bulldozzerx (bulldozzerx) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2020-06-12 02:15:00 |
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Entry tags: | #january 2018, greg, greg x sebastian, sebastian |
Who: Sebastian and Greg
Where: The McCarthy House
When: Afternoon, Sunday, January 21
Status: Complete
Sebastian was groggy as all hell Sunday morning, but he attributed that to staying out late Saturday night and the slight hangover he woke up with. It had been a really good night, up until he got home and his mother lost her fucking mind. He still wasn’t sure what had gotten into her, but hopefully she’d gotten over it by now because he wasn’t up for fighting with her again. It took him a while to drag himself out of bed, but once he’d showered he sent a text to Greg, seeing if he wanted to hang out for a bit that afternoon. They’d talked about practicing something like magical skeet shooting, which sounded fun, so long as he could actually do it. Once he heard back from Greg and confirmed they were good to go, he grabbed himself some lunch, then played video games until his friend arrived. It felt like a properly lazy Sunday, which was just what he needed. The week had drained him, so hopefully a day of relaxation would put him back on track.
Arriving at the McCarthy house felt somehow more oppressive than it normally did and Greg didn't even think of himself as super intuitive in the first place so that felt weird. He was glad they were actually going out and not staying home because he didn't want to stay there for much longer than it took for Sebastian to get ready. He had a few places in mind where they could go and the good thing about the cold was that not a lot of people would be out and about for the fun of it. Especially not considering most kids their age were probably hungover today and a lot of the adults too. He had been a little tempted himself to skip the whole thing and just laze around at home but as soon as he got ready and stepped outside he was glad he'd decided to go. "So I was thinking like... the beach or that hill next to Overlook so we can do some snowboarding too," he said, trying to ignore the weird vibes in there and half blaming it on feeling too hot because he was all bundled up for outside activities. "Hell we could go to the park, doubt there's a lot of people there now. What do you say?"
Sebastian had been thinking they’d do it in his own backyard, just because the thought of going anywhere seemed tiring, but if Greg was looking for something more exciting, then he didn’t want to disappoint him. It took him a second for his brain to catch up, but walking to the car felt good, like he was stepping out from beneath a suffocating blanket. "It’s gotta be private, dude. I can’t be somewhere that someone will see me doing magic. So maybe… the woods? I’d love to be at the beach, but it’s way too open, unless we find some little alcove where it backs up to trees or something." He could be wrong, but he felt like being near that big a body of water might help boost his powers. Then again, there was snow everywhere and that was water, so it shouldn’t matter. Usually all that snow energized him, but at the moment he was just cold.
"If someone sees us, we'll say you're using my air soft gun," Greg said with a grin. "I want to have fun today too, you know." He didn't have magic to do target practice with but he could play with gear while Sebastian practiced actual skills. "And if someone insists they saw you 'not' use it, we'll just look at them like they're fucking nuts." He wasn't really expecting a lot of people to be out and about at the more isolated areas for Point Pleasant but precautions were always good. "Not sure I wanna go out in the woods though, that place is crazy dangerous. I still say the beach, maybe up closer to Sweetbriar." Which was also a creepy place but Greg hadn't heard of anyone going missing there so that was all it was; creepy.
"Okay, the beach then," Sebastian said, easily swayed this time. If they could find someplace a little more secluded, it was definitely better than the woods. He hadn’t minded being there with his dad and sister, but he still had nightmares about the waking up there and he didn’t want to stumble upon the site that Baron had taken him. "Bet you turn out to be a better shot than I am," he smiled. "I can make some kick ass snowballs for you to shoot at though." He wasn’t sure how magical aim worked, if he’d have more control since he just had to think about where he wanted something to happen, or if it would just run wild and he’d have to learn to control it. This was just one big experiment and he hoped he could at least accomplish some of it.
"I for sure am a better shot than you," Greg said with a little laugh." But you'll catch up in no time with practice." He knew the McCarthys didn't take their kids to a shooting range like his parents did but Sebastian had some experience from video games. It wasn't the same thing but it definitely helped, Greg had found. "I'd like to stay better at it than you are, thanks," he said as they climbed into the car. "You already have magic, dude, let me have this."
