Lightning on the brain

Tal was practically smug as they headed back to the Glade. He was enjoying the sensation of not needing healing after doing a god quest! The first task had been successfully completed without loss of life or limb or even any injury, which was a nice change of pace.

Especially since the same couldn't be said for the next task.

He walked into the peaceful, green clearing with his head held high, giving Boreal's horns a good scratch as she abandoned her nap with Lilly to greet him. The Vest was firmly back on his body, making him feel a whole lot safer for the moment, even if that wouldn't last too long. Still, he had faith in Safrin's method, and he even had faith in Sah - not that he was eager to say it out loud.

But it was past time for the hunter to start dealing with the trauma leftover from the tournament, and he'd rather let Sah hit him with lightning than ask Elizabeth to do it, no matter how nice the therapist could be. It was a matter of trust, and he and the Jester had been through enough danger together to have earned it the hard way.

"So, how's your control over your lightnin' feelin' these days?" he asked his frenemy, looking up from fussing over Boreal to check the other man's reaction before he went any further with his proposal.

Sah

Sah was right behind Tal, a bundle of anxiety forming in his stomach. Pad silently observed their arrival as Lilly raced forward to press her nose against Sah's leg. Her concern was nearly tangible, and the Abandoned reached down to run a hand over her ears. He'd like to chalk it up to her being worried about being away from the pups with his cousin's family watching them, but Sah wasn't delusional. Not when Pad was radiating a similar concern, even if the dark wolf was trying to hide it.

Talyson's question didn't help, and the Wild Thunder raised a brow, "Good. Why?" Gods, no. Please don't let this be what he thinks it is. Not now. Not when his lightning magic had apparently changed overnight.

I think therefore I am,
But what if all I do is bleed?

Boreal, the traitor, didn't look concerned at all. She had become distressingly used to Tal getting injured in pursuit of his quests and seemed to live by the maxim of 'rub some dirt on it and you'll be fine, silly human.' And so far she'd been right, so why change her approach now?

Tal didn't know what sort of dread was threading through the Wild Hunter's gut in that moment. All he saw was the calmly raised brow and the easy answer, and he nodded once to himself as his assumption was confirmed. "Because you've been jumpy about usin' it since th'Tournament," he pointed out bluntly. "So I was wonderin' if you've kept up practicin' with it." Boreal snorted and bumped her head against his thigh and he grinned down at her, fishing a treat out of his pocket to feed her - and finding two more for Lilly and Pad, of course. "Can y'show me just a li'l zap? Say, on that big rock over there?" He pointed towards one of the glowstones a little distance away, its surface a milky white in the dappled sunlight.

Sah

Sah's eyes narrowed, "Of course, I'm still training. And only wanting to use it on enemies doesn't mean that I'm 'jumpy' about it." He totally was. Was this a damn intervention? The knot in his stomach unwound some. He didn't have any trouble using his lightning in a fight. Tal's intervention was meaningless.

"Seriously?" Scoffing to hide his lingering concern about Tal's intentions, Sah glanced between the rock and Tal. "A small strike? Ok." Raising a hand, he focused his magic. Lighting flickered to life, running along his fingers and sparking into the air. It was an inanimate object and telling himself that helped settle the Wild Thunder let his anxiety go. He focused, only pulling forward the amount of power that he needed. Nothing new. Nothing to be worried about, right? He could do this. He could.

With a flick of his wrist, Sah unleased a small bolt. it hit the rock in the center, and although it left a small crack, most of the damage was a dark, ashy burn mark. Just what he wanted. Relief slammed into the Abandoned. It seemed that although his lighting had grown more powerful, his control was still perfect.

"For comparison", And for his own curiosity. Sah called forth the full power of his lighting, feeling its new strength burst in his chest almost like using two magics at one. With another flick of the wrist, a large, crackling bolt tore through the air. It struck the rock, letting out a loud 'bang' at the impact as the stone shattered apart. All that was left was a large circle of dead grass.

Holy shit. Sah brought his hand up to his face. He watched the element as it eagerly moved across his knuckles, glowing brighter than it ever had before. Closing his hand into a fist, the Abandoned let the magic fade, his eyes wide. Sah's eyes flicked between the dead earth and his hand. "That's...new."

I think therefore I am,
But what if all I do is bleed?

Tal looked decidedly unconvinced as dark brows rose. "...Uh huh. So prove it." He offered a target and a challenge to the hunter, and at least Sah didn't back down from zapping an inanimate object. That was a step in the right direction, and he did control the magic pretty well. That gave the courier a breath of relief and he nodded in satisfaction.

But before he could relax, Sah had to go and show off - and it was a much bigger show than either of them expected. Tal's eyes widened as he looked from the shattered glowstone to the hunter, at which point his gaze was drawn to the lightning that crawled over his friend's fingers like a particularly zappy snake. "No shit," he breathed, hesitating only a moment before he shifted over to eye it suspiciously.

