[She follows, nodding as he lets go and taking a step back. She knows how magic can be, and that's not even getting into figuring out a new innate ability.
The glowing in his veins, though--that's more than a little alarming at first, a reminder of how much agony he'd been in last time she'd seem them lighting up like that, trying to fight off the Sun El burning him up from the inside... But when her attention immediately snaps to his face, there's no sign of pain in his expression, and Natsuno isn't that stoic, so...she relaxes. And, curiously, moves to place her own palm where his had been a moment prior...]
...It's warm--hot, even.
[Pulling her hand back, she smiles brightly at him. He really has made this power his own now, hasn't he? She's...relieved, not to mention proud...]
Well, I'm still testing the limits, but so far I've managed to heat up a frying pan enough to cook an egg. [He smiles faintly.] Using a stove is still way faster, though.
[He won't be able to melt metal with it or throw around flashily destructive energy balls, but reheating your tea or giving someone minor burns is still something.]
Well, it is still a work in progress and all. Even that much is pretty impressive.
[He's come a long way from solar flare burps. She still doesn't think it's worth all the pain he went through--doesn't make up for injecting himself--but what good would it do to keep harping on that? It's done, and now Natsuno's making the best of it, and she's at least proud of him for that.]
And it sounds like it can come in handy in a pinch.
[He nods.] Even just to buy time by blinding someone.
[Why yes, he HAS been thinking about the ways he can use it for violence. A miniature sun in someone's eye, a heated knife's blade, shaking off grabbing hands by making his own skin too hot to touch...]
I wish I could make eyes stop glowing, though. They look like a pair of red flashlights in the dark.
[That's Natsuno--always being prepared. There's no point hoping it won't be necessary, after all. His demonstration over, she steps closer to reach for his hand again, lacing her fingers through his. She will pretend that those glowing eyes of his have never ever made her jump when she turned a corner at night and saw them...]
They are...noticeable, yeah. But not as bright as when we got Jade out of the glass. What happened there?
[At first, she wonders why he's suddenly getting cagey about it, but finally he explains it and...ah. Oh, Natsuno--she already knows how much he cares. And, well...of course they couldn't not care about Jade, after everything they've all been through...]
...Yeah. That jerk. [Still, talking completely sincerely about Jade-shaped feelings doesn't come quite so easily, so Rita ends up partially matching his awkwardness with a very insincere insult that has zero venom behind it, even as she decides it's way easier to make it seem like these feelings are all Jade's fault.] Making us worry he might not wake up and all...
[Speaking of Jade and feelings and awkwardness, too... She glances at that same very fascinating spot on the wall.]
Hey, did I tell you? That guy ended up in one of my memories before, and--can you believe this? He actually...pretended to be my dad.
[Which is still incredibly weird and something she has no idea how to feel about. It's probably for the better that the memory was so long ago that she can't really recall it...but it still leaves her with an odd, vague something.]
[There aren't many things that can make him forget all about the embarrassment, but that sure is one of them. Natsuno stares at Rita, who keeps staring at the wall.]
Pretended - why? That doesn't sound like him at all.
[He can't imagine dad parenting ANYONE let alone intentionally. When Natsuno asked one time if he had kids Jade acted like the very word was a foreign concept!]
[She looks at Natsuno, lifting one hand in a dramatic shrug, because now they can both agree that's ridiculous for someone like Jade, right? (And then she doesn't have to think about whatever else she might think about him acting that way...)]
Something about it being the best excuse he could come up with to explain what he was doing in my house. [Which would already be a questionable reason, in her opinion...]
I can think about at least four other better excuses. I thought he's supposed to be smart.
[He managed to pass himself off as a foreign vampire hunter - surely he could come up with something better than "dad." Honestly, Natsuno would expect Jade to claim he's a burglar before saying he's a parent, or anything that implies responsibility.]
I guess... your mother wasn't around?
[For Jade's lie to work, Rita couldn't have known what her father looked like, and her mother would have to be absent. He can't help but think about Marget in the other memory. Rita must've been truly neglected...]
[She snorts in agreement. Really, to use an excuse like that--she'd think that would've been a last resort for Jade. Right?
Anyway, at Natsuno's question, she readily nods. Maybe talking about whatever feelings are involved would be a more difficult ask, but the simple fact that her mother's been gone for almost as long as she can remember? That's not really a touchy subject.]