Greg always made having magic sound like some kind of a blessing, but in Sebastian’s experience it felt more like a curse. Everything bad that had happened over the last few months could be tied back to him practicing magic and on some days he wondered if his mother was right, if it was more trouble then it was worth. He wanted to use it to help people, or at least protect himself, but so far all it had done was cause problems. Hopefully today he could learn to do something useful with it. "Dude, you’ve had, like, years of practice. I don’t think you have to worry about me showing you up," Bash snorted. "And even if I do, it’s not apples to apples, you know? I’m sure I’d be shit with your air gun."
Greg scowled at the thought of Sebastian catching up with him because while they were best friends, they often still had a healthy rivalry going on, that was just their nature. "Well, even if you end up being better than me at that? I'll still be better looking than you," he teased, then smirked, trying to hold back his laughter. "Just ask your sister." In his opinion Sebastian was the better looking of the two of them so it was easy to joke about, go figure the hotter one would be gay, he was sure the girls at Chamberlain High were heartbroken, but ribbing Sebastian about it was at least fun now that he was out and it didn't seem to be the source of his misery anymore. Hell, in the light of everything else that had been going on, Sebastian coming out as gay felt like a footnote and that was hilarious, given how huge it had felt just a few months ago.
"Yeaaaah, she’s a little biased," Sebastian snickered. "But don’t worry, bro. I’m not your competition anymore. I’d say you can have all the girls, but if you break my sister’s heart, I’ll freeze your toes off." He hoped Greg knew it was an empty threat, though he seriously dreaded the day they broke up because it would suck no matter what. He couldn’t imagine choosing sides, so it would just work out better if they stayed together forever. Or at least waited until after he left town. "Did Phee end up staying with you last night? Or did she come home?" He hadn’t thought to check his sister’s room as he headed to his own, too distracted by the exchange with his mother. Now he wished they’d had a chance to talk.
Greg sighed wistfully at the mere thought of Phee being able to spend the night whenever she wanted but that was still far off in the future with possible exceptions for when both Brianna and James were out of town and that hardly ever happened. "I walked her and Jen home last night," he replied. "Both of them to your home, I mean. I didn't walk Jen all the way downtown. She stayed with your sister." He'd wished he could sneak in with them, not necessarily to try anything with Phee while Jen was there but just to hang out longer but James still scared him too damn much. "Where the hell did you go anyway? You disappeared before we left."
That’s right, Jen was staying with Phee, which meant she couldn’t really cover for her and give her a night out. Sebastian was pretty sure their father wouldn’t have fallen for it anyways. "Yeah, I cut out early. Gave a friend a ride home," he said, opting not to tell Greg anything else he’d have to keep a secret. Plus, it felt a little odd to talk about his sex life with Greg. He wasn’t ashamed of it or anything, but… he also didn’t want to defend some of his decisions. "When I got home, my mom was waiting up for me. I don’t know if she was drunk or what, but she completely lost her mind over Jules, telling me I couldn’t talk to her anymore or anything. It was bizarre. I was wondering if Phee dealt with the same thing, but I forgot Jen was with her."
"I thought your mom loved Jules," Greg muttered, giving Sebastian a brief puzzled look, not wanting to take his eyes off the road for too long. "Wait, does she know about... You know." How Brianna McCarthy could possibly know Jules's secret, Greg couldn't imagine, but what if she did? She was a witch, James was scary and always looked like he was reading Greg's mind, maybe they knew. Or maybe it was something real simple like knowing she was now dating a Lucas and was tainted by that somehow. Parents could be so fucking weird.
"No way," Sebastian said, shaking his head. "I think you and I and Phee are the only ones that know. And Jasper. I don’t even think her mom knows, so I don’t see how mom could possibly know. And even if she did, she was talking like Jules was evil. Like she was going to hurt her. She said something about some men and… I dunno. It was just so weird." He had no idea what he was supposed to do about it, so he’d just tried to avoid his mother that morning, hoping it wouldn’t come up again. If she brought it up again, he’d have to mention it to his dad because this was something he planned to fight. She couldn’t take Jules away from him, no matter what she thought.
