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Summary: Two magic types and a mutant meet in Mutant Town
Date: December 28, 2009
Education is Elemental
Rating: PG-13 (for innuendo)
NYC - Mutant Town
Mutant Town, also known as District X, has become a haven for mutants. This section of town doesn't care what you look like, accepting all mutants no matter what their appearance. Most of the businesses in this section of town are mutant run ranging from small convenience stores to clothing shops to restaurants to night clubs. The buildings here aren't the high rise buildings you might find in mid-town but most are about 5-6 stories high. Mutant Town might not be the most luxurious section of town, in fact it's fairly run down, but this section of where mutants are safe and welcomed regardless of race, religion and culture.
Ethan walks through the streets with perhaps a little more confidence, given the area, than he should. He's not a mutant but the vibrancy and openness of mutant town appeals to him. As usual, he walks through a world that others don't see. Spirits flow around and through the crowd, a diversity of life unseen almost as gaudy as the one on display. It's a good ethnographic exercise. And besides, everybody knows that Mutant Town has the best post-industrial noise bands. It's mid-evening and people are getting on about their business with a moderate crowd. Ethan stops to watch a mutant who bends light making sculptures of color that soar and arc over the street for coins and bills tossed into a hat and he smiles faintly. You won't see this on expedition to Ghana.
Speaking of spirits, one is out doing a little bit of business. There is a person that lives in the area that had a special order from his store that could not, for certain reasons, come pick it up. Normally Dmitri would not be one to make house calls, but some times and in some cases they are worth while. At the moment, his skin seems to gleam with the metallic shine of tin ore that lately keeps clinging to him. With package in hand he clomps his way down the street, stopping now and then to watch the occasional street performer before moving on with the gait of a man with a badly fitting fake leg.
John is wandering through the streets of Mutant town, he's wearing red shorts, black sneakers and a silver cross around his neck, he's only here to find that homeless guy who seems to know something about him that he doesn't, he's been looking since early afternoon and has had no success, so hes heading back to school. He gets draw to the street performers, as they remind him a little of the ones he used to see in the center of London back home, so he leans against a lamppost watching some guy throw light around while digging in his pocket to find some change for the guy.
Ethan tosses a small bill into the hat and looks around the crowd. The barely dressed John gets a second look, as it's rather cold out here. He shivers in his cashmere coat a little at the thought of it. A gathering of gnomes and stone elementals gets his attention, almost like the spirits are leading a parade or a procession and when he follows the line back he sees Dmitri and both eyebrows shoot up. Perhaps because for the first time in his life he's seeing a /person/ in the same way he normally sees spirits. After a moment of shock, Ethan heads that way, anxious enough to get closer that he calls for a double rank of air spirits to clear a path, walking down the sudden river of icy wind that leads from him to the …Earth spirit? Man? Whatever he is. People stumble out of the way as the indiscriminate magic pushes them out of the young mage's way.
Dmitri stops to watch the kid with the light show for a little, and decides he likes his work. The man checks a couple of pockets before letting out a little sigh. He quickly looks around for a section of exposed earth, weather from a planted tree or just torn up sidewalk before leaning down and placing a single hand on it. After a second Dmitri rises again, with a little difficulty caused by his ill fitting fake leg and tosses something into the light weaver's hat. As the object sails through the air light catches on it gleaming golden in the air. At the moment, he has not yet noticed Ethan or John, or even the crowd of elemental spirits that follow him since he can't see them at all.
John finds a couple of dollar bills in his pocket and chucks them into the light guys hat, as he turns to leave he spots Dmitri use his power to pull gold from the earth, in order to get a better look without being noticed he climes into a nearby tree.
Ethan stops a few yards from Dmitri and watches the spirit-man pull gold from the earth itself. He reaches out with his senses and his will and says, "Would you come over here, please?" After all, Dmitri is apparently just a very big, very powerful earth spirit and Ethan has never met one of those who ignored his requests before. His tone is polite but obviously not expecting any resistance. The icy wind dies away as he lets the air spirits go back to their own affairs and the cold wind dies away.
Dmitri catches sight of a half naked boy climbing up a tree, and turns a little. As he turns, an axe made of stone falls over as if it was leaning against Dmitri. "Hmm, this is almost getting annoying." Dmitri holds his hand over the stone axe and concentrates a moment before looking down and finding it still there. It is as he is looking at the axe that he hears the voice and pulls against it. He is not one to be rude, but he is a stubborn SOB according to some people he knows. "Who are you and why do you want me to move." he asks the air near him not sure entirely where the voice came from.
John stares down at the guy who appears to be talking to himself, "Can pull gold from the earth, but is mental, huh i guess money isn't everything".
