Target practice (open)

[necroshmancer]

WHO: Jade and Dist
WHAT: Dist shows another meaning of Dist the runny while Jade practices his artes.
WHERE: On the beach.
WHEN: At dusk, after the bath, on day 20. I am backlogging like crazy to catch up.

Comments

[necroshmancer]

Jade's face took on a decidedly displeased expression. He pushed his glasses up his nose, switched the hand on his hip twice, before finally commenting, in a sentence that sounded almost like a long suffering sigh: "If that's all you're capable of without your contraptions, you better start building. I already have one burden to contend with, I don't need two!"

Why am I always saddled with incompetents?

He brought a hand up and massaged the bridge of his nose. Summoning fields of fonons in this world always gave him a headache. He found himself contemplating getting rid of Dist once and for all... they were alone here, no one would know... but that wasn't true: Peony would know. And then he would have to cover it up with a lie -like that "accident" on board the Tartarus- but Peony would probably not be duped this time.

So Dist had to live. Too much explaining to do otherwise.
And right now, being useless, he was more work for Jade, and if there was something Jade hated it was extra work.
The only logical conclusion, though he was loathe to admit it, was to try to teach Dist to be useful in this world.

Why couldn't it be like Auldrant? Then they would simply beat the tar out of each other and be done with it.

"Your problem is that you are trying too hard. In this world, the more you try, the more it will fight back to negate your efforts. The first step is to simply stop trying."

[dist_the_reaper]

Dist felt his face flush with fury, taken aback by Jade's response. "No need to be rude," he huffed, crossing his arms and turning his nose up. "It was only my first try. If you think that's all I can do you're...mmm, sadly mistaken."

The former God-General was starting to remember exactly how irritating it was to work with Jade- it had been so long since they had been on the same, well, side, that Dist had let all the arguments, broken flasks and baking-soda fights slip from his train of thought. Jade was a terror when it came to doing serious work, training, or testing- Dist vaguely recalled a few select times when he was very sure he was going to end up as a casualty or just plain be worked to death.

It didn't quite help that Dist had a terrible tolerance for people telling him what to do. It was as much as a surprise to anyone how he had gotten so high up in the Order of Lorelei without becoming an unfortunate "accident" at the hands of his superiors. It had been almost solely based on his skill and sheer genius with fon machines- and with that gone, his fate was becoming a bit of a toss-up.

"I-I'm just a bit rusty!" Dist half-pleaded with his displeased comrade, uncrossing his arms and holding them outward. "Just wait until you see how gorgeous my artes will look- all I need is some practice!" His face held a confident air he only wished he really felt. Closing his eyes, he let out a deep breath and concentrated solely on the environment around him. The sand beneath his feet, the salty sea air ruffling his coat-tails, the tiny bead of sweat tricking down his forehead. He tried not to worry. He tried not to think.

The lines pooling about his feet, beginning to criss-cross into something far more ornate than before. Dist didn't bother opening his eyes to see, even as he felt his knees weaken. It flickered for a few moments, and then remained relatively steady, with only what seemed like a tiny pulse of power throughout. It took about 10 seconds for Dist to finally disperse the fonons, the lightheaded feeling returning. Opening his eyes blearily, he looked around. Has it worked this time, he wondered. When was the last time I summoned fonons without one of my Kaisers?

[necroshmancer]

"It's not rude if it's the truth", grumbled Jade as he gazed at Dist's new attempt at a field of fonons. This felt like they were back in Ketersburg, with the notable exception that he did not have a sliver of the patience that Nebilim had shown towards her pupils. The result : he was imagining casting all sorts of spells on Dist: frying him, burning him, turning him into a human ice cube...

But instead he settled on the tried-and-true insult that Peony would toss Dist's way, his nose stuck to the window while the others practiced artes in the classroom: "You cast like a girl."

He gritted his teeth and gathered wind fonons in a circle of shimmering, crisp, apple green, then released them towards Dist, to see if it would knock him off his feet.

[dist_the_reaper]

Dist had no time to reply to Jade's insult before the shimmering fonons hurled their way towards him. Raising his arms in front of his face barely in time, the scientist yelped as the wind twirled their way forcibly around him and severed his balance on the sand.

A small group of fonons flickered around him, trying to act as an automatic barrier against Jade's onslaught of wind. Dist grit his teeth, desperately trying to strengthen the small barrier he had managed to form before the attack had sent him flying. It didn't quite work the way he had planned- however well the barrier seemed to protect him from physical damage, it didn't change the fact that Dist was currently being hurled through the air at a rather impressive speed while casting said barrier.

He plummeted into the sand with a depressing thump, the grains of mineral swirling around with the spare fonons and coating his dark coat with a light dust.

Shaking, Dist pulled himself out of the sand gingerly, gritting his teeth even more menacingly than before. "I...CAST like a GIIIIIIIIIRL?!!" was all the man could manage while he tried to regain his stance, staring back at Jade incredulously.

[necroshmancer]

Jade cocked his head and stared at Dist, both hands on his hips, bending a bit at the waist, as if he needed to in order to gaze at his opponent so low on the ground. "Well I suppose if not trying didn't cut it for you... perhaps anger might?"

He then sighed, a little over-dramatically, and flipped his hand out, as he liked to do when taunting opponents -old habits die hard- before continuing: "And to think... I wasn't even trying."

[dist_the_reaper]

A low growl escaped Dist's throat as he stood, his bony knees trembling under the weight of his tired body. There was a moment of heavy, uncomfortable silence in which the scientist could only stare up at his friend, his eyes widened and his eyebrows knit in fury. "Jade," he managed, simply put. "I am out of my element. We can't all be casters like YOU." With indignance he brushed the light dusting of sand from his coat and canted his head in a mock-proud fashion.

"My fonic artes work best with machinery," he added, looking a bit desperate for Jade to understand. "Do you SEE any machinery here?"

As if going back on his statement Dist held out his hand and with some degree of effort managed to channel some moderately strong water fonons in his hand; hurling them with all his might at Jade. To his dismay they barely left his hand, bursting upright from his palm like a tiny fountain instead.

Dist stared at the sad display his powers had given him with shock and dismay. Choking on his voice, he sputtered a line of very off-colour words under his breath, twitching uncontrollably. "HOW- H-H-HOW can this not WORRRRRK?" He finally screamed in exasperation. "I want my ROBOTS! This isn't FAIR!"

[necroshmancer]

Jade looked around, for show, then answered Dist: "You're right, I see no machinery, even the cogs in your head aren't turning."

He started humming under his breath. It felt good to be able to cast again, even if he was limited by that font slot seal. He would break it completely in time, just as he would find a way around Rivelata's dampening of his talents. He always found a solution to everything and this would be no exception.

Well, everything, except how to get rid of Dist. That had always been temporary success at best.

"Maybe you should concentrate on building a new machine", he mused, as the waves grew taller than they were an instant ago, without the help of any wind, "Because I'm not sure I have enough time before I die to teach you to be a true fonist. And your machines can be somewhat useful."

"You might have to adjust them a little, though. Since everything is so different here", a wave rose from the sea to crash into a nearby boulder, crushing it into rubble, "I wish I could really understand it. It's so fascinating." The sky darkened, then cleared up, "I feel like I already do, inside, but that I can't really rationalize it yet... that something is in the way..."