OOM

[agirllost]

It's a good connection. She feels the source and smiles, knowing no pain, only joy.

She had no idea it could feel this way and for a moment just luxuriates in the sensation.

She's so wrapped up in her work that she doesn't notice the door open.

Comments

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Jack hasn't seen Kim in days, nor has he heard anything from Nita or Angela on the subject. Whether she wants to see him or not, he's getting rather worried.

He knows she won't like him showing up, but the thought that maybe if he just persisted in seeing how she was doing, perhaps she'd eventually come around. So sometime after dinner, he heads up to Kim's room and knocks on the door.

There's no answer, but he knows she has to be in there--the light's on under the door. He tests the knob and finds the door unlocked, opening it slowly.

"Kim?" he says, hesitantly, sticking his head in the door and gaping at what he sees.

The light isn't turned on; the light is Kim. She's sitting on her bed so that he can see her in profile, and...well, she's literally glowing; a soft, golden glow that emanates from her entire body. What's more, she's passing a small flame from one hand to the other.

Jack's forzin in place for a moment, before he takes a step into the room, reaching out as though to touch her shoulder, though he's not sure he should.

"Kim?" he says again, even more tentatively.

[agirllost]

Kim's focusing on weaves of fire, and bouncing the flame from one hand to another. She barely feels the heat, and it's small enough that she's not worried it'll engulf her.

She's careful not to take in too much of the One Power, although she now understands Selae's warning. Touching the source like this, she's happier than she's been in a very long time. It could be addictive, if she's not careful.

Her smile widens as she continues the exercise, missing the familiar voice calling her name and the sound of footsteps coming toward her.

"Kim?" She barely recognizes the voice and she turns her head slightly, just enough to lose concentration. Instead of Saidar slipping away, she watches in horror as the flame misses her left hand and continues its journey.

It only takes a second.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

He watches in horror as the ball of flame misses her left hand, and instead flies toward his, too fast for him to pull his hand back. Only without Kim's powers, he doesn't have any protection against it.

The the fire dissolves almost as soon as it touches his hand--almost. It's not soon enough to prevent Jack from feeling a searing pain in his hand and wrist, and as the flame dies, he can see the skin on his hand has turned bright red, a few small blisters already dotting the surface of his palm.

He has a moment of staring at it dazedly, before the pain breaks through his shock and he bolts for the bathroom, immediately shoving his hand under cold water.

[agirllost]

She tries to pull away the heat, but isn't fast enough, not nearly, not even with time feeling stretched out, and Saidar winks away as she watches the flame engulf his hand for an instant. Time abruptly returns to normal and she's thankful that she can't see or smell his injury the way she could if she was still embracing the Source.

Her eyes widen and her breathing gets faster and shallower.

"Dad?" She's on her feet, running after him, "Dad...Dad, are you okay?" She'll never be able to get that image out of her mind, the look on her Dad's face as he realized what she was...what she could do.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

His muscles are taut with trying to keep from screaming, his eyes squeezed shut and his jaws clenched with pain, despite the stream of cold water flowing over his hand. Still, he manages to say, "Yeah, I'll be okay. I'm--fuck that hurts--I'm sure someone in the infirmary can fix it in a moment."

[agirllost]

She stands near the doorway, feeling like she's watching everything through a layer of thick glass, not wanting to get any closer.

"I'm so sorry, I never meant to hurt you -- I...," she breathes, choking back a sob. "Don't be afraid of me..."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

He open his eyes then, looking at her in the mirror, trying to keep his voice calm even though his hand is still stinging terribly. For that one brief moment she'd appeared happier than she'd been in a long time; he doesn't want to spoil that now my a misstep.

"I know you didn't, sweetheart, and I'm not afraid of you," he says, quietly, though his voice is a little strained. "Now I need you to go get help--get some ice from the bar and a couple towels, so I can wrap my hand to get down the the infirmary, all right?"

[agirllost]

He says he's not afraid but he isn't turning to look at her and she can't quite meet the gaze of his reflection.

"Okay," she says softly, nodding slightly to herself, wishing that she could do something to help. "I'm so sorry," she whispers again and runs to the door to go get supplies from the Bar.

She recognizes the beginnings of a panic attack and tries to get herself to breathe normally, but she knows she's wasting time and she hurt her Dad.

"I can't believe I did that," she murmurs to herself, a slightly anguished sound in her voice.

She turns a corner and almost runs right into Lady Selae.

[teach-them-all.livejournal.com]

A look of brief shock and wariness. A kind of fear and icy paranoia, before a compassionate concern appears on her face. Mesaana straightened her severe bronze-colored dress. It was not a particularly flattering color on her, nor was the cut helpful in this regard.

"Lady Kim, I was just looking for you."

Noticing how upset she was, Mesaana tilted her head and inquired further.

