[open] Is it better to believe?

[hypoxic]

Who: Leo Fitz and YOU
Where: Around the Kindergarten
When: 23rd-27th (event catch-all)
Rating: Will edit this if threads move beyond PG13
Summary: When the scientist wakes up wielding magic, the first thing he wants to do is run three thousand tests. Something might accidentally get set on fire. He'll probably need help dealing with it.
The Story:
[ There are a few things Fitz understands about this event. He knows he's supposed to be some sort of wizard -- the word "evoker" springs to mind, even though he's not sure how to place it or what to do with that knowledge. But he does know that it's fascinating. It's a different sort of magic than the kind he'd had when Wonderland had transformed into that magic school. Then, he'd been seamlessly integrated into a society that took magic entirely for granted. He'd been a scholar, but at things that didn't require a frame of reference. None of it translated into anything particularly useful when the event ended and they returned to themselves.

But this is a different sort of magic. He's retained his faculties, and they've been transported to a world where mistakes probably won't end in something catastrophic. He'll spend his days working through the mechanics of what he innately knows, but hasn't yet examined. The trouble is that initiating the spell is more challenging when he's trying to slow down the process gained by forced muscle memory. He knows how to create a fire shield, but in trying to determine where the flames are actually coming from, he might start a few fires.

And as such, the bulk of his days will be entrenched in a different kind of experimentation. Settling in what he thinks is an uninhabited patch of land, he tests every spell he can think to test. It ranges from ice storms to fireballs, with the occasional acid arrow or gust of wind soaring over everyone's heads. He might need some help mitigating the ensuing disasters that come from it.

What he isn't prepared for is how exhausting it all is. Spellcasting is stressful, and a different sort of strain than what he's normally dealing with. (Perhaps it's symptomatic of a low constitution.) Every evening, he's tired enough to have a hard time standing upright for long periods. His notebook is increasingly full of data, but the headaches and nosebleeds are a terrible price to pay.

He knows he should probably stop. But it's all so interesting... Just one more. Just until the event ends. It's important data to compile, even if he thinks he might pass out after the tenth spell in a day (or earlier -- there's something about a freezing sphere that sucks everything out of him). ]

Comments

24th

[bravejemma]

[As usual, Jemma is there to be Fitz's partner in experimentation -- and it feels good. Natural, even, despite the supernatural subject matter. While "evoker" rings in Fitz's mind, "necromancer" wells up in her like a natural spring, like some parody of her study of biology, of life itself. She doesn't share it immediately, though the grinning skull that she found in her bag and has taken a strong liking to might be enough of an indication in itself to anyone paying enough attention. His name is Yorick and don't you talk about him like he's not even there.

The small fire that Fitz has successfully set is less a raging inferno and more of an annoyed flame, but it holds on to life like it's being fed bone-dry kindling. The water from her canteen is enough to put it out this time -- next time, who knows?]

How did that feel?

[hypoxic]

[It had only been a small fire, but it's still enough to send him breaking into a sweat.]

Feels a bit like I've just run up a flight of stairs. Wholly unpleasant. This is why we invented elevators.

[bravejemma]

[She smiles at that. He does look a little strained.]

Well, I don't wonder, if you're creating something out of nothing. But you don't look nearly as bad off.

[hypoxic]

Energy can't be created from nothing. We know this. It could be that the transference is occurring between creator and target. The spellcasting process might just be acting as a conduit... Somehow.

[He scratches at the side of his face thoughtfully.]

You try one. I want to watch it work at someone else's hands.

[bravejemma]

[She speaks in between his words, their familiar cadence coming easily.]

Well of course it's not something from nothing, but if it's taking your kinetic energy and turning it into something physical, I can see how it's exhausting--

[She stops at his request to see something, and wrinkles her nose. Anything she can think of, he's not going to like.

She spots a gem monster, a small one -- emphasis on 'kinder', she thinks wryly -- making its way over the rocks, away from them, maybe a full twenty feet or so away. She concentrates, and even though she feels a little dizzy, succeeds in sending it to sleep, and it falls on
to its front and snores not so gently.]

25th, evening

[sciencelizard]

[Alphys has been much more active this event than she usually is; while her typical MO is to run and hide whenever danger springs up, she's essentially concepting this event as one very intricate LARP, and Ichigo the Kitsune would never run from danger if it meant helping someone! So she and her healing magic have been following around different parties, keeping her eye out for people who need her help-- and wow, does Fitz look it when she spots him.

Alphys waves as she approaches and then, realizing she doesn't look anything like herself normally, remembers to clarify.]

Fitz! It's, uh, it's Alphys-- are you o-okay? Did you have a run in with, uh, any of those gem things?

