Crystal invites Kaze over

[Crystal]

Best friend, huh? Crystal remembered Kaze saying something along those lines about Anima - it hadn't been 'only two conversations', but it hadn't been that much more. Although quantity probably didn't matter all that much when it came to those things - he really liked Kaze and more importantly, he trusted the Obrimos.
With that verdict in place, he smiled warmly at his guest. "Yeah alright, same here. Something about your relentless optimism is making me feel all sort of gay things. But like, the 'no-homo gay' things. You know."

But here was the topic of trust again. Plus, it occurred to the Warlock that he never really thought about his boundaries concerning Magic all that much - frankly he had been doing much more repressing. "Fuck, I don't know. I guess there's no use in asking an Awakened to shut about that damn stuff, so I've accepted that part of reality. Just.. don't go on about using Magic to enhance or change each other in any other way." Yeah, his own triggers ran deeper than that - if all that stood between him and the Abyss was a slight misstep, a little bit of hubris.. he briefly wondered if Obrimos had a less grim outlook on this stuff in general.
"You know what, you're fine. Forget it."

Crystal finished his coffee. "Okay, so we have to keep Anima's ego in check. You do realize that I've been known for my lone-wolf act myself, right?" What were the odds of finding two people like Kaze?

The sincere thanks caught the Mastigos off-guard. "Uh, sure. Of course I'm taking your issues seriously - I mean, between this and the acting.." He shrugged and winked. "How's that coming along, by the way?" He changed the topic, partly because the Apostate sounded so much like Crystal's Mentor that he briefly suspected some Supernal meddling.
Nah, Enigma was many things - subtle wasn't necessarily one of them.

[Kaze]

Kaze smiles, "Thanks!" He says when Crystal says he gets warm fuzzies towards him. "Me too."

"I feel like, I mean, I'm not trying to be the 'ego police' or anything, you know? I mean, I feel like Anima just needs a friend or two, like he's not just all alone, and no one cares what he does or what happens to him? I mean, that's not a good feeling for anyone." Kaze says thoughtfully.

"Okay." Kaze says when Crystal explains his boundaries, and then tells Kaze not to worry about it. He makes a mental note not to talk about changing people with magic, tho. Not that he's planning on doing that anyway.

"Oh, pretty good. I mean, I got a script, part of one anyway, but the actual filming is delayed a few months."

He grins, "I am really working on Space, so when I have to go, I am hoping by then to be able to Portal back and forth without having to really, you know, be gone all the time."

Kaze shrugs, still grinning. "I mean, I know that's pretty ambitious! I might not get there that fast, but...goals, you know?"

"I am thinking of flying out there, like for just a day, and getting some carpet fibers from the hotel where they are putting us."

[Crystal]

Crystal almost said what was on his mind. If Anima needed friends that badly, wasn't it kind of on him? Instead he just shrugged. "I guess." He would reserve such judgement for after meeting the Shaman. Frankly, his first impression of Kaze wasn't too stellar either, so yeah.

He relaxed for a bit when the topic changed to the Apostate's career - but then Kaze proved the stereotype again by immediately switching over to teleportation. He considered for a moment - he didn't want to pop off - and then looked directly at his friend. "Hey. So about this 'hubris' thing.. don't you think that bending the laws of Space to get to your gig more quickly is sort of.. I don't know, asking for something to get you?" Ugh, that probably sounded meaner than Crystal intended. He softened his voice some more. "I mean, each time we stretch our Magic muscles we flirt with the Abbys, right? Every time it goes right, we get more careless - until suddenly it doesn't go right anymore. Doesn't that bother you?" It hadn't bothered Michael then. It very much bothered him now.

[Kaze]

Kaze seems to get some of the subtext of Crystal's tepid response to his plan to be Anima's friend rather than minder.

"Hey," Kaze grins, "everyone needs something. And everyone can look pretty sad or lame when they aren't getting what they need." He says. "It doesn't always work to just give it to them, but...it's kind of fun to try it, and see what happens, right?"

The mage looks more serious at Crystal's concern about the dangers of magic and using it flippantly.