Ethan blinks in surprise as Dmitri questions him and he frowns, briefly looking like a child who has been denied something for the first time. Wrathful and annoyed. After a moment, his expression smooths out and he looks up at John in his tree and then back down to Dmitri and his axe, obviously trying to figure out which oddity to tackle first. To Dmitri he says, "Well, obviously, I'm not who I thought I was a moment ago. The question is, who are you? And what?" And then as he looks up again, "And why is your friend in a tree?"
Dmitri looks up at John, "Mental? Hah, you have no idea young one." AS he talks Dmitri's Eastern European accent becomes a bit thicker. "Whom ever you are my head is not a safe one to go playing with." Dmitri closes his eyes for a moment as he reaches into a pocket of his coat to open a small bag he has filled with sand just in case he needs it. "The polite thing would be to introduce yourself before trying that trick on one who has the patience of the mountains, and the temper of a avalanche." Not that he actually has a temper, but its always a logical thing to make anyone that might be able to force his will on his if he pushes think he does. "The nearly naked one in the tree is not one I know, although he dresses like a friend of mine. I am Dmitri. So that leaves just who are you?"
John swings down out of the tree, "How am i nearly naked?, im wearing shorts, and shoes", he recognizes the accent but has trouble placing it, he leans against the tree to watch what ever weird thing is happening now, forming flames in his hands just in case.
Ethan holds up his chin a little imperiously and says, "I am the master of air." He holds up his hand and calls back that icy wind, sprites and winter imps dancing around the tree that holds John. "I am the master of the waters." Ethan's voice grows more resonant and ritualistic as holds up his other hand and the snow runs and slithers like a serpent to coil around the three of them. "I am the master of Fire." And with that a ring of tiny sparks flows amongst the whirling snow, lighting it with fey blue and golden embers and spiraling up around John to vanish into the more powerful and hearty flames around his hands. "And life." The tree shivers and groans a little and the branches curve down towards John as though bowing to him for leaving them. "And until just now, I thought I was the master of Earth as well. Apparently not." He nods to Dmitri and then adds, "But my friends call me Ethan."
Dmitri nods almost to himself as he watches John start up the fire. "I was right, you are like Kaden, maybe with a bit less anger." Dmitri does not look greatly impressed at Ethan. Of course, what can one do to impress a man who has been killed and woken the next day a dozen times, and who has met the spirit of Mother Earth herself and been gifted with her favor? "Hmm, I know at least 4 people that might dispute those claims. One of them would even be rather violent about it. The others…well Xane would laugh and Drew and Keith would try and see who could seduce you first."
John grins at Dmitri, "Not quite less anger, if your referring to the Kaden I'm thinking of, our tempers are pretty much matched", when Ethan starts calling fire John feels his flames flare up, that and the stuck up way this guy is speaking pisses him off, and his eyes flare red, "I know two of those guys, and I'm quite similar to the violent one, also friends?, your friends must be from the rich side of town, cos only rich guys would hang around with someone as stuck up as you mate, now stop with the fire, cos i have enough control issues as it is".
Ethan lets the spirits go and jams his hands into the pockets of his long coat. His expression is a little incredulous, "There are /more/ of you?" He gives Dmitri a look and says, "Well, I guess this means that the 15th century Italians were right. There are elemental kings. Interesting. I would like to meet …." He stops as John pipes in and he grins faintly. "That presumes that I have a /need/ for friends."
Dmitri gives John his patented Spock look, complete with raised eyebrow, and watches a moment. "So you know Kaden too? Interesting. Although if you think he is angry now…you should have seen him before I taught him a measure of control." Dmitri turns the look to Ethan and shrugs, "I am no king. The Roma have no use for such things. And no, there is only one of me…unless you count him." Dmitri gestures behind him as rock seems to grow out of the ground and forms into a copy of him for a few seconds before it falls apart. "As for friends, they say no man is an island. Even the lone man needs friends."
John snaps his fingers, "I knew i recognized that accent, my nans a Gypsy too", he raises an eyebrow at Ethan's friends comment, "Anyone who can claim that is a very sad individual", he puts out the flames but his eyes stay red.
Ethan shrugs and says, "I have friends, they just aren't human." Or visible to anybody else, unfortunately. He watches as Dmitri casually shapes the stone with far more finesse than Ethan can manage and his expression is briefly wistful. The 'gypsy' bit gets an interested look but he doesn't comment on it. To John's last words he says, "John Donne was a lonely, heart-sick old fool. A true scholar and magus is self-contained and self-sufficient." He looks back at Dmitri. "Curiosity is another matter."
