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

[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."

[smartass_captain]

"Do you know that for sure? Has Verity been exposed to it for long?" Shit, if Ixis did that to Verity. Jim has to sit down. Right on his behind, damn the tail getting pinched. He might be sick.

"Oh god, Verity..." Jim puts his head in his hands and just. Sits there. His tail curls around himself protectively, as if he's trying to shield himself from anything and everything about the outside.

He doesn't say anything else. At least he's not lighting anyone on fire or breaking things?

[brave_heart_verity]

You know what's good in times like these?

Chocolate.

And Naugus knows where her stash is, if he's interested.

[ixis]

"She's fine. Vale's bones, if you thought it was that dangerous, everyone I've ever come near in the Nexus would be in danger. These artifacts have shaped civilization and progress and power on Mobius since the dawn of time. They're highly sought after and rigorously researched. The echidnas harnessed it to make their nation a floating island and their longterm exposure and use of the emeralds made them the most advanced society to ever exist. What do I have to say to convince you this is a non-issue?"

He totally heads for where he knows that chocolate is kept. And...opens it up and starts eating it himself. Then stops.

"...Am I going to die because I put chocolate in your ridiculous body?" If even strawberries are a danger, who knows what else there is!

[smartass_captain]

Jim could argue the differences between acute radiation poisoning and prolonged exposure to lower doses. Could talk about the cancers and other conditions it leads to. That Naugus has no concrete proof that humans aren't affected differently than other species.

But he wants Ixis to be right.

"...No." He doesn't take the bait. It would help if Jim even had an idea of how this happened. But Dr. Hill is gone, and Naugus won't let Jim be in the know about anything. Jim pulls himself up slowly. He doesn't want to be here anymore.

[brave_heart_verity]

Verity would want Naugus to be right too, if she knew what they were talking about.

Good thing she missed that.

The thing about glasses is, everyone knows when you've been crying because of the spots on the lenses. She's going to take a moment to wash hers off before coming back out.

[ixis]

"Don't be so glum. The look doesn't suit me at all." At least he can eat chocolate in peace. The box it set on the kitchen table, where he spots the jar of strawberry jam.

"Now that's just cruel." Reminders of what will never be until he is back in his body! Maybe he should take the jar and put it on his desk to keep him motivated.

[smartass_captain]

Still feeling queasy, Jim sighs and slowly gets to his feet. Ixis is probably right. And what choice do they have, really? If he needs to use the damn thing to get them switched, it's a risk he needs to be willing to take.

He's made much riskier gambles before, but he also hasn't known ahead of time just how bad the consequences would be in every intimate detail.

"Whatever. Sorry for yelling. What's...what's our plan for fixing this? How...long do you think we'll be stuck wearing each others skins?"