the entryway on the ground floor, scowling at everything he sees with equal contempt.

"Well, this is just great." Honestly? Jim doesn't know what to do. He's got his phone in one of the magi's pockets. He supposes the first thing he should do is text Verity and see where she's at. Being all but herded to the ground floor before Ixis went storming upstairs hasn't left him with any more answers than when this whole fiasco started.

Wow, trying to grab his phone with his claw hand isn't going very well. He's just standing there like a doof.

Comments

/FANFARE

[ixis]

There's a loud thump from upstairs, which is impressive that the noise carries, given that the whole floor, walls, everything are made from stone. There are footsteps on the stairs, rapidly coming downwards to the first floor...

...but before he even clears the second, there's a yelp and Jim's body comes tumbling down the steps and lands in a limp heap at the bottom.

"These legs are TOO DAMN LONG," is the eventual angered cry from that tangle of limbs. He picks himself up soon enough, holding his left hand awkwardly away from the rest of him. The fingers are-...Yikes. Are they BURNED? They look burned. Badly. All red and raw.

"I! Have injured myself," he declares. Yeah, no kidding, Naugus.

Goddamn you I'm gonna get fired if you make me laugh this hard at the office XD!!

[smartass_captain]

"...I'm gonna kill him." Delicious apple treat will have to wait. Jim's already scowling and hopping down off the stool to stalk over to where Ixis has landed Jim's body in a heap at the bottom of the stairs.

"...You realize, if our roles were reversed right now, you'd either be bitching me out or laughing your ass off, right?" Wait. What's he doing with his hand. Did he. Jim's ears go flat against his head and he sighs. This time he's at least careful to pinch the bridge of his nose with his hand instead of his giant claw.

"Verity come help this dumbass."

No worries here! Nobody can fire me from my job except my husband.

[brave_heart_verity]

"Knock it off, Jim." The injured party gets first dibs on her sympathy. That's just how she rolls. And that is clearly Naugus, and she'll deal with the fact she has to teach him how to walk later. "Both of you are going to have accidents and that's not on purpose so we're going to be nice about it."

That look of 'don't fuck with me I am out of fucks' includes you, Grandpa. But it relents when she gets a closer look at the burn. "Ooh, that looks painful. I think I can heal it, but... I know you're not comfortable with my restoration magic. I've got some aloe and things that will help it feel better if you'd rather?"

[ixis]

He's quick to stick his tongue out at Jim since HE'S getting a pass AND attention. Haha, chump. Although he gets a follow-up look from Verity which makes him do his best to look pitiful. Him fingers has owie. :(

"Turns out this body isn't suitable for controlling fire. Also, you can't touch hot things when your hand is not your claw." He learned all kinds of things today. And at the mention of that resto magic, he hisses in concerned thought. "Hhhhh...Might as well find out if it burns me when I'm in someone else's skin." It's going to be so uncomfortable to sit through, but now he wants to know. Let's just burn Jim's bod to a crisp!

[smartass_captain]

Wow. Is that what he looks like when he makes that face? No wonder he gets hit so much when he mouths off. Jim wants to hit him right now. Hard. A lot.

Learning things about himself already.

"...."Nothing Jim can say isn't going to come out seven shades of sarcastic and hateful, so he keeps his mouth shut at Naugus' utter failure to be careful with his body. But the healing magic is something he has an opinion on.

"My body can handle healing magic. I've had it done before." Like the demon outbreak. Or the chandelier incident at Halloween. But since those were both form similar sources, he's quick to amend. "Both times it was Tamrielian healing magic though. A potion one time, and Felix, the other."

https://youtu.be/owS4WUHsFp0

[brave_heart_verity]

"Now you know why I keep those mitts by the oven," she points out with a little smirk. C'mon, she can't help it. What did he think those were for?

"Felix is the one teaching me this magic," she points out to Jim, "so that shouldn't be the problem." A problem she understands might still exist, so to Naugus she promises, "I'll just do a tiny bit and see how it goes, okay?"

Guess what's shiny and cool looking now? Healing hands, that's what! There's a lot of shiny lights involved, even when she keeps the spell going for as short a time as she can while being sure it worked at all.

[ixis]

He cringes away, teeth bared in a grimace, even when he's told it'll only be for a moment and there's no obvious discomfort when it's underway. And those burned fingers DO feel a bit better. Also, Jim being nearby in Naugus' body can probably confirm there's no proximity discomfort either. Turns out healing magic from Tamriel is safely non-denominational!

[smartass_captain]

Jim's staying a safe distance back. He doesn't want to get burned in his Totally-a-vampire body. He was listening to the warnings Naugus gave him earlier.

"Really? How long has that been going on?" Besides, he's more interested in hearing about Felix and Verity having magic lessons. Do they talk about him? Not that he cares. You know. Mostly.