Yeah. He must've shown up...I guess not that long after she died, but before Marget stepped in.
[And since it's Natsuno...even bringing up Marget doesn't feel so awkward. No, all the awkwardness here is over Jade inserting himself into a parental role...]
[Maybe it's not a big deal to Rita, but Natsuno is still sad for the young girl she was. Wandering around alone and unkempt... she deserved better than someone like Marget, better than a memory of Jade inserting himself into her life.]
Yeah. For...it was so long ago, I can't remember if it was a few weeks, or a few months...
[Even after trying to think back and remember how Jade had acted, the details are so far back that they're fuzzy.]
I mean, that had to be at least a decade ago, so... But I think...there was probably a reason. It's hard to remember, but most likely...I didn't want to leave my mom's house, or Aspio...
[A hope of reconnecting with her mother, somehow... Those are some of the few things she's been able to recall, after re-examining her memories, and considering Theodora's origins. Even though it had been an impossible desire--childish and unrealistic.]
[So the place in Rita's memory was her mother's house. Natsuno's not surprised she decided to stay in a familiar place, but he finds it odd that she was even allowed to make the choice so young - especially since every adult there sounds like a treacherous jerk. Then again, Rita is a genius, so maybe exceptions were made for someone so special.]
...yeah, I get it. And you started doing research soon after, right? Was your mother a scientist too?
[In retrospect, it's possible that Marget had arranged for that exception... It's frustrating, that someone who turned on her still did so much for her benefit, too. But--it doesn't matter. Like she said in that memory...it's not worth wasting her time wondering about.
So, she gives Natsuno a little nod.]
Yeah, she was. I don't know precisely what her field was, but she did study blastia. Actually...Theodora was a blastia she left behind, so...
[So Rita had started using that one too, once she had learned enough. Even before that, she'd started wearing it.]
[So Theodora was her mother's blastia. That explains why Rita is so attached to it. Her obsession came from a grieving, lonely child's desire to reconnect with the only person who couldn't betray her, because she was already gone...]
No wonder she's so important, then.[...] Any progress on waking her up?
[Natsuno takes her hand again, feeling bad for bringing down the mood. His heart still aches for the young Rita - it's not fair that Theodora is still broken.]
[She laces her fingers with his, shaking her head. It's not his fault. And even if it's technically Jade's, she can't really blame him, either, not under the circumstances. It does...feel odd, to admit that Theodora's repair might be beyond her at this point. Of course, she has people dear to her now--ones she knows she can trust--but it still feels like...an ending, of sorts.
...But she still has Natsuno, and that counts for so much more than she could ever express.]
I think we can agree everything about that Halloween thing sucked. [Natsuno, especially, spent so much time in the Nothing... A pause, and then she continues-] When we were in that labyrinth...I was afraid you were--gone, because of that Sparkles, or...back in the Nothing. So, you know...I'm just glad you're still here.
[She can be happy about that, right? Even if she does feel a little guilty about how Clarke must be feeling now...]
I'm glad too. I had no idea what was happening, trapped in that room... I should've been there with you.
[He knows it's not his fault, but he's upset all the same, knowing Rita and the others were on the other side of the door worried sick. Sparkles used him, just like the ghost in Halloween.
He leans to plant a kiss on the top of Rita's head.]
I didn't mean to bring down the mood. Wanna do something fun?
[Neither being trapped in the maze--alone, again, he shouldn't have had to face anything like that alone--nor for the drop in mood. She leans up to kiss his cheek, because despite everything, she is going to be happy he's here and well.]
Something fun, huh... [Really, just being with him again is nice, even if they're just sitting and enjoying each other's company... But an idea does come to her.] Say, have you tried shaping your sun magic?
Not yet. I'm still trying to get it to move more than a few inches.
[But he might as well try! The little sun spheres felt most natural, but maybe a different shape will be easier to manipulate.
He holds out both palms, automatically forming a sphere. Natsuno tsks and frowns in concentration, trying to will it into a flat disc. The glowing sphere flickers and trembles as he moves his hands carefully, palms facing each other like it'll help him visualize squishing the sphere. It changes into an oval -
And immediately explodes in a bright flash right in Natsuno's face. He yelps and stumbles back, eyes screwed shut and forearms raised in a useless shielding gesture.]
