video;

[bearshermark]

[It's an unusually frazzled Elliott that greets the feed. Maybe extra unusual as his normal medium of choice is text]

S-so uh! Something happened.

[There's some unpleasant rattling around noises and weird close-ups as he sets the phone down, rambling as he does so] And I need everyone to see so I'm sure it's not just a hallucination or something? I just had a memory while I was dozing off during my commute home and I just thought I'd try it you know, because it'd be cool, but then-

[Elliott retreats to a distance that he thinks is good for a video and holds up a hand, thumb and middle finger pressed together. He breathes, then follows the motion through with a snap. A flame bursts to life on the tip of his forefinger, hovering like a fireball in miniature. It follows the motion of his hand as it shakes.

Anyone not focused on the flame might see that he looks dangerously close to tears]

I uh- I think.. I think magic might actually be real? Maybe? If this is actually happening?

Comments

[scotch_egg]

[have the flattest expression you've ever seen. Granted he's not aware the camera is on, but he is exceedingly unimpressed. As he sips coffee from a 'Worlds Worst Teacher' mug, he can't help but think that people would go to enormous lengths to find something to believe in]

[bearshermark]

[Not the first person he would have liked to see, heart dropping into his feet almost immediately]

Am I hallucinating??

[scotch_egg]

[damn. He hadn't meant to be on, but nevermind. He'll roll with it]

You tell me.

[bearshermark]

[Elliott stares uncertainly at the fire on his finger]

I could really use you not being a jerk right now. I didn't want to have to try and burn something to find out.

[scotch_egg]

[he leans back] Do you really care what I think? Do you want to be convinced of something? Or convince yourself?

[bearshermark]

I want to know if this is real or not! And you're being an ass about it! It's pretty obvious which one you care about!

[And yeah okay, he feels bad about blowing up like that, but he's too worked up to bring himself to apologize for it.]

But fine, I'll just.. find a paper or something.

[scotch_egg]

[he sighs] If you want to test it, for God's sake do it outside and away from anything flammable. Somewhere away from people who could get hurt and preferably somewhere with water.

[which he would have thought was common sense, but "magic"]

video, immediately after broadcast;

[traceofeffort]

[Well, damn. Looks like things took an accelerated dive into hell this month. While knowing how this happened would be nice - she absolutely has a lot of questions right now - Lisa is more concerned about her friend. So she'll post right away, projecting calm she actually mostly feels for once.]

Hey. Elliott. C'mon, deep breaths. Are you- well, no, you're not okay, but. Need to talk?

[bearshermark]

[It all makes sense, but doesn't seem wildly practical. Getting to a river would take awhile.

He turns, then realizes he needs to bring the phone along and grabs that as he walks. He sets it back down in the kitchen with some fussing, right next to the sink. He grabs a paper towel and runs the faucet.]

I guess you would have told me pretty fast if I was just crazy, so.. Here goes nothing.

[He sets the flame to the edge of the paper napkin, and watches it light up faster than he expected. He drops it into the sink with a shout, and backs away immediately]

[bearshermark]

Lisa! Yes, I- please tell me you're seeing this?? Maybe describe it for me to be sure??

[traceofeffort]

[...well, if he's asking.]

You, uh. You snapped your fingers and you turned on your built-in lighter. Little flame at the end of your fingertip. Is it hot? It's not burning you, right?

[bearshermark]

[He laughs- it's just shy of hysterical]

Thank God. Okay, I'm not hallucinating. Okay. I can handle this.

[Belatedly remembering she asked him something] But no, uh- it's not burning me, actually.

[scotch_egg]

Well done. [impressive acting anyway. What he's getting out of it Alec has no idea but he's less than impressed] Try not to become an accidental arsonist.

[bearshermark]

[Elliott approaches the sink and prods at what's left of the paper towel, then shuts the water off. The flame on his finger has also gone out]

Uh.. yeah, I'll do that. Anytime you want an in-person demonstration, I'm game.

[scotch_egg]

No thank you. I think I'm fine. More than convinced.

[he doesn't have time for that kind of horse shit. If the kid wants to go through the whole song and dance of sudden magic powers, he can find someone else]

[traceofeffort]

You're not hallucinating. And hey, Anakin shouldn't have a monopoly on bullshit powers, right? You can definitely handle this. I believe in you. It'll be okay.

[bearshermark]

Great. Thanks.

[scotch_egg]

Also, seek therapy. Talk to someone. You clearly need it.

[and with that, he'll end the call]

[bearshermark]

Right, yeah. He had the empathy thing.

[He stares at the flame a moment] Wait, how did I... how did she-

[He waves it around a bit, then tries snapping again, and relaxes when it goes back out]

But oh my god Lisa, I can- this is- I can't believe it.

[traceofeffort]

[...no manual, huh. Well, at least he figured out how to put it out on his own. She'd have suggested something quite a bit dumber.]

Honestly, it's kinda cool! It is a little hard to believe at first, but that doesn't make it any less of a thing. You totally need to start carrying marshmallows around.

Who is she, though? Did you remember how to use that from a vision or something?

[bearshermark]

[A few choice, unkind words are parroted back to the terminated feed in a fit of rare temper. Nope, he's definitely not apologizing, even if he is grudgingly grateful the call ended before said unkindness could be transmitted.]

[bearshermark]

Oh, uh, actually, I mean yeah, it was a vision- a memory- but it wasn't something I did. There was a girl- or a pair of girls, really- but one of them snapped her fingers to test if she'd gotten her magic back. I guess it had been stolen somehow, and- long story. Anyway, I just did it for fun, but I didn't actually expect it to do anything.

[traceofeffort]

-and then you understandably freaked out because that shouldn't have worked for you. Okay, yeah, I get it.

Is it just fire? I know you didn't exactly get an instruction book, but maybe there's more.

[bearshermark]

Uh, well, so far, nothing else happens when I snap.

But there was.. something else, last week that I could try again.. I did get an instruction manual for that one, kind of.

Video

[chenqing_player]

[this is his first time talking to other vision people over the phone but that is definitely something he did not expect to see.]

You're not just doing some sort of trick with a lighter and playing with the camera in some way? You legit just caught your finger on fire?