Bazinga?
Who: Maddy, Tal What: A Mild Miscalculation Leads to an Oopsie When: Present Where: Vegas/ Searchlight Warnings: None
It was just a prank. Or it should’ve been. Maddy’s intentions were mostly pure.
Wouldn’t it be funny, she thought, ending a call to Derek as he put on his headset and immersed himself in the world of Rainbow Six Siege, if she played a little trick on him? Just a teeny, tiny blip of a trick wherein his couch disappeared from underneath him. She imagined him landing on the soft carpet of his rented trailer with a sort of sitcom-esque, ‘That Maddy!’ realization dawning on him. And then he’d text and they’d LOL and she’d send it back.
Only after she concentrated on it from the pleasant coziness of her living room approximately fifty miles away, it was not a plush couch with cup holders that arrived in her apartment. It was an office chair and a desk.
Huh?
Over the surface of the desk, Maddy watched the chair turn in a slow circle, its seat empty, its origins unknown. Her blue eyes widened. “Ohhhhhh, crap.”
Tal was alone in the shop busy working away on invoices, supply and part orders. The beads on the black ‘friendship’ bracelet lightly clinked on the desk as he wrote. He had moved to wearing a knit beanie over his straggly hair to keep it out of his face.
He had set down his pencil and was rubbing his eyes when suddenly he fell to the floor with a loud thump. Tal reached forward to catch himself before faceplanting, not fast enough to use his telekinesis to cushion his fall.
“What the…?” Tal groaned as he sat up and looked around.
In Vegas, Maddy crept up on the desk in the center of her living room like it might bite her. Even upside down, she could read the word ‘Searchlight’ on the top of a paper, so… okay, the desk had come from the same town at least. But what now? Should she send it back? Would it land on somebody? Would it somehow end up on top of Derek?
“Umm…” She wrung her hands until her eyes lit on a pad of paper and suddenly she had an idea. Maddy snatched a pen off the desk, too, and wrote a note in big handwriting: ‘That was an accident! I come in peace!!!’ Then she added a smiley. Gave it a curly hair.
There! She’d send the note and chair ahead of herself and then go poke her nose around in person. Maddy raided her kitchen junk drawer and found a roll of Scotch tape. She ripped a thin strip off the edge of it, rolled her eyes, mumbled, “Oh c’mon,” tried to get it started again with her fingernails and teeth, and finally tore off a big enough piece to tape her note to the desk chair.
She locked her mind on its home and one, two, three, poooof! The chair was on its way.
Tal had gotten to his feet and was looking around and still wondered what had just happened. Definitely not his telekinesis. Perhaps someone was playing tricks, practicing their ability. Someone new.
Turning around, he heard the chair reappear - the wheels clatter as they settled on the floor. The seat spun slowly and Tal walked over seeing a note stuck to it. Grabbing the back of the chair, the large man pulled the note off and read it. So someone not quite there with their ability.
He hoped his desk and everything inside and on top of it would be returned, but he needed to get something to drink. Walking into the waiting area next door, he poured himself some coffee.
Maddy looked at her phone. Still nothing from Derek. Good deal. The blond closed her eyes and pictured the dusty, bleached-out town of Searchlight, the chair and its note, and imagined herself sitting in it. She took a deep breath. Fifty miles. It was a bigger distance than she usually attempted for an object, forget about herself, which was where things had probably gone awry. Moving that far through space-time was like trying to aim the stream of a water hose through the eye of a needle across a yard. Some inaccuracy was expected.
She felt the world tip, spin, and fall away. The void roared like wind past her ears and then it was quiet. Maddy opened one eye. The building smelled like motor oil. There was a squishy seat cushion underneath her; it was still warm, but no one was standing nearby looking horrified. Was it possible this whole incident hadn’t been noticed?
Maddy got up and began to tiptoe up the hallway, listening for sounds of life.
Tal was pouring in some creamer when he thought he heard something or someone in his office. Letting the plastic swizzle stick go, he turned and quietly began to walk over to the hallway. He didn’t spend much time traversing the hallway due to how small and confining it was.
Then he stepped out and nearly slammed Maddy against the wall with his clumsiness.
“Oh goodness! I’m sorry!” Tal exclaimed, using his telekinesis to keep the young woman’s head from smacking into the paneling.
Next to Maddy, who was 5’5” in shoes and very slight in build, Tal was enormous, nearly a foot taller and much more broad. One second she was flying this way, the next that, like a ball in a pinball machine. “Easy bro!” Maddy said. She put up her hands. It took her a second to realize he didn’t lay a hand on her to halt her flight towards the wall.
The blonde stared at him. Wait a second. Was that… “Tal? Tal from Lux?”
Oftentimes Tal wasn’t aware of just how much larger he was compared to others. “Whoa!” he spoke and held up his hands as well. His use of telekinesis was small but on a more steady basis in the last few months. It was more to practice and occasionally like just now out of reflex to protect someone.
Blinking, Tal looked down at Maddy. And recognized her as the young woman who spoke to him at Lux, the one who thought he should be in the movies, Troy remake. “Yeah. Maddy...from the party?”
“Yeah.” Okay, good. They knew each other. What a load off! Maddy put a hand on her sternum and breathed out. “Dude, you have no idea how much of a relief this is. It’s way easier to explain what just happened to someone who hangs out in Lux and used the Force on me than some rando.” She looked around the waiting room. Where were they, an auto shop? It smelled more like coffee in this room than car lubricants, but based on the signage and the repair area she could now see, that was definitely the deal. “Your desk is safe, by the way. It’s in my apartment in Vegas.”
