tramitem_log | Do you believe in magic?

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Do you believe in magic?

Who: Alec, Fell, Elliot and whomever else
What: "Magic" testing
When: June 11th
Where: Meeting room

He's cleared out a space, shoving all the metal chairs and plastic tables to the side so there was plenty of room. He had thought of adding a sarcastic bucket of water but decided that it might be too confrontational. Things were going to be confrontational enough since he told Elliot and Fell different times and Fell would put up a fuss about but-- but it was better than him hovering over everything and being overly concerned. Alec was older than him and Anthony too. He could take care of himself.

He briefly checked his watch before folding his arms and leaning against the wall. He hoped others showed up but he doubted there would be much to see-- memories were one thing but this was still real life for fuck's sake.

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Elliott stepped through the door feeling rather like he was meeting up with someone shady for something absurdly illegal. And to his utter disappointment, absolutely no one else was there to make it feel any less like the second dumbest idea he's ever had.

The thing with testing Clarence's powers would probably hold the dubious honor of absolute dumbest idea he's ever had for quite some time, but a lone meeting with a man who he was pretty sure hated him just on principle to demonstrate his powers for the record was definitely up there.

"Good afternoon." Yeah, solid second place territory. That couldn't have sounded more awkward if he'd tried.

Elliott grimaced, stepping further into the space, and pretended to be interested in the stack up of chairs off to the side until he finally came to stop in the center of the room and made eye contact with the sole other occupant.

"Thanks for working with me."

"Afternoon." He couldn't help but grimace a little when Elliot stepped in. He didn't think he'd ever really met the kid in person before, and he was just a kid, pushing on the boundaries of adulthood or no. One of those fresh faced late teens- early twenty somethings who wanted to take the world between their teeth. Or in his case maybe not, Alec decided, given how he ducked in as if he was afraid of the place.

He wasn't altogether happy with the platitude either since he had a feeling the boy was just searching for words. He didn't want to say thank you in return as that felt cloying and idiotic so he just nodded and grunted in a way that could be interpreted as such .

"Afternoon." And then after a beat. "You seem clever. Before we start, can you tell me how to set up that?" He pointed to a small digital camera that lay on a table as well as a tripod. "The man at the store said it would do video but all I can do is point and press the button."

Elliott followed Alec's finger, then smiled.

"Sure."

He wandered over to the setup and fussed a bit with the camera. In truth, he's never used anything more sophisticated than the point and shoot lens on his phone, but he's familiar enough with the various symbols to work it out.

Elliott gestured the man over once he'd sorted it out to point out the main features.

"Power button, this lets you adjust the zoom, take pictures with this, and here's the recording function. Your charging port looks like it's on the side here, so that's convenient. Should work with your tripod if you need to charge and record at the same time."

"Right." He took a breath and let it out. He understood the words individually but taking them and applying them to the camera felt like something foreign to him. It shouldn't be any different from sending something over the network -- so he gingerly pressed the recording button.

"That little red light means it's working." It was a question couched in a statement. He hoped it was working. Even if there was nothing to be shown at least he had evidence of it. "I'm going to stand somewhere... could you look at the wee thing and tell me if I can be seen?" He gestured to the screen, then awkwardly paced to the center of the room, hands in his pockets and looking tense.

"Yep."

It felt like progress, being able to help with something like this without arguing.

Elliott nodded and tracked Alec's movement, then followed it on the camera's screen.

"Yeah, seems to be working just fine. Looks like it has a wide view of most of the room.."

He took a moment to adjust the angle of the shot to be more centered, and zoomed in to what he figured was probably close enough for detail but far enough away to get everything in frame.

"Narrowed it a bit for focus. Can probably stop the recording and play it back to make sure we got it."

Then more to himself than anything: "I hope it's got enough storage."

"Good good." It had better be good given the money he'd spent on it. He had absolutely no idea about storage. If storage had been mentioned he missed it. Though he assumed it had to have some storage as it was, in fact, a camera. He squinted a bit.

"Do you expect it to take a while?"

Elliott stopped the recording and played it back to make sure it had actually recorded. Watched Alec move back into view..

"Mmn, not if I'm just showing my abilities; that'll only take a few minutes. But if you want to do different tests with them, then maybe."

He deleted the video file to save on space just in case. If Alec was this unfamiliar with technology, then he might not even know what an SD card is- let alone think to buy one. Best not to ask, but provide help with it later if the problem came up.

"Got the camera set up and ready to go, though."

"We'll see."

He had no idea what an SD card was, true. Though if you asked him his first guess would be some sort of disease, like the med alert bracelet he carried in his trouser pocket.

"Right." He took his hands out of his pockets and folded his arms. "Whenever you're ready, set me on fire."

Elliott straightened up behind the camera. He cocked his head, looking Alec over and trying to fit the words he thought he heard with the man's expectant posture.

"Uh.. sorry?"

"It's what you claimed to do, isn't it?" A look. "I can sign a waiver if you like."

Elliott stared, wresting down the surge of emotion he'd been expecting for the past several minutes- a unique blend of frustration, anger, and disbelief that only seemed to flare up in response to this one person in particular.

A waiver- like absolving himself of responsibility was his greatest priority. Just the way Alec spoke, the tone and words he used, felt purposely incendiary.

Claimed. Like this had just been a way to test him. He swore it was almost as though they were navigating different languages entirely.