"... Well. At least y'didn't overdo it on th'first one." It was a grudging statement as he moved across the clearing to examine the blasted stone. It would hurt like hail to get hit with that one... but still not as bad compared to what the Voidshade Ursur had hit him with, if he was any judge of the power used. With a sharp nod he straightened and looked back to Sah with a challenging glint in his eyes. "But can y'use it on a movin' target? Say, in a spar? Or have y'just been trainin' it against shit that can't dodge?"

Sah

Ok, now Sah was insulted. "Are you going somewhere with this?" His eyes narrowed, "I told you. And yes, of course. Who do you take me for?" Of course he'd trained with moving targets. He'd gone hunting multiple times to take out as many void creatures as possible. The Wild Thunder had most certainly used his lighting magic then. Yes, the Tournament had traumatized him and still lingered sometimes. But Sah would never stop using his lightning. It was a part of him and a weapon. Refusing to use it was irresponsible. Lightning was volatile. Getting out of practice with it was out of the question.

The Abandoned ran an agitated hand through his hair, shooting Tal a glare, "How about you stop trying to tell me how to handle my magic, and I don't tell you how to wield your dagger?" Where was Tal going with this? This was a shitty intervention if that's what it was supposed to be. At least he wasn't asking Sah to attack him like the Wild Thunder had feared.

I think therefore I am,
But what if all I do is bleed?

Tal's eyes were almost gentle in spite of Sah's prickling - or maybe because of it. In spite of the urge to snap back his voice stayed calm and matter-of-fact as he took a deep breath. "Because after y'accidentally killed someone with it, y'were scared o' your own sparks for a while," he pointed out quietly. "An' no one blamed y'for it."

He crossed his arms over his chest - and his Vest - and lifted his chin at his frenemy. Trying to be gentle about it was getting him nowhere and if the look in Sah's eyes was anything to go by, he was pretty shit at it. So he fell back on his usual blunt honesty to get the job done. "Look. Safrin said I had t'get hit with lightnin' while wearin' th'Vest. I figure if anyone's gonna get a free shot, it might as well be you. But only if you're confident y'can control it, an' sure y'can use it against someone without gettin' flashbacks t'knockin' Mel out." His lips quirked up in something suspiciously similar to a challenging grin. "An' hey, if that last little jolt was your best shot, I don't even have anythin' t'worry about. You know I don't go down that easy."

Sah

Sah was thrown by Tal's uncharacteristic softness. It soothed some of the jagged edges of his temper and the Abandoned tksed before letting out a long sigh.  Restless, he paced as he spoke, "You're mostly right. Some blamed me. Rightfully so. Even if it was an accident, I committed murder." And as Sah met Tal's eyes, something folded, and he revealed something that he'd never shared: "Others were pleased. I was caught off guard by that, to say the least." If he didn't know better, he'd have said that Safrin was downright proud.

Then Tal explained his purpose, and Sah's mind blanked. Fuck. No. Not this. It was his original fear. He froze in hsi tracks and turned fully towards the courier, ignoring the jab at his power. "What the fuck, Talyson. How do you keep getting quests like this?" There was logic in Safrin's actions at least, not like Ludo. Still, he hated that these quests were constantly putting his frenemy in danger. None of his had been like this!  Apart from needing to kill something for one, but he'd been intending to go after a void creature for. Melita just happened first.

Still, there must be a reason why Talyson had come to him. The courier was placing an absurd amount of trust in Sah, and he refused to let them down. If Tal needed this, he could do it. He would do it. "Fucking hell." Sah ran a slightly trembling hand through his hair and shoved down the lump in his throat. "Alright. I'll do it. I don't trust anyone else to do so safely." Ru would have been the only other option, but she no longer had the magic to do so, as far as he knew. And although Elizabeth was showing incredible promise, she likely wasn't yet at the level of control for such a thing.

I think therefore I am,
But what if all I do is bleed?

Tal was pretty sure it was technically manslaughter if it was an accident, but Sah sounded like he needed to talk about it so the courier stayed quiet and just listened. He met his friend's eyes without flinching, and at the news that some hadn't been as upset as they might have expected... well. He grimaced sympathetically, already guessing who might have been happy with the outcome. Being Ludo's demigod kind of automatically put you on Safrin's shit list, he was pretty sure.

Though sometimes you didn't need to be on that list to suffer the consequences. Tal's cocky goading cracked a little as Sah froze up. He let his stance fall into a shrug and sighed. His scowl returned, though it wasn't aimed at the hunter. "Dunno. Guess it's cuz I keep workin' on my weapons an' armor? Nature Frey was never like this, but..." He shrugged again, uncomfortable at the reminder of the god he'd failed and then fled from.

But hey, at least it wasn't Ludo's fault this time! Safrin could be just as cruel as the trickster god, for what it was worth.