Nodding, Tal stepped back and into the waiting area. Then he was wondering how did she get there, get past him in a matter of seconds to start off in his office? Then it clicked - she was the one who took his chair and desk, she could teleport. “Wow,” he breathed and shook his head. “Really? Mmm, I’m not far off from being random.” Tal was self-depreciating to the end sometimes. “...all the way in Vegas? That’s amazing.” Tal smiled.
“Well, I mean rando like Joe Schmoe who thinks moving things with your mind only happens in comic books.” She widened her eyes as she described the muggles of their world, whose minds excelled at one thing: going la-la-la and pretending not to see stuff. Maddy put a hand on Tal’s arm. “Sorry. Do you mind? Between taking the desk and chair, then sending the chair back, then sending myself, that used up a lot of mojo. Do me a fave-o and picture your desk back in your office. It helps.”
She zonked out on the nearest chair and imagined the desk as it was in her apartment, and then back in Tal’s office in front of its dancing partner, the office chair with a surprising amount of lumbar support. She appeared to be concentrating hard and then there was a scrape-thump from the back room.
His smile continued and then he watched Maddy as her eyes widened. Comic books were wonderful things to read, especially when he was younger. But not so much anymore - operating manuals were in his library these days. His eyes followed her hand and he slowly shook his head. “It’s okay.” Tal did mentally envision his desk back in his office.
The large man then knelt down beside Maddy, keeping an eye on her. Tal jumped at the sudden sound of his desk returning to his office. But instead of going to confirm his desk was back, he went back there and grabbed a single-serving bottle of orange juice from his own mini-fridge and brought it back to Maddy. “You okay?”
“Me?” She looked at the bottle of OJ with some confusion, then realized Tal thought she was sick. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s the distance and the back and forth. It wipes me out for a sec. Kind of feels like a hangover.” Maddy felt obligated to take the juice, but she also knew it would not sit well, so she waved it off. “Thanks anyway.” Perhaps she should explain what she was doing, lest Tal get the idea she robbed furniture from small businesses on the reg. “I was trying to play a joke on Derek, my boyfriend. He lives nearby. I was going for his couch. I don’t know how it got exchanged for your office furniture.” Maddy looked around the waiting room, as if the answer could be found there. She supposed it could have been magical interference, an unknown similarity in the furniture, or simple operator error on her part. “Hey, what’s the farthest away you can move something? Did you ever test it?”
Sometimes Tal got tired when he used his ability for too long, which was a relatively short time since he hardly used it. Maybe that needed to change. “Okay, okay. I get that.” He smiled softly as he sat down beside her. “Oh,” the large man nodded. “Uhm...maybe a few hundred feet. I sent a vampire flying almost a year ago, but I wasn’t really trying.”
Maddy was curious. “Why not?” If a vampire got toothy with her, she’d be trying. She tried things all the time, whether their success was a certainty or not. It was how she learned, by stretching. And if it was a bit dangerous here and there… Eh. So was hurtling down the interstate at 70mph with a bunch of other people doing the same.
“Why not what?” Tal asked as he looked over at her. He’d acted out of reflex and self preservation when he fell for that vampire’s ruse. And the only practice he’d had since was with Ellie.
“Why weren’t you trying to send it flying?” Maddy asked. “I mean, if you were defending yourself. Not that all vampires are bad, obviously. Some are great.”
His eyes widened a little in understanding. “I just reacted and sent them flying. Uh, you’ve met vampires?” Tal flinched a little.
“Well, yeah.” Maddy lifted a shoulder. “We live in Clark County. They’re everywhere.” She smiled and shook her head at Tal. “Along with werewolves and witches and people like us. I figured you knew. Lux was stacked the other night.”
Tal frowned a little, still a little frightened. But it was common sense there would be more out there. “I keep to myself most times. Witches, yes, maybe a few werewolves.” Then he sighed and let himself smile. “Lux is a nice place.”
“Vampires can drink animal blood,” she offered, because of a lingering desire to defend one vampire in particular. “Or donated human blood. Not all of them do, but it’s just something to keep in mind when you’re making one’s acquaintance. You know? You’ve got to figure out the safe ones from the dangerous ones, just like with people. I know two I would definitely trust not to rip my throat out, maybe three. Eh the third one’s a question mark,” she answered honestly. The blonde was feeling better, so she got to her feet. She appreciated him not being super sensitive about the whole teleportation thing. “I’ll get out of your hair.”
“I’ve heard. I will, I will,” Tal nodded. “I’ve been working figuring that out about most people.” He blushed a little out of embarrassment. Watching her get to her feet, Tal soon followed. “You good to uhm...bamf away?” He would try to be better around vampires. He was a slow healer and learner.
“Yeah, I think so. And even if I’m not,” Maddy pointed up the street from the auto shop, “Boyfriend.” She made a clicking sound with her tongue. “I’ll see you around, Tal.” She socked his shoulder with a fist and headed out the front door into the dusty, narrow streets of Searchlight.
“Okay,” Tal nodded. “See you, Maddy. Take care.” He smirked at the hit to his shoulder. Then he watched her leave. It had been an interesting conversation and one that further enforced the large man’s need to calibrate figuring out who to trust.