[hypoxic]

[He's overdone it today. After testing all the low-level spells he could think of yesterday, he's spent today doing the more complicated nonsense. He's achieved spectacular things, but collapsed almost immediately after. When alphys finds him, he'll be curled up amid a makeshift stone shelter, enough to provide reasonable coverage while he takes a break to gather his bearings.]

Alphys -- hello. [He forces a smile, though his words still come between gasps of air as he struggles to keep hold of his breath.] I wouldn't have known it was you.

I'm -- I'll be all right. Tried to do a complicated spell. I think -- I may have overexerted myself a bit.

[sciencelizard]

[She laughs, a little self-conscious still, but her worry for him is overwhelming any tension she's holding in her body.]

I have-- well, I don't know if, uh, h-healing magic deals with exhaustion, but-- can I heal you? I, I d-don't want to just leave you here.

[hypoxic]

It could provide an -- an interesting dataset, I think. If it doesn't work, then we'll be able to construct theories regarding the causation.

[And it gives him an excuse to lay back just a bit longer.]

This is your normal field of study, is it not?

[sciencelizard]

Well, uhm, magic, I guess-- n-not really healing magic, but I'm more concerned about, uhm, you not dying?

[She is so much less concerned about why this works and more concerned that it will work. Thankfully, Cure Wounds is an easy first level spell, even if it doesn't always heal a lot. Regardless, she touches him, hand glowing, and heals him for 11 HP.]

Is that b-better?

23rd

[assembles]

[ It's kind of remarkable that Wonderland can still manage to show them new and unexpected things, even after all this time and countless events. When Steve comes to and he's in a set of armor with a white horse tied up nearby, it's startling to say the least. Which is to say nothing of all the knowledge he suddenly has -- of how to use a variety of different weapons, including magic.

Of course he's curious to try things out, but Steve figures that it makes the most sense to wait and cast one of his spells in a situation that actually calls for it. Such as if someone needs healing, for instance. If they've been given all these ways to fight, Steve can only assume that soon enough they'll be given the chance to put their new skills to use.

Even though it doesn't match the setting at all, they still have access to their phones, which gives Steve the basic information that he needs. About where they are, and why they've changed. At this point, all he can do is roll with the punches. Moving on horseback is quicker than by foot, so why not?

Which is how Steve Rogers, wearing a shining suit of armor, with a sword sheathed at his waist and a shield strapped to his back, rides into a clearing on a snow-white horse.

A gust of strong wind comes flying at him soon after, throwing him off-balance enough that his mount rears and whinnies. ]

Whoa, whoa, it's okay. [ He removes a hand from the reins to stroke the horse's neck soothingly. ] Where did that come from? [ Steve may know about his own magic, but he has no idea what everyone else is capable of. ]

[hypoxic]

[...Because of course Steve Rogers is spending this event looking like the cover of a Harlequin romance novel. He'd fit right in on the front of the dirty girl books Jemma likes to read when she thinks nobody's paying attention to her. And in a way, that's a comfort. He looks more like Captain America this way than he has in the last several months.

This is a terrible distraction to hit just as Fitz is testing a gust of wind. It completes without the level of attentiveness it needs, shooting off at random -- and causing a terrible fright to that horse. Fitz will scramble after it, calling out an apology after the roar of wind has died down.]

So sorry! That's my -- I hadn't known it would -- this event has already been a bit of an ordeal.

[assembles]

[ Steve isn't left wondering for long as Fitz races forward with apologies, also wearing an outfit that looks like it's straight out of some fantasy novel. So he'd been the one who'd made such a strong wind? Apparently Steve's not the only one who's got a set of newfound skills. ]

No, it's fine. [ Even if the two of them haven't interacted much ever since that disaster with the Mirrors, Steve finds that he can't be too upset with Fitz's actions. He'd been trying to help them all; it had just backfired in the worst possible way. Like a lot of his experiments, come to think of it.

So long as Fitz's morals remain firmly in the right place, Steve can forgive him for the missteps. They all make them.

It doesn't feel right to lord over Fitz from horseback, so Steve quickly dismounts. He looks good in the armor, but he isn't used to wearing anything like this and it shows, his posture awkward as he finds his footing. ]

That was a spell, right? I'm still getting used to all of this, too.

[hypoxic]

[If they haven't interacted much, that's probably been Fitz's own doing. He's been spending most of his hours on a self-imposed lockdown, The lab is gone, and there's no reason to rebuild it. He doesn't trust himself. There's no proper disciplinary system here; he's mostly incarcerated himself. It's the only way to make sure he pays for what he's done.

The magic is indulgent; he shouldn't be trying to work with it. Already, someone's nearly been hurt. He lowers his eyes as Steve dismounts.]