Kaze nods, soberly, "So, what if it's like a loaded gun." He posits, "You lock it up in a safe, because you got a kid, right? So, that's the safest thing, to protect the kid from the gun. But then, maybe a year later or years later, the kid's home alone, and someone breaks in, and the kid is in danger from them, and you can't be there, so you give the kid the combo and tell him to use the gun to protect himself."

Kaze smiles slightly, "Is the kid safer with a gun he's never used before, or would he be better off if you let him practice with it, when the pressure's off, instead of locking it away, so he never even sees it?"

Kaze shrugs. "Honestly? I can see it either way. For me, it comes down to what I believe. I don't think I'm Awakened by accident. I believe I have magic for a reason, and I have a responsibility to be ready to use it. So, yeah, using Space to get around is kind of self serving, but if I have the practice, and can do it when the pressure's off, then someday, when every minute matters, I will be ready to open a Portal and maybe save lives, because I didn't lock my magic away to keep myself safe from it."

[Crystal]

Fuck, either the Obrimos was better at reading people than Crystal gave him credit for or they've spent too much time together already. The Mastigos raised his hands in surrender and grinned at his guest. "Okay yeah, I already told you I'll talk to him. You are an insufferably good person, you know that?"

While Kaze explained his views on Wisdom, Crystal let himself drop onto the couch again. This air of indifference or exasperation was most likely just his automated defense mechanism against unpleasant topics - the Warlock kept listening anyway, forcing himself through this. "Shit, this metaphor is fucked up on so many levels. The rest of the world somehow manages to protect their home and loved ones without resorting to lethal force. And even if it's in self defense: you're basically teaching a kid that it's okay to kill someone without thinking about other ways to stay safe." But this wasn't about this country's view on firearms - Crystal shook his head and got back on track. "What I'm saying is: it is dangerous, right? I get that we are some sort of chosen superhumans, the great descendants of Atlantis. That doesn't give us a free pass to fuck with reality, does it?"

Was it too early to start drinking? Maybe it was. "Of course you make a good point about saving lives. Yeah, it's great to use Magic to good ends and whatnot. But from what I've seen Awakened mostly use it to advance their own agendas or protect people from other Awakened." He looked at Kaze, clearly at a loss for answers. No, he didn't expect the Apostate to have all of those answers, or even some of them. But hey, this wasn't something he could easily talk about with anybody, so it was his friend who had to deal with this particular pressure cooker.

[Kaze]

Kaze grins and shrugs when Crystal accuses him of being insufferably good. "It only looks like that because I try, and, you know, that's kind of unusual." He says.

Kaze nods and says, "Okay." He says, raising his hands. "The metaphor has problems."

"And, it might just be my 'I used to be an Arrow' side talking." He confesses.

"The thing is, there's a difference between just finding a loaded gun and playing Russian Roulette, and actually, carefully practicing, taking little, incremental steps with specific goals to improve."

He shrugs and grins, "The fact that practicing can be fun, when things work out, doesn't mean it isn't a good thing to learn the control and discipline to be able to handle it." He says. "Honestly? Most of my practice ends up being handling absorbing Paradox damage over and over and not letting it interrupt the spell. That's key. If I am not freaked out about the Paradox, and it's my habit without having to think about it to eat the hit, take the pain, and keep on trucking, that's probably the best preparing right there for doing it when someone actually needs me."

Kaze looks at Crystal. "So, I know I'm pushing it. I will back off, if you tell me to. But...when I am ready to start trying, in little ways, to 'bend space', would you be willing to just...be there, and tell me everything I am doing wrong, in your opinion?"

[Crystal]

Finding a loaded gun. Well, if that just didn't hit the nail on the fucking head, even if the rest of the metaphor didn't work - or if Crystal didn't want it to work. Ugh.

He sat up straight again, which apparently really took some form of effort from his part. He was tapping his foot quickly, rubbing his eyes with one hand. Taking the things Kaze said in, mulling them over.
Whether he liked it or not, he was stuck with this. With Magic and his connection to Pandemonium and everything it brought with it. He could try to ignore it, to get by without it. Hell, since the last war with the Seers Sacramento just didn't seem to have any problems, so he maybe never had to test his aim. He could keep the weapon locked away.

