He was still dappled all over with bruises, and his insides aches when he moves, but the healers said it wouldn't kill him, which was really all Kale needed.
He sent sparks - no actual flame, just sharp bright specks - skittering in the dust with each step, as if each footfall were a hammer falling on cherry-red metal on an anvil. It dissipates a little of his nervousness.
Gods, he was actually going to try it.
He knocked on Cho's door once and then opened it, eyes widening a little at the apparatus inside.
Cho turns to look at Kale when the door opens, and is out of her chair almost immediately. He still looks so awful, all splotchy and banged up, and Cho isn't sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing that it doesn't appear to phase him at all. He should be worried, maybe scared, but definitely upset. Not that she wants him to be upset. Of course she doesn't, but the fact that he isn't does not seem to bode well.
"You came." She sounded surprised, though she didn't know why she should be. Of course he came. She had a deformed looking container full of nothing at all and it was what he'd been working toward for God only knew how long.
He grins broadly, one hand running through his hair.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," he tells her, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet.
Ow. Bad idea.
He stills, stifling a yawn. He hasn't been sleeping well, if the witches don't give him something. There are too many voices in his dreams and only one of them is screaming.
He shakes his head, not fast enough to bring the pounding back, just enough to clear it.
"Of course I came," he says, feeling a warm glow spread through him. This is what he needs to think about, to focus on. It's nothing.
It's bizarre and even after all this time he can't quite wrap his mind around it but it's beautiful and strange and it's right there.
Cho laughs a little, oddly nervous, and nods her head. "So... I know it looks a little strange, but I thought..." Actually, what she thinks is that if it isn't possible, this will just be a big waste of time. Not that Kale is a waste of time, because obviously he isn't. She can't even make sense in her own mind. "Well, it should still work."
So what she has is a passable vacuum in half a kettle, and even though it's not perfect, he can still test it. If the fire won't light, then they know it doesn't work. If, by some miracle, it manages to stay, then she'll make another one.
If this experiment doesn't disprove his theory, she'll make a professional looking container, and find a way to prove concretely that it's full of nothing, because it won't be good enough that she knows it is. She'll make him as many as he wants. Maybe he'll be excited enough to stop fighting, to just focus on the magical science. Oh, that would be amazing.
It's an odd looking contraption, though no more so than some of his attempts.
(And he still thinks an air mage could do it if they weren't all so certain that it couldn't exist, but that's totally not important anymore.)
The pressure gauge looks exactly the same as one of the ones on the airship, but it's reading far lower than that one ever did. No air. Just - nothing.
Kale fixes his mind inside the motley glass vessel, breath caught in his throat. Very carefully, very deliberately, he asks it to burn. A pale blue flame the size of two fingers uncurls and holds, perfectly steady, inside the airless jar, emitting faint light.
He was right. It's true. Oh, Gods all bless - and Cho made this possible, listened to him and believed him right from the beginning.
Without allowing the little fire to die, he grabs Cho in his arms and kisses her.
Comments 18
He sent sparks - no actual flame, just sharp bright specks - skittering in the dust with each step, as if each footfall were a hammer falling on cherry-red metal on an anvil. It dissipates a little of his nervousness.
Gods, he was actually going to try it.
He knocked on Cho's door once and then opened it, eyes widening a little at the apparatus inside.
Reply
"You came." She sounded surprised, though she didn't know why she should be. Of course he came. She had a deformed looking container full of nothing at all and it was what he'd been working toward for God only knew how long.
Reply
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," he tells her, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet.
Ow. Bad idea.
He stills, stifling a yawn. He hasn't been sleeping well, if the witches don't give him something. There are too many voices in his dreams and only one of them is screaming.
He shakes his head, not fast enough to bring the pounding back, just enough to clear it.
"Of course I came," he says, feeling a warm glow spread through him. This is what he needs to think about, to focus on. It's nothing.
It's bizarre and even after all this time he can't quite wrap his mind around it but it's beautiful and strange and it's right there.
Reply
So what she has is a passable vacuum in half a kettle, and even though it's not perfect, he can still test it. If the fire won't light, then they know it doesn't work. If, by some miracle, it manages to stay, then she'll make another one.
If this experiment doesn't disprove his theory, she'll make a professional looking container, and find a way to prove concretely that it's full of nothing, because it won't be good enough that she knows it is. She'll make him as many as he wants. Maybe he'll be excited enough to stop fighting, to just focus on the magical science. Oh, that would be amazing.
Reply
(And he still thinks an air mage could do it if they weren't all so certain that it couldn't exist, but that's totally not important anymore.)
The pressure gauge looks exactly the same as one of the ones on the airship, but it's reading far lower than that one ever did. No air. Just - nothing.
Kale fixes his mind inside the motley glass vessel, breath caught in his throat. Very carefully, very deliberately, he asks it to burn. A pale blue flame the size of two fingers uncurls and holds, perfectly steady, inside the airless jar, emitting faint light.
He was right. It's true. Oh, Gods all bless - and Cho made this possible, listened to him and believed him right from the beginning.
Without allowing the little fire to die, he grabs Cho in his arms and kisses her.
Reply
Leave a comment