[PRP] Magical Sparring (Horace/Kaleb)

[Grey Dragon]

Crossing over into Other Ashdown wasn't quite as frightening as it once was. When Kaleb found himself alone there late that morning, there was an eagerness bordering on the usual trepidation. Having actually managed magic, real magic, he wanted to try again.

He found himself a quiet place, an empty lot that was thick with long grass, straddled by the ruins of two buildings that had been broken down almost to their foundations. In the center of the lot was a twisted old tree. That was where Kaleb sat down to practice his bubble shield, almost entirely hidden by the grass and weeds that came up to his shoulders, with the tree at his back. It was a peaceful little vantage point, and it almost felt safe.

The Semblance of Unity

^o^

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

{i]Bzzzt. Zap! A small arc of electricity landed near Oliver, followed by a loud curse. It seemed as though Oliver's wasn't the only person who'd decided this lot was good practicing territory. Although, in Horace's case, it probably wasn't the greatest idea to pick somewhere with such long grass to electrify.

"Hey, sorry," he called out, jogging over. "You alri- Kaleb! Hey, whatcha doing? Oh s**t, did I zap you?"

grey dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb squeaked, pulled out of his concentration by the crackle of electricity nearby. The diamond-like sphere in between his hands shifted into an iridescent bubble and popped.

"Horace! You missed, but it was close!" Kaleb confirmed with a smile, holding up one arm. The pale hairs were standing on end from the residual static. "I was practicing magic stuff, it turns out I can do things too. It's kind of crazy."

He stood up and brushed the dirt and dead grass from his jeans. "I thought I'd be able to see anyone before they found me here, but I guess I was concentrating too hard..."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I'm sorry, I kinda thought I was alone out here, too. Didn't want to hit anyone with stray stuff." Horace peered around the field as if he expected twenty more people to spring up like daisies. No one did.

Then he turned back to Kaleb. "Wait, did you say you could do magic? What is it? Show me." He grinned.

grey dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb nodded, suddenly very shy about the whole thing. Jeremiah was the only one he had done this in front of, and it almost felt like a performance now that he was going to try it on demand. It was always easier for the timid teen to do al his work alone, and wait until everything was perfect before letting anyone see.

It was a little harder to concentrate with Horace watching, but he was able to quickly summon the crystal-clear shield bubble in his hands.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Horace stayed very quiet, trying to let Kaleb concentrate. He watched as a sort of... bubble formed in Kaleb's hands.

"Uh... what is it?"

grey dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

"It's..." Kaleb frowned a little. "It's going to be a protection shield, eventually. But for now it's just a really, really solid bubble. If I try to make it bigger..."

He did just that, and the sphere expanded a couple inches in diameter before it rippled like a large soap bubble and popped. "I can't hold it together well enough, but I'm working on it."

That shy smile came back, kind of nervous, kind of self-depreciating. "And that's about it... It's not really a big deal, but it's a start. How is your practicing going?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"That's pretty awesome, though! You just gotta flex it out a bit bigger, maybe encase yourself eventually - or other people." He chewed on his lip. "Have you tested it's strength?"

As for his own forays into electricity... "Well, I'm not Emperor Palpatine, but I can shoot little arcs out more accurately. So, that's something, I guess."

grey drago

WC: 210  

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb nodded, when Jeremiah had first demonstrated a bubble shield, it had surrounded them both easily. If he kept it up, one day he might be that capable.

"I haven't done much with it," he admitted, absently wringing his hands together. "I can't focus on holding it and testing it at the same time yet... I'm glad to hear about your accuracy though! It really is better when things are predictable."

Kaleb had no idea who the Emperor was, but history had never been his preferred subject... Or media, apparently.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Horace nodded thoughtfully. "Want me to punch it?"

grey dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb's expression brightened. "Please! But... maybe... gently?"

He summoned the basketball-sized sphere between his hands once more, focusing on maintaining it's solidity. He wasn't sure how it worked, but imagining the strong covalent bonds and tetrahedral lattice of carbon atoms that made up the structure of diamond made the magic feel stronger somehow.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Quote:

Strength of PUNNNNCHHHHHH 1-10

"Uh," he said. "Okay. Horace watched, kind of fascinated, as the sphere took form again. It was definitely a neat bit of magic, and impressively useful if Kaleb could both maintain and embiggen.

Horace punched the sphere, half afraid he'd hit Kaleb instead.

grey dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Quote:

CAN HE BLOCK IT: 8 < 9 YAAAASSSS

For a second, Kaleb wondered why the sphere had a tendency to slip back to a fluid form, and eventually pop. It must have been his focus, the influence of soap bubbles that had led to his first act of real magic. Yet covalent bonds, as in diamond, were such strong forces that it shouldn't require so much effort to keep them from coming apart-

When he remembered Horace was literally moments away from punching the sphere, Kaleb immediately regretted his lack of total and complete focus. He had the look of someone who clearly expected to get a fist to the face. But that quickly gave way to surprise as the clear sphere in his hands held it's form even as it was punched backward into his chest, knocking him back half a step.

"It... It worked!" He squeaked, sounding quite rattled from the experience but still holding the round shield ball.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Holy s**t, are you okay?" He hadn't accounted for momentum traveling through to Kaleb. But the little round shield-thing had stood up to the punch and that was pretty damn neat.

"If you're alright, I can... zap it?" He cocked his finger back into a gun and pointed it at the shield. Zap.

grey dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb nodded and smiled wider than ever before. He felt a little giddy knowing he had done that, made something out of magic that could stand up to a punch that could nearly knock him over. He hadn't thought about anchoring it in the air so it would resist the impact, or maybe deflecting the force would be an option...

"Yeah, let's try that," he offered quickly, before taking a moment to think it over. If he had, perhaps he would have remembered the last time he tried anything magical involving Horace's sparks. Instead of blocking the spark, the shield acted more like a magical conduit. It directed the electricity straight to Kaleb's hands. With a yelp he let go of the magic, and the bubble disappeared into the air.

"I'm okay!" He said quickly to avoid any worry, and grinned. "I didn't think about making it insulated, I guess."

The Semblance of Unity