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The elemental? Yeah, what about it?

Come on, do I really have to say it?

Say what? What are you talking about?

I messed up and broke a gift the monarchs gave me at the wrong time. I was trying to go for the jabberwock but it's pretty hard to move when you don't have real limbs.

[ Okay, that... sounds weird. What does he even mean by not having... real... limbs...

...No way. Can't be. It doesn't work that way. ]

Are you trying to tell me, [ Leo asks slowly, ] that was you?

Pretty crazy right? [The tone of his voice sounds like he's more nervous than he wants to let on, like he's afraid of Leo's reaction.] I can honestly say I've never felt anything like that before.

How is that even...? People don't just turn into lightning elementals!

[ Unless their name is Jason Grace, but even he stays pretty solid most of the time. And he'd thought for a second that it might actually be Jason. He shakes his head on the other end of the feed, not even caring if it can't be seen. ]

Dude, that hurt.

I didn't do it on purpose! [Dude! Seriously, Leo, just let him explain.] Look the monarchs gave me something months ago and I wasn't supposed to use it then. It just kinda happened.

[ Deep sigh. He knows how this goes. ] Look, it's - I'm fine. It happens, I've been there. It's not a big deal. Don't worry about it.

[ It seriously did hurt, and he still doesn't feel up to par after that last fight. But he understands where Ryan's coming from, having lost control of his powers, and accidentally hurting people. He gets it. If anyone can take a hit like that, it's him. ]

Sorry, I, uh... attacked you. I thought that's you were attacking me, so... [ He trails off. Not much more explanation needed, he thinks. ]

Yeah, this is kinda where I wish I knew morse code instead of just relying on random blinding flashes. [He sounds a little bitter but mostly remorseful. And that's actually why he's telling Leo of all people.]

I don't know if it's really the same thing as the eidolon that you told me about but...I think I get it now. I'm just surprised the monarchs really were serious with how powerful the tablet was.

Morse code's not that hard. I could probably teach you, [ he says absently.

He shakes his head, not registering that it won't be acknowledged over an audio link. ] I don't think so. The eidolon was controlling me, like if ghostly possession or something. Might be you just couldn't control the power. [ There's a quiet chuff on Leo's end. ] And trust me, I know how that craptastic that feels. Just be glad all you did was shock me.

Should I be concerned or impressed that you know how to use it? [It's just as absent, but he huffs in response.] Okay so yours is creepier. At least I knew what I was doing, I just couldn't actually make it work the way I wanted to. [A pause.] You weren't the only person I attacked, by the way. You were just the only one I felt bad about.

[That's the problem with it, isn't it?] You're okay though right? No permanent damage or anything?

[ His voice goes quiet as he explains, ] My mom taught me when I was a kid. [ There's clearly more to it than that. It still means a lot to him, and he finds himself softly tapping the old pattern out on the table - I love you. Thankfully, there's no one around to notice. ]

I knew what I was doing, too, but it was the kind of possession to make me do something and make me think I wanted to all along. I didn't know it was an eidolon until later.

[ He laughs, the sound hollow. ] Careful, dude. Someone might overhear and think you've got feelings for me or something. [ Sobering a bit, Leo continues, ] I'm okay. Maybe a little shaky, but I'm fine. [ He pauses. ] It sucks not being able to control it like you want, doesn't it?

…oh. [He doesn't know what it means, but he can read the tone well enough. 'Don't pry.' He's open if Leo wants to elaborate but he's not nosy enough today to wrestle it out of him. He kinda owes him that.] That's actually really cool.

So basically you were mindcontrolled but not body controlled? Something like that. Man…I know I keep saying I never want to come back as a demigod but I seriously mean it now.

[A derisive snort follows.] Funny. [Also sorry you're not really his type Leo.] It sucks a lot, but may as well add it to the list of things that suck about this place currently. It's kind of an impressive list. But…good.

[ He'll tell you about it sooner or later, Ryan. ] She did it so she could keep track of me when she was in a different room.

That's basically it, [ Leo confirms, ] but they could do full-body possession, too. Percy and Jason got that end of it, before Piper talked them out of us.

[ Leo rolls his eyes. ] It gets longer every day, dude. Sometimes I think I'd rather face Gaea and the end of the world than the crap we get here. But you won't have to deal with it again, right? At least there's that. You've got a lot more control with your other powers anyway, Water Boy.

Pretty smart idea.

Ah. [Well that's even worse.] How bad was it before Piper stopped them?

[There's a short sort of laugh.] Maybe, but it still wasn't enough was it? I probably won't have to deal with it again since they only gave me one but still, once was definitely enough. Instead now we have other things to worry about.

I wasn't there when it happened, [ Leo says, ] but she said the eidolons made them fight - swords drawn, powers ready to go and everything. They might've killed each other if it weren't for her charmspeak.

[ Just like he might have killed her and Jason when he was controlled in October, if it weren't for her powers. Leo's glad he'd been given that pin. The possibility of something like that happening again without her here to talk him or anyone else out of it... unnerving, to say the least. ]

Hey, even demigods have to work in teams most of the time. You're not always going to be able to take on something by yourself. [ Not that he's a great motivator or anything, but it's true when it comes to survival. Without his friends, Leo probably would have died long before coming to the Drabwurld. ] Now we just have to fix everything.