"What is the matter, Child?"

[agirllost]

She's a little startled and takes a step back, but her teacher seems more concerned than anything else.

"I...I was practicing Lady Selae...I had, I was passing a flame from one hand to another and...and my Dad interrupted me and he's hurt and I know you said that you're not an expert at healing, but he's in pain and I don't know what to do..." She says in almost one breath, her voice getting hoarse toward the end.

[teach-them-all.livejournal.com]

Mesaana's eyes narrowed as she listened to Kim. This was her opportunity to gain some of this girl's confidence. Her voice was calm and business-like.

"Take me to him."

[agirllost]

She looks relieved, "Thank you, Lady Selae," she whispers, close to tears. "He's in my room..."

[teach-them-all.livejournal.com]

Mesaana nods to Kim as she began to stride purposefully towards Kim's room. Icy blue eyes narrow, and a slight tone of reproach in her voice.

"We will discuss this later after I take care of your father."

[agirllost]

She glances down, following her, feeling her teacher's disappointment.

[teach-them-all.livejournal.com]

Mesaana walked into the room, icy blue eyes looking for Jack. A cold, calculating look in her eyes. A cool, inquiring tone in her voice. She was on a mission.

"Excuse me."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

As soon as Kim leaves the room Jack lets himself curl over the sink in pain, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his jaws together so tightly that they ache. He had a feeling he was walking a fine line with Kim and didn't want her to see how much pain he was in, but he can't hold it back now; when his hand still burns with an intense, searing pain, despite the cold water.

The voice surprises him and he straightens, opening his eyes and staring at the woman in the mirror for a moment, until her names comes back to him.

"Lady Selae? What are you doing here?" he asks, his voice tense from pain.

[teach-them-all.livejournal.com]

Mesaana's icy blue eyes watch Jack with a calm, clinical disdain. Her voice calm and cool as she looks at his arm. Nothing beyond her ability to Heal.

"Healing you, if you will let me."

A pause, and a commanding tone in her soft, crystalline voice.

"Let me see it."

[agirllost]

Kim is behind her teacher, but she isn't looking at either of them, her gaze focused on the floor.

"You can trust her, Dad," she says after a moment, her voice thick with unshed tears.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

He hadn't been entirely certain of Mesaana when he'd met her briefly before, but at the moment he doesn't really have a choice but to trust her.

He removes his and from under the tap, the pain intensifying as the numbing of the cold water is taken away. A couple of the blisters have gotten larger, the skin still an angry red.

He holds his hand out to Mesaana wordlessly, too busy trying to keep his features composed to worry about speech.

[teach-them-all.livejournal.com]

A golden glow bursts from Mesaana. The same light that surrounded Kim. Her rather cold, delicate fingers pressed onto the burn as she studied the wound with a cool gaze.

A glowing light surrounded her hands as she wove air, water, and spirit to form a Healing. In a matter of moments, she had finished. The burns were gone from his arm.

A small sigh as she finished, the glow disappearing from around her. This was not her specialty.

"There."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

He gasps as the healing begins; instead of feeling pain only in his hand, he can feel it all over his body. It's not the same burning pain that was in his hand; this is a cold pain that sucks the air out of his lungs a moment later, as though someone's dropped him in a frigid lake. At the same time light shines from her, as it had with Kim.

But then almost as soon as it had come, the cold and the light fades, and he's left looking at his hand, the skin pale and smooth once more. A little paler than it was before, perhaps, as he's feeling a little weak and shaky.

"Th-thanks," he says, after a moment, still a little dazed by the enire process.

[agirllost]

She worries her lower lip and looks up at her teacher. "Thank you, Lady Selae," she whispers. Her Dad is looking at his hand and she feels tears coming to her eyes again.

As she turns her attention to her Dad, she isn't sure what to say, and instead finds herself looking again at her teacher.

"I didn't mean for it to happen," she swallows and rubs her eyes.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

He blinks, looking up at Kim as he flexes his hand, feeling the skin stretching a little.

"I'm okay, Kim. It was an accident," he says, worried that she'll take this too much to heart. He's not sure how much time he has to reinforce it though, as he's feeling wiped out.

[teach-them-all.livejournal.com]

A calm glance from Mesaana as she studied him. Her voice had a somewhat imperious tone, the tone of someone who was used to being obeyed implicitly.

"You will need to go and get some rest. It drained your strength. Do not worry, Lady Kim will be all right."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

He's not in the mood to argue, as at the moment, the thought of his bed is a rather welcoming one.

He nods, slowly. "All right. I'll see you tomorrow, Kim. Don't worry about me," he says, touching Kim's arm for a moment as he passes by. He glances back for a moment; there are about a hundred questions he'd like to ask. They can wait for morning, though, and so he makes his way back to his room.