Tal stayed quiet to give Sah time to come to terms with what he needed - and to decide if he was able to give it. He didn't sag in relief when the other man agreed, but he took a deep breath, and let it out with a crooked grin. "Yeah? Well, me neither, turns out." He stepped closer and reached out to give Sah's shoulder a squeeze of silent gratitude.

Then he backed up a couple of steps and crossed his arms with a sharp nod, bracing himself as best he could. "Right. So, let's get this over with. Ready when you are!"

Sah

"Maybe it's because you've been adding additional properties to them?" Sah's armor hadn't followed that trend. But his armor just blocked damage. It didn't harm his enemy in turn. It was the only explanation he could think of apart from it simply being the whim of the gods.

Tal's squeeze and reassurance pulled a small grin from the Wild Thunder as it filled his chest with warmth, "Alright, let's do this." The courier got into position and on his mark, Sah channeled his magic. He was careful, more so than he'd ever been with his magic. Pulling the bare minimum amount of power to get the job done so as not to harm Tal accidentally. Letting the magic come to life and crackle in his palm, Sah gave his frenemy one last nod of warning.

With a final prayer up to Safrin, he sent a single, small strike of lighting towards the man. It hit its intended target, striking the vest while leaving Tal's arms and unprotected skin untouched.

I think therefore I am,
But what if all I do is bleed?

"Yeah... could be?" It actually wasn't the worst suggestion. Maybe since he was adding things that did extra damage there was an extra price? ...Or maybe the gods were just bullies. Sometimes the simplest reason was the right one, but so far they had been prices that Tal had been willing to pay. He wanted to be stronger, and that meant taking a few hits on the way up.

He wasn't willing to do it at the cost of Sah's peace of mind, however. Taking hits himself was one thing, but he didn't intend to traumatize the hunter if it genuinely seemed like the Wild Thunder would be too shaken to go through with it. The intervention could only work if Sah was ready for it, but luckily it seemed like he was. Tal could see the grin on his friend's face and the tight little knot of worry in his own chest eased as he stepped back. He wasn't relaxed, of course. This was still going to hurt!

...But at least it wouldn't hurt as bad as it would have if anyone else had done it.

He couldn't stop himself from tensing up as he gave the signal, teeth grinding together and eyes squeezed closed just before the lightning hit. He was glad that he had when the sharp fire-knife burn of the bolt crackled over and through his armor, the magic piercing the blessed Vest with ease; the garment only protected against physical attacks, after all. But thanks to Sah's careful aim he wasn't burned, and he managed to hold in his yelp. Spidery fingers of skyfire crawled briefly across the armor, drawn along the lines of silver that striped the black stone, and then dissipated between heartbeats. The courier wasted no time in clenching his fist around his Ring, and swift healing swept through him so that no trace of hurt remained.

He took a deep breath and then let it out, cracking his neck and wiggling his fingers before he looked back at his friend with a grin. "See? That barely tickled," he lied through his teeth - but uncharacteristically convincingly for once.

Sah

Sah waited with bated breath as the lightning. Panic began to creep up in the heartbeats before Tal’s reaction. Please be okay.

When the courier grinned and seemed mostly unharmed, the Wild Thunder almost slumped over in relief.

Silently and with long strides, Sah approached and circled Tal with a furrowed brow. He refused to simply take a verbal reassurance of the man’s condition without checking for himself. He needed to be certain.

Circling back around to face Tal, Sah shook his head and met the man’s eyes with a small (if not fond) smile “You’re genuinely insane. Do you know that?”

Pausing for a moment in deliberation, Sah reached forward and pulled Tal into a gentle hug. Even if the man seemed okay, he didn’t want to risk hurting him.

“Thank you.” The words were quiet but heartfelt.

I think therefore I am,
But what if all I do is bleed?

Tal was used to Sah's weirdness by now, so he rolled his eyes in fond exasperation and waited for the Wild Thunder to walk around him. He figured the mage was reassuring himself that his magic had not, in fact, gone haywire, or left the courier with some gnarly scarring. And thanks to the lightning being turned way down and his Ring of Mending, he really was perfectly fine. When his frenemy finally admitted it Tal's grin widened. "Takes one t'know one, yea--uh?"

He wasn't expecting the hug. Hail, he might have been less surprised if the Spanish Inquisition had suddenly portaled into Caido just then. But that didn't stop him from hugging the other man back, clasping the back of Sah's neck as he bumped his temple to his friend's. "Someone's gotta look after you," he mumbled awkwardly but with no less sincerity. "So, uh... we should probably head back into town an' get lunch or somethin'" He released the Wild Thunder and stepped back, his hand shifting to the back of his own neck to rub the skin there. If the tips of his ears were a little pink and he looked oddly pleased as he refused to meet Sah's eyes, well, maybe he was starting to get a little sunburnt.

~Fin