Dmitri does not get annoyed, or mad, or try to throttle John. "If your nan was Roma she would have put the eye out for you for calling her Gypsie." Dmitri looks at Ethan and nods. "I thought that way once, but even mountains gather in ranges. Being self contained means you never learn anything new. They say that curiosity killed the cat…" As he says that the sand he keeps in a bag inside a pocket spills out and onto the ground forming into a small kitten. "But that curiosity is what brought him back."
John shrugs, "I only met her a few times, when i stopped seeing my dad we lost contact, so i never actually called her a Gypsy", he scratches his head at Ethan's statement, "Who did the what now?", he grins at Dmitri's statement, "My nan talked like that".
Ethan watches that trick of Dmitri's curiously and says, "You really are going to have to show me how you do that, I can't make the spirits do fine work. They don't really seem to /think/ well enough to do that." John gets an amused expression and he says, "I'm guessing you're not a member of the honor society."
Dmitri shrugs at John's direction. "So not only Roma but possibly Romanian as well? There are a fair few of us in America, and other places, especially those that left back in the second world war." The little kitten bounces gently across the distance between Dmitri and Ethan like the real thing and starts to rub against his shoe. "It is a matter of will, I think, I see, I will it so and the earth does as I say. Fine work just takes the imagination and practice…if you are forcing the spirits to do the work for you then you have to go with what they can do."
John nods, "Yeah, shes from Romainia, she lives in England now", he looks at Ethan, his eyes flaring a brighter red, "I do not like being insulted, but I'm learning to control my temper, so I'm giving you a warning".
Ethan looks down at the lifelike kitten for a moment, trying to keep that dispassionate expression. As it rubs against his shoe, however, he can't help but smile faintly and stoop to gently run a finger over it's head and behind the ears. Even having seen it created by Dmitri, the fact that it actually /is/ sand still surprises him and he smiles broadly as he looks up, that habitual coolness and arrogance replaced for a moment by wonder. "I'll keep that in mind." When John's eyes flare and he delivers his threat, Ethan stands and settles his long cashmere coat more comfortably as his expression goes cool and remote again. "Well, at least you understood you were being insulted. That's far above most people. As for warning me …." His smile is more shark like now. "If you want to try your one element against my five, I'm sure it would prove …instructive."
The cat reacts to Ethan as if it were a real kitten, the creature almost looks like it could purr at any second if it were not for the lack of vocal cords. Dmitri says, "One element wielded by an expert, or by one that if focused solely on it can overpower even five wielded by a master who must split his power amongst them. That, and a fight right in the middle of mutant town, its just going to make trouble for everyone. If the residents don't stop you both and boot you out then the cops will come in and make everyone that lives here miserable. Just a suggestion but you could just go to an alley and measure them instead, much easier and less needless destruction."
John smirks, "I completely forgot about my powers then, i was taking care of guys like you long before my power surfaced, but he's right a fight here will cause unnecessary trouble, for the people that live here".
Ethan blushes at Dmitri's suggestion and looks away, clearing his throat. He doesn't look back at John but just nods at that last part. "I don't want to make their lives any harder than it is." He looks back down at the kitten, the urge to reach down and pet it again more obvious than he thinks it is. "That really /is/ remarkable."
Dmitri nods as the others listen to reason. Good thing he at least keeps calm in the worst of situations. He does not want to cause trouble either, he does business with people here and often enough helps them do business other places they are less than welcome. "I have had time with a real one that I could pattern it on. Much easier than with solid stone too, stone does not want to move but the particles of sand slide across each other with ease and often its hardest to keep them together."
John leans back against the tree and tries to calm himself down.
Ethan gives in to the impulse to hunker down on his heels and 'examine' the sand kitten a little more. Purely professional interest in the technique, of course. He grins a bit again at the lifelike construct and nods at Dmitri's words. "I've noticed that even working indirectly. Soil shapes easier than stone. Stone likes to stay where nature put it. The couch potatoes of the spirit world." Since John has gone quiet, he just looks up to make sure the other young man isn't getting ready to fling a fireball at him and goes back to scratching the kitten behind it's little granular ears.
Dmitri nods at Ethan, "Stones do not like to move, but they will if you ask them the right way, same goes for metals and mountains. Its all a matter of skill, practice and on occasion just knowing how to ask, when to demand and when to be humble. I can tell you from watching the others, Wind Water and Air are easy, you just have to feel it. Earth, you have to think."
John looks over to Dmitri, "If i heated up that kitten would it turn to glass?", he stands back up, "Fire isn't easy either".
Ethan reluctantly stands up, frowning faintly. "I can't sense metal spirits at all." He shrugs, "I have no idea why." He gives John a faintly horrified glance and has to remind himself that it's not real. But in his world, 'real' is a concept as shifting as the sand that makes up the kitten. He says, "Fire spirits are willful and wild. But they do enjoy themselves. And wouldn't the kit …construct… be frozen at that point? Unless it's molten, glass resists movement."
