[FIN] What's Behind Door #32? (Jeremiah & Kaleb)

[Grey Dragon]

"How do you end up fireproof?" Kaleb asked, reaching out hesitantly towards the fire. He didn't go so far as to touch it, but he could feel the cold emanating from it's flickering green light.

"Science is going to help me learn magic, so I can protect myself?" His tone was almost humorous, but not in a sarcastic, cynical way. If it was true he had magic in him, the scientific method would be a good place to start.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"The deeper you delve into other ashdown, the deeper you become tied to the magic and the more changes that can occur. My eyes," normally reflective, his eyes were now glowing brightly with the coldfire so close, "my ability to call coldfire on either side of the veil, and my being fireproof are all things that happened because of trying to unravel things here."

His shoulders rolled and he flicked his hand upward, the coldfire dispersing into smaller ones and looked like small fairy lights (or will-o'-the-wisps) floating around them. "It absolutely can and likely will. The best way for you to learn magic is to attach it to something you understand. There is no limit to what you can do here, anything is possible."

Jeremiah focused on Kaleb then, giving him another small reassuring smile. "What I'm going to try and teach you is how to make a barrier to protect yourself. Something you can call up and stop something from hurting you."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb wasn't sure how he felt about that new information. He didn't particularly wish to be more magical than he already was, because change was hard and magic was a big, scary mystery. But he did want to learn about it. At a theoretical level at least. And would Ashdown even respect a decision to just stay out of everything and not be magical?

"That does sound pretty useful," he admitted, eyeing the flickering lights warily. "Is it like a magic spell, or something I need to... attach to my own knowledge?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

other ashdown would most definitely not respect a wish to stay out of everything. It was, quite frankly, the kind of thing that made it sit up and take notice of a person.

"Something like that. You don't need words if you don't want. I tend to use hand movements though I do not need them to use magic. The first time I made a barrier I actually pressed my hands together like this." His hands were pressed flat to each other, the tips of his fingers touching. "Then I pulled them apart while imagining a barrier. Which is similar to what I want to walk you through whenever you're ready."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

"Like blowing a giant bubble?" Kaleb asked, recalling elementary school science experiments and lessons on surface tension. And also remembering feeling amazed at making bubbles larger than he could have imagined as a child, thanks to dish soap and glycerin.

"I don't know if I'm ready but... I can try," he admitted. Even though his faith in his own ability was low, it wouldn't be right to simply give up when Jeremiah was so willing to help him. Determination to do his best was something he could promise, even if the outcome of the lesson was uncertain.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Essentially, if that visual works for you." Jeremiah smiled at Kaleb and pressed his hands together. As he stretched them back apart a translucent bubble appeared between them.

"This is just an example, of course, but ... something like this? You could make and then increase in size until it encases you. Think of the ways you make bubbles or, perhaps, ways to reflect things back - to bounce - and let that help you shape a shield to protect yourself."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

A bubble. That sort of thing was simple enough to be used as entertainment for children, with the right solution it required no effort or scientific knowledge to achieve results. Perhaps this was an appropriate place to start.

Kaleb closed his eyes, and then pressed his hands together the way Jeremiah had. He imagined bubbles, the way the surface tension held, the efficiency of the shape the bubbles formed... And when he pulled his hands apart he felt something intangible between them. A feather-light, shimmering trace of something. Magic? He opened his eyes, and the bubble he had actually created out of nothing was there, iridescent in the outdoor light for the briefest second before it popped.

His gaze shifted to Jeremiah, a shocked expression on his face.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah grinned, just a little, as he watched Kaleb create a bubble. "That's pretty good," he told him with a smile. "You just have to keep practicing at it to ... really make something. Magic responds best to strong wills, to people who know what they want to create, so you can give shape to things you already know."

His shoulders rolled and he closed his eyes before he repeated the action himself. This time, however, there was no bubble between his hands as they moved. There was, however, a brief cold breeze in the air as a barrier shimmered into existence around the both of them.