"How'd you manage to burn yourself anyway? Didn't I tell you my body can't do magic?"

[brave_heart_verity]

She draws back almost as fast as Naugus does. Just because she can't see any new damage doesn't mean it's not there, so she's waiting for permission to continue. Or, given his reaction, probably more likely a stern lecture to never ever do that again.

"A while. He's teaching me alchemy, too." Talking about the lessons is easier than facing the disappointment. "He's a good teacher, very patient with all my silly questions about how astrology works in his world." Do they talk about Jim? Not usually. She's trying very hard to stay out of their relationship--however much she wants to yell at them both about being stupid until they admit their feelings just to get her to shut up about it.

"Magic isn't a purely physical art, Jim. And if he had the staff..." She gives Naugus a questioning look. If she's got to go out and find that damn staff she's going to call for help whether they want her to or not.

[ixis]

"It's fine," he tells her, tentatively offering his burned hand again. "Just a little reflexive is all. Flinching from fire, as it were." Which was absolutely what he DIDN'T do that got him like this.

"The staff is up in the third floor, safe and sealed off. I'm probably going to be using it extensively to try and fix this and I refuse to let it out of my sight otherwise. And I was able to conjure fire just fine, but I suppose holding it is another matter. Something I've taken for granted after this long."

[smartass_captain]

"Wait. What's in the staff that's such a huge deal." Jim has paled considerably the longer this conversation goes on. "I was holding that thing when I came to, what the hell. You weren't going to tell me I was holding a stick made of hell and Satan?!"

Jim is at his wits end here. Naugus is pushing his body to the limit, doing things he absolutely shouldn't be doing, and is probably going to get himself into some serious shit while Jim is expected to sit still and behave like a good boy?

"What is that thing going to do to my body Naugus." He is trying so hard to remain calm right now but the urge to put his fist through a wall or something is rising exponentially.

[brave_heart_verity]

"Maybe you should flinch from fire until this is fixed," she points out. Naugus gets an encouraging smile, though, when he holds out his hand again. She'll heal it up as quick as she can, which hopefully won't require too many rest periods for her.

"I'm glad it's safe." And locked up. That's probably for the best. Especially with Jim's temper rising. "Jim, calm down. He knows what he's doing with it. It's going to be okay." She holds out her non-glowing hand to him; it's the most comfort she can offer while spellcasting, sorry bb.

"Let's just calm down and talk about it rationally, okay?"

[ixis]

"Satan? What's that? Some sort of human material? It's made of nothing of the sort. It's a chaos emerald on a staff I conjured. It's only the most powerful artifact known to Mobius and very, very important to me and my wellbeing. It's not going to do anything to your body. Maybe you'll absorb a little residual radiation from it, but no harm there." No lie? No lie. But still, that doesn't sound good either. Especially not to a guy like Jim who might have a bit of history with radiation of another sort.

[smartass_captain]

Something inside Jim snaps. He's been more or less rational since this stupid fiasco started. Ixis is the one having the hissy fit. Making the demands. Dictating how and why and when things are going to happen.

But Jim would rather kill his body right this second than die from radiation poisoning again. His jaw is clenched so tight that they can hear his teeth grind. And is it just them, or is something smelling an awful lot like being on fire?

No, Verity's cooking is fine, Jim himself has started smoldering, a fire quite literally in his eyes.

"You piece of shit." It's really barely intelligible since Jim has to force it out in a hiss through his grit teeth. Better to finish the job now. He won't die like that again. The nightmares aren't real. He won't let them become real.

[brave_heart_verity]

She really needs to remove the word 'rational' from her vocabulary when these two are involved.

Explaining about Satan and devils is just going to have to wait, Grandpa, sorry. Nobody wants to see anyone go up in flames. Right? Right.

Not that she knows how to stop him.

"Jim, please. Please stop that. There's no need to hurt yourself or anyone else right now. Everything's going to be okay, I promise. I swear to you. Please stop." How much magic can Naugus do right now? Because they may need a lot more ice than she could ever hope to conjure.

[ixis]

The smell of smoke doesn't register until he sees those licks of flame. Then his eyebrows go straight up.

"What? Are you-...Vale's bones, You're angry. You're angry enough that you're conjuring flames." And he's a little jealous! Look at that guy, getting to be on fire and doesn't have to deal with burnt fingers. Also, he looks magnificent when angry. Look at that smouldering hatred. What a beast. Lovely.

"I said nothing's happening to your body because of my staff, boy. Control yourself."

[smartass_captain]

"He's going to poison me again and that's fine?!" Jim turns from Ixis to Verity. He's not angry with her. He's terrified. "Do you know what that's like?! I won't do it again. And especially not for this asshole. Go ahead and take his side." Jim is breathing heavily now, adrenaline turning rage into terror quickly.

