[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

[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. ]

[hypoxic]

[The captain is gentle, because of course he is. His eyes snap back up when Steve asks him about his findings, though. Does he think there's something legitimate about them? Has Darcy sent him?]

It's -- a challenging technique, to be certain. I suspect that there's a tie between neural activity and physical affect -- that there's a physiological process that takes place to prompt a shift in conditions. But at the same time, the process is -- finicky. Taxing. It's no wonder that the average magic user doesn't question the results when they happen.

[He still doesn't understand it, but that doesn't mean it can't ever become understood. That's what science is there to do, Sir.]

[assembles]

[ A physical affect? Steve glances down at his own gloved hands, considering that. ] It's all in the flick of the wrist, huh? [ Come to think of it, most magic does seem to involve something like that. Either words spoken, or a gesture of some kind. Fitz seem to think there's a reason those things are necessary. It's interesting, if a little over Steve's head.

He lets his hands fall to his sides again. ] So you're saying that casting a spell is physically draining, too? [ Again, it's not something he's ever had reason to think about before, but if someone was using their own energy reserves to make magic happen, then it would make sense. Magic is something that comes from within, a process of some kind. It still is mainly mumbo-jumbo to Steve, but he's trying to understand all the same.

He gives a self-deprecating sort of shrug. ] You'd think I'd be used to this, given what some of my teammates can do.

[ But he's never really thought of Wanda or Vision's abilities as magic. ]

[hypoxic]

It's easy to become accustomed to things when there's a commitment to not examine them. [He smiles softly. It's not Steve's responsibility to care about these sorts of things. If he needed to understand, then he wouldn't need people like Fitz in the first place. Does he even need people like Fitz now? It's a dangerous line of thinking to embark upon.] I try to make it my business to know as many things as possible, Captain.

[assembles]

[ Maybe it hadn't been Fitz directly who was providing information to Steve back when SHIELD had still existed (in a greater form than a handful of people, that is), but it's true. There had always been someone to hand him a dossier with all the information he needed, already carefully researched. There'd been people like Maria Hill to boil things down for him.

So in Wonderland, Fitz could take that role. Is it something he's decided to do without them ever really talking about it? It seems presumptuous to assume. ]

It's pretty much second nature to you, right? You do it without even thinking about it.

[ That unending thirst for knowledge is admirable, even if there's also a fine line between healthy curiosity and something much more dangerous. Steve is fairly certain that Fitz exists on the right side of the line, though, even with everything that happened in May.

Before Fitz can answer, Steve hears something stirring behind him and spins around, armor clanking as it shifts, and looks for the source of the noise. ] What was that?

[hypoxic]

[Before, he hadn't thought it was something that required a conversation. Earlier, it just seemed natural that if there were Avengers, then he'd be enlisted to support them. It's just that so many things had happened since then, conversations unspoken and assumed.

It's curious that the captain would question this now, when it's such second nature, but the noise is enough of a distraction for them to set it aside.]

There are creatures sharing the quarry with us. Many of them have been harmless if not provoked, but some have been rather hostile. Some caution may be wise.

[assembles]

[ This would be Steve's first instance of running into something other than a fellow Wonderland captive, so he isn't entirely sure what to expect. Creatures, is what Fitz says, but that doesn't really narrow it down.

He nods and squares his shoulders, waiting for whatever is making that noise to show itself, to appear from the thick fog. He isn't made to wait long.

It shambles its way into view, a monstrosity that looks as if it's been stitched together from the parts of various other creatures. It doesn't even really have a face, just a bunch of limbs with a torso to hold them all together.

Steve stares, disturbed despite everything else he's seen, but ultimately steels himself. He reaches for the hilt of his sword. ]

I'm guessing we can't really reason with them.

[hypoxic]

Reason appears to be outside of their realm of understanding, yes. From what I've seen on the network, the jewel is the source of their animation. If you can get close enough to dislodge it, then the pieces ought to fall apart. Or -- something of the sort. It was a little obfuscated by the native language from this world.

[He automatically shrinks back behind the captain, to keep out of his weapon's range and minimize the risk that he'll be somehow a distraction.]

If it helps, you might consider this a -- dissection of sorts.

[assembles]

[ Considering it a dissection doesn't actually help at all, but Steve isn't a squeamish person. It'd be hard to make it through a war and come out without an iron stomach. There's little that can actually make him queasy, although this comes close.

There's nothing natural about what he's looking at now, and maybe that's Fitz's point. Taking it out will be like setting something right.

Still, point taken: aim for the jewel.

When he realizes that Fitz is hiding behind him, though, Steve glances over his shoulder briefly, eyebrow raised. ] You were practicing all that magic, weren't you? Seems like this is a perfect opportunity to put it to use.