They were within the bubble now.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb felt the magic in his mind almost as much as he felt the cold on his skin. The iridescence was almost... crystalline. He looked around them and murmured, "I guess a bubble itself isn't quite enough."

Without any prompting he closed his eyes and focused once more on the creation of a bubble. This time, instead of leaving the magic fluid and glittering, he focused it into the most basic strength he could imagine. An interconnected framework of stable molecular bonds, creating a solid shield as the magic wove itself into the tetrahedral carbon lattice of diamond.

This time it persisted as he opened his eyes, but it was not yet time to celebrate. His grasp on molecular theory was stronger than his grasp on magic, and it wanted to slip out of the strict, crystalline arrangement it had been forced into. Kaleb chewed on his lower lip as he held it for another couple seconds, and then it too popped like a bubble of soap in his hands.

Grey Dragon

 

[azuredreams]

"It's a stepping stone," Jeremiah offered, fingers flicking and what he created dispersing in a brief breeze of chilled air. His lips twitched upwards at the corners, a reassuring look given to Kaleb as he watched him try to maintain the bubble once more.

It was longer and, in his opinion, impressive for someone who was having trouble grasping magic.

"The other thing to keep in mind is that when you're not used to doing magic? It can be tiring for you. Not as much as it before November but it'll still wear you out pretty quick."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb nodded, taking in the information about magic's effects on a beginner, and then quickly shuffling it into the mental category of things he would deal with when it became a problem. It didn't deter his growing resolve to keep going.

He would never describe himself as strong-willed, not with all his timid insecurities and social anxieties, but neither had he considered the strength of his determination. The intentional shaping of magic into a bubble might have been a good introduction, but creating it differently, better suited to a specific purpose, that sparked his motivation.

"Just tiring?" Kaleb asked, noting that Jeremiah seemed to create those bubble shields and the cold fire earlier with very little effort. "I'll practice as much as I can, but it would be easier if getting here wasn't so unexpected. I can plan for study time but... not this." He waved one arm at the falling apart buildings, vaguely indicating the otherworld around them.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Determination was an equally important thing.

"It's a like a really strenuous work out and quite like you are stretching, strengthening muscles you have not used as much as others." Jeremiah looked around them, eyes bright and discerning as he tried to see if there was a place to cross back over nearby.

"Keep in mind that you can come here in your dreams sometimes and practicing then is the same as if you were practicing with your body actually here. Your mind is the key to all of this." His focus shifted back to Kaleb now. "Though if you truly want to, I could assist you with that? I can freely go back and forth, so if you'd like to pick a time or the like once a week or similar, I can bring you here and get you back."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

"I wouldn't want to impose," Kaleb insisted, rubbing his hands together nervously. If it had been real bubbles popping on his hands they would have felt sticky or slimy, but the magic left no trace at all. "I do still end up here at night often enough, I'll work on it then as well."

As tempting as it was to say yes and accept Jeremiah's help, Kaleb was reluctant to include anyone else in his plans for moving forward. That way if he failed it would neither be a waste of anyone else's time, nor reflect poorly upon them.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Be mindful of working extensively on anything while dreaming of this place. It will wear you down more so than actually being here because your body won't be getting it's proper rest," said Jeremiah.

He studied Kaleb a moment before he continued. "If I am going to be doing anything here at any point, I will let you know. Just in case you want to come over." Just in case.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

That was an acceptable compromise. If Jeremiah was travelling to the otherworld anyway, it wouldn't be quite so much of an imposition to hitch a ride.

"That would be really good, thank you... I have a cell phone, somewhere, if that's the easiest way to let me know. But you don't have to if it's a hassle or anything! I wouldn't want to be any trouble." Kaleb followed up his acceptance with quite a nervous string of babble, looking just about anywhere other than directly at Jeremiah as he did so.

azuredreams