"..I could," he said once he'd tampered down the now-familiar urge to snap. No one had ever before been able to test the limits of his patience so quickly. "But I didn't come here to hurt you- or anyone. That's not what I want to use it for."

"Good to know." And he tried very hard not to be dry and sarcastic about it. "Look, I want to believe you. I want to understand--" He gestured. "This. But no matter what you set on fire I'm going to have a hard time believing it unless it's me. I'm not saying to turn me into burning man, just a small one would do."

Elliott searched him for several long seconds, anger draining as he felt out the sincerity of the request. He wanted to believe? Wanted to understand? Swallowing, Elliott hit record, then stepped out from behind the camera to approach.

His darker titles called out to him as he took slow steps toward the man. Darkspawn. Dreaded Child of Darkness. A person like that would probably delight in the suffering of others. But he wouldn't- not ever.

"Let me heal it, after." A request on just this side of a plea.

He grimaced.

"I'd really rather you not. It'll be fine. There's a first aid kit somewhere." There was just something about healing that made his skin crawl.

Frustration mounted, but it rose and fell in a wave. He'd half-expected him to refuse based off their previous conversation of course, but his stomach still flipped with guilt.

He shouldn't do this, but if truly nothing else would do, then..

Elliott brought his hand up, fire springing to life in his palm as though it had always been there, simply awaiting his fingers to unfurl. He held out the handful of flickering flames out to Alec, but made no move to actually touch him with them.

"If this is really what you want..."

He narrowed his eyes. Right in the palm of his hand? It felt like cheating. He paced around the boy, checking him over seeing if there was anything he might be using to make this. He pushed back his sleeve too, checking, though gingerly, trying not to actually touch him.

There didn't seem to be anything.

Maybe there was a trigger in his palm?

"Can you douse it?"

Well, at least he wasn't in a hurry to burn himself.

Elliott waited patiently through the inspection, relieved enough by that at least, to let him check him over for tricks.

"Sure."

His fingers curled back inward and snuffed the flames without fear. He let them fall lax again, certain they'd be next to fall under scrutiny.

They did.

He looked into his hand, pressed two fingers down against his palm gingerly. It wasn't even hot. There was no trigger or anything that he could feel. It couldn't be real. It couldn't. It had to be some sort of trick. Something. He refused to believe it.

His expression got darker as something knotted high in his chest.

"Light it again."

"Okay."

No fanfare with his fingers this time; he simply willed the flames back into existence and watched them flicker while he waited for whatever came next.

Edited 2020-06-14 21:45 (UTC)

Sweat beaded the back of his neck and he swallowed convulsively. It was just an illusion then. Some projection. Some technology. Had to be. That was the only explanation.

He took a moment to steel himself and ran his hand through the flame.

It seared--

And a millisecond later his sleeve caught.

"Christ!" He flailed his arm, stumbling back as the fire raced up his arm, his heart jamming against his ribs. There was a sudden fwoosh and the sprinklers came on, cold water raining down and putting him out.

He stumbled against a wall and heaved, trying to catch his breath as his heart galloped.

Elliott extinguished the flames in an instant, but not nearly quickly enough. His heart dropped, seized by a panic that he really just set him on fire, and sprang after him.

"H-hey! Let me-" He didn't know what, but he'd do anything to help right then- until rain poured down from overhead in the form of sprinklers and solved the worst of it. "Th-thank the Goddess."

His entire body shook, unable to quite wipe the vision of Alec's sleeve going up in flames. Didn't mind the water as he fought back tears, his arms and legs going nearly nerveless even as he shifted a few steps closer.

"Are you- Goddess, are you alright? Please let me help."

"You're fine." Don't mind him wheezing. He was fine too. The boy could stop having a moment now. "My fault. I was stupid." But then as he got closer. "I don't want your help."

He had intended to arrive extra early to set up; had his supplies packed and ready and everything. And then he had taken a phone-call from a museum in New Jersey and, well. He had been distracted. It wasn't like the start time wasn't for another ten minutes or so anyway, so he should still be early--

"I'm terribly sorry I'm late." He entered in a flurry, bags of supplies in hand, including a first aid kit. "The A train was running behind and--Good god. Why is it raining indoors??" Oh. That wasn't rain. That wasn't anyone's power at all, except that amazingly clever power known as indoor plumbing manifested in the form of a fire-sprinkler system. Fire sprinkler system. Which had been set off already.

"Crowley!!" He shucked off the bags has he crossed the room to the two of them, trying not to slip on the wet flooring. Elliott earned a glare which Aziraphale was still deciding if he deserved or not, and then all fussing was directed at Alec. He tentatively touched Alec's hair, his face, then his arm, trying to help hold him upright as he attempted to check the pulse-point at his neck. "Good lord, what did you DO? You were supposed to WAIT for me, you stupid, idiotic man. Are you- Are you hurt?"

Elliott whipped around as the door opened and a familiar voice barged in.

He cowed under Mr. Fell's glare and stepped out of the way to let him handle 'Crowley' as he was apparently known.

"I'm sorry," he tried, guilt flooding his voice. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

"Get off..." He growled this but didn't have the strength to shove him off. He just needed a break. Needed to sit down for a second. To take his pills. But not in front of either oft them. He'd never hear the end of it.

"Wasn't his fault. I was the idiot who decided to play with fire. He's just a kid." So don't lay into him, Fell, he wanted to say but he had to focus on keeping his legs under him in the insistent slippery wet

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