Lucky she was there then. I didn't realize the eidolons were that dangerous. I'm pretty sure we don't have anything like that around our parts of the world, unless you count, I don't know, politicians or something.

[Sigh.] Maybe not, but this could have been one of those times since verbal communication wasn't working out that great. I have a lot of stuff to fix and a few other things to work around now. [A pause.] On the bright side, I only have to really worry about Kelsi. Everybody else I know that's still here can kinda take care of themselves.

I'm pretty sure that politicians always count.

Morse code will only help so much with that. Not everyone understands it. [ He hesitates for a moment and starts digging in his tool belt, needing something to fiddle with while he figures this conversation out. ] Sometimes trying to take something like that on by yourself just makes things worse.

[ Anyway. He caught that "still here", don't think he didn't. ] So, your sister...?

My dad's tried multiple times to get us interested in politics and that's pretty much all I've ever gotten out of it.

I mean maybe we should just be glad everybody understands everybody here most of the time, but it wouldn't hurt to be multilingual or whatever. I mean I kinda speak some Spanish and some French but not enough to make a difference. Morse at least is just the same pattern of dots and dashes right? How hard can it be? [Hm.] I'm used to working in teams, but something like that? I don't think it's safe to endanger everybody.

[There's a pause before he speaks again, a little too casual about it.] Back in Albuquerque to the land where her black American Express works and summer's just beginning. It's probably better that way.

You should try politics with the gods. There's a reason I try to stay as far away from that crap as possible.

[ Admittedly, that isn't very far. Such is the life of a demigod. ]

I didn't know you knew Spanish. I grew up with that, too. [ He is, after all, from a Mexican family. It took a long time for him to realize that not everyone switches between languages willy-nilly when they're having a conversation. ] But yeah, it's just dots and dashes. Easy, if you pay attention.

And now you know why I didn't want to use the Blessing when we were sparring, [ Leo says with a tired sigh. ] I've lost control before, too. It wasn't pretty.

[ And he goes quiet with the confirmation, remembering how hard it was for him when Jason and Piper left. ] That sucks. But she'll probably like it better. I know she got really excited when she heard the Station might have coffee, so at least she won't have to live without that now. [ Small favors, he supposes. But that's Leo's way of saying he's got your back, bro. ]

Edited 2015-03-02 17:28 (UTC)

I can barely bargain with Sharpay. I'm not even going to try with the gods.

A little, but I'm not going to say it's good Spanish. It's like...not so bueno espanol. [Case in point.] But I can pay attention enough to learn some dots and dashes.

Yeah...I feel like I should apologize for that, too, since I was purposefully trying to get you to use it. You were right. I should have thought that one though. You weren't even really using the Blessing against lightning-me, were you?

[He shrugs even if Leo can't see it.] She'll be a lot happier having cute cabana boys waiting on her hand and foot instead of the imps.It just kinda makes you wonder why they bring people here if they're just going to get rid of them so soon. What are they really looking for?

[ That actually gets him to laugh. ] Lo que es malo, amigo. I'll try not to judge. Not everyone grows up with it.

[ He shifts uncomfortably. ] It's not your fault. You didn't know anything about it. You didn't know what could've happened. [ What has happened. Only Jason and Piper know, and they're long gone. ] And yeah, I was. The fire is the Blessing. I'm the only person in centuries to have this power, remember? The cabin used to say it was actually a curse because those of us that have it tend to come hand in hand with destruction, and... I agreed with them.

Got me. They just sent Annabeth away again, did you know that? That's the second time since I've been here. I dunno what they think they're accomplishing by doing that, but sending the daughter of a war goddess away doesn't seem like it's going to help their cause.

[At least he can laugh about it, too.] I really should practice but not a lot of people I know use it so there's almost no point, you know? I wouldn't blame you if you judged a little.

I can probably guess. [He can't. Not to the extent Leo knows and he knows that.] I think I just keep disassociating it because yeah, that definitely doesn't sound like a Blessing. And remind me why you can't just ask your dad to take it back?

Annabeth. Percy's girlfriend? [Assumptions. Lots of assumptions, but he'd heard Annabeth's announcement about Percy's departure a while ago and put that together.] I never met her but no I didn't know that. [A beat.] When'd they send her out?

There's definitely not a lot of people around here who speak it, that's for sure. There's not really much reason for you to learn Spanish, but Morse code could definitely help - especially if we started teaching other people so they'd get it, too. I can't be the only one here that knows it.

[ There's a soft laugh. ] Tell me about it. It wasn't so bad, honestly, until my mom - [ He hesitates, and decides to go a different route. ] She made me promise I wouldn't use it. I didn't think it was a problem until I broke it. If I had any way of actually talking to my dad, I probably would have asked him to take it back.

[ Heavy stuff. ]

Yeah, her. It wasn't even that long ago - like a day or two, maybe.

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