Daughter of the Sea (lord_admiral) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-04-23 22:38:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, chloe price, jaina proudmoore |
Who: Jaina and Chloe
What: Late night magic shenanigans
When: After Chloe went to a concert
Where: Jaina’s
Rating: PG-13
Status: Complete
The living room had been cleared, all the furniture pushed to the sides against the bookshelves. Blue runes and circular shapes glowed on the floor and the walls, and hovered in the air around Jaina, who stood in the center of the room, eyes closed and brow furrowed with concentration. She mumbled in a language that had no form on Earth, and the runes and symbols moved around her.
She figured Chloe would be out all night at her concert so she had plenty of time to practice. Jaina didn’t actually now if it was still night or morning, but she’d been working on her magic the whole time.
It was definitely rather late when Chloe came back. In fact, it was that time of night when it was considered early morning. In fact, it was probably pre-dawn when she finally rolled into the parking lot. She sat in her truck for a little bit, just basking in the night she’d had for a few minutes, a somewhat stupid grin on her face, before she got out and headed inside. She hadn’t actually expected Jaina to be awake, so she ensured to enter the apartment quietly. She intended to crash on the couch, not wanting to wake Jaina.
However, as soon as she opened the door and stepped inside the apartment, she was greeted by Jaina using magic. She blinked a bit as she closed the door behind her.
“Holy shit,” she commented, staring at the runes.
Jaina’s concentration was broken, the runes wobbling like ripples in water. She winced, a wind rushing through the living room before everything shattered into a thousand points of light. She sank to her knees, out of breath. “Did...the concert end ear--good lord it’s almost sunrise.”
Chloe averted her eyes when everything exploded into the points of light. Magic being real to some people here was still completely mind blowing to her. “Uh yeah. I was trying to be quiet, thinking you were asleep. But clearly you aren’t.”
“I thought it was earlier,” Jaina admitted. “I guess I got a little distracted, I was trying to determine…” And she started talking about math and physics and null point energy.
Chloe actually followed a good portion of what Jaina was talking about. She was a hell of a lot smarter than she appeared, and science and math had been her favorite subjects. Which wasn’t precisely saying much when she stopped giving a damn about school, but she had always been science-oriented. And math just made sense to her.
“And did you succeed in determining it?”
“I think I got half-way there,” Jaina admitted. “I’m missing some crucial information, like the puzzle is only partly there and there are pieces missing. I’m sure I’ll figure it out, but until then, I’m just grasping at straws.”
She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration, before asking, “So how was the concert?”
“You’ll figure it out, even if it takes you a while.” Chloe said with a bit of a smile. Jaina was smart, she’d figure it out eventually.
At the question about the concert, Chloe couldn’t help but to grin. “The concert was great. My ears are still kind of ringing.” Though that wasn’t completely due to the sound level at the concert.
“Yes,” Jaina said, dryly. “Hearing damage is a lot of fun.”
She offset her comment with a smile, “Though I’m glad you did have fun.”
“Hey, I’m young and stupid, hearing damage goes with the territory,” Chloe quipped in response. She moved over to where the couch had been shoved and sat down on it. Her legs hung over the armrest and she collapsed onto her back with a little groan.
“Definitely fun. Ilia enjoyed it, too. So that was cool. We went to eat after the concert, then went for a walk.” Among other things. She just really liked the feel of company, and she liked Ilia.
Smirking, Jaina conjured herself a glass of water. Magic was thirsty work, after all. And… it actually worked! She let out a whoop, then covered her mouth and cleared her throat. “Sounds like you had a good time then.”
Chloe glanced over at Jaina when she heard the whoop and just chuckled a bit. Jaina was cute. “Yes, I did. It was a good night. And I definitely needed that.” All things considered, Chloe had been feeling conflicted and could feel herself sinking a bit. It was good to just forget about everything for a while.
“Want a snack?” Jaina conjured what looked like a muffin, and looked far too pleased with herself. “Who did you see? At the concert, I mean.”
“Damn, that magic is rather handy. Could probably go for a muffin, though.” It had been a while since she’d last ate. She then said the band’s name. “Local rock band. Put on a good show.” And it had been easier than she’d anticipated to sneak into the concert venue. Which was just fine with her.
“I think it’s blueberry.” Jaina conjured another one and tossed it to Chloe. She didn’t bother to ask if she’d snuck in or not, and if Chloe had gotten baked it wasn’t obvious. Jaina had learned generally to not ask questions about that part and as long as Chloe wasn’t harming herself or others she wasn’t going to care.
Besides, she was pretty sure it was legal in this state. Right?
“Thanks,” she said, catching the muffin and taking a bite of it. Chloe was currently drug-free. The only thing she’d done was smoke normal cigarettes. Whatever high she was on was all natural. “This is good. What all can you create? Or do you not have a limit?”
“Various kinds of food and drink, mostly. We use a lot of energy when casting spells, and enchanted water helps recover it. I’m not actually sure yet how I can use magic to make a drink that recovers more energy than I expended to make the drink in the first place, but I’m not about to complain.”
It probably acted like redbull to non-magic users, she thought.
“That’s pretty fucking handy to have. Could definitely save on your grocery bill or something,” Chloe commented as she continued to eat the muffin. “Are you a pretty powerful magic-user?” It probably wouldn’t hurt anything to have a friend that was a powerful magic-user around here. The Peeps and vorpal bunnies aside, Chloe had read about a lot of happenings in Orange County on that network. Not many of them sounded fun.