Greg wasn't always the sharpest tool in the toolbox but his brain actually made the connection this time, thinking about the men Jules had told him about, the ones who were having the same dreams. She'd told him all about it when he drove her out to the road where their bus crashed and the memory was a little vague. It had been weird enough that he didn't fully forget it though and he frowned softly, hesitant to mention it. "Like some men who might be dreaming what Jules has been dreaming?" he asked. "Dude that just... it sounds a lot like she knows." But how? Who would Brianna McCarthy talk to, there was no way Phee had told her, they weren't even close. Maybe Brianna knew one of the others? "I just don't get why she'd think that makes Jules evil, unless she thinks she'll open a portal and make you disappear." That was a very real fear of Greg's lately and he felt a little ashamed of how much he avoided seeing Jules because of it.
"What men?" Sebastian asked, still confused on that point. "Can they open portals too?" He knew Jules hadn’t told him everything, that it was long and confusing and probably more than he needed to know, but he thought he’d known enough. Now it sounded like his mom knew more than he did, which was as frustrating as it was worrisome. If no one had told her, how did she know? "Is it really bad?" he asked quietly. "Like… I know it scared you and Phee, but… do you think that’s even a possibility? A portal swallowing someone up, not, like, Jules pushing me into one or some shit." He couldn’t buy into the idea that Jules would hurt him or his mother. It just wasn’t like her. She’d been scared of her powers, not like someone who was going to go on a rampage with them.
"Yeah dude," Greg said and just thinking about it just sucked what remained of the joy out of him. "It's like... It's not like a doorway or anything, it's more like a part of the woods just became somewhere else and that thing in there, it could have come through if she hadn't stopped. She and Phee didn't go through a portal, I don't think, they just... they just ended up somewhere else. It's fucking terrifying and I've been - I'm not..." He frowned, huffed softly because thinking it was one thing and saying it out loud was entirely a different thing. "I've been kinda avoiding her." He winced, knowing just how bad it sounded. "The other guys are like these grown-ass men who have the same dreams as she did. I don't know if they can open portals too or what."
Sebastian was quiet for a moment, digesting it all. It made him glad that Greg hadn’t been sucked into his drama, that he’d learned about it all after the fact and that Bash had kept the worst of it to himself, because he wasn’t sure he could handle Greg avoiding him. "I think she’s got a lot going on right now. I doubt she’s noticed," he said, hoping that was the case. He should probably be scared as well, but it felt so foreign, like something out of a movie. "I hope she’s okay. She looked okay at the dance, but… I dunno." He knew how to put on a happy face and pretend everything was fine and he suspected Jules was just as capable. They just wanted everything to be normal. Why couldn’t things just be normal? "I wish I could actually do something for her, you know?"
"Yeah," Greg said quietly and he didn't remember a time when he and Sebastian had dealt with uncomfortable silence between the two of them but what followed came close to that as he had no idea what to say that hadn't been said before. Everything was weird lately, scary and out of his control. He always hated that feeling more than anything, when he couldn't fix things, like he was just a kid again, watching the grownups tackle things while excluding him from the process. It was something of a relief when they got close enough to the beach to park and he knew they could focus on something else for a while. "I totally thought there'd be more snow," he said with a little laugh. "But there's enough, I guess. For what we wanna do with it."
It felt like they’d had more serious talks in the last three months than they’d had in the rest of their lives and Sebastian wondered if it would ever calm down again. Like Greg, he liked to fix things, but lately there’d been no solutions to the problems they were facing. It all felt out of his hands and he could only hope that he’d be more prepared for whatever came next. That was the point of today, wasn’t it? To learn to fight, should he ever need to. "I can make more snow," Sebastian said with a tiny smile. "Not that anyone really wants more, but… I can." He paused, a laugh bubbling up in his chest at a thought much lighter than their last conversation. "Do you wanna build a snowman?" he asked, amused at the idea that he had something in common with a Disney princess.