It was. I'd been trying to gather data -- a mistake, I know. I shouldn't have been...

[assembles]

[ Self-punishment is something that Steve is all too familiar with. What he's also coming to realize is that it doesn't help anyone to hermit yourself away like that, and it's something that he's working on. Maybe he can't be Captain America anymore, but that doesn't mean he should completely withdraw either. There are still those who might need help. ]

I mean... I can't really blame you. [ Steve soothingly pats his horse's flank to calm him down as he talks. ] We keep hearing all this stuff about magic this, magic that. Now that we can actually do it ourselves, it's pretty tempting to try it out.

[ That being said, Steve hasn't performed a spell himself yet, if only because the opportunity hasn't presented himself. ]

So... what do you think?

[ Fitz is a staunch scientist who's always written off magic as a word used for something that they don't yet understand. Steve's curious to see if that opinion has changed at all. ]

/waves fingers, somewhere in the afternoon on a day that works for you

[sorryitasedyou]

[ Darcy's got her nose in a geology book, which wouldn't exactly be the first thing that'd come to mind when she wanted to brush up on a topic... And yet. Her half-elf self wasn't sure what she was looking for yet, but what could it hurt to peek around corners in between pages?

She just happens upon Fitz in what he thought was a clear patch of land, she gracefully (dex roll 21) dodges the fireball without dropping her book. It's enough to get her attention, giving him a look - though the normal biting tone that might slip out when it came to Fitz is nowhere to be found. ]

That was cool, can you do it again? Maybe not at me?

all the days work because what is continuity in a realm of episodic adventure

[hypoxic]

[Okay so apparently that one found a target when he hadn't asked it to find a target. Noted.]

Darcy! Darcy, I'm terribly sorry -- not sure why it reacted like that.

[Darcy might not have been pressed by the errant fireball, but Fitz is upon her in a moment, assessing her for embers.]

I'd thought there wasn't anyone about -- it shouldn't have done in your direction.

[And if she was anyone else, now would be when he admitted that magic was turning out to be a lot harder than it looked.]

thumbsup.jpg

[sorryitasedyou]

That's okay, weirder things have happened.

[ She brushes an ember off of her book nonchalantly, because it's no big deal. ]

Magic is unpredictable, but I'm fine. Guess I'm just lucky.

[ Don't mind her shrug and laugh. ]

What else can you do?

[hypoxic]

I -- thank you.

[It ought to be a much bigger deal. She's being abnormally patient with him.]

So far, it seems to be a primarily elemental affiliation. Success has been varied, though I've tend to have more successes with the art when I apply less analysis to the procedures.

[sorryitasedyou]

[ Crazy what an event will change in someone's personality. ]

That makes sense, considering trying to control it with analytics probably isn't going to help. [ It gives her an idea. ]

I wonder if it's tied to your emotions like some other magics. Do you think it becomes more unpredictable when you're frustrated or upset? Or maybe more violent?

[ Just throwing out a few theories, and as she talks, she digs through her backpack for a small pad she might've brought with her. ] I might have something here to take notes if you wanted to try a few different things.

pick a time, any time, and let me know if this isn't okay

[deathlessness]

[Freya is mostly wandering this event, not really attached to doing anything about the gems one way or another. She's just grateful that she hasn't lost her magic, in the grand scheme of things. It's different, yes, but Freya is nothing if not adaptable.

That being said, walking into an out of control spell was not part of the game plan. A blast of cold and ice is coming at her and she raises her hands, doing an instinctive counterspell that scatters the ice around her. Her eyes look wide for the source of it, before they fall on Fitz.]

I know we aren't exactly close, but I didn't think you were giving me the cold shoulder.

[/rim shot]

of course it's okay! It's the okay-est!

[hypoxic]

[This has been happening far more than it ought to. Fitz scrambles closer, hands clasped in apology.]

I was sure I'd gotten far enough away from others to be able to do some testing. That one's got a larger range than I'd thought. Are you all right??

<3

[deathlessness]

[She waves a hand with a small smile.]

I'm fine. I was a Viking. It takes more than a little cold to do me any harm.

[Then she tips her head to the side curiously.]

Having some fun with your new magic?

[hypoxic]

A viking? [Mental note: harass people for more information about that later. Now isn't the time for it; if there's anyone who can give him a handle on this lawlessness, it's Klaus' witch sister.]

I don't know that fun is entirely the word. It doesn't seem to follow any sort of ruleset even when it's my own. [Or if it does, it's something he's missing entirely in his examination of it.]

[deathlessness]

It does take practice.

[She offers a small smile.]

It took me years of training to perfect.