Matt Jamison - OC - Milliways or a reasonable facsimile thereof

[mm_merky]

You'd think, what with all the amazing people and all the amazing sex and all the amazing opportunities in Matt's life right now, that he'd be able to avoid wrecking it by picking fights with powerful sorcerers and subsequently getting his spirit friends prohibited from talking to himBut if you thought that, you clearly do not know Matt Jamison

Comments

[nita_callahan]

"I think this is the part where I tell you to stop picking at your food and eat because you're too skinny," comments a voice from beside him. Nita is leaning on the booth divider, and though her tone is light, she's watching him closely.

[nita_callahan]

"Even so."

She rubs his shoulder absently. "What got you onto the topic of his personal ethics? That's not usually something one gets into on a second conversation."

[tantric_slacker]

He sighs.

He can already sense his hugs slipping away.

"That ... would be my doing. Because I thought maybe if a-- someone more like him-- pointed out what he was doing ... it was a dumb idea. I mean the allegations of naivete are well founded."

[nita_callahan]

"It does kind of assume that he doesn't know what he's doing. If I remember the play right, he seemed like he pretty much always knew what he was doing."

[tantric_slacker]

"Whiiiich is what makes him annoying," Matt mutters.

A slight shake of his head.

"Anyway, I need to figure out what's up with Ariel, and reread the freaking play, and then I get to take my pick of strategies. Dissembling practice, chess magic, and The Art of War seem to definitely be in my future; shapeshifting is an alternative. All of which is part of the stuff I wanted to run by you."

[nita_callahan]

"--Wait, I'm confused. You're considering shapeshifting as a way to go up against Prospero? Like, in a combative sense?"

That does not sound super smart to her!

[tantric_slacker]

"Go up away from," Matt corrects.

"As in, defensive. Also I've never done it before."

[nita_callahan]

"Okay, that sounds like a slightly better idea. Um, I have, but my experience probably isn't very useful here."

[tantric_slacker]

Intrigued, "When did you shapeshift?"

[nita_callahan]

"When I was thirteen. I turned into a humpback whale, for -- a thing."

Let's save the Song of the Twelve for another story time.

"Not much good for defense, unless you happen to meet him in the water."

[tantric_slacker]

"... A humpback whale."

That sounds.

Specific.

"Yeah, unlikely. I mean I won't rule it out. What I'm trying to figure out is if there's a shape that would come more naturally to me than another-- whether that's through spiritual affinity or picking a close genetic relative, I don't know."

[nita_callahan]

"There are other possibilities, too. I mean, I don't know if I'd have had a natural affinity for humpbacks, but I helped heal one -- my friend S'reee -- and after we shared blood it was fairly easy to shift."

She glances sidelong at him. "But shapeshifting isn't easy, it's not super reliable, and it can be really dangerous. So unless you've got a spell or mechanism or whatever already under your belt, though, you might want to be looking at alternatives as well. "

[tantric_slacker]

Matt makes a face.

"It gets extra complicated because, to use a spell defensively that's not just a low-grade aegis type of thing, I'd need to have a shortcut as well. And I've never really done shortcuts. So maybe a better option is just to work that angle on a spell I already know how to use."

[nita_callahan]

"Like beefing up your current shield spell?"

[tantric_slacker]

"That one, yeah," Matt agrees.

"It would help if I--"

He breaks off, and grins speculatively.

"Okay. Uh. Hypothetical asshole line of thought here."

[nita_callahan]

Her eyebrows go up.

"Lay it on me."