"It doesn't have to be a snowman," Greg chimed back at him with a laugh, more because of the memes spawned by the song than the song itself. He was suitably impressed though. His best friend could make snow. "You should get a job at a movie studio, making Christmas movies," he teased as he got out of the car and it felt a little better just joking around and ignoring the horror show real life was. "Then they stop using that fake crap that so often looks like shit." He pulled his gloves and hat out of his pockets and put them on before they started for the beach. "Actually, you should make some snow for me. I wanna see just how close to the real thing it is."
"That would require me to put ‘water witch’ on my resume, which doesn’t seem like the brightest idea," Sebastian said with a little snort. He wasn’t all that sure he could make it appear out of the air, at least in mass quantities, but he’d never tried. The last thing Point Pleasant needed was more snow. "It’ll look like the real thing because it is the real thing," he said, zipping up his jacket, but leaving the gloves off for now. He’d found it was easier for him to conjure water with his hands free and the cold didn’t really bother him all that much. Looking around to make sure no one was there, Bash felt the water gather in his hand, then began to crystalize it, turning it first to ice, then to snow. He made a face as his fingers closed around it, not entirely pleased with the end result. It wasn’t as fluffy as he wanted, more like the kind of snowball that just might bruise. "It’s a lot easier to make it disappear," he said, handing it to Greg.
It totally should be something he could put on his resume, Greg thought because damn, what a waste of talents. The things they could do with real magic in the movies? No more stupid CGI! But he also realized what it could mean if everyone knew witches were real. The fundamental christians were bad enough already and he had no desire to live his life in fear of seeing the people he loved the most burned on the stake. "Let's see if you can actually make it explode while it's on the move," he said, preferring to focus on why they were actually there. He got into position, as if he was the pitcher at a baseball game, squeezing the ball of ice in his hands. Unlike Sebastian he liked that it was solid, it meant it'd go faster and fly farther.
Sebastian realized almost immediately that he’d never tried to make water or ice explode. Splash, freeze, or move, yes, but explode? There was a chaotic element to it that he’d never even considered. "I’ll try," he said as Greg wound up to pitch the ball into the air. As soon as he let go of it, Sebastian began to track the snowball with his eyes, waiting until it was a safe distance away before he tried to make it explode. The result wasn’t as exciting as he wanted it to be— instead of dramatically shattering into the air, the snowball seemed to disintegrate, the pieces falling immediately to the ground. Sebastian scrunched up his nose, unimpressed with his performance, yet not quite sure what to do differently. "Well, that sucked."
Greg made much the same expression, wrinkling his nose and staring at the spot where the ball had melted away. Sebastian was right that it wasn't as visually awesome as he'd hoped but still, Greg was nothing if not optimistic, even if what he was about to say was a very creepy way of looking on the bright side. "Well, imagine if that had been someone's eyeball," he said, giving Sebastian an impish grin over his shoulder. "That would have stopped them dead in their tracks. Wanna try again?" Sure, eyeballs weren't snowballs but there was really no safe way to practice that sort of thing unless they went to a slaughterhouse and ... No. He didn't even want to finish that thought because gross.
"Eyeballs aren’t made out of water, but if they were, I’d freeze ‘em," Sebastian said matter-of-factly, only afterwards realizing how grim that might be. He could freeze someone to death if he wanted to. He didn’t know how long it would take, if it would be fast enough to use in a defensive situation, but he was suddenly sure he could do it. It was frightening, like realizing he’d been handed a loaded gun that he could never put down. "Yeah," he said, holding out his hand to create another ball of snow. "Let’s try again. But, realistically, what’s the goal? Water doesn’t really explode. I can make it spike, or freeze it, or maybe boil it, but just sending it flying in a thousand different directions doesn’t really make sense. I couldn’t do that to a person or a thing, except a snowball."
"The goal is reflexes," Greg said with a shrug. "You're practicing magic one way or another, right?" This time he tossed the ball without warning, sending it sailing through the air over the beach. It was fairly sunny out but the ocean still felt dark and foreboding in the winter, even when the weather was clear. Maybe it was just because he now knew what he knew and was overly aware of the dangers they might be face at any moment. Everything had a new texture of threat on it, even the simplest things.