The flames flicker out with the shift in moods. He's hyperventilating.

"Don't-please don't. I can't...not like that again." Everything hurts. Not because of the fire, gods no. Naugus' body can turn into the elements themselves, they don't harm their master. But Jim can't control it. He doesn't know what's happening to him and it's scaring him even more. He wants to punch Ixis' face through a wall but he knows that's his body. With nothing to lash out at and nothing to quell the pent up emotion churning inside of him, Jim punches the wall next to Ixis as hard as he can.

"I won't die like that again."

[brave_heart_verity]

"Nobody's going to die." She's trying to convince herself as much as anyone. Punching walls is not great, in fact, it's very bad, but right now she needs to just enjoy the fact he's not on fire anymore. "I'm not taking any sides, Jim. There aren't even sides right now, you both want the same thing."

Ver takes a half-step away from them both, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. "Can I leave you two alone for a few minutes without you trying to kill each other? Because I um. I need a minute."

[ixis]

The best part is that punch is solid. The stone cracks under his knuckles. Just slightly, but it's there. What's it like being unnaturally swole as all hell, Jim.

Naugus, meanwhile, does flinch slightly at the punch landing next to him, eyes going big and looking at where it hit. Then back at Jim. Well, himself. Jimself. "...Who said anything about dying? You're not-...I felt down the stairs and singed a few fingers! That's hardly death! And if anyone was going to die from exposure to a chaos emerald, I'd be in the ground ages ago, as would the founder of my caste, as would Enerjak, as would the Quickster, as would the Guardian, as would a whole slew of heroes and legends. What makes you think it's going to kill you? Because you're Overlander?"

[smartass_captain]

"Fine." Jim doesn't look back at Verity. He's still shaking, ears and tail drooped as low as they can go. "Go." Whatever she needs Jim will feel awful about later. He's managed not to tunnel vision so hard that he's ignoring her at the very least.

"That thing emits radiation. As in, energy that rips apart human DNA and kills you from the inside out. Have you ever had to feel yourself melting inside? Having your cells rip apart and die off while you struggle to breathe?" He isn't shouting anymore. Just staring into his own blue eyes with as much intensity as he can.

"I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Not even you. Don't. Make me experience that again."

[brave_heart_verity]

She'll just be elsewhere for a few minutes. She was serious about not killing each other, so please don't make her regret trusting them alone.

[ixis]

He watches her go, but shortly turns his attention back to Jim, especially with the way he's got a lock on him.

"...You speak of the poisonous sort. The kind that rots you from the inside out."

His voice has gotten...softer?

"The doctor's city was bathed in the stuff at one point. While my righthand man was hidden in the sewers beneath. Her and Kodos both died slow, lingering deaths from the exposure. His brain likely sloughing into nothing but blood from the madness they say took him. Her just growing weaker and in more pain until she succumbed. A horrible death for a warrior as great as her. She deserved a better one.

"You speak of THAT radiation, then? You've felt it?"

Flashback means icons *sage nod*

[smartass_captain]

"That. Is how I died." He's shaking. Hard enough to make his teeth chatter slightly.

"I fought my way into a chamber full of the stuff, and kicked it until it was back in place so my crew wouldn't die. I died in the chamber alone, burning form the inside out. My first officer had to watch form the blast door or it would have killed him, too."

Don't cry, Jim. No feelings. Just focus on anger. That's the safe emotion to feel.

"That I'm even alive today is thanks to some crazy shit that might as well have been magic. I don't know how. I wasn't there for that bit. But I did wake up. And that's worse. Because now I know what it's going to feel like if you do that to me again."

:( Sads icon.

[brave_heart_verity]

Ver is going to feel guilty, later, that she isn't there for them right at the moment.

On the other hand, neither of them need to deal with her own freaking out, so. Hiding in the bathroom it is until she can get a grip on herself again.

[ixis]

Huh. He's frowning, but in thought. Consideration. He furrows his brow a great deal; poor Jim, first he's gonna burn your body, now he's gonna cause accelerated wrinkles.

"Nothing of the sort is going to happen. I'm not like the doctor."

A morbid part of him is TOTALLY thinking he could certainly kill Jim's body just to experience it. He IS wondering what that's like now that the boy has said he knows the sensation, even if it's a death as miserable as what he described. But what good would that do? It'd be a short-term goal with no real payout other than satisfied curiosity, and then he's stuck with the situation of being a spirit and having to find a way back into his occupied body. Not worth it.

"Chaos energy is raw power, not the poison leaking off a foolish method of powering machines. And asking me to work WITHOUT it is going to be a long and grueling process."