He groaned. Kaze basically wanted him to trip-sit him. He liked doing that - his tolerance was high enough for him to stay aware well enough to help out any buddies on their way to bad-trip-town.
Except this trip could really fuck them up. "Let's make a deal, shall we? You help me get my self-imposed training wheels off again - that is you use your horrible can-do attitude and hold my hand while I'm trying this shit again - and I'll help you with Space when - if - we get there."

He talked a bit more quickly, as if he was afraid he'd change his mind mid-sentence and he actually shut his eyes while talking, only squinting at Kaze after the proposition has been made.

[Kaze]

Kaze smiles and nods. "You got it bro." He say when Crystal proposes his deal. "I'll hold your hand, and I'll hold your hair back too when you're barfing into the toilet." He laughs shortly. "Seriously, whatever you need." He says sincerely. "Thanks."

He looks seriously at Crystal then. "So...how's it going in general? I mean, I've been practicing, acting, you know? And archery too, I can look pretty decent at it now, and even my kung fu, like, getting better at doing it for show, and you know, Space...I can see Sympathy now, which is totally weird, but definitely explains some things..." Kaze says thoughtfully.


"Mostly though, I only tried incorporating Space into the Forces magic that I already have a feel for, like, being able to connect to all the cameras around, and put the feed onto my phone, that kind of thing...." Kaze reports.

[Crystal]

Leave it to Kaze to break the tension. "And just like that you've discovered the reason why I keep my hair at this manageable length." Crystal joined his buddy in the laugh, although he felt slightly uneasy in his stomach. Fuck, Kaze would probably hold him to this promise.. for better or worse, things were about to change soon.

Luckily they moved on to more mundane topics, if only momentarily. "Wow, you're a real go-getter, aren't you? They're expecting quite a lot from you, considering it's just for a pilot.. but then again, you are one of the leads, so.." A slight shrug. Kaze probably didn't want to be kept reminded about that fact, so Crystal was more than happy to do so. "Hey, if they ever do a sneak preview or something be sure to get me in there - as your teacher of the fine arts it'd be only appropriate to do so." Yeah, as usual talking out of his ass helped moving the uneasy feelings away. He wouldn't have to think about the Abbys as long as they were talking Sleeper stuff. He nodded along with the Apostate's exploits in messing with the Lie - it sounded safe enough, if not a bit pervy.

"As for myself: I've.. finished writing this paper." Wow, that sounded tough. And lame. "For the Order." Nope, that didn't help. "You know, Mystagogue nerd shit." Yeah, that definitely saved it. "I've dabbled in cooking recently. I'm nowhere close to inviting you over or anything, but it's actually really relaxing at times. Learning the ropes by following the recipe until you're safe enough to experiment. Yeah."
And men. But that's probably not something Kaze was too hot about when it came to conversational topics.

Speaking of: "How are things with Jennifer?" Sooner or later he would really have to make the effort to spend some time with her.. if Kaze wouldn't use bait that worked a little bit too well to get him there.

[Kaze]

Kaze laughs appreciatively at Crystal's joke about cutting his hair for throwing up convenience!

He nods at the comment about the stuff he's been learning for the part. "Yeah!" Kaze says enthusiastically! "I am honestly probably the most excited at all the stuff, the physical stuff I can learn on the set! Like, Princes Bride, you know? 'It was a fine time for me. I was learning to fence, to fight, anything anyone would teach me.'!" He grins and says like he's quoting.

He looks thoughtful when Crystal asks about Jennifer. "Oh, she's...good. I mean, as far as I know."

"Actually I'm kind of feeling it out, like, how much of learning more about what she is is part of the relationship, learning who she is, like as a person, you know? I mean, I don't really want to be studying up on, like, weaknesses and vulnerabilities or whatever. I really like her as a person. I...don't know how much I need to know about her as a vampire...so, yeah. Work in progress."

Kaze is thoughtful again, and then asks, "So...okay, you're my official acting coach, and I'm your official personal trainer on being the boss of the Paradox, instead of it pushing you around. So, tell me straight; what's your highest level of practice? I mean...what can you do, right now, that could cause a Paradox? That you can practice absorbing, I mean."