The sand kitten turns to look at John and arches its back and bares its teeth as though hissing at him. That done it seems to dissolve into a pile of sand, which starts to shift, and then flow back towards Dmitri before climbing his leg and up into his sand pouch. "It would be turned to glass, and frozen…unless I willed it to move. Glass is just silicon dioxide, same as sand. Metal…is different. Pure and unrefined metals are hard even for me, alloys and unnatural metals…those hardly respond to me at all. And the damned axe refuses to do anything but follow me around for the last few weeks…just like the tin dust that clings to my skin. I was sure this city had thrown its weirdest at me with the invasion from another world…till I started rusting still and looking for yellow roadways."
Ethan laughs in delight at the magic and the faux-kitten's apparent agreement with his opinion of John in general. He arches an eyebrow at Dmitri and says, "Well, it's hardly surprising that person who is infused with magic would be subject to mythic resonance from a supernatural effect. In fact, it would seem to be a core tenet of sympathetic magic."
Dmitri makes a sound in the back of his throat and looks uncomfortable for a moment. "No, its more that some effect has been turning me into a fictional character form time to time. My…friends wasted no time in pointing out the irony of it being the one that spends the entire book bemoaning his lack of a heart." The kitten did not share Ethan's feelings about John, it was just a reaction to the idea of being turned to glass. Dmitri was not sure why he had it do that, other than it seemed right.
John chooses not to say anything as he has no clue what they're saying.
Ethan gives Dmitri an arched eyebrow and his skeptical 'do tell' expression is extremely obvious. "I'd argue that a man who makes whimsical sand pets is not a man without a heart. Merely a man guarding it well." From his lofty teenage perch, he, of course, has the wisdom of the ages. Or at least so he thinks.
Dmitri gives Ethan an arch look, and shrugs. "You end up turning into an old man with a hot air balloon and I might swear. This, this is after knowing the one of us who deals with the heart and emotions the way I do the earth for some time. At least when I get stuck the others always have enough lu…oil on hand to compensate."
John grins as he knows full well what Dmitri was about to say, he understands that the relationship between the spirits is an interesting and open-minded one.
Ethan grins and says, "Well, I have been told I'm full of hot air." He pauses a moment and says, "I really would like to meet your peers. I've never even suspected greater elemental spirits before." He doesn't follow up on Dmitri's word choices but he does try to hide a faint smirk.
Dmitri hmms, "Greater elemental spirits? As if we were some ephemeral whisp made of our element. Immortal yes, the very incarnation of our nature yes, but ephemeral we are not." With the possible exception of Keith. "We are people, although I can always ask if you really wish to risk meeting them next time I visit them." There is a minor pause and a gulp as Dmitri says them, as if there might be something about visiting them that he does not quite like.
John zones out again, at the mention of more words he doesn't understand.
Ethan shrugs and smiles faintly. "You ruin all my carefully constructed theories of magic, spirits and how they work together. Of course I want to meet all of you. Learn how you do what you do, see if I can apply it to my own gifts." That smile holds more than a hint of his habitual arrogant smirk as he adds, "And to see if they are all as intransigent as you. I may just need to study up on greater bindings and summonings."
Dmitri cants his head to the side and raises an eyebrow at Ethan. "It will take more than power to summon me, but bindings…Drew won't like that idea a bit but I am not adverse to it at all. Provided your of legal age."
John stands back up, "Well I'm gonna go, enjoy your discussion."
Ethan blushes at that last bit and clears his throat. "I was speaking of mystic…." He waves off the further comment and reaches inside his coat to pull out a small note pad and silver pen. He scribbles his name, number and email on a sheet and rips it out, handing it to Dmitri. "Here. Contact me, if you want. For /study/." He's still blushing faintly. He nods to John. "Good night." He doesn't lie about being thrilled to meet John but he's at least polite.
Dmitri takes the paper and gives his first grin all night. He is a logical, emotion free, thinking person…still some times its fun to make someone a little uncomfortable. "I know nothing of magic beyond what the old Woman used to say about the evil eye. There are more interesting things I could teach other than magic, if you are interested in those…" Dmitri hands Ethan a business card with his name, and the number and address of his shop. "In case you need to make contact."
Ethan just gives Dmitri what he means to be a quelling look but is pretty much ruined by his blushing. He clears his throat and says, "Farewell." With that he calls the air spirits to himself and a gust of wind rises up to lift him from the ground and then launch him into the darkness above the streets and back towards his room. Apparently a dramatic exit passes for a witty retort for him.