[She steps back to give him a bit of space to try, watching curiously. Just as she's thinking that it looks like considerable effort is needed to warp the spherical shape-
Rita likewise yelps and holds up an arm as dazzling light leaves spots in her vision--but Natsuno took it point blank-]
[Natsuno is doubled over covering him face. The blinding flash leaves him with a massive headache and his face feels like one giant sunburn. In fact, when he finally removes his hands to blink owlishly at Rita (or what he hopes is Rita, he's still seeing spots), his face is red like he did get a bad sunburn. The skin on his nose is even peeling.
[She rushes over to him, a hand immediately going for his arm, squinting around the bright spots in her vision--not that the squinting actually helps--but she can see well enough to check him over.]
Geez...
[She lets out a worried breath. It does look painful, but more immediately, she's just relieved he didn't accidentally blow himself up (again).]
Alright, I guess...shaping it's off the table for now. Can you see?
[She couldn't quite tell from the way he was blinking at her...]
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The glowing in his veins, though--that's more than a little alarming at first, a reminder of how much agony he'd been in last time she'd seem them lighting up like that, trying to fight off the Sun El burning him up from the inside... But when her attention immediately snaps to his face, there's no sign of pain in his expression, and Natsuno isn't that stoic, so...she relaxes. And, curiously, moves to place her own palm where his had been a moment prior...]
...It's warm--hot, even.
[Pulling her hand back, she smiles brightly at him. He really has made this power his own now, hasn't he? She's...relieved, not to mention proud...]
How hot can it go?
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[He won't be able to melt metal with it or throw around flashily destructive energy balls, but reheating your tea or giving someone minor burns is still something.]
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[He's come a long way from solar flare burps. She still doesn't think it's worth all the pain he went through--doesn't make up for injecting himself--but what good would it do to keep harping on that? It's done, and now Natsuno's making the best of it, and she's at least proud of him for that.]
And it sounds like it can come in handy in a pinch.
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[Why yes, he HAS been thinking about the ways he can use it for violence. A miniature sun in someone's eye, a heated knife's blade, shaking off grabbing hands by making his own skin too hot to touch...]
I wish I could make eyes stop glowing, though. They look like a pair of red flashlights in the dark.
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They are...noticeable, yeah. But not as bright as when we got Jade out of the glass. What happened there?
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[Natsuno puts his hands in his pockets and his gaze trails toward the wall, staring at it like it's the most fascinating thing in the world.]
It happens when I'm upset, [He says eventually. He can admit... feeling thinga to Rita, right?] I was worried, so.
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...Yeah. That jerk. [Still, talking completely sincerely about Jade-shaped feelings doesn't come quite so easily, so Rita ends up partially matching his awkwardness with a very insincere insult that has zero venom behind it, even as she decides it's way easier to make it seem like these feelings are all Jade's fault.] Making us worry he might not wake up and all...
[Speaking of Jade and feelings and awkwardness, too... She glances at that same very fascinating spot on the wall.]
Hey, did I tell you? That guy ended up in one of my memories before, and--can you believe this? He actually...pretended to be my dad.
[Which is still incredibly weird and something she has no idea how to feel about. It's probably for the better that the memory was so long ago that she can't really recall it...but it still leaves her with an odd, vague something.]
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[There aren't many things that can make him forget all about the embarrassment, but that sure is one of them. Natsuno stares at Rita, who keeps staring at the wall.]
Pretended - why? That doesn't sound like him at all.
[He can't imagine dad parenting ANYONE let alone intentionally. When Natsuno asked one time if he had kids Jade acted like the very word was a foreign concept!]
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[She looks at Natsuno, lifting one hand in a dramatic shrug, because now they can both agree that's ridiculous for someone like Jade, right? (And then she doesn't have to think about whatever else she might think about him acting that way...)]
Something about it being the best excuse he could come up with to explain what he was doing in my house. [Which would already be a questionable reason, in her opinion...]
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[He managed to pass himself off as a foreign vampire hunter - surely he could come up with something better than "dad." Honestly, Natsuno would expect Jade to claim he's a burglar before saying he's a parent, or anything that implies responsibility.]
I guess... your mother wasn't around?
[For Jade's lie to work, Rita couldn't have known what her father looked like, and her mother would have to be absent. He can't help but think about Marget in the other memory. Rita must've been truly neglected...]