“It’ll get boring after awhile, but probably good for lunch,” Jaina decided. She took a seat on the couch and stared at the ground where the runes had been. They’d let a faintly glowing residue behind. “Yes. I was a prodigy growing up, and I was so insatiable about learning that I was well ahead of my peers. I’m mentored by the leader of the Kirin Tor. Antonidas is one of the most powerful mages in the world, and I think I’ll end up stronger than him. I only recently left the city to help a friend with the rising dead problem.”
Chloe remained lying where she was, munching on the muffin and looked up at Jaina when she sat down. “That sounds both cool and like it wasn’t easy. Prodigies don’t always have the easiest time making friends. Unless you’re the sort that was far more concerned with learning your magic.” Sometimes Chloe was rather wise and observant.
“I made one or two friends. This… well he’s a Prince.” Jaina’s skin flushed. “You know, the handsome type. A very good man. We were more for a little while, then he broke up with me because he thought he was holding me back from my studies. That’s what he said, I think he was just miffed I spent more time with books.”
The flush was cute. “Definitely sounds cute. Though I’m sorry he broke up with you. Clearly you deserve better than him if he couldn’t accept you as you are.” It was blunt, but Chloe tended to be blunt.
“We weren’t on good terms, but I had to work with him a few years later. We rekindled, I think he’d come to accept his own duties and felt like we could find a balance, but then…” Jaina twirled her hand. “I don’t remember if you saw me talking about it on the network. The undead plague… I could teleport so I went to get help and when I came back with it, most of the people in that town were dead or zombies, and Arthas was marching on a much larger city, thinking it too was infected…”
Rekindled. That sounded a bit familiar, even if Chloe tended to be more conflicted than anything in recent days. “Shit, I’m sorry,” she said in response to most people being either dead or zombies when Jaina had returned. “Was that city actually infected? Or don’t you know?”
Jaina frowned, picking at the muffin in her hand as she considered how much to say. “They were probably doomed. I wanted to find a way to save them, find a cure, but they’d already eaten the grain. Arthas, he…”
She sighed. “Uther, Arthas’s mentor, and I left, and when we came back the entire city had been slaughtered before they could have a chance to change.”
Chloe frowned as Jaina explained more of what happened. Swinging her legs, she shifted so that was sitting up on the couch next to Jaina. “Shit, I’m sorry,” she said quietly. What did one say to something like that? Sorry didn’t really cut it, but Chloe felt bad for Jaina and for those people dying before they’d been able to actually change.
“Needless to say, we broke up again,” Jaina managed. She knew the situation would only get worse after that, and she was losing Arthas not just as a friend and lover, but as a human being..
Not quite knowing if Jaina wanted a hug or not, Chloe opted for setting a hand on Jaina’s shoulder, squeezing it gently. “I’m sorry about that. Things don’t always work out the way we want them to.” Which was something Chloe could apply to her own life.
“I don’t know what comes next, only that it’s nothing good. My dream world is one of war and conflict, and it looks like another one has begun.” Only this time it was heralded by decay and ruin.
“That’s a pretty intense dream world,” she commented. And in reality, wasn’t this world one of war and conflict as well? How many countries were embroiled in wars right now? How many regimes killed their own people just to keep a grip on power? It just wasn’t quite the same as what Jaina spoke about.
It was still the same, though. Orcs vs Humans, or demons, or undead...and on Earth country vs country. “The depressing thing is my father is the same in both places. A racist asshole.”
“I fucking hate people like that. Fuck him. He’d probably get along swimmingly with my step-douche.” Chloe commented. She resented and hated David’s existence with every fiber of her being. At least now she didn’t have to deal with him anymore.
“I only wish I could let him know how much disdain I really have for him,” Jaina said sharply. And she’d tried, but the Admiral never listened. She thought he never would.
“Maybe you’re just telling him in the wrong way? I mean, I tend to graffiti the shit out of things to show my disdain. Kind of hard to erase or ignore that.” Chloe suggested.
Jaina smiled ruefully, “The last time he talked to me I told him he could shove his cabinet position up his ass, but I’m pretty sure he thought that was just the heat of the moment.”
Chloe chuckled a bit. “That’s a good one,” she commented. “Could always just send him a cake with a knife stuck in it like it’s a murder victim and have it say ‘Fuck you’ on it or something.”
“I like how you think, but I need something a little less attempted murder when my dad’s boss is the President.” Jaina made a face. “Just thinking about that makes me want a drink.”
“Oh god,” Chloe groaned. “Then maybe just a cake in the shape of a hand giving the middle finger with ‘Fuck you’ written on it? Still gets the same point across.”
“That one is perfect. Especially if I can time it when the president is in the room.”
Jaina grinned, trying to imagine his embarrassment. She’d never hear the end of it but it might actually be worth it.
“You’re a terrible influence.”
“Yes, yes I am,” Chloe said proudly with a grin. “But hey, sometimes when you need to send a message, you just gotta go all out.” Or something. Chloe wasn’t one who did anything half heartedly, after all.
“I think I’m still friends with his secretary, I’ll try to make sure she gets a picture. Sneakily.” She didn’t want her fired.
“I totally gotta see his face, too. So share when you get a picture.” She laughed. “And you go, girl.” She held up her fist for a fist bump.
Jaina stared at her fist, then gave her the bump. In Jaina’s circle, people didn’t really fist bump.
She kind of liked it. “...I still feel wired. Do you want to get breakfast? I’m suddenly craving hashbrowns.”
Chloe hadn’t been certain if Jaina was the fist-bumping type, but she felt that it couldn’t hurt to find out. She rather liked it when the bump was given. “I could go for breakfast, yeah.” Eventually, she’d crash and sleep, but right now she was still running on the natural high of the concert and the time spent with Ilia.