[ Or are you going to make him do all the work? ]

[hypoxic]

[Fitz, on the other hand, if very much a squeamish person. He's been actively not fighting those things as they've approached. He nearly jumps when Steve addresses him, eyes wide.]

Wh -- me? You mean now??

[Steve trusts him not to mess it up?]

[assembles]

[ Maybe it's too much to ask of someone like Fitz, who's more used to being in a lab than thrust into the middle of combat, but Steve figures that right now Fitz has got more practice with this magic stuff than he does.

Besides, it seems like there's some knowledge that's inherent to them right now. Steve's never used a sword before, but he can tell that right now he has the training, somehow, to use it. ]

It's up to you, but... all that practice should be for something, right?

[ They can't waste any more time, so Steve charges at the grotesque creature with his sword drawn. ]

[hypoxic]

Test results aren't entirely conclusive...

[Fitz is more accustomed to labwork, true, but he's also highly committed to both fieldwork and proving himself capable. This is unfamiliar territory, but a lack of familiarity is one of the things he loves most. He might not have trained in the same way as someone like the Black Widow, but nor does he shun the chance to improvise. When Steve runs off on him, Fitz follows in a scrambling gait.

Something sails ahead of Steve, though; as he gets within swinging range of the creature, it staggers back, pierced by a shimmering gree arrow that dissipates upon impact, smoking viciously as it begins to eat through the creature's flesh.]

[assembles]

[ For a moment there Steve's unsure if he made the wrong call when it came to Fitz. Maybe he shouldn't have pushed him when active combat isn't his strong suit. Maybe this is asking too much.

But generally, when Steve relies on people? They deliver. That turns out to be the case here, as Steve comes to a halt and watches the effect of the spell and how it strikes the first blow against their enemy. More than that, it seems to be eating away at the creature like some kind of acid.

If there's a time to close in, it's now. Steve lunges forward, shield half in front of him, but with enough space for his sword hand to strike out. As Fitz had counseled him, Steve aims for the jewel, slicing into the skin around it.

The strangest thing at this point is the quiet. But the monster has no mouth to scream with. Instead its limbs contort and flail wildly as it beings to hunch forward. ]

[hypoxic]

[It's not nearly quiet enough for Fitz's liking. Steve's sword cuts through the thing's flesh with a sicking squelching sound. It's gore with a surgical precision. And as the thing curls up and begins to scramble, Fitz pushes it away from Steve with a blast of air. It snatches the body and sends it back, leaving the bejeweled hunk of flesh still pierced against Steve's sword.]

...o-oh it's bleeding so much...

[Is the danger gone? Because Fitz is sinking queasily to his knees, covering his mouth with both hands and swallowing back bile. Why do things have to bleed when they die???]

[assembles]

[ There is a lot of blood, and the smell isn't anything pleasant either, but Steve has been in enough battles and seen enough inhuman things bleed that he doesn't hesitate. A few more slices around the jewel dislodges it as needed, and the rest of the body parts dissipate into nothingness after that.

He turns to check that Fitz is all right, and when he finds him on his knees for a moment Steve worries that he's been hurt. But when he sees that particularly green shade to his face, he realizes what's going on.

Steve takes a knee in front of Fitz and sets a hand on his shoulder to stabilize him. ]

Hey, you're all right. You're good. Just take some deep breaths.

[hypoxic]

I'm fine.

[He said, visibly not fine. The sight reminds him of loss of life. It looks like another time he's seen someone torn to pieces and was helpless to save her.]

It's -- viscera is Jemma's field.

[He is not going to vomit in front of Captain America. He is not going to vomit in front of Captain America.]

[assembles]

[ Steve has talked enough panicked soldiers through their first battle to know when "I'm fine" means anything but. He shifts his body a little so that he's mainly blocking Fitz's view of the mess behind them, and rubs his shoulder a few times. ]

I know, sorry. I didn't know it was gonna go quite like... that.

[ And he probably should have known better than to request Fitz's help with something like this.

You can totally vomit on him if you need to, buddy. ]

[hypoxic]

[NO IT'S GOOD. He buries his face in his hands and takes a series of long breaths.]

It's fine. That's the work.

[Things happen sometimes.]

... Your swordsmanship is excellent, Captain.

[assembles]

Yeah, who would have thought? Your magic wasn't half-bad either.

[ Steve gives Fitz a firm clap on the shoulder and then stands again, returning to the mess left behind and the jewel nestled in the dirt.

As he approaches it, he's suddenly filled with the knowledge of what to do. A hand motion is all it takes for a clear bubble to form around the gem and then it floats up into the air, shooting far overheard until it's out of sight.

Steve rubs at the back of his neck and shrugs. ]

I guess that's a good thing...?