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[She snorts in agreement. Really, to use an excuse like that--she'd think that would've been a last resort for Jade. Right?
Anyway, at Natsuno's question, she readily nods. Maybe talking about whatever feelings are involved would be a more difficult ask, but the simple fact that her mother's been gone for almost as long as she can remember? That's not really a touchy subject.]
Yeah. He must've shown up...I guess not that long after she died, but before Marget stepped in.
[And since it's Natsuno...even bringing up Marget doesn't feel so awkward. No, all the awkwardness here is over Jade inserting himself into a parental role...]
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[Maybe it's not a big deal to Rita, but Natsuno is still sad for the young girl she was. Wandering around alone and unkempt... she deserved better than someone like Marget, better than a memory of Jade inserting himself into her life.]
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[Even after trying to think back and remember how Jade had acted, the details are so far back that they're fuzzy.]
I mean, that had to be at least a decade ago, so... But I think...there was probably a reason. It's hard to remember, but most likely...I didn't want to leave my mom's house, or Aspio...
[A hope of reconnecting with her mother, somehow... Those are some of the few things she's been able to recall, after re-examining her memories, and considering Theodora's origins. Even though it had been an impossible desire--childish and unrealistic.]
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...yeah, I get it. And you started doing research soon after, right? Was your mother a scientist too?
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So, she gives Natsuno a little nod.]
Yeah, she was. I don't know precisely what her field was, but she did study blastia. Actually...Theodora was a blastia she left behind, so...
[So Rita had started using that one too, once she had learned enough. Even before that, she'd started wearing it.]
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No wonder she's so important, then.[...] Any progress on waking her up?
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Not...recently. I did get her diagnostics to start up briefly, but...it didn't stick.
...Maybe it's too much for her...
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[Natsuno takes her hand again, feeling bad for bringing down the mood. His heart still aches for the young Rita - it's not fair that Theodora is still broken.]
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...But she still has Natsuno, and that counts for so much more than she could ever express.]
I think we can agree everything about that Halloween thing sucked. [Natsuno, especially, spent so much time in the Nothing... A pause, and then she continues-] When we were in that labyrinth...I was afraid you were--gone, because of that Sparkles, or...back in the Nothing. So, you know...I'm just glad you're still here.
[She can be happy about that, right? Even if she does feel a little guilty about how Clarke must be feeling now...]
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[He knows it's not his fault, but he's upset all the same, knowing Rita and the others were on the other side of the door worried sick. Sparkles used him, just like the ghost in Halloween.
He leans to plant a kiss on the top of Rita's head.]
I didn't mean to bring down the mood. Wanna do something fun?
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[Neither being trapped in the maze--alone, again, he shouldn't have had to face anything like that alone--nor for the drop in mood. She leans up to kiss his cheek, because despite everything, she is going to be happy he's here and well.]
Something fun, huh... [Really, just being with him again is nice, even if they're just sitting and enjoying each other's company... But an idea does come to her.] Say, have you tried shaping your sun magic?
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[But he might as well try! The little sun spheres felt most natural, but maybe a different shape will be easier to manipulate.
He holds out both palms, automatically forming a sphere. Natsuno tsks and frowns in concentration, trying to will it into a flat disc. The glowing sphere flickers and trembles as he moves his hands carefully, palms facing each other like it'll help him visualize squishing the sphere. It changes into an oval -
And immediately explodes in a bright flash right in Natsuno's face. He yelps and stumbles back, eyes screwed shut and forearms raised in a useless shielding gesture.]
rng loves violence
Rita likewise yelps and holds up an arm as dazzling light leaves spots in her vision--but Natsuno took it point blank-]
Natsuno! Hey, are you-?
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[Natsuno is doubled over covering him face. The blinding flash leaves him with a massive headache and his face feels like one giant sunburn. In fact, when he finally removes his hands to blink owlishly at Rita (or what he hopes is Rita, he's still seeing spots), his face is red like he did get a bad sunburn. The skin on his nose is even peeling.
It'll fade away soon, but it still hurts.]
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Geez...
[She lets out a worried breath. It does look painful, but more immediately, she's just relieved he didn't accidentally blow himself up (again).]
Alright, I guess...shaping it's off the table for now. Can you see?
[She couldn't quite tell from the way he was blinking at her...]
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rolled 6 rip
more magic slapstick for the tracker
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