Sebastian turned to watch the snowball fly, floundering for a moment as he tried to imagine what sort of reflex would prove useful in this situation. He couldn’t imagine a situation where he’d have to fend off snowballs, but if that was a creature coming at him, whose blood contained water, he’d need to do something more useful than stare at it as it ran him down. This time, rather than falling apart, little spikes of ice sprung out from the snowball like tiny little knives. It didn’t stop the trajectory of the snowball though and Bash pursed his lips together as it splashed into the ocean. "Throw one at me," he said, making a third snowball and handing it over to Greg before putting some distance between them. "Let’s try something different."
It might not have made Sebastian happy but it looked awesome and Greg grinned at the spot where it landed in the water. He could too easily imagine that happening to someone's eyes but that was probably not realistic. Eyes were goo, not just water, or so he thought. "Fast or soft?" he asked, kneading the ball to make it firmer. Not that it really needed it but he wasn't thinking about it much, just preparing to pitch. "Should I try to hit your face?" he added teasingly, this was about reflexes and defense, so why the hell not.
"Sure," Sebastian grinned. "If I can’t stop it, I can always duck." His physical reflexes were pretty damn good, so he wasn’t really worried about Greg beaning him with a ball of solid ice. What he thought he needed was real motivation. He could practice on snowballs being sent out over the ocean, but they weren’t really posing any threat to him except a bruised ego for failing. This gave him a solid objective, to stop the snowball from hitting him using magic. "Whenever you’re ready," he said, continuing to back up. He needed enough distance between them to give him at least a second to react.
"Imma hurt your face if you're not fast enough," Greg warned him almost melodically, cocking a brow as he squeezed the snowball again and got into position. He aimed for Sebastian's chest instead, not really wanting to give him a black eye if something went wrong and that snowball was like ice so it'd hurt if it hit him. "I'm not even sure I should ask you when you're ready," he added with a little laugh but the way he threw it was warning enough since he was still mimicking a baseball pitcher, pulling one knee up and winding his body up for maximum speed.
"That’s kinda the point," Sebastian said with a little laugh, though he definitely felt a tick up in adrenaline that hadn’t been there before. If he couldn’t pull this off, it was going to hurt. When Greg pulled back for the pitch, Sebastian’s hands balled into fists, and then the snowball was coming for him almost too fast to track. Just when he expected it to make impact, the snowball shattered, exploding into a puff of snow that sprayed across the front of his coat. Bash smiled as he exhaled, relieved that he’d managed it even if almost a second too late.
"Woo!" Greg hollered and jumped up in the air in a rush of excitement. "That was fucking dope! Waiting 'till the last possible second for maximum dramatic effect, fucking awesome!" He laughed as he jogged back over to Sebastian, playfully punching his shoulder. "See? Some portal monster comes rushing at you, just do that. Wanna practice some more?" He himself was pumped up and ready to fling more snow, he just wished he could do this stuff too but he was okay with being the 'cheerleader' for now.
"Oh yeah, I totally planned that," Sebastian laughed, since that was not at all the case. If Greg had aimed at his head, he’d have likely flinched and failed completely. But it was good to know he could do it once. Now all he needed to do was practice on getting a better response time. As exciting as it was to impress Greg, he wasn’t totally sold on how this would help him in real life. Snowballs weren’t people, though he guessed that if he did the same thing to a person the result would be rather bloody. It was best not to focus on anything living, that was for sure. "So long as the portal monsters are made partially of water, I might be able to keep them from slaughtering me," he smiled. "But yeah, sure, let’s see what you’ve got."
"Dude, I'm aiming at your face this time," Greg told him. "For real, so act faster." He held out his hands eagerly while Sebastian made the third snowball, then quirked a brow. "But like, attack the ball, not me. I'm just the messenger. Remember, don't shoot the messenger." He knew Sebastian would never actually hurt him on purpose but shit, what if some automatic self defense system kicked in if Greg really did aim for his face? Fuck. Okay, no aiming at the face for real, just for show. Though Sebastian didn't need to know that. Greg wasn't quite ready to risk angering some defensive magic energy just for sport.
"Don’t worry," Sebastian said. "Intent is a big part of magic. More than aim. I don’t think I could accidentally freeze you or anything like that unless I was really freaking out." It was something he’d learned over time, that his powers occasionally acted up when he was pushed to emotional extremes. While he hoped that would change over time, it wasn’t something Greg would have to worry about here, today. Sebastian didn’t want to hurt Greg, so it shouldn’t be an issue, unless there was some kind of bizarre icicle ricochet. Tossing Greg a fresh snowball, Sebastian backed up again, the anticipation spiking once more. This was kind of fun now that he knew he was capable of it. Still, he didn’t want to fail. "Bring it on," he grinned.
Greg was less obvious about his pitch this time, doing a few fake-outs and taking his time. Sebastian's words were reassuring and so he'd give it all he got, make sure he was giving Sebastian a decent workout. When he did throw, he threw hard and while he didn't aim straight for Sebastian's face, well, it was close. Despite what Sebastian said he had an odd urge to duck out of the way as soon as he let the ball fly and only just barely stopped himself from doing so, stepping back with a grin instead.
He was probably being stupidly over-confident, something he realized as Greg chucked the snowball at him, but he still managed to make it explode before it hit him. This time it was about a foot away, an improvement, but still closer than he would’ve liked. The snow sprayed all over his face and into his hair, but he laughed, glad that that was all the damage it had done. "If I ever have to use this, I’m either gonna get myself killed or end up covered in blood. You know that, right?" It looked cool now, but he imagined reality would be different.
"Covered in somebody else's blood is way preferable over dead, okay?" Greg said and wrinkled his nose in disgust. "So let's go with that instead." It was unnerving to think about how it could actually happen; some creepy monster could rush his friend and Greg just hoped he'd be able to defend himself if it came to that. It wasn't something he really wanted to think about because that made him think of Phee and Jules and a whole lot of other people who might not be able to do anything if they were attacked. How many people in town even realized how dangerous the world really was? "Do you think you can make a snowball explode if you're not looking at it?" he asked instead, fighting off that sudden feeling of dread filling him up.
Sebastian’s brows drew together as he considered the question. "Maybe," he said. "If I know it exists and about where it is. I think I’d still have to be close to it though. I can’t freeze something at home, if that makes sense." If he looked at something, then closed his eyes, he was pretty sure he could still do it, so the same would apply if he turned his back on it. But at some point he’d have a hard time. Intent and focus were important, but so was experience and that was something Bash knew he was lacking. It made him wish he’d started learning earlier, or that he had a teacher he was more comfortable with. Or at least a teacher that wanted to teach him as much as he wanted to learn. "Why? What’re you thinking?"
"Thinking about putting a snowball behind you and seeing if you can make it explode," Greg said with a little grin and at this point this felt more like an experiment than exercise, at least for him. It was probably just as well, he wasn't getting much done other than running back and forth to fetch and throw snowballs so experiment was better than nothing. "I'll be in front of you, thank you very much, making sure you don't cheat or accidentally explode my eyeballs." He held out his hands demandingly to indicate Sebastian should make another snowball. "Let's see what you've got, champ!"
"I dunno," Sebastian said. "I’m still kinda new at this." He wasn’t all that sure he could focus on a specific bit of snow when it was all around him if he wasn’t looking at it, but he’d give it a try. Like Greg, he felt better about Greg being on the opposite side of this experiment, just in case it didn’t work. He would never get over accidentally exploding his best friend. Sebastian made another snowball and handed it over, already trying to focus on that specific bit of snow. "You’re just gonna set it somewhere? Do I get to see where?"
Greg paused because now that Sebastian asked, he wasn't actually sure. He'd considered just placing it behind Sebastian but would it be cooler to throw it over his head? "Should I throw it?" he asked, wrinkling his nose as he thought about it. "Imma throw it. Behind you. Like over your head and you have to do it when it's already behind you. I'll throw it high so you'll have a little more time." He nodded sharply and arched his brows as if seeking approval, slowly kneading the ball in his hands to make it firmer. "This here is boot camp, son, I'm not taking it easy on you today!"
"It’s cool. Just don’t be surprised if this time’s a dud," Sebastian laughed. It hadn’t exactly been easy when he could see the snowball, but he was open to trying new things, just to get a better feel for how his powers worked and what he needed to work on. His reflexes could be better, but they weren’t so poor that he’d been hit yet. He supposed this took focus and concentration and a sharper intent than before, to pinpoint exactly what he wanted to explode without seeing it. When Greg tossed the snowball, Sebastian watched as it flew over his head, then tried to picture it behind him, falling towards the ground. He pushed his energy towards it, hoping to hear the familiar little poof as the snow exploded. What he heard was a bit louder and he spun to see all the snow behind him settling back to the ground.
The look on Greg's face said it all as he stared past Sebastian with wide eyes, then burst out laughing. "Real subtle, dude," he said between snickers. "At least it was effective." The snow was gone from a large spot on the ground, the frozen sand below visible and slightly misshapen from the impact of Sebastian's magic, little pebbles strewn about the snow around it. "Like breaking a window to kill a fly." He was sure there was a better analogy for it but damn if he could think of one on the spot. "Do you wanna try again? A little more focused this time?" he asked with a hint of challenge and teasing in his voice.
"I told you I’m new at this!" Sebastian said as he laughed, though he was relieved that Greg had opted to be on the opposite side of the experiment. Apparently his focus wasn’t quite as good as he thought it was when he couldn’t see the object he was supposed to be exploding. "It’s hard ‘cause there’s snow everywhere. I can feel it all. Picking out the snow I’m supposed to blow up isn’t easy, dude," he smiled, but made another snowball and handed it over to Greg. He didn’t think this time would be much better, but the challenge in Greg’s voice kept him from backing down. He refused to believe that was the best he could do.
"It was effective at least," Greg said with a laugh, waiting for a moment until Sebastian looked ready. "I'm just glad I was over here." He hesitated another moment before he threw the ball behind Sebastian, half expecting the whole beach to shake off the snow like a magical earthquake. But no, he'd told Sebastian to focus and by that he meant 'make it smaller' so he hoped that was what he'd do.
"Me too," Sebastian said, but then turned his focus towards the snowball and Greg threw it over his head. He tracked it with his eyes until it was out of sight, then imagined it falling behind him. He remembered the size of the snowball, the feel of it in his hands, and this time when he pushed for it to explode he heard a familiar poof. Sebastian turned on his heel, but couldn’t immediately put his eyes on the end result. A small cloud of snow settled to the ground, evidence that he’d at least managed not to shake up the whole beach this time. "Better?" he asked, since Greg had seen it first hand.
The grin on Greg's face said everything he needed to say and he stepped forward to give Sebastian a high five. Maybe it was easier with all that lack of snow behind him now but still, the ball had still been moving when it burst. "I feel like Yoda, dude, easy training is. Now you should totally use your superpower to cover up that sand again because, uh, people will wonder." Maybe nobody would wonder - no, it was definite that nobody would wonder, Point Pleasant people were good at ignoring strange things - but it was a kindness, not making someone find this and have to try to reason about how it had happened.
Finally, something Sebastian knew he could do. Moving snow with his mind still didn’t feel like much of a superpower, but it was cool to watch. It was the reverse of what he’d done in the forest with his dad and sister; instead of clearing out the snow, he brought it back in, drawing it down to where it had been before he'd blown parts of it away. "It’s easy, but I need a lot more of it before it’s actually going to be reflex," he said, though he was fine stopping for now. Most of this was stuff he could do on his own, in his backyard. It was nice to have Greg there with him, but he knew it had to be kind of boring for his friend. "We’re still gonna play with your air gun, right? My brain needs a break."
"Aww, is your brain tired?" Greg said in a playful voice, ruffling Sebastian's hair and laughing. "Yeah, let's go shoot something, I could do with some action too. This was really cool, I wish I could explode stuff with my brain." Though he wouldn't have wanted that particular gift as a kid because he would have probably broken something valuable or - if his power was limited to water like Sebastian's innate magic - he might have burst a pipe in the bathroom when he was frustrated and distracted by something. "I'm so gonna make you make snowballs in the summer," he added as he got the air gun ready. "Especially when it gets hot!" He was in such high spirits that for the first time in a while he didn't even question that summer would come without portals opening up and flooding the town with monsters and it was a pretty nice change of pace to just be out frolicking on the beach instead of